I'm Back!     03:05 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Yeah, I'm now back in India. I just reassembled my computer here in India. That's why I disappeared for quite a while there.

I'll be working on the L2 cache latency article later this morning in addition to an article by a new ARP member. See you in a little while. I gotta check my mailbox! :D

L2 Cache Latency     03:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Sorry for taking so long to post. Today's a holiday here in India (at least in the state of Karnataka) so the lines took quite a while to clear. Couldn't log on properly till about 2:30 am this morning.

Anyway, the L2 Cache Latency guide is now ready for viewing. Here's a clip from the guide :-

"In this article, we will be testing all 15 different L2 cache latencies in order to determine their effect on performance. Optimizers would be interested in just how much performance increases from the reduction of the L2 cache latency. Overclockers, on the other hand, would be interested to know the degree of performance degradation when using a higher L2 cache latency because that will help them determine if the increase in clockspeed made possible by the higher L2 cache latency is worth the loss in L2 cache performance.

But whatever the reasons are, I'm sure you will agree that it would be more than a little interesting to see how those 15 cache latencies fare against each other. So, let's move on now to the benchmarks and their results!"

Hope you will like this Speed Demonz' guide as well. Don't forget to post any questions or disagreements you may have in the forums! We would be happy to answer any queries you may have. Also, if you have time, do take a moment to vote for our site (using the AbsolutePC Top 100 submission form just below the navigation bar). Thanks and have a great day wherever you are! :D

News From The Net     02:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

LittleWhiteDog.com posted a review of a software package called Don't Panic! by Panicware, Inc. which allows you to instantly hide all running applications with one quick keystroke or a mouse movement! :)

Jsi Hardware has a review of AMD's Duron 700 processor. 

G3D posted a review of the Danger Den Water Block water cooling system. With it, they managed to overclock the P!!! 800 to 1081MHz.

Hexus.net posted a review of the Coolercase Extreme, a case that comes with four YS-TECH FD1225 120mm and two YS-TECH FD8125 80mm fans pushing a skirt-lifting 514CFM! Oh yeah and the 431W PSU as well.

Apu's Hardware posted a preview of Microsoft's upcoming OS - the MS Whistler Pre-Beta Build 2257.

TweakTown posted a quick review of what they say is the best thermal compound on the market today - the Silver 'Premium Silver Thermal Compound'.

Guru3D has a Pentium 700 overclocking article in which they cranked up a P!!! 700 to 994MHz!

Water Cooling Guide     03:25 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hello everyone!

Sorry for disappearing for the last 3 days. I got caught up in something unexpected which needed my immediate attention. Anyway, I'm back now and let's get back to the stuff we usually do.

Chai, the latest addition to the ARP team, has written a short but informative guide on how he built his own water cooling system. Unless you can afford the expensive Kryotech solution, building your own water cooling system could be the only way you can get a much better cooling solution than the standard heatsink + fan cooler. Besides, it's much more fun to build one than it is to buy one! :)

Here's a clip of Chai's debut water cooling guide - "Many people try to avoid using water cooling in their case because they have a phobia of 'water', that is running water in their system. Instead, most of them opt for heatsink/fan plus peltier. This will bring lower than ambient temperature, but will never come close to sub-zero or even freezing temperature. So, one of the best combination and the most affordable sub zero cooling system will still be the water cooling and peltier combo."

Don't forget to post any questions or disagreements you may have in the forums! We would be happy to answer any queries you may have. Also, if you have time, do take a moment to vote for our site (using the AbsolutePC Top 100 submission form just below the navigation bar). Thanks and have a great day wherever you are! :D

ABIT VP6     03:05 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

If you are eagerly waiting for ABIT's upcoming dual-processor motherboard, you might be interested in a little news about the VP6. Although the VP6 is supposed to be shipping anytime now, a little bird tweeted into my ears that the launch of the ABIT VP6 will be delayed until at least the end of the month. The reason is the VP6 is facing some final teething issues that ABIT is trying to iron out before shipping those motherboards.

Although this means you will have to wait quite some time before you can buy one, this goes to show that ABIT intends to make the launch of their second dual-processor board as flawless as possible. The little bird also mentioned that other than the teething issues (unnamed), the SoftMenu III-equipped VP6 is expected to kick @ss! :D

Maxtor And Quantum Merges!     02:55 PM IDT     Chai

As the headline says, Maxtor and Quantum will be merging to create the world's largest disk drive company. Check out a clip of the press release :-

"Maxtor Corporation and Quantum Corporation today announced a definitive agreement to combine Maxtor and Quantum HDD, Quantum's Hard Disk Drive Group, in an all-stock transaction that will create the world's leading disk drive company. Quantum's HDD stockholders will receive 1.52 shares of Maxtor common stock for every share of HDD common stock they own. Based on the current market capitalizations of Maxtor and Quantum HDD, the transaction is valued at approximately $2.3 billion.

To be named Maxtor Corporation, the combined company will be led by Mike Cannon, Maxtor's current president and chief executive officer. At closing, on a pro forma basis, the company will have a combined ship rate of more than 50 million hard drives annually for use in a broad range of desktop personal computers, Intel-based servers, and consumer electronics applications. In addition, Maxtor's Network Systems Group, which is currently shipping a family of network-attached storage (NAS) products under the MaxAttach brand, will be part of the combined company." 

To read the rest of the press release, go here.

BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 5.3     04:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hello everyone,

I just redid the Index of the BIOS Optimization Guide. I removed the revision history and placed it on another page. In its place, I have created a table listing all the BIOS functions in this guide and links to their pages. This will enable you to quickly search for the BIOS function you want to read about and go there quickly.

In addition, I have also revised the revision numbering I have been using. Here's the new scheme as follows :-

• Truly major changes like the addition of a new section will receive a full number upgrade (i.e. from rev. 3.0 to rev. 4.0)
• Additions of new BIOS functions will increase the revision number by 0.1 (i.e. from rev. 3.0 to 3.1)
• Updates of previously added BIOS functions will only receive an increase in the revision number of 0.01 (i.e. from rev. 3.0 to 3.01)

This will enable you to determine the degree of change I have made in each revision of the BIOS Optimization Guide. This also means that the latest revision is not 6.3 but 5.3 since the new scheme allows me to save one revision number.

Finally, the following new BIOS functions have been added to the BIOS Optimization Guide! Check them out! :-

• DRAM Read Latch Delay
• DRAM Interleave Time
• Byte Merge
• PCI Pipeline / PCI Pipelining

Don't forget to post any questions or disagreements you may have in the forums! We would be happy to answer any queries you may have. Also, if you have time, do take a moment to vote for our site (using the AbsolutePC Top 100 submission form just below the navigation bar). Thanks and have a great day wherever you are! :D

Hercules 3D Prophet II GTS Pro     04:15 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hercules has just announced the release of their 3D Prophet II GTS Pro graphics card! Check out their press release :-

3D PROPHET II GTS PRO
3D acceleration for speed addicts only!

Montreal, October 6, 2000 - Hercules announces the release of its latest addition to the award-winning 3D Prophet II family: 3D Prophet II GTS Pro, a high-end graphics accelerator based on the GeForce2 Pro chipset from NVIDIA*. 3D Prophet II GTS Pro is a new combination of pure power and design innovation, for hardcore gamers who demand extra power. This new top performer will retail for just under $400 U.S.

3D Prophet II GTS Pro guarantees higher frame rates
"Hercules has launched the first GeForce2 GTS card featuring 64MB RAM to establish a new level of top performance. 3D Prophet II GTS Pro is our latest answer for hardcore gamers demanding a very fast, high-quality graphics accelerator. 3D Prophet II GTS Pro takes the best of the NVIDIA GeForce2 Pro and backs it with Hercules design to offer a significant boost in 3D acceleration,"says Claude Guillemot, President of Hercules. "I am very happy with the speed achieved by 3D Prophet II GTS Pro and I am convinced that it will meet the expectations of the most serious of gamers."

