Pc News

[Rasputin]

Intel Announces New Brand Name for Chips

Intel will sell its new generation of 65-nanometer desktop and laptop chips under the brand name Core 2 Duo when it launches them this summer, the company says. Intel plans to launch its desktop chip, code-named Conroe, in July and its laptop chip, code-named Merom, in August.

"You could kind of say we're core crazy," company spokesperson Bill ***cos explains. "It's a way of saying 'Hey, this isn't your grandfather's PC'."


Both chips will be built with Intel's new 65-nanometer Core Microarchitecture design. After their launch, Intel will have a common architecture for its consumer, gaming, notebook, and business-desktop lines.

More Cores, More Efficiency

Chip vendors such as Intel and AMD have designed their latest processors with multiple cores in each chip as an energy-efficient way to process more software code without increasing clock speed, heat, and electricity demands. Just like cars, faster chips are generally less efficient.


Under Intel's new marketing plan, both the desktop and laptop chips will be called Core 2 Duo, with each chip distinguished by a following five-part alphanumeric code.


The first element will be a letter connoting the power draw of the chip: "U" for ultralow voltage (below 15 watts); "L" for low voltage (15 to 24 watts); "T" for standard mobile (25 to 55 watts); E for standard desktop (55 to 75 watts); and "X" for extreme (above 75 watts).


The next four elements will be a numeric code, with Conroe chips in the 4000 and 6000 series and Merom chips in the 5000 and 7000 series. Additional numbers will represent other features--for instance, the chips' suitability for Intel platforms such as Centrino for mobile PCs, Viiv for home entertainment, or vPro for business desktops.

Still Room for Extreme CPU

As an example of this nomenclature, a high-end desktop chip might be called the Core 2 Duo E6800. However, Intel will call its high-end gaming desktop processor the Core 2 Extreme.


The new Core 2 Duo nomenclature will supersede the Pentium D dual-core brand for desktops, and eventually take over for future chip designs such as four-core and eight-core processors, ***cos says.

[Rasputin]

Warner Bros. to sell movies via BitTorrent

Warner Bros.'s video unit on Tuesday unveiled plans to sell movies and television shows to BitTorrent Inc. for legal downloads from the Web site that was once blamed for aiding the swapping of illegally copied films and programs.

The pact marks a big step for Hollywood as it increasingly makes digital files of movies and TV shows available on the Web because until last year, BitTorrent's software and Web site were considered to be aiding piracy of major studio films.

But in November, BitTorrent agreed with the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents Hollywood's major studios, to help stem illegal swapping of digital movies and TV shows by removing links to pirated copies.

Executives from Warner Bros. and BitTorrent said the MPAA pact and new digital rights management (DRM) software from BitTorrent were key elements in bringing the parties together.

"We've come to a point where you have sufficient consumer demand and we have the technology that is now mature enough," said Jim Wuthrich, senior vice president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

Starting this summer, Warner Bros., a unit of No. 1 media company Time Warner Inc., will make more than 200 films including blockbusters such as " Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and TV shows like "Babylon 5" available at BitTorrent.com.

The content will be available on the same day and date they are put on sale in retail stores, but cannot be copied and burned onto a DVD. They must reside on a computer drive.

BitTorrent will charge customers, and while final prices have not been set, the company expects TV shows to be priced comparably to the current rate of $1 per episode on other Web sites and movies to be around the price of a new DVD.

"We have just been embraced by the largest movie studio that is owned by largest media company," said Ashwin Navin, co-founder of BitTorrent. "We expect to see more deals and to push the envelope" for getting people video on the Web.

He said the site was in talks with other studios for similar deals but did not name them. Nor, did he say when BitTorrent expected to sign other agreements.

For years, the studios have been worried that offering digital movies online would lead to illegal copies being traded and sold. Overall, the studios figure piracy costs them $6.1 billion in lost revenue.

But in recent months, the studios have begun to enter the nascent market for legal digital downloads. Last month, they said they would make movies available for legal downloads that users could own indefinitely. Until then, movies were available for download to be stored for a brief time, then erased.

