Friday September 27, 1996
Memory prices hold
ESC held memory prices for two days. That’s at least better than having them increase.
New BIOS update for TC430HX
Intel has a BIOS update for the TC430HX. (Tucson)
Should Micron manufacture memory for ESC?
We’ve been discussing having Micron maufacture memory for ESC. If they do, it would be under their division SpecTech, and the SOJ’s would be marked that way too. Please, let us know what you think.
Thursday September 26, 1996
What’s going on with memory?
Last week distributors started increasing their prices and literally went into a panic. They stopped giving price quotes and shut down in the morning. Prices spiraled upward. Today, our reps stopped giving quotes. They’re said that some distributors are decided to drop their prices, and they expect that theirs will also go back down "soon".
The distributors are buying from each other, and that’s just increased everyone’s prices. It happened approximately 7 weeks ago too. At that time, memory dropped a few days after it started. This time we’ve been told that distributors and manufacturers are going to increase prices for about two weeks, level them off for 4th quarter, then drop them after the new year.
If you aren’t in a rush, don’t let the industry determine when you buy. Take your time.
Intel update:
Our Intel Boxed representative notified us today that yes, Intel underestimated the immediate popularity with the Pentium Pro 200 MHz. Intel expects the supply problem to last through this year. They are going to continue filling distributor’s orders and hopefully, with a conservative approach all will go more smoothly. Intel projects that 80% of the CPU market will be Pentium Pros by the end of 1997.
Intel will begin shipping the "Boxed PR440FX" approximately the middle of November. We can hardly wait to see their dual processor. Providences currently on the market are seed boards, not the final product.
ASUS rev 3.0 update:
Distributors and ASUS are unsure about when the ASUS P/I-P55T2P4 and the XT2P4 rev 3.0 are going to ship. We’ll let you know as soon as we see them.
What revision of the IBM P166+ do you have?
3.71
Inside Intel Update – September 26,1996
Our Intel Boxed representative notified us today that yes, Intel underestimated the immediate popularity with the Pentium Pro 200 MHz. Intel expects the supply problem to last through this year. They are going to continue filling distributor’s orders and hopefully, with a conservative approach all will go more smoothly. Intel projects that 80% of the CPU market will be Pentium Pros by the end of 1997.
Intel will begin shipping the "Boxed PR440FX" approximately the middle of November. We can hardly wait to see their dual processor. Providences currently on the market are seed boards, not the final product.
Wednesday September 25, 1996
Conversation with Intel:
We called Intel this morning to get a little more information about their current CPU situation. Here’s what we found out.
Intel CPUs
Boxed and brokered Pentium 100 MHz
Intel is not accepting any new order; those back ordered should be filled the beginning of next year.
Boxed and brokered Pentium 120 MHz
Intel is not accepting any new order; those back ordered should be filled the beginning of next year.
Boxed Pentium 200 MHz
Intel’s boxed 200 MHz will be released the 3rd or 4th week of November.
Boxed and brokered Pentium Pro 200 MHz
Intel is still accepting new orders, however there is a 3 week delay before they are filled and shipped to distributors.
So any Boxed or brokered Pentium Pro order that we place with our distributors will be filled 3 weeks after that distributor places their order with Intel. A long wait, but that’s more hopeful than we’d been told before.
Luckily, we’ve found a few distributors who have brokered CPUs. We are still only accepting two Pentium Pro orders a day, and will remain that way until the supply increases.
Our appreciation goes out to Betsy, who helped us considerably.
What about 6×86 availability and pricing?
We were told this afternoon that availability of the P150+ and lower is extrememly slim. Cyrix and IBM are discontiuing them, and are going to focus on the P166+ and the P200+. SGS is going to pick the lower speeds up under their name come October. Many companies have these CPUs on backorder until 1st quarter of next year.
Why were the websites and email down yesterday?
The local service provider was changing routers. We hope this new change will improve the access to our www.esc-ca.com site.
Inside Intel Update – September 25, 1996
We called Intel this morning to get a little more information about their current CPU situation. Here’s what we found out.
| Boxed and brokered Pentium 100 MHz | Intel is not accepting any new order; those back ordered should be filled the beginning of next year. |
| Boxed and brokered Pentium 120 MHz | Intel is not accepting any new order; those back ordered should be filled the beginning of next year. |
| Boxed Pentium 200 MHz | Intel’s boxed 200 MHz will be released the 3rd or 4th week of November. |
| Boxed and brokered Pentium Pro 200 MHz | Intel is still accepting new orders, however there is a 3 week delay before they are filled and shipped to distributors. |
So any Boxed or brokered Pentium Pro order that we place with our distributors will be filled 3 weeks after that distributor places their order with Intel. A long wait, but that’s more hopeful than we’d been told before.