3D Prophet II GTS Pro performance
3D Prophet II GTS Pro exploits the power of the world's first GigaTexel Shading GPU - the GeForce2 Pro chipset created by NVIDIA*. It features 64MB of Double-Data RAM for impressive 3D performance in games requiring large textures buffers, and a TV-output for playback of games and DVD-Video on the television set. Thanks to its 200MHz core clock and memory, which operates at 400MHz, this powerful gaming engine delivers 1.6 GigaTexels/sec and 25 million triangles per second. For fans of games like Quake, for whom extra speed is key, 3D Prophet II GTS Pro remains stable even at very high speeds.
Gamers with high-end machines will appreciate the extra speed potential of this board, thanks to Hercules unique design, which includes specially adapted heatsinks on the RAM units and an optimized cooling fan.

Price and Availability
3D Prophet II GTS Pro will be available mid-October 2000 for $399 (USD)
3D Prophet II Ultra will be available mid-October 2000 for $529 (USD) 

News From The Net

TweakTown a 5 page review on the ABIT KT7 RAID motherboard! In the first ABIT review at TweakTown, they test the motherboard against a MSI K7T Pro and FIC AZ11... So, does this board deserve to carry the ABIT name?

Apu's Hardware posted a review on Compaq's iPAQ H3650 PocketPC! Here's a snippet of that review - "The unit has a very fast intel StrongARM 206 MHz processor in it. This processor handily puts down all the other palm computers out right now in CPU intensive calculations and load times. The iPAQ has 32 MB of RAM and 16 MB of ROM. The RAM is pretty much all that matters here as this is used for both programs and you own data. You can only use about half of the 32 MB for you own stuff with the preinstalled software loaded. The ROM keeps a backup of important data and is used to restore the RAM when you reset the unit." Incidentally, I tried to get one of these babies but they sold out the day before I went to buy one. Damn!

Hard2ware posted a review of the Guillemot TNT2 Maxi Cougar graphics card. Here's a snippet of their review - "Guillemot one of the best computer accessories company and that now owns Hercules came out with the Cougar for the person that wants a low budget video but still getting good graphics and good fps but did the video card do what it was meant to do?"

Jsi Hardware posted a review of the Logitech optical wheel mouse. Here's a clip of their review - "As far as I know while back Microsoft released the first optical mouse Optical mice work by shining a laser onto the mousing surface and taking an "image" of the mousing surface. It then takes another image and compares it to the last. By comparing the image the mouse detects movement and moves the cursor on screen. This may be overly simplified, but it still gives you an idea optical mice work. There are minor drawbacks to optical mice like the fact that it (the optical mouse) won't work on highly reflective surfaces."

AMDWorld posted a user evaluation of ABIT's KT7 motherboard. Here's a clip of that eval - "This board was intended to replace an A7V. I didn't want to spend all that time re-installing everything, even though all the important stuff was backed up onto the second drive partition, so I planned to do a simple swap. Both boards use the KT133 chipset, and I had never installed the Promise ATA100 drivers on the A7V, so apart from a possible change in IRQ assignment (depending on which PCI slots shared interrupts) I thought it should be fairly easy as all the drivers should be the same."

G3D posted a review of Inwin's Q700 case. Check out this clip of their review - "While there are a lot of things about this case that I appreciate, there are also quite a few features that don't go as well. Lets start from the most obvious ones. First of all though, this is really a review of the InWin Q-500 -600 -700 and -800 because in reality, they are all the same case with different plastic front panels."

AthlonOC posted several new articles :-

• Duron Overclocking Project Part 1
• Mutant CPU
• CPU Pricing Guide

The Game Den posted a review of EA Sports' NHL 2001. Is it worth forkin out the dough on this years version of the long running hockey series? Here's a clip from the Game Den's review - "The theatre of sound with NHL 2001 is music to any hockey fans ear. The aura of ice hockey is simply brought to life. I couldn't help but be impressed by the sounds being forced through my five-point speaker system as I played Detroit in the cup final. Hear the roar of the crowd as body checks rattle the boards, listen to Jim Hughson commentate while Pavel Bure rushes out for a breakaway. Even the familiar themes from arena to arena are played. If you’re not impressed by the sound effects coming from NHL 2001, then nothing will ever impress you at all."

Technoyard posted a review of Hercules 3D Prophet II GeForce2 MX. Here's clip of their review - "Don't you think it's about time the budget conscious gamer got his monies worth? After all not everybody wants to spend 350 bucks on a Video card. Well the wait is over, cause the 3D Prophet II GeForce2 MX gives very decent performance without costing an arm and a leg!! Check this baby out.."

Guru of 3D posted a review of Microsoft's Sidewinder Gamevoice which can be used for chatting over LAN/Internet and mid-game speech recognition. Here's a clip of their review - "The fun part of the SideWinder GameVoice is that the software will run steadily under a game. I've tried the SideWinder GameVoice with Need for Speed Porsche challenge, Quake III and Counter Strike. For the last one I needed a DirectX Sound driver update, but once installed we where able to chat with each other mid-game. I tell you guys this is the best scenario one can get. Counter-strike is a very addictive game, image you and your friends set up a terrorist and a counter-terrorist team. You'll be able to chat mid-game with your friends and discuss strategy to eliminate the other team."

Handheld Computers     12:25 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

I just created a new forum called Handheld Computers. This is a special forum for you to discuss everything about Palms, PocketPCs and Handheld PCs. Our resident PDA expert - Marauder will be at hand so if you have any problems with your PDA, just drop by and post your question. We would be glad to help out. 

AMD Codenames     12:05 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

According to AMD FAQ, here are the AMD codenames for their upcoming processors.

Palomino
Enhanced version of AMD Athlon processor based on “Mustang” core with reduced core size, lower power requirements and support for mobile features. Will represent the first AMD Athlon mobile offering. Expected to be manufactured on a 0.18 micron copper process technology.

Morgan
Future version of AMD Duron processor core with reduced core voltage, lower power requirements, and support for mobile features. Will be manufactured on a 0.18 micron process technology. Planned to address the requirements of the value market.

Thanks to OCWorkbench! :)

News From The Net     11:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

AwareMag posted a review of the greatest Socket A coolers. The coolers reviewed are the PAL 6035, HedgeHog 238M and the FOP 38. Here's a snippet of their article - "..all the heatsinks in this roundup provide excellent performance and it is really hard to decide which one would be best for each individual user, it all depends on what you want out of your heatsink."

G3D sent a reminder that the contest they are hosting ends in 2 days. The prizes are :-
- Flipchip PIII 550E850 w/ Golden Orb (socketed)
- PIII 600@800 Slot 1 w/ Globalwin VOS-32
- RDJD K701 Gear Grip Pro courtesy of Case Ace
- Golden Orb Slot 1

Processor Emporium posted an editorial on how Intel may position the Pentium 4 in the marketplace. Here's a snippet - "In only a matter of a few weeks Intel is set to release the first all new processor design since the Pentium Pro heralded in the P6 line back in 1995. This new chip will of course be the Pentium 4 which is Intel’s first release of it’s seventh generation “NetBurst” x86 architecture." Personally, I feel that Intel is going to have a hard time positioning the Pentium 4 if reports about its lackluster performance are true...

Apu's Hardware is asking all users to post their problems with USB and the KT7 on their site. Here's what they have to say - "We are working with Abit to resolve the solution, but Abit can't seem to replicate the problem in their labs. We have decided to make a database of the problems. There appear to be intermittent reports of problems with USB on the KT7 and KT7-RAID with high-bandwidth USB devices such as scanners and printers. The principal problem is of these devices disconnecting after a period of time. However, many users do not experience any problems. I understand that although ABIT are aware of the problem they are having difficulty reproducing the problem in their labs. To try to help solve this mystery and get a solution for the unlucky few, I wish to compile a database of working and non-working configurations."

