Site Changes       03:25 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

As you can see, I just removed news posts from the main page of ARP and put them into a separate page. This allows the main page to display the latest articles and reviews without being disturbed by the news posts. This should also improve the loading time of the site as news posts do sometimes take up quite a bit of time to display. Hope you will enjoy the new look! :)

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Silent Cooling?       01:55 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Silent? Cool? Those two words never seem to co-exist in coolers. Practically every cooler manufacturer is relying on faster (and noisier) fans to push the envelope. You will never hear of a cutting edge manufacturer using a slower and quieter fan in their top cooler because that cooler will never beat other coolers competing for attention from the overclocker community. Until now, that is...

Zalman is the first cooler manufacturer to come up with a completely different cooling concept. Instead of relying on more powerful fans, they concentrated on the heat sink. They hope to create a heat sink that's so efficient that even a slower and quieter fan can make it run better than competing designs using a much faster fan. The fruit of their labour? The uniquely bizarre flower heat sink.

Today, Ken Ng takes a look at their top cooler for the Intel Socket 423 and AMD Socket A CPUs - the Zalman CNPS5000-Plus! Will Zalman's concept of slow-blow fans and radical heat sink design win the day? Or will the CNPS5000-Plus end up a beautiful and very expensive paper weight, just like the Orbs that everyone used to be so crazy about? There's only one way to find out - click here!

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News From The Net

Computer Chaos is hosting a contest in which you stand to win a Thermaltake Dragon Orb 3. All you need to do is design their logo! :)

Void Your Warranty just upgraded to their new server! In addition, they posted the following two reviews :-

• Multimedia Port Mods!
• Plextor 16/10/40 CD-RW drive!

GideonTech has a review on machine rounded cables! Snip - "These machine rounded cables are a little stiffer than the traditional flat and hand rounded variety. The plastic covering is most likely the culprit here. They are still bendable though, so there should not be any problems in regards to maneuvering it within your case. Just give yourself some room to work with before you put everything in." They also posted a roundup of Zalman's top coolers - the CNPS 2005, 3100 and 5000!

PC Hardware reviewed the long awaited ABIT KG7-RAID motherboard! Here's a snip - "Abit also included several advanced memory and chipset timing settings. The memory settings are not very hard to operate considering that there are several templates: Manual, Auto, Normal, Fast, Turbo, Ultra."

BlueSmoke previewed Liquid Entertainment's Battle Realms, set in story-driven fantasy world in the ancient Orient, filled with ninjas, samurai, geisha warriors and werewolves!

The Overclocker Cafe just finished their 1GHz AMD Athlon AYHJAR review! Here's a snip - "Purchasing a new chip for most of us overclockers is somewhat like the search for the Holy Grail.  Every rumor, tip, and even an occasional fact point us not only toward the direction of what chip to buy but what stepping and it's production week as well.  Once we have our rumors straight, the hunt is on."

Tuplay.com just posted their review of Team 17's new game - Worms World Party! World Party (the 4th game in the legendary Worms series) adds an entire new set of maps and missions to Worms Armageddon, as well as a few neat tweaks.

Ultra ATA/133!        03:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Another transfer mode boost for IDE hard disks! It looks like Ultra ATA/133 is set to take off although there's a lack of support from Intel. FYI, Intel prefers the Serial ATA initiative, instead of the parallel one (which Ultra ATA/133 is). Here's the press release from Maxtor :-

Maxtor Corporation announced the release of the Ultra ATA/133 hard drive interface specification, which boosts data transfer rates between the computer and the hard drive up to 133 megabytes (MB) per second. The interface is one-third faster than earlier Ultra ATA/100 technology integrated in most PC computer systems and performance adapter cards.

Currently, VIA Technologies, Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS), Adaptec, Promise Technology, and Silicon Image have formally completed licensing agreements to use Maxtor's Ultra ATA/133 interface technology in upcoming systems and chipsets. It is anticipated that licensed partners will announce and begin shipping products that incorporate Fast Drive technology during the second half of 2001. Widespread PC adoption is expected in 2002.

ATA or Advanced Technology Attachment defines the connection and speed for the interface between the hard drive and the computer. As the industry introduces faster and higher capacity hard drives, work must be done in parallel to speed up the interface between the drive and the host computer in order to avoid a data bottleneck from the drive outperforming the interface.

Information courtesy of the WAVE Report!

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NVIDIA News!        03:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

NVIDIA sent news that their GeForce2 Go GPU will be powering the Dell Latitude C810 and Inspiron 8100 business notebooks! Here's part of that press release :-

NVIDIA^® Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) announced today that Dell® Computer Corporation, the leading notebook provider as ranked by Gartner Dataquest, has selected the NVIDIA GeForce2 Go™ mobile graphics processing unit (GPU) for its new Latitude™ C810 and Inspiron^™ 8100 business notebook PCs.  With the graphics processing prowess of the GeForce2 Go, and the power of the integrated Intel® 1.13GHz Mobile Pentium® III, 128MB SDRAM, a vibrant 15-inch LCD display, and multiple optical drives, these two new Dell notebooks offer business professionals and mobile aficionados a highly-compelling, yet portable, PC experience.

