Sharky heeft laatst even gecheckt bij Matrox om te vragen wanneer ze van plan waren om die kaartjes nu eens te versturen:

The Matrox Millennium G400 Series is currently shipping through its on-line store and the distribution channel. All efforts are being placed on fulfilling the number of pre-orders placed on the Matrox on-line store. Those customers that pre-booked prior to June 11,1999 have begun receiving their board and will continue to do so until the end of July. Those that ordered after June 11, 1999 can expect a delivery time of 5-6 weeks (from time of order) for both the Millennium G400 and the Millennium G400 Max. Although Matrox is currently shipping in volume, the overwhelming demand for the product may cause some delivery delays."

[Q] What are the new dates that buyers can expect to be able to purchase a Matrox Millenium G400 MAX through either mail order or at retail?

[A] We are currently shipping Millennium G400 Series products in volume. However, the huge demand for our Millennium G400 Series products may create some delivery delays.

[Q] There has been speculation on the web that the G400 MAX has been delayed due to lower than expected yields on the 150MHz+ capable cores. Is this true? If so, how is Matrox coping with the problem in order to satisfy buyers who have pre-ordered the card online already?

[A] I have seen some speculation on this subject, but chip yields have not been an issue.

[Q] In terms of the G400's driver development, what percentage would you estimate that the drivers are currently delivering on the hardware's total raw performance capabilities in both OpenGL and Direct3D?

[A] I would prefer not to quote a percentage, but I will say that there will be a definitive increase in performance, particularly with Open GL support, in the final Millennium G400 drivers.

SystemLogic heeft weer een uitgebreide review gebakken van de Asus V3800 TVR Deluxe TNT2 kaart.Ook de 3D bril die erbij zit hebben ze getest. Als je een uitgebreide kaart met TV in en out zoekt, dit is een goede.

There is price to pay for the features that the ASUS V3800 TVR Deluxe provides, but the good news is that the premium isn’t that bad at all. Prices for the non-Ultra version approach the price of the faster TNT2-Ultra cards, but the sheer number of features that the V3800 has is justified. ASUS has put together a remarkably polished and very accessible package with the V3800 TVR Deluxe. The fact that they took the time to tweak the ease of use for the casual user will be much appreciated. Of course, not everyone is going to need all of the features that ASUS has packed in. It would be a waste of money to buy the TVR Deluxe version if you have no use for video in and out. For the users that fall into this category, I’d have to point you toward cheaper and faster cards. However, for the occasional video editing buff, or the avid console/PC gaming freaks (of which my sorry behind is part of), the idea of having a consolidated environment for playing and editing is very attractive. In the end, you get what you pay for with the V3800 TVR Deluxe, and you are getting a lot. ASUS also has a TNT2-Ultra version which will please the power users. If money were not a factor, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the TVR Deluxe series to everyone. As it stands, the V3800 TVR Deluxe is still a very well balanced card that is presented well for everyone but, at the same time, not a justified purchase for everyone.

3D Unlimited heeft een interview gehouden met de Senior Artist / Modeler van 3D Realms. Voor het volledige interview, check deze site.

[Q] What can you tell us about the plot of Duke Nukem Forever?

[A] Only that Duke's out to save the world again. Dr. Proton from the first Duke Nukem game returns with a host of alien cohorts attacking Duke's casino/hotel in Vegas. The plot leads you through a variety of the most realistic gaming environments imaginable culminating in facing Proton on his "Independence Day" sized alien ship.

[Q] Everyone loved Duke Nukem, and everyone is highly awaiting Duke Nukem Forever, can you shed some light on the subject of why it has taken so long to even get close to release?

[A] For one thing we changed game engines in midstream from Quake's to Unreal's. Creating games has also become so much more complex compared to those early days. Cosmo was created by two people (Todd Replogle and me) in seven months. Now we have a team consisting of our project leader, 2 programmers, 6 mappers, 3 artists, 3 modelers, a concept artist, a sound guy, and others. Also, 3D Realms' goal is to put out the highest quality game in the world. You can't achieve that by rushing to a deadline.

AGN Hardware heeft een racestuur getest, en wel de V4 Force Feedback van Interact. Ding ziet er best cool uit. Lees de review hier!

