How to Wed a Coppermine to a Celeron Socket370 Board... (Without Intel Ever Knowing!)

Nov 16, 1999

Kyle Bennett at HardOCP has word on their newest feature; an article detailing how to install an Intel PentiumIII Coppermine on a Celeron Socket370 motherboard. Here's a snip:

"With the upcoming Intel Coppermine Socket 370 CPUs soon to hit the
marketplace, several questions have arisen. First and foremost,
will be able to use our current Socket 370 boards built around the Celeron?

Well to answer that question, NO. Bummer eh? Well our SMP Freak Gadfly has been hot on this case and has figured out a few things about all of this. First we cover simply making the Coppermines work with the current boards and will soon follow up with making them work on a an ABIT BP6. (hopefully)"

Cheers!

Posted by Colin Cordner

Motherboards, and Mouse Pads, and TV Tuners... (Oh My!)

Nov 16, 1999

The HardwareZone has posted up reviews of several new products, including:

The Asus P3B-F ATX Motherboard,
The Everglide Mouse Pad, and,
The TV Vision PCI TV Tuner Card.

Thanks to Douglas Lam for the update!



Posted by Colin Cordner

Great computer hardware giveaway every months...

Nov 16, 1999

Hi all,

Yep, we now have a permanent monthly computer hardware giveaway contest...

Each month, new computer hardware gear will be given away on this web site. Started on a monthly basis, this contest might soon become bi-montly and it might even become a weekly contest if we can find enough sponsors to support our efforts.

As you can see, we at Active-Hardware, are not to manage any efforts to bring the most interesting things to you.

Thus, don't wait, susbsribe to our weekly newsletter to become immediately eligible for the current drawing and all the others...

Good luck to all of you and thanks for visiting us :))

Posted by Chris Verr

Review of the Tekram P6Pro-A+

Nov 15, 1999

Hi all,

It really is a pleasant way to begin a new week when a new review is available and this is what we have for you this morning with the review of the Tekram P6Pro-A+ slot 1 motherboard based on the VIA Apollo Pro133 chipset.

By the way, we are expecting some i820 based motherboards to arrive here within the next few weeks. Thus, we will soon begin to review these long awaited i820 motherboards using PC800 Rambus memory modules. Stay tuned as we'll keep you informed as soon as we'll get confirmations...

Have a nice day :))

Posted by Chris Verr

ABIT Announces Siluro™ TNT2 and GeForce256® Graphics cards

Nov 15, 1999

Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. November 5th, 1999—ABIT Computer Corporation announced today a new family of graphics cards and new motherboard models. Indicating a new direction for ABIT, the company announced they will introduce their Siluro™ family of graphics cards based on nVidia's TNT/2 and GeForce256® graphics chips.

The first models will be the Siluro™ GT2 Ultra, Siluro™ GT2V, and Siluro™ GT2 based on nVIDIA's RIVA TNT2™ 3D graphics processor, and the Siluro™ GF256 based on nVIDIA's GeForce256® graphics processor. The ABIT Siluro™ GT2 is a high-performance 3D/2D graphics and DVD accelerator card, integrating up to 32 MB of ultra high speed memory and a 300 MHz DAC. ABIT will also offer its Siluro™ GT2 Ultra, a “maxed-out” version of the Siluro™ GT2 based on the RIVA TNT2 Ultra chip, “the highest-end version of the RIVA TNT2”, says nVIDIA.

ABIT is also announcing plans for production of the Siluro™ GF256 which will be based on nVIDIA's new Geforce256® graphics processor. “This definitely represents a new area for us to expand in and we are excited about bringing the ABIT name to a quality set of cards based on proven nVIDIA technology” said PR Manager Jeremy Smith. Although, he said the Siluro™ GF256 will not be ready until later in the first quarter of 2000.

The Siluro™ GT2 meets all the requirements of the mainstream PC graphics market and Microsoft's PC'98, PC'99, and DirectX 6.0 initiatives as well as Pentium™ III and K6-2/K6-3 3Dnow! optimizations. In addition to DirectX support, the Siluro™ GT2 provides a complete high-performance professional-grade OpenGL ICD.

ABIT also enhances the features set of the Siluro™ GT2 with their ABIT MaxGraph™ Software Utility as well as proactive hardware monitoring using special cooling to ensure card stability when there are high temperatures. With the Siluro™ GT2 using the MaxGraph™ Utility, users can fine tune the Siluro™ GT2 to maximize values for variation of resolutions, and color depths depending on the application, for greatest performance enhancement and flexibility.