Today’s announcement points to the growing enthusiasm that our GeForce2 Go family of mobile GPUs is receiving from industry-leading OEMs and end-users alike,” stated Jeff Fisher, executive vice president of worldwide sales for NVIDIA. “The inclusion of the GeForce2 Go in the Latitude C810 and Inspiron 8100 is a significant milestone because it is the first time the GeForce2 Go has been integrated into notebooks solely targeted to the business professional.

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The ABIT KG7        02:40 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Latest estimate from ABIT says that this long-awaited board will be shipping in the middle of this month! So, it's just around the corner! :D

BTW, if you are worried that it requires registered DDR SDRAM, well, don't worry too much. It supports up to 2GB of normal, unbuffered DDR SDRAM. But if you have registered DDR SDRAM, you can use four DIMMs to go up to 4GB.

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News From The Net

VoidYourWarranty reviewed the Antec SX635 mid-tower case with a 350W PSU! Here's a clip - "From the outside, the SX635 looks pretty much identical to the SX830 that many of our readers are familiar with already. The bezel has a built in floppy bay, and then 3 5.25" bays and 1 standard external 3.5" bay. The lower half of the bezel is dominated by the distinctive louvred design that all the SX series case have. The louvres not only look nice but also provide the intake fans with all of the fresh outside air that they need."

PCAbusers posted the following reviews :-

• Thermaltake Memory Cooling Kit! Snip - "You can Stick them on a single sided Dimm (or with two kits double sided ram), you can place one heat spreader and both the ram sinks on a Dimm, stick them on your video card with all the ram on one side (or with two kits double sided video card & "DDR"), and if you want you can place
  them on any <font color=red>HOT</font color> chip in your system that has the room."
• Enermax Temp Monitor Kit! Snip - "It does the job it's supposed to do and does it effectively.  Not only does it tell you the temperature of two separate devices but it doubles as both a hard drive rack and a fan cage.  The first thing that bugs me, though, is that the faceplate alone didn't fit in the bezel of my case.  So why did they make it detachable?  My guess is that it will fit in the majority of cases, but you never know."

Rizenet is looking for a motherboard reviewer. If you are interested, contact them! Here are the details :-

This persons job will be that they will review motherboards, and only motherboards. DDR, SDRAM, AMD, Intel - the works. We would like our reviewer to have access to both Pentium IIIs and AMD Athlon CPUs, and hopefully a Tualatin. They will need to work with companies themselves to get motherboards to review although we will help them out with contacts and provide them with motherboards from time to time.

We have a lot of details we would like to work out personally, so for now, the requirements are that you must be willing to work, have acceptable grammar and writing skills, and *provide a writing sample preferably in the form of a hardware review*. It must be your own work, obviously.

People who are interested should contact Rizen@rizenet.com. Please do not apply if the idea of producing at least 1 review per week doesn't excite you.

Incidentally, they posted a review of the 15" DTI3D 2015XL Virtual Window Display! This monitor is much more than a 15" (viewable) LCD. It packs built in stereoscopic 3D features - that's right, no headgear, no eyestrain, but real stereo 3D images! The technology is built right into the display, along with a vibrant, crisp 2D LCD.

BIOS Optimization Guide       03:15 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Just boosted the BIOS Optimization Guide to revision 6.1 with new details and fixes to the following BIOS functions :-

• Memory Hole At 15M-16M
• Byte Merge
• HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability
• EPP Mode Select
• PIRQ_0 Use IRQ No. ~ PIRQ_3 Use IRQ No.

I'm working on some new BIOS features and hope to get another update out soon. Hang in there! :) 

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News From The Net

GideonTech posted a mini, 1-page guide on how to power up an ATX power supply without using a motherboard! Here's a blurb - "With very basic accessories, you should be able to accomplish this within 10 minutes! (we try to make everything as easy and fast as possible, 10 mins seems like the sweet spot :)"

Extreme Overclocking posted a comparison between the production model and the pre-production model of the Vantec CCK-6035D cooler! They are also giving away those coolers! :)

ipKonfig posted a tip on how to change IRQs in Windows 2000. Here's their blurb - "How many of you know how to change IRQ's inside Windows 2000? Few know, but most do not know. Well let's at least hope that you do not have Windows 2000 installed just yet, and if you do, do this the next time you DO install Windows 2000."

Rev. 6.20 Posted!        02:30 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

As promised, here's another update of the BIOS Optimization Guide! The new revision 6.20 has the following updates :-

Added the following new BIOS options :-

• AGP 4X Drive Strength
• AGP Drive Strength P or N Ctrl

Rewritten the following BIOS option with new details :-

• Boot Other Device

Do check out the updates and let me know what you think of them! As always, feel free to send me any info / comments you may have on any BIOS options or those not yet covered in this revision. You will be credited for your efforts. Thanks! :)

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News From The Net

GideonTech took a look at the Icemat! Here's a snip - "The easiest way to clean the Icemat is to use a mild glass cleaner. Don't stick it in the dishwasher, it will break. I used the unit to play a little Counter-Strike. I didn't get more kills or anything, but I did react a lot faster when using the Sniper Rifle. Not sure if that's a good thing, because I still got my ass shot dead. I did notice when you collect some small dust particles underneath your mouse, it creates a very horrid scratching noise on the Icemat. Cleaning the mouse does solve this issue."

