14 MAXIMUMPC MARCH 2004
ALT.OPINION.RANTS BY JON PHILLIPS
It boggles the mind: The very same company that engi-
neers some of the world’s most sophisticated technology
is now releasing “nomenclature madness” upon the
teeming geek masses. If you’ve already read the CPU
report on page 28, you know I’m referring to Intel and its
current Pentium 4 lineup.
Here’s the short story: Some P4s are based on the
Northwood core. Others are based on the Prescott
core. Some P4s run on a 533MHz bus. Others run on an
800MHz bus. Some P4s have 2MB of L3 cache. Others
have no L3 cache at all. Hyper-Threading support? You’d
think all the new Prescott-based P4s would include it.
But the 2.8GHz P4s do not.
Interested in buying a 3.4GHz P4? You better know
exactly which one you’re looking for and how it’s desig-
nated by special notation, because Intel is selling three
different 3.4GHz CPUs bearing the Pentium 4 pedigree.
Now, if you’re a witless newbie, ignorance is bliss.
Concerns about system bus speeds and core architec-
ture don’t keep you up at night, so you don’t need to
know any spec details about the P4 you’re about to pur-
chase. You can simply buy a new PC armed with some
type of P4 and comfortably assume that faster clock
speeds are better. However, if you build your own sys-
tems, or get your jollies from swapping new processors
for old, you are most certainly concerned with
your P4’s precise hardware profile—and Intel’s current
letter-based naming convention doesn’t do much to
explain which CPUs include which features.
One can only imagine the confusion that will reign on
Internet message boards as enthusiasts wax eloquent:
Some schmuck in Tarzana mistakenly identifies a 2.8B
as a 2.8A, innocently mistyping just a single letter, and
chaos erupts. What could have been a fleeting, three-
message thread suddenly becomes one of those eight-
page-long uber-threads. And all because Intel eschewed
an accessible naming structure precisely when its prod-
ucts are at their most complex and varied.
Can you imagine walking into a supermarket and
attempting to choose between Ritz Bits A and Ritz Bits
B? Of course not. That’s because the rest of the world’s
product manufacturers use descriptive naming conven-
tions to curtail consumer confusion.
Now here’s the good news: An Intel rep told me the
company might soon look at a more “end-user friendly”
naming system, and also pointed out that all Intel CPUs
can be immediately IDed by their “sSpec” number (see
Intel’s web site for details). Even better, all retail P
boxes clearly note bus speed, cache amount, and socket
support. So even if you do find yourself miscommunicat-
ing with other PC enthusiasts, buying the wrong CPU out
of confusion need not be a fait accompli.When CPU
Names Attack
Jon Phillips was formerly editor-in-chief of Maximum PC ,
and now serves as the magazine’s editorial director.30-Second White Paper
This Month: Why don’t more games and software come on DVD?
1 Many games Come on three or four C$-ROMs these days. Why
aren’t they shipped on $6$-ROMs instead A: Our initial guess was that the price of DVD production is more expensive.
However, research indicates that it’s actually cheaper to manufacture and ship
a single DVD-ROM instead of four CD-ROMs.
Our second guess was that not all gamers have a DVD-ROM drive. Ubisoft’s
XIII and Beyond Good and Evil are both epic-scale games that come on multiple
CDs, so we trotted out the question to Tony Kee, Ubisoft’s vice president
of marketing. Kee confirmed that our second answer was right: Drive
compatibility still has most game companies spooked.
“Our research indicates that DVD-only releases would currently eliminate
a larger-than-acceptable portion of our target market,” Kee explained. “Many
PCs still have CD-ROM-only drives, and also, as opposed to opting for DVD
drives, many new consumers last year opted for CD-RW drives, which don’t
play DVDs either. Every year, the percentage of people who cannot play
a DVD on their computers will shrink as
more and more get DVD drives, and
eventually we will feel comfortable
that most of our target can play
a DVD. That’s when we’ll go
DVD on PC games.” From our
perspective, that day won’t
come a minute too soon.NOW THAT’S FORCE FEEDBACK
No longer will gamers have to make the dreaded
decision: Knights of the Old Republic or the gym?
At least, not with the kiloWatt game controller
around. “Controlling video gameplay with kiloWatt
is very entertaining and physically demanding,”
says manufacturer Powergrid Fitness ( http://www.powergridfitness.com ). A
shoulder-height “resistance rod” (no snickering, please) measures the
force applied to the rod and translates it into standard joystick data, while
the gamer apparently bulks up from the workout of stabilizing the rod. Or
so they say. Throw out the Bowflex, bub, the kiloWatt controller should be
available by mid-year for $695.DOUBLE YOUR DVD PLEASURE
Kano Technologies recently announced the first double-sided recordable DVD media for home
use. Kano is calling it ArchivMedia, but you’ll more likely see it on shelves under the Verbatim
brand as “DS DVD+R.” The total capacity of the disc will be 9.4GB, but you will, of course, have to
“flip the burger” to access data on the other side.INTEL GOES HI-FI AUDIO
Intel’s next-generation audio specification, previously code-named Azalia, has been officially
coined “Intel High Definition Audio.” The increased bandwidth allotted by the new spec permits
192kHz, 32-bit multichannel audio. Intel’s HDA also integrates Dolby’s Pro Logic IIx technology,
which generates 6.1- and 7.1-channel output from a 5.1-channel signal. Look for HDA on
Grantsdale chipsets by mid-year..ext-gen
snowboard
Canine trainer
Marital aid
4hink again...FUN-SIZE NEWS
Quick Start
a DVD on their computers will shrink as
more and more get DVD drives, and
eventually we will feel comfortable4he sooner eVeryone buys a $6$-
ROM driVe, the sooner we’ll all be
rid of multi-C$ game installs.