Yo, HardOCP heeft een Celeron op 633MHz gekregen! Als koeling werd een (door HardOCP zelf in elkaar geknutseld) Supachill systeem gebruikt:

The SupaChill cooler lets your Celeron run at an insane 633 MHz core speed, needless to say the bottleneck is not longer the CPU in these tests. Using a TNT2 or a VooDoo3 will reveal its full performance at this speed, we are currently pushing the VooDoo2's and the TNT beyond their capabilities. This becomes clear if you compare the software scores with the 3D accelerated scores, the CPU wants to push some more polygons, but the VooDoo2's and the TNT are already running at max performance. And it goes to show that we at the HardOCP mean business, even when the pompous one thinks his 618 MHz Celeron is all that.

Check de frontpage van HardOCP.com voor de info.

PCGame.com heeft een lijst met alle console commands in Half-Life 1.0.0.9 (Team Fortress). Check 't out.

Volgens The Register zijn er serieuze problemen met de koeling van de 550MHz PIII. Passieve koeling (goh) zou niet meer voor voldoende koeling zorgen:

Early reports from OEMs sampling Intel's stopgap 550MHz Pentium III (see Camino cockup panics Chipzilla) indicate that there are serious thermal issues with the new top-end desktop chip due for launch on May 16.

"We've cooked several already," said one assembler who asked not to be named.

Enhanced Memory Systems zegt als eerste producent PC133 HSDRAM DIMMs te kunnen leveren. De reepjes gaan tot 150Mhz! Hier een stuk info uit de press release:

Enhanced Memory Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ramtron International Corporation (Nasdaq: RMTR - news), today announced the first production shipments of its 64 Megabyte (MB) and 128MB PC-133 high-speed SDRAM (HSDRAM) DIMM modules targeted at computer gamers and other high-performance computer users. These new memory modules conform to the proposed JEDEC PC-133 SDRAM timing specification but provide lower latency (3:2:2) and faster clock access times (4.6 ns). The faster modules allow existing 100 MHz SDRAM motherboards to clock the front side bus as fast as 150 MHz under some conditions. Enhanced Memory Systems is scheduled to provide demos of the PC-133 HSDRAM at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, May 13-15, 1999 in booth No. 7148 (in Kentia Hall in the Los Angeles Convention Center)

ATI stapt in de markt voor geïntegreerde chipsets voor low-end pc systemen, aldus dit nieuwsbericht op The Register:

Yesterday's announcement was a direct response to Intel's challenge, but this is clearly an issue that has been bothering ATI for some time. Last year's takeover of Chromatic positioned ATI to move into the set-top box market with a mix of Chromatic's system-on-a-chip products and its own 2D/3D graphics and TV/DVD decoder products.

However, that mix also allows ATI to attack the low-end PC market, a move turned from a sideline into a necessity by the chipset vendors' moves into graphics. Even processor vendor Cyrix is getting in on the act -- its upcoming MIII chip also integrates graphics acceleration on the die, and will be aimed at the same sector.

ATI's sales pitch centres on its Shared Memory Architecture (SMA), which integrates North Bridge and graphics acceleration chipsets, and hooks them in to the PC's main memory bank, eliminating the need for dedicated VRAM. The company promises a "full family" of SMA-based products. Samples will come on stream in the second half of the year.

GA-Sports heeft een preview van de non-playable demo van Rally Championship '99. De graphics zijn _wreed_:

After starting it up, I was greeted by what I can honestly say are the best graphics to show up in any game, period. The level of detail in Rally Championship is simply unparalleled and I found myself picking my jaw up off of the ground numerous instances. As with many games of this nature, there is usually some sort of "draw-ahead" technique that brings up the scenery as it comes closer. This isn't the natural approach of terrain we are talking about here, but that feeling where it just shows up. This can't be found anywhere in Rally Championship, and very much to our delight I must add.

Check ook deze screenshot page. Dit is hét racespel waar de bureaustoel courreur op zit te wachten.

Western Digital heeft nieuwe 7200rpm UltraATA/66 schijven aangekondigd die een opslagcapaciteit van 6,8Gb per platter hebben. Check de press release:

he new WD Expert is a 6.8 GB per platter, 7,200 RPM hard drive with capacities ranging from 6.8 to 27.2 GB. It is the second generation product derived from the Western Digital and IBM agreement implemented 10 months ago. Western Digital and IBM were the first companies to ship GMR-based desktop hard drives. Western Digital expects to complete its transition to GMR heads by the end of calendar year 1999.