BlueSmoke reviewed the AOpen AX3S Plus i815E motherboard! Here's their pitch - "Onboard RAID, 6 PCI slots, 4 DIMM slots, 1MHz FSB increments... are you drooling yet? Stop slobbering and head on over for an in-depth look."

ipKonfig posted the following :-

• Wahoo Computer Lanster PC Case review - "Deep in the LAN parties it's all about who's the best, and who's got the coolest looking case. But how cool is a case if it doesn't look so hot, and weighs a ton? That would fit into the "not so cool" category with your buddies. Hey, no one wants to help you carry in a brick to a LAN party anyway."
• Modding The Blue Orb guide - "How many of us have seen the Blue Orb? I'm sure 99% of us have at least heard of it from time to time. Is it a good performer though? To be honest it does a fine job for cooling down video cards. But what with that cheesy fan?"

Void Your Warranty just posted their review of the Swiftech MCX370 heatsink! Snip - "This unit is definitely top-notch quality, and looks cool as hell. Performance is definitely up there with the Thermalright, and possibly more efficient (seems to perform slightly better with lower CFM fans). I must say I find the clip to be a pain when swapping back and forth between heat sinks, but this type of clip may be best for people afraid of the high force it takes to clip a standard clip. I personally never have cracked a core from installing a heat sink, but one time I had an old screwdriver actually break on me, causing me to nail my Epox 8K7A. You bet I left a big mark in it, right on some of the traces too"

AMDWorld reviewed the Thermalright SK6 cooler! Snip - "Anyway, after cleaning the cooler and die, and reapplying the Arctic Silver I refitted the SK6. This time I slid the cooler up to the end of the clip away from the PSU, thus placing it more centrally over the CPU die."

The Overclocker Cafe just finished their review of the AGP Airlift! Here's a snip - "Notice the feet. They serve two purposes. They elevate the unit slightly so as to create a gap around the sides of the card for cool (well, cooler) air to be drawn into. The other thing about the feet, always an area of concern to me now, is that the feet are rubber and non-conductive. There will be no slow motion profanity from an accidental short here."

PC Abusers posted a review of the Enermax 350W power supply! Here's a snip - "Intake fan is mounted in bottom of the power source, so that it draws heat directly from CPU are Automatic shutdown feature from overload exceeding 120-150% of the maximum rated load and when a DC output short circuit is detected."

The PDF Version Is Out Now!!!       05:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

A little late but my connection quitted on me several times so I had to upload them several times. Sigh...

Anyway, the PDF version (many thanks to Michael Rabb!) of the BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 6.20 is now ready for you to download! As before, I compressed the PDF eGuide into RAR and ZIP archives so they will be a lot smaller to download and won't overload the server.

Enjoy! :)

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Microsoft ActiveSync 3.5 Out Now!!!       04:05 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hate the way ActiveSync screws up and you have to reboot to reconnect properly? Well, you will be happy to know that Microsoft just released ActiveSync 3.5! Here is an abbreviated list of changes in ActiveSync 3.5 :-

• More reliable synchronization with Outlook!
• Compatibility with Office XP and Windows XP!
• Improved remote synchronization (better conflict resolution, truncation and fault tolerance)!
• Drastic improvements in USB connectivity and synchronization!
• Infrared synchronization in Windows 2000!
• Integrated AvantGo synchronization!
• Notes and Favorites synchronization!
• Faster and easier installation (as few as six mouse clicks!)!
• Simplified user interface with different levels of detail!

The entire installation file is 3,853,368 bytes in size so if you are on a slow and unreliable connection (like mine), use a download manager like Getright. Download it now by clicking here!

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NVIDIA Quadro2 PRO In Cadalyst Review!       03:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Here's a new press release from NVIDIA about the recent review of dual processor workstations by Cadalyst Magazine. According to them, workstations powered by the NVIDIA Quadro2 PRO GPUs completely swept the top honours in the review. For more details, check out the entire press release!

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PDF Versions Coming Up!       03:25 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

As always, updates to the BIOS Optimization Guide will be followed by the downloadable versions. Today, I'll be uploading the PDF version of the BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 6.20. It will be up in an hour or so.

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News From The Net

Void Your Warranty just finished their review of the Labtec Pulse 424 speakers! Here's a quote - "After listening to several different mp3s, and watching a DVD movie, I was pretty impressed with the sound quality overall. The bass that the subwoofer produced was a bit unnatural, but the quality from a system with this price tag was great. Turning the bass down on the subwoofer seemed to remedy the boominess, and even with the bass turned down the sub still produced a great amount of bass."

Rizenet posted a review of PCMods' latest neon kit - the Cold Cathode! This light is truely a progression over their first generation products - it's smaller yet brighter, and emits a full 360 degrees of light.

