Requirements for Hyper-Threading
In order to take advantage of Intel® Hyper-Threading Technology, you will need to make sure you have the following:

1. A Pentium 4 processor at 3.06GHz or higher.

2. A Motherboard that has the necessary VRM that supports a 3.06GHz or greater processor which can accept variable voltages going to the core.

• This is probably the most critical differentiator.
• Variable VIDs allow for a greater manufacturing yield for Intel (top secret!). Most current P4s will have new steppings (most likely "D-1") which support variable VIDs.

3. A Chipset that supports Hyper-Threading technology.

• Intel chipsets that support 533 MHz FSB:
  * 845PE
  * 845GE
  * 845GV
  * 845E, 850E
  * 845G "B-1 Stepping"; ("A-1 Stepping" does not support Hyper-Threading)

4. A MB that has a BIOS that allows for enabling or disabling the use of Hyper-Threading.

5. An Operating System with Optimizations for Hyper-Threading:

• Windows XP Professional
• Windows XP Home
• Linux Kernel 2.4x

Note: You need to disable Hyper-Threading technology via BIOS switch with any other legacy OS, including:
• Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, Windows ME, NT 4.0, Windows 2000 (all versions)

PCB Comparison: Audigy vs. Audigy 2

Audigy	Audigy 2

  At launch Creative Labs released two different packages for the Audigy 2, the Audigy 2 and the Audigy 2 Platinum. The latter will have an internal drive unit which can be mounted into a 5 1/4" drive bay and provides front panel ports for analog and digital audio along with a SB1394/FireWire connector to make audio, video, and data transfer lightning fast. In 2003 Creative plans to release the Audigy Platinum eX which will sport an external unit in the style of their current Extigy box, as well as exclusive support of the ASIO2 and operation in this professional interface in the 24 bit 96 kHz mode (the junior models have ASIO1 which is fixed at 16 bit 48 kHz).  The Chart below compares the specifications between the two cards.

Sound Blaster Audigy and Audigy 2 Comparison Chart

DVD Dolby Digital Ex: Using the Cyberlink PowerDVD 3.0 software (not included), you can enjoy the benefits of DVD movies with 6.1 channels of surround effects. The Audigy 2 decodes a second rear channel which adds a further layer of realism to all of your DVD Movies

Music and games: The supplied DVD-Audio sampler disc gives a good indication of the card's high-resolution audio performance.
The various tracks in 24-bit/96kHz audio resolution in six surround channels proved to be rich and detailed, putting most CD music to shame.
There is greater clarity in instrumental sounds. 
An acoustic guitar-driven track, for example, produced a "live" ambience of someone plucking guitar strings right in front of the PC. Even conventional 16-bit/44 kHz music CDs, such as stadium-rock songs from Oasis and the recent Elvis Presley remixed hit, A Little Less Conversation, sounds richer and clearer. For games, using the EAX Advanced HD environmental audio effects provide extra audio details that make the bundled Soldier of Fortune: Double Helix a realistic affair.

This is the best sound card to transform your PC into the ultimate home theatre system/game centre/audiophile delight to excellence.

When building a PC, one of the things that you need to consider and is often over looked, what type of Hard Drive storage is best for your needs? The Hard Drive is one of the most important items that you have in your PC next to the CPU. No matter how fast you’re CPU, if you are using a slow HD it will affect performance of your PC. The two main types of storage today are IDE and SCSI, and soon to be released Serial ATA.

There are some advantages and disadvantages to all types of drives.

First off if you are looking to build a PC for home or a small office it is suggested to go with the lower cost ATA IDE drives for this use. IDE drives provide good performance at this level and will work fine for the person concerned with price. When hooking up devices to the IDE channels it is recommended to hook your hard drives on separate channels  from the CD roms and other devices by use of an optional controller unless your motherboard is already equipped with it.

When building a workstation or server for businesses that has up to 50 people the best option for your needs would be SCSI but ATA IDE drives can also be used if price is an issue. When using the option of IDE raid you have two option of level 0 or 1 when setting up your raid.

Now for High end servers and power workstations the best option is the use of a high performance SCSI drives. They are best suited for the server or workstation that will be used very heavily or by greater 50 people at a time. Also if you’re in need of secure backup options as in raid level 5 with hot swap ability

ATA, Serial ATA vs  SCSI comparison

 * Serial ATA specs taken from Seagate  Serial ATA drives: Barracuda ST380023AS 80Gb, ST3120023AS 120Gb

ATA Connections	Serial ATA Connections
SCSI Connections

Advantages and Disadvantages

PART 1 – Digital Audio Technology and Connectors

  PC audio technology is becoming more sophisticated every year.  The first sound card had a single, monaural audio output.  Today, a typical sound system handles over ten audio paths.  Another significant trend is the increasing popularity of high-bandwidth buses that can easily transport multiple streams of audio between PCs and other devices.  We now have Digital Audio Controllers and Ports as an alternative to standard Analog Audio I/O.  This increases the multimedia capabilities of desktop systems at a very reasonable cost.  What are the differences between Analog and Digital Audio, and what equipment do you need to take advantage of Digital Audio?

  To use digital audio you will need at least one audio controller with SP/DIF output (sometimes just labeled Digital Out), and a PC speaker system (such as the Creative Inspire 5.1/ 6.1 series) or home stereo equipment with SPDIF input.  SP/DIF is the Sony and Philips Digital Interconnect Format.  It can carry stereo channels with a sampling rate of up to 96 Ksps (kilo-samples per second) with a sample precision of up to 24 bits.  There are two types of connections, Coaxial Cable and Fiber Optic Cable.  Some devices have only the coaxial connector, while some will have the coaxial plus the fiber optic.  The coaxial is a small rounded connector, and the fiber optic a square one usually protected by a small plastic cover plug when not in use.

  When purchasing audio controllers and speakers, look for “SP/DIF” (sometimes written as SP-DIF or SPDIF) or Digital Out specification in the product description.  In a computer system the SP/DIF connectors can be either on the back of a sound card or on an I/O bracket that attaches to a header (pins) on the motherboard.  The Sound Blaster Platinum series also have Front Interconnect Panels that may have SP/DIF I/O connectors alongside the standard Analog connectors and controls.

An example of SP/DIF OUT connectors.

  Standard analog sound connectors on PCI audio cards or onboard audio controllers have several problems, mostly related to noise and lack of multiple audio channels.  Analog connectors can pick up many sources of EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) from the other components in the computer system.  Also with analog it is more difficult to implement surround sound stereo or Dolby 5.1 or even 6.1 discrete positional audio and more difficult to connect to home stereo equipment.

  Digital audio is easier to setup and is far superior for both 3D games (using such technologies as EAX Gaming or DirectSound 3D) and DVD movie playback using surround sound. You can adjust many of the advanced digital audio properties in the system software or device settings, and sometimes the Digital Audio outputs are not enabled by default so must be changed before you use the digital mode.

PART 2 – Creative 5.1 and 6.1 PC Speaker Systems

  Creative is now offering both 5.1 (model 5200) and 6.1 (model 6600 - see picture above) PC Speaker Systems.  5.1 surround sound has one center-front channel, a front-left and front-right, and rear-left and rear-right speaker channels, plus a subwoofer for a total of 6 speakers.  6.1 adds to this configuration a rear-center channel for additional discrete positional audio.  This gives you a total of 7 speakers.

  To get the full effect of 6.1 Surround Sound when playing DVD movies you need to use Dolby Digital Surround EX encoded movies and connect the speakers to the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 which has Digital Out.

See these links for more information:

http://www.soundblaster.com/eax

http://www.soundblaster.com/products/audigy2