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Thread ID: 22286	2002-07-16 08:39:00	tuesday news	tweak'e (174)	Press F1

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63050	2002-07-16 08:39:00	Microsoft Games has announced ( . bluesnews . com/cgi-bin/articles . pl?show=388" target="_blank">www . bluesnews . com) that the Clan Mech Pack for MechWarrior 4 has gone gold, and is expected in stores in early August . The pack will contain four new BattleMechs, a new weapon package, a new sensor package, and a new multiplayer map . Specs for the new ATI Radeon 9700 have been leaked with the CPU on the high-end versions being clocked at 315MHz and less for the lower end cards . The GPU is built on the 0 . 15 micron process and will have an external power connector because it will demand in excess of 40 watts . The leak is also saying that you can expect 15,000 3DMarks on a P4 platform compared to 12,000 with a Geforce 4 . You can read more at The Inquirer ( . theinquirer . net/?article=4431" target="_blank">www . theinquirer . net) . [H]ardOCP ( . com/) has posted a review of the new Asus GeForce4 Ti 4600 Ultra Deluxe (http://hardocp . com/article . html?art=MzI1" target="_blank">hardocp . com/) has posted a review of the new Asus GeForce4 Ti 4600 Ultra Deluxe (http:) . This card stands out because of it's 3D Glasses inclusion, video in and the new huge copper heatsink on the PCB . This is definately one cool looking card . Microsoft has posted a fix for computers using Windows XP and AMD processors . Apparently, DirectX 8 . 1 programs can crash without any error messages . They have issued a hotfix and they stress that the hotfix must not be applied to a PC unless it is experiencing this specific problem . Here's a bit more detail on the problem: SYMPTOMS On computers with an AMD processor, programs that use Microsoft DirectX 8 . 1 may quit without displaying an error message . The same programs work correctly on computers with Intel processors . CAUSE The DrawIndexedPrimitive function stops working without displaying an error or debug message . This occurs because of a code error in the AMD-specific optimized code . This code error may lead to heap corruption . RESOLUTION A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article . Only apply it to systems that are experiencing this specific problem . This fix may receive additional testing . Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Windows XP service pack that contains this fix . To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix . You can get more details here ( . microsoft . com/search/preview . aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q321178" target="_blank">support . microsoft . com) and find out how to get the fix . The Inquirer has posted a news report claiming that the Intel Pentium 4 2 . 8ghz maybe cancelled, due to the fact that the Windows operating system can't handle such a fast processor . Read below: Reports claimed that the speed of the chip causes Windows 2000 "to crash and burn . " While Windows XP doesn't like the speed of the processor, not one little bit . And it's not just Intel chips too, the claim continues . Athlon processors at high speeds are experiencing problems as well . This report seems to have a lot of doubt surrounding it due to the fact that overclocked processors in excess of 3Ghz have run successfully on Windows operating system machines . You can read more here ( . theinquirer . net/?article=4423" target="_blank">www . theinquirer . net) and judge for yourself . Quicktime 6 final is out for download featuring these new features: MPEG-4 File Format ( . mp4) MPEG-4 Video AAC Audio Skip Protection Updated User Interface You can download the new version over at Apple ( . apple . com/quicktime/products/qt/" target="_blank">www . apple . com) . WinStyles version 1 . 2 has been released . Here's a description of this relative newcomer to the Windows desktop customisation community: WinStyles is a radically new program that converges most of the common ways users customize their desktops into a single interface and format . It is the part of Object Desktop that lets users create a single desktop environment from a centralized and unified interface . Windows comes with the ability to have themes . These themes are very limited, however . They can change a handful of icons, some colors, sounds, and your wallpaper . That's about it . WinStyles extends this to create a new theme format we call XPThemes . WinStyles uses XPThemes to allow Windows 98, ME, 2000, NT, and XP to be able to completely change the look and feel in Windows . If you like to modify your desktop then give it a go and download it here ( . winstyles . com/download . html" target="_blank">www . winstyles . com) . DigiTimes has reported that ATI are to launch their Radeon 9000 series graphics cards based on the RV250 and R300 on July 17 . Here's a bit on what they said: ATI Technologies is set to launch two RV250 core-based graphics chips, the Radeon 9000 and Radeon 9000 Pro, and one top-end, DirectX 9-supporting chip, the Radeon 9700 (codenamed R300), on July 17 . With the earlier product rollout, ATI is expected to enjoy stronger sales during the summer vacation season than rival Nvidia . Hampered by the progress of the 0 . 13-micron fabrication process at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Nvidia’s NV18 and NV30 chips, which were scheduled to hit the market in the third quarter, will not be able to appear on store shelves until the end of the third quarter or early fourth quarter . ATI, on the other hand, has been producing chips on both 0 . 15 and 0 . 13-micron processes to secure an earlier product release time . According to the company’s schedule, it will shift its high-end chip production gradually to 0 . 