AMD narrows Intel gap, boosts Hammer
April 30, 2002
Advanced Micro Devices gained a bit of ground on Intel in the first quarter, bolstered in part by growth in the markets for notebook and server chips, according to a research study. The company also announced speeds of its upcoming Hammer chip at a conference in San Francisco.
In the first quarter, Intel accounted for 80.8 percent of the worldwide shipment of processors for PCs, a drop of 0.4 percent sequentially. The figures include shipments of chips for Microsoft's Xbox game console. AMD accounted for 18.2 percent of shipments, an increase of 0.2 percent sequentially. The remaining 1 percent of shipments came from other processor makers such as Via Technologies. The figures, from Mercury Research analyst Dean McCarron, do not include PowerPC shipments to Apple Computer.
Meanwhile, AMD's chairman, Jerry Sanders, told an audience at Merrill Lynch's Hardware Heaven conference in San Francisco that Hammer, the company's forthcoming chip for desktops and servers, will debut at 2GHz or higher.
Hammer will ship to PC makers in the fourth quarter and will be released to the public in the first quarter of 2003, Sanders added.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
PC3000 Memory Comparison @ Amdmb.com
April 30, 2002
Amdmb.com has posted a comparison of five different brand of high speed DDR memory. In their PC3000 Memory Comparison they showcase how the Corsair, Crucial, Kingmax, Mushkin and OCZ differ in performance. The results may surprise quite a few people.
Quote:
"The prompt for this article came from a lot of threads in the AMD Forums that were complaining that the PC3000 memory they were buying, that had claims of running 180+ MHz with CAS 2 latency was not performing as expected. The amount of complaints and arguments spanned nearly all of the manufacturers at some point or another, and I decided to take it upon myself to test each of them out for you, the reader. "
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Seven Card GeForce 4 MX 440 Round-Up @ HotHardware.Com
April 30, 2002
Tonight on HotHardware, they've posted a round-up of seven GeForce 4 MX 440 based cards. Products from Abit, Chaintech, eVGA, Gainward, Leadtek, Visiontek and X-Micro are all represented. They evaluated everything from their price to their bundle, ran a slew of benchmarks and picked a winner!
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Tyan Tiger MPX S2466 Motherboard Review @ Tweakers.com.au
April 30, 2002
Tweakers Australia has just posted a review on Tyan's new dual AMD motherboard, based around the AMD 760 MPX chipset - introducing the Tyan Tiger MPX S2466N-4M. It offers support for upto 4GB of registered DDR266, two 64bit/66MHz PCI slots, four 32bit/33MHz PCI slots, a 4x AGP, onboard 3Com 10/100 NIC and onboard USB. As you can see, it sure is loud when it comes to features, but lets see how it performs.
Here's a snip:
"Dual CPU systems are not for everyone. A lot of people think they simply go out and buy a capable motherboard, a couple of CPUs, and the next thing they know everything will be twice as fast - certainly not the case! This review was my first attempt at running a dual-CPU system, and I was quick to learn that only a handful of applications actually make use of more than on processor. It was nearly a year ago when AMD released their first multiprocessor chipset the 760 MP, which had a lot of potential at the time, and actually performed quite well. The platform didn't so do well in the eyes of major OEMs, but did impress and gain support from the PC enthusiast and the hardcore gaming crowd. At the start of this year AMD released its second-generation chipset, the 760 MPX, and Tyan was one of the first manufactures to offer a complete board featuring the new chipset. Tyan calls it the Tiger MPX, and it comes in two flavors - the S2466N and the S2466N-4M."
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Abit Kx7-333 and kx7-333r bios
April 29, 2002
Bios for the Abit kx7-333/kx7-333R
bios version: 7M
download: kx7-333/kx7-333r
Posted by Kevin Kizer
Asus a7n266-vm bios
April 29, 2002
Asus released a new bios for the socket a motherboard A7N266-vm
version: 1002
download:
a7n266-vm v1002
Posted by Kevin Kizer
Asus a7n266-vm bios
April 29, 2002
Asus released a new bios for the socket a motherboard A7N266-vm
version: 1002
download:
a7n266-vm v1002
Posted by Kevin Kizer
Apple refreshes TiBook with faster G4
April 29, 2002
Apple has been a busy spelling bee today, creating the eMac, an iMac, only with an 'e', not an 'i', for the impoverished schools sector, and refreshing its Titanium Powerbook range with a faster G4 processor.
Two new models are launched today, a 667MHz version (what's wrong with 666?, Apple; we know you're in league with the forces of darkness), and an 800 meg flavour. They are supplied with big screens - 15.2in at 23 per cent higher resolution - 1280-by-854 pixels; 1MB of level 3 cache; and integrated Gigabit Ethernet, a first for a notebook, Apple claims (although this features on earlier Ti Books).
Source: Theregister.co.uk
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Heatsink Theory Guide @ TweakTown
April 29, 2002
TweakTown has just posted a new guide entitled "Heatsink Theory Guide", which gives us a run down of the theory behind heatsinks.
Here's a snip:
"There are many different heatsink fan products on the market today with the rise of overclocking popularity over the past few years. Heatsinks come in all different shapes and sizes are made out of a range of different materials. We have different fan choices, from the ultra quiet mildly performing to top performing of the range highly performing noisy fans. But in the end, I'm sure you've all wondered before now, "how do they actually work?". In this guide TweakTown tells us just that, the theory behind heatsinks."
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
75GXP HDD Autopsy @ OCAU
April 29, 2002
One of OCAU's senior writers had an IBM 75GXP die on him (how unusual, I hear you say). In an attempt to find out what the problem was, learn a little about HDD internals.
A snip:
"This is the actuator arm, which moves the drive heads around the disk surface. I've removed it from it's assembly, so that the carefully coiled wires can be clearly seen - when these wires have a current passed through them, the magnetic field created by the extremely powerful permanent magnets I mentioned before causes the coil to be pushed or pulled back and forth between the magnets - this is how the drive heads are positioned to read and write on the platters as they spin."
Click here to read the article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Abit SD7-533 Motherboard With Crucial DDR PC2700 Memory - Review @ HotHardware.com
April 29, 2002
Tonight's special feature on HotHardware.com is Abit's SiS645 driven SD7-533 for the Pentium 4, along with some of the finest "true" PC2700 DDR DRAM Memory Modules from Crucial Technologies!
"Until only recently, true PC2700 DDR DRAM has not been available in the retail channel. Come see what a SiS645 board can really do with the proper memory behind it"
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Big Blue chips power up 'Fast Path'
April 26, 2002
IBM will disclose details on Friday of its future server chips, the most important piece of hardware in Big Blue's long battle to dethrone Sun Microsystems from the top of the $21 billion Unix server market.
IBM plans to endow its Power5 and Power6 processors with an ability called "Fast Path" to take over tasks that software currently handles more slowly.
Power5 will be able to take over software tasks commonly used in the operating system such as packaging data to be sent to networks, said Ravi Arimilli, an IBM Fellow and the chief technology officer for the Power line of chips. Power6 will extend its reach further, taking over tasks now handled by higher-level software such as IBM or Oracle database software or IBM's WebSphere e-commerce software, he said.
The Power5 and Power6 processors, to be detailed at IBM's analyst conference in Palisades, N.Y. and expected to arrive in 2004 and 2006, are the successors to the highly regarded Power4 chip at the heart of the p690 " Regatta" Unix servers. IBM hopes the chips will help increase its 20.3 percent share of the Unix server market, second to Sun's 35.2 percent.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
SOYO KT333 Dragon Ultra review @ Legion Hardware
April 26, 2002
Legion Hardware has just finished a review on the new SOYO KT333 Dragon Ultra motherboard sporting the VIA KT333 chipset.
"Finally the “Dragon” returns once again and this time in the form of a certain KT333 chipset. Replacing the SY-K7V Dragon Plus! the new KT333 Dragon Ultra still has the rich ingredients that helped make SOYO’s board such a success. I have been eagerly awaiting the return of the black Dragon, as it was our only hope for an all-in-one DDR333 board. Sporting ATA 133-RAID, ATA 133-IDE interface, USB 2.0, 10/100 onboard LAN, 6-Channel onboard audio, serious overclocking power and of course the VIA KT333 chipset, what more could you want?"
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
NVIDIA Quadro4 200 NVS Review @ Tweakers.com.au
April 26, 2002
Tweakers Australia has just posted a review of the professional workstation card, NVIDIA's Quadro4 200 NVS with Dual DVI/VGA output.
Here's a snip:
"Just over 2 months have passed since the official launch of NVIDIA's Geforce4, and while it seemed like every man and his dog was waiting to get their hands on one of these lightning fast cards, there was still a significant percentage waiting for something else - the Quadro4. It doesn't surprise me that a lot of people can't differentiate between the two very different graphic markets that exist, i.e. professional and desktop, and how they insist on using 3D and gaming benchmarks to compare performance of the two. The facts are, not everybody is interested in raw 3D horsepower, but are concerned a great deal more with image quality, features, functionality and 2D performance. Matrox was pushed out of the desktop market quite some time ago, and they have since been supplying the 2D workstation, business and video editing markets quite comfortably. Now it is NVIDIA's turn to take a bite out of the apple with their latest line of professional multi-display graphic cards, the Quadro4 NVS series."
Click here to read the review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Review of Corsair PC2700 ( PC3000 ) DDR SDRAM @ Hardware-test.dk
April 26, 2002
The Danish site Hardware-Test.dk today released the review of the new Corsair PC2700 ( PC3000 ) DDR SDRAM module - they are taking a closer look on this one:
"Corsair is a product we all connect with high performance, quality and overclocking. They've released a DDR333 module, XMS2700, at CAS2. We will overclock and test it to its limits..."
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
First Linux IA64 Driver
April 26, 2002
Products Supported:
Quadro
Quadro2 MXR/EX
Quadro2 Pro
Quadro DCC
Quadro4 550 XGL
Quadro4 750 XGL
Quadro4 900 XGL
Operating system: linux
Download:
Nvidia
Posted by Kevin Kizer
AMD and Microsoft collaborate on chips
April 25, 2002
Chip giant moves to crack corporate market as chief exec steps down
Chip manufacturer Advance Micro Devices (AMD) yesterday said it is to collaborate with software giant Microsoft to enable its Windows operating systems to run on the upcoming Hammer family of AMD chips.
AMD chips have been successful with home PC users but have failed to crack the corporate market.
Microsoft joins Linux in backing AMD with its operating system.
The chip company hopes that by working with Microsoft it can get a foot in the server market and persuade IT managers to take its chipsets seriously.
