AnandTech heeft er weer een review opzitten, ditmaal van het befaamde Dual Celeron moederbord van Abit, de BP6. Hier heb je een stukkie gepeest uit de review, check de rest hier.

The BP6's SoftMenu II takes advantage of the new clock generator on the BP6 by providing support, albeit unofficially, for a total of 27 FSB settings. ABIT's FSB support is much more intelligent than that of many competing manufacturers as 23 of the 27 settings are FSB settings between 66MHz and 100MHz, the overclocking sweet spot for Celeron processors. In addition to the standard 66/75/83/100/124/133MHz FSB settings, the BP6 supports the 72/78/80MHz settings, as well as FSB settings ranging from 82MHz - 100MHz in 1MHz increments. For those users that are keen on getting the most performance from their system, the BP6 offers the right set of FSB settings and it is the only motherboard thus far to actually support FSB settings that are reasonable for overclocking. Honestly now, how many users are happily running at a 153MHz FSB and still use their computers for more than showing off the 153MHz FSB? The 124/133MHz FSB settings are present for the users that may want to give them a try, however with a 66MHz, clock locked, Celeron, it is highly unlikely that you'll ever run into a situation where the 124MHz FSB would be a viable option. The board also supports the 1/3 PCI clock divider with all > 90MHz FSB settings and the 1/4 PCI clock divider with all > 100MHz FSB settings to keep the PCI frequency as close to the specified 33MHz setting as possible, for those with extremely frequency sensitive PCI peripherals.

Gaming Entertainment Monthly heeft 30 nieuwe screenshots op hun site gedropt van de RTS game Earth 2150. De game wordt gemaakt door Topware en staat gepland voor een release deze herfst. Geez, als de gameplay net zo goed is als de grahics zijn dan wordt dit echt een vette hit!
Hier heb je vast een voorproefje, klik hier voor de rest!

Schaamteloos heb ik het hele stukje text bij tommie volledig gekopiert en hier weer geplakt. Just love that cut'n paste feature

UPDATE:
Ik had nog maar net dit gepost toen ik nog wat vond bij Voodoo Extreme. Eigenlijk interessanter nog. Een interview met een van de mensen van Core: Adrian Smith. Het interview vind je hier, dit is een klein stukje uit het interview:
"For the first time we are producing a dedicated PC version which is not constrained by what can or can't be done on the PSX. In essence the whole of the game engine for Last Revelation is new. In terms of format, the two versions of the game are the same, but there will be elements on the PC version that will make use of the hardware specific features (bumpmapping, etc. ). There will also be subtle differences between the two versions, with the PC maybe having some new features that are not available on the PSX version."

Twee compleet verschillende versies dus van Tombraider IV.

En nu weer verder het stukje wat ik eerst al gepost had:

The highly anticipated sequel to Tomb Raider III hits the shelves this fall. Sources at Eidos Interactive reveal that Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation will feature the return of iconic heroine Lara Croft as an archeologist caught up in cloak-and-dagger intrigue in Northern Africa, but with a greater emphasis on puzzles and gameplay than its predecessors. Developers say the game will offer players an easier-to-use interface and enhanced graphics. Loading screens are eliminated, thanks to improvements in the game’s engine, making The Last Revelation a continuous, almost seamless experience, featuring dissolves into cinematic cut-scenes and full-motion video. Gamers can expect a new and improved Lara as well. Eidos says she will appear fully skinned -- without breaks between the polygons that make up the figure -- and more detailed than before. Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation for PC and PlayStation is expected to be released in November. More details can be found at www.zdnn.com.

Hoewel velen liever gewoon meer Lara zouden zien, is het voor het spel zelf denk ik beter. Nu alleen eerst nog maar eens zien of ze(core) zich wel aan hun beloftes houden.

Voor de echte techies onder ons: Ars Technica heeft een artikel gebouwd over de de technische kant van AMD's nieuwe CPU, de Athlon. Termen als FPU, Pipelining en dergelijke worden behandeld en zo gebruikersvriendelijk (met plaatjes) uitgelegd. Als je hierin geinteresseerd bent, ga dan zeker even kijken.

I’ve been getting a steady stream of emails over the past few months from readers who not only want to know what’s up with the K7, but who also want an explanation that’s a bit more accessible than what’s currently out there. To this end, I’ve prepared what I hope will be a user-friendly synthesis and translation of information that is, by now, widely available from a variety of sources. No breaking news here, or even original conclusions. Just a look at the information that’s been released so far, some discussion of why the K7’s designers made the decisions that they did, and how these decisions set the K7 apart from Intel’s P6-based CPUs. I’ll be going into detail on some of the most talked-about features, like the FPU and the EV6 bus, but I’ll also discuss some of the not-so-glamorous features that will contribute to enhancing the K7’s performance. Additionally, I'll be adding Part II to the line-up within a matter of days, building on what I've completed here.

