Photos Courtesy Anandtech

All PC motherboards feature a CPU socket, which is where the processor is installed (or “seated”) to run the rest of the computer’s components. Ideally, once installed as instructed, all the CPU pins should maintain good contact with the corresponding recesses on the motherboard socket. This is important as it ensures not only the proper exchange of data between the motherboard and CPU, but power as well.

Anandtech’s discovery is that, on motherboard sockets manufactured by Foxconn for the processors mentioned above—or the LGA 1156 socket—the contact was less than optimal. This caused power instabilities that literally burned parts of the CPU and the motherboard. While Foxconn manufactures its own motherboards, it’s also the supplier of sockets for other brands like Asus and Gigabyte—particularly LGA 1156 sockets.

What does this mean for the average computer user? Probably nothing. Anandtech encountered the issue as they were pushing a Core i7 870 to clock at 5.19GHz—possible only through the use of Liquid Nitrogen to produce sub-zero operating temperatures. In any case, the website found that sockets manufactured by another company (LOTES or Tyco AMP) probably don’t have the same seating contact issues, and Anandtech makes it clear that this issue should only be encountered by “extreme overclockers”, enthusiasts who are more interested in breaking records than improving performance for everyday use.

Still, this makes me want to recommend that those interested in an Intel Lynnfield CPU should wait a bit—at least until this and other potential issues are resolved. Nobody wants to pay more than $200 for a high-end processor, on the off chance that it may suffer fatal damage under admittedly constant extraordinary use. What do you think?

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• 512MB NVIDIA GeForce GT 240M
• Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
• 15.6-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 – WLED
• Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
• 3GB DDR3 – 1066MHz
• 250GB 5,400RPM
• Internal Wireless Bluetooth 2.1+ Enhanced Data Rate
• Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
• Ports:
  • IEEE 1394a (4-pin) port
  • Integrated Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45 (1000 Mbps)
  • 3 Hi-speed USB 2.0 ports (1 via USB 2.0 / eSATA combo port)
  • 1 eSATA (via USB 2.0 / eSATA Combo Port)
  • VGA, DisplayPort – Video Output
  • 8-in-1 Media Card Reader
  • ExpressCard Slot
  • 2 Audio Out Connectors
  • Audio In / Microphone Jack (retaskable for 5.1 audio)
  • Two Built-In Front Speakers
• Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
• Intel WiFi Link 5300 a/g/Draft-n 3×3 MIMO
• 6-cell battery

Impressive, though I think Alienware could’ve done better with the standard hard disk and battery. 250GB is definitely too small for enthusiasts nowadays, and 6-cell batteries are simply too weak to keep the action going away from the wall socket. Then again, this laptop isn’t exactly designed for typing out reflections at the neighborhood coffee shop, but then again, it’s nearly two inches thick when closed. Perhaps Alienware could’ve crammed more data and power capacity? In any case, the Alienware M15x is still a “portable” platform powerful enough to run practically any game or application on the market—most probably at a fast pace.

You can buy the Alienware M15x from Dell.com. Starting price is $1500. If you don’t have that much money to burn, you can check out the $700 gaming desktop.

The new Alienware M15x laptop, the world’s most powerful 15″ laptop.

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Courtesy Intel

Codenamed Lynnfield, these CPUs supposedly enjoy the benefits of a new memory and bus interface, withthe integration of some of the northbridge’s functions into the chip itself. As enthusiasts and their favorite websites run these new thingamajigs through your typical benchmark and stress tests, it remains to be seen if the improvements represent long-term improvements over Intel’s previous generation CPUs, and the older i7s.

The new processors do represent a platform commitment; these new chips require socket LGA 1156 motherboards to work. It’s unlikely many people now have the necessary hardware, and Intel’s upcoming Core i3 processors—also designed to work on LGA 1156 motherboards—are the “low-end” variant of this new processor line.

In any case, if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, NewEgg is now selling Intel’s new Core i5 and i7 chips, along with compatible motherboards. Personally, I’d go for the Core i5 750, even though it won’t feature hyper-threading. Here are some buy links for your convenience:

Processors

• Intel Core i5 750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I5750 – $209.99
• Intel Core i7 860 Lynnfield 2.8GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7860 – $299.99
• Intel Core i7 870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80605I7870 – $579.99

Motherboards*

• GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD6 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard – $249.99
• MSI P55-GD65 LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard – $159.99
• Intel BOXDP55WG LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX Intel Motherboard – $139.99

*Recommended based on NewEgg ratings; one motherboard is from Intel.

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Courtesy Intel

You’re probably wondering why you should spend $485 on a drive that can only hold 160GB of data. Well, solid state disks are known more for their read and write speeds, rather than the affordability. And in terms of speed, it seems nothing matches Intel’s flagship SSD offering for now.

In any case, the Intel X25-M line represents significant improvements over the X25-E models. Simply put, the newer Intel solid state disks operate much faster, at literally half the price. The 160GB X25-E for instance retailed for over $900!

As mentioned above, NewEgg currently carries the X25-M, the 160GB version, for $485. If you’ve got a lower price, feel free to hit the comments below.