"The union of AMD's technology and a Microsoft Windows operating system built to support that technology lays the groundwork for broader industry adoption of 64bit computing platforms, especially in the enterprise, and helps drive performance to new levels," said Dirk Meyer, group vice president of AMD's Computation Products Group.
Source: Vnunet.com
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
AMD Athlon XP 2100+ Review @ Icrontic
April 25, 2002
Today, Icrontic brings you a review of AMD's flagship processor, the Athlon XP 2100+. At 1.733Ghz, the 2100+ certainly packs a punch, but is it really worth upgrading to from your current Thunderbird CPU?
"With the upcoming release of the desktop version of the Thoroughbred line AMD will be switching to a smaller .13 micron process which will provide faster running, and hopefully cooler running, processors. So why review the Athlon XP 2100+ at this point in time? Well quite simply, very few people can afford to buy the latest and greatest CPU immediately after it is released. The new Thoroughbred processors should help to drive down the price of the current 2100+ and 2000+ Athlon XP's, making them a more viable upgrade option for many. Today, we'll be exploring the technology behind the Athlon XP and see if its performance is worth upgrading from a current Thunderbird chip."
Click here to read the article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
DFI AD73 KT266A Motherboard Review @ Amdmb.com
April 25, 2002
Amdmb.com has posted a review of the KT266A powered DFI AD73 RAID motherboard. This should be the final KT266A motherboard reviewed individually, so you might want to see how it compares to the rest of the field including the Abit KR7A line of motherboards.
Quote:
"The DFI AD73 motherboard has a strong list of advantages but also some of the disadvantages that go along with it. First, for the strengths of this board: it is a great performance motherboard. Though it certainly is not the top performer motherboard you can buy, its benchmarks showed it to be close to the fastest KT266A motherboard we have tested as well as closer to the KT333 chipset than some users would have realized. The other big plus the DFI motherboard gets is cost. You can find the AD73 motherboard for less than $80 – the same cannot be said for the KR7A motherboard. The RAID version also keeps the user with more options for system expandability. "
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Creative 3D Blaster Geforce4 Ti 4600 review @ Hexus.net
April 25, 2002
Today @ Hexus.net they have a new review of the Creative 3D Blaster Geforce4 Ti 4600 graphics card.
Snip:
"Performance from our sample card was exemplary. We were able to overclock to 320 MHz core and 740MHz memory with excellent stability. The gains from the overclock only saw fruition at higher resolutions when the card became the bottleneck, or when anti-aliasing was required. Make no mistake about it, the Creative Geforce4 Ti 4600 is supremely quick at default speeds. Naturally, our card is a sample of just one, your overclocking mileage may vary considerably."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
End of era as AMD's Sanders steps aside
April 24, 2002
He's been hounded by Intel, criticized by shareholders and declared financially--not to mention physically--dead. But when W.J. "Jerry" Sanders steps down as Advanced Micro Devices' CEO later this week, he does so knowing that he accomplished his goal: AMD is a major player in the PC industry.
"There is no question that they significantly altered the landscape of the PC industry," said Dean McCarron, an analyst at market research firm Mercury Research. Without AMD, "chip prices would be significantly higher and clock speeds would not have moved up as quickly."
For 32 years, Sanders has been the walking personification of AMD. Stories abound. Growing up, he was so badly bloodied in a Chicago street fight that a priest performed last rites before he recovered. He once conducted a quarterly financial conference call from his hotel room while vacationing in Paris. A Rod Stewart imitator played an early AMD party--only to be replaced by the real thing several years later. And a marble bust of Sanders presides over the lobby of the chipmaker's Sunnyvale, Calif., headquarters.
Although Sanders will remain chairman through 2003, the company will be in the hands of its president, Hector Ruiz, a Motorola veteran who joined AMD in 2000 and is known as a hard-driving operations expert.
Source: CNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
NVIDIA announces availability of QUADRO professional graphics solutions in the U.S. and Europe through PNY TECHNOLOGIES
April 24, 2002
Cooperation Extends Availability of NVIDIA's Quadro Product Family to System Integrators, Value-Added Resellers, Distributors, and End Users
SANTA CLARA, CA - APRIL 24, 2002 - NVIDIA® Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) today announced that its award-winning Quadro(tm) professional graphics solutions will be available to system integrators, distributors, value-added resellers, and end users in the U.S. and Europe through its channel partner, PNY Technologies, Inc. The two companies agree to jointly market the Quadro workstation family, designed and built by NVIDIA. NVIDIA will continue to develop and manufacture Quadro-based Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and sell and market directly to major workstation OEMs, including Compaq, Dell Computer, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Hewlett-Packard Company, and IBM.
"With one out of every two workstations shipping with Quadro workstation graphics, NVIDIA is widely recognized as the leader in professional graphics solutions," said Jeff Fisher, executive vice president of worldwide sales at NVIDIA. "PNY has proven to be a strong channel partner for NVIDIA with its Verto brand of graphics cards based on NVIDIA's GeForce(tm) consumer GPUs. Now with PNY's increased focus and investment in the 3D and 2D workstation markets, they are equipped to service the needs of our professional customers*from the end user to the individual retailer to the Fortune 500 enterprise customer."
"NVIDIA and PNY have enjoyed a successful relationship," said John Hughes, senior vice president of business development for PNY. "This new arrangement will enable PNY to access the best workstation-class graphics solutions and deliver them to CAD, DCC and 2D professionals worldwide under the PNY Quadro4 brand. Our existing global infrastructure, sales and distribution networks, coupled with our expertise in marketing, logistics and customer/technical services will uniquely position PNY to respond to the needs of a broad range of workstation users."
Announced in February, the Quadro4 family is a complete, top-to-bottom family of workstation graphics solutions that deliver the industry's highest performance and most complete feature set at unprecedented values. The Quadro4 XGL GPU series is the ideal solution for every level of user of computer-aided design and digital content creation applications, while the Quadro4 NVS series of multi-display professional solutions offers industry-leading acceleration for professional 2D applications popular in the financial services market and the Non-Linear Video Editing (NLE) market.
New technology introduced in the Quadro4 family includes:
* Two completely new graphics architectures designed to accelerate professional DirectX® and OpenGL® applications.
* NVIDIA's advanced programmable shading technology to enable custom special effects and real-time custom animations.
* nView(tm), NVIDIA's multi-display technology that supports combinations of analog monitors and digital flat panel displays to drastically increase a user's desktop workspace.
* Lightspeed Memory Architecture II (LMA II), NVIDIA's 128-bit memory interface that features a crossbar design and advanced Quadro memory management techniques.
NVIDIA's Quadro4 graphics boards are available in workstations from OEM manufacturers including Compaq Computer Corporation, Dell Computer, Hewlett-Packard Company, and IBM. Vertical System Integrators offering solutions from the Quadro4 family include Boxx Technology, Colfax International, DigitalScape, LT Micro/The 3D Shop, Max Black Systems, MaxVision, and Tristar International.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
ClearPC - The All Clear Acrylic PC Case Review @ Tweakers Australia
April 24, 2002
Tweakers Australia has just posted a review of the ClearPC - an all acrylic, completely transparent, high-quality ATX case.
Here's a snip:
"The humble beige ATX case is quickly becoming the 'poor mans' choice when it comes to being creative with your PC's look. Companies such as Lian-Li, Cooler Master, Enermax, Skyhawk and even newcomer Xoxide are pretty much dominating the case scene at the moment, with new and improved case designs emerging from the oven every few weeks. No longer do you need to modify your case manually, as there is already quite a huge selection of cases available that come pre-modded with windows, lights, various styling and some very cool paint jobs. Well now there is a new concept - introducing the ClearPC - a completely clear acrylic case that has previously been unseen on the consumer market."
Click http://www.tweakers.com.au/articles/cases_psu/clearpc/page1.asp">here to read the article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Coolermaster ATC-710-GX1 review @ Hexus.net
April 24, 2002
Today Hexus.net have a scoop review of the Coolermaster ATC-710-GX1.
Snip:
"You can't go wrong buying this case, you definitly won't be dissapointed. The few slight niggles I noticed are not a big problem. The case is excellent value (around £100 I am informed). If you are on the look out for a new case and can't afford an all aluminium one, then this is the case for you. Modding of the case should be very simple as Chieftec window kits will fit this case as well. A big thumbs up for Coolermaster again."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
MSI KT3 ULTRA-ARU review @ Hardware-test.dk
April 24, 2002
MSI's new KT333 based motherboard has already drawn a lot of attention from all over the world. Hardware-test.dk have taken a look at this nice motherboard.
Quote:
"The MSI board performs very well. It is stable as a rock and it runs optimally all the time. It has a nice jumper free design, a nice red color and a lot of features. Other then this there are a lot accessories."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Intel begins work on 10GHz chips
April 23, 2002
Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography promises super-processors
Intel is experimenting with Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography (EUV) techniques that will enable chip makers to place more transistors on a semiconductor.
As more transistors means better performance, this overcomes barriers to faster processors that have been concerning chip manufacturers.
It opens up possibilities for chip speeds of up to 10GHz which are impossible with today's techniques.
Current photolithography techniques used to create chips are based on photographic principles.
Machines shrink and print images of circuits onto silicon wafers, but EUV differs from current photolithographic methods by using a shorter light wavelength to create the image.
Source: Vnunet.com
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Packard Bell Remote and Receiver Review @ maxxdata.com
April 23, 2002
maxxdata.com have posted a one page review of the not very well known Packard Bell Infrared Remote and Receiver. Isn't Packard Bell dead in the United States? Apparently not completely.
Here's a clip:
"Having this device around can save you from having to travel ALL the way to the computer to fast forward a DVD, turn down the sound on a MP3, or even go to a website. I set it up so I could control the mouse with the remote instead of having all these different commands, although the numerous commands are a bit more fun."
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Fortis A102 Pro review @ Burnoutpc.com
April 23, 2002
BurnOutPc.com has taken a closer look at the Fortis A102 Pro Heatsink, now did they liked it? let's take a look shall we.
Quote:
"Today I'm looking at the Socket A/370 A102 Pro HSF from Fortis. The cooler is made out of copper and aluminum. It comes equipped with a high-speed delta fan. What does this HSF have to offer, aside from an excellent clipping device just like Vantec's coolers? Lets take a look."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
MSI i845 Ultra-ARU Motherboard Review @ Overclockedcafe.com
April 23, 2002
The folks at Overclockedcafe.com has finished his review of the MSI i845 Ultra-ARU Intel i845-D motherboard.
