July 1 - 8, 1999
Archive

Admittedly, there were many features of the Aztech PCI 368DSP, which I chose not to test. The reason for this was because the testing that I did complete exposed enough faults such that I would not recommend this card for the average computer enthusiast. I consider this card to have entry-level functionality and sound quality and would only recommend it for the ultra-inexpensive computer market. Even at that, I am posing quite the challenge to Aztech Labs since even a superb card like the Sound Blaster Live! (OEM) can be had for as little as $45.

Priced at $99, the SoundMan X2 speaker system is clearly what most would think of as a "computer speaker system" and not a high-end audio system. Face it, you are not going to get high-end audio for $99, no matter whose speaker system you buy. However, for "computer speakers", the SoundMan X2 speakers sound pretty dang good. In fact, they are one of the best sounding low-end speakers that I’ve heard.

Welcome to The Tech Zone's newest project, where I take a run of the mill Pentium III-500 and turn it into a screaming 620Mhz ultimate gaming system. OK, so a Pentium III-500 is not an average run of the mill CPU. It still cost allot less than a Pentium III-550. :-)

Like all Tech Zone computer projects, this system is fast! Real fast! You expect that with a 620Mhz computer that has a Viper V770 Ultra running at 185/243. No production class computer can match it in games at this time. Dell? Micron? Gateway? Bring them on!

Project 620 is a system that anyone can build. It doesn't involve peltiers, liquid cooling or any other exotic super cooling stuff. If you're good with a screwdriver, you can build Project 620.

a generic, GlobalWin CPM25603-12, and Vantec SK-5026), 3 PIII heatsinks (retail, Vantec PIII-5020R, Vantec PIIID-5020R), and 5 Celeron Slot1 heatsinks (AAVID, CoolerMaster, GlobalWin FAB28, Vantec PII-SL5020, and Vantec PIID-SL5020

There's no doubt in my mind that as of todays date the Logitech QuickCam Pro is the best camera on the market. They've been producing these for a few years now, and the QuickCam Pro is their newest addition to their product line. Its suggested retail price is $149, however you can purchase it from our premiere hardware sponsor CompSource for only $127.67 as of writing. You can always buy a cheap camera at a computer show for $100, but you'll be lacking the high resolutions, excellent software and support, and the ability to position the camera as you need, as well as a long cable and USB support. The only addition I would have liked to see is 1024x768 or 800x600 resolution, but for full video this will work for this time and age since PC's have trouble playing videos at that resolution as it is. I think that the higher resolutions is more of a wish list for the next generation of video cameras. For now, the QuickCam Pro is where it's at.

• 3dfx Voodoo 3 3000
• Creative Labs 3D Blaster RIVA TNT 2 Ultra
• Diamond Multimedia Stealth III S540
• Diamond Multimedia Viper V770 Ultra
• Guillemot Xentor
• Matrox Millennium G400 Max
  
  
  

Q: One of the most interesting functions supported by G400 chip is, undoubtedly, hardware environment mapped bump mapping. Let's talk about it a bit more. Why did this function appear in G400? What is required to support it?

A: First of all, environment mapped bump mapping support is carried out in DirectX6, and G400 can boast a hardware realization. In other words, there is a certain interface, which can help to create applications, and there is hardware support represented by the G400, which can work with these applications correctly. At the same time, all 3D scenes gain more realism without any additional utilization of the CPU in terms of the scene geometry calculations. Due to Direct3D support through the interface, the use of bump mapping in applications turns out to be a pretty simple thing to do. Besides, the G400 can emulate bumpy Phong Shading, which provides highly realistic and clear-cut images if there are any surfaces with reflections. You can also add here the whole lot of various special effects, and you will understand that it turns out to be one of the most distinguishing features of the G400.

• Maxi Gamer Xentor Driver (Win9X - version 2.03 - 995 KB)
• Maxi Gamer Xentor Driver (WinNT - version 2.03 -  676 KB)
• Maxi Gamer Xentor32 Driver (Win9X - version 2.03 - 995 KB)
• Maxi Gamer Xentor32 Driver (Win9X - version 2.03 -  676 KB)
• Maxi Gamer Phoenix2 Driver (Win9X - version 2.03 - 995 KB)
• Maxi Gamer Phoenix2 Driver (Win9X - version 2.03 -  676 KB)

The Win9X drivers for each of the three cards appears to be the same, but just to be safe, I've posted all of them because they are all in different directories.  The same goes for the NT4 drivers.

"Before, if you wanted to [use ADSL modems] you had to find out if your phone company supported a proprietary standard," said Dick Stuart, chairman of the ITU's network access transceiver group for the DSL family of specifications. "If you picked up and moved, it [might] not work."

No more, he said.

