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September 2000 |
Saturday Afternoon
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Saturday, 30-September-2000 19:11:40 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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OCArena checked out the arcticooler CA.. socket cooler. BTW, coolpc.com.au are taking pre-orders for these units at AUD$39.00..
Mr Bill sent a link to a cool new Sony tablet PC .. japanese text but interesting pics.
OCWorkbench send word that the C2-766 is announced, kinda, in this Intel .PDF.. 1.7v, cC0 stepping good, 11.5 multiplier bad.
Clonex said: Creative have brought out a new soundcard, the Sound Blaster Live! Platinum 5.1.. i wonder if this will bring down the price of the "OLDER" cards. .. hmm, not likely IMHO, given they just inhaled their only competitor.
Apparently Kyle from HardOCP was on TV.. and ProCooling.com recorded it and converted it to .rm.
Saturday Morning
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Saturday, 30-September-2000 11:11:41 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Uuurggh, hung over..
Babster's wooden case has been tricked out even further, now you can see it's innards and it has a baybus-type fan controller..
PCMechanic have an article on why the Pentium IV is completely different to the previous Pentiums in it's treatment of numbers.
GD reviewed the Saitek Cyborg 3D USB Gold, a new joystick.. looks pretty amazing.
Overclockers.com put in a decent effort, supercooling their Duron to 1GHz..
Late Friday Night? Early Saturday Morning?
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Saturday, 30-September-2000 05:50:48 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Don't ask why I'm posting news at 5:30 AM. :)
AOpen are at it again with their chrome & black motherboards, this time the AX34 Pro II gets the going-over and a review at FiringSquad.
If you could read Japanese, this page would tell you that Intel are apparently abandoning the "Timna" project.. [thinks] .. that's a chipset, yeah? Did I mention it's 5:30 AM? :) And I don't read Japanese, so I'm pretty much screwed regardless. Ah-ha! Here's an English version for you. It's a chip. I knew that. Sounds like it woulda been the Celeron III.
All this is not long after they reported that the Pentium IV will be delayed.. sigh.
The Tweakerinos checked out the Arctic Silver Thermal Paste that's been getting so much review time lately..
Hypothermia have some 800MHz Duron pics.. Is it multiplier locked? Are the pins removed? Go see. :)
Jens sent word that this page has pre-built water-jackets with peltiers in 'em.. cool indeed!
TechPhiles have an interview with Scott Thirlwell, Abit PR dude for the english-speaking world. Talkin' about the VP6, I am hanging out for that..
Epoch pointed out this funny flash thing on GameSpy.. Q3 meets Shakespeare. I've not listened to the whole thing yet 'coz my GF is asleep 3 feet away from my PC. :)
Slashdot was cracked recently, so you might wanna change your password on there.
Sleep now.
Straight into the news tonight. Again, reviews at the end of my post....
Optus@Home have updated their Acceptable Use Policy. If you have an Optus@Home connection, you should have an email from Optus about it now - including details on what the new changes are, and how to monitor your own connection stats. Breaching the AUP can mean your connection is terminated without warning - having said that, you've now been warned....
Overclockers Shootout have a picture showing why you shouldn't use Socket-A coolers on FC-PGA processors.
BeddoesTech have two new articles up today - Part 1 of their Buyer's Guide Series and a review of Windows Blinds, a program for personalising your Windows environment.
BootMax have an article up about the history of id Software, looking primarily at the evolution of their FPS genre games.
Now for the the reviews. GA-Hardware have reviewed 3 mousing surfaces, PC Critix have reviewed the Soyo SY-7VCA motherboard, UKGamer have taken a look at the RDJD K703 heatsink, and AllHW have reviewed the Enlight EN-7237 mid-tower case.
Friday Afternoon Quickie
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Friday, 29-September-2000 16:20:25 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Macca pointed out another cool hack, convert an HP8200 4X CD-RW to a HP9100 8X CD-RW with a firmware flash. Be careful with this stuff, of course. Typically, this is discovered a few months after I buy a 9100. :)
FoldingSocks reviewed the new Voodoo drivers..
G3D spent a little time overclocking a P3-700E..
Anand checked out a sweet looking motherboard from MSI, the KT7 Master .. SocketA, KT133, on-board SCSI!
Anyway, last day at work today, going out to get drunk. :) More news later from Manaz mebbe..
Thursday Night
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Thursday, 28-September-2000 22:35:35 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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PCScoop think that print PC magazines suck. Well, duh. :)
TechJunkie have a guide to "backing up" DVD's.. ones that you own, of course.. ahem.
TheTechzone reviewed a super-slim notebook..
Neoseeker reviewed the Midiland MLI-490 speaker system..
TE checked out a tweaking utility called X-Setup.. easy and free, looks pretty neat.
TechReport took a look at the new Voodoo drivers to see if they unleash the performance, lacking until now, in the Voodoo5..
VIAHardware reviewed the Hercules Prophet II MX video card..
InsaneHardware reviewed the Abit BX133-RAID motherboard..
SharkyExtreme checked out that same mobo.
The Ars-Masters have a technical article on NTFS 5.0, Win2K's new improved file system..
VirtualHideout have some funky sound-activated neon lights for inside your case.
PCMech have a big troubleshooting FAQ up.
LittleWhiteDog checked out PGP, or Pretty Good Privacy.. an encryption proggy, good stuff.
Thurs Arvo - Arrggh
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Thursday, 28-September-2000 13:31:23 (GMT +10) - by YYK
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I've screwed my shoulder up in training...
Singapore Telecommunications, and NTU have developed laser-splicing technology. This is big news for the fiber optic world.
It appears that US scientists are pressed for research topics as they discuss whether nappies lead to infertility in men. The question should really be: “why are men still wearing nappies?”
If that’s not enough, those zany US scientists are also researching the technology of “hopping mines”. Yup, that’s anti-tank mines that hop around to make mine-sweepers “hopping mad”. I know, I know….
Do you have Olympic footage on your homepage? If so, you might be receiving a “cease and desist” letter from the wonderful, sharing, caring people of IOC.
The Olympics site has received 6.5 billion hits. One day Agg, one day!!
AMD has launched the global motherboard certification program. This will make sure that your AMD will work on the motherboard. Info on the program can be found here.
Fujitsu, following Sony, are about to launch a notebook with the eagerly anticipated Transmeta’s Crusoe chip. The big feature of the chip is its low power consumption.
An American privacy group wants webpages to disclose the use of “web-bugs” on their webpages. What the..? What web-bugs? Can someone tell me what these things are?
An amazing article about a slime that can chose the quickest way out of a maze. Gee, I wish I had this when I was a kid!
Mark Chapman, the guy who shot Lennon says, “If Lennon were alive today, he would want me to be freed”. Serial killers, around the world are eagerly awaiting the results of this bold move.
Thursday Morning
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Thursday, 28-September-2000 10:38:26 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Optus are getting out of the mobile phone market in Australia. Hmm, it's been a good week for monopolies..
Dan's checked out the Abit Siluro GeForce2 MX video card..
HardwareCentral reviewed the Abit KT7-RAID..
I'm a Debian fan, but if Redhat's your thing, RH7 is now out and mirrored here on AARNET. Thanks Clonex.
SysReview compare a couple of cheapish palm devices.
ClubOC reviewed the Shuttle Spacewalker AV18 motherboard.. Socket370, Apollo Pro 133A, silly name.
Neato water-cooling rig on G3D.
Wednesday Night
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Thursday, 28-September-2000 00:08:47 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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If I had a Radeon, I wouldn't be giving it away.. maybe PCRoddin' don't like it or something? :)
TheTechZone checked out the Asus A7V..
Creative is buying Aureal .. way to go guys, sue them into the ground then inhale them. Whatever happened to anticompetitive laws? I hate lawyers. Thanks for the heads-up, Clonex.
TE have some info on Motorola's next generation of chips..
PCMech have a Golden Orb How-To.. SlotA for starters.
Abit have officially announced their VP6.. dual FCPGA action with 4 DIMM banks and onboard ATA-100 RAID. This looks like an awesome motherboard!
Not much else happening, as far as I can tell..
Group RadPadz and Thumbscrews Buy
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Wednesday, 27-September-2000 16:30:33 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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SiliconAngel is organising a group buy in the forums:
Original thread with info and pics here.
Vote for printed or plain pads here.
Vote for chrome or brass thumbscrews here.
Wednesday Afternoon
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Wednesday, 27-September-2000 16:01:38 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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2CoolTek have a guide to Case Modification using tools you probably have at home.. like a pickaxe and a police-issue 12-gauge shotgun, yup. Thanks BIGCheeze.
Very cool images of the sun from one of NASA's new toys were revealed today. I've got one as my desktop background now, very nice.
PCInsight reviewed the MSI Starforce 815 GeForce 2 GTS video card..
Hmm, the Supreme court rejected the US Govt's request to have Microsoft's appeal heard there. This is something Microsoft will apparently be happy about.. info here on Wired and here on CNN.com.
