April 1 - 8, 1999
Archive

Ever since the discovery of the Intel Celeron 300A's ability to overclock stably and in some cases exceeding the performance level of its big brother, the P-II 450, people have been flocking to it in the quest for a low-cost solution for their high-performance thirst. Through modified PPGA cartridges which allow the socket 370 Celery to be used in a dual-CPU configuration, the curiosity of enthusiasts as well as high end work station users has been stirred. Well it was bound to happen and the folks of ComputerNerd have seized the opportunity and built the first overclocked dual C300A system, the POW!er 2U Dude! Computer. As you will see, this is a prodigious hunk of silicon and steel.

 

To give you an impression of the SuPaChillä’s potential, we’ve been able to run a C300A at 600Mhz /2.3Volts using cooled water as a coolant. Needless to say that not all C300A’s will have this potential, you’ll need a really good Celeron to OC it that much, even with the SuPaChillä

 

Why did Matrox decide to create a 3D processor with the best image quality, versus just the fastest video processor?

Actually, we believe that the G400 MAX chip will go toe-to-toe with the best that nVidia and 3Dfx have to offer in terms of raw 3D performance. So really, we decided to make the fastest 3D processor and also make it the most cutting edge 3D processor on the market. By including new 3D features such as Environment Mapped Bump Mapping, and adding DualHead display capabilities, we will have the fastest 2D performance the world has ever seen and the best analog output quality.

 

• Rendition V2x00 Reference Driver (Win9X - version 3.0 Beta 3b - 664KB)

 

In fact, let's look a little closer: the core 3D technology inside the Voodoo 3 has not changed at all since 1996! The rendering output generated by the Voodoo 1 card is pixel-for-pixel identical to output from the Voodoo 3. If you somehow obtained a copy of Quake 3: Arena today and ran it on the Voodoo 1 card, you would see the exact same image as you would on a Voodoo 3. Of course, it would be running a heck of a lot faster.

 

The controller came with everything you need to get up and running (except a drive =), it was very easy to install, it offers performance on par with the Adaptec 2940U2W, and it costs as much as $100 less.  Yes that's right, that means the extra money goes to the Adaptec names, and useless utilities.  I was so impressed with the Tekram U2W controller, that it is now the official SCSI controller for the AGN SCSI test bed!

 

As you can see in these graphs, the performance of the Voodoo3 is quite amazing, essentially destroying the pervious generation top-of-the-line cards like the TNT and the Rage 128. At the 640x480 resolution, the fill-rate demand is so low that the bottleneck is on the CPU which needs to do geometry processing, hence the frame rates are essentially the same between the V3 2000 and the V3 3000. However, as the resolution increases, the fill-rate demand becomes more of a dominant factor and the V3 3000 begins to pull away from the 2000. What's truly amazing is that even the Voodoo3 2000, the lowest-end Voodoo3 card, hits around 50 FPS at 1280x960! The Voodoo3 is definitely a huge leap from the previous generation in terms of performance.

 

The RAGE 128 PRO saves money and space by integrating a 170MHz TMDS (Transition Minimized Differential Signaling) transmitter, and a ratiometric (SXGA (1200 x 1024) source) input scaler for digital flat panel monitors up to UXGA (1600 x 1200). In addition to continued support for the DFP specification, the RAGE 128 PRO also meets all aspects of the DDWG Digital Visual Interface (DVI) specification. These capabilities will accelerate the market adoption of high resolution, thin, lightweight, and energy efficient digital flat panels.

 

Today at WinHEC 99, Matrox Graphics Inc. announced the launch of the new Matrox G400 MAX, a higher speed version of the already blisteringly fast Matrox G400 graphics chip. The Matrox G400 MAX benefits from an increase in raw speed of more than 30% over the Matrox G400 and can achieve peak 3D fill rates in excess of 333 Mtexels/second. On industry standard benchmarks, the new Matrox G400 MAX comes close to maxing out Ziff Davis' 3D WinBench 99 test with a score of 1080 at 1024 x 768 resolution. The Matrox G400 MAX graphics chip also includes an industry-leading 360Mhz UltraSharp RAMDAC capable of driving high-end monitors at resolutions up to 2048 x 1536, 32-bpp at 85Hz.

