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FINALLY! A new review. Although its not a video card, it is an area of PCs that most people overlook. SPEAKERS! Scream got on his knees (double meaning) and begged me to let him review the ACS48's. I said OK as I have both the ACS48's and a pair of ACS45.1's which will be reviewed when I stop being lazy, as well as the Sound Blaster PCI128. I started my new job as a PC Tech guy at school. Its phat, I sit in this little office with a dual p2-350, 256MB of SDRAM, 4 18 Gig Seagate Ultra2-SCSI drives, all on a 100Base/T line to the net. Phat huh people? Not to mention there is hardware laying around every and software too. Could you imagine 9 copies of retail NT Server 4 laying around? Or how about 49, yes countem FORTY-NINE copies of Win95 each with its own Serial Number. That is what I call phat. We just got in a shipment of Goldstar 32X CD-ROM drives. 20 of the bitches. All of them for what? I don't have a clue. All the computers in the place have 32X's in em. Who knows... maybe I'll end up with some new hardware :c)

Boddah

Well folks, I am gonna buy a Riva TNT board from STB. This thing looks to kick ass,and I was misinformed about the price. I found one for $173 in a retail box. I'll have a review up as soon as I receive it.

I am also going to order a pair of Altec Lansing ACS48 speakers, so I'll try and review those as well.

I'm in the process of reviewing one of the Creative Labs PCI 128 sound cards. I have had the card for a few weeks, and have been lolly gagging with it and finally am gonna write up a small review. I had to get hacked drivers to get A3D to work with it, but I'll tell you what... I will NEVER play Unreal or Rainbow Six without A3D again. It absolutly rocks!

Boddah

Just got some more info from Dave Florey from Gainward. He's tryin his hardest to getcards so we can get the content to YOU. I must say that these guys at Gainward kick ass.I am officailly their bitch. If all goes well, I will have a Canopus Total3D review up in the next few days. I ordered one from an online auction, but who knows when or if I'll actuallyget it since I only paid $4 for it. :c) It's an old old old geezer of a chipset, but heyfor $4 what do you want? Its not like I'm gonna leave it in my machine. I'll prolly stick it in theP133 I have layin around, or wait till I have the money to buy the K6-2 I want. Anyways, this is just an update to let you know whats goin on in my pathetic computer nerd life.

In other news, I got a Real Audio G2 Publisher... this means possible audio shows regardinghardware, and MAYBE... just MAYBE... if some nice person out there would like to donateme a video conferenceing cam and/or a catpure card, we would be able to do a video show.Wouldn't that kick ass?

Scream just recieve a phatty copier machine, so it looks like out pipe dream of a SiliconNewsletter is getting closer to reality. If you want to write an article for it, regarding anythinghardware related, feel free to do so and email it to scase@fast.netIf you would just like to sign up for the newsletter email me and express interest.

I am VERY soon getting a cable modem (YAY) and as soon as that happens, we would like to run a Quake2 Tourney. And this could be months down the road too, unless another nice person on a fastconnection wants to host that games. This will be a 1-on-1 Tourney, and prizes will be awarded. I have no clue what the prizes are yet, but as word comes in, I'll keep you updated.

Hmmm... lets see... I guess thats about all. That was a pretty lengthy update if you ask me.My sissy little fingers are tired from all the typing. Oh, one more thing... goto Pointless Audio. This is a Real Audio show and its FUNNY AS SHIT! This guy kicks ass, and the Dave voiceand the Midget voice 0wn yoo fewl... hehe thats a bit of my l337 talkin. Anyways, I'm goin back to bed... itsonly 9:00am EST.

Boddah

Hercules has finally released a pr about the Beast graphicscard. From what I've seen this thing definatly looks sweet. Butthen, every company pr makes their card sound the biggest and thebest. From the previews I've seen of the new riva chipset, I'mnot exactly impressed. It doesn't seem worth $300 when s3 iscoming out w/ a better chipset that'll cost $150. Don't get mewrong, it definatly looks like a cool chipset.

