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Computex 2007 Previews New Hardware

Posted by kdawson on from the do-you-know-the-way-to-taipei dept.

MojoKid writes "The always humongous Computex show in Taipei is just about to go full swing and previews of some interesting new technologies are already springing up. Intel's new generation of P35 and X38 motherboard chipsets have spurred a bunch of new products, like this new SFF PC from Shuttle and the IX38 QuadGT motherboard from Abit that looks promising. Of course AMD has their new platform arsenal on display as well, like these 690G motherboards from Gigabyte. All told, Computex looks to be a tidal wave of tech for PC geeks."

25 comments

  1. take with a grain of salt by RealityProphet · · Score: 2

    I hear there's a 1 in 5 chance this article's crap.

    1. Re:take with a grain of salt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1 in 5, I'll take those odds... I hear there's a 3 in 5 chance that someone will post meaningless drivel in the comments sections here.

  2. wow wow wowy! by tomstdenis · · Score: 1

    I'm having a hard time getting it up for this nerd porn. 1.3GHz front side bus? 1.6GHz memory? And people are going to notice this [other than in extra power consumption?]

    Tom

    --
    Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    1. Re:wow wow wowy! by alen · · Score: 1

      you'll notice when /. comes up .1 seconds faster

    2. Re:wow wow wowy! by tomstdenis · · Score: 1

      hehehehe. I'm sure the new gear *is* faster, but at which point do you just stop noticing? If a page renders in 19ms instead of 20ms, it is faster, but would you notice and is it worth the extra power consumption?

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    3. Re:wow wow wowy! by tomstdenis · · Score: 1

      Hey hey hey, you're not a troll, don't be so hard on yourself.

      Anyways, before anyone comments, let me add to my post. 1.3GHz bus = ~325MHz quad-pumped. Meaning sure you get bandwidth but the latency is still slacking behind. Latency is where the performance is at nowadays anyways. Same with the 1.6GHz memory (which I might add doesn't make much sense attached to a 1.3Ghz FSB).

      If you really want performance, memory bandwidth is not the problem nowadays. It's latency. If you have your 3GHz processor idling for 50nS you're wasting a lot of cycles.

      And frankly, I think people should question the direction of technology. Faster isn't always better. Why can't Intel or AMD be pushing processors which are more tame in speed and high end on power efficiency? Oh right, because they have overhyped their products "TO THE EXTREME!" and can't find a way to break out of the mold.

      For me, for example, I'd much rather a laptop that gets 1BIPS (1000 MIPS) consuming a quarter (that can scale down the clock and voltage) the power of a box that gets 2BIPS. Things are better now than they were a few years ago but, there is still room for improvement. On your intel box, don't you think your 1.3GHz northbridge consumes power too? what about your 1.6GHz memory? Why aren't they clockable/voltage mod'able?

      etc...

      Tom

      --
      Someday, I'll have a real sig.
    4. Re:wow wow wowy! by cnettel · · Score: 1

      One good thing with Santa Rosa is that, while the bus is 800 MHz (ok 200 MHz quad-pumped), Speedstep will affect the bus as well, scaling it down to 400 when relevant, making the chipset far less power hungry than the previous generation, on average.

    5. Re:wow wow wowy! by MrNemesis · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Seconded.

      Sheesh, half of my fiddling time with new computers is finding ways to get the power consumtpion down. My flatmate just inherited a top-end gaming rig (Core2 Extreme, 2GB "gamer" RAM, 8800GTX, 2xRaptors in RAID0) and is saying it only seems marginally faster than his previous Celeron/1GB/6600GT which had a lower power draw at full pelt than this new hulk does at idle. Most users have already stopped noticing (miniscule) speed improvements and only believe a machine is faster because the marketing says it is and the numbers are bigger. The only upgrades they're likely to notice are upping their RAM to a usable figure from the puny defaults usually offered by OEM's and installing an aftermarket GFX card if they've just bought a game and are wodnering why is runs like shit on their "256MB" onboard graphics.

      Typically it's only power users that need, let alone notice, this stuff these days. I still reckon that if you gave 90% of home/business computer users a 1GHz P3 and 2GB of RAM they'd be happy as Larry and his whole darned family.

      --
      Moderation Total: -1 Troll, +3 Goat
    6. Re:wow wow wowy! by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 1

      With AMD cpus 1.6GHz memory does make sense as it is linked right to the cpu with having to use the same bus as the cpu uses for dual-core to dual-core on die traffic + cpu to chipset traffic.

    7. Re:wow wow wowy! by that+this+is+not+und · · Score: 1

      But if a video renders in 40 seconds instead of four minutes, it does make a difference.

      Also important for running simulations, i.e. for FPGA development, and autorouting, and other _Real_ _Work_ computer uses.

  3. In the eternal quest to make hardware interesting by simong · · Score: 3, Funny

    yet another article fails like a big faily thing. There will be far more interesting things at Computex when it opens than half built PCs. Like... err... hmmm, give me a minute...

  4. Man o man o man by packetmon · · Score: 1

    DFI told us that this board is just a reference design and that the board that we'll see come to market will have a unique cooler design that will be very impressive. I can't wait to install one of these babies in my machine then take off the covers and see the ugly insides 24/7. The noise, the wires, the dust accumulating! I think I need a bigger cooler cause I'm getting so hot

    --
    Infiltrated dot Net
    1. Re:Man o man o man by Aladrin · · Score: 1

      So you think that the only way a 'unique cooler design' could be impressive is to -look- cool? How very sad. The only thing that could impress most geeks is to get the CPU/GPU/ambient an extra few degrees cooler. THAT is impressive.

      --
      "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
  5. how long until by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 2, Funny

    How long until I can get myself an IG88 motherboard?

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  6. LAME by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    yea but of course your server is dog slow and it takes forever to load... nice spam

  7. Man, I can't wait for by Fengpost · · Score: 1

    the 250 page review of the same old review of faster speed, larger capacity and lower prices on teh Tom's Hardware review!

    --
    The purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity....Calvin