Er is een nieuwe versie van Wintune98 gereleased.

New in Version 1.0.39:

Detects and reports Windows 2000. New Microsoft system components and updated setup program.

Niet echt interessant als je versie .38 al had dus. Zowiezo is Wintune98 niet echt interessant eigenlijk, Wintune97 vond ik persoonlijk een stuk leuker en staat nog altijd op mijn harddisk.

Je kunt het ding hier downloaden.

Afgelopen vrijdag is het bericht dat er nieuwe drivers zijn voor de S3 kaarten gepost op Savage World
.

Savage 4 Reference Driver voor Win9X, versie 8.09.07 (1.2 MB)

Savage 4 Reference Driver voor Windows NT, versie 8.16.01 (649 KB)

Bij OP3DFX vond ik een link naar een Quake3 Test Tweaks Guide.

Console Commands :

You can enter these settings in the console (followed by

[...knip...]

sure you remove the old setting !

Either way, they will SERIOUSLY improve your framerate !

Verder nog wat uitleg over de opties in het Graphics Options Menu die je hebt in Q3A.

Maar weer eens een .plan update met wat informatie over 3D en enige bugfixes van the master himself.

I have the awesome example now: Lighting.

Through the entire development of Q3, I have been wanting to do dynamic

lighting of the world differently. Many of the efficiencies gained by Q3's

new map format result in larger and larger lightmaps while it reduces polygon

count. That meant that even small dynamic lights may force a lot of work to

generate new lighting textures.

I had been wanting to find a way to trade off additional rendering passes for

less CPU time.

This is a perfect example of me outthinking myself.

...en dat 'ie de master is, dat weet hij ook.

Het is allemaal nogal zware kost, maar wel interessant. Lees het hier.

Storage Review heeft een artikel gepost waarin ze kijken naar de invloed van een grotere schijf cache op de prestaties van een harddisk. Bij het benchmarken werden twee Maxtor DiamondMax 5120 schijven gebruikt, een retail met 1024Kb cache en de OEM versie met 512K. Het prestatieverschil blijkt echter vrijwel nihil te zijn:

Overall, the comparison yields a dead-heat with razor-thin margins. The 1 meg 5120 slides past the 512k version by a negligible 1% in the Business Disk WinMark under Windows 95. The High-End Disk WinMark displays a 0% difference. Under NT, the Business Disk WinMark shows no difference between the two drives, while the High-End tests yield a surprising but still negligible result: The 1 meg drive actually lags behind the 512k version by 3%.

Best wel interessant, check Storage Review voor de info.

De beste filemanager voor Windows heeft een nieuwe versie: 4.0.

June 22, 1999: Windows Commander 4.0 is a major update, which contains more than 20 enhancements from last year's survey, and many smaller changes. The most important additions are the following:

Compare files by content

Synchronize directories (with subdirs)

Copy and zip in background (separate thread)

Copy files directly from one archive to another

Bitmap viewer in Lister, additional formats through Irfanview

Restore selection as it was before the last file operation (NUM /)

Search for duplicate files

Supports WWW proxy for FTP

Meteen downloaden dat ding!

Op de site van Happy Cat staat een lijst met prijzen voor moederborden en processoren.

Tussen de BX'en en de GX'en staat ook een SlotA board van MSI met de volgende layout:

ATX, 3x DIMM, 1 AGP slot, 5 PCI sloten en 2 ISA, waarvan 1 is geshared met een PCI. Maximaal 768MB RAM en AGPx4 ondersteuning.
FSB100MHz?
DMA/66

Slot A M/B AMD 750 (751/756) AMD K7-P

MS-6167 at 29.800 yen

Op dezelfde site wordt ook een AMD K6-III 450 vermeld voor precies dezelfde prijs.

Op onze eigen pricewatch is de laagste prijs voor de 450MHz fl 588,-

Dit zou dus betekenen dat een K7-Athlon moederbord rond de 600 gulden zal gaan kosten!

29.800 yen.

AUW!

