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It’s been years for users to select different components to make own DIY PC. Advantage of DIY is freedom. Comparing to brand PC, there is only one brand to provide after service. The DIY PC can have the vendors or distributors warranty. For this warranty, you have to go to different service center by different components. However, you can choose your favorite brands and suitable products. This is the main reason for DIY PC users are interested in computer technology or studying before buying. Windwithme also mentioned in previous article that most DIY PC users are concerned about budget. So they set the budget first and search for suitable products. This review is introducing Intel platform with built-in GPU to make a good C/P PC. Last review is AMD mainstream PC guide. This time, I will use similar budget to compare the Intel platform. My original idea was putting Intel and AMD PC in one article. However, the content is too long, so I divided into 2 parts. If you are interested, you can compare to these 2 guides. I believe you can have more idea for current mainstream hardware performance and price. Also, it can help you to make decision before buying. CPU Part I use Intel current hot sell model Core i3-540. 3.06GHz, 32nm manufacturing, 4MB L3 Cache, Revision K0. Physical 2 Cores with Hyper-Threading for 4 threading, called 2C/4T. K0 version is adding ID(PCID) technology into processor. Most users all hope new version can be better at OC. The price is 3350NTD, around 112USD. Inside Box Product manual, original cooler, Intel Core i3-540 Upper-Right is cooler bottom. It’s 100% aluminum also with thermal pate in the bottom. Lower-Left is Intel Core i3-540. LGA 1156 Socket. It’s recommended for H55/H57 chipsets. You also can use P55 chipset, but the GPU function will be disable. DRAM Part Recently, the DDR3 4GB price is very cheap. You can choose 2GBX2 or 4GBX2. If you have more budget and plan to use 64Bit OS, 4GBX2 is better pick. I use CORSAIR DDR3 1600 4GBX2. 1600 version price is a little higher. CORSAIR is internal well-known brand and famous in quality control. The price is acceptable. The price is around 115USD. CORSAIR CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 Core i3 can support DDR3 1333 without OC. For Intel platform, you just pull CPU clock, the DDR3 can reach 1600~1800. If your budget is limited, you can use DDR3 1333 or 2GX2. MB Part H55 or H57 chipsets are first choice for Intel built-in GPU platform. The main difference is H57 supporting Raid, but H55 price is lower. You can find many models and spec in the market. I choose mid-price GIGABYTE H55M-UD2H. it’s 3500NTD, around 117USD. GIGABYTE GA-H55M-UD2H Look Ultra Durable 3, 2oz copper PCB, 100% Japanese made capacitors 3x USB Power supports On/Off Charge which can charge iPhone, iPad and iPod touch easily. USB 3x Power also provide more stable power to external USB devices. CPU PWM 4+2 phases 2 X PCI-E X16 supports ATI Hybrid CrossFireX technology. The bandwidth is X16+X4. Audio chip is Realtek ALC892. It supports 7.1 channel and Dolby Home Theater surrounding technology. GIGABYTE also has another model, H55M-S2V, spec and components are lower. The price is 700NTD cheaper, around 24USD. Power Supply Part I pick Be Quiet! Straight Power Deluxe 400W which is E6 product line. The price is 2400NTD, around 80USD. 80Plus Copper Certificate, Active PFC design, 18dBA super silent 12cm fan, 5 years warranty. If you only use PC for word processing and no more graphic card upgrade need, you can consider Be Quiet! L6 350W. HDD still use WD 640AAKS. The cheap price is main advantage even the performance is not the best. If you need more capacity, currently 1T~1.5T HDD price is only a little higher. You just need to study the HD performance more. In Intel platform, CPU and MB price are few hundred NTD higher. If including Case, DVD-ROM, the price is around 16260NTD, 524USD. Many users trust in Intel brand or performance due to the Intel structure. The configuration is not absolute. If you don’t need such high performance, you can pick cheaper one. However, if you need higher performance, you can buy the better spec one. Per your need, budget and brand, you can make your own configuration to enjoy the DIY fun.

CPU Full Speed - 64~66 Intel Burn Test v2.4?Stress Level Maximum As thermal meter, the standby and full speed temperature after OC is around 2~4 degree C comparing to default. After OC, the temperature is a little higher than default. Maybe it’s AMD 45nm characteristic?! Power Consumption Standby - 68W CPU Full Speed - 204W 3D Performance Built-in GPU ATI Radeon HD 4250 830MHz 3DMARK 2006 => 2138 3DMARK VANTAGE => P417 CPU SCORE => 11567 GPU SCORE => 315 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1024 X 768 => 25.88FPS When OC the ATI Radeon HD 4250 clock from 560 to 830MHz, the 3D benchmark software improve around 30%. 880G is capable for general 3D application or games. If you need to run some professional 3D application, you better to add a grapgic card. During the test, the pity is the revision C3 X4 CPU cannot enable L3 Cache. Even though as my experience, the L3 Cache doesn’t improve performance much. However, enableL3 Cache is for personal feeling. This is the main difference between C2 and C3. Of course, C3 also has some strength. As per the internet, C3 has better memory compatibility. It’s helpful for DDR3 OC range. As per my experience, the same voltage, C3 OC range is around 100~200MHz to C2. AMD strategy is focus on mid-low market for years. You can see in this segment, CPU and chipset price are lower. For the mid-end to hi-end market, the performance is lower than Core i and DDR3 performance is also lower. I do hope AMD K10 structure ca improve this issue. However, so far AMD is still focus on multi-core and higher C/P value. After buying Case and DVD writer, you can build your own PC. The budget is around 15500NTD. If you have any preferences of price, performance or brand, you can adjust your budget. If the 3D performance is not enough in the future, you just need to spend 2000~ 3000NTD for graphic card upgrade. This DIY PC could be the mid-high performance and mid-low price choice. After sharing AMD 2010 mainstream platform, I will share Intel platform asap. Due to the year end, the Intel mainstream platform will be done near year end or early 2011. Wish you keep supporting my original review article. Thanks This article is also published in my personal blog. WIND'S 3C You are welcome to check any time.

