Dec 25 - 31, 1999
Archive

 

  S3/Diamond Savage2000 In-Depth  11:42 AM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has posted an in-depth article/review of S3/Diamond's Savage2000 chip.  Ironically, they talk about the Savage2000's poor depth-buffer (with quite a few screenshots) and finally provide some benchmarks comparing it to the GeForce 256.

 

  Supermicro PIIISCD Slot-1 Mobo  12:14 AM EST  - Email Us
iXBT Hardware has posted a review of Supermicro's PIIISCD i820 based Slot-1 motherboard.  I guess we can start to expect a flurry of i820 motherboard reviews in the upcoming months.  So far it seems as if the i820 boards are a waste of money because of their poor performance (with SDRAM) and lack of overclocking capabilities.

 

  VideoLogic DVD Decoder Card  12:11 AM EST  - Email Us
I had to make two separate posts for these VideoLogic reviews because the header would not fit in one :)  In any case, the guys over at Tech-Junkie have also notified us that they've posted a review of VideLogic's DVD Player (Decoder card) which is based on the same Sigma Designs chip that is found in the Hollywood Plus Decoder card.

 

  VideoLogic DigiTheatre Decoder  12:08 AM EST  - Email Us
Tech-Junkie has posted a review of VideoLogic's DigiTheatre Dolby Digital, Pro Logic and PCM decoder box.  Overall, it looks like an interesting and noteworthy device, especially if you are anal about getting Dolby Digital coming out of your system (for DVD's and such).

Thursday - December 30th


  AMD Super Bypass Article  5:12 PM EST  - Email Us
Toms Hardware Guide has posted a very interesting article on AMD's enhancement to the 750 chipset, they call it the "Super Bypass."  Here is a bit from the article to explain what it does:

Basically super bypass removes some unnecessary memory latencies between the main memory and CPU. How much of the memory latency does super bypass remove? AMD-documents claim that super bypass reduces the latency by no less than 25%! One of the primary goals for any chipset designer is to develop a chipset that can communicate to the different internal buses with the least amount of latencies for each transaction.


  CL 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro Review  5:10 PM EST  - Email Us
nV News has posted their review of Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro GeForce 256 32 MB DDR SGRAM card.  This is probably the easiest one to find, so head to see if its worth the money.

 

  MSI MS-6163Pro Slot-1 Mobo Review  5:06 PM EST  - Email Us
Extreme Hardware has posted a review of MSI's MS-6163Pro Slot-1 i440BX based motherboard.  This is one of the best BX boards you can get and even has chipset overclocking capabilities!  However, when I installed one of these for a friend, I noticed a small problem.  Windows would not install with an Internal IDE Zip drive connected to the system, it would just hang at the initial screen for the longest time.  If you disconnect the drive, it installs fine and once Windows is installed, everything works perfectly.  This happened with the same system with two different 6163Pro's, but it may have been a conflict with another device in the system.

 

  D-Link DHN-910 Phonline Network Kit  5:04 PM EST  - Email Us
Lost Circuits has posted their review of D-Link's DHN-910 home phoneline networking kit.  If you want a capable, easy to setup network in your home, check out this kit.

 

  EPoX EP-USB66 Review  4:59 PM EST  - Email Us
While I was over at 3D Alpha, I noticed that they've also posted a review of EPoX's EP-USB66 card.  This PCI card has 4 USB ports on it as well as 2 UltraDMA 66 connectors.  It doesn't specify which chip it uses for UDMA/66 but it seems to perform well and is the perfect addition to your computer if you need to add more devices. 

 

  Seagate Cheetah & Barracuda Reviews  4:56 PM EST  - Email Us
3D Alpha has posted reviews of Seagate's Cheetah 18LP and Barracuda 18LP Ultra2 SCSI drives.  You want fast performing, reliable drives for your server?  Check out these two very reputable drives.

 

  GoldenFinger Athlon Overclocking Device  4:48 PM EST  - Email Us
Overclockin.com has posted a review of Trinity Micro's GoldenFinger Athlon Overclocking device.  All you have to do is plug it into the the top of the CPU's PCB (connectors are already on the PCB) and you're off.  You can change internal clock multipliers, voltages and cache settings to get a lowly Athlon 500 up to speeds greater than 700MHz.

 

  Cordless Mouse Comparison  4:46 PM EST  - Email Us
Dan's Data has posted a comparison between Logitech's Cordless Wheelmouse and A-Four Tech's Cable-Free 4D Mouse.  If you want to play FPS games on your big screen TV, then a cordless mouse/keyboard combo and TV-Out is what you need.

 

  AOpen 10X DVD-ROM Drive Review  4:43 PM EST  - Email Us
AGNHardware has posted a review of AOpen's 1040 Pro 10X Slot-loaded DVD-ROM drive.  Overall rating: 8/10, not too bad at all.

