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26/05/00: A small note on the Abit KA7 BIOS we posted yesterday....it does allow you to set the cache divider to anything you wish using an extra menu item in the BIOS. Here is the latest non-beta release (the zip file also contains a text file with information on the settings in the BIOS). Thanks to Zorak for the info. Fluke

25/05/00: We finally took the plunge yesterday and secured a new domain for Ninja Micros....this will not come into effect until the weekend though.

Thanks to Maz, Simon Beniston and Rob McHattie who sent us the Abit KA7 BIOS file that adjusts the Athlon cache divider to 1/3rd. Here is a local copy (please be careful when flashing your BIOS).

If anyone thought their Athlon was fast check this out :)......it's a array of 64 Athlon machines combines to make a very fast Supercomputer that for the money spent on it, makes it the highest "bang for the buck" machine money can buy ......now how about some Quake3 benchmarks LOL :). Thanks to Pika for the URL. 

Cleggy,  who updates our SETI stats daily has opened a site dedicated to the band "Thunder" and anything else that interests him (check out his PC spec :). You can find it here. Fluke


24/05/00: As many of you are aware, both the Abit KA7 and Asus K7V motherboards are currently able to have their BIOSs patched to give different cache dividers on the Athlon at post......if anyone is using the patched KA7 BIOS could you mail over a link to us as we have had alot of requests for this file and we can't find it anywhere :) ,thanks.

Apparently a overclocker in Santa Cruz has caused a space-time continuum rift by pushing his Cumine to far LOL. Check it out here. Thanks to Pika for the URL.

There is now a DOS cache adjusting program available. We have not tested it out yet but it looks like it could help all of those people who either can't quite boot into Windows or do not own a KA7 or K7V board. The files can be found here. Thanks to Trevor Biggs for the info.

Maz from our Spanish reseller Ngasis has mailed us to say they have a FreeSpeed powered Athlon 700 running at 1Ghz. Check out how they did it here. (article in Spanish)

We now have another Athlon 750 on the way from Austrailia that has a 950 core. We will post more details as soon as we can confirm this. Fluke

 

Frostytech has written a article about lapping Athlon CPUs. Here's a clip:

When we got our Athlon 550Mhz, the first thing we did was to rip off the heatsink and take a look under the hood. Right off the bat we noticed a few checks against good processor-to-heatsink thermal transfer. Not good.

Ultimately four points for improvement became obvious as we looked closer. 

  • Unflat processor heatspreader plate
  • Surplus amount of thermal goo
  • Raised heatsink edges interfere with proper contact
  • Stepped heatsink design limits useful surface area for heat transfer

You can find the whole article here. Thomas

 

 

Matthew Witheiler over at Anandtech  has posted a 'howto' overclock your Geforce2 GTS card, very interesting reading. Here is a clip:

 

It is a common syndrome for computer users to always crave more. No matter what comes out or how powerful it is, one of the first things that many people do is push the item to its limits in any way possible. You may be satisfied with a new CPU for a few weeks or even a month, but before too long the huge speed initially associated with a new component has all but disappeared. No longer do you focus on how long it took your old computer to load Microsoft Word in comparison to your new one, but rather you notice the amount of time that the upgraded system takes to load the same program. The only way to revive that upgraded feeling, short of upgrading again, is to squeeze every bit of power possible out of the existing system. In addition, there are also a growing number of people who simply want the fastest from the start. Rather than wait for the new component wonder to ware off, these users tweak the component to the highest degree from the start, ensuring that their system is the fastest possible. In the vast majority of cases, both types of users employ the same method to achieve the high speed goal: overclocking.

 

You can find the whole article here. Thomas


23/05/00: Today we ordered an Athlon 750 from a well known UK supplier who is due a shipment of these CPUs from the States. Fingers crossed for a good core (maybe 950Mhz).....this will mean speeds reaching over 1Ghz easily. We will post a link back here as soon as we know for certain.

Jens from OC Inside has finished his Athlon resistor page and it now is fully functioning with cache resistors also. Well done.

iXBT Labs have posted a article on GeForce GTS overclocking where they stuck the whole motherboard in a Freezer (slightly mad :). You can check it our here. Fluke


21/05/00: I'm sure everyone if aware of Napster and the law suit by Metalica. Well, if you are and want a laugh check out this flash movie (1.4Mb). The funniest thing I've seen on the net for ages. (thanks to Paul Francis for mailing it to us) Fluke

19/05/00: Here are some pictures of a 950 core Athlon 750. If you anyone finds a supplier of these, please give us a shout :). Thanks to PC Index for the piccys.

