Infinity Ward explain COD: Ghosts' lack of 1080p at 60FPS on Xbox One
We know that Call of Duty: Ghosts will be filling up all of those pixels natively on 1080p displays on the PlayStation 4, but it won't be doing so on the Xbox One, a console where Call of Duty sells better this generation, anyway.
He continued: "It's very possible we can get it to native 1080p [resolution]. I mean I've seen it working at 1080p native. 's just we couldn't get the frame rate in the neighbourhood we wanted it to be. And it wasn't a lack of effort. It wasn't that it was like last minute. We had the theoretical hardware for a long time. That's the thing you get pretty quickly and that doesn't change dramatically. It was more about resource allocation. The resource allocation is different on the consoles. That huge web of tangled resources, whether it's threads-based or if it's GPU threads or if it's memory - whatever it is - optimisation is something that could go theoretically on forever."
Now, I understand this, and I think frame rate is more important than resolution: so I agree, in a way. But, next-gen consoles aren't even here and the biggest first-person shooter franchise is having to already sacrifice a major portion of the game (resolution = clarity/textures/viewing distance) in order to provide a steady 60FPS.
Will this result in more cross-platform titles running better on the PS4? It seems likely.
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EA CEO says it wants to shake off 'Worst Company in America' award
For two years running, EA has won The Consumerist's "Worst Company in America' award, which has forced the company to look into what it had done to get so many customers angry, and is still working on it to this day according to the freshly-appointed CEO, Andrew Wilson.
EA's goal, according to Wilson, is to "build great games and services." He added: "What we have been doing over time is really working to either update those things or eliminate those things, and really get back to our focus on games. Because at the end of the day, if we're making great games and services, we won't get voted worst company in America again."
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Killzone: Shadow Fall footage download sees 1080p @ 60FPS shown off
Killzone: Shadow Fall will be one of the only next-gen games cranking along at 1080p at 60FPS, with the developer of the game, Guerrilla Games releasing a new "ultra high bitrate" of the game, which you can check out below.
He also stated that in order to see the full potential of the footage, you need to grab this video because details in the footage can be compromised when using web video: "In order to properly demonstrate the framerate and resolution we achieve in Shadow Fall's multiplayer, we've captured and lightly compressed new footage that we're not offering through a video sharing service."
The footage is around one-minute long, clocking in at a 541MB download.
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LG's G Flex smartphone is physically flexible, it's not just a name
When you first heard about LG's flexible smartphone, the G Flex, you probably thought it was just a name and that the physical device was unbendable. But, you'd be wrong: it is flexible.
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Steal some Man of Steel swag in our Blu-ray Promotion!
To celebrate this week's release of the epic reboot of the Superman franchise with Man of Steel on Blu-ray, we have a huge pool of prizes to give away, thanks to Warner Bros Home Entertainment.
Five lucky winners will each take home a copy of Man of Steel on double play Blu-ray, a brushed metal keychain, laptop skin, pen, Daily Planet mug, city of Metropolis T-Shirt and a cap, valued at $110!
If you could have any of Superman's powers for one hour, what would you do and why?
Send your answers, along with your shipping address to ben@tweaktown.com before the competition closes on Friday the 8th of November.
MAN OF STEEL, SUPERMAN and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © DC Comics. © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved.
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Samsung and Google facing massive lawsuits over Android
On Halloween, the same day that Google launched its next-gen flagship, the Nexus 5," and Android 4.4 KitKat, several of the company's biggest rivals filed lawsuits against the company and some of its partners. This consortium of foes include Microsoft, Apple, RIM, Ericsson, and Sony.
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Google's floating barges are actually up-scale showrooms
The mysterious floating barges being built by Google are a mystery no more. A new report from CBS San Francisco cites sources who claim the floating structures are actually "Dazzling Showrooms" that are being designed to showcase the Google's X line of products. Furthering the mysterious feel, the sources say that the showroom will be open by invite only.
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Nintendo's Wii Mini set to arrive in the USA later this month
Nintendo announced this morning that it will be releases its Wii Mini Console to the US in November. The Wii Mini strips away online functionality as well as other features, and allows fans of the system to play the Wii's vast library of games without the need to purchase a Wii U console.
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The first Steam Machine prototype looks sleek and sexy
Valve has shown off its first Steam Machine to The Verge, which featured a Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN GPU. Not too badly specced for a prototype if you ask me, especially considering the size of the thing... with a TITAN GPU rocking along inside of it.
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IBM files patent lawsuit against Twitter days before IPO
With Twitter just days away from its Initial Public Offering, tech powerhouse IBM has threatened to filed a patent infringement lawsuit against the social networking service. Before heading off to the court system, IBM has offered Twitter a shot at a "business resolution," which most likely equates to an expensive licensing deal.
In a statement Twitter had the following to say. "Based upon our preliminary review of these patents, we believe we have meritorious defenses to IBM's allegations, although there can be no assurance that we will be successful in defending against these allegations or reaching a business resolution that is satisfactory to us."
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Twitter raises its IPO price to $23-$25 ahead of Thursday's launch
Twitter's Initial Public Offering (IPO) is fast approaching and is scheduled to kick off this Thursday, November 7th, and the company could offer as many as 80.5 million shares. This morning the company announced that ahead of the IPO, it has raised the per share price to $23 to $25 per share.
