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SPOTLIGHT 

54 

56 

Shoestring System Supercharge 

Big-Time Boosts Without Big-Time Costs 

Windows Workarounds 

Don’t Settle For Default 

Frontside 

8 What’s Happening 

13 Digital Economy 

16 The Saint 

Here We Go Again 

® 

Heavy Gear 

60 

66 

20 Dream Hardware 

21 HD & Widescreen Abound 

We Screen These Screens 

25 Solidata X2-512 512GB 

Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB 

28 Icy Dock MB882SP-1S 

Ultra-X R.S.T. Pro3 & QuickTech Pro 

29 Asus N10JC-A1 

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 

30 Wilson Electronics iBooster 

Imation M-Class 2.5-inch SATA 

128GB Upgrade Kit 

31 Commodore Gaming Commodore XX 

32 Eurocom T890M Element 

Archos 5 60GB Internet Media Tablet 

BIOS Mastery 

Tweaks That Make The Difference 

Gear Shift 

Simple Hardware Mods That Produce 

July 2009 Vol 9 Issue 07 

34 Logisys Two Color (Blue/Red) 

Character-Illuminated Keyboard 

Icy Dock EZ-Dock SATA HDD 

Docking Station 

35 Solid-State Showdown 

Two RAM Leaders’ SSDs Square Off 

36 Sapphire Vapor-X 

Radeon HD 4870 

Auzentech X-Fi 

Forte 7.1 

37 Anand’s Corner 

Why AMD 

Wins At $200 

But Loses 

At $300 & $70 

Copyright 2009 by Sandhills Publishing Company. Computer Power User is a trademark of Sandhills Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in Computer 

Power User is strictly prohibited without written permission. Printed in the U.S.A. GST # 123482788RT0001 (ISSN 1536-7568) CPU Computer Power User USPS 020-801 is published monthly for 

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Did you find the hidden CPU logo on our cover? Turn the page for the answer.

Hard Hat Area 

PC Modder 

38 Tips & Tutorials 

40 Tri-Core Transformer 

Turn A Phenom II X3 

Into An X4 

44 Mad Reader Mod 

Egypt Mod 

46 Advanced Q&A Corner 

48 X-ray Vision 

Fujifilm’s 3D Digital Imaging 

System Brings Photos 

To Life 

50 White Paper: 6Gbps SATA 

From Iowa’s Speed Limit 

To Montana’s 

Infinite Loop 

Strange stats and other 

oddball items from 

computing’s periphery 

95, 97 

Loading Zone 

p. 90 

70 The Bleeding Edge Of Software 

Inside The World Of Betas 

72 Up To Speed 

Upgrades That’ll Keep You 

Humming Along 

73 The State Of Security 

“Suite” Isn’t A Dirty Word Anymore 

80 Eltima Software Application 

As Service 

Alien Skin Bokeh 

82 Dialogue Box 

Why Microsoft Continues To 

Bleed Mindshare 

83 Open Sauce 

Open Source: Beat Them Or 

Join Them? (Part I) 

Caught In The Web 

84 Privacy 2.0 

Why Anonymous Doesn’t 

Mean Unidentifiable 

88 The Department Of Stuff 

cloudfs.txt 

Digital Living 

89 At Your Leisure 

Games, Gear, Movies & Music 

92 The Cutting Edge 

Far More Than Disney, Part 1 

Tips & Tricks 

94 Software Tips & Projects 

Enter The Age Of Twitter 

96 Warm Up To Penguins 

How Linux Boots 

What’s Cooking 

98 Shavings From The Rumour Mill 

The Future Is Bright & Shiny 

100 Wagging The Dog 

The Various Ways Of Twitter 

102 Technically Speaking 

An Interview With Troy Schneider, 

New America Foundation Director 

Of Media & Communications 

104 Under Development 

A Peek At What’s Brewing 

In The Laboratory 

Back Door 

110 Q&A With David “Dadi” Perlmutter 

The Man Behind Mobility 

Looks Ahead

E D I T O R ’ S N O T E 

T 

he economic situation of the last year or so has prompted 

some pretty profound changes in the way we as consumers 

do things. As I write this, leading economists and 

financial indexes alike are indicating that for the most part, things 

have started to turn around and we may be in the early stages of a 

recovery. But even if the world economy resets tomorrow to its 

2007/early 2008 state of bullish financial markets, easy job availability, 

and readily available credit—and that’s probably not 

going to happen—it’s increasingly looking like the current recession 

has left a lasting mark on many of our habits. 

We’re more interested in pay-as-you-go cell phone plans than 

bloated, one-size-fits-all contracts with huge monthly payments. 

We are eager to take advantage of the wealth of surprisingly highquality 

TV online so we can save a few bucks on our cable bills. 

We’re turning off lights in rooms we’re not in, we’re looking for 

ways to do less driving and sharing rides more, and we’re finally 

paying attention to the folks who have been telling us for years 

how to save money by clipping coupons. 

People in general seem more willing to save and less inclined to 

borrow, and we are far more interested these days in doing more 

with less. This is as true among high-end PC users as it is for anyone; 

that’s why we’ve dedicated this issue to doing something we 

can all agree is worthwhile (making your PC run faster, more 

smoothly, and more reliably) without spending a ton of cash. 

Starting on page 54, you’ll find 

14 pages of practical, nononsense 

advice you can use 

to get your computer(s) in 

ship-shape, including oftenoverlooked 

Windows adjustments, 

platform-specific 

BIOS tweaks you can either 

use directly or modify to fit 

your needs, and hardware 

tips straight from 

Intel, OCZ, Danger 

Den, and others. 

Also, be sure to stop 

by page 40 and find 

out how we turned a 

modestly priced 

Phenom II X3 triplecore 

chip into a firebreathing 

quad-core. 

Now, if you’ll excuse 

me, I have to go eat three 

more boxes of Pop-Tarts so I 

can send in for a free ticket to 

“Star Trek.” 

Chris Trumble, Publication Editor, CPU 

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Gotcha. 

Here it is.

What’s Happening Hardware 

Compiled by Blaine Flamig 

Blu-ray Sales Climbing; 

Warner Bros. Offers HD DVD Exchange 

Considering the recession, Bluray 

Disc is doing fine, thank 

you. According to Adams 

Media Research, U.S. consumers 

bought roughly 9 million 

BDs in Q1 2009, nearly 

double the Q1 2008 total. The 

research also revealed that there 

are now 10.5 million U.S. BD 

households (standalone players 

and PS3s included). Sales 

should only increase if a Bluray.com 

report that the average 

price for entry-level players will 

sink to sub-$100 levels possibly 

by Christmas are true. A major 

factor in the price cut is the notion 

that Chinese makers are preparing to flood the market with inexpensive players. Warner 

Bros., meanwhile, recently announced it will support the competing China Blue HD 

format with titles priced between $7.30 and $10.22. The studio also recently launched a 

Red2Blu Web site (www.red2blu.com) where unfortunate HD DVD buyers can exchange a 

maximum of 25 discs per home for the same titles on BD (one copy per flick) for $4.95 plus 

shipping. Only 125 movies are now available, however. Finally, clues within the upcoming 

iTunes upgrade already in developers’ hands hint that Apple may finally be adding integrated 

Blu-ray support in Mac systems, though Apple hasn’t confirmed those rumors. ▲ 

USA! USA! USA! 

If you see Jeremiah “miahallen” Allen, give 

the award-winning overclocker the patriotic 

salute. He is representing North America 

at Gigabyte’s 2009 Open Overclocking 

Championship in Taipei during Computex 

with $5,000 and prizes at stake. Allen 

topped about a dozen other North American 

regional finalists competing near Los 

Angeles in late April where overclockers ran Super PI (Allen posted a 1:30:969 score) and 

3DMark06 after overclocking their rigs as highly as possible. Jeremy “sno.Icn” Clifton, 

who finished second overall, posted the best overall 3DMark06 score, charting 10486 in 

SM3.0/HDR for a 24869 overall mark. Competitors were supplied a Gigabyte GA-EX58- 

UD4P board, Intel Core i7-965 Extreme, Gigabyte GV-N26OC-896H-B GeForce GTX 

260 cards, Kingston KHX16000D3K3/3GX DDR3 memory, 80GB Intel X25-M SSD, 

and Enermax Revolution85+ 1050W PSU for competition. Dry ice and liquid nitrogen 

were the coolants of choice. ▲ 

8 July 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com 

Is Moore’s Law 

Ending? One 

IBM Fellow 

Thinks So 

We know; plenty of prognosticators 

have incorrectly predicted 

Moore’s Law’s demise over the 

years. Still, when a guy like IBM 

Fellow Carl Anderson alludes to 

as much, he deserves a listen. 

Speaking recently at the 2009 

International Symposium On 

Physical Design, Anderson 

likened the semiconductor 

industry to the railroad, aviation, 

and automotive industries, stating, 

“There was exponential 

growth in the railroad industry 

in the 1800s; there was exponential 

growth in the automobile 

industry in the 1930s and 

1940s; and there was exponential 

growth in the performance 

of aircraft until the speed of 

sound. But eventually, exponential 

growth always comes to an 

end.” Anderson predicts multicore 

processors and other cutting-edge 

chips will likely see 

another generation or two of 

exponential growth; optical 

interconnect, 3D, and accelerator 

technologies are where the 

immediate future lies. A possible 

kink in Anderson’s prediction 

could come from Ali Hajimir, a 

Cal Tech professor who DARPA 

recently awarded $6 million over 

four years to research self-healing 

circuit technology. Reportedly, 

the tech would involve 

workarounds for defective transistors 

in a manner similar to 

how biological systems in nature 

“constantly heal themselves in 

the presence of random and 

intentional failures.” ▲

RadioShack Wants Your Old Gear 

Looking to get rid of your old electronics? Head to a local RadioShack. The 

electronics seller launched a program in mid-April to take unwanted but working 

cell phones, MP3 players, digicams and camcorders, video games, GPS 

units, and game consoles off your hands as part of its trade-in program. If you’re 

satisfied with the appraisal your friendly RadioShack clerk provides (including 

the original cables, manuals, chargers, and accessories will help your financial 

cause), you’ll get a Radio Shack gift card in return. A similar online trade-in program 

accepts the same electronics, plus car audio head units, notebook computers, 

HDTVs, and monitors. ▲ 

H A R D W A R E M O L E 

Zune HD In The Fall? Say It’s So, Microsoft 

The “oohs” and “aahs” floating out of the blogosphere (wmpoweruser.com, 

neowin.ent, LiveSide.net, Engadget, etc.) in mid-April stemmed from leaked 

photos and rumored specs tied to a possible Zune HD release this fall. Among 

the tantalizing features rumored are an Nvidia Tegra processor, a 3.6-inch 

OLED touchscreen, HD Radio, 720p playback, 3D Xbox games support, and 

wireless computer syncs. Additionally, an HDMI-out port; 16GB, 32GB, and 

120GB options; and integrated Web browser in a body smaller than the iPod 

touch are predicted. An audio-related product we can confirm is Southern Audio 

Services’ Woodees ($59.99; www.bazooka.com), which are among the best lowcost 

sound-isolating earbuds we’ve used. The logic behind the natural woodconstructed 

Woodees is “the finest musical instruments have always been made 

from wood,” so why not earbuds? After experiencing the Woodees’ stellar, seemingly 

bottomless bass and overall tone, we can’t argue. The Woodees house 

10mm drivers, sport a gold USB connector, and use a 3.2-foot low durometer 

resin cord designed to not develop a memory coil or kinks. ▲ 

Blurry Photos? Use A Heavier Tripod 

Is blurriness marring your digital photos—even when using a tripod? Japan’s 

Nishi Lab at the University of Electrocommunications may have a good explanation. 

While testing a new tool that measures camera shake related to mirror 

and shutter movement in SLR cameras, scientists found camera shake worsened 

when mounting numerous cameras on a light tripod (about 3.3 pounds) 

with image-stabilizing technology turned on and off. 

Ultimately, Nishi Lab hopes the “measurement tool will 

be used to totally evaluate various kinds of vibration 

caused by a tripod, not just camera shake.” In other 

SLR news, IDC predicts the recession will take its toll 

on digicam shipments, including SLR units that have 

performed strongly recently. IDC predicts total 

global shipments will dip 6% in 2009 to 129 

million units, with SLR shipments slipping 5% 

to 9.2 million units. The decline is expected to 

last through 2010, with the entire market falling 

another 1% to 128 million units. ▲ 

What’s Happening Hardware 

Signs Point To Apple 

Designing Chips In-House 

Recent hires that include former AMD 

CTOs Bob Drebin (also GameCube graphics 

chip designer) and Raja Koduri have 

many industry insiders believing that Apple 

is amassing the means to design its own 

graphics chips. In combination with Apple’s 

purchase of low-power semiconductor 

maker PA Semi last year, it’s believed Apple 

is working toward bolstering iPhone and 

iPod features, including upping mobile 

gaming abilities and adding HD support. 

An alliance IBM is heading up, meanwhile, 

recently announced plans to output chips 

based on 28nm HKMG (high-k metal gate) 

technology by next year. The technology 

will bump performance 40% while using 

20% less power than current 45nm chips 

and let customers migrate from 32nm 

HKMG technology already in the works. 

Elsewhere, Taiwan Economics Minister 

Yiin Chii-ming stated in April that the 

government-backed Taiwan Memory 

Company created to help Taiwan’s tanking 

DRAM industry is still on track despite 

rumors that John Hsuan, United Microelectronics 

honorary vice chairman, reportedly 

pondered quitting as TMC’s convener 

following criticism about TMC’s direction 

or lack thereof to date. Micron recently 

spurned an invitation to join the TMC, 

citing competitor Elpida Memory as 

TMC’s main technology partner as a barrier. 

Micron instead formed its own alliance 

with Nanya Technology and is seeking similar 

support from Taiwan’s government as 

the TMC has received. ▲ 

CPU / July 2009 9

What’s Happening Internet 


Surfing Good For Productivity; 

Internet Fraidicats; Politics Popular 

Good news, Web addicts: Next time your boss catches you watching “Family 

Guy” reruns on Hulu, tell him your questionable work habits will “actually 

increase our concentration levels and help make a more productive workforce.” 

So indicates a recent study from the University of Melbourne involving 

300 workers. According to Dr. Brent Coker, workers surfing “within a 

reasonable limit of less than 20%” of total office time are about 9% more 

productive than nonwork surfers. In Japan, meanwhile, a Marsh Research 

study found roughly 84% of 300 adults have found the Internet scary at least 

once, with 11.7% finding it “really scary” and 72.7% just scary to some 

degree. Stateside, a recent Pew Internet & American Life Project survey of 

roughly 2,255 U.S. adults found 74% of Internet users, or 55% of the entire 

U.S. adult population, tapped into the Internet for news, research, and other 

purposes related to the 2008 U.S. election, marking the first time Pew “has 

found more than half the voting-age population used the Internet to connect 

to the political process during an election cycle.” ▲ 

Are You A Victim Of Cybercrime? 

McAfee Wants To Help 

We’re fairly certain McAfee’s new Initiative To Fight Cybercrime—a “global 

effort with a concrete action plan and support for global leaders”—isn’t going to 

knock the socks off of CPU readers because the information and tools available 

are likely matters you addressed long ago. Still, give McAfee credit for reaching 

out to less Internet-savvy users and small-business owners concerning malware 

and other lurking risks and for offering advice on how to seek intervention from 

law enforcement in cases of fraud and other possible crimes. In addition to providing 

a free Cybercrime Scanner (Windows and Internet Explorer only) for 

checking a system for malware and other risks, McAfee is making its McAfee 

Virus Scanner available for “more exhaustive viral analysis.” ▲ 


S I T E S E E I N G 

Confused About BitTorrent? 

Get The Big Book 

You don’t have to be a grizzled computing vet to 

know that ultimately BitTorrent boils down to 

being “just a simple way to share files.” What 

most newbies and even some otherwise experienced 

vets don’t know, however, are the exact 

ins and outs of BitTorrent, let alone how to use 

a client to share 

said files. Well, 

new help is available 

in the form 

of “The Big Book 

Of BitTorrent,” a 

28-page, illustrated 

PDF guide 

from Saikat Basu, 

author of “The 

Things I Do” blog. Hosted by MakeUseOf.com, 

Basu’s exploration into BitTorrent’s underbelly 

explains the pertinent jargon, how to acquire a 

client, copyright concerns, torrent storehouses, 

installations, downloads, uploads, pitfalls, 

codecs, protocol encryption, creating torrents, 

and more. ▲ 

Waste Not, Want Not 

Some of us donate our old computer gear to 

charities, schools, churches, or other good causes. 

Some of us recycle what we can. Others, 

unfortunately, just dump their systems. The 

more creative types among us, however, create 

works of art, as witnessed in the recent article/gallery 

“20 Amazing Examples Of Art From 

Obsolete Technology” at WebUrbanist.com, a 

site dedicated to urban design, subversive art, 

and strange architecture. As writer Matthew 

Rogers aptly put it, few of us stop to ponder the 

fate of once-beloved but now defunct technological 

relics of the past. A growing trend within 

the art world, however, is seeing artists construct 

“amazing works of art by utilizing the very technology 

that we let fall into disuse every day.” 

Among such works is the nearly 23-foot WEEE 

Man, a “politico-ecological statement against 

improper disposal of our most ubiquitous everyday 

appliances” that sports computer mice for 

teeth, washing machine doors for eyes, and monitors 

and other hardware in the skull. ▲

What’s Happening Software 


Who Says Violent 

Video Games Are 

Unsightly? 

In positive gaming news, a recent study 

appearing in Nature Neuroscience states that 

playing action-based video games can help 

adults improve their eyesight. For the study, 

22 adults gamed 50 hours over nine weeks. 

A group playing Call of Duty 2 and other 

action titles showed a 43% average improvement 

in contrast sensitivity, while a second 

group playing Sims 2 and other non-action 

titles showed no improvement. “When people 

play action games, they’re changing the 

brain’s pathway responsible for visual processing,” 

stated Daphne Bavelier, professor 

of brain and cognitive sciences at the University 

of Rochester. If you’d rather improve 

your PC’s gaming performance, meanwhile, IObit released a free, one-click Game Booster app that 

will temporarily close other programs that are currently running, turn off background processes, shut 

down unnecessary Windows services, among other things. ▲ 

iCloud Takes To The, Er, Cloud 

Say hello to iCloud (icloud.com/en), the “world’s first free online computer” that runs within your 

Web browser. Founded in 2001 by Daniel Arthursson and brought forth by Xcerion, the still-in-beta 

iCloud puts a “virtual computer together with free storage and free apps in the hands of everybody in 

the world.” Besides 

3GB storage and 

desktop customization 

abilities, iCloud 

includes 30 apps 

(Word-compatible 

editor, calendar, 

photo organizer, 

audio player, RSS 

and Atom feeders, 

IM, etc.), 20 widgets, 

free backup, and 

more in a Windowslike 

interface with no 

installation required. 

Internet and Firefox 

are supported, though Firefox is in 

alpha development, as iCloud is “using 

a lot of XML technologies due to 

its XML Virtual Machine.” ▲ 

Video Game 

Study Raises 

Ire Of ESA 

The Entertainment Software 

Association isn’t taking 

kindly to a recent 

study Douglas Gentile, 

director of research for 

the National Institute on 

Media and the Family, 

conducted that stated 

8.5% of the overall population 

playing video 

games exhibits “pathological 

patterns of play.” For 

the survey, published in 

Psychological Science’s May 

issue, Gentile posed 11 

questions via a Harris Poll 

to roughly 1,200 U.S. 

gamers ages eight to 18. 

Those responding to six or 

more questions positively 

were deemed “pathological.” 

ESA CEO Michael 

Gallagher, however, later 

requested via letter that 

Psychological Science postpone 

the study’s inclusion, 

citing that study participants 

weren’t selected randomly 

but rather recruited 

through an online panel 

that involved prizes for 

participation. The NIMF 

responded, “Regardless 

of whether you agree with 

the exact statistics in Dr. 

Gentile’s study, it provides 

the gaming industry, medical 

experts, and public 

policymakers with a new 

opportunity to have a 

thoughtful conversation 

regarding the effects of 

video games on kids.” ▲ 

CPU / July 2009 11

S O F T W A R E S H O R T S 

SafeHouse Protection & Blazing Mac Backups 

What’s Happening Software 

We see mucho press releases each month for products promising mucho benefits, but none has ever offered to help us hide “incriminating 

photos taken at the slumber party” before the recently released SafeHouse Explorer (www.safehousesoftware.com). The free 

Windows XP/Vista/Server (32- or 64-bit) app from PC Dynamics uses password protection and 256-bit Twofish encryption to protect 

files on hard and flash drives, servers, CD/DVDs, and MP3 players. A Windows Explorer interface lets you create unlimited 

“vaults” of up to 2TB. You can also run the app as a standalone and share protected files with others, provided you supply your password. 

For Mac users, meanwhile, Backblaze (www.backblaze.com) recently lifted the beta tag off its online backup Mac service, 

which provides incremental, continuous backups for $5 per month. The program lets you back up an entire system, encrypting files 

on the PC before moving them via encrypted connection to Backblaze’s data center. Restoring files happens via downloads or 

Backblaze overnighting files on CD/DVD or flash drive. ▲ 

You, Too, Can Give A Line 

Of Code A Good Home 

It’s possible to adopt a whale, star, child, 

puppy, and even a new lifestyle, so why 

not a line of code? Well, you can with a 

$4 donation to the nonprofit Participatory 

Culture Foundation, which develops the 

free, open-source Miro, an app for “watching 

and subscribing to shows and videos 

from all over the Internet” and which 

aims to promote “a more decentralized 

and democratic way of doing Internet 

video.” Besides watching your “little 

buddy” grow up as the code matures, 

adopters get a customized Web page displaying 

an adoption certificate, photo, 

personalized name, widget, and “your 

name in the source code and in the About 

section on every copy of Miro.” ▲ 

Concerning All Things Malicious 

Hackers compromised 258 million-plus electronic records globally in 2008, according to a recent Verizon study focused 

on 90 confirmed breaches. Organized criminal groups accounted for 91% of all compromised records, with 99.6% of 

records being lifted from servers and apps and 74% of breaches resulting from external sources. Elsewhere, U.S. military 

leaders reported in April that the Pentagon has spent $100 million-plus in the last six months responding to and repairing 

cyber-based attacks, though the total is an estimate, as officials have only begun tracking costs. Sticking to the military 

theme, Pink Floyd member David Gilmour has reportedly recorded a song for an upcoming CD in support of Gary 

McKinnon, the admitted British hacker who cracked DoD, NASA, and Army systems in 2001 while seeking evidence of 

UFOs. McKinnon has successfully fought U.S. extradition efforts since 2002. Finally, Symantec’s recent Internet Security 

Threat Report indicates the company created 1.6 million-plus new malicious code signatures last year (more than 60% of 

all malicious code signatures it has created ever) to address an average of more than 245 million attempted attacks globally 

each month. ▲ 

12 July 2009 / www.computerpoweruser.com

By The 

By The 

Numbers 

200 Million 

Facebook members 

(Facebook) 

blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post 

=72353897130 

10 Million 

Monthly Twitter visitors 

(comScore) 

www.comscore.com/blog/2009 

/04/twitter_traffic_explodes.html 

427% 

Percent increase in daily unique 

uses of mobile social networks 

(comScore) 

www.mobilemarketer.com/cms 

/news/research/2842.html 

67% 

Share of global Internet 

population engaging in social 

networks and blogs 

(Nielsen) 

tinyurl.com/csgshe 

Job Of The Month 

Remember those lazy summer days of childhood? You and the kid next door spent 

hours rifling through each other’s baseball card collections, comparing and trading. 

Now you can be part of the company behind those memories and program a virtual version 

of those experiences for the next generation. Upper Deck, maker of sports and entertainment 

trading cards for everything from baseball to World of Warcraft, is looking for programmers to transfer 

that trading card ethos to the Web. The company is expanding into ecommerce, social gaming, and 

social networking and is looking for a Web Developer and Designer with all the usual Flash, JavaScript, .NET, 

and HTML skills to bring the Upper Deck brand to the next level online. The Web Developer will be responsible for 

building Web sites around the Upper Deck brands and creating interactive experiences. You could be the guy behind a 

Yu-Gi-Oh! online community or a next-gen virtual world of comic book heroes. Or maybe you’ll introduce another young fan 

to the wonders of discovering his favorite shortstop’s rookie card. 

seeker.dice.com/jobsearch/servlet/JobSearch?op=302&dockey=xml/3/7/37fab755d363cfb274512fb7769d074c@endecaindex&source=3 

IT Spending 

Can’t Buck 

The Recession, Either 

Technology and IT spending by U.S. businesses and government 

will decline 3.1% in 2009, Forrester Research reported recently, 

revising its earlier estimate that spending would grow this year by 

1.6%. “The capital crunch is still causing companies to dramatically 

cut back on all forms of capital investment, including many IT goods 

and services,” says Andrew Bartels, VP and principal analyst. The 

company expects growth in IT spending to start again in late 2009. 

Hardware purchasing will take a hard hit, however—down 6.8% this 

year. Worse, communications equipment purchases will drop 7.8%. 

For many of these IT sectors, these trends won’t reverse until 2010. 

www.forrester.com/ER/Press/Release/0,1769,1270,00.html 

The Big Ad Shift 

According to eMarketer, the share of ad revenue going to online media will almost double by 2013. 

U.S. Online Ad Spending As A Percent Of Total Media Advertising Spending, 2007 To 2013 

2007 

7.6% 

2008 

8.7% 

2009 

9.9% 

2010 

11.2% 

2011 

12.3% 

2012 

13.8% 

2013 

15.2% 

www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007024 

CPU / July 2009 13

guess the recession must be winding down. Venture capitalists 

I are funding huge, crazy ideas again, and the media seems to 

have run out of depressing economy news. Apparently, the big 

news at the Game Developers Conference in March was a new 

gaming service called OnLive that is purported to move video 

game serving to “the cloud,” thus enabling you to play the latest, 

greatest video games as streaming video on your PC, Mac, or TV. 

Rumor has it that they’ve raised enormous sums of capital and 

are launching the service this winter. I’m going to lay down early 

money that this offering becomes the Homegrocer.com of the 

game industry. As much as it pains me to say this, I love the concept. 

But speaking as one of the guys who made DirectX and the 

founder of the world’s largest private online game publishing 

company, it’s not going to work. 

I haven’t met the founders of the company personally, I respect 

what they’re attempting, and I certainly wish them the best, but 

there are insurmountable hurdles that make this idea implausible to 

execute in the end. For starters, there are several criteria users will 

apply to deciding whether a service like this is as good as or better 

than the current gaming model: 

The get-in/get-out experience must be as good as or better than 

the boxed experience 

The video quality must match the frame rate at the resolution 

and image quality of the same games playing locally 

The control latency must match that of the local game 

The games must cost as much or less to deliver this way 

Let’s start with the easy win, criterion No. 1. Yes, it’s true that 

video streaming should be a much better user experience than the 

extremely arduous install and patching process users experience on 

the PC today. OnLive still needs to install a client on your PC, but 

at least it’s just one arduous Vista downloadable installation instead 

of one for each game. 

Next up, item No. 2. Is anybody watching Hollywood movies at 

DVD quality over the Internet yet at full quality without noticeable 

lag or frame dropping? The irony of this claim is that OnLive’s promotional 

video proclaiming the brilliance of their company’s solution 

Here We Go Again 

The idea that traditional game publishers will abandon their 

DRM solutions and risk cannibalizing their deeply entrenched 

retail channel relationships by supporting an unproven new 

online game publishing service is of course absurd. 


for games was dropping frames as I watched it. Forget interactivity 

and latency issues for a moment; the cost of delivering a continuous, 

real-time stream of video over the Internet is still excessive. 

Consider the Pixar movie “Finding Nemo.” This 100-minute 

movie is available for online purchase in several compressed video 

formats. At DVD quality, the movie is 1.4GB, or requires 1,239Kbps 

to stream continuously at 24fps. In HD, the movie is 4GB. We’ll 

ignore for the sake of argument the observation that this movie took 

hours of dedicated encoding time to compress into these formats, 

because OnLive has invented new, magical server hardware that 

solves this problem, giving them superior compression results nearly 

instantaneously. Apparently, this new technology can do all this even 

when missing some of the video data, since a game obviously won’t 

have the next frame available to encode until after the user has seen 

the current one and reacted to it. 

This analysis also assumes that everyone in the gaming world is 

good with 24fps, right? The bandwidth-hosting cost of delivering 

1GB of data over the Internet in real time without including any 

other server-related expenses is $1 to $2, so watching streaming 

DVD-quality video costs the host around 90 cents to $1.80 per 

hour, and HD video would run $2.50 to $5 per hour. Since the 

average PC gamer plays around 20 hours per month, the service 

would need to cost $17.50 to $35 per month just to cover the 

bandwidth alone—forget the games, the giant server farm, and the 

massive amounts of electricity needed to run it. 

Now let’s talk about the video quality. The introduction of 

JPEG2000 was a major leap in image-compression technology. It’s 

very hard to beat JPEG2000 for compressing single frames of 

images while preserving quality. JPEG2000 lends itself nicely to 

hardware acceleration, and if I were really smart, I could use information 

from the previous frame rendered to accelerate encoding 

speed and decrease the size of the next frame. Also, now that the 

user’s GPU is free from heavy 3D rendering, I could put it to work 

image decoding and filtering to try to restore a highly compressed 

frame of game graphics to its former glory in real time. A single 

frame of DVD-quality video is roughly 720 x 480 x 24 bpp, or 

about 1MB uncompressed. We need to get 24MBps over a 2Mbps

connection, and that’s before you factor in data for an audio channel 

or from an input device. That’s 168X image compression by my 

count. Remarkably, even at this compression ratio, JPEG2000compressed 

images look OK! So it’s not impossible to look respectable 

at this compression level, and it’s not technically impossible to 

deliver it in real time with magic encoding hardware. 

The real catch, though, comes with item No. 3: In order to render 

24fps of game video, I need a game 

server with the graphics power to do 

that. Of course, I want the game to be 

responsive, as well, so the time it takes 

to send my input over the Internet to 

the server, render the next video frame, 

and send it back to my computer to 

display must be fast enough for the 

game to feel responsive. Despite 

OnLive’s claim that building an 

Akamai-style edge network with hosting 

centers within 1,000 miles of 

gamers will solve the problem, the reality 

is that exceeding 100ms response 

times (think 10fps) for gameplay is 

risky, especially for FPS-style games 

that demand extremely low response 

times. The round-trip speed over a typical 

Internet connection to an edge 

server may barely be fast enough for 

some games, but the consistency for 

most consumers will be abysmal; 

responsiveness will most likely fluctuate 

noticeably. It’s not going to work for a console-style 

game experience or any FPS. It’s 

also very risky for the multiplayer games 

typical of the PC because it adds an extra 

network latency jump to games that were 

carefully designed to hide network latency 

by knowing exactly what it is on the client. 

In short, this service will almost certainly 

feel “laggy” for most games. 

Finally, criterion No. 4. There is really no 

efficiency of scale to be gained by this 

approach to game delivery. One might think 

that since the average gamer plays 20 hours 

per month and there are 960 hours in a 

month, one great gaming server could serve 

as many as 48 gamers. But keep in mind that 

Windows simply can’t run multiple games 

simultaneously on a single computer, and in 

Alex St. John was one of the founding 

creators of Microsoft’s DirectX 

technology. He is the subject of the 

book “Renegades Of The Empire” about 

the creation of DirectX and 

Chromeffects, an early effort by 

Microsoft to create a multimedia 

browser. Today Alex is President and 

CEO of WildTangent Inc., a technology 

company devoted to delivering 

CD-ROM-quality entertainment 

content over the Web. 

practice, everyone games between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., mostly on 

weekends. In order to ensure a great experience for all members during 

peak play times, these guys will basically need to host one great 

gaming computer per player, or somebody will have to wait in a 

queue to play. The cost of doing that is, of course, staggering. 

There is also the story out there that game publishers are dying to 

support this service because of its obvious antipiracy advantages. But if 

this were true, wouldn’t these publishers 

already have ditched antiquated CD- 

ROM-based DRM in favor of established 

download services with huge audiences, 

such as Direct2Drive, Steam, WildTangent 

Orb, and other online game publishing 

services? (By the way, who’s going to 

be swapping the key disks at the server 

farm for these games when you want to 

play?) The idea that traditional game publishers 

will abandon their DRM solutions 

and risk cannibalizing their deeply entrenched 

retail channel relationships by 

supporting an unproven new online game 

publishing service is, of course, absurd. It’s 

more likely that large VC checks will have 

to be written to motivate the big publishers 

to adapt their titles to work in this 

kind of environment. 

So why would respectable venture 

capitalists fund such an obviously flawed 

proposition? This becomes much clearer 

when you consider who OnLive’s big 

investor is: Time Warner, a cable company. 

These guys have an obvious interest in 

increasing demand for bandwidth, and nothing 

sucks up Internet bandwidth like gaming. 

Their hope may be to drive demand for 

consumer bandwidth through the roof and 

be their own biggest “customer” for that 

bandwidth. You’re going to need to sign up 

for the best Internet connection money can 

buy to have any hope of experiencing this 

service at its full potential. In short, like 

Homegrocer.com, it may all seem like a 

great deal to you (the consumer) until the 

VC capital that props it up runs out and it 

all collapses or gets sold off and reported as 

a huge success anyway, as happened with 

Massive and WebTV. ▲ 

Send your feedback to thesaint@cpumag.com 

CPU / July 2009 17


These Gizmos Don’t Sing It, They Bring It 

Photos courtesy of Lockheed Martin 

Photos courtesy of Diseno-art.com 

T his 

month’s haul of Dream Hardware boldly takes 

you where no house has walked before. As a bonus, 

it’s European, expressed in all caps, or both. 

by Marty Sems 

Lockheed Martin HULC 

Not since CAN-SPAM have we encountered a more intentionally 

evocative acronym. HULC (Human Universal Load 

Carrier), a Berkeley Bionics (www.berkeleybionics.com) and 

Lockheed Martin (www.lockheedmartin.com) exoskeleton 

project, boosts the wearer’s strength and endurance without 

resorting to gamma rays. The 61-pound, 250W system uses 

lithium polymer batteries and hydraulics for a burst running 

speed of 10 mph. A chief military goal, besides increasing the 

weight an individual can carry (up to 200 pounds) where 

vehicles might not be able to go, is to decrease the amount of 

oxygen a soldier must breathe while carrying a load. Reducing 

oxygen consumption, in turn, reduces fatigue, so forces 

can travel farther and still be in good enough shape to throw 

tanks and rescue the daughter of the general sworn to destroy 

them. HULC smash, indeed. 

TH!NK FROST 

Christopher Nolan need look no farther than Norway for his 

next Batman movie. Designer Anders Gloslie has the next 

Batmobile covered. The FROST is a concept study under 

consideration by the TH!NK car company (www.think.no), 

which specializes in zero-emission electric cars. Although it 

isn’t the first sports car for ice, it’s quite possibly the first 

electric one with four-wheel tracks and all-wheel steering. 

The FROST can hydraulically go wide track when it needs 

to, such as during a subzero assault on Mr. Freeze’s lair. And 

it might go without saying, but had Scatman Crothers had a 

snow cat like this in “The Shining,” Jack Nicholson might 

have come out on the short end of the axe. Unfortunately, 

the FROST may get the cold shoulder, according to TH!NK 

representative Katinka von der Lippe. “Most probably the 

chance of this project becoming a reality is rather minimal, 

but the design content and ideas might be used in other concept 

development activities.” 

Walking House 

Baba Yaga might have been onto something. Her walking 

cottage, we mean, not the whole child cannibalism thing. 

N55 (www.n55.dk), a design group in Denmark, wanted to 

build a modular home that fit its ecological and anti-land 

ownership sensibilities. The group came up with this. The 

2,650-pound, 11-foot Walking House can be made to connect 

to other Walking Houses honeycomb-style, in case 

you’re a nomad itching to go condo. It moves verrrrry 

slowly, three legs at a time. Its max speed is 60 mph—erm, 

that’s 60 meters per hour, not miles. Still, it’s solar- and 

wind-powered and includes a wood stove, a composting 

toilet, and a greenhouse for food. We’d imagine you could 

pot a few innocent, adorable, and protein-rich woodland 

creatures from the roof, too. ▲

HD & Widescreen 

Abound 

We Screen These Screens 

With technological improvements in 

LCD technology filtering down to 

consumer monitors, including 5ms or 

lower response times, displays smaller 

than 24 inches with 1,920 x 1,080 native 

resolution, 1,000:1 or greater contrast 

ratios, and HDMI inputs, many monitors 

now offer features similar to what you’ll 

find on LCD HDTVs. Additionally, several 

monitor manufacturers, including 

Acer, HP, LG, and Samsung, are switching 

from the 16:10 aspect ratio to 16:9, so 

you can watch movies or TV shows without 

wasting screen space for black bars or 

distorting the picture. 

A few monitors, including Samsung’s 

2233RZ and Viewsonic’s VX2265wm 

seen in this roundup, also feature 120Hz 

technology to deliver smooth, fast-motion 

video, as well as support for Nvidia’s 

GeForce 3D Vision. Both options are 

tantalizing, but because there’s a dearth 

of 3D content available, we didn’t factor 

a monitor’s 3D abilities into our performance 

marks. Our LCD roundup 

features high-end consumer monitors 

between 22 and 24 inches, which seems 

to be the sweet spot between price and 

performance right now. 

How We Tested 

We used DisplayMate Multimedia 

with Motion Bitmaps 2.2 to calibrate the 

monitors and test the displays’ color accuracy, 

contrast ability, scale gradations, and 

text readability. Additionally, we watched 

clips from “Transformers” and played 

Crysis to test gaming performance, DVD 

playback quality, and overall real-world 

color accuracy. The hardware in our test 

system included a 3.33MHz Intel Core 2 

Duo E8600, 4GB of Corsair Dominator 

DDR2-1066MHz memory, an Nvidia 

GeForce 8800GT, and a 500GB Samsung 

Spinpoint F1. 

Acer G24 

This glossy-screened orange wonder 

from Acer displayed vivid color, and in 

DisplayMate’s Color Spectrum test, it featured 

the cleanest color blending of our 

test group. We also liked that the wide, 

sturdy stand anchors the 24-inch monitor 

without robbing desk space in front of, or 

behind, the monitor. There are HDMI, 

DVI (with HDCP), and VGA inputs but 

no integrated speakers. Acer lists a Dynamic 

Contrast Ratio of 50,000:1 using 

its ACM (Adaptive Contrast Management), 

but we tested with ACM turned 

off. (We did notice a slight improvement 

in gradation and detail with ACM 

turned on when running through DisplayMate’s 

tests.) 

The G24 offers preset display modes 

for Work, Graphics, and Movies, among 

others. Many of the preset modes featured 

overpowering red hues, but the colors 

looked fine after we configured the monitor. 

Our test model featured a small amount of 

backlight bleed at the bottom of the monitor 

when viewing darker content. Similarly, 

colors appeared darker at the top of the 

screen than they did at the bottom. Even 

with the color purity issues, Acer’s “Crystal- 

Brite” screen produced colors that seemed 

to pop off the screen. The glossy screen 

wasn’t quite as reflective as other glossy 

models in this roundup—most notably, 

overhead lights didn’t cause any problems 

during out testing. We also felt the G24 

offered one of the quickest response times 

during our movie and gaming tests. 

Backlight bleed notwithstanding, the 

G24’s detail level and quick response 

times make this monitor one of our 

reviews | hardware 

G24 

$399.99 I Acer 

us.acer.com I ● ● ● ● 

favorites. For example, the G24 was one 

of the few models that delivered readable 

7.5-point fonts (Arial) from 2 feet away. 

If you regularly watch movies or work in 

dark environments, the backlight bleed 

may cause a problem. The orange color 

may be off-putting for some, but a black 

bezel model is available. 

Asus VH222H 

Although the Asus VH222H offered 

the same 1,000:1 contrast ratio 

VH222H 

$209.99 I Asus 

usa.asus.com I ● ● ● 

CPU RANKING ● 0 = ABSOLUTELY WORTHLESS | ● ● ● 2.5 = ABSOLUTELY AVERAGE | ● ● ● ● ● 5 = ABSOLUTELY PERFECT 

CPU / July 2009 21

eviews | hardware 

specification found on many of the monitors 

in this roundup, we felt it produced 

slightly darker darks and brighter whites 

than many of the other models in our 

roundup. The 16:9 (1,920 x 1,080 native 

resolution) monitor offers HDMI (both 

video and audio), DVI (with HDCP), 

and VGA inputs, as well as a 3.5mm 

mini-jack input and SPDIF audio output. 

The SPDIF output is an odd addition, 

but if you have headphones that can use 

the digital connection, you’ll appreciate 

the convenience. 

Asus does a nice job of concealing the 

monitor controls, but we think the menu 

interface could have been more intuitive. 

Unlike traditional button layouts, the 

Menu button sits in between the lower 

and raise buttons, so we often deselected 

the option when we were attempting to 

bring settings up or down. In terms of 

color, we noticed that the monitor’s dark 

blues tended to look muddy in Display- 

Mate’s Sharpness and Resolution tests. 

We also noted VH222H lost fine detail in 

bright colors, such as yellow, magenta, 

and cyan. Overall, color accuracy was 

good, and we saw no ghosting in our 

games or movie testing. 

The VH222H has a glossy bezel that 

brings attention to fingerprints, particularly 

around the monitor’s control panel, 

but the TFT screen didn’t reflect any 

overhead lighting. Asus integrates five 

video modes (Scenery, Theater, Gaming, 

Night View, and Standard) and three 

preset skin tone levels (Yellowish, Natural, 

and Reddish), so you can adjust the 

display to suit different graphic applications. 

The color changes in the video 

modes seemed appropriate for the preset 

conditions. 

The 21.5-inch widescreen VH222H is 

more affordable than the other models in 

E2400HD 

$319.99 I BenQ 

www.benq.us I ● ● ● 

this roundup, and if you don’t work with 

fine detail on your PC, you may not notice 

the monitor’s detail issue. The impressive 

contrast ratio and 1,920 x 1,080 

resolution make the VH222H a great 

monitor for those that watch movies and 

TV on their PC. 

BenQ E2400HD 

This 16:9 aspect ratio, 1,920 x 1,080 

resolution features HDMI, DVI (with 

HDCP), and VGA inputs. BenQ also 

integrates its Senseye+Photo Image 

technology, which automatically sharpens 

images, reduces aliasing artifacts, 

and fixes blurred images. The 24-inch 

E2400HD delivered a true black level 

in DisplayMate’s Gray-Scale test, which 

helped produce crisp, intense colors. 

The E2400HD stood out in Display- 

Mate’s Color Registration Blink test, 

where the red and green patterns were 

incredibly crisp. 