One of the features that truly separates the V4 from other wheels, is the wheel’s ability to move in several different positions. This means if you feel like hooking your computer up to the TV for a little fun with Need For Speed High Stakes, you can still drive with the wheel. All you have to do is bring the wheel to the floor and then adjust the wheel to an upright position so it can sit between your lap. This is sure to be a big hit with those of you with a 60” TV who want to get a bit more fun out of your driving games.

Along with the ability for you to use the wheel as a little vibrating fun in your lap, (I am sure the ladies will love that) you can also adjust the position of the wheel when it is hooked to a table. This allows you to point the location of the wheel in just the right direction, giving you a truly realistic approach to the driving.

John Bogush heeft een review van de Kryotech Renegade, een duur overklokkersspeeltje . Het is een superkoeler-koelkast apparaat die je cpu flink afkoelt. In de review staan veel foto's van het ding en ook een uitgebreid technisch verhaal ontbreekt niet.

Computers have come with heatsinks attached to their processors now for a long time and now a days its the norm to have a fan or two mounted on those processor heatsinks circulating air through their fins and pins trying to keep them cool. The situation is bad enough when running a processor at spec but along comes us mis-understood overclockers. The first thing we do when we have a little trouble trying to push our system is raise the core voltage of the processor. With that extra voltage comes a little more extra heat and soon you get to a point where that processor's heatsink will no longer keep it humming along cool and collected. Sure there are some pretty impressive heatsinks on the market today but they are big and bulky and you still have to get that radiated heat out of the systems case. What better solution then to actually pump all that excessive thermal energy directly from the surface of the processor right out of the case. Not only do you take the thermal load off the processor but the heat never has a chance to cook those 3D graphics cards and high speed hard drives anymore then they are already doing themselves.

Ars heeft weer een review van een computerkast. Het gaat hier om de Superpower Zephyr KS-201XP. Hoewel deze kas hier in NL wel niet onder deze naam verkocht zal worden is het toch wel interessant leesvoer. Hier een quote :

Now, I know what you're thinking: how's the cooling situation? For starters, it comes with one 80mm fan installed at the front bottom. The front cover of the case actually has enough holes to allow a decent amount of air in; you’d be surprised how many cases don’t. Also, there’s a mount for another 80mm fan in the rear of the case, right behind and to the left of the CPU. I plan on installing a second fan there to pump air out of the case. With the front fan sucking air in, the rear fan blowing air out, and the CPU sitting between the two, there should be a solid airflow right across the CPU. It enough for the average computer uses, but it's not enough for overclocking. Not wise overclocking, anyhow. Opening the case involves unscrewing one magic screw that keeps the top of the case on. Once you get the top off, the two main side panels slide up and off. Each side panel has a series of slotted tabs around the perimeter to keep it attached to the case. I didn’t like this at first, assuming (based on past experienced) that this would make it difficult to put the panels back on. I hate wrestling with a case for five minutes just to get all the tabs lined up properly so the cover will slide on. This concern, however, turned out to be unjustified - when I put the panels back on, it was surprisingly easy to get the tabs lined up to fall into their proper slots.

Lees hier de rest. Op de site staan nog meer case reviews (van oa de InWin Q600) dus als je er nog eentje zoekt moet je zeker eens rondkijken.

Bij Hardwareupgrade hebben ze een verhaaltje over ATA33 en ATA66. Ze hebben ook de verschillen getest tussen die twee :

The theoric explanation of the introduction of ATA-66 protocol is quite simple: the ATA-33 data transmission protocol, with a maximum transfer rate of 33 Mbytes per second, was too limited for the performance of most recent EIDE hard disks at 7,200 rpm (waiting for the introduction of models at 10,000 rpm), so the ATA-66 protocol, able to transfer 66 Mbytes per second, has be introduced. As the maximum transfer rate is achieved only in theory, that is when the disk buffer is empty moving the data directly to the EIDE controller and from it to the system memory, it is interesting to check how this interface affects the general performance.

To configure this test you need to consider many factors: first two different ATA-66 hard disks have been used with rotation speed of 5,400 and 7,200 rpm respectively; this allowed to analyse the different behaviour as the mechanic performance of the disk changed (at an higher rotation speed corresponds higher performances).