Consumers continue to want to download movies and burn copies on blank DVDs, but executives in Hollywood believe that type of service is still months and perhaps even years away.

[Rasputin]

AT&T plans fast Web alternatives in rural areas

Telephone operator AT&T Inc. said on Monday it would offer new satellite-based fast Internet services in U.S. rural markets and expand its investment in emerging WiMax wireless connections.

"We are beginning to offer satellite-based broadband service in areas where our DSL service is not available today, giving more consumers a broadband choice," AT&T Chairman and Chief Executive Ed Whitacre said in a speech at the Detroit Economic club.

AT&T is partnering with satellite-based high-speed Internet provider WildBlue to provide the service.

The telecommunications giant, which plans to buy BellSouth Corp. later this year, will also expand its market efforts related to WiMax and other fixed wireless technologies with new deployments this year in Texas and Nevada.

"Today, we reach more than eighty percent of our residential customers with DSL service," Whitacre said. "My hope is that through initiatives such as these, we can bring the benefits of broadband to all our customers."

WiMax is a more powerful version of Wi-Fi, a wireless Web connection built into most laptops, but that only covers small areas such as a coffee shop.

AT&T also said that, in the next three years, it would make a video service it is developing available to more than 5.5 million low-income households as part of its "Project Lightspeed" fiber optic network plans.

AT&T is building a high-speed fiber network to support television services and faster Internet connections as it works to compete better with cable operators, which now offer telephone services, as well as Internet and television.

"We have introduced the service in San Antonio, and it's going very well," Whitacre said. "We will roll it out to many more markets later this year."

Whitacre said the video service will be launched in Houston next.

"Then we will go to 18 million households in the next three years," he said.

[Rasputin]

British computer hacker set for U.S. extradition

A British computer expert accused by Washington of the world's "biggest military hack of all time" should be extradited to the United States to stand trial, a court ruled on Wednesday.

Gary McKinnon, 40, was arrested last June following charges by U.S. prosecutors that he illegally accessed 97 government computers -- including Pentagon, U.S. army, navy and NASA systems -- causing $700,000 worth of damage.

Britain's Home Secretary (interior minister) will make the final decision on deportation.

McKinnon, whose hacking name was "Solo," has admitted gaining access to U.S. government computers but denies causing any damage.

He had tried to fight extradition, saying he was "already hung and quartered over there" and would not receive a fair trial.

Prosecutors said McKinnon hacked into sensitive networks over a one-year period from February 2002, crippling U.S. defense systems in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

At the time of the indictment, Paul McNulty, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, said "Mr McKinnon is charged with the biggest military computer hack of all time."

However, McKinnon's supporters say the U.S. government should be grateful to him for highlighting its security shortcomings.

If found guilty in the U.S, he could face up to 70 years in jail and fines of up to $1.75 million.

"My intention was never to disrupt security," McKinnon told reporters outside Bow Street magistrates court in London on Wednesday. "The fact that I logged on with no password meant there was no security to begin with."

McKinnon's solicitor Karen Todner said they would launch an appeal. She argues her client will not receive a fair trial in the U.S. and could easily be tried in Britain.

In a recent interview with Reuters, McKinnon said the U.S. wanted to make a show of his deportation rather than face the tougher task of fixing their computer system.

He said he was just an ordinary computer nerd who wanted to find out whether UFOs and aliens existed.

[Rasputin]

Bill Gates pitches "anywhere" gaming

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates visited the world's largest video game expo on Tuesday to sell a new vision of "anywhere" gaming that would link video game consoles, cell phones and computers.

Gates introduced a plan called "Live Anywhere" that aims to capitalize on the success of Xbox Live online play to tap into a network of over 150 million users already playing games on computers that run the Windows operating system and more than one billion cell phones ready to play video games.

Microsoft leads the industry in online gaming with its Xbox Live service that lets people around the world play each other in real time, download new games and chat. A similar capability will be built into the upcoming version of Windows called Vista, effectively launching the new service.

