Tip # 5


Prevent bad sectors? This will read like "How To Take Good Care Of Your Hard Disks" it will prevent bad sectors (if at all possible). Sometimes bad sectors just happen...

1.Never Bump or Drop your hard disk . The HDD may be mostly made of metal but you have to handle them like eggs;

2. If you don't want bad sectors, never move your PC while it is on. Never Shutdown. Shutoff. Move the PC. Then turn it on.

3. Do not put HDD, on top of each other. Make sure they are in proper packaging (anti-static bags and clamshells or styro boxes) if you have to store them;

4. Only hold or handle your HDDs by their edges, never touch the printed circuit boards or electronic parts;

5. If you have to put the HDD down on, lay it down on an anti-static bag

6. When mounting HDDs use the proper screws (coarse thread and shorter screw) as opposed to the screws for CDROM drives and Floppy Drives which are fine thread, and the case screws which are coarse thread but longer;

7. Use as many screws to mount your HDD as possible, usually 4. Some techs will use only 3, I have seen HDDs mounted using only 1 (@&$%) screw. Why? the 4 screws will ensure proper heat transfer from the HDD to the case;

8. Tighten but not overtighten the screws. Your screws are steel, the HDD case is aluminum, you are in danger or damaging the thread in your HDD if you overtighten;

9. You may mount the HDD in any way (level, un-level, upwards, downwards, vertical) whatever it takes to make it fit your casing. There will be no problem performance-wise.

But, mind you, if in the future say 2 years, you have to unmount and reinstall the HDD in a configuration different to what it has been accustomed to, the HDD might die on you just like that. Example ? vertically mounted for 2 years, then i-reinstall i horizontally. the hard disk don't work anymore, It happened to me 3X already. Perfectly working HDD, then remounted in a different attitude, deads! Most probably the bearings have gotten used to the old mounting and seize up when mounted differently.

10. Keep your HDDs cool. Blow fans on them, use coolers. At the very least make sure your casing is properly ventilated. Heat shortens the life of HDDs.

11. Cables? Make sure your cables are good and connected correctly.

12. Power Supply? Make sure your power supply is up to snuff This is where most HDDs fail after serving you for a long time. Low 12-volt rails kill HDD motors. Bad 5V kill HDD electronics.

13. Power connectors. Make sure your power connectors (those white plugs with yellow, black and red wires) fit well. Loose connectors provide bad power. After running your PC for a while, say 15-30 minutes, touch your connectors, if they are hot, then there's something loose, replace with a spare connector and label the bad connector. If you do system checkups, it is good to take note of heat discoloration on power connectors and replace those bad ones;

14. Brown outs do not just kill lights, they kill HDDs. Brown outs are sometimes accompanied by bad power spikes and deadly voltage fluctuations. If you can afford a good UPS, buy one.

15. When transferring HDDs between systems don't just take one and install into another and fire it up just like that. Please make sure you get into BIOS first and make sure that your new system is set to ?auto?. If your old system detected the HDD using manual or non-standard parameters, then duplicate the parameters first in BIOS in the new system before booting up. You might scramble all your data if your new system tries to read the HDD using wrong parameters.

16. If you use your PC a lot, defrag your partitions once a month. If not, a defrag once every 3 months will be fine. For those of you who think that defragmention speeds up your HDDs death, may I give a small explanation. If your partition is quite defragmented, your HDD will be doing a lot of unnecessary work by default, its head going back and forth trying to get to the different parts of your files scattered all over your disk. Besides with a defragmented disk, you will have a more responsive PC.

17. Install enough RAM. You don't want your HDD swapping files back and forth from system RAM and the swap file. Lot's of work for the HDD, slows PC!

18, Partition your HDD. At least 2 partitions. One partition for your Operating System. The other one for your data. This way if your OS gets corrupted (and it happens) you don?t have to perform PC acrobatics to get your data back. You can reformat your OS partition and be assured that your data is safe in a separate partition.

This is all I can think of for now, I've spent an hour on it, feel free to comment or add. Hope it helps.