"Now that we have [a true international standard], you'll be able to buy these things in computer stores and take it anywhere you want it. And all the phone companies are behind this standard, as they have been for regular modems."

• Voodoo Banshee D3D/Glide enabled INF - Download
• Voodoo Banshee Quake 3 compatible  INF - Download
• Voodoo Graphics INF - Download
• Voodoo Graphics Quake 3 compatible INF - Download
• Voodoo 2 INF - Download
• Voodoo 2 Quake 3 compatible INF - Download
• Voodoo 3 D3D/Glide enabled INF - Download
• Voodoo 3 Quake 3 compatible INF - Download
• Voodoo Rush (2D only) INF - Download
  
  
  

To kick off our new Editorial Feature called "Sharky's Private Eye", we've summed up inside-information based upon several meetings during the past month. We've got dibs on NVIDIA and transformation & lighting, AMD's Athlon and Intel's Pentium III SSE. We've also got snippets on the Celeron 533MHz, the Voodoo3 3500 and more 

Be sure to head over and check it out, there's some very interesting information in there.

• Abit BX6 R2 - LU
• Abit AH6 - KQ
• Abit BM6 - KV
• Abit LD5 - MK
• Abit ZH-22 - LM
• Abit ZH6 - LM
• Award Flash Utility
  
  
  

In fact, once it became clear the Nerd Box was a contender, it was hard to not secretly root for its cute little Celerons to upset the big, nasty PIIIs.  We've said it before, and we'll say it again: the Celeron is every bit the CPU the PIII is--at under half the cost.   Although we believe in the potential of Intel's SSE, until the PIII gets an on-chip L2 cache, the Celeron is our Intel CPU of choice.

• ASUS V3400/3800 Driver (Win9X - version 1.91 B5 - 1.9 MB)
• ASUS V3400/3800 Driver (Win9X - version 2.04 B2 - 609 KB)
  
  
  

The stability of the AX6BC Pro is relatively unchanged from the AX6BC, which is among the highest out of the 160 motherboards AnandTech has reviewed thus far, however it is slightly improved in overclocked situations and when all memory banks are populated.  AOpen takes a back seat only to Intel in terms of motherboard stability, and not by a great margin either.  What the AX6BC Pro brings you is workstation/server stability, in tweaker form...what more could you ask for? 

The Abit BE6 is a very strong mainboard whether it's used for overclocking or just as an upgrade unit in a consumer's PC. It offers many of the same features that the i820 Camino chipset from Intel will offer when it ships in November (133+MHz FSB, UDMA 66) only you can buy and begin enjoying those features today with the BE6.

DualHead's Multi-Display mode take advantage of Windows98's ability to let one single board to support a Windows desktop spanning over multiple monitors, also Multi-Display mode can display to different images on each output device. You can, for example, play a game on your primary monitor whilst having IRC open in the other, or downloading something from the web. If you work a lot with graphics and with programs, such as Adobe Photoshop, the expanded desktop size will be of great use, as you can have all the tools/windows located on the secondary monitor, whilst letting your main monitor concentrate on the entire picture canvas. Say you work a lot with text documents, with the Multi-Display mode, you can have two documents open at the same time, one on each monitor. Cutting and pasting between the two would be much easier this way, also you have full sight on both documents simultaneously. Games can also benefit from the Multi-Display mode, although they'd have to support it first. Microsoft's Combat Flight Simulator is one of them, where you can have the main view on one monitor and have secondary views or terrain maps on the other monitor.

Living up to their high reputation, Turtle Beach has produced yet another quality sound card. The Montego II Quadzilla is one of the best Vortex 2 implementations that I have seen so far. It offers everything that can be found in other Vortex 2 sound cards plus an added level of sound quality and output clarity. The only lacking feature is its dual CODEC design, which prevents users from using Aureal’s reference drivers with SPDIF or four speaker output. However, if Turtle Beach keeps their drivers updated (and updates the shipping drivers), this should not be a problem. Finally, the Montego II Quadzilla is the most upgradeable Vortex 2 sound card available. The Montego II is a great choice for users who think that they might be interested in digital audio editing and recording in the future, but don’t want to shell out the money for a high-end sound card today. Overall, offering great 3D sound, clear output, a decent bundle, and several upgrade options, the Montego II Quadzilla is one of the better 3D sound cards available today.

• Junkie's Guide to Overclocking
• The 3D Dictionary!
• 3dfx Voodoo3 2000 Contest

One of the points 3dfx has stressed since the introduction of the Voodoo3 is the need to focus on greater detail in next-generation cards. It's almost a given that raw speed will continue to improve, and realistically, the differentiating point between similar products may not lie in raw horsepower. One common speculation on next-generation hardware, specifically from 3dfx are texture units capable of massively multitextured operation. Whereas today's hardware generally allows for two textures per pass, one thing we can expect to see in upcoming accelerators is support for 4, 6, or even 8 textures in a single pass.

