The AM2 chipset which will be utilized by new AMD chips has seen quite a boost in popularity with at least a few motherboard manufacturers getting in on the action and making motherboards to suit. As for chipsets, well nVidia is still the maker of choice, being a close supporter of AMD.

The AM2 socket has 940 pins, but should not be confused with the 940 pin chips that AMD had a little while back, these have a different setup for the pins under the processor itself.

Besides the obvious support of AM2 processors, this board has quiet a few other features. It can suppot up to 8GB or DDR2 RAM. There are 2 PCIe slots, but they only work at 8x, meaning they are slightly slower than cards running on the more expensive chipset. The usual floppy drive connectors and hard drive connectors are in place, but there are also two sets of 3 SATA connectors.

High Definition Audio is the new standard in onboard audio and allows for much better quality from sound cards that are built into the motherboard.

In the full test at motherboards.org, they found the board to be a little slower that the ASUS board that they had for comparisson. The board itself is aimed at the mid-range. The nForce 570 SLI chipset is not as high-performance as its 590 counterpart, which is aimed at the enthusiast.

Check out the full article here.

With the recent interest in the Dual Core D805 from Intel and its ability to be overclocked very far due to its lower front bus speed, Tomshardware have put together a “gaming computer” using this processor at it’s core.

Setting up a case with a water cooling solution and installing appropriate parts, they show that you really can make a very good computer from this budget chip. Although there is some argument as to whether they made the best choices on the parts, the point is that it is fairly simple to achieve these high speeds for a very low price.

The dual core D805 is in essence the same chip as its bigger brothers. In order to keep costs down, manufacturers make an entire series using exactly the same chips and then change the multipliers in order to get the different models in the range, with appropriate pricing to match.

Water cooling is essential if you want to hit 4GHz with the processor. Unfortunately heat increases very quickly as clock speeds are increased and can become a worry when overclocking so far beyond specifications. However, as noted in their forums, there isn’t really too much of a worry. If you compare it to the others in the range, it is not really being pushed so far as the silicone used is exectly the same. Heat still needs to be kept down though.

Nearly any old case will do, get a decent LGA775 motherboard which allows good overclocking and you’re set.

Every now and again these little gems pop up, there are people who jump no the bandwagon and those who think its just silly and express all sorts of doubts. Well, if you are thinking of upgrading and you do fancy putting together your own computer that will probably beat any pre-built computer hands down, then this might be your best bet.

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Motherboards are not only for desktop computers and its easy to forget that there is also a huge market for motherboards in areas such as servers.
Motherboards for servers have a much differet focus that those used for desktop computers. The very nature of servers means that they are meeting the needs of many users at the same time, and so need to be designed differently.

More than one processor is very common in order to handle the number of processes created by being accessed by many users at the same time. A large amount of memory is also needed to handle this. Servers have often had more memory than most desktop computers. They also need to be secure, so use of things such as ECC memory help to ensure that nothing gets lost while it is in the computer.

Massive storage space is also common and this motherboard comes with 6 SATA2 slots, allowing for a lrage configuration of drives into an array, with RAID 0, 5 and 10 being supported. There is integrated audio, 4 USB ports and a LAN port for your convenience.

Two Intel LGA771 sockets allow the use of two Intel Xeon Dempsey/Woodcrest processors.

From the Tyan website:

High-end workstation performance comes to the entry-level market with the introduction of the Tempest i5000XL (S2692). Using Intel’s 5000X chipset, the Tempest i5000XL delivers support for (2) Intel® Xeon® 5000 and 5100 sequence processors; FBDIMM support; dual PCI Express x16 slots for SLI capability, as well as multiple PCI slots; built-in Audio, SATA2 with RAID, and onboard dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, all in an SSI CEB (12″ x 10.5″) compact form factor for mid to full-size tower configurations.

Although it may be entry-level it is still expensive compared to even the coolest of desktop motherboards, but you do get a helluva lot. It has SLI support if you need hardcore graphics and practically everything else you could need from a motherboard.

