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November 2002
Internet in China (0 Comments) (link)
 Saturday, 30-November-2002  16:55:42 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Amnesty International Australia have put up a report into internet access in China. You think we have it bad here with data caps and lack of broadband availability - consider that in China, internet users are at risk of being detained, tortured or even executed for visiting the wrong sites or publishing the wrong content. Sobering stuff.


Saturday Afternoon (0 Comments) (link)
 Saturday, 30-November-2002  16:49:16 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Wow, first decent rain we've had in Sydney in ages.

Instead of stuffing themselves with turkey on their Thanksgiving Day, ClubOC put up 4 reviews! Vantec Nexus NXP-201 Fan Speed Controller here, Sunbeam Multi-Coloured Cold Cathode Light Kit here, PC Toys Quiet MAXX 6000+ socketA cooler here and the PC-8L Deluxe Computer Tool Kit here.

Sudhian have a somewhat cerebral article about technical support in the age of the internet.

XtremeSystems have a mod to get even better cooling from your Prometeia vapour phase-change cooler.

OCWorkBench have some Serial ATA info and benchmarks.

ViperLair try to answer the How and Why of Benchmarking.

Linux kernel 2.4.20 has been released, thanks Martinus.

Hexus reviewed the DFI NB80-EA Granite Bay dual-channel DDR motherboard for P4 processors.

mcrow spotted that Hercules have released a Radeon 9000 64mb All-In-Wonder video card (link is chinese).

mjcrow also suggests you update your virus software, as there's yet another nasty one floating around. Some of them even insult you, thanks klif-e.

Here's more bizarre Kikkoman stuff, thanks Mitch01.

Tech-Report wonder what a fair price for an operating system is.

OCClubCanada have a DIY LED light strip project.

David sends word that there is free wireless access in the Queen St Mall in Brisbane at the moment, as part of a trial.

LMBAtech have an older article about overclocking an older PC.

Dan's got even more letters. Hooray.

Iroquois returns with another of his news blasts: New Intel Xeon 2.40GHz 533 FSB have an extra pin. Pics of the Xeon here. Next Itanium likely to run at 1.5GHz. Sun trying to get major ISP's to distribute StarOffice. A trojan disguised as a Longhorn keygen.

CounterSmurf spotted this lego bible project.

There's a GameServe LAN on the 7th Dec to celebrate their 3rd birthday, on the Gold Coast.

Some interesting software: FRAPS is a free utility for DirectX and OpenGL games. It can best be described as: benchmarking software, screen capture software, movie maker software.

Phantom notes from allmoto.com.au: Our winner for the hotly-contested Wally of the Week award is the Victorian Government, which police sources reveal has just spent $150,000 of the so-called bike safety levy (a recently-introduced $50 annual tax) on...wait for it...motorcycle-mounted radar units!

Interesting Forum Threads:
Most Dissapointing Game of 2002? in Games.
A motherboard without housing in Overclocking & Hardware.
Unhackable Server in Networking & Electronics.
Informative Guides! in Overclocking & Hardware.
Translation mini-contest in the Test Forum.
Win l00ber a free LCD (silly thread) in Modding & Electronics.
Everglide Update in Overclocking & Hardware.

Reviews:
Vantec Nexus Fan Controller (video review) on 3DGameMan.
Yamaha CRW-F1E CDRW drive on Bench-House.
Shattered Web Applique kit on FuriousTech.
AVC Avalanche SocketA CPU cooler on 3DExtreme.
Swiftech MCP300T Inline Watercooling Pump on AMDMB.
Thermaltake HardCano 8 VR fan controller on Tweakers.
TweakMonster socketA Shim on BurnOutPC.
FIC AN19E KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on NeoSeeker.
Xoxide Acrylic Laser Cut 80mm Fan Grills on 8Balls.
PowerCooler H610T heatsink on A1-Electronics.
Zalman ZM300A-APF 300W PSU on OCClubCanada.
Abit BG7E i845GE-based P4 DDR motherboard on MBReview.
Sharp Zaurus SL-5500 linux-based PDA on HWZ.
Antec Plus 1080AMG case on Mikhailtech.
GlacialTech Igloo 4300 P4 cooler on PCStats.
Antec TruePower 550W PSU on OCProjects.
Xoxide Acrylic Laser Cut Fan Grills on SubZeroTech.
Swiftech MCW478-UHT thermoelectric cooler on ExtremeMHz.
Neon ATA-133 rounded cables on OCrCafe.
EasyBuy2000 Wireless Optical Mouse on GeekShelter.
ARM Systems Stealth XP2000+ prebuild system on SilentPCReview.
Eksitdata Fan Bus Controller on Bit-Tech.



Victorian Vote (0 Comments) (link)
 Saturday, 30-November-2002  13:54:43 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Adam suggested we remind Victorians that they have to go vote in a state election today. So go on, emerge blinking into the light and make your vote count. You've got until 6pm! Info about where to vote here. :)


Everglide Optical Update (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 29-November-2002  01:18:06 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Not an awful lot going on out there at the moment - I suspect our American friends are celebrating Thanksgiving and therefore not writing reviews etc. However, Wolfy has updated his Everglide Optical Review to reflect how these mousepads feel after being used for a little while. Unfortunately, it's not all good.


Click here for the update page!



Battlefield 1942 v1.2 Patch! (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 28-November-2002  16:54:03 (GMT +10) - by Agg

After much hinting and delaying, it's finally here! Comments and info here on AusGamers. For the client patch go here (or here for Telstra users). For the server patch go here (or here for Telstra users).

This is a major update, apparently with a lot of glitches fixed and game balance improved. Initial comments from players about this patch seem very good. Be aware that there is a broken version of this patch floating around - AusGamers have the working version, so best to grab it from them.



Thursday Afternoon (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 28-November-2002  14:16:36 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Today seems to be Radeon 9500 Pro day, with a few reviews of this new video card/chipset popping up: HotHardware, Beyond3D, AnandTech thanks Lombers, Tech-Report,

Funny article here about those TiVo devices - that intelligently record TV for you based upon what it thinks you'll like - and people who are concerned about their TiVO's "opinion" of them. He also orders cooking shows, which softens TiVo's view of him. "I don't want it thinking I'm an ax murderer," he says.

OCAddiction compared the Thermaltake Volcano 7+ and GlobalWin's cAK4 socket coolers.

This Friday is Buy Nothing Day.. soo.. buy nothing, I guess.

Here's a cool monitor mod, thanks DJ-Studd.

A judge is wondering if the parent company of Kazaa can be sued under American copyright law.. because they're based in Australia and Vanuatu, not the USA.

TechWareLabs have part 1 of their COMDEX coverage posted, including an interview with an AMD person. OverClockersClub have some coverage also.

kRISPY noticed an article about download caps to deter file-swappers.

BurnOutPC have a Darth Vader PC project up.

Goofydave sends word of DetonatorXP 41.09 for Win2K/XP and Win98/ME.. these are leaked BETA software, I assume, so Bad Things may happen if you use them.

TheModFathers have some home-made waterblocks happening, while CyberCPU want to show you how to stealth your drive bays.

Ambush says there are new Logitech Mouseware drivers, which are purported to fix a lot of problems inherent in Logitech's cordless mice (mouses?), including erratic scroll function.

Fireblade sent in this trials riding timewaster! Takes a while to load and is tricky, but quite addictive.

Get well soon, Pleb8tor!

From the PCDB: The_Not_So_Slim_Case is a pretty cool custom acrylic case, while Elnino has a mirrored front and NVIDIA-logo window. FriZZ's silver box turned out pretty well, too.

Reviews:
ABIT AT7-Max 2 KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on HardOCP.
I-SeaPhoto Digital Outdoor Camera (video review) on 3DGameMan.
SkyHawk Galaxy-Lx PSR4616B7 case on EnvyNews.
Soltek SL-85DR3 i845PE-based P4 DDR motherboard on 3DExtreme.
MobileAction MA-620 IR USB adapter on HardAvenue, our review here.
ASUS A7V8X KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on Hexus.
Akasa Silver Mountain 2Q copper heatsink on FrostyTech.
Hercules Fortissimo III 7.1-channel sound card on Guru3D.
Albatron PX845PE Pro IIS P4 DDR motherboard on OCPrices.
VIA P4PA P4X266A-based P4 DDR motherboard on PCReview.
CoolerMaster HSC-V62 socket cooler on RadiativeNZ.
Swiftech MCX462+ socket cooler on TweakTown.
OCZ PC2700 DDR Rev3.2 EL on NeoSeeker.
Nostromo N50 Speedpad and N30 Mouse on WorldOC.
Thermaltake P4 Spark7 heatsink on A1 Electronics.
Albatron KX400-8X KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on OCNZ.
Verre V770 case on TweakersZone.
EL Cable PC Modding Kit on OCrsClubCanada.
Sky Hawk Galaxy PSR4616 case on SystemCooling.
TDK External USB 2.8 CyClone 48x16x48x CDRW drive on HWZ.
Vantec Nexus Multi-Function Panel on MonkeyReview.
Coolink U2L heatsink on FrostyTech.
HighSpeedPC LCD Kit on OCIA.



Thursday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 28-November-2002  00:36:37 (GMT +10) - by Narkov

3dXtreme have modded one of Chieftech's Dragon Aluminum cases. Wack in a few fans and cut a few panels and you end up with a pretty sexy case. Simple as that I hear you say!

The guys over at DeviantPC have milled their own custom waterblock for an ATi Radeon 9700. The final result looks very professional.

PCStats got their hands on a SiS Xabre600 Reference Videocard and ran a few benchmarks. This card looks like it will fit nicely into the mid to low budget range. HotHardware also had a look at the card.

Allot of people have socket A motherboards and Sudhian have an article on your upgrade options.

Frosty Tech have found a bit of a dud in the Tocools S1 Pentium4 cooler. Going on their numbers it's only slightly better then the stock P4 cooler.

Ever wanted to stea^H^H^H^H watch TV on your computer? LMBATech - "Leave my bits alone Tech" have reviewed four TV tuner cards.

PCHardware have written a lengthy article on PHP and protecting your source code.

One of the smaller motherboard manufacturers DFI has recently released a board based on the KT400 chipset. Of note is its high feature set/low price point. Subzerotech had a closer look.

Ars Technica have compiled a list of three computers - Budget box, Hot Rod box and a God box. Just a reminder to everyone out there that donations are accepted *wink* *wink*

As summer approaches water-cooling becomes more and more appealing over 15 Delta 400,000RPM jet engines. Virtual-Hideout have reviewed the SharkaCorp Innovatek Set5 Water-Cooling Kit. It comes with all the bits and pieces you need to get into water-cooling.

Other reviews of note:
Enlight's EN8900 Server Case + 420Watt PSU on DataFuse
Kensington Notebook MicroSaver Lock notebook anti-theft device on Mikhailtech
Xoxide Tri-LED clear fans on BurntOutPC

Thats all from me at the news desk. Stay tuned for the next episode of "Naked News" tomorrow night with your host Narkov.



Custom Clear Case, Watercooled! (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 28-November-2002  00:03:41 (GMT +10) - by Agg

This isn't the first we've seen of these, but this is some really nice work from Mauler. Apparently taking 2 months to make, it's a custom clear-perspex case with plenty of room for a watercooling system and lots of glowy things inside.


Click for the PCDB entry!

Check out the night-time pics too. :)



Wednesday Night. (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 27-November-2002  23:54:11 (GMT +10) - by Darkness'

An interesting read here about living with wireless. Looks to be quite in-depth.

Remember Duck hunt? Or maybe time crisis? Check out this outlandish looking gun for the PC.

Here is a nice roundup of VIA KT400 motherboards for you. In-fact, there is another 7way roundup of the same boards here.

If you're looking for a new OS and don't want to pay for it, check out this list of free ones!

FB008 sent in this silly stair dismount game. We've seen it before, but it's funny in a sick kind of way.

If you run Windows XP here is an article about hacking the start menu button name and how to add your own themes.

