Volgens dit nieuwsbericht bij The Register zal op 16 mei de 550MHz versie van de PIII gereleased worden. Tegelijkertijd zal de prijs van de PIII-450 en 500 worden gedropt. Hier is de sauce:

The 500MHz PIII will fall from $637 to $482, and the 450MHz Pentium III from $411 to $268.

The Pentium II family shows all the signs of packing up its bags for the trans-Siberian train to Intel's gulag.

The 350MHz Pentium II will, essentially, die on the journey. Its price will be $163 for the second price round in a row, while the PII/450 will cost $268 and the PII/400 $193. Because the Pentium III/450 costs $268 from May 16, it's gulag time for its Pentium II equivalent.

John Carmack heeft een .plan update met info over de release van de Win32 versie van de Q3 Test:

There is one must-fix issue and a couple smaller issues remaining before the release candidate build, then we have to do a lot of testing on it. I made a lot of significant changes in the last week, and I'm sure there are some things we still need to sort out before we inflict it on the general public.

We are aiming for sunday, but understand that that means sunday evening, not sunday morning.

If saturday night / sunday morning testing on the release candidate turns up significant problems, we will put off the release until they are fixed. That could be later sunday night, or it might not make it until monday night.

The previous release delays for win32 were issues out of our control, but this release rests squarely on me. The content and other issues are ready, but we still need to make sure all the new code is solid.

AGN Hardware heeft een review van de Logitech QuickCam Pro gepost. Hier heb je een stuk:

Even though the new QuickCam Pro has a round camera like my old QuickCam, that is about the only similarity that you will find. Logitech has worked hard to redesign this camera for what turns out to be the most impressive standalone camera that I have seen yet. The first new addition to the camera is the use of USB, with a lengthy 10 foot long cable that allows you to move the camera all over the place with no trouble. This means that you can set it up to point to the whole family on the couch, neighbors across the street and more. Since the camera is using USB, you can forego the pain in the butt plug in power adapter of the past as well. I don’t know about you, but I have enough things on my powerstrip as it is without having to plug in yet another peripheral. For those of you that want to move the camera around, Logitech has designed a new base with some rather impressive features. The base features an adjustable clamp allowing you to stick it on your monitor or wherever else you feel like placing the camera. The camera also features the ability to tilt and swivel in any direction that you feel like aiming the camera, making it much easier to be perfectly lined up in the shot. The biggest new addition to the camera is the ability to take pictures at up to a 640x480 resolution, giving you a much bigger picture then what most other cameras are capable of.

Ik kwam via 3DNews.net bij deze site waar ze een preview hebben van een Matrox G400 pre-production board. Het artikel is oorspronkelijk geschreven in het Noors maar vertaald naar Engels:

The G400 uses a 256-bit DualBus-arcitecture, supports 2x/4x AGP and up to 32MB of memory. The card we received was equipped with 16MB memory, a 300MHz RAMDAC and Matrox' DualHead-technology which make it's it possible to connect to monitors on the same card.

The card we recived was, as a mentioned before, not the final version, and there mey be changes when the card hits the street. E.g changes in the drivers can have a great impact on the performance. At the moment there wasn't any Windows NT 4.0-drivers available.

Ze hebben o.a. een foto van de G400:

Verder hebben ze benchmarks waaruit blijkt dat de G400 in 3DMark99 ongeveer evensnel is als de Voodoo3-3000, maar met 32-bit rendering de TNT2 compleet wegblowt.

Brian Hook heeft z'n .plan geupdate met info over de videoplanken die ondersteund worden in de Win32 versie van de Quake3 Test:

Ugh, the e-mails have begun..."how will accelerator XYZ work with Q3TEST?"

