Is Vista really awful?

Ever since Windows Vista was released, it has been criticized for being unstable and slow. While there are some merits to this, this article makes some good points. What it boils down to is this:

Advantages of Linux	Advantages of Vista
1. Update every piece of software with one click 2. Secure 3. Self-maintaining 4. Free 5. Portable Settings	1. New Start Menu 2. Media Center 3. Better hardware support(wifi) 4. Huge software choice 5. Offline Support 6. USB drive for portable settings

Yes, if you are on an older computer, stick with linux or xp. If you have less than 2gb of ram(and certainly less than 1), stick with linux or xp. But if you have the resources, Vista is a great option.

(Note, all information comes from the above article and is merely summarized here)

Also, don't worry, my post on Chrome is coming, I've just been very busy.

ASUS EPU Six Engine

Recently, computer manufacturers have started thinking about factors other than performance, the main others being heat and power consumption. This is where Asus's offering, EPU, comes in. Asus motherboards with EPU have a small chip located near the CPU which watched in real-time the load the cpu, and adjusts power supply accordingly. Motherboards that further support EPU Six Engine support similar monitoring for other components, such as the ram, graphics card(most supported cards are made by Asus), and ram. This can be controlled through the Six Engine software which is bundled with all supported motherboards.

The software allows several presets(customizable of course), and shows the amount of CO2 that has been saved by using EPU. Clicking on the cpu (or graphics card if you have a supported card) icon shows the current power draw, as well as the total energy savings on the component.

The modes offered are Auto(which just chooses between the other modes based on load), Turbo(Auto-overclocking, you can set the percent), High Performance(Stock everything), Medium Power Savings(Downclock, undervolt), Max. Power Savings(Downclock more, more undervolt).

In my experience with a Q6600, turbo mode became a bit unstable beyond 15%, and Max. Power Savings became a bit unstable below 46%(The percentages are the change from the stock 2.4ghz, the clock changes are done in the FSB, although speedstep is also used, meaning that my processor varies between 2.76Ghz and 864mhz. The power usage also varies a lot, as idle at 864mhz is about 5watts for the cpu, whereas it is 15watts idle at 2.76ghz. Load power is about 20watts at 864mhz, and 50watts at 2.76ghz.

Overall, this tool will help keep both temperature and power use under control. Idle temperatures with the lowest setting are 32c(using a 3rd party cooler), while the stock clock idles at 35/36c.

Chrome happenings

Seeing as Chrome is all that has been in most blogs, I thought that it would be appropriate to get all of the chrome out of my system and do a marathon. So, Portable chrome. It functions just like regular chrome, but you can stick it on a flash drive, network drive, or any other medium that doesn't requires the that software not require installation. It is available here.

Chrome vs Chromium

There have been a lot of reviews of Google Chrome, but it is often forgotten that it is opensource and therefore can be edited and compiled by anyone. Chrome and Chromium look the same.

I've honestly forgotten which is on the left and which is on the right they look so similar. Chromium feels a bit faster, and some flash videos seem to play better. Checking the builds shows that the current Chromium build is a bit newer than the Chrome beta. Chromium is available here.

I'll be reviewing the two together in full tomorrow, not looking at the differences, but treating them as one browser because of the similarities.

Update: As of build 1800 of Chromium, the tabs do not scale correctly. They cover up(when there are enough of them) the minimize and maximize buttons, and the add-tab button covers up the close button. The workaround for now is to right-click on a tab to close it, and to use the tasbar to alter the window.

Vista Codecs

So you just got a new computer, or you reinstalled windows on your old one. You copied over all of your files, double-click on a video file, and are told that it can't be played. This usually means you need the codec for that video file. This is where Vista Codecs comes in. Available here, it will install most of the codecs that you could possibly use, including:

DivX

Ogg

Xvid

Mpeg 4

As well as many others. It should make just about anything playable by windows media player. Alternately, you could try media players with these codecs built in, such as VLC or Media Player Classic, which will be in two posts next week.

Its Chrometastic

Google recently released a new web browser, Chrome. I've been using it as my main browser since it came out, and on the weekend there will be a special Chrome post(lots of screenshots and tests). Until then, here's one screenshot:

Prime95

When overclocking, its necessary to stress test to determine the stability of any system. This is where cpu stress testing comes in. Prime95 is generally considered the best stress testing program for overclockers. When increasing clockspeed and voltage, errors can be introduced in a processor's output. Prime95 has a torture test mode which checks prime testing calculations against known results. A good way to run tests is to run a 15min small fft test on a certain clockspeed, and up the speed if there is no error. Once an error occurs at a specific speed, lower the speed and run a 30min test. If its stable, run a 2 hour test. If there is an issue, lower the speed again and repeat. If its stable, run a 24hour test. Any issues and the speed should be lowered, no issues for 24hours usually means that the speed is stable.

Prime95 can also join the distributed computing search for mersenne primes(primes of the form 2^n -1).

Prime95 25.6
Official Download Site(version 24)