It seems as good a time as any to promote folding@home again. There is an article here for the hardcore enthusiast on how to make a disk-less folding farm. Great if you have a few spare PC parts around the house. If none of this is making sense, drop into our very own folding page here or pay a visit to our Distributed Computing forums to find out a bit more info on how YOU can help cure some nasty diseases! There has also been a challenge laid down. "relic has challenged the top 3 Folding@Home teams ([H]ardOCP, Overclockers Australia and overclockers.com) to reach a combined team total of 5 million points by New Years day." Plenty more news and stuff at our page, check it out.

Comdex is famous for 2 things, computer hardware and large parties. Have a peek at the parties right here.

This seems pretty neat, have a squiz at the JackRabitt32 external 32X DVD/CD-RW drive. "When connected to your computer, the JackRabbit32 can act as either a CD Burner or a DVD Player. In the former, you can burn CD-Rs at 32x and CD-RWs at 10x, or read at 40x"

Baker has taken a trip down memory lane and dug up some old archives of OCAU. All the way back to 2000. Geeze, it looks so different now.

Looks like there is going to be some 32-bit DDR SDRAM DIMMS. Cheers Nigel.

Apparently, 3 identity thieves have been caught. "the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan and the FBI apprehended an alleged ring of identity thieves, accusing three men of stealing tens of thousands of credit reports."

Virtual terrorists beware! "The Attorney-General's office has teamed up with Queensland-based AusCERT to create a national information security alert scheme, which will lead to the creation of a centralized information source on IT security issues ranging from viral outbreaks to serious hack attacks." Cheers Sonic.

Look out! The net could be under serious attack at any time! "Simulated attacks on key internet hubs have shown how vulnerable the worldwide network is to disruption by disaster or terrorist action."

Kasar let us know that bbspot have an amusing article up about a supposed new palm model, this one includes a clock!

Valhalla, South Australia's biggest LAN is on this weekend (30th Nov/1st Dec 2002).

Reviews :
Pen Drive Plus 2.0 32MB USB 2.0 review at envynews
Dell Inspiron 8200 Laptop Review @ BlargOC
ATi Radeon 9700 PRO from gotapex
MSI 845PE Max2-FIR Intel i845PE from A1
Intel Pentium4 3.06GHz review at tweakers
Thermaltake SK-6+ Heatsink review from envynews
eDimensional 3D Glasses review @ techspot
Creative Jukebox 3/ZEN FM Wired Remote Review @ ExtremeMhz
Maya Radeon 9700 Pro and 9000 from tweaktown
mATX Chilli Pro Computer Case review @ technoyard
Iomega External USB 2.0 48x24x48x CD-RW fom HWZ



Not-so-subtle Video Cooling (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 27-November-2002  15:28:44 (GMT +10) - by Agg

What's that phrase? Sledgehammer to crack an egg? :) An XP2000+ cooler on a GF3 is much the same.. but actually, not a bad effort and pretty good results:


Click for the PCDB entry!



Tuesday Night (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 26-November-2002  22:06:23 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Whirlpool are claiming a victory over Telstra, who sent a letter to its ISDN Home customers admitting it may have been overcharging them since the beginning of the year, thanks pat77.

SpodesAbode have a guide to replacing your mouse LED with an IR LED.. stops you from being able to annoy people at LAN parties with it, though. :)

Meanwhile, GideonTech show you how to make a cheap projector for playing games on the biiig screen.

Apparently Australian Xbox users with modchipped consoles may not be able to access the Xbox Live service when it starts here, thanks pat77.

Bakka sent in this BBSpot article about an apologetic virus writer.. pretty funny.

Sciby found an interesting article about exploding CD media.

Apollo sent in this page full of crazy mods.. toilet PC, gingerbread PC.. etc.

Dan has some more letters with interesting answers, as well as an editorial about the reliability of information you find on the net.

We may have seen this before, but PiCULar sent in the Star Wars parody of the Apple "Switch" ads.

Sniper noticed a few things on Xbit - firstly, a page with info on several motherboards for Athlon64.. so where are the CPU's? They also have an interesting RAMBUS chronlogy explaining the rise and fall of that technology and company. Finally, a crazy shuttle mini-PC cluster, supposedly with Cray-like computing power.

Digitimes report that Intel's upcoming "springdale" chipsets will support 800MHz FSB (quad-pumped) and dual-channel DDR400.

More oddities in the latest ZZZ Online.

Reviews:
CoolerMaster Alu and Copper RAMsinks on OCIA.
ASUS CRW5224 cd burner on CDR-Info.
SiS Xabre 600 video card on TechReport.
Swiftech MCW50-T GPU water block on IPKonfig.
Abit SR7-8X SiS648-based P4 DDR motherboard on OverclockedCafe.
Romtech Trios drive selector on NexusHardware.
Thermaltake Fan Speed RPM Switch on IANAG.
SiS Xabre 600 video card on Hexus.
AOC LM800 18.1-inch TFT screen on HWZ.
Vantec Nexus Multi-Function Panel on OCrsClub.
Abit BE7 i845PE-based P4 DDR motherboard on AMD3D.
PowerLeap PL-P4/N socket converter on ViperLair.
EverCool NB18-715 socketA cooler on OCNZ.



Tuesday Midday (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 26-November-2002  12:48:12 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Whale Sharks are now protected to some extent. This has nothing to do with OCAU apart from my spending some time diving with the whale sharks at Exmouth, Western Australia a couple of years ago. There's some Whale Shark pictures taken by some friends and me here and here. The whale shark can reach a length of 60 feet (18 meters), about the size of an 18-wheeler truck. Good to see these gentle giants getting a fair go at last.

A huge identity theft and credit-card fraud ring has been busted in the USA. We know of approximately 30,000 victims -- and the numbers are growing every day -- and of losses that are in the millions and growing every day.

From Bravo: Just here to report this thread on our forums. Thanks to MEX for bringing it to my attention, and to the original nForce thread here. With the use of conductive ink across jumper pins 2-3, and using the latest 1005 Beta BIOS, makes the A7N266-VM fully configurable for Multiplier and FSB overclocking. The A7N266-VM features a PCI/AGP lock up to 181mhz, CPU:RAM Divider (3:4), but the lack of voltage adjustment can be overlooked because of the price, at only 120 AUD :D

More COMDEX coverage from NeoSeeker, FutureLooks, TargetPC and TheTechZone.

Isengard noticed a new US law allowing a maximum life sentence for hacking with intent to kill.. errr, riiight. Meanwhile, the RIAA has raided the US Navy, thanks IQ2HI.

NVIDIA have unveiled their single-chip solution motherboard chipset for AMD's Hammer CPU's. With AMD incorporating the formerly north bridge-based memory controller into its upcoming K8 processors, the role of the north bridge chip will become rather limited, Drew Henry, Nvidia’s senior director of platform product management said. As a result, Nvidia decided to include the AGP controller interface in the south bridge to shorten motherboard makers’ design time, he added.

Boky sent in these P76 awards for dumb things done in the Australian car market this year.

Reviews:
iRock MP3 wireless adapter for hifi's on GeekShelter.
VIA EPIA-M9000 2nd-gen mini-mobo on SilentPCReview.
ABIT AT7 Max2 socketA DDR motherboard on Active-Hardware.
Prometia Vapor Phase-change Cooling System on ExtremeSystems.
Lian Li PC65B case on BurnOutPC.
Antec HDD Cooler on RipNet.
Gear Grip LCD Shield carrying system (video review) on 3DGameMan.
Biohazard Window Applique on DVHardware.
Belkin OmniView SOHO KVM switch on PC-Arena.
Thermalright SLK800 Copper Heatsink on FrostyTech.
Vapochill Premium Edition vapour phase-change cooler on OCPrices.



Monday Midday (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 25-November-2002  12:38:53 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Interesting mod from Cursed.. is it a new window-mod idea or did he cut it on the wrong side? :) Some discussion about it in this thread.

Sypha spotted this Volcano9 mod which apparently makes it cool even better.

Stanza sent in this page with some conspiracy theories about WinXP.

VR-Zone have a Barton engineering sample photograph - slightly larger core than Thoroughbred due to the 512KB L2 cache, thanks (of course) Claw Hammer.

Ben noticed this guy getting a loan through Ebay. Bidding on the opportunity to lend someone money, hmm.

Monster-Hardware have been modding their GF4, with core and memory voltage mods and watercooling.

Black holes smashing together, oh my!

Apparently this machine is unhackable.. how's that for a challenge? Thanks Aquaholic.

From Joshua: Microsoft has just released (the game) Asherons Call 2 in the USA with the release date here on the 6th Dec. Unfortunatly they have had an oversight and you cannot play it if you live outside these areas. Info here and here.

We'll assume this is a mixup by GigaByte's marketing people, but they're saying here that AMD's Hammer has Intel's HyperThreading technology. Sin22 suggests perhaps they meant HyperTransport.

TechSpot have a list of zillions of operating system updates that you might need.

Seems Microsoft think Unix is not too bad after all.. well, they did a little while ago, thanks Skit.

Whitey Ford has an interesting idea in our Pub forum, an OCAU Secret Santa where forum-goers randomly send a Christmas present to someone else.

AMDMB have their COMDEX coverage posted. Sudhian have part II of theirs up.

Arkenstone noticed that security.debian.org burned down a few days ago. Pictures here.

From the PCDB: HyperSonic turned an old VCR into a DVD PC, very nicely done. NakedChef has pics of their project to install an appliqued window with LED fans in it. Sometimes though, it seems a huge fan is the only solution. :)

Overkill LAN is on in Melbourne on the 14th and 15th Dec, info here.

Reviews:
IWill P4HT-S P4 DDR motherboard on ClubOC.
Zalman CNPS6000-Cu socket cooler on OCAddiction.
Zalman CNPS5700D-Cu socket cooler on OCrsClub.
ABIT IT7 Max2 v2.0 i845PE-based P4 DDR motherboard on Tech-Report.
Plextor 48x24x48A burner on TechWareLabs.
PocketMuse MP3 Player / USB Drive on ClubOC.
Leadtek WinFast A810 DDR TH MyVIVO GF4 MX440-8X video card on Bjorn3D.
SunBeam Rheobus #2 on Virtual-Hideout.
EPoX 8K9A2+ KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on Hexus.
Black Icemat mousing surface on WorldOC.
ATI IGP 340 onboard video on EliteBastards.
Zalman ZM80-HP heatpipe-based socket cooler on SpodesAbode.
Powercolor Radeon 9000 Pro "Evil Commando" video card on IANAG.
4 Port Baybus on OCrCafe.



Early Monday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 25-November-2002  01:50:10 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Milenko noticed this article with GeForce FX (NV30) info.. a few interesting tidbits, including pricing info and: nVidia chose the FX as a tribute to 3DFX, whose former engineers played a large part in the production of the new card.

An interesting thing floating around from AMD today.. apparently they have decided to stop competing with Intel in the perpetual "smaller, faster" race for desktop CPU domination, thanks Firemoth. Hmm, going to refrain from making any comments until we get a little more info about this one. Some slashdot discussion here, thanks JaVa. BTW, popup ads with sound suck.

Sonic noticed this article about weaning ourselves off email.

Pat77 spotted some new peltier-based coolers from Thermaltake.

Digit-Life examined the SoundMAX Cadenza technology that Intel are including with the AC97 onboard sound in some of their newer chipsets.

There's a new Lord Of The Rings trailer! Also, over on AusGamers Files they have a new James Bond trailer and the RalliSport Challenge demo.

TechSpot have a voltage mod for GF4's posted.

From looktall: I just thought those dial up, xp users might like to know that the XP service pack is now available on the cover cd's of many computer mags. I've seen it on APC, PC user and PC Authority, but no doubt more will have it. Beats doing a 130mb download. :o)

Craig sent in some articles that wonder if NVIDIA can really claim full DirectX 9 support on the NV30 (aka GeForce FX), because they have removed support for Displacement Mapping. More info here and here.

ViperLair explain how to protect yourself from virii and other nasties.

TheTron noticed kids suing McDonalds for making them fat. Unbelievable.