 

For anyone interested in Athlon resistor soldering (must be mad :), here is a web page that details exact resistor positions and settings. Very well coded Java!. Thanks to Jens for the URL. Fluke


16/05/00: Well we're back :))....and have just spent the last 5 hours sifting through emails, so if you haven't had a reply in the last week we apologize, things should be back to normal soon (just gotta spend the next few days catching up with all the latest Athlon developments......things move so fast these days).

Athlon cores are continuing to improve with unconfirmed sightings of Athlon 750s with 950 cores :) .......stay tuned.

Our GeForce 2 GTS card has been delayed around three weeks as the 64Mb cards are shipping slightly later apparently. 

Pika wins our Arctic Circle competition with some truly terrible benchmarks :)

Power Computing are selling FreeSpeed cards at a very good price......check them out.

T-Break have posted a exclusive review of the awesome Creative 3D Blaster GeForce2 GTS

K7x-Boards is running a logo competition to win a FreeSpeed card. If your a bit of a Photoshop wiz have a go.

The Turkish Hardware site Hardware Master has posted a review of our FreeSpeed card. You can jump straight to the review here

Cleggy has updated our SETI teams stats. It's getting tougher to climb the ranks these days, with a few days now showing fall in rank.

WD Soft have posted a new version of their BIOS patching program to change the cache divider on Athlon CPUs. Currently the proggy only supports the Asus K7V, but more support is promised in the future. Nice work!. Fluke


06/05/00: Anandtech has posted a AMD 2000 Roadmap showing all AMDs plans for this year....and it is pretty scary stuff (Intel watch out :).

We have just pre-orded a Hercules GeForce 2 GTS 64Mb card in for testing.....we hope to get the card in soon for some serious Quake playing......errrr I mean benchmarking :)

I will be away on holiday now for a week so there will be no posts on the site, also.....tech support email will be alot slower. If anyone has any problems regarding overclocking, post you question on the message board, there are plenty of very knowledgeable readers who can help. Fluke


05/05/00: Oliver Kirst from our German reseller has mailed us to point out they have a new Online Overclocking shop called Zerobits. If your in Germany there is no easier way to get your hands on a FreeSpeed card. Oliver has also got our card reviewed in the PC magazine "PC-Direkt" 6/2000. 

Fredrik Bostrom has mailed us a zip file with 3 Asus K7V patched BIOSs in. There is one for 1/2, 2/5s and 1/3 cache dividers. You can download a local copy here.

Cleggy has updated our SETI stats again and though we are doing well, we now need more CPU power to climb at a good rate in the rankings. Please help out if you have spare processor time. Fluke


03/05/00: Many of you have heard that H-Oda has allegedly found a way of patching Athlon Motherboard BIOSs with code to adjust your Athlons cache but no-one has actually managed to download it (you need to be a registered member??). 

Maz from over at our Spanish reseller Ngasis has informed me that they have tested the BIOS update for the ASUS K7V that sets your cache divider to 1/3 and it appears to work perfectly.

Here is a local copy (for the K7V ONLY) .....please note that we have not yet tested this update and flashing your BIOS can be DANGEROUS. If anyone tries it today let me know what results you get.


ENC has mailed us a very cool program today that can predict clocking success rates and cache settings etc for Athlon CPUs...very nice work!. The program is available for download here. Respect.

Geoff Richards from over at PocketGamer.net has informed us that HardOCP has some good piccys of Thunderbird CPUs and some benchmarks. Check them out!. Fluke


02/05/00: Anya over at iXBT Labs has informed us that they have posted a K7V review. you can jump staight to the article here.

 

Ed (plague) Robinson from over at Plagued has started work on a great little flash application to show FreeSpeed settings and calculate CPU core speeds. you can check out a beta version here. He has also posted a simplified guide on adjusting Athlon cache resistors. Nice work!.

 

Anandtech have posted a review of the new Elsa Gladiac GeForce 2 GTS. (dodgy name :)).........and on the subject of dodgy names, it seems that AMDs new Spitfire CPU will be called DURON .....euuughh :) Fluke


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