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LeakedTT: Nokia's Lumia 525 gets shown off in newly leaked images
Nokia fans will be happy to hear that there is at least one more Nokia branded Lumia coming down the pipes before Microsoft completes its acquisition. The new Nokia Lumia 525 has just been leaked via the Chinese certification agency TENAA, and other than hardware updates, it appears to look just like the Lumia 520.
The Lumia 520 is the best selling Windows Phone from Nokia with more than a 23-percent market share of all Windows Phones sold. That equates to more than 2 million Lumia 520s sold since its release based on the 8.8 million Lumia devices Nokia says it has sold. Pricing and availability have not yet been announced, and it is still unclear when Nokia might launch the device.
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OCZ stock rebounds slightly before falling again as markets close
Earlier today, I reported on OCZ's stock taking a nosedive earlier today which saw the stock dip by almost 40-percent. While company stocks rising and falling is the nature of the stock exchange, it is quite unusual for a company to not release a statement in times of extreme fluctuations such as what OCZ saw today, and we are left wondering what is going on.
While it is still unclear what is going on, we do know that OCZ is in the midst of major financial troubles and todays dip represents a new 52 week low for the SSD manufacturer. The dip down to $0.65 per share equates to more than 6x OCZ's daily average and the only thing I see happening from this is the company filing bankruptcy within the next week or two. I have dispatched an email to OCZ requesting a comment on today's market decline and have yet to receive a reply, I will update this post if and when more information comes in.
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Amazon set to release its first original series on November 15th
Amazon is looking to take its Prime service to the next level and will do so by launching its first original content next Friday, November 15th. The show is named "Alpha House," and will consist of three initial episodes which will be released to the public, with the remaining 8 episodes requiring an Amazon Prime subscription to view.
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Motorola launches teaser site for the Moto G, will launch on Nov 13th
When Motorola first trademarked the Moto G name, everyone thought that it would be the company's first smartwatch based off of Motorola's Gem prototype. Unfortunately rumors have surfaced that the Moto G is actually a cheaper, and slightly less performing version of the company's flagship smartphone the Moto X.
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OCZ stock tanking, down 22% today already, trading below $0.90
OCZ may have finally came to the end of its journey as a maker of SSDs if this mornings stock trading is any indication. Soon after the markets opened on Monday, OCZ began to see its stock price began to sharply decline from its opening price of $1.07 to just over $0.80 at the time of this writing which equates to a decline of over 23-percent.
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BlackBerry off the market as CEO Thorsten Heins steps down
It appears that the long saga of BlackBerry's demise is over and the end result is not a failed company, or a new handset OEM resulting from a buyout. Instead, BlackBerry has taken itself off of the market and has received a $1 billion investment from Fairfax Holdings, the company which failed to raise $4.7 billion to buy BlackBerry earlier this year.
"Today's announcement represents a significant vote of confidence in BlackBerry and its future by this group of preeminent, long-term investors," said Barbara Stymiest, Chair of BlackBerry's Board. "The BlackBerry Board conducted a thorough review of strategic alternatives and pursued the course of action that it concluded is in the best interests of BlackBerry and its constituents, including its shareholders. This financing provides an immediate cash injection on terms favorable to BlackBerry, enhancing our substantial cash position. Some of the most important customers in the world rely on BlackBerry and we are implementing the changes necessary to strengthen the company and ensure we remain a strong and innovative partner for their needs."
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You thought solar power was good? How about power from the moon?
I have to admit, I rent a house that is solar-powered and it is amazing. My bills dropped from around $1600 per quarter to around $30 and I could not be any happier, unless I was pulling power from the moon.
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Android Jelly Bean now takes up over 50% of Android devices
Android 4.4 KitKat may have just been announced, but the more delicious sounding Jelly Bean (Android 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3) on more than 50% of devices. Just three months ago, it was barely scratching at 40%.
Gingerbread is now on 26.3% of devices, Honeycomb barely exists with 0.1%, Ice Cream Sandwich is still sticking around with 19.8% of the Android OS share and Froyo is still hanging on with 1.7%.
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A closer look at Samsung's Tizen-powered smartphone
All About Samsung has a new video that shows off Samsung's Z9005 smartphone, which is running the Samsung/Intel-developed Tizen OS. We get to have an in-depth look at the smartphone, which is the best look at it yet.
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Microsoft commits $405 million to advertise Windows and Surface
If there's one thing Microsoft needs right now, it's the perfect storm of marketing campaigns to push Windows and Surface onto millions of more customers to combat the increased onslaught from rivals Apple, Google and Samsung.
The company is pushing to have 16 million tablet sales over the holiday season, with the extra marketing push helping to convince customers they want a Windows tablet. It shouldn't be hard, because Microsoft has some great devices out there with its OS on them, but it's not really a fight of devices anymore, but services.
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OS X Mavericks user? WD hard drive owner? Be careful
Western Digital is warning owners of its hard drives that upgrading to Apple's OS X Mavericks might not be a good idea right now, warning of data loss when upgrading to Apple's freshly released operating system.
If you've already made the jump and suited up for Mavericks, then you should remove those applications immediately to ensure your data is safe. There's a fix on the way, but it's not here yet.
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Best Buy tried to charge $799 for Google's $349 Nexus 5
The single killer point of the Nexus 5 is its awesome price: $349. For this price, you're getting an awesome kit, at under half the price of the competition from Samsung and Apple.
*is sarcasm in its most pure form.
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Surface Pro 2's latest firmware update improves its battery life
Microsoft has just pushed out an update for its Surface Pro 2 device, where the company claims to have increased battery life thanks to allowing the baked-in Marvell-based Wi-Fi chip to achieve an even lower power state which results in overall improved battery life.