Scream-

Also, heres another press release from Gainward regardingmotherboards this time. They look to be very nice motherboards.

Taipei, Taiwan - June 1st, 1998 - Gainward Co., Ltd., building on fourteen years of experience as Asia’s leading producer of VGA cards, announces the release of the new 6ILA and 6IBA Pentium II mainboards, built on Intel’s Slot 1 architecture, with processor clock rates from233-333MHz for the 6ILA featuring Intel’s 82440LX AGP chipset, and from 233-450MHz for the 6IBA featuring Intel’s 100MHz 440BX AGP chipset. Both mainboards come standard with 1x32-bit AGP slot, 4x32-bit bus mastering PCI slots, and 3x16-bit ISA slots, as well as 1 FDD Port supporting LS-120, 3 mode, or 1.2/1.44/2.88MB modules, 2 serial ports, 2 USB ports, 1 Parallel Printer Port (EPP/ECP Port), in addition to ports for a PS/2 mouse and PS/2 keyboard, while the 6ILA offers an IrDa port with an optional transceiver/receiver cable. System memory consists of 3x168-pin DIMM memory slots with from 4-384MB SDRAM supported for the 6ILA, and from 8-768MB 100MHz PC100 SDRAM, ECC for the 6IBA. The 6ILA includes AWARD PCI BIOS with Green, and Plug and Play features, support for Multi-boot from E-IDE/SCSI/CD-ROM/FDD, and 1 or 2-Mbit Flash EEPROM, while the 6IBA offers AWARD AGP BIOS with Enhanced ACPI Feature for PC98/WIN98 compliance, Boot Anti-Virus, and Plug and Play BIOS with 2-Mbit Flash EEPROM, while both have Wake-On-LAN Header Onboard, as well as fan speed, voltage, and system environment temperature monitoring, and Dual Ultra DMA/33 Bus Mastering ATA IDE ports supporting 8.4GB HDD, ATAPI IDE CD-ROM, and LS-120 drives. The 6IBA also features onboard Creative SB-Link, sensing for CPU and power supply temperature chassis intrusion, and SM-Bus headers; whereas the 6ILA supports PC97 and VRM 8.2, with LCDM (LANDesk Client Manager), and PS/2 mouse and keyboard Wake Up as options, making these two mainboards suitable for even the most demanding consumer.

Availability

The 6IBA is scheduled for Sample work by June 2nd, a Pilot run by June 15th, and shipping on July 15th, while the 6ILA went through Sample work on May 28th, and is scheduled for its Pilot run on June 8th, and shipping on July 10th. Both of these Mainboards will be showcased at June’s Computex computer Exhibition. Another product, the 6IEA, based on Intel’s 440EX chipset and designed for the MicroATX form factor, features onboard audio and is intended as a low-end board for basic PC customer. The 6IEA will be available for Sampling on June 30th, and is scheduled to ship on July 21st.

Boddah

We are getting VERY positive feed back from Gainward. Theseguys are the greatest. They make a card with just about everygraphics chipset in the mainstream. We're excited here cuz wefinally (hopefully) get to get down and dirty with some graphicsboards. Thanks a lot David.

WOAH, an update! ;c) Well, we got a response back fromGainward. They seem very interested in this page. We hope to getour little hands on some hardware from them fairly soon so we canreview it. Anyways, they also sent a  press release Ithought I should put here... So, here it goes....

CARDEXpert 740 3D AGP 2.0 Graphics Accelerator includes exciting new features perfect for high end graphics users and gaming thrill seekers.

Taipei, Taiwan - June 1st, 1998 – Gainward Co., Ltd., Asia’s leading producer of graphic cards, announces the release of the new CARDEXpert 740 3D AGP 2.0 graphic accelerator, based on Intel’s high performance 2D/3D Intel740 processor, and featuring optional  Cyberlink-Power DVD playback software, revolutionary 200MHx refresh rate, and full spec AGP 2.0 with easy DIY installation. Powerful performance, including sustained 3D with batch processing for over 1.2 million triangles/sec and over 45 million pixels/sec, full sideband 2x AGP support at four times the PCI bus transfer rate (533MB/s), and a 3D Setup Engine supporting Flat and Gouraud shading, MIP-Mapping with Bi-Linear Filtering, as well as Real-Time Texture Paging and Video Texturing, all at competitive prices, make this the perfect graphics tool for high end graphic users and adrenaline-addicted 3D gamers.