Grayscale performance was good, but 

with colors in DisplayMate’s Color Smear 

and Moire Montage tests, we noted variations 

in color intensity that appeared as 

smear and dark smudges. The dark patches 

only appeared in pattern tests, where 

dark and light bands are more likely to 

show up. For example, in our movie and 

game tests, the E2400HD delivered accurate 

color without any banding or other 

Our LCD roundup features high-end consumer monitors 

between 22 and 24-inches, which seems to be 

the sweet spot between price and performance right now. 

w2338h 

$299.99 I HP 

www.hp.com I ● ● ● 

artifacts. The E2400HD also displayed 

some dark shading at the bottom and top 

of the screen when displaying bright colors. 

Despite these issues, the E2400 displayed 

one of the truest black-and-white 

gradations of our test group. 

The stand for the 24-inch monitor is 

sturdy, but it only allows you to tilt the 

E2400HD up or down. BenQ integrates 

five preset modes, including Standard, 

Movie, Dynamic, Photo, and sRGB 

(ide-al for people who use sRGB devices 

to match color), and the controls are 

built onto the right side of the monitor. 

We had complete control of the brightness, 

contrast, and sharpness, as well as 

the red, green, and blue levels on the 

monitor. We thought the built-in speakers 

produced the best audio clarity and 

overall volume of the group. The monitor’s 

subtle dark patches may deter 

graphics professionals, but the people 

looking for a monitor for watching 

movies and TV will appreciate the deep 



contrast ratio of the E2400HD’s 24inch 

screen. 

HP w2338h 

If you’re looking for a monitor that’s as 

attractive when it’s turned off as it is 

when turned on, the HP w2338h is for 

you. HP includes its BriteView Tech-nology 

in the w2338h, which gives the 

w2338h a glass-like appearance, including 

significant reflections in bright rooms 

when the monitor’s off or displaying 

extremely dark video. That being said, the 

monitor produces bright whites, yellows, 

and light blues without any blooming, 

which we couldn’t say for many of the 

monitors in this roundup. The w2338h 

also excelled in DisplayMate’s Dot Crawl 

Check (a test pattern that will show any 

interference between hue, saturation, and 

various light intensities). 

DisplayMate’s Extreme Gray-Scale 

with Bar test produced impressively crisp 

gray gradation, and we also noted crisp 

line definition with dark colors in DisplayMate’s 

Test Pattern. We saw a little 

moiré effect in some tests, but other than 

the small artifacts, the w2338h produced 

excellent, accurate color. The w2338h’s 

glossy screen proved less impressive with 

our gaming and videogames tests, where 

LCDs On Display 

dimily lit scenes in “Transformers” and 

Crysis invited a lot of glare. 

Oddly, the w2338h only offers HDMI 

and VGA inputs, so you may need to 

purchase a DVI-to-HDMI cable or 

adapter to see the highest-quality video. 

HP includes a strong, attractive silver 

stand that you can tilt up and down. The 

w2338h also has built-in speakers, but 

even with the audio jacked, the 2-watt, 

rear-mounted speakers were barely audible. 

The bezel on the w2338h is just 

as glossy as its screen’s appearance. If 

you work in a bright environment, the 

w2338h glossy screen may become 


distracting, but otherwise, we feel it’s one 

of the top monitors of the group in terms 

of video quality. 

NEC EA221wm 

NEC Display primarily focuses on 

business users, and its EA221wm offers a 

number of usability features, such as its 

lazy Susan monitor stand and integrated 

USB hub. The EA221wm is a 22.1-inch, 

16:10 aspect ratio monitor with a 1,680 x 

1,050 native resolution. We appreciate 

the display’s thin-frame (a little more 

than half an inch) bezel, because it’s ideal 

for dual-screen setups, as well as the 

stand’s ability to swivel (360 degrees), 

raise and lower, and tilt. 

In terms of video quality, the EA221wm 

delivered true black levels in Display- 

Mate’s Medium Sensitivity Black-Level 

Check, and we noted impressive color gradation 

in the Low Saturation Colors test. 

Detail was also good on the EA221wm, as 

it was one of the few monitors that produced 

visible pixel dots for all colors in 

DisplayMate’s Set Up Cross Hatch test. 

On the downside, our test monitor displayed 

a dark bar along the bottom portion 

of the screen in bright and light 

video. The EA221wm, which lists a 

5ms response time, also showed a little 

Acer G24 Asus VH222H BenQ E2400HD HP w2338h NEC EA221wm Samsung 2233RZ Viewsonic VX2265wm 

Although you'll find a lot of marketing tools within monitor specifications, we've tried to provide all the VESA-based testing standards we could find to give you an accurate 

idea of each monitor's capabilities. 

Screen size (inches) 24 21.5 24 23 22 22 22 

Viewing angle (V/H) 160/160 160/170 160/170 160/160 170/176 160/170 150/160 

Native resolution 1,920 x 1,200 1,920 x 1,080 1,920 x 1,080 1,920 x 1080 1,680 x 1,050 1,680 x 1,050 1,680 x 1,050 

Contrast ratio 1,000:1 1,000:1 1,000:1 1,000:1 1,000:1 1,000:1 1,000:1 

Response time 2ms* 5ms 5ms 5ms 5ms 5ms 5ms 

Inputs VGA, DVI, HDMI VGA, DVI, HDMI VGA, DVI, HDMI VGA, HDMI VGA, DVI DVI DVI 

Weight (with stand, lbs.) 15.9 10.8 15.4 13.2 17.4 11.5 12.2 

Aspect ratio 16:10 16:9 16:9 16:9 16:10 16:10 16:10 

Hertz 60 60 60 60 60 120 120 

Speakers No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes 

MSRP $399.99 $209.99 $319.99 $299.99 $299 $399 $359.99 

CPU rating ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● 

*gray-to-gray 

EA221wm 

$299 I NEC 

www.necdisplay.com I ● ● ● ● 


CPU / July 2009 23


ghosting in our gaming tests. In our 

movie tests, we noted that the colors 

seem muted compared to the other 

monitors in our roundup, but the colors 

were still accurate. 

Eco-conscious people will like the 

EA221wm’s Eco mode, which drops the 

screen’s brightness by 60%; NEC indicates 

the screen reduces energy consumption 

from 39W to 27W in Eco mode. 

We found it was easy to switch to Eco 

mode and adjust the screen settings using 

the monitor’s 4-way navigation key. It 

features DVI (with HDCP) and VGA 

video inputs, as well as four USB ports 

(two on side, two on back), a mini-jack 

audio input, and headphone output. All 

in all, the EA221wm has a lot of convenience 

features, and it offers good video 

quality to match. 

Samsung SyncMaster 2233RZ 

This 120Hz LCD monitor from 

Samsung features a 1,680 x 1,050 native 

resolution and support for Nvidia’s 

GeForce 3D Vision. The 2233RZ produced 

some of the most impressive black 

levels and brightest colors of our test 

monitors. Additionally, the 120Hz technology 

produced smoother motion in our 

games tests, and we found less judder 

when watching movies, compared to the 

60Hz monitors we tested. 

In terms of video quality, the 2233RZ 

shined in DisplayMate’s black level tests, 

including the Medium Sensitivity Black 

Level and Static Gamma Correction 

Measurement screens, where it showed 

the best contrast of our roundup. For the 

most part, the monitor also presented 

excellent color. With our test monitor, 

we needed to pull down the brightness 

and contrast quite a bit to avoid oversaturation 

in the bright white spectrum. 

Thankfully, Samsung includes plenty of 

controls to fine tune the monitor’s contrast 

and color. In some scenes in our 

movie tests, we thought that the 2233RZ’s 

colors appeared more crisp and defined 

than many of its competitors. 

Although it’s not too flashy, the 

2233RZ offers an appearance that we 

think is elegant. There’s a subtle blue 

power light on a thin, clear bar at the 

bottom of the monitor, and the controls 

are positioned on the far right-hand side. 

The menu layout is fairly intuitive as we’d 

like, and you have plenty of options, 

including controls (such as Color Tone, 

Color Control, and Gamma) that weren’t 

typical of our other test monitors. Our 

only real problem with the 2233RZ is its 

stand, which is tough to adjust, and it’s a 

little wobbly when tilting the screen up or 

down. Otherwise, we found the monitor 

to be a great monitor for gaming, working, 

and watching movies. 

Viewsonic VX2265wm 

With the ability to produce video at 

120Hz, the VX2265wm provides a rare 

feature that improves the appearance of 

fast-motion video in games and movies. 

On the flip side, the VX2265wm doesn’t 

include the connectivity options (only 

DVI), display adjustments (only tilt), or 

image controls (it can only adjust brightness) 

common on the other monitors in 

this roundup. It also supports Nvidia’s 

GeForce 3D Vision, and Viewsonic 

includes a dual-link DVI cable that, 

according to Viewsonic, is necessary for 

use with the 120Hz display. 

This glossy bezel, 22-inch monitor features 

a 1,680 x 1,080 resolution. In our 

DisplayMate tests, colors appeared vivid 

and mostly accurate, but we noted some 

blooming in whites and other brights. 

The contrast troubles also limited the 

VX2265wm’s performance in Display- 

Mate’s 128 Step Gray-Scale test, where 

details were obscured at the white end of 

the gray scale. Because the monitor provided 

us no ability to adjust the contrast, 

we couldn’t resolve the problem. On the 

plus side, the VX2265wm delivered the 

best response time in our gaming and 

movies tests. Background content and 

character movements in Crysis appeared 

particularly crisp. 

We also tried 3D gaming (thanks to 

Nvidia for providing the 3D kit) in 

World Of Warcraft and thought this feature 

made the VX2265wm stand out. 

You’ll need a recent Nvidia GeForce 

graphics card and Nvidia’s 3D glasses to 

view content in 3D, but gamers looking 

to enhance their experience will want to 

check it out. Even without the 3D equipment, 

the monitor’s 120Hz technology 

and vivid color make the VX2265wm a 

good monitor for gamers, while those 

who look for smooth graduation and 

accurate light colors, such as photography 

enthusiasts, may prefer another monitor. 

And The Winner Is . . . 

We’d be hard pressed to pick one 

monitor out of the group, but a few stand 

out. Acer’s G24, Samsung’s SyncMaster 

2233RZ, and HP’s w2338h were all 

colorful and attractive, while NEC’s 

EA221wm offered the most convenience 

features, as well as good image quality. If 

you’re still debating, check out our specs 

comparison chart for some side-by-side 

assessments. ▲ 



SyncMaster 2233RZ 

$399 I Samsung 

www.samsung.com I ● ● ● ● 

VX2265wm 

$359.99 I Viewsonic 

www.viewsonic.com I ● ● ● 

by Nathan Lake

Solidata X2-512 512GB 

S SDs 

are catching up to hard drives on 

the capacity front. Here’s one pack- 

ing half a terabyte, for crying out loud. 

This MLC drive is a 2.5-inch unit, 

despite its remarkable capacity. (It’s also 

available as a 3.5-inch). At 13mm thick, it 

won’t fit in every laptop. The 256GB and 

smaller units are but 9.5mm thin. 

Solidata posits this drive as an Intel 

whupper, but my tests showed a distinct 

advantage on the part of the X25-M, even 

before the recent Intel firmware upgrade to 

address declining write performance over 

time. Even without HD Tach 

write results—my X25-M was 

borrowed and contained data, 

so I couldn’t run write tests— 

the Intel SSD kicked rump. 

The Solidata scored quite low 

in Iometer’s File Server test, 

Power savings is the big idea behind 

Seagate’s newest consumer laptop 

drive, but don’t think for a moment that 

its performance isn’t up to 

scratch. Although it won’t 

make recent SSDs scurry for 

cover, there’s a lot to like in 

the Momentus 7200.4’s 

benchmark results. (That is, 

if you can push Seagate’s 

recent firmware debacle 

with the Barracuda 7200.11 

and other drives out of 

your mind.) 

The dollars-per-GB ratio 

still heavily favors hard drives 

such as this one, even if an 

SSD such as Solidata’s X2- 

512 can match it in capacity. 

And although eminent tech 

journalists have rightfully 

which consists of mostly reads with some 

writes. Still, the 100% reads Web Server test 

looked much better. 

Then again, you can’t get 512GB from 

Intel. As Kirk taunted Khan, Solidata may 

as well be saying, “I’m laughing at the 

superior intellect. Neener, neener.” ▲ 

(Special thanks to DVNation.com for the 

Solidata and to Intel for the X25-M.) 

X2-512 

$1,999 [DVNation price] 

Solidata 

www.solidata-usa.com 

● ● ● ● 

Specs: 240MBps read/190MBps write, sequential; 130MBps read/35MBps write, 

random; MLC; 3Gbps SATA; >2 million hours MTBF 

by Marty Sems 

Seagate Momentus 7200.4 500GB 

Momentus 

7200.4 500GB 

$145 

Seagate 

www.seagate.com 

● ● ● ● 

declared that a good SSD is currently 

the PC upgrade with the most noticeable 

across-the-board performance 

boost, most users would 

still rather pay $145 for 

500GB than $1,999. 

With fluid dynamic bearings, 

a head offload ramp, 

and various power management 

techniques, the 7200.4 

manages to eke out a living 

on slightly more than a couple 

of watts. In fact, Seagate 

claims that it’s the most 

power-sipping 7,200rpm 

laptop drive around. 

Like its 160GB, 250GB, 

and 320GB brethren, this 

500GB Momentus 7200.4 

(model ST9500420AS) 

features a 16MB cache. 

Specs: 16MB cache; 7,200rpm; 3Gbps SATA; NCQ; 11ms advertised random seek time; 

9.5mm thickness; 600,000 load/unload cycles; 0.69 to 2.2W; 23 to 27dBA; 350G/2ms operating, 

100G/1ms non-operating shock tolerance; 4 heads/2 disks; RoHS; three-year warranty 


Benchmark Results 

Solidata Intel 

X2-512 X25-M 80GB 

PCMark Vantage 1.0.0 (64-bit, Nov 07 patch) 

HDD score (points) 11893 26193 

Defender (MBps) 100 134 

Gaming (MBps) 120 139 

Photo Gallery (MBps) 165 150 

Vista startup (MBps) 51 154 

Movie Maker edit (MBps) 36 103 

Win Media Ctr (MBps) 55 116 

WMP music add (MBps) 19 82 

App loading (MBps) 24 116 

HD Tach RW 3.0.4.0, Long Bench 

Read, avg/max (MBps) 180/198 209/221 

Write, avg/max (MBps) 149.4/188 n/a 

Random access (ms) 0.2 0.1 

Burst read (MBps) 232 250 

CPU utilization (%) 

Iometer 2006.07.27 

4 4 

File Server (IOps) 22 5860 

File Server (MBps) 

File Server avg/max 

0.2 63.5 

response (ms) 773/2976 3/351 

CPU utilization (%) 0.2 7 

Web Server (IOps) 4048 13137 

Web Server (MBps) 

Web Server avg/max 

62 202 

response (ms) 16/47 5/23 

CPU utilization (%) 6 18 

Test system specs: Vista Home Premium (32-bit), 

Core 2 Extreme Q6850 (3GHz), 4GB DDR3 

(1,333MHz), Intel DX48BT2, ICH9R. 

For a hard drive, the Momentus 

7200.4 is quiet, speedy, spacious, tough, 

and green-ish. ▲ 


Seagate Momentus 

7200.4 500GB 

PCMark Vantage 1.0.0 (Nov 07 patch) 

HDD score (points) 4129 

Defender (MBps) 18 

Gaming (MBps) 12 

Photo Gallery (MBps) 42 

Vista startup (MBps) 17 

Movie Maker edit (MBps) 32 

Win Media Ctr (MBps) 95 

WMP music add (MBps) 9 

App loading (MBps) 5 


Read, avg/max (MBps) 87/110 

Write, avg/max (MBps) 85/111 

Random access (ms) 15.4 

Burst read (MBps) 205.2 

CPU utilization (%) 

Iometer 2006.07.27 

2 

File Server (IOps) 95 

Web Server (IOps) 121 

* Test system specs match those used 

in the Solidata X2-512 review. 

by Marty Sems 


CPU / July 2009 25


Icy Dock MB882SP-1S 

“I 

cy Dock MB882SP-1S” is a long 

name for a clever little device that 

allows you to insert your 2.5-inch SATA 

notebook hard drive or SSD into a converter 

that effectively makes the drive 

physically the same size as a 3.5-inch 

hard drive. 

The converter solves the problem of 

trying to fit an SSD or notebook drive 

into a desktop PC case. Indeed, when a 

drive is safely inserted into the Icy Dock 

MB882SP-1S, the whole shebang will fit 

into a drive bay or external hard drive 

enclosure designed for a 3.5-inch drive. 

The converter can handle 3Gbps drives 

with a max capacity of 500GB and sports 

airflow vents for heat dissipation. Even 

with a 2.5-inch drive inside, the Icy Dock 

MB882 is incredibly light. Altogether, the 

2.5-inch drive and the enclosure weigh 

less than a typical 

3.5-inch hard drive. 

I was impressed 

by how easy it was 

to install the hard 

drive in the enclosure. 

There are no 

screws required. You just 

slide the top open, place 

the drive inside, and slide 

the lid shut. Done. 

To test whether the MB882SP-1S 

would affect read/write speeds, I ran the 

drive on PCMark Vantage with and without 

the converter. The resulting scores 

showed a slight but negligible difference in 

performance between the two. Without 

the converter, the hard drive averaged 

3318 over two runs with an average of 

3286 over two runs with the converter. 

Specs: Compatible drives: 2.5-inch SATA I/II; Fits into a 3.5-inch SATA hard drive bay; 

3Gbps transfer rate; Supports hard drives up to 500GB; 145 x 101 x 25mm (LxWxH); 195.3g 

Ultra-X R.S.T. Pro3 & QuickTech Pro 

PC enthusiasts love benchmarks. In 

providing hard numbers, benchmarks 

allow us irrefutable bragging rights about 

how well our builds perform. Ultra-X’s 

testing kits go way beyond simple benchmarks: 

These are serious tools that help 

professionals test and troubleshoot hardware 

issues to a level of minutiae most of 

us have probably never encountered. 

Though Ultra-X’s catalog of testing 

tools is extensive, we tried out two of its 

kits, the R.S.T. Pro3 and the Quick- 

Tech Pro. The devices will give you all 

the information, but it’s up to the user 

to make some kind of sense of it. 

R.S.T. Pro3 

The R.S.T. Pro3 comes in a PCI-E 

card form factor and is designed to test 

memory for servers and workstations, 

though you can use it for testing any 

system, really. (Note that the R.S.T. Pro2 

is ideal for desktop system memory.) To 

use it, just plop the card into an available 

PCI-E slot, restart the system, and 

configure the card as the first boot priority 

in the BIOS. 

The system will boot from the card 

and present you with options for testing. 

The level of detail to which you can drill 

down to test and evaluate is staggering. If 

there’s any information you care to know 

about your system’s memory, the R.S.T. 

Pro3 will find it for you. 

QuickTech Pro 

The QuickTech Pro device we tested is 

in a USB form factor, and like the R.S.T. 

Pro3, you can boot directly to the USB 

dongle after configuring the boot order in 

the BIOS. Unlike the R.S.T. Pro3, which 

is designed specifically to test memory, 

the QuickTech Pro tests virtually everything—memory 

(though not in as much 

detail as the R.S.T. Pro3), CPU, hard 

drives, optical drives, graphics, and more. 

Included in the testing kit is a variety 

of devices you can plug into the machine 

for loopback tests, including ones for a 9pin 

serial port, 25-pin serial/parallel port, 

I pulled the hard drive out 

of the converter after a few 

rounds of PCMark to check the temperature, 

and I was disappointed to find it 

quite warm. 

The bottom line is that the Icy Dock 

MB882 is a device designed so simply and 

elegantly that it requires infinitesimally 

more effort to swap in and out of a computer 

as any 3.5-inch hard drive. This is 

definitely a product you want to have in 

your toolbox if you work with SSDs or 

notebook hard drives. ▲ 

network connection, and audio jack. It 

also includes a CD-ROM and DVD- 

ROM equipped with media for running 

optical drive tests. ▲ 



R.S.T. Pro3 

$859 

QuickTech Pro 

$429 

Ultra-X 

www.uxd.com 

● ● ● ● 

MB882SP-1S 

$24.99 

Icy Dock 

www.icydock.com 

● ● ● ● 

by Seth Colaner 

by Seth Colaner

Asus N10JC-A1 

We don’t care if you call it a netbook 

or a notebook. The Asus 

N10, with a 10.2-inch screen (800 x 

480), 1.46-inch maximum thickness, and 

3.1-pound weight, is a slick ultra-portable 

with a sweet surprise. Yes, like other netbooks, 

this one uses the 1.6GHz Intel 

Atom Processor N270 paired with the 

Intel 945GSE chipset. This means that 

the Intel GMA 950 graphics engine is 

built in. However, flip a little switch on 

the left edge before booting, and you 

can boot using discrete Nvidia GeForce 

9300M GS graphics. You pick Intel for 

battery life and Nvidia for performance. 

How big is the performance difference? 

Potentially huge. With CUDA-enabled 

apps, some tasks that would normally 

bring this netbook’s Atom N270 to its 

knees (say you want to transcode your 

media files with Nero Move or watch 

something encoded in H.264) will be 

considerably better, thanks to the 9300M 

If you just got a brand-new Phenom II 

X4 940 BE and are kicking yourself for 

not waiting for the 955 BE, you can stop. 

The 955 is pretty much the same story as 

the 940, but with a slightly faster clock 

(3.2GHz vs. 3GHz, respectively). AMD 

pulled the same stunt with the Phenom 

X4 9850 BE and 9950 BE. 

It’s not that the 955 is unimpressive, 

it’s just that it’s not any more impressive 

than its predecessor, the 940. The slight 

bump in benchmark performance is easily 

explainable with the slightly higher clock 

of the 955. If you’re overclocking, the 

bump is a bit more noticeable. I hit 

Specs: Socket AM3; Clock Speed: 

3.2GHz; HyperTransport 3.0 Link: 4GHz 

full duplex; 45nm process; Cache: 2MB 

total dedicated L2 cache, 6MB L3 cache; 

125W max TDP 

Test System Specs: Processor: 

3.2GHz AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black 

Edition; RAM: 2GB Corsair DDR2-800; 

Graphics: ATI Radeon 4850; Hard Drive: 

150GB Western Digital Raptor 1500 

Specs: CPU: 1.6GHz Intel 

Atom Processor N270; Chipset: 

Intel 945GSE; GPU: Nvidia 

GeForce 9300M GS (256MB 

VRAM); Gigabit Ethernet, 

802.11b/g; 3 USB ports 

Phenom II 

X4 955 Black 

Edition 

$245 

AMD 

www.amd.com 

● ● ● ● 

P9642 in 3DMark Vantage with 

a clock speed of 3.86GHz—a significant 

step up from the stockspeed 

score of P6488. 

The bottom line is that the 

Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 

is a slightly better chip than the 

940 and enters the market at a 

better price—$30 less, to be exact. 

We can only assume that price 

will drop with the next batch of 

AMD CPUs, so it’s a great deal 

for AMD’s best processor. ▲ 

by Seth Colaner 

N10JC-A1 

Asus 

$649 

www.asus.com 

● ● ● ● 

GS. At the end of the day, though, this is 

a platform for basic 2D and 3D entertainment; 

the Atom N270 remains a performance 

bottleneck. 

Our unit shipped an 8-in-1 card reader, 

1.3MP Web cam, HDMI port, ExpressCard 

slot, and fingerprint reader built 

into the touchpad. You’ll have to load apps 

from an external USB or LAN source, because 

there’s no built-in optical drive. 

Honestly, the N10 was a little heavier 

and thicker than we would’ve liked. The 

screen bezel feels excessively thick, but 

we’re guessing this is a concession made by 

opting for a 10.2-inch screen along with a 

comfortably broad keyboard. Still, we 

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 


found the screen very decent for prolonged 

viewing, including for video playback. We 

love the button above the keyboard for toggling 

between different power/performance 

profiles. In High Performance mode with 

Wi-Fi enabled and all power-saving features 

disabled, we achieved a battery runtime 

of 4 hours and 54 minutes—nice. 

The N10 is convenient, affordable, and 

effective for nongaming tasks. We hope 

this sparks a trend in pushing the envelope 

for netbook expectations. ▲ 

by William Van Winkle 


AMD Phenom AMD Phenom 

II X4 940 BE II X4 955 BE 

3DMark Vantage 

Overall P7214 P7488 

GPU 6564 6767 

CPU 10260 11009 

PCMark Vantage Pro 

Overall 5917 5939 

Memories 4205 4205 

TV And Movies 4273 4370 

Gaming 5410 5479 

Music 5223 5425 

Communications 5535 5787 

Productivity 5213 5397 

HDD 3433 3471 

Dr. DivX 2.0.1* 5:04 5:08 

WinRAR 3.71* 2:30 2:20 

Cinebench 10 

Multi-threaded* 1:30 1:24 

Multi-threaded 9786 10487 

(score) 

Crysis 1.1*** 

Low quality 93.81fps 99.95fps 

* minutes:seconds 

** pixels per second 

*** Crysis tested at 1,280 x 1,024 


CPU / July 2009 29


Wilson Electronics iBooster 

In November 2008, I reviewed the Wilson 

Electronics SignalBoost Mini-Mobile 

Amplifier. (See page 31.) This original 

model is designed to strengthen the cellular 

connection of nearly any mobile phone. 

Now that this technology has made its 

mark, Wilson has committed to providing 

a signal boost for the iPhone. 

The iBooster features similar components 

as the Mini-Mobile: a cradle to secure 

the phone, exterior magnet-mount antenna, 

and the signal amplifier itself. The difference 

between the two amplifier kits, 

however, is that the iBooster charges your 

iPhone (via cigarette light power adapter) 

when it’s in its resting state and plugged 

into the charger and combines the signal 

amplifier, charger, and cradle into one unit. 

When you open the box, it may seem 

like the separate pieces will require a stressinducing 

assembly, but in reality, it takes 

a minimal amount of effort to install and 

It’s one thing to lead the charge into a hot 

new technology. It’s quite another to 

take a good look at what users really want 

and need and then field a kit to fill the bill. 

Imation offers several of its M-Class 

(MLC, or multilevel cell) and S-Class 

(SLC, or single-level cell) SSDs as upgrade 

kits. You’ll get a SATA-to-USB converter 

cable and an AC adapter with a SATA 

power connector. These items let you do an 

SSD migration even with a one-bay laptop. 

Be sure to drop your boot drive out of 

AHCI or RAID mode, then boot from the 

included Acronis True Image HD CD to 

perform the drive copy. 

This isn’t the screamingest MLC drive 

on the market, but it’s a fair value, especially 

when you consider its hardware 

bundle and ease of installation. And a 

VelociRaptor hard drive really isn’t the 

primary rival for this sort of SSD—a notebook 

drive would be a fairer comparison. 

Still, we were struck by the give-and-take 

of the benchmark battle. In some areas, 

the Imation seems to dominate; in others, 

the WD drive lands a few body blows. 

mount the iBooster. I 

plugged one end of the 

DC power adapter into 

the amplifier/charger and 

the other into the cigarette 

lighter to power up 

the device immediately; 

don’t overlook the power 

switch on the end of the 

cigarette adapter, indicated by a red light. 

The amplifier/charger connects to the 

antenna with a mini-coaxial connector. I 

extended the antenna cable behind the driver’s 

seat and snaked it up to the door seal, a 

discreet way to install this component. 

As far as my experience goes, the iBooster 

increased signal strength in the rural and 

urban areas I drove through. I didn’t think 

that it was as effective as the Mini-Mobile, 

but the precision of the iBooster is somewhat 

difficult to calculate because the 

iBooster is designed purely for the iPhone. 

M-Class 2.5-inch SATA 128GB Upgrade Kit 

$449.99 

Imation 

www.imation.com 

● ● ● ● 

Specs: 1.5Gbps SATA; sequential 150MBps 

read/90MBps write (advertised), random 

6,000IOps read/380IOps write (advertised); 

two-year limited warranty 

In day-to-day use, however, this SSD 

noticeably perked up our system more than 

the vaunted VelociRaptor. Vista and applications 

launched more quickly, although 

certain file transfers and write operations 

took slightly longer. Still, the Imation M- 

Class seems able to whip any laptop drive, 

and that’s the primary goal of this kit. ▲ 

by Marty Sems 

Wilson Electronics iBooster 

$240 

Wilson Electronics 

www.wilsonelectronics.com 

● ● ● ● 

Specs: Dimensions: 2 x 4.75 x 1 inches 

(HxWxD); 824 to 894MHz/1850 to 

1990MHz; 1,000mw max output; +30dBm 

max RF; 12V power requirement; supports 

SMA female connector 

It’s tricky to know for certain if this issue 

can be attributed to the iBooster itself or 

the wireless coverage in our local area. 

Keep in mind that the iBooster must 

remain in its cradle to operate, so be sure 

to utilize the speakerphone on your 

iPhone (or opt for a Bluetooth headset). 

In the most general terms, the iBooster is 

ideal for anyone who hates poor reception 

or inconsistent data rates. ▲ 

by Joanna Safford 

Imation M-Class 2.5-inch SATA 128GB Upgrade Kit 


PCMark Imation Veloci- 

Vantage M-Class Raptor 

1.0.0 (64-bit, 2.5" SATA 300GB 

Nov 07 patch) 128GB 

HDD score (points) 11051 6002 

Defender (MBps) 80 28 

Gaming (MBps) 92 20 

Photo Gallery (MBps) 121 60 

Vista startup (MBps) 58 23 

Movie Maker edit (MBps) 33 51 

Win Media Ctr (MBps) 49 108 

WMP music add (MBps) 23 14 

App loading (MBps) 26 6 


Read, avg/max (MBps) 133/147 106/126 

Write, avg/max (MBps) 84/88 98/118 

Random access (ms) 0.2 7.3 

Burst read (MBps) 168 245.1 

CPU utilization (%) 3 4 

Iometer 2006.07.27 

File Server (IOps) 23 183 

Web Server (IOps) 3089 199 

4K Random Writes (IOps) 5 300 

4K Random Writes (MBps) 0.02 1.2 

4K Random Writes 3515/8592 53/125 

avg/max response (ms) 

Boot to Desktop 1:05 1:14 

(min:sec) 

Test System Specs: Vista Home Premium (32bit), 

3GHz Core 2 Extreme Q6850, 4GB DDR3 

(1,333MHz), Intel DX48BT2, ICH9R. 



Commodore Gaming Commodore xx 

Commodore often triggers a sense of 

nostalgia for gamers who got their 

start in the 1980s. In 2005, the Commodore 

brand was reinvented, and now 

it has a solid lineup of boutique gaming 

PCs, including the Commodore xx. 

The first thing that we noticed when we 

popped the Commodore xx open was its 

tidy appearance, with clean and orderly 

interior cabling. Our attention was quickly 

refocused to the cooling scheme, however, 

which is one of its biggest strengths. The 

Commodore xx includes the CoolIt Custom 

Domino liquid-cooling system, which 

is a bit blue-collar, but it gets the job done 

well. Also, there are plenty of fans in all the 

right places—a 120mm intake fan in the 

front, a 250mm side fan, and a 120mm 

exhaust fan at the rear—producing a nice 

airflow through the system. 

Commodore is looking to distinguish 

itself with its customizable C-Kin cases. 

According to Commodore, the artwork is 

baked onto the panels in a 350-degree 

Fahrenheit oven and then painted over 

with an antiscratch layer. Although you 

can’t submit your own work, Commodore 

offers more than 50 designs to 

Specs: CPU: Intel Core i7-965 Extreme @ 3.74GHz; Motherboard: 

Evga X58 SLI; RAM: 6GB Corsair Dominator DDR3-1866MHz; 

HDDs: Western Digital 300GB VelociRaptor, 1.5TB Seagate 

choose from. The artwork was impressive, 

but we noticed the color patterns 

weren’t even and looked cheap. 

The Commodore xx packs a long list 

of the best hardware available, which 

allowed it to blast through benchmarks, 

posting a 32513 overall score in 3DMark 

Vantage, for example. Additionally, the 

Crysis Warhead (20.81fps), Crysis 1.1 

(37.95fps), and the World In Conflict 

(74fps) scores were all blistering, thanks 

to the trio of Nvidia GeForce GTX 285s 

(in 3-Way SLI). 

The Commodore xx is a great deal 

when you consider that it’s reasonably 

priced for what you get. Unfortunately, 

Commodore has closed its North 

American office, and at press time 

Commodore’s site did not include a 

North America-specific online store. 

According to Taco van Sambeek, 

Commodore Gaming’s global product 

manager, the company shut down the 

store temporarily and will be processing 

orders from the United States 

again soon. ▲ 

by Tessa Warner Breneman 

Commodore xx 

$4,599 (as tested) 

Commodore Gaming 

www.commodoregaming.com 

● ● ● ● 



Commodore xx 

3DMark Vantage Performance 

Overall 32513 

GPU 29096 

GPU1 82.75fps 

GPU2 87.8fps 

CPU 50192 

CPU1 3221.15 Plans/s 

CPU2 

Cinebench 10* 

160.04 Steps/s 

Multithreaded (score) 21,522 

Multithreaded (min:sec) 0:41 

POV-Ray 3.7 Beta** 

PCMark Vantage Pro 1.0 

4686.42 

Overall 8922 

Memories 6889 

TV And Movies 5630 

Gaming 11363 

Music 6715 

Communications 7570 

Productivity 8406 

HDD 5817 

SiSoft Sandra Lite XII SP1 

Processor Arithmetic 

Dhrystone ALU (MIPS) 90,047 

Whetstone iSSE3 

(MFLOPS) 

Processor Multi-Media 

77,264 

Integer x8 iSSSE3 (itps) 617,242 

Floating Point x8 

iSSE2 (itps) 

Memory Bandwidth 

431,449 

Integer Buffered 

iSSE2 (GBps) 

24.90 

Floating-Point Buffered 

iSSE2 (GBps) 

24.89 

Crysis Warhead (4XAA) 20.81 

Crysis 1.1 (no AA) 37.95 

World In Conflict 1.005 

(4XAA, 16XAF) 

74 

FarCry 2 (4XAA) 94.84 

* minutes: seconds 

** pixels per second 

Games tested at 2,560 x 1,600. 

Barracuda 7,200rpm SATA Hard Drive; GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 

285 (3-Way SLI); PSU: Corsair HX Series, 1,000W Modular Power 

Supply; OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit 


CPU / July 2009 31


Eurocom T890M Element 

People buy ruggedized computers for 

two reasons: Either they’re clumsy or 

their occupation doesn’t tie them to a 

desk—be it the military, construction, or 

other field in which conditions occasionally 

get gritty. Enter Eurocom’s Intel 

Atom-based T890M Element, a die-cast 

magnesium-constructed tablet that’s 

drop-resistant to 4 feet and wrapped in 

thick, black rubber strips. Additionally, 

rubber covers the connectors/ports, the 

shock-mounted HDD is drop-protected, 

and IP54 compliance signifies the T890M 

is splash- and dustproof. The T890M also 

provides fingerprint and BIOS protection, 

an RFID or 2D barcode reader, 

GPS module, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and 

Web cam. Although hefty at 3.3 pounds, 

my WinXP-equipped T890 performed 

lightly on its feet executing common 

Internet and mobile tasks. 

An 8.9-inch LED-backlit resistive 

touchscreen (1,024 x 600) dominates the 

T890M’s makeup. You’ll also find two 

integrated speakers, microphone, Kensington 

lock, slot, headphone jack, two USB 

2.0 ports, and menu buttons to access 

wireless and other functions. My T890M 

shipped with a 1.33GHz Intel Z520 Atom 

CPU and integrated Intel GMA 500 

graphics. Eurocom offers configurations 

of up to a 1.86GHz Z540, 500GB SATA 

storage, SDD drive, and Vista Business. 

The T890M didn’t blink at basic productivity 

and Internet tasks but gulped a bit 

at more-taxing tasks, including completing 

current graphics- and resource-hungry 

benchmarks. In real-world use, the T890 

Specs: 1.2 x 7.6 x 9.6 inches (HxWxD); Li-polymer 6600mAH battery; 10 hours rated life; 

0 degrees to 40 degrees C operating temp, -20 to -60 C non-operating temp; 20 to 80% 

operating, 10 to 90% non-operating relative humidity; optional SSD 


The Archos 5 Internet Media Tablet 

(PMP, MID, etc., etc.) is getting a 

lot of attention lately, and rightly so. It 

combines the performance, function, and 

content most of us are looking for in a 

portable media device: full Web connectivity, 

PC compatibility, music, video, 

photos, and games. There’s even more 

than that, though. 

If you’re not sold on netbooks and 

don’t want to give in to a smartphone, 

the Archos 5 is probably a good fit for 

you, especially if you really only care 

about the multimedia capabilities. 

Starting with menu features, the Play 

category is where you store files from your 

PC—you can also access Web Radio 

(with an incredible 10,000 stations), 

built-in games, and added Flash applications. 

PC connectivity requires the 

included USB cable, and syncing the 

media from your hard drive is extremely 

easy. Windows Media Player assists you 

in the syncing process, so you can quickly 

transfer MP3s, videos, and your photo 

collection. Videos on the Archos 5 are 

crisp, and the audio is consistent on both 

the uploaded content and Web Radio— 

clear highs and lows provide a wellrounded 

sound. 

The touchscreen is highly responsive, 

but you do have to tap twice to select 

options in each media category. If browsing 

via Opera is new to you, be assured 

that there is practically no learning curve. 

You can also set up a Gmail, Yahoo!, or 

Hotmail account that’s accessible with a 

few taps. 

The cons are moderately annoying at 

worst. A stylus would have been a practical 

accessory; some Web pages are difficult 

to navigate on the touchscreen. (Still, 

Specs: Display: 4.8-inch TFT LCD touchscreen (480 x 800); 32-bit ARM Cortex–A8 

processor; Video playback: MPEG-4/WMV/M-JPEG; Audio playback: MP3/WMA/WAV; 

Photo viewer: JPEG/BMP/PNG/GIF; PDF viewer, USB 2.0 interface; 3.5mm jack 

made fast work of Wi-Fi connections, pairing 

with Bluetooth gear, and running Webbased 

productivity apps. Multimedia-wise, 

photos and video were darkish and lacked 

detail, but audio (aided by Intel HD Audio 

and a RealTek audio mixer) was borderline 

outstanding, considering the T890M’s 

tablet nature. The touchscreen was comfortably 

viewable indoors and out, though 

you’ll likely prefer the stylus to fingertips 

for most navigation. 

If you make your living in a sometimesbruising 

environment, the T890M is built 

to withstand nature’s elements while simultaneously 

offering solid mobile connectivity 

options. ▲ 

you can zoom in and out by doubletapping.) 

The glossy metal finish is in 

no way a fingerprint deterrent, but 

Archos does include a cleaning cloth 

to remove smudges. 

By no means have we covered every 

significant feature; however, we can confidently 

say that the Archos 5 is beyond 

adequate for its purposes. ▲ 



T890M Element 

$2,500 (as tested) 

Eurocom 

www.eurocom.com 

● ● ● ● 

by Blaine Flamig 

by Joanna Safford 


$349.99 

Archos 

www.archos.com 

● ● ● ●


Logisys Two Color (Blue/Red) 


T 

he combination of the illuminated 

keyboard and the hotkeys on 

the Logisys Two Color (Blue/Red) 


(Model KB208BK) makes this an 

appealing keyboard for those looking to 

control music on a PC and pull allnighters 

in a poorly lit office or dorm 

room. The slim, black design gives it a 

sophisticated look, and it has a palm 

rest with tall legs, which makes the keyboard 

comfortable to use. 

The keys are arranged well, so my fingers 

didn’t feel crowded as I typed, but 

the ENTER key is large, which affects the 

position of the keys around it. If you are 

used to the standard-sized ENTER key, 

this could take some adjusting. The 

soft-touch keys, however, were slightly 

sluggish and unresponsive, which meant 

it skipped a few letters keeping up with 

this speedy typist. 

Specs: 1.2 x 19.4 x 8.5 inches (HxWxD); backlit keys; 15 hotkeys; soft-touch key system 

Icy Dock EZ-Dock SATA HDD Docking Station 

If you’re like us, you probably have a few 

spare hard drives lying around gathering 

dust. But with Icy Dock’s EZ-Dock 

docking station, you can put those 

idle drives to good use as an external 

hard drive. 

The EZ-Dock’s compact design supports 

both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch SATA 

drives and lets you choose your interface; 

USB and eSATA are both supported with 

the onboard connectors. If you’re using 

the USB 2.0 interface, the included USB 

Y-cable serves both data and power. If 

you’re gunning for 3Gbps transfer rates, 

however, eSATA and the external power 

brick are the way to go. 

I transferred 37.6GB of music and 

videos from a Vista machine to an 80GB 

Intel X25-M SATA SSD transferred data 

at 28.8MBps over an eSATA connection. 

As you’d expect, hot-swap is supported, 

and you can shut down the drive when 

you’re not using it with the integrated 

power button. The Windows- and 

Mac-compatible EZ-Dock comes 

with an attractive and hefty stand 

for fixed use and a carrying case 

with holes that provide instant 

access to all the necessary ports. 

The included eSATA cable was a 

nice bonus, as was the single-port 

eSATA bracket that you can use 

to turn a spare internal SATA 

port from your PC into an 

eSATA port. ▲ 

by Andrew Leibman 

Icy Dock EZ-Dock SATA 

HDD Docking Station 

$49.99 

Icy Dock 

www.icydock.com 

● ● ● ● 

Specs: Supports 2.5-inch, 3.5-inch HDDs; eSATA, USB 2.0 

Two Color (Blue/Red) 


$39.99 

Logisys 

www.logisys.com 

● ● ● 

The hotkeys, which are lined up vertically 

on both sides of the keyboard, add to the 

elegant look of the keyboard rather than 

detract from it. There are 15 hotkeys (which 

are a combination of multimedia and Internet 

hotkeys) and a dial that adjusts the 

brightness of the illumination. Don’t be 

fooled by what you read on the Logisys 

Web site and keyboard packaging, though. 

The dial doesn’t control the volume, as the 

Web site claims; the volume hotkeys control 

the volume. Also, the packaging indicates 

there are application hotkeys for sleep 

mode, your My Computer folder, and the 

Windows calculator, but those keys didn’t 

exist on my keyboard. 

The red and blue illumination, however, 

is just as bright as the pricier Logitech 

Illuminated keyboard (which has white 

backlighting). The PS2 and USB interface 

options, along with the other features, 

make the Two Color (Blue/Red) 

Character-Illuminated Keyboard a decent 

illuminated keyboard for its price. ▲ 



by Tessa Breneman

Solid-State 

Showdown 

Two RAM Leaders’ SSDs Square Off 

The solid-state storage market has really 

been heating up as of late, with a constant 

influx of faster—and sometimes more 

affordable—drives, in addition to firmware 

updates that enhance the performance 

of existing products. For example, fierce 

memory rivals Corsair and OCZ recently 

began offering new products designed to 

compete in a few performance categories 

with Intel’s much-heralded X25-M, the 

Corsair P256 (model tested: CMFSSD- 

256GBG2D), and the OCZ Vertex Series 

SATA II SSD (model tested: OCZSSD2- 

1VTX120G), respectively. 