Lastly, in my effort to make this technical article as approachable as possible, I've also, inadvertently perhaps, developed what I think is a useful introduction to several basic CPU-related concepts. As such, you can look at this as much more than a K7 technical preview.

Het tweede deel over de Athlon's front end komt volgende week...

CPU Review heeft een review geplaatst van de Maxi Gamer Xentor 32, de Ultra TNT2 kaart van Guillemot. Check de review hier.

The Guillemot Maxi Gamer Xentor 32 is an outstanding graphics card; the best one I've had the pleasure of using so far. As you can see, there is a heat sink and fan on the TNT2 chip; unfortunately the heat sink / fan combination is not sufficient to cool the card (at least the specific one I was testing!) during July.

After 10 minutes of 3D testing the triangles forming the images "cracked" and bitmaps became corrupted... a classic sign of overheating. Fortunately I have a 3" high speed fan for just such emergencies... with that fan blowing across the video card it ran without a hitch.

Een alarmerend bericht bij The Register: de afgelopen twee week zijn de prijzen van 64Mbit DRAM chips met 25% gestegen naar $6, na geruchten over produktie problemen bij Micron:

However, last week, Micron took the unusual step of publicly refuting a Dresdner Kleinwort Benson report that it had production problems.

Two weeks ago, we contacted Micron which denied then that there were any problems. (Micron says it has no problems with memories, whatever)

In a company statement, CEO Steve Appleton said: "Although the company normally does not respond to comments made by industry analysts, the misinformation contained in the Dresdner Keinwort Benson report is so inflammatory and rumors have persisted for so long that the company felt it was appropriate to respond. It is unfortunate that Dresdner would propagate this misinformation in the marketplace and that others would continue to irresponsibly report these inaccurate claims. We are currently reviewing our legal options."

Micron also said it has submitted a complaint to the Japanese Fair Trade Commission.

Richard Gordon, senior memory analyst at Dataquest Europe, said: "The prices [of 64Mbit SDRAM] rose in reaction to those rumours before Micron officially denied it."

Klein berichtje: Een van de forummers van Matrox Users heeft een registry hack gevonden om (eindelijk) de resolutie van 1280x960 te ondersteunen. Dit is natuurlijk niet alleen interessant voor Quake2 spelers, maar ook voor fotoshoppers die op hun 19" ook wel weer eens een fatsoenlijke 4:3 verhouding willen . Het werkt met hun Powerdesk 5, dus voor alle G100, G200 en G400 kaarten. Ik ga het op kantoor ff op mijn G100 uitproberen... De forumthread kun je trouwens hier vinden.

Helmchen posted a registry hack to the forums to enable the 1280x960 resolution under PowerDesk 5.x. This will be of particular interest to Quake players who have long since bemoaned the lack of support for this resolution. I've modified it slightly by defaulting the refresh rates in all colour depths to 60Hz, just modify this in the PowerDesk Monitor Settings to suit your monitor. I've added it to the PD 5.x Registry Hacks archive.

Graeme Devine van id Software zegt in zijn .plan update dat er snel een update voor de laatste Q3Test (v1.06) zal komen. Er zijn een paar kleine dingetjes die ze graag gefixed willen zien. Modem gebruikers niet gevreesd; de update zal geen volledige 30MB download zijn, maar 'slechts' 3 à 5MB. Anyway, dit stond er onder andere in de .plan

We're testing a new version of the build right now that has some new stuff in it:

the ; key now remains bound (for all you lefties)

the timescale exploit has been plugged (again, actually this was in the last version of the test and a lot of people were silently using it)

LAN servers display properly

IPX is working

the enabling cheat exploit has been fixed

CPU time for servers should be nicer

an exploit in the tourney map has been filled

joystick support (there is no conspiracy here, but this might require more time to fix than just tonight)

We're looking to get win32/Macintosh out there, hopefully tonight, but probably

tomorrow by the time we're through checking all this out.

Bij UGN3D kun je een review vinden van de Maxi Gamer Xentor TNT2 16MB. Deze kaart is echt een aanrader, zeker gezien de lage prijs en goede overklokbaarheid.

3D Accelerators have flooded the market in the past few years. Deciding what chipset of the four big chipsets is right for you is crucial. If you buy a card that is too powerful for your system you will be losing out on its full potential and probably will not get the performance available from cards designed for lower end systems. The same is true if you buy a card that is meant for lower end systems, you will not get optimized performance. The Xentor board is made for Mid Range systems to highend systems, I was able to achieve a frame rate of 59 in Quake 2 at a resolution of 1024x768. Which is a great frame rate from any system, the lower resolution frame rates were nothing impressive but still above 60. Their is also a TNT 2 Ultra Version of this board called the Xentor 32, that board is intended for really high end systems such as Pentium 3 based systems. The TNT 2 chipset supports 32 bit rendering, 32 bit rendering produces graphics with greater color detail. The amount of games that support 32 bit rendering is raising increasing steadily each year, and it is likely as performance increases so will the use of 32 bit rendering. The nice thing about the Xentor is it's uncommonly low price, selling in Canada and the US for roughly the same price as a V3. This low cost high performance 3D Accelerator solution is one of the best values on the market today. I would recommend the Xentor to almost any gamer, it combination of low cost, high performance and great implementation make it one of the best if not the best standard TNT 2 on the market today. Beyond all of that is has a kick ass game bundle.

