Asus Germany is keeping the goods coming: Bios CUR-DLS 1011 Final (=1011 - 06 Beta)
Bios TUV4X 1004 - 01 Beta

X-bit Labs are reporting Gigabyte didn?t make any official announcements about the launching of new graphics cards based on the chips from the Canadian ATI Company, these cards appeared in Japanese hardware stores this week.

GA-R8500/AGP. This graphics card is built on ATI RADEON 8500 and is equipped with 64MB DDR SDRAM. Its working frequencies are the same as those for RADEON 8500LE: 250MHz core and 500MHz memory. The card has a D-Sub, DVI and TV-Outs and goes with a DVI-to-D-Sub converter.

GA-R7500/AGP. This graphics card on ATI RADEON 7500 chip looks absolutely like the original RADEON 7500 from ATI. The difference makes only the PCB color. The card is equipped with the same 64MB DDR SDRAM and works at 270MHz core and 460MHz memory frequency. The card has a D-Sub, DVI and TV-Outs and goes with a DVI-to-D-Sub converter.

So for the full low down on these's cards warp to X-bit Labs.

MSI Taiwan has a new BIOS for their VIA KT266A based mobo. Looks like all issues discussed in most reviews are fixed with this release: BIOS Type: AMI BIOS
File Size: 519.23 Kb
Version: Ver 3.2 Fixed problem system can't run On-Board RAID BIOS when adding SCSI Card & SCSI HDD
Fixed problem wherein there will be a ! yellow mark on secondary IDE when enable 'CPU Critical Temp' in the BIOS
Add "CPU Fan Detection" item in hardware monitor setup. Set this as disable if you connect your fan directly to the power supply
Fixed problem wherein Cherry PS2 Keyboard can't work
Fixed Memtest program fail when using 3 pcs 256 DDR memory Download Asus has a new quick update from yesterdays release. The new A7V266-E BIOS is v.1004.B Final ( 07.11.2001 ).

NvNews have found a NVIDIA demonstration displaying various aspects of their nForce motherboard chips in a cool 3D demonstration. It's much cooler than your typical flash presentation.

nForce Tour in 3D

With nForce solutions almost availble from retail store shelves more & more reviews pop up. Since MSI was first to come up with a ready-timed board most reviews concentrate on MSI: MSI K7N420 @ TBreak: Overclocking wasn't one of K7N420's biggest strengths. The board does offer some overclocking in terms of CPU voltage as FSB speeds. For voltage, you have the option of increasing it by 0.02, 0.05, 0.10 Volts. Even though we upped the voltage on our 1.75V Athlon by 0.10 the BIOS continued to report the Voltage at only 1.77V. For selecting FSB speeds, the board doesn't provide 1MHz increments that we've come to know and love. Product Score: 81 MSI K7N420 @ AMDWorld.co.uk: Memory performance is outstanding, the combination of this board with an external GEFORCE3 is absolutely perfect and also I see no reason why the internal onboard GPU will keep many who are on the upgrade path very pleasantly surprised. It has a big attraction to the OEM market without a doubt and anyone fortunate enough to buy an off the shelf ready built machine with this installed will be very satisfied and still have the option to improve if necessary. Performance Award

Asus Germany has released a couple of updates today: Bios A7V-M 1004 Final ( 02.11.2001 )
Bios CUV4X-D 1014 - 05 Beta
Bios CUV4X-DLS 1014 - 05 Beta
ASUS HealthMonitor PcProbe v2.15.02 (ASUSLM) for Win9x/2000
Thanks to Dodge from M3DZone for the pointer.

SUNNYVALE, CA -- November 05, 2001 --AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the new AMD Athlon? XP processor 1900+, which sets a new level of performance and continues to extend AMD?s leadership with the world?s highest overall performing PC processor. The AMD Athlon XP processor 1900+ features QuantiSpeed? architecture and delivers up to a 25-percent performance advantage versus competitive processors on real-world applications, in such categories as digital media, office productivity and 3D gaming. There are already a couple of reviews up so check these out: AMD Athlon XP 1900+ Processor Review - Amdmb.com
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ Processor Review - VIA Hardware
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ Processor Review - Tech-Report
AMD Athlon XP 1900+ Processor Review - AnandTech

A new video card manufacturer is offering what they call a Ti 600. The Argos Ti 600 from EKcomputer uses 3.3ns DDR SDRAM to get maximum performance out of the GeForce3. EKcomputer has a full line of cards coming to market soon.

