GSBUG Hardware Info SIG

1. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG May 8, 2003

2. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Agenda – May 8, 2003 • 7:00 – 7:05 Administration • 7:05 – 8:15 Featured Topic – System RAM plus Motherboard Features Beyond Core Logic (Chipsets): 2003 Update • 8:15 – 8:30 Hardware News • 8:30 – 8:55 Random Access (Q&A) • 8:55 – 9:00 Recap, Preview, and Close

3. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Administration • Welcome! Please Sign In. • What the SIG is…and is not. • Is – an information resource for computer users and potential computer users • Is NOT – a way to get your computer built or repaired (contact the GSBUG Daytime Hardware SIG) • Log – Random Access/Q&A (First Come…)

4. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Administration (continued): • Presentation materials will be posted at: http://gsbug.apcug.org/hwinfosig.htm • Prior presentation materials are also posted.

5. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update • “System RAM” – the off-processor (off-processor- module), random access memory (RAM) used to store instructions and data. • “DRAM” – dynamic RAM (only retains data when power is applied/refreshed) • Primary types: • SDRAM (synchronous DRAM) • RDRAM (Rambus DRAM) or DRDRAM (Direct Rambus DRAM)

6. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • CAS Latency (CL) – definition per Crucial Technology (division of Micron): • “The amount of time in nanoseconds (often measured in clock cycles) between a request to read the memory, and when it is actually output. SDRAMs are typically referred to as CL 2 or CL 3, with CL 2 parts being faster.” • Today, frequently also CL 2.5 • Unbuffered vs Registered vs Registered ECC – consult your motherboard manual for what you need. For the curious, see http://www.crucial.com/library/glossary.asp

7. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • SDRAM • All types have a 64-bit wide data path • SDR (single data rate) SDRAM • PC100 (seldom seen today) - 100MHz • PC133 (used with older desktops & servers) - 133MHz • Supported by all the current SDR SDRAM chipsets • 168-pin DIMM (dual in-line memory module)

8. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • SDRAM (continued) • DDR (double data rate) SDRAM • PC1600 (DDR200) - 100/200MHz • PC2100 (DDR266) - 133/266MHz • PC2700 (DDR333) - 166/333MHz • PC3200 (DDR400) - 200/400MHz • Requires corresponding chipset support – see last presentation (on Core Logic/Chipsets); varies by chipset • 184-pin DIMM

9. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • RDRAM • 16-bit wide data path • Two speed grades (current): • PC800 - 800MHz • PC1066 - 1066MHz • PC1200 (1200MHz) announced • 184-pin RIMMs (Rambus In-Line Memory Modules) • Requires “Continuity RIMM (CRIMM)” in empty sockets

10. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • RDRAM (continued) • Compatible chipsets – currently only Intel 850, 850E and 860, SiS R658 (SiS R659 announced) • Installed in pairs (dual channel) • NOW priced at roughly 2x the cost of quality DDR400 • Performance – depending on the configuration and application, may be faster than other forms of DRAM

11. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • Memory bandwidth: pipe width (in bytes) x speed (in MHz) x number of channels = memory bandwidth (in GB/sec) “speed” is “effective speed”; e.g., 100MHz SDR, 200MHz DDR (both on a 100MHz clock) • Example: PC2100 DDR SDRAM 8 bytes x 266MHz (133MHz DDR) x 1 channel = 2128MB/sec (2.1GB/sec)

12. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • Memory bandwidth (continued): • Current system memory product implementations: • PC100 SDR SDRAM 0.8GB/sec • PC133 SDR SDRAM 1.06GB/sec • PC1600 DDR SDRAM (DDR200) 1.6GB/sec • PC2100 DDR SDRAM (DDR266) 2.1GB/sec • PC2700 DDR SDRAM (DDR333) 2.7GB/sec • PC3200 DDR SDRAM (DDR400) 3.2GB/sec • PC800 RDRAM (dual channel) 3.2GB/sec [PC800 RDRAM = 2 bytes x 800MHz x 2 channels]

13. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • Memory bandwidth (continued): • Current system memory product implementations (cont.): • PC2100 DDR SDRAM (DDR266, dual channel) 4.3GB/sec • PC1066 RDRAM (dual channel) 4.3GB/sec • PC3200 DDR SDRAM (DDR400, dual channel) 6.4GB/sec • Coming system memory product implementations: • “Quad channel” PC1200 RDRAM (Fall ’03) 9.6GB/sec

14. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • System RAM: 2003 Update (continued) • Major Memory (Chip) Manufacturers • Elpida (Japan) • Hynix (Korea) • Infineon (Germany) • Micron (USA) • Mosel Vitelic/ProMOS (Taiwan) • Nanya (Taiwan) • Samsung (Korea) • Winbond (Taiwan) All www.companyname.com

15. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Update • Processor Sockets • AMD • Socket A (462-pin) – supports Athlon, Athlon XP, Duron, and Athlon MP • Socket 940 – supports Opteron • Intel • Socket 370 – supports Celeron (P3 core) and Pentium III S • Socket 423 – supports 423-pin Pentium 4 (earliest) • Socket 478 – supports 478-pin Celeron (P4 core) & P4 (latest) • Socket 603/604 – supports Xeon and Xeon MP • VIA • Socket 370 – supports C3

16. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Upd (cont.) • “Slots” • AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) • 32-bits wide, capable (depending on the AGP spec) of 66MHz(1X) to 533MHz(8X) • 264MB/sec (1X) to 2.1GB/sec (8X) transfer rate • Video cards only • Signaling voltage varies by spec – 1.5V (AGP 2.0, AGP 1X-4X), 0.8V (AGP 3.0, AGP 4X-8X); both use same physical socket • Also AGP Pro50 and Pro110 (higher wattage for workstations) • Brown connector • www.agpforum.org

17. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Upd (cont.) • “Slots” (continued) • PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) - typical • 32-bits wide, capable of 33MHz (desktop) • 132MB/sec transfer rate (desktop) • Used for HDCs, sound cards, modems, NICs, and older video cards; various specialty adapters (USB 2.0, IEEE-1394, second parallel, etc.) • White connector • www.pcisig.org

18. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Upd (cont.) • “Slots” (continued) • PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) - other • 32-bits wide, 66MHz (desktop/server); 64-bit wide, 33 or 66MHz (workstations and servers) • Up to 528MB/sec • Used for HDCs, NICs, and some specialty adapters • PCI-X (some workstations and most servers) • Spec 1.0 - 64-bit wide, up to 133MHz (up to 1.06GB/sec) • Spec 2.0 - 64-bit wide, up to 533MHz (up to 4.3GB/sec) • PCI Express – coming in 2004 (possibly late 2003) • 0.8V, 2.5GHz, up to 16GB/sec transfer – to replace AGP 8X +

19. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Upd (cont.) • “Ports” • Serial (1 or 2 ports typ) • Parallel (ECP/EPP; 1 port typ) • PS/2 (2 ports – keyboard and mouse)

20. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Upd (cont.) • “Ports” (continued) • USB (Universal Serial Bus) – chipset dependant • Three speeds: • Low speed = 1.5Mb/sec (.187MB/sec) – USB 1.1 • Full speed = 12Mb/sec (1.5MB/sec) – USB 1.1 • High speed = 480 Mb/sec (60MB/sec) – USB 2.0 • Attach up to 127 devices – including mice, keyboards, cameras, printers, ZIPs, some HDDs, etc. • Number of ports varies – min 2. Combos of USB 1.1 and 2.0. • For “outside the box” devices

21. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Upd (cont.) • “Ports” (continued) • Audio (sound “card”, down) – line in, line out, mic, joy stick (MIDI port), plus • Video (for video “card”, down) • NIC (network interface “card”, down) • Typically “10/100” (Mb/sec) • IEEE 1394a (“FireWire”/Apple, “iLink”/Sony) • Today provides a maximum 400Mb/sec (50MB/sec) transfer rate (1394-1995). For “outside the box” devices. • Typically used to connect digital video cameras, HDDs.

22. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Upd (cont.) • Other Interfaces, Misc. • Internal data cable connectors – floppy, IDE, SCSI • USB and IEEE-1394 header(s) • IrDA (infrared) header • CD-ROM (audio interface) – 1 or 2 • Wake-on-LAN • Modem (audio for voice modem) • Fan headers

23. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Other Motherboard Features: 2003 Upd (cont.) • Other Interfaces, Misc. (continued) • Panel lights (power, HDD activity, sleep) & switches (power, reset, sleep) • Jumpers and/or DIP switches (CMOS clear/flash, CPU multiplier, CPU voltage, bus speeds, keyboard power-on, suspend-to-RAM, etc.) • Power (ATX, ATX12V, WTX, proprietary) • Show-and-Tell

24. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Hardware News • Processors • AMD formally released the AMD Opteron – first x86-64 (AMD64) processor; models 240 (1.4GHz), 242 (1.6GHz), and 244 (1.8GHz) for 1-way and 2-way servers and workstations; 128K L1 cache; 1MB exclusive L2 cache; integrated dual-channel memory controller (5.3GB/sec/CPU using PC2700/DDR333 SDRAM); able to directly address up to 1 terabyte of RAM; FSB = processor clock speed; three 16x16-bit HyperTransport links (6.4GB/sec per link); .13 micron SOI (silicon on insulator) technology; supports SSE2; 940-pin package with heat spreader

25. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Hardware News (continued) • Processors (continued) • AMD released the Athlon MP 2800+ – 2.133GHz, Barton core, 512K L2, 266MHz FSB (no faster chipset support) • Core Logic (chipsets) • AMD formally released the AMD-8131 PCI-X Tunnel, AMD-8151 AGP Graphics Tunnel (AGP 8X), and the AMD-8111 I/O Hub support chipset for its just-released AMD Opteron processor • NVIDIA announced the nForce3 Pro chipset for AMD Opteron workstations – single chip; AGP 8X; IDE RAID support (both PATA and SATA); integrated NIC

26. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Hardware News (continued) • Core Logic (chipsets) (continued) • SiS announced the SiS655 for Intel Pentium 4 – a dual channel memory controller version of the SiS648; supports up to DDR333 • VIA announced the UniChrome KM400 chipset (VT8378 Northbridge w/ VT8235CE or VT8237 Southbridge) for AMD Athlon – includes integrated UniChrome 2D/3D graphics processor (AGP 8X); supports DDR400 SDRAM; SATA RAID support w/ VT8237 • VIA announced the K8T400M chipset for AMD Opteron – AGP 8X “Northbridge” with high-speed interface to the VT8237 Southbridge

27. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Hardware News (continued) • System RAM – nothing new • Motherboards • MSI released the K8D Master (MS-9131) server motherboard for dual AMD Opteron processors. • ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI and several others introduce Intel 875P-chipset-based Pentium 4 motherboards. • Graphics Processors & Cards • 3Dlabs announced the Wildcat VP880 Pro workstation video card – 256MB RAM, AGP 8X, ESP of $499.

28. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Hardware News (continued) • Graphics Processors & Cards (continued) • Matrox announced the Millennium P-series of video cards based on the Parhelia-LX processor – initially released the Millennium P650 ( 2 head) and Millennium P750 (3 head) cards. Both have 64MB RAM and are AGP 8X. Intended for video editing. These are low priced derivatives of the Parhelia. • Hard Drives – nothing new

29. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Hardware News (continued) • Hard Drive Controllers • Promise released the “FastTrak S150 TX4” SATA RAID card – supports 4 drives, RAID 0, 1, and 0+1. • Other Drives • Plextor released the PlexWriter Premium 52x32x52 CD-RW (ATAPI) w/ GigaRec (store up to 1GB data on 700MB media – not readable on other drives).

30. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Hardware News (continued) • Sound processors & cards – nothing new • Modems & NICs – nothing new • Chassis & power supplies – nothing new

31. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Random Access

32. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG • Recap, Preview, and Close • Recap • Preview • Featured Topic for June 12, 2003 – Hard Drives and “Floppies”: 2003 Update • Close (please police up the area)