Aug 25 - 31, 1999
Archive

Tuesday - August 31st

  New Spectra 2500/3200 Drivers  9:10 PM EST  - Email Us
I noticed over at 3DFiles.com that Canopus has released a new driver for the Spectra 2500/3200 cards which are based on the NVIDIA 2.08 reference drivers.  Grab them below:
  3D Chip Comparison Chart  7:11 PM EST  - Email Us
3DConcepts has updated their 3D Chip Comparison Chart with pretty much every chip out there including the GeForce 256, Savage2000 and Glaze3D chips.

 

  Leadtek, Creative & ELSA GeForce 256 Cards  7:08 PM EST  - Email Us
All three of these companies have already announced products based on NVIDIA's GeForce 256.  Check out the press releases below:
  More NVIDIA GeForce 256 Articles  2:35 PM EST  - Email Us
I had a feeling this would happen.  As soon as the NDA's expire, hardware sites everywhere have begun posting their GeForce256 previews.  Here is a current list of all the articles:
  Superpower KS-299 ATX Case  2:25 PM EST  - Email Us
Anand Tech has posted a review of Superpower's Landmark KS-299 ATX Medium Tower case.  It's got a pretty nice design, but head over and check out how the internals are.

 

  NVIDIA GeForce 256 Preview  1:26 PM EST  - Email Us
To follow along with the announcement, Tweak3D has posted a very interesting in-depth preview of the GeForce 256 processor.  This 10 page article outlines all the specs and every new feature of this chip, head over and check it out.

 

  NVIDIA GeForce256 (NV10) Announced!  1:23 PM EST  - Email Us
Sorry I was a bit too late on this one but Nvidia has finally officially announced their next generation graphics processor.  Here are three press releases to fill your need for knowledge:

NVIDIA Launches The World's First Graphics Processing Unit: GeForce 256
GeForce 256 Features an Integrated Transform Engine, Integrated Lighting Engine and a 256-bit Rendering Engine on a Single Chip
PALM SPRINGS, CA – AUGUST 31, 1999 – In an event that ushers in a new era of interactivity for the PC, NVIDIA™ Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) unveiled today the GeForce 256™, the world's first graphics processing unit (GPU).

>> Read on

NVIDIA's New GeForce 256 Embraced By Industry's Top PC OEMs
Industry's First GPU Selected by Dell, Gateway, Compaq, Micron and NEC Direct for Desktop PC Systems
PALM SPRINGS, CA – AUGUST 31, 1999 – NVIDIA™ Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) announced that it has secured GeForce 256™ design wins with five of the top PC OEMs, including: Dell® Computer Corporation, Gateway, Compaq Computer Corporation, Micron Electronics, Inc.™ and NEC Direct. In order to meet the high-volume requirements of these customers, NVIDIA also announced it has begun full ramp of the GeForce 256 graphics processing unit (GPU) into full production.

>> Read on

NVIDIA Announces Design Wins For Industry-Leading GeForce 256 Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
Retail Partners Creative Labs, ELSA, Guillemot, Canopus, ASUSTeK, and Leadtek to Add New Products Based on Industry's First GPU
PALM SPRINGS, CA – AUGUST 31, 1999 – NVIDIA™ Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) announced today that six of the top independent graphic accelerator manufacturers have selected the recently announced GeForce 256™ graphics processing unit (GPU) for their add-in-card product lines. Creative Technology, Ltd., ELSA Inc., Guillemot Corporation, Canopus Co. Ltd., ASUSTeK Computer Inc. and Leadtek Research Inc. have all announced their intention to ship new, highly anticipated graphics boards based on NVIDIA's GeForce 256 GPU. The first graphics cards will be available on retail shelves beginning in late September.

>> Read on
  3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV Review  10:50 AM EST  - Email Us
Yes, I know you must be getting bored of these by now ... especially with that announcement in 10 minutes that will change the world according to Nvidia but hey what the heck?  Beyond3D has posted a review of 3dfx's Voodoo3 3500 TV, check it out if you're interested.