TechnoYard (?) have a little Quake3 Framerate comparison of P3 and Tbird.
PCHardware reviewed the Abit BX133-RAID..
CTNews3D have a guide to sharing your net connection..
HardOCP spent a little time OC'ing a P3 and Tbird to 1GHz..
Beddoestech reviewed the Samsung 900SL 19" monitor..
Tuesday Night, storms in Sydney
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Tuesday, 26-September-2000 23:32:22 (GMT +10) - by Manaz
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Be careful guys, it's been proven that lightning and computer equipment don't mix....
Speaking of things not mixing, it seems that Gary from PC Scoop and a 600MHz Duron didn't mix - check out the details (and also the successful attempt at overclocking with a replacement Duron) here.
CPUReview have looked at the benefits of upgrading from a "classic" model 500MHz Slot-A Athlon to a 700MHz Slot-A "Thunderbird". Can you get the performance of a new model Athlon without having to upgrade your motherboard? Find out here. For a more detailed comparison of SlotA chips, check out Agg's recent SlotA Showdown.
Worried that someone's listening in on your "top secret, highly confidential" electronic and voice communications? Are they *really* out to get you? Mitsibishi Electric may have the answer to your (paranoid) prayers. An interesting read even if you're not a conspiracy theorist. :)
Dan reviews a 12v neon light for inside your PC case. And then hooks up a plasma ball to his PC's power supply as well. And considers 12v car accessories. Only Dan could get away with this...
Next time you consider bugging your system administrator at work, remember back to reading this article on MaximumPC. It's only short, but I've got a feeling he's got a LOT of material to work with. I work as a sys-admin myself, this stuff DOES happen.
Rizenet have reviewed the MSI StarForce 816 video card, a GeForce2 based card which a lot of people are comparing to the Hercules Prophet II....
Flying Spuds (I don't think enough of you would know what a Spod is.... hmmm, I'm strange, just accept it, mmkay?) have an interesting article up about choosing a video card for a low/mid-range (sub 600MHz) PC.
The Adrenaline Vault have posted a 3-way mousepad roundup.
Last (but certainly not least), Jim from Realtime systems informs us that they have a special on Corsair RAM. Prices are listed on their page. Corsair is HIGH quality RAM, so get it while the getting's good people!
Tuesday Morning
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Tuesday, 26-September-2000 10:36:46 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Remember, there are no colour restrictions on the competition any more. So if the whole 4-colour thing was crampin' your style, you've got until Saturday midnight to submit anything you like with as many colours as you can handle. :)
Hehe, a few people sent in this story from bbspot - BSOD wanted in murder of Overclocker. Be warned!
SharkyExtreme have an interesting preview of the Tyan Trinity A762 with AMD 760 DDR Chipset..
Maximum3D reviewed the MSI StarForce 816 .. this is a GeForce2 MX card.
Clonex pointed out a great article on Digit-Life, this is a huge CD-RW roundup and info page. They compare a few drives, discuss standards, try different media, the works.. definitely worth checking out.
AkibaPC have pics of a new Willamette cooler, which I shall henceforth refer to as the Bigass Orb. Also, pics of a G450 dual-head engineering sample.
Ozone pointed out, in response to the Fujitsu story from yesterday, that Australia has some (not quite so) bigass pipes of it's own.
InsaneHardware have some info on AMD's thermal recommendations for Athlons including coolers that are likely to damage the cpu cores.. hmm.
DW3D want to tell you which O/S is best for gaming..
Win more stuff here on ClubOC and here on LittleWhiteDog.
BXBoards reviewed the Asus A7Pro.. SocketA, KT133, a cut-down version of the popular A7V Pro.
GD reviewed the Logitech WingMan Formula Force GP steering wheel..
CTNews3D have info on converting MP3 to WAV.. a few programs compared.
Remember JimX's Razer Boomslang 2000 review of a few days ago? Remember how all 3 units he tried.. well, basically sucked? Razer have assured us that all three were from a dodgy batch and are sending a replacement multo rapido.. so expect a review update at some point. In other news, G3D ripped one apart. :)
Madonion.com, makers of the excellent 3DMark2000 benchmark, have made a new program called XL-R8R. It's a pretty big download (15.5MB) so I've not had a chance to look at it yet. It supposedly analyses your PC and tells you which bits are the bottleneck. Here's some of their blurb about it:
MadOnion.com has developed XL-R8R with you in mind – You’re interested in exploring the world of PC’s, and want to know more about all of its internal components (everything from the Drive Bay to the CPU), as well as what can be added (those new DVD Drives, CD-ROM’s, etc…) to improve your PC experience. You have been wondering if there is anything that you can do to improve the way your applications run…and you’ve come to the right place and you should download and run XL-R8R Now!
In addition to a spectacular sound and light show you experience when you run this software, XL-R8R offers you a whole host of services, to make your travels through the world of computers more comprehensible.
Some people in IRC were saying it looks/sounds great and judging from the eye-candy in 3DMark2000 it should be pretty cool as a showoff demo.
I've made a mirror of the download here on Odin, so Australian users should get it a bit quicker. International readers, please download it from MadOnion directly, the bandwidth out of Australia is swamped enough with Olympic traffic.. thanks!
Tues Morn - No Beach For Me Today : (
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Tuesday, 26-September-2000 09:30:32 (GMT +10) - by YYK
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One of the biggest hero of the Olympics is Tim Ford, what a champ he is. Why? He’s the guy in charge of the beer in the Olympics… any arguments on this point? I should hope not!
Do banner ads work? One person says NAY!
Dell has brought out laptops with wireless LAN capabilities.
Bill lost A$41.04 billion last year, but surprise, surprise, he’s still the richest guy… how very depressing.
Now you can send email whilst flying on a plane.
First teenager locked up for hacking into places like the Pentagon and NASA.
Another teen locked up for manipulating the stock market via share prices, whilst online, in the US
John Carmack talks about what card he wants for his next Doom game
Intel P4s are due to be released in October
Win2K AGP issue on Athlon/Duron Systems
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Monday, 25-September-2000 20:10:39 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Auenf pointed out that there is information here on Microsoft's site and here on AMD's, about a problem with video memory corruption:
An issue has been identified that could result in the corruption of video data shared between AGP graphics adapters and AMD Athlon™ or AMD Duron™ processors when running Microsoft Windows®2000. This issue is independent of system chipset and has been observed when running Ziff-Davis 3D Winbench™2000 and Mad Onion 3DMark™ 2000 in benchmarking mode.
There is fix information on both sites.
Monday Evening
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Monday, 25-September-2000 18:02:27 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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InsaneHardware reviewed the Sound Blaster Live! Platinum..
Win some stuff on ChicksHardware and also on G3D.. and of course, also here on OCAU!
NotAGeek reviewed the Asus A7V, SocketA, KT133-based mobo.
KingMax's sweet PC150 SDRAM gets the going-over at OCAddiction - I checked it out with its v1.2 PC133 little brother here a few weeks ago - good stuff.
TE checked out some impressive-looking joysticks, the Saitek Digital Flight Control System.
PCNewsCentre took a look at the Elsa Gladiac GeForce 2 GTS 32MB video card..
Tech-Report checked out a very cool case, the Antec SX-830. Pop-off door, 4 fan cages, 11 out of 10!
Flash disks are definitely getting closer to prime-time, as this new unit from BitMicro shows.. 4.3GB, .1ms access time, 16MB/sec transfer.. still mind-numbingly expensive, I'll bet.
VIAHardware reviewed the DFI AK74.. SocketA, KT133 mobo.
AMD announced some new processors today, mobile units based upon the K6 series. That link seems to be intermittent, if you get a 404 error, hit reload.
Fujitsu is testing some bigass pipes indeed, with the goal of pushing 2.11 terabytes/sec over a 7200km chunk of fibre..
Holographic cameras, fat mice and virtual salamanders grace the current issue of ZZZ Online.
Competition closing this coming Saturday midnight!
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Sunday, 24-September-2000 23:53:10 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Don't forget - less than a week left to:
Thanks to the sponsors of this competition:
EYO Technologies - Excellent source for all PC goodies, Australia-wide.
Realtime Systems - Australia's exclusive Corsair high-quality SDRAM distributor.
Cool-Computers.com - Great water-cooling parts, kits and info.
Sunday Night #2
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Sunday, 24-September-2000 23:31:56 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Looks like the Brisbane LAN Day in December will be pretty huge.. let VooDoo know if you're interested in sponsoring it.
Special greets to Mr Sinister, registered user #2000 in the forums!
Dennis_B wrote up some info on a cool hack in the forums, turn your BE6-2 r1.2 into a BX133-RAID with a simple BIOS flash.. cool! If you kill it, not my fault. :)
OCShoot have some info up on improving your VapoChill.. in case it's just not cool enough yet.
AnandTech reviewed the Soyo SY-K7VTA, a Socket-A, KT133-based mobo.
Sunday Night
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Sunday, 24-September-2000 20:13:51 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Xisor sent word that there's going to be a FragZone LAN Party in Sydney soon.. cool.