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Samsung's W2014 is a new flip phone, costing over $1640
Oh the days of flip phones were glorious - you felt like a king. You whipped your phone out, flipped it open and started being the cool person on a flip phone. Not anymore, though.
The screen itself is lacklustre, at just 3.7 inches it features an 800x480 resolution. It does win some brownie points back by being a Super AMOLED display, though. We have a removeable 1900mAh battery, and Android 4.3 as its OS. All of this comes in at 173.5g. Where it'll hurt you is the price: $1640 or so. This is absolutely insane, but there'll be some people who will cough up this money to own it.
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SilverStone EP02 SATA to USB 3.0 Adapter Review
The EP02 is SilverStone's first attempt at an USB 3.0 adapter, and right off the bat, they have started with an excellent design utilizing the full bandwidth of USB 3.0. Adding to the launch of EP02, SilverStone also offers the MS07, a 2.5" silicon case to protect the drive connected. Compatibility of the EP02 extends from Mac OS X 10+ to modern Windows OS and Linux. Warranty is listed at one year.
First looking at build quality, the SilverStone EP02 carries quite a bit of durability. Even with its plastic design, the unit felt sturdy enough to handle a few drops. Adding to this, if you were to add the MS07 to your order thus protecting your drive, it would make a great on the go solution for anyone that travels.
Performance of the EP02 was quite good, in every aspect of our testing. ATTO showed its tremendous capabilities using all available USB 3.0 bandwidth in our test system. CDM showed more of the same with the EP02 capable of 426 MB/s read and 379 MB/s write. A sneaking suspicion I do have is this EP02 uses the same and latest ASMedia 1053E controller we found in the MDSSD mSATA enclosure.
Pricing at the time of writing is set at $15.99 for the EP02 and adding the MS07 to your order will set you back another $4.99.Warranty for the EP02 is listed at one year.
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HGST 6TB Ultrastar He6 Helium-Filled HDD Investigated
Introduction
The proliferation of data also extends to massive scale-out environments, disk-to-disk-backup scenarios, and replication/RAID environments. RAID and replicated environments in particular have an almost insatiable appetite for raw storage, with multiple copies of data essentially multiplying the problem. It seems that the demand for more storage is coming from all quarters of the enterprise storage segment, with no clear answers on the horizon.
The immediate answer to stem the tide of data is to increase the areal density of the drives. Packing more data per square inch provides a denser package that helps to address the need for more storage capacity. With much of the low-hanging fruit already taken, the utilization of two emerging techniques provides the clearest path forward to increase the areal density.
SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) and HAMR (Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording) are novel approaches to increase density, but the two technologies are projected to deliver an areal density increase of only 15% over the next several years. While this is clearly a step in the right direction, the yearly demand for data growth is 30-40%. This leaves a large gap, especially when we take into consideration the 4,000 Exabyte scale of the problem.
Another answer is to simply build more... more of everything; datacenters, servers, racks, HDD's. Continuing to scale-out the infrastructure would be the easy (yet incredibly inefficient) manner of dealing with the problems of the future. It would also mean an increase in the three major 'pain-points' in the datacenter; power, cooling and space. These three problems are major drivers of the continuing expense of operating a datacenter.
Unfortunately, the reality is that IT budgets are not projected to grow during this same growth period. Storage companies, and datacenter administrators, are tasked with finding a way to store 40% more data with the same budget they have today.
Achieving all of these goals with a new product that is backwards compatible with existing infrastructure is a major coup. A drive as radically new as the He6 will require a few pages to cover all the bases, so come along as we drill down deeper into the Helium-Filled architecture.
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HIS Radeon R9 290X 4GB in CrossFire Video Card Review
Introduction
This isn't the first time that we've looked at CrossFire performance on the new R series. The other week we got a chance to see what the R9 280X 3GB was capable of thanks to a pair of MSI Twin Frozr OC Gaming cards that made their way in.
Today is all about the higher-end R9 290X and the card that sits at the top of the pyramid when it comes to the new line up of AMD cards.
Thanks to HIS, we're able to pair their card with the reference R9 290X 4GB and see just what CrossFire looks like with the latest high-end model from AMD. If what we saw out of the MSI R9 280X 3GB cards are anything to go by, we should really see some strong performance here today. Before we do that, though, let's get stuck into the package and see what HIS is offering when it comes to their retail package.
Package
Due to the early nature of receiving the card, we didn't get a chance to receive the full package.
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World War Z (2013) Blu-ray Movie Review
While fans of the book might be slightly bemused, if not a little disappointed by the supposed adaptation, film fans while likely be less critical. As it turns out, World War Z proves to be one of the most entertaining and suspenseful films of the blockbuster season. Perfect it is most certainly not, but for a film borne out of significant behind the scenes turmoil, it ends up overwhelmingly more impressive than anyone could rightly expect.
Whilst stuck in traffic gridlock on a Philadelphia street, Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt), a retired UN investigator and his family become embroiled in a deadly virus outbreak, which spreads with terrifyingly rapid speed, causing the infected to become rage-fuelled zombies, intent on just one motive; infecting the uninfected. Following a suspenseful escape sequence that leaves a trail of devastation in its wake, the family are choppered out to the security of a vessel on the Hudson River, which has become a make shift command bunker by Lane's contact UN Deputy Secretary-General Thierry (Fana Mokoena).