The Corsair P256 and OCZ Vertex 

Series drives share some similarities, namely 

their 2.5-inch form factors, SATA 3Gbps 

interfaces, and Samsung MLC NAND flash 

memory chips that reside at the hearts of the 

drives. Setting up the drives was simple and 

straightforward. And neither exhibited any 

compatibility problems with Intel-, Nvidia-, 

or AMD-based southbridges on various 

Gigabyte- or Asus-built motherboards. 

But each uses a different controller technology 

to manage the data being sent to 

and retrieved from the drive, which results 

in drastically different performance, as 

you’ll see in our benchmark results. 

As its name suggests, the Corsair P256 is 

a 256GB SSD. It features a sturdy, brushed 

aluminum shell, which encases a new Samsung 

S3C29RBB01-YK40 drive controller 

and double-stacked flash memory, as well 

as 64MB of onboard cache. The OCZ 

Vertex Series drives, which are available in 

capacities ranging from 30 to 250GB, also 

sport 64MB of cache and hard metal casings, 

but the OCZ drives use Indilinx 

IDX110M00-LC drive controllers. 

As our performance chart shows, the 

Corsair P256 trailed the OCZ Vertex Series 

drive in average read and write speeds but 

pulled ahead in burst speed and random 

access time. And although both drives blow 

past Intel’s X25-M in terms of average sequential 

write speeds, neither could come 

close to the excellent X25-M in random 

writes, as is evident by the Intel drive’s 

dominant performance in the IOMeter 

tests. Both Corsair and OCZ S drives’ performance 

is a significant step up from traditional 

hard drives. 

One area where the Corsair P256 and 

OCZ Vertex Series 120GB drives (sort of) 

blow away Intel is price. The 256GB P256’s 

$699 and the 120GB OCZ Vertex Series’ 

$345 price tags are higher than Intel’s $319 

80GB X25-M. Those prices, however, 

equate to a $2.73 and a $2.87 cost per gigabyte 

for the Corsair and OCZ drives, respectively. 

The Intel X25-M commands a 

hefty $3.98 per gigabyte. 

Intel’s X25-M drive is still the cream of 

the crop when it comes to overall system 

Benchmark Numbers 


P256 CMFSSD-256GBG2D 

$699 

Corsair 

www.corsairmicro.com 

● ● ● ● 

Specs: Capacity: 256GB; Interface: SATA 

3Gbps; Storage technology: MLC NAND 

Flash; Read: 220MBps,Write: 200MBps 

(sequential); Cache: 64MB; Form Factor: 

2.5-inch; 1 million hours MTBF 

Vertex Series OCZSSD2-1VTX120G 

$345 

OCZ Technology 

www.ocztechnology.com 

● ● ● ● 

Specs: Capacity: 120GB; Interface: SATA 

3Gbps; Storage technology: MLC NAND 

Flash; Read: 250MBps, Write: 180MBps 

(sequential); Cache: 64MB; Form Factor; 

2.5-inch; 1.5 million hours MTBF 

performance, but the Corsair P256 and 

OCZ Vertex Series drives are excellent 

performers in their own right and offer 

higher capacities at a significantly lower 

cost per gigabyte. ▲ 

by Marco Chiappetta 

Corsair P256 Vertex Series 

CMFSSD-256GBG2D OCZSSD2-1VTX120G Intel X25-M 

256GB 120GB 80GB 

HD Tach RW 

Average read (MBps) 178.1 228.6 235.1 

Average write (MBps) 152.5 189.4 78 

Burst speed (MBps) 248.5 193.6 260.3 

Random access (ms) 0.1 0.1 0.1 

CPU utilization 

IOMeter (Default Access Pattern) 

2% 2% 1% 

Total IOPS 4345.79 4850.96 12108.37 

Total MBps 7.23 9.48 23.61 

Average response time (ms) 0.29 0.205 0.082 

Max response time (ms) 6.01 6.32 2.15 

CPU utilization 1.87% 2.08% 5.21% 

SiSoft Sandra Physical Disk Benchmark 

Drive index (MBps) 235 243.63 234.88 

Random access time (µs) 10 50 100 

Test system specs: Intel Core i7-920 2.66GHz, 6GB OCZ 

DDR3-1333, Gigabyte EX58-Extreme (ICH10R), Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 


CPU / July 2009 35


Sapphire Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 

It’s evident from the box that the Sapphire 

Radeon HD 4870’s Vapor-X 

feature is a big deal. Vapor-X is a newer 

feature from Sapphire that gives the 

Radeon HD 4870 superior cooling and 

quieter operation. Without delving into 

specifics, Vapor-X technology is similar to 

a heatpipe, using a hot, flat surface over 

which a liquid coolant is vaporized and 

then condensed, all within a small chamber 

mounted on the card. 

The Radeon HD 4870 is built on 

a custom PCB that adds Black 

Diamond chokes and 

Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 

$259.99 

Sapphire 

www.sapphiretech.com 

● ● ● ● 

Auzentech X-Fi Forte 7.1 

Whether you’re building the ultimate 

gaming machine or configuring the 

best movie-viewing setup, graphics capability 

is likely at the forefront of your 

mind. But getting the most out of your 

media requires a sound card with the best 

in audio fidelity, and Auzentech’s X-Fi 

Forte 7.1 is just that. 

The Forte 7.1 builds on Auzentech’s 

previous sound card, the Prelude 7.1. The 

major difference between the two cards lies 

in the Forte’s PCI-E interface, which offers 

a higher throughput than the Prelude’s 

PCI interface. Like the Prelude, the new 

Forte sports Creative’s X-Fi chipset, but 

receives a boost with updated circuitry and 

components, including EAX 5.0 support. 

The Forte has a 120dB D/A converter, 

headphone amplifier, and microphone 

pre-amp. It also features 64MB of X-RAM. 

Other worthwhile specs to mention include 

the 15-pin analog I/O multicable 

high-polymer capacitors, which make this 

card cooler, more power-efficient, and more 

reliable. The Vapor-X also has an HDMI 

output with 7.1 surround-sound support. 

Benchmark scores for the Radeon HD 

were relatively predictable for a card of its 

caliber. 3DMark Vantage ranked at P9936, 

while Crysis Warhead scored almost 10fps 

at 2,560 x 1,600 resolution. Far Cry 2 

posted slightly lower than expected, with 

about 31fps at 1,920 x 1,080 and almost 

23fps at the highest resolution. 

Overall, Sapphire’s take on 

the Radeon 4870 is a winner, 

especially considering its reduced 

price tag compared to other 

manufacturers who are charging as 

much or more for inferior specs. ▲ 

by Kris Glaser 

and replaceable 

OPAMPs 

(operational amplifiers) 

for the front left and right audio. 

Installation was a cinch. The card is 

shipped with a low-profile bracket—perfect 

for fitting into HTPCs. But we tested the 

Forte in a desktop computer, so we attached 

the standard bracket that is included in the 

package. To switch brackets, we had to 

Specs: Interface: PCI-E 1.1; Speaker/headphone connections: Stereo to 7.1; Analog I/O 

Multi Connector (3.5mm Line In/Mic In/Side, Rear, Center, Front); 64MB X-RAM. 

Benchmark 

Numbers 

Sapphire Vapor-X 

Radeon HD 4870 

3DMark Vantage Overall P9936 

3DMark GPU Score 8710 

GPU1 (fps) 24.95 

GPU2 (fps) 26.1 

3DMark CPU Score 17106 

Crysis 1.1 (no AA) 21.06 

Crysis Warhead 

Far Cry 2 

1,920 

x 

1,080 

17.25 

31.09 

World in Conflict (4XAA) 47 

Crysis 1.1 (no AA) 

Crysis Warhead (4XAA) 

Far Cry 2 (4XAA) 

2,560 

x 

1,600 

12.1 

9.92 

22.72 

World In Conflict 1.005 (4XAA) 26 

Specs: GPU: Sapphire Radeon HD 4870; Core clock: 750MHz; Memory: 2GB GDDR5 (900MHz; 800 stream processors) 

Test system specs: 2.66GHz Intel i7-920; MSI X58 Eclipse; 3GB DDR3-1600, 74GB WD Raptor; Corsair HX1000W PSU. 

X-Fi Forte 7.1 

$149.99 

Auzentech 

www.auzentech.com 

● ● ● ● 

remove a single Philips 

head screw and two jack 

screws. It’s worth mentioning 

that you’ll need 

a 3/16 nut driver for the 

jack screws, a tool that not 

everyone will have lying around. 

We tested the Forte 7.1 using M- 

Audio’s Studiophile AV 40 reference 

speaker system. We were quite impressed 

with the clarity and intensity of the sound. 

There was a significant difference from our 

system’s onboard audio, and by tweaking 

the options in the included audio software, 

we were able to customize the audio. 

The software was easy to use, with 

Entertainment, Game, and Audio Creation 

modes. The Entertainment and Game 

modes were pretty intuitive, with a basic 

volume wheel and equalizers. The Audio 

Creation mode was much more involved 

and should be reserved for advanced (or 

meticulous) users, as there are far more 

options to configure, including dB levels 

for all speakers and auxiliary effects. ▲ 



by Kris Glaser

o, this is kinda interesting. AMD just introduced the Phe- 

S nom II X4 955, and at its price point, it’s very competitive. 

The chip retails for $245 and, as it turns out, is faster than any 

Core 2 Quad that’s similar in price. Even AMD’s Phenom II X3 

720 has the performance-per-dollar advantage at its price point. 

Where AMD can’t compete is at 

Nehalem’s price points, anything 

priced at $284 or higher. 

AMD’s dominance doesn’t extend all 

the way to the bottom of the price ladder, 

either. In addition to the Phenom 

II X4 955, AMD just released the Athlon 

X2 7850, priced at $69. A very 

affordable CPU, yes, but it doesn’t compare 

well with its closest competitor, 

Intel’s Pentium E5300, in terms of 

price/performance. 

Why is it that AMD is competitive 

in one price band but not another? Or, 

looked at from the opposite perspective, 

how can Intel dominate performance at 

one end but not at another? As you can 

guess, it boils down to having a multitude 

of architectures in the market at 

the same time. 

Intel’s high-end processors are truly 

next-gen where performance is con- 

cerned. The Core i7 starts at $284 and 

goes all the way up to $999, and AMD simply 

can’t outperform those chips. In some 

situations it gets close, but overall, Core i7 

offers a 0 to 40% performance advantage 

over the best of the rest. 

Unfortunately, the Core i7’s underlying 

Nehalem architecture won’t make its way 

into mainstream parts until the last quarter 

of this year. It’s unclear what Intel will call 

the mainstream version, but most are speculating 

that it’ll carry the Core i5 name. 

The i5 should be able to compete quite 

well with AMD’s Phenom II, but given 

that it won’t be out until sometime around 

October, that leaves Intel’s Core 2-based 

CPUs to compete with Phenom II. Clockfor-clock, 

Intel has the advantage, however, 

AMD is very aggressive on its pricing, 

and Intel fully intends to keep turning a 

Why AMD Wins At $200 But 

Loses At $300 & $70 

Anand Lal Shimpi has turned a 

fledgling personal page on 

GeoCities.com into one of the world’s 

most visited and trusted PC 

hardware sites. Anand started his 

site in 1997 at just 14 years old 

and has since been featured in USA 

Today, CBS’ “48 Hours,” and Fortune. 

His site—www.anandtech.com— 

receives more than 55 million page 

views and is read by more than 

2 million readers per month. 

profit even in poor economic times. The end result is what happened 

with the Phenom II X4 955; AMD’s 3.2GHz offering 

competes with Intel’s 2.83GHz Core 2 Quad Q9550. It keeps 

the marketplace competitive for the consumer, but AMD turned 

in a hefty loss on its earnings last quarter, so it’s not an approach 

the company can keep up for long. 

Move down in price again, and this 

time AMD’s architecture is the one 

that changes. Phenom II CPUs are 

built using AMD’s 45nm process on a 

die that’s nearly as large as Nehalem’s; 

there’s simply no way they could be 

sold for under $100 at this point. 

Instead, AMD is rebadging last year’s 

Phenom processors as Athlon X2s. 

These things are 65nm quad-core 

chips with two cores disabled. The 

dies are too big to be sold for under 

$100, but after Phenom II, no one 

really wants an original, so AMD has 

no other option than to rebrand them 

as dual-core Athlon processors. 

Intel doesn’t switch architectures as 

you drop down to the $70 price point. 

The Pentium processor is a Core 2 

derivative, albeit with less cache. At 

around $70, you’ve got the Athlon X2 

7850 and Intel’s Pentium E5300. In 

pretty much all application benchmarks, 

Intel takes the win there. The notable 

exception is gaming performance, where 

AMD is the winner. Intel has the lower 

power consumption, as you’re getting a 

small 45nm die instead of a large used-tobe-a-quad-core 

65nm die. I’d say that Intel 

is the victor at $70, but that all depends on 

whether you’re building a gaming machine. 

Over the next six to 12 months, we’ll 

see both manufacturers try to transition all 

of their CPUs to the same architecture, 

which may make things more clear-cut. 

Until then, that’s why the world performs 

the way it does. ▲ 

Talk back to Anand at anand@cpumag.com 

CPU / July 2009 37

hard hat area | pc modder 

PC Modder 

Modding does the body good. A PC’s body anyway, inside and out. Here you’ll find 

hardware, firmware, tools, tips, and tutorials for modding your rig’s performance and 

appearance. Send us your own mod-related tips and ideas at modding@cpumag.com. 

M 

odding enthusiasts have a 

penchant for the latest toys. 

Fast processors, powerful 

video cards, silent SFF enclosures, and radically 

lit motherboards are all fair game 

when it comes to a modder’s creative 

mind. Recognizing the appeal of unconventional 

customization, an entire industry 

has emerged to support the community. 

Mods & Ends 

Lian Li EX-H34 

Power users who want the ability to 

swap multiple hard drives into and out of 

a system at a moment’s notice may be 

intrigued by Lian Li’s new EX-H34 

SATA hard drive rack ($72.99; www 

.xoxide.com). The EX-H34, which is 

available with a black or silver finish, is a 

sleek-looking drive rack that mounts in 

three adjacent 5.25-inch drive bays. 

Although the EX-H34’s aesthetics match 

many of Lian Li’s current cases, it is compatible 

with most other brands, as well. 

At the back of the EX-H34 is a lowrpm, 

low-noise 120mm cooling fan with 

a washable air filter. The front is a door 

that opens up to reveal the hard drive 

The Lian Li EX-Hxx series of hot-swappable 

hard drive racks makes it quick and easy to 

swap out hard drives on the fly. 


Tips & Tutorials 

mounting slots. The device supports up 

to four standard 3.5-inch SATA hard 

drives, which are secured in place by aluminum 

rails with protruding handles. To 

add a drive, simply fasten one of the rails 

to it, and it will slide into the rack; yank 

the handle to pull it out. Smaller racks 

compatible with only two (EX-H22) or 

three (EX-H33) drives are also available. 

Thermaltake S Orb 

There is a slew of enhanced cooling 

accessories available for high-end graphics 

cards out there, but cards that fall into 

more mainstream market segments don’t 

always receive much attention. Thermaltake, 

however, has released the S 

Orb GPU cooler ($49.99; www.thermal 

takeusa.com), designed for some of the 

more affordable graphics cards currently 

on the market. 

The S Orb has a near-universal 

mounting bracket design that is compatible 

with a bevy of AMD- and Nvidiabased 

graphics cards, including Radeon 

cards dating back to the X800 series (and 

up to today’s HD 4850) and GeForce 

cards from the FX 5700 to the 9600 GT. 

Thermaltake’s S Orb GPU cooler is compatible 

with a broad range of Nvidia- and AMD-based 

mainstream graphics cards. 

The cooler features two curved copper 

heatpipes that run through a polished 

copper base to form what looks like an 

“S” shape. The heatpipes also have plenty 

of aluminum fins attached. A quiet 

80mm fan sits in the middle of the 

heatsink fins to keep the GPU cool. 

Thermaltake also includes heatsinks for 

the graphics card’s memory chips. 

Cooljag Falcon-2 CPU Cooler 

Users in need of a high-performing, lownoise, 

low-profile cooler for Intel processors 

have a new option to consider: Cooljag’s 

Falcon-2 ($39.99; www.xoxide.com). 

Compatible with Intel LGA 775, 1366, 

and upcoming 1156 processor sockets, the 

Falcon-2 features four copper heatpipes, a 

solid-copper base, and aluminum cooling 

fins stacked in a low-profile array. A 

120mm variable-speed PWM (pulse-width 

modulated) fan (approximately 500 to 

2,000rpm) is also included with the 

Falcon-2, which, according to its specifications, 

outputs only 15-25dBA, making this 

cooler a good fit for HTPCs or SFF PCs. 

Fashionably Fresh Firmware 

TrendNet TEW-453APB (v2303) 

An update for the TrendNet TEW- 

453APB enhances WPA2 and WPA/ 

WPA2 mix modes. The update improves 

WMM support and adds Universal Client 

and Universal Repeater modes. 

www.trendnet.com 

Thecus N8800 (v2.01.08) 

A firmware update for the Thecus 

N8800 NAS server fixes a CPU fan 

speed-detection issue, changes the 

S.M.A.R.T. information displayed in the 

Disk Status section of the interface, and 

adds XFS support while building a RAID 

volume, among other features. 

www.thecus.com 

LG BE06LU10 (vYE05) 

LG’s recent update to the BE06LU10 

external Blu-ray drive improves write performance 

on new types of BD-R and BD- 

RE media. 

www.lgservice.com 

by Marco Chiappetta


Tri-Core Transformer 

Back on Feb. 9, AMD 

launched a handful 

of AM3 Phenom II 

processors built using the firm’s 

latest 45nm manufacturing 

process. We came away from 

our initial testing satisfied that 

AMD had a real winner on its 

hands in both the Phenom II 

X3 and X4 processors. The new 

CPUs launched at higher initial 

clocks than their predecessors 

and also exhibited significantly 

more overclocking headroom. Add the 

multiplier-unlocked Black Edition models 

and prices that put the squeeze on some of 

Intel’s midrange offerings, and you have all 

the makings for a successful product. 

But two weeks later, the Korean hardware 

site Playwares (www.playwares.com) 

discovered a somewhat obscure BIOS setting 

available on some AMD chipset motherboards 

that, when set to Auto, would 

turn select tri-core Phenom II processors 

into fully operational quad-cores. As the 

news filtered through the enthusiast community, 

others began reporting success 

with certain motherboards and processors 

while sales of AMD’s Phenom II processors 

started to take off. DigiTimes 

(www.digitimes.com) reported high demand 

for AMD’s new Phenoms, and 

motherboard makers claimed AMD could 

earn up to a 30% share of the global desktop 

CPU market in Q2 (up from a previous 

20%). There’s no data to show a direct 

correlation, but the exploit couldn’t have 

hurt the Phenom II’s popularity. 

We contacted AMD to get its take. 

Product Manager Damon Muzny responds, 

“We’re quite excited by the attention 

and interest folks are showing in the 

new 45nm Phenom II processors, especially 

for our Black Edition X3s and X4s.” 

And AMD should be proud of its 

Phenom IIs. But if there’s a chance of 


Turn A Phenom II X3 Into An X4 

The AMD Phenom II X3 die is the key. 

getting a quad-core Phenom II for $145 or 

$125, well, that’s just icing on the cake. 

Read on as we cut through the speculation 

and attempt to unlock a Phenom II X3 and 

show you what it takes to do it yourself. 

Quad-Core Caveat Emptor 

This is the part of the show where we 

tell you that although it’s possible for you 

to replicate our successes (more on those 

later), it’s also more than likely that you’ll 

replicate our failures (more on this, too). 

Every three-core processor has four cores, 

but the disabled core presumably didn’t 

pass validation testing and was disabled for 

that reason. Even if you manage to unlock 

this core, it may be unstable, negatively 

impact your system performance, and 

could cause your system to become unbootable. 

Should you be one of the lucky 

few who manages to get a fully functioning 

Only certain Phenom II X3 batches work with 

the exploit. 

quad-core CPU from your 

Phenom II X3, it will draw significantly 

more than its rated 

95W (expect closer to 125W 

under full load). Enabling the 

fourth core would likely also 

void your warranty and has the 

potential to shorten the life of 

your hardware. Having said 

that, let’s dig in. 

Platform Prerequisites 

The first thing you need is a 

Phenom II X3 processor, of which there 

are currently two: the 2.6GHz Phenom II 

X3 710 and the 2.8GHz Phenom II X3 

720 Black Edition. We had a 720 in 

house that AMD sent us for the initial 

launch of the series, but we asked the firm 

to send us a 710, as well. 

But not just any old Phenom II X3 will 

do. According to the information we’ve 

been able to uncover, only 720 and 710 

processors from batches manufactured on 

certain dates have any success with the 

exploit. Playwares achieved its results using 

processors manufactured in the fourth week 

of 2009, while other sources claimed varying 

degrees of success with processors dated 

in the 46th and 51st weeks of 2008 and the 

fourth and sixth weeks of 2009. 

To determine if a given Phenom II X3 

processor has a good chance of working 

with this exploit, you’ll need to look at the 

three rows of alphanumeric characters that 

make up the part number etched into the 

CPU’s heatspreader. Pay particular attention 

to the far right block of four numbers 

followed by four letters in the middle row. 

For our Phenom II X3 720, the number is 

0849CPMW, while the 710’s number is 

0906MPMW. The numbers refer to the 

week the die was manufactured. For 

instance, our 720 was manufactured in the 

49th week of 2008, and the 710 was manufactured 

in the sixth week of 2009.

Despite the fact that only the 710’s date 

batch had any reports of success, we 

resolved to try both processors. 

Regarding a motherboard, you will 

need one with the AMD 790FX or GX 

chipset, particularly one that features the 

Unlocked & Overclocked 

SB750 Southbridge, and a BIOS that supports 

ACC (Advanced Clock Calibration), 

the feature that enables the system to 

recognize the fourth core of an X3 processor. 

(See the “X3-Unlocking Motherboards” 

sidebar for a list of compatible 

We ran our system through a series of CPU-intensive synthetic and real-world benchmarks 

to give you an idea of how the Phenom II X3 710 will perform at stock settings with 

the fourth core unlocked, and unlocked and overclocked for maximum performance. The 

three columns on the right show you performance increases in green, performance drops 

in red, and no change in gray. The leftmost column shows the difference between the 

Phenom II X3 710 at stock settings and the same processor with the fourth core unlocked. 

The middle column shows you the dramatic increases you can get from a Phenom II X3 

if you manage to successfully unlock it and overclock it modestly to 3.2GHz. Notice the 

abundance of green? The rightmost column shows you the gains you get between the 

710 with the fourth core unlocked vs. the same unlocked processor overclocked. 


motherboards.) At press time, a German 

site (www.hwbox.gr) also reported success 

using the Nvidia chipset-based Gigabyte 

GA-M720-US3 paired with a beta BIOS. 

Because the first site to report the exploit, 

Playwares, used the Biostar TA790GX 

128M, we decided to use that motherboard 

as the platform for our testing. 

Try, Try Again 

Our system consists of the Phenom II 

X3 710 and 720, a Cooler Master V8 CPU 

cooler, Biostar TA790GX 128M (AMD 

790GX + SB750) motherboard, 2GB 

Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4 (2x 1GB, 

DDR2-800) SDRAM, ATI Radeon HD 

4890 graphics card, PC Power & Cooling 

Silencer 500 EPS12V power supply, and 

a 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black 

3DMark Vantage AMD AMD Phenom II X3 AMD Phenom II X3 Stock 710 vs. Stock Stock 710 vs. 710 710 unlocked vs. 

Phenom II X3 710 710 (unlocked) 710 (unlocked @3.2GHz) 710 unlocked unlocked & OCed 710 unlocked & OCed 

Overall P8924 P9750 P10522 9.26% 17.91% 7.92% 

GPU Score 10024 10020 10338 -0.04% 3.13% 3.17% 

GPU1 (fps) 28.83 28.67 30 -0.55% 4.06% 4.64% 

GPU2 (fps) 29.92 30.06 30.58 0.47% 2.21% 1.73% 

CPU Score 6713 9021 11116 34.38% 65.59% 23.22% 

CPU1 (Plans/s) 863.67 1159.51 1444.9 34.25% 67.30% 24.61% 

CPU2 (Steps/s) 10.54 14.19 17.08 34.63% 62.05% 20.37% 

1,024 x 768 

PCMark Vantage Pro 1.0 

Overall 5158 5476 6458 6.17% 25.20% 17.93% 

Memories 4486 4992 5706 11.28% 27.20% 14.30% 

TV And Movies 3640 4206 4931 15.55% 35.47% 17.24% 

Gaming 4908 5382 6178 9.66% 25.88% 14.79% 

Music 4166 4626 4456 11.04% 6.96% -3.67% 

Communications 4398 4466 6115 1.55% 39.04% 36.92% 

Productivity 5110 5129 5675 0.37% 11.06% 10.65% 

HDD 4772 4851 4817 1.66% 0.94% -0.70% 

1,024 x 768 

POV-Ray 3.7 Beta 31 1622.33pps 2142.01pps 2647.57pps 32.03% 63.20% 23.60% 

WinRAR 3.71 2:38 2:22 2:12 10.13% 16.46% 7.04% 

Dr. DivX 

Cinebench 10 

5:49 5:38 4:32 3.15% 22.06% 19.53% 

Multithreaded (min:sec) 2:16 1:44 1:24 23.53% 38.24% 19.23% 

Multithreaded (score) 

SiSoft Sandra Lite 2009 SP2 

Processor Arithmetic 

6484 8448 10406 30.29% 60.49% 23.18% 

Dhrystone ALU (GIPS) 26.62 35.36 43.32 32.83% 62.73% 22.51% 

Whetstone iSSE3 (GFLOPS) 

Processor Multi-Media 

25.61 34.15 41.72 33.35% 62.91% 22.17% 

Int x8 aSSE2 (MPixels/s) 75.81 101.59 124.57 34.01% 64.32% 22.62% 

Float x4 iSSE2 (MPixels/s) 33.37 44.51 54.55 33.38% 63.47% 22.56% 

Double x2 iSSE2 (Mpixels/s) 

Memory Bandwidth 

18.27 24.32 29.85 33.11% 63.38% 22.74% 

Int Buff'd iSSE2 (GBps) 9.61 9.82 12.57 2.19% 30.80% 28.00% 

Float Buff'd iSSE2 (GBps) 

Games 1,280 x 1024 

9.63 9.80 12.57 1.77% 30.53% 28.27% 

Far Cry 2 48.97fps 50.34fps 64.41fps 2.80% 31.53% 27.95% 

World in Conflict (4XAA, 4XAF) 32fps 32fps 42fps 0% 31.25% 31.25% 

CPU / July 2009 41


WD1001FALS hard drive. The Biostar 

motherboard’s BIOS is version 2.61, and 

Windows Vista Ultimate is our OS. 

We started with the higher-performing 

processor first, the 2.8GHz Phenom II 720 

Black Edition. We installed it into the system, 

entered the BIOS Setup Utility, navigated 

to the Advanced tab, selected CPU 

Configuration, scrolled to the bottom of 

the page to highlight Advanced Clock 

Calibration, and set it to Auto. After saving 

the changes and restarting, the PC 

wouldn’t budge from a black screen, failing 

to boot or even begin the POST. We 

pressed CTRL-ALT-DELETE and tried to 

reboot, and again, the system failed to even 

initialize the display. This unsurprising 

result is likely to happen when you turn on 

ACC with most Phenom II X3s that aren’t 

from one of the magic batches. 

According to a product manager from 

a prominent motherboard manufacturer, 

“The original function of Advanced 

Clock Calibration is to sync the different 

speeds of each core of a multicore processor”—to 

help when overclocking the 

original Phenom processors. Prior to the 

launch of the Phenom IIs, and before the 

ACC is found in the CPU Configuration menu. 

tech press discovered ACC’s special new 

ability, an AMD product manager had 

this to say about ACC: “Things learned 

through developing ACC with the 65nm 

Phenom were baked into our new 45nm 

Phenom II silicon. . . . You can just as 

well leave ACC off for Phenom II [overclocking] 

testing.” 

Our unnamed source tells us his theory 

as to why ACC unlocks the fourth core of 

Phenom II X3 processors. “These X3 cores 


are actually X4 cores, and . . . the ones that 

fail in certain cores, instead of throwing 

them away, [the chip maker] just disables 

[the core] with a register that they add in, 

and in certain date codes, [AMD’s] manufacturing 

plant failed to add that register.” 

Then presumably, stability concerns 

notwithstanding, this exploit should work 

on every processor from those certain date 

batches? “Yes. Actually, we’ve known about 

this for some time.” When pressed for 

when the ACC exploit first came to his 

attention, our contact explains, “I seem to 

remember seeing something about this in 

. . . November or December.” 

Armed with renewed confidence and 

one more Phenom II X3 processor to test, 

we cleared the CMOS, removed our stubborn 

Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition, 

installed the Phenom II X3 710, switched 

ACC to Auto, crossed our fingers, and 

restarted. Almost immediately, we were 

greeted with a positive sign, as the POST 

displayed our CPU as an “AMD Phenom 

II X4 10 Processor.” In Windows, a popup 

informed us that device driver software 

installed successfully for an “AMD Phenom 

II X4 10 Processor.” CPU-Z also confirmed 

that although we were running a 

Deneb-based Phenom II X3 710, it was 

equipped with four cores and capable of 

handling four threads. 

To determine if a heavy load would 

trip up our new quad-core, we ran 

Prime95 on all four cores for an 

extended period, and it breezed 

through with flying colors. We ran our 

suite of processor-stressing benchmarks, 

and the system remained stable 

throughout. Better than stable: In 

benchmarks that scale well between 

multiple cores, our unlocked Phenom 

II X3 710 was performing in line with 

what we’d expect from a quad-core 

Phenom II. Check out the “Unlocked & 

Overclocked” chart to see the numbers. 

Having proven that our Phenom II X3 

710 can be unlocked to take advantage of 

its dormant fourth core, we decided to 

push our luck a bit and overclock it. 

Although we wanted to get as much performance 

out of the chip as possible, we were 

also wary of pushing the thermal envelope 

too much. We managed to get stable 

X3-Unlocking 

Motherboards 

Here’s a list of motherboards that reportedly 

feature the SB750 Southbridge and 

the requisite ACC setting in the BIOS. 

ASRock AOD790GX/128M 

ASRock M3A790GXH/128M 

Asus M3A79-T Deluxe 

Asus M4A79-T Deluxe 

Biostar TA790GX3 A2+ 

Biostar TA790GX 128M 

DFI LANParty DK790FXB-M2RS 

Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4H 

Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4 

Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H 

Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P 

performance at 3.18GHz by tuning 

the CPU HyperTransport clock to 

245MHz, increasing the northbridge frequency 

to 2,000MHz and giving the 

CPU an additional 0.125V to work 

with. As a result, our unlocked and overclocked 

Phenom II X3 710 outperformed 

AMD’s Phenom II X4 940 Black 

Edition (see page 43 in CPU’s March 

2009 issue), a processor that—as we 

went to press—was selling for close to 

$100 more than the Phenom II X3 710. 

Four Is Better Than Three 

As hacks, mods, and exploits go, 

unlocking the fourth core on a Phenom 

II X3 processor is about as easy as it 

gets. Unfortunately, the hard part is just 

getting your hands on a processor from 

the batch missing the fourth core disable 

register. Unless you can find an online 

retailer that will reveal the batch numbers 

prior to purchase, there’s no way to 

know if you’re getting an X3 from an 

exploitable batch. On the other hand, 

our winning 710 is one of the more 

recent X3s to show success, so there’s a 

possibility that any X3 that has a stable 

fourth core will work. ▲ 

by Andrew Leibman


Give Us 

Your Mod 

Have a computer mod that will bring tears 

to our eyes? Email photos and a description to 

madreadermod@cpumag.com. We’re looking for 

rigs that are recognizable as PCs; your Wookiee 

mod won’t find a home here. If we include your 

system in our “Mad Reader Mod” section, 

we’ll help you load up your modder’s toolbox 

with $1,500 and a one-year subscription to CPU. 


Egypt Mod 

Chris “jadragon” Kramer’s 

Egypt Mod nearly slipped 

through the cracks; he submitted 

it in August 2007 after completing 

the work in the summer of 

2006, and somehow we missed it 

until stumbling across his submission 

a couple months ago. 

You can no doubt see why we’re 

glad we found it. 

The aptly named Egypt Mod 

looks cool at a glance, but unless 

you know what to look for, you 

might not appreciate just how 

insanely detailed and authentic 

this mod is. Kramer researched 

his theme meticulously and found 

that many ancient Egyptian 

tombs are carved from limestone 

bedrock, so he found smoothgrain 

natural limestone floor tiles 

he could use to build the shell 

around the frame of a NZXT 

Nemesis case. The hieroglyphics 

Egypt Mod’s front panel doors are elaborate constructs 

of limestone, gems, and brass, held in place by 

hidden magnetic latches. 

Kramer powers 

his mod with a 

mobile, Socket 479 

Intel Core Duo T2300 and 

2GB of DDR2 plugged into an 

AOpen i945GTm-VHL motherboard. 

are painstakingly carved into the 

limestone, inspired by passages 

like this one that Kramer discovered 

in “The Egyptian Book of 

the Dead,” by E.A. Wallis Budge: 

“I am a shining being, and a 

dweller in light who hath been 

created and hath come into existence 

from the limbs of the god.” 

As impressive as the limestone 

is, it’s only the beginning. Kramer 

spent years as a lapidary and jeweler. 

He brought his considerable 

skills to bear in adorning the 

Egypt Mod with gemstone inlays 

of lapis lazuli, opal, malachite, 

carnelian, turquoise, brass, and 

gold leaf. 

Kramer says he spent about 

200 hours on the case, prepping 

the NZXT frame, affixing the 

limestone, creating and hanging 

the front bay doors (which close 

on brass hinges; the top door 

A case constructed of such 

precious materials needs a fitting 

guardian. Anubis, gatekeeper 

and ruler of the underworld, will 

probably do the trick. 


stays closed thanks to a hidden 

magnet latch), carving the hieroglyphics 

and the hunt and chariot 

scenes, and crafting the inlays. 

Kramer attached the limestone to 

the case using silicon adhesive; 

he removed the front bezel and 

replaced it with a custom frame 

of aluminum tubing for the drive 

bays and wired the Nemesis’ 

power and hard drive LEDs so 

they light up gemstones on the 

case’s front panel. 

Kramer’s third case mod, the 

Egypt Mod weighs 96 pounds, 

and Kramer confirms that he’s 

learned to lift with his legs, not 

his back. His other projects 

include a Tron-themed mod, 

which trades limestone for 

Plexiglas, and a steampunk case 

he hopes to have finished 

by the end of the year. 

We’ll be watching, Chris. 

CPU / July 2009 45

Get informed answers to your advanced technical 

questions from CPU. Send your questions along with a 

phone and/or fax number, so we can contact you if 

necessary, to q&a@cpumag.com. Please include all 

pertinent system information. 

“Anything that 

gets in the way 

of gameplay and 

immersion just 

doesn’t cut it. 


” 

Each month we dig deep into the mailbag here at CPU in an 

effort to answer your most pressing technical questions. Want some 

advice on your next purchase or upgrade? Have a ghost in your 

machine? Are BSODs making your life miserable? CPU’s 

“Advanced Q&A Corner” is here for you. 

Mike G. asked: I was just wondering what the technical “requirements” 

are for an improvement from a previous generation of DDR. 

What I mean to say is that I have read plenty about DDR3 having little to 

no benefit from DDR2 in desktops. And when the Athlon64 only had a 

DDR memory controller (in the Socket 939 days) many people said the 

same thing about Intel moving to DDR2. 

Now, the contrast of that is video cards. They seem to (or reviewers 

claim) benefit from a new generation of DDR. For example, in 

your AMD Radeon HD 4850 volt mod article (see page 41 in the May 

2009 issue of CPU), you mention some of the clock ceilings are imposed 

by the fact that the 4870 uses DDR5 as opposed to the 4850, 

which uses DDR3. What is the deal with memory manufacturers and 

the seemingly pointless/totally unnecessary march toward newer iterations 

of DDR memory? 

A: We can understand your confusion, Mike, but must stress 

that there is a point to each new generation of DDR memory. As 

you mentioned, there was little reason to upgrade to DDR2, or 

to DDR3, when each new iteration was first introduced on the 

desktop. When DDR2 and DDR3 system memory first hit the 

scene, it offered little to no additional performance. But over 

time, it became clear why each new generation was introduced. 

Just look at the maximum speed ratings that are widely available 

for each memory type at your favorite online retailer. Standard 

DDR system memory peaked at about 400MHz (give or take a 

few MHz). DDR2 leveled off at about 1,200MHz. And DDR3 is 

still going strong at speeds over 2,100MHz. 

When used in a platform that can take better advantage of the 

additional bandwidth afforded by the higher memory frequencies, 

it absolutely has a measurable impact on performance. You 

see, the changes brought forth with each new generation of DDR 

were more about reducing power requirements and improving 

signal integrity, with the ultimate goal of attaining higher clock 

speeds. And in that respect, each new version of DDR system 

memory has been a marked improvement over its predecessors. 

GDDR5 memory’s benefits over GDDR3, however, were immediately 

apparent upon its introduction. It’s true that GDDR5 is an 

evolution of GDDR3/4 technologies, but GDDR5 allows for shorter 

trace lengths, lower voltages, and most importantly, increased 

bandwidth. What makes GDDR5’s ultimate bandwidth superior to

GDDR3/4 is that it offers double the I/O throughput with the 

same interface and clock speed. 

For example, the Radeon HD 4850 initially shipped with 

993MHz GDDR3. The Radeon HD 4870 used “slower” 

900MHz GDDR5. And both cards had a 256-bit memory interface. 

But because GDDR5 can send twice the data per clock, it 

offered 1.8x the bandwidth on the 4870 (3.6Gbps vs. 2Gbps) 

than GDDR3 did on the 4850. The increased bandwidth offered 

by the GDDR5 memory used on the 4870, and the newer 4890, 

also allowed AMD to implement 256-bit memory interfaces on 

their high-end graphics cards, while Nvidia required 448-bit and 

512-bit interfaces on the GTX series to offer similar bandwidth. 

Shawn T. asked: I have been having graphics glitches recently during 

gaming and decided I best get some help on it before it makes me 

crazy. Over the past month or so, I started getting issues with some of 

my 3D games with what I would like to call texture skewing or texture 

artifacts. It started occurring in Far Cry 2, Medieval II: Total War, and 

Oblivion. Unfortunately, no steps I have taken thus far have cured these 

symptoms. However, it doesn’t occur in other games I play (Rome: Total 

War, Unreal Tourney 2004). For graphics, I have a Radeon X1950 Pro 

256MB card with no overclock on my GPU. I have tried several driver 

versions with it but with no success (currently Catalyst version 9.2). My 

issues never come up immediately upon playing the game, and the only 

games that it occurs in are the ones that are pretty intense on the card. 

Any clue what might be causing this? I’ve tuned up my machine several 

times, have updated drivers and OS patches, but it still happens during 

heavy-duty gaming with some of the new titles. It’s driving me nuts! I 

want my Far Cry 2 looking as good as it gets. 

It’s highly unlikely that a 

Radeon X1950 Pro is producing 

Vsync texture-tearing artifacts in a 

cutting-edge game engine like Far Cry 2. 

We’d suggest looking at heat-related issues as 

the possible culprit of your texture anomalies. 

A: Shawn, that’s just not right. In fact, we’re not surprised that 

you’re reaching the point of frustration. Anything that gets in the 

way of gameplay and immersion just doesn’t cut it. We feel your 

pain. Let’s think about things a bit and back into a solution for you. 

The obvious issue at hand here resides with the performance of 

your 3D graphics subsystem under gaming workloads, correct? In 

addition, you noted that this “texture skewing” is only present 

when you’re playing more demanding game titles, such as Far Cry 

2, Total War 2, and Oblivion, and not immediately but rather 

after the card is warmed up. Regardless, there are two primary reasons 

for texture artifacts in PC game environments, one of which 

is a hardware-related issue. The other occurs more in software. 

In terms of troubleshooting, it’s sometimes easiest to remedy 

the possibility of a software issue, so we’ll tackle that first. We’re not 

sure what resolution you’re gaming at on your monitor, but it’s possible 

(though admittedly not likely) that you’re experiencing something 

called texture tearing. Remedying this situation is a simple 

switch in the game engine to enable Vsync; if it’s not available there, 

you can force it on in ATI’s Catalyst driver control panel options. 

Enabling Vsync will cap the frame rate of your graphics card at 

60fps, so it will be more in sync with your monitor’s refresh rate. 

Now, with all that out of the way, we don’t necessarily think 

this is your issue. If it were a Vsync issue, you’d see this problem 

in lower-end games like Unreal Tournament 2004, as well. You 

noted your graphics card is an older model Radeon X1950 Pro. 

Relatively speaking, especially with respect to Far Cry 2, this 

graphics card is getting a bit too old now. As such, we’re more 

suspect of overheating issues in this case. The graphics card 

you’re running apparently is having this issue as a result of 

stress-related marginalities, which basically points to thermals. 

A simple test would be to pull the side panel from your system 

and blow cool air across the motherboard with a room fan. If the 

texture artifacts go away, you’ve found your culprit: heat. 

Timbo asked: I’ve been looking through the BIOS of my new Core 

i7 motherboard, and there sure are a lot of different settings to pick 

through these days. I’m running an Asus P6T6, and it has a lot of tweaking 

options like memory timings, voltage adjustment, and other options 

that are familiar compared to my Core 2 mainboard. However, there are 

a few Core i7-specific settings that I’m totally unfamiliar with. One of 

them is called the “Uncore” frequency, and I’m clueless as to what that 

does. Are there performance gains to be had by overclocking it, like I do 

the main core speed? It seems like the Core i7 is a fairly complex chip, 

and I want to tweak with both performance and stability in mind. 

A: There’s no question, overclocking the new Core i7 is a different 

ball of wax, as opposed to Intel’s previous generation of Core 2 

CPUs. The first thing to note is that your FSB frequency is no 

longer a “bus speed” but rather a “reference clock” that provides 

timing for every other subsystem on the chip including the system 

memory interface speed, QPI link, and Uncore frequency. 

You can think of the Uncore frequency as a clock that is 

derived from that main reference clock but provides a timing 

source for other subcircuits of the chip, other than the CPU cores 

themselves. The Uncore frequency is the clock timing for things 

such as the Core i7 memory controller and the L2 cache. However, 

performance gains as a result of overclocking this section of 

the chip are not worth the risk of instability. It’s best to set the 

reference clock speed and multiplier for the CPU cores to your 

desired target speed and then dial back the Uncore frequency 

multiplier to a lower setting that will provide better stability. The 

Uncore clock speed tends to be a bit twitchy at certain speeds; it’s 

best to keep it in check while you scale up the core clocks—where 

the real performance gains are. The same can be said for the QPI 

link speed. In general, if you’re overclocking the cores by dialing 

up the reference clock, select a lower QPI link multiplier to keep 

this clock speed on the chip within a more stable range. ▲ 

by Dave Altavilla and Marco Chiappetta, 

the experts over at HotHardware.com 

For bonus content, subscribers can go to 

www.cpumag.com/cpujul09/q&a. 