Ze hebben de kaart trouwens ook gebenchmarked met UltraHLE, dat is wel origineel.

Sotec, een of andere wazige Japanse pc boer, heeft een iMac achtige Celeron pc aangekondigd. Plaatje:

Leuk berichtje bij The Register: Intel zal binnenkort aankondigen dat de PC-133 standaard toch in overweging zal nemen. Dit als alternatief voor het veel te dure en in produktie problemen verkerende Rambus:

he goliath has had back up plans for the whole year but has now kowtowed to pressure from its third party manufacturers. But this is far from a humiliation for the chip giant, said a source.

She said that Intel had realised that the amount of support for PC-133 meant that there was a case for the SDRAM standard. Intel will continue to support Rambus and its efforts.

All our readers have to is to search on the number 133 on this site to see the complete background.

Over the last eight weeks or so, Intel has changed its case on the PC-133 standard. The whole of the mobo industry wanted it to support it from day uno.

Many Intel customers, including HP, IBM and Compaq, have persuaded the goliath to change its mind. The mobo manufacturers are peripheral...

Jason van AnandTech heeft een review geplaatst van de Creative / Cambridge SoundWorks FPS2000. Deze zogenaamd digitale speakerset bestaat uit 4 satellites en een dikke subwoofer en verwisseld voor 200 dollar van eigenaar:

Today's latest craze in computer audio is 3D audio. Whether it be EAX or A3D, it's in almost every new game. Although simulating 3D audio on two speakers has been quite successful, it does not compare to four speakers. The FPS2000's sound fantastic when hooked up to a new 3d audio card, such as the MX-300, which is what I used for my tests. I tried various games like Unreal, Half Life, Need For Speed High Stakes, and Star Wars Racer; all of them sounded fantastic. Turn off the lights and play some Half Life, and the story, as immersive as it is, is taken to a new level with these speakers. The speakers also have the option of using a digital connection, which the Soundblaster Live supports. I tried this and didn't notice much of a difference at all.

Intel heeft bevestigd dat het de prijzen van de PIII heeft verlaagd, zo bericht The Register:

The prices of the 550MHz Pentium III have dropped to $658, the 500MHz to $423 and the 450MHz to $230. And the 600MHz PIII part is cheaper than ever.

According to an Intel source, the cuts are being made ahead of the 600MHz Pentium III .25 micron part, as already reported here.

All prices are in 1,000s, to OEMs and other big factoring plants.

Het volk van The Tech Zone heeft een artikeltje in elkaar gedraaid waarin ze de performance van een 16 en 32Mb Viper V770 vergelijken. Conclusie: geen verschil (zolang de 16Mb kaart niet moet overschakelen op AGP texturing):

I also overclocked both cards to see if one can overclock higher than the other. After all the benchmarking was done I sat down and played some real games with the cards to see if I could "feel" a difference. The bottom line was I really couldn't. If you were to sit me down and tell me the computer has either the 16 or 32 meg card and ask me which card was in the computer by playing a few games, I wouldn't be able to tell ya.

Gamende Mac freaks kunnen bij 3dfx een nieuw drivertje halen voor de Voodoo2 (ja, die werken ook op een Mac ). Pluk 'm hier.

Gamespot UK heeft een korte review van de G400 Max op het net geplant. Ik pluk er ff een stukje uit over beeldkwaliteit:

Image quality is simply second to none, and the 3D feature set is as comprehensive and forward looking as you could ask for. Unique among the cards here, it also boasts hardware-based environmental bump mapping as opposed to the conventional embossed ­ or 'fake' ­ bump mapping found on the other cards here. True, it'll be a while before this becomes commonplace in games, but it certainly makes a big visual impact and there are a number of forthcoming titles such as Slave Zero, Drakan and Expendable which support this feature.

id Software heeft een Quake II port voor BeOS gereleased. Info en download locaties vind je bij Be Depot. Zoals je ziet is-ie slechts 1,2Meg:

QuakeII contains the following significant features:

- Video
- Sound
- Network and internet play
- Experimental OpenGL support through the operating system
- Support for Capture the Flag and other game variations

REMEMBER!

This is only the functional part of QuakeII. It's only 1.2 MB. To play, you will need to have a purchased copy of QuakeII data files. Remember to play responsibly.

