A laptop computer aimed at the very low budget category. It’s price is as low as many desktop computers, but it’s performance does not match them. Ideal for those looking for a great deal, but beware the hidden cost of software upgrades.

At a glance this computer includes…

• Intel Celeron M 350 1.30GHz processor
• 15″ monitor
• 256MB of 333MHz memory (minimum for Windows XP
• Microsoft Windows XP Home
• CD-RW/DVD-ROM combo drive
• 1 PCI type II card slot
• 2 rear USB ports, one front port
• RJ45, RJ11 as well as wireless LAN
• On board audio with front audio plugs

The Intel Celeron M processor is a low range processor, it lacks power compared to it’s bigger brother the Pentium. It still has desirable features like low power consumption, which allows longer battery life. It will handle everyday tasks.

256MB of memory is enough to run Windows XP but not much more. When you use more than one program at a time, it’s the memory that makes the biggest difference to how fast those programs run. If you want to boost that performance there is an extra slot for more memory.

Inclusion of a CD-RW/DVD-ROM will allow you to read any disk and write CDs. This might be limiting for those who copy DVDs, but it’s a good feature on this range of computer.

A standard set of extras are included, like LAN support, dial-up support, wireless LAN as well as USB and sound card features. What is lacking is a firewire slot, which although not always standard on laptops is a great extra feature. It also misses the ever popular card readers which allow the reading of common memory cards.

There is very little software with this computer. Anything you need will need to be bought. It may not seem like a big deal, but the price of software pushes up the overall price of the computer, when many come with the software already.

At 14.3″ x 11″ x 1.5″ and 6.4lbs it’s not light, but not too bulky for it’s price range.

Final verdict:
Good:

• Great price
• Long battery life
• Many extras

Bad:

• No firewire
• Quite heavy
• No extra software packages

Enterprise level speed and performance hard drives are now available in the consumer market. The Western Digital Raptor sets new levels for performance in a drive that is intended for the high level everyday computer.

This drive is the first of it’s kind to provide 10000RPM platter (the plates inside the hard drive) speeds to the SATA drive market.

Drives of this speed have been reserved for SCSI drives for servers and in corporations. The problem was that those drives were prohibitively expensive and always required a special SCSI card to use them.

So how much does this drive improve on current drives?

First the standard specs:

• Name: Western Digital Raptor
• Size: 74GB
• Spindle speed: 10K RPM
• Buffer memory: 8MB
• Average read seek speed: 4.9msec
• Average write seek speed: 5.9msec
• Interface: Serial ATA-150

The speed of these drives is really fast compared to other drives. The very low seek times and connection speed allow it to transfer nearly 50% more than a 7200RPM disk, also over a SATA connection.

The drives are quiet, especially in light that older 10000RPM SCSI drives were very noisy, these make about the same as a 7200RPM. They also don’t produce much heat, at least compared with a 7200RPM again, but don’t stack them directly over each other.

At around 200 bucks this drive is still very expensive, you can get a slower drive of the same size for around $65, also with a SATA-150 interface.

The main reason for the high speed is the newer and more advanced technology. There is always a premium for having the newest thing, and these are out of the ordinary in terms of their speed.

Due to the high price I would recommend them only if intensive hard drive use, like video editing is something you do all the time. I would still want a second large storage drive for space. Though the Raptor is big enough for my uses if it isn’t enough for yours, a second big one for storage is a good idea.

This drive really is fast, it’s just up to you if you want to fork out so much money, but the speed increases will definitely put a little grin on your face.

There is a lot of hype going on over the new breed of dual-core processors, but do they really offer the performance advantages they say they offer?

This is one of the cheapest of the models in the x2 range from AMD, so it will provide a good comparisson for making a good value purchase.

Dual-core processors essentially offer two cpu processors in one. In the same chip, you will find two cores (the brain part, if you like) and cache (very fast memory) for each one. They are all housed inside the same casing. By having two cores to do the work, you can theoretically get a lot more done.

At over $500 this chip is still not cheap. When I compare it to my favorite priced AMD Athlon 64 3000+ with Venice Core do I really think that 3 times the price will give me 3 times the performance.

As always my main focus is good value. I don’t have any money to burn, and it is always a factor in my purchasing decision. Although modern technologies and that kind of stuff are interesting and worth considering, I am looking for real world performance for my buck.