PC Health Status Previously, as my experience of using 785G, 790GX or 890GX, the AMD CPU can OC to 300MHz mostly. For the BIOS setup and DRAM multiplier, you have to pay more attention for these setup, then you can join AMD 300MHz club. DDR3 bandwidth comparison DDR3 1607.2 CL9 9-9-24 1T 1.400V ADIA64 Memory Read - 9205 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 12044 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 10903 MB/s DDR3 1600 CL7 8-7-24 1T 1.600V ADIA64 Memory Read - 9557 MB/s Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 12588 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 11545 MB/s AMD started to build in Memory Controller into CPU since K8. During that time, it really created the better bandwidth and memory clock, However, years passed, the Core i series performance has over it. The CORSAIR DDR3 quality is very good. The official spec is 1.400V for DDR3 1600 CL9. I set as DDR3 1600 CL7 8-7-24 high performance parameter. It just needs 1.600V to pass all benchmark software. OC Performance CPU 300MHz X 12 => 3599.8MHz DDR3 1607.4 CL9 9-9-24 1T 1.400V Hyper PI 32M X4 => 20m 28.284s CPUMARK 99=> 463 Nuclearus Multi Core => 15673 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 17.56/8428 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 185249 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.86 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.01 pts WindowsExperience Index - CPU 7.4 PCMark Vantage => 6314 X4 640 default clock is 3.0GHz. After OC to 3.6GHz, some benchmark improves 20%. Windows Experience Index doesn’t improve much. Or we can say, since the index over 7, the score cannot improve much dues to the highest score is 7.9. PCMark Vantage is a multi-factors benchmark software, the performance improvement is not much. For original cooler, long time run at 3.6~3.75GHz can be stable. Temperature Standby - 32~34

Power Consumption Standby - 59W CPU Full Speed - 150W 45nm X4 CPU power consumption is not so good, but it’s still better than the standard. It’s still a power saving system. I hope AMD can implement 32nm to lower the power consumption. 3D Performance Built-in GPU ATI Radeon HD 4250 560MHz 3DMARK 2006 => 1757 3DMARK VANTAGE => P302 CPU SCORE => 9919 GPU SCORE => 228 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1024 X 768 => 20.87FPS These years, AMD built-in GPU performance is better than the others. Above 3D performance is still lower than entry graphic card, but compare to the other built-in GPU, the 3D performance is pretty good. 880G built-in ATI Radeon HD 4250, the 3D performance is around 20~25% lower than own 890GX HD 4290. BIOS OC Setup Main BIOS tuning page, called M.I.T. CPU clock set to 300MHz, you need to adjust CPU NorthBridge Freq./HT Link Frequency. I suggest you to set at X7, 2100MHz. It’s helpful for the stability after pulling CPU to 300MHz. Voltage Page DRAM Voltage control 1.300~2.500 CPU NB VID Control -0.600~+0.600V(0.025V) CPU Voltage Control -0.600~+0.600V(0.025V) Memory depends on DRAM quality. The range set at CPU/DDR3 as 300/1600. CPU Voltage Control/DRAM Voltage Control bases on memory quality to adjust the voltage. If 300MHz is not stable, you can adjust NB Voltage Control to 1.3000V. DDR3 set up is CL7 8-7-24 1T Built-in ATI Radeon HD 4250 Setup Page It can share up to 512MB system memory and OC the clock from 560MHz to 830MHz. CPU Unlock can enable X2/X3 CPU to X4 by chance. CPU Core Control is more detail features. If X2 cannot enable to X4 stable, you have one more option to enable to X3.

80Plus Copper Certificate, Active PFC design, 12cm low acoustic fan, 3 years warranty. If you just use for word processing and no need external graphic card, you also can consider blow 400W product. HDD uses WD long life model, 640AAKS. The performance is not so outstanding, but the price is its main advantage. I used to use WD 15EARS. The performance is only 75MB/s which is similar with 640AAKS. If you have higher capacity need, currently 1T~1.5T HDD price is also only a little bit higher. You just need to check the performance in advance. The above components are not must. If you don’t need such high performance, you can choose cheaper products. On the other hand, you can buy more high end one. Base on your demand, budget and favorite brand, you can choose whatever you want. It’s the most fun for DIY PC. Configuration CPU: AMD Athlon II X4 640 MB: GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H DRAM: CORSAIR CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 VGA: ATI Radeon HD 4250 HD: WD 640AAKS 640GB POWER: Antec High Current Gamer 400W Cooler: AMD original cooler Default Performance CPU 200.9MHz X 15 => 3013.7MHz DDR3 1607.4 CL9 9-9-24 1T 1.400V Hyper PI 32M X4 => 23m 50.367s CPUMARK 99=> 393 Nuclearus Multi Core => 13227 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 14.94/7172 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 153603 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.40 pts CPU(Single Core) => 0.87 pts Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.3 PCMark Vantage => 6222 X4 640 default frequency is 3.0GHz already, so it’s capable for most applications. Even for the file converting performance is also good due to the quad core multi-tasking. The original cooler is around 1670rmp under BIOS control. The acoustic is very low. If it’s in full speed, it’s 3260rpm which is louder in bare system. The noise is acceptable inside the chassis. Temperature Standby - 28~31 CPU Full Speed - 62~65 Intel Burn Test v2.4?Stress Level Maximum The standby temperature is very low. This number is satisfied. The full speed is 62 degree C and it’s too high for bare system. X4 640 original cooler is too slim. It may cause the temperature too high.

