44>

7625274 81181

Chips and . They’re the heart of any computing system, and as usual, we have packed this issue of PC Modder with dozens of pos- sible and matchups. Our Case Studies will THE PARTS SHOP help you discover what sort of performance you can expect to 19 AMD’s Top CPU achieve when various chip and combos. When The 64 FX53 you’re ready to crank up your own silicon, our Cool It articles will provide tips on keeping excess heat under control. And then when 20 ’s Top CPU it’s time to build the ultimate home for your motherboard, our Pentium 4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition It section will give you some case ideas to drool over. Whether you’re a novice or master, you’ll find this issue is filled with all the 21 Grantsdale Grants Intel Users’ Wishes tips and tools you need to build faster and more beautiful PCs. New i915 Chipset Adds Many New Technologies 22 Special FX SiS Adds Support For AMD’s FIRST-TIMERS Athlon 64FX CPU

4 The Need For Speed 23 Chipset Entertainment Take Your CPU To Ultimate Heights VIA’s PM880 Chipset One Step At A Time Ready For Media PCs 8 Cutting Holes & Taking Names & HDTV Your First Case Mod 24 May The 12 Water For First-Timers Force Be Tips To Help Watercooling With You Newbies Take The Plunge ’s nForce3 Chipset 16 Benchmark Basics A Primer On 25 Essential Overclocking Utilities Measuring Power Modding Is As Much About The Your PC’s Right Software As The Right Hardware Performance 31 Sizing Up Sockets How Your Processor Saddles Up 33 The Mad Modder’s Toolkit Minireviews, Meanderings & Musings

Copyright 2004 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. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Computer Power User, P.O. Box 82667, Lincoln, NE 68501. 68 AMD 3000+ & Jetway CASE STUDIES S755MAX CRANK IT 70 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ & Gigabyte 39 Silicon Meets Silicon 99 Overclocking Dual-CPU Systems GA-K8VNXP Our Overclocking Series On Chip & Double Your Overclocking Chipset Combos 72 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ & SOYO CK8 Madness Dragon Plus Intel 74 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ & ASRock 102 Race For The Gold 40 3.0E GHz Pentium 4 & P4TSV K8S8X AMD vs. Intel For The (Intel 865G) 76 AMD Athlon 64 3400+ & Albatron Performance Crown K8X800 ProII 42 3.0E GHz Pentium 4 & ABIT AI7 108 ATI & NVIDIA Square Off 44 3.0E GHz Pentium 4 & EPoX 78 AMD Athlon 64 3400+ & AOpen Where Things Stand Between AK89 Max EP-4PCA3+ The GPUs & VPUs 46 3.2E GHz Pentium 4 & ECS 865G-M 80 AMD Athlon 64 3400+ & ECS 755-A2 82 AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 & SK8V 112 The Great Pyramid 48 3.2E GHz Pentium 4 & Shuttle How 3D Cards Stack Up AB60N 84 AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 & ASUS SK8N 50 3.2E GHz Pentium 4 & Chaintech 86 AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 & Gigabyte 114 What A Difference 9CJS Zenith GA-K8NNXP-940 A Drive Makes 52 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition How A New Hard Drive Affects & ASUS P4G800-V Graphics Cards Your Rig’s Overall Performance 54 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 118 Do Matter? & Soyo SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 88 Need Speed? One Chipset, Six Combatants 56 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition We Test 10 Video Cards To Find Out & Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Which Is Fastest 124 My DDR Can Beat Up Your DDR 58 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 89 ATI All-In-Wonder 9000 PRO Memory Speeds Advance Faster Than Industry Standards & Gigabyte GA8I1000 Pro-G 90 ATI Radeon 9200 60 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 91 Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 PRO 130 Clocking Corner & Chaintech S865PE 92 Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 XT Push That New CPU To The Limit 62 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition & MSI 875P NEO-FIS2R 93 Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 SE 94 BFG Technologies Asylum GeForce FX 5200 Ultra AMD 95 AOpen GeForce FX 5500 64 AMD Athlon 64 3000+ & ABIT 96 ABIT Siluro FX 5600 Ultra OTES KV8-MAX3 97 eVGA e-GeForce FX 5700 Ultra 66 AMD Athlon 64 3000+ & Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 98 PNY GeForce FX 5900 SE Customer Service JUST FOR FUN (For questions about your subscription or to place an order or change an address.) 182 Remote Control Wizardry [email protected] Install & Modify Your 800-733-3809 FAX: (402) 479-2193 Transmitter/Receiver Combo Computer Power User P.O. Box 82667 COOL IT 184 MP3 Evisceration Lincoln, NE 68501-2667 Tear Out That Microdrive & Use It Hours 132 Heatsink Heaven Wherever You Please Mon. - Fri.: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (CST) Sat.: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. (CST) The Right Product Will Save Your CPU Online Customer Service & Subscription From A Fiery Hell Center MODDER’S http://www.cpumag.com 140 A Fine Grind LIBRARY Web Services Lap Your Heatsinks To Increase (For questions about our Web site.) Cooling Efficiency [email protected] 188 Intel Chip Reference (800) 368-8304 Guide To Intel’s Newest Processors 142 Working With Grease Authorization For Reprints Get Lower Temps & A More (800) 334-7458 192 AMD Chip Reference FAX: (402) 479-2104 Overclockable Chip CPU Manufacturer Extends Its Athlon Editorial Staff 144 Dry Ice Destruction 64, & Mobile Lines [email protected] FAX: (402) 479-2104 Supercool Your CPU On The Cheap, 194 Intel-Compatible Chipset Reference 131 W. Grand Drive Mad-Modder Style Several Chipsets Add Features To Lincoln, NE 68521 Intel-Based Systems Subscription Renewals 148 Seal Your Socket (800) 382-4552 Don’t Let Condensation Devastate 196 Guide To AMD-Compatible Chipsets FAX: (402) 479-2193 http://www.cpumag.com A Super-Cooled System SiS’ & VIA’s New Chipsets Add 64-bit Support Advertising Staff 151 Hot Fans, Cool Case (800) 848-1478 The Quietest, Most Powerful 120 W. Harvest Dr. 198 Mainboard Mayhem Lincoln, NE 68521 & Best-Looking Fans 17 Motherboard Manufacturers Bring FAX: (402) 479-2193 Us 34 Of Their Most Popular 156 Keep Your Cool The Gang & Feature-Rich Motherboards Editorial Staff: Ronald D. Kobler / Samit Gupta Don’t Let Your PC’s Temp Get Out Of Control Choudhuri / Jennie Schlueter / Blaine Flamig / 215 RAM-ping Up Your System Corey Russman / Rod Scher / Christopher 158 Chill Chat Trumble / Calvin Clinchard / Kimberly Fitzke / We Chart The Top Modules From Katie Dolan / Raejean Brooks / Rebecca Keep The Heat Down With These Handy Tips Christensen / Tara Weber / Sally Curran / The Top Manufacturers Michael Sweet / Katie Crooks / Shawn Kupfer / Dana Montey / Nate Hoppe / Sheila Allen / Jennifer Hansen / Trista Kunce / Marty Sems / CUT IT Chad Denton / Nathan Chandler / Kylee MODDING Q&A Dickey / Josh Gulick / Andrew Leibman / Eric 160 Project Metropolis Reed / Vince Cogley Web Staff: Missy Fletcher / Dorene Krausnick / Nick Ray Customer Service: How Artist Paul Capello Built His Latest 217 Modding Q&A Alisha Lamb / Brandie Humphrey / Becky Modding Masterpiece We Answer Your Pressing Questions Rezabek / Lana Matic Subscription Renewals: Liz Kohout / Connie Beatty / Matt Bolling / Patrick Kean / Charmaine Vondra / Miden 166 Mod(ern) Art Ebert / Kathy DeCoito / Stephanie Contreras / Enjoy Browsing This Collection Of Nicole Buckendahl / Travis Brock Art & Design: INDEX Lesa Call / Fred Schneider / Carrie Benes / Creative Mods Ginger Riley / Sonja Warner / Leigh Trompke / 223 Manufacturers & Products Aaron Weston / Aaron Clark / Lori Garris / 176 Light My Fire Jason Codr / Andria Schultz / Erin Rodriguez / Lindsay Anker Newsstand: Garth Lienemann / Illuminate Your Hot PC, Rave Style Kelly Richardson / Chris McGreer / Jeff Schnittker FINAL BUILD Advertising Sales: Grant Ossenkop / Cindy Pieper / Brooke Wolzen / Eric Cobb / Emily Getzschman 180 The Paint Booth 224 The Ultimate Disaster Mod Marketing: Mark Peery / Marcy Gunn / Heather Tips & Tricks For Cutting, Sanding & Painting Mentgen / Amber Coffin / Jen Clausen Lab Crew: Kevin Morgan / Coby Boring / Chad Dalton / Andy Gerace / Jeff Roberts THE NEED FOR SPEED Take Your CPU To Ultimate Heights One Step At A Time

verclocking, or pow- components, overclocking ex- er modding as it is periments and results, extreme Oalso known, is a goal cooling systems, case mods, of many advanced computer and other fascinating reads for users. Overclocking a system the power user. lets it run faster than it would at the supported speeds of its Before You Start components. For instance, you If you built your computer could overclock a 2.4GHz yourself, you already have an processor to run at 3.2GHz. A advantage when it comes to successful overclock will help overclocking. Systems built from games run smoother, pro- the ground up are usually easier cessor-intensive tasks run to overclock than proprietary, faster, and overall performance prebuilt computers. In fact, improve. However, there is a some manufacturer-assembled reason power modders are so computers come with many of proud of their overclocked the BIOS settings locked. If this systems. Overclocking is really is the case, you may not be able quite an art form, requiring to change the FSB (frontside patience, experimentation, ), a setting that is the key to knowledge, and just a bit overclocking a modern system. of luck. For this reason, many people levels of their ranges and still have them If you build your own PC, you have overclock systems simply for their own operate. Of course, it’s also possible to other advantages, as well. For instance, you enjoyment and the thrill of squeez- overclock too much, which can cause errat- can do your own research and choose parts ing the highest performance out of any ic performance or even make a component that have a reputation for being highly given component. fail. Not all processors, even of the same overclockable. You can also be careful to The reason you can overclock hard- model number and speed, will overclock to avoid any components that use especially ware is because most components have a the same level. That’s why overclocking new or groundbreaking technology. The range of speeds at which they will work. usually voids manufacturer warranties. longer a manufacturer has produced a Manufacturers set component speed You can overclock several components, particular component or used a spe- ratings within the range at which they including the processor, system memory, cific manufacturing process, the more like- know the parts will function as advertised. and even some video cards. The ly it is that the process has been refined But it’s often possible to speed up, or most commonly overclocked and that the hardware will remain stable overclock, some components item is, as you probably know, when overclocked. to the uppermost the processor. If you’ve never When you build your own system, you overclocked a CPU before, can also choose a motherboard that is well- this article will walk you suited to overclocking. Intel’s mother- through the process. boards are generally not a good option for If you’re an experi- overclocking because they do not provide This processor enced overclocker, much freedom to tweak settings in the may be rated at you can consid- BIOS. On the other hand, many mother- 2.4GHz, but with er this article board manufacturers intentionally build careful overclocking, a brief re- their boards to allow very liberal tweaking you may be able to coax view before of settings such as the FSB and core volt- a faster clock speed you dive into the age. When we tested the very new and very from it. rest of this issue, which fast PC4400 DDR SDRAM in “My DDR will cover the latest and greatest Can Beat Up Your DDR” on page 124, we

4 • PC Modder bus of 400MHz. Because the Athlon 64 Some motherboards have more overclocking features than others. This board by Asus provides FX’s bus is quad-pumped, the FSB is actual- more overclocking freedom than most. ly 100MHz, or 400MHz divided by four. If you 2,400MHz and 100MHz into the above equation, you will see that the Athlon FX-53’s multiplier is 24 (the 2,400MHz clock speed divided by the 100MHz FSB). In order to overclock the processor (increase its clock speed), you need to alter either the multiplier or the FSB. The multi- plier is locked on most modern processors, so in order to change the clock speed of the CPU, you need to tweak the , the only part of the equation you can change. You will do this a little bit at a time, increas- ing the FSB in small increments and testing the system after each overclock to ensure that it is still stable (able to POST, launch Windows, and run dependably). If the sys- tem is still stable after an overclock, you can try to push its clock speed a little bit further. Because overclocking involves chang- had to use either an Asus P4C800 Deluxe others have had and what you might expect ing settings in the BIOS, it is a good idea or Asus P4C800-E Deluxe motherboard. from your processor. Others’ results will not, to make sure you have the most recent That’s because those were the only two however, tell you exactly how far you can version of the BIOS installed. Check the boards that provided the overclocking free- push your CPU. Even processors manufac- motherboard manufacturer’s Web site for dom necessary to tweak the FSB and run tured from the same wafer vary slightly. In BIOS updates before you proceed. and benchmark such new and fast memory addition, your other system components will Also, if you plan to overclock a system at the proper frequency. likely differ from those of other overclockers. that stores any important data, please There are other reasons the choice of For a variety of reasons, you may get a lower back up your system before you begin. motherboard is important. As one example, or higher overclock than others. Others’ Overclocking can be risky business, so be many motherboards have built-in sensor results will serve as a guide for your own prepared in case the worst happens. If you chips that monitor temperatures and volt- attempts at overclocking. have an older computer that you don’t use ages. This can help you ensure that condi- Learning about others’ results is essen- anymore, you may want to practice over- tions in your PC are as safe as possible for all tial, even if your experiences differ from clocking it before you tweak your primary of your hardware, even after you’ve over- those of others. Knowing what is possible computer system. You may also need to clocked a component. In addition, many and what is common can help you start use a cooling method other than the stock motherboards come with software that helps with a reasonable overclock. Then, if your fan that came with your CPU (or pre- overclockers monitor critical data that is col- computer is stable, you can gradually installed in your PC). There are several lected from the sensor chips. This includes attempt to push the system further. temperatures, core voltages, and fan opera- In order to overclock, you need to have tion. For more information about overclock- a basic understanding of the mathematics ing utilities, see “Essential Overclocking of overclocking. There is one basic equa- Utilities” on page 25 and the accompanying tion that drives the changes you will make “Motherboards With Great Utility” chart in the BIOS. This equation is made up of bundled with motherboards on page 28. the processor’s effective clock speed, the Before you overclock your CPU, it is FSB, and the CPU’s multiplier. There are important to research your processor. The other factors, such as the voltage and tem- more you read about overclocking with your perature, which we will discuss later. processor, the more you will know what The basic equation for overclocking is: some realistic overclocking goals might be. multiplier x FSB = clock speed. You can read past issues of PC Modder and AMD’s relatively new Athlon 64 FX-53 The BIOS may look slightly different on your CPU, scan overclocking forums, and read CPU has a clock speed of 2.4GHz, or system, but the basic procedure is the same. overclocking Web sites to see what results 2,400MHz. It also has an effective system Gradually increase the FSB setting.

PC Modder • 5 articles about cooling in the overclocked system is rela- Cool It section of this issue, tively stable, but you should beginning with “Heatsink still tax the CPU to ensure Heaven” on page 132. that if the system is not sta- Finally, one last word ble, you know it before you before you get started. begin using your PC for Overclocking is not an important tasks. activity that manufacturers There are many programs officially support. Although you can use to test the stability several new motherboards, of a system. Many of these processors, and memory utilities are covered in “Es- modules are promoted as sential Overclocking Utilities” highly overclockable, push- on page 25. A free program ing hardware beyond its that places a decent amount of official specs usually voids processing weight on the CPU the warranty. Not only may is Prime95, a program de- overclocking damage the veloped for GIMPS (Great There are many places where you can find out what results others have had component you are trying Internet Mersenne Prime overclocking a given processor. to overclock, but it may also Search). This project lets users damage other system com- download the Prime95 client, ponents. Because overclocking voids memory. Once the system is stable with which takes advantage of unused CPU warranties, you should be prepared to the CPU overclocked, then you could capacity to run equations, searching for swallow the cost if your system sustains think about overclocking the memory. prime numbers. Often, monetary prizes any damage during a fateful overclock. An example can demonstrate the impor- are available to those who discover new tance of considering memory when adjust- prime numbers. Overclocking 101 ing the FSB. PC3200 DDR SDRAM, also Although you may not choose to take To get started overclocking, you should known as DDR400, is rated at 400MHz. part in the race to find new primes, you enter the BIOS before Windows loads. Memory runs at the same frequency as the can still use Prime95. Its equations will The BIOS menus vary, depending on the FSB, but because DDR is dual-pumped, stress your processor as it works equa- motherboard you use. Find the section of the 400MHz frequency actually correlates tions and compares them against known the BIOS menu that contains settings for to a 200MHz FSB (200MHz x 2 = primes. If the computer does not find the frequency and voltage, which will 400MHz effective). When you alter the the correct numbers, the system is not contain the FSB settings. After you have FSB of a system with PC3200 DDR, you stable at the overclocked speed. entered the proper section of the BIOS, would not want to push the FSB higher If your stability-testing utility indi- change the FSB to the desired speed. For than 200MHz if you want the memory to cates that the system is not stable, you example, if you bump the FSB up from stay within its spec. need to make an adjustment to the BIOS 100MHz to 133MHz, you will increase After you adjust and save the FSB set- settings, either lowering the FSB or the effective system bus to 533MHz and ting, exit the BIOS. When the computer increasing the voltage. Remember that in the clock speed to approximately 3.2GHz, reboots, check the screen when the system order to overclock just one component or the 133MHz FSB x the multiplier of POSTs to see what the listed clock speed at a time, you should ensure that the 24 (3,192MHz or 3.2GHz). is. It should indicate the new, overclocked FSB remains within the spec for the As you increase the FSB, you need to speed. If not, return to the BIOS and try keep the installed RAM in mind. It is rated to adjust the settings. If you can choose a for a certain frequency. That frequency is lower FSB, that may make the system determined by the FSB, so you need to be more stable. You can also increase the volt- careful not to push the FSB beyond the age because an overclocked system general- point your memory can handle. When you ly requires more voltage than a system run- do this, you overclock the memory, which ning at the officially supported speed. is certainly something you can do, but it is Once you get your system to POST easiest to first run the memory within its at the overclocked speed, the next chal- specifications. This way, if the system is lenge is getting Windows to run. If the unstable after you increase the FSB, you system is highly unstable, Windows will know if the problem is with overclocking probably not load. If you can success- If the system is unstable after an overclock, you the processor or with overclocking the fully start Windows, you know that the may need to increase the voltage in the BIOS.

6 • PC Modder Keep system RAM in mind when overclocking. If you stay within the specs for the memory as you overclock the processor, it is simpler to troubleshoot stability problems.

RAM. If you exceed the designated fre- 95 degrees Celsius, a T-rated processor has unstable point, gradually lower the FSB quency for the RAM, when the system a maximum temperature of 90 C, and a V- setting until the system is once again stable. becomes unstable, you won’t know if the rated processor can be heated to only 85 C. Remember to run a utility that will stress problem is the overclocked processor or The maximum temperature for other the system to ensure that it is truly stable at the overclocked memory. processors is not so straightforward. In the final overclocked speed. You should let Prime95 (or any stabili- general, the processor case of Athlon 64s Once you have tested a system and con- ty-testing utility) run for at least a couple should not heat beyond 70 C. Intel’s maxi- firmed its stability, you may want to run a of hours. If you let Prime95 run for at mum temperature ratings are much lower, benchmark or two to see how well the least six hours without errors, you can say with a 38 C limit on 478-pin Pentium 4s overclocked system runs. SiSoftware’s with a relative degree of certainty that above 2.8GHz and a 40 C limit for other Sandra ($34.99 for single-client license; your overclocked system is fairly stable P4s. Both of those suggested maximum www.sisoftware.co.uk) is one application and able to handle heavy loads on the temperatures are for the processor case you can run to gauge your system’s perfor- processor. If you can devote an even rather than the processor itself. If you use mance. Another popular benchmarking greater period of time to running the sta- Intel’s Active Monitor utility (included program is Futuremark’s PCMark 04 Pro bility check, however, you will increase with Intel motherboards) to monitor sys- ($29.95 personal-use license; www.future the certainty with which you can say that tem temperatures, you should not let the mark.com). If you download PCMark 04 your overclocked system is stable. temperature of the CPU core rise above 64 Pro, you can save $10. Both of these pro- As you increase the voltage to stabilize C. You can find this and other information grams will run a variety of benchmarks on the system, you may find that the CPU about suggested CPU temperatures in the your system and provide an objective overheats. At the very least, high processor “Pushing The Limit” sidebar in “Keep account of the PC’s performance. temps will make a system unstable. At the Your Cool” on page 156. worst, overheating may damage compo- If the temperature nears the maximum Overclocked & Built For Speed nents. This is one of the reasons overclock- limit, you should either reduce the FSB or As you can see, overclocking a proces- ing is a perform-at-your-own-risk activity. consider trying a better cooling method. sor is a very gradual process. It requires You can reduce the odds of damaging As mentioned earlier, the articles in the not only patience but also a healthy bal- equipment, however, by monitoring system Cool It section of this issue, which begins ance of conservatism and risk taking. By temperatures as you tweak your PC. Try on page 132, discuss a variety of cooling carefully tweaking the FSB, monitoring installing a temperature-monitoring utility, methods and equipment, including third- temperatures, and providing the neces- such as Motherboard Monitor (Freeware; party heatsinks, thermal compounds, heat sary cooling to your system, you can mbm.livewiredev.com) or Hmonitor ($29 spreaders, case fans, blowholes, peltier sys- sometimes see quite dramatic leaps in for a one- or two-user personal license; tems, watercooling, and phase-change sys- performance and speed. www.hmonitor.com). You can read more tems. You may wish to incorporate one of After your system is overclocked and about these and other utilities in “Essential these cooling methods into your system to running stable, you can enjoy the speed Overclocking Utilities” on page 25. provide more wiggle room for increasing benefits of your new, faster PC. Perhaps If the temperature gets too hot, you will the voltage. more importantly, you now have bragging need to make adjustments to avoid damage. To achieve the highest overclock possi- rights to a system that you conquered and Acceptable temperatures vary depending ble, continue to gradually increase the FSB, pushed to the ultimate speeds. The rest of upon the type of processor you use. AMD in very small steps, until the system becomes this issue will provide a handy reference Athlon XP processors have an Ordering unstable and you can no longer safely for your newfound thirst for speed and Part Number label. The third character on increase the voltage without running into CPU power. the label indicates the maximum tempera- temperature problems with your chosen ture. An S-rated processor can safely heat to cooling method. When the system hits this by Kylee Dickey

PC Modder • 7 CUTTING HOLES & TAKING NAMES Your First Case Mod

f you’re the sort of power user who feels the constant need to pick up a I power tool and modify anything and everything, this article is not for you. If, on the other hand, you’re considering your first case mod, such as adding a blowhole or window to your case, or if you just want to paint your beige beast a more inviting color, we can help. Why should you cut your own win- dow and/or blowholes? For one thing, it’s cheaper than buying a premodded case, provided you have the proper tools on hand, not to mention the pride you’ll feel when you look at your newly modded case, knowing you did all the work your- self. This step-by-step article will walk you through the basics of dressing up your case (sometimes called vanity mod- ding), and we’ll also point out a few of the pitfalls as we go. We began preparing for this vanity Plexiglas. The kit we used cost $15 and makes it possible for users to find out modding primer by seeking out a reason- included a clear, square precut Plexiglas with a glance whether a heatsink fan has ably priced case made of steel, which is a window, a strip of rubber molding, a stopped working or determine exactly ferrous metal, meaning that it contains locking strip, a standard washer, and which component is smoking as a result iron. (Note that aluminum is a softer, installation instructions. of a botched overclocking session. nonferrous metal and is, therefore, easier We used a Dremel MultiPro variable- Preparation. We started by removing all to cut, but an aluminum case often costs speed rotary tool to cut a hole in the side of the panels from the case’s chassis. We more. It’s not a bad idea to save a few panel for our window and a variable- made sure to prep the side panel that would bucks on your first attempt just in case speed drill equipped with a hole saw for give us the best view of our components, things don’t go to plan.) We purchased a cutting the blowhole in the Chiefmax’s not the one that would reveal the backside Chiefmax (www.chiefmax.com) 769-PL1 top panel. of our system’s motherboard. We placed Beige Mid Tower ATX for $30.00, which the chosen side panel face up on a flat sur- included a 450-watt power supply. Note Window To The Soul face and covered it with masking tape, that our case came with textured side pan- Performance purists may ask why any- which protected the surface from scratches els, which you’ll want to avoid. But we’ll body would want to look at the static and also gave us a good marking surface. discuss that further in a moment. interior of a PC, but the multitude of Next, we laid the Plexiglas window on In the interest of simplicity, we chose lighting accessories, ultraviolet reactive the panel where we wanted to install it. to buy a window installation kit for our components, and colored PCBs (printed It’s a good idea to make sure your window case. Window kits are readily available circuit boards) on the market is proof that is at least an inch from the edge on all online in a variety of shapes and colors, people like to see what’s inside. There are sides. We placed our window closer to the some of which include custom etched practical benefits, too. A case window back and bottom of the panel to minimize

8 • PC Modder the view of the system’s drive bays and on to a curved edge. If you use a Dre- At the halfway point, you’ll need some- power supply unit. We also made sure mel, sparks will fly, so cut away from your thing you can fit between the molding and to position our window hole so that we body. As we cut along the window out- the Plexiglas to shoehorn the window in weren’t cutting through overlapping line, the emery wheel wore down; we used place. We used the flat wrench included in pieces of metal. three wheels to finish our window. For the Dremel set. Fitting the Plexiglas into We then put the washer against the thicker steel or a larger window, you may the molding can be tedious and difficult, edge of our Plexiglas and used a pencil end up using more. We replaced the cut- so be patient and work slowly to keep the inside the washer to trace the window. ting wheels when they wore down to two- window from slipping out. With the win- This left a .25-inch border around the thirds of their original size. When cutting dow in place, we installed the locking strip, window, which is for fitting the window rounded edges, we began with small cuts, which fits into the groove on the inside of molding. We used the resulting outline as lifted the Dremel, angled the tool, and the panel. We inserted the pointed side of a guide for cutting our window hole. cut again. This makes for a jagged corner, the locking strip (which clamps the mold- Cutting. Because we used a Dremel but the window molding will mask your ing onto the Plexiglas to keep it snug) tool, there was no need to start with a handiwork, and at this stage cutting accu- down and worked our way around the pilot hole, but if you plan to use a jigsaw, rately is far more important than getting a molding until our panel was finished and you’ll need to drill a hole on the inside smooth, straight cut. ready to show off our computer’s guts. edge of the traced outline to start your cut. When our window hole was complete, We used emery wheels on our Dremel, we filed the sharp edges with a deburring A Breath Of Fresh Air specially designed for cutting through accessory included in our Dremel set. You Blowholes can significantly improve air metals such as steel. Before cutting make can also use a hand file to remove excess circulation within your computer’s case. sure you are in a well-ventilated room or metal and smooth jagged edges. Next, we Although no amount of air circulation outdoors and are well away from flamma- removed the masking tape from the panel. will cool your processor and components ble materials. When cutting metal with a Plexiglass and molding. We made below the ambient air temperature, this is variable-speed rotary tool, it’s also a good sure we were working on a clean surface, often sufficient to ameliorate temperature free of metal shavings that might scratch spikes that result from moderate over- the Plexiglas. The window molding is clocking. Also, if done properly, a blow- smooth and rounded on one side and hole (with the help of an LED-adorned grooved on the other side. We started fan and an attractive fan grille) can add to with the panel’s interior side facing up your system’s visual appeal.

Using a kit makes installing a window a snap. We used a washer to trace our window.

Any last words, plain Jane? and fit the narrow edge of the molding Preparation. You can use a jigsaw, onto the window opening so the locking rotary tool, or drill fitted with an arbor groove was visible. Then we fit the mold- and hole saw to cut a blowhole. We chose idea to check the tool’s manual for recom- ing all the way around the inside of our to use a drill and hole saw because it offers mended cutting wheel speeds. Our window hole. The molding strip was too the cleanest cut. Unlike a window hole Dremel has a 35,000rpm maximum long, so we cut the strip to the proper that is covered with molding, the edges of speed, and the manual suggested we use length using a utility knife. a blowhole will be visible when you’re the full speed for cutting steel. Make sure We used Scotch tape to hold the mold- done, and most fan grilles won’t adequate- you take appropriate safety measures when ing in place, removing it piece by piece as ly mask a jagged hole. Typically you’ll using power tools, such as wearing protec- we installed the Plexiglas. When fitting the want a 3.125-inch (76mm) hole saw for tive eyewear. Plexiglas into your molding strip, start an 80mm fan, which is the size of most We started on a straight edge to get a with a corner and pull the edge of the standard case fans. We decided to go all feel for how the tool cut before moving molding lip over the edge of the window. the way and install a massive 120mm fan,

PC Modder • 9 so we used a 4.75-inch (121mm) hole set to turn in the proper direction. While best to paint last so as not to chip or mar saw, which is nearly the diameter of a CD. drilling, we applied enough pressure to your paint job when cutting or drilling We had to prep our case for cutting keep the hole saw in constant contact window holes or blowholes.) before our fan arrived, so we had to mea- with the metal, but not so much that the Shopping list. We used spray paint for sure and cut the hole without the benefit drill bogged down. Typically top panels our case because it’s relatively cheap and of having the fan to use in drawing an are thicker than side panels, so it may easy to work with. We bought two cans outline. We chose to install the blowhole take some time to cut through. When the of Rust-Oleum brand fast-drying, wet- in the top of our case. We started by hole was drilled, we used the Dremel sandable primer. It’s a good idea to get marking the top panel to represent the interior location of our power supply Fitting the molding lip around the Plexiglas We used a unit and our optical drive. This gave us can be difficult. short nail about six inches of leeway for installing to divot the our fan where it would do the most center good. We covered the section we point for planned to cut with masking tape, found our blow- the center of the panel, and drew a hole. straight line on all four sides using a ruler. Next, we positioned the 4.75-inch hole saw over the center point and traced it. You will need to divot the center point with an awl or nail punch to keep with a deburring accessory to file down either white or pale gray primer, which the drill in place while cutting. its sharp edge. will help your colored paint to more Bear in mind that if you’re at all inter- Place your fan over the hole on top of closely resemble the color you’d expect ested in upgrading your fan in the future, the masked panel. Center it, mark the based on the cap. We also got cans of it’s best to initially cut a smaller hole and screw holes with a pencil, and drill the Rust-Oleum textured charcoal, Painter’s use a larger hole saw later. If you decide holes using a standard drill bit no wider Touch blaze orange, and Painter’s Touch to install a smaller fan, you can use a fan than the screw holes of the fan. When we multipurpose flat clearcoat. We bought adapter, but note that adapters will were finished, we removed the masking some low-grit sandpaper, but if you want increase the profile of the fan. tape and installed the fan according to the a smooth finish, you should use 600-grit wet/dry sandpaper. The Dremel does its job with flair. Preparation. When painting, you’ll want to find a work area with plenty of Scotch tape held the ventilation that’s clear of the elements. molding in place until we You may also want to put down plenty of installed the Plexiglas. plastic sheeting or cardboard to keep overspray from marking up your work area. We removed all the case panels from the chassis of our PC and took special care to remove the LEDs and Power and Reset buttons from the face panel. Our case has a built-in USB hub in the front, Cutting. We suggest using a corded supplied instructions. Keep in mind that so we removed it along with the plastic drill for steady, continuous power, but a you want your case to take in more air feet on the underside of the chassis. We cordless drill can provide a similar experi- than it blows out by a 2:1 ratio. also popped out each of the drive bay cov- ence as long as you start with a fully ers to paint them separately. We arranged charged battery. Again, make sure you Color Your World everything on our painting surface (card- take the proper safety precautions, Painting your case is one of the most board) so that we had enough room to including wearing goggles and working fundamental ways to improve the look of paint all sides of each panel when laid flat in an open or well-ventilated space. With your system. Artistic ability is not as on the ground. If your case has textured our panel clamped down over an open important as attention to detail and a paint or textured plastic panels, you space, we started our cut by positioning good color scheme. We chose to paint our might want to sand them first. It isn’t the drill tip in the divoted center point. case panels charcoal and the chassis blaze necessary to strip off the original coat of It’s best to use the highest speed your orange. (Note that if you’re combining paint, but sanding will help the paint drill can provide, and be sure your drill is any cutting projects with a paint job, it’s adhere and give you a smooth surface to

10 • PC Modder start with. Make sure each panel is clean of paint. If masking large sections of a reinstalled the window and put our case and dry before you begin. panel, use masking tape at the edge and back together. Painting and sanding. We started by newspaper to cover the panel, rather than using the primer on everything, holding masking the entire surface, which can Worth The Effort the can 6 to 12 inches away from the sur- damage a previously applied coat. We Vanity modding tends to be a longer, face. We used an even, back-and-forth painted the chassis with the Painter’s more drawn-out process than perfor- motion and never sprayed the same spot Touch blaze orange. You’ll want to paint mance modding, which offers instant for too long. You don’t need to paint the different-colored panels or components gratification, assuming everything works

Just pull the trigger and let the drill do the work. Notice the clean edge.

We stood the panels up for more even coverage.

inside of your case panels, but make sure well away from other parts because paint when you turn on the power. Cosmetic you cover every side that will be visible dust and overspray can alter your intend- mods take patience, and if you only have when your case is reassembled. Because ed finish. We found this out the hard one computer, it can mean being with- the chassis is bare metal, the primer helps way, as our gray panels came out with a out a PC for days. But if you have the prevent the paint from dripping. It is best mildly perceptible orange tint. After sev- patience to see your project through, you to apply several light coats of the primer eral coats and another 24-hour curing can take pride in the fact that you have rather than one heavy coat. If the cover- period, our panels and chassis were fin- created something unique. age looks uneven after your first coat, ished. We applied the clearcoat finish to don’t worry, wait for it to dry and apply the outer panels to serve as a protective by Andrew Leibman another coat. Each coat of primer took barrier. Once the clearcoat was dry, we roughly 30 minutes to dry, but once we applied a few coats, we waited 24 hours to let it cure. You might consider using string to suspend the chassis from the ceiling of your work area to get to all sides in a single session. Once the primer has cured, you can sand it smooth, taking special care not to sand down to the original paint. As we mentioned earlier, you should avoid using a case with textured panels, as these can make adequate sanding nearly impossible. For a smooth finish, keep the sanding surface wet throughout the sanding process to prevent scratching. Because we wanted a textured surface, we chose to dry sand our panels. We applied another coat of primer to get as even a finish as possible, waited 24 hours, and sanded again. Finally, we were ready to apply the colored paint. If you plan to paint any panels multi- The final product (minus the ple colors, use masking tape to cover the fan, which didn’t arrive in time to parts of the panel you want to keep free mug for the camera).

PC Modder • 11 WATER FOR FIRST-TIMERS Tips To Help Watercooling Newbies Take The Plunge

atercooling systems no through the radiator will become very hot longer make up just a trick- and eventually help fry your CPU. W le in the PC market— There are two basic types of pumps used they’re a mainstream cooling concept, for watercooling: inline and submersible. and users who ignore the potential of Inline pumps can be used with or without water’s chilling properties risk getting a reservoir. To use an inline pump, you one-upped by the competition. Don’t pour water into the system, connect your fret if you’ve avoided wading into the tubes to the appropriate components, and water until now. There are so many fire up the pump. You’ll have to bleed out excellent watercooling products available any air in the system, of course, and that’s that you can easily add H20-based com- somewhat difficult to do when you use ponents and have your computer back up an inline pump and no water and running in an hour or less. reservoir. PC enthusiasts unfamiliar with water- As their name implies, sub- cooling technologies will want to be mersible pumps must be submerged in aware of standard caveats when working water before they will work properly. Most conducts heat quickly. Many waterblocks with their new wet toys. We’ll preempt a manufacturers include a reservoir for sub- use copper, aluminum, or silver, all of which lot of your questions with step-by-step merging this type of pump. Unlike inline have good heat transference characteristics. instructions on installing a new water- pumps, it’s much easier to avoid air trapped And don’t forget. There are other cooling kit and offer plenty of other in the cooling loop when you use a sub- watercooling components that require water-related tips along the way. mersible pump. your consideration. Tubing, in particular, Radiator/fan. Radiators are blocks of can greatly hinder or help your project Component Basics metal with many flattened tubes (typically depending on its characteristics. Very There are so many variations in water- made of copper) arranged in a parallel flexible tubing is great for winding cooling components that it’s easy to be pattern. As with water pump reservoirs, through the maze of parts and crevasses in overwhelmed by your choices. We’ll start radiators have both an inlet and outlet; your case, but that same quality also by breaking things down into simplest water warmed by the CPU comes means it kinks easily. Rigid tubing resists terms. Every watercooling system has through the inlet and moves through the kinks but is hard to manipulate through three fundamental parts, including a fins of the radiator. Those fins conduct tight quarters, and even if you succeed in pump, waterblock, and a fan/radiator heat to the fan-blown air moving through snaking the tube into the right spot, it combo, all of which are connected via the radiator’s slits. might place undue pressure on the flexible and (hopefully) watertight tubing. Manufacturers give their radiators either waterblock and CPU. Many systems also include a separate a BTU (British Thermal Units) or KCal Water is another component that you water reservoir to increase fluid capacity. (calories burned by heat) per hour rating. shouldn't overlook. Using water straight For the system to be effective, water must The higher the rating, the more heat a radi- from the tap is a sure way to deposit move from part to part in a certain order. ator can disperse to the surrounding air. If harmful minerals throughout your sys- Water flows from the pump and into the you have serious cooling needs, you can tem. Tap water may also cause oxidation radiator, which drops the water’s tempera- buy a dual-fan radiator, which is twice the to ruin the metal components in your ture, to the waterblock, which transfers heat size of a regular radiator and provides extra cooling loop, and for that reason alone, from the CPU to the cooler water, which cooling capability. Other radiators are pas- distilled water is the only way to go. moves back to the water pump again. sive, meaning that they substitute noisy Also, to prevent icky algae build-up, Pumps. Make sure you use high-quali- fans with a giant heatsink. your water needs an anti-algae additive, ty parts in your watercooling system. Waterblock. Waterblocks have the all- which you can find on your favorite Using a flimsy-looking water pump can important task of transferring heat from the components site. come back to haunt you, as cheap pumps CPU to circulating water. To perform this Now we’ll show you how we installed a might spring leaks, or just as bad, stop job effectively, a waterblock must cover the basic kit. Hardcore users scoff at kits, call- working—and water that’s not moving entire CPU and be made of a material that ing them overpriced, underperforming

12 • PC Modder monstrosities with so-so parts and middling aquarium water pump, a water reservoir lengths of tubing to make sure every- performance. Though kits are more expen- designed to fit in a 5.25-inch drive bay, thing fits the way you want it to. sive than selecting and assembling individ- radiator and 80mm fan, hose clamps, ual components yourself (see our “Water waterblock, an assortment of screws, 1. The first step in assembling a kit is to By Design” sidebar), you’re supposedly springs, nuts, and washers, but, ahem, no check out the parts at your disposal and assured that every part fits the way it assembly instructions. Guess we picked plan a course of action. There’s nothing should, a not-so-insignificant trait when the right kit for this story, huh? worse than diving into a system project you’re undertaking a potentially patience- There are two ways to go about and then finding out 40 minutes later testing task for the first time. installing a watercooling system. Many that you misplaced or misused a critical enthusiasts assemble their systems out- screw or clamp. Make sure you have an Basic Kit Steps side their PC case and let the pump run idea of where each part goes, and make We bought a basic—but expensive— for several hours to make sure every sure you have the right number of nuts, preassembled component kit from component is free of leaks. Users with bolts, clamps, and other vital hardware. FrozenCPU (www.frozencpu.com) so we more confidence (and healthy publishing 2. Affix the waterblock to your mother- could show you the fundamentals of a company equipment budgets) throw board. You’ll likely have to remove watercooling system installation. Assem- caution to the wind and build the cool- your motherboard from its case to bling a kit sounds like an elementary task, ing loop on and around expensive equip- complete this task, so disconnect but it really wasn’t as easy as expected. ment. If you opt to assemble your kit cables, uninstall the CPU heatsink and Our generic $200 kit included all the outside the case, you’ll simply have to be fan, take out your mobo’s screws, and necessaries, such as tubing, an inline a little more careful when you cut your lift the board carefully from the case. Water By Design f you like DIY projects and and they come in many dif- makes the building process with or without a reservoir. I don’t want to be a target for ferent flavors. You can buy more complex because you Reservoir-less pumps tend to the elitist sneers of watercool- ultra-basic aluminum blocks, need more fittings. be louder and make it very ing purists, forsake kits, pick expensive all-copper blocks, Trying to connect and dis- difficult to bleed out every air and choose your own cooling a block that combines both connect tubing is a pain in the bubble; that’s a potentially components, and assemble a aluminum and copper, and neck. You can make this task deadly problem because if an one-of-a-kind system that will aluminum blocks dipped in a easier by using quick-discon- air bubble lodges itself in the make your friends as green as silver coating. You’ll find that nect fittings that have female waterblock, your CPU might the pond scum growing on radiators offer similar diver- and male connectors with a suffer heat exhaustion. their waterblocks. Going for- sity. Beware, though, of mix- button that makes it easy to As your peruse pump ward without a kit means a ing aluminum and copper pull tubing free. If you opt for options, keep your eyes on couple of things. One, you’ll components in your cooling traditional barbed fittings, you the GPH (gallons per hour) have to wing it as you go and system, as this will cause will need the appropriate and lift ratings. A pump that improvise when necessary. rust to occur much faster hose clamps, which have sev- moves 100GPH is plenty for Two, without prefitted parts than normal. If you must mix eral variations, including flim- general watercooling purpos- you run a greater risk of leaks metals in your cooling loop, sy wire clamps that apply very es, and lift, which refers to and other critical problems. be sure to add a good dose little pressure to the hose and the height that a pump can These are both worthy chal- of rust-inhibitor additive, but barb. We prefer plastic clamps move water, should be at lenges that you’ll be proud be aware that this depen- that let you squeeze the hose least 20 inches or so, letting to overcome. dency on chemicals will until it screams. you efficiently push water to Before you can begin, you probably let you down in the You already know that you all corners of your case. will have to order the parts end. can use either a submersible With a little practice and you want to use, including Most systems use 1/4-inch, or inline pump for your sys- some smart shopping, you can tubing, a waterblock, radiator 1/2-inch, or 3/8-inch connec- tem, and there are significant put together an amazing cool- and fan, a pump, and the tion points, and as you buy differences between the two. ing system unlike any other hardware to make everything parts, make sure all your Submersible pumps are for far less than the price of a watertight. Pick your products components have connectors housed in a reservoir, a little kit. Just be sure to follow stan- carefully to make sure compo- of the same diameter; other- quieter than inline pumps, dard safety precautions and nents fit properly. wise, you’ll end up cutting, and have a setup that makes take your time putting things Waterblocks are crucial in splicing, and generally mak- it easier to evacuate air bub- together to avoid component- every watercooling system, ing your loop weaker. It also bles. Inline pumps can be use killing leaks. ▲

PC Modder • 13 3. Apply a thin layer of thermal grease to the have had very little clearance at the force us to improvise. We used a ciga- top of the CPU. Use the end of a plastic case’s rear. We used two long screws rette lighter to soften the threads on our card (you don’t really need that credit to secure the fan to the radiator, and connectors, which we then forced a cou- card, anyway) to evenly spread the grease. the radiator to the case, making sure ple of millimeters into the reservoir. 4. Slide the long screws through the moth- 10. We applied waterproof sealant to the erboard and secure a washer and nut to leaky cracks around the connectors. We the backside of the mobo. This will keep used copious amounts of the sealant and the screws in place as you affix your array squished it into the cracks to make of hardware on top of the motherboard. absolutely sure there would be no route 5. This bag of hardware really isn’t as con- for water to escape, and then we let the fusing to use as it first seems. You’ve sealant cure for 24 hours. Don’t cut cor- already used four washers and four nuts ners on the curing process unless you’re to keep the long screws from sliding out not worried about water dripping all over

of the motherboard. Now you just need the fan oriented to blow through the your expensive circuitry. Once the glue to finish the topside hardware configura- radiator and out of the case. dries, test the reservoir’s seals outside the tion. Slide the plastic washers into place 9. Many reservoirs are large and hard to case, and when you’re sure there are no and secure them with a nut. Slip a spring place in a cramped case, but this water leaks, insert the reservoir into a drive bay, and then a washer onto each screw and tank mounts neatly into a 5.25-inch preferably a bay below your pricey DVD then lower the waterblock into place. drive bay. No problem, right? Unfortu- drives. Secure the reservoir with screws. 6. Now drop a washer on each screw, and nately, the hose connectors that shipped 11. Take the length of tubing and practice then use the four gold nuts to tighten the with the reservoir didn’t fit the reser- routing it from component to compo- entire assembly. Cross-thread the nuts to voir’s inlet/outlet holes. We tried insert- nent inside your case. You don’t have a make sure you apply pressure evenly, and ing the connectors at every angle with no lot of extra tubing to work with, so don’t when the waterblock is snug, make sure luck, and brute force only threatened to do any cutting until you have a good idea it covers the entire surface of the CPU. damage the reservoir. Pressing deadlines of how long each section needs to be. 7. Reinstall the motherboard, reattach all You will probably catch the hose trying cables and wiring, and use ties to keep to kink at tight turns, and you can usual- cables neat and out of the way of your ly prevent kinking by adding or subtract- forthcoming cooling system components. ing a little of the tube’s length. The two 8. The radiator and reservoir are the two sections that attach to the reservoir biggest parts in this kit, so install these should be on the long side. This extra first. In our situation, the space-hun- length will let you slide the reservoir from gry graphics card forced us to mount the drive bay when it’s time to add water. our radiator to a fan outlet at the 12. Cut a single length of tubing. We rec- front of the case—our hoses would ommend starting with the longest piece

14 • PC Modder first. Use a sharp tool so you end up with barb; it took a lot of effort to push the a clean cut that rests snugly against each tubing into place and we didn’t want to component. Slip a hose clamp over one apply unnecessary force to the pump’s end of your tubing, lubricate the hose innards. If you have to disassemble your and component barb with a little saliva, pump for any reason, be absolutely sure and push the hose all the way onto the that you put it back together complete- barb. Wiggle the hose clamp into place ly; otherwise, you risk catastrophic leaks. and use pliers to squeeze it tight. Repeat We initially forgot to replace the plastic this procedure for each connection point. twist-lock for this pump, and water 13. Because this waterblock has three barbs, went everywhere—fortunately, we were including a center inlet and outlets on testing the pump outside the case, so no second. Pour in more water and run the either side, you have to use a Y-connec- damage occurred. pump again. Repeat this procedure until tor to bring the outlet hoses together. 15. Double-check your circuit of tubing your hoses are free of air bubbles. Cut the outlet tubes short, but long to make sure each connection is 19. Top off the reservoir with the green enough to give them some flexibility for secured with a hose clamp. Verify that coolant. Don’t forget this step, as the Y-connector and also so you can there are no kinks in your hoses. coolant prevents rust and algae from Position the water pump outside the case for your initial water testing. After you have all your connections made, it may be tempting to perform a dry run before filling your system with water, but that’s a bad idea. That waterblock is made to work optimally with water, not air, so if you attempt to boot up, you’ll likely encounter heat-related problems, such as aborted startups or error messages. 16. Unplug your PC’s power cable. Remove any super-precious components, such as that $400 graphics card, the $200 RAM modules, or the hard drive. If you are extremely paranoid about encountering leaks on your system’s first run, you can test the setup outside the case, but where’s the fun in that? bend the outlet tubes slightly towards 17. Slide the reservoir out a few inches and developing on your components, low- the reservoir. Remember that the plastic unscrew the cap. This particular reser- ers water temperatures a bit, and also Y-connector isn’t as tough as, say, the voir has a rather small fill hole, and it’s a makes your hoses glow green under a metal barb connectors on the waterblock good idea to use a funnel to keep water blacklight. Wicked. Turn off your or radiator, so make sure you don’t put from running all over the place. If you computer room’s overhead light and undue pressure on this component by don’t have a plastic funnel, just curl a start overclocking, Mad Modder style. using hoses that are too short. Don’t for- couple of sheets of copier paper to form get to use hose clamps here, as well. a temporary water guidance tool. Pour System Maintenance 14. We partially disassembled our pump so in a few cups of your distilled water and Every six months or so, it’s a good idea that we could slide the tubing onto the keep an eye open for leaks, and then set to flush your system with distilled water down the water jug and tilt your PC’s and refill it with fresh water and a new case back and forth to make the water dollop of coolant. Examine each compo- work its way through the various con- nent to make sure there are no visible nection points. Once everything looks signs of corrosion, mineral buildup, or watertight, go ahead and pour in more organic growth. Then reassemble the sys- water, and keep tilting the reservoir to let tem, and you’ll be ready for another the fluid settle toward the water pump. stretch of overclocking. 18. Once the tubing near the pump is full, plug in the pump and let it run for a by Nathan Chandler

PC Modder • 15 BENCHMARK BASICS A Primer On Measuring Your PC’s Performance

an, I raced some loudmouth Futuremark’s PCMark kid last night,” your tuner 04 Pro ($14.95;www. “M friend tells you. “All that futuremark.com), mean- J.C. Whitney wannabe saw were my while, analyzes the speed six taillights.” of typical home user “How fast were you going?” you ask. demands. These include “What was your time to the next stoplight?” antivirus, audio and video, “Uh, I forgot to look,” your friend encryption, and compres- hedges. “But it was awesome.” sion duties. Futuremark PC modders have just as much need for also distributes a number speed as the local gearhead. But you have of other benchmarks made to admit that it makes for a much better by BAPCo, such as story if you can show how much speed MobileMark for note- your rig has on tap. Sure, your new 3D books, WebMark for card may feel faster, but how much swifter Internet transaction is it, really? Is overclocking your CPU’s speeds, and SYSmark. SYSmark ($399.95) is a basically more expensive counterpart frontside bus worth it? Will more RAM to PCMark04 that measures business actually help the games and apps you use? workloads. Benchmarking, or using software to AquaMark3 ($9.95 and up; www pin down your computer’s speed to a .aquamark3.com), SPECviewperf 7.1.1 score of some kind, may sound a little dry ($50; www.spec.org), and 3DMark03 Pro at first. But the first time you realize that ($19.95; www.futuremark.com) are video you just gave yourself a 9% faster graphics card benchmarks. SPECviewperf measures card with a quick—and free—overclock, a card’s performance with the OpenGL benchmarking will get into your blood. API, while AquaMark3 and 3DMark03 You’ll not only be doing before-and-after gauge cards using DirectX 9.0 tests to try out new devices and tweaks, and earlier. Most games are programmed to you’ll be comparing your system’s scores use DirectX rather than Open GL, so with your buddies before long. Most synthetic benchmarks, such as 3DMark03, AquaMark3 and 3DMark03 are of more rate your system’s speed as a score of accumu- interest to gamers. Benchmark Brothers lated points. Finally, there are benchmarks made There are two basic types of bench- specifically for testing hardware, such as marks. Synthetic ones are standardized Nero’s Nero CD-DVD Speed V2.20 tests or suites of tests. Real-world bench- for CD and DVD drives (www.cdspeed marks are measurements of how fast an 2000.com) and HD Tach 2.7 for hard actual application, game, or device can drives (www.simplisoftware.com). run on your PC. Many benchmark utili- Sandra can also test such drives. These ties have free, limited versions, so try benchmarks generally tell you how fast before you buy. a drive can read and/or write data in a Synthetic. SiSoftware Sandra Pro- vacuum; that is, without demands from fessional 2004 (SP1) ($34.99; www. multiple processes or users. For a more sisoftware.net) is a well-known synth- realistic look at how a new drive will etic benchmark suite for various PC affect your system’s overall perfor- attributes. Sandra offers scores of granu- Halo, like many other games, can rate your mance, use PCMark04 or a similar app- lar device and bus tests, as well as graphics card’s fps rate during a standard demo. based suite. instant comparisons to other devices This is considered a more real-world test than a Real-world testing. A more direct and PCs. synthetic benchmark. way to benchmark apps and devices is to

16 • PC Modder you’re trying to improve your motherboard, video card, and other through overclocking or swap- devices are using the latest drivers. ping parts. Futuremark lists drivers approved for use For overall productivity with its benchmarks at www.future with office apps or media file mark.com/community/drivers/?approved. transcoding, you’d benchmark On the other hand, for your own per- with PCMark04, Sandra, and sonal frame-rate tuning, you might want your individual apps. If you’re to keep your real-world FPS testing in more interested in gameplay or the real world. In other words, if you CAD, though, you’d test with play games online over a broadband con- 3DMark03, your apps, and/or nection, test your video card with your your games. antivirus utility and firewall running, too. Before you benchmark for There’s no point in finding your system’s scores that you plan to com- optimal for a particular game’s pare with others’, prep your PC settings if the fps are going to plunge to run its best. Stop all other when you turn on other essential apps. programs, including antivirus, 3DMark03. You can start 3DMark03’s firewall, and Windows’ System default tests by clicking Run 3DMark. The Restore. Set your card to the program will run several interesting scenar- Futuremark’s new smartphone benchmark, shown here in resolution, (a mea- ios that look like they’ve popped out of an exclusive photo, can test phones such as the Motorola sure of the number of colors video games. 3DMark03 will time your A925; Nokia N-Gage, 7650, and 3650/3600; Panasonic that can be displayed simulta- card to see how fast it can render the scenes, X700; Siemens SX1; and Ericsson P900. neously, such as 32 bit), and as well as gauging its aptitude for various feature settings that your com- graphics features, such as model 2.0. petitors use. Finally, be sure To customize 3DMark03, click Change, time how long it takes them to do com- that your benchmark has the latest patch Image Quality, or Texture Filtering. You’ll mon tasks. For instance, you might use from the developer’s Web site and that be able to adjust resolution, shader settings, a normal stopwatch to time an Adobe Photoshop batch process or how long it takes an MPEG-4 encoding utility to Cheater, Cheater process a particular video clip. You can also hand-time file transfers to and from he big “cheating” con- optimizations in current benchmarks should be your hard drive, as well as the length of T troversy last year has video card drivers. In other developed and how they time it takes your burner to make a admittedly been well-docu- words, if a driver change should be used,” Burke DVD or CD. mented elsewhere, but we only boosts performance says. “We believe that Meanwhile, games often have mecha- have to at least mention it in a benchmark program, common rules will pre- nisms that tell you how many fps here. Basically, Futuremark not every game or applica- vent these types of unfor- (frames per second) they can render, discovered that certain tion, Futuremark considers tunate situations moving often during standard demos that are Nvidia drivers seemed to it a cheat. forward.” included with the game. be optimized for better “Nvidia works closely Partly because of this Both synthetic and real-world bench- 3DMark03 scores. In other with developers to opti- brouhaha, at least one marks have their uses, so run at least one words, a card with an mize games for GeForceFX. prominent hardware of each for a more complete picture of Nvidia GPU might outpace These optimizations reviewer now eschews your PC’s prowess. “These two types of a comparable ATI-based (including shader optimiza- benchmark software benchmarks definitely complement each adapter in 3DMark03, but tions) are the result of the entirely. Kyle Bennett, other, and we never advise any of our wouldn’t prove to be any co-development process,” CPU columnist and owner clients to depend on only one bench- faster in real-world apps says Nvidia’s Brian Burke. of [H]ard|OCP (www. mark,” Sarkkinen says. and games. “This is the approach hardocp.com) now favors Futuremark declined to Nvidia would have pre- hands-on gameplay and Ready, Set, Mark comment on the issue for ferred also for 3DMark03.” fps testing at a card’s best Now that you know what the types of this article. However, its “Both Nvidia and image quality settings as benchmarks are, it should be easier for release notes for Build 340 Futuremark want to the most important testing you to decide on which to use. The main of 3DMark03 state that it define clear rules with methods (page 30, June question is what part of your system was meant to disable any the industry about how 2004 CPU). ▲

PC Modder • 17 antialiasing, and texture options such as you’re setting up your benchmark in multi-CPU and hyper-threaded sys- anisotropic filtering. the same way as your competitors. For tems,” says Sarkkinen. “Also, we just Sandra Standard 2004. To benchmark example, Futuremark recommends that updated the same benchmark to sup- your computer with Sandra, scroll down to you set up 3DMark03 according to its port the latest 64-bit AMD CPUs.” the test you want to run, such as Memory guide (www.futuremark.com/company 3DMark03 was the first major Bandwidth, CPU Arithmetic, or CPU info/reviewers_guide_3dmark03.pdf) benchmark to support DX9’s Shader MultiMedia, and double-click it. If the test before you publish your benchmark model 2.0, Sarkkinen says, and an doesn’t run immediately, click the Refresh results. There’s no point in matching upcoming new version will support button (the one with the blue arrows). your results against someone else’s if Shader 3.0. In addition, Sarkkinen says Sandra will display the results in a few you tested in a nonstandard way. Even that Future-mark’s new benchmark for minutes or less. You can compare them to one difference in settings can alter your Symbian-based smartphones should be other system components using the drop- final score. ready by the time you read this. down menus. Some benchmarks have features that Whatever battery of benchmarks you Halo. To log Halo’s timedemo fps rate help you post your scores online or com- choose to use, it can help your PC be first in WinXP, click Start and Run. Type pare them with other users’, such as the on race day. cmd in the Open field, and press Aqua-Mark Result Comparator (arc.aqua- ENTER. Now type: mark3.com/arc/arc_userhome.php) and by Marty Sems cd c:\\microsoft 3DMark-03’s and PCMark’s games\halo Online Results Browser RB (http://sevice.futuremark The World Records You may have to adjust the drive letter .com/servlet/Index?pageid or file path if you’ve installed Halo on a =/orb/index). t press time, this was the latest list of top 3DMark03 different hard drive partition (such as d:) FPS. For fps testing in A (build 340) scores from Futuremark’s Hall of Fame or in another folder (such as c:\my games, your main goal (www.futuremark.com/community/halloffame). Each PC games\microsoft games\halo). Press should be to find the high- ran the benchmark at its default settings with graphics ENTER. Next, type: est resolution at which you card drivers approved by Futuremark. System specs are halo.exe -timedemo -vidmode can turn on all the eye as provided by the users. 1600,1200 candy you want (antialias- ing, game detail, anisotrop- 1. 16802 macci, ATI Radeon X800XT @ Press ENTER. The –vidmode 1600, ic filtering) and still have 766MHz/651MHz, P4EE @ 4,429MHz 1200 part sets the resolution. You can enough frames per second (18x246MHz, 1:1 RAM:fsb) change this to other values, such as to keep the play smooth. 2. 16774 Team Finland (Macci, Kamu & Sampsa) 1024,768, but remember to separate the fps rates below 30fps—the ATI Radeon X800XT @ 760/652, P4EE height and width with a comma as frame rate of ordinary TV @ 4,433 (19x 233) shown. Press ENTER and sit back to broadcasts—are considered watch the demo. unplayable. Although you 3. 14524 OPPAINTER, ATI Radeon X800Pro @ To read the results afterward, close may not be able to con- 717/633, Athlon 64 FX-53 @ 2,976 Halo and type the following at the com- sciously distinguish a dif- (248x12) mand line (again, adjusting the filepath as ference in frame rates much necessary). Press ENTER. faster than that, there is 4. 13540 XtremeResources.com 3D Team (oc- cd c:\program files\micr osoft evidence that your brain rookie), Radeon X800 Pro 735/640, games\halo\timedemo.txt can. Faster frame rates P4EE 3,400 might even help you get 5. 13478 Jason57570, Sapphire Radeon X800 Pro So My Scores Mean . . . What? better scores because the @ 725/644, Athlon FX-53 @ 3,158 If you’re just benchmarking to see how motion on-screen seems (242x13 @ 1.85v) much faster (or slower) your PC is after a more fluid. part swap or overclock, it doesn’t matter 6. 13378 FUGGER, P4EE 3,400 so much what your scores actually are. New ‘Marks What matters is how the “befores” com- Computer technology 7. 12988 X800Pro 16pipes MOD pare to the “afters.” doesn’t stand still, so On the other hand, if you want to benchmark developers 8. 12486 Team Anti-X (OCSTUPID) brag that your new 6800 Ultra Extreme often release new versions. 9. 12482 Boogotop X800 Pro can hit such-and-such a 3DMark03 “In PCMark04 we intro- score, you need to make sure that duced test scenarios for 10. 12173 IC7 Anti-X.org

18 • PC Modder system bandwidth of up to 12.8GBps. HyperTransport transmits data at AMD’S TOP CPU 800MHz, which at double data rate can equal system bus speeds of 1600MHz. The Athlon 64 FX-53 Security. AMD's development team worked closely with Microsoft to opti- mize Enhanced Virus Protection for its MD, the "other" processor 32-bit applications, but it brings 64-bit newer processors, including the Athlon 64 maker and Intel's fiercest com- computing to the home-user arena. The FX-53. This feature, enabled by Windows A petitor, may not have the kind Athlon 64 processors are designed to han- XP SP2, adds a new level of protection of name recognition Intel enjoys, but it is dle the current 32-bit software, as well as against certain viruses such as MSBlaster quickly redefining itself as a force to be emerging 64-bit software, without the aid and Slammer when used in conjunction reckoned with. AMD's Athlon 64 series of emulators. Although 64-bit applications with antivirus and firewall software. of processors seek not only to fill the 64- have yet to really penetrate the home-user bit desktop computing gap left by Intel, market, Microsoft was offering trial ver- In The Future but also to demolish AMD's bargain- sions of Windows XP 64-Bit Edition from At the time of this writing, the 939-pin basement underdog reputation in favor of its Web site at the time of this writing. In socket hadn't quite been released but will be being the big green cheese. With the the near future, Epic Games plans to out as you read this. AMD plans to move release of the Athlon 64 FX-53, the sec- release a 64-bit beta version of Unreal the Athlon 64 FX family of processors to ond in a line of Athlon 64 FX processors, Tournament 2004, and Ubisoft is releas- the new 939-pin socket, leaving the 940-pin AMD has yet again set the bar. ing a 64-bit beta version of Far Cry. socket configuration to the server and work- Like its predecessor, the FX-53 uses the Multimedia instructions. Along with station . This also means the 940-pin socket, which is the same socket AMD64 instructions, the Athlon 64 FX- Athlon 64 FX-53 will no longer require reg- used for the Opteron family of processors. 53 includes support for SSE (Streaming istered (and more expensive) DIMMs. The The ZIF (zero insertion force) socket fea- SIMD Extension), SSE2 (Streaming AMD64 CPUs are currently the most tures a lever that locks down the processor SIMD Extension 2), Intel's MMX tech- future-proof processors on the market for when pushed down flush against the nology, and AMD's 3DNow! technology. consumers. Unfortunately, we'll only see the motherboard. To release the chip, simply Software developers use these instruction full benefits of this leap in technology as 64- pull the lever up so it is perpendicular to sets to improve audio and video encoding, bit software becomes more prevalent. the board. which can enhance game performance. AMD manufactures the core of the Cache. The FX-53 features 128KB of by Andrew Leibman FX-53 at its Fab 30 wafer fabrication L1 cache, which consists of 64KB for facility in Dresden, Germany, using a instruction and 64KB for data. Aside from 0.13-micron SOI (silicone-on-insulator) the L1, the FX-53 includes a large 1MB process, which fits 105.9 million transis- L2 cache, which contains both data stream tors on the 193mm² die. The processor and instruction information. The FX-53’s has a nominal voltage of 1.05. caches are “exclusive,” which means they are separate, while the Intel Pentium 4 Inside The Athlon 64 FX-53 Extreme Edition CPU features “inclusive,” In a move to reduce memory latency, or combined L1 and L2 caches (where the AMD has moved the L1 is essentially a part of the L2). from the to the die itself, HyperTransport. HyperTransport is a which brings the transfer speed, usually high-speed, low-latency, universal chip-to- AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 limited by the memory bus, up to the chip link, which is faster and more efficient Clock Speed 2.4GHz System Bus 1600MHz same frequency as the processor. Another than traditional multilevel buses. Hyper- L1 Cache 128KB thing to note about the FX-53 is the Transport technology is the replacement L2 Cache 1MB jump in clock speed. The difference for previous bus technology. The one L3 Cache N/A between the 2.2GHz of the FX-51 and coherent HyperTransport link found on Supported Chipsets NVIDIA nForce3, VIA K8T800, SiS755FX the 2.4GHz of the FX-53 may not seem the Athlon 64 FX-53 consists of a dedicat- Supported Memory Registered DDR PC1600, like a lot, but the aforementioned ed up and dedicated down channel, each 2100, 2700, 3200 improvements make the FX-53 stand 16-bits wide (32-bit bi-directional), that Manufacturing Process 0.13-micron apart as AMD's fastest processor. can transfer data at a maximum 6.4GBps. Socket Type 940-pin Special Features: Enhanced virus protection, 64-bit capability. AMD's Athlon 64 In addition, the integrated memory con- simultaneous 32- and 64-bit capability, FX-53 is not only a high-end processor for troller transfers data at 6.4GBps, for a total HyperTransport, system bus, integrated memory controller, exclusive L1 and L2 cache

PC Modder • 19 clock cycle efficiency decreases as a result of deeper pipelines. INTEL’S TOP CPU Hyper-Threading Technology. HT Technology allows the processor to execute The Pentium 4 3.4GHz Extreme Edition two software program threads at the same time, which, under normal circumstances, would sacrifice performance. Hyper- ntel has become a household name, the P4 adds new forms of 128-bit SIMD Threading-enabled Pentium 4 processors and while some may not understand (Single Instruction Multiple Data) instruc- don't suffer that performance hit because I what Intel does, its name recogni- tions called SSE2 (Streaming SIMD HT Technology tricks the system into tion in the computing industry stands sec- Extension 2). While SSE instructions are thinking it has two processors, which ond to only Microsoft. Power users know 128-bit packed IEEE single-precision float- translates to up to 25% faster performance Intel as the industry giant that has led ing-point operations, SSE2 instructions than non-HT-enabled Pentium 4s. HT is processors into the spotlight, and contin- support 128-bit packed IEEE double-pre- particularly helpful for audio and video ues to innovate and refine the technology. cision SIMD floating-point operations, encoding and generally improves the With the introduction of the 3.4GHz and 128-bit packed integer SIMD opera- processor's ability to multitask. Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, Intel has tions. On a basic level, this means that pushed the technology even further. software developers can optimize audio What’s Coming . . . Intel's new 3.4GHz Extreme Edition and video encoding streams to take advan- An Intel spokesperson we talked to said processor, like its 3.2GHz older brother, tage of the expanded instruction sets. that the Pentium 4s should reach 4 GHz works with 875P, 865PE, and 865G Cache. As a part of Intel’s NetBurst by the end of the year. Despite this, Intel chipsets, and fits into a 478-pin socket. , the Pentium 4 has an is looking to focus less on the clock speed The processor secures to the motherboard advanced L1 instruction cache, called the and more to the other features, such as bus via a ZIF socket, which features a lever ETC (Execution Trace Cache) that can speed and cache sizes to more accurately that locks the chip down when flush with store 12KB of micro-ops, or µops. By identify their processors. With regard to the board and unlocks it when pulled up. removing the decoder from the main exe- an -based processor capable of 64- As we go to press, Intel is getting ready to cution loop, the ETC is able to store the bit computing for the home-user market, shift the Extreme Edition, as well as already decoded µops. As a result, the Intel says it wants to wait until more 64- Prescott, over to a 775-pin LGA socket. processor only uses the decoder when the bit applications hit the market, but offered The 3.4GHz P4 EE, based on the machine misses and needs to go to the L2 no further comment. Northwood core, is manufactured using a cache to get and decode new IA-32 0.13-micron process, with 178 million instructions, which makes cache storage by Andrew Leibman transistors on a hefty 237mm² die. The space more available. processor has a nominal voltage of 1.525. Along with the 8KB L1 data cache and the 512KB L2 Advanced Transfer Cache, Inside The Extreme Edition the Extreme Edition features a massive Intel's flagship processor is aimed at the 2MB L3 cache, which is unprecedented in high-end consumer looking for the absolute the home-user market. The excessive size pinnacle in 32-bit CPU performance. Aside of the L3 cache lets it preload a graphics from the blistering 3.4GHz clock speed, frame buffer or a video frame on-die and the latest Extreme Edition features an retrieve it at native processor frequencies. advanced 800MHz system bus, which pro- In short, it improves game performance vides 6.4GB of data per second into and and speeds up frame rates when accessing out of the processor. The 800MHz data memory and I/O devices. Intel 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Clock Speed 3.4GHz transfers result from a buffering scheme and Hyper-pipelining. All Pentium 4 pro- System Bus 800MHz quad-pumping the data transfers over a cessors have a 20-stage instruction L1 Cache 8KB 200MHz clocked system bus. pipeline compared to the 10-stage L2 Cache 512KB Multimedia instructions. The Pentium instruction pipeline of the Pentium IIIs. L3 Cache 2MB (on die) IIIs include Intel's MMX Intel has built their reputation on high Supported Chipsets 875P, 865PE, 865G Supported Memory Dual DDR400/333/266 technology, which allows a single instruc- clock speeds, which are possible because SDRAM tion to run simultaneously on multiple the Pentium 4s have twice the stages, Manufacturing Process 0.13 micron data items. Think of it like flipping one allowing the CPU to do less work dur- Socket Type 478-pin Special Features: Hyper-pipelining/Hyper-Threading, light switch to turn on several lights ing each pipeline stage. One drawback Rapid execution engine, Execution trace cache, throughout your house. Along with these, to this strategy is that the CPU's per Advanced transfer cache, Advanced dynamic execution

20 • PC Modder More Grantsdale Features GRANTSDALE GRANTS Finally, Grantsdale supports the new BTX (Balanced Technology Extended) form factor, a motherboard specification INTEL USERS’ WISHES for systems with small footprints and slim designs. BTX-compliant components are New i915 Chipset Adds Many New Technologies laid out on the motherboard in such a way that airflow is not blocked or disrupted by parts. Grantsdale systems and other BTX ntel's Grantsdale, also known as the DMI (Direct Media Interface), which han- systems will run cooler than most non- Intel 915 chipset, is on the horizon, dles speeds of about 100MHz between the BTX competitors and may require fewer Ilikely to premiere just before this issue northbridge and and clock cooling components. BTX boards are also hits newsstands. The chipset should drasti- speeds of about 1GBps. designed to better withstand the weight of cally alter the face of Intel-based comput- heavy components. ing, thanks to a variety of new technologies. Southbridge Options Intel will release another chipset at the Grantsdale will replace the Intel 865 When the ICH6-R southbridge is paired same time as Grantsdale. If you want even chipset but will not support Win98/Me. with the i915 northbridge, Grantsdale sup- more power than Grantsdale offers, Also, because Intel incorporates many ports up to eight SATA ports. The south- Alderwood (Intel 925) adds a few addition- proprietary technologies in Grantsdale, bridge supports RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 for al features and works best with the high- motherboard options may initially be additional storage and data security. performance, but pricey Intel Pentium 4 limited. How quickly manufacturers Another option is the ICH6-W south- Extreme Edition processor. adopt the technology and pay the associ- bridge, which has a built-in WAP with sup- ated licensing fees depends upon how port for 802.11a/b/g WLANs. This lets a by Kylee Dickey well Intel pushes the chipset's many computer act as a WAP, a useful function groundbreaking features. for both business and home users. While a business user may use a Grantsdale system Northbridge Features to create a wireless network and access work Grantsdale stands out for its support of files, a home user may use a Grantsdale sys- the new DDR2 memory. Although initial tem to send digital video from a PC to a DDR2 modules will not offer significant compatible home entertainment system. speed improvements over DDR, eventually Users who want to use Grantsdale with a DDR2 will see considerable speed boosts. home entertainment system will appreciate Also, DDR2 systems generate less heat than Intel's HD Audio technology (formerly DDR systems. Grantsdale's northbridge is called Azalia), which features Dolby Pro backward-compatible with DDR. Logic IIx for 7.1-channel audio. Dolby Pro Intel Grantsdale Chipset Grantsdale also includes many video Logic IIx converts 5.1-audio input into 6.1- Northbridge (i915) enhancements. Most notably, the chipset or 7.1-channel output. Dolby Pro Logic IIx FSB Expected to be 800MHz includes PCI Express x16, which offers has three modes, Movie, Music, and Game, Supported Processors Intel Pentium 4 Supported Memory Dual-channel DDR2, much higher bandwidth than the previous to provide the most appropriate output for dual-channel DDR high-end video standard AGP 8X. playing on the PC. The Music mode can Maximum Memory (not announced Current video cards act as a bottleneck to produce Center Width (vocals balanced in at press time) Integrated Graphics Extreme Graphics 3 PCI Express x16's speed enhancements, front left, center, and front right channels), (with 915G chipset) but as video card technology matures, Panorama (which creates a wraparound Graphics Interface PCI Express x16 Grantsdale will take advantage of PCI effect), or Dimension (which alters the Southbridge (ICH6-R or ICH6-W) Express x16's speed. depth of the surround sound) output. IDE/SATA Support for up to eight SATA ports The chipset comes in a 915G configu- In addition, HD Audio includes auto- RAID 0, 1, 0+1 ration with integrated Extreme Graphics matic audio-jack remapping. When a user Networking 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 3, which is a significant improvement plugs an audio device, such as a micro- integrated WAP (with ICH6-W southbridge) over Extreme Graphics 2. However, phone or speaker, into a generic audio jack, Audio HD Audio third-party video cards will still provide the system automatically identifies the Features: PCI Express x16, integrated WAP (with the best graphics quality. hardware type and maps the device appro- ICH6-W southbridge), RAID 0/1/0+1, DDR2 support, HD Audio, Extreme Graphics 3, DMI (Direct Media Intel links Grantsdale's northbridge and priately. All Grantsdale-compatible CPUs Interface), support for up to eight SATA ports, BTX form southbridge with a new technology called will have built-in HD Audio. factor, and Dolby Pro Logic Iix with 7.1-channel audio Estimated Release Date Late June 2004

PC Modder • 21 southbridge chips include 1/10Mbps HomePNA for affordable home network- SPECIAL FX ing through a phone line. 64-bit Support For SiS-based SiS Adds Support For AMD's Athlon 64FX CPU Motherboards If one thing is certain, it is that SiS eagerly pounced on AMD's latest technol- hen SiS introduced the accept up to 3GB of memory through ogy. As the first chipset for the AMD 755FX chipset in Novem- three DDR400 DIMMs at bandwidths of Athlon 64FX processor, the SiS 755FX W ber, it boasted that the up to 3.2GBps. chipset with SiS964 southbridge offered a chipset was the first to support the 939- The 755FX links the SiS755FX north- full set of features to Athlon 64FX-com- pin Athlon 64FX CPU. The 755FX also bridge and southbridge (currently either patible motherboards. Just a few months provided a 1GHz HyperTransport inter- SiS964 or SiS965) with MuTIOL 1G later, SiS rolled out the SiS965 south- face for faster data transfer. We used the technology’s 16-bit, bidi- bridge, which adds numer- 755FX chipset in the “AMD Athlon 64 rectional data bus (1GBps ous improvements to its 3400+ & ECS 755-A2” and “AMD in 133MHz x 4 mode). AMD 64FX-compatible Athlon 64 3000+ & Jetway S755MAX” boards. The SiS 755FX articles on pages 68 and 81 in this issue. Southbridge chipset, as the last SiS Shortly after we ordered parts, SiS There are currently two chipset to support the AGP released the SiS 756 chipset. Specs for the southbridge pairings for the 8X external graphics inter- 756 chipset are in the AMD-Compatible SiS755FX northbridge. face, has left an impact on Chipsets chart on page 196. The first is the SiS964, AMD Athlon 64FX com- In addition to support for AMD's which was released at the puting. Athlon 64FX, the SiS 755FX also sup- same time as the SiS755FX northbridge. ports AMD 64 and AMD Opteron The second option is the SiS965, which by Kylee Dickey CPUs. Neither the 755FX nor the 756 SiS introduced on Feb. 25 of this year. support Athlon XP, and as far as we Both southbridge chips include an can tell, SiS plans no further Athlon impressive list of features, but the SiS965 SiS 755FX Chipset XP chipsets. is guaranteed to wow many users. Northbridge (SiS755FX) System Bus 1,000MHz SiS964. The SiS964 southbridge pro- Supported Processors AMD Athlon 64, AMD Northbridge Features vides a number of features to the SiS Athlon 64FX, AMD Opteron The SiS755FX northbridge has a FSB 955FX chipset. It adds two independent Supported Memory Three DDR400 DIMMs (dependent upon CPU of 1,000MHz and a transmission speed SATA 150 ports (for data transfer rates of support) of up to 8GBps. The chip supports AGP up to 150MBps for storage devices), eight Maximum Memory 3GB (dependent upon 8X/4X external graphics, which is note- built-in Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports, AC'97 CPU support) Integrated Graphics N/A worthy because the SiS755FX is likely 5.1-channel surround sound, 10/100- External Graphics AGP8X to be the last SiS chipset to carry AGP BaseT Ethernet, v.90 modem support, Support 8X support. The new SiS 756 supports dual-channel parallel ATA 133/100/66, Additional Northbridge HyperTransport Specs only the new PCI Express x16 and PCI and RAID 0, RAID 1, and JBOD. Southbridge (SiS964 or SiS965) Express x4 technologies. SiS965. The newer southbridge chip, IDE/SATA Supports ATA133/100/66 SiS’ HyperStreaming Engine technol- the SiS965, adds several enhancements (SiS964), ATA133/100 (SiS965), two SATA ports ogy provides the 755FX with multiple over the SiS755FX/SiS964 pairing. (SiS964), four SATA ports pipelines through which data can travel, SiS965 motherboards have four SATA (SiS965) eliminating delays and “bottlenecks” in ports rather than two. Users will also see RAID RAID 0, 1, JBOD Networking 10/100 Base-T (SiS964), data transmission. The HyperStreaming an improvement in networking and 10/100/1000 Base-T Engine also reserves a channel for multi- audio. Ethernet support is propelled from (SiS965) Audio AC'97 5.1-channel media data transmissions for higher 10/100-BaseT to Gigabit Ethernet con- (SiS964), AC'97 2.3 7.1- quality video streaming and videocon- nectivity. Audio gets a big boost, too, channel (SiS965) ferencing. advancing from 5.1-channel AC'97 to Features: MuTIOL 1G multithreaded I/O Link (1GBps), eight integrated Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and Full Speed Other northbridge features include 7.1-channel surround sound through the USB controllers, supports six PCI slots (SiS964), Fast Write Transaction and STR support. AC'97 2.3 standard. In addition to the supports six PCI2.3 slots (SiS965), supports two PCI-Express x1 slots (SiS965) Depending upon the CPU coupled with SiS964's 10/100Mbps Ethernet and Released: Nov. 13, 2003 (SiS755FX northbridge the SiS 755FX, the northbridge can the SiS965's Gigabit Ethernet, both and SiS964 southbridge); Feb. 25, 2004 (SiS965 southbridge)

22 • PC Modder through the VIA Six-TRAC AC’97 audio codec. The VT8237 also supports VIA CHIPSET Vinyl Gold Audio with eight-channel surround sound when the chipset is built into a motherboard that includes the VIA ENTERTAINMENT Envy 24PT PCI audio controller. Finally, the VT8237 supports eight USB 2.0 ports.

VIA’s PM880 Chipset Ready A Specially Tailored Chipset For Media PCs & HDTV The new VIA PM880 chipset was designed for a distinct type of system IA’s latest Intel Pentium 4 chipset, better results in video with motion, and and does not compete directly with the the PM880, is designed for multi- Weave technology results in better video in other chipsets we covered in this section. V media applications such as playing relatively still scenes. ADT evaluates which However, the advanced video capabili- DVDs in a media center PC. As a special- pixels represent moving objects and applies ties and number of features make this a ized chipset, the PM880 will meet the needs Bob technology to those pixels, while at strong offering by VIA. of its target users very well, but may not be the same time applying Weave technology ideal for other users, such as gamers. This to pixels that represent still objects. Another by Kylee Dickey chipset was just released in March. PM880 key technology in the Chromotion CE motherboards were not yet available when Video Display is video deblocking, which we built systems for this issue. However, enhances images to make compressed VIA’s PM880 has a number of features, video look less pixelated on-screen. including UniChrome Pro The most notable trade-off for the IGP, that make it worth covering. PM880's video-display features is its 200MHz, 3D graphics engine, which Northbridge Features incorporates a UMA, sharing 64MB of the

The PM880's northbridge supports a overall system memory. This is not a prob- VIA PM880 Chipset variety of display technologies, including lem if you buy a PM880 motherboard for Northbridge (PM880) CRT, LCD, and, most notably, HDTV its intended use in a media center PC, but System Bus 800MHz/533MHz/400MHz (including resolutions of up to 1,080p). will be an issue in a high-performance or Supported Processors Intel Pentium 4 Supported Memory dual-channel The PM880 northbridge includes a gaming system. DDR400/333/266 Chromotion CE Video Display and a Other northbridge features include AGP Maximum Memory 8GB built-in decoder engine that handles much 8X support for an add-on video card, a Integrated Graphics S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro IGP of the processing, compression, decompres- DualStream 64 dual-channel DDR400 External Graphics Support AGP 8X/4X sion, and decoding of MPEG-1 and memory controller with support for up to Additional Northbridge Specs MPEG-2 video. A VIA PM880 system is 8GB of DDR400/333/266 SDRAM, DualStream 64 Dual-Channel DDR400 memory Hyper-Threading support, video accelera- controller, Hyper-Threading support, video unique because the chipset carries out acceleration, multimonitor display support, video- those tasks rather than loading video tion, multimonitor-display capabilities, capture ports, UMA (Unified Memory Architecture) decoding onto the processor. Therefore, a three 12-bit digital-video ports, video-cap- Southbridge (VT8237) ture ports, and an 800MHz FSB. IDE/SATA four PATA 133/100 ports, PM880-coupled processor does less work up to four SATA devices and runs cooler. The MPEG-2 decoder is Southbridge Features RAID RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID compatible with many familiar DVD-play- 0+1, and JBOD back programs, including CyberLink Although not as feature-rich as the Networking Gigabit Ethernet Audio VIA Vinyl Audio with Power-DVD, InterVideo WinDVD, and northbridge, the VIA VT8237 southbridge six-channel audio support Microsoft Windows Media Player. adds several features to a PM880 board. through VIA Six-TRAC AC'97 audio codec and The Chromotion CE Video Display The VT8237 supports four PATA 133/100 VIA Vinyl Gold Audio with applies a number of video-rendering tech- ports and up to four SATA devices, and eight-channel audio sup- port through VIA Envy nologies to DVD playback. For example, RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, or JBOD 24PT PCI audio controller ADT (Adaptive De-interlace Technique) (Just a Bunch Of Disks; a group of hard Features: Hi-Def video HDTV output up to 1,080p, disks that acts as a single volume) configu- MPEG-2 decoding, 2D/3D graphics engine, optimizes video display by determining the Chromotion CE Video Display Engine, dual 128-bit best display technology on a pixel-by-pixel rations. The southbridge also has built-in pipelines, SATA, V-RAID, VIA Vinyl Audio, Gigabit Gigabit Ethernet. Ethernet with VIA Velocity controller, part of V-MAP basis. ADT selects either the Bob or Weave (VIA Modular Architecture Platform), Ultra V-Link process for each pixel of video on a progres- The southbridge includes VIA Vinyl (1GBps), eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports, three 12-bit sive-scan display. Bob technology produces Audio with six-channel audio support digital video ports Released March 12, 2004

PC Modder • 23 nents, and use a variety of system tools. As with the UDA, NVIDIA supports the USE MAY THE FORCE across its product line. Finally, it is worth mentioning that NVIDIA manufactures the nForce3 through a 0.15-micron process rather than BE WITH YOU the 0.22-micron process that is standard with other chipsets in the industry. The NVIDIA's nForce3 Chipset resulting smaller size of the nForce3 leaves more room on the motherboard for manu- facturers to add companion chips, addi- VIDIA's nForce2 wowed the Support for up to six ATA/133 devices is tional slots, and other features to their masses with its integrated graph- built into the nForce3. SATA support is nForce3 boards. Nics, networking options, and also included, and nForce3 250Gb boards NVIDIA's new chipset will likely audio technology. NVIDIA's newest single- include disk-independent SATA controllers attract the most attention simply because chip MCP chipset, the nForce3, may be The nForce3 supports HomePNA 2.0 of its support for AMD's 64-bit proces- even more impressive than its predecessor. PHYs and 10/100-BaseT Ethernet. The sors. However, a number of storage, net- With its single-chip design, the nForce3 nForce3 250Gb chipset also has built-in working, and other features make the operates with low latency. nForce3 systems Gigabit Ethernet. The nForce3's net- nForce3 more than simply a chipset for also run cooler, thanks to the combination work features include ASF, autonegotia- 64-bit computing. of northbridge and southbridge features in tion, flow control, traffic prioritization, a single chip. and support for IPv6, TCP segmenta- by Kylee Dickey Whereas the nForce2 worked with tion, and TCP/IP offload. AMD's Athlon XP processor, the nForce3 The MCP supports up to eight Hi- has dropped Athlon XP support, instead Speed USB 2.0 ports and AC'97 2.1 audio graduating to 64-bit computing. The for up to six channels of output. A Dual nForce3 MCP is compatible with AMD's AC-Link allows up to two audio codecs. Athlon 64 and Athlon 64FX CPUs. An nForce3 systems can incorporate S/PDIF nForce3 Pro chip is compatible with the output to either stereo or AC-3. NVIDIA's 64-bit Opteron processor. NVMixer Application lets users adjust Many of the nForce2's features, such as audio settings, such as recording options DualNet, FireWire, and NVIDIA Sound- and speaker settings. SoundStorm audio Storm audio, are absent from the nForce3. technology may be available as an add-on The new chipset focuses more on network- companion chip in the future. ing and RAID support. The 2Gb nForce3 NVIDIA nForce3 MCP (single-chip chipset) MCP even integrates the hardware-based, Northbridge Features & Other Highlights Northbridge network-level NVIDIA Firewall and Most of the nForce3's most impressive System Bus Up to 400MHz Supported Processors AMD Athlon 64FX, Gigabit Ethernet. The firewall includes features are those typically found in a AMD Athlon 64 advanced configurations, such as remote southbridge chip. However, NVIDIA's lat- Supported Memory DDR400/333/266 access and CLI, but also a novice-friendly est MCP does have a couple of northbridge Maximum Memory 2GB configuration wizard features. First, the nForce3 supports AGP Integrated Graphics N/A External Graphics StreamThru Data Transport technology 8X and AGP 4X for add-on video cards. Support AGP 8X/4X with an isochronous controller makes net- HyperTransport Technology improves data Southbridge work data transmissions more efficient and communications and supports transmission IDE/SATA Built-in SATA disk controller and ATA/133 smoothes streaming audio and video. A rates of up to 800MBps. disk controller HyperTransport link connects the nForce3 As with all of NVIDIA's products, the RAID 0, 1, 0+1 to an Athlon 64FX or Athlon 64 CPU (or nForce3 follows NVIDIA's UDA (Unified Networking Built-in Gigabit Ethernet (with nForce3 250Gb) the nForce3 Pro to an Opteron CPU) at up Driver Architecture), which ensures that Audio N/A to 8GBps. NVIDIA's products will be compatible Features: Single-chip MCP design, built-in with past and future software drivers. hardware-based firewall (nForce3 2Gb only), 64- and Southbridge Features 32-bit support, up to eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports, The UDA is part of the wider NVIDIA comes with NVIDIA ForceWare USE (Unified The nForce3 integrates hardware-accel- ForceWare USE (Unified Software Software Environment; with system-monitoring and configuration utilities), wide support from mother- erated RAID with support for RAID 0, Environment). This set of utilities lets users board manufacturers, integrated chipset processor, RAID 1, and RAID 0+1 configurations. monitor systems, configure system compo- and StreamThru Data Transport Released Sept. 23, 2003

24 • PC Modder work to make your system more stable before using it in an overclocked state for ESSENTIAL everyday use. Intel Active Monitor 1.2 Bundled with Intel motherboards OVERCLOCKING www.intel.com/design/motherbd/active.htm Although most of the utilities we'll cover have been written by individual UTILITIES programmers or by smaller companies, some larger companies provide their Power Modding Is As Much About The Right own overclocking tools with their moth- Software As The Right Hardware erboards. For a summary of some of the overclocking utilities that ship with pop- ular motherboards by manufactur- hen you overclock a system, ers, such as AOpen, ASUS, Chaintech, you want to have the best and , see the "Motherboards W tools on hand. Of course, With Great Utility" chart on page 28. you want the right system components One example of a motherboard manu- and an effective cooling system, but the facturer that bundles a useful overclock- right software can also aid your quest for ing utility is Intel. Typically, Intel's speed. There is a variety of utilities avail- motherboards are not very overclock- able to help you adjust system settings, friendly, but its Intel Active Monitor util- monitor your system's performance, con- ity can perform several useful functions trol temperatures, detect hardware fail- for the overclocker. Intel Active Monitor ures, prevent component damage, and get is available with desktop motherboards the best overclocks possible. based on Intel technology. Active Monitor consumes less than 1% The Basics Of OC Utilities of system resources and tracks system tem- The operation of these programs varies, peratures, voltages, and fan usage. The soft- but several of the utilities maintain lower ware notifies the user if a failure occurs. For CPU temperatures by sending the proces- instance, if the processor begins to overheat sor an instruction to sleep or consume less overclock, but can also increase the life of or if a fan stops working properly, Active power when it is not active. This is especial- your computer and its components. Monitor will provide on-screen notification. ly helpful for Windows 9x systems, which There are also several utilities available Alert options include pop-up dialog boxes, do not automatically perform any such pro- that let you adjust overclocking settings, alert tones, and altering the Active Monitor cedure. Later versions of Windows issue such as the FSB and core voltage, without icon in the System Tray. Active Monitor commands to the CPU during idle time. entering the BIOS or rebooting your sys- also displays basic system information, such Other overclocking utilities perform tem. By taking advantage of the best over- as processor type and speed, motherboard, advanced system monitoring so you are clocking utilities for your system, you can integrated chipset, and installed memory. aware of the effects of your overclocking usually push your system further and also If you buy a motherboard based on efforts, including sudden spikes in power prevent component failure. a 915G or 915P chipset (Grantsdale), a usage or CPU temperatures. Many utili- Finally, some utilities are stress tests 925X chipset (Alderwood), or a newer ties aid in overclocking by sounding and are not designed to improve or moni- chipset, you cannot use Intel Active alarms or shutting down the system if tor system performance. Instead, these Monitor. Instead, Intel will provide a the components overheat or if a fan fails. utilities run a series of resource-intensive new, similar application called Intel Many overclocking utilities can monitor tasks designed to tax the CPU and other Desktop Utilities. system temperatures, voltages, and fan system components. After a successful speeds, provided that your motherboard overclock, you should run one of these PassMark BurnInTest Professional 4.0 has built-in sensor chips that can detect utilities designed to place a heavy work- $49 ($22 for Standard, $24 for such system changes. Controlling the load on your system. If your overclocked PerformanceTest, $34 for Standard + temperatures within your PC can not system cannot run one of these programs PerformanceTest) only increase your odds of a successful for several hours, you probably need to www.passmark.com

PC Modder • 25 PassMark's BurnInTest Professional is it can also test only a single CPU within a access. In fact, the first release of CpuIdle useful for testing the stability of various multiprocessor system. did not operate in Ring 0, and as a result system components when overclocking. the utility did not work. A VxD named BurnInTest runs a variety of stress tests to CPU Monitor cpuidle.vxd was added to CpuIdle and simultaneously test each of a PC's major Freeware future versions and now issues the HLT operations. These tests will expose any jongrieve.net/cpumon commands in Ring 0. problems with components' stability and CpuIdle acts to keep the processor cool endurance before you begin using the sys- CPU Monitor is a CPU-monitoring and, as a result, makes the entire system tem for day-to-day use after overclocking. utility for Win9x, single-processor system. more stable. The utility lets you monitor Although the stress tests could cause a Newer versions of Windows are not sup- both the CPU idle and cooling times system component to fail, it should fail ported because the newer Windows OSes from an on-screen display. The software immediately rather than days or weeks perform the same basic functions as CPU can read MBM sensors, monitor the tem- later when you could lose critical data Monitor. CPU Monitor's operation is perature, and act accordingly to cool the from such a failure. fairly simple. An icon in the System Tray system if possible or shut the system BurnInTest is multithreaded and simul- graphically represents real-time CPU down if temperature issues are critical. taneously taxes the processor, memory, usage. As your computer performs various When the processor needs to wait for hard drives, sound cards, video cards, and tasks, you can watch the CPU usage peak another device before it can proceed, an optical drives to ensure that the system is or drop back to near-idle levels. HLT command from CpuIdle tells the stable. In fact, it can test a combination of You can see a more detailed analysis system to stop the clock. The processor up to 20 hard drives, floppy diskettes, and of your CPU usage in the Details dialog enters suspend mode, which saves power optical drives at the same time. It also tests and keeps temperatures low. The CPU network connections, printers, and video stays in suspend mode until there is an playback. A Standard Edition is available, interrupt, NMI, or reset. but does not test tape drives or ports (USB If your processor has built-in power- 1.x/2.0, serial, and parallel). saving technology, the HLT command Although BurnInTest does not sup- will also send the processor into pow- port DOS, it does support Windows 98/ ersaving mode. CpuIdle continues to Me/2000/XP/2003 Server. You can log run and control your PC's temperature, the results of the utility's stress tests on even when you're using your system. disk in either ASCII or HTML format. Therefore, it is one of the more proactive You can also export log results to other programs, as it can kick in and control programs in BMP, GIF, or EMF for- the CPU temperature even as you per- mat. You can even add your own notes BurnInTest Professional displays system info form other computer-related tasks. to the Notes and Machine ID fields of a and summarizes system performance during CpuIdle also optimizes the operation of log file. Finally, BurnInTest supports its tests. the motherboard's chipset to ensure the sending logs to a printer. coolest operation possible. BurnInTest is highly customizable and Using CpuIdle can be a little bit dis- lets users designate the load to place on box. There, CPU Monitor displays concerting if you monitor the CPU usage. each component during a stress test. The processor usage information in graph When the utility runs, CPU usage regis- software keeps a running count of opera- format. ters at 100% because CpuIdle uses all tions performed and summarizes this excess processor idle time to send the information along with basic system CpuIdle Extreme HLT commands that keep the system information, such as CPU type, speed, $30 running as cool as possible. and serial number. www.cpuidle.de CpuIdle boasts support for most cur- You can try BurnInTest for 30 days rent processors. Those newer processors before paying for a $49 license. BurnIn- CpuIdle is one of the longest-running that do not have official support may still Test is compatible with several common overclocking utilities, developed by work with CpuIdle through its generic temperature-monitoring utilities, includ- Andreas Goetz. It operates by using a vir- support for processors and chipsets. ing Intel Active Monitor, HMonitor, tual driver (cpuidle.vxd) to run an HLT CpuIdle also works even with dual- and MotherBoardMonitor, and SpeedFan. The command that suspends operation of the multiprocessor systems. Pro edition includes several perks that the processor in Win9x systems. The HLT CpuIdle is compatible with the tem- Standard edition lacks. One of the most command is executed in Ring 0 of the perature-monitoring utility MotherBoard notable is that the Pro edition can not only Win9x kernel, a portion of the Win9x Monitor. A Win9x/Me-compatible copy test dual- and quad-processor systems, but architecture that other programs do not of CpuIdle costs $20. The WinNT/XP

26 • PC Modder edition is called CpuIdle Pro and costs motherboard in either degrees Celsius or rather than entering the BIOS to nudge the just $30. CpuIdle Extreme was released at Fahrenheit. If temperatures rise above a system's performance. Although EasyTune the end of 2003 and supports a number safe level, a warning appears on screen. lets users adjust the FSB, CPU multiplier, of chipsets not supported by previous edi- Built-in temperature-correction tools are CPU voltage, AGP voltage, and memory tions of CpuIdle. The Extreme edition also included, and you can select a data voltage in the utility's Advanced mode, supports VIA KT600, SiS 730, SiS 733, refresh rate ranging from one second to there is also an Easy mode that provides SiS 735, SiS 746, SiS 748, and SiS 755. It 99 seconds. fewer power modding options, but that also lets you disable CpuIdle automati- Other editions of CTemp are available, makes overclocking simple for the novice. cally when designated programs are run- including CTemp LT 1.0, which moni- ning. CpuIdle Extreme is available for tors only the motherboard. This is the JAM HeavyLoad 2.0 Win9x/NT/Me/XP and costs $30. The recommended edition for those whose Mailware (freeware, but requires that you price of all editions of the CpuIdle utility motherboards don't include CPU sensor email or send a postcard) include free product upgrades. chips. The other CTemp utility is www.jam-software.com According to the authors of CpuIdle, CTemp MINI 1.0, which is like CTemp even though WinNT/2000/XP have LT, except that it does not monitor volt- JAM Software also makes a utility that built-in HLT instructions during CPU ages and lacks on-screen alarms. can help you test the stability of an over- idle time, the OS does not take full clocked system. HeavyLoad does exactly advantage of potential HLT commands. what its name suggests: stresses various PC These versions of Windows can only send components, such as the processor, memo- the HLT command when the OS recog- ry, and hard drive. You can use HeavyLoad nizes the BIOS and ACPI implementa- to test the stability of your system after an tion. Although users can expect to see overclock. As with most utilities that test greater improvements with the CpuIdle the stability of a system, HeavyLoad pro- on a Win9x/Me system, users should still vides the most reliable results when you let see some benefits from using CpuIdle on it run for several hours. Usually a mini- a WinNT/2000/XP system. mum of six hours is suggested. Finally, CpuIdle performs one other HeavyLoad works by writing a large function to halt the CPU and keep a file to the temp folder. It also does other system cool. Many newer chipsets will work, such as drawing continually evolv- only allow the processor to be stopped ing patterns in an on-screen window and after they are programmed to allow allocating physical and virtual memory. HLT instructions. This process is You should restart Windows after running known as chipset optimization, and Several overclocking utilities, such as HeavyLoad because the program tends to CpuIdle can ensure that the chipset does BurnInTest Professional, let you configure fragment system memory as it runs. not interfere with the execution of an settings for more devices than just the CPU. HeavyLoad is mailware, free to use but HLT command. CpuIdle is compatible with the stipulation that you send the with most older and modern processors authors an email message or postcard indi- and chipsets. A complete list of sup- Gigabyte EasyTune 4 cating which version you use, how you ported hardware is available at www Bundled with some Gigabyte motherboards found it, and any errors you've encountered. .cpuidle.de/features.html#cpus and www.giga-.com www.cpuidle.de/features.html#chipsets. Hmonitor 4.1 Pro EasyTune 4 is a user-friendly applica- $29 (one- or two-system, personal-copy CTemp 3.0 tion that comes with many Gigabyte license) Freeware motherboards. This software performs the www.hmonitor.com strip.se/prog/ctemp.html standard operations, such as monitoring system temperatures, voltages, and fan Hmonitor is one of the better-known CTemp is a 16-bit application that is speeds. It tracks not only power usage for OC utilities. As its name suggests, it compatible with Win9x and OS/2. the CPU, but also the AGP bus and the monitors the heat and voltage of the CTemp 3.0 is written for Asus TX-series memory. If system components start to motherboard, but it can also control motherboards but, according to the soft- overheat, EasyTune 4 will sound an CPU operation, as well. ware's author, may work with mother- alarm. Similarly, if a cooling fan fails, the The most recent version at press time is boards with the LM75 or LM78 sensor utility will warn the user. Hmonitor 4.1. This utility by Alexander chips. CTemp displays voltage and the Users can tweak BIOS settings and over- Berezkin is also known as Hardware temperature of both the processor and clock a system from within EasyTune 4 Sensors Monitor. It monitors both the

PC Modder • 27 system and CPU temperatures using a Alexander van Kaam's Motherboard Motherboard Monitor can also work motherboard's sensor chips. A list of com- Monitor is a common name in the over- together with some other utilities, such as patible sensor chips is posted at www clocking world. This freeware monitors Dynamic Worlds' ShutDown NOW! If .hmonitor.com/hmonfaq.html#General. temperatures and voltages from a sensor you install ShutDown NOW! and enable In addition to tracking temperatures, chip on the motherboard. Whereas some it in Motherboard Monitor's setup, you Hmonitor also monitors system voltages programs (such as Ctemp) only work with will gain added protection for your sys- and the operation (or failure of) any cool- a very limited number of motherboards tem. If your CPU starts to overheat or if ing hardware. and sensor chips, Motherboard Monitor is a fan fails, Motherboard Monitor can The Hmonitor icon appears in the compatible with a wide selection of launch ShutDown NOW!, which will System Tray for quick access to the data it chipsets and sensor chips. A full list of automatically shut down your PC and collects. When a system overheats, Hmon- compatible motherboards is available at prevent damage. CPU Heat Up is another itor can sound an alarm, shut down the mbm.livewiredev.com/mobolist.html. You added utility, which can add a load to system, or, with the corporate edition of can find a list of compatible chipsets at the processor if it starts to get cold Hmonitor, email a system administrator. mbm.livewiredev.com/about.html enough to cause condensation from a A Lite edition of Hmonitor is also #chipsets and a list of compatible sensor peltier cooling system. available, as are a variety of licenses, chips at mbm.livewiredev.com/about including personal-use and corporate- .html. Motherboard Monitor works with EnTech PowerStrip 3.4 use licenses. Win9x/NT/Me/2000/XP systems. $29.95 Hmonitor is compatible with Win9x/ At its most basic level, Motherboard www.entechtaiwan.com NT/Me/2000/XP. The first month of Monitor displays sensor chip-provided usage is free, after which you must data, such as voltages and temperatures, PowerStrip is a utility designed specifi- buy a license. The software supports most in a dialog box that you can access quick- cally for graphics overclocking and other current CPUs, including even 64-bit ly through an icon in the Windows high-end video applications. However, it processors, such as AMD's Athlon 64. System Tray. Motherboard Monitor goes has some tools that make it useful for a step further, also recording this data in a other types of overclocking, as well. Motherboard Monitor 5.3 log file for later viewing. It can monitor One of PowerStrip's main video Freeware data both when the system is at full functions is managing multimoni- mbm.livewiredev.com load and when the processor is idle. tor displays. The utility supports many manufacturers' video cards and runs on Win9x/NT/Me/2000/XP. Other Motherboards With Great Utility graphics-related features include color- Many manufacturers include hardware-monitoring and overclocking utilities with their correction tools, display settings, and motherboards. The chart below summarizes some of the utilities motherboard manufac- gamma adjustments. turers provide.