The Overclocker Cafe just posted a short review of the experimental fans from OCZ! Here's a snip - "The 60x60x10mm blue meanie really surprised us with it's performance. This 10mm think jobber beat out the YS Tech 26CFM 60mm. Given the air flow difference, it makes since. I just didn't think about it too much until I was testing. Wow! Another wow goes to the 40x40x25mm tall boy."

PDA Panache Quad-40 Multifunction Stylus        07:25 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Are you looking for a full-size stylus that does more than just write on touch screens? Are you tired of carrying multiple writing tools wherever you go? Why not invest in a multifunction stylus? You get several writing tools all in a single package.

Today, I'll be reviewing PDA Panache's latest multifunction stylus - the Quad-40! Boasting four different tips and a unique dot matrix grip, the Quad-40 looks set to conquer the PDA stylus world! Or does it? There's only one way to find out! :)

Here's a snip of the review :-

The PDA Panache Quad-40 stylus uses a different method for tip selection. Based on gravity, its system relies on a small ball to select the proper tip depending on which tip marker is facing upwards when the stylus is horizontal. This allows the Quad-40 to use only a single button and a switch.

So, to select a particular tip, you just have to position the stylus roughly horizontally and turn it until the tip marker of the tip you want is pointing upwards. Then, press down the push button until it locks and the tip you want pops out. You will also note a small black switch recessed in the stylus' clip. That switch releases the engaged tip so that you can select another tip.

For the full review, click here!

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News From The Net

PC Hardware reviewed the MSI Starforce 822 graphics card! This is a GeForce3 based card which comes with several gadgets, the most important being the VIVO daughter board and the impressive chip and memory cooling. The editor compared it with ASUS V8200 Deluxe under Windows 2000 SP2 using MadOnion 3DMark 2001 and Serious SAM test2.

GideonTech reviewed a value line LCD monitor from Envision! Here's a snip - "To be totally honest, I did not even bother touching the menu and changing any kind of settings. When you first turn on the monitor and your system, the unit goes into a Auto Config mode. It configures your Clock (pixel frequency) and Focus automatically. Clock basically controls the number of pixels scanned by one horizontal sweep. If this frequency is not correct, vertical stripes appear and the width of the screen will be off. The Focus is the horizontal direction with the same idea as the Clock. The auto config also resizes your screen with your video input signal and adjusts the screen perfectly for you. Very convenient!"

The Overclocker Cafe just finished their short review of the Enermax Dual Temperature Monitoring Rack! It is effectively a hard drive cooling rack with the addition of two thermal sensors.

The LIT & PRC Versions Are Out Now!!!       02:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

For those of you with Pocket PCs or Palm PCs, you will be happy to know that I have just uploaded the LIT (Microsoft Reader) and PRC (MobiPocket Reader) versions of the BIOS Optimization Guide 6.20. Of course, if you can also read them on your desktop. Just download the appropriate reader for your operating system and you are ready to go!

Best of all, the LIT and PRC eGuides are much smaller than the PDF eGuide so you don't have to waste too much time downloading the entire guide . BTW, the PRC version is now properly formatted. So, enjoy these eGuides! :)

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Back From Bangalore!       00:40 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Woohoo! Just came back from a short holiday to Bangalore. Great weather but lousy air. My face was literally as black and as oily as a kuali (wok) after a day out. Heheh...

Anyway, I wanted to go and see this famous "Big Banyan Tree" just outside of Bangalore which is said to cover three acres of land (!!!) with its branches and leaves. Unfortunately, no one seemed to know where it was... Hmm...

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News From The Net

PC Hardware reviewed the Epox EP-4T2A i850 motherboard! Here's a clip - "The RIMM slots come populated with two Continuity RIMMs. The Rambus memory design is different from the traditional approach. I am not going to detail the architectural differences, but to be brief on the board there are two rambus channels and every one has to be filled with RIMM modules. These Continuity-RIMMs have no memory on them but are used to propagate the clock signal to the next socket."

GideonTech posted another quickie guide - the RAM Upgrade Guide for Laptops! Here's a blurb - "With ram prices so low, the temptation to upgrade was way to strong. I scoured around and not too many sites even bother to talk about upgrades for a laptop. So we went ahead and did our own 5 minute guide, complete with pictures of course"

The Overclocker Cafe just posted their review of the Swiftech MCX-370 cooler! Here's a snip - "The Helicoid Pin provides a greater surface area in which heat may be dissipated via the convection process. Swiftech claims that this pin increases surface area by a two to one ration over the pin design of the MC-370. We all know that the more surface area you have the more efficient the heatsink will be for the most part. Another advantage of the Helicoid Pin is that the threads or ribs create turbulence in the air flow which helps the efficiency of the heat/air exchange."

Hardware Extreme just reviewed the FrontX Multimedia Ports! Here's a snip - "FrontX is a totally unique product that is useful for most, if not all, computer users and enthusiast. The FrontX port replication system is a very simple design that does its job well. FrontX was first released with only sound and joystick ports but now has been expanded to include USB and Serial, also very soon IEEE 1394, Video and Parallel Port adapters will become available. Enough about what the FrontX is let’s move onto the review."

