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Logo by Tom Purves

July 26, 1997
11:01 AM
  • DirectX 5 released
    From the The Adrenaline Vault:

    DirectX 5.0 adds many improvements including support for force feedback controllers, multi monitor support (in Windows 98), a new Game Controllers control panel, better MMX support, a DirectX control panel, and an overall improved user interface. DirectX 5 will be incorporated in both Windows 98 and NT5.

    Obviously it's not critical to have right now, but it's worth a download.

    ftp://ftp.avault.com/drivers/directx5.zip
    This file was left out of the original distribution: http://www.avault.com/hardware/files/dx5cpl.zip

  • New prices for Pentium II
    You probably know about the new prices coming from Intel. The Pentium II is not going to drop drastically, but it is coming down some, enough to note.

    Pentium II model Old Price New Price
    Pentium II 233 $625 $520
    Pentium II 266 $760 $655
    Pentium II 300 $1940 $830

    The Pentium MMX prices were going to be cut as well, but Intel decided to cut the prices on them even deeper than they had planned:

    Pentium MMX model Old August 1st price New Price
    Pentium MMX 166 $200 $138
    Pentium MMX 200 $331 $240
    Pentium MMX 233 $436 $367

    And a final note: AMD has pledged to sell their K6 chips at at least 25% below the price of the equivalent MMX chip. Looks like open season for upgraders!

    • July 24, 1997
    10:21 PM
  • Super low bit-rate speech codec from Lucent
    Should be useful if you use Netmeeting or something a lot. Try it out.

    http://204.127.236.149/elemedia/

    5:45 PM

  • Computer sales freeze
    Many vendors have sold through most of their existing inventory of chips and are placing orders and quotes on hold until the July 28th price drop. This is, of course, so they don't take a huge hit on existing inventory, plus they can pass on savings immediately and remain competitive.

  • 3Dfx V2.1 Direct 3D reference drivers available
    I forgot to mention that these are also now available. You might need these to install in conjunction with the Glide V2.4 drivers (why, I have no idea). BTW, the Glide V2.4 do not install under NT, at least not fresh. I did manage to install the 2.31 drivers but I didn't try going to 2.4 after that.

    http://www.3dfx.com/software/download_vgd3d.html

  • GLQuake gets a fix-up
    According to Redwood's, Jack Mathews has managed to find a way to cut the texture size in GLQuake by half, dramatically reducing the amount of texture thrashing which occurs. Which equals, yes, less lag! The solution has a little to do with the fact that Quake was targeted primarily as a software-based engine. The original textures contains less than 256 colors because Quake uses an 8-bit graphics engine in software. Instead of storing each texture as 16-bit, they are now being stored as 8-bit palettized textures. Half!

    July 23, 1997
    10:52 PM
  • 266 MHz Pentium MMX in the works
    According to this story from ZDNet, Intel is planning on releasing a 266 MHz version of the Pentium MMX early next year; it will probably be their last entry into the Socket 7/Pentium compatible market. They say that the part will be available in 2.5V and 5V versions. 5V? I doubt it....that's got to be a typo.

  • Memphis = Windows 98
    Microsoft has officially confirmed that the next major revision of Windows 95, currently in beta testing and code-named Memphis, will be called Windows 98.

    7:46 PM
  • New 3Dfx Glide drivers - V2.4
    Yep! Go get it! This version is only for standard Voodoo Graphics based cards, not Voodoo Rush. The Voodoo Rush version is expected shortly.

    Glide Run-time drivers: http://www.3dfx.com/software/download_glidert.html
    Glide Rasterization Library: http://www.3dfx.com/software/download_glide.html

    Also, alpha OpenGL drivers for 3Dfx have been released. No guarantees, incomplete performance optimizations, the standard disclaimers. If you are still interested, then...

    http://www.3dfx.com/software/download_3dfxgl.html

    July 22, 1997
    10:28 PM
  • 3Dfx and Sega contract terminated
    According to Next Generation, 3Dfx and Sega have terminated their working relationship to develop the 3D hardware for Sega next-generation console. PowerVR's "Highlander" technology looks like it will be taking over those duties, especially given the technology's strong Japanese ties. The article is here.

    8:37 PM
  • New info on microprocessor thermal specifications
    I spent a bunch of time today working on this new addition to my site. It summarizes a lot of interesting data regarding thermal specifications from various Intel microprocessor datasheets. In other words, it tells you how to cool your system! For lack of a better place to put it right now, I've stuck it on the sidebar under Thermal Specs. Check it out!

    July 21, 1997
    8:51 PM
  • Next theme from Dracula X posted
    This music comes from the area of Dracula's Castle entitled "Royal Chapel". It's a mixture of melodic voices, bells, and organ pipes.

    July 20, 1997
    8:28 AM
  • Intel Microprocessor datasheets
    If you are interested in exactly how to design around Intel Microprocessors, you might want to take a look at these. They are datasheets for the Pentium, Pentium MMX, Pentium Pro and Pentium II microprocessors. I was looking at them for the thermal specifications, but aside from that info the other bits are also interesting to browse through.

    Pentium datasheet
    Pentium MMX datasheet
    Pentium Pro datasheet
    Pentium II datasheet