Fast silicon is hitting a wall in game PCs, according to Alienware, which is looking for ways to boost game PC performance.
Parent company Dell vowed on Tuesday to pour more resources into the game PC unit and invest in "product development, design, and engineering."
Alienware Area-51 m9750 notebook
(Credit: Alienware)Alienware's Marc Diana believes optimizing systems for the 64-bit world would allow game PCs to make big strides in performance. In effect, today's 32-bit environments are putting a crimp on PC-based gaming.
"So many people are caught up in this hardware race. Dual-core, quad-core this and that," said Diana, who is Alienware's product marketing manager for desktops. "If these companies--Intel, Microsoft, Nvidia, ATI, and AMD--if they'd just sit down and realize the performance benefit of optimizing their drivers and software for 64-bit."
"I think that would make sense now," Diana said emphatically.
Much of the software in the PC world is still 32-bit, including most copies of Windows XP and Vista. In fact, Diana said Alienware doesn't offer 64-bit operating systems because "we don't feel comfortable shipping a system to a customer with the 64-bit driver support that's out there in the industry."
The most obvious limitation of 32-bit operating systems and applications is a cap--4GB--on how much memory an operating system can use. And some applications can't even use the entire 4GB. "Who cares about DDR3 memory? What about giving me 4GB?" Diana asked.
"They're building (software) for something that is inherently very old technology," he said. "We (need) drivers that are very healthy in the 64-bit space. I'm not saying that 64-bit drivers don't exist. I'm just saying there's not enough software development and support on that end to warrant companies like us to move to 64-bit operating systems."
He also talked about other factors--beyond faster processors and graphics chips--that affect system performance, particularly for consumers who have limited budgets. "If I was looking to invest in one component over another," Diana said, "I would probably invest in a really good motherboard," and after that, a dual-core processor and a midrange graphics card such as Nvidia's 8800GT or ATI's X2 card.
New DDR3 memory is also becoming more of a factor. DDR3 memory is offered in two Alienware platforms. "It is the highest-performing memory now on the market. But I'm not so sure it's quite there yet. The cost is very high," he said. "Six months from now it will start making a lot more sense (economically) than it does right now." Because of this, DDR2 memory is still widely used.
DDR3 memory modules use less power and double the data prefetch buffer to 8 bits from 4 bits per cycle. DDR3 also operates at higher clock rates (1600 MHz), among other improvements.
Micron Technology announced that it is sampling 4 gigabyte (GB) memory modules based on high-speed DDR3 technology and said the memory has been validated by Intel to run on its upcoming Centrino 2 mobile processor.
Micron DDR3 memory module
(Credit: Micron)DDR3 SDRAM or double-data-rate three synchronous dynamic random access memory is expected to be faster than DDR2 SDRAM--now used widely in systems--though this will depend on the speed rating of the DDR3 memory and on what type of DDR2 memory it is tested against.
Micron's DDR3 modules support data rates of up to 1333 megabits per second, enabling better system and graphics performance. DDR3 supply voltage operates at 1.5-volts in comparison to DDR2's 1.8-volts, reducing power consumption by up to 30 percent, Micron said.
Micron said it has received Intel's validation on 512MB, 1GB, and 2GB DDR3 notebook modules for the upcoming Intel Centrino 2 processor technology mobile platform. The 4GB DDR3 notebook modules are still going through the validation process. Centrino 2 processors--formerly known by the code name "Montevina"--are due this summer.
The modules are designed using 2 gigabit (Gb) components, providing high-density DDR3 modules for notebook computers, such as those that would use the Cetrino 2 processor. High-density memory modules with large capacities are becoming increasingly important for notebook computers as graphic-intensive operating systems and other content heavy applications continue to make their way onto the market, Micron said.
DDR3 memory products that support Intel's high-performance desktop, workstation, server, and mobile platforms in 2008 are also being developed.
Micron's 512MB, 1GB and 2GB modules are in mass production now, with its 2Gb-based DDR3 4GB modules expected to be in mass production in Q2 2008.
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