There’s absolutely no reason you should be waiting the three-plus minutes it takes your computer to boot up Windows
Phoenix says its new technology, HyperSpace, will offer mobile PC users the ability to instantly fire up their most used apps — things like e-mail, web browsers and various media players — without using Windows, simply by pressing the F4 button.
Though many leaks of the product have been circulating for some time, Intel officially took the wraps off and launched their new X38 Express chipset for the high-end desktop motherboard market.
With this launch, the Intel desktop chipset line-up gets a new flagship. Intel’s new X38 chipset encompasses all of the technology advances that have made the P35 a success and adds a slew of new features designed to increase memory and graphics subsystem performance, like PCI Express 2.0 SerDes and Intel Extreme Memory technology in the new X38 MCH. The Asus motherboard tested by HotHardware even features an embedded Linux-based OS that boots in a matter a seconds.
Click for more on Intel X38 High End Chipset Launch and Benchmarks »
New GeForce 8 series with DirectX 10 graphics coming next year
NVIDIA plans to update its budget AMD chipset lineup with two new GeForce 8 series IGP and an IGP-less solutions – MCP78. The new MCP78 features the MCP78 U with a $70-80 build cost, MCP78 S with a $55-65 build cost and the MCP78 D with $50-55 build cost. All MCP78 solutions support one PCIe x16 Gen2 and HyperTransport 3.0. NVIDIA expects mass production of the MCP78 series in December with a January launch.
Nvidia Corp is rolling out motherboard chipsets with integrated GPU for Intel processors
Nvidia is expected to say on Tuesday that its new GeForce chips for desktop PCs give the performance of an entry-level separate graphics processor unit, as compared to traditional integrated graphics chips such as those made by Intel.
Click for more on Nvidia aims at Intel with integrated Graphics Chip »
Next-gen memory spec. for extreme overclockers
This week, memory module manufacturer Corsair announced a new set of high-performance DDR3 modules that fit Intel’s Extreme Memory specification. These modules have additional overclocking profiles built into the SPD (serial presence detect) ROM on the memory module, which allows simple and reliable overclocking of memory. Intel Extreme Memory is intended for the upcoming release of high-end desktop motherboards using Intel’s X38 chipset.
The next generation of EPP, dubbed EPP 2.0, is in the works, but will also differ from Intel Extreme Memory. EPP 2.0 will add DDR3 support for unannounced Nvidia chipsets.
When asked if this might increase buyer confusion, Corsair Vice President of Marketing Jack Peterson noted that the company planned an educational campaign, using price breaks and bundling to steer users to the right memory and motherboard combination. Peterson also suggested that the company was investigating a utility that would allow users to re-burn EPP profiles into Intel Extreme Memory and vice versa, but no final decision has been made.
Source: ExtremeTech
JMicro controller found in 965P/P35(and maybe future X38) causes a lot problems with IDE optical drives, is there anyway to fix it?
Intel moves a big step since the release of 965P chipset, the new ICH8(R) southbridge, partnered with the it, is the first chipset to completely drop support of EIDE devices. While one could argue that the removal of PATA support is a needed step forward in technology, we firmly believe that Intel should have waited until the next generation ICH for this change. The Optical Drive market is still about 80% PATA based. While this development might spur the optical drive suppliers into offering additional SATA drives in the near future, it does not address the requirements of the current PATA installed base. Most motherboards using ICH8/ICH9 also add an additional chipset for PATA support, and the JMB361/JMB363 from JMicro are the most popular among them.
Click for more on HowTo: Fix the JMicro IDE Issue in Intel MBs »
The 4GB limit is cause by IA32 microstructure, which debuted in 1986’s INTEL i386 processor(and it servers us a good 20 years!). For modem x86 processors with 64bit capacity, while they support more than 4GB memory, are still limited to the 4GB virtual address barrier when running a 32bit OS.
These articles are mostly focus on how to get Windows “see” 4GB, but this doesn’t imply that a specified application can use all the 4GB memory. In 32bit Windows, by default, the lower 2 GB are reserved for user-mode programs and the upper 2 GB are reserved for kernel-mode programs. We can use the /3GB switch under Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows NT. or IncreaseUserVA element in BCDEdit in Windows Vista to increase user-mode space, which is called 4 GT RAM Tuning. Anandtech features a nice article about this issue, the benefit is obvious but there are also some potential problems when enabling this tweak. The best choice is go for 64bit Windows.
To get full 4GB support(and make full use of them), a prerequisite is to get around the MMIO issue, so:
Before using Memory Remapping to sort out the MMIO issue, make sure your MB/OS supports it properly, so don’t turn it on when using 32bit Windows XP or Vista.
Since MMIO takes such a huge space(over 1GB if you’re running SLI), the lost is unacceptable. Luckily enough, chipset manufacturers have takes some efforts to solve it, and the technology is called Memory Remapping.
Click for more on Windows and 4GB RAM — The Frustration, Confusion and Solution(Part 3) »