Priced at a premium, the Matrox G400 MAX is targeted directly at the accept-no-compromise PC gamer, as well as at professionals using extremely high-end 21" monitors. All other professional and power users will benefit from the exceedingly high performance levels of the standard, lower cost Matrox G400 graphics chip, which attains an impressive 960 on 3D WinBench 99.

As the top 3D and 2D performer, the Matrox G400 MAX integrates all of the unique-to-Matrox features supported by the recently announced Matrox G400. This includes DualHead Display, DirectX 6 Environment Mapped Bump Mapping, Vibrant Color Quality2 (VCQ2), full AGP texturing, anisotropic filtering, 32-bit rendering, support for 32MB of memory and a 32-bit Z-buffer.

"With a combination of no-holds-barred performance and a revolutionary new feature set, the Matrox G400 MAX will become the graphics chip of choice for the most voraciously power-hungry users," said Dan Wood, Senior Product Manager, Matrox Graphics. "Supercharged with all of the Matrox G400's unique, must-have features, the Matrox G400 MAX is the best choice to power your high-performance PC into the next Millennium."

 

SUNNYVALE, CA--APRIL 5, 1999--AMD today announced the introduction of its 475-MHz AMD-K6®-2 processor with 3DNow!^(TM) technology. The AMD-K6-2/475 processor offers a powerful combination of system price and performance and exceeds the clock speed of Intel's fastest available Pentium® II processor. The AMD-K6-2/475 processor will power a soon- to-be-released IBM Aptiva consumer personal computer system targeted at the retail market.

 

SAN FRANCISCO, April 5 (Reuters) - Intel Corp. is expected to cut prices from 10 to 20 percent for most of its products next week, including its newest Pentium III chips, ahead of launching some faster processors later in the month.

Analysts said Intel is expected to make its regular price cuts on April 11, as it makes room for new products.

A spokesman for Intel in Santa Clara, Calif. was not immediately available for comment.

Nathan Brookwood, an analyst at Insight64 in Saratoga, Calif., said the price cuts range from 10 percent to 20 percent and include a price cut of the just-launched Pentium III. For example, Intel will cut the price on the 500 megahertz processor to $640 from its launch price of $700.

• Jameco SuperCooler Review
• JustCooler Hard Drive Cooler Review

 

• Streaming SIMD Instructions
• 133MHz Front Side Bus
• 0.18 Micron Manufacturing Process
• 256KB Full Speed On-chip Level 2 Cache
• Dual MMX And Floating Point Units
• SMP Multiprocessing Capable

 

The smallest physical unit of memory is the bit, which is essentially an electrical component that is in one of two possible states (usually represented as 0 and 1).

Eight of these bits together makes a byte, which allows 256 possible combinations (2^8) and is the smallest addressable unit of memory. Each of these combinations represents a single data character or instruction. The ASCII character set actually only uses 7 of these bits, resulting in 128 possible characters. This provides enough room for all 26 English letters (both upper and lower case), digits and special characters. There are also 'double byte' character sets for languages that have a larger number of characters (such as the Far East).

Slightly improved 3DNow! units and three indepedent FP units make the K7 floating point performance superior to the floating point performance of any x86 CPU in existance today. We estimate that the K7 will be, on average, 40% faster than the PIII in 3D games. That difference will even higher for double precision FPU intensive applications.

 

The Voodoo3 2000 offers good performance for a great price. If you're looking for a cheap entry into the 3D graphics world that is compatible with just about every game, you should at least consider this card. However, I suggest you wait a few months for the Ultra TNT-2 and Vanta cards. If you're looking to upgrade your old card(s) consider the performance difference... is it worth it for you to upgrade to a product that offers only a small performance increase? Or perhaps you want the support of higher resolutions? This card is not recommended to replace a Voodoo2 SLI configuration, because it offers only slight performance increases and no real advantages except higher resolutions and good 2D. Another reason to wait for the Ultra TNT-2 and Vanta cards (along with other upcoming cards) is to find out if games will take advantage of 32-bit color, large textures, and full AGP support in the near future.

 

Late last year, a user reported that IDT's 3dnow! implementation had an erratum. With the release of the WinChip2 RevisionA or WinChip2A, IDT has now fixed the 3dnow! problem and it has finally raised the frequency.The IDT Winchip2A is now available in 200, 233, 266 and 300 varieties. The later two are PR ratings due to IDT's recent adoption of the Super7 architecture with 100 Mhz bus and thus, providing a 5% speed boost. Although IDT has kept the voltage at 3.52V and has not used split-rail voltages (like the K6-2 and Cyrix MII), the 266 and 300 versions will not be compatible with older motherboards because they use the relatively "new" 100 Mhz front side bus (an integral part of the Super7 infrastructure).

