January 1998

January 30, 1998

• AMD Slot A will use Digital’s EV-6 interface.  Byte’s February article is a must read!

• Special weekend prices for Corsair Microsystems Grade A memory. 
  32 Mb SDRAM $71.40
  64 Mb SDRAM with ECC $252.00

• Why does ESC operate as a just-in-time inventory?

ESC operates as a just-in-time inventory. This means that as you request products from us, we bring an item in specificially for your order. We work closely with manufacturers and distributors, this allows us access to product all over the world. When the product arrives at our facility, we assemble, configure, and test your corresponding components before we ship them to you.

Over the years, we have learned that this model allows us to be the most flexible. Computer components are commodities. Their prices change daily and sometimes even hourly. With this just-in-time inventory model, we are able to offer you products at their current market value. When a new revision of a product is released, we are able to purchase it without having to dump older revisions. When prices drop, we are able to sell the newly purchased products at a lower price.

When should I expect to see my order?
other frequently asked questions about esc

• We are curious if anyone would like to explain to us the code names Mendocino and Covington.  Are these rivers in Oregon?   We were waiting for code names like Umatilla, Wallowa, or Klaskanine.  If you are going for counties, what about Crook or Klackamas?  Opps, strike that last county.
  This is the quote from Techweb (January 27).
  "Microprocessors using reduced Level 2 cache integrated on the chip, code-named Mendocino, will make their appearance in the second half of the year in 300-MHz and 333-MHz iterations. Pricing and specific ship dates were unavailable."
  Or this quote from Techweb (January 19)
  "By the fourth quarter, Intel will unveil Mendocino-a Pentium II with 128 Kbytes of L2 cache integrated into the CPU-positioned toward the low end of the $1,000 to $1,500 market, according to the document."

• Counterfeit ASUS motherboards are hitting the market.   These can be identified by the older components on the motherboard.  These boards sell for about 10% or more lower than the market.

• PIIX is Intel’s abbreviation for PCI- ISA/IDE Accelerator Chip.  This part of the chipset controls the expansion buses and hard disk interfaces.

• Intel Pentium II 333 MHz Boxed processors have not arrived.  Distributors are stating Intel has not shipped product to them.   Estimated times have now slid to the second week in February.

January 29, 1998

• 10:45 AM update:  Yesterday’s tears from Al and Gracie must have touched a soft-spot with AMD.  We have been told a limited number of AMD K6/233 PIB processors will be shipped to us.  We are going to offer these at $185.00 each.

• Congratulations to AMD.  PC Magazine has awarded AMD the Technical Innovation Award for 1997.

• We should start to see an increase in availability of the AMD-K6/233 enhanced processor with MMX technology soon.

• Corsair 64 Mb ECC SDRAM is on special today.

• Intel Pentium 166 MHz OverDrive processors are not available at this time. Distributors are not expecting new shipments beyond what they have already committed to.

• Distributors are still waiting for their first shipment of Intel Boxed Pentium II 333 MHz processors.

• Our website www.esctechnologies.com is still undergoing some hardware changes. Other product sites available are: www.esc-tech.com and www.esc-technologies.com. Tech support is at www.esc-ca.com.

• Guess what? We have been updating an entire section for quite a few weeks about processor roadmaps and we just discovered that it wasn’t linked in to the rest of the site! We’ll fix it as soon as possible.

January 28, 1998

• Happy Birthday Bob!

• Al and Gracie are in tears today.  AMD yields for the K6/200, K6/233, and K6/266 are just not high enough to meet demand.  The good news is that AMD has been working hard on improving the yields.  It takes 68 days from start to socket ready – so let’s all mark our calendars. The big wave of K6/266 processors will probably be in April.   Hopefully not April 1, 1998.

• Covington is coming.  This processor is the Pentium II Junior; A cacheless Pentium II 266 MHz.  It it is expected to be released in April of this year.  Al and Gracie still think of this processor as a CPU on a diet.