Here's a quick run down of accelerators we have tested and that we find acceptable or better for Quake3, assuming the most up to date drivers are installed (note: up to date drivers for nearly all of the following accelerators will be available when Q3TEST is released).
- 3Dfx Voodoo Graphics
- 3Dfx Voodoo2
- 3Dfx Voodoo2 SLI
- 3Dfx Voodoo3*
- 3Dfx Voodoo Rush (tested out of house, but supposedly stable)
- 3Dfx Voodoo Banshee
- 3DLabs Permedia 2 (ugly, some serious visual artifacts)
- ATI Rage Pro (4MB and 8MB)
- ATI Rage128*!&
- Intel i740
- Matrox G200 &
- NVidia Riva128
- NVidia RivaTNT*!&
- NVidia RivaTNT2*!&
- Rendition V2x00 (not very fast, but it works)
- S3 Savage3 &
* high performance
! supports stencil volume shadows
& 32-bit rendering

We have not done significant testing on the following boards simply because they were not undergoing full shipment at the time we were wrapping up Q3TEST:
- 3DLabs Permedia3
- Matrox G400
- S3 Savage4

Meer stuff over Q3 Test vind je in Brian's .plan.

3DSpotlight heeft als een van de eerste hardware sites een review van de Asus V3800 gepost. Het betreft een standaard TNT2 op 125/150Mhz. Hier heb je een stuk over z'n overklokbaarheid (toch altijd een goede graadmeter voor de kwaliteit):

So... you want to overclock the card, right ?

As I said before the V-3800 comes default clocked at 125/150mhz which is the basic spec for the TNT2, I tried overclocking the card and I found that it ran very stable at 150/175mhz, apparently heat is no problem at this speed, notice that the card comes with a generous heatsink/fan combo.

I tried overclocking the card even further but the gain was minimal, I couldn't push the memory any higher and I got stucked at 165/175mhz, anything more would cause a lock-up.

Er zit weer eens een 'foutje' in de webserver van ome Bill. Zoals we van Mickrosoftware gewend zijn niet een klein foutje, maar meteen een vette security bug. Hier is de fun, afkomstig van ZDNet:

A security problem involving Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Information Server (IIS) and Site Server products leaves data and files stored on those products vulnerable to hackers, according to WebTrends Corp., an Internet reporting and management vendor.

Three sample Active Server Pages (ASP) tools which ship as part of IIS and Site Server are the culprits, according to Microsoft (Nadaq:MSFT) and WebTrends. The default configurations of IIS and Site Server install the showcode.asp, viewcode.asp and codebrws.asp pages without proper access-control settings.

Any remote browser user who has read permissions and knowledge of file names on a given system can get at data and files on a given system via the ASP tools.

ZDNet heeft een sneak preview van Win98 Second Edition gepost. Hier heb je een stuk over de nieuwe features in Win98 SE (voor zover aanwezig):

A prerelease version of the Second Edition was recently distributed to beta testers, and PC Magazine examined it. Users who already have Internet Explorer 5 installed over an existing Windows 98 setup will see no obvious differences. The Desktop, Start menu, and Explorer windows look the same. Windows' built-in applications look and act exactly as before. The new beta seems more stable than the original Windows 98, reflecting many bug fixes in the core Windows files, but performance seems identical.

The most obvious change is Internet Connection Sharing, which adds a feature previously available in Windows 98 only through third-party networking software. When ICS is installed on a home or small-office network, all networked client computers can access the Internet through a single host computer. The host can use any existing Internet connection. Installation is simple: In the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel, choose the Windows Setup tab and select Internet Connection Sharing. A dialog box asks which adapter you use to connect to the Internet; the rest is automatic. When a client computer connects to the Internet through the host computer, ICS replaces the client's IP address with the host's IP address, makes the connection, and transparently routes data from the Internet back to the client.

Bij Gamecenter hebben ze een artikeltje over de PSX2 geupt. Check deze specs van de Playstation 2, is behoorlijk vet:

To keep up with the heavy graphics demands of video games, the new PlayStation will rely on a 128-bit chip based on core technology from MIPS and manufactured under a joint venture with Toshiba. This new main processor, called the Emotion Engine, will run at 300 MHz. It also has the 32-bit processor from the first-generation PlayStation attached alongside of it on the same piece of silicon so it can play older games.

Another key component to the upcoming PlayStation is a separate graphics chip, dubbed the Graphics Synthesizer, which has 4MB of memory integrated and runs at 150 MHz.