These years, the DIY PC market seems to be smaller and smaller. The main reasons are Notebook popularized and Netbook, Apple iPad launched. Most users just use computer for internet surfing or email. However, the internet topic of how to build a DIY PC is still very popular so far. Many users will search info by budget or needs to build own DIY PC. There are many friends ask me how to build the DIY PC. I think there are 2 kinds of mainstream PC. One is all in one MB, which built-in GPU. The price is lower and budget is around 11000~13000NTD, 365~431USD. The other one is discrete with graphic card for 3D online game. The price is still the key concern. We just pick the entry model. The budget is around 14000~16000NTD, 465~531USD. However, in my personal idea, I still recommend to add more budgets. Some hardware like VGA or HDD, you can enhance performance and spec for just pay more few hundred NTD. Also, you can use this PC longer. For this kind of article, I hope I can share every year. Last share is early 2010, Intel annual best buy Micro ATX PC with Core i3-530 boxed cooler OC guide. Recent 2 years, AMD more emphasize in fair price. The low price multi-core CPU strategy is more and more acceptable for end users. This time, I set the budget at 15500NTD, around 515USD, to build a high C/P value PC for your reference. CPU Processor I buy the most popular entry X4 CPU - AMD Athlon II X4 640. 3.0GHz, 45nm, 2MB L2 cache, Revision C3 Recently, AMD launched X4 645, 3.1GHz, and price is a little higher. So after considering, I still pick higher C/P X4 640. The price is 2950NTD, around 98USD. Inside the box Manual, sticker, cooler, Athlon II X4 640 Upper Left is cooler bottom, 100% aluminum, and thermal paste. Lower Right is AMD Athlon II X4 640, AM3 socket and compatible with AM2+. AMD platform has better extensibility. DRAM DDR3 price keeps dropping. There are more and more 4GB DDR3 kit in the market. If you have more budgets and may need 64-bit OS in the future, 4GBX2 is the better choice currently. I use CORSAIR DDR3 1600 4GBX2, dual channel. The price is a little higher. CORSAIR is a well known international brand and passed the dual channel stability test. The price is still acceptable. The price is around 125USD. CORSAIR CMX8GX3M2A1600C9 As AMD in non-OC condition, the system can run at DDR3 1600, so I choose 1600 DDR3. If your budget is limited, you can choose DDR3 1333 or 2GX2 kit. Mainboard For building AMD platform, there are 2 kinds of chipset. 880G and 890GX are built-in GPU. 880G price is lower and many brands can choose. I use GIGABYTE 880GMA-UD2H. The SB is SB850, supporting SATA3 and NEC USB3.0 technology. The price is 3500NTD, around 116USD. GIGABYTE GA-880GMA-UD2H CPU PWM is 4+1 phase. 2 X PCI-E X16, supports ATI Hybrid CrossFireX and bandwidth is X16+X4. Audio is Realtek ALC892, supports 7.1 channel and Dolby Home Theater surrounding technology. The same chipset series, there is also one more model, 880GM-UD2H. The SB is SB710 and no SATA3 and USB3. This model price is around 600NTD, 20USD, lower than 880GMA. If you have limited budget for MB, you also can consider this. Power Supply I use Antec High Current Gamer 400W, HCG series is Antec latest product line. The price is 2490NTD, around 83USD.

LOST PLANET 2 DX11 1920 X 1200 TEST A - 40.1 fps In the same GPU clock, let’s compare the performance by CPU difference. 3DMark Vantage GPU score is almost the same, but the CPU score raise around 13%. FINAL FANTASY XIV, DEVIL MAY CRY4, StreetFighter IV Benchmark 3D performance also raise a little. However, it doesn’t mean higher CPU clock doesn’t help 3D performance. It’s possible that CAPCOM games don’t rely on CPU. In the market, there are many GAME needs high CPU ability. For Intel hi-end X58 platform, the entry model price always keeps at 300USD. Since i7-920, i7-930 and i7-950 are all in this range. The hi-end one is 32nm 6C12T 980X Extreme to replace 45nm 4C8T 965/975 Extreme. So if you own LAG 1366 platform, you no need to envy 2011 Sandy Bridge. After all, LGA 1155 is 32nm 4C8T i7 product line, so far there is no news about 6C12T CPU. LGA 1366 is long life product in Intel platform. Since Nov 2008 launched, Intel will launch new LGA2011 chipset in 2011 Q4. This part is not same as LGA 1156 users which need to upgrade soon. In multi-core performance, 980X and 990X can provide upgradeable higher performance. Although I know the price is high, but it’s still better than no 32nm 6C12T CPU can choose. Last thing about X58 product line is X58 having wide product range in the market due to every vendor launched many models in past 2 years. The most entry X58 chipset MB is same as X58A-UD3R around 250USD. Compare to the other same price range P55 products, even the entry X58 products spec is still better than P55. This is windwithme 15th LGA 1366 review in past 2 years. I hope it can be your reference data before purchasing. This article is also published in my personal blog. WIND'S 3C You are welcome to check any time.