Adrian heeft een nieuw artikeltje gepost over het optimaliseren van de VCache Chunksize (heeft met het disk cache management van Win98 te maken):

If the chunksize is set to a small value, each chunk as noted above will be able to store less data but there will be many more chunks per MB of the disk cache. The disk cache can then make more efficient use of each chunk. Instead of flushing data from a single large chunk of cache just to store a small dataset, the disk cache can now flush a few small chunks that is just large enough to cache that dataset. In short, there will be less wasted cache space. However, due to the larger number of chunks being managed, there will be a larger overhead for all cache transactions.

Bij GA-Source hebben ze een review van Novalogic's F-22 Lightning 3 online gezet. Aan de screenshots te zien zijn de graphics best wel goed:

De 'fun factor' lijkt ook goed te zijn, hoewel het spel minder geschikt is voor de hardcore simmers:

F-22 is a sim straight out of a Hollywood film, with all the special effects and unbelievable stories that go along with it. The graphics are great, but not wholly realistic, and the action is much more intense than what you might encounter in reality. It's these types of sims that have helped spark the "fun vs. realism" debate that has been going on for some time in the flight sim community. On the "fun" side, you have, for example, the Novalogic sims (Comanche, F-22, Armored Fist) and some Jane's (Fighters Anthology, Israeli Air Force). On the "realism" side, you have sims, for example, from Empire (Flying Corps Gold, Apache/Havoc), Janes (Longbow II, F-15), and so on. People seem to like these sims for different reasons, and I feel that the sim player who will get the most enjoyment will enjoy both kinds of sims.

Novalogic has tried, in the past, to appeal to a more hard-core realism fan with some sims, but these sims usually end up the same, with unrealistic flight modeling and incredible stories. This is where Novalogic shines, though, because in the end, they know how to make a simulation fun. It may not have the most realistic flight models or the best damage modeling, but after a while of playing, you'll be having too much fun to care.

3DGaming.net heeft een korte preview van Max Payne in elkaar gezet. Hier heb je wat stuff over de in Max Payne gebruikte 3D engine:

- E2 Rendering engine. The same engine core that was used to create the amazing visual effects seen in Final Reality. E2 gets its name from the Exit Technology that is used for visibility optimization in Max Payne.

- Smooth character system that allows seamless character meshes with a wide range of movement. Characters naturally receive lighting properly from the environment.

- Particle systems. Remedy's ParticleFX editor lets the user create different particle systems that can be used real-time within the game.

- Level Editor. MaxED makes the environment creation intuitive and easy. With MaxEd you'll be editing levels 3D Accelerated and truly experience WYSIWYG for the first time in level editing. MaxED will be bundled with the game: The players can create their own killer levels.

- Full Radiosity Lighting. The lighting has never been this realistic. MAX-FX Radiosity Lighting photo-realistically reflects the light and casts shadows in the environment.

Als je van Rally games houdt, check dan zeker deze first look van Rally Championship. Deze game is gepland voor een release in september. Hier een stuk over de auto's in de game:

The game will feature over 20 (!) car manufacturer types; the Renault Megane Coupe, the Subaru Imprezza, the Mitsubishi Lancer, the Toyota Corolla, the Seat Cordoba, the Seat Ibiza, the Ford Escort RS2000, the Skoda Octavia, the Skoda Felicia, the Proton Wira, the Proton Compact, the Nissan Almera, the Nissan Micra, the Honda Civic, the Vauxhall Astra, the Volkswagen Golf, the Citroen Saxo, the Peugeot 106, the Peugeot 206 and the Hyundai Coupe. Of course anything could be changed.

Each vehicle possesses advanced physics and new tumbling, collision jumping and damage routines that bring realistic interaction with the environment through full 360 degree panoramic movement. Magnetic Fields has even modelled the flowing water routines (by object and texture animation) that requires the windscreen wipers to be activated to remove rain from the windscreen!

Voor meer screenshots, klik hier!

