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Asus has released a new bios (1011 - 01 Beta) for the CUR-DLS / -DLSR motherboards Download

Overclockers Online has posted a review on the 2.0GHz Pentium 4 CPU Shifting back to the present, the P4 has established itself in the high-end market and is available at the following speeds: 1.3GHz, 1.4GHz, 1.5GHz, 1.6GHz, 1.7GHz and 1.8GHz. Today, two more flavors are released to the public, namely the 1.9GHz and 2.0GHz Pentium 4. Although both cpu´s are equal to their precedessors, with the only exception being the clockspeed, it is still a very interesting product because today, the first processor that breaks the 2GHz barrier is available in a store near you! At the same moment we are also looking at the last P4 based upon the "Willamette" core, which means it we´ll be shifting to the 0.13 micron fabrication process soon. In a few weeks/months time, Intel will introduce their new "Northwood" core, which will be using the brand new socket478 package. The package gets smaller, and of course the actual processor will get smaller to, using a 0.13 micron die resulting in less power consumption and reaching higher clock speeds. With the lau! nch of the socket423 P4 2.0GHz, Intel has also released the socket478 P4 2.0GHz. This one does not use the "northwood" core, it is still using the "willamette" core so it is basicly the same processor we are reviewing today, but in a different package. Read more

Viper´s Lair has posted a NTFS Security guide As you all know, security has been a hot topic lately. We all should be running firewalls, virus scanners, security updates and using good passwords when required. If you´re running Windows 2000, or even NT, there is a simple and free way to beef up your security so that even when someone is sitting at your desk, they´ll have trouble getting to your files. Read more

DeviceLock for Windows NT/2000/XP version 5.0 Beta 4 is available for download DeviceLock gives network administrators control over which users can access what devices (floppies, serial and parallel ports, Magneto-Optical disks, CD-ROMs, ZIPs, etc.) on a local computer. Once DeviceLock is installed, administrators can control access to floppies, CD-ROMs or any other device, depending on the time of day and day of the week. DeviceLock enhances access control for Windows System Administrators and helps control removable disk usage. It can protect network and local computers against viruses, trojans and other malicious programs often injected from removable disks. Network administrators can also use DeviceLock to flush a storage device´s buffers. Remote control is also available. Download Homepage

GideonTech has put up a guide to water cooling your CPU. The matrixes needed a little modification at the entry point, I used a hack saw to remove the 3” strait plastic pipes which originally came out from the ends, then attached 2 copper micro bore 90 degree bends, per matrix. These are firmly held in place with epoxy resin. However, before they were glued, both the copper 90 degree outlets and the inside of the plastic entry point were keyed-up with emery paper, this gives a much nicer surface for the epoxy resin to stick to. Read more

CPU Review has posted Part 1 of their Pentium 4 2GHz review If you are a regular reader of CPUReview you have by now noticed that I tend to use the same benchmarks (quite deliberately, in order to make comparisons easier). Unfortunately for this first article about the 2GHz P4 I was unable to obtain some of my "favorite oldie" benchmark results. I don´t know if the fault lies with DirectX 8, Windows ME or the 12.41 Detonator drivers - but my old favorite benchmarks won´t run. I don´t believe the problem is with the motherboard or processor as I was able to run those same benchmarks on several i850 based motherboards with a 1.5GHz P4 Read more

HotHardware has posted a review on the Pentium 4 2GHz CPU Regardless, this new P4 is much more compact size and it´s package seems far better suited for dissipating heat. This allows for lower core temps, as you will see in the pages to follow. One note is that Intel plans to offer a 2GHz. Socket 423 version but that is the end of the line for the 423 pin out. Higher forthcoming clock speeds will all be in this new 478 pin device. Read more

NeoSeeker has posted a review of Matrox´s latest Graphics Card.. the G550. As you can see in the specs, the G550 is no graphics powerhouse. With only a ~125MHz/333MHz core and memory ratings, the G550 is by no means fast when compared to the 250MHz/460MHz of the GeForce2 Ultra and 200MHz/460MHz of the GeForce3. (As an aside, the “~125MHz” is only a rough estimate because Matrox keeps that info secret.) But since this is not a gamers card, mind bending speed is of little concern; what it lacks in power it makes up for in features. Read more

FrostyTech has posted a review on the Nanocomposite Thermal Compound In this day and age, it isn´t good enough to just have the fastest fan and biggest heatsink. Attention must be paid to the little things in life, and in particular, the few hundredths of an inch between the processor die and the base of a mounted heatsink. If you skimp on this tiny area, you might be in trouble down the road because of over-heating. So if you´ve been starring at the monkey trying to decide to punch it or not, stop looking around and pay attention to what I´m about to say! Read more

Everything USB send some USB news: Now Shipping: SuperDisk 240 Drives This week´s Now Shipping is focused on two external LS-240 disk drives from QPS and Addonics, which format regular 1.44MB 3.25" disks into 32MB disks. As usual, you will be provided with the best prices available from Dealtime. Read more Fujifilm unveils 3 budget cameras The FinePix A101 features a 1.3 MegaPixel sensor and 2x digital zoom, and will price for around $179. The A201 features a 2 MegaPixel sensor and 2.5x digital zoom, and will be priced for $249. The final DSC is the FinePix 2600 Zoom, which features a 2 MegaPixel sensor, 3x optical zoom and 2.5x digital zoom. It will be priced at $299. Read more