"This is a vision of taking 'live' to the next level," said Gates at a Microsoft news conference. "We're going from 'live' to 'live anywhere"'

Microsoft entered the video game hardware business in 2001 with the original Xbox, creating a brand that appealed to serious gamers and keeping the Xbox business separate from other parts of the company, including its mainstay Windows unit.

Gates' debut appearance at the Xbox event ahead of the Electronic Entertainment Expo shows the growing importance of the nearly $30 billion global video game industry to the company as whole and to its much-anticipated Windows Vista, which is expected to launch in early 2007.

However, launching a new console is expensive -- losses at Microsoft's home and entertainment division widened to $388 million in its fiscal third quarter from a $175 million loss a year ago.

Live Anywhere would allow participants to play certain games against each other regardless of whether the user was on a mobile phone, PC or Xbox console. It would also enable players to start a game on the Xbox 360 console and later pick it up on their mobile phone or PC.

Late to the video game wars with its original Xbox, Microsoft beat rival Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). to the market by debuting its high-definition Xbox 360 system last November. Sony said it plans to launch PlayStation 3 this November.

Gates said Microsoft estimates it will have 10 million Xbox 360 units out in the market before Sony or Nintendo Co. Ltd. arrive with their own new game consoles.

Grabbing an early advantage has not been easy for Microsoft, which suffered from Xbox 360 supply constraints during its first holiday season and then saw production costs balloon in the past quarter as it ramped up shipments.

Sony executives played down Microsoft's head start with the Japanese company's U.S. game unit chief Kaz Hirai declaring on Monday that next-generation gaming would not start until Sony said so.

"I think it is a little audacious to say the next generation begins when they release, when 10 million customers have clearly voted with Xbox 360," Microsoft Game Studios General Manager Shane Kim told reporters.

Analysts said Sony, which holds nearly two-thirds of the current global console market, will face a challenge this time around.

"Microsoft is being one hell of a competitor to Sony. It needs to take Microsoft seriously," said Van Baker, research vice president at Gartner.

[Rasputin]

HP Shows Five Business Notebooks

Hewlett-Packard on Tuesday unveiled five business notebooks and initiatives to help corporate users stay connected everywhere they go.

The biggest spotlight at the HP Mobility Summit here was on the smallest new notebook, the HP Compaq nc2400 Notebook PC, which is less than one inch thick and weighs less than three pounds. It includes a full-size keyboard and an internal optical disc drive.


The company also rolled out the HP Compaq nc6400 Notebook PC, which is based on Intel Core Duo processors and can be equipped with modules for two types of third-generation mobile data modules. An Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) part will be available when the PC ships in mid-May, and an High-speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) module will come later this year, the company said.

Includes 3G Service

Intel has teamed up with Vodafone Group to integrate the mobile operator's 3G service, based on HSDPA and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), into the nc6400 and cooperate on future notebook designs, HP said. The systems are designed to support international roaming in many countries.


Mobile devices and applications are the key to future IT growth, said Todd Bradley, executive vice president of HP's Personal Systems Group.


"As we look to this next phase of growth, clearly we see it driven by mobility, clearly we see it driven by connectivity, and we believe that HP has an enormous set of assets to bring to bear," Bradley told reporters and analysts at the event, where HP kicked off a marketing push that includes new mobile consumer devices and advertising as well.


Notebooks are leading the growth in HP's PC business. "Our notebook business is smoking hot," said Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager of HP's Notebook Global Business Unit.


The company's notebook business grew 54 percent since last year, and HP has gained almost 2.5 percentage points of market share over the past year, he said.

Product Details

Built-in 3G capability, which HP introduced in products last year, is a key business feature, said Creative Strategies analyst Tim Bajarin. Offering two different types of 3G technology, used in different parts of the world, could be even better for some executives, he said.


"The freedom to have the ability to connect any time is really critical," Bajarin said. "We're moving to a much more global IT society in which working in just one location isn't the norm anymore."


