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Study: Most IT Managers Want Better Cost Visibility

Paul Lilly — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:07:18 -0600

One of the biggest challenges of staying within a budget is not even knowing what you're allowed to spend. That's exactly the situation most IT managers find themselves in, suggests a new white paper by Digital Fuel.

The study the white paper is based off of pinged over 130 IT managers who were directly involved with the related costs and budgets of more than $10 million. And while 84 percent of the respondents classified detailed insight in IT costs as critical, more than half of those polled complained that their level of IT cost visibility isn't where it should be.

This type of environment presents a frustrating challenge in figuring out how to manage IT costs, as evidenced by the respondents indicating that coming up with a cost-model and breaking down the IT costs ranked as the most difficult. IT managers who took part in the study also noted a strong desire to better assess cost inefficiencies in their IT departments.

Image Credit: photobucket.com nalekezana

Symantec: Enterprise Spending Starting to Stabilize

Paul Lilly — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:04:33 -0500

Security firm Symantec reported revenue of $1.48 billion for its second fiscal quarter, beating out most analysts' expectations, but down 3 percent from the same quarter one year ago. Earnings were also better than expected, which checked in at $294 million, or $0.36 per share.

Symantec attributed the growth to its consumer business and increased IT spending, which bodes well for the company, considering a recent survey by Intuit Payroll suggested that the majority of SMBs have been spending less on security, even as cybercrime continues to rise.

"We're definitely seeing the U.S. market stabilize," Symantec CEO Enrique Salem noted in an interview on Wednesday. "We've seen China and parts of Asia continue to do well, and we're seeing some weakness in western Europe."

While consumer revenue was up 6 percent year-over-year, Symantec may have a tough time pushing its storage products. According to data from research firms IDC and Gartner, server sales were down roughly 30 percent last quarter.

Image Credit: propertyfinder.com

Cybercriminals Setting Sights on Mid-Sized Businesses

Paul Lilly — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:05:31 -0500

Mid-sized businesses are finding themselves in a precarious position as of late. Forced to cut back spending because of the ongoing recession, many firms are spending less on security, but at the same time, cyber attacks are on the rise, according to a McAfee report released today.

McAfee surveyed 900 mid-sized businesses around the globe with workforces ranging from 51 to 1,000 employees, and more than half of them reported an increase in security breaches over the past 12 months. The United States, along with India, ranked at the top of the charts with 63 percent of organizations noting an increase in attacks, and only China was higher at 68 percent.

But what's most frightening is how many of those same organizations think they're only a single serious security breach away from being put out of business. Of those surveyed in the U.S., 71 percent said it's a real possibility, yet IT budgets have either dropped or remained the same.

"An organization's level of worry and awareness about increasing threats has not overcome the downward pressure on budgets and resources," said Darrell Rodenbaugh, senior vice president of global midmarket for McAfee, in a statement. "But this creates a vicious cycle of breach and repair that costs far more than prevention."

While most companies note that a single attack could do them in, McAfee notes that most businesses may underestimate the risk. Over 90 percent of those surveyed felt they're protected from cybercriminals and aren't in as much danger as larger businesses.

Image Credit: techdigets.tv

Cheap Chip! Athlon II X4 Breaks the $100 Quad-Core Barrier

Gordon Mah Ung — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0500

Even the Intel fanboys have to hand it to AMD once in a while. After Intel deftly dropped a Core i5 anvil on Phenom II’s head, AMD did a quick drop to floor and now fires back slo-mo style with its own chip: a $99 quad core.

Dubbed the Athlon II X4 620, this 2.6GHz quad core isn’t just leftover parts swept off the factory floor, either. The Athlon II X4 is based on the familiar K10 microarchitecture in the Phenom and Phenom II, but it’s actually a newer, smaller die. In fact, the new chip has less than half the transistors of a Phenom II X4 processor. Much of the shrinkage comes at the expense of cache. While the Phenom II packs 6MB of L3, the budget Athlon II X4 features none.

The TDP of the new Athlon II X4 chips (there are two, but only one is sub $100) is also considerably lower than the top-end Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition chip at 95 watts versus 140 watts. Other than the TDP and lack of L3 cache, the CPUs are essentially the same as their Phenom predecessors.

In fact, some Athlon II procs may actually be the same as Phenom II. Although the majority of Athlon IIs will be the smaller Propus cores, AMD will double-source the chips by taking some cores that might have been turned into Phenom II X4s and switching off the L3. Other than that, these chips will be virtually the same as a Propus—same TDP, same L2 cache, same clocks. While it might seem unusual, AMD says the practice is not unprecedented and happens quite often with budget CPUs. Because both the would-be Deneb and Propus cores are 45nm and essentially the same microarchitecture, it’s unlikely this will have any practical impact on the end user, the company says.

Still, the breakthrough here is not technology, but price. Up to now, the closest a budget user could get to a quad core was the stale Phenom X4 9650. At one time restricted to OEM sales, AMD has begun blowing these elderly parts out at about $110. The Phenom X4 9650 has 2MB of L3, but its slower Hyper Transport (3.6GHz vs. the Athlon II X4’s 4GHz) speed, lack of AM3 support (and thus DDR3), and its use of the older 65nm process technology make it a less attractive option.

In Intel land, the Athlon II X4’s main competition isn’t even close. Intel’s cheapest quad-core part today is the Core 2 Quad Q8200. Like the Athlon II X4, the Q8200’s low price is the result of a shrunken die size made possible by cutting cache. While the $220 Core 2 Quad Q9550 has 12MB of L2 cache, the $150 Core 2 Quad Q8200 has but 4MB of L2 cache.

Higher up the food chain, Intel made a significant technology and price breakthrough with the Core i5-750, but at $200 for the chip itself, it’s for folks with richer tastes. The extra $100 you can save with an Athlon II X4 is enough to buy an entry-level motherboard and the RAM to go with it.

To Quad or Not?

The budget buyer’s toughest question is whether to even opt for quad. Since price is the primary concern for the budget buyer, it’s worthwhile to consider all the various options in dual-core land. You could, for example, skip the Athlon II X4 620 in favor of the Athlon II X2 250. This would give you a 3GHz dual-core instead of the 2.6GHz quad-core and saves you about $13. Even cheaper, there’s AMD’s Athlon II X2 240, a 2.8GHz dual-core that’s listed at $60.

