Tip de redactie

Problemen voor AMD

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 23:090 reacties, bron: x86.org

ZDNet heeft artikel gepost over de financiële toekomst van AMD, die er weinig rooskleurig uit ziet:

It's almost an annual ritual: PC chip maker Advanced Micro Devices suffering from manufacturing problems, gets whacked by price pressure from its rival Intel.

Last year, AMD recovered, but at the cost of three losing quarters in a row. This year could be worse. Both AMD (NYSE:AMD) and Intel (Nasdaq:INTC) cut prices on Monday. "They are clearly having problems attaining a profitable business model," said Linley Gwennap, analyst at chip-technology follower MicroDesign Resources. "They are really counting on K6-3 and then the K7 to save them."

Those chips are due at the end of Q1 and Q2, respectively. And Intel's not willing to wait around. Despite an impending appearance in front of the Federal Trade Commission for alleged antitrust practices, the chip giant is not slipping on the kid gloves. "It is a competitive market -- there is absolutely no doubt about it," said Seth Walker, an Intel spokesman. "The reality is that we only cut prices on our low-cost PC parts."

That means a potential profit hit to an already beleaguered AMD. While the company's K6-2 is a hit with low-cost PC manufacturers, AMD's single chip makes it an all-or-nothing bet in the processor market. Where Intel's broad line of products -- from server-level Xeon processors to low-cost Celeron processors -- gives the company room to boost prices on Xeon processors to subsidise the Celeron, AMD has little room for missteps.

[...]For the long term, the news could be less rosy, stated Matt Sargent, analyst with computer-industry watcher ZD Market Intelligence. "It is obvious that Intel is trying to shut out Cyrix and AMD so that they can go back to collecting their huge margins on their products," he said.

If so, the low-cost PC renaissance could be a short one. For AMD, the remedy is clear: Deliver a 450MHz version of the K6-2 by the end of March, manufacture its K6-3 in volume by Q2 and, ultimately, make good on its promise to deliver its high-end K7 processor by the end of June. A fine plan, said Sargent. "The question is can AMD tough it out long enough to get to the K7?"

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Unreal tech update

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 22:580 reacties, bron: Voodooextreme

Tim Sweeney heeft wat info over de ontwikkeling van Unreal 221 gedropt bij Planet Unreal. Normaal gesproken gebeurd dat op de Unreal Tech page, maar wegens probleempjes met de server is Tim ff uitgeweken naar Planet Unreal.

Hier heb je wat info:

Progress on Unreal 221 and Unreal Tournament continues. We are making changes and improvements at such a fast pace that it has been hard/impossible to stabilize the code for the 3-5 days required to fully test a new patch. I apologize for the earlier false start we had with 221.

[...]I've been juggling work on the installer, OpenGL, and some core UnrealScript improvements. The installer is coming together, and is complete in terms of installing the retail game and patches, but more work remains to be done on uninstallation issues, and improved support for installing/distributing mods. Some of the latest UnrealScript improvements include a command-line script compiler, which can be used from any programmer's editor (or Visual C++) with standard output of error messages; UnrealScript execution optimizations; and support for dynamic strings.

Er zit ook wat Linux related info bij:

e now have a command-line (windowless, console based) script compiler and server for Unreal, which has minimal dependencies on Windows. This is a first step towards a Linux port, and it also runs very well under Wine, with minimal overhead. This might be a good interim solution for Linux server administrators, before the full port is done. I just noticed in GameSpy that the top server on the list is titled "CHiX Unreal NT Server (220) PORT UNREAL TO LINUX". Hint taken. :)

We actually have the Unreal 221 Core source compiling under EGCS 2.90.29, C++ templates and all. Getting the thing linking and running successfully will require a lot more work, which we won't be able to focus on until UT ships, but the experience thus far has been very positive.

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EAX patches voor QII e.a.

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 22:490 reacties, bron: Thresh\'s Firingsquad

Creative heeft nieuwe Soundfonts en EAX patches gereleased voor Quake II (en mission packs), Powerslide en Motoracer II. Je kunt ze hier halen.

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Slotket vs Slot1

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:390 reacties, bron: BXBoards

Jeremy van AGN 3D heeft een artikel in elkaar gezet waar hij de PPGA Celeron met Slotket riser card vergelijkt met een Slot1 Celeron. Als moederbord diende de Abit BX6-II.