CPU / July 2009 47

X-Ray Vision 

Fujifilm’s 3D Digital Imaging System Brings Photos To Life 

Digital cameras have become almost 

synonymous with photography in 

the past decade, supplanting film 

cameras. During that time, the quality 

of digital images has steadily improved as 

digital camera technology has matured. 

Today’s digital images routinely contain 10 

to 20 times as many megapixels as early 

digital cameras could produce. 

Digital camera technologies are beginning 

to slow in terms of adding megapixels and 

increasing resolution, though. An Olympus 

Imaging manager said at the PMA 09 trade 

show in March that he expects camera companies 

to begin focusing less on increasing 

resolution in future cameras, because 10 to 

12 megapixels is more than enough for most 

consumer-level photographers. Such changes 

might mean the digital camera market is 

ready for The Next Big Thing, some sort of 

major technological change that will take 

still photography in a new direction. 

Fujifilm hopes it currently is working on 

the technology that could change digital 

photography, called the FinePix Real 3D 

System. Real 3D involves photographing, 

Fujifilm’s 3D Technology 

A 

B 

Although the Real 3D System 

involves a camera, LCD photo 

frame, and a printer, most of 

the research information Fujifilm 

has announced thus far 

involves the 3D camera (A). 

The prototype is shown here. 

The 3D camera makes use of 

two identical Fuji lenses (B), 

each of which is connected to a 

separate image sensor. The two 

lenses snap two identically timed 

images from slightly different 

angles. When the images are 

blended, it yields the 3D effect. 

The lenses are about 2.5 

inches apart, which is similar 

to the distance between human 

eyes. The human brain is 

able to interpret a 3D environment 

because each human eye 

sees a slightly different image, 


C 

and, when the brain blends 

the images, it can interpret 

depth. If you cover one eye, 

judging depth becomes much 

more difficult. 

The camera also can capture 

2D images by shutting down 

one of the two lenses. 

The heart of the 3D camera 

is a chip called RP Processor 

3D. (RP is short for “real 

photo.”) The RP processor (C) 

must blend the images from 

the two lenses to create the 3D 

image. It also must ensure 

synchronization of the two 

image sensors in terms of 

exposure, zoom, and focus. 

Finally, the RP processor ensures 

the camera’s two shutters 

fire within 1/1,000th of a 

second of each other. 

D 

Images for 

right eye 

Without an image displayed, 

the 3D LCD looks like most 

LCDs, measuring 2.8 inches 

diagonally with 230,000 pixels 

of resolution. The 3D LCD can 

also display 2D images, and the 

3D LCD on the back of the camera 

uses a technology similar to 

what would be found in Fujifilm’s 

3D digital photo frame, 

also being researched. The 

company has initially developed 

an 8.4-inch, 920,000-pixel 3D 

LCD photo frame. 

At the back of the LCD system 

(D), Fujifilm uses a technology 

that it calls light direction 

control, which aims light from 

printing, and displaying images in three 

dimensions. Although Real 3D remains in 

the development stage, Fujifilm displayed a 

prototype camera at PMA 09. (Visit 

YouTube and search for “Fujifilm 3D camera” 

to find several videos of the prototype 

in use at various trade shows.) 

Working On 3D 

Fujifilm has worked on its Real 3D 

System for the past five years. The company 

chose to move away from other companies’ 

attempts at 3D photography in favor of a 

each of the two images at each 

eye. The two images quickly 

switch back and forth, with a 

total of about 60fps. The switch 

occurs so quickly that the brain 

doesn’t detect the switching. 

With each eye seeing a slightly 

different image, the brain 

blends the two images and creates 

a 3D effect. 

Fujifilm also has announced 

plans for a 3D printing system, 

but the company hasn’t revealed 

specific details about how the 

3D prints will work, other than 

to indicate that they will require 

a special type of paper. ▲ 

Source: Fujifilm 

3D image 

Images for 

left eye 

3D LCD 

Light direction control system

new method. With past attempts at 3D 

imaging, users typically had to wear special 

glasses that create or help enhance the threedimensional 

effect. 

Fujifilm’s Real 3D, though, requires no 

special glasses. Photographers would be able 

to view 3D images on the Real 3D camera’s 

LCD screen. Without the need for glasses, 

the images seem to truly come alive. 

The company hasn’t officially specified a 

release date for the Real 3D System, although 

unofficial reports have hinted at a 

late 2009 release, starting in Japan. 

A Realistic Look At 3D’s Future 

3D digital photography looks like a very 

interesting technology. However, the consumer 

electronics market is littered with 

great technological ideas that never caught 

on with consumers. Two analysts are skeptical 

about how quickly Fujifilm’s Real 3D 

System or another 3D digital photography 

system could make a significant impact 

among consumers. 

“It will take the 3D camera technology 

some time to resolve all the kinks and meet 

consumer expectations shared by today’s 

still-camera experience,” says Harry Wang, 

director of health and mobile product 

research for Parks Associates. “It could be 

five years away before the technology 

becomes mature, stable, and affordable, or 

it could take even more time.” 

Chris Chute, the manager of IDC’s 

imaging program, says he expects it will 

take at least a decade. 

“3D, in general, is something that a variety 

of companies are looking at as the nextgeneration 

‘add,’” Chute says. “It’s the next 

innovation. . . . [But] there’s a whole list of 

questions that need to be answered.” 

Overcoming Challenges 

Obviously, 3D is growing in popularity, 

especially in video. 3D movies are becoming 

more prevalent, and advertisers even 

ran a couple of 3D TV commercials during 

Super Bowl XLIII in January. Both of these 

types of 3D require viewers to wear special 

glasses. Successfully incorporating 3D in 

digital photography—without the glasses— 

has some challenges to overcome. 

Cost for consumers. As with any new 

technology, the cost of 3D cameras and 

LCDs will play a big role in whether consumers 

accept and use them. Fujifilm has 

not announced any pricing expectations for 

its Real 3D System. 

“Overall affordability of such 3D digital 

imaging experiences at this point and in the 

near future are certainly way beyond what 

consumers are willing to spend,” Wang says. 

Ease of use. It’s one thing for consumers 

to put on the glasses and attend a 3D movie. 

It’s a whole new concept to ask consumers to 

Beyond 3D 

Fujifilm's research and 

development department’s 

work on the dual-lens digital 

camera has sparked 

some ideas for 2D uses of 

the 3D Real System. 

For example, as shown 

here, one lens could record 

shoot, display, and print 3D photos. 

Photography companies must make it an 

easy process, or consumers will be frustrated, 

Chute says. 

“It’s a much harder sell, rather than just 

consuming content created for them,” he 

says. “You need an end-to-end solution . . . 

no one has really approached it from that 

angle, other than Fuji.” 

File sharing. 3D images will require a 

type of image file format different from 

any that currently exists. However, Fujifilm 

has not yet publicized the final details 

on the new file format. A new format 

could make it difficult to share photos with 

friends and family, a process that’s very 

easy with 2D photos. 

“I am not sure how sharing is going to 

be done with the 3D images,” Wang says. 

“It requires an entire industry to collaborate. 

Will Fuji’s innovations push others, 

like photo-hosting services or printer manufacturers, 

to join?” 

a movie as the second lens 

simultaneously captures a 

still image. Other interesting 

ideas include: 

One lens shoots a 

zoomed image, while the 

other captures the same 

image with no zoom. 

Research costs. In a shaky global economy, 

Chute says, photography companies 

don’t have a lot to spend on R&D. Perfecting 

3D digital photography techniques 

could be an expensive process, he says. 

“All of the companies in the photography 

market are in trouble,” Chute says. 

New 3D Markets 

3D imaging is not new. Various methods 

of creating 3D images and video have 

One lens shoots an 

image with an applied 

effect, such as sepia toning, 

while the other lens 

uses no effects. 

Each lens shoots half 

of an ultra-wide 

panoramic scene, and 

the RP processor 

seamlessly 

stitches the two 

images. ▲ 

Source: Fujifilm 

been around for decades, mostly involving 

viewers wearing 3D glasses. What’s 

new in Fujifilm’s Real 3D System is the 

idea of bringing 3D to consumer digital 

photography without the need for the 

glasses or the difficult-to-master “crosseye” 

technique. 

It might not occur as quickly as anyone 

would like, but both Wang and Chute 

agree that the influence of 3D imaging will 

continue to grow, slowly, in existing markets 

and in new markets. 

“In a decade’s time, my assessment is 

that 3D will be part of our lives, but not 

all [encompassing],” Wang says. “I might 

be a bit pessimistic, but I remember 

watching my first 3D movie when I was 

14, back in China. Now, it’s more than 20 

years later, still not many cinemas in the 

U.S. are 3D, and we still have to wear 

awkward glasses.” ▲ 

by Kyle Schurman 

CPU / July 2009 49

hard hat area | white paper 

6Gbps SATA 

From Iowa’s Speed Limit To Montana’s 

If only everyone had the foresight of the 

SATA-IO (Serial Advanced Technology 

Attachment International Organization, 

formerly known as the SATA II 

committee). City councils would build 

light rails and freeways before the urban 

sprawl made traffic intolerable. Sports stadia 

would add overflow seating and skyboxes 

before sellout crowds became the 

uncomfortable norm. DSL, cable, and 

wireless Internet providers would have 

rolled out high-speed service long before 

the rise of P2P and video streaming. 

The new SATA specification with a 

6Gbps signaling rate had yet to be formally 

approved by the SATA-IO as this issue 

went to press. It’s meant to up the potential 

speed of consumer storage I/O (input/ 

output) before its extra bandwidth over 

3Gbps SATA becomes necessary to allow 

cutting-edge drives to transfer data at their 

top rates. The SATA-IO has striven to 

finalize new specs one to two years before 

hard drives need extra throughput. In 

3Gbps SATA’s case, hard drives might surpass 

its real-world throughput (about 

250MBps) and possibly its theoretical ceiling 

(300MBps), as well, sometime in 2011, 

according to Seagate Senior Marketing I/O 

Development Manager Marc Noblitt. 

“The math of it brings us back to the 

point of why we’re coming out with 

6Gbps (SATA) now,” he says. “We want 

to (as we’ve been saying) widen the 

pipeline so that we’re ready when we cross 

that bottleneck, and we’re not introducing 

two technologies at the same time, which 

usually ends in disaster.” 

That said, hard drives’ sustained data 

transfer speeds are only now peeking past 

the 150MBps theoretical maximum provided 

by 1.5Gbps SATA, which was introduced 

way back in 2001. Of course, the 

impetus spurring the doubled performance 

in the new 6Gbps SATA spec has nothing 

to do with rotational media. It’s all about 

that new silicon upstart, the SSD. 

The SATA-IO may have been trying to 

make 6Gbps SATA available well before it 

was needed by traditional mass storage 

devices, but it has been pipped to the post by 

top-end SSDs from the likes of Intel. These 

NCQ Goes QoS For AV 

Command queuing technology makes the best of the fact that hard 

drives’ platters must physically spin in order to give the read/write 

heads access to their data. As multiple processes issue read and 

write requests to a hard drive, its native or tagged command queuing 

feature (if enabled) re-orders the requests’ priorities from a firstcome, 

first-served basis to an optimized disk access pattern. 

In other words, instead of fulfilling task A, then tasks B and C, 

command queuing may move the heads into position to alternately 

perform a little of all three tasks as the platters carry relevant bytes 

past the heads. The net effect is to transfer as much data as possible 

with every revolution of the disks. (Because SSDs have no moving 

parts and are optimized for consistently fast random access, they 

neither need nor use NCQ.) 

“The downside of this is that one particular request might be deferred 

slightly in order for the other more favorable requests to be serviced 

first, and this possible delay in the service time can be detrimental to 


are already bumping up 

against 3Gbps SATA’s 

limitations, so the extra 

headroom of the 6Gbps 

spec will give today’s 

best (and tomorrow’s 

mainstream) SSDs more room to run. 

Breathing Room 

To avoid any confusion, let’s clarify what 

a faster interface really means. Speaking generally, 

6Gbps SATA won’t make your hard 

drive read or write data any faster, just as 

there was no discernible difference between 

1.5Gbps and 3Gbps SATA versions of the 

same drive models back when the latter 

interface debuted in 2003. 

Instead, you can think of 6Gbps SATA 

as a higher speed limit on a highway. 

Sure, a hot rod (a fast SSD) can take advantage 

of the extra speed the new SATA 

spec allows, but if a family car (a mainstream 

7,200rpm hard drive) couldn’t 

exceed the former 3Gbps limit before, it 

won’t run appreciably faster on the new 

6Gbps thoroughfare. 

situations where some of the accesses correspond to media being 

played,” says SATA-IO President Knut Grimsrud. 

SATA Revision 3.0 adds a form of QoS (quality of service) to NCQ 

for streaming applications such as high-def video. 

“Improved NCQ enables fast data-transfer rates for low-end 

servers, gaming systems, and media machines,” says AMD 

Global Communications’ Matt Davis. “These new extensions to the 

command are aimed at improving QoS for high-priority tasks (and 

interrupts), such as streaming video and online gaming, where the 

content (for example, streaming video) gets a higher I/O priority over 

other hard drive tasks happening in the background that don’t require 

real-time updates.” 

For example, when one of the processes hitting a drive is involved 

in video playback, the drive’s NCQ will give it priority over other 

tasks. The idea is to maintain a smooth, glitch-free streaming experience 

even during periods of heavy disk access. ▲

And what of a farm truck (your 

1.5Gbps, 5,400rpm notebook drive from 

2004)? The ol’ rust bucket will be able to 

drive down the new road—6Gbps SATA 

is fully backward-compatible with 3Gbps 

and 1.5Gbps SATA drives and cables—but 

only at its customary huff-and-puff pace. 

“No connector or cable changes were 

required,” says Noblitt. “A 6Gbps [device] 

will plug into a 1.5Gbps [one]; you can use 

a 1.5Gbps cable. All the work was done in 

the ASIC, and I’m not aware of any major 

hurdles to be overcome.” 

“The primary challenge in doubling the 

SATA signaling speed for a second time 

while using the same connectors and interconnect 

that was originally defined for the 

1.5Gbps Gen-1 version was ensuring the 

signal integrity,” says SATA-IO President 

Knut Grimsrud. “This required careful 

control over both the transmit amplitudes 

and the jitter, and those parameters were 

some of the most challenging technical 

items that the technologists undertook in 

ensuring a reliable high-speed solution.” 

Note that 1.5Gbps and 3Gbps devices 

will drop 6Gbps SATA ports down to 

their top interface speeds. 

“They negotiate down from the top, so 

if the drive doesn’t see anything at 6Gb, 

it’ll start stepping down, and so will the 

host,” says Noblitt. “Depending on . . . 

how they’re connected, they’ll both downshift 

to the speed where they can start 

talking to each other. Once they see each 

other, that’s the speed they lock in at.” 

You don’t get 187.5MBps from 

1.5Gbps SATA, 375MBps from a 

3Gbps interface, nor 750MBps 

from 6Gbps SATA Revision 3.0. 

Newbies may have trouble coming 

to terms with this, not to 

mention the discrepancy between 

their drives’ advertised 

and real-world capacities, but we 

power users tend to overlook 

overhead and rounding practices 

as de rigueur. 

“The realizable transfer rate 

across a 6Gbps SATA link 

Bursts. And yet there is one small way 

in which 6Gbps SATA can give older 

drives a boost. If the host computer asks a 

hard drive for a bit of data twice in a 

short period of time, chances are good 

that the datum is still resident in the 

drive’s cache buffer. (Some SSDs have 

caches, too.) The fast DRAM in the cache 

can read the information much faster 

than the drive’s heads can retrieve it from 

the spinning platters (hard disks), and the 

drive can shoot the data across the SATA 

cable at a speed almost as fast as the interface 

itself (depending on the performance 

level of the DRAM in the cache, of 

course). This is called a burst transfer. 

Burst transfers are impressively fast, 

sometimes clocking in at double a drive’s 

read rate. In a Seagate/AMD demonstration 

at the Everything Channel Xchange 

Conference last March, the Barracuda 

7200.12 hard drive’s burst speed leapt 

from 250MBps under 3Gbps SATA to an 

astonishing 550MBps with 6Gbps SATA. 

The prototype drive ran on an AMD controller 

the company was still keeping 

under wraps at press time. 

Unfortunately, burst transfers are also 

disappointingly brief. You can’t count on a 

day-to-day level of performance anywhere 

near the burst speed, as they’re sporadic 

and unpredictable. Still, today’s drives are 

coming with larger 32MB and even 64MB 

caches, making it slightly more likely that 

particular pieces of data will remain in the 

solid-state cache instead of being flushed to 

Why 6Gbps Equals 550MBps 

depends on the efficiency of the 

controller design on both the host 

and device ends of the interconnect,” 

says SATA-IO president 

Knut Grimsrud. “The SATA interface 

transmits the information at 

600MBps, but some of this is not 

realized as part of the user data 

payload, since the protocol includes 

other data and handshaking 

that is also communicated 

between the host and device. 

“This includes transmitting 

the command to the device so 

it knows what data to retrieve, 

as well as the device transmitting 

status to the host after the 

data is transmitted. In SATA, all 

this information is also transmitted 

as data packets over the 

interface, and this consumes 

some fraction of the total interface 

bandwidth. 

“[Also, there] are protocol 

handshakes between the host 

and the device that are used as 

part of the mechanism for reliably 

transmitting the various 


Seagate used a 6Gbps SATA prototype of a 

Barracuda 7200.12 in its March demonstration 

with AMD, which supplied the drive controller. 

make room for new info streaming in from 

the hard disks. Combine that escalated 

likelihood with 6Gbps SATA’s greater 

speed, and suddenly caches are a little 

more relevant to overall hard drive performance 

than ever before. 

Outside the box. Another way in which 

6Gbps SATA will eventually give hard drives 

a hand up is in the case of external RAID 

enclosures. We say “eventually” because, 

Noblitt says, “the 6Gbps specification we 

currently have includes the SATA specifications 

for the internal cabled interconnect, 

but it does not yet include the definition 

packets back and forth. When a 

packet is transmitted, the recipient 

must check the integrity of 

the packet and then signal to 

the transmitter that the packet 

was received OK. 

“550MBps seems like it is in 

the right ballpark,” Grimsrud 

concludes. “In general, the 

SATA interface is very efficient 

in that the realized transfer 

rates are often a very significant 

fraction of the theoretical 

maximum.” ▲ 

CPU / July 2009 51


Seagate Momentus 7200.4 HDD 

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 HDD 

necessary for a 6Gbps external (eSATA) 

solution. The external interconnect is more 

challenging, since it requires more rugged 

connectors and currently supports slightly 

longer cable lengths to provide more 

cabling flexibility.” 

Typically, SATA RAID boxes use port 

multiplication to funnel the I/Os of two 

PCI-E 

WD VelociRaptor HDD 

Imation M-Class SSD 

1.5Gbps SATA (theoretical throughput) 

Intel X25-M SSD 

3Gbps SATA (theoretical throughput) 

Fusion-io ioDrive (PCI-E SSD) 

6Gbps SATA (theoretical throughput) 

SPEED 

LIMIT 

3Gbps 

SPEED 

LIMIT 

6Gbps 

As we mentioned, SATA SSDs 

(and a few RAM disks) are the 

real drivers behind the need for 

an interface speed boost. In 

fact, with recent advances in 

multichannel controllers, write 

streamlining, NAND design, 

and other areas, it’s not out of 


Maximum Read Rates 

Clearly, SSDs are more in need of a faster SATA interface than hard drives. Note that real-world 

SATA throughput is approximately 30 to 50MBps less than these theoretical figures. 

DVD 

DVD 

0 

110MBps 

135MBps 

130MBps 

150MBps 

150MBps 

220MBps 

300MBps 

500MBps 

600MBps 

100 

HDD 

HDD 

200 

or more drives through a single eSATA 

port. Depending on the hardware, a bottleneck 

could be so pronounced that there 

may be little difference in performance 

between a RAID 0 and slower types of 

arrays in a port-multiplied, single-cable 

enclosure. Support for 6Gbps SATA could 

dilate the neck of that bottle, so to speak. 

the question to assume that 

solid-state storage will be once 

again butting up against SATA’s 

limits ere long. 

That’s why Fusion-io, OCZ, 

and others are working so 

hard on SSDs that interface at 

a higher rate of speed with 

MBps 

300 

SSD 

400 

the fast PCI-Express interconnect. 

Could PCI-E become a 

SATA killer? 

“PCI-E is not a standard I/O 

for hard drives,” says Seagate 

Senior Marketing I/O Development 

Manager Marc Noblitt. 

“(It) would require some 

500 

SSD 

600 

700 

Speaking of port multiplication, some 

motherboard and controller card vendors 

already use it to provide extra SATA 

headers that split the bandwidth on certain 

3Gbps or 1.5Gbps ports. 6Gbps 

SATA will simply make port multiplication 

less likely to incur a performance 

penalty in the near to middle term. 

investigating. One issue comes 

to mind: cost.” 

Indeed, Fusion-io’s pricing 

for its innovative ioDrive is 

sky-high ($2,995 for 80GB), 

although OCZ might undercut 

the newcomer with 1TB at 

roughly the same price. ▲

One thing you won’t see are SATA 

data cables with connectors for more 

than one device like most PATA ribbon 

cables. SATA’s point-to-point nature 

takes this option off the table, which is 

just as well: We’d rather not return to 

the days of slow devices dragging down 

faster ones on the same cables, even if 

automatic negotiation could replace the 

need for master/slave jumpers. 

Adapters. As you can guess, you probably 

won’t see any old-school 133MBps PCI 

cards with 6Gbps SATA controllers on 

them. However, an x4 (4-lane) card using 

either PCI-Express 2.0 (500MBps per lane) 

or 1.x (250MBps per lane) would be more 

than sufficient to carry 6Gbps SATA traffic 

in a typical PC. A RAID enthusiast should 

lean toward the faster PCI-E 2.0, of course. 

Tech Details 

That grinding noise you hear is coming 

from the gritted teeth of the SATA-IO 

folks, who sincerely wish we would stop 

calling the new specification “6Gbps 

SATA.” That’s not its proper name, 

although it’s certainly the most descriptive 

and concise. It’s probably inevitable 

that the industry and end users will call 

the new spec something like this, just 

as most techies incorrectly called the 

3Gbps version of the interface “SATA II.” 

The new specification is known as 

SATA Revision 3.0 or, more formally and 

pedantically, Serial ATA International 

Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.0. 

The SATA-IO group released the PHY 

(physical) layer of the spec last August so 

that members could use the open industry 

SATA’s SASsy Sibling 

Products are already appearing with a 6Gbps version of SATA’s server 

sister, SAS (Serial Attached SCSI). For instance, Atto Technology 

(www.attotech.com) now sells the FastStream SC 8200 storage controller, 

which features 6Gbps SAS ports along with 3Gbps ports that 

are usable with both SAS and SATA drives. 

“The SAS 6Gbps spec doubles throughput, obviously, but there are 

other changes in this generation vs. SAS at 3Gbps,” says Seagate’s 

Enterprise Storage Product Communications Manager, David Szabados. 

“Long story short, the driver for these improvements was the need to get 

deeper into helping enable SAS storage in the enterprise to coincide with 

emerging trends such as virtualization. Expander zoning, self-discovering 

standard to design new products. As with 

3Gbps SATA, this was a streamlined 

process, as the physical connectors and 

cables haven’t changed since SATA’s debut. 

By the time you read this, SATA Revision 

3.0’s first Plugfest, or manufacturer product 

testing event, will have taken place in June. 

Power management. The latest version 

of SATA doesn’t have any new powersaving 

features, but it does share earlier 

editions’ ability to power down the interface 

when idle and instantly wake it up 

when needed. Additionally, the new 

spec’s greater bandwidth can provide incidental 

efficiency, despite actually having 

somewhat higher power requirements. 

“6Gbps PHY designs might have higher 

active power, depending on the specific 

design and/or implementation,” says 

Grimsrud, “but the power efficiency is 

not necessarily adversely impacted, since 

for a given amount of data being transferred, 

the amount of active time to 

accomplish that is approximately cut in 

half compared with 3Gbps [SATA].” 

Optional features. As many power 

users have learned to their chagrin, not 

every SATA controller and motherboard 

BIOS support all the cool features available 

in the specification. 

“Most features are optional, and they’re 

called out in the purchasing specification 

by an OEM as to what features they like, 

or want, or require,” says Noblitt. 

Most controllers support native command 

queuing (see the “NCQ Goes QoS 

For AV” sidebar in this article) and hotplugging, 

or the ability to attach and 

detach drives without powering down the 


system. However, staggered spin-up, 

which powers drives in sequence to 

reduce the shock to a PSU during bootup, 

is generally limited to servers and 

external multi-drive enclosures. 

In contrast, 5/12-volt power over eSATA 

(eSATAp) may become a more common 

feature, as it would enable bus-powered 

eSATA backup drives. Currently, the handful 

of eSATA flash memory drives on the 

market rely on powered adapter brackets or 

supplemental power from USB ports, both 

of which limit their ubiquity and portability. 

“(Power over eSATA) has not been fully 

underpinned yet,” says Noblitt. “They’re 

still working on that in the committees.” 

Future 

Assuming that June’s Plugfest doesn’t 

uncover widespread problems, some 6Gbps 

SATA products may be out by the time you 

read this. Noblitt says that Seagate’s initial 

offerings with the new interface will be 

7,200rpm, 3.5-inch hard drives. SSD manufacturers 

will be close behind, and in all likelihood 

so will WD, with a follow-up to its 

VelociRaptor 10,000rpm enthusiast drive. 

You shouldn’t hold your breath for a 

1.2Tbps version of SATA, by the way. 

This could be years away, if not superseded 

by faster interfaces. 

“The SATA group has not yet started 

investigating a possible 4th-generation 

SATA development effort,” says Grimsrud. 

“There are several areas of refinement for 

the 6Gbps generation that are the first 

focus,” such as eSATA, he says. ▲ 

by Marty Sems 

expanders, improved error management, multiplexing, external cabling, 

and Data Integrity Field are all part of SAS 6Gbps.” 

Despite the fact that some enthusiast motherboards now support 

SAS, which allows the use of hard drives of up to 15,000rpm, this 

trickle-down feature may be too late to excite power users now that 

SSDs have established themselves. In fact, SAS might even be counterproductive 

in a single-user system. 

“In many cases, if one was to use SAS in a desktop SATA environment, 

performance could even be slowed down for tasks such 

as bootup, due to all of the additional functionality within SAS,” 

Szabados says. ▲ 

CPU / July 2009 53

Budget. Whether or not you’re sick 

of hearing this word, the reality is 

that most of us have to pay a lot 

more attention to our budgets 

now than we have for many, many years. 

We all want new PCs with the latest parts, 

coolest features, and most bodacious bling. 

But today, most of us have to find ways to 

do more with what we have. In the “good 

ol’ days,” you might’ve had a pile of spare 

cash for your mondo upgrade. Now, the 

challenge is to take a few bucks and stretch 

them until they scream. 

The good news is that you really can get 

a lot of fresh performance for only a little 

investment. In fact, you may not have to 

invest anything. While researching our 

subject, it became increasingly clear that a 

lot of the arduous steps—fun, but arduous—we 

used to take in order to squeeze 

more performance from our PCs have now 

been built into basic hardware and software. 

Believe it or not, power users spoke, 

and the vendors listened. A few clicks are 

often all it takes to hit your old box with 

200mg of caffeinated madness. 

Of course, don’t think that all the fun 

of tinkering has been dumbed down and 

done away with. We have a few suggestions 

for your screwdriver to help improve 

your performance, and there’s still a chance 

or two for some hot action with solder—if 

you have the nerve. But with complexity 

often comes cost, so we’re focusing on simpler 

things. That doesn’t mean dumb or 

inferior. It just means less stuff to buy, 

more of maximizing what you already 

have, and, when you do need to open your 

wallet, picking your targets more carefully. 

This is a time for smart but humble surprises 

rather than sweeping overhauls. 


We’re tackling the subject in three big 

pieces. First up is our dive into optimizing 

Windows. Love it or hate it, Vista is the 

biggest kid on the block. And you know 

how those big kids are. If you get along 

well, that big kid can be the best thing in 

the world. He has all the connections and 

can make anything happen. But he’s big, 

so maybe he’s a little slow. (On his feet. In 

the head. Go on, take a cheap shot.) Not 

to worry. We have some exercises that’ll 

kick Vista’s keister into overdrive. 

Next up, the BIOS. BIOSes continue to 

evolve, and the capabilities you can find on 

modern chips have raced ahead of the functionality 

traditionally seen in years past. Are 

you making the most of all those options? 

If BIOS-based trial and error sounds like 

more than you want to bite off, how about 

tackling many of the same tasks from GUIbased 

tools? Utilities on this front continue 

to evolve at a lightning pace. 

Once your BIOS is primed, it’s on to 

the hardware. Even in this economy, the 

computer industry doesn’t stand still. Gear 

keeps getting better all the time. If you 

have a system that’s a year or two old, you 

could stick a faster CPU in it, but hey, that 

can cost serious green. We’re going to try 

our best not to suggest anything that might 

cost you more than $200 from start to finish. 

Let’s find some clever ways to tweak 

what you have. If nothing else, we can 

drop your thermal profile, grab some extra 

performance headroom, and just maybe 

make your PC a bit quieter in the process. 

If you need a more tactical approach to 

improving performance—say, in your storage 

or networking subsystems—we’ve 

included some ideas there, too. The object 

of the game is to find out where your PC is 

weakest and fortify those key spots. 

Miracles do happen. You could win the 

lottery. You could perform a few of our 

suggested tweaks and suddenly find your 

dusty techno-slug blowing all your friends 

off the map. In the real world, though, 

tune your expectations before we start 

tuning your PC. This is going to be more 

like getting toned for a triathlon rather 

than roiding up for the Mr. Universe 

competition. Let’s get to it. You’re going 

to like the results. ▲ 

by William Van Winkle

spotlight 

CPU / July 2009 55

We’re not going to shine you on 

and say we have the magic cure 

to replace nuking Windows 

and reformatting your system 

when the OS gets corrupted or becomes 

too top-heavy every few years (or less). 

We’re not omnipotent. But we do have a 

big bag of tricks for making your Windows 

experience faster and thus more enjoyable. 

So this time, we’re going to not only 

take a fresh look at some perennial advice 

but also look at some stuff that we think 

you’ll find is off most people’s radar. 

We also think it’s important to view 

Windows optimizing from the perspective 

of how little total time you spend waiting, 

meaning it’s not just about making operations 

run faster but making sure you use 

Windows more efficiently. 

Back To Basics 

Windows Vista has been around since 

November of 2006, long enough for 

us to assume that you’re a user 

(although certainly a lot of tips 

for Vista also apply to WinXP). 

It’s also been long enough 

to assume that many 

tips that were once little-known 

have now 

passed into common 

knowledge, 

especially 

among 

power 

users. 


Still, sometimes we overlook the most 

obvious things, and sometimes we lose 

track of the bigger picture. 

Accelerate your total search time with 

metadata tagging. Windows Search can 

only filter by basic attributes, such as date 

of creation, pieces of a file name, or text 

within the file, unless you give it more 

ability to help you. Say you want to find 

all of the photos taken at your 2008 birthday 

party on your system. If you simply 

dumped the files into My Photos straight 

from your camera, you may have to burn a 

lot of time sorting through folders, organizing 

files by date, and browsing through 

thumbnails to find what you want. 

Try speeding up your searching by tagging 

these photos (or any other files). 

From Windows Explorer or My Computer, 

look down in the Preview pane bar 

along the bottom of the window and, if 

necessary, click the Show More Details 

link. Now, click where it reads Add A 

Tag and start typing the keywords you 

want ascribed to those files, separating 

each word with a semicolon. Click Save 

when you’re done. To filter for these tags, 

go to the Search Folder within Windows 

Explorer, click the Advanced Search link 

in the top right, and fill in your keyword 

in the Tags field. 

Consider (temporarily) disabling 

System Restore points. We remain big 

fans of the System Restore functionality in 

Windows and would never advise you to 

do away with it altogether (unless you’re 

using a third-party alternative). However, 

if you get in a pinch for system resources, 

particularly hard disk space, you can disable 

System Restore. Go into Control 

Panel, then System. Provide permission to 

continue. Within the System area, click the 

System Protection link on the left. Now, in 

the System Properties box, go to the System 

Protection tab. You’ll see checked boxes 

next to any volumes that currently have 

System Restore points applied to them. 

Uncheck these boxes, click Apply, and then 

click OK. Just remember to re-enable 

System Restore when you’re through with 

your immediate need. 

Less bling can be good. When 

Windows Vista launched, one of its key 

selling points was the shiny new interface 

called Aero, brimming with glowing this, 

transparent that, and a bunch of 3D 

gewgaws. All those funky effects require 

a fair bit of system resources, especially 

from the CPU, memory, and video subsystems. 

If you’re more about function 

than form, you can benefit from turning 

off a lot of these extras. 

In the Start menu Search bar, enter 

SystemPropertiesPerformance and 

give permission to continue. In the 

Performance Options box that springs up, 

you can always pick the Adjust For Best 

Performance option, but where’s the fun 

Just because you install an application 

doesn’t mean it has to load every time 

you boot Windows. Use msconfig to 

turn off what you don’t need.

You can get a little more performance from 

your storage subsystem by disabling System 

Restore, but use this tweak sparingly. 

in that? Pick and choose the effects to disable 

so you don’t lose the few that might 

actually matter. For example, we opted to 

disable Animate Controls And Elements 

Inside Windows. Animate Windows 

When Minimizing And Maximizing can 

go because it’s one of the most demanding 

effects and nobody really needs to see windows 

shrink and grow as they’re dismissed 

or called back up. If you like the glass look 

but don’t really need to see the blurry 

shape of whatever is behind your window 

borders, kill off Enable Transparent Glass. 

Use A Background Image looks nice when 

you can see it, but it really contributes little 

to your experience. 

Now, if you just don’t feel your interface 

has gained anything worthwhile in the 

move from Windows 2000 to WinXP to 

Vista, by all means, gain some real performance 

and slide back into the 2000 look 

and feel by disabling Use Visual Styles 

On Windows And Buttons. For a happy 

medium, uncheck the Enable Desktop 

Composition option, and you’ll revert to a 

non-glass interface very much like WinXP. 

Trim The Fat 

Many people have described Windows 

as “bloatware.” Microsoft calls this being 

“robust” and “feature-rich.” Either 

way, there are tricks for making Windows’ 

“robust” profile a little leaner and 

more efficient. 

Dry away that splash screen. OK, so 

the Windows Welcome screen only sticks 

around for a few seconds, but sometimes 

seconds matter, and do you really want to 

look at that Microsoft logo again? And 

again? Let’s ditch it. Press Windows 

Key+R to bring up the Run dialog box, 

type msconfig -2, press ENTER, and 

input your UAC credentials (if applicable). 

Go to the Boot tab, check the No GUI 

Boot box, then click Apply and OK. Note 

that doing this will prohibit you from seeing 

blue screen errors during boot. 

Prefetch like a pro. As detailed below, 

the SuperFetch feature in WinXP can help 

accelerate the operating system’s performance, 

as the Prefetcher can in Vista. By 

default, Windows enables both application 

fetching and boot fetching. But you might 

be able to get faster boot times by turning 

off application fetching and going with 

boot-only fetching. From the Run dialog 

box, type regedit and press ENTER to get 

to the Registry Editor. Navigate to this 

folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ 

SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Se 

ssion Manager\Memory Management\ 

PrefetchParameters. On the right pane 

of the window, highlight the name 

EnablePrefetcher. (In WinXP, this will be 

EnableSuperfetch.) Right-click the name, 

select Modify, and then in the pop-up box, 

change the default value of 3 to 2. Click 

OK, exit the Registry, and reboot. 

Pass Go, collect faster boot times. 

How many times have you reset your PC 

and walked away to go do something else 

for a few minutes while it booted, then 

returned to find it sitting at a logon 

screen, waiting for you to select which 

user account you want, even if there’s only 

one user? Until you click that account 

spotlight 

icon, none of your background apps will 

load, which means that instead of getting 

to work when you sit down, you get to 

wait longer for Windows to do its loading. 

So long as you’re the only user on your 

PC, and your system stays in a safe place 

relatively safe from theft, do this: 

Perform a Start bar search for control 

userpasswords2, clear the Users Must 

Enter A Username And Password To Use 

This Computer checkbox, and click 

Apply. A box called Automatically Log 

On will pop up. Enter the username you 

want to automatically load along with its 

password, then click OK twice. 

Ignore unneeded hardware. One of 

the things that consumes time (and system 

resources) when loading Windows is 

hardware drivers. However, many systems 

load drivers for components that 

aren’t actually used every time. This 

is especially true of notebooks. Use 

the Device Manager to disable these extra-neous 

items. The quickest way to 

the Device Manager is to go onto the 

search bar of the Start menu and type 

devmgmt.msc. Now, browse through 

your list of hardware devices and look for 

items you don’t need. For example, our 

notebook had a Bluetooth adapter, fingerprint 

scanner, WiMAX link, and a 

modem loading, none of which were currently 

being used. Disabling these devices 

may not yield miracles in system acceleration, 

but every little bit helps. Other likely 

targets for disabling might include 

FireWire ports, PCMCIA slots, TPM 

chips, and extra network adapters. 

All that Vista eye candy adds pounds around Windows’ waist. Consider a more retro 

look for faster performance. 

CPU / July 2009 57

spotlight 

The service here is a bit excessive. As 

with hardware drivers, Windows loads 

several dozen services when it boots, 

many of which you probably don’t need 

or want. Before we start twiddling with 

services, though, set a System Restore 

point, just in case you disable something 

you actually need. Go into the System 

area in Control Panel. In the Tasks pane, 

click System Protection, and, if requested, 

continue through the password or confirmation 

prompt. In the System Protection 

tab, make sure that your Windows disk 

volume is checked, then click the Create 

button. Give the restore point a name and 

click the Create button. 

Now, bring up the Services utility by 

searching for services.msc. To disable a service, 

right-click it and click Stop (or simply 

highlight it and pick Stop from the left 

side of the window). Then, right-click the 

stopped service and select Properties. In 

the General tab, go to the Startup type 

pull-down menu and select Disabled. Do 

some Web searching on Windows services 

to see which you might want to disable. 

When in doubt, err on the side of leaving 

services active. That said, here’s our Top 

12 list of candidates for getting shut off: 1) 

Block Level Backup Engine Service (most 

desktop backups are file-level, not blocklevel); 

2) Certificate Propagation (used 

with smart cards); 3) Fax (unneeded if you 

don’t do PC-based faxing); 4) ICS 

(Internet Connection Sharing; unneeded if 

other systems on your LAN connect 

directly to your switch/router); 5) Media 

Center Receiver (handles radio and TV 


The Windows Welcome screen may be 

pretty, but it’s just one more thing taking 

unnecessary seconds away from 

your computing. 

reception in Media Center); 6) Media 

Center Scheduler (for scheduling when to 

start and stop recordings); 7) Microsoft 

iSCSI Initiator (only used for connecting 

to iSCSI network targets); 8) Parental 

Controls (unless you filter content for your 

kids); 9) Peer Networking Grouping (provides 

peer-to-peer networking); 10) Smart 

Card (pretty obvious); 11) Telephony (for 

voice apps using the modem); and 12) 

Windows Backup (unneeded if you use a 

third-party backup app). 

Halt those auto-starts. This must be 

the single most common Windows acceleration 

tip of all time, but we’ll offer it 

again simply because loads of people 

(including us) do it once, then forget to 

do it again for months or years at a 

stretch. In the process of installing software, 

you rack up a long list of applications 

that automatically load when 

Windows starts. If you wonder why 

Windows takes so long to load today 

when it seemed fairly quick when it was a 

fresh installation, here’s your main culprit. 

From the Start button, type msconfig 

in the Search bar and press ENTER. In 

the System Configuration window, go to 

the Startup tab and browse through your 

list of startup apps. Compared to other 

Windows file lists, the Startup list is pretty 

self-apparent, and you should be able 

to take a decent stab at unchecking items 

you know you don’t need present whenever 

Windows is on. 

Cache & Index Tricks 

Much as Windows might try to be 

organized about how it deals with files, 

stuff still tends to spread around, not just 

within the operating system but also with 

applications and user data outside of it. 

You can improve Windows performance 

by helping it to better know how and 

where it finds information. 

Put your thumb drive to better use. 

Virtually all of us now have USB flash 

drives in our pockets, which is a far less useful 

place for them than plugged into your 

Vista machine helping to accelerate Windows. 

The ReadyBoost functionality built 

into Vista picks up where SuperFetch left 

off in WinXP, learning to anticipate which 

data and files you use most, prefetching 

them, and storing them on an attached 

flash drive. (For small random writes, modern 

flash drives can be up to 100 times faster 

than a hard disk.) This frees up system 

memory and reduces the hard drive load. 

ReadyBoost will provide the most benefit 

in systems with less RAM. You’ll also 

want a larger flash drive and to be running 

Vista SP1. To access it, insert your flash 

Radically improve the usability of Windows Search by changing where it monitors and the types of files it tracks.

drive, select Speed Up My System when 

the AutoPlay window comes up, and use 

the maximum amount of flash capacity for 

ReadyBoost that you’re comfortable with. 

Searching a bit less far and wide. One 

day, Microsoft realized that Google 

Desktop was a massively better search tool 

than what was baked into WinXP. Thus 

was born Windows Vista’s enhanced 

Search, which relies on the Windows 

indexing service, a database that monitors 

whatever file types and locations it’s 

charged with cataloging. With this, 

Windows only needs to consult its database 

when you want to find something, 

not perform a fresh search of your entire 

drive. The trouble is that sometimes 

Search is too exhaustive. You can improve 

performance by tweaking what locations 

and which file types are indexed. 

In the Start menu’s Search bar, type 

Performance Information and press 

ENTER. Now, click Adjust Indexing 

Options in the Tasks bar. If you see a 

Global Settings button (for multiple user 

accounts), press that, then click Modify. 

Otherwise, just click the Modify button. 

Now, click the Show All Locations button. 

We were confused for a while as to why 

Google Desktop continued to return better 

results than Windows Search, and the 

answer was here: In the Indexed Locations 

window, the C: volume was unchecked. 

Search was only tracking Outlook and 

offline files, and we weren’t even using 

offline files. So we checked the C: box but 

expanded its tree and unchecked every 

folder that only contained data we knew 

wouldn’t be needed. In a sense, adding the 

C: volume increased our performance. 

Back in the main Indexing Options 

window, click the Advanced button and 

go to the File Types tab. Here, you’ll find 

a very long list of file extensions that the 

indexer tracks. The more of these you can 

prudently uncheck, the better the indexing 

performance will be. 