We didn’t run the performance numbers on these chips as we already know the answer: Which chip you buy should depend on what you do. Since the vast majority of games are not optimized for quad-core, a 3GHz dual-core will actually outperform a 2.6GHz quad core in gaming. The same can be said if you spend the bulk of your day in a browser or Microsoft Word: The two additional cores just don’t get you anything. On the other hand, if you encode media, edit photos, or you’re even an advanced Microsoft Excel user, a quad-core is well worth the dough. You don’t get double the performance everywhere, but for well-optimized apps, you could see substantial gains. How substantial? If an encoding job takes three hours on your 3GHz dual-core, it could take 1.6 hours on 2.6GHz quad core.

AMD’s new 45nm Propus core is at the heart of the new $99 Athlon II X4 quad-core.

Quad-cores will also pay dividends if you’re a heavy multitasker running more than one compute-intensive application at a time. Our final message to you is that a quad-core machine might actually get faster over time. That’s because apps are being continually upgraded and coding for four or more cores is a factor on most developers’ radar. That translates into faster performance on your quad core as the apps get updated.

Quads Compared

CPU Specs

CPU	2.66GHz Core i7-920	2.66GHz Core i7-750	2.33GHz Core 2 Quad Q8200	3.4GHz Phenom II X4 965 BE	2.8GHz Athlon II X4 630	2.6GHz Athlon II X4 620
Socket	LGA1366	LGA1156	LGA775	AM3	AM3	AM3
Price (Volume)	$284	$199	$163	$245	$122	$99
Price (Street)	$280	N/A	$150	$256	$122	$99
TDP	130Watts	95 Watts	95 Watts	140 Watts	95 Watts	95 Watts
Codename	Bloomfield	Lynnfield	Yorkfield	Deneb	Propus*	Propus*
QPI/HT	4.8GT/s	4.8GT/s	N/A	4GHz	4GHz	4GHz
Core Clock	2.66GHz	2.66GHz	2.33GHz	3.4GHz	2.8GHz	2.6GHz
Turbo Boost (Max 1 Core)	2.93GHz	3.2GHz	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
HyperThreading?	Yes	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cores/Threads	4/8	4/4	4/4	4/4	4/4	4/4
L1 Cache	256KB	256KB	256KB	512KB	512KB	512KB
L2 Cache	1MB	1MB	4MB	2MB	2MB	2MB
L3 Cache	8MB	8MB	N/A	6MB	N/A	N/A
Die Size (mm^2)	263	296	164	258	169	169
Transistor Count (million)	731	774	456	758	300	300
Process (nm)	45	45	45	45	45	45
Memory Controller	Tri Channel	Dual Channel	N/A	Dual Channel	Dual Channel	Dual Channel

* Some Athlon II X4s will use Deneb cores with L3 cache disabled.

Next up, the performance tests and benchmarks.

Performance

We don’t want to telegraph the winner of this budget grudge-match, but the Athlon II X4 accomplishes what AMD wanted: It’s not the fastest game in town, nor the sexiest, but it’s certainly the cheapest and it can hold its own against the current offerings of Intel. Of course, that’s if you factor in price as a big component. We can tell you this: There isn’t one single thing the Athlon II X4 is faster at than the Core i5. Not one. However, the Athlon II X4 is half the price, and in this economy, well, that can mean a lot.

Ménage à Quad

Three cheap chips do battle in the benchmark arena

For our benchmark analysis we looked at three of the relevant CPUs: Intel’s $150 Core 2 Quad Q8200, AMD’s $99 Athlon II X4 620, and Intel’s $200 Core i5-750. All three platforms used an EVGA GeForce GTX 280 card, Windows Vista Home Premium in 64-bit flavor, and a 150GB Western Digital Raptor drive. We used an Asus Maximus II Formula board with 4GB of DDR2/1066 for the Core 2 Quad, a Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UDF5P with 4GB of DDR3/1333 for the Athlon II X4, and a Gigabyte GA-P55-UD6 for the Core i5-750 processor. Our benchmark suite ran the gamut, from bandwidth-intensive to compute-limited to real-world performance tests.

First: There’s simply no comparison between the Core i5 and either the Core 2 Quad or Athlon II X4. There’s not a single benchmark among those we ran where the Core 2 Quad or Athlon II could outgun the Core i5. The Core i5 is easily faster than those two chips by double-digit percentages, generally around 30 percent faster. But you knew that. After all, it costs twice as much as the Athlon II and about 25 percent more than the Core 2 Quad.

Between the Core 2 Quad and Athlon II X4, it’s an interesting mix. Generally, the Athlon II X4 is significantly faster in encoding than the Core 2 Quad. But in gaming, it’s significantly slower. However, that’s based on running the game at low resolution and with features turned off to take the GPU out of the equation. At normal resolutions or with a dual-GPU setup, you’d likely see little difference between the two chips.

Considering the Athlon II X4’s advantage in encoding tasks we’re going to declare it the winner. Even taking into account that it was slower in our two photo-oriented tasks: ProShow Producer and Photoshop CS3, we still think the Athlon II X4 has the edge. Besides, it’s 50 percent cheaper than the Core 2 Quad. And at half the price of the Core i5, this one is an easy win for AMD.

BENCHMARKS

CPU	2.6GHz Athlon II X4 620	2.33GHz Core 2 Quad Q8200	2.66GHz Core i5-750*
MainConcept Reference 1.0 (sec)	1772	1976	1337
Premiere Pro CS3 (sec)	899	888	620
Cinebench 10 64-bit	9941	10184	14442
Handbrake (sec)	1559	1681	1198
PCMark Vantage 64-bit Overall	5792	5299	7208
POV Ray 3.7	2334	2191	2773
Photoshop CS3 (sec)	165	146	128
ProShow Producer (sec)	1224	997	700
Everest 5.0 RAM Read (MB/s)	8544	7511	12867
Everest 5.0 RAM Write (MB/s)	6960	7059	9881
Everest 5.0 RAM Copy (MB/s)	10028	7397	14684
Everest 5.0 RAM Latency (ns)	52.5	66.7	31
Sandra RAM Bandwidth (GB/s)	12.3	7.2	16.8
Fritz Chess Benchmark	12.93	13.79	17.38
3DMark Vantage Overall	13727	14260	14947
3DMark Vantage GPU	11371	11840	12249
3DMark Vantage CPU	36269	36863	44066
Valve Particle Test (fps)	71	81	124
Valve Map Compilation (sec)	157	163	121
Crysis (fps)	83.1	99.5	147
Resident Evil 5(fps)	70.7	70.3	109
World in Conflict (fps)	137	155	266
WinRar 3.20 RAW (sec)	1067	1110	706

* Bold score denotes the winner, but only between the Core 2 Quad and Athlon II X4. The Core i5 trounces both the Athlon II X4 and Core 2 Quad in every benchmark but we included it for reference.