Tasked with attending to the remaining survivors, Lane is coaxed into leading a team of Navy Seals to track down the virus's origin, which takes him to South Korea and then Israel, where the mission takes a turn for the worst and leaves him with little assistance in fighting a battle that may have already become lost.
For a genre that normally confines its storytelling to reign in limited budgets, World War Z is arguably the first time a zombie feature has attempted such epic scope, and the results are impressive. Like Contagion (just with more action), the threat of an adversary that can't be stopped, steeped in the realm of scientific possibility is an imposing threat indeed. Whilst the special effects are, at times, a little unimpressive and the inclusion of charmless and ragged Brad Pitt as the hero is questionable, as a package World War Z is highly entertaining, frequently of the edge-of-the-seat variety.
World War Z is presented in the aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression.
For a film of such recent vintage, you'd expect good things from the transfer here, and for the most part that's what we get, although probably not in the way you'd suspect. The cinematography of the film is hardy what you would call conducive to a reference quality transfer, filled with murky yellow and brown hues - hardly pretty stuff. I'm also afraid to say that some of the less convincing special effects look even less impressive on the small screen.
Despite this, the transfer reaches mostly perfection from a technical standpoint. Filmed digitally and finished off in a 2K digital intermediate, World War Z suffers from no film based, or film to video issues, nor encoding nasties or macroblocking.
Audio
World War Z is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, at 24 bits.
Mirroring the aggressive theatrical mix, World War Z does indeed feature a reference quality mix, a 7.1 affair that will make your neighbors think that there is a world war in your lounge room.
The low frequency channel remains undead throughout, underscoring most sequences with significant low-end information but never overpowering what is an otherwise carefully balanced mix.
For a production that had such a painful production before coming to the final product, previous little is expended in discussing this aspect - disappointingly, because I'm sure these stories are fascinating, but I suspect this is all a little too fresh and raw. Most notably, we have no deleted scenes or the much discussed original ending, which deviates heavily from the final film. Still, let's take a look at what we do have.
First up is the four part, 35 minute long WWZ Production featurette, which rounds up many of the cast and crew, with the noticeable absence of star and producer Brad Pitt, and touches on select elements of production. There are huge gaps in the narrative however, and it fails to give any inkling of the troubled production at all.
Next up is the brief Origins featurette, concerned with the somewhat comedic manner in which Max Brooks original book was bought to the screen (hint: the only thing that remains is the title), while the Looking to Science which looks at the possibilities that a real life outbreak could pose to humanity.
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Adventure Time: The Complete First Season (2013) Blu-ray Review
The show revolves around the young human boy Finn (voiced by Jeremy Shada) and his shape shifting dog companion Jake (voiced by John DiMaggio) and as the title implies; their adventures in a strange, post apocalyptic landscape, filled with weird and wonderful denizens and colorful and eclectic characters, including the twisted Ice King (voiced by Tom Kenny) and the sometime love interest Princess Bubblegum (voiced by Hynden Walch).
The lack of story structure gives Adventure Time a very fluid and zany outlook and each episode makes for a very breezy, non challenging and infinitely entertaining 12 odd minutes.
Adventure Time: The Complete First Season is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression.
Cartoon Network's animation style is somewhat basic, albeit incredibly kaleidoscopic with bright and solid blocks of color and this encodes quite efficiently, making this a relatively uncomplicated affair. That said, it's not necessarily the embodiment of perfection - the image is prone to infrequent aliasing, which would normally indicate that the native production resolution is higher than the 1080p encode (although I personally find that very hard to believe). Very occasionally I noticed minor banding in the backgrounds, but you'd be hard pressed to notice this in a general viewing.
Audio
Adventure Time: The Complete First Season is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 at 192 kbps.
Warner Brothers, a late convert to lossless audio mixers for theatrical Blu-ray releases, unfortunately are still to be convinced regarding the merits of consistent lossless audio mixes for television shows. Whilst Adventure Time would arguably not benefit substantially from a lossless mix, (especially from the stereo source material), as a matter of principle, I'd like the same care and effort to go into all Blu-rays - not just theatrical material.
Whilst there is no specific low frequency channel encoding, there is just enough bass in the mix that can be diverted to the subwoofer if given adequate volume.
The Cartoon Network has assembled a somewhat bizarre collection of extra features, which sadly shed little light on the series and do much to play up the subversive nature of the show. I don't think there is much here that even the most diehard of fans will want to return to, or even watch in totality, and as such I believe this to be a terribly nixed opportunity. Still, let's take a look.
First up, we have Audio Commentaries for four episodes, recorded predominantly with members of the voice cast, with a cameo by Star Trek's George Takei!
The imaginatively titled Behind The Scenes is all but unwatchable due to being filmed with a low-fi handheld video camera that could induce some to motion sickness. Disgraceful. Worse, the next featurette, a tongue in cheek Behind the Scenes of the Behind the Scenes is just that.
Four episodes feature an optional Animatics reel, with the bonus of including audio commentary which give an added insight to the unique animation process. Finally we have a bizarre, live action Music Video that I am still somewhat confused as to the intention. It made me feel uncomfortable.
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Australian Blu-ray Importing: November 2013 Buying Guide
Whilst the good days are over and it will be some time before the Australian dollar reaches parity with the U.S. dollar, it has nonetheless done a good job of flirting with parity, rolling the uncertain waves of the international currency trade.
Of course, this has made imports just a tad less enticing than last month, however, nothing is more compelling than Blu-ray titles that haven't made their way to our shores, so let's take a look at the latest instalment of the series. As always, these discs are safe to import for local Region B Blu-ray players.