OCTools have an article up on basic waterblock design.
PCInsight reviewed the FunkyMouse, aka the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer.. these are cool, we reviewed one ages ago.
PCMech have some info on AMD's 64-bit "Hammer" technology.
GU have a solution to the Detonator 6.26 driver problem they were experiencing.. of course, the 6.27 drivers are out now, anyway.
FlaredStuds have a guide to building a cheap gaming rig..
BootMax have a Whistler preview..
Hardcoreware reviewed a GeForce2 MX board from MSI..
TomsHardware did a SocketA motherboard roundup a few days ago.. fairly light, skims over the boards but they're all there.. thanks alchemy.
IPKonfig have a simple touch-sensitive light inside the case mod happening.
Bah, now there's even Palm-Pilot virii.. nothing to worry about, tho.. yet.
Oooo, morgan pointed out this new distributed computing project that aims to understand how proteins self-assemble, aka "folding". Interesting stuff.
Sick of remembering passwords? Check out this device, made by Lifeview Animation Devices.
iXBT Labs have a review of the Soyo SY-7ISM, an i815E based motherboard, up on their site.
Up for some light reading? Adrian's Rojak Pot has just posted rev3.1 of their "AGP Sidebanding vs AGP Overclocking Guide" - it's quite in depth....
AthlonOC have posted their views of the A7V voltage mod that's floating around.
OcTools have an article up about a water cooled, dual 1GHz Coppermine Processors on a Tyan Tiger 133 motherboard. Check it out here.
And finally, on a lighter note, the guys over at Sharky Extreme have thrown up a lighthearted abridged version of the last few years of video card developments. Check it out here.
Radeon @ HardOCP
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Saturday, 23-September-2000 15:23:37 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Kyle from HardOCP had some info earlier in the week about how ATI are being a little vague about the speed of their Radeon cards. ATI have responded today with a clarification.
Late Friday Night....
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Saturday, 23-September-2000 00:33:34 (GMT +10) - by Manaz
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Another BIG news night. Lots going on in the world of computer hardware and overclocking at the moment it would seem. News of reviews grouped together at the bottom of tonight's post....
Ever wondered what your case would look like if you put LOTS of holes in it? Strange1 shows us in the Case Mod forum...
Case Modders Australia, run by IRC and forums regular Junkz, has opened - as you might have guessed, it's an Australian site dedicated to case mods.
Kadzy, a regular in the #overclockers channel in IRC (you can find us on the oz.org network) has a new business, called Desert Computers. Pay cash for your purchase and you get a 10% discount on their regular prices. Mention you came from this site and you'll get an ADDITIONAL 5% off the regular price. Can't complain about that!
JWR pointed out that Intel's stock price fell by 20% recently - Intel claim it's "primarily due to weaker demand in Europe". Nothing to do with AMD's success, of course. The report is here.
In other processor related news, Via have released a roadmap, including plans for the successor to the, shall we say "less than spectacularly successful" Samual processor. ViaHardware have information, here.
Guru3D have news of Gigabyte's new Socket-A (Athlon/Duron) motherboard, featuring ATA-100 RAID - the GA-7ZX. The link's on their main page.
The Register, our favourite and most trusted IT news site, is reporting that the next breed of Celerons may skip 100MHz FSB and go straight to a 133MHz FSB. Thanks for Clonex for the heads-up! :)
GA-Hardware are reporting that nVidia, along with supplying the graphics chip for Micrsoft's X-Box, are also supplying the controller chipfor the console, and they have some information up about it.
Have you ever wondered if you could take the fan out of your power supply, to reduce noise, and still keep it cool. Now you can. Hmmm, mains power and... well, have a look and see.
Overclockers Shootout have tested a few more heatsinks, and added them to their CPU Cooler Section.
Now for the reviews.
There's an A7V review at HardCOREware.
Gamers Depot have a review of the MSI Starforce 816 GeForce2 MX video card.
Maximum PC have reviewed Arctic Silver Thermal Paste.
Scott from Club Overclocker has reviewed the FusionCool II "Quad Cooler" - a radiator for water cooling setups, fitted with no less than four (4) 120mm fans.
Extreme Overclockers have reviewed the In-Win S500 case.
Competition Extended By One Week
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Friday, 22-September-2000 18:16:25 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Competition rules changed slightly due to confusion over the colours, and the end date has been extended by a week. New details here.
Freyday Morn - Another Beautiful Day..
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Friday, 22-September-2000 09:20:21 (GMT +10) - by YYK
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Thanks to those who emailed me about rumblings… no it’s not my stomach, also thanks to Dean who talked about blowing up local shops… me thinks MI6 as well!
An interesting article about the creation of the swim suits. Didn’t help that fool from Equatorial Guinea!
The men of Z-Tech computers do some jailhouse rock. Let this be a warning to those out there.
Intel, in their infinite wisdom and generosity, has decided to release faster chips for laptops. Let them ALL roam free, I say.
Would you invest in a company that overprices its shares by 80000%, AND states in its prospectus: "immediate and substantial dilution in net tangible book value per share".
The Aussie government is starting to realise that its spies can’t keep secrets to save its life, and have decided to take action
NBC’s coverage of the games is apparently a really crappy effort, despite paying A$1.31 Billion for the rights, and A$185.6 Million on production.
When first amendments go wrong. A very interesting article about the US NY Times, the government and their massive stuff up with the whole case about the “stolen Chinese atomic secrets case”. Now if they can only get rid of that registration…
An email that self destructs after certain period of time…
Germs are like an army it seems, take out their communication lines and they’re stuffed. Wasn't there a cgi cartoon about this?
Something that Agg has known for a while, Anna K is the most clickable girly girl on the Net
Finally, the Olympic torch that was on STS-101 will be at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.
Off to the beach again, gee life's hard~
Thursday Night - and my first go at this - please be kind! :)
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Thursday, 21-September-2000 23:09:56 (GMT +10) - by Manaz
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Big news day today....
Silicon Angel is organising a group purchase of Ratpadz and brass thumb screws for Australian readers (I guess New Zealanders too). Check this thread in the forums for more info.
Gideontech have a review of an AMR modem - the first review of one of these devices that I have seen. Is that AMR slot as useless as you think?
ipKonfig.com have reported that Big Blue is no longer the world's most powerful supercomputer - IBM wish us all to say hello to "ASCI White", which is capable of 12.28 Teraflops a sec (if you know just how fast that is, you'll be impressed. If you don't know, rest assured it's FAST!
Just when you thought that Slot-A Athlons were a dying breed, along with accessories for them, Tweaktown have a new GFD on the market - the "Tweeking Device 2" - doesn't use external power, they claim it's the world's smallest GFD device - details here.
There's an Abit KT7 review up at I am Not a Geek Dot Com
Hexus.com took a 700MHz Duron and a Chrome Orb, and got 1GHz.
Dan's Data has a review of a 17" Samsung monitor - a good one at that. Check it out here.
Firingsquad (no silly names from me - yet) have hooked up 8 different video cards to a 1GHz Duron (overclocked from 700MHz) to find the best bang-for-your-buck video card. Check the article out here.
Manaz assisting with news
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Thursday, 21-September-2000 22:19:02 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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From now on I'll be getting some help with the news from Manaz, who has been involved behind the scenes of this site and as a moderator in the forums, for quite some time now. Be gentle with him. :)
Thursday Morning
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Thursday, 21-September-2000 10:53:18 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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AMDZone have some info on VIA's KT266 chipset.. thanks aLCHEMY.
TweakTown reviewed the Mouse Bungee.. thingy to stop your mouse cable dragging around.
Interesting water-jackets reviewed on ClubOverclocker..
The ArsMasters have an article up about the NTFS file system..
TE have some info on Intel's StrongARM chipset..
HardAvenue have a value/performance PC recommendation.. $1350 for a monitor, yowch.
Screaming3D reviewed the Plextor 12x10x32 CD-RW..
Tony sent along a warning about UV lights inside cases.. can make plastics disintegrate. Hmm.
OCAddiction have a GeForce2 MX review up.
HotHardware have a CAS2 PC133 Head-to-Head between Corsair and Mushkin. Check out my review of the Corsair stuff here for comparison.
HardOCP have reviewed the Copper Orb.. and they think it sucks. However they do note that they are not made by ThermalTake.. so they're more a cheapy ripoff than anything else, and it's not surprising they don't work well.
Thurs Morn - Uh-Oh, Foggy and Rainy At The Mo'
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Thursday, 21-September-2000 08:46:08 (GMT +10) - by YYK
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Ello...
Ever hear rumblings like thunder on a clear day? Email me.
An article wondering if MS can make the set target release date of April 18 2001. I say No!!
Nice overhead shots from NASA of Aussie. There’s also a cool fly over movie.
Our worst fears of MS in all things took one step forward when it was announced that windows would be in Japanese cars…
In a strange quirk, a Vatican festival was televised with the soundtrack of “Stacey and the Hunt” and “Babes Illustrated”
The IT Olympics are on at the moment in Sydney. Sydney, South Dakota that is.