VoidYourWarranty.net just reviewed the 51CFM 60mm fan from Delta! Here's a snip - "It appears that there is an exponential decay taking place here. What that means is even if you managed to find a 70 CFM 60mm fan, its performance would not be that much greater than the Delta 51 (or 38 for that matter). It appears that for the Swiftech MC370 we are approaching the limits of its performance. The bottleneck is no longer the rate heat transfers from the fins of the heatsink to the air, but instead the rate that heat moves from the CPU core to the fins of the heatsink."

GAPI Benchmark Scores!        03:25 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

I just posted another update of the Pocket PC Performance Guide with more GAPI Benchmark 2.0 scores! The latest Pocket PCs to be added to the comparison include the 221MHz Compaq iPAQ (64MB) and both the 180MHz and 204MHz Casio EM-500 Pocket PCs!

For the most comprehensive performance comparison of the top Pocket PCs in the market, check out the Pocket PC Performance Guide. And if you have a Pocket PC, please try out our free GAPI Benchmark 2.0 and send us your scores!

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News From The Net

Icrontic just posted the following articles :-

• Red Line Oil’s WaterWetter review - "So you’ve taken the plunge and got a water-cooler system for your computer or you are thinking about it or you may be a water-cooling guru yourself. Let’s get one thing clear right off the bat. This is not a how to guide on building a water-cooling system. This is a review of what you can add to tweak the efficiency of the fluid in your water-cooling system."
• Swapping Theories On The Page File article - "It's this in a nutshell. If you:
    - Have 3 to 4 times the ram compared to how much memory normally needed. Even the amount that five memory intensive programs could take up.
    - Do not use the memory dump option or only do a small memory dump (64kb)
    - Do not want a page file wastefully occupying hard drive space
    - Have a stand-alone system
    - Have a system that is not a server
  Then you should be able to reduce the paging file size dramatically without affecting system performance. Theoretically the page file could be significantly less than the monster ratio of 1.5 times ram that Microsoft recommends."

16X Lite-On BURN-Proof CD-RW       04:30 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Are you looking for a CD-RW that doesn't choke on you whenever you do more than let electrons from your monitor burn into your eyes? Are you sick of throwing coasters out the window like good money? If you are, you will be happy to know that Ken Ng has just finished his review of the new 16x10x40x Lite-On CD-RW drive!

"BURN-Proof, as you would have read from the previous review, was developed by Sanyo to overcome the "buffer under-run" error that plagues most CD-RW users. For those of you who don't know what a buffer under-run is, it's an error that occurs when the computer cannot stream the needed data to the CD-RW drive fast enough for the burning process to proceed normally.

As older CD-RW drives cannot pause the burning process to 'wait' for the needed data, a burn error occurs, creating a coaster (unusable CD). As such, everyone using a CD-RW drive soon develops a fear of disrupting the data stream from the system to the CD-RW drive. That's why people will tell you NOT to do anything with your PC when you're burning a CD."

For more of the review, click here!

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News From The Net

The Overclocker Cafe reviewed the 2CoolPC Plus and Turbo system coolers! Snip - "As we said before, differences between heatsink performance is measured in 1/10 degree increments anymore. High performance sinks seem to be pushing the edge of what seems possible with air cooling a CPU. With this in mind, we saw a staggering 2.4 degree Celsius drop." They are also giving away a dozen 2CoolPC Turbo system coolers!

VoidYourWarranty.net reviewed two copper heatsinks from Dynatron! Here's a snip - "The Type O's fins are NOT soldered on, but instead Dynatron uses a technique called skiving. Basically the fins are cut from the base of the heatsink, so there is nothing between the base and the fins to impede heat transfer. This allows for many more fins per heatsink, and the Type O certainly has fins in abundence."

Rizenet added a few more case mods over at their case mods gallery!

PC Hardware reviewed the Compex NetPassage 15-B router! Here's a quote - "A router is a computer whose main job is to select the best path for packets traveling in a network from source to destination. The router has more interfaces, each connected to a different network. The router switches the packets between these interfaces. As packets reach one of the router's interfaces the router looks at the destination network address (usually an IP address since IP is the most common Layer 3 protocol) and than checks it's routing table, a table stored in the router's RAM."

GideonTech posted a review of the RumbleFX force feedback headphones! Here's a snip - "After getting into a 20 player game on GT's CS Server, this unit really stood out. I felt and heard each gun shot coming from every angle. I used to use a Koss headset to play CS, but it didn't provide any type of increased bass let alone Force Feedback. The Evergreen unit was sharp and precise in outputting the exact location of each noise movement." They also reviewed the Swiftech MCX370-0A cooler! Here's a snip - "The heatsink differs from the previous model in that each individual pin is ribbed. Labeled as a helicoid pin design, it supposedly increases the pin's surface area 2:1. That's quite a jump in surface area! A total of 188 pins are mounted onto the base, each with its own helicoid design. It is also mentioned that this new design creates micro-turbulence which causes more airflow."

