January 21 - 27, 1999
Archive

Sure... everybody was rushed because of the high fillrate numbers and tremendous specs nVidia released to the public for this chip. The TNT was supposed to be made in a 0.25 micron fabrication process and run at 125mhz but nVidia decided to go for 0.35 instead so that they could get to the market faster than ATI and other chip makers and compete with the Voodoo2 that was already released. But there was a problem, with a 0.35 micron fab. process, TNT chips would run way too hot and become unstable at 125mhz as originally intended so that's why TNT chips are clocked at 90mhz. Here are some specs for the TNT:

 

CD-RW drives are judged by the speed at which they read and write files to and from a CD, and the Mediastore's SCSI interface and 4X write/rewrite speed make it the quickest drive we've tested by far. When compared to other drives in the same price range, the Mediastore posted strong numbers in each of these categories. While many CD-RW drives read data at about 550K/sec., the Mediastore managed a brisk 835K/sec. in our tests. The drive achieved similarly fast throughput performance (the speed at which the drive copies files to itself), with scores more than twice that of the other drives from our recent roundup.

 

Our latest review we've just now posted is of Gainward's CARDEXpert TNT board, sporting a nice big cooling fan/heatsink combination along with 16 megs of SGRAM. With a street price of around $99, this is one of the cheapest, and most overclockable (can we say 135 MHz memory clock?) TNT's on the market today.

 

'Yes, Alex took our strong Intel partnering a bit too far.  Voodoo 3 4000 will certainly be timed and executed with Intel's upcoming AGP4x chipset and next-gen CPUs but it by NO means requires it.  In fact, we've designed the entire Voodoo 3 product family to scale very, very well even on Celeron and the entire range of AMD processors.  AGP is so closely associated with the latest from Intel that the message of support for AMD and lower end Intel CPUs sometimes get lost.   But the hearts and minds of those gamers don't get lost with us.

No fear, all Voodoo 3 products scale very well on all technologies from Intel and AMD.

Brian P. Bruning
3Dfx Interactive Developer Relations Manager

 

Despite my recent troubles with our server's motherboard, an EPoX LXA, I can still say I have enjoyed tremendous success with EPoX motherboards in the past, dating back to my first Pentium board, and more recently to our office-wide deployment of EPoX motherboards. What can I say, they work well. I just hope to God Fresh 3d's LXA is an isolated case. At any rate, my office workstation is now a real powerhouse of a system, and deep in my case, beneath my Creative Labs TNT and various other expansion cards, there lies an EPoX EP61BXA-M. These boards can also be found on our new servers at work.

 

Abit did not stop with the memory in their effort to make the BX6 v2.0 one of the most stable motherboards on the market. A close look at the BX6 v2’s CPU slot shows that they have added one more capacitor than was present on the BH6, to make sure that the CPU is getting exactly the right amount of voltage.

 

I have to admit that I have finally found a video card to replace the SPECTRA 2500 as my all time favorite. The V3400 combines a price that anyone can afford, with the performance that we have came to expect from the TNT. On top of the low price, the card is also sure to please the gadget lover in all of us with its video-in and out features as well as the cooling fan.

 

At the beginning, I wasn't too fond of this motherboard.  Over time, however, it's grown on me.  If you can avoid the installation hassles that I ran into, it is a very nice motherboard.  For those looking for an AT motherboard, and are more interested in stability than overclockability, this is your motherboard.   For those that want to take that K6-2 to the max, there's probably a better option out there for you.  At about $75, it's tough to go wrong.

 

• Savage3D Reference Driver (Win9X - version 6.12.01 - 1.6 MB)

 

Until recently, Intel held a monopoly in the P6 chipset market. In December, however, the company signed a P6 licensing agreement with Via Technologies and was negotiating with SiS. Both companies pay an undisclosed royalty to Intel. Sources, however, estimate that the royalty exceeds $2 on each chipset, a product which ordinarily sells in the $20 to $30 range.

 

Abit does it again - with their unique position on SoftMenu II, the BM6 tackles the performance market, allowing power users (such as savvy buyers over the Internet) to have their cake and eat it too. Instead of going for low budget/high margins on the BM6, Abit bet their money on PPGA overclockers. While it's left to be seen whether or not Intel's newest and fastest Celerons are up for the challenge, the BM6 stands at the ready, prepared to run any Socket-370 CPU through the 75/83/100Mhz paces.

