AMD Zone heeft geruchten (afkomstig van JC) dat de Intel Coppermine misschien niet in Slot1 formaat gefabriekt zal worden. Basicly komt dat erop neer dat je mooie Slot1 plank waardeloos wordt als je wilt upgraden naar de PIII/Coppermine:

Marc let me know that JC has heard a rumor from a reliable source that Coppermine might not be available in a slot format. This sort of makes sense because the Coppermine will have an on die L2 cache. So basically it's a souped up Celeron. And if you don't have a L2 cache to put on the slot, why do it? Ok, so what would the implications be for AMD? Will they design a socket K7. It is very possible. But in the meantime, motherboard manufacturers will have plenty of left over socket 1 parts to use for K7 boards. :) Hopefully this will be a good reason for them to support Slot A, you know, Abit. I'm talking to you guys. :) Plus, I'm pretty sure this would piss off a few Intel customers that bought those nice Abit BX6 rev 2.0 boards, so much so, that they might go with the K7 instead of Coppermine. I know it would piss me off.

Diamond is gestart met de levering van z'n nieuwe Viper V770 (TNT2) en Stealth III S540 (Savage4) videokaarten.

Een stuk uit de press release over de Stealth III S540:

Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: DIMD), a leader in PC multimedia and Internet connectivity, today announced the imminent shipment of the company’s newest addition to the Stealth graphics accelerator product line—the Stealth III S540. Based on S3’s Savage4 processor, Diamond’s new Stealth III S540 features 32MB of on-board memory, Intel-validated AGP 4x support, S3 texture compression (S3TC) and hardware-accelerated digital video playback. These advanced features coupled with a low-retail price point enable mainstream PC users and gamers to enjoy impressively sharper images and realistic textures while working and playing on their PC. Diamond Multimedia's new Stealth III S540 graphics accelerator will begin shipping next week at an U.S. estimated retail price (ERP) of $129.95. The retail Stealth III S540 configuration can be purchased through major retailers, including Babbages, Best Buy, CompUSA, and Electronics Boutique, as well as from on-line retailers including Diamond's own Online Store at http://www.diamondmm.com/where-to-buy/online-store//. A 16MB-version of the Stealth III S540 is also available for system integrators and OEMs. “Diamond Multimedia continuously pushes the mark on powerful 3D graphics solutions while maintaining a price point that is affordable for mainsteam PC users,” said Scott Vouri, vice president and general manager of Diamond’s Multimedia Division. “People who use demanding business applications, play 3D games, surf graphic-intensive websites and need the combination of 32MB on-board memory and impressive 2D/3D acceleration capabilities provided by Diamond’s new Stealth III S540.” [break]...en nog wat geblah over de Viper V770:[/break] Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: DIMD), a leader in PC multimedia and Internet connectivity, today announced the availability of the company’s much-anticipated, high-performance Viper V770 graphics accelerators. Featuring the latest advancements in 3D graphics technology, Diamond’s new Viper V770 series comes powered by NVIDIA's RIVA TNT2™ graphics engines to deliver optimal visual quality and increased speed for today's hottest 3D gaming and business applications. Diamond Multimedia's new Viper V770 is shipping to worldwide retailers, OEMs and systems integrators this week at a U.S. estimated retail price (ERP) of $199.95. The Viper V770 Ultra graphics accelerator, based on the RIVA TNT2 Ultra chip, is scheduled to ship later this month at a U.S. ERP of $249.95. [...]The Viper V770 graphics accelerator will ship with default speeds of 125MHz engine clock speed and 150MHz memory clock speed. The Viper V770 Ultra graphics accelerator will ship with default speeds of 150MHz engine clock speed and 183MHz memory clock speed and with the company’s InControl Tools 99 3D Turbo Gauge feature gives the user the option to overclock the engine and/or memory clock speeds, based on their individual system configuration—up to 175/200MHz. The Viper V770 Ultra includes an active cooling fan for added stability at higher clock speeds.

