December 20 - 26, 1998
Archive

• The Techs MS Precision Pro Review
• The Techs MS Force Feedback Pro Review
• The Techs MS Freestyle Pro Review
• Beyond Computing's Wingman FF Whel Review
• Thresh's Aeron Chair Review

As you can see, it's true that moving the Rage128 from 16Bit to 32Bit mode causes a very minor performance hit. The problem is, that even the initial ~40 FPS will probably be "dented" by complex scenes. The Rage128 running Quake2's Crusher demo in 1024x768/32Bit produces 28 FPS, a rate that any hardcore gamer will tell you - is not enough. There's no point to even bring up 1600x1200 mode, the Rage128 just won't cut it. Heavier engines and more demanding games will come out(Remember Unreal?), and they'll most likely need more horsepower then the Rage128 can provide them with.

Voodoo3 can't give you the improved quality of 32Bit rendering. So you have a choice: 32Bit rendered gaming that will run games adequately for a relatively short while, or 16Bit rendered gaming that will most likely keep you gaming smoothly well through 99...

 

The first one you'll notice is the rumble in the wheel from a car's idle. As you go over bumps or run into objects, the wheel will jerk to let you know that you have hit something or driven over something. Gear changes, pot holes, tire blow outs, and flat tires can all be felt as well.

However, most importantly, you'll actually feel different road conditions - dirt roads, icy roads, rainy roads. Even loss of traction to the front wheels can be felt, just like in a real car.

There are some minor glitches with this whole system however. The wheel has a tendancy to pull to the left with virtually all of the effects. Also, the amount of feedback applied is not always proportional to what has actually happened in the game. For example, a minor bump can provide almost as much jerk in the wheel as a head on crash with another car at 60mph!

 

Newest Montego 1 drivers ver.1160 (Windows 95/98/NT 4.0). WARNING: not for Dell Montego. Requires Direct-X. Improved support for Cyrix, AMD, Pentium Pro

• Montego A3DXstream Driver (Win9X - version 1160 - 7.97 MB)

 

That's how things stack up in the end. Without its precious L2 cache, the K6-3 is nothing more than a K6-2, and without its newly found L3 cache, the K6-3 is quickly able to lose the grip it had on the top of the performance charts. The best bet for any user looking for a K6-3 upgrade would be a 1MB or 2MB Super7 motherboard, however as the test results show, older motherboards with 512KB of cache and those that operate only at the 66MHz FSB will be fine with the K6-3 as an upgrade path for the future.

 

I started loading up all of the A3D games I could find, and every one of them sounded incredible. The sounds were rich and all 4 speakers were being individually accessed to provide some of the most realistic 3D surround I have yet to hear on a computer. Half-Life is truly the showcase title for 3D sound using A3D 2.0 and the MX300. The sounds are so realistic you can stand and spin your character around in circles and make yourself nauseous from the effects of the panning sounds and speech. I have never been so immersed in any game as Half-Life when played using the MX300.

 

I might not be a CPU enthusiast (freak), but I do understand business, and when it comes to technology, there's very little loyalty (unless your computer is one-piece and transparent blue). Intel's got deep pockets, but they're bound to get lazy, and the minute that happens, someone else is gonna have an open window to pounce. AMD's 3Dnow! technology is just the beginning - it shows that AMD is really innovating, and as people accept the fact that there's REAL competition in the market, they'll be much more willing to move forward to the new performance leader. Have you even bothered to open your eyes in the last month?

 

• Matrox G200 AGP/PCI Driver (Win9X - version 4.51 - 1.58 MB)

 

• Spectra 2500 Driver (Win9X - version 1.203 - 5.14MB)
• Spectra 2500 Driver (WinNT4 - 1.2001 - 3.56MB)

 

Sound Blaster PCI 128 Fixes:

• Stabilizes the loading problem with 4 and 8MB wavesets.
• Was modified to turn on Microphone Bias at all times. The "Mic Bias" option is thus removed from the mixer.

• Sound Blaster PCI 128 Driver (WinNT4 - version 4.00.1203 - 390 KB)

Sound Blaster PCI 64 Fixes:

• Allows simultaneous recording and playback (full-duplex) in DirectSound. Recording and playback sample rates are now independent.
• Fixes DOS box wavetable synthesis (MIDI) problems.
• Adds fixes to turn on Microphone Bias at all times. The Microphone Bias option is thus removed from the software.
• Allows dynamic primary buffer sizes for Quake II games.
• Improves startup quality in DirectSound buffers.

• Sound Blaster PCI 64 Driver (WinNT4 - version 4.05.1205 - 765 KB)

 

QDI has distinguished their Brilliant 1S from other i440BX motherboards through their series of "Easy" features. SpeedEasy is just another jumperless CPU setup and LogoEasy is pretty neat, but not too useful except for OEM's. However, SecurityEasy is definitely very useful for those of you that do not want others using your computer while you are away. In fact, I have yet to see anything similar to this in any other boards on the market today. If these features are important to you, the QDI Brilliant 1S may be the board for you.