 

  K6-3 450MHz with a Voodoo3 3000  10:46 AM EST  - Email Us
Here is something I know many of you are dying to see.  We all know the Voodoo3 performs very well on Intel's stuff, but what about AMD's K6 line of processors?  CTNews has posted a great article which takes a look at the experience of using a Voodoo3 3000 on a K6-3 system.

 

  Hardware Cooling Guide  10:43 AM EST  - Email Us
The Gamers Depot has posted a hardware cooling guide which outlines cooling techniques (and devices) for a variety of components inside your computer.  Most of the goods are from the very innovative 3DCool.com.

 

  Castlewood ORB 2.2GB Drive  9:44 AM EST  - Email Us
iXBT Hardware has posted a review of Castlewood's ORB 2.2GB removable drive.  If you're in need of a large capacity removable drive that is not slow as hell, take a serious look at this drive.

 

  New Voodoo3 2000/3000 Driver  9:44 AM EST  - Email Us
3dfx has released a new driver for the Voodoo3 2000 & 3000 cards.  Here is some info on them from 3DFiles.com and a link to download:

Voodoo3 2000/3000 drivers for AGP/PCI boards running under Windows 9x. This driver kit includes: 2D Display driver, Glide 2.6, Glide 3.1, DirectX (Direct3D and DirectDraw) and OpenGL(r) v1.1 ICD. These drivers support Intel, Cyrix and AMD 3DNow! based CPU's. Despite the old date on the drivers, they are indeed new, but not newer drivers. They simply make the OpenGL ICD used with Quake 3 into the same driver kit. If it doesn't make sense, don't worry, just install them. :)
  ASUS P3B-F Slot-1 Mobo Review  9:40 AM EST  - Email Us
The Tech Zone has posted their review of ASUS's newest i440BX motherboard, the P3B-F.  Having 6 PCI slots and 4 DIMM slots really makes this board standout in the crowd.

 

  Motherboard Monitor 4.10 Final  9:34 AM EST  - Email Us
Alex Van Kaam has released the final version of Motherboard Monitor 4.10.  There are quite a few fixes and changes in this release, so head over to the website to read all the info.  If you don't care about what's changed, grab it below:

Monday - August 30th

  Cleaning Up The Wiring in Your Case  8:26 PM EST  - Email Us
HardOCP has posted great article which tells you how clean up the wiring inside your case to make it look much cleaner and organized, but more importantly it increases airflow and thus increases cooling without getting more fans.

 

  Maxtor DiamondMax 6800 27.2GB  8:15 PM EST  - Email Us
Tech-Review has posted a review of Maxtor's DiamondMax 6800 5400RPM ATA-66 27.2GB hard drive.  I would much rather opt for a 7200RPM drive as they offer quite a performance boost.

 

  S3 Savage2000 Interview @AGN  8:06 PM EST  - Email Us
AGNHardware has posted an interview with S3 regarding their freshly announced Savage2000 3D chip.  Here is a tidbit:

I have to admit that the Savage 2000 is quite an impressive sounding video chip. Is the main technology of the chip based upon the Savage 3 and the Savage 4, or have you rebuilt it from the ground up to offer an impressive increase over past technology?

This is a completely new graphics platform, beyond Savage 3D and Savage 4. So that means it has been pretty much completely redesigned. Although we did use some of the better aspects of the architecture to some of the previous generations, we like to apply them toward the next generation. A lot of the good things about the Savage 4 architecture such as its very efficient memory utilization, 32 bit rendering, image quality, S3TC textures and more have been put into this architecture.
  3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV Review  10:08 AM EST  - Email Us
3DWars has posted their review of 3dfx's Voodoo3 3500 TV card. Lots of features and awesome speed but would it be a good idea to spend that much money on a card that's lacking 3D features so close to the fall roll-out of the next generation boards?  It's up to you to decide. 

 

  Western Digital 10,000 RPM HD  9:59 AM EST  - Email Us
Storage Review has posted a review of Western Digital's Enterprise WDE18310.  I'm surprised!  It actually beat the Quantum 10K under NT4 but under Win9X, the Quantum still holds the medal.