Also in the lineup Tuesday was the HP Compaq 4400 Series, which converts from a notebook to a tablet PC and will be available in early June for $1649. The series is based on Core Duo chips. HP also unveiled two systems with 15.4-inch wide-screen displays. The nx7400 is based on Core Duo processors and starts at $749. The 8400 series, a desktop replacement with ATI Technologies graphics and an antiglare screen, starts at $1599. Both are set to ship in mid-May.


The nc2400 is scheduled to ship in mid-May, priced starting at $1599. The nc6400 should also ship at that time, priced from $1549.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft Patches Windows, Exchange Flaws

Microsoft as expected has released one critical security update for its Exchange messaging server and two security updates for Windows, one of which was critical.

In Microsoft's rating system, a critical vulnerability means it could allow unauthorized software to be installed without user action.


The third patch released Tuesday fixes two vulnerabilities in Windows rated as "moderate," according to Microsoft, which described the release last week.


More information may be found at Microsoft's monthly security bulletin.

Flash Patched, Too

Amol Sarwate, the Vulnerability Research Lab manager for Qualys, said the vulnerability in Exchange was the most critical of the three. That flaw could allow a remote user to send e-mail with malicious content in it that would take control of Exchange or a user's computer. The flaw also could have been automated to create an e-mail worm, he said.


Qualys provides software as a service for vulnerability and compliance management.


The critical Windows flaw was in the version of Adobe Flash Player that comes with the operating system, Sarwate said. It could allow miscreants to create malicious Flash-based Web sites or animated files that could take control of an unsuspecting user's system if he or she clicked to view those files.


Adobe Systems also has released a patch for the Flash Player flaw and Windows users can install either Adobe's or Microsoft's patch to fix their systems, he added.

Server Issues Addressed

The third Microsoft patch was for two vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator (MDTC), which controls Microsoft SQL Server database transactions.


Even though the MDTC flaws could have allowed an attacker to shut down that component, they were rated as moderate, not critical, because Windows services without dependence on the MDTC would not have been affected, a spokesperson from Microsoft's public relations firm Waggener Edstrom said via e-mail. In general, an attack on the MDTC vulnerabilities would not affect the overall stability of Windows.


Microsoft will host a Webcast to discuss the security updates on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. More information about the Webcast can be found at Microsoft.


All three security updates were released as part of Microsoft's monthly security patch process, called "Patch Tuesday" by security researchers because the fixes are released on the second Tuesday of the month. The next such update is scheduled for June 13.

[Rasputin]

Samsung Shows Super Slim Cell Phones

Samsung Electronics has taken the wraps off two cellular phones that it says are the slimmest of their kind.


The SGH-X820 is both slender at less than.3 inches thick and light at 2.3 ounces, but it still manages to pack a 2-megapixel digital camera.


The tri-band GSM phone comes in a candy-bar form factor. It will be available in Russia from June and then in other European markets.


The SGH-D900 is the thinnest slider-type phone available, Samsung said. It is.5 inches thick and weighs 3.3 ounces. There's a 3-megapixel digital camera and the phone is a quad-band model.

Let the Music Play

Both phones can play music in the MP3, AAC, AAC plus, and Windows Media Audio formats. They come with MPEG 4 and H.263 video recording capability, Bluetooth, USB, and PictBridge printing software. Both have 80MB of embedded memory.


The X820 has a 1.9-inch screen with 176 x 220 pixel resolution, while the D900 has a 2.1-inch screen with 240 x 320 pixel resolution.


The phones will be on show at the Sviaz ExpoComm 2006 exhibition that runs from May 10 to 13 in Moscow. Pricing was not announced.

[Rasputin]

Sony, Panasonic Announce New HD Format

High-definition video fans can prepare themselves for another new format: AVCHD.

The format, developed by Sony and Panasonic, is aimed at high-definition camcorders and makes it possible to store HD content on currently available 3.2-inch DVDs, the companies said today.


AVCHD uses the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 compression system, which is more efficient than the MPEG2 system used on conventional DVDs. HD video contains about four times as much picture data as standard definition video, so a better compression system is essential if anything more than a few minutes of video is to be stored on each disc.