Meer van dit soort gelul vind je in de volledige press releases op AGN Hardware. Daar hebben ze trouwens ook nog een pr over de Guillemot Maxi Gamer Xentor.

Sharky Extreme heeft het derde deel van hun Memory Guide op de site geparkeerd. Je vind er uitleg over termen zoals DRAMs, SRAMs, SDRAMs, FPM en EDO RAMs, pipelining, memory timings enz.

Hier heb je een stuk over Asynchronous vs Synchronous DRAMs:

The timings within the SRAM and DRAM chips were originally controlled by an internal clock that was completely separate from the system clock that the CPU used (asynchronous). This meant that the CPU had to wait for the data to come back from memory, because it didn't 'know' exactly when to expect it. This would be similar to telling someone to go get a pizza and bring it back as soon as it is ready, forcing you to wait around until he (or she) returned. If the memory was particularly slow, an extra 'wait state' had to be programmed in (usually through the BIOS setup) so the CPU wouldn't time out waiting for the data.

In order to make the memory transfers more efficient, designers added a signal pin which allowed the system clock to control the timings (CLK). With both the CPU and memory 'synchronized' to the system clock, the CPU would now know how many clock cycles it would take for the data to be retrieved. This would be like telling someone to get you a pizza, and to meet you back on the corner in 30 minutes. Now you can spend that 30 minutes doing other things.

With a synchronous interface, many of the internal operations of the memory are under the control of the clock signal. This simply means that the operation is triggered by the transition of the CLK pin (usually from high to low). Each operation within the memory chip takes a finite amount of time to complete (in nanoseconds), so by knowing what the clock cycle time is, the number of cycles necessary to complete the operation is known. For example, if an operation requires 25ns and the clock cycle is 10ns, then 3 cycles are necessary to complete the operation. This allows the next operation to begin at the 3rd transition of the clock signal (30ns).

Ook Anand heeft een review gepost van de Leadtek Winfast 3D S320 II - 16P (de versie met 16Mb SGRAM). Dit is wat-ie over de Leadtek kaart zegt:

By now, the TNT2's performance is known across the world and the decision can be made as to whether or not the TNT2 is the right choice for you. If it is, and you happen to have around $130 burning a hole in your pocket, the Leadtek Winfast 3D S320 II is a perfectly fine choice for a TNT2 card. I can tell you now that the S320 II won't be the absolute best TNT2 card to grace the market, however it won't be the worst, and it's definitely not going to be something you regret for the rest of your life (unless, of course, you wanted a Voodoo3 or a Savage4 instead). The S320 II, like most BX motherboards, offers you everything most other upcoming TNT2 cards will, with one value added feature, it's available today.

Unreal 224 is nog maar net gereleased en Epic is al weer bezig met de volgende patch. Zie deze info die Tim Sweeney op de Unreal Technology Page gepost heeft:

There will be another Unreal 1 patch. It will be 225. It will contain fixes for the significant bugs reported that are under our control (3D card drivers are dependent on the hardware makers). By popular demand, our focus on future Unreal 1 patches will be making bug fixes and small, incremental improvements. So, we've split off the Unreal 1 code base from the Unreal Tournament code base, and won't be major new features added to the Unreal 1 code base, just fixes.

This code split gives the server community some room to get back together and grow healthily. The server community was fragmented in the past because of our Unreal 224 delays, at one point having 4 major versions available (220 for the PC, 219 for the Mac, 222 for U.S. 3dfx Voodoo3 users, 223 for European 3dfx Voodoo3 users. From here on, we'll keep network compatibility between versions, and keep code changes to a minimum. And we'll keep Unreal 1 script compatibility (but not UT script compatibility).

The split also gives us more flexibility in releasing future patches. In the past, we've been adding so many new features to the engine for Unreal Tournament, some necessitating architectural changes, that we've had a long internal testing cycle for each patch. From now on, the Unreal 1 changes will be simple and localized.