Het is weer weekend, wat bijna automagisch wil zeggen dat Koen / Hardwareinfo.net een nieuwe review heeft gepost. . Dit keer is een Creative 3D Blaster UltraTNT2 het slachtoffer. De kaart draait standaard op 150/183Mhz. Instinctief vragen wij ons af hoever dit opgetweakt kan worden :

Uiteraard probeerden we eerst redelijk hoog te gaan: i.p.v. 150 / 183 werd de kaart ingesteld op 175 / 200. Stabiliteit was bij deze instelling geen enkel probleem, maar de performance van de kaart werd er niet veel sneller van. De framerate steef van 57,9 fps naar 58,6 fps. Niet echt een verbetering om over naar huis te schrijven. Bij iets rustiger aan doen bereikten we wel een wat betere snelheids verhoging. Bij de 167 / 192 instelling kwamen we uiteindelijk uit bij 61,4 fps. Dit komt overeen met een performance stijging van 6 procent. Dit hebben we beter gezien in de afgelopen tijd. Wellicht met wat meer tweaking en betere koeling loopt de kaart beter bij hogere frequenties.

Verder veel benchmarks (QuakeII, Quake3, Unreal, 3DMark), screenshots en info over CPU scaling. Lees de review hier.

GA-Source heeft een preview gepost van Star Trek: Insurrection, een nieuwe adventure van Presta Studios, gebaseerd op de film zo lees ik (van Star Trek heb ik weinig kaas gegeten, hoewel ik al die maffe personages wel grappig vind ). Hier heb je wat info over de storyline:

The player will be thrown into the action as the newly graduated Ensign, Sovok, a human raised by Vulcans. With the help of Picard and Data its up to Sovok to discover the true secret of the Ba'ku planet and thwart the Romulan threat to destroy the Federation once and for all. Equipped with a phaser, a tricorder, a communicator and the Vulcan Nerve pinch, players solve puzzles, infiltrate enemy camps and rescue other Starfleet members on a quest to single handedly save the Federation.

Als je snel&simpel zonder sloopwerk een netwerk in elkaar wilt zetten, dan is de kabelloze Diamond HomeFree wellicht interessant. GA-Source heeft een review:

eyond its novelty value, how well does it really work? The HomeFree Wireless is a 1mb/second networking, which is slow by Ethernet networking standards (10mb/sec or 100mb/sec). However, the flexibility of wireless networking is definitely not something to ignore. I know that one of the biggest headaches with normal networking is dealing with the cabling, and the associated difficulty of adding a new, originally unplanned PC to the network later on. With a wireless setup, that is a thing of the past.

This is also great for LAN parties, strange as it may sound at first. It allows you to COMPLETELY freely place where any of the PCs on a network go, limited only to the maximum range (150 feet). An interesting side thought in this that if you and your buddies live in the same apartment complex, you could all get these network cards, and be CONSTANTLY networked without any cabling that your landlord could complain about. This could definitely be awesome in the right situation.

Bij 3DGaming.net hebben ze een review van SW1: Racer op hun site geplant. Hier heb je hap uit de review, met een paar screenshots:

Probably the fastest game I've ever played, Racer relies almost completely on reflexes and quick thinking. Turning the wrong way because you think that's the way the track goes can cost you the race in the blink of an eye. The speed of the game just gets faster as it goes along and as the maps get trickier, but the speed of your pod (thanks to upgrades and a pep-talk at halftime) and your own skill at handling it increases exponentially after each course.

Het is weer zo'n typische dooie zondag (qua nieuws dan), dus ga ik maar ff een paar game postings plaatsen. Mortyr Netwerk heeft 11 nieuwe screenshots van Mortyr geupt, die zijn denk ik wel leuk:

Interessante info bij Overclockers' Workbench:

Some one posted on the newsgroups saying that with a BIOS upgrade to their BP6-LP.BIN BIOS, you can access 104/106/108/110 bus speed!!!

Dit zou uiteraard erg handig zijn als je in de toekomst wilt upgraden naar een Coppermine. Voor zover nu bekend is kan de BP6 boven de 100Mhz alleen 124 en 133Mhz FSB.

ZDNet heeft een artikeltje over een nieuwe Windoos pc van Future Power, die verdacht veel op een iMac lijkt, alleen dan lelijker met een lagere aaibaarheids factor:

Created by Future Power, the E-Power PC bares an uncanny resemblance to Apple's best-selling iMac, right down to the colored shell casing. It won’t hit U.S. until September, but that hasn't stopped the one promotional sapphire-colored (rather than blueberry) E-Power on hand at PC Expo from drawing all kinds of attention -- especially the legal kind from Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL). "There has been some discussion up to this point with Apple," said Future Power spokesperson Kim Uberti. "We are trying to get a statement together [about the nature of the discussions]." Future Power will release a statement about Apple on Friday, she said.

