Last updated on 26/09/1998.
|
26/09/1998 - I would like to encourage all Singaporeans to join the Singapore RC5 effort at cracking a 64bit code key. 25/09/1998 - Check out the Final Reality benchmarks of a Celeron 300A and Abit BH6 system clocked at 464MHz. This system soundly trounces the Cyrix M-II series in 2D and 3D graphics. 15/09/1998 - Intel's upcoming chipsets, the 810 and the 820 have been documented. However, there is still quite a lot of mystery surrounding these 2 chipsets and the profiles may not be totally accurate. 09/09/1998 - I've managed to run some benchmarks on my test system at 75MHz by increasing the I/O voltage on the motherboard. I suspect that the Hyundai PC-66 SDRAM I'm using is not very overclockable when used in pairs on the Abit SM-5. Anyway, do have a look at the updated benchmark results. 05/09/1998 - Updates done to the System Benchmark page. There are some scores of a Voodoo 2 running Final Reality in SLI mode. 03/09/1998 - More Final Reality benchmarks have been posted on the System Benchmarks page. Unfortunately, due to a change to Hyundai PC66 SDRAM, I have not been able to run any tests at the 75MHz FSB speed - windows fails to load. 02/09/1998 - My cousin made a generous donation and I now have 3 new CD-ROMs in my computer. After some experimentation, it has been concluded that the two Wearnes drives (10x and 12x) are not very good at reading poor quality CDs. The TEAC 32x works fine, but the spinning sound can get rather loud so I'd recommend a Creative CD-ROM drive instead. On the other front, I've put up some Final Reality benchmarks done on my 6x86MX. 30/08/1998 - I've updated the Rendition V3300 page a little. It appears that it will have dual independant CRT controllers. This should work very well is Windows 98's dual monitor feature. 27/08/1998 - The motherboard chipset guide is being updated rapidly with information on the SiS620 Pentium 2 AGPset, the Intel 440GX AGPset and the Intel 450NX PCIset. 26/08/1998 - In a bid to raise the performance bar once again, Intel has released 3 new processors in the past week - Pentium 2 450MHz, Celeron 300 A and Celeron 333 A. The new Celerons are based on the Mendocino core and feature 128Kb of Level 2 cache that runs at full CPU clock frequency. This completely closes the performance gap between the Celeron and the Pentium 2! 16/08/1998 - Today the Motherboard Chipset Guide continues to increase in size with added information on the VIA MVP3 and Intel 440BX core logic chipsets. 15/08/1998 - Designed for the sub-$1000 computer, the new VIA MVP4 chipset supports ATA-66. 14/08/1998 - The sudden move from Socket 8 to Slot 1 left many Pentium Pro supporters in the lurch. Fortunately for them, Intel has released a range of Pentium II OverDrive processors that can help extend the lifespan of the now aging Pentium Pro systems. 13/08/1998 - I've uploaded some information on the Permedia 3. Although it is good mews that the Permedia 3 offers performance similar to that of a RIVA TNT, I can't help but feel that we would be better off with a chipset that features an integrated geometry setup (to compensate for the poor FPU of the processor). 12/08/1998 - The main menu has been updated with the Chatroom area and a File Download area. 11/08/1998 - For those who wish to hold online discussions on topics relating to the computer, a chatroom has been added 10/08/1998 - Cyrix has released some specifications of its next generation Jalapeno processor. Information seems to suggest that this processor will run at speeds comparable to Intel's 600MHz Pentium 2. 09/08/1998 - I would like to wish all Singaporeans a Happy National Day! Yesterday, I replaced my Diamond Stealth 2000 3D with an ATi Xpression+ video card. The Xpression is based on the 3D RageII graphics chipset. Now I can play Quake2 very smoothly at 1024x768 full screen. One complaint however is the lack of 3D wrappers. 08/08/1998 - A graphics card based on the NEC/Videologic PowerVR Second Generation will be released at the end of August. The PVRSG aims to outperform a Voodoo2 through some design innovations such as VQ Compression and a deferred type of rendering which will make more efficient use of the avaliable bandwidth by only texturing objects that can be seen. 07/08/1998 - Information on the upcoming Rendition V3300 has been uploaded. Yesterday, I also upgraded my computer to an IBM 6x86MX PR2/333. The new processor is a 0.25 micron "HF series" chip. Unlike the normal 6x86MX processors, the "HF series" does not have a brass colored center section - the center is black instead. Due to the more advanced manufacturing process involved, I would highly recommend getting the "HF series" (0.25 micron) instead of its brass colored siblings (0.30 micron). There are rumors that the "HF series" will even overclock to 300MHz (PR2/400?)