Ook Hot Hardware heeft een review gepost van de Gigabyte GA-660 Plus videokaart met de .22 micron TNT2-A Chip op 175/190MHz. Ook zij zijn erg enthousiast over dit kaartje:

Our opinion is that the Gigabyte GA660Plus is the best TNT2 based video card your money can buy at this point in time. The 2D desktop image quality is superb and the 3D Graphics numbers are best in the TNT2 space. The NVidia GeForce chipset based cards are just starting to hit the shelves now so you may be able to pick one of these little gems up for cheap money. We have to commend the folks at Gigabyte for really squeezing out every bit of performance from the TNT2! You can't go wrong with this card.

Voor meer info en een setje benchmarks, check hier de rest van de review.

The Register heeft een artikeltje gepost over de oorzaken achter de i820 chipset delay. Volgens hen ligt het probleem niet zozeer bij de i820 chipset, maar bij het brakke moederbord design van Intel. Deze borden worden o.a. gebruikt door Dell en om te voorkomen dat deze (erg belangrijke) fabrikanten geen i820 systemen zou kunnen uitbrengen en hun concurrenten (die gebruik maken van andere moederbord merken) wél, heeft Intel toen besloten om de release van de i820 chipset uit te stellen. Dit nieuws werd trouwens al eind september door Computer!Totaal naar buiten gebracht:

Technical mistakes that were announced just a few days before the release of the i820 and Intel's own Vancouver motherboard are more to do with the chip giant's inability to design working circuit boards and with its relationship with Dell and Samsung, according to well placed sources close to the companies' plans.

The problem now seems to boil down to this. The i820 chipset actually works fine. But Dell only uses Intel motherboards in its desktops and technical mistakes made by Chipzilla led to a last minute panic.

The Intel mistake is confined only to its motherboards and not to third parties, but the essence of the allegation is that as a result, Santa Clara pressed the stop button on all mobos using the i820 chipset, while it attempted to fix its own problem, calling all third party mobos in for qualification.

Intel had to stop the programme for another reason. It, and its major customers including Dell, would look very silly if their Vancouver solution failed to work while the i820 chipset hummed away very nicely on third party motherboards equipped with bright and shiny Coppermine .18 micron chips.

Komt nog bij dat Samsung met technische problemen kampt bij de produktie van Rambus chips. Meer daarover lees je bij The Register.

Bij de Singapore Hardware Zone is een review te vinden van Abit's Hot Rod ATA-66 controller. Schijnbaar werkte het ding niet helemaal lekker samen met wat CD-Rom drives:

Although the Hot Rod 66 is a superb performer, it is plagued with numerous problems. I believe there's been enough talk about its incompatibility with other IDE devices such as CD-ROM drives. In fact, I tested the controller with a CD-ROM connected to the secondary channel. Upon booting, my fears were confirmed, the system hanged and refused to budge. This is really a disappointment as you can only attach hard disks to the controller. Anyway, I suppose it shouldn't be much of a problem since you can always use the motherboard IDE controller for your miscellaneous IDE devices such as CD-ROM or ZIP drives.

In addition to the CD-ROM problem, the card also came with an outdated BIOS. Initial tests were ran with the older BIOS, and one of the reviewers noted its poor performance, which is worse than the on-board IDE controller. I later found an updated BIOS from the ABIT web site and immediately flashed the BIOS. Well, it seemed to have solve the problem although I'm not sure if it was meant to do so. Anyway, do make sure you flash the BIOS on the Hot Rod before you start to do anything.

Overclocking Extreme heeft een review gepost van een erg goede socket 370 cooler, de GlobalWIN FDP-32. In de test hebben ze hem vergeleken met een Alpha 7HO, die ietsie gepasseerd wordt door de FDP32:

The FDP32 is one awesome heatsink!!! It beats practically every socket 370 heatsink on the market in sheer size and it performed excellently throughout every torture test I could come up with. The only drawback is the fact that it doesn't fit on all motherboards. So, before you purchase the FDP32 make sure it will fit in your current configuration. However, this is not a reason to rank the FDP32 any lower. It is indeed the best passive socket 370 cooler currently available. Enthusiastically recommended!

LoneWolf schrijft: "Ehh je harddisk formatteren op afstand via java ? ja het kon dus wel, maar m$ had er geen prioriteit aan gesteld!
Nu heeft m$ toch maar een patch uitgebracht, nummer zoveel alweer voor ie....":

The vulnerability allows a programmer to send a Java program called an applet over the Internet to someone else's computer. Once in, the program can delete a computer's files or make a host of other equally troubling problems. A malicious Java applet, "if hosted on a Web site, could cause any action to be taken on the computer of a visiting user that the user himself could take," Microsoft said about the vulnerability today. "This could include, for example, creating, deleting or modifying files; sending data to or receiving data from a Web site; or reformatting the hard drive," Microsoft said.