The split is also something our Unreal tech licensees have wanted. From here on, our partners who want to ship games soon (before or soon after Unreal Tournament) will prefer to stay on the 224 track to gain stability and minimize changes, and those with further-off products may want to move forward with the Unreal Tournament code track, to keep up to date with the latest features.

-Tim

Sim Racing News heeft een preview gepost van Driver, een racespel waarbij je in Amerikaanse jaren '70 kisten de crimineel uit moet gaan hangen. Best wel tof denk ik. Check deze info:

Do you remember those great chases in your favourite reality-tv programm; Highway Patrol, Police, Camera, Action, etc. or in the movies? Or maybe you have seen the OJ Simpson chase? Well, now you have a chance to re-enact those great chases with Driver, Reflections Inc.'s newest game. Reflections are best known for their Destruction Derby series. Hey, we even have got a storyline here! You play Tanner, an undercover cop, a driver-for- hire in order to infiltrate a powerful crime ring spanning four of America's largest cities - New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami.

Check ook de 16 screenshots die Sim Racing News op deze pagina gepost heeft.

Volgens een nieuwsposting op AVault heeft Epic de release van Unreal Tournament verplaatst naar midden juli:

Tell us if this one sounds familiar: Epic Games has pushed the release date of its 3D action game Unreal Tournament to mid-July. That is when the game is slated to hit retail stores, according to Babbage's current release date list. The previous date had the game hitting stores in mid-May. What's two more months when the original game required four years of waiting?

Valt weinig over te zeggen, maar hier haal je de nieuwste Linuxkernel (2.2.7-ac1)

Ik lees net op Linux Today dat KDE 1.1.1 uit is! Ikzelf draai KDE 1.1, ff upgraden dus...

New York May 3, 1999 The K Desktop Environment® (KDE) Team (http://www.kde.org) today announced the shipment of KDE 1.1.1, the latest stable release of Linux's most advanced open source desktop environment.

By offering an elegant, intuitive and familiar interface marked by ease-of-use comparable to the popular ~W but proprietary ~W Windows~Y interfaces, KDE 1.1.1 unleashes the power, freedom and potential of Linux for the typical home or office user. In recognition of KDE's usability, KDE was recently awarded the Ziff-Davis® "Innovation of the year 1998/1999" award in the Software category.

"Congratulations to the KDE team on a super job with the new release," said Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and CEO of Corel® Corporation (NASDAQ: COSFF, TSE:COS). "The KDE project is doing a terrific job of bringing Linux to the desktop which is why we're basing the GUI for our desktop Linux distribution on KDE. We look forward to the improvements in KDE 1.1.1."

"KDE 1.1.1 continues KDE's leadership and widens its lead over other Linux desktop alternatives by establishing new desktop standards in stability, ease-of-use and customization," said Ransom Love, President of Caldera® Systems, Inc. "We chose KDE for OpenLinux® because it's suitable for business and mainstream use, and the Ziff-Davis innovation award underscores that choice."

Oke dan, wat is er vernieuwd?

• stabieler
  
• betere integratie tussen korganizer en kpilot
  
• betere 'samenwerking' met internet
  
• meer 'desktop components'
  

Haal em hier

Screenshots.net heeft een 100 nieuwe Quake III screenshots gepost. Je kunt ze hier bekijken.

Super7.net heeft een Kryotech Cool K6-III getest, waarmee een K6-III 400 met supercooling op 500Mhz gedraaid kan worden. Het artikel heeft een paar leuke plaatjes van het systeem, maar ik vind nergens info over hoe het systeem presteert op snelheden boven de 500Mhz (over-overclocken).

Hier maar een stuk uit de review:

The most astounding feature of Kryotech's Cool K6-III 500MHz system is its absolute reliability. I set the machine up in a number of different configurations, different graphics cards, sound cards and modems, NICs, drives, memory, etc., and it booted and performed without failure. So impressed with the machine were my bosses that they decided to purchase the sample and have applied to become Kryotech resellers.