Lifeforce
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Purchase: Amazon.co.uk
Region: B
With titles such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre under his belt, and fresh from the success of Poltergeist, filmmaker Tobe Hooper was on the upwards trajectory, until one film derailed his career for good - Lifeforce.
A schlocky, B, even C grade example of mid 1980's pulp cinema, on Blu-ray Lifeforce has well and truly found a new audience with the cult offering. With a new restoration and smatterings of bonus features, Arrow's package is a fascinating one and a wonderful example of "they don't make 'em like this anymore". For many however, Lifeforce is notable for having ballerina turned lead actress Mathilda May topless throughout its entirety.
Godzilla: Mastered in 4K
Country of Origin: United States
Purchase: Amazon.com
Region: A, B, C
In an echo of Sony Picture's long abandoned 'Superbit' line of DVD titles which provided negligible benefits over standard releases, Sony has resurrected the idea and brought it into the HD world. The 'Mastered in 4K' line of titles are designed to increase the bitrate of titles, encoding them such that they should provide an increase in quality for those with 4K compatible displays, albeit in a 1080p resolution.
1998's Godzilla may have seen better days, it's once cutting edge digital effects now look surprisingly PlayStation 2 in quality, it's still a fun ride and one that removed from the obscene hype of its theatrical release, can be finally seen for what it is - a non-cerebral and breezy destruction epic with a rocking soundtrack.
Sans any and all extra features, fans will want to hold on to the original Blu-ray or DVD release, but at a bargain basement price, many (including myself) have bitten.
The Adams Family
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Purchase: Amazon.co.uk
Region: A, B, C
Whilst many have forgotten the 1991 theatrical remake of the classic 1960's TV show, The Addams Family is still a surprisingly entertaining affair, directed by Men In Black's Barry Sonnenfeld. Whilst some can rightfully be disappointed by the lack of extra features, and others will be saddened by the sub-par visual presentation rife with digital noise reduction, I didn't hold out too many hopes for an A grade transfer. And we certainly don't get it.
Still, it's extremely fun to revisit the film - I only hope that the film's debatably stronger sequel will also come to disc soon.
The Fugitive: 20th Anniversary
Country of Origin: United States
Purchase: Amazon.com
Region: A, B, C
Fans derided the first two attempts of Warner Bros to release The Fugitive on Blu-ray, which emanated from an aged 1080i master - shabby treatment for one of the highest grossing pictures in the history of the studio.
For its 20th anniversary, Warner has righted the wrongs of the past and produced not only a new 2K transfer from the original negative, but also a new feature length documentary with the blessing and input from Harrison Ford, along with other notable members of the cast and crew.
While the film can only command so many viewings, it's a hugely compelling story, executed with extreme precision, and one which is even more relevant than it was in 1993.
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The Great Gatsby (2013) Blu-ray Movie Review
As a treatment for his general malaise and depression, Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) recounts the story of his brief time spent with his reclusive and curious next door neighbor Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), describing him as "the most hopeful man I had ever met". Despite his proximity to the Gatsby mansion, the epicenter of New York's social life with the hundreds that flock to his home, Carraway is initially oblivious to who he really is, or what he does to fund it. When Gatsby calls on Nick for a favor of extending the invitation to his cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) to one of the shindigs, an unstoppable chain of events is set in motion that juxtaposes Gatsby's unrelenting desires, with events that are entirely out of his control.
While many critics have expressed their disdain at the film, I've no doubt that it's Luhrman's strongest picture to date. Whatever criticisms leveled at his previous projects, most notably glitzy extravagance and technical brilliance at the cost of coherence, don't necessarily apply here - the excesses belong to the larger than life Gatsby's, not to the director. Whilst Luhrman normally has a penchant for slightly over-long cuts, in this respect Gatsby is nearly perfectly balanced.
With expectations in check, I thoroughly enjoyed The Great Gatsby, a visually stunning tour de force with solid performances from a well developed adaptation of an American classic.
The Great Gatsby is presented in the aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression.
In typical Luhrman fashion, The Great Gatsby features a sumptuous, beautiful presentation and the 2K encode here mostly reflects the theatrical presentation. I say 'mostly' because for everything the transfer does right - and there is a lot - I noticed too many instances of compression artifacts (admittedly under heavy load) and color banding. The bitrate during these scenes were what I would consider to be generous within the BD specification, so I can only assume that something else behind the scenes is to blame (number of encoding passes, perhaps?).
On balance, Gatsby features a pleasing and even striking encode, just let down my a few niggling issues, that may or may not be noticeable on smaller displays.
Audio
The Great Gatsby is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, at 24 bits.
Whilst I was a little taken aback that Warner didn't pay for a 7.1 mix for Gatsby, no matter; it sounds fabulous and swinging and all the adjectives that come to mind for a vintage set piece.
Dialogue intelligibility is spot and poses no issues, and the front channels are supplemented well by aggressive surrounds, which nary cease their bombast. The low frequency channel contributes ample power and bottom end to round out an impressively balanced mix.
Acting as music supervisor, alleged musician Jay-Z has imbued the film with an anachronistic, yet still enjoyable contemporary soundtrack, featuring heavy use of the hauntingly beautiful single 'Young and Beautiful' by Lana Del Rey. These tracks are joined by a traditional score provided by Craig Armstrong.
