[H]ardNews 4th Edition

Shuttle AS45 v1.2:

TBreak is hard at it today cranking out a review of the Shuttle AS45 SiS648 mainboard....let's see how this board performs for the TBreak gang.

Intel Interview:

UKGamer had a chance to sit down with Intel and ask them a handful of questions. Here is my favorite comment:

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition

Fun Opteron Picture:

I was checking out this 4.2GHz LN2 cool benchmark at Muropaketti when I noticed a picture ( could easily be fake ) of a 4way Hammer board. Regardless of the photos authenticity, it still gets us all thinking about multiple processor Opteron stuff, now doesn't it?

Text:

New KT400 Dragon series mainboard on the way from Soyo. Here is a clip from the PR page.

Powered by VIA's KT400 chipset, SOYO's new SY-KT400 DRAGONTM Ultra supports high speed DDR333/400 up to 3GB, an 8X AGP Pro slot for the ultimate graphics experience, and serial ATA (optional). Echoing the recent trend in see-through computer cases, KT400 DRAGONTM Ultra (Platinum Edition) continues to make a fashion statement with its distinctive platinum PCB finish.

Official XP SP1 Date:

If News.com says it, it has to be true....right? Well, supposedly we have a date with SP1 soon, read the article for more, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Antitrust tweaks The Windows XP update is unique because it adds a new control for setting default middleware--such as Web browser and media player software--as required by Microsoft's pending antitrust settlement with the Justice Department and nine of the 18 states that sued the company. Developers of software programs for Windows XP must "register" middleware with the updated OS to use the new middleware control, according to Microsoft. And software makers, such as America Online, say that the only way to do that is either to update existing software or wait for their new releases.

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition

8K5A3+ Video Review:

And the MTV, Video Music Award for best hardware in a live action video review, starring the EPoX 8K5A3+, goes to 3DGameman. See Rodney star in yet another video review.

Memory Of Champions:

3Dxtreme.org has posted a review of Corsairs ass kicking XMS3200 CAS2 DDR memory. Check out the review and see why they like the Corsair memory as much as we do. Good stuff.

Overall Corsair has proven themselves and their XMS3200 ram by slightly edging out Mushkin's pc3200 in most of the testing. During all the testing and even some overclocking the Corsair XMS3200 ram has been flawlessly stable.

Dawn Of The Dead:

Our buddy, Rob Perkins, likes to run around showing off the [H] pride. Last time Rob was hanging out with Ron Jeremy…this time out, it was Ken Foree, star of “Dawn of the Dead”. Cool.

[H]ardNews 1st Edition

Dets 40.41 Bug:

Matt at 3DGPU sent this over today. NVIDIA's Brian Burke responds in regards to the Anisotropic Filtering slider issue they found in the new 40.41 Dets and how the problem is being addressed. Here’s a snip:

The default setting on the new driver and the old driver are both the same. The problem that is being identified is a bug that occurs when the AF settings are changed. It seems that once the AF slider is moved away from 0 to another setting, then back to 0 again, it triggers a bug that causes the control panel to misread the register setting. That setting is not point sampling, but it is something less than 0. The only way to "reset" back to true 0 is by reinstalling the driver or deleting the registry setting. We are going to fix this bug and others and submit the new BETA driver to WHQL, before the driver moves from BETA to "official".

[H]ardNews 7th Edition

4BEAV Review:

Overclockers everywhere can now look forward to their friends saying “Gee Ward, I think you were a little hard on the BEAV last night” Thanks to EPoX. I am barely old enough to remember “Leave it to Beaver” re-runs, but even I know 4BEAV might be an “odd” choice for a motherboard name. Techwarelabs has the BEAV on the bench.

Today, they release their first motherboard that implements Bluetooth wireless technology: the EP-4BEAV, or "beaver" as EPoX likes to call it. The 4BEAV is based on the Intel 845D, but is optimized to support Intel's latest 533 MHz FSB Pentium 4s. The complementing Bluetooth header revolutionizes the personal connectivity market by providing freedom from wired connections; enabling links between mobile computers, mobile phones, portable handheld devices, and connectivity to the Internet.

Heavy HSF:

The Zalman CNPS 6000cu HSF is that fat daddy of the HSF realm. Well, at least by weight standards from Intel / AMD. Does all that weight aid in cooling or just strain your socket? Find out.

The heatsink alone weights 462g (exceeding in 162g the specification from AMD, and 282g the specification from Intel). This situation has a good side and a bad (or at least, dangerous) side. With more metal to dissipate the heat from the CPU, you will lower its temperature, but by being so heavy, you will have to be extra-extra careful when you move your computer.

CAK Shootout:

Mmmmm, CAK. VR-Zone does a big ol’ HSF shootout, but all this talk about CAK is making me hungry.

There's 3 main factors many of us are very much concern when we wanna spent that couple of bucks on a brand new cooler fan, namely - Effectiveness, Performance & Noise Level.

[H]ardNews 6th Edition

ABIT OTES:

Warp2search has some pics up of a new VGA cooler from ABIT called OTES ( Outside Thermal Exhaust System ) Looks cooler than hell ( pun intended ) but we have seen cool heatpipe technology on vidcards that turned out to be lame, when we tested it, like this eVGA unit. Lets hope this is any better, it sure looks spiffy though.

