Winner: ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 1066 Intel - LGA 1155 Motherboard

Buying a motherboard is a subtle balance between going overboard and buying something which simply doesn't have everything you need it to. You can buy boards ranging from $50 to $500 but whether or not you will need everything that an expensive board has to offer is another question. In this article I aim to find the board which is the cheapest and fulfils all the needs of the majority of people.

First thing to look at is the processor - AMD or Intel? So far Intel has the better range although AMD processors are often cheaper. In terms of a price-performance ratio, Intel is still the way to go due to the raw power you get out of the CPU when compared to similar AMD processors. With new Intel Ivy Bridge processors on the horizon, you will probably want a motherboard which gives you the option of later upgrading to the new generation of processors in order to future proof your purchase.

As well as this, since most of the new Intel processors support integrated graphics (which are quite decent for normal use) a motherboard which uses the Z68 chipset to support these graphics will be advantageous as it can save you money in case you do not want to buy a dedicated graphics card immediately. This chipset also has integrated support for SATA3 so an extra chip is not needed (as it was on older motherboards).

Support for PCI-e x16 is necessary as this will give you the option of later upgrading to a dedicated graphics card. If the motherboard has support for two graphics cards, this is also useful but not essential as the majority of people will not buy a second video card ( a single one is good enough for most). Other extra PCI slots are good as they give the option of later expansion

RAM support isn't too much of a concern. Many more expensive motherboards claim to support faster RAM however as I have mentioned in the previous part the stock 1333MHz DDR3 is fine for anyone. Faster RAM is useful for overclocking but the average user doesn't do this and so faster RAM is essentially useless. Any motherboard which supports DDR3 is fine.

USB3 and SATA3 support as well as PCI-e 3.0 (needs Ivy Bridge to work) support is quite a handy feature to have even if it isn't useful now. This should help to prolong the life of your computer, allowing it to keep up with the latest technology and allow the possibility of upgrading in the future. UEFI is a new technology which replaces the BIOS and on top of offering support for booting Windows from 3TB and greater hard drives, it also allows you to interact with it using the mouse instead of just a keyboard. This is an essential feature for future proofing as storage needs are ever increasing so upgrading the hard drive will be a lot easier with this feature

One motherboard which has all the features listed here plus a few more and has the added benefit of being a lot cheaper than comparable boards is the ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 Intel Z68 ATX DDR3 1066 Intel - LGA 1155 Motherboard. This board is perfect even for more advanced users and for the features it has, it is extremely cheap. At the moment it is the best value motherboard available.

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In the fast moving world of technology, it can become impossible to keep up with the ever changing landscape. This is why I have introduced this new series of posts to give you guys an idea of what is upcoming in the world of computers and whether it is worth the wait or better to just buy what is currently on offer. New technology also leads to price drops in the older (but not outdated) technology. For example, when Sandy Bridge processors from Intel came out, they offered a large jump in processing power as well as efficiency but laptops with the older generation of i5 and i7 could be found for $500-700, a far cry from the $1700 they were available for 6 months before. If you're willing to buy slightly older technology, the newer components can lead to massive savings for you especially as manufacturers and shops try to clear out their stocks. So what's new in the world of CPUs?

Intel

Intel is on the verge of releasing its new Ivy Bridge processors built on the 22nm architecture. They should by unveiled early next year and released soon after. It promises processors with more cores, more power and more efficiency than the previous generation as well as bringing 6 core processes to a more mainstream level (although still at the higher end). Obviously the high end will be well above $1000 but it should bring prices of existing Sandy Bridge processors down significantly. Sandy Bridge should be fine for the majority of people and is perfectly adequate for gaming as well. The potential cost savings are huge for those who want to build a cheap desktop or buy a new laptop. The advantages of upgrading to Ivy Bridge would be significant mainly for laptop users. The 22nm manufacturing process means less heat generated with more power. It should also be good news for overclockers especially due to the already high clock speeds and availability of multiplier unlocked processors.

AMD

AMD has already released their Bulldozer processors which includes the highest clock speed processor currently available however benchmarks have been disappointing. An interesting direction AMD seems to be taking is in launching Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) which aim to combine the roles of CPUs and graphics cards into one. This has the advantage of utilising the power of often unused graphics cards for everyday tasks. This also provides the benefit of lower power usage and less components in the system. This new concept will be of particular importance to laptops due to these key aspects. AMD is expected to replace its Bulldozer processors with the new Piledriver architecture in mid-late 2012. One key point about AMD processors is they are also significantly cheaper than Intel ones but offer similar performance. These soon to be released processors are capable of competing directly with both Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge processors from Intel and can be an excellent choice for those with a tight budget not looking to skimp on performance.

This is a brief summary of things to come in 2012. If you are considering building or buying a new computer, you might want to wait a few months for these new technologies to be released, either to have the latest and greatest or save a few bucks on the previous generation products. Please note that this information is based on leaked roadmaps and may not be 100% accurate, it is just meant to be used as a rough guide. The next post will cover motherboards.

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Recently, I had to come up with the task of choosing a new laptop to buy. It seems like an easy task until you actually try it. Everywhere you go, every brand, every model - nothing is perfect! You start off with a good idea of what type of laptop you want, the amount of power, the battery life and you find that this laptop you've been picturing in your head simply doesn't exist.

Personally, I wanted a laptop which had a decent graphics card, at least an i5 processor and an anti glare screen for around $1700. The problem being that no one who wanted an anti glare screen had any need for a powerful laptop so you either had to go for an under powered laptop with the screen you want or a laptop with all the power you could need but a screen you can never see unless you close all the curtains and turn off the lights. Anything which looked to be perfect ended up costing around $3000 because it had all these other features which i had no need for.