Since the Slotket basically turns the PPGA into a SEPP, you set everything up in the bios like you would a SEPP Celeron. I decided to not worry about being conservative and decided to head straight for the familiar 4.5X100 with turbo setting enabled for 463MHz on my Abit BX6 v2.0 motherboard. Everything worked fine and I was up and running in Windows 98 with no problems. I was even able to get the processor running at 504 MHz, but Windows 98 was dropping out on my after about an hour of running time. 463 on the other hand has been totally stable with the computer running for 2 days solid now, including games, video capture and more.

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Firingsquad over framerates

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:290 reacties, bron: webmagix

Thresh's Firingsquad heeft een artikel over framerates: Frames per Second: Enough is Enough. Het gaat over het eindeloze gedram over hoeveel beelden een mens per seconde kan waarnemen. Thresh en Kenn dumpen kun mening:

For over four years now, I find myself every so often getting embroiled in a long-winded, self-imposed debate with someone about exactly "how many frames per second the human eye can see." Each time, the numbers are always different. "The human eye can only see 24 frames per second." "The human eye can only see 30 fps." Be it 30, 60, 100, or so on, folks have always had an inclination to tag an arbitrary number on what we can physically perceive, whether it's from an overheard reference to film or NTSC framerate. After all, if TV looks smooth at 30fps, then that must be a hard-coded, physiological limit, doesn't it?

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Nieuw ZM6 moederbord van Abit

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:260 reacties, bron: AGN3D

Abit heeft een press release waarin een nieuwe moederbord wordt gepresenteerd: de Abit ZM6. Zoals de naam suggereert heeft het ding een Intel ZX (= gecastreerde LX) chipset:

Taipei, Taiwan, ROC, February 9, 1999-To usher in a new era of high-end yet cost efficient computing, ABIT announces their newest motherboard using Intel's 440ZX 66/100MHz chipset and Socket 370 architecture with Soft MenuTM II the ZM6. ABIT's ZM6 is the newest Intel® ZX based mainboard with Socket 370 which was designed for the new socket based Celeron® CPUs and provides a super price/performance solution for the Basic PC segment. Low Cost--High Features

ABIT's new ZM6 is the most comprehensive product in it's class with 3 DIMM, One AGP, Five PCI and Two ISA slots to handle all of your expansion needs. The new Intel® 66/100MHz Chipset, the 440ZX AGPset, is built on the Intel® 440BX 100MHz AGPset architecture bringing Intel® quality and reliability to PC users at an entry level price. Running with 66/100MHz capability, the ABIT ZM6 comes with all of the latest advancements and trends in the motherboard industry, including but not limited to; all the specifications for, AGP for improved 3D graphics performance at a lower cost, APM/ACPI power management, Ultra DMA 33 support, Infrared peripheral support, USB, PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, CPU auto-detect, AWARD write protect anti-virus, and Wake On LAN.

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Creative gaat mobo's maken?

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:240 reacties, bron: AGNhardware

EBNews.com heeft een nieuwsbericht over plannen van Creative Labs om toe te treden tot de markt van mainboard fabrikanten. Diamond deed een paar maand geleden hetzelfde:

Creative's U.S. subsidiary, Creative Labs Inc., is advertising for a "motherboard brand manager" to manage the "profit and loss of motherboard stand-alone and motherboard kit business for the Americas," according to a job description posted on the web site of Creative Labs, Milpitas, Calif. The job involves developing a product roadmap and pricing strategy.

A spokesman for the company said a motherboard product was "one of these things we're looking into," but that he didn't expect a motherboard division would represent a very significant part of Creative's revenue even if a motherboard division was formed.

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Shuttle HOT-681 review

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:210 reacties, bron: AGNhardware

Nog een review van een socket370 moederbord: LostCircuits heeft de Shuttle HOT-681 getest. Hier wat info over de performance van het ding:

In terms of performance there is hardly anything to say about the HOT 681. The 1.9 Vcore supplied by the on-board switch power supply put a certain limitation to the overclocking capabilities of the board since they are simply not enough to tweak the Celeron to a successful boot at the 100 MHz setting (by removing the JP4 jumper). Still, 458 (5.5 x 83) MHz were achieved with no problems at all demonstrating once again the clean electric properties of the latest Shuttle boards. While the overall Winstone98 performance scores of 27.4 (average of 4 runs) are not earthshaking, they are right on the spot for any setup at this clockspeed.

De review vin je hier.