Tip #4

There are a lot of PC Modders who want to overclock their rig, but it seems many don't understand the basics. To help them out, I had written a series of articles, Unfortunately, new posts in the overclocking section are bumping them downwards, and many are simply not aware that they exist.

This post creates an index to those articles.

Overclocking 101: CPU Performance - Its all in the bus speed
Overclocking can be done by raising your CPU speed without changing the front side bus (by goign form a setting of 13x133 to 15x133) or by increasing the front side bus. However, overclocking your processors front side bus gives you more benefit than just raising the processors total speed.

Test chip: XP2100+
Platfonm: NForce 2 Ultra 400
Memory: 2x256MB Dual Channel (2-3-3-11)

Benchmark: Super Pi 1M (compute the value of Pi to the one million decimal place)
At default the calculation is completed in 62 seconds.

Next we raise the front side bus from 266MHz to 333MHz but dropping the
multiplier from 13 to to 10.5. This results in a speed gain of 20MHz, but that is too small to affect our testing. At this setting the calculation is completed in 58 seconds. Thats a performance increase of 7 percent.

Next we raise the front side bus from 333MHz to 400MHz but dropping the
multipler from 10.5 to to 8.5. This results in a speed loss of 33MHz, but
agian, that is too small to affect our testing. At this setting the
calculation is completed in 56 seconds. Thats a performance increase of 11
percent.

1733MHz (13x133) = 62s
1754MHz (10.5x166) = 58s (+7% from default)
1704MHz (8.5x200) = 56s (+11% from default)

A 1700MHz 400FSB chip would be peform as well as the XP2400+ (2000MHZ/266FSB [15x133]). Unfortunately I cannot run multipliers higher than 13x on my motherboard to verify this.

But to test this theory I lowered the front side bus from 400MHz to 333MHz but raised the multipler from 8.5 to to 11. This results in a speed gain of

133MHz from the 8.5x200 setting. At this setting the calculation is completed in 56 seconds. Thats the same time as the time it took it to complete the calculation at 1704MHz with a 400MHz FSB.

1704MHz (8.5x200) - 56s
1837MHz (11x166) - 56s

So basically an increase in 66MHz, from 333MHz to 400MHz, in the front side bus was equal to 133MHz increase in total CPU speed.

Extrapolating from this conservatively (since an increase from 266MHz to
333MHz is proportionally higher than an increase from 333MHz to 400MHz), an increase in 133MHz on the from side bus, from 266MHz to 400MHz, is equal to a 266MHz increase in total speed.

This is not true for all applications though. Some applications do not take
advantage of the higher front side bus. Games and MS Office applications
generally improve with the higher front side bus speed.

Pros:

1.Gives a significant increase in perfromance in games and office
applications.
2. Does not result in a increase in CPU temperature.
3. No need to increase vcore voltage.
4. Does not result in greater wear and tear on the CPU.

Cons:

1. No increase in other applications like Content creation and DivX encoding.
2. Requires higher speed memory and motherboards that support 333/400MHZ FSB's.
3. Stress on the motherboard and memory is increase and the memory and
northbridge will run hotter shortening memory and motherboard life.

Overclocking 102: How far should you go?
Faster speeds require more vcore. So we are always tempted to raise the vcore and push a bit farther. But how far should you push.

XP2100+ (1733MZ/266FSB) = 115.6fps

Now if we push our XP2100+ to 2000MHz with a 333FSB, we get this:

2005MHz (12x166) = 137.6fps

This is a nice setting. A good 22fps increase at default voltage. Almost all T-Bred "B"s should be able to do this at 1.65v or less, which is within the cores design limit. DLTC's could even do this at 1.5v.

With a 333FSB, you can use cheaper PC2700 and your northbridge wont run too hot.

Now lets max out overclock at default.

2170MHz (11x197) = 153.3fps

Push it further. We need 1.65v to keep this setting stable.

2205MHz (11x200) = 156.5fps

A bit faster, a lot hotter.

Okay lets push further. 1.75v

2315MHz (11x210) = 162.8fps

A bit faster, a lot lot lot hotter.