And, what about price? True, it is not cheap by any means, but lets look at it like this; a Porsche cost more that a Ford Taurus. Both will get you to the same place eventually but which would you rather use to get there. The case housing the Cool K6-III 500MHz is large and important looking and will get noticed by anyone with a bit of computer savvy making the Cool K6-III the perfect gift for any man getting ready for a mid-life crisis (I'm 44 years old, I know about such things) but it is more than that.

Ik zag op Betanews dat Mikrosoft (oh sorry, Microsoft) Service Pack 5 voor WinNT4 gepost heeft op hun download site:

Microsoft finally posted Windows NT4 Service Pack 5 to their download site earlier this morning. They have not yet made the official release announcement, but BetaNews.Com got the exclusive scoop and we wanted all of you NT4 users to grab it before the crowd showed up. SP5 is a cumulative service pack, offering all of the updates found in previous releases and a few new features, including better Windows 2000 and NTFS 5 support. This is only the 40-bit version, however the 128-bit version should appear soon. You will probably want to use a client like BulletProof to grab it due to its large size, so right-click the link below and copy its location.

Je kunt het ding hier neerhalen.

Ik kwam via HardOCP bij deze site waar ze een erg goed artikel hebben over het bouwen van een Celeron peltier sandwich. Hier wat info over de peltier:

The Peltier is based on Thermoelectric technology which was discovered early in the 19th century and yet it's principals are still used today. In very basic terms the Peltier effect occurs when electrical current flows through two dissimilar conductors and depending on the current flow the conductor junctions will either absorb or release heat. This flow of current causes heat to be transferred or "pumped" from one side of the device to the other creating a hot and cold surface. Depending on the type of Peltier they can typically achieve temperature differences of up to 50C - 80C between their surfaces. Just how efficient the Peltier works is largely dependant on it's rating and the amount of power that is supplied. Implementing Peltiers can actually cool the Celeron to sub-zero temperatures providing that it is done correctly and the heat produced by the Peltier is quickly removed from the Heat sinks and the case.

Als je van plan bent om wat verder te gaan met het overklokken van je Celeron dan standaard 450 dan zou ik dat artikel absoluut gaan lezen. Check deze link.

Silicon integrated Systems heeft een nieuwe videochip aangekondigd, die vijf keer zo snel zal zijn als hun huidige chip, zoals die bijvoorbeeld gebruikt worden op de Diamond Speedstar A50/70. Ik kan je zeggen: die zijn traag (software rendering sneller dan hardware...).

De SiS 300 is 128-bits, net zoals bijv. de G200, TNT en Rage128. Hier een plan info uit een nieuwsbericht op The Register:

The chipset will also support DirectX 6, built in DVD and AGP 2x/4x support, SiS claimed. It said it is the only mainstream 3D graphics accelerator to provide 64Mb local frame buffer memory support through a 128 bit memory interface.

SiS also announced companion chip the SiS 301, a chip which supports digital flat plan monitors. If both the SiS 300 and SiS 301 are coupled together, it allows for dual view on the same, different or sequential displays on two monitors, a monitor and a TV and a monitor and an LCD screen.

WickedPC heeft een review geschreven van de ATI Xpert 128 met Rage 128 videochip, die met de komst van de TNT2, Voodoo3 en Savage4 inmiddels als achterhaald kan worden beschouwd:

Surprisingly, the benchmarks were pretty much the same as the Rage Magnum (see the link above to that review). No sense in redrawing the graphs when the scores were the same (within 5%). Again, it's not as fast as a Voodoo3, and the TNT did beat it in most scenarios. 32bit color took the usual 30% performance hit as seen with the Magnum, which is less of a performance hit than the TNT. It's not worth the time to explain the 3D here any more, just read the Magnum for the same info, and remember that this card is only $105.