"We can't forget the support for up to ten USB ports, eight of which are included in the box! Add 6-channel audio, exterior diagnostic indicators, ATA133 RAID, and a small enough footprint to fit comfortably into a mini-tower, and I'd say we're talking about one sweet motherboard.Essentially, the only gripe I've got about this motherboard is the lack of quality overclocking features. While I love the Fuzzy Logic3 program, and think that it's one of the best overclocking utilities I've ever seen, it just doesn't make up for the lack of features that would make this board a great overclocker."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Review of the Abit AT7 Max mainboard
April 23, 2002
The Abit "Max" series of motherboards is a new series of mainboards trying to establish a reputation for incorporating the bleeding edge of technology. Our first test sample of this legacy is the AT7 -- a new, Socket A mobo based on the VIA KT333 chipset, which means support for both DDR333 memory, and ATA133 drives. Read the article...
Posted by Chris Verr
ATI ships All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500 to retailers
April 22, 2002
ATI today started shipping the All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500 all-singing, all-dancing graphics card to retailers in North America.
ATI claims the board is the "fastest multimedia graphics cards for gamers". But the feature set suggest that more generalised home entertainment - watching and recording TV on the PC, digital video editing - is the key driver. ATI has another card for this segment, the All-in-Wonder RADEON 8500DV, introduced in January for $399. It drops in price to $299.
This All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500 128MB carries a hefty recommended retail price of $399 and has more DDR memory than its non-All-in-Wonder Radeon 8500 counterpart - 128MB v. 64MB.
Source: Theregister.co.uk
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Labtec Axis-002 Headset Review @ Gamingin3d.com
April 22, 2002
The people at Gamingin3d.com has posted a Labtec Axis-002 Headset Review.
"Anyway, with the latest online games supporting voice chat, many gamers have broken out their old desktop mics, in moist anticipation of pure gaming bliss...only to be told to "Shut the %^$@ up!" because their voice is so hopelessly mangled. This is usually because the gamer has an omni-directional mic (meant to pick up ALL sound, not just sounds parallel to the mic). Since Mr. Gamer Dude likes to "pump it up", the mic also picks up all that speaker sound, and that equals a WHOLE LOTTA feedback. If we were to have a clear unidirectional mic and strap it to some decent headphones, we may actually have something worthwhile. Labtec has your answer: the Axis-002 Stereo Headset."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Gigabyte GA-8SIML Value Motherboard Review @ TweakTown
April 22, 2002
TweakTown has just posted a review of the Gigabyte GA-8SIML Value Motherboard. Here's a snip:
"With the recent addition of so many motherboards into the current market, there are almost too many to choose from. And with all of this newfound technology, many manufacturers have made the prices about the same across the board to remain competitive. Come join TweakTown as they take a look at the Gigabyte GA-8SIML Motherboard. It is a value board that actually costs less than many of the competitors and is based on the new SiS650 chipset. Can this low-cost board be considered in the same league as so many others? Lets find out."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
iCute Aluminum Power Supplies Review @ Overclockersonline.com
April 22, 2002
Overclockers Online have posted a review of iCute Aluminum Power Supplies.
Here's a quote :
"The iCute 300W PSU (with product number AL-3000P4) has an all aluminum construction. This alu material makes the PSU weigh much less compared to other similar power supplies. To cool down the PSU and to get rid of tons of hot air from inside the case, iCute has chosen to install one 80mm fan on the bottom of the PSU next to the normal one at the backside. I'd like to note that both 80mm fans are fully temperature controlled and they both come with fan brackets. The alu construction looks and is very smooth without sharp sides that might result in bloody fingers. That's really important to me ;) "
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Intel's new 'Banias' chip has mobile appeal
April 19, 2002
Intel has produced its first prototypes of the upcoming "Banias" processor, the company's first chip purely designed for use in mobile PCs, the company announced at WinHEC on Thursday.
Intel Labs produced the first test version of the chip during the past week, Intel President Paul Otellini said in a speech at the Windows Hardware Engineering Conference. Banias systems, including Intel's Odem chipset, will come out in early 2003 and feature 802.11b "Wi-Fi" wireless networking, long battery life and uncompromised performance, he said.
"It is the first bottom-up product designed for notebook computers that does not compromise performance," Otellini said.
Banias is an "entirely new micro architecture" employing different circuitry, Otellini said in an interview after the speech. The system's 802.11 support initially will come with separate chips, but those will gradually be integrated with the other chipset components, he said.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Abit AT7 MAX Motherboard Review @ TweakTown
April 19, 2002
TweakTown has just posted a review of Abit's new legacy free motherboard, the AT7 MAX based on the VIA KT333 chipset.
Here's a snip:
"The motherboard industry is all about innovation. Due to the fact that most boards that are based on the same chipset perform virtually identically, it is up to the manufacturer to include something that makes their board stand out from the rest. Abit have gone along way to improve innovation with their release of their MAX series of motherboards, which are legacy free. Abit's first MAX motherboard is their AT7 which is based on the VIA KT333 chipset for the Athlon platform. Follow TweakTown as they tell us if all this innovation is worth it, maybe it will be something we will see in the near future from other manufacturers, or maybe it isn't."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
LITE-ON CD-RW LTR-32123S review @ The Hardware Zone
April 19, 2002
Looking for an extremely affordable 32x writer? Here's the original LITE-ON drive that is going for less than S$200 currently. It does not have the fancy stuff that others offer, but it gets the job done beautifully. If you want the original one, it's the LITE-ON that you should get.
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
CoolerMaster DAF-B82 Thermal Controlled Case Fan Review @ Tek Sector
April 19, 2002
Tek Sector has yet another cooling article up. They take a look at the CoolerMaster DAF-B82 80mm Case Fan w/ Thermal Sensor.
"As you can see from the graph and specifications in the photo above, the CoolerMaster DAF-B82 is equipped with a thermal sensor for regulating the fan speed dependent upon the ambient temperatures within the case. The specs report that we'll have a 1000RPM fan below 23C and a steady increase in RPMs, with a maximum of 2500RPM when ambient temperatures reach 45-50C. You may be asking yourself, as I did, how will this benefit an overclocker such as myself?"
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
3Com Nics to fight insider hacking
April 18, 2002
Network Interface Cards have embedded firewalls
With insider attacks on networks becoming more common, 3Com has launched a range of Network Interface Cards (Nics) which contain embedded firewalls.
A joint FBI/Computer Security Institute survey of 538 US companies last year found that 49 per cent reported incidents of unauthorised network access by insiders.
"Perimeter firewalls are not very good at fighting malicious code on the inside," said Randy Smith, 3Com's product line manager. "You never know if hostile code has taken over a server."
The embedded firewall has no interaction with the host computer's operating system and reduces processor load as this no longer performs the function of a firewall.
It means that neither the end user or the operating system can tamper with the firewall on the Nic.
The embedded firewall controls user access and filters all traffic regardless of whether it originated from inside the corporate network or from the internet.
Source: Vnunet.com
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
VIA Launches LAN-on-Motherboard Fast Ethernet Controller
April 18, 2002
The VIA Rhine III VT6105 LOM is a compact, low-power single chip solution that enables LAN-on-Motherboard functionality in the mobile and desktop markets.
Taipei, Taiwan, 16 April 2002 - VIA Technologies, Inc., a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced the introduction of the new VIA Rhine III VT6105 LOM, a cost effective Fast Ethernet controller fusing an integrated single chip design with a small package size, and low power consumption.
As Ethernet networks play an increasingly important role in the home and office, network interface controllers such as the VIA VT6105 LOM enable easy connection between the PC and network infrastructure through a PCI bus. Offering data speeds up to 200Mbps in full duplex mode, the VIA VT6105 LOM provides a cost effective NIC solution for today’s SOHO market as well as the emerging new generation of small form factor devices.
The latest addition to VIA’s growing Rhine family of Fast Ethernet controllers, the VIA VT6105 LOM combines the physical and media access layers into a single chip providing Ethernet connectivity for 10Mbps and 100Mbps connections in full and half duplex modes. A 32-bit PCI bus-master interface optimizes the data throughput between the chip and the PCI bus, supporting a range of features and aggressive power management functions such as ACPI and Wake-on-LAN.
"The integrated, low power and compact size properties of the VIA VT6105 LOM make it an ideal and cost effective Ethernet solution for motherboard manufacturers and system integrators, especially in the mobile and small factor segments," commented Jerry Sun, Special Assistant to the President, Networking Division, VIA Technologies, Inc "The introduction of the VIA VT6105 LOM is a natural extension of the VIA Rhine III NIC family that enables smaller, low power PC systems with expanded feature sets, in line with VIA’s ‘Total Connectivity’ strategy.“
VIA Rhine III VT6105 LOM Host Controller
The VIA VT6105 LOM is a single chip Fast Ethernet controller fully compliant with the latest IEEE Ethernet standards. An embedded low power 100Base-TX transceiver in the VIA VT6105 LOM auto-negotiates 10Mbps and 100Mbps communication in full and half duplex modes. A wide array of features includes Wired for Management (WFM) support, remote bootability, and Wake-on-LAN. Compliant with the PCI V2.2 specification, a 32-bit PCI bus and small package size enables easy integration by system designers and OEMs into NIC cards, LOM applications, and small form factor devices. Certified driver support for the VIA VT6105 LOM includes Microsoft® and Novell® systems, providing convenient user connectivity.
VIA VT6105 LOM Pricing and Availability
The VIA VT6105 LOM is available in a 128-pin 14x14 LQFP package and is constructed in a low power TSMC 0.22 micron process. Pricing information is available from VIA Technologies, Inc.
For more information on the VIA VT6105 LOM please visit our website at:
http://www.via.com.tw/en/Networking/vt6105lom.jsp
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Nexland SOHO ISB Router Review @ Icrontic
April 18, 2002
The review of Nexland's new home router, the Internet Sharing Box, is up at Icrontic.
"The Nexland ISB is neat-looking clear router/4-port switch. It includes a WAN port to plug your broadband connection into, and four switched full-duplex 10/100 ports for your computers. The ISB supports PPPoE, DHCP, and static IP internet configurations. Nexland includes a nice 54-page manual, an easy-start guide, a companion CD, and a CAT5 cable in addition to the actual router. Everything you need to get started is included."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Thermaltake HardCano II Review @ Tweak Town
April 18, 2002
TweakTown has just posted a review of the Thermaltake HardCano II. Here's a snip:
"Those who think about Thermaltake normally think about heatsinks for processors, but there is so much more. Come join TweakTown as they take a look at one of their newest offerings, the HardCano II. It is being marketed as a hard drive cooler, but it also includes two thermal probes that are mounted right on the front of your case. Can it serve both purposes in a satisfactory manner? Let's find out."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Kingwin Multifunction Transfer Panel Review @ Tek Sector
April 18, 2002
Tek Sector has posted a review on the Kingwin Multifunction Transfer Panel. It may not be a Lian Li Aluminum Mobile rack, but this unit isn't a bad bang for your buck.