 

  Act Labs Force RS Wheel Review  9:55 AM EST  - Email Us
3DSpotlight has posted a review of Act Labs Force RS force feedback wheel/pedal system. You can also check out our review here.

 

  Skywell Magic Sound Live! & Speakers  9:41 AM EST  - Email Us
I couldn't fit it in the header but what I mean to say is Demonews has done a review of Skywell's Magic Sound Live! AND the Magic Theatre Pro 6-piece Speaker set.  Looks like a very good and affordable combination for a kick-ass sound system on your PC.

 

  WD Expert 18.2 GB ATA-66 Review  9:41 AM EST  - Email Us
Hot Hardware has posted a review of Western Digital's Expert WD-AC418000 ATA-66 7200 RPM hard drive.   Finally hard drives are evolving like they should be!  I always wondered why hard drives are so far behind the pack in terms of performance when compared to the evolution of other sub-system components like CPU's, memory, video cards.

 

  Metabyte Wicked GL Interview  9:23 AM EST  - Email Us
Andy over at BXBoards has notified us that he has posted his interview with David Cook of Metabyte regarding their Wicked GL driver for 3dfx's line of cards.  This new Wicked GL mini ICD offers a lot more features and speed increases over 3dfx own miniGL.  Head over and check out the interview, you can grab the wicked GL below:
  Another S3 Savage2000 Preview  9:23 AM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has also posted a preview of S3's Savage2000 and Savage2000+ chips.  Head over for some great information.  Hopefully S3 will be able to deliver on these very good sounding specs!

 

  Creative Webcam 3 USB Review  9:23 AM EST  - Email Us
Extreme Hardware has posted their review of Creative Labs Webcam 3 USB video recorder.  This thing is great for making simple movies and doing some editing but its main use is for video conferencing and it does a great job at that.

 

  AMD Athlon Editorial  9:13 AM EST  - Email Us
AbsolutePC has posted an editorial on the Athlon CPU, looking at some it specs and where they are now positioned against Intel. 

 

  ICQ 99b v3.18 build 2568 Released  9:05 AM EST  - Email Us
Another one of those, "Not hardware related, but heck everyone uses it so let me have it!" kinda things.  Grab it below:
  FIC VB601-Z Slot-1 Mobo Review  8:58 AM EST  - Email Us
Overclockin.com has completed their round of FIC VB601 reviews and posted the last review which is the VB601-Z i440ZX Slot-1 motherboard.  You can also check out a side-by-side comparison of the whole VB601 line here.

 

  S3 Savage2000 (GX4) Preview  8:51 AM EST  - Email Us
Thresh's Firing Squad has posted a preview of S3's upcoming 3D chip, the Savage2000 (codenamed GX4). Check out this bit:

We're most interested in the 2 multi-textured pixels per clock, the onboard T&L, and the DVD options. Current 3D accelerators such as the Voodoo 3 and TNT2 only do a single multi-textured pixel per clock. The Savage2000's 2 multi-textured pixels per clock virtually doubles the performance of the Voodoo 3 and TNT2, the Savage2000 can also do single-pass quad texturing for a single pixel.
  Creative Labs CDRW 6424 Review  8:43 AM EST  - Email Us
Tweak3D has posted a review of Creative's Labs Blaster CD-RW 6424 6X Write, 4X Re-write and 24X Read drive. Seems like a very good drive, getting a 9.5/10.

Sunday - August 29th

  Computer Gaming Online Reviews  11:10 AM EST  - Email Us
CGO has posted a couple new reviews for you to enjoy this lovely Sunday, check them out:
  Athlon 650 + 200MHz TNT2 = Speed!  11:07 AM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has posted a feature called, "Sharky Extreme's Fastest Gaming PC."  This machine features an Athlon 650MHz CPU, 256MB of RAM and a Herc Dynamite TNT2 Ultra card running at 200 MHz core and 240MHz memory frequency.  Head over to see those benchmarks even though most of us will never get to see a machine like this as long as we live :)

 

  AMD Athlon vs. Intel Pentium III  11:00 AM EST  - Email Us
The Review Zone has posted a pretty comprehensive comparison between the Athlon and Pentium III CPU's.  They've included everything including specs, architectural differences, software support, price differences and finally benchmarks ranging from 500-650MHz.