Storage Review heeft een ATA harddisk roundup in elkaar gedraaid. Handige info als je op dit moment op zoek bent naar een 5400 of 7200rpm harddisk. Hier heb je de conclusie van Storage Review wat betreft de 7200rpm categorie:

1999 is the year that 7200rpm ATA drives went mainstream. Though virtually all current 7200rpm drives deliver previously unheard of performance, the Western Digital Expert AC418000 is a standout. In the Expert, Western Digital combines great all-around performance with excellent acoustics, low heat levels, and competitive pricing. WD's strong retail presence also makes finding a unit to buy a snap. IBM, in its Deskstar 22GXP, provides similar performance and the largest size around, albeit at a higher price. Units from Maxtor and Quantum stand out when it comes to NT performance. The DiamondMax Plus 5120 is a value with the lowest price when it comes to $/GB while the Fireball Plus KA boasts the lowest access time around, competitive with many SCSI drives. Finally, the Fujitsu Desktop 18, while not competitive performance wise, delivers whisper-quiet operation.

Er zijn nieuwe versies gereleased van de handige SoftFSB en WCPUID proggies. Voor het geval je 't nog niet mocht weten: met SoftFSB kun je on-the-fly de busspeed van je moederplank aanpassen. Het werkt niet op alle borden, maar als het werkt dan kan het erg handig zijn. WCPUID geeft info weer over je CPU (type, clockspeed enz.). De nieuwe versie biedt ondersteuning voor dual CPU.

Download locaties:
- sfsb170.exe (104,055 bytes)
- wcpu260.exe (60,327 bytes)

Nog een review van Abit's dual Celeron BP6 moederbord. Hier heb je een stukje over hetgeen Hardware One over de BP6 te vertellen heeft...

The BP6 is quite unlike other dual boards I have seen. BP6 is built for overclockers like us, offering myriad FSBs settings as well as voltage tweaks through the innovative SoftMenu II.

Go for the BP6 if you are a hardcore RC5/SETI fellow. Nothing beats the joy of seeing your ranking improve on a SMP system.

ATA-66 performance should be well-liked once it is implemented in Windows 2000. From other independent benchmarks, some ATA-66 drives will beat even my 40 Mb/s SCSI Ultra-Wide Seagate Cheetah, at a fraction of the cost.

Een stukje release info over de chipset van Via met de PC-133 standaard.

Het was al bekend dat National Semiconductor de chippies zou gaan produceren, vanwege allerlei legaal gezeur. Maar opvallend vind ik hier dat de chipset alleen maar AGPx2 ondersteunt. Is dit nu een 'slip of the keyboard', oftewel een typ fout? Of is dit gewoon echt een ontbrekende feature in de nieuwe chipset?

It will support Pentium processors with 133MHz front side buses (FSBs). Unfortunately, no such processors are yet available from Intel, which has announced a delay on the parts. Via said the Apollo Pro133 will also work with PC66 based PCs using Pentium IIs and Celerons, offering the advantage of 66/100 and 100/133 memory and CPU combinations. The chipset also integrates AGP 2x, ATA-66 and support for virtual channel SDRAM. It is shipping now and costs $29 when bought in large quantities, labelled with both NatSemi and Via logos.

Vanaf augustus zal de i740 chipset niet langer ondersteunt worden door Intel.

Verder heeft Intel ook bekend gemaakt dat het niet langer bezig is met het ontwikkelen van een high-end chipset, die tot nu toe de code naam i754 had. De i752, de opvolger van de i740 wordt wel door ontwikkeld. De reden voor het stoppen van de i754 is volgens de officiele lezing dat de i752 biedt wat Intel wilde bereiken met de i754.

Je kunt het verhaaltje lezen bij The Register.

Gream Devine heeft zijn .plan (sinds 2 minuten) gisteren weer eens geupdate. Dit maal gaat het over proxy support in Quake 3 Arene test versie 1.06

SOCKS Proxy Support

There are five cvars that control it. They are only settable from the at init

time (from the OS command line).

+set net_socksEnabled 1

+set net_socksServer

+set net_socksPort

+set net_socksUsername

+set net_socksPassword

Please note that you use the address (name or IP number) of the SOCKS server

(firewall machine), NOT a Q3ATEST server. The port number defaults to 1080,

you should not need to change this.

It supports no authentication and username/password authentication method

(RFC-1929); it does NOT support GSS-API method (RFC-1961) authentication.

Wat? Heb je Quake 3 1.06 nog niet? Schaam je en download dat ding hier.

Op een pagina met deze link, worden de K7 500MHz en de 600MHz te koop aan geboden...

... maar als je de prijzen ziet dan ga je spontaan gillen.

Ik durf de prijzen niet eens te posten, ga maar gewoon even kijken, hier.