Company Abit AOpen ASUS Biostar Chaintech

Web Site www.abit-usa.com english.aopen.com.tw usa.asus.com www.biostar.com.tw www.chaintechusa .com

Name Of uGuru AOpen Hardware EZClock ASUS PC Probe WarpSpeeder APOGEE Software Monitoring Utility (also Overclocking Utility known as Integrated Technology Express' Smartguardian) Features OC NOW! (change Lets users Tracks system Overclock Lets users adjust BIOS settings without adjust the volt- temperatures, Manager, voltage and FSB rebooting), save three Monitors CPU temp, age, FSB voltages, and Overvoltage speed. APOGEE BIOS settings to use for system temp, fan speed, and fre- fan speeds. In- Manager, and Overclocking Utility specific applications speed, and voltages quency of VGA, dicates infor- Hardware Manager also monitors tem- (such as gaming or AGP, PCI, and mation such as peratures and fan burning CDs), Auto DRAM. Also CPU type, CPU speeds. Reboot (automatically monitors fan speed, and mem- reboots if the over- speeds, volt- ory usage. Audio clocked settings don't ages, and tem- alarms sound if work), Smart BIOS peratures. the tempera- Flash (downloads and ture or voltage installs BIOS updates exceed user- while leaving your BIOS defined limits. settings intact), automat- ic system shut down to save components in case of hardware failure

28 • PC Modder PowerStrip can also perform func- processors have also handled Prime- tions useful in general overclocking. 95's work just fine. When you use For example, this utility can adjust Prime95 to tax a system's resources clock speeds, making it a useful tool and determine the stability after an even for those who don't plan to overclock, you should let the software tweak display settings, configure a run for several hours, preferably at multimonitor display, or overclock a least six. graphics card. PowerStrip's built-in diagnostic tools Leading Wintech Rain 2.0 monitor the system and track Windows Freeware resource usage. The utility can work to No active Web site (can download from This chart demonstrates how drastically system temps improve the use of system memory. As www.majorgeeks.com, can drop when using CpuIdle. many of the overclocking utilities do, www.benchtest.com, and other sites) PowerStrip includes a system-idle thread for versions of Windows that do time, EnTech Taiwan had a 64-bit ver- Leading Wintech's Rain is another not have built-in system-idle commands. sion of PowerStrip in beta testing. well-known name in the overclocking If your interests go beyond simple world. This program is no longer sup- overclocking and into the video realm, GIMPS (Great Internet Mersenne Prime ported, and the manufacturer's Web site you will find PowerStrip's many tools Search) Prime95 23.8 has been removed. You can still find worthwhile. For example, the utility lets Freeware many copies of Rain floating around you configure hotkeys to adjust graphics mersenne.org/prime.htm the Internet, though, on sites such as settings. With the press of a button, you www.majorgeeks.com and www.ben can adjust the gamma to lighten dark This well-known program doesn't chtest.com. Wintech Rain operates scenes in a first-person shooter and return actually aid directly in overclocking your much like CpuIdle. Rain sends an HLT to the default settings when your charac- system. However, system stability is one command to stop processor opera- ter returns to a well-lit room. of the most important factors in over- tions during idle times. This keeps over- PowerStrip is a free trial download, clocking a PC. If you want to test the sta- all system temps lower and reduces and a single-user license costs $29.95. bility of a system, installing Prime95 and strain on the CPU. Make sure you visit EnTech Taiwan's forcing the PC to perform computations, Because Rain is an older program that site to download the correct PowerStrip searching for prime numbers is a great is no longer supported, it is best for use application. A different company makes way to give your computer a workout. with processors that are of the same era an IE toolbar called PowerStrip that is a Prime95 was designed for Intel- as Rain's last release. If you want to completely different program. At press compatible PCs. However, several AMD OC a Win9x/Me system with an older

EPoX Gigabyte Intel Leadtek MSI Soltek SuperMicro web..com www. www.intel.com www.lead- www.msicom- www.soltek.com.tw www.supermicro.com giga-byte.com tek.com puter.com

USDM (Unified EasyTune 4 Intel Active Speed Gear MSI PC Alert Soltek SmartDoc SuperO Doctor III System Diagnostic Monitor 4 Hardware Anti-burning Manager) Monitor Shield

Monitors system Monitors system Consumes less Monitors and Monitors Tracks tem- Presents Software designed for temperatures, volt- temps and fan than 1% of sys- displays basic processor peratures, alarms when managing servers, ages, and fan speeds and displays tem resources; system infor- temperature, voltages, and system's but it includes hard- speeds. effective CPU tracks temps, mation, such fan speeds, fan speeds. temps or volt- ware, temperature, speed. Lets users voltages, and as the proces- and voltages. ages are too voltage, and fan mon- change the FSB fan speeds; sor speed, fan high. In itoring. speed, CPU multipli- has failure speed, and extreme situa- er, CPU voltage, notifications; system tem- tions, will shut AGP voltage, and and displays perature. PC down with- memory voltage. basic system in three sec- Has Easy and information. onds to avoid Advanced settings damage to to accommodate components. novice overclockers. Has warning alarms when fan speed or temperature gets too high.

PC Modder • 29 processor, Rain could be the right utility speeds, however, you must have a compat- slow the processor down if it gets too for the job. ible motherboard with compatible sensor hot. VCool can also shut the system Remember when you use a program chip. Check www.almico.com/forum down if temperatures rise too far. VCool such as Rain that the processor only index.php for the most recent list of sup- requires a system with Win98 or high- stops when it's idle. When you are using ported hardware. SpeedFan is compati- er and a VIA VT8371, VT82C691/ CPU-intensive applications, the proces- ble with Win9x/NT/Me/2000/XP and 693A/694, or VT8363 northbridge and sor will get just as warm as it would Motherboard Monitor 5. a VT82C686x southbridge. without Rain, so it's a good idea to have alternate cooling methods in place in Vcool 1.7 Leading Wintech Waterfall Pro 2.9 addition to this utility. Freeware Free vcool.occludo.net No Web site active (can download from SpeedFan www.majorgeeks.com, www.benchtest.com, Freeware Vcool does the same thing many of the and other sites) www.almico.com other utilities do in that it reduces the processor's power level when it's idle. Leading Wintech's Waterfall Pro 2.9 is This is one of the utilities that is still However, Vcool is designed for a certain a familiar name to those who have been updated frequently. At press time, the type of system and must therefore go about overclocking for a while. Similar to the most recent update was released May 13, this task in a different way than other utili- other programs that take advantage of 2004. If you've used SpeedFan in the CPU idle time, Waterfall executes past but not recently, you may be HLT instructions to reduce power pleased to learn that SpeedFan now usage. The HLT instruction is executed supports NVIDIA video cards. in Ring 0 of the OS kernel, and accord- Almico's SpeedFan serves several ing to Leading Wintech, no VxD is roles. First, it uses sensor chips to moni- necessary to do this. Other programs tor fan speeds, motherboard and proces- such as CpuIdle use VxDs to execute sor temperatures, and voltages. Second, the HLT command. Some systems will if your hard drive has SMART function- run better with Waterfall, others with a ality, SpeedFan can access the SMART VxD-based utility. data and also monitor the hard drive Waterfall keeps a log of the CPU temperature and generate SMART hard instructions and HLT commands. By drive data reports. When used with a HeavyLoad places strain on the processor, as shown in clicking a Waterfall icon in the System few select motherboards, SpeedFan can the chart above. It uses a variety of resource-intensive Tray, you can access data about the per- also alter the FSB, eliminating the need tasks to push the CPU. One of these tasks is displaying centage of commands that have been to first enter the BIOS. the pattern shown in the top half of the window above. HLT commands, designed to cool the SpeedFan is not only compatible system and reduce power usage. with a variety of chipsets and sensor ties do. Specifically, Vcool is for use with a chips, but it can also monitor several system using an AMD processor and a Only The Tip Of The Iceberg chips at once. It can also display a variety motherboard with a VIA chipset. Although we've presented six pages of temperatures from those devices, According to Vcool's creator, AMD's worth of overclocking utilities, we've whereas some software can only display Athlon and Duron processors can only barely begun to cover the programs that one temperature at a time. Similarly, enter a low-power state after the system bus are available to help you push your system SpeedFan can monitor multiple voltage is disconnected. Complicating matters, the to the limit and ensure that your compo- and fan readings. VIA northbridge will not disconnect the bus nents, although overclocked and pushed SpeedFan first monitors the tempera- unless the Bus Disconnect Enable bit is set to the maximum, will live to see another ture and voltage of various system compo- and the processor is in a Stop Grant state. day. Installing overclocking utilities is one nents and then adjusts fan speeds accord- VCool sends the CPU into the Stop Grant of the smartest things you can do when ing to your preferences to keep the system state by issuing its own idle loop. Once the power modding because you can improve at the proper temperature, voltage, and processor is in this state, the VIA north- your overclocks and prevent damage to performance levels. Alfredo Milani- bridge can issue a bus disconnect, thereby your system. Most of the overclocking Comparetti (who designed SpeedFan) sug- putting the CPU in low-power mode. utilities are bundled with motherboards, gests using a minimum fan speed of the In addition to lowering power usage, available as freeware, or priced very highest value at which you hear no fan VCool shows the current processor tem- affordably as shareware. noise and using a maximum fan speed of perature in the System Tray. You can 100. In order for SpeedFan to adjust fan also configure VCool to automatically by Kylee Dickey

30 • PC Modder SIZING UP SOCKETS How Your Processor Saddles Up

ou may know your Athlon 64 FX- holes in the socket. A lever on the side of lands, or conductive pads, on the Prescott 53’s specs backward and forward, a ZIF socket controls pressure on a PGA Pentium 4’s new package. A load plate Y from its memory bus speed to its processor’s legs, which holds them in holds the processor package against the number of FPUs (floating point units). But place. To remove a CPU, pull the lever socket under pressure to ensure that each that cowboy is going nowhere without his slightly to the side away from the socket land makes good contact. horse. Time to learn about the socket your and then lift it 90 degrees until it’s point- As a bonus, we’ve thrown in a few processor rode in on. ing straight up from the motherboard. sockets for embedded processors, which Here’s a partial list of CPU sockets You can now lift out the processor and are often soldered permanently in place that are common today. Most are ZIF drop in a different one. Lock the new and are not removable. These chips, (zero insertion force) sockets, such as chip in place by reversing the steps above. mainly used in mobile devices, may have AMD’s new 939-pin socket for the Intel’s new LGA775 (land grid array) metal bumps called BGAs (ball grid Athlon 64 and 64 FX. The tiny metal legs socket will wear the pins in the family, or arrays) instead of legs. on the underside of a CPU’s package, rather slender contacts that resemble pins. called a PGA (pin grid array), fit into The socket’s 775 contacts correspond to by Marty Sems

LGA775 Photo courtesy of Soltek. Socket 478

Socket 939 Socket 940

PC Modder • 31 Socket 462

Socket 423 Socket 370 Diagram courtesy of Intel.

CPU Sockets

Desktop Server Mobile 940-pin AMD Athlon 64 FX (early) 940-pin AMD Opteron 478-pin Intel Pentium M, Mobile Pentium 4, Mobile Pentium 4-M, Celeron M, Mobile Celeron 754-pin AMD Athlon 64 (early), 611-pin Intel Itanium 2 479-pin Intel Pentium M, Mobile Pentium 4-M, Athlon XP (late) Celeron M 478-pin Intel Pentium 4 418-pin Intel Itanium 754-pin AMD Athlon 64 for Notebooks (including early Prescott core), P4 Extreme Edition, Celeron 462-pin () AMD Athlon XP, Athlon (late), Duron 462-pin AMD Athlon MP 462-pin AMD Mobile Athlon XP/XP-M, Mobile Athlon 4, Mobile Duron 423-pin Intel Pentium 4 (early) 603-pin Intel Xeon, Xeon-MP 603-pin Intel Mobile Pentium 4-M 775-contact (LGA775 Intel Pentium 4 (later Prescott core) 604-pin Intel Xeon 495-pin Intel Mobile Celeron [land grid array]; Socket T) 939-pin AMD Athlon 64 (late), 330-pin Intel Xeon (early), 474-ball Transmeta Crusoe Athlon 64 FX (late) (slot) Pentium III Xeon 370-pin VIA C3, Eden, Antaur (CPGA), 495-pin Intel Pentium III Xeon 399-ball Transmeta Crusoe Intel Pentium III (late), Celeron (slot) 783-ball Transmeta Efficeon

32 • PC Modder THE MAD MODDER’S TOOLKIT Minireviews, Meanderings & Musings

nce upon a Tuesday dreary, while I modded, weak and Secondly, just to show you what I had to put up with in the O weary, over many a quaint and curious record by the band course of this assignment, I’ve left in selected revision notes from The Doors—while I tinkered, numbly singing, suddenly there my editor. If Van Gogh had encountered editorial flak like this, came a pinging, as of someone gently ringing, ringing at my he wouldn’t have stopped with his ear, I can tell you. inbox door. And now, without further doodoo, this edition of Mad Modder’s Toolkit, for which I demanded and received a full “’Tis some editor,” I muttered, “Pinging at my inbox door— cask of Amontillado and a bust of Pallas. Readers of the previ- only this and nothing more.” ous issue will notice that I have included more actual tools in “Do another Mad Modder’s Toolkit,” quoth my editor’s email. this Toolkit, ‘cause no one expects you to do your best mod- “Nevermore,” I replied. ding work with your fingernails. At least, you shouldn’t have to “Do it, you reclusive freak!” [Editor—I don’t really sound like in most countries. that.] If you’re looking mostly for sexy blue lights and other fishing- “Fine,” I said. “But it will cost you.” lure stuff, you should flip to “Light My Fire” on page 176 in this issue. And on a personal note, guys who go around dating First off, I resent being called “mad,” although the pseudo- women named Lenore deserve what they get, anyway. nym unfairly given me by CPU does allow me to live in peace, as opposed to inside a small, locked, lead-lined box in the clutches by Mad Modder of my adversary soon after publication of my real name.

Chicago Electric 180-Watt Industrial here are a lens. The users manual—highly Be sure to use solder with a Soldering Gun T few mod- detailed for a soldering iron, I decent silver content for the best I paid: $9.99 ding tools you’ll might add—cautions that the tip conductivity, along with its rec- Available at: www.harborfreight.com need besides can reach 1,135 degrees Fahrenheit. ommended flux. Don’t follow my that Dremel. It goes on to warn you not to use example and just use whatever sol- You do have a the gun when tired or under the der is handy. Let the twisted, Dremel, don’t you? [Ed.—Er, my influence of drugs, alcohol, or med- fluxed wires heat the solder, not girlfriend in Canada borrowed it.] ication. Yeah, like those aren’t my the gun tip. And don’t let the Whether you’re splicing wires or periods of peak productivity. molten metal wick past the twist- crimping them into connec- ed strands, or you’ll make a tors, you’ll want to solder them stiff section that will weaken for permanency. Nothing says if bent. “newb” like a case full of wire Finally, don’t forget to slip nuts and electrical tape. short lengths of heat-shrink This Harbor Freight house- tubing up each wire before brand gun comes with three soldering them. After you tips, flux, and a teensy-tiny bit make each joint fast, slide the of rosin-core solder. There’s tubing down over it and even a replaceable lamp on the shrink it with a heat gun or front behind a tough plastic hair dryer. Easy. ▲

PC Modder • 33 Asour VPC-1000 DVD Multimedia o what’s disc tray. Neat! (Never Audio Hub S keeping mind what a nice book- I paid: $199.95 your computer shelf stereo you could get Available at: www.coolerguys.com from being a real for $200. Push it out of entertainment your mind.) appliance? That The downsides: You boot time, son. But here’s a don’t get any DVD play- CD/MP3 disc player that’s inde- back software, and the pendently powered, so you can max volume level may turn it on without even starting not be enough for some your PC. users with passive headphones. Ah, well. I’m nitpicking. Pop in What’s more, the Hub is also Also, one WinXP Home PC did- a DVD of the first “Halloween,” a 16X DVD-ROM drive and an n’t recognize the drive, but or maybe “Nightmare on Elm FM radio with SRS audio pro- another with WinXP Pro did. Street,” and you’re all set to mod. cessing, EQ, and an IR remote. And would it have killed Asour What, you’re gonna tell me A flashy vacuum fluorescent dis- to base the VPC-1000 on one of Freddy Krueger wasn’t a DIYer? play shows you where most of Samsung’s excellent CD- Look at those cool gloves he made, your money went. That display RW/DVD-ROM combo drives and he was even technically dead hinges downward to reveal the for a few bucks more? at the time. ▲

Cooler Master Musketeer LLC-U02 here’s noth- unit), and thus a rough indication Furthermore, the VU meter I paid: $36 T ing muske- of its speed, on the left-hand dial. and volume control only worked Available at: www.cuttingedge teerish about this Next, patch in your so until I actually plugged a stereo casemods.com pretty drive bay you’ll have a front volume control headphone jack into them. When gauge cluster, at and a live VU meter, in theory. I give up a drive bay, a power lead, least not in the Finally, whip a power supply and a PCI slot, I’d like a bit more military or literary senses. Maybe it’s connection into the back, and, usefulness in return. Avoid. ▲ the three blue dials Cooler Master is well. . . . referring to. Whatever, dawg. Unfortunately, the Stuff the Musketeer into a drive Musketeer’s power bay. Run its thermal probe as near connector dislodged to your heatsink’s center as you can from its circuit get it and tape or thermal epoxy it board as soon as I in place. Now run your CPU fan’s plugged a Molex 4- wires through the Musketeer so pin into it. I’m pret- you can control the fan and view ty sure it’s not sup- its voltage (from 6V to 9V in my posed to do that.

Black Powder Coated Case Handle ny PC can heavy-gauge steel, and all of its me: Check out the HotCoat I paid: $15.95 A be mobile if eight rivets are tightly set. The powder coating kits at www.east Available at: www.voyeurmods.com it has enough hard rubber grip had some mold- woodco.com if you’re looking for handles. This par- ing flash, but I pared it away. a tough alternative to paint or ticular handle And the durable finish reminds anodization for your mod case. reminds me of the shipping cases I This should go without saying, schlepped when I roadied for but don’t mount a handle like this GWAR. Ahhh, Slymenstra, still in a panel that can’t support the you haunt me. [Ed.—Did GWAR exertion. If in doubt, go ahead come before or after Slipknot? I get and install it. Then pick up your them confused.] PC by the new handle and shake This good-looking, spring- vigorously for a few minutes. loaded handle is solid. It’s [Ed.—Really?] No. Not really. ▲ stamped, but it’s stamped from

34 • PC Modder Techflex Case Mod Expandable eep Using TechFlex’s UV red sleev- Wire Sleeving Kit UV Red #1903 K spaghetti ing kit and Connectorz’ p/s I paid: $14.95 where it changeover kit, I was able to Available at: www.jab-tech.com belongs—in a sleeve my power supply cables. Connectorz Power Supply can. [Ed.— The black, opaque Molex connec- Changeover Kit Black Pro Series Philistine.] A tors made a nice counterpoint to #2167 tangled mess o’ the frilly, ultraviolet-reactive red I paid: $9.95 wires in your PC sleeves in a paean to what too Available at: www.jab-tech.com not only looks many newbs lack: a sense of taste. bad, but it keeps [Ed.—Better put in a disclaimer air from circulat- against eating these, then.] Which reminds me, dear ing everywhere it needs to. It also Er, I was talking about restraint Editor, of how little recognition makes simple R&R operations in in adding colorful frou-frou, dear you receive for all you do. Let the field harder than necessary. Editor, not literally the taste of the me take this moment to paean “Nurse! Clamp!” connectors. [Ed.—Oh. Sorry.] you. [Ed.—Wow! Thanks.] ▲

80mm Aluminum Fan Filter Silver ust! I hate Who wants to look at a scummy I paid: $4.95 D dust. cold cathode? Available at: www.coolerguys.com Fortunately, I I like to fit my intake fans with hate cleaning filters like these. They remind even more, so I me of the grease hoods over the have lots of free time. That doesn’t onion ring vats at one of my jobs mean that I want my systems I can talk about. Fan-style screws clogged with fuzz and dirt, which are included. can heat things up, like in “The Just remember to hose these China Syndrome.” A dirty case filters out every once in a while. is even more unforgivable in a Remove them from your case mod with transparent sections. first, fool. ▲

Skil 4380 Orbital Cut Variable ometimes, you Now I know what all those sol- charges to pop out, and you’ll find Speed Jigsaw S just need to diers in Half-Life: Opposing a trap door for spare blades. This I paid: $39.99 make a quick cut. Force were yelling about—they appeals to the kid in me. Finally, Available at: And you don’t have were supposed to be refurbishing there’s a big lever on one side of www.harborfreight.com time to deal with everything, not shooting at me! the saw that makes the cutting dangerous gases, cos- Anyway, think of the Skil 4380 action smooth (straight up and mic rays, or nasty as a B-movie spacecraft. Look in down) or orbital (“Back, and to smoke. A nice, variable-speed jig- the place where you would expect the left! Back, and to the left!”). saw like this one is what you need. rear photon torpedoes or seismic Drill a pilot hole before you cut, Toolless blade and foot and you’re off. Use metal-cut- angle changes make this ting blades of the right type, chopper a pleasure to use, such as T or U, and stick to although the latter is limited higher tooth per inch counts, to 90 and 45 degrees. The such as 24tpi or 32tpi. And if trigger lock is ambidextrous. you put some tape down There’s a speed dial on the before you cut, you’ll spare peak of the grip, which is your case a lot of scratches. inlaid with rubber and has a Remember, modding palm swell. Near the speed is about building things. dial, my factory-recondi- The nihilistic fun of chop- tioned saw has the word ping and gouging is just a “RECON” branded into it. side benefit. ▲

PC Modder • 35 Craftsman 7 pc. Magnetic K, so be coasting on the Craftsman dropping my nine millionth tiny Screwdriver Set O Craftsman is name and the exorbitant prices it bolt into an inaccessible case I paid: $9.99 not my favorite brings, but boy, do they make recess. And forget those ratchet- Available at: www.sears.com brand for anything good inert metal objects. style, pseudoergonomic screw- but hand tools. drivers; they’re utter crap when After problems you’re working with computers. with a Craftsman air compressor Very few bolts in your PC turn (no interior rust protection and with enough friction to overcome L-O-U-D), garage door opener the screwdriver’s ratchet mecha- (fragile plastic drive gears), and nism, so you’ll wind up holding lawn mower (hard-starting, non- the shaft with your fingers as you adjustable carburetor), I feel crank with the other hand. A regu- justified in my bitterness. You I once shunned magnetic-tip lar screwdriver is faster—but a don’t have to kick me in the screwdrivers around computer cordless, variable-speed model is head a fourth time. Sears may equipment, but that was before faster yet. ▲

PolyGFX No Peace Case Skin ant a cus- lost when you cut out those sec- of way, and practically guaranteed I paid: $59.99 W tom paint tions. Skins are available for vari- to drive away potential girlfriends. Available at: www.frozencpu.com job on your tower ous tastes, and they ain’t all politi- Heh. “No Peace” reminds me without the cus- cally correct. Some are delightfully of the pre-Altamont era, sort of. tom price tag? tacky, in a beyond-Lara Croft sort “No hummus, no peas!” Or some- Skin it. Send FrozenCPU.com thing like that. I was too busy the dimensions of your case as whispering rhetoric in the ears illustrated on the site, then sit of very, very earnest girls in back and wait for your adhesive berets. I fervently believed design to arrive. When it does, whatever the girl with me at clean your case, stick on the the time believed, which meant skin, and start a-trimmin’. that I enjoyed the decade more If you have fans, windows, than most. [Ed.—Back on or latches on your case’s side topic, please.] ▲ panels, try to choose a design with a focal point that won’t be

Hypertherm Powermax380 olids. Liquids. compressed air and a whole Plasma Cutter S Gases. Most peo- lotta electricity to create a I paid: $999 ple, sadly, are satis- fourth state of matter, plas- Available at: www.harris fied with control over ma, which in this case hap- weldingsupplies.com just three states of pens to be hotter than some www.hypertherm.com/company matter. You, however neighborhoods on the sun. /north_america.htm are not most people. Plasma slices anything metal- You are a modder— lic—mild steel, aluminum, unless you are yet titanium—like so much another minion of my arch-neme- warm butter. Complex win- sis, in which case I should warn dow shapes and blowholes await. to yourself about how a jigsaw can you that you are in no way being Hint: Use the edge of something to do almost the same thing for 5% of paid enough to take me on. I am guide your nozzle. the cost, I must question your dedi- ready for you. [Ed.—Whatever This model comes set up for cation to the art. Modding is all you’re taking for your paranoia, 115V, but you’ll want to flip the about fun, is it not? I posit that MM, up the dosage.] switch and replace the plug for there are few things more fun than A plasma cutter, such as this 230V operation for best results. blowing slag at 8,500 degrees very nice example from Don’t forget your welding mask Fahrenheit. [Ed.—Uh, back to Hypertherm, uses your filtered and gloves. And if you’re muttering Earth, please.] ▲

36 • PC Modder ConnectRight Universal Molex t never fails to both tightly as you push on Pin Remover I amaze me how diffi- the spring-loaded plunger. I paid: $9.99 cult it is to take a This makes adding UV-sen- Available at: Molex power connector sitive or color-coordinated www.frozencpu.com apart without hurting connectors a cinch. it. You should have Actually, my sample more options than made working with female, smashing or snipping, in my opin- full-sized, 4-pin Molex con- ion. Now you do, thanks to this nectors a cinch. The tip handy tool. plunger didn’t retract enough to Remover’s tip is also too fat to It looks like a blackhead remover accommodate male connector help you with floppy drive, fan, or for robots, but it’s not. [Ed.— pins, which led me to suspect that motherboard power connectors, Eww.] As my editor is demonstrat- I’d received the Female Molex Pin but ConnectRight does sell other ing in the photo, you slip the sleeve Remover instead of the Universal pin removers that cover some of tip into the connector, then hold jobby I ordered. Anyway, the these bases. ▲

RD3XP-A32-K Gladiator 18” EMI ack when we imaginary black helicopters? tests showed a 10dB noise reduc- Shielded Server Grade ATA Cable B used to roll Entertainment is where you tion for this cable over a regular (Two Device) our own rounded find it.) ATA/133 ribbon cable. And it I paid: $19.99 cables, we worried Anyway, this EIDE cable offers sure looks serious. ▲ Available at: www.highspeedpc.com a little bit about individual aluminum www.hardwarecooling.com crosstalk between shielding for each wire, plus wires. (Actually, a grounding strap. The some of my ex- upshot is supposed to be associates worried more about fewer data errors from EMI crosstalk from mothership to and crosstalk, and hence skull, if you follow me. Ever faster data transfers. Vendor watch a nervous type try to cam- IOSS/VICS Technology ouflage his shiny foil helmet from claims that independent

Mouse Bungee hey may call me mad, but I cord rubbing on the back corner going to skitter around your desk I paid: $9.95 T ain’t crazy. I will use no of my work surface. unless you get really frisky. That Available at: www mouse before it’s Bungeed. When The genius of the often-imitated, weight could even make a formi- .mousebungee.com I am asserting my dominance over never-duplicated Mouse Bungee is dable slingshot missile in a survival twitch-happy wannabes in a that it holds the tail of your wrist situation, although you’d have to fragfest, I do not want the dis- weasel a few inches off the desk to break the Bungee to get at it. For tracting resistance of my mouse avoid entanglement in the usual less dire scenarios, I recommend kipple. Dual practicing a basic overhead swing- springs offer just ing maneuver while you’re still the right amount holding onto the mouse. A sharp of give when, in its crack with a Bungee at velocity excitement, your might slow or stop a moderately palm rodent determined attacker, even if you’re moves beyond the taken by surprise. [Ed.—Please get slack in its leash. back to reviewing this product.] The Mouse In the end, a Mouse Bungee Bungee’s base has is a cheap way to alleviate the skid-resistant feet frustrations typically attendant (paws?) and a pol- in a finger ferret. And there’s ished metal even an Unreal Tournament weight, so it’s not 2004 version. Recommended. ▲

PC Modder • 37 Thermaltake Hardcano 12 ere’s a bay- retailers claim. Even I paid: $64.95 H mount fan and Thermaltake catego- Available at: www.crazypc.com temperature controller rizes it in its Hard www.coolerguys.com that looks like a car Disk Drive Cooler stereo. It has four Series. I feel a bit temp probes and leads cheated. Also, one of for four fans, plus automatic fan the temp probes speed control based on tempera- wasn’t connected ture, so it’s much more useful internally, and than the Musketeer in this arti- another didn’t work cle. Its LCD is backlit in blue. at all. Now the bad news. The Finally, the rest wobble around. Still, the con- Hardcano 12 does not act as a Hardcano’s bezel and buttons feel trols are intuitive and the thing hard drive cooler as some online chintzy. Press one button, and the does work, mostly. ▲

Hobart Handler 135 MIG Welder hat you The best part I paid: $499 W would tear about a MIG is that Available at: asunder, you must you can swap gas www.harborfreight.com also be able to cylinders and wire www.sears.com rejoin. And noth- spools to weld dif- ing joins sheet ferent metals, so you metal like a MIG can tackle your (metal inert gas) welder. Lian-Li aluminum With a bit of practice, you’ll case or a stainless be able to do some amazing steel DeLorean things to your mod PC’s case. fender as easily as How about a custom air scoop your cheap steel on the top instead of a blowhole, tower. Just think sucking cool air like the Weiand what some custom aluminum steel; smaller units are available. blower in “Mad Max”? How brackets or hinged panels could And if you skip your welding about a jet exhaust afterburner do for your silver streak. helmet and fry your eyeballs out, on the back, lighted with a red Figure on about $175 for a don’t come crying to me. [Ed.— cold-cathode tube that brightens big, refillable gas cylinder of I’m not sure if that counts as a as the dynamic fan speed revs up? 75% argon/25% CO2 for mild legal disclaimer.] ▲

Radiant Ellipse Top Window ometimes time is This new “Radiant” acrylic is gonna look right at home above Kit, 80mm Fan Hole S short. Sometimes kind of neat. It’s reflective, like a that No Peace case skin, kind of I paid: $17 your heart isn’t in it. gold-tinted mirror, until lighted comic-retro. Dig it. ▲ Available at: www.cuttingedge Sometimes you just from behind. I casemods.com want to do a quick bought it along mod, not a work of art. with a red cold- At times like these, cathode 80mm there’s no shame in installing a sleeve fan ($10; slick, prefab kit like this one. 31cfm/28dB/ It’s precut, it looks good, and 2,700rpm) and an it won’t suck up your whole old-school atom weekend. You know in your symbol fan grill heart that you could have done ($4.49) from better making one from scratch, Cuttingedge anyway. casemods.com. It’s

38 • PC Modder SILICON MEETS SILICON Our Overclocking Series On Chip & Chipset Combos

t doesn't seem like much time has increase. We also found 3Dmark03 to be an passed since we put out our first PC excellent test of the system's overall stability I Modder. Not all that long ago, we at higher clock speeds. Heat measurements were cranking up FSB speeds and churn- were also recorded during 3Dmark03 near ing out articles with more numbers per the end of CPU Test No. 1. page than your local phone book. Maybe PCMark04 let us test individual system only a few months have gone by since our components. PCMark04 provides an over- last issue, but a lot has changed in the all system score along with individual computing world. AMD has continued its scores for the processor, memory, graphics foray into 64-bit desktop computing while card, and hard drive. PCMark04 also pro- Intel has finally rolled out Pentium 4 vides some insight into how overclocking processors based on its 90nm Prescott core. the system affects different components. It's time to find out just how far we can We benchmarked each system with its push the latest crop of processors. default settings to get solid baseline scores We've made a few changes in this sec- that can take advantage of dual-channel for both 3Dmark03 and PCMark04. We tion from our first PC Modder issue. When memory. For storage, we used an 80GB then increased the motherboard's it comes to overclocking, the chipset you Western Digital WD800JD 7,200rpm frontside bus and ran 3Dmark03 to gauge use is as important as the processor. Rather SATA hard drive along with a LiteOn the system's stability. If the system com- than pair one processor with one mother- Black 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW pleted 3Dmark03, we increased the FSB board as we did last time, in this issue we've combo drive and a Samsung 1.44MB flop- and retested. We continued this process paired each of our eight different processors py drive. We housed both systems in an until the system was unable to complete with three different motherboards, each identical Antec PLUS1080AMG case that 3Dmark03 or refused to boot. Once we sporting a different chipset. This approach included a 430W TruePower PSU. Finally, found the fastest possible clock speed, we should provide a better look at how well we included a Digital Doc in each case to ran PCMark04 to see how overclocking processors perform on different mother- record temperatures. We taped a processor affected various system components. board chipsets and gives us the opportunity probe to the motherboard so that it was On select systems we were able to adjust to look at offerings from a larger number of touching a corner of the processor and a the clock multiplier, which complicated motherboard manufacturers. second probe was left dangling near the testing a bit. In these situations we began front of the case to measure ambient heat. by adjusting the FSB as described above. Test Systems We relied strictly on aircooling for these After achieving the highest possible clock In response to reader requests, we've articles. We used a Thermalright SLK- speed, we reset all settings to their default made our test systems for both Intel and 948U copper heatsink and a 4,800rpm and began adjusting the clock multiplier. AMD pairings as similar as possible. Our pcToys 92mm Tornado fan that can move Again, after achieving the highest possible main purpose in writing each case study is a breezy 119CFM. Granted, that nice clock speed and recording our benchmark to show what kind of performance you can 119CFM comes at a rather loud 56.4dB, scores, we returned the system to its default expect from overclocking certain mother- and I don't think the labs guys cared too settings and began adjusting both the FSB board/processor combinations. That said, much for our choice in fans, but our com- and clock multiplier. using similar test systems should allow bination seemed to do the job much better Finally, we want to extend a special those of you who want to directly compare than a stock heatsink/fan. thanks to our lab crew—Coby Boring, Intel and AMD performance a more solid Chad Dalton, Andy Gerace, and Jeff foundation on which to do so. Testing Roberts—for all the extra hours they spent Both systems use a Gainward What good is it to brag about squeezing assembling and testing our systems. We PowerPack! Ultra/1800 XP Golden an extra 500MHz out of a processor if it also want to thank Kevin Morgan who Sample, NVIDIA GeForce FX 5950 Ultra doesn't provide any real gains in perfor- ordered and tracked an insane amount of video card, and two 512MB PC4000 DDR mance? Each time we inched the clock hardware for this issue. SDRAM modules. Using two memory speed higher, we used FutureMark's modules will give a slight leg up to systems 3Dmark03 to gauge any real performance by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 39 3.0E GHZ PENTIUM 4 System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.0E GHz Pentium 4 (Prescott) & BIOSTAR P4TSV Motherboard Biostar P4TSV BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version 6.00 PG (INTEL 865G) Chipset Driver 5.00.101.2 Common Components RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) fter several delays, Intel has finally video chipset. Naturally, we opted for our Video Gainward PowerPack! shipped its new Pentium 4 core NVIDIA card instead of the integrated Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) (you probably know it as Pres- Intel chip. Like most motherboards, the A Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital cott). Among Prescott’s new features are P4TSV includes integrated Ethernet WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA smaller 90nm transistors, a new, strained and audio controllers. The C-Media Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U silicon design, and a longer data pipeline. CMI9739A provides 6-channel audio and CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48x24x48x16 While these additions give Intel more head- S/PDIF out while the RTL8100B DVD/CD-RW room to ramp up clock speeds, they also supports 10/100 Ethernet (no Gigabit Floppy Samsung 1.44MB cause a few problems. The combination of Ethernet on this board). Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Prescott’s strained silicon design, smaller The 865G supports up to 4GB of Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature transistors, and increased core voltage dual-channel DDR SDRAM (PC2700 or Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 means more energy leakage, which mani- PC3200). Our Mushkin PC4000 DDR fests itself as heat. The longer pipeline also memory is, of course, compatible; it will processor’s 15X clock multiplier, resulted in tends to slow overall performance. As a just run at PC3200 speed. a 3GHz clock speed. CPU VCore Voltage result, older Northwood chips are faster Biostar pairs the 865G on the north- was left at the default 1.35 volts. At these clock per clock than today’s Prescott chips. bridge with Intel’s ICH5 on the south- settings our Prescott Pentium 4 managed a As Prescott’s speed increases, however, per- bridge. The ICH5 supports up to eight 6530 3Dmark03 score. CPU temperature formance should become more impressive. USB 2.0 ports and dual SATA connectors as reported by our temperature probe was Current Prescott chips are running at but lacks RAID support. 38.7 degrees Celsius and the ambient case the same speeds as existing Northwood The P4TSV is a compact motherboard temp was 29.7 degrees Celsius. The overall chips, so there’s little incentive for the casu- with little room for expansion slots. You’ll PCMark04 score was 4829. Individual al user to choose Prescott over more readily find just three PCI slots in addition to PCMark04 component scores for our available and less expensive Northwood one AGP and one CNR slot. The lack of default configuration consisted of a 4611

3.0E GHz Pentium 4 Biostar P4TSV 865G Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.00GHz 200MHz 15 1.35 38.7 29.7 6530 4829 4611 4914 5384 4243 Performance Overclocked 3.39GHz 225MHz 15 1.35 41.9 31.4 6687 5358 5135 5547 5513 4242 Performance

cores. Prescott, however, may be of interest expansion cards may force you to consider Processor score, 4914 Memory score, 5384 to overclockers, as it should provide more using the onboard audio and LAN chips Graphics score, and a 4243 HDD score. headroom to increase clock speeds. rather than installing separate cards for After completing our initial benches, each (which would leave you with just we entered the system’s setup utility by Motherboard one remaining PCI slot). pressing the DEL key during POST. The We started off our test of Intel’s 3GHz P4TSV lacks some of the more advanced Prescott chip with a Biostar P4TSV moth- Overclocking overclocking features found on other erboard. The P4TSV uses the 865G variant Before we start turning up the FSB, we motherboards. For instance, we couldn’t of Intel’s Springdale chipset family. Both needed a solid set of baseline test scores lock the AGP and PCI buses. This, per- the 865G and 865PE chipsets support a under the system’s default configuration. haps, may have led to instability at lower quad-pumped 800MHz FSB, but the The system’s default settings left the FSB clock speeds compared to the other two 865G includes an Intel Extreme Graphics 2 set at 200MHz which, combined with the boards we tested with the 3.0E GHz P4.

40 • PC Modder From the main menu, we and increased the FSB 3MHz to selected Frequency/Voltage 223MHz, resulting in a 6679 Control. We then selected CPU 3Dmark03 score. Attempts Clock and used PAGE UP and to increase the FSB beyond PAGE DOWN to adjust the 223MHz at 1.45V, however, frontside bus from its default caused Windows to lock up. value of 200MHz to 210MHz, Increasing the CPU voltage to resulting in a 3.15GHz CPU 1.5V allowed us to get scores at clock. The increased clock speed 223MHz and 224MHz, but we amounted to a 76-point gain in couldn’t quite get the FSB up to 3Dmark03. We returned to the 225MHz again without the sys- Frequency/Voltage Control tem crashing. At 1.5V and a menu and increased the FSB 224MHz FSB, the processor to 220MHz (3.31GHz CPU temperature maxed out at 48 clock). Once again we saw solid degrees and the ambient case improvements in 3Dmark03, temperature hit 31.3 degrees. as scores rose 53 points to 6659. Undoubtedly, temps were even Trying to increase the FSB higher at the CPU’s core. to 230MHz (3.45GHz) pre- Ethernet Seeing as how we achieved Northbridge BIOS Controller SATA vented the system from boot- ATX PSU (865G) our best 3Dmark03 score with Audio Codec Connectors ing. We returned to the setup Connectors the default 1.35V, we reduced utility and decreased the FSB to Southbridge (Intel ICH5) the CPU voltage to its de- 225MHz (a CPU clock speed fault and set the FSB back to of 3.39GHz). This time, the system boot- 225MHz. We then ran PCMark04 to ed properly and completed 3Dmark03. gauge how the system’s components were 3Dmark03 scores show a more modest handling the added speed. The overall improvement of just 28 points, but that’s PCMark04 score increased more than 500 not bad considering the CPU’s clock speed points to 5358 with nearly all components increased just 80MHz. showing an impressive increase. The largest In an attempt to zero in on the absolute 3Dmark03 score was slightly lower than it increase for any single component was the highest clock speed, we tried an FSB of was previously at 3.39GHz. Memory score, which jumped from 4914 227MHz. When the system failed to boot, The higher CPU voltage did little to sta- to 5547, an increase of more than 600 we adjusted the FSB down to 226MHz, bilize the system at clock speeds faster than points. The Processor score increased more but the system still refused to boot. 225MHz, however. The system refused to than 500 points from 4611 to 5135 and In an effort to make the processor more boot at 227MHz and 226MHz, respective- Graphics increased more than 100 points stable, we increased the CPU Voltage in the ly. We adjusted the CPU Voltage to +5.5%, from 5384 to 5513. The HDD score Frequency/Voltage Control menu. The resulting in a CPU voltage of approximately remained virtually unchanged at 4242. P4TSV lets you adjust the CPU voltage as 1.45V, and we reset the FSB to 220MHz. a percentage of the default voltage. We 3Dmark03 scores were roughly the same Final Word used the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN as previous attempts at 3.31GHz. This After our initial testing with the keys to set the CPU Voltage to +2.5%. time we proceeded a bit more cautiously P4TSV, the 3GHz Prescott seems to have This resulted in a CPU voltage of 1.4V. more headroom for overclocking than its We reset the FSB to 220MHz (3.31GHz Overclock Comparison Northwood sibling. By way of comparison, CPU clock) and received a 6661 we were only able to get the 3GHz 3Dmark03 score (2 points higher than the 3Dmark03 Northwood up to 3.23GHz on the ASUS previous score at 3.31GHz). The added ABIT AI7 P4C800 Canterwood motherboard. The voltage, however, also added plenty of heat. Stock Performance 6539 P4TSV, however, didn’t allow us to lock The 43.4-degrees processor temp was 4.4 Overclocked Performance 6726 down the PCI or AGP bus when increas- degrees higher than it was previously at EPoX EP-4PCA3+ ing the FSB, which could’ve led to more 3.31GHz, and the ambient case temp Stock Performance 6535 stability in the system. We’ll see whether or increased 1.9 degrees to 31.7 degrees. Overclocked Performance 6721 not we can push the 3GHz Prescott fur- We increased the FSB to 225MHz, ★ Biostar P4TSV ther in the next couple of case studies. which put the processor’s clock speed back Stock Performance 6530 at 3.39GHz. This time, the 6682 Overclocked Performance 6687 by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 41 3.0E GHZ PENTIUM 4 System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.0E GHz Pentium 4 (Prescott) & ABIT AI7 Motherboard ABIT AI7 BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version 13 e got a glimpse of what the the next case study, however, PAT may Chipset Driver 5.02.1003 Pentium 4's new Prescott not always be worth the premium price Common Components core is capable of in the pre- you pay for most 875P motherboards, W RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) vious case study. On a modest Biostar especially considering some manufactur- Video Gainward PowerPack! P4TSV using Intel's 865G chipset, we ers enable PAT on 865PE motherboards. Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) were able to increase the clock speed on Intel, however, warns that enabling PAT Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital our 3.0E GHz Pentium 4 to 3.39GHz. on 865PE motherboards could damage WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Now it's time to see how well the proces- the chipset or lead to stability issues. Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U sor performs on a high-end ABIT board As we mentioned, the AI7 is one of the CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black with an Intel 865PE chipset. more expensive 865PE motherboards. 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW One reason for the AI7's higher price is Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Motherboard the ICH5R southbridge chipset. As you Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower This time, we'll be running our 3.0 E can probably guess, the "R" stands Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature GHz Prescott on an ABIT AI7. The for "RAID" and the ICH5R supports Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 ABIT board does a better job of targeting both RAID 0 (stripping) and RAID the enthusiast crowd and catering to over- 1 (mirroring). 3Dmark03 and PCMark04 scores. While clockers. Instead of the Intel 865G, the As we've come to expect from most the 6539 3Dmark03 score was 9points AI7 relies on the Intel 865PE chipset. motherboards, the ABIT AI7 does come better than the P4TSV managed at The major difference between the two with integrated audio and Ethernet. A 3GHz, some PCMark04 scores were chipsets is that the 865PE lacks an inte- Realtek ALC658 chip provides integrated down slightly. The overall PCMark04 grated video chip. On the surface, this six-channel audio, automatic jack sensing, score fell from 4829 in the previous case may seem to be an advantage for the and SPDIF output. An additional Realtek study to 4823. The PCMark04 CPU 865G, but few enthusiasts are going to Ethernet controller provides integrated score fell from 4611 to 4587. Other settle for Intel's integrated graphics chip. 10/100 Ethernet connectivity. The AI7 PCMark04 scores, however, were a little As a result, most 865G boards are aimed supports eight USB 2.0 ports and three better than the baseline scores posted by at a lower segment of the market. FireWire ports. P4TSV. The Memory score increased Intel considers the 865PE to be a mid- Unlike the earlier Biostar board, from 4914 to 4931, the Graphics score level chipset but it's actually quite popular the AI7 also features more room for increased from 5384 to 5408, and the

3.0E GHz Pentium 4 ABIT AI7 Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3GHz 200MHz 15 1.3875 40.6 30.5 6539 4823 4587 4931 5408 4296 Performance Overclocked 3.46GHz 230MHz 15 1.6125 44.2 30.7 6726 5499 5257 5659 5563 4312 Performance

with enthusiasts because it provides excel- expansion. In addition to the requisite HDD score increased from 4243 to 4296. lent performance for the price. Like AGP slot, the AI7 features five PCI slots When idle, our 3.0E GHz Prescott's tem- Intel's high-end 875P chipset, the 865PE that should provide adequate expansion perature was 33.3 degrees Celsius, about supports an 800MHz FSB and dual-chan- options even if you have to install PCI- 0.6 C cooler than it was on the P4TSV nel memory. Intel's PAT (Performance based replacements for the integrated board. The AI7, however, provides a Acceleration Technology) comes enabled audio and sound. slightly higher current (1.385V compared by default on 875P chipsets. According to to 1.35V) and the processor proved Intel, PAT reduces memory latency by as Overclocking slightly warmer under load. On the AI7, much as two clock cycles when used with Before we started messing around with our Prescott's temperature reached 40.6 PC3200 DDR SDRAM. As you'll see in the BIOS settings, we took some baseline C, about 1.9 C warmer than the initial

42 • PC Modder load temperature in our last We left the FSB at 232MHz case study. Under load, the and increased the voltage to ambient case temperature 1.6125V, but still couldn't get reached 30.5 C. the system to complete 3D- After recording our initial mark03. Decreasing the FSB to scores, we accessed the system's 231MHz didn't help our stabil- setup utility by pressing DEL ity problems. We had some during POST. Overclocking concerns that the 1.6125V core options were found in the voltage might be a little high, so SoftMenu Setup section. We we left the core voltage intact increased the FSB by highlight- and reduced the FSB to ing CPU Operating Speed and 230MHz. The system was not using PAGE UP and PAGE only still reliable at 230MHz, DOWN to adjust the value to but it yielded a 6726 3D- 210MHz (you can probably mark03 score, the highest score argue that this item is misla- we had yet received. beled since it measures the FSB Increasing the processor's ATX PSU rather than the processor's clock Ethernet BIOS voltage further didn't allow us speed). We then saved the set- Connector Controller to push FSB speeds any higher. tings and exited the Setup utili- Audio Codec We reset the core voltage to ty. After rebooting we had Southbridge 1.6125V and the FSB to (Intel ICH5R) turned our 3GHz processor Northbridge (865PE) SATA Connectors 230MHz to run PCMark04. into a 3.16GHz P4. The The overall PCMark04 score increased speed added 60 points to our increased significantly from 4823 to 5499. 3Dmark03 score. This was actually 7 The CPU score itself increased almost 700 points lower than the 6606 score we man- points to 5257 while the Memory score aged on the P4TSV at this speed. increased more than 700 points to 5659. We increased the clock speed another The Graphics score showed the least 10MHz to 220MHz, resulting in a improvement but still went up more than 3.30GHz P4. Once again, the speed boost Supply in the SoftMenu Setup section of 150 points to 5563. The HDD score, typi- netted a significant 3Dmark03 improve- the setup utility. We used PAGE UP to cally, showed little improvement at 4312. ment. Scores rose to 6663, which was just select User Defined and then adjusted the slightly better than the P4TSV managed at CPU Core Voltage to 1.4375V. The extra Final Word this speed. The P4TSV only allowed us to power actually seemed to make things Looking at the Biostar P4TSV and the increase the FSB speed to 225MHz before worse as 3Dmark03 crashed at 230MHz. ABIT AI7, you can see why we wanted to the system refused to boot. We increased We increased the core voltage once again to run the same processor on multiple moth- the AI7 to 230MHz to see what would 1.5125V. This increase resulted in erboards. The ABIT AI7 proved to be a happen and were delighted to learn the AI7 improved stability and a better 3Dmark03 much better motherboard for overclock- ran reliably at 230MHz. The resulting score of 6717. ing as we were able to reach speeds of 3.46GHz P4 ran perfectly and managed to We increased the FSB to 232MHz, but 3.46GHz. complete 3Dmark03 with a 6697 score. once again the benchmark crashed on us. Our 1.6125V CPU voltage may be a Increasing the FSB another 10MHz pre- bit drastic. There's some speculation that vented the system from even booting. We Overclock Comparison Prescott could be sensitive to increased decided to taper our ambitions a bit and voltage and some motherboard manufac- reduce the clock speed to 235MHz. When 3Dmark03 turers have gone so far as to prevent end the system still refused to boot, we ★ ABIT AI7 users from adjusting the CPU voltage. decreased the clock speed to 232MHz and Stock Performance 6539 Over the short term, we didn't seem to this time the system booted properly, but Overclocked Performance 6726 have any problems at 1.6125V and tem- 3Dmark03 crashed midtest, suggesting the EPoX EP-4PCA3+ peratures increased only 3.6 degrees (less system wasn't entirely stable. We decreased Stock Performance 6535 than the total increase in our last case the FSB again to 231MHz, but 3Dmark03 Overclocked Performance 6721 study), but that's not to say that problems was still unsuccessful. We returned our sys- Biostar P4TSV couldn't develop over time. tem to 230MHz and increased the proces- Stock Performance 6530 sor's core voltage by selecting CPU Power Overclocked Performance 6687 by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 43 3.0E GHZ PENTIUM 4 & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.0E GHz Pentium 4 (Prescott) EPOX EP-4PCA3+ Motherboard EPoX EP-4PCA3+ BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version Award-BIOS e managed to get our 3GHz models also include five PCI slots for Chipset Driver 5.1.1.1002 Prescott up to 3.39GHz on a expansion and integrated audio chips Common Components Biostar motherboard with an and Ethernet controllers. The EP-4PCA3+ W RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) Intel 865G chipset. An ABIT board with uses a C-Media CM9739 with a SPDIF Video Gainward PowerPack! an Intel 865PE chipset showed even more header for digital audio output. Rather Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) flexibility as we got speeds up to 3.46GHz. than using a standard 10/100 Ether- Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital Now we’ll test the 3GHz Prescott with net controller, the EP-4PCA3+ uses on WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Intel’s high-end 875P chipset. a Broadcom BCM5705 Gigabit Ether- Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U net controller. CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado Motherboard CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/ The EP-4PCA3+, however, does have 16X DVD/CD-RW Because there appears to be little differ- one feature not found on the ABIT AI7. Floppy Samsung 1.44MB ence between the 875P and the less expen- While the ICH5R limits SATA RAID to Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower sive 865PE, Canterwood chips haven’t levels 0 or 1, the EP-4PCA3+ includes four Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature caught on with all enthusiasts. According IDE connectors controlled by a Highpoint Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 to Intel, one of the biggest differences HPT374 UDMA/ATA 133 RAID con- between its two chipsets is that the 875P troller. The Highpoint controller lets you Temperature measurements were in supports PAT (Performance Acceleration configure up to eight IDE drives in RAID line with our previous measurements. We Technology). PAT uses aggressive memo- 0, 1, or 5 configurations. Of course, because measured the processor’s temperature ry timings to reduce latency when com- we’re not using RAID, the Highpoint con- when idle at 33.7 degrees Celsius and the bined with an 800MHz FSB and PC3200 troller won’t affect performance. ambient case temperature at 28.2 C. DDR SDRAM. According to Intel, PAT Under load, the processor’s temperature results in a two-clock cycle reduction in Overclocking measured 40.6 C and the ambient case latency. Apparently, however, PAT is also Compared to the ABIT AI7, the 875P- heat rose to 29.8 C. present in 865PE chipsets, it’s just dis- based EP-4PCA3+ was kind of a disap- After recording our default measure- abled. ASUS and a few other manufactur- pointment considering that it was more ments, we rebooted the system and ac- ers offer 865PE boards with PAT enabled. expensive. Overall, we didn’t see much cessed the setup utility by pressing the Running our 3GHz Prescott on an improvement in terms of performance. The DEL key during POST. We selected Power EPoX EP-4PCA3+ motherboard should default 6535 3Dmark03 score was virtually BIOS Features from the main menu and

3.0E GHz Pentium 4 EPoX EP-4PCA3+ Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.02GHz 200MHz 15 1.375 40.6 29.8 6535 4765 4602 5039 5431 4744 Performance Overclocked 3.60GHz 239MHz 15 1.475 44.6 30.9 6721 5531 5453 5501 5573 4725 Performance

give us a good indication of how Can- identical to the default score of the AI7. then selected CPU Clock/Speed. We used terwood measures up to less expensive The overall PCMark04 score of 4765 was the PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys to Springdale chipsets. Aside from the north- down 58 points. Interestingly enough, increase the frontside bus a modest 10MHz bridge chipset, the EP-4PCA3+ is similar to however, other PCMark04 component to 210MHz. This pushed the clock speed the ABIT AI7 we used in the last case scores were up slightly relative to default up to 3.17GHz. Results were positive as study. Both boards support up to 4GB of scores from the AI7. The CPU score rose 3Dmark03 scores shot up to 6617, just PC2700 or PC3200 DDR SDRAM and from 4587 to 4602, the Memory score rose slightly more than the AI7 at the same both boards include Intel’s ICH5R on the from 4931 to 5039, the Graphics score rose speed. We pushed the FSB up anoth- southbridge. The ICH5R supports RAID from 5408 to 5431, and the HDD score er 10MHz to 220MHz resulting in a level 0 or 1 on two SATA connectors. Both rose from 4296 to 4744. 3.31GHz CPU clock. Curiously, this

44 • PC Modder increase in speed resulted in more promising compared to a largely unchanged 6614 the ABIT AI7’s scores. The 3Dmark03 score. 5531 overall PCMark04 score We increased the CPU’s was up more than 700 points clock speed to 3.46GHz by from the default score. increasing the FSB to 230MHz. Compared to the AI7’s best This resulted in a modest PCMark04 overall score, this 3Dmark03 gain of 60 points was just over 30 points higher. to 6674. This score was slightly The 5453 CPU score, however, less than the AI7 managed at is almost 200 points faster than 230MHz under the processor’s the highest CPU score posted default voltage. by the AI7 and roughly 850 Increasing the FSB to points faster than our default 240MHz prevented Windows CPU score on this board. The from booting. Dropping the Memory score increased more FSB to 235MHz didn’t seem to than 450 points from 5039 to help. At 232MHz Windows Gigabit BIOS 5501. This was about 150 booted only to freeze up, and at Ethernet Highpoint HPT374 points slower than the best 231MHz, 3Dmark03 crashed. ATX PSU Connectors Controller UDMA/ATA 133 Memory score the AI7 posted. We reduced the FSB to Audio Codec RAID Controller The Graphics score was up just 230MHz and increased the core Northbridge (875P) Southbridge SATA a little more than 140 points to voltage by selecting CPU (Intel ICH5R) Connectors 5573, which was just 10 points VCore Voltage in the Power faster than the best Graphics BIOS Features section of the startup util- score posted by the AI7. The HDD score ity. We increased the FSB from 1.375V to actually fell slightly to 4725. 1.425V. This resulted in a slightly better The added speed and voltage did cause 3Dmark03 score of 6680 at 230MHz. temperatures to rise slightly. At 3.6GHz Most importantly, however, this slight volt- and 1.475V, the processor temperature age increase allowed us to push up the FSB. measured 44.6 C under load and we mea- At 232MHz, our 3GHz P4 was running at to 6713. Increasing the FSB further resulted sured the ambient case temperature at 3.49GHz. The slight increase in clock in the dreaded BSOD. 30.9 C. As we mentioned, we did get the speed resulted in a small 3Dmark03 We went back to our best 3Dmark03 processor up to 3.63GHz, but at this improvement to 6690. Carefully increasing score, which was at 3.6GHz. Even here the speed performance suffered a bit. We had the FSB to 234MHz gave us a 3.52GHz 6721 score was roughly equivalent to the to increase the voltage to 1.525V in order clock speed and resulted in another slight 6726 posted by the AI7 with a 3.46GHz to get the system stable at 3.63GHz, and 3Dmark03 gain to 6695. processor. Of course, we also had the volt- this also caused a spike in temps as the We increased the FSB again to age cranked up to a potentially unhealthy CPU hit 46.1 C under load and the ambi- 235MHz, which gave us a 3.54GHz P4. 1.6125V on the ABIT. Our voltage on the ent case temp reached 31.3 C. Again, performance rose with clock speed, EP-4PCA3+ was a more reasonable 1.475V. as the 3Dmark03 score rose to 6708. While 3Dmark03 scores were disap- Final Word Increasing the FSB to 237MHz caused pointing, PCMark04 scores looked a little We were both impressed and disap- 3Dmark03 to freeze, so we increased the pointed with the 875P-based EPoX EP- CPU voltage to 1.475V. At 237MHz, the Overclock Comparison 4PCA3+ board. On the plus side, we were CPU clock speed was running at 3.57GHz able to reach 3.63GHz and beyond, faster and the 3Dmark03 score rose 5 points to 3Dmark03 than we had been able to go on any other 6713. In order to run the CPU at 3.6GHz, ABIT AI7 board. At the same time, 3Dmark03 scores we increased the FSB to 239MHz. Once Stock Performance 6539 weren’t nearly as impressive as they were on again we managed a slight improvement in Overclocked Performance 6726 the ABIT AI7. PCMark04 scores, on the 3Dmark03 as the score rose to 6721. ★ EPoX EP-4PCA3+ other hand, compared more favorably to Increasing the FSB to 241MHz caused Stock Performance 6535 the highest marks the AI7 received in 3Dmark03 to crash. We did manage to get Overclocked Performance 6721 PCMark04. It’ll be interesting to see how the CPU running at 3.63GHz by increasing Biostar P4TSV future 875P-based boards compare. the core voltage to 1.525 and setting the Stock Performance 6530 FSB to 241MHz, but 3Dmark03 scores fell Overclocked Performance 6687 by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 45 3.2E GHZ PENTIUM 4 & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.2E GHz Pentium 4 (Prescott) ECS 865G-M Motherboard ECS 865G-M BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version 5.0f n earlier case studies, the 3GHz Like most other motherboards, the Chipset Driver 5.0.2.103 Prescott proved more than capable of 865G-M also has integrated audio and Common Components handling increased clock speeds, as Ethernet. 3Com’s Marvell 940 chipset pro- I RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) we were able to get the processor above vides the Gigabit Ethernet support, while Video Gainward PowerPack! 3.6GHz on our 875P motherboard. the CMI 9738A audio codec provides six- Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Benchmark scores indicated performance channel audio. VIA provides FireWire sup- Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital mostly increased along with clock speed, port while the ICH5 southbridge provides WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA although we did begin to see some declines dual SATA and USB support. The 865G Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U at higher clock speeds. northbridge includes support for quad- CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black Now we replace our 3E GHz Pentium pumped frontside bus speeds of 400MHz, 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW with a faster 3.2E GHz Pentium 4. Like 533MHz, and 800MHz. Of course, our Floppy Samsung 1.44MB the 3E, the 3.2E is also based on the 3.2E GHz P4 supports FSB speeds of Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Prescott core. That means aside from the 800MHz. Our dual 512MB memory mod- Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature clock speed, both processors have a lot in ules let us take advantage of dual-channel Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 common. Like the 3E, the 3.2E is based on memory support in the 865G. a 90nm fabrication process that allows Intel The microATX form factor shouldn’t 200 points from 4829 to 5022. The CPU to pack more transistors into a smaller be a limitation for overclockers. The score also showed dramatic improvements, space. Smaller transistors along with other Biostar P4TSV board we reviewed in our as the score increased from 4611 to 4819. improvements, such as a strained silicon first Intel case study was also a microATX The PCMark04 Memory score didn’t design and a longer data pipeline, will even- board and proved quite capable of provid- increase as dramatically, but it was still up tually allow Intel to increase the clock speed ing stable overclocks at a CPU clock almost 100 points to 5012. As expected, on Prescott. For now we’ll see if the faster speed of 3.49GHz. Nonetheless, in a the Graphics and HDD scores showed the CPU will allow higher overclocked scores. smaller case, heat could become more of least improvements. The Graphics score an issue. Our Antec case provides plenty was up just 73 points to 5457, and the Motherboard of breathing room for the processor and HDD score was up just 62 points to 4305. In this article, we’ll pair the 3.2E GHz additional components. The 865G-M used a slightly higher volt- P4 with an ECS 865G-M motherboard. age (1.375V) than the Biostar P4TSV The compact 865G-M can fit in smaller Overclocking board (1.35V). Combined with the faster cases made specifically to accommodate Before attempting to overclock the sys- clock speed, this caused the 3.2E GHz P4 microATX boards. Of course, the 865G-M tem, we used the default settings to get a to run a little warmer than the 3E GHz.

3.2E GHz Pentium 4 ECS 865G-M Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.20GHz 200MHz 16 1.375V 41.2 31.4 6582 5022 4819 5012 5457 4305 Performance Overclocked 3.22GHz 201MHz 16 1.375V 41.8 31.9 6607 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Performance

also fit nicely in our full-sized Antec case. baseline score for our system. The 3.2E, We recorded a 36.1 degree Celsius temper- The smaller size, however, means fewer not surprisingly, managed slightly faster ature for the processor when idle. By way of PCI slots for expansion. The 865G chipset benchmark scores than the 3E. The comparison, the 3E on the Biostar 865G- does support an integrated Intel Extreme 3Dmark03 score was up 52 points over the based motherboard recorded a 33.9 C tem- Graphics 2 video chip. Despite the inte- 3E GHz P4’s default score on the Biostar perature. This resulted in a slight increase grated video, we went ahead and used our 865G motherboard. Some PCMark04 in the ambient case temperature from 28.4 NVIDIA card to keep our test system spec- scores, however, increased more dramatical- C to 29.7 C. Under load, the 3.2E GHz P4 ifications as uniform as possible. ly. The overall PCMark04 score rose nearly caused the ambient case temperature to rise

46 • PC Modder to 31.4 C and the processor the case with the ECS 865G-M. temperature to climb to 41.2 C. As you’ll see in other studies, The 3E GHz P4, on the other we were able to push speeds as hand, exhibited a 38.7 C tem- high as 3.68GHz using the perature under load. exact same 3.2E GHz P4 used Once we had our default in this article. scores recorded, we rebooted the The ability to increase the system and pressed the DEL key processor’s core voltage may during POST. This brought up have helped with stability. In the setup utility. We selected the order to reach the 3.68GHz CPU Frequency Control option speed, for instance, we had to and immediately noticed there pump up the core voltage to was no option to increase the 1.625V. We can’t, however, processor’s core voltage and, attribute all our problems with thus, no way to improve stabili- the 865G-M to the lack of a ty at higher clock speeds. We’ve VCore option. As you’ll see, our heard some motherboards have next motherboard also lacked a disabled CPU voltage controls VCore adjustment option and, Audio Codec BIOS when they detect a Prescott- Northbridge in fact, used a lower core voltage Southbridge based Pentium 4, but that ATX PSU (865G) for our 3.2E GHz P4. None- (Intel ICH5) didn’t seem to be the case with Connectors Ethernet theless, we were still able to the 865G-M motherboard, as SATA Connectors Controller ramp up above 3.5GHz. The the users manual makes no truth appears to be that the mention of a CPU voltage adjustment in ECS 865G-M just isn’t a very stable moth- the setup utility. erboard for overclocking. We were able to adjust the FSB speed by selecting CPU Clock and increasing Final Word the FSB in 1MHz increments using the Again, one reason we tested the same PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys. We processor on multiple boards is so that increased the FSB to 210MHz, saved the bad results from one board could be settings, and exited the setup utility. With Sync AGP/PCI/SATA. We changed the shown for what they are, an anomaly and our processor running at 3.36GHz, our default to 66/33/100MHz Clk hoping this not something characteristic of the system refused to boot properly. This might be the reason for the chronic processor. The ECS 865G-M is simply marked the first time we weren’t able to instability. Unfortunately, increasing not a motherboard we’d recommend for overclock an FSB to 210MHz. We the FSB just 2MHz caused continued overclockers. Nonetheless, we still have rebooted the system and once again instability problems. plenty of opportunity to see what the pressed DEL during POST to enter the Obviously, the ECS 865G-M isn’t made 3.2GHz Prescott can do when we pair it setup utility. We decreased the CPU for overclockers. One reason we wanted to with Intel’s 865PE and 875P chipsets. Clock option in the Frequency Control test the same processor on multiple boards An interesting note is the effect bus section from 210MHz to 205MHz, is so that we could better tell which boards speed has on performance. When over- resulting in a 3.28GHz clock speed. Once had difficulty overclocking. This is certainly clocking the 3E GHz P4 on the Biostar again, the system refused to boot. P4TSV, the system managed an almost We further decreased the FSB speed to a Overclock Comparison identical score to the one posted by the modest 202MHz, resulting in an ever-so- 3.2E GHz P4 on the ECS 865G-M board. slightly overclocked 3.23GHz P4. Even at 3Dmark03 The 3E, however, managed the 6606 this small overclock, however, the system Chaintech 9CJS Zenith 3Dmark03 score with a processor running couldn’t properly boot. We decreased the Stock Performance 6631 at 3.15GHz and a FSB speed of 210MHz. FSB once again to 201MHz. At just Overclocked Performance 6774 At 201MHz, our 3.2E was running at just 3.22GHz, our 3.2E GHz P4 was able to ★ ECS 865G-M 3.22GHz and managed an almost identical successfully boot. 3Dmark03 scores Stock Performance 6582 6607 3Dmark03 score. The faster FSB improved slightly to 6607. Overclocked Performance 6607 makes up for a slower processor clock in We did notice an Async AGP/ Shuttle AB60N the case of these two test systems. PCI/SATA Clk option in the Frequency Stock Performance 6286 Control section. It was initially set to Overclocked Performance 6372 by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 47 3.2E GHZ PENTIUM 4 & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.2E GHz Pentium 4 (Prescott) SHUTTLE AB60N Motherboard Shuttle AB60N BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version AB60S00W hanks to the embarrassing per- sound cards, modems, and wireless Chipset Driver 5.0.1.1015 formance turned in by the ECS Ethernet adapters. Common Components 865G-M in our last case study, The Intel ICH5 supports two inde- T RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) we still didn’t have any indication how pendent SATA drives along with eight Video Gainward PowerPack! well the 3.2E GHz Prescott might over- USB 2.0 ports. Although the ICH5 sup- Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) clock. We tossed the ECS board on the ports as many as eight USB 2.0 ports, Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital trash heap and bolted a Shuttle AB60N the AB60N only has room for four USB WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA to our Antec case hoping for better 2.0 ports. FireWire is also noticeably Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U results. Although not as impressive as absent. The AB60N also supports up to CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black what we saw with our 3GHz Prescott four UDMA 33/66/100 drives. The 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW and ABIT motherboard combo, we did ICH5 lacks integrated RAID, and Floppy Samsung 1.44MB get much better results than we did with Shuttle doesn’t include a separate Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower our ECS board. onboard RAID controller, so if you Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature can’t live without RAID, you’ll need to Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 Motherboard install a separate RAID controller. Like The Intel 865PE on the northbridge most other motherboards, you’ll find Overclocking is similar to the 865G found on our last integrated six-channel audio via the Once again, before we could reach motherboard with the major difference ALC650 audio codec and integrated into the system setup utility and shake between the two chips being that the 10/100 Ethernet via the Realtek 8100B. things up, we had some testing to per- 865PE doesn’t support Intel’s integrated In addition to having to meet certain form. Our initial 3Dmark03 score was Extreme Graphics 2 video chip. That’s physical specifications, most mother- pretty disappointing, as it was almost not necessarily a bad thing, as it makes boards also require a BIOS update in 300 points lower than our initial the 865PE more attractive to enthusiasts order to support Prescott. Our mother- 3Dmark03 score in the last case study who aren’t likely to settle for Intel’s board arrived with the latest BIOS (6286). PCMark04 scores for the integrated graphics. The 865PE offers installed (AB60S00W released March Shuttle board, however, were more the same support for quad-pumped 18, 2004). Support for Prescott was encouraging. The overall PCMark04 400MHz, 533MHz, and 800MHz originally added in November with the score increased to 5040 from the last frontside bus speeds and support for up AB60S00T release. That release also

3.2E GHz Pentium 4 Shuttle AB60N Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.21GHz 200MHz 16 1.26 43.5 30.6 6286 5040 4889 5058 5433 4292 Performance Overclocked 3.58GHz 223MHz 16 1.26 45.6 31.6 6372 5578 5438 5644 5564 4300 Performance

to 4GB of PC2100, PC2700, or added support for Intel’s Extreme case study, and the CPU score increased PC3200 DDR SDRAM. Like all our Edition processors and removed support from 4819 to 4889. The PCMark04 Intel chipsets, the 865PE supports dual- for older Williamette-based Pentium 4 Memory score was also slightly higher, channel memory. The AB60N is also processors. According to Shuttle’s up 46 points to 5058. The Graphics larger than the ECS 865G-M board, Support List (www.shuttle.com/hq/sup- score on the AB60N, however, was meaning there’s more room for expan- port/faq/mainboard/mb.asp), the down 24 points relative to the ECS sion. In addition to the single AB60N only officially supports Prescott 865G-M to 5433. The HDD score was 2X/4X/8X AGP slot, five additional PCI processors up to 2.8GHz. We had no also down about 13 points to 4292. slots provide you with room to install trouble, however, with our 3.2E Compared to the ECS board, the plenty of other components such as GHz Prescott. AB60N uses a significantly lower default

48 • PC Modder core voltage of 1.26V (com- PCMark04 benchmarks were pared to 1.375V). Despite less more dramatic than they were voltage, the 3.2E GHz was in 3Dmark03. While 3D- just as warm on the Shuttle mark03 scores rose just 86 board as it was on the ECS points, the overall PCMark04 board with a 36.5-degree score rose 538 points to Celsius idle temperature. 5578. The PCMark04 CPU When idle, the ambient case and Memory scores also rose temperature measured 29.3 dramatically. The CPU score C. Under load, however, the increased from 4889 to 5438, 3.2E GHz temperature and the Memory score shot increased to 43.5 C, slightly up from 5058 to 5644. Our warmer than the 41.2 C load focus in these articles is on temperature measured in the the processor, so it shouldn’t previous article. The ambient be a big surprise that we don’t default case temperature see dramatic improvements in under load came in at 30.6 C. the Graphics and HDD With our default measure- Audio Codec BIOS scores. Nonetheless, we did ments carefully recorded, we ATX PSU note a slight improvement in rebooted the system and Connectors Southbridge (Intel ICH5) the PCMark04 Graphics pressed DEL during POST to Ethernet score, as it rose from 5433 to Northbridge (865PE) SATA Connectors enter the system’s setup utili- Controller 5564. The HDD score ty. We selected Frequen- remained virtually unchanged cy/Voltage Control from the main at 4300. menu. Like the ECS board we looked at Naturally, heat increased as we over- previously, the AB60N was missing an clocked the FSB and processor. The option to increase the processor voltage. processor temperature measured by our We increased the FSB to 210MHz and temperature probe increased from 43.5 hoped for the best. C to 45.6 C under load at 3.58GHz. After rebooting the system, our 3.2E the option were available, but instead we That’s 2.1 C warmer than our default GHz processor was running at had to settle for reducing the FSB speed load temperature. The ambient case 3.37GHz. The system successfully yet again. We decreased the FSB to temperature increased slightly from 30.6 loaded and completed 3Dmark03 with a 223MHz. This time the system proved C to 31.6 C. 6328 score. This was still below the more stable with a 3.58GHz processor, default ECS 3Dmark03 score, but at and 3Dmark03 completed with a 6372 Final Word least we managed a successful overclock. score. Once again, this score was signifi- The Shuttle AB60N is still missing We repeated the procedure and cantly lower than the default 6582 one feature we like to see in a mother- increased the FSB speed to 220MHz, 3Dmark03 score we received in the board: the ability to adjust the proces- yielding a 3.53GHz processor clock last article. sor’s voltage. We think we probably speed. Despite the 160MHz increase in Using the same settings, we ran could have managed some higher scores speed, however, we only managed to PCMark04. Once again, the gains in if we had the ability to provide a little gain an extra 30 points in 3Dmark03, as extra voltage to the processor. As a our score increased to 6358. Overclock Comparison result, we’re still not really sure we can We tried increasing the FSB another say we’ve seen the best the 3.2E GHz has 10MHz to 230MHz, but the system 3Dmark03 to offer. Nonetheless, we still had much refused to boot with the processor run- Chaintech 9CJS Zenith better results with the Shuttle AB60N ning at 3.68GHz. Decreasing the FSB Stock Performance 6631 than with the ECS 865G-M. We man- 5MHz to 225MHz resulted in a Overclocked Performance 6774 aged to increase the processor and FSB 3.61GHz processor, but the system ECS 865G-M speeds by roughly 12%, which beats the proved too unstable to complete Stock Performance 6582 less than 1% increase we saw in our pre- 3Dmark03. Decreasing the FSB 1MHz Overclocked Performance 6607 vious article. to 224MHz didn’t help with stability. ★ Shuttle AB60N We would have tried increasing the Stock Performance 6286 by Chad Denton processor’s core voltage at this point if Overclocked Performance 6372

PC Modder • 49 3.2E GHZ PENTIUM 4 & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.2E GHz Pentium 4 (Prescott) CHAINTECH 9CJS ZENITH Motherboard Chaintech 9CJS Zenith BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version Ver 6 n earlier articles we were initially after fixing our Prescott to the mother- Chipset Driver 5.0.2.1002 disappointed with our 3.2E GHz board, we fired it up and found the Common Components Pentium 4, as we managed only a processor running slower than it should. I RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) very slight overclock on our ECS 865G- A little investigating showed the mother- Video Gainward PowerPack! M motherboard. Replacing the 865G- board was using a 14X multiplier instead Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) based ECS board with an 865PE Shuttle of a 16X multiplier. As a result, our Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital board, however, yielded more promising 3.2GHz Prescott processor was running WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA results, as we were able to push our at a measly 2.8GHz. Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U processor to 3.58GHz. Now we’ll move Without a BIOS update to fix the prob- CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X even further as we replace our 865PE lem, we decided we’d try to pair the AX4C DVD/CD-RW motherboard with an 875P board with a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition proces- Floppy Samsung 1.44MB from Chaintech. sor and use Chaintech’s 9CJS Zenith Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower motherboard for the 3.2E GHz. Because Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Motherboard Temperature the Extreme Edition processors are based Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 If you’ve looked into using AOpen’s on the older Northwood cores, we thought AX4C motherboard with any Prescott the AOpen board would provide better feature-complete boards we’ve seen. The processor, you know how frustrating support for the Extreme Edition. only thing we wish it included is a better Prescott compatibility issues can be. Unfortunately, as it turned out, we weren’t RAID controller to go with the ICH5R. Prescott does make a few physical require- able to overclock the Extreme Edition on Chaintech didn’t stop with the mother- ments of the motherboard. Specifically, this board either. In the end, we used the board, however. Included in the box is the motherboards must support FMB (Flexible Chaintech 9CJS Zenith with both the 3.2E CBOX3, which rests in a 5.25-inch drive Motherboard Specification) 1.5 power Prescott and the 3.2GHz Extreme Edition. bay and includes USB and FireWire con- specifications for Prescott processors This should provide an interesting compar- nectors in addition to a 6-in-1 card reader 3.2GHz and faster. FMB 1.5 motherboards ison between the older northwood-based that handles removable media such as SD, are capable of supplying a higher ICC Extreme Edition Pentium 4 processors and MMC, and CompactFlash cards. The Voltage of 91A. Additionally, a BIOS Intel’s shiny new Prescott-based processors. Handigator is a cheesy name for a remote upgrade is often in order to fully support The 9CJS Zenith is Chaintech’s flag- control, but it came included with our Prescott. Many high-end motherboards ship Intel motherboard. The massive box package, so we can’t complain too much.

3.2E GHz Pentium 4 Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.20GHz 200MHz 16 1.325 44.6 31.5 6631 5102 4931 5219 5455 4301 Performance Overclocked 3.65GHz 225MHz 16 1.325 45.9 31.8 6774 5759 5541 5865 5602 4296 Performance

have been supporting FMB 1.5 (or some- immediately suggests this is a luxury thing close to it), so most motherboards are board. The motherboard comes loaded Overclocking physically compatible with Prescott. As we with an Intel 875P northbridge chipset The Chaintech certainly makes a nice found out, however, not all manufacturers and an Intel ICH5R I/O controller. The first impression, so we were optimistic it are providing the necessary BIOS updates system includes both an Intel might deliver some top-notch perfor- to support Prescott. PRO/1000CT Gigabit Ethernet con- mance. Sure enough, the Chaintech board AOpen’s AX4C is one example of a troller and a Realtek RTL8101L 10/100 provided us with some of our highest motherboard in need of a BIOS update. Ethernet controller. Add to that a 24-bit, scores to date. The 6631 default We originally planned to use this proces- 7.1-channel integrated audio codec, and 3Dmark03 score certainly helped elimi- sor with our 3.2E GHz processor, but the motherboard is one of the more nate the bad taste from the disappointing

50 • PC Modder 6286 default 3Dmark03 score that score was slightly lower in our last article. PCMark04 than the 3Dmark03 score we scores were also improved. The received at 225MHz. The sys- overall PCMark04 score of tem rebooted constantly at both 5102 was one of the best scores 226MHz and 227MHz. we’ve received so far, and the Increasing the CPU voltage 4931 CPU score was 42 points from 1.325V to 1.425V higher than the default score improved our 3Dmark03 score on the Shuttle board. The at 226MHz, but even then the 9CJS Zenith’s real advantage, 6762 score was slightly lower however, appears to be in its than the 6774 score we memory subsystem, as the received at 225MHz with our Zenith managed a 5219 default voltage. The higher Memory score that was 161 voltage allowed us to boot the points higher than the Shuttle’s system successfully, but default Memory score. Finally, 3Dmark03 crashed before ren- we saw slight improvements in ATX PSU Connectors dering a score. Increasing the both the Graphics score (5455) Audio voltage to 1.525V didn’t help Northbridge (875P) SATA and HDD score (4301). Connectors Codec matters, but at 1.625V, we Our temperature probes Gigabit Ethernet Controller were able to get a 3Dmark03 reported an idle processor tem- Ethernet score with a 227MHz FSB Southbridge (Intel ICH5R) perature of 36.2 degrees Celsius Controller BIOS speed and 3.68GHz processor and 29 C for the ambient case speed. Unfortunately, the score temperature, which is in line with other continued the downward trend we had temperature readings from the 3.2E GHz observed since the 225MHz mark. At processor. Under load, however, the proces- 6377, 3Dmark03 was dramatically lower sor’s temperature was 1.1 C warmer than than it was at 225MHz. the default temperature in our last article We returned the voltage to 1.325V and and 3.4 C warmer than it was with the ECS lowered the FSB to 225MHz before run- board. With the processor working hard, ning PCMark04. While 3Dmark03 scores the ambient case temperature reached 31.5 65-point gain in 3DMark04. We only improved a modest 143 points, C, which was similar to default load tem- returned to the system setup utility and PCMark04 scores increased dramatically, peratures we observed previously. increased the FSB to 220MHz. After with the Overall score, CPU score, and We pressed DEL during POST to rebooting, our 3.57GHz Prescott man- Memory scores all showing increases in enter the system setup utility. We then aged a 54-point increase to 6740. excess of 600 points. The Overall selected Frequency/Voltage Control from Unfortunately, the system failed to boot PCMark04 score shot up to 5759, while the main menu. Considering the 9CJS is when we increased the FSB to 230MHz. the CPU score and Memory score meant to be an enthusiast’s board, we Reducing the FSB to 225MHz (3.65GHz), improved to 5541 and 5865 respectively. weren’t surprised to see a reasonable num- however, resulted in a solid 6774 As always, we saw less change in the ber of overclocking options. Aside from 3Dmark03 score. We were able to get a Graphics and HDD scores. The Graphics the Default setting, 44 voltage settings 3Dmark03 score of 6682 at 226MHz, but score still showed slight improvement were available with a range from 1.1V to from 5455 to 5602, while the HDD score 1.675V. Such fine-grain voltage control Overclock Comparison was down slightly from 4301 to 4296. can certainly be helpful when it comes to stabilizing your processor at higher clock 3Dmark03 Final Word speeds, and it stands in stark contrast to ★ Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Not only does the Chaintech board the two other motherboards we paired Stock Performance 6631 come with plenty of features, but it also with the 3.2E GHz (neither of which Overclocked Performance 6774 delivers impressive performance and over- allowed you to adjust the CPU voltage). ECS 865G-M clocks well. We were a little disappointed We selected CPU Clock and used Stock Performance 6582 to see scores go down as we moved past PAGE UP to adjust the setting to Overclocked Performance 6607 3.65GHz, but the dramatic PCMark04 210MHz, which increased our processor’s Shuttle AB60N results were certainly impressive. clock speed from 3.2GHz to 3.41GHz. Stock Performance 6286 The increased speeds resulted in a modest Overclocked Performance 6372 by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 51 3.2GHZ PENTIUM 4 System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme EXTREME EDITION Edition Motherboard ASUS P4G800-V BIOS Manufacturer AMI & ASUS P4G800-V BIOS Version 1008 Chipset Driver 5.0.2.1003

Common Components e started off looking at When we overclocked high-end North- RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) Intel's new Prescott-based wood processors several months ago, we Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/ Pentium 4 processors which noticed less overhead as clock speeds 1800 XP Golden Sample W (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) include several changes designed to help increased. We simply couldn't push faster Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital Intel push clock speeds even higher. As processors as far as we could slower ones. WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA speeds increase, Prescott is likely to Furthermore, we often saw performance Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado become more impressive. Currently, how- scores decrease as clock speeds increased. CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X ever, Prescott doesn't seem to compete We've had an easy time pushing Prescott DVD/CD-RW very well with older processors based on speeds, but now it's time to turn our atten- Floppy Samsung 1.44MB the Northwood core. One reason is that tion back to Northwood-based processors. Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Intel actually extended Prescott's instruc- We paired our 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Temperature tion pipeline. Because the processor is Extreme Edition (not to be confused with Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 constantly flooding the pipeline with data the 3.2E GHz, which is a Prescott chip) it expects the processor will need, the with an 865G motherboard from ASUS. six PCI slots and one 4X/8X AGP slot. longer pipeline isn't bad until the proces- An alternate version, the P4G800-VM, is sor mispredicts what data the processor Motherboard a microATX boards with three PCI slots. will need. A misprediction is costly ASUS is one of the big names in over- The 865G supports 400MHz, 533MHz, because the processor has to empty the clocking and the company has a reputa- and 800MHz quad-pumped FSB speeds pipeline and resend the correct data. tion for stable, reliable boards that over- along with up to 4GB of dual-channel At current speeds, Northwood is still clock well. As we've said in the past, how- PC3200 DDR SDRAM. Hyper-Threading competitive with Prescott, and if you're a ever, most companies don't target the support and support for processors up to gamer, there may be no better Intel enthusiast with their 865G motherboards. 3.4GHz is also provided by this mother- processor for you than a Pentium 4 The main reason is that an enthusiast sim- board. Like the 3.2E GHz Prescott chip we Extreme Edition. The Extreme Edition is ply isn't going to be happy with a low-end looked at earlier, the 3.4GHz Extreme based on the Northwood core, which integrated Intel video chip. As a result, it Edition also requires the motherboard to

3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Asus P4G800-V Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.2GHz 200MHz 16 1.475 38.5 28 6311 5239 4933 5090 5647 4267 Performance Overclocked N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Performance

means it uses the 13-micron (1.3 seems 865G motherboards are harder to conform to FMB 1.5 specifications. The nanometer) fabrication process. North- overclock and, in some instances, don't FMB 1.5 specification provides more wood has just half the L2 cache of even allow users to increase the FSB. amperes to the processor (91A compared to Prescott, but it includes a special 2MB of Unlike our last two 865G mother- 78A). Luckily, the P4G800-V meets FMB L3 cache. The added cache makes a big boards, the P4G800-V is a full-sized ATX 1.5 requirements. The motherboard con- difference when it comes to gaming and board instead of a microATX board like tained the latest BIOS update (1008) with an even bigger difference when it comes the Biostar P4TSV and the ECS 865G- support for our 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme to cost. Extreme Edition processors are M. While the latter boards are compatible Edition first appearing in revision 1005. the most expensive processors Intel has with smaller cases, the P4G800-V pro- On the southbridge, the P4G800-V fea- on the market. vides more expansion options, including tures an Intel ICH5, which supports up to

52 • PC Modder eight USB 2.0 ports and two the 3.2GHz Prescott on the independent SATA 150 drives. ECS 865G-M motherboard. The motherboard also supports Typically, the extra cache two UDMA 100 IDE connec- seems to have more of an tors (for a total of four devices). impact on application benches With chips being so inexpen- such as 3Dmark03. In this case, sive, it's hard to find a mother- however, PCMark04 scores board that doesn't include inte- seemed to be higher relative to grated audio and Ethernet. The the 3.2GHz Prescott on the Realtek ALC650 provides six 865G-M board. The Overall channels of audio and the inte- PCMark04 score of 5239 was grated Realtek 8101L Ethernet more than 200 points better controller provides 10/100 than the 5022 score posted by Ethernet connectivity. the 3.2GHz Prescott and the 4933 CPU score was more than Overclock 100 points higher than the Although the P4G800-V 4819 CPU score posted by the ATX Power Connector Ethernet supports our 3.2GHz Pentium Controller BIOS Prescott. We did see a higher Northbridge (865G) 4 Extreme Edition, the AMI SATA than expected increase in the Audio Codec BIOS lacked an option to Connector Graphics score as we managed a adjust the motherboard's FSB. 5647 with our 3.2GHz EE that Southbridge (ICH5) This was extremely disappoint- was 190 points higher than our ing for an ASUS-branded 3.2GHz Prescott. The Memory motherboard as it prevented us from over- score showed only a slight improvement to clocking the board. 5090 from 5012 and the HDD score was The AMI BIOS is a little different from down slightly from 4305 to 4267. the Phoenix BIOS we've seen in mother- We've heard a lot about just how hot boards to this point. To access the setup Prescott runs. Our heat probes, of course, utility, we still pressed the DEL key during aren't in contact with the processor's core, POST. The layout of the BIOS, however, the amount of system memory used for so our measurements are only an indirect was very different. We navigated tabs video memory in the Chipset section. indicator of the chip's heat. Comparing across the top of the screen using the Left Despite the lack of a FSB adjustment, our default readings for Prescott processors and Right arrow keys and selected options we went ahead and ran our benchmarks with our readings for Northwood-based on the screen using the Up and Down to get an idea how the 3.2GHz Extreme Extreme Edition processors, however, arrow keys. Under the Main tab, there is a Edition stacks up to its Prescott cousins demonstrate just how much hotter submenu for system information. This in terms of performance. The P4G800-V Prescott runs. Our 3.2GHz Prescott's tem- screen provides the processor type and ran our Extreme Edition with a default perature ranged from 41.2 degrees Celsius clock speed, but there are no options to voltage of 1.475V. 3Dmark03 returned a under load to 44.6 C. Under load, our adjust or change the CPU or FSB speeds. somewhat disappointing 6311 score for 3.2GHz EE ran at 38.5 C. The Prescott Under the Advanced tab, there is a CPU our 3.2GHz processor. This was 271 system had an ambient case temperature of Configuration option, but again this pro- points less than the 6582 score posted by around 30 C, while ambient case tempera- vides mostly information. The processor tures rested at around 28 C when running manufacturer, brand, frequency, multiplier Overclock Comparison our 3.2GHz Extreme Edition. status, and multiplier value are listed here. There are some useful settings in the 3Dmark03 Final Word Chipset section under the Advanced tab, Chaintech 9CJS Zenith The lack of overclocking options is a but again no option to modify the FSB. Stock Performance 6671 real disappointment, especially for an You can Disable Configure DRAM Overclocked Performance 6809 ASUS board. Nonetheless, our default Timing By SPD to manually adjust your Soyo SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 scores provide an interesting glimpse as to memory timings. Once disabled, you can Stock Performance 6292 how our Northwood-based Extreme adjust DRAM CAS# Latency, DRAM Overclocked Performance 6379 Edition fares compared to a newer proces- RAS# Precharge, DRAM RAS# To CAS# ★ ASUS P4G800-V sor running Intel's Prescott core. Delay, DRAM Precharge Delay, and Stock Performance 6311 DRAM Burst Length. You can also adjust Overclocked Performance N/A by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 53 3.2GHZ PENTIUM 4 System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.2GHz Pentium 4 EXTREME EDITION & SOYO Extreme Edition Motherboard Soyo P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix Award BIOS SY-P4I865PE PLUS DRAGON 2 BIOS Version P4IP2_2BA1 Chipset Driver 5.0.1.1015 fter a disappointing run with a integrated audio codec provides six-chan- Common Components 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme nel audio and a Davicom DM9102 pro- RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) Edition and an ASUS 865G vides 10/100 Ethernet connectivity. Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/ A 1800 XP Golden Sample motherboard, we were anxious to move (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) on and see just how far we could push Overclocking Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital this already speedy processor. This time We eventually got some first-rate WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U we paired our 3.2GHz Extreme Edition results from the P4I865PE, but we had CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado with an 865PE chipset. The 865PE is to play with some of the system settings CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X more popular with enthusiasts because it in order to stabilize the system at higher DVD/CD-RW offers excellent performance for the price. FSB speeds. We started off, as always, Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower by benchmarking the system with its Motherboard Case Antec PLUS1080AMG default settings. Temperature For this case study, we used the Soyo At 3.2GHz, our Extreme Edition Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2. This board processor managed a 6292 3Dmark03 isn't to be confused with the Soyo score. This score was essentially the same better than the 3.2GHz Prescott man- P4I865PE Dragon 2 Plus. Both boards as the 6286 3Dmark03 score we received aged. The 4291 HDD score was up include an Intel 865PE chipset on the with our 3.2GHz Prescott on a Shuttle slightly from our last article. northbridge and an Intel ICH5 on the AB60N 865PE motherboard and was Under load, we recorded a tempera- southbridge. Our motherboard, however, slightly lower than the 6311 score we got ture of 38.8 degrees Celsius for our has just three memory slots. That means in the last case study. The 5171 Overall 3.2GHz Extreme Edition. This was sim- that although the motherboard supports PCMark04 score was about 131 points ilar to the 38.5 C temperature we dual-channel DDR SDRAM up to faster than the Overall PCMark04 score recorded in our last case study and it PC3200 speeds, you won't be able to take posted by the 3.2GHz Prescott on an was significantly lower than the 43.5 C full advantage of dual-channel memory if 865PE motherboard, but it was down temperature we recorded with our you fill all slots. Both boards also include 128 points from our last article. 3.2GHz Prescott processor under load. five PCI slots and one 4X/8X AGP slot. Compared to the CPU score posted by The ambient case temperature for our

3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Soyo SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.2GHz 200MHz 16 1.47 38.8 29 6292 5171 4844 4947 5638 4291 Performance Overclocked 3.6GHz 225MHz 16 1.47 40.3 28.2 6379 5812 5065 5577 5658 4282 Performance

The alternate board, however, includes a our 3.2GHz Prescott chip, the Extreme system was also consistent with our last CNR slot that our board lacks. Edition's CPU score was down 45 points article at 29 C. The 865PE supports 400MHz, to 4844. Once again, this score was sig- After recording the default scores, we 533MHz, and 800MHz quad-pumped nificantly lower than in our last article as rebooted the system and accessed the sys- FSB speeds, and the motherboard itself is was the 4947 Memory score. The tem setup utility by pressing DEL during capable of supporting Prescott and Memory score for our Extreme Edition POST. We selected the first entry in the Extreme Edition processors. The ICH5 processor was lower than the 3.2GHz main menu, Soyo COMBO Feature. We on the southbridge supports two indepen- Prescott's. The 5638 Graphics score, then selected CPU Frequency Select and dent SATA RAID devices and as many as however, was on a par with the score from changed the value from Auto to Manual. eight USB 2.0 devices. A CMI 9739A our last case study and was 205 points We were than able to adjust the Select

54 • PC Modder Frequency 1MHz Stepping Attempts to push the FSB entry from 200MHz to speeds higher kept the system 210MHz. Unfortunately, the from booting and increasing system refused to boot, so we the CPU voltage was little returned to the system setup help, so we returned to utility and decreased the FSB 225MHz and ran PCMark04. to 205MHz. Again the system Scores showed dramatic refused to boot. Scaling back improvement over the proces- the FSB to 201MHz resulted sor's original scores. The in a 3.21GHz overclock and a Overall PCMark04 score 3Dmark03 score that was vir- increased 641 points to 5812 tually unchanged at 6295, but and the CPU score increased at least we had a successful 221 points to 5065. The overclock. We moved the FSB Memory score showed a dra- up to 202MHz and managed matic improvement up 630 to improve our 3Dmark03 BIOS points to 5577 while the score to 6300 with a 3.23GHz Northbridge (865GPE) Graphics score showed a more processor, but the results were ATX Power Connector SATA modest 20-point increase to pretty disappointing. Connector 5658. The HDD score de- Ethernet Controller We turned to our old stabil- creased very slightly this time Audio Codec ity standby fix, the CPU Southbridge (ICH5) around to 4282. Voltage. We increased the The PCMark04 scores com- voltage from 1.47V to 1.5V pared favorably to the PC- and 1.6V, but the system refused to boot. Mark04 scores we received from the That's when we returned to the setup 3.2GHz Prescott running at 3.58GHz. utility and noticed the Async AGP/PCI The Prescott's Overall PCMark04 score Clk was set to Disabled. This means the was dramatically lower at 5578, but the AGP and PCI clocks are trying to keep Prescott enjoyed a higher 5438 CPU pace with the FSB, which can cause insta- score. The Prescott lagged behind in the bility. Locking the AGP and PCI bus at Memory score with a 5644 and the an appropriate speed will cost you a little 3.2GHz Prescott chip running at the Graphics score was slightly lower at 5564. in terms of performance, but it will go a same speed. The 4300 HDD score enjoyed a slight long way toward increasing the systems Increasing the frontside bus to advantage over our more recent bench- stability and allow you to overclock the 230MHz prevented the system from mark score. processor further. We set this option to booting, so we dropped the FSB down 33/66MHz, returned our CPU Voltage to to 225MHz. Our 3.6GHz processor Final Word 1.47V, and increased our FSB speed to managed a 6379 3Dmark03 score. We The Soyo P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 205MHz. The system not only booted were actually able to get the 3.2GHz provides the first glimpse into what kind successfully, but it even completed Extreme Edition running slightly faster of overclocking performance we can 3Dmark03. Unfortunately, the score than our 3.2GHz Prescott processor on expect from the 3.2GHz Extreme showed only a modest improvement to an 865PE motherboard. Edition with its Northwood core. We 6302, but at least we knew we were on were surprised that the Extreme Edition, the right track. Overclock Comparison at least when paired with the Soyo board, We increased the frontside bus to offered a little more overclocking head- 210MHz resulting in a 3.36GHz proces- 3Dmark03 room than our 3.2GHz Prescott. Next, sor. This time we started seeing some sig- Chaintech 9CJS Zenith we'll slap our Intel 3.2GHz Extreme nificant improvements as the 3Dmark03 Stock Performance 6671 Edition into Chaintech's 875P mother- score increased to 6337. We pushed the Overclocked Performance 6809 board and see just how well the Extreme frontside bus on the Extreme Edition fur- ★ Soyo SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 Edition processor compares directly with ther to 220MHz and the system remained Stock Performance 6292 our 3.2GHz Prescott. stable with the processor running at Overclocked Performance 6379 3.52GHz. At this speed, the 3Dmark03 ASUS P4G800-V by Chad Denton score increased to 6374, and actually Stock Performance 6311 topped the 3Dmark03 score for our Overclocked Performance N/A

PC Modder • 55 3.2GHZ PENTIUM 4 System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.2GHz Pentium 4 EXTREME EDITION & Extreme Edition Motherboard Chaintech 9CJS Zenith BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix CHAINTECH 9CJS ZENITH BIOS Version Ver. 6 Chipset Driver 5.0.2.1002 Common Components ith our 865PE-based Soyo flagship chipset, the 875P. Like the RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 865PE, the 875P includes support for up Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample W motherboard, we were finally to 4GB of dual-channel memory (up to (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) able to overclock our 3.2GHz Pentium 4 PC3200), 8X AGP, and FSB speeds as Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital Extreme Edition. For our efforts we got high as 800MHz (quad-pumped, of WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U some fairly impressive results. We added course). The 875P, however, supports CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado 400MHz to the processor's default speed Intel's PAT technology which provides CD-ROM LiteOn Black and managed to get it running well at more aggressive memory timings when 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW 3.6GHz, which was just slightly faster than using dual-channel PC3200 memory. The Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower the 3.58GHz speed we achieved with our ICH5R supports RAID 0 or 1 on the two Case Antec PLUS1080AMG 3.2GHz Prescott. Now we'll combine the independent SATA connectors. Temperature Extreme Edition with a motherboard we've Like most motherboards, the Chaintech Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 seen before, Chaintech's 9CJS Zenith. includes integrated audio, but unlike most boards, the audio codec supports 7.1 sur- Edition compared to the 3.2GHz Prescott Motherboard round sound. Integrated Ethernet is also we looked at earlier. At default speeds, the We first saw the Chaintech 9CJS included, but rather than one Ethernet 3.2GHz Extreme Edition seemed to have a Zenith when we looked at the 3.2E GHz controller, Chaintech provides dual con- slight advantage over the Prescott. The Prescott. We used the Chaintech board to trollers. A Realtek RTL8101L provides 6671 3Dmark03 score was 40 points faster replace the AOpen AX4C motherboard, standard 10/100 Ethernet connectivity, than the 6631 score posted by our Prescott which lacked Prescott support. We had while an Intel PRO/100CT provides processor on the same motherboard. hoped that the AOpen would run our Gigabit Ethernet connectivity. PCMark04 scores also seemed to favor Extreme Edition with its older Northwood But Chaintech doesn't stop with those our 3.2GHz Extreme Edition. The 5384 core. Unfortunately, the Extreme Edition impressive motherboard features. The Overall PCMark04 score was significantly has some of the same power requirements 9CJS Zenith also includes the CBOX3, faster than the 5102 score posted by as Prescott. The motherboard's deficiencies which fits into an external 5.25-inch drive Prescott. The 5043 CPU score also favored

3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.20GHz 200MHz 16 1.5 38.4 30.4 6671 5384 5043 5364 5630 4300 Performance Overclocked 3.65GHz 225MHz 16 1.6 41.2 31.6 6814 5920 5477 6034 5648 4293 Performance

were apparent every time we tried to run bay and includes USB and FireWire ports our Extreme Edition by 112 points. We 3Dmark03—the board simply crashed. in addition to a 6-in-1 card reader that were initially impressed by the Chaintech We ended up scraping the AX4C com- handles a wide range of removable media board's Memory scores when we tested it pletely. For this case study we opted to use from SD to Memory Stick. Chaintech with our Prescott, but we were even more the Chaintech 9CJS once again. This will includes assorted faceplates to make the impressed with the 5364 Memory score we give us an opportunity to directly compare CBOX3 match your case color. got with our Extreme Edition processor. the 3.2GHz Prescott to our 3.2GHz That's 145 points higher than with the Extreme Edition. Overclock Prescott running at the same speed. We This particular board is Chaintech's We were looking forward to seeing how usually don't see much of a difference in flagship product and it includes Intel's far we could push the 3.2GHz Extreme the Graphics scores either, but the Extreme

56 • PC Modder Edition managed to outscore We returned to the 225MHz our Prescott by 175 points with FSB speed that had provided us its 5630. The HDD scores with our best 3D-mark03 score. were virtually identical with the Interestingly enough, this is the Prescott posting 4301 and the same speed at which our Extreme Edition posting 4300. Prescott provided its best per- Compared to the previous formance. PCMark-04 scores article, 3Dmark03 scores were showed significant improve- up 379 points, which is a huge ments as the Overall PC- amount for this benchmark. Mark03 score rose 536 points PCMark04's Overall, CPU, to 5920. The CPU score saw a and Memory scores were also all similar improvement of 434 up significantly. The Graphics points to 5477. Most dramatic, and HDD scores, on the other however, was the 670 point hand, differed very slightly. increase in our Memory score as Again, CPU and case tem- it topped the 6000 mark to SATA peratures were similar to what Gigabit 6034. The Graphics and HDD Ethernet Connectors we've seen in the last two arti- Controller scores, on the other hand, cles. The processor tempera- ATX PSU Connectors BIOS were largely unchanged. The ture under load reached 38.4 Southbridge Graphics score increased 18 (Intel ICH5R) degrees Celsius and the ambi- Audio points to 5648 and the HDD ent case temperature reached Northbridge (875P) Ethernet Controller Codec score fell 7 to 4293. 30.4 C. Previous 3.2GHz Once again, most scores were Extreme Edition temperatures were all up dramatically compared to the 3.2GHz around 38 C and ambient case tempera- Prescott on the same motherboard and run- tures were around 29 C. ning at the same 3.65GHz speed. The After recording the default information, Extreme Edition's 6814 3Dmark03 score we started overclocking the Extreme was 40 points higher than the Prescott's. Edition. During POST, we pressed the The Extreme Edition's PCMark04 Overall DELETE key to enter the system setup the FSB back to 225MHz. This time, the and Memory scores were all significantly utility. From here, we selected Freq- system proved stable at 3.65GHz and we higher than the Prescott's. The Overall uency/Voltage Control and then Select managed a 6814 3Dmark03 score. PCMark04 score was 161 points higher, CPU Clock. We used PAGE UP and Increasing the FSB to 226MHz caused while the Memory score was up 169 points. PAGE DOWN to change the value from Windows to reboot. We were able to get Interestingly enough, however, the Prescott the default 200MHz to 210MHz. This the system stable at 3.68GHz by increasing managed a slight advantage in the CPU increased our processor speed from the the CPU Voltage to 1.675V, but our score as Prescott proved almost 65 points default 3.2GHz to 3.41GHz and resulted 3Dmark03 score began to fall with the faster. The Extreme Edition did manage a in a significant 3Dmark03 improvement to FSB at 227MHz. We had seen this earlier 46 point higher Graphics score, while the 6729. We were easily able to increase the with our Prescott processor. Subsequent HDD scores were virtually identical. processor's clock speed to 3.57GHz by attempts to overclock the motherboard increasing the FSB to 220MHz. This yield- proved unsuccessful. Final Word ed a 6768 3Dmark03 score. Comparing the Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Earlier we were able to reach 3.65GHz Overclock Comparison to the Soyo and ASUS boards we examined with our Prescott processor without earlier makes it clear that Chaintech's 875P increasing the processor's core voltage. At 3Dmark03 board not only provides a number of high- 3.65GHz, however, our system was ★ Chaintech 9CJS Zenith end features, but also delivers on perfor- unable to boot. We decreased the FSB Stock Performance 6671 mance and stability. Being able to compare from 225MHz to 223MHz and managed Overclocked Performance 6809 the 3.2GHz versions of Prescott and a 6793 3Dmark03 score. Increasing the Soyo SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2 Extreme Edition also proved interesting. FSB to 224MHz increased our processor's Stock Performance 6292 We were able to get our best scores from clock speed from 3.62GHz to 3.63GHz Overclocked Performance 6379 both CPUs at 3.65GHz, but the Extreme and increased 3Dmark03 scores to 6810. ASUS P4G800-V Edition won most of the benchmarks. We increased our CPU Voltage from the Stock Performance 6311 default 1.5V to 1.6V and then increased Overclocked Performance N/A by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 57 3.4GHZ PENTIUM 4 EXTREME System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme EDITION & GIGABYTE Edition Motherboard Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 Pro-G BIOS Manufacturer Award BIOS GA-8IG1000 PRO-G BIOS Version F3 Chipset Driver 5.1.1.1002 Common Components bout the time Intel officially Gigabyte has elected to follow a different RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) released its new Prescott core, path. Its GA-8IG1000 Pro-G motherboard Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample A it announced a newer, faster includes components and features com- (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Pentium 4 Extreme Edition. Like the ear- monly found on higher-end models. The Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital lier Extreme Edition, the new processor integrated Realtek ALC850 audio codec, WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U was based on a Northwood core with a for instance, provides 7.1 surround sound CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado 13-micron fabrication process and 512KB and the Marvell Gigabit Ethernet controller CD-ROM LiteOn Black L2 cache. Like its predecessor, the new goes far beyond the 10/100 Ethernet con- 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW chip also featured a massive 2MB L3 trollers found on most other 865G boards. Floppy Samsung 1.44MB cache. The new chip, however, ran at a Another interesting feature is Giga- Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower slightly higher clock speed of 3.4GHz. byte's MIB (Memory Intelligent Booster). Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Since that time, Intel has announced an According to Gigabyte, MIB reduces mem- Temperature Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 updated LGA-based 3.4GHz Extreme ory latency and increases memory band- Edition. Unfortunately, that announce- width by as much as 10%. Is it just us ment came much too close to press time or does that sound strangely similar to for us to procure the latest Extreme Edi- Intel's PAT (Performance Acceleration Overclock tion. Regardless, we were able to take a Technology)? PAT, of course, is only offi- Of course, what good is all that chrome look at the original 3.4GHz Pentium 4 cially supported on 875P chipsets, but if the engine itself is lacking. Although Extreme Edition, which is still one of the we've seen some motherboard manufactur- we've been pleasantly surprised by the per- fastest processors on the market. ers enabling PAT on 865PE chipsets. formance of some 865G boards, we've been The 865G, of course, includes support consistently disappointed by their over- Motherboard for Intel's Extreme Graphics Engine 2 clocking performance. Before we even We've been pretty down on 802.11G video chip. If you prefer to use something begin to look at overclocking the GA- motherboards with good reason. Over- more powerful, the GA-8IG1000 Pro-G 8IG1000 Pro-G, however, we need to take clocking results on 865G motherboards motherboard also includes a 4X/8X AGP some preliminary benchmarks.

