Seventh Edition - February 21st 2000

excerpt:This issue of the Private Eye comes from the Intel Developers Forum (IDF for short) in sunny Palm Springs in the California Desert. There's a lot to get through, including RAMBUS (it's ALIVE!), a round-up of all things related to the 3D card world, DVD, HDTV and the usual odds, ends and dirt, Hoovered up off of the show-floor.

content: "The Big News: Willamette @1.5GHz", "RAMBUS Alive and Kicking", "The 3D Card Scene", and more

Sixth Edition - December 22nd 1999

excerpt: This issue of the Private Eye could be dubbed "All I want for ChristmassA as we take a look at the hottest stocking fillers available for PC nuts and gamers alike. I'd also like to devote the later part of this issue to the recent events of our acquisition by internet.com and take time out to thank Sharky Extreme readers and other friends of the site in this large bubble of an Internet community.

content: "All I Want For QuanzasA, "X-box Update", "Coppermine & Abit Issues"", "3dfx VSA-100: The Return of SLI?", "Where Are They Now?", "Predictions For 2000" and more

Fifth Edition - November 18th 1999

excerpt: Microsoft should be looking at the bottom end of the CPU scale in terms of price (how else are they to keep the unit at $299?). Thus we think that the lowest possible speed 'bin' will be sought after, whether that be from Intel or AMD. Just like last time, if we had to bet on it and based on a few more conversations at Comdex, we'd predict the CPU as being an AMD K6-2/3E (Microsoft seems to be leaning more towards AMD than Intel at this time). This low-cost, .18micron solution would be what's required when coupled with a graphics subsystem capable of some 2 Gigapixels per second (yes you read that right). We've heard that Microsoft wants a performance level that's even greater than the just announced Voodoo5 6000's paper specs of 1.3 Gigapixels/second

content: "X-Box: the Sequel", "A 3D Chip Capable of 2 Gigapixels Per Second?", "A Two Horse Race", "ATi "Rage 6"", "T&L", "$6 Billion Box", "Comdex Highlights" and more

Fourth Edition - November 6th 1999

excerpt: Perhaps Microsoft's worst kept secret is their desire to enter the console market with a product currently dubbed by the media the 'X-box'. We set our Ampullae of Lorenzini (a Shark's sixth sense) in motion and fired them off towards our undercover Microsoft contacts and here's what the Sharks dragged in along with RAM prices, a mouse round-up, 'Where Are You Now?' and other Sharky info.

content: "X-Box", "AMD's K6-2/3+ Shocker", "Optical Mice vs Balls", "RAM Prices on The Up", "Dreamcast is Out & About", "Over & OutsA, "Useless Fact of The Issue", "Where Are You Now?", and "Cool Gadgets of the Issue"

Third Edition - September 6th 1999

excerpt: Got four grand sitting around? How about spending it on a plush 22-inch flat panel display made by Apple? The catch? You have to spend an additional $2,498 and buy a G4s?Looks sleek though and expect a first look sometime in the near future as our Mac-Lover Jon managed to catch a glimpse of one at this year's Seybold expo in San Francisco. For now here's a shot.

content: "Made in Taiwan", "AMD's Athlon", "Athlon? Put a Socket in It", "Intel's Plans- In a NutShell", "Graphics Cards NOT Made In Taiwan?", "Motherboards Back in Fashion In Taiwan", "A New HopesA, "Fight NightsA, "Fight Night...", "Useless Fact of The Issue", "Where Are You Now?", "Bring On The GamessA, and "Cool Gadgets of the Issue"

Second Edition - July 23rd 1999

excerpt: A frequent question sent our way is "I've got a K6-II/III and want to play Quake 2. Which Video card do you recommend?". We believe that numbers sometimes speak louder than words and thus we've run a full suite of Quake 2 benchmarks with a K6-III 450MHz system (currently a Super-7 user's choice-PC).

content: "K6-III 450MHz 3D Card Shoot-Out", "Monolith's Advanced LithTech 2.0 Engine (with shots)", "How To Benchmark the Quake 3 Arena Test", "Intel Scraps i754 Graphics Chip", "Coppermine Delayed", and "The Rumor MillsA

First Edition - July 7th 1999

excerpt: We'd like to welcome you fine folks to this new column 'Sharky's Private Eye' (readers from Great Britain will have heard of Private Eye), which we're hoping will become a regular feature here at SE over the coming months. The purpose of it is to sum up latest/greatest happenings in the hardware world. We talk to lots of engineers, game developers, booth babes...

content: "NVIDIA Touts T&L At Meltdown", "T&L On a 'Low-end' PC?", "Intel on T&L", "AMD Inside, Intel Outside?", "Actually We're On The Inside of Intel", "NURBS!", "Meltdown For Aureal?", "Long Live ADSL!" and "The Rumor MillsA