• This morning’s special: Corsair 64 Mb ECC SDRAM for $285 each.

January 27, 1998

• AMD K6/233 PIB (Processors in a Box) have a printing error.  The fan states I/O voltage of 3.3 volts and Vcore of 3.4 volts.  This is not correct.  The proper Vcore is 3.2 volts.  The processor may fail at the higher voltage.

• Wanting and expecting more power from a computer doesn’t have to mean buying a whole new system. Today’s special is for those of you who are upgrading that older Pentium machine.

• Question of the day: Is the Pentium II 333 MHz with MMX technology the Deschutes?

Yes. Deschutes refers to the 0.25-micron process.  Since the Pentium II 333 MHz is manufactured using the 0.25-micron process, yes, it is a Deschutes processor. Of course, there will be future processors with more advances.

• We will start seeing AMD-K6 enhanced processors shifting to 0.25-micron with their new K6/266 MMX enhanced processor. Currently, IBM and Compaq are or will be offering systems using this desktop processor. The small OEM and reseller channel will
  be able to buy the new processors later this spring. Notebooks with the AMD-K6/233 may use the new  .25-micron.

• According to Intel and several other manufacturers, "Wake on LAN requires a power supply with 5 volts stand by (Vsb) capable of sustaining 720mA."  You can check your power supply by looking at the label.   Do not use this feature if the power supply does not support the Vsb of 0.8 amps.

• Intel’s next chipset may require a heatsink and fan.   This fan should not be removed.  There may be BIOS features which change the thermals on this chipset.

• This table was provided to us so that we could understand the bandwidth of L2 Cache on a Pentium II processor.  We thought we should pass it along to you.  Now try that with a socket7 processor.

• Please take note of the title below (Inside Intel by Tim Jackson). Then, see our section "Inside Intel" that gives Intel product updates for the past two years.

January 26, 1998

• Happy Birthday Loren.

• We’d like to clarify our statements on the AL440LX motherboard from Intel.  The AL440LXG, the Atlanta motherboard packaged with the ATI Expert @ Work, will no longer be offered.  This was a promotional package.  The AL440LX motherboard will still be available for a little while longer.

• Compaq purchases Digital.   Annual revenue expected to top 37 billion dollars.  Compaq is now ranked as the third largest computer company in the world.

• AMD dropped pricing.  The sad news is that there is little to no product in the reseller channel.  Compaq signed a agreement (after IBM’s exclusive for January is over) for the AMD K6/266.  Therefore, we will not see the product until after March.  The PIB (boxed) K6/200 are back ordered.  It will also be March before we see them.  The K6/233 will be erratic in availability.   One authorized distributor was given a whopping four processors on their next shipment!

• ABIT Taiwan is on vacation from January 24, 1998 until February 1, 1998.  They are celebrating Chinese New Year. Gigabyte is also on vacation.

• PC-Hardware FAQs were updated January 16, 1998.   This update is now on our website.

• Congratulations to the Denver Broncos.  It was a great SuperBowl game.  Al and Gracie were biting their nails all the way to end.

• Prices were lowered today for many of the Intel processors. 

• The Intel Pentium II 333 MHz with MMX Technology boxed processor was announced today. 

• Intel releases information to the press on the 440LX-R chipset.  We’d like to point out the last sentence in the article, specifically the last two words, "or pricing."

• For specifications on the new MicroATX form factor you should go to teleport’s website.

January 23, 1998

• For those of you who have been asking about GigaByte’s new dual Pentium II motherboard, 686DLX, we are still running it and have not introduced a price yet. We will keep you posted.

• AMD plans to introduce the AMD-K6 3D MMX Enhanced processor with initial clock speeds of 300 MHz and up to 400 MHz.  We do not have the details for the time frame.

• We received a fax stating, "Cyrix has the rights to the plans and other intellectual property necessary to make processors based on Intel’s Pentium II design."  This is a result of National Semiconductor’s cross-licensing agreement with Intel.