 

Wednesday - December 29th


  Interesting Article on Transmeta  11:20 PM EST  - Email Us
CTNews has posted an interesting article on the upcoming Transmeta chips, the first to be Crusoe (in Jan 2000).  Most of this article is pure speculation on the very few facts available, Transmeta is just being so secretive about everything, but here is an interesting bit from the article:

Well, what exactly is this Transmeta chip? The Transmeta team has been attempting to emulate an Intel chip in a way that doesn't infringe on Intel's current patents. What does this mean? No licensing fees to Intel, and in turn Transmeta will be able to sell it's chips at a lower cost. This will then once again make the Transmeta chip more attractive to "computer appliance" (TV Internet Box, etc) manufacturers. The Transmeta chip will also be apparently 1/4 the size of an Intel chip.


  Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro  11:12 PM EST  - Email Us
CGO has posted a review of Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro GeForce 256 32MB DDR SGRAM card, when are those 64MB cards going to be released?!?  As if the performance isn't good enough already :)

 

  Guillemot FF Racing Wheel Review  11:12 PM EST  - Email Us
Maximum3D has posted a review of Guillemot's Force Feedback Racing Wheel/Pedals package.  They seemed to like this set very much.

Wednesday - December 29th


  Interesting Article on Transmeta  11:20 PM EST  - Email Us
CTNews has posted an interesting article on the upcoming Transmeta chips, the first to be Crusoe (in Jan 2000).  Most of this article is pure speculation on the very few facts available, Transmeta is just being so secretive about everything, but here is an interesting bit from the article:

Well, what exactly is this Transmeta chip? The Transmeta team has been attempting to emulate an Intel chip in a way that doesn't infringe on Intel's current patents. What does this mean? No licensing fees to Intel, and in turn Transmeta will be able to sell it's chips at a lower cost. This will then once again make the Transmeta chip more attractive to "computer appliance" (TV Internet Box, etc) manufacturers. The Transmeta chip will also be apparently 1/4 the size of an Intel chip.


  Creative 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro  11:12 PM EST  - Email Us
CGO has posted a review of Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro GeForce 256 32MB DDR SGRAM card, when are those 64MB cards going to be released?!?  As if the performance isn't good enough already :)

 

  Guillemot FF Racing Wheel Review  11:12 PM EST  - Email Us
Maximum3D has posted a review of Guillemot's Force Feedback Racing Wheel/Pedals package.  They seemed to like this set very much.

 

  Altec Lansing ADA-880R Speakers  11:07 PM EST  - Email Us
AGNHardware has posted a video review of Altec Lansings new ADA-880R 4.1 piece speaker set which is supposed to have Dolby Digital support.  I have no idea whether that means a decoder built-in, or it can simply output a Dolby Digital source.

 

  Kryotech SuperG Athlon 1GHz Review  11:05 PM EST  - Email Us
Anand Tech has posted a review of Kryotech's SugerG Athlon 1GHz barebones system.  Check out this tidbit:

Unfortunately, the low cache speed of the SuperG in comparison to the newly released Pentium III 800 makes the 800 an overall better value for some applications that are very L2 cache dependent, especially applications that contain Pentium III specific SSE optimizations, a rapidly growing population.


  Weekly CPU Prices Updated  11:03 PM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has posted an updated CPU price list (the last one for 1999).  Since the holiday gift buying season has passed, there were quite a few significant price drops, so head over to find the cheapest CPU prices on the net.

 

  ELSA ERAZOR X GeForce Review  10:59 PM EST  - Email Us
FPS3D has posted a review of ELSA' ERAZOR X GeForce 256 32MB board.  This is one of the different GeForce cards on the market with a non-reference design and a few small extra features thrown in.

 

  Best Data Cabo MP3 Player Review  10:57 PM EST  - Email Us
got apex? has posted a great review of Best Data's Cabo 64 MB portable MP3 player.  I can personally verify every good thing that was said in this review because it truly is a great player, expect to see our review soon.

 

  Guillemot 3D Prophet DDR-DVI  10:54 PM EST  - Email Us
Keeping with the Guillemot family of products, GamePC has posted a review of Guillemot's 3D Prophet DDR-DVI GeForce card.  I don't know how much more power you could want in a 3D card!