! And yeah! I almost forgot to mention that the PR2/333 and a ViRGE is quite capable of running Quake 2 smoothly at 800x600 resolution. 06/08/1998 - I did some reading up on Homex server yesterday. From the information posted on the web, it is apparently part of the Singapore ONE project which boasts an impressive 622Mbps ATM based broadband network infrastructure. For faster surfing speeds, I would greatly encourage viewers to take advantage of this large high performance bandwidth and access the Homex Mirror rather than the slower Main Homepage (Singnet). 05/08/1998 - The Digital Alpha section has been updated with some extra information on the 21164. Information on the up-coming 21364 has also been added. On the software front, Microsoft has released DirectX 6. Windows 95/98 based applications and games that run on DirectX, 3D games in particular, will experience a performance increase in the range of 0-30%. To download the DirectX 6.0 Core Components, click Here. 04/08/1998 - A short article on the Matrox G200 Chipset has been uploaded to the graphics chipset section. 03/08/1998 - We now have a new mirror site at Homex. If you find the current site to be slow, please try the mirror there. Address is http://homex.s1.net.sg/user/duane/indexb.htm . Homex offers me 6MB of webspace and as such is much more suitable than the Anglefire site (even my main homepage at Singnet only offers 2MB!). 02/08/1998 - Besides face lifting many pages, FAQs on S3 Savage3D and the RIVA TNT have been uploaded. It is interesting to note that both have a higher fill rate than the Voodoo2 but are not performing as well on current benchmarks. From here we can infer that driver and programme optimization should still make a big impact on future peformance. 01/08/1998 - The Guide to Intel Processors has been updated and given a face lift. 31/07/1998 - The Guide to Cyrix Processors page has been updated and the AMD Processors page has been given as facelift. 30/07/1998 - I've come across an interesting programme known as "Rain". Although I do not have an lab figures to produce, I do find that my laptop feels a lot cooler with it running. In theory, this little programme should do wonders for keeping overclocked systems stable. Check it out on my updated Overclocking Guide. 29/07/1998 - My apologies for the disappearing act. I have been rather busy with my first year exams. Looks like there is a lot of work to be done around the site and I'm getting down to it now! |
|
06/02/1998 - Even as Digital is being bought over by Compaq, more news about the Alpha 21264 is being heard. 03/02/1998 - Updated the information on the Intel Deschutes, Katmai and Covington processors. 02/02/1998 - Many microprocessor manufacturers are trying incorporate a additional set of "MMX-like" instructions to increase the 3D capabilities of their products. More information about that here. 02/01/1998 - Small updates done to numerous parts of the site. This site is now best viewed with Netscape Communicator 4.0x. There are also rumours that the AMD K6+ 3D will be in shops as early as March... but then again, those are only rumours. It will certainly be interesting to watch Intel's reaction to this processor. 01/01/1998 - Happy New Year to one and all! Heard of the Cyrix Cayenne? 31/12/1997 - *sniff* Why do all the webmasters of computer hardware sites come down with the flu during Christmas? Anyway, I've just uploaded some information on the Voodoo2. 26/12/1997 - I've been playing around with some Dynamic HTML for the Netscape Communicator. Those using Netscape 4.04 should see the words "Main Menu" now at the top left corner of the screen. For a sample of what Dynamic HTML is capable of, try moving your mouse over it. It's not much, but should make navigation at my site slightly easier. Also updated the Processors Overclocking page to include some more results. 25/12/1997 - Merry Christmas! I've been hard at work last night and have updated the Video Card Overclocking section with overclocking tips for 3D/Fx cards and the Matrox Mystique. A TechEncyclopedia has also been added to the Glossary section. 