• This CNet article states the Deschutes will be officially announced on Monday.  Their pricing structure is very interesting.   Apparently the trade is now telling the resellers what price they can sell a product.  Very interesting.  We’d love to buy the product for the pricing they are stating.  Here is a great example of the tail wagging the dog.

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,18402,00.html

January 22, 1998

• Guess what arrived this morning? We received our first GigaByte 586SG motherboard! It’s on the bench running now, and we’ll post preliminary results as soon as we can. The board is GigaByte’s new socket 7 motherboard with AGP slot on board. Price estimate is just over $100. The board will be in mass production in February. 

• The generic memory prices have dropped considerably these past few months. You can buy 32 Mb of EDO memory for your Pentium machine for less than dinner and movies for your family. At the same time, you are telling us that you want TX or Pentium II systems. The TX boards and Pentium II boards use a different kind of memory. Should we continue offering generic SIMMs for a while yet? Our dropping of the product is immanent. We will still offer Grade A Micron SIMMs, but we are seriously considering dropping generic SIMMs. Please, let us know what you think.

January 21, 1998

• "AMD – 3D Technology will lead visual computing revolution," says Jerry Sanders. AMD plans to introduce the AMD-K6 3D MMX Enhanced processor with initial clock speeds of 300 MHz and moving to 400 MHz. Keep watching for more information.

• We’ve had multiple questions about the availability on the Intel Boxed DK440LX motherboard. It’s our understanding that there have been a few manufacturing difficulties so production is slow. However, there are boards available on the market, and more product is also on it’s way!

• We hav
  e a few extra AMD K6/233 enhanced processors with MMX technology. Please call 800-427-3726 if you are interested in purchasing one.

• How do I decide what to buy for my home and business use?

There are hundreds of computer manufacturers and systems integrators. Each company offers a slightly different product. How do you go about finding what you need to upgrade your existing system, what you’d like to replace it with, and decent pricing and value for that product?

www.esc-ca.com/html/places.htm outlines some consumer information to help you answer these questions.

www.esc-ca.com/html/upgrade.html walks you through many of the issues you’ll need to consider when buying new parts.

• Yesterday’s Intel training was interesting. Intel has a series of new products to be released this year. The  products range from microprocessors to working with internet connectivity. The constant push for making technology simple to use, so that it doesn’t interfere with our lives while benefiting our lives, progresses by reaching even higher standards of performance. It’s hard to tell when new products are used as strategic market positioning and when they will in fact contribute to  your enjoyment and practicality.

• Watch for release dates and information about these new Intel products, among others:

Intel’s Seattle and Nightshade are two motherboards that will operate with future Intel processors using a future chipset. 

The Intel Express 3D will be the first graphics video card offered by Intel.  It uses the i740 graphics chipset. 

Pentium II processors will be faster.

January 20, 1998

• Some distributors have preliminary pricing posted on their Boxed Pentium II 333 MHz processors. Availability will be limited at first.  The official product announcement is Sunday, January 25, 1998.  Pricing looks like it will be $860.41 each.

• A sample of GigaByte’s 586SG board should arrive next week. The board will enter mass production in February. We have orders in for the first release.

• Phone conversations with vendors indicate that Intel is expected to release Pentium II 350 MHz through 400 MHz between March and April of this year. We look forward to seeing these processors, as well as other future Intel products.

• Tray AMD-K6/233 MHz processors are available today in small numbers. Please call if you are interested.

• Processors in a Box AMD-K6/233 and AMD-K6/200 MHz enhanced processors with MMX technology are still in short supply. We expect availability to be tight through February. Remember, AMD’s K6/266 will only be released through IBM until next month.

• We are still testing the GigaByte 686DLX, dual Pentium II motherboard. We will post pricing as soon as possible.

• Pricing on ASUS’s new dual Pentium II motherboard without SCSI is now available. We have not received any P2L97-D boards yet.

