~ Early Web Links ~

Neil Brown's personal tech blog documents a fun budget laptop challenge, sourcing and refurbishing a ThinkPad L380 for under £50 while running a current, supported OS. The site is packed with practical Linux and hardware tinkering posts covering everything from ThinkPad mods to Debian configuration tips.

Maintained by John D. McCalpin (aka 'Dr. Bandwidth'), this site hosts the definitive STREAM benchmark results measuring sustainable memory bandwidth across a wide variety of computer systems. It includes performance tables, source code, raw data files, FAQ, and commentary spanning decades of high-performance computing hardware.

PoTD99's Corner is a personal Neocities homepage belonging to Po, an electronics collector who lists an impressive array of iPhones, Android phones, Nintendo handhelds, and iPods they've gathered over the years. The page also features a quirky collection of surreal dream phrases and links to art, photos, and a guestbook.

3DCenter.org is a German-language technology hub focused on graphics hardware, offering a downloads section packed with GPU drivers for AMD Radeon, Intel, and nVidia GeForce cards alongside specialized 3D tools like nHancer and aTuner. The site tracks cutting-edge GPU architectures from RDNA5 to Rubin and includes performance benchmarks, market overviews, and community polls, making it a go-to reference for serious graphics enthusiasts.

Speedy 3D is a dedicated PC hardware review and news site covering CPUs, RAM, motherboards, video cards, cooling systems, and peripherals with a focus on gaming and overclocking enthusiasts. The site features hands-on reviews, how-to guides, tweaking tips, and case modding content spanning from 1999 to 2004.

Wesg.ca is the personal tech site of a Canadian developer named Wes, showcasing Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects including a 3D printed boat robot, a coffee notification system, and custom PCB builds. The site also lists several small business ventures in logistics and home services, giving it a distinctive mix of maker culture and entrepreneurship.

Hans de Vries runs this deep-dive technical site analyzing the microarchitecture of Intel and AMD processors, covering everything from pipeline stages and cache efficiency to die photos and CPU benchmarks. Articles dating back to 2003 dissect chips like the Prescott, Athlon 64, Opteron, and beyond, making it a treasure trove for anyone serious about understanding how CPUs actually work under the hood.

A detailed technical review of Mustek Be@rPaw flatbed scanners by Ilya Beskhlebny, published on iXBT Labs, a long-running Russian hardware review site. The article covers the Be@rPaw 1200 series specifications, compares CCD vs CIS scanning technologies, and contrasts the Be@rPaw line with the ScanExpress series.

The Red Hill Guide to Computer Hardware is a long-running reference site offering plain-English guidance on choosing hard drives, CPUs, and motherboards for the intelligent non-technician. With over 32 years on the web, it covers the history of x86 processors, price-performance comparisons, and practical workshop notes alongside a hardware glossary.

Beyond3D is a deep-dive technical publication covering GPU architecture, graphics hardware, and 3D rendering technology, with detailed analyses of chips from NVIDIA, ATI, and console platforms. Readers will find architecture breakdowns, performance analyses, developer interviews, and articles on cutting-edge topics like anti-aliasing, GPGPU computing, and game engine rendering techniques.