Overclocking 103A: What to buy - Casings
Overclocking is about getting more bang for your buck. There is a sense of pride in spending a little and performing better than a CPU/motherboard/memory combo which cost twice or trice as much.

If your going to overclock your PC, there are five components that are very important. Lets get one thing clear. These are all minimum requirements

You will need a full size ATX case with good cooling characteristics. This should mean that it should have space for at least one 80mm exhaust fan and opening in the lower front (either in the front bezel or the floor of the case) to let air come in. I am surprised at how many generic cases don't have any intakes in front.Plenty of generic cases have this characteristics so I won't bother picking one.

One thing though. About the cases with side exhaust fans. These might cool your CPU better but they disrupt the front to back/ bottom to top air flow which is essential to system (as opposed to CPU cooling). I would avoid them altogether (see below).

The 80 mm fan should be a 0.15 or 0.17a fan. This would spin abot 2500-3000 rpm and move 28-35 CFM of air.

I have seen several generic cases in the market that support two 80mm exhaust fans, and they don't cost more. These would of course be better.

All in all you can get a good case and fan for about P1,500. The requirement for a 80mm exhaust fan is a mandatory requirement for system builders AMD's official design guide, so whether you overclock or not your case should have one.

=========================
Note on exhaust "grills"
A lot of the generic cases in the market have spaces fo exhaust but usually provide many small holes, or worst little slits. These restrict air flow. Even Lian Li better designed stampped grill is less than ideal. What to do, cut it off and put a simple wire grill.
=========================

Side intakes and exhaust fans:

A side intake fan mounted in the middle of the side panel results in poor air flow around the hard drives. Those new 7200 rpm drives get fairly hot. Why is air comes in from the side, less air is sucked in from the front.

A side exhaust fan pulls cool air which comes from the front of the case out, before it ever reaches your CPU.

A side inrake blowing air at you VGA card is a good idea though. If you look at the Cheiftec cases you will see where they out their intake fans. Thats where they should be. Notably these cases have 3 80mm exhasit fans so that even with an intake at th side, they still draw air from the front.

The Lian Li cases and Cooler Masters do not employ side intake and exhaust fans. My advice is avoid, them or at least place them where they can do some good.


Overclocking 103B: What to buy - AMD Heatsink fans
Scrimping on the heatsink for a PC you plan to overclock is not a good thing, so we wont.

CAK4-88T - This HSF got a lot of good ratings in reviews. But if you will look at these reviews closely, since they are testing the heatsinks and not the fans they replace the fan. With the default variable speed 2800~4000 rpm fan this is a mediocre cooling solution.

Second its a fairly heavy heatsink (625+grams or so), so think twice about this option if yo take your PC to lan parties.

The heatsink though is good. It is copper and is built utilizing the expensive technology. You can place a Thermaltake Smart Case Fan 2 or a 70mm 5600rpm TMD on this unit and it makes it a good overclockers unit.

Another option is to get the 80mm fan on it to run 4000rpm all the time. I understand this can be done by cutting off the thermistor attached to the fan. This require dissambling the heat sink. I HAVE NOT TRIED THIS MYSELF SO IF IT DOES NOT WORK DON'T BLAME ME. Also this will void your warranty.

Cost: P1,800~2,000 (CAK + additional fan) or P1,200 (CAK + void warranty). It hard to recommend since they are now better options.
------------------------------
Volcano 9 - It looks impressive, and with its 4800rpm 80mm fan it can actually keep up with a CAK4-88T. But than the CAK4-88T is not all that impressive unless modified. I am not recommending this one for overclocking.

P9,000
------------------------------
Volcano 7+: This was Thermaltatakes top of the line heatsink for a long time. At 6000rpm it is stll competitive with newer heatsinks. It heatsink is also built using skivving technology. It high pitched vacuum cleaner shrill makes it unlikely you will run it at 6000rpm.