The main area where dual-core processors, like this one and ones from Intel is the area of multi-tasking. When running more than one program your operating system, usually Windows and the processor use some pretty cool tricks to allow you to use more than one program at the same time. By taking turns using the resources of the processor, two programs can run at the same time seamlessly.

With two processors the ability to do this becomes that much better. There is the ability to physically split up the tasks over the two cores inside.

So what difference is there in real world performance?

Well, not as much as I would have hoped. The actual increases in speed in general applications is noticable, overall, it’s not enough for my liking.

Straight CPU tests which stress the processor in applications and things which basically just require raw power from the CPU like video encoding show an increase in performance. Speeds for such applications show a 50% to 60% increase in performance and speed.

General applications and things you might use everyday also benefit from this, resulting in speed increases too, nearly as much as above.

However when it comes to gaming, the increase is not so great. The processor performs on the same level as the AMD Athlon 64 3000+ mentioned above. But for 3 times the price that is not too good.

I would hold off on the purchase of this chip as the price is still too high. If money is not the first thing on your mind then this lowest of the AMD range will certainly allow you to run more programs with more overhead and ability to multitask more, which is perfect for the office environment. Unfortunately it does not provide enough power for the buck for my liking, but if you want to stay with the times and be a little future-proof, go for this guy.

If you are going to be building a fast system and are looking for a motherboard that could be the heart and lungs of that machine, look no further than this motherboard that has everything you could need.

This Socket 939 motherboard which is suitable for all newer AMD Athlon 64 chips, has everything you could need for a new computer.

It’s features include…

• 2 pairs of dual ddr memory
• 2 IDE headers
• 6 SATA header (2 from one chip, 4 from another)
• nVidia nForce4 SLI chipset
• PCI express with SLI support
• Creative sound blaster audio built-in
• LAN support (up to 1000MBs)

The Socket allows use of all of AMD’s new Athlon 64 chips including the new dual core models that are around. My recommendation would be the AMD Athlon 64 3000+ with Venice Core as the best value for money in getting cpu processor.

The DDR memory can be used in pairs, so make sure that you buy dual channel DDR memory to take advantage of that. It can take two pairs, which means that up to 4GB of memory can be installed. If you plan on doing some overclocking, make sure to get some that can run at higher speeds.

The IDE headers can support all of the speeds.

There are 2 chips on this board for the SATA support. One of them connects to the pair of SATA headers and the other one works for the other 4 that are together. Combined with the ability to have hardware driven RAID in modes 0, 0+1 or 1 you will not lack much for future upgrades.

One of the greatest features of this board, which is especially applicable to people who like to play games is the SLI support. SLI allows two PCI express cards to be used together. The two cards share each others features and result in nearly twice the speed and power of a single card working alone. This technology was developed by nVidia, so your graphics card would have to support this technology and of course be an nVidia card.

The board is rounded off with the LAN support and built-in audio, which is touted as having superb quality for a built-in sound solution. Many of the first built-in sound cards were terrible, but this one rivals many high quality add-on models. Of course the board also includes USB 2.0 support.

This all sounds impressive but the board really shines when it is put to the test and pushed to it’s limits.

Just like the other components of the computer the motheboard is a subject of overclocking. Seeing as overclocking involves increasing the bus speed, it only makes sense that the board should be able to handle more than just the standard amount (which is up to 200MHz for this board ie 400MHz memory)

In testing this particular board was able to handle over 300MHz, meaning 600MHz memory speeds. That is 50% over what it’s stated maximum is. Very good for a nice overclock.

For me, the best parts of this board are…

• Almost everything is included
• The quality of those extras is high
• Overclocking potential is good

Even without the overclocking ability, this board certainly provides enough of the parts extras that are needed for almost any computer. A great buy and certainly one of my top picks for my next computer.

The AMD Athlon 64 series are very powerful and very good quality chips. They provide some of the strongest performance that can be found today. This one is my pick for the fastest processor I would get, at time of writing.

Both AMD and Intel have moved into the realm of dual core processors, which mates two cores into a single chip. Although that is good for the development of chips and improvement in speeds, they are still too expensive for my liking.

So, why would this be my processor of choice.

Firstly, it’s the bottom of the pile of Athlon 64. It is the slowest in the current range from AMD. This always works in my favor because the prices are very good, with this one coming in at around $150 with a standard fan.

It’s speed is good, but doesn’t quite match up to the latest out there.

However, this chip runs at extremely low temperatures. While the whole range were getting hotter and hotter, meaning that the chips were running at higher and higher temperatures, this one set a new standard of energy efficient, cool running chips.

