Looking to build your dream machine? We explore the latest components on the market, and give you advice on which ones to hunt down, along with the general price you can expect to pay for each major component.

DDR2 is here, but there's more to it than meets the eye. Tim Dean takes a look at the good and bad of tomorrow's memory.

Will splashing out on expensive RAM make a real difference to PC performance? And if so, how much should you buy? We supply the benchmarks and lay the details bare

DDR (Double Data Rate) RAM is a relative newcomer to the PC as system memory, although it is certainly not a fledgling technology. Graphics cards, and other components that require much higher memory

Over a year ago, the PC Authority Labs team was speculating about the possible union of DDR-RAM with the Pentium 4 processor as an alternative to the problematic pairing with RDRAM. While many of the

The 845PE was supposed to be Intel’s mainstream desktop DDR chipset, although the e7205 (the Granite Bay), and now the 865 and 875, have stolen much of its thunder with dual-channel DDR.

The Athlon XP 2700+ represents a significant leap forward for the Athlon line – it solves a long-term problem by stepping up the default frontside bus (FSB) speed from 266MHz to 333MHz. This means that the Athlon XP can finally run in sync with 333MHz DDR RAM. While most currently available Athlon motherboards support 333MHz DDR, there is virtually no performance boost between this and 266MHz DDR when running an Athlon XP with a 266MHz FSB. The extra speed offered by the RAM quite simply goes to waste, because the CPU can't keep up with it.

The speed and quantity of main system memory is another major factor in determining overall system performance. The two most common types are PC100 and PC133, which run at 100MHz and 133MHz respective

Recently Intel recognised it needed a stop-gap chipset with dual-DDR before the release of the Springdale and Canterwood (865 and 875 respectively).

Pair work together on high-performance servers and switches.

The Excel G736 notebook from Protac is a desktop replacement, and as well as better-than-normal notebook specifications it also comes with the other traditional trapping of a desktop replacement notebook: it's big, it's chunky, and it's heavy.

MSI's new motherboard is based on the Intel 865, or Springdale chipset, heralding the arrival of a host of new technologies (such as support for dual-channel DDR-RAM, AGP 8x and SATA) in Pentium 4 boards. These technologies have been commonplace in Althon boards for more than six months, and it's been an agonizing wait for many Pentium 4 fans.

There is quite simply no holding nVidia back. Hot on the heels of the top-performance GeForce2 GTS chipset, with its capacity for up to 64Mb of fast DDR...

The Labs team delves into the guts of this month’s motherboards, and points out what you need to know to chose the right one for your needs.

Ever wondered what a particular acronym stands for? Find the answer in our comprehensive reference guide to computer industry acronyms. RTFM!

An old PC is like putty in your hands. Tim Dean looks at how you can shape it into a new system with a few easy upgrades.

512Mb mobile DDR SDRam processes 1.6GB of data per second.

For our system, we wanted high performance without high cost. The performance issue immediately rules out Intels Celeron processors and AMDs Duron processors, although more wallet-conscious buyers wou

Hallmark has opted to take advantage of Intel’s Extreme Graphics 2 integrated shared graphics, taking up to 64MB of video memory from the on-board 512MB of PC2700 DDR to power the display. While not designed for gaming, it did manage to churn out almost 3000 points in 3DMark01SE with some help from its Pentium M 1.6GHz CPU.

Powered by an Intel Pentium-M 1.6GHz, the Modtech Civic Diamond 1600W Centrino notebook has a decent core specification, including a useful 512MB DDR RAM, 40GB of disk space and an ATI Mobility RADEON 9000 card offering 64MB of non-shared memory.