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HardOCP has posted a review on the Asus GeForce3 video card. Thanks Brian. ASUSTeK (yes, that´s their real name) is one of the top motherboard manufacturers as many of you already know. They are known for quality, stability, and speed all rolled up into one package. They are known for some very popular motherboards such as the Asus P4T and VIA KT266 series and even their Intel 440BX series of motherboards. They also have other niches apart from their mainboard business, which include among other things, Video Cards. You may own or have heard of some of their previous offerings, including their very popular Asus V7xxx series of GeForce2 and GeForce2 MX cards. In fact, they have been making video cards based on other chipsets since even before the S3 Virge! Way back into the S3 Trio64 and ATI 264CT 2D graphics cards days! So there was plenty of experience and history going into their next "Enthusiast Level Graphics Card", the Asus V8200 GeForce3 Deluxe. This is it here guys, the cream of the crop, the absolute highest end that Asus has to offer on the video card front. This puppy is loaded, and I mean loaded: GeForce3, 64MB DDR SDRAM, Video In, Video Out, VR Glasses, Video Capture, and Software Galore. Read more

Dan´s Data has posted a review on a "Gigabit Network Combo" pack If you want to upgrade some or all of your Local Area Network (LAN) to gigabit Ethernet - Ethernet with ten times the bandwidth of the regular 100BaseT standard - then it hasn´t been too hard for some time. You buy gigabit Network Interface Cards (NICs), you buy a gigabit switch or hub, you use your ordinary Category 5 cable with RJ45 connectors on it, away you go. Read more

Microsoft on Friday revealed final retail pricing for Windows XP, a day after Amazon.com leaked the information on the Web for a second time. The bottom line: Consumers can expect to pay a little more for XP than for previous Windows versions, with street price increases ranging up to about 10 percent. Read more

RatedPC send words that SiS and VIA introduce 333MHz FSB Chipsets Yesterday in an AMD development seminar in Japan, SiS revealed its 333MHz FSB and DDR333 capable 735 chipset . Furthermore, this chipset uses AMD’s Hypertransport technology for higher transfer speed between the North Bridge and South Bridge, which is also featured in Nvidia’s upcoming nForce chipset. Another interesting addition on this new SiS chipset is the support for AGP 8x. VIA also introduced its own 333MHz FSB chipset for the next generation AMD Hammer processors, labelled K8T333. Read more

Maximum Hardware has posted a new editorial "The Numbers" They say that George W. Bush won the election last fall based on numbers. How true that is, only here in the U.S can a man be elected while losing the popular vote. I can hear my friend Ben (N432PT) screaming "Damn the electoral college!" Everything is based on numbers, no more is this true then in computer hardware. I found, somehow, a French Site that put an Intel P4 1.4GHz against an AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.13Ghz. Read more

Overclockers Online has posted an article in which they describe how you have to mod your Kyro2 card in order to overclock it to the top The first mod we´re going to do is installing better cooling on the core as well as RAM sinks on the memory chips. Why do we do that? Well, that´s simple. Overclocking hardware results in more heat and if we get more heat, the stock heatsink on the Kyro2 chip isn´t capable of cooling it down any longer. That´s the reason why we´re going to install a big Volcano II heatsink on top of the core. I chose attach the heatsink to the Kyro2 core with some thermal conductive glue. You should just put a little bit of thermal grease on the bottom of the heatsink and also a little bit of glue; then press the Volcano II heatsink on the Kyro2 core and hold it for about 1 minute or so. This way, the heatsink will be glued on the Kyro2 chip. So far, so good. You could leave the Volcano II heatsink as a passive cooler, but I decided to equip the sink with a low profile fan I removed from my 3Dfx Cool cooler on my Celeron300A CPU. Read more

Hardware Extreme has posted a comparison between ThermoEngine´s Delta 38CFM and YS-Tech 40CFM fans. The heat sink is very impressive with the unique design compared to all those other heat sinks on the market. When reviewing and doing my research on the heat sink, I discovered the ThermoEngine has a solid center, with the fins being cut around the solid center. Also there´s the intake cover, the fan is screwed down onto the heat sink, resting within the intake cover. The fan is set to blow downwards along the fins of the heat sinks and dissipating all the heat. This design is perfect for airflow from the fan. Read more