Voor de lamers (zoals ik) die IE gebruiken, is de patch hier (98/99 en NT4, 7.0 MB) te halen. De enkele held onder ons die een Alpha heeft kan hier terecht (5,1 MB)

Scott Miller van 3DRealms heeft onlangs laten weten dat ze nog op zoek zijn naar een naam voor Duke Nukem deel 5. Duke Nukem Forever (deel 4) is nog niet klaar, maar in de naam zit wel een 4 verstopt, zoiets willen ze dus ook voor deeltje 5. Paar voorbeelden die al genoemd zijn:

- Duke Nukem 5: Five Times a Lady
- Duke Nukem: 5 Years Late
- Duke Nukem Does Debbie 5 Times

Afijn, je snapt het wel . Dus zet je creatieve brein voor de grap eens aan het werk, en verzin iets cools! Je creatieve uitspattingen kun je vervolgens hier bij de ShugaShack posten. Succes ermee

Dit is errug wreed! Het bedrijf Trinity Micro verkoopt bewerkte Athlon processors waarmee je met behulp van Dip Switches de voltage, multiplier en cache settings kan tweaken! Hieronder wat plaatjes geript van Overclokin'.com.

Hieronder wat info van Trinity Micro, waar die dingen verkocht worden. Een klant schijnt er zijn Athlon 600 op 850MHz te hebben draaien:

A client back east also contacted me this morning to say that he had pushed his Modified Athlon 600 to 850Mhz. This was done without using active cooling. It should be noted that he is running a 1.9v core (is that correct?) and the 1/3 cache multiplier. The chip he had sent me was identical to the 500's we have been getting in the shop as they have the K7600 core markings and the 3.6ns cache. I will try to recreate his results in my personal system using one of the new 500's. I will be doing testing on the FIC and Microstar boards with an Alpha Heatsink / Fan combo.

Een aangepaste Athlon 500 die zeker op 600MHz zal draaien gaat je 310 dollar kosten ex verzenden.

Bij Overclockers' Workbench hebben ze een vergelijkings tabel gepost tussen de MSI 6167 en Asus K7M Athlon mobo's. Het is dus alleen een opsomming van de verschillen tussen de twee planken, maar wel erg overzichtelijk en handig als je nog zit te twijfelen. Lees het hier.

Ik lees bij Overclockers' Workbench dat Abit nieuwe bios-en gereleased heeft voor de BF6, WB6, BE6-II en BH6. Ga naar Abit's FTP om te downloaden.

bij PGR hebben ze eens gekeken naar de Oxygen VX1 en GVX1 professionele workstation OpenGL videokaarten van 3DLabs (niet interessant voor gamers dus). Hieronder een hap uit de review.

At SIGGRAPH'99 I had a chance to watch quite a few professionals to do just that and the majority were very impressed. The GVX1 seemed to win over most of the crowd with it's onboard geometry and lighting acceleration but many were taken back by the VX1's performance. They found it hard to believe that a card that comes in around $200USD could run applications as well as the GVX1 (at a reduced speed of course). But this shouldn't surprise anyone since both card share the same rasterizer.

There's the "thing". The VX1 and GVX1 are basically the same board. In day-to-day use, the GVX1 performed just like the VX1. Whether I was playing a Direct3D game in Windows 98, working on a spread sheet in Excel, or surfing the web, I noticed no difference between them. The only time I noticed any difference is when it came to large models where the addition of the Gamma G1 made life with the GVX1 a very pleasant experience. Of course don't let the lack of a G1 keep you from checking out the VX1. The VX1 can hold its own when you deal mainly with low to medium polygon models.

In conclusion, I highly recommend the Oxygen VX1 to students or enthusiasts on a budget who are looking for a professional solution with great OpenGL support. If money is not a big concern or you're constantly working with large models (wireframe or polygon) than you might want to have a look at the Oxygen GVX1 or the GVX210.

Ik kwam net verzeild op de site van Digital Innovations waar ze een handig apparaatje in elkaar hebben geknutseld die al je bekraste CD's of DVD's kan repareren. Het ding heet SkipDoctor en ziet er zo uit:

To repair a disc, simply insert it into SkipDoctor(TM), spray it with the provided environmentally friendly resurfacing fluid, and turn the handle until the disc makes one complete revolution. Flip the conveniently located reversibility switch to reverse the disc rotation direction and turn the handle until the disc makes another complete revolution in the opposite direction. Remove the disc and dry it thoroughly with the provided drying cloth, then use the provided felt buffing square to restore the disc to its original shiny appearance. The disc is once again problem-free!