Build a Kick-Ass $500 Gaming PC, Play Crysis at 40FPS!

Florence Ion — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 11:30:00 -0500

Back in December, we gave you the low-down on how to build a kick-ass $800 gaming PC. Well, lately the economy has been in a bit of a shamble, so we’ve lowered our price ceiling to spec out a tightly budgeted $500 rig that will deliver admirable gaming framerates and still leave you some cash to actually buy some games and pay off that credit-card debt.

The last time we conducted a $500 PC build-off (October, 2007), we matched a Allendale-based Core 2 E4300 CPU with a Nvidia 8500GT, which gave us pathetic FEAR and Quake 4 benchmark results. That build cut so many corners that we even opted out of a case and used a cardboard box instead (in retrospect, a really bad idea). Almost two years later, the tech is better and prices for some component categories have dramatically dropped. A bit wiser and gutsier, we were determined to build a PC that could actually play modern games.

In order to keep the machine under $500, we factored out the price of purchasing an operating system, and assume that you already have a copy of Windows XP, Vista, or the Windows 7 Beta lying around. And obviously, we were forced to restrain ourselves from choosing the high-end premium parts that we would normally recommend to readers. But despite the low cost, we actually didn't have to make any real compromises to get a solid gaming machine. Our (relatively) cheapo PC actually surprised us in our benchmark tests -- scoring close to our zero-point system -- and made us feel confident that a rock bottom price doesn’t automatically mean rock bottom performance.

Join us as we take on the $500 Gaming PC Challenge!

The Parts

Videocard: PowerColor AX4870 512MB

Price: $175

We started off by picking a videocard, since this is the most important part of a gaming PC. Using one of Nvidia or ATI's ultra budget-cards may have been sensible given our $500 limit, but we didn't want pay for anything that wouldn't beat the hell out of integrated graphics in a real gaming benchmark. With the bottom of the barrel out of the question, we targeted the top performers of the last generation, and were delighted to find an ATI 4870 card priced at $175. The 4870 was one of our favorite price/performance videocards of last summer, and would guarantee that we could play games like Unreal Tournament III and Crysis.

CPU: Intel Pentium E5200 2.5GHz Wolfdale

Price: $71

Next was our toughest choice, the processor. On a budget machine, we seriously considered an AMD part, but ended up choosing a Pentium E5200 which has been highly touted for its speedy performance and power efficiency. The E5200 is a Pentium Dual-Core, which is a step under the Core 2 series. But rest assured, this is not a Pentium 4 or Pentium D. This chip is made from the same 45nm Wolfdale architecture as the Core 2 branded E7000/8000 line, with an 800mhz FSB and 2MB cache (down from 1066 and 3MB on the Core 2's).

Motherboard: MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775

Price: $90

Once we had the CPU picked out, we knew we needed a low-cost LGA 775 motherboard. MSI's P43-based Neo3-F was as bare-bones as we could find without sacrificing features like integrated audio and NIC. This mobo supports Core 2 processors up to 1333MHz FSB, so it'll still work with higher-end Core 2s and even tolerate overclocking. On the GPU side, your upgrades will be limited to swapping out the videocard, since there's only one PCI-E slot, which takes SLI and Crossfire out of the picture.

Memory: Crucial 2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800

Price: $23

We all know memory is cheap, but as it turns out, we're even cheaper. That's why with over 60% of our budget already spent on the CPU, GPU, and motherboard, we opted for 2GB of DDR2 800 memory. You can probably find memory priced even lower online, but we stuck with a trusted brand that we knew wouldn't fail us. If you decide to go over budget on your own build, this one one of the first places where we would recommend making an upgrade.

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223F 22X DVDR

Price: $25

Having skimped out on some of the other parts, we thought that our $500 PC deserved one undeniably kick-ass component. So we equipped it with our current favorite optical drive, the Samsung SH-S223F. It outperformed the competition by over 2 minutes in a 7GB DVD rip test.

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB

Price: $50

Here's another category where we really wished we had more cash to spend. Our $50 hard drive is by no means a slouch, but 320GB seems like such a waste when we know that terabyte drives can be found for only $100. But again, since this build is also a test of our restraint, we were happy with the Western Digital Caviar SE, which has enough storage for an OS, games, productivity software, and even our music collection.

Case and Power Supply: Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black

When we got down to the case and power supply, we had less than $100 left to find suitable housing and power plant for our rig before we could start construction. A while we normally would never do this for a mid-range or high-end build, we bought a combo chassis and PSU. Rosewill had a set that cost almost exactly what we had left from our allocation, which included a 500-watt PSU with PCI-E and SATA power connectors. Since our system uses mostly low-power parts, we have faith that this PSU will be sufficient to juice our machine during processor and GPU-intensive activities. Again, if you have any more budget to spare, a third-party PSU from Corsair or Antec would still be preferable.

Price: $75

Price Breakdown

Component:	Make and Model:	Price	(after Rebate)	Newegg Link
Motherboard	MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775	$90	$80	Link
CPU	Intel Pentium E5200	$71		Link
Videocard	Powercolor AX4870 512MB	$175	$155	Link
RAM	Crucial 2GB DDR2/800	$23		Link
Hard Drive	Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS	$50		Link
Optical Drive	Samsung SH-S223F	$25		Link
Case + Power Supply	Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black	$75		Link

Total		$509	$479

On to the step-by-step build and benchmarks!