Yoshikazu Ochiai, a spokesman for Sony in Tokyo, said that despite the present focus on Blu-ray Disc, the format is currently not feasible for camcorder use. Several hurdles remain before Blu-ray Disc drives can be fitted into camcorders, including bringing down the price of the drive, making it small enough to fit into a camcorder, and reducing energy consumption.


Using AVCHD, about 20 minutes of HD video can be recorded on a single-sided DVD disc when using the average quality setting, said Ochiai. That compares to about 30 minutes of video when using the same disc with a standard definition camcorder.


Sony is already developing a camcorder based on AVCHD but Ochiai wouldn't provide any details. He did not explain what the acronym AVCHD represents.

[Rasputin]

Microsoft CEO: catching Yahoo, Google to take time

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday he has a five-year target to gain a bigger slice of the lucrative online advertising market dominated by Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news)

Speaking at a business luncheon in Silicon Valley, Ballmer said he did not enjoy trailing the two Web advertising leaders but predicted that persistence and the software maker's ability to create new technology would help it catch up.

"I don't think you will see some overnight transformation," Ballmer said. "It is going to have to be longer term. It makes sense for us to talk about five years."

Microsoft is making a big push into Web services and has vowed to keep investing in a variety of technologies as it seeks to transform the way both businesses and consumers operate on the Internet.

At the core of this plan is Windows Live, an advertising-funded, one-stop shop for services from e-mail, to instant messaging, to blogs that targets the fast-growing online ad market. Forrester Research projects online advertising will grow to $26 billion in 2009 from a current $15 billion.

Goldman Sachs analyst Rick Sherlund estimates Microsoft plans to spend an additional $2 billion in the year starting in July, with much of that investment going toward building an ad-supported online business in the mold of Google and Yahoo.

Ballmer acknowledged the world's biggest software maker is trailing Google and Yahoo but he said it was not too late for Microsoft to win over more advertisers and consumers.

"We are a little bit late in the game," Ballmer said. "But at the end of the day it is going to be about the ability to create a mass marketplace for buyers and consumers."

Microsoft has said it plans to spend about $6.2 billion in research and development in the current fiscal year ending June 30.

At the same time investors have put pressure on Microsoft shares due to concerns about the lack of details on the company's plans to compete with its online rivals and the potential for more delays to its Windows upgrade, Vista.

Ballmer said Microsoft would seek to create a marketplace where consumers want to spend their time and advertisers want to spend their money. It also plans to leverage the popularity of its MSN, Hotmail and Instant Messaging products, he said.

"We are hard at work on our own core services where at the heart we want the users to be in control," Ballmer said. "There is a whole set of things we are doing to let the user be in control."

[Rasputin]

Nokia to offer Google Talk on Web tablet-sources

Nokia, the world's top mobile phone maker, will unveil on Tuesday a new version of its Internet tablet device that runs Google Talk communications software, sources familiar with the plans said on Friday.

The pact between the Finnish company and Web search leader Google Inc. would offer consumers the ability to chat with other users of instant messaging software via the Nokia Wi-Fi device, which relies on short-range wireless networks.

The Nokia 770 Internet Tablet, introduced last year, offers wireless access to digital music and video playing on a high-contrast color screen, as well as to check e-mail, surf the Web and read computer documents or play video games.

At a press conference to be held in Stockholm on Tuesday, Espoo, Finland-based Nokia will introduce a new version of the Internet Tablet with upgraded software and hardware elements, one source said.

Nokia's 770 is available worldwide via its Web site. The 770 is a rectangular, 5.5-inch by 3.1-inch device with a big color screen that is slightly bigger than a mobile phone. It has a retail list price of around $400 in the United States.

In contrast to phones, the Nokia 770 relies on unregulated local wireless connections rather than cell phone networks.

[Rasputin]

US console video gaming hits online era

The console video game market is entering an online era that could take the $30 billion global industry to a new level, and giant software company Microsoft Corp. is leading the charge.