 

  Nvidia Riva TNT2 Pro Info  10:57 AM EST  - Email Us
RIVA Station has some interesting info on the TNT2 Pro chip and the ERAZOR III Pro card, check it out:

The german magacine c´t published some details about TNT2/Pro in its News, so I can give you some information about that chip (without getting into trouble :-)). The TNT2/Pro is manufactured in 0.22 Micron. This allows less voltage and results in less heat and higher clockrates. The clockspeed of TNT2/Pro cards is 143MHz Core- and 166MHz Memclock. The new Erazor III Pro does also run at that clockspeed. The E3 Pro is close to Ultra speed - you can get it to Ultra speed with a bit overclocking without problems. If there will be 0.22 Micron Ultra chips is unknown yet.
  10 Essential Techno Tools  10:54 AM EST  - Email Us
Dan's Data has posted an article on which tools are the most useful when working on computers, check out the intro:

You don’t need much in the way of tools to work on computers - a Phillips head screwdriver is all that’s called for in most hardware installation jobs. But for more involved operations, like adding a new cooling fan or repairing a power cable pinched in the case, you’ll need some extra gear. Fortunately, most of the extra tools for working on computers come in well under $25 (Australian dollars).

Saturday - August 28th

  New ASUS V3800 Beta Drivers  9:15 PM EST  - Email Us
ASUS has once again posted new beta drivers for the V3800 TNT2 series of cards.  Here is the info and a link to download:

1. New "Page-flipping" function added for ASUS VR (higher quality)
2. Improve ASUS VR compatibility and performance
  How To Fit 2 FDP32 Coolers on a BP6  11:10 AM EST  - Email Us
The Tech Zone has posted a great article which tells you how to fit a couple of Global WIN FDP32 coolers on an Abit BP6 motherboard.  They have lots of pictures and step-by-step information on how to do it.

 

  Tyan S2054 Tomcat i810 Mobo  11:06 AM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has posted a review of Tyan's new i810 based motherboard, the S2054 Tomcat.  What can I say?  It's an i810 motherboard should explain it all.

 

  Promise Ultra66 Driver For Win2K  11:02 AM EST  - Email Us
I noticed over at Betanews, that Promise has released a Windows 2000 driver for their Ultra66 controller.  Those of you dying for ATA-66 support under Win2K, you're wait is over.  Grab it below:
  Intel's Latest Roadmap  11:00 AM EST  - Email Us
iXBT Hardware has posted a great article on Intel's plans in the near future.  There is a lot of info on upcoming processors, chipsets and when they should be available.  

Friday - August 27th

  Diamond Monster 3D II Driver  8:00 PM EST  - Email Us
I noticed over at 3DFiles.com, that Diamond has released a new driver for Monster 3D II card.  Damn that was long overdue!  Grab it below:
  The Future of Storage  7:55 PM EST  - Email Us
Absolute PC has posted an interesting article which speculates on where the future of storage is heading.  Will IDE or SCSI lead the way?  Or will Solid State devices or some other new technology replace our current standards?

 

  Winamp 2.5c Released  7:55 PM EST  - Email Us
Nullsoft has released a new version of the popular Winamp audio player.  Here are a list of fixes and a link to download:
  Overclocking The AMD Athlon CPU  4:49 PM EST  - Email Us
Tom's Hardware Guide has been pumping out Athlon articles like crazy!  The latest article takes a look at overclocking the chip and how he was able to do it without that special device... it looks quite complicated actually, especially without the right equipment.  Here is a funny bit from the article:

Don't do it if you feel insecure in any way! Don't do it altogether as long as you haven't got a damn good reason to increase the performance of your Athlon. In most cases Athlon performs better than anything else anyway. Don't do it just for fun and don't think that it increases your pecker-size in any way. Even the crazy die-hard overclockers should have learned that by now. You ARE risking the life of your CPU! Don't ever forget that! 
  ASUS P2B-F Slot-1 Mobo Review  4:44 PM EST  - Email Us
WickedPC has posted their review of ASUS's P2B-F Slot-1 motherboard.  This is actually not too bad of a motherboard, especially if you're not interested in overclocking too much and just want an expandable, stable system.

