ThruIT

Intel sure has been busy these last few months, releasing desktop i5 and i7 processors a few months back and a the new “Pine Trail” netbook platform. Now they’ve dropped new CPU’s onto the market with the i3 CPU and more in the i5 line of processors. All of these processors use Intel’s new 32nm chip die, allowing for lower power requirements and less heat (important for the all-critical mobile market). All of these processors include built in graphics capability, which is attractive to the low-end market and even potentially htpc builders (time will tell and we’ll see how the chip stacks up in terms of crunching 1080p video).

Mashable and other sources report that on Thursday Comcast is likely to buy a 51% stake in NBC, leaving GE with 49%. Comcast sits currently as the number 1 broadband and cable television provider in the United States and this venture would be a shift in Comcast’s business model in a new direction. Instead of simply delivering the ability to access content by the end user Comcast would have a major stake in content creation. NBC Universal owns USA Network, Bravo, Syfy, MSNBC, CNBC, among others.

I don’t think I’ve ever had such an enjoyable process configuring a newly built PC then the experience I just had with my new DIY project/sweet awesome toy.

I decided recently that the time was right to take the plunge into Windows 7, a decision brought upon me by the release of the P55 chipset (with new i5/i7’s from Intel) and the release of ATI’s new 5800 series graphics cards (more about that in my earlier post). The mainstream has never looked so good, with the Intel i5 selling for $199 complete with four cores and low power usage. Benchmarks have the i5 besting the quad Core 2 Duo’s and even the Core 2 Extreme in some benchmarks.

Information has been appearing all over the ‘net about the secret Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement being negotiated between roughly 40 nations in Seoul, South Korea. Rumblings about ACTA have been going on for a while now, but it seems what is actually in the treaty is beginning to come to light. What is allegedly being discussed is terrifying – a global DMCA-like regime that makes ISP’s the watchdog for copyrighted content (lions), three strikes disconnect policy (tigers), the end or major changes to safe harbor provisions (bears), and other major changes that could dramatically change the internet forever (Oh my!).

It’s a great time to be a hardware guru…Intel’s recent release of the i5/ new i7 CPU and ATI’s unveiling of the 5000 series GPU’s at the end of September (Reviews: 5870 | 5850) are making more then one would-be DIYer salivate. The opportunity exists for both these manufactures to attack both the mid-range and the high-end markets, with the goal of making the enthusiast community want to rush out and get the latest for their new(ish) Win7 installs. The time to build a new system hasn’t been this good for a while, with this climate allowing many to build modest systems with their GPU as their biggest expense and not suffer a CPU bottleneck.