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Soyo SY-6VZA S370 mobo review

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:180 reacties, bron: AGNhardware

Graig van Sharky Extreme heeft de Soyo SY-6VZA onder handen genomen. Hier heb je wat stuff uit zijn review van deze socket370 moederplaat met VIA Apollo Pro chipset:

Speaking of the 6VZA's layout, it really sets new standards for both ergonomic delight and just plain old common sense. Unlike recent Abit and AOpen boards Sharky Extreme has tested, Soyo has wisely placed the ATX power supply cord connector on the SY-6VZA where it ought to be: On the portion of the board that's closest to the power supply. Likewise, the IDE and FDD connector ports are logically laid out near the side of the board that those cables would be likely to fall if you just let gravity take its course.

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Duke Nukem Forever interview

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:140 reacties, bron: AGN3D

3DGaming.net heeft een interview gepost met George Broussard, developer bij 3DRealms, waar men momenteel heftig bezig is met het bouwen van Duke Nukem Forever. Hier je alvast een vraag:

Duke3D was famed for its highly interactive levels (ex.- the pool table that really worked). Can we expect the same kind of little touches in Duke4Ever? Can you give us some examples?

You can expect more interactivity than you've ever seen in Duke Nukem Forever. We're pulling out all the stops (and that's part of what takes so long to make these games). And no, I'm not giving lots of examples, as that will ruin the surprise factor. Just imagine Duke 3D interactivity on steroids.

Meer is hier.

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TNT vs Banshee: which one bites better?

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:060 reacties, bron: webmagix

Rivastation heeft een vergelijkingstest tussen Banshee en TNT op het duitse deel van z'n site geparkeerd. Hier heb je wat info over de beeldkwaliteit van beide kaarten:

Die Bildqualität des Banshee-Chips unter Direct 3D ist deutlich schlechter als die des TNT. Das Dithering, das die Karten unter 16Bit Farbtiefe mangels Farben anwenden müssen ist beim Banshee deutlich schlechter gelöst. Folgend zwei auf 200% vergrösserte screenshots aus Tirtanium, aufgenommen bei einer Auflösung von 1024x768:

Jawohl! Rivastaton heeft een zooi screenshots die het verschil duidelijk illustreren. Verder ook nog wat benchmarks met een PII 450 en K6-2 350.

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Nieuwe Elsa Detonator drivers

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 21:020 reacties, bron: AGNhardware

Elsa heeft nieuwe drivers gereleased die gebaseerd zijn op de Detonator reference drivers van nVidia. De nieuwe features:

- Implementations for software DVD with ELSAmovie

- New WINman (ELSA Settings) integrated

- Optimizations for AMD's 3DNow! Technology

- Support for Intel's Pentium III Processor

Je kunt ze downloaden bij Riva Station:

-Elsa Erazor II Win9x drivers

Er is ook een nieuw BIOS voor de Erazor II SDRAM (Oem only).

Zie Rivastation voor meer info.

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Plextor PlexWriter 8/20 review

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 20:580 reacties, bron: AGNhardware

Steeds meer reviews van CD Rewriters de laatste tijd. Hardware Central heeft er ook eentje in elkaar geplant. Slachtoffer in kwestie is de Plextor Plexwriter 8/20 en zoals de naam doet vermoeden hebben we hier te maken met een apparaat dat op 8 speed wenst te branden:

Writing data to a CD is still more of an art than a science in many cases. If an error occurs during the process of writing a CD-R the disc is ruined. This is affectionately called a coaster. CPU, disk controllers, SCSI controllers, media brand, and hard drive speeds can all become a factor. For power users, SCSI CD-R drives are the standard due to their performance and reliability. Reliability is definitely what you want when burning a CD at 8x speed. Also keep in mind that as you increase the write speed of the CD-R drive you must pay closer attention to the brand and type of media that you use. Look for discs that are certified to work in 8x drives. Plextor recommends Mitsui, TDK, and Taiyo Yuden.

De review van Hardwarecentral is hier.

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Nieuwe Hercules TNT drivers

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 20:480 reacties, bron: Voodooextreme

Hercules heeft nieuwe drivers gereleased voor z'n Dynamite TNT. Aan het versie nummer te zien lijken ze weinig van doen te hebben met de nieuwe Detonator drivers van nVidia, dus ik denk dat je beter de nVidia drivers kunt downen, tenzij je diep gehecht bent aan het overclock proggie van Hercules (die kun je niet gebruiken met de reference drivers).