 

  Soyo SY-6IBM Mobo w/Rage 128VR  4:38 PM EST  - Email Us
Anand Tech has posted a review of Soyo's SY-6IBM i440BX based Slot-1 microATX motherboard with an on-board Rage 128 VR chip (the slower 64-bit memory bus version).  It also has an onboard Yamaha YMF740 PCI audio chip which is quite good from my experience, it even supports A3D, EAX and DS3D.

 

  New Creative Banshee Driver Again  4:30 PM EST  - Email Us
Creative Labs has yet again released a new driver for the 3D Blaster Banshee card.  Here is the info and a link:
  Matrox Millennium G400 Review  4:25 PM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has posted their full review of Matrox's Millennium G400 card after posting an in-depth article about its architecture and image quality.  Head over and see what they thought of it.

 

  Voodoo3 Overclocking Guide  4:20 PM EST  - Email Us
Thresh's Firing Squad has published their Voodoo3 Overclocking Guide.  They test the 2000, 3000 and 3500 to see how far they could go and what speed benefit you would get from overclocking, not to mention some cooling tips too.

 

  AMD Athlon 600 Test Under Linux  4:16 PM EST  - Email Us
Bill over at CPUReview has posted an article which outlines his experience installing and using Linux on an Athlon 600MHz system.  If you're a Linux user, head over and check it out.

 

  Huge 3D Card Roundup  4:12 PM EST  - Email Us
GA Source has posted a huge roundup of many popular 3D cards and posted tons of benchmarks for your pleasure.  This is a great way to see how the various cards perform on the same array of systems.  Here is a list of cards included:
3D Labs Permedia 3 Create!
Creative Graphics Blaster Ultra TNT/2
Diamond V770 Ultra TNT/2
Diamond Stealth III S540 Savage 4
ELSA ERAZOR III TNT/2
Guillemot Xentor TNT/2
Guillemot Xentor32 Ultra TNT/2
Hercules Dynamite TNT/2
Hercules Dynamite Ultra TNT/2
Matrox Millennium G400 32MB
Matrox Millennium G400 Max
STB Voodoo 3 3000
  Diamond Stealth III S540 Review  4:08 PM EST  - Email Us
Tweak3D has posted a review of Diamond's Stealth III S540 card which is based on S3's new Savage4 Pro+ chip.  A very good low-cost gaming solution and with the extra speed, it may actually be able to pump out some decent framerates.

 

  Creative Labs Blaster PC Review  3:53 PM EST  - Email Us
You must be wondering what the heck is going on here, since when did Creative Labs start making PC's?  Well it surprised me too!  Head over to the Tech Zone and check out their review of of Creative Labs Blaster PC.  Here is a bit to get you excited:

The volume control isn't the only thing on the front of the Blaster PC. A few manufacturers have relocated some of the ports to the front of their computers but Creative has gone overkill. Behind a sliding panel at the bottom of the comp, you can access USB, audio input/output, joystick, MIDI, SPDIF video and optical ports. There is even accommodations for FireWire! Not enough you say? How about a built in FM tuner? Nothing like listening to your favorite FM station while surfing the net. :-)
  4 Awesome New Utilities  3:48 PM EST  - Email Us
Lots of cool utilities to play with today that I found over at Betanews and 3DFiles, here are the links and info:
  • Motherboard Monitor (Win9X - v4.10 Beta 3 - 465 KB)
    • Alex van Kaam sends an early notice this morning about a new beta of MotherBoard Monitor 4.10. This program will try to access one or more of the following chips: LM78, LM78-j, LM79, LM80, WinBond W83781D, WinBond W83782D, WinBond W83783S , GL518SM, GL520SM, ADM9240, ADM1021, ADM1020, MAX1016, MAX1016a, FMS2701 and LM75 on your motherboard and will try to provide you with information about your motherboard's temperature, voltages, fan speeds and cpu temperature.