"With its severe popularity, it would come as no surprise to me that most of us have heard of a Multifunction Transfer Panel by now. If you haven't heard of one before, then you're probably wondering what in the world it is. Well, a Multifunction Transfer Panel is basically what it sounds like…a panel for transferring functions! Just kidding…It's a little more than that, with a few cool surprises that come in an inexpensive standard 5.25 sized unit."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
AMD trots out Athlon XP 'Thoroughbred'
April 17, 2002
Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday added a new Thoroughbred to its stable of PC processors.
The chipmaker launched its line of new Mobile Athlon XP processors, a new generation of 130-nanometer mobile chips based on its newest processor core, called Thoroughbred.
The new core adopts AMD's 130-nanometer manufacturing process, which will allow the company to increase the chips' clock speed, reduce power consumption and add other performance enhancers.
AMD chose to tap Thoroughbred first for notebooks because the chip core consumes less power. The chip also has a higher bus speed than the previous Athlon processor, the Athlon 4, allowing for more data to be shuttled between the chip and RAM. The new chip ups the bus speed by 66MHz to 266MHz; a version with a 200MHz bus will also be available.
The new chips will consume about 2 watts of power running typical office applications, which is slightly less than the Athlon 4 offering, AMD said.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
AOpen AX45-V SiS645 Motherboard Review @ Overclockersonline.com
April 17, 2002
Overclockers Online have blasted up a AOpen AX45-V SiS645 Motherboard Review.
SiS has built a sweet DDR Pentium 4 chipset, in order to compete with VIA and Intel on the Pentium 4 market. AOpen has produced a fine looking motherboard based upon the SiS chipset, called the AX45-V. Overclockers Online took it for a spin and shares the expierences...
Here is a quote:
"This is where SiS steps in: they also built a P4 DDR chipset and in the past few weeks motherboard manufacturers have released several boards based upon the new SiS chipset. SiS' chipset is more or less a value solution, but for a value chipset it is certainly a very powerful one! AOpen was one of the first manufacturers who had a motherboard available, and Overclockers Online had tortured it through hell and back, just to see how it would hold up with the competition."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Asus A7V266-E RAID Motherboard review @ Hexus.net
April 17, 2002
Today @ Hexus.net they have a new review titled: Asus A7V266-E RAID Motherboard.
Snip:
"We feel that Asus have done a pretty good job with the A7V266-E. It's well presented, has a multitude of features and is a champion in the stability stakes. The layout of the board is generally good with the exception of an oddly placed floppy drive port. We liked the use of the C-Media 8738 sound chip, we also appreciated the quality of the manual and general appearance of the package. The board satisfies it's probable OEM target market pretty well."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Soltek SL-85DRS2 DDR333 P4 Motherboard @ OCAU
April 17, 2002
Today OCAU has reviewed the Soltek SL-85DRS2, their latest P4 motherboard based on the SiS645 A2-revision chipset with DDR333 memory support. We compare it to motherboads based on SiS645DX and i845D.
A snip:
"The 85DRS2 features a slot layout of 6 PCI, 1 AGP and 3 DIMM. This is an ideal layout for enthusiasts because it removes any ISA/CNR/AMR slots that are no longer used by many people and leaves space for more important components. The 6 PCI slots are very handy for those of you that like to use many PCI devices or have a cooler on your AGP card that renders the first PCI slot useless. The three DIMM slots support a total of 3GB DDR266 memory or 2GB DDR333 memory. This should be more than enough for anyone thinking about purchasing a board for general use."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Review of the AOpen CRW3248 CD/R/W drive
April 17, 2002
As its name indicated, the CRW3248 is capable of 32X writing speed, 48X playback, and 12X re-write. It also comes with the Just Link and Just Speed technologies- much like its predecessor - but adds to that a larger, 8MB buffer, a feature that will be appreciated by many users. Read the article...
Posted by Chris Verr
DVD+RW drive upgrades: Philips says free, HP says $$$
April 16, 2002
In the great DVD+RW upgrade scandal, Philips may be poised to emerge as the hero and HP the villain. HP has quietly (or at least, as quietly as it can) announced a time-, geography- and product-limited $99 upgrade offer, while over at DVDplusRW.org there's a report (which we're trying to confirm with Philips) that the company will release a free firmware upgrade disc for its DVDR1000 and DVDR1500 this month.
Both manufacturers have been more than slightly skewered by suggestions by the DVD+RW Alliance last year that the first DVD+RW drives would be able to write DVD+R discs as well via a simple upgrade. Manufacturers ran with this promise to varying extents, and although ill-advised claims have now largely disappeared from web sites, DVDplusRW.org claims to have numerous books of clippings to throw at them.
Until now the truth appeared to be that they'd thought it would be possible to upgrade the drives via firmware, but that this had turned out not to be possible, hence HP's claim now that writing DVD+R with its DVD100i is not "technically feasible." But if Philips is offering a firmware upgrade, then clearly it is technically feasible for that company's hardware, and Philips will have secured itself a 'get out of jail free,' marred only slightly by the ominous silence on the subject over the past few months.
HP on the other hand... Oh dear, oh dear. It may actually be possible to find the upgrade offer on the HP site without already knowing where it is, but we couldn't. For your information, it's here. HP is offering a trade-in for $99 in the US and Canada, available from 1st May to 30th June 2002. For this you will get a "a DVD Writer drive with DVD+R capability added," but it's not specified whether this is a refurb of the 100i or a new 200i. You'll also get upgraded app software and (somebody at HP has a weird sense of humour) one blank DVD+R disc.
Source: Theregister.co.uk
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Enermax Whisper EG351P-VE Power Supply Review @ Explosivehardware.net
April 16, 2002
Explosive Hardware has completed a review on the, "Enermax Whisper EG351P-VE Power Supply."
"Enermax has been widely recognized throughout many enthusiasts as some of the top power supplies out there today. Enermax has a wide range of products and as some people may think, it's not just power supplies. They specialize in Switching Power Supplies, PC Cases, Server Chassis, Industrial Rack Mount Chassis, HDD Mobile Racks, Fan Coolers, and other peripherals. ENERMAX Technology Corporation was founded in early 1989 by a group of young professional, enthusiastic, and high-tech oriented people in Taiwan. ENERMAX's goal is to develop, design, and produce all its products with unique features."
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Xoxide ClearStorm Review @ SubZeroTech
April 16, 2002
SubZeroTech has posted their review of the Xoxide ClearStorm.
"Xoxide does an excellent job modifying stock cases. ...this is the perfect option for someone who doesn't want to do their own mods but wants to have a modded case."
Take a look at it here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
APC Back-UPS Pro 650 Review @ Tweakers Australia
April 16, 2002
Tweakers Australia has just posted a review of the APC Back-UPS Pro 650, one of the 'better' uninterruptible power supply models available for the SOHO user.
Here's a snip:
"Ever been in front of the computer when suddenly the system locks up, crashes, resets or shuts off? Have you ever thought what causes these phenomenons besides Microsoft? The chances are that you experienced some type of power abnormality that your system simply couldn't handle. One way - actually the only way of preventing this from happening is to invest in a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). They are designed to protect your system from power problems, and provide a limited battery backup, which will allow you to at least save your work and shut down your system safely. Today we're going to be checking out the Back-UPS Pro 650 from APC, the long-time king of the UPS world. It is a mid-ranged unit suited for the 'above average' computer user, who needs just that little bit extra…"
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Philips: Microsoft's backing DVD+RW
April 15, 2002
Consumer-electronics maker Philips Electronics announced Monday that Microsoft will be giving the nod to a rewritable DVD format that Philips supports.
As previously reported, Microsoft will demonstrate software this week at its Windows Hardware Engineering Conference that will support the DVD+RW format in its next version of Windows. The software giant will make an announcement at the conference regarding its DVD+RW efforts, according to Monday's release from Philips.
Philips and Microsoft representatives did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Microsoft's endorsement of the DVD+RW format could prove important in determining a winner in a long-running standards battle for one DVD-rewritable format. The move could encourage more PC manufacturers to incorporate DVD+RW drives into their systems, as operating system support makes adding a drive go more smoothly, said Dean Sanderson, a Hewlett-Packard marketing manager.
"Native support for DVD+RW in the OS will make the addition of DVD+RW to a PC easier and will likely lead to such things as reduced customer-support calls and fewer error messages," Sanderson said.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Logitech Mouseman Dual Optical MouseReview @ Gamingin3d.com
April 15, 2002
Our friends at Gamingin3d.com has posted a review on the Logitech Mouseman Dual Optical.
"Optical mice are becoming the standard mouse upgrade these days. Mice last longer with optical technology, as they don't have mechanical wheels that get dirty. Another benefit of optical mice is that they scan the mousing surface more often than ball mice. Combine this with a fast USB connection, and you end up with very fluid mouse cursor movement on your screen. Unfortunately, not is all peaches and cream in the land of optical."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Samsung announces new industry-leading warranty program for monitors
April 15, 2002
Samsung, the worlds number one manufacturer of computer monitors, is standing behind the quality of its award-winning SyncMasterÔ CRT and TFT with an unprecedented new warranty program that offers consumers more coverage than ever as part of the basic purchase. The expanded warranty applies to monitors sold after April 1, 2002 and now features three-year Advanced Replacement program, three-year Repair & Return or Exchange, and three-year Shuttle Exchange. The new program also features free shipping and free Shuttle Exchange for TFTs.
As a worldwide leader in display technology, Samsung is raising the bar on the level of service and support that it provides to its customers, states Monica Whipple, Samsung's Product Marketing Manager for Monitors. Samsung is extremely confident in the quality and craftsmanship of its SyncMaster flat-panel and CRT monitors and it is rewarding its customers with a truly unbelievable warranty and support program that demonstrates its commitment to display excellence.
For TFT and CRT monitors, the new program offers customers a four-pronged warranty package that includes a three-year warranty for parts and labor, a three-year Advanced Replacement program, a three-year Repair & Return or Exchange offer, and a three-year Shuttle Service Advanced Exchange program. For TFT monitors, the new warranty and service program expands to offer free shipping of a failed monitor to Samsung as well as free shipping of a renewed monitor directly to the customer or to the nearest exchange center.