OC Performance CPU 200 X 20 => 4000MHz 1.392V DDR3 2000 CL8 9-7-24 1T 1.600V Hyper PI 32M X8=> 14m 04.133s CPUMARK 99=> 628 Nuclearus Multi Core => 26426 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 30.61/14690 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 313158 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 6.88 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.40 pts Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.7 PCMark Vantage => 18251 After i7-950 OC to 4GHz, you can compare the detail performance difference. The performance increases over 20% in most benchmark software. There is only Windows Experience Index is almost the same. It’s due to Windows Experience Index is the estimate system performance. It doesn’t test too detail items. This system get 7.7 of 7.9 is very high score already. I used to test several better quality Core i7, most need 1.30~1.392V to OC to 4.2GHz. Just for your reference. 3D Performance 3DMark Vantage => P17254 CPU SCORE => 54034 GPU SCORE => 14063 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 => 210.98FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1920 X 1200 => 154.46/127.41/166.21/116.81 fps FINAL FANTASY XIV 1920 X 1080 => 3209

FINAL FANTASY XIV 1920 X 1080 => 3172 LOST PLANET 2 DX11 1920 X 1200 TEST A - 37.5 fps GTX460 is mid-end VGA market, and its performance is quite well in the above games. OC version clock is 715MHz which is higher than normal GTX460. 3DMark Vantage is also over 17000. LOST PLANET 2, need very high 3D performance, is over 37 pages as well. BIOS OC Setup Main BIOS Tuning Menu, called M.I.T. System Status and Info CPU 200Mhz/DDR3 2000 Setup Page Memory Setup Page Advanced DDR3 Parameter Setup Voltage Page Load-Line Calibration Standard/Level1/Level2 CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.075~2.015V CPU PLL 1.300~2.520V IOH Core 1.000~2.000V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V Besides CPU, DDR3 quality, voltage is also important for OC. You can see the X58A-UD3R setup pages above, QPI/Vtt Voltage is important for pulling high clock. CPU operates at 200/2000 stable will need 1.45~1.55V. The voltage setup is the key factor for OC X58 chipset. DDR3 Bandwidth Comparison DDR3 1865.2 CL8 9-7-24 1T 1.500V Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 28574 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read - 16057 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 21755 MB/s DDR3 2000 CL8 9-7-24 1T 1.600V Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 30813 MB/s ADIA64 Memory Read - 21072 MB/s MaXXMEM Memory-Copy - 21755 MB/s LGA 1366 platform is the only platform supports 3-channel technology. The DDR3 bandwidth is extremely high. Especially, when OC to DDR3 2000, the performance is almost double. DDR3 performance increased is the key strength for Intel phase in Core i7.

System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-950 MB: GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400 VGA: GIGABYTE GTX460 OC HD: Intel X25-V 40GB RAID 0 POWER: CORSAIR Gold AX750W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Default performance CPU 133.2 X 24 => 3197.8MHz 1.088V DDR3 1865.2 CL8 9-7-24 1T 1.500V Hyper PI 32M X8=> 17m 04.626s CPUMARK 99=> 504 Nuclearus Multi Core => 21816 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 24.63/11822 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 257373 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 5.53 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.12 pts Windows Experience Index - CPU 7.5 PCMark Vantage => 15799 i7-950 spec is over 3GHz already. When user enable Turbo Boost, the clock can pull to 3.2~3.3GHz. i7-950 can get very good scores in most common benchmark software. The CPU performance has achieved high end segment. Also, DRAM can OC to DDR3 1866 without pulling CPU frequency and combine exclusive 3-channel technology, the overall performance can be enhanced more. This time, I use new mid-end VGA - GTX460. I also test some 3D benchmark to compare the LGA 1366 performance. 3D Performance 3DMark Vantage => P17078 CPU SCORE => 47850 GPU SCORE => 14063 StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1920 X 1200 => 209.18FPS DEVIL MAY CRY4 1920 X 1200 => 156.96/133.44/161.89/115.24 fps

I still remember Intel launched new platform in November 2008. It started the Core i7 Age. This platform is LGA1366, and CPU is Core i7 series. The chipset is X58+ICH10R. Half years later, Intel announced LGA 1156 platform and CPU has Core i3, i5 and i7 which is wider product range. For LGA 1366 market position is not big impact compare to P55. Currently, LGA 1366 platform strength are 3-channel memory and multi PCI-E x16. The weakness is X58 power consumption is higher. The entry model is same as mid range LGA 1156 platform. End of March, Intel announced first 32nm 6-cores 980X CPU for X58 platform to extend its’ life cycle. Internet also has many news about next 6C12T Core i7-980X in 2011. Back to our topic - Intel Core i7-950. Blue box is representing Intel. The price is 9100NT, around 299USD. Inside the box, there are CPU, original copper-bottom cooler, manual and Intel sticker. The clock is 3.06GHz, support Turbo Boost to achieve 3.33GHz. Physical 4 Cores with Hyper-Threading to reach 8 threading, also called 4C/8T. 45nm manufacturing, Max TDP 130W, 8MB L3 Cache. The spec above are all entry LGA 1366 CPU spec. MB is GIGABYTE X58A-UD3R, the entry model for high end X58 chipset. The price is around 7500NTD, 250USD. Light blue and white colors design. The overall components and design are good. Lower-Left Corner 2 X PCI-E X16 supports X16 and 2-Way/3-Way ATI CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI technology. 2 X PCI-E X16 supports X8 Realtek 8111E LAN Chip Realtek ALC889 supports 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio/Dolby Home Theater technology Design in Taipei Lower-Right Corner 6 X Blue SATAII, provided by ICH10R, SATA2 supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 2 X White SATAII, provided by GIGABYTE SATA2 chip, SATA2 supports RAID 0, RAID 1 and JBOD 1 X IDE, provided by GIGABYTE SATA2 chip 2 X White SATAIII, provided by Marvell 9128, SATA3 supports RAID 0, RAID 1 Dual BIOS, dual protection Upper-Right Corner 6 X DIMM DDR3 supports 800/1066/1333/1866/2200(OC) and the maximum capacity is DDR3 24GB. DDR3 uses 2 phase PWM and next is 24-PIN power connector. Upper-Left Corner LGA 1366 CPU socket. The electroplating metal cover for better looking. Back is 8PIN design, UD3R uses 12 phase PWM to fulfill X58 platform Core i7 power. IO 4 X USB 2.0(Black/Yellow) 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 1 X RJ-45 LAN port 2 X eSATA/USB 2.0 combo (Yellow) 1 X S/PDIF Fiber/Coaxial output 1 X 1394a clr CMOS button