One indexer is enough. If you’ve properly 

configured Windows Search, you 

probably don’t need another search 

indexer running, too. Indexing 

can consume significant 

amounts of time, including 

when the system is 

idle, and this puts extra wear on the hard 

drive. (Vista in general is notorious for 

continually keeping hard drives busy 

around the clock.) If you’d rather use 

Google Desktop than Windows Search, 

Windows 7 

spotlight 

you can disable the Windows Search 

service. There’s little point in running 

both. ▲ 


Are you already running Windows 7 beta? There’s a lot to love in the OS, and unlike the usual 

service pack update, we actually get a whole new batch of things that can be tweaked and tuned. 

We’re only just getting our feet wet with Windows 7, but already we have a Top 5 items list for 

you to improve in the new operating system: 

1. For the first time in over 

a decade, you can now 

uninstall Internet Explorer. 

The core IE rendering files 

used by other apps will 

remain, but the application 

itself can be snuffed. 

The quickest way to do 

this is to go to the Start 

menu’s Search bar and 

type turn windows features 

on or off. This will 

bring up the Windows 

Features box. Scroll down 

to Internet Explorer 8, 

uncheck it, and click OK. 

Tired of those permission pop-ups in Windows Vista? 

Windows 7 gives you an easy way to keep them 

to a minimum. 

2. If you do want to run Internet Explorer 8, you may find that new browser tabs exhibit problems, 

especially with slow load times. So far, this seems to be the result of an upgrade 

process glitch. While running with administrator rights, go to a command prompt (type cmd 

at the Search bar) and type regsvr32 actxprxy.dll. Reboot, and the problem should be fixed. 

3. Few, if any, features in Windows Vista were more maligned than UAC pop-ups, which ask if 

you’re really sure you want to do the thing you just went through several clicks to do. Rejoice, 

friends. Type UAC at the Search bar to bring up the UAC settings window. The vertical slider has 

four settings. We recommend the third, just above Never Notify. This will still give you a permissions 

prompt in case of a really odd request, but otherwise, Windows will leave you alone. 

4. Windows 7 changes the Start Menu’s power button from Hibernate to the more common 

sense Shut Down function. However, this can be changed to suit your taste. Right-click the 

Taskbar and select Properties. In the Start Menu tab, use the pull-down menu for Power button 

action and take your pick of power functions. While you’re there, click the Customize button 

and look for ways to fine-tune Start menu operations. For example, you can speed up 

searches by changing the Search Other Files And Libraries item to Search Without Public 

Folders. If you do a lot of video viewing, perhaps displaying videos (look under Videos) as a 

link or a menu off of the Start menu will save more time than going through Computer. 

5. For some people, every fraction of a second counts. You may have noticed in Vista that when 

you mouseover a Taskbar application, its preview thumbnail waits 0.4 second before appearing. 

In Windows 7, you can change this delay period. Go into the Registry Editor (type regedit 

in the Search bar) and navigate into this folder: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse. 

Right-click MouseHoverTime and pick Modify. The default is 400 milliseconds. If you crank 

this down to 100 or even 50, over the course of a year, you will have saved enough time to 

have at least two extra thoughts while staring at your screen. Make ’em count. ▲ 

CPU / July 2009 59

Getting the best performance out 

of your machine requires a lot 

more power user intervention 

than simply buying fast hardware. 

Sure, the latest components are going to 

help, but the way of the enthusiast has 

never been governed by throwing an exorbitant 

amount of money at the horsepower 

issue. After all, anyone can spend themselves 

silly. It takes a true technologist to 

get everything dialed in just right. 

We’re going to fast-forward through 

buying hardware, putting it together, and 

loading up an operating environment. 

Those steps are child’s play compared to 

the configuration tasks in front of us. 

Our goal: take two separate systems— 

one Intel Core i7-based and one AMD 

Phenom II-based—and improve performance 

through a combination of BIOS 

tweaks and tuning utilities. 

We’ll evaluate our results by testing 

each system using its default BIOS configuration 

and then again after a bit of tool 

time under the hood. Hopefully, when it’s 

all said and done, we’ll have a reason to 

pat ourselves on the back, and you’ll have 

a blueprint for tackling your own tune-up. 

Getting The Most From X58 

When Intel’s Core i7 launched, X58based 

motherboards were ridiculously 

expensive. After a gradual trimming of 

features, though, you can now find a 

number of X58 platforms priced in the 

$200 to $300 range. Asus’ P6T is one of 

those boards, making it a worthy complement 

to Intel’s entry-level Core i7-920. 

Before we jump into the modding, we 

wanted to take a couple of baseline numbers 

to gauge the P6T’s performance right 


Asus’ P6T provides an excellent 

example of how you can extract 

top-notch performance from your Core 

i7 CPU without extracting too much cash from 

your checking account. 

out of the box, using a Core i7-965 

Extreme, 6GB of Corsair DDR3-1600 

with 8-8-8-24 timings, a Zotac GeForce 

GTX 260 Core 216, and Western Digital 

300GB VelociRaptor hard drive. From the 

time the board’s power button is pressed, 

the Windows desktop takes 1:31 (minutes:seconds) 

to pop up. SiSoftware’s 

Sandra 2009 reports 23GBps of memory 

bandwidth from our triple-channel kit. 

And a real-world rendering project in 3ds 

Max 2009 64-bit takes 24 seconds to complete. 

Now, let’s see where we can improve. 

The P6T’s first BIOS screen lets you 

set the time/date and storage configuration. 

If you don’t have a floppy drive 

attached, you can disable that setting 

here, as well. Take a moment to check 

out the Storage Configuration submenu, 

though. It’s not turned on by default, but 

you’ll want to enable AHCI (Advanced 

Host Controller Interface) if you’re using 

Windows Vista or Linux with a kernel 

version 2.6.19 and up, both of which 

include native driver support. All other 

X58 boards are going to have this feature 

available, and while it might not be in the 

same place, turning it on adds support 

for SATA features such as hot-plugging 

and NCQ (native command queuing; a 

potential performance-enhancer). 

Asus calls the next tab over its AI 

Tweaker, and this is where much of the 

overclocking magic happens. From manipulating 

voltages to cranking clock speeds, 

the most palpable 

speed-ups are going to come 

from the adjustments in this menu. 

And again, you’ll find most of these 

options in every other X58-based board 

out there. Gigabyte calls its equivalent 

MIT (Motherboard Intelligent Tweaker). 

MSI calls its version the Cell Menu. 

There are a number of different parameters 

used to take Core i7 processors further 

than their stock settings, including ratio 

multipliers, BCLK (base reference clock) 

frequency, QPI (QuickPath Interconnect) 

data rate, and, of course, gentle bumps in 

voltage. Because our Core i7-965 Extreme 

is unlocked and accepts higher clock ratios, 

we nudged the 24X default (24 x 133MHz 

= 3.2GHz) multiplier to 27X, yielding 

a clock speed close to 3.6GHz. We also 

changed the Auto memory setting to a 

manually defined DDR3-1600. After specifying 

a 1.64V DRAM bus voltage (Intel 

doesn’t recommend overvolting beyond 

1.65V), we went in and set lower latencies 

in the DRAM Timing Control submenu, 

hopefully paying dividends in our memory 

bandwidth benchmark. By default, the 

P6T was using 9-9-9 settings. But we 

know from Corsair’s specifications that 

these modules will run faster. 

A quick glance reveals an expansive list 

of memory-related options—far more 

than we’ve employed here. Most are used 

to fine-tune aggressive overclocks, where 

additional voltage and cooling are needed

spotlight 

Turning on AHCI will enable support for your SATA hard drive’s 

hot-plug and NCQ functionality. 

in order to maintain stability. In contrast, 

we’re using a more modest arrangement, 

yielding a bit of free performance as we 

further optimize the P6T’s BIOS. 

Moving on, we see the configuration’s 

Advanced tab. The first submenu, 

titled CPU Configuration, plays host to 

a number of Core i7’s power-saving 

technologies, such as C1E support and 

EIST (Enhanced Intel SpeedStep). 

BIOS optimizations don’t have to center 

only on performance: Maximizing efficiency 

is equally important. In addition 

to turning on C1E, we also enabled 

Intel C-State Tech, leaving the package 

limit setting at Auto. Interestingly, neither 

Intel’s Turbo Mode nor SpeedStep 

were configurable options, an artifact of 

manually adjusting the processor’s 

knobs and dials. 

Dropping down to the Onboard Devices 

Configuration submenu, we disabled 

the integrated J-Micron eSATA and 

VIA FireWire controllers, which weren’t 

being used and had been consuming system 

resources while left on. With only a 

couple of BIOS menus left to navigate, 

we continued to the Boot tab. 

Most motherboards are able to boot 

from a number of different devices and 

media. And, by default, Asus’ P6T will 

look to CD/DVD-ROM drives and 

removable media before it tries booting 

from your hard drive, unnecessarily 

extending the boot process. We disabled 

all boot devices other than the system’s 

VelociRaptor and made sure that the 

Quick Boot, which skips a number of 

POST tests, setting was enabled (On). 


Finally, under the Tools tab, we turned off 

the Asus Express Gate feature, an “instant 

boot” operating environment that also 

adds precious seconds to the boot process. 

With all of our BIOS changes saved, 

we restarted the system to measure the 

effects of our tweaks. Right away, we registered 

a boot time of 1:21, a 10-second 

reduction. Sandra 2009 reported an 

almost 20% speed up to 27.5GBps of 

memory bandwidth, and our 3ds Max 

project shed nearly 10% of its render 

time, dropping to 22 seconds. Clearly, 

there are some very real gains to be had 

through simple BIOS-based optimizations. 

Best of all, the list of tweaks is 

incredibly tame. We didn’t even have to 

experiment with risky voltage settings. 

790GX Goes Under The Knife 

Regardless of whether you’re using an 

Intel X58-based motherboard or a platform 

designed for AMD’s Phenom II, a 

number of BIOS features are going to be 

the same. Hardware monitoring, boot 

priority, integrated peripheral configuration—it’s 

all fairly similar from one 

board to the next. But there are also some 

Disable any onboard extras you don’t need in order to free up 

resources and accelerate the boot process. 

features completely unique to AMD 

boards that are sure to speed up the boot 

process, improve memory bandwidth, and 

inject a little extra “free” performance. 

We used ASRock’s budget-oriented 

M3A790GXH/128M as our reference 

platform, and again ran baseline figures to 

determine the scores to beat. Armed with 

a Phenom II X4 810, 4GB of Corsair 

DDR3-1600, the same Zotac GeForce 

GTX 260 Core 216 and VelociRaptor 

hard drive, we were able to register a 1:11 

boot time, 11GBps of memory bandwidth, 

and a 46-second render time on 

our 3ds Max 2009 project. 

ASRock’s AMI BIOS looks very similar 

to Asus’ at first glance. However, the 

M3A790GXH/128M’s relevant options 

are much more concentrated. There’s really 

nothing of value in the default Main 

Menu, which simply relays system information. 

The next tab over, labeled Smart, 

facilitates a handful of preset performance 

and power-saving defaults, making wringing 

out a bit of extra performance easy for 

the mainstream user who wants a one-button 

solution. But it’s of little interest to us, 

as we’d rather go option by option. 

If you don’t need 

proprietary extras, such 

as Asus’ Express Gate 

instant-on environment, 

turn them off to avoid 

waiting on features 

you aren’t using.

The third tab, Advanced, is where 

you’ll find most of the board’s performance-enhancing 

functionality. The CPU 

submenu hosts the longest list of settings, 

including control over all of the board’s 

memory timings, performance options, 

and power-saving features. As we did with 

the Core i7, we first sought modest performance 

gains through a simple overclock. 

Our Phenom II X4 isn’t a Black Edition 

part, so its multiplier is locked. Thus, we 

were forced to rely on a reference clock 

tweak (operating frequency being the 

product of reference clock and ratio multiplier), 

which saw the 200MHz default 

speed rise to 215MHz. Multiplied by 13, 

the 2.6GHz chip settled in at 2.8GHz 

without any additional voltage applied. 

We also specified DDR3-1333 memory 

operation rather than letting the BIOS 

configure our modules automatically. The 

reference clock boost affects Phenom II’s 

integrated memory controller, pushing the 

modules 66MHz faster. This is a particularly 

important point, because it means 

spending a little extra money on memory 

with headroom built-in. Here, we’re using 

DDR3-1600 RAM to support a DDR3- 

1333 setting getting overclocked to 

DDR3-1466. AMD mixes in power-saving 

functionality, so we set Cool‘n’Quiet 

The ASRock M3A790GXH/128M has plenty of 

options to make your Phenom phenomenal. 

and Enhanced Halt State to Enable in the 

CPU Configuration menu, as well. 

Drop to the Chipset Settings submenu 

for another page of tweakable options. 

Because the 790GX includes an integrated 

graphics processor (whereas Intel’s X58 

chipset doesn’t), you see several GPUrelated 

fields. We’re using a discrete 

graphics card here. But to the 790GX’s 

credit, its Radeon HD 3300 engine actually 

performs admirably in a mainstream 

desktop environment. If you were to lean 

on the chipset’s GPU, the BIOS lets you 

set aside a fixed amount of system memory 

for graphics and overclock the core for 

better performance. 

Also available is a setting called ACC 

(Advanced Clock Calibration), which 

you’ll probably remember as a feature that 

helped AMD extend the overclocking 

headroom of its first-generation Phenom 

processors. ACC doesn’t make Phenom II 

any more overclockable, but it can unlock 

disabled parts on a new Phenom II CPU. 

For example, we tested a pair of X4 810s 

(4MB of L3 cache) and two X3 720s 

(three cores). In all four cases, ACC gave 

the 810s access to the microarchitecture’s 

full 6MB L3 and switched on the 720’s 

disabled fourth core, in essence creating 

Phenom II X4 900-series processors. Of 

course, there is a number of caveats here. 

ASRock doesn’t guarantee this will work 

with all 700- and 800-series Phenom IIs, 

and AMD won’t tell us how to determine 

if a given CPU can be unlocked. However, 

we give you the scoop on this unbelievable 

exploit in “Tri-Core Transformer” on page 

40 of this issue. 

Much noise has 

been made about 

Your biggest 

performance gains will 

come from modest 

overclocking efforts. 

Our 2.6GHz Phenom II 

X4 810 hit 2.8GHz 

with little more than a 

15MHz reference 

frequency increase. 

spotlight 

AMD’s poor AHCI implementation in 

chipsets past. However, we had no problem 

switching the onboard SATA controller 

from IDE to AHCI under the IDE 

Configuration submenu. Windows restarted 

a couple of times after detecting new 

devices and then continued on its merry 

way with the storage standard enabled. 

Moving on the M3A790GXH/128M’s 

Boot tab, we disabled all devices except 

the VelociRaptor, minimizing the number 

of components that’d be checked prior to 

Windows firing up. ASRock arms its 

BIOS with the ability to save a handful of 

configurations as profiles. So, if you’d like 

to preserve your settings before restarting, 

the Exit menu gives you that option. 

So, what do you get for your 10 minutes 

of BIOS optimization on an AMD 

configuration like this one? We shaved 

seven seconds off of the Windows Vista 

boot time, bringing the process down to 

1:04. SiSoftware’s Sandra 2009 reported 

13.2GBps of memory bandwidth. And 

our 3ds Max 2009 rendering project 

dropped to 42 seconds, shaving roughly 

10% off of the initial test. 

Will Your Mileage Vary? 

We’ve covered two motherboards from 

two vendors running on two different 

chipsets. Surely, this can’t be representative 

of the hundreds of boards out there spanning 

entry-level to high-end, right? To a 

point, sure. But the high-level techniques 

we’ve used to coax extra speed from our 

systems here are generally applicable to all 

motherboards, even those supporting 

Intel’s Core 2-series chips. In the event that 

your board was manufactured by a different 

company or is based on a chipset not discussed 

here, there are a few overarching 

themes to derive from our examples. 

First, you want to minimize the number 

of devices getting in the way of you and 

your operating system’s boot process. If you 

don’t have a floppy drive, use the BIOS to 

disable the floppy controller. If you’ve 

already set up an operating system, you 

don’t need to search an optical drive or the 

network for boot media before hitting the 

hard drive. Rearrange your boot order 

accordingly. And if you have unused 

onboard peripherals, such as SATA or 

CPU / July 2009 63

spotlight 

FireWire controllers, disable those components. 

They consume resources and often 

lengthen the boot process. Those three 

strategies are what helped us to shave seconds 

from the time it took both of our 

example boards to fire up. 

Next, take advantage of headroom built 

into your motherboard and CPU with a 

modest BIOS-based overclock. Both Intel 

and AMD sell certain CPUs with unlocked 

clock multipliers, which is the easiest variable 

to change for a quick overclock 

because it only affects processor speed. If 

your CPU isn’t an Extreme or Black 

Edition, you’ll need to adjust the reference 

Tuning Utilities Explored 

Enthusiasts still prefer BIOS-based tweaking over Windows apps written 

to do the same job. A modification in the BIOS just seems more permanent. 

It takes effect immediately rather than after Windows boot-up 

(and by a piece of software running in the background). But we’re not 

going to denounce tuning utilities entirely. There’s a lot of value in the 

latest apps, which offer tons of knobs and switches, plus the tests 

needed to ensure stability before locking in those modded settings. 

AMD OverDrive 

www.amd.com 

The last time 

we looked at 

AMD’s OverDrive 

tool, it was still in 

beta form. Now at 

version 2.1.6, it’s 

a much more 

mature tool able to 

adjust multipliers, bus speeds, voltages, and a slew of memory timings. 

Though still only compatible with 7-series chipsets on Windows XP and 

Vista, we expect that most enthusiasts with AMD processors are moving 

in the direction of that hardware/software environment anyway; 

they’ll be well-served by OverDrive. 

Even if you’re a die-hard BIOS tweaker, this app is a great way to zero 

in on an optimal configuration without having to restart your system over 

and over. Make your tweaks in OverDrive and run a series of stress tests, 

such as Prime95. Once 

you have a solid balance 

between speed and stability, 

add those same settings 

into your BIOS. 

Nvidia System Tools 

www.nvidia.com 

Formerly referred 

to as nTune, Nvidia’s 


clock, the other setting used to determine 

clock speed. Be aware, though, that making 

reference clock changes will also affect 

other components, such as memory. 

Nevertheless, successfully overclocking our 

two processors is what cut down our 3ds 

Max 2009 render job. If you want to 

improve performance once Windows is up 

and running, overclocking is your solution. 

The final approach we used in both 

examples was taking control away from the 

BIOS. As a convenience, all motherboards 

are able to read the SPD (serial presence 

detect) chip on each memory module and 

set up speed and timing automatically. But 

enthusiasts often buy higher-end memory 

able to run faster than those conservative 

defaults. Using the specifications of your 

modules, key in memory frequency, 

DRAM voltage, and timings to match. As 

you can see from our results, user-defined 

settings can make a difference in real-world 

bandwidth. The same goes for enabling features 

such as AHCI, which are often turned 

off by the factory for compatibility reasons. 

Take the reins, get your BIOS dialedin, 

and you could see double-digit performance 

gains . . . absolutely free. ▲ 

by Paul Cross 

platform-wide tweaking utility consists of three parts: Nvidia 

Performance Group, System Monitor, and System Update. The performance 

and update components are integrated with the same 

Nvidia Control Panel you’d use to adjust the 3D settings of a GeForce 

card, so they’re easy to find and use. 

Performance Group is the most relevant to enthusiasts because it 

lets you tune the same clocks, voltages, timings, and fans as AMD’s 

OverDrive. Additionally, it enables control over clocks, voltages, and 

fan speeds of GeForce graphics cards. Of course, CPU clocks and 

voltages can only be set if you’re using a motherboard based on an 

nForce MCP. Otherwise, you’ll only get detailed system information 

from the software. 

The strategy here is also going to be similar for BIOS aficionados. 

Tinker with the best possible setup in Windows and then lock those settings 

in through the BIOS. 

Gigabyte Easy Tune 6 

www.gigabyte.com.us 

AMD has its bases covered, as 

does Nvidia. But what if you’re 

using a motherboard based on an 

Intel chipset, such as the X58 or 

P45? Intel offers its own tuning utility 

called Desktop Control Center; 

however, it only works on a handful 

of Intel’s own motherboards. Thirdparty 

vendors have to write their 

own tuning apps to make their boards more tweakable in Windows. 

We got our hands on Easy Tune 6, Gigabyte’s software-based utility, 

and used it with an EP45-UD3P motherboard and Pentium E2200 dualcore 

CPU. The latest version of Easy Tune certainly doesn’t feel as complete 

as OverDrive or System Tools. However, its Quick Boost mode 

does make overclocking easy for mainstream users. With the push of a 

button and a restart, our 2.2GHz CPU was running smoothly at 2.7GHz, 

although that doesn’t really help fans of BIOS overclocking gradually 

test the upper limits of their processors or memory. ▲

Of course you want to drop $5,000 

on a monster box—four CPUs, 

9-way graphics, and all the disk 

storage you can fork-lift. That’s a 

nice dream. The reality is you’ve got what 

you’ve got. Maybe it’s new(ish), but odds 

are it’s getting a bit long in the tooth. 

How do you perk up that silverback’s 

hardware with a downsized budget? 

Mod Your Motherboard 

A volt mod is a method for increasing 

voltage to chips through means other 

than drivers and BIOS tweaking. Usually, 

it means grabbing a solder gun, keeping a 

very steady hand, and having a ton of 

background knowledge at your disposal. 

With motherboards, knowing where and 

how to apply a volt mod typically requires 

the deepest information, the sort of thing 

that only a manufacturer would know 

and probably would never publish for 

public viewing. Yet occasionally, this 

information does slip out. 

If you’ve done any overclocking in the 

last five years, you know that today’s 

desktop motherboards, even mainstream 

models, usually come with some degree of 

voltage tweaking available in the BIOS. 

Before this was the case, motherboard 

volt-modding was more common. Today, 

the need is diminished but not erased. 

So, when would you volt-mod a motherboard? 

Let’s say you have a motherboard 

that predates a lot of the more recent BIOS 

improvements that allow for more extensive 

voltage adjustment. Or maybe you happened 

to be walking down the street and 

discover a workstation motherboard, sort of 

like the Intel WX58BP we stumbled into 

one day—great board, tons of engineering 

overhead, but no BIOS options for playing 


with voltage. So off you go to score a $1 

potentiometer from the corner electronics 

store, grab a multimeter and your soldering 

rig, and magically obtain the incredibly elusive 

plans for this board. If you’re new to 

volt modding and want an in-depth look at 

procedures, the best guide we found online 

is at www.ocforums.com/showthread 

.php?t=264512. 

Now, in practicing this fantasy (and 

with a little help from our R&D friends at 

Intel), we learned that this board needs a 

10K ohm potentiometer. Others might 

need something like a 1K or 5K unit. 

The purpose of the potentiometer, as one 

Out of the box, 

our workstation 

board tested at 

1.536V. Then, 

using Intel’s 

schematics, we 

soldered on a $1 

potentiometer. 

engineer described it, is to “alter the voltage 

feedback in the VSM [system memory 

voltage] regulator by replacing the voltage 

divider with a potentiometer, and then we 

dial up the voltage to whatever we want. 

This is done by decreasing the resistance 

in the lower leg of the voltage divider.” 

To start, we took a reading from the 

board in its native state: 1.537V. One multimeter 

probe goes to ground, and the other 

might go to system memory voltage. This is 

located next to the memory and an output 

inductor, that post with the copper coil 

wrapped around it. There are multiple possible 

locations, but you may spend a lot of 

A couple of taps 

with the multimeter 

reveal that our 

two-minute mod 

has increased our 

supposedly fixed 

memory bus to 

1.65V.

time doing trial and error without board 

plans to guide you. The target will almost 

always be a switching buck regulator, 

meaning it will have some switching FETs 

and both an input and an output inductor. 

With the aid of board schematics, a 

magnifying glass, and a bit of solder, we 

attached the potentiometer to the motherboard. 

Returning to the multimeter, we 

now observed a voltage of 1.650V—a 

7.3% increase. Not bad for a mod priced 

straight off the value menu! 

This was a fun experiment, but now 

back to reality. There are two kinds of 

motherboards that would accommodate 

such a hack. The first is really cheap stuff: 

$50 boards meant to run $50 processors. 

These are going to be four-layer PCBs, 

light on copper, with no adjustments possible 

in the BIOS and very little to no threshold 

for voltage increases. As voltage rises, 

temperatures go up, and it’s all too easy to 

fry a cheap board. The other possibility is a 

well-engineered motherboard able to take 

some tweaking yet doesn’t carry onboard 

tweaking tools. Our WX58BP is a perfect 

example, but it also sells for $250+. 

Talk About Hot! 

However you go about increasing voltages 

and frequencies, whether through a 

mod or more orthodox means, you’re as 

good as toast if you don’t stay focused on 

your system’s thermals. If you’re picking 

up temperature readings in excess of 100 

degrees Celsius from the motherboard, 

you’re running too hot and risk getting 

into an escalating feedback loop that 

could potentially destroy components on 

the board. 

As Brian Forbes, director of engineering, 

performance, and product development at 

Intel, says, “We throw up a big red flag if 

we see it exceeding 100 C. It hurts like hell 

if you touch it and is well on its way to 

doing catastrophic damage.” For example, 

the reason Intel implemented a special duct 

and fan on its Skulltrail (D5400XS) board 

is because the nForce 100 chips average 

between 100 and 105 degrees Celsius. 

Divide your motherboard into zones, 

such as memory, CPU, graphics, power 

circuitry, etc., and keep records on each 

area. Use a thermometer, even a cheap 

noncontact unit, such as Scythe’s Kama 

Thermo Wireless ($19.90; www.scytheusa.com). 

For something a bit more precise 

with a laser sight, try the pistol-grip 

MT-EXP or MT-PRO from MicroTemp, 

starting at about $55. 

The obvious problem with these thermometers 

is that they require the case to 

be open, which could drop your reading 

by many degrees. You’ll likely get more 

accurate readings from probes dropped 

right into the hot zones, which then wire 

back to a 5.25-inch bay device with a 

LCD or VFD readout. Because these 

probes are flat, you can also slip them 

under heatsinks, but be aware that this 

could impact the heat transfer efficiency 

between chip and thermal plate. 

There are plenty of 4-probe, alarmequipped 

bay devices on the market. For a 

good example, check out Thermaltake’s 

Hardcano 12 SE ($59.99; www.thermal 

takeusa.com). If nothing else, PC Power 

& Cooling has its 110 Alert ($10; 

www.pcpower.com), an alarm speaker and 

thermometer on a board barely bigger than 

the Molex connector it plugs into. 

Shoot The Breeze 

The key to stopping this nasty heat loop 

is proper airflow. Many people think that 

spotlight 

Cases such as this Cooler Master RC-840, beyond being well-designed for airflow and 

cooling, are relatively rare in that they have twin, side-by-side 120mm case fan 

mounts, needed for some liquid-cooling accessories. 

just stuffing a case with fans will resolve all 

cooling issues, but there’s definitely a 

method to the madness of fan placement. 

The object is to fix problems, not create a 

hovercraft. Fan quality obviously matters, 

with dual ball-bearing designs generally 

considered the best option. But the relationship 

between air intake and exhaust is 

arguably even more important. 

“You want positive air pressure,” says 

Mark Friga Jr., president and founder of 

FrozenCPU.com. “You want more air 

blowing into the system than is coming 

out. This will get rid of warmer air faster. 

Watch your fans’ CFM. You want front 

fans bringing in more air than the rear 

fans are blowing out.” 

Most vendors will state the CFM specs 

for their fans, and it’s simply a matter of 

arithmetic to find out if yours flow positive 

or negative. Our favorite method of 

assessing net flow is with a match. Find a 

fanless vent on the top or bottom of the 

chassis, blow out a match right next to it, 

and see if the smoke gets sucked into or 

blown away from the vent. If needed, 

adjust your fans accordingly. 

“One of the simplest ways to get more 

air onto the CPU is to turn the fans 

around, so they’re blowing in,” says 

Intel’s Forbes. “Air normally flows in 

from the front and the bottom [of the 

CPU / July 2009 67

spotlight 

Four-probe 

temperature monitoring meets 

bay-mounted bling in this Thermaltake 

Hardcano device, complete with alarm capabilities. 

case], past the hard drives and memory, 

past the GPU area. By the time it gets to 

your CPU, it’s warmed up by five or 10 

degrees. Your CPU is designed to work in 

that environment, but if you want to get a 

little more out of it, get cold air to it. 

“Instead of relying on air from the front, 

take the air out of the back. That’ll give 

you up to 10 degrees more headroom,” 

Forbes says. 

Also consider adding some ducting. A 

standard 5-inch, 120mm fan duct runs $5 

or $6, but you might be better off to take 

some cardboard and duct tape and build 

yourself a duct from scratch. The object is 

to route air where you want it to go. You 

might choose to direct hot air off of hot 

heatsinks straight to external vents so the 

heat doesn’t get a chance to circulate inside 

the case. Alternatively, you might place 

ducts behind intake fans and channel cool 

air to the parts that need it most, such as 

past the memory or into a lateral CPU fan. 

For a less DIY approach, we like using 

Thermalright’s HR-01 120mm flexible fan 

ducts ($7; www.thermalright.com). 

Just keep in mind that ducting can 

change the airflow dynamic within the 

case, perhaps causing one problem while 

fixing another. If you install ducting, be 

sure to get fresh temperature and pressure 

readings to confirm all is well. 

If you need more ventilation and simply 

can’t afford a new case to replace your hermetically 

sealed heat trap, consider drilling 

some holes in the top. We spoke with an 

engineer who did this, describing it as 


“ghetto but effective.” For a more in-depth 

look, see “Thar She Blows!” on page 43 of 

the January 2006 issue of CPU. 

Just remember: The more air you move, 

the more assiduous you need to be in 

guarding against dust accumulation. Get 

filters on those vents. Blow the system out 

with a can of compressed air every once in a 

while. Because cables tend to accumulate 

dust, be extra careful in your cable management. 

Bundle what can be bundled and 

route it under the motherboard tray. This 

will also help keep airflow smooth across 

the board. (Just be sure to keep cables away 

from the underside of the CPU area, which 

can get very hot, especially if the system 

uses a heatsink backplate.) You can never 

use enough spiral wrap, Velcro, and zip 

ties. And enthusiast outlets will usually have 

UV-reactive versions for only a few bucks. 

Heatsinks 

Few minor hardware upgrades can 

have the performance impact and physical 

beauty of a new heatsink. Practically any 

of today’s premium CPU coolers is going 

to give you a major improvement over a 

stock HSF (heatsink fan). In the enthusiast 

world, watercooling is still held to be 

the standard for serious cooling, but traditional 

watercooling is both expensive and 

time-intensive. When you’re on a tight 

budget, getting 80% of the benefit for 

20% of the price makes sense. 

“You definitely don’t need watercooling, 

especially with the introduction of 

heatsinks using heatpipe methods,” says 

Friga. “Air-cooling is getting pretty low 

temperatures today, right up 

there with low- to midrange 

water kits.” 

Which CPU or GPU cooler 

should you pick? The sky and 

physical constraints of your case 

and nearby components are the 

limit, but decent HSFs tend to 

start around $30, and $60 

should get you something genuinely 

wicked. If you really are 

counting pennies, the extra benefits of 

fins made from copper (a better heat 

conductor) over aluminum probably 

won’t be worth the added expense. Pay 

more attention to finding a good balance 

between CFM and decibels. 

There are a few interesting exceptions 

to our budget-based bias against watercooling. 

Probably our favorite is Asetek’s 

LCLC CPU cooler ($65 without fan and 

mount; www.asetek.com). This is a compact, 

pre-sealed liquid-cooler system that 

integrates the pump and waterblock into 

a single CPU-mounted housing smaller 

than most high-end HSFs. Two tubes 

pipe out to a 120mm radiator fan that 

mounts to the case wall. 

“You can run a Core i7-920 CPU 

[2.66MHz], and with a stock cooler, 

you’re not going to get any overclocking 

out of it,” says Jon Bach, president of 

reseller Puget Systems. “With the Asetek 

LCLC, we can just about get 4GHz.” 

According to Bach, the single 120mm 

implementation isn’t sufficient for daisychaining 

the CPU and GPU in the cooling 

loop, but a dual-120mm radiator and 

fan setup is. The trick here is finding a 

case that can mount side-by-side 120mm 

fans. Cooler Master’s ATCS 840 is one 

good example. 

Most coolers ship with a small packet of 

thermal grease. This is sort of like the 

ketchup packets you get from a drive-thru. 

It might not be your favorite brand, but 

it’s probably good enough for your $5.99 

burger and fries. Then again, if you’re 

pushing for perfection on pennies, demand 

the brand. Consider grabbing a tube of 

Arctic Cooling MX-2 ($5.60; www.arcticcooling.com) 

or OCZ Freeze ($6; 

www.ocztechnology.com). Although you’ll

see the most benefit replacing your CPU 

heatsink’s stock TIM, it’s also true that virtually 

every primary component with a 

heatsink could benefit from high-quality 

thermal grease, if you’re so inclined. 

The Other Heatsinks 

The same heatsinking attention you 

give your CPU cooler can also be applied 

to the chipset, GPU, and MOSFET 

power circuitry. Thermaltake, Thermalright, 

and every other thermal vendor you 

can name probably have a complete line 

of heatsinks for everything in your PC 

that gets above body temperature. It’s a 

given that a GPU cooler can help with 

your graphics overclocking, especially if 

you’re dealing with a stock cooler on a 

mainstream card. (Top-end cards from 

the likes of Asus, BFG, and Evga will 

tend to already come overclocked and feature 

upgraded cooling.) Similarly, you 

can upgrade the northbridge’s cooling 

once you start cranking up systemwide 

frequencies. 

Eventually, you’ll hit a point of diminishing 

returns for your applications. Do 

you really need a hard drive cooler if you 

have proper airflow? Probably not. What 

about MOSFETs? 

“For the most part, MOSFETs don’t 

limit your overclock,” says Danger Den 

President Jeremy Burnett. “Cooling them 

doesn’t necessarily give you more headroom 

. . . most of the time. Typically, 

those MOSFET blocks will run you $50 

or $100. Companies like Intel already 

overdesign their MOSFETs, so they can 

take quite a bit of load from the overclock 

side. And popping those off is a challenge 

because they use pretty good epoxy.” 

Just about every performance memory 

module being sold today comes with an 

attached heatspreader. You could go nuts 

and get something liquid-ready like OCZ’s 

Flex EX, but this is probably overkill. At 

the same time, trying to upgrade a factory 

heatsink with an aftermarket one or with 

individual “RAM sinks” is probably an 

exercise in tiny returns. Assuming you 

paid a few bucks more for 

good overclockable memory, 

you’re going to get the 

most bang for your 

Typical airflow in a tower 

case looks a lot like this, 

but you can fine-tune your 

airflow with customized 

ducting and by altering 

fan direction. 

buck with a little directattach 

fan, such as OCZ’s 

XTC ($18). 

“Memory runs about 

as hot today as it did 10 

years ago,” says Michael 

Schuette, vice president of 

technology development at OCZ. “Back 

then, with an open or well-ventilated case, 

the temperature on modules was about 60 

to 65 C, up to about 80 under load, which 

is not unreasonable for current high-speed 

memory. You can even go above that with 

high-speed DDR3. But when you have 

four or six modules together, all slots populated, 

they’re tightly packed, and the air 

can get very stagnant. If you just have a fan 

that blows down between those slots, you’ll 

drop the temperature down to about 25 to 

30 C—let’s say five degrees above case 

temperature. It makes a huge, huge difference. 

You should see temperatures with 

current high-speed memory of 40 to 60 C 

under load with a dedicated fan.” 

Odds & Ends 

There are other places to look for 

improvement, of course. Hard drives are 

a common target. Most power users 

know at least the fundamentals of proper 

disk care and that approaching capacity 

can dramatically hamper performance 

just as defragging can help it. Less 

known is the Hdparm command-line 

utility, which can alter internal hard 

drive settings. (Wikipedia actually has a 

decent entry on hdparm to get started.) 

As an example, with many drives, you 

can accelerate buffered disk read times 

by using DMA, 32-bit transfers with 

multiple sector modes initiated by a certain 

Hdparm command. Be sure to read 

the Hdparm manual, because although 

some commands can help performance, 

others can destroy your data. Note that 

some drives can also have their seek 

times adjusted. Accelerating the seek 

spotlight 

time will improve 

performance but it will also make the 

drive louder. 

What about the power supply? 

Although some PSUs have adjustable 

voltage rails, there’s really no other feasible 

way to tweak a unit. You can, of 

course, replace a power supply, but don’t 

assume that the biggest, baddest SLI beast 

is the answer to your dreams. You need 

quality for true performance, and you 

need to mind your dollars. 

“Don’t laugh at me, but in most of my 

systems, I’m running . . . 520W power 

supplies,” says OCZ’s Michael Schuette. 

“I have no problems running Radeon 

4890s with two or three hard drives and a 

Core i7-965. But the problem is I’m running 

at the upper limit of that power 

supply, which means my efficiency also 

goes down. I see people with 1,000W, 

1,500W, or whatever power supplies, and 

I honestly think it’s better to go with high 

quality in a slightly lower total power rating 

than going for the 1,000W running at 

20 or 30% load. At that point, you only 

get about 70% efficiency, and the power it 

outputs is pretty crappy. When you have a 

limited budget, go with a high-quality 

power supply and skimp a bit on your 

total power.” 

That should keep you busy for a while. 

So tweak away, keep your money in your 

pocket where it’s most needed, and enjoy 

the fruits of faster performance! ▲ 


CPU / July 2009 69

If you work in a small network spread 

across a small or medium-sized office, 

perhaps you’ve wished for some way to 

easily communicate with the group that’s 

faster than email but isn’t public like IM 

programs. The old WinPopup method of 

broadcasting short messages to everyone 

in the LAN is still an option, but a better 

one is Network Assistant, which has more 

features than a Swiss-army knife and is 

easy to use and configure. 

Network Assistant doesn’t require a 

centralized server to coordinate things: It 

just multicasts over IP or with UDP packets 

over your LAN, finding other instances 

of NA automatically. By default, NA users 

are identified by their Windows username, 

but custom names are available, too. Users 

on the LAN appear in a list, and by rightclicking 

a user, you can send a pop-up 

message, initiate a private chat, send a file, 

or even send a “beep” over his speaker. 

It’s been a long time since Adobe Acrobat 

was the only way to generate PDF files, 

but the alternatives have normally had 

trade-offs. Some are merely cheaper than 

Adobe’s (admittedly high-priced) offerings 

but still aren’t free. Some free options are 

fairly complicated multistep processes, 

involving making a PostScript file and 

then converting it with GhostScript to a 

PDF. PDFCreator strikes a nice balance 

between cost (it’s free), ease of use, ease of 

installation, and configurability. 

Once you get past its only installation 

gotcha (be sure to uncheck the browser 

toolbar add-on if you normally avoid such 

things), installation is a snap. The installer 

adds GhostScript (an open-source Post- 

Script interpreter), a Windows printer 

driver, and a print job manager quickly 

and painlessly, and it even includes a wellwritten 

and complete Help file. Like other 

The Bleeding Edge Of Software 

Inside The World Of Betas 

Network Assistant 4.5 Beta 1 

PDFCreator 0.9.8 


Other communications options 

include an IRC-style group chat 

(complete with several channels), a 

shared whiteboard, and a more permanent 

message board. 

There are some handy administration 

tools, too. Users can be divided 

into groups, making it easy to 

handle offices with dozens (or hundreds) of 

users. Operators can share screenshots of 

their desktops and make their Windows 

task-list visible, allowing for a basic kind of 

remote support option for an IS department. 

Certain features can be locked out 

with an administrator password, thereby 

forcing users to utilize certain options. 

The pricing for Network Assistant 

boils down to $30 a seat, and you can 

only buy licenses in groups of two or 

more. (There are discounts for bulk 

licenses.) If you’re just looking for a cute 

way to chat with your wife in another 

tools, making the PDF involves “printing” 

to the PDFCreator printer driver and specifying 

a filename for the resulting PDF file, 

and then within a few seconds, the PDF file 

appears in your default PDF viewer. 

PDFCreator has a few nice tricks. There 

are individual settings for controlling the 

compression rates of different types of 

graphics, controls for embedding True 

Type fonts within your PDF files, and different 

pathways for directly emailing PDF 

files once they’re created. If you’re trying 

to add PDF creation to some sort of workflow, 

you can automatically execute scripts 

before or after the actual PDF file is created. 

There’s even an option to create a network 

print driver, letting all the computers 

in a LAN create PDFs files without installing 

the program on multiple PCs. 

PDFCreator is one of those projects 

that’s been improving for years yet still 

refuses to breach the magic “1.0 Barrier,” so 

we encountered what is basically a finished 

Network Assistant 4.5 

Publisher and URL: Gracebyte Software, 

www.gracebyte.com 

ETA: Q3 2009 

Why You Should Care: Add big-network 

communications to any small LAN with ease. 

part of the house, this is probably a tad 

expensive, but this is actually a good price 

for small-office, groupware-type software. 

The 30-day trial should be enough time 

to figure out if the expense is worth it. ▲ 

by Warren Ernst 

PDFCreator 0.9.8 

Publisher and URL: Philip Chinery and Frank 

Heindörfer, sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator 

ETA: Q4 2009 

Why You Should Care: There’s no better 

free PDF creator for Windows with this 

many options. 

and polished product, free from the bugs 

normally associated with beta software. ▲ 

by Warren Ernst

software | upgrades 

Gamers get some treats for their summer of play with a PS3 update, 

a new Radeon driver, and improvements to Xfire. Meanwhile, Adobe 

fixes a hole in its ubiquitous Reader. 

Software Updates 

Adobe Reader 8.1.4 

Last month, we featured Adobe’s response 

to a security vulnerability in version 9.1 

of its standalone reader for Acrobat files 

with a critical update. The bug causes the 

program to crash, which opens up your 

PC to control by an intruder. For users of 

older versions who elect not to upgrade to 

the 9.X series, the version 8.1.4 fix is for 

them, Adobe says. 

www.adobe.com 

Bitcomet 1.10 

The P2P torrent client adds a task 

search box in the toolbar and improves 

the file type-filter in the torrent task 

properties dialog. The auto shutdown 

feature is also improved. 

www.bitcomet.com 

Driver Magician 3.42 

The driver updater, uninstaller, and backup 

tool now has a multilanguage interface. 

The program can now find drivers 

for all operating systems, and Gold Solutions 

Software has updated Driver 

Magician’s database of drivers, as well. 

www.drivermagician.com 

FeedDemon 2.7 

The respected feed reader now gets a “Panic 

Button” that marks your overwhelming 

mountain of new items as “read,” even if 

you haven’t touched them. Performance 

has been substantially improved, and the 

newspaper interface has been redesigned. 

