This article takes a look at the latest trends in PC hardware. Part I of this article covers the core components in a computer.
[BREAK=Motherboard]
Intel engineers have been on steroids ever since the release of the highly acclaimed 'Core 2' series of processors. They have released 5 supporting chipsets since the release of the Core 2 Duo in July ’06. Intel's latest chipsets are the P35, X38 and their derivatives. The mainstream P35 chipset introduced support for DDR3 RAM while still retaining support for DDR2 RAM. The X38 chipset introduced the PCI Express 2.0 standard, which provides more bandwidth for graphics cards by doubling the data rates. Also these boards have support for FSB upto 1333Mhz. Intel is now gearing up for the release of its newest X48 chipset.
AMD hasn't made as significant an advancement in the last couple of years as Intel, i.e. after the introduction of Intel’s Core 2 series. After halting its own line of chipsets a few years ago, AMD has been dependant on third party chipset manufacturers to support its line of Athlon64 processors. However, after acquiring ATI (one of the chipset makers for AMD) last year, AMD introduced the 690 Series chipset aimed at users looking for a cheap but well built board and a integrated solution on the motherboard. The new chipsets featured very good onboard graphics solution, sporting a scaled down version of its entry level graphics unit - Radeon X1300.
nVidia is the only chipset manufacturer with support for SLi technology in their chipsets. Their 650i and 680i range of chipsets provide SLi support for the Intel processors. nVidia released its latest chipsets - 780i and 750i at the end of last year. The 780i adds 3-Way SLI and PCI Express 2.0 over the 680i. The 750i and 650i fall under the Performance segment, whereas the 780i and 680i cater to the Enthusiast segment.
[BREAK=Processor]
With introduction of Core 2 series, Intel has taken over the performance crown from the previous AMD Athlon64 processor. Last year saw the introduction of Quad Core processors from both Intel and AMD. AMD had run into a few hiccups with some bugs in their Phenom range of processors, which were duly fixed in the new revision. AMD is holding on to its ground with aggressive pricing and forms the best solution with budget level dual cores. Also, Phenom is the first native Quad Core processor released in the market. Intel's native quad core processors will be launched this year end as per its Processor Road Map.
Meanwhile, Intel has shrunk the die-size on its next gen processors. The newly launched Core 2 Duo series, C2D E8400 and the top of the line (benchmark setting) QX9650 are now manufactured under 45nm process compared to the 65nm on the older C2D E6xxx processors
[BREAK=RAM]
With the release of demanding game engines and 3D rendering applications more bandwidth and faster memory is the need of the hour. Current DDR2 technology is almost saturated and is set to be replaced by DDR3 architecture. High pricing is preventing quick upgrades, but that should drop once it becomes more mainstream. For now gamers have to satisfy themselves with products like Kingston's HyperX that clocks to a blazing fast 1200Mhz.
In addition to speed, capacity is also an issue. The commonly used 32-bit OS can address a maximum of 4GB RAM thus becoming a limiting factor in the systems today. However, this can be overcome by shifting/migrating to a 64-bit OS of the same flavor.
[BREAK=Graphics Card]
Graphics cards or graphics accelerators are dedicated solutions designed to provide a standard display output as well as utilise their Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) to perform certain functions and calculations needed to render a 3D image. Graphics cards are used both for gaming as well as professional renders such as in CAD, Maya and so on. With the introduction of DirectX 10 games and compatible graphics cards, the graphics card segment got a huge boost last year. With high resolution displays getting more common and demanding game engines such as the one found in Crysis, Graphics card manufacturers nVidia and AMD-ATI have had to keep increasing the power of their GPU to keep up. Both these companies provide the user the ability to use dual Graphics Cards in their System for an increase in performance labelled SLI (nVidia) and CrossFire (ATI).
Leading cards from ATI and nVidia are HD 3870 X2 and GeForce 8800 Ultra respectively. The nVidia 8800GT holds the performance crown in the mid segment cards. nVidia have also launched their next generation cards starting with the GeForce 9600GT, a mid range card with performance level close to the 8800GT series.
