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Top stories of 8/13/2001: |
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| Resolutions Supported by Geforce2MX 1049 ROM w/Sony W900 WideScreen Monitor: |
Last Friday's news had a post from a reader with a new Quicksilver G4 system that had a Geforce2MX card with the latest 1049 firmware. He noted running a Sony W900 24" widescreen CRT and that the widescreen modes were supported by the card (previous Mac Nivida card reports noted they weren't). I asked him to send a list of all the resolutions (and refresh rates) available and have updated the Sony FW900/W900 Monitor support page with an image that shows the complete list. 1600x1024 and 1920x1024 were in the list, but refresh rates were limited to 76hz max at 1600x1024 and 72hz max at 1920x1080. The max resolution listed being 1920x1200 at 76hz.
At first I suspected those low refresh rates were due to the limits of the MX card's ramdac, but Sony's W900 specs notes the following resolutions/max refresh rates:
Factory Preset Resolutions
- Mode 1: 640 x 480 @ 60Hz
- Mode 2: 1280 x 1024 @ 75Hz
- Mode 3: 1600 x 1200 @ 75Hz
- Mode 4: 1920 x 1080 @ 60Hz
- Mode 5: 1920 x 1080 @ 72Hz
- Mode 6: 1600 x 1024 @ 76Hz
- Mode 7: 1920 x 1200 @ 76Hz
- Mode 8: 720 x 400 @ 70 Hz
- Mode 9: 1920 x 1035 @60 Hz
The flat-screen model FW900 specs PDF file lists up to 85Hz refresh rates at 1920x1080 and 1600x1024 modes. (As well as some higher resolution modes.)
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| First Graphics Card to Drive Dual Apple ADC Cinema Displays: |
I knew one day someone would offer a graphics card that could drive two Apple Cinema Displays (using external power supplies, since the G4's 28V power doesn't have enough current capacity for 2 Cinema's). I just didn't think it would appear on the PC first....
One of Barney's news links tonight was a press release titled 3Dlabs Oxygen GVX420 First to Support Dual Apple Cinema Displays on the PC. I did some checking at the 3Dlabs site and found the Oxygen GVX420 product page, which notes it features dual GLINT R4 rasterizers and the GLINT Gamma 2 geometry processor, along with 128 MB graphics memory and 256 MB virtual texture store. The card has dual VGA/Dual DVI ports and apparently has an external Pwr Supply/adapter kit option for the Apple ADC displays. Price for the standard GX420 at their online store is $1699, but that does not seem to include the accessories/kit for dual ADC Cinema display support. The card requires an AGP slot plus a free adjacent PCI slot (for the dual DVI port daughtercard) and Win2K or NT 4.
3DLabs will be demonstrating the card this week at the Siggraph tradeshow, booth number 1423. It would be good to see a high end professional OpenGL card like this on the Mac. I've written to them asking about this. [Granted you'd have to be making a good living in 3D or work for a company that could afford the card + two Cinema displays.]
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| List of Companies to Offer Radeon II Based Graphics Cards: |
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There was a news item some time back about ATI supplying future graphics chips to other card manufacturers (like Nvidia does, although ATI also builds/sells retail cards themselves). A reader posted a note in the forums about a list of companies that have said to offer cards based on the next-generation Radeon graphics chip (for the PC market only I assume):
"
Don't know if you guys have seen this yet, but M3Dzone.com has posted a list of the 3rd party manufacturers for ATI.
- A-Open
- ASUS
- MSI
- Prolink
- Leadtek
- Gigabit
- Acer
- DFI
- FIC
- USI (Scotland)
- LiteOn [?!?]
- Palit Germany
- Super Greece (H.K company)
- Club 3D (The new name of PowerColor)
I would have liked to see Apple on here, but I don't think that they would belong in this list. Anyway, it's good that ATI has getting some other companies in the action. Maybe these cards might work in a Mac? Yeah right, I wish...
Well, only 2 more days!!! I'm getting really impatient...
Ramza
"
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| CDRW/CD/DVD/Hard Drive Compatibility Database Updates: |
| The Drive Compatibility searchable database had 34 new reports added this morning. The database has reports on Combo DVD-CDRW, CDROMs, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, CDRW, Hard Drives and Removables (tape drive, ORB, ZIP, MO drives, etc.) in all interface types (IDE, IDE RAID cards, Firewire, SCSI, adapters). Current total 4,424 reports.