Reviews:
OCZ PC3500 DDR-433 SDRAM on TweakTown.
PC Toys 520W PSU on OCIA.
IOSS RD7-CA Cooling After turbo-timer for PC's on Technoyard.
Innovatek Reservoir for watercooling on AMDMB.
AMS gTower case on SystemCooling.
Koutech 6-Port Firewire & USB 2.0 PCI adapter on OCrsClub.
CoolerMaster Front Bezel aluminium faceplates on OCWareHouse.
Thermaltake GF4 CoolMOD video card cooler on ExtremeOC.
SunBeamTech Cold Cathode case-lighting on BurnOutPC.
Iwill P4HT-S i845PE-based P4 DDR motherboard on Hexus.
Asus V9280S GF4 Ti4200-8X video card on GotApex.
Abit IT7 Max 2 i845E-based P4 DDR motherboard on PCHardware, our review here.
CoolerMaster Front Bezel aluminium faceplates on OCIA.
SanDisk ImageMate Dual Card Reader on EnvyNews.
Logitech QuickCam Pro 4000 webcam on Virtual-Hideout.
Leadtek K7NCR18D-Pro nForce2-based socketA DDR motherboard on AMDWorld.
Aerocool Fans on WorldOC.



Brew Ha-Ha (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 25-November-2002  01:20:31 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Fancy yourself as a bit of a beer-brewing boffin? PostModern from the Geek Food forum is organising a brew-off over the next few months. Win a nice pint glass, earn the admiration of your peers and help him score lots of free beer (wait a second!) by checking out the details in this thread.


Saturday Afternoon (0 Comments) (link)
 Saturday, 23-November-2002  13:48:41 (GMT +10) - by Agg

I think the top story of the day is about some poor guy scorching his genitals by using a laptop on his lap.. about a zillion people sent that one in. :) Info here, here and here.

Boky spotted this passionate amiga announcement. Still waiting for a product I can actually buy.

ExtremeTech have a warning about a security bug in Internet Explorer which means your hard drive can be formatted just because you visited a maliciously-coded website. Argh, nasty. I assume this patch is to address that issue and there's more info here, thanks Yaleman. Maximum Severity Rating: Critical - Recommendation: Users should apply the patch immediately. More info here, thanks IQ2HI.

Digit-Life have a KT400 Motherboard roundup.

Hooray, we're saved by Soy Sauce Man.. thanks awsum.

Seems TheInq won't be writing about Sun anymore.

Siddharth spotted this article about web browsing with Opera on your mobile phone.

Viper-Lair have a thermal compound shootout.

CDR-Info had a little review-fest, checking out the Teac CD-552E, Teac DV-516E and AOpen's EHW-4048U drives.

TweakTown examine mobile vs desktop computers for gaming.

leperMessiah notes that there's now a Unified Linux Driver from ATI, supporting their latest video chipsets.

Reviews:
Corsair XMS3500 DDR SDRAM on ExplosiveLabs.
Albatron PX845E P4 DDR motherboard on PCStats.
Samsung SymcMaster 181T LCD monitor on MonkeyReview.
Victorinox Swiss Army Cybertool knife+more on Warp2Search, thanks Nigel.
Xoxide Variable 4 Port Baybus on ASELabs.
Swiftech Pump Relay Kit v2 for watercooling on TheModFathers.
eDimensional 3D Glasses (video review) on 3DGameMan.
MSI 845PE Max2-FIR P4 DDR motherboard on PCStats.
Logitech MX series mouses on DansData.
Corsair XMS3500 Platinum DDR SDRAM on ExtremeOverclocking.
Shuttle SB51G i845GE-based P4 DDR mini-PC on HotHardware.
Tx Venus II 48x24x48 CDRW drive on Hexus.
Tocools Novasonic SocketA cooler on TechnoYard.
Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9500 video card on Beyond3D.
Speeze 5R226B1H3 EagleStream socket cooler on 8Balls.
NVIDIA GeForceFX video chipset review on A1 Electronics.
AMD Athlon XP2400+ socketA CPU on PureOC.



Thursday Evening. (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 21-November-2002  20:15:48 (GMT +10) - by Darkness'

Well, in a rather bold statement AMD have said "... a global switch to AMD chips would save the industry US$10 billion." Read more here. They also have taken a bit of time to play some UT2003... On their 64 bit CPU's!

Soyo have announced their competitor to the Shuttle PC, the Soyo MiniDragon Gaming PC. "For those who like metric, the size is 6.4cm (H) x 19.0cm (W) x 24.1cm (D), and includes space for an AGP card too apparently." Thanks Radix

FoderMe sent in word of another Brisbane OCAU BBQ. "held at Roma St Parklands on the 15th of December, which will make it the 2nd annual December BBQ. Details are in this thread and I ask that anyone who is coming please register their interest by posting in that thread"

Win an Nexus Fan Controller here. "We have been working on a yet unnamed project which involves TEC assisted water cooling. The completed project will be unveiled immediately after we review the Nexus fan controller. Here is where you come in. We need your help in naming this project."

Evangelion wants to show off this new Mod for F1 2002. It will be released close to the end of November under the name of GT 2002. Pics and info here and here. (Mega picture warning) "This mod(V3) struck me as one of the best graphical efforts produced as far as car models where concerned and had one of the most realistic and immediately complicated (but fun) physics engines to drive and IMHO it is one of the only games around worthy of being called a driving simulation.". Wow.

Dan has been writing again. This time about "hard drive speed, finding software for a suspiciously naccessorised camera, CPU cooler performance, VA ratings versus watts, and how to protect your PC if you smoke so much you choke it. Without, of course, cutting back on the cigarettes a bit. Oh, and there's also someone who thinks I don't like foreigners."

Detonator Destroyer 1.2 is out. "Detonator Destroyer is the only tool that completely removes detonator drivers from your Windows 95 (All versions), Windows98, Windows 98SE, Windows ME system. It removes all versions of detonators from 6.XX and up! - Support for 2000 and XP coming!"

If your interested in linux and would like a nice easy distro to start out on, have a look at Lycoris. "... Lycoris which is the new distribution of Linux from Redmond Linux Corp. This distribution is one of the new range of Linux distro's aimed at making Linux easy to install and use."

Reviews :
USB Instant DVD from pc-arena
LANBag Video Review from 3dgameman
Everglide Giganta review at RipNet-UK
Galaxy II Midi case review from solidmercury
USB Drive Roundup @ subzerotech
Fanner CopperKing II HSF review from pctechzone
Thermaltakes Copper RAM cooling kit @ ocwarehouse
Nike-Philips psa[64 Digital] Audio Player by HWZ
Logitech MOMO Force Wheel review at envynews
Innovatek Innovaset 2 Water Cooling Kit reviewed by 3dextreme
ASUS P4G8X Deluxe (E7205) motherboard from HWZ
Mandrake 9.0 @ tweakhound
Nanotherm Compounds Review from OCedCafe
Wbhouse AMD watercooling kit review @ Alltechbox.com
AVC Avalanche and Tundra 2 HSF Review @ Techware Labs
Trillian Pro 1.0 Review from futurelooks



Grinning Cyborg Rodent! (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 21-November-2002  18:58:46 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Sabretooth reviewed the MobileAction MA-620 IR USB Adapter. It lets you connect your PC to mobile phones and other gadgets with Infra-Red transcievers. Also, it's really cute. :)


Click for the full review!



Thursday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 21-November-2002  00:43:18 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Dear Sir: Thank you for supporting Gigabyte products. We are sorry that GA-8SG667 doesn't provide Vcore adjustment function due to H/W limitation and cannot be modified by changing BIOS. Sorry for the inconvenience. Let us know if you need further help. Thank you for supporting Gigabyte products. Best Regards, Gigabyte Technology. Bummer.

IQ2HI noticed you can get yourself a Segway on Amazon now. Only $10k or so, won't be ready until 2003... and they're only shipping to the USA. Bah!

Win a Rheobus on OCrCafe.

Sync_Array spotted an article about noisy light being used for encryption.

Sudhian have part 2 of their exploring Hyper-Threading article posted.

EliteGuild look back over three years of Athlon history. Everyone still remember Slot A? :)

Sniper noticed that AMD's desktop and notebook "Clawhammer" CPU's will be called Athlon 64. Imitation spotted the official word from AMD. At least one company is going for the server equivalent, which we already know is to be named Opteron.. info here, thanks FREF. Wolf noticed they've updated their roadmap, too.

As our own cops get broader powers, so do the american online equivalent, thanks Sync_Array.

SpodesAbode compared the Radeon 9700 Pro and the GeForce4 Ti4600.. current kings of 3D, until NV30 hits the shelves.

Ben sent in this blatantly sexist timewasting flash game, beach volleyball. It's disgusting.. I can only get to level 2, and they don't take their bikini tops off until level 5.

BoogleTech have a Detonator comparison article posted.

Reviews:
Western Digital 1200JB HDD with 8MB cache on DigitalDomination.
Abit AT7 Max 2 socketA DDR motherboard on Tech-Report.
FIC AN19E KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on TweakTown.
Vantec Nexus Multi-Function Panel on ViperLair.
Triplex TX-680 GF4 MX440-8X video card on OCNZ.
Chaintech Zenith ZNJS nForce2 socketA DDR motherboard on OCTools.
Bluetake VW002 BlueTooth adapter on TechnoYard.
Shuttle AS45GTR P4 DDR motherboard on ExtremeMHz.
Skyhawk Galaxy aluminium case on Bjorn3D.
GlobalWin CAK4-88T socket cooler on PlanetSavage.
OCZ Goliath 2 SE and Glacier coolers on MonkeyReview.
AOpen CRW4850 48X burner on CDRInfo.
SiS Xabre 600 graphics chipset on HWZ.



Empty boxes? (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 20-November-2002  11:47:04 (GMT +10) - by Agg

From Gaz: We just got two HP/Compaq PCs delivered. There were 4 boxes in total. The yellow sticker on the side says "SINGAPORE AIRLINES LTD" and some codes, so it was air freighted to Oz. Two of the boxes had PCs in them, two of the boxes had, well, nothing. What a complete waste of money and resources.

    
Click images to enlarge..

Here I am waiting for a (full) box that's been sitting in Customs for 3 days now, presumably while Customs check out all the empty boxes people are sending each other. :)



Wednesday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 20-November-2002  02:49:01 (GMT +10) - by Agg

More NV30 stuff: Beyond3D, Tech-Report, SpodesAbode and ViperLair.

From Oosh: Looks like Google's foray into Folding has prompted the creation of a new category, it's now in the "Aggregate Teams" so that OCAU is still #2 in the individual "Teams". Definately a good idea, it'd be impossible to compete with something on that scale, so HARD[OCP], OCAU, etc will continue to get the respect they deserve! WD Stanford.

Tbreak and Hexus both checked out MSI's GNB MAX based on Intel's new "Granite Bay" dual-channel DDR chipset for P4s.

From Mitch01: Well I just wasted a good hr of my life totally hooked on this game. Jardinains - Like breakout but these gnomes throw clay pots @ your board in order to get you to lose points. Sounds like someone was smoking weed or sumfin when this game was written! Anyhow its freeware and heaps of fun. It's actually bag-free shareware.

TheModFathers have a guide to changing your CDROM LED.

Bigiain says the sky is falling yet again, but this time it's not a big rock, it's a black hole. Milenko notes that people do get hit by rocks from space, just not very often.

CrikeyMoses noticed that AusGamers have a mirror of the BMW film Chosen posted. However, this is one of the original series of films, not another new one. Having said that, it's one of the better ones, so if you haven't seen it and can spare the bandwidth, it's worth checking out.

Curtis spotted this wristwatch PDA from Fossil.

There's a review of the MSI KT4 Ultra-FISR KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on Xbit.. heh, nice name, buy yourself a motherboard that's a bit of a FISR.

Lan stuff: Total-Lanage in Geraldton, WA on 1st Nov, thanks Hayden. eggpLANt in Ulverstone, TAS this Fri-Sun, thanks Apollo.

