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Tuesday January 28, 2003

[H]ardNews 8th Edition

nForce2 Soundstorm:

With the nForce2 platform being as popular as it is, knowing how the sound subsystem performs could mean a lot to you audiophiles out there. Certainly worth a look.

The latest AMD platform chipset to hit the shelves is the much anticipated nForce2. While its performance currently has a slight edge over offerings from rival VIA, the extra features that are packed in as well are what make this package such a gem. One of the most overlooked features is the SoundStorm audio technology. Also found in the Xbox, Soundstorm offers the unique ability to output an AC3 or Dolby Digital 5.1 digital signal which can then be decoded using an appropriate receiver.

SiS “Giga Speed”:

Well, I don’t see this listed on the SiS press page just yet, so I will post the bulk of the PR here.

Silicon Integrated Systems (SiS) is displaying its market leading line of core logic and graphics chipsets at the Platform Conference in San Jose this week. The spotlight is on the integration of SiS' exclusive MuTIOL(r)1G technology, which resets the bar for I/O bandwidth transfer speed to a new and higher level of 1 Gigabyte per second, referred to as "Giga Speed" by SiS. As a further show of commitment to both Intel(r) and AMD(tm) platforms, SiS unveiled its newest high-performance AMD(tm) chipset announced earlier this month, the SiS746FX, which supports the AMD(tm) Athlon(tm) XP processor. The SiS746FX is the only AMD(tm) Athlon(tm) XP chipset in the marketplace to provide the high-performance support of a 333MHZ front-side bus, DDR400, AGP8X interface, and SiS MuTIOL(r)1G technology.

"Apart from the Platform Conference, SiS this week is launching its next-generation Rambus chipset, the SiSR659, designed to support four-channel RDRAM PC1200. This latest Rambus solution from SiS pairs the SiSR659 with the SiS964 in the south bridge, which integrates USB 2.0 with up to 8 ports and Serial ATA features. Sample delivery of the SiSR659 is scheduled for the third quarter of 2003.

Flying Fat:

Small commuter flights might start weighing passengers before they can fly. For some reason the airlines actually “guess-timate” that male passengers ( including clothing and carry-on baggage ) weigh 180lbs, but they don’t take into considerations that big ol’ bastards like me weigh 250lbs on a good day. I might be too fat to fly. Blame Mr. Burns.

The Federal Aviation Administration announced the temporary weigh-in policy Monday for planes with 10 to 19 seats as part of a monthlong survey to determine whether current weight estimates are accurate. It's a question of safety for the smaller planes, and passengers who refuse to go along with the request could be barred from a flight. The FAA lets airlines estimate that an adult passenger flying in winter averages 185 pounds, including clothing and carry-ons.

Posted by Steve 5:06 PM (CST)