Archive for the 'CPU & memory' category

The latest news from the markets for the electronic components for computers are quite diverse currently. NAND-Flash memory should see its prices raise (or no longer fall) because of a production stop at a Samsung plant that will pressure the offer. But more oddly, DRAM memory prices seem to be aiming low even if some European markets (incl. UK) did not react quickly, while the price of motherboards is stable (or high) with suppliers like Asustek, MSI and Gigabyte congratulating themselves for climbing revenue during this Summer.

Along similar lines, sales of LCD screens are very brisk despite prices that do not lower since the beginning of Summer (all LCD panel manufacturers saw their shipments increase except HannStar).

Source: DigiTimes Asia.

The unreadable figures used to describe the performance of DRAM memory certainly need to be explained precisely. If you are ready for some technical reading, I invite you to DRAM latency explained on The Inquirer.

This is quite surprising. After about a month of DRAM memory prices going up (this was quite surprising), the market analyst DRAMexchange tells us that this is now the end and the prices will fall again. Apparently, despite the vows of manufacturers like Nanya whose CEO is confirming that he would not try to limit any price increases, the weak market demand (Microsoft Windows Vista is obviously still very far from creating a bear market) combined with the large manufacturing capacity is going to keep pushing prices down at a pace that will probably become painful for those with small margins.

Even if you don’t go the the extremes of CPU overclocking, you may sometimes wonder whether your CPU is too hot or not. For example, my own Athlon XP 2600+ currently displays 62°C. Is it too much?

Chris Hare comes to our help with his table of CPU characteristics. You will find there (among other things), the official max temperature of your CPU. Don’t even try to reach that temperature: It is merely the hottest point before failure (AMD and Intel will not warrant anything past this) and you should have a cooling fan or system good enough to maintain the CPU far from this, but it is an important data.

If you never entered a electronics plant, seeing how one of the biggest PC motherboard manufacturer builds them may be interesting.

Competition is tough at this level (sub-$200 dual-core processors). That is the reason why TechWareLabs decided to compare both CPUs: Intel’s E6420 vs. AMD’s 5600+. This is a confirmation that prices are set to make CPUs quite comparable. There is a slight performance advantage to Intel but for a slightly higher price.

Now, we had announced them: Summer sales. AMD started with nearly all its CPU products, Intel followed immediately, AMD announced that they would not go further for now. Today, Intel does it again for quad-core processors (but prices are already so high that you need breathing assistance to observe them in the rarefied air of this altitude, and you and I don’t dwell there).

AMD just announced two things nearly simultaneously : loosing $600 millions in operations in the last quarter (the financial balance is not good, but the message in there is: “it’s gonna be better soon”) and receiving a €262 millions from the German government (approved by the European Commission) to support the investments in their Dresden plant.

After several months telling you about the plumeting prices of CPU processors and DRAM memory, I have to inform you that the industry signals are changing. AMD and Intel are kicking prices down a last time in July before the rush that will only happen at the end of the year (with the arrival of a many new products). Simultaneously, we start hearing from DRam eXchange and Digitimes that DRAM prices are kicking up again (+20% at the end of June for DDR-2 @ 667MHz). According to DigiTimes, it would be an anticipation from the distributors restocking in preparation of the Fall rush for new machines under the -long awaited- influence of the Microsoft Windows Vista launch.

Optimal time to buy…

Having previously chosen AMD processors for the two optimized PCs we are trying to build, things will be relatively easy. The integration of the memory controller in the CPU is a great advantage since it levels off the competition for performance. We only have to choose based upon options and features.

For Gran Turismo, the fastest PC, we decided to favor extensibility with many external peripherals. We opted for the ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard:

• Passive cooling to limit noise
• Two PCI Express 16x slots with SLI support to accept a future two-graphics boards configuration using nVidia SLI boards
• Many interfaces (USB, FireWire, SATA II)
• ATX format, for an easy choice of computer case

We will add 2GB of DDR2-SDRAM memory using two slots with PC6400 – 800MHz in CAS 5-5-5-12 configuration (two sticks will be better than one from the performance point of view). The extensive price drops of this year are very helpful leading to only 86€ for Corsair-branded memory sticks.

If you happen to be willing to play with games under Windows Vista (for example, in order to take advantage of DirectX 10 that is not yet available under Windows 2000 or XP), you should seriously think about going up to 4GB (more or less, 2GB used by Vista and the rest being eaten up by big games or memory hogs like graphics applications or PhotoShop CS2). For a mere 86€ more, of course.