NewsGator has also revised offline reading, 

such as redesigned feed prefetching. 

www.newsgator.com 


Foobar2000 0.9.6.5 

The compact media player now has an 

online troubleshooting feature. The crash 

report system is also upgraded. Also, the 

built-in album art viewer can view artist 

images that are also in the same folder or 

embedded in tags. 

www.foobar2000.org 

iTunes 8.1.1 

Apple updates its multimedia library, 

player, and store to allow HD movie rentals 

on the PC. Some bug fixes, such as 

problems with syncing and VoiceOver 

with the iPod touch and iPhone, were 

tossed in, too. 

www.apple.com 

Process Lasso 3.54.7 

This unique tool manages Windows 

process priorities in the background to 

optimize performance. This update adds 

to the core ProBalance handling of some 

processes. There is also an overall decrease 

in the sensitivity of the default 

ProBalance settings. 

www.bitsum.com 

RemoveIT Pro V7 11.4.2009 

The software removal tool redesigns the 

interface and runs under an updated 

core engine. A few helpful bug fixes are 

included, too. 

www.incodesolutions.com 

Skype 4.0.0.224 

The IP phone software has a new option 

to install to the Google Chrome browser. 

The update also fixes a bug that corrects 

video-scaling issues with the Skype client. 

www.skype.com 

Tor Browser Bundle 1.1.12 

The Tor tools help anonymize your 

Internet activities. The new version updates 

some of the bundle’s core components: 

OpenSSL (to 0.9.8k) and Tor 

itself (to 0.2.1.14-rc). 

Torproject.org 

Total Commander 7.5 Beta 2 

The replacement file manager for Windows 

squashes some irritating bugs such 

as a tendency to delete the wrong file in 

a directory in rare cases. Problems with 

unpacking multivolume RAR compressed 

packages also get addressed. 

www.ghisler.com 

Trillian Astra 4.0.0.103 Beta 

The popular multinetwork chat client gears 

up for a 4.1 release with a series of beta 

versions. In this one, the beta testing group 

is widened. The new software version addresses 

a bug involving the Facebook plugin 

and using Facebook Chat. 

www.ceruleanstudios.com 

VLC 0.9.9 

The beloved VideoLAN media player 

gets a bug fix that addresses issues with 

full-screen behavior on multiple displays. 

It also improves performance on 

Intel-based Macs. 

www.videolan.org 

Xfire 1.107 

The in-game client receives another of its 

frequent updates. This time, the UI is 

updated to include a fresh status bar and 

simpler configuration. A system vulnerability 

involving deleting large numbers of 

screen shots has been resolved. 

www.xfire.com 

Driver Bay 

ATI Catalyst 9.4 

New Radeon graphics drivers update 

the Overdrive overclocking tool (for 

the HD 4000 series) with an “autotuning” 

feature for finding the best 

values. World of Warcraft players 

should see better shadow rendering in 

Crossfire configurations. 

www.amd.com

S 

ecurity software is something that 

most users liken to eating vegetables: 

We know they’re good for us, but 

they can leave a bad taste in our mouths. 

A few years ago, security software developers 

started adding extra layers of security 

to what they simply used to call 

their antivirus programs, generally adding 

so much bloat, complexity, and 

system slowness that users start swearing 

off particular vendors and their products. 

Believe it or not, we’re happy to 

report that the times have changed. The 

vegetables are tasting better. 

Two developments account for these 

improvements. The first was massive 

user revolt: Users directed their rage at 

security software vendors, and the vendors 

have listened, spending serious 

manpower on performance optimizations 

to keep computers spry. The 

second basically boils down to the 

availability of fast, cheap hardware. A 

$500 computer bought today is five or 

10 times faster than a $1,400 computer 

bought three or four years ago, and a 

$1,500 computer bought today might as 

well be a 5-year-old supercomputer. In 

other words, the modern computers 

most CPU readers have are finally capable 

of good performance, even while 

running security software. 

How We Tested 

We had several conversations on 

online gaming forums to get a sense of 

what power users’ concerns are with 

security software, and the results were 

intriguing. General slowness due to background 

tasks is always a concern, but 

scheduled background scans and update 

downloads occurring during gaming, 

movie viewing, or other periods when 

performance is important is a big problem, 

too, so we focused on these areas 

first. There was a general assumption 

among the forum community that security 

effectiveness and ease of use were similar 

among competitors, so we checked 

them all out against viruses, spyware, 

legitimate servers, and illegitimate worms. 

Most users wanted simplicity, but some 

still wanted options and detailed controls, 

so we determined which software had 

what and how easy it was to use. We 

checked that bundled utilities performed 

as advertised. 

Web-usage statistics, along with 

Valve’s Steam gaming engine statistics, 

show Windows XP still being used between 

two to four times as much as Vista. 

And because Windows 7 will soon be 

pushing Vista out of the marketplace, we 

tested with WinXP SP3. Valve shows 

more than 50% of users have CPUs 

ranging between 2.3GHz and 3.3GHz, 

and 70% have 2GB or more of RAM; 

instead of using a low-powered test system 

(which artificially highlights speed 

differences in the products), we chose a 

representative 3GHz Core 2 Duo-based 

computer with 4GB of RAM and two 

SATA hard drives to show the real-world 

effects of installing security software. 

If you’ve skipped ahead to the charts, 

you’ve seen that the test system was 

never overwhelmed by any security suite, 

though there were definitely measurable 

differences in speed with many tests. For 

the record, we also used slower systems 

and virtual machines for some threat 

testing and network compatibility. 

(Note: All prices listed are for a 

3-PC license.) 

About Malware Detection Rates 

Although we’re including the results of 

our malware-detection and healing tests 

(performed against real malware collected 

with our own honeypot and mail servers), 

it’s time to mention something about statistics 

and sample size. Outfits such as AV 

reviews | software 

The State Of Security 

“Suite” Isn’t A Dirty Word Anymore 

Comparatives (www.av-comparatives.org) 

have teams of technicians spending 

months running most of our tested products 

against a malware “zoo” consisting of 

1.3 million malware samples. 

Having decidedly less resources, we 

selected 25 malware items and one infected 

thumb drive to test against. There’s no 

telling if our sample is a representative 

subsample of AV Comparatives’, or indeed, 

of the types of malware spreading 

about in the real world at any given time, 

so directly comparing our detection rates 

with AV Comparatives’, or anyone else’s 

(and there are others you can and should 

Google for), isn’t terribly meaningful. 

AVG Technologies AVG Internet 

Security 8.5 

AVG Internet Security 8.5 

$64.99 

AVG Technologies 

www.avg.com 

● ● ● 

AVG’s free antivirus program is among 

the most popular security products on 

the Internet, so you’ve probably seen it 

around. As such, AVG Internet Security 

feels very familiar, essentially adding a 

two-way firewall, spam filter, drive-by 

download and phishing shield, and 

antirootkit abilities to the traditional 

antivirus/antispyware engine. This is a 

model most of the security vendors have 

taken with their suites, but AVG’s interface 

feels more cluttered than most. 


CPU / July 2009 73

eviews | software 

AVGIS also feels familiar because it 

essentially follows the security model of 

yesterday—deluge the user with security 

questions all the time, but don’t always 

be clear about the best course of action. 

For example, when it detects malware in 

a download, a pop-up proclaims “Threat 

Detected” and identifies the infected file 

and the threat it contains, usually followed 

by a Close button. Nowhere does 

the dialog box actually say “threat deleted” 

or “don’t worry, your computer is 

safe.” On top of this, the dialog stays up 

indefinitely, requiring you to pause your 

work to click it. For some threats, you’re 

given the option of Heal, Move To 

Vault, or Ignore with a Remove Threat 

As Power User checkbox; it seems sensible 

until you realize that many other 

products would automatically move the 

threat to the vault and not bother you 

with the details. 

The firewall pops up similar dialogs 

about network access to most wellknown 

programs and Internet games, 

even going as far as to jump to the 

Desktop so you can click Allow, although 

launched games resume where 

they are paused. Many other firewalls 

“automagically” know about thousands 

of “known-good” programs and just let 

them work. 

Other noteworthy aspects include better-than-average 

spam filtering, the best 

3DMark06 score (though they’re all within 

.2% of each other), a default setting to 

scan within compressed files, and the 

identification of a well-known email password-recovery 

program as a “potentially 

dangerous hacking tool.” 

Avira Premium Security Suite 

Avira distributes what is generally the 

second-most-popular free antimalware 

program, and like AVG, Avira Premium 

Security Suite feels a lot like its free 

cousin, but with more features added. 

Also like AVG, APSS tends to annoy its 

user with a lot more pop-ups than necessary, 

and they contain options likely 

to confuse. Upon detecting our infected 

USB flash drive, for example, it popped 

up a warning identifying the offending 

file and the infection but made the user 

Avira Premium Security Suite 

$78 

Avira GmbH 

www.avira.com 

● ● ● ● 

select one of the following options: Move 

to Quarantine, Delete, Overwrite And 

Delete, Rename, Deny Access (default), 

and Ignore. If you’re a virus researcher, 

such options are nice to have, but 

in almost every other situation it 

should automatically move the malware 

into quarantine. 

Pop-ups are the standard operating 

mode for the firewall, which even managed 

to freeze Counter-Strike: Source in 

its tracks until we ALT-TABbed to the 

Desktop to view the firewall permission 

dialog box, clicked the Allow button, 

and ALT-TABbed back. And then we 

had to do it again for another component 

in CS: Source that wanted to get 

online. It also popped up warnings about 

the occasional ICMP packet being 

detected from the Internet—something 

no other security suite did. 

On the positive side, APSS tied Eset 

for the fastest PCMark05 score, and its 

Web scanner proxy actually sped up large 

downloads from our test server on the 

LAN. Its AV Comparatives detection 

rates were the best. Its interface offered 

the right combination of ease and access 

to technical details. 

We’d be more willing to overlook 

Avira’s (and AVG’s) issues if these products 

were free or inexpensive, but the 

competition has it beat here too, with 

some being half the price. 

BitDefender Internet Security 2009 


feels like the most flexible suite from the 

moment you fire up its installer, because 


$39.95 

BitDefender 

www.bitdefender.com 

● ● ● ● 

it peppers you with question after question 

about your home network, parental 

and identity control, and so forth. Most 

other utilities make you dive into the 

interface to configure these options, or 

they just turn them all on by default and 

assume you’ll figure out how to disable 

them if you need to. 

Most of the utilities aced at least one 

of our performance or security tests, but 

not BitDefender, although this is forgivable 

given its low price. Its pop-ups are 

very straightforward and make it clear 

that it’s on the job and taking care of 

problems as it finds them. The firewall 

doesn’t seem to know much about good 

and bad applications, as it asked us 

about almost every Internet-accessing 

program we had, except for obvious programs 

such as Web browsers, emailers, 

and WinZip. One unique option is a 

removable disc scanner, which asks to 

run a scan whenever a new disc or flash 

drive is inserted—very handy in this era 

of infected thumbdrives. 

Most of the utilities have a game 

mode, which tells the software not to 

display any pop-ups that would interfere 

with fullscreen games, movies, etc. Some 

of the better utilities enter game mode 

automatically, but BitDefender requires 

you to enter game mode manually. 

Background updates sometimes require 

a reboot, which interrupted us more 

than once. 

BitDefender’s main interface has two 

modes, Simple and Advanced, and it’s a 

good way to minimize confusion for most 




users. Simple mode basically lets you 

enable or disable various areas of protection 

in a broad stroke, while the Advanced 

mode opens up all the options and fine 

details. We love all the tools available in 

Advanced mode, but Basic is a little too 

busy, considering the options you can’t 

select there. 

Eset Smart Security 4 

Eset’s security programs are known for 

being light on resources, and Eset Smart 

Security doesn’t disappoint. It added the 

least amount of time to a reboot (just 

three extra seconds!) and tied for the best 

Security At A Cost 

Clean System 

3DMark06: 

Average of 

at least 

three runs 

at default 

settings 

11752 

AVG Internet 

Security 8.5 

11755 

Avira Premium 

Security Suite 

11735 8992 

BitDefender 

Internet 

Security 2009 

11736 8740 

Eset Smart 

Security 4 

11753 8992 

Kaspersky 

Internet 

Security 2009 

11731 8930 

McAfee Internet 

Security 

11748 8920 

Norton Internet 

Security 2009 

11747 8953 

Panda Internet 

Security 2009 

11744 8953 

Trend Micro 

Internet 

Security Pro 

11734 8832 

PCMark05: 

Average of 

at least 

three runs 

at default 

settings 

8969 

8926 

Counter- 

Strike: 

Source 

Benchmark 

Frame Rate: 

Average of at 

least three 

runs at 

default settings 

of Video 

Stress Test 

279.24 

279.02 

277.92 

277.06 

277.97 

276.43 

278.79 

278.2 

278.82 

279.99 

PCMark05 score. We were pleasantly surprised 

by its high level of “smarts.” (But 

then again, “smart” is in its name, so we 

shouldn’t have been.) 

With only a few exceptions, all of the suites we tested were quite effective at stamping out malware, so the 

question becomes: How much do you pay in terms of system resources to have that security? We ran each suite 

through a gauntlet of tests to determine the efficiency of each. Most times are in (min:sec). 

Boot Time: 

From first 

appearance 

of Windows 

Logo to 

beginning of 

a 15-second 

period of less 

than 10% 

CPU activity, 

averaged 

over at least 

three runs 

(min:sec) 

0:32 

0:51 

0:39 

0:42 

0:35 

0:41 

0:40 

0:41 

0:47 

0:49 

Web Page 

Load: 

Cumulative 

time to load 

a complex 

iGoogle 

page 10 

times, as 

measured 

with 

Firebug 

extension 

00:28.0 

00:46.1 

00:37.0 

00:46.8 

00:36.9 

00:28.9 

00:43.7 

00:42.2 

00:49.6 

00:35.1 

Copy Files: 

Time to copy 

18GB of files 

from one 

SATA drive to 

another, 

including 1GB 

of office files, 

7GB of photos, 

and 11GB of 

MP3/AAC 

files, averaged 

over at least 

three runs 

4:44 

5:01 

Columns Q and R come from http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_report21.pdf 

Column S comes from http://www.virusbtn.com/vb100/archive/2009/04 

Column T comes from http://www.westcoastlabs.com/checkmark/vendorList/?techGroupID=27 

Column comes from http://www.icsalabs.com/icsa/product.php?tid=dfgdf$gdhkkjk-kkkk 

5:05 

5:33 

5:16 

5:39 

5:33 

5:51 

5:02 

5:47 

Eset Smart Security 4 

$89.99 

Eset 

www.eset.com 

● ● ● ● ● 

Better than almost any other suite, 

ESS knew what to say and when to say 

it. When it detects a downloaded virus, 

for example, it pops up a small red alert 

dialog box, which identifies the infection, 

the infected file, and simply says 

“Connection Terminated—Quarantined.” 

Its game mode fires up automatically 

when it detects programs running 

fullscreen. The firewall immediately 

Zip Files: 

Time to 

zip up 

1GB of 

office 

files, 

averaged 

over at 

least 

three 

runs 

2:10 

2:19 

2:19 

2:22 

2:15 

2:18 

2:15 

2:39 

2:13 

2:35 

Unzip 

Files: 

Time to 

unzip 

1GB of 

office 

files, 

averaged 

over at 

least 

three 

runs 

0:34 

0:57 

1:02 

1:05 

0:58 

1:03 

1:10 

1:02 

1:04 

1:26 

Download 

Speed: 

Time to 

download 

798MB 

ISO file 

from local 

Web server 

over 

100Mbps 

LAN connection 

2:04 

1:53 

1:39 

4:30 

36:15:00 



1:58 

2:10 

1:41 

1:54 

1:40 

Scan Speed, 

All: Time to 

scan a 5.8GB 

static Windows 

folder and 

2.6GB static 

Program Files 

folder with software 

set to 

scan all files, 

copied from a 

4-year-old system 

(46,087 

files) 

n/a 

32:01:00 

5:13 

12:10 

7:43 

6:54 

11:39 

6:44 

8:55 

10:32

ecognized almost every Internet program, 

remote-control applet, and online 

game in our arsenal and let them communicate 

with the Internet without 

prompting us, yet it was smart enough 

to just block our firewall-leaktest program. 

Although our leaktest program 

wasn’t really malicious (which is important 

when considering Norton’s 

actions), we think ESS made the smart 

call on this. 

The ESS interface has two modes, 

Standard and Advanced. Standard has the 

bare minimum of commands, but they 

are the right ones a beginner really needs. 

Advanced adds a few more options front 

and center but makes the Setup menu 

available with direct access to configuration 

options. Some options that are typical 

in other products are either slightly 

Time To 

Open 

Interface: 

Elapsed 

time from 

double-clicking 

Tray 

icon until 

the GUI 

becomes 

usable 

(Splash 

screens 

don't count) 

n/a 

0:02 

00:01.5 

instant 

instant 

instant 

:04 

instant 

:02.5 

:4.5 

Memory 

Consump 

-tion/ 

Number 

Of Processes: 

The 

amount of 

RAM consumed 

when the 

product is 

idle, in KB 

n/a 

49,736 

63,212 

9,924 

55,696 

30,096 

75,112 

4,461 

158,416 

53,923 

Number 

Of Processes: 

The 

number 

of processesassociated 

with the 

product 

when 

idle 

n/a 

12 

6 

4 

2 

2 

9 

3 

15 

9 

Downloaded 

Infected 

Executables: 

Blocked or 

Deleted, 

from sample 

of 15 

n/a 

100% 

93% 

93% 

93% 

100% 

87% 

100% 

100% 

100% 

hard to locate or simply absent, forcing 

the user to rely on ESS to make the smart 

choice automatically. 

The only glitch we encountered was 

with our download speed test. Between 

two LAN machines, speeds slowed to a 

crawl (slower than DSL rates), yet we 

saw no slowdown on downloads from 

the Internet. 

Eset Smart Security’s smarts and 

speed make it the most expensive choice 

here, but if you don’t want to be bothered 

by your security suite, the cost is 

worth it. 

Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Internet 

Security 2009 

Kaspersky’s security products are generally 

thought of as the preferred tool 

for experts, and we can see why. It 

Downloaded 

Infected 

Zip 

Files: 

Blocked 

or 

Deleted, 

from 

sample 

of 11 

n/a 

100% 

91% 

91% 

91% 

100% 

82% 

100% 

100% 

100% 

AV 

Comparatives 

Feb 09 On- 

Demand Scan 

Detection 

Results (1.3 

million malware 

samples) 

n/a 

93% 

99.70% 

98% 

97.60% 

97.10% 

99.10% 

98.70% 

Not Tested 

Not Tested 

AV 

Comparatives 

Feb 09 On- 

Demand Scan 

False Positive 

Results 

n/a 

17 

24 

25 

13 

14 

13 

7 

Not Tested 

Not Tested 

VB100 

Pass/Fail 

(April 2009 

Test) 


Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 

$79.99 

Kaspersky Lab 

www.kaspersky.com 

● ● ● ● 

combines excellent detection rates with very 

clear on-screen messages, but makes no 

attempt to simplify the process of keeping 

your system secure. All the settings and 

Price For 

3-PC 

License: 

Price 

includes 

“discounts” 

or “specials” 

with no 

forseeable 

end-date 

offered from 

vendors’ 

online 

stores 

n/a 

$74.99 

$78.19 

$39.95 

$89.99 

$79.99 

$44.99 

$59.99 

$79.95 

$69.95 

CPUs 

n/a 

● ● ● 

● ● ● ● 

● ● ● ● 

● ● ● ● ● 

● ● ● ● 

● ● ● ● 

● ● ● ● ● 

● ● ● ● 

● ● ● ● 


n/a 

Pass 

Pass 

Pass 

Pass 

Pass 

Pass 

Pass 

Not Issued 

Not Issued 

West 

Coast 

Labs’ 

CheckmarkCertification 

n/a 

Certified 

Not Issued 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

ICSA 

Labs 

Certification 

n/a 

Certified 

Not Issued 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

Certified 

Not Issued 

CPU / July 2009 77


configuration options are sort of hanging 

off the interface every which way 

(there’s no basic mode), and current 

protection statistics and live graphs and 

charts line every screen in its tabbed 

interface. 

If you like being asked about almost 

every program your security suite encounters, 

you’ll love KIS. For example, 

it identified our gaming keypad’s driver 

as “a potentially hazardous program,” 

asking if we wanted KIS to run it, delete 

it, or assign it to a restricted group. 

Run and Delete are obvious, but the 

Restricted group is something different. 

KIS can selectively prohibit apps from 

having access to the network, the file 

system, or the Registry, sort of like 

“sandboxing” them. None of the tested 

products identified clean-but-not-legal 

keygen applets as malware (years ago 

they used to), but KIS was the only one 

to offer to run them in a restricted 

mode, preventing them from doing anything 

untoward. Even the excellent 

spam filter is expert-oriented: It divides 

messages into “definitely spam” and 

“probably spam,” minimizing the messages 

you need to double-check once the 

system is trained. 

KIS is not without drawbacks. It 

generated the slowest CS: Source and 

3DMark06 benchmarks, and, in fact, 

we had to disable it before 3DMark- 

06 and PCMark05 would even start. 

(We manually re-enabled it after starting 

the benchmark programs.) Its firewall 

was slow to react to a port scan, 

stealthing many ports only after a 

scan commenced. 

McAfee Internet Security 

McAfee Internet Security is the surprise 

low-price leader among the major 

vendors, with a per-computer price of 

only $15. And although it did relatively 

poorly with our relatively small malware 

zoo, it has the second-highest detection 

rate in AV Comparatives’ more statistically 

significant test. It receives definition 

updates almost constantly and will 

even update itself to next year’s version 

automatically if your subscription is 

active when McAfee performs the 

McAfee Internet Security 2009 

$44.99 

McAfee 

www.mcafee.com 

● ● ● ● 

switchover, making it an even better 

deal. 

MIS automatically enters game mode 

when fullscreen applications are running, 

suppressing the pop-ups that 

would kick you to the Desktop, but it 

doesn’t stop it from performing scheduled 

tasks or getting updates, which can 

slow things down occasionally. Many of 

the suites now duplicate McAfee’s Site 

Advisor, a pioneering service that shows 

you how malware-free a Web site is 

from the results of a search engine 

search, though we found it a tad more 

sensitive than the competition. It is easily 

disabled if you’re not with the “better 

safe than sorry” crowd and doesn’t take 

up a lot of browser space. 

MIS does a good job of clearly explaining 

what it’s doing. It quickly dispatches 

viruses with a clear “McAfee has 

automatically blocked and removed a 

Virus,” and the firewall messages are similarly 

clear, although we encountered 

them more than we would have expected 

with popular network applications. With 

virtually no training, the spam filter was 

right 99% of the time, obviously benefitting 

from McAfee’s server-side training 

based on all its users’ input. 

Our biggest problem with MIS was a 

general level of sluggishness. It took a 

good 4 seconds from Tray icon doubleclick 

to being able to work with the 

GUI, whereas a lot of other suites are 

instantaneous. Navigating to certain 

sub-screens takes a moment, too, discouraging 

experimentation. 

Symantec Norton Internet 

Security 2009 

In the recent past, Symantec was justly 

targeted by angry users for bloated versions 

of NIS that slowed computers 

down, sometimes dramatically. NIS 2009 

is a whole new ballgame. 

The main NIS interface has two CPU 

bars—one showing overall CPU usage 

and another showing how much CPU 

time NIS is consuming, obviously 

attempting to prove that your slow computer 

isn’t Symantec’s fault. Other speedboosting 

tricks include never performing 

a background scan or downloading an 

update unless the CPU is idle, actively 

freeing RAM when the program is idle 

(its idle RAM footprint is an almost 

unbelievable 4.5MB), and taking inventory 

of known-good executables on your 

hard drive (and recording their checksums) 

and then skipping them during 

system scans to make scans faster. The 

main GUI appears instantly upon double-clicking 

its Tray icon, and subscreens 

open instantly, too. 

Norton Internet Security 2009 

$59.99 

Symantec 

www.symantec.com 

● ● ● ● ● 

NIS has just one mode (no basic and 

advanced modes here). Instead, the relatively 

simple GUI has multiple Settings 

links that delve deeper into more options. 

It takes up too much on-screen 

space but works well. You may not need 

to get to detailed configuration settings 

often because NIS is just about as smart 

as Eset, almost always making the right 

choices about what to block (and telling 

you so unambiguously), what to quarantine, 

and what to leave alone. It let our 



leaktest program open ports unopposed, 

but this, debatably, isn’t a dangerous 

program per se, and NIS’ heuristics 

accurately detected this. 

Although NIS 2009 is a spry application, 

it’s worth noting that benchmarks 

were generally average, and the antispam 

filter needed a lot of training before it 

approached the effectiveness of the 

competition’s untrained filters. Still, 

NIS is an excellent combination of 

price, speed, and features and worth a 

second look if you’ve been burned by 

Symantec before. 

Panda Internet Security 2009 

Panda Internet Security 2009 

$79.95 

Panda Security 

www.pandasecurity.com 

● ● ● ● 

Panda Internet Security is a very 

attractive, easy-to-use security program 

that just needs slightly better pricing, a 

little more smarts when dealing with 

nasties (or, in our case, a false positive), 

and a bit of a diet. 

We have only slight qualms with PIS’ 

detection model. When we tried downloading 

test malware, Panda’s concise 

message of “This file was infected with 

this virus and was deleted” appears 

directly in the content area of the Web 

browser window and clearly says what it 

does, which is great. Infected compressed 

files, on the other hand, generated no 

message and actually downloaded and 

saved, but the ZIP files themselves were 

empty. PIS silently took care of the 

problem. Viruses in ZIP files detected 

with heuristics were renamed with a 

.VIR extension, which is important to 

note since our legitimate passworddetecting 

program was renamed in its 

ZIP file. When we extracted it and 

renamed it back to an EXE file, it 

worked fine. A manual scan of it resulted 

in its being quarantined, meaning the 

background scanner plays by different 

rules than the on-demand scanner. 

PIS isn’t especially well suited to 

gamers. There’s no game mode (it started 

downloading an update during a CS: 

Source benchmark; we threw out that test 

result), and it consumes a whopping 

158MB of RAM when idle. The firewall 

didn’t recognize some popular Internet 

applications and games that other security 

suites simply allowed without a pop-up. 

That said, it makes a good security 

suite for the general populace. The clear 

interface invites exploration, and it 

comes with the most well-written Help 

file. The spam filter’s only mistake was 

marking a few newsletters that had 

imbedded ads as spam before training, 

and PIS’ rescue CD (like Norton’s) 

makes recovering a thoroughly infested 

Windows installation possible. 

Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 

Internet Security Pro 

$69.95 

Trend Micro 

us.trendmicro.com 

● ● ● ● 

We haven’t looked at a Trend Micro 

security product for a while and are 

pleasantly surprised at the innovative 

features tucked into the current version 

of TMISP. However, a general slowness 

in opening the interface, along with a 

fairly dramatic increase in most filerelated 

benchmarks, has us hoping the 

engineers at Trend can give TMISP a 

NIS2009-like speed boost in the future. 

Additionally, its lack of inclusion in the 


AV Comparatives’ (and other large-sample) 

tests has us wondering about its 

overall efficacy against malware, though 

it aced our limited tests. 

TMISP clearly announces when it 

blocks malware and confirms your system 

is safe, so there are no decisions you need 

to make to stay malware-free. It also wisely 

decides which applications to automatically 

grant network access to and which to 

block, though manually overriding the 

built-in smarts is simple. All the products 

in this roundup come with some sort of 

Web filter or phishing filter, but TMISP’s 

Web site safety filter actively blocked our 

malware test server on our test machine 

after only about eight virus detections. 

Our other test machines were blocked 

from their first visit to our malware test 

server only a few days later. You can’t get 

infected from a site you can’t connect to, 

right? An additional button on the browser 

toolbar evaluates the security of your 

wireless connection, handy in coffee 

shops and other hotspots. 

Although it lacks either an automatic or 

manual game mode, some interesting features 

include a keystroke encrypter to foil 

keyloggers, a remote file vault to back up 

important files, and an Internet filter that 

monitors and optionally prevents the transmission 

of information such as credit card 

numbers, telephone numbers, and so forth. 

Recommendations 

Each of the suites has its strengths and 

weaknesses, but we’re pleased to report 

that none of the suites we tested will slow 

down a reasonably modern computer. For 

those seeking a lightweight suite that 

doesn’t deluge you with questions and 

pop-ups, we recommend Eset Smart 

Security and Norton Internet Security, 

depending on whether you want the 

utmost speed in benchmarks or merely 

very good speed with more security features, 

respectively. Control freaks and 

techies who like lots of options should 

consider Kaspersky Internet Security. ▲ 

by Warren Ernst 

Subscribers can go to www.cpumag.com/ 

cpujul09/security for additional test data. 


CPU / July 2009 79


Application As Service 

There are plenty of ways to make programs 

start automatically when Windows 

loads, but most of them offer no 

control beyond that. Application As Service 

changes that by letting you treat any program 

as a Windows system service, providing 

all of the advanced configurability and 

other features that system services enjoy. 

As an example, say you use a backup 

program that you want to run on a regular 

basis, but other people use your computer 

and often shut it down accidentally. 

Using AaS, you can set up the program so 

it launches automatically when Windows 

loads, runs when you want it to run, and 

automatically restarts itself if some bonehead 

tries to kill it. And those are just some 

of the things this useful software allows. 

Launching the software displays all of 

your Windows system services, as well as a 

separate list of Eltima Services you can add 

to manually. Clicking the Create button 

lets you establish a new service for any 

Alien Skin Bokeh 

One of the main differences between an 

amateur photographer and a pro is 

that the latter has the equipment and expertise 

needed to make photos really pop by 

using an extremely shallow depth of field. If 

you’ve ever seen a picture where objects in 

the foreground are in sharp focus while the 

background is a dreamy haze, you’ve seen 

this trick, called bokeh, in action. 

The two main problems with achieving 

pro-quality shots that use this technique is 

that it requires expensive lenses, and you 

must get your depth-of-field setting just 

right when the actual photo is taken. 

Neither of these is viable for amateurs (or 

even pros on a budget), but that’s where 

Alien Skin’s Bokeh comes in. 

This plug-in simulates a wide variety of 

real-life lenses to let you load any picture 

into a supported photo editor, apply the 

focus precisely where you want it, and 

blur the background in a variety of ways. 

It works best if you are already good at 

masking foreground objects from background 

objects (or have another tool to 

program 

installed on 

the PC, and 

you don’t 

have to navigate 

to the 

executable. 

Select the program’s 

shortcut, 

and the software 

automatically fills 

in the entire path to 

the .EXE. 

Once AaS creates a service, the GUI 

provides access to a staggering number of 

options, and even more are available via the 

command line interface. You can easily 

bind the service to a particular CPU or 

core, assign dependencies so it starts in the 

proper order if it relies on another service, 

establish environmental variables, and 

determine how the service reacts when the 

computer loses power or is rebooted. It’s 

even possible to 

close pop-up windows 

the service 

may generate when 

it loads, and full scheduling is easy to 

implement with the GUI. 

The software also has functionality 

to manage services on other PCs 

remotely, and you can password-protect 

the software itself so nobody can modify 

your settings or remove a program from 

the service list. The price is a bit steep for 

casual users, but if you manage a lot of PCs 

or certain programs that run on your 

machine are critical, AaS provides a convenient, 

powerful way to manage them that 

goes well beyond the Startup folder. ▲ 

Bokeh 

$199 

Alien Skin 

www.alienskin.com 

● ● ● ● 

commercial lenses, along with 

generic lens types, such as Hollow 

Heart and Hollow Star. Once the 

main blur type is established, you 

can move on to the Bokeh tab 

for fine-tuning settings such as 

Creaminess (which adjusts how 

highlights appear within the blur), the simulated 

camera diaphragm shape you wish to 

use, and whether you want to use a radial 

or planar focus region, among others. 

All said, Bokeh is easy to grasp, highly 

responsive, and, in the hands of someone 

who knows her way around a photo editor, 

can help quickly achieve results that 

would otherwise require a lot of tedious 

work. Highly recommended, and a demo 

along with video tutorials are available at 

the Alien Skin Web site. ▲ 



do so), but is even useful for raw beginners 

who just want to highlight faces for 

professional-looking portrait shots. 

We tested it in Photoshop CS4 (provided 

courtesy of Adobe) and found it to 

be very stable and easy enough to use that 

we were manipulating shots in interesting 

ways within minutes. The interface is 

dominated by a large preview window on 

the right-hand side that responds quickly 

to adjustments made from a tabbed pane 

on the left-hand side. 

A Settings tab provides access to a variety 

of preset blur types, with each type subdivided 

into settings for various real-world 

Application As 

Service 

$79.95 

Eltima Software 

www.eltima.com 

● ● ● ● 

by Tracy Baker 

by Tracy Baker

obody likes to watch commercials, unless, of course, they’re 

N on YouTube. 

By now, you may have already seen some commercials that Microsoft 

has recently commissioned, aimed to get people excited 

about Windows. However, at no point during these commercials is 

Windows actually mentioned. I’m not referring to the short-lived 

(and bewildering) Seinfeld series, mind you. 

First up was Lauren. She was looking 

for “these”: “a comfortable keyboard and 

a 17-inch screen . . . for under $1,000.” 

Comfort is always relative, which leaves 

us wondering how she’d find a 17-inch 

notebook computer for under a grand. 

She drives by an Apple store, making 

a snide remark that she wasn’t “cool 

enough” to own a Mac. Right, she’s not 

“cool enough” because Apple doesn’t produce 

something that she wants at a price 

she’s willing to pay. Fail. 

Lauren could have artfully compared 

a $1,000 PC against a starter MacBook 

and still made the PC look like a better 

deal (even though no mention of support 

was made, what kind of software 

the system came with, or the actual resolution 

of the 17-inch screen). But no, 

Microsoft decided to play on perception 

instead of reality. Their tactics reek 

of desperation. 

I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of 

produced screencasts or discussions from people 

who are absolutely in love with Windows 

and the world of PCs. I get emails from them 

every day, and more than a few hang out in 

our respective communities on a daily basis. 

They’re your real salespeople, Microsoft. 

They’re who you should enlist to help you get 

the message across. Why? Because they’re not 

hired actors. They’re real people who really 

care about you and your brand. 

Even if you know a PC is going to “win” 

by the end of a commercial, at least make it 

as fair a comparison as possible. No need 

to stack the deck, man. Play this fair and 

square, and you’ll win the respect of your 

detractors. The community could have 

done, and likely will do, better for Microsoft 

Windows. Let them evangelize a product 

in ways you can’t begin to imagine. 


Why Microsoft Continues To 

Bleed Mindshare 

Chris Pirillo is an avid computer user, 

be that computer a PC or a Mac. He 

appreciates software for what it is, 

no matter the platform. Granted, he likes 

software that looks as good as it runs, 

which limits his choices somewhat. You 

can find all of Chris’ picks on his blog 

at chris.pirillo.com or read reviews from 

his community at geeks.pirillo.com. He 

posts tech videos regularly on YouTube, 

having recorded them in front of a 

virtual audience at live.pirillo.com. 

The network of bloggers continues to 

expand through lockergnome.com, and 

if we have to put one more URL in this 

byline, we’re going to force him to write 

an article on how wicked awesome 

Config.sys was back in the day. 

The Windows 7 beta videos and tutorials I’ve recorded on my own 

volition have been very well received, even by Mac users. 

No more of this “I’m a PC” nonsense. Macs are PCs, too, so that 

slogan doesn’t even make sense in the first place. 

What else could Microsoft do to drive affinity and sales 

across the board? What about a “WinHeist”? For the uninitiated, 

MacHeist.com is an online event that happens once a year wherein 

the community gathers together, solves 

various puzzles, and gets registered software 

in return. How much software? 

Well, the third and most recent Mac- 

Heist gauntlet yielded close to $500 

worth of software per person for free. 

And it didn’t cost anybody a thing, other 

than time and attention. Better yet, at 

the end of this year’s game, everybody 

in the world was given an opportunity 

to buy $1,000 worth of software 

for $40. 

Microsoft could easily find amazing 

shareware titles to promote, throw them 

together into a single bundle, and let ’er 

loose. No adware, no spyware, no nagware, 

just full versions of killer programs. 

They’d be selling the message that Windows 

is a great platform, promoting 

a vibrant ecosystem in the process. 

Developers gain revenue and followers, 

users get one hell of a bargain, and the 

message comes across loud and clear. 

Lastly, I wish Microsoft would bring 

in someone who really, truly understands 

Windows and its role in social media. As it 

stands, these two particular videos represent 

a total failure of understanding of not just 

the marketplace but the better-informed 

consumer. This wasn’t anything close to a 

conversation: It was a blatant marketing 

message. Why was it, then, published to a 

YouTube channel that was linked back to 

the Microsoft Windows Twitter team? I’m 

all for the idea of Microsoft doing more 

with the community, but not like this. 

They could turn this ship around, but it’s 

gonna take some really smart (really transparent) 

people at the helm. ▲ 

You can dialogue with Chris at 

chris@cpumag.com

Open Source: 

Beat Them Or Join Them? (Part I) 

ow can kitchen-table commercial software developers compete 

H with open-source software? Is it even possible to get paying 

customers when open-source developers are giving comparable software 

away for free? The answer is a resounding “Yes” if you ask 

Patrick McKenzie, creator of Bingo Card Creator (www.bingocard 

creator.com) and author of the recent article “How To Successfully 

Compete With Open Source Software” (at www.kalzumeus.com). 

McKenzie, a software developer working 

in central Japan, makes a good case 

for six areas commercial developers can 

outdo open-source projects: marketing, 

design, user experience, “speaking the 

users’ language,” support, and technical 

superiority. McKenzie’s case is good, 

but not great, because nothing stops 

open-source developers from reading 

McKenzie’s article and applying all the 

lessons to promoting and improving 

their own products—nothing but their 

own inclinations, that is. 

According to McKenzie, a fan and 

user of open-source software himself, 

open-source developers “concentrate on 

the software, not the problems the software 

can solve,” with the result that they 

assume their audience consists of their 

peers—software developers—rather than 

nontechnical users who just want to 

solve a problem. McKenzie’s software 

solves a straightforward problem, creating 

random and unique bingo cards with customized 

content for educators. It’s very 

difficult to do with the “standard” desktop 

software most people have, such as Microsoft 

Office, and expensive to do with printing 

services that exist to create the cards. 

Two open-source bingo card-making programs 

McKenzie sees as competition, 

BingoCardMaker (www.bingocardmaker 

.sourceforge.net) and bingo-cards (www 

.bingo-cards.sourceforge.net), get the job 

done, but neither has been updated in years. 

And McKenzie knows his customers. His 

most requested feature, picture bingo cards, 

is a feature he will not implement. He told 

me, “I won’t add picture bingo cards because 

I doubt that it is possible to make the process 

of making them comprehensible to my 

users, who skew too nontechnical.” 

Peter Loshin publishes 

LinuxCookbook.com, a place to learn 

even more about Linux. And don’t 

forget to check out the new 

Ninitata.com, 

Peter’s family-friendly fun and 

learning site. 

McKenzie said that supporting such a feature means he would “literally 

have to teach ‘Photoshop for Beginners’ to people who, on average, 

have difficulty locating the Start Menu.” 

However, BingoCardMaker does support picture cards, and it really 

wasn’t so bad. But then I’m comfortable downloading Java programs 

as JAR files and opening them with OpenJDK Java 6 Runtime. 

If open-source developers polished their programs to make them 

trivially easy to use for the most technophobic 

and offered tech support, they 

could easily compete with commercial 

software. And, being open source, their 

customers could survive if the developer 

decides to move on to another project. 

But the big difference between the 

many thousands of one-person opensource 

projects and one-person commercial 

software projects is that most opensource 

projects just are. Someone wrote a 

program to solve a problem and then 

shared the source code with the world, 

but no one is actively marketing them. 

Commercial software developers can easily 

“beat” open source. 

And that’s the whole thing. If you’re 

commercial, you’re competing. If you’re 

open source, you’re writing code. Most of 

it sits, some gets used, and a very few 

attract a following, not just of users but 

also of developers and other contributors. 

Those are the projects, such as Apache, 

Firefox, and Linux, that get big. Deep down, 

though, most people who write open-source 

software can’t be bothered with marketing or 

documentation or customer support, or even 

with figuring out how to collect for the software 

they create. They just want to code. 

To the extent they compete at all, opensource 

software creators compete for an 

entirely different audience. Open-source 

developers who aspire to build a community 

need to attract more than just users or even 

customers: They need contributors willing to 

work on the project, too. 

Next month, we’ll see how a commercial 

developer is going about that task by opening 

up formerly proprietary source code. ▲ 

You can get saucy with Pete at 

pete@cpumag.com 

CPU / July 2009 83

Don’t think for a second that 

cleaning out your browser cookies, 

hoisting that firewall, and 

installing identity theft software makes a 

dent in protecting your privacy in the 

new digital world. 

Every time we activate our cell phone, 

swipe a credit card, or use EZ-Pass to sail 

through toll booths, we leave a record of 

our whereabouts and clues to our behavior 

for others to tap that never even existed 

20 years ago. All that Web browsing 

you do on your Android or iPhone 

device, all the weather updates you may 

get via that connected GPS unit—these 

things not only tell someone somewhere 

what data matters to you but also reveal 

where you accessed it. As the Web moves 

off the desktop and into every niche of 

the physical world, with it goes all of the 

privacy concerns that still aren’t resolved 

online. Clean out those Firefox cookies if 

you like, but Web privacy is only the 

beginning. At the same time the privacy 

front evolves, experts in the field are also 

rethinking the ramifications of these 

mountains of data. In the future, they 

warn, governments and corporations may 

be able to violate your privacy without 

even having to identify who you are. 

“It has grown by orders of magnitude 

since the birth of the Internet and our use 

of cell phones,” says Stephen Baker, 

BusinessWeek journalist and author of a 

new book on digital data gatherers, “The 

Numerati.” From email replacing letters 

to downloading music from iTunes 

instead of purchasing CDs, our habits, 

tastes, and movements now are recorded 

in ways that can be connected. 

“Almost all of the information of our 

lives now moves through computers and 

networks,” Baker says. “As it does, it all 

creates data about our behaviors, our 

interests. And it is only the beginning. It 


caught in the web 

Privacy 2.0 

When Anonymous Doesn’t Mean Unidentifiable 

will grow exponentially in the coming 

years, along with Moore’s Law.” 

Domestic Privacy 

In the United States especially, laws 

protecting this data and applying standard 

rules for disclosure and obtaining consumer 

consent to use that information 

trail far behind the technology. While 

data centers fill with information about 

our whereabouts (from mobile phones) 

or our buying habits (debit and loyalty 

cards, etc.), the Federal Trade 

Commission is still debating whether simple 

online behavioral targeting needs to be 

regulated by government or industry. 

After a year of consultations, the FTC 

released an update this winter in its ongoing 

policy debate over how online companies 

track us with browser cookies. 

The new statement, “Self-Regulatory 

Principles for Online Behavioral Advertising” 

basically reiterates earlier positions 

that the online publishers and marketers 

should come up with their own guidelines, 

although the FTC did imply this 

time that the failure to do so risked government 

regulation. 

Thus far, the only hard laws governing 

online privacy protection are COPPA 

(Children’s Online Privacy Protection 

Act) regulations restricting companies 

from gathering personal information 

about children under 13 without parental 

consent. But even with this law in place, 

violations occur. Last December, Sony 

BMG agreed to pay $1 million in fines 

for collecting personally identifiable information 

from children at music fan sites. 