Source: Abit's press release

Posted by Chris Verr

ABIT Announces Two New Mainboards Based on the i820 Chipse

Nov 15, 1999

Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. November 15th, 1999—Following the launch of the long awaited Intel 820 chipset, ABIT has announced their Intel 820 solutions to the market. The ABIT CX6 and CH6 are Pentium® III AGP based ATX mainboards supporting Ultra DMA 66/Direct RDRAM With ABIT's patented CPU Soft MenuTMII technology. These are considered ABIT's premier boards based on the Intel 820 chipset. “These have been a long time in coming, but I think it will be worth the wait, the Intel 820 chipset is just fantastic”, assured ABIT's PR Manager Jeremy Smith. For the upcoming Intel 820 chipset, ABIT will introduce the CH6, and CX6. “We realize there will be different needs for 820 based products because of the RAM issue, so we are offering 2 solutions, one with 2 RIMMs the CX6, and one with 3 DIMMs the CH6”, explains ABIT's Smith.

Based on a completely new chipset architecture, the CH6 and CX6 are AGP based ATX mainboards supporting Intel Pentium® III/II CPUs, Ultra DMA 66, Direct RDRAM or DIMM with CPU Soft MenuTM II technology and represent some of ABIT's premier board technology based on the Intel 820 chipset. The Intel 820 chipset supports Advanced Configuration and Power Management Interface (ACPI) and AGP 1X/2X/4X (Sideband) 1.5V/3.3V devices and support 100/133MHz Front Side Bus settings.

Featuring the latest in memory technology, the CX6 supports 2 184-pin RIMM sockets for Direct Rambus Memory modules for up to 1GB MAX. (64, 128, 256MB) with 600, 700, 800MHz Direct Rambus Channels supporting ECC. The CH6 has 3 168-pin DIMM sockets supporting SDRAM modules for up to 1GB MAX. (64, 128, 256MB). There is also an AC'97 Digital Audio controller with integrated AC'97 Audio CODEC on the boards with an included audio driver.

With ABIT's Soft Menu TM II the CX6 eliminates the need for jumpers or DIP switches to set CPU parameters. The BIOS also has the Award Plug and Play BIOS supporting APM and ACPI and features the Write-Protect Anti-Virus function by AWARD BIOS.
With the CX6 and CH6 there are multi I/O functions with 2x Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports supporting up to four Ultra DMA 66 devices. As well as support for STR (Suspend to DRAM). They each have 1 Universal AGP slot, 5 PCI slots and 1 AMR slot with Hardware Monitoring of fan speeds, voltages, system environment temperature and one thermal header for a CPU or other temperature monitoring.

Source: Abit's press release



Posted by Chris Verr

GIGABYTE Introduces First PC800 motherboard, GA-6CX

Nov 12, 1999

November 15, 1999, Taipei, Taiwan - Giga-Byte Technology Co., Ltd. (www.gigabyte.com.tw) today announces GA-6CX motherboard. The first motherboard based on the new Intel 820 chipset. Intel 820 chipset supports many new features, like 133MHz FSB (Front Side Bus), PC 800 DRDRAM (Direct RAMBUS), 4X AGP, ATA 66, AC 97 (Software audio), HSP modem (AMR). In addition to these advanced features already supported by Intel 820

chipset, GA-6CX also added many features that meet your requirement now and extend to the future, these improvements are 4 USB ports, build in Aureal 8810 A3D hardware audio, ISA slot (optional), DualBIOS™ technology, Suspend to RAM (STR), color coded I/O connector, LDCM, SIV, health monitoring hardware, adjustable CPU core voltage, and variable front side bus speed setting. GA-6CX also ship with AGP retention mechanism, foldable CPU retention mechanism, 1 C-RIMMs (continuality RIMM which is require for any unoccupied RIMM socket). With all these advanced features on the Giga-Byte GA-6CX motherboard, it brings you the future computing power today.

GA-6CX has the Intel 820 AGP chipset with the 133MHz-system clock (with ability to adjust the voltage and set the system bus up to 150MHz) and supports the Pentium II/III family of CPU Processor chips from 200 to 750MHz, with slot 1. The GA-6CX has main bus clock speed of 66 /100/133 MHz, a clock multiplier of 3.0 / 3.5 /4.0 / 4.5 / 5.0/ 5.5 all the way up to 9.5. On this motherboard it has 2-800 MHz (PC800) 184 pin RIMM (RAMBUS Inline Memory Module) sockets and supports every RIMM Memory chips from 64MB to 512MB, with a total of 1GB. The chipset consists of the Intel 820 AGP set, Aureal 8810 A3D for great 3D sound solution, ITE 8671 I/O set (1MB/s) and the Winbond 83782 Health chip. What a great combination, it's right on the cutting edge.