Baz Luhrman has a good track record for producing lavish special edition packages for prior work, but sadly The Great Gatsby does not qualify for this treatment. I dare say that down the track there will be a re-release. Still, let's take a look at what is here.
Micro featurettes are the order of the day here, which generally take a look at specific fragments of production. First up is The Greatness of Gatsby, which discusses the adaptation of the 20th century literary classic, The Swinging Sounds of Gatsby looks at the aforementioned contemporary style score, which I understand was a late addition to production. Within and Without by Tobey Maguire is made up of behind the scenes footage filmed by the star, while Gatsby Revealed focuses in on the behind the scenes effort involved with bringing a number of key sequences to life.
Finally, we have a number of Deleted Scenes and finish up the package with a Theatrical Trailer, however curiously not for this 2013 adaptation, but the original 1926 version.
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Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 240GB RAID 0 SSD Report
Introduction
Because LSI SandForce is so prevalent in the consumer SSD space, it's a given that TweakTown is going to show you what a pair of team LSI SandForce SSD's are capable of in RAID 0. There are many configurations we can choose from including asynchronous, synchronous and toggle NAND arrays. We've decided on Synchronous NAND equipped SSD's to represent team SandForce on our bench today.
We've chosen one of LSI SandForce's largest partners, Mushkin, to represent today. Mushkin is a fabless memory company that specializes in SSD's, RAM and various flash based storage devices. Mushkin's Chronos Deluxe is one of a few SSD's that are still available in configurations that utilize IMFT 25nm NAND arrays. IMFT 25nm NAND is "the good stuff", featuring superior performance and longevity in comparison to today's 20nm IMFT NAND.
LSI SandForce's 2200 series FSP's (Flash Storage Processors) have been featured on countless SSD for the past couple of years. In terms of computer hardware, a couple of years is a VERY long time. This longevity and continued implementation of the LSI SandForce 2200 Series FSP is testament to the power of LSI SandForce with its exclusive compression technology.
Today we're pitting our Chronos Deluxe array up against much newer technology SSD's like the Samsung EVO and SanDisk's Extreme II. It's not really an apples to apples comparison because of the capacity differences, but nevertheless should give us a pretty good idea of how LSI SandForce powered drives compare to drives with newer technology.
Let's see how team LSI SandForce fares.
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Thermaltake MAX-1562 6-in-1 2.5-inch Drive Enclosure Review
Introduction
Fitting several HDDs or SSDs into your computer case can be an issue, though. Most of us find a good case and use it for ages. Many of our beloved cases were made before the SSD revolution so we just have SSDs sitting at the bottom of the case with the SATA power and data connectors attached.
Luckily, companies like Thermaltake have introduced nice adapters like the MAX-1562 that allow us to retrofit our existing computers to use 2.5" drives.
Specification, Availability and Pricing
The specification sheet from Thermaltake states the MAX-1562 only supports up to SATA II, but in our testing, we ran the system with all six bays populated at SATA III and didn't have any issues. To be sure, we used the fastest SSD on the market today, Samsung 840 Pro in all six bays.
Two cooling fans in the MAX-1562 keep the drives cool. We often don't associate SSDs with heat, but they do generate some. Six SSDs in a small enclosure can generate more heat than a single 3.5" drive, so the MAX-1562 cooling takes care of pushing air over the drives to keep them cool.
Let's take a look at the unit and run some tests.
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SilverStone EC05 Two Port SATA III PCI Express RAID Card Review
The SilverStone EC05 is a Marvell based solution that enjoys the capability of adding two SATA III ports. In addition to this, the EC05 has RAID 0 and 1 capabilities, along with HyperDuo. Compatibility of the EC05 extends as far as Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8. The SilverStone EC05 is warrantied for a period of one year.
The EC05 from SilverStone combines the very popular and reliable Marvell 9130 offering an additional two ports of SATA III connectivity to any system builder. The overall build quality including the software solution is well put together, where I had no issues installing or using the EC05.
The performance of the EC05 left us wanting a bit more, especially in RAID 0 situations, but then again, if you're going for a full on performance solution, a true hardware RAID card would be the answer, but they cost a lot more. The main goal with the EC05 is to be a low-cost solution to add additional connectivity via SATA III and the card certainly provides on that front. Where the card lacks is in its PCI Express interface at 2.0 x 1, which limits the available bandwidth to 500 MB/s.
Pricing for the EC05 at the time of writing is set at $35.99 with no limit in availability.
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Tt eSPORTS Volos Laser Gaming Mouse Review
Introduction
Breaking the barriers between mice and console gaming controllers is what brings us here today, as we look at the latest mouse that has been delivered for us to have a look at. Think of it like this. In simple terms, you are given a wide, heavy, and well contoured design of the mouse, there are also seven buttons designed for normal uses, but on top of those there are four other special buttons.
These buttons are designed to replicate the feel and look of console controller buttons found on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. By that, I mean that the four buttons have the PS3 iconography, but the colors of each switch mimic those of the Xbox controller. Any way you look at this slick addition, you now have 11 buttons at your command to decimate the competition in your favorite games that require Macros or spamming of commands.
There is plenty more than just the basic idea we covered here. Top tier components, slick and stylish aesthetic additions I have never seen prior to this, and a feel that not many other mice can offer users. For those of you that are still interested, continue on with us as we cover the rest of the Thermaltake eSports Volos laser gaming mouse. There is a ton still yet to cover, so strap in and enjoy the show as we take you inside and around the outside of this mouse to see just what is going on with the Volos.