 

  Guillemot Fortissimo Sound Card  10:51 PM EST  - Email Us
Speedy3D has posted their review of Guillemot's Maxi Sound Fortissimo PCI sound card.  Instead of evangelizing some more, I'll just let you head over and check out the review for yourself :)

 

  HPT366 UltraDMA/66 Controller Drivers  10:42 PM EST  - Email Us
High Point Technologies has released new drivers for its HPT366 controller which can be found on motherboards like the Abit BE6, BP6, BE6-II and Soyo's SY-6BA+IV.  Grab them below:
  Cyrix Company Brief  10:39 PM EST  - Email Us
Are you wondering what even happened to chip-maker, Cyrix?  Well head over to 3DWars and read their latest article, which explains a bit about what happened and what's happening with them now.

 

  VideoLogic Sirrocco Spirits 2pc Speakers  10:36 PM EST  - Email Us
AGNHardware has posted a review of VideoLogic's Sirocco Spirits 2-piece speaker set.  The cones on these babies are quite large, which is why there is no need for a subwoofer.  They may be good if you are lacking space for a subwoofer.

 

  Diamond Viper II Savage2000 Review  10:34 PM EST  - Email Us
Gamers Depot has posted a review of Diamond/S3's Viper II card which is based on S3's new Savage2000 chip.  Head over and see if it's any good.

 

  Aureal Vortex2 SQ2500 Review  10:32 PM EST  - Email Us
Extreme Hardware has posted a review of Aureal's Vortex2 SQ2500 PCI sound card.  Considered the best Vortex2 out there because of its modified Vortex2 chipset (better S/N ratio), S/PDIF output, 4 speaker out and excellent software bundle.

Tuesday - December 28th


  Guillemot Maxi Sound Fortissimo  8:51 PM EST  - Email Us
Beyond3D has posted a review of Guillemot's Maxi Sound Fortissimo sound card which is based on Yamaha's extremely capable YMF-744 PCI chip and the price is great!

 

  Sonix S-2000 Flat Speakers Review  8:49 PM EST  - Email Us
Glide Underground has posted a review of Sonix S-2000 3-piece flat panel speaker system.  Of course the subwoofer isn't flat, that would just be too weird!

 

  Pine D'Music MP3 Player Review  8:46 PM EST  - Email Us
Damage Gaming has posted their review of Pine's D'Music SM-320V Digital MP3 player.  A very good player indeed, but the file transfer rates are very slow compared to other players like the Best Data Cabo that I'm currently reviewing.  Anyway, check out our review of the Pine player by clicking here.

 

  Boston Acoustics Media Theatre  8:37 PM EST  - Email Us
Fast-MHz has posted a review of Boston Acoustics excellent Media Theatre 3-piece speaker set.  These things sound absolutely awesome but are a tad pricey, you can also check out our review here.

 

  Ratpadz vs. Everglide Comparison  8:32 PM EST  - Email Us
got apex? has posted a comparison between the ever popular Everglide Large Attack Mouse pad and the newcomer, the HardOCP Ratpadz mouse pad.  Which one do you think won?

 

  ELSA 3D Revelator Glasses Review  8:28 PM EST  - Email Us
Maximum3D has posted a review of ELSA's 3D Revelator stereoscopic glasses.  If you're interested in getting that real 3D feeling, head over and check out these glasses.  They work quite well, by the way, you can check out our review of these glasses here.

 

  MGATweak v1.20 Build 018 Released  8:24 PM EST  - Email Us
MURC has posted a new version of MGATweak.  This utility works with all Matrox cards dating back to the Millennium card and allows you to tweak certain settings and increase clock speeds.  Grab it  below:

Monday - December 27th


  Pentium III 500/550E FC-PGA Review  11:31 PM EST  - Email Us
Sharky Extreme has posted a review of Intel's Pentium III (Coppermine) 500E and 550E FC-PGA CPU's.  These new chips overclock wonderfully due to their 0.18 micron process and their low clock multipliers.  They were able to get the 500 up to 733 without any problems.

 

  VideoLogic Sirocco Crossfire Review  11:27 PM EST  - Email Us
3DHardware has posted a review of VideoLogic's Sirocco Crossfire 4.1 piece speaker set.  I love the way this set looks, its very attractive and expensive looking, but more importantly, you should head over and check out their ability to pump out good sound.

 

  Abit BF6 Slot-1 Mobo Review  11:25 PM EST  - Email Us
Anand Tech has posted their review of Abit's BF6 Slot-1 i440BX based motherboard.  With 6 PCI slots and a plethora of overclocking capabilities, you should have a lot of fun with this board.  Too bad it didn't have the HPT366 UDMA/66 controller like the BE6-II has.

 

  Just Cooler - Cooler Reviews  11:23 PM EST  - Email Us
Dan's Data has posted a review of Just Cooler's notebook, monitor and printer cooling devices.  At least they look kind of stylish :-\

 

  Midiland S4/7100 5.1 Speaker Set  11:21 PM EST  - Email Us
GamePC has posted a review of Midiland's new S4/7100 5.1 piece speaker set.  This set is a lot more affordable then Midiland's older 2-piece high-end models, but apparently, the subwoofer is not as good as it should be.