De drivers zijn hier:

Windows 95/98 Drivers and Utilities, Version 0.57.0048 (February 9, 1999; 2.11MB):

This self extracting archive contains release 0.57 of the Windows 95/98 software for the Dynamite TNT. If you are upgrading from a previous release, please uninstall the previous driver and reboot before installing this new driver. Download this file to a temporary directory on your hard drive and double-click it to install this release. See the included readme.txt file for more information about this software release

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nVidia Detonator testing

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 20:440 reacties, bron: Voodooextreme

Ook Gamer's Alliance heeft wat lopen testen met de nieuwe nVidia Detonator reference drivers. Hier heb je wat info:

Direct3D has benefitted most from this driver upgrade. Unreal is smooth and lacks the stuttering it once had on the TNT. For TNT users, the Unreal patch version of 221 is not necessary for good performance. 3DMark 99 now scores 2650 with the P2-450 at 800x600 in 16-bit color mode. The question we should be asking now is will we see even better performance with further driver releases?

De rest (o.a. wat OpenGL results) vind je hier.

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TNT vs Banshee

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 20:410 reacties, bron: Voodooextreme

HardOCP heeft een vergelijking tussen TNT en Banshee in elkaar geknutseld. Als systeem werd een C300 en C400 op een Abit BM6 bord gebruikt. Naast info over de TNT en Banshee zit er ook wat spul bij over Celeron overclocking met de BM6:

he new ABIT BM6 KICKS ASS.  I am very impressed with the stability of the board and think it has definite promise in the widening Socket 370 Market.  Hopefully we will continue to see Socket 370 300's that are as OC Friendly as this SL36A.  And if you are in the market for a new 3D card and got the jack to throw down, I think I would lay a little TNT action on my new ABIT BM6...

Het complete verhaaltje staat hier.

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Tim Sweeney interview

Door Femme Taken, 10 februari 1999 20:380 reacties, bron: Voodooextreme

Unreal.org heeft een interview met Tim Sweeney (lead programmer van Unreal) over UnrealED, de level editor van Unreal. Hier heb je een stuk:

I've seen you comment about the intuitive nature of the Worldcraft editor, and I think you've said something about trying to introduce a similar interface in the UnrealEd rewrite. Can you give a few teasers for the more significant changes we're likely to see?

While it's not exciting new tech, a big focus is to go with more of a standard Windows style user interface, where you select objects with a drag-box, place brushes with a drag-box, drag and drop objects around the level, and can copy and paste everything. My feeling is that UnrealEd's high level concept of real-time what-you-see-is-what-you-get CSG is right on, but the user interface for creating and manipulating objects is rather clunky.

I've always seen Worldcraft as the opposite, a good user interface, but not really the right high-level approach to editing.

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Microsoft fucks up... (again)

Door Reinder Gerritsen, 10 februari 1999 20:030 reacties, bron: NepWereld

Enige dagen geleden al werd er (ook door ons) bericht over een ongeloofelijk beunhazen van Microsoft met hun getuigen video. maar..... hoewel misschien niet voor te stellen: een ezel stoot zich wel degelijk een 2e keer aan de video steen:

In de antitrustzaak wil Microsoft ondermeer aantonen dat de integratie van de Internet Explorer met Windows 98 zeer grote voordelen heeft. Zo moet de downloadtijd van bestanden van internet aanzienlijk lager liggen met Windows 98 dan met het oude Windows 3.1, die geen integratie met de webbrowser kent.

Om dit te bewijzen, had Microsoft weer een video in elkaar geknutseld. De tape toonde inderdaad aan dat het downloaden van een groot bestand met Windows 98 behoorlijk wat minder tijd in beslag nam dan met Windows 3.1: vijf minuten versus een kwartier.

Maar hiermee was de kous niet afgedaan. Aanklager Boies wees erop dat de testen met twee verschillende Compaq computers werden gedaan die ook waren toegerust met verschillende modems. De computer met Windows 98 had vanzelfsprekend de beschikking over een sneller modem. Weg voordeel.

JOH... meen je dat nou??

om te beginnen is Win3.1x nou geen echt vergelijkings materiaal wel? en dan 2 verschillende modems?? nou nou nou... welke blunder kunnen we nu nog verwachten? Laat je mening er op ons forum over horen!

Het hele artikel is terug te vinden op NepWereld

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Mobile PIII 700 MHz volgend jaar

Door Tweakers.net Nieuwsposter, 10 februari 1999 18:110 reacties, bron: TheRegister

Aan het begin van volgend jaar komen er dus Mobile PIII's van 700 MHz, aldus The Register:

Sources at an OEM said today that Intel will introduce a 700MHz mobile part early next year.

The part will use a chipset based on the Camino chipset, the OEM said.

And towards the end of this year, Intel will push out a whole family of Pentium III mobiles, the OEM confirmed.

Meanwhile, Intel will continue to ramp up its mobile platform on the PII front by releasing fast processors in the middle of the year.

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