"Due to high-speed data and spin rates, the new WD Expert drive is well-suited for commercial and consumer PC users who require the utmost in performance," said Massengill.

The WD Expert 27.2 GB hard drive has a 2 MB buffer and an average read seek time of 9.0 ms. The Ultra ATA/66 interface allows data to transfer at speeds up to 66.6 MB/s, doubling the data transfer rate from the previous Ultra ATA/33 standard.

Evaluation units and volume production of the WD Expert 27.2 GB will be available in the summer of 1999. Estimated street price of the WD Expert 27.2 GB is $399.00.

PC Paradox heeft een preview gebouwd rondom de Matrox G400:

One of the most important things that Matrox did not mention enough in their spec sheets is the fact that the G400 will be able to use multi-texturing. The V2, V3, TNT, and soon to be the TNT2 and Savage4 will all and have all been using multi-texuring for some time now and is only reasonable that Matrox has finally bought into it. As we saw in the second specs page the multi-texture pass can be used for MANY different 3D tricks and is going to be a boon for future G400 owners. One other important feature is solely possessed by the G400 and that is the ability to use bump-mapping in hardware. Bump mapping allows textures to stand out, water to look even more real than it does now, and for facial expressions jump out at you like never before.

Anand heeft z'n TNT2 review online gezet. Het ding is weer eens erg groot geworden: 32 pagina's. Er zitten veel benchmarks bij, die duidelijk maken dat de (166MHz) V3-3000 voorlopig op de meeste gebieden toch sneller blijft dan de (150MHz) TNT2. Direct3D performance van de TNT2 is wel erg sterk, ondanks het feit dat de drivers nog lang niet optimaal zijn:

You can't really provide a final decision on a product whose drivers have yet to be finalized, and unfortunately, the drivers that most TNT2 board manufacturers will be shipping in the next week or two won't be the same high-performing drivers AnandTech used. It will take an official release from NVIDIA to spark the use of those drivers, however it may be a little while longer before that happens. When it does, you can expect the performance of the TNT2 to improve, even if it's just a little, there is still room for improvement with the already outstanding Direct3D performance of the TNT2.

The Register is tot de conclusie gekomen dat de Celeron zowel goedkoper als sneller is dan de Pentium II. Ok, dat wisten wij al véél langer. The Register heeft er meteen een geimproviseerde RegMark (FPUMarks per dollar) tegenaan gegooid, waarmee de C366 de price/performance ratio haalt. Check het artikel op The Register:

Intel blindly threw all its considerable marketing might behind Celeron in a bid to stomp on upstarts AMD and Cyrix in the sub $1,000 market, and at the same time took its eye off the ball with the cash cow Pentium II. The result is that despite Intel's continued protestations that Celeron isn't making much of an impact in corporate space, little Celeron is, in fact, blowing PII into the weeds.

While this is great news for Celeron, it's not quite so clever for Chipzilla itself.

The margins on PII parts are several orders of magnitude greater than on Celerons, even given that the PII is far more costly to fabricate - buying in and then soldering separate L2 cache chips onto the processor daughterboard and putting the whole thing into a shiny black cartridge all add $$$s to manufacturing costs.

The Register heeft meer Intel related info. Intel heeft inmiddels de eerste Coppermine samples verspreidt onder de grote OEMs. De snelheid bij de release zal starten bij 667MHz (666 dus ):

Select OEMs have just received samples, we are given to understand. Yield, when it ramps up, is likely to start at 667MHz but move to 733MHz shortly after intro.

The 256K Level Two cache will be far more integrated into Coppermine than either Dixon or Mendocino. It will have 32K of Level One cache but there two Level One caches, also integrated into the die.

Sixteen K of that are instructions, and 16K is data, said our source.

P858 will achieve more than 1GHz without any problem whatever, we can also reveal, without the benefit of Kryotech technology.

Ziet er naar uit dat de K7 sterke concurrentie gaat krijgen...

Adrenaline Vault heeft 5 screenshots van NFS4: High Stakes geupt. Hier de bijbehorende info:

Electronic Arts sent the Adrenaline Vault five PC-based screenshots of its upcoming arcade racing game Need for Speed: High Stakes, and the images are pure eyewash. These 3D accelerated tidbits demonstrate the fast action and gorgeous graphics branding the series in its fourth incarnation. The PC version will feature polygonal car damage that affects car appearance and performance; 18 licensed sports and supercars; 19 courses; plus special effects, such as 3D dashboards that illuminate at night, car interiors, animated drivers, customizable license plates, weather conditions, oncoming traffic and more. The only scratch across this chrome polished surface is that the game is not out now. Expect it this June.