Also don’t forget to check out the oldest running geek Olympics. Very silly stuff,, but it's all good, all classic!
To prevent disasters like “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact”, scientists are planning to picket Hollywood. Well, maybe not, they’re just going to build a telescope to make sure that there is no opportunity for Bruce Willis to save our lives.
Off to training~
Wednesday Afternoon
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Wednesday, 20-September-2000 13:09:43 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Alchemy pointed out that Top100.com.au think OCAU is the #7 Hardware site in Oz. Not sure what it's measuring - presumably traffic. Note we are above Acer and Apple. :) Thanks guys!
PCRoddin' checked out the ATI Radeon 32MB.. new videocard challenger.
iXBT have a ATA-100 RAID Controller Head-to-Head.. interesting stuff as usual from the russians.
FencingSwords reviewed the Elsa GeForce2 MX card..
Bill over at CPUReview.com tried the good old "attack it with a screwdriver" method of removing SlotA Athlon clips, instead of the much less dangerous "twist it with some longnose pliers" method.. and sadly killed his Athlon dead. D'oh.
Tech-Report have cast their eye over the Voodoo5 5500 and made something of a monster review about it..
NextDimensionHardware have a review of the SnapServer 1000, a network storage device. Not too snappy by their benchmarks..
Rob sent word that A wholesaler here in Perth, WA has been refusing warranty on lots of Asus mainboards. The reason been is that on Socket370 boards the fans that come with Intell PIII CPU's have a very tight metal clip that needs alot of effort to put on & off. With Asus Mainboards they all seem to have Circuit board tracks just under the point where the clip attaches to the socket. When removing these clips it is quite easy to break one of these tracks unerneath when pushing down to release the clip. I've just looked at A few other brands and they all don't seem to put tracks under the clips.(Abit, Aopen). Hmm. I've noticed that the standard clip on the Intel retail coolers on the P3-700E's I've seen have been incredibly strong and I was worried of damaging the motherboards in a similar way. I don't know that it's fair to point the finger directly at ASUS in this instance though.. we'll see what happens with this one.
Japanese text but interesting pics, AkibaPC have info from a recent Intel Developer Forum in Japan.
Dan reviewed the GearGrip Pro, a quite neat handle-strap-thing for carrying your PC and fiddly bits around, good for you LAN gamers..
ChicksHardware reviewed a Kyro-based video card from Videologic..
Bit of a strange one. CPU condensates and dies, but is magically reborn after 24 hours in.. an oven?
Jason points out that a Taiwanese company called Lik-Sang have MP3 players (CD-Man thingies) and will ship to Australia etc..
G3D have a few Reader'sRants up..
Wed Morning - Rise and Shine Everyone!
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Wednesday, 20-September-2000 09:32:49 (GMT +10) - by YYK
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Ello…
It seems that real answer to question, “why the cauldron stopped” was due to a very small switch. I feel this is a much more plausible answer than the crackpot, I mean psychic.
We can now move into the ISS. The yanks have just put in stuff that we need, they have a toilet, oxygen generator, vacuum cleaner, treadmill, and 2.7 tons of food
People in Perth will have ADSL available for them. But it’s capped. Yuk!
SOCOG has told Triple J to stop streaming. This is due to Olympic content in its broadcasts
Intel’s getting peeved at Italians who overclock their processors
If you are a BigPond customer, you might have a virus problem:
Dear BigPond Customer,
It has been recently discovered that a virus has been spreading itself between customers on the BigPond network and has been responsible for increased traffic and performance degradation on some customer's service. The name of the virus is "qaz trojan" or "qaz worm" and it propagates around the network through shared hard drives.
Investigations from our logs reveal many Melbourne and Sydney customers have already been infected, and complaints from Brisbane customers are on the increase.
Accusations that MS rigged their own poll so that Windows beats Linux as the best O/S. But of course they deny it.
The Internet, which was designed to withstand a nuclear attack, might be taken down by a few hundred computers, “bummer” says programmer.
RIAA is hitting back on mp3 downloaders, as police seize a computer from Oklahoma State U student.
Qualcomm’s CEO is very worried as his laptop was stolen at a conference
If you live in the UK, and have five quid, you have an exclusive opportunity to purchase a lot of land on the moon.
A Japanese man is going around confiscating women’s panties… We’ll just leave it at that.
Off for a quick surf now~
Leadman PSU - Reliability issue?
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Tuesday, 19-September-2000 23:05:45 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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There's been a lot of talk about the reliability of the Leadman 400W PSU lately. As a bit of background: JimX reviewed one for us here about a year ago and soon thereafter EYO started importing them into Australia. Jim's original one is still soldiering on and I've had one here for a good few months now with no problems. I've also gotten a lot of good feedback on them from readers. Because of this, we've been recommending them as a vital component in any Athlon system. Leadman themselves have put the URL to Jim's review on their packaging, on their website and in their advertising.
However, lately things have not been completely rosy. I've had a few reports of units dying after a few months (see here for an example thread), Reaper had a strange experience with one making a loud whining noise (can't find his thread but here's a similar complaint) and now Manaz has told me they're no longer on the AMD-approved list. It seems that there has been a drop in quality, coinciding with a revision of the unit that included the front-mounted fan becoming slightly thinner. The 400W unit has two fans; an intake mounted on the front, inside the PC and an exhaust mounted normally.
I mentioned all this to Nikol at EYO, primarily to find out if they had noticed a higher rate of return. We're hearing about more failed units, but that may be because the volume of sales has gone up. This was Nikol's response:
The very first one or two batches's fans are thicker than the later ones. We have not checked the CFM of the fans though. We believe the change in design may have required less cooling needs. I have checked with our RA guy. We have not noticed any jump in returning rate for them.
The 400W Leadman PSUs have indeed gone through many revisions since we first brought them in. They have been re-designing the PSU mainly due to the compatibility to certain motherboards. The first batch may not work 100% with K7M (K7M uses 12v to step down to produce the 3v needs instead of using 5v. This leaves 5v with no load in case of no external devices are connected. In this case, the PSU will not power up in some cases until a hard drive or something is connected). One certain revision produces some squeaking noise when a P3B-F M/B is used and does not work with AK72 properly. The latest batch is a new revision we have so far found no problem.:)
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has anything extra to add to this. Had a good/bad experience with the Leadman LP-6100 400W unit? Let me know in this thread please.
Tuesday Morning
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Tuesday, 19-September-2000 11:39:41 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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A couple more cool threads up in the Case Mods Forum here - MWP has painted the wood case we saw earlier and TechPatrol has modified an unusual round-fronted case.
A few people have expressed interest in doing a proper FAQ thing here, on overclocking and possibly also general hardware. Anyway, I've started a thread to get some discussion going.
Clonex pointed out that TomsHardware reviewed a mobo with built-in TNT2..
FlickingScabs (ewww, sorry) have an article up titled Upgrade Showdown.. four different types of overclocked CPU's going head-to-head.
OCWorkbench reviewed the Epox 8KTA+.. a socketA, KT133 mobo. They were impressed, but didn't think it toppled the mighty Abit KT7.
More tech-support tales over at SystemLogic..
CPU-Burn checked out a mouse that looks like cat.. I still think the SexyMouse is cooler. :)
Interesting thing on Electic.com, a company has made a digital camera reference design which may lead to cheaper digicams.
DW3D reviewed the Asus V7700 GeForce2 GTS 64MB..
Got 1RU free in your rack? Maxtor can squeeze 320GB into there for you.
Dan gets to play with all the cool toys. This time he's got a cheapo little gadget that lets you connect a CompactFlash card to an IDE controller.. solid state HDD? Almost..
AwareMag reviewed the Delta Black Label.. oddly named 60mm fan, perhaps trying to appeal to the plain-brown-wrapper overclocking crowd.
Hexus checked out the Asus A7V - SocketA, KT133 mobo of course.
HardwarePub reviewed a talking motherboard, the FIC AZ11..
GD reviewed the Guillemot Maxi Sound Muse..
Bigass socket cooler on ApusHardware..
Monday Evening
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Monday, 18-September-2000 18:07:59 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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PCMech have some Pentium 4 info..
PCReview reviewed the Soltek SL-65MV, a Socket370 motherboard using the new VIA PM133 chipset.. basically Apollo Pro 133A with built-in S3 video.. hmm, I can see a lot of those selling to you guys.. not. :)
PCHardware.ro (they of the annoying popup) have a review of the Abit Siluro GeForce256 GTS video card..
Stephen points out that CoolPC.com.au have got FCPGA copper shims for AUD$5.00 .. bargain for sure. (anything you buy via that link helps support this site, btw)
Iamnotageek.com reviewed the Asus V7100 Pure 32MB GeForce2 MX..
ClubOC checked out a drive bay cooler from Vantek that they think.. well, sucks pretty bad.
TweakTown have some info on a circular copper shim from MOS..
