Our pals from 3DXtreme have published their own review of SiS's new budget board based on the 315 chipset. Here's a bite: Even in the days of the Geforce 3's and ATi Radeon II's, some people opt not to spend that amount of money but to get something that won't break the bank. For the budget minded consumer we have the Geforce 2MX400/MX200 series of video cards as well as STM's Kyro Based video cards. One company not to be considered in the high end graphics arena is SiS. While at times they have made some pretty promising products, none of them have been accepted by the gaming enthusiast. In saying this, I now have the pleasure to review SiS's latest graphics solution aimed at the Budget minded consumer while still being able to play todays games at acceptable frame rates. Hence, the SiS 315. The above link takes you to the review.

Uhh, Intel wants to exceed AMD ;-) Matching memory and processor clock speeds makes it easier for chip set core logic to transfer data at high speeds, although it isn't essential. DDR chipsets -- either from third party Taiwan vendors or Intel's own upcoming 845 DDR version -- can adjust core logic to interface PC266 memory chips with the current 400-MHz Pentium 4 FSB. Read the complete article @ EBnews here.

OC Prices have done a review of Epox 8K7A+ SocketA DDR Motherboard.

Here's a bite from their article:

On Monday we put out a review of the low priced DFI AK76-SN and overall we were happy with it: it provided good performance, decent overclockability and good features. However, today we will take a look at the Epox 8K7A+, a motherboard that has all possible features, even RAID, on board. Reviews and reports about this motherboard have been very positive, so I was looking forward to reviewing it. And believe me, I have not been let down...

So warp to OC Prices for the low down on this great motherboard!

Matrox released these drivers last week so... here's the snip: Version number: 5.71.014
WHQL certified driver
Main Fixes: - When running Java program used swing UI, you may see 'garbage' along mouse movement such as menu navigation
- Choppy playback of DVD titles on PAL TV
- Unreal Tournament corruption
- MS word scrolling corruptions
- Age of Empires 2 lock ups in clone mode
- Black screen in some scenes of Diable II
- Corruption and flickering in Flight Sim 2000
- Black screens in certain scenes with various D3D games Grab the 5.01 Mbyte driver package here.

It is dated 13/09/01 and is available here.

ExtremeTech has done a very well researched and grounded review of Creative's latest offering in the PC audio market. To make your mouth water here's a little excerpt: While Audigy isn't so much revolutionary as it is evolutionary, we believe its feature set is sufficiently novel to warrant a serious look, and so we took a long look under the hood and investigated its performance in depth. The Audigy board does deliver compelling audio and even basic video production functionality to audio and video producers. As mentioned, it includes FireWire support (which Creative is confusingly calling SB1394), permitting the board to communicate not only with hard drives and external audio gear, but with digital camcorders as well, letting users acquire video through Audigy, and edit the video with included video editing software. Check out the full review!

Plextor have released their new 24x10x40. This writer is a smooth baby indeed. Boasting in a 700mb write in just 4 mins, this is certainly on my want list. Click Read more for more details...

Thanks Mark Fox of Maxreboot. As some of you might be aware, does cause a number of problems on some machines. I have been reading threads in many forums all over the web where users have been experiencing performance decreases, random lockups and degraded image quality with these latest drivers.

AmdMb.Com have a review about the Nvidia nForce Chipset.
Here's a snip: Which brings us to the NVIDIA nForce Platform Processor Architecture (see image below). NVIDIA is making many claims for its first and flagship jump into the motherboard chipset market. That includes having five to ten times the performance of any other integrated PC graphics accelerator, having the industry?s highest performance broadband networking and the world?s most advanced 3D audio with real-time Dolby Digital 5.1 encoding. Can they back the claims? Read on to find out. Head over by using the above link.

Gzeasy.com claim to have pictures of the new GeForce2 Ti.

Finished the late webride this evening: IPkonfig Swifttech MCX370-0A Aluminium CPU cooler review. I will probably add this little sucker to my new system but with a more powerful fan. First XP Systems To Ship Next Week according to ExtremeTech. Another GeForce Tweak Utility Beta is out. Not really Hardware news but I was too lazy to put it elsewhere... Lian Li PC68 case review @ HardwareExtreme. Abit KG7-RAID SocketA DDR Review @ TheTechZone. Intel 850 Motherboard Roundup: September 2001 & Intel 845 Chipset Review & Motherboard Roundup: September 2001 @ Anandtech. Lian-Li PC-65 USB Aluminum Case Review @ our friends from 3DXtreme. Be sure to check it out cause their reviews are always in-depth & well written!

The Inquirer has the low down on a new type of silicon.
Here's a bite from their article:

Taiwanese foundry TSMC will be shipping chips built on a 0.18 micron process using hybrid silicon germanium (SiGe) technology in 2002, the company announced in London earlier today. Gates built using the technology will be capable of operating at up to 120GHz compared with the 50-60GHz of today's silicon.

So for more info warp to The Inquirer.

SavageNews have managed to get hold of the lastest BIOS (PAL) & drivers for Vivid!XS video cards and S3 Twister drivers.

Download here...

I just received an eMail from a guy named Aprazeth who says he has some custom Voodoo 5 WinXP drivers. If you want to check them out do it here.

According to The Register the Palomino will officially be launched October 12th. The Athlon XP will also have new product codes based on "performance rating": 1.333GHz = 1500+
1.400GHz = 1600+
1.467GHz = 1700+
1.500GHz = 1800+
1.600GHz = 1900+
Looks like my new system will feature an Athlon XP! ;-)

A neat hardware article has been posted by Motherboards.org. It explains the technical background of AGP 1x, 2x, 4x, AGP pro, and AGP 8x. They also have AGP connector charts. Here's a snip: The AGP interface specification uses the 66 MHz PCI (PCI Local Bus Specification) specification as an operational baseline, and provides four significant performance extensions or enhancements to the PCI specification which are intended to optimize the AGP for high performance 3D graphics applications.

The Register have the low down on Apples New CPU that can hit speeds of up to 1.6GHz - a higher clock speed than AMD's latest-generation, 'Palomino' Athlon!

The Inquirer have more info on this running story about Dell and other laptops makers and the impression they implemented Intel power management technology SpeedStep, when they shoudn't have.

Here's a bite from their article:

In BIOS? We don't think so...

"Well that's BS because I tested it and it certainly doesn't. Once it's at 550 MHz (or 700MHz depending on whether or not it's plugged in when I start it up) it stays at the speed whether or not I plug/unplug it...

So warp to The Inquirer for more info.

Overclockers.com has a new FAQ online with tweaks & tips for your AMD system. Questions ranging from Can I run a regular (non-C type) TBird or a Duron on a KT133A/(other chipset) board? to What is a good motherboard for AMD processors? is covered in this FAQ! Good for newbies, a good memory refreshment for old AMD users. Overclockers.com AMD FAQ

A smart move of ATI I have to say. First time they did something good for the gaming community! "We want users to have the best gaming experience possible, and GLSetup will help them achieve that,'' said Rick Bergman, Senior Vice President of Marketing & General Manager, Desktop Business, ATI Technologies Inc. "ATI's support of GLSetup is a sign of their commitment to our community.''
"ATI's support of GLSetup is a rare thing in the industry - a company pushing stability, conformance, and a positive user experience, not just the latest benchmarks and features,'' said John Carmack, Technical Director, id Software. "With the mad rush to always sell the latest and greatest video card, trying to wring cooperation out of competing companies is a difficult task. It is great to see ATI stepping forward with support for a program that broadly benefits all 3D card users and developers.'' Source: Electic