Engadget has a post on a new USB Port. Only its a Port with a USB label… don’t get it? Hit the bump for pictures!
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I haven’t updated in a long while (mainly because of my new site (technewsmadesimple.com) but if you really need to keep tabs on me, check out Twitter. It lets me add 140 character updates whenever I get a chance.
So I’ve finished my project and you can see it at technewsmadesimple.com. The title pretty much says it all… as we try to make technology news simple for you (or people who don’t understand the details). I won’t be blogging here as much as that is my new full time puppy, but I will try and put up some interesting new stories here.
I’ve just bought a new domain and will begin my new project soon… hopefully with others. I’ll divulge more as I try and get people to join in.
Good news everybody!
My friend Dave will be helping me out in making a “how to” video in building my system. It won’t be out for at least another month as all the parts that I want have not been released yet. But rest assured, we’ll make it good.
Thanks
Kurt
Please refer to “So you want to build a new computer??!” for part 1 of this series.
The NorthBridge
The NorthBridge is a chip on the motherboard that relays information from the RAM or video card to the CPU. It also links with the SouthBridge which controls your hard drives, sound card, DVD drive and other ports such as USB.
But x48?
Intel’s x48 is a new NorthBridge chip that will link with the RAM supporting a front side bus (FSB) of 1600MHz and a 400MHz boot-strap. The front side bus is the speed at which the memory travels from the RAM to the NorthBridge to be processed and then to the CPU. The kicker here is the speed of the FSB. Of course, the FSB may soon be non-existent by the end of 2008…
RAM or Random Access Memory
When you open too many programs and your computer begins to slow down, some people believed that it was lack of hard drive space when in fact, it was lack of RAM. The term random access memory comes from the data exchange from a hard drive or CPU through the ram to its destination. Simply, the memory is stored on the chip while a process or program is being run. When you close that program, the memory is cleared off the chip. Obviously, the more RAM you have, the easier it will be to run multiple programs at the same time to a certain extent. It has been found that on a 32-bit operating system (OS, a program that acts as a visual interface so you can run other programs and ties the hardware together) (Windows XP or Vista), the OS will only recognize 3.5 gigabytes of memory whereas a 64-bit OS will recognize beyond 8GB of RAM. Will more speed up your computer? You bet!
Video Card
Now, I have already purchased my video card… long before my other parts. Not much will change until the release of the x48 and my CPU, but I bought it because… well it was cheap!
There are a few things to look for in a video card: amount of memory, core clock speed and stream processors. Tom’s has a great guide, although a little old (circa 2006), which will give you probably the best understand of what video cards actually do. For me, I bought my card because of its specs and its very lucrative price.
Check back later in the week when I discuss briefly about Hard drives, DVD-burners and the death of the floppy.
According to Digitimes and Tom’s Hardware the new x48 Northbridge motherboards will be released next week. This means only 1 thing… the new 45nm quad core processors (CPUs) will be released as well!!!!
What does this all mean? x48? 45nm quad core?
The CPU is the main workhorse of the computer. This is where all your information is going through before you can visualize anything on the monitor. You reading this right now? The data is going through the CPU. It is what makes all the calculations at the microsecond or sometimes even nanosecond level. So fast, you can’t even count because it has already finished thousands of calculations.
So how does the 45nm chips come into the equation?
45nm is the actual wafer size of the CPU or the physical dimensions of the integrated circuits imprinted into the chip. But what makes 45nm so special? Compared to the current 65nm chips, the smaller the dimensions, the more information you can fit into the exact same physical dimension. So comparing the Conroe (a dual-core 65nm processor) vs. the Wolfdale (a dual-core 45nm processor), the number of transistors are 209 million to 410 million respectively. Nearly double the transistors in the 45nm than in the 65nm processor. Not only are there more transistors, but the cache has increased 50% from 4MB to 6MB.
Cache?
A cache is a small amount of memory built into the processor to enable faster memory exchanges. The more cache, the more room a processor has to work with at the fastest speed possible since it is on the chip. The further away any existing memory is from the CPU, the longer it will take to compute due to resistance and distance. The information on the cache is very short lived and is constantly being exchanged.
The conclusion…
With a smaller profile (but same physical dimensions) and a larger cache, 45nm will be the way to go for the next 2 years. Especially with a larger cache, computing power will only increase. As for me, I will be getting the quad-core processor in the 45nm die.
I will follow up with the NorthBridge and RAM in the next post!
I’ve been out for a little bit but I’m back at work after my surgery. Everything is fine now and I can finally breathe normally. But what an uncomfortable week it was recovering.
I’ll get into more details later… I need to run to class/office hours!
I’m slowly adding my 2.0 buttons on the right hand column with all my links to other blogs, photos, diggs, notes or bookmarks. So stay tuned!