3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 Pro-G Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.4GHz 200MHz 17 1.55 42 30 6654 5469 5171 5110 5673 4259 Performance Overclocked 3.85GHz 225MHz 17 1.6 44.6 30.5 6719 5895 5830 5029 5720 4254 Performance

have been lackluster at best and, on at least slot. Like the 865PE and 875P, the 865G Compared to the 3.2GHz Extreme one occasion, we were completely unable supports FSB speeds as high as 800MHz Edition on the ASUS P4G800-V, the to overclock the motherboard at all. and up to 4GB of dual channel PC3200 GA-8IG1000 Pro-G motherboard flat Again, we think you have to go back to DDR SDRAM. out smokes. At the default speed of the inclusion of an integrated graphics Gigabyte paired the 865G with an Intel 3.4GHz, our Extreme Edition managed a chip with the 865G board. Enthusiasts ICH5 on the southbridge. The ICH5, of 3Dmark03 score of 6654, 343 points high- and overclockers simply aren't going to be course, doesn't support SATA RAID 0 or er than the 3.2GHz on the ASUS board. happy with an integrated video chip, so 1 the way the ICH5R does. We missed the The faster processor, of course, makes why drive up motherboard costs by using RAID options all the more considering all up some of that performance increase. high-end components? the other high-end features on this board. Nonetheless, a 343-point increase in

58 • PC Modder 3Dmark03 is certainly signifi- We started running into cant. The move from a 3GHz problems as we pushed the Prescott to a 3.2GHz Pres- FSB to 230MHz. At that speed cott, for instance, only caused the processor was running at 3Dmark03 scores to rise a little 3.91GHz and Windows con- more than 100 points on high- tinually rebooted. We had to end Intel 875P motherboards. decrease the FSB to 224MHz PCMark04 scores were also before we were able to get the significantly higher. The Over- system working again. With all PCMark04 score increased our processor running at 230 points to 5469 while the 3.82GHz we managed a 6708 CPU score increased 231 points 3Dmark03 score. Increas- from the scores posted by the ing the voltage from 1.55V 3.2GHz Extreme Edition on to 1.60V helped stabilize the ASUS 865G board. Despite the system at 225MHz the talk about Gigabyte's MIB (3.85GHz). We managed our technology, we didn't see a Gigabit Ethernet BIOS best 3Dmark03 score of 6719 Controller huge increase in the PCMark04 ATX Power Connector at this speed. Memory score although we Southbridge We also managed a success- Audio Codec did note a slight increase from (ICH5) ful overclock at 226MHz, but 5090 to 5110. The Graphics our 3.86GHz processor yield- score also showed a very slight Northbridge (865G) SATA Connector ed a slightly lower 3Dmark03 increase as it climbed from score of 6705. Attempts to 5647 to 5673. The HDD score was virtual- increase the voltage so we could push the ly unchanged at 4259. processor's clock speed higher resulted in The 3.4GHz Extreme Edition does run an unstable system. a bit warmer than the 3.2GHz Extreme We returned to a 225MHz FSB and a Edition. Our temperature probe mea- 3.85GHz processor speed then reran sured a 42 degree Celsius temperature PCMark04. Scores had increased drastically with the processor under load and an The wide range of options and settings from the baseline scores we recorded earlier. ambient case temperature of 30 C. By in the setup utility suggested Gigabyte gave The Overall PCMark04 score increased way of comparison, the 3.2GHz Extreme some thought to overclockers. We selected more than 400 points to 5895 and the Edition measured 38.5 C under load. In CPU Host Frequency and increased the Processor score increased nearly 660 points the next two articles, however, tempera- FSB from 200MHz to 210MHz. After to 5830. The Memory score, however, tures fell back down to the 38 C range. saving our settings and rebooting the sys- showed a slight decrease as it fell to 5029 We were impressed with the GA- tem, our processor was operating at while the Graphics score showed a modest 8IG1000 Pro-G's performance and fea- 3.58GHz. The increased speed resulted in improvement of 47 points to 5720. The tures, but now it was time to see how well an even better 3Dmark03 score of 6696. HDD score, of course, remained largely it overclocked. We rebooted the system We increased the FSB to 220MHz and unchanged at 4254. and pressed the DELETE key during managed a 6700 in 3Dmark03 with our POST to access the setup utility. We then processor running at 3.75GHz. Final Word selected Frequency/Voltage Control from We were thoroughly impressed by the main menu and changed Select CPU Overclock Comparison Gigabyte's GA-8IG1000 Pro-G mother- Host Control from Disabled to Enabled. board. Not only does it come with high- This allowed us to adjust the CPU Host 3Dmark03 end features such as eight-channel audio Frequency along with the AGP/PCI/ Chaintech S865PE and Gigabit Ethernet, but it also provides SRC Fixed Settings. We were extreme- Stock Performance 6631 excellent performance and is actually one of ly impressed with the wide range of Overclocked Performance 6800 the more overclockable boards we've seen options offered by this motherboard. ★ Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 Pro-G in this roundup. OK, SATA RAID would For instance, there were 32 different Stock Performance 6654 make this great board even better, but we AGP/PCI/SRC Fixed settings to choose Overclocked Performance 6719 were certainly glad we saved this board for from. We left the setting at its default MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R our last 865G motherboard. 66/33/100 value. There are also 66 differ- Stock Performance 6296 ent CPU Voltage settings to choose from. Overclocked Performance 6424 by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 59 3.4GHZ PENTIUM 4 System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.4GHz Pentium 4 EXTREME EDITION Extreme Edition Motherboard Chaintech S865PE BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix-Award & CHAINTECH S865PE BIOS Version S865PE Chipset Driver 4.20.1009 Common Components or the first time in a long time, UDMA 100 devices, and up to eight RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) we came away impressed by an USB 2.0 ports. The Chaintech Zenith Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample F Intel 865G-based motherboard. board we looked at earlier used an Intel (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) The Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 Pro-G ICH5R chip on the southbridge to pro- Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital motherboard provided both performance vide RAID 0 or 1 support on SATA dri- WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U and stability, but instead of looking for- ves, but on this board Chaintech opted CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado ward to moving on, we found ourselves for the standard ICH5. CD-ROM LiteOn Black wondering if there was any way to Additionally, the S865PE also includes 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW improve. Luckily, we have a Chaintech an integrated AC'97 audio codec that Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower 865PE motherboard up next. supports six-channel audio and a Real- Case Antec PLUS1080AMG tek 8101L 10/100 Ethernet controller. Temperature Motherboard Again, neither of these options are as im- Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 Chaintech has a reputation among pressive as the eight-channel audio and enthusiasts for its performance-oriented Gigabit Ethernet found on the Chaintech 3Dmark03 score posted by our 875P and stable motherboards. We've looked at Zenith board, but neither option is sub- motherboard in the next article. the Chaintech 9CJS Zenith a couple of par. The motherboard includes one 1.5V PCMark04 scores were also impressive. times already and came away impressed. 4X/8X AGP slot and five PCI slots, The 5567 Overall PCMark04 score was Unlike the Zenith board, the S865PE which should provide most users with the highest default Overall PCMark04 does without some of the extras (such as plenty of room for expansion. score we posted as was the 5238 CPU the CBOX3 and remote control included score. The Chaintech Zenith board we with the Zenith board), but as you'll see, Overclock looked at earlier seemed to provide excel- it still delivers where it counts. The Chaintech 9CJS Zenith board lent PCMark04 Memory scores and the The 865PE chipset supports FSB we looked at earlier provided excel- S865PE followed suit with a 5286 speeds as fast as 800MHz and can sup- lent overclocking performance and man- Memory score. Even the 5694 Graphics port as much as 4GB of dual channel aged to provide some standout scores score was the best default score of any

3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Chaintech S865PE Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.4GHz 200MHz 17 N/A 38.2 27.7 6631 5567 5238 5286 5694 4292 Performance Overclocked 3.69GHz 214MHz 17 N/A 40.4 29 6800 6048 5499 5654 5657 4289 Performance

PC3200 DDR SDRAM. On the relative to other boards. We were hope- motherboard/processor combination in S865PE, however, Chaintech only ful this 865PE version would provide this series of reviews. The HDD score, on includes two DDR SDRAM slots. That similar capabilities. the other hand, hovered near the 4300 means that although the chipset sup- Our default benchmark scores were mark that most systems seemed to average. ports 4GB of memory, the motherboard impressive all the way around. Our 6631 Under load, we recorded a 38.2 itself only supports 2GB. 3Dmark03 score was slightly lower than degree Celsius processor temperature Chaintech chose to pair the 865PE the 6654 default 3Dmark03 score we and a 27.7 C ambient case temperature. on the northbridge with an Intel ICH5 posted in our last article, but generally This temperature was similar to temper- on the southbridge. The ICH5 sup- speaking it's a much better score than we atures posted by the 3.2GHz Extreme ports two SATA 150 drives, up to four typically see and it bested the highest Edition and cooler than the 42 C

60 • PC Modder processor temperature report- Zenith board's 3Dmark03 ed in our last article. Tem- scores started to plummet as peratures were similar under we increased the speed past load in the next article, which the 3.65GHz mark. Naturally, suggest that the higher 42 C the 3.2GHz Extreme Edition temperature in our previous showed more improvement in article may be an anomaly. PCMark04 because its speed After recording our tempera- increased more. tures, we rebooted the system Although we managed to and pressed DELETE during get the same 3.4GHz proces- POST to enter the setup utility. sor up to 3.85GHz in the last We selected Frequency/Voltage case study, we saw higher per- Control from the main menu formance scores from our and immediately noticed there Chaintech board. The 5720 was no option to adjust the Northbridge (865PE) Ethernet PCMark04 Graphics score in CPU voltage. This was a little Controller SATA our last article was better than disappointing as it's often nec- ATX Power Connector Connector the 5657 score we posted Audio Codec essary to increase the processor's here. Aside from the Graphics voltage in order to make it sta- score, however, the Chaintech ble at higher clock speeds. We Southbridge (ICH5) board provided better scores did manage to increase the FSB across the board including an from 200MHz to 210MHz by BIOS 81-point better 3Dmark03 selecting CPU Clock and using score with a processor that PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN. After sav- was running 160MHz slower. ing our settings and rebooting the system, We did see a slight increase in tempera- our 3.4GHz Extreme Edition was running ture as speeds increased. At 3.69GHz, our at 3.62GHz. 3.4GHz Extreme Edition's temperature We saw a modest 3Dmark03 improve- rose 2.2 degrees to 40.4 C. The ambient ment as our score increased to 6697. case temperature increased 1.3 degrees to Increasing the FSB an additional 10MHz article. As always, the 4289 HDD score was 29 C. Even these temperatures were well to 220MHz, however, prevented the sys- roughly the same as scores we've seen below the 42 C default temperature we tem from booting properly. Decreasing throughout this roundup. recorded in our last article. At the maxi- the FSB to 215MHz caused Windows to Although the Chaintech S865PE mum overclocked speed, temperatures in reboot, but at least we seemed to be mov- lacked the ability to adjust the proces- our previous article hit 44.3 C, 3.9 ing in the right direction. Setting the FSB sor's voltage, we hit the same speed limi- degrees warmer than the highest tempera- to 214MHz set the processor's clock tation with the S865PE and the 3.4GHz ture we recorded here. speed at 3.69GHz. The system was not Extreme Edition that we hit with the only stable at this speed, it provided us 3.2GHz Extreme Edition and the Final Word with the best 3Dmark03 score we saw Chaintech 875P-based 9CJS Zenith. We were disappointed that we couldn't throughout this entire roundup of Intel Both processors topped out at 3.68GHz overclock the 3.4GHz Extreme Edition processors at 6800. and 3.69GHz respectively, but the quite as far on the Chaintech as we man- Not being able to increase our pro- aged in our last article. We would love to cessor's core voltage means the S865PE Overclock Comparison see what kind of scores we could achieve won't let you overclock as far as its on the Chaintech board with the pro- 875P-based Zenith counterpart, but the 3Dmark03 cessor running at 3.85GHz. In terms of 3Dmark03 score was certainly impressive. ★ Chaintech S865PE performance, however, the Chaintech PCMark04 scores were also impressive. Stock Performance 6631 S865PE more than delivered. Although The 6048 Overall PCMark04 was the best Overclocked Performance 6800 we achieved faster FSB and processor PCMark04 score posted on the Intel side of Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 Pro-G speeds on the Gigabyte board in our last this roundup as was the 5654 Memory Stock Performance 6654 article, almost all the scores from the score. The 5499 CPU score and 5657 Overclocked Performance 6719 Chaintech board eclipsed scores from the Graphics scores were still impressive MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R Gigabyte board. although we were able to top those scores Stock Performance 6296 with the 875P motherboard in our next Overclocked Performance 6424 by Chad Denton

PC Modder • 61 3.4GHZ EXTREME EDITION System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor 3.4GHz Pentium 4 & MSI 875P NEO-FIS2R Extreme Edition Motherboard MSI 875P NEO-FIS2R BIOS Manufacturer AMI o far we've reviewed 11 different up to eight USB 2.0 ports and standard BIOS Version 3.31a motherboard and processor com- ATA devices such as optical drives or Chipset Driver 6.00.1014 S binations, starting with the Intel IDE hard drives. The ICH5R, however, Common Components 3E GHz Pentium 4, based on Intel's new doesn't support multilevel RAID, such as RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) Prescott core, on up to the pricey RAID 0+1. A Promise 20378 RAID con- Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition. troller and two additional SATA connec- (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Now we finish the series by pairing the tors, however, provide support for RAID Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 0+1. The Promise RAID controller also WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U with MSI's 875P-based NEO-FIS2R. As supports RAID on the yellow colored CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado you'll see, the MSI motherboard fell IDE connector. CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X somewhere between the Gigabyte GA- It's almost impossible to find a moth- DVD/CD-RW 8IG1000 Pro-G and the Chaintech erboard that doesn't include onboard Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower S865PE in both performance and pure audio and Ethernet. MSI included an Case Antec PLUS1080AMG overclocking ability. AC'97 audio codec that supports 5.1 Temperature surround sound. The motherboard does Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 Motherboard support SPDIF out, but only through The MSI 875P NEO-FIS2R uses an included S-bracket that connects to processor on the Gigabyte 865G moth- Intel's high-end (aka expensive) 875P the back of the case. Ethernet connectiv- erboard. PCMark04 scores were also chipset. The 875P's primary claim to ity comes via an Intel 82547EI Gigabit lower than in our previous articles. The fame is support for PAT (Performance Ethernet controller. 5431 Overall PCMark04 score was Acceleration Technology). According to lower than the 5567 Overall score we Intel, PAT uses more aggressive memory Overclock got originally on the 865PE mother- timings to reduce memory latency and The MSI 875P NEO-FIS2R has board and the 5469 Overall score we improve performance. In addition to plenty of features, but what we were received from the 865G motherboard. PAT, the 875P also supports ECC really interested in was whether or not We were also disappointed in the 5034 memory, making it a more attractive this motherboard could provide the CPU score. Despite the 875P's support board for and servers. kind of performance we saw from the for PAT, the 5055 Memory score was Aside from PAT and ECC support, the Chaintech S865PE or the overclocking the lowest default score we recorded

3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition MSI 875P NEO-FIS2R Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3.40GHz 200MHz 17 1.48 37.3 29.9 6296 5431 5034 5055 5664 4274 Performance Overclocked 3.76GHz 221MHz 17 1.48 38.4 30.4 6424 6018 5697 5599 5738 4300 Performance

875P is fairly similar to Intel's less ability of the Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 with our 3.4GHz Extreme Edition. The expensive 865PE. Both chipsets support Pro-G. 5664 Graphics score was also the lowest, FSB speeds as fast as 800MHz, up to We started off taking our default although it wasn't too far behind the 4GB of dual-channel PC3200 DDR scores, as usual. We were immediately 5673 Graphics score posted on the SDRAM, and 8X AGP. disappointed by the 6296 3Dmark03 865G and the 5694 score posted on the Complementing the 875P is Intel's score. It was a far cry from the 6631 865PE motherboards. The 4274 HDD ICH5R on the southbridge. The ICH5R score posted by the same processor on score was lower than the 4292 HDD provides the same support for dual SATA the Chaintech S865PE motherboard, score posted by the 865PE, but it was 150 drives, but adds support for RAID and it wasn't nearly as good as the 6654 faster than the 4259 HDD score posted levels 0 or 1. The ICH5R also supports 3Dmark03 score posted by the same by the Gigabyte board.

62 • PC Modder Our processor temperature Promise SATA Connectors probe recorded a 37.3 degree Promise 20378 SATA RAID Controller Celsius temperature under load, which was one of the coolest readings we recorded for the 3.4GHz Extreme Edition. The ambient case temperature was Graphics score increased to just below the 30 C mark at 5738. The HDD score even 29.9 C, which was similar to saw a slight improvement to case temperature measurements 4300. in our past two articles. These scores compared After recording our default favorably to the 865G and scores, we began to overclock 865PE motherboards we the motherboard. We pressed looked at earlier in this issue. DELETE to enter the system In fact, the Graphics score setup and then selected was the highest among the Frequency/Voltage Control ATX Power Gigabit Audio three motherboards. The Connector Ethernet Codec from the main menu. We Controller CPU score was second only selected Adjust CPU Bus Northbridge (875P) to the 5830 posted by the Southbridge (ICH5R) Clock (MHz) and increased Promise IDE Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 Pro- the value from 200MHz to ICH5R SATA Connectors RAID G. Similarly, the Overall 210MHz. This increased our BIOS Connector PCMark04 score was the only processor's clock speed to other score above the 6000 3.57GHz and increased our 3Dmark03 mark, but the 6048 posted by the score 68 points to 6364. We were easily Chaintech S865PE beat it out by just able to increase the FSB another 10MHz 30 points. to 220MHz. Our 3.77GHz processor In earlier case studies, we tested the posted a 6406 3Dmark03 score, up 42 3.2GHz Extreme Edition with the points from our previous score. Chaintech 9CJS Zenith. For the most We tried increasing the FSB another indicate that the voltage may be more part, the faster processor we used in this 10MHz, but with the processor running than a specific component can handle. article helped the MSI board secure bet- at 3.91GHz, our system refused to boot. The color codes, however, are just sug- ter benchmarks than our 3.2GHz/ We split the difference and set our FSB gestions. If you think you know what Chaintech combo. The Zenith board, to 225MHz. At this speed, Windows you're doing, you can increase voltages however, still delivered a better Memory booted up and then promptly rebooted. into the red. score in PCMark04 and a better Decreasing the FSB another 2MHz We left our FSB at 221MHz and reran 3Dmark03 score than the MSI did with didn't seem to help the problem. We PCMark04. The Overall PCMark04 a faster processor. continued to drop the FSB, setting it at score increased almost 600 points to 222MHz, but Windows still continued 6018, while the CPU score increased Final Word to reboot. Finally, at 221MHz, we were more than 600 points to 5697. The After all our tweaking and fiddling for able to get the system to boot properly. Memory score increased to 5599, and the this particular case study was completed, This 1MHz increase from our last stable we decided the MSI 875P motherboard overclock provided an 18-point increase Overclock Comparison walked the middle ground between the in 3Dmark03. Chaintech and Gigabyte motherboards Increasing the FSB is one way to sta- 3Dmark03 we reviewed earlier. Performance scores, bilize a system at higher clock speeds, Chaintech S865PE for the most part, fell short of the but unfortunately it didn't quite do the Stock Performance 6631 Chaintech motherboard we looked at job for us in this case. One item of Overclocked Performance 6800 previously, but a few benchmark scores interest, however, is the unique color- Gigabyte GA-8IG1000 Pro-G managed to stand out, including the coded voltage selections on the MSI Stock Performance 6654 PCMark04 Graphics score. board. As you begin to increase voltages Overclocked Performance 6719 in the setup utility, colors change from ★ MSI 875P Neo-FIS2R by Chad Denton white to yellow. If you continue to Stock Performance 6296 increase the voltage, settings turn red to Overclocked Performance 6424

PC Modder • 63 AMD ATHLON 64 3000+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3000+ ABIT KV8-MAX3 Motherboard ABIT KV8-MAX3 BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version V6.00PG (ABIT Version 16) f you read our first PC Modder issue (the Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 even Chipset Driver VIA 4.51 (K8T800)

late last year, you already know that includes a card reader). Whereas the AMD Common Components I we lined up 10 AMD Athlon XP Athlon XP-based boards we reviewed for RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) processors (XP 2000+ through XP 3200+) the last PC Modder included the occasional Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/ 1800 XP Golden Sample and then overclocked them to their limits. USB D-bracket, several of these boards (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) With this issue, we're focusing on AMD's boast multiple D-brackets, free programs, Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital Athlon 64 and matching each of several and other extras. WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA versions of the CPU with multiple We weren't surprised that the Deluxe Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado chipsets. Despite having the lowest speed version includes two SATA PSU adapter CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X rating of our non-FX Athlon 64 trio, the cables (two HDD connectors each) and DVD/CD-RW Athlon 64 3000+ isn't the oldest processor four SATA data cables, which are stan- Floppy Samsung 1.44MB we highlight in this issue. In fact, AMD dard issue anymore. The CPU socket Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Case Antec PLUS1080AMG released the Athlon 64 3200+ before mount isn't installed but you can attach it Temperature launching the 3000+. The 3000+ is the to the mobo easily enough. ABIT threw Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 only processor in our lineup that has a in a D-bracket that houses two USB 2.0 NewCastle core, and at $213, it is also the ports, a mini-B USB port, and a single IDE cable from the chip to the hard least-expensive processor we overclocked. FireWire port. We're glad to see all of drive. Once you install the chip, you can Even so, the 3000+ is no slouch. It these features on a single bracket, which access your computer only by inserting a boasts a 2GHz clock speed, a 128KB L1 means you'll need to sacrifice only one special USB key into the device's USB cache (a 64KB instruction cache and a PCI slot. If your video card eats up a sec- cable, which extends from the chip 64KB data cache), and a 512KB L2 cache. ond slot already, you may try to save through a D-bracket. Don't install the Unlike the Athlon XP's frontside bus space by sneaking the D-bracket into that Secure IDE device if you're using the architecture, the 3000+ has a 1.6GHz second slot. We dropped all the goodies KV8-MAX3 to upgrade a PC; the device HyperTransport. AMD used its 0.13- and manuals when we saw the KV8- automatically wipes the hard drive before micron process to produce the core, which MAX3's coolest extra: Secure IDE. encrypting it. ABIT claims that the boasts MMX, SSE, SSE2, 3DNOW!, and ABIT partnered with Nova to offer Secure IDE device offers 1.6Gbps 3DNOW!+ instruction sets. AMD recom- Secure IDE, which features Nova's X- throughput and doesn't impact the CPU mends a max CPU case (which covers the Wall LX-40 encryption chip. The chip or system memory, but we decided not to

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (NewCastle) ABIT KV8-MAX3 Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.04GHz 204MHz 10 1.5 33.4 29.9 6154 4110 3813 3643 5191 4779 Performance Overclocked 2.18GHz 218MHz 10 1.65 34.3 27.2 6243 4386 4122 3886 5273 4691 Performance

core of the chip) temperature of 70 stands on a small PCB that also houses use this feature anyway—we're gunnin' degrees Celsius. two IDE interfaces, a 4-pin power inter- for speed, not security. face (the KV8-MAX3 includes an extra The KV8-MAX3 includes a SATA dri- Motherboard PSU adapter that has one of these con- ver floppy disk and a driver CD. Aside The first thing we noticed when we nectors), and some jumpers that let you from Adobe Acrobat Reader 5.0, the pack- opened the ABIT KV8-MAX3's box is select your primary or secondary drive. age doesn't have any third-party software, that it is loaded to the gills with extras, and You can encrypt a single hard drive (the but it does include ABIT's new Windows- it's no small box. We discovered similar X-Wall chip uses 40-bit DES encryption) friendly µGuru utility suite. New users will goodies when we rifled through the other by running one IDE cable from the like µGuru's Magical Black Box utility, AMD Athlon 64-based motherboard boxes motherboard to the chip and another which emails information about system

64 • PC Modder problems to ABIT's tech sup- Overclocking port, meaning you won't need We weren't surprised to find to write a long email explaining that the Phoenix Award BIOS your system configuration and V.6 (ABIT Version 16) didn't problems when you contact let us adjust the multiplier from tech support. Hardware Guru is the default 10. The BIOS had a zero-impact monitoring utility plenty of standard OC options, that displays your processor's including a wide VCore voltage temp and other vital statistics in range: you can push your real-time, which means you can processor up to a whopping keep an eye on your system's 1.85V if you so choose. You health when you are stressing can also change the AGP volt- the system (instead of entering age (1.5V to 1.65V) and the the BIOS and guesstimating DRAM voltage (2.5V to 3.2V). how your PC will perform The BIOS' OC On The Fly under stress). feature lets you apply changes Of course, the most impor- SATA Connectors without rebooting. We're not tant component of the µGuru ATX 12V PSU Southbridge (VIA VT8237) sure we like this feature; suc- Connector suite (at least as far as we're con- BIOS (Phoenix) cessfully applying overclocked cerned), is the OC Guru utility. settings in the BIOS doesn't Northbridge POST Code Display Unlike most motherboard over- (VIA K8T800) guarantee that the system can clocking utilities, which sport µGuru Chip handle the stress when it loads outlandish (and often confus- Windows. As a result, some ing) interfaces, ABIT's OC Guru has a users may unknowingly push their PCs too remarkably simple interface that lets you far. Overclocking is a painstaking, often get in, overclock, and get back out without frustrating (but ultimately rewarding) wasting time fumbling through oddly- process; we're always wary of shortcuts. shaped buttons and tabs. OC Guru has Despite the board's feature-laden over- only two tabs: Turbo Mode and F1 Mode. clocking section, we didn't break any Turbo Mode has a single slider bar that lets Despite the massive OTES (Outside records. In fact, the KV8-MAX3 couldn't you quickly bump up the processor's clock Thermal Exhaust System) vent, the CPU beat out any of the other two boards in our speed. It also displays your processor's info. socket area has plenty of space. The lineup. The system crashed at 2.16GHz If you're new to overclocking, you can use OTES vent, which covers several of the with default voltage (1.5V), so we nudged Turbo Mode to boost your benchmarks board's Rubycon capacitors, channels the voltage to 1.6V and tried again. We without running a large risk. If you want to some air away from the heatsink and out upped the system 1MHz without any trou- go the extra mile, switch to F1 mode, the back of the case, thanks to a tiny fan ble, but it crashed again at 2.18GHz. which adds CPU, AGP, and DDR (RAM) that sits just above the PS/2 ports. The Eventually, we coaxed our PC to 2.22GHz voltage tools to the mix. Your system mobo spots six SATA connectors, a VIA with the voltage at 1.7V, but the system returns to its default settings when the PC K8T800 northbridge, a VT8237 south- refused to post decent benchmark scores. reboots, which means you can recover from bridge, and a POST Code Display, which At 2.18GHz with a 1.65V VCore, the sys- crashes by simply powering on your PC displays dozens of error codes. tem posted its best 3Dmark03 score: 6243. again (unless your system is a smoldering Final Word lump, that is). We were glad to see that you Overclock Comparison won't need to inch your system back into Overall, we like this board. It has plenty its previously overclocked state every time 3Dmark03 of SATA connectors, a unique cooling sys- you reboot your PC; the OC Guru lets you Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 tem, and a solid utility suite. It's important save multiple overclocked settings. For Stock Performance 6150 to note that although the board didn't take example, you can surf the Internet at the Overclocked Performance 6253 clock speed bragging rights, it posted strong system's default settings, then open OC ★ ABIT KV8-MAX3 benchmark scores. Also, the µGuru utility's Guru, load the saved overclocked settings, Stock Performance 6154 OC Guru feature lets casual overclockers and then dive into Counter-Strike. When Overclocked Performance 6243 pump up the volume before playing games you're done playing, you can easily return Jetway S755MAX or opening intensive applications. the system to its original state. Welcome to Stock Performance 6126 the beauty of on-demand overclocking. Overclocked Performance 6241 by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 65 AMD ATHLON 64 3000+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3000+ CHAINTECH ZENITH Motherboard Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix ZNF3-150 BIOS Version V6.00PG (Chaintech Version 3) Chipset Driver NVIDIA v3.13 (nForce3 150) s with the ABIT KV8-MAX3 connectors that let you connect your CD- and the Jetway S755MAX, we ROM to the card. The card complements Common Components RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) plugged an AMD Athlon XP the motherboard riser's three standard A Video Gainward PowerPack! 3000+ into the Chaintech Zenith ZNF3- audio ports. Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample 150. At $156, it is the most expensive Those extras spice up the package, but (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital motherboard in our lineup, but it doesn't Chaintech took the goodies-madness one WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA approach Athlon 64 FX-based mother- giant step further: the ZNF3-150 in- Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U board prices. cludes Chaintech's CBOX3, which is a CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado media card reader that fills a 5.25-inch CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/ Motherboard 16X DVD/CD-RW bay. The reader supports CF, Micro Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Chaintech didn't pull any punches Drive, MMC, MS SDC, and SMC cards Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower when it threw extras into the ZNF3-150's and houses two USB 1.1 ports, a mic Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature box. The package includes the important port, and a headset port. The card reader Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 basics: four SATA cables (all of which also includes a small, blue LED that dis- have dust caps, which is a nice touch), plays the system's temp (and, if your sys- two SATA PSU adapters (for a total of tem is in trouble, error codes). Of course, looked under the hood. Sure enough, a four hard drive connectors), a small tube Chaintech didn't want to throw off your copper runs the length of the device. The of thermal paste, two bright-orange, PC's color scheme, so it included black, RadEX isn't the largest onboard cooling rounded IDE cables, and a rounded flop- beige, and gray card reader faceplates. system we've seen, but it doesn't eat up py cable. Chaintech also tossed in a The motherboard has a few of its own much motherboard space, and the copper screwdriver that resembles a highlighter. notable features. The Chaintech RadEX heatpipe/aluminum fin combo can't hurt. You can break down the screwdriver into (Revolutionary Active Direct Exhaust) The ZNF3-150 has three fan speed four separate screwdriver heads, including system, which includes a tiny fan and sev- monitor connectors that let you keep an two Philips-head pieces and two flat-head eral aluminum fins, surrounds the mobo eye on your CPU, system, and chipset. pieces, all of which should cover most of riser and channels heat away from the Chaintech placed the CMOS jumper near

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (NewCastle) Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 3GHz 200MHz 10 1.5 34.2 29.3 6150 4027 3737 3565 5481 4613 Performance Overclocked 2.24GHz 224MHz 10 1.65 39.1 29.7 6253 4453 4222 3978 5605 4624 Performance

your system's half-million screws. We also processor and capacitors. Chaintech lined one of the three IDE connectors, which liked the CMC (Chaintech Multimedia up the capacitors alongside the L-shaped means you easily reach in to grab the Card), which attaches to the motherboard RadEX, but left a gap in front of the fan, jumper without bumping anything via a small, PCI-slot-like connector at the which creates a clear path from the important. You'll have a tougher time bottom of the board. As with a standard processor area to the fan. A long, fluid- snagging the Keyboard/Mouse Power On PCI card, the CMC extends to the back filled heatpipe is inside the RadEX sys- jumper because it tucks between the of the computer, exposing two FireWire tem, sucking up heat and transferring it RadEX system and your PSU, but you'll ports, an SPDIF-out port, and connectors to the aluminum fins. We couldn't see only need to change it once, if at all. for bass and center cables. The card also the heatpipe, so after we overclocked the When the jumper is in the 2-3 position has two internal CD-ROM audio-in board we detached the RadEX device and (bottom two pins), you can use a PS/2

66 • PC Modder keyboard or mouse to power activate the Shutdown Temp- on your system. The board erature option and then specify also has a jumper that lets you the appropriate temp, but keep use a USB keyboard or mouse. in mind that your system will It's a minor feature, but if you generate plenty of heat when put your computer under your you overclock it. At any rate, desk, you'll probably like turn- our Digital Doc 5 never dis- ing on your computer with the played a temperature over 41.2 press of a key. degrees Celsius, but we can Thanks to the nForce3 150 safely assume that the pro- chipset, the ZNF3-150 sup- cessor case's actual temp was ports up to six USB 2.0 ports. hotter, as we attached our sen- The riser includes two external sor to the side of the CPU ports and the card reader case. Overall the ZNF3-150 essentially converts two of the was our hottest board; both ports to USB 1.1. We hate to the CPU temp and the system choke fast ports, but hey, the Chipset (NVIDIA chassis temp hovered about card reader is free. We like the RadEX Cooling ATX 12V PSU nForce3 150) five degrees above our other System Connector Gigabit LAN port and the BIOS (Phoenix) two boards. onboard audio, which sup- Unlike the KV8-MAX3, SATA Connectors ports 7.1 channels. The three which required extra voltage FireWire Connector memory sockets support up almost right away, the ZNF3- to 2GB of DDR 266MHz, 150 coasted on 1.5V until it 333MHz, or 400MHz RAM. hit 2.19GHz. Despite the 1.7V CPU The ZNF3-150 doesn't include any VCore ceiling, the ZNF3-150 eked out a overclocking software, but it does offer 2MHz lead over the KV8-MAX3 at three PC protection-related programs: 2.24GHz (with a 1.65V VCore, no less), Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2003, Wasay tying the Jetway S755MAX. Both boards Image It 3.0, and Wasay Pro Magic 6.0. posted similar benchmark scores. At 6253 If you run Windows XP, you probably add a little more voltage just might tip the 3Dmarks, the motherboard posted the won't need Pro Magic, which acts as an scales in your favor. top 3Dmark03 score of our three-board instant recovery tool, complete with The BIOS doesn't let users adjust indi- lineup, but it posted an overall score of Restore Points, but you'll probably like vidual memory timings, but it does have 4453 in PCMark04, 28 points shy of the Image It, which lets you create a backup 100MHz to 200MHz memory frequency S755MAX's top score. image of your system before you over- settings. You can also adjust the AGP We tried to push the processor beyond clock. Norton AntiVirus 2003 isn't the voltage (1.5V to 2.2V), DRAM voltage 2.24GHz, but the system was unstable at latest version of Symantec's antivirus soft- (2.6V to 2.9V), and chipset voltage (1.7V higher clock speeds, even when we ware, but again, free is free. to 1.9V). We like the PC Health Status pushed the voltage to 1.7V. The system section, which displays relevant fan speeds booted at 2.23GHz with a 1.7V VCore, Overclocking and voltages. If you're particularly wor- but it posted low benchmark scores. As with ABIT, Chaintech modified its ried about melting your system, you can BIOS. We booted our system, entered the Final Word Phoenix Award BIOS V.6.00PG (Chain- Overclock Comparison We were surprised to find that, despite tech Version 3) and then browsed the sys- packing the box with extras, Chaintech tem's overclocking features. The first 3Dmark03 didn't add a SATA driver floppy, which thing we noticed is that the board's CPU ★ Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 meant we had to use a different computer VCore voltage feature only supports up to Stock Performance 6150 to create the necessary floppy. Aside from 1.7V, 1.5V less than the ABIT KV8- Overclocked Performance 6253 that minor gripe and our beef with the MAX3. Although 1.7V is a respectable ABIT KV8-MAX3 BIOS VCore, we like this motherboard. voltage, we expect overclocking-friendly Stock Performance 6154 It has truly useful extras and a strong boards to have plenty of juice. After all, if Overclocked Performance 6243 onboard cooling system. your system is just barely unstable (crash- Jetway S755MAX ing only when running the most intensive Stock Performance 6126 by Joshua Gulick applications, for example), being able to Overclocked Performance 6241

PC Modder • 67 AMD ATHLON 64 3000+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3000+ JETWAY S755MAX Motherboard Jetway S755MAX BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version V6.00PG (Jetway t $89, the Jetway S755MAX is might also pull against and loosen the Version A01) one of the least expensive video card. The device sports Rear Out, Chipset Driver SIS 1.17.03 (755) boards in our lineup, so we Center, SPDIF Out, and SPDIF In A Common Components weren't surprised to see a slim box and ports, and complements the mother- RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) even slimmer component package. It's board riser's standard audio ports. Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample not uncommon to find AMD Athlon The S755MAX doesn't include any (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) XP-based boards at this price, but Athlon extra printed materials, such as a poster Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital 64 boards regularly break $100. The that identifies onboard connectors, WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Jetway sports an SiS 755 northbridge and which means you'll need to refer to the Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado an SiS 9636L southbridge. slim, crowded users guide when you CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X want to connect your chassis' front DVD/CD-RW Motherboard panel connectors. That said, the users Floppy Samsung 1.44MB The S755MAX's box includes a single guide includes decent instructions, Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Case Antec PLUS1080AMG SATA cable, a driver CD, a SATA driver dozens of black-and-white pictures and Temperature floppy, a thin users guide, a flat floppy illustrations, and, most importantly, a Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 cable, an IDE cable, and an audio port D- one-page insert that includes instruc- bracket that takes up a single PCI slot tions for installing SATA drivers. The any trouble. The two slots don't have bay. Although we love the price, we'd like guide also includes an excellent BIOS dual-channel functionality, but support more extras in any package: namely, a sec- chapter that will let new overclockers up to 2GB of 266MHz, 333MHz, or ond SATA cable and at least one SATA quickly familiarize themselves with the 400MHz DDR RAM. Users who have PSU adapter. Some power supplies still BIOS' many sections. multiple optical drives and IDE hard lack the newish connectors that power We were glad to see that the mobo's drives will like the board's two ATA SATA hard drives, and if you buy an CPU socket has plenty of room. We 100 connectors and ATA 133 connec- OEM hard drive, you probably won't attached the included CPU socket bracket tor, but SATA users can install only two receive one. That said, the box included and installed our oversized heatsink with- SATA hard drives, thanks to the two one of the most important parts of any out any trouble. The SiS 755 north- SATA connectors. SATA-friendly motherboard: the SATA bridge, which includes an aluminum The S755MAX's SiS chipset lets the driver floppy. heatsink, stands below the CPU socket, board support up to six USB 2.0 ports.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (NewCastle) Jetway S755MAX Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2GHz 200MHz 10 1.5 34 28.2 6126 4018 3718 3529 5574 4704 Performance Overclocked 2.24GHZ 224MHz 10 1.8 33.5 27.4 6241 4481 4213 3920 5712 4707 Performance

We also like the audio port D-brack- close to (but not crowding) the 8X AGP The riser includes four USB ports. The et, but we wish it had a longer cable. slot. The northbridge includes a fan con- internal USB connector stands near the The S755MAX's SPDIF connectors nector. The SiS 936L southbridge sits just front panel connectors. The riser also stand just behind the riser, which behind the PCI slots. includes two PS/2 connectors, a serial means that the cable travels under The board's two memory slots, which connector, a parallel port, and a 10/100 the AGP card to the PCI slots. run horizontally, stand just under the LAN port that sports green and yellow Unfortunately, the short cable reaches PSU. Thankfully, Jetway didn't place activity LEDs. As with most of the boards only the first PCI slot, which means any capacitors near the memory slot we used, the S755MAX has a 12V con- that extra-large video cards might con- tabs. As a result, we installed and nector that complements the standard tact the device's PCB. The short cable removed our system’s memory without ATX power connector.

68 • PC Modder The Magic Install drivers might block future processors CD lacks overclocking soft- from reaching their over- ware but has Trend Micro's clocking potential. PC-cillin 2002. The software Another noteworthy fea- is clearly outdated, but we ture is the BIOS' antivirus always like to see packages option. If you enable Anti- that include antivirus soft- Virus Protection, the BIOS ware. After all, you can monitors the hard drive and update the software's virus displays a warning message definitions list online. The and emits an audible beep if CD also includes ITE's an application writes to the Smart Guardian, which dis- boot sector. plays a variety of system We benchmarked our sys- specs, including CPU and tem before overclocking. At system temps, and related fan default settings, our test PC speeds. It also displays cur- Southbridge posted a 3Dmark03 score of (SIS 963L) rent voltage settings, but ATX 12V PSU Connector 6126, a little lower than the doesn't let you adjust any SATA Connectors ABIT and Chaintech boards' Northbridge (SIS 755) system settings. The Magic scores. The S755MAX also BIOS (Phoenix) Install program automatically didn't make any headlines detects your computer's Infrared Connector when it posted a PCMark04 hardware and selects the score of 4018, so we weren't appropriate drivers. surprised when the system crashed at a mere 2.12GHz. As it Overclocking turned out, the board was simply wait- We entered the Phoenix Award BIOS ing for a little juice. The system coasted 6.00PG (Jetway Version A01) by pressing on 1.6V to 2.18GHz, 1.7V to 2.2GHz, the DELETE key and then browsed the and then collapsed at 2.25GHz, even PC Health Status to make sure our sys- though we bumped the voltage to 1.8V. tem was ready for action. If you want to 0.25V voltage increases, which means At 2.24GHz, the S755MAX posted an see this information whenever your com- cautious overclockers can nudge their sys- overall PCMark04 score of 4481, which puter boots, you can enable the Show PC tems towards stability. topped the other two boards' scores. Health In Post option. The section dis- We were also surprised to see that the The system also posted a respectable plays a variety of voltages, CPU and sys- BIOS limits the CPU FSB to 233MHz. 6241 3Dmark03 score. tem fan speeds and temperatures, and a Theoretically, the ABIT KV8-MAX3 Shutdown Temperature feature. lets users push the processor to Final Word Next, we entered the Advanced 300MHz. The Chaintech Zenith Color us surprised. We hate to admit Chipset Features section, which offers ZNF3-150 takes the cake, supporting it, but we simply didn't believe that such AGP and DRAM options. The DRAM up to 400MHz FSB's. As it turned out, an inexpensive board could hold its own Timing Settings subsection lets overclock- Jetway's 233MHz limit easily covered against such high-end competitors, let ers fiddle with the HyperTransport and our Athlon 64 3000+, but the limit alone pull off one of the top clock speeds. with the memory's CAS Latency, RAS Sure, it doesn't include a card reader or Precharge Time, and RAS To CAS Delay Overclock Comparison hard drive encryption system, but it loves timings. Oddly enough, Jetway placed to overclock. If you're an accessory fanat- most of the overclocking features in the 3Dmark03 ic, you'll probably want one of the Miscellaneous Control category. The sec- Chaintech Zenith ZNF3-150 S755MAX's competitors, but if you're tion lets you adjust the DRAM clock Stock Performance 6150 building a budget overclocking system, speed (100MHz, 133MHz, 166MHz, or Overclocked Performance 6253 you'll like this board. At almost half the 200MHz), the DRAM voltage (2.5V to ABIT KV8-MAX3 ZNF-150's price, the S755MAX makes 2.8V), and the AGP voltage (1.5V to Stock Performance 6154 an outstanding buy. 1.8V). We were surprised to see that the Overclocked Performance 6243 CPU VCore feature has the widest range ★ Jetway S755MAX by Joshua Gulick of the three boards we discuss in this arti- Stock Performance 6126 cle: 0.7V to 1.8V. Also, the BIOS allows Overclocked Performance 6241

PC Modder • 69 AMD ATHLON 64 3200+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3200+ GIGABYTE GA-K8VNXP Motherboard Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version V6.00PG (Gigabyte Version F4) e used the AMD Athlon 64 didn’t have any trouble installing our Chipset Driver VIA 4.51 (K8T800) 3200+ to test the Gigabyte massive Thermalright SLK-948U GA-K8VNXP, Soyo CK8 heatsink so we’re not complaining. The Common Components W RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) Dragon Plus, and ASRock K8S8X. The K8T800 northbridge, which stands just Video Gainward PowerPack! 3200+ features the same clock speed and below the CPU socket, includes a cop- Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample instruction sets as the Athlon 64 3000+ per heatsink, a lighted fan (after all, (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital but includes AMD’s ClawHammer core what else are window mods for?), and a WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA and double the L2 cache (1MB). fan grill. The board also includes system Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U and power fan connectors. CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado Motherboard CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X The riser includes audio ports, four DVD/CD-RW We haven’t seen a Gigabyte board that USB 2.0 ports, and two LAN ports, one Floppy Samsung 1.44MB didn’t include tons of extras, software, of which is the Gigabit LAN connector. Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower and special features, and the GA-K8- Two D-brackets complement the riser Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature VNXP is no exception. In fact, it has sev- with additional USB, FireWire, and Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 eral cool features that protect the board audio ports. A third D-bracket sports from power flows and system crashes. SATA data and power connectors. (Not that overclockers are ever responsi- Thanks to this bracket, you can connect and the mobo power circuits are three- ble for either, of course. We wouldn’t one or two internal hard drives to your phase circuits. Unlike the second BIOS, dream of stressing our precious system.) system without actually putting the dri- which doesn’t affect the PC until its part- The board features VIA’s K8T800 and ves inside your computer. However, the ner dies, the DPS provides power at the VT8237 chipsets and a slew of peripheral bracket doesn’t add SATA ports; it sim- same time as the motherboard power cir- chips, including Realtek’s ALC658 ply extends the board’s two SATA ports cuit. That said, the DPS can act as a (AC’97 codec) chip and 8110S Gigabit to the back of your system. backup; if the motherboard circuit died, LAN chip, which frees up the board’s The GA-K8VNXP’s most important the DPS would continue to function. PCI slots and means you won’t need to hardware includes its two BIOS chips The DPS stabilizes the board’s current spend extra money on those peripherals. and the DPS (Dual Power System). The and supports larger currents than most The GA-K8VNXP also includes a two BIOS chips back up each other, boards. As with the northbridge, the GigaRAID ATA 133 controller and which means that if one BIOS chip fails, DPS sports a copper heatsink and a fan.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (ClawHammer) Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2GHz 200MHz 10 1.5 31.9 26.8 6184 4033 3772 3618 5132 4732 Performance Overclocked 2.22GHz 222MHz 10 1.55 33.3 27.3 6289 4482 4207 4043 5261 4734 Performance

four IDE connectors (the VT8237 the other will automatically kick in. As a Overall, we like the GA-K8VNXP’s southbridge handles SATA RAID 0 and result you can update your BIOS as often layout. Gigabyte places easy-to-read labels RAID 1). We always like to see ATA as you’d like without worrying about near each connector and throws in a few RAID, but we were disappointed to accidentally crippling your board. That features that let overclockers easily swap find that our $165 motherboard sports is, until you damage the first BIOS. If a components and recover from crashes. only two SATA connectors, whereas the BIOS dies, the BIOS’ Boot From option The AGP port tab, for example, has a $141 ABIT KV8-MAX3, which has the won’t let you switch to the dead BIOS. beveled edge that let us push our same chipset, boasted six of them. The DPS card plugs into a blue PCI- Gainward video card into the AGP slot Gigabyte lines several capacitors close type slot that stands between the riser without pulling the tab. And unlike many to the board’s CPU bracket, but we and a bunch of capacitors. Both the DPS other AGP port tabs, which are often stiff,

70 • PC Modder we were able to slip the AGP voltage to 1.6V, pushed the port’s tab back easily when we processor to 2.18GHz, and removed the video card. then rebooted. Gigabyte also placed the As soon as we restarted the CMOS jumper near the side PC, we smelled smoke. We of the board, which means an shut things down and deter- overclocker can easily reach mined that the PSU was emit- the jumper to reset her system. ting the stench of burnt com- Gigabyte’s driver CD ponents. The PSU was dead, includes Adobe Acrobat as was the motherboard. We Reader, Symantec Norton couldn’t find any physical Internet Security 2004, and damage, but we could smell Gigabyte’s own @BIOS and FireWire the PSU from several feet Connector EasyTune 4. The @BIOS is a away. We don’t know which Windows-based updater that Game Port (if either) of the components Connector can automatically download BIOS & caused the problem, but we and install the latest BIOS SATA Connectors Backup BIOS were surprised that Gigabyte’s (Phoenix) update. EasyTune 4 lets you Southbridge ATX 12V Dual Power System failed to overclock your system from (VIA VT8237) Northbridge PSU prevent it. We installed an Windows but protects your (VIA K8T800) Connector identical PSU and bought a system from potentially harm- new GA-K8VNXP. Gigabyte DPS (Dual Power System) ful settings. Our experience At default settings, the new has been that Windows-based board posted a 3Dmark03 overclocking utilities simply can’t com- score of 6184, slightly higher than its pete with the board’s BIOS. As a result sibling’s score. This time the system han- we don’t use these programs to overclock dled a VCore voltage of 1.5V at our Case Studies motherboards. That 2.22GHz but couldn’t run stable at said, EasyTune 4 has some nice features. 2.23GHz. When we boosted the voltage For example, it includes a Hardware to 1.6V and raised the clock speed to Monitor section that displays a variety 2.24GHz, we smelled smoke. Afraid we of temps, voltages, and fan speeds. would torch our system again, we shut EasyTune 4 also has two modes: Easy down our PC and called it quits. With a Mode, which only lets the user boost the 2GHz, the system posted a 3Dmark03 2.22GHz clock speed and 1.55V VCore, CPU frequency, and Advanced Mode, score of 6168 and a PCMark04 score of the system posted a 3Dmark03 score of which opens several other options, 4034. We left the voltage at 1.5V and 6289 and a PCMark04 score of 4482. including component voltages. focused on the FSB. At 2.11GHz, the sys- Luckily, the motherboard didn’t die. tem crashed, so we upped the voltage to When we returned the board to its Overclocking 1.55V and tried again. The board loved default settings, the system booted into The GA-K8VNXP runs the Phoenix the extra juice and let us push the CPU to Windows and ran applications without Award BIOS V6.00PG (Gigabyte 2.17GHz, at which point it posted a any trouble or loss of performance. Version F4). The Frequency/Voltage 3Dmark03 score of 6260. We upped the Control section houses most of the Final Word overclocking features, including the Overclock Comparison The GA-K8VNXP took top honors DRAM (+0.1V to +0.3V), AGP (+0.1V in our three-board round up, just barely to +0.3V), and CPU VCore (0.8V- 3Dmark03 beating out the $126 Soyo CK8 1.7V) voltage. The section also controls ★ Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP Dragon Plus, but it doesn’t like voltage the CPU clock speed. The PC Health Stock Performance 6184 increases. If you’re not afraid to risk the Status section lists CPU and system fan Overclocked Performance 6289 occasional motherboard blowout and speeds and temps and also includes Fail Soyo CK8 Dragon Plus you must have the fastest board around, Warning options. If you enable Fail Stock Performance 6175 this is a good choice. We didn’t like the Warnings, the system will sound an Overclocked Performance 6271 board’s pyromaniacal tendencies, but alarm when system fans stop spinning. ASRock K8S8X we can’t say no to raw speed. We benchmarked our test system at Stock Performance 5581 default settings before overclocking it. At Overclocked Performance 5690 by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 71 AMD ATHLON 64 3200+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3200+ SOYO CK8 DRAGON PLUS Motherboard SOYO CK8 Dragon Plus BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version V6.00PG (Soyo Version BA1) all us nerds if you will. Tell us $100 ASRock K8S8X managed to Chipset Driver NVIDIA v3.13 (nForce3 150) that we've succumbed to a scrounge up a second SATA cable and a basic marketing ploy. We sim- SATA PSU adapter. Common Components C RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) ply can't help but like the idea of a drag- That said, we like some of the 8-In-1 Video Gainward PowerPack! on forming the heart of our overclocked, Super Bonus Pack's applications. You Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample smoke-belching system (for some real can download Adobe Acrobat Reader (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital smoking action, see our AMD Athlon free, but if you don't already use WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA 64 3200+ & Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP antivirus software, you can protect your Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U article on page 70). Unfortunately, system with Symantec's slightly outdated CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/ while the Soyo CK8 Dragon Plus lives Norton AntiVirus 2003 and Norton 16X DVD/CD-RW up to its grand title, the board's package Personal Firewall 2003. We like Ghost Floppy Samsung 1.44MB doesn't come close. The box includes a 2003, which lets you create a snapshot of Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower decent software selection, but the slim the information on your hard drive. If Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature box contains few extras. We found a you damage your operating system or Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 SATA data cable, an IDE cable, a floppy any other programs while overclocking, cable, and a woefully slim Quick Start you can use Ghost to quickly return your Guide. When we popped the board's PC to health (assuming, of course, that compatible memory online (www.soyo CD into a spare computer, we quickly you loaded Ghost and backed up your usa.com). discovered that the CD's manual is the system before you began overclocking). Soyo placed most of its Sacon capaci- Quick Start Guide. The guide includes a The CD also includes Adobe Acrobat tors between the riser and the CPU socket few illustrations and some basic installa- Reader and eBook Reader, Adobe area. Instead of using the traditional tion and troubleshooting instruction, ActiveShare, and trial versions of Vcom northbridge and southbridge chipsets, and it dedicates a whopping half-page to AutoSave and Imagemore. SOYO placed the single NVIDIA nForce3 the BIOS. Most user guides include sev- If your system's chassis has a window, 150 chipset next to the board's six PCI eral pages that have BIOS screen shots you'll love the CK8 Dragon Plus' black slots. The chipset features a tall aluminum and explanations that let new users PCB and purple PCI slots. The board heatsink that sports wide fins, but the quickly find and learn about important also sports three purple memory slots, heatsink doesn't have a fan, and the board features. which support up to 2GB of 266MHz, doesn't have a chipset fan header.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (ClawHammer) SOYO CK8 Dragon Plus Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.02GHz 200MHz 10 1.5 33 28.6 6175 4063 3769 3672 5376 4494 Performance Overclocked 2.21GHz 219MHz 10 1.7 36.3 29.1 6271 4461 4168 4012 5464 4485 Performance

333MHz, or 400MHz. Unlike AMD We like the AGP slot's simple locking Motherboard Athlon 64 FX-based, 940-pin mother- system. You can unlock the slot by sliding We were surprised to see that the lone boards, the CK8 Dragon Plus doesn't the black plastic bar backward, which SATA cable includes dust caps. We like require registered memory, which means means that you can unlock the slot before dust caps because they protect your spare that if you are upgrading from an existing you insert the card. Once the card is in SATA cables, but thanks to Soyo's less- Athlon XP or Intel P4 system, you can place, you can easily slide the bar back than-generous package, users won't have probably transfer your memory to this into the locked position. We also liked any spares to worry about. At $126, the motherboard. If you're not sure whether the board's jumpers. All of the jumpers CK8 Dragon Plus isn't the most expen- your memory is compatible with the CK8 have long, easy-to-grab handles. SOYO sive motherboard around, but even the Dragon Plus, you can scan Soyo's list of put the icing on the cake by putting a

72 • PC Modder white jumper on the CMOS automatically reboots your header (the other jumpers are system whenever the PC loses black). As a result, you can and then regains power. easily find the CMOS jumper Interestingly enough, the without referring to the crum- SOYO COMBO section also my user guide. lets you adjust the system's The motherboard riser boot device order. Every includes the standard parallel, BIOS lets you select the PS/2, and serial ports, as well appropriate boot device (for as four USB 2.0 ports, a example, the hard drive or 10/100 LAN port (complete floppy drive), but most with activity LEDs), and three BIOSes relegate the option to audio ports (Line-in, Line-out, a different category. and Mic-in), thanks to a CMI The CK8 Dragon Plus 9739 (AC '97) codec. The coasted on 1.5V to 2.17GHz. board has a game port header, We had set the frequency to an infrared header, and a USB 215MHz, so we were sur- 2.0 header that supports two CMOS Chipset (NVIDIA prised to see the slightly Jumper nForce3 150) more ports, but it doesn't have ATX 12V PSU Connector higher clock speed. As it a FireWire header or any BIOS SATA Connectors turned out, the Phoenix FireWire ports. The CK8 Award BIOS V6.00PG (Soyo Game Port Connector Dragon Plus also has several Version BA1) always dis- fan headers that stand near the played slightly higher clock PCI slots. Unfortunately, one of the speeds. The BIOS didn’t let us change headers stands between the AGP slot and the processor’s 10X multiplier. the first PCI slot, which means that users The test PC ran at 2.22GHz, but it who have large video cards probably struggled with PCMark04, producing won't be able to access this header. low scores. The system couldn't finish However, users won't have any trouble 3Dmark03 at 2.22GHz even when we reaching the motherboard's two SATA rather have higher voltage options than upped the voltage to 1.7V, but the sys- connectors, which stand at the front of lower options. We suspect that we could tem performed well at 2.21GHz (with a the board, near the hard drives. have pushed our Athlon 64 3200+ further 1.7V VCore), posting a 6271 in if the board allowed higher voltages. 3Dmark03, only 18 points shy of the Overclocking Users who are new to overclocking ASRock K8S8X’s top overclocked score. We didn't think much of the CK8 will like the SOYO COMBO section's The CK8 also snagged a 399-point Dragon Plus' package, but we liked its System Performance setting. You can PCMark04 increase with its max score benchmark scores right away. The board change the setting from Normal to Fast of 4461. Unfortunately, the board's burst through the gates with a 3Dmark03 or Turbo to let the motherboard choose 1.7V limit prevented us from pushing score of 6175 and an overall PCMark04 appropriate overclocked settings. The the processor further. score of 4063. We entered the BIOS and section also has a Power On After navigated to the PC Health section, Power-Fail feature that, if enabled, Final Word which lists CPU VCore, AGP, and CK8 Dragon? Yes. CK8 Dragon DRAM voltages, as well as the CPU's Overclock Comparison Plus? We don't think so. Without a temperature and fan speed. doubt, the CK8 Dragon Plus is a strong The PC Health section also lists one 3Dmark03 overclocker, but its manual simply chassis fan's speed, but it doesn't display Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP doesn't contain enough information the other chassis fans. Next, we returned to Stock Performance 6184 and the board doesn't contain enough the main menu and entered Soyo's SOYO Overclocked Performance 6289 extras to warrant adding "Plus" to the COMBO section, which houses the board- ★ SOYO CK8 Dragon Plus name. That said, if you never read 's overclocking features. The section lets Stock Performance 6175 instructions anyway and don't need users adjust AGP (1.5V to 1.8V), DRAM Overclocked Performance 6271 extra cables, you'll love this mother- (2.5V to 2.9V), and CPU VCore (0.775V ASRock K8S8X board's looks and performance. to 1.7V) voltages. We like the CK8 Stock Performance 5581 Dragon Plus' wide voltage range, but we'd Overclocked Performance 5690 by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 73 AMD ATHLON 64 3200+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3200+ ASROCK K8S8X Motherboard ASRock K8S8X BIOS Manufacturer American Megatrends BIOS Version ASRock Version P1.30 lthough mainstream mother- more sockets. Memory prices are volatile; if Chipset Driver SIS 5.1.2600.1106 (755) board manufacturers such as memory prices are high, you may be reluc- ABIT, ASUS, and Gigabyte tant to buy two 1GB DIMMS right away. Common Components A RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) pack heaps of free components, over- If you have extra sockets, you can buy Video Gainward PowerPack! clocking utilities, and special cooling smaller DIMMs and then add additional Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample systems into their mobo packages, you small DIMMs when memory prices drop. (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital don't need a high-end motherboard to But thanks to the ASRock's two-socket lay- WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA overclock. If you're on a budget, you out, you'll either need to buy the 1GB Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U can choose from a variety of lesser- DIMMs right away or remove your smaller CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/ known motherboards that trade frills for DIMMs when you buy 1GB DIMMs later. 16X DVD/CD-RW low price tags. The ASRock K8S8X is ASRock placed the 12V PSU connec- Floppy Samsung 1.44MB one of these boards. It has few extras tor at the front of the board, just above Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower and programs, sports the inexpensive the two IDE connectors, and then put the Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature SIS 755 chipset, and at $100, won't standard power connector just behind the Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 break your budget. motherboard riser's audio ports. As a result, you'll probably have trouble keep- Motherboard ing the PSU's large cable out of the way. southbridge stands between the board's As with several other mobo manufactur- You'll need to string the cable over the five PCI slots and two SATA connectors. ers, ASRock broke from the unwritten memory and then around the CPU to Although the board doesn't have many green PCB rule and instead used a bright reach the connector, which means that features, it has plenty of RAID options, blue PCB that will spice up your system's the cable will stick out into the center of including RAID 0, 1, and JBOD. The interior. The board meets ATX specifica- the chassis, possibly disrupting the air- board's CD includes a special manual that tions, but is unusually thin, which means flow. If you have a particularly long PSU explains various RAID configurations and that users who have crowded systems can cable, you may be able to snake it around provides installation instructions. We like probably squeeze the board into place with- the memory. We like motherboards that the manual, but we're disappointed to see out much trouble. Unfortunately, the sport the power connector at the top of that ASRock didn't put a printed version board's size meant that ASRock couldn't the board, which lets us attach most of of this manual in the package. Appar- pile on special features, such as a FireWire the PSU cable to the top of the case. ently, ASRock assumes that all users can

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (ClawHammer) ASRock K8S8X Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2GHz 200MHz 10 1.5 34.3 25 5581 3820 3714 3260 4342 4817 Performance Overclocked 2.28GHz 228MHz 10 1.5 35.2 25.2 5690 4343 4269 3739 4331 4745 Performance

header, and even had to lose some compo- The CPU socket area has plenty of use a spare computer to print out the nents, such as a third memory socket. room, so we installed our heatsink with- manual before they build the mother- That's right: the K8S8X has only two out any trouble. The SIS 755 northbridge board's new system. If you are building memory sockets, which support up to 2GB stands well below the CPU socket. The your only system, you'll need to build the of 266MHz, 333MHz, and 400MHz of chipset doesn't have a fan (and the moth- computer, print the manual, and then set 184-pin DDR RAM. 2GB of RAM can erboard doesn't have a chipset fan head- up your RAID configuration. Of course, easily handle most intensive tasks, includ- er), but it probably doesn't need one; a if you don't have an IDE hard drive, ing today's latest games (provided your sys- massive aluminum heatsink sits atop the you'll need to find a friend who has a tem has an appropriate video card, of northbridge. It's one of the largest chipset computer anyway; the K8S8X doesn't course), but we always like to see three or heatsinks we have ever seen. The SIS 964 include a SATA driver floppy.

74 • PC Modder That's not to say that the lists the CPU temperature K8S8X doesn't include any (which remained cool; the printed material. We found a temp never exceeded 35 de- slim user guide and a small, grees Celsius, even when we printed manual that includes overclocked), the motherboard step-by-step instructions for temperature, several voltages, hot-swapping SATA hard dri- and CPU and chassis fan ves. We like the user guide, speeds. Next, we selected the which has plenty of setup Advanced tab and entered the information and detailed CPU Configuration section. explanations of each of the The section includes an AMD board's headers. Thanks to Cool 'N Quiet Configuration the user guide, you can easily setting, but we weren't wor- set up your system and then ried about heat, thanks to our print the main user guide, Southbridge massive heatsink and fan. ATX 12V PSU Connector which includes BIOS in- (SIS 964) Instead, we changed the CPU formation, from the board's Northbridge (SIS 755) Host Frequency field from driver CD. SATA Connectors Auto to Manual and then The motherboard riser has a overclocked the CPU via the 10/100 LAN port, three audio BIOS (American Megatrends) Actual Frequency field. ports, and six USB 2.0 ports. Game Port Connector We quickly discovered that The board's internal connec- the BIOS doesn't include fea- tors include audio, infrared, tures that let you adjust the USB 2.0, and game port headers. The CPU's voltage. As a result, we couldn't K8S8X has a single system fan header, bump the voltage from its default 1.5V which stands at the front of the board, setting. Even so, we pushed the CPU all near the front panel header. the way to 2.24GHz before we ran into The K8S8X's slim offerings include a trouble. At 2.24GHz, the system scored SATA PSU adapter, two SATA cables, a 4268 in PCMark04 and posted a 3D- floppy cable, and an IDE cable. We mark03 score of 5690, only 109 points were glad to see the SATA PSU adapter, Overclocking higher than its score at default settings. but were surprised to find that the Before we entered the K8S8X's BIOS, As it turned out, the system couldn't adapter includes only one hard drive we benchmarked the system at default break this 3Dmark03 score. The PC connector. The board's other features settings. The system posted 5581 in crashed when we pushed it to 2.26GHz, include Boot Failure Guard and U-COP 3Dmark03 and 3820 in PCMark04. We so we lowered the HyperTransport speed (Universal CPU Overheating Protec- were surprised to see such low scores: from 800MHz to 600MHz and then tion). Overclockers will like Boot Fail- the Soyo CK8 Dragon Plus scored 6175 overclocked again. This time, the system ure Guard, which lets users safely enter in 3Dmark03 at default settings. reached 2.3GHz, but posted poor bench- the BIOS after an overclocked system As soon as we entered the system's mark scores, so we backed it down to crashes. The board does have a CMOS BIOS, we looked at the Hardware Health 2.28GHz. At 2.28GHz, our PC scored header, but doesn't include the jumper. Event Monitoring category. The section 5690 in 3Dmark03 again, but posted a If you want to clear the CMOS via the slightly better 4343 PCMark04 score. header, you'll need to buy a jumper. Overclock Comparison ASRock's U-COP monitors the CPU's Final Word temperature and powers off the system if 3Dmark03 Although the K8S8X achieved the it determines that the CPU is too hot. We Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP highest clock speed, it posted the low- worried that the feature would power off Stock Performance 6184 est benchmark scores of our trio. our system when we overclocked, but we Overclocked Performance 6289 Overclockers probably won't enjoy this never triggered the feature. The K8S8X Soyo CK8 Dragon Plus board's lack of overclocking features and also includes PC-cillin Anti-Virus and Stock Performance 6175 components, but budget-builders who ASRock's PC DIY demo, which walks the Overclocked Performance 6271 need an inexpensive board shouldn't user through motherboard installation. ★ ASRock K8S8X ignore it. Of course, you'll need to use a computer Stock Performance 5581 to view the demo. Overclocked Performance 5690 by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 75 AMD ATHLON 64 3400+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3400+ ALBATRON K8X800 PROII Motherboard Albatron K8X800 ProII BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version V6.00PG (Albatron Version MD’s Athlon 64 3400+ has the components, including two IDE cables, a R1.08) 3200+’s ClawHammer core, floppy cable, a SATA cable, and a single Chipset Driver VIA 4.51 (K8T800) 128KB of L1 cache (a 64KB SATA PSU adapter. We found several D- A Common Components instruction cache and a 64KB data cache) brackets, including a bracket that houses RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) and 1MB of L2 cache, but it boasts a SPDIF In and SPDD Out, mic, and ear- Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample 2.2GHz clock speed. Unfortunately, the phone ports. Thanks to the Envy 24PT (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) processor’s integrated memory controller controller, the board supports up to eight- Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital still supports only one channel, which channel audio. Albatron also threw in WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA means that Athlon 64 users can’t take three other D-brackets that house USB Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado advantage of the dual-memory-channel 2.0, FireWire, and game ports. CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/ technology that many Athlon XP users New users and old pros will like the 16X DVD/CD-RW enjoy (via motherboards that have appro- K8X800’s printed material, which Floppy Samsung 1.44MB priate chipsets). At $406 the 3400+ isn’t a includes a user guide and a detailed instal- Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Case Antec PLUS1080AMG budget CPU, but it’s much less expensive lation poster that labels all of the mother- Temperature than the Athlon FX-51, which also has a board’s important components and even Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 2.2GHz clock speed. All Athlon 64s have offers some basic BIOS information. The integrated antivirus technology, but they user guide includes detailed BIOS Genie uses English by default, but if you won’t be able to fully use it until Microsoft instructions, screenshots, and illustra- want it to speak Chinese, German, or releases Windows XP Service Pack 2. tions. The package also includes two free Japanese, you can use the switch device to applications: the aging Trend Micro PC- select the appropriate language. Motherboard cillin 2002 and InterVideo WinCinema, We were also surprised to find that We stress hardware to its breaking point which features InterVideo WinDVD 4 the floppy drive connector stands at the when we put together PC Modder issues, so and InterVideo WinRip 2. bottom of the mobo, just below the we occasionally see smoking components Albatron packed tons of features into board’s six PCI slots. If you don’t plug keel over. As it happens, the first K8X800 the board itself. The first unusual item we a PCI card into the bottom slot, you died (from fear, we suspect, and we don’t noticed is the four-switch device that can easily route the floppy cable to the blame the poor thing) before we put it in stands in the bottom-right corner of the floppy drive, but if the slot does have a our test system, so we ordered a replacement board. The device lets users configure the device, you may have trouble wrapping

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (ClawHammer) Albatron K8X800 ProII Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.21GHz 200MHz 11 1.5 33.6 26.1 6204 4251 4111 3290 5027 4755 Performance Overclocked 2.46GHz 224MHz 11 1.7 38.3 26.3 6303 4736 4524 3663 5174 4736 Performance

that ran right away. The K8X800 ProII board’s Voice Genie, which emits audible the included flat floppy cable around sports VIA’s K8T800 northbridge and error messages, and the dual BIOS system. the PCI card. VT8237 southbridge, which provides sup- Thanks to the two 2MB BIOS chips, you Although the northbridge, which has a port for the board’s two SATA hard drive can flash your BIOS without worrying large heatsink, stands just below the CPU connectors. Albatron also threw in a VIA that you’ll accidentally damage it. If you bracket, we didn’t have any trouble VT6307 FireWire chip and a VIA VT1720 (or a virus) kill the first BIOS, you can installing our huge CPU heatsink and fan Envy 24PT audio controller, but we chose a switch to the backup BIOS by flipping the combo. Three RAM sockets stand to the 3Com 3C940 Gigabit LAN controller. first three switches (unlike the Gigabyte right of the CPU. The sockets support up The K8X800 ProII has a solid package. GA-K8VNXP, which automatically to 3GB of 200MHz/266MHz, 333MHz, The box contains several standard switches to the healthy BIOS). The Voice and 400MHz DDR RAM. The board has

76 • PC Modder a variety of internal headers, degrees Celsius and 70 degrees including three internal USB Celsius. 2.0 headers, an infrared header, Next, we selected the Ad- and a front panel audio header. vanced tab and then entered Unfortunately, the headers the Frequency/Voltage Con- stand at the bottom of the trol section, which lets users board, which means that if you adjust the CPU frequency put the D-brackets in the (200MHz to 300MHz), the uppermost PCI slot bays, you’ll AGP/PCI frequency, and the need to route them between CPU VCore (0.8V to 1.9V), your PCI cards. That said, all RAM (2.6V to 2.9V), and AGP of the D-bracket cords are (1.5V to 1.8V). more than long enough to The K8X800 performed reach their respective headers. well at default settings, posting Many motherboard risers 6204 in 3Dmark03 (654 feature two serial ports, which points higher than the AOpen BIOS & stand next to a larger parallel AK89 Max’s score at default ATX 12V PSU Southbridge backup port. The K8X800 ProII, how- connector (VIA VT8237) BIOS Floppy settings), so we upped the FSB ever, has only one serial port; a (Phoenix) drive from 200MHz to 210MHz piece of blue plastic covers the Northbridge SATA connector (2.31GHz clock speed, thanks (VIA K8T800) other serial port area and wards connectors FireWire to the Athlon 64 3400+’s 11X controller against dust. Instead of putting multiplier). The system han- the serial port on the board, dled the new frequency with- Albatron added an internal serial port out any trouble, posting a 31-point header and put the remaining serial port 3Dmark03 increase. Our system re- on the D-bracket that also houses the game mained stable until it reached 2.35GHz, port. As a result, users who have a front- at which point it froze during 3Dmark03. panel serial port can connect the port’s We raised the VCore voltage from 1.5V cable to the motherboard. to 1.55V and tried again. This time the The riser also has two USB 2.0 ports focused on the processor, so we returned system ran 3Dmark03 without trouble, and six audio ports, including Surround to the main menu and then glanced at the but the system froze again when we Speaker, Surround Back Speaker, and Hardware Monitor. This section displayed boosted the clock speed to 1.6V. Subwoofer. The audio ports don’t include CPU and system temperatures and fan We finally maxed out the system at labels, but they are color-coded, and the speeds, as well as voltages but didn’t let us 224MHz (2.46GHz clock speed) with a installation poster describes each port. adjust voltages. However, the Hardware 1.7V VCore. The system posted a Monitor does have two adjustable fields: 3Dmark03 score of 6303, almost 100 Overclocking Case Open Warning and CPU Warning points higher than its original score. The K8X800 runs Phoenix Award Temperature. If you want the BIOS to BIOS V6.00PG (Albatron Version alert you when your CPU’s temperature Final Word R1.08). It closely resembles the other rises beyond a specific trigger point, you The Albatron took top honors in our BIOSes in our three-board round-up, but can choose a temperature between 50 three-board lineup, thanks to its 2.46GHz it includes an overclocking feature that clock speed and impressive 3DMark the others lack: the Watch Dog Timer. If Overclock Comparison scores, but it didn’t beat the AK89 Max your system hangs, the Watch Dog Timer by much. Both boards performed well and automatically senses the problem, resets 3Dmark03 have excellent features. If we had to your BIOS to its default setting, and then ★ Albatron K8X800 ProII choose between the two, we’d probably reboots your PC. The board has a CMOS Stock Performance 6204 lean toward the K8X800, if only because jumper, but thanks to the Watch Dog Overclocked Performance 6303 it has a three-year warranty (the first year Timer, you’ll probably never see it. AOpen AK89 Max includes parts and labor; the second and We entered the Advanced Chipset Stock Performance 5550 third years include only labor). The AK89 Features category and found that this sec- Overclocked Performance 6293 Max includes a one-year warranty. tion houses adjustable memory timings ECS 755-A2 (including tRCD, tRAS, tRP, and CAS Stock Performance 5607 by Joshua Gulick Latency) and some AGP settings. We Overclocked Performance 5619

PC Modder • 77 AMD ATHLON 64 3400+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3400+ AOPEN AK89 MAX Motherboard AOpen AK89 Max BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version V6.00PG (AOpen Version Open is one of the few mother- Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2003. R1.05) board manufacturers that still AntiVirus 2003 is outdated, but it’s free Chipset Driver NVIDIA v3.13 (nForce3 150) tosses a decent installation software and it still downloads virus defi- A Common Components poster into its mobo packages. The nition lists (the software includes a 12- RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) AK89 Max’s poster includes plenty of month virus definition list subscription). Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample pictures, basic setup instructions, and a AOpen also included several of its own (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) few tips that even experienced overclock- utilities and entertainment applications. Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital ers can appreciate, such as the location of The aptly named WinBIOS lets you WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA the CMOS jumper. New users will like access the BIOS from Windows, which Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado the poster’s front panel connector means you can browse and adjust the set- CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X instructions. We also like the user guide, tings without first rebooting. We like the DVD/CD-RW which has tons of illustrations, compo- AOConfig Utility, which displays infor- Floppy Samsung 1.44MB nent and feature descriptions, and tutori- mation about several components, includ- Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Case Antec PLUS1080AMG als that walk you through the package’s ing your BIOS, memory, motherboard, Temperature software. Unfortunately, the user guide and processor. If you use the board’s Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 doesn’t offer much information about SATA RAID capability, you’ll probably the board’s BIOS. want to install the board’s SATARAID As much as we like the AK89 Max’s Utility, which lets you manage your extra components and applications, we Motherboard RAID configuration from Windows. love the board itself. It has a ton of great The AK89 Max includes a strong com- AOpen’s SilentTek won’t help over- features, including FireWire headers and ponent package. The box contains several clockers, but users who hate noise pollu- two BIOS chips (AOpen calls the dual- D-brackets that house audio ports, two tion will love this program. The software chip feature DieHard BIOS II). As with FireWire ports, two USB 2.0 ports, and a monitors your CPU and system tempera- the Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP, the second game port. We also found two IDE ture (via the motherboard’s sensors) and BIOS acts as a backup. DieHard BIOS II cables, a floppy cable, a single SATA cable slows fan speeds to provide a steady, but replaces the original DieHard BIOS, (sigh) and a SATA PSU adapter. We were quiet, airflow. You can adjust the soft- which included a read-only rescue BIOS. surprised to find that the adapter includes ware’s default settings and turn on the The new version now includes a read/write only one hard drive connector; most PSU CD-ROM Rotation Speed Control, rescue BIOS, which means you can write

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (ClawHammer) AOpen AK89 Max Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.2GHz 200MHz 11 1.5V 32.6 29.3 5550 4355 4152 3797 5155 4643 Performance Overclocked 2.37GHz 215MHz 11 1.55V 33.1 29.3 6293 4695 4428 4084 5497 4657 Performance

adapters have two hard drive connectors. which quiets your optical drive (at the data to your BIOS. For example, you can AOpen also tossed a SATA driver floppy expense of speed, of course). The AK89 download Open JukeBox Player skins. into the package, which meant we didn’t Max also has a program that lets you use The CMOS header stands directly have to use a separate computer to create your computer to play CDs. Unfortu- above the BIOS chips, sporting a red a driver floppy. This is a small feature, nately, Open JukeBox Player prevents jumper. Many motherboards have labels but users who don’t have a spare comput- your system from booting windows (until that identify the CMOS jumper, but er will trade extra SATA cables for that you exit the program). The software pro- AOpen took it a step farther by adding a driver floppy any day. vides its own mouse-friendly interface. label that indicates Normal and Clear The board includes two third-party We’re certain that someone, somewhere CMOS positions. Seasoned overclockers applications: Adobe Acrobat Reader and just loves this feature. won’t have much trouble clearing

78 • PC Modder CMOS, but new overclockers BIOS also let us adjust the will probably appreciate the CPU’s frequency (200MHz to tip. 250MHz) and CPU VCore The AK89 Max sports (0.8V to 1.55V), AGP (1.5V NVIDIA’s nForce3 150 to 1.6V), and DRAM, (2.5V chipset, which doesn’t require to 2.85V) voltages. We were a southbridge. AOpen placed surprised to find that the an aluminum heatsink on the VCore field prevents users chipset, which stands just from raising the voltage behind the PCI slots. We like beyond 1.55V; many mother- the nForce 3 150’s location boards let users raise the volt- simply because you can install age as high as 1.8V. As a result, a taller heatsink. In contrast, we didn’t expect the AK89 ASUS placed the nForce3 150 Max to overclock well. directly behind the SK8N’s When we benchmarked our AGP slot, which meant that AK89 Max system at default users couldn’t easily replace CMOS settings (2.2GHz, 1.5V VCore), the chipset’s heatsink. ATX 12V PSU Connector Jumper it posted a 3Dmark03 score of The board also includes four Chipset (NVIDIA nForce3 150) SATA 5550 and a PCMark04 score of SATA connectors and supports Connectors 4355. Although we expected the BIOS & Backup BIOS RAID 0, 1, and 0+1, thanks to board’s low voltage limit to curb Game Port Connector a Silicon Image SATALink our overclocking efforts, we chip. The three memory slots didn’t expect to see such low support up to 3GB of DDR400 RAM. scores right off the bat. As it turned out, the We were surprised to find that one of the AK89 Max simply needed to be unleashed. AK89 Max’s five PCI slots has its own When we bumped the CPU clock speed to 3.3V power circuit. With the 3.3V circuit, 2.31GHz, the system came to life, posting the PCI slot can handle power-hungry 6280 in 3Dmark03: a 730-point increase. PCI cards, such as RAID cards, and won’t The system crashed when we raised the be affected by the other four slots. Once you change the board’s configura- clock speed to 2.37GHz, so we upped the The motherboard riser includes the tion, you can apply the changes immedi- VCore voltage to its 1.55V limit. Thanks standard serial, parallel, and PS/2 slots, as ately, without rebooting the system. to the extra juice, the AK89 Max posted its well as four USB 2.0 slots and a Gigabit We wanted to push our system to its highest scores: 6293 in 3Dmark03 and LAN port. Thanks to the ALC655 codec, limit, so we rebooted our PC and then 4696 in PCMark04. the riser’s audio ports support 5.1-chan- entered the BIOS during POST (power Unfortunately, we couldn’t top those nel sound. One of the board’s D-brackets on self test). The first thing we noticed scores, even when we adjusted the CPU’s houses additional audio ports, including was that the BIOS let us change the multiplier. The system booted into SPDIF Out and SPDIF In ports. CPU’s multiplier. Most of the mother- Windows at 2.97GHz (212MHz with a boards we tested don’t unlock the multi- 14X multiplier), but it posted a Overclocking plier, but AK89 Max offered a wide range 3Dmark03 score of 6279, 14 points If you’re new to overclocking, you may of multipliers, from 4X to 25X. The below its top score. We probably could want to try the AK89 Max’s EzClock over- have pushed the CPU further if the board clocking software. Experienced overclock- Overclock Comparison had better voltage capabilities. ers will probably want to dive right into the BIOS as it generally produces the best 3Dmark03 Final Word overclocking results, but new overclockers Albatron K8X800 ProII Despite the AK89 Max’s mediocre should think of a Windows-based over- Stock Performance 6204 scores at default settings, the board clocking tool as a training ground: Users Overclocked Performance 6303 proved to be a strong overclocker. In fact, can access all of the relevant settings from a ★ AOpen AK89 Max its 3Dmark03 score almost tied the single interface instead of flipping through Stock Performance 5550 Albatron K8X800’s best score. If you’re BIOS sections. You can adjust processor Overclocked Performance 6293 looking for a solid, feature-laden board, settings and some voltages, and thanks to a ECS 755-A2 you’ve found it. drop-down window, monitor the CPU Stock Performance 5607 temperature in Celsius and Fahrenheit. Overclocked Performance 5619 by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 79 AMD ATHLON 64 3400+ & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 3400+ ECS 755-A2 Motherboard ECS 755-A2 BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix BIOS Version V6.00PG (ECS Version 1.0) f you’re planning to build a cheap We like the 755-A2’s layout. If you Chipset Driver SIS 5.1.2600.0 (755) PC, take a look at ECS (EliteGroup plan to upgrade your computer or over- Computer Systems). The mother- clock often, look for a motherboard Common Components I RAM DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) board manufacturer produces a variety of that has an easy-to-access layout. A Video Gainward PowerPack! inexpensive motherboards that power solid motherboard layout means you Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample many budget systems. We chose one of can reach important items (such as the (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital the motherboard maker’s top AMD CMOS jumper) quickly, and lets you WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA Athlon 64-based boards, the 755-A2, to connect various cables and cards easily Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U see if a budget board can compete with without disrupting your system’s air- CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/ the big dogs. flow. ECS used a grape-purple PCB 16X DVD/CD-RW that will brighten your system’s insides Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Motherboard and then added a bright orange AGP Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower The 755-A2’s box states that the board slot and matching chipset heatsink. Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature is capable of overclocking, so we matched ECS didn’t bunch the capacitors Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 it with our Athlon 64 3400+ and took it together and put both of the SATA for a spin. The board sports the SIS 755 connectors near the hard drives (assum- northbridge and SIS 964 southbridge, ing your hard drives are near). The side of the board. As a result we easily which generally accompany inexpensive board integrates support for RAID 0 snaked the PSU cable around the memory motherboards. and RAID 1, which means users who and capacitors to the connectors. Unfor- At $87, the 755-A2 has the dubious have two drives can create striped or tunately, the memory bank includes only honor of being the cheapest AMD moth- mirrored arrays. two slots, which means that users can’t erboard we overclocked. The package The CMOS header is near the front of easily upgrade without removing existing includes only the bare necessities: an IDE the board and easy to find, thanks to the DIMMS. The slots support up to 2GB of cable, a floppy cable, and a single SATA red jumper. Most importantly, ECS put DDR400 RAM. cable. We always like to see important detailed header labels on the motherboard We were surprised to find that the components, such as SATA PSU adapters that indicate CMOS Normal and Clear board lacks a game port header or even a and extra SATA adapters, but we’re will- positions. ECS also added a small dia- serial port header (motherboards that ing to give up a few components for such gram that indicates the appropriate front have only one serial port generally include

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ (ClawHammer) ECS 755-A2 Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.2GHz 200MHz 11 1.5 33 27.7 5607 4206 4161 3797 4296 4378 Performance Overclocked 2.24GHz 204MHz 11 1.5 33.4 28.1 5619 4299 4254 3887 4341 3732 Performance

an inexpensive board. If your PSU does- panel pins. If you lose your manual, you’ll an internal serial port header that lets n’t have SATA connectors and you are love this diagram. users add their own serial port). The planning to buy a motherboard that The memory slots stand horizontal, board does include a CNR (communica- doesn’t have a SATA PSU adapter, buy above the CPU socket, instead of stand- tions and networking riser), but we'd take a retail hard drive instead of an OEM ing to the left or right of the CPU. a game port header over the less-popular version. Many computer retailers offer Generally, horizontal memory sockets CNR any day. OEM components that lack extra fea- mean that the user must string the PSU The motherboard riser includes a ser- tures but also sell retail versions that cables over the memory, but in this case, ial port, a parallel port, two PS/2 ports, include standard components, such as ECS placed both power cable connectors four USB 2.0 ports and a 10/100 LAN cables and free software. and several capacitors on the right hand Port, thanks to a Realtek RTL820BL

80 • PC Modder chip. Realtek also provides can instruct the PC to power the riser’s six-channel au- on just before you arrive home. dio via a ALC655 (AC’97) The Frequency/Voltage codec. The board also in- Control section lets you adjust cludes two internal USB 2.0 the CPU clock speed, but it headers that let you connect doesn’t let you adjust the volt- additional USB 2.0 ports, age. As a result we couldn’t feed such as your chassis’ front more power to the VCore than panel USB ports. If your the board’s default 1.5V. Given chassis doesn’t have USB that the board didn’t include ports, take a look at your sys- adjustable voltage controls, we tem’s other components: suspected that ECS wasn’t tar- temperature monitors that geting the board at overclockers. plug into an optical drive bay But we tried anyway. We raised and card readers often have the Athlon 64 3400+’s clock USB ports that connect to Southbridge BIOS (Phoenix) speed to 2.22GHz and then your motherboard’s internal ATX 12V PSU (SIS 964) booted into Windows without a Connector headers. We were surprised Northbridge SATA hitch. The system posted a to see that ECS placed the (SIS 755) connectors 3Dmark03 score of 5614, only USB headers just behind the CNR (Communication & seven points higher than its top two PCI slots instead of Networking Riser) original score, but then, we had- at the bottom of the board, n’t raised the frequency much. but our front panel connec- We raised the clock speed to tors easily reached them, so we’re not 2.23GHz and ran the benchmarks again. complaining. This time the system posted a 3Dmark Unfortunately, the 755-A2’s software score of 5609. package is as slim as its component pack- The system finally posted its best age. The driver CD includes a woefully out- 3Dmark03 score (5619, a mere 12-point dated Trend Micro PC-cillin 2002 and increase) at 2.24GHz. Our test PC boot- Award WinFlash, which is, not surprisingly, AGP settings and devotes a subsection to ed into Windows at 2.31GHz but was so a Windows-based BIOS flashing utility. DRAM settings. unstable it couldn’t run any benches. The Setup section Overclocking includes a couple of useful nonoverclock- Final Word We benchmarked the system at default ing tools. If you want your computer to If you’re looking for a flashy, feature- settings (2.2GHz, 1.5V VCore) before we power on automatically whenever it loses laden, overclocking wonder, skip the began overclocking. Our 755-A2 and and then regains power, you can enable ECS 755-A2. The board lacks impor- Athlon 64 3400+ combo ran both bench- the section’s Power On After Power Fail tant features, such as FireWire, and marks without a hitch, posting 5607 in option. You can also configure your sys- simply can’t push your Athlon 64 3Dmark03 and 4206 in PCMark04. Both tem to automatically power on at a specif- processor as far as it can go. Overclock- of these scores were well below the ic time. If you power off your computer ers should avoid any board that doesn’t Albatron K8X800 ProII’s scores, but the before you go to work, for example, you let them increase the voltage; if you $87 755-A2’s 3Dmark03 score bested the can’t feed extra juice to the processor, $156 AOpen AK89 Max’s opening 5550 Overclock Comparison you can’t stabilize the CPU when it score by 57 points. tackles higher frequencies. That said, Next, we entered the board’s Phoenix 3Dmark03 budget users who don’t plan to over- Award BIOS V6.00PG (ECS Version Albatron K8X800 ProII clock and don’t want extra features will 1.0). The PC Health Status section dis- Stock Performance 6204 love this board’s layout and ultra-cheap plays the CPU and system temps and fan Overclocked Performance 6303 price tag. If you are building a system speeds and lets users specify an emergency AOpen AK89 Max for a friend who wants 64-bit goodness shutdown temperature. We were sur- Stock Performance 5550 but doesn’t want to overclock, you can prised to see that the section displays only Overclocked Performance 6293 save cash for other components by the CPU’s voltage; many BIOS’ also dis- ★ ECS 755-A2 installing the 755-A2. play AGP and DRAM voltages. The Stock Performance 5607 Advanced Chipset Setup controls several Overclocked Performance 5619 by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 81 AMD ATHLON 64 FX-51 & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 ASUS SK8V Motherboard ASUS SK8V BIOS Manufacturer American Megatrends BIOS Version AMI Bios 2003 he Athlon 64 FX-51 shares sev- Although ASUS’ low-end boards often ASUS Version 1002 eral features with its Athlon 64 include few extras, high-end boards, such Chipset Driver VIA 4.51 (K8T800) cousin, including the Claw- as the SK8V, boast large packages. Our T Common Components Hammer core, 128KB L1 cache, and SK8V box included two SATA cables, RAM Corsair PC2700 registered 1MB L2 cache, but it has 940 pins to the complete with dust caps, three IDE DDR SDRAM (2 x 1GB) Video Gainward PowerPack! Athlon 64’s 754 and requires registered cables, and a single SATA PSU adapter Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample memory. As a result, if you’re upgrading that sports two hard drive adapters. Some (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) to a 940-pin, FX-based system, you’ll new power supplies include SATA power Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA need to buy a new motherboard and new connectors, but most older models and Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U RAM. Luckily, AMD recently released many new models have only the older, CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado several 939-pin Athlon 64 FX CPUs, bulky connectors, so we always like to see CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X including a 939-pin FX-53. (We couldn’t motherboards that save us the extra trip DVD/CD-RW Floppy Samsung 1.44MB get hold of these before we went to print, to the computer store. Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower so expect to see them in the next issue.) As usual, ASUS tossed a detailed user Case Antec PLUS1080AMG What’s the big deal? The 939-pin proces- guide and an easy-to-read motherboard Temperature sors don’t require registered memory. layout sticker into the box. If you regular- Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 AMD’s roadmap doesn’t include any ly adjust jumper settings or disconnect more 940 pins, so if you plan to upgrade and reconnect the chassis’ front panel ASUS also added InterVideo’s to an FX CPU, we suggest looking at the connectors, you may want to place the WinDVD Suite, which includes new processors. If you already have a 940- sticker on your chassis’ side panel. We WinDVD, Win DVD Creator, and pin processor or simply want to see how were surprised to see that the sticker even WinRIP, Trend-Micro PC-cillin 2002, the FX CPUs stack up, read on. lists the CMOS battery’s model number. and plenty of its own utilities. We like If you hang onto the board long enough the VIA Tech RAID BIOS utility, Motherboard to wear out the battery (or if it goes bad), which lets you configure your RAID ASUS released the SK8V several you’ll need this information. array (the board supports RAID 0, 1, months after it launched its first AMD The motherboard package also and 0+1). You can enter Tech RAID Athlon 64 FX-51-based motherboard, includes three D-brackets that attach to BIOS by pressing the tab during your the SK8N. The SK8N sported your chassis’ empty PCI slot bays. We system’s POST (power on self test).

AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 (ClawHammer) ASUS SK8V Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.2GHz 200MHz 11 1.5 33.4 27.9 6250 4461 4112 4668 5221 4751 Performance Overclocked 2.45GHz 223MHz 11 1.7 39.3 29 6359 4919 4589 5204 5399 4749 Performance

NVIDIA’s nForce3 pro 150 chipset, like the audio bracket, which has two The software package also includes which combined the northbridge and SPDIF Out ports, and the USB bracket, Voice Editor, which lets you southbridge functions into a single chip. which boasts four USB 2.0 ports, but we change the POST Reporter’s default The SK8V, on the other hand, boasts a were surprised to see that the third brack- messages by recording your own. VIA chipset that includes the K8T800 et has only a FireWire port. Sure, many Thanks to a Winbond speech con- northbridge and VT8237 southbridge. cases have at least one front panel troller, POST Reporter (when enabled) The board also includes a VIA VT 6307 FireWire port that can use the board’s emits audible messages, including sys- FireWire controller, a Promise R20378 remaining FireWire header, but if your tem errors. That sure beats hunting RAID controller, and an ADI AD1985 case doesn’t have a FireWire port, one of down the meaning of beep- or numeral- 6-channel codec. the two headers is useless. based error codes.