Still it does a good job at 4800 rpm (though is still pretty noisy). Running 6000rpm improves tmeps by 0.5~1 degree. I would have recommended this last summer, but there are better options now.
P1,150.
------------------------------
Volcano 11. This unit has a flaw. Thermaltake abandoned the expensive skivign technology in the Volcano 7+ for the lower xost method of soldering/attaching separate copper fins onto the heatsink. The Volcano 11 while being huge and having a powerful 80mm fan does not perform better than the VOlcano 7+ (@4800rpm). Newer versions might be better.

The grill they put on the fan restrict air flow too much.
P1,400.
------------------------------
TT Silent Boost

This one looks good. It has a decent sink. WHile TT has not used skivving technology in it they have imporve their soldering. I can't recommend it though because their are better options for the same cost.

P1,450
------------------------------

TT Volcano 12 Extreme

A budget version of the SLK900A. With a 80mmx80mmx32mm fan and a 60+ fin all copper heatsink, it looks like a monster and performs like one. Most likely you own run it at 4800rpm because the 48db's would be defeaning (also test show that it does not really work better with more the 40-50CFM of air flow). But one running at 3500~4000rpm will be bearable enough.

The shroud supports 70mm and 80mm fans, so if better fans come out you can simply place the stock one which would make an awesome case fan at around 3500 rpm)

Only drawback...LAN Party fans... its all of 725grams.
P1,450
-------------------------------

Aero 7 Lite

It amazing how well this thing does with a CU-AL heatsink and a 20CFM fan. Its 38 or so DB's is more annoying than you thing (sounds like a hair dryer). But it cools almost as well as a Volcano 12 and weighs in at 550 grams.

Drawback. It has a CU-AL combo heatsink so you habve to run it at full speed for it work well. Also, if the blower breaks out of warranty, you can't replace it.

Another drawback is the restat, in some cases it does not fit too well. So it will be recessed.

P1,100
-------------------------------
Aero 7+

When the old Aero 7 had to be recalled, they replaced it with the 7+. The 7+ did not perform as well as the original 7 and is now out performed but it sibling, the 7 Lite, despite having a all copper heatsink. Cant recommend it
P1,650.
RECOMMENDATIONS:

Aero 7 Lite
Volcano 12 Extreme

Right now I would go with the Aero Lite. The Volcano 12 is impressive, but it I am worried about its weight and I do take my PC with from time to time.


Overclocking 103C: AMD Motherboards
AMD's are locking their chips so the best option for the overclocker is a NForce 2 motherboard. A KT333/400 will limit you to a 175MHz/185MHz FSB. Sure you can run thes 200+ FB, but sooner or latter you will corrupt the data on your HS and wear our you AGP card, PCI cards and HD faster. This gives you a max of about a 12% OC. Not very good.

With a KT600 you will be limited to the 200~210 range and they really dont cost less the NForce2 boards.

So what board:
Extreme Overclocker: Abit NF7-S Rev. 2 - P6,000 plus RMA problems :) (gotta sed it back to where you bought it).

Watercooler on a budget: EPoX 8RDA Rev. 2.x - P4,750
For the rest of us: Soltek SL-NV400L64 - P3,550
Best buy: Soltek SL-NV400L64

Why? If you are going to spend on a watercooling kit, I recommend you go the Intel route instead 865PE+P IV 2.6C. It would cost about the same and you have a better upgrade path, just make sure you get a Prescott ready board. Even with memory that cannot go 1MHz over 400MHz, you have a good chance at hitting the 3250MHz mark.

It would take an AMD XP3300~XP3500 to match that.
One reason to take the AMD route is to get the best bang for the buck, if you spend a lot I would take the boxed P4 and an Asus 865PE and their 3 year warranties :)

While the articles lean towards overclocking AMD systems, the basics remain the same whether you are using an Intel or AMD rig.

Those who want to overclock are encouraged to read and understand these articles.

Good day and happy overclocking and overclock at your own risk!!!

Tip # 3

A lot of us have gotten into overclocking here. It is important to understand the "why's" otherwise we may wind up spend tons of cash and get little return. There are two types of overclocking:

1. Getting more bang for the buck.
2. Overclocking for its own sake.

The Hardcore:

I will discuss the second one first. Overclocking is a hobby in itself, and getting the highest overclokc is the purpose. In this case, the costs are not that important. This is why you see people on the overclocking databases using XP3000+ and XP3200's (to get the best wafers), $1000 Prometia cooling kits and the like. Getting the an additional 100-200MHz is worth it.