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Corsair Graphite Series 230T Mid-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
The newest addition to the Graphite series does come in four variations like the 600T does, but that is where the comparisons stop. This new chassis is available in orange, battleship grey, and black, all with windows in the left side panel. The fourth variant is a black version without the side window, and that section of the panel remains solid steel. Not only has the exterior design gone a completely different way than the originator to this series, the inside is a mostly new design as well, offering a few things to make building simpler and still offer great air flow inside of the chassis.
One of the best things about the newest case in the Graphite series, the 230T we are about to see today, it that this is a very affordable chassis. The design and offerings have been simplified a bit to fit in the new price segment, but that in no way means that this chassis is cheap or lacks in any areas - just that it isn't loaded to the gills, like say, the Enthoo Primo. Even with a lower-end price point, Corsair looked at many things in a whole new way and offer a chassis that breaks some traditional "rules" in what a case should do, as well as making a chassis that is more than capable of standing on its own.
I don't want to give too much away this early in the review, but the 230T has everything you need to make the build simple, offers a new drive bay design, has very unique styling that will be very hard to misidentify, and from what we have gathered in our time with it, this is definitely the new "must have" mid-tower. I strongly urge you to continue on with the Graphite 230T review and see for yourself why my comments are already glowing about this chassis design from Corsair.
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Tiered Storage Setup for Consumers - Tips for boosting performance
Introduction
When I first started using tiered storage, it involved the use of an Adaptec SCSI RAID controller running on a pair of ribbon cables that were as long as my arms. The fastest hard drives at the time were Seagate 15,000 RPM X15 enterprise drives that cost around $1000 each. This was a time before flash as we know it today and thumb drives weren't even available. The Seagate X15 offered 36GB of data storage, but the golden setup for the operating system was three or more in either RAID 0 or RAID 5. The SCSI spec at the time allowed for 15 devices, one being the required SCSI terminator at the end of the cable. That allowed for a high number of hard drives in an era when optical disk drives were a necessity and most motherboards only shipped with two ATA ports that supported just two devices per port, a master and a slave.
With less than 100GB of storage for the operating system and programs on 'high speed' 15,000 RPM drives, other drives were added to the system to actually store data. To increase the overall performance of the system, some users added a small 10K RPM drive to store the Windows swap file - we were concerned with random performance all the way back in 2000! Relatively low-cost 10K RPM drives were plentiful when purchased used from PC recycle centers and worked well in RAID with redundancy for keeping digital pictures (often taken on Sony cameras with a floppy drive for storage) and digital music, the new fad.
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LaCie Porsche Design P'9223 USB 3.0 Slim SSD Enclosure Review
The second generation P'9223 carries two options within its sleek aluminium enclosure. The first option is a spacious 500GB hard drive and the second a 120GB solid state drive, both of which are accessed over USB 3.0. Marketing specifications for the SSD based model leave us with 425 MB/s read and 200 MB/s write, while maintaining compatibility with Mac OS X 10.5+ and modern Windows operations systems. Warranty is listed at two years.
The LaCie P'9223 is a very elegant drive designed for professionals and of course the enthusiasts where performance is of utmost importance. The build quality of the drive meet and exceeds my expectations with its single piece aluminium design that also maintains a very thin profile at just 11mm.
While we do know that the internal drive is the very reliable Micron C400, the performance that comes from such a drive is plenty to maximize the use of a USB 3.0 interface. As seen in all of our testing, the P'9223 was capable of 400 MB/s+ reads and 200 MB/s+ writes, and comes second to the AngelbirdSSD2Go in our DiskBench testing.
Over on the pricing front you will find the LaCie P'9223 120GB SSD for a reasonable $149.99, while the 500GB hard drive based model is set at $84.99.
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Thermaltake Urban T21 Mid-Tower Chassis Review
Introduction
We have already seen the original design of the Urban series with the S71 we looked at back in July, and we found that design to be sleek, rounded, and had plenty of features to sway any buyer. On the basic level, this latest addition definitely takes on a similar aesthetic appeal that we found earlier in the Urban series, but the interior has been completely reworked with a completely different design this time around. The idea here is speed of the build and simplicity of design to make a compact yet affordable option to obtain, yet still get the externals that made the S71 a success.
This time around as we look at the Urban T21, keep an eye out for the internal changes, as well as a couple of external things that makes this chassis stand on its own four feet within the Urban series. While there is almost a nostalgic feeling to this interior design, Thermaltake took the steps needed to keep the build as tool-free as possible, making this new Urban T21 on of the fastest builds we have done, was super simple to make it all happen, and while compact, Thermaltake gives everything needed for users to appreciate this design.
If I have yet to gain or at least pique your interest, once you see more, you may very well be on board as well.
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MyDigitalSSD Bullet Proof USB 3.0 mSATA SSD Enclosure Adapter Review
One of the most recent designs from MDSSD comes in the form of an external enclosure fit for mSATA SSDs measuring just 74mm x 42mm x 13mm. With this new model, the folks over at MDSSD upgraded the PCB to include the latest ASM1053E controller from ASMedia - it should allow increased performance within the very compact controller. Compatibility extends as far as Mac OS X and modern Windows operating systems. The MDSSD mSATA enclosure is warranties for a period of one year.
The build quality of the MDSSD external mSATA enclosure is rather good, and I say that because it's a rather simple one-piece design that offers excellent protection and ease of use. Setting up the device includes installing the mSATA SSD of choice into the PCB, then sliding that PCB into the enclosure and attaching the end plate.