Comments     02:45 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hello everyone,

I have just posted several comments regarding the Affordable Water Cooling System article. They are mainly about the steel waterblock used and the noise level of the water pump. Check them out!

BTW, I have decided to change the Comments concept. Although I have been posting comments for the articles for a long time now, I realized that with a great forum script like UBB, I can save time for everyone by using it instead of manually posting the comments and their replies.

From now on, I will be linking every article to a preposted topic in the Reviews & Articles section of the forums. This will enable you to instantly post your questions or comments and allow others (instead of only the author) to reply to your posts. Finally, because it's now out of my hands, you can be assured that your comments or queries won't be delayed.

So, come on over to the forums! We would be happy to answer any queries you may have. Thanks and have a great day wherever you are! :D

News From The Net

LittleWhiteDog posted an article on How To Dual Boot Win2K Professional and Linux. The article covers everything from, some very important preliminary considerations, to properly editing your lilo.conf file - and everything in between!  It even covers the different steps required if you are installing on an ATA33 vs. ATA66 controller.

Maxx Overclocking posted a review of the Belkin Gel mousepad. Here's a clip of the cheese - "Having the gel wrist rest is very functional.  Your wrist doesn't get sore as quickly and it probably even keeps you from getting some kind of bad wrist problem.  The gel pad even has a little dip in the middle of it so that your wrist is most comfortable.  The grip on the bottom is very usable.  If you are in hurry or playing an intense game and the mouse pad slips, it can totally mess you up."

Motherboard HomeWorld posted a review of DFI's AK74-SC motherboard. Here's a snippet - "You will notice CPU Fan Protection in the feature list, and you would've probably thought, "why would a CPU fan need protection?" I know the name sounds silly, but there is a good reason why I think this type of feature should be standard on all motherboards regardless of the manufacturer."

GideonTech has an article on cracked AMD Athlons and Durons. Here's a clip - "Well, we have here a couple more victims that have been crushed by using
the wrong HSF. This is what could very easily happen to your Duron or TBird
if you try and use a Socket 7\370\FCPGA HSF on it. We have all heard about
it and here's some more pics of what can happen."

Guru of 3D posted a review of Hercules' 3D Prophet II Ultra graphics card. Here's a snippet - "When we compare results with it's predecessors we can immediately see by the tech specs that this videocard is a gamers wet dream. With 64MB 460 MHz memory the videocard has a memory bandwidth of 7.4Gigabyte per second. That's roughly 2 Gigabyte/sec more than the GF2 GTS. Furthermore the Ultra will be capable of processing 1000 million pixels per second, 200 Million more than the GF2 GTS. Finally when we take a look at the amount of polygons per second then we'll see an increase of 6 million polygons/sec more then the GF2 GTS at a rock solid 31 Million Polygons/sec. Amazed by the numbers ? Well, I am :)"

Azriel of OCWorkbench posted his final review (article really) on how to overclock the GeForce2 GTS with the help of a VIce III Xtreme Cu Cooler and 8 pieces of memory heatsinks. Here's a clip of that review - "They are worth the investment because they will extend the life of your graphics card in your system. The results speak for themselves, especially seeing such a high jump in 3D Mark 2000, almost 600 3D Marks just by overclocking the core/memory clock speeds. So what are you waiting for? Go get them!!" He leaves for two and a half years of National Service in the Singapore Army in a week's time. So, good luck and have fun at boot camp, Azriel! ;D

BTW, OCWorkbench also has a review of MSI's Starforce816 MX graphics card. Here's a clip - "when compared with Geforce2 MX's price and performance. Geforce2 MX shows a very satisfying performance for most gamers with latest graphic engine like T&L. The software bundle has a very handy tweaker and utilities"

Speedy3D posted :

• a review of Carmageddon : TDR 2000. Here's a snip - "Carmageddon: TDR 2000 as it is now known, was developed by Australian newbies Torus games, which actually worried me a bit (yes am a Carmageddon fan), Stainless Software started this thing and they should have made the 3rd game, but it was sadly passed down to the Australians by publisher SCI. The basic storyline and plot have not changed a bit, though Torus has tried hard to try and veer Carmageddon to newer pastures to keep it fresh by adding missions instead of random Destruction Derby type races (which I quite enjoyed really), but it succeeded as much as Vanilla Ice trying to make a come back."
• a preview of Totally Games' Star Trek : Bridge Commander. Here's a clip of that preview - "If you have watched any Star Trek episode or film there is always that most dominant of features on the whole of the ship where a lot of battle action takes place, the bridge. This time around we are not looking at a Star Trek game based on newer series such as Voyager or Deep Space Nine but the arguably more respectable "The Next Generation" series and its mostly recognisable crew. Based totally on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D and U.S.S. Enterprise-E, Bridge Commander already sounds interesting. Let's just hope it doesn't turn out like the interactive tour of the bridge, Captain's Chair that was to say the least, dire."

Case Modders Australia! posted its first review online and it is of the Senfu Thermal Probe.

G3D is offering you a chance to ask 3dfx questions. Just head over here and post your question. They will then select the best 10 to be sent to 3dfx. The results will be posted once 3dfx gets back with their replies.

TweakTown reports that they will be giving away five (5) promo packs from MadOnion.com, the makers of 3DMark benchmarks. Each pack contains an XL-sized Madonion.com T-shirt (white or black), retail copies of 3DMark2000 1.1 and Video2000, Madonion.com notepad and pen.

My First PDA     03:55 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hello everyone,

Sorry for disappearing again. My first PDA - a Pocket PC arrived on Friday and I have been playing with it ever since. It's a Cassiopeia E-115 and I paid close to RM 2000 (!!!) for it! Yeah, I know the E-125 has been launched but I couldn't wait for it to reach Malaysia (it may never even reach!).

It's just been just over two days now and I realize just how limited 32MB of RAM is. Slow as the E-115 may be (compared to the iPAQ), it can do everything the faster iPAQ can do. Of course, PIM data don't take up much space but because the E-115 can double up as an MP3/WMA player as well as an eBook reader, whatever's leftover from the 32MB after the apps have taken their share is now loaded with WMA files (much smaller than MP3s) and eBooks!

Incidentally, I just checked the specs of the NEC Vr4121 and the Vr4122 processors. The Vr4121 is used in the Cassiopeia E-115 while the Vr4122 is used in the new E-125. It would seem that there's little difference in their performance. Check this out - @ 168MHz, the Vr4121 scored 210 MIPS while the Vr4122 scored only 216 MIPS @ its maximum speed of 180MHz. 6 MIPS - that isn't much at all...

Okay... let's estimate the performance difference at the actual clockspeeds they are running in the Casio PDAs. The Vr4121 runs at 131MHz (weird number) in the E-115 while the Vr4122 runs at 150MHz in the E-125. So, that should give the Vr4121 (E-115) a speed rating of 164 MIPS. The Vr4122 (E-125), on the other hand, gets a speed rating of 180 MIPS. The gap's wider at 16 MIPS or in other words, the Vr4122 chip in the new E-125 should run about 10% faster than the older Vr4121 chip in the old E-115.

That isn't really much. It's kind of like upgrading from a P!!!-600 to a P!!!-650. I guess you may shave a couple of seconds loading MS Reader but I doubt you will notice it much.

Hey! Does anyone know how to overclock these MIPS processors? I did some checking. One or two people mentioned they could overclock these processors but left out the details. If you are one of those who have managed to overclock any one of these processors, please do let me know! :)

FYI, the Vr4121 @ 168MHz needs only an extra 85 mW of extra power over the 131MHz Vr4121's 300 mW power consumption. So, overclocking is feasible technically and will not reduce battery life much.