VIA Hardware has taken a look at the VIA 686b south bridge and the combination of six different sound cards. Nearly 6 months later, how well do the various fixes for the 686B bug work? Today we shall find out by using the various 4in1’s, George’s patch, and of course sound card replacements with an old and newer BIOS for a KT133A motherboard to see if there have been any changes since the issue was first discovered. Just to make sure if the problem occurs in newer VIA chipsets, we will also use a KT266 board to verify that the SB Live problems don’t occur in future VIA Southbridge’s. Read more

OC Workbench has posted new SiS735 IDE drivers for Windows 2000 This driver was provided by SiS-Microsoft for W2k to support ATA100. Download

OC Workbench has posted the latest bios for the ECS K7S5A motherboard. Download

Adrian´s Rojak Pot has posted Rev. 3.7 of their Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide Here are the updates in this new revision :- - Added a new tip on how to open up a new Explorer window with access restricted to a certain folder - Changed the Command Prompt In Any Directory tip so that the Folders Option method will now display long filenames by default. Read more

ActiveWin has posted first pictures from Microsoft Plus! for Windows XP. Check it out

Overclockers Online has posted a review of EPoX´ first Pentium 4 motherboard. EPoX installed several tweakable settings on the 4T2A: you can adjust the core voltage, change the multiplier (as if that will do any good with locked Intel processors ), change the FSB, ... Actually you can use the following FSB settings: 100, 103, 105, 108, 110, 115, 118, 120, 122, 125 and 133. Although 1MHz increments are not available, the settings are spread over a wide range so you will find what you need. The most important settings are from 103 to 110. Why? Well, unless you have an unlocked P4 (which is very unlikely), your processor will be locked at a certain multiplier. The Pentium 4 uses very high multipliers so the smallest increase in FSB will result in a pretty high core speed increase. That is why settings above 110 MHz won´t be used a lot ... most cpu´s won´t be stable when overclocked that high. Read more

The value of certification has come under the spotlight, as a new study for the Microsoft Certified Professional magazine shows average base salaries for Microsoft-certified systems engineers (MCSEs) are down seven per cent on last year. Read more

With Friday´s release of Windows XP complete, a few details about its impending retail release are emerging. First up is pricing, with suggested retail prices in line with the prices Amazon.com revealed last month. Windows XP Home Edition will cost $199.99, with the upgrade version going for $99.99. Windows XP Professional Edition will cost $100; the full version is $299.99 and the upgrade is $199.99. Read more

The 94th issue of ZZZ online is out. Read in the latest issue of ZZZ online about: - nanoscale pac-men - digital camera in a pen - vehicle tracking device - small wireless videocamera Read more

FrostyTech has posted a review on the Neng Tyi SN05 Copper-Based Heatsink Neng Tyi´s SN05 heatsink is similar to their massive all-copper SN03 model except that it uses much lighter aluminum fins to reduce the overall weight. While this may look like just another cube to you, the SN05 comes packing a Nidec fan - a rare commodity these days. Supposedly powerful enough to tackle a 1.13GHz Coppermine or 1.4GHz Athlon T-bird, the SN05 features an easy to use thumb clip that makes it a snap to find out for sure. Get ready, cause we´re about to put the SN05 through its paces! Read more

Accelenation has posted a review on Mushkins High-Performance DDR-SDRAM. Mushkin chose to use Heat Spreaders with their High Performance DDR unlike the High Performance SDR previously tested. I am told these heat spreaders were designed by Michael at Lost Circuits and he did a fine job with them I must say Read more

Anandtech has posted a Value Dual Socket-370 Motherboard roundup Just a few years ago, the phrase "dual processor system" was nothing more than a dream for most of us in the hardware community as it was mostly reserved for high-end servers or workstations. The simple reason, of course, was the prohibitively high price of such a system, which was the result of a few different factors. For starters, the processors prices were still relatively high, which made buying a second processor that much more expensive. Moreover, not all CPUs supported SMP back in the day. Similarly, only a handful of chipsets were available to support SMP, with a similarly high price tag, of course, that in turn raised the cost of such motherboards. Read more

TYAN has released a new bios for the TYAN Tiger 200T motherboard. New features and Fixes : Modify hardware monitor support Download

A new beta of Customizer XP is available. Customizer XP is a special utility which is designed to optimize Windows 2000 and XP performance. Using a graphical user interface, it allows you to modify many hidden Windows registry settings only by simply clicking the provided checkboxes. The Customizer XP enable you to get a better internet connection, just by clicking a specified button and it will set all recomended provided settings for you. The Customizer XP also, in addition, offers a wide range possibility to customize your Windows program, such as : give a background at your wish in pre-logon, automatic restart Windows Explorer when crashes while you´re working to avoid loosing your works. Download

Hardware Extreme has posted the latest Pentium 4 prices Here´s part of the list : P4 1.3GHz - $193 to $135 - down 31% P4 1.4GHz - $193 to $140 - down 31% P4 1.5GHz - $256 to $142 - down 48% Read more