82 • PC Modder ASUS lined two of the to use the CMOS jumper to SK8V’s three IDE ports clear your system. Non-over- against the front side of the clockers will like Q-Fan. When board. The other IDE connec- your system isn’t running inten- tor sits next to the floppy con- sive tasks, Q-Fan lowers your nector, which is also near the system fan speeds (it only affects side of the board. We were fans that draw power directly surprised to see that the flop- from the motherboard), lower- py drive faces toward the front ing your system’s overall noise. of the computer instead of The SK8V also includes the facing toward the side panel, Windows-based BIOS update as most floppy and IDE con- utility ASUS Update. nectors generally do. Thanks The SK8V included an old to the floppy connector’s American Megatrends BIOS weird position, you won’t 2003 (ASUS Version 1001), so have any trouble accessing the we upgraded the BIOS to two nearby SATA ports, but BIOS ASUS Version 1002. The BIOS (American we think users who have Southbridge ATX 12V PSU Connector let us choose from a CPU volt- Megatrends) cramped cases may have trou- (VIA VT8237) age range of 1.5V to 1.7V. ble installing the floppy drive SATA Users can also change the multi- connector. We easily connect- Connectors 3COM Gigabit plier and adjust the AGP (1.5V Northbridge (VIA K8T800) ed the cable in our case, but LAN Controller to 1.7V) and DRAM (2.5V to then, the Antec PLUS1080- 2.8V) voltages. As with the AMG is very roomy. SK8N, the BIOS let us choose from a fre- A small, long ASUS WiFi@Home con- quency range of 200MHz to 300MHz. nector sits just below the motherboard’s At default settings, the test system posted five PCI slots. If you want to add wireless an impressive 6250 3Dmark03 score and a connectivity to your system without PCMark04 score of 4461. We pushed the adding a PCI or USB device, you can CPU as high as 2.37GHz without any plug ASUS’ optional Wi-Fi card into the trouble, but the system refused to run connector. You can buy the 802.11b Overclocking either benchmark at 2.4GHz until we card, which includes an external antenna, ASUS added several overclocking-friend- raised the voltage. At 1.55V, the system ran for about $25 from computer retailers. ly features to the American Megatrends both benchmarks, posting an 83-point We like the idea, but we wish ASUS BIOS. We like CrashFree BIOS 2, which 3Dmark03 increase. The system ran the offered an 802.11g card; a slow network lets you repair a damaged BIOS by rein- benchmarks at 2.44GHz with a VCore of adapter doesn’t belong on a fast board. stalling the original BIOS from the mother- 1.6V, but the BSOD strangled our system Thanks to the SK8V’s dual-channel board’s CD. We also like C.P.R. (CPU when we pushed it to 2.46GHz. Once we architecture support, you can boost your Parameter Recall), which activates when reinstalled Windows, we maxed the system system’s performance by adding pairs of your computer freezes. When you reboot out at 2.45GHz with a 1.7V VCore. The identical DIMMS to memory slots. The the system, C.P.R. resets the BIOS to its test PC posted a 3Dmark03 score of 6359 motherboard’s four slots support up to default settings. As a result, you won’t need and a PCMark04 score of 4919, 458 points 8GB of PC3200 registered DDR RAM. higher than its original score. The I/O riser includes a SPDIF-Out Overclock Comparison port, three other audio ports, four USB Final Word 2.0 ports, and a FireWire port. If you 3Dmark03 The SK8V trounced the other mother- take your computer to LAN parties, ★ ASUS SK8V boards in our three-board lineup, offering you’ll like the riser’s Gigabit LAN port. Stock Performance 6250 the highest scores in both 3Dmark03 and Thanks to the 3COM 3C940 Gigabit Overclocked Performance 6359 PCMark04. It has a great accessories LAN controller’s VCT (Virtual Cable Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP-940 package and plenty of overclocking- Tester) utility, the controller can report Stock Performance 6204 friendly features. At $206, the SK8V isn’t Ethernet cable problems, which means Overclocked Performance 6300 cheap, but it’s the best FX-based mother- you can quickly determine whether you ASUS SK8N board we’ve seen. have a cable or motherboard problem Stock Performance 6150 and get on with the game. Overclocked Performance 6248 by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 83 AMD ATHLON 64 FX-51 & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 ASUS SK8N Motherboard ASUS SK8N BIOS Manufacturer American Megatrends BIOS Version AMI Bios 2003 he SK8V pounded through the brackets house two USB 2.0 ports, audio ASUS Version 1007 benchmarks, so we hoped its ports (including SPDIF-Out ports, a seri- Chipset Driver NVIDIA v3.13 T older sibling could do the same. al game port, and a FireWire port). We (nForce3 pro-150) After all, ASUS has had more time to were disappointed to see that the Common Components tweak the SK8N’s once-flaky BIOS. As FireWire bracket has only one FireWire RAM Corsair PC2700 registered DDR SDRAM (2 x 1GB) with the SK8V, we matched the SK8N port—we’ve seen many brackets that Video Gainward PowerPack! with the 940-pin Athlon 64 FX-51. house both FireWire and USB ports. Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample ASUS recently released a 939-pin version Half-empty brackets just waste space. (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital of the newer FX-53, but we don’t expect The motherboard doesn’t include WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA to see a 939-pin FX-51. Windows-based overclocking software, Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U but it does have several other programs, CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado Motherboard CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X including InterVideo’s WinDVD Suite DVD/CD-RW The SK8N was one of the first AMD (WinDVD, Win DVD Creator, and Floppy Samsung 1.44MB Athlon 64 FX-based motherboards to hit WinRip), Trend Micro PC-cillin, and Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower the market. It’s also one of the only FX- several ASUS BIOS add-ons. The package Case Antec PLUS1080AMG Temperature based motherboards that sports NVIDIA’s also includes a printed user guide and a Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 nForce3 pro-150 chipset. The board sup- sticker that displays the board’s jumpers ports RAID 0, 1, and 0+1, and has a and front panel connectors. Promise R20378 controller. The SK8N Unlike Athlon XP and 64-based moth- After testing the Athlon 64-based arrived before Gigabit Ethernet became a erboards, 940-pin FX-based mother- motherboards, which didn’t include per- standard feature, but the board does boards require registered memory. As a formance-enhancing dual-channel memo- include a Realtek RTL8201 10/100 LAN result you can’t use your old, unregistered ry technology, we were glad to see that controller. Realtek also provided the 6- memory when you upgrade to the SK8N. the SK8N has four dual-channel slots. As channel ALC650 audio codec. A TI When shopping for new memory, keep in a result, you can add up to two pairs of TSB43AB22A chip rounds out the board’s mind that most registered memory also DIMMs to your system. Each pair must most important chips, providing two inter- includes ECC (error correction code), an have identical DIMMS, but you don’t nal FireWire headers. The board has a unnecessary feature as far as FX-based need to use identical pairs. For example, 940-pin CPU socket and supports AMD motherboards are concerned (many you can use a pair of 256MB, PC3200

AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 (ClawHammer) ASUS SK8N Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.2GHz 200MHz 11 1.5 34.2 28.4 6150 4147 4023 3274 4677 4221 Performance 224MHz Overclocked 2.46GHz 11 1.7 39.5 29.5 6248 4610 4489 3655 5461 4291 Performance

Athlon 64 FX and Opteron processors, but servers use ECC memory). ECC slows DIMMs and a pair of 512MB, PC3200 we doubt many users will slap an Opteron system performance, so you’ll want to dis- DIMMS. All told, the four slots support onto the board. able the feature via the BIOS’ Memory up to 8GB of registered DDR RAM. We found a boatload of accessories in Configuration section. If you’re not sure Unfortunately, ASUS placed the the SK8N’s sizeable box. The package which memory to buy, take a look at the nForce3 pro-150 chipset directly behind includes two SATA cables, a dual-connec- ASUS Web site’s SK8N Overview section the 8X AGP slot. As a result, larger video tor SATA PSU adapter, and a bunch of (usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket940/sk cards hang over the chipset. You won’t D-brackets. If you don’t have many PCI 8n/overview.htm). The Web page lists have any trouble installing your video card, cards, you’ll love the D-brackets, which dozens of ASUS-qualified DDR333 and thanks to the chipset’s extremely short alu- add ports but take up PCI slot bays. The DDR400 memory. minum heatsink, but you won’t be able to

84 • PC Modder install a larger heatsink. Our motherboard by attempting to only other gripe is that ASUS upgrade the American Mega- placed the power fan header trends 2003 BIOS from right next to the CPU fan Revision 1001 to 1003. Our header. The headers are identi- SK8N never fully recovered, so cal, so make sure you’ve we bought a new SK8N for this plugged the CPU fan into the test (which had Revision 1004) correct header before you fire and then downloaded the latest up your system. If you do mix BIOS: Revision 1007. The new them up, we doubt you’ll toast BIOS took to our motherboard the CPU right away, but we without any trouble, so we weren’t willing to try. We pre- promptly benchmarked the sys- fer risks that lead to rewards. tem at default settings. The sys- Aside from the chipset and tem performed well, scoring fan headers, we like the board’s 6150 in 3Dmark03 and 4,147 layout. ASUS placed two of the in PCMark04. board’s three IDE connectors ATX 12V PSU Next, we entered the BIOS. FireWire Connector at the front of the board, near Connector The CPU Configuration sec- the system’s optical and hard BIOS (American Megatrends) tion has only two fields: CPU drives. The third IDE connec- SATA Connectors OverClock in MHz (200MHz tor stands behind the five PCI to 300MHz) and CPU Chipset (NVIDIA nForce3 pro-150) slots. We were disappointed to Voltage (1.5V to 1.75V). We see that the motherboard has left the VCore at 1.5V and only two SATA connectors. The SK8N raised the frequency. The 1.5V VCore let has a single FireWire header; ASUS added the system coast all the way to 2.4GHz the other FireWire port to the board’s I/O (from its default setting of 2.2GHz), at riser. If your chassis has a front panel which point our test PC posted a FireWire port, you’ll probably want to 3Dmark03 score of 6232 and a ditch the FireWire D-bracket and attach PCMark04 score of 4512. However, the the front panel connector to the internal If you have several noisy system fans, system refused to boot at 2.42GHz until header instead. In fact, you’ll probably you can enable the ASUS Q-Fan feature, we boosted the VCore to a whopping 1.7 need to toss the USB D-bracket too, as the which ratchets down your fan speeds volts, just 0.05V shy of the board’s max. motherboard has only one USB 2.0 head- when your system isn’t under a full load. We finally maxed out our system at er. The I/O riser eats up the remaining We like the CrashFree BIOS 2 feature, 2.46GHz with a 1.7V VCore. The test four USB ports. which lets you restore your BIOS from PC scored 6248 in 3Dmark03 and 4610 the driver CD. You can restore a damaged in PCMark04. The system booted at Overclocking BIOS by simply inserting the CD and 2.49GHz and posted a 3Dmark03 score As with many other motherboard man- then rebooting the system. of 6265, but it was too unstable to handle ufacturers, ASUS adds features to its When we last matched the SK8N with PCMark04. BIOS. The SK8N includes several worth- the FX-51 (see page 91 of PC Modder, while features, but lacks C.P.R. (CPU Spring 2004), we wounded our poor Final Word Parameter Recall), which appears in the Although we pushed our SK8N-based newer SK8V’s BIOS. C.P.R. resets your Overclock Comparison system to a slightly higher clock speed than system to default settings if your system the SK8V reached, the SK8N couldn’t freezes, which means you can recover 3Dmark03 beat either of the other two boards’ bench- from most overclocking-related problems ASUS SK8V mark scores. That said, the SK8N is the by simply rebooting. C.P.R. isn’t crucial, Stock Performance 6250 least expensive board in our pack at $188, but it lets users avoid clearing the CMOS Overclocked Performance 6359 which means budget overclockers can put via motherboard’s CMOS jumper. Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP-940 the extra cash towards other components. Luckily, you won’t have any trouble Stock Performance 6204 And unlike the Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP- reaching the CMOS jumper (ASUS also Overclocked Performance 6300 940, the SK8N didn’t have any trouble refers to it as the Real Time Clock RAM ★ ASUS SK8N running PCMark04. jumper), which stands just above the Stock Performance 6150 third IDE connector. Overclocked Performance 6248 by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 85 AMD ATHLON 64 FX-51 & System Specs Processor, Motherboard & Drivers Processor AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 GIGABYTE GA-K8NNXP- Motherboard Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP-940 BIOS Manufacturer American Megatrends BIOS Version V6.00PG (Gigabyte Version F3) 940 Chipset Driver NVIDIA v3.13 (nForce3 150)

Common Components RAM Corsair PC2700 registered o far, we’ve thrown VIA, NVIDIA, adapter has two, so we’re not complain- DDR SDRAM (2 x 1GB) and SIS chipsets at every processor ing. Many of the motherboards we tested Video Gainward PowerPack! that we’ve tested. Unfortunately, lacked even one PSU adapter, so we were Ultra/1800 XP Golden Sample S (GeForce FX 5950 Ultra) motherboard manufacturers didn’t adopt glad to see Gigabyte go the extra mile. Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital the SIS 755FX (the FX version of the ASUS tossed three port-laden D-brackets WD800JD 7,200rpm SATA chipset that graced our Athlon 64-based into the box, including a bracket that Heatsink Thermalright SLK-948U CPU Fan pcToys 92mm Tornado motherboards) until the 939-pin Athlon sports a variety of audio ports and another CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/ 64 FX CPU sockets arrived. We decided bracket that holds both USB 2.0 and 16X DVD/CD-RW to look at another popular chipset that can FireWire ports. A fourth D-bracket, Floppy Samsung 1.44MB handle the ultra-powerful FX: the which Gigabyte refers to as the GC-SATA Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Case Antec PLUS1080AMG NVIDIA nForce3 150. Although the card, has four SATA connectors and two Temperature nForce3 150 isn’t certified for NVIDIA power connectors. If you want to keep Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 graphics cards your SATA hard drives outside your com- (NVIDIA generally targets the pro-150 at puter, you can use this device to extend workstation users), it’s just as capable of the board’s SATA connectors to the back chipset heatsink with any cooling system pushing the FX to its limits. We chose the of the case. As always, Gigabyte added you like without blocking your video Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP-940, which plenty of printed material to the package. card. Another bonus that the SK8N lacks sports the nForce3 150 and a bunch of The box includes a user guide, a large is the chipset’s fan header. You can proba- powerhouse features. installation poster that has brief BIOS bly get by with a heavy-duty heatsink, but and utility explanations, a motherboard the further you push your system, the Motherboard layout sticker that labels front-panel con- hotter your chipset will become, so The GA-K8NNXP-940 supplements nectors, and a SATA RAID user guide. we were glad to see that the included the NVIDIA nForce3 150 chipset with Overall, we like the motherboard’s lay- heatsink has a fan. several Realtek peripheral chips, including out. Thanks to a bunch of capacitors and Thanks to the GigaRAID controller, an 8201 10/100 LAN controller, an the DPS (Dual Power System), the board the GA-K8NNXP-940’s four IDE con-

AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 (ClawHammer) Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP-940 Processor Processor Case PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Speed FSB Multiplier Voltage Temp Temp 3Dmark03 PCMark04 CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.2GHz 200MHz 11 1.5 33.2 27.5 6204 No Score No Score No Score No Score No Score Performance Overclocked 2.46GHz 224MHz 11 1.65 35 27.2 6300 No Score No Score No Score No Score No Score Performance

8110S Gigabit LAN controller, and an has the most crowded CPU socket area nectors support RAID 0, 1, or 0+1. ALC658 (AC ’97) codec that offers six- we’ve seen, but we squeezed our giant Gigabyte placed two of the IDE connec- channel audio. The board also includes a Thermalright SLK-948U into the area tors and the floppy connector near the FireWire controller and a GigaRAID without bumping any of the components. memory slots, close to the optical and ATA 133 RAID controller. The nForce3 150, which has a large hard drives. The other two IDE connec- We found several accessories inside the heatsink, stands behind the board’s five tors stand at the bottom of the board, just box, including two SATA data cables PCI slots, unlike the ASUS SK8N’s above the front-panel connectors. Two with dust caps and two SATA PSU nForce3 pro-150 chipset, which stands SATA connectors also stand below the adapters. One of the adapters has only directly behind the AGP slot. As a result, IDE ports, next to the board’s FireWire one hard drive connector, but the other you can replace the GA-K8NNXP-940’s headers. Although the motherboard has

86 • PC Modder only two FireWire headers, The BIOS lets you adjust you can connect up to three the CPU frequency (200MHz ports. One of the headers has to 300MHz) and the DRAM extra pins that let the included (2.5V to 2.8V) and VCore FireWire D-bracket offer two (0.8V to 1.7V) voltages. You ports. The standard FireWire can also adjust the multiplier. header has a large, purple pro- Once we located the appropri- tective casing. ate settings, we backed out of The GA-K8NNXP-940’s the BIOS, rebooted the test four memory slots have dual- system, and then ran the channel technology, which benchmarks. At 2.2GHz, the means you can boost your sys- system posted a 3Dmark03 tem’s performance by adding score of 6204 but refused to an identical pair (or pairs) of load PCMark04. We tried DIMMs. The slots support everything we could think of, up to 3GB of PC3200 DDR including a rain dance, but the RAM. Keep in mind that, BIOS and Backup BIOS (Phoenix) board denied PCMark04 every unlike standard Athlon 64- SATA time. That said, the system was based boards, the 940-pin Connectors Chipset (NVIDIA nForce3 150) clearly stable. It posted strong motherboards require regis- 3Dmark03 benches without a GigaRAID Controller tered memory. We used 2GB FireWire problem and handled every Connector ATX 12V PSU Connector of Corsair PC2700 to test other task we threw at it. After our FX-51 and FX-53 CPUs. toasting two GA-K8VNXP’s Gigabyte’s DPS, which has its own in a row, we were just glad this particular heatsink and LED fan, stands next to the board wasn’t on fire. memory. The DPS adds a three-phase At 2.42GHz, the motherboard bailed power circuit to the board’s built-in out of 3Dmark03, so we upped the volt- three-phase power circuit. age to 1.55V, which carried the board In addition to the standard PS/2 and only to 2.44GHz. We finally maxed out serial ports, the I/O riser features the two the test PC at 2.46GHz with a 1.65V LAN ports, complete with status indica- VCore. The system posted a 3Dmark03 tor LEDs, two USB 2.0 ports, and three score of 6300—that’s only 96 points audio ports. Two internal USB 2.0 head- BIOS, including processor clock speed higher than its original score, but it did ers support up to four additional ports. and voltage. If you want to dabble with manage to reach 52 points higher than other components, you can use the soft- the SK8N’s max score. Overclocking ware to change memory and AGP volt- The GA-K8NNXP offers two over- ages. In our experience, Windows-based Final Word clocking tools: Dual BIOS and Easy- overclocking software doesn’t push a Aside from not loading PCMark04, Tune4. If you overclock and flash enough processor to its limits, so we entered the the $214 GA-K8NNCP-940 performed motherboards, you’ll eventually dam- most important overclocking tool: the reasonably well. We were disappointed age a BIOS. But if you toast the GA- computer’s BIOS. that we couldn’t make use of the VCore’s K8NNXP-940’s BIOS, you probably 1.7V ceiling, but we like the board’s won’t notice it, thanks to the board’s two Overclock Comparison 3Dmark03 scores, which put it directly BIOS chips. If you damage the main between the SK8N and the score-thump- 2MB chip, a spare 2MB chip automati- 3Dmark03 ing SK8V. We also like this mother- cally takes over, which means you won’t ASUS SK8V board’s accessories package and its Dual need to reflash the BIOS or order a new Stock Performance 6250 BIOS system. If you want the highest chip. Although the Dual BIOS system Overclocked Performance 6359 benchmark scores, you’ll probably want doesn’t speed up any of your compo- ★ Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP-940 to look at the $206 ASUS SK8V, but we nents, it saves time. Stock Performance 6204 think you’ll enjoy overclocking either of Users who are new to overclocking will Overclocked Performance 6300 these boards. like EasyTune4. The Windows-based ASUS SK8N overclocking software lets you adjust a Stock Performance 6150 by Joshua Gulick variety of settings without entering the Overclocked Performance 6248

PC Modder • 87 NEED SPEED? We Test 10 Video Cards To See Which Is Fastest

magine yourself ensconced in your favorite video game chair playing How We Tested I the latest 3D game. Your significant We started by choosing an array other walks into the room, takes a good of ATI and NVIDIA chips with look at the action on the screen, and says, roughly equivalent GPUs and then "What movie is this?" purchased an assortment of cards We might not be there just yet, but if from varying manufacturers. the graphics chip industry stays as compet- ASUS, Sapphire, ATI, BFG, AOpen, itive has it has been lately, true cinema- ABIT, and eVGA are all represented was run without AA and AF; the second quality gaming isn't terribly far away. here—some more than others. was run with all AA and AF at full. We then (Even today, the preceding scenario is not We tested each card with the latest ran Unreal Tournament 2003's Anatalus entirely unlikely.) drivers available: Catalyst 4.4 for ATI- and Phobos 2 demos at two different resolu- Competition within the graphics indus- powered cards and ForceWare 56.72 for tions: 1,024 x 768 and 1,600 x 1,200. try has, at least modestly, eased prices of NVIDIA-equipped cards. We built the Finally, we ran our own time demo in video cards. Today's high-end cards will Windows XP Pro test system to stretch Unreal Tournament 2004. To do that, we soon be tomorrow's midrange cards. For each card to the limit, using a 2GHz recorded one minute of game play in the the following case studies, we tested a AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 1GB (2 x DeathMatch DesertIsle platform. We handful of midrange cards based on ATI 512MB) of Kingston HyperX PC3200 then restarted the game, re-entered the and NVIDIA GPUs to help you find one DDR RAM affixed to an ASUS K8V console, and enabled demo play. Our that best matches your current gaming Deluxe motherboard (equipped with game was subsequently replayed in real- needs without blasting a hole through Via's K8T800 chipset), a Seagate Barra- time, giving us the necessary results to cal- your budget at the same time. At the time ST380013AS 80GB SATA hard culate frames per second (number of of this writing, Half-Life 2 still hasn't hit drive, and a Lite-On Black LTC-48161H frames divided by number of seconds store shelves, but all of the cards we tested 48X/24X/48X/16X DVD/CD-RW drive. played). The same demo was used for offer DX9 capabilities and AGP 8X. And The system had an Antec Original TRUE each test. almost just as important, only one of the 430W P4 power supply. (One small caveat: Some of the UTK4 cards, the Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 For our game frame-rate tests, we used scores came out a little fishy, with a few PRO, cost us more than $200. our usual benchmarking tools, including cards even garnering the same score. We Don't expect these cards to match the Quake II Arena (which we ran at two res- print them here so you can make your unprecedented features of NVIDIA's olutions: 1,024 x 768 and 1,600 x 1,200) own decisions about their value.) GeForce 6 series or ATI's Radeon X800 and Futuremark's 3DMark2001 SE and For the gripping finale, lab tester and PRO (to read a head-to-head review of 3DMark03. NVIDIA has received a lot video card maven Andy "Tortuga" Gerace ATI and NVIDIA's most powerful chips, of flack (and perhaps rightfully so) for overclocked each card to its stable maxi- turn to page 108), but some of them will using "optimizations" in 3DMark03 that mum core clock and memory clock speeds no doubt suffice for those of you seeking inflated its scores by up to 30%. We and reran 3Dmark 2001, 3Dmark03, and fast frame rates at high-end resolutions, eliminated that handicap with Future- AquaMark3. and more than a few of the cards offer a mark's 340 patch (designed to eliminate And to offset the possibility that bit of eye candy, too. optimizations on 3D cards). benchmarks aren't everything, we self- There's no better time than now to We also ran tests with AquaMark3, lessly engaged ourselves in hours of gruel- start saving if you want to be ready for Halo, Unreal Tournament 2003, and ing real-life game play with UT2K4, the day when photo-realistic gaming Unreal Tournament 2004. Soldier Of Fortune II, and a host of other arrives. But until then, rest assured, mid- While testing with AquaMark3, we subjective “utilities.” rangers: You don't have to sacrifice per- maintained the program's default resolution formance for value, and the proof lies of 1,024 x 768. For the Halo tests, we ran by Eric Melvin Reed within the following pages. two demos at 1,600 x 1,200. The first demo

88 • PC Modder window, and TV-On-Demand for pausing LL N ONDER live TV and recording live broadcasts. ATI A -I -W The card uses ATI's Multimedia Center version 8.1 and ATI's Truform, Smart- RADEON 9000 PRO shader, and Smoothvision technologies. Our package included Pinnacle's Studio 8 software (ATI version). ATI backs the AIW 9000 PRO with a three-year limited warranty.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card ATI AIW Radeon 9000 PRO Interface AGP 4X Chipset Radeon 9000 PRO

RAM 64MB DDR Core Clock 275MHz Memory Clock Actual 270MHz (540MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 300/295 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 Refresh Rate at Max. 85Hz Resolution APIs Supported DirectX 8.1, OpenGL Operating Systems Win98/98SE/Me/ TI crafted its All-In-Wonder 2000/XP AF at full—can hide the fact that the card's 3DMark2001 SE series for PC users looking to add 3DMark 2001 SE, 3DMark03, and Aqua- 3D Marks [overclocked] 8893 [9592] A TV functionality to their desktop Mark3 scores are average at best (8893, Fill Rate (single texture) 728.6 PCs, and by providing a bevy of accessories, 1443, and 14275, respectively), even for a Fill Rate (multitexture) 1087.2 it has managed to put together a family of cost-effective, upper-end AIW card. 3DMark03 graphics cards that have simply eclipsed the 3D Marks [overclocked] 1443 [1551] Make no mistake, multimedia function- Fill Rate (single texture) 709.1 competition—even if that means the cards ality is the AIW 9000 PRO's forte, and in Fill Rate (multitexture) 1076.7 sometimes sacrifice VPU speed for the sake that category the card doesn't disappoint. Quake III Arena at 32-bit of sundry multimedia features. We purchased our card for $143, but it can 1,024 x 768 170.3 The All-In-Wonder 9000 PRO is no probably be had for a lot cheaper. You 1,600 x 1,200 74.8 Unreal Tournament 2003 exception to the AIW series: It offers a might even be able to find one for under at 32-bit (average fps) first-rate list of multimedia features, such $100. For that price you'll get a full stack of Anatalus 1,024 x 768 59.1 as DVD, TV-on-PC, and PVR capabili- features and accessories. All the hardware Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 23.7 ties. Yet its graphics capabilities lay some- you need to convert your PC into multime- Phobos2 1,024 x 768 42.2 where in the median to submedian range. Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 22.3 dia center is present, including a four-head- Unreal Tournament 2004 Those looking to play the latest DirectX ed input block with S-Video, composite at 32-bit* 9 games might feel let down by this card's video, and left and right audio inputs; DVI- 1,600 x 1,200 24.74 DirectX 8.1 capabilities, mere AGP 4X sup- I to VGA adapter; adapter output cable AquaMark3 at 32-bit port, and humble 64MB of DDR RAM. Default Test [overclocked] 14275 [15436] with SPDIF, composite, S-Video, and ana- GFX [overclocked] 1547 [1685] During our lab and overclocking tests the log audio outputs; and a RF remote control CPU [overclocked] 9248 [9237] card provided middling scores. Not even with batteries and USB remote receiver. Halo the fact that the AIW 9000 PRO outper- Video/display feature highlights include 1,600 x 1,200 7.97 formed the ATI Radeon 9200 in nearly all 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 7.09 the Thruview feature, which provides at full) the tests we ran—all the tests, that is, except translucent viewing of TV, DVD, and for the Halo tests, which we ran at a 1,600 x video and lets you access your Desktop Phone (905) 882-2600 1,200 resolution with and without AA and from your TV without moving the TV URL www.ati.com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

PC Modder • 89 value-class AGP 8X card that delivers sec- ADEON ond-rate but nonetheless sufficient graph- ATI R 9200 ics. If, as it has been suggested, the majority of video cards buyers are people looking to while away a few week-end hours on the latest generation of games (and are not hard-core gamers), then the Radeon 9200 will find a suitable niche in the graphics card market—if it hasn't already.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card ATI Radeon 9200

Interface AGP 8X Chipset Radeon 9200

RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 250MHz Memory Clock Actual 216MHz (432MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 290/230 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 Refresh Rate at Max. 85Hz Resolution he good news: ATI's Radeon These days, a lot of APIs Supported DirectX 8.1, OpenGL 9200 is one of the cheapest cards Operating Systems Win98/98SE/Me/ 2000/XP we tested, ringing up at just $92. T graphics cards are 3DMark2001 SE The bad news: You get what you pay for. 3D Marks [overclocked] 7352 [8264] On the bright side, the card is only loaded down with Fill Rate (single texture) 554.4 slightly slower than the GeForce FX 5200 Fill Rate (multitexture) 989.9 Ultra. The Asylum GeForce FX 5200 excessive features and 3DMark03 3D Marks [overclocked] 1223 [1358] Ultra that we tested put the Radeon 9200 Fill Rate (single texture) 520.4 to shame in our Unreal Tournament 2003 phony advertising. Fill Rate (multitexture) 978 Anatalus and Phobos2 tests, Halo tests, Quake III Arena at 32-bit and 3DMark2001 SE and 3DMark03 support DX8.1 and is compatible with 1,024 x 768 145 tests. (Due to planetary misalignment, some of the most recent DX9 games, 1,600 x 1,200 63.8 Unreal Tournament 2003 negative chakra energy, and possibly bad you shouldn't expect the Radeon 9200 at 32-bit (average fps) salmon pate, the 9200’s AquaMark3 to support DX9-specific features. Anatalus 1,024 x 768 48.9 scores were inconclusive.) Likewise, don't expect the card to reach Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 21.9 As far as physical appearance goes, this soaring resolutions. During our own real- Phobos2 1,024 x 768 64.3 Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 32.6 cut-rate card bears an even cheaper look, time game play, Unreal Tournament 2004 Unreal Tournament 2004 with a tiny heatsink and a bland green, L- was virtually unplayable with the Radeon at 32-bit* shaped design. (But hey, at least it's light.) 9200 at the highest possible resolution of 1,600 x 1,200 22.2 The card offers VGA, composite, and 1,920 x 1,200. And at a resolution of 1,600 AquaMark3 at 32-bit Default Test N/A S-Video output for connecting to a TV x 1,200, we still experienced occasional GFX [overclocked] N/A or VCR. It also features ATI's Smooth- stuttering. Fortunately, at the acceptable (if CPU [overclocked] N/A vision, Video Immersion II (for DVD mediocre) resolution of 1,280 x 1,024, the Halo and digital TV decoding capabilities), game ran at a satisfactory clip. 1,600 x 1,200 7.32 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 6.37 and Pixel Tapestry II, as well as These days, a lot of graphics cards are at full) Smartshader technologies. However, it loaded down with excessive features and does not feature Smartshader 2.1, mean- phony advertising. But the 9200 doesn't Phone (905) 882-2600 ing in part that although the card does try to be anything it's not. It's simply a URL www.ati.com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

90 • PC Modder Our test unit had VGA, S-Video, and APPHIRE ADEON DVI outputs, but the list of features stops S ATI R there. The card is not as fast as a $400 or $500 card, but it might be pertinent to 9600 PRO restate that this is a midrange OEM card. Keeping that in mind—and assuming that some people don't mind a lack of complementary bells and whistles—the Radeon 9600 PRO is a winner.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 PRO Interface AGP 8X Chipset ATI Radeon 9600 Pro RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 400MHz Memory Clock Actual 300MHz (600MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 450/335 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 Refresh Rate at Max. 85Hz or some people, the extras that 400/300 to 450/335 during overclocking. Resolution APIs Supported DirectX 9.0, OpenGL come with graphics cards are The FX5600 Ultra, which we overclocked Operating Systems Win98/Me/2000/XP almost as important as the cards at 475/875 over its core clock and memory F 3DMark2001 SE themselves. When ATI decided to pack- clock speeds of 425/825, scored 22544 and age the Radeon 9600 XT with a full ver- 26285 in the same tests, giving the 9600 3D Marks [overclocked] 12453 [13872] Fill Rate (single texture) 1021.7 sion of Half-Life 2 (or a coupon for the PRO a slight advantage. Fill Rate (multitexture) 1578 full version when it is available), for Of course, when compared to some- 3DMark03 example, even some of the staunchest thing like the ATI Radeon 9800 PRO, 3D Marks [overclocked] 3426 [3859] NVIDIA fans were enticed into giving the numbers posted by the 9600 PRO Fill Rate (single texture) 902.5 the card a try. look a lot more modest. That shouldn't Fill Rate (multitexture) 1565.3 Quake III Arena at 32-bit Unfortunately for those same people, surprise anyone, but what is surprising is 1,024 x 768 [overclocked] 251.7 [90.4] the Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 PRO we how well the 9600 PRO holds up dur- 1,600 x 1,200 [overclocked] 113.8 [41.3] purchased for $129.50 (OEM) will be a ing actual game play. Although the card Unreal Tournament 2003 major disappointment. Sapphire left us doesn't offer any exciting hardware fea- at 32-bit (average fps) Anatalus 1,024 x 768 101.8 without a single extra to talk about. tures, it is by no means a dinosaur. 3D- Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 42.7 On the other hand, however, we can enchancing features include AGP 8X, Phobos2 1,024 x 768 124.8 talk about the card's performance capabili- DX9, and OpenGL support; Smart- Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 57.8 ties, which lay somewhere in the middle of shader 2.1 and Smoothvision 2.1 tech- Unreal Tournament 2004 at 32-bit* the midrange pack. Let's start with the nology; the Videoshader engine; and 1,600 x 1,200 25.31 benchmarking results. The 9600 PRO reg- ATI's Fullstream technology. We played AquaMark3 at 32-bit istered scores of 12453 in 3DMark2001 some Soldier of Fortune II: Double Default Test [overclocked] 26418 [29810] SE tests and 3426 in 3DMark03 tests. By Helix and also invested a fair amount of GFX [overclocked] 3080 [3566] comparison, the ABIT Siluro FX5600 time playing Unreal Tournament 2004 CPU [overclocked] 9114 [9079] Halo Ultra OTES that we tested scored 12961 with all the relevant settings cranked to 1,600 x 1,200 13.29 and 3245. In AquaMark3 tests, the 9600 their highest levels (that does not 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 11.38 PRO produced a default score of 26418 include antialiasing). Except for the at full) and an overclocking score of 29810. occasional jerking on the most video- Phone (909) 594-0597 However, we were able to raise the card's intensive levels, the card deserves credit URL www.sapphiretech core clock and memory clock from for its speedy performance. .com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

PC Modder • 91 play the latest DX9-class games, the 9600 APPHIRE ADEON XT offers all the power you need. In a S ATI R market where series numbers don’t exactly give an accurate indication of a card’s 9600 XT merit, to call the 9600 XT reliable is a supreme compliment. If you don’t have the money to purchase something such as ATI’s Radeon 9800 SE, the 9600 XT is a great alternative.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 XT Interface AGP 8X Chipset ATI Radeon 9600 XT RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 500MHz Memory Clock Actual 300MHz (650MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 525/310 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 Refresh Rate at Max. 85Hz Resolution APIs Supported DirectX 9.0, OpenGL Operating Systems Win98/Me/NT4/ 2000/XP o call Sapphire’s ATI Radeon of the Atlantis Radeon 9600 XT at 3DMark2001 SE 9600 XT reliable is not to say Sapphire’s Web site is bundled with Half- 3D Marks [overclocked] 13793 [14269] Fill Rate (single texture) 1042 that it is also boring. Although Life 2 (as soon as the game is released). T Fill Rate (multitexture) 1968 it’s true that the package leaves us without However, the company at least included a 3DMark03 any mouthwatering goodies to talk about, DVI-to-VGA connector and S-Video-to- 3D Marks [overclocked] 3834 [4024] it’s equally as true that the card offers composite cable to accompany the card’s Fill Rate (single texture) 914 exceptionally good performance capabili- VGA, S-Video, and DVI outputs. Fill Rate (multitexture) 1924 Quake III Arena at 32-bit ties. And let’s be honest, is there really any- We purchased the 9600 XT at retail for 1,024 x 768 264.3 thing more important than performance? $152. (The OEM 9600 PRO we tested 1,600 x 1,200 125.7 The 9600 XT posted precisely the sort cost us $129.50.) For the few extra bucks, Unreal Tournament 2003 of numbers during testing that you might you get the satisfaction of knowing you at 32-bit (average fps) Anatalus 1,024 x 768 110.8 expect from one of ATI’s higher-end have ATI’s third-generation VPU, as well Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 45.5 midrange cards, which is what the card is. as ATI’s Smartshader 2.0 and Smooth- Phobos2 1,024 x 768 134.1 Take, for example, the 3DMark2001 SE vision 2.1 technology. What’s more, you Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 61.9 and 3DMark03 scores we got of 13793 don’t have to worry about the card’s speed. Unreal Tournament 2004 at 32-bit* and 3834. Consider also the AquaMark3 When overclocked, the 9600 XT reached a 1,600 x 1,200 25.23 score of 31285 and the Halo scores core clock speed of 525MHz, up from its AquaMark3 at 32-bit of 15.77 at 1,600 x 1,200 and 13.61fps at core VPU clock of 500MHz. The memory Default Test [overclocked] 31285 [32777] the same resolution with all AA and AF set clock speed bumped up to 310 from 300, GFX [overclocked] 3788 [4004] to full. In comparison, the Sapphire ATI making the 9600 XT a slightly better over- CPU [overclocked] 8984 [9030] Halo 9600 PRO we tested offered just 11.38fps clocked card than the 9600 PRO. But even 1,600 x 1,200 15.77 with full AA and AF. without the extra boost, the 9600 XT is still 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 13.61 Sapphire let us down by not including a great value. With it, there wasn’t a game at full) an attractive software bundle (the driver we weren’t able to play. Phone (909) 594-0597 CD is the only disc in the package), espe- Although the card doesn’t have an exter- URL www.sapphiretech cially considering that the full retail version nal power connector, if you’re looking to .com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

92 • PC Modder or even a 9600 PRO, but at a much better APPHIRE ADEON price and without the software bundle. As S ATI R long as you don't expect the Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 SE to perform on par with 9800 SE other higher-end or upper middle-end cards, and if you want to play DX9 and OpenGL 2.0 games at decent resolutions, this card is worth the small dent it will put in your pocketbook.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 SE Interface AGP 8X Chipset ATI Radeon 9800 SE RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 325MHz Memory Clock Actual 290MHz (580MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 380/340 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 Refresh Rate at Max. 85Hz Resolution APIs Supported DirectX 9.0, OpenGL Operating Systems Win98SE/Me/NT4/ 2000/XP apphire's international influence is was lower than the ones posted by ATI's 3DMark2001 SE evidenced by the fact that the box Radeon 9600 XT. 3D Marks [overclocked] 13611 [15813] Fill Rate (single texture) 991.5 in which our card shipped features Fortunately, this four-pipeline VPU S Fill Rate (multitexture) 1288.5 text in no fewer than five languages. With card makes up for its somewhat disap- 3DMark03 the company so seemingly well-entrenched pointing scores by exhibiting some nice 3D Marks [overclocked] 3315 [4049] in Europe, you have to wonder why the overclocking potential. We were able to Fill Rate (single texture) 924.4 company has been so slow to amass a fol- increase the core clock speed and memory Fill Rate (multitexture) 1280.1 Quake III Arena at 32-bit lowing in the United States. speed from 325MHz to 380MHz and 1,024 x 768 239.2 One of the reasons could be the compa- 290MHz to 340MHz, at which point the 1,600 x 1,200 92.7 ny's ATI Radeon 9800 SE. Our test unit card's 3Dmark2001 SE and 3Dmark03 Unreal Tournament 2003 produced some very disappointing bench- scores shot up to 15813 and 4049. Its at 32-bit (average fps) Anatalus 1,024 x 768 88.1 marking scores, such as 13611 in 3D- AquaMark3 scores rose to 30428. Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 37.1 mark2001 SE, 3315 in 3Dmark03, and At this point, NVIDIA fans might be Phobos2 1,024 x 768 110.7 24679 in AquaMark3. It's not that those inclined to point out that even when over- Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 51 scores are substandard, per se; they're just not clocked, the Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 SE Unreal Tournament 2004 at 32-bit* what you might expect from a Radeon 9800. pales next to the PNY GeForce FX5900 SE 1,600 x 1,200 26.1 Each of the scores listed were lower than at its core clock speed and memory speed, AquaMark3 at 32-bit those hammered out by ATI's Radeon 9600 and frankly, there are quite a few cards that Default Test [overclocked] 24674 [30428] XT, leading us to think that if the card had offer better performance than this one, but GFX [overclocked] 2852 [3653] been made by ATI it would be a lot faster. not many go for the same price ($136 CPU [overclocked] 9130 [9082] Halo After squeaking by with such meager OEM). Nor do they come with an S-Video 1,600 x 1,200 11.11 results in 3Dmark2001 SE, 3Dmark03, and cable and a Y-adapter power cable. 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 9.41 AquaMark3 tests, the card posted scores of During real-time game play, the card at full) 11.11 in Halo, 37.1 in the UT2003 showed that it is powerful enough to fully Phone (909) 594-0597 Anatalus test, and 51fps in Phobos2 at a res- support DX9 games. Buying the 9800 SE URL www.sapphiretech olution of 1,600 x 1,200 again, each score from Sapphire is like purchasing a 9600 XT .com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

PC Modder • 93 an unpretentious card stripped of eye candy. ECHNOLOGIES SYLUM But it's difficult to say how far into the BFG T A future this card can take you. If you can afford it, spend a little more and get yourself GEFORCE FX 5200 ULTRA something that's more likely to last. Or, if you're really patient, wait six months and get an even better card for the same price.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card BFG Technologies Asylum GeForce FX 5200 Ultra Interface AGP 8X Chipset GeForce FX 5200 Ultra RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 325MHz Memory Clock Actual 325MHz (650MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 375/700 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 (16-bit) Refresh Rate at Max. 60Hz Resolution APIs Supported DirectX, OpenGL Operating Systems Win95 OSR2/98/ Me/2000/NT4 with SP 5 or 6/XP he Asylum GeForce FX 5200 functioned admirably at all but the highest 3DMark2001 SE Ultra from BFG Technologies is resolutions. Although the card supports 3D Marks [overclocked] 10303 [10741] one of the stingiest cards we test- only a maximum resolution and refresh Fill Rate (single texture) 913.2 T Fill Rate (multitexture) 949.7 ed with NVIDIA chips, but at $99 (retail) rate of 2,048 x 1,536 and 60Hz at 16-bit, 3DMark03 it was, at least, the least expensive. that's still enough to satisfy most gamers. 3D Marks [overclocked] 2005 [2243] When overclocked, the card showed 4% One of the card's more notable features Fill Rate (single texture) 948.9 and almost 12% gains in 3DMark2001 SE is support for NVIDIA CineFX Fill Rate (multitexture) 921.7 and 3DMark03 tests, respectively. In architecture. That won't surprise many of Quake III Arena at 32-bit AquaMark3 default tests, the card showed you, as the CineFX engine is a cornerstone 1,024 x 768 247.9 1,600 x 1,200 115.8 even more spunk, with nearly 16% gains. of the GeForce FX line. (On the other Unreal Tournament 2003 Those scores were still well below other hand, the card doesn’t support NVIDIA's at 32-bit (average fps) cards' scores. Take, for instance, the FX Intellisample anti-aliasing feature.) Anatalus 1,024 x 768 73.5 5600 Ultra. The FX 5200 Ultra's over- Unfortunately, this card's list of extras Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 31.4 Phobos2 1,024 x 768 81.4 clocking score of 2243 in 3DMark03 regis- doesn't extend much beyond NVIDIA's Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 37.7 tered dismally below the FX 5600 Ultra's NVDVD 2.0 software, a lifetime warranty Unreal Tournament 2004 stock score of 3245. To be fair, of course, with online and toll-free telephone tech at 32-bit* the 5600 Ultra carries a higher price tag of support, and a few NVIDIA GeForce FX 1,600 x 1,200 24.82 AquaMark3 at 32-bit almost $200. So as far as benchmarks go, and GeForce 4 Demos. Default Test [overclocked] 11360 [13129] this is a case of getting what you pay for. A word or two about the card's exterior: GFX [overclocked] 1208 [1412] But we all know that benchmarking The Asylum GeForce FX 5200 Ultra is a CPU [overclocked] 9299 [9309] isn't the only way to measure a video card. sleek, slim, teal-colored card with two small Halo During real-life game play tests, the heatsinks, an extra power connector, and 1,600 x 1,200 8.92 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 7.73 Asylum GeForce FX 5200 Ultra neither DVI, S-Video, and VGA outputs. A DVI- at full) broke our backs nor rocked our canoes. In to-VGA connector is included in the box. fact, during actual game play with Unreal For less than a hundred bucks, the Phone (847) 615-1955 Tournament 2004, the FX 5200 Ultra Asylum GeForce FX 5200 Ultra gives you URL www.bfgtech.com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

94 • PC Modder fairly well. We raised its default core clock PEN E ORCE speed of 270 and its default memory AO G F FX 5500 clock speeds of 400 to the more playable speeds of 350/470, thereby proving once again that the best overclockers can some- times be the least powerful cards.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card AOpen GeForce FX 5500 Interface AGP 8X Chipset GeForce FX 5500

RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 270MHz Memory Clock Actual 400MHz (800MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 350/470 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 Refresh Rate at Max. 60Hz Resolution APIs Supported DirectX 9.0, OpenGL o back six months to when the technology as Intellisample HCT and Operating Systems Win95/98SE/Me/ latest graphics cards offered NVIDIA’s CineFX engine, as well as NT4/2000/XP, only a glimpse of what is now nView, NVIDIA Accuview Antialiasing, G 3DMark2001 SE possible—go back a year, even—and the NVIDIA Lightspeed Memory Architec- 3D Marks [overclocked] 5521 [6261] AOpen GeForce FX 5500 would still be ture (LMAII), and DVC (digital vi- Fill Rate (single texture) 331.1 a disappointment. brance control)—but don’t expect the Fill Rate (multitexture) 743.7 Just take a look at the card’s bench- card to sustain high resolutions. Where- 3DMark03 marking scores, which were some of the as most of the cards we tested showed at 3D Marks [overclocked] 1120 [1246] Fill Rate (single texture) 332.4 lowest scores we’ve seen in a long time, least 23fps during our custom demo Fill Rate (multitexture) 697.2 including posting 5521 3D marks in test in Unreal Tournament 2004, the Quake III Arena at 32-bit 3DMark2001 SE, 1120 3D marks in GeForce FX 5500 offered only 14.89fps. 1,024 x 768 123 3DMark03, and a score of 8119 in We had to lower the resolution to 1,024 1,600 x 1,200 50.1 Unreal Tournament 2003 AquaMark3. In Quake III tests, the card x 768 just to make the game playable. at 32-bit (average fps) registered 123fps and 50.1fps at resolu- Apparently, AOpen did not attempt Anatalus 1,024 x 768 39.7 tions of 1,024 x 768 and 1,600 x 1,200, to make up for such mediocrity through Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 16.4 respectively. To put things in perspec- cosmetics or a fancy hardware or soft- Phobos2 1,024 x 768 46.7 tive, compare those figures to the ones ware bundle. The company throws in Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 20 Unreal Tournament 2004 put up by the Asylum GeForce FX 5200 no cables, adapters, or even software. at 32-bit* Ultra. The latter posted scores that were The only thing that makes the card 1,600 x 1,200 14.89 nearly double that of the GeForce FX unique is its color (bright purple), and AquaMark3 at 32-bit 5500, including 10303 3D Marks in we’re guessing that not many users will Default Test [overclocked] 8119 [8549] GFX [overclocked] 848 [896] 3DMark2001 SE, 2005 in 3DMark03, find that distinction to be worth the CPU [overclocked] 9312 [9312] and a score of 11360 in AquaMark3. card’s shortcomings. Halo How does that transfer to real game To be fair, however, the FX 5500 was 1,600 x 1,200 6.06 play? Poor performance, that’s how. the most inexpensive card we purchased 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 5.26 at full) Expect the GeForce FX 5500 to work ($79 at retail). In addition, it includes all with most DX8.1 games. The chipset the typical graphics card outputs: VGA, Phone (888) 972-6736 supports DX9—it also features such DVI, and S-Video. It also overclocked URL usa.aopen.com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

PC Modder • 95 If you’re into overclocking hulking ILURO graphics cards, you’ll be interested. If not, ABIT S FX 5600 you might want to take the extra cash and get a lighter card with a higher base speed, ULTRA OTES such as the eVGA GeForce FX 5700 Ultra, which failed to show any improvements during our overclocking tests but performed much better than the Siluro OTES at its base speed and costs about $30 less.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card ABIT Siluro FX 5600 Ultra OTES Interface AGP 8X Chipset GeForce FX 5600 Ultra RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 400MHz Memory Clock Actual 400MHz (800MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 475/875 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 Refresh Rate at Max. 85Hz Resolution APIs Supported DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 1.4 Operating Systems Win98/Me/NT/ t $195, the ABIT Siluro FX But the OTES certainly wasn’t one of 2000/XP 3DMark2001 SE 5600 Ultra OTES is one of the the most powerful cards we tested. During 3D Marks [overclocked] 12961 [14070] A priciest cards in our video card Unreal Tournament 2004 play, we encoun- Fill Rate (single texture) 1171 case studies. It’s also one of the bulkiest, tered significant freezing and jerking at reso- Fill Rate (multitexture) 1444.5 being loaded with extra features. lutions higher than 1,600 x 1,200 at 32-bit. 3DMark03 Thanks in large part to ABIT’s heat The card’s list of physical features also 3D Marks [overclocked] 3245 [3690] Fill Rate (single texture) 1115 transferring OTES (Outside Thermal includes a red LED fan light and double Fill Rate (multitexture) 1392.4 Exhaust System) technology—which fastening brackets. In short, the Siluro FX Quake III Arena at 32-bit includes two 6mm diameter heatpipes, 5600 Ultra OTES is a card for those who 1,024 x 768 297 dual-ball bearing fans with side airflow, delight in flaunting their case’s innards. 1,600 x 1,200 162.4 Unreal Tournament 2003 extra large copper fins, extra front and back We should also mention that the package at 32-bit (average fps) RAM heatsinks, a backside steel fixer for includes oodles of accessories, such as an Anatalus 1,024 x 768 119.1 aiding in heat dissipation, and a V.V.E.F. RCA cable, S-Video extended cable, S- Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 54.1 (Virtual Vacuum Exhaust Fan)—the Siluro Video-to-RCA cable, S-Video and RCA Phobos2 1,024 x 768 123.5 FX 5600 Ultra OTES exhibited one of the adapter cable, TV-out or video in/out Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 57.5 Unreal Tournament 2004 most respectable overclocking performances adapter cable, and DVI-to-D-sub adapter. at 32-bit* we’ve seen in testing midrange cards. Other features include NVIDIA’s nView 1,600 x 1,200 25.31 We were able to wind it up from a base Multidisplay and Intellisample technologies, AquaMark3 at 32-bit of 428MHz clock/825 memory to 475/ CineFX shading architecture, DVC (Digital Default Test [overclocked] 22544 [26285] GFX [overclocked] 2564 [3062] 875. In Quake III tests, the card scored as Vibrance Control) 3.0 technology, and CPU [overclocked] 9291 [9273] high as 297fps at 1,024 x 768, and DX9 and OpenGL 1.4 support. Halo 162.4fps at 1,600 x 1,200. During over- Accessories aside, the package is a bit 1,600 x 1,200 11.22 clocking, AquaMark3 scores increased from disappointing. The software bundle con- 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 9.86 at full) 22544 to 26285. 3DMark 2001 SE and sists of a couple of demos, WindowBlinds 3DMark03 scores rose from 12961 to NV edition, and the installation and Siluro Phone (510) 623-0500 13797 and 3245 to 3690, respectively. software CDs. URL www.abit-usa.com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

96 • PC Modder this one. You may be able to find a less E E E ORCE expensive, earlier generation card in the VGA -G F same family that when overclocked can outrun the FX 5700 Ultra. (Of course, FX 5700 ULTRA that is not often the case. In our tests, the FX 5700 Ultra easily outperformed the FX 5600 Ultra, even when the 5600 Ultra was overclocked to its maximum.)

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card eVGA e-GeForce FX 5700 Ultra Interface AGP 8X Chipset GeForce FX 5700 Ultra RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 475MHz Memory Clock Actual 450MHz (900MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 500/920 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 (32-bit) Refresh Rate at Max. 85Hz Resolution APIs Supported DirectX 9.0, OpenGL Operating Systems Win98/Me/NT4/ alk to some card makers, and you features are NVIDIA's Intellisample 2000/XP 3DMark2001 SE would think overclocking was a HCT (high-resolution compression tech- 3D Marks 15689 [3784] T sin. Do it and you'll not only nology) antialiasing and NVIDIA's Fill Rate (single texture) 1236.3 negate the warranty, they say, but you'll also CineFX 2.0 engine, the latter of which is Fill Rate (multitexture) 1640.8 overheat the chipset and destroy your PC. designed for high-level programming lan- 3DMark03 Then again, a little homework is all it guages such as Cg and includes OpenGL 3D Marks 3910 [941] Fill Rate (single texture) 1163 takes to learn how to avoid such mistakes. and DirectX environment features sup- Fill Rate (multitexture) 1573.8 If you're one of those people who actually port. The card also supports a high reso- Quake III Arena at 32-bit listen to the vendors and heed their warn- lution and refresh rates at 32-bit color: 1,024 x 768 304.5 ings, have a look at the FX 5700 Ultra. 2,048 x 1,536 at 85Hz. 1,600 x 1,200 173.9 Unreal Tournament 2003 We tested the e-GeForce FX 5700 Ultra Our "limited edition" test unit featured at 32-bit (average fps) from eVGA ($165 retail). At its core clock the next generation of DDR memory, Anatalus 1,024 x 768 130.7 speed, the card bested most of the NVIDIA DDR2. It also came with an S-Video Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 58.3 cards in our case studies. (It more than cable and an entertainment software bun- Phobos2 1,024 x 768 138.8 edged out a few, such as the NVIDIA dle that included, among other things, the Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 64.4 Unreal Tournament 2004 GeForce FX 5200 Ultra, unsurprisingly.) full version of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon at 32-bit* But when it came to overclocking, and NVIDIA's NVDVD 2.0. Even 1,600 x 1,200 14.98 this set of chips choked harder than a though the sticker on the box says, AquaMark3 at 32-bit certain Boston baseball team in October. "Recommended by id software for Doom Default Test 29462 [10458] GFX 3503 [1106] Performance decreased by as much as 3," there wasn't a full-version coupon or CPU 9266 [9349] 24% in 3DMark2001 SE and 3DMark- demo inside. (ATI’s Half-Life 2 giveaway Halo 03. And in AquaMark3 tests, speed has us a bit spoiled.) 1,600 x 1,200 15.34 decreased by more than one-third of its If the graphics industry has yet to con- 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 13.19 at full) stock performance. vince you that overclocking is an instru- However, there are a few features on ment of the devil, you might want to give Phone (888) 881-3842 the card that augment its value. Two such some serious thought to a card other than URL www.evga.com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

PC Modder • 97 and it’s hard to imagine anyone finding a E ORCE better card for the equivalent price of $200. PNY G F FX 5900 SE PNY also backs the card with a lifetime replacement warranty, almost to demon- strate its confidence in the FX 5900 SE. Overall, the FX 5900 SE offers enough speed and game play performance poten- tial to meet the needs of any gamer for years to come.

by Eric Melvin Reed

Vital Statistics

Video Card PNY GeForce FX 5900 SE Interface AGP 8X Chipset GeForce FX 5900 SE RAM 128MB DDR Core Clock 390MHz Memory Clock Actual 350MHz (700MHz) (Effective) Overclocked Maximums 490/400 (core clock/memory clock in megahertz) Max. Resolution 2,048 x 1,536 Refresh Rate at Max. 85Hz Resolution APIs Supported DirectX 9.0, y now, you can probably list Anatalus level and 96.9fps in the Phobos2 OpenGL 1.5 NVIDIA’s features by rote: level. (The 9800 SE grated out an average Operating Systems Win95 OSR2/98SE/ CineFX 2.0 engine, UltraShadow of just 37.1fps and 51fps.) Me/NT4/2000/XP B 3DMark2001 SE and Intellisample HCT technologies, We then overclocked the card to 3D Marks [overclocked] 16754 [17794] Digital Vibrance Control 2.0, nView, 490MHz clock (up from 390MHz clock) Fill Rate (single texture) 1434.5 MPEG-2 decoder, TV encoder, and DX9 and 400MHz memory (from 350MHz), at Fill Rate (multitexture) 2858.8 and OpenGL 1.5 support. The PNY which point the card’s 3DMark2001 SE 3DMark03 GeForce FX 5900 SE has all of those. and 3DMark03 scores jumped to 17794 3D Marks [overclocked] 5179 [ 6131] Fill Rate (single texture) 1273.8 What makes it unique is its enormous and 6131. AquaMark 3 scores in the Fill Rate (multitexture) 2765.8 overclocking potential. default test rose to 44990. Quake III Arena at 32-bit With a 390MHz core clock speed, a The card isn’t bad looking, either. 1,024 x 768 311.7 350MHz memory clock speed (actual), Apparently, manufacturers have decided 1,600 x 1,200 224.1 Unreal Tournament 2003 and 256-bit memory interface, the card to all but abandon the color green and at 32-bit (average fps) sliced through our barricade of tests. For replace it with blue and purple. Our card Anatalus 1,024 x 768 181.2 example, its 3DMark2001 SE score of was purple, but it is easy to see why PNY Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 84.5 16754 trounced the 13,611 posted by the would choose such a saccharine color. Phobos2 1,024 x 768 185.9 Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 SE. So, too, The lavender tinge actually compliments Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 96.9 Unreal Tournament 2004 do the card’s Unreal Tournament 2003 the FX 5900 SE’s multiple gold-colored at 32-bit* scores. At a resolution of 1,024 x 768, the heat sinks. 1,600 x 1,200 26.1 card hammered out average scores of The back of the card contains an extra AquaMark3 at 32-bit 181.2fps in the Anatalus level, and power connector. In the front, it supports Default Test [overclocked] 37205 [44990] GFX [overclocked] 4658 [5951] 185.9fps in the Phobos2 level. In the VGA, S-Video, and DVI out connections. CPU [overclocked] 9233 [9211] same tests, the 9800 SE scored 88.1 and To show that it isn’t stingy when it Halo 110.7. In AquaMark 3 default tests the comes to accessories, PNY throws a DVI-I- 1,600 x 1,200 21.7 card scored 37205. to-VGA adapter, S-Video cable, and Y- 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF 17.3 at full) At a resolution of 1,600 x 1,200, the adapter power cable into the box. Add to card continued to outperform the 9800 that a driver CD with Verto 3D World Phone (973) 515-9700 SE, scoring an average of 84.5fps in the Desktop software and NVIDIA NVDVD, URL www.pny.com

*Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map

98 • PC Modder OVERCLOCKING DUAL-CPU SYSTEMS Double Your Overclocking Madness

hose who enjoy are not too interested pushing their rigs in overclocking. Their T to the absolute main focus is using the performance limits take to machine’s capabilities to overclocking like ducks get work done. take to water. The Internet So, workstation and is full of Web sites and dis- server users value stabili- cussion forums dedicated ty and bandwidth. Many to dispensing advice for of the server and work- those looking to overclock station boards are opti- their machines. mized to maximize PCI The lion’s share of the bandwidth, and their overclocking talk is pri- BIOSes incorporate fea- marily dedicated to dis- tures for monitoring sys- cussions about PCs and tem conditions and CPUs marketed to gamers ensuring stability above and performance hobby- all else. Because over- ists. These machines are clocking can result in usually single-CPU rigs system instability, espe- with overclock-friendly cially in cases where the motherboards that make only available option for overclocking as easy as overclocking is the FSB changing a few settings in speed, workstation and the system BIOS. server users don’t place a But how about those premium on overclock- who want to double the ing options. fun by overclocking a The SuperMicro X5DPE-G2 board is a dual-CPU Xeon board designed for server duty; The CPU’s frequency dual-CPU rig? With the the board features some, albeit few, overclocking options. is tied to the frequency advent of OSes such as of the FSB by a number Windows XP, which take called the CPU multipli- full advantage of a dual-CPU machine’s overclock-friendly. We spoke with a tech- er. For example, in a system with a capabilities, the temptation to overclock nical manager at one of the big PC mak- 100MHz FSB, a CPU multiplier of 8X may be too hard to resist for those of you ers, who told us that most dual-CPU results in a CPU that runs at 800MHz. who want the ultimate in performance. motherboards are manufactured and mar- So, the situation seems fairly straightfor- After all, two is better than one, right? keted with the workstation and server ward: Increase the FSB speed (if your Read on to learn more about the ins markets in mind. Computation-heavy motherboard’s BIOS allows you) and and outs of overclocking a dual-CPU PC. tasks like , engineering enjoy a higher CPU speed. But the rea- As you’ll soon discover, the task is not as design, and data and application servers son that relying on the FSB frequency to easy as it seems. benefit greatly from the presence of dual overclock a CPU can cause system insta- CPUs, as long as the host OS is able to bility is that the CPU clock speed is not The Problem With Two take advantage. the only component tied to the speed of We encountered quite a challenge in Unfortunately for overclockers, the the FSB. The other buses in your sys- acquiring a dual-CPU machine that was folks who put those machines to use tem, such as the PCI and AGP buses,

PC Modder • 99 will also experience a bump up in speed moved up the food chain just a tad and Frequency Selection, which allows you when you increase the FSB speed. So, found a dual-Xeon workstation mother- to step up the FSB frequency from the various components connected to board from Asus called the PC-DL 100MHz to 300MHz in 1MHz incre- these buses could become unstable at Deluxe that is very overclocker-friendly. ments. Other features include an these higher speeds. Here’s the tale of the tape on the PC- adjustable FSB:DDR ratio and fixed A reason why the CPU multiplier is DL Deluxe: AGP and PCI frequencies, which usually not available as an option for • Dual-Xeon 3.06GHz processors should provide you with needed stabili- easy overclocking is the fact that most • Maximum of 4GB of DDR 333 mem- ty on those buses even as you ramp up CPUs from both Intel and AMD sold ory the CPU speed. Keeping the AGP and today have their multipliers locked. The • Intel 875P chipset with 533MHz FSB, PCI frequencies fixed even as you over- reason for this is that back in the early Dual DDR 333 memory, and Intel clock other components should help days (before the Pentium II arrived) Hyper-Threading technology with overall system stability. unscrupulous resellers were overclock- • AGP8X But it’s important to keep one thing in ing lower speed chips and selling them • Promise SATA controller with RAID mind about the Intel Xeon: The CPU at the price of higher-speed, more 0, 1, and 10 and a maximum of two multiplier is upward locked but down- expensive chips. The outcry from con- UltraATA 133 ports and two SATA ward unlocked. This means that when sumers who got taken by this ruse ports you overclock with this board, you can caused both AMD and Intel to lock • Eight USB 2.0 ports and FireWire lower the Xeon’s multiplier, but then you down the CPU multipliers in their interface must compensate for that by increasing chips to prevent easy overclocking. • Intel Gigabit Ethernet LAN controller the FSB speed accordingly. Here’s an • AI BIOS with AI Overclocking example: On a board with a 133MHz Dual-CPU Overclocking Successes quad-pumped (hence the 533MHz over- A survey of many of the overclocking The AI BIOS’ AI Overclocking fea- all bus speed) FSB, a 3.06GHz Xeon has sites around the Web revealed there is ture allows for overclocking of up to scant evidence of success overclocking 15% by giving you BIOS-level access to dual-CPU boards, although we found a various CPU functions, including few examples of overclocker-friendly dual- something called CPU, Memory CPU boards. and AGP Voltage One of these boards—featured in an Adjustable Overclockers Online article—is a dual- Stepless CPU Pentium III board from Abit called the VP6. This board supports dual Intel Pentium III Coppermine FC-PGA 370 CPUs and comes with a VIA chipset (VT82C694X and VT82C 686B). The board’s High Point HPT370 IDE Controller allows for UDMA 100 and RAID support. The VP6’s system BIOS, called SoftMenu III, allows for tweaking of CPU set- tings via the system BIOS, including CPU FSB speed, FSB:AGP:PCI ra- tio, CPU multiplier, This photo shows the CPU core voltage, CPU Xeon processor, Intel’s FSB/DRAM ratio, and oth- 32-bit server-class ers. The BIOS even includes CPU. CPU over-temperature protec- tion, so if you get a bit overzealous you have some built-in protection. The VP6, which is yesterday’s tech- nology, is now discontinued. But we

100 • PC Modder • Integrated video controller • Supports RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 via the Promise PDC 20267 RAID controller

This board's BIOS, even though it doesn't let you tweak settings such as volt- ages or the CPU multiplier, does give you the option of ramping up the FSB speed, so you have some overclocking flexibility. According to the board's manual, you can set the FSB speed from 133MHz (the default) all the way up to 149MHz. As you ramp up the FSB, the PCI bus also increases, so there is not a setting that allows for a fixed PCI bus speed.

The Skinny On Overclocking “Dualies” Dual-CPU boards present some signifi- cant advantages if you are running specific The Athlon MP processor is AMD’s server-class CPU, used with various dual-CPU boards that use software applications that are able to take AMD’s 760 MPX dual-CPU chipset. advantage of a dual-CPU configuration. One common thread we saw in many dis- cussions about dual CPUs in overclocker a multiplier of 23X. To ramp up the But the problem here is that with Xeon forums is that unless you are using appli- CPU to 3.5GHz, you could lower the CPUs, you will only be able to adjust the cations such as video-editing software that multipler to 20X and at the same time multiplier downward. And the only way require intensive CPU work, you will not increase the FSB speed to 175MHz. By we saw that you could adjust the FSB get the big payoff you might expect out of the same token, you could leave the mul- speed is via jumpers on the board. Using a dual-CPU configuration. Many games, tiplier alone and simply crank up the FSB these jumpers, you have the choice of three for example, are not written to take advan- to 152MHz and achieve the same effect. settings: Auto, 533MHz, and 400MHz. tage of dual-CPU setups. SuperMicro’s X5DPE-G2 board is So, flexibility here is rather limited. If you still want to find an overclock- another example of a dual-CPU (Xeon) You might wonder why we are dis- able dual-CPU board that you can board on which you can tweak the set- cussing a board that is clearly an enter- tweak to your heart’s content, we rec- tings via the system BIOS. Here’s the prise-class server system board. Well, we ommend that you shop carefully. Many breakdown on this board: want to illustrate the point that some of the boards we looked at had minimal • Dual Intel Xeon CPUs up to 3.2GHz motherboard manufacturers do include overclocker-friendly settings, and many • 533MHz or 400MHz FSB some overclocking flexibility, even on required using the jumpers on the • Up to 16GB of DDR 266 or DDR boards designed for the corporate server board itself to make any adjustments. 200 registered ECC SDRAM 72-bit, market. But as the discussion above sug- Asus’s PC-DL Deluxe is an exception 184-pin gold-plated DIMMs. gests, those options, at least on this partic- here and features more overclocking • Intel E7501 chipset ular board, are rather limited. adjustments via its BIOS than any other • Gigabit Ethernet How about AMD? Well, we couldn’t new board we looked at. • Integrated ATI RageXL 8MB PCI find any boards that use AMD Opteron One thing you can count on for sure is Graphic Controller CPUs with overclocker-friendly fea- that manufacturers are not going to stand • Rackmount Tower/4U recommended tures. But we found a Gigabyte board still. If hardcore performance enthusiasts chassis (the GA-7DPXDW) that uses AMD’s and gamers start demanding more over- 760 MPX dual-CPU chipset and has clocking options for dual-CPU boards, This board’s frequency settings can be some overclocker-friendly features. This manufacturers will be more than happy to tweaked via its system BIOS under the board includes: oblige. So keep your eyes and ears open Advanced Processor options. Here, you • Support for dual Athlon MP processors because that dual-CPU board of your can specify the processor’s internal multi- • 200/266MHz FSB dreams may soon be a reality. plier, from 8X to 24X. Also, the board • AMD-760 MPX chipset allows you to change the frequency of PCI • Up to 4GB of registered PC1600/ by Sixto Ortiz Jr. slots 1 through 3 and PCI slots 4, 5, and 6. PC2100 DDR modules

PC Modder • 101 beloved “Swappin’ Parts” machine from CPU issues gone by). RACE FOR As with the Case Studies articles, we tried to stock our competing systems with identical components. We transferred most of our Case Studies test system com- THE GOLD ponents to the new beast, including the power supply, hard drive, and video card. AMD vs. Intel For The Performance Crown We weren’t able to use identical memory DIMMS, as our 940-pin FX-53 requires server-friendly registered memory. We used two benchmarks to test our oth AMD and Intel have We wanted our systems to battle each systems’ mettle: Futuremark 3Dmark03 launched a barrage of new proces- other instead of heat. We considered a and PCMark04. Although 3Dmark03’s Bsors since our first PC Modder watercooling system, but watercooling benchmarking methods garnered plen- issue hit the street, so we’ve selected new simply can’t compete with a phase-change ty of controversy when it arrived, contenders from each camp and over- system’s super-cold touch. We settled on Futuremark released a patch that clocked them into oblivion (see Case the nVentive Mach II, a powerful system removed the most egregious problems. Studies). But even as we squeezed every that sits underneath your computer’s In fact, the new version of 3Dmark03 last 3Dmark out of renders scores based these processors, our on the old version thoughts turned to obsolete. 3Dmark03 the CPU giants’ is a synthetic bench- champions: the mark that focuses on 3.4GHz P4 Extreme 3D game play per- Edition and the formance. PCMark04 Athlon 64 FX-53. tests overall sys- After comparing each tem performance and processor/mobo offers several compo- combo to its own sib- nent-specific scores lings in the previous and an overall score. section, it’s only fit- Once we pushed ting that we give the our processors as far as top Intel and AMD they could go, we processors a chance to squeezed every last duke it out. drop of performance Until now, we from our PCs by haven’t broken free tweaking other compo- of the standard cool- nent settings, such ing system. We love as memory and vid- exotic cooling de- eo card voltages and vices as much as the frequencies. By de- next modder, but we Chaintech’s 9CJS Zenith motherboard comes with a number of features, but it’s the board’s fault, our Gainward wanted to give you an performance and stability that prompted us to use it in this article. PowerPack! Ultra/1800 idea of each proces- XP Golden Sample sor/mobo combo’s overclocking potential chassis. The Mach II isn’t particularly GeForce FX 5950 Ultra’s GeForce under normal conditions, so our Case handsome, but it sports a temperature- Properties (in Display Properties) didn’t Studies articles stuck to a traditional gauge LCD, so we’re not complain- include overclocking features, so we heatsink/fan setup. (Sort of; the test sys- ing. Unfortunately, nVentive (formerly downloaded and installed the CoolBits tems did have fan cooling. We concede Prometia) recently threw in the towel, registry key, which unlocks NVIDIA’s that our gigantic, all-copper Thermalright making the Asetek Vapochill the reigning CoolBits overclocking utility. SLK-948U heatsink and 119CFM spew- cooling champ. Luckily, we already had a Thanks to the CoolBits tweak, ing, 92mm pcToys Tornado fan don’t fit Mach II, courtesy of CINDI (Comput- the GeForce Properties’ GeForce neatly under “normal’s” umbrella). er In Need Of Drastic Improvement; our tab displayed a new section: Clock

102 • PC Modder Frequencies. We clicked the enthusiasts. As with the FX- Manual radio button, selected 51, the FX-53 features the Performance 3D from the 0.13-micron design and has Settings drop-down menu, an integrated memory con- and then used the Core Clock troller, a 128KB L1 cache (a Frequency and Memory 64KB instruction cache and Clock Frequency slider bars to a 64KB data cache), and a adjust the frequencies. The 1024KB L2 cache. section has a variety of fea- We chose 2GB of Corsair tures, including a Restore registered DDR memory and Defaults button and an Apply plugged it into the ASUS Settings At Startup checkbox. SK8V, which posted the best If you check this box, the sys- scores in our FX-51 Case tem will retain the over- Studies articles. We loved the clocked settings indefinitely. SK8V’s performance, but we Otherwise, your video card also liked its features. Thanks will return to default settings Thanks to CoolBits, our NVIDIA GeForce 5950-based video card's Display to a VIA VT6307 FireWire when your system reboots. Properties let us adjust the Core Clock Frequency and Memory Clock controller, the board includes Until you reach your video Frequency settings. two internal FireWire headers card’s maximum stable set- (and a D-bracket that sports a tings, you’ll probably want to avoid Meet the hardware. The 940-pin FX- single FireWire port). The FireWire con- the checkbox. 53 marks the end of the 940-pin FX troller complements the VIA K8T800 Aside from the motherboard and chip, as AMD recently switched to the northbridge and VT8237 southbridge. If CPU, our systems stand on a level play- 939-pin model. AMD launched several you’re building a powerful system on a ing field. Who will prove to be the new 939-pin Athlon 64’s just before we not-so-powerful budget, you may want overclocking champ will depend on the went to press and also released a 939-pin to forgo a sound card in favor of the systems themselves. version of the FX-53. The switch means board’s integrated six-channel setup. that users who already have a 940-pin ASUS skipped the CNR that still AMD FX-51 or FX-53 will need to buy a new occasionally appears on boards but Sure, sure, Intel has a super-fast, super- motherboard when they upgrade, but it added a similar slot that supports an expensive processor. But AMD has a few also means that users won’t need to optional ASUS WiFi@Home card. The speed record/budget breakers of its own, invest in the expensive registered memo- card, which goes for about $25, con- the fastest of which resides in the heart of ry that 940-pin processors require. That nects to an external antenna and sup- our overclocked system: the 2.4GHz change opens up the wide market of ports 802.11b connectivity. A 3COM AMD Athlon 64 FX-53. nonregistered memory to performance 3C940 Gigabit LAN controller supports AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 (SledgeHammer) ASUS SK8V Processor FSB Multiplier CPU Processor Case AGP RAM Speed Voltage Temp Temp Voltage Voltage Stock 2.4GHz 200MHz 12 1.568V -38 29 1.5V Auto Performance Overclocked 2.8GHz 200MHz 14 1.65V -31 29.4 1.7V Auto Performance

Memory Video Card 3Dmark03 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Timings Core/Memory CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.5-3-3-7 475/950 6302 4787 4468 4859 5288 4766 Performance Overclocked 2.5-3-3-7 500/975 6681 5433 5144 5333 5467 4774 Performance

PC Modder • 103 the I/O riser’s single Ethernet frequency range of 200MHz to port. The board also sports three 300MHz, an AGP voltage range IDE ports and two SATA ports. of 1.5V to 1.7V, and a DRAM We like the board’s four dual- voltage range of 2.5V to 2.8V. channel memory slots, which The BIOS also included a CPU support up to 8GB of PC3200 voltage range of 1.5V to 1.7V. registered DDR RAM. We took The ASUS SK8N let us push the advantage of the dual-channel CPU voltage as high as 1.75V architecture by using identical when we overclocked the Athlon 1GB DIMMs. 64 FX-51, but the board’s bench- Before we built our test sys- mark scores couldn’t top our tem, we put the FX-53 and The new AMD Athlon FX-53 was the heart of our experiment, but SK8V. As it turned out, our sys- SK8V in our Case Studies test sys- would it be able to seriously outperform Intel’s lightning-fast tem didn’t need the extra voltage: tem to see how the system per- Pentium 4 Extreme Edition? it never booted with a voltage formed under normal conditions. higher than 1.65V anyway. The PC posted excellent scores in Before we unleashed our FX- 3Dmark03 and PCMark04 (6307 and feature that resets the BIOS to its 53 system, we ran our two benchmarks 4782, respectively). The system didn’t default settings whenever the system at default settings (2.4GHz clock speed, respond well to higher frequencies until hangs. Thanks to C.P.R., we didn’t 12X multiplier, and CPU voltage of we upped the voltage, which breathed have to manually clear the CMOS at 1.5V). As we expected, our Mach II- new life into our test PC. The fan- all. We disabled the memory’s ECC fea- cooled system’s 3Dmark03 score of cooled system posted max scores of ture, which would have reigned in our 6302 approached the fan-cooled ver- 6370 in 3Dmark03 and 5130 in system’s raw speed. sion’s top overclocked score of 6370. PCMark04, with a clock speed of We installed the latest BIOS version We weren’t surprised to see that of the 2.58GHz and a CPU voltage of 1.7V. (ASUS Version 1002), which offers a four PCMark04 component tests (which Not bad, but not the kind of determine the overall PCMark04 raging overclock we expect to see score), the Graphics score took when we fire up our Mach II- top honors with a score of 5288. cooled system. We love the Gainward NVIDIA Once we finished our fan- GeForce FX 5950 Ultra’s raw cooled system benchmarks, we power. The CPU, memory, and gutted our Case Studies test sys- hard drive posted 4468, 4859, tem and used its components to and 4766, respectively, and the build an almost identical (but system posted a solid PCMark04 oh-so-much-cooler) test PC. We score of 4787. Our Mach II’s assembled the Prometia AMD 64 LCD displayed a chilly -38 EasyMod Kit, attached the Mach degrees Celsius, and our Digital II phase-change system to our FX- Doc 5 displayed a chassis temper- 53, powered on our raging system, ature of 29 C. and—the computer rebooted With solid benchmark scores and before it entered Windows. As it subzero CPU temperatures in hand, turned out, the Mach II wasn’t we decided to turn up the volume. playing nice with our system. We knew our Mach II-cooled sys- We updated its firmware (ver- tem could probably handle the fan- sion 821) and then booted into cooled system’s max clock speed Windows without trouble. (2.5GHz), so we jumped straight to Overclocking. Although the a 220MHz frequency (2.64GHz SK8V’s BIOS has several neat clock speed) and rebooted the PC. features (such as Q-Fan, which Our test PC completed 3Dmark03, lowers fan speeds when the sys- posting a respectable 6393 (already tem is idle), we didn’t enable topping the fan-cooled system’s any of the unnecessary perks. Our lab techs found several creative uses for the Prometia Mach max score), but it wasn’t stable We did enjoy C.P.R. (CPU II's configurable text display, but we stuck to the default tempera- enough to complete PCMark04. Parameter Recall), an automatic ture readout while overclocking. Unfazed, we upped the frequency to

104 • PC Modder 230MHz and the voltage to 1.65V, at score by 311 points, but which point the system promptly crashed, posted only a tiny 14- refusing to load Windows. point PCMark04 im- Instead of pushing the CPU voltage to provement over the lesser its max, we changed tack, lowering the fre- system’s max score. Even quency back to 200MHz but raising the so, we were impressed by multiplier from 12X to 14X (a whopping the FX-53’s performance 2.8GHz clock speed). We lowered the overall: it posted a 379- CPU voltage to a reasonably safe 1.6V and point 3Dmark03 increase restarted the system. This time, our test and posted a 646-point PC booted into Windows without any PCMark04 increase over trouble and completed both benchmarks. its default scores. But is That said, the system posted a disappoint- the supercooled processor ing 6398 3Dmark03 score, only five powerful enough beat out points higher than its last 3Dmark score. one of Intel’s champs? As it turned out, the system just needed a little extra juice. We raised the CPU voltage Intel to 1.65V and the AGP voltage to 1.7V. We No matter how badly also raised the video card’s core to 500MHz AMD would like it to (from 475MHz) and the card’s memory be otherwise, we’re not from 950MHz to 975MHz. Thanks to the living in a 64-bit world. extra tweaks, our PC posted 6681 in Sure, the Athlon 64 FX- 3Dmark03 and 5144 in PCMark04; the 53 delivers good 32-bit test PC’s max scores. We booted into performance, but with- Windows as high as 2.87GHz, but the sys- out a 64-bit OS, we tem bailed whenever we started 3Dmark03. can’t take advantage of Analysis. We almost freaked out when those mouth watering we thought that our super-cold, near 64-bit extensions. The It may not be pretty, but the Prometia Mach II keeps our system at sub- $1,000 phase-change unit couldn’t push the 2MB of L3 cache on zero temperatures, even when we overclocked our top-of-the-line CPU's. FX-53’s performance any farther than a the 3.4GHz Pentium 4 heatsink/fan combo, but we calmed down Extreme Edition, however, doesn’t Meet the hardware. Intel’s 3.4GHz when we managed to get the system run- require any specific OS or application Pentium 4 Extreme Edition is the compa- ning stable at higher clock speeds. Our support. Can Intel’s testament to ny’s flagship processor. The Extreme Mach II-cooled system’s max 3Dmark score extreme users overpower AMD’s muscu- Edition uses Intel’s older Northwood core pounded the fan-cooled system’s max lar 64-bit processor? rather than its new Prescott core, but Intel 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Processor FSB Multiplier CPU Processor Case AGP RAM Speed Voltage Temp Temp Voltage Voltage Stock 3.4GHz 200MHz 17 1.5V -39 27.1 Default Default Performance Overclocked 3.77GHz 219MHz 17 1.65V -32 28.4 Default Default Performance

Memory VideO Card 3Dmark03 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 PCMark04 Timings Core/Memory CPU Memory Graphics HDD Stock 2.5/3/3/8 300/950 6750 5700 5330 5496 5706 4373 Performance Overclocked 2.5/3/3/8 300/950 6884 6095 5817 6023 5720 4347 Performance

PC Modder • 105 that’s not necessarily a bad thing as 103W power dissipation than high-end RAID 0 or 1. We’ll be sticking with Prescott includes a few changes that nega- Northwood P4’s 82W power dissipation. straight-up SATA hard drive configura- tively impact performance. Prescott, for Despite the higher power dissipation, the tion in this article, however, and leave instance, uses a longer 31-stage data 3.4GHz Extreme Edition has the same RAID for another day. pipeline. The longer pipeline will make 1.525V to 1.6V operating voltage as a Chaintech includes a number of nice it easier to increase clock speeds, but it standard 3.4GHz Northwood. This is extras with its Zenith board, including also slows performance. Prescott also higher than the 1.25V to 1.4V operating integrated 7.1 surround-sound audio and seems to leak energy more readily than voltage for Prescott processors. Our ver- Gigabit Ethernet. The CBOX3 comes Northwood, causing it to run hotter. sion of the 3.4GHz Extreme Edition uses with the Zenith board and mounts The 3.4GHz Extreme Edition includes Intel’s basic Socket 478 interface. At press in an external 5.25-inch drive bay. 8KB of L1 Data cache. The 512KB of L2 time, however, Intel had announced a new The CBOX3 includes front USB and cache is half the size of Prescott’s 1024KB 3.4GHz Extreme Edition and a new FireWire ports along with a 6-in-1 card of L2, but the 2MB of on-die, full-speed 3.6GHz Prescott that uses an LGA moth- reader for removable media such as SD L3 cache more than makes up for the erboard interface. Given more time, we and Memory Stick. The board also smaller L2. The L3 cache helps in proces- would’ve loved to take one or both proces- includes the Handigator remote control. sor-intensive applications such as gaming sors for a spin, but announcements were Both the Handigator and CBOX3 are and video editing. Rather than the longer, made much too close to press time. nice features, but we didn’t mess with slower 31-stage pipeline, the 3.4GHz Furthermore, the 3.4GHz Extreme either as they added nothing to the moth- Extreme Edition uses a 20-stage pipeline. Edition proved itself in earlier testing, erboard’s performance. Although it’s based on Northwood, the reaching speeds of 3.85GHz. We also man- We did keep our test system components 3.4GHz Extreme Edition’s 102.9W power aged some exceptional benchmark scores, as similar as possible with the exception of dissipation is more similar to Prescott’s depending on which motherboard we our system memory. With the new Socket paired the processor with. 939 Athlon 64s still too new to procure, we Processor, Motherboard & Drivers: AMD System Speaking of moth- had no choice but to use registered DDR erboards, a high-end SDRAM in our Athlon 64 FX-53 test sys- Processor AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 processor demands a tem. We saw no need to handicap our Motherboard ASUS SK8V high-end mother-board. Extreme Edition because of AMD’s memo- We decided on using ry restrictions, and used unbuffered DDR BIOS Manufacturer American Megatrends Chaintech’s 9CJS SDRAM on our Intel test system. BIOS Version AMI Bios 2003 Zenith, as it too proved Overclocking. Headquartered in the (Asus Version 1002) itself in earlier testing by Midwest, below zero temperatures are noth- Chipset Driver VIA 4.51 (K8T800) providing solid perfor- ing new to us. In fact, we had a habit of mance scores and good huddling around Athlon XP processors for overclocking options. We heat back in the day. What we’re not used Common Components managed to get a to, however, is having a processor that’s 3.2GHz Extreme Edition colder than a February morning. We RAM Corsair PC2700 registered processor running at strapped the motherboard, processor, and DDR SDRAM (2 x 1GB) 3.65GHz on the same memory into our Mach II enabled chassis, Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/ board and posted consis- connected the Mach II to the processor 1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce tently high benchmark using the Prometeia Intel Easy Mod Kit, FX 5950 Ultra) scores. attached our drives and cards, and then got Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital WD800JD The Zenith board ready to crank up the voltage. 7,200rpm SATA includes Intel’s 875P Before we overclocked to 11, we had chipset on the north- to play scientist and record some default Mod Kit Prometia AMD 64 EasyMod Kit bridge. The 875P scores. Considering our motherboard Phase Change Cooler Prometia Mach II includes support for and processor had both proven them- an 800MHz FSB selves previously, we were fairly confi- CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X and dual-channel dent we’d start out with some strong DVD/CD-RW PC3200 DDR SDRAM. default scores. The 3.4GHz Extreme Floppy Samsung 1.44MB The Chaintech board Edition didn’t disappoint, managing a Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower includes an Intel 6750 3Dmark03 score at its default ICH5R on the south- 3.4GHz clock speed. The score was well Case Antec PLUS1080AMG bridge, which means above the Athlon 64 FX-53’s 6302 Temperature Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5 support for SATA default 3Dmark03 score, but still about

106 • PC Modder 69 points less than the Athlon’s over- to get the system stable. Our 3.77GHz 3Dmark03 improvements were a measly clocked 3Dmark03 score. processor yielded a 6884 3Dmark03 score. 121 points. Of course, the Extreme Edition PCMark04 scores were equally strong. In We were able to push the processor’s clock started out with a default 3Dmark03 score fact, all of our PCMark04 default scores speed to 3.79GHz by increasing the FSB to that was 69 points higher than the FX-53’s except for the HDD score were better than 220MHz, but the 3Dmark03 score fell overclocked 3Dmark03 score. the Athlon 64 FX-53 highest overclocked slightly to 6871. Attempts to further over- As we’ve seen, however, the chipset plays scores. At 5700, the Overall PCMark04 clock the system were unsuccessful. as important a part in the system’s overall score was more than 900 points better than The Extreme Edition system yielded its performance as the processor itself. Socket the Athlon 64 FX-53’s default PCMark04 best score at 3.77GHz, so we reset the 940 pickings are a little scarcer than Socket Overall score and almost 400 points bet- FSB to 219MHz and ran PCMark04. The 478 options. The Extreme Edition certainly ter than the best PCMark04 score. The Intel system was already dominating the owes a great deal of its success to the 875P- 3.4GHz P4’s 5330 CPU score was 862 AMD system before we even started the based Chaintech 9CJS Zenith mother- points better than the Athlon 64 FX-53’s overclocking, and increasing our system’s board. From a price/performance stand- default CPU score and 186 points better speed just seemed to pile it on. Our point, however, AMD may well be ahead than Athlon 64’s overclocked CPU score. PCMark04 Overall score rose 395 points of Intel. AMD’s 940-pin FX-53 costs about One reason we choose the Chaintech 9CJS to 6095 and the CPU score increased to $800, while Intel’s Socket 478 3.4GHz Zenith board is because it seems to provide 5817. We saw a hefty gain in our Mem- Pentium 4 Extreme Edition costs nearly some excellent PCMark04 Memory scores. ory score as it rose to 6023, while our $200 more. The Extreme Edition’s 5496 Memory score Graphics score showed a modest increase was significantly better than the FX-53’s to 5720. The only PCMark04 score to lag by Joshua Gulick and Chad Denton 4859 default Memory score and slight- behind the AMD system ly better than the FX-53’s 5333 overclocked was the 4347 HDD score. Memory score. Paired with our NVIDIA Processor, Motherboard & Drivers: Intel System graphics card, the 3.4GHz Extreme Edition Conclusion managed an impressive 5706 Graphics score Unfortunately, this con- Processor 3.4GHz Pentium 4 that eclipsed both the FX-53’s default 5288 test was over even before Extreme Edition Graphics score and its 5467 overclocked it had really begun. Our Motherboard Chaintech 9CJS Zenith Graphics score. When it came to HDD per- 3.4GHz Pentium 4 had formance, however, the FX-53’s 4766 was managed to beat the BIOS Manufacturer Phoenix Award BIOS almost 300 points better than the 4373 best overclock scores the BIOS Version Ver 6 posted by Intel’s 3.4GHz Extreme Edition. Athlon 64 FX-53 could We were able to easily increase the FSB muster. In fact, we had Chipset Driver 5.0.2.1002 to 210MHz, but this caused a slight perfor- managed to top the Athlon mance setback as our 3Dmark03 score fell 64 FX-53’s refrigerator- slightly to 6728. Our system rebooted when assisted scores with simple Common Components we tried to increase the FSB to 220MHz, so aircooling previously in RAM 1GB PC4000 DDR SDRAM we scaled it back to 215MHz. At 3.71GHz, this issue. Although the (4 x 512MB) our processor rebounded nicely with a 6847 Extreme Edition captured 3Dmark03 score. We were able to increase the performance crown, Video Gainward PowerPack! Ultra/ the FSB to 216MHz without any prob- AMD showed the biggest 1800 XP Golden Sample (GeForce lems and a very slight 6-point 3Dmark03 increase in performance. FX 5950 Ultra) increase. We were able to increase our We were able to increase Hard Drive 80GB Western Digital WD800JD 3Dmark03 score another 16 points to 6869 the FX-53 400MHz 7,200rpm SATA by increasing the FSB to 217MHz. from 2.4GHz to 2.8GHz, We began to have problems as we and the extra 400MHz Mod Kit Prometeia Intel CPU EasyMod Kit increased the processor’s clock speed to bought us an extra 379 Phase Change Cooler Prometeia Mach II 3.76GHz and FSB to 218MHz. At this points in 3Dmark03. speed, 3Dmark03 failed to complete suc- We weren’t actually able CD-ROM LiteOn Black 48X/24X/48X/16X cessfully. Increasing the FSB to 1.6V, how- to push the Intel processor DVD/CD-RW ever, managed to fix our stability problems quite as far, perhaps partly Floppy Samsung 1.44MB and we posted a 6776 3Dmark03 score. due to Intel’s locked multi- Power Supply Antec 430W TruePower Our celebration was short lived as our plier. The Extreme Edition benchmarks failed at 219MHz. We had to was only able to gain an Case Antec PLUS1080AMG increase the CPU voltage to 1.65V in order extra 370MHz, and Temperature Monitor MacPower Digital Doc 5

PC Modder • 107 In this category, we had no obvious winners, but the Radeon 9800SE from ATI & NVIDIA Sapphire stood for lackluster performance. In 3Dmark2001SE and 3Dmark03 tests, the Radeon 9800SE turned out scores of 13611 and 3315. That’s 3536 and 2103 SQUARE OFF marks slower than the next slowest card, the ASUS GeForce FX 5900. Throughout Where Things Stand Between The GPUs & VPUs our AquaMark3 tests, the Radeon 9800SE consistently showed scores that were much lower than what the GeForce FX 5900 produced. For instance, the average default e set out to find the definitive Our battery of tests ran through Aqua- score in AquaMark3 for the GeForce FX answer to who makes the Mark3, Halo, 3Dmark2001SE, 3Dmark03 5900 was about 38517. The Radeon W best graphics cards. Outfitted (using Futuremark’s 340 patch), Quake III 9800SE was 13843 marks lower at 24674. with a generous budget and more than a Arena, Unreal Tournament 2003, and our The 9800SE produced similar results little bit of hubris, we purchased three cards timedemo created in Unreal Tournament across the board, including scores of featuring some of the fastest VPUs and 2004. Quake III tests were run at resolu- 11.11 in Halo at a 1,600 x 1,200 resolu- GPUs from each manufacturer. We tested tions of 1,024 x 768 and 1,600 x 1,200 and tion. In the UT2003 Anatalus and each card on the same machine, recorded AquaMark3 tests were run at the program’s Phobos2 tests, the card showed frame the results, and tallied the scores to see who default resolution, 1,024 x 768. Halo tests rates of 37.1 and 51 at a resolution of makes the fastest chip. We also reserved were conducted at 1,600 x 1,200 with and 1,600 x 1,200, which are average to say some additional time for hands-on gaming. without AA/AF at full. the least, especially in this competition.