GideonTech.com has posted a review on the Street Glow. What this unit essentially is, is a fan bus. There are 4 sets (positive/negative) connectors on the black unit with one SPST (Single Pull, Single Throw) switch coming out of the other end. The switch can turn on and off all the units plugged into this connector box. You may plug any neon tube that has a 12V/Ground combination of wires. Read more

VIA Hardware has posted new BETA IDE drivers 3.12 These new BETA IDE drivers. 3.12, from VIA are optimized for use on the new P4X and KT, as well as the 233CF ATA133 southbridge. These are currently not included in any 4-1 service pack and may improve previous IDE problems on VIA chipsets also. Download

I regret to inform you guys that due to problems in my life, i have to leave NTCompatible. I know it seems like posting messages on a website isn´t much, but lately, due to my condition (depresson), accomplishing the smallest things are difficult for me. I promise that one day i´ll return but not until things in my life are resolved. I have had a great time for the past year and eight months. I´d like for DosFreak to take over as a moderator, he has helped many people and seems to me like a great choice as the person to take over in my place. Thank you all for your support. -EddiE314 (Eddie Hinds)

SystemLogic has posted a review on the CHProducts Pro Throttle USB CH Products has been around for years, producing quality flightsticks, yokes, rudder pedals, and throttle/weapons systems for flight-sim enthusiasts. Up until recently, they had competition only from Thrustmaster, until Thrustmaster had to be rescued from financial dire straits by Guillemot. Sure, there´s also Gravis and Microsoft to consider, but they don´t make joysticks with the same authenticity and attention to detail that CH Products and Thrustmaster put into their systems. Read more

Hardware Extreme has posted a new press release: San Jose, CA--August 23, 2001-Solarism Display Inc., a leader in brightness LCD technology, introduced its first line of ultra-bright 15-inch multimedia TFT-LCD monitors. The LM1503 was built with its patented back-light technology, known as ABT (Advanced Brightness Technology). Solarism was able to develop a TFT-LCD monitor that can deliver crisp and clear picture quality, widen viewing angles, and refine the true color of visual images. The LM1503 was designed for professional usage and multimedia purposes. This is the first and only non-industrial TFT-LCD monitor to carry a maximum of 800cd/m brightness and has a 300:1 contrast ratio with a maximum resolution of 1024x768. Besides the implementation of the patented brightness technology, the LM1503 is a true multimedia visual display. It supports 16.7 million true colors and comes with an S-video and audio input which enables viewers to connect with either DVD or RCA players to view their favorite media. The LM1503 comes with two built-in, high quality stereo speakers in the front bezel. This 15-inch TFT-LCD monitor is perfect for business applications, gaming purposes, and web browsing. Read more

NeoSeeker has put up a review on the Compex 11Mbps Wireless Access Point and PCMCIA Card. The WavePort series is based on the 802.11b standard, same as the majority of other current Wireless products and same as the SOHOWare NetBlaster II series we reviewed previously. Like all 802.11b products, the WavePort is designed to operate at 11Mbps at optimal signal strengths – as the signal degrades the cards will negotiate 5.5Mbps, 2Mbps and finally 1Mbps transmissions. For North America, the 802.11b standard has 11 operating channels (Europe uses 13 channels, and Japan uses 14) in the 2.4Ghz range. Read more

Microsoft Corp. today announced the release of Microsoft® Windows® XP, the highly anticipated next major version of the Windows operating system, to computer manufacturers around the world. With development of the software now complete, Windows XP is on schedule for widespread availability on Oct. 25. Industry partners, computer manufacturers and customers greeted the news with excitement about the opportunities Windows XP will offer for creating, connecting and communicating in new ways. "Simply put, Windows XP is the best operating system Microsoft has ever built," said Bill Gates, chairman and chief software architect at Microsoft. "The performance improvements and advanced features of Windows XP are the culmination of more than 15 years of research, development and customer feedback. For customers, computer manufacturers and industry partners, Windows XP truly underscores the excitement and potential of the digital decade ahead." Read more