To go on, there is one 4X AGP slot with AGP retention mechanism (to keep your AGP card from poping out during shipping) for your demanding 3D Video application, one AMR slot for your software modem riser card, five PCI slots and one optional ISA slot give you the most flexible expansion. It supports 2 UDMA/66 IDE ports (up to 4 Ultra ATA 66 Devices), four USB Ports to satisfy the up trend of the USB devices (two in the front and two in the back), PS/2 mouse and keyboard. There is support on the main board for 3 fans, 1 CPU, 1 power supply fan, and 1 case fan. There is a sensor under the processor, which is in contact with the processor. It will sense the temperature of the CPU and send it to the CMOS for you to see. You can set your limits on the temperature and have it give you an alarm if it's beyond that setting. The good thing did not stop here; this board also can detect the power supply voltage, CPU voltage, and also the fan rotation speed. All this information not only can be found inside the CMOS setting, it also can be display under Windows 95/98 and Windows NT by running the Gigabyte's SIV (System Information Viewer) or the Intel's LDCM (LANDesk Client Manager) software. With all these System Health monitoring functions added to this board, you never have to worry about your system will fail due to CPU overheat. There is also a buzzer built on the board, so you don't have to use the case speaker. Keyboard, mouse, LAN, RTC Alarm, and Modem Ring can power the computer up.

The GA-6CX motherboard is expected to be launched Noember 15, 1999.

Posted by Chris Verr

ABIT Unveils Newest Board Based on i810e Chipset, the WB6

Nov 12, 1999

Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. November 10th, 1999—Introducing a Micro ATX slot 1 board with PC99 color-coded connectors and double-decked I/O designed for the fastest Slot 1CPUs (Pentium® III processors 100/133MHz FSB) and re-aligning Value PC standards, ABIT brings to the market the WB6. “Based on Intel's new 810e chipset the WB6 is poised to bring our greatest price to performance ratio yet” touts ABIT PR Manager Jeremy Smith.

With the 810e chipset, the WB6 supports: 66/100/133 MHz Front Side Bus speeds, Ultra DMA33/66, Two 168-pin DIMM sockets support SDRAM modules for up to 512MB with stand-by voltage to support the STR (Suspend to RAM) function and integrated AGP 2X 3D graphics accelerator with 100MHz Dynamic Display Memory Interface and On board AC Link '97 video with 4MB SDRAM Graphics Memory, Micro ATX form factor, 3 PCI slots and One AMR slot.

Read the whole press release here

Posted by Chris Verr

AirBoard Wireless Keyboard Review

Nov 11, 1999

Bill Henning has posted up the CPUReview of the AirBoard Wireless Keyboard. Here's a brief take:

"It's light, it works, it frees me from cords. It is almost tempting to use as a generic keyboard / mouse for small desktop systems - it would take far less room, and you would not have to worry about the cords."

Posted by Colin Cordner

Soyo Mainboard Review at HardOCP

Nov 11, 1999

Kyle Bennett reports on HardOCP's review of the latest Soyo mainboard. Here's a quote:

"We saw the Soyo 6BA+IV announced in Taipei at the Computex Hardware Show. I must say at the time I was very excited about getting my hands on one.  After our experience with the 6BA+III, the +IV had
"WINNER" written all over it.  It seemed as though Soyo was poised to come up and take an even bigger bite out of the market than they were already chewing on.   Does this board live up to the newly precedented "Soyo Standard" that we have seen them so proudly build over the last year, or does it fall short of our expectations?  Let's take a look at Soyo's second run at the serious overclocker's market."

Posted by Colin Cordner

D-Link DFE 910 Network in a Box Review

Nov 11, 1999

AbsolutePC has completed its review of the D-Link DFE 910 Network in a Box. A worthwhile read for network junkies, and IT managers.

Posted by Colin Cordner

Razer BoomSlang 1000

Nov 11, 1999

3AG has a review on the new Razer Boomslang 1000 mouse. This from 3AG:

"When it comes down to FPS gaming, accuracy is everything. Extremely often you wind up duking it out with someone, both with Glocks, both with similar health. What it all comes down to is who can move the quickest, and who can make their shots hit home. With the latter in mind, Razer designed the BoomSlang 1000 mouse. The difference in the BoomSlang is pure sensitivity."