GeForce FX 5900 GeForce FX 5950 Ultra Radeon 9800 Pro

Our test rig specs: 2GHZ AMD Athlon You may wonder why we set up a The rest of the cards were well-matched 64 3200+, 1GB (2 x 512MB) of Kingston graphics card challenge between ATI and at their core clock speeds. All three HyperX PC3200 DDR RAM on an Asus NVIDIA without ATI’s X800 XT or NVIDIA cards have higher clock speeds K8V Deluxe motherboard (with VIA NVIDIA’s GeForce 6800 Ultra. Well, it’s (475MHz, 450MHz, and 400MHz) than K8T800 chipset), a Seagate Barracuda because neither was available at retail at the ATI cards (412Mhz, 380MHz, and ST380013AS 80GB SATA hard drive, and the time of this writing. They will be by 325MHz), but in the benchmarking com- a Lite-On Black LTC-48161H 48X/24X/ the time you read this, so watch for com- petition, the NVIDIA cards failed to take 48X/16X CD-RW/DVD drive. For ATI parisons later on. a clear lead. In fact, if any card had an cards we used the latest Catalyst 4.4 driver, Equally regrettable is that our results edge over the others, it was ATI’s Radeon and for NVIDIA cards we used the were not as definitive as we had hoped 9800XT, which uses a default core clock ForceWare 56.72. The machines ran on an for; that’s to say, none of the six cards we speed of 412MHz and an effective mem- Antec Original TRUE 430W P4 power selected emerged as a clear winner, so it ory clock of 730MHz but scored 1000 supply with Windows XP Pro as the OS. would be unfair to suggest that our com- marks higher at 45864 in AquaMark3 We chose cards that were OpenGL- parison will put an end to the ATI vs. tests than the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra. and DX9-compatible. On the NVIDIA NVIDIA debate. On the contrary, it may The Radeon 9800XT also outper- side, we selected an ASUS v9950 TVD be like putting out fire with gasoline. formed the other cards in 3Dmark2001SE GeForce FX 5900, a Gainward GeForce and 3Dmark03 tests, scoring 20354 and FX5900 Ultra, and a Leadtek GeForce The Fast And The Not So-Furious 6521, respectively. In the same tests, the FX 5950 Ultra. In ATI’s corner, we Let’s get straight to what matters most: GeForce FX 5950 Ultra, the fastest of the chose a Sapphire Radeon 9800SE, a speed. Behind reliability and API support, NVIDIA cards, scored 18475 and 6214. Radeon 9800 Pro (also from Sapphire), speed is probably the most important factor The Radeon 9800 Pro, with default and a Radeon 9800 XT. users consider when purchasing a new card. core clock and memory clock speeds that

108 • PC Modder are actually quite typical for most Radeon Not yet surprised? We’ve got more: Bundle, Bundle— 9800 Pros (380/680), scored 19191 in Even the Radeon 9800SE turned out to Who’s Got the Bundle? 3Dmark2001SE and 5786 in 3Dmark03 be a good overclocker. In fact, it showed The question now becomes, “Which while the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra pro- better gains than many of the other cards. company offers the best extras?” It’s a ques- duced similar scores of 18064 and 5962. We were able to boost its paltry 325MHz tion that can be unfair because so much of In most tests the ATI Radeon 9800XT core clock speed to 380MHz. That equals what goes into a package depends upon the narrowly beat out the fastest NVIDIA out to a gain of about 17% (although, card manufacturer and not the chipset card, the GeForce FX 5950 ULTRA. even when overclocked, the Radeon developer. Still, it’s worth mentioning, if at 9800SE pales in comparison to all the least briefly, to suggest who has the better To The Extreme other cards in this roundup). business partners. Keep in mind that we Overclockers will not be disappointed Obviously, each of the six ATI and purchased the two Sapphire cards OEM. by how these cards perform when pushed NVIDIA cards turned out to be excellent As far as software bundles go, Sapphire is beyond their manufacturer-recommend- overclockers. In general, the ATI cards at a bit of a disadvantage here. If we had ed limits. In particular, there is the exam- overclocked better than the NVIDIA purchased, say, the full retail version of the ple of the Gigabyte Radeon 9800 XT and cards, but to be fair, the NVIDIA cards Radeon 9800 Pro Atlantis instead of the the Gainward GeForce FX 5900 Ultra. started out with higher core clock speeds. OEM bulk version, we might have received We were able to rev the Radeon 9800 OK, so enough with the numbers. You Soldier of Fortune II and Return To Castle XT’s 412MHz core clock and 365MHz want to know how these cards held up Wolfenstein—perhaps even Tomb Raider, memory clock to 450/400. The GeForce during actual game play, right? We played at the very least. As it is, we instead received FX 5900 shot up to 530/930 from a several sessions of DX9 and lower games, PowerDVD 5 and a slew of accessories,

Radeon 9800 XT Radeon 9800 SE GeForce FX 5900 Ultra

450MHz core clock and 850MHz mem- including (but not limited to) Battlefield including VGA-to-DVI adapter, power ory clock (effective). A year ago most 1942, Unreal Tournament 2003, Desert cable, S-Video cable, and composite cable. gamers would have been thrilled to have Combat, and Unreal Tournament 2004. The Radeon 9800XT offered a lot more. a card reach the 5000 mark in the Each game was played at the highest pos- Gigabyte not only included a free coupon 3Dmark03 test. When overclocked, the sible resolution. for a copy of Half-Life 2, the company also Radeon 9800XT broke 7000 (7057). When it comes to displaying real-time threw in PowerDVD 5, Tomb Raider: Even the slightly older generation cards, graphics, any of the top two ATI or Angel Of Darkness, Tom Clancy’s Rain- the Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800SE and NVIDIA cards will suffice. As you might bow Six 3: Raven Shield, and Will Rock. the ASUS GeForce FX 5900, showed a expect, we didn’t experience any lockups In addition, the Radeon 9800XT came good deal of overclocking potential. In with those four cards. Nor did we notice with adapters, S-Video cable, composite addition to raising the core clock and any jerky frames. But the two lower-end cable, and “Y” power cable. With our memory clock speeds of the Radeon cards were a different story. GeForce FX 5900 Ultra, we got a power 9800 XT from 412/365 to 450/400, we The Radeon 9800SE performed the cable and pink—more like fuchsia—VGA- were able to overclock the Radeon 9800 way you might expect a midrange card to to-DVI adapter and video-out cable with Pro to 420/375, up from 380/340. perform. It ran more like a card from the composite in, composite out, S-Video in, The NVIDIA cards showed proficient Radeon 9600 series. We half expected and S-Video out connections. From gains, as well. The GeForce FX 5950 that after recording the card’s benchmark- Leadtek, in addition to our FX 5950 Ultra, Ultra overclocked at 490/965 (effective), ing results. The NVIDIA GeForce FX we also got a few video-editing CDs and up from 475/950. The FX 5900 Ultra did 5900 was equally as disappointing. Make two DirectX 9 games: GunMetal and Big even better. It overclocked at 530/930 no mistake: It’s still a mighty powerful Mutha Truckers. With the GeForce FX (effective), up from 450/850. And the video card, but it struggled (albeit slight- 5900, we got Asus Home Theater software, GeForce FX 5900 went from a 400MHz ly) during graphic-intensive levels, such Power Director Pro, a host of games core clock and 850MHz (effective memo- as those found in levels of Unreal including Battle Engine Aquila, Black ry clock), to 464/905. Tournament 2004 featuring vehicles. Hawk Down, Gun Metal, and a 6-in-1

PC Modder • 109 By The Numbers games showcase disc, and few additional ere are the actual results for the six cards we tested. Note that the overclocked accessories, such as a VGA-to-DVI adapter. H results are presented in brackets. You’ve got a lot of numers to look through, but Perhaps the most important impact of the numbers tell the story. these goodies—at least as far as this head- to-head is concerned—is their price. It’s Video Card Gigabyte ATI Radeon Sapphire ATI Radeon 9800 XT 9800 PRO not easy to say who offers the best extras for the buck, but in this competition one Price $428 (retail) $205 (OEM) thing is certain, the highest priced cards Interface AGP 8X AGP 8X offer some of the best treats (though Tomb Chipset ATI Radeon 9800 XT ATI Radeon 9800 Pro Raider: Angel Of Darkness can be had on RAM 256MB DDR 128MB DDR eBay for as little as a cent). Core Clock 412MHz 380MHz And The Award Goes To . . . Memory Clock Actual 365MHz (730MHz) 340MHz (680MHz) (Effective) Roll out the red carpet. The award for Overclocked Maximums 450/400 420/375 the fastest card and the best performance (core clock/memory clock goes to the Gigabyte ATI Radeon 9800 in megahertz) XT with its 8-pixel pipeline, SmartShader Max. Resolution 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1536 2.1, and Smoothvision 2.1 technology. Refresh Rate At Max. Resolution 85Hz 85Hz This was by no means an easy competi- tion for the Radeon 9800 XT. Take a look APIs Supported DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 2.0 DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 2.0 at the chart, and you’ll notice that the Operating Systems Windows 98/ME/2000/XP Windows 98/ME/2000/XP LeadTek GeForce FX 5950 Ultra, which 3Dmark2001 SE uses NVIDIA CineFX 2.0 engine and 3D Marks 20354 [21135] 19191 [20391] Intellisample HCT (high-resolution com- Fill Rate (single texture) 2194.5 2013.3 pression technology), actually has the better Fill Rate (multitexture) 3246.4 2984.7 specs—note that the GeForce FX 5950 Ultra has a much higher core clock than the 3Dmark03 Radeon 9800 XT (about 50MHz higher). 3D Marks 6521 [7057] 5786 [6365] It’s cheaper, too, at $380, while the Radeon Fill Rate (single texture) 1842.9 1691.3 9800 XT cost us $428. Still, you can expect Fill Rate (multitexture) 3169.6 2908.6 the ATI X800 Pro and the GeForce 6800 to Quake III Arena at 32-bit leave both of these cards in the dust. 1,024 x 768 306.1 301.2 As with the award for the fastest card, picking a winner for best overclocked card 1,600 x 1,200 237.7 223.9 was also difficult. The GeForce FX 5900 Unreal Tournament 2003 Ultra produced a bigger jump in perfor- at 32-bit (average fps) mance than the Radeon 9800 XT, but it Anatalus 1,024 x 768 201.5 188.7 still couldn’t compete with the Radeon Anatalus 1,600 x 1,200 94.8 86.7 9800 XT’s final results. When set at its Phobos2 1,024 x 768 197.7 188.4 maximum core clock and memory clock Phobos2 1,600 x 1,200 117.6 108.1 speeds of 450MHz/400MHz, the Radeon Unreal Tournament 2004 9800 XT produced scores of 21135 in at 32-bit* 3Dmark2001SE, 7057 in 3Dmark03, 1,600 x 1,200 and 48289 in AquaMark3. 25.31 24.83 In the end, it appears ATI is poised to AquaMark3 at 32-bit sweep the competition. It had the fastest, Default Test 45864 [48289] 43436 [46445] best-performing card—and one that also GFX 6158 [6575] 5717 [6242] produced the most impressive overclock- CPU 8977 [9086] 9044 [9070] ing results. NVIDIA will have to settle for Halo giving ATI a good run for the money until 1,600 x 1,200 we can test the next-gen retail parts. 27.17 25.17 1,600 x 1,200 (AA/AF at full) 21.94 21.97 by Eric Melvin Reed Phone (626) 854-9338 (909) 594-0597 URL www.giga-byte.com www.sapphiretech.com *Custom Demo: DeathMatch DesertIsle map 110 • PC Modder Sapphire ATI Radeon Leadtek GeForce FX Gainward GeForce FX ASUS GeForce FX 5900 9800SE 5950 Ultra 5900 Ultra $136 (OEM) $380 (retail) $339 (retail) $260 (retail) AGP 8X AGP 8X AGP 8X AGP 8X ATI Radeon 9800SE nVidia GeForce FX5950 Ultra nVidia GeForce FX5900 Ultra nVidia GeForce FX5900 128MB DDR 256MB DDR 256MB DDR 128MB DDR 325MHz 475MHz 450MHz 400MHz 290MHz (580MHz) 475MHz (950MHz) 425MHz (850MHz) 425MHz (850MHz)

380/340 490/965 530/930 465/905

2048 x 1536 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1536 2048 x 1536 85Hz 85Hz 85Hz 85Hz DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 2.0 DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 1.5 DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 1.4 DirectX 9.0, OpenGL 1.4 Windows 98SE/ME/NT/2000/XP Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP, Linux Windows 98SE/ME/NT4.0/2000/XP Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP

13611 [15813] 18475 [18706] 18064[19286] 17147 [18232] 991.5 1746.5 1666 1512.6 1288.5 3467.9 3296.7 2955.1

3315 6214 [6391] 5962 [6721] 5418 [6011] 924.4 1537.5 1480.2 1366.7 1280.1 3365.2 3206.7 2867.2

239.2 319.9 320.1 314.5 92.7 256.6 247.2 231.7

88.1 209.7 204.4 188.4 37.1 107.1 102.4 89.3 110.7 207.5 203.5 191 51 121.2 116.1 102.1

26.1 25.29 25.31 25.26

24674 [30428] 44803 [46111] 42955 [48763] 38517 [43556] 2852 [3653] 5921 [6146] 5600 [6635] 4865 [5702] 9130 [9082] 9206 [9222] 9219 [9202] 9233 [9220]

11.11 27.06 24.9 22.43 9.41 20.52 20.13 17.82

(909) 594-0597 (510) 490-8076 (510) 252-1118 866 2 28943447 (Taiwan) www.sapphiretech.com www.leadtek.com www.gainwardusa.com www.asus.com

PC Modder • 111 compiled by Marty Sems THE GREAT VIDEO CARD PYRAMID How 3D Cards Stack Up

NVIDIA ven with just two major discrete graphics processor manufacturers, it’s still easy to get overwhelmed by the alphabet soup of 3D card names. It helps to visualize GeForce 6800 Ultra $499 ATI VPU and NVIDIA GPU families as a pyramid, with the affordable chips on E GeForce 6800 GT the bottom and the expensive screamers on top. Here are the chip families currently listed GeForce 6800 by ATI and NVIDIA at press time—more or less—with example cards and prices as available. Prices are from Pricegrabber.com and Pricewatch.com except for the cards GeForce FX 5950 Ultra Leadtek GeForce FX5950 Ultra, 256MB DDR, we tested. For those cards, we listed the prices we paid. $380 3Dmark03: 6214 Q3A: 256.6fps UT2003: 107.1fps GeForce FX 5950 eVGA e-GeForce FX5950, 256MB DDR, $445 GeForce PCX 5950 (PCI Express)

GeForce FX 5900 XT MSI GeForce FX 5900XT, 128MB, $186 GeForce FX 5900 Ultra Gainward GeForce FX5900 Ultra, 256MB DDR, $339 3Dmark03: 5962 Q3A: 247.2 UT2003: 102.4 GeForce FX 5900 GigaByte GeForce FX 5900, 128MB DDR, $189 GeForce FX 5900 SE PNY GeForce FX5900 SE, 128MB DDR, $185 3Dmark03: 5179 Q3A: 224.1 UT2003: 84.5

GeForce PCX 5750 (PCI Express)

GeForce FX 5700 Ultra eVGA GeForce FX5700 Ultra, 128MB DDR2, $165 3Dmark03: 3910 Q3A: 173.9 UT2003: 58.3 GeForce FX 5700 Gainward GeForce FX 5700, 256MB DDR, $125 GeForce FX 5700LE XFX GeForce FX 5700 LE, 256MB DDR, $116

GeForce FX 5600 Ultra Abit Siluro GeForce FX5600 Ultra OTES, 128MB DDR, $195 3DMark03: 3245 Q3A: 162.4 UT2003: 54.1

GeForce FX 5500 AOpen GeForce FX 5500, 128MB DDR, $79 3DMark03: 1120 Q3A: 50.1 UT2003: 16.4

GeForce PCX 5300 (PCI Express)

GeForce FX 5200 Ultra BFG Technologies GeForce FX5200 Ultra, 128MB DDR, $99 3Dmark03: 2005 Q3A: 115.8 UT2003: 31.4 GeForce FX 5200 Chaintech GeForce FX5200, 128MB DDR, $56

112 • PC Modder ATI

Radeon X800 XT Platinum ATI Radeon How We Tested X800 XT Platinum Edition, $499 ur test PC had a 2GHz Athlon 64 3200+, 1GB (2 Radeon X800 XT ATI Radeon X800 XT, x 512MB) of Kingston HyperX DDR400, an Asus 256MB DDR, $399 O K8V Deluxe motherboard, an Antec True 430W Radeon X800 Pro ATI Radeon X800 Pro, 256MB power supply, a Seagate ST380013AS 80GB SATA DDR, $358 hard drive, and a Lite-On LTC-48161H 48X CD- RW/DVD drive. The OS was Windows XP Pro SP1; drivers were ATI’s Catalyst 4.4 and NVIDIA’s Radeon 9800 XT Gigabyte Radeon 9800XT, 256MB DDR, $428 ForceWare 56.72. 3Dmark03: 6521 Q3A: 237.7fps UT2003: 94.8fps Test results are for a stock card without overclock- Radeon 9800 Pro Sapphire Radeon 9800 PRO, 128MB DDR, $205 (OEM) ing, antialiasing, or anisotropic filtering. For a syn- 3Dmark03: 5786 Q3A: 223.9 UT2003: 86.7 thetic benchmark, we ran the DirectX 9-aware All-In-Wonder Radeon 9800 Pro ATI Radeon 9800 Pro All-In-Wonder, 3Dmark03 Build 340 and reported each card’s over- 128MB DDR, $327 all score. In real-world frame rate tests, we chose Radeon 9800 ATI Radeon 9800, 128MB DDR, $190 games that were playable throughout the pyramid, Radeon 9800 SE Sapphire Radeon 9800 SE, 128MB DDR, $134 which meant they’re a few steps 3Dmark03: 3315 Q3A: 92.7 UT2003: 37.1 back from the DX9/PS2/PS3 frontier of today’s titles. We ran Quake III Arena’s Demo001 at 1,600 x 1,200 Radeon 9700 Pro PowerColor Radeon 9700 Pro, 128MB DDR, $248 with 32-bit color to get the frame All-In-Wonder Radeon 9700 Pro ATI Radeon 9700 Pro All-In-Wonder, 128MB DDR, $399 rates shown. Likewise, we ran Unreal Radeon 9700 ATI Radeon 9700, 128MBDDR, $249 3Dmark03: 5167 Q3A: 200.5 UT2003: Tournament 2003’s Antalus demo at 77.5 1,600 x 1,200 x 32. All All-In-Wonder Radeon 9700 ATI Radeon 9700 All-In-Wonder, 128MB DDR, $213 cards are AGP 8X unless noted. ▲

Radeon X600 (PCI Express)

Radeon 9600 XT ATI Radeon 9600XT, 128MB DDR, $152 3Dmark03: 3834 Q3A: 125.7 UT2003: 45.5 All-In-Wonder Radeon 9600 XT ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9600 XT, 128MB DDR, $249 Radeon 9600 Pro Sapphire Radeon 9600 PRO, 128MB DDR, $129.50 3Dmark03: 3426 Q3A: 113.8 UT2003: 42.7 All-In-Wonder Radeon 9600 Pro ATI Radeon 9600 Pro All-In-Wonder, 128MB DDR, $249 Radeon 9600 Sapphire Radeon 9600, 256MB DDR, $100 All-In-Wonder Radeon 9600 ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 9600, 128MB DDR, $160 Radeon 9600 SE Asus Radeon 9600 SE, 128MB DDR, $74

Radeon X300 (PCI Express)

Radeon 9200 Pro (DX8.1) Radeon 9200 ATI Radeon 9200, 128MB DDR, $92 (DX8.1) 3Dmark03: 1223 Q3A: 63.8 UT2003: 21.9 Radeon 9200 SE Gigabyte Radeon 9200 SE, 128MB DDR, $45 (DX8.1)

Radeon 9000 Pro ATI Radeon 9000 Pro, 64MB DDR, $82 (DX8.1) All-In-Wonder Radeon 9000 Pro ATI All-In-Wonder RADEON 9000 Pro, 64MB DDR, $143 (AGP 4X, DX8.1) 3Dmark03: 1443 Q3A: 74.8 UT2003: 23.7 Radeon 9000 Sapphire Radeon 9000, 64MB DDR, $30 (DX8.1)

PC Modder • 113 If your PC doesn't support an interface you want to use, you can probably find a WHAT A DIFFERENCE SATA, Ultra160, or Ultra320 SCSI adapter card to add to one of the motherboard's PCI slot. Fortunately, all interfaces are back- ward compatible to some extent with their A DRIVE MAKES earlier and slower speed steps. For example, an ATA/133 adapter should handle an How A New Hard Drive Affects ATA/100 drive with no problems. Your Rig’s Overall Performance How We Tested There's a point at which the costs of the hat difference does your areal density (GB per platter), so that the fastest hard drives outweigh their speed hard drive make? It's just drive's heads read more data with each rev- advantages, at least for a desktop computer W for data storage, right? Well, olution of the disks. Hard drive manufac- or gaming PC. To give you a better idea of right. But if you spend all your money on turers also refine the electronics in the drive what you're really getting at each techno- a flashy CPU and RAM and go cheap on for smarter data request management. logical tier, we benchmarked a system with a slow hard drive, your rig may stall To handle these higher speeds, vendors a variety of internal drives. These ranged instead of scream. give their drives faster interfaces (connec- from an ATA/133 5,400rpm economy unit Your computer probably spends more tors, cables, and the circuitry to send data to an Ultra320 SCSI 10,000rpm server time waiting for data from the hard drive over them) with which to communicate denizen (our 15,000rpm SCSI server drive than from any other device (leaving your with the PC. Although interfaces such as was DOA). We tested each drive by itself, dial-up modem out of this). If your hard ATA/133 (Advanced Technology and noted our results in the "What's The drive is a slowpoke, it will delay every- Diff With Drives?" chart in this article. thing you try to do with your PC. We tried to minimize as many differ- In order to understand what makes one ences as we could by sticking to Maxtor hard drive faster than another, it helps to drives at or near 80GB of capacity. Of know how they work. A hard drive stores course, some variation was inevitable, as no bits of data as magnetic charges on rigid manufacturer sells a hard drive platform aluminum or glass disks, often called plat- that extends from 5,400rpm to 10,000rpm ters. The drive moves read/write heads with the same platter diameter and areal back-and-forth across the platters as they density. Also, to date only Western Digital's spin at 5,400rpm (revolutions per minute) Here’s a raw comparison of drive speeds, Raptor has 10,000rpm SATA credentials. or more, always keeping the heads a tiny courtesy of HD Tach 2.70. Western Digital’s Our test PC had a 3.2GHz P4, 1GB distance above the disks' surfaces. The elec- 10,000rpm Raptor chews up a mousy (512MB x 2) of Kingston HyperX tromagnetic heads read data from and write 5,400rpm drive and spits it out. DDR400 (PC3200), an Asus P4P8X it to the platters' magnetic recording layers. mainboard, an ATI Radeon 9800 XT Because it takes a few milliseconds to video card with 256MB DDR, a 48X Lite- find data on a hard drive, which is actual- On LTC-48161H CD-RW/DVD-ROM ly a long time to a computer, a drive has drive, and an Antec PLUS1080AMG some memory called a cache buffer. These 430W power supply. The motherboard few megabytes store the last data the drive supplied ATA/133 and SATA headers, and was asked to retrieve. If the computer asks we turned to an Adaptec 19160 Ultra160 for the same data again before new bits card for our Ultra320 SCSI drive (the overwrite it, the cache can supply it much 160MBps throughput limit shouldn't faster than if the drive had to physically affect a single drive with a measured find the data again on the disks. Attachment/133 megabytes per second), 107.7MBps burst read speed). Manufacturers use a bag of tricks to SATA/150 (Serial ATA/150MBps), and We ran HD Tach 2.70 on each bare speed up hard drive performance. They Ultra320 SCSI (Small Computer System drive and then formatted them and spin the drive's platters faster for spindle Interface, 320MBps) don't speed up a installed a drive image incorporating speeds of 7,200rpm, 10,000rpm, or even drive by themselves, they do allow swifter WinXP Pro SP1, 3Dmark03, PCMark04, 15,000rpm. They bump up the cache drives to send data to the PC at their top and Halo. Setting each drive as the sole buffer from 2MB to 8MB. They pack more speeds without an unnecessary bottleneck boot device, we ran our synthetic bench- storage space onto each platter for a higher in between. marks for an overview of how the system

114 • PC Modder would handle gaming and typical tasks. fans—one side intake and two rear For our baseline hard drive, we chose a Next, we timed how long it took each exhausts—plus the power supply's output type that many mainstream users get with drive to load Halo, and ran the game's fan. Although it's a rather unusual config- their plain-vanilla, name-brand PCs. A Timedemo at 1,600 x 1,200 resolution uration, it's more typical of an enthusiast's 5,400rpm EIDE drive with a 2MB cache and 32-bit color depth to see if its frames case setup than would be a mainstream provides the most storage per dollar, but per second rate was affected. We used the case with a single intake fan balancing the no one will call it peppy. An entry-level latest drivers, BIOS, and patches available. power supply's air output. Special thanks drive like this makes an excellent backup Finally, we took case temperature read- to Coby "They Stole My Monitor" Boring unit, though. It's quiet and it runs cool. ings in the middle of our Futuremark for his help in the testing lab. Maxtor invented the ATA/133 inter- benchmarks for each drive. Faster-spin- face several years ago, yet to date only ning drives usually generate more heat, so Maxtor DiamondMax 16 ATA/133 80GB Samsung joins the company in building we wanted to gauge their effect on the rest (4R080L0) ATA/133 drives. Seagate, Hitachi GST, of the system. We kept the case closed 5,400rpm and Western Digital continue to use the throughout our tests. This particular 2MB cache ATA/100 interface. Either interface is fine case had ample 80mm Antec cooling $59 for typical drive usage. What's The Diff With Drives? ome benchmarks show off faster drives, and some don't. Like a car's S handling, you have to feel the difference in many cases. Note that with even moderate airflow, none of these drives raised case temperatures much. Maxtor ATA-133 Maxtor ATA-133 Maxtor ATA-133 Maxtor SATA WD SATA Raptor Maxtor Ultra320 DM16 5,400rpm DM+9 7,200rpm DM+9 7,200rpm DM+9 7,200rpm 10,000rpm SCSI Atlas IV 2MB 80GB 2MB 8MB 80GB 8MB 80GB 8MB 74GB 10,000rpm 8MB

PCMark04 4901 4952 4916 4909 4965 5000 Processor 4876 4800 4816 4861 4871 4848 Memory 4456 4501 4467 4436 4447 4502 Graphics 4546 4544 4545 4539 4541 4539 Hard drive 2783 3178 4019 4072 5660 4433 3Dmark03 6438 6443 6453 6443 6444 6448 HD Tach 2.70 42.1 67.5 65.7 53.3 73.4 68 Max. read (MBps) Average read 34.8 49.4 48.8 45.2 64.5 48.2 (MBps) Max. write 21.6 30.2 20.3 14.8 53.5 42.1 (MBps) Average write 17.4 22.9 12.8 13.1 35.3 34.5 (MBps) Random 17.9 21.1 14.7 14.2 7.8 7.9 access (ms) Burst read 88.4 87.2 87.5 112.7 118.1 107.7 rate (MBps) Halo load :45 :42 :42 :42 :42 :44 time (sec.) Average FPS 25.25 25.93 25.9 26.05 26.57 26.49 Case temp. 31.1 33 32.4 33.5 31.2 30.7 (C)

PC Modder • 115 The main points from our test results For just a few bucks more—$9 in this Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA 80GB are PCMark04's System score of 4901 case—your 7,200rpm drive can quadru- (6Y080M0) and Hard Drive rating of 2783. Other ple its cache memory. That can mean 7,200rpm highlights are Halo's 45-second load time smoother video playback, quicker defrag- 8MB cache and 25.25fps rating; a case temperature of mentation, and fewer delays moving $82.50 31.1 degrees Celsius; and HD Tach scores from level to level in video games. A big- of 42.1MBps maximum/34.8MBps aver- ger cache doesn't really offer a noticeable The desktop hard drive industry has age reads, 21.6MBps max/17.4MBps speed boost in everyday usage, but you'd shifted to the Serial ATA interface, avg writes, and 17.9ms random access probably miss it if you switched back to a although manufacturers will likely keep time. PCMark's other categories and drive with 2MB cache. making ATA/EIDE drives for a while. 3Dmark03 didn't change much over the While a top desktop drive today can This drive is basically the DM+9 convert- rest of our testing, so we'll let the num- only read at a maximum of about ed to SATA with a bridge chip, so its bers in the chart speak for themselves. 67MBps, its cache can send its data at a PCMark scores are almost identical to the rate nearer to the interface's theoretical ATA/133 model above. Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 ATA/133 80GB max speed. That's about 133MBps for HD Tach liked the SATA DM+9 even (6Y080L0) ATA/133 and 150MBps for SATA. The less, reporting slashed read and write 7,200rpm bigger cache in this case gave us a beauti- rates that no other benchmark reflect- 2MB cache ful 26.4% increase in PCMark04's Hard ed. HD Tach did claim a huge 28.8% in- $74 Drive benchmark, to 4019 points. crease in burst read speed to 112.7MBps, Unfortunately, the rest of our tests but be aware that reads from cache are Read, write, and access speeds get a boost didn't reflect any other benefits attribut- too sporadic and brief to be noticeable in when you move from the 5,400rpm level to able to the extra buffer memory. Besides many applications. 7,200rpm. That's a 33% increase in spindle HD Tach's reported decrease in write Finally, Halo's 26.05fps score de- speed, although that doesn't translate to a rates, which was probably another exam- monstrated a 5.8% boon, but the 33.5- proportional jump in real performance. ple of this iffy software's occasional tom- degree case temp was the highest of all Remember that our comparisons can't be foolery over the past few versions, all the drives—even the 10,000rpm ones. apples-to-apples, as this DiamondMax Plus other benchmarks were flat or slightly It's still well within the comfort 9 is a different model than the Dia- down after the change. zone, though. mondMax 16 in the previous example. The DM+9 is obviously speedier than the 5,400rpm DM16 in its HD Tach results, although the long access time report- Cables & Connectors ed by the software is likely a fluke. Read ost hard drives in L-shaped male cable con- Interface) hard drives. speeds of 67.5MBps max/49.4MBps M desktop PCs use nectors in back. SATA Current SCSI drives use avg and quick write rates of 30.2MBps the ATA (Advanced cables are much skinnier 68-pin or 80-pin data max/22.9MBps avg get our blood pumping. Technology Attachment) than EIDE cables, even cables; earlier editions This 7,200rpm number charted an equally interface, also called EIDE rounded ones. However, used 25-pin or 50-pin impressive tally of 3178 in PCMark04's (Enhanced Integrated many SATA drives cables. FC-AL (Fibre Hard Drive test, a substantial 14% increase. Drive Electronics), DMA require a special power Channel-Arbitrated Loop) However, these benchmarks only focus (), supply connector or is another server inter- on drive performance, not the whole story. IDE, UltraATA, or adapter, as regular 4-pin face, but you probably We were chagrined to see that all that extra UltraDMA. EIDE drives’ Molex connectors won’t won’t find it in any PCs. drive speed bought us was another 1%, or data cable connectors fit them. The new SAS External hard drives 4952, in PCMark's overall system test. Halo have 39 or 40 pins, (Serial Attached SCSI) are usually EIDE drives loaded three seconds faster, or 6.7%, and although ATA/66 interface for servers uses converted to use USB 2.0 gained a 2.7% better frame rate at 25.93fps. /100/133 (66MBps the same cables and con- (60MBps) or FireWire All this came with a 1.9-degree temperature [megabytes per second] nectors. Some systems (50MBps) interfaces. rise to 33 degrees (6.1% more). to 133MBps) data cables can even support both Newer externals may use have double that number SAS and SATA. FireWire 800Mbps Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 ATA/133 80GB of wires. Most servers and (100MBps) or SATA to (6Y080P0) Many new desktops some enthusiast PCs use connect to a PC, or even 7,200rpm now come with SATA Ultra160 (160MBps) or 100Mbps Ethernet to 8MB cache (Serial ATA) hard drives, Ultra320 SCSI (Small hook up to a network $83 which have black, Computer Systems router. ▲

116 • PC Modder Western Digital Raptor SATA 74GB Seagate and others hope to reach SCSI- Hard Advice (WD740GD) like data management speeds.) Hard drive speed does play a significant 10,000rpm Put simply, high prices and relatively role in a PC's performance level, although 8MB cache low capacity have kept SCSI drives out of this speed manifests itself differently in vari- $215 most users' PCs. Heat output from their ous applications. For example, PCMark04's higher spindle speeds is also a concern, overall system score may tell you that a PC The next step up in performance is but it didn't factor much into our case with a SATA 10,000rpm Raptor is only 10,000rpm, heretofore a spindle speed temperature measurements. In fact, 30.7 1.3% swifter than one with a timid, reserved for server drives, not desktop degrees was the coolest temp we recorded. 5,400rpm drive. However, PCMark's Hard units. Western Digital is still the only Despite the Atlas IV's slim victory in Drive test will paint the Raptor system as purveyor of a 10,000rpm SATA drive, so overall PCMarks, 5000 points, the rest of more than 200% faster. The real truth is we'll include its Raptor 74GB as an aside its scores fell between the 10,000rpm somewhere in the middle. to all our Maxtors. SATA Raptor's and the 7,200rpm Maxtors. All else being equal, your best buy for a Basically a low-end SCSI drive built Curiously, it took a couple of seconds typical gaming and surfing rig is a with the SATA interface, the Raptor longer to load Halo than most of the pack. 7,200rpm SATA drive with an 8MB cache. proved to be the best performer of our After we bought this article's drives, SATA is the wave of the future, and 8MB group after our seventh contestant bowed Maxtor announced new Atlas SCSI drives don't cost much more than their out. The problem is that, like SCSI drives: the 10,000rpm Atlas 10K V (up to 2MB counterparts. drives, it's expensive. You could almost 300GB) and the 15,000rpm Atlas 15K II If your budget allows you to consider a buy three SATA or ATA 80GB drives for (up to 147GB). Speaking of 15K drives, Raptor or SCSI drive, look into buying mul- the price of this 74GB Raptor (and have a we had intended to include results from tiple SATA drives for a RAID instead. But nice, fast RAID [redundant array of inde- Maxtor's $510 Ultra320 SCSI 15000 RAID is a whole 'nother topic. . . . pendent disks/drives]). It's definitely for with 8MB cache (8C073L0), but it the enthusiast with cash to blow. wouldn't format or run HD Tach. by Marty Sems Monstrous PCMark04 Hard Drive and HD Tach scores show the Raptor's strengths. Its 5660 points in the former Chill Out represent a tremendous 39% jump, while its 73.4MBps max/64.5MBps avg reads lthough the ball or Master’s LHD-V04 hard drives will never heat and 53.5MBps max/35.3MBps avg writes A fluid dynamic bear- CoolDrive4 ($38). up in any situation.” in the latter walk tall. The higher spindle ings in a hard drive let the A cooler is a good idea Also, says Paulsen, not speed accounts for the whip-snapping platter spindle spin with for a 10,000rpm drive, all users have air condi- 7.8ms access time. extremely little friction, and almost essential for a tioning, and some live in Does all this make for peppier hard drives do generate 15,000rpm one. We used hotter climes than others. PCMark04 and Halo speeds? Surpris- heat. In general, the faster to be able to say that you These users, and especial- ingly, no. But our test PC definitely felt the spindle speed, the hot- didn’t need a cooler for ly ones with multidrive fastest with the Raptor on board. And ter a drive will get. If it 7,200rpm and slower dri- servers, should consider case temps were as cool as with the isn’t cooled by good air- ves. These days, though, coolers. 5,400rpm drive above. flow through the comput- more users are building or Finally, Paulsen says, er case, a hot drive will buying SFF (small form “look at the spec sheet to Maxtor Atlas IV Ultra320 SCSI 73.5GB wear out and fail much factor) computers that are see what kind of energy (8B073L0) sooner than normal. short on space. output comes from the 10,000rpm As enthusiasts began “Some kind of cooling drive and what tempera- 8MB cache buying faster and faster can be appropriate and tures it’s designed to oper- $281 drives, hard drive coolers necessary if a modder is ate in.” For instance, became more popular using a nonstandard Seagate’s Cheetah 15K.3 Even more than raw speed, SCSI accessories. These typical- enclosure in which unusu- SCSI drive shouldn’t run at drives' forte is fast access for multiple ly attach to or enclose a al heat buildup results case temperatures above users, as in a Web or file server. Hence, drive, using one or more from packing things close 55 degrees Celsius (131 our single-drive desktop usage pattern fans to circulate air over it. together or restricting air- degrees Fahrenheit), so reflected in the benchmarks we used Some examples are flow,” says Seagate use some type of cooler or don't play to the SCSI Atlas IV's Vantec’s Ultra Thin spokesman John Paulsen. improve your server’s air- strengths. (Upcoming SATA drives with HDC502A aluminum cool- “In other words, you cer- flow if your case swelters NCQ [native command queuing] from er ($8) and Cooler tainly can’t say 7,200rpm at temps above that. ▲

PC Modder • 117 DO MOTHERBOARDS MATTER? One Chipset, Six Combatants

t’s often been said that the mother- DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA hard drive to Andy “Knife To A Gunfight” Gerace board, the main circuit board in a with a 7,200rpm spindle speed and 8MB of and Jeff “Jolt Cola” Roberts for their help Icomputer, gives a system its personali- cache (model 6Y080M0) and a Lite-On in the testing lab. ty. This is more true than it appears, which 52X CD-ROM handled storage requests. you’ll find out if your cheap, colorful We installed a Gigabyte Radeon 9800XT Albatron K8X800 Pro v.1.1 mobo’s personality turns out to be a bad video card with 256MB of DDR, and fired We paid: $98 one. Sporty and psycho can be fun for a everything up with an Antec SL400 400W Warranty: 3 years labor, 1 year parts while, but over time, you’ll yearn to trade up to something more stable. After comparison shopping you may find that several reputable manufacturers offer mainboards with the features you want and prices you’re willing to pay. They might even have the same chipset or com- plement of support chips. But, you may ask, will any of these boards be materially better or faster than the rest? Does it really matter which board you buy? We love a good head-to-head around here, so we decided to throw six ATX mobos into the pit of conflict. Each of them had a VIA K8T800 northbridge and VT8237 southbridge, and each had a 754- pin socket for the AMD Athlon 64s avail- able at this writing. All our boards came from the main- power supply. Each mobo received the lat- Kicking off the festivities in alphabetical stream price range, about $77 to $119. est drivers and BIOS updates available. order is this contestant from Albatron. The Each had similar features, more or less, Our benchmarking portfolio started off K8X800 Pro looks ver-a nice-a with its such as AGP 8X/4X, SATA RAID, and with PCMark04 from Futuremark. This pretty, dark teal color and its cool copper DDR400 support. Most also had bigger synthetic benchmark gave us reasonable northbridge heatsink. The latter has cylin- brothers with more features, too. If you estimates of each board’s aptitude with gen- drical pins instead of fins, and invites don’t see the FireWire port or built-in eral tasks. For gaming, we tested with second glances. wireless support you’re looking for here, Futuremark’s synthetic 3Dmark03 and Like most mainboards for the Athlon check the manufacturers’ sites for more Microsoft’s Halo Timedemo. We set both 64, the Albatron has a plastic bracket bolt- upscale models. to 1,600 x 1,200 resolution with 32-bit ed through it and surrounding the 754-pin color depth. socket. The bracket offers a stronger How We Tested Finally, we overclocked each board’s mounting foundation for the bulky, heavy We fitted each motherboard with the frontside bus and noted how high it could heatsinks of today’s power-hungry proces- same processor, RAM, and other compo- go with stability. The CPU, heatsink, sors than would the socket itself. nents and then tested it with a game-heavy RAM, and, of course, chipset were the The K8X800 Pro can only support a suite of benchmarks. Our test part list same in each test, so it was really intriguing maximum of 2GB of DDR400 (PC3200) incorporated an Athlon 64 3000+ with to see the effect each board had on the level SDRAM, but that’s the limit for the rest of 512KB of L2 cache and a Gigabyte GH- of overclocking we were able to achieve. the boards in this article, too. It can handle PCU21-VG 3D heatsink and fan on top. There may be more pleasant company up to 3GB of DDR333/266/200, although Two sticks of 512MB HyperX PC3200 than six nice motherboards for a rainy that’s still less than the 4GB limits of earlier DDR SDRAM from Kingston gave us a Tuesday morning, but by now her body- boards that supported only the lower total of 1GB of memory. A Maxtor guards recognize us on sight. Special thanks speeds of RAM. That’s the reality on the

118 • PC Modder ground today, so to speak, and it’s still provides a sticker with a map of the mobo, SoundMAX audio chip pumping out 5.1- more memory than most power users may plus diagrams of its jumper settings and channel sound. Like the rest of the boards need in a PC. It reflects the limitations of switch/LED headers. in this article, the K8V-UAYZ supports DDR1 at FSB frequencies of 400MHz and This motherboard falls into the middle AGP 8X. At this writing, PCI Express has beyond. (By the way, AMD would like us of the pack price-wise and synthetic bench- yet to crest the horizon and bathe us all in to forgo the use of the term “frontside bus” mark performance-wise. It overclocked less its blessed bandwidth. No real biggie, of regarding the Athlon 64/Opteron families, than the rest, though, and its Halo score course, as most users don’t even need all of as the processors directly link to the RAM was dead last by a laser’s width. But at the AGP 8X’s headroom just yet. using built-in memory controllers.) risk of deflating the drama somewhat, Asus offers dual SATA RAID (0 and 1) The Albatron’s two SATA headers won’t keep in mind that the overall benchmark on this mobo through a Promise 20376 go far when more optical drives go serial, scores only varied from each other at most controller and the southbridge. The but that’s more of a concern for the future. by 2.9%. VT8237 is likely the faster bet, as it doesn’t The VIA VT8237 southbridge offers have to squeeze SATA’s 150MBps poten- SATA RAID configurations 0 and 1. Asus K8V-UAYZ Rev. 1.12 tial through the 133MBps PCI bus as the Albatron provided a SATA power adapter, We paid: $119 Promise chip must. Four SATA ports beck- but no SATA data cables for some reason. Warranty: 3 years on. Asus even provided three SATA data The company did cables with our kit. include two ATA/133 As for ATA/133, the ribbon cables and a flop- K8V-UAYZ features a py drive cable, though. third ATA/133 header A Realtek ALC655 with RAID 0 and 1 capa- chip provides mighty bilities, thanks to the nice 5.1-channel audio. Promise 20376 men- There’s an SPDIF in- tioned above. Ribbon put/output header on the cables include two K8X800 Pro, but no cor- ATA/133s, one ATA/33 responding jack bracket for optical drives, and a came with our board. floppy drive cable. However, there’s a four- A Marvell 88E8001 port USB bracket in the controller supplies the kit, which complements Gigabit Ethernet connec- the two integrated ports tivity, but Asus added its and extra two-port header for a total of Virtual Cable Tester feature to sense net- eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports. Trusty brand Asus has finally followed work line quality. Four USB 2.0 ports are This Pro version of the K8X800 had the the competition’s lead. Not in any substan- integrated into the backplane, with four optional, built-in 3Com 10/100Mbps tial or technical way, of course; rather, the more available via headers without exten- LAN connection but not the VIA VT6307 manufacturer is now adding a bit of color sions. There are the usual token legacy chip for 400Mbps FireWire support. In a to its heretofore staid mainboards. You’ll ports, but no MIDI/gameport except nod to portability, Albatron endowed the find five yellow PCI slots on the K8V- through another header sans bracket. You AGP 8X slot with a sliding card locking UAYZ, for example, plus yellow and blue were just about to upgrade to a USB joy- mechanism to avoid embarrassing fallout. RAM slots (three slots for DDR400, 2GB stick anyway, weren’t you? The K8X800 Pro’s six PCI slots are easy maximum DDR400, 3GB maximum As always, Asus packs a comprehen- to spot from orbit, but you’d need a more DDR333/266/200). The PCB is a stately sive manual with this board. It will walk oblique view to spy the legacy MIDI/game- brown color that clashes just a little with a you through the K8V-UAYZ’s many port, parallel port, and 9-pin serial connec- tasteful blue northbridge heatsink. “value-added” features, some of which tors. There are also PS/2 mouse and key- This Asus has an AMCO heatsink are relatively novel. For example, Instant board jacks, which will probably hang on bracket, but its backing plate is stamped Music Lite lets you play an audio CD longer than expected until pre-OS and metal in contrast to the Albatron’s plastic (not an MP3 or other music file disc) sleep mode USB support is no longer an brace. The plate doesn’t contact the main- through the board’s integrated audio iffy proposition. board under the socket, but it still might channel, all without booting up to your The Albatron’s software bundle is pretty play a role in dissipating heat from the sink. operating system. You’ll use the ESC typical. It includes Trend Micro PC-cillin An RCA/coaxial SPDIF output comes and function keys F1 through F6 to tog- 2002 antivirus, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and built into this board’s back panel port clus- gle Instant Music Lite on or off, adjust Microsoft DirectX 9.0b. The company also ter. Upstream of it is an ADI AD1980 volume, play or stop, and skip tracks.

PC Modder • 119 Another point of interest is CrashFree Overclocking Standings (FSB) ponied up one ATA/133, BIOS 2, which is simply a backup of the one ATA/33, and one original BIOS and recovery mechanism Below are the increases in FSB frequency over stock we achieved: floppy ribbon cable. on the installation CD. Our longtime Gigabyte GA-K8VT800M 12.5% Two DDR400/333 friend Q-Fan offers automatic fan speed Epox EP-8HDA3+ 8.5% /266 slots support up to adjustment to reduce noise during peri- 2GB on this austere ods of light CPU loads. In a similar vein, MSI K8T NEO-FSR 8.00% board, which like the Cool’n’Quiet! adjusts the processor’s Asus K8V-UAYZ 7.5% Asus has a dark brown voltage and frequency as needed. This PCB. The only color Chaintech SK8T800 7.5% can cut power consumption and heat comes from the legacy output. Finally, there’s C.P.R., or CPU Albatron K8X800 Pro 5.5% ports and the capacitors Parameter Recall, which resets the BIOS around the socket. Said settings to default in case of a hang due Athlon 64 support in a $77 package, legacy ports include a second 9-pin serial to overclocking. Chaintech has it. With savings like this, a port and a MIDI/gameport. A LOTES Speaking of o/c, Asus offers fine 1MHz quick-and-dirty gaming system with a top- plastic brace through the board gives the adjustments for the FSB (200 to 300MHz) notch graphics card can be more affordable heatsink a firm footing. and .025V increments for CPU voltage than you think. In short, the low-buck SK8T800 packs (1.750V to 0.800V), among other related Like the other vendors showcased here, several essentials such as AGP 8X/4X and settings. There’s the familiar sticker map of Chaintech makes use of the VIA south- 10/100Mbps LAN, and straps SATA the mobo, jumpers, and switch/LED head- bridge to enable SATA RAID 0 and 1. The RAID on top for kicks. However, its docu- ers, plus PC-cillin 2002 Antivirus, Asus PC company doesn’t supply any SATA data mentation is minimal. Chaintech also skips Probe, and Acrobat Reader on CD. cables for the board’s two headers, but it a lot of the extras, such as I/O brackets and In stock trim, the Asus took the does ante up with a SATA power adapter. bonus software, although it should be said 3Dmark03 and PCMark04 speed crowns, Kudos to Chaintech for saving users a trip that most of the software that other boards for what they’re worth. It tied the to the geek store. in this price bracket bundle are free to Chaintech Summit SK8T800 for fourth VIA’s VT6103 controller gives the download anyway. place in raw overclockability. We should SK8T800 its 10/100Mbps LAN connectiv- We’re also leery of that brief one-year add that we’ve had fewer problems with ity. It’s no Gigabit port, but it’s sweetened warranty. However, Chaintech’s tech Asus boards over the years than any other by its wake-on capability over a network. support did respond to an email query brand, and that three-year warranty is The 5.1-channel audio is all but expect- the same day, which is saying something. among the longest here. ed these days, and happily, the board’s SPDIF output header is becoming a more Epox EP-8HDA3+ Rev. 1.0 Chaintech SK8T800 commonplace feature, as well. There’s no We paid: $111 We paid: $77 extension for SPDIF, however. The six Warranty: 2 years Warranty: 1 year ports’ worth of USB 2.0 headers didn’t come with any brackets, either, although You want I/O? You got it. For eleventy- What a bargain! If you’re looking for there are two fixed USB 2.0 ports in the one bucks, Epox manages to cram in the SATA RAID, 100Mbps Ethernet, and rear I/O cluster. Chaintech grudgingly connectivity of a mainboard costing twice as much. Epox’s exercise in excess kicks off with integrated dual LAN. The primary horse is a Gigabit Ethernet connection managed by 3Com’s 3C940 controller. The old, grey mare next to it is a 10/100Mbps nag born of VIA’s VT6103. Sure, she’s still service- able, but 10/100 Ethernet just ain’t what she used to be. Another really cool extra is a second built-in SPDIF output port. One is the RCA/coaxial style, and the other is optical. The latter has a spring-loaded door that flips out of the way when you insert a cable connector. It won’t get lost like the typical removable black plastic plug. The board

120 • PC Modder of this entire motherboard, it would be a coup for Epox to offer it as an add-in that doesn’t require a later revision of the board. We’ve been burned before by other manu- facturers’ promises, such as new processor and FSB speed support that only material- ized with Rev. 2.0 boards, so we take this one with a bit of skepticism. Reasoning that Athlon 64 buyers like their RAM in pairs, Epox skipped a third DIMM slot on the EP-8HDA3+. The board can use up to 2GB of DDR400. Its frequency and voltage settings are satisfac- torily granular for overclocking, and indeed, the motherboard came in second in our o/c standings. “Retro” probably isn’t the right term for this board’s Radio-Shack-green PCB, but it does look good with its understated, gold- tinged northbridge heatsink. The EP- 8HDA3+ sports four integrated USB 2.0 ports, so we won’t razz Epox for leaving out even supports SPDIF input through its you, the SiI3114 is on the 133MBps PCI extension cables for the headers for four Line-out jack or a dedicated pin-header (no bus, so you’ll probably want to keep your more. The company included the usual extension supplied). The 5.1-channel audio RAID 0 on the VIA controller. Not one ATA/133 and floppy ribbons. is courtesy of a Realtek ALC655 codec, and to skimp, Epox supplies two each of Notable features, besides a thorough there’s even jack sensing to detect whether SATA cables and power adapters, plus an manual that rivals Asus’s efforts, include you’ve attached speakers, headphones, or extension cable that adds an external Post Port. This is a P80P LED readout on some other device. SATA data port to an expansion port the PCB that can report boot error codes. If The I/O laundry list turns next to stor- bracket. That bracket also has a you encounter a hang after an optimistic age. You’ll count a whopping six SATA MIDI/gameport jack. overclock, you can revert your system to headers on the EP-8HDA3+ for hard and Curiously, both the users manual and a default settings by pressing INSERT at (future) optical drives. They’re RAID- leaflet from Epox promise future support of startup. Finally, EZ Boot lets you choose capable, too, thanks to the Silicon Image RAIDs 5 and 10 through BIOS and driver the boot device by pressing ESC at startup SiI3114 (RAIDs 0 and 1) and VT8237 updates. Well, we’ll see. With dedicated rather than mucking around in the CMOS southbridge (0, 1, and JBOD). Mind RAID 5 cards costing nearly twice the price settings each time. The EP-8HDA3+’s software CD included PC-cillin 2002 and Adobe Reader 6.0. Although all the artwork suggested we were getting Symantec’s Norton Ghost, as well, it turned out to be Norton Personal Firewall 2003 instead. Shucks. On the bright side, Epox thoughtfully included the SATA and SATA RAID drivers on diskettes to save you a step when you’re building your system. Options we didn’t get with our sample were 1394a FireWire and ATA/133 RAID. However, we did get an embossed Epox case badge and a “what the?” folding Epox desk calendar. More importantly, the com- pany’s tech support answered our online query about warranty coverage within an hour or two.

PC Modder • 121 Gigabyte GA-K8VT800M Rev. 1.0 This Gigabyte lagged behind in our PCB. Even the floppy drive cable was fold- We paid: $95 synthetic benchmarks, but it emerged ed, sleeved in a black mesh, and secured Warranty: 3 years limited from the overclocking scrap as the champ with heat shrink tubing. These cables will with a 12.5% FSB increase to 225MHz. allow better airflow around them, helping In Gigabyte’s K8 Triton series comes Its o/c opportunities include a CPU host your system to run cooler. MSI threw this 754-pin, four-layer board. It’s named clock adjustment range of 200MHz to in two SATA data cables, plus a according to the company’s love of long 455MHz, plus a Windows-based utility SATA power adapter that can support strings of alphanumeric characters, but at called EasyTune 4 for tweaking the two drives simultaneously. least its model number doesn’t look like a RAM, AGP, and FSB. There’s also an The K8T Neo-FSR’s three greenish phonetically spelled sneeze (GA-K8NNXP! Auto Optimize mode in case you’d rather DIMM slots support up to 2GB of Gesundheit.) let the board adjust itself. DDR400/333/266/200. Its LOTES The GA-K8VT800M is small, about 8.5 Besides its overclocking trophy, the heatsink bracket and metal backing plate inches x 9.5 inches, to appeal to users who GA-K8VT800M also won our Halo fps don’t come attached to the board, but want to assemble tinier systems and media boxes. It’s also a nice teal color, although you won’t be able to tell under the dense white silkscreening around every compo- nent and contact. You’ll only get three PCI slots because of the smaller form factor, but the northbridge heatsink distracts you from this fact with some extra visual zip. Like the Epox EP-8HDA3+, this Gigabyte has but two DDR400/333/ 266/200 slots and a 2GB RAM maximum. There are eight USB 2.0 ports in sum, although the four that aren’t integrated lie unfulfilled as headers without supplied extensions. Gigabyte did package a SATA, an ATA/133, and a floppy cable with the board. The RAID 0 and 1 options for the GA-K8VT800M’s two SATA ports are the work of the VT8237 southbridge. competition. Not that there’s a lot of rather in a bag with the necessary bolts. A 10/100Mbps LAN comes standard on drama in being 2.9% faster than the slow- The software bundle includes the by-now- this board, thanks to a Realtek RTL8100C est mobo of the six, but a win’s a win. By familiar PC-cillin and Acrobat Reader, and controller. In keeping with a small PC’s the by, Gigabyte’s tech support did reply the manual is very good. portability, the AGP 8X/4X graphics slot to a question we had within a business There are just two SATA ports on this gets a retractable pin-retainer mechanism so day, but the department skips email con- Neo, but they do get RAID 0 and 1 sup- the video card stays put. Note that AGP 2X tact in favor of an odd login message sys- port through the VIA southbridge. Like the cards are not supported. tem on the Web site. Epox board above, the K8T NEO-FSR comes with SATA RAID drivers on a Moving from video to audio, the GA- MSI K8T Neo-FSR (MS-6702) v.1.0 K8VT800M gets jack-sensing, 5.1-channel handy diskette. Our particular board didn’t We paid: $93 surround sound connections from an have the optional Promise 20378 ATA/133 Warranty: 3 years parts, 2 years labor ALC655 chip. The ALC655 even brings RAID or FireWire. However, few boards from date of manufacture SPDIF input and output to the table, but in this roundup had PATA RAID, these are routed through a pin header for and FireWire was always up in the next which there’s no extension bracket. This contender from Microstar was price bracket. Phooey. There’s also no bracket for the the only motherboard in our group to This Neo offers better AGP support MIDI/gameport header. In any case, your have passive heatsinks on its . than the Gigabyte above, handling PS/2 keyboard and mouse, parallel port Those sinks are part of MSI’s LifePro fea- 8X/4X/2X/1X without a qualm. However, printer, and external serial dial-up modem ture, which aims to extend the K8T Neo- MSI says that the Realtek 8110S-32 chip all have homes on the back panel. Heck, FSR’s life. behind the integrated Gigabit Ethernet jack there’s even a leftover 9-pin serial port in This Neo was also the only board in this doesn’t support 10/100Mbps connections. case you have to reconfigure an old broad- article that came with a rounded, two- For its part, Realtek says that the 8110S-32 band modem or router. device ATA/133 cable, in red to match the is fully backward compatible with

122 • PC Modder 10/100Mbps Ethernet, so it’s likely an starts when the board was made, isn’t a hard and fast rule. We’ve seen some implementation problem. not purchased. erstwhile losers really turn their quality MSI packed four USB 2.0 ports into control around. the backplane and made four more avail- Who’s Your Mama? A great mix of features at a low price is able as pins on the motherboard. A two- Our test results chart is, as we predicted, exciting, but we would rather pay a few port bracket makes two of the latter use- merely a formality. Sure, we found some bucks more to get those features from a ful. That bracket, called the D-Bracket variation in our boards’ benchmark scores, vendor with whom we’ve had better luck. 2, also holds four LEDs. These form a but we’re talking about a measly 2% overall Never skimp on your motherboard; it will boot status and error code display visible delta in PCMark04 and just 0.7% in affect everything you do with your system from outside the case. 3Dmark03. In other words, speed differ- in the future. SPDIF users have a choice of out- ences among otherwise similar boards With all that in mind, we’ll call the Asus puts on the K8T Neo-FSR. There’s an should be your last consideration when you K8V-UAYZ your best bet. For $119, you’ll integrated RCA-style output, but the buy a new motherboard. get a three-year warranty, ATA/133 and line out 1/8-inch jack can also carry So what does matter? Stock perfor- SATA RAID, a solid track record, Gigabit SPDIF out. A Realtek ALC655 awak- mance may not vary much, but stable Ethernet, Instant Music Lite, an SPDIF ens your surround speakers with 5.1- overclockability does. Also, one board output jack, and top stock speeds. The $93 channel audio. may have a killer feature at a price the MSI K8T Neo-FSR, $111 Epox EP- This Neo can wake from a set alarm others can’t touch. 8HDA3+, and $95 Gigabyte GA- time, the mouse, or the keyboard. Built-in Reliability and good tech support are K8VT800M also have strong points. ports include a 9-pin serial, parallel, paramount, which means that a manufac- PS/2 mouse, and PS/2 keyboard connec- turer’s reputation counts. However, this by Marty Sems tion. However, there’s no provision for a MIDI/ gameport. Mobo Matchup The CoreCell chip near the DIMM slots is We did all testing with an Athlon 64 3000+ (2GHz, 512KB L2), 1GB (2 x 512MB) Kingston HyperX PC3200 DDR, responsible for a whole a Gigabyte Radeon 9800XT with 256MB DDR, an 80GB Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA hard drive (7,200rpm, host of marketing terms 8MB cache), and a Lite-On 52X CD-ROM. Drivers, benchmarks, and BIOS versions were the most current available. features. Among these are MSI’s D.O.T. Dy- Albatron Asus K8V- Chaintech Epox EP- Gigabyte GA- MSI K8T namic Overclocking K8X800 Pro UAYZ SK8T800 8HDA3+ K8VT800M NEO-FSR Technology, which automatically adjusts the CPU frequency per Price $98 $119 $77 $111 $95 $93 its current load. Cool- 3Dmark03 ’n’Quiet in the BIOS (1600x1200x32) 6495 6510 6492 6487 6465 6504 adjusts the Athlon 64’s PCMark04 4009 4054 3993 4010 3974 3978 fan speed. Finally, Speedster offers over- CPU 3785 3774 3711 3724 3730 3738 clocking, LifePro pro- Memory 3552 3562 3494 3531 3544 3545 longs the life of compo- nents and fans, and Graphics 4441 4499 4527 4572 4524 4519 CoreCenter is a combi- Hard drive 4416 4433 4437 4397 4387 4427 nation monitoring and overclocking utility. Halo Timedemo 26.7 27.07 26.89 26.84 27.47 26.77 This MSI had the (1600x1200 second-best stock 3D- x32), fps mark03 score, and was Overclocking 2.11GHz, 2.15GHz, 2.15GHz, 2.17GHz, 2.25GHz, 2.16GHz, our third-best over- (CPU, FSB, voltage) 211MHz, 1.6V 215MHz, 1.4V 215MHz, 1.5V 217MHz, 1.5V 225MHz, 1.47V 216MHz, 1.5V clocker. It joins Al- batron in the Three Year O/C increase (%) 5.5 7.5 7.5 8.5 12.5 8 Warranty With Caveats Club, but note that Warranty 3 years labor, 3 years 1 year 2 years 3 years limited 3 years parts, the coverage period 1 year parts 2 years labor

PC Modder • 123 it as we could get). We encountered sta- bility issues with exactly one-third of MY DDR CAN BEAT the modules we tested, so even basic benchmarking gave us insight into which DDR might be more suited to overclocking. UP YOUR DDR We started with the Auto setting for the Core Voltage. We then benchmarked Memory Speeds Advance Faster Than Industry the performance using Sandra 2004, Standards recording the Integer ALU, Float FPU, and CAS Timing for each. If a system was unstable, we typically saw one of here are many very fast DDR (www.geilusa.com), Kingston (www.king four things: on-screen video errors, a memory modules on the market ston.com), Mush-kin (www.mushkin Sandra crash, an inability to launch Tright now, but unfortunately for .com), and OCZ (www.ocztechnology). Sandra, or an inability to load Windows. the average user, as of press time, JEDEC We ordered our memory through retail We treated each of these problems as an (Joint Electron Device Engineering outlets. The manufacturers had no idea indication that we needed to make Council) has only approved standards up to these modules were for PC Modder maga- adjustments to stabilize the system. To PC3200. However, with memory as fast as zine rather than for an average home user. ensure that overclocking the PCI bus did PC4400 currently available, the only real We did not include any DDR2 mod- not cause display problems, we entered limit to running DDR faster than PC3200 ules in our tests because very few modules the BIOS and locked the PCI bus is having the proper hardware and know- were available at press time. With the at 66.66/33.33. how. To the power modder, the full range release of DDR2-compatible chipsets, When we encountered minor errors, of DDR is accessible. such as Intel’s 915 on the horizon, expect such as display problems, we first tried PC Modder to complete a thorough line to benchmark the system (making a Parts Selection of DDR2 tests next time. note of the errors) before adjusting the We tested the latest memory, ranging voltage or frequency. Our efforts to sta- How We Tested from PC3500 to a whopping PC4400 bilize systems involved first increasing DDR. The only motherboards available We adjusted a few settings in the voltage until the system was stable. that supported the FSB necessary to run SiSoftware’s Sandra 2004 to allow for We then restored the Auto setting for PC4400 DDR at 550MHz were the Asus more accurate benchmark scores. By voltage and lowered the FSB until the P4C800 Deluxe and P4C800-E. We default Sandra allows special instruc- system was stable. chose the P4C800-E motherboard, which tions and buffering, two things which PC3700 DDR Tests has generally received excellent reviews would have compromised the integrity from other overclockers. of our results. We used Sandra’s The contenders in the PC3700 cate- Just as important as the motherboard Bandwidth Benchmark Wizard to dis- gory were from Corsair, GeIL, and was the choice of processor. The 2.4GHz able all MMX, SSE, SSE2, and Kingston. The GeIL DDR was rated Pentium 4 has been around long enough Buffering/Block-Prefetch Benchmarks. with a slightly more aggressive tCL tim- to be fine-tuned and more stable than As a result, our Sandra may seem low, ing (2.5 as opposed to 3) than the some of the newer CPUs we could have but the results are a better reflection of Corsair and Kingston DDR. We would chosen. In addition, we noted that many the performance of the memory itself expect the lower tCL to correspond to others in online forums and overclocking rather than special CPU instructions. higher performance, but possibly less publications have had excellent results We first benchmarked the memory at system stability. We tested each of the overclocking the 2.4GHz P4. (This was its listed frequency by entering the necessary because as we increased the BIOS and adjusting the FSB. Because FSB to bring the memory to the proper no processor or motherboard officially frequency, we would also increase the supports the FSB necessary to run the processor’s .) non-JEDEC-approved PC3500 and At press time the fastest DDR faster DDR, every test we ran involved SDRAM available was PC4400. We chose some degree of overclocking to achieve a selection of 512MB PC3500, PC3700, the memory’s rated speed. Our goal was PC4000, PC4200, and PC4400 dual-chan- not to overclock as much as possible but nel DDR kits from five manufactur- to compare the memory’s performance ers: Corsair (www.corsair.com), GeIL at its intended frequency (or as close to Corsair XMS3700 TWINX512-3700 PC3700

124 • PC Modder three pairs of memory modules to see if Without the sturdy heatspreaders that these predictions would hold up. the other DDR pairs had, it was notice- Corsair XMS3700 TWINX512-3700 ably more difficult to insert the Golden PC3700. The first Corsair modules we Dragon PC3700 DDR into the DIMM tested were the pair in the XMS3700 slots. The real cause for concern, though, TWINX512-3700 PC3700 kit. The was whether the system would run stable dual-channel kit we tested came with without heatspreaders for the memory. black heatspreaders. You can also order Although the system ran stable the XMS3700 TWINX512-3700PT enough to run Sandra 2004, we did dual-channel kit, which has platinum encounter problems with the Golden Kingston HyperX KHX3500AK2/512 512MB heatspreaders. This memory is meant to Dragon memory. Once again, we saw DDR Kit operate at 466MHz and is rated with a the dreaded on-screen distortion that we 3-4-4-8 latency. would normally associate with memory To test the PC3700 modules, we corruption. After running Sandra 2004 2.6V with CAS timings of 3-4-4-8. The entered the BIOS and set the FSB to and receiving benchmark scores of 2496, memory carries a lifetime warranty. We 233MHz (466MHz frequency divided 2546, and 2.5-4-4-8 for Integer ALU, ran Sandra 2004 and found the system to by 2 = 233MHz). Windows loaded and Float FPU, and CAS timings, respective- be stable. The Integer ALU score was Sandra 2004 ran its benchmarks with- ly, we increased the voltage from 1.5V to 2510, and the Float FPU score was 2559. out any difficulty. The Integer ALU 1.525V and loaded Windows. PC3700 results. Despite some diffi- score was 2524, and the Float FPU score The increase in voltage corrected the culty getting GeIL’s PC3700 DDR to was 2571. The CAS timings were 3-4-4- memory-related problems that had pre- run stable, it provided the highest 8, as expected. sented themselves in the on-screen display Sandra 2004 scores. Users should be GeIL Golden Dragon PC3700 errors. This time, Sandra returned aware, though, that the GeIL’s Golden 466MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit. improved scores of 2592 and 2604 for Dragon memory lacks heatspreaders and GeIL’s Golden Dragon PC3700 Integer ALU and Float FPU. may take a bit more tweaking in order to 466MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit was Next, we restored the voltage to the run in a stable environment. the only memory we tested that did not Auto setting of 1.5V and instead low- have a heatspreader. GeIL still presented ered the FSB. At 232MHz, the system PC4000 DDR Tests the memory very attractively, however. was stable, and graphics displayed prop- We had a streak of luck when we The modules themselves are a golden yel- erly on screen. We ran Sandra and shopped for PC4000 DDR. All five low with shiny gold patterns and dragon recorded scores of 2520 Integer ALU manufacturers had PC4000 memory illustrations on the circuit board. In addi- and 2575 Float FPU. available at the time, so we could do a tion, a red LED is built into each module Our best result (2592:2604) came real comparison between them. in the pair. These LEDs light up when from increasing the voltage and leaving Although the PC4000 forced us to push the FSB set at 233MHz. The lack of a the FSB even further, we only had one heatspreader could have contributed to DDR pair give us any difficulty. For the the stability issues, or the display prob- most part, the Asus P4C800-E board lems could have been due to the lower continued to convince us that it is the CAS timing of 2.5tCL, which is more board for overclocking. aggressive and could have led to some sys- Corsair XMS4000 TWINX512-4000. tem instability. The other PC3700 we The first PC4000 DDR we tested was tested had a CAS timing of 3 tCL. the Corsair XMS4000 TWINX512- Kingston HyperX KHX3700K2/512 4000, a member of Corsair’s TWINX 512MB Kit. Kingston’s HyperX memo- family of DDR. The modules in this pair GeIL Ultra Platinum PC3500 433MHz Dual ry is designed for gamers and built for had black heatspreaders and were Channel DDR Kit maximum compatibility with several designed to operate at 500MHz and a chipsets popular with gamers and over- latency of 3-4-4-8. the system is running. Even without clockers. We bought a HyperX KHX- After setting the FSB to 250MHz, the heatspreaders, this memory attracts plen- 3700K2/512 512MB Kit and ran it system ran stable enough to load Windows. ty of attention through a case window. through Sandra’s tests to see how it We ran Sandra 2004 and recorded the GeIL also provided interesting retail compared to similar PC3700 DDR by Integer ALU (2724) and Float FPU (2762). packaging for the Golden Dragon memo- Corsair and GeIL. The CAS timings were 3-4-4-8, as expected. ry. The DDR came in a small, folding, Kingston’s PC3700 memory came GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4000 cloth-covered book. with blue heatspreaders and is rated at 500MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit.

PC Modder • 125 Next, we moved on to the GeIL in this case, we achieved the best results stability, we were not disappointed. PC4000 offering. This dual-channel kit, by increasing the voltage. OCZ’s PC4000 DDR ran perfectly at a unlike the GeIL PC3700 kit, came with Mushkin 512MB Dual Pack PC- 500MHz frequency. The memory mod- heatspreaders. The platinum copper 4000 DDR. We also tested Mushkin’s ules in our kit featured gold-layered heatspreaders attract fingerprints easily, 512MB Dual Pack PC4000 DDR, copper heatspreaders. Overclockers so if you want to show off your system which supports 2.5V to 2.75V and should take note that OCZ offers EVP and its shiny memory, you’ll want to be comes with heatspreaders. The color (Extended Voltage Protection), which careful when handling the GeIL Ultra of the heatspreaders varies, but our lets users take advantage of VDIMMs of Platinum DDR modules. GeIL includes module came with royal purple-colored 3.0V +/-5% without violating the terms a lifetime warranty. Voltages of 2.6V to of the lifetime warranty. 3.1V are supported, and the memory’s After benchmarking the OCZ memo- latency is rated at 2.5-4-4-7. A sturdy ry, we could see that only the Corsair and clear acrylic case with sliding cover pro- Kingston PC4000 DDR provided higher tects the memory in shipping and Sandra scores. OCZ’s PC4000 weighed storage. As with the other GeIL in with a 2723 Integer ALU, a 2744 Ultra Platinum modules, this memory Float FPU, and CAS timings of 2.5-4-4- includes temperature-reading stickers on 8. Although this memory may work with the heatspreader. other motherboards, OCZ designed it As with the Corsair PC4000 DDR, especially for boards based on Intel’s i865 the GeIL PC4000 memory ran with the Mushkin 512MB PC3500 DDR Level 1 and i875 chipsets. You should get the FSB set to 250MHz without any difficul- Dual Pack most stability and best performance, ty. Sandra returned scores of 2703 then, with Intel i865/i875 boards. Integer ALU and 2750 Float FPU, a little heatspreaders. This memory scored at PC4000 results. As with the PC3500 bit slower than the Corsair memory, 2716 Integer ALU and 2757 Float FPU. tests, Kingston failed to run stable at its which was surprising because the GeIL Although we ran the memory at its intended frequency without some memory actually had the more aggressive rated 500MHz (250MHz FSB x 2 = tweaking of the voltage settings in the of the two CAS timings. 500MHz), Sandra returned a CAS BIOS. However, once again, after Kingston HyperX KHX4000K2/512 timing of 2.5-4-4-8. According to tweaking the system settings with the 512MB Kit. Kingston’s PC4000 memory Mushkin’s specs, at 500MHz this mem- Kingston DDR, it took the crown for was another member of the company’s ory should have had a tCL of 3 rather the best Sandra scores in its class. The HyperX line of DDR. It features the than 2.5. The 2.5 is actually a more Corsair and OCZ DDR modules, how- trademark blue heatspreaders. impressive latency score, however, so we ever, would be serious contenders in a Just as we had problems with the dis- did not object. battle to woo our credit cards into mak- play when using the Kingston PC3500 OCZ Enhanced Latency DDR PC- ing a few DDR purchases. After all, DDR, we once again ran into display 4000 Dual Channel Gold. Up until there is something to be said for out-of- difficulties with the Kingston PC4000 this point, we had not benchmarked the-box stability at the rated frequency. DDR. We were able to run Sandra any of OCZ’s memory. We were despite the video errors and recorded PC4200 DDR Tests scores of 2692 Integer ALU, 2748 Float When we approached the PC4200 FPU, and CAS timings of 3-4-4-8. tests with our GeIL and OCZ modules, We began troubleshooting by leaving we knew that we would soon know if our the FSB untouched and increasing the 2.4GHz P4 processor was as overclock- voltage from the default 1.5V to friendly as some of the 2.4GHz that oth- 1.525V. With the increased power, the ers had used with the Asus P4C800-E system ran stable, and Sandra bench- board. We entered the BIOS, upped the marked the memory at 2760 Integer FSB setting to 266MHz, and got ready to ALU and 2802 Float FPU. test our two PC4200 dual-channel kits. We wanted to compare these results OCZ Enhanced Latency DDR PC-4000 Dual GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4200 with the scores we would get from Channel Gold 533MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit. The decreasing the FSB until the system sta- GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4200 kit bilized. At 248MHz and 1.5V, our sys- included GeIL’s Ultra Platinum stan- tem was stable. We ran Sandra and anxious to see how its DDR performed dard platinum copper heatspreaders noted the Integer ALU and Float FPU compared to Corsair’s, GeIL’s, with temperature thermometers. The of 2702 and 2739, respectively. Clearly, Mushkin’s, and Kingston’s. In terms of memory was rated at CAS timings of

126 • PC Modder 3-4-4-8 and supports 2.6V to 3.1V. A with EVP, providing more freedom with- lifetime warranty is included. in the terms of the lifetime warranty to Running at the intended 533MHz, the increase the voltage, if your system isn’t PC4200 returned Sandra scores of 2985 as stable at 550MHz as ours was. Integer ALU and 2994 Float FPU. PC4400 results. Both of these pairs of OCZ Enhanced Latency DDR PC- memory modules performed very well. 4200 Dual Channel. These memory The GeIL memory scored slightly higher modules included copper heatspreaders in the Integer ALU mark and slightly and were rated with CAS timings of 2.5- lower in the Float FPU mark. Remember 4-4-7. OCZ once again offers its EVP for that the GeIL memory was actually its lifetime warranty, so you have room to GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4400 550MHz Dual underclocked at 542MHz. If we could up the voltage (up to 2.9V) before void- Channel DDR Kit have run it 550MHz, it would have cer- ing your warranty. This memory is opti- tainly outperformed OCZ’s PC4400. mized for motherboards based on the Until we reached the PC4400 tests, However, the fact of the matter is that Intel i865 and i875 chipsets. only the PC3700 DDR had proven prob- the GeIL system was only stable at Whereas the OCZ PC4000 DDR was lematic for GeIL. However, we had video 542MHz, at which point both manufac- very stable, we could not keep Sandra errors with the GeIL PC4400 running at turers’ PC4400 DDR performed equally running with OCZ’s PC4200 DDR 550MHz (with the FSB set at 275MHz well. We still preferred OCZ’s memory installed and the FSB set at 266MHz. in the BIOS). We tried to run Sandra simply because OCZ seemed to have We increased the voltage to 1.525V and anyway, but although the application done more thorough stability testing and 1.5375V, but the system only became loaded, it crashed each time we tried to provided the EVP coverage. more unstable as we proceeded. In fact, run the benchmarks. We increased the with any voltage above 1.5V, we could voltage, but the system became less stable Memory On The Move not even load Windows. We entered the and wouldn’t even load Sandra. In May, OCZ announced its En- BIOS and set the voltage back to Auto We restored the voltage setting to hanced Latency DDR PC-4800 Dual (1.5V) and tried adjusting the FSB Auto (1.5V) and lowered the FSB. At Channel kit. We hoped it would be instead. At 264MHz, the system was 274MHz, 273MHz, and 272MHz available in time for this issue, but it stable. Sandra returned scores of 2915 FSBs, Sandra once again loaded but still hasn’t hit any store shelves or online Integer ALU, 2979 Float FPU, and 2.5- crashed when we tried to run the bench- retailers as of press time. This 600MHz 4-4-8 CAS. marks. Finally, at 271MHz, the system DDR will be fast. Currently, the Asus PC4200 results. GeIL was the clear was stable. We benchmarked the memo- P4C800 Deluxe and P4C800-E Deluxe winner in the PC4200 competition. Its ry at this point, although the memory (with 300MHz FSB support) are the memory ran without making the system was actually running at 542MHz rather only boards to support PC-4800. unstable, and despite having a tCL of 3 than its intended 550MHz. Integer Although our OCZ PC4400 DDR rather than 2.5 (as the OCZ memory ALU and Float FPU scores were 3089 worked fine without additional cooling, did), the GeIL DDR still outperformed and 3060, respectively. we would probably need more than the the OCZ DDR in the Sandra 2004 tests. OCZ Enhanced Latency DDR PC- stock fan for PC4800. 4400 Dual Channel Gold. After the After swapping and benchmarking all PC4400 DDR Tests uphill battle with GeIL’s PC4400 DDR, of the PC3500, PC3700, PC4000, As of press time, PC4400 is still the we were prepared to do plenty of tweak- PC4200, and PC4400 DDR we could fastest memory available for retail sale. ing in the BIOS to make OCZ’s PC4400 find, one basic truth emerged: You can We tested two PC4400 dual-channel memory work with our system. However, achieve impressive results with this mem- modules, GeIL’s Ultra Platinum PC4400 it was a pleasant and amazing surprise ory, provided that your motherboard 550MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit and that the OCZ PC4400 presented no sta- supports high FSB settings and that you OCZ’s Enhanced Latency DDR PC- bility issues for our system at all. have an overclock-friendly CPU. We 4400 Dual Channel Gold. After setting the FSB to 275MHz in were impressed that two-thirds of the GeIL Ultra Platinum PC4400 the BIOS, we ran Sandra and recorded memory modules ran without any stabili- 550MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit. latency timings of 3-4-4-8 (as opposed to ty issues using only stock cooling. This GeIL’s PC4400 DDR has platinum cop- the 2.5-4-4-8 that we expected). The memory is already fast, and some of the per heatspreaders and comes with a life- Integer ALU was 3053, and the Float modules hold great promise for perform- time warranty. It is rated at 2.6V to 3.1V FPU was 3078, both scores that were very ing at even greater frequencies. and CAS timings of 3-4-4-8. OCZ’s comparable to the GeIL PC4400’s scores. Temperature Thermometers are built into Our OCZ PC4400 modules had gold- by Kylee Dickey the heatspreaders. layered copper heatspreaders and came

PC Modder • 127 How The Manufacturers Compare e benchmarked 15 memory modules that are not yet JEDEC (Joint Electron Device Engineering Council)-approved, overclocking our system as W necessary to run the memory at the proper frequency (or as close as we could without encountering stability issues). The charts below com- pares the performance of Corsair, GeIL, Kingston, Mushkin, and OCZ memory of five types: PC3500, PC3700, PC4000, PC4200, and PC4400 DDR. Company & Testing Integer Float CAS FSB Voltage Notes Memory Procedure ALU FPU PC3700 DDR Corsair XMS3700 Set FSB to 233MHz 2524 2571 3-4-4-8 233MHz Auto (1.50V) TWINX512-3700 PC3700 GeIL Golden Not stable. Images on screen that are normally associated Dragon PC3700 Set FSB to 233MHz 2496 2546 2.5-4-4-8 233MHz Auto (1.50V) with memory corruption. Locking PCI bus did not help. 466MHz Dual Increased voltage 2592 2604 2.5-4-4-8 233MHz 1.525V Stable Channel DDR Kit Lowered FSB 2520 2575 2.5-4-4-8 232MHz Auto (1.50V) Stable Kingston HyperX Set FSB to 233MHz 2510 2559 3-4-4-8 233MHz Auto (1.50V) KHX3700K2/512 512MB DDR Kit PC4000 DDR Corsair XMS4000 Set FSB to 250MHz 2724 2762 3-4-4-8 250MHz Auto (1.50V) TWINX512-4000 PC4000 GeIL Ultra Platinum Set FSB to 250MHz 2703 2750 2.5-4-4-8 250MHz Auto (1.50V) PC4000 500MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit Not stable. Images on screen that are normally associated Kingston HyperX Set FSB to 250MHz 2692 2748 3-4-4-8 250MHz Auto (1.50V) with memory corruption. Locking PCI bus did not help. KHX4000K2/512 Increased voltage 2760 2802 3-4-4-8 250MHz 1.525V Stable 512MB DDR Kit Lowered FSB 2702 2739 3-4-4-8 248MHz Auto (1.50V) Stable Mushkin 512MB Set FSB to 250MHz 2716 2757 2.5-4-4-8 250MHz Auto (1.50V) Dual Pack PC4000 DDR OCZ Enhanced Set FSB to 250MHz 2723 2744 2.5-4-4-8 250MHz Auto (1.50V) Latency DDR PC-4000 Dual Channel Gold PC4200 DDR GeIL Ultra Platinum Set FSB to 266MHz 2985 2994 3-4-4-8 266MHz Auto (1.50V) PC4200 533MHz Dual Channel DDR Kit OCZ Enhanced Set FSB to 266MHz N/A N/A N/A 266MHz Auto (1.50V) Not stable. Windows loaded but Sandra crashed. Latency DDR Increased voltage N/A N/A N/A 266MHz 1.525V Not stable. Windows couldn't load. PC-4200 Increased voltage again N/A N/A N/A 266MHz 1.5375V Not stable. Windows couldn't load. Didn't increase voltage any more because system seemed to get more unstable rather than less unstable. Would have needed more aggressive cooling methods to continue with this approach. Dual Channel Lowered FSB 2915 2979 2.5-4-4-8 264MHz Auto (1.50V) Stable

PC4400 DDR Not stable. Images on screen that are normally associated GeIL Ultra Platinum Set FSB to 275MHz N/A N/A N/A 275MHz Auto (1.50V) with memory corruption. Sandra wouldn’t run PC4400 550MHz Increased voltage N/A N/A N/A 275MHz 1.5375V Not stable. Sandra wouldn't load. Dual Channel Lowered FSB N/A N/A N/A 273MHz Auto (1.50V) Not stable. Sandra loaded but crashed. DDR Kit Lowered FSB 3089 3060 3-4-4-8 271MHz Auto (1.50V) Stable OCZ Enhanced Set FSB to 275MHz 3053 3078 3-4-4-8 275MHz Auto (1.50V) Latency DDR PC-4400 Dual Channel Gold

128 • PC Modder For our full testing results, including our PC3500 tests, check out www.cpumag.com/modder2/ramroundup.

Method With Best Result (Integer Manufacturer Additional Notes Best Result ALU : Float FPU) With Best Score About Results

N/A 2524:2571 We had more difficulty main- taining a stable system with the GeIL memory; however, we also achieved the best results. Both 233MHz FSB, 1.525V 2592:2604 GeIL, at 2592:2604 of these facts are likely due to the GeIL DDR's more aggressive 2.5 tCL timing, as opposed to N/A 2510:2559 the Corsair and Kingston DDR's more passive 3 tCL timing.

N/A 2724:2762

N/A 2703:2750

It is surprising that we needed to adjust the Kingston DDR 250MHz FSB, 1.525V 2760:2802 Kingston, at 2760:2802 because, unlike the Mushkin and OCZ PC4000 DDR, the Kingston memory had a more N/A 2716:2757 relaxed tCL timing.

N/A 2723:2744

N/A 2985:2994 GeIL, at 2985:2994

GeIL had the more impressive Sandra scores, even though it used a more passive tCL timing. 264MHz FSB, 1.5V 2915:2979 The OCZ PC4200 DDR was sim- (only settings at which ply too unstable in this system. the system was stable)

Although the GeIL PC4400 DDR had the 271MHz FSB, 1.5V 3089:3060 GeIL, at 3089:3060 best benchmarks, our system did not (only settings at which run at all stable with this memory. The the system was stable OCZ memory would probably be a safer dual-channel kit for long-term usage. However, it is impressive that even N/A 3053:3078 when underclocked, the GeIL PC4400 DDR still beat out the OCZ DDR that was running at its intended frequency.

PC Modder • 129 bus speed will be the same, and there is no way to change it. Some boards will CLOCKING CORNER allow a plus or minus 33MHz alter- ation, but you will have to check your Push That New CPU To The Limit board specs to determine if this is the case for you. If your board will allow this change and you are running a 100MHz FSB, you can bump your ou’ve spent thousands of dol- To change the bridges on your AMD memory to 133MHz without problems. lars on a brand-new Pentium 4 motherboard, get a 0.5mm mechanical You should get the highest quality mem- Y system and can’t wait to watch pencil with graphite lead and a business ory you can. For serious overclocking, it tear through your data. Only problem card. Remove the processor from your sys- you will want to get PC150 memory, is, it’s not living up to the hype. A pos- tem and locate the L1 bridges on the which is memory that runs at 150MHz. sible solution that won’t cost you CPU, which are those responsible for Most memory can handle slightly another arm and leg is to overclock locking out the multiplier. The bridges are higher speeds than what it is rated your system. the same for both the Athlon and Duron at. For example, PC100 memory can Overclocking is a procedure that processors. Separate the bridges using the run at 110MHz, PC133 can run at involves changing the speed of your CPU business card and, working from left to 140MHz, etc. PC133 is the minimum by one of two methods. The FSB speed right, rub the pencil back and forth across you should use. and the multiplier determine the clock the bridges until the normal gold color is Now, I’ll go into specifics on over- speed of your CPU. For instance, a gone and the bridges are black. It sounds clocking a couple of processors you might 600MHz CPU can have an FSB of outrageous, but the graphite in the pencil want to try out: the AMD Athlon and the 66MHz and a multiplier of 9: 9 x 66MHz is ideal for reconnecting the leads to con- Intel Pentium 4. = 600MHz. To overclock your system, you duct electricity across the bridge. Reinstall will have to change either the FSB speed or your chipset, and your motherboard is Overclocking An AMD Processor the multiplier. You can change these ready for overclocking. The Athlon is a great overclocker. It options by either modifying the BIOS of If you’ve got a motherboard that will is well-balanced, and its pipeline struc- your computer or, if this is not an option, allow you to change the FSB speed, there ture is built for high clock speeds. If by moving bridges on your hardware are steps of frequencies to allow you to you want to increase the FSB, you will to change the voltages supplied to increase the speed of the CPU to its max- need a Slot A motherboard like the your components. imum. Most boards will jump from ASUS K7M or the ASUS K7V that will WARNING: Overclocking is not a 75MHz to 83MHz and 90MHz or high- allow you to adjust the FSB. These procedure that you should undertake er. Because the PCI and AGP bus speeds boards run at 100MHz, so, for exam- lightly. If you’re not sure you can handle are directly related to the FSB speed by a ple, a 7.5 multiplier will give you a this, don’t try. Before you start, you different multiplier, you will also need to should back up all of your data and take keep track of their speeds. Some moth- careful notes of default settings in case erboards will automatically set something goes wrong. Aside from that, these to the closest avail- best of luck and enjoy. able speed to the normal specs: Overclocking Basics 33MHz PCI bus Changing the multiplier is often diffi- and 66MHz AGP cult. For instance, on most Intel CPUs, bus. Most of to- the multiplier cannot be changed. day’s CPUs can han- However, AMD does produce CPUs dle a 100MHz or that have a multiplier you can modify. 133MHz FSB speed, so You will have to check the specs on your that if you change the specific motherboard on an AMD prod- multiplier jumpers for the uct sheet to see if your multiplier can be AGP and PCI, the bus changed. If you cannot change the mul- speeds should be able to tiplier, you will have to change the FSB adjust accordingly. speed. One trick I found to change the Memory bus speeds are also The Athlon from AMD is generally overclockable Athlon CPU is called, clocked off of the FSB. Often, more overclock-friendly than its simply, “The Pencil Trick.” the FSB speed and the memory Intel counterparts.

130 • PC Modder of the Athlon module and attach an boards, so you should only overclock overclocking device to the Athlon PCB. the CPU. Use the method discussed After you’ve got the box open and the above for AMD overclocking using the device attached, you can change the mul- BIOS or the jumpers. tiplier from 5.0X to 10.5X by flipping a few switches. You can purchase an over- After Your Procedure clocking device from a local supply store Once you’ve made your modifica- or an online shop, or you can make one tions, you will need to determine sys- yourself using instructions available over tem stability. Normally, if you reboot the Internet. your system after your mods without problems like failure to start, blue Overclocking An Intel Processor screens, or unexplained restarts, you If you want to overclock your Intel have done it right. Another way to tell CPU, you will have to choose your would be to run a high-impact software If you're into risk, you can buy or build an over- motherboard carefully, as there are only package or 3D video game. If it per- clocking device to attach to the Athlon PCB. a few boards that will support over- forms as it should, you’re probably OK. clocking. If you are overclocking a If you’re paranoid like me, you might Pentium 4, you will also need a mother- want to get a benchmark software pack- 750MHz CPU. Once you have the board that will allow you to lock the age available over the Internet or at board set up, all you have to do is bus speeds of the AGP and PCI buses your local software supplier (also, check change the FSB speed in the BIOS. If it because Pentium 4 processors are multi- out “Essential Overclocking Utilities” doesn’t work, the BIOS will reset to plier-locked. This means that the only on page 25). default values after a reboot. way you can overclock a Pentium 4 is to To change the FSB value in the BIOS, modify the bus speed. With Final Notes reboot your computer and press F2 or the AGP and PCI If things don’t work out right once DELETE to enter Setup. Find the busses you’ve finished, your system should option that lets you change your FSB, revert back to the default settings if system bus, or clock speed. you’ve modified your BIOS as I men- They should all be tioned earlier. If you’re brave (or stub- the same: between born), you can try it again. If you’ve 66MHz and 133MHz. modified your motherboard by Increase your speed, moving jumpers, you’ll have to keeping the capability of reset all of the jumpers to their your RAM and mother- original positions; hopefully board in mind. Multiply the you took notes. new value for FSB speed by Finally, once you’ve your computer’s multiplier, and got all of that extra this is your new CPU speed. If power, you’re going you don’t know your multiplier, to have another you should check the CPU manu- problem: heat. facturer’s Web site. If you don’t have All that extra pro- the option to change your FSB speed cessing power is going to in the BIOS, you will need to change fry your system if you’re not care- the jumpers on the motherboard. ful. For tips on heat removal, check out Checking the manufacturer’s Web site the “Chill Chat” column on page 158 will tell you which type of jumpers you in this issue for help. will need to change. Overclocking an Intel CPU isn’t easy, but it can Hopefully this has, at the very least, If you’re not going to change the FSB, be done. given you a peek into the world of over- you can change the multiplier. This is clocking your system. It’s by no means more difficult, but it can be done if an end-all of what’s possible, but I hope you’re feeling brave and know your way locked, the only thing you are over- it’s helped. around a PCB and electronics compo- clocking is the CPU and memory, but nents. In order to change the multiplier, you can even modify or slow down the by David Miller you need to remove the plastic housing bus speed of the memory on some

PC Modder • 131 HEATSINK HEAVEN The Right Product Will Save Your CPU From A Fiery Hell

CPU heatsinks fall into two broad cate- How We Tested gories: active and passive. Passive heatsinks Of the nearly 20 heatsinks we tested, are pretty rare even in heavily modded many were designed for only Intel socket home PCs because they use a heatsink and 478 CPUs, and others were made specifi- nothing else for cooling. cally for AMD socket A CPUs. A few Active heatsinks integrate the use of a heatsinks included brackets that helped us fan, which cools the heatsink and allows the switch them back and forth between AMD metal to absorb more heat from the CPU. and Intel CPUs. This concept helps the heatsink transfer After we applied a fresh coat of thermal heat at a fast rate, preventing the CPU from grease to each heatsink, we started up the exceeding optimal operating temperatures. PC, let it run for 10 minutes, and then Both heatsink types are usually made recorded five temperatures. We took four from either copper or aluminum. Copper is of the readings from the temperature omplex watercooling, peltier, and heavier and more expensive but transfers probes connected to a MacPower Digital phase-change systems are all the heat more efficiently than aluminum. Many Doc. We placed three of the probes Crage, but heatsinks are still at the heatsinks combine both aluminum and between the fins of the heatsink, and we heart of most CPU cooling systems. That copper, resulting in a product that works taped the fourth sensor so that it hovered explains why computer component compa- better than an aluminum heatsink but with above the heatsink fan. We also recorded nies continue to pour money into heatsink significant cost savings. temperatures using Motherboard Monitor, research and development and why there Heatsink designs. Manufacturers pro- a program that uses your mobo’s onboard are so many users willing to invest their lim- duce folded-fin, bonded-fin, and cold- sensors to track heat levels. ited computing budgets into a new forged heatsinks and even heatsinks that use Once we recorded these initial tempera- heatsink—they know there might always be heatpipes, which are liquid-filled pipes that tures, we made the situation more difficult a heatsink that’s just a little better than their can help speed up heat transfer. All of these for our test products. We ran PCMark04 current model, and not every user wants to heatsink designs require special manufactur- on each CPU to see how each heatsink expend the time or money to install a more ing techniques, but the most common would respond to the added heat stress complicated form of chip cooling. heatsink creation methods involve extruded and then took notes on the higher temps But before you buy a new heatsink, it aluminum or machined copper. we encountered. helps to have an idea of how well it will Traditional aluminum heatsinks are Test disclaimers. We’ll offer a few dis- work. That’s where we can help. We know almost always extruded, which means that claimers before we reel off our heatsink test you don’t have budget to test and dismiss a the manufacturer forces a hunk of metal results. Heatsink effectiveness is fairly diffi- dozen heatsinks before you find the one through a die to create fins. Those fins are cult to gauge for a couple of reasons. One, that’s best for your CPU, but we do, so we usually rectangular, long, and skinny, all every heatsink, even those that are the same ordered a pile of these products, everything good traits for conducting heat to the sur- make and model, are different, thanks to from inexpensive aluminum extrusions to rounding air. The manufacturing process manufacturing processes that leave micro- coppery monstrosities that barely fit inside itself is automated and produces many scopic ridges on the bottom surface of every our PC case. heatsinks quickly, but these heatsinks have heatsink and minor performance variations, limited fin densities and heights. as you read in “A Fine Grind,” on page 140. Heatsink Hopes Copper is denser and more difficult to Second, positioning the temperature gauges Manufacturers design heatsinks to work with, so heatsink makers use a used to track heat levels is an important accommodate varying purposes, from keep- machining technique to create fins. This variable, but one that’s also difficult to mas- ing the heat off of a relatively cool Pentium process is more expensive than the extrusion ter because CPU makers acknowledge that III to dissipating the boiling temperatures of technique, another reason copper heatsinks their chips don’t distribute heat evenly; an overclocked Athlon 64. To find the cost more than their aluminum brethren. meaning, of course, that the left side of a appropriate heatsink to suit your purposes, To help you get an idea of performance dif- heatsink may end up a little hotter than the you need to start with a basic understanding ferences, we tested numerous models of right. Finally, although Motherboard of heatsink construction. both heatsink types. Monitor is a very handy utility, it’s also

132 • PC Modder notorious for reporting varying tempera- The Dr. Thermal TI-8639L has an tures. However, we felt that this program ultra-simple but effective design, incor- did offer a general idea of how hot or cool porating spiral-shaped aluminum fins our CPU ran from one heatsink to the next melded to a copper core. This helps cut because switching heatsinks really changed down on weight—the whole unit weighs temperature levels. only 364 grams—and, paired with the “Testing of heatsink effectiveness is a big included 3,800rpm fan, provides good topic and as varied as the number of people cooling capability. operating test labs,” says Chris Soule, It will only take you a minute to attach director of engineering at Thermshield this Dr. Thermal product to your socket In spite of this heatsink’s heft, you don’t (www.thermshield.com), a company that 478 motherboard, as it uses the same four- need to remove the motherboard for a makes heatsinks for servers, workstations, pronged clip that fits over your stock Intel lengthy installation procedure. You center and PCs. Soule, who has 15 years testing heatsink. The fit is tight and very solid, the heatsink over the stock clips on the experience, says that he places a thermocou- and with a good coating of the included motherboard and press down, and the plas- ple near the heat input area (by the CPU) thermal grease, you won’t have to worry tic clips snap solidly into place. Then you and another in the air nearby, which gives about making consistent contact with the can connect the fan directly to your mother- the tester a reference point. Soule says that CPU’s surface. board or use the pass-through fan controller for very accurate testing, you should use an The TI-8639L’s easy mounting system connector if you want to use the tempera- anemometer to measure air velocity, a scored points with us, and the spiral fin pat- ture monitoring system. power meter to measure volts and amps, tern is mesmerizing, even after you attach Removing this heatsink is a chore. You “and depending on power levels, there may the fan. The fan itself is nothing fancy, and have to press down on the fan and then also be a need to measure the power factor we didn’t like the fact that there was no grill force the retention clips inward, and doing and correct for that.” Sound extreme? It is, to protect against in-case snags, but it’s nice so takes significant strength. In the end, we and Soule stresses that heatsink testing really that you can replace the fan with a different had to remove our graphics card and enlist is a science in and of itself. model if you prefer. two people to pry this sucker loose. As far Our impression of this product was that as looks go, as they say in “South Park,” The Reviews it’s a slightly larger and nicer-looking ver- “There’s nothing to see here.” And the Undeterred, we continued our testing to sion of Intel’s stock heatsink. When you unit’s large dimensions (it’s 73mm tall) see what sort of numbers our homebrewed check out our “The Hot Get Cooler” chart mean less room for other in-case compo- experiment would yield. Our rough read- of temperature readings, you’ll see that this nents. Plus, as you’ll see in our chart, the ings should give you an idea of the perfor- heatsink isn’t all that effective, and because Zalman’s average performance didn’t seem mance you can expect from these products. of this, we didn’t think the TI-8639L was a to justify its higher than average price. We reserved compliments for heatsinks very exciting product. Copper gets better than this Zalman. with the most desirable traits. Ideally, heatsinks would become warmer because Zalman CNPS5500-Cu Speeze 9T370B1M3 they were absorbing and dispersing more We paid: $39 We paid: $25 heat, but the CPU’s Motherboard Monitor Available at: Available at: temperature would rise very little. www.computerhq.com www.tigerdirect.com We also considered each heatsink’s over- www.sharkacomputers.com www.newegg.com all ease of use, aesthetic appeal and visual “wow” factor, and, in the case of some Zalman’s CNPS5500-Cu isn’t fancy; it’s For budget-conscious copper cooling, we products, the quality of printed instructions. just one big hunk of copper that easily han- checked out the Speeze 9T370B1M3, a Heatsinks that looked like John Deere trac- dles the heat-dissipating needs of a P4 run- high-quality, copper-based heatsink with a tor engine parts and needed finger-fumbling ning up to 2.5GHz, though we’re sure this low price. Right out of the box, it’s easy to mounting brackets got a less than enthusias- 540-gram monster could probably handle see that Speeze prides itself on offering high- tic response from us, while easy-to-use prod- hotter chips. If you’re using a slightly slower quality products, as the fan wires are shield- ucts that combine good looks and excellent CPU, you’ll have no cooling problems at all ed and the bottom of the heatsink has a cooling received two thumbs up. and will probably cut down on PC noise. preapplied layer of thermal grease. That’s because the heatsink comes with a The 3-watt heatsink measures 37mm Dr. Thermal TI-8639L temperature-detection system that increases high x 69.9mm wide x 83mm deep and We paid: $23 or decreases fan speed according to the heat comes with a 70mm 3,700rpm fan with a Available at: levels of your CPU. At lower heat levels, the 28CFM rating. Speeze recommends this www.xpcgear.com CNPS5500-Cu goes into Silent mode, and model for P4 and Celeron chips running at www.azzo.com fan noise is inaudible. 3.2GHz or slower.

PC Modder • 133 Installing the heatsink was quick and painless. Speeze includes two metal reten- tion clips that snap directly into your moth- erboard’s stock bracket, so you’ll finish this lapping procedure. We were almost sad to job in about a minute. Unlike some other subject this beautiful finish to the layer of either an expansion slot or in a 3.5-inch clips in this roundup, Speeze’s clips make it thermal grease on our CPU. As it turns out, drive bay and, with a twirl, change speeds easy to remove the heatsink, too. we were comforted by Vantec’s retention from 1,900rpms to 3,500rpms. That fun With its relatively low profile and reason- clips, which are things of beauty, too. These fan adds to the Jet 4’s overall weight, which able weight, this heatsink would be a good springy metal clips fasten directly to a stock is a motherboard-mashing 700 grams, and choice for users who have crowded case 478 bracket for a three-second installation. the height is an incredible 140mm, mean- interiors, but only if there’s no intense over- Performance wasn’t as nice as the breath- ing you definitely won’t be using this partic- clocking involved. Our Speeze model con- taking design. We logged a Motherboard ular model in a small-form-factor case. sistently ran hot and also let the CPU get Monitor temperature of 45 C, one of the In a regular case, though, the Jet 4 pro- warmer than most other heatsinks in our higher numbers in our test. Still, the knock- vides substantial cooling, as Motherboard tests, topping out at 45 degrees Celsius out looks and relatively small size of this Monitor reported an average at-work tem- when we started benchmarking. This one is heatsink convinced us it’s fine for cramped perature of 40 C. That’s plenty cool for air- best reserved for users who simply want quarters and minimal overclocking. port-obsessed modders who don’t care how something jazzier than their stock heatsink much space their heatsink consumes. and don’t want to spend a lot of money to Cooler Master Jet 4 get there. We paid: $34 AeroCool Deep Impact DP-102 Available at: We paid: $55 Vantec CopperX www.zipzoomfly.com Available at: We paid: $30 www.frozencpu.com www.xoxide.com Available at: www.frozencpu.com www.svc.com For sheer visual impact, few heatsinks www.xpcgear.com can beat the Jet 4, a copper heatsink When we shelled out nearly 60 bucks for matched to a blower fan that looks like a jet the Deep Impact heatsink, we expected The CopperX from Vantec has high- engine. It’s not as cheesy as it first sounds, awesome cooling, but we certainly didn’t density, solid copper fins bonded to a hefty but only because Cooler Master went all out expect the magic tricks we encountered. copper base. Though it tips the scales at with the special effects, including a chrome- Yup, that’s right, attach this heatsink to nearly 540 grams, the CopperX’s measures like finish, black blower interior, and red your CPU socket and POOF, your comput- only about 60mm high. The 4,000rpm and white LEDs to simulate the look of a er will magically stop working. 70mm fan is 15mm tall, comes complete real aircraft. We don’t know whether it was this with a metal grill, and pushes air at 33CFM. The blower fan is louder than the tradi- heatsink’s 580-gram heft or not-quite-big- From the top and sides, this Vantec tional fans on our other heatsinks, but enough circular copper CPU plate, but product looks like an average heatsink. Cooler Master says the blower is superior Deep Impact gave us fits. By the time we When you get a glimpse of the bottom, because it funnels air straight down into the got it working (two hours after beginning though, prepare to be blown away. heatsink’s center, supposedly preventing a the installation), we had encountered more Though it’s not quite slick to the touch, dead spot you’d get with regular fans. You weird boot-up problems and nervous PC the near mirror-like finish will make you have a lot of control over fan functionality, tics than we could’ve ever imagined, and in think twice before you attempt any sort of as you can place the fan speed knob in the case of our Intel CPU, the only way to

134 • PC Modder The Zen’s total weight is a significant Like its Deep Impact CPU cooler, 615 grams. However, most of that heft is AeroCool’s High Tower HT-101 is an due to the heavy copper plate that covers oversized heatsink with exciting technolo- the CPU, while the towering arrangement gies inside. Fortunately, we had much better of fins is lightweight and won’t cause any success with the High Tower than with the funny motherboard-flexing problems. exasperating Deep Impact. That’s not to say you won’t run into prob- This is another all-copper heatsink, but it lems with interior space logistics. The Zen’s uses three 6mm heatpipes to transfer heat to huge body didn’t interfere at all with moth- 31 vertically stacked copper fins. Designed erboard components, but it’s easy to see that for AMD XP 3600+ and P4 3.6GHz (and faster) CPUs, the HT-101 comes with one successfully boot was to leave the mother- 80mm fan but can accommodate two board flat on a table with only two screws 70mm or 80mm fans for added airflow. securing the heatsink. Adding a fan might not be a bad idea, as the In spite of those problems, there’s no included fan is a 2,500rpm model, but denying the appeal of this heatsink’s outra- beware of space constraints. This monster is geous design, which includes a cylindrical nearly 110mm tall and really doesn’t need heatpipe encircled by 36 copper fins, and to be any bigger than it already is. not one, but two 80mm fans. The whole If you’re into decorating your PC with contraption swallows a ton of case space, lights, you will like this heatsink’s plastic thanks in part to its 100mm height, and frame, which glows blue under a blacklight. with many motherboards, you might not be Its massive amounts of copper are also able to attach more than one fan. plainly evident when you use only one fan, The setup is visually striking, and our and all that penny-colored metal is sure to results showed that this AeroCool works impress your aluminum-fixated friends, and better than stock heatsinks. Our Deep Impact kept both the Intel and AMD CPUs at stable temperatures, and it per- in a component-stuffed case, this product formed marginally better when we paired it will only add to overcrowding. with our Pentium 4, possibly because the To install this heatsink, we uninstalled mobo was resting outside the case. Idling our motherboard, slapped the Zen’s rubber temperatures were very cool—approximate- insulation pad and bracket to the mobo’s ly room temperature—and work tempera- backside, and screwed the heatsink snug tures maxed out at 40 C. For modders who against the CPU. There is one installation want to impress with size and have space to catch—you have to make sure the heatsink’s spare, the Deep Impact is about as high fins run perpendicular to the floor so that (and cool-looking) as heatsinks get, but be the hot air in the fins can naturally rise up prepared for installation frustrations. and away. they’ll be even more jealous when they see Our tests demonstrated that this works, the full-color instructions that help make Scythe NCU-1000 Heatlane Zen but not as well as a heatsink that incorpo- installation simple. We paid: $59 rates a zippy fan. The Zen had the highest The heatsink’s cooling power, however, Available at: temperatures at idle (42 C) and the second is less impressive. This heatsink’s results www.frozencpu.com highest at work (49 C). Our results lead us included temperature spikes as high as 69 www.3dcool.com to believe that this heatsink is probably C, and Motherboard Monitor consistently inappropriate for serious overclockers, but tracked temperatures in the 50s, higher than Today’s hot-running Pentium 4 CPUs for average users who will do anything to the passively cooled Zen. If we really wanted attempt seppuku when users try to operate make their systems quieter, there are few a sky-high AeroCool product, we’d stick them without a heatsink fan, unless you can alternatives to this Scythe. with the Deep Impact. find a feasible passive heatsink such as the Scythe NCU-1000 Heatlane Zen. This very AeroCool High Tower HT-101 Scythe Kamakaze tall (143mm) and very wide (108mm) We paid: $59 We paid: $34 heatsink uses a system of fluid-filled fins to Available at: Available at: dissipate heat in a hurry, and from what we www.zipzoomfly.com www.directron.com saw, this concept seems to work. www.frozencpu.com www.performance-pcs.com

PC Modder • 135 The product name is misspelled on every After we finished testing, we decided we The heatsink and fan weigh only about retail Web site, and even on the product wouldn’t buy this heatsink for either an 460 grams, which is very light considering box itself, which is adorned with more Intel or AMD CPU. The idling tempera- the product’s 93mm height. This heatsink’s Taiwanese than English, yet that’s no reason tures were higher than average on both wacky design shouldn’t cause too many dif- to dismiss the Scythe Kamakaze outright. chips, in some cases approaching the work- ficulties with space, but there are a couple of Or is it? ing temperatures of other heatsinks we tried. flanges at the base that may interfere with Poor translations hindered this product’s When we turned the heat up a little, our motherboard components. ease of use. Installation instructions were CPU temps rose to 46 C, which is fine for This is an adaptable heatsink with a user- difficult to read, and the diagrams (one general purposes but not enough to sway friendly clip system. It not only works with each for Intel and AMD sockets) were less the jury in the Kamakaze’s favor. Pentium 4 3.2GHz and faster CPUs, but than fully explanatory, but muddle your also with AMD’s super-fast processors, way through, and you’ll see that this Scythe Gigabyte Cooler Pro GH-PCU21-VG including the Athlon 64, and for each sock- product comes preconfigured for an AMD We paid: $45 et type, Gigabyte helpfully included easy- socket A, so for a socket 478, you have to Available at: to-use fasteners that make installation play with tiny screws and an unwieldy www.newegg.com a pleasure. bracket before you can begin installation in www.pcdirectsource.com Most of our cool-looking heatsinks earnest. Once you click a new bracket into weren’t top performers, but the Copper Pro The Gigabyte Cooler Pro is one of the proved its worth on our hot Pentium 4, log- freakiest and most effective heatsinks we ging very low at-work temps of 33 C and 37 tested. You probably won’t find anything C from our Digital Doc and Motherboard Monitor, respectively. The heatsink re- turned higher numbers when we used it with our Athlon, but the maximum record- ed temperature was only 43 C. For modders and overclockers who like flashiness, the Cooler Pro is worth the dough.