     

  • Powertweak  (Win9X - v2.0.020 - 255 KB)
    • Olivier Gilloire has released a new beta of his popular tweaker, Powertweak 2.0. Powertweak is an hardware optimization software, it configures the processor and chipsets internal registers in the most efficient way, enabling you to obtain the best performance out of your system. Most processors and chipsets are supported, including AMD, Cyrix and Intel processors.

     

  • PC Accelerator 3000 (Win9X - 1.2 MB)
    • The follow-up to the popular PC Accelerator 2000 is here, now known as PC Accelerator 3000. New features to an already amazing product includes: support for dual monitors in 3Dfx cards, manual adjustments for key functions to allow greater control for tweaking your machine, new status bars for monitoring performance effects, new save feature that allows you to save favourite configurations to file, and new pre-set quick optimization settings suited for individual needs. The file we had was corrupted and has been replaced with a new one.

     

  • MGA Tweak (Win9X - 1.10 Beta 0.13 - 155 KB)
    • Matrox Users sends word that the first public beta of MGA Tweak has been released, version 1.10 beta 0.13. MGA Tweak is a comprehensive utility that allows full control over your Matrox board to adjust clock, memory and warp speeds and much more, it is THE overclocking utility.

Thursday - August 26th

  ELSA ERAZOR III TNT2 Card Review  5:11 PM EST  - Email Us
AGNHardware has posted their review of ELSA's ERAZOR III TNT2 32MB card.  They felt the same way as we did in our review of this card, check it out:

The ELSA ERAZOR III is not a bad card, but at the same time is not the best card in the TNT2 arena. On one hand ELSA includes a great manual, excellent drivers and plenty of demos to get you going. On the other hand the slower memory and lack of a fan keep you from getting the higher performance that some of the other TNT2 based cards are capable of.
  Abit BP6 Review @Ars Technica  5:07 PM EST  - Email Us
Ars Technica has joined the millions and millions of Abit review sites (shamelessly including ourselves) and posted a review of Abit's dual Socket-370 i440BX based motherboard with on-board support for ATA-66 devices.

 

  Monsoon MM1000 Flat Panel Speakers  4:48 PM EST  - Email Us
3DHardware has posted a review the Monsoon MM1000 3-piece Flat Panel Speaker system.  These are much better than the Benwin flat speakers, but cost a heck of a lot more too.  I guess you get what you pay for.

 

  Will Intel Kill AMD?  4:45 PM EST  - Email Us
Over at Voodoo eXtreme, I noticed an interesting link to an article on ZDNet UK which analyzes the current situation between Intel and AMD and the CPU price war.  Here is a bit from the article:

Despite a brave fight back against the mighty Intel, culminating in the launch of its much acclaimed Athlon processor range, AMD could be readying its white flag following Monday's massive price cuts to Intel's Pentium II and III low-end processor range.

AMD is coming off the back of three disastrous financial quarters, culminating in losses of $163m (£101m) in Q2 this year. The speedy 650MHz Athlon chips have been launched in an attempt to stop the rot.

David Burman, senior analyst for the Butler Group, like many industry observers, acknowledges the current speed advantage AMD is reaping with the Athlon chipset. "We believe that despite Intel's massive discounts at 500, 550 and 450MHz, it's 600MHz Pentium III chips would still appear to be slightly more expensive than the latest AMD 650MHZ [Athlon] chips. Intel appears to be gambling that consumers will take a slightly slower speed chip at a reduced price.
  Matrox G400 & G400 MAX Reviews  4:40 PM EST  - Email Us
CGO has posted reviews of both the Matrox Millennium G400 and G400 MAX cards.  Head over and see what they thought of these very nice cards.