Gainward’s fourteen years of graphic card experience went into making the CARDEXpert 740 the premier platform for the Intel740 processor with such advanced technology as Parallel Data Processing (PDP) and Precise Pixel Interpolation (PPI), which provide the computing speed and accuracy of the HyperPipelined 3D architecture’s unsurpassed image quality, as well as Direct Memory Execution (DME) which stores texture in system memory for ultimate performance.

The CARDEXpert 740 can accommodate 2, 4, or 8 MB of either SGRAM or SDRAM and offers optional Hardware or Software DVD playback, in addition to NTSC and PAL TV Out Support. Stunning 3D capabilities include Color Alpha Blending for Transparency, Fogging and Atmospheric effects, Specular Lighting, Edge Anti-Aliasing, Stippling or “Screen Door” Transparency, Backface Culling, and Z-Buffering. Optimized for Intel’s 440LX and BX AGP chipsets, the CARDEXpert 740 offers a maximum resolution up to 1600x1200, and a maximum refresh rate of 200Hz at 640x480 resolution with multi-monitor support for Windows 98 users.

The CARDEXpert 740 accommodates all major hardware and software standards, including VESA DDC/DPMS, DirectDraw, and Direct3D support, with drivers supplied for DirectX, OpenGL, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows NT 5.0, as well as offering a full Bi-directional VMI CCIR601 Video Port.

If you want to get in touch with me, email at rmcintyre@erols.com.

Scream-

Sorry for no update yesterday folks. But, I've got someexciting news. Silicon is changing formats. In addition tographic card reviews, we'll also be providing hardware reviewsfor the rest of  computing. So, with that said, we're nowknow as Silicon: Your Guide To Un-Biased Hardware Reviews.

Scream-  

Just reveived an email from a guy named GL Joe. He runs acomputer business, and is gonna be providing us with info towrite reviews. This kicks ass. And since he runs a business, hecan get ahold of any card we want. Thanks Joe.

Boddah
 

Not much really happening. I was bored so I scanned these.Check them out. Pic#1, and Pic#2. No they are not me, but they are my friend Josh. He'sgonna be a daddy. His ex-g/f (the one he knocked up) is MAD asshot. Anyways, see ya later.

Boddah
 

Well, I just added my first review to the page. Unfortunatly,its on the lackluster ATI Xpert@Play4MEG AGP. Click the link to read the review. Once again, ifyou have any cards you could send me info on, and I could writeup a review on, PLEASE do so. We don't need the cards, just oneor two Quake 2 screenshots, two time demo results in 3resolutions, test computer, driver version, and any and allinstallation problems out of the box, not with newer updateddrivers.

I finally got a reply from Diamond Multimedia on a review oftheir Monster 3D 2 board. Unfortunatly, I emailed the wrong guy.Luckily the guy I did mail, Jay, has forwarded the message tosomeone who can hopefully find us worty enough to review, andtest out a Monster 3D 2. Thanks Jay!

I also saw that S3 overestimated the prices of Savage3Dboards. They will cost anywhere from $99US to $150US depending onthe memory configuration. Kick ass! I'm definetly trying to getahold of one to review. Saw on NEXT GENERATION ONLINEthat they compared a reference Savage3D to a Voodoo2. Apparentlythe Savage thouroughly kicked the crap out of the Voodoo2. WOOHOO! A cheap blazin 3D card.
 

"Nice Page. The Java stuff is great" - Dave

Actually added the new buttons. Moved the counter over to themain page too. Once again emailed more companies.
 