1. Prep the Power Supply

In most modern gaming cases, the power supply is mounted on the bottom of the chassis. In this instance, the PSU is at the top and came shipped to us already screwed in and ready to use. We prepped this PSU by moving its power cables out of the way to make room for the motherboard. As we stated in the parts list, we were a little hesitant to go with a bundled PSU, and wouldn't be too surprised if it failed while heavy gaming on a blistering summer day. You always have the option of running a third-party power supply, and if you decide to go that route, you'll need to unscrew the four screws holding the Rosewill PSU in and take out the unit by pulling it out towards the front of the case.

2. Drop in the CPU

Installing your processor is still one of the most delicate steps in building a PC, which is why dropping in the CPU before you mount the motherboard is the safest option. Before you install your processor, remove the black protective shield covering the socket and store it somewhere you won’t forget. Saving this small piece of plastic is a good idea, in case you need to send back the CPU or the motherboard to the manufacturers.

The next step is to unlatch the metal arm next to the socket and lift the retention plate. Then, inspect your CPU and the socket on the motherboard to make sure that the notches on both ends match up. There should be an imprinted triangle on one corner of the processor's heat spreader that should be aligned to a corresponding triangle on one corner of the socket frame. Carefully drop in the CPU, making sure to keep it parallel to the socket. Do not drop in the CPU at an angle and do not slide it around when it is in the socket, otherwise you may damage the pins on the processor, or the motherboard.

Once the CPU is in place, drop the retention clamp and then use your thumb to carefully push the metal locking arm down, making sure it clicks into position. The arm may feel a bit springy and resistant, but this is normal.

Now it’s time to add some cooling power to our processor.

3. Lock in the Heatsink

The retail version of the Intel CPU comes with a stock cooler. In our experience, stock coolers are more than sufficient, especially if you don’t plan on overclocking. Some would say that the cooler is even easier to apply, but in some instances it can be really difficult to secure the cooler to the motherboard.

For the sake of simplicity, the stock cooler removes a step with pre-applied thermal paste. Before you lock in the heatsink, make sure that you remove any protective film from the cooler’s thermal grease; leaving it on could cause your processor to overheat. Then, line up the four legs of the heatsink with the holes surrounding the processor bed. Let the cooler rest on top of the CPU. Make sure that each leg’s locking mechanism is in the install position with the legs facing outward, away from the center of the cooler. Press firmly on the first leg until you head a click and feel the pegs snap into place. Repeat the process on the opposite side.

Once you hear all four legs snapped in, you should be able to flip the motherboard over and see that they slightly stick out from the bottom. If you notice that there’s a leg not fully secured or the heatsink still feels lose, try unlocking it with a flathead screwdriver and repeating the process. It may take several tries before you’re successful.

After the cooler is securely fastened to the motherboard, plug in the fan’s four-pin power cable into the corresponding four-pin head on the motherboard. Make sure there aren’t any wires caught in the CPU fan.

4. Mount the Motherboard

Before you can install the motherboard, you’ll need to install the I/O shield, which is the metal plate that labels your inputs and outputs on the back of the case. But first, you’ll need to pop out the default shield that comes equipped with your case. Use your screwdriver to push out the I/O shield from inside the case. Then, take the new I/O shield and push it in from outside of the case; it might takes a few hits of your screwdriver bottom to lock it in. Bend the tabs towards the outside of the case so that the ports protruding from the side of your motherboard will fit comfortably.

Next, locate the small bag of mounting screws that came with your case. Inside, there should be at least eight brass standoffs, though the typical number is nine (one for each screw hole in the mobo). While you’re at it, make sure to take out the screws to mount the motherboard in as well.

Rosewill has marked the interior of the case with where these standoffs should be affixed for an ATX motherboard, but you can lay down your motherboard on the inside of the case to see exactly where they all line up, just for posterity. Twist in the brass standoffs by hand—you can tighten them with pliers if you feel it’s necessary. Once you’ve placed the standoffs, make sure they line up with the holes on your motherboard and confirm that you can clearly see them.

Lay the case down on its side to install the motherboard. Carefully lower the board into the case, making sure you line up the ports on the mobo with their respective slots in the I/O shield. Once you’re certain everything is lined up properly, start screwing the motherboard down, using a Phillips head screwdriver to tighten it down. Be careful not to use too much force, lest you accidentally crack or damage the board.

Keep the case lying on its back for the next few steps.

5. Add Some Long Term Memory

Installing memory is fairly easy. However, if you drop it into the wrong slots, you could hamper the performance of your rig.
Many motherboard manufacturers color-code their slots, which makes installation as easy as connecting two Lego pieces together. Not all mobos abide to the same color scheme, however, so consult your manual beforehand.

The MSI board we’re using follows an alternating orange-and-green color scheme. Before you drop in your matching RAM sticks, pull back the slot levers. Locate the indented notches on the bottom of each RAM stick and match it to the notch in the motherboard slot, then gently press the memory into the orange slots by pushing each end of the stick with our fingers until the levers lock into position.

Inserting the memory may take more force than you think, so don’t hesitate to push. If your RAM is able to rock back and forth in the slot, that could mean you have the stick in backwards. If you do everything correctly, the retention levers should have automatically moved into position with an audible click. Make sure you leave the levers down on the occupied and unoccupied RAM slots, since an extended lever can damage the video card during installation.

6. Pop in the Videocard

With only one x16 PCI-E slot on our motherboard, there’s only one place to fit our Radeon 4870. Thankfully, our GPU is thin enough that it won’t be too hard to install.

Before you plug in the videocard, you’ll need to clear a slot for it in the case. Remove two of the rear PCI card shield on the case by punching it out with a screwdriver. Then, bend it repeatedly back and forth until it tears off.

Keep the GPU perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard so that it properly sits in the slot. Make sure the card makes complete contact with the slot and is fitted all the way in. Once the card is in place, screw the mounting bracket to the chassis.

7. Install the Optical and Hard Drives

Before installing the optical drive, you’ll need to remove the front panel on the case and remove a bezel from that piece to open a slot for the drive to slide into its bay.

Stand up the case. Remove the entire front panel by gripping the bottom and pulling it towards you while holding the rest of the case in place. Set that part face down continue by unscrewing the top bezel so that it remains open, allowing the optical drive to poke through when you eventually snap front panel back on.