CPU Intel Core i7-2600K 32nm, 4C8T MB BIOSTAR TP67XE Chipest Sandy Bridge - Cougar point DDR3 CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400 CL9 11-9-27 1.65V System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K MB: BIOSTAR TP67XE DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GTX3 DDR3-2400 VGA: GIGABYTE GTX260 OC HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid 0 POWER: Antec TPQ-1200W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Default Performance CPU 100 X 35 => 3500MHz (Idle 1.044V, Full 1.008V) DDR3 2133.8 CL9 10-9-27 1T 1.5V Hyper PI 32M X8 => 14m 24.460s CPUMARK 99=> 539 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 27.53/13212 AIDA64 Memory Bandwidth - 21901 MB/s OC Performance CPU 100 X 50 => 5000MHz (Idle 1.452V, Full 1.392V) DDR3 2133.8 CL9 10-9-27 1T 1.5V Hyper PI 1M => 07.551s CPUMARK 99=> 770 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 39.25/18839 AIDA64 Memory Bandwidth - 25235 MB/s This article is also posted in my blog: WIND'S 3C Welcome 3C fans to drop by. Thanks

Video 1280 X 720 => CPU 23% 1440 X 1080 => CPU 22% Battery Duration 6Cell battery, Battery Eater Pro (turn off wifi and bluetooth) Full Speed - 1:21:19 Standby - 3:47:28 Acer Aspire 5741G Performance ?????????? Components ?????????? Specification ?????????? Outlook ?????????? C/P Value ?????????? (If Using HDD 500GB & ATI HD 5450) Finally, I attach the Spyder2 color correction file for all 5741Gusers. Thanks for reading this Acer Aspire 5741G review. windwithme Acer Aspire 5741G This review also post in my blog WIND'S 3C Welcome 3C lovers to visit and advise.

ATTO DISK Benchmark over 128k benchmark result is max read 283.7 Mb/s and write 261.8 MB/s EVEREST File Benchmark over 1024k benchmark result also above 250 MB/s. CrystalDiskMark 4K QD32 Read - 105.3 MB/s Write - 62.26 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark Seq Read - 192.96 MB/s Write - 52.90 MB/s 4K-64Thrd Read - 105.67 MB/s Write - 47.51 MB/s 3D - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650, 1024MB GDDR3 3DMARK2006 - 7235 DEVIL MAY CRY4 DX10 1280 X 720 => 69.13/64.87/93.97/51.07 fps StreetFighter IV Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 85.50FPS Biohazard5 Benchmark 1280 X 720 => 19.5fps DRAM performance DDR3 1064.2 CL7 7-7-20 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 7354MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 9063MB/s CPU Temperature Standby - 39~45? CPU full speed - 74~80?

Acer Aspire 5741G uses Intel latest Calpella structure. CPU is Intel Core i3-330M. The clock is 133 X 16 => 2.13GHz, L3 3MB, dual core and supports HT technology. The chipset is HM55. Comparing to GM45, I believe the performance will be much better. Performance test OS is Windows7 Ultimate 64Bit Hardware info in Device Manager Windows7 system performance CPU performance test Super PI 32M => 33m 49.943s CPUMARK99 => 327 Nuclearus Multi Core => 8243 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 8.06/3869 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 128764 CINEBENCH 11.5 OpenGL 12.16fps CPU (Single Core) 0.69pts MP Ratio 2.54x PCMark Vantage => 8607 Using high performance MLC SSD-CORSAIR F60 to test Size is 2.5” and ID is F60. The highest performance is 285/275 MB/s. Random 4K writing performance can reach 50000 IOPS which improve the 4K writing issue in past SSD.

Acer Aspire 5741G Lower right side is monitor lock and SD memory card slot SD / MMC / xD / MS / MS Pro 15.6” matte monitor, the resolution is 1366X768. The open degree is 140~150. Right Side 2 X USB 2.08X Super Multi DL DVDanti-thief lock Left side Power in, thermal holes, D-SUB, RJ45 LAN, HDMI, USB, Mic in, Line out 6 Cell battery => 2524g