PCinsight has posted a review on Samsung´s newest MP3 Player, the Baby Yepp. While the CD and hard drive-based players are gaining momentum in the portable MP3 player market, manufacturers such as Samsung are continuing to produce models with flash memory. Their Yepp family of players, while not as well known as other brands, usually have managed to separate themselves from the crowd by means of innovative features. One of their latest products, the YP-20 (also called the "Baby Yepp"), continues this trend, by offering what is perhaps the smallest form factor of any MP3 player available today. Read more

Everything USB send words that Sony unveils portable photo printer Sony has just announced their DPP-MP1 digital photo printer, a small and portable printer for on-the-go printing. The DPP-MP1, weighing less than a pound, uses a dye-sublimation method for printing on business card-sized paper. The device can be powered by either an AC adapter or battery pack. Read more

Overclockers New Zealand has posted a review on the Iwill KK266-R KT133A Motherboard. Well, well, despite the lack of active cooling of the north bridge, Iwill did very well with its FSB overclocking, scoring a stable 166Mhz operation. Beyond that, the machine becomes unstable. This might due to the OEM ram I have in the machine also the HIGH PCI bus of more than 41.5 Mhz. At that particular frequency, most of the PCI device would stop working, especially if you have network cards installed. However, I do not recommend running your FSB greater than 160 as the PCI is just way off its original speed of 33 Mhz. Many people reported loss of data or damaged HD due to high PCI bus speed. Read more

Adrian´s Rojak Pot has posted a review on the XNTech Play Mouse II 800 DPI PS/2 mouse Amazingly, it did take roughly 1.2 inches or about 3 cm to move over 1024 pixels! As a comparison, I used my Logitech PS/2 mouse. In the end, my Logitech needed twice the length. That means the resolution of my Logitech is about 400 DPI. A quick test using Ken´s Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer USB produced the same results as my Logitech mouse. Read more

Sharky Extreme has posted a review on the AMD Duron 1GHz CPU The wait for a 1 GHz value processor is finally over! While the popular Athlon vs. Pentium 4 battle continues to occupy center stage, AMD has switched gears somewhat and released a new Duron. Instead of following up the debut of the Athlon 4 with a desktop version, the new Duron 1 GHz looks to solidify the price-performance lead AMD currently enjoys at the entry-level end. Although high-performance CPUs get the majority of the press, the entry-level sector is a very important one and makes up a noticeable percentage of the overall PC market. Read more

Gaming in 3D has posted a review on the Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical Logitech brings together its latest Cordless Mouseman Optical with its award winning Cordless Freedom package in sleek black and silver design that debuts as the Logitech Cordless Freedom Optical. The precision of optical, the freedom of cordless, and all the features you would expect from Logitech could make this the best equipment in you gaming arsenal, and just may make your keyboard and mouse obsolete. Read more

A new interim build of DirectX 8.1 is now available. Registered beta testers can download this build from Betaplace.

Amazon.com has resumed taking advance orders for the business version of Windows XP, giving another preview of pricing for Microsoft´s new operating system. This is the second time Amazon has started taking preorders for XP. The online retailer is offering the full version of Windows XP Professional for $299.99 and the upgrade version for $199.99. Read more

This tool lets you instantly configure an IIS 4.0 or 5.0 web server for secure operation. It provides two modes: an express mode that is appropriate for most basic web servers, and an advanced mode that allows the administrator pick and choose the technologies the server will support. The tool provides an undo feature that allows the effects of the most recent lockdown to be reversed. Download

Accelenation.com has posted their review of Iwill´s KK266Plus motherboard It is obvious with the release of the KK266Plus that Iwill is not content to be second best. What they´ve done is added a few new features, tried to fix some shortcomings, and generally make an already good board even better. The KK266Plus isn´t without its problems though. Does it have enough to move ahead of the 8KTA3Pro? Let´s see. Read more

RatedPC send words that a new wave Intel price cuts will be coming to effect on August 24th - Celereon 1Ghz $92 - P3 1.2Ghz Tualatin $279 - Pentium 4 1.8Ghz (478pin) $265 - Pentium 4 2.0Ghz (478pin) $565 Read more