Find your mounting screws from the bag that came with your case (refer to the photo to see what they look like), and affix them to the holes on the optical drive. Afterwards, slide in the optical drive through the first slot and push in until it locks.

Now, to install the hard drive you’ll have to remove the 3.5" drive cage directly underneath where the optical drive rests. To detach it, unlock the cage by swinging the latch to the left. Slide the HDD into the lower slot of the cage, since the top slots do not match with that of the hard drive, and the middle slot is a bit awkward to work with.

Push in the hard drive until the holes on both sides match up to the drive's screw sockets and then secure it in with the mounting screws that came with the hard drive.

Slide the cage back into the position it was before you pulled it out of the case and switch the latch to the right to lock it in and close it. You should now snap the front panel back onto the case.

8. Tame the Wires

Now it’s time for our favorite part of today’s segment—hooking up those data cables! You’ll need two SATA data cables to run one from your motherboard to your optical and another to the hard drive. Make sure that the hard drive that contains your operating system is plugged into the first SATA port on your motherboard. The MSI Board can connect up to six SATA devices, which leaves you plenty of room for upgrades in the future.

Next up are the tricky front panel connections. Find the color-coded cables near the front of your case and isolate the HDD LED, the power LED, the reset switch, and the power switch—this information should all be labeled on the connecting part of each wire. It’s easier to plug in the power and reset switches first, since their connecting areas are noticeably labeled on the mobo. Grab the isolated HDD LED line and plug it into the orange section, making sure the colored wire matches up with the + pin on the motherboard. Repeat this process with the power LED wire as well. Don’t worry if you manage to mix up the wires; a faulty connection will not harm your new system. Refer to the chart if you can't figure out which front-panel connector plugs into which colored pin on the motherboard.

Description of Connector	Marking on Motherboard	Wire Color	Electrode
Front Panel Speaker	Speaker	Red	+
		Black	-
Power Switch	Power Sw	Orange	+
		White	-
Power LED	+P LED	Blue	+
	-P LED	White	-
Reset Switch	Reset Sw	Blue	+
		White	-
Hard Drive LED	H.D.D.LED	Red	+
		White	-

We suggest that you hook up the case’s front-mounted USB ports, especially if you’ll be storing your newly assembled computer under a desk, where it can be a bit difficult to plug in a peripheral on a rear port. Connect the labeled USB cable to the JUSB1 pins; it should slide in very easily. The last connection you will need is for the front panel audio; again, consider how much easier it is to plug in a headset from the front than routing around to the back. Us the HD Audio connector and plug it into the JAUD1 pins on the bottom left corner of the motherboard.

Now that you’re finished taming those pesky wires, you may want to invest a buck on a bag of zip ties. Use them efficiently to group your wires together and reduce the mess of wire appendages roaming free in your computer cabin.

9. We Need Power!

There’s no other way to fire up your newly assembled computer without adding some power to your parts. This is the home stretch of the PC building process; just remember not to leave any components unplugged.

Make sure that the PSU is not plugged into a wall socket and that the switch on the power supply is set to “—“, meaning it’s off. Grab the 24-pin connection from the power supply and connect it to the motherboard’s power connector, located to the right of the memory slots. Pop it into place and gently tug to make sure it’s locked in securely.

Locate the four-pin ATX power connecter and hook it up to its appropriate socket; this will supply supplemental power to the processor.

We ran into a bit of an issue when connecting power to our GPU. The power supply we received only had one PCI-E power cable, so we hooked up an adapter to convert a 4-pin molex cord into the second six-pin PCI-E cable that the Radeon 4870 needs.

Lastly, plug in the thin SATA power cables into the hard drive and the optical drive. These are the flat power cables that resemble longer versions of the SATA data cable.

10. Operate Your System

Now that you’re finished building your PC, you’ll need to install an operating system. If you want to use Windows XP and you don’t have an old disc lying around, you can purchase an OEM version off of Newegg for $100.

Since we didn’t factor in the price for the OS, the choice is yours; XP, Vista, or even the readily available Windows 7 Beta. We chose to use an old XP key from a previous build to install and run our benchmarks, which we believe is what most budget-minded builders would do.

Check the following before you decide to install an operating system:

-    All the parts are properly seated
-    All the cables are in place
-    Double check that the front panel connections are correct
-    Plug in the monitor, keyboard, and mouse
-    Plug in the power cord to the PSU
-    Flip the PSU switch to the on position

When everything is read to go, press the power and voila! Hit the DEL key during startup to be taken to the BIOS screen.
Go to Advanced BIOS Features – Boot sequence and select the CD/DCD optical drive as your first boot device. Press ESC to go back and disable the Full Screen Logo Display to enable Quick Booting and increase your boot time. Once you’ve made the necessary changes, press F10 and select Yes. The PC will restart and during reboot, insert your Windows CD of choice into the optical drive and setup will begin. Follow the instructions to successfully install Windows.

After Windows has installed, head back to the BIOS set up and change the boot sequence to set it up so that the hard drive boots first and then the optical drive. Find the manufacturer’s CD that came with your MOBO and be sure to install all the appropriate drivers, as well as the drivers that came with your GPU.

Hooray! Now you’re all finished assembling this PC. That wasn’t so hard, now was it?

Benchmarks

	Zero Point	$500 Budget PC
Premiere Pro CS3	1,260 sec	1,500 sec
Photoshop CS3	150 sec	164 sec
ProShow	1,415 sec	1,728 sec
MainConcept	1,872 sec	2,920 sec
Crysis	26 fps	WNR*
Unreal Tournament 3	92 fps	122 fps

Our current desktop Zero Point test bed consists of a quad-core 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700, 2GB of Corsair DDR2/800 RAM on an EVGA 680 SLI motherboard. We run two EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX cards in SLI mode, Western Digital 150GB Raptor and 500GB Caviar hard drives, LG GGC-H20L, Sound Blaster X-Fi, and PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 Quad. OS is Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

*Crysis would not run in"Very High" quality settings in this system build, since we were using Windows XP, which does not support DirectX 10.