PCMark Vantage => 17668 When OC Core i5-760 from 2.8GHz to 4.2GHz, it can pass most benchmark software. Also, due to every software has different CPU utilization and demand, the performance increases 25~50%. If the heat dissipation well, 4~4.2GHz is allowed clock for long time usage. CPU voltage needs 1.42V to OC to 4.2GHz. If you just OC to 4GHz, you need around 1.32V. The voltage set up will be different by every CPU quality. It’s just for your reference only. Power Consumption Test Standby - 158W CPU Full Speed - 285W When OC to 4.2GHz, the CPU performance increase a lot, but the temperature and power consumption is also pulling higher. Also, I disable C1E power saving feature, the power consumption all pull to very high. Intel new revision Core i5-760 OC capability is very good. If you enhance the CPU thermal solution, 4.2GHz is not a hard thing. For the default clock power consumption, it’s almost same as Micro ATX platform. It’s 4 Cores CPU and combo with Radeon HD5830, the system performance is much higher than small form factor PC. If for normal application without OC, this Intel platform is good for performance and power saving. LGA 1156 has been launching for 1.5 years, the mature and wide selections. 32nm built-in GPU, Core i3/i5 CPU. They are all 2C4T structure and support H55/H57 chipset. 45nm Core i5/i7 are 4C4T or 4C8T structure. P55 is mainly supported chipset. P55 spec and OC ability is higher. Even though, LAG 1155 will be launched in next Jan to combo with 32nm 4Cores CPU and P67 chipset, for the market revolution, LGA 1155 MB price will be higher than LGA 1156 a lot. Short term, for the users would like to buy Intel platform, P55 and i5-760 is still the higher C/P Intel 4 Cores CPU platform. I also happy to see the LAG 1156 price can move lower after new platform launched. The users can pay less and get more performance products. Last sharing was Canon IXUS 200IS using guide. I just got a FUJIFILM FinePix F80EXR recently. I will find some time to write a experience sharing review. This article is also in my bolg.WIND'S 3C Welcome all friends to visit.

After setting the DDR3 clock, the more important is the detail parameters. Starting from CL9, then move to CL8 or higher/lower frequency. Voltage Page Load-Line Calibration CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.050~1.990V PCH Core 0.950~2.000V CPU PLL 1.600~2.540V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V CPU and DRAM quality is varied; you need to adjust the CPU Vcore and DRAM Voltage. If you want to pull CPU frequency to 200/2000 ratio, the key item is QPI/Vtt Voltage. For my experience, when OC to CPU/DRAM 200/2000 performance, QPI/Vtt Voltage is around 1.21~1.25V. PC Health Status There are many P55 products, and every brand has different OC capability. But the set up is similar; you just need to take time for fine tune. Through the steps, every user all can get better CPU/DRMA performance in air cooling condition. Comparing DDR3 Performance before and after OC DDR3 1328.4 CL5 5-5-15 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 16762 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 15656 MB/s DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 23670 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 17941 MB/s DDR3 2060 CL8 8-8-24 1T Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 24301 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 18395 MB/s After OC DDR3 1328 to DDR3 2000 performance, EVEREST increases about 15%. Sandra Memory Bandwidth increases more, it’s about 41%. OC DDR3 is really improving the system performance. It can be better with OC CPU together. CPU 200 X 21 => 4199.9MHz DDR3 2000 CL8 8-8-24 1T Hyper PI 32M X4 => 9m 52.146s CPUMARK 99=> 651 Nuclearus Multi Core => 25908 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 25.53/12254 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 5.60 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.42 pts CrystalMark 2004R3 => 318038

System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i5-760 MB: GIGABYTE P55A-UD3P DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR-GT CMG4GX3M2A2000C8 VGA: ATI Radeon HD 5830 HD: CORSAIR CSSD-F40GB2 Raid0 POWER: be quiet! Straight Power E7 600W Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Default Performance CPU 133.2 X 21 => 2797.2MHz DDR3 1331.8 CL5 5-5-15 1T Hyper PI 32M X4 => 13m 31.888s CPUMARK 99=> 515 Nuclearus Multi Core => 16677 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 17.81/8549 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 244848 PCMark Vantage => 14057 Due to Turboost auto OC technology, the clock are not exactly the same in CPU-Z pictures. Basic clock is 2.8GHz, it will floating between 2.8GHz to 3.4GHz by cores and CPU utilized ratio. The performance is higher than Core i5-750 2.66GHz. For the general users, i5-760 performance can handle most software. Power Consumption Test Standby - 67W CPU Full Speed - 135W i5-760 power consumption is impressive without OC, it should be related to enable C1E power saving feature. Also the clock is only 2.8GHz and don’t support HT, the power consumption is pretty low. Especially, even using ATI Radeon HD5830 VGA, the CPU full speed is only 135W. OC Performance First of all, referring to my BIOS set up for 200/2000. BIOS Main Page Set CPU clock to 200MHz and DRAM set up by quality. The ratio in pic shows the DDR3 at 2000MHz. CPU Feature Normally when you are OC, you should disable the C1E features to avoid the voltage and clock floating. Turbo Boost also needs to disable to find the CPU stabilized clock. DDR3 Set Up Page