 

But wait, there is another hope (in Yoda's voice). Whilst we were poised to lament the non-arrival of a 'real' gamer's card, 3Dfx revealed to us a bit of early info on the Voodoo3 -4000. Could this be it? Well, what little we do know about the board is that it will require the use of an (as yet unreleased) Intel Camino chipset. It will also be specifically designed and optimized for Camino in order to take advantage of AGP 4X just in time to compete head to head with nVidia's .25micron TNT2. This is indeed a first for 3Dfx and it seems as though (with 4X), AGP is finally worth more than it's initials and is thus getting full implementation. Remember for both the Voodoo Banshee and the Voodoo3 -2000 and -3000 the board will be compatible with AGP slots but won't support full AGP 2X texturing as 3Dfx will stick with their own memory transfer routine. 3Dfx will time the release of the Voodoo3 -4000 to coincide with Intel's launch of Camino in summer 1999.

 

This package contains:
* DirectX 6.0 compliant drivers (v1.08)
* Latest BIOS (v1.01.2)
* GlideSwitcher utility
* Blaster Control

This update:
* Allows users to disable DirectX 6.0 support when running DirectX 5.0 applications for faster support
* Solves mouse scrolling problems in virtual desktop mode
* Allows DirectX 6.0 users to select from texture stages=1 for accelerated performance or texture stages=2 for enhanced visual quality with slower performance.

• Creative Labs GB Banshee Driver (Win9X - Revision 2 - 2.7 MB)

 

With two processors crunching away at the data resting peacefully on your hard drive and in your memory, as AnandTech already addressed with the first Multiprocessor installment (see Multiprocessor Systems: The More the Merrier?), the question was raised, are the only benefactors from this technology those that run the most complex CAD/Drafting applications? Or those that render 20MB images or put together multi-million line files of seemingly endless code? Absolutely not, by limiting the benchmark tests from the original article to high-end applications that were specifically written for multiprocessor systems we are blatantly ignoring the other benefit multiprocessor systems offer us all, increased multitasking performance.

 

If you are looking for the best possible performance, willing to sacrifice nothing, then I suggest that you hold out and wait for an All-in-Wonder 128 32mb rather than purchase the 16mb version. The 32mb version not only offers double the RAM, but also has the new RAGE THEATER multimedia chip and the S/PDIF output for superb multimedia performance at a mere premium of $50.

Intel Corp. bowed today to concerns by privacy groups upset over new technology that allows consumers to be identified as they move across the Internet.

The company promised it will offer free software to allow customers to easily turn off the feature permanently on its upcoming line of Pentium III computer chips, to be sold within months.

Intel also said it will turn off the feature by default for Pentium III chips that haven't already been produced and distributed to the world's computer makers.

Consumers could then choose to activate the technology, which for security reasons would require restarting their computers, Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy said.

If the best BX/ SCSI board in the past has been the ASUS P2B LS, closely followed by some Iwill boards, these have slowly come to age and with the new features including dual processor setup and higher bus speeds, the Shuttle HOT-649a has taken the rank as the currently best Slot 1 (BX) motherboard without any doubts. As a matter of fact, the HOT-649a is, at the current state of technology as close to the perfect board as any can get. If we would rate boards (which we don’t) we would give the HOT 649 at least a 9.5 out of 10.

 

That's right, the Hercules crew is screening the Savage 3D chipset in order to find the most stable and powerful chips coming off the die, and then they are putting the best of the lot aside for the SuperCharged BEAST.  Just like Intel screens the Pentium II for the chips that are most stable at each multiplier, Hercules is only putting the cream of the crop on these boards.  These "best of breed" chips paired with 125MHz SGRAM make the BEAST one of the fastest 3D contenders at the default clock of 120MHz.  Use your imagination on how well it performs when set to the full 130MHz clock speed.

 

GoodNoise is working on just such a technology. The Internet music label will work with Adaptec, a designer of computer components, to come up with new software that lets CD players and car stereos read MP3 files recorded on CDs.