Volgens Sjoonie gaat de FPU van het ding drie maal zo hard als die van de PIII. Het is de bedoeling dat al dit goeds tegen maart 2000 in Japan te koop is. Tegen die tijd racen wij pc gebruikers die PSuckers allang weer voorbij met onze vette NV10 en Voodoo Rampage kaarten

Gamespot heeft een artikel geschreven over de toekomst van 3D graphics in games enzo. Hier heb je de intro:

For gamers, the net result has been an extraordinary advance in visual graphics and effects in 3D games. On top of that, the increasing ubiquity of 3D accelerators has enabled game developers in all genres to experiment. It's not just first-person shooters and flight sims that are 3D rendered anymore. It's strategy games, adventure games, and even role-playing games. But there are certainly warts in the picture. Put aside, if you will, the hulking size of Lara Croft's breasts and she still looks unrealistic. More recent titles have characters that have no necks, cubed heads, and a 2D appearance to clothes or hair. Try to fly 150 aircraft in an air war 1000 feet above a city, and your frame rate goes to hell in a handbasket. Walk into a foggy landscape in a game, and you soon realize that you're not really in the fog, but rather, looking at an ever-receding, transparent gray polygon.

The good news is that graphics-chip designers are working closely with game programmers to deliver new silicon to increase the look and feel of full-on game immersion. Will we ever see truly photo-realistic 3D graphics? Perhaps, although not in the next generation. Even so, the latest generation promises to be a leap forward.

We'll take a look at what you might be seeing in hardware and on your computer screens in the next year or two.

Gamespot gaat verder met een korte geschiedenis van 3D graphics op de pc, de huidige stand van zaken en wat we aan leuke innovaties in de toekomst kunnen verwachten.

Alienware heeft een press release de deur uitgedaan waarin ze hun eerste systemen met PGC (Parallel Graphics Configuration) aankondigen. Er zal gebruik worden gemaakt van 2 Voodoo3's en de introductie zal plaatsvinden ergens in juni.

Hier is de saus:

Today, Wicked3DÔ , a division of Metabyte, Inc., announces that system builder Alienware PC will be the first company to license its Parallel Graphics Configuration (PGC) technology.

Alienware, renowned for its award winning ultimate gaming systems, will be the first company to provide the PGC technology to the consumer. The initial implementation of the technology will be combining two 3dfx Interactive Voodoo3™ 2000 PCI cards in one system. There are plans in place to expand the offering to other graphics cards as well.

"We are very excited to see this technology being implemented on Alienware systems. This partnership is the first step in the new direction for Wicked3D and our plans to provide enabling technologies to industry partners. Alienware has been a close customer of ours for some time now and with their reputation for listening to the gaming community, they are the perfect partner to introduce this technology into the market," says Steve Gleitsmann, General Manager of Wicked3D.

Preliminary benchmark figures for this configuration on a Pentium II 450 MHz system with 64 MB RAM, without over-clocking, is 55 frames per second (fps) when running Quake2 at 1600x1200. This frame rate jumps to over 63 fps on other configurations in the lab. The Wicked3D engineering staff expects these numbers to increase on the shipping driver.

"Our PGC solution is a intermediate layer of software which sits on top of the graphic cards existing driver. It can be ported over to any chipset within a short period of time because of our proprietary wrapper technology," says Dave Cook, Director of Engineering for Metabyte, Inc.

"Alienware is extremely exited about this new technology and our strategic alliance with Metabyte. It is truly amazing what Metabyte’s engineers have been able to accomplish. They are pushing performance to the limit and beyond." says Nelson Gonzalez, President for Alienware. "We feel that by using this technology, the average life-span of the current gaming PC will be extended." says Alex Aguila, National Sales Director for Alienware.

The availability of the PGC enabled systems is targeted for early to mid June. The systems will be available from Alienware's web site (www.alienware.com), Wicked3D's web site (www.wicked3d.com) as well as other venues to be announced at a later date. The first public showing of the systems will be at the E3 Exposition from May 13th-15th at the EIDOS booth (booth #500).

Nu alleen nog hopen dat we ook PGC systemen in ons mooi holland tegen zullen gaan komen...

