PC Gamefan heeft een best wel uitgebreide preview van Unreal Tournament in elkaar gedraaid. Zoals bekend is UT een multiplayer variant van Unreal. Hier wat info:

Also, while UT is technically a multi-player experience, the Botmatch AI is getting a huge kick in the can, and Epic promises that the bots will have crazy smarts. They're looking to improve everything from level navigation to item use. Unfortunately, that includes weapons skills, which I am not really looking forward to after seeing how absolutely evil the first round of Unreal's artificial destruction was. One cool element that should add a lot is that they are putting a good deal of focus on helping bots be better team players, as well as making sure they understand commands like 'attack,' 'defend' and 'cover.' This means that regardless of how empty a server may be, you can still have a team-based frag-fest with a ton of players, as you will now be able to command a troupe of capable teammates without the worries of finding the best ping time.

Voor de overklokkers onder ons en de mensen die gewoon een erg goed en gemakkelijk moederbord willen kan ik melden dat de ABit BX6 v2.0 hier in Nederland te koop is bij Parts and Bytes voor F 315,-

Ubisoft heeft een patch gereleased voor Monaco Grand Prix Racing:

- Game bugs fixed :

* Split mode bug fixed : correction of wheels graphic rotation for player 1 car

* Retro mode starting fires in cockpit view mode are activated

- Game Service enhancements :

* Control of the game options from the Game Service Client (when creating the session).

* Connections and disconnections enhancement for the players.

* Better management of the track exit for the computer opponents cars and the distant players cars.

* Direct launch of a session from the Game Service Client. You do not have to launch previously the game anymore.

Het ding kun je hier halen.

Nog mer support voor Linux: Silicon Graphics heeft bevestigd dat er plannen zijn om op intel hardware gebaseerde Linux servers in de produktielijn op te nemen:

"We will lead the low-end server market with full support for Linux," said John Vrolyk, SGI's senior VP for its computer systems business unit. "SGI will provide the same level of quality and support for Linux as its low-end [Intel] servers that it currently provides for its high-end MIPS-based systems."

Vrolyk added that the move had been made to meet the demands of SGI's customers.

The company's announcement follows hints earlier this week (see Linux to become a 'core OS' for HP, SGI) that it would join Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Dell to bundle Linux with certain server products.

Certainly, the Linux market is one SGI must be keen to address, given the outstanding growth of the open source OS' userbase and the company's own desire to return to profitability by chasing not only its traditional high-end markets but more mainstream ones too.

Zie the Register...

Intel heeft de release van de Pentium III met een week vervroegd. AMD deed als reactie hierop hetzelfde. The Register heeft er een nieuwsbericht over:

The Pentium III and K6-3 battle ratched up a further notch today as it emerged Intel will launch its chip a week earlier than AMD's.

But AMD said today it will bring forward the introduction of its Sharptooth K6-3D processor to before Intel's launch.

Intel had originally intended to introduce the Pentium III (Katmai) at the end of the month but has brought the date forward to attempt to stymie AMD's introduction.

A reliable source near to AMD's plans, said she couldn't give the exact date but it will be before Intel's introduction, dubbed a "preview event".

Hardware Extreme heeft een paar foto's van Intel's concept pc die wel iets weg heeft van het idee achter de iMac. Hier wat info:

Some of you may have heard of Intel's alternative to the iMac already. Well, here are some pictures of the next iMac - the "Wintel" Comcept PC.

Currently there are two versions of the Concept PC and they are expected to house an Intel Pentium III 500MHz each. The red concept pc is designed for the home while the other gray and black version is for business.

Comcept PCs are expected to be utilizing the 440BX chipset and USB devicesjust like the iMac. USB devices carry data at 12Mbps compared to slower serial ports.

Foto's staan hier.

Hardgame heeft een review van Logitech's vibrerende pretpook:

While there are some performance difference between the different force feedback controllers and technologies, Logitech comes up on top in a few important areas. The Wingman Force was the quietest force feedback device I’ve ever tried. The cables are so quiet that at times you’ll forget there’s even a motor inside. Even when presented with some serious force effects, the motor doesn’t really make any noise. Some gear based controllers emit a very noticeable ratcheting sound when the force feedback is activated and the player attempts to resist the controller’s pressure. When playing a game with the Wingman Force, you can force the stick to stay entirely stationary and the only effect is to make the base unit vibrate. Another aspect that might surprise you is the strength of the force feedback effects. When I stated earlier that the gear-based controllers offer sharper motions, it didn't have anything to do with the strength of the movement. It's kind of like the difference between speed and quickness, and the Wingman Force excels in the area of strength and with the effects jacked up to 150%, can literally give you some wrist strain. If you're an arm wrestler, jump the effects to 150% and fire up a copy of Monster Truck Madness 2.

Xanthias, newssniffer bij BXBoards, heeft wat info op de BXBoards news page gedropt over cooling en wat hij daar van denkt, met name de onzin van over-cooling waar cooling niet helpen kan (falende cache chips). Een stukje:

However, my children, listen to the X for truth: 9 times out of 10, it really doesn't matter. If you're going to achieve or fail at a certain speed, it will be most likely due to L2 cache or other intrinsic hardware limitations. All the gee-whiz cooling widgets in the world won't get you there. Realize that the vast majority of demand for this type of hardware is created by effective marketing. The *real* service performed by Step Thermodynamics (using them as one example among many), is pre-screening the chips for you. The cooling behemoth they sell is a value-added gizmo to generate profit. Why do you think they sell the chips and RAM at cost? Now, one could argue such a service will become more valuable as Intel delivers on its long-uttered promise to lock us down. Further, I don't mean to suggest the thingamajig doesn't work. I'm confident it does--but that is neither here nor there when it comes to your threshold CPU buying decision.

Diamond heeft nieuwe drivers gereleased voor z'n middeleeuwse Viper V330 videokaart. Je kunt het spul hier pakken.

Techweb heeft een artikel over de nieuwe 433Mhz Celeron en de prijsdalingen die we van Intel binnenkort mogen verwachten:

Even as it prepares for the high-profile launch of the Pentium III, Intel continues to fortify a position at the low end by accelerating price drops on existing Celerons and pushing up the launch of a 433-MHz Celeron to March, sources said.

Intel told computer manufacturers this week that the recently launched Celeron 400-MHz chip will drop to around $130 in quantities of 1,000 on Feb. 7. The new 366-MHz Celeron will drop to $90, while the 333-MHz Celeron will drop to $70 and the 300-MHz Celeron will drop to $60.

The prices apply to the new, 370-pin versions of the Celeron, which use a socket form factor that includes 128 kilobytes of cache on the chip. The modular versions of Celeron, in so-called single-edge processor packages (SEPP), are priced at $140 for the 400-MHz, and $100 for the 366-MHz.

Separately, a source said Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel will introduce the 433-MHz Celeron on March 21, months ahead of a previously planned June launch date. It will be priced at $168 for the 370-pin socket version, and $175 for the SEPP.