Intel was to have released the Pentium III/600 at $823/1000 (see desktop roadmap), but will now price it below or near AMD's $700/1000 for its Athlon K7/600 part. One source suggested $670/1000. The Intel desktop roadmap is now changed out of all recognition.

A few hardware sites are reporting these prices for Intel parts: Around August 20, a 550MHz part will cost $480, a 533MHz Pentium III $370 and a 500MHz part $260. These are drastic reductions, compared to Intel's original roadmap.

There really isn’t much bad to say about the BP6.  It would be nice to have a connection for an external thermistor in case you wanted to check other temperatures or four DIMM sockets, and that’s about it.  But even those requests are picky and not something most users would ever need.  With a street price of around $150 the new Abit BP6 is a real steal.  It would not have been a surprise to see it costing an additional $50 to $100.  Even if you don’t plan on ever buying a second CPU it would be a good investment to go ahead and get the BP6 for the Ultra DMA/66 controller and better bus speed control.  You may use Windows 98 now, but Windows 2000 isn’t too far away!

• SOYO SY-7IWM Specification

• Tekram P5MVP-B4 Specification

• PC100 M598 Specification

• Tekram P5M4-M Specification
  
  
  

The Voodoo 2 Tweaker lets you configure all settings for the Glide(™) and Direct3D(^®) API's of your Voodoo 2 based 3D graphics-acceleration card, e.g. Gamma correction, Refresh rate, Pixel clock tuning (overclocking up to 120 MHz!), Buffer synchronization, Mipmap dithering, Antialiasing, Triple-buffering, Texture filtering and more

• Voodoo2 Tweaker (Win9X - Beta - 201 KB)
  
  
  

Beyond a chock full box, there were a number of other things that really got me with the DMX. The first was the fact that it is the FIRST card I have seen yet that supported both optical and coaxial digital out without needing additional add-ons. This makes it the most flexible of all of the current high end cards. Secondly, there are so many connectors (including 2 CD connectors) on both the main board and daughterboard that there is hardly room for the other components. That includes there being internal connectors for all the outside jacks as well, which is a nice additional touch. The other big thing (the manual) didn't really get me at first, but later on, when I went to install the card.

When it comes to case fans, the AMK-0334 is full of them. There are two 3" fans in the case. They are both high power Sunon units. One is mounted on the front of the case to bring cool air inside. The second fan is a 3 inch "chimney" fan mounted on top of the case to exhaust hot air. It comes with a finger guard to protect little hands from getting cut up. All fans have pass though power connectors so you don't have to worry about the power supply running out of connectors.

• Tidy Mouse De-gunking Kit Review
• Flite Tech Strap-on Mouse Mat Review
  
  
  

• Download BIOS updates from ASUS' FTP Site

AMD K7 cpus are very fast.

Some timedemo numbers (a new demo, not comparable to previous scores):

Run at 640*480*16 bit color to emphasise the cpu/driver performance rather
than the hardware fill rate.

K7-600 K7-550 PIII-500
TNT2 ultra 16 bit 73.9 68.5 53.8
Voodoo3 3000 16 bit 70.5 65.2 46.0

Head over to check out the rest!

Creative makes it very easy to set up. Everything you need is included in the box, as well as some nifty things to play around with once you get everything set up. You get the 6X DVD drive, the Dxr3 Decoder card, all the cables you need to get it running, a detailed manual, the software drivers, and an extensive bundle. The software bundle consists of: Riven - The Sequel to Myst, a National Geographic disk, and Compton's Encyclopedia. It's a pretty well rounded bundle, however, I would have liked to see a movie or two in there as well.

FREMONT, Calif., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Aureal Inc., (OTC Bulletin Board: AURL - news) a leader in digital audio imaging, today announced that it plans a Fall 1999 introduction of high-quality speaker products. The new speakers, which will be previewed to select press and customers shortly, will initially be distributed via Aureal's Web store at www.a3d.com and will be offered in conjunction with Aureal Vortex sound cards. Both 2.1 and 4.1 speaker/subwoofer configurations will be available, with an easy upgrade from 2.1 to 4.1 systems, delivering a full 210 watts.

Aureal's new speaker products will work with Aureal Vortex® sound cards to provide advanced features including auto-calibrate, which uses a microphone to receive test tones and tunes the system to deliver the best possible audio performance for a particular speaker configuration and room set-up. Another key feature is a one-touch control and display, located on one of the satellite speakers, which enables volume, bass, fader and other characteristics to be quickly and easily controlled and synchronized with software controls on the computer.