This update adds the following features:

• Dual-processor support
• Additional effect: Frequency Shifter
• Live!Surround
• Auditioning of Environmental Audio settings
• 32 DirectSound 3D Streams

• Sound Blaster Live! Driver (WinNT4 - Revision 3 - 2.4 MB)

True Surround Sound
Also, this technology allows for a better listening area, since there are no cones to tell the signal where to go. Every normal speaker has "sweet spots", where the sound signal is louder and clearer, that's usually right in front of the speaker which is pointing at the listener. So if you go behind the speaker, the audio volume is less powerful. With flat panel speakers, the audio signal is sent everywhere around the speaker. It sends the signal in a 360 degrees around the speaker, allowing for you to turn the speakers completely backwards and still have the same sound quality and volume.

 

According to the source, the price of the Celeron 400-MHz chip will be between $150 and $160, depending on which form factor of the chip PC makers use for their motherboard designs. In a road map shown to CRW in November, the Celeron 400-MHz was expected to be introduced at around $190.

AMD's K6-2 400-MHz chip is priced at around $154, the source said.

In addition, Intel will lower the new Celeron 366-MHz to a new introductory price of between $120 and $130, a price on par with the AMD K6-2 366-MHz introduced this fall. Intel's previously anticipated introductory price for the 366-MHz was $162.

Intel will also lower the Celeron 333-MHz to a price ranging from $84 to $94, slightly above the $82 AMD charges for its equivalent chip. Previously planned pricing on the Celeron 333-MHz was $124 (it's currently around $160).

The new high-end Xeon chip follows the October release of Intel's 450-MHz Xeon for dual-processor workstations. Intel, based in Santa Clara, Calif., will offer the new chip with either 1 megabyte or 2 MBs of cache, sources said. Previous processors in the Xeon line contained either 512 kilobytes or 1 MB of cache.

 

This is where I talk about the Force Feedback.  Microsoft's Force Feedback Sidewinder is, from what I have gathered, an impressive FF joystick, despite its age.   But Logitech expanded on Force technology by ten-fold.  Instead of using gears and whatnot, the Logitech Force uses a steel cable driven system, and man is it gentle.   We have what is now the definitive in Force Feedback.  But the joystick can be made by God himself, but if the software has sucky support, what good is it?  Here is what I tried, and how it rated:

 

• Abit BH6 Review
• Shuttle HOT-661 Review

 

More shocking is the 450MHz K6-3's real coup, a first-place finish on Anand's Unreal testing.  (I wasn't too surprised to see the K6-3 coming out on top in Quake 2 benchmarks, given the time and care AMD has put into optimizing the Quake engine for 3DNow.)  It's no secret the K6 series has been a bit lacking in the FPU department and, even with some attempts at 3DNow enhancements, Unreal performance on K6-2s has traditionally been rather poor compared to Intel's P6-core CPUs.  Not so with the K6-3.  The K6's low-latency, non-pipelined FPU appears to scale very well with increased clock frequencies, and it seems to like being well-fed by a fast L2 cache.   If AMD can deliver plenty of these CPUs at decent prices, the K6-3 will be a legitimate choice for professionals, hobbyists, and gamers alike.

 

The EP-MVP3G stands alone at the top of the pack stealing the title of "Best Super7 ATX Mainboard" away from Iwill's XA100 Plus.  It's speed and stability  unquestionably set the standard for the industry to follow.  EPoX' attention to detail both in design and the quality of the components chosen to outfit this mainboard make for an all-around high performance mainboard that can satisfy any enduser from the PC neophyte to those with masters degrees in  performance tweaking. 

 

In Half-Life, the effects are even better, probably because being on foot gives you more time to linger and appreciate what's happening rather than racing by at 150mph. Again, what that sticks out here is how dynamic the sound becomes. As you move through the level, the pitch, intensity and reverb of all the sounds are constantly changing. It's much more immersive, because it really gives you a sense of movement and space. Entering a hallway, you can hear that it's a hallway. Exit that same hallway into a larger room and all the sounds are affected. Turn a corner and suddenly that loud alarm is just a tiny bit softer. And the transition between all of those effects is perfectly smooth. Of course, all this is on top of the 3D positioning effects, which were already very good.

"Quantum3D is committed to delivering the best PC-based realtime 3D visual computing systems and the superior performance of 3Dfx’s VoodooTM family of chip sets is a key reason this has become a reality. We integrate 3Dfx chip technology and add value through high performance designs with system level software that delivers the features that are critical in professional applications," said Ross Smith, Vice President of Business Development, Quantum3D. "We’re enthusiastic about the new growth opportunities for 3Dfx that are made possible by its acquisition of STB Systems. I’m thrilled to have this technology innovator supporting Quantum3D as we establish our leadership in complementary professional markets".