Alpha PAL8942 We paid: $39 Available at: www.frozencpu.com www.performance-pcs.com

Alpha’s PAL8942 is a forged heatsink with a copper plate that sprouts hexagonal place on the motherboard, it’s easy to snap more eye-catching that this blue-tinged aluminum pins. These pins are anodized the Kamakaze into place, and the fit alien; nothing else in our roundup came black, which offers the Dark Side aesthet- is secure. close to grabbing our attention like the ic appeal but has no effect on perfor- The Kamakaze weighs nearly 700 grams Gigabyte’s glowing blue top and copper mance. The copper base is a thing of and stands 90mm tall. It comes with a grill- fins, which stand on the four “legs” and beauty, with a glossy, brushed finish that less 80mm fan that will beckon to every CPU block that actually make up a heatpipe won’t require lapping unless you’re obses- cable in your box, but the fan does have cooling system. sive about smoothness. redeeming traits, most notably an expan- There’s precious little making up the Alpha did not include a fan with this sion-slot-mounted speed knob that lets you copper block that makes contact with your heatsink, as the company prefers to leave adjust rpms from 1,300 to 3,400. CPU. Apparently, that thin layer is enough this option to the reseller. Our vendor This heatsink is made of aluminum, but to whisk heat away via the heatpipes and didn’t include a fan, so we opted for a instead of fins, Scythe incorporated long, into the circular fin pattern, which—like standard 80mm 4,800rpm fan, and what- jagged pins (about 500 of them) that make the Cooler Master Jet 4—contains a blow- ever fan you choose will add to this mod- for a turbulent airflow and thus maximize er fan instead of a traditional finned el’s 44mm height. cooling. The overall look is a little awk- fan. This blower works at speeds from When you see the baggies of screws, nuts, ward, and due to the messy weld points on 2,000rpms to 4,000rpms, and you can and other hardware, you intuitively know the edges of the metal jacket, this poten- install a fan speed control knob, which installation is going to require some work, tially very cool heatsink loses big points slips into either a floppy diskette drive bay and because the PAL8942 makes no use of on aesthetics. or an expansion card slot. stock heatsink brackets, you end up using

136 • PC Modder screws and springs to mount the device The baseplate is smooth and has a pol- directly to the motherboard. You do have to ished look to it, and it’s the reason this remove the mobo for this project, but heatsink is fairly heavy at 650 grams. thanks to the clear instructions, this job Considering the retention mechanism, that shouldn’t take you more than a few min- weight might be a concern for a few users. utes. Unlike a few other heatsinks we’ve That’s because this heatsink doesn’t use seen that screw into the motherboard, this your motherboard for support. Instead, it one uses compression screws so you know relies on the socket for support like many exactly how much pressure you can apply other (much lighter) AMD heatsinks. While without causing damage. this simplifies installation, it also means that of room for your other components and This Alpha’s understated looks belied its there’s an awful lot of weight pulling on the cables. It comes with a translucent blue fan superb performance. At work, our Intel sides of the socket when your case is vertical. that spins at 3,600rpms and moves air at CPU edged upwards to only 36 C, cooler Because of this, you should definitely avoid 32.25CFM. than with any other heatsink we tested. Its moving or jarring the case while this In a nice touch, Spire added a fancy relatively small size and effectiveness proved heatsink is in place. chrome-like fan grill that spices up the pro- to us that this heatsink is perfect for serious With the hurricane force of the Tornado duct’s look and prevents wiring and finger users who like good looks in a small on top, this heatsink performed very well. damage. If you like classy-looking compo- heatsink, yet still need better-than-average Motherboard Monitor reported an idle nents without overblown glowing and cooling power. temperature of 40 C and a working tem- blinking effects, this is a good option, and perature of 43 C, while our Digital Doc the fan wiring has a whitish shielding that Swiftech MCX462-V sensors recorded a rise of one degree when will match up with most color schemes. We paid: $52 we began benchmarking. The Spire’s performance was very good, Available at: especially when you consider how much we www.sidewindercomputers.com Spire SkiveStream III spent on it. Our CPU did get as warm as 47 www.coolerguys.com We paid: $19 C, but this is still an excellent budget-priced Swiftech’s heatsinks are renowned for Available at: modding buy. their off-the-wall designs and top-notch per- www.3dcool.com formance, and one of the company’s most www.frozencpu.com Vantec AeroFlow VA4-C7040 highly touted models is the MCX462-V, We paid: $24 which uses a half-inch thick copper base- At less than $20, the Spire SkiveStream Available at: plate matched to 390 patented Helicoid III was one of the least expensive heatsinks www.mycableshop.com aluminum pins. These pins are arranged in we tested, so you might be surprised to hear www.xoxide.com a circular pattern and have rough edges to that this product does include copper. It increase turbulence at low fan speeds, which also has a nickel coating that adds a chrome- You don’t necessarily have to spend a lot optimize cooling while helping your system like shine and also comes with a preapplied of money to invest in interesting heating stay quiet. layer of thermal grease for those of you tired technology. For less than $25, you can nab Speaking of fans, you don’t get one with of playing with the messy stuff, and this Vantec AeroFlow heatsink that has a this heatsink, but you do receive hardware although this layer was too wide for the top round, copper CPU core and four-sided that lets you attach the 80mm or 92mm fan of our CPU’s die, it’s easy enough to aluminum fins that slope from the top and of your choice. We opted for a Vantec the excess off of the shiny finish. center of the heatsink toward the bottom Tornado, a gutsy fan that spins at 4,800rpm Compared to the 600-gram monsters edges. This design supposedly results in and moves air at 119CFM. That consumed that we tested elsewhere in this story, the smoother and more consistent heat dissipa- a lot of space, but the heatsink alone is actu- SkiveStream III is quite small, so at only tion, especially at the heatsink’s corners, ally less than 40mm tall. 65mm tall (with a fan), you will have plenty thus, the AeroFlow moniker.

PC Modder • 137 indicate that this product will also help cool to cover an AMD CPU’s high-temperature Intel Celeron and Duron processors. die. Instead of using a thermal compound The Phantom is immediately notable between the aluminum and copper ele- because it’s made from copper and costs ments, the company integrated a very thin less than $30. It weighs a reasonable 300 layer of tin between these two metals, which grams and comes with an 80mm fan that supposedly improves heat conductivity by a spins at 2,600rpms. It’s also topped with a factor of 25. Vantec didn’t forget about the fan dur- blue metal enclosure that makes for a We experienced no problems with this ing the research and development process. sharp-looking heatsink, indeed, but you heatsink’s installation, as it quickly clipped This unit includes a TMD (Tip-Magnetic won’t get the full eye candy effect until you onto the standard AMD socket. In addition Driving) fan, which, unlike most fans, power on your PC. When you do, you’ll to securing the heatsink, we had to install doesn’t have a center-mounted motor. see the blue LEDs in the fan come to life. the fan control switch, which is just a basic, Instead, the motor is displaced to the fan’s These LEDs help the Phantom offer some black, three-way switch, into an empty four corners, which reduces the fan’s hub of the same attention-getting effects as the expansion card slot. size and, as a result, shrinks the dead spot Gigabyte cooler. You won’t have to worry about the 2M that’s associated with regular fans. With our 2500+ CPU, idling tempera- devouring much case space. It measures less Installing the heatsink is easy, as you just tures were acceptable and went as high as than 80mm high and weighs only about clip it onto the CPU socket and connect the 42 C. At-work heat levels were higher, at 400 grams, much smaller than the 700- fan. Its diminutive size and plain-Jane metal 49 C, but that’s still plenty cool for this gram heatsinks we tested elsewhere in this top, along with the black fan blades, look a CPU. Because we tested this heatsink on a story, yet it’s still rated to handle up to an little drab at first, but turn on this Vantec, CPU just outside its spec range, we won’t Athlon XP 3400+ CPU when you set the and its artistry comes to life. From a vantage rush to judgment on performance, but fan to its maximum speed of 2,800rpm. point above the spinning fan, you can see there’s little doubt that the Phantom is a Unfortunately, it didn’t keep our CPU as the copper core and unique fin arrange- good choice for modders who need a cool as we would’ve liked. Both idle and ment, an x-ray type view that blows away smaller heatsink but want a product that work temps reached mid to high 40s, which cheap-looking LED effects. will blow bystanders away. our other test products bettered. At about 65mm tall, this heatsink will fit in most cases with no problems whatso- Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2M The Cool Down ever. It will also cool your AMD chips We paid: $22 New heatsinks pop up on retail sites without difficulty. Even with a heavy Available at: every day, and each new product promises workload, our CPU maxed out at 42 C, www.frozencpu.com better cooling potential, but almost always making the heatsink cool enough and cool- www.newegg.com at a higher price. As you reread our results, looking enough for the most discriminat- keep in mind that forced-air heatsinks can ing modders. At first, we thought the Arctic Cooling accomplish only so much, especially during Copper Silent 2M was incorrectly labeled— overclocking sessions. Aerocool Phantom an annoying whine nearly drowned out our Don’t spend $60 on a heatsink until We paid: $30 thoughts as we started up this heatsink/fan you’re sure it can do the job right, keep the Available at: combo. Then we realized a nearby over- product’s weight and dimensions in mind, www.tigerdirect.com clocked machine was the problem. Once we and consider ahead of time whether you www.newegg.com relocated our test machine to a new area, we want the heatsink to work with both Intel were surprised by what we didn’t hear, a and AMD processors. A little foresight will Aerocool’s Phantom is actually designed good indication of just how quiet this prevent wasted cash and help your CPU get for XP 2600+ and faster CPUs, but we 80mm really is. the cooling effects it needs. decided to see how it would work with our The fan sits atop an aluminum heatsink slightly slower AMD chip. Aerocool’s specs that contains a 44mm copper plate designed by Nathan Chandler

138 • PC Modder

A FINE GRIND Lap Your Heatsinks To Increase Cooling Efficiency

hen high-tech thermal We’ll show you how to lap your own with ease. Many people use a sheet of a paste, watercooling systems, heatsink to increase its effectiveness. In glass as their sanding surface, and our kit W and jet-powered fans aren’t addition to our play-by-play of the lap- actually included a 6- x 6-inch glass square enough, you can always try to make your ping process, we will also offer before and for our convenience. CPU’s heat transfer more efficient by lap- after temperature readings to help you Before starting, it’s best to determine ping its heatsink. Put your tongue away— decide if lapping is worth the effort. exactly how much lapping is necessary for that’s not what we meant. Lapping is a your particular heatsink. You can do this basic procedure that requires just few Lap It, Lap It Good by pressing the flat blade of a butter knife tools and a little arm strength. Tongue- Lapping requires very little in the way against the heatsink surface. This helps to-metal contact is completely optional. of tools. We gathered up a piece of thick reveal any massive irregularities that you glass, several pieces of sandpaper of various can attack with your sandpaper and gives Lapping Is Happening grit (or coarseness), a cheap white surgical you an idea of just how much work you Lapping means to smooth out a surface mask like you’ve seen a hundred times on have ahead of you. No matter how flat or so that it’s perfectly flat, and it’s used in “ER,” paper towels, and water. Lazy types rough your heatsink is, be sure to set aside many industrial processes. Many users lap like us actually order lapping kits that have enough time to do a good job. We spent their heatsinks to make them flatter and everything you need for a lapping session, about an hour and a half grinding down produce more even contact with the top and such kits are handy because they the surface of our heatsinks. of the CPU. This helps the heatsink include several types of sandpaper, a fact absorb heat more quickly, and as a result, that prevents you from having to buy sev- Lap Away assists in keeping the CPU cooler. eral expensive multisheet paper packets. If you don’t have a garage or a work- Random reports on the Web claim that And you will need sandpaper with dif- space where you can get as messy as you lapping can drop CPU temps by as much ferent grit. As you shop, you’ll see that want, old newspaper is your new best as 5 degrees Celsius. manufacturers denote coarseness with a friend. Spread multiple sheets on and But isn’t the bottom of your heatsink number system, and the lower the num- around your work area to collect alu- already flat? High-end copper heatsinks ber, the coarser the grit. For CPU minum dust particles and prevent splat- are often prelapped and ready to go, but heatsinks we recommend starting with ters. Be sure to wear your dust mask to cheaper stock heatsinks rarely make per- 400 or 600 grit sandpaper. Wet/dry sand- reduce the amount of metal dust you fect contact with the CPU, which is one paper designed for automotive work is inhale—once you begin grinding your reason you use thermal grease. This slimy, fine, and you can pick up 600, 800, heatsink, much of this dust will go air- messy substance fills in all the tiny spaces 1500, and even finer-grit sandpaper at borne, and believe us, you don’t want this that inhibit the movement of heat from auto parts stores, but it’s not necessary to gritty stuff in your lungs. Wear old the CPU and heatsink. Grease works best buy anything higher than 2000 grit. clothes for this procedure. Lapping will for minute gaps, though, not the kind of You might ponder the idea of using spray droplets of water throughout your wholesale roughness that we’ll eliminate power tools as a substitute for sandpaper, work area, and it’s not easy to remove through lapping. but we don’t suggest going that route. The ground metal from that new Leftover purpose of lapping is to smooth over bumps and pits on your heatsink; it’s not necessary to remove massive layers of metal. Doing so will only reduce your heatsink’s mass, and thus, its ability to reduce your CPU’s operating temperature. The 600-grit sandpaper You can see the gouges and You should prepare a perfectly flat sur- really reduced our striations that make heat face for your sanding operation. Don’t use heatsink’s roughness. This transfer less efficient. And a bumpy tabletop or workbench because coarse paper is great for that’s not counting the larger those bulges defeat the purpose of this getting the major wrinkles lumps you can’t see here. project, and make sure your surface is low out of any metal surface. enough to let you apply downward force

140 • PC Modder Salmon T-shirt. Also consider wearing a pair of work gloves and have a few rags or Friction Blisters Rock! a roll of paper towels handy. Our tests demonstrated that lapping does seem to lower CPU temperatures. Remove the fan assembly from your Nailing down exact CPU temperatures is 1 heatsink. Most fans use a simple clip often an inexact science, but sensors from system that you can remove in just a few our MacPower Digital Doc showed that seconds. If you can’t remove the fan with- prior to lapping, the sides of our heatsink out damaging it, you can lap the heatsink rang in at 28 C while the CPU was idling, with the fan in place, but this makes it and 34 C when we put it to work. We more difficult to apply consistent pressure. The 1000-grit sandpaper smoothed things out, also took readings from the CPU itself but the metal doesn’t yet have the shine we’re using Motherboard Monitor (www.mbm Put a few drops of water on the glass looking for. .livewiredev.com), a program that moni- 2 plate and wrap the sandpaper over the tors motherboard temperatures and dis- plate’s edges to keep the paper from sliding plays them on the Windows taskbar. The around too much. Now pour a bit of water program indicated that our CPU was 28 on the paper’s surface. Begin lapping with C at rest and 38 C during a benchmark- the coarsest paper at your disposal and ing routine. work your way to the finer grits. How After we lapped our heatsink, the exactly should you grind the heatsink? Digital Doc recorded the same tempera- Some people claim that a circular or figure- tures as before. That would seem to be at eight motion is best for creating the flattest odds with lapping logic, which says that surface, and others insist that a straight the heatsink’s temperature should rise as back-and-forth technique yields optimal heat is transferred more quickly from the results. The reality is that both actions— Our final product has a nearly mirror-like finish CPU to the heatsink. However, our when paired with even pressure and a that makes better contact with the top of the CPU. efforts weren’t in vain. smooth stroke—will create a surface far More telling temperature readings superior to the manufacturer’s machining one sheet of a specific grit, especially if came from the CPU itself. Motherboard process. But if you long for a mirror-like you’re encountering snagging problems or Monitor registered an idle temperature of finish on your heatsink, a back-and-forth if you just want to be absolutely sure you 28 C and a working temperature of 36 C, motion creates the slickest shine. are getting the smoothest surface from a two-degree drop. Keep in mind that we each grit. Before you change papers, rinse took these readings from a heatsink we’d Many heatsinks have sharp edges and the heatsink and glass thoroughly; other- lapped using a circular motion. We 3 corners that snag and tear sandpaper. wise, you risk introducing leftover parti- repeated our tests using an identical If you have this problem, you can tilt the cles of coarser paper into the work area. heatsink lapped in a back-and-forth fash- heatsink and use the paper to rub those Such particles will reduce the polishing ion that produced a glossy finish. edges into complacency. benefits of finer-grit papers. Resulting temperatures were identical to those we saw from the first heatsink. Don’t use arm-quivering force to After you achieve the desired level of 4 lap; instead, apply easy, steady pres- 6 smoothness, it’s time to clean your Lap Like Mad sure and let the sandpaper do its job. heatsink. Rinse it thoroughly with water Our results were in line with what You’ll encounter more resistance if you and scrub it with a stiff brush to remove many other users experience—most lap- use a circular motion, another reason we trapped metal grains. You can use dena- ping results floating in Internet chat recommend the simpler back-and-forth tured alcohol to exorcise minute particles rooms and forums indicate that it’s a sig- technique. If you lap in circles, rotate that your other cleaning efforts miss, but nificant feat to drop your CPU’s tempera- the heatsink after every few dozen this chemical treatment isn’t necessary. ture by three degrees. You might think strokes; rotate the heatsink 180 degrees three degrees isn’t worth a few bucks and if you’re grinding back and forth. Rinse Once the heatsink is dry, apply a a couple of hours of your time, but that the paper and heatsink often to elimi- 7 thermal compound to the top of decrease in excess heat may very well help nate accumulated dust. your CPU and reinstall the heatsink/fan. you achieve better overclocks, and the extra cooling efficiency may add time to Switch grits after you can see a signif- If you didn’t wear gloves, wash your your CPU’s lifespan. 5 icant improvement in the heatsink’s 8 hands thoroughly to remove all visi- surface. You may have to use more than ble traces of metal dust. by Nathan Chandler

PC Modder • 141 WORKING WITH GREASE Get Lower Temps & A More Overclockable Chip

ou already know that your CPU conductivity, and stability so the com- internal thermal diodes in the hottest runs too hot for its own good. It pounds don’t leave the die or break down. parts of the chips, he says, unlike P4s or Y needs a heatsink or cooling block Your options include Arctic Silver 5 . P4s also throttle their clocks attached to it so that it can dissipate heat. ($7) and Ceramique ($4; www.arcticsil- when they get too hot. In a perfect world, the perfectly smooth ver.com); Nanotherm PCM+ ($9; Meanwhile, Intel is researching a new sink would sit perfectly flat against the www.nanotherm.com); and GEIL’s TIM using carbon nanotubes, which con- perfectly smooth processor die. Copper Thermal Compound ($8; duct heat well and are minute enough to In the real world of mix-and-match www.geilusa.com). Avoid using a thermal fill extremely small voids. “If it pans out, commodity parts, tiny imperfections in adhesive for a CPU heatsink, however. (the new compound) could be used in a the heatsink and die cause air gaps One of these acts like a TIM, but also like few years, but it is really too early to tell,” between them. Air is an insulator, so heat a glue. See the “Removing ‘Glued’ says Intel spokesman Manny Vara. has a hard time emigrating from the CPU Heatsinks” sidebar for more info. Thompson says that carbon nanotubes to the heatsink. It’s inordinately tough to properly are “not on the menu at this time for our Enter TIM. A thermal interface materi- compare thermal compounds to find the current products.” He says that nan- al, often called a thermal compound, best one. (A supply snafu thwarted our otubes’ tendency to conduct heat in only grease, or paste, fills the gaps between a efforts to do so by deadline.) Arctic one direction makes them better suited to heatsink and a processor. A good TIM is Silver’s Colin Thompson says that there’s thermal pads than greases. Despite the so much better than air that you shouldn’t no practical way to completely remove “nano” in its company name, rival TIM run most CPUs without one. thermal grease from a heatsink or CPU maker Nanotherm declined invitations to before applying another one. This means discuss its ingredients. What To Buy that you really need an uncontaminated, Thermal greases available today are virgin heatsink and processor for every How To Apply generally oils suspending metal and/or compound you test. And because those Like any component in your computer, ceramic particles of silver, boron nitride, sinks and chips won’t be identical, your there’s a right way and a wrong way to and other materials. Manufacturers try to test will still have some variation. In case install a thermal compound. If you just offer good heat conductance, low electrical you do your own testing, Thompson squeeze a dollop of thermal grease onto advised using Pentium IIIs. PIIIs have your CPU and snap the heatsink in place, Hi, No Silver! Removing “Glued” Heatsinks n January, Silversinksam, a reviewer at I Overclockers.com, found that neither ome heatsinks, like Joan Rivers, seem Gently twist it one way, then the other, OCZ Ultra II Premium Silver Compound nor S to have no visible means of support. until the tape lets go. Don’t pull or pry CompUSA Silver Thermal Grease contained They’re not screwed down nor held by upward on the sink. any silver, as claimed. Independent testing clips, yet they cling tenaciously to the sili- If you encounter a sink that won’t backed up his findings. The aluminum- and con chips they cool. budge at all, it’s probably stuck on with silicon-based TIM, reportedly from the Some manufacturers attach heatsinks a permanent adhesive, such as Arctic same supplier, couldn’t transfer heat as to motherboard northbridges, MOSFETs Silver, Alumina Adhesive, or Nano- well as it would have with real silver in it. (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect therm Epoxy. Ask yourself if removing OCZ immediately verified the prob- transistor), or RAM modules on video that heatsink is worth the risk of break- lem, and initiated a very generous recall cards with thermally conductive adhesives ing the socket, the motherboard, or program for the inferior compound or double-sided tape. CPU heatsinks have the processor. (http://www.ocztechnology.com/abo grown too big and heavy for most thermal If so, try OverclockerCafe.com’s utocz/news/3). CompUSA also pulled adhesives. In very rare cases, though, you method: Heat the chip with a hairdryer. its product. However, as of this writing may find a smaller sink stuck to a chip you Protect the circuit board with a credit three months later, CompUSA makes no want to uncover. card and then twist the blade of a flat mention on its site of the problem, nor of A heatsink affixed with thermal tape is screwdriver between the card and ▲ any recall. ▲ no problem to remove when it’s hot. the heatsink.

142 • PC Modder your chip will probably run hotter grease about the size of a lowercase than if you had cleaned it before- “o.” If you find that you need hand and applied the TIM proper- more later as you spread the com- ly. Even worse, stray globs of con- pound, you can add a tiny bit ductive thermal compound, such more then. When you’re working as most silver-based ones, can short with thermal grease, remember out exposed transistors and con- that too much is just that: too tacts surrounding the die. These much. Excess compound will sim- can kill your chip. ply squeeze out when you clamp If your TIM didn’t come with down the heatsink. detailed instructions, follow these Now spread the grease evenly steps. With the computer un- and thinly over the top of the die, plugged, remove the CPU’s using a clean-edged credit card, heatsink and fan together. This laminated driver’s license, or what usually involves carefully pressing have you. You want a smooth downward and outward on the Apply only a little bit of thermal compound at first. You can of thermal material on the die’s heatsink’s retaining clip with a always add more later. surface, without any grooves, bub- flat-bladed screwdriver. Don’t slip, bles, or bare spots. Applying the or you might gouge the mother- wet layer of TIM to the processor board. When the clip comes free, die instead of the heatsink mini- unhook its opposite end from the mizes the risk of getting compound socket. Set the heatsink aside. If on other parts of the chip package. the heatsink doesn’t come off easi- Finally, hook the nonadjustable ly, refer to the “Removing ‘Glued’ end of your heatsink’s retaining Heatsinks” sidebar in this article. clip over the tab(s) on the CPU Next, gingerly clean the proces- socket. Try to set the heatsink sor’s die, which is the core chip in down onto the processor while the center of the CPU package (see keeping it as level as possible. our photos). Use a soft cloth Carefully use your flat screwdriver dampened with a cleaner that to reattach the other end of the clip won’t leave any residue, such as to the socket. Heatsinks for newer pure isopropyl alcohol or Akasa chips, such as the Athlon 64, may TIM-Clean ($10; www.akasa.com attach via levers to a plastic bracket .tw). Be careful not to smear the Use a credit card with a burr-free edge to spread the grease instead of the socket. old thermal grease onto other parts over the die. Avoid bubbles or bare spots, and be very careful Plug in the heatsink fan before of the CPU’s package as you clean to keep the stuff off the rest of the processor package. you start the PC, and be ready to it off. Wipe the old TIM from the turn the computer off quickly if heatsink, as well. the BIOS or monitoring utility When you’re ready to reassem- shows that the CPU is getting too ble things, squeeze out an amount hot (70 degrees Celsius for an of thermal compound about the Athlon 64, for example). Many size of a capital letter “O” onto recent motherboards will auto- the center of the heatsink’s under- matically shut the system down if side, where it will contact the the CPU temperature spikes, but CPU die. Use a clean cloth to rub others won’t. the grease into the heatsink until Note that most TIMs will it’s all but dry. This prepares the improve CPU temperatures a few sink for better heat transfer by fill- degrees Celsius over a few days’ ing in any microscopic pores and break-in time. Properly applied, machining marks. the right thermal grease should Next, apply your TIM to the help your chip last longer and processor die as shown in the overclock higher. photo. In one corner of the top of Rub thermal compound into the heatsink to fill the pores of the the die, deposit a drop of thermal metal. This step could shave a few degrees off your temps. by Marty Sems

PC Modder • 143 DRY ICE DESTRUCTION Supercool Your CPU On The Cheap, Mad-Modder Style

ometimes we are inspired to per- RTV sealants popular with modders), and with the CPU. Fixing this was easy. I upend- form certain feats because a bold neoprene or closed-cell foam. I’ll provide a ed the can onto top of a flat pole and beat S mentor showed us a way to reach general overview of how to seal your CPU away on the bottom of the can with a ham- for the stars. Mad Modder won’t offer up socket here, but you can find detailed mer, thinking all the while about my former such clichés when explaining why you instructions on page 148. boss. Doing this flattened out most of the should cool your CPU with dry ice. You will also have to consider how to biggest imperfections, and a quick lapping Because you already know why you apply the dry ice to the top of your CPU job smoothed out the can even more. should take your chip into the dry-ice without deep frying its transistors or getting I put a little extra work into my can deep freeze—Michael Myers told you to. crazily cold chemicals all over your mother- alterations because of the thin aluminum’s I was watching “Halloween” and won- board. Because complex plans always seem flexibility. I knew that if I simply made the dering exactly how I could vent some anti- to fail miserably, I decided to keep this part bottom as flat as possible, it would pop up social angst on my computer components. of the project simple: I used a Mountain a little when I tightened it to the top of the And as I watched Mr. Myers chopping and Dew can. That’s right, Junior, I spent 50 CPU, causing a concavity and ruining the slashing, I realized I could do the same, only cents on a soda for this project, and it can’s heat-conductive properties. To avoid with dry ice, which in bits in pieces I could wasn’t so that I could mix the sugary stuff this problem, I left the can smooth but use to take my CPU temperatures to tortur- with Cuervo for a drink as I worked. I’m convex at just the right angle—when I ous lows. After properly fortifying myself, I sure you’re wondering, why, Moddy, why? pushed it down on a tabletop, it looked gathered my strength and prepared for the I used a pop can primarily for simplicity’s perfect, with the bottom flattening out to coolest middle-of-the-night project ever. sake. As you cruise the Web, browsing other make consistent table contact. Cooling with dry ice means a number of users’ dry ice projects, you will inevitably The next big step was figuring out how things. One, because dry ice is so cold, you run across those who integrated custom- to make the can sit on top of the CPU with- can achieve incredible overclocks. Two, dry made copper or aluminum heatsinks to the out tipping over, but securing the can to the ice means that you’ll have to take a few pre- top of their CPUs. So unless you happen to CPU turned out to be one of the easier tasks cautions to protect your expensive equip- own a machine shop, you won’t have the in this project. I unscrewed the plastic ment, lest it wind up as a useless testament ability to perform this project at 3 in the heatsink mounting bracket and removed it to your slapdash safety skills. And three, you morning on a Saturday. You could hire from the motherboard, set the can on the have to figure out a way to get all that beau- someone to make a dry ice receptacle for CPU, placed the mounting bracket on top tiful dry ice coldness onto the top of your you, but A) you’d have to wait for the item of the can, and inserted two 8-inch long CPU without spending a ton of money. to be constructed, and B) this would cost screws through the bracket and into the Read on, and I’ll teach you how to protect you a nice lump of cash you could spend on motherboard’s predrilled mounting holes. A your motherboard and CPU and show you other fun stuff, for example, beer. couple of nuts made sure the assembly just how far I pushed my test processors. stayed in place with no wiggle whatsoever. Michael Myers, eat your heart out. The Can Plan Affixing a bizarre contraption like this Most CPU heatsinks are made from alu- to your CPU, means, of course, that you Setup details minum or copper because these metals have Start this project by assembling a list of superior heat transference characteristics. required hardware. I began with the elec- But when you know you’re going to be tronics, including an average Intel Pentium working with something as cold as dry ice, 4 and two AMD Athlon 64s; all the better that thin layer of metals separating the ice to get a good idea of the effects dry ice from the CPU doesn’t seem quite as would have on a midpriced CPU, as well important. Plus, the recycling truck doesn’t as a pair of blazing 64-bit superstars. make any pick-ups outside this godforsaken From there, putting things together hovel in which I hide, so my stockpile of requires a little more thought. You need a extra cans is hitting an all-time high. way to seal the CPU socket to prevent con- As you know, the bottom of a Dew can densation. For this task you need dielectric isn’t flat; instead, it has multiple ridges that This Socket 478 bracket comes off and will actu- grease, a waterproof sealant (I recommend would prevent it from making good contact ally secure my pop can to the top of my CPU.

144 • PC Modder won’t be putting the motherboard back in that using dry ice on a regular basis can be your PC’s case. It’s fine to leave your dangerous for your sensitive equipment. motherboard on your tabletop for the short time it takes to perform this experi- Don’t Die, Please ment; just be sure to take the proper proce- Dry ice isn’t a harmless plaything. Those dures to reduce the chances of an electrical drunken chimpanzees outside our base in static discharge. You can rest the mobo on [CENSORED] know this, and judging by a soft foam pad overlaid with the mother- their poor, frostbitten parts, you don’t want board’s antistatic bag, if you like. I actually to repeat their mistakes. So treat dry ice with removed a side from an old ATX PC case, respect. I’m sure you’re thinking, “The stuff laid it flat on a counter, and secured the This is dried conformal coating on the back of is minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit, it’s not like mobo to the standoffs, making the board the Intel mobo. A piece of neoprene or foam I’m going to make dog food slushies and level and stable for my experiments. makes the area resistant to condensation. feed them to angry, duct-taped terrorists.” Condensation considerations. You Because that would be wrong. In most cases. can’t use dry ice for cooling unless you take But I digress. Realize that dry ice can proper precautions to minimize condensa- hurt you, mostly by freeze-burning your tion problems. You will encounter conden- skin and making it look like you barely sation during this experiment because con- survived a five-alarm fire, so don’t let this densation almost always forms when you stuff come in contact with your bare flesh. keep an object colder than the surrounding Wear gloves or oven mitts when you’re air, and I’m sure I needn’t remind you that handling the chunks. dry ice is about -80 degrees Fahrenheit. If you don’t have anything more appro- So be sure to use the steps for insulating priate, buy a cheap Styrofoam cooler for your socket on page (REFER), but with a your trip back from the ice store. This cooler few minor alterations. With dry ice, the The well-insulated socket is ready for a tall sip will slow dry ice’s tendency to sublimate into insulating pad on the backside of the moth- of dry ice, via a Mountain Dew can. the air as carbon dioxide. If you use some erboard isn’t an option; it’s a necessity. After other type of container, just make sure it’s you’ve applied and let dry your silicone not completely airtight, as the sublimating sealant, cut a foam rectangle that extends at dry ice will expand and could cause an least a couple of inches to either side of the explosion. Don’t, ahem, get any bright ideas. CPU socket. Cut small holes in the foam to Use dry ice only in a well-ventilated accommodate any nuts used to secure the area. Because dry ice disappears so quickly, dry ice bracket and then use a silicone sealant you need at least five pounds of it, even to make the pad stick to the motherboard. for small projects, and its sublimation It’s important to insulate the can, as well, increases the ratio of carbon dioxide to keep watery messes to a minimum. I around your cooler. I doubt many of you wrapped my can in a half-inch of closed-cell will be putting this project together in a foam and then sealed the whole thing up glorified closet, like me, but you do have Klutzes, take heed, this how is you should protect with waterproof tape. When I was done with to transport the ice home in your vehicle. your mobo from splashes during the experiment. my can, only the flattened bottom and the Crack a window or make sure the ventila- top hole for receiving the dry ice were visible. tion system is blowing fresh air into the After I secured the can to my CPU, I car to avoid any oxygen deprivation issues. also dug out a couple of old plastic bags and draped them over my motherboard. Dew Dee Dew If you’re not particularly well coordinat- I decided to begin my experiment with ed, consider this a necessity because the Pentium 4, all the better to whet my bumping your can during this experiment excitement for the Athlon 64s. This was a can unleash a flood of supercooled liquid P4 2.4GHz CPU that I installed on an over your motherboard, and that’s the ABIT AI7 motherboard. In part I started end of the fun. with a P4 to see just how long I could use When your CPU socket is protected, it’s dry ice with the P4 before condensation- or time to play. Just keep in mind that these Turns out there was too much insulation on temperature-related problems caused a dis- precautions will protect your motherboard the mobo, so I took it off. It’s worth noting that aster, all the better to help avoid catastro- only for short overclocking sessions and this is the last time my P4 was seen alive. phe with my more expensive components.

PC Modder • 145 One concern was that the thin walls of the can’s bracket to make sure the can was the Dew can wouldn’t withstand the making sufficient contact with the CPU, extreme temperatures of the CPU and the and it turned out that I probably overdid dry ice. After a few more High Lifes, I the socket insulation, causing the can to lift wasn’t concerned anymore. There was up just a little too much to touch the only one way to find out if I’d suffer a CPU. I removed part of the insulation (but horrendous, frosty accident or emerge made sure the socket was still sealed) and with an intact mobo and CPU in tri- again secured the can. The PC booted up, umph, and that was to give it a go. but only after I hit F2 to bypass my moth- The can, revisited. Before jumping into erboard’s CPU fan error, something you’ll the dry ice procedure, I’ll tell you about the As with the Intel bracket, I removed this AMD likely have to do with your system, as well. re-engineered can. After overclocking for bracket and used it to make sure the can stayed My system started normally, and two straight hours, extreme temperatures put on the Zen plate. Motherboard Monitor indicated a CPU began taking their toll. Condensation wasn’t temperature of -1 C. I let the system sit to a problem. My well-insulated motherboard see just how far temperatures would didn’t suffer any water-related damage even plummet, and after about 10 minutes, it though the entire dry ice can frosted over bottomed out at -14 C. I started the completely. But the can itself showed the PCMark utility and watched that temper- effects of too much cold and too much heat, ature rise. And rise. And eventually sky- and the sides began to bulge a little, much rocket to 60 C in a matter of minutes, not as a full can of soda will do after it’s been long enough for the benchmarking left in a freezer for a few hours. scheme to run its course. I’ll mention here that this bulging mon- I hypothesized that my thin can, strosity wasn’t the same can as the one I though very cold, might not have the heft instructed you to make earlier in this necessary to pull heat quickly from the story—my initial can had less insulation Insulating an Athlon 64 mobo is a messy job. CPU. To combat this I decided to give and no tape to help it hold its shape. I Just be sure you don’t get any goop in your the dry ice a head start. I let my CPU sit pitched the first can and used the better- socket pinholes, or your board is toast. without power for two minutes, chilling it insulated one to make sure the bulges of the to the tips of its tiny transistor bones doomed can wouldn’t cause problems with (more specifically, -18 C), and then I the CPU-to-can contact, and my results started PCMark again. This time PCMark were much better. The point, of course, is completed, but very slowly, and to the that your can can’t really be over-insulated tune of only 1638 measly PCMarks. on its sides, and the more effort you use to Yin for my yang. The problem was prepare your can at the beginning, the less clear—my pop can experiment would fail you’ll have to worry about later on. unless I could find a way to more evenly Nice ice, baby. I dropped in a few chunks distribute heat coming off of the CPU. But of dry ice and inserted my homemade funnel where in the heck do I find an inexpensive, so that I could top off the ice with a 1/3 of a This plate, from the bottom of a Scythe Zen flat metal plate at 2 in the morning? That can of acetone. The mixture spit a little, but heatsink, was a critical reason the Athlon 64 was when I spied a Scythe Zen heatsink not enough to cause any concern. This par- temperatures dropped to -30 degrees Celsius. slumped over like a forgotten Raggedy ticular aspect of testing should be performed Andy in my discarded-tech pile. with care. Reversing this step by pouring Keep it simple, This particular heatsink has a unique acetone onto the dry ice is a mistake, as this stupid. About design in that it requires no fan, no water, will cause the concoction to explode like a all I needed to and no dry ice, but rather, many metal fins witch’s brew gone bad, and when I did it supercool my that push heat into the surrounding air. It (after one, er, three too many High Lifes) I CPU was a also happens to come with a removable was very, very glad I’d worn thick gloves, a socket bracket copper plate. I stripped this plate from the long-sleeved shirt, and protected my moth- and pop can. Zen, and because it’s Socket-478 compati- erboard protected with a plastic sheet. ble, the plate slipped over the screws of my Then it was time for the moment of bracket and neatly into place. truth. I hit the power switch, and the P4 I secured my can to the top of this plate computer booted properly but then shut and restarted the experiment. Praise be to down twice in a row. I carefully released Cuervo—it seemed to be working very

146 • PC Modder well. After computer completed plate and Mountain Dew can on its start-up tasks the CPU tem- Ice Cold Ice Cold Ice the CPU, and topped off the perature was -9 C, nearly 30 ry ice is one of the cheapest, fastest, and most effective ways whole thing with the plastic degrees lower than when I started bracket and two nuts. This setup D to supercool your CPU. It's perfect for a Saturday overclock- up without the copper plate. I let ing session when you want to push your CPU's benchmarks as was perfectly stable. the CPU idle for 10 minutes and high as they can go. (Temps in degrees Celcius.) ▲ I immediately noticed a huge the readings went much lower difference in temperature levels. I this time, all the way to -32 C. I Pentium 4 2.4GHz expected the 64 to run hotter than started PCMark and the temper- Stock Setup my P4, but the opposite was true. ature began a slow upward climb. PCMark04 Score The 64’s idling temperature, -30 Base chip speed 3591 By the end of the test, my over- Overclocked 3762 C, was the same as the P4’s, but clocked CPU’s temperature Operating temperatures with stock heatsink unlike the P4, my AMD chip topped out at a mild 43 C and Digital Doc Motherboard Monitor stayed very cold during overclock- Idling 26 37 a PCMark score that zipped During benchmark routine 31 34 ing, and it warmed to only -2 C past 4200. With Dry Ice even at maximum speed. My Although the chip’s PCMark PCMark04 Score guess is that the AMD CPU’s scores improved with the dry ice Base chip speed 3753 larger size helped distribute heat Overclocked 4211 setup, my overclocking sessions Operating temperatures with dry ice more quickly, letting the dry ice didn’t accomplish as much as I’d Digital Doc Motherboard Monitor perform its job more effectively. hoped. My can’s liquid tempera- Idling N/A -30 And the test was, effectively, ture stayed at a brisk –80 F for During benchmark routine N/A 43 a huge success. Not only did I AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 almost the entire experiment, Stock Setup not kill the chip, but I managed and I did push the CPU into PCMark04 Score to overclock the FX-51 to 3GHz territory, but in the end, Base chip speed 3887 2.52GHz. Next up, I wanted to condensation went on the offen- Overclocked 4145 see if we could overclock an FX- Operating temperatures with stock heatsink sive, taking advantage of my tac- Digital Doc Motherboard Monitor 53 higher than the other scores tical error of removing extra Idling 31 55 (2.8GHz) in this same issue. socket insulation. My chip flew During benchmark routine 39 59 This task, of course, was no fast and high, but to a soaking With Dry Ice problem. I pushed the chip to PCMark04 Score silicon socket in the sky. It was a Base chip speed 3894 2.9GHz and a nice, round score sad death for this CPU, but its Overclocked 4385 of 5200 in PCMark 2004. Not sacrifice paved the way to the Operating temperatures with dry ice bad for a midnight excursion next segment of my project. Digital Doc Motherboard Monitor into overclocking wonderland. Idling N/A -2 During benchmark routine N/A -30 The 64 Lives! AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 Conclusion After burying the Pentium 4 Stock Setup If my dry ice experiment in the backyard, I grabbed a High PCMark04 Score proved anything (other than the Base chip speed 4729 Life, headed back inside, and pre- Overclocked 4888 fact I’m becoming a raving pared my hard drive to work with Operating temperatures with stock heatsink lunatic while unemployed), it’s two more CPUs and mother- Digital Doc Motherboard Monitor that anyone can take their CPU Idling 32 39 boards. For starters, I opted for During benchmark routine 38 51 temperatures to frostbite levels an AMD Athlon 64 FX-51 on an With Dry Ice without blowing a grand on a ASUS SK8N motherboard. PCMark04 Score phase-change system. Think of I established a few base Base chip speed 4432 dry ice as the great overclocking Overclocked 5200 benchmark numbers and then Operating temperatures with dry ice equalizer—it proves you don’t prepared to perform more dry Digital Doc Motherboard Monitor have to be rich to be fast. ice testing. Because the AMD Idling N/A -32 And that’s a good thing for socket is quite different from During benchmark routine N/A -17 me because I think the boys at Intel’s Socket 478 configuration, I needed 940, inserted my two long screws until the old office finally found that back door to secure the can and copper plate with a they extended about a half-inch past the I left in the budget database. Looks like different bracket. This adjustment turned rear of the mobo, and secured the screws I’ll just have to implement another. Mwa- out to be an easy one. with washers and nuts. After double- haha-ptth. I removed the two screws that the checking my insulation, I flipped the black plastic square around AMD’s socket motherboard over, rested the Zen’s copper by Mad Modder

PC Modder • 147 SEAL YOUR SOCKET Don’t Let Condensation Devastate A Supercooled System

ometimes when I’m living the You will need, in no particular order, reason it is used for everything from wet High Life, I get crazy ideas, but closed-cell foam or neoprene squares, suits to automotive engine belts. And S even at my maddest, I have never RTV silicone sealant, or better yet, Dow because neoprene is chemically inert, you really wanted to push a $700 CPU to the Corning Conformal Coating. Add to that can use it in situations where you want to limits using only aircooling. It’s not bud- list dielectric grease, a fifth of Jose Cuervo, make sure your vital insulation won’t getary concerns that stop me; it’s just that and very sharp scissors or a utility knife. melt into a gooey motherboard mess sometimes I think I can hear transistors Foam and neoprene. Closed-cell foam when it comes into contact with a mild screaming as they burn into sorrowful or neoprene sheets are the insulating solvent or two. Best of all, it’s an effective oblivion. That kind of thing stays with materials that prevent condensation. They insulator at extreme temperatures. you. So for overclocking I use supercool- moderate the extreme temperature differ- Whether you go with closed-cell foam or ing techniques, carefully, to avoid wind- ences between cooling equipment on your neoprene, you need the sheets in a thickness ing up with a water-soaked ASUS, and to CPU and surrounding air. that’s appropriate for this project. Keep in protect my precious, shrill transistors. Closed-cell foam has a number of charac- mind that 1cm thick sheets are a good start- Why fret about water? Well, supercool- teristics that make it appropriate for insulat- ing point, but you can buy both materials in ing, of course, means using liquid nitro- ing a CPU socket. It’s a polyurethane sub- various thicknesses, so to be sure you have gen, dry ice, both dry and watercooled stance that has many tiny, tightly packed, exactly what you need. I suggest ordering peltiers, or phase-change systems, and crush-resistant bubbles, and as such, the extras of both thin and thick squares so that each of these systems comes with one foam usually springs back to its original you can adjust to any challenges that may potentially destructive side effect—con- shape even after you subject it to a lot of arise. These substances are cheap, and you densation. Condensation occurs whenever pressure. The foam resists a lot of abuse, and can use leftovers for other projects. you lower the temperature of an object so long as you don’t go after it with sharp On a final, not-so-unimportant note, below surrounding air temperatures, as objects, it’s very resistant to tears. Bubbles it’s good to know that you can buy neo- evidenced by water droplets that accumu- inside closed-cell foam offer excellent insula- prene and closed-cell foam sheets that are late on the cooler object. Cold beer, any- tion, and when compressed, those pockets precut to fit specific CPU sockets. These one? When that object is your CPU or help to create an airtight, waterproof seal precut sheets are a big time-saver, espe- motherboard, you can expect catastrophic that helps stop condensation before it starts. cially for those of you with ham-handed problems and a serious, imminent dent in You can find closed-cell foam on the crafts skills. If you want to cut the materi- your technology-replacement budget. Web, but it may be faster to pick some up als yourself, try the Materialscraps Preventing condensation at normal room at a craft or hobby store. Whether you (www.materialscraps.com) Web site for temperatures means sealing the CPU socket know it or not, you’ve already seen inexpensive foam and neoprene scraps. to insulate your processor and keep droplets closed-cell foam in your house; it’s used You can buy enough material here to from forming. No, no, Junior, put down for common weather stripping. In a insulate the entire inside of your PC. that caulk you bought for your mildewed, pinch, I suppose you could pick up Greases and goo. It’s easy to find rust-stained shower. Let Mad Modder show weather stripping and use it to battle con- dielectric grease, otherwise known as spark you how to do this the right way. densation, but you’d have to deal with the plug grease. You can pick up a tube of this messy adhesive on the back. gunk at any auto parts store for a couple What You Need On the flip side, open-cell foam is the of bucks. This grease’s best quality is that You don’t need much in the way of kind of stuff you find in Nerf balls. This it’s not conductive at all, so when you hardware to seal a CPU socket, and the foam is very soft, crushable, and not water smear it all over your CPU socket you equipment you do need is inexpensive. resistant at all. You know what happens won’t end up with a flash-fried processor. On the other hand, you may not be able when you drop Nerf products into a RTV sealant is a clear silicone sealant that to pick up each of these items at your local swimming pool, so don’t let something you’ll find at a hardware superstore, and it superstore, which I might add, is bristling similar happen to your motherboard. also costs only a few bucks for a tube that with privacy-shredding security cameras. Neoprene. Neoprene is a synthetic will leave you with plenty of leftovers. Shop at a mom-and-pop hardware store rubber. It has a very high resistance to This particular sealant type works great for instead, or if necessary, order online using extreme twisting and flexing that damages our purposes, but it’s not pretty, and it’s your evil stepmother’s credit card. other materials, and it’s waterproof, one not particularly easy to clean up, either.

148 • PC Modder Step Step Step 2a 2b 3a

Cutting-edge users may very well pre- ruining your $200 mobo. The grease is an center square uniformly. You’ll need a lit- fer the Dow Corning Conformal Coating inert material, and it merely ensures that tle space for neoprene or closed-cell foam because this substance doesn’t leave you’ve eliminated all air pockets that could later in this project. behind messy looking blobs like RTV play a part in causing condensation. Apply sealants can. The only problem is that the grease as evenly as you can and make At this point it’s best to wait for your most conformal coating buyers are busi- sure it slips into every pinhole. 5 silicone to sit for at least a couple of nesses that need vats of the stuff. hours, or maybe longer if it’s still runny. Fortunately, some PC modding sites Whip out your conformal coating Then, carefully flip your motherboard (such as www.aquastealth.com and 3 or RTV sealant and apply the gunk and locate the area from which your CPU www.dangerden.com) now carry the all around the base of your CPU socket. socket pins originate. On many mobos coating for your convenience. I recom- This will seal the gap between your this area is easy to find because the pins mend using this product instead of RTV CPU socket and the motherboard. You are metallic and create a square shape sealant because the conformal coating can smear the stuff if you like, but that’s the exact size of your CPU socket. looks more transparent, and thus, neater, applying an even bead of sealant around Other mobos cover the bottom of their and because you can easily peel it off of the entire base really should do the trick pins and make the point of origin a little your motherboard if you remove your without you needing to make further harder to find. If you had a very difficult high-tech cooling system. messes. If you’re using conformal coat- time finding exactly where the socket If you have no desire or time to assem- ing, take care as you press the syringe boundary is, cover the entire bottom of ble project components, don’t worry. You plunger. The coating tends to run out of the mobo with sealant. Heh, heh, I’m just can access DangerDen’s Web site and buy the syringe tip quickly, yet it’s still kidding, Junior. Here, drink this. a socket-protection kit that includes every- goopy. In other words, it’s easy to apply, Actually, cover an area slightly larger than thing you need to prevent condensation. but things can get out of control in a the CPU socket with an unbroken layer hurry. Pull back on the plunger to stop of sealant on the backside exactly opposite The Act the flow immediately, and wipe the tip of the socket. Some users claim it’s best to For the purposes of this article I’ll assume between pauses. Remember to apply less affix a neoprene square to the back of the you are installing a peltier plate, though in sealant around the CPU lever to prevent motherboard. If you’re paranoid about reality you might also be installing a locking problems, and if you use too condensation, feel free to stick your spare waterblock or even an evaporator head for a much, clean up the excess goo now neoprene here. phase-change system. Without further before it starts to dry. A final note on delays, let the sealing begin. using this splendid, high-tech conformal Double-check to make sure the sealant coating. Initially, it seems difficult to 6 you applied is still in the optimal loca- Uninstall your motherboard and maneuver the coating into tight spots tions. Then let the sealant cure for 24 hours, 1 remove the heatsink and fan. Move around the socket, but really, it’s not. or however long the manufacturer’s instruc- your motherboard to a well-lighted work Just squirt a little more coating than you tions indicate. Be advised that conformal area. Remember that you’ll have to wait need and then inject more from the coating’s slimy stage lasts longer than that of for your silicone to cure, so work some- other side of the obstacle. Odds are that your typical, average silicone sealant. You place where you can leave the mother- the two beads will merge together if you might want to put a low-speed fan above board to sit for about 24 hours until you tilt the mobo just so. the coating to speed up the curing process. can move to later steps. Later, when you check on the sealant, you Inject the sealant smoothly and even- might discover that your crazy chemical Squeeze a few big drops of the dielec- 4 ly into the center of the CPU slug, concoction has partially disappeared. The 2 tric grease on the pinholes of your which is the square in the middle of your last time I sealed a mobo, I noticed this phe- CPU socket. With your finger, smear the CPU socket. Don’t completely fill the nomenon in my CPU’s socket slug, but I grease into the holes. Don’t worry about slug; just verify that you’ve covered this took it as a sign that the coating ran under

PC Modder • 149 Step Step Step 3b 4 5

the socket and sealed it tight. To be cent corners of the CPU and slowly work carefully over the next few days. If you absolutely sure of a perfect seal, I injected your fingertips across the CPU’s surface. see any signs of condensation, you may more coating and let it sit for another day. This settles the CPU into place and gives need to verify that all of your seals are the pins some room to displace excess intact and that your neoprene fittings Use a ruler to measure the dimensions dielectric grease. Gently secure the CPU are tight enough. 7 of your CPU socket. Now use those lock lever. Realize that there will be a little If you use a watercooled peltier, be sure numbers to cut the neoprene or foam to fit more resistance than usual due to the grease; to watch for condensation on the tubing snugly at the base of the CPU socket. however, you shouldn’t need to use a lot of in your system. Should droplets form, These materials stretch easily, so it’s OK to pressure to complete this step. If it’s very buy pipe insulation and waterproof tape cut the holes a tad smaller than the socket. difficult to close the ZIFF lever, make sure at a hardware store and insulate the prob- the slug’s neoprene square isn’t too thick, lematic hoses. Thus sealed, your conden- Press the neoprene into place around and look for other possible obstructions. sation worries will be few indeed. 8 the socket. The neoprene should be thick enough to bunch up against the Your CPU’s top surface may have Chill At Will edges of the peltier, but remember, you 11 a die, which looks like a small Understanding the forces that produce have to leave room to secure the peltier to metallic rectangle. If it does, you need to condensation, knowing which materials the socket and motherboard. You may cut a square of very thin neoprene to fit to use for insulation, and sealing your need to cut a slot in the neoprene to make around this die. Most CPUs don’t have a CPU socket will help you put a stop to the securing process easier, and if your die, and if that’s the case with your CPU, moisture that can ruin valuable electron- peltier uses motherboard screws to keep you can skip this step. ics and stop your overclocking cold. things stationary, you’ll have to make the There are countless ways to insulate a appropriate holes in the neoprene. Apply thermal grease to your pelti- CPU socket for supercooling, and you 12 er and secure the peltier to the top now have the basic knowledge to do the Cut a neoprene square to fit the of the CPU. If you inserted a CPU die job in whatever way you see fit. 9 CPU socket slug. Tamp the neo- shim, make sure this piece of neoprene Until next time (OK, the next page), prene until it fits neatly into the slug. doesn’t bunch up during the installation. drink up, may your modding be mad, and don’t forget to make all purchases Reinstall the CPU. Your CPU won’t Verify that the peltier is sitting even- with cash. You never know who’s watch- 10 drop into place the way it usually 13 ly on top of the CPU, and make ing. Mwa-ha-ha (COUGH, COUGH), does because of the dielectric grease, and for sure the neoprene around the outside of the ha-ha (COUGH) . . . good grief, anyone this reason, you should be extremely careful CPU socket is snug against the peltier, too. got a cigarette? during this step. Get low and up close to the CPU and make sure the pins are lined up Fire up your system and observe by Mad Modder correctly. Press down gently on two adja- 14 the motherboard and peltier very

Step Step Step 7 9 10

150 • PC Modder HOT FANS, COOL CASE The Quietest, Most Powerful & Best-Looking Fans

our computer’s cooling system is We spoke with lead technician William a second (160CFM total divided by 1.21 one of the most vital components Tiu at Vantec about the CFM ratings of cubic feet of air in the case divided by 60 Y to consider when assembling your case fans. A third party tests the CFM seconds in a minute [60/1.21 = 132.2 rig. The mundane case fan is typically the of Vantec’s fans using a CFM thermo- times a minute]; to find the number of cooling option that receives the least atten- anemometer, which can measure the air times per second, divide by 60 [132.2/60 tion when grouped with the more extreme velocity of the individual fan with a sensor = 2.20 times per second]; to find the total alternatives such as Peltier coolers, massive that looks like a fan. “The velocity is then amount of air moving per sec multiply by aftermarket heatsinks, and other super- used, in combination with area of the air the air volume of the case [2.20x1.21 = cooling setups (fish tank not included, see output, to calculate the CFM.” 2.66 cubic feet per second, which checks “Light My Fire” on page XX). The obvi- out because it also equals 160CFM/60 ous benefit of the case fan is improved air- sec]). Now, fans of fans have a spiffy new flow, which can carry the heat away from statistic they can brag about. your components by exchanging the hot According to Rahul Sood, president air in your case with fresh cool air from Don’t underestimate the and CTO of VoodooPC, there’s no hard- outside your case. While not capable of significance of the case fan. and-fast rule for engineering airflow for cooling below the ambient temperature of every PC; “Some cases are fine with no your computer’s surroundings, case fans exhaust and one or two intakes, some the can improve heatsink and heat spreader other way around.” It all depends on the efficiency, and all without blowing your component layout and the path of the air- budget, or possibly subjecting your com- flow. If your case accumulates dust, you ponents to a watery grave. might consider configuring your case with intake fans at a higher total CFM than A Fan Is A Fan your exhaust fans (including the power Decent fans generally cost about $5 and A simple calculation can tell us roughly supply fan), which increases the air pres- get more expensive with increased power how many times per minute the fans sure inside the case, and as a result keeps and additional features, such as controllers, exchange the air inside our case (assuming dust at a minimum. LEDs, CCFL (cold-cathode florescent a 1:1 intake to exhaust ratio that offers no Smoke test. The smoke test is a good lighting), and temperature sensors. Buying turbulence). First we must find the cubic way to engineer the airflow with respect the right fan is about balancing your needs feet of air our case occupies. Our midtow- to your components. The smoke test between power and noise output. Then er case measured 16 inches high x 7.25 works best with a windowed case so you again, killer looks don’t hurt either. inches wide x 18 inches deep, which can watch the flow of air when the fans Cubic feet per minute. The most encloses approximately 1.21 cubic feet of are turned on. With the PC off, we posi- important factor to consider when buying air (not accounting for the displacement tioned our Chauvet F-650 Hurricane Pro a new case fan is the fan’s ability to push of air by the components inside the case). fog machine so that it blew smoke into an air. The CFM (cubic feet per minute) rate Now we can divide the CFM of our case open drive bay. The smoke represents is the measurement of a fan’s ability to fans by the 1.21 cubic feet of air we need heat inside our case. When our windowed move air. With regard to fans, CFM rat- to move. Using this formula, a single case was filled with smoke, we pressed the ings vary widely, from a pointless 8CFM 30CFM fan will exchange the air in our power button and watched as the air up to a gale-force 120CFM. For standard case approximately 24.8 times per minute. exchanged in seconds. If you perform this purposes, a lone 20CFM case fan can With the power supply fan and multiple test on your own, take note of where the move enough air to keep the ambient intake and exhaust fans, this number can smoke exits from your PC. If very little temperature of a low-end computer in even reflect multiple exchanges per sec- smoke appears from an exhaust fan, you check. On the other hand, overclockers ond. For instance, a case fitted with two may want to reposition it, or flip it to are well aware of the importance of case 40CFM intake fans, one 40CFM exhaust make it an intake fan. If you notice areas fans, and frankly in OC’ed systems a sin- fan and a 40CFM power supply (exhaust) where smoke seems to linger, you may gle 20CFM exhaust fan isn’t capable of fan can exchange the air in the case 132.2 want to position an exhaust fan nearby to moving the heat quickly enough. times a minute or approximately 2.2 times increase the air movement in that area.

PC Modder • 151 [Sequence #1] dB. One of the tradeoffs between fans The World Health Organization sug- over other active- and passive-cooling op- gests that people can work comfortably tions is noise. Noise output is measured in with 35dBs of ambient noise. At 45dBs of bels with regard to the human hearing background noise, the average person range. A decibel (expressed dB) is one-tenth cannot sleep. of a bel of amplitude per unit area. The dB 85dBs for prolonged periods will result rating on a fan comes from the noise it gen- in hearing loss. You might think you’re erates at its highest rpm. Vantec’s William hardcore enough to endure a noisy fan, Tiu said the dB rating for Vantec’s fans is but research suggests excessive noise can measured at a distance of approximately 2 lead to irritability, heartburn, indigestion, feet. The sound sensors are positioned at ulcers, high blood pressure, and even the intake side of the fan because the wind heart disease. noise from the exhaust side would produce Sleeve or ball bearings. Manufac- [Sequence #2] a significantly higher reading. William Tiu turers and consumer groups generally also warned that the listed dB ratings are a agree that ball-bearing fans generate measurement of the isolated fan; however, more noise than sleeve-bearing fans. when you install a fan in a case, vibration Ball-bearing fans also have more moving can increase the total noise output. You can parts than sleeve-bearing configurations. expect a typical PC to generate between In a high-heat environment, however, a 35dBs and 50dBs from the combined noise single ball-bearing fan will typically last of the case fans, power supply fan, heatsink longer than a sleeve-bearing fan, and fan, optical drives, graphics card fan, and dual ball-bearing fans can last signifi- hard drive. Typically lower dB rated fans cantly longer. In cool environments, the are less powerful and push significantly less life expectancy of both bearing types is air, but on the other hand, more powerful roughly the same. When choosing fans can be deafening. between fans with different bearing [Sequence #3]

The 120mm Panaflo towers over the 60mm Y.S. Tech.

[Sequence #4]

With the fans running, we noticed that smoke seemed to linger near the graphics card.

152 • PC Modder types, consider the environment inside fourth, features a unique silencer in the We noticed that eight out of the top your case and your tolerance for noise. form of a pass-through cable with a resis- 10 quietest fans were sleeve-bearing types, Fan sizes. Fans come in a variety of tor that cuts the power from 12V down while the remaining two had ball bear- sizes, from the tiny 20mm fan only suit- to 5.5V. The net result is a 20dB noise ings. When looking for a quiet fan, any- able for cooling small areas, to the massive output at 1,300rpm. If you’re looking for thing that lists the decibel range between 120mm fans that are approximately the a relatively silent case fan that still pumps 20 and 30dB will be fairly noiseless. diameter of a CD. Because of their size, the heat, try the 120mm Thermaltake Most powerful. Throwing caution to 120mm fans are more difficult to place in Thunderblade, which ranked fifth in our the wind, we chose our top 10 most pow- a PC. We mounted our 120mm test fans quietest list with 21dB. erful fans. At the top of that list is the to the top panel of our case and they fit snugly between the CD-ROM drive and the power supply unit. Some optical drives The Taming Of The Fan were actually too long to fit in the top drive bay because of the fan. The most nce you have your fans figured out, The Ultimate Controller. Enermax’s common fan size is 80mm, and the major- O it’s time to start thinking about con- Ultimate Controller has all the bells and ity of the fans we tested were this size. trolling the flow. Fan controllers are a must whistles, literally. This four-channel con- Most computer cases come with screw for overclockers who require extreme air- troller fits into a standard 5.25-inch drive holes positioned for 80mm fans. The cooling but don’t want to live with the bay, but if you’re running low on room in advantage of 80mm fans is that they’re extreme noise of high output fans. Fan con- your midtower, you can use the included kit large enough to move plenty of air with- trollers vary from a basic knob for manual to mount a hard drive behind the controller. out having to rotate at excessive velocities, speed control to multiple temperature-sen- The aluminum-housed unit comes with which keeps the fan’s power needs in sitive fan triggers with digital readouts and interchangeable black and silver faceplates check and minimizes noise output. heat alarms. We tested two fan controllers and has green and blue lights for the knobs. Typically, fan diameter and rpm (rota- to manage the airflow in our case. The backlit display also changes between tion per minute) numbers are inversely The Nexus. The Nexus, from Vantec, is blue and green with the push of a button. proportional, with smaller fans having to a four-channel fan controller that fits into The beefy instruction manual offers installa- spin faster to move air, and larger fans a standard 3.5-inch drive bay and is avail- tion tips in seven different languages, but able to push the same amount of air at a able with a silver or flat-black finish. The the portion in English is only barely so. At lower rpm. kit includes four 3-pin/4-pin fan connec- one point the manual warns, “please con- tors, a power connector, and four mount- tact your dealer if the problem persistent The Best Blowers ing screws. Although a simple diagram on continuity.” Even so, the Ultimate Controller For our roundup, we bought and test- the back of the box served as the instruc- went in easily. Each fan connector is labeled ed 23 fans, ranking them in several cate- tions, installation was a breeze. The four for the corresponding fan knob and the 4- gories depending on their features and connectors on the rear of the unit are pin Molex connector for the power supply is performance. labeled 1 through 4 to match with the unmistakable. We positioned the four tem- Quietest. If your current fans drone corresponding knobs. The power cable perature sensors at strategic points within like the engines of a B-52 bomber, maybe and the fan connection cables are all our case, one near the CPU heatsink, one it’s time to invest in a quieter method of clearly labeled. The extended aluminum on the hard drive, one in-between the RAM air exchange. As discussed earlier, fan housing fits past the extra-deep front modules and another at a neutral point in noise is almost directly proportionate to panel of our case, which is more than we the case to measure the overall tempera- the amount of air the fan can move. For could say for the SilverStone control ture. You can adjust the overheat tempera- this reason, most of the top 10 quietest panel (see main article text). Each of the ture for each sensor so that if the sensor fans are also the least powerful. But if you fan speed knobs is backlit with a blue reads a temperature above your designated don’t need the extra power and prefer to LED. The four channels were enough to limit, an alarm will sound. The controller hear the sound of your hard drive, then manage every fan in our case (not count- also has a fan fail alarm that goes off in the look to Vantec’s Stealth or either of the ing our PSU fan). The smoke test showed event that one of the fans stops working. In AeroCool fans we tested. The two fans us that we were getting very little airflow both cases the alarm is diminutive and from AeroCool operated at 20dB, which below the video card, so we adjusted the sounds like a digital watch alarm, gently is equal to just slightly louder than the fan speed to its maximum output. Our reminding you that your processor is about rustle of a leaf. Though quieter than a 120mm fan was also pulling plenty of air to fry itself into a blob on your mother- whisper, Vantec’s Stealth (also tied for the so we decreased its speed to cut down on board. The unit offered plenty of control top spot with 20dB of noise output) is the excess noise. Our two exhaust fans in over our fan speeds, and the simplified con- only capable of a measly 12CFM of air the back of our case were working well at trols and bold interface make this complex movement. The Zalman ZM-F1, ranked medium output. controller fun to use. ▲

PC Modder • 153 ever-popular 92mm Vantec Tornado, which is capable of moving 119CFM, or roughly 2 cubic feet of air per second. Power purists hardly bat an eye at the thundering 56dB of noise output, which is approximately equal to a moderate con- versation. If you’re not interested in fight- ing to be heard above the Tornado, the SilverStone FMC3XW system delivers a Thermaltake’s cool 103.44CFM at a less intrusive 44dB. Fireball was the If the noise output at 3,000rpm is still too best-looking much, you can adjust the SilverStone fan fan we tested. with the included (and ill-fitting) 3.5- inch bay speed controller, which can bring the noise output down to 17dB, which is even quieter than our most silent fans from AeroCool and Vantec. The 120mm Panaflo (screws not included), which is 38mm deep and by far the largest fan we tested, placed third on our most powerful list with an 86.5CFM rat- ing. Rated at 35dB, the Panaflo, with its unique Hydro Wave bearing system, is the quietest system among the top four most powerful fans we encountered. The Thermaltake Thunderblade rounds out our top five with a 78CFM rating at a quiet 21dB of noise output. The only 80mm fan to make our most powerful list The Logisys was the Ultra-Cool UC-9FBC, which Alien looks ranked eighth with 48.71CFM. If you’re truly out of looking for some serious movement from this world. a small package, check out the 60mm Y.S. Tech High Output NFD1260259B-2F, which pushes 40CFM. But don’t judge a fan by its diameter; Y.S. Tech’s High Output fan has a noise output rating of 48dB, making it our second loudest fan, and at 6,800rpm, it’s no wonder this thing is noisy. Here, eight of the top 10 most power- ful fans were ball-bearing types, with Panaflo’s Hydro Wave bearing and the Thunderblade’s sleeve bearing rounding out the list. Although the Thunderblade was the lone sleeve-bearing fan, it was the quietest of the heavy pushers. Best looking. Fans are some of the This dual-CCFL few components of a PC that visibly fan gives off a move, and as a result the aesthetic possi- ton of light. bilities are many. Some of our judg- ments about the best-looking fans are based on quantifiable observations, such as CCFL elements are brighter than

154 • PC Modder illuminated fireball grill, which nearly doubles the depth of the fan. The fan also comes equipped with a shut-off switch for the illuminated grill. A very close second on our list is the 80mm Logisys nine-LED Alien fan, which has four blue LEDs in the clear plastic frame and five more LEDs mounted on the hub. When the fan is spinning, the five hub LEDs provide an interesting circular light show. Third on our list is the 80mm Galaxy, with two sound-sensitive red CCFL. The fan also comes with switch that lets you adjust the sound sen- sitivity or disable the CCFL altogether. The Vantec Nexus feels right at home next to our floppy drive. The four-LED AeroCool Chameleon landed at fourth place in our rankings because of the unique temperature-sen- sitive fan blades, which change from purple to pink as the fan warms up. AeroCool’s Chameleon gets extra points for being the most practical of our best- looking fans. AeroCool also grabs the fifth spot on our list with the aluminum- framed fan with four red LEDs. We ranked Vantec’s blue and green UV LED fan sixth. The bright UV LEDs negate the need for a blacklight and really light the case well. Sunbeam’s red CCFL fan comes in at number seven. Thermaltake’s Enermax’s Ultimate Controller makes the highly functional, highly fashionable. Thunderblade, with its three flashing, color-shifting LEDs, is eighth, but the disco effect may quickly get old. The LEDs, and more LEDs are better than best in your case, so take our list with a four-LED 120mm and 90mm Galaxy fewer. Some of our conclusions, howev- grain of salt. fans ranked ninth and tenth. The runner- er, are based solely on personal opinion. The top three best-looking fans we up award goes to Evercool’s sharp-look- For instance, we think flashing LEDs tested were all very impressive, and pick- ing 120mm aluminum fan, even though can be annoying, and nothing kills the ing a clear winner was difficult. In the it lacked any lighting element (not every- fun at a LAN party faster than people end, though, we settled on the 80mm body has a windowed case). lapsing into seizures during a heated Thermaltake Fireball. This fan features deathmatch. Only you know what looks three multicolored LEDs and a flashing, by Andrew Leibman Top Ten Most Powerful Fans Brand Fan Model Size (millimeters) Max Airflow (CFM) Noise (dB) Speed (rpm) Bearing Type Voltage Connector 1 Vantec Tornado 92 x 92 x 38mm 119 56 4,800 Ball (2) 12 3-pin/4-pin 2 SilverStone FMC3XW 120 x 120 x 25mm 103.44 44 3,000 Ball (2) 12 3-pin/4-pin 3 Panasonic Panaflo FBA12G12M 120 x 120 x 38mm 86.5 35 2,100 Hydro Wave 12 3-pin 4 Evercool AL12025 120 x 120 x 25mm 84.76 39 2,200 Ball (1) 12 3-pin/4-pin 5 Thermaltake Thunderblade A1973 120 x 120 x 25mm 78 21 2,000 Sleeve 12 4-pin 6 Galaxy Crystal LED GC124R1 120 x 120 x 25mm 69.15 39 2,400 Ball (1) 12 3-pin/4-pin 7 Galaxy Crystal GC12UVB 120 x 120 x 25mm 69.15 39 2,400 Ball (1) 12 3-pin/4-pin 8 Ultra-Cool UC-9FBC 80 x 80 x 25mm 48.71 29 2,400 Ball (1) 12 3-pin/4-pin 9 Galaxy Crystal GC94R1 90 x 90 x 25mm 48 34 2,800 Ball (1) 12 3-pin/4-pin 10 Y.S. Tech NFD1260259B-2F 60 x 60 x 25mm 40 48 6,800 Ball (1) 12 3-pin/4-pin High Output

PC Modder • 155 KEEP YOUR COOL Don’t Let Your PC’s Temp Get Out Of Control

lthough your computer’s case isn’t The LCD displays the thermal sensor’s includes several dials that let you manually impenetrable, it generally protects temperature reading. MacPower’s Digital control individual fan speeds. Ayour PC from most potential sys- Doc 5+ ($52; www.macpower.com.tw) and Some gauges can automatically control tem-destroyers, including spilled liquids, the Vantec Nexus ($33; www.vantec fans based on preset temperature values. By dust, and curious children. Unfortunately, usa.com), for example, each have a tiny letting the gauge automatically adjust the your system produces vast quantities of its LCD that sits next to the device’s controls. settings, you can ensure that all of your sys- own worst enemy: heat. In fact, the CPU Because the Digital Doc 5+’s LCD is so tem’s fans are on when you stress your generates so much heat that if it runs for small, it automatically cycles through the computer. Although the Digital Doc 5+ even a few seconds without touching a sensor’s readings, displaying one tempera- doesn’t let you adjust fan speeds, it can cooling device, such as a heatsink or ture at a time. Other devices, such as the power off individual fans and then power waterblock, the processor will destroy itself. FrozenCPU.com Lian-Li Dual Bezel them on again when their related sensors And to make matters worse, your case, Gauge ($32; www.frozencpu.com), trade register unacceptable temperatures, which defending the system against outside control buttons and features for multiple means you can fire up a game or other threats, traps the heat inside. Custom sys- displays. New cases also often have a built- intensive software without manually tem builders have a variety of cooling in LCD and single temperature sensor. If adjusting your fans. By turning off devices at their disposal, including you’re handy with a Dremel and want to unneeded fans, the Digital Doc 5+ reduces heatsinks and watercooling units, but most measure only one location’s temperature, your system’s noise. rely on case fans and heatsink fans, which you can save drive bay space by adding a Multisensor temperature gauges general- suck out the heat and breathe fresh air into small, single-sensor, LCD-only temperature ly have two types of diodes: bulb and flat. your simmering system. gauge, such as the Global WIN Compu- Although both sensors are fragile, the bulb But case fans may not cool the entire Nurse ($12; www.globalwinusa.com). Most diode is the hardier of the two. You can chassis evenly, especially if you overclock temperature gauges display sensor readings suspend a bulb sensor inside the case to certain components or if tangled cables dis- in degrees Celsius, but users who prefer monitor the ambient temperature, or you rupt the system’s airflow. If heat threatens Fahrenheit can configure some high-end can use thermal tape to attach it to a flat your computer’s precious guts, you’ll need gauges to display in Fahrenheit. surface, such as a chipset or hard drive. to pinpoint dangerously hot air pockets, Temperature gauges that have few sen- which means you’ll need a temperature sors and options are inexpensive, but they gauge that measures not just your PC’s generally lack two important features that overall temp, but the temperature in specif- make high-end gauges attractive to heat- ic locations. Enter the removable, multiple- and-noise-conscious users: high tempera- sensor temperature gauge, a device that just ture alerts and fan control. might save your PC. Most fans spin at a single, preset speed whether the system is idle or under a full Time To Fill Another Drive Bay load. If you aren’t having heat-related prob- If you’ve searched online retailers for PC lems and want to reduce your system’s fan temperature gauges, you already know that noise, you can use a high-end temperature Use bulb sensors to check your case’s temp many gauges have the same basic character- gauge that includes a rheobus to lower fan and slide flat sensors into tight spaces. istics: flat or bulbous sensors; small, black- speeds. This type of temperature gauge has and-white LCD’s; external buttons or dials; several fan connectors and potentiometers and 5.25-inch wide bodies that slide snugly that let you adjust the voltage flowing to into one of your case’s free optical drive individual fans. When you lower the fan’s bays. To lure users otherwise unwilling to voltage, the fan slows. Thanks to the con- sacrifice a drive bay, some manufacturers trol feature, you can lower your fans while add hard drive mounts and fans. The drive your system is idle and crank them back up sits just behind the device’s front panel. when your system takes on heavy loads. Some new temperature gauges even have The Turbo Case Aspire 609 Fan Master USB and FireWire ports. ($28; www.newegg.com), for example,

156 • PC Modder However, the bulb’s shape means you can’t place it in particularly tight locations, such Pushing The Limit as the gap between a heatsink and a proces- sor. Flat sensors easily attach to flat surfaces anufacturers assign processors a and fit into the small gaps bulb sensors M maximum temperature limit to can’t reach, but the sensors are very fragile. help system builders avoid melting the You can easily break a flat sensor by bend- precious cores. Because AMD Athlon XP ing it or simply bumping it into an object. processors don’t have the thermal cases that protect Athlon 64 and Intel P4 Don’t Put This Under Your Tongue processors, AMD can put small labels on Determine which locations you plan to Some Temperature gauges, such as this Enermax the body of the processor without affect- monitor and what bulb types you’ll need UC-A8FATR4 ($36; www.maxpoint.com), can let ing performance. To find your Athlon XP’s before you buy a temperature gauge, as the you adjust fan speeds to lower your PC’s noise. max temp, simply look at the Ordering number and type of sensor varies from Part Number label and then find the third gauge to gauge. For example, MacPower between the heatsink and the body of the character from the left, which will be an S, put six bulb sensors and two flat sensors processor. The AMD representative told us T, or V. S = 95 degrees Celsius, T = 90 C, into the Digital Doc 5, but put six flat sen- that a user should be able to slide a flat sen- and V = 85 C. sors and two bulb sensors into the Digital sor into the gap without trouble. If you Intel recommends a 40 C maximum Doc 5+. Cooler Master’s Aerogate II ALD- place a sensor in this gap, keep in mind that CPU case temperature for 423-pin P4’s V02 ($46; www.coolermaster.com), on the although the sensor itself is flat, its cable is and 478-pin P4’s at or below 2.8GHz. other hand, has four flat sensors. not. If you wedge the cable under the Always the detail-oriented chipmaker, If you’re not sure where to place your heatsink, you may break the heatsink’s con- Intel recommends a 38 C maximum temperature gauge’s sensors, aim for three tact with the processor’s core. temperature for 478-pin P4’s to of your system’s hottest components: the On the other hand, AMD’s new Athlon 3.4GHz. We spoke with an Intel engi- hard drive, the processor, and the mother- 64 and Athlon 64 FX series processors have neer who suggested that P4 owners board chipset. You may also want to moni- use 64 C as maximum temperature tor your system’s ambient temperature to when monitoring the processor’s temp make sure your system maintains a consis- via the Intel Active Monitor. tent airflow. An AMD representative sug- Individual hard drive families have gested suspending a bulb sensor in front of different temps. If you don’t have your the heatsink fan to monitor the tempera- drive’s manual, you can generally find ture of the air flowing toward the heatsink. the drive’s max temp by visiting the You can attach either type of diode to a manufacturer’s Web site and browsing hard drive by running thermal tape over it. the drive’s specifications. ▲ Some manufacturers suggest particular locations that let the sensor accurately read the drive’s temperature. Seagate, for exam- If you have an Intel-based motherboard, you on-die diodes that work with the mother- ple, recommends placing the sensor near can use the Windows-friendly Intel Active board to calculate the processor’s tempera- the back end (opposite the power and data Monitor to keep tabs on the processor’s temp. ture. You can view this temperature in the connectors) of a Barracuda. If you’re not PC Health section of your BIOS, but your sure where to place the sensor, check your a small case that covers the top of the system won’t be running under a full load. drive’s manual. Motherboard chipsets gen- processor, including the processor core. As a If you want to check the on-die diode temp erally sport heatsinks or heatsink/fan com- result, these processors (and Intel P4 proces- readings from Windows, you’ll need to bos, which means you’ll have trouble sors, which have similar designs) don’t have install a third-party application. Some attaching either type of diode directly to the gap that Athlon XP’s offer. You can motherboard applications have overclock- the core top of the chipset. approximate the CPU’s temp by placing the ing software that displays processor temps, Placing a sensor near your CPU is tricky. sensor in between the heatsink’s fins. Once and Intel offers Active Monitor, which is a You can’t put the sensor directly on the you slip the sensor in between the fins, angle free utility that uses the on-die diode to core because it will block the heatsink from it downwards to push it as close to the bot- report your processor’s temperature. You contacting the entire core surface. As a tom center of the heatsink as possible. can run it at any time, which means you result, processors generally don’t make great If you’re short on drive bays or simply can keep an eye on the processor’s temp candidates for external sensors. However, don’t want to buy a temperature gauge, you while stressing your system. AMD Athlon XP processors have a raised can check your processor’s temperature in core and four small pads that create a gap your system’s BIOS. Most processors have by Joshua Gulick

PC Modder • 157 CHILL CHAT Keep The Heat Down With These Handy Tips

ow that computers are getting the only surface to take heat from the In the past greases came in plastic or faster, more powerful, and chipset. I wouldn’t recommend this foil tubes and were applied with a putty N smaller, heat is becoming approach unless you’ve got the patience knife. Though this is still the case with more and more of a problem. It’s espe- to work slowly and carefully to ensure some products, many now come in cially vexing if you’re going to try to an undamaged interface and burr-free plastic syringes, making application a overclock your machine. If your CPU edges, but if you’ve got no choice, it is a little simpler. Greases come as non- gets too hot, all of the high-priced mods viable alternative. metallics or can contain aluminum or you’ve spent years accumulating will be After you’ve got your heatsink chosen silver. The problem with the greases is worth as much as the silicon in the bot- (or manufactured), you need to attach it that the performance may decrease over tom of your fish tank. Fortunately for to the chipset you’re trying to cool. A time due to the grease drying out or the you and your nontechno-savvy goldfish, very drastic measure would be to use a migration of the material, which leaves there are alternatives to melting down metallic-infused epoxy to affix your gaps in the interface. They are also $2,500 worth of hardware: heat transfer heatsink directly to your chipset. You messy and, in most cases, electrically fins, thermal grease, fans, and water- should note that this is a fairly radical conductive, so you must be careful to based cooling systems. I’m going to dis- move and should not be undertaken remove excess grease so you don’t cre- cuss some of the more popular options lightly; if you glue your heatsink to the ate a short and eliminate the need to and maybe even point you in the direc- chipset, it’s there for good. You should cool your computer, as it will be noth- tion of some new ideas. know what you’re doing before you try it ing more than a charred pile of plastic and be certain that it will be worth the and heavy metals. Sink The Heat extra degree or two of cooling power Thermally conductive tapes and ther- The function of the heatsink in your you’ll get. If you’re not in the mood to mally conductive elastomers work well computer is similar to your air condi- risk that much, you will still need to to provide the thermal conductivity of tioner or refrigerator. A thermally con- attach the heatsink to the chipset using grease but will not flow freely enough to ductive material (copper is popular, and some kind of scaffolding in conjunction move past the edges of the heat- aluminum works, too) is mounted flush with some kind of TIM (thermal inter- sink/chipset interface. Thermally con- to the heat source. In order to maintain face material). ductive elastomers are silicone pads the small size constraints on today’s filled with thermally conductive ceramic modern machines, fins or pins are Grease It particles, often reinforced with woven added to the material. The math is TIM is one of any number of sub- glass fiber or dielectric film for added complex, and I won’t get into it here (I stances in either paste, liquid, stick, strength. Thermally conductive tapes are could—those degrees in engineering pad, or foil form that mates your double-sided, pressure-sensitive have to be good for something), but the heatsink to the chipset you’re trying to impregnated with enough ceramic pow- fins are intended to increase the surface cool. The form may differ, but in each der to provide thermal and electron- area of the heatsink while keeping the case the idea is to provide a conductive ic conductivity. footprint small. interface between the chipset and the If you’ve got an outrageously modi- heatsink and reduce the amount of air It’s Just A Phase fied PC and can’t find an off-the-shelf between the two because air is a poor PCM (phase-change materials) are heatsink for your application, you can conductor of heat. For the most part, designed to alleviate the problems asso- also purchase a used heatsink from a there is very little difference between ciated with greases. A PCM is a solid at local supply store and cut it to whatever the thermal performance of various room temperature, but softens or even size you want. This is also a possibility types of TIMs, usually only a couple of liquefies at the operating temperatures if you’re trying to remove heat from an degrees. It really all comes down to of your CPU. The change of phase will overworked video card. If you’re going your application and what measure of help draw some of the excess heat out of to try to make your own, you’ve got to inconvenience you’re willing to put up the chipset but can only be used in con- be careful to keep the back side (the with (For more information on TIMs, junction with a cooling fan because the side without the fins) as clean and see our “Working With Grease” article PCM will only remove heat until it is scratch-free as possible because this is on page 142). completely melted and has reached

158 • PC Modder equilibrium with the temperature of your chipset. Top Picks Now that you’ve gotten the heat from the chipset into the heatsink, anotherm Ice (www.nano you’ve still got to get it out of the case. N therm.com) is, in my opinion, The best way to accomplish this would one of the best thermal greases on the be to leave the case completely open market. It is nonhazardous and chemi- and surround it with fans. Unfortu- cally inert thanks to the USDA- nately, leaving your case open to airflow approved “food grade” lubricants, and also opens it up to dust, which is almost has high thermal conductivity and low as bad for components as heat. This thermal resistance because of the means that you’re going to need as nanocomposite thermal materials. It much air flowing via fans as possible. will remove the heat sufficiently and, Again you will run into space con- thanks to its viscous nature, it will fill straints, with the added hassle of having the imperfections in your heatsink and to place the fans so that air flows over chipset but will not flow away while your high-risk components, such as you’re trying to apply it with its includ- your processor, disk drives, and video ed plastic syringe. Nanotherm Ice cards. The trick is to find an open area The Zalman Reserator 1 (www.zal on your computer’s case (at least one— manusa.com) is not only stylish but two or more on opposite sides is better will help keep PC noise to a minimum. if you’ve got the space) and install cool- Its electric-brushed blue exterior hous- ing fans. Again, the bigger the better, es one of the most innovative water- but an 80mm fan or two will work cooling systems to date. Its internal wonders for heat removal. It’s a fairly motor circulates water (that you pro- simple procedure, assuming you can get vide) through the included AMD or your hands on a hole saw and a drill. A Intel water block almost noiselessly. search of the internet can yield graph- The included plumbing does not ics, but you basically cut a round hole require a major overhaul of your sys- in the case with the hole saw, transfer tem for integration. It does not use an the hole locations from your fan (and external fan but will remove sufficient grille if you’re so inclined), and drill heat depending on the placement of them through the case. If dust is a prob- the heat exchange tower. It will keep Zalman Reserator lem, abrasive pads used for cleaning both the noise and temperature of your dishes work well as filters on the inside PC down. ▲ of the grille. Then, all you’ve got to do is install the fan with the included hard- ware and run the power cables to your exchangers, and all manner of other the water, give you a couple extra degrees power supply. The sky’s the limit—you mechanisms to achieve the same effect of specific heat, and keep your alu- can get as fancy or down-and-dirty as as a fan and a heatsink. minum and copper parts intact. You you want. If you’re really determined to use should also consider some type of bio- watercooling, there are some off-the- cide to keep your system free of microor- Going Further shelf systems that will work for most ganisms, which can clog the system and Finally—and this is for those of you chipsets and require little to no modifi- foul the heat transfer surfaces. Addition that are serious about heat removal— cation. There are some other factors to of a commercial algicide available there’s watercooling. Watercoolers consider, however. If you’re going to use through laboratory suppliers will help work on the same principles as aircool- watercooling, I strongly recommended keep your water germ-free and smelling ing, but water has a higher specific heat that you not use only deionized (dis- fresh for months. than air, so it can remove more heat tilled) water. DI water has a tendency to Hopefully these tips will steer you in with less mass. That’s mass of fluid, pick up metal ions (aluminum) which the right direction toward keeping your people, not equipment. The downside can cause corrosion and damage to your cool new PC cool and comfortable. of watercooling is that you need an system. You should use a small amount enclosed system to keep the water from of antifreeze in addition to the good old by David Miller leaking, and you need pumps, heat H2O. This will raise the ion content of

PC Modder • 159 PROJECT METROPOLIS How Artist Paul Capello Built His Latest Modding Masterpiece

—John F. Kennedy

The Inspiration din outside and slumped in my chair, Like most artists, I have a hard time rubbing my sleepless eyes. Some fresh air sleeping. A cup of strong coffee, about an might do me good, and I took the now hour old, sits on my desk untouched. It's cold cup of coffee with me as I climbed almost 4 a.m., and the street outside my the small ladder that leads to the roof of window in Brooklyn, NY, is quiet except my two-story home. This neighborhood The inspiration for project Metropolis was born for the rustling leaves of a giant was built on Brooklyn's highest hill, from the 1927 Fritz Lang movie of the same Sycamore. The sturdy trunk of the tree appropriately named Sunset Park for its name. Although the city from the movie didn't rises from the concrete sidewalk and the amazing view of (you guessed it) the set- have a dome, this concept was used many patch of soil it was planted in many years ting sun. At night the view of Manhattan times in sci-fi novels and film. The dome would ago. I turn back to the computer monitor was also great, and it was there that I also keep curious fingers and hands off of the and the blank canvas of my 3D-sketching turned my attention. The skyline of New Mini-ITX motherboard at the CEBIT show. program, but there's no inspiration to be York, though forever changed, is still as found there, in the bright glow of breathtaking as ever. The buildings that breathing elements as important as any the screen. made up all the peaks and valleys shim- other character. I remember seeing this I've been asked to create a display for mered with twinkling light, and there was film on TV as a kid, and again only a few VIA Technologies and base it on their a barely perceptible hum that was the years ago on the big screen, complete with new Mini-ITX motherboard. I had less rhythm at the heart of it. It was the a live orchestra. It was incredible. than two weeks to complete the project shapes of buildings against the dull white and have it shipped to Hanover, Germany glow of the horizon that I watched for Project Planning for the CEBIT 2004 convention. I'm some time. The City. Manhattan. I now had the central theme of the often asked where I find the inspiration Gotham. Metropolis. project and a starting point from which to for the case mods I create, and it's the one I was on to something. Back at my launch my ideas. My plan was to design a question that is very difficult to answer. computer, I brought up the 3D program display around the hardware, and the To wit, I knew where it wouldn't come and began roughing out a Mini-ITX motherboard from: staring at this stupid monitor. city skyline comprised of would be at its heart. I Frustrated, I switched it off and turned simple buildings and sil- would construct a platform my attention back to the window and the houetted shapes. As I start- on which to mount the tree-lined street outside. After several ed adding extruded parts barely 7-inch square moth- peaceful minutes, the relative tranquility and more detail to the erboard and fabricate was broken by the belching roar of an architecture of the build- buildings and architecture approaching sanitation truck, a noisy, ings, they began to take on inspired by the film to cre- man-made mammoth on its nocturnal abstract shapes. In the 1927 ate a miniature Metropolis forage for food. silent film “Metropolis,” skyline. My very first con- The truck stopped in front of my director Fritz Lang shocked cept drawings had the apartment, and the familiar whine of its audiences with his vision of pneumatic compactor was like the earth- a future city built from the The pedestal for Metropolis shaking growl of some prehistoric beast. sweat and sacrifice of work- became an integral part of the These sounds, the leaves in the wind and er-slaves and ruled with look and feel of the project. that of the garbage truck, as different as an iron fist by the wealthy. The 'tower of light" concept Yin is from Yang, were both part of the In this film, the buildings was inspired by the gadgets living, breathing city in which I was that made up the city and gizmos a mad scientist raised. I closed the window against the had a leading role: living, might have.

160 • PC Modder platform for the city as a square shape, be presented as part of Via Technology's The pedestal ultimately became an and it was only later, through the advice booth, it really had to stand out from the important part of this display, and a lot of of a friend, that I made it round and crowd if it was going to make an impres- thought was given to the materials and added the clear acrylic dome. It's been my sion. It had to be a singular piece, able to overall design. The pedestal couldn't experience to let a concept simmer for a stand on its own and not anchored to a overpower the sculpture on top, so creat- while before you jump in and begin a table or desktop. The solution for this was ing a design that was solid and pillar-like project. Like painting or sculpture, there to integrate a pedestal into the design. In was out of the question. Drawing on the is a point where the piece begins to this case, a pedestal would not work pure- influence of sci-fi movies and illustrations, "speak" to you, and it's at this stage where ly as a "stand" for the miniature city on I came up with the "tower of light" con- it's very important that you're all ears. top but rather had to be part of the sculp- cept for the pedestal. When I began to I knew from the beginning that this ture as a whole. When designing pedestals sketch it out in my 3D program, it project wouldn't be a case mod in the for sculptures, one of the most important reminded me of a weird gadget that a "traditional" sense, where a stock com- goals is to raise it up so that the artwork is mad scientist might have in his laborato- puter enclosure was hacked, chopped, and brought to the proper viewing height. ry. Now that I had a clear direction to otherwise modified from its original form. Whether that height is 4 inches or 4 feet travel in, it was time to hit the road and Because this (ahem) display was going to depends on the sculpture itself. begin construction on project Metropolis.

Construction Part 1 The Building Of A City Before I could begin construction, I had and there are many brand names, composi- to write up a shopping list of parts and sup- tions, and properties of acrylic available. plies for the project. My first stop was the Styrene (or polystyrene) is the same materi- plastic supply store, where I browsed the al that is used to manufacture plastic model kits and countless other items. The styrene I use comes in 2- x 3- foot sheets and in thickness from 0.040 inches to 0.080 inches. Unlike acrylic, which is fairly ridged, styrene can be formed and shaped pretty easily—perfect for making the round platform for the project. Both mate- A second hollow tube was made, and this would rials can be bonded with superglues such as become the base for mounting the six buildings Zap-a-Gap (cyanoacrylate adhesive) brand that made up the "city." The acrylic hemisphere or solvent-based cements. The best place to was an inexpensive item I found while shopping The motherboard and were find these materials and supplies would be at the plastic supply store. both mounted to acrylic circles. The brass a model railroading shop or hobby store. standoffs that come with stock PC cases were The platform would become the struc- perfect for mounting the hardware. ture that housed the parts for a function- ing PC, and also a base to attach the aisles in search of suitable materials. As a master model builder, finding the right materials for a given project is fairly easy to do. If you're just starting out as a craftsper- son, the single most important advice I can give is to experiment. As you become more familiar with materials and their properties, you'll have the knowledge and know-how Functional parts of the PC were integrated into to find just the right ones for your own the design of the buildings. This wireless projects. For me, that material is plastic. I receiver for a mouse and keyboard became can cut, shape, carve, and form just about the top of the "Radio Tower." anything from it. For the platform, I chose precut acrylic A short, hollow tube made from sheet styrene various buildings. The small brass stand- and stock sheets of styrene. Plexiglas was created to hold the Mini-ITX power supply offs that are supplied with stock PC cases (methyl methacrylate) is a form of acrylic, and all the wires and cables. were used to mount the motherboard and

PC Modder • 161 hard disk drive to the acrylic circles. I the plastic was cleanly broken. Since the installed two small cold-cathode lights plastic stock was white, it was often hard to under the motherboard, one red and one see the details in the buildings as I worked. yellow, to create a nice warm glow under To remedy this, I would lightly mist the the dome. Next, I made a short tube from completed sections with gray aerosol sheet styrene, and this would be mounted primer. Any fast-drying primer sold in auto below the acrylic disks with 3-inch brass supply stores is best, drying to the touch in bolts as spacers. A second outer ring was only a few minutes. The paint created a nice formed with styrene, and this would contrast, and all those small details popped become the mounting point for the build- off of the buildings. ings and clear dome. Speaking of the Central to the film was the 10-hour dome, this was an inexpensive stock part clock that workers in the bowels beneath found at my local plastic supply store. Metropolis would base their day on. For Made from acrylic, it was optically clear A removable USB pen drive was the inspira- this building, I integrated a battery-pow- and sturdy, complete with a ring that was tion for the "Uzbee Building." Inside the struc- ered quartz mechanism ripped from a perfect to use for bolting it down. By this ture, I hot-glued a USB cable that would later clock I purchased at a thrift store. When time the drawings I made in the 3D pro- be connected to the motherboard. building case mods, you really need to gram were forgotten and the project keep an eye out for interesting parts to was starting to take a freeform path use. My favorite places to browse are the of creation. big home improvement stores with their The most enjoyable part of the project countless aisles of parts and supplies that came when it was time to make the build- can be used in projects. I made yet ings of Metropolis. The project wasn't another building to house the 60mm about making exact replicas of the buildings intake fan, power/reset buttons, and LED from the movie, so I relied on the impres- indicator lights. sions they each left me with in guiding their For the fan grill, I wanted to create construction. An idea came to integrate something special and decided to do a bit some of the buildings into the functioning of cutting on my scroll saw. Using the parts of the PC itself. The design of the image of the famous "robot Maria" from "Radio Tower" building was conceived in the film, I made a template in Photoshop part by shape of the Belkin wireless mouse and printed it out. This template was and keyboard receiver that was built-in to it. A battery-powered quartz mechanism from a then mounted to a piece of styrene using A red 4-inch cold-cathode light from an thrift store became the central part of the spray adhesive. With my pattern in place, auto supply store became the building's working "Clock Tower." I carefully cut the silhouette shape from radio antenna. The aptly named "Uzbee the plastic using a fine blade on the scroll Building" contained a removable USB pen saw. Small Riffler files came in handy for drive that became the top of the top portion the fine finishing and carving of the of the structure. The plastic shapes used to shape. The paper pattern was then peeled create the details of the buildings came from off and the fan grill cleaned with a soft the architectural model parts that are sold at rag and mineral spirits to remove the hobby stores. They might be hard to find adhesive. One of the nice qualities of near you, but doing a quick search on the styrene is how easy it is to carve and Internet for brand names such as Evergreen shape. Wet sanding with 600-grit paper Scale Models and Plastruct would find you removed any burs and rough edges, and stores to buy them online. All the profes- the grill was ready for finishing. sional model-building studios in Hollywood A high-resolution color print of the use these parts to create exact miniature Maria robot was then made on plain paper replicas of buildings and structures for use and carefully cut out with a hobby knife. in special effects. The sheet styrene I used This was then positioned and mounted to for the larger parts of the buildings was very The base of this building was made to house a the fan grill with more spray adhesive and easily cut by first scoring the plastic with a 60mm intake fan and the power/reset buttons. trimmed where necessary. I mixed up hobby knife guided by a metal ruler or The pattern for the "Robot Maria" fan grill was some clear five-minute epoxy, and with a straightedge. The piece was then slightly created in Photoshop, then cut from styrene on small disposable foam brush, I gave the bent by hand, and with a satisfying snap, a scroll saw. entire grill a nice coat of protective resin.

162 • PC Modder Construction Part 2 The Tower Of Light Now that I had the six buildings For the top and base of the pedestal, completed and mounted to the plat- circles were cut from MDF and given a form, it was off to the workshop to clean edge with a router equipped with a build the pedestal. The design for the round over bit. The threaded collars pedestal was simple yet elegant, and could be made in one afternoon. A cen- ter column and three smaller pipes would support acrylic discs of various sizes, giving a nice open look to the 4- foot tall pedestal. For the center col- umn, I used a clear acrylic tube, 2.75 inches in diameter, which would later be frosted and illuminated from inside A round over bit and router was used to make using cold-cathode fluorescent lights. a clean edge on the MDF circles. Three lengths of aluminum conduit used for home electrical wiring served as the mounting points for the acrylic discs. For the top and base of the A 2.75-inch cutout was made in the center of pedestal, MDF (medium-density fiber- each disc with a hole saw. Later, the disks board) would be cut into circles to com- would be mounted on a frosted acrylic tube of pliment the round acrylic discs. the same diameter. I had an entire sheet of 0.25-inch bronze translucent acrylic cut into 12 discs for me at the plastic shop. The sizes were in 1-inch increments from 10 to 22 inches in diameter. Each disk was clamped down to the worktable, and a The threaded collars that came with the con- 2.75-foot cut was made in the center with duit were used to attach them to the underside a hole saw. Next, I had to build a jig that of the top piece. Holes were drilled in the MDF would be a guide when drilling the three and the collars secured with epoxy. smaller holes for the aluminum conduit. For these pipes, a nice, sharp spade bit was used on the disks for a clean, 0.75- inch hole. Because the discs were laser cut Holes for the conduit were made with a sharp, at the plastic shop, very little cleaning was spade-type drill bit. Working slowly and care- needed on the outside edge of each one, fully helps prevent costly mistakes. saving me precious time and energy.

The base of the pedestal was used to house the power supplies and the VGA and audio connectors. These cables would later be snaked up the center tube.

Translucent bronze discs were laser cut from Circles made from MDF (medium-density that came with the conduit were used to acrylic at a plastic supply store. Looking back fiberboard ) were cut using a jigsaw. These attach the pipes to the underside of the on the project, I should have had them cut all parts would become the top and base of MDF top piece. The base of the the holes, too. the pedestal. pedestal would be home for the two

PC Modder • 163 some point in the future. When all the parts were cut, it was time to assemble the pedestal piece by piece. It was my brother Luciano's idea to use rubber o- rings to hold the acrylic disks in place on the conduit. (It was such a brilliant idea, I only wished I thought of it myself.) Each disk was rather painstak- ingly measured and mounted on the pedestal, taking quite a bit longer than Rubber o-rings were cleverly used to hold the expected to get looking just right. Once acrylic discs in place. Each disk had six o-rings, the pedestal was completed, the time three on top and three beneath. involved proved well worth it, and I could finally see the entire project com- power supply converters, as well as the ing together. VGA and audio connectors. I mounted these on a removable tray made from sheet styrene, in the event that they Once the disks were installed, the pedestal would need service or replacement at really began to take shape.