[BREAK=Hard Drive]
Hard Drives have grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Today we have capacities ranging upto 1 TeraByte. A recent trend - apart from the increasing Hard Disc capacity - is to fit in more space on a single platter. The largest capacity on a single platter so far is 320GB, made available by Western Digital. Maximum capacity available in Seagate drives is 250GB per platter. Squeezing more capacity onto a single platter will increase the performance of the drive; reason being the time taken to seek data which would otherwise span over multiple platters is reduced. Also, a lesser number of platters reduces the cost of the hard drive. The cost of a Hard drive has been steadily decreasing. Another technology which was used to overcome thermal effects to allow greater recording densities is 'perpendicular recording'. This technology has been used in most of the hard drives manufactured since 2007. With a view towards economical power usage, Western Digital introduced a new range of drives named GreenPower - these drives are optimized for low power consumption and less noise. Western Digital also have their high performance Raptor drives aimed squarely at those seeking the fastest storage subsystem on a desktop; these have a spindle speed of 10,000 rpm vs. the conventional 7200rpm in other drives thereby reducing latency times as well as increasing transfer rates.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Hope this article has helped those who are out of touch with the latest trends in PC Technology or new to the world of computing. Part II of the article will cover the latest trends in I/O devices, Optical Drives, Power Supply Units, Display units and Audio Devices. Part II has been posted here http://www.techenclave.com/guides-and-tutorials/computing-trends-08-part-ii-106603.html .
- Motherboard
- Processor
- RAM
- Graphics Card
- Hard Drive
[BREAK=Motherboard]
Intel engineers have been on steroids ever since the release of the highly acclaimed 'Core 2' series of processors. They have released 5 supporting chipsets since the release of the Core 2 Duo in July ’06. Intel's latest chipsets are the P35, X38 and their derivatives. The mainstream P35 chipset introduced support for DDR3 RAM while still retaining support for DDR2 RAM. The X38 chipset introduced the PCI Express 2.0 standard, which provides more bandwidth for graphics cards by doubling the data rates. Also these boards have support for FSB upto 1333Mhz. Intel is now gearing up for the release of its newest X48 chipset.
AMD hasn't made as significant an advancement in the last couple of years as Intel, i.e. after the introduction of Intel’s Core 2 series. After halting its own line of chipsets a few years ago, AMD has been dependant on third party chipset manufacturers to support its line of Athlon64 processors. However, after acquiring ATI (one of the chipset makers for AMD) last year, AMD introduced the 690 Series chipset aimed at users looking for a cheap but well built board and a integrated solution on the motherboard. The new chipsets featured very good onboard graphics solution, sporting a scaled down version of its entry level graphics unit - Radeon X1300.
nVidia is the only chipset manufacturer with support for SLi technology in their chipsets. Their 650i and 680i range of chipsets provide SLi support for the Intel processors. nVidia released its latest chipsets - 780i and 750i at the end of last year. The 780i adds 3-Way SLI and PCI Express 2.0 over the 680i. The 750i and 650i fall under the Performance segment, whereas the 780i and 680i cater to the Enthusiast segment.
[BREAK=Processor]
With introduction of Core 2 series, Intel has taken over the performance crown from the previous AMD Athlon64 processor. Last year saw the introduction of Quad Core processors from both Intel and AMD. AMD had run into a few hiccups with some bugs in their Phenom range of processors, which were duly fixed in the new revision. AMD is holding on to its ground with aggressive pricing and forms the best solution with budget level dual cores. Also, Phenom is the first native Quad Core processor released in the market. Intel's native quad core processors will be launched this year end as per its Processor Road Map.
Meanwhile, Intel has shrunk the die-size on its next gen processors. The newly launched Core 2 Duo series, C2D E8400 and the top of the line (benchmark setting) QX9650 are now manufactured under 45nm process compared to the 65nm on the older C2D E6xxx processors
[BREAK=RAM]
With the release of demanding game engines and 3D rendering applications more bandwidth and faster memory is the need of the hour. Current DDR2 technology is almost saturated and is set to be replaced by DDR3 architecture. High pricing is preventing quick upgrades, but that should drop once it becomes more mainstream. For now gamers have to satisfy themselves with products like Kingston's HyperX that clocks to a blazing fast 1200Mhz.
In addition to speed, capacity is also an issue. The commonly used 32-bit OS can address a maximum of 4GB RAM thus becoming a limiting factor in the systems today. However, this can be overcome by shifting/migrating to a 64-bit OS of the same flavor.
[BREAK=Graphics Card]
Leading cards from ATI and nVidia are HD 3870 X2 and GeForce 8800 Ultra respectively. The nVidia 8800GT holds the performance crown in the mid segment cards. nVidia have also launched their next generation cards starting with the GeForce 9600GT, a mid range card with performance level close to the 8800GT series.
[BREAK=Hard Drive]
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Hope this article has helped those who are out of touch with the latest trends in PC Technology or new to the world of computing. Part II of the article will cover the latest trends in I/O devices, Optical Drives, Power Supply Units, Display units and Audio Devices. Part II has been posted here http://www.techenclave.com/guides-and-tutorials/computing-trends-08-part-ii-106603.html .
Repss+++