Posted by Colin Cordner

ABIT Announces SoftMenuTM III

Nov 11, 1999

Press Release...

Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C. November 10th, 1999—ABIT Computer Corporation announced today a new evolution of their famous SoftMenuTM technology, SoftMenuTM III. Currently only available on the ABIT BF6 and BE6-II because of those board’s use of a newer generation clock generator, SoftMenuTM II provides 120 sets of Front Side Bus speeds, from 66, 75, 83, 84, 85, 86 , 87, 88…. to …198, 199, 200 MHz and unlimited FSB speeds from 83 to 200MHz in increments of one. Power users can now try to find the best FSB with the best system performance. This technology equips ABIT’s products with some of the motherboard industry’s most cutting edge and flexible technology. It also increases compatibility to current and future specifications for CPU parameters.

The I/O voltage is adjustable with 8 sets ( 3.2-3.9 V). This function allows users to adjust the voltage supplied to DRAM, AGP, and Chipsets, greatly increasing the possibility of higher performance and greater stability. “Even the highest quality of motherboards will have some individual differences, being able to have as much control over various settings ensures that the user will be able to achieve the maximum in stability and reliability for his system”, explains ABIT PR Manager Jeremy Smith.

In SoftMenuTM III the CPU Multiplier Factors can be set from 2 to 8 in increments of 0.5, giving a total of 13 sets of multiplier factor support for all current and future CPUs. The CPU Core Voltage 1.3 – 3.5 V is also manually adjustable but protected by SoftMenuTM III from damaging the CPU.

The PCI/CPU FSB Clock now not only has a 1/2 and 1/3 divider setting but now also a 1/4 setting for selection. Users can freely choose between these three choices in most of the 120 FSB settings. This along with SoftMenu’s manual IRQ steering allows for users to more accurately control PCI devices and in this third generation of ABIT’s SoftMenuTM technology, like the previous version, SoftMenuTM II, the AGP/CPU FSB Clock divider settings allow for 1/1 and 2/3 options allowing the user to adjust AGP clock.

In the new SoftMenuTM III, the-Order Queue Depth allows the user to set cache buffer for CPU data processing, and the Level 2 Cache Latency can be set giving adjustment to the CPU L2 cache speed.

Perhaps most useful for the users is the new format, of SoftMenuTM in its third version. It is easier to use because of the new feature of having detailed descriptions in the “Item Help” box to the right. “As the user scrolls through the options, he will be greeted with help in making better informed choices assuring he gets the maximum amount of performance and please from his ABIT board”, says Smith.

Posted by Chris Verr

Review of the AOpen AX63 Pro slot 1 motherboard

Nov 11, 1999

Hi all,

It's with a great pleasure that we announce to you that we just went to post the review of the AOpen AX63 Pro slot 1 motherboard based on the VIA Apollo Pro133 chipset. You can then read te review immediately if you wish.

By the way, another VIA Apollo Pro133 based motherboard is under test at this very moment. I named the Tekram P6PRo-A+ slot 1 motherboard that we've received a few days ago. This review will be up in the course of the weekend, so, stay tuned... :)))

Have anice day and enjoy your reading :))

Posted by Chris Verr

LinuxWars: Distribution War II

Nov 10, 1999

Bill Henning at CPUReview has posted his analysis comparing three leading Linux distributions (OpenLinux 2.3, SuSE 6.2, and Mandrake 6.1).

Cheers!

Posted by Colin Cordner

New Matrox NT Drivers Posted

Nov 10, 1999

This just in from Diance Vanasse at Matrox Graphics Inc.:

Hi,

We have just posted new Windows NT drivers on our website at: http://www.matrox.com/mga/drivers/latest_drivers/home.htm

These drivers (version 4.31.008) are compatible with the following products:

- Millennium G400
- Millennium G200
- Mystique G200
- MGA G200
- Productiva G100
- Productiva G100 MMS (but no vid tools for the MMS with TV Tuner)

For more information on this driver, please refer to the release notes
(http://www.matrox.com/mga/drivers/files/notes/nt4431_notes.txt)

Regards,

Diane


Posted by Colin Cordner

DDR vs. Rambus: First Benchmark Comparison

Nov 10, 1999

A very highly informative article comparing DDR-SDRAM vs RDR-SDRAM (Rambus) memory has been posted by Bert McComas of InQuest Market Research.

For all those of you interested to learn which memory type gives the best performance, read Bert McComas article here

Posted by Chris Verr