[H]ardNews 5th Edition

Motorola, STMicro And Philips:

Well, Motorola is claiming they have a new partnership with STMicroelectronics and Philips that will help them get smaller and faster. They are also claiming to be able to beat AMD and Intel to the punch…god knows Motorola needs it…what are they still at…1GHz or something like that?

Most Secure Windows Yet:

BAH! I just wanted to remind everyone of that statement made by MS before I point out this weeks security flaw in Windows. UGH…don’t get me wrong, I am loving XP, and this latest flaw isn’t XP specific…I’m just saying that reporting weekly holes in my browser & OS has me ready to kick Bill Gates in his baby nuts.

Microsoft Corp. said on Thursday that a security flaw in all versions of its flagship Windows operating system software released since Windows 98 ( news - web sites) could allow attackers to delete digital certificates. The world's top software maker said that an infiltrator could use an e-mail or a Web site to gain entry into a system and delete the pieces of data that are used to encrypt other data, such as e-mail messages. Microsoft labeled the security flaw as "critical" and said a patch was available on its technical Web site ( http://www.microsoft.com/technet). Microsoft said that its Internet Explorer software could be configured to defend against an attack.

SPAM Rules:

I think this estimate is a little conservative judging only from the amount of viagra enhanced, inch adding, working at home, hair growing inkjet cartridge offers I get. But they say SPAM is up to about 36% of all mail, and we still haven’t done anything about it.

Corporate networks are becoming increasingly clogged by e-mail pitches for pornography, money-making schemes and health products, and there's little relief on the horizon Once a mild annoyance, unsolicited bulk e-mail--also known as spam--could make up the majority of message traffic on the Internet by the end of 2002, according to data from three e-mail service providers. Businesses "are seeing an enormous increase in spam," said Enrique Salem, CEO of anti-spam service provider Brightmail. "It's become a huge problem."

[H]ardNews 4th Edition

Radeon 9000 Pro:

Them online Overclockers ( as opposed to overclockers with NO net connection ) have posted a review of the Radeon 9000 Pro.

First of all, I want to point out that the Radeon 9000 comes in two flavors: the Radeon 9000 and the Radeon 9000 PRO, which I am checking out in this review. The main difference is the clock and memory speed. The "PRO" comes with a core speed of 275MHz and a memory speed of 275MHz DDR (550MHz), whereas the plain version comes with a 250MHz core and 250MHz DDR memory (500MHz). The card has a total of 64MB DDR memory onboard, spread over eight memory chips. The memory is provided by Hynix and is rated at 3.3ns, which theoretically means the memory can run up to 303MHz. I'll get into that when we get to the overclocking section.

Get on the Fanbus:

All aboard, get on the fanbus ladies and gentleman. Well, maybe you can’t ride this bus, but they sure are hand to have if you have an assload of fans and you are trying to trim down the noise in your computer. Plus these just look cool too.

For the overclocker and case modder, fan noise is nothing new. This is the price that must be paid when one wants to obtain maximum cooling for their computer hardware. To overcome this, the fanbus/baybus was invented, to not only centralize fan wiring within the inside of a PC, but also to lower noise by allowing fans to be turned off when extra cooling was not needed. One probably doesn't need a >100CFM fan running while just listening to MP3s, and the noise from such a fan would probably detract from the musical experience. Soon, rheostats began to be used for fan control, as they were able to provide a variable resistor in the circuit that effectively was able to control fan speed, so instead of just being have on/off control, one could regulate the fan's speed with a reasonable degree of accuracy.

What The…?:

Sean McAndrew sent me this link to what sounds like something that is kept in a woman’s nightstand *cough* that requires batteries and lube….jeez…read the customer reviews. Like these

When my 12 year old daughter asked for this for her birthday, I kind of wondered if she was too old for it, but she seems to LOVE it. Her friends love it too! They play for hours in her bedroom with this great toy. They really seem to like the special effects it offers (the sound effects and vibrating). My oldest daughter (17) really likes it too! I reccomend this for all children.

ummm, yeah.

[H]ardNews 3rd Edition

Ti4200 Comparo:

The Tech-Report has a full 8 way Ti4200 shootout jumping off today. A good mix of boards gives you some great information if you are shopping for a video card on a budget.

Triplex Ti4400 Review:

O.K. to be totally politically correct, we will now say, “The Overclockers from down under…and over a bit” when referring to Overclockers NZ. Anyhow, the gang over there has a Triplex Ti4400 review online today.

Triplex packages its high end, i.e. 4400 and 4600, in a beautiful 007 type aluminium box. This is bound to catch consumers' eyes on the shops' shelf. The bundle is a bit weak though, relative to the box used, although it is on par with other manufacturers. I was expecting more games/utilities. No DVI to VGA converter was supplied thus users need to get their own.

Xabre 400 Review:

The Jaton Xabre 400 gets a little spotlight from the 3DExtreme crew…beware of pop-ups when you check this one out though.