In this sense overclocking is like competition. Are the costs worth it? Yes, consideirng your purposes they are simply because you wont get the fastest OC without the equipment.

For most of us, overclocking is a mild hobby or done really for the sake of getting additional speed.

In this cases how much you spend is important, because there is a point where overclocking cost so much, well frankly you might as well go out and buy a P3.2EE and run it at stock speed.

1. Components of system performance.

The CPU is only one component of system performance.

RAM

With todays operating current systems (XP and 2K) and games, 512MB of memory has become mandatory IMHO in order to get decent speed. Running a 2300MHz CPU on 256MB will just result in a bottleneck with the CPU waiting for instructions to process.

VIDEO

A fast CPU is good, for games, what really maxes out these days is video. Given the average video card we use these days 440MX, 5200, 9200, Ti200/500, 9100 and running at 1024 or 1280 resolutions, the video card is what hinders performance and not th CPU. So don't be surprised if a friends XP1700+ Palomino with a 9800 blows away your 2400MHz box with a 440Mx or ATI9100.

MOTHEBROARD:

Without a 333/400MHz capable board, an overlock to really high speeds is useless. The FSB is a bottleneck. The difference though between a NForce2 Ultra 400, NForce2 400, KT600 and even the low cost ECS L7S7A2 is rather small. A KT333 board and its 166MHz FSb will max out though somewhere near 2000MHz. At this point the FSB really becomes a serious bottleneck.

TIP # 2


Microsoft Office Shortcuts!

1. Ctrl+Z is the magic undo combo. It simply undoes your last action, say, the paragraph you accidentally erased (it works in other applications, too--try it on the Photoshop filter you really wish you hadn't applied, or after renaming a document or a folder in a Windows directory). Programs vary in the number of times you can undo something, but some will let you Ctrl+Z all the way back to the beginning. (And, yes, there is a redo command, just hit Ctrl+Y.)

2. Ctrl+B, Ctrl+I, or Ctrl+U apply bold, italics, or underline to highlighted text, respectively.

3. Ctrl+P prints whatever is in an active window.

4. Ctrl+Backspace erases an entire word at a time, instead of a letter. Ctrl+up or down arrows let you scroll an entire paragraph at a time, instead of one line, and Ctrl+Shift+up or down arrow will select an entire paragraph.

5. Ctrl+Enter inserts a page break in Word.

6. Alt+Ctrl+C inserts the copyright symbol (Alt+Ctrl+R inserts the registered trademark symbol, and Alt+Ctrl+T makes the trademark symbol).

7. In Outlook, you can jump to the section you want: Ctrl+1 switches to the Mail window, Ctrl+2 switches to the Calender, Ctrl+3 to Contacts, Ctrl+4 to Tasks, and Ctrl+5 to Notes.

8. Ctrl+Shift+M starts a new message in Outlook. (Use Ctrl+Shift+C for a new contact.)

TIP # 1

Tips And Tricks For Today!!!

Keyboard shortcuts are a great way to keep things moving when you're using your computer, and they let you perform tasks without lifting your hands from the keyboard. These are some of the basics that you should know--at least if you want to cut down on the number of times you reach for the mouse every day.

1. Ctrl+Alt+Del is the mother of all keyboard shortcuts, affectionately known as the "three-fingered salute," since it's so useful when your Windows box locks up. Pressing the combo once (simultaneously) opens the Windows Task Manager. (From within the Task Manager, you can force-quit a crashed program, see a list of processes or applications running on your machine, check performance parameters such as how hard your CPU is working, or track your network usage.) Is your machine totally locked up? Reach over, grab the mouse and click Shut Down.

2. Ctrl+S saves the file you're working on. Ever lost your homework, a spreadsheet at work, or some video you've been editing? Hit Ctrl+S (simultaneously) to save. Hit it early and often! (Want to open a file from within the program you're running? Ctrl+O universally opens the File/Open window.)