Comments Diversion     03:35 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

As you know, future articles will have their comments pages in the UBB forums. Makes sense, doesn't it? You get to instantly post your questions or comments and the whole ARP team (in addition to the other experts who frequent the forums) will be able to respond faster to them. At the very least, you don't have to deal with a procrastinator like me! :D

I have already changed all the comments pages of every article on this site with links to their respective forum pages. So, don't e-mail me or any other member of the ARP team! Just head over to the forums or click on the link in any of the comments pages and post your questions or comments there. You will notice a greater level of feedback. 

Remember, this does not mean that we are not interested in reading mails from you or answering your questions. We are simply implementing a better way to do it. So, head over to the forums and your questions there! :)

Palm m100s in Malaysia!     02:15 AM IDT     Marauder

Palm M100s are now available in Sg. Wang IT Center for RM599 (USD 158). Head over there to check them out! 

News From The Net

AwareMag.com posted a preview of the Super Orb from ThermalTake.

TweakTown posted a review of ABIT's SlotKET III Socket 370 to Slot 1 adapter card. Here's a clip - "I can safely say to you all that the ABIT SlotKET III is the BEST slot1 to socket370 adapter card I have EVER used, it will now be a integral part of my Intel test system. It has a long list of pluses and no faults at all. We give the ABIT SlotKET III 9.5 out of 10 - Top job ABIT!"

Apu's Hardware posted an article on the 'Ultimate Welfare Rig'. It costs just $47, including monitor!

More On The Cassiopeia     02:30 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Just benchmarked my E-115. I soft-reset it and ran VOBenchmark once. Here are the scores :-

I noticed that if you re-run VOBenchmark without resetting the E-115, it keeps scoring lower (= better) and lower results. This is true even if you kill VOBenchmark and start it up again. So, the only way to get an accurate result is to reset the Pocket PC and then run VOBenchmark.

If you can, please send me your benchmark results (with details about your Pocket PC) so that I can write up a performance comparison of all the Pocket PCs out there. Also, if you know of a way to overclock the NEC MIPS processors used in the Cassiopeias, do let me know how you do it. I would love to crank this baby up! :D

Incidentally, I did some rough (very rough) calculations. I guesstimate that overclocking the E-115's Vr4121 processor from 131MHz to 168MHz will only reduce battery time by about 9%. That translates into a battery time of 5 hours and 28 minutes (based on the E-115's original battery time of 6 hours).

Win2k Tip     02:15 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Have you ever experienced the annoying fact that your modem is unusable just because you forgot to turn it on when you booted Win2k? Well, I experience it all the time!

Win2k attempts to query my modem every time it loads up. More than a few times, I forget to turn the modem on and wallah!, the modem is non-existent as far as Win2k is concerned. So, when I try to connect to the Net, all I get is the error message - Unable to connect. :(

Pretty frustrating, isn't it? Up till now, the only way around this was to restart Win2k and remember to turn on the modem before it starts loading. As you can imagine, that's truly tedious and a waste of time. However, I just discovered a workaround that may save us the pleasure of rebooting Win2k. Here's how you go about it.

1. If you ever face the same situation where you forgot to turn on your modem during Win2k's initialization, don't restart.
2. Just turn on your modem and go to System Properties.
3. Select the Hardware tab and click on the Device Manager button.
4. This brings up the Device Manager screen.
5. Click on any of the devices listed and then click on the Action menu.
6. You will see an option called Scan for hardware changes.
7. Select it and Win2k will scan for and initialize your modem.
8. You should be able to use the modem now.

Eight steps sound rather long, doesn't it? Well, it isn't really difficult. Try it once and you will get the hang of it. Soon enough, you will realize just how much time this workaround saves! :)

News From The Net

www.spodesabode.co.uk posted a review of the ATI Radeon graphics card.

Savagezone.net posted a review of the Diamond Rio 500 portable MP3 player. No snip here. :)

Speedy 3D posted a review of the CompuNurse CPU temperature probe. Here's a clip from that review - "Temperature monitoring is a must for overclockers. The most common solution is to use a software program like Motherboard Monitor. That program is great but has its limitations. You can't see the readings while playing games or when you are rebooting for example. This is where the CompuNurse comes into play. CoolerGuys sent me two of those little toys to play with."

Overclockers Australia posted a review of a new radiator from Cool-Computers. Here's a blurb - "It's small so fits nicely inside most cases and has a high flow rate, the disadvantage of course being the water spends less time being cooled. Anyway, it stacked up pretty well - I tested it against my own setup and the full Senfu kit, it came out on top!"

Extreme Overclocking posted a review of ThermalTake's Blue Orb. Here's a snip - "Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. The need for better cooling on video cards & motherboards has led to the invention of the Blue Orb from Thermaktake. Apparently the Blue Orb is going to be sold in a more "retail style" package that includes lots of extra goodies."

AthlonOC posted two articles :-

• An ABIT KT7 tweaking guide
• Part 2 of the Duron overclocking project

The Cold Shop posted two new reviews :-

• The Geargrip Pro - "Alright all of you LAN Party fiends raise your hands. That's right you guys carry your case around, don't you? got handles on it? probably not. That's where the Gear Grip Pro comes in. You basically clip it around you case and boom you have a carrying handle and room for other goodies."
• The Card Cooler XT - "So you need to cool down your video card and some other cards, maybe your processor? Or do you just want to move some extra air around in your case? One of the solutions is the new card cooler XT. So what is it? Basically it's two 120mm fans moving 138 combined CFM's at only 35.5db/fan attached to a metal assembly that mounts on the screws where your cards are mounted."

GideonTech is giving away three fully registered copies of Modem Booster. Check out their ad clip - "We are giving away 3 fully registered Modem Booster v2.1 packages! All you need to do is download the shareware, and post your results in our software forum! The first three to post them, will receive a fully registered Modem Booster Software Package!"

In addition, they also have a review of the ATI TV Wonder VE TV tuner card. Here's a snippet - "The ATI TV Wonder VE, while is labeled as a value edition, is still a good contender in the TV Tuner line they carry. This card lets you watch television, capture video and still images, schedule and record tv programs, zoom in on the action and many other features. The included software lets you play Video and Audio CDs, while also letting you watch television and edit video files. What is the picture quality? Is it time to retire that old television set and use this instead? Let's find out..."

PowerVR Press Release     01:35 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Here's PowerVR's latest press release :-

ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES TO USE POWERVR TECHNOLOGY IN CASINO VIDEO MACHINES
Australian Company Leads Market for Video Machine Games Of Chance

PowerVR Technologies - a division of Imagination Technologies - announces that Aristocrat Technologies, the leading edge provider of 'casino style' gaming machines, has unveiled a new generation of video slot machines based on PowerVR Series2 technology, developed by PowerVR Technologies and manufactured by NEC.

Aristocrat launched the new XCEED video gaming machines incorporating PowerVR technology to its New South Wales customers during October 2000. Aristocrat is the dominant supplier of gaming machines to Australia and New Zealand, and is the acknowledged world leader in video gaming product. Aristocrat pioneered the industry move to video technology and has mastered the art of producing slot machine games with player appeal second to none.

Gareth Phillips, General Manager Research and Development at Aristocrat Technologies said: "Aristocrat is dedicated to designing and developing world-class software and to producing gaming solutions that consistently outperform that of the competition. PowerVR technology will help enable us to provide eye-catching and cutting-edge gaming solutions to our customers worldwide."

"Aristocrat's XCEED platform opens the door on a whole new era in gaming for us. It will allow for games to be specially designed that are more interesting and interactive for players, the challenge is no longer our technology it is our imagination," Mr Phillips said.

Says Hossein Yassaie, CEO, Imagination Technologies: "The replacement of mechanical gaming machines with 3D technology is a significant step in the evolution of the gaming market and Aristocrat has pioneered this. Aristocrat's innovative approach has deservedly made it a market leader and Imagination Technologies is delighted to be working with Aristocrat to bring our PowerVR technology into this exciting global market."