Microsoft's Xbox Live online service has already given gamers a taste of the future by letting them compete and chat with far-flung friends, download games and other content, adopt virtual identities and build communities of fellow gamers.

But the changes are not limited to play.

Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).'s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co. Ltd's Wii promise to give video game makers -- which can pay as much as $25 million to develop a new game -- new ways to make money through online services.

"An online revolution is happening ... It's an important piece of the economic puzzle going forward," said Gartner research vice president Van Baker.

Sony and Nintendo will launch their new online services later this year. Like Xbox Live, those rivals will allow game makers to sell games directly to users already familiar with buying and downloading music and video from the Internet.

Dynamic in-game advertising, made possible by high-speed Internet connections, is also expected to drive revenue by giving marketers a way to reach young male consumers who have moved away from network television and other mainstream media.

Microsoft grabbed the pole position in in-game advertising with its recent acquisition of Massive Inc., the leader in a market that is expected to reach $3 billion-plus by 2010. Console and video game makers agree that the potential is enormous, but executives at Sony and game maker Electronic Arts Inc. expect advertising to have a slower ramp-up.

[Rasputin]

Sony Brings LocationFree TV to Macs

Sony plans to unveil new client software next week that will extend its LocationFree TV platform to Macintosh computers and a wider range of mobile devices.

LocationFree TV is a platform that streams a live video and audio signal from a base station to client devices. It allows users to watch TV and video from devices in their living room on a remote computer, so long as there is a broadband connection between the base station and the client.


The new client software will be demonstrated in Tokyo next week and is the product of two recent licensing agreements. One, with Access, covered the development of clients for devices like cell phones and PDAs while a second, with Kaga Electronics, covered an Apple Mac client.


The new software will expand the range of devices on which LocationFree TV can be accessed.

Base Station

Sony's current LocationFree TV base station, the LF-PK1, supports access from a custom hardware terminal that resembles a tablet PC, from a Windows 2000 or Windows XP-based personal computer or from a PlayStation Portable.


The LF-PK1 was launched last year and is now on sale in the U.S., Japan, and Europe.

[Rasputin]

Symantec Considers Automatic Online Backup Service

Symantec is toying with the idea of delivering a new service that would allow users to automatically back up digital files to the Web, according to John Thompson, the company's chairman and chief executive officer.

The Cupertino, California, software vendor has been developing the backup capability as part of its upcoming Genesis security and PC-tuning service. But in a conference call with financial analysts this week, Thompson said that Symantec may offer the backup service as a separate product.


Online storage has become a hot topic in the past few months. Google is rumored to be developing a storage service called Gdrive that would make things like digital photos and music accessible from any PC. And earlier this month Microsoft said that it is developing a similar technology, dubbed Live Drive.


Microsoft came up with the idea of combining backup, PC tuning, and security features into one product. These features will be added to Microsoft's OneCare service, expected next month. And while competitive pressure has forced Symantec to add the backup service to project Genesis, analysts say it isn't yet known whether it makes sense to combine backup and security.

Will It Work?

"It isn't clear to me that backup is really the thing that people are going to be buying," said Andrew Jaquith, senior analyst with The Yankee Group in Boston. "I think Symantec is probably wise to keep their plans open about how they sell it."


Symantec is also being forced to rethink its products as the nature of security threats has changed.


"Between 2002 and 2004 there were almost 100 medium-to-high-severity viruses," Thompson said. "In calendar year 2005, there were only 6."


With high-profile attacks no longer creating as much demand for its basic antivirus products, Symantec is now developing new products, such as Genesis, that will place more emphasis on threats such as identity theft and fraud, Thompson said.


A beta version of Genesis will be available by the end of September, and while the service is expected to ship by year's end, that date may be pushed back until March 2007, to avoid conflicting with a refresh of Symantec's stand-alone security products, Thompson said.


New versions of Norton AntiVirus and Norton Internet Security are expected by September, and the Genesis team is evaluating whether the end of the year is "the right product introduction time," Thompson said.

