Daily News Round #1
Comment | Print | Email to a Friend | Font Size: AA- Building a Basic HTPC
Our friends over at FiringSquad have written up a very nice introductory guide with reference to setting up a dedicated HTPC (or Home Theater PC). They touch on the demands of hardware for various tasks, whats sufficient? whats overkill? etc. All in all, a very worthwhile read if you're in the market for a multi-purpose loungeroom box in the near future.
For this introductory HTPC article, we have two very specific tasks: DVD upsampled to HDTV resolutions, and a personal TV recorder. Since we're "lazy," our HTPC needs to perform like a real piece of home theater equipment as much as possible. The system should integrate itself seamlessly, and shouldn't force the user to think about it as a computer. The HTPC also has to have an advantage over a similar dedicated component - there's no point in reinventing the wheel unless you can make it faster, smaller, and cheaper.
- ASUS Introduces Prescott-Ready Motherboards
ASUS yesterday handed out a press release confirming their current and future line of 800MHz FSB P4 mainboards to support the new Prescott processors. The newest BIOS additions will include this ability with existing boards. Read below for the full scoop.
ASUSTeK Computer Inc now offers a complete product line supporting the newly released Intel Pentium 4 Processor 3.2GHz+ (Prescott core). All current and future ASUS motherboards supporting 800MHz FSB are compatible with the latest processor. With superior engineering design, ASUS motherboards are the most reliable platforms for the Intel Pentium 4 Processor 3.2GHz+, delivering both exhilarating performance and stability.
Since the Prescott Pentium 4 Processor 3.2GHz+ is more powerful compared with previous Pentium 4 cores, ASUS motherboards incorporated advanced power design to offer dependable solutions for the CPU. Current owners of ASUS 800MHz FSB motherboards can download the latest BIOS from the ASUS company homepage to upgrade to the Intel Pentium 4 3.2GHz+. Below is the list of ASUS motherboards that are ready for the next-next generation of 800MHz FSB Pentium 4 processing.
- P4C800-E Deluxe, P4C800 Deluxe, P4C800
- P4P800-E Deluxe, P4P800 SE, P4P800 Deluxe, P4P800
- P4P800S-E Deluxe, P4P800S, P4P800S SE
- P4P8X, P4P8X SE
- P4G800-V, P4P800-VM
- P4S800D-E Deluxe
- P4S800D
- P4S800
- P4S800-MX
- P4V800-X
- P4R800-V/ P4R800-VM
- Articles and Reviews from around the Web
- Price Guides February 2004: CPU and Motherboards @ Anandtech
- Dual-Channel SerialATA RAID Controllers: RAID 0 @ Xbit Labs
- Radtech Podsleevz @ Geekly Review
- Floxiglow FX Gamepad @ CrazyModders
- Saitek R440 Wheel @ HardAvenue
- HardCano III Hard Disk Drive Cooler @ A True Review
- Gigabyte GH-PCU21-VG 3D Cooler @ Digital Daily
Further Reading: Read and find more news at our news index page.
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