The gambling industry in the USA alone was worth $638.6 billion in 1997 and a Gallup poll released on 1 June 1999 confirmed that nearly two-thirds of Americans approve of legal gambling. Gaming machine revenue in the USA comprises over 70% of the revenue of casinos and so casino operators are continuously monitoring machine performance and focusing on advances in technology and entertainment value offered by new machines, systems and games.

PowerVR Technologies designs 2D and 3D graphics technologies for use across a wide variety of consumer platforms, such as games consoles, arcade machines and personal computers.

The unique PowerVR graphics technology is licensed by international partners including NEC and STMicroelectronics and is used in Sega's latest video games console, Dreamcast; the Naomi and Naomi2 arcade systems, which are used in the majority of new arcade machines worldwide; by numerous PC add-in and OEM customers and in the next- generation of set-top-boxes.

The PowerVR approach to 3D graphics starts from the premise that taking a different algorithmic approach to 3D processing can eliminate all redundant processing and memory bottlenecks. This revolutionary approach keeps as much processing as possible on-chip minimising costly accesses to off chip memory and improving performance. This unique technique of tile-based deferred texturing has been successfully patented worldwide.

Palm m100s in Malaysia!     12:45 AM IDT     Marauder

Palm m100, 'economy' class PDAs are now available all over KL. Coming in at RM599 (USD 158) with 2MB RAM, it should entice more people to start using PDAs. Color faceplates for the Palm m100 are also available.

News From The Net

OCWorkbench posted a comparison between the various PalmOS-based PDAs out there. Check this clip out - "These are just some of the factors I have made choosing a right PDA that runs on Palm OS for myself. So for conclusion: I love the TRGpro as it fits my requirements as a traveller and as a 'Palm-freak' who needs data from my palm almost everyday. There are almost no worries about not enough memory and not enough supported accessories. It may be bulky than the Palm Vx and not as good looking too."

Guru of 3D posted an in-depth review of ATi's Radeon 64MB graphics cards. Here's a snippet for you to check out - "The foremost solution that ATI's HyperZ offers is Hierarchical Z. Before a pixel is sent to the rendering unit, Hierarchical Z looks up a certain part of the z-buffer to see if the pixel will be hidden or not; if the pixel is going to be behind another pixel, it is rejected right away, instead of being sent to the rendering unit and wasting valuable rendering power, and unnecessary z-buffer access. The second part of HyperZ is z-compression. As I mentioned before, the z-buffer takes large amount of valuable memory bandwidth."

TweakTown posted a review of the MSI 815e Pro MS-6337 Socket 370 ATX motherboard. Here's a clip - "The MS-6337 is based on the Intel Solano 815e chipset designed for socket 370 133MHz FC-PGA processors such as the Intel Pentium III and the Intel Celeron II. This board officially supports 133MHz bus, unlike Intel BX440 chipsets which only supports 100MHz bus speeds. The MS-6337 has a complete showcase of features such as AGP 4x/2x, 66/100/133MHz FSB, 2 IDE channels up to ATA100, TOP Tech III support and a 1AGP / 6PCI / 1CNR slot design. The MS-6337 has two bad features noticed straight away, they are the integrated DirectSound AC'97 audio ICH2 chip, which cause all sorts of trouble with most PCI / ISA soundcards. And, the only other bad feature is having no heatsink for the 815e chipset which at times can get hot even when not overclocked."

Apu's Hardware posted a Week-In-Review article. Here's a snip - "On a more colorful note, Mindspring has released it’s color version of it’s popular PalmOS based PDA. It boasts 65,000 colors, and claims to display picture quality photos and games. The color version of it’s Visor or ‘Visor Prism’ will debut at $449 USD and will also have a springboard port like all other Visors. That springboard thing is cool. You can attach cell phone devices, mp3 playing devices, and even games. Pretty nifty."

Pocket PC Font Caching Guide     08:10 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hello everyone!

After suffering yet another bout of server hiccups at my ISP, I'm back again. :)

I have just posted a Speed Demonz guide on the Pocket PC's font caching feature. If you own a Pocket PC and ever wondered about the font cache size tweak, this is the article for you! Check this clip out :-

"PalmTweak is a small program. The actual executable itself (the MIPS version at least) is only 47KB in size. Installation is easy although the user will have to know a little about copying the appropriate file to the correct directory in the Pocket PC.

Inside, there are some pretty nice features although there's nothing that would enable us to improve the performance of the Pocket PC. Except for one feature, that is - Font Caching. Granted, the Pocket PC was never meant to be a speed demon but I'm sure we could all do with a shorter delay when switching between programs or while loading up processor-intensive software like Microsoft Reader. :)

So, what does Font Caching do? Will it actually boost the Pocket PC's performance? Let's find out!"

Don't forget to post any questions or disagreements you may have in the forums! We would be happy to answer any queries you may have. Also, if you have time, do take a moment to vote for our site (using the AbsolutePC Top 100 submission form just below the navigation bar). Thanks and have a great day wherever you are! :D

News From The Net

TweakTown posted a review of ABIT's BX133 RAID motherboard. They tested it against the ASUS CUBX motherboard and the results, they say, will surprise you! :)

G3D posted a review of the Microsoft Precision Pro/Force Feedback 2 joystick. Here's a clip from that review - "Man, it only seemed like yesterday when manufacturers everywhere thought Force Feedback Controllers were the best thing. Translation = Companies pumped out huge ass, expensive controllers that were force feedback. You name it, joysticks, steering wheels, heck even mouses were used. Anyways, now that we've come to a stand still, both of the more successful force feedback companies, Logitech and Microsoft, have launched their new budge force feedback controllers. These suckers are a lot more affordable, let's take a look at SideWinder Precision 2 now....there's a picture of the box seen below."

Speedy 3D just kicked up a review of 3dfx's Voodoo5 5500 PCI video card. Here's a snip - "Not everybody has an AGP slot. Some OEMs (most notably Compaq), and some lower cost computer manufacturers like to integrate both sound and video on their mainboards. This posses a definite problem for people who want to upgrade their video card to the latest and greatest, this is where 3dfx's V5 5500 PCI steps in. Offering almost identical performance to its AGP sibling the V5 5500 PCI is in an excellent position."

Apu's Hardware posted a new driver comparison page. Here's their intro :- "Basically we look at all the Detonator drivers under Win2K with a Creative TNT2 Ultra.  Results are taken at 800x600x16, 800x600x32, 1024x768x16, 1024x768x32, 1280x1024x16, 1280x1024x32, 1600x1200x16, and 1600x1200x32."

They have also posted three Counter-Strike map-specific strategy guides for maps CS_OFFICE, DE_JEEPATHON2K and DE_VEGAS. Here's a blurb from them - "Planting the bomb is a challenge. Since the CT's can snipe you planting the bomb from their base it's imperative you make sure the coast is clear. If you insist on taking the car, this is the place to stop it. Stop the car in front of the bomb site, jump out, and plant behind the safety of the car. This is the simplest way to get the job done."

Swapfile Optimization Guide 3.01     10:25 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Man... this is certainly a day of minor updates! :D

I have just corrected a broken link to the trial version of Norton Utilities in the Swapfile Optimization guide. It now points correctly to Symantec's Try Before You Buy page.

BIOS Optimization Guide 5.31     09:15 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Just a minor update of the BIOS Optimization Guide regarding the IDE HDD Block Mode and 32-bit Disk Access BIOS functions. I removed the broken link to the Microsoft article that was posted there earlier. In addition, I added in fresh information on why the article was removed and what is the final outcome of the WinNT and IDE HDD Block Mode data corruption issue. Check it out! :)

Mailbox And The Forums     08:55 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hello everyone!

Just spent the whole of yesterday cleaning up my mailbox. So, some of you should be receiving my replies after such a long wait. Sorry! Well, Hotmail isn't very reliable so my mails tend to collect. That's why I created the forums.

Not only will I be able to access the forums much easier than Hotmail, those who post their questions in the forums will also receive the attention of the whole ARP team in addition to other forum members who might be able to help solve their problems.