January 19, 1998

• Tomorrow is a scheduled meeting with Intel representatives.  Since the Pentium II 333 MHz processor in the boxed program will not be "officially" announced until next week, we are curious if they will let us know the "new name" for the processor.  Is this processor going to be named the Pentium 3? or is that a separate / future processor for the 100 MHz bus set for April – maybe? Or are we all going to be suprised by a 440BX chipset announcement?
  Al and Gracie have been debating this nomenclature.  We still believe Intel needs to promote the MMX Technology in whatever the new product is named.  Since the 0.25 micron fabrication is unique, cache speed is faster.

• Have you noticed that major OEMs are coming up with names to describe building the system you want before they ship it to you? Configure-and-ship^TM sounds familiar to us.

• Build To Order Baffles Compaq, Others

• Today’s special find: Corsair 64 Mb ECC SDRAM $312.36.

• Now that the price points have shifted to the Pentium II 233 MHz processors being less expensive than the Pentium 233 MHz processor, we’re seeing an increased interest in ways to upgrade an existing machine. One of the easiest ways to find out information about your existing system is to look at your original invoice and the motherboard manual.

• Intel’s Deschutes Chip Gets Major Vendor Backing

• Next Pentium II Due This Month

• Remember, the Pentium II 333 MHz processor is available in tray form. The Boxed processor will be available January 26th.

• Why has processor pricing bounced around this past week?

Processors are commodities. If product is available, the prices usually remain stable until there is a new product release. When a new product is available or about to be available, we see the prices drop. When a product is in high demand and short supply, we see high prices.

Intel is about to officially announce and release their new Pentium II 333 MHz processor: the long awaited Deschutes. OEMs and vendors who have inventory are raising and lowering their selling prices for processors. These companies have 1 week to clear inventory before Intel adjusts pricing to authorized distributors.

We operate as a just-in-time inventory. This means that as people purchase product from us, we purchase product from distributors.

January 16, 1998

• Weekend special find: Corsair 32 Mb SDRAM. OK,  we decided to give you a New Year bonus. Memory prices increased dramatically this week. However, we recognize that your price point is lower than the current market costs. We adjusted Corsair 32 Mb SDRAM non-ECC orders from Friday to $85 for quantities 1 and up. We’ll hold this special price through the weekend. This special stops at the opening of Monday’s business day at 8:30 am PT. You may order online.

• Bob’s mom posted this on his office door on one of her visits to the shop. We think it seems appropriate for the computer industry and users too:

• Golden Rules for Living:

• If you open it, close it.
  If you turn it on, turn it off.
  If you unlock it, lock it up.
  If you break it, admit it.
  If you can’t fix it, call in someone who can.
  If you borrow it, return it.
  If you value it, take care of it.
  If you make a mess, clean it up.
  If you move it, put it back.
  If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.
  If you don’t know how to operate it, leave it alone.
  If it’s none of your business, don’t ask questions.
  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
  If it will brighten someone’s day, say it.
  If it will tarnis
  h someone’s reputation, keep it to yourself.

• Today’s business special find: Corsair 32 Mb SDRAM.  A discounted price in quantities 10 or more $95.

• We received a few extra AMD-K6/233 processors this morning. Please call if you are interested in purchasing one with other components.

• Guess what? Al has put on his boots and is busily playing in the mud puddles.  Gracie insists that she will not get her feet wet and still remains at home.  These two dogs remind us of people’s attitudes about new technology.  Companies introduce a pouring rain of new products.  Some of us rush out into the rain and buy the "latest" and others of us wait and see.  Some people are like Gracie and just wait until the rain is all gone.

• The Deschutes processor is an example of people’s purchasing interests.  Are you going to wait or invest in the technology today? The 333 MHz unit is the fastest processor Intel builds.

• Now, here is a press release posted on ZDnet:

“Seagate is executing plans to improve its competitive position through continued improvements to operational productivity and cost reduction — specifically asset and employee utilization,” the company said in a statement.