Lees hier meer.

Dan's data heeft een review van de Jaton Video-107AGP 3D videokaart. Het is een middenklasser met de Trident Blade 3D 9880. Als je je een beetje hebt verdiept in de computergeschiedenis weet je dat Trident vroeger eigenlijk alleen maar langzame baggerkaarten gemaakt heeft. Is dat nu weer het geval? Lees hier een stukje

The mid-range graphics card is an endangered species. Once upon a time (like, for example, about a year ago...), there were low-end cards that were fine for basic office stuff on a smallish monitor, and there were super-powered cards that supported outrageous resolutions and did fast 3D as well, and there were mid-range cards that could play a game or two and drive a good-sized monitor, but didn't cost the hundreds and hundreds of dollars (Australian; U.S. readers substitute "fifties and fifties of dollars") that you needed to play with the big boys.

This middle category is blurring badly into the upper one, though. For instance, 8Mb TNT cards are on sale now for well under $200 Australian. The plain TNT is the nVidia graphics chipset that came before the current TNT-2. It powers, for instance, the Diamond Viper V550 I review here. The original TNT is basically the same as TNT-2, only slower. It's capable of playing all current 3D games at more than acceptable speed and resolution (Quake 2 is smooth as silk in 1024 by 768, 16 bit colour, on a plain TNT driven by any better-than-400MHz processor), and it'll continue to give a good account of itself as software demands rise.

En lees hier hoe het afloopt.

Bij Sharky hebben ze het spel Warzone 2100 gereviewed. Het is net zoals Command and Conquer een RTS, Real Time Strategy. Hier een introotje :

In a year that is ripe with potential for the RTS arena, newcomer Pumpkin Studios (under their parent company Eidos) brings us the apocalyptic extravaganza that is Warzone 2100. Capable of being played in either 3dfx, Direct3D, or Software mode, Warzone uses a custom engine capable of 180 degrees rotation around the battlefield. A few choice blurbs from the back of the box promise us the game has "Revolutionary Unit Design", "Full 3D Battlefields", "Superior Artificial Intelligence", and that it will provide us with "A New Multiplayer Experience". Can they live up to it?

De review staat hier.

Anand heeft weer eens een nachtje overgeslagen en heeft voor ons een TNT2 roundup. Als je nog twijfelt welke TNT2 kaart je neemt moet je zeker eens een kijkje gaan nemen.

Unlike motherboards, TNT2 based graphics cards are not as tailored to a particular user’s needs as manufacturers would like them to be. The fact of the matter is that most TNT2s are the same, the main differences being default clock speed, cooling methods, overclocking potential, drivers/support, and software bundle. The latter is probably one of the least important factors you’ll have to take into consideration, as the value of a software bundle is a very subjective factor in any buying decision involving a video card. Luckily there is a solution, AnandTech rounded up a handful of the most popular TNT2 based boards, regardless of clock speed, and used them as both a helpful aid and example of what to look for in a TNT2 board. With the amount of OEMs out there manufacturing TNT2 based products, a comparison of every last TNT2 board would be a little overboard, however with a little extrapolation on the part of you, the consumer, making a buying decision based on the performance of the boards compared here shouldn’t be a difficult task.

Sharky heeft een review van AOpens nieuwe BX bord, de AX6BC Pro. Dit bord heeft oa een gouden heatsinkje op de bx chipset zitten omdat dat beter zou koelen. Of dat echt zo is lees je in de review en die staat hier.

The AX6BC Pro Gold earns its "Gold" moniker by incorporating a Mr T "I-Pity-The-Fool" style 24K gold-plated aluminum heatsink to the 440BX chipset itself. AOpen claims they chose to dip the standard heatsink in gold in order to help disperse excess heat buildup (which they claim is accomplished more effectively than with a similar non-gold plated heatsink solution).

We'll get into the discussion of whether or not the gold heatsink really helps to reduce temperatures later in this article. For now let's get started on a review of a very well made 440BX board, the AX6BC Pro Gold.

HardOCP heeft een review van de 32MB Elsa Erazor III in elkaar geflanst. Dit is een 'gewone' TNT2 die op 125/140MHz draait, niet de rapste dus. Maar HardOCP heeft de kaart voorzien van een monster cooler en hebben alles uit de kaart geprobeerd te persen, maar verder dan 155/150Mhz kwamen ze niet... Check de review maar.

