DDR3 On A Budget: Six 6 GB Memory Kits

Have DDR3 prices finally hit rock bottom? DDR3-1600 reached $30 per 2 GB module several weeks ago, making it completely competitive in price-per-performance with DDR2. Available in both dual-channel and triple-channel kits for $60 and $90, these aren't last year’s high-voltage parts, but instead completely modern 1.50-1.65 V modules, fully compatible with Core i7, Phenom II socket AM3, and future Core i5 platforms.

But those were June's prices, and several of the modules that qualified for our “sub-$100 triple-channel roundup” have since gone up to as much as $130. Meanwhile, prices for the DDR2 that still competes for attention in AM2+ and LGA 775 platforms have remained relatively flat. A few of today’s contenders haven’t yet been hit by the higher cost bug, but we see it as only a matter of time before the cheapest models get more expensive or the more expensive models get cheaper. Either move will result in all six sets once again settling into the same price class.

Today’s comparison is about value, so the products lagging behind the upward pricing trend have a distinct advantage no matter how long it lasts. With daily updates logistically difficult, tomorrow’s readers should instead find our test data far more useful than any value conclusions when using future prices.

Value for us is defined by how much performance we can extract from a part, rather than how much it’s specified to provide. Overclocking and under-latency test results are thus more significant to us than rated settings, yet some people refuse to overclock by a greater amount than specified by the module manufacturer. Here’s a short list of how today’s samples are marketed.

The only company to rate its part at standard voltage, Crucial’s higher-latency DDR3 can be viewed as the only parts in today’s lineup that don’t require overclocking techniques to reach rated speed and timings. Our overclocking tests will be the equalizer, since we apply the same voltage limit to every set.

Before we move on to overclock testing and value assessment, let’s take a closer look at each product in today’s comparison.

Asus P7P55 WS Supercomputer P55 Motherboard Preview

Meet Asus' P7P55 WS Supercomputer, little brother to the P6T7 WS Supercomputer based on Intel's X58 chipset. Of course, the P7P55 WS centers on P55, Intel's upcoming platform controller hub, complementing LGA 1156 Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

From over top, everything about the P7P55 WS looks fairly standard, but there's actually quite a bit going on with this platform when you zoom in and start flying by its various onboard components. For instance, notice the five PCI Express x16 slots. So what, right? The P6T6 WS Revolution sports six PCI Express x16 slots, after all.

Ah, but the rabbit hole goes deeper. Remember, there's a world of difference between the X58 and P55 chipsets...

In case you've missed any of our other P55 motherboard previews, we covered Gigabyte's microATX P55M-UD4 and Asus' P7P55D Deluxe in the same picture story. We introduced Gigabyte's P55-UD4P and P55-UD6 in another piece. Before that, Asus' P7P55D Evo stood on its own. Don't worry, we're looking to share the love. Solutions from MSI and ASRock are up on the block next.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Review

There is nothing wrong with an incremental update—especially an update that adds performance without affecting pricing. Such is the case with AMD’s new Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, which arrived at our performance lab running at 3.4 GHz—200 MHz faster than its predecessor, the Phenom II X4 955 BE. Everything else is exactly the same as the Phenom II X4 955, reviewed back in April 2009.

So, if the latest Phenom II is predictably faster than AMD’s former flagship, why is today’s launch so significant? In short, it comes just a few weeks ahead of Intel’s upcoming LGA 1156-based P55 platform debut—an event that’ll almost certainly play a bigger role in the adoption of Nehalem-based machines than either the LGA 1366 Core i7 or Xeon 5500-series CPUs have thus far. After all, LGA 1156 is going to be the interface that purportedly makes Intel’s latest architecture accessible to the mainstream, supplanting the Core 2 family at a number of affordable price points.

No doubt, those new Core i5/i7 CPUs will be faster than the Core 2 Quads they replace, and at competitive prices. Just when AMD looked like it had achieved performance parity with the top end of Intel’s Core micro-architecture, LGA 1156-based platforms seem almost certain to set the bar higher.

Thus, today’s Phenom II X4 965 BE introduction is actually a fairly important one for AMD. On one hand, it could earn the company its mainstream performance crown—at least for a few weeks. On the other, it could be the last time Phenom II looks as competitive as it does now. Of course, that’s going to depend mightily on how the upcoming Intel chips perform.

Up Against Core i5

Of course, we’re not able to publish performance numbers with the pre-production Core i5 processors currently running in the lab, so it’s hard to officially quantify how Phenom II will size up. But we can make best guesses using today’s Core i7s as rough test subjects.