GoodNoise (OTC: GDNO) and Adaptec said it plans to introduce the technology later this year. When it comes out, the technology could turn MP3 from a geek toy into a mainstream audio format.

 

The Dynamite TNT is clearly the fastest TNT board in this test, in many cases scoring significantly higher than the competition. Of course, the Dynamite TNT can be considered overclocked; but, the board are stable enough to run at Hercules' default speed, and warranty is not voided. In other words, Hercules guarantees that the Dynamite TNT will run @ 98/125 and is willing to back it up with the 5 year warranty available. Regarding the 32bit performance, it looks as if RAM speed makes a difference after all.

 

The Saitek R4 Force is a perfect example of an excellent design with one too many errors. The wheel layout and setup is done just right, especially the inclusion of Formula-1 and regular gear shifters. Furthermore, the force feedback effects can be great. However, the large amount of play on the wheel and the irritating force feedback bugs really detract from the R4 Force's performance. If the wheel's design intrigues you and you're willing to put up with a somewhat long learning curve (due to the large amount of play on the wheel), the force feedback bugs, and its high price, pick up a Saitek R4 Force. If not, the Saitek R4 Force probably isn't for you.

 

This card did nothing short of revolutionize gaming for me.  Although not all games support EAX or A3D, but they still sound better than they did on my old Sound Blaster AWE 32.  

The speakers added effects to my gaming that I never thought were possible. Quake 2 made my heart pound with fear and exhilaration. In Starcraft, the sound and rhythm of the music added new elements to the pleasure of the game, which I thought couldn’t get any better. Overall, how could amazing speakers and sound hurt your gaming experience? They can only make it better.

 

With the Gainward GX3, it seems as if S3 has finally worked out most of the kinks in their Savage3D drivers. Now that things are pretty stable and fast, the Savage3D becomes a much more viable option. It's not the fastest card in the world, but it's sort of a compromise between a TNT and a Banshee. You get the price and performance of a Banshee, but the capability for 24-bit rendering from the TNT. Then you also tack on S3's own texture compression and this package is starting to look better and better.

 

Oh well, that all just sounded too nice, but there are some major worms. Letīs make it short: a joystick is no replacement for a mouse when it comes to aiming / looking around. Letīs just start with looking around, which actually means in a first person shooter, that the hero turns left right and looks up or down. The speed of how fast you turn sideways (last page the green axis) is either too slow, or too fast, even both, very often. Too fast makes you overshoot your turn and you still donīt face the right direction, too slow results in the turn is taking aaaages. Both apply when you turn too slow, but still overshoot, and that happened quite often to me.

 

• Rage 128GL graphic chipset
• PCI & AGP versions
• 16MB and 32MB SDRAM versions
• Full hardware DVD acceleration
• Rage Theater video-in chipset w/ video capture TV tuner w/ up to 2 minutes of instant replay
• Software video compression

 

As a member of PCI SIG, Sharky Extreme has learned that the PCI 2.2 specification has been completed and is ready to be implemented. Members of the PCI Special Interest Group can download the specification sheets for not only PCI 2.2 but PCI-to-PCI Bridge Architecture Specification 1.1, PCI Bus Power Management Interface Specification 1.1 and PCI Mobile Design Guide Specification 1.1 as well, or have a CD mailed out to them.

 

• MX300 Review @ Accelerate.org
• MX300 Review @ GA Source

 

In closing, the Rage appears to be a product with much promise. It certainly looks to be a strong choice for OEMs (especially when competing with the Voodoo3's V3-2000 OEM part, still 16-bit only), especially coming from ATI, the OEM king. However, the card does have a number of issues which must be resolved before it can successfully compete for the 2D/3D crown. We're very eager to get hold of a retail version of this board for review available, as it's full potential can't be realized in its current state.