So, from now on, please post your questions in the forums. Preferably, if the question is about a certain article in ARP, it should be posted in the appropriate topic in the Reviews & Articles section. The same goes for comments about ARP articles.

Thanks! :D

News From The Net

Hexus.net posted a review of the AOpen AX3S motherboard. Here's their quote - "Intel motherboards had been having a hard time in the world of home system builders recently. With the disastrously high price of Rambus RDRAM and the horrible latency with their Band-Aid fix, the MTH (Memory Translator Hub), the whole Intel 820 chipset never really took off. For the past year we Intel users have been stuck with either going over to VIA boards like the popular Asus P3V4X, or sticking with pimped-up BX boards, offering perks such as ATA-66 through 3rd parties (like Highpoint)."

Savagezone posted the following articles :-

• Tapping Into Cooling Power - How to splice into your power supply's juice for use on fans.
• CPU Overclocking Explained - An elementary guide to CPU overclocking.

Apu's Hardware posted the following articles :-

• a Week In Review article - "As long as we are still on the subject of Intel, let's talk about Slot 1 p3 600's. Why would we want to do that? Well, you know how Duron's own the crap out of Celerons? Intel is biting it's nails over this. So, to combat Durons, Intel will be releasing 500,000 low cost Slot1 p3 600's. If these p3 600s overclock well (IE to 1ghz), then this might be of some benefit to those of you still running slot1 celerons with BX boards. But to the average Joe checking out system prices, they will see no difference in a duron 600 setup over the p3 600. Maybe this is what Intel has in mind. We'll just have to wait and see exactly how cheap these slot1's are."
• a Counter Strike article called 'You might be a newbie list'

Raven262 at Hardcoreware posted a rematch between the Ratpadz and the Giganta mouse pads. So, if you are interested in maximizing your advantage in the gaming arena, check this article out! :)

Flipchip.net posted a review of the Hedgehog 476 Slot 1/A solid copper heatsink. Now, that's truly some name for a cooler! :) Anyway, here's a snip of that review - "There are 2 sets of holes in the Hedgehog that allow you to fit it to an Athlon or Intel Slot 1 CPU. After giving the copper surface a light rub down with some 800 grit wet and dry, I put on a nice thin layer of heat transfer compound and very carefully placed the Hedgehog onto the CPU and gently screwed it on until the clips where almost touching the PCB of the CPU, nice firm fit and no movement at all!"

OCWorkbench has something on remarked Pentium IIs being sold as Celerons with 256KB L2 cache.

LittleWhiteDog posted a Q&A session on their article 'How to dual boot Linux and Win2k'. Check this sample Q&A out - "Q: I've followed your directions but when I choose Linux from the NT boot loader all I get is "LI" and then the PC freezes, what's up with that?
A: I'd say something went wrong when you modified the "lilo.conf" file. Make sure you do not change the "install=" line and only the "boot=" line. I've run into this problem myself during testing and got the same results. Try again and see if that was it, if not send me a copy of your "lilo.conf" file and I'll see what I can do!"

Speedy 3D posted a roundup of the most popular Slot 1 coolers today. Here's a clip of that article - "I've always preferred the slot format to the socket. They are easier to install, usually more solid (the CPUs) and most important, slot heatsinks are always bigger! This format was first introduced with the Pentium 2 because the L2 cache was external. The first Athlons where also introduced in slot format for the same reason."

OcShoot posted a review of ThermalTake's BlueOrb. Here's what they have to say about it - "The first REAL chip cooler ! Other chipcoolers very often comes with thermal double side tape as the only way to fasten them with -which I have had bad experiences with - the thermal tape don't stick properly and the cooler will actually fall of sooner or later. Not to mention the poor heat transfer thermaltapes offer versus a good heatsink paste."

Guru of 3D just released new and updated S3TC fixes from Alex (their RivaTuner utility programmer). It contains the latest S3TC patches for Soldier of Fortune, Quake III and one universal patch to check games and modify games towards a healthy DXT3 texture compression. They also posted rev. 1.3 of their GeForceAA utility - they fixed a couple of bugs and it is now NT4 compatible.

TweakTown posted a review of Senfu's thermometer. Here, check this snip out - "The LCD screen is large and viewable at long distances, the Senfu "holder" thing sits like a folded card and can be sat on any flat surface. Currently, I have the Thermometer sitting on top of my case. Because of the 1m long cable, it can be sat just about anywhere. If you wanted to you could mod a case face plate and sit the LCD screen in there, I haven't done that as yet, but may in the near future."

GideonTech posted a small guide on tips and tricks in regards to online buying and selling. Here's a clip of that guide - "We have collected a couple of tips and tricks to make your online purchasing and selling experience a whole lot smoother. These are all written by people who have experience in dealing with these issues, which can be applied to trades and deals on EBay or many of the other trading communities. Good luck!"

Affordable Water Cooling System Guide Updated!     05:10 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Hello everyone!

Happy Deepavali (or Diwali) to all you Hindus out there! :D I just came back from a mini-celebration here in Manipal. That's why I was so late. Heheh...

Anyway, I just posted an update to Chai's Affordable Water Cooling System guide. He managed to get his hands on a stainless steel water block and in this two-page update, he re-examines the performance of his water cooling system. Check this clip out :-

"Many people try to avoid using water cooling in their case because they have a phobia of 'water', that is running water in their system. Instead, most of them opt for heatsink/fan plus peltier. This will bring lower than ambient temperature, but will never come close to sub-zero or even freezing temperature. So, one of the best combination and the most affordable sub zero cooling system will still be the water cooling and peltier combo."

Don't forget to post any questions or disagreements you may have in the forums! We would be happy to answer any queries you may have. Also, if you have time, do take a moment to vote for our site (using the AbsolutePC Top 100 submission form just below the navigation bar). Thanks and have a great day wherever you are! :D

News From The Net

Apu's Hardware posted a review of PC Tote. Here's a snip - "The handle is padded, with a "PC Tote" emblem on the top. I didn't like this style of "rounded" handle very well. It doesn't let you get as good of grip on it as the CaseAce, but that is to be expected. Because of the way the unit is designed, the straps at the top lift off the case a good two or three inches when you pull your case off the ground. This, like the GearGrip, doesn't seem to be a problem, as I have been using it for a while now with no problems."

Extreme Overclocking posted a review of the Tweeking Device 2. Here's a quote from them - "Have you ever wanted a GFD that requires no external power connector? Have you ever wanted a GFD that is very compact? Have you ever wanted a GFD that works great for your AMD SlotA Athlon or Thunderbird CPUs? I did, and I didn't think such a gold finger device existed until I found the Tweeking Device 2. I sat down with this golden finger device for a few days, and quickly learned that I'll never go back to any other gold fingers."

Hardcoreware.net reviewed the ThermalTake Blue Orb cooler. Check it out!

TweakTown posted a review of Gigabyte's GA-7ZM KT133 Socket A motherboard. Here's a snip of their review - "This board was one of the most stable Irongate platforms. This board was later replaced with the GA-7VX boasting the new VIA Apollo KX133 chipset. When AMD abandoned the Slot A form factor and moved over to the Socket A format Gigabyte came straight out with a new motherboard which is what were are reviewing today"

AwareMag.com posted a review of Epox's EP-8KTA motherboard. Here's a clip - "I was really impressed by the package that Epox put together in delivering their latest Socket A motherboard. When you step back and look at it, Epox put together a really nice package that performs well while keeping prices down and attainable to the average computer buyer on a budget. The EP-8KTA+ has it all, FSB, Multiplier, Vcore, and V I/O adjustments. Throw in integrated sound and this board is really looking good- not only to home users but possible business computer builders as well."

Guru of 3D posted a case modification guide. Here's a snip of that guide - "To get rid of the heat in the case I ended up with deciding for fans. There are two problems with fans as I see it. The first is that your system never gets cooler than the temperature in the case/room. The other thing is that too many or _wrong_ fans can be really noisy."