But according to Touro Law Center 

Professor Jonathan Ezor, new technologies 

such as SMS texting will only make it 

harder to enforce the few laws in place 

here. How can companies know the age of 

an SMS contest entrant, for instance? “The 

[United States] is much behind the rest of 

the world in data protection,” he says. “In 

most of the world, any kind of data collection 

must be registered with the government 

and is much more clearly disclosed.” 

The U.S. online industry generally has 

taken an opt-out approach to online privacy, 

in that the user has to consciously 

and proactively go to a Web site or an ad 

network and instruct them not to track 

his online behaviors. Users can go to the 

Network Advertising Initiative (net 

workadvertising.org) to see which major 

networks have cookies in their browser 

and opt out of one (or all). Google, which 

recently announced it will track the 

behaviors of users across the many sites 

that serve “Ads by Google” contextual 

ads, just launched its Ad Preferences page. 

Here, users can opt out of the program or 

refine their profiles.

Privacy advocates continue to argue that 

industry self-regulation in the United 

States not only fails to address the simplest 

of online tracking but also fails to recognize 

the extent of the data gathering that 

goes on. “For too long [the FTC] has 

buried its mandate in the digital sand,” 

says Jeff Chester, director, Center for 

Digital Democracy, in response to the latest 

rulings. “The Commission embraced a 

narrow intellectual framework. 

. . . Unknown to 

many members of the public, 

a vast commercial surveillance 

system is at the 

core of most search engines, 

online video channels, video 

games, mobile services, and 

social networks. We are 

being digitally shadowed 

across the online medium, 

our actions monitored and 

analyzed.” Chester’s organization, 

along with the 

USPIRG (U.S. Public Interest 

Research Group) filed 

a complaint with the FTC 

to demand investigation on 

the data gathering and usage 

practices among mobile 

phone carriers and their 

marketing partners. The 

CDC and USPIRG claim 

that companies like Acuity 

Mobile are planning to leverage the geolocation 

tracking possible with most 

phones to target users with ads based on 

their proximity to retail stores and even to 

specific store racks. 

“Cell phone users should have the 

option of shielding their travels from the 

prying eyes of mobile marketers,” the 

groups say in their statements. 

The Myth Of Anonymity 

Curiously, for all of the data we consumers 

now leave behind, being followed 

digitally is not a chief concern. In a recent 

Forrester survey, the majority of PC users 

were concerned about computer viruses 

(54%) and identity theft (52%), while 

only 13% cited tracking of Web behaviors, 

and a mere 7% cited government or 

corporate surveillance. 


But as our data trails overlap and converge, 

and data miners become more 

sophisticated in their use of this information, 

consumers may find that tracking 

has some dire consequences. Until now, 

privacy advocates and businesses bickered 

over the use of so-called PII (personally 

identifiable information), which could tie 

a data trail to a specific name and address 

or even an IP address. But increasingly, 

At the same time Google announced recently it would be tracking users across 

Web sites to deliver them more targeted advertising, the search company also 

opened an Ad Preferences tool where users could opt out or manage the profile 

Google uses for this targeting. 

experts worry that cloaking a person’s PII 

is not enough. 

In a keynote speech in March to the 

European Commission, Consumer Commissioner 

Meglena Kuneva warned that 

“consumer policy needs to go beyond that 

and address the fact that users have a profile 

and can be commercially targeted 

based on that profile, even if no one 

knows their actual name.” The latest 

argument among watchdogs is that the 

web of data on us has become so complex 

and potentially interconnected, so 

dense with actionable detail, that digital 

anonymity does not protect us from 

intrusive practices. Kuneva asks whether 

knowledge of an anonymous user’s financial 

status or health condition could trigger 

predatory advertisers or unfairly cut 

people off from other discounts or offers 

simply based on fuzzy presumptions 

about their status. 

If an insurance company knows that an 

interested consumer has visited liquorrelated 

sites or run searches on specific ailments, 

it might refuse coverage or quote 

higher rates. Baker warns that in a world 

of interconnected data, “there are all kinds 

of correlations that can be drawn, but an 

important thing to note here is that they 

aren’t always right. 

“The calculations are statistical 

probabilities based 

on the behavior of a group. 

[Calculations] do not understand 

the individual. You 

could have the profile of 

a drunk driver and not 

be one.” 

Kuneva worries that even 

without invading a person’s 

privacy as we usually define 

it (associating actions with a 

specific person), the new 

data miners could exercise 

what she calls “commercial 

discrimination.” Information 

can be “personal” 

without being personally 

identifiable and still be used 

against you. She told the 

European Commission that 

great harm could be done to 

individuals and commerce. 

“If this personal information is used to 

extract the maximum prices possible from 

you or to block your access to some services 

altogether, then commercial discrimination 

can damage the confidence in 

digital trade and services.” 

“It’s important to understand that personal 

and anonymous are not black and 

white,” says Jules Polonetsky, director 

of the Future of Privacy Forum in Washington, 

D.C. “Any time there are a number 

of pieces of data about one user, 

there is an increasing potential they can 

be identified.” 

In fact, two University of Texas 

researchers recently published a paper 

titled “De-anonymizing Social Networks” 

in which they try to show how easily one 

can overlay anonymized data from multiple 

social networks in a way that ultimately 

CPU / July 2009 85

can reveal identities. The aim of the 

research was to extract sensitive information 

about individuals (or “re-dentify” 

them) by cross-referencing thousands of 

Twitter users’ social graphs (the people 

they were linked with) against similar 

social graphs among Flickr users. All a 

user needs to do is identify him or herself 

once along the way with an email or 

name, and algorithms these researchers 

created can not only track them on other 

social networks on which they think they 

are anonymous but also get on the trail 

of all their linked acquaintances on 

the network. 

Even the FTC recognized this year that 

old privacy distinctions surrounding PII 

and supposedly nonidentifiable information 

are outmoded, simply because, in 

one way or another, the technology can 

likely track an anonymous data trail back 

to an identifiable user. Whatever principles 

of privacy industry self-regulation 

devises, the Commission said in its 

report, it “should apply to data that could 

reasonably be associated with a particular 

consumer or computer or device, regardless 

of whether the data is ‘personally 

identifiable’ in the traditional sense.” The 

FTC goes on to conclude, strikingly, that 

“rapidly changing technologies and other 

factors have made the line between personally 

identifiable and nonpersonally 

identifiable information increasingly 

unclear.” In fact, as the researchers at 

University of Texas indicate in their 

research, users don’t need to be personally 

identified in order to be affected by 

digital technology encroaching on their 

personal privacy. The line between anonymity 

and privacy is a “false dichotomy,” 

they say. 

“Any aspect of an individual’s online 

personality can be used for de-anonymizing, 

and this reality should be recognized 

by the relevant legislation and corporate 

privacy policies.” But even legislators and 

interactive marketers agree: We are still 

years away from understanding the true 

ramifications of a digitized world on our 

privacy, let alone seeing regulations or 

policies to address them. ▲ 


by Steve Smith 


Stephen Baker: The “Numerati” Are Watching 

The new world of digitized commerce is grounded in GPS devices and data that will 

track our movements in stores and in 

neighborhoods, says BusinessWeek 

journalist Stephen Baker, author of 

“The Numerati.” For good or ill, 

get used to the fact that we are 

being watched. 

CPU: One of the things you show in 

your book is that there is a massive 

amount of data about ourselves coming 

from our cell phone usage, shopping 

loyalty cards, and our Web 

browsing that we give up with consent; 

no one even knows what to do 

with it yet. 

Baker: A lot of us don’t realize we 

have agreed to share this data about 

ourselves, and a lot of the companies 

receiving this data are only now coming 

to terms with the fact that they 

have something valuable piling up in 

their data centers. The people I have talked to in researching the book, “data miners,” 

say companies come to them and say ‘Will you help us figure out what to do with all of 

this data?’ Supermarkets have been gathering our data for decades but don’t use it when 

it is really important, which is when we come to the store. They are going to try to figure 

out how to hook us up to some smart card or consumer loyalty card that has an RFID 

chip in it. They want to figure out that we are walking in the store so they can hit us with 

ads and bargains. 

CPU: Is data such as our grocery store records actually available to someone now? Is this 

digital trail we leave behind being organized by someone? 

Baker: They have been so careless with this, according to people I have talked to, that it 

would be hard to find the one shopper and go back 10 years and have unified records of 

that one shopper. A lot of our behavior exists in fragments in various databases, and it’s 

not brought together. It would be like bringing together bits of water in an ocean. 

CPU: How accessible is our data to third parties? 

Baker: There are companies that amass data about us. I don’t think a lot of people realize 

that anybody can go to one of these companies and pay them $15 or $25 and get a 

dossier on their next door neighbor and that marketing companies and political campaigns 

are using this data to try to predict our behavior as shoppers and voters. 

CPU: Is there a real risk of governments leveraging such data in oppressive ways? 

Baker: It can be used by an authoritarian government to create a big brother state, to 

monitor our activities, to define us in certain ways, and channel our behavior. I don’t 

think it is going to happen here. There is a real risk it can happen in other countries.

Due to storage limitations of DVDs, they were 

never able to deliver lossless audio (nor 7.1 

channels of sound); that has changed with the 

advent of Blu-ray discs, which can transfer audio 

data up to 24.5 Mbps using Dolby® TrueHD or 

DTS-HD Master Audio, a rate 16-times greater 

than the maxumum DVD-rate of 1.5 Mbps. Bluray 

discs use Dolby® TrueHD or DTS-HD 

Master Audio, which are lossless audio codes 

that support audio in 7.1. 

Watching movies on Blu-ray disc with full 

7.1-channel sound is a tantalizing prospect, 

yet users who want to watch (and listen) via 

their PCs have historically been hamstrung 

because of all the protections embedded on 

the discs. Initially, there was an issue with the 

Protected Video path, which was finally solved 

with the advent of HDCP. Now, all you need 

to enjoy Blu-ray movies on your PC is 

software to decode the video, such as 

CyberLink’s PowerDVD, and an HDCPcompliant 

Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) 

and monitor. Problem solved. 

Getting at the Protected Audio path, however, has 

been a different animal. Currently, no graphics 

cards support a Protected Audio path, so you’re 

limited to either Dolby® or DTS audio (which 

are lossy and also only support 5.1 audio), or in a 

pinch you can output a lossy version of Dolby® 

TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio. These two 

formats support 7.1 audio, but because they’re 

lossy versions, the audio quality will suffer. Yet 

none of these solutions gives us what we want: 

lossless 7.1-channel surround sound. 

In addition to giving you the freedom to watch 

Blu-ray movies on your PC in their full audio 

glory, the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD sound 

card has a host of attractive features to 

sweeten the package. 

HDMI v1.3a compliant 

Supports PCM 8 Channel, 24-bit/192 kHz 

Support for 24p True Cinema output 

Support for Blu-ray discs via CyberLink’s 

latest PowerDVD application 

Support for Non-downsampled Blu-ray Audio 

Support for high bit-rate audio such as 

Dolby® TrueHD, DTS-HD Master 

Audio bitstream 

Developed around Creative X-Fi native PCI 

Express audio processor 

Support for Dolby Digital Live for 

Windows XP and Vista, and DTS Neo: 

PC & DTS Interactive for Vista 

Integrated Headphone Amp and 

Professional Mic Pre-Amp 

Connectors: 

o HDMI Input 

o HDMI Output 

o Digital Output 

o Headphone Output 

o Analog I/O Multi Connector 

But there’s a wrinkle: You can send uncompressed 

Linear Pulse Code Modulation (LPCM) 

audio via HDMI from your PC. Thus, technically, 

you can decode the audio with your software 

and send it out as uncompressed LCPM, bypassing 

the GPU (and the need for the Protected 

Audio path) altogether. All you need is 

the right hardware support. 

Enter the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD sound 

card. Not only will this device route uncompressed 

LPCM audio up to 8 channel 

24bit/192kHz to your speakers, it will also receive 

the HDCP-encrypted video signal from the GPU 

and repeat it through the X-Fi HomeTheater HD 

sound card, combine it with the uncompressed 

audio signal, and output the two together 

through a single HDMI cable. 

With the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD sound 

card, you can finally enjoy beautiful, bit-by-bit 

lossless 7.1-channel surround sound, precisely 

as the original sound engineer mixed it. It’s the 

perfect accompaniment to your Blu-ray movieviewing 

experience. 

Problem Solved. 

Copyright ©2009 Auzentech, Inc. All rights reserved. AUZENTECH and the AUZEN logo are registered trademarks of Auzentech, 

Inc. X-Fi and the X-Fi logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd. Dolby is a registered trademark 

of Dolby Laboratories. DTS is a registered trademark of DTS, Inc. Cyberlink and PowerDVD are trademarks of CyberLink Corp. 

The Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD sound card is 

coming soon to Micro Center®, Newegg.com®, 

NCIX.com, Canada Computers, and 

Memory Express. 

advertisement

few years ago, I wrote a column on these very pages discussing 

A the limitations of using a browser as a replacement for the 

application. My principal problem revolved around the fact that 

modern tabbed Web browsers act as containers of many pages, 

some of which mirror regular applications (such as Gmail or Google 

Docs). Applications should have things such as Taskbar icons, 

launcher icons, and key bindings to auto-select them. Finding that 

one Gmail tab amidst a sea of Slashdot 

tabs is a pain. Sure, I can put it first, 

but once you add three or four more 

applications, it all gets very messy. 

In the months that followed, several 

people went down different paths and 

got me what I needed. Best among 

them was a nifty Mac program called 

Fluid. This application is a mini Safari 

browser you can wrap around a URL. 

It takes seconds, and then you have 

the illusion of a regular application. It 

has its own window, its own location. 

You can launch it when you boot and 

hide superfluous browser chrome that 

doesn’t apply to an “application.” 

Google’s Chrome Web browser has 

gone so far as to build this in! 

But now I come to you again with a 

related problem. You see, I have many, 

many documents in the cloud. I have 

many more on my local file system. I 

have a directory containing countless 

Excel or Word docs sent to me by co-workers, 

as well as a slew of Google docs. Keeping 

them all straight is getting increasingly 

annoying. I simply want a document; I 

shouldn’t have to worry about where it is 

and what tool I need to get to it. 

What I want is a single file system to access 

all my contents. My Mac does an excellent 

job of having folders and subfolders with various 

documents. They are easily searchable. 

They have pretty preview icons. I can create 

whatever hierarchy suits my purposes. No 

offense to Google Docs, but the list of document 

types presented by its interface is sorely 

lacking in a mixed environment. 

Now there are many tools that could 

string these systems together. MacFUSE is 

an amazing application that makes it possible 

to create loadable file systems on a Mac 


cloudfs.txt 

Rob "CmdrTaco" Malda is the 

creator and director of the popular 

News for Nerds Web site Slashdot.org. 

He spends his time fiddling with 

electronic gizmos, wandering the ’Net, 

watching anime, and trying to think 

of clever lies to put in his bio so that 

he seems cooler than he actually is. 

based on anything. Several interesting file systems have come along, 

starting with an SSH file system that saves tons of effort for people 

who like to muck around on systems behind firewalls. Another engineer 

made an iTunes FS so you could navigate your MP3s within a 

file system. Alternatively, WebDAV allows any public HTTP service 

to simply export a file system mountable by any desktop. 

Next-generation Web applications need to become transparent 

members of your file system. If I drag a 

.DOC file to my Google Docs directory, 

I should upload this file to the cloud, 

and it should seamlessly import. I can 

already label my documents, so it seems 

only fair that Google export a file system 

with these labels so I can search for my 

files alongside my local files. 

This all gets much more interesting 

when you combine this file system with 

Fluid. Now I can create a special container 

Fluid application to a Google 

Doc that knows how to handle the document 

on the cloud FS. I can navigate 

to the file using my machine and then 

open it in Word or Google Docs itself. 

The hooks already exist to do most 

of these things. Google Docs can 

import and export .DOC and .XLS 

files. All we need is a way to map the 

files to our local file systems. Eventually, 

YouTube and Picasa can follow 

suit, and your shared videos and pictures 

will seamlessly become files on this 

file system. You might still elect to have a 

private file system that you don’t export to 

the cloud, but the interface you use to 

access either data set would be the same. 

Countless public file system services have 

come and gone over the years. Google itself 

has long been rumored to be building one. 

But the real goal of such a system isn’t just 

to store your data on the cloud; it’s to make 

the distinction between your local system 

and the cloud so transparent that where you 

store your data is no longer important in 

terms of everyday use. You manipulate it 

using the tool you like and store it in the 

place you like. ▲ 

Contact me at malda@cpumag.com

Digital Living 

At Your 

Leisure 

The 

Bob Dylan—“Together Through Life” 

Optimistic hope or realistic pessimism: It’s difficult to discern which way Bob Dylan is leaning 

on “Together Through Life,” a remarkable work drenched in Mexican-border blues, Southern 

swampy seduction, and romance rotting at the core. Weathered, cracked, and tormented as 

to how to self-heal in a world seemingly devoid of any wonder he hasn’t already experienced, 

Dylan croons, bemoans, warns, and recollects as only a troubadour as traveled, experienced, 

and wise as he can pull off. With his flawless touring band steaming underneath, Dylan turns 

Willie Dixon’s classic “I Just Want To Make Love To You” on its head in “My Wife’s Hometown,” 

breathes fire on “Shake Shake Mama,” and mocks the masses on “It’s All Good.” 

Wilco—“Ashes of American Flags” 

entertainment world, at least where it pertains to technology, morphs, 

twists, turns, and fires so fast it’s hard to keep up. But that’s exactly why we 

love it. For the lowdown on the latest and most interesting releases in PC 

entertainment, consoles, DVDs, CDs, and just leisure and lifestyle stuff we (for 

the most part) love and recommend, read on. 

A udio V ideo Corner by Blaine A. Flamig DVD 

$18.97 

Columbia Records 

www.bobdylan.com 

$19.98 

Nonesuch 

www.wilcoworld.net 

$29.95 

The Weinstein Company 

www.thereader-movie.com 

$24.96 

Sony Pictures 

www.whatdoesntkillyoumovie.com 

Arguably America’s best working band, Wilco does its flat-out best to prove this point on this 

live concert DVD, which finds the six-piece band touring small clubs, concert halls, and theaters 

in Nashville, New Orleans, Mobile, Tulsa, and Washington, D.C. “Ashes” is as much a road movie 

as musical recounting, mixing portraits of small-town and urban decay with America’s progress 

as witnessed through a tour bus window. At the core, though, “Ashes” is a sonically stunning 

depiction of what comes about when modern-day musicians embrace America’s musical past 

but add their own spice. Grounded, pleasingly simplistic, and fueled on amazingly tight performances, 

“Ashes of American Flags” isn’t a typical concert DVD—and that’s a good thing. 

The Reader 

Are there sins that are never forgivable, even if the sinner is one we love undyingly and without 

question? That’s one of the many weighty questions director Stephen Daldry (“The Hours”) 

poses in “The Reader,” a slow-burning but hard-hitting story of an unlikely love affair that Hanna 

Schmitz (Kate Winslet) and Michael Berg (David Kross as a teen; Ralph Fiennes as an adult) share in 

post-World War II Berlin. A teenage Michael and 30ish Hanna share a torrid summer affair until 

Hanna unexpectedly disappears. Years later, while observing a war crimes trial as a law student, 

Michael discovers that Hanna was, in fact, an SS guard at Auschwitz. Michael has knowledge that 

could lessen the life sentence she ultimately receives, but his shame prevents him for divulging it. 

“The Reader” will challenge your ethics, judicial beliefs, and notions on love’s limitations. 

What Doesn’t Kill You 

Sadly overlooked upon release, “What Doesn’t Kill You” tells the gritty, true story of two lifelong 

friends raised in South Boston who grow up to squeak out livings as glorified errand boys for 

neighborhood crime boss Sully (Will Lyman). Though first-time director Brian Goodman doesn’t 

break new ground in terms of depicting the unsavory life of small-time criminals, he deftly manages 

to present familiar plotlines in an entirely new light. As Brian and Paulie, Mark Ruffalo and 

Ethan Hawke masterfully show on their faces the hopelessness that’s inherent to those born into 

nothing with nothing to look forward to. For Brian, the hopelessness is especially ominous 

due to his responsibilities to his wife (Amanda Peet) and two young sons. When 

Paulie, Sully, and drug and alcohol addictions all fail to provide relief, Brian ultimately 

finds light in his family. Tragically uplifting, “What Doesn’t Kill You” just may make you stronger. 

Byte 

7/7 

Kath & Kim: 

Season 1 

Mystery Science 

Theater 3000: XV 

John Barrymore 

Collection 

7/14 

Eldorado 

Mad Men: Season 2 

7/21 

The Great Buck 

Howard 

Pushing Daises: 

The Complete 

Second Season 

G.I. Joe A Real 

American Hero: 

Season 1.1 

7/28 

Dollhouse: 

Season One 

Life On Mars: 

Series 1 (UK) 

Repulsion 

Games 

Gear 

Movies 

Music 

CPU / July 2009 89

Vin Dieselathon — by Dr. Malaprop 

$59.99 (X360, PS3), $49.99 (PC) ESRB: (M)ature Atari Games riddickgame.com 

The last few months have brought us a 

smorgasbord of Vin Diesel: The Wheelman 

and The Chronicles Of Riddick: Assault 

On Dark Athena games in addition to “Fast & 

Furious” at the cinema. That’s a lot of Diesel in 

a short time span. 

We did play the new port of 2004’s The 

Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape From Butcher 

Bay. Graphically, Butcher Bay was one of the 

best-looking original Xbox games, with graphics 

that bordered on 

an early Xbox 360 

title. Butcher Bay’s 

release came at the 

end of the original 

Xbox life cycle and 

ended up getting 

lost in the shuffle. 

It was followed by a 

PC release later that 

year. The game was 

released alongside 

“The Chronicles Of 

Riddick” film and 

stands out as being a movie tie-in video game 

that didn’t suck. The Chronicles Of Riddick: 

Assault On Dark Athena contains two games 

in one package. First is the visually updated 

Escape From Butcher Bay port, and second is 

the all-new Assault On Dark Athena “sequel.” 

That Butcher Bay is fun to play more than 

five years after its original release is testament 

to Starbreeze Studios’ strong game 

design that seamlessly combines stealth, FPS, 

fighting, and platforming genres. The graphics 

still look good but are no longer groundbreaking. 

Animation is clunky compared to 


the newest A-listers. Audio effects and voice 

acting of all characters, including Riddick 

(voiced by Vin Diesel) fit the game perfectly 

for the story arc and atmosphere. The story 

takes place before 2000’s “Pitch Black” as 

Riddick is incarcerated at Butcher Bay, an 

off-world maximum-security prison. During 

the course of the game, Riddick gains 

the eyeshine ability that gives him night 

vision, which you see used to great effect in 

“Pitch Black.” The bloody gameplay remains 

unchanged, and we enjoyed getting Achievements 

on the Xbox 360 version. 

After your escape from Butcher Bay, your 

craft is pulled aboard a mercenary ship, Dark 

Athena. Assault On Dark Athena is all-new 

and independent to Butcher Bay. It also feels 

like an expansion pack. It controls identically 

to the first game, but the narrative is flat, characters 

are one-dimensional, and game design is 

neutered. The multigenre benefits of the original 

are painfully absent, and the action feels 

tediously repetitive. This part of the package 

holds steady at average but never excels. 

One of the biggest complaints about the 

original Xbox release was the lack of multiplayer. 

Multiplayer debuts on this version, 

but most of the modes are nothing to write 

home about. The 

one exception is 

the Pitch Black 

mode, which 

places one player 

in the game as 

Riddick and the 

rest as mercenaries 

hunting him 

down in darkness 

with a flashlight. 

Not only does this 

mode create a 

strong sense of 

tension, but it also provides numerous jumpout-of-your-seat 

moments. 

If you already completed the original 

Butcher Bay on Xbox or PC, it will be a stretch 

to pay full cost to play it again. Dark Athena 

left us flat and lacks the panache of Butcher 

Bay. Our recommendation would be to take 

a breather after finishing Butcher Bay before 

delving into Dark Athena. For a first-time 

entrant that has never played Butcher Bay, 

this package provides a satisfying single-player 

experience, but returning players should 

tread more cautiously. ▲

Gas Powered Games and 

Stardock were really onto 

something special when they put 

together the core concept for the 

new RTS-RPG Demigod. Unfortunately, 

everything they came up 

with to add to that fantastic, 

gooey center was disjointed 

and/or broken. 

Demigod is a real-time action/ 

strategy game that boils down to a 

rush to control key strategic points 

on a simple map and destroy your 

enemies’ base. Your avatar is one of 

the titular demigods, creatures of 

immense power who are competing 

for the ultimate prize, the right to 

ascend and replace a fallen god. 

That’s pretty much all the game 

has in the way of a story, so don’t be 

surprised when the silly monologue 

at the outset of the game ends 

and you’re left on your own in this 

regard. (You can spend an hour 

or more reading backstory on the 

Demigod Web site, which seems a 

further insult.) 

After you figure out how to play 

Demigod—which primarily involves 

We were impressed with how accessible Firaxis 

Games made Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution 

in 2008. We’re equally impressed at Creative Assembly’s 

unapologetically complex strategy game design for 

Empire: Total War. This time around, you’ll be tooling 

about in the 18th century. Pick from one of 22 world 

powers and use diplomacy, economy, and combat 

to achieve world domination, a standard 

requirement for any of the games in the Total 

War series. 

Gameplay can be broken down 

into the big-picture 4X (eXplore, 

eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) 

turn-based strategy game 

Frustratingly Good — by Chris Trumble 

$39.99 (PC) ESRB: (T)een Stardock www.demigodthegame.com 

trial and error—the game is really 

quite fun. In order to grab resources 

and grow in power, you have to 

combat your fellow Demigods (you 

are divided into even teams, representing 

light and darkness) 

and upgrade your abilities, 

equipment, and minions 

(melee, ranged, 

and healers) on the 

fly. Each Demigod has a 

unique, interesting collection 

of abilities and attacks that 

you can power up using a 

talent tree as you gain 

levels in-game. The gear 

you can buy includes 

armor upgrades (which 

don’t affect your appearance 

on-screen, 

by the way) and 

items such as health 

Epic-Scale Strategic Warfare — by Dr. Malaprop 

$49.99 (PC) ESRB: (T)een Sega totalwar.com/empire 

and the more granular real-time strategy battles. In addition 

to the land-based combat options, ETW introduces 

stunning up-close naval warfare. You may also autoresolve 

the granular RTS portion of the game if managing 

armies hands-on is not your cup of tea. Our launch title 

suffered from AI issues, but we hope to see this fixed as 

you read this. 

ETW offers near-endless options for replayability 

and includes a tutorial mini-campaign called Road To 

Independence. It effectively whipped us into shape 

and got us primed for the larger campaign. ETW is a 

can’t-miss game if you enjoy the idea of world 

domination in an authentic-feeling historical 

strategy game. We were certainly taken. ▲ 

potions, mana potions, and trinkets 

that do all manner of interesting 

things. But don’t get too attached: 

The time and money you spend 

upgrading your character only benefits 

you until the end of your current 

game because you start each game 

at Level 1 and with only the clothes 

on your quasi-divine back. 

The single-player game is little 

more than a practice mode for 

multiplayer games, which is especially 

vexing because multiplayer 

barely works. I didn’t try playing 

Demigod on a LAN, which could be 

quite good under the right circumstances, 

but of the various Internet 

modes of play, I was only ever able 

to play in a few Custom games, and 

the process of collecting enough 

players to begin was pretty cumbersome. 

Once we got started, the 

games were great, though, so if you 

are patient, you can have a good 

time with Demigod, and hopefully 

over time, Stardock and Gas 

Powered will iron out the technical 

issues hampering online play. ▲ 

CPU / July 2009 91

hey’re not just Saturday morning fare for kids, you see. Animated 

T films at their best offer a blend of film technique, vision, and personal 

artistry put to imaginative ends. We’re going to take a brief glance 

back this month and next at some of their cutting-edge highlights. 

Animated films first appeared at roughly the same time as the earliest 

motion pictures. They were a subset of the latter using state-of-theart 

trick photography: levitating objects, furniture moving itself into an 

empty house, gleeful demons appearing out of thin air, and so on. 

Georges Méliès gave a boisterously creative 

and satiric tone to this kind of 

thing, turning out more than 500 shorts 

(many of them hand-colored) from 1896 

through 1913. His biggest success came 

with his 1902 “A Trip To The Moon,” 

with a host of exuberant, pontificating, 

bearded academician-space travelers, 

leggy beauties (who do all the grunt 

work), hopping lunar demons, and a 

spaceship landing directly in one of the 

Man in the Moon’s eyes. It was widely 

pirated and released without credit by 

foreign companies, including Edison’s. 

The film was shot with a single camera, 

fixed as though viewing a staged play— 

not surprising, given that prior to his film 

career, Méliès made a living as a stage 

magician. Though now regarded as an 

important artist and brilliant special 

effects pioneer, many of his films were 

melted down during World War I to help 

furnish boot heels for the French Army. 

The other side of primitive film animation, 

using drawn or painted images projected or 

created on the screen, is best experienced in 

Windsor McCay’s “Gertie The Dinosaur” 

series and in the surrealistic efforts of the sadly 

forgotten Émile Cohl. The latter’s early work 

(nearly 80 films made before 1910, most of it 

long missing) owes much to the short-lived 

Incoherent Movement. Deceptively crude 

white line drawings on black backgrounds 

evoked a wealth of originality. The movement 

largely abandoned storytelling, with dreamlike 

visual images changing into one another rapidly. 

In a typical example, a pair of people meet, 

their heads become avian, the “camera” moves 

in on the eye of one that enlarges into a blacksmith’s 

bellows, etc. That gradual shift from a 

long shot to a close-up in itself marks Cohl as 

cutting edge, for this piece of now standard 


Far More Than Disney, Part 1 

Barry Brenesal has written more 

than 1,000 published articles and 

reviews on electronic technology since 

1987. His first personal computer 

was a Radio Shack TRS-80 model 100. 

It was last seen functioning 

as a boat anchor. 

film grammar was first deployed in his films. (It was done for artistic 

rather than narrative purposes, which may explain why nobody else was 

quick to snatch it up.) I think I can see the effects of his work as recently 

as the ’70s and ’80s in Sally Cruikshank’s brilliant cartoons, especially 

“Make Me Psychic” and “Face Like A Frog,” but I could be off base. 

Another of the most interesting pioneers of animated film was 

Ladislas Starevich. During the teens in Russia, he turned out satiric 

comedies of domestic behavior using stop-motion photography, with 

insects in place of people. Their detailed 

movements and extraordinarily human 

gestures made the perceptive cartoonist a 

hit with audiences and critics alike. His 

most popular film, “The Cameraman’s 

Revenge,” depicts the philandering Mr. 

Beetle and the comeuppance he receives 

from a very angry spouse after he’s caught 

on film at a cabaret assignation with a 

dragonfly. Starevich moved to France after 

the Bolshevik Revolution, set up a studio, 

and produced many fine, at times oddly 

lyrical, cartoons using more standard techniques 

into the 1960s. 

At roughly the same time, another great 

animator was developing complex shadow 

puppet techniques on film, using segmented 

models. Lotte Reiniger’s intricate, art 

nouveau cutouts provided both the actors 

and backgrounds for her feature-length 

masterpiece, “Adventures Of Prince Achmed.” 

It was an Arabian Nights extrava- 

ganza, filmed between 1923 and 1926, and 

premiered at Paris’ prestigious Comédie des 

Champs-Elysées. Achmed was only made possible 

by an incredible stroke of luck: A banker 

friend had invested in a huge quantity of 

expensive raw film stock as a hedge against 

rampant inflation, but the bet hadn’t paid off. 

He gave it all to Reiniger. Achmed can still 

pack a wallop today, especially with its original 

score, and despite recent decades of expensive, 

computerized special effects films. 

With the exception of Cohl’s work, you 

can usually find these animators’ films in 

well-restored condition on DVDs. Get them 

yourself or give them as a gift—the kind 

that, almost a century after their creation, 

keeps on giving. ▲ 

Wax nostalgic with Barry 

at barry@cpumag.com

Love it or hate it (or even if you just 

hate the hype surrounding it), 

Twitter is going to be an inevitable 

part of your online experience 

this year. Traffic to the site more than 

doubled in March 2009 alone to over 9 

million unique visitors in just the United 

States. Even if you aren’t “tweeting,” some 

of your friends and colleagues are, so you 

might as well learn some of the rules of the 

road and shortcuts to effective microblogging. 

To celebrate summer, this month we 

have some fun with Twitter. 

Phone It In 

Once your Twitter account is set up, 

you can ditch the Twitter interface pretty 

quickly and move to one of the many 

third-party clients out there. (We’ll get to 

that.) For now, keep in mind that the easiest 

way to tweet is from your phone. 

While logged in, go to the Settings section 

and into the Devices tab. Here you 

will be prompted to add a cell phone. 

Once you register the number with 

Twitter, you can start updating Tweets by 

sending your messages directly to the 

40404 short code. Twitter recognizes the 

incoming phone number and posts your 

SMS tweet almost immediately. 

You can also use the phone account to 

send command line parameters that direct 

messages properly. For instance, typing d 

username message into your phone’s SMS 

interface sends a private, direct message 

from your Twitter account to another user. 

Also, you can use the basic @ command on 

your phone to send a public message to a 

person you are following. 


Enter The Age Of Twitter 

tips & tricks 

Other cool commands you can use via 

SMS include: 

WHOIS + username: This command 

will retrieve basic profile information 

on a user. 

STATS: Returns the number of 

people following you and that you 

are following. 

GET + username: Retrieves the most 

recent Tweet from that person you 

are following. 

Manage The Madness 

We’re not sure if some of the habitual 

Twitterholics actually have day jobs, but 

most of us using the service need help 

managing the massive flow of messages 

and updates that flow through the system. 

If you use multiple Twitter accounts and 

need to send the same message to two or 

more of them, we strongly suggest a service 

such as Splitweet (www.splitweet.com). 

This free tool lets you register multiple 

Twitter accounts so you can post one message 

and check off the accounts to which 

you want it to post. It’s also an easy way to 

combine the incoming feeds to multiple 

accounts, although not as elegant as some 

other standalone clients. 

Power Twitter users will want to get a 

sophisticated client, such as TweetDeck 

(www.tweetdeck.com), which is currently 

in beta. Among the more popular managers 

of Tweet feeds, TweetDeck is an 

Adobe AIR app that divides your account 

into multiple columns and filters. Once 

you have installed the program and tied it 

to your Twitter account, the default 

screen shows posts from All Friends, 

Replies, and Direct Messages. 

Now to the good stuff. To filter posts 

from select groups, use the Group icon. 

You will be presented with all of the 

people you follow so that you can check 

the ones you want to filter in and then 

name a group. This is a great way to track 

specific subgroups in a more manageable 

way. Finally, TweetDeck is a superb way 

to track searches. Use the Search icon to 

search for a specific term. TweetDeck will 

create a new column for that term that 

will update frequently. 

Even casual Twitter users can do much better than Twitter.com’s primitive interface. TweetDeck 

arranges all of your message types, feeds, groups, and even real-time search updates in neat columns.

Save Your Friends 

If you want to back up your list of the 

people you are following or just keep that 

list for reference, here’s a clever way to do 

it, courtesy of software enthusiast Vince 

Koser at Kosertech.com. 

First, go to twitter.com/statuses/fri 

ends.xml. This is a direct call to the 

Twitter API, so it will ask you to log in 

with your account’s username and password. 

The landing page will be an XMLformatted 

page containing all of the people 

you follow, as well as their basic profile 

information. Simply save this page as a 

document, retaining the XML file extension. 

Now, go into Excel and open that 

file. In the next dialog box, tell Excel to 

open the file “As An XML Table.” The 

next dialog will tell you that the XML 

source “does not refer to a scheme.” 

Simply click OK to let Excel apply its own 

scheme. The result is a spreadsheet that 

gives your friend’s name, screen name, 

location and profile description, and much 

more detail in a long line of columns. 

For those who are following you, use the 

URL twitter.com/statuses/followers.xml. 

The tips above only work for the first 

100 people in either list. You need to 

access the next hundred with the URLs 

twitter.com/statuses/friends.xml?page=2 

tips & tricks 

or twitter.com/statuses/followers.xml? 

page=2 respectively. For even more followers 

or friends, just change the page=2 portion 

of the address to page=3, etc. You will 

need to save each page as a separate XML 

page and then merge the pages into a single 

spreadsheet. 

Search With Power 

The new search.twitter.com site is much 

more powerful than it seems on the surface. 

In fact, you can use it to create a near-realtime 

feed of highly targeted information 

from across the Twitter universe. Click 

Advanced Search to access this functionality. 

You can use these tools to search within 

a specific “hashtag.” For the uninitiated, a 

hashtag (#phrase) is the way users can create 

an ongoing conversation around a topic in 

Twitter, whether they follow one another or 

not. Groups at an event such as the famous 

SXSW (South by Southwest) show agree 

to start all of their tweets with #sxsw, and 

they become easily searchable on the Twitter 

search engine by searching against 

that hashtag. 

To make a real-time feed from a granular 

search within a hashtag, go to the 

Advanced Search screen and enter the hashtag 

you want to search in the This Hashtag 

box. Now, enter the specific phrase you 

want to search. For instance, we heard on 

Twitter that an iPhone app for Hulu 

Windows Tip Of The Month 

If you are a command line kind of power user who wants quick access to certain Control 

Panel applets, here is a way to keep your hands on your keyboard. Use the WIN+R key 

combo to bring up the Run command window. To open the Display Properties window, 

type desk.cpl and press ENTER. For System Properties, use “sysdm.cpl.” For Mouse 

Properties, use “main.cpl.” Not all versions of Windows have the same Control Panel 

applets, so check out the “Registry Tip Of The Month” below for another hint about what 

commands you can use with this trick. 

The beauty of using the Run box is that it memorizes your recent entries. Once you 

have entered one of the .cpl app shortcuts, you can call up the Run box again and just use 

the Down arrow to navigate previously entered commands. Again, no mouse required. Of 

course, once you call up the specific CP app itself, you likely will need to reach for the 

mouse to navigate it, so we can’t help you there. 

Registry Tip Of The Month 

So where can you find a listing of the most commonly used Control Panel apps that 

you can access using the Run command tip above? In the Registry Editor, go to 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Control 

Panel\Cpls. The subkeys in this folder will show you most (not all) the .cpl files you can 

access directly by calling them up in the Run command line. “TabletPC.cpl,” for instance, 

will bring up the Pen and Stylus Input box. 

(www.hulu.com) was coming soon. We 

wanted to make sure we kept apprised of 

any news surrounding its release. We 

entered “iphone” as the hashtag and “hulu” 

in the main search box. The results are all 

the instances of “hulu” occurring within 

the #iphone group of posts. The search 

results page offers you a button in the 

upper-right, Feed For This Query. Click it 

to get an address you can put into your feed 

reader so that the latest posts for this topic 

stream to your reader. 

Finally, a very cool way to go local with 

Twitter is to search for terms by city or ZIP 

code in the Advanced Search engine. It is a 

great way to track local news or a hot political 

topic. Just add a ZIP code or city name 

to the Places section of Advanced Search 

and determine what radius you want the 

search to cover. Again, the results can be 

converted into a real-time RSS for constant 

monitoring of new posts. 

As Twitter evolves, there will be new 

ways of leveraging this real-time microblogging 

juggernaut into a genuine resource. 

For the time being, however, the community 

itself and Twitter engineers are trying 

to figure out what kind of power millions 

of ongoing conversations represent. ▲ 

by Steve Smith 

1% Market Share 

Is A Big Deal 

Such a tiny market share would certainly 

spell doom for any company, but if 

you’re a Linux supporter, having the 

open-source OS on one out of every 

100 desktops or notebooks is a major 

milestone. A new report from Net 

Applications shows Linux 

eking out a 1.2% market 

share; if that’s 

not impressive, 

consider 

this: Linux use 

has essentially 

tripled since 

2005. 

Source: marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=8 

CPU / July 2009 95

Most people don’t understand 

the basics behind how their 

computers boot up when 

they first turn them on. 

Most Windows users think that when you 

start up your system, it runs NTLDR, 

which in turn reads the BOOT.INI configuration 

file. While this is the most 

obvious and observable way most of us 

understand the PC startup process, there’s 

a lot more going on underneath. And it’s 

in the nuts and bolts that Linux differs 

significantly from Windows when a system 

starts up. 

What Everybody Does 

When you press the power button on 

your system, it initializes all hardware 

devices and goes through a series of tests, 

commonly known as POST. These tests 

naturally run before any operating system 

is loaded. Once the POST is finished, the 

hardware looks for the first available 

bootable device on the available hardware. 

Systems today let you boot from a 

CD, hard removable device, or even network 

devices. 

A bootable device is something where 

the first 512 bytes contain boot information 

about the actual device itself. This is 

known as the boot sector of the device; 

for hard drives, it resides in the MBR 

(master boot record), which is before the 

partition information. Once the system 

finishes its POST, it reads the data in the 

MBR and then executes the code. Up 

until this point the Windows and Linux 

boot up procedures are identical. 


How Linux Boots 

tips & tricks 

What happens next depends not only 

on what operating system you use, but 

also, in the case of Linux, which boot 

loader you use. With recent Windows 

installations, the MBR code will load 

NTLDR, which reads the BOOT.INI 

configuration file. This file contains information 

for different installations of 

Windows, as well as parameters to be 

passed to those installations. 

A Linux user has two popular boot 

loaders available: LILO (Linux Loader) 

and GNU GRUB. LILO is one of the 

earliest Linux boot loaders and is rarely 

used in newer Linux installations. Most 

GRUB’s boot behavior can be controlled with KGRUBEditor. 

modern Linux distributions use GNU 

GRUB, or GRUB for short, as their 

boot loader, due to its ease of use 

and configurability. 

Boot From LILO 

But let’s go back to the beginning 

and cover how LILO works, because a 

lot of legacy systems still have it. As with 

most boot loaders, LILO is much too 

big to fit into 512 bytes and so is loaded 

in stages. The first stage is when the initial 

512 bytes are loaded from the boot 

sector on the hard drive. The purpose of 

this stage is to get things started and to 

load the next stage. LILO gives you a 

status of what stage it’s in based on how 

many letters in its name it’s shown. The 

first “L” indicates that the first stage 

has loaded. 

Just before LILO is ready to go onto 

the loader in the next stage, it displays an 

“I.” If LILO hangs with just an “LI,” it 

typically means that the file that LILO is 

expecting can’t be found. The disk might 

be damaged or perhaps the file has 

moved. But assuming everything’s fine, 

the secondary loader is executed and the 

second “L” will appear. 

The second stage boot loader for 

LILO is where the guts of the boot 

process occur. Here the secondary stage

loader reads in the Lilo.conf file, which 

tells LILO where its various parts are 

and different boot options. The second 

stage loader also reads in what is known 

as a map file. The map file contains a 

collection of locations for the bootable 

partitions, including each partition’s 

respective disk. When LILO has successfully 

loaded the map file, it’ll display 

the “O” in its name and you’ll see a 

“boot:” prompt. 