Luckily, we’ve found a few distributors who have brokered CPUs. We are still only accepting two Pentium Pro orders a day, and will remain that way until the supply increases.
Our appreciation goes out to Betsy, who helped us considerably.
Tuesday September 24, 1996
Why haven’t you updated your "What’s New" page?
When we started this page, we never expected such an overwhelming response. We fell behind because we’re on the phone more and more each day. Thank you for your support.
New Federal Express Powership 2 installed
Federal Express representatives set up our new shipping machine. Now, we’ll be able to track by order number.
Federal Express late with shipment from distributor.
Unfortunately, Fed Ex was extrememly late with our shipments today. As of 2pm they still hadn’t arrived.
Prices continue to increase
Memory prices contiune to increase. We apologise to everyone for having to do so.
I had the operator break in to your phone system, and there was no answer.
We are on the Centrex phone system, which internally rolls numbers to an open line. The 800 number rolls onto phone numbers 47 to 82. It rings to one station, which then transfers it to the first available line. If you have the operator break in, the phone never transfers from the first station.
Monday September 23, 1996
Lousy day.
Prices are incresing quickly, incorrect product coming in, suppliers are not shipping, all distributors seem to be in a panic.
What’s happened to memory prices?
Our distributors notified us that they are going to increase memory prices a few dollars each day for the next two weeks. After that they are going to level the price off and hold that new price through fourth quarter. We aren’t sure where the new pricing will fall, but we do expect that the memory prices will drop after the new year.
ASUS XT2P4 and T2P4 rev 3.0 update
Today, ASUS said that distributors should start seeing the rev 3.0 ship after Oct 1. Hopefully, we’ll receive the new revision soon after that. The new revisions include Intel’s changes for MMX technology, along with use with 6×86 CPUs. Until these boards are released the only board we carry that is capable of handling the heat produced by the Cyrix/IBM 6×86 is the Freetech 586F63T.
Friday September 20,1996
What is the current status of the Pentium Pro availability?
Boxed Pentium Pros are not available. We’ve been told that the ETA is mid October, however, other suppliers say that we will not see any more until the new year.
Brokered Pentium Pro CPUs are available. Please call for pricing.
In house discussion: How many conversations can you carry at once?
We decided that we’re carrying on a minimum of four conversations at once, minus the jokes (LAYNE!).
Thursday September 19, 1996
What’s wrong with your phone system?
We added two more lines, and they were turned on before the phone company came over to hook them up for us. We apologise for any inconvience. At least, we have two more lines for you now.
What version of the IBM CPU are you receiving?
We’re looking for a rev 2.7 or more recent. We receive 3.3V and 3.5 volt, and cannot specify when ordering.
Wednesday September 18,1996
Memory prices suddenly increased.
We were notified of a drastic price change in the middle of the day. Our cost continued to increase throughout the day, forcing us to change our prices. We don’t know when the trend will end.
Tuesday Sept. 17, 1996
What are the most common motherboards that people are buying?
Results compiled from the last 150 motherboards sold (approximately last two weeks)
Pentium Classic Motherboards
FX Chipset Intel Advanced/EV, Advanced/AS
Tyan Titan III
HX Chipset ASUS P55T2P4 and ASUS XP55T2P4
Intel's NEW TC430HX (Tucson)
VX Chipset FreeTech 63T
Note: The FX Chipset motherboards are no longer available from ESC Technologies
Pentium Pro Motherboards
Single Processor Intel VS440FX (Venus) and SuperMicro's P6SNE
ASUS P6NP5
Dual Processor SuperMicro P6DNF
Which CPU are people buying?
Number One Intel Pentium Pro 200 (40% of sales)
Number Two Intel Pentium Classic 133 (33% of sales)
Number Three Intel Pentium Classic 166 (10% of sales)
Number Four IBM and Cyrix P166+ (5% of sales)
Which motherboards have the greatest number of problems?
Motherboard returns listed by manufacturer over the last three months.
Tyan 25 percent
FreeTech 10 percent
Intel ONLY 3 boards
ASUS ONLY 1 board
SuperMicro ABSOLUTELY NONE !
The most common reason for returns:
Tyan Floppy and HDD controllers failed
Bad memory sockets (no memory would be recognized)
BIOS related / unstable under NT
Physical damage (fan seized and burned unit)
FreeTech Cyrix P166+ destroyed model 586F62
Incomplete Flash BIOS during upgrade
Physical damage during shipping
Bad PCI sockets
ASUS Physical damage during shipping
Intel Sound stopped functioning
Clock/Time not functioning properly
Video on Advanced/ AS stopped
These results do not represent an industry wide trend.
This is non-scientific and should only be used as a reference.