Crysis (DX 9 High Quality)

Resolution	Framerate
1280x1024	44.42 FPS
1680x1050	42.57 FPS
1900x1200	36.22 FPS

Performance Analysis

We put our lean and mean $500 gaming rig up against our standard zero point machine to compare its performance against a rig that costs three times as much (when we first built it). The zero point system, equipped with a Core 2 Quad and a Velociraptor edged out our substantially slower turtle in nearly every race. Premier Pro tests showed a 4 and a half minute difference and with Photoshop we only had a 14 second difference. Photodex ProShow Producer showed only a 5 second difference while MainConcept Reference showed the true power of four cores, citing a 17-minute difference from our zero point. Still, the $500 PC did better than average in our tests -- definitely better than a comparably priced notebook -- and proves to be a really decent and affordable desktop computer.

We had some high expectations in the gaming department from our budget system, especially compared to the weak scores our last $500 PC delivered two years ago. Our pick of a 4870 graphics card came through when the lean machine delivered 122 frames per second in Unreal Tournament III, 30 frames per second more than the dual-8800 GTX-equipped zero point.

The big test, of course was Crysis, which is still the most GPU-intensive PC game. We ran our Crysis tests at three different resolutions: 1920x1200, 1680x1280, and 1280x1024; each one gave us a smooth picture and was void of any choppiness. At 1280x1024, the standard resolution for most 19" monitors, Crysis ran at over 44 frames per second -- an impressive number that's more than playable. Even at 1900x1200, Crysis didn't stutter and pushed out 36fps. Not bad at all!

However, we could only run the benchmarks at a DX9 High detail settings in Windows XP, as opposed to Very High with DirectX 10, which is only available on a Vista machine. This is why we’ve labeled it ”WNR” (Would Not Run) on our zero point comparison benchmark chart. But even with that caveat, we believe that most people who are building and gaming on a $500 PC will be using Windows XP, and on monitors that probably won't run higher than 1680x1050 resolution. And with those settings, this rig is nothing to scoff at. If you're a hardcore gamer who demands nothing less than DX10 gaming on "Very High" detail, you probably aren't building a sub $800 machine.

It is clear that there is a noticeable performance difference between our budget system and our zero point, but if you’re a budget-constrained gamer who wants to test the waters with an affordable system, and still be able to do everyday tasks—like edit photos, video, and run more than a few processes at a time—this $500 PC is a strong bet.

Have a different $500 PC config that you think would perform better than ours? Post your specs in the comments section below!

$1000 Budget PC Buyer's Guide -- Updated Prices and Parts for March 2009

Norman Chan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 12:30:00 -0500

It's been far too long since we've run a Parts and Price Guide on the website, but we're now ready to get back into the groove of monthly component recommendations for your next PC build. This month, we're starting off with a $1000 PC. You'll be surprised at how much power and storage you can get for a grand -- even we're hesitant to call it a mere budget rig. In the following weeks, we'll also be running guides for $1500, $2000 systems, and will even try assembling and benchmarking a $500 configuration for the really budget-conscious (the troubled economy pretty much mandates it!). But for now, take a dive into our choices for a respectable system, and sound off on how you would build your PC differently!

(All prices found on newegg.com, as of March 8th, and do not include mail-in rebates)

Motherboard

Asus M3N72-D
$128, www.asus.com

We haven't had a chance to review this nForce 750a motherboard, but its support for SLI and 1066 DDR2 memory (with AM2+ CPUs) makes it ideal for the budget buyer. Dual PCI-E x16 and x2.2 slots give you plenty of breathing room for expansion, and the mobo even has integrated 8-series Nvidia graphics if you don't plan on gaming with a discrete GPU (or hate freedom). A plethora of I/O ports (12 USB supported), integrated Realtek audio, ExpressGate OS, and robust overclocking abilities makes this a smart buy at a great price.

CPU

AMD Phenom II X4 810
$169, www.amd.com

AMD's Phenom II won't win benchmark battles against Intel's top Core i7 CPUs, but these chips are competing for a different market. This 2.6GHz part will give you respectable performance (and overclocking potential) for its sub-$200 price. When you pit the Phenom II against a comparable Core 2 Quad from Intel, Amd walks away with a decisive price and performance win. One thing to note is this is a Socket AM3 chip, which will work in AM2+ motherboards like the one we recommend above.

Memory

Kingston KVR800D2K2 4GB
$41, www.kingston.com

Nothing much to say here. DDR2 memory is so cheap these days that there's no reason to get less than 4GB for your new system. To make use of all 4GB, we recommend you use a 64-bit OS like Vista Home Premium. In our experience, all the top memory brands are reliable, so you can't go wrong with Kingston, Crucial, Corsair, OCZ, or Patriot.

Videocard

EVGA GTX 260 216
$250, www.evga.com

From our EVGA GTX 260 review: "With the same stock clock speeds but 24 more shader processors than the original, the new version of the 260 GTX delivers comparable performance to the 4870 at a similar price. The speeds and feeds are about the same as the original 260’s, although EVGA clocked this card’s core at 626MHz (up from 576MHz stock) and includes 896MB of GDDR3 running on a 448-bit bus at 1053MHz (stock is 999MHz)... Performance was about what we expected; the card delivered scores that were slower than a GeForce GTX 280’s but slightly faster than the 4870’s in shader-intensive games such as Crysis." In other words, this is a fantastic mid-range part. Especially since the price has dropped to $250.

Power Supply

Corsair VX550 Watt
$104, www.corsair.com

SLI compatibility with dual-PCIE power cables (one six-pin and another eight-pin), a dedicated +12V rail, six SATA power cables, and six four-pin molex cables makes this PSU more than beefy enough to power our config. The only thing you won't be able to do is run two GTX 280 GPUs if you choose that upgrade path, because each require two PCIE power cables.

Case

NZXT Tempest
$110, www.nzxt.com

This has been our favorite mid-tower case for months, besting out the similarly configured Antec 900 (the NZXT is slightly cheaper). From our review: "We experienced no difficulties whatsoever installing a modern-day system into this no-nonsense chassis. There was plenty of room to manage cables around our huge 8800 GTX card, and the case’s eight hard drive bays come with screwless rails preinstalled—you pop them off, attach them to a drive, and slide the whole deal into place. The two 12cm front-panel fans take care of the cooling efforts."