You’ll find all of our usual benchmarks on the pages that follow. First, however, we wanted to set up Phenom II X4 965 BE against a hypothetical Core i5-750—a processor expected to cost less than $200 when it launches. We simulated the 2.66 GHz offering with a Core i7-920, which runs at the same clock rate. Of course, we had to pull out a single channel of memory (yielding two channels of DDR3-1333) and disable Hyper-Threading, since Core i5 won’t have that feature. The one variable we couldn’t reproduce was Core i5’s enhanced Turbo Boost, which is expected to accelerate clocks to 3.2 GHz when a single core is active. Core i7-920 only benefits from a single bin of Turbo Boost, yielding 2.8 GHz instead.

The only other platform capability setting LGA 1156 apart from LGA 1366 is the use of on-die PCI Express 2.0, which we’ve tested extensively and can say that, in single-card configurations, has almost zero impact on performance versus the X58’s chipset-based connectivity.

Gigabyte's Radeon HD 4650: Are AGP Graphics Still Good Enough?

Ah, the Accelerated Graphics Port. I remember when AGP first arrived, touted as the PC gamer’s savior.

Prior to 1997, a PC’s graphics card was limited to a measly 133 MB/s of bandwidth. Then came the AGP slot with 266 MB/s, followed by AGP 2x with 533 MB/s, AGP 4x with 1,066 MB/s, and finally AGP 8x with 2,133 MB/s of potential bandwidth. That kind of throughput is respectable, even by today's standards.

Right out of the gate, a first-gen PCI Express (PCIe) x16 slot, with its 4,000 MB/s of bandwidth, didn’t show any appreciable gains over AGP 8x because even the fastest graphics cards didn't saturate the AGP bus. Regardless, AGP was inevitably dropped in favor of the more scalable point-to-point PCIe standard. PCIe not only offered increased throughput, but it also brought with it the ability to transfer more power to ever-hungrier graphics cards.

By PC technology standards, all of this is ancient history. So why bring it up? Ask Gigabyte, one of the few manufacturers that sought to grace the aging AGP bus with a modern graphics processor, designed to save nostalgic gamers from buying a new CPU, motherboard, and graphics subsystem in making the jump to PCIe-based platforms. Its technical designation is the Gigabyte GV-R465D2-1GI, but you’ll probably know it better by its street name, ATI's Radeon HD 4650.

This is an interesting move on Gigabyte's part, as the Radeon HD 4650 isn’t really any faster than the previous king-of-AGP, the Radeon HD 3850. In fact, the older Radeon HD 3850 is probably faster, since it sports a wide 256-bit memory bus (compared to the 4650’s 128-bit bus) and fast DDR3 memory (compared to the 4650’s DDR2 memory). Still, the Radeon HD 4650 does have a few things going for it compared to the Radeon HD 3850, such as more conservative power requirements and two times the texture units.

Who Buys This Stuff?

Sounds great, but who's interested in upgrading ancient tech? Well, 57% of the participants in Valve's Steam Hardware Survey game with dual-core CPUs, while 26% use single-core machines. The most common memory capacity is 2 GB, and the majority of users with processors from AMD game on machines that have clock speeds between 2 and 2.29 GHz. Now, we don't have any specific information about the CPU models folks use, but it's a safe bet that there are a lot of people out there running older rigs.

And who wouldn't want to get more longevity out of an old box? Whether it's your primary gaming machine or just an old PC you keep in the basement, it'd sure be nice to play the newest titles on aged equipment. In fact, I can personally vouch that it's useful to have a spare PC around so a visitor can join in a rousing game of Left 4 Dead. So let's find out if this new Gigabyte GV-R465D2-1GI can breathe some life into one of the great gaming CPUs of antiquity, the Athlon 64 X2 3800+.

Panda Antivirus 2010

The new Panda Antivirus Pro 2010 is the easiest-to-use and most intuitive protection for your computer. Just install it and forget about viruses, spyware, rootkits, hackers, online fraud and identity theft. Chat, share photos and videos, bank and buy online, read your favorite blogs or simply surf the Web, with complete peace of mind. And thanks to the new Collective Intelligence technology, the solution is now much faster than previous versions.

Anti-Malware Engine - Automatically detects and eliminates viruses, spyware, Trojans, rootkits, bots and other malware before they infect your computer.