3. Ctrl+C copies text, files, or icons that you've highlighted, Ctrl+V pastes them where you point your mouse (hey, you can't completely eliminate using it), and Ctrl+X cuts whatever you've highlighted out of the document (or folder, photo, movie clip, or whatever it is you're working on). Ctrl+A highlights the entire file you're working on or everything in a folder or on your desktop.

4. Alt+Tab lets you switch on the fly between all of your open windows. Press the combination once to switch to your last open window or multiple times to switch to any other open window. Holding down Alt+Tab will bring up a system window that shows you what apps are running and which one you're switching to.

5. Ever wonder why almost every Windows program has the F in File underlined, not to mention the E in Edit, and so on so forth across the top of the Window? Hit Alt + that letter to open that particular menu; you can either use the arrow keys to move around within that window, or keep your eyes peeled for more underlined letters to use more Alt+ key combinations.

6. The Windows key (the one that looks like the Windows logo, or a flag) +R opens the Run dialog. From here, you can launch a command-line window by typing cmd, but you can do a lot more. You can, for example, paste in a folder path, such as C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\My Documents\Expenses, and Windows will open it automatically. You can also use the Run dialog to open Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, or Notepad. Just type winword to launch Word, type excel to launch Excel, and notepad to launch Notepad.

7. Windows+E launches Windows Explorer, defaulting to My Computer.

8. F2 renames a selected file or folder. (This is so much easier than right-clicking!)

9. F3 launches Search if you're on the desktop or in a folder.

10. Windows+M minimizes all open windows, and Windows+D shows your desktop. (These results look similar, but they're slightly different; Windows+M minimizes all windows that support the command, while Windows+D actually raises the desktop to the top.) This is a great one for when the boss pops up in your cubicle. Once the boss gone, hit Shift+Windows+M to bring up your minimized windows, or Windows+D to drop your desktop back down again.

Is Phenom Really Faster Than Athlon?

AMD removed the core count suffix X2, X3 and X4 from the logo and changed its nomenclature instead: 9000 models have four cores, while the upcoming triple cores have a 7000 model number.

AMD has had a difficult year. Not only did the long anticipated Phenom processor arrive at considerably lower clock speeds than expected (2.3 GHz instead of 3 GHz), but the current stepping of the so-called Barcelona core is afflicted with a nasty bug. While there are workarounds for it, only an updated stepping will allow AMD to resume quad core processor deliveries in the server segment. The fact that the quad core doesn't deliver sufficient performance to attack Intel at the high-end doesn't help either. As a consequence of these problems, AMD has had to readjust its product strategy, and position the processor together with the new Spider platform in the mainstream. Despite all of the issues, though, Phenom isn't as bad as it may appear, as our comparison between the Phenom and the Athlon 64 X2 shows.

In fact, AMD has a pretty significant advantage over Intel when it comes to upgrading existing systems with a quad core processor. While Intel has been quick with launching new platforms for each and every new processor generation due to modified requirements, AMD has not changed the specifications for Socket AM2 at all. As a consequence, it is technically possible to deploy a quad core Phenom processor into a Socket AM2 motherboard that has been running an Athlon 64 or Athlon 64 X2 - all you need is a BIOS update. This doesn't work in every case - some motherboards may not be able to handle the Phenoms' power requirements of 95 or 125 W - but most enthusiast motherboards can be upgraded from a single or dual core to a quad core processor easily.

The upgrade situation definitely requires some attention, as both AMD and Intel are roughly half a year away from the next significant technology update. AMD will introduce Socket AM3, which will bring with it DDR3 memory, while Intel's next-generation Nehalem will finally integrate the memory controller with the processor. Knowing this, even the upcoming Core 2 Duo E8000 or Core 2 Quad Q9000 series have to be seen as interim products on the way to the next generation, despite the certainty that these will outperform the existing Core 2 products by roughly 10%.

Getting the most out of x86 hardware requires fancy code and knowledge of processor internals—unless you’re doing things the easy way: letting the AMD libraries make your Linux app fly.