13-micron fabrication by the end of 2002 . Check it all out over at DigiTimes ( . com/NewsShow/Article . asp?datePublish=2002/07/15&pages=04&seq=24" target="_blank">digitimes . com) . WinAce file compression utility version 2 . 20 is out with the following changes: - compatibility issues with RAR 3 . 0 archives have been fixed - the file window now displays virtual folders like the trash can or the desktop folder - added compatibility to Windows XP themes - WinAce optionally checks if other programs have captured the file extensions registered for WinAc and asks to take them back - frequently used Sfx module types will now be moved to the top of the selection list automatically - added support for Windows Terminal Servers . All relevant policies will be recognized and considered - problems that occured when trying to extract LZH or TAR archives that contained files without an extension have been addressed - problems that occured when trying to extract TAR archives that contained a directory structure have been addressed Grab it here ( . winace . com/cgi-bin/getfile . exe?program=Winace&width=628" target="_blank">www . winace . com) . iuVCR version 4 . 0 . 0 . 230 Final is out . iuVCR is a Windows 2000/XP video recording program for PCs that have a TV tuner or video capture card installed . The program lets you record TV programs and videos in * . AVI or * . WMV format using a simple and plain interface . It allows you to capture video of any format, resolution and duration and can automatically start when scheduled . Because this program is designed for Windows 2000/XP and their NTFS file systems you can record a fielsize limited only by the size of the hard disk . You can download it from here ( . iulab . com/index . shtml?iuvcr/download" target="_blank">www . iulab . com) . A contributor to Warp2Search has posted news of a dangerous overheating problem with Antec Low-Noise PS and ASUS A7V333 Motherboard . Here's part of the note: Today I sent an email to both Antec Technical Support, with a copy to ASUS Technical Support, outlining a very serious overheat situation when using an ASUS A7V333 motherboard in an Antec Performance Plus case . The following is the main portion of that text: “Hello Technical Support, I am writing to alert you to a potentially disastrous situation when using one of your new line of Antec Performance Plus PC cases, which cases are equipped with your equally new line of Low-Noise power supplies (which feature a fan dampening system), in conjunction with an ASUS A7V333 motherboard (BIOS 1008) . I recently purchased a Performance Plus 660 case enclosure, and I installed a new ASUS A7V333 motherboard in that case over this past weekend . The installation went just fine . However, when I energized the system I didn’t initially notice that neither the Antec power supply fans nor the special circuit Antec case fans were operating . It wasn’t until after more than 20 minutes that I placed my hand on the top of the case, and felt the extreme heat . At that point I realized that the power supply was just sitting there, albeit operating just fine to that point, but cooking itself to death from the extreme heat and no fan ventilation . You can read the whole thing here ( . warp2search . net/article . php?sid=5658&mode=thread&order=0" target="_blank">www . warp2search . net) . Hardware reviews: Abit BD7II-RAID Motherboard on Hardware-test . dk ( . hardware-testdk . com/test_show . asp?id=988" target="_blank">www . hardware-testdk . com) and The Tech Report ( . com/reviews/2002q3/abit-bd7ii/index . x?pg=1" target="_blank">tech-report . com) . Abit IT7 Max Motherboard on Tbreak ( . tbreak . net/reviews/article . php?mobos&id=119" target="_blank">www . tbreak . net) . ASUS CRW-4816A 48/16/48 CD-RW on CDRLabs . com ( . cdrlabs . com/reviews/index . php?reviewid=133" target="_blank">www . cdrlabs . com) . CoolingFlow Protector XP on BurnOutPc . com ( . burnoutpc . com/index . php?page=reviews&review_id=71" target="_blank">www . burnoutpc . com) . IBM 60GXP vs . Maxtor D740X-6L Hard Drives on LostCircuits ( . lostcircuits . com/advice/ibm_maxtor/" target="_blank">www . lostcircuits . com) . Icemat Mouse Surface on BlargOC ( . blargoc . co . uk/reviews/icemat/" target="_blank">www . blargoc . co . uk) . Iwill P4R533-N Motherboard on Hardware Analysis ( . hardwareanalysis . com/content/article/1513/" target="_blank">www . hardwareanalysis . com) . Logitech Cordless Optical Mouseman on Tech Freaks ( . backup-source . com/techfreaks/modules . php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=7" target="_blank">www . backup-source . com) . MSI K7D Master Motherboard on Viper's Lair ( . viperlair . com/reviews/motherboards/k7d_v2/k7dl . html" target="_blank">www . viperlair . com) . MSI KT3 Ultra2-BR Socket-A Motherboard on HardwareZone . com ( . hardwarezone . com/articles/articles . hwz?cid=6&aid=463" target="_blank">www . hardwarezone . com) . Radeon 7500 and 8500 Video Card Round-up on OnePC . NET ( . onepc . net/index . php?view=docs&doc_id=136" target="_blank">www . onepc . net) . Samsung SW232 32X10X40 CD-RW on MBReview . com ( . mbreview . com/link . php?id=56" target="_blank">www . mbreview . com) . TDK CyClone External USB 2 . 0 40x12x40x CD-RW on HardwareZone . com ( . hardwarezone . com/articles/articles . hwz?cid=10&aid=464" target="_blank">www . hardwarezone . com) . Thermalright Socket A 80mm Heatsink Round-up on I am Not a Geek ( . iamnotageek . com/cgi-bin/reviews . cgi?name=thermalright" target="_blank">www . iamnotageek . com) . Thermaltake Volcano 9 HSF on TweakTown ( . tweaktown . com/document . php?dType=review&dId=310" target="_blank">www . tweaktown . com) . VANTEC CopperX & AKASA Silver Mountain 2 Coolers on PC PowerZone ( . pcpowerzone . co . uk/reviews . php?id=124" target="_blank">www . pcpowerzone . co . uk) .	tweak'e (174)
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