Check de pics bij AVault.

AGN 3D heeft een press release gepost van S3 met promotioneel geblah over Savage 4. Er zit o.a info tussen over S3 Texture Compression, waarvan het er naar uit ziet dat deze goede support krijgt van de game developers:

S3TC development is occurring in two stages. In the first stage, developers are incorporating the technology into their games for a performance increase and enhancement. This first stage requires minimum work and builds the foundation for full-S3TC title support in the near future. Full S3TC support is stage two, where developers are actually rewriting the content in their games using 2Kx2K textures and 24-bit color. The first title to reach Stage 2 and enjoy the full photo-realistic effects of S3TC is Epic Games' Unreal Tournament, which is expected to ship by mid 1999.

Quake 3 (Arena)
Unreal Tournament
Wargasm
World Toolkit
Half-Life Day One
Unreal
TrueSpace 4.0
Expendable
Gunlock
Tonic Touble
Dispatched
Midnight GT
SF Rush: The Rock
Rush 2
WorldToolkit
Chronicles of Pern
Hostile Waters
Incoming Forces
Motorcross Madness 2
Anachronox
Unreal 2
Babylon 5
Deus Ex
Formula Offroad
Surrender 3D

De laatste paar dagen duiken overal Duke Nukem Forever previews en interviews op. U-Games.com levert zijn bijdrage met deze preview. Hier een plak info:

One of the most impressive features in Duke 3D was the level of interaction players had on the environment. You could break almost everything, demolish buildings, use elevators, give money to strippers in return for.. um.. what strippers normally give you…where was I? Oh yeah - you could take a bathroom break, drink at water fountains, push balls around on a realistic pool table, go swimming, and of course - admire yourself in the mirror.

My personal favorite from Duke 3D was when you used the microphone in the karaoke bar. Well, who thought Duke was going to have a good singing voice, anyway.

If, like me, you thought this level of interaction heightened what was already a great game, then rejoice. The development team is trying to ensure that DNF has the most interaction of any FPS ever…As for specific examples? Needless to say, 3D Realms are taking the Fifth Amendment on this subject too.

"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." - George Broussard.

Bij Tweak3D hebben ze een Windoos 9x tweak guide in elkaar geknutseld. Handige info als je je Windoos een stevige kick onder de ass wilt geven.

Gamespot heeft nieuws posting met info over de Intel 752 video chipset:

This morning Intel announced its i752, a graphics chipset optimized for the Pentium III processor and aimed toward the mainstream market. While the i752 can't compete with enthusiast platforms such as the Voodoo3 and TNT2, Intel is confident that casual gamers will be enticed by the i752's low cost and above-average performance.

The i752 chip has support for full sideband AGP 2X, a fillrate of 100Mp/s, a 250MHz RAMDAC, bump mapping, the ability to display texture sizes of up to 1024x1024 and up to 16MB of SGRAM. Although final configurations are dependent on the board companies, the reference design calls for TV-out, video-in, and digital flat panel-out support.

Weinig opwindend dus. De Verwachte release date van het chippie is trouwens midden juni.

FPS3D heeft een review van de 3DfxCool VoodooCooler gepost:

This is where 3DfxCool's VoodooCooler, now a dual-fan part, comes into play. The fans are the standard high-quality ball bearing 52mms that 3DfxCool now carries. The actual concept of the VoodooCooler is basically two high-output fans that mount atop your graphics card to provide some much-needed air circulation… Something that 3D overclockers hold sacred. The fans are held together by a very soft metal hook (I'll get into this later) that attaches to where your graphics adapter screws in.

AGN Hardware heeft een review gepost van de Videologic SonicVortex 2. Yep, weer een Aureal Vortex II kaart (ziet er trouwens exact hetzelfde uit als de Xitel Storm Platinum). Eén van de voordelen van de Videologic (en Xitel) kaart tov de Diamond MX300 is de optische S/PDIF uitgang, die standaard aanwezig is:

One last highlight about the board is the optical S/PDIF - output that it carries. This port, which was not present on the shipping version of the MX300 (now available through an upgrade), allows for the connection of Mini-Disk or other digital sound source for true digital recordings. I you have an AC3 ready receiver, you can also use the port to connect to your home sound system for some very impressive sound.