Currently, you can see most Intel CPU, price over 300USD, supports HT technology. For example, LGA 1366 Core i7-930/950 or LGA 1156 Core i7-870/875K. These 4 CPUs are all 4C8T and within the price range. There was a Core i5-7500 in LGA 1156 platform. It’s pure 4C4T structure without HT. The price was 6000NTD, around 200USD. Recently, Intel launched one new code, 760. No matter i5-750 or i5-760, it’s the highest C/P value Intel quad core CPU so far. Since beginning, I was considering the parity quad core CPU for long time. I also consider to change to entry quad core CPU. For Intel product line, Core i5-760 exactly is the entry and parity quad core CPU. Combo with P55 MB, the whole platform is middle range in the PC market. CPU clock is 2.8GHz, supports Turbo Boost and can reach 3.46GHz. Physical 4 Cores CPU is 4 threading, called 4C/4T. 45nm, L3 Cache is 8MB, the internet data shows the Max TDP is 95W. The back mostly can recognize the revision and spec. This Core i5-760 is Stepping 5/Revision B1 Intel 4 Cores processor coolers use copper bottom which is better heat dissipation performance. P55 chipset is the best combo for this CPU, although H55 is also the other choice. But H55 main design is for built-in GPU Core i3/i5 CPU, and it doesn’t support RAID. If you really have budget concern, H55 is also a good solution. This guide uses GIGABYTE P55A-UD3P, the price is higher than other entry P55 boards. The spec and components are good level. The price is around 172USD. 3X USB Power, On/Off Charge USB connector supports On/Off Charge feature. UD3P equips GIGABYTE main new features. Lower-Left Corner 2 X PCI-E X16, ATI CrossFireX and the bandwidth is X16+X4. 2 X PCI-E X1 Realtek RTL8111E LAN Chip Realtek ALC889 supports 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio/Dolby Home Theater Technology Design in Taipei Lower-Right Corner 6 X Blue SATAII, provide by P55, SATA2 supports RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 10 2 X White SATAIII, provide by Marvell 9128, SATA3, supports RAID 0, RAID 1 1 X IDE, provide by iTE IT8213 Dual BIOS, dual protection Upper-Right Corner 4 X DIMM DDR3 supports 800/1066/1333/1600/2200(OC). The max capacity is DDR3 16GB. Next is 24-PIN power connector Upper-Left Corner LGA 1156 CPU socket, CPU metal cover is electroplated. UD3P uses 12 phases PWM, the upper part is 8PIN power connector. IO 8 X USB 2.0 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 1 X RJ-45 LAN 2 X eSATA(Yellow) 1 X S/PDIF Fiber/Coaxial output 1 X 1394a

CPU Full Speed - 130W No matter OC to 4G or 4.6G, the standby power consumption is lower than 70W. The full speed gap is bigger, but the highest is around 130W. It’s very green platform. If CPU works at default 3.2GHz, the power consumption will be much lower. Finally, pull CPU voltage to 1.488V, 655K air cooling can OC to 5GHz. CPUZ Certify Intel Core i5 655K OC 5G / windwithme Early Jan, I OC Core i5-660/661 CPU to 5GHz and now 655K also can OC to 5GHz. And using 655K 5GHz to enter OS, the voltage is lower to 1.488V. You can see Intel CPU yield rate is improved. Since Intel launched LGA 1156 in early 2010, 2 Cores CPU started to built-in GPU. It becomes a new choice of ITX market, price and performance. CPU combination is more vary. There are Core i3-530/540, Core i5-650/660/661/670/655K. The price is also more flexible for different budget. For MB, early this year DFI launched LANPARTY MI P55-T36, and few months later ECS announced H55H-I and GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3. These 3 models all break the old barrier and image for this kind of products. They all emphasize OC and rich BIOS items. The performance is almost same as Micro ATX or ATX MB. No matter NooteBook or Desktop PC all go for smaller form factor. Like PC, the normal size is ATX and smaller goes for Micro ATX. Now, MB starts to move to ITX, and more MB brands provide the products. Also Intel pushes new series Core i3/i5 CPU, 32nm manufacture and built-in GPU technology. This year, ITX visibility is higher. I hope ITX products can be more popular and more brands to join this competition. The customers can enjoy smaller PC which saves home space and good PC performance. This article is also posted in my blog: WIND'S 3C Welcome 3C fans to drop by.

CrystalMark 2004R3 => 217668 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.83 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.55 pts PCMark Vantage => 15924 After changing to high end CPU cooler, OC to 4.6GHz and pass the benchmark are not big deal. It pull high the performance 10~15%. Due to 655K is 2 Cores, the OC range is higher than 4 or 6 Cores CPU. The perivous review of 660/661 also can achieve 4.6GHz. Of course, you can see the strength of 32nm manufacture. It really help to lower the temperature, power consumption and pull the CPU clock. DRAM bandwidth test - DDR3 1600 CL8 8-8-24 1T CPU OC 4GHz Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 15180 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 12050 MB/s CPU OC 4.6GHz Sandra Memory Bandwidth - 15232 MB/s EVEREST Memory Read - 12125 MB/s You can see the difference between 655K and Core 2 Duo structure by the test result. In the past, in LGA 775 platform, the higher CPU clock means higher DRAM bandwidth. LGA 1156 built-in Memory Controller in CPU, so the CPU clock doesn’t impact DRAM performance much. However this design make LGA 1156 basic DRAM bandwidth is 20~30% higher than LGA 775. This is why even yopu pull LGA 775 CPU clock to extremely high, the bandwidth still cannot catch up LGA 1156. Temperature System standby - 40~41 CPU Full Speed - 71~73 Intel Burn Test v2.4?Stress Level Maximum The standby temperature is not high and full speed at 73 is also acceptable. If you use this cooler, CPU temperature will be higher inside the chassis. But it still can long time use under acceptable temperature condition. Power Consumption CPU 4GHz System Standby - 62W CPU Full Speed - 100W CPU 4.6GHz System Standby - 68W