Buy 160GB Intel X25-M SSD (SSDSA2MH160G1)

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Courtesy Tom's Hardware

The financially frivolous exercise (see prices below) was Tom’s Hardware US’s response to an email by Samsung’s PR agency, which apparently showcased a RAID array of 24 Samsung PB22-J flash SSDs achieving 2.12GB/s. Looks like Samsung needs to come out with something new!

Despite the unofficial 2.23GB/s throughput (read/write performance) record, the tech-heads at TH weren’t completely satisfied. With an average claimed speed of 200MB/s per individual drive, hooking up 16 X25-Es should’ve produced a throughput of 3.2GB/s. Ah, but despite applying “all optimizations”—including the use of two drive controller cards to overcome PCIe x8’s limitation of 2GB/s—sometimes the rest of a computer simply can’t keep up with an awesome setup.

Product Links and Prices:

• Adaptec 2244300-R PCI Express SATA / SAS 5805 Controller Card – $519.99
• Intel X25-E 64GB 2.5″ SSD – $669

Yes, ladies and gentlmen, Tom’s setup was worth $9,000!

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Courtesy Intel

But Intel discovered a hiccup with the new drives, asking retailers to put all deliveries on hold, and to actually pull the X25-Ms from their respective store fronts. William George of Puget Systems narrates what happened:

After several hours of waiting on Intel’s tech folks I am now pleased to be able to relay to our customers the status of the Intel drives. There is a defect in the units which causes data corruption if – and only if – a password is set on the drive in the system BIOS… and then changed or disabled later. Initially we were told this might require a complete reworking of the drives, and that those we had gotten in were effectively unusable, but Intel was able to work out a firmware fix for the problem. That won’t be available immediately, but should be showing up in about two weeks.

Ultimately not a big disaster—especially since Intel was able to catch the problem relatively quickly, probably before customers were able to discover it for themselves.

In any case, for those who already have an X25-M, George was helpful enough to share a link to the updated firmware, available here.

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More about the new SSDs: Intel’s new 34nm SSDs cut prices by 60 percent, boost speed

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Courtesy of Associated Content

“The abuse of market power to protect a monopoly hurts consumers and hinders innovation — locking out smaller rivals that may have better products with new features or lower prices. With an 80 percent to 90 percent share of the microprocessor market, Intel wields much more power than your local supermarket. Its threat to raise prices the moment a customer tries to buy from rival A.M.D. can lock in even the largest computer makers — which depend on Intel for most of their products and can’t simply swap all their processors overnight. And with such a level of control, Intel doesn’t have to exert itself to come up with new and better products.” — The New York Times (Oct. 29, 2007)

“[Caris & Co. analyst Rick] Whittington says he’s convinced that Intel manipulated the market to its favor. ‘Whether that was illegal or not is not my decision. That’s for the courts to decide,’ he said. ‘But Intel did adopt heavy-handed tactics.” — Investor’s Business Daily (Jan. 2, 2007)

“South Korean consumers had to buy PCs at higher prices as domestic PC makers were forced to buy Intel’s pricier CPU.” (June 5, 2008)

Granted, the majority of quotes are hardly timely, and at least one website has accused AMD not having their priorities straight. But in the ever-competitive microprocessor market, AMD has to take advantage of every opportunity. Besides, compiling all those quotes must’ve been easy for one employee to accomplish. Minimum effort, maximum damage.

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Here’s our own special Star Trek related promo, as promised yesterday: get a chance to win the Star Trek Messenger bag pictured above!

So how can you enter?

Over the next week two weeks, just leave a comment here about the new Star Trek movie and what you think about it. Will it revive the currently moribund franchise? Or doom Gene Roddenberry’s creation for good?

Say whatever you want, just play nice, stay relevant, and please use your real email when you comment! Only US residents may participate, while comments received after 10:00 PM, March 21 (PST) will not be considered.

I will choose the best comment (based on my subjective judgment) and email its author for his or her delivery address. If for some reason I can’t declare my first pick as the winner (ineligibility, does not reply, etc.), I will move on to my next pick, and so on and so forth. Contest starts today; good luck!

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For Intel and Lenovo, the Star Trek franchise represents an opportunity to reach the geeky people. You know, the type who give a damn about CPUs and computing equipment. That’s why they’re raffling off access to:

• A trip for four to the Hollywood Premiere of the new Star Trek movie.
• A “zero gravity flight” for a group of four. That’s the trip where you all fly in a plane that climbs up then descends quickly, creating zero gravity conditions for you and friends to play around in.

The so-called New Frontiers Sweepstakes is only open to US residents, age 18 and above. Visit http://boldlygo.intel.com/newfrontiers to join.

Tomorrow, The Gadget blog will be holding its own special Star Trek related promo, thanks to Intel and Lenovo. Stay tuned dear readers!

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Despite the high cost of the CPU and the uniqueness of some components, we have shown that it is possible to build a complete high performance Core i7 system for as little as $1450. That price is for a system with 1TB hard drive, Blu-ray player/DVD burner, a Radeon HD 4870 1GB video card, 1920×1080 monitor, keyboard/mouse, and even Windows Vista Home Premium. If you have some components that are compatible with a Core i7 build, you can reduce the cost even further. Just be sure you will not be leaving performance behind with the components you are considering moving over to a new Core i7 build.

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Maybe it’s time to shop around for parts. While you’re at it, read the entire article for more details.

(Image from Intel)

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