Well, the Elsa ErazorIII turned out to be quite a card. I wish they would have been a little more aggressive and installed an active cooling system straight from the factory. I think that any card in the $180+ range should come with a good $5 fan and heatsink unit.

Did the card do what it was advertised to do? Yes, it lived up to the standards by which it was produced and more. It more than produced a gaming experience that was enjoyable and smoothly playable. The frame rates were excellent as was the color allowed.

It is an overclockers' card of choice? Not if you are looking at breaking into the 100+ Front Side Bus range. The card was tremendously stable at AGP bus speeds of below 82MHz. So if you are running a Celeron or non-OC'd PII-350 or faster, then this card would surely fit your needs if you want the TNT2 chipset.

If you are looking to dig into some serious OC on a PIII and see AGP speeds that exceed 82MHz, which is extremely hard for MOST TNT2 cards, I would not suggest the Elsa ErazorIII for the HardCore OC peeps.

The card took major modifications to get it to HOCP standards. Are our expectations and hardware standards too high? Maybe so, but they have been met before. But let's face it, most of you out there are not going to be faced with this soon, or are you?

Gamers Depot heeft een korte review van de Marox G400 geschreven. Hier heb je een plak:

Talking about being immediately impressed ... I fired up my Old Yeller of games, Microsoft Monster Truck Madness. OH MY GOODNESS! There are MOUNTAINS!!! They look like mountains. Really :-) Next, I went with Quake2. Ahem. Despite the really fine graphics quality (right up there with nVidia) it was kinda slow. Don't get me wrong ... this baby looks better than just about all the competition out there, but it ain't no speed demon. Gernerally, it performed excellently in DirectX at resolutions up to 1024x768, but any higher and it became too slow to play. Of course, I'm keeping in mind here that this is the NON-MAX version of the card, and it's probably targeted to the below-1152-rez gamer anyway. For instance, my children's monitor doesn't even support higher than 1280, so it's the perfect card for their machine. They were *very* impressed with it. The dualhead feature is also very useful, in that it allows two monitors, or a monitor and a TV, to be used simultaneously, and even in multimon configuration, extending your desktop to two monitors. Driver features were pretty good, not spectacular although it is useful to have separate Matrox settings ... it just gets confusing because you can use both Windows settings and Matrox settings.

Ja, alweer een nieuwe versie! Nieuw is o.a.

- WSZ (Winamp Skin Zip) handling (simply open a .WSZ file in explorer to have it installed)
- Two distributions (one with WMA and ASFS, one without)
- Better equalizer presets
- Better shuffle logic
- Better docking code
- Better support for invalid ID3v2 tags (for people putting invalid tags on)
- Minibrowser optimizations
- Fixed occasional random crashes from 2.23

Ook mag je nu kiezen of je de basic versie (540kB) of de complete versie (1.2MB) wilt.

Om te downloaden, klik hier!

Ook ATI heeft voor haar Rage 128 kaartjes nieuwe drivers gebakken, voor Win98 en NT. Ook hier is er nu 3DNow! support en OpenGL schijnt ook flink verbeterd te zijn, aldus Rage Underground.

Download de drivers hier!

De meeste wisten het al, maar ik post het toch even. Nvidia heeft nu de officiële 2.08 Detonator drivers gereleased (voor TNT1/2/Ultra's)

AMD gebruikers kunnen nu rekenen op volledige 3DNow! support, dus voor hen zeker het downloaden waard. Haal de officiële drivers dus hier.

Er is ook weer een nieuwe versie uit van Powerstrip, het handige videokaart / monitor utility programma, (tweaken en overklokken dus).

Download versie 2.51.05 hier.
Voor meer info, klik hier.

Voodoo Extreme meldt dat er weer een nieuwe versie van Gamespy te downloaden is. Handig proggie om online mee te gamen. Nieuw in deze versie:

- Kingpin Support
- Descent 3 Support (Updated)
- Drakan Support
- Fixes for the 2.12 issues with spaces in directory names

Ga naar hier om Gamespy te downloaden.