Motherboards Pentium 4 Round Up (January 2004) -
sharkyextreme.com
The Pentium 4 motherboard market has many competitors, but realistically, it is dominated by Intel chipsets. Intel offers many different models, each with its own set of distinct performance and onboard features, and designed for a specific target market. This includes everything from the high-end Intel 875P speed demon, all the way down to the entry-level i848P model. In this roundup, we'll be taking a look at a selection of motherboards featuring the i875P, i865PE and i848P chipsets, and comparing them based on features, performance, overclocking and price.
Eight Motherboards For The Athlon 64 (December 2003) -
tomshardware.com
Speculation was certainly rife about AMD and its new 64 bit Athlon. While some presaged the end of AMD, others were hoping for a peerless, super Athlon. Neither scenario occurred. But the direction in which the chipmaker heads today once again appears clear, backed up by a top notch product range including a pricing policy that's brimming with self assurance. AMD is even committing a multi billion dollar capital outlay to build a new fab unit.
Processors AMD's and Intel's End-of-Year CPU Buyer's Guide -
tomshardware.com
The choice of core elements - processors, motherboardsand RAM - is now so large that laypeople are quickly overwhelmed. For processors, there are the AthlonXP, Athlon64, Athlon64 FX, Duron, Opteron, Pentium 4, Pentium M, Celeron, Xeon, Itanium. Then, there are at least three chipsets available for each platform - not including models featuring integrated graphics.
Pentium 4-3.2E and 3.4 GHz EE Processor Review sharkyextreme.com
Intel had been quiet on the CPU front, and seemed to be letting AMD run rampant with new Athlon 64-based processors. The AMD 64 3200+ and FX-51 opened the floodgates, but the latest Athlon 64 3000+ and 3400+ laid out an impressive line of 64-bit CPUs for many budget and performance needs.
AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Processor Review -
ww.sharkeyextreme.com
The Athlon 64 line is an important one for AMD, as it provides a high-end mainstream choice in their current desktop line. Price and performance are important to this market sector, and while the Athlon 64 FX-51 provides the latter, its high retail price makes it more of a niche product for true enthusiasts. The Athlon 64 is positioned more as an alternative to the desktop Pentium 4 line, and is expected to match up in terms of high-end framerates, while keeping the price competitive.
Hard Drives Affordable and Reliable 80 and 160 GB Hard Drives -
tomshardware.com
Hard drives with capacity of 200 GB, 250 GB or even 300 GB are a fine thing indeed, but they're expensive. While not completely out of reach for most, large hard drive capacity prices still force most users have to lower their sights. So we selected four representative models in the midrange tier with capacity ranging from 80 GB to 160 GB.
Fast And Smart: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 And Western Digital WD740 Raptor -
tomshardware.com
Hardly any PC component breaks new ground with its advances as unspectacularly as the hard drive. Users think of it as a little box that occasionally grinds and whirs, while remaining in the background most of the time with a quiet hum. However, expectations for it are high: Users don't like wait times, and even errors shouldn't occur, if at all possible.
External Hard Drives (Back Up) Backup Master: Western Digital Media Center -
tomshardware.com
Backing up a PC's data today generally requires the expensive necessary evil of an external hard drive. Western Digital tries to make life easier with its WM Media Center, a portable storage device with 250 GB of capacity that offers an 8-in-1 card reader with dual-option USB 2.0 and FireWire connectivity. The Media Center from Western Digital sets itself apart from the competition with an integrated USB 2.0 hub, a built-in 8-in-1 flash card reader and a FireWire port, the latter of which continues to deliver better performance values. The Special Edition Caviar Series has 8 MB Cache and 7,200 rpm. The front, meanwhile, holds some surprises: three buttons promise "dual-option backup" flexibility - the first external hard drives didn't even feature a power switch.
DVD Writers 4 DVD Burners From Asus, Gigabyte and MSI -
tomshardware.com
Current 4x DVD burners have been affordable for some time, and now more and more devices with a write speed of 8x are hitting the market. So far these media are still rare, and the write quality is not always optimal, either.