January 15, 1998

• Yes, it’s still raining in Modesto.  Al is wandering around trying to find a warm place to relax and Gracie, once again, refused to come to work.

• AMD K6 233 processors are in scare supply.  The price is rising as the supply decreases.  We have temporarily suspended taking orders on the K6.

• Intel Katmai information starts to surface.

• New MMX on Intel Katmai chip

• Here is an interesting site on 3D  that you might want to visit.

January 14, 1998

• AMD processors are not available in the channel today. We will keep you posted on product updates. It’s is our understanding that AMD-K6 processors are being heavily allocated to OEMs and therefore short in the reseller channel. We were told this situation will continue throughout February.

• It’s still raining in Modesto.  Al is still on his blanket and Gracie has refused to come to work.  She doesn’t want to get her hair wet.

• We hope that the levy system holds in Sutter County.   In listening to the news reports there seems to be some difficulties in the same place the levy broke last year.

• We’ve been running the Giga-Byte GA686BLX motherboard on the bench for the past two days.  The results match our expectations.  The Giga-Byte boards provide the most consistently high scores in Graphics.  Therefore we are offering a special bundle:  GA686BLX+PII 333 MHz + 32 Mb Corsair SDRAM = $1275.00 while supplies last.

• AMD-K6/266 enhanced processor release into the reseller channel is expected after this quarter. We are currently working with AMD to get more information.

• Did you notice that an Intel Pentium II 233 MHz with MMX technology is less expensive than a Pentium 233 MHz with MMX technology?

• We were discussing return rates of Pentium II motherboards. Barring the first release of the ASUS P2L97 motherboard that was jumperless (we received the first two serial numbers in the sequence), we have not had returns on ABIT, ASUS, AOpen, Intel, GigaByte, nor Micronics boards. We are extremely impressed with the quality of Pentium II motherboards with which we work.

• If you would to use our on-line ordering system, please use a traceable email address. We do not accept orders from @hotmail.com, @iname.com, @techie.com, @juno.com, @bigfoot.com, and other free email accounts that may or may not be valid.

January 13, 1998

FTC won’t block Intel and CT merger.

Intel Unveils Two Pentium Processors

DRAM Prices Showing Signs Of Recovery

Supply Still A Problem As AMD Hones K6

• Is there an AT Case that you really love and don’t want to get rid but you still want to upgrade to a Pentium II motherboard?   Take a look at the GA-686BLX.  This motherboard supports the 233 – 333 MHz Pentium II with MMX Technology Processors.
• In-Win Full size ATX with 300 watt power supplies are still not available.  The ship has not docked and cleared customs.  It will be the beginning of next week before the product is available from In-Win.  We do have 235 Watt Power Supply Full Size ATX units available.
• Al and Gracie are glad it isn’t raining.  Al can finally catch up on his sleep and Gracie can go outside in the sunshine.
• We are all waiting for today’s ruling regarding MS and the DOJ.
• There is an update on the utility for determining chipset information.   This website is an excellent resource for chipsets.

January 12, 1998

• We have been a bit suprised by the response that we will be carrying the IBM Deskstar Drives.  We are doing our best to get the information on the website and you will notice that it is now on the shopping cart.

• It is raining so hard that the other side of the road cannot be seen.  Gracie wouldn’t come to work and Al is hiding next to Layne’s feet.   He hates the rain.  Worse is that he hates the thunder.  We’ll have four more days of this type of weather.  Small stream flash flood warnings have been placed into effect.  Doesn’t this remind you of last year?

• Al and Gracie are glad they are not stuck in the snow storms on the east coast.  Al hates the cold (that’s why he collects blankets) and Gracie prefers the Arizona weather.   We all hope everyone is safe and warm.

• In terms of the Winstone 98 business scores, the ABIT LX6 nudged out the competition.  However, the GigaByte GA-686LX has come out on top in regards to the High End Winstone 98.

• The Vcore on the 333 MHz Pentium II with MMX Technology Processor is 2.00V.