Operating System

Microsoft Vista Home Premium 64-bit OEM
$100, www.microsoft.com

If you're still wary of running 64-bit Windows, man up and have some faith. 64-bit Vista may have been a mess when it first launched, the Microsoft has hotfixed and patched the vast majority of compatibility problems with its soon-to-be-suceded OS. Trust us: 64-bit Vista stable, and it'll let you use all 4GB of memory you bought for this rig.

Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB
$104, www.westerndigital.com

Along with memory, hard drive prices have also plummetted in the past six months. We still find it amazing that you can buy a terabyte of storage for almost less than $100. The Digital Caviar Green is relatively quiet and power-efficient, and doesn't fall victim to firmware errors that some of its competitors are currently suffering from. It may not be as fast as a Velociraptor, but we think most users will be happy with its modest speeds.

Optical Drive

Samsung SH-S223F
$23, www.samsung.com

The Samsung SH-223 is a minor upgrade from its predecessor, the SH-203, but it’s our new favorite. The burner has 22x DVD +/-R and though a majority of the specifications mirrored that of the older model, the SH-223 is seconds speedier. And don't worry if you can't find it listed on Samsung's website -- this drive is still very much alive and in production.

Parts:	Price:
Motherboard	$128
CPU	$169
Memory	$41
Video Card	$250
Power Supply	$89
Case	$110
Operating System	$100
Hard Drive	$104
Optical Drive	$23

Total: $1,014

$800 Budget PC Buyer’s Guide -- Updated Prices and Parts For October 2008

Benson Hong — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0500

As some of you may recall, we featured a Budget Badass Buyer’s Guide at the beginning of the month to provide some guidance to those looking for solid performance at what we, Maximum PC, would consider to be a reasonable price. We read your responses to the build and many felt that $1500 was a bit over what the typical user would consider “budget.” So, we took it a step further and created a Budget PC below the $1500 mark. In fact, we even dropped it under $1000. At $800, we couldn’t quite figure out if it would even be possible to construct a PC that could play the latest games or even do some basic photo-manipulation in Photoshop. We stepped up to the challenge and built this Budget PC and put it to the test against our hardcore, $5000 machines to see how they match up.

Since we are still in the process of assembling the rig, benchmarks have yet to be run. For now, we give you our parts list. Check back soon for the results from our tests!

(Prices as listed on Newegg)

Videocard

Visiontek Radeon HD 4850
$185, www.visiontek.com

Named the Best of the Best mid-range video card, the Visiontek Radeon HD 4850 offers everything you need in a sub-$200 video card. Don't be afraid to toss the latest games at this GPU, just don't expect Crysis to amaze you with anything over 10 FPS.

Motherboard

MSI P45 Neo3
$110, www.msicomputer.com

Sporting Intel's latest P45 chipset, the P45 Neo3 is a toned down version of the popular P45 Platinum. The board only has one 16x PCI-E slot leaving the idea for SLI or Crossfire in the dust, but with our budget at $800, adding another video card to the equation is definitely out of the question.

CPU

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3GHz Wolfsdale
$170 (Retail), www.intel.com

A few years ago, purchasing a PC with a Pentium 4 3GHz processor for under $800 was nearly impossible. Now, we can easily slip in a Core 2 Duo at a fairly low price. The E8400 Wolfsdale core features a 6MB L2 cache and 45nm technology allowing for a larger memory bandwidth. The chip also has massive overclocking potential.

Memory

Corsair 2GB DDR2 800
$37, www.corsair.com

We've recommended 4GB in our past build-it guides for the hardcore users, but with a budget of $800, 2GB will suffice for this system. With quality memory from Corsair, the XMS series will provide great performance for the budget user.

Case, power supply, hard drive, and optical drive on the next page!

Case

Antec Three Hundred
$55, www.antec.com

Antec has always had a solid series of chassis. While the Three Hundred lacks a few features such as screwless mounting and a fairly cramped interior, it still offers plenty of cooling and a sturdy design. And for $55, we can't really complain since it's half the price of its budget case rival, the NZXT Tempst.

Power Supply

Antec EarthWatts 500W
$50, www.antec.com

We're usually a little weary on "green" hardware for our PCs, but the EarthWatts series from Antec is no joke when it comes to energy efficiency. With its 80 PLUS Certification and stable power output, not only will you be saving money building your PC, but you'll also be saving on your energy bill.

Operating System

Windows Vista 32-bit Home Basic
$100 (OEM), www.microsoft.com

Ubuntu Linux
Free, www.ubuntu.com

Hard Drive

Seagate 500GB Barracuda
$70, www.seagate.com

Seagate's popular Barracuda series has still yet to disappoint. So, when we were looking for a budget hard drive, we first turned to this 500GB Barracuda. 500GB may not be enough storage for the hardcore users out there, but it is plenty to the average user.

Optical Drive

Samsung SH-S223F DVD Burner
$26, www.samsung.com

We've hyped up this drive for the past few build-it guides. With it's solid performance and affordable price, we feel this burner is suitable for any system or budget.

Total: $803

Budget Badass Buyer’s Guide -- Updated Prices and Parts For October 2008

Benson Hong — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0500

Since our last Budget Badass update back in July, the hardware industry has made some dramatic turns as far as new technology goes. With the release of the energy-efficient Penryn core from Intel, we took a side step away from the Kentsfield core and took a swing at the Q9300. While the Q9300 sports a slightly smaller cache than the Q6600, we found the Penryn to perform better in our tests. With the extra leeway we had in the budget from the previous configuration, we also swapped out the Radeon 4870 for a beefier GTX 280 while keeping the final price tag under $1500. Now this, my friends, is what we would like to call a Budget Badass!

Videocard

BFG GeForce GTX 280 1GB
$389, www.bfgtech.com

With the drop in video card prices, we couldn't help but to move up the graphic card chain to the next best thing. The GTX 280 is faster across all benchmarks against the Radeon 4870 and features all the video-processing capabilities available on the 9000 series cards.

Motherboard

MSI P35 Neo2-FR
$120, www.msicomputer.com

One of our best budget motherboards to date. Offering stellar performance with a price tag hovering around the $100 zone, this motherboard will meet all your budget standards and more.