Manaz pointed out that ArsTechnica have a note (scroll down a little) saying all Durons are SMP-capable..
OCMelbourne reviewed the DTX Tech Midi Tower case.. hmm, pretty big for a Midi.
VIAHardware reviewed the MSI K7T Master.. a KT133, SocketA motherboard with on-board SCSI and Ethernet, interestingly. Is this the first server-oriented Athlon motherboard?
PCScoop checked out the Abit KT7-RAID.. looks pretty sweet.
CPUReview checked out that same board, the Abit KT7-RAID, and liked it enough to award it the Editor's Choice.
PlanetSavage have a comparo between the TNT2 M64 and Savage4 Pro video chipsets..
Another new site springs forth, BeddoesTech.com.. worth a sniff around.
Retinal projection, flying wings and more in the latest issue of ZZZ Online..
Sunday Night
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Sunday, 17-September-2000 23:06:25 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Scarifier pointed out that there's a new P3V4X bios. Seems to be an official version of the 1006 beta.. still "test", so maybe not changed from the beta. Anyway, get it here and there's some info on Asus's page here. Actually, on that page, it shows it being for the P3V4XT .. so, I've NFI. :) Don't blame me if something horrible happens.
Guru3D have some more info about the new Detonator 6.26 drivers.. free speed for you NVIDIA-based card owners.
AthlonOC prove that boredom is a terrible thing..
Heh, some quite insightful laws of tech on PCMech..
They also have an article on quantum computing up..
News links now open in new window!
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Sunday, 17-September-2000 22:42:51 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Ok, I finally worked this out with some hints from Jai. All links on this page (from now on) should automatically open in a new window now.. so stop yer whinging. :)
InsaneHardware.com now hosted on Odin
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Sunday, 17-September-2000 21:45:51 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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As many of you know, Overclockers Australia is hosted on our own dedicated server, affectionately referred to as "Odin". This is a dual-cpu C366 overclocked to 550MHz with loads of memory, gigs of hard drive space and pretty much unlimited bandwidth. There's plenty of reserves of everything on this server, so when InsaneHardware.com experienced their problems earlier this week with AtomicRhino mysteriously vanishing out from under them, I offered to host them here on Odin. Jai accepted and we spent some time today ironing out the wrinkles of getting it on here. Note that this doesn't represent an official affiliation between our sites, we are still independent. I just thought I'd let you know, in case you noticed both sites coming off the same IP address. :)
Sunday Morning #2
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Sunday, 17-September-2000 11:43:09 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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RealWorldTech have their monthly roundup posted. A long but interesting read about CPU's and chipsets etc..
iXBT have a little info on Abit's future Athlon mobo offerings.. DDR SDRAM, FireWire and other goodies. Thanks again Sync_Array..
Hmm, interesting little MP3 player kit.. just add PSU, RAM and HDD.
TweakTown are a year old (awww).. so they're giving away some stuff.. no, that's not how birthdays work, guys.. :)
ExtremeOverclocking checked out the GPack III Xtreme.. a video card cooling kit.
TweakTown reviewed a similar video card cooler from Mellenger.
Surprisingly, Microsoft seem to have screwed up their licensing completely again.. thanks Morgan.
Overclockers.com reviewed a copper water-jacket from Danger Den.
ClubOC checked out the MSI K7T Pro.. SocketA, KT133 mobo.
Sunday Morning
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Sunday, 17-September-2000 11:15:05 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Cerberus says he's seen the A4Tech Mouse we reviewed a few months ago, at the Melbourne swap meets for $25.00 .. definite bargain there.
Sync_Array points out that Anand has a DDR SDRAM on Athlon review up, with benchmarks. They're using the AMD760MP chipset, but sadly no dually action as yet.
WebMonkey have an introduction to CD burning.. in case you're confused by it all.
ProCooling have an article on clamping a waterjacket to your SocketA mobo. Pretty basic stuff and relies on your mobo having holes around the socket, which not all do. A good variation on this that I've seen, for when there are no suitable holes, is to epoxy plastic bolts to the motherboard. Not so good for your warranty, tho.
RizeNet have reviewed the Arctic silver thermal paste..
GU point out that things don't always go smoothly when you're using leaked Detonator drivers..
FoldingSocks reviewed Abit's Siluro GeForce2 GTS 64MB..
OCMelbourne have some info on cheap freespeed pro GFD's..
Razer Boomslang 2000 Review
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Saturday, 16-September-2000 23:29:06 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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JimX, our resident mouse fetishist, has run his hands over the Razer Boomslang 2000. He was very impressed by the mouse while it was working, but it was let down by poor build quality. 3 returned mice later, he's back to using an Intellimouse Explorer. Nonetheless, he goes into some detail (2 very full pages) about the unit, usability, drivers etc.
Click here for the full review!
Sat Evening - A Very Small One
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Saturday, 16-September-2000 19:09:11 (GMT +10) - by YYK
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It seems the Olympic opening ceremony was assaulted by a psychic attack... and that's the real reason the cauldron stopped. Riiight..
Tiger woods got a small raise from $40 million to $100 million. The phrase “Holy #$*%!!!!” comes to mind. Yes, I know, he is the greatest golfer in history.
There is hope for Agg after all!
This is taking forever for me….
Finally, this is a site that had me laughing so much; I got a cramp! :)
Oh, don’t forget to check out the Buran Space Shuttle, if you’re in Sydney..
You know you've made it when..
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Saturday, 16-September-2000 16:09:05 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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..people start carving your logo onto food, scanning it and sending the picture to you. May I present, the OCAU brownie:
Thanks to Epoch of EFOUR.. freak! :)
Win Cool Stuff - One Week Left!
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Saturday, 16-September-2000 11:07:28 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Only a week left to..
Thanks to the sponsors of this competition:
EYO Technologies - Excellent source for all PC goodies, Australia-wide.
Realtime Systems - Australia's exclusive Corsair high-quality SDRAM distributor.
Cool-Computers.com - Great water-cooling parts, kits and info.
Saturday Morning
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Saturday, 16-September-2000 11:03:22 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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HardOCP have checked out the Millennium Cooler.. quite cool, seems to be based around a similar idea as the golden orb, but is more beefy. They also have a deal on some tested CPU's if you feel like ordering some 1GHz action from the US..
Dan has reviewed a cool little black pc.. has IR controls, meant for use in the living room.
GD reviewed the MSI K7T Pro, a KT133 SocketA board.
PlanetSavage have reviewed a Sparkle TNT2 M64 card.. getting on a bit now.
TrainWrecker reviewed the DigitalDoc3, a drive-bay system monitoring system. Looks pretty cool..
Drivers have always been the weak point of ATI's graphics cards.. PCMonkey check out how the new Radeon drivers compare to the shipping ones..
PCCritix have a GeForce MX head-to-head.. cards from Leadtek and Visiontek.
B5Lurker sends word that there's a new version of GLSetup - according to the website, GLSetup detects your 3D graphics card and installs the matching OpenGL drivers. Also, some new Matrox drivers for G200, G400 and G450..
Speaking of which, FlingingSquids have reviewed the Matrox G450..
Guru3D have reviewed the Abit Siluro GeForce2 GTS 64MB..
Adrian has a Video Ram Caching Guide up.. does that BIOS option actually mean anything?
AthlonOC reviewed the AOpen AK33, KT133, SocketA board.. they weren't too impressed.
News from Japan
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Saturday, 16-September-2000 10:41:21 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Sync_Array sent along some interesting stuff from Japan:
CC0 coppermines are on sale in japan are the yeilds are impressive check out some of the early overclocks;
1000 SECC2 SL4BS 00320275-0349 L029A950 COSTARICA Abit BH6 1.2 + TurboPLL @ 2.00V oc' to 1200MHz @ 160MHz using P3125 00/09/08
1000 FC-PGA SL4C8 L30A457-0712 MALAY EPoX EP-BX6SE 0.31 EPoX EP-S1C @ 1.95V oc' to 1170MHz @ 156MHz m109X7612H1016 00/08/24
I can also verifiy that the 1Ghz fcpga p3 is avail. but only in CC0 and that the recent incident with the 1133mhz P3 was limited only to that speed.
Other news includes that MacOS-X is not compatiable with the new macintosh based 3dfx video cards, 2 new over clocking records have been set one is a bx chipset overclocked to an amazing 215FSB !!!
http://holicho.lib.net/wcpuid/form/img1/105.gif
and a athlon overclocked to an increadible 151.7DDR 303.4mhz fsb @ 1517mhz 10* multiplier....
http://son.lib.net/wcpuid_bbs/img1/8.gif
also here is a nifty link for the serious users at oc'rs.au to remodel there motherboards, component listings and all, its in japanese but the boards and part listings are completly in english.
http://member.nifty.ne.jp/katsuya/mb_clockup.htm
Friday Afternoon
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Friday, 15-September-2000 16:54:21 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Sick of the Olympics already? Dean sent along this great Sydney2000 piss-take site done by The Chaser, an Australian satirical newspaper. Very well done, worth a long look.