January 10, 1998

• Did you notice that the year changed?  Some of you may have seen yesterday’s 1997 mistake but did you notice that we snuck in a new VeriSign Certificate?  That’s right, you can now shop using our webcart and feel confident that we have done what we can to keep your purchases private.

• We also have snuck in a picture of Al and Gracie.  After receiving email asking for pictures, we decided to put them up for a little while.  No sunglasses and hats please.

And since we were being so sneaky, we thought that the IBM storage devices added to our product line should get announced quietly and that the faithful readers of this section would be the first to know.  So, now you know.   Pricing, specifications, and integration into the webcart will happen next week.

• By the way, what are you doing reading this?   You should be hugging your kids, family, friends, and significant other.  Oh.   It’s a rumor that you are looking for?  Ok, well, the latest on the ABIT LX6 motherboard working with the Intel 333 MHz Pentium II with MMX Technology Processor is true.  By setting the BIOS to user defined, and the clock multiplier to 5, the processor is properly seen.  Now you can go hug people.

January 9, 1998

• Not only are generic memory prices going up other suppliers are saying their prices will also increase.

• Are you looking for an easy way to store and transport files? Iomega’s Zip drives are handy means of moving files between home and work. Computer design artists in Phoenix, Arizona tell us frequently that they love using their Zip ATAPI drives to store their large images.

• We now offer IBM Deskstar 6.4 GB and 8.4 GB IDE hard drives. These IBM drives feature large capacity UDMA/33 storage. They are the  fastest IDE drives currently available in the industry.

• We offer individual components as well as configured barebone systems. You choose your components, then we’ll assemble, configure and test corresponding items before we ship them to you. This added service assures quality components. We do not charge an extra fee for this service.

• Einstein and Gracie watched cloudbursts today. Einstein had a few ideas from watching Pooh with the kids this morning. He dreamed of singing, "I’m a little black rain cloud, pay no attention to me," as he tried to sneak donuts.

• We rearranged a few things on the on-line shopping system today. We apologize for any inconvenience.

January 8, 1998

• Generic memory prices are going up again. We received messages from multiple vendors that their costs went up about $10 today, and are expected to increase again tomorrow.

• The AMD K6 266 is sampling to OEMs.  No, AMD has not made these available to us.  We are trying to contact them to see if we can get them.  If you are interested in this product then please let AMD know that you want us to offer this product soon.  Otherwise, the wait may be until the end of this quarter.  If you do contact them then please be polite.

• We have managed to get access to several more 333 MHz Pentium II with MMX Technology Processors.  We are keeping our price at $995.00 while this supply lasts.

• Al and Gracie have been watching the construction in the main office.  Henry, the telephone man, decided to add a skylight to the ceiling and the repair is being started today.

• Last year on this date, was the introduction by Intel of the Pentium Processors with MMX Technology.

January 7, 1998

• We’d like to update the In-Win enclosure story.   We decided to have a driver go into the bay area and pick up our cases.  We just couldn’t wait.  Yes, we hate delays too.  Actually some of us are more like little children around a Christmas Tree when the UPS and FedEx drivers arrive in the morning.  Well, okay some of us are more like a wild pack of animals.

• Layne’s favorite computer journal on the internet recently wrote a question we had asked earlier.  What’s going on in Vienna Virginia?   Well, as was explained to us, Tyson’s Corner is the home of some rather large corporations which serve our government.  But even funnier than Tyson’s Corner showing up in large numbers is the fact that there are people coming from Comedy Central.  Are you looking for new material?  Al and Gracie have a whole doghouse full.

• A funny thing happened to Al and Gracie while they were on their way to the newsgroup forum, (da dun dun).  It seems that Intel has already announced that they are discontinuing the AL440LX. Funny, didn’t they just introduce it? Say good night Gracie. Bark.

• After reviewing product sales, the ASUS P2L97 motherboards were the hottest selling Pentium II motherboards for the month of December.   Overall sales were ranked ASUS P2L97, ABIT LX6, Intel AL440LX, and GigaByte LX.