Reviews:
FIC Radeon 9000 Pro video card on TechSpot.
Koolance EXOS External Liquidcooling System on SystemCooling.
AVC Tundra 2 socketA cooler on 3DXtreme.
Fanner Orbital LK202-25-GW-Y LCD on ExtremeMHz.
Fanner Colour Breeze cooler on PCTechZone.
Cyber Acoustics CA-5001 speakers on PCReview.
Vantec Multi-Function Polis.. err.. Panel on DataFuse.
Heavy Duty Case Handles on OverclockersClub.
Promise Fast Trak SX 4000 RAID controller on Inside-Hardware.
Vantec AeroFlow VA4-C7040 coolers (video review) on 3DGameMan.
Enermax CSX305ILS pre-modded case on BlueSmoke.
Plextor W4824A CDRW on A1-Electronics.
Thermaltake Xaser II 6000A case on HardwareTest.
Thermaltake Volcano 9 heatsink on OCClubCanada.
Spire 5F271B1L3 FalconRock 1 socket cooler on 8balls.



Cantenna Fun! (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 19-November-2002  19:56:18 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Vindaloo and Froodogs have sent in another article in their inimitable style. :) This time, they make a "cantenna" for wireless networking and go for a drive around Perth..


Click for the full article!



NV30 is here... or not quite. (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 19-November-2002  10:24:58 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Typical! As soon as I go to bed, everyone lets fly with their NV30 reviews. Well, actually, they all seem to be "technology previews" using benchmark numbers provided by NVIDIA, rather than "we have a card, here's some benchmarks we took". Seems we won't actually see cards you can buy (anywhere) until February. Maybe today's launch is just to blunt ATI's sword during the pre-Christmas buying rush. Anyway, Nvidia also have some facts and demos available.

Tomshardware has a picture of the card, which looks like a cross between the Ti4400/4600 (PCB) and ATI's R300 (GPU). Note the molex power connector on the end of the card - another R300 similarity, but not too surprising given how much power this thing must draw. THG also have a pic of the cooler on the unit, which seems very similar in concept to Abit's OTES system as seen on their Ti4200 card (review here).

More info on AnandTech, Digit-Life, Bit-Tech, HotHardware, Guru3D, Bjorn3D, Hexus, 3DVelocity, TheRegister, TheInqirer, ExtremeTech, 3DGPU, SharkyExtreme, Tweak3D and FiringSquad.

HardOCP apparently have an article here, but it seems to be down for me at the moment.



Tuesday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 19-November-2002  02:47:05 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Nvidia will be the first to use DDR-II when they announce NV30. More hints here thanks ReaX, here thanks Matex and here thanks Hayne. No reviews yet!

Sciencewhiz noticed that Cray have made the fastest computer in the world, again.

Calindor says that IBM have made crazy-fast transistors, again. :)

Apparently we won't see KT400A or P4X600 until next year.

Cam notes that, in a cheetah vs kangaroo situation, the cheetah wins. :(

Wild spotted these RTA Webcams around Sydney, showing traffic conditions. What we need now is one in my local post office, showing if the queue is stretching out of the shopping centre and down the road before I head down there.

Dan has more letters. Yay.

Tweaktown have a preview of Granite Bay, Intel's upcoming dual-channel DDR chipset. SolidMercury have some info on Gigabyte's offering using this chipset, and so do HWZ.

CargoCult sent in dumbwarnings.com, a site full of, well, dumb warnings found written on stuff.

Cypher says that Atomic have a big list of upcoming games for various platforms and DVD movies.

Tech-Report rounded up a few 760MPX motherboards, for dual SocketA with DDR.

IANAG compared Lite-On burners.. their 40x vs their 48x.

More crazy stuff in the latest ZZZ Online.

Reviews:
Hercules 3D Prophet 9000 Pro Radeon video card on HWZ.
Sound-activated EL wire on BurnOutPC.
Midiman Oxygen 8 midi keyboard by FunnelBC.
CPUfx Z4 watercooling kit on TechSpot.
Zalman 300W PSU on M6.
MSI E7505 Master LS2 DDR dual Xeon server motherboard on 2CPU.
Thermaltake Volcano 9 Coolmod socketA cooler on OCTools.
VIA P4PB400-FL P4X400-based P4 DDR motherboard on OCNZ.
KoolCases Imperial Case on BurnOutPC.
Radeon 9000 Pro video card on BoogleTech.
Vantec Nexus multi-function panel on Virtual-Hideout.
Sunbeam CCFL case lighting on GideonTech.
Sony Cyber-Shot DSC F717 digicam on Digit-Life.
Vantec EZ-Swap drive bay on MonkeyReview.
CoolerMaster IHC-H71 p4 cooler on 3DXtreme.
Albatron PX845PEV Pro P4 DDR motherboard on ExtremeMHz.
Globalwin FSP 82 cooler on TobiTech.
Swiftech MCX462+ socket cooler on ViperLair.
Xoxide X450 aluminium case on IANAG.



Monday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 18-November-2002  02:11:43 (GMT +10) - by Agg

More NV30 hints on TheInq. Still expecting to see it on the 18th (that'd be Monday, today) but that's "the 18th everywhere except Australia", so it'll be 2pm or later by the time we see the reviews, assuming a midnight NDA as usual. DarkVision have a video from NVIDIA, more of the "Are You Ready?" teaser stuff.

TheInq say we're to expect Granite Bay and 533MHz-FSB Xeons today too, thanks Kafka.

Zzapped sent word of the world's biggest liar being crowned.

Henk says DVD players that play mpeg/divx are already out there (in Denmark, anyway).

Tobias says that DreamHack is more likely the biggest LAN/demo party in the world, boasting 5000 people. It's in Sweden.. dang, all the cool stuff is happening in Europe.

MS have some interesting revenue figures posted, thanks Sniper.

Bishy notes this unusual case, being "T-shaped".

Cool article about traffic jam theory on AmaSci, thanks Jani.

Cerberos says there's new Radeon drivers for you ATI folks. Squeeze the last out of it before NV30 gets here! :)

Speaking of which, ComputerBase wonder which benefits more from fast CPU's, Radeon 9700 or GF4 Ti4600. Article is machine-translated from German.

Tim sent in this rant about making Bluetooth working on an iPaq so you can stream music with it.

Computer games make kids smart says the SMH, thanks Christian.

From Domin8r: Just thought you and others might like to see this new mirror perspex that you can buy and ive put in the rear of my case :), also direct from Japan a 660,000 mcd LED that's brighter than a spotlight and from one wall to another in full daylight you can see it on the opposire wall still very brightly :) and no 660,000mcd is not a typo :), needs its own hs to keep it cool and the led runs @ 1 watt. I have a pic of it in my pcdb if anyone wants to see it and the mirror perspex :)

LANStock is on in Melbourne next weekend, says B5Lurker. The Australian Game Developers Conference and Expo is on, also in Melbourne, from the 6th Dec, thanks Aek. Apparently LANFest is on that weekend in Melb too.

Reviews:
Impression IM-21 case on OCHardware.
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card on TweakTown.
Logitech MX700 cordless optical mouse on DesignTechnica.
Prolink PixelView PlayTV tuner box wotsit on TweakTown.
PCMods Blue Cold Cathode and Ultramarine EL Cable on ModTown.
Sparkle Platinum GF4 Ti4600 and Asus V9280S video cards on Digit-Life.
Logitech MX700 cordless optical mouse on PC-Arena.



Folding.. (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 18-November-2002  01:42:05 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Everbody's favourite search engine Google are now Folding via their toolbar system. I have the toolbar installed on my browser - it's very handy - but of course I'd prefer my Folding points to go to the OCAU Team. Google are certainly blasting up the ranks at the moment and will take the #1 place soon, relegating us to 3rd behind HardOCP's team. Stats aside, this is good of course - because the more PC's running Folding, the more scientific work is being performed and hopefully the closer we come to finding cures to diseases etc. You might want to check that you haven't accidentally enabled Google Folding if you use their toolbar, though. You do have to manually enable it, so the chance of accidentally doing it is low, but more details here, thanks StillSouth.

Meanwhile, Tech-Report have an article about how Folding affects system performance when it's running in the background, thanks Bollocks.



Early Sunday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Sunday, 17-November-2002  02:54:49 (GMT +10) - by Agg

More 3.06GHz P4 and HyperThreading stragglers: Bit-Tech, Active-Hardware and TheTechZone.

Perhaps watercooled briefcases aren't as rare as I thought - 'coz Nobes has one too.

Xbit say that NV30 will be called GeForceFX and will be announced officially on Nov 18th (that's Monday). Monday sounds like it will be a big day actually, with a couple of NDA's lifting.

Time Magazine published their best inventions of 2002 list.. some pretty cool gadgets there.

TheTechZone went to the 2002 SEMA Show, which is some kind of car show in Las Vegas.

Tech-Report think we need a new SMP socketA chipset.

Dan's added 4 more coolers to his gargantuan comparison.

Reviews:
Lian-Li PC-402A Mini Flex ATX case on OCrCafe.
LifeView FlyVideo 2000S PCI TV+FM Tuner card on RadiativeNZ.
Nvidia GeForce4 MX440 8X video card on Bench-House.
Gigabyte Maya II Radeon 9700 Pro video card on 3DVelocity.
Thermaltake Xaser II Plus A5000B case on SystemCooling.
Zalman Passive Chipset Cooler on OCIA.
Tyan Tiger i7500 dual Xeon server motherboard on 2CPU.
Gainward PowerPack Ultra/650XP Golden Sample GeForce4 Ti4200 video card on Bjorn3D.
AVC 112C81 socketA cooler on IANAG.
Directron AX-01SLD "Silver Dragon case on ArsTechnica.
PowerLeap PL-iP3/T 1.4GHz CPU upgrade kit on D-Silence.
Verbatim Digital Vinyl CD Media on EnvyNews.
PC Toys PowerMaxx 520W Aluminium PSU on OCAddiction.
AOpen AX4B 533 P4 motherboard with Tube Audio on NeoSeeker.
Samsung Syncmaster 171P LCD display on FutureLooks.
Sky Hawk Jupiter case on EnvyNews.
Tyan Tachyon G9700 Pro video card on TweakUp.
Corsair XMS3200 DDR SDRAM on ExtremeMHz.
Xoxide 6-port Baybus on TheModFathers.
MSI GF4 MX440 8X video card on ViperLair.
Acrylic Fan Grills on BurnOutPC.
Thermaltake Smart Fan 2 on Monster-Hardware.
Kuthtec KTM3000 copper core heatsink on FrostyTech.
Corsair XMS3500C2 DDR SDRAM (video review) on 3DGameMan.
MicroDesk Essential 200B Desknote on ExtremeOC.
PC Decals DIY Casebadge kit.
Thermaltake Smart Fan 2 on CaseJunkiez.
Tri-Colour Cold Cathode case lighting on CaseJunkiez.
Epox 4SDA5+ SiS648-based P4 DDR motherboard on PCStats.
Gigabyte GA-7VAX KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on TechSeekers.
Chieftec Matrix Fulltower Case on Virtual-Hideout.



Watercooled Briefcase? (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 15-November-2002  20:07:28 (GMT +10) - by Agg

We've all seen briefcase PC's before, I'm sure. However, a watercooled one is much more interesting..


Click for the PCDB entry!



Friday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 15-November-2002  11:14:46 (GMT +10) - by Agg

More 3.06GHz and Hyperthreading stuff: PCWorld, AcesHardware, SourceMagazine and VR-Zone. Surely that's the last of them now. :)

A British hacker has been accused of hacking into nearly 100 US Military and NASA systems, more info here and here, thanks Torana.

Firemoth spotted nuclear powered laptops on the horizon, amazing stuff. Research scientists in ARC's advanced materials business unit have constructed a working demonstration unit able to power a small electric fan. The fuel cell consists of a small, hollow ceramic tube that is two millimeters in diameter and two centimeters in length.

PCMag have updated their benchmarks.. just when my order of their last lot of CD's arrived. Grr!

The rumours about AMD cutting 2000 jobs are true, it seems.

Jimx sent in a mind-wobbling article about mirror matter, with the current expert being based in Melbourne.

