Posted 11/18/2008 at 07:54:22pm

But nothing beats real full range speakers if you have the room, and money of course. I do love how people complain about the size of the woofer. Its not a sub either, but in most people's computer space a real sub would be more of a problem than a help. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Posted 11/03/2008 at 09:44:27am

 My biggest concern is the longevity of the pin-out, but it appears that the high end chips will all have this pin-out, and the cheaper, two channel chips and motherboards will have the smaller pin-out. 

I guess this is expected, as the i7 is really targetted at the server market and having more memory bandwidth is important there.  The budget desktop market can get by with two channel, and power-users are never going to turn down the option of "more".

The only down-side I see, is that I'm not likely to get all the parts I need for this weedend.  And cost of course, but that is a given.

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That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Posted 11/02/2008 at 08:57:56pm

I'm not sure what was more surprising, that Norm couldn't eat more than one or two Chuckles, or that the others had no idea what the candy was.  Chuckles have been around forever, and serve much the same purpose as Necco wafers or pixie stix - to get as much sugar into you as quickly and as cheaply as possible.  Water was also a bad choice, Jolt is the appropriate beverage to pair with the chewey confection, the high acidity and carbonation scour the sugar from your mouth and put it in your gut where it can do it's job. 

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That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Posted 10/27/2008 at 09:16:55am

You have:

"Although Wardell's plan still has all four limps planted safely in the cradle ..."

I think you meant "limbs", unless you think the idea is hobbled from the beginning. 

Good article though.

Posted 10/22/2008 at 09:25:12am

Two GTX280s is gross overkill at anything less than 2560 x 1600, so I have to wonder how many people actually game at that resolution.  I wonder what you'd suggest at 1920 x 1200.  If nothing else you could step up to an E8600 and get a better starting multiplier.  It's a shame they don't offer an unlocked multiplier CPU in a dual core chip, but the 10x multiplier is probably enough for most people.  Right now there is no reason to go quad-core if all you do is game.

I actually like the HDD set-up, though I probably fit the power user profile batter than the pro-gamer. 

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That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Posted 10/10/2008 at 04:38:30pm

If you want a good stand mounted mic, go for something like the Blue Snowball - B&H offers it as a kit with a stand, shock mount, and pop filter.  You can also get a wide choice of clip-on mics.  Go to a music store rather than a computer store for this.  If you are an instrument/gear-head, take a breath and don't walk out with a pro ADC and boom for your new Neumann U87.  :p

Posted 10/03/2008 at 04:36:51pm

 The drive goes for $130 as an OEM part on Newegg. The WD Black 7200rpm model is $30 more.

I've already installed one, but my need was a bit peculiar.  I had to replace the HDD on the family G5 iMac.  This is the computer where all the family photos and videos end up, so a 1TB drive made sense.  Also, the drive runs cooler as well as with lower power.  The iMac is a laptop wedged into a monitor case, the power supply is small and not robust; and heat is an issue considering how the thing is jammed in the case. I had to move some ducting to remove the old drive and fit the new one in.

Posted 09/25/2008 at 03:27:44pm

Some Mac owners would appriciate it.  I just changed the HDD on my G5 iMac, which is harder than you'd think, they really wedge it in there. 

I am not a fan of all in ones.  And since I am not a system builder and not interested in speed, I don't use my electric driver on my computer.  I have a nice set of screwdrivers that are the right size, and I use the right tool for the job.

Posted 08/25/2008 at 09:45:49am

It's an extended ATX board, look at the standoff placement.  This is a demo board, really meant for testing, especially if that SO-DIMM is for laptop testing.

I really don't like the change in pin-out.  If it was just that the 1366 pin-out was going to be meant for the server market, so that multiple chips could work on the same board, then I would understand.  If this is also limiting memory bandwidth then it has more of an affect on gamers and power users. 

I see why Intel is making this chipset though.  It is cheaper to make, probably uses fewer layers (see cheaper), and allows for an easier fit in small form factors and laptops.  OEMs don't mind that they cut down on your ability to upgrade, they'd rather you buy a new machine anyway, from them of course.

The question is, are the lower clocked i7s only going to be available in the 1160 pin-out?  Or will they also come in 1366 versions?

Posted 08/14/2008 at 06:11:18pm

The GDDR3 in the 4850 is slow compared to the memory clocks on nVidia cards or the 4870's GDDR5.  The processor has tons of very good and fairly fast shader rendering units.  So on a shader heavy game, like Conan or Crysis it cranks, especially compared to an older card like the 8800GT.  If the game required a lot of memory to perform, the 4850 in spec form doesn't outshine the older cards.  With twice the RAM maybe we see less of an issue, but that wasn't the card they reviewed.

Like the review says, if you are buying new or upgrading from a DX9 card, it is a great buy.  If you own a 8800GT there is no reason to buy this new card, the playable difference is just not worth it.  You are better off saving another $100 for the 4870.

________________________ 

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.