Beast put some pics of his modded and painted case up in the forums.. I have to say, it looks awesome!
JC's has some info on a recent AMD Reseller Conference. Interesting info, including "The AMD760MP will be sampling in December, with boards available in Jan/February 2001. We were told it would support dual thunderbirds, as well as dual Durons... :)"
Wired have taken a look at WindowsME. Still some stability issues, but they did some interesting tests to see how well it recovers from serious errors - it fared well.
PCMech have a guide up to making a stealth mode PC.. stop your neighbours thinking you've got a helicopter in your living room.
PCRoddin have reviewed the Swiftech MC370.. socket370 cooler.
OCShoot have a quick comparo of two silver thermal pastes.
VIAHardware have a review of an first PCI GeForce2 MX video card.
Neoseeker have a 2-way 10X CDR head-to-head.
The GeForce->Quadro page has been updated with info on image quality..
3DExtreme reviewed the Voodoo5 5500 AGP..
Activision are holding 2 auctions to benefit Jeremy Allford of AGN who has unfortunately been diagnosed with a brain tumour. More details from Jeremy here. Proceeds of the auctions go to help pay for his medical bills - bid on a copy of Star Trek Armada (signed by Patrick Steward (Captain Picard) and Michael Dorn (Leiutenant Worf)) here and a copy of Quake3 Special Edition (signed by the entire id software team) here.
PlanetSavage have checked out the Sparkles4 Pro video card.. unfortunately based on the Savage4 chipset.
TechReport took a look at a very cool car MP3 player from AIWA.. plays 'em off CDR and CDRW disks, cool.
More TechSupport Tales of Woe on Maximum3D..
Frostytech have been moddin' the Fatty.. heh, sounds like an euphemism for something.
Thursday Morning #2
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Thursday, 14-September-2000 11:57:38 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Today is apparently the official launch date for WindowsME in Australia. Hardly Normal reportedly have it on shelves..
..or you could score a free copy from CableUsers.com.au, who have a contest up. Make up a witty saying about WindowsME and you can win a full retail copy of it.
HartCore have a dual-peltier waterjacket on review.. called The Big Dick.. okey dokey.
ZDNet have some info on SuperDome, HP's new whizzo unix servers that they are calling "the mother of all computers".. hmm.
Phase-change cooler too tame for you? Try modding it y'self, then..
To get you going, ChicksHardware are giving away a vapochill unit. Not sure if it's open to international readers, looks like it probably is.
GU reviewed some Mushkin PC133 SDRAM.
GA-Hardware previewed a Kyro-based video card from VideoLogic..
G3D checked out a Leadtek GeForce2 MX card..
Guru3D took a look at a new KT133-based SocketA from Gigabyte, the GA-7ZX.. and were quite impressed.
Thursday Morning
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Thursday, 14-September-2000 10:10:20 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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HardwareCentral reviewed Abit's BX133 RAID.. they were a little dissapointed with the performance, maybe some BIOS updates will improve it.
TomsHardware has compared three dual processor motherboards, from Intel, MSI and Tyan..
If you had a 1GHz P3 and were getting 1300 3DMarks, you'd be pretty upset. The Register seem to be quite happy with it, tho.. strange. Well spotted Clonex.
OCTools have the conclusion to their Mission Submersible 2 up.. flourinert, dry ice, liquid nitrogen, it's all good.
Interesting portable DVD player gets the once-over on FlamingShrubs. You'd need a serious toy budget to justify one of these, though..
TweakTown reviewed the Mushkin PC150 HSDRAM..
G3D have a RatPad review..
Wednesday Afternoon
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Wednesday, 13-September-2000 17:23:10 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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HardOCP checked out the IWill VD133 RAID motherboard.
G3D have part 2 of their Overclocking Guide up.
Term sent word of some cheap Pabst fans (115v tho, use two in series..?) on OatleyElectronics.com, an aussie site. Good place to get peltiers and other goodies, too. Check out 'Fans and Motors' on the left-hand menu on their page.
A newish site, Project 1GHz, has some interesting info, case mods on their front page (scroll down) and a couple of reviews.. worth a sniff around.
ClubOC reviewed the FOP32++.. FOP-32 with a bigger fan on it.
Hmm, think I found my next LAN-day Quake server. 32 processors, 64GB RAM and 96 PCI slots should do fine.. thanks Greg.
On a slightly smaller scale, the ArsMasters have reviewed the CasEdge LX734A Mid-Tower case.
Dan the Man has reviewed one of those turn one PC into two kits..
VIAHardware have checked out an apollo-pro 133a-based dual-socket370 motherboard, the MSI 694D..
AnandTech reviewed the mobile K6-2+ cpu for notebooks..
Tuesday Night
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Tuesday, 12-September-2000 23:01:32 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Seems to have been something of a week for unscrupulous behaviour on the web so far.. I saw over on TechWatch that Simline put up a little thing about some other site ripping off their site design and even their catalog scripts..
Also, AtomicRhino network, which hosted a few hardware sites including HardAvenue.com, InsaneHardware.com and IPKonfig.com.. seems to have turned off their servers. The rumour (unconfirmed) is that they've gone bust. So.. if you're wondering where those sites are, that's where. Maybe they couldn't cope with all the traffic InsaneHardware were getting for their dodged-up duron pictures yesterday.. :) Whatever the reason, there are some mighty pissed off webmasters out there at the moment - since the domains are down, even their email isn't working. This is one of the reasons why we are hosted on our own dedicated server. Hope you guys get back online soon!
I have updated the currently-running competition page, sweetened the pot by including some extra goodies in with the grand prizes. Quite a few entries rolling in but there's still room for some winners, so go Win Cool Stuff!.. you know you want to. :)
"Johnny, have you seen Fluffy?" .. "Well, he was sniffing around my computer desk, then I turned on these 300CFM fans in my PC.."
A few people wrote in to confirm that the BE6-2 Bios Wierdness (look a couple of news posts down) is in fact happening. If you grab the file off their ftp server, it's fine - just the http link is dodgy.
Dean sent word about the slow international net access over the last couple of days: The Slow links are due to a router failure at Alter.net in the US. Alter.net is the gateway between Telstra and the rest of the world. Bloody thing is also affecting Optus/DingoBlue too.
On a more morbid note, Scientists are getting closer to understanding where AIDS came from..
Thinking of setting up a multi-boot system using MS O/S's? There are a few tricks to it.. the ArsMasters have put up a multiboot guide which should make it easier for you.
Moldy pointed out this preview of Mac OS X .. I know, this isn't a Mac site, but it's kinda interesting stuff anyway. Very unixy base, NeXT-like interface, will even run on x86 hardware apparently. Hmm!
PCRoddin' are giving away a souped up GeForce MX..
Tuesday Afternoon
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Tuesday, 12-September-2000 14:32:29 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Hmm, interesting thing on Wired news today about microdisplays - Microdisplays work by magnifying a tiny screen to fill your field of vision, allowing a display measuring one-tenth of an inch to look like a full-sized theater screen.
SysReview have been lucky enough to get their Athlon working on a Front-Side Bus of 133MHz DDR - equivalent to 266MHz. This gives us a hint of the performance of AMD's future offerings which will be 133MHz FSB..
OCWorkbench have a review of the QDI SynactiX 2E.. strangely-named i815e motherboard, unfortunately a tad slow..
Frostytech reviewed a fatty case, as they call it. :)
PCMonkey have a helpful article on installing a video card.. including washing it with soap and water, and pulling all those unsightly chips off to improve airflow.
Monday Night #2
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Tuesday, 12-September-2000 00:48:43 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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HardOCP have a cool case review happening..
TweakMax prove theres life in the old voodoo3 yet.. some modding and overclocking info.
FlushingSuds have a chipset shootout at 800MHz, all the major players represented..
TweakTown have a Thunderbird & Duron review up..
GideonTech have some more case mods on show.. these things are all starting to blend together for me, I'm sure we're seeing the same cases on different sites..
FleshySquids have a Quake3 Performance Comparison of a range of video cards on P3 and Athlon systems.. interesting.
BE6-2 Bios Weirdness
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Tuesday, 12-September-2000 00:35:03 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Brendan had this to say - I can't confirm it at the moment, check it out if you think it'll cause you problems..
I downloaded the BE6-2 Ver 1.0 BIOS called 'BEHVH' from Abit. Somehow this ended up on my floppy as a file called'BEHRV'. i didn't notice this is haste. So, somehow the new bios'BEHVH' had changed names from what i saw, what i clicked on to download and what i recieived. it's possible the Abit Bios file links are incorrect.
Consequently my flash ended up with an 'RV' BIOS. There are two possibilities: 1. Abit has the files wrongly linked. 2. Or, Abit mixed up the bios identification names because the 'RV' BIOS is in fact an older BE6-2 BIOS. These BIOS's were just released last night. I'm probably one of the first to use them, lucky or not? I e-mailed Abit about the mix up and their BIOS page is down today!! Hmmm?