24/12/1997 - Put up some heat generation sepecifications of the various processors. Click Here to check it out. 19/12/1997 - Some information on IA-64 architecture has been uploaded on the Intel Merced page. I have also managed to get some information on the Centaur C3A processor. 12/12/1997 - Uploaded some information on the Intel Merced processor. 10/12/1997 - No, I haven't forgotten about the webpage! Some updates have been done to the Intel P6 Series page and this includes details on the Deschutes, Katmai and Willamette processors. It has also come to my attention, that in addition of the Pentium MMX, Intel has also begun to disable the higher clock multiplier settings on the Pentium 2 233MHz and 266MHz processors. Some mention of this is now made on the Overclocking Page. 01/11/1997 - Updated the link to MCLK on theVideo Card Overclocking page. The link it leads to even has an overclocking programme for Matrox cards. 24/10/1997 - Uploaded some info on the AMD K6 3D and K6+ 3D. 17/10/1997 - No, I'm not back. I'm just updating information from a remote site. Found some bugs in my HTML code that made Netscape unable to read my P55C MMX Unit problem section. That has been fixed. 30/09/1997 - Made some changes to the SCSI Hardisk section. That section still looks lacking to me though :( Anyway, I'll be out of town for some time; will update on the Enhanced K6 and the IDT C6 when I get back. Update 2: More updates done to the Hardisk section. 29/09/1997 - Corrected an error in my CDROM page. Thanks goes to James Bootman who pointed out that the capacity of a CDROM is 680MB (ISO 9660) and a CD-R is 650MB. Thanks to Michael (again!), the Anti-Virus page has been updated with the latest version numbers. NAV version 4.0 is out! There are now also links to download the latest virus definition files. Just confirmed that some "K" (eg. SL27K) models of the Pentium MMX are still overclockable. Intel apparently decided to remove the multipliers half way through the "K" series batch. 28/09/1997 - Intel is now the most overclocking processor NOT!!! I just got news that they've removed all the extra clock multipliers from the Pentium MMX series to prevent overclocking!!! Check the suffix of the serial number (eg. SL27J), if its a "J" and before, it's overclockable, if not, tough luck! Check the Pentium MMX section for details. 27/09/1997 - Read about the problems with the Pentium MMX's MMX unit on the Intel Pentium page. I heard today that the Enhanced K6 will have an MMX2 instruction set. This is unconfirmed. Personally I don't think AMD will be sucessful with MMX2 unless they get Intel's backing. If they release it, there is sure to be some hassle with Intel over standardization. 26/09/1997 - Some more minor updates done to the Overclocking Processor section and the Memory Guide (thanks Marjan!). Added a picture with labels to Building a DIY PC; Paint Shop Pro is very nice to use :) Hope this pic will make things clearer. There's a benchmark of the TXPro on the System Benchmark page. It comes very close to the performance of my Abit VX. Unlike the HXPro and the VXPro, this is one serious clone chipset! I still haven't recovered some of my emails yet. Could those whom I promised a link on my links page please email me again if it hasn't been done. Update 2 for today! I made a MAJOR mistake in the CDROM section about CD-R drives. Thanks to Bob Whitworth, that is now corrected. 25/09/1997 - Updated the Overclocking Processor section. Some minor updates done to the Anti-Virus Software page and the Benchmarks page. I really need more benchmarks, please email me your winbench/wintune/winstone scores. 24/09/1997 - This site was awarded the Home Grown Excellence Award yesterday! I'd like to thank everyone for supporting me. VIA and AMD have patched up according to Hays, vice president of VIA(US)! Expect the VP3 to be out in a months time. Put up a feature comparison table for the Motherboard Chipsets. Can someone tell me if the 440LX supports ECC RAM? Also modified the secondary fan and removing the casing parts of the Cooling & Thermodynamics section (Thanks goes to Nick Lager for pointing the mistakes out!). The RAM Guide has also been updated. 