A few things about Battlefield 1942 - the v1.2 patch isn't here yet, so neither are the modding tools that will come with it. However, EA have announced a bunch of mods already, with links on their site. There's also apparently at least 1 official expansion pack on the way. I've heard it referred to (by vendors) as either "The Southern Front" (text-search for "battlefield") or "The Road to Rome". Not sure if that's just a change of title or two separate expansion packs. Anyhoo, they are non-free, you have to buy them in a box apparently. Also, NVIDIA have set up 10 BF1942 servers for people to play on.

David noticed more info about enabling HyperThreading on other P4s (not just the 3.06GHz part) on overclockers.com.

Whitey Ford sent in a site where you can make your own George Bush speech. In case that's not funny enough, try this calendar with things he actually said.

dcycloo noticed this flash portfolio.. lots of interesting little flash demo things. Some are kinda creepy. :)

CD media that looks like vinyl records! Very retro, thanks Paul.

From PostModern: The Geek Food Brewers are organising a brew-off for February. Interested brewers should post in this thread.

BetaNews compare a mini-PC and iMac, thanks daDude.

ORG2000 says that there's a Swedish Overclocking Championship coming up soon and The Party is going to be on again soon in Denmark.. pretty sure that's the biggest LAN/demo party in the world.

Interesting Forum Threads:
Best movie scene to show off surround sound in Audio Visual.
Quad Intel CPU motherboard in SMP and Clustering.
What Hoopstar found inside a VCR in Modding & Electronics.
Mmmm, kangaroo in Geek Food.
Popcorn Tree? in Geek Food.
Bike Q's (info for new motorcyclists) in Motoring.

Reviews:
XtremeDDR DDR400 SDRAM on ViperLair.
Corsair XMS3500 CL2 DDR SDRAM on DeviantPC.
Thermaltake LED Fan Grille on Modtown.
ABIT BE7-RAID P4 DDR motherboard on MBReview.
Matrix Orbital GLK12232-25-SM Graphical LCD Display on PC-Arena.



More 3.06GHz P4 / HyperThreading links.. (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 15-November-2002  01:10:47 (GMT +10) - by Agg

If you haven't had enough yet: Tech-Report, GamersDepot, Accelenation and HardwareUnlimited. For sheer comedy value, try these two, machine-translated from German: HardTecs4U and Hartware. However the last word is not yet here probably spoken, i.e. whether exactly this radiator is contained in the boxing D-C versions later, it is not well-known yet. Indeed.


Friday morning. (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 15-November-2002  00:29:44 (GMT +10) - by Darkness'

Quick post them i'm off down the coast for a weekend away.

Enfz sent in this cool link to an upcoming DVD player that will play mpeg 4 among other things.

There is an interesting article up which addresses a few questions about optical mice. "Why do all optical mice have red LED's? Can I change them? How will it affect it's performance?"

Derry has done up a nice page about Telstra's browser incompatible pages.

m0r4h3us sent in this article about the BIOS unlocked KT400 boards. "EPOX RECENTLY announced a BIOS for its KT400 boards, branded as the 8K9A, that offers a feature for those wanting to overclocking Athlons without changing the processor itself."

LordWarspite spotted the DirectX 9.0 Beta. Lombers also spotted ATi Catalyst drivers (beta) and demos for DX9.

Here is a guide to tweaking 3dmark 2001 SE.

Here is how to spot if your son is a computer hacker!

Interesting look into how the Google search engine works.

Ok.. There is no real way to hype this one up other than to say Star Wars Credit Cards!

EJCRUZ spotted this insanely cool engine styled PC case. To much info to list, has to be seen to be believed.

Apparently, CD copyright protection is useless! "The technology built into some Cd's to stop people copying them is futile, according to a computer scientist who has put today's anti-piracy systems under the microscope."

Reviews :
Kuthtec KTM2001 Honeycomb Copper Core Heatsink Review from frostytech
Yamaha CRWF1 CD Recorder @ extrememhz
COMPEX NP16 802.11b Wireless Router Bundle and WLU11A USB Wireless Adapter Reviews by futurelooks
Albatron PX845PEV Pro Pentium 4 Motherboard Reviewed at pcstats
Mirrored Fan Grilles @ inside hardware
Lite-On LTR-52246S from envynews
Logitech Elite Keyboard from envynews
Hitman2: Silent Assassin by 8ballshardware
Creative Nomad Jukebox ZEN Review by extrememhz
Albatron Geforce 4 MX 480 from monkeyreview
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ processor @ HWZ
ATI RADEON 9500, 9700 and Gigabyte MAYA II RADEON 9500 Video Cards Review at Digit-Life
Cenatek Rocket Drive by SilentPCReview
Abit KD7-RAID Motherboard from 3dgameman
Tocools Regal Pentium 4 Heatsink Review at frostytech
Thermaltake 420APD Silent Purepower PSU from A1-electronics
X450 Aluminum Case from the techzone
Fujitsu MAP HDD Review @ xbitlabs
Corsair 512mb XMS PC3200 from Club OC'er
Compex NetPassage 16 ADSL/Cable router @ guru3d
ABIT IT7 MAX2 Motherboard from extremeoverclocking
Nanotherm Silver XTC Thermal Grease by 3dvelocity
Vantec Aeroflow HSF @ OCwarehouse
Iomega Predator 40x12x40x at HWZ
MSI G4Ti4200-VTP8X TI-4200(MS-8889) from amdworld
Sunbeam 12 Blue Cold Cathode Kit at OCers Club Canada
Coolermaster ATC-110b Aluminum Case @ OC addiction



3GHz and HyperThreading from Intel! (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 14-November-2002  23:50:43 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Intel announced their 3.06GHz P4 CPU today. This is interesting not only because it passes an impressive speed milestone, but also because it's the first desktop chip with their HyperThreading technology. Reviews on AnandTech, HardOCP, Digit-Life, HardWareZone, Hexus, X-Bit, TweakTown, FiringSquad, HotHardware, SimHQ, GamePC and TomsHardware.

Interestingly, VR-Zone have discovered you can enable hyperthreading on all Northwood-B P4s, by turning it on in the BIOS on supported boards. So, not just the 3.06GHz chips have it, apparently.



ASUS 880 TV Tuner and Capture Card (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 14-November-2002  23:27:09 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Today we have a review of the ASUS 880 TV Tuner and Capture card. In some ways, this little card manages to be better than a dedicated TV and VCR.. read on to find out why!


Click for the full review!



More OCAU Weekend Pics! (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 13-November-2002  22:16:38 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Sabretooth took a fair few pics on the weekend also, and I've mirrored them on our server. Not too many of bowling or gokarting, but plenty of paintball and the gathering. Check 'em out! If you want to discuss them or ask questions about them, please do so in this thread.

Bowling
Paintball
Gokarting
The Gathering



Wednesday Midday (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 13-November-2002  11:59:02 (GMT +10) - by Agg

One_nil sent in some info about the PlayStation3, here and info on the main processor here. It will have the ability to do north of 1 trillion mathematical calculations per second, roughly 100 times more than a single Pentium 4 chip running at 2.5GHz.

Digit-Life have their hardware digest for October posted.

Dan's added a couple more coolers to his comparison, namely the Cool Tank Breeze for P4 and Twin Breeze for SocketA, both made by Coolink.

Accelenation have a preview of Doom III, with a fair bit of 3D theory and gaming history thrown in for good measure. Everything else with screenshots of Doom III has been yanked off the web pretty quickly, so we'll see how long this stays up.

Jobbers wondered if we'd featured cwaugh's amazing castle PC on the front page yet. We have, and judging by the Page Views count it's been linked from a few other sites too - but it's worth a look if you missed it.

HardwareAccelerated have an interview with David Kirk from NVIDIA. HotHardware previewed their upcoming Quadro 4 XL workstation product.

Thor noticed this article about Palladium over on TheRegister. Palladium is not secure Windows. Not exactly. Nor is it a standalone OS. Not exactly. Manferdelli presents it as a sort of parallel OS that is securely ringfenced from Windows, but which doesn't run all the time, and which actually you wouldn't want to run all the time.

Digit-Life have a roundup of SiS Xabre 400 video cards.

This has been rumoured for a while, but Xbit have confirmed that the AthlonXP 2600+ and 2700+ have appeared on the Japanese market with a 333MHz FSB. This is interesting, because the XP2600+ was originally released (as per our review) with the older 266MHz FSB. It worth to mention that there are very few 2600+ chips with 266MHz FSB support all around the world at this time, hence, it may eventually appear that AMD will offer its products with this model number only for the 333MHz system bus.

8Balls have compared DDR memory from 3 of the big hitters: Corsair, Crucial and Mushkin.

The forecast for those wanting ADSL seems to be improving, with Telstra apparently looking at making it work over the dreaded RIM lines soonish, thanks DJ-Studd.

mjcrow sent in RefreshForce, which apparently UNIVERSALLY and PERMANENTLY fixes the Windows 2000/XP refresh rate problem. Good if you're stuck in a low refresh in games.

OCNZ have a 5-way roundup of KT400 motherboards, for socketA AMD CPUs and DDR memory.

We've seen this before, but it's got to be the ultimate timewaster.. FHM's list of the Top 100 Greatest Online Games with links. I can hear the productivity dropping already.. thanks DrDevil.

Interesting Forum Threads:
Technical Advancement's Effect on the Game Industry in Games.
Fuel-injected 351 Clevo in Motoring.
Blue Orb on Motorcycle in Modding & Electronics.
Help! Overheating! in Motoring.
Making of the Big Black Radiator in Extreme Cooling.
What games are people playing? in Games.

Reviews:
Lian Li PC35 aluminium case on OCIA.
FanStorm Deluxe fanbus on KepTech.
Kuthec KTM2101 CHAOS Copper Core Heatsink on FrostyTech.
Color Cases X-Wing 101 case on FutureLooks.
Intel Pentium 4 2.66GHz CPU on PCStats.
Wet and Chilly Chips AMD-XP watercooling system on ViperLair.
MSI KT3 Ultra 2 KT333-based socketA DDR motherboard on PCHardware.
Taisol Heatpipe CMK702151A socket cooler on ForumOC.
Enermax EG465P-VE power supply on Inside-Hardware.
Vantec Tornado 80mm fan on EnvyNews.
Logitech MX500 Optical Mouse on EnvyNews.
Samsung 152B 15inch LCD screen on RatedPC.



Tuesday Evening #2 (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 12-November-2002  18:11:16 (GMT +10) - by Agg

From Eluial: Linux.conf.au 2003 is Australia's national Linux conference; it will be held at The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia, from Wednesday 22nd to Saturday 25th January 2003. This is the fourth conference of its kind in Australia (following L.C.A. 2002 in Brisbane, 2001 in Sydney, and CALU 1999 in Melbourne). Also, Dave noticed this storage networking exhibition on in Sydney soon.

There's pics (and non-english text) of a watercooled PSU on InsaneWB.

Xbit have examined the effect of CPU power on graphics card performance. Their article deals with the investigation of ATI RADEON 9700 PRO performance in Intel Pentium 4 and AMD Athlon XP based systems of different levels.

Isengard noticed this linux security howto for power-users. Ars-Technica, meanwhile, have a wireless networking security guide posted, thanks dave.

Aselabs have an easy case modding guide. Slightly more complicated is this project to add an indiglo clock to your PC on GideonTech. BurnOutPC squeezed an entire PC into an old scanner, while Monster-Hardware built a lego PC.

Oosh reminds us not to mess with engineers.. A reclusive pensioner who booby-trapped his home with the intention of killing his estranged family, died himself when he inadvertently triggered one of his own devices.

HWZ have compared AGP 4x to AGP 8x.. this is the 2nd part of their article, taking the newly released NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x for a ride on the SiS648 platform.

The price war between AMD and Intel continues to lower prices, thanks Silent Remorse.

From Sin22: Tt SubZero4G featuring a TEC. What will they think of next.... rather have a Swifty MCX462+T which is reviewed here.

More letters and answers from Dan.

GotApex compared three SiS648-based motherboards for P4's, from ASUS, Shuttle and ABIT.