Monday Night
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Tuesday, 12-September-2000 00:12:05 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Damn, the net is slow today. Hope you guys can see this page ok.. be warned I can't get to a lot of these sites so you're on your own with some of these links!
Firstly, turns out the pics InsaneHardware had of the Duron with multiplier pins removed were fake. I'd link to something on their site but it's all been quietly removed.. anyway, check out this forum thread which has the details.
CPUReview checked out the MSI 6309.. this is a Socket370 Apollo Pro 133A mobo that looks pretty sweet for overclocking..
VIAHardware reviewed the Voodoo4 4500..
TE post another politically-correct article, this time apparently about retards or something. I've no idea..
Another speedy CDRW gets checked out at Tech-Report, this one boasts the ability to resume a burning session in the event of a buffer underrun..?! This could be big news if it works..
OCTools have had another crack at extreme submerged cooling in Mission Submirsible 2..
OCAddiction checked out the Abit KT7..
Transparent skin, space elevators and more in ZZZ online.. usually an interesting read.
OCWorkbench have an interesting addition to the thermal paste on shims debate.. in this thread in their forums they identify a fairly dodgy shim which is causing problems (killing chips) and claim that the thermal paste is to stop the metal shim shorting out contacts on the top of the chip.. hmm, doesn't sound like a very permanent solution to me.
SlotA -> SocketA adapter
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Monday, 11-September-2000 10:26:55 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Fra sent this along. I linked to this before, but now they're actually accepting pre-orders for this unit which claims (or rather, implies) to let you use a SocketA Thunderbird or Duron on a SlotA motherboard.
Their price-for-Australia of 90.81 Euros works out to $141.08 AUD tho.. hmm, probably worth your while to just save up a few extra shekels and buy a SocketA motherboard.
Competition - Reminder!
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Sunday, 10-September-2000 20:22:25 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Now's your chance to win some cool stuff. A couple of CPU's, some water-cooling gear, some caffeinated peppermints.. quite a haul. Check it out in the forums:
Click here for details!
Primz sent along some pics and info on a very cool toy for your PC:
More pics of it in action, displaying system utilization, temperatures and other cool stuff here. It takes input via a standard RS-232 serial connection.. use software from here to send it the data. You can buy the screens themselves and pre-made drive-bay mounts here. Very cool. :) I'm seriously thinking about getting one for the Big Kahuna case mod project..
Sunday Morning
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Sunday, 10-September-2000 07:44:43 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Ok, I'm now officially sick. Blergh.
FrostyTech have an interesting copper-piping heatsink that they whipped up..
HardOCP have a GeForce2 Ultra review.. 4ns DDR ram onboard, phwoar.
InsaneHardware have some info on AMD's new pin removal technique for stopping multiplier changes on Durons.
However, this article (thanks GroundZero) says that you can still do it, even without those pins.
Chick's have checked out the Thunderbird 750MHz processor..
Interesting thing in Wired about the computer systems behind the Sydney Olympics..
Things are still looking bad for Napster..
DangerDen tested one of their water-blocks by raising the pressure until it exploded.. at 1300 PSI. There's even a video to download of the test.. with some guy getting way too excited about the whole thing in the background. :)
TweakTown have a program to uninstall DX8.. in case you installed a beta that is going to go pop soon.
FoldingSocks have a comparison of BX vs 815.. does Intel's newest challenger take the performance throne?
OCArena have taken the vapochill cooler for a spin..
Hypothermia have a winner in their Killer Gaming Rig contest..
TweakTown have more case mods in their gallery..
PCMech have an editorial about.. umm.. CPU's and stuff.
VR-Zone have some info here (scroll down) on modifying your Abit KT7-RAID to allow higher than 1.85v.
Saturday Morning
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Saturday, 9-September-2000 11:44:12 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Urgh, got some horrible throat bug thing. I always get these things on the weekend, I'll be fine by Monday morning, you just watch..
HardOCP reviewed the MSI 694D dual Socket370 mobo, based on the Apollo Pro 133A chipset. Memory scores not so good, but otherwise looks like a pretty sexy unit - there's always a little more speed to be tweaked out of that chipset, anyway..
Heh, guaranteed way to get on the news page here, send me some Amiga info. :) Tech-Report have a flashback to FES '92, a trade show for Commodore and the Amiga. By 1992 I had traded in my Amiga 1000 for a B-revision 2000.. I can clearly remember a kid from school, Mark, saying sheepishly that he didn't have an Amiga at home.. "only a PC". :) Anyway, ahem, I've succumbed to the power of the dark side now..
Adelaidiens looking for some LAN action can get a fix on the 19th September, courtesy GatherLAN in North Adelaide, SA.
PCPooperScooper have checked out the FIC FB11 motherboard.. this is a BX-based Socket370 board - even got a couple of ISA slots on it.
Wow.. not only is overclocking becoming mainstream, but so is case modding.. you can even get case window kits off-the-shelf now.. GideonTech reviewed one.
GameSpot have a massive ECTS article, lots of new and upcoming games looked at. That's European Computer Trade Show, of course..
VIAHardware have some mirrors where you can grab the new 4.25 4-in-1 drivers.. beta though, so be prepared for disaster.
Hexus checked out the Abit KT7 Raid .. SocketA, KT133 mobo.
MrBill sent in an interesting thing from TheRegister, heatsinks that convert heat into sound..
While surfing around there, I also found a scientific analysis of 'Keyboard Gunk'.. eeeew.
AthlonMB have reviewed the MSI K7T Pro.. SocketA, KT133 mobo.
VIAHardware also have some info on Intel's future offerings.. interesting to note some info on FC-PGA2 (includes a heat spreader) and.. wtf is that thing in the bottom-right corner of the monitor pic? :)
SysReview took a look at the Network Everywhere kit, home ethernet thingy..
TE have previewed Whistler.. possibly AKA Windows2001.
FloppingSharks have a little tbird vs duron at 600MHz action.
TweakMax reviewed a Yamaha 8x4x24 CD-RW..
Friday Afternoon
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Friday, 8-September-2000 13:28:33 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Morgan pointed out a funny l33t-speak comic..
MP3.com are getting sued bigtime.. maybe up to $118 million USD in damages.. owch.
Sysreview have reviewed the CenDyne EIDE 8x4x32 cd-rom drive..
TE have a thingy up about bluetooth.. new wireless standard.
VIAHardware reviewed the Asus A7V, socketA, KT133 mobo..
CPUReview have something of a rant up, apparently the MPAA are looking at banning recording from TV.. err, right.
OCAddiction have reviewed the Voodoo 5500 AGP..
ExtremeOC checked out the Boomslang 2000 uber-mouse..
ArsTechnica have a monthly hardware roundup happening.
NFS Extreme have a guide to using copper shims.. hmm, they put thermal paste on the cpu top, and on the shim.. but the shim is not involved in thermal transfer, so why does it need paste? This came up in chat a little while ago, and wasn't really resolved - join the discussion here: Shims - thermal paste or no?.. let's get to the bottom of this. :)
Dan the man has a comparison of two socketA motherboards, from Abit and Transcend..
Hmm, you can watch NASA launches on streaming tv.. on various websites.. cool. UPDATE: DeathWish pointed out that there is a launch tonight!
Tech-Planet.net have reviewed the Prolink Pixelview GeForce2 MX..
PCInsight.com reviewed the DFI TA64B motherboard.. has both a Socket370 and Slot1 connector (but not for dual operation).
Copy a CD in 6 minutes with the Plextor 12x10x32 CD-RW as reviewed by PCMech..
PCHardware.ro checked out the Abit KT7..
Hmm, hexus reviewed a heatpipe-based cooler.. interesting.
Friday Morning
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Friday, 8-September-2000 10:12:29 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Lots of news today. Quick burst for you now, more later..
PCRoddin checked out a new copper video cooler from Millisec..
Tweaktown, always living life on the edge, tried slapping their Chrome Orb onto socket370.. no crunchy snappy noises, thankfully.
The tweakerinos also have a review of the VisionTek GeForce2 MX video card..
PsiKnight pointed out a denial of service attack on mobile phones.. kinda fuzzy on the details, might be an urban myth.
Hypothermia have another interview, this time with someone from Monolith, a games software house..
Competition!
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Friday, 8-September-2000 00:05:46 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Now's your chance to win some cool stuff. A couple of CPU's, some water-cooling gear, some caffeinated peppermints.. quite a haul. Check it out in the forums:
Click here for details!
Thursday Evening
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Thursday, 7-September-2000 18:33:47 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Adrian has a new swapfile optimization guide up..
Hexus have a modded case article up..
JSI checked out a bay cooler with LCD temperature readouts..
iXBT have their monthly hardware roundup posted, usually some good reading there..
XWing.net applied some percussive maintenance to some stuff..
The ArsMasters have updated their System Recommendations..
HardAvenue have a quick little thing on 3D Audio..
InsideHardware have a Chrome Orb review..
CPUReview have checked out 3 socketA coolers..
Neoseeker checked out a little mp3 player.. only 32mb, pretty sucky.