 

The USB Zip drive also performed much better than the parallel Zip drive in Ziff-Davis' Business Disk WinMark 99, garnering a score of 381 Kbyte/Sec. The ATAPI drive was 20% faster in this benchmark. What's interesting, however, is that the CPU utilization for the USB Zip drive during the test was a mere 7%, soundly besting the other drives. This means that when you copy files to or from the USB Zip drive, your computer will still be free to perform other operations such as printing.

 

Windows 98 has always been the Pentium II’s domain in terms of overall performance simply because its L2 cache performance would increase with every clock increase, unlike the K6-2. With the L2 cache of the K6-3 being on-chip, Intel has been booted from the top of the charts, and replaced by the third generation K6 processor. At 350MHz, the K6-3 gives the Pentium II 450 and Celeron 450A a run for their money, at 400MHz AMD already has the fastest business processor, and at 450MHz, the K6-3 sees no competition at all. Even under Winstone 99, a benchmark that seems to perform better on Intel processors/chipsets, the K6-3 still comes out on top by a fairly large margin. An 8% performance differential exists between the K6-3 450 and a Pentium II 450 under Winstone 99, a difference that is expressed as a 12% gap under Winstone 98. The bottom line? The K6-3, clock for clock, is, without a doubt, faster than the Pentium II in business applications

 

XStore Pro is either conware (like Syncronys Corp.'s infamous SoftRAM) or I have installed it wrongly somehow.... The results are complete opposites of what is being advertised by Abit and HighPoint. Instead of registering a hike in transfer rates in WinBench 99's disk tests, XStore Pro caused a severe drop in performance instead.

 

I noticed this tidbit of information over at AGNHardware about DRAM price hikes in 1999. The reasons are because of new speed architectures and rising equipment costs.  Check out this bit from the EDTN:

Whether stronger sales will translate into better earnings for cash-poor DRAM makers is uncertain. But one thing is clear: Pricing for new technology will present OEMs with a confusing landscape next year, given the number of DRAM options in the wings.

Having introduced just two DRAM versions since 1996, suppliers next year will ramp up three separate lines, letting OEMs choose between PC-133 SDRAM, double-data-rate SDRAM, and Direct Rambus DRAM. An informal poll of DRAM manufacturers garnered differing opinions as to how each type of memory will play out in the market.

 

PC Techware has done a review of probably the cheapest i440BX chipset motherboard, the WinTech WT-6IBX.  This may be a good bargain for you, if you are on a tight budget.

Planet Hardware has done a review of Imation's Superdisk (LS-120) Parallel port version.  This is one of those drives that maintains compatibility with older 1.44 MB floppies but also takes the new 120MB disks.  Check out this tidbit from the review:

The kit comprises of the actual SuperDisk drive, parallel port cable, power supply, as well as a setup floppy disk, as well as one included 120MB SuperDisk disk which includes the Imation SuperDisk Accelerator program, for increased performance of the drive. Without the accelerator software, the drive's data transfer rate was slower than a similar parallel port Iomega Zip drive, but with the software, the rate increased quite a bit, pushing the rate to around 20k/sec faster than Zip.

 

So, how does the HI-VAL drive measure up? Performance is just as expected, the time taking to burn an entire CD just around the 37 minutes it should take. So far, all the CDs I have burned have completed successfuly; however, I have only tried one CD-RW burn. The software is a big plus, as is the 2MB buffer size. The $200 pricetag is perhaps the biggest advantage.

There were two major problems I've encountered with the Hi-Val 2x24x2 drive. First of all, its inability to rip audio at 24x. Secondly, while running the Hi-Val recording software, the entire system slows down to a crawl. Even if the software is just running idly, you'll need expert marksmanship to get that mouse where you want it to go (well, it's not THAT bad).

 

So would I recommend it?  Well, as with any SCSI drive, I would only recommend it (and SCSI in general) to someone who is comfortable with mucking around in their system.   For Power Users, this drive is very fast, very quiet, and should serve you nicely if you are looking for a good Ultra Wide drive.  The capacity is perfect for a good boot drive, and the drive is slightly less expensive (about $5-10 cheaper per GB) than other Ultra Wide 6.5GB drives I looked at before buying the Seagate Medalist Pro.  As long as you are willing to do the work involved with getting a SCSI drive correctly installed, then I would highly recommend the Seagate Medalist Family.   If you want something a bit easier, stick to EIDE, but you will pay the price in speed.

 

With software houses pumping out games that offer unprecedented levels of visual flair and appeal, there has clearly never been a more prudent time to own a large size display. In previous years monitors 20" or larger were forbidden fruit for most gamers or mainstream PC users, as their sky-high prices limited their practicality and value. In addition, the technology and power requirements needed for propelling 2D or 3D apps at the higher resolutions that the large monitors provided wasn't widely available pricewise until earlier this year (Matrox Millenium 2 and 3Dfx Voodoo2 SLI products).