Op de site kan je hem bestellen, kost je 35 dollar.

Ow jee, alweer een review van de optische Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer. Bij TeleFragged vinden ze het ook wel een errug relaxt muisje:

The Intellimouse Explorer is without a doubt one of the best and most exciting pieces of hardware I've bought since my first voodoo card a few years back. Microsoft most definitely changed mouse technology for the better. And, with the addition of 2 more buttons I'd guess that most future games will be taking advantage of them, giving the mouse 7 functions in total. Also with the ability to apply different functions to those 2 buttons is can make general windows and web browsing so much easier. To top it all its unbelievably comfy and looks absolutely incredible as you can see from the picture above. Y'know the weird thing is you will still feel the need to use a mouse mat If you want to splash out on something new for your system and don't want to pay a whole lot, then this baby should be on the top of your list.

Check de rest van de review hier.
Bij de weg, ik zie dat op de nieuwe hardware site Fusion Hardware ook een review te vinden is van deze muis.

Dexter.B schrijft: "Het ziet er naar uit dat binnenkort de eerste portable Mp3 CD-Romspeler op de markt zal worden gebracht door Pine Technology USA. De speler zal naast de MP3 CD-Roms natuurlijk ook in staat zijn om normale Audio CD's af te spelen. Dit is vooral goed nieuws voor diegenen die de 64/96 Mb van bijvoorbeeld de RIO bij lange na niet genoeg vinden. Aan de keerzijde blijkt dat deze speler natuurlijk niet in staat is om op te nemen, maar daar is de brander voor uitgevonden dacht ik zo! Het vooruitzicht van een kleine 130 MP3-tjes op een 74 minuten CD-Rom die je op je portable-tje af kunt spelen is pretty kewl! Verdere info dan alleen een plaatje is er nog niet, maar je kunt je opgeven voor een mailinglist zodat je, zogauw er nieuws is, je dit in je mailbox krijgt. Overigens levert Pine ook de "gewone" portable MP3 spelers met o.a een ingebouwde FM radio-tuner en mogelijkheid tot spraakopname."

Wow, dit is inderdaad errug kewl . Check Pine Technology USA voor meer info (= aanmelden voor mailinglist). Hieronder een plaatje van het apparaat:

Het is alweer bijna tijd voor EA om een nieuwe game in de populaire Fifa reeks uit te brengen. Bij The Sports Gaming Network hebben ze vast een hands-on preview van de game online gezet. Hieronder vast een klein gedeelte:

Graphics are stunning as usual from the EA camp. The players are more animated which are really noticed during cut scenes. The players also have some new facial features such as hair color and facial hair. The in-game menus are easy to navigate through and arranged nicely. Stadiums are even better and now the crowd is really into the match as you can see them jumping in the stands in support for their team.

Sound and other audio features are top-notch. EA has redone the commentary for the US version of the game and added Julie Foudy of the US Women's National Team and Phil Schoen of the popular sports channel ESPN. The crowd noise and chants are taken to a new level, especially when the crowd animation is activated in the game. It really tweaks more and more realism out of the game.

The AI has somehow become even stronger and more aggressive. Setting up plays requires more thinking, but do not “go to the well” all the time, as the AI seems to learn your pattern and the play which worked before will be quickly broken up. EA has taken a page from its NHL series and added collisions, shoving, and other heavy contact in the game. It can really get ugly on the field now to create rivalries between teams.

In de preview staan nog tig meer screenshots, check ze hier.

Ik weet niet of er al mensen zijn die dit kaartje hebben, maar voor diegene: er zijn nieuwe drivers voor je . Ze zijn gebasseerd op de 3.53 Detonators van nVidia.

Win9x driver (1.6mb)
WinNT driver (923kB)

Bij de games site Quantum 9 hebben ze een review online gezet van de net gereleaste game Grand Theft Auto deeltje 2. Volgens hun is de network code erg brak waardoor online multiplayer games bijna niet mogelijk is. Ze geven hem uiteindelijk een schamele 5.4 :

The first thing I noticed that really strikes me as a cool feature over the original, is the fact that the city you are in, is always split up into 3 different gangs. Each city will vary on which gangs rule what, etc. However, the premise is basically the same. Complete jobs for one of the gangs, and you gain respect for that gang, while losing respect from some of the others. Gain enough respect from one gang, and they'll give you more jobs, protect you from cops, and pay you better money. You can also recieve some extra respect, by venturing into an opposing gang's turf, and killing off a few of their members, which will always please one gang or the other. Each gang has a "Rival Gang". To earn respect from one gang, cause some hell in it's Rival Gang's Turf. It adds for some unique strategy, when you realize you have to do a low key operation, in a Gang's Turf that wants you dead on sight. So it gives you something to think about when approaching every mission.