Mark spotted this pretty cool project, the Thunder Table.. a coffee-table with a monster subwoofer built into it.

Digit-Life have a digest of some recent happenings in the mobile communications world.

nBK sent word that Telstra may be fixing the ADSL problems that many people have been complaining about recently.

Tori Lee says that the current Cook-Off in the Geek Food forum is for a photogenic smorgasbord.. so get your camera into the kitchen I guess. :)

Reviews:
Vantec Stealth 520W PSU on VR-Zone.
SkyHawk Jupiter case (video review) on 3DGameMan.
MS Office USB Keyboard on TheModFathers.
GSM-International 350W Aluminium PSU on BurnOutPC.
DangerDen Maze3 watercooling kit on ClubOC.
Intel D845GEBV2 i845E-based P4 DDR motherboard on Hexus.
Belkin USB2.0 Upgrade Kit on 3DVelocity.
Tocools Novasonic Heatsink on FrostyTech.
BenQ H200 20.1-inch LCD TV on HWZ.
Plextor PlexWriter 48x24x48A CDRW drive on MikhailTech.
Prostar 5694 gaming notebook on LiquidNinjas.
Sharp Zaurus PDA on DesignTechnica.
Plextor PlexWriter 48x24x48A CDRW drive on HotHardware.



Tuesday Evening (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 12-November-2002  17:30:23 (GMT +10) - by Agg

I want to do paintball again too! But.. perhaps in Winter next time. :)

A couple of nice PCDB entries: Glenndini has a custom perspex case set up with some blue lighting while Domin8r's is super-shiny, using automotive 2-pack colour-changing paint.

Electronic Frontiers Australia have published a very interesting analysis of the effectiveness of the Govt's internet censorship system in Australia. The estimated $2.7M annual cost of the scheme is difficult to justify given the limited outcomes achieved.

From Sniper: some people may be interested in finding out their Grandpa/ma's service details in the 2nd world war. I found my Grandpa's records which I never knew before.

With all the talk of terrorism lately, even cute furry animals are getting in on the act, thanks sw1tch.

Apparently Korea will be rolling out broadband to all households, thanks Sabretooth.

Volenti spotted this funny hardforum thread about breaking stuff.. some strong language.

There's a new search engine for hardware reviews.

SGI have a new compact supercomputer in the pipeline, thanks Alfredo.

Timewasters: CurveBall from Scott and last man standing (cricket) from Adam.

Most users ever online was 529 on 11th November 2002 at 10:25 PM. Woohoo!

Interesting Forum Threads:
Mobile Phone / CD Player - Haunted or Feature? in The Pub.
What about an overclockers dinner party? in Geek Food.
What was your first online game? in Games.
What's the best backup system? in Newbie Lounge.
Is it bad to push a CD tray in? in Newbie Lounge.

Reviews:
ExtremeDDR PC3500+ DDR SDRAM on MBReview.
VLS Lost-In-Space LCD display on KepTech.
Thermalright SK7 socket cooler on OCIA.
Trust 3000P 5.1 Speakers on JSI.
Xoxide X-Rack Neon CD Tower on SubZeroTech.
Lian-Li PC6087 aluminium case on IANAG.
ECS L7VTA KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on HWZ.
AquaXtreme-XP SocketA watercooling kit on OCAddiction.
Fanbus Controller on Bjorn3D.
Antec Performance Plus 1080AMG case on VR-Zone.



Forum Emails (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 12-November-2002  15:54:11 (GMT +10) - by Agg

There was a problem with our server sending emails for the last few days - this would explain why you didn't receive any "someone has replied to your thread" notifications if you requested any. Also, if you registered for the forums in the last few days you won't have received a confirmation email or it may have been delayed. Change your email in UserCP (to something else, then back to the proper value) and it will send you the confirmation email again.


Email Competition Winners! (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 12-November-2002  13:22:10 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Time to announce the winners of the email competition we had running for the last couple of weeks or so. We had originally planned to have the draw at The Gathering last Sunday, but due to a lack of internet access at the venue and the requirement to check if the winning entries were using free emails etc, we had the draw during a small get-together for the senior admins at my place on Saturday night. We put all the entries (4300 or so) into a spreadsheet, randomised the spreadsheet and then drew numbers from a cup in order to choose entries from the spreadsheet.

Anyway, the net result is:

The Grand Prize, a complete Pentium 4 PC including monitor and speakers from Computer Alliance and Intel was won by (forum member) "jobaby", from Perth in WA. Congratulations to her and special thanks to CA and Intel for putting up such an awesome prize!

There were two second prizes - the first was an X-Micro GeForce 4 Impact Ti 4200 64MB video card with TV-Out from Altech Computers which was won by Spidey_Sense, also a forum user. The other second prize, being an MSI EZNow PDA and 2x MSI BlueTooth USB Transcievers from Plus Corporation were won by Rob Hogarth.

The third prizes were won by Dennis Behrend, Bubbablair, Michael Huynh, Natalie Murray and Gennady Kotliar. They'll score a random goodie from the AggCave which could be a Razor Boomslang 1000 (ex-review), some cool VIA merchandise ("leatherman"-type tool or pen with laser pointer in it) from TheDDRZone or a 2CoolPC system cooler (ex review).

I will contact the winners via email now. So, congrats to all who won and thanks to those who provided prizes - and of course, thanks to all who entered! I'll be sending an email to the entire list of entrants with the results soon, but when I work out how to get the mailinglist software working properly I'll start sending out proper newsletters.



Tuesday Morning. (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 12-November-2002  01:22:33 (GMT +10) - by Darkness'

I want to do paintball again! Ahem.. ok...

iiNet has apparently extended its coverage to QLD. So all you 'maroons' can sign up.

Dan has taken a look at the The Loud Speaker Kit M4's. They look pretty good. He has also been busy writing about "magnetic shielding, very large hard drives, digital cameras with true RGB pixels, a network problem solution that won't work, credit card verification numbers, and the possible electromagnetic evils of water cooling pumps." He also reviewed this weird.. sphere.. thing.

There is a program out now by the name of TestLAB. It's basically a diagnostic program for your PC.

Well it seems Microsoft Office Service Pack 3 could be almost out.

Buggered? Been using the PC all day? "Researchers in Japan have scientifically documented what dwellers of Dilbertville have known for years: Prolonged daily computer use can make you sore and sap your strength, energy and motivation.". Really.. I hadn't noticed!

There is an article up on thermal measuring which looks at the problems of temperature measuring and some solutions. If you're in that kinda mood, you might wanna check out this article on how make your own Cat5e cable.

The second BMW series flick has been released. Official version here. This one's called 'Ticker'. Telstra mirror and Ausgamers mirror. This one is just as cool.

Mr Lan is an up and coming LAN in the Monash Region in Melbourne. Details and registration here. Check it out if your down there.

Apparently, AmigaOneG3-SE and AmigaOne-XE Systems are now on sale.

Panadol spotted this backyard machine-gun. Might give you something to do up there in toowoomba mate :)

King of cool (ok...) found this Formula Ford chassis F1 simulator on ebay.

There is a roundup of Swiftech HSF's here.

Reviews :
CoolTech Pro Kit reviewed by burnout PC.
Hercules 3D Prophet 9700 Pro @ digit life
SiS 648: Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, Shuttle @ explosive labs
Sound Activated CCFL Kit Review from monkeyreview
IA EPIA-800 Mini-ITX Motherboard Review @ M:6 Hardware
Chaintech ZENITH 7NJS nForce2 Review by vrzone
IWILL P4HT-S 845PE Reviewed at vrzone
Vantec Thermoflow Case Fans @ OCedCafe
Matrix Orbital BLK202A Serial Character LCD @ 3dgameman
Thermalright SK7 heatsink @ A1 Electronics
Pioneer DVR-A05 and TOSHIBA SD-R5002 DVD-R reviews by cdrinfo



OCAU Weekend thanks and results. (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 11-November-2002  21:46:13 (GMT +10) - by Darkness'

What a weekend! Here are some of the results if you haven't seen the official thread.


Click to have a look at a few of the published pictures
.


Paintball
Major Prizes : Lian-Li Aluminum Mouse pads from AusPC Market.
Team Comp was won by the Blue 'Admin' Team. woot! Decker was voted the 'best' paintballer and Torment won the 'Ouch' award. Check the forum thread for that pic.

TenPin Bowling
Major Prize: 256MB PC2700 "Platinum" Corsair RAM from RealTime Systems. Won by DaveQB

Go Carts
Major Prize: Hardcano 3 & 4-Led Fan from David and Karma, was won by Deadeye. Wolfy won the 'best crash/spin out' prize.

The Gathering
OCAU Quiz Major Prize: MSI EZNow PDA, from Plus Corporation was won by Redback
Daytona Competition Major Prize: 2 x MSI USB Bluetooth transceivers from Plus Corporation was won by Tarrasque
Cardboard Case Mod Major Prize: FanStorm, Fan Controller, Deluxe Kit was won by Rik. Runner Up Prizes went to: Mitch01 and Linchpin.

The winners for the OCAU Email Competition were also announced at The Gathering, but Agg will be posting more details about that shortly. Check the official thread for more prize info.

Thanks again for everyone who turned up and i'm sure you all had a great few days.


Well, maybe Agg should stick to PC's
:)



Early Monday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 11-November-2002  00:34:15 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Wow, what a huge weekend. :) I'm feeling pretty dead at the end of it all and tomorrow I'm out all day, so pics, prizewinners and other details will have to wait until Monday night or Tuesday. In the meantime here's some news catchup, mostly reviews for now.. more tomorrow.

The ban on R-rated computer games in Australia will stay, it seems.

AMDMB compared the KT400 and nForce2 socketA DDR motherboard chipsets.

From Goofy[HSK]: as of today - well it says tomorrow - the latest whql certified nvidia drivers are 40.72.. get them here for 2k/XP and here for Win9x, thanks BulletRat.

Tweaktown compared some SiS648 motherboards P4 DDR motherboards from MSI, Gigabyte and ECS.

From Andrew: this is a Japanese website of the user building a entirely passive cooling setup no fans whatsoever, and he makes his own homemade heatsinks for cooling the CPU and has made his own HDD enclosure using some seriously original ideas. It's geocities, so if you get an "over quota" error, try again later.

Reviews:
Xoxide X10 Blackbox case on AseLabs.
PC Power & Cooling's "Solid Steel Tower" case on ExtremeOC.
CC Stealth-X case on GideonTech.
FIC AN19E KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on VR-Zone.
Jab-Tech Crystal Clear LED Fan on 3DXtreme.
ABIT IT7 Max 2 P4 DDR motherboard on Accelenation, our review here.
Acer Travelmate 270 Notebook on Digit-Life.
Ahanix dboX case on OCClub.
Albatron Medusa Ti4200P Turbo video card on 3DVelocity.
Romtech Trios II PX-920T2 drive selector on OCTools.
Cooler Master AFP-U01 front bezel on SystemCooling.
Leadtek Winfast K7NCR18D-Pro nForce2-based socketA DDR motherboard on Bjorn3D.
Matrix Orbital LK202-25-WB-V 2x20 LCD on Heatseekerz.
Dynamat Sound Damping kit on RatedPC, our review here.
Vantec Aeroflow socketA cooler on ViperLair.
Palm Zire PDA on BurnOutPC.
Xoxide X300 midtower case on RipNet.
Samsung Syncmaster 171mp LCD monitor on GideonTech.
X-Clear Plexiglass PC case on OCrCafe.
Logitech Cordless Duos mouse on OCProjects.
Xoxide X40 BlackBox case on GeekShelter.
Gainward Ultra650TV Golden Sample GF4 Ti4200 video card on Guru3D.
Vantec Aeroflow socketA cooler on FrostyTech.
Vantec Nexus multifunction panel (video review) on 3DGameMan.
Samsung 211MP TFT LCD Monitor on MonkeyReview.
pcToys cold cathode case-lighting kit on SystemCooling.
Skyhawk Galaxy B1 case on Subzerotech.
AthlonXP unlocking kit on ViperLair.
Maxtor Fireball 3 HDD on Xbit.
Logitech Z-540 4.1 speakers on DWPG.
Corsair XMS3500 C2 DDR SDRAM on Hexus.
AOpen AX45-8X SiS648 P4 DDR motherboard on Active-Hardware.
Vantec CP4C7040 P4 copper cooler on FrostyTech.
CaseWraps decoration on OCClubCanada.
AMD AthlonXP 2700+ socketA CPU on AMDWorld.
Xoxide LL12 "stealth" case on OCPrices.
Albatron Ti4200P Turbo video card on AMDPower.