As part of its Advanced Replacement program, Samsung will replace a failed monitor with a renewed unit that is shipped directly to the customer within two business days. Samsung s Shuttle Service Advanced Exchange further compliments the Advanced Replacement program and after confirming service is required, a replacement monitor will be shipped to the customer s nearest exchange center location within two business days. When notified, the customer can simply bring the failed unit to the exchange center and the packaging, shipping charges and return to Samsung will be handled by the exchange center at no cost to the customer for a TFT monitor and at a minimal cost for a CRT monitor.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128MB Preview @ RIVA Station
April 15, 2002
There's a new article at RIVA Station: The NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128MB.
"Other than the initial launch information and the preliminary specifications, not much was heard about the Ti4200 for a while. Not a single company had a product with this chip in the pipeline, and many PR managers knew no more of this chip than what had already been reported. We are finally able to shed a little light on the real story. We reviewed a 128MB GF4 Ti 4200 reference card"
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Logitech Z-560 Speaker Review @ Livepc.tv
April 15, 2002
Live PC has posted another video review. Mark looks at the Logitech Z-560 Speakers. This is an excellent review for anyone looking to upgrade their sound system. Grab your popcorn, and watch this in-depth video review.
Click http://www.livepc.tv/videos/sC/25/">here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
The light goes out on iPAQ H3800s
April 12, 2002
So you bought a Compaq iPAQ H3800 and the backlit screen sometimes doesn't work? Don't fret, you didn't break it, you're not alone.
Compaq is on the case: in a customer advisory, the company says: "When applying power to the iPAQ H3800 Series Pocket PC, the backlight may fail to illuminate. Holding down the power button to engage the backlight may not provide resolution.
"This issue is typically experienced after the unit has been off for several hours. The backlight may function correctly after a normal reset or an adjustment to the backlight settings, but may fail again if the unit is powered off for some time."
Source: Theregister.co.uk
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Coolcasemods Window Kit review @ Hexus.net
April 12, 2002
Hexus takes a look at the Coolcasemods Window Kit
Snip:
"This isn't a hard mod, but people generally are scared of attacking an expensive case just in case it goes wrong. The results are definitely worth it particularly when combined with a cold cathode light."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Vantec Stealth Fans Review @ Overclockersonline.com
April 12, 2002
Overclockers Online has just posted a review of the Vantec Stealth Fans.
Case cooling is very important, but most of the time people ignore it because they don't like the additional noise that comes with it. Today they present you the Vantec Stealth Fan, a new kind of fan that increases cooling without increasing the noise!
Here is a quote:
"It's ok to install those high rpm fans, spinning at approximately 8,000rpm, but having a few of those in your room all day long will drive you nuts in the long run. Vantec's engineers were aware of this problem and they decided to take care of it: the Vantec ultra quiet Stealthfans were born! Are they really as silent as the box tries to tell us? What about airflow? Only one way to find out, and that's the O²-way :)"
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Sony CRX1600LEK i.Link/FireWire CDRW Drive review @ OCAU
April 12, 2002
Today OCAU reviews the Sony CRX1600LEK CDRW drive. Why review a 12X CDRW in this era of 40X drives, you wonder? Because this one is connected via i.Link, AKA FireWire and comes with its own external caddy. Just the thing for laptops or pressed-for-space machines!
A snip:
"The external unit comes shipped with one 6-pin to 6-pin firewire cable, an IEC cable, two CD burning programs (Toast for Mac, and Roxio for Windows), a blank CDR, and two blank CDR-Ws. The external casing is finished in a very succulent dark grey casing similar to the grey on the VAIO series of laptops. While the drive itself is finished in a color which looks somewhat like a powdered black metal paint."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
IBM leads charge on holistic computing
April 11, 2002
For years, IBM has asked its engineers to follow its one-word motto: Think. Now the company is asking them to think holistically.
The technology giant is launching a major push within the industry and academia toward autonomic computing, the science of creating computing systems that can configure, tune and even repair themselves.
Under autonomic computing, which is also called holistic or introspective computing, databases will continuously re-examine query routes for more efficiency. Worldwide computing grids will move data along so that files can follow an executive going from New York to Paris.
"We need a higher-level framework for the components to fit together in a higher-level way," said Alan Ganek, vice president of autonomic computing at IBM. Ganek spoke at the company's Almaden Research Center here, during a three-day conference dedicated to the new computing concept. "Systems have to work together, and they have to work together in a way that manages itself for (our) benefit," he said.
The term "autonomic" comes from an analogy to the autonomic central nervous system in the human body. When people run, Ganek noted, they don't think about opening their pores or elevating their heart rate. It just happens.
Source: CNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Altec Lansing 641 Speaker Review @ The Tech Zone
April 11, 2002
The new 641 speaker system is Altec Lansing's ultimate 5-piece speaker system. With 400 watts of power, these puppies can really wake the dead. Quaking will never be the same! If you’re serious about gaming, this system will blow you away.
The Tech Zone has the full review here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
MSI G4Ti4400-VTD Review @ Hexus.net
April 11, 2002
Today @ Hexus.net they took a look at the MSI G4Ti4400-VTD, MSI's GeForce4 Ti4400 offering.
Snip:
"Performance as you can see is very very similar to the Visiontek board sharing the same GPU. It simply annihilates the Ti500 at high resolution. The brute force fillrate of the card is huge and high resolution gaming becomes viable, even on a lowly XP1500!
You can't fault the MSI for its performance that's for sure. It will run anything you throw at it with aplomb and often with AA turned on and aniso filtering (a real performance killer on NVIDIA hardware usually."
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
SOYO P4S Dragon Ultra review @ Hardware-test.dk
April 11, 2002
The guys at Hardware-test.dk have a review on the Soyo P4S Dragon motherboard.
Quote:
"Apart from the BIOS conflict, this is a sovereign motherboard. The Onboard RAID133, 6 channel sound and 10/100Mbit network adapter is all making this motherboard very coveted. It performs well, and the BIOS features a lot of tweak settings. In the tests the motherboard impresses too, and SOYO's "SiS choice" has shown out to be wise, mainly referring to the memory tests. The SiS DDR333 platform is definitely outperforming Intel's i845 DDR chipset."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Keep voting for us...
April 11, 2002
Great news!
From rank 23 where we were on the Hardware top 50, we've now moved to rank 16. That's a great improvement isn't it.
Now, with a little more efforts, we could move much higher and reach the top 10 positions and who knows maybe we could even reach the top 5 or even closer to the pole position...
Thus, please keep voting for us by clicking on the button 
.
If everyone could do it as the last thing they do right before leaving our web site we sure would jump a lot of positions.
Thanks to all of those who already voted for us and thanks in advance to those who will join our efforts.
Posted by Chris Verr
Computing with a pinch of sand
April 10, 2002
Every cranny of the environment could be filled with intelligence if experiments at the University of California at Berkeley fulfill their potential.
Researchers working in a wide range of disciplines have created a series of tiny modules, complete with sensors and communications, with the aim of demonstrating 'smart dust'--self-sustaining network nodes measuring millimeters or less per side.
The new technologies will find uses in environmental monitoring, health, security, distributed processing and tracking--and doubtless create some uses of their own, including spotting when food is no longer fresh or has been in dangerous conditions. The team also predicts some more unusual devices; for example, one mote could be put under each fingernail and report back on finger movements, which make it possible to build invisible keyboards and gesture-control and 3-D input devices.
Smart dust also has unique problems, many connected with power. Pure radio-frequency ID (RFID) tags just have to send back a unique identifier when interrogated, and can use the energy in the interrogating signal; but smart dust needs to power sensors, computation, storage and communication. Each of these tasks needs custom designs aimed at reducing power consumption to the bare minimum. Batteries must be very tiny indeed, and while they can be recharged by solar cells or by dynamos picking up vibrations, the power budget can easily be down to nanowatts.
Source: Vnunet.es
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Microsoft chooses sides in DVD war
April 10, 2002
Microsoft has decided to support one of two competing formats for popular DVD recording technology, a decision that is intended to make the storage devices as easy to use as current CD burners and floppy drives.
At its annual Windows Hardware Engineering Conference ( WinHEC), Microsoft plans to demonstrate software and to provide technical documentation for incorporating the DVD+RW format into its Windows operating system, according to a Microsoft Web site detailing the schedule for the conference.
"This presentation explains how support for DVD+RW in Windows has been designed to become the standard storage solution for the PC and consumer electronics environments," reads the description of a presentation planned for next week's show. Microsoft will be adding support for DVD+RW into a future version of Windows, code-named Longhorn, according to the site.
The endorsement by the world's largest software maker could prove important in determining a winner in a long-running standards battle for DVD burners. Many hardware manufacturers find it easier and cheaper to build PCs that follow such specifications rather than risk breaking from the pack and supporting a technology that might wither.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Coolink H2T HSF Review @ Tweaktown.com
April 10, 2002
TweakTown has just posted a review of the Coolink H2T HSF.
Here's a snip:
"With so many folks today wanting less noise out of their heatsinks, it is becoming a growing trend for manufacturers to try to accomodate. Some succeed, and others fail. Come join TweakTown as they take a look at a newcomer in the performance cooling game. The Coolink H2T comes with two fans, but produces less noise than most others that are available. Come see if it can cool as well as remain silent."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
CoolerMaster CoolDrive 4002 HDD Cooler Review @ Teksector.net
April 10, 2002
Tek Sector has posted a new review. Today, they take a look at the CoolerMaster CoolDrive 4002.
"Hard drives are an essential element in the makeup of a computer system. Without hard drives, life would be a spiraling decent into a world of restrictions, limitations, and confinement. These devices are necessary for survival, and without them we would be utterly doomed, which is why taking up a little bit of insurance on your hard drive is very important, not to mention…a good idea."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Soltek 75DRV5 KT333 Review @ Amdmb.com
April 10, 2002
Amdmb.com has published another motherboard review this afternoon. The Soltek 75DRV5 is the subject this time and it performed very well. It looks like this board may be a great choice for the speed freaks.
Quote: "With that aside, the Soltek 75DRV5 motherboard is the fastest motherboard I have yet tested. It beats out the best of the KT266A line of motherboards, the only nForce board I have tested, as well as the only other KT333 motherboard tested, the MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU. If speed and frame rates are what you crave, the Soltek 75DRV5 will not disappoint you, and I can give the motherboard a Highly Recommended status for PC performance enthusiasts."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Micron samples PC2700 DIMMs
April 9, 2002
Micron today claims an industry first, with the release of engineering samples of "PC2700 DDR SDRAM TSOP-based unbuffered DIMM modules based on the newly revised JEDEC standard".