 

Don't  expect the savage4 to be faster than the TNT2 or the various flavours of the Voodoo3 since it moslty meant at the price/performance market, it will on all probability fall a close 3^rd place in the standings. Its lack of performance will be made up by the use of things such as S3TC in games like Unreal Tournament and Quake3 Arena. I am not saying it will be slow ,not by any means, it will be ha high performance card but it might not have that extra edge to compete one-one with the big-boys.

 

PCV: AMD has a bad history of yield problems with the launch of new processors. While this is nothing extraordinary for the industry in general what steps has AMD taken to lessen this effect for the K7 launch and the eventual shift to the 0.18-micron process?

AMD: Manufacturing sub-micron integrated circuits is not a simple process. We have learned from our past manufacturing difficulties and are implementing transfer procedures to move our .18 process technology from our Submicron Development Center (SDC) in Sunnyvale to both Fab 25 in Austin and Fab 30 in Dresden. The added capacity at Fab 30 should enable us to meet our goal of capturing 30% of the processor market during the year 2000. Our success as a company depends not only on introducing innovative products, but in being able to reliably manufacture them in volume. With the K7, we plan to deliver on both ends of the equation.

• Quake II 3.20 3DNow! Driver

 

By allowing a user to capture and manipulate images and video from any possible source, including a DVD-ROM drive, the All-In-Wonder 128 acts as a user's private television production studio. Everything from digital cameras to Laser Disc players are fair game, even the signals being broadcast from your cable provider are no sweat and accounted for by the All-In-Wonder 128 (via the aforementioned co-ax IN port).

 

The image quality is amazing for a computer-run peripheral. I would have to say this is the best "consumer" TV-Tuner there is (without going $1000 for a professional card). But than again, it is just TV on your PC. If you have a cable wire running near your computer, chances are you have a TV near you anyways. If you like to play with gadgets though, this is the card for you. It does boast many options and gives you motion and still capture of your favorite TV show (Baywatch). Thanks once again to Brian Burke of STB Systems, Inc. for providing this unit to review.

 

The sound card market is one that is never given the attention it deserves. While there are a few sound fan sites, such as the ones our friends at 3D SoundSurge run, it doesn't compare to those dedicated to 3D graphics. The sad thing is, sound is nearly as important as graphics are these days. Modern games nearly always require you to hear. You may need to know where a sound is coming from or what a NPC is saying. The point is, you need sound.

No other graphics card comes close to matching ALL-IN-WONDER 128's advanced video capabilities. ALL-IN-WONDER 128's Digital VCR, featuring real-time powerful software video compression lets you use your PC to record your favorite TV shows without filling your entire hard-drive. The Digital VCR uses the ATI VCR 2.0 codec to empower your Pentium II™ processor to compress video on-the-fly, as you're viewing it. This allows you to capture up to 9 times more video than ever before, using the same amount of disk space!

 

PC-DVD Encore 6X Dxr3 features Creative's latest decoder card, the successor to the award-winning Dxr2 decoder card. Video quality has been significantly enhanced with this revision, and coupled with the PC-DVD 6X drive offers the ultimate PC-DVD solution. PC-DVD Encore 6X addresses multiple segments of the PC market with the latest DVD technology, including the entertainment enthusiast, home PC user and PC gamer. PC-DVD Encore 6X Dxr3 delivers enormous storage capacity (up to 17 gigabytes of data), enhanced full-motion, full-screen video plus Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio.

 

In the case of CPU's, you actually get more than you pay for, usually. The reason why entails a brief, VERY SIMPLIFIED account of a major vendor's manufacturing process. When CPU manufacturers produce CPUs out of certain fabrication plants, or "fabs", they don't actually produce a certain clock speed of CPUs at a time. What I mean is when Intel, for example, produces PIIIs, they don't actually produce a whole bunch of PIIIs that are clocked at 500. They make a bunch of PIIIs using their manufacturing process, and then have to clock the PIIIs to see how fast they should be sold at. So, the CPUs that are made in a batch can be varying speeds, due a variety of factors in regards to the very ultra-sensitive process of microprocessor technology.