Construction Part 3 Putting It All Together When I first placed the buildings on copper color though, and decided to go quite a bit of head scratching to get just the pedestal, I knew that my rough with that. right. Cables and wiring for the mother- measurements and calculations were For the pedestal top and base, I found board, switches, lights, and PSU had to right on, as the composition of the this cool-looking, "hammered" bronze be very neatly routed in order to keep piece came together nicely. The next spray paint. When applied, chemicals in things tidy inside the small confines of step was to come up with a suitable the paint would create dimples in the fin- the buildings. Down the center of the paint finish for the buildings and ish to simulate a rustic, hand-made look. pedestal and inside that frosted acrylic pedestal. My first thought was to use an MDF material is notoriously sponge-like, tube, I installed a length of 3/16-foot antique copper kit on the buildings. so several coats of primer were needed steel rod that would be used to mount The kit contained a bright copper spray before applying the finishing coats of the two green CCFL lights, the monitor paint and a can of brown acrylic for hammered bronze. In the end the copper cable, and wires for the PSU converters. sponge stippling. I did a test on one of buildings and dark bronze pedestal looked It was a tight fit all around, but some- the buildings, and as it turned out, I pretty good together. how it all worked out. It was time to didn't like the look of the faux antique Installing the remaining PC compo- fire this motherboard up and install an finish at all. I did like the nice, bright nents was a bit of a challenge and took operating system.

It’s A Wrap Closing Thoughts On Project Metropolis The first time I sparked up this Project Metropolis could not have been My brother Luciano, for his artistic tal- display, I was pleased with the look and possible without the extremely generous ent, mechanical ingenuity, and big heart. feel of it and how the colors and composi- help and support of some really fine Johan "Mashie" Grundstrom, case tion came together into a finished sculp- people: modder extraordinaire, for his help and ture. With barely enough time to photo- Michal Lisiecki of VIA Technologies, artistic vision. graph the final piece, Metropolis was for his kind trust in my design and the My wife Jean, who has stood by me wrapped and shipped directly to VIA's enthusiasm he demonstrated in every step through many tough projects. Thanks for booth at CEBIT. With good fortune, the of the project. all the coffee, my love. display arrived safely and was set up at the Sascha from www.epiacenter.com, for entrance to the booth, where it received getting the project off the ground and his by Paul Capello quite a bit of attention from the attendees commitment to the art and technology of Paul Capello is a professional modder; check and exhibitors. case modding. out his work at www.thebestcasescenario.com.

164 • PC Modder

MOD(ERN) ART Enjoy Browsing This Collection Of Creative Mods

Wall Hanger Mod by Mark Krivanich

The case on my computer was always open. I fix computers for friends and asso- ciates as a hobby and use my rig as a test bed for troubled components. One day I thought, “Why pack all of this stuff into a metal box? Wouldn’t it be nice if it was all open and accessible?” So I built the wall hanger. I like to think of it as func- tional industrial art. The “canvas” is aluminum honey- comb. This material is used to manu- facture flight control surfaces for air- craft, so it’s very light and very strong. All of the sheet metal was cut and formed from aircraft-grade aluminum. I am in the aerospace business, so I have access to these materials. Some may not consider this a case mod, as there is no case, but it is a “mod,” and it works well for me. The Audigy sound card is pumped through a 400-watt Pioneer surround- sound amp and into two JBL stu- dio monitors, two Bose 151s, and a Mirage subwoofer.

Tech Specs: MOBO: Gigabyte GA-7VRXP CPU: Athlon XP 2100 HEATSINK: Zalman 7000 copper RAM: 1GB PNY PC2700 DISPLAY: 21-inch IBM P275 monitor AUDIO: Audigy Platinum HDD: Two Western Digital 1200JBs striped in RAID 0, one Western Digital 20 gig CD/DVD: Sony DRU 530A DVD burner, Sony 52X CD burner

166 • PC Modder Plexiglass Heaven Mod by Patrick Denney

I started this project case along with a button back in February. I had that controls the two black- always loved the idea of the lights in the rear of the case clear cases, but it seemed a and the two blue cold cath- little too generic for me, odes for my monitor. For and I wanted something my monitor, I butchered my original. I had drawn up a old 17-inch LCD and filed handful of rough sketches down a 1.5-inch-thick dis- in a notebook and let my play case I bought at a local wife flip through them art store. I fit the monitor until she found one that inside and drilled out holes she liked. for the buttons at the bot- I bought six 4- x 4-foot Tech Specs: tom. I added two 6-inch sheets of Plexiglass to start CPU: AMD Athlon 2800+ (overclocked) blue cold cathodes on either off with. I cut out the six RAM: 1GB PC2700 side that are controlled by different pieces of the desk. GRAPHICS: ATI Radeon 9600 the switch on the top of the I then bought a handful of CD/DVD: Dual DVD/CD drives case. I then added green UV aluminum edges to fit dye to my watercooling kit around the side. I thought and wrapped the power sup- the project was a bust because I down to the bottom of the case for the ply in green UV wire loom and green couldn’t find anything to hold the best possible heat distribution. UV sleeving. Plexiglass to the aluminum. I tried After I got the motherboard into Future plans for this project will everything from bolts to glue, but the place, I used two more small sheets include an in-dash LCD screen (like only thing that worked was heavy-duty bolted in from the side and the top to cars have) that will be hooked up to foam tape. After I got the basic mold of hold my DVD/CD drives in the front. I two satellite TVs and two security cam- the desk together, I cut out a piece for then bolted the power supply to the top eras outside. I am also working on my motherboard. of the case and added two 80mm fans plans for a built-in scanner and inkjet I used rubber pipe fittings to the hold with UV lights to the front for extra printer. This project took around 60 the motherboard up and then I cut cooling. I cut out a door in the front of hours or more to complete. I’m a full- around the PCI cards. I installed a the case for easy access to my mother- time student at NMSU and had to put Silentstream watercooling kit to my board watercooling kit. I soldered in a in almost my entire weekends for six board and ran the radiator and fan blue power button on the top of the weeks to finish it.

PC Modder • 167 Aircraft Carrier PC only a custom paint job on the keyboard motherboard and a DVD-ROM into the Mod by Russ Caslis but a completely custom optical mouse. case. The entire toy was repainted and One of the F-14 fighter aircraft lights up had electronics and lights added, the F- My latest creation is actually one of the as the hard drive activity light (blue cock- 14s were built from simple model kits US Navy’s older creations but still a huge pit, red engines), the runway lights up (including adding lights to one of them), source of pride. Yes, this is one mod that with a sequencing set of lights down the and all the ports and openings for the doesn’t miss the boat (pun intended). center, the F-14 hard drive activity fighter computer bits were cut out. Then the The surface this mod simply looks like is removable so you can play with it, and computer stuff was added, as well. a toy ship, but peeling back the layers, the mod plays the national anthem on a It is true that this system is no game- there is much, much more. Yes, there is a built-in speaker! playing system. But with all the features it computer inside based on a mini-ITX One day while walking through a toy- does have, this system can’t be beat as a motherboard running at 1GHz. But there store, I happened across a rather large, movie-watching system in front of the is also a DVD-ROM drive, FireWire and though simple, toy of the USS Enterprise TV. This mod would make a fine addi- USB ports, 6-in-1 memory card reader/ aircraft carrier. After bringing the tion to any living room. Anyone up for a writer, 4GB hard drive, and a 10/100Mb toy home, I realized that with careful showing of “Top Gun”? Ethernet port. The mod also sports not planning I could fit both a mini-ITX

168 • PC Modder The Hard Drivin’ Dragon Mod by Charles Jackson, a.k.a. Duck

A donor case (believe it or not, this bad boy used to be a boring, old EN7101 beige box), some scrap metal, Plexiglass, cardboard, fabric, and a whole lot of hammering came together to produce Charles Jackson’s unique Hard Drivin’ Dragon case. Built from January to July 2003, the Hard Drivin’ Dragon is currently in the process of upgrading the tech bits. This one’s no slouch in the light mod department, either: blue orb coolers on the CPU and chipset, blue Thermaltake heatspreaders, a red LED fan mounted on a stainless steel bracket behind the eyes (that draws in air through the nose), and a green LED fan in the rear. There’s also a lot of chrome, particular- ly the fan grills and the mesh around the nose area. On the outside of the case, the Dragon is decorated with color-shifting paint that switches between maroon and gold. The inside sports red paint and red and yellow tribal flame upholstery. The Dragon was riveted together, but if he had it all to do over again, Charles would have gone the welding route instead. Overall, though, Charles counts this awesome mod as a “great learning experience,” so we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for his fu- ture projects.

Tech Specs: CPU: 500MHz AMD k6II RAM: 256MB HDD: 30GB CD/DVD: HP CD-RW

PC Modder • 169 Tech Specs: MOBO: Shuttle SK41G CPU: Athlon XP 2200+ RAM: 512MB Crucial DISPLAY: 17-inch LG LCD; 16ms response time VIDEO: ATI Radeon 9200 HDD: 80GB CD/DVD: Custom-cut clear acrylic Artec

The Unreal Case Mod by Sheldon Bright

This is a custom case I built from scratch, gutting a Shuttle SK41G. The CPU is an XP2200+ Cooler that former- ly had an SLK-800 with a Thermaltake Smartfan II painted silver (now it rocks a Poseidon watercooling kit). I used three blue LED strips I got from monster- light.com around the bottom of the mobo and added a white hyper-light and two white LED fans. I stealthed the drive with a custom printed graphic from my shop. All the fan grills are cus- tom-made, along with the vinyl etchings. I had wanted to make a custom acrylic case for some time. I don’t real- ly like the square-shaped box and thought I should make mine curve around another shape entirely. I picked a character from the Unreal series well, to match. Then I thought “What so I had to mod an Antec 350w Smart because, at the time, the new 2004 ver- the heck?” and designed a mousepad in Blue to fit into the spot the Shuttle sion had just come out. I had been a the shape of a the Unreal “U” from PSU took up. Luckily I had a little fan of this series since the beginning, koolpcmods.com, which is the only headroom (see pics). I also added blue and the character had a good blocky mod I didn’t do myself. LED feet, a fan hole for the video card, shape that lent well to Plexiglass bend- I wanted the UTMod to be some- and matching custom-made fan grilles ing. Soon after building the case thing that had never been seen before. I for the back. The last thing I need to itself, I added fan holes and a whole lot am constantly trying to finish this do for this mod to be complete is the of etched vinyl and edged graphics to mod, and it just keeps begging for 17-inch LG LCD; I’m going to build both ends. I then decided I needed more. Recently, the Shuttle PSU went an acrylic case for it. to skin my keyboard and mouse, as out. It wasn’t pumping enough power,

170 • PC Modder 1660% Mac Plus Upgrade Tower Of RagE Mod by Steven Lawver, a.k.a. Captian Slug Mod by A. Dale McLean, a.k.a. PS-RagE

This is a gutted and reconfigured old Mac Plus Fans of CPU may remember the 2002 50 (which used to run at a heart-stopping Nissan Frontier that doubled as a rolling com- 50MHz when it was new). Steven built this puter (Jan. 2004). The responsible party, machine mainly on a dare, but it started to take known on the ’Net as PS-RagE, uses the mon- on a life of its own. After refitting it with newer ster pictured below as his primary machine. hardware, he etched the “Bad Apple” design on The mod itself is finished, but according to the screen (which now served as a case window). PS-RagE, the machine will never be, as he’s The tech specs won’t exactly blow your gaming constantly upgrading and fiddling with the rig out of the water, but Steven says it was built insides. Below are the latest numbers for the as a budget PC. Tower of RagE.

Tech Specs: Tech Specs: MOBO: FlexATX Socket370 MOBO: ASUS P4C800-Deluxe CPU: Intel Celeron 566MHz CPU: Pentium4 3GHz (800MHz FSB) RAM: 384MB RAM: 1GB Corsair XMS HDD: 10GB VIDEO: ASUS 9800 Pro (256M) CD/DVD: “Naked” CD-ROM AUDIO: Creative Audigy 2 ZS HDD: (2x) Western Digital Caviar 30G with Promise Fasttrac RAID Controller (RAID 0)

PC Modder • 171 Projekt: The “O” Tech Specs: Mod by Bruno Ferretti MOBO: Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro CPU: AMD Barton 2500+ I started The “O” at the end of January RAM: 512MB PC3200 for my little boy’s birthday. GRAPHICS: HIS Excalibur 9600 Pro To start with, I had a boring, beige, HDD: Maxtor 80GB, 8MB cache, ATA/133 no-name case. I used Plexiglass for the front and the top (and, of course, for the side windows) and mesh on the front and sides. The cuts were all made with a Dremel, and the metal parts on the front were cut from an old case top to keep the 90-degree angle. The three lighted fans are homemade, and I’m particularly proud of the side fan bezel with orange lights—I’ve never seen that anywhere else. I think that the success of this case is due to the relatively simple way I’ve done things; the case’s feet, for example, are aluminum, wood, and LEDs. Anyone can do feet like these for his case; it’s easy with enough imagination.

The Titan ing a P4 3.2GHz HT processor, 2GB of etched on the front of the case; you may Mod by Michael A. Smith memory, 400GB of hard drive space, remember them from Clash of The DVD±RW, CD-RW, temperature con- Titans). The right side of the case fea- When Michael Smith of Infinity trols and readouts, UV and effects light- tures a highly detailed etching of the Custom Computers decided to build ing, a lighted base, UV sleeving, UV mythical Kraken reaching up from a the complete ultimate computer, he, of cabling, and more. When finished, it raging sea to tear apart an impressive old course, knew he had to have a case wor- will be a true beast of a machine. ship; the left side pictures Pegasus, the thy of it. The finished machine will All over the case are etchings of the winged horse. Zeus and Medusa are contain some of the highest-level, state- ancient Greek legend of Perseus and etched on the top of the case. of-the-art components available, includ- Andromeda (who, themselves, are each

172 • PC Modder FlameCube Mod by Steven Lawver, a.k.a. Captain Slug

With the FlameCube, I wanted the most power possible in the least amount of space, and this is what I’ve come up with. I’ve modified nearly everything in this case in- cluding cables rounded and routed obsessively, side and rear ventila- tion, window in DVD-ROM drive, replacement of all case LEDs, addi- tion of 14 red LEDs to light the inside of the case, shortening of the CPU’s heatsink (Dynatron DC1027B-X) to 1U level without Tech Specs: affecting performance, direct power MOBO: Intel 845GE chipset Commell LV-670LVDS wiring of Video LCD, and custom CPU: Pentium 4 2.4GHz machining of plastic LCD lid RAM: 512MB PC2700 DDR mechanism/enclosure. DISPLAY: 5.6-inch Video LCD Dimensions: 8.5 inches high x 8 HDD: 40GB hard drive inches wide x 6 inches deep CD/DVD: 8X laptop DVD-ROM drive Weight: 9 pounds Total time spent modding: 40- plus hours.

PC Modder • 173 Elysium Mod by Alessandro Palazzetti

I am a student at the University of Connecticut, and as we know, college is expensive . . . so I created a case that is based around a student’s budget. The case was created from a normal milk crate. I used zip ties to hold the hard drive and CD-ROM drive to the case, and to prevent from shock on these devices, I placed foam (the stuff that’s usually found in a motherboard box) wrapped in duct tape (to dissipate heat quickly) between the peripherals and the crate. The PSU is hung by string. On the inner base of the crate, I placed bub- ble wrap and then placed a large anti- static bag (the one the motherboard comes in) for the motherboard to sit on. To build this I used a regular steak knife (to cut out the holes in the back), duct tape, and zip ties. I am currently running SuSE Linux Tech Specs: on it; it was a CounterStrike 1.6 server MOBO: Generic and Linux test machine. The reason I CPU: Intel P4 2GHz 400MHz FSB call it Elysium is that the Norse Gods RAM: 712MB of Crucial PC2100 had Valhalla, but the Romans had VIDEO: Voodoo Banshee Elysium. The name was mostly based on the fact that it was a CounterStrike server, but it stuck for the mod name. Not exactly meant for the Gods, but for the fallen heroes, it was good enough.

174 • PC Modder SE3000 Mod by Attila Juhas of AJ Design

Instead of building a milquetoast gaming rig, Attila Juhas decided to jump back in time and (sort of) resurrect the Mac SE. Armed with a Dremel, a Skil- saw, some spray paint, and a lot of patience, Attila gutted the old Mac and replaced its innards with cutting-edge gaming technology. Particularly impressive is the new case window, which is the old monitor cut with sandblasting technology to show off the interior light mods.

Tech Specs: MOBO: Gigabyte GA-8IG1000MK MicroATX (800 MHz bus) CPU: Intel 3.0GHz Pentium 4 (800MHz front- side bus) RAM: 1GB Corsair XMS Pro dual-channel DDR400 SDRAM VIDEO: ATI Radeon 9700 PRO 128MB AUDIO: Integrated six-channel AC’97 Audio with universal audio jack HDD: 120GB Seagate SATA 7,200rpm CD/DVD: DVD/CD-RW combo drive

PC Modder • 175 particles, or more space for electrons to move to (which in essence gives the mate- LIGHT MY FIRE rial spare positively charged particles). Thus, diodes include a negatively charged Illuminate Your Hot PC, Rave Style segment and a positively charged seg- ment. Apply an electrical current to the diode and the negative and positive sides interact, releasing extra energy in the form of photons and visible light. Cold-cathode, LED, and plasma Different diode materials produce vary- tube lights offer potent ing photon energy levels. Because of this special effects and characteristic, manufacturers can create excellent illumination. LEDs that produce different wavelengths of light, from the invisible infrared light generated by the LED in your DVD play- er's remote control to the green LED that acts as your hard drive's activity indicator. In addition to old-school LEDs, you can buy laser-emitting diodes, which are a little different. While regular LEDs dis- charge light out the sides and tips of their transparent housing, laser-emitting diodes discharge light mostly through their flat, polished ends because their sides are roughened to trap and focus light. This trait means laser-emitting diodes shoot light in one direction, amplifying the light and creating a powerful beam that has all sorts of potential uses. Blacklights. Blacklights are the disco balls of the new century—only this time n the beginning, there were just In fact, there are so many lighting op- around, no one's listening to K.C. & The plain old PCs. Beige PCs. Boring tions that you'd have a hard time cramming Sunshine Band. These lights offer effects I PCs. PCs that attracted nary a look the various products into your PC without so weird they're practically mind-altering, of envy from your Half-Life opponents, coming off like a deranged hippie. But if but exactly how do they work? nor lustful glances of passerby babes. you understand the different light technolo- In short, blacklights harness the light- And then there were lights. Lights to gies at your disposal and plan accordingly, reactive traits of chemicals called phosphors push back slithery shadows. Lights to you can create a pupil-penetrating presenta- to produce striking visual appearances. blind the eyes of anyone who dared chal- tion worthy of Times Square. Phosphors are substances that react to lenge you to multiplayer Medal Of LEDs. Light-emitting diodes were certain wavelengths of light by (you Honor. And indeed, lights to signal high among the first technologies to jazz up guessed it) giving off more light. hormone levels to potential mates. PC cases. They're bright, last practically To get a wicked-looking blacklight effect So admit it, your PC needs a lighting forever, have low energy requirements, are you have to first create a blacklight. Regular makeover. Don't worry, we can help. Just nearly unbreakable, put off very little fluorescent lamps contain a phosphor coat- come this way, towards the light. heat, offer directional illumination, and ing that produces a whitish glow. Blacklight thanks to digital technology, LEDs often fluorescent lamps have a different coating Your Technological Options light up in a preprogrammed pattern. that filters most light wavelengths, produc- Thanks to the exploding popularity of LEDs are semiconductors, which ing only UV-A (an ultraviolet light that's modding, you can have your pick of beams, means they have the ability to conduct less harmful than other UV wavelengths) rays, and strobes to make your PC shine varying levels of electricity. Manufacturers and purplish light. Incandescent blacklights with brilliant luminosity. Just be prepared dope (chemically treat) the semiconductor are just regular household bulbs with filters to pick and choose because decorative PC with impurities that change the electron that emit only UV-A and a violet glow. lighting comes in myriad forms to help you structure of the conductor material, Fluorescent and incandescent black- illuminate every corner of your case. adding either more negatively charged lights produce their glow differently, but

176 • PC Modder the end result is the same—that is, the By changing the color of the top vinyl that produce electrons to support gas dis- light waves interact with phosphors locat- layer, though, manufacturers produce charge, and as a result, light. But while ed in the room around the blacklight, wire that appears blue, red, yellow, or any typical fluorescent lights have coils that causing those phosphors to put off a glow number of other colors. produce high levels of internal heat (about that's visible to the human eye. Phosphors The properties of EL wire make this 900 degrees Celsius), cold-cathode tubes are practically everywhere, which is why product ideal for PC modding projects. have a small component that operates as a teeth, fingernails, and even laundry deter- You can worm the wire into tight spots relatively cool 200 C, hence the "cold" gent glow when subjected to a blacklight. with little fear of harming it, you don't descriptor. Cold cathodes last much longer Indeed, the phosphors in detergent are have to worry about heat-buildup prob- than regular fluorescent technology—at the reason white clothes glow so brightly lems, and the diversity of colors means least 20,000 hours—and PC-ready ver- in blacklight. you can employ the lights with any wacky sions have an acrylic or polycarbonate exte- But why do phosphors glow? Basical- color schemes your devious little mind rior that helps protect the thin glass bulbs ly, UV-A light excites the electrons in a can imagine. from shock and vibration. phosphor's atoms, causing those elec- Cold-cathode lamps for modding trons to move to a higher energy state. usually measure either 4 inches or 12 Blacklights typically excite those elec- inches and come in a dazzling array of trons for only a brief period, which is colors, from red and blue to super- why your UV-reactive Black Sabbath bright yellow and white. Because the poster stops glowing once you turn off lights have a clear coating all the way the blacklight. Other phosphors, such as around their exterior, they illuminate those found in glow-in-the-dark toys, in all directions, and many come com- maintain their glow for minutes or hours plete with sound sensors that cause the in complete darkness. Most of the phos- lamp to flash in response to any sounds phors found in modding products react emanating from your PC. to blacklight but can't sustain a glow without a light source, a fact to keep in Space-age case badges plug into your power system Put It Together mind as you plan your lighting system. and provide a super-bright glow. Now that you have an idea of the EL tech. One of the newest light- lighting technologies available for ing mod technologies comes in the PC modding, it's time to get a better form of EL (electroluminescent) wire idea of the effects you can expect from or strips. EL wire puts off a neon-like these products. We'll also give you glow, but without many of the prob- modding ideas and show you how lems associated with traditional neon we put a few of our favorite gadgets technology. Where breakable neon to work for us. We'd be remiss to not comes in hardened shapes and tends mention the sites where we found the to burn out in sections, EL wire is following products, so we offer our very thin (about a third of the diame- thanks to FrozenCPU (www.frozen ter of a number two pencil), flexible, cpu.com), Xoxide (www.xoxide.com), cool to the touch, requires very little Hyperlights are basically cold-cathode tube lights in a Newegg (Newegg.com), and Tiger- power, and has no hot spots like those small box, helping you save space and still light up a Direct (www.tigerdirect.com) for their inherent to LEDs or filament bulbs. large area. EL cables twist every which way and provide prompt service and excellent prod- EL wire harnesses phosphor charac- cool highlight effects. uct selection. teristics to produce its intense glow. Fans. PC enthusiasts install super- These lights have a central copper wire Cold cathode. Cold-cathode lamp powerful or super-quiet fans, cut blow- with an organic phosphorous coating and technology has been around for more holes so they can install extra fans, and two transmitter wires that provide an than seven decades. These lamps work generally go out of their way to make electrical current across the phosphors. A much like neon lights, meaning they sure these components work optimally. PVC layer protects the whole setup, with have a hollow tube filled with a gas that It's no wonder, then, that fans are a fo- a colored vinyl layer to top things off. glows when it meets an electrical charge, cal point of sorts of modding projects. The wire glows for thousands of hours but where neon technology isn't feasible Many fans are made specifically to ca- and never really burns out, though the for PC modding, cold-cathode tubes are ter to the needs of modders who want glow will dim with age. excellent for PC illumination purposes. impressive visual effects. Most of the phosphors used in EL Cold-cathode lamps are similar to fluo- Mind-blowing fans won't necessarily technology produce pink or white light. rescent lights in that they have components blow your budget. You can buy case fans

PC Modder • 177 that react to blacklights for only $5. plugs with parts that react to blacklight. the included Velcro pads, but we suggest These fans often glow blue, but there are Don't forget about your fan wiring, using clips or even glue if you want the other colors available, such as orange and because you can even go so far as to lamps to stay in place—tiny Velcro strips red. The fan frames provide a strong replace the male and female connectors don't withstand much jostling. glow, and often the blades glow, too, for your fans so that even these parts Cold cathodes are plenty bright, but if meaning there are dozens of potential will glow. These mods won't cost you you buy reflective tape, you can better color combinations to suit your needs. more than a couple of dollars. direct the lamp's glow, and as a result, also Many of the glowing fans you can buy Of course, even after you replace your make the light appear more intense. Single seem to be generic brands, at least on the drab cables with new ones, you still have to lamps don't really add a sense of com- Web sites that sell them, a fact that makes deal with the problem of tidiness, or lack pleteness to most modded boxes, one rea- it hard for us to recommend specific thereof. That brings into play a large num- son most retail sites offer secondary lamps makes and models. One exception is the ber of organization products that will spice that you can add to your first lamp, a fact AeroCool Chameleon LED fan, which up your lighting aesthetics. Buy green or that also cuts down on wiring clutter and includes LEDs that start out as blue makes efficient use of a single inverter. and change to a pink hue as tempera- A single 12-inch cold-cathode lamp tures change. We also like Vantec's costs about $16, and you can buy a sec- Spectrum UV LED fans, which have ondary lamp for half the price. In addi- UV-reactive blades and frames, and tion to picking your favorite single-color thanks to built-in UV LEDs, you don't lamps, we highly recommend so-called need an external blacklight to make liquid neon or plasma lamps. These them glow. These two fans cost a little lamps resemble plasma balls, with lights more, at around $13, but they're defi- that flow and flicker and react to the nitely worthwhile. touch of your hand. They sell for less You can pick up fans with four inter- than 20 bucks. Some sites list Meteor nally mounted LEDs for about $10. If Lights in their cold-cathode section. you prefer cold-cathode effects on your Fans come with built-in LEDs, blacklight reactive These aren't fluorescent lights—they're wind makers, you'll spend $10 to $12 for blades, or even color schemes that change as your PC's LED-based products that flicker, and each. If off-the-wall fans aren't enough, temperatures rise. even come with an adjustable speed splurge on fan grills or adapters with control. These are fun, too, and sell for UV-reactive properties or built-in LEDs. about $15. Cables and wiring. Cables and wires Although the aforementioned tube are a necessary evil for all PC users, but lights are rigid and don't always stay put, they're doubly troublesome for mod- EL wire is easy to push into tight cor- ders who have to find a way to make ners, so long as you don't strain the wire their tangled nest of wires look cool to to the point of damaging it. EL wire isn't LAN party bystanders. Happily, there as bright as a cold-cathode lamp, though, are a number of glow products that meaning it's best for accentuating edges. make this task more enjoyable. Use strong, clear tape, or even silicone You can start by replacing your sealant, to secure EL wire. If you don't old-fashioned flat IDE and floppy From cables to cable ties to blacklight-reactive fan want to mess with EL wire, you can opt drive cables with something a little plugs, there are enough lighting mods available to for an EL light strip, which is flattened more modern. We recommend round- keep you redecorating for months. EL wire with an adhesive backing. EL ed cables that glow under a blacklight. wire sells for about $20 for a 5-foot These cables not only cut down on pink plastic zip ties that glow under a segment, so if you decide to go crazy with airflow resistance (a big plus for those blacklight, and look for cable sleeves that EL wire, it will cost you. Light strips cost of you still using a forced-air cooling radiate a soft blue or green glow. Again, more, with a 5 footer costing around $30. system), but they also come in orange, these are cheap mods. Ties cost just pen- If strips, wires, and tube lights don't green, blue, and other hues that make nies and cables sleeves are about a buck. excite you, or you don't want to spend so color coordination a snap. These cables Cold cathode and EL. Cold-cathode much money, you might choose $16 sell for less than $10. lamps come in a wide variety of colors, and Hyperlights, which are basically a cold- In addition to data cables, you can we bought a yellow, white, blue, and red cathode lamp crammed into a small box. replace many of the components that lamp for review. All of our test lamps were These provide a great deal of illumination make up your power system. Try replac- of the 12-inch variety, perfect for extra illu- without the hassle and space consumption ing your power wires and connector mination. We mounted these lamps with of elongated lighting products.

178 • PC Modder Badges and stickers. Stickers are a sim- intensity by using more or less paint. Each GloFish (www.glofish.com) as part of our ple but effective way to add personalized can of Clear Neon sells for about $13. light mod theme, but none of our local pet touches to your case. These so-called stores carried the little guys—and shame on "appliques" help set off case windows, and Our Light Mod the store that tried to pawn off lame, knock- because they respond to blacklights, you'll After blowing hundreds of dollars on off GloFish as the real thing. "No, those not miss them in the dark. On the down light-related modding equipment, we fig- GloFish don't really glow under a black- side, these stickers are expensive, at about ured we should probably put at least some light. They look best under a regular fluo- $10, but they are often oversized, so you of our accumulated hoard to good use. To rescent light." Right, thanks guys. don't need more than one or two to get that end, we bought a $70 acrylic PC case So although we didn't nab any GloFish, your point across. from Extreme PC Gear (www.xpcgear we did complete our project. We won't You can get a punchier effect from .com). It's a clear case, so even though it offer a lot of specific instructions so you self-illuminated badges. They plug into required us to assemble it, this case's trans- can run out and copy our masterpiece PC your PC's power system and put off a parent sides helped us show off a mind- aquarium, but suffice it to say this task was potent glow. You can obtain your relatively simple. Pick up some Plexiglas own badges in dozens of patterns and and aquarium-safe silicone sealant, take colors, and they typically cost any- careful measurements of the inside of where from $12 to $20. If you don't your case, and you can easily build a like premade badges, you can buy a reservoir-aquarium of your own. Just be $15 kit and make your own. sure to choose fish that will tolerate heat Cooling fluids. You can't use straight from your overclocking activities. And tap water in a watercooling system. of course, we picked aquarium "compo- Doing so will cause quick corrosion of nents" worthy of a wicked PC mod. We your various watercooling components, dumped in a load of UV-reactive gravel, from the waterblock to your radiator, slipped in a couple of glow plants, and and may also encourage algae growth. released the hounds, er, neon Tetras. Fortunately, you can use anti-algae, Our fish tank included UV-reactive gravel, glow plants, In addition to the slimier aspects of antirust coolant in your system. Better but sadly, no GloFish . . . yet. our light mod, we installed a range of yet, many of these coolants contain other lights and LEDs to make our clear phosphors that react to a blacklight. You case shimmer and sparkle like a min- can find red, blue, green, and other col- now's wet back. Be sure to check out the ors to make your watercooling tubes overall look of our system in the accom- glow brightly, and these coolants cost panying photos. As you do, remember if less than $10 per bottle. you want to install many similar prod- Paint. In spite of your many glow- ucts, you'll have to consider power product options, there may be other requirements. It doesn't take many components you wish would respond lights to stress a PSU, especially if your to blacklight. Thanks to Clear Neon PSU is already busy with other power- spray paint, you can paint just about hungry components. anything, let the paint dry, and then Sure, it looks like the Teletubbies puked all over our P4 Lights Out flip on your blacklight and watch the after a wild night of partying. But imagine the possibili- object glow. Best of all, the paint isn't ties if you have better interior decorating skills than us. Our roundup of light products is visible in regular light. hardly the end all on this glittering sub- Clear Neon paint comes in eight col- ject. There are too many niche products ors including yellow, orange, and blue. If boggling (if somewhat tacky) light-modded to mention, and the possibilities even for you apply the paint to, say, your PC case, PC. one small LED are virtually limitless. and you decide you don't like the results, But first things first. We decided to put So use your imagination to take your you can use soap and water to remove it. A aside our toy collection for a few hours so light mods to the extreme, but don't keep coat of clear lacquer will make your paint that we could build a Plexiglas aquarium to your finalized project to yourself. Share job permanent. put in our case's drive bay. Why would we photos and stories of your system on the Needless to say, Clear Neon was one of do such a thing? Well, if you're going to CPU magazine reader forums. Because our favorite lighting mods because you can have a big reservoir as part of a watercooling where there is light, there is love, or at least use it for so many different purposes. The system, you might as well throw a few fish a chance to show off. paint's glow is adequate under a blacklight, in the water for good measure. Our initial and you can strengthen or weaken the inspiration for this project was to integrate by Nathan Chandler

PC Modder • 179 THE PAINT BOOTH Tips & Tricks For Cutting, Sanding & Painting

have been modding for a long time, typically lack in torque, and there is and sometimes I wish there was a nothing more annoying than running Imagazine like this back in the day out of juice halfway through a cut. that I could have learned a thing or two Although the tools are very versatile, from. But there was not, and I had to they are not good for cutting plastics learn from my mistakes. It is from this because the high RPM rates melt the experience that I can tell you some of plastic rather than cutting it. the tips and tricks that I have learned Both of these tools are easy to find, along the way, so you don’t have to go however. The Dremel Variable-Speed through the kind of frustration that I MultiPro Superkit, which comes with did. Modding not only requires the every bit you’ll concievably need, runs ability to build a computer, it also about $75. The Black & Decker RTX requires you to be a jack-of-all-trades— can be found online for under $60 if a good modder uses the same skills that you’re willing to do some searching. craftsmen use, as well as using many of The Dremel Variable-Speed MultiPro, with its A jigsaw is also an indispensable part the same skills that electricians and sys- interchangable tools and high torque, is a of the modder’s toolkit; its ability to tem techs rely on. Therefore, you modder’s best friend. work through just about every material should be knowledgeable about the with ease makes it my personal choice most commonly used techniques used for large cuts. It can struggle with some in mods. metals, but it cuts through plastics and When working with cases, you run aluminum like butter, and you cannot the gamut of materials that are common- beat the control you get with this tool. ly used: aluminum, steel, polycarbonate, By using a jig, or just a steady hand, acrylic, and fiberglass. Ironically, two or you can get nice straight lines and three power tools will cut all of these excellent curves on flat surfaces like a materials if you use them right. door panel. Jigsaws are also reasonably priced, The Right Tools which makes it a great investment for One of the must-have tools is the any modder. A specialized acrylic cut- highly versatile rotary tool. Its multi- ting blade for your jigsaw is also a tude of applications and attachments Jigsaws can cut through plastics and aluminum good investment and it can save you make it an indispensable part of your like they’re not even there, so it’s a good idea some headaches. arsenal. When picking a rotary tool, to keep one around. Jigsaws are usually pretty easy to you want to look at quality of construc- track down at any neighborhood hard- tion, torque, and RPM speed. For my ware store—the one we have pictured at money, the two forerunners in the left is a Makita 5.5 A, Top Handle market are the Dremel Variable- Orbital Variable Speed Jigsaw. You can Speed MultiPro and the Black & usually get one for around $150, Decker RTX. though prices may be a bit better at Both offer variable speed selection, shops on the Internet. excellent torque, and the quality of con- Finally, a good drill is worth the struction is first class. Better yet, the price. I use a cordless drill for quick tooling for both of these units is inter- hole drilling and the corded drill for changeable, so you aren’t left out in the hole saw cuts and difficult drilling. The cold when you need a specific attach- The Black & Decker RTX is a great choice for extra torque and power really help out ment for the task at hand. I do not rec- fine detail work and has interchangable bits so when you have to muscle through a ommend cordless units because they you always get the right cut. thick piece of steel.

180 • PC Modder Preparation Is Key polish the part by hand and give it a No matter what tool you are using, it second coat with a buffer or a drill with is important to take your time and pre- a buffing pad attachment. The object pare for the task at hand. Take it from is to not have any swirl marks or me, there is nothing more annoying imperfections in the paint, so always that screwing up a cut and having to take some time to get it right—it’s well start over from scratch. worth it to see that deep gloss come through. Before I even pick up a tool, I make Always keep a wide selection of files handy— sure to mask off the areas I don’t want when you get a little jigsaw-happy and ruin a Working With Plastics marked or scuffed, make sure I have all cut, you’ll be glad you have them. measurements correct, and I have Plastic is a completely different ani- marked my cutting area appropriately. mal when it comes to painting. Preparation is the key to keeping acci- (which you can find almost anywhere, Unfortunately, most cases are made dents and unexpected complications to even at the grocery store)—this way with a textured ABS plastic bezel, so it a minimum, especially when it comes to there are no oils or greases to inhibit the is a necessary evil. Whenever possible, I cutting materials. Besides, taking a little primer from adhering to the surface. use vinyl dye because it penetrates the surface rather than coating it like paint. time to prepare in the beginning will Prime Away save a lot of time fixing mistakes later. When I have to use paint, though, I Files and sandpaper are also indis- First, I put on two coats of primer in sand the bezel smooth with some 1000- pensable to the kit; these are the tools a nice even layer. I then lightly wet sand grit paper and then prime and paint like that make you look good. You can easi- the case with some distilled water. This I normally do. But I only polish plastic ly fix a less-than-perfect cut or jagged smoothes out any rough spots in the by hand; it is far too easy to ruin plastic edge with a file. primer. The primer coat is only a few parts when using a buffing wheel. I always keep a good selection of dif- microns thick; if you sand too hard and Regardless of the material you are ferent sandpaper grits and types in my expose the bare surface you will have to cutting or painting, it is best to take the toolbox, as well as assorted hand files of start over, so be sure to take your time. time to mask and measure. When I first different sizes. I have a steady hand, but I am now ready to paint, but paint started modding, I thought that it every once in awhile I really screw up a does not go on smooth. If you look at would be quicker to rush through the cut, and I am glad I have a file and paint under magnification you will see preparation phase, but in the long run I some sandpaper within reach. it has a pebbled texture, so color sand- was spending more time going back and ing is needed to give each coat a smooth fixing mistakes or repainting parts than Paint Types finish. With a little distilled water and I would have if I had taken the time to One of the most common questions I 2000-grit sandpaper, I color sand each do it right the first time. am asked is “What kind of paint do you coat and then wash it clean with some Measuring your cuts and masking off use?” This is not an easy question to alcohol and a soft, cotton cloth. surfaces correctly will save you time and answer because I use many different After three coats of paint, I like to let energy, making your experience more types of paint; it really depends on the the finish cure for a day or so, and then enjoyable—and that is why we mod project. I prefer to use automotive paint it’s time to polish the paint. I don’t stuff in the first place. when I can, but I do not have a paint have a preference in wax or polish; I Building your own case and making booth so sometimes I have to make do just head out to the auto parts place and it one of a kind is the goal, but the pay- with spray paint. pick what ever catches my eye; to me off is knowing that I put in the effort Dupli-Color enamel is one of my they all work similarly. to create something that is an expres- favorites because of its quick drying I like to start by very lightly color sion of myself and learned something in time and its large selection of colors. It sanding and cleaning the part; I then the process. is available at most auto parts stores, so it is not hard to find in a hurry. by Gareth Powell Getting a high-gloss, show-car finish with spray paint can be a chore, but the Gareth Powell (“Lord Pheaton”) is elbow grease it takes is well worth it. I an accomplished modder and runs prefer to start with a clean surface when pheaton.com, which hosts reviews, tutori- painting, so I use a chemical stripper to als, and the infamous Pheaton Forums. get a prepainted case down to bare Dupli-Color enamel is inexpensive, comes in a metal. I then clean the surface and pre- large selection of colors, and is easy to track pare it with some denatured alcohol down at most auto parts stores.

PC Modder • 181 REMOTE CONTROL WIZARDRY Install & Modify Your Transmitter/Receiver Combo

omeday in the not-too-distant car’s door lock remote, but with different- mobo’s ATX power connector. Of course, to future, you’ll awaken late on a ly labeled buttons—but if your car came make sure everything powers up again cor- S Saturday morning, roll over in with Power and Reset buttons, please rectly, plug the PSU’s ATX connector into bed, and imagine your PC powering up email us and tell us about it. the top of the pass-through cable. and launching Half-Life 4—and, thanks The pass-through cable has a two-hole to that tiny microchip implanted just Insults & Instructions connector dangling from it. Take this plug behind your ear, it will do your bidding Installing the Just Cooler remote control and marry it to the two-pronged DC con- and actually launch. You won’t even have system is straightforward, but the company nector on the receiver. Now secure the to get out of bed to start offing baddies neglected to include even basic instructions. receiver to an expansion slot on your PC’s because your VR-enabled glasses will let All you receive are two poorly translated case. Connect the antenna to the back of you sprawl across your pillows while the and punctuation-challenged sentences of the receiver, stand back, and press the electronic blood splatters. supposed specifications: “A keychain con- Power button on the transmitter. Your OK, let’s say those “user-mods” are a troller device specially design to operate the computer will spring to life, and because little too extreme for your tastes, but you computer POWER by way of transporting the transmitter has a range of about 30 feet still want to have some remote control signal on ATX motherboard from up to 20 (we made it work from much farther away), capabilities over your PC. With the fol- meters. It serves as a friendly user to those you can turn the computer on or off, or lowing modifications, you will be able to who couldn’t get the hang of pushing the even start a reset cycle from another room. reset your PC, turn it on or off, play POWER/RESET buttons of their PC.” As What’s the point of having this device games with your CD-ROM drive, and for a result of this product shortcoming, we’ll installed in your computer? If you ask that fun, cause serious distress to your friends walk you through the installation process. question, you obviously don’t have enough when they can’t figure out why your com- You can start by picking a suitable expan- free time on your hands. If your PC is puter appears to be possessed. sion slot for securing the receiver. You don’t locked away to prevent intruders (or a mis- need an empty PCI card slot because noth- chievous pet) from causing equipment More Than Cool ing connects to the motherboard, but you problems, the remote lets you get things Modern PCs aren’t really wired, physi- do need a little room for the bulky receiver started without having to unlock a cabinet cally or logically, to be used with remote components, and you should pick a slot every time. The remote might come in controls. Your computer is a hands-on close to your motherboard’s power and reset handy at a LAN party or similar event. If device that needs significant user input via connectors so you won’t strain the rather you get too far behind during a multiplay- keyboard, mouse, or other device, before it short wires that come with the kit. Don’t er game (and your computer happens to be knows what kind of data to process. There secure the receiver with a screw just yet, as controlling the festivities), use the remote are a few exceptions, of course, such as leaving it out of the case makes it easier to to stealthily reset your machine. Or, if you multimedia PCs designed for music play- connect the required wiring. aren’t into unethical gaming, we suppose back, but these setups aren’t the norm. Now you can pull the reset and power you can use the remote to start up your PC There are precious few remote control button wires from their motherboard con- when you get home from work or school, products for modders who want just a nectors, and then tie these wires up and provided your PC room’s walls don’t sliver of PC remote control capability away so that they don’t end up tangled in deflect the transmitter’s radio signals. without spending a lot of money or time one of your case fans. After making sure on their systems. To that end, we present they are properly oriented, connect the CD-ROM Mod the Just Cooler remote control kit, which kit’s power and reset wires to the mother- You might decide that you want differ- is available from your favorite modding board, and connect the other ends to the ent capabilities from your remote. We site. This kit doesn’t require any soldering receiver. As they are on the motherboard, decided to modify our remote to open our or painstaking wiring, as it includes just a the appropriate connectors are labeled, CD-ROM drive tray. This was a straight- receiver, transmitter, and antenna. which simplifies this task. forward alteration that took only a few The receiver is smaller than a video Disconnect the ATX power plug that minutes to perform, but to complete the card and has a petite, rectangular circuit connects the PSU to the motherboard. Now job you will need a soldering iron and a board and a rear-mounted jack for the take the ATX PSU pass-through connector drive that you aren’t worried about destroy- antenna. The transmitter looks like your that came with the kit and plug it into the ing—every drive is a little different and you

182 • PC Modder Step Step Step 2 3 4 will have to do a bit of careful poking and to the board. Be-cause of this, we decid- prodding, and we can’t guarantee that this ed to solder our wires to the two smaller process will work with every model. points nearer the front of the button.

Start by removing the screws that After you solder your Reset button 1 secure the drive to your PC’s case. 8 wires to the circuit board, replace the Detach the power and data cables and then plastic sheet to ward off shorted circuits, Step remove the drive from the case. reassemble the metal case, replace the bezel, and connect the power and data cables. You 7 Straighten a paper clip and insert the might have to get creative to make the 2 end into the emergency eject hole. Reset wire poke through the CD-ROM drive case and stretch far enough to connect Pull the drive tray out just far enough to the receiver. We wormed this wire 3 to loosen the bezel. Don’t pull any through a gap in the side of the metal case farther than necessary or you might and set the receiver closer to the middle of encounter problems with the tray’s gears. the case to make the wire reach, but there’s nothing to stop you from splicing in more Step Plastic tabs secure the drive’s front bezel wire for added length. 8 4 to the metal drive body. Press these tabs inward and pull the bezel off of the drive. Plug the power cable into your PSU 9 and use the remote to start up your PC. You can see where the eject button Now, when you press the Reset button 5 is attached to the circuit board, but on the remote, the CD-ROM drive will to get at it, you have to remove the metal open and close. This modification is a lit- case surrounding the drive. There are tle goofy at best, and completely useless to four screws on the bottom of the drive, many users, but there are a few potential so remove these with a Philips screwdriv- uses for it. We’re always keen on practical er. With these screws out of the way, you jokes, and a CD-ROM drive that won’t can take off the two-part metal case pro- stay shut will have your friends sharing The fully wired receiver supposedly only works tecting the drive, but before you do, be puzzled sidelong glances. if the transmitter is less than 30 feet away, but sure to ground yourself to avoid damag- You’ll have to use your imagination for we had ours kicking into gear from 80 and 90 ing sensitive electronic parts with acci- other uses. The Autoplay feature in feet away. dental electrostatic discharge. Windows is sure to help. By ejecting and retracting the drive from a distance, an Disconnect the receiver’s reset wire audio CD will start playing on its own, So if you have a vacant expansion slot 6 from its motherboard connector. Use letting you restart Barry White without on the back of your PC case, we recom- wire cutters to cut off the motherboard having to get up from the couch. mend buying a Just Cooler remote con- connector and then strip one-eighth inch of trol kit for your own PC experiments. If the wire insulation from the wire tips. Zap It Good you come up with any great ideas, be sure Most users have little need for the to let us know about it—tell the world Examine the circuit board on the remote control capabilities we describe about your project on the CPU Web site 7 side opposite the eject button. On here. Then again, most PC users aren’t (www.cpumag.com) forums. our drive there were four solder points into overclocking, case modding, and (two large and two small), and the larger whiling away wee hours of the morning by Nathan Chandler points were basically securing the button downloading game cheats.

PC Modder • 183 MP3 EVISCERATION Tear Out That Microdrive & Use It Wherever You Please

orporate conspirators huddle in Creative and ask to be put secret meetings to discuss profit on a waiting list because C margins and product pricing The Fools are still making markups. Shadowy engineering teams that the player available to the don’t appear on any company payroll crip- general public, though ple their products to save a few bucks. And only on a limited basis. you, dear reader, ultimately pay the price Two, make a bid on eBay for the plots of these marauding schemers where the players are routinely selling for a 256MB flash card, and a dead, dead, dead when you go to buy a Microdrive. third more than the typical $200 street mini iPod. OK, maybe it’s not as involved as all price. That’s a serious blow to your mod- that, but there’s no doubting one fact. ding budget, but you owe it to yourself to Get Your MuVo On Some of the music-related gizmos you buy live a little before They come for you, and Gutting the MuVo2 is a piece of cake, contain large-capacity Microdrives—and even at $300, this product is a steal. and without further adieu, I’ll give you sell for hundreds less than it would cost you Here are two quick tips on buying a the lowdown on slicing and dicing your to buy the drive alone. That’s why many MuVo2. An oft-repeated rumor indicates way to saving at least $200. adept consumers are buying relatively cheap that some MuVo2 drives are soldered into MP3 players, ripping them apart, taking place, and, thus, nearly impossible to 1. Start by downloading the MuVo2’s out the Microdrives, and using the drives in remove. These claims are unsubstantiated firmware from the Creative Web site other products, such as digital cameras. falsities perpetuated by Authorities who using this address: www.nomadworld As a result, these users snag themselves a don’t like you subverting The System. Also, .com/downloads/firmware/wma- high-capacity drive for much cheaper than if you like the idea of inserting an old muvo_2_4.asp. As I tapped out these they would if they’d bought the drive with- CompactFlash card into the MuVo2 so you instructions for you, the latest firmware out the MP3 player camouflage. An average can have a functional MP3 player, keep in version was 1.11.01, and to ensure suc- 4GB Microdrive sells for about $500. But mind that not all brands of CF cards work. cess, I advise using this version because an MP3 player including pretty much the If your flash card doesn’t do the trick, you They might try to disable the certain same drive sells for $200 to $300. Doesn’t can, of course, buy a new card (rumor has it capabilities of the Hitachi drive in fu- make much sense, does it? And if you want the MuVo2 seems to like SanDisk and ture firmware versions. If, by odd to cash in and beat the corporate connivers Lexar Media cards) or just pawn off the chance, you receive a MuVo2 that has a at their own game, there’s still time. vacant player on eBay. firmware version number lower than Before you start Googling to find one of 1.11.01, you should use the link in this Getting The Goods these two products, make sure you read step to upgrade the device’s firmware As of press time, there were two MP3 this story in its entirety so you have an idea before you attempt any subsequent steps players at the center of the Microdrive of how easy or hard it is to disassemble the detailed here. Failing to upgrade old ver- storm: Creative’s MuVo2 and Apple’s players and what tasks you can use each sions of the firmware may ruin your iPod Mini, both of which use 4GB drive for. I’ll start this story with a summa- chances of successfully hacking the drive, Microdrives to store music audio files. ry of the end results. which is exactly what They want. Don’t Every self-respecting geek has heard I invested $200 in a MuVo2 player and make Them happy. about the MuVo2 hack, a prime reason $330 in an iPod Mini. After hacking away 2. Open the back of the MuVo2 and that it’s unlikely you’ll find this player for at both, I wound up with a 4GB flash card remove the battery. sale at retail outlets. You have a couple of for my digital camera, a 4GB drive that 3. Consider grounding yourself to elimi- options to complete the mission-critical works as a portable storage device, a work- nate the possibility of damaging static MuVo2 purchase. One, you can call able MuVo2 player with a transplanted discharge. I didn’t actually adhere to

184 • PC Modder this precaution, but hey, They say I’m 7. Now you can flip up the shielding There are few caveats on using the technically insane, so what do I know? plate and expose the Microdrive. Lift Microdrive from the MuVo2 to capture 4. Remove the three visible screws from the the Microdrive and use your flat- huge numbers of pictures on your digital MuVo2’s case. There is a fourth screw tipped screwdriver to (again, carefully) camera. Because this is a hard drive, it has on the bottom of the case, and it’s con- slightly separate the Microdrive from moving parts. And because those parts need veniently concealed by that nice, friendly the pin array. Don’t try to pry out one power to read and write data, some users WARRANTY VOIDED warning stick- side of the array all at once—doing so estimate 25% fewer photos per shooting er. As if you care, right? I’ll mention here can damage the pins, the drive, or session due to battery issues. The drive also that these screws are very small and often both. After you’ve sufficiently loosened writes data more slowly than a flash card, which means you won’t do much high- speed shooting with this Microdrive. The drive’s real appeal is its huge capacity and the fact that you can store thousands of pictures on one tiny piece of electronic equipment.

Mini Me, Me, Me! Apple’s iPod Mini shares some simi- larities with the MuVo2. It’s a com- pact MP3 player, and it uses a Hitachi hard to remove. That means you might the pins, pull the drive from its Microdrive with a CompactFlash card have to use quite a bit of force to take MuVo2 prison and into beautiful, connector. But where the MuVo2 isn’t out these screws, but do so with a tender blessed freedom. much more than a glorified plastic box, touch, as the plastic case won’t endure 8. If your digital camera accepts a the iPod Mini is a beautiful work of art much abuse. CompactFlash Type II card, you with slim lines, a tasteful and tough 5. Carefully lift the plastic panel. If you should be able to slip the card into metal case, and the iPod’s legendary couldn’t remove the anger-provoking the camera, format it, and immediate- scroll wheel. How I yearn to disembowel screws, use necessary force and violence, ly begin using your huge, new drive. thee, oh pretty iPod Mini. but keep in mind that even eviscerated 9. If you want to use your MuVo2 with a I decided to remove the drive and (but otherwise undamaged) MuVo2’s sell CompactFlash card of your choice, attempt to use it in my camera and for decent cash on eBay. now’s the time to do the job. Attach CompactFlash card reader. A number of 6. Because you removed the four screws the pin array to your CompactFlash other users have unsuccessfully attempt- that secure it, you can gently flip over card, taking care to properly orient the ed this task, but I figured what the heck, the circuit board. If you need to apply card (when completely assembled, the if I ruin my itty bitty Mini, no big deal, force, use a flat-tipped screwdriver to card’s front label should face the same it’s just an Apple product. carefully pry up the board. Then you direction as the front of the MuVo2). Of course, before you can attempt to If you improperly affix the card, when make the drive work, you’ll have to you power up the MuVo2, you will see remove it from the clutches of that nice only “MuVo2” displayed on the LCD. iPod case. Doing so takes a lot more 10.Reassemble the player. Be sure to effort than with the MuVo2, and the ben- smooth down the black tape covering efits of doing so are iffy, which is one rea- the fourth screw. son there hasn’t been a MuVo2-like mass 11.Insert the battery and power up the hoarding of iPod Minis. Read along, and MuVo2. It will immediately display a you’ll see how to see how the disassembly recover mode error message. works and what you stand to gain. 12.From the Recovery menu, select Format Core that Apple. The iPod Mini’s big All, after which you will see a media selling point is that it offers a whopping see a copper-colored plate that shields error message. 4GB-capacity MP3 player in a miniscule the drive. There are four screws holding 13.Now, select Reload Firmware from the form factor. That means there’s a lot of the drive in place, but only three are MuVo2’s menu. Connect the device to technology under the hood of these tiny visible at first glance. Remove the three your PC using the USB cable and run players, and as such, you should think you see and then gently peel back the the firmware upgrade program that you twice about taking yours apart. Not only black tape concealing the fourth screw. downloaded from Creative’s Web site. do you take the risk that a part or two will Do not completely remove the tape, as Then you can use the MuVo2 as you break and render certain features unus- it holds a small battery in place. did with the Microdrive inside. able, but at the very least, you’ll create

PC Modder • 185 cosmetic blemishes on the player. So over the whole thing. Whatever you to remove because there’s no Hold but- don’t say I didn’t warn you, Junior. decide on, just don’t get the Mini so hot ton to worry about. There are only a few tools you need that you get burned. Don’t say I didn’t 5. Once you remove the bottom plate, to tear into the iPod, and the most warn you because that metal case can you’ll see a metal fastener that basically important one is your head. Be wise and get incredibly hot when it feels up to it. holds the iPod Mini’s guts in place. This try not to use excessive force for any 3. Once the case is very warm to the touch, fastener is nothing complex; it just has steps in this procedure. Beyond a few take out your small, flat-bladed screw- four legs that slip into slits in the inte- brains, you also need a small flat-blade driver and turn the iPod Mini so that rior of the Mini’s case. To remove this screwdriver, a tiny Phillips screwdriver, and needle-nose pliers. You also need a well-lighted workspace with minimum clutter; otherwise you will end up losing the iPod’s tiny parts.

1. Slide the Hold button into the orange (On) position. This keeps the Mini from trying to power up during the dissection. Think of this as anesthesia for a delicate surgical procedure. 2. As odd as it sounds, you don’t need you’re looking at the top area where the anything in the way of tools for the first Hold button is located. The white plas- fastener, you need to pull at least two of part of this project. All you need is a tic is a thin and rather flimsy plate, and those legs free. If you have a small enough way to warm up the Mini. This is to it’s easy to remove using your screwdriv- screwdriver, you can insert the blade into soften the adhesive that binds the Mini’s er. The problem is removing this plate the holes of the fastener and pull the legs top and bottom plastic plates to the without gouging the heck out of the free; if you aren’t equipped with such a metal body. No, no, take the iPod out plate or scratching the metal case. Start small screwdriver, try using needle-nose of the microwave, Junior. Here, drink by squeezing near the top of iPod Mini’s pliers instead and start with the legs that this. There are a number of ways to rounded sides. If you have enough finger don’t have underlying obstructions. One warm up your Mini without resorting strength, you can bend the metal enough of those obstructions is an important data to a hellish conflagration. Some users to create a tiny gap for the screwdriver cable that you don’t want to gouge. warm the Mini with a hair dryer, but if tip. This isn’t easy, though, so you might 6. With the metal fastener out of the way, you don’t have one at your disposal, you want to use a vise or clamp to apply you have access to the short data cable can set the Mini on that warm spot pressure (just remember to protect the that connects the scroll wheel with the most ovens create on the center of a iPod Mini case from scratches by using a main circuit board. The cable is a rusty stovetop. Or you can put the Mini in a soft cloth). Slip the screwdriver in just a Ziplock bag and run really hot tap water little bit on the side opposite the Hold button and pry up the plate carefully, working your way around the end. When you get to the Hold button, be sure not to pry at too much of any angle or you risk breaking the button’s subsur- face components. 4. Repeat the previous step to remove the bottom plate. This plate is a little easier

orange color. Take your flat-blade screw- driver and gently lift up on the connector to pull it free. As with the plastic end plates you removed earlier, take your time and work your way around the edges to make sure you don’t cause any damage. 7. Now focus your attention on the other end (top) of the iPod Mini where you removed the Hold button. If you look

186 • PC Modder closely, you will see two little screws on her VW bug while muttering something either side of the Mini’s interior. Use about “secret iPod magic” and “call 911.” your Phillips screwdriver to remove Next, I invited a Hitachi spokesperson both screws and then put the screws in to meet with me at a back table in a seedy a safe place. Lose those screws on the bar. Of course, I extended the invitation carpet, or even on a linoleum floor, and under the guise that I was a large business you will likely never see them again. owner who needed tens of thousands of 8. Those screws were the last parts secur- Microdrives for a new MP3 player, but ing your iPod Mini’s innards, and now when the Hitachi rep arrived, I ripped off those electronic entrails are all but my mask and demanded to know why swinging blithely in the breeze. Turn the drive didn’t do much when parted the Mini around so you’re looking at it 11.If you’re an Apple fanatic who can’t from the iPod. fathom what possessed you to do such The spokesperson, who shall remain a thing to a beautful iPod, on a bleak, anonymous for fear of company retri- cold night on a bridge overlooking bution, said, “Embedded Microdrive the Hudson, turn your face upward products are manufactured to different into the rain with the drive clenched specifications than standalone Microdrive tightly in your fist, scream, “WHY, products. For example, we may lay mic- WHY, WHY??” into the foul night rocode in the final manufacturing process air, and cast the drive as far as you specific to needs of a particular device can out into the water. manufacturer. is software that is stored on the drive and defines the way You can use the drive in some flash card the drive operates. It is tailored to the from the bottom and use your thumb readers. I inserted the drive into my Lexar requirements of our customers. Users to push on the broad connector. The Media USB 2.0 Multi-Card Reader and cannot alter the microcode because we do entire inside of the Mini will start to then formatted the card to use a FAT file not provide a method to do so.” The slip out of the top. Push and wiggle system. spokesperson alluded to additional test- these components, and you can see the I immediately attempted to transfer a ing and manufacturing alterations used miniature hard drive that you’ve few files to the drive and did so successfully, during the creation of the embedded worked so diligently to free. so to confirm that my test did work, I tried iPod drive, but even after six High Lifes, 9. Only a strip of black electrical tape to view the files on another Windows XP he wasn’t ready to divulge these details. I secures the drive to its connector on machine. The drive worked perfectly. considered spiking the Hitachi rep’s beer the mainboard. The tape is in one big With the Microdrive removed, you can with a sleeping pill so that I could drag piece, and it holds a rubber jacket use the 4GB as a massive, portable file him back to interrogation, but alas, I no transfer system. Of course, you could do longer have access to that particular gov- the same thing with an intact iPod Mini, ernment facility. and that might actually be preferable to using the drive outside its case—not all Keep On MuVo2’n card readers will detect the drive, making So, there you have it, the lowdown on the advantages of iPod Mini evisceration cracking open high-tech toys to get at the somewhat dubious. more expensive and more fun high-tech The 4GB drive won’t work in a digital toys inside. After reading the pros and camera. When you insert the drive into a cons behind MP3 player evisceration, you CompactFlash card slot, your camera will might opt not to take any risks with either temporarily lock up or display an yours. For those of you who do rip your around the drive. To remove the tape, error message. Apple apparently had players apart, keep your eyes open for start by peeling away the large center Hitachi disable the ability for the drive to upcoming products that are sure to incor- area on both sides of the drive and then work with most devices that use remov- porate Hitachi Microdrives, as the com- peel away the corners. able storage. When I cornered an Apple pany recently boosted production to keep 10.Now all you have to do is pull the representative on a sidewalk outside com- up with high demand. Be mad and mod drive off of its 30-pin connector. Use pany headquarters one night, I asked her on. Mwa-ha-ha-haaah! your flat-head screwdriver to loosen to tell me exactly what makes the drive the connector on both sides and then inoperable in cameras, but she wielded a by Mad Modder carefully pull the drive away. can of pepper spray and scurried off to

PC Modder • 187 INTEL CHIP REFERENCE Guide to Intel’s Newest Processors

ntel has released many new processors during the past six months, including new mobile processors with Centrino technology, a P4 EE, several Prescotts, and a variety of server and I workstation CPUs. The following chart is a quick reference to Intel’s newest processors. Compiled by Kylee Dickey

Processor Chart (Listed in reverse chronological order) Processor Family Celeron M Mobile Pentium 4 Mobile Pentium 4 Mobile Pentium 4 Pentium M Pentium M Product Name* 340 538 532 518 755 745 Clock Speed 1.5GHz 3.2GHz 3.06GHz 2.8GHz 2GHz 1.8GHz (600MHz in Battery (600MHz in Battery Optimized mode) Optimized mode) Code Name Banias Dothan Dothan Dothan Dothan Dothan Date Of Introduction June 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 May 10, 2004 May 10, 2004 System Bus 400MHz 533MHz 533MHz 533MHz 400MHz 400MHz Cache 512KB L2 1MB L2 1MB L2 1MB L2 2MB L2 2MB L2 Socket Type Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Manufacturing Technology 0.13-micron 90nm 90nm 90nm 90nm 90nm Supported Memory DDR SDRAM DDR SDRAM DDR SDRAM DDR SDRAM Up to 2GB of DDR Up to 2GB of DDR Target Market Thin and light Notebooks, Notebooks, Notebooks, Thin and light Thin and light notebooks mobile systems mobile systems mobile systems notebook PCs notebook PCs Features Lower core Intel Centrino technology, supports note- voltage than HT Technology, 13 new SSE3 extensions, books less than 1 inch thick, dedicated stack Celeron CPUs Enhanced Intel SpeedStep technology manager, supports Enhanced Intel Speedstep technology, supports Intel MVP IV, 21W power consumption, 1.276V to 1.34V Number Of CPUs Supported 1 1 1 1 1 1

Processor Chart (continued) Processor Family Pentium M Itanium 2 Itanium 2 Ultra Low-Voltage Celeron M Ultra Low-Voltage Pentium M Celeron M Product Name* 735 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Clock Speed 1.7GHz (600MHz in 1.6GHz 1.4GHz 1.1GHz 1.4GHz 900MHz Battery Optimized mode) Code Name Dothan Madison Madison Banias Banias Banias Date Of Introduction May 10, 2004 May 2004 April 13, 2004 April 7, 2004 April 7, 2004 April 7, 2004 System Bus 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz Cache 2MB L2 3MB L3 3MB L3, 256KB L2, 1MB L2 512KB L2 512KB L2 32KB L1 (instruction and data) Socket Type Socket 478 Itanium 2 Itanium 2 Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Manufacturing Technology 90nm 0.13-micron, 410 0.13-micron, 410 0.13-micron, 77 0.13-micron, 77 0.13-micron, 77 million transistors million transistors million transistors million transistors million transistors Supported Memory Up to 2GB of DDR DDR SDRAM DDR SDRAM Up to 2GB of DDR DDR SDRAM DDR SDRAM Target Market Thin and light Dual-processor servers in clusters, Mobile computers Mobile computers Mobile computers notebook PCs high-performance applications, technical applications Features Intel Centrino EPIC architecture; EPIC architecture; Centrino SSE2, low-power SSE2, low-power technology, supports MCA with ECC; IA- MCA with ECC; IA- technology, states including states including notebooks less than 1 32 EL; support for 32 EL; support for Micro-Ops Fusion, Deep Sleep Deep Sleep inch thick, dedicated HP-UX, Linux, and HP-UX, Linux, and dedicated stack stack manager, Windows Server Windows Server manager supports Enhanced 2003 2003 Intel Speedstep technology, supports Intel MVP IV, 21W power consumption, 1.276V to 1.34V Number Of CPUs Supported 1 1, 2 1, 2 1 1 1 *New Intel naming system, which does not apply to the older CPUs in this chart 188 • PC Modder Processor Chart (continued)

Processor Family Low-Voltage Xeon MP Xeon MP Xeon MP Pentium 4 Pentium 4 Pentium M Product Name* N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Clock Speed 1.3GHz 2.2GHz 2.7GHz 3GHz 2.80E GHz 3.0E GHz Code Name Banias Gallatin Gallatin Gallatin Prescott Prescott Date Of Introduction April 7, 2004 March 2, 2004 March 2, 2004 March 2, 2004 Feb. 2, 2004 Feb. 2, 2004 System Bus 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz 800MHz 800MHz Cache 1MB L2 2MB L3 2MB L3 4MB L3 1MB L2 1MB L2 Socket Type Socket 478 Socket 603 Socket 603 Socket 603 Socket 478 Socket 478 Manufacturing Technology 0.13-micron, 77 0.13-micron, 169 0.13-micron, 169 0.13-micron, 169 90nm, 125 million 90nm, 125 million million transistors million transistors million transistors million transistors transistors transistors Supported Memory Up to 2GB of DDR Dual-channel DDR Dual-channel DDR Dual-channel DDR Dual-channel Dual-channel DDR DDR 333/266 400/333/266 SDRAM SDRAM Target Market Mobile computers Multiprocessor Multiprocessor Multiprocessor Desktop PCs midtier and midtier and servers with four and entry-level workstations back-end servers back-end servers processors Features Centrino HT Technology, HT Technology, HT Technology, Intel NetBurst microarchitecture, SSE2, technology, Intel NetBurst Intel NetBurst Intel NetBurst SSE3, Intel RAID Technology available Micro-Ops Fusion, architecture, architecture, architecture, (with Intel 875P, 865PE, 865P, and 865G dedicated stack rapid-execution rapid-execution rapid-execution chipsets with ICH5R), HT Technology, manager engine, SSE2 engine, SSE2 engine, SSE2 128-bit floating point port, thermal monitoring, BIST, IEEE 1149.1 standard test access port and boundary scan Number Of CPUs Supported 1 2, 4, 8 2, 4, 8 2, 4, 8 1 1

Processor Chart (continued)

Processor Family Pentium 4 Pentium 4 Pentium 4 Pentium 4 Mobile Celeron Celeron Extreme Edition Product Name* N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Clock Speed 3.2E GHz 3.4E GHz 3.4GHz 3.4GHz 2.5GHz 2.8GHz Code Name Prescott Prescott Northwood Gallatin Northwood Northwood Date Of Introduction Feb. 2, 2004 Feb. 2, 2004 Feb. 2, 2004 Feb. 2, 2004 Nov. 12, 2003 Nov. 5, 2003 System Bus 800MHz 800MHz 800MHz 800MHz 400MHz 400MHz Cache 1MB L2 1MB L2 512KB L2 ATC 2MB L3,512KB L2 256KB L2 128KB L2 ATC Socket Type Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Socket 478 Manufacturing Technology 90nm, 125 million 90nm, 125 million 0.13-micron, 55 0.13-micron, 178 0.13-micron 0.13-micron transistors transistors million transistors million transistors Supported Memory Dual-channel DDR Dual-channel DDR Dual-channel DDR Dual-channel DDR SDRAM or DDR RDRAM or DDR 400/333/266 400/333/266 400/333/266 400/333/266 SDRAM (when used RAM (dependent SDRAM SDRAM SDRAM SDRAM with the Intel 852G upon chipset) chipset) Target Market Desktop PCs and entry-level workstations Computing enthusiasts Value notebooks Value PCs and gamers Features Intel NetBurst Intel NetBurst Intel NetBurst Intel NetBurst SIMD extensions Data flow analysis, microarchitecture, microarchitecture, microarchitecture, microarchitecture, and QuickStart speculative SSE2, SSE3, Intel SSE2, SSE3, Intel SSE2, SSE3, Intel SSE2, SSE3, Intel technology execution, RAID Technology RAID Technology RAID Technology RAID Technology nonblocking L1 available (with available (with available (with available (with cache, Internet Intel 875P, 865PE, Intel 875P, 865PE, Intel 875P, 865PE, Intel 875P, 865PE, Streaming SIMD 865P, and 865G 865P, and 865G 865P, and 865G 865P, and 865G extensions, DIB, chipsets with chipsets with chipsets with chipsets with and Intel MMX ICH5R), HT ICH5R), HT ICH5R), HT ICH5R), HT technology Technology, 128- Technology, 128- Technology, 128- Technology, 128- bit floating point bit floating point bit floating point bit floating point port, thermal port, thermal port, thermal port, thermal monitoring, BIST, monitoring, BIST, monitoring, BIST, monitoring, BIST, IEEE 1149.1 IEEE 1149.1 IEEE 1149.1 IEEE 1149.1 standard test standard test standard test standard test access port and access port and access port and access port and boundary scan boundary scan boundary scan boundary scan Number Of CPUs Supported 1 1 1 1 1 1

PC Modder • 189 Intel Processor Roadmap (2004 & Beyond)

ccording to Intel’s roadmaps, there will be a number of new processors released during 2004, many manufactured with 90nm tech- A nology. Intel also has a number of Itanium 2s ready to roll out this year. Below are the details that were available at press time.

Name Clock Manufacturing Cache Chipset Other Details Workstations Speed Technology Compatibility Q1-Q2 2004 Itanium 2 for Workstations 1.4GHz 0.13-micron 1.5MB L3 Enabled chipset (Madison) Q1-Q2 2004 Itanium 2 for Workstations 1GHz 0.13-micron 1.5MB L3 Enabled chipset Low-voltage Q1-Q2 2004 Xeon for Workstations At least 3.4GHz 90nm Intel E7505 or (Nocona) enabled chipset Q3-Q4 2004 Itanium 2 for Workstations At least 1.4GHz 0.13-micron At least Enabled chipset 1.5MB L3 Q3-Q4 2004 Itanium 2 for Workstations At least 1GHz 0.13-micron At least Enabled chipset Low-voltage 1.5MB L3 Q3-Q4 2004 Xeon for Workstations At least 3.6GHz 90nm Next-generation chipset

Name Clock Manufacturing Cache Chipset Other Details Mobile Processors Speed Technology Compatibility Q1-Q2 2004 Mobile Celeron 2.8GHz Intel 852PM/GM Q1-Q2 2004 Celeron M Banias 1.2GHz 0.13-micron 512KB L2 Intel 855PM/GM/GME 400MHz FSB (Intel 310) and 852GML Q2 2004 Pentium M 1.7GHz 90nm 2MB L2 Intel 855PM/GM/GME Centrino technology, PRO/Wireless 2100A and 2200BG connectivity, 400MHz FSB Q2 2004 Pentium M 1.8GHz 90nm 2MB L2 400MHz FSB Q2-Q3 2004 Celeron M Banias 1.3GHz 0.13-micron 512KB Intel 855PM/GM/GME 400MHz FSB (Intel 320) and 852GML Q2-Q3 2004 Celeron M Banias 1.4GHz 0.13-micron 512KB Intel 855PM/GM/GME 400MHz FSB (Intel 330) and 852GML Q3 2004 Pentium M (Intel 725) 1.6GHz 90nm 2MB L2 400MHz FSB Q3 2004 Pentium M 2.0GHz 90nm 2MB L2 400MHz FSB Q3-Q4 2004 Pentium M (Intel 730) 1.6GHz 90nm 2MB L2 533MHz FSB Q3-Q4 2004 Ultra Low Voltage 1.1GHz 90nm 2MB L2 400MHz FSB Pentium M (Intel 733) Q3-Q4 2004 Mobile Celeron At least 2.8GHz Intel 852PM/GM Q3-Q4 2004 Celeron M (Intel 350) 1.3GHz 90nm 1MB L2 Next-generation 400MHz FSB mobile chipset Q3-Q4 2004 Ultra Low-Voltage 900MHz 0.13-micron 512KB L2 400MHz FSB Celeron M (Intel 353) Q3-Q4 2004 Celeron M (Intel 360) 1.4GHz 90nm 1MB L2 400MHz FSB Q3-Q4 2004 Celeron M (Intel 370) 1.5GHz 90nm 1MB L2 400MHz FSB Q3-Q4 2004 Ultra Low-Voltage 1GHz 90nm 512KB L2 400MHz FSB Celeron M (Intel 373) Q3-Q4 2004 Low-Voltage 1.4GHz 90nm 2MB L2 400MHz FSB Pentium M (Intel 738) Q4 2004 Pentium M 1.6GHz 90nm 2MB L2 533MHz FSB Q4 2004 Pentium M (Intel 740) 1.73GHz 90nm 2MB L2 533MHz FSB Q4 2004 Pentium M (Intel 750) 1.86GHz 90nm 2MB L2 533MHz FSB Q4 2004 Ultra Low-Voltage 1.2GHz 90nm 2MB L2 400MHz FSB Pentium M (Intel 753) Q4 2004 Low-Voltage 1.5GHz 0.13-micron 2MB L2 400MHz FSB Pentium M (Intel 758) Q4 2004 Pentium M (Intel 760) 2.0GHz 2MB L2 533MHz FSB Q4 2004 Pentium M (Intel 770) 2.13GHz 90nm 2MB L2 533MHz FSB 2005 Unknown Mobile processors based on Pentium 4 core will be replaced by dual-core note- book processors. 2005 or 2006 Merom based on a new core. Late 2006 Conroe Faster version of Merom.

190 • PC Modder Intel Processor Roadmap (continued)

Name Clock Manufacturing Cache Chipset Other Details Desktop Processors Speed Technology Compatibility Q1-Q2 2004 Pentium 4 At least 3.4GHz 3.4GHz P4 with 90nm technology released on Feb. 2, 2004. Q1-Q2 2004 Celeron At least 2.8 GHz Intel 845 chipset family 2.8GHz Celeron released on Nov. 5, 2003. Q2 2004 Pentium 4 3GHz 90nm 1MB L2 Socket 775, 800MHz FSB Q2 2004 Pentium 4 3.2GHz 90nm 1MB L2 Socket 775, 800MHz FSB Q2 2004 Pentium 4 3.4GHz 90nm 1MB L2 Intel 845, 865, 875P, Socket 775, 800MHz FSB and next-generation chipset Q2 2004 Pentium 4 3.6GHz 90nm 1MB L2 Socket 775, 800MHz FSB Q2 2004 Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.4GHz 0.13-micron Socket 775 (Northwood core) Q3-Q4 2004 Pentium 4 Copper River At least 3.6GHz Intel 845, 865, and 875P chipset families and next- generation chipset Q3-Q4 2004 Celeron (Prescott core) At least 3.06GHz Intel 845 chipset family Q3 2004 Pentium 4 3.8GHz 90nm 1MB L2 Socket 775, 800MHz FSB Q3 2004 Pentium 4 3.73GHz 90nm 2MB L2 1,066MHz FSB (Intel 720, Prescott) Q3 2004 Celeron (Intel 335) 2.8GHz 90nm 256KB L2 Socket 775, 533MHz FSB Q3 2004 Celeron (Intel 340) 2.93GHz 90nm 256KB L2 Socket 775, 533MHz FSB Q3 2004 Celeron (Intel 345) 3.06GHz 90nm 256KB L2 Socket 775, 533MHz FSB Q3 2004 Celeron (Intel 350) 3.2GHz 90nm 256KB L2 Socket 775, 533MHz FSB Q3 2004 Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.46GHz LGA775; 1,066MHz FSB (Gallatin core) Q4 2004 Pentium 4 (Intel 580) 4.0GHz 90nm 1MB L2 Socket 775, 800MHz FSB Q4 2004 Celeron 3.33GHz 90nm 256KB L2 Socket 775, 533MHz FSB

Name Clock Manufacturing Cache Chipset Other Details Servers Speed Technology Compat Q1-Q2 2004 Itanium 2 for Servers 1.5GHz 0.13-micron 6MB L3 Intel E8870 At least eight-way (Madison) Q1-Q2 2004 Itanium 2 for Servers 1.5GHz 0.13-micron 6MB L3 Intel E8870 Four-way Q1-Q2 2004 Itanium 2 for Servers 1.4GHz 0.13-micron 1.5MB L3 Intel E8870 Two-way Q1-Q2 2004 Itanium 2 for Servers 1GHz 0.13-micron 1.5MB L3 Intel E8870 Two-way, low-voltage Q1-Q2 2004 Xeon MP for Servers At least 3GHz 0.13-micron At least Enabled chipset At least eight-way (Gallatin) 4MB L3 Q1-Q2 2004 Xeon MP for Servers At least 3GHz 0.13-micron At least Third-party/enabled chipset Four-way 4MB L3 Q1-Q2 2004 Xeon for Servers At least 3.4GHz 0.13-micron, Intel E7501 and Two-way (0.13-micron Prestonia 90nm next-generation chipset and 90nm Nocona) Q3-Q4 2004 Itanium 2 for Servers 1.5GHz 0.13-micron 9MB L3 Intel E8870 At least eight-way Q3-Q4 2004 Itanium 2 for Servers 1.5GHz 0.13-micron 9MB L3 Intel E8870 Four-way Q3-Q4 2004 Itanium 2 for Servers At least 1.4GHz 0.13-micron At least Intel E8870 Two-way 1.5MB L3 Q3-Q4 2004 Itanium 2 for Servers At least 1GHz 0.13-micron At least Intel E8870 Two-way, low-voltage 1.5MB L3 Q3-Q4 2004 Xeon MP for Servers At least 3GHz 0.13-micron At least Enabled chipset At least eight-way 4MB L3 Q3-Q4 2004 Xeon MP for Servers At least 3GHz 0.13-micron At least Enabled chipset Four-way 4MB L3 Q3-Q4 2004 Xeon for Servers At least 3.6GHz Next-generation chipset Two-way 2005 Unknown-Intel dropped plans for Jayhawk (a Xeon processor) on May 7, 2004. Q1 2005 Potomac Eight-way Q3 2005 Millington 400/533 64-bit Q3 2005 Low-Voltage Millington 64-bit

PC Modder • 191 AMD CHIP REFERENCE CPU Manufacturer Extends Its Athlon 64, Opteron & Mobile Lines

ince the last issue of PC Modder, AMD has released several new processors, including a new Athlon 64, Athlon XP-M, Athlon 64 FX, and several Opterons, S including EE (Energy Efficient) and HE (Highly Efficient) models. Here's a guide to AMD's newest CPUs.

Compiled by Kylee Dickey

Processor Reference Chart

Processor Family Athlon 64 FX Athlon 64 Athlon 64 Athlon 64 Opteron Opteron

Model Name FX-53 3800+ 3700+ 3500+ 850 250 Code Name NewCastle NewCastle Clawhammer NewCastle Sledgehammer Sledgehammer Date of Introduction June 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 June 1, 2004 Announced: May 18, 2004 May 18, 2004 Available by: June 17, 2004 Data Bus Bit Width 64 64 64 64 64 64 Clock Speed 2.4GHz 2.4GHz 2.4GHz 2.2GHz 2.4GHz 2.4GHz FSB 2GHz 2GHz 2GHz 2GHz 2.4GHz 2.4GHz System Bus (effective) 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz 2.4GHz 2.4GHz Cache 128KB L1, 1MB L2 512KB L2 1MB L2 512KB L2 1MB L2 1MB L2

Socket Type Socket 939 Socket 754 Socket 939 Socket 940 Socket 940 Process Technology 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron Transistors (in millions) 105.9 105.9 68.5 105.9 About 100 About 100 Supported Memory Unbuffered Up to 6.4GBps of Up to 6.4GBps of Up to 6.4GBps of PC1600, PC2100, PC1600, PC2100, PC3200/PC2700 PC3200/PC2700 PC3200/PC2700/ PC3200/PC2700 PC2700, PC3200 PC2700, PC3200 /PC2100/PC1600 /PC2100/PC1600 PC2100/PC1600 /PC2100/PC1600 DDR DDR DDR DDR unbuffered DDR unbuffered DDR unbuffered

Target Market Gaming and Systems that need Mainstream PCs Systems that need Multiprocessor Dual-processor graphics systems to run cool while to run cool while systems, systems, still handling still handling enterprise-level enterprise-level high-end graphics high-end graphics servers servers Features New Socket 939, New Socket 939, 1MB L2 cache, New Socket 939, HyperTransport HyperTransport 2,000MHz Cool'n'Quiet integrated DDR Cool'n'Quiet Technology, 64-bit Technology, 64-bit HyperTransport technology, memory controller, technology, enabled, Direct enabled, Direct (8GBps), 128-bit 2,000MHz 1,600MHz 2,000MHz Connect Connect Architecture, data path to HyperTransport HyperTransport HyperTransport Architecture, SSE, SSE, SSE2 integrated north SSE2 bridge, 3DNow! Professional, SSE2

Number of CPUs Supported 1 1 1 1 up to 8 up to 2

192 • PC Modder Processor Family Code Name Manufacturing Technology Other Details AMD Athlon 64 FX Q3 - Q4 2004 San Diego 90nm Processor Q3 - Q4 2005 Toledo 90nm Roadmap Athlon 64 Q3 - Q4 2004 Winchester 90nm Athlon XP MD's future plans start with Q3 - Q4 2004 Paris 0.13-micron A the release of a 0.13- Q3 - Q4 2005 Palermo 90nm micron Athlon 64 processor Mobile Athlon 64 (known as Newcastle) and a Q3 - Q4 2004 Odessa 90nm 0.13-micron Mobile Athlon 64 in Q1 - Q2 2005 Oakville 90nm Athlon XP-M the first half of 2004. Following Q3 - Q4 2004 Dublin 0.13-micron these releases, AMD plans to Q3 - Q4 2005 Trinidad 90nm introduce new Opteron, Athlon Opteron 64 FX, Athlon XP, and Athlon Q3 - Q4 2004 Athens 90nm Full & Low Power, supports up to 8 CPUs XP-M chips. Here's a hint of Q3 - Q4 2004 Troy 90nm Full & Low Power, supports 1 or 2 CPUs Q3 - Q4 2004 Venus 90nm Full & Low Power, supports 1 CPU what you can expect from AMD Q3 - Q4 2005 Egypt 90nm over the next year and a half. Q3 - Q4 2005 Italy 90nm Q3 - Q4 2005 Denmark 90nm

Opteron Low Power Mobile Low Power Mobile Athlon 64 FX Athlon XP-M Opteron Opteron Mobile Athlon 64 Athlon 64 Athlon 64 150 2800+ 2700+ FX-53 2100+ 840 EE 846 HE 2800+ Sledgehammer Clawhammer Clawhammer Sledgehammer Barton Sledgehammer Sledgehammer Clawhammer Announced: May 3, 2004 May 3, 2004 Mar. 18, 2004 Mar. 17, 2004 Feb. 17, 2004 Feb. 17, 2004 Jan. 6, 2004 May 18, 2004 Available by: June 17, 2004 64 64 64 64/32 32 64/32 64/32 64/32 2.4GHz 1.8GHz 1.6GHz 2.4GHz 1.6GHz 1.4GHz 2GHz 1.6GHz 2.4GHz 1.6GHz 1.6GHz 1.6GHz 266MHz 1.6GHz 1.6GHz 1.6GHz 2.4GHz 400MHz 400MHz 400MHz 266MHz 1.6GHz 1.6GHz 400MHz 1MB L2 128KB 128KB (64KB + 1MB L2, 128KB L1 512KB L2, 1MB L2, 128KB 1MB L2, 128KB 1MB L2, 128KB (64KB + 64KB) L1, 64KB) L1, 128KB L1 (64KB + 64KB) L1 (64KB + 64KB) L1 (64KB + 64KB) L1 512KB L2 512KB L2 Socket 940 Socket 754 Socket 754 Socket 940 Socket A Socket 940 Socket 940 Socket 754 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron 0.13-micron About 100 68.5 68.5 105.9 37.5 About 100 About 100 105.9 PC1600, PC2100, PC3200, PC2700, PC3200, PC2700, PC3200, PC2700, PC-133, DDR PC1600 to PC1600 to PC3200, PC2700, PC2700, PC3200 PC2100, PC2100, and PC2100, PC1600 SDRAM PC2700 registered PC2700 registered PC2100, PC1600 DDR and PC1600 DDR PC1600 DDR registered DDR ECC DDR ECC DDR DDR unbuffered unbuffered unbuffered memory at up to memory at up to 3.2GBps 3.2GBps Single-processor Notebook PCs Notebook PCs Gaming and Thin, light, and Blade servers Blade servers Notebook PCs workstations and graphics systems mainstream or entry-level value notebooks workstations HyperTransport Integrated Integrated 64-bit, built-in virus Low-power, AMD Eight-way, Eight-way, HyperTransport Technology, 64-bit northbridge, northbridge, protection when PowerNow! for low-power low-power Technology, AMD enabled, Direct HyperTransport HyperTransport used with SP2, longer battery life, PowerNow! Connect support, 64- support, 64-bit noncoherent 3DNow! Technology Architecture, SSE, bit support, support, integrated HyperTransport SSE2 integrated MCT, MCT, PowerNow! link, 3DNow!, PowerNow! technology, SSE2 technology, PowerNoW!, PowerNoW!, 3DNow!, SSE2, 3DNow!, SSE2, 35W power 35W power consumption consumption 1 1 1 1 1 1 to 8 (varies) 1 to 8 (varies) 1

PC Modder • 193 INTEL-COMPATIBLE ATI RADEON 9100 PRO IGP CHIPSET Date Of Introduction May 3, 2004 Compatible Intel Processors Pentium 4, Celeron Northbridge Features RADEON 9100 PRO IGP System Bus 800MHz EFERENCE Supported Memory Up to 4GB unbuffered dual-channel, R 128-bit DDR400 SDRAM Integrated Graphics Yes Several Chipsets Add Features External Graphics AGP 8X with FastWrite Video Acceleration Yes To Intel-Based Systems Dual Monitor Support Yes Video Capture Ports Yes HT Support Yes North/Southbridge Link A-Link hipset manufacturers have released a handful of new Intel- Features UMA, Pixel Shader 1.4 support, 3D textures support, supports displays up to 2,048 x 1,536 compatible chipsets in the past six months, but the real pixels at 32bpp, FSAA, MPEG-2 decoding, boom in Intel chipsets is likely to happen after the June video deblocking, support for DVI/DFP, and C VESA P&D through external TMDS, supports release of Intel's 915 (Grantsdale) and 925 (Alderwood) chipsets. In LCDs of up to 1,600 x 1,200 pixels, composite the meantime, ATI, SiS, and VIA have spent the winter and spring support, S-Video support, months releasing chipsets that are compatible with Pentium 4 and RGB-interface support Target Market Gaming and multimedia PCs Celeron processors. The following charts offer a quick guide to the Southbridge Features IXP 300 northbridge and southbridge features of each. IDE Support Two independent IDE channels with Mode 0 and Mode 4 support and ATA 100 Compiled by Kylee Dickey SATA Up to two SATA ports USB Ports Up to eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports Audio AC'97 Network Support Gigabit Ethernet RAID/JBOD RAID 0 Features HT support, Gigabit Ethernet, RAID Target Market Gaming and multimedia PCs SiS SiS 656 Date Of Introduction March 18, 2004 Compatible Intel Processors Pentium 4 with up to 800MHz FSB and HT Technology Northbridge Features SiS656 System Bus 800MHz/533MHz/400Mhz Supported Memory Up to 1GB dual-channel DDR2-667 (up to 10.6GBps) or dual-channel DDR400 (up to 6.4GBps) through four DIMMs, ECC or non-ECC Integrated Graphics N/A External Graphics PCI-Express x16 (4GBps) Video Acceleration No Dual Monitor Support No Video Capture Ports No HT Support Yes North/Southbridge Link MuTIOL 1GB (1GBps) Features PCI-Express x16, support for DDR2, 8-channel audio, eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports, HyperStreaming Technology, and RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, and JBOD. Can pair with SiS965 or SiS965L southbridge Target Market Digital and home entertainment systems with PCI-Express x16 Southbridge Features SiS965 (introduced Feb. 25, 2004) 965L IDE Support ATA 133 ATA 133 SATA Integrated SATA controller with support for up to four ports Two port USB Ports Support for eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports Support for eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports Audio 8-channel, AC'97 8-channel, AC'97 Network Support Gigabit Ethernet, 1/10Mbps HomePNA 10/100Base-T Ethernet RAID/JBOD RAID 0, 1, 0+1, JBOD RAID 0, 1, JBOD Features Supports two PCI-Express x1 ports, 8-channel audio, Supports two PCI-Express x1 ports, 8-channel audio, RAID Gigabit Ethernet, RAID Target Market Systems with PCI-Express x16 and networked systems Systems with PCI-Express x16

194 • PC Modder VIA PM880 (IG) PM800 (IG) Date Of Introduction March 12, 2004 March 12, 2004 Compatible Intel Processors Pentium 4 Pentium 4 Northbridge Features PM880 (IG) PM800 (IG) System Bus 800MHz FSB 800MHz FSB Supported Memory Up to 8GB of dual-channel DDR400 Up to 8GB of single-channel DDR400 Integrated Graphics UniChrome Pro UniChrome Pro External Graphics AGP 8X AGP 8X Video Acceleration Yes Yes Dual Monitor Support Yes Yes Video Capture Ports Yes Yes HT Support Yes Yes North/Southbridge Link Ultra V-Link (1GBps) Ultra V-Link (1GBps) Features S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro IGP graphics core, 3D graphics S3 Graphics UniChrome Pro IGP graphics core, 3D graphics engine, Chromotion CE Video Display Engine, up to engine, Chromotion CE Video Display Engine, up to 1080p-resolution HDTV, integrated MPEG-2 decoding, adaptive 1080p-resolution HDTV, integrated MPEG-2 decoding, adaptive deinterlacing, video deblocking, DualStream 64 memory controller deinterlacing, video deblocking, FastStream 64 memory controller Target Market HDTV-ready PCs, small-form-factor PCs, HDTV-ready PCs, small-form-factor PCs, mainstream multimedia PCs mainstream multimedia PCs Southbridge Features VT8237 (previously released) VT8237 (previously released) IDE Support ATA 133 ATA 133 SATA Supports two additional SATA devices Supports two additional SATA devices USB Ports Supports eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports Supports eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports Audio Integrated VIA Vinyl Audio with 5.1 surround sound, Integrated VIA Vinyl Audio with 5.1 surround sound, VIA Vinyl Gold 8-channel Audion (PCI) VIA Vinyl Gold 8-channel Audion (PCI) Network Support 10/100Base-T Ethernet 10/100Base-T Ethernet RAID/JBOD RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1 Features HT support, 5.1- or 8-channel audio, RAID HT support, 5.1- or 8-channel audio, RAID Target Market Upper-mainstream PCs Upper-mainstream PCs

Name Compatible Chipset Processors Northbridge Features Southbridge Features 2004 ATI RADEON Pentium 4, Single-channel DDR support N/A Roadmap 9000 PRO IGP Celeron Q2 2004 Intel E7710 Xeon Designed for one- or two-way servers and N/A (Lindenhurst) workstations, 667MHz FSB mong the most Q2 2004 Intel E7515 Xeon PCI-Express x16 N/A A anticipated (Tumwater) Intel-compatible Q2 2004 VIA PT890 Pentium 4 800MHz FSB, dual 64-bit memory bus width, N/A DDR 266/333/400 SDRAM with ECC and chipsets are Intel's DDR2 400/533/667 with ECC support, AGP 8X 915 (Grantsdale) external graphics support, PCI Express x16/x4 external graphics support and 925 (Alderwood) Q2 2004 VIA VT8251 N/A - N/A Two PATA ports (four devices); four SATA compatible ports; RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 0+1, JBOD; chipsets, which will with any VIA support for up to eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 support PCI-Express northbridge ports; PCI Express 1x external graphics chip support; 8-channel audio, 6-channel AC'97 x16, HD Audio, and audio; Gigabit Ethernet other features. June 2004 Intel 915 Pentium 4 Dual-channel DDR2 and dual-channel DDR ICH6-R/-W provide up to eight SATA ports; Although Intel will (Grantsdale) support, Extreme Graphics 3 with 915G RAID 0, 1, 0+1; HD Audio; chipset, PCI Express x16 ICH6-W provides integrated WAP likely lead the June 2004 Intel 925 Pentium 4 Supports Pentium 4 ICH6-RW provides up to four SATA ports, march, other manu- (Alderwood) Extreme Extreme Edition processors Intel Wireless Connect Technology, eight facturers, including Edition Hi-Speed USB 2.0 ports, HD Audio June 2004 Intel ICH6-R Pentium 4 N/A i915 compatibility; RAID 0, 1, 0+1; ATI, SiS, and VIA Gigabit Ethernet; HD Audio have their own June 2004 Intel ICH6-W Pentium 4 N/A i915 compatibility; RAID 0, 1, 0+1; Gigabit Intel-compatible Ethernet; integrated WAP; HD Audio Q3 2004 SiS R659FX Pentium 4 800MHz FSB, four 16-bit channels, PC1333 N/A chipsets planned. RDRAM support, PCI Express x16 external graphics support (no support for AGP) Q4 2004 SiS R659FX Pentium 4 800MHz FSB, 64-bit memory bus width, DDR2 N/A 400/533/667/800 ECC support, PCI Express x16 external graphics support (no support for AGP) Q1 2005 SiS R659TX Pentium 4 800MHz FSB, four 16-bit channels, PC1600 N/A RDRAM support, PCI Express x16 external graphics support (no support for AGP)

PC Modder • 195 GUIDE TO AMD-COMPATIBLE CHIPSETS SiS' & VIA's New Chipsets Add 64-Bit Support

ince the last issue, there have been only a handful of new AMD- compatible processors. SiS has been by far the most active of the S AMD-compatible chipset manufacturers. The company intro- duced three new northbridge chips and three new southbridge chips, providing 64-bit and PCI Express support to AMD systems. In addi- tion, the SiS755FX northbridge added support for a 1,000MHz FSB. In the meantime, VIA introduced the VIA K8T800 Pro, a chipset that pro- vides a new VIA option for manufacturers of 64-bit and dual-processor AMD-based motherboards. VIA also introduced two southbridge chips that let users take advantage of 7.1-channel audio. Although only a few new AMD-compatible chipsets were released in the past few months, users will find that these chipsets add a number of features to AMD- based motherboards.