Three Years Old!        04:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Wow! I was so busy with my work and study that I completely forgot that Adrian's Rojak Pot became three years old on the 20th! Can you imagine that? This site now three years old!

Man... we have come quite a long way since 1998 when I first started designing my personal homepage with FrontPage 98. I wonder what ARP will be in three years. Hmm...

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Video-1-120 Cooler        04:15 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Finally! The whole review is up and running!

If you want a cooler that's very simple to install but yet powerful enough to push over 125 CFM of air directly over your turbocharged (read : overclocked!) graphics card, you will want to check the 1COOLPC Video-1-120 cooler out.

It doesn't required any modification of the graphics card so you don't have to worry about voiding your warranty. And best of all, the other components in your computer case benefit from all the air blown in by this cooler. Here's a clip from that review :-

"This is the most powerful video card cooler I've heard of. It comes with a 3 pin plug which does not support RPM monitoring. Do not plug the fan into the motherboard fan header. If you do so, it will blow the header simply because it draws too much current. Most motherboard fan headers will only allow a fan to draw up to 0.4A, but this fan needs 0.66A to spin."

For the full review, click here!

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Hang On A Minute...        02:55 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Arrggghhhh!!! Although my current ISP - HCL InfiNet has recently been considered by ZDNet India (or something like that) to be the top ISP in India, their Mangalore server really sucks. I've been trying to upload the latest review since 2 a.m yesterday and I still haven't been able to finish uploading the whole thing.

It still looks like it's going to be a long morning today so hang on a minute while I upload the rest of the review. Grrr....!!!

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News From The Net

PC Hardware published the third article of the Master A Network series. This one is about OSI Layer 2 Data Link and covers MAC addresses, network topologies, standards, encapsulation, specifications and layer 2 devices like bridges and switch. 

PC Abusers reviewed the Klipsch 5.1 speaker system! Here's a snip - "The final test was viewing various DVD movies. Movies used were: The Matrix, Mission: Impossible 2, and Blade. Both 4.1 (no center channel) and 5.1 (center channel) settings were used to judge how well the center channel speaker added to the sound experience." They also took a look at the Sunon case fan!

Extreme Overclocking took a look at the CompuNurse Temperature Probe and did a little mod for it to fit on top of your case. This nifty little temperature probe is inexpensive and has many potential uses, with a slim temp probe and extra long cord it can go just about anywhere in a full tower case.

Rizenet posted a high-performance cooler round-up, covering 6 coolers designed for maximum cooling for your socketed processors. Among the heatsinks covered are the Akasa Silver Mountain, Zalman CNPS5000, and Dragon Orb 3.

GideonTech reviewed the Golden Gate cooler from SVC, which is an improved version of the Gladiator!

800 DPI Mouse???        03:20 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Fraggers know just how important the mouse is in racking up the kills and will spend enormous amounts of money on the latest mousing technology. But for those who can't afford the premium, is there any hope?

Whenever I visit Mr. Tay at IMD, I have always noticed a 800 DPI mouse on display. Not an IntelliMouse nor a BoomSlang, mind you. But it was the first 800 DPI mouse I have ever seen and well, it is a lot cheaper than an Intellimouse or a BoomSlang. However, it wasn't until recently that we finally had the opportunity to put that mouse to the test.

Today, our very first female reviewer, Carolyn Ng, will take you on a tour of the XNTech Play Mouse II Wheel 800 PS/2 mouse's features and capabilities with a focus on the 800 DPI resolution. She will also examine the mouse's performance in comparison with the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer and a Logitech mouse. Check this clip out :-

"Amazingly, it did take roughly 1.2 inches or about 3 cm to move over 1024 pixels! As a comparison, I used my Logitech PS/2 mouse. In the end, my Logitech needed twice the length. That means the resolution of my Logitech is about 400 DPI. A quick test using Ken's Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer USB produced the same results as my Logitech mouse."

For the full review, click here!

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News From The Net

GideonTech reviewed the Glowire Case Mod Kit! Not only does it shine like a neon, but its smaller and its bendable! Powered by a small driver, you can place this almost anywhere on your case.

Rizenet reviewed the EasyUSB Portable Storage Device! Here's a clip - "The EasyDisk is a small solid state HDD, similar to a flash card, with a USB interface at one end. Connecting to a Windows ME/2000/XP machine is as easy as plugging it into an open USB port and letting Windows do its thing. If you are one of the many Win98SE users still out there, there is a small driver that is needed to access the EasyDisk but it's an extremely painless install. Load the driver off the included floppy disk, plug the EasyDisk into your USB port and it's ready to use. No rebooting required!"

NVIDIA nForce Delayed?        04:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

I recently heard that nForce motherboards may be further delayed. So, I tossed that rumour around and true enough, reliable sources hinted that NVIDIA is encountering some problems with the nForce chipset and earlier production and shipping projections are now off.

This is backed up by the fact that ABIT is now looking at a shipping date of October for their nForce-based NV7 motherboard although they hinted that the NV7 may be delayed beyond October because they want to make sure the NV7 works flawlessly before it is released. The last time I asked them, they were trying to bring the NV7 ready for a September release.