So warp to Guru of 3D for more details on the full line and the Geforce3 TI 600.

Our buddies over @ EntCity have posted a nice,small review/article about Overclocking A Geforce 3!. Here´s a bit:
What?s the most important piece of hardware for a gamer? A fast cpu? No. Fast RAM? Nope. It all boils down to your videocard. What?s the most important thing for a visual freak (crazy gamer) An overclocked one. (I am aware that a fast cpu and RAM is important notice how I said MOST important) I took this card up to 220/480 from 200/460, not much but I?m kinda scared from my last overclocking experience to try and find the limit....long story. So head over by using the above link!

Highpoint has released the official Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP driver & BIOS v2.0.1019 for the famous HPT 370 RAID controller sported on many ABIT for example. You can download the file right away: Download from Highpoint-Tech
Download from Warp2Search

Asus have released a couple new bios files for the A7V266 motherboard:

A7V266 version 1003

A7V266-E version 1003e Other BIOSes: Bios TUSL2 1011 Final (=1011 - 04 Beta)
Bios TUSL2- / CUSL2 - Series ( i815e ) 1011 - 04 Beta
TUSL2-C / CUSL2-C ( i815ep ) 1011 - 04 Beta
Bios TUEP2- / CUEP2 - Series ( i815ep ) 1011 - 04 Beta
Bios CUR-DLS / DLSR 1011 - 06 Beta
Bios A7A133 / A7A266- Series 1010 - 01 Beta

nVNews has posted a review of Leadtek's GeForce3 TDH video card. How does improved Tv-out display, on-board Hardware Monitoring and the largest GPU/Memory heatsink from the factory sound? Here's a snip: Leadtek's card features Hardware Monitoring courtesy of an onboard Winbond chip (W83783S) connected to a thermistor. The thermistor is located on the left edge of the heatsink and extends underneath the heatsink. The chip is capable of monitoring various on-board settings such as two different temperatures (chip edge and center), as well as GPU and memory voltage settings. The on-board fan is connected by a 3 lead wire - 2 of the wires provide the power to rotate the fan and the third relays information about the fan's rotation speed. Check out the NvNews Leadtek GF3 TDH review.

OkiDoki, everyone should be after a well performing HSF these days cause Ghz CPU's could turn into smoke if not properly cooled right at startup. OverClockerCafe has taken 3 HSF into their labs to check their cooling abilities: Glaciator II:
Poor contact between the fins and the base can kill a sink's performance. This is why there are so many wildly different results around for the Hedgehog and the Fortis coolers. Some days on the assembly line are better than others. Well, this is not an issue with the Glaciator II. The base and fins are cut from a single piece of copper. OCZ Dominator 2 HSF:
The Dominator 2 gives you a choice of one of two fan options, both of which are attention getters. The first is a Y.S. Tech 60x60x25mm that pushes 40 CFM at 7,200 RPM while making 46 dBA of music for your ears... Thermaltake's Volcano7:
So far, the only players that have stepped up to the plate have been the Swiftech MC-462 and the Alpha PAL8045. Both of these products are VERY FINE heatsinks. Even though these two products are the closest comparisons it is still comparing apples and oranges with these two and the Volcano 7. Thermaltake is attempting to address the performance / noise issue with the first temperature controlled, variable speed heatsink/fan. This is to be a true "active cooling solution.

Hi all! It's time for me to upgrade my graphics card, so off I went surfing the local online stores and here's some of the deals I found. Nice. All I need now is the Money!

