It's finally here - a true performance comparison between AMD and Intel processors. This will allow ambitious users as well as OEM partners and especially dealers to compare their systems with our reference values. What's special about this is a feature that it lets you directly compare two different CPUs of your choice. Simply select the desired models and a benchmark, and the appropriate chart appears.

What are the major criteria for your decision when you shop for blank recordable DVD discs? Is it the brand name of the manufacturer? Or the maximum claimed write speed? Or the price per piece? Well, we decided to check out over 40 different discs available in the market today to see how good they are. Hopefully, this roundup will help you make the right choice.

X-Bit Labs

Windows Update KB893066 (4/12/05) breaks the old SP2 TCP Slowdown Fix, if you had the old one installed or recently installed KB893066, you will need to download this new one and repatch.

Clean Spyware and Viruses + Optimize Windows XP to improve home, work and gaming performance safely. Windows XP's default configuration is far from optimized. This guide will help you improve your overall system performance. I avoid using or recommending "all-in-one" Windows XP Tweak programs since many blindly adjust settings that have no affect on performance and can cause future problems.

Diagnosing System problems can be very complicated and time consuming. There are no simple solutions. Windows XP systems should never Lock-up (freeze), display Blue Screen Stop Errors or Randomly Reboot. These are all warning signs something is wrong or misconfigured with your system. The following guide will help you troubleshoot the most common causes of system problems.

TweakGuides have thrown up their 170 page Windows XP Tweaking Companion (XPTC) version 1.05!

The Windows XP Tweaking Companion (XPTC) is the complete Windows XP and system optimization guide. No longer do you have to put up with so-called XP Tweak Guides which have a handful of Registry tweaks and some vague optimization advice - the XPTC brings an enormous range of detailed descriptions and resources together in one free 170 page downloadable PDF file. Everything from the correct installation of Windows and critical software and drivers, through to recommendations for every significant setting in XP, all the major performance, visual and convenience tweaks, and descriptions of XP's functionality.

To maximize airflow across a radiator when watercooling, a duct or what some of us call a shroud, is essential. Some of the watercoolers make their own from shoes boxes, baking trays, etc. Today, our member soki shows you how to make an effective and nice-looking shroud for your radiator with just very simple tools.

VR-Zone

Adding more computer memory is often the best upgrade for your dollar. aworldofhelp.com explains why you really need plenty of RAM, so you understand why the upgrade is such a valuable one.

The gaming community asked Nvidia if they could make their own profiles and thankfully they have offered this option to the end user. some of you may already be aware of these "self made" profiles from editorials like this one at Hardocp, but for those who arent, ill talk you through setting up a profile for a new title not offically supported and recording any gains from doing so.

In this Beginners Guide, PCStats is going to going to walk you through one of the simplest but potentially most powerful ways to customize and simplify the management of your computer: batch files. These text files are easy to create, and only as complex as you want them to be, but they can perform many useful operations from file backups to system configuration quickly and automatically.

When you look at the excitement that Dolby Digital and dts 5.1-channel soundtracks from DVDs can generate played over a good home theater system, it's not surprising that Sony/Philips and the DVD developers decided that an upgraded multichannel audio format was overdue. After all, the CD is stereo, limited to two channels. And despite Sony's original claim, in 1983, of CD's "Perfect Sound Forever," complaints have surfaced over the years about certain limitations in the CD's technical standards.

eCoustics

Clean Spyware and Viruses + Optimize Windows XP to improve both work and gaming performance safely. Windows XP's default configuration is far from optimized. This guide will help you improve your overall system performance.

We will endeavour to update this list as often as possible. If you can help us with details on Hardware that works, works partially or doesn't work at all we'd appreciate hearing from you with details of the type, model number, part number, revision number and manufacturer of the hardware.

3DVelocity

There is a simple and easy way to slipstream your own Windows installation disk complete with the latest service pack(s), updates and disk drivers.

Thanks to 3D Center for the Heads up!

Corsair "Latency Settings and their Impact on Memory Performance" White Paper (PDF)

VoIP will surely revolutionize the cost of long-distance voice calling. If you're still don't know about this new technoloyg and how it can change your life forever, then our Voice over IP guide will get you up to speed.

TheTechZone

Overclocking on the Athlon 64 is more complicated than on other architectures because of the backplane design and the often misunderstood relationship between the LDT and HyperTransport bus. When overclocking, oft-repeated is that "turning down your HT link speed has little effect on performance", or that "running with a memory divider is for weenies". As was the question with our Multimeter vs. Motherboard article, I had to ask myself "Has any of this ever been quantified and published?"

Flexbeta has an article based on the history of Mozilla Firefox.. The article goes build-by-build of every Firefox release since the early Phoenix days noting some of the most significant changes in every release.

The AMD Athlon64 3500+ is the enthusiast's weapon of choice when it comes to overclocking. A few might argue that going with the Athlon64 3200+ or Athlon64 3000+ is a better deal since you're guaranteed to get yourself a 0.09 micron Winchester core, but I like the higher multiplier that the Athlon64 3500+ offers.

You may have noticed that the browser will make one request to a web page at a time, as do most web browsers currently on the internet. This is due to Firefox's configuration for the pipelines, which you can take advantage of that by making some simple modifications to its configuration file.

ipKonfig

Love them or hate them, computers are ubiquitous and necessary to our society. Workplaces, public services and spotty teenagers would simply collapse if computers stopped working.

From bulky grey boxes to hyper sleek designer pieces, they provide us with valuable work tools and entertainment on a daily basis, and have become the best selling consumer item of the decade.