Inside Intel Update – September 17, 1996
We have continued our search for genuine Intel Boxed Pentium Pro 200MHz CPUs. According to the first Intel salesperson we spoke with this morning there isn’t an availability problem. What planet does she live on? The exact quote was : "Are you sure you are using the correct part number?"… No duh woman!! We contacted EVERY distributor on Intel’s list. After being laughed at, lied to (product was shipped, oh I mean it’s on backorder), left numerous unanswered voice mail messages and flat out hung up on, we’ve come to the conclusion there are very few Pentium Pro 200s for the boxed program and they are being held. Intel IPD representatives are out of the country and haven’t returned our calls. An unknown salesperson plus Trish, Michelle, and Shawn (very nice people by the way) were called before 8 A.M. today. Here’s the rumor and not confirmed: Intel is expecting financial problems next quarter. They are over extended and their financial reports will not be good next quarter. Therefore they are going to get what they can now. Considering their stock shot up yesterday, someone that started that rumor must really hate Intel. Then again, if they stalled the Pentium classic market with the MMX talk and didn’t produce enough Pentium Pros – well, you decide. My money is that Intel is squeezing the market. After all, fourth quarter is very near. According to another source "Intel is on Corporate Commit (CCP)" This is a red-alert status concerning restricted availability of product. The term "CCP" is Intel’s internal code for "Oopss".
Monday Sept. 16, 1996
Boxed Pentium Pro CPUs are not available from major suppliers. They are quoting backorders of the middle of October to mid November. Prices for brokered versions were going up hourly. Dire predictions in this industry have always occured but the rumor mill says the shortage is through the end of the year. This could be a marketing squeeze before fourth quarter or a foul up on Intel’s part. Some suppliers have said there is a problem with the CPUs. However it shakes out, when product becomes available we will let you know.
Tyan motherboards were officially dropped from our product line. Extra product left over after physical inventory will be made available at a reduced price, without tech support. Extra product includes Tyan Titan III and Titan Pros.
Friday Sept. 13, 1996
Why is your fax machine so busy?
As we have found with the voice lines, our fax line is also becoming increasingly busy. We are expecting to add new lines next week. If you know what you need to order this is the most effecient method for placing your order. Thank you for your patience.
Why can’t I use your PS/2 mouse connector on my SuperMicro motherboard?
SuperMicro PS/2 mouse header is different from ASUS, FreeTech and Tyan’s header. The SNE and the DNF use different connectors too.
Federal Express Flight from the East coast was delayed due to mechanical difficulties. This means all of the Pentium Pros from the Indiana Warehouse will not arrive today. Sorry.
The box engineer on Wednesday explained that to qualify for him to design a special box we would have to agree to 12,000 units. We smiled and samples of the new boxes for Federal Express arrived this morning. We’d like to thank the Sacramento Federal Express Office for all of their help.
Thursday Sept. 12, 1996
Why haven’t you answered my email?
The Arizona web site is down and the amount of email traffic on the "esc-ca.com" server has increased dramatically. We are going as fast as possible.
Arizona Web Site is down
Hackers have attempted to penetrate the security systems at our Internet Providers web servers. Our "einsteinscomputer.com" site will be down until further notice.
Birchtek fans were tested on the Cyrix CPUs. After 5 hours the motherboard and CPU were still COLD. Please compare this to the 5 minutes and the burning sensation for a typical ball bearing fan. These Birchtek fans are nice.
Y.C. Firm competes worldwide
Business to Business Journal published a front page article featuring ESC Technologies.
PC Magazine September 24, 1996 issue
The feature story about the Pentium Pros and Pentium microprocessors uses the phrase "Pentium Classic". Sound familiar?
Also from PC Magazine, RAM prices hit bottom
Most common question for the day.
I want a motherboard which supports the Cyrix CPU. What is available?
The Tyan Titan III and the FreeTech 63T are the two products which we know work with these CPUs. Since we do not carry the Tyan Titan III any more, you may want to find a company that still has stock.
Wednesday Sept. 11, 1996
A Federal Express box engineer came to our facility. We asked that he design boxes to better fit the SuperMicro motheboards as well as boxes for the RAM.
Most common question for the day.
Do you carry the replacement BIOS chip for the Tyan Tomcat I/I+?
We no longer offer the Tyan Tomcat motherboards. Please call Tyan at 408-956-8000.
We added the Venus motherboard with sound to our product line.
We dropped the Tyan Titan III from our product line.
Tuesday Sept. 10, 1996
UPS representative and ESC discuss Maxiship and boxes supplied by UPS.
Most common question for the day.
Aren’t the Cyrix and IBM processors the same?
Yes.
Monday Sept. 9, 1996
We added the IBM 6×86 Microprocessors to our product line.