It remains to be seen whether Apple will take legal action over a computer that doesn't think so different, but Uberti insisted that the E-Power and iMac are not in direct competition.

Hermann (handlanger van Tom ) heeft (part I) van z'n Flat Panel Display guide online gezet. Mocht je om wat voor reden dan ook in de markt zijn voor een LCD schermpje, dan is dit wellicht handig leesvoer. Hier een stukje over de oorzaak van de hoge prijzen voor flat panels:

The construction and manufacturing of active matrix TFTs is just as complicated as the way in which they work. Many different materials and very thin layers of glass are used, and that on a diagonal surface of up to 30 inch! The rejection rates for production are correspondingly high. Extremely thin transistors are applied to the devices which control its color display elements during later operation. Above all, the spacing between the layers must be absolutely correct. As in the wafer and chip manufacturing business, the production of TFTs is related to a specific yield. Although manufacturers have very different opinions on this topic, it remains a fact that smaller models are easier to manufacture and their rejection rate is lower. The manufacturers are therefore all confronted with the common problem of either producing larger TFTs for flat panel displays or smaller ones for notebooks and other application fields. Larger models mean higher profits but at the price of lower yields whereas the quantities for notebooks are much higher, with a higher yield.

Zo bericht News.com:

In a move that seems likely to resurrect accusations that Intel is trying to stifle competition, the chip giant has revoked a technology license and filed a federal lawsuit against Via Technologies, a leading chipset vendor.

And, once again, Rambus may come up somewhere as an issue.

On Wednesday, Intel filed a breach-of-contract and patent-infringement suit against Via Technologies alleging that it is marketing Intel technology that is excluded from a license to the two companies signed last November.

"Via continues to mislead customers and prospective customers to believe that unlicensed Via chipset products are licensed to Intel's patents under the agreement," the lawsuit alleges. It seeks an injunction barring the practice as well as unspecified monetary damages.

Ik weet niet hoe het precies zit, maar het lijkt erop dat Intel het absoluut geen prettig idee vind dat VIA eerder met een 133MHz busspeed chipset komt dan zij zelf. Dus suen ze VIA maar meteen...

Planet Hardware heeft een review gepost van de Monsoon MM-700 speakers. Dit is weer zo'n nieuwe flat panel speaker set. Fotootje:

Uiteraard errug leuk dat maffe/lelijke/futuristische design, maar meestal kopen we speakers vanwege de herrie die eruit komt. So hoe is de geluidskwaliteit?

Once the speakers are setup in a suitable configuration, the picture changes for the better. For a flat panel set, the MM-700's will give you the best audio quality on the market today, and they even match up incredibly well against traditional cone-based speakers. Although, the system fails to reach highs as well as traditional sets, but it does lows and deep bass incredibly well, thanks in part to the large cube for a subwoofer that's included in the set.

Game PC heeft de primeur met hun review van de Abit BE6, de opvolger van de BH6 en de BX6 2.0.

Het artikel is helaas alleen alles behalve uitgebreid en veel nuttige info staat er niet echt in, behalve info en benchmarks over de verschillen tussen ATA/33 en ATA/66.

Hier alvast de conclusie van deze tests:

On every hard drive test Winbench offered, ATA-66 killed the ATA-33 standard. With major hard drive manufacturers hopping on the ATA-66 train, I wouldn't be surprised if it will be the new standard for hard drives, main boards, and even CD-ROMs within the next couple of months. What is really amazing is the CPU utilization statistics. From a high of 49.7 percent for the ATA/33 to a low of 3.89 percent for the ATA/66. That's just mind blowing. This implementation of ATA/66 runs really close to SCSI drives in terms of CPU utilization. Well, all I can say is for the future of IDE devices, this change is good! The Abit BE6 main board is the best choice for a single CPU main board right now.