Check out the full preview at Phoronix

This systemax computer is aimed at being a media center computer. It has all the stuff it needs, but are they adequate and do they warrant the price tag on this system.

The main feature that stands out for this computer is that it is Intel VIIV certified. What this means is that the whole system contains Intel parts, which match up to a certain level of performance, and that it has Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition installed as the operating system. It doesn’t really guarantee that you get anything better, just that it meets those minimum system levels.

The main complaint I have with this system is one that I have with many of the media center computers out there, and that is that they all still look like computers. They just don’t mix with the look of other entertainment center equipment, making it hard to match and fit in well.

With an Intel Pentium D 950 3.4GHz processor, 1GB or RAM, a 400GB hard drive and a DVD burner, you will get more than enough power for an entertainment computer. The standard video inputs and outputs, 6 USB ports, firewire at the back, card reader at the front and network connection at the back ensure that you have everything you will need.

The remote control, wireless mouse and keyboard are fantastic. Being able to use the keyboard and mouse away from the computer make the experience of using this computer as part of a home entertainment that much more pleasurable. They really do add to the ease of using the sytem.

Finally, I can’t imagine any really good reason for the inclusion of the speakers. They would certainly be good for a personal computer, but if this is a media PC, there would certainly be a hifi around, wouldn’t there.

You do get good parts and good options, however it is a little expensive and there are probably more budget versions, perhaps without the VIIV markings, and without the extra speakers that would be more suitable.

This Sony computer is designed for use as a media center computer. With minimalist styling, it manages to fit fairly well into you living room, but not nearly as well as some of the newer Sony offerings that have home entertainment center styling, rather than just a good looking computer case.

For a fraction under $900, does this system compare well against newer models offering a little more future proofness and power?

Let’s take a look at the specifications. The Intel Pentium 4 640 3.2GHz processor is from the older 600 series of processors from Intel. They perform fine, but were known for producing a lot of heat, and using a lot of power. The inclusion of a DVD burner and a large 250GB hard drive are fairly run of the mill for a media center computer, computers which are usually designed for home entertainment.

Integrated audio and graphics do not lend themselves to high quality systems, although they have gotten better in recent years, the best is still found in component parts. A standard affair when it comes to networking, all which are possible without upgrades.

The biggest gripe I have is the missing remote control. These are a fairly standard accessory on Sony computers and make a whole lot of sense for entertainment centers, nobody wants to get up and use a mouse for the simple of functions on the computer, especially playback of videos and other media.

So overall, I don’t think that this computer is really worth it. I would put the money into a more up to date version which has more features included. It’s not a bad system, and at the time was probably good, but not good enough anymore.

Building a custom computer gives you a feeling of control over what you are getting from your computer. Although there is extra effort required in choosing parts, there is really not too much to consider, and even a small amount of research into what goes into your computer will reap major benefits over choosing a pre-assembled computer.

The major drawback of pre-assembled computers are that when you have no choice over the parts, the parts that are chosen are often very cheap, and chosen to keep the price of the computer very competitive rather than getting the best balance.

The knowledge needed to find the right parts is something which many don’t have, and often people just don’t want to spend that time. To fill the need for high end systems, companies like Alienware have stepped in to offer the support and backup that the big companies give, but offering a better choice of components.

Basic specs include an AMD dual-core or FX processor, an Nvidia GeForce 7900GT graphics card, upwards of 1GB or memory, Raptor hard drives and other high-end parts. SLI for the graphics is also offered.

The system is extremely well put together, with a lot of care going into creating a very clean interior, with all the cables being tucked away. This makes it look very good, but makes it that much harder when you need to change things, keeping things all in the right order might become a little bit harder.

The USB ports and the other ports are easily located at the front of the case and there are a whole lot at the back.

Overall this computer is a very powerful system, although it may be possible to put something together that is more suited to your needs, if you just need a very powerful computer, with good looks, and don’t care much for building one by yourself, then this may just be your best bet.

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