Er ligt weer een nieuw nummer van C'T (Magazine voor Computer Techniek) bij de boekenboer. Veruit het meest diepgaande en informatieve computer magazine in Nederland (en onze poll van vorige week bevestige dat).

Een opsomming van de inhoud van het maart nummer:

- Nieuws, o.a. chipkoeling met diamanten, PowerMac G3, kleinste webserver ter wereld.
- Bus oorlog: NGIO (Intel) vs Future-I/O (IBM/HP/Compaq)
- Slot1 en Socet370 C366 & C400
- Vectoranimaties met Flash3
- SiS 530 super socket 7 chipset
- Half-Life
- Falcon 4
- Gegevensspionage: beeldbuisspionnen
- Massatest met 14 digitale camera's
- Massatest met 18 CD-Recorderkits
- PC-EHBO: eerste hulp bij pc-problemen
- Medicijnmannen: test van PC-systeemtools
- Linux als tool voor systeemdiagnose
- Linux on the move: de nieuwe 2.2 kernel
- USB periferie voor PC en Mac, test van 18 USB apparaten.
- Mac upgrading: nieuwe processors van maximaal 400MHz
- OS/2 Warp server
- Data pakhuizen: magneto-optische drives vs DVD-RAM
- Spintel Card
- Interactief op het web: CGI programming voor thuisgebruik
- Intensive care: troubleshooting bij de Mac
- AGP wrijvingen: stabiliteitsproblemen van super socket 7 borden met AGP videokaarten
- SCSI cursus, deel 3

En nog veel meer...

Er komt weer een nieuwe versie uit van F22-Lightning. De hoeveelste kloon/versie is dit al?

The new game, slated to hit store shelves in May 1999, will continue to build upon the stunning graphics and electrifying gameplay that has earned the respect of dedicated F-22 Lightning II fans worldwide. F-22 Lightning III will introduce entirely new features such as Voice-Over-Net(TM) technology, which will take modern PC jet combat to an exciting new level.

Sharky Extreme heeft een reviewtje over de Asus 50X cd-rom in elkaar geknutseld. Deze cd-rom zal in de praktijk niet veel sneller zijn dan zijn voorganger.

Never one to rest on their laurels, particularly when their sister company AOpen continues to up the bar for performance CD-ROM drives, ASUS is set to introduce a new family member into their line of CD-ROM drives next month. Named the CD-S500, this new drive offers the market's first low cost road to a 50x throughput speed. With impressive stats, and a strong family pedigree, the CD-S500 would seem like a shoe in to top the hierarchy of current ASUS CD-ROM drives. Is the CD-S500 the new CD-ROM performance King?

De Heatsink Guide heeft nog wat info over electromigration en overgeklokte Celerons die er plotseling mee kappen:

In the past time, I've heard some reports from people who had sucessfully overclocked their Celeron CPUs for a few months, and suddenly started having frequent crashes, even though the system was stable before.

The problem you are having is electromigration, which is - to put it into simple words - deterioration of the CPU core.The electromigration process occurs at a much faster rate if the CPU temperature is higher. Thus, the only way to avoid electromigration is to cool your CPU more efficiently.

[...]The statement "My overclocked system runs perfectly stable, so why should I care about better cooling?" is pointless. If your CPU runs too hot, then you need additional cooling - even if everything runs stable right now.

Koelen die zooi dus!

De Heatsink Guide heeft wat info over een nieuw (redelijk betaalbaar) koelsysteempje van Kryotech:

Here's some more info about the KryoTech Renegade cooling system (read below what this is). The system will be available in two versions, "ATX-PE", which stands for Premium Edition, and "ATX-SE" (Standard Edition). Both versions include an ATX case with the cooling system integrated. The ATX-PE additionally has the KryoTech System Monitoring Firmware, and an LCD which tells the user the temperature at the evaporator. The firmware will shut the machine down in the event that the CPU temperature goes too high. The prices I posted earlier today ($409/$429) were the prices of the premium version with all "bells and whistles". Cheaper versions (but with identical cooling performance) of the Renegade are also available.

Voor prijzen moet je ff kijken op www.heatsink-guide.com.

JC heeft weer wat handige info over de K7 te pakken gekregen. Op een rijtje:

- L1 128KB(Data64KB, Instruction 64KB) 2Way Set Associative
-L2 512KB
-0.25 CMOS, 184sqmm, 22Million Transistors
-FPU has 1.4Million transistors in 10.5x2.6mm
-K7 can issue 3 x86 instructions at same time. (
-Internal level is 9 issues at same time.)
-CoreVoltage is 1.6V. But we must supply .2.5V, because K7 changed voltage from 2.5V to 1.6V in internal.
-K7 is 575 pin BGA.