• Panda USB Vaccine protects your USB drives from infection.
• Scans files in real-time and on-demand.
• Scans emails before they reach your inbox, regardless of your email program.
• Scans Internet traffic regardless of your browser type.
• Scans Instant Messaging traffic in MSN Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger and AOL.
• Removes all traces of clutter left by spyware on your PC.
• 80% reduced memory consumption.

Advanced Proactive Protection - Technologies from Panda Security are widely recognized as the most effective against new and unknown malware.

• Genetic Heuristic Engine combines advanced algorithms to detect new variants of the most dangerous malware families.
• TruPrevent Technologies 2.0 silently analyze the behavior of programs, blocking those that try to damage your PC. This last line of defence blocks zero-day targeted attacks and terminates any malicious activity that has evaded traditional protection systems.

Personal Firewall

• Protects you against Internet-borne worms and hacker attacks.
• Smart auto-configuration allows good programs to run while blocking malicious ones.
• Shields your PC from hackers on the Web.
• Wireless Monitor protects your wireless network from intruders.
• Intrusion prevention blocks known and unknown hacker attacks and vulnerability exploits.

Identity Theft Protection

Anti-Phishing Filter
Recognizes fraudulent email and protects you from scams while you shop, bank or pay bills online.

Anti-Banking Trojan Engine
Detects the most dangerous identity theft malware used by cyber-criminals to steal banking credentials. Specialized heuristics and generic detection techniques ensure maximum protection for online transactions. NEW!

Anti-Rootkit Technology
Detects and removes silently-installed rootkits used by malware or hackers to evade traditional antivirus products. The free Panda Anti-Rootkit, used by millions of people around the world, recently won the Editor's Choice award from PC Magazine.

Panda Security's Collective Intelligence works as an online, real-time database that stores the majority of signature files, keeping them at a minimum on the endpoint. Every Panda user is a sensor for new malware, sending statistical data about malware prevalence back to the cloud. This new approach reduces bandwidth consumption on customers' PCs and provides faster and more comprehensive up-to-date protection.

Panda Security is the first and only security vendor that has the technology, the infrastructure, the knowledge and the experience to apply the Collective Intelligence approach to its commercially available products. The new Panda 2010 Consumer products are based on Collective Intelligence; the benefits of this new product line can be summarized as follows: Maximum protection with minimum impact on your PC.

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BitDefender Antivirus 2010

BitDefender Antivirus 2010 provides advanced proactive protection against viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and identity theft, without slowing down your PC. With BitDefender Antivirus 2010 your computer gets proactive protection from viruses, spyware, phishing attacks, rootkits, and more. BitDefender Antivirus 2010 provides advanced proactive protection against viruses, spyware, phishing attacks and identity theft, with minimal impact on system performance. It's jam-packed with features including: IM Encryption, for confidential chatting; Gamer Mode, for secure gaming at top speed; Laptop Mode, to prolong battery life; automatic hourly updates; FREE 24/7 support; and more!

Features and Benefits
Confidently download, share and open files from friends, family, co-workers - and even total strangers

Protects against viruses and other malware using industry-leading technology

• Scans all Web, e-mail and instant messaging traffic in real-time
• Provides an unmatched detection rate of new threats based on two different proactive technologies
• Blocks spyware programs that track your online activities

Protect your identity: shop, bank, listen and watch, privately and securely

• Blocks web pages that attempt to steal your credit card data
• Prevents personal information from leaking via e-mail, Web or instant messaging

Guard your conversations with top-of-the line encryption

• Instant Messaging Encryption keeps your conversations private on Yahoo! and MSN Messenger

Play safely, play seamlessly

• Reduces the system load and avoids requesting user interaction during game play

Get fine-tuned performance from your computer

• Optimized scanning technology skips safe files for better scan speed and lower system load
• Laptop Mode prolongs battery life

Let professionals solve any security issues

• Assistance with common issues built directly into the product
• Free technical support for the entire duration of the product license

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Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 protects your computer against known and unknown threats, and against unwanted data. Each type of threat is processed by a separate application component. This makes setup flexible, with easy configuration options for all components, which can be tailored to the needs of a specific user or of the business as a whole. This is protection for 1 PC for 1 year.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 - the backbone of your PC's security system - offers protection from a range of IT threats and provides the basic tools needed to protect your PC. To be fully protected, you should use Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 together with a firewall of your choice.