At the “boot:” prompt, simply type the 

name of the operating system you want to 

run and press ENTER. If you’re not sure 

what OSes are on your system, press the 

TAB key. If you don’t make a selection 

after a little while, it’ll boot the first Linux 

OS it can find. If you want to change the 

display name of the available operating 

systems, or the timeout to boot the 

default OS, you’ll need to modify LILO’s 

configuration file, /etc/lilo.conf. 

LILO depends very heavily on the configuration 

file for all of its bootup information, 

so any changes to Lilo.conf can 

potentially make it impossible to boot 

next time. But don’t worry about making 

changes to Lilo.conf; there’s a GUI utility 

to help you with those things. 

If you’re using the KDE window manager, 

click the KDE icon and then select 

Control Center. Expand the System 

Administration heading and then select 

Boot Manager (LILO). This will give you 

a handy graphical utility with which to 

manipulate the Lilo.conf file. You can 

add, delete, and edit entries in the 

Lilo.conf file, and it’ll handle the grunt 

work of making it work. 

Get GRUBby 

In 1995 the Free Software Foundation 

created a specification on how boot loaders 

should interact with operating systems. 

To demonstrate the specification in 

action, GNU GRUB, or simply GRUB 

for short, was created. 

Like LILO, GRUB is too big to fit into 

512 bytes and thus loads in stages. 

GRUB’s stage 1 loader is functionally 

identical to the first stage of LILO boot 

loader: Its goal is to load the next stage. 

But what happens next with GRUB 

depends on what type of operating system 

the stage 2 loader sits on. Most Linux 

tips & tricks 

flavors default to using the ext2 or ext3 file 

systems when laying out a disk. In these 

cases the GRUB stage 1 loader will load up 

the stage 2 loader without any problems. 

If you have Linux loaded on some 

other file system, such as xfs, jfs, fat, or 

reiserfs, then the GRUB stage 1 loader 

will load the stage 1.5 loader. The only 

purpose of the stage 1.5 loader is to act as 

a bridge between the stage 1 and stage 2 

loaders. That is, the GRUB stage 1.5 

loader knows enough about the underlying 

file system to run the stage 2 loader. 

Once the GRUB stage 1.5 loader has run, 

it’ll load the GRUB stage 2 loader. 

The GRUB stage 2 loader is where 

most of the action happens with GRUB, 

and it’s what most people think is 

GRUB. Here, the user is given a text 

menu with a list of available operating 

systems, and whichever one he chooses 

gets loaded. 

GRUB offers a number of improvements 

over LILO, such as the ability to 

specify an unlimited number of operating 

systems and boot from a network 

device. But perhaps best of all is that, 

unlike LILO, you can easily modify the 

GRUB configuration file without having 

to reinstall GRUB or play around with 

the boot sector. 

Because GRUB is newer, it has its own 

set of GUI tools to help modify its configuration 

file. A popular one is the 

KGRUBEditor, which requires the KDE 

4 libraries to run. When you run it, all of 

the bootable entries in GRUB’s initial 

text menu are shown. As with the KDE 

Boot Manager for LILO, you can add, 

delete, or edit entries, and it’ll take care of 

the configuration files themselves. 

Still Not In Linux 

So after we’ve run either LILO or 

GRUB through its paces to boot the 

operating system, the Linux kernel is 

loaded, right? Wrong. Linux is designed 

to try and run on as many different systems 

as possible. It does this by having a 

large library of modules to enable different 

features. But due to the sheer number 

and size of modules, they can’t 

all be available at boot time. 

Also, Linux has some 

that require special work before they can 

be fully utilized, like booting off a network 

device. 

To address these situations, after you’ve 

gone through all of the boot loaders, you 

haven’t really loaded Linux yet. Instead, 

you will actually boot into a very small 

Linux kernel with just enough drivers to 

get the real Linux kernel started. This 

small Linux kernel is known as the initial 

ramdisk, or initrd for short. Once initrd 

has loaded, it moves itself out of the way, 

loads the real Linux kernel, and then 

deletes itself from memory. Only after 

initrd has freed itself from memory have 

you truly booted into Linux. 

Most people have probably never 

thought about how Linux boots up, so 

they’ve been stuck if it doesn’t boot. But 

after reading this, if your Linux box 

doesn’t boot, you at least now know 

where to go looking to troubleshoot 

the problem. ▲ 

by John Jung 

Bionic penguins 

swim through the 

water, hunt 

Sarah Connor 

If we had our choice (and it’s probably 

a good thing that we don’t), we 

would’ve requested robotic sharks 

from German engineering company 

Festo, the group that made the 

mechanical aquatic avians. The bionic 

birds use 3D sonar to avoid smashing 

into walls (or other mechapenguins) 

and have a gripper than can omnidirectionally 

twist 90 

degrees, making it ideal 

for underwater industrial 

applications or grabbing 

us another cold one as 

we’re floating in the pool. 

www.newscientist.com/article/dn16996-bionic-penguins-take-to-the-water—and-the-skies.html 

special features Source: 

CPU / July 2009 97

The Future Is Bright & Shiny 

’m just casting my mind back four or five years ago and reflecting 

I on how the PC industry has changed in that short period of time. 

I was a regular at the Computex show in Taipei, Taiwan, and in 

those days, the number of companies making motherboards was 

legion. They’d each try and distinguish themselves by gimmicks, 

and it wasn’t just motherboard manufacturers 

that were plentiful. 

You could see countless small companies 

offering cases of every kind for the 

enthusiast. Fashioned from beautifully 

polished chrome and glass, the kind of 

bloke who’d want one of these would 

want the best of everything. Best graphics 

card, best sound system, best CPU, 

best and fastest memory with flashing 

LEDs or not, and of course, the fan had 

to be extra cool—cool-looking, that is— 

because if you had a glass PC case, you’d 

certainly want your friends to see just 

how super-cool you were. 

Those days aren’t quite gone. Last 

year, I judged one set of products for 

the “Best of Computex 2008” award, 

and I’m doing the same for this year’s 

show. But the products I’m looking at 

now are very, very different from the 

flash bang wallop bright and shiny 

trinkets to attract the acquisitive magpies 

of the past. 

The magpies got interested in other 

bling than motherboards. iPods became 

ubiquitous, and plasma screens became the 

norm for someone who wanted nothing 

better to do than gaze at a huge TV every 

time they were home and play some online 

game to boot. 

Then, on the software side, we had and 

still have the Facebook fad, while Twitter 

made its twittish appearance and now is on 

the radar of even formerly august magazines 

such as Business Week in the United States 

and the staid Daily Telegraph in the UK. 

Yes, techdom is ruled by fads, and the 

more gadgets vendors can throw at the appreciative 

crowd who are dedicated followers of 

fashion, the better. The phrase “eye candy” 

was formerly applied to software that looked 


Mike Magee is an industry veteran. 

He cut his teeth on ancient products 

such as the Dragon and the Japanese PC 

platforms long before the IBM-PC won. 

He worked for a corporate reseller in 

the mid-’80s and saw the Compaq 386 

sandwich box and every GUI known 

to humankind. Mike decided that the 

way to go was the Interweb around 

1994 after editing PC mags in the late 

’80s and ’90s. A co-founder of The 

Register, Mike started the chip-driven 

INQUIRER (www.theinquirer.net) in 

2001. He has contacts from top to 

bottom in the business, spanning the 

entire chain, who help him root out 

interesting rumours and speculation. 

bright, shiny, and colourful on the glass, but the eyes are the mirror of 

the soul, connected directly to the brain. And if your first impression 

is that something is bright and shiny and, above all, new, you’ll put 

your hand in your pocket and buy something before you’ve considered 

or reflected for a second whether you even want it. 

This, I think, is why it’s very hard for 

the chip vendors to make things exciting 

for enthusiasts anymore. I don’t want to 

harp on endlessly about the Tower of 

Babel that now constitutes the chip 

ranges of Intel and AMD, but the marketeers 

at semiconductor companies are 

getting increasingly desperate to find the 

blue-crystal factor that will excite enthusiasts 

about their products. Form used to 

precede function as far as microprocessors 

were concerned. We were all wowed by 

Intel code names, redolent of hidden 

vales in remote parts of California; wooed 

by Camino, by Woodcrest; and if we 

were in foreign parts, wished we knew 

what a Katmai was. 

Dual-core and quad-core microprocessors 

fail to make our blood race 

and our hearts sing now. We want both 

function and form. However wonderful 

and, in fact, miraculous the ability of 

the engineers and architects is to shrink 

the die and include ever more transistors on 

a chip, a package with pins does not hold 

the allure it did when you could impress 

your friends with your raw overclocked 

megahertz in a glass and chromium case 

able to play the latest game faster and furiouser 

than any of your friends. 

With technology as ubiquitous as it now is, 

we’re always going to be impressed by something 

that looks good, but we’ll always be on 

the side of a product that not only gleams 

and is colourful, but also works the first time, 

every time and doesn’t need to be upgraded 

every six months or so. Good design is important, 

and Apple has proved that. But we want 

both, not either. ▲ 

Send rumours to “Mad Mike” Magee 

at mike@cpumag.com

here are many reasons you should think about using Twitter as a 

T productivity tool, no matter what business you’re in. I will start 

by saying that Twitter is as simple or as complex a tool as you want it 

to be. The typical first-time Twitter user hears about it on the radio or 

on television or through a friend—they visit www.twitter.com, register, 

and wonder “what next?” If I were to guess, I would say that a 

good chunk of the new Twitter accounts do not become active. 

My wife is one of those people who 

barely uses Facebook, but she understands 

the need for it. She can’t understand the 

purpose of Twitter, and I was the same 

way until I started to dig into it further. 

My Twitter account would have died had 

it not been for the constant flow of followers 

who followed me for whatever reason, 

but I imagine most first-time users don’t 

get “automatic followers,” so they need to 

use the tool in a more proactive way. 

Getting Started On Twitter 

The first thing I recommend is that 

you do not use Twitter.com as your primary 

interface. Register on the site, customize 

your page, then close that browser 

window and download Tweetdeck. 

Tweetdeck is a desktop application that 

lets you view tweets from many different 

streams at once. You’ll find as you get into 

Twitter that you’ll use the Twitter Web 

site every now and then to modify your 

profile and follow recommended users. 

For Customer Feedback 

You can set up custom search windows with 

specific terms. So, for example, if you want to 

be notified anytime someone says “motherboard,” 

you can click the search tool at the top 

and type motherboard, and a new column will 

open up. Now anytime someone types that 

word in a tweet, it will appear, and you can 

choose to follow them, reply, or pretty much 

monitor the situation. I use this as a great way 

to get live customer feedback on my products. 

It’s a great way to get directly involved with 

your customer base without being too intrusive. 

For Stock Trading 

I have never seen a more effective tool 

to research stocks in real time. First, go to 


The Various Ways Of Twitter 

Rahul Sood's love for computers started 

at the young age of 11. Much to the 

shock and dismay of his parents, he 

ripped apart his brand-new Apple //c 

and painted it red before turning it on. 

His parents’ dreams of having a doctor 

for a son were shattered when 

college dropout Rahul founded what 

is now one of the most respected 

high-end computer companies in the 

world, Voodoo Computers. 

www.stocktwits.com and register your twitter account there. You need 

to follow @stocktwits, as well, if you want to be part of the stream. 

On Tweetdeck, you can click on the Stocktwits feed to see what 

everyone is talking about, and although it’s an overwhelming stream, 

it will give you an idea of what people are trading. More importantly, 

you can set up searches for stocks that you’re trading. So, when you 

click the search button, type $bac to follow all tweets on Bank of 

America. (Always use a dollar sign [$] in 

front of the symbol to be part of the 

stream.) As you will start to see, the 

information can be valuable, or not. 

Either way, it’s the Internet; take it with 

a grain of salt. 

For Real-Time News 

This is my favorite feature of Twitter. 

Click the Twitscoop button at the top of 

Tweetdeck, and you’ll see a tag cloud of 

terms that people are talking about. The 

larger the word, the more people are 

talking about it. For example, if the 

word “earthquake” appears large, there is 

an earthquake happening somewhere in 

the world, and you can click on it to see 

what people are saying. Never before has 

there been a faster way to get news out 

than with Twitter. 

For Stalking Celebrities 

It’s safe to say Twitter has become a 

pop culture phenomenon, and when people 

such as Ashton Kutcher, Oprah Winfrey, 

and 50 Cent are using it to talk about 

whatever interests them, you can jump in 

and follow them and even respond directly 

to them. 

There are many other things that Twitter 

allows you to do, from searching for specific 

keywords and sending messages automatically 

to people (spam could be cut out at 

some point) to finding a job in real time. I 

strongly urge you to try it, and dig deep into 

the tools that make Twitter a powerful tool 

rather than just a glorified chat room. 

Oh yeah, feel free to follow me on 

Twitter @rahulsood. ▲ 

Send your opinions to this opinionated 

guy at rahul@cpumag.com

What’s Cooking . . . 

CPU: President Obama has commented 

several times that he is in favor of net 

neutrality, but there appear to be several 

different definitions being floated of the 

term. Could we start out with what you 

consider as an expert in the field to be an 

adequate definition of net neutrality? 

Schneider: The basic idea is that, simply 

put, the providers of Internet connectivity 

should be providing a dumb 

pipe, an unbiased transmission system 

where they’re not privileging content. 

They’re running a toll gate, and it 

shouldn’t matter what comes through it. 

If you have your DSL modem or cable 

line, you have the right to upload and 

download X amount of data—with different 

plans, at different terms of maximum 

throughput. 

It goes back to the precedent of the 

Carterfone Decision, which forced Ma 

Bell to open the telephone system to any 

device for connection, provided it met 

certain standards. That opened the door 

to doing more than just renting black 

rotary phones. You could buy phones at 

your local department store; and, down 

the road, hook up a fax or answering 

machine, and then a modem. Advocates 

of net neutrality want that same common 

carrier arrangement for the Internet. 

CPU: What do the people and/or companies 

who own the distribution network 

Technically 

Speaking 

An Interview With Troy Schneider, New America 

Foundation Director Of Media & Communications 

Troy Schneider is director of media and communications for the New America 

Foundation. Prior to that, he was managing director for electronic publishing at the 

Atlantic Media Company and the founding editor of NationalJournal.com. 


by Barry Brenesal 

stand to gain by maintaining the role of 

gatekeeper over content? 

Schneider: Profit margins, certainly, 

though it’s more complicated than that. 

There are absolutely reasonable arguments 

in favor of restricting content in 

certain ways, but even the staunchest 

opponents of net neutrality will be fairly 

candid about wanting to be in a valueadded 

business. They don’t just want to 

lease a dumb pipe, because then you’re 

marketing a commodity. And if you’re in 

a business where anyone can transmit 

data in whatever form they see fit, then 

the only way you can compete is on price 

and the amount of throughput you can 

provide for the dollar. That’s good for 

consumers in a lot of ways, but it’s not an 

ideal situation for the providers, who do 

have to spend a great deal of money to 

build out and maintain those networks. 

CPU: How is this faring in Congress? 

Schneider: This has been a long-running 

battle. It started with old line telephones 

and has progressed to the Internet 

and wireless issues and what should be 

done with the spectrum that the FCC is 

reallocating and auctioning off. The same 

very powerful interests, the big telcos, are 

lobbying this out, trying to convince 

Congress of the wisdom of their point of 

view. Verizon and Comcast are huge 

players in this and have been for a long 

time. The advocates of net neutrality 

have gotten more clout in the last year or 

two, because at one time, it was mostly 

technologists and public interest advocates 

arguing their viewpoint. What has 

changed, I think, is that there are more 

commercial interests arraigned at their 

side—Google being first and foremost. 

And the Obama administration appears 

to be significantly more open to the idea 

of net neutrality than the Bush administration 

or, frankly, the Clinton administration 

was. 

CPU: Do you have any idea how much 

money companies such as Verizon are 

spending on lobbying for net neutrality? 

Schneider: Verizon itself spent more 

than $18 million on lobbying in 2008, 

according to the Center for Responsive 

Politics, and gave another $2.3 million in 

direct political contributions. I cite them 

because they are a huge factor in the 

Washington area both on the policy side 

and as a corporate presence. 

And just to be clear: Verizon should 

absolutely be trying to stack the deck in 

their favor. Lobbying to me is not a pejorative 

word. But simply bringing in larger 

interests on the side of net neutrality 

makes a big difference, because while 

organizations like the New America 

Foundation, Electronic Freedom Forum,

and Free Press can put their ideas out 

there, the money—the resources those 

groups can throw at this—are nothing 

more than a rounding error compared to 

what the big telecoms put forth on the 

other side. It is completely skewed when 

there’s no chance for a fair fight. That’s 

not in the public interest. 

CPU: What, in your opinion, would 

make the debate fair and balanced? 

Schneider: I think we’re creeping in 

the right direction. The role that Google 

has played is hard to overestimate. Not 

that they placed tons of money into traditional 

lobbying by Washington standards, 

but they have such a high public profile. 

Suddenly, it’s not consumers on one side 

and big corporations on the other; you 

have big corporations on both sides. The 

other thing that helps is that there are 

more channels for people to learn what is 

going on, to organize and make their 

views known on issues that matter to 

them—including net neutrality. 

CPU: When we were discussing the economic 

advantages to net neutrality, we 

were also acknowledging the presence of 

people on the other side of the fence who 

felt it was in their best interests to continue 

the status quo. When you switch perspectives 

and consider instead issues of 

democratic involvement through a more 

open Internet, who’s on the other side 

that stands to gain from keeping things 

the way they are? 

Schneider: I suppose I’m being optimistic, 

but I don’t think there are that 

many people who are really on the other 

side about this. All of the potential benefits 

to democracy and political discourse 

online are just that: potential. A tool, 


whose value is that it democratizes access. 

You no longer require such a vested interest 

that you’re willing to spend hundreds 

of thousands of dollars to get started organizing. 

But if you are one of those big 

vested interests, these tools are very helpful 

to you, as well. I think any sort of hesitation 

in the old guard about organizing 

on the other side is probably tempered by 

the knowledge that these same tools can 

be used in their own interest. It’s more a 

race to see who can innovate with them. 

CPU: You really don’t think there are 

politicians on the national and state levels 

who feel that once they’re elected, they’re 

part of the elect and those who voted for 

them can now essentially retire until the 

next time they vote for them, as well? 

Schneider: There are certainly people 

in Washington who will roll their eyes at 

the idea of citizen input. But most elected 

officials that I’ve dealt with want to know 

what a broad cross section of constituents 

has to say. It’s either go to meetings with 

a select few that have privileged access or 

sift through hundreds of thousands of 

phone calls and emails. I think that’s why 

we see a lot of members of Congress racing 

to join online chats and carving out 

their own space on the social networks. 

Granted, some are doing it because it’s 

the flavor of the month, and they want to 

show that they’re current, or because they 

see it as another way to get their message 

out. But I also think there’s a sincere 

desire to engage in these conversations. 

CPU: We’ve talked briefly about net neutrality 

issues in one potential battleground, 

What’s Cooking . . . Technically Speaking 

Congress. What are some of the other battlegrounds 

it will face in the near future? 

The FCC? 

Schneider: I think the FCC is probably 

the primary battleground on this. As the 

different commissioner positions come 

open, the Obama administration will fill 

them with people who reflect its policy 

priorities. I think it is arguably at least as 

important as what’s going to occur on 

Capitol Hill in the near term, because 

there are so many questions already out 

there that need to be addressed. Whether 

they are rules about how to interpret existing 

regulations or how to deal with various 

blocks of spectrum that are being auctioned 

off, the FCC is really where the net 

neutrality issue decisions will be made. 

CPU: You mentioned the Carterfone 

Decision in such a way as to make it 

sound like the Big Bang, from which 

everything else in online followed. If the 

Decision never occurred, would we have 

the Internet today? 

Schneider: Absolutely not. Without 

Carterfone, we wouldn’t have been able to 

Verizon itself spent more than $18 million on lobbying in 2008, 

according to the Center for Responsive Politics, 

and gave another $2.3 million in direct political contributions. 

—Troy Schneider 

connect modems to our phone lines. 

Without modems, there’d have been no 

CompuServe, AOL, or dial-up Internet 

services, and so no critical mass for the 

World Wide Web to take off the way it 

did. Now, would the Internet have come 

along later in some different form? Quite 

possibly, but that initial requirement for 

openness was key to getting us to where we 

are today. And I think net neutrality is 

similarly vital to opening the doors for 

future growth and innovation. 

Subscribers can read bonus content with Troy Schneider at 

www.cpumag.com/cpujuly09/schneider

Under Development 

A Peek At What's Brewing In The Laboratory 

“Smart” Bridges Seek To Save Lives 

A ccording 

to Iowa State’s NDT (Nondestructive 

Testing) Resource Center, 

the life expectancy of a highway bridge is 70 

to 75 years. Current methods of bridge 

inspection are simple visual inspections of 

each bridge every two years, whether the 

bridge in question is brand new or decades 

old. NDT also reports “it is not uncommon 

for a fisherman, canoeist, [or] other passerby 

to alert officials to major damage that may 

have occurred between inspections.” Not 

exactly confidence-inspiring, is it? 

With nearly 600,000 bridges across the 

land needing regular safety inspections, the 

W ith 

University of Michigan’s new development 

in “smart” bridges couldn’t be better 

timed. 

The $19 million, five-year project (with 

funding from a federal grant, the private 

sector, and Michigan Department of 

Transportation) will focus on cutting-edge 

The new wireless sensor network for bridges being developed at the University of Michigan 

could offer bridge inspectors a wealth of information in bridge safety. 

damage detection and facilitating direct 

communication between the bridge and the 

bridge owners. Jerome Lynch, principal 

investigator and UM’s assistant professor in 

the Department of Civil and Environmental 

Engineering, is excited about improving the 

inspection process and public safety. 

Hydra Middleware Speaks Smart Devices’ Language 

our environments becoming “smarter,” our homes and 

work places laced with embedded systems, the eventual 

impasse with potential technological bliss will be a failure to communicate. 

Networked systems and the wide range of devices available 

to interact with said systems do not currently all speak the same 

language. With an eye to serving system developers’ needs, the 

European Hydra project has created the on-the-fly translators via its 

self-titled Hydra middleware. 

What’s Cooking . . . 

by Anastasia Poland 

“‘Smart’ sensors capable of processing 

their own measurements will be able to 

alert engineers and bridge owners of 

unusual bridge behavior or measurements 

signifying the onset of damage immediately. 

This will then trigger inspection of 

bridges to investigate further the condition 

of the bridge,” explains Lynch. 

Lynch’s team has been working on new 

types of materials to house those sensors, as 

well as lowering the cost of production of the 

sensors themselves. Four sensors are in development. 

The first, super-durable concrete 

that conducts electricity, is fiber-reinforced 

and bendable. Sensors would measure electrical 

conductivity, and a change in it would 

signal issues with the bridge. Another sensor, 

a “sensing skin” of carbon nano-tubes that 

Lynch is developing, would be lined with 

electrodes and painted or glued on high-traffic 

areas in hopes of measuring small cracks 

and corrosion. A third sensor would be wireless 

nodes that would monitor strain and 

vibration fluctuations, and a fourth sensor 

would reside in automobiles using the bridge. 

The biggest challenges for the team have 

been driving down the cost of the sensors 

to make them affordable for limited budgets 

and showing bridge owners that the 

technology will create cost savings overall. 

Lynch’s team hopes to have a working 

prototype, including “placing actual prototype 

sensors on bridges in Michigan and 

California,” within two years. ▲ 

“The main issues Hydra solves for hardware and software developers 

is that the middleware [will] address a broad range of heterogeneous 

devices on the service level instead of on lower software layers,” 

explains Dr. Markus Eisenhauer, lead of the project and head of 

mobile knowledge at Fraunhofer Institute. “As long as a device can 

be addressed via IP and has some processing and memory capabilities, 

it can be Hydra-enabled. In the case of a simple sensor with 

no computing power, we can use a proxy that will be Hydra-enabled.” 

CPU / July 2009 105

What’s Cooking . . . Under Development 

New Hydrogel Display Lets Your 

Fingers “See” The Picture 

H ydrogel, 

the matter used 

to create soft contact 

lenses, has recently been 

adapted by Georgi Paschew 

and Andreas Richter of 

the Technical University of 

Dresden to help those with 

more severe sight challenges. 

The team has created an 

innovative visual and tactile 

display using “smart” hydrogels—water-filled 

gel packets 

that respond to being 

warmed by beams of light by 

shrinking, hardening, and 

becoming opaque. 

“The basic material for the 

actuators is called ‘smart 

hydrogel’ because it has the 

ability to perform a big change 

of its properties according to 

Micro-Fridges Help CPUs Chill Out 

A s 

manufacturers rose to meet the 

demand for faster processors, chip 

performance was eventually hampered by 

extreme temperatures. The solution became 

multicore processors. Of course, we’ve 

developed our own cooling methods, using 

water, liquid nitrogen, or specialty coolants, 

to bring down their CPUs’ temps. 

Dr. Rama Venkatasubramanian, a 

senior researcher at RTI International, 

and a team of other researchers at Intel 

and Arizona State University, have 

stepped into this hot topic with a unique 

small alterations in a certain 

parameter of its surrounding 

fluid medium,” explains 

Paschew. “[It has an] amazing 

ability to double its length or 

height only within a temperature 

range of 6 degrees Celsius 

(43 degrees Fahrenheit).” 

Paschew and Richter crafted 

a square display with 4,225 

packets of evenly spaced, 300micron-wide 

hydrogels. Every 

square centimeter of the display 

holds 297 hydrogel “pixels,” 

or actuators. Backed by 

black polyester and sealed 

beneath a plastic membrane, 

the actuators can shrink and 

swell twice per second. 

Paschew discusses the possible 

uses of their innovation. 

In other words, plugging in the Hydra software (with open-source 

tools and libraries available) means developers won’t have to create 

their own software to handle security, device discovery, and communication 

issues in their systems. 

Eisenhauer asserts that the team has faced quite a few hurdles during 

the project’s duration. “From a research perspective, there have 

been several challenges, like how to implement a level of security into 

a middleware across a plethora of devices; how to implement the 


“This . . . can be used as 

computer display for highresolution 

tactile information 

and not only give blind people 

the access to graphic illustrations 

but also give you and 

me, the usual computer user, 

completely new possibilities 

to see, touch, and feel 

answer: micro-refrigerators that targetcool 

the hot spots. The researchers are 

looking at the brink of those multicores 

potentially facing similar thermal issues as 

in days of yore, with traditional heatsinks 

and fans still lacking the oomph to bring 

down temps of densely packed circuitry. 

“Our superlattice thin-film thermoelectric 

micro-refrigerators would help solve 

the problem of efficient thermal management 

of so-called hot spots on a high-performance 

chip,” says Venkatasubramanian. 

“Typical chips have highly non-uniform 

The prototype of a hydrogel-based tactile display (showing the 

shape of a dolphin) could enable the blind to read graphics and 

change the landscape of human-computer interface. 

[changing] shapes, forms, 

and structures,” she says. 

“This is a new communication 

channel which can 

change the human-computer 

interaction because the tactile 

sense of humans is quite 

important but nevertheless 

still not used.” ▲ 

thermal maps, where some areas of intense 

computation run much hotter than others. 

“We can selectively cool these hot spots 

with our active cooling while the rest of 

the area is managed with standard heat 

removal means.” 

The micro-fridges are nano-scale 

(roughly 10 microns) and can be mounted 

on chips. Remarkably efficient, the 

micro-fridges essentially cool on demand 

and only use 2 to 3W when in use. 

Venkatasubramanian thinks a finished 

product could be available in 2011. ▲ 

middleware or some of its components on resource-restricted devices; 

how to discover devices in unknown and dynamically changing environments; 

or how to store data persistently, even if the data-producing 

entity cannot provide enough reliable or secure storage.” 

However, the team has found success over the span of the 4-year 

project, which will be completed this year. An SDK is currently 

available, with a DDK (Device Developer Kit) expected to launch 

by the end of this year. ▲

05.22.09 

LANageddon - Calgary, Alberta, Canada 

www.lanageddon.com 

Traverse City Fragfest 15 - Traverse City, MI 

www.fragfest.cx 

05.23.09 

BYOC LAN - Bakersfield, CA 

www.byoclan.com 

Gaming Northwest LAN: Part Deux - Vancouver, WA 

www.gamingnw.com 

HyperGamez Grand Opening - Fort Worth, TX 

www.thetexangamer.com 

Intel LAN Fest Colorado - Loveland, CO 

lanfest.intel.com 

Lower MainLAN - North Vancouver, BC, Canada 

caplan-bc.com 

NCGC LAN Party - Groveton, NH 

www.electronicesthetics.com/LANParties.htm 

WVG Gamers - Eugene, OR 

www.wvgamers.com 

05.29.09 

Maryland LAN Gamers - Greenbelt, MD 

www.marylandlangamers.net 

05.30.09 

Boro LAN Fest - Springboro, OH 

ittp.springboro.org/borolanfest 

Catacombz 11.0 - Eldorado, IL 

www.catacombz.com 

E-Town LAN - Emporia, KS 

www.etownlan.com 

ExtremeLANKC - North Kansas City, MO 

www.extremelankc.com 

Krosswirz - Quincy, IL 

www.krosswirz.net 

OnTargetLan - Hot Springs, AR 

www.ontargetlan.com/news.php 

Peace, Love, and Rockets - Keller, TX 

www.peaceloveandrockets.org 

06.01.09 

The(S/=\S)Clan-1v1 GunGame Tournament - Houston, TX 

the-sas-clan.com 

ICT Gaming - Wichita, KS 

www.ictgaming.com 

06.05.09 

FireLANcaster - Lancaster, VA 

www.myspace.com/firelancaster 

Panhandle Gamers LAN - Mobile, AL 

www.panhandlegamers.com 

06.06.09 

Atlanta LAN Fest - Atlanta, GA 

www.atlantalanfest.com 

LANManiac - Brea, CA 

www.lanmaniac.com 

NWALAN - Fayetteville, AR 

www.nwalan.com 

PNP LAN - Largo, FL 

www.pnplan.com 

06.12.09 

FGA LAN 2009 - Marion, IL 

www.clanfga.com 

LAN Lordz - Wichita, KS 

www.lanlordz.net 

Mainline Gaming Center Summer LAN - Zeeland, MI 

mainlinegamingcenter.com/summerlanparty2009.aspx 

06.13.09 

Gamers United-Showdown at Thunderdome - Gray, TN 

www.gamersunited.com 

Intel LANFest Desertbash - Anthem, AZ 


MidWest FragFest v2 - Countryside, IL 

www.midwest-fragfest.com 

06.14.09 

Anime Evolution - North Vancouver, BC, Canada 

caplan-bc.com 

06.19.09 

MetroCon - Tampa, FL 

www.seads.org/LANParty/lanparty.htm 

06.20.09 

Bellingham LAN - Bellingham, WA 

www.bellinghamlan.com 

FRAGfinity - Tiffin, IA 

www.fragfinity.com 

Look For CPU At These LAN Parties 

Across The Nation—& Beyond! 

Ghetto LAN party - Denton, TX 

www.ghettolanparty.com 

KC Beatdown - Overland Park, KS 

www.kcbeatdown.com 

Muncie Gamers - Muncie, IN 

www.munciegamers.com 

NEXUS LAN - Dayton, OH 

www.nexuslan.org 

NGC's LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX 

www.networkgamingclub.com 

Whempy's LAN Party - Columbus, OH 

whempyslan.org 

WVG Gamers - Eugene, OR 

www.wvgamers.com 

06.26.09 

Friday Night Frag Fest - Denver, CO 

www.fnff.net/news.php 

06.27.09 



PC-Gamers.net Frag-Fest - Fishersville, VA 

www.pcgn.net/lanparty 

June or July 2009 

MegaCon - Jacksonville, FL 


mid-July 2009 

Digital Storm LAN - Aldergrove, BC, Canada 

www.digitalstormlan.com 

July 2009 

KILANFest Ver 7.0 - Louisville, KY 

www.kilanfest.com 

July 2009 

theGXL - Millville, NJ 

07.01.09 

ICT Gaming - Wichita, KS 

www.ictgaming.com 

07.03.09 

Lannihilation - Calgary, Alberta, Canada 

www.lannihilation.ca 

07.04.09 



07.09.09 

Lanwar's MillionManLan 8 - Louisville, KY 

www.lanwar.com/News.asp?Process=DISPLAY 

07.10.09 

Massive LAN - Hamburg, NY 

www.massivelan.com 

07.11.09 





Peace, Love, and Rockets - Keller, TX 

www.peaceloveandrockets.org 

07.18.09 





07.24.09 

LANapalooza - Aurora, Ontario, Canada 

www.zeropingevents.com 

Super LAN 2009 - Fond du Lac, WI 

lan.kicks-ass.net 

07.25.09 



August 2009 

DragonFire LAN - Erie, PA 

08.01.09 





08.06.09 

Fragapalooza - Alberta, Canada 

www.fragapalooza.com 

Would you like us to help promote your next LAN? 

Give us a call at 1.800.733.3809 or visit our LAN Yard site at www.computerpoweruser.com/LanYard 

to input your own information and see your LAN party name in our upcoming issues. 

We'll be glad to consider your event! 

08.07.09 

AWOL LAN - Wisconsin 

www.awollan.com 

08.08.09 

Iron Storm 11 - Castle Shannon, PA 

www.pittco.org 



LANmonkeys - Naugatuck, CT 

www.lanmonkeys.com 

08.13.09 

QuakeCon - Dallas, TX 

www.quakecon.com 

08.14.09 

Carolina Armageddon - North Carolina 

www.carolinagaming.com 

08.15.09 





08.16.09 



08.22.09 



08.29.09 



09.04.09 

Chibi-Pa LAN Party - West Palm Beach, FL 


09.05.09 



09.12.09 





09.19.09 

Krosswirz - Quincy, IL 

www.krosswirz.net 



09.20.09 



09.26.09 

NCGC LAN Party - Grovetown, NH 


October 2009 

Intel LANFest New Mexico - Rio Rancho, NM 


10.03.09 





10.09.09 

UWL LAN Computer Science Club - La Crosse, WI 

www.uwlax.edu/csclub 

10.10.09 



10.17.09 

Arkansas LAN - Arkansas 

www.arkansaslan.com 



TigerLAN - Hays, KS 

www.tigerlan.org 

For our full list of upcoming events, 

visit the CPU LAN Yard page at 

www.computerpoweruser.com/LanYard. 

CPU / July 2009 107

Intel LAN Fest InfernaLAN 

& Netwar 17.0 

Zombies and raids were the order of 

the day (and night) at InfernaLAN, 

but it was Joshua Sniffen’s Seraphim that 

bathed the Intel cafeteria in DuPont, 

Wash., in a heavenly light. Its beauty and 

craftsmanship smote the competition hip 

and thigh. 

This 3.5GHz Core i7 mod started out 

as a Lian-Li PC-V351 micro-ATX cube. 

Even with the extra room this chassis 

afforded Joshua over the PC-V300, he 

still needed to make room for a dualpump 

watercooling setup, cold cathodes, 

and an EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 

216 Superclocked, not to mention a 

beautiful, custom Plexiglas GPU water 

block he created. Blessed with a Dremel, 

he proceeded to make the interior of the 

Lian-Li more holy. Still, Joshua needed 

the patience of Job to install everything. 

He etched the amazing Armored Angel 

drawing by James Dies into his transparent 

GPU water block cover. To dress the 

tool marks around the edges of the 

block—or rather his third, as the first two 

blocks cracked—he touched them up 

with a pillar of propane fire. A custom 

LED harness gave this angel its halo. 

Next, he mounted the graven image on 

a Koolance CPU-350 cooling block, which 


necessitated the second pump. The copper 

radiator was a new, unreleased model from 

Koolance. (Hey, it pays to have connections 

with one of the Chosen.) 

Joshua nearly had to strike a Faustian 

bargain to install the big pixel-pusher, and 

the integration of the cooling system proved 

so devilish that he had to snake some of the 

hoses into place using chopsticks. 

Joshua customized and/or fabricated 

the wiring harnesses to be easily hidden 

and no longer than necessary. He took 

the same approach with the lengths of the 

coolant hoses. Another modification was 

to move the drive mounts ahead to allow 

an 80mm fan to fit flush with the rear 

panel. Rubber grommets keep the SATA 

drives from passing any vibrations to the 

chassis. Finally, a cunningly attached bay 

cover completely stealths the Blu-ray 

drive yet ejects the tray with the touch of 

a finger. 

Joshua credits Christopher Jahosky and 

James Dies for the artwork on the outside 

of the case, which he lovingly rendered in 

vinyl. And we couldn’t help but credit 

Joshua for hand-crafting the top mod in 

CPU’s InfernaLAN competition. ▲ 

by Marty Sems 

An impressive 291 attendees registered 

for an intense 26-hour gaming 

binge at the Omaha, Neb.based 

Netwar 17, held on April 24 and 25. 

The venue is a large hangar-like building 

typically used for indoor volleyball, but 

remove the nets and install a ’Net, and 

you’ve got yourself one of the largest LAN 

events held in the Midwest, with enough 

space left over to keep Crucial’s dodgeball 

tournament indoors during the rainy, gray 

afternoon. The stripped-down affair was 

for PC gaming only; if you want to attend 

Netwar, leave your gaming console and TV 

at home. Game tournaments were voted 

on by attendees prior to the event and 

included Call of Duty 4 and Left 4 Dead. 

Dedicated servers were also available for 

Team Fortress 2 and Counter-Strike: 

Source. Over $6,000 in prizes was awarded 

to attendees. 

On Saturday, CPU hosted the first-ever 

PC Build Challenge in which 26 DIY 

builders assembled a PC as fast as they 

could for a shot at one of 10 prizes. The 

four-hour event ran from 11:00 a.m. to 

3:00 p.m. Saturday, and in that time, the 

builders blazed through our parts, shredded 

standoffs, and thoroughly impressed 

us with their screw-spinning skills. The 

assembled crowd also got into the act. 

Builders who managed a flawless build 

(each error cost the builder 30 seconds) 

often got a roaring cheer from bystanders. 

One builder had never built a PC 

before and said he now feels confident 

enough to try it on his own. 

A user who goes by the handle “Bean” 

achieved the fastest build time at 4:45 

(min:sec) and walked away with the “Best 

$500 Family PC” from CPU’s May issue, 

“PC Challenge,” sponsored by Newegg. 

The top 10 all built PCs in less than 7 minutes: 

The second- and third-place builders 

place got Gigabyte motherboards, the 

fourth- and fifth-place builders got Ge- 

Force graphics cards, and the sixth- and 

seventh-place builders each got high-performance 

memory kits, courtesy of Crucial. 

The remaining top 10 didn’t walk 

away empty-handed, either; they each got 

a free one-year subscription to CPU. We 

had a great time at Netwar, as usual, and 

you can bet we’ll be there next time (with 

magnetic tip screwdrivers). 

by Andrew Leibman

ack door | q&a 

Q&A With 

David “Dadi” Perlmutter 

The Man Behind Mobility Looks Ahead 

David “Dadi” Perlmutter may be the most important man at Intel you’ve never heard of. From the Israel 

Development Center, he spearheaded the Pentium M and Centrino efforts and, through them, changed Intel’s 

entire course of processor evolution. Today, as executive vice president and general manager of Intel’s Mobility 

Group, Perlmutter is in charge of product and architecture development across Intel’s entire microprocessor 

spectrum and thus is pivotal in laying the foundations on which so much of future computing will be built. 

QForbes described you as “a relentless 

arguer.” Is this accurate? 

My assistant nods her head 

DP (laughs). I hope I’m not argumentative 

in a disruptive manner. Call it more 

of a debate than argument. “Argument” is 

more of a negative. Debate is trying to get 

things sorted out and understood from 

multiple angles. It’s the Jewish scholar way 

of learning. You have this opinion? OK, I’ll 

use the other opinion. When you have 

been convinced by me, I’ll argue the other 

way. That’s a very good way to make sure 

you don’t agree on things too soon. 

Q Pentium 

M marked a sea change in 

the direction of PC processors. What 

was your role in its development? 

DP 

I didn’t come up with the idea. 

It was a few architects in my 

team. My role was to grasp the beauty 

and importance of it and push it forward. 

Pentium M was built on the ashes 

of a previous design we tried to do and 

basically failed. But we had some basic 

design ideas that we wanted to carry forward, 

and we found a new business 

model that we wanted to promote. And 

I don’t think we could have articulated 

it well then, but it eventually turned out 

to focus on power and performance efficiency 

rather than frequency. It received 

a great deal of pushback throughout 

Intel. The only place that liked the idea 

at the time was the mobile group. This 

was the first time they had an optimized 

solution for their program other than 

squeezing and shoehorning a desktop 

CPU into a notebook. 


Q The 

old paradigm was performance. 

The current paradigm that 

replaced it is efficiency. Is there another 

paradigm coming up? 

DP 

Phase one was to take a desktop 

product and convince people to 

buy not based on frequency but on what 

we call the four vectors of mobility: performance, 

form factor, battery, and wireless 

connections. We increased battery by 3X, 

performance increased significantly, and, 

within a year from the invention of 

Centrino, we moved the thickness from 

about 1.7 inches to 1.1 to 1.2 inches. 

Today, it’s even thinner. We convinced 

Intel to use this paradigm not just on notebooks 

but also desktops and servers, which 

helped Intel double the pace on introducing 

new microprocessor architecture from 

four or five years to every two years. 

Phase three, which we are now in the 

midst of, takes this notion all the way 

down to what you will call Internet in your 

pocket. The first instance of this product 

line is the Atom, which took power and 

power efficiency to way bigger extremes 

than the Pentium M. The first iteration of 

this is notebooks, but we have aspirations 

to really be big in handhelds and smartphones. 

We like to call it Mobile Internet 

Device because it’s beyond a phone. 

Q You’ve 

already shown an 80-core 

chip, but are there limits to the 

scaling of parallelism in processors? 

DP 

This is a big debate. I think that 

how you power this stuff is going 

to be very much limited to very specific 

usage models. For the day-to-day things 

that you do, applications do not tend to 

parallelize nicely. However, media or 

graphics or extremely high-performance 

computing doing linear equation solutions, 

this kind of thing does relatively well parallelized—things 

that rely heavily on visualization, 

voice recognition, and so on. 

Q Look 

10 or 20 years ahead. How 

will the everyday experience of 

computing differ from today? 

DP 

I wish I knew. I do believe that 

within 10, 15, or 20 years, the 

human interface with computing is going 

to be more native and more pervasive. 

Computers are going to be in anything we 

do. Even if you’re not operating them, 

they will guide us or do things for us, and 

the interface is going to be way more natural 

than it is today. Are we going to have 

computing as part of our bodies, replacing 

or helping in human vision or thinking or 

whatever? I don’t know. I hope so. ▲ 

Subscribers can go to www.cpumag.com/ 

cpujul09/perlmutter for bonus content.

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