Andy van BXB heeft een review geupt van de Powerleap socket370 riser card met dual Celeron jumper. Hier's de soep:

I tested on the Shuttle HOT-649a board, a motherboard which provides a limited ability to alter core voltage (up to 10%). Pluging in both convertors and jumpering to 2.2v for 504Mhz operation (4.5 x 112) worked perfectly,athough only 1 CPU was detected, which I soon discovered was done to one of the Powerleap convertors arriving dead on arrival (tut tut). Substituting one of my own modified boards and everything worked just fine, with the the voltage regulator of the HOT-649a reporting 2.2v for Slot1a and 2.0v respectively. So the convertors work as advertised, and more importantly, dual SMP operation from a pair of Celerons is now trivially easy. The voltage tweaking abilities is very welcome. Most PPGA Celeron 300'a work just fine at 2.0v at up to 464Mhz, but 504Mhz requires 2.1 or 2.2v (and even then you need a little luck - most Celerons won't run stably at 504Mhz).

Yep, ook Sharky heeft een review van de Leadtek Winfast S320 gepost. Hier heb je wat soep over het overklokken van de Leadtek:

The LeadTek's engineers decided to be 'brave' and included their little 'slider' utility within the control panel. This allows you to push the S320 II above and beyond the specifications that NVIDIA has recommended. Indeed we were able to push the S320 II to its limits with the graphics clocked at 160MHz and the memory speed set to 175MHz. With the fan and heat sink combination the board still ran relatively cool. No real 'heat' related issues but there were odd artifacts and graphical glitches. 1600x1200 was also unattainable in terms of timedemos. With some 'home-made' cooling (more fans etc…) we're pretty sure many S320 II's will run at this speed or at least somewhere close to it. The gains are pretty significant in 1024x768 and 800x600; thus it's well worth experimenting with.

Ik kwam via Hardware-One bij deze site waar ze uitleggen hoe je middels clustering en Linux een supercomputer kunt bouwen:

These pages describe my efforts to build a scalable supercomputer at home using Linux and commodity off the shelf components. These efforts began after reading an article on Los Alamos National Labrotories Avalon Computer on CNN's web site.

"Wow! 140 Dec Alpha workstations linked together with gigabit/sec ethernet and getting 47+ Gigaflops performance for $313,000! I gotta have one!"

After reflecting on the $313,000 part a bit more I decided to try this on a much smaller scale using computers I already had plus whatever my limited budget would let me buy. I call the resulting cluster the Pondermatic. These pages will outline how I did it. There will be alot of Linux talk throughout here as well. So here it goes...

AVault heeft 4 AVItjes van the Need for Speed 4: High Stakes gepost. De filmpjes zijn in het formaat 160x120px en duren ongeveer 3s. Je vindt ze op deze page.

UGeek heeft een review gepost van een 50 speed Kenwood drive met TrueX technology:

The Kenwood 52x CD-ROM drive is truly an amazing drive. It uses TrueX technology from Zen Research which splits a single larger than normal laser into seven separate beams. Each of these beams is used to read a track of data from the CD-ROM.

This multi-beam technology allows the drive to spin at lower rates than other drives, yet still read data faster than any of them. The drive spins at between 1850 and 4750 RPM using CLV (Constant Linear Velocity) technology, like most CD-ROM drives before 16x speeds used. This technology spins the disk faster when the drive is reading data towards the center of the CD and slower as it reads data towards the edge.

PC Paradox en Playdevil.com hebben previews gepost van Unreal Tournament. De preview van Playdevil vind je hier. De preview van PC Paradox is behoorlijk wel groot. Hier een stukje:

Over the past year, the Unreal Engine has surpassed many modifications and improvements including faster load times, less memory usage, greater and better 3D API support, and an improved interface. Even though these improvements will significantly improve the all-around game play of this game, the multiplayer's modifications will be the most noted. The artificial intelligence improvements have also been made from last year's Unreal. Epic Games now has a better understanding of how transport lifts and doors work. No more do AI-bots get stuck on lifts where they are easy prey. This time around, you will be the easy prey, since they also know which weapon to use for different circumstances. Ultimately, we're preparing ourselves for Unreal Tournament, the game of the future with the awesome AI.