I've distorted the picture, so you can NOT see my face, after 36 CONSECUTIVE hours of coding... but that is me, some hours ago.
09-March-1999 [Artur Marques]
[update #3] Today's contents, for now, are: #1) Bla bla #2) SB LIVE! review #3) P3 preview #4) VOODOO 3
You REALLY should NOT see today's picture of the day. It is cruel.
The G-Loto project is giving me HUGE headaches! Despite a wonderful and solid structure, it is now several thousand lines long, and I am always wanting more from it... Must get to the ground... be more realistic...
Did you read my CREATIVE LABS SOUND BLASTER LIVE! review? Only available in portuguese, but worth every line! Just compare it to regular web reviews...
INTEL PENTIUM-3 preview (expect a review real soon)
I am moving to Pentium-III (3). This week I'll be forking more money on another processor. My main PC is currently running with a P2-400, bought less than one month ago. So, why am I moving to P3 (@450)? Well, because if I don't do it NOW, the P2-400 will lose all its commercial value, relative to the P3.
In Portugal, a P2-400 costs 66.000$ + VAT (~357 USD + TAX)... while a P3-450 is now selling for 100.000$ + VAT (~540 USD + TAX). I've managed to sell my "old" P2-400 as 100% new, so I will be only paying the difference.
The 3rd generation of the Pentium processor is the real thing. Pentium was a small leap forward from the 486; P2 was a jump from the P1... but the P3 is a BIG STEP away from the P2! The first benchmarks say that the P3-450 is roughly an overall 25% faster than a P2 at the same speed... but this is highly dependent on the software you are running... There are situations where the P2 will really be ashamed (check this one). More info at the INTEL performance web.
Like the P2, the P3 features the MMX instruction set, Dynamic Execution, and a Multi Transaction System Bus... the novelties are kind of a MMX #2, because the beast has 70 new instructions, from advanced imaging and 3D to AV streams. The big promotion behind the new INTEL processor states that the Internet will become much faster... although I don't have any solid data on that, I can imagine that the performance boost comes from faster processing of progressive encoded images, images compressed with fractal techniques, and better audio and video streaming, not only via the 70 new instructions (which, are not exploited by 99% of current software), but rather because of different bus techniques.
I am running MS Windows 98, so I won't need nothing special to run the P3, but people running MS Windows NT 4 (why do you need it?) will have to download a driver from INTEL developer's website. This driver is the SIMD extensions for NT4... Win98 doesn't need it... so, again, why NT4?
The 3DFX Voodoo3 is also coming soon to a PC near you. Despite RIVA efforts to outperform the 3DFX's products, the next generation of 3D accelerators will put 3DFX one step ahead of the bunch... the USA company has made a DEFINITIVE option on speed over image quality. You'll not get the ultra-razor-sharp definition of the RIVA alternatives (or even MATROX's G400), but you'll get an infernal hardware, boosting so much polygons per second, that the high-end versions may be quicker than the *HOT* SONY's PLAYSTATION 2!!, which is giving it all to eat SEGA's DREAMCAST... Don't you think that speed over image quality means lousy pictures!, oh no! I am running a DOUBLE VOODOO 2 SLI configuration, BUT using a dedicated cable to the monitor, so I avoid the signal weakening that occurs to those who go for the traditional pass-through cable.
[update #2] Counter changed place, again...
[update #1] The counter was getting invisible, when next to the banner, so I gave it a new home :-). It's now 3:20 am in Portugal, and I am working on the G-Loto project.
IF time allows me, today I will also start working on the port of the Alain Prost Racing site to this web. Hang on racers! Next files will include some new GP-Legends hotlaps, with the 1967 Eagle, in Rouen [France] and Watkins Glen [USA]...
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I've distorted the picture, so you can NOT see my face, after 36 CONSECUTIVE hours of coding... but that is me, some hours ago. |