It seems that the graphics processor, which is used to play those wickedly clever games on your PC, just got better. NVIDIA Corp, a programmable graphics processor technologies provider, claims that its collaborative memory development effort called enhanced performance profiles (EPP) allows consumers to easily expose new, advanced performance memory settings built into high performance memory DIMMs for even higher levels of overall PC system performance.
DIMMs is short for dual in-line memory module, a small circuit board that holds memory chips. A single in-line memory module has a 32-bit path to the memory chips, whereas a DIMM has 64-bit path. Because the Pentium processor requires a 64-bit path to memory, you need to install SIMMs two at a time. With DIMMs, you can install memory one DIMM at a time, according to Wikipedia.
"Enhanced performance profiles are a significant change in the way overclocking and performance hardware compatibility is defined and sold. The industry now has a new standard on how a performance memory SPD should be written and communicated with the motherboard BIOS," says Corsair Memory, which collaborated with NVIDIA for the project. "Our expectation is that EPP will be adopted by major motherboard companies, core-logic manufacturers and other memory companies."
Developed as an extension to the traditional serial presence detect found on today’s high-performance DIMMS, EPP allows memory manufacturers to integrate additional module performance data in the unused portion of the JEDEC standard SPD, allowing compatible motherboards to read and take advantage of added performance capabilities.
Enhanced performance profiles were developed as an open standard and immediate adoption is expected shortly from other motherboard partners and PC memory suppliers. While memory modules with enhanced performance profiles will work on any motherboard, only motherboards equipped with properly-designed BI-OSes, such as those designed for NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI media and communications processors, will detect the presence of these new capabilities and prompt the user to set PC boot parameters for guaranteed optimised settings, the company said.
Explorer slips
Meanwhile, Micr-osoft’s Internet Explorer, the web browser, appears to be steadily losing ground to Mozilla’s Firefox in the consumer space, according to a new report by OneStat.com, a Web analytics firm. Use of the Explorer fell by 0.65 per cent to 85.17 per cent of the market in May.