De CoreVoltage en BGA info zijn nog vaag.

Ga-Source heeft wat info weten los te peuteren over F-22 Lightning III van Novalogic, waar een super toffe multiplayer babbel functie in zit:

F-22 Lightning III is the first retail flight sim to provide players with the ability to talk to each other during online aerial combat. The company's proprietary Voice-Over-Net technology will bring a new level of realism to gameplay by giving players the ability to talk to each other like real F-22 pilots.

Players will not have to waste seconds laboriously typing in messages via traditional chat formats. Voice-Over-Net technology will make it possible for players to quickly and easily coordinate attacks on an opponent's base or warn a wingman about a bogey on his six.

De rest vind je bij Gamer's Alliance.

The Register heeft een site gevonden met fotootjes van de K6-3. Er zitten ook wat benchmarks bij die laten zien dat de K6-3 400 duidelijk sneller als de PII-400, hoewel niet dramatisch (1250 vs 1040 in WinBench98).

De tekst op de site is in een errug wazige taal geschreven (Japans ofzo):

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WinBench98‚Å”äŠr‚·‚é‚ÆK6-2‚Æ”ä‚×CPU Mark32‚Ì’l‚ª ‚‚­‚È‚Á‚Ä‚š‚èCeleron 450MHzˆÈ ã‚̃pƒtƒH [ƒƒ“ƒX‚Æ‚È‚Á‚œ

sure.

Door problemen met de yields bij de Rambus DRAM produktie heeft Intel toch besloten de PC133 standaard te supporten, zo bericht dit artikel van The Register:

That news will cause sighs of relief from the rest of the industry, although we can expect to hear low moans from AMD and Cyrix, resolutely tracing Intel's footsteps in the PR snow.

Where Intel leads, others must surely follow.

Meanwhile, the same reports say that Intel will carry on pushing the 100MHz bus until the end of this year, but 133MHz bus products will reach 733MHz by year end

3Dfx heeft een pot geld voor de deur van Quantum3D geparkeerd:

isual simulation specialist Quantum3D has formed a business and technology alliance with 3Dfx, following the conclusion of its latest round of funding, which included an investment from the 3D graphics chipset developer.

The alliance will see the two companies co-operating on the development and promotion of high-end products based on 3Dfx's Voodoo graphics technology. The deal also involves the cross-licensing of each partner's technologies.

Quantum3D will also become 3Dfx's exclusive supplier of Voodoo3 technology to the visual simulation and coin-op markets.

Meer info bij The Register.

Bij The Brotherhood of the CPU vond ik dit stukje verontrustende info :

Speaking of downloads, I have received the following letter from Tim, the senior programmer of Leading WinTech (who has a vast hardware and software knowledge), regarding the SoftFSB program:

"SoftFSB may damage your computer , PCI cards and their linked devices (such as HDDs and others), because some kinds of PLL chips can't be read. It's very dangerous if you don't know the default values and you want to write some data to these chips. I only can implement Winbond PLL chips into Waterfall Pro, because they can be read and written. The ICS and IC-Works PLL chips can't be read, you may need to buy a new hdd if you write data to these chips. Don't use it now if your mainboard has ICS or IC-Works PLL chips."

IGN.PC heeft een preview gepost van Outcast, een spel van belgische makelij:

Graphically, Outcast is coming along beautifully and it looks even better than we remembered it. Outcast won't require a 3D accelerator. As a matter of fact, it won't even utilize one at all. The entire 3D world will be rendered in voxels, 24 million per world, using nothing but software acceleration. The only bitmaps used in the game are the sky textures. This means that you can travel to every mountain you see in the distance because it is an actual 3D object within the gameworld. Very cool!!!

Meer info over Outcast en Appeal (de Belgische developer van dit spel) vind je in de PC Zone Benelux van deze maand.

Wanted! (een of andere Quake site) heeft een mission pack voor Half-Life gebouwd. Hier wat info over het ding:

The Drug Barons" mini pack for Half-Life is now finished. Download

the final version ...drugs. (4mb)

The pack features 4 Single Player levels and a few "butchered" sounds.

I would be very interested in your comments on the pack please.

Please note: It is fairly demanding on your PC, 3D card only.

Die 4Mb kun je met deze link van PlanetQuake.com trekken...

Nog meer SIMD support: Unreal Tournament wordt ermee uitgerust. Hier de info van Unreal.com:

At IntelŽs Pentium® III Processor Preview Day, Epic participated by showing Unreal Tournament which has been optimized for the Pentium III processor.   The Pentium III optimized version of Unreal Tournament was also shown at the S3 stand with high resolution S3TC textures. Both technologies will appear in the final release version of Unreal Tournament and will be incorporated into the Unreal Engine for the use of Epic's licensees.