Today 3dXtreme reviews a video card based on the new SiS Xabre 400 Chipset. The card we will be reviewing is the Jaton 3DForce Xabre400-64Q. Most computer users choose from either nVidia's Geforce or ATi Radeon series cards, there are those individuals who like to venture off the beaten path and find something new to play with. If you are one of these individuals, this card could be for you.

[H]ardNews 2nd Edition

40.41 Detonator Benchmarking:

I did a very comprehensive report on the new Detonator 40.41 Drivers released yesterday, and here it is…"They are faster, and have some pretty damn cool little features in them". Yup, that was my comprehensive report. I am going to spend the day installing the drivers on friends and family members computers and then use the NVRotate function to really screw with them, like flipping all their desktops upsidedown and sideways for kicks. Wish me luck...

Here is a list of sites that actually did do some benchmarking and feature comparisons on the newest Dets:

DX9 Delayed?:

DirectX 9 delayed? I never knew they had a concrete release date.

Microsoft and its partners, including ATI, had suggested it would be introduced in early October, but now we hear it's postponed until the end of November. But Beta 2 of the API has just become available, even though the only hardware compatible with DirectX 9 is the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro. Butl even ATI, the only company with a DX 9 part on the market is not allowed to ship DirectX 9 drivers and distribute its cards with DirectX 9. Even hardware reviewers are not able to obtain the fancy DX demos simply because of Microsoft's beta policy.

Dammit, now I will have to wait longer to play all them DX9 games that are out on the market already. *sarcasm*

AthlonMP 2200+ Review:

2CPU has posted a AthlonMP 2200+ review for your viewing pleasure. They look at it in several dual CPU environments benched against other dually configs.

We've taken a look at AMD's newest Athlon MP, the 2200+. We ran them through our usual round of benchmarks and compared them to the Athlon MP 2100+ and 2000+, as well as Intel's biggest and baddest 2P monster, the Xeon 2.4ghz. There has been some speculation that this is the new "B" revision Thoroughbred core, but, it isn't. It is still the dual Athlon crowd's first "SMP Certified" Thoroughbred, and it is crazy fast.

[H]ardNews 9th Edition

VidCard Sales Slow?:

Apparently the sales of video cards are now feeling the pinch of a tight economy. Last month it was the motherboard makers that were feeling a bit of a slowdown.

Despite strong business in the second half of 2001 and early this year, graphics card makers are now faced with shrinking demand in the marketplace. Demand has dropped as integrated chipsets, such as Intel’s 845G and Nvidia’s nForce 2, have brought a new level of competition to the low-price sector and as high-end demand from PC-gamers is eroded by the increase in usage of game consoles like Sony’s PlayStation2 (PS2) and Microsoft’s Xbox.

Apparently the memo that video card sales are suppose to be slowing down never made it over to ATi, they are shipping their new line of Radeons hand over fist, some people predicting they might not even be able to keep up with demand.

Mini ITX Motherboard:

The name of this board, the Via Epia-800 sounds like something I should be taking for heartburn: “Epia-800 will stop your heartburn for hours…guaranteed”. All kidding aside, it would make an ass kicker of an MP3 / DVD box for sure..

A quick overview, it's a fully integrated motherboard, with onboard graphics INCLUDING S-Video and composite out, onboard 5.1 Sound, and onboard 10/100 LAN. As well as a VIA C3 800mhz chip, which doesn't give off much heat, requiring only a very small heatsink and fan to cool it. And to top off what seems like a perfect package, it's a tiny 17cm square, and comes in at around £95 (UK), which is very reasonable.

peE-Mail:

I am surely going to hell for this. I just sent a Pee-Mail to my mother-in-law. DOH!! Ken, reminded me how much fun it is sending these to your friends. Heh…sick.

[H]ardNews 8th Edition

Cool Cold Cathodes:

Cold Cathodes kick ass on many levels when it comes to PC lighting. Virtual Hideout has a handful of cathodes that are purdy.

I've seen alot of cold cathode kits in my time and the Sunbeam Tech kits are on the very top of the list that I've seen up to this point. They've done their homework on what makes a great kit, and when you do your homework, it pays off in a big way. This kits not perfect, but it's damn close. I think one of the best features about it is the striped acrylic casing. It just does so much for the overall look of the kit and also to hide the bulb and wire inside. I'd have to say it's the most professional looking kit I've yet to review.

Damn Terrorists:

It’s bad enough that old perverted men already have all the cool AOL screen names like h0+bu5+ychiX0r but dammit, now all the terrorist get the cool hotmail addresses too.

Moussaoui asked that the government hand over the file on his e-mail address at Hotmail.com, a widely used free service owned by Microsoft. Prosecutors responded the next day that they had sought Moussaoui's Hotmail records for the address "xdesertman" but were told that Hotmail did not have any records.

2.8 P4 Review

The TechZone finally got their hands on a 2.80GHz Pentium4 for review.

AMD introduces the XP2600+, Intel strikes back with the new P4 2.8Ghz processor and restore Intel's spot as the fastest CPU maker. The Tech Zone takes the new 2,800Mhz processor for a spin around the lab and tries to overclock it to 3+Ghz as well.

Pop ups on every page though, be warned.