Guillemot Hercules 3D Prophet 2 Titanium Card £119.00 ex.VAT
ATI Radeon 7500 64MB DDR AGP Retail DVI VO £125.00 ex.VAT
Guillemot Hercules 3D Prophet 3 Titanium 200 Card £165.00 ex.VAT
ELSA GLADIAC 721 TV-Out GeForce3 Ti200 AGP Graphic £169.00 ex.VAT
ATI Radeon 8500 64MB DDR AGP Retail DVI VO £205.00 ex.VAT
Guillemot Hercules 3D Prophet 3 Titanium 500 Card £229.00 ex.VAT

Well those's are the best deals I've found so far. If u find any better deals post your deals in the comments.

256Mb - 168pin 133Mhz SDRam Module Only £12.72 ex.VAT

oh S*** i forget as am from the uk add 17.5% vat

Most of those deals on the video cards is watford.co.uk and Dabs.com have some good deals on software and memory.

I just got this email in my inbox from Marvin Tschechne, editor-in-chief of MediaXPlosion, our new affiliate. They have got a 30!-pages article on the Elsa & Gainward offerings. We have finished up a roundup of four GeForce2/3-boards from ELSA and Gainward. The GLADIAC 516, GLADIAC 721, GLADIAC 921 and Gainwards GeForce2 Ti/500 XP were compared in the test. We want to concentrate now on the following 30 pages and looking for pro and cons. Particularly the GLADIAC 921 will not make it easy for our normal GeForce3-board. Note: The article is written in german so bust out your translators. Hit the well written article via this link.

Intel has released a new BIOS update for the D845HV motherboard version HV84510A.86A.0024.P06.

Express BIOS Update P06 HV84510A.86A.0024.P06 1.23 MB 30 Oct 2001

Use the Intel® Express BIOS Update if you are running Windows* 98, Windows 98SE, Windows ME, Windows NT*, Windows 2000, or Windows XP*. An executable file runs a Windows InstallShield* program which automatically updates the BIOS.

Intel also has an updated sound driver for the same motherboard

Integrated Audio: ADI 1885 WDM_5.12.01.3034e_SM3 24.2 MB 29 Oct 2001 for Windows 98/2000/ME/XP

TheInquirer has been told by Nvidia that their nForce motherboards will indeed sport an AGP slot! They talked to european spokesman Luciano Alibrandi: When it comes to upgrading, maybe because the budget is there or some new game comes that that demands a GeForce 3 board, upgrading will be a simple matter of just plugging the new board into the AGP slot, claimed Alibrandi. ?The drivers will already be installed.

What costs 50 bucks, has an integrated T&L engine, and does environmental bump mapping?
If you answered, "A stolen GeForce3 card", you're right, but that's not the only correct answer. Initially, I thought the 315 was going to be a bit of a dog when it came to performance. I'm pleasantly surprised that it held its own against more established competition. Instead of spending all of its time at the bottom of our pack of budget cards, the 315 took a few opportunities to flex its muscles and take the lead. As one of the select few graphics processors on the market with a really useful T&L engine, the 315 certainly bodes well for SiS's future graphics parts, at least on the low-end. Check the full review out @ Tech-Report.

Once again Asus Germany has some updated BIOSes for you: A7V266 1003 Final ( 31.10.2001 )
A7V266-E 1003 Final ( 31.10.2001 )
TUV4X 1003 Final (=1003 - 02A Beta)
TUA266 1004 - 05 Beta
Use caution when flashing your BIOS! The new A7V266 series BIOS is reported to sport a deactivation feature of the optional Promise RAID chip as with the old A7V133 and some "Performace Improvements" as well.

Canopus has announced their Spectra X21 card based on NVIDIA GeForce Titanium 500. It comes with 64MB DDR SDRAM onboard and the usual specs like 250Mhz DDR Memory Clock and 240Mhz Core Clock. Some of the unqiue features include SSH, DFS, APS 3.0 and ABS 2000 Active BIOS. Spectra X21 makes use of their FireBird G2 Copper GPU/RAM sinks and an Aerodynamic fluid bearing fan to cool the card efficently. There is an onboard blue power LED too. This card was highly priced at US$572.