De SIMD instructies in de Pentium III lijken toch enig nut te krijgen nu steeds meer hard- en software bakkers SIMD support in hun zachtwaar bouwen.

Zo heeft Matrox een stel SIMD geoptimizede drivers in elkaar gesleuteld:

Matrox Graphics Inc. today announced that the award-winning Matrox Marvel G200-TV is enhanced for Intel®’s upcoming Pentium® III processor. The MGA-G200 drivers are highly optimized to balance the Pentium III processor's new Streaming SIMD Extensions for all multimedia, Internet and 3D applications. The Marvel G200-TV is one of Matrox’s MGA G200-based graphics cards to benefit from the introduction of Intel’s Pentium III processor.

"We are pleased to see the Marvel G200-TV's 2D, 3D and video capabilities take full advantage of Intel’s Pentium III processor with new Streaming SIMD Extensions to deliver an optimized multimedia solution," said David Fair, Intel Visual Computing Marketing Manager.. "The introduction of the Pentium III processor ensures an enhanced PC experience and sets the groundwork for end users to create more interactive content."

Meer geblah vind je in deze press release op de site van Matrox.

Powerleap, makers van opvoersetjes voor je cpu, heeft weer een nieuw product. Met hun Powerleap PL ProMMX K6-2 333 zou je van zo'n beetje elk oud stoffig pentium systeempje weer een snelheidsmonster kunnen maken. Anandtech heeft een review :

For many, computer upgrade options are quite limited, especially for those with prebuilt systems from big name manufacturers. These manufacturers often use proprietary motherboards and/or cases, meaning that all you can do is upgrade the RAM and maybe a few other components. Video or sound integrated on the motherboard complicates those upgrade options even further.

At first glance, it seems like upgrading a Socket 7 based system should be easy - just pop in another Socket 7 CPU and adjust the motherboard settings where necessary. Even AMD makes it sound like this is a possibility in their own K6-2 FAQ. To quote them directly regarding their stance on using a K6-2 in a Socket 7 motherboard:

Hier kan je de rest lezen.

News.com heeft een mooi berichtje over de iMac. De Blueberry kleur blijkt bijna nergens meer te vinden. Ook gaat het artikel dieper in op de waar welke kleur iMac het beste verkoopt.

Apple Computer has rotated its crop of older "Bondi Blue" iMacs in favor of the fruit-flavored systems now on store shelves, but the original model is still outselling its newer counterparts thanks to price cuts.

And a pecking order has already been established among the new models, an imbalance in availability that could cause tension for dealers and customers. Blueberry is tough to find, but there are plenty of strawberries around. Tangerine, meanwhile, is big in Denver, home of football's champion Broncos.

Als je de rest van dit wereldnieuws nog wilt lezen moet je hier zijn.

Thresh's FiringSquad heeft een review van de Turtle Beach Montego II geluidskaart. Deze kaart is gebaseerd op de Vortex 2 chip. De MX300 heeft ook die chip op z'n printplaatje.

In light of new information made available to me about the Montego II, we've revised our review and urge you to take a second look, as we did, at Turtle Beach's newest offering in the PCI sound card market!

Turtle Beach has a long and storied history in the world of PC audio. For a long time, the very concept of high end PC audio was synonymous with Turtle Beach. The company is responsible for many audio "firsts" on the PC-- for example, 16-bit audio and wavetable MIDI. Of course, these cards were priced out of the reach of most consumers, so most people don't remember these important milestones as Turtle Beach milestones. After all, what good does a high-end card do for someone who can't afford to buy it in the first place?

De rest van het verhaal staat hier.

BXBoards heeft een review van de PIII geplaats. Hier een hapje :

Each new Intel CPU is mooted as the latest and greatest - it's all part of the marketing game. The Slot 1 Pentium line is now at its 3rd iteration with the release of the Pentium III - first Klamath, then Deschutes and now Katmai. One would expect that the latest chip would also bring improvements to the CPU core. Leaving aside the KNI instructions for a moment, just how many improvements to the Pentium core have Intel provided...?

I thought it would be interesting to do a like for like comparision and to compare Deschutes, Mendocino and Katmai cores. The problem is that that in order to test core speeds, it is necessary to test at both the same multiplier and bus speed - no easy task. For this testing I therefore underclocked the PIII-500 to 5 x 66, and ran it at this speed against a P2-333 and also a Celeron 333. With all CPU's running at 5x 66Mhz, any core improvements will reveal themselves. Let's have a look at those new core improvements...

Als je de rest wil lezen moet je ff hier klikken.