Lack of News! (0 Comments) (link)
 Sunday, 10-November-2002  11:28:19 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Sorry for the lack of news - as you've probably guessed we're all off at the OCAU Sydney Weekend doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Will try to get some news posted tonight for you interstaters. :)


Friday Morning (just) (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 8-November-2002  00:04:22 (GMT +10) - by Agg

News might get a little flaky over the next few days, wot with the OCAU Weekend and all..

Fujitsu has some hard drive problems.. about 4.9 million of them, thanks Fishman.

Apparently computer games aren't so bad after all.

Voodoo spotted that hacker-speak is becoming more mainstream.

Deej sent in this article about a (funny if it happens to someone else) security problem with wireless keyboards.

HotHardware compared a couple of KT400 motherboards from Soyo and Shuttle.

Meanwhile, Tech-Report compared multi-monitor graphics cards.

TheInq note that AMD may lay off a lot of staff soon.

Eluial noticed IBM using enhanced pixie dust to improve storage density.

There's another ZZZ Online out.

Reviews:
Lian Li PC-6089A aluminium case on HWZ.
Koolance Exos watercooling system on OCModShop.
Bytecc Aluminium Laptop Cooler on ClubOC.
Xoxide X450 case on OCWareHouse.
Spire 5R266B1H3 copper-core cooler on FrostyTech.



Thursday (0 Comments) (link)
 Thursday, 7-November-2002  21:48:56 (GMT +10) - by Torment

The Inquirer is reporting that Intel is focusing on the Overclocking/Modder MArket in the next up-coming Motherboard with the Springdale (P & G) Chipsets.

And the biggest surprise of all, according to the sources, will be a motherboard codenamed "Rapid City", which is likely to include an array of overclocking functions and come in a black PCB just to excite case modders out there.It apparently comes with ICH5, and so support for Serial ATA. And the same sources claim Intel is also showing its ideas for a "new" kind of case to prevent build up of heat. This includes a big blow hole complete with a 60 millimetre tube going directly to the CPU fan and so distributing cool air straight onto the heatsink.

On the other side of the Chip Industry, DigiTimes.com is reporting that AMD are considering extending its 2600+ XP's to 333Mhz FSB which the reported current 2700+ & 2800+ alredy have. More info on DigiTimes.com.

Looks like Palm is back, well according to HardwareZone it is. HardwareZone has a look at the new Palm Tungsten T. Which sports a new ARM processor by Texas Instruments, a dual-modeslider design and the 5-way Navigator. For more info head over to the HardwareZone.com website.

Sin22 sent us in this link which looks look Nvidia Mania's Day which talks about the NV30. Its in another language (other than English) but the pictures look great ! :)

OCAddiction have a review on the QPower Water-cooled Case with MCW40. Basically its a case with everything you need for watercooling..... more info over @ OCAddiction.com

Kerridwyn sent this in the mailbag the other day. It’s a Computer Engineered into a desk. Looks quite good from the pictures on the site (IMO), well worth a look. The Dual LCD Monitors look rather sexy as well :)

Hexus.net have a review on ABIT's IT7-MAX2 v2.0 i845PE Motherboard to have a look at. Following tradition and looking at the specifications ABIT has included all the bells and whistles in this Mobo. More info @ Hexus.net



OCAU Weekend - Final Details! (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 6-November-2002  20:02:29 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Only a few days until the fun starts! From Wolfy: Email confirmation of payments have been sent to all OCAU Weekend Participants.

At least all those people who have registered and paid. If you believe you should have received one of these emails, but did not, please contact me.

You will need to print out the email and bring it as 'proof of payment' to each of the OCAU Weekend events that you have registered and paid for. Please ensure that you also bring appropriate ID, and everything else you need for each of the Events.



Wednesday Midday (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 6-November-2002  12:39:00 (GMT +10) - by Agg

From petercr: The Overclockers & Folding family grew by one last night with the birth of Joanna Rose Craddy to proud parents Lindy & Peter (petercr). Joanna weighed in at 4.04kg, was 53cm in length and comes complete with her own BIOS, expandable storage system and processor that will out-grow Moore's Law. Joanna was also the reason we started Folding and today co-incided with breaking the 2300 point mark... There's a piccie here. Congrats to you both. :)

Our SETI@Home Team just breezed past 500,000 units completed.. well done guys, thanks RobsGT4.

People with a bucket of water perched on top of their PC always make me nervous..

arasta sent in these mind-bending winamp plugins and screensavers.. free, too.

Kawasaki's MotoGP factory team will have two Australian riders in the 2003 season.. Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt, thanks PsyKo Billy.

Shiny shiny waterblocks from Rawiri.

Complaining about Telstra seems to be almost a national passtime.. but it could be worse.. you could live in Ireland.

Win some PC carry-straps on OCrCafe. Much more excitingly, win y'self some VapoChill goodness on their site. Or, some home-grown goodies in our own contest.

ComputerBase have a (machine-translated from German) article here about getting the Asus P4B533 to run its memory at DDR355. They say with most i845 Boards it is nearly impossible to clock the Memory higher than 133MHz without extensive modification. Our review of the ABIT IT7 Max 2 shows it as a simple option in the BIOS.

Draffa noted this QGL thread about a petition to get an R18+ category for games in Australia. While I'm usually one to scoff at petitions, particularly online ones, the Assessment of Public Submissions on the Discussion Paper and Draft Revised Guidelines that was released earlier in the year made pariticular mention of a petition that was submitted during last year's Classification Review, taking note of the comments submitted with the petition.

EliteGuild wonder if dual monitors are worth it.. thanks Dave.

Dan's gotten more letters and answered them. A single PC doesn't have the heat output of even a small fan heater, but two or three PCs kept on all the time will be enough to keep most rooms comfortably warm, cost no more to do it than an electric heater of the same power would, and be able to do much more interesting things with the electricity on the way.

TweakTown compared a couple of i845PE motherboards from Gigabyte and ASUS.

Sciby noticed the US Army using lasers to shoot stuff down.

Interesting Forum Threads:
Mandrake 9 is great for newbies! in Other Operating Systems.
Samurize Help Thread in General Software.
Tips & Tricks for Win2K Gaming in Windows Operating Systems.
Battlefield 1942 Tweaks, Fixes, Hints and Tips in Games.
Current surround formats on receivers/preamps in Audio Visual.

Reviews:
Lian Li PC-63A case on OCOnline.
Fanner Coolers on Tech-PC.
Samsung SW232B 32x10x40x CDRW drive on AllTechBox.
Soltek SL-74FRV KT400-based socketA DDR motherboard on 3DExtreme.
D-Link Wireless Products on Virtual-Hideout.
Atechdigilog ADUFE35W USB 2.0/Firewire enclosure on BurnOutPC.
Chaintech A-G442 GF4 MX440 64MB video card on TweakersZone.
Albatron PX845E P4 motherboard on Accelenation.
GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x video chipset on HWZ.
Thermalright SK6+ cooler on ClubOC.
Akasa PAX.mate sound dampening stuff on TheTechZone.



Winbond DDR400 Mega Test! (0 Comments) (link)
 Wednesday, 6-November-2002  02:45:52 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Chainbolt has tested a batch of TwinMOS sticks using Winbond DDR400 memory modules. Of course, he pushes them to the limit and makes some interesting observations..


Click for the full article!



Competition Reminder (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 5-November-2002  23:00:44 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Two large boxes arrived today.. containing, of course, the Grand Prize in our current contest - a full 2.53GHz P4 PC including monitor and speakers from Computer Alliance. Smaller prizes include stuff from Altech Computers and Plus Corporation. All you need is a non-free email address, so enter now!!


Folding@Home (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 5-November-2002  22:02:27 (GMT +10) - by Agg

OCAU still has one of the leading teams in this distributed computing project. It uses spare CPU cycles to generate information about how proteins "fold", which may lead to cures for cancer, parkinsons disease and other illnesses. Even when you're using your PC the CPU is usually almost idle - so consider getting it to work for the good of mankind! More info on our OCAU Folding Page, this forum thread and our Team OCAU forum. If you're thinking of loading it up on some work or school PC's, make sure you have permission to do so.


Review Tuesday (0 Comments) (link)
 Tuesday, 5-November-2002  21:10:06 (GMT +10) - by Torment

PSU & Housing:
Vertiglow 420 Watt PSU on Nexus Hardware
CoolMax Taurus 550W PSU on System Cooling
SkyHawkUSA Galaxy PSR4616B1 Case on MonkeyReview
Lian Li PC-9300 Aluminum PC Case on 3DGameman
GlobalWin GAT001 Case on MadShrimps
Aspire Turbo Gamer ATXA2ESW Aluminum Case on Overclocker Club Canada

Misc:
SanDisk Ultra ImageMate Flash Media Reader on EnvyNews
Sony DRU-500A DVD-R/+R Burner as seen on Slashdot
Belkin Bluetooth USB Adaptor on OCAddiction
ASUS L2B Notebook on Digit-Life
Bluetake POKE 2 Bluetooth USB Adapter on Technoyard
Seagate Cheetah X15 36LP U320 HDD on Xbitlabs
Lite-On 52x24x52x CD-RW Burner on HardwareZone

Cooling:
Thermalright SK6+ Heatsink on ipkonfig
DangerDen GeForce 4 waterblock on PureOc
Xoxide Grills on Dansdata
Swiftech QuietPower FS020 Water Cooling System on Hexus
Jab-tech.com Quad LED Fans on ExtensionTech
ThermalTake Volcano 9 Cooler on Lollan

Motherboards
Intel D845GEBV2 DesktopMotherboard on Beyond3D
MSI i845PE Max2-FIR Motherboard on ViperLair
Shuttle AK37GTR KT400 MotherBoard on A1-Electronics
Soltek SL-75FRV KT400 Motherboard on Overclockers NZ

Video Cards:
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro on OCPrices
ATi All-In-Wonder RADEON 9700 Pro on HotHardware
Leadtek A180 MyVIVO on Tech-PC
ABIT Siluro GF4 Ti4200 OTES on Xbit

Sorry for not posting earlier in the day. I had to do some real-life work to support my computer habits ! ;)



Monday Midday (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 4-November-2002  12:13:33 (GMT +10) - by Agg

The "Thoroughbred-B" cored AthlonXP's seem to be maturing into excellent chips for overclocking. We reviewed the XP2600+ a few months ago and our unexciting results were similar to many elsewhere at the time. However, since then the yields must be improving because we're seeing more and more stories of high overclocks from 2400+ chips etc. Of course, the fact that people can actually buy them now is probably helping. :) XtremeSystems have an article here and Dave sent in this (babelfished from German) article. More results (WCPUID shots only) here on VR-Zone.

Wired have a couple of articles about Mac modding.. this one with a few projects from around the world and this one focussing on the Japanese scene. Kusa spotted another article about iBook modding.

AusGamers have a couple of interesting new game demos available.. Mafia and Platoon, thanks risesies.

GideonTech have a guide to colouring plastics with vinyl dye.

TheHardWire reviewed some sound-dampening stuff from Akasa. Similar concept to the Dynamat Extreme kit that Sciby reviewed for us a few days ago.. unfortunately, it seems to perform the same too.

Mibberz found a guide to cooling your HDD.. the insides.. with a rifle. It's been done before, but this one is fairly impressive.

This guy squeezed 2 supercoolers into one PC.. thanks Mike.

OCHardware want to show you how to test your PSU voltages.

Dysfunc says there's some kind of huge secret being revealed on 8th March 2003.. someone's been watching a few too many X-files re-runs.