• Diamond Viper V550 BIOS (version 195c)

 

3DFX VOODOO 3 2000 AGP MANUFACTURER: STB
SYSTEM: Computer Peripherals
AVAILABILITY: 04/01/1999
SHIPPING TIME: Ships within 24 Hours of release (US)$129.99

3DFX VOODOO 3 2000 PCI
MANUFACTURER: STB
SYSTEM: Computer Peripherals
AVAILABILITY: 04/01/1999 SHIPPING TIME: Ships within 24 Hours of release (US)$129.99

3DFX VOODOO 3 3000 AGP
MANUFACTURER: STB
SYSTEM: Computer Peripherals
AVAILABILITY: 04/01/1999 SHIPPING TIME: Ships within 24 Hours of release (US)$179.99

April 1st release date, all I can say is that I wish it were sooner!  Just think of that 183MHz clock speed.

• Hercules Dynamite TNT Driver (WinNT4 - version 0.56 - 1.64 MB)

 

Diamond has done a good job with the Monster Fusion, showing off the performance that the Banshee is truly capable of. While the card does lack in image quality in 3D, that is not going to bother your average gamer. After all millions of people have been playing console games on their TVs for quite a while now, and the image quality of the Playstation and Nintendo 64 is truly laughable. The Monster Fusion’s retail price of $149.99 is somewhat a setback, in a market where the average Banshee card is around $109. When you figure in that Diamond has included a great game and the fastest drivers on the market, that price may not be so much of a Hurdle.

 

Of course, most gaming occurs at resolutions lower than 1,280x1,024. We played a lot of Baldur's Gate, Need for Speed III, and Half-Life on this monitor. The news isn't quite as rosy at lower res. While the image is more than acceptable, we noticed a perceptible graininess to the image that wasn't apparent on a 19-inch tube.. This was most noticeable with Baldur's Gate at 32-bit color. This is likely to be more noticeable by some eyes than others.

 

MultiTech's USB modem offers comparable performance to other 56K modems on the market, with the added benefit of its having no wall-wart, not to mention USB's dynamic disconnect/reconnect feature. It's priced well versus other external 56K offerings, so if your current modem is running out of gas and you're looking to move up to a 56K modem, take a look at the MultiModem USB.

 

In terms of performance, the new SCSI-based Zip is no screamer compared to a hard drive or an Iomega Jaz drive. But it runs circles around the Zip's new 100MB USB version. The Zip 250MB is fast enough to play video clips and small applications right from the disk. However, if you plan on transferring big files, you'll still have to wait a lot longer than you would if you were transferring them onto a hard drive or a Jaz drive.

 

So the screen does 1600x1024 huh? But the screensize is 17.3", so everything must be getting really small, fuzzy and unreadable at that resolution right? Wrong. Due to the digital connection and the excellent TFT technology used in this screen all text is razor sharp and very well readable at that resolution. The quality of this combo is one you really need to see with your own eyes: it's amazing. All my usual work, including writing this review is done on a normal IIjama Vision Master 19" CRT monitor, which is a very good one. But when you look at the flatpanel and then back to the CRT screen it's like your eyes don't focus well anymore: the CRT screen looks very fuzzy compared to the 100% razor-sharp and contrastfull image of the SGI flatpanel.

 

From Computer Shopper -- If you've been waiting for 15-inch flat-panel monitors to break the $1,000 barrier, wait no longer. Not only do flat panels take up less desktop real estate than conventional CRT monitors, but they also use less energy, and produce no emissions.

 

Both Intel and the 3 companies that created PCI-X have also stated that their next expansion bus architecture relies on switched fabrics. Intel's is called Next Generation I/O (NGI/O), and the other is called Future I/O. What is a switched fabric I/O design you ask. Well in current systems designs, it's the CPU that pushes data throughout the entire motherboard (except for devices which use DMA mode). With switched fabrics, the CPU sends data to a high speed switch, which the switch then pumps this data all over the entire motherboard. This allows expansions slots to run at greater speeds and bit sizes without having a great drain on the CPU's ability to provide data fast enough. Don't expect to see switched fabric designs anytime soon though. Intel has already stated that their advanced I/O subsystem wont be available until the 64-bit McKinley CPU chip arrives sometime in late 2001. Perhaps Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM will be able to release their Future I/O before then. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

The shift to 0.18 microns will yield similar, but different results. With these chips, Intel is going to start integrating more functions onto the processor. Coppermine and Cascades, the first to chips to be made under the new process, will contain 256KB of integrated cache memory, said sources. Current Pentium IIs have 512KB of secondary cache memory, but it sits alongside the processor and is not part of the same piece of silicon.

