MaximumPC 2006 10

118 MAXIMUMPC OCTOBER 2006

We tackle tough reader questions on...

PCat Fancy PAlan Parsons PGPU Power

PDM2006 PWindows Defender

WE’LL SKIP THE OBVIOUS JOKE, ALAN

I’ll keep this short, sweet, and to the point. Will there

be any dual-processor motherboards that can run

dual-core processors or do I have to wait for quad-

core CPUs? Would something like that even be a

good idea? Wouldn’t having a dual-core, dual-proc

mobo make things run better and get a jump on the

quad-core procs?

—Alan S. Parsons Sr.

SENIOR EDITOR GORDON MAH UNG RESPONDS:

You can indeed buy dual processor boards that

support dual-core CPUs today, but you’ll have

to step up to an AMD Opteron or Intel Xeon

motherboard. Intel doesn’t believe dual-proces-

sor boards make sense for consumers today

because of the extra cost associated with them

(two heatsinks, bigger power supply, thicker,

more expensive mobos). The first consumer

quad-core for Intel will likely be a quad-core

CPU later this year that will drop into Core 2-

ready motherboards. AMD’s consumer strategy

is different. It will likely offer a quad-core

processor that works in the AM2 socket next

year, but it’s also pursuing a “4x4” technique,

which gives true power users a dual-processor

mobo that doesn’t need expensive and slower

registered RAM.

FLASHBACK TO THE VOODOO5

I saw a product on the Monarch Computer web-

site that I would like to know more about. The

product is Thermaltake’s PurePower VGA 250W

power supply. This looks like a good alternative to

upgrading a perfectly good PSU.

—Murray Kreeger

SENIOR EDITOR JOSH NOREM RESPONDS: The

Thermaltake Pure Power 250 is a stand-alone

power supply that resides in a 5.25-inch bay

and is designed to power two videocards in

SLI. It includes two PCI Express power cables

and is listed on nVidia’s website as a “certi-

fied” solution for SLI. Though we haven’t tested

it in the Lab yet, the fact that it’s certified by

nVidia to work just fine is promising, and we

should mention that only a handful of PSUs

have received this distinction. If you’ve got a

wimpy 300W (or thereabouts) PSU and want

to upgrade to SLI without buying a brand-new

PSU, it seems like this would be a safe course

of action.

MEMORIES OF THE WAY WE USED TO BE

I received the latest Maximum PC and was con-

fused by the memory used in the Dream Machine.

The article states that DM2006 uses Corsair DDR2

memory/800. However, it states that the memory is

rated to operate at 1066MHz. Furthermore, it lists

the price as $195. I’ve gone through the Corsair

website looking for this module and can’t find it.

Please help.

—Basker Periyasamy

SENIOR EDITOR GORDON MAH UNG RESPONDS:

You’re looking for Corsair’s TWIN2X1024-8500

modules, which are rated to run at 1066MHz at

5-5-5-15. Unfortunately, we goofed on the pric-

ing. It should have been $195 per module.

WHAT’S BETTER THAN MSCONFIG?

This is a late letter because I’m not a subscriber. In

your May 2006 article “Fastest Boot...” you men-

tion using Msconfig to clean up the start-up items.

But Msconfig is pretty confusing to laymen, and

Windows Defender has a feature named Software

Explorer that does the same job but a hundred times

better. It gives you every bit of information possible

on each start-up item, and also does the same to

Running Process, Network Processes, and Services.

I know of a lot of people who think Windows

Defender is just a tiny spyware scanner and never

really use the Software Explorer under Tools. Maybe

you can spread the word.

—Louis

SENIOR EDITOR JOSH NOREM RESPONDS: Whoa.

We’ve used Windows Defender before and

weren’t aware of this feature. And here’s why:

As you mentioned, Windows has cryptically

labeled the feature Software Explorer. And we

wouldn’t even think to look for such capability

in an anti-spyware utility. But you’re right, it

does offer a lot of information—certainly more

than you get from Msconfig. Thanks for the tip.

Bad Kitty

My cat chews through phone cords a lot. I am

not sure how to deal with this. I bought this

thing for dogs that tastes bad and put it on

the cords, but it wore off—recently, I saw my

cat starting to chew my computer’s power

cord. I know some editors have cats, so, have

they had these problems before? Is there

anything I can do to stop it? I’m going to put

duct tape over all the cords soon if I don’t get

a response.

—Mick “Dr. Satan” Reedy

SENIOR EDITOR JOSH NOREM RESPONDS:

We’ve had the same issue with a few havoc-

wreaking felines of our own, Doc. The solu-

tion is simple: Go to the hardware store and

buy some clear vinyl tubing (the same kind

you’d use in a water-cooling kit, actually).

Slice the tubing lengthwise with a razor

blade, and then stuff the phone cord into the

tubing (as shown). Problem solved.

in outYOU WRITE, WE RESPOND

Water-cooling tubing is good for

more than just cooling your rig! Use

it to protect delicate cables from

chomp-happy kitties.