So, those of you who have been waiting for the ABIT NV7 in September have done so in vain. The NV7 won't be available in September and even a release in October seems shaky. And because it's the nForce chipset that's at fault, every motherboard manufacturer with an nForce chipset on their production schedule will be in the same predicament as ABIT.

I would be really surprised if anyone announces that their nForce motherboard will be shipping in September or even October. And I would be wary to buy one then too.

I guess all anyone can do now is pray and hope that NVIDIA solves those unspecified problems and get the nForce chipset shipping ASAP. It's hard to see how any nForce motherboards will be released by October if NVIDIA cannot crack the problem soon.

Comments?

News From The Net

GideonTech reviewed the Street Glow PC Neon Connector kit! Here's a clip - "What this unit essentially is, is a fan bus. There are 4 sets (positive/negative) connectors on the black unit with one SPST (Single Pull, Single Throw) switch coming out of the other end. The switch can turn on and off all the units plugged into this connector box. You may plug any neon tube that has a 12V/Ground combination of wires."

Tech-Junkie reviewed the VideoLogic Vivid!XS 32MB graphics card! Here's a snip - "The 9 page review goes through briefly the hardware behind the board and how it compares to Nvidia's GeForce-line in Serious Sam, Quake III, MadOnion's popular 3DMark suites, and a tid bit on how it runs under Mandrake Linux 8.0."

Hardware Extreme posted a review of the ThermoEngine cooler! Here's a snip - "The ThermoEngine heat sink has becoming a big hit in a lot of cases. This unique heat sink has emerged from no where, and has sparked a light in many people's cases. This type of heat sink has brought new meaning in cooling computers for a very affordable price."

Any Hungarians?        05:25 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

If you are a Hungarian or if you can read Hungarian, please e-mail me. I need your help in a certain sensitive matter. Thanks! :)

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Wrong Pages?        04:15 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Are you getting wrong pages or odd graphics when you click on a link? Don't worry. The link isn't wrong. It's just that the site has just hit the bandwidth cap.

To solve this problem, here are the following steps you need to take :-

• Clear Internet Explorer's cache
• Close the present IE window showing the incorrect page
• Open a new IE window
• Navigate to the page and reload it
• IE will be forced to reload the correct page

That should solve the problem. :)

Comments?

Win2K Tips!        03:40 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

I just posted the new revision 3.7 of the Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide with the following updates :-

• Added a new tip on how to open up a new Explorer window with access restricted to a certain folder
    
• Changed the Command Prompt In Any Directory tip so that the Folders Option method will now display long filenames by default.

For the updates and other Win2K tips, click here!

Comments?

News From The Net

Void Your Warranty just added a new article on water cooling! Here's a quote - "The other important way to combat leaks is to never run your system without hose clamps or zip ties securing all connections. You can pick up hose clamps for 3/8" to 1/2" tubing in any auto shop; these are my personal choice because they are reusable. This eliminates the possibility of leaks at the most likely place; the junction between fittings and tubing. A hose coming loose is pretty much the only way that a water cooling system that has been leak tested is going to begin to leak at a later time." You can also check out our take on water cooling!

Chillblast reviewed the Epox Aluminium case! Here's a snip - "The first thing that strikes you about this case is its weight. My guesstimate is about 7 Kg but whatever it is, the unit is extremely solid (euphemism for b*stardly heavy)! It comes already equipped with a 300W ATX PSU (TUV + CE + PFC), so there is no need to splash more cash to get the PC running. The finish is matt, brushed metal and this gives it an elegant appearance."

BlueSmoke reviewed the Senfu Digital Thermometer! Here's their pimpage - "Ever wanted to keep track of your CPU or graphics chip temperature? Software monitoring utilities just don't cut it when you're in a game. Maybe your motherboard doesn't have temperature monitoring suport? Then head on over and have a look see." You can also check out our own review of the Senfu Digital Thermometer!

GideonTech reviewed the NanoTherm Ice/Blue thermal paste! Here's a snip - "I smeared the Nanotherm Ice, Nanotherm Blue and Arctic Silver II onto a hard plastic surface. I was curious as to the feel and touch of the compound. From initial impressions, the Ice and Blue compound was a little tighter and stickier than ASII. ASII created a more smoother and..."

Bandwidth Cap        03:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Ever since I posted the downloadable versions of the BIOS Optimization Guide, this site has been hit with all sorts of bandwidth-related problems like the site being inaccessible to many of you and more recently, weird graphics and pages appearing where they should not. All this is happening because the site is hitting the bandwidth cap set by our host.

The funny thing is ARP isn't serving that many people from what our stats tell us. But according to our admin, there are no less than 2000 active connections at any one time! So, where is all the bandwidth going?

Two days back, I ran a simple test. I renamed just the PDF version of the BIOS Optimization Guide. True enough, our admin reported that the bandwidth usage dropped. But today, it's back up again. I myself have started getting those weird graphics and pages again. So, what's really happening?

Well, I can't be 100% sure but the current theory is that one or more sites out there is linking to our downloadable files directly. After the last server lockout, I have always requested that the other sites do not link directly to the files. Rather, they should link their visitors to the BIOS Optimization Guide index itself. This is to prevent bandwidth loss to ARP visitors.