The new module features something called stub resistors on the addressing/command line, improving signal integrity at very high modules at high frequencies, and enabling it to meet the new JEDEC requirements.
Micron is running the PC2700 module through SiS and VIA DDR333 validation programmes - and has received "positive feedback", the DRAM maker reports.
Source: Theregister.co.uk
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
AMD reveals handheld hand
April 9, 2002
AMD today launched a new chip, the first fruits of its recent takeover of Alchemy Semiconductor, and its first foray into the low-power PDA and information appliance CPU market.
This is the Alchemy AU 1100: it runs on a MIPS32 instruction set at speeds of up to 500MHz. At 333MHz, it consumes "less than 200 mW"; the 400MHz version chews through 250 mW; while the 500MHz uses 500 mW. Energy consumption figures are quoted for production versions, which kinda implies that pre-production samples currently available run a bit hotter.
The Au1100 400MHz will set you back $29.50 - but you have to buy 10,000 of the little beasts.
This new chip consumes around half the power of its immediate predecessor, the AU1000, largely through the introduction of an integrated LCD controller. The AU1100 also adds two Secure Digital (SD) controllers for small storage devices, integrated Ethernet, Ac97 for sound, USB support and IRDA wireless connectivity.
Source: Theregister.co.uk
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Logitech z560 Speaker System Review @ Gamingin3d.com
April 9, 2002
These speakers have been getting a lot of attention these days - now, they're getting even more.
"Logitech broke out into the speaker scene a few years back, yet not with a lot of Glitz-pah (don't ask...). They had a decent 4.1 system out a while ago, but it didn't have pack-leading performance like the Klipsch, nor was it very inexpensive to make it an incredible bargain. Thus, Logitech's speaker lineup never received much attention...until Labtec came along. Soon after acquiring Labtec and their audio division, Logitech cleared out its old speaker lineup and replaced it with the new "z" series. This new series, consisting of only 3 different sets (z340, z540, z560), is based closely on Labtec's very successful Pulse 424 system. In fact, the z340s are just the Pulse 424s with some cosmetic changes, and the z540s are merely the z340s with 2 more satellites."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Seagate Cheetah 36ES SCSI Hard Drive Review @ TweakTown
April 9, 2002
TweakTown has just posted a review of the Seagate Cheetah 36ES SCSI Hard Drive.
Here's a snip:
"Seagate has been one of the top makers of SCSI drives for some time now. But with the high entry fee, can these drives be of any real use for us? Come join TweakTown as they take a look at the Seagate Cheetah 36ES SCSI Hard Drive. There's only one way to find out how well it really performs, and that's to throw it into the grinder and see how it handles the load."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Antec Performance Plus 1080B @ Icrontic
April 9, 2002
Today, Icrontic give you and exclusive first look at Antec's new Performance Plus 1080B. This case seeks to mix a little of the old with a little of the new to provide a great case that should satisfy most high-end users.
Here's a blurb:
"One of the key and most notable features of the new Performance Plus Series is the addition of front USB and IEEE 1394 ports. This is becoming a more common feature of a lot of new cases these days. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and the advent of front ports has certainly addressed the need for quick access of USB and Firewire input devices, storage devices, and optical drives. In my case, it made it much easier for me to hook up my digital camera instead of having to go around to the back of my case each time."
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Unix servers breaking out all over
April 8, 2002
The Unix server floodgates are opening this week, with Compaq Computer and SGI showing off new systems at the same time that powerhouses IBM and Sun Microsystems release new machines.
Compaq has begun shipping test versions of a new line of AlphaServer Unix servers using the EV7 "Marvel" version of the company's Alpha processor, the Houston-based company said Monday. The system uses direct connections between processors, forgoing the usual high-speed switch that typically connects processors in high-end systems, Compaq said.
Also moving ahead is SGI, which thus far hasn't been able to escape the graphics and technical-computing niche and break into the broader business market. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company announced a Unix machine tuned to broadcast markets and began showing its next-generation "Fuel" workstation. The system is based on the top-end 3000 family of Onyx workstations and Origin servers, which have high-speed connections linking processors, memory and video.
Source: CNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
HP launches projector line
April 8, 2002
Hewlett-Packard announced Monday that it is entering the digital projector market, where its competition will include acquisition target Compaq Computer.
HP announced that beginning April 15, it will offer two models of portable projectors, devices mainly used by traveling workers to show PowerPoint slides and other types of presentations.
The move will make HP the second PC maker to offer its own line of projectors, following Compaq, which entered the market a few years ago and currently sells four projector models. Dell Computer has said it plans to offer its own line of projectors starting this fall.
Anneliese Olson, marketing manager for HP's new digital projector division, said the projector market is growing and that corporate customers increasingly want presentation systems included in the package when they buy notebook PCs.
"It used to be projectors were a specialized purchase," she said. "Now, people are looking to solution providers and PC makers to provide a complete package."
Source: CNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Wacom Graphire2 Graphics Tablet @ OCAU
April 8, 2002
Today OCAU have checked out the Wacom Graphire2 Graphics Tablet with pen. It's towards a budget end of the market, but it shares many features with more expensive models.
A snip:
"In normal mode the eraser end (blue bit) acts as just another cursor, along with the front end. However, once you start the ubiquitous Adobe Photoshop then the pen takes on another life of its own. Photoshop seems to somehow, undoubtedly using its uber elite powers of checking the registry, know you have a Graphire plugged in and automatically enable such features as the 512 pressure levels and the eraser on the end. So if you press harder on the pad you get a thicker line and softer a thinner. The eraser end also somehow changes the cursor to the eraser tool, again magically. These two features on their own greatly speed up the process of creating digital imagery on your PC."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Epox 8K3A+ review @ Viahardware.com
April 8, 2002
Viahardware.com have posted a review on the Epox 8K3A+ motherboard based on the VIA KT333 chipset.
"Epox has been making some great AMD motherboards for a while now, can they continue that tradition with the 8K3A+? Their latest boards have been very packed with the types of features that cater to the PC enthusiast. The 8K3A+ seems to be just a step beyond that. This time, EPoX integrated some very nice features. The included full ATA RAID controller is undoubtedly one of the best on the market. They use Alance's latest sound chip to produce good quality sound. Along with that, they have again used their ever popular onboard LED diagnostic display."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon 7500 Review @ Hothardware
April 8, 2002
Today Hothardware will be taking a look at one of ATI's latest offerings, the All-In-Wonder Radeon 7500. Aiming for the user who wants a great card multi-purpose Graphics/TV Card for around $200, ATI has come up with a sister product to the Radeon 8500DV line, which typically sells for twice the price.
The question is how much of the features and performance did they have to sacrifice to reach this lower price point? Well, you just might be surprised.
Click here for the full story!
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Update of our drivers pages...
April 8, 2002
We're very happy to announce that all our drivers pages are now fully updated.
All the links were checked for validity.
We also take the occasion to announce that a new member, Kevin Kizer, has now joined our team and will take care of finding new drivers, updating the drivers links and announce the posting of new drivers almost on a daily basis.
Thus, finding new drivers on Active-Hardware will now become easier than ever.
Like you can see, we manage no efforts to make of Active-Hardware you're one stop web site for computer resources.
Posted by Chris Verr
Review of the Abit SD7-533 P4 mainboard.
April 8, 2002
The Abit SD7-533, is a Pentium 4, Socket 478 mobo based upon the SiS 645 chipset. As its name suggests, one of the SD7-533's most compelling features is forwards-compatibility with forthcoming 133MHz FSB P4 cpu. Read the article...
Posted by Chris Verr
K7VX Dragon Plus bios
April 8, 2002
Soyo released updated bios for its K7VX Dragon Plus. Update includes Support "Athlon 2100+" cpu.
download:
K7VXA_2BA3
bios
Posted by Kevin Kizer
Elitegroup K7VTA3 bios update and User Manual
April 8, 2002
Ecs's K7VTA3 bios has been updated to version 3.0 and also they have updated the usermanual. so get the best out of your hardware and go check it out
K7VTA3 UPDATE
Posted by Kevin Kizer
22 new benchmarks added on our Benchmarks page
April 6, 2002
Hi everybody.
We're very glad to announce that we just went to update our Benchmarks page with 22 new benchmarks including a lot of OpenGL and DirectX 8 and 8.1 game benchmarks and several new CPU and memory benchmarks.
With these new additions, Active-Hardware.com keeps offering the largest amount of benchmarks of the whole WWW.
Check it out Here.
Posted by Chris Verr
Battle heats up for Unix server niche
April 5, 2002
IBM and Sun Microsystems next week will release dueling Unix servers one notch below their top-end models, fueling the flames in a price and market-share war.
On Monday, sources said, IBM will announce its p670, a 16-processor system featuring the Power4 processor, which was previously available only in the high-end, 32-processor p690 " Regatta" system that went on sale in late 2001. The p670 will bring to IBM's midrange product line "partitioning" features, allowing a single machine to be divided into several servers.
Sun, meanwhile, will counterattack on Tuesday with a system code-named Starkitty, designed to fill the midrange slot. Shahin Khan, Sun's vice president of product marketing, acknowledged that the midrange market has been overlooked in Sun's product line.
The company was able to design the new system relatively quickly because the main "Uniboard" building block can be used across Sun's entire Sun Fire product line, Khan said, adding that Starkitty will fall between the 24-processor 6800 and the 72-processor 15K.
Both products are important to their backers because they shore up any weak points in overall strategy, analysts said.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Newest storage tech--holographic DVD
April 5, 2002
Las Vegas is no stranger to bright lights, but next week will see an entirely new laser show as breakthrough technology shows off 3-D storage for digital video.
InPhase Technologies, an offshoot of Lucent Technologies ' research arm Bell Labs, will be showing the first commercial holographic video recorder at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show on April 8 in Las Vegas. The device uses the company's Tapestry technology to hold 100GB of data on a single CD-sized write-once disc as a succession of 1.3MB holograms. That's enough for 20 full-length movies, or 30 minutes of uncompressed high-resolution video.
The first product is aimed at professional video editing, effects and archival use, with initial production at the end of 2003 and full manufacturing in 2004.
Tapestry works by splitting a laser beam into two. One split beam is modulated by a megapixel array of mirrors in a TI Digital Light Processor chip with a frame of a digital video image. Recombining the two beams in a photosensitive medium results in a hologram containing the interference patterns generated; changing the parameters of the reference beam means that another hologram can be recorded in the same place in the medium as the first without mutual interference. This means a single disc can store a much higher density of information, as one location can hold multiple holograms.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Swiftech Quiet Power Watercooled Case Review @ Explosivehardware.net
April 5, 2002
Explosive Hardware has completed a review on the, Swiftech Quiet Power Watercooled Case.