Wednesday Afternoon
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Wednesday, 6-September-2000 13:13:09 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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I spent a little time this morning looking into getting some case badges and tshirts made up.. stay tuned. :)
PCRoddin have checked out the new non-Duron-killing Golden Orb..
InsaneHardware scored the first review of the chrome orb..
SharkyExtreme are opening themselves up for a flamefest by recommending Intel over AMD.. but I can understand their reasoning.
BXBoards have some via roadmap info on their front page..
CPUBurn have a do-practically-everything drive reviewed.. reads CD's and DVD's, does CDR and CDRW.. I guess the only thing it doesn't do is DVD-RW.
More tech-support stories on Maximum3D..
G3D have some info on chipset cooling..
Fast-MHz have some more case mods up.. these galleries are popping up faster than 2CoolPC reviews. That top case is the full-tower version of a midi I picked up yesterday for another testbed here in the AggCave..
Interesting thingy on restoring old monitors on Speedy3D.
FastMHz also checked out the FrontX Multimedia Port thingy for moving audio ports to the front of your machine..
PCNewsCentre have a USB Webcam review.. mmm, gotta get me one of those things, my parallel one sucks. :(
ChicksHardware has some more info on ECTS, the european version of E3, big entertainment expo. I bet it's not as interesting as their Booth Babes thing from yesterday.
BXBoards checked out the Trinity Micro TM-VOS32.. this is a modified Globalwin VOS-32 that attaches to naked Athlons..
Classic picture of a little fat dog all shagged out after a hard night's fragging here on HardOCP. We all know how that feels..
Finally, a funny .wav file here. 430KB or so, so slow-linkers might wanna skip it. Funny helpdesk stuff, though.. :)
Forum Moderators
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Tuesday, 5-September-2000 23:49:13 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Reaper has requested, for a number of reasons, to relinquish his rights as Moderator in the forums and return to being a normal user. Thanks for all your help so far Reaper!
Sciby has replaced him - be patient while he learns the ropes. YYK, who you know from his irregular (in more ways than one) news postings on this page, is a Moderator of The Pub now as well.
Thanks of course to Manaz and JimX who continue on - it really is a (mostly) thankless job but we all appreciate your efforts!
Tuesday Night
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Tuesday, 5-September-2000 22:39:10 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Is that the sound of an NDA lifting that I hear? Spot the Matrox G450 reviews.. AnandTech have one, as do HotHardware and GA-Hardware. Expect a few more over the next couple of days..
TomsHardware has a GeForce2 MX roundup happening..
EuroGamer have a preview of the Voodoo5 6000..
Funky 180-degree cameras will be sending stuff from the Olympics to the web..
KJParker pointed out this 5x 120mm Panaflo fan tray.. going for USD $10 on Ebay.
CPUReview have an editorial on Intel's Rocky Road of late..
AthlonMB have a Athlon vs Duron thingy..
OCTools have reviewed the Swiftech MC1001.. bigass peltier+heatsink jobbie.
StGeorge have been having some trouble with a flood attack on their Internet Banking site lately.. that'd explain why I can't get into it.
ExtremeOverclocking have a review of the Diamond Viper II.. don't buy this card, you will get ZERO driver updates and support.
Very cool KVM and USB switch reviewed on Dan'sData..
ClubOC have reviewed the Front-X Multimedia Ports .. moves your soundcard ports etc to the front of your machine.
Silver thermal paste gets the going-over at NFSExtreme..
RizeNet have reviewed the Golden Orb..
AllHW have some Athlon Overclocking action happening..
IPKonfig have checked out the MSN Explorer Preview 2..
Andrew sent in something completely irrelevant but interesting anyway, an Evil Clownz site.. worth a look around. :)
JSI have reviewed the Soltek SL75KV motherboard.. Socket A, KT133.
ChicksHardware has some Booth Babes .. mmm.
Monday Night
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Monday, 4-September-2000 20:59:01 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Tom takes a look at the new Cyrix III.. and boy, does it suck.
..unlike the [H]ardbox, which is a pretty tasty lookin' tower case..
TheGibbon sent in a scary article, some thai dude has made a gun-wielding robot that is controlled via the web..
VIAHardware have checked out the Abit K7T-RAID .. socketA, KT133 mobo..
Extreme hardware have a ratpadz review up.. how extreme.
Dangerden are giving away a water-cooling jacket.. a few, in fact.
Monday Evening
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Monday, 4-September-2000 17:25:25 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Some funky wooden case action in the forums - homemade boxes from Babster and MWP.. both very cool!
TweakTown have a thing on Socket A Coolers that won't kill your cpu..
This is just plain bizarre. Using a heatsink to cook an egg. Reminds me of that outback program where the guy cooks a steak by putting it on his landrover's engine and driving around. :)
Hmm, insanehardware are giving away a a bunch of crap.. grrrreat. :)
Not only are these guys GA, but they have blue teeth, too.
Speaking of blue, a few people pointed out that overclockers.com found a blue-cored Tbird 750 that does 1.1GHz! Cor.
PlanetSavage have reviewed the Leadtek Winfast Geforce2 GTS 32MB vid card..
Sentient computers, evolutionary robots and more in the latest issue of ZZZ Online..
PCMechanic have a PC Basics 101 thing up..
InsaneHardware have some pics of a little titchy chipset orb.. orblette?
Hexus have some pics of problems from a recent PC show..
Big Daddy Kahuna!
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Monday, 4-September-2000 01:05:40 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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Heh, you thought The Big Kahuna was big.. well, this monster case manages to dwarf it. Brett from Ipex Australia sent along some pics of another of their old server cases, which we promptly nicknamed Big Daddy Kahuna:
Click here for pics+info!
Sunday Mornin'
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Sunday, 3-September-2000 09:29:58 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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UKGamer checked out the RDJD K702 cooler for SlotA Athlons..
AthlonOC have the Abit KT7 on review. This is the SocketA, KT133 version of the KA7..
I used to love Lego when I was a kid.. this guy seems well on the way to making a living from playing with it.
IPKonfig have info on overclocking the Voodoo3.. they got 240MHz out of theirs, not too shabby at all.
In other news, Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs - 'Oh Sh*t', says Humanity.. some funny stuff on TheOnion as usual.
GAHardware reviewed the Turtle Beach Santa Cruz sound card..
Senfu have a super thermometer, and OCWorkbench have a super review of it. Super!
LittleYappyDog have checked out the Belkin OmniView PRO .. an 8-port Keyboard/Video/Mouse switch.
PCRoddin' have reviewed the Inno3D Tornado64.. 64MB GeForce2 GTS card..
Sat Night - Very Quick
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Saturday, 2-September-2000 22:54:26 (GMT +10) - by YYK
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I saw Scary Movie and boy was that crap!
I went to see the deal sea scrolls today, and that was not interesting at all. I expected so much more…
Anyhow, I figured that I will post some stuff about much more interesting museums like:
The Air Sickness Bag Virtual Museum
The wonderful Museum of Dirt
And the First Virtual Mousepad Museum
Rom asked me if I wanted to look for crates?
Rom also sent me a virus:
You have just received the "West Virginia Virus". As we ain't got no programming experience, this virus works on the honor system. Please delete all the files from your hard drive and manually forward this virus to everyone on your mailing list.
Thanks for your cooperation,
West Virginia Computer Engineering Dept.
Saturday Evening
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Saturday, 2-September-2000 19:07:48 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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G3D have reviewed the AOpen AX64Pro, an FC-PGA, Apollo Pro 133A motherboard.
Cached.net have some large pics of the new Razer Mamba.. gaming mousy-thing.
GU have detailed their experiences with installing and using WinME..
Junkz sent word that VH have some neon lights for inside cases reviewed..
FlamingShrubs have a Win2K Video Card roundup happening..
VIAHardware have reviewed the Transcend AKXA motherboard. This is a KX133 mobo for Slot-A CPU's..
Heh, funny article on BBSpot about a new feature in Matrox video cards.. thanks Jim.
The Tweakerinos have reviewed an MSI GeForce2 MX card, the StarForce..
SavageZone have checked out the CM25 socket cooler.. not so cool, apparently.
AkibaPC have pics showing Pentium IV's on display in Japan.. not mobos, just a chip and socket.. wierd.
MBM v5 beta 1 is out now.. the best motherboard-monitoring proggie around and it's free, too.
VIAHardware have some info on upcoming AMD processors..
ChicksHardware compare the AGP version vs the PCI version of the 3DFX Voodoo5 5500..
Friday Evening
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Friday, 1-September-2000 17:49:31 (GMT +10) - by Agg
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IXBT have completed their ATA-100 and ATA-66 controller roundup..
DansData has reviewed a rinky-dinky LCD PC thingy.
GU have an Ask the Pro's section..
A review of the IStorm II hdd mega-cooler on HardwareCorner..
Hexus have reviewed the ATI Radeon..
More stereotype propagation in the Top Aussie Guide.. pretty funny, though. Apparently he's after a picture of Jacko. Hmm!
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