They made a temp-controlled fan box over on Spodes.

From Dave: Voice activated mouse invented, building a home network, DIY satellite speakers and a Ti4600 voltage mod.

OCClub updated their Iceberg 1 watercooling kit review.. with some info about the reservoir cracking, uh-oh.

Tech-PC have an article about PC cooling.. with air and water.

Interesting Forum Threads:
Article about old-school Amiga scene in The Pub.
Informative Guides - Read Me! in Overclocking and Hardware.
Who to turn to, for help modding your case in Modding & Electronics.
Case fan directions? in Modding & Electronics.
Radeon 9000 vs Ti4200 in Video Cards.
What version of Intel Inf Chipset Drivers? in Intel hardware.

Reviews:
Temp-controlled heatsinks on SilentPCReview.
Vantec EZ-Swap on Datafuse.
Everglide Optical mouse pads on PC-Extreme, our review here
KDS CD Organiser on SubZeroTech.
Volcano 7+ socket cooler on ViperLair.
Leadtek WinFast TV2000 XP tuner card on Ripnet.
Caffeinated Soap (okey dokey) on OCrCafe.



Archive Updated (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 4-November-2002  10:57:04 (GMT +10) - by Agg

I've updated our Article and Review Archive again, with some stuff from the last month or so. Check them out if you missed them the first time around:

ABIT Siluro Ti4200 OTES video card.
Dynamat Extreme Computer Kit sound-dampening stuff.
WPC Expo 2002 coverage from Tokyo Japan.
Interview with Scott Thirwell from ABIT.
Everglide Optical mouse pads.
ABIT IT7 Max 2 i845E-based P4 DDR motherboard.

You can also view historical news items in the news archive, stretching back over 3 years.



Monday Morning Bits (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 4-November-2002  09:50:06 (GMT +10) - by Torment

The inquirer is reporting that DDR Memory prices are to move upwards as a result of more demand. The major manufacturers have somehow managed to engineer a situation where even though they knew many months ago that DDR parts will be popular because of Intel's push into that marketplace, they haven't sufficient supplies to meet demand. Go Figure!

eWEEK is reporting that IBM is Betting $10 Billion on 'On-Demand' Computing, that is according to IBM CEO Sam Palmisano in a presentation last week. The "On-Demand" concept as an IT infrastructure allows an organization to be responsive, variable, focused and resilient.

Wired News is reporting that the Microsoft Vs. Justice Department could be over or very close to over. Giving that no-one appeals. Microsoft’s stock surged 6% with company officials applauding the ruling in a statement. While some would say this was only a slap on the wrist for the company. More info on wired.com.


The Tablet PC: It Rocks, that is the statement that Wired News is giving after a sneak peak at the Electrovaya version of the Tablet PC called Scribbler. More info with pictures of the units @ wired.com

Tom's Hardware Guide has an interesting article on the Focus on Online Gaming. With the likes of Microsoft shifting toward voice commands, EA putting the Sims Online and with Sony and LucasArts reporting that Starwars Galaxies had over 100,000 subscribers _just_ for the beta alone.



OCAU Competition (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 4-November-2002  01:35:33 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Don't forget, you can win a PC and other goodies in our
competition - all you need is a non-free email address! The contest page has been updated with full specs of the PC on offer, so check it out.


OCAU Sydney Weekend Update (0 Comments) (link)
 Monday, 4-November-2002  01:21:51 (GMT +10) - by Agg

From Wolfy: Abit-Boy, joyufat, LoCuTuS, MorphY, stroggos2k, Amran, Bombster, leperMessiah, RaZ, Soc and tifkat have all registered but not paid (or not told me they've paid) for one or more OCAU Weekend events. Paintball is sold out but there may be a couple of spots coming up, so if people really really really want to go they should contact me. For Go-Karting no deposit is required but we need to know numbers before the event. If you're on the list above and don't want to miss out, email me! More info here in the forums.


Sunday morning UBER post! (0 Comments) (link)
 Sunday, 3-November-2002  00:53:10 (GMT +10) - by Darkness'

Things could get a little busy over the next week or so with the whole OCAU weekend in sydney! So, hang tight.

Some of the top news is that SONY has announced its plans for an online gaming network. Info here, here and here. A few people sent that one in.

Also, looks like Telstra's has 'done it again' with another on-line usage meter bungle! "According to AustralianIT reports, Telstra has underestimated 60,000 customers' usage by up to 50%." and.. "Telstra is now advising customers to move up to more expensive plans to avoid excess download fees from their sudden increase in usage (even if their usage patterns remain the same)." !

There's an article on Ultra Wide Band Wireless Data Transfer Technology up here.

Out for a new CPU cooler? Here is a Thermalright shootout! (SLK-600, the SLK-800 and the CB-7). Or for something similar, check out this roundup of upcoming 52x/24x/52x burners from AOpen and SONY.

Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier again for what he says is the last time.

Freaek sent in this link to funny job descriptions.

Dan has been writing again. This time about "minimization strategies for vacuum cleaners and PCs, how bright Luxeon Star LEDs are, Web bugs and spam, firewalling NAT, computer parts that run into each other, using computer fans as dynamos, widening your webcam's view, crossover cables and uplink ports, and suspiciously cheap video projectors."

Mambonee sent in this Star Wars 3 trailer.. only it uses lego!

Gnuthad wants to let everyone on BPA who uses IPcop to know he is hosting the compatible login script using his Telstra space. So, not sure how long that one will last. Take it easy on him! :) Direct Link!

Gandalf (hehe) Sent in the Undead Linux project. "Now you can install Linux and be Up and Running, On-Line, Ripping MP3s, Burning CD's, Watching DVD's and TV, Editing Video, and 3D models in minutes." Sounds like a copyrighters dream!

Neolithic sends word that the release date has been pushed back on Vice City from November 8th to November 14th.

Apparently there are some new Doom3 screenies here.

DrunkBorg sent in this cool page of what happens when a HDD and a sniper rifle do battle. Guess who wins!

Cypher sent in this link to the Pontiflex 2 demo! (Bridge Builder 2)

If you're up for a bit of reading, here is an in depth article about system buses.

Here's a different article by the name of AMD Athlon XP 2800+ and Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz in 3ds max 5. I guess you could call it a race...

Want to see how far an AMD XP 2400+ can be pushed with voltage mods and water cooling? Check here.

OpenBSD v3.2 has been released as of the 1st of november.

Apparently, Namibia has turned down an offer from Microsoft for free software! "Imagine the pleasure with which SchoolNet would initially have confronted a charitable overture from Microsoft involving free software. Now imagine the disappointment of learning that accepting the 'gift' would entail outlays of money in the range of fifteen times the value of the M$ Trojan horse." Way to go guys.

Here's a guide on how to 'Lap a Heatsink'.

That ING cricket game has returned! Must... not.. open..!

Cino sent in drempels. "Drempels makes colorful, swirling, hallucinogenic patterns that resemble a hurricane or tornado. It normally runs in your Windows background or "desktop", replacing your old still-image wallpaper with gently-animating visuals". Might interesting after a few drinks... :)

Finally, Capacitors are apparently leaking and causing havoc!

Reviews :
Obsession Case Review from koolcases
Topowers Black 420w psu from OCmelbourne
Flash Mate 5 in 1 USB Card Reader @ the techzone
FIC AT010 Radeon 9700 PRO Review at NeoSeeker
Shuttle SB51 XPC Small Form Factor Review by sudhian
Thermalright SK-6+ heatsink
Sunbeam 4 CCFL Kit Review @ 8BallsHardware
Reactor High performance water chiller from themodfathers
Next Cool WaterCUBE GT3 waterblock @ alltechbox
Star Wars: Galactic Battlegrounds from OCprices
Lynx Two Sound Card at digit life
Gigabyte GA-8SG667 motherboard @ pchardware
Abit AT7-MAX2 Motherboard (Socket 462) by 3dgameman
SoundBlaster SBS250 speakers by darkvision
Samsung's SyncMaster 152B 15 @ dansdata
Zalman ZM50-HP VGA Heatpipe Cooler at OCclub Canada
Soyo P4X400 DRAGON Ultra Platinum Edition
IBM ThinkPad X30 Notebook at HWZ
Albatron Medusa Ti4200 Turbo from OCprices
Lian Li PC-6089A aluminium case by OCers Online
Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop at dwpg
MSI 845PE Max2 mainboard from active-hardware
Logitech 5.1 z640s at otakupc
Coolermaster ATC 111-SX1 Aluminum Case from 3dgameman
Lian-Li PC-6289 Server Case by modtown
Radeon 9700 Pro @ Viperlair
SOYO P4X400 Dragon Ulta Motherboard at hexus
Antec 80mm TriLight LED Fan @ aselabs
Xoxide LL60 Case from tweaktown
Sunbeam Technology Dual Color Cold Cathode Lights from m6
Tweakmonster’s Tx50 64MB RAMdrive from envynews



Friday Morning (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 1-November-2002  02:26:06 (GMT +10) - by Agg

Yes, there's a new logo on the site - feedback here. Darkness made this one, as with the last few. In fact, this one seems well suited to merchandise and based on the success of the current OCAU merchandise, I thought we might look into getting some other stuff made. Let me know your suggestions in this thread and in a couple of days I'll put up a poll.

JimX spotted this site that lets you control a house.. flipping lamps on and off etc. Unsurprisingly, it's called "drivemeinsane.com". :)

Craig sent word that Intel are apparently lowering the default voltage of their high-end P4's.. which is a good thing.

There's a new MBM out, thanks Petar.. looks like a lot of updates.

Pat77 noticed SETI@Home cheaters spoiling it for everyone.

Robert found this bling bling case mod.. seems to all be in Flash, so a bit bandwidth-heavy.

Telstra has to be a little more open about pair gain lines now, according to Whirlpool.. thanks DJ-Stuff.

Seem to be a lot of giveaways on at the moment, not just our own win a PC competition. Not sure of the international status of any of these, but Alpha_7 noticed you can win cooling stuff on OCrCafe and a killer gaming rig on Hypothermia. A swiftech cooler is up for grabs on Madshrimps, while ViperLair have a p4 mobo for spamming their forums.

Friday timewasters: Walk-around puzzle game from Manaz, ski-jumping from Smack01.

Certain media can make your DVD drive burn out, thanks Marz.

There's yet another ZZZ Online posted.

Oh, and I updated our Contact page for the first time in about 3 years.

Interesting Forum Threads
A pile of overclocking and watercooling questions in Extreme Cooling.
Got our Formula SAE car running in Motoring.

Reviews:
Albatron Medusa GF4 Ti4200P Turbo video card on Guru3D.
Asus P4SDX SiS655 P4 DDR motherboard on HWZ.
Koolance Panther case on OCModShop.
Vantec EZ-Swap HDD Rack on OCdCafe.
Iwill P4ES i845E-based P4 DDR motherboard on PCStats.
ABIT Siluro GeForce4 Ti4200 OTES video card on HotHardware, our review here.
Antec Plus 1080AMG File Server Case on PCStats.
Kinnarps Plus 8 office chair on DesignTechnica.
Antec Performance Plus 660AMG case on EnvyNews, our review here.
Vantec EZ-Swap (black and silver) drive caddy on SystemCooling.
Shuttle XPC SB51G mini-system on Tech-Report.
Kingwin KT-436B-WM case on Inside-Hardware.



OCAU Weekend - LAST DAY! (0 Comments) (link)
 Friday, 1-November-2002  01:22:28 (GMT +10) - by Agg

From Wolfy: Well, Friday has arrived. Today is the absolute last day to register for the OCAU Weekend. It is also the last day for payments. If your name has a big red X next to it on the OCAU Weekend page, that means we have not received your payment and we'll have a bit of a problem.

If you have paid, but the page still shows you as not having paid, please email me your deposit/receipt details. If you make a payment today (Friday) please email me your receipt details. If you are not going to come, please let me know as well.

It's not too late if friends/family/others wish to come, but you will need to get the payment info to me ASAP.


More info and a list of people who haven't paid or confirmed their places here in the forums and of course on the OCAU Weekend page.




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