"Quite frankly, as a DIY kind of guy, I know that researching and building my own water-cooled case would have been more fun, and potentially more personally rewarding. But sometimes you can't always find the time to do what you would like to. But that's ok. If you are like me and have time constraints which limit your ability to do the proper water-cooling research, mod the case, and do the installation of the parts....then the Swiftech Quiet Power is a great alternative."
Cilck here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
New Belkin Onmiview 4 Port KVM Switch Review @ Neoseeker.com
April 5, 2002
Neoseeker.com have posted Gavin's review of the Belkin Onmiview 4 Port KVM Switch.
Here's a piece:
"I attempted to minimize the problem with the use of a 4-port hardware KVM switch. An alternative would have been to use remote control software like PC Anywhere or Dameware. Many of you who work with servers will undoubtedly be familiar with KMV switches. When you have a bank of servers, it is next to impossible to have a monitor for every one of them. Not only would it be expensive, but also the space required for this would be extraordinary. The KVM allows you to use one terminal, or one Keyboard/Video monitor/Mouse to selectively control many computers."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Andrea NC-1212 Pro Gamer headset review @ OCAU
April 5, 2002
Today OCAU have a review of the Andrea NC-1212 Pro Gamer headset. Aimed at gamers rather than audiophiles, it includes a noise-cancelling microphone for voice-recognition and voice-enabled gaming. This 3-page review covers them in some depth and was in fact mostly written using the headset and voice-recognition software!
A snip:
"The ear piece shells are made from silver plastic with padded surrounds and foam inserts, the microphone is mounted on a flexible extension and a self-adjusting headband keeps everything in place. The headphones and microphone are connected via 3.5mm computer plugs, which can plug directly into the back of a soundcard. The flexible microphone mount easily pivots out of the way when it was not being used, which was very useful for using the Andrea Pro Gamer's as a simple set of headphones. The headphone cable is a generous 2.4m in length, so you don't have to sit right next to your PC in order to use them."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
BIOS Update: Epox 8K3A+ (KT333)
April 5, 2002
I quote from Tbreak.com:
"Quite a few people have been having problems with the Epox 8K3A+ (KT333) while overclocking to anything above 143MHz FSB even at full VCore. We contacted Epox and they've sent us an updated beta BIOS which seems to have fixed the problem. The BIOS is available for download at the following:"
download:
click to download
Posted by Kevin Kizer
Please, vote for us!
April 5, 2002
I know, it's far from being serious but we realy would like to know how far we could go with the help of our beloved readers.
Tweakers Asutralia has started another one of these Top 50 web pages and we subsrcibed to it just for fun.
Thus, we would like you to Click on the to vote for us button
We never won anything in the past but who knows what we could do this time with your help?
Posted by Chris Verr
AMD released new chipset drivers
April 4, 2002
These drivers are good for all AMD Socket A chipsets including the 750, 760, 760MP, and 760MPX.
download:
AGP Driver Windows 2000 and XP only version 5.33
IDE Bus Master Driver version 1.43s Windows 2000 and XP only
Power Management Driver for Windows 98/98SE/ME/2000 version 1.22s
Posted by Kevin Kizer
DDR333 modules get OK for VIA chipsets
April 4, 2002
VIA is stepping up the PR pace for its DDR333-supporting chipsets.
Early results for the validation programme it's running with Advanced Validation Labs (AVL), of California, show that Kingston Technology and Micron's DDR333 memory modules work just fine with its new chipsets, VIA says.
The validation programme is intended to speed time to market, while providing a comfort blanket for OEMs.
The first iteration of VIA's DDR266 chipset platform was criticised for its poor PCI performance, and was characterised as 'buggy' by some system builders who contacted The Register.
With SiS breathing down its neck, and Intel trying to stamp on its throat, VIA is keen to show the computer trade that it retains a safe pair of hands.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
ECS announces the K7VTA3 (3.1) mainboard with VIA KT333 chipset
April 4, 2002
ECS has pleasure in announcing the release of the K7VTA3 mainboard, revision 3.1, with the VIA KT333 chipset. It is an ATX Socket A (462 pin) board that will support Athlon and Duron processors up to 200/266 MHz FSB, including all Athlon XP processors. The board comes with the high performance VIA KT333 chipset that comprises a VIA KT333 North Bridge and VT8233A South Bridge. It provides AC97 Audio Codec and AGP 4x support. Realtek LAN (8100B) and Promise IDE RAID (RAID 0,1) are optional features, as is USB 2.0 support. Users seeking large memory capacity should be satisfied with the board’s 3 DIMM sockets that accommodate up to 3GB of DDR SDRAM (DDR333). For expansion options, the K7VTA3 (3.1) provides 5 PCI slots, an AGP slot and CNR slot.
There are 2 USB ports, an EPP/ECP parallel port and two 16550 high-speed serial I/O ports, as well as an optional LAN connector. A range of audio ports is supplied, comprising line-in, line-out, microphone-in, CD-in and game port.. Two PCI IDE interfaces support 4 IDE devices (PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2, ATA 66/100). There are also PS/2 keyboard and mouse connectors. Provision of two independent ATA channels to support another 4 IDE devices is optional.
The K7VTA3 (3.1) also comes with our popular LAN/modem wake-up (wakens the system if there is an incoming fax, voice mail message or data transfer request), Keyboard Power On, Suspend-to-RAM features and hardware monitoring functions.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Pentium4 'Northwood" @ 2.4Ghz review @ Serialaddiction.com
April 4, 2002
Serial Addiction has just posted a review of Intel's new flagship, the 2.4Ghz Pentium4 Northwood.
"Today we see Intel widen the gap between its top of the line chips and all competitors. With today's release of the Pentium 4 Northwood running at a core frequency of 2.4Ghz Intel is almost 700Mhz ahead of all other competition. Though this is not a measure of performance it is fairly impressive."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Pentium 4 - 2.40Ghz CPU Review @ The Tech Zone
April 4, 2002
The Tech Zone has posted a review of Intel's latest speed demon, the P4 - 2.40Ghz. Running at 2.40Ghz and armed with 512K of L2 cache, the new P4 not only sounds fast, it is fast!
Here's a clip:
"Three runs were made at four different resolutions (all 32-bit color) using Normal, Hi, and Max detail levels. The average of the three runs are shown above. If you're running a P4 2.40 and a GeForce4 Ti 4600, there is no reason to run at anything less than 1600x1200x32 bit. Just for the hell of it, I did a few runs of Q3 at 2048x1536x32 bit at Max detail level and got 105 frames per second. Wow!"
Read the full review here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Canon CanoScan D1250U2 scanner review @ The Hardware Zone
April 4, 2002
The new USB 2.0 technology found its place in the new Canon CanoScan D1250U2. Based on a 1200 x 2400dpi optical CCD, the D1250U2 can scan up to two times the speed in USB 2.0 as compared with the old USB 1.1.
Check out this review clicking here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Transcend Introduces Low Profile ECC SO-DIMMs with wBGA Chips for Vital Data Reliability
April 4, 2002
Taipei, Taiwan, April 03, 2002/Various Agencies—Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend) introduces a new series of 1.25-inch ECC SO-DIMM memory modules with cutting-edge wBGA (window Ball Grid Array) chips. These memory modules with ECC (Error Checking and Correction) and CSP (Chip Scale Package) wBGA chips are uniquely suitable for Industrial PCs, CISCO Routers, Sun-based notebook workstations, and embedded devices where data reliability is vital.
This new low profile ECC SO-DIMM from Transcend is composed of top quality DRAM chips using the wBGA chip package technology and six-layer Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). Chips using the wBGA chip package technology are tiny in size, and have lower power consumption, better heat spread, and fewer signal disturbances than conventional thin small outline package (TSOP) chips. More importantly, Transcend designs these memory modules with the ECC function for special computing systems such as military mobile workstations or other systems where data reliability is highly critical. For this niche market, the Transcend 1.25-inch ECC SO-DIMMs with wBGA chips are the best choice.
Features
- wBGA chips are lighter and smaller than chips with other types of packaging.
- wBGA chips when mounted on the memory modules have shorter wire distances and connections, helping to lower resistance, inductance, and capacitance.
- Memory modules using wBGA chips are more reliable than memory modules using TSOP or SOJ chips.
- Memory modules are designed with the Error Checking and Correction (ECC) function.
- Modules are made with 1.25-inch low profile, six-layer Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs).
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Transcend Introduces Low Profile ECC SO-DIMMs with wBGA Chips for Vital Data Reliability
April 3, 2002
Taipei, Taiwan, April 03, 2002/Various Agencies—Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend) introduces a new series of 1.25-inch ECC SO-DIMM memory modules with cutting-edge wBGA (window Ball Grid Array) chips. These memory modules with ECC (Error Checking and Correction) and CSP (Chip Scale Package) wBGA chips are uniquely suitable for Industrial PCs, CISCO Routers, Sun-based notebook workstations, and embedded devices where data reliability is vital.
This new low profile ECC SO-DIMM from Transcend is composed of top quality DRAM chips using the wBGA chip package technology and six-layer Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). Chips using the wBGA chip package technology are tiny in size, and have lower power consumption, better heat spread, and fewer signal disturbances than conventional thin small outline package (TSOP) chips. More importantly, Transcend designs these memory modules with the ECC function for special computing systems such as military mobile workstations or other systems where data reliability is highly critical. For this niche market, the Transcend 1.25-inch ECC SO-DIMMs with wBGA chips are the best choice.
Features
- wBGA chips are lighter and smaller than chips with other types of packaging.
- wBGA chips when mounted on the memory modules have shorter wire distances and connections, helping to lower resistance, inductance, and capacitance.
- Memory modules using wBGA chips are more reliable than memory modules using TSOP or SOJ chips.
- Memory modules are designed with the Error Checking and Correction (ECC) function.
- Modules are made with 1.25-inch low profile, six-layer Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs).
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Pocket PC: A handheld or a gag gift?
April 3, 2002
A novelty-gift inventor faced off with Microsoft on Tuesday in an unlikely tussle over the rights to the term "Pocket PC."
The low-key battle took place in small-claims court, with entrepreneur Ken Belanger arguing that he lost $5,000 in sales last December because of the software giant's use of the term. Belanger claims he coined the word in 1985 for a gag gift item and therefore holds rights to the same name Microsoft gave to software for handheld computers.
The software maker sent a paralegal from Redmond, Wash., to defend its case in court.