CPU

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.5GHz Penryn
$259 (Retail), www.intel.com

Despite the chip's smaller cache size, the 5-percent clock-speed advantage and its faster benchmark results were enough to put this chip ahead of the Q6600.

Memory

Patriot 4GB DDR2 800
$80, www.patriotmem.com

Memory seems to be getting cheaper and cheaper these days, giving one more reasons to go for the full 4GB. Since Vista is known for it's memory thievery, it wouldn't hurt to stock up on the extra GB.

Case

NZXT Tempest
$110, www.nxzt.com

This budget case offers a very spacious interior, screwless hard drive bays, and plenty of cooling for the budget user. There's a reason why this chasis received a kickass verdict.

Power Supply

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610Watt
$110, www.pcpower.com

PC Power has been known for it's no-BS wattage output, and since we are Maximum PC, we concur with no-BS.

Operating System

Windows XP Professional
$140 (OEM), www.microsoft.com

Alternatively, you can buy the cheaper OEM version of Windows Vista Premium or save a hundred bucks with Ubuntu Linux.

Windows Vista Premium
$110 (OEM), www.microsoft.com

Ubuntu Linux
Free, www.ubuntu.com

Hard Drive

Samsung F1 HD103UJ 1TB
$135, www.samsung.com

It's our Best of the Best hard drive, and since we can't cram a pricey Velociraptor into our tight budget, we feel this 1TB of storage goodness is the next best thing.

Optical Drive

Samsung SH-S223F DVD Burner
$26, www.samsung.com

We were sad to see the SH-S203N model discontinued after such a good showing, but we were quickly condoled with the SH-S223F and its remarkably fast speeds.

Sound Card

Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
$91, www.creative.com

It's not quite at the level of the Xtremegamer Fatal1ty Pro, but for almost half the cost, this one will tickle your ears just fine.

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Build a Kick-Ass $500 Gaming PC, Play Crysis at 40FPS!

The Parts

Videocard: PowerColor AX4870 512MB

Price: $175

CPU: Intel Pentium E5200 2.5GHz Wolfdale

Price: $71

Motherboard: MSI P43 Neo3-F LGA 775

Price: $90

Memory: Crucial 2GB DDR2 SDRAM 800

Price: $23

Optical Drive: Samsung SH-S223F 22X DVDR

Price: $25

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200AAJS 320GB

Price: $50

Case and Power Supply: Rosewill TU-155 II 500 Black

Price: $75

Price Breakdown

1. Prep the Power Supply

2. Drop in the CPU

3. Lock in the Heatsink

4. Mount the Motherboard

5. Add Some Long Term Memory

6. Pop in the Videocard

7. Install the Optical and Hard Drives

8. Tame the Wires

9. We Need Power!

10. Operate Your System

Benchmarks

Performance Analysis

$1000 Budget PC Buyer's Guide -- Updated Prices and Parts for March 2009

Motherboard

Asus M3N72-D$128, www.asus.com

CPU

AMD Phenom II X4 810$169, www.amd.com

Memory

Kingston KVR800D2K2 4GB $41, www.kingston.com

Videocard

EVGA GTX 260 216$250, www.evga.com

Power Supply

Corsair VX550 Watt$104, www.corsair.com

Case

NZXT Tempest$110, www.nzxt.com

Operating System

Microsoft Vista Home Premium 64-bit OEM $100, www.microsoft.com

Hard Drive

Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB$104, www.westerndigital.com

Optical Drive

Samsung SH-S223F$23, www.samsung.com

Total: $1,014

$800 Budget PC Buyer’s Guide -- Updated Prices and Parts For October 2008

Videocard

Visiontek Radeon HD 4850$185, www.visiontek.com

Motherboard

MSI P45 Neo3$110, www.msicomputer.com

CPU

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3GHz Wolfsdale$170 (Retail), www.intel.com

Memory

Corsair 2GB DDR2 800$37, www.corsair.com

Case

Antec Three Hundred$55, www.antec.com

Power Supply

Antec EarthWatts 500W$50, www.antec.com

Operating System

Windows Vista 32-bit Home Basic$100 (OEM), www.microsoft.com

Ubuntu LinuxFree, www.ubuntu.com

Hard Drive

Seagate 500GB Barracuda $70, www.seagate.com

Optical Drive

Samsung SH-S223F DVD Burner$26, www.samsung.com

Total: $803

Asus M3N72-D
$128, www.asus.com

AMD Phenom II X4 810
$169, www.amd.com

Kingston KVR800D2K2 4GB
$41, www.kingston.com

EVGA GTX 260 216
$250, www.evga.com

Corsair VX550 Watt
$104, www.corsair.com

NZXT Tempest
$110, www.nzxt.com

Microsoft Vista Home Premium 64-bit OEM
$100, www.microsoft.com

Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB
$104, www.westerndigital.com

Samsung SH-S223F
$23, www.samsung.com

Visiontek Radeon HD 4850
$185, www.visiontek.com

MSI P45 Neo3
$110, www.msicomputer.com

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3GHz Wolfsdale
$170 (Retail), www.intel.com

Corsair 2GB DDR2 800
$37, www.corsair.com

Antec Three Hundred
$55, www.antec.com

Antec EarthWatts 500W
$50, www.antec.com

Windows Vista 32-bit Home Basic
$100 (OEM), www.microsoft.com

Ubuntu Linux
Free, www.ubuntu.com

Seagate 500GB Barracuda
$70, www.seagate.com

Samsung SH-S223F DVD Burner
$26, www.samsung.com

BFG GeForce GTX 280 1GB
$389, www.bfgtech.com

MSI P35 Neo2-FR
$120, www.msicomputer.com

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 2.5GHz Penryn
$259 (Retail), www.intel.com

Patriot 4GB DDR2 800
$80, www.patriotmem.com

NZXT Tempest
$110, www.nxzt.com

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 610Watt
$110, www.pcpower.com

Windows XP Professional
$140 (OEM), www.microsoft.com

Windows Vista Premium
$110 (OEM), www.microsoft.com

Ubuntu Linux
Free, www.ubuntu.com

Samsung F1 HD103UJ 1TB
$135, www.samsung.com

Samsung SH-S223F DVD Burner
$26, www.samsung.com

Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer
$91, www.creative.com