• There are only a few OEM Intel Pentium II 333 MHz with MMX Technology Processors available.  After these are gone, it will probably be quite some time before we see any more.  The official release date should be at the end of January.  You may have noticed some companies have been raising their prices over the past few days.  This is due to constraints placed by suppliers.  We are holding our price at $995.00 for today.

• Einstein and Gracie are anxiously waiting for more benchmarks using the Intel Pentium II 333 MHz with MMX Technology Processor.  Winstone98 scores using the P2L97 show the incremental increase.  The Deschutes processor requires the BIOS upgrade on both the P2L97 and P2L97DS motherboards.  We hope to complete the ABIT LX6 testing today.

• You may have noticed some re-arranging on this webpage yesterday.  We are attempting to find the easiest way to layout the What’s New section so that load time is faster.  The old layout keeps each month together, however, this leads to 40-60K files.  Instead we will put the most recent day’s information here and then provide a link to the prior days for the  month and past months.

• Our shipment of In Win cases did not arrive this morning. Hopefully, they will arrive tomorrow.

• Reminder: We operate as a just-in-time inventory. When a customer requests a product, we will verify banking information and funds, purchase product for the request, when the products arrive we assemble and test corresponding items, then ship the product. We do not begin ordering your product until the funds are authorized by your bank. Please verify your funds before you purchase.

• If you need to return an item for non-defective reasons, we have a 15% restocking fee. The items must be in resalable condition. If you need to return an item for defective reasons, please ship your product back then we will proceed. Please read our policies section for detailed information.

Tuesday January 6, 1998

• OEM packaging for Microsoft’s Windows 95 is being changed.  The packages will be in brown boxes.  In addition, as of December 31, 1997 a new company was formed by Microsoft Licensing in Nevada.  This new company will handle OEM products for Microsoft.

• In order for the ASUS P2L97 motherboard to recognize the OEM 333 MHz Pentium II with MMX Technology, a BIOS of 0105 is required.   Otherwise the motherboard appears to be dead and there will not be video.  The Deschutes designation withi
  n the BIOS is interesting too.  We could not get Winstone97 to run properly, however Winstone98 ran fine.  The incremental increase in performance is exactly what all of us expected.  Using the ASUS P2L97, the 300 MHz scores 27.3 units and the 333 MHz scores 28.2 units.  High end scores are 31.2 units and 33 units respectively.

• According to PC Week, the official announcement for the Intel Pentium II 333 MHz CPU is January 26, 1998.  The Boxed product should be available on that day.

• Intel representatives have been rather concerned regarding our offering the OEM Pentium II 333 MHz with MMX Technology prior to their announcement.  Several companies are now offering the product.

Monday January 5, 1998

• Today’s specials:

AMD-K6/233 Tray processor $185.00
Corsair 32 Mb SDRAM $90.00 each
Corsair 64 Mb ECC SDRAM $333.00 each

• Intel Boxed Pentium Overdrive units are available
  today. Distributors now have Pentium 166, 180, and
  200 MHz Overdrives with MMX technology. Go to
  www.intel.com/overdrive/index.htm for detailed
  information.

Friday January 2, 1998

• Intel Product Selector Guide can be found on the Intel website.   It’s raining today so you can all guess what Al and Gracie are doing. Al is hiding, and refusing to go outside. Gracie is wishing that she had rubber boots and an umbrella.  

• A limited supply of Intel Boxed Pentium 166 and 200 MHz OverDrives with MMX technology are available. Intel’s new DK440LX and R440LX motherboards are available. Since they are relatively new products, we have about a 2 week lead time. 

• We saw SIMM prices jump a couple of dollars on Wednesday. We don’t know if that was because of end of year, or anything more long term. 

• Intel Pentium II 333 MHz processors are available in tray. The Boxed product has not been released yet. 

Thursday January 1, 1998

• Happy New Year!

• We will reopen on January 2nd.