I'm sure other people have had similar dilemmas when trying to buy a computer, there is nothing which quite fits everything you require for. This means that your purchase ends up being a series of trade offs. For me, I valued power so I got something which was not very expensive, had heaps of grunt and had a full HD screen (still glary). It seemed like an almost perfect laptop, until when I brought it home. I realised it only had a 1.5 hour battery life!

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In today's day and age, when you go out to buy a new computer or upgrade your existing one, there are so many choices out there. You can get a bargain basement computer which will need to be replaced in a couple of years or you can buy a top of the line PC which has the best of the best components but its value is halved in six months time when better components come out. There is a point when you go up in models where you end up paying double the amount of the model down just for a tiny performance gain. This is unrealistic for most people and so there is always a sweetspot when looking at computer components. This is a special consideration you have to make when building your own computer and on this post I hope to show you the best value computer you can get for your money today.

First, the most important part of the computer, the CPU. There are so many different types of CPU out there and so many different brands but if you are looking for the best value CPU out there, you cannot step past the AMD processors. For example their new Phenom II X6 1055T at 2.8GHz is a 6 core processor and goes for the unbelievable price of AU$240. Intel's 6 core processor will cost you well over AU$1000. If you're looking to upgrade an Intel processor, a good value one is the i7-930 which is 2.88GHz quad core. Although not the fastest, it costs only AU$340. if your budget doesn't stretch that far, have a look at the i5-661 which will set you back $240. If you are building a new PC, AMD has the best value processors by far. Not to mention in some cases they are significantly faster than Intel's alternative.

Of course, different people have different budgets. So if you have $750 to spend on a computer, you aren't going to spend half of that budget on a CPU just because it is the best value. The CPUs listed in this post cover the needs of an average user with an average budget of around $1000 to $1200. So when looking at which processor to buy, look for the best bang for your buck but don't be tempted into spending too much over your budget in order to get it. You also have to look at your own needs.

Next time, find out about the best value Video Card

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Today I thought I would talk about the advantages which smaller fabrication processes offer. All of the next gen chips are made on smaller and smaller processes. Intel has recently announced their 32nm fabrication process for the next generation processors. Nvidia has started manufacturing their latest GPUs on 55nm processes. So what does all this mean?

Smaller fabrication processes not only benefit the manufacturer but also the end user. They run much cooler and are more power efficient than older processes. If this isn't enough, even the costs come down significantly. An example of this is Intel's Wolfdale. Previously, an all round processsor would have been 2.4GHz and cost around $300. Intel released a 3.0GHz processor for $250 which was not only faster but it could be overclocked like no other processor and still run relatively cool. An Intel E8400 at 3.0GHz could be overclocked to 3.6GHz with no problems whereas previous Intel processors struggled to make such a speed jump without extra cooling.

This means that a 32nm processor will outshine a 45nm processor in everything. Speed, overclocking ability and cooling. Not only this but it will mean that not only gamers will have access to incredibly fast processors due to their affordable price. Anyone will be able to get a processor with a speed greater than 3.0GHz. The effect on Video Cards will be similar. Discrete graphics cards will not be limited to just users needing high performance. Not only this, but it adds the potential to easily build powerful graphics chips into motherboards as cooling will be less of a problem and it will take up less space. Currently Nvidia's latest graphics card, the GTX 295 is fast but it runs incredibly hot. It is impossible to run it in triple SLI with only air cooling. Part of the problem is the 65nm chip. This needs more power and runs very hot. In the future Graphics card manufacturers can fit similar performance in a smaller more accessible package. A smaller process also means more can be crammed onto the chip. As you can see from the above image, Intel is able to fit a graphics chip and memory controller into the processor now as well!

This is what these smaller fabrication processes mean. The advantages they give us are huge. Computers could be put in places you never thought possible. IBM is experimenting with chips right now using structures similar to DNA. This allows manufacturing processes as small as 22nm.

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It feels like the whole world is holding its breath for the Apple tablet. But maybe we've all been dreaming about the wrong device. This is Courier, Microsoft's astonishing take on the tablet.

Courier is a real device, and we've heard that it's in the "late prototype" stage of development. It's not a tablet, it's a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They're connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.

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Until recently, it was a skunkworks project deep inside Microsoft, only known to the few engineers and executives working on it—Microsoft's brightest, like Entertainment & Devices tech chief and user-experience wizard J. Allard, who's spearheading the project. Currently, Courier appears to be at a stage where Microsoft is developing the user experience and showing design concepts to outside agencies.

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The new chip has graphics capability built into the core processor, a first for Intel, and has new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) instructions also built in for faster encryption and decryption. The new chip will go into production in the fourth quarter of the year.

“The rapidly increasing number of transistors and processor instructions we add have made possible the integration of more and more capabilities and features within our processors,” he said.

“This has driven an incredible amount of innovation throughout the industry.”

Maloney will also be showing the Westmere-EP server platform and said that it would provide a performance boost greater than that seen with the introduction of the Xeon 5500 series of server chips over the previous generation.

Intel is also working on an ultra-low power server chip in the Xeon 3000 range, which will operate at just 30 watts.

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As a follow up to Westmere the next generation chip, codenamed Sandy Bridge, will see an acceleration in graphics capabilities for the chip, with Intel's sixth generation graphics core built into the die. This will accelerate floating point, video and processor intensive software applications.

To help IT administrators Intel has developed a new PC management tool called Keyboard Video Mouse Remote Control, which allows managers to view problems directly as the user sees them, which it hopes will speed up fault solving.

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