23/09/1997 - Put some info on the RIVA 128 and the Oxygen video accelerator chip in the 2D/3D Video Cards page. This (Oxygen) is for highend CAD/CAM and it even beats a Glint Delta. The real power of the Oxygen is in its scalable architecture that allows 4 Oxygen chips with 32MB SDRAM to be run in parallel. As for the RIVA 128, its stats are exactly twice that of the Rendition V2200! A Sound Card Comparison Table is up. Also put up a few new areas and updated the info on the VP3 chipset. It will support DDR SDRAM. Comparison tables will be up tomorrow. Thanks to Michael, we now have an Anti-virus Software page. I'm working on a Building A D.I.Y. PC section now. It is partially up. Have a look and give me your suggestions. 22/09/1997 - Argh! My windows went crazy yesterday! Had to reinstall it! All my emails are gone! Could those whom I promised to add a link to my links page please email me the details again. There goes my digital camera section too! This is update 2 for today. To my horror, I just discovered that Netscape users were having problems accessing the page (Thanks goes to Scott Wainner of System Optimization for telling me!). Problem has been fixed. I've been working hard to recover the lost data and have updated the NextGen 5x86 page. The Dream system has been updated to sport a Turtle Beach sound card with 48Mb RAM and a 20.1" NEC LCD monitor. LCD is much better because it has no radiation and is perfectly flat. Okay, I'm working extra hard; part 3 for today! The Rendition V2200 specifications have been added to the 2D/3D Video Card Chipsets. It might not beat the Oxygen 402 at CAD, but for games this is IT! 21/09/1997 - Updated the section on the Pentium Series of processors. There's some info on voltages and a picture of the Tillamook. The data on the Pentium Pro has been updated with info on the 1Mb level 2 cache version and the Pentium 2 part has been beefed up a bit. Also modified The Dream System to sport a Canopus Pure 3D. The 3D Winbench 97 Large Texture Test performance of the Pure 3D (score of 9.13) is 3x that of the Diamond Monster 3D (score of 3.11)! All I can say is WOW! That extra 2MB really makes a difference. 20/09/1997 - Yesterday was the NGI Cool Site Award. Updated the AMD K6 and Cyrix 6x86 pages with some feature comparison tables. 19/09/1997 - Hmm.. Best Of The Web bronze award yesterday. Removed the links exchange from most of the pages to improve speed. Also, due to popular demand, I have put the Dream and Budget system sections on Singnet. Also updated the processors page with some information on the IDT C6 and Digital Alpha processors. Added some Java Script to the index. 18/09/1997 - Won The King Of The Jungle Award yesterday. Also did a recommendation of components for a budget system over at the Angelfire site. 17/09/1997 - Won the Cow Patrol's Best Site award yesterday. For the mirror site, there are now 2 areas in Angelfire. Those who find the Singnet server slow (It's because of the links exchange I think) can try there. Also, there's a Dream System section at Angelfire. 16/09/1997 - Won the Pure Gold Award from the Real Estate Library yesterday! I'd like to thank all those involved for supporting me. Now I'm working on a mirror site at Angelfire for those who find my current server (Singnet) to be slow. Only a framework has been setup so far. 15/09/1997 - Won the Blessed Award from A Long Way From Home and the Candy Eye Honourable Mention Award from Candy Eye yesterday! Put up a glossary section (the first major hardware homepage to have one as far as I know!) and an awards section. 14/09/1997 - Updated the graphics chipset section. I'm also working on the HiFi section now and added 2 new areas there. 13/09/1997 - Update done to the Overclocking section. Look under the performance tips. Added the Starting Point counter. Please vote for my site! 12/09/1997 - Update done to the motherboard chipset page. Joined WSS Top 1000 sites. This site is also now listed in most search engines. 11/09/1997 - Changes done to the layout. Some page names have been changed. Please update your bookmarks and refresh the pages. Added a spamming notice and the News page. 10/09/1997 - Added the EIDE and SCSI hardisk section and updated some areas. Added music (Mid) to the music related section. 09/09/1997 - Added the music related section. Updated the processors section. 08/09/1997 - Added the Cooling section. Updated the motherboard and graphics card chipset pages. 07/09/1997 - Added the CD-ROM and DVD section. 06/09/1997 - Site officially opened at 2300hrs! Counter started. |
Click Here to return to the index.
All content on this web page and its related pages is copyright.