Combo DVD/CDRW Drive Reports:
- HP 9900ci (12/10/32 + 8X DVD) in G4/AGP system
- HP 9900ci (12/10/32 + 8X DVD) in Beige G3
- Matshita UJDA710 in PB G3 Expansion bay
(see This article for details and photos)
- Toshiba SDR-1002 in B&W G3
IDE DVD ROM Drive Reports:
- Pioneer 116 in G4/AGP
(entered as Firewire interface, but comments noted
using the drive inside the G4/466 on the IDE bus)
Firewire Hard Drive Reports:
- Western Digital 80GB in OWC Elite FW case (used w/PB G4)
IDE Hard Drive Reports:
- Maxtor 60GB in B&W G3
(Make sure you check the IDE chip revison first -
see the rev 2 B&W G3 features page for its location and marking)
- Western Digital 30GB in Beige G3
(see my Illustrated Beige G3 MT drive install guide)
- Western Digital 80GB in Dual G4 AGP
(see our Illustrated G4 drive install guide)
- Western Digital 30GB in iMac
Firewire CDRW Reports:
- Clubmac (Teac) 16/10/40 (used w/G4 AGP system)
(must be disconnected before shutting down owner said)
- HP 9500 (12/8/32) in Macally FW case (used w/20th Anniv Mac)
- Iomega 16/10/40 (used w/G4 AGP system)
(Problems noted - no FW case brand mentioned)
- EZ-Quest 8x4 (used w/iMac)
- LiteOn LTR-16101B in FW case (used w/Beige G3 system)
- Plextor 1640TA 16/10/40 in FW Case (used w/8600)
- Plextor 1640TA 16/10/40 in FW case (used w/G4 AGP system)
- Ricoh RW7200A (20x) in Firewire case (used w/G4 AGP system)
IDE CDRW Reports:
- HP 9510i in B&W G3
- HP9501 (12/10/40 ?) in Beige G3
- Plextor 16/10/40 in B&W G3 (added Saturday)
- Panasonic CW-7586 in Umax S900 (w/PCI IDE card)
(problems using drive - asked if IDE card in top 2 slots, etc.)
- Philips 8X4X32 (PCRW804) in 7300 (w/PCI IDE card)
- Ricoh MP7163A 16x in G4/AGP system
- Teac 8x8x32 in Beige G3 (All in One)
- Teac W58E in B&W G3
(used our illustrated CD install guide)
- Yamaha 2100E 16/10/40 in G4/AGP system
(noted it didn't seem loud)
- Yamaha 2100E 16/10/40 in G4/AGP system
(different reader/owner - noted it was loud)
SCSI CDRW Reports:
- Ricoh 7060SE 6/4/24 used with 20th Anniv. Mac
- Teac CD-R420 used with 7300
SCSI DVD-RAM Reports:
- Creative Labs 1220s (2.6GB/side) in Beige G3
(listed under "other" brands)
SCSI Hard Drive Reports:
- Seagate Cheetah 36GB in Beige G3
IDE to SCSI Adapter Hard Drive Reports:
- Western Digital 20GB IDE drive (w/SCSI adapter) in 8500
You can find full owner reports by searching the database by drive/brand/interface/mac models (the latest reports are shown first in searches).
If you've added a IDE, SCSI, Firewire or USB hard drive, CDRW, tape drive, etc. make sure you add a report to the database. [If you post an updated entry - make sure you use the same name, etc. as you did before so I can find your past entry. Thanks.]
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| CPU Upgrades Owner Ratings Database Updated: |
| The Rate Your CPU Upgrade database has been updated with 15 new reports today (total to date: 6,064). [Entries after midnight eastern time are added the following day. Incomplete entires missing info are not posted.]
- Apple G3/266 ZIF in Beige G3/233
(did not change mb jumpers so it still ran at 233mhz)
- Bottom Line Railgun G3/275 in 7500/100 (rated 10)
- Newer Tech G4/400 in Beige G3 (rated 10)
- Powerlogix BlueChip G3/466 in PB G3 Wallstreet1 (rated 8)
- Powerlogix G4/450 in 7300/180 (rated 8)
- Powerlogix G4/350 in 9500/132 (rated 8)
- Powerlogix G3/350 in 7500/100 (rated 10)
- Sonnet G3/400 in 20th Anniv. Mac (rated 9)
- Sonnet G3/400 in 7500/100 (rated 10)
- Sonnet G4/450 in 9500 /132 (rated 10)
- XLR8 G4/500 (MPe) ZIF in B&W G3 (rated 10)
- XLR8 G4/450 (MPe) ZIF in Beige G3 (rated 10)
- XLR8 CarrierZIF w/G3 266 ZIF in 9500/150 (rated 10)
- OEM G3/400 ZIF in B&W G3 (rated 8)
(no marking on the ZIF - filed under "Other brand")
- Apple G4 Cube OC report (450@500mhz)
(Warning - Overclocking may not be reliable and could lead to hardware failure or corrupted data.) You can find the full reports by searching the database selecting the indicated Mac model and upgrade card brand/type. If you've upgraded the CPU on your Mac, please post an entry in the database. Search the database for entries from most every upgradable Mac model *before* you buy. (Searchable by mac model/upgrade brand). For detailed reviews with performance tests and install tips, see the CPU Upgrades page.)
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| Blast from the Past - News pages from 1, 2 and 3 years ago: |
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I've had several readers ask that I restore a news item that I used to call "Blast from the Past" where links to past news pages from a year, two years, etc. ago here are included in the daily news. (Sometimes these old pages are a bit embarrassing - and in many cases the offsite links may not work, and comments there were accurate on the date posted regarding upgrade availability, etc.)
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