A common perception among developers is that, in order to get the best performance out of a processor, especially in the tight loops that process multimedia, you have to drop down to the assembly level.

Even if you use intrinsics to operate at a slightly higher level, it is believed that you're forced to learn a lot about the processor architecture to make judicious decisions about how to craft the code. Moreover, the code needs to accommodate the different feature sets of earlier generations of x86 processors.

In sum, the perception is that squeezing the last bit of performance out of code is a real headache.

It's not.

Because, fortunately, AMD provides a series of libraries that remove most of this drudgery. One of these, the AMD Performance Library, is a vast collection of imaging- and signal-processing-oriented functions that exploit advanced features of modern processors to accelerate software performance.

The library contains a dispatcher that queries the processor when the library is first called and determines the chip's capabilities. The dispatcher then loads the functions that make best use of that processor's feature set.

As new processor generations are released, AMD releases updates to the library. Sites that use the APL as a dynamic linked component can then upgrade immediately by swapping in the new release. This step is particularly easy on Linux®, where it requires only a replacement of the library in the default library directory.

Using the library in applications distributed to customers, clients, and users is facilitated by the fact that the APL is available at no cost from AMD.

This article describes how to use the library on Linux, including installation and writing C/C++ code to access the library. A companion piece discusses how to use the library on Windows® and access it from the Microsoft® .NET framework. Users of Mono software (http://www.mono-project.com/) on Linux should consult the companion article for helpful information.

AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processors and AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core Processors for Desktop

AMD LIVE!™ The first digital entertainment solution that puts virtually everything you need in one place. Do more in less time with true multi-tasking Increase your performance by up to 80% with the AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core processor. Work or play with multiple programs without any stalling or waiting. Dual-core technology is like having two processors, and two working together is better and faster than one working alone.

Microsoft posts the release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3 to its download site. However, the software giant warns that SP3 isn't for everyone.

The release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3 is now available at Microsoft's download site.

The move marks the first opportunity for all users of the six-year-old operating system to try out its final upgrade. Previously, several thousand users were given access to test builds of SP3 only by Microsoft's invitation.

According to a company spokeswoman, Windows XP SP3 RC (release candidate) will be available only from the Microsoft Download Center. Unlike Vista SP1, which debuted last week, XP SP3 will not be soon added to Windows Update. In fact, the spokeswoman seemed to say SP3 wouldn't be offered to users via Microsoft's update service before the service pack is finished next year.

"XP SP3 2ill be added to WU [Windows Update] in 1H '08," she said in an e-mail late Tuesday.

The download weighed in at about 336MB, but when SP3 is offered through Windows Update, the installation file will be much smaller -- around 70MB.

Even though the release candidate can be installed by anyone running XP SP2, Microsoft warned off casual users from trying the preview. "As this is a release candidate, we strongly encourage only those who are comfortable installing pre-release code to download Windows XP SP3," said the spokeswoman.

The spokeswoman also confirmed that the final version of Windows XP SP3 remains slated for delivery in the first half of 2008.
Significance of SP3

Recently, Microsoft downplayed the significance of Windows XP SP3. In a white paper posted to its Web site, the company praised Windows Vista at XP's expense, reminding users that Vista boasted beefed-up security, for instance. The spokeswoman also chimed in. "Windows XP SP3 does not bring significant portions of Windows Vista functionality to Windows XP," she said.

That may be so, but according to a Florida performance testing software developer, XP SP3 is not only 10% faster than XP SP2, but more than twice as fast as Vista SP1, claims that Microsoft disparaged within days.

XP SP3, in fact, is the newest version of Vista's biggest rival, according to Forrester Research. U.S. and European businesses will delay Vista deployment, Forrester analyst Benjamin Gray said a month ago, in part because of application incompatibility problems unheard of in XP. "That's causing a lot of XP shops to take a wait-and-see approach to Vista," said Gray then.

Windows XP debuted in October 2001 and was last updated as SP2 in August 2004; SP3 will be the final major upgrade of the operating system.

[Via PCWorld]