 

  Matrox G400 MAX Review  11:18 PM EST  - Email Us
Extreme Hardware has posted their review of Matrox's Millennium G400 MAX card.  By now, the drivers would have surely been refined, head over and see if this card is still worth the buy.

 

  BUSLink USB Hard Drive Review  11:23 AM EST  - Email Us
Cool Computing has posted a review of the brightly colored BUSLink USB Hard Drive.  This is basically a hard drive stuck in a box with a USB cable attached to it.  Speed is around the same as the Iomega Zip USB, so as you can imagine, it provides a lot more carry around storage than a Zip Drive.

 

  Guillemot 3D Prophet DVI-DDR Review  11:20 AM EST  - Email Us
Chick's Hardware has posted a review of Guillemot's/Hercules' 3D Prophet DVI-DDR GeForce 256 card.  Quite a few benchmarks, if that's what you're interesting in.

 

  MS Sidewinder Dual Strike Review  11:17 AM EST  - Email Us
Hardware-One has posted a detailed review of Microsoft's Sidewinder Dual Strike gamepad.  This new gamepad is supposed to be designed for First Person Shooters like UT and Quake 3, I've been dying to know how well it works, and thanks to HW-1, I now know :)

 

  Monsoon MM-700 Flat Panel Speakers  11:14 AM EST  - Email Us
Anand Tech has posted a review of Monsoon's MM-700 flat panel speaker set.  This set goes for about $149 USD and provides very good sound, especially in the treble/mid-range department.

 

  ATI Rage Fury MAXX Review  11:09 AM EST  - Email Us
GamerDepot has posted a review of ATI's Rage Fury MAXX card.  If you haven't heard about this already, its a card which uses two Rage 128 Pro chips in parallel on one card, and uses a SLI technique similar but superior to that of the Voodoo2.

 

  3Com Gaming Modem Review  11:06 AM EST  - Email Us
Tweak3D has posted a review of 3com's new 56K Internet Gaming Modem.  This modem is supposed to improve ping rates by a substantial amount, head over and see if 3com is feeding us a bunch of bs or not.

 

  Lots of new GeForce Drivers  10:58 AM EST  - Email Us
A whole slew of new GeForce drivers have been released by various companies, grab the one that applies to you below:

Sunday - December 26th


  HPros: Soyo SY-6BA+IV Mobo Review  11:25 AM EST  - Email Us
We've posted our review of Soyo's i440BX based Slot-1 motherboard.  If you're thinking of upgrading your system, I think you should definitely consider this board, I haven't found a better one yet!  Awesome overclocking capabilities, overclocked stability at 150MHz FSB speeds, and UltraDMA/66 support!

 

  D-Link 10Mbps Phoneline Network Kit  11:08 AM EST  - Email Us
Glide Underground has posted a review of D-Link's DHN-910 10Mbps Phoneline networking kit.  This kit comes with everything you need to get your network up and running using your home's phone lines.  This is especially good because its a lot easier to plug into the phone jack rather than run Ethernet cables across the whole place. 10Mpbs is quite good for a phoneline networking kit, usually they run a lot slower.

 

  NVIDIA GeForce DDR Review  11:05 AM EST  - Email Us
Anand Tech has posted a great review of NVIDIA's GeForce 256 DDR version.  Ton's of technical information and tons of benchmarks, head over and check out it out.

 

  ActionTek USB Call Waiting Modem  11:03 AM EST  - Email Us
Exxtreme3D has posted a review of ActionTek's USB Call-Waiting modem.  You can actually take a call for a max of 7 seconds without disturbing your connection to the net.

 

  VideoLogic Sound Card/Speakers  10:57 AM EST  - Email Us
Tech-Junkie has posted a couple VideoLogic reviews today.  This sound and speaker set are both very high end and make a good combo, check them out below:
  Creative Labs Annihilator Pro Review  10:51 AM EST  - Email Us
Euro Gamer has posted a review of Creative Labs 3D Blaster Annihilator Pro 32MB DDR SGRAM GeForce 256 card.  I can't wait to get one of these cards.

 

  ATI Rage Fury Pro Review  10:49 AM EST  - Email Us
CGO has posted a review of ATI's Rage Fury Pro card.  This card has a higher clocked version of the Rage 128 chip, and video in/out features, all for $150.

Saturday - December 25th


  Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays  11:20 AM EST  - Email Us
Well its finally Christmas, and if you're celebrating it, I wish you a Merry Christmas.  If not, then have a heck of a holiday! and try to stay off the computer for a while, as I'm going to try to do the same.  I don't know how long it will last though :)


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