ATTO DISK Benchmark over 16k benchmark result is max read 286.1 Mb/s and write 266.8 MB/s EVEREST File Benchmark over 512k benchmark result also above 250 MB/s. EVEREST Linear Read Average 235.1 MB/s AS SSD Benchmark Seq Read - 200.00 MB/s Write - 44.00 MB/s 4K-64Thrd Read - 102.03 MB/s Write - 56.93 MB/s Recently, SSD price is dropping a little and performance is better due to controller chip improvement. Some hi-end SSD almost reach the SATA2 300 MB/s bandwidth. I believe the market will be even booming after SATA3 being more popular. ITX platform uses CORSAIR F60 can shorten the system boot, open application and access files time. Now, I use open air to test the higher OC performance. System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i5-655K MB: GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8 VGA: Intel Clarkdale 733MHz HD: CORSAIR Force SSD 60GB POWER: ANTEC Neo ECO 400C Cooler: Mega Shadow Deluxe Edition OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit BIOS OC setup Tuning CPU ratio, frequency and DRAM multiplier page. When pull the high clock, QPI Clock Ratio set at X44 is the best. The performance is also good. CPU related technology items C1E is for power saving. When CPU utilization rate is low, the CPU will lower the frequency and voltage. Turbo Boost is opposite with C1E. When CPU loading is low, you still can pull to higher speed. DRAM setup page supports X.M.P. auto OC technology. DDR3 parameters setup page Voltage page Load-Line Calibration CPU Vcore 0.50000~1.90000V QPI/Vtt Voltage 1.050~1.990V GraphicsCore 0.200~1.800V PCH Core 0.950~1.500V CPU PLL 1.000~2.580V DRAM Voltage 1.300~2.600V You can see GIGABYTE Micro ATX H55 BIOS items are rich and vary. The overall OC ability is also good. I can pull 655K to 200MHz stable easily and don’t need high Vtt. Above setup is for 200/1600 stable OC ratio. You may need to minor tuning due to the different components character. You can refer to this setup as your need. Performance Test CPU 200 X 23 => 4600.4MHz 1.376V DRAM DDR3 4GB 1600.2 CL8 8-8-24 1T GPU 733MHz 64MB Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 13m 46.692s CPUMARK 99 => 718 Nuclearus Multi Core => 18083 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 17.136/8333

USB 3.0 chip is NEC D720200F1 As per the components and spec, the user price is around 4000NTD, about 127USD. Although there are only 3 ITX MB in the market, after comparing, H55N-USB3 C/P value is quite good. System Configuration CPU: Intel Core i5-655K MB: GIGABYTE GA-H55N-USB3 DRAM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR CMD8GX3M4A1600C8 VGA: Intel Clarkdale 733MHz HD: CORSAIR Force SSD 60GB POWER: Thermaltake ElementQ 220W Cooler: Intel Cooler OS: Windows7 Ultimate 64bit Case uses Thermaltake ElementQ for OC real test. The product dimension is 130 x 220 x 330 mm Left side is built-in 220W SFX PSU and also can install 2x 3.5” devices and 1x 5.25” device. ElementQ design is for mute. However if you have system fan, it will be great help for internal heat flow. As H55N-USB3 design layout, it causes ElementQ Power/Reset cables are not long enough. Although MB and CASE are good C/P products, but you should know such detail before buying. Real installation test, it should close the chassis and test how long can run normally under OC condition. Performance Test CPU 200 X 20 => 4000.4MHz 1.216V DRAM DDR3 4GB 1600 CL8 8-8-24 1T GPU 733MHz 64MB Hyper 4 X PI 32M=> 15m 11.167s CPUMARK 99 => 626 Nuclearus Multi Core => 15752 Fritz Chess Benchmark => 15.19/7293 CrystalMark 2004R3 => 198722 CINEBENCH R11.5 CPU => 3.36 pts CPU(Single Core) => 1.35 pts PCMark Vantage => 14672 655K OC to 4GHz is stable. The full speed temperature is around 70 degree C. The temperature control is also acceptable. If the chassis is opened, using the original cooler can OC to 4.3GHz. The full speed temperature is around 90 degree C. I personally hope to test OC in chassis to find the balance between stable, temperature and performance. After many OC combo test, 4GHz is the most stable condition inside complete close for long time usage. Currently, the best tool to enhance the system performance is SSD. With CORSAIR FORCE SERIES F40, I hope it can have better performance in this ITX system. Size is 2.5” and ID is F60. The highest performance is 285/275 MB/s. Random 4K writing performance can reach 50000 IOPS which improve the 4K writing issue in past SSD.

The normal image of ITX platform for users is hard to find in the market, price is high and old generation chipset. Even it’s the NoteBook CPU socket or SO-DIMM design to make ITX platform price go even higher. Intel launched 32nm Core i3/i5 CPU early this year and also launched H55/H57 chipset at the same time. Also, many MB manufacturers launched LGA 1156 ITX MB. The price is lower than past ITX MB. New spec ITX MB uses PC spec CPU and DDR3 that makes ITX product be more easy to use and cheaper. This review is to introduce the high performance ITX platform with latest products. First of all, the CPU is Intel latest unlocked version, K series, Core i5 655K. Left side is product manual and right side is 655K CPU. The special thing is 655K and 875K don’t bundle original cooler. Intel suppose the unlocked version CPU users will choose better performance cooler. The clock is 3.2GHz supports Turbo Boost technology. The max speed is 3.46GHz. Physical 2 Cores with Hyper-Threading can achieve 4 threads, called 2C/4T. 32nm manufacturing, L3 Cache is 4MB. CPU back design can see the version and different design. The built-in GPU clock is 733Mhz. MB uses GIGABYTE H55N-USB3 2oz cooper PCB, USB 3.0, 3X USB Power, and On/Off Charge are advantage features. 2 X DIMM DDR3 support 800/1066/1333/1600(OC), and maximum capacity is 8GB. 1 X PCI-E X16 for user to install Low Profile VGA card. Realtek ALC892 supports 7.1 channel and High Definition Audio technology. 24 + 4-PIN power connector. 4X blue SATAII support by H55. It’s SATA2 and no RAID function. IO 1 X DVI-D 1 X HDMI 1 X D-SUB 2 X USB 2.0(Yellow) 2 X USB 3.0(Blue) 1 X eSATA/USB 2.0 combo (Yellow) 1 X S/PDIF fiber output