 

  BIOS Optimization Guide v3.3  4:32 PM EST  - Email Us
Adrian over at Adrian's Rojak Pot has notified us that he has updated his BIOS Optimization Guide.  Here are the updated items in this version:
  • PIRQ_0 Use IRQ No. ~ PIRQ_3 Use IRQ No.
  • MPS Version Control For OS
  • Video BIOS Shadowing
  • Shadowing Address Ranges
  Voodoo3 3500 INF's For Win2K  4:29 PM EST  - Email Us
The NT Gaming Palace has posted new INF files for those of you running the Voodoo3 3500 or Obsidian2 (Voodoo2 card) under Windows 2000 RC1 or higher.  Grab them below:
  Seagate Barracuda 7200 RPM HD  4:25 PM EST  - Email Us
Storage Review has posted a review of Seagate's new Barracuda ATA ST328040A 7200 RPM ATA-66 hard drive.  Does it dethrone the Quantum Fireball KX Plus from the speed crown in the ATA field?  Head over and check it out.

 

  Windows Visual Customization  4:20 PM EST  - Email Us
Absolute PC has posted an article which explains how you can customize the looks of your Windows PC to make it more exciting and fun to use.

 

  Gigabyte GA-660 TNT2 Review  4:15 PM EST  - Email Us
3DAlpha has posted their review of Gigabyte's highly acclaimed GA-660 32MB TNT2 card.  With the turbo jumper onboard, you can run this card at 175MHz core and 190 MHz memory frequency without any software; and from what I've heard, it runs pretty stable too probably due to the fact that it has a heatsink on each side of card!

 

  New Creative Labs Drivers  4:05 PM EST  - Email Us
Creative Labs has released a few new drivers, here is the info and links for each of them:

Creative Labs ENSONIQ AudioPCI Fixes:

Creative Labs PC-DVD Encore Dxr3 Fixes:

  • The Encore DXR3 navigator software and driver updates
  • Support for both Encore Dxr3 cards (CT7230 & CT7240)
  • Monitor standby mode now works in Windows 98 and power management is improved for Windows 95
  • Symmetric Multiprocessing (SMP) support on Windows NT

  • PC-DVD Encore Dxr3 Driver (Win9X/NT4 - Rev 1 - 5 MB)

Creative Labs 3D Blaster Banshee Fixes:

  • BIOS v1.03.2d, drivers v1.10
  • Support for AMD's 3DNow! features
  • Improved control for memory clock setting and allows optimal refresh rate to be set when running at 800x600 resolution in Windows 98
  • Allow proper installation with plug & play monitor

  • 3D Blaster Banshee Driver (Win9X - Rev 5 - 3 MB)
  Abit BE6 Review @The TechZone  4:05 PM EST  - Email Us
The Tech Zone has posted their review of Abit's BE6 Slot-1 i440BX based motherboard with an on-board ATA-66 controller.  I'm getting sick of repeating that a million times :)

 

  Dell Inspiron 7000 Laptop Review  4:00 PM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has posted a review of Dell's sweet new $3400 laptop, the Inspiron 7000.  This baby has a 15.1" display, a Pentium II 400 with 256KB of on-die, full speed L2 cache, and an ATI Rage Pro mobile graphics chip.  Those are just some of it's multitude of features.  If you're looking for a good laptop to provide you with your gaming needs on the road, check this one out.

 

  Riva TNT2 Overclocking Guide  3:55 PM EST  - Email Us
iXBT Hardware has posted a Nvidia Riva TNT2 Overclocking guide which obviously shows you how to overclock the card and provides some tips and tricks to get it as high and stable as possible.  They also provide benchmarks of the card overclocked at certain intervals.