For the cheapest PC, we needed to keep the ATX format advantage, but the integration of a graphics card woudl allow to lower down overall price significantly: We opted for the Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H motherboard that has an on-board Radeon X1250 graphics chip to avoid paying a separate board (it will be possible to buy one later when money is available to the owner).

Its memory will be limited to 1GB for now, but you can easily extend it now (for a limited cost) or later (when really needed).

We will add more to the configuration in future posts, but we currently have:

• Gran Turismo: 113€ for an ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard and 86€ for 2GB of DDR2-SDRAM (current total: 367€)
• Easy Penny: 91€ for a Gigabyte GA-MA69G-S3H motherboard and 43€ for 1GB of DDR2-SDRAM (current total: 232€)

All prices are the best we could find in France at writing time.

Building the best possible PC for a set budget, taking into account the current market prices has always been a difficult task. We are starting today a series of posts to define the needed PC components to build an optimised PC (not only good components, but a solution as homogeneous as possible for a given application). We invite you to follow up while we build here two machines:

• Gran Turismo: An enthusiast’s PC geared toward PC gaming
• Easy Penny: A very reasonable PC able to sustain a few years without letting its owner down

In this beginning of Summer, it may seem like a preparation for Fall rush for computers (not only for students starting a new college or university year).

To start with, we will check how to choose the CPU (in a still very competitive commercial environment: AMD vs Intel, single or dual core, fast or cheap?) Those who dream about quad cores should wake up: To start with, prices are preoperly out of bounds for Core 2 Quad from Intel (not less than 500€ for a Core 2 Quad Q6600), leaving it out of our scope. Then, AMD is still pushing its quad-core solution for August and we don’t know what availability they will have then.

Nevertheless, it has become clear that dual-core solutions have entered the mainstream. The Core 2 Duo line from Intel is nicely spread all over the place but the diversity of models is making things a bit more complicated than necessary. AMD has less options and has left the field of higher-end performance. However, for normal applications like ours (let’s stay in the 150-200€ range for our best machine and less than 100€ for our penny-less student), the competition is quite hard. All the comparison articles I could find indicate that AMD and Intel align their offers on the same price for similar performance. Obviously, there are minor differences if you test one specific program, but don’t expect much: Two 150€ CPUs have the same performance (open markets are good for this).

For our enthusiast PC gamer, we decided to set our aim at the AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ (leaving aside the direct competitor of Core 2 Duo E6400). Accoridng to Tom’s Hardware, the difference is small, but I was attracted to AMD by the lower power consumption and the integration of the memory controller that levels the playground for motherboard leading to a competiton on features only (see next post).

For the cheapest PC, the recent arrival of double-core processors under the 100€ limit such as the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ is a godsend (the single-core CPUs are now officially at the end of their life). Up to now, we only had the ageing Pentium D in this price range. Curiously, now, the Intel Core 2 Duo E4300 is still a little over that 100€ limit but this could change quickly. Our choice: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ using the AM2 socket (let’s avoid the old 939 socket at the same price but with less of a future for upgrades in the AMD offer).

We will add more to the configuration in future posts, but we currently have:

• Gran Turismo: 168€ for an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+
• Easy Penny: 98€ for an AM2-socket AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+

All prices are the best we could find in France at writing time.

July will be another month of price wars for Intel and AMD (after a very bumpy April). Both announced that they would shoot prices down once again in July trying to grab a larger market share (for AMD) or trying to asphyxiate the competition (for Intel). AMD will start at the beginning of the month. Intel will follow in the last week of July.

In this context, you should notice that analysts doubt that DRAM prices will grow again. It seems that they expect NAND Flash components to recover during Summer, but Vista -which was expected to help sales- does not appear to have a significant impact on DRAM (and graphics card) sales.

The latest news from the PC component price frontline are quite disturbing as they seem contradictory.

It is now confirmed that the small LCD displays (17″ and 19″, including for laptops) are now nearly on allocation [1]. Prices are seriously going up. The analysts predict that this is a long term trend. There is a good chance of seeing small and big displays merging in a narrower price range.

For DRAM memory modules, the data seems not very consistent. In France there should be a price increase on DRAM memory (distributors are telling us that prices are at the bottom of the curve and will hike up again [2]). But iSupply tells us that the production capacity is very very large in South Korea and this should push prices down (may be even under production costs) [3]). I don’t know why, I tend to believe iSupply and not the loca distributors.

