Today's Hardware Buys

Singapore
Until the i9xx chipset series from Intel matures and eventually replaces the popular 8x5 series. As ever always with the introduction of new product families, better not jump in the innovators/early adopters bandwagon or you might pay the price... dearly.. remember the i820/RDRAM saga. The i865P series in particular is the one to go for if you want to build a solid rig. Videopro.com.sg is selling the Abit IS7-E motherboard with a retail Pentium 4 2.4GHz for only S$347, around £92+VAT.

The processor features a 1MB cache, a 800MHz front side bus speed and a 90nm process, ultimately placing it in the Prescott family or Pentium D. With 125 million transistors and a die size of 112mm2, they are not your entry level CPU. Moreover, overclocking should be easier because (1) Intel new HeatSink Fans are much better than they used to be (2) the Prescott CPU use a finer process, allowing them to support higher temperatures. HardOCP was able to reach 3293.2MHz using traditional overclocking techniques and no extravagances, while more aggressive methods yielded nearly 3700MHz, not bad for an entry level processor.

So much so that HardOCP Kyle Bennett's has these nice words for it. "The 2.4A is a stellar overclocker while being fairly easy on the wallet by Pentium 4 standards. Depending on your upgrade path it can be the heart and soul of your next 3GHz+ machine and likely do it with ease." The motherboard has a i865PE chipset combined with a iCH5 northbridge. It supports AGP 8X, dual channel support Serial ATA, 800MHz FSB, and has a GB Lan connection. Surprisingly, it features a couple of SPDIF connections as well as usual audio ports. Additionally, it has five PCI slots, two Serial ATA channels, eight USB2.0 ports and four DIMM slots. As with most Abit motherboards, Softmenu provides with an easy way to dabble with things. And as you can expect, overclocking is a real treat. µ

UK
Fancy a 3GHz+ rig for under £100 all inclusive, then head for ebuyer. If you are not a fervent supporter of Intel technology then why not go for a SIS chipset-based motherboard. Granted they do not provide the best performance around but their low price allows many addons to be integrated.

The Gigabyte GA8S655fX-L - available for £40+VAT at ebuyer.com, features the SIS655FX chipset which is supposed to go against the Intel's i865PE. It supports Hyperthreading, 800MHz FSB and AGP8x as well as Dual Channel DDR400 memory. Connections and expansion options are aplenty: four DIMM slots, two Firewire ports, two Serial ATA, integrated 6-channel Audio with Universal Audio Jack - no need to know where is audio out or audio in, SPDIF support, five PCI slots, eight USB 2.0 ports and 10/100 LAN connection.

You might want to combine it with the latest Celeron generation, the 320 available at ebuyer for £43+VAT. It is closer to the Northwood Pentium IV than to the older Celeron Core. With a core speed of 2.4GHz, based on 90nm technology, 256KB inclusive Advanced transfer cache and a boosted 533MHz bus.

In tests, it holds its ground fairly well. For example, it has the same CPU score from PC Mark 04 than the older Pentium IV 2.4GHz processor. Additionally, you can expect them to be very good overclockers as it is the case for the newest Pentium IV Prescott and with the help of the Easytune 4 overclocking utility from the GA8S655fX-L. µ

France
Buying the latest Intel technology from France yields some unfamiliar names. Anyone heard of Albatron? I remember that they are supposed to be some kind of renegade group formed by former Gigabyte executives. The PX915P motherboard sells at €116 from ruemontgallet.com and is the cheapest socket 775 board across the chunnel.

Even though it is cheap, its specifications are surprisingly well furnished. Four DDR memory sockets, prescott support, one PCI express x16 slot, 2 PCI express x1 slot, three PCI slot, eight channel sound support, Gigabyte Ether net LAN, four Serial ATA channels with Matrix Raid support and ATA RAID support, eight USB 2.0 ports, SPDIF, zero jumper design as well as adjustable CPU frequency with adjustable Vcore, VAGP, Vmemory voltages. Not bad at all. Now, team it with the Intel Pentium 4 520 which runs at 2.8GHz and comes from 1000ordi.fr for €176.52 . The Intel 520 is likely to be an excellent overclocker and this particular one is complete with its stock HSF and full fledged warranty. µ

USA
Living in the US and wanting to have mainframe performance at home, then look no further than a quad Opteron rig. For a cool price of $7900, be the proud owner of a Tyan Quad Opteron motherboard - from Axiontech - complete with four Optera 850 processors - courtesy of monarchcomputers. With this kind of power readily available you will be able to churn through the most demanding task in your own bedroom.

The Opteron 850 comes with 1MB cache and runs at 2.4GHz. Don't expect to find any review about these babies anywhere on the web. The Tyan Thunder K8Qs is shurely impressive with 16 DIMM slots accepting only registered ECC memory, 4 PCI-X slots, one PCI slot, two Gigabit LAN, four Serial ATA Raid controllers, a dual channel U320 SCSI controller onboard.

Naturally you will need an extended ATX compatible casing to be able to enjoy from all the power within. However, if your pockets are not that deep, you could still get a good deal with dual processors from Intel featuring the latest Intel Xeon 3.4GHz processor featuring the Prescott core with 1MB cache and a 800MHz FSB. It is available at memoryexpousa for $745. Combine it with the Iwill DH800 motherboard - $335 at newegge.com which is built around the i875P chipset and you might even overclock it.

Intriguely, the i875p chipset was supposed to be a single CPU only but this one adds Intel Hance Rapids Southbridge. It supports both 800MHz and 533MHz FSB and has four ECC memory slots, one AGP Pro slot, two PCI and two PCI-X slots, eight USB 2.0, SPDIF, two Firewire and 5.1 channel sound support, serial ATA and RAID support, Gigabyte LAN support etc. Most surprisingly, the board goes into a standard ATX casing. µ