That coolness, allows one great feature, overclocking.

As the slowest and the fastest of the same core are nearly the same, it’s often possible to push the chip further than it is set at the factory, and the same applies for this chip.

It’s standard bus speed is 200MHz, which can safely be pushed to as far as 266MHz (33% increase) while still using the standard fan, and only increasing the voltages slightly. You also need a motherboard and memory that handle these increased bus speeds. Dual channel DDR memory that can go up to 533MHz is necessary, you can find some by searching this site. The motherboard I recommend is an MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Socket 939 Motherboard or the MSI K8N Platinum with SLI support, which have tons of extras and can handle these increased loads.

HTT needs to be reduced to 4x, chipset voltage raised to 1.7v, DIMM voltage raised to 2.8v and Vcore raised to 1.55v. The standard fan is fine.

With these settings you will get performance that nearly outdoes the AMD Athlon 64 3800+ plus you get the advantages of higher bus speeds. These speeds were accomplished with a AMD Athlon 64 3000+ with Winchester core, the Venice core model is actually capable of more overclocking, as can be seen in this article at hexus.

So, you should be able to easily gain great performance from a processor that has good value, just the reason that people overclock.

At under 200 bucks this kit is fairly well put together and is well suited for those have only moderate demands for their desktop computer.

Performance is suited for average computing, but can actually handle quite a lot.

The AMD Athlon 3000+ is a good value for money chip. It only costs around $100 on it’s own but offers good performance. In tests, it often performs as well as the slowest of the newer Athlon 64 range. It’s technology is slightly older, but it is good quality, with enough speed, but most importantly, good value. It’s bus speed is 333MHz, which does not rival more modern counterparts, but in real world testing it does well.

The Motherboard is an AOpen affair, which is where the name for this kit comes from. It is an old motherboard, but does offere many features, including…

• built in graphics support
• 333MHz bus speed
• AGP 4X
• ATA133
• built in LAN support
• 6 channel audio
• USB 2.0
• Socket A

The bus speed suits the chip that it comes with, but I wouldn’t hope for any overclocking ability. AGP 4X means that there is room for a good graphics card, but not the latest, suitable for some, but not new games. ATA133 should provide sufficient speed for the hard drive which is not included so you will need to get one at the same time. RJ-45 LAN support, built-in sound, USB 2.0 and the Socket A connection round off the motherboard.

The case looks cool. Many people like the flashy blue lights that come on many cases nowadays, this one comes with a few of those. If you don’t like the little lights there are ways to disconnect them, or you can get another case instead. Fans are reported as doing their job without complaint. 4 CD-ROM sized bays and 2 floppy disk sized.

The fan is a standard aftermarket one, it will do it’s job OK. However there are reports of it not cooling too well, as well as being a little noisy. Could be troublesome, but easy and cheap to replace if necessary, so not a major drawback.

Finally the standard ULTRA memory. It comes with 400MHz memory, which may sound cool, but it will run down at 333MHz along with the rest of the system. 512MB will be fine for a computer of this calliber.

The set does come with a mouse and keyboard.

Overall, a good deal. If you wanted to change any of the parts you could probably put one together on your own with the parts that you want, but this would certainly be a good start for a beginner system.

With computers continuing to increase in speed the need for greater cooling including fans has increased too.

The upside is that your computer is faster, the downside is that it may have started to sound like you have an airplane rather than a computer, making your computer area sound more like an airport.

One misconception is that these fans are needed all the time, when they are not. Sometimes they do need it, but a lot of the time the computer can do without any fans, especially when it is just idiling, like say when you are just typing articles in a word processor. At times like these, all those extra fans are not needed.

The ULTRA fan controller helps to keep those noises down. The fan controller allows the fans to turn off or down according to how much heat their is in your computer. When the heat is down, the fans can turn off, but when things start getting hot, they can turn on and protect your equipment.

Apart from just keeping the noise from fans down, it can monitor the temperature for you, so it does all of this automatically.

It also

• let’s you select which fans to use
• how fast you want them to go
• warns you if the temperature gets too high
• tells you how fast each fan is going
• warns you if a fan stops working
• tells you CPU temperature
• tells you the system temperature
• even tells you hard drive temperature

The fan controller fits in a CD-ROM slot at the front of the computer and gives it a cool look with it’s blue LED display.

The perfect buy for those who want to overclock and keep the computer cool, as well as those who just want a little peace and quiet.