Friday, June 10, 2005

Quad-Core System Reviewed: Two AMD Opteron 275 in Tandem. AMD Opteron 275 Microprocessors Checked Out

2:49 pm | Yaroslav Lyssenko

GamePC has taken a look at AMD Opteron 275 processor, which is the top-of-the-range server dual-core chip from Advanced Micro Devices aimed at 2-way servers or workstations. The microprocessor is clocked at 2.20GHz, equipped withn 128KB of L1 and 1MB of L2 cache and is connected to the rest of the system using 1GHz HyperTransport bus.

“Windows XP/Server 2003 and Linux can handle quad core systems properly, and will manage single-threaded applications over all four cores, leading to smoother performance. One of the most impressive aspects of my quad-core testing was when I ran three simultaneous mp3 encoding sessions along with an MPEG to WMV video conversion, while at the same time browsing the web through multiple windows. The massive amount of encoding going around in the background didn’t slow down web browsing at all, and it felt just as snappy as if the web browser was the only process running on the system,” writes GamePC web-site.

The top dual-core Opteron microprocessor boasts such features as SSE3 instructions as well as AMD’s PowerNow! technology aimed at reducing power consumption and heat dispassion parameters.

“Many have trained themselves after so many years that once you start up a CPU intensive application, you typically wait until it’s done or use the system lightly in order to not consume up too much CPU power. With a quad-core Opteron system, you simply don’t have to make that type of choice. With this much CPU power under the hood, you multi-task with no slowdowns, even with dozens upon dozens of Windows open,” adds the author.

• GamePC: K8 Times Two AMD’s Opteron 275 Dual-Core Processor.

Best Drivers for NVIDIA GeForce Picked Up. Official and Unofficial NVIDIA ForceWare Drivers Compared

2:09 pm | Yaroslav Lyssenko

VR-Zone Hardware has posted an article containing a comparison of the latest graphics cards’ drivers for NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards. The investigation contains six drivers starting from NVIDIA ForceWare 71.89 WHQL official drivers and includes some Beta versions as well as enthusiast tweaked builds. The author compared drivers in terms of performance as well as quality criteria in a number of modern games.

“Quite obviously, the DNA Force 1.3.744 Unofficial Drivers are the best drivers among the pack. It offers, subjectively, the best image quality, and objectively, the best performance. We encountered no issues with the 3 applications we ran. Great work on the tweaking by the DNA Team,” concludes VR-Zone Hardware.

• VR-Zone Hardware: nVidia Forceware Driver Comparison.

Two Become One: DoubleSight’s Double 19” TFT Display Reviewed. DoubleSight: Multiply Your PC Desktop Space

1:17 pm | Yaroslav Lyssenko

XYZ Computing has reviewed DoubleSight DS-1900 LCD monitor, a display which can act as two independent monitors. This dual 19” TFT LCD display provides 500:1 contrast ratio, 25ms response time, 250 cd/m² brightness, 2560x1024 resolution, 170°/170° viewing angles and scanning frequency of 31-80kHz horizontal and 56-75Hz vertical.

“When the DS-1900 was at its best was during normal, everyday work. This may seem boring but going from one 17” LCD to two 19” LCDs not only doubled the size of my desktop but it also increased my viewable area by 141%. This meant that multi-tasking was made a great deal easier as time would not be wasted opening, closing, minimizing, and maximizing programs as much. Instead windows could simply be shifted and programs could be used effortlessly at the same time. A second display may seem like a frivolous investment but that is only until you try it,” writes XYZ Computing.

DoubleSight introduces several new features with the DS-1900: height adjustable stand and adjustable tilting/sliding panels brackets. DoubleSight can be easily installed on a desk or wall-mounted due to its simplified slim flat design. DoubleSight’s ergonomic efficiency improves the user’s natural perception and ability to multitask by employing a primary “focal point” screen as well as a second screen for supporting peripheral vision.

• XYZ Computing: DoubleSight DS-1900 Dual 19 Inch LCD Monitor.

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