[Rasputin]

GeekTech: nVidia's Powerful, Complicated Quad SLI

It's too expensive. It's too complicated. And it's likely to run basic apps--the ones most of us use every day--a bit slower than a single-card system. So why would you buy a desktop with nVidia's new, high-end Quad SLI technology?

Because you wanna play Oblivion at superhigh resolutions and settings on a massive 30-inch display, that's why. And because (of course) you have entirely too much money.


The thing is, just spending a ton of money on a Quad SLI system may not get you what you want. There's nothing wrong with the technology; but if your PC vendor doesn't implement it correctly, you're stuck with an expensive desktop that has more bark than bite.

Mega-Resolution Technology

When nVidia launched Quad SLI, it said the technology was for people who wanted an "Extreme HD" gaming experience. The technology uses a pair of giant graphics cards, each containing two ultra-high-end 7900 GTX graphics chips. The result is something like a video-processing supercomputer that can crank out impressive frame rates at high resolutions, such as 1920 by 1200 and 2560 by 1600, while using extreme antialiasing settings (to smooth jagged edges) and steep anisotropic filtering settings (to help render crisper textures).


In fact, if you don't have a big monitor capable of running those resolutions--such as Dell's 24-inch or 30-inch monsters--or the cash to buy one, don't bother with Quad SLI. The folks at nVidia will tell you that--just ask them.


Another thing they'll tell you is that Quad SLI is indeed a complicated technology, which is why you can't currently buy dual-chip cards to use in building your own system. A Quad SLI PC requires several particular components--like a power supply powerful enough to run the sun--and some specific motherboard and BIOS tweaks.


The companies selling these high-end systems are supposed to know all of these things; but unfortunately, the one that sent us our system apparently did not.

Big, Bad, and Slow?

The Quad SLI system we tested came from Aeoncraft. Our shipping $4495 Aeon-8000 Quad came stuffed with high-end components, including an AMD Athlon FX-60 processor, 2GB of Corsair memory, two 150GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000 RPM hard drives, and--of course--the two gigantic graphics cards.


Despite that impressive array of hardware, the system didn't perform on a par with its pedigree in our initial tests.


In WorldBench 5 tests, the PC earned a score of 119. That's not slow, but it's well below the mark of 142 posted by our current top performer, Xi Computer's MTower 64 AGI-SLI (which has the same CPU and same amount of memory as the Aeon-8000 Quad, but uses a single, older GeForce 7800 GTX graphics board).


Equally surprising was the Aeon's performance on our admittedly basic desktop graphics tests: It managed a frame rate of 372 frames per second on Unreal Tournament 2003 at 1280 by 1024 resolution, compared to the Xi's frame rate of 438 fps. The two systems' scores on Return to Castle Wolfenstein were nearly identical, however. (As noted, nVidia suggests running Quad SLI at a resolution of 1680 by 1050 or higher, but our basic tests max out at 1280 by 1024.)


Because of the overhead of running four GPUs, we expected the Quad SLI to run a tad slower than a comparably equipped system with a single card. And let's face it, nobody is buying a system like this to type Microsoft Word documents and surf the Web. Still, the performance results we recorded were clearly out of whack. To see whether the Quad SLI was responsible for the system's mediocre overall numbers, we removed one of the dual-GPU boards, disabled one of the two GPUs on the remaining board, and reran our tests. The system's WorldBench 5 score rocketed to 136.


We shared our testing information with Aeoncraft and (more specifically) nVidia, to help us figure out what was going on. It turned out that our high-end system needed some fine-tuning.

Under the Hood

After much back-and-forth with nVidia, we determined that Aeoncraft had shipped us a PC with the wrong BIOS, some incorrect settings, and a slightly dated video driver. The driver part is forgivable--these things rev all the time--but the BIOS issues suggest sloppy craftsmanship, especially on a system this pricey.


After installing the proper BIOS, we reran our basic WorldBench 5 tests, and the system scored a much more reasonable 134--not tops, but pretty good. The system did a lot better on our basic desktop graphics tests, too.