G3D is conducting a new contest in which you can win 2 hard disk coolers in addition to some other stuff. To enter, all you have to do is send in an e-mail with one line in it. Check the contest details for more info! :) 

DDR Motherboards     05:45 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Just received two press releases about the latest DDR-SDRAM motherboards to hit the market. Hmm... I wonder if there will be enough DDR-SDRAM DIMMs at a reasonable price in the market as well...

Anyway, we have the press release from Chaintech about their DDR SDRAM motherboard - the Chaintech 6JVD2, which they claim is the first DDR SDRAM motherboard in the world. It's based on the VIA's revolutionary 8633/8233 chipset. Best of all, it supports both SDR SDRAM as well as DDR SDRAM (though not both at the same time). If you only want a DDR SDRAM-only board, Chaintech has the 6JVD motherboard.

ASUS isn't far behind with their DDR SDRAM motherboard - the ASUS A7M266, which is based on the AMD 761 north bridge and the VIA VT82C686B south bridge. Unlike the Chaintech motherboard, the A7M266 will only support DDR SDRAM. However, with features like an integrated 3COM 10/100Mbps Ethernet controller, iPanel hardware monitoring support and a bus speed selection of up to 180MHz, the A7M266 is truly designed to please.

Intel & AMD Outracing Test Equipment     04:50 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Noted this interesting news bit posted by Son of Zeus. It's about AMD and Intel’s faster chips which now outrace their testing equipment. This could result in devastating multi-error pileups. Check it out!

Server Downtime     04:20 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Last night, the server went down for some time. I'm terribly sorry about that. However, it's not due to a crashed server or anything like that. It was just our most generous host, Crowz, upgrading the server to a quad Xeon box.

Unfortunately, the upgrade couldn't go as plan so ARP is back on the same old server. Crowz will be trying again on Monday so if you can't get in, keep trying in an hour or so.

News From The Net

The Game Den posted a review of Madden 2001, the long running NFL football game from EA Sports. Here's a snippet - "Learning the tools of the trade on the offensive side can be quite daunting. Unless you have the ability to read plays like Joe Montana or Dan Marino, expect frustrations to mount as the defense hounds you constantly. But once the controls are mastered, leading the offence to a successful drive can be quite rewarding."

FrostyTech posted a review of a gigantic flatbed scanner from HP - the HP 6100C.

Savagezone posted a Socket A cooler shootout. Here are the contenders :-

• Chrome Orb - Yet another Orb from ThermalTake.
• Vantec Mutt - Actually it is a heatsink from Vantec that CoolerGuys stuck a 38CFM fan on.

AthlonMB posted their review of the Duron 800 MHz processor. Here's a clip from that review - "Taking into consideration the overclocking potential of the Duron line, not just the 800 MHz model, you can really get a great deal on one of these CPUs. Keep in mind that I took the Duron 800 that I was sent to 1 GHz without any extra cooling, and only having to bump up the voltage 0.1v. While the processor still got very hot, a high-quality HSF (such as the Tai Sol model) should be able to keep anything under 1.2 GHz cool enough to function correctly."

Xtreme Tek posted their GeForce2 MX overclocking guide. Here's a quote - "The GeForce2 MX was placed in the market to fill the hole nVidia had in the value segment of the video card market. This guide will show you how you can get the most performance out of your card without forking over too much cash."

Speedy 3D posted a review of the Addtronics 6890A full tower case. Here's a quote from them - ""It is not just a case. It is a User Friendly case." This is a direct quote from Addtronics web page, and quite frankly, I could not agree more. The 6890A full tower case is packed with nice features. This may not be a case for the average user, but gamers and hardcore tweakers are not the average user. If you are tired of fighting with your cheap case every time need to install a new hardware device, you will highly appreciate the 6890A full tower or one of its variants."

OCWorkbench posted the following articles :

• Soyo K7VTA motherboard review - "The SY-K7VTA is a well rounded Socket A offering from Soyo.  The KT133 chipset has many of today's latest features and interfaces, with the exception of ATA100.  We were very impressed with the high quality construction of the K7VTA and it's stability was absolutely within the top 2% of all the AMD based product we have ever tested."
• Peltier basics - "Are you an overclocker ? Not satisfied with your overclocking results? Perhaps you could check out what a Peltier is by reading this article contributed by Andy Loh - winner of our Senfu WaterCooling Kit."

New Forum     05:30 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

I just added a new forum called News. All the top news posted here will be linked to a topic over there. This will enable you to post your comments or ask questions regarding the news bit. Check it out! :D

Acoustic Management For Maxtor Drives     04:20 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

I just tried to test the effects of Acoustic Management on my Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40 drive. Unfortunately, after running a whole slew of tests on the DiamondMax, I discovered that the latest version 3.2 of Maxtor's AMSET utility (released 23/10/2000) which controls the level of Acoustic Management would not support the Plus 40 UMDA/66 drive. It claims that the Plus 40 UDMA/66 does not support Acoustic Management. I could have sworn that an earlier version supported my drive. Ah well... all the work down the drain...

Never mind that. If you own any of the following Maxtor drives :-

• DiamondMax 60
• DiamondMax VL 30
• DiamondMax Plus 40 UDMA/100
• DiamondMax 60 UDMA/100
• DiamondMax VL 30 UDMA/100

please note that your hard disk is normally shipped with Acoustic Management set to Quiet. That means that the speed of the seek operations are reduced to the lowest level possible in order to provide the quietest operation. Not good for performance as you can tell.

The AMSET utility allows you to set any of the following Acoustic Management levels :-

/off - Turns Acoustic Management off, the drive operates at normal acoustic levels
/quiet - Quietest seeks, the speed of the seek operation is reduced to its lowest level to provide the quietest operations, this level has the most impact on drive performance.
/fast - Fastest seeks, the speed of the seek operation is reduced to provide quieter operation with the least amount of impact on the drive performance.

So, if you want the best performance from your Maxtor hard disk, you should disable Acoustic Management. This will allow your hard disk to seek at its maximal speed. But if the noise level is really disconcerting, you can set Acoustic Management to the fast level. That way, your hard disk will perform seeks much faster but with less noise. In any case, any acoustic level but the default level will improve the performance of your Maxtor hard disk.

Note that this utility will only work if your hard disk is hooked up to the motherboard's IDE controllers. It won't work if your hard disk is connected to an external IDE card or IDE controller like the HighPoint HPT 366/370 controller popular on many ABIT motherboards. Just connect your hard disk to the motherboard chipset's IDE controller, set the acoustic level you want and then switch the hard disk back to the external IDE controller.

BTW, if you own one of the drives above, can you please benchmark your hard disk with Acoustic Management set to default (Quiet), fast and off; and send your results to me? Benchmarks from WinBench and HDTach (including the graphs) would be very nice. I would really appreciate any help you can render in this matter. It would be really interesting to see how much Acoustic Management affects hard disk performance.

Thanks! :D

Comments?

From The Forums     06:20 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Here are some interesting parts from the forum discussions :-

SilkWorm commented that virtual memory has been around since the sixties (!!!). He even provided a link to a page about the history of virtual memory. If you are really into virtual memory, this is definitely a page you shouldn't miss.

In the same discussion, EricHop gave us a tip about sharing swapfiles between WinNT/2K and Win9x. Check it out if you are dual-booting WinNT/2K with Win9x. It will definitely save you a lot of hard disk space!

EM-500 Promo     05:10 AM IDT     Marauder

There's a special offer here in Malaysia where if you buy an Casio EM-500 now you can get a 32MB MMC for RM350 (USD 92), normal price RM450 (USD 118). I say go for it!

Comments?

Hercules Audio Press Release     04:50 AM IDT     Adrian Wong

Yet another press release. :) Well, looks like Hercules is expanding into audio products. And they will be releasing not one, but two products. One is gaming sound card set while the other is a MP3 player. You can check out their press release here.