• Micron DRAM Glut Forces Price Cuts
• Copper Chips Hit The Market
  
  
  

Hercules has really outdone themselves and their competitors with the Dynamite TNT2 line. Serious gamer's who want the utmost in speed and reliability will simply love the Dynamite Ultra TNT2, and budget minded and casual gamer's will really appreciate the performance they can get out of the standard Dynamite TNT2 on just about any system from a K6-2 300 to a P3 500.

• ASUS V3400/3800 Driver (Win9X - version 1.91 B3 - 1.88 MB)
• ASUS V3400/3800 Driver (WinNT4 - version 2.04 B1 - 1.24 MB)
• ASUS V3400/3800 Live (Win9X/NT - version 3.0 B2 - 1.38 MB)
  
  
  

The Mouse Bungee is one of those objects that people don't know what it is even after they've read the label. Even when the thing's in use, it's not instantly obvious what function it's performing. What it is, is a mouse cord suspender. It holds up your mouse cable. Your mouse thus moves more easily, without any dragging or snagging. Like a cordless mouse, except without the batteries.

• CL Riva TNT/TNT2 Driver

Matrox has done it again with the Millennium G400 MAX. The Matrox Millennium G400 MAX offers a delectable blend that is impossible to overlook. This is the card that has something to offer for everybody, whether you are a gamer, a business user, a entertainment consumer....this card has features that will please you. Whether it be the superb image quality and vibrant colors, the DualHead technology, or the Environmental Mapped Bump Mapping support, there are features like these and more which are the cause of much enjoyment.

[CPUReview] When do you expect to hit 1Ghz?

[AMD] We expect 650Mhz in Q3; 700Mhz in Q4 - SiS and Kryotech have shown an 800Mhz Athlon system. We expect to hit 1Ghz in 2000.

• CPUIdle (Win9X - version 5.6)
• RawPower (Win9X - version 1.2)
• Waterfall Pro (Win9X - version 2.99)
  
  
  

There will always be drives that are faster or less expensive, but few companies offer the same value as Western Digital does. The Caviar 13.0 GB combines good performance, excellent reliability, and Ultra ATA/66 support at a competitive price. What makes this drive even more appealing is the fact that Western Digital is currently offering a $30 rebate on the retail Caviar 13.0 GB drive. So long as you remember to send it in, the $30 rebate brings the price of this drive down to the level of the Fujitsu drives, which do not offer the same level of performance and reliability.

• Montego A3D Driver (Win9X - version 2.08 - 275 KB)
  
  
  

The PIII-450 is probably one of the best choices for die-hard gamers. It over clocks very well, is not too expensive and offers SSE, giving this CPU a more lasting future than the Celeron.

The Celeron A is still a good pick for folks who prefer economize. As shown in many reports, the 66 MHz bus slows the Celeron down and lacks that extra punch that SSE optimizations provide to accelerate the heavy drivers of the fastest video card today - the TNT2 Ultra.

• Improves the audio quality of razorjack weapon in Unreal SE game
• Rear speaker distortion sound when CMSS is turned on has been improved
• Half Life frame rate has been improved
• Enables WinAmp 2.10 to function properly on Windows NT 4.0
• Corrupted game presets in the Surround Mixer folder have been updated
• In-game volume mixer slider in some games now functions properly
  
  
• Live!Ware Update From 2.0 (Win9X/NT - version 2.1 - 1.9 MB)
• Live!Ware (Win9X - version 2.0 - 28 MB)
• Live!Ware (WinNT - version 2.0 - 22 MB)
  
  
  

There is just so much good about the Elsa Erazor III that it's hard not to recommend it. It's not the top-performer, it doesn't have a load of fancy features, and isn't loaded with a huge, flashy interface. What it does have is a price that's poised to kill, awesome image quality, great stability, and support for the best stereoscopic glasses on the planet. The Erazor III is a deal you shouldn't miss out on.

As CPU multipliers increase, there is a growing bottleneck between memory speed, and CPU internal speed. With a Celeron 400, for example, internally the CPU is working 6 times faster than the memory bus. A Celeron 400 works at 6 x 66, so you have a huge bottleneck between internal and external speeds.

The Asus V3800 Ultra Deluxe TNT-2 really is a cut above however. Although at default speeds, the 150Mhz core clock is rather low, the high speed memory really makes a difference. This thing really flies, and in many cases, at 640x480, 32-bit rendering was hardly slower than 16-bit rendering, showing that the bottleneck right now is lies with the processor rather than video card right now. At higher resolutions such at 1024x768, you do notice a hit in 32-bit colour, but Forsaken provided 82 fps at this resolution, with Quake2 providing 62fps in demo1 and 57fps in massive1. There is no
doubt this card is fast :)

• Voodoo3 Overclocker (Win9X/NT - version 3.0 - 121 KB)
• Voodoo3 Tweaker (Win9X/NT - version 1.2 - 100 KB)