"'Pocket PC' is a generic term used throughout the industry," company representative Marianne Peterson said to a judge in a near-empty court. "Microsoft is simply not infringing this trademark...and asks the court to dismiss the case."
In a last-minute strategy switch to "throw Microsoft off-guard," Belanger pleaded that he held a distributed copyright for the term "Pocket PC". He had originally planned to argue that he held a common-law trademark over the term "Pocket PC," but he said he did not have the resources to fight Microsoft on such a claim.
Source: CNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
VIA Platform Solutions Division Introduces Ultra Compact VIA EPIA Mini-ITX Mainboard
April 3, 2002
Revolutionary x86 platform for new generation of quiet running, energy efficient, and ergonomic digital Information Appliances and entertainment devices now available through VIA’s global distribution channels.
Taipei, Taiwan, 3rd April 2002 - VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator and developer of silicon chip technologies and PC platform solutions, today announced the worldwide availability of its ultra-compact, highly-integrated EPIA Mini-ITX mainboard through the VIA Platform Solutions Division (VPSD).
Offering the choice of a VIA Eden™ ESP processor for fanless systems with power sensitive requirements, or a VIA C3™ E-Series processor for more multimedia rich applications, the highly integrated VIA EPIA Mini-ITX mainboard features integrated 3D graphics, AC’97 audio, Ethernet and TV-Out connectivity. Measuring only 170mm x 170mm, it is the perfect platform for developing the next generation of small footprint Digital Information Appliances and Entertainment Devices.
With an operating voltage of only 1.2V, the recently launched VIA Eden ESP processor expands on the acclaimed low-power consumption and heat dissipation qualities of the VIA C3™ processor, offering lower power consumption than any other x86 processor on the market today. Furthermore, the VIA Eden ESP processor does not require a fan, opening up endless possibilities in the design of silent PCs and other quiet running devices.
The ultra compact Mini-ITX form factor was developed as part of VIA’s open industry-wide Total Connectivity initiative, and is more than 30% smaller than the smallest FlexATX form factor boards available. The Mini-ITX form factor is also compatible with Micro-ATX and Flex-ATX chasses.
“The response since we introduced the Mini-ITX reference design in November 2001 has been phenomenal; our customers have been pushing us to start production as early as possible,” said Richard Brown, Director of International Marketing at VIA Technologies, Inc. “Unlike previous ultra-compact platforms for small footprint designs, the EPIA mainboard is based on industry standard x86 components, which has obvious cost benefits and makes integration and design of devices so much easier for System Integrators and OEMs.”
The VIA EPIA Mini-ITX Mainboard is based around the VIA Apollo PLE133 chipset and is fully compatible with a complete range of Microsoft Windows XP, Windows 9x, Embedded Windows, and Windows CE operating systems as well as all the leading versions of Linux. More information about the new ultra compact VIA EPIA Mini-ITX motherboard can be found at http://www.viavpsd.com/products/epia_mini_itx_spec.jsp.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
MemTach v0.93 Released - CPUReview Revives...
April 3, 2002
This is the third public release of CPUReview's FREE memory subsystem benchmark for Windows. MemTach can be downloaded from CPUReview.
Quote:
"I wanted to be able to also measure the best achievable performance - as well as the worst possible performance. I wanted to be able to analytically determine the performance characteristics of the memory subsystem in systems I test. Ideally, I should be able to determine the L1 size, L2 size, memory paging organization and miss penalties by analyzing the performance of certain test routines. [Sorry, that's my Comp Sci background showing. I've been designing real-time software for too long...]"
Click here to go to the downloads page in CPUreview.com.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
PARS Scorpio review @ Hexus.net
April 3, 2002
Today @ Hexus.net they have a new review titled: PARS Scorpio
Snip:
"Overall this case is brilliant. It's perfect for your main rig or a decent server setup. There is plenty of room inside and it is well ventilated. At £80 EX VAT including a 340watt PSU, this case is a seriously good buy. PARS offer great service and the case arrived on time and well packaged. The Scorpio is available in a range of colours including black/purple/silver and beige. However at this time PARS only deals with business clients but within the next few months they will be launching their new website available to all. Overclockers UK get their cases from PARS so you can"
Click here to read the full article.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Procase Icemaster Case Review @ Jsi Hardware
April 3, 2002
Over at Jsi Hardware today they take a look at the Procase Icemaster case.
Heres a clip:
"With the look of a case becoming more important nowadays, it is nice to see that not all nice looking cases will cost you an arm and a leg. Icemaster offers a high quality midi tower case with a unique acrylic front, which gives it a cool appearance and a style all its own."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
AC97 Sound System Driver update
April 3, 2002
Ecs has noted that Version 2.8 has been released for the motherboards with VT8233 chipset only! Get the best out of your intergrated sound with the latest driver.
go check it out at Elitegroups's site
v2.8 ac97 driver
*only for Via8233 chipset
Posted by Kevin Kizer
Comparison review of the 2.4Ghz Intel Pentium 4 Northwood CPU
April 2, 2002
By all appearances, Intel has refused to roll over for AMD. The Pentium 4 "Northwood" 2.4ghz has set a new rung in the performance arena, and has managed to beat-out the AMD Athlon XP 2100+ for the performance crown in many areas like we never saw before. Read the article...
Posted by Chris Verr
Updated Bios for Ecs's P4VXAD
April 2, 2002
Elitegroup Computer Systems updated there current bios for the Pentium 4 based motherboard P4VXAD Get your Bios Update v1.2 to put the performance of your mobo to the best!
download:biosv1.2
Posted by Kevin Kizer
Sun raises curtain (a little) on Solaris 9
April 2, 2002
Sun Microsystems Inc is working towards getting the next release of its Solaris operating system - known as SunOS 5.9 internally at Sun and Solaris 2.9 or simply Solaris 9 externally - which should be shipping if all goes well before the end of Sun's fiscal year in June, Timothy Prickett Morgan writes.
Sources at Sun have not publicly committed to a launch date because Sun is still testing the operating system to make sure it is ready to rumble.
Name calling
For marketing reasons as well as internal rules governing the naming schemes of Sun Unix operating systems, the next update of Solaris will be Solaris 9 and not a refresh of the existing Solaris 8 code, even though the vast majority of the code in the operating system has not changed.
The Sun naming conventions have to do with whether or not the APIs in use with a successive release - as well as the undocumented APIs that Sun wants to discourage customers from using - require software vendors to re-certify their applications for a Solaris environment.
Because some of the changes Sun is making to Solaris will require this re-certification, the updated Solaris will be Solaris 9 rather than Solaris 8. Aside from all that, the marketing folk at Sun will be happier pushing Solaris 9 against the rebranded operating systems from Microsoft Corp, IBM Corp, and Hewlett Packard Co. Solaris 9 can sound newer and better than updated Solaris 8.
Source: Theregister.co.uk
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Compex irdaNet iRE201 Review @ The Tech Zone
April 2, 2002
Tired of synchronizing emails between your PDA and PC? If you wish for true network connectivity for your PDA, Compex irdaNet iRE201 will make your dream come true. Designed with an RJ45 port and a RS232 interface, iRE201 provides infrared connectivity not only to Fast Ethernet network but also the Internet via Cable modem or 56K analog modem.
The Tech Zone takes a look over here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU Motherboard Review @ Amdmb.com
April 2, 2002
Amdmb.com has just published a review of the MSI KT3 Ultra motherboard based on the KT333 chipset. This board boasts lots of features and good performance as well. It is the first board in a while to receive and Editor's Choice award from Amdmb.com!
Quote: "There is little doubt that the MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU is an impressive motherboard. The performance gains over the KT266A chipset are not the board's strongest selling point simply due to the fact that the KT333 chipset is not the killer chipset upgrade that many people thought and hoped it would be. MSI shouldn’t really be blamed for that. The feature set is amazing including IDE RAID, 4 USB 2.0 ports, 6-channel audio with SPDIF connectors and Bluetooth. This board offers everybody something."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Gateway notebook drives a bargain
April 1, 2002
Gateway updated its lowest-priced notebook Monday as part of a continuing effort to use lower prices to gain share in the PC market.
The company's new Solo 1450, starting at $999, offers a 1.2GHz Intel Celeron processor with 128MB of RAM, a 20GB hard drive, a 14-inch screen and a DVD-ROM. A CD-rewritable drive is a $20 upgrade over the DVD. That notebook replaces the Solo 1400SE, which had a 900MHz Celeron chip and 256MB of RAM and which sold for $999 after Gateway dropped the price $100 in January.
The Solo 1450 notebook offers a faster chip and a better optical drive than comparable systems from competitors such as Dell Computer and Toshiba, but it also uses a lower-cost, lower-energy nickel metal hydride battery.
The machine accords with Gateway's strategy for 2002 of cutting prices and, where appropriate, offering better hardware than competitors do. It's a strategy designed to help the company win back customers and boost market share--at the expense of profitability--after a less-than-spectacular performance in the fourth quarter of 2001.
Source: ZDNET News
Full article: Click here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
DFI NS70-EL Motherboard Review @ TweakTown
April 1, 2002
TweakTown has an exclusive review of the DFI NS70-EL Motherboard.
Here's a snip:
"With Intel and VIA battling it out over the high-end chipset market, many folks have missed a sleeper coming into the picture. SiS has brought into being a Pentium 4 chipset that supports most of today's top tier capabilities and makes for some very surprising (and pleasing) results in the benchmarking department. Come join TweakTown as they take a hard look at the DFI NS70-EL featuring the SiS645DX chipset. The results just may turn your head."
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Samsung SW-224 24/10/40 CD Writer Review @ The Tech Zone
April 1, 2002
The Tech Zone has posted a review of the Samsung SW-224 This is a 24/10/40 CD-R/RW/ROM drive, featuring Superlink Buffer Underrun protection, and a very nice price.
Here is a clip:
"Overall I've been very pleased with the performance of Samsung's SW-224 CD-R/RW drive here. It benchmark's within it's specifications, comes with a nice CD creation suite (Roxio's EZCD Creator 5 Basic), and works as advertised. Online, the drive can be found in the $70-80 U.S. range, which makes it a nice bargain."
Check out the full review here.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
Vantec Stealth Fans @ VL.com
April 1, 2002
I don't know if fans can get any louder, but they can certainly stand to get a little quieter. Vantec has released a line of near silent fans, and Viperlair.com have a few in-house.
"I know true performance enthusiasts are gonna look at the numbers and say "bah!". As one of these users, I'll have to agree. Performance is not as good as the 7000rpm screamers, with 68cfm case fans blasting through your system."
Click here to read the full review.
Posted by Pablo Aguilar
