Given the volume of questions PCSTATS has received on this topic in the last week, I think many of you will find the short side column on whether to choose an AMD or Intel CPU especially helpful. If you need more detailed system recommendations, check out the PCSTATS ShoppingList. With Microsoft Windows Vista set for release on January 30th next year, we're seeing an equal number of questions on the mobile front. A Reader Asked, and we put forth some opinions on what to look for in a new notebook, what to avoid, and a some general mobile CPU recommendations. As always, no PCSTATS Newsletter would be complete without one of Colin's Weekly Tech Tips - Enjoy!

PS. The holiday's are a great time for fancy new technologies that suck your wallet dry, but you can make your existing PC work better just by using the tips and tweaks laid out in PCSTATS Beginners Guides. Start with the 99 Performance Tips, 101 Tips and Tweaks and 104 Great Tech Tips, before checking out the full collection of Guides here.

Thanks for reading!
Max Page
Editor-in-Chief - PCSTATS

ATi has dramatically increased the value of its videocards with the release of the ATI Radeon X1950 Pro, this card has a remarkable among of bang for the buck. The best thing about the Asus EAX1950PRO is that it doesn't require a Master card to run Crossfire. The ATi Radeon X1950 Pro based PCI Express x16 videocard has 256MB of GDDR3 memory. It supports dual digital monitors and TV/S-Video output, along with high definition output through a set of component outputs. The Radeon X1950Pro GPU is clocked at 575 MHz, while the 256MB of GDDR3 memory runs at a brisk speed of 1380 MHz. The ATI 'RV570' GPU has 36 pixel and 8 vertex shaders, 12 pixel pipelines, and supports Shader Model 3.0, DirectX 9.0, OpenGL2.0, and anti-aliasing with HDR. High Definition content playback is supported by ATI's AVIVO, H.264 and HDCP compliance.Continue Here>>

A Reader Asks... Q: Am I right in thinking it's a weird time to buy a laptop? I've played a bit with Windows Vista and watched it destroy a reasonable rig. Is there a notebook on the market that can stand up to Vista? Your thoughts are much appreciated. A: The major notebook vendors are all in pre-Windows Vista limbo right now, so it's not exactly an ideal time to get a laptop. If you have plans to upgrade to Vista next year, at least make sure whatever notebook you choose now comes with an "Expres upgrade to Vista" coupon. Microsoft is concerned about people getting stuck with WinXP so close to Vista's mainstream release (Jan 30, 2007), that most brand name vendors are offering free or discounted upgrade coupons with PCs bought during the holiday season. Notebook graphics will need to be at least DX9 compliant for Windows Vista (ex. Radeon Mobility X1300, Geforce Go 7800, Intel GMA950), and of course the Intel integrated GMA950 chip is the least impressive choice for gaming. It's fine for straight desktop work though. In terms of laptop processing power, the consensus right now points towards an Intel Core Duo Mobile (Yonah), or preferably the new Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile (Merom) CPU. If there isn't a notebook in the Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile flavour that suits your needs now, it's probably best in the long run to hold off till you see something you like. Avoid Pentium 4/M notebooks entirely - they are too slow and too hot compared to the Intel Core Duo/2 Duo Mobile generations. To be fair to AMD, I'm not entirely certain how its Turion64 or dual-core Turion64 X2 CPUs stack up... so I'll reserve any comments on that front. Windows Vista runs with a minimum of 1GB DDR-2 memory, be safe and make sure the notebook supports 2GB of RAM, and top 'er up right from the start.

Biostar iDEQ 250N Mini PC Geforce 6100 Small Formfactor Barebones

In this review PCSTATS will be testing out the new Biostar iDEQ 250N Mini PC barebones system. The iDEQ 250N is a socket AM2 AMD Athlon64 platform which is based on nVIDIA's extremely popular GeForce 6100 and nForce 410 series chipsets. Even with Biostar's position as a value-oriented manufacturer, it has done a pretty decent job here. The system accommodates up to 4GB of DDR2-800 memory, and a PCI Express x16 videocard. The Geforce 6100 chipset gives away one other hidden talent to this small form factor barebones system... onboard Geforce 6-series graphics come standard. If budgets are tight, there's no reason why a socket AM2 Sempron 3600+ wouldn't turn this barebones into a handy little office or workstation PC for checking email, working on a report, or even kicking back to watch a movie on the PC. Continue Here>>