Currently, I am wandering a lot around the the web sites for OEM suppliers to manufacturers of micro-computers. This leads me to observe some apparent trends (at least in the opinions of the experts) that could be of interest if you intend to buy PC hardware in the coming months.

• DRAM memory: All the observers announce plumetting prices, they only discuss the speed of fall. Prices in September will be much lower than today and Vista is not yet ready to push the demand up.
• NAND Flash memory: The market is strangled by demand, SAMSUNG announced that they will increase their production capacity of 90% by year’s end, but in the mean timen prices should climb steeply.
• CPU: The price war between Intel and AMD is not supposed to stop any time soon. Intel seems to be trying to strangle AMD (and they could well succeed if AMD marketing plans are late this year). Double core and Quad core CPUs are driving the market.
• LCD display screens: Prices are oriented downward, but only slightly and for small sizes (including laptop screens) the demand is such that we can expect a slight price climb in the coming months.
• B&W laser printers: In the US, HP started a amazing price fall (entry point going far under 100$) even if nobody really knows why (new laser products coming? upcoming low cost color lasers? entirely something else?)

Everybody seems to be saying that this new game from Irrational Games, Bioshock, will be a beast of ressource hogger for your computer (fast processor and big graphics card). But I did not immediately find the exact hardware and software requirements (IG is quite discreet here). So, here are some speculations about what it could be from the Bioshock developers.

Minimum requirements

• Processor: 1.33 GHz CPU
• Memory: 1 GB of SDRAM
• Graphics: GeForce 7xxx or Radeon X1xxx

Recommended requirements

• Processor: 2.66 GHz CPU
• Memory: 2 GB of SDRAM
• Graphics: GeForce 8800 series or Radeon X1950 series

You knew that I had been buying STALKER (officially S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – Shadow of Chernobyl – Did you ever see a worst-to-type PC game title?) Today, I finished the game playing at Stalker level (not the easiest rookie style, but neither veteran nor master).

I can tell you it’s real fun all along. I had a real difficult time to enter the Chernobyl plant: It’s quite well defended, there is a simultaneous attack by the military (these guys decidedly don’t want to make a difference between the defenders and me; Worse, they use helicopters against me!) and you need to manage your equipment nicely if you want to run and shoot simultaneously on a very large open ground…

Highly recommended. I’m going to redo it differently (higher difficulty level and different approach to the overall cooperation). It’s worth it because the end is depending a lot on what you did during the game. Obviously, I appeared as a greedy person when I arrived at the final stage (I believe that there are at least seven different endings). We’ll see next time.

Performance note: I used 800×600 resolution with minimal quality during most of the game. However, my AMD Athlon XP 2600+ with 1GB of DRAM and old ATI 9800 Pro also allowed to use a good anti-aliasing (not full, but some makes it nicer).

This week, nVidia launched a large number of new 8500 and 8600 graphics boards (the low cost complements to the 8800 series that is currently at the high-end of the market). nVidia also presented its 8800 Ultra (overclocked 8800). Thus, nVidia is now fully covering the market (from low-cost to high-performance) with DirectX 10 compatible solutions (capable to manage all graphics from all the versions of Windows Vista and to support the new games that should require this platform during 2007).

Meanwhile, AMD (previously ATI) is still announcing its HD 2600 series (also known under the R600 architecture code name) that should hit nVidia with high-end features including full support for HD-TV applications.

I find it striking to see that AMD is currently under fire from all sides. The CPU division is facing an Intel betting on its technical advantage of the time and leading AMD into a bloody price war that strangle margins. The graphics division (ex-ATI) met difficulties when developping the R600/HD 2600 and that delayed significantly the products that are no longer expected before May 2007.

I have to admit that -in this context- the financial results of AMD announced this week (profits loss of 611 millions dollars for the first quarter) cannot be surprising. Parallely, Intel finances are flying high and its market share is continuously improving again. The billion-dollar-question is how AMD will be able to correct this doom trajectory. We expect this obvious impatience the arrival of the new processor architectures (double and quadruple core, specifically) able to really fight against the Core 2 Duo from Intel and the first boards based on the R600 chipset to see them back in the game again (Journalists accredited by AMD will be in Tunisia next week to discover all the details, but they are not allowed to speak until AMD lifts the NDA).

Before that, it is probably important to be patient with AMD and to remember that it is only by giving them our purchases that we can support a company that nearly broke the monopoly of Intel on the processors (with all the Customer advantages of free competition).