As a result, the Coppermine and Cascades

chips will be roughly close in size to current Pentium II processors, but will include the neighboring secondary cache, according to Linley Gwennap, publisher of MicroDesign Resources. Integration will allow Intel to cut out costs related to buying additional cache memory.

The expensive Slot 1 package can also disappear because its primary function was to house the separate memory cache. The company, in fact, has said new chip package designs are coming for the second half.

 

• Powerstrip (Win9X/NT4 - version 2.35 - 673 KB)

 

K7 is also still on track, planned release time is Q2/1999. This seems surprising, because the delay of K6-3, which was expected in January 1999. K7 will be running in a new unique platform using a slot called 'SlotA', which is mechanically identical to Slot1, but using a completely different bus protocol. Thus K7 will not run in Slot1-boards and no Intel CPU will run in SlotA-boards. K7 will require its own new chipset and AMD will be the first supplier of one. The bus protocol used by K7 is called 'EV6', known from Digital's Alpha CPUs. The EV6-bus of K7 is supposed to run at 200 MHz, offering a significantly higher bandwidth than the 100 or later 133 MHz bus clock used by Intel's Pentium II and Pentium III CPUs. The performance of K7 is expected to be significantly above Pentium II or Pentium III level, in office, multimedia, 3D as well as floating point intensive applications. For more information about K7 please look at 'Why AMD’s K7 will be Intel’s toughest competitor ever'.

 

With the APX 4620's Labtec has risen to the challenge of putting out a speaker with above average performance at an affortable price. If you are in the market for a good set of speakers you will want to find a set of Labtec's new performance line speakers and have a listen for yourself. I think you will like what you hear.

 

I think most clear-headed but slightly cynical users will not believe upstart Diamond could put out a better SCSI card than industry veteran Adaptec. I hate to break it to you guys, but the FirePort 40 creamed the Adaptec 2940UW in all tests.

 

All in all, the TwinPower is another Taiwanese Voodoo Banshee, which works the same as any other. If you're thinking of getting a Banshee based card this isn't a bad choice even if there's not much in terms extras, such as, a smashing software bundle, additional hardware features or extraordinary drivers shipping with the Magic TwinPower. Instead, as always Skywell has managed to deliver a no flaws reference board with a nice low price (if you can actually find one on the US market expect the price to be well below the $100 mark).

 

The plan calls for Intel to put a machine-specific ID and a random number generator in every processor, said sources familiar with the plans. The random-number generator will aid e-commerce by allowing PCs to encrypt data more securely, while the ID numbers will allow merchants to verify a user's identity and prevent stolen PCs from getting on the Internet.

 

PC-DVD Encore Driver Updates/Fixes:

• Disables 'AutoPlay' feature of DVD Player Windows 98 WDM DVD when Disc Detector is enabled
• Fixes problem with DVD playback on Toshiba DVD RAM Drives.
• DVD-RAM disc can now correctly detected as Data CD instead of Enhanced CD if 'AutoRun.Inf' exist.

• PC-DVD Encore Driver (Win9X/NT4 - 5.0 MB)

Graphics Blaster Exxtreme Updates/Fixes:

• Contains the latest bios (v1.44.2)
• Support the new DX6's Flexiable Vertex Format (FVF)
• Integrates 'Advanced Properties' control into BlasterControl
• Ensures that Win95 OSR2 will run smoothly when playing Video CD
• Ensures that 'General Protection Fault' does not occur when switching between 3D Blaster Banshee and Graphics Blaster Exxtreme
• Fixes difficulties in playing Fighting Force, Shipwreckers, Heavy Gear, G-Police, Fifa 98, and MotoRacer

• Graphics Blaster Exxtreme (Win9X - Revision 4 - 1.5 MB)

WebCam II Drivers:

• Video Blaster WebCam II Parallel (Win9X - version 1.44 - 415 KB)
• Video Blaster WebCam II Parallel (WinNT - Revision 1 - 389 KB)
• Video Blaster WebCam II USB (Win98 - version 1.68 - 398 KB)