Award-winning technologies in Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 protect you from a wide range of IT threats:

• Viruses, Trojans, worms and other malware, spyware and adware
• Rootkits, bootkits and other complex threats
• Identity theft by key loggers and screen capture malware
• Botnets and various illegal methods of taking control of your PC
• Zero-day attacks and unknown threats
• Drive-by download infections

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 - the backbone of your PC's security system, offering real-time automated protection from a range of IT threats:

• Real-time scanning of files, web pages and e-messages
• Basic identity theft protection
• Color-coding of links to unsafe websites
• Disabling of links to malicious websites
• Blocking of suspicious programs based on their behavior
• Protection from hijacking of your PC
• Self-protection from malware
• Regular and emergency updates for always-on protection

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 offers a number of new and improved features together with unique protection technologies to address the latest online threats, keeping your PC running smoothly and customize protection according to your activities:

• Kaspersky Toolbar for Internet browsers to warn you about infected or unsafe websites
• Basic identity theft protection, including improved secure Virtual Keyboard
• Urgent Detection System to stop fast emerging threats
• Next generation proactive protection from zero-day attacks and unknown threats
• Special Game Mode to suspend alerts, updates and scans while you play

Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2010 has a range of unique tools which heighten security and keep your computer running smoothly:

• Enter logins and passwords using secure Virtual Keyboard
• Turn on Game Mode to suspend alerts, updates and scans
• Scan system and installed applications for vulnerabilities
• Tune up your OS and Internet browser settings for better security
• Restore correct system settings after malware removal
• Burn a Rescue CD to restore your system in case of infection
• Remove activity traces in your Internet browser (history, cookies, etc.)

IMPORTANT!
Make sure that you remove any existing anti-virus program completely before installing Kaspersky on your PC.

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Best USB Device Manager Safely Remove Hardware v4.1 Free License Code for EVERYONE

This week is indeed a software giveaway week. Started with Online Armor, then Mamutu and now USB Safely Remove. So far I’ve never seen a USB device managing software that is so advanced like USB Safely Remove. It is a neat and reliable replacement for the standard ‘Safely Remove Hardware’ tool with unique feature “Return Device Back!” and an ability to know what prevent a device from being stopped. The program saves time and extends abilities of active users of hot-plug devices (USB, SATA, FireWire, PCMCIA).

This program has tons of features such as a handy menu to stop devices, keyboard shortcuts to safe removal, autorun program on device connection or disconnection, ejecting memory cards rather than the card reader, hiding drives of empty card reader slots, command line to safe removal, Stopping via “disabling”, and the latest one that’s being added is Return Device Back!. From August 19th – 25th, 2009, everyone can get a free license for version 4.1 of the award-winning program USB Safely Remove. You still have around 5 m
To get your free USB Safely Remove v4.1 genuine registration code, just go to their promo page at http://safelyremove.com/giveawayweeka9.htm. Make sure you enter your full name (nicknames or just names or other alphabets are not accepted), a working email address and click the “I want the license” button. You should then see a message saying that you will get your license within 24 hours or earlier. For my case, I got it immediately in my Gmail. Finally, download the latest version of USB Safely Remove v4.1.5.806 setup file usbsafelyremovesetup_4-1-5.exe and install. Enter the registration name and registration code to license the program.

If you have an antivirus software that cannot auto scan the USB flash drive after plugging in to the computer, you can set a rule on Safely Remove Hardware to call up your AV to scan once it is plugged in. This can be found in Global Autorun. I also like the Stop Menu Hotkey Win+S. By pressing a hotkey I can safely remove the device.

My favorite feature for USB Safely Remove v4.1 is the Return Device Back! Normally after we’ve stopped the device but still did not unplug it, we’ll need to unplug and reinsert it back for Windows to mount the USB flash drive. With this new feature, we can easily get it back with a click of a button without trying to re-insert the USB device back to the USB port which is at the back of the computer case. So far I couldn’t find any other software that can do this. It’d be nice to have a hotkey to enable this feature.

It seemed like Crystal Rich, the company that develops USB Safely Remove will give out free licenses for USB Safely Remove every 9 months. First time was on February 2008 for v3.3, followed v4.0 on November 2008 and now on August 2009 for v4.1. The free USB Safely Remove registration code can only be used on the particular version and cannot be used on newer or even older versions of the program. So if you want to have the flexibility of upgrading or downgrading, then you’ll need to purchase a lifetime license that cost $20.

USB Safely Remove works on Windows 2000\XP\2003\Vista. It even works on my Windows 7