Compiled by Kylee Dickey

SOURCE: VIA

Northbridge Chips SiS755FX SiS756 SiS760 Date Of Introduction Nov.13, 2003 March 18 March 11 SiS Northbridge Compatible AMD AMD Athlon 64FX, AMD AMD Athlon 64FX, AMD Athlon 64, Opteron Chips Processors Athlon 64, AMD Opteron Athlon 64, AMD Opteron Number Of Processors one one one System Bus 1,000MHz 533MHz 800MHz Supported Memory up to 3GB through up to DDR400/DDR333 dependent upon CPU three DDR400 DIMMs (dependent upon CPU support) Error Correction? No No dependent upon CPU Integrated Graphics N/A No SiS Mirage 2 External Graphics AGP8X PCI Express x16 AGP8X Northbridge Features HyperTransport HyperTransport HyperStreaming, Opteron support, SiS Mirage 2 integrated graphics North/Southbridge Link MuTIOL 1G multithreaded MuTIOL 1G multithreaded MuTIOL 1G multithreaded I/O Link (1GBps) to I/O Link (1GBps) to I/O Link (1GBps) to SiS964, SiS965, or SiS965 southbridge SiS964 southbridge SiS965L southbridge

196 • PC Modder Southbridge Chips SiS964 SiS965 SiS965L Date Of Introduction Nov.13, 2003 Feb. 25, 2004 Jan. 15, 2004 SiS Southbridge I/O Controller Hub MuTIOL 1G multithreaded MuTIOL 1G multithreaded MuTIOL 1G multithreaded I/O Link (1GBps) to I/O Link (1GBps) to I/O Link (1GBps) to Chips SiS775FX or SiS760 SiS755 or SiS756 SiS775FX northbridge northbridge northbridge IDE Support supports ATA133/100/66 supports ATA133/100 supports ATA133/100 SATA two SATA ports; RAID 0, four SATA ports; RAID 0, two SATA ports; RAID 1; JBOD 1; JBOD 0,1; JBOD USB Ports eight integrated Hi-Speed eight integrated Hi-Speed supports eight Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and full-speed USB 2.0 and full-speed USB 2.0 ports USB controllers USB controllers Audio AC'97 5.1-channel AC’97 2.3 7.1-channel supports 7.1-channel AC'97 2.3 Network Support 10/100-BaseT Gigabit Ethernet 10/100-BaseT Target Market 64-bit systems (when 64-bit systems (when Systems with PCI Express linked with SiS775FX linked with SiS775FX northbridge) northbridge) Features 64-bit support, MuTIOL 64-bit support, MuTIOL 1G PCI Express support, 1G multithreaded I/O Link multithreaded I/O (1GBps), MuTIOL 1G multithreaded (1GBps), eight integrated eight integrated Hi-Speed I/O Link (1GBps), two Hi-Speed USB 2.0 and USB 2.0 controllers, SATA ports, RAID 0 and full-speed USB support for six PCI2.3 RAID 1, eight Hi-Speed controllers, supports six slots, support for two PCI USB 2.0 ports, eight- PCI slots Express x1 slots channel audio

Northbridge Chips VIA K8T800 Pro VIA KT880 VIA Northbridge Date Of Introduction May 6, 2004 Feb. 12, 2004 Compatible AMD Processors Athlon 64FX, Athlon 64, Opteron Athlon XP Chips Number Of Processors one or two one System Bus asynchronous 400/333MHz Supported Memory up to four DDR400/333/266 DIMMs up to 8GB of dual-channel DDR400/333 SDRAM Error Correction? No No Integrated Graphics N/A N/A External Graphics AGP8X AGP8X Northbridge Features HyperTransport, dual-processor DualStream 64, up to 8GB of DDR support, 64-bit support North/Southbridge Link V-MAP to VIA VT8237 V-Link (533MBps) to VT8237 southbridge (released July 2, 2003) southbridge (released July 2, 2003)

SiS VIA VIA VIA ? K8T890 (Northbridge) VT8237CE (Southbridge) VT8251 (Southbridge) The Near Future Estimated Date ? Q2-Q3 2004 Q2-Q3 2004 Q2-Q3 2004 Of Release here are no SiS chipsets on the immedi- Compatible AMD ? Athlon 64, Athlon 64 (depends on which (depends on which Processors FX, Opteron northbridge is coupled northbridge is coupled T ate horizon. The company has already with this chip) with this chip) released several Athlon 64 FX-, Athlon 64-, External Graphics ? PCI Express x16, N/A N/A and Opteron-compatible chipsets this year. AGP8X North/Southbridge ? HyperTransport (1GHz) N/A N/A In the future, you can expect to see only PCI Link Express x16 support. SiS plans to make the IDE Support ? N/A up to four ATA devices up to four ATA devices leap to the new technology and leave AGP8X SATA ? N/A two SATA ports; four SATA ports; RAID 0, external graphics support behind. See the RAID 0, 1, 0+1; JBOD 1, 0+1; JBOD USB Ports ? N/A eight Hi-Speed eight Hi-Speed USB chart for future VIA chipsets. USB 2.0 ports 2.0 ports Audio ? N/A six-channel AC'97 eight-channel 192KHz/24-bit; six-channel AC'97 Network Support ? N/A 10/100-BaseT 10/100; possible Gigabit Ethernet Features ? PCI Express x16, RAID configurations two PCI Express AGP8X, 1x ports HyperTransport (1GHz)

PC Modder • 197 Compiled by Andrew Leibman & Eric Reed MAINBOARD MAYHEM 17 Motherboard Manufacturers Bring Us 34 Of Their Most Popular & Feature-Rich Motherboards ABIT IC7-MAX 3

ABIT IC7-MAX 3 ittle has changed in the past year for ABIT, as ports. With six ports, the IC7-MAX 3 offers Socket Type Socket 478 Intel L the IC7-MAX 3 still holds the top spot for RAID 0, 1, and 0+1 functionality for added data Chipset Intel 875P, ICH5 Intel chips. The actively cooled i875P chipset security. Six channels of integrated audio has Processor P4 with Hyper- Support Threading works to take full advantage of Hyper-Threading- become an almost standard feature. The IC7- (800/533MHz FSB) enabled Pentium 4s by prioritizing the incoming MAX 3 features one-click BIOS Flash, which is RAM Support 4GB DDR400/333 multiple threads. The 800MHz FSB coupled with one of the most advanced ways to update the RAM Slots 4 Intel's PAT (Performance Acceleration Technol- BIOS through Windows. ABIT's SecureIDE Graphics Bus AGP 8X ogy) and dual-channel DDR400 memory make a encrypts your data to keep it safe from hackers PCI Slots 5 ▲ SATA Ports 6 (ICH5; RAID 0, powerful statement about this board's staying and other would-be data thieves. 1; SiIicon Image; power. The IC7-MAX 3 has an RAID 0, 1, 0+1) upper capacity of 4GB of either IDE ATA/100 USB Ports 6 (2.0) DDR400 or DDR333 memory. FireWire Ports 3 (FireWire 400) ABIT's unique OTES (Outside LAN Intel Gigabit Thermal Exhaust System) delivers a Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC'97, breath of fresh air to the heat-prone SPDIF Integrated VRM (Voltage Regulator Module) Graphics N/A and gives enthusiasts one less heat- Other Features OTES, Secure IDE producing element to worry about. Manufacturer ABIT Another notable feature of the IC7- Phone (510) 623-0500 URL www.abit-usa.com MAX 3 is the multitude of SATA Price $182

ABIT KV8-MAX 3 ABIT KV8-MAX 3 Socket Type Socket 754 AMD BIT's enthusiast board for AMD is the ed hardware chip that allows system monitoring Chipset VIA K8T800, A KV8-MAX 3, which has remained the most without taking a performance hit. OC Guru is a VT8237 popular of ABIT's AMD boards since September Windows-based overclocking utility that lets a Processor Athlon 64 Support (800MHz FSB) 2003. The 754-pin socket supports the Athlon 64 user make adjustments without having to reboot. RAM Support 2GB DDR400/ processor rather than the Athlon 64 FX or Op- ABIT's top AMD board also offers ATA/133 to 333/266, ECC teron. With the 64-bit capability and an 800MHz the IC7-MAX 3's ATA/100. With SATA ports RAM Slots 3 FSB, it's no wonder this board is showing strong aplenty, the KV8-MAX 3 allows RAID 0, 1, and Graphics Bus AGP 8X PCI Slots 5 despite Windows XP 64-bit Edition's delay. With 0+1. The board also features six channels of inte- SATA Ports 6 (VT8237; SiIicon 2GB of DDR400, DDR333, or DDR266, this grated audio and SPDIF input/output ports. ▲ Image; RAID 0, 1, board may not seem as expandable 0+1) IDE ATA/133 as those on the Intel side, but 64-bit USB Ports 6 (2.0) chips allow the memory addressing FireWire Ports 3 (FireWire 400) for up to 16GB, so look for the LAN Gigabit memory capacities to jump. Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC'97, SPDIF The KV8-MAX 3 also features Integrated Graphics N/A the OTES system to cool those Other Features OTES, Secure IDE heat-producing voltage regulators. Manufacturer ABIT ABIT has equipped the KV8-MAX Phone (510) 623-0500 3 with µGuru, which is an integrat- URL www.abit-usa.com Price $140

198 • PC Modder AOPEN AK89 MAX

he 754-pin Athlon 64 processor finds a allows for the high-speed data accessibility of T comfortable place in AOpen's AK89 RAID 0, as well as the foolproof data security MAX, and with an upper limit of 3GB of of RAID 1, and the best of both worlds in DDR400 memory, the AK89 MAX is a pow- RAID 0+1. As an additional benefit, the erful place indeed. The AK89 MAX also RAID controller enables level 5 RAID, espe- sports the NVIDIA Crush K8 chipset and an cially important for those of you who AOpen AK89 MAX 800MHz FSB. You won't be lacking peripher- absolutely cannot afford downtime during a Socket Type Socket 754 AMD Chipset NVIDIA Crush K8 al connectivity with this board; the AK89 LAN party. The AK89 MAX also features Processor Athlon 64 MAX offers six USB 2.0 ports, as well as three integrated 6-channel Realtek AC'97 audio Support (800MHz FSB) FireWire 400 ports. and SPDIF input/output ports. ▲ RAM Support 3GB DDR400 EZ Clock is a Windows-based interface RAM Slots 3 Graphics Bus AGP 8X that lets users set the voltage and frequency PCI Slots 5 values of the CPU, AGP, PCI, SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5) frontside bus, and memory. EZ IDE ATA/133 Clock synchronizes the values USB Ports 6 (2.0) FireWire Ports 3 (Agere FireWire for all adjusted components; 400) however, you can still adjust LAN Realtek Gigabit your components independently Integrated Audio 5.1-channel from the BIOS. Realtek, SPDIF Integrated Graphics N/A The Ultra ATA-133 interface Other Features EZRestore, technology offers nice speeds EZClock, SilentTek from any of the four SATA ports Manufacturer AOpen to your drives. The Silicon Phone (888) 972-6736 URL usa.aopen.com Image Serial ATA controller Price $117

AOPEN AX4SPE MAX II

Open's enthusiast motherboard for Intel controller enables RAID 0, 1, and 0+1. ATA A processors is the AX4SPE MAX II, but speeds peak at 100MBps for this motherboard, AOpen AX4SPE MAX II the spokesperson we talked to mentioned that as opposed to the 133MBps ATA interface Socket Type Socket 478 Intel the i915/i925 chipset boards will probably that the AK89 MAX enjoys. Also included is Chipset Intel 865PE, ICH5 Processor P4 with Hyper- assume that role in the near future. Until then, the EZ Clock graphical overclocking interface. Support Threading (800/533/ this 865PE and ICH5 board delivers up to The AX4SPE MAX II also features the 400MHz FSB) 4GB maximum DDR400 memory and an SilentTek interface, which lets you control the RAM Support 4GB DDR400 RAM Slots 4 800MHz FSB, which is plenty to take ad- noise output of your system based on your Graphics Bus AGP 8X vantage of Intel's latest Pentium 4 with immediate computing needs via Hardware- PCI Slots 5 Hyper-Threading. Status Monitoring, Overheat Warning, and SATA Ports 6 (ICH5; RAID 0, ▲ 1; Silicon Image; Most users would find it difficult to fill all Fan Speed Control. RAID 0, 1, 0+1) 10 peripheral ports (eight USB IDE ATA/100 2.0 and two FireWire 400). USB Ports 8 (2.0) Eight channels of integrated FireWire Ports 2 (Agere FireWire 400) audio is a laudable step above LAN Intel Gigabit many of the motherboards in this Integrated Audio 8-channel, Realtek sampler, and gaming enthusiasts AC'97 are sure to impress with 7.1 sur- Integrated Graphics N/A Other Features EZClock, round sound. SilentTek The AX4SPE MAX II supplies Manufacturer AOpen users with six SATA ports and Phone (888) 972-6736 the integrated Silicon Image URL usa.aopen.com Price $139

PC Modder • 199 ASUS K8V SE DELUXE

he hot motherboard from ASUS for the channel audio is standard and includes SPDIF T Athlon 64 processor is the K8V SE input/output ports. ASUS' CPR (CPU ASUS K8V SE Deluxe Deluxe. This 754-pin board is built with VIA's Parameter Recall) feature will reset your para- Socket Type Socket 754 AMD Chipset VIA K8T800, K8T800 and VT8237 chipset, and it supports a meters to their default settings in case your VT8237 frontside bus frequency of 800MHz. You can system fails to boot. CrashFree BIOS 2 pro- Processor Athlon 64 install as much as 3GB of ECC or non-ECC vides a bootable CD that walks you through Support (800MHz FSB) RAM Support 3GB DDR400/ memory in DDR400, DDR333, or DDR266 the autorecovery of your BIOS should your 333/266 variations. system crash. The K8V SE Deluxe also comes RAM Slots 3 ASUS has also included a Wi-Fi slot in case with Trend Micro PC-cillin 2002 antivirus Graphics Bus AGP 8X you want to migrate to a wireless LAN. This software (OEM version). ▲ PCI Slots 5 updated KV8 board offers one SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0, 1, 0+1) IDE ATA/133 more FireWire 400 port from the USB Ports 8 (2.0) previous version, for a total of FireWire Ports 2 (FireWire 400) two. In addition, the eight USB LAN Marvell 88E8001 2.0 ports should keep just about Gigabit Integrated Audio 6-channel, ADI everything you own plugged AD1980, SPDIF and playable. Integrated Graphics N/A The Promise R20378 RAID Other Features CrashFree BIOS2, CPU Parameter controller supports RAID 0, 1, Recall and 0+1 configurations on the Manufacturer ASUS four provided SATA ports. Phone (502) 995-0883 Integrated ADI AD1980 6- URL usa.asus.com Price $123

ASUS P4C800-E DELUXE ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe n the Intel side of ASUS' coin, we have The P4C800-E Deluxe features ASUS AI. Socket Type Socket 478 Intel the P4C800-E Deluxe, which is ASUS' The 6-channel AI AUDIO can tell you if you Chipset Intel 875P MCH, O ICH5R most popular mainboard for socket 478 have peripherals incorrectly connected to the Processor P4 with Hyper- Pentium 4 processors with Hyper-Threading. line-in, line-out, and microphone ports. AI Support Threading (800/533/ 400MHz FSB) The 875P MCH and ICH5R chipset delivers BIOS features CrashFree BIOS2; Q-Fan, RAM Support 4GB DDR400/ 800MHz of FSB speed and can handle a gener- which adjusts fan speeds based on system 333/266 ous maximum of 4GB of DDR400, DDR333, need; and ASUS POST reporter, which fea- RAM Slots 4 or DDR266 memory. With DDR400 memory, tures a voice rather than beep codes or blink- Graphics Bus AGP 8X PCI Slots 5 the P4C800-E Deluxe utilizes Intel's PAT ing LEDs to notify you of any system errors. SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0,1; RAID (Performance Acceleration Technology) to speed AI Overclocking lets users adjust system set- 0, 1, 0+1, up the data path between the CPU and system tings with a graphical interface, while auto- multiple RAID) IDE Ultra DMA/100/ memory, which can yield performance gains of matically synchronizing settings to help ensure 133 (Promise between 3% and 5%. a stable session. ▲ 20378 RAID 0, 1, 0+1) The Promise SATA controller USB Ports 8 (2.0) built into the P4C800-E Deluxe FireWire Ports 1 (FireWire 400) delivers Multi-RAID Function, LAN Intel Gigabit which lets users implement Integrated Audio 6-channel, ADI AD1985 Sound RAID with the two Ultra MAX, SPDIF ATA/133 ports and an additional Integrated Graphics N/A array with the two SATA ports. Other Features CrashFree BIOS2, CPU Parameter Peripherals connect to the Recall P4C800-E Deluxe via eight USB Manufacturer ASUS 2.0 ports and one FireWire 400 Phone (502) 995-0883 port. URL usa.asus.com Price $179

200 • PC Modder BIOSTAR M7NCG 400 Biostar M7NCG 400 iostar offers the M7NCG 400 as its best The M7NCG 400 features WarpSpeeder, Socket Type Socket A 462 AMD B AMD mainboard based on affordability which is a control panel that lets users monitor Chipset nForce2 IGP, MCP and overclockability. This MicroATX mother- their hardware configurations with Hardware Processor Athlon/Athlon Support XP/Duron (400/333/ board is compatible with Socket A AMD chips Manager, adjust CPU frequencies with 266MHz FSB) such as the Athlon XP, Athlon, and Duron. Overclock Manager, and adjust CPU core and RAM Support 3GB DDR333/ The M7NCG 400 features the nForce2 IGP, memory voltages with Overvoltage Manager. 266/200 RAM Slots 3 MCP chipset, which supports a 400MHz For the enthusiast on a shoestring budget, the Graphics Bus AGP 8X frontside bus. The three memory slots are M7NCG 400, which costs about half as much PCI Slots 3 capable of up to 3GB of DDR333, DDR266, as the midpriced motherboards in this round- SATA Ports N/A or DDR200 memory. up, is proof that big things can come in IDE Ultra DMA/133 The MicroATX form factor does have draw- small packages. ▲ USB Ports 6 (2.0) FireWire Ports N/A backs. For instance, you're limited LAN MCP NVIDIA to three PCI slots, but then again MAC, Realtek the six USB 2.0 ports seem to RTL8201BL PHY Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC'97, argue that PCI is overrated. The Realtek integrated NVIDIA Ge-Force4 ALC650/655 MX GPU also negates the need Integrated Graphics GeForce4 MX GPU Other Features Overclock for extra slots. The Real- Manager, Over- tek ALC650/655 delivers six voltage Manager, Hardware Monitor channels of audio. FireWire Manufacturer Biostar fans look elsewhere: The Phone 886-2-2218-0150 M7NCG 400 doesn't support (Taiwan) IEEE 1394. URL www.biostar.com.tw Price $64

BIOSTAR P4VMA-M V7.X

he P4VMA-M is another MicroATX an integrated AC'97 2.3 codec. The integrat- Biostar P4VMA-M V7.x T board from Biostar ideal for overclockers ed S3 UniChrome Pro delivers graphics, Socket Type Socket 478 Intel Chipset VIA PM800, on a budget. The 478 socket can handle a but the AGP slot offers the opportunity VT8237 Northwood/Prescott Celeron or Pentium 4 to upgrade. Processor P4 with Hyper- processor with Hyper-Threading. The P4VMA- Biostar has loaded this small boat with plen- Support Threading, Celeron M offers up to 800MHz FSB speeds and fea- ty of added features to keep it floating. The (800/533MHz) tures VIA's PM800 and VT8237 chipset to hardware monitoring features let you keep RAM Support 2GB DDR400 control the speedy flow of information. The track of CPU temperature and system voltage RAM Slots 2 P4VMA-M is a little short on the memory side, and adjust CPU and system fan speeds. Graphics Bus AGP 8X PCI Slots 3 as it only features two slots for a maximum of WarpSpeeder lets you fiddle with your settings SATA Ports 2 2GB of DDR400 memory. Biostar is banking with the aid of a graphical interface. ▲ IDE Ultra DMA/133 on the idea that users interested in the smaller USB Ports 8 (2.0) form factor are willing to make FireWire Ports N/A LAN VIA VT6103 the sacrifice of a few PCI and 10/100 memory slots. Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC'97 Storage isn't a problem with 2.3 two SATA ports and room for Integrated Graphics S3 UniChrome Pro Other Features Overclock up to four IDE drives. Up to Manager, Over- eight USB 2.0 ports are available voltage Manager, Hardware Monitor to connect your peripherals, but Manufacturer Biostar Biostar has excluded FireWire Phone 886-2-2218-0150 support. Six channels of integrat- (Taiwan) ed audio are available courtesy of URL www.biostar.com.tw Price $58

PC Modder • 201 CHAINTECH 9CJS ZENITH Chaintech 9CJS Zenith he 9CJS ZENITH is your best bet for a software. The ZENITH series also has several Socket Type Socket 478 Intel powerhouse Intel-based mainboard from optional accessories designed with the enthusiast Chipset Intel 875P, ICH5R T Processor P4 with Hyper- Chaintech. The socket 478 board supports in mind. The CBOX3 displays CPU tempera- Support Threading, Celeron or Pentium 4 processors with Hyper- tures, reads a bevy of memory cards, and works Celeron (800MHz FSB) Threading and up to 800MHz FSB speeds. The with the Handigator, a remote control that RAM Support 4GB DDR400/ i875P, ICH5R chipset directs traffic over the offers mouse, hotkey, and browser functions. 333/266, black PCB of the 9CJS ZENITH. Intel's PAT The board features the proprietary CMR ECC/Non-ECC RAM Slots 4 enhances the DDR400 memory for a 3% to 5% (Chaintech Multimedia Riser), which attaches Graphics Bus AGP 8X performance gain, and you can fill the four to the CMC (Chaintech Multimedia Card) to PCI Slots 5 (v 2.2) available slots with a maximum of 4GB. deliver two additional FireWire ports, three SATA Ports 2 (ICH5R; Peripherals have plenty of room to find a Audio 7.1-channel surround ports, and one RAID 0, 1) ▲ IDE ATA/100 permanent connection, with as many as eight SPDIF port. USB Ports 8 (2.0/1.1) USB 2.0 ports and one FireWire FireWire Ports 1 (VIA VT6306, 400 port. The 9CJS ZENITH FireWire 400) LAN Intel PRO/1000CT features two LAN ports from Gigabit, Realtek Intel and Realtek. The integrated RTL8101L audio offers eight channels of 10/100Mbps Integrated Audio 7.1-channel, auditory bliss. This mainboard SPDIF includes two SATA ports and Integrated Graphics N/A offers RAID 0 and 1 with the Other Features PAT ICH5R controller. Manufacturer Chaintech Phone +886-2-2268-9998 Chaintech bundles APOGEE's (Taiwan) Overclocking suite with this URL www.chaintech motherboard, as well as WinDVD usa.com/tw/eng/ Price $169

CHAINTECH SK8T800

he Athlon 64 feels right at home in the The external VIA VT6103 PHY supplies Fast Chaintech SK8T800 T SK8T800 from Chaintech, which is Ethernet to the SK8T800. The Boot-Block Socket Type Socket 754 AMD named after the capable VIA K8T800 chipset. Flash ROM BIOS has an update available for Chipset VIA K8T800, This board also supports AMD's Hyper- download from the Chaintech Web site, which VT8237 Processor Athlon 64 Transport bus and up to 800MHz FSB speeds. solves a few peripheral problems that occur Support (800MHz FSB) HyperTransport is a dual, unidirectional, chip- under the original version of the BIOS. This is RAM Support 2GB DDR400/ to-chip link and is capable of up to 6.4GBps one of the more affordable mainboards. While 333/266 RAM Slots 2 transfer speeds. As much as 2GB of DDR400, not overloaded with extras, the black-and-beige Graphics Bus AGP 8X DDR333, or DDR266 memory can fill the two motherboard has enough features to keep enthu- PCI Slots 5 (v2.2) available memory slots. siasts happy. ▲ SATA Ports 2 (RAID 0, 1) The VIA VT8237 controller manages the IDE ATA/133 USB 2.0 interface for all eight USB Ports 8 (2.0) FireWire Ports N/A ports, two Ultra DMA/133 IDE LAN VIA VT6103 ports, and two SATA devices, 10/100 which support RAID 0 and 1 to Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC'97, SPDIF keep your data solid and secure. Integrated Graphics N/A You won't find any FireWire ports Other Features Two 9-pin on the SK8T800, but for the price male serial ports this is understandable. Integrated Manufacturer Chaintech Phone +886-2-2268-9998 6-channel audio is courtesy of the (Taiwan) AC'97 codec. An SPDIF port is URL www.chaintech also included. usa.com/tw/eng/ Price $76

202 • PC Modder DFI LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B

his Socket A motherboard supports FSB is courtesy of the Realtek RTL8110S Gigabit speeds of up to 400MHz with the Athlon and the nForce2 Agere 10/100 ports. T DFI LANParty NFII Ultra B XP processor or up to 266MHz for Athlon and DFI's LANParty NFII Ultra B offers several Socket Type Socket A 462 AMD Duron processors. The NVIDIA nForce2 additional benefits, including monitors for volt- Chipset nForce2 Ultra 400, chipset efficiently delivers information across the ages and your CPU and system tempera- MCP-T Processor Athlon XP board. Three SDRAM sockets offer capacities tures. You can also monitor fan speeds and Support (400/333/266MHz of up to 3GB, with DDR400, DDR333, CPU temps during the boot process. CMOS FSB), Athlon, Duron RAM Support 3GB DDR400/ DDR266, or DDR200 memory. The neon yel- Reloaded lets overclockers save stable system set- 333/266/200 low PCI and memory sockets, which are UV tings during an overclocking session and recover RAM Slots 3 reactive, look particularly striking against the previous OC settings without restarting from Graphics Bus AGP 8X black PCB. the default BIOS. ▲ PCI Slots 5 SATA Ports 4 (Sil3114; RAID The Silicon Image Sil3114 0, 1) PCI-to-Serial ATA controller IDE ATA/133 manages the four SATA ports and USB Ports 6 (2.0/1.1) delivers RAID 0 and 1 function- FireWire Ports 3 (FireWire 400) LAN Realtek RTL8110S ality. The nForce2 MCP-T and Gigabit, nForce2/ Agere FW803 PHY chips support Agere 10/100 three FireWire 400 ports and as Integrated Audio 6-channel, SPDIF many as six USB 2.0 ports. The Integrated Graphics N/A Other Features CMOS Reloaded, Realtek ALC650 supplies six UV Sensitive Parts channels of integrated audio and Manufacturer DFI supports Microsoft DirectSound Phone (510) 274-8000 and DirectSound 3D. Dual LAN URL www.dfi.com.tw Price $142

DFI LANPARTY PRO875B (REV B)

his 478-socket motherboard is truly for Like the AMD LANParty model, the the enthusiast. Pentium 4 with Hyper- PRO875B features built-in monitors to help DFI LANParty PRO875B (rev B) T Socket Type Socket 478 Intel Threading and Extreme Edition processors have users keep track of CPU and system tempera- Chipset Intel 875P, ICH5R upper FSB speeds of 800MHz, while the FSB tures, as well as system voltages. The board also Processor P4 Extreme for the Celeron and Pentium 4 Northwood features automatic chip and second fans on/off Support Edition, P4 with Hyper-Threading, processors top off at 400MHz and 533MHz, control. You can also monitor the fan speeds Celeron (800/ respectively. The i82875P memory controller and temperatures during the crucial bootup 533MHz FSB) RAM Support 4GB DDR400/333/ and i82801ER ICH5R chipset deftly manage process. The brightly colored PCI and memory 266, ECC/Non-ECC the flow of information on the PRO875B. Four sockets are also UV sensitive, so users with win- RAM Slots 4 SDRAM sockets support as much as 4GB of dowed PCs may want to shed some black light Graphics Bus AGP 8X memory at DDR400, DDR333, and DDR266. on this board. ▲ PCI Slots 5 (2.2) SATA Ports 2 (ICH5R; RAID 0, The HighPoint 372N RAID controller sup- 1) ports RAID 0, 1, 0+1, and RAID IDE ATA/100 (High- 1.5, while the ICH5R controller Point 372N RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 1.5) provides RAID 0 and 1. The USB Ports 8 (2.0/1.1) board is capable of having eight FireWire Ports N/A USB 2.0 ports, though it lacks any LAN 82547EI Gigabit FireWire support. The 82547EI Integrated Audio 6-channel, SPDIF with full-duplex support at 10, Integrated Graphics N/A Other Features CMOS Reloaded, 100, and 1000Mbps puts the UV Sensitive Parts LAN in LANParty. Integrated Manufacturer DFI audio delivers six channels with Phone (510) 274-8000 SPDIF input/output ports. URL www.dfi.com.tw Price $174

PC Modder • 203 ECS 755-A2

CS, also known as Elitegroup, brings us provides six channels of AC'97 2.3-compliant E the Athlon 64-based 755-A2, which sup- audio. An SPDIF out header is also included on ports AMD's HyperTransport bus technology. this motherboard. ECS 755-A2 This socket 754 board supports as much as The 755-A2 also features an Award BIOS Socket Type Socket 754 AMD 1600 mega-transfers per second over AMD's with 2Mb Flash ROM, which supports Plug Chipset SiS 755, 964 HyperTransport links and a maximum of 2GB and Play 1.0A, APM 1.2, Multi Boot, DMI, Processor Athlon 64 Support (1600/1200/800/ of DDR400, which enables up to 3.4GBps and the ACPI revision 1.0 specification. 400 mega-transfers of bandwidth. The 755-A2 also supports Elitegroup threw in the 2002 edition of Trend per second) ▲ RAM Support 2GB DDR400/ DDR333, DDR266, or DDR200 memory. Micro's PC-cillin antivirus software. 333/266/200 The SiS 755 chip powers the northbridge, RAM Slots 2 and the SiS964 chip powers the southbridge of Graphics Bus AGP 8X the 755-A2. PCI Slots 5 The southbridge SiS964 chip SATA Ports 2 (RAID 0, 1) IDE Ultra DMA/ controls two SATA devices at 133/100/66 RAID 0 and 1 configurations, as USB Ports 8 (2.0) well as four Ultra DMA devices at FireWire Ports N/A LAN Realtek RTL820BL 133, 100, or 66MBps. This board 10/100 features a plethora of USB 2.0 Integrated Audio 6-channel, Realtek ports and headers, which let you ALC655, SPDIF connect up to eight devices. Integrated Graphics N/A Other Features WinFlash Utility, However, FireWire support is PC-cillin 2002 absent. LAN comes courtesy of Manufacturer ECS (Elitegroup) the Realtek RTL820BL. The 755- Phone (510) 226-7333 A2's integrated Realtek ALC655 URL www.ecsusa.com Price $88

ECS PF4 EXTREME ECS PF4 Extreme Socket Type Socket T LGA 775 hey don't call this motherboard Extreme the PF4's dual LAN. The Cooling Accelerator Intel for nothin'. The latest and greatest from is a vented fan and heatsink assembly, similar Chipset Intel 915P, ICH6 T Processor Pentium 4, ECS is the first (and only) mainboard in this to Abit's OTES, which cools the PWM (pulse Support Prescott, with roundup to feature Intel's new 915P and ICH6 width modulator) controller. This board also Hyper-Threading (800/533MHz FSB) chipset. This board's LGA775 Socket T, for offers up to eight USB ports and two FireWire RAM Support 4GB DDR533/400 Prescott Pentium 4 processors, features the pins ports. Eight-channel integrated audio comes RAM Slots 4 (DDR2 240-pin on the motherboard rather than on the CPU. from the C-Media CMI9880 CODEC, socket) FSB speeds for the PF4 are 800 and 533MHz. which is compliant with Intel's Azalia specifi- Graphics Bus AGP Express PCI Slots 3 PCI; 2 PCI The PF4 also supports dual-channel DDR2 cation. The PF4 also includes SPDIF Express x1; 1 PCI memory, with speeds topping out at 533MHz. input/outputs. ▲ Express x16 Up to 4GB of memory can fill the four 240-pin SATA Ports 6 (RAID 0/1/0+1) IDE UltraDMA 133/100 DIMM sockets. USB Ports 8 (2.0) ECS is taking another bold FireWire Ports 1 (FireWire 400), step with the PF4 by reducing 1 header LAN Marvell Gigabit the number of PCI slots to three LAN, Realtek to make room for two PCI 10/100 Ethernet Express slots. Even the AGP slot Integrated Audio 8-channel, C-Media has been replaced with what ECS Integrated Graphics N/A calls an AGP Express slot. The Other Features Cooling Accelerator Marvell 88E8001 Gigabit con- Manufacturer ECS (Elitegroup) troller and Realtek RTL8100C Phone (510) 226-7333 Fast Ethernet controller provide URL www.ecsusa.com Price N/A

204 • PC Modder EPOX EP-4PDA5+

PoX's popular 478-socket Intel board lets users select a bootable device by pressing E supports the Pentium 4 Northwood and the ESC key rather than having to navi- Prescott processors with a maximum FSB gate the BIOS menu. Post Port, another speed of 800MHz. There's even room for unique feature of this EPoX board, is an EPoX EP-4PDA5+ Intel's Celeron processor, with FSB speeds of integrated LED display that users can trou- Socket Type Socket 478 Intel 400MHz. The i865PE chipset powers this bleshoot from. EPoX's Power BIOS fea- Chipset Intel 865PE, ICH4 Processor P4 with Hyper- motherboard, while the Silicon Image con- tures overclocking functions that let you adjust Support Threading, troller provides RAID 0, 1, and 1+0 support the FSB, AGP, and memory frequencies, as Celeron (800/533/ 400MHz FSB) to the four SATA ports. The Ultra DMA sup- well as manipulate the voltage settings for RAM Support 4GB port is capable of 100MBps and up to your system. ▲ DDR400/333/266 four drives. The four memory sockets are RAM Slots 4 capable of a total of 4GB of RAM in Graphics Bus AGP 8X PCI Slots 5 DDR400, DDR333, or DDR- SATA Ports 4 (Sil3114, RAID 266 variations. 0, 1, 1+0) The six possible USB 2.0 hubs IDE Ultra DMA/100 go solo with nary a FireWire port USB Ports 6 (2.0) FireWire Ports N/A to speak of. The Marvell 88E8001 LAN Marvell 88E8001 provides Gigabit Ethernet connec- Gigabit tivity. Realtek ALC850 integrated Integrated Audio 8-channel, Realtek ALC850, SPDIF audio delivers an impressive 8- Integrated Graphics N/A channel surround sound with Other Features EZ-Boot SPDIF ports. Manufacturer EPoX EPoX supplied the EP- Phone (714) 680-0898 4PDA5+ with EZ Boot, which URL web.epox.com Price $105

EPOX EP-8RDA3+

he EP-8RDA3+, a circuit-board green The EP-8RDA3+ is bundled with Norton's EPoX EP-8RDA3+ T Socket A motherboard, is designed for the Ghost software, which lets you make a backup Socket Type Socket A 462 AMD Athlon XP, Athlon, and Duron processors. This of your important information to protect Chipset nForce2 Ultra board supports FSB speeds of 400MHz, against data loss. Trend Micro PC-cillin 400, MCP Processor Athlon, Athlon XP, 333MHz, 266MHz, and 200MHz. As much as antivirus software is also included, as is EZ Support Duron (400/333/ 3GB of DDR400, DDR333, and DDR266 will Boot and the onboard LED troubleshooting 266/200MHz FSB) RAM Support 3GB DDR400/ fit into the three available sockets. The NVIDIA display. EPoX's Power BIOS makes overclock- 333/266 nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset powers the EP- ing easy by giving direct access to the multipli- RAM Slots 3 8RDA3+. er, voltages, and frequencies for the CPU, Graphics Bus AGP 8X Two SATA ports feature RAID 0 and 1 AGP, and memory. ▲ PCI Slots 5 SATA Ports 2 (Sil3112a; functionality via the Silicon Image Sil3112a RAID 0, 1) controller. The board also deliv- IDE ATA/133 ers two Ultra ATA/133 ports for USB Ports 8 (2.0) a maximum of four devices. A FireWire Ports 3 (Agere FireWire 400) total of eight possible USB 2.0 LAN Realtek RTL8201 ports accompany three Agere 10/100 FireWire 400 ports for con- Integrated Audio 6-channel, CMI9739, SPDIF necting as many peripherals as Integrated Graphics N/A you can muster. The Realtek Other Features EZ Boot ALC65X provides six channels of Manufacturer EPoX integrated audio and an optical Phone (714) 680-0898 and RCA SPDIF out. URL web.epox.com Price $89

PC Modder • 205 FIC P4-865PE MAX

IC makes some very colorful boards, and As for integrated audio, 5.1 AC’97-complaint F the P4-865PE MAX is no exception. It’s channels are available through the onboard pieced together in shades of red, blue, green, Realtek ALC650 chip. Ethernet 10/100 connec-

and yellow. But more importantly the P4- tivity is offered through the board’s Realtek FIC P4-865PE MAX 865PE MAX offers some nice features, as well. RTL 8100 BL chip. Socket Type Socket 478 Intel It’s a socket 478 board with Intel 865PE and Some of the board’s minor extras include Chipset Intel 865PE, Intel ICH5R chipsets. It supports both Pentium 4 auto-power failure recovery, support for key- ICH5R Processor P4, Celeron and Celeron processors and works with FSB board and mouse wakeup, RTC alarm, and Support (533/800MHz FSB) speeds of up to 800MHz. (And thanks to the Suspend To RAM features. ▲ RAM Support 4GB DDR400/ 333/266; SPD 865PE chipset, it supports Hyper-Threading support technology.) The board also has four dual- RAM Slots 4 channel DIMM sockets for up to Graphics Bus AGP 8X 4GB of PC3200/2700/2100 PCI Slots 5 DDR SDRAM. SATA Ports 2 (RAID 0) IDE ATA/100/66 Both of the board’s two SATA USB Ports 8 (2.0) ports support RAID 0. If you need FireWire Ports 2 lots of extra connections to sup- LAN Realtek RTL port your gadgets, it offers ample 8100BL 10/100 Integrated Audio 5.1-channel, AC’97 room, supporting eight USB 2.0 Integrated Graphics N/A ports and two FireWire ports. It Other Features N/A also has five PCI slots. Video Manufacturer FIC expansion is available via an AGP Phone (510) 252-7777 8X slot. URL www.fic.com.tw Price $109 FIC K8-800T

he K8-800T is one of FIC’s most popu- There’s no doubt this would be a better T lar AMD 64 boards even though it board if FIC had taken full advantage of the doesn’t offer a ton of extra features. Although K8T800 and 8237 chipsets and offered RAID equipped with VIA’s K8T800 northbridge 0, 1, and 0+1, but the K8-800T is essentially and 8237 southbridge chipsets, the board sup- a mainstream value board: It has everything FIC K8-800T ports only 2GB of RAM and lacks some of the you need to get by, but little in the way of Socket Type Socket 754 AMD ▲ Chipset VIA K8T800, VIA chipset’s potential features, such as Gigabit extras. 8237 Ethernet and SATA RAID. Also, even though Processor Athlon 64 the board supports 5.1-channel audio Support RAM Support 2GB DDR400/ (with Realtek ALC655 chip), some other 333/266 8237s support VIA Vinyl Gold Audio 7.1 RAM Slots 3 surround sound. Graphics Bus AGP 8X Nevertheless, the K8-800T PCI Slots 5 SATA Ports 2 does have two SATA ports, pro- IDE ATA/133/100/66 vides Realtek 8100C LAN con- USB Ports 8 (2.0) nectivity, and has a few other fea- FireWire Ports 2 tures that are worth noting, such LAN Realtek 8100C 10/100 as two FireWire 400 ports and the Integrated Audio 5.1-channel potential for up to eight USB Integrated Graphics N/A ports (four front, four in the Other Features N/A back). It also offers sufficient Manufacturer FIC expandability, with five PCI slots Phone (510) 252-7777 URL www.fic.com.tw and an AGP 8X graphics bus. Price $159

206 • PC Modder GIGABYTE GA-K8NNXP-940

f you’re looking for an AMD 64 FX board Finally, you get AC’97 compatible 6-channel I that’s loaded with extra features, this audio from Realtek with an ALC658 chip. board’s for you. The GA-K8NNXP-940 is a Obviously, the GA-K8NNXP-940 is stacked Socket 940 board, as the name implies, and it to the rim with features, but Gigabyte didn’t GIGABYTE GA-K8NNXP-940 Socket Type Socket 940 AMD works with either an AMD Athlon 64 FX or stop there. It also offers system health monitor- Chipset NVIDIA nForce3 Opteron 100 processor. It includes plenty of ing and hardware reporting for open case, fan 150 the basics: five PCI slots, four DIMM slots speed, and CPU voltage. ▲ Processor Athlon 64 FX Support (1200MHz FSB) with 3GB of dual-channel DDR400/333/266 RAM Support 3GB Dual registered memory, and four USB 2.0 slots. DDR400/333/266, But it also contains heaps of extras, such as a registered RAM Slots 4 third Texas Instruments FireWire 800 port, a Graphics Bus AGP 8X SPDIF input/output pin header, PCI Slots 5 (2.3) and CD/AUX input. And even SATA Ports 2 (RAID 0, 1) though you probably don’t need IDE ATA/133 (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, JBOD) it, the GA-K8NNXP-940 even USB Ports 4 (2.0) contains one DPS (Dual Power FireWire Ports 3 System) port. LAN Dual LAN 10/100 You also get a 10/100 LAN Integrated Audio 6-channel, SPDIF (In/Out) controller; four ATA/133/100/66 Integrated Graphics N/A headers supporting RAID 0, 1, Other Features N/A 0+1, or JBOD; two SATA ports Manufacturer GIGABYTE with support for RAID 0 and 1; Phone (626) 854-9338 and one Game/MIDI connector. URL www.giga-byte.com Price $229

GIGABYTE GA-8KNXP ULTRA-64

n the Intel side, Gigabyte offers the slots onto the GA-8KNXP Ultra-64. In all, you GIGABYTE GA-8KNXP Ultra-64 O impressive GA-8KNXP Ultra-64, pow- get six DIMM slots, six SATA ports, two SCSI Socket Type Socket 478 Intel Chipset Intel 875P MCH, ered by the i875P northbridge and Hance connectors, an AGP 8X slot, three PCI slots, Intel HR(Hance Rapids southbridge. The board’s best feature is one DPS (Dual Power System) slot, two ATA Rapids) probably its two 64-bit 66MHz PCI-X slots, ports, one game port pin header, and four USB Processor P4 with Intel Hyper- Support Threading Tech- which are available through the HR Southbridge 2.0 ports. nology (800/533/ and can be used for a Gigabit Ethernet or a Lastly, the GA-8KNXP comes with hard- 400MHz FSB) RAM Support 4GB Dual SCSI card. ware monitoring (such as CPU voltage and fan DDR400/333/266, The two chipsets offer a rather extensive list speed monitoring), and Norton Internet ECC of other features. In addition to an Adaptec Security 2004. ▲ RAM Slots 6 Ultra 320 SCSI chip and Intel CSA interface Graphics Bus AGP 8X PCI Slots 3 Gigabit Eternet controller, you SATA Ports 2 also get a RAID-supporting IDE ATA/100/66 Sil3114 chip and a Realtek USB Ports 4 (2.0) ALC850 chip with 8-channel FireWire Ports N/A LAN Gigabit LAN audio. (The board also has an 10/100/1000 SPDIF input, as well as output.) Integrated Audio 8-channel, SPDIF In addition to offering 800/ (In/Out) 533/400MHz FSB speeds and Integrated Graphics N/A Other Features Norton Internet 4GB of dual-channel DDR Security 2004 400/333/266 memory with ECC Manufacturer GIGABYTE support, GIGABYTE has affixed a Phone (626) 854-9338 pile of connectors and expansion URL www.giga-byte.com Price $355

PC Modder • 207 INTEL D865GRH

his board’s specialty is security. Intel touts is less exciting than some boards. Nevertheless, its TPM (Trust Platform Module), a sort there are other features worth looking at, includ- INTEL D865GRH T Socket Type Socket 478 Intel of business-level, hardware-based safety module ing Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000, an AGP 8X Chipset Intel 865G that provides protection for encryption and digi- slot, eight USB 2.0 ports, three PCI slots, and Processor P4, Celeron with tal signature keys, and which runs Wave integrated graphics through an Intel Extreme Support Hyper-Threading Technology (800/ Systems’ EMBASSY Trust Suite software. Graphics 2 controller. SoundMAX 4 XL pro- 533/400MHz FSB) Ultimately, the TPM is designed to protect vides integrated audio and allows for either 2- or RAM Support 4GB DDR400/333/ ▲ 266 SDRAM un- against software-based attacks through the 6-channel audio. buffered, non- computer’s hardware. ECC Even aside from the TPM, however, the RAM Slots 4 D865GRH offers plenty of fea- Graphics Bus AGP 8X PCI Slots 3 tures that make it a practical SATA Ports 2 choice for most consumers, even IDE ATA/100/66 those who are less inclined to be USB Ports 8 (2.0) concerned about software attacks. FireWire Ports N/A LAN Gigabit LAN The Socket 478 board is 10/100/1000 equipped with an 865G chipset Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC’97, and uses 4GB of unbuffered SPDIF Integrated Graphics Intel Extreme DDR400/333/266 SDRAM Graphics 2 (non-ECC) memory in four Other Features N/A DIMM slots. Because it lacks Manufacturer Intel FireWire ports and support for Phone (800) 538-3373 RAID technology, the D865GRH URL www.intel.com Price N/A

INTEL D865PERC

ven though the D865PERC lacks RAID two ATA/100/66 connectors, and Gigabit E technology, it still deserves the “next gen- LAN. Yet another nice feature is the audio: INTEL D865PERC eration” label that Intel affixes to it. Not sur- The board provides either two or six channels Socket Type Socket 478 Intel prisingly, it supports both Intel P4 and of AC’97-compatible audio from SoundMAX Chipset 865PE Celeron processors with Hyper-Threading 4 XL. Processor P4, Celeron with Support Hyper-Threading technology at FSB speeds of 800MHz. Like Finally, the board features Intel Precision Technology (800/ many boards that feature those two processors, Cooling Technology fan control, which causes 533/400MHz FSB) RAM Support 4GB Dual however, you can take advantage of the the fans to adjust to varying system tempera- DDR400/333/266 800MHz speed only with the P4. The maxi- tures, thereby reducing noise, as well as energy SDRAM, unbuffer- mum FSB speed with a Celeron Processor consumption. ▲ ed, non-ECC RAM Slots 4 is 400MHz. Graphics Bus AGP 8X The D865PERC has 4 DIMM PCI Slots 6 slots supporting 4GB of dual- SATA Ports 2 channel DDR400/333/266 un- IDE ATA/100/66 buffered, non-ECC SDRAM. It is USB Ports 8 FireWire Ports N/A also a Socket 478 board powered LAN Gigabit LAN by the 865PE chipset. 10/100/1000 With six PCI slots and an Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC’97, SPDIF AGP 8X slot that also supports Integrated Graphics N/A AGP Digital Display cards, the Other Features N/A D865PERC offers plenty of Manufacturer Intel room for expansion. It has eight Phone (800) 538-3373 USB 2.0 ports, two SATA ports, URL www.intel.com Price N/A

208 • PC Modder MSI K8N NEO PLATINUM

n Athlon 64 board with an NVIDIA Technology). This is MSI’s automatic over- A nForce 3 250Gb chipset, the K8N NEO clocking feature, which automatically speeds MSI K8N NEO PLATINUM PLATNUM is a first-rate board and one that is up the CPU in times of extreme performance Socket Type Socket 754 AMD rich in features. The nForce3 250Gb chipset needs but will then restore your system to Chipset NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb supports an 800MHz HyperTransport inter- default settings whenever the CPU is in a low- Processor Athlon 64 face and has integrated Gigabit LAN (through load balance. Support (800MHz) an NVIDIA nForce3 NV Gigabit LAN con- On the downside, the K8N NEO PLAT- RAM Support 2GB DDR400/333/ 266, unbuffered, troller). It offers eight channels of 7.1 audio NUM offers just three DIMM slots that accept ECC, non-ECC with AC’97 2.3 compliance. Moreover, there only 2GB of non-ECC DDR 400/333/266 sin- RAM Slots 3 are also three Firewire ports, support for gle-channel memory. ▲ Graphics Bus AGP 8X eight USB ports, five PCI slots, dual PCI Slots 5 SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0,1, 0+1) ATA /133/100/66/33 with sup- IDE ATA/133/100/66 port for up to four IDE devices, USB Ports 8 (2.0) an AGP 8X slot, and four SATA FireWire Ports 3 ports supporting RAID (0,1, LAN Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 0+1). The board even features Integrated Audio 8-channel, SPDIF NVIDIA Firewall Technology for (Out) online security. ntegrated Graphics N/A Other Features nVIDIAFirewall What’s more, the K8N NEO Technology PLATINUM is poised for over- Manufacturer MSI clocking. Enthusiasts will get Phone (626) 913-0828 a kick out of the board’s URL www.msicomputer .com D.O.T. (Dynamic Overclocking Price N/A

MSI 875PNEO-FISR

ne of MSI’s newest boards is the ACPI Power Management on the Intel 82547- O 875PNEO-FISR, an Intel Canterwood EI with CSA (Communication Streaming 875P and ICH5R board supporting a 3.2GHz Architecture) interface. Intel P4 processor (Northwood/Prescott/Extreme Other frills include an AGP 8X-compatible MSI 875PNEO-FISR Edition) and FSB speeds of up to 800/500MHz. slot, five PCI slots, dual ATA/100/66 IDE Socket Type Socket 478 Intel Four DIMM slots support 4GB of dual-channel DMA 66/100 IDE controllers (which are inte- Chipset Intel 875P, ICH5R Processor Intel P4 with Intel DDR 400/333/266 SDRAM ECC memory. grated on the ICH5R), SPDIF output, and Support Hyper-Threading While the board will run at 800MHz FSB when RealTek ALC850 8-channel audio (also inte- Technology (800/533MHz FSB) using DDR400, it’s worth noting that when grated on the ICH5R). RAM Support 4GB Dual DDR- using DDR333 with 800MHz FSB, the memory The 875PNEO-FISR also supports PIO and 400/333/266, ECC actually runs at 230MHz. Bus Master operation modes. ▲ RAM Slots 4 Not many boards offer as much Graphics Bus AGP 8X FireWire support: The 875P- PCI Slots 5 SATA Ports 2 (RAID 0) NEO-FISR offers three FireWire IDE 2-channel ATA/100 ports. Two are 400Mbps ports, USB Ports 8 (2.0) one of them a mini version. The FireWire Ports 3 third is available through a header LAN Ethernet 10/100 on the motherboard. Integrated Audio 8-channel AC’97 Integrated Graphics N/A Additional features include Other Features N/A Intel Hyper-Threading technolo- Manufacturer MSI gy, two SATA ports with RAID Phone (626) 913-0828 0 and 1, support for 10/100 URL www.msicomputer .com Ethernet MAC and PHY, and Price $152

PC Modder • 209 SHUTTLE AN50R

HUTTLE tells us that the AN35N-L is audio in and out. However, while a lot of boards S the company’s most popular AMD board, feature 8-channel built-in audio, the AN50R but the AN50R, based on NVIDIA’s nForce 3 offers only 6-channel audio. For BIOS, Shuttle SHUTTLE AN50R 150 northbridge chipset and supporting the delivers its Award PnP BIOS, stored in 4MB of Socket Type Socket 754 AMD Chipset NVIDIA Athlon 64, is quickly gaining momentum. It is flash memory. nForce3 150 currently one of the company’s most This board may not be feature heavy, but Processor Athon 64 with powerful boards. thanks in part to the chipset and integrated Support HyperTransport Technology The AN50R supports the Athlon 64 with HyperTransport technology it offers plenty (1600MHz FSB) HyperTransport Technology at an FSB speed of of speed. ▲ RAM Support 3GB DDR400/ 1600MHz. At the same time it uses 3GB of 333/266/200 RAM Slots 3 DDR400/333/266/200 SDRAM on three Graphics Bus AGP 8X DIMM slots. Although it offers PCI Slots 5 just four USB ports, SHUTTLE SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0,1) makes up for that deficiency by IDE ATA/133/100 including three FireWire ports USB Ports 4 (2.0) FireWire Ports 3 and two SATA ports supporting LAN Gigabit LAN RAID 0 and 1. The company even 10/100/1000 added an AGP 8X slot. Integrated Audio 6-channel, SPDIF (In/Out) Some of the board’s other fea- Integrated Graphics N/A tures include Gigabit LAN, a total Other Features N/A of five PCI slots, and ATA/133. Manufacturer SHUTTLE Like many high-end boards, the Phone (626) 820-9000 AN50R also offers SPDIF digital URL www.us.shuttle.com Price $141

SHUTTLE AB60R

ogether, the AB60R and the AB60N have to mention its two FireWire ports, avail- T form the cornerstone of SHUTTLE’s able through the onboard VIA 6306 chipset. Intel motherboard lineup. For this segment, The AB60R also allows you to add two SATA SHUTTLE AB60R we chose the more expensive (but not by drives, each supporting RAID 0 and 1. For Socket Type Socket 478 Intel much) AB60R. audio, the AB60R contains both SPDIF in and Chipset Intel 865PE + The Intel 865PE and ICH5 chipsets form the out, as well as 6-channel audio. Hardware moni- ICH5 ▲ Processor P4, Celeron basis of this Socket 478 board, which also sup- toring is also included. Support (800/533/400MHz ports P4 and Celeron processors at 800/ FSB) 533/400MHz FSB speeds. The AB60R supports RAM Support 4GB Dual DDR- 400/333/266 10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN with CSA SDRAM (Communication Streaming Architecture) in RAM Slots 4 addition to 4GB of dual-channel Graphics Bus AGP 8X DDR400/333/266 SDRAM and PCI Slots 5 SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0,1) up to four devices via two IDE ATA/100 ATA/100 ports. It has four USB Ports 8 (2.0) DIMM slots, an AGP 8X graphics FireWire Ports 2 slot, and five PCI slots. LAN Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 Like SHUTTLE’s AB50R Integrated Audio 6-channel AMD board, this one also offers Integrated Graphics N/A hardware monitoring functions Other Features (No on-board VGA) and an Award PnP BIOS with Manufacturer SHUTTLE 4MB flash memory. To round out Phone (626) 820-9000 URL www.us.shuttle.com the list of the board’s features, we Price $144

210 • PC Modder SOLTEK SL-PT880Pro-FGR Socket Type Socket 478B Intel Chipset VIA PT880 + SOLTEK SL-PT880PRO-FGR VT8237 Processor P4, Celeron (800/ Support 533/400MHz FSB) OLTEK has yet to gain much ground in SOLTEK also added five PCI slots and one RAM Support 4GB Dual DDR- S the United States, which is unfortunate AGP 8X slot to the SL-PT880Pro-FGR in addi- 400/333/266 DRAM, unregis- because it manufactures several impressive tion to the eight USB 2.0 ports (four integrated tered, non-ECC motherboards. Take the SL-PT880Pro-FGR, for ports and four more available through optional RAM Slots 4 example. This Socket 478B board provides 4GB cables). Graphics Bus AGP 8X of unregistered, non-ECC DDR 400/333/266 The company could hardly have packed more PCI Slots 5 SATA Ports 4 (2 VT8237 RAID DRAM with dual-channel support. It is found- features onto this board. Other niceties, besides 0, 1; 2 RAID 0, 1, ed on VIA’s PT880 and VT8237 chipsets and hardware monitoring, include (the optional) 0+1) combines speed with oodles of features (many of RedStorm Overclocking Technology and IDE 2 ATA/133/100/66, 1 ATA/133/100 them optional). RedStorm2 Overclocking Technology. ▲ (RAID 0, 1, 0+1) Some of those features include Gigabit LAN, USB Ports 8 (2.0) 6-channel AC’97 integrated FireWire Ports 2 LAN Gigabit LAN audio, two FireWire ports (one 10/100/1000 integrated and one available Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC’97 through an optional cable), and Integrated Graphics N/A three ATA connectors. One of Other Features Hardware monitor- ing, Redstorm those ATA connectors is an Overclocking ATA/133/100 connector that Technology (optional), Red- supports up to two IDE devices Storm2 Overclock- and delivers RAID 0, 1, and 0+1. ing Technology The other two support as many as Manufacturer SOLTEK Phone N/A four more IDE devices with URL www.soltek.com.tw ATA/133/100/66 connectors. Price N/A

SOLTEK SL-865Pro-775 SOLTEK SL-865PRO-775 Socket Type Socket LGA 775 Intel Chipset Intel 865PE + ICH5 OLTEK manages to one-up the SL- Also, the SL-865Pro-775 won’t leave you with- Processor Prescott P4 S PT880Pro-FGR with the SL-865Pro-775, a out high-speed device support because it has two Support (800/533MHz FSB) Socket LGA 775 powered by Intel 865PE and FireWire ports and support for eight USB RAM Support 4GB Dual DDR- 400/333/266 ICH5 chipsets and supporting the Prescott devices (four integrated, four available through DRAM, unregis- Pentium 4 processor (800/533MHz FSB). optional cables). tered, non-ECC However, aside from the chipset and socket, After all that, the board offers Gigabit LAN, RAM Slots 4 Graphics Bus AGP 8X you may notice many similarities between the 6-channel AC’97-compatible audio, and hard- PCI Slots 5 two boards. The SL-865Pro-775 supports up ware monitoring. Overclockers have further rea- SATA Ports 4 (2 with RAID 0, to 4GB of dual-channel unregistered non-ECC son to rejoice: RedStorm Overclocking 1, 0+1, JBOD) ▲ IDE 2 ATA/100/66/33, DDR 400/333/266 DRAM memory through Technology is also available, but optional. 1 ATA/133 (RAID four slots. Two ATA/100/66/33 IDE connec- 0, 1, 0+1, tors support up to 4 IDE devices JBOD) USB Ports 8 (2.0) and a third ATA133 connector FireWire Ports 2 supports RAID (0, 1, 0+1, and LAN Gigabit LAN JBOD) via a Promise PDC20579 10/100/1000 chip that also supports RAID Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC’97 Integrated Graphics N/A through two SATA connectors. Other Features Hardware monitor- (The board has a total of four ing, RedStorm Overclocking SATA ports.) Technology The standard expansion capa- (optional) bilities are also available with the Manufacturer SOLTEK SL-865Pro-775, meaning it has an Phone N/A URL www.soltek.com.tw AGP 8X slot and five PCI slots. Price N/A

PC Modder • 211 SOYO SY-KT880 DRAGON 2 SOYO SY-KT880 DRAGON 2 he SY-KT880 DRAGON 2 with VIA addition to the expanded surround sound, Socket Type Socket A AMD T KT880 chipset is SOYO’s top-of-the-line you’ll also find support for SPDIF input Chipset VIA KT880 Processor Athlon XP (400/ AMD motherboard, and it’s loaded with and output. Support 333/266MHz FSB) extras, such as RAID support for both parallel Health monitoring for the SY-KT880 RAM Support 4GB Dual DDR- and serial ATA. In all, the board consists of DRAGON 2 is provided by onboard voltage 400/333 SDRAM four ATA ports supporting RAID 0, 1, 0+1, monitors, a CPU fan and CHA fan speed moni- RAM Slots 4 Graphics Bus AGP 8X and JBOD, and four channels of SATA sup- tor, CPU temperature and CHA temperature ▲ PCI Slots 5 porting RAID 0, 1, and JBOD available monitor, and CPU overheat protection. SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0, 1, through an Ali M5281 chip. It also includes JBOD) IDE ATA/133/100/66 10/100/1000 Gigabit LAN. (RAID 0, 1, 0+1, In addition, the board can handle up to JBOD) 4GB of dual-channel DDR400 USB Ports 4 (2.0) and supports AMD Athlon XP FireWire Ports 2 LAN Gigabit LAN 1800+ to 3200+ with up to 10/100/1000 400MHz FSB speed. Despite the Integrated Audio 8-channel, SPDIF lack of integrated graphics, AGP (In/Out) Integrated Graphics N/A 8X expansion exists through an Other Features On board voltage AGP Pro slot. Two FireWire monitors, CPU temperature and ports and five PCI slots provide CHA temperature further expandability. monitor SOYO also built eight chan- Manufacturer SOYO nels of audio into this board with Phone (909) 292-2500 URL www.soyousa.com C-Media CMI 9780 AC’97. In Price N/A

SOYO SY-P4I875P DRAGON 2 V1.0

OYO’s SY-P4I875P DRAGON 2 v1.0 also the same, including such utilities as S varies only slightly from the SY-P4I875P onboard voltage monitors for +3.3V, +12V, Dragon 2 Platinum Edition. VCore, DIMM, and AGP. Like the latter, the DRAGON 2 v1.0 with But, unlike the Platinum Edition, this board SOYO SY-P4I875P DRAGON 2 V1.0 Intel 875P and ICH5R chipsets supports supports an Intel Prescott processor of up to Socket Type Socket 478 Intel Intel’s Hyper-Threading technology and lets 3.4GHz at 800MHz FSB. It also includes a Chipset Intel i875P, ICH5R Processor P4, Celeron you add up to 4GB of dual-channel Sigma Box featuring a BayONE 9-in-1 USB Support (800/533MHz FSB) DDR400/333 DDR SDRAM with ECC 2.0 Flash Media Reader/Writer, and 4MB RAM Support 4GB Dual through four 184-pin DIMM sockets. The Flash ROM. ▲ DDR400/333, ECC DRAGON 2 v1.0 also supports Intel P4 RAM Slots 4 Graphics Bus AGP 8X processors of up to 3.2GHz with 533MHz and PCI Slots 5 (v 2.2) 800MHz FSB speeds, and offers SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0, 1) digital SPDIF outputs, 6-channel IDE ATA/133 (RAID audio through a built-in CMI 0, 1, 0+1) USB Ports 8 (2.0) 8738 chip, three FireWire ports FireWire Ports 3 (one front port and two headers), LAN Gigabit LAN and eight USB ports (four rear 10/100/1000 Integrated Audio 6-channel, SPDIF ports and four headers). (Out) Also, like the Platinum Edition, Integrated Graphics N/A the DRAGON 2 v.1.0 offers five Other Features N/A 32-bit PCI slots, an AGP 8X video Manufacturer SOYO slot, and 4-channel SATA. The Phone (909) 292-2500 URL www.soyousa.com system-monitoring features are Price $190

212 • PC Modder SUPERMICRO P4SCT+II Supermicro P4SCT+II Socket Type Socket 478 Intel t’s probably only natural that a board such as dual-channel support. It also supports 3.4GHz Chipset Intel 875P I the P4SCT+II from Supermicro, which has Intel Pentium 4 and 2.8GHz Celeron proces- Processor P4, Celeron been around for quite some time, leaves a little sors with Hyper-Threading technology at Support (800/533/400MHz FSB) to be desired. Yet, whatever the board lacks, it speeds of up to 800/533/400MHz. RAM Support 4GB DDR400/ makes up for in other ways. Further expansion options and features 333/266 SDRAM, unbuffered, ECC, For example, the P4SCT+II lacks integrated include two PCI ports, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, non-ECC audio, which is pretty much standard on most AGP 8X graphics bus, and Hardware monitor- RAM Slots 4 boards. On the other hand, it does offer inte- ing that includes 3-pin fan headers with Graphics Bus AGP 8X grated graphics via an ATI RAGE XL SVGA tachometer monitoring. ▲ PCI Slots 2 SATA Ports 6 (4 HDD RAID 0, PCI video controller with 8MB of memory. 1 + 0), (2 HDD The P4SCT+II also lacks FireWire ports. RAID 0, 1) Instead, it includes six SATA con- IDE ATA/100 nectors: two for HDD by Intel USB Ports 4 (2.0) FireWire Ports N/A 6300ESB and four for HDD by LAN Dual LAN Marvell SATA Controller. The 10/100/1000 latter supports RAID 0 and 1+0 Integrated Audio N/A while the former supports RAID 0 Integrated Graphics ATI Rage XL SVGA Other Features Hardware moni- and 1. toring, 3-pin fan In addition, this Socket 478 headerswith tach- ometer monitoring board supports 4GB of ECC, Manufacturer Supermicro non-ECC unbuffered DDR400/ Phone (408) 503-8000 333/266 SDRAM memory URL www. on four DIMM slots and has supermicro.com Price N/A

Supermicro P4SCT+ Socket Type Socket 478 Intel SUPERMICRO P4SCT+ Chipset Intel E7210 (Canterwood ES) Processor P4, Celeron upermicro also offers the P4SCT+, which are 32-bit 33MHz slots, the other three are 64- Support (800/533/400MHz S provides 4GB of unbuffered dual-channel bit 66MHz PCI-X slots. FSB) RAM Support 4 GB DDR400/ DDR400/333/266 SDRAM and four RAM However, unlike the P4SCT+II, this board 333/266 SDRAM, slots. It’s another Socket 478 board, but with an lacks an AGP slot. It’s possible that Super- unbuffered, ECC, Intel E7210 (Canterwood ES) chipset instead of micro dropped the AGP slot for the PCI-X non-ECC RAM Slots 4 an Intel 875P. slots and assumed that the integrated graphics Graphics Bus N/A Like the P4SCT+II, the P4SCT+ board (ATI RageXL 8MB with frame buffer) PCI Slots 5 offers no integrated audio. It also provides would suffice. ▲ SATA Ports 6 (4 HDD RAID 0, 1+0), (2 HDD six SATA ports, four USB ports, no Fire- RAID 0, 1) Wire ports, and Intel Pentium 4/Celeron IDE ATA/100 processor support. USB Ports 4 (2.0) Also like the P4SCT+II, this FireWire Ports N/A LAN Dual LAN board offers a fairly generous 10/100/1000 range of system monitoring tools, Integrated Audio N/A including three 3-pin fan headers ntegrated Graphics ATI Rage with tachometer monitoring, XL SVGA Other Features Hardware monitor- CPU and chassis temperature ing, three 3-pin fan monitoring, and LED for CPU headers with tachometer and system overheat. monitoring For expansion, the P4SCT+ Manufacturer Supermicro provides five PCI slots compared Phone (408) 503-8000 URL www. to the P4SCT+II’s two. While two supermicro.com of the PCI slots on the P4SCT+ Price N/A

PC Modder • 213 Tomcat i7210 Socket Type Socket 478 Intel Chipset Intel E7210, 6300ESB Hance TYAN TOMCAT I7210 Rapids Processor P4, Celeron Support (800/533MHz FSB) he new Tomcat i7210 with Intel E7210 management features include seven 3-pin RAM Support 4GB DDR400, T chipset from Tyan offers a slew of decent tachometer headers (five with PWM control), 3- ECC, non-ECC features, but they’ll cost you. pin chassis intrusion header, temperature and RAM Slots 4 The board supports both Intel P4 Northwood voltage monitoring, IPMD connector, and Graphics Bus N/A PCI Slots 5 (2 64-bit PCI- or Prescott 800/533MHz FSB processors with watchdog timer. The Tomcat i7210 also pro- X [3.3v] 66MHz 800MHz system bus, and a single 478-pin vides Tyan M3289 SMDC support via 2 x 25 slots, 3 32-bit 33MHz PCI 2.2 Celeron processor up to 2.8GHz. Some of the pin header. [5v] slots) board’s other features include PCI-X expansion There’s also an ATI Rage XL PCI controller SATA Ports 6 (2 RAID 0, 1) support with two 64-bit PCI-X (3.3v) 66MHz with 8MB SDRAM frame buffer, but the board (4 RAID 0, 1, 1+0) IDE ATA/100/66/33 slots, four-port SATA RAID (two with RAID 0, lacks an AGP slot, which is an absolute must- USB Ports 4 (2.0) 1, and 4 with RAID 0, 1, and 1+0), dual Intel have for some buyers. ▲ FireWire Ports N/A Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports, 4GB LAN Dual Gigabit LAN of unbuffered PC3200/2700 (optional) Integrated Audio N/A DDR400 ECC or non-ECC mem- Integrated Graphics ATI Rage XL ory in four DDR DIMM sockets, Other Features Seven 3-pin and IPMI 1.5 remote management. tachometer head- ers, 3-pin chassis The board includes a variety of intrusion header, other slots and ports, including a temperature and voltage monitoring, floppy connector for up to two IPMD connector drives and four USB 2.0 and two Manufacturer Tyan optional front USB ports via Phone (510) 651-8868 optional cable. Some of the system URL www.tyan.com Price $312

TYAN TIGER K8W

yan’s Tiger K8W is the company’s cost- Furthermore, the Tiger K8W includes hard- Tyan Tiger K8W effective value dual AMD Opteron board ware monitoring with port 80 code display Socket Type Socket 940 AMD T Chipset AMD 8151, 8111 with many of the same features as the company’s LED, six 3-pin fan headers with tachometer Processor 2 Opteron Thunder K8W, the flagship dual AMD monitoring, temperature monitoring, voltage Support Opteron board for workstations. monitoring, and even an ATX power support RAM Support 8GB PC3200/ 2700/2100/1600 This Socket 940 board has four DIMM providing for an ATX 12V power supply. DDR, registered sockets and offers a whopping 8GB of regis- It may cost $327, but the Tiger K8W is well RAM Slots 4 tered DDR400/333/266/200 ECC and non- worth the price. ▲ Graphics Bus AGP 8X ECC memory. PCI Slots 5 SATA Ports 4 (RAID 0, 1, 0+1) Unlike the Tyan Tomcat i7210 described IDE ATA/133/100/66 above, all five PCI slots are 32-bit 33MHz (5V) USB Ports 2 (2.0); 2 (1.1) slots, so the Tiger K8W doesn’t FireWire Ports 2 have any PCI-X slots. However, LAN Dual Gigabit LAN 10/100/1000 the K8W does have an AGP 8X Integrated Audio 6-channel, AC’97 slot while the Tomcat does not. Integrated Graphics N/A Other features include 4-chan- Other Features Six 3-pin fan head- ers (three with nel SATA RAID (0, 1, 0+1), tachometer moni- Gigabit Ethernet, 6-channel AC toring), tempera- ture and voltage ‘97 audio codec, FireWire, two monitoring, port 80 USB 2.0, two USB 1.1, one code display LED Gigabit LAN port, and dual-chan- Manufacturer Tyan nel ATA/133/100/66 drives sup- Phone (510) 651-8868 URL www.tyan.com porting up to four IDE devices. Price $327

214 • PC Modder RAM-PING UP YOUR SYSTEM We Chart The Top Modules From The Top Manufacturers

e charted the highest-speed we excluded lower-priced modules in favor weren’t available, we listed the CAS (col- DDR modules from top of those better for overclocking. We also umn address strobe) latency. We listed W manufacturers, as well as the left out modules that differed only by heat unavailable specifications as N/A, for not available DDR2 modules. With manufac- spreader color. For most modules, we list- available. turers that offer multiple levels of RAM, ed the timing settings, but when timings by Andrew Leibman

DDR2 533 PC2-4300 & 4200

Manufacturer Module Product Number Density Latency Registered ECC Voltage Package Crucial CT12864AA53E 1GB N/A Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 240 CT6464AA53E 512MB 4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 240 CT3264AA53E 256MB 4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 240 Kingston KVR533D2N4/1G 1GB 4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 240 KVR533D2N4/512 512MB 4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 240 KVR533D2N4/256 256MB 4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 240 KVR533D2E4/1G 1GB 4 Unbuffered ECC 1.8V 240 KVR533D2E4/512 512MB 4 Unbuffered ECC 1.8V 240 KVR533D2E4/256 256MB 4 Unbuffered ECC 1.8V 240 Corsair CM2X512-4200 512MB 4-4-4-12 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 240 CM2X256-4200 256MB 4-4-4-12 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 240 TWIN2X1024-4200 1GB 4-4-4-12 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 2 x 240 TWIN2X512-4200 512MB 4-4-4-12 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.8V 2 x 240

DDR 533 PC4300, *DDR 533 PC4200, **DDR 550 PC4400

Manufacturer Module Product Number Density Latency Registered ECC Voltage Package Kingston KHX4300K2/1G 1GB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.7V 2 x 184 KHX4300K2/512 512MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.7V 2 x 184 KHX4300/512 512MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.7V 184 KHX4300/256 256MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.7V 184 Corsair TWINX1024-4400** 1GB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.75V 2 x 184 CMX512-4400** 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.75V 184 OCZ Technology OCZ550512ELDCGLE-K** 512MB 2.5-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.85V 2 x 184 OCZ5501024ELDCGLE-K** 1GB 2.5-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.85V 2 x 184 OCZ550512ELGLE** 256MB 2.5-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.85V 184 OCZ5501024ELGLE** 512MB 2.5-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.85V 184 OCZ533512ELDC-K 512MB 2.5-4-4-7 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ5331024ELDC-K 1GB 2.5-4-4-7 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ533256EL* 256MB 2.5-4-4-7 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ533512EL* 512MB 2.5-4-4-7 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ550512PFDC-K** 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ5501024PFDC-K** 1GB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ533512PFDC-K* 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ5331024PFDC-K* 1GB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ533256PF* 256MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ533512PF* 1GB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 Geil GL5124400DC** 512MB 3-8-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 GL1G4400DC** 1GB 3-8-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 GL5124200DC* 512MB 3-8-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 GL1G4200DC* 1GB 3-8-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184

PC Modder • 215 DDR 500 PC4000

Manufacturer Module Product Number Density Latency Registered ECC Voltage Package Kingston KHX4000K2/1G 1GB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 KHX4000K2/512 512MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 KHX4000/512 512MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 KHX4000/256 256MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 Corsair TWINX1024-4000PRO 1GB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.75V 2 x 184 TWINX1024-4000 1GB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.75V 2 x 184 TWINX512-4000 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.75V 2 x 184 CMX512-4000PRO 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.75V 184 CMX512-4000 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.75V 184 CMX256A-4000 256MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.75V 184 OCZ Technology OCZ500512ELDCGE-K 512MB 2.5-4-4-7 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ5001024ELDCGE-K 1GB 2.5-4-4-7 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ500512ELGE 256MB 2.5-4-4-7 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ5001024ELGE 512MB 2.5-4-4-7 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ500512ELDC-K 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ5001024ELDC-K 1GB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ500256EL 256MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ500512EL 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 Mushkin Enhanced 1GB (2 x 512MB) PC4000 DDR 1GB 3 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.5V 2 x 184 Memory Systems 512MB (2 x 256MB) PC4000 DDR 512GB 3 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.5V 2 x 184 512MB PC4000 DDR 512MB 3-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.5V 184 256MB PC4000 DDR 256MB 3-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.5V 184 Geil GL5124000DC 512MB 2.5-7-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 GL1G4000DC 1GB 2.5-7-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 GD4000-512DC 512MB 2.5-7-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.55V 2 x 184 GD4000-1GDC 1GB 2.5-7-4-4 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.55V 2 x 184 Kingmax MPTC22D-38KS4G-PAA (TinyBGA) 512MB 3 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 MPTC22D-38HT4-HGA (TSOP) 512MB 3 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 MPTB62D-38KS4G-PAA (TinyBGA) 256MB 3 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 MPTB62D-38HT4-HGA (TSOP) 256MB 3 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184

DDR 466 PC3700, *DDR 433 PC3500, **DDR 434 PC3500

Manufacturer Module Product Number Density Latency Registered ECC Voltage Package Kingston KHX3700/256 256MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 KHX3700/512 512MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 KHX3700K2/512 512MB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 KHX3700K2/1G 1GB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 KHX3700K2/2G 2GB 3-4-4-8-1 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 Corsair TWINX1024-3700 1GB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 TWINX512-3700 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 CMX512-3700 512MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 CMX256A-3700 256MB 3-4-4-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.6V 184 TWINX1024RE-3500LLPT* 1GB 2-3-2-6 Registered ECC 2.6V 2 x 184 CMX512RE-3500LLPT* 512MB 2-3-2-6 Registered ECC 2.6V 184 OCZ Technology OCZ466512EBDCPE-K 512MB 3-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ4661024EBDCPE-K 1GB 3-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ433512EBDCPE-K** 512MB 2.5-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ4331024EBDCPE-K** 1GB 2.5-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ4332048EBPDCPE-K** 2GB 2.5-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 2 x 184 OCZ466256EBPE 256MB 3-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ466512EBPE 512MB 3-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ433256EBPE** 256MB 2.5-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ433512EBPE** 512MB 2.5-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184 OCZ4331024EBPE** 1GB 2.5-3-2-8 Unbuffered Non-ECC 2.8V 184

To view more memory specs online, go to www.cpumag.com/modder2/memory.

216 • PC Modder MODDING Q&A We Answer Your Pressing Questions

egardless of where you’ve completed a difficult you go or what project. Plus, there’s nothing R you’re doing, day or like strutting into the next night, you’re bound to big LAN party with a totally encounter some sort of tricked-out rig. Just be pre- “mod” on a regular basis. pared to sacrifice some gam- Simply walk through a mall, ing time to field questions. for example, and you’ll likely see myriad people talking on Can I mod my CPU or their cell phones. Odds are Q motherboard? some of them will have a cus- Yes you can; in fact, tom case or a brightly colored A you can mod virtually lighted antenna. And how any part of your system in about those snazzy ring some way. Depending on the tones! How many times have type of CPU you own, there you been in a restaurant and are some physical modifica- had to hear a chorus of tions you can make to it. For “Heya” blaring from a example, AMD’s Athlon XP Motorola i730 that’s “ring- line of processors has traces ing” at the table next to you? along the top than you can It’s probably been one time manipulate to alter the too many. CPU’s default voltage, FSB, It seems that no matter what the and multiplier. Intel’s Pentium 4 proces- item is, whether it be a cell phone, a Q What is a mod? sors aren’t as easy to modify, but there are car, or a computer, we’re all compelled To put it simply, the term “mod” is some popular tricks out there for them, as to make the one we own unique in A short for “modification.” Essentially, well. You can alter the default voltage for some way, shape, or form. This desire any change made to a system that alters the Socket 478 Pentium 4, for example, to personalize our possessions has its stock configuration in some way can by wrapping a specific set of pins on its spawned entire industries, with millions be called a mod. Some popular mods underside with a thin strand of wire. It’s of dollars being spent worldwide, and include replacing stock CPU coolers, cut- also common practice to “lap” the true PC enthusiasts are arguably the ting windows into your case, installing Pentium 4’s integrated heat spreader for most passionate contingent. Consult extra case fans, or even something as sim- better cooling. Lapping the heat spreader the oracle (Google), search for “PC ple as changing a BIOS setting to wring removes any miniscule peaks or valleys Mods,” and you’ll see exactly what I more performance from the system. from the metal and makes is almost per- mean. The ensuing 1.9+ million results These are just a few examples, as there are fectly flat and smooth. This lets the heat will give you an idea as to the sheer an infinite number of things you can do spreader make better contact with the number of avid PC modders who are to mod a system. heatsink. When the CPU and its heatsink showcasing their talents worldwide. make better contact with each other, heat If you’d like to join this talented bunch Why would I want to mod my is more efficiently drawn away from the but aren’t quite sure where to begin, we Q system? processor’s core and that means lower may be able to help. In this article, we’re One of the most popular reasons is temperatures. Some more hardcore mod- going to answer some of the most com- A to increase certain aspects of the sys- ders will even go so far as to remove the monly asked modding-related questions. tem’s performance, but some users mod Pentium 4’s integrated heat spreader alto- After reading through the next few pages, their systems to make them more quiet or gether for “direct die cooling,” which you’ll be armed with the basic knowledge to simply make the system look unique. brings us to the Athlon 64 and Opteron. necessary to turn your “me too” PC into a Modding also gives you that proud sense At the moment, there aren’t many physi- one-of-a-kind, eye-catching rig! of accomplishment that comes only when cal mods specific to AMD’s Athlon

PC Modder • 217 the system can usually be overclocked to higher speeds. A motherboard’s VRM (voltage regulation module) can be modi- fied, as well. The VRM is usually the hottest running part of a motherboard, so mounting heatsinks to the MOSFETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors) is done to decrease their oper- ating temperatures, which in turn will A “stock” memory module before increase their lifespan and may make the any modifications. whole system more stable. ABIT, MSI, and Chaintech have even begun installing custom VRM cooling on their high-end motherboards at the factory.

What about my memory or Q video card? Memory modules are probably the A least modified component because properly functioning memory is absolute- ly essential for a system to remain stable. Memory is much less forgiving than some other components when it’s run out of spec. The voltage regulators feeding power to the memory modules are fre- quently modified but not the memory modules themselves. About the only physical changes made to memory mod- ules are for enhancing their cooling. Adding heat spreaders will lower the memory’s operating temperature, which The same memory module after installing an may allow for higher stable overclocks. active memory cooling kit. Like CPUs, memory can be overclocked, as well. Your memory’s speed is directly tied to the system’s FSB. By raising or lowering the FSB in your system BIOS, 64/Opteron processors. Like the Pentium performance, but overclocking a CPU you’re also changing the speed at which 4, though, lapping or removing their inte- will occasionally require a bump in volt- your memory is operating unless there is grated heat spreaders is increasingly age and will generate more heat, so an option to “lock” it at one designated becoming more common. adding more/better cooling may be neces- speed. Many motherboards also have a You can also modify processors by sary. (We’ll get into some cooling mods a BIOS option available that gives users the changing their operating frequencies. This little later.) ability to change the FSB to memory practice is known as overclocking when Motherboards can also be modified in a speed ratio. When set to 1:1, your memo- you increase the CPU’s speed, or under- variety of ways. Some modders will replace ry will run at the same speed as the FSB, clocking when it's decreased. A CPU’s stock northbridge coolers with more pow- but when set to 5:4, your memory will operating frequency is derived by multi- erful units, and a multitude of “volt run at 80% of the FSB’s speed. Having plying its FSB (frontside bus) by its mul- mods” are also quite common. Volt mod- the ability to change the FSB-to-memory tiplier. A 2.4GHz Pentium 4, for exam- ding a motherboard usually requires sol- ratio comes in very handy during extreme ple, has a multiplier of 12 with an FSB of dering a resistor or potentiometer to a spe- overclocking because the FSB can be 200MHz. You can alter the CPU’s oper- cific set of leads on one of the board’s volt- raised to speeds much higher than the ating frequency by raising or lowering age regulators. Doing so usually makes memory can handle. the speed of the FSB via your mother- higher voltages available to the north- When compared to system memory, board’s BIOS. Underclocking usually bridge, southbridge, CPU, or memory. video cards are at the other end of the has no adverse affects other than lower And with these higher voltages available, spectrum altogether. They are probably

218 • PC Modder the most regularly modded computer and they usually offer much better perfor- component. There are software hacks that Some of the mance. Zalman also makes a few large, can make one card function and perform completely passive, heat-pipe-cooling kits like another. These “soft-mods,” as they that don’t generate any noise. If you want are called, are especially popular with easiest cooling to silence your PC, Zalman makes some ATI’s Radeon 9500 and 9800 line of great products and you won’t have to sac- GPUs. Video card hardware is also modi- mods are rifice much performance to keep the noise fied in many different ways. GPU coolers level down. can be replaced with more powerful units. Volt Mods are done to supply more done by What is the benefit of modding power to the GPU and onboard memory. Q my CPU cooler? What about my And memory modules are regularly retro- substituting GPU cooler? fitted with custom heatsinks—the list The three main benefits to modify- goes on and on. When some modders get A ing your CPU or GPU coolers are done tweaking their video cards, it’s not or adding better cooling performance, more attrac- uncommon for them to look nothing tive aesthetics, and a lower noise level. like they did when they were in their case fans. Most stock CPU coolers are plain and stock forms. offer just enough performance to keep a processor running within its specified up at the top of a tower case, behind thermal limits. When installed properly, Q Can I modify my system’s cooling? the 5.25-inch drive bays, and usually upgrading to a more capable aircooler or Of course you can. Enhancing a sys- bring case temperatures way down. upgrading to a more exotic watercooling A tem’s cooling scheme is perhaps the (See the Spring 2004 special issue of kit will lower your processor’s tempera- most popular type of mod. Proper cooling PC Modder for details on installing your ture considerably. Lower temperatures are is essential for overclocking and stability. own blowhole.) always desirable, particularly when over- Heat is every electronic component’s Replacing heatsinks with more capable clocking a system. Lower temperatures worst enemy, so increasing your rig’s models is also a popular type of cooling usually yield higher overclocks, which cooling performance is always a good mod. The stock heatsinks included with equates to more performance. And quite idea. Swapping out some parts can also “boxed” processors and the stock coolers frankly, some aftermarket coolers are also turn a system that sounds like a jet engine installed on most video cards can easily be much nicer to look at. If you’ve got your- into a whisper-quiet rig that wouldn’t dis- replaced by more efficient solutions. self a snazzy, windowed case, it’s almost turb a soul. Aftermarket products from companies sacrilegious to show off your system’s Some of the easiest cooling mods are like Thermaltake, Vantec, and Swiftech innards when all you’re sporting is a stock done by substituting or adding case fans. can be used in place of the stock coolers, cooler. The aftermarket replacement cool- Most ATX cases have vacant ers available for video cards locations where you can sim- offer all of the same benefits of ply snap a fan into place. But CPU coolers, as well. keep in mind that too many If your system is extremely fans can be overkill. Es- loud, due to noisy fans mount- sentially, you should plan to ed to your CPU and GPU have the same amount of coolers, you can quiet it down warm air being expelled from considerably with some of the the case as you have cool air silent, or near-silent cooling being drawn into it. If you’d products currently available. like to add a fan where there Thermaltake and Zalman both wasn’t one before, it’s usually make passive coolers that don’t a matter of scribing a template generate any noise at all. and simply drilling a few Couple one of these passive holes. Installing a blow- coolers with a near-silent fan, hole, an exhaust fan at the top like the ones available at of a tower case, is a common SilenX.Com, and you’ll have and very effective cooling Heatsinks like Swiftech's MCX6400-V for AMD Athlon 64 and yourself a high-performing mod. Blowholes expel the Opteron processors are far more effective that the stock coolers cooling setup that generates lit- warm air that tends to build that ship with AMD's and Intel's boxed CPUs. tle more noise than a whisper.

PC Modder • 219 side windows, lighted fans, shapes, and colors. Some are laser cut glossy paint jobs, and fan con- from metal and some are molded plastic trollers already integrated into with lighted cathodes built right in. There their designs. Thermaltake, are even fan grilles that pay tribute to pop- Lian-Li, and Cooler Master are ular characters like Spiderman or The some popular choices. They’ve Punisher. Do some shopping, and you’re got a wide variety of cases avail- almost guaranteed to find something you able in almost any color, shape, like. And if you don’t find anything, you or size. If you’re a do-it-yourself could always make your own. kind of person, however, you Adding colored lights and lighted fans can get really creative with the can also take a system to the next level. right plan. Strategic placement of colored cold-cath- Cutting an unusually shaped odes and lighted fans will illuminate your window into your case is an system’s innards. The effect is especially excellent way to spruce up its impressive in a system with a custom Custom, laser-cut fan guards are great for adding a little appearance. First, remove the etched window. The resulting glow from something to an otherwise plain case. side panel from the case. Then an exciting lighting scheme is sure to grab affix an even layer of masking the attention of fellow enthusiasts. tape to the panel and draw out Before attempting any of these mods, your desired shape. I like to pay special attention to your case’s inter- design windows that don’t nal layout and come up with solid plan of expose the power supply or hard attack. I can’t tell you how many times drives. Doing things this way I’ve seen someone mount a fan in a newly makes it much easier to hide cut location, only to find they didn’t cables and will give the overall account for a drive or card that encroach- impression that the inside of es on the same position. “If you don’t your case is neat and clean. This plan to succeed, plan to fail.” “Measure isn’t an excuse to have a rat’s twice, cut once!” Basically, all of the nest of cables in your case, clichés you’ve heard during an episode of though. Make sure you’ve taken “This Old House” apply here. the time to route cables neatly and use wire ties to bundle What tools do I need to mod unused PSU cables in an incon- Q my case? spicuous location. With the Aside from a standard computer masking tape laid down and A toolkit (screwdrivers, pliers, etc), a your shape drawn out, drill a spring-loaded center punch, a power drill, starter hole and proceed to cut a jigsaw, hole saws of varying sizes, and a out the shape with a jigsaw. And rotary tool should be considered required always use a sharp blade—it equipment. And anytime power tools are makes the work go much easier. used for cutting and grinding, protective After you’ve cut out the window, goggles, ear protection, and gloves are also file down the edges to get rid of a must. A fully decked-out, modded sys- Thermaltake's Xaser line of premodded cases are popular any sharp burrs in the metal, and tem is über-cool, but not if it comes at the amongst the overclocking community. you’re almost done. Outline the expense of an injury. perimeter of the window with The center punch is an oft-overlooked some rubber molding and tool that makes drilling holes much easier. My case needs some more flash. mount the actual windowpane (usually A center punch is usually made of a hard Q What should I do? with some sort of double-sided adhesive metal and is used to make small divots in a There are a plethora of options or screws) and you’re done. material before it is drilled. Drilling into A available to users looking to jazz up Another great option is to replace the smooth metals can be difficult because the their cases. If you’re not good with your plain fan grilles on your power supply and drill bit doesn’t always “bite” right away. hands or just aren’t comfortable using the plain grilles on your case with custom This causes the drill to slide around, which power tools, there are quite a few com- models available at multiple online will mar the surface. Making a small divot panies offering premodded cases with resellers. Fan grilles are available in all sizes, in which to place the drill bit makes it

220 • PC Modder for larger projects. For preci- What are some of the more sion cutting of smaller objects, Q advanced tricks of the trade? A spring-loaded center punch, like the one shown here, is like bay covers, for example, As is the case with all things PC, used to make small divots, which makes drilling holes in rotary tools are fantastic. A there are exotic options available slick materials much easier. to those with the budgets and courage What’s the best way to to take their systems to the extreme. On A hole saw makes it Q add some color? the cooling front, watercooling kits and relatively easy to cut There are four main ways vapor-phase coolers are used to bring perfect circles, which A to convert your plain box CPU, GPU, and even chipset tempera- makes them useful for into a colorful work of art. The tures way down. Some even uses water- cutting in blowholes. most common is paint. The cooling and vapor-phase cooling in the Just make sure the ordinary spray paint available same system for the utmost in cooling hole saw you're using at your neighborhood hard- performance. Products like Asetek’s is designed for ware store is adequate for most Waterchill and Vapochill are two rela- cutting metal. jobs, provided the materials are tively expensive popular options, but properly prepared for painting. for those who want nothing but the Those of you looking for a best for their rigs, there isn’t much bet- more professional appearance ter. The Vapochill uses technology A rotary tool, like this should look to airbrushes and that’s normally found in refrigerators to Dremel, is an excellent higher quality enamel paints, bring processor temperatures down tool for cutting, however. If you’ve got a plain below freezing. I’ve actually had a grinding, and polishing aluminum case, anodizing is 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition metal or plastic. another excellent option. overclocked to 4GHz in a Vapochill, Anodizing, which requires spe- and at idle, the processor’s internal cialized chemicals and equipment, is the thermal diode was reporting a tempera- process of electroplating a metal, usually ture of only 28.4 degrees Fahrenheit (-2 aluminum, with a colorized, protective degrees Celsius). With a stock Intel coating. You’ll probably have to bring heatsink in the same system, with the your case to a local plating company to same CPU overclocked to “only” have it anodized though, so plan on tak- 3.7GHz, temperatures climbed to over ing a quick trip through the Yellow Pages 123 F (51 C). Couple that kind of to find a shop nearby. We detailed the horsepower with a watercooled video anodizing process in the May 2004 issue card and motherboard chipset, and of CPU; check it out if you’d like to see it you’ll understand why these products explained in greater detail. are sometimes considered exotic. much easier to keep the drill on one posi- Adding color to metal is one thing, but Some people also take their aesthetic tion, which is essential to do a quality job. plastic presents a whole other challenge. mods to the extreme by using products Jigsaws are a great tool for making pre- The plastic-safe model paints available at normally reserved for the automotive cise cuts that don’t always run perfectly most hobby shops work well. Dyes are a industry. Body filler (sometimes known straight. When used in conjunction with much better option though, and they’re by the brand Bondo) and molded fiber- some strategically placed pilot holes, jigsaws easier to use than you might think. glass can be used to create custom make cutting odd shapes fairly easy. Hole Generally, all you have to do is boil some shapes and transform a system’s look saws are also great for precise cutting, as water and add the dye until you achieve completely. You couldn’t really call it a well, but they serve a slightly different pur- the desired color. Then dip the plastic mod per say, but use these items along pose. Hole saws are mounted to a power into the solution for a half an hour or so with metal, wood, Plexiglas, and plastic, drill and are used to make perfectly circular and that’s it. The dye will permeate the and you can build your own custom cuts. (This is ideal for mounting fans.) plastic, so it can’t be scratched off, which enclosures completely from scratch. To rotary tool is kind of the jack-of-all- makes it a very durable option. There’s no need to modify a store- trades tool. A powerful, high-end rotary Another, much easier, way to add some bought case when you can just build tool, when coupled with the right bits, color is with cold-cathodes, neon tubes, one yourself. These items have been can actually replace the drill and the jig- or lighted fans. Strategically placed cold- used to create some of those wild look- saw. I find they’re much better suited for cathodes or lighted fans will make your ing designs Intel showcases at IDF smaller jobs, like grinding and polishing, system glow and will drastically change its (Intel Developer Forum) to demon- but some people like to use rotary tools overall appearance. strate its vision of the “future.” These

PC Modder • 221 computers Intel has showcased were designed to spotlight the new BTX form factor and even smaller designs that may never be brought to market. Enthusiasts have also used these items (along with countless others) to build systems you would never even think were PCs.

Q Is modding safe? Generally speaking, yes, modding A is safe as long as you approach each project cautiously and follow the safety guidelines for any of the tools you’ll be using to complete the mod. Just be careful and always wear protec- tive gear like safety goggles and gloves, especially when cutting metal. Those freshly cut edges can be very sharp, so be careful. We’d also recommend not wearing baggy clothes, as they can easily Asetek manufactures and distributes high-end watercooling kits that include CPU, GPU, and chipset get caught in a spinning power tool. waterblocks like these. This isn’t necessarily a safety issue, but you should also be aware that anytime you make a modification to a compo- nent, you will almost certainly void its warranty. If you’re not comfortable los- ing your warranty coverage, you proba- bly shouldn’t take that soldering iron to your motherboard or pry that heat spreader from your CPU. There are a virtually limitless number of possibilities when modding a system. The extent of your mods is limited only by your imagination and possibly your budget. Luckily, there are a slew of online resources available if you need some inspiration, and many mods won’t cost you a penny if you already have access to the necessary tools. If you’d like to rub elbows with some fellow modders and see just how far PC mod- ding has come, we recommend visiting the forums on some of the more popular hardware Web sites. HotHardware.com, HardOCP.com, and Anandtech.com are some of my favorites. Mod-Centric sites like Bit-tech (forums.bit-tech.net) and PheatonForums (www.pheatonforums .com) are also fantastic resources.

Vapor-phase cooling systems, like the Asetek's Vapochill, can bring your processor down to by Marco Chiappetta subzero temperature levels.

222 • PC Modder Manufacturers & Products Index

A Radeon 9100 Pro IGP, 194 755-A2, 77, 79-81, 204 Hobart Handler 135 MIG K8T New-FSR (MS-6702), Sandra Professional 2004, 16-18 Abit Radeon 9200, 90 865G-M, 46-47, 49, 51 Welder, 38 122-123 Skil 4380 Orbital Cut Variable AI7, 42-43 Sapphire Radeon 9600 PRO, 91 PF4 Extreme, 204 Hypertherm Powermax380 PC Alert 4, 30 Speed Jigsaw, 35 IC7-MAX3, 198 B Enermax Ultimate Controller, Plasma Cutter, 36 Mushkin Memory modules, 216 Soltek 153 Hardware Monitor, 30 KV8-MAX3, 64-67, 69, 198 BAPCo EnTech PowerStrip 3.4, 28 I N SL-865Pro-775, 211 Siluro FX 5600 Ultra OTES, 96 MobileMark, 16 Intel Nanotherm EPoX SL-PT880Pro-FGR, 211 uGuru, 29 SYSmark, 16 3.0 GHz Pentium 4, 44-45 Nanotherm Ice, 159 EP-4PCA3+, 43-45 SmartDoc Anti-burning Shield, 30 VP6, 100 WebMark, 16 3.0E GHz Pentium 4, 40-43 PCM+, 142 EP-4PDA5+, 205 SOYO Adaptec BFG Technologies Asylum 3.2GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition, Nero Nero CD-DVD Speed EP-8HDA3+, 120-121 CK8 Dragon Plus, 71-73 19160, 114 GeForce FX 5200 Ultra, 52-57 V2.20, 16 EP-8RDA3+, 205 SY-KT880 DRAGON 2, 212 Ultra160 card, 114 94 3.2E GHz Pentium 4, 46-51 NVIDIA USDM, 30 SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2, 53- AeroCool Biostar 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Graphic card pyramid, 112 Evercool AL12025, 155 55, 57 Deep Impact CP-102, 134-135 M7NCG 400, 201 Edition, 20, 58-59, 60-63, 105- nForce3 Chipset, 24 eVGA e-GeForce FX 5700 Ultra, SY-P4I875P DRAGON 2 V1.0, High Tower HT-101, 135 P4TSV, 43 107 97 212 Phantom, 138 P4VMA-M V7.x, 201 Active Monitor 1.2, 25, 30 O OCZ Technology SPECviewperf 7.1.1, 16 AeroFlow VA4-C7040, 137-138 WarpSpeeder, 29 F Biostar P4TSV (Intel 865G), 40-41 Akasa TIM Clean, 143 Enhanced Latency DDR PC- Speeze 9T370B1M3, 133-134 Black & Decker RTX, 180 FIC CPU reference, 188-191 Albatron 4000 Dual Channel Gold, Spire SkiveStream III, 137 Black Powder Coated Case K8-800T, 206 D865GRH, 208 K8X800 Pro, 118-119 126, 128-129 SuperMicro Handle, 34 P4-865PE MAX, 206 D865PERC, 208 K8X800 ProII, 79, 76-77 Enhanced Latency DDR PC- P4SCT+, 213 Futuremark Pentium III Coppermine FC- Almico SpeedFan, 29 C 4200 Dual Channel, 127- P4SCT+II, 213 3DMark03, 17 PGA 370, 100 Alpha PAL8942, 136-137 Chaintech 129 SuperO Doctor III, 30 3DMark03 Pro, 16 Xeon 3.06GHz, 100-101 AMD 9CJS ZENITH, 47, 49-51, 53, Enhanced Latency DDR PC- X5DPE-G2, 101 PCMark04 Pro, 16-17 760 MPX, 101 55-57, 105-107, 202 J 4400 Dual Channel Gold, Swiftech MCX462-V, 137 Athlon 64 3000+, 64-66, 68-69 APOGEE, 29 G JAM HeavyLoad 2.0, 27 127-129 T S865PE, 60-61, 63 Jetway S755MAX, 65-69 Memory modules, 215-216 Athlon 64 3200+, 70-74 Gainward 5900 Ultra, 111 Techflex Case Mod SK8T800, 120, 202 Just Cooler, 182-183 Athlon 64 3400+, 76-79, 80-81 Galaxy P Expandable Wire Sleeving Athlon 64 FX-51, 82-87 ZNF3-150 ZENITH, 65-67, 69 Crystal GC12UVB, 155 Panasonic Panaflo Kit UV Red #1903, 35 Athlon 64 FX-53, 19, 103, 106-107, Chicago Electric 180-Watt K Crystal GC94R1, 155 Kingmax Memory modules, 216 FBA12G12M, 154-155 Thermaltake 224 Industrial Soldering Gun, Crystal LED GC124R1, 155 Kingston PassMark BunInTest Hardcano 12, 38 CPU reference, 192-193 33 GeIL HyperX, 114 Professional 4.0, 25-26 Thunderbalde A1973, 154-155 Antec Connectorz Power Supply Copper Thermal Compound, HyperX KHX3700K2/512 PNY GeForce FX 5900 SE, 98 Tyan PLUS1080AMG, 114 Changeover Kit Black Pro 142 512MB Kit, 125, 128-129 PolyGFX No Peace Case Tiger K8W, 214 AOpen Series #2167, 35 Golden Dragon PC3700 466MHz HyperX KHX4000K2/512 Skin, 36 Tomcat i7210, 214 AK89 MAX, 77-79, 199 ConnectRight Universal Dual Channel DDR Kit, 125, 512MB Kit, 126, 128-129 AX4SPE MAX II, 199 Molex Pin Remover, 37 128-129 R U Memory modules, 215-216 Ultra-Cool UC-9FBC, 154-155 EZClock, 29 Cooler Master Memory modules, 215-216 Radiant Ellipse Top Window GeForce FX 5500, 95 Jet 4, 134 Ultra Platinum PC4000 500MHz L Kit, 80mm Fan Hole, 38 V Hardware Monitoring Utility, 29 LHD-V04, 117 Dual Channel DDR Kit, 125- Leading Wintech Vantec Aquamark3, 16 Musketeer LLC-U02, 34 S 126, 128-129 Rain 2.0, 29 Copper X, 134 Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2M, Corsair Sapphire Ultra Platinum PC4200 Waterfall Pro 2.9, 30 Nexus, 153 138 Memory modules, 215-216 9800 Pro, 110 533MHz Dual Channel Leadtek Tornado, 154-155 Arctic Silver XMS3700 TINX512-3700 9800SE, 111 DDR Kit, 126-129 5950 Ultra, 111 Ultra Thin HDC502A Arctic Silver 5, 142 PC3700, 125, 128-129 ATI Radeon 9600 XT, 92 Ultra Platinum PC4400 Speed Gear, 30 Vcool 1.7, 30 Ceramique, 142 XMS4000 TWINX512-4000, ATI Radeon 9800 SE, 93 550MHz Dual Channel Lite-On VIA Asour VPC-1000 DVD 125, 128-129 Scythe DDR Kit, 127-129 LTC-4816H, 114 K8T800 Pro, 197 Multimedia Audio Hub, 34 Cpuldle Extreme, 26-27 NCU-1000 Heatlane Zen, 135 Gigabyte K8T890, 197 ASRock K8S8X, 71, 73-75 Craftsman 7 pc. Magnetic M Kamakaze, 135-136 9800 XT, 110 KT880, 197 ASUS Screwdriver Set, 36 Maxtor Shuttle Cooler Pro GH-PCU21-VG, 136 PM880, 23 5900, 111 Crucial Memory modules, Atlas IV Ultra320 SCSI AN50R, 210 EasyTune 4, 27, 30 PM880 (IG), 195 K8V SE Deluxe, 200 215 73.5GB (8B073L0), 117 AB60N, 47-49, 51 GA-7DPXDW, 101 VT8237CE, 197 K8V-UAYZ, 119-120 CTemp 3.0, 27 DiamondMax 16 ATA/133 AB60R, 210 GA-8KNXP Ultra-64, 207 VT8251, 197 P4C800-E, 200 D GA-8IG1000 PRO-G, 58-59, 63 80GB (4R080L0), 115-116 SilverStone FMC3XW, 153-155 P4G800-V, 52-53, 55, 57 DiamondMax Plus 9 ATA/133 Simpli Software HD Tach 2.7, 16 W DFI GA-K8NNXP-940, 83, 85-87, P4P8X, 114 80GB (6Y080L0), 116 SiS Western Digital LANParty NFII Ultra B, 203 207 PC Probe, 29 DiamondMax Plus 9 SATA SiS656, 194 Raptor SATA 74GB, 117 LANParty PRO875B (rev B), GA-K8VNXP, 70-71, 73, 224 PC-DL Deluxe, 100 80GB (6Y080M0), 116 SiS755FX, 22,196 203 GA-K8VT800M, 122 Y SK8N, 83-85 Microsoft Halo, 18 SiS756, 196 Dremel Variable-Speed MultiPro, GIMPS Prinme95 23.8, 28-29 Y.S. Tech NFD1260259B-2F SK8V, 82-83, 103-104, 106 Motherboard Monitor 5.3, 28 SiS760, 196 180 Gladiator 18” EMI Shielded High Output, 154-155 ATI Mouse Bungee, 37 SiS964, 197 Dr. Thermal TI-8639L, 133 Server Grade ATA Cable 9800 XT, 114 MSI SiS965, 197 Z Dupli-Color, 181 RD3XP-A32-K, 37 All-In-Wonder Radeon 9000 875PNEO-FISR, 209 SiS965L, 197 Zalman PRO, 89 E H 975P NEO-FIS2R, 62-63 SiSoftware CNPS5500-Cu, 133 Graphic card pyramid, 113 ECS Hmonitor 4.1 Pro, 27-28 K8N NEO PLATINUM, 209 Sandra 2004, 124 Reserator 1, 159

PC Modder • 223 e at CPU knew that THE ULTIMATE bringing you the ultimate W guide for the PC enthusi- ast wouldn't be an easy task. Our building and testing for this issue came DISASTER off without too many snags; however, some of the snags were the flaming, smoke-belching variety. Kids, don't try 1a MOD this at home (if you can help it).

1b 2

1c 4a

3

6a

4b 5

6b

While overclocking the Gigabyte We destroyed this optical drive when We inadvertently fried this mother- 1 GA-K8VNXP (1a), we raised the 2 we manually pulled the tray out for a 5 board when we powered it up with- CPU voltage from 1.5 to 1.6, and then soldering procedure, which jammed gears out first mounting it to the standoffs we smelled smoke from the motherboard beyond repair. inside the case. Whoops! and PSU (1b). With a fresh GA- What do you mean the pins aren't This fan (6a) was submerged in our fish K8VNXP and a new power supply, we 3 supposed to bend like that? 6 tank/water reservoir in an attempt to tried it again and got more smoke. We Conformal coating is great for sealing protect our fish from the force of the incom- shut down in time to save the PSU, but 4 components from moisture, but not so ing water. Unfortunately the plan backfired, our motherboard and case were perma- great for sockets (4a) and CPU pins (4b). and seven beloved neon Tetras (6b) swam to nently scarred (1c). The moral of the We lost two motherboards and two CPUs fishy heaven after rust from the fan apparent- story: If at first you fry your mother- from stray drops of this stuff. One of the lost ly ruined the water’s PH balance. We board, don't try the same thing again. CPUs was an Athlon 64 FX-53. We wept. mourned.

224 • PC Modder