Comments?

News From The Net

TweakTown posted a review of the ASUS A7V motherboard. Here's a clip - "This motherboard was basically a K7M motherboard with the new KX133 chip, AGP 4x support and PC133 SDRAM support. The board was larger in size but no additional features were added. When AMD released the Slot A Thunderbirds ASUS went back to the drawing boards and once again added some new traces and resistors to the K7V to accommodate the new Slot A Thunderbird that on just about every other KX133 motherboard would not run above 750MHz due to the timing issues with the Thunderbird and the KX133 chipset. The instants that VIA released the KT133 chipset for Socket A CPU's ASUS immediately started work on the new motherboard for the Socket A market, enter the A7V."

G3D posted an article called 'My Quest To Broadband'. Here's their quote - "*Click*...*wait*...*wait some more*...*loading*...*still loading*...*could not establish connection*..."What the #$@!?" How many have you guys experienced this emotion? Jumping up and down, cursing wildly like a monky. Man....and they said drugs messed you up. =]. Okay, so I'm exagerrating a teeny bit. How many of you guys have ever wanted to upgrade to a better bandwidth, but dont' know where to start? Today at G3D, the Doctor T lets you know his own personal experience and where he ended up. Always worth a look!"

I Am Not A Geek posted a review of the Super Orb cooler. Here's a snip - "Not getting the best of the lot, my Duron 700MHz would only run at 900MHz with the Golden Orb.  I was hoping the Super Orb would let me gain at least another 50MHz.  To get the temperatures, and to test stability I ran Prime 95 for about 10 minutes for each test."

Hard2ware.com posted a review of the Cyclone 5000 Ultra computer case. Here's a clip from the review - "The Cyclone 5000 Ultra case cames style, and shape!! But this all that matter in this day and age style and shape?? Of course not, performance that what really matters but is that the cases strong or soft spot??"

Guru of 3D just released version 2.0 of the GeForce Tweak Utility. Here's what's new in version 2.0 :-

• That damn overclocking feature is WORKING now!! (w9x)
• This is a result of a good work together with Andrew Charnley (NVMax) and Alex (RivaTuner).
• Fixed a bug that appeared when you minimized the GTU twice.
• Fixed DirectX antialiasing problem in W2k
• Fixed small bug of the "fast settings" and "quality settings" button (w2k)

OcShoot posted another cooler review. This time, it's the GlobalWin FOP38 cooler. Here's a small quote from them - "GlobalWin FOP38 is the best socketcooler we ever have tested ! But it is also so noisy that it should have been delivered with hearing protection."

Apu's Hardware posted an accuracy table for Counter-Strike. Here's a quote from them - "This table is a compilation of all damages to all different locations on the body with different guns and different amount of bullets (one shot, five shot, full clip).  This is the first real-life compilation of this kind of data, and is definately worth your time"

AthlonOC posted the following articles :-

• Intel P3 vs. AMD Athlon comparison
• Duron Project P3

Flipchip.net posted a database of FC-PGA motherboards, detailing their chipsets and other info.

Water Cooling Comments     04:15 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Just posted two more comments regarding the Affordable Water Cooling guide. Check them out if you want to know what others are saying about our guide!

PS. Please post your comments here.

More On Acoustic Management     02:55 PM IDT     Adrian Wong

Maxtor got back to me about AMSET. According to them, their previous list of hard disks supporting Acoustic Management was wrong. With regards to the DiamondMax Plus 40 line of drives, only those with a letter H (instead of U) in the drive model number support Acoustic Management. Hmm... my bad luck, I guess...

Anyway, I'll try to get back to you about the technical details behind the Acoustic Management levels. Things like how much the seeks were slowed down in Quiet and Fast modes and whether the stated seek times in the specs were for the Quiet, Fast or Off mode. I have already contacted Maxtor about it so let's see what their reply will be.

Again, if you own any of the drives that support Acoustic Management, I would really appreciate some benchmark numbers because I would like to write an article on the performance effects of Acoustic Management in Maxtor drives. So, if you would like to help me in this project, please contact me ASAP.

Thanks! :D 

Comments?

News From The Net

Speedy 3D posted an article on how to test your PC's stability. Here's a clip from that article - "Stability plays an essential part of overclocking, and your systems health as a whole. It is impossible to get anything done when your programs are crashing, and your games are freezing continuously. The higher you overclock; the more stress is put on your entire system. When small signs of instability appear, it is often hard to pinpoint the source. Is it a heat problem, windows, drivers, or is your CPU just at its limit? There are several easy to run tests, to determine the direct cause of instability in your computer system."

Case Modders Australia posted a review of the Agilent Arcticooler (I wonder what HP thinks... - Editor). Check out this snip - "Some HSF's use bulk size to do their job, others have big-arsed fans to draw off the heat. The Agilent Arcticooler claims to be different. Agilent, which is an offshoot of Hewlett Packard are the guys responsible for the original panaflo orb and have used everything they know to create the Arcticooler."

Apu's Hardware posted a review of the CompuNurse thermometer. Here's a snip - "We all want to measure the temperature of the components in our computer. As an overclocker, heat is the enemy. But how do you know how to face the enemy if you don't know how "tough" the enemy is? Dum dum dum! Here comes the CompuNurse from The Card Cooler. The CompuNurse is a little thermal diode attached to an LCD display."

OCWorkbench posted a review of the ATi Radeon VIVO graphics card. Check this clip out - "I love this card!!! Simply the best-featured card on hardware you can ever find. Its like the fantasy card you been wishing for that has 3dfx, Nvidia, Matrox, S3... solution. Packed with VIVO and the best DVD playback, this card is the one you ever need. The performance of the card is good against Voodoo5 5500 but not against GTS because of the Det 3.0 drivers. Lets give some more time to ATi's Driver team as they are already working very hard to start from stretch the revision of the Rage128 implementation on the Radeon 256. In due time, there might even be a "Det 3.0" driver for the Radeon 256." 

TweakTown posted a review of EPOX's EP-BX7+100 motherboard. Here's a snip - "This motherboard has a host of good features, one which really stands out is the HPT370 IDE-RAID controller which supports RAID 0, 1 and 0+1. As the name of the motherboard suggests, the board also has support for ATA100 for 100mb/s file transfer rates on ATA100 enabled hard disk drives. Epox have chosen to use a 1 AGP / 6 PCI and 1 ISA format, I think this is good as many PC users still use ISA modems and sound cards. Epox have included four DIMM slots which support pc100 memory up to 1GB in total. One thing which should also be mentioned is the large size of this motherboard, it is the biggest (305mm x 240mm) BX motherboard I have seen and used ever."

AwareMag just wrote up a quick How-To guide on modifying the Chrome Orb to fit the KT7. Here's a quote - "Quick one-pager with some pics.  Just enough info to give you the skinny on how to clear those caps without bending them all to heck!!" 

I Am Not A Geek is giving away a 1GHz Duron and a Golden Orb. All you have to do is send them an e-mail. Of course, there's a catch. :D Here's what they have to say - "If you would like to additional entries in the contest that is possible.  There are two ways to do this.  First you can sign up for our Forum if you haven't already joined, you will then earn one entry for every non garbage post you make.  You can earn 5 points for submitting a news post, in the add your own article section." Oh yeah... the draw for the 1GHz Duron is on Nov. 20th.

G3D posted some exclusive pics from Be Cooling on their upcoming Aqua Stealth II - "The difference you ask? What you see from the photos, plus clear tubing, improved socket clip design, polished blocks, and optional heatsinks. The tank itself measures 3" cubed, without the lid. The tubing and fittings are 3/8" and the pump is Be Cooling's own quiet, powerful Rio 180. The heatsinks are bonded fin 60x60mm size, and offer performance each greater than the alpha pep66. *drool* With 4 of these around your tank, you won't have a problem cooling the water. The heatsinks will probably make an excellent socket CPU cooler also."