AMD : Best for Gaming

AMD just released a beta version of their Fusion for Gaming tool. This application is targeted at
the not-so-hardcore gamer who still wants to get the most out of his or her system. The idea is that at the press of a button that sits on your desktop, you could engage a system state that is more ... let's say ... gaming friendly.

This is what the button looks like.

One of the major features of this software is that it automatically overclocks both the CPU and the GPU. Because of this, AMD will only allow the tool to run on all-AMD platforms, meaning that people who run AMD GPUs on Intel CPUs and AMD CPUs with NVIDIA GPUs will not be able to benefit from this applications.

Sure, the platform focus makes sense in a lot of ways. Adding some sort of value beyond the hardware to your platform is one way to try and get more people to purchase your products, especially when one of your product lines is doing well while another is not. AMD CPUs just don't compete like they used to, and with the overclockability of many Intel CPUs, AMD needs another way to sell their hardware.

If more tweaking is required or different things are needed for different games, AMD supports multiple profiles.

For an overclocking tool, we'd say it does the job, but there's something else that's even more interesting in this application. A little special sauce, if you will, that we would very much like to see available to anyone running Vista these days. But we'll get to that in a second.

The automatic overclocking for the GPU is just as simple as enabling overdrive, except you do it from a button on your desktop. Simultaneously automatically overclocking the CPU is a welcome addition for people who want to safely increase performance but don't know how or don't want to chance overclocking manually. While AMD does offer an overdrive equivalent for their CPUs, combining both CPU and GPU overclocking into one utility is convenient. But this aspect of the tool isn't really for people who already know how to overclock.

Additionally, like the overdrive feature that already exists on the GPU, clock speed and performance increases on the GPU will be temperature dependent. This means that if you are in a warm environment, you could see less benefit from the automatic overclock than someone in a cold environment. Case and component cooling is going to be key in getting maximum performance. And really adding a couple more case fans is still easier for the end user than teaching them how to effectively overclock their system. The only other issue is that performance can decrease with time while gaming because of the temperature increase in the system as it is being used. The temperature issue doesn't really impact the CPU, but then the GPU has a much large impact on overall game performance anyway.

Here's a look at some quick benchmarks we ran.

Intel DG45ID vs Sony BDU-X10S

doing regression testing almost non-stop for the past 48 hours with the recently released Intel G45 15.11.2.1554 driver set for Vista 32 and BIOS version 079. We might add that in Intel's infinite wisdom they generally update the 4-series chipset support page a few days before the actual DG45ID support page that was still listing the 1545 driver set as of tonight (page was updated today with the latest driver set).

This particular driver and BIOS combination along with the recently updated versions of Corel WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray and Arcsoft TMT v125 were suppose to address/improver repeater support among other changes. One of the major updates I have been testing is updated EDID information in the latest drivers for several of our HDMI monitors that were having problems ranging from lack of proper resolution recognition to scaling deficiencies. It appears several of our monitors now work properly and we were having great success with repeater support until things began to unravel earlier today. We also noted that deinterlacing is working correctly now.

However, the dreaded HDMI audio out 2-channel only support (G45 supports up to 8-channel out) reared its ugly head again as did the lack of repeater support on one of our main HT configurations after a simple reboot. Both problems seem to come and go on this board at will as well as several others that we will discuss shortly. We are still working through these particular problems and should have an answer early tomorrow. If not, our first IGP article (three total) featuring the G45 chipset will go up as is within the next 24 hours or so (9/23 PM update - Intel is trying to resolve several problems tonight, 9/24 update - Intel has a few answers for us, article up later today).

Another major problem that we have had on this board is compatibility with various SATA based BD capable optical drives. In every case, our Intel DG45ID boards have not properly recognized the Sony BDU-X10S. Granted we have had some problems with our ASUS and LITE-ON drives on this board but those have been random. This board absolutely does not like this particular Sony drive. In each case, we updated the board to BIOS 079 and the Sony drive to firmware version 1.0d . Depending on whether we have AHCI or RAID enabled on the board, the drive needs to be attached to SATA port 3 to ensure the system will POST properly. If we select Native IDE, the drive refuses to work properly when attached to any port with our component selections. This drive works perfectly on the ASUS and Gigabyte G45 boards without a firmware update so we think the incompatibility is with the Intel BIOS.