I just emailed a few more companies about getting ahold ofsome boards to review. Also, I've been talking to Scream- aboutthis, and since he works at a print shop we might be able to pullthis off. We are looking into possibly doing a small runnewsletter containg tech articles, and the like, and mailing itfree to those who request it. If you'd be interested in eitherreceiving this publication, or possibly even writing for it, dropme a line at scase@fast.netand tell me what you can do. We are also looking for reviewers sowe can finally get some reviews on the page. If you have a newer3D card, email me also and tell me if you would be interested indoing a review for us. Thanks guys, we have almost 150 hits in aday and a half. Not bad for a site that has no reviews, whenthats all its based on. You guys are making this site a successalready.

Scream- should also have the new buttons to me tonight. Theywill be better for 800X600 resolution viewing.

Boddah
 

We obviously moved into Quake2.com! YAY! I added a differantOnMouseOver script to try and get it to work with Netscape. Sofar no luck, although the errors in Netscape have ceased. AlsoScream- made that phatty rotating S logo doohickey in the navbar.Cool huh? Email him and tell him good job. He also made the newlogo, and is in the process of making us textured 3D buttons,like the main logo. It will be phat, oh yes, it will be phat.

In other news, I got an email from S3 back regarding a Savage3D review. Well, we're on the list, unfortunatly, the end of thelist. Paul Crossly, from S3 says that he has a very limitednumber of boards to give out for review, so if you wanna see areview here, email him and tell him. We'll pass the poop unto youon any breaking info.

What's up with companies not responding? That kinda urks me. Iemailed like seven BIG companies about reviewing boards, and S3was the only ones kind enough to drop me a line back? I thinkthat sucks. Even if the letter says drop dead, at least we wereacknowledged. Email Diamond, and Creative, and STB and the suchand tell them to be a little more considerate. You can find alink to most of their sites from our newly included links page.Click links on the NavBar.

I installed a counter this morning, and to my suprise, when Igot home from work and checked it, we had 89 hits! Between10:00AM EST and 6:00PM EST, we had a whopping 89 hits! That kicksass considering we didn't advertise at all. We are in the processof making the site a TAD more resolution friendly. Sorry guys.I'm in 1024X768, and tend to forget that others aren't. We'remaking smaller buttons, and also smaller logos.

Boddah
 

I just finished up the onMouseOver Java Scripting. It works inIE4, but I'm not sure about Netscape yet. SOmeone email me andlet me know. Still no word from Quake2.com. I don't know whatsup. They emailed me three times the first day, and nothing since.Thats a little wierd, I think. Oh well.

I just contacted Leadtek about reviewing some of thier boards.An Intel I740 based card, a 3DLabs Permedia 2 based board, andanother chip I've never heard of, but the RAM on it runs at anamazing 600Mhz! That should prove for unheard of bandwidth, eventhough that is not the bottleneck. Oh well, if all goes asplanned, I'll see if it makes a difference. :c)
Boddah

Yay! Just added a little DHTML magic to the navbar. I like it.It took a while to get it all to work correctly, but it all worksnow. I sent out emails to several video card manufacturersrequesting any cards they can provide us with for review. I sentthem out at around 11:30 pm last night, so I don't expect aresponse till Monday at the earliest. Indications look good thatwe got accepted by Quake2.com, which is why I put in their banneradd at the bottom and the "Hosted by Quake2.com" buttonon the navbar. Also, many people have reported problems onlyrecieving the resolution popup, and nothing more. These reportswere of people using Netscape 4. I'm looking into this. I havealso had people report that it works fine, who are also usingNetscape. Looks like I'll to install it and see for myself. Well,I'd better get back to work on the page.

Boddah
 

Offially open for business. We'd like to introduce outselves,my name is Boddah, and I will be the main page updater, and headreviewer, and this is Scream-. He will be doing some newsupdates, and some of the graphics for the page, as well as thebenchmarks. If you have any questions, we can be reached at scase@fast.net or brandenmc@hotmail.com Wewill be updating this page at least once a day, even if there isno news, we'll make an update saying nothing is happening rightnow.

have been here since July 6th