Wednesday - August 25th

  Winamp 2.5 Released  5:26 PM EST  - Email Us
Not directly hardware released, but fits under the category of very popular software which people will probably want to download.  I noticed over at Betanews, that Nullsoft has released Winamp 2.5.  Here is the new stuff and a link to download:

* Winamp is now freeware! Thanks to all who have previously registered, your support is really appreciated!
* Skin selection menu in main menu, browser in preferences
* Built-in visualization settings are now in preferences
* Two streaming-related bugfixes to in_mp3.dll
* Added streamed-file saving to in_mp3.dll (no shoutcast saving, sorry)
* Added extended-M3U/PLS support (files include title and length info)
* Improved in_mp3.dll's frame sync code
* Better multi-byte character set support
* Numerous playlist editor bugfixes, and refinements
* Fixed some default skin images
* Fixed some leak and GDI issues (thanks, BoundsChecker)
* Fixed some leaks in in_cdda.dll
* Restructured some internals of Winamp for bitrate reporting for speed
* Added recent stream list to open location box
* Automatic IE integration for SHOUTcast
* Fixed a bug in out_wave.dll
* Updated AudioSoft plug-in
* Final WMA support for full version
  Weekly CPU Prices Updated  5:17 PM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has updated their weekly CPU price list which now takes into account the massive cuts Intel introduced a few days ago.  $79 dollar drop on the Pentium III 500MHz!!

 

  Skywell Magic TNT2 @HardOCP  4:46 PM EST  - Email Us
HardOCP has posted their review of Skywell's Magic TNT2 32MB card.  In the process, they converted the thing into a UFO!  Head over and see what I mean.  The strange thing about their card, is that they were no able to overclock it very much even with all the heatsinks.  The card we got from Skywell overclocked beautifully, in fact its been running at 160/175 for the past month, so that is a bit strange.  Anyway, check out our review here.

 

  Vanilla Video Card Buyers Guide  4:38 PM EST  - Email Us
Not all of us are rich and can afford a TNT2 Ultra, G400 MAX or V3 3500 card right?  Luckily, Thresh's Firing Squad has posted a guide to buying one of those Vanilla 3D cards that will still get the job done quite nicely and won't burn a whole in your pocket.

 

  3DCool Twin Turbo Cooler Review  4:36 PM EST  - Email Us
Rage3D has posted a review of 3DCool.com's Twin Turbo Hard Drive Bay Cooler. This dual fan rig will fit into a 5 1/4" drive bay and provide some nice airflow inside your case to cool things down a bit.

 

  Totem TM-VAAT370 S-370 Mobo  4:33 PM EST  - Email Us
Bill over at CPUReview has notified us that he has posted his review of Totem's TM-VAAT370 Socket-370 Baby AT motherboard which is based on VIA's 692/693 chipset.  This chipset is a low-cost alternative to the BX chipset, but does it even come close to the BX's performance?  Head over and check it out.

 

  Fall 99' Video Card Roundup  4:30 PM EST  - Email Us
CGO has posted an article which takes a look at the Fall 99' lineup of video boards which will soon be coming to a store near you.  Doesn't it feel like the TNT2 just came out a few weeks ago? 

 

  Xitel Storm Platinum Gamers Pack  4:26 PM EST  - Email Us
3DSoundSurge has done a review of Xitel's Storm Platinum Gamer's Pack.  This package includes Xitel's Platinum Storm card which is based on the Aureal Vortex2 chip and has 4 speaker support.  It also comes with a great set of force feedback headphones.  They have extensively reviewed these headphones within the review!

 

  3dfx Voodoo3 3500 TV Review  4:20 PM EST  - Email Us
Combatsim.com has posted their review of 3dfx's top-of-the-line Voodoo3 3500 TV AGP card.  Head and see what they thought of this board.

 

  New ATI Rage Pro & 128 Drivers  4:03 PM EST  - Email Us
I noticed over at Betanews, that ATI has released new drivers for cards based on the Rage Pro and Rage 128 chips.  Grab them below:
  Another Abit BP6 Mobo Review  4:03 PM EST  - Email Us
Damn these Abit motherboard reviews just keep coming and coming, and guess what?  You haven't even seen ours yet! :)  Anyway, iXBT Hardware has posted their review of Abit's Dual Socket-370 i440BX based ATX motherboard.


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