Unfortunately, it appears that there are sites out there that have ignored my request and are actively posting links to those files. Actively in the sense that although I changed the filenames once, they corrected their links the very next day despite the notice being posted on the index page.

So, if you see any site linking to our downloadable files directly, please do let me know. I would appreciate any help I can get to solve this bandwidth problem. Otherwise, I may have to pay for extra bandwidth or cut off those files for good. :(

Comments?

More Win2K Tips!        02:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Looks like it's Windows 2000 week! :)

Today, the new revision 3.8 of the Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide is now up with the following updates :-

• Added a new tip on how to enable name completion in Command Prompt.
• Added a new Quick Access tip on how to search for computers on a network.
• Corrected the Command Prompt In Any Directory tip which previously stated that the /k command will cause the Command Prompt to display files in the old DOS 8.3 format.

For the whole enchilada, click here! BTW, if you have any tips that haven't been covered in the guide, please do send them in. You will be properly credited for your tip.

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News From The Net

PC Hardware reviewed the MSI 850 Pro2 motherboard! Here's a clip - "A surprising thing at this motherboard is the RIMM slot which is parallel to the AGP slot. MSI had to use this design to reduce the number of layers. I don't take this as a disadvantage, but the design may seem strange to many people."

The Overclocker Cafe is about to give away an AMD 1GHz Athlon MP processor!

GideonTech just posted a CPU water cooling guide by one of their readers! Here's a snip - "The matrixes needed a little modification at the entry point, I used a hack saw to remove the 3” strait plastic pipes which originally came out from the ends, then attached 2 copper micro bore 90 degree bends, per matrix. These are firmly held in place with epoxy resin. However, before they were glued, both the copper 90 degree outlets and the inside of the plastic entry point were keyed-up with emery paper, this gives a much nicer surface for the epoxy resin to stick to."

NVIDIA Press Releases!        08:05 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

I just uploaded the two NVIDIA press releases I received. The first is about NVIDIA's new Personal Cinema product. Looks like NVIDIA's really branching out to other arenas. First, motherboard chipsets, now home entertainment? What's next... the world? ;)

The second press release is about NVIDIA's partnership with Eizo in coming up with the industry's first dual digital visual interface (DVI) which enables two digital flat panel displays to run at a resolution of 1280x1024, powered by just one NVIDIA GPU! Pretty interesting news, eh? That is if you can afford TWO flat panels. Heheh...

Comments?

News From The Net

Void Your Warranty tested the new Philips MMS305 flat panel speakers! Here's a clip from that review - "One game that sounded awesome on these speakers was Max Payne. Dialogue was extremely crisp, and police cars in the beginning of the game sounded very real. On the other hand, playing Q3A made me miss my Klipsch Promedias badly. I missed the rumbling subwoofer from the Promedias, and how they would rock my room every time I shot the rocket launcher. Don't get me wrong; the MMS305's didn't sound bad but bass seemed to be lacking quite a bit. "

On The Horizon        04:35 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Just FYI, here are some of the stuff that will be posted on ARP in the next few days :-

• a new revision of the BIOS Optimization Guide!
• a new revision of the Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide!
• a definitive review of the Dynatron DC1206BM-P Microfin cooler!

In the meantime, if you have any Windows 2000 hints or tips, do send them in! :)

Oh yeah... I'm fully aware about the bandwidth problem. Terribly sorry about that. I'll try to fix something up with my host ASAP. In the meantime, I'm taking the PDF version of the BIOS Optimization eGuides offline. Hopefully, that will improve the situation.

Comments?

NVIDIA Clear Up        04:05 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

I just had a chat with NVIDIA regarding the rumour that the nForce chipset may not ship on time due to some unspecified problem. It appears that the rumour was completely untrue, even though I got that rumour from a rather reliable source (no... it's not the Inquirer). Here are some things you will be interested to know :-

1. There were no big issues with the nForce. Just the usual smattering of driver and hardware tweaks that NVIDIA needed to take care of before the launch.
      
2. NVIDIA will start producing the nForce chipsets by next week or so.
      
3. As far as NVIDIA is aware of, ABIT isn't facing any problems with the nForce.
      
4. You can expect to see nForce motherboards in September with systems following in October.

So, ABIT appears to be the only manufacturer I know delaying the release of their nForce motherboard.

Comments?

NVIDIA PowerMizer        02:55 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Lots of things are going on at NVIDIA. Today, they released yet another press release! This time, they are introducing their PowerMizer hardware and software power management solution. According to them, with PowerMizer, a notebook's power consumption can be reduced by over 4W even when running demanding graphics applications.

For more on this technology, here's the press release!

Comments?

News From The Net

The Overclocker Cafe just posted their review of the Netgear RT314 Cable/DSL router! Here's a snip - "I know when the cable guys came to install my cable Internet service, they recommended a couple of routers without really explaining what they were or could do for me. Routers do three main things. They help you network multiple PCs in your home. They let you share one internet connection between multiple PCs. And lastly they act as a firewall."