1. GSBUG Hardware Info SIG April 11, 2002

2. 2 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Agenda – April 11, 2002 7:00 – 7:05 Administration 7:05 – 8:15 Featured Topic – System RAM plus Motherboard Features Beyond Core Logic (Chipsets) 8:15 – 8:30 Hardware News 8:30 – 8:55 Random Access (Q&A) 8:55 – 9:00 Recap, Preview, and Close

3. April 11, 20023 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. April 11, 20024 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Administration (continued): Presentation materials will be posted at: http://gsbug.apcug.org Prior presentation materials are also posted.

5. April 11, 20025 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG System RAM “System RAM” – the random access memory (RAM) used by the CPU for instruction and data purposes. “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. April 11, 20026 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG System RAM (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. April 11, 20027 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG System RAM (continued) SDRAM All types with 64-bit wide data path PC100 100MHz (800MB/sec transfer rate – 8 bytes x 100MHz) 168-pin DIMM PC133 133MHz (1.06GB/sec transfer rate) Requires 133MHz data bus (chipset support) Supported by all the current SDR SDRAM chipsets 168-pin DIMM

8. April 11, 20028 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG System RAM (continued) SDRAM (continued) DDR (double data rate) SDRAM Currently 100/200MHz, 133/266MHz, and 166/333MHz 1.6GB/sec (PC1600), 2.1GB/sec (PC2100), and 2.7GB/sec (PC2700) transfer rates, respectively Sometimes referred to as PC200, PC266, and PC333 DDR SDRAM, respectively Requires DDR chipset support – see last presentation (on Core Logic/Chipsets); varies by chipset 184-pin DIMM

9. April 11, 20029 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG System RAM (continued) RDRAM 16-bit wide data path Three speed grades - current: PC600 (600MHz – 1.2GB/sec transfer rate) – seldom seen PC700 (711MHz – 1.4GB/sec transfer rate) – seldom seen PC800 (800MHz – 1.6GB/sec transfer rate) PC1066 (1066MHz – 2.1GB/sec) – sampling now 184-pin RIMMs (Rambus In-Line Memory Modules) Requires “Continuity RIMM (CRIMM)” in empty sockets

10. April 11, 200210 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG System RAM (continued) RDRAM (continued) Compatible chipsets – currently only Intel 850 and 860 NOW priced roughly on par (possibly lower than) quality DDR SDRAM; higher than PC100/PC133 Performance – depending on the configuration and application, faster than other forms of DRAM (PC800 is equivalent to PC3200 DDR SDRAM in max transfer rate – 2 Bytes, 800MHz, dual channel).

11. April 11, 200211 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Other Motherboard Features “Slots” AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) 32-bits wide, capable of 66MHz(1X) to 266MHz(4X) 264MB/sec (1X) to 1.06GB/sec (4X) transfer rate Video cards only. Brown connector. PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) - typical 32-bits wide, capable of 33MHz (desktop) 132MB/sec transfer rate (desktop) Used for older video cards; current HDCs, sound cards, modems, and NICs; various specialty adapters. White connector.

12. April 11, 200212 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Other Motherboard Features (continued) “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 ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) 16-bits wide, typically capable of 8.33MHz 16MB/sec transfer rate Typical used for older sound cards, modems and NICs Black connector.

13. April 11, 200213 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Other Motherboard Features (continued) “Ports” Serial (1 or 2 ports typ) Parallel (ECP/EPP; 1 port typ) PS/2 (2 ports – keyboard and mouse)

14. April 11, 200214 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Other Motherboard Features (continued) “Ports” (continued) USB (Universal Serial Bus) – chipset dependant Three speed: Low speed = 1.5Mb/sec (.187MB/sec) – USB 1.1 Full speed = 12Mb/sec (1.5MG/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 HDD, etc. Number of ports varies – min 2. Combos of USB 1.1 and 2.0. For “outside the box” devices

15. April 11, 200215 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Other Motherboard Features (continued) “Ports” (continued) Audio (sound “card”, down) – line in, line out, mic, joy stick(MIDI port) Video (for video “card”, down) NIC (network interface “card”, down) Typically “10/100” (Mb/sec) IEEE 1394 (“firewire”, iLink) 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.

16. April 11, 200216 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Other Motherboard Features (continued) Other Interfaces, Misc. Internal connectors – floppy, IDE, SCSI USB header(s) IrDA (infrared) header CD-ROM (sound) – 1 or 2 Wake-on-LAN SMBus (System Management Bus) Fan headers

17. April 11, 200217 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Other Motherboard Features (continued) Other Interfaces, Misc. (continued) Panel lights (power, HD 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

18. April 11, 200218 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Hardware News Processors Intel released the 2.4GHz Pentium 4 – simple line extension. Core Logic (chipsets) SiS released the SiS 645DX Northbridge – adds DDR333 support to the SiS 645; for Intel P4; “OC” to 533MHz FSB SiS announced the SiS 648 Northbridge – adds DDR 400 and AGP 8X support to the SiS 645DX.

19. April 11, 200219 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Hardware News (continued) System RAM – nothing new Motherboards – nothing new Graphics processor & card – nothing new Hard Drives – nothing new Hard Drive Controllers Promise announced the FastTrak 2000 – IDE RAID for Ultra ATA/133 hard drives

20. April 11, 200220 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Hardware News (continued) Other Drives Plextor introduced the PlexCombo 12/10/40-12A drive - 12x10x40 CD-RW with 12X DVD read; ATAPI TDK introduced 40x12x48 CD-RW drives with ATAPI and USB 2.0 interfaces Sound processors & cards – nothing new Modems & NICs – nothing new Chassis & power supplies – nothing new

21. April 11, 200221 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Random Access (Q&A)

22. April 11, 200222 GSBUG Hardware Info SIG Recap, Preview, and Close Recap Preview Featured Topic for May 9 – Hard Drives and “Floppies” Close (please police up the area)