We also have an LG GGC-H20L Optical drive and a Western Digital SE16 640GB HD attached to SATA ports two and one respectively. I have been testing other combinations since last week on this board and have run into an issue where I cannot get the Intel board to properly recognize the Sony drive with our WD eSATA based drive or with a Hitachi 1TB drive installed as the main OS drive. Our choice of port assignments do not make a difference in these two cases. Hopefully we will have a solution for this problem shortly.

Wireless Networking

Wireless networking is one of several ways to connect the computers in your home. It creates a network by sending radio-frequency signals between your computers to share information. In this article, we'll talk about wireless networking and the technology used to make it happen. We'll also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using a wireless network.

Wireless networking technologies take the concept of "no new wires" one step further. In a wireless network, all of the computers in your home broadcast their information to one another using radio signals. This can make networking extremely easy, especially if you have computers all over your house. It also makes it a whole lot simpler to move computers around. For example, a laptop with a wireless network card is completely portable throughout the house!

In wireless networking, a peer-to-peer (or point-to-point) wireless network means that each computer can communicate directly with every other computer on the network. But some wireless networks are client/server. They have an access point, which is a wired controller that receives and transmits data to the wireless adapters installed in each computer.

Newest Computer Technology

How do you keep up with the newest computer technology? The cost of purchasing a new Computer Processing Unit (CPU) is quite high and it seems that with new applications there is a constantly growing need for more memory and more computer speed. It often seems that just as a new CPU is introduced it is already becoming obsolete. There is a solution, however, for increasing your computer's processing capabilities and it is not to purchase a new one every 6 months.

Rather, many people choose to overclock the CPUs that they already have-which is a much more cost-effective option in most cases. Clocking refers to the speed at which a computer processes things and is expressed in the number of clock cycles per minute. Overclocking is a means of increasing that number thereby giving added power and efficiency to all of your computer's operations.

This can make a huge difference in your computer's ability to effectively and quickly run games and video-heavy applications. Video editing, in particular, will benefit greatly from overclocking. It is generally agreed that if you are able to increase the speed of your computer by only 10% that you will not really notice any appreciable change in the computer performance. However, you should be able to increase the speed up to 900% with proper overclocking.

Maximum Performance Your Computer

One way to get maximum performance out of your computer is to utilize overclocking. Overclocking is a means of increasing your computer's speed in order to complete tasks more quickly and efficiently. Clocking is the amount of clock cycles a computer goes through per minute as it processes things. Increasing the number of clock cycles per minute makes your computer capable of processing more things concurrently, or concentrate on one task and complete it more quickly.

This is especially beneficial if you are running games or video editing applications. The obvious advantage to overclocking is that you do not constantly have to purchase upgrades. Many people choose to purchase a less expensive computer-processing unit (CPU) and then overclock it rather than buying a newer unit or one with more memory. It is possible to overclock various components dependent upon your purpose.

Some choose to directly overclock the CPU or the RAM (random access memory) while other users prefer to direct their attention to the video card. It is important, if you do choose to overclock your computer to improve performance, that you consult a professional or purchase professional overclocking software to avoid potential problems. Some of these problems can include overheating of your computer unit, shortened life of computer components, system instability and increase noise produced by your computer.

Overheating occurs because as you increase the speed of your computer, you are increasing the rate at which the components work-more clock cycles per minute equals more energy and consequently more heat produced. It is possible to counteract this by using various cooling devices. Getting high-powered fans is one option but will produce a substantial amount of noise. Other cooling options include water-cooling units but it requires some instruction in the proper use of such units. Additionally, because you will be operating the unit outside of the manufacturer's intended operation parameters, you may expect that the computer's lifespan will be shortened somewhat.