After that you have yourself a very quick performing oriented enclosure to take with on the go. The performance as we saw in testing was exceptional, where we touched and maxed out our available USB 3.0 bandwidth with 450 MB/s reads and writes.
Pricing for the mSATA external enclosure is listed at $24.99 and available at many online retailers. If you purchase from MyDigitalDiscount, you get instant savings where the price is listed at $19.99. To add the Smart Series mSATA SSD to your order, the drive we tested with today it will set you back another $219.99 for the 256GB model and $134.99 for the 128GB model.
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LaCie 5Big Thunderbolt 10TB DAS Review
Introduction
The 5Big Thunderbolt from LaCie is a five bay direct attached storage solution that houses either 10TB or 20TB of raw storage space. In addition to this, we have RAID options of 0, 1 and JBOD, where normally five bay devices would have additional options such as RAID 5 and 6, but this goes to show where the target market for this device lies, creative professionals and multimedia enthusiast that want the raw power and bandwidth of Thunderbolt.
Pricing of the 5Big Thunderbolt from LaCie at this time is set at $1099.99 for the 10TB model with a larger 20TB model available for $2099.99. Warranty is listed at three years.
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GIGABYTE GA-6LXSV Haswell Xeon Server Motherboard Review
Introduction
This platform adds support for Intel's Xeon E3-1200 V3 product family including Trusted Execution and Virtualization technologies, as well as AVX 2.0 and TSX instructions.
One of the unique features of the GA-6LXSV is that it will support memory modules up to 1866MHz, which is a big improvement over other motherboards which limit you to 1600MHz modules.
PCIe Generation 3.0 is also a big feature which will reduced latency and improved data bandwidth. The GA-6LXSV is also certified for Red Hat Enterprise Linux and VMware. GIGABYTE provides three year warranty support through their local RMA service.
Let's jump in now and take a close look at this new Haswell Xeon supporting server board.
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SilverStone CP06 SATA Power Connectors Review
The original CP06 cables allowed system builders the capability to simplify and clean up there large drive arrays, with a 43mm spacing between each SATA connector. The next generation of these cables, the CP06-E series offered in both 2 and 4 connector models, offers a flexible cable design to help alleviate the stress at the power connector.
All CP06 cables feature dual 2200uf capacitors that offer stable power to all drives connected. The CP06 cables come in E2 and E4 models with pricing at $10.99 each with a one year warranty from SilverStone.
The test setup for the cables consisted of three Western Digital Black HDD and a single Corsair Neutron SSD. For testing, we connected all drives to a single four port SATA cable off our power supply, and subsequently the CP06 after which we ran a 256K sequential read and write workload on our SSD, at the 65 second mark we proceeded to initialize all three HDD's in read and write activity.
The SilverStone CP06 cables maintain a great deal of build quality, and at the same time can help and assist you in building a clean and customized PC. With the design change from the original CP06 to the new E series the most notable difference is the use of a flexible cable design. A feature like this should allow the utmost in cable management, while being able to connect power to all your available SATA devices.
When thinking of ways to test the power capabilities of these cables, I wasn't quite sure if anything would be able to show the capacitors at work. Much to my surprise, after running a number of tests and then the sequential read/write tests multiple times, the results came out in this exact manner every time. This gives some substance to the cables in that they do what they are advertised to do and in fact could help with performance issues in multiple drive situations.
Pricing at the time of writing is set at $10.99 for both the CP06-E2 and E4 and can be found at many online retailers.
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Western Digital My Book Thunderbolt Duo 8TB Review
Today, we have in house the latest My Book external storage solution from Western Digital, in the form of the My Book Thunderbolt Duo. The Thunderbolt Duo is available in capacities ranging from 4TB to 8TB with a focus on digital professionals working within Mac OS X. That is to say compatibility of this unit as far as WD is concerned is with Mac OS X. Warranty for the Thunderbolt Duo is listed at five years.
The WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo in the 8TB capacity tested here today carries a good deal of quality within its build. Thanks to the internal tray and frame being made of steel, this offers a bit of rigidity to the entire unit. Adding to this, the heft of the included 4TB drives and again you have something that looks good and stays quite well and firm on your desktop.
Performance of the unit was quite good as well, where we found RAID 0 speed upwards of 250 MB/s and RAID 1 near 150 MB/s. Keep in mind that the unit does not officially support Windows, and as such the result found within this review in Windows involves installing additional SATA controller drivers. Again, as this device does not officially support Windows, WD assumes no responsibility for issues found within Windows.
At the time of writing, the WD My Book Thunderbolt Duo is listed in three capacities. The 4TB model comes in $549.99, while the 6TB and 8TB models come in at $599.99 and $699.99, respectively.
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Top 10 TweakTown Content from the past week [28 October 2013]
Here are our top 10 articles, reviews and guides from the past week!
- SanDisk X210 256GB Business Class SSD - Exploring Overprovisioning
- MSI GeForce GTX 780 Lightning 3GB Overclocked Video Card Review
- SilverStone Raven 4 B-W Full-Tower Chassis Review
- Drobo 5D Five-Bay Direct Attached Storage Review
- Fractal Design ARC XL Full-Tower Chassis Review
- Gravity (2013) Cinema Review
- AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB Overclocked Reference Video Card
- AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB Reference Video Card Review
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TRENDnet TL2-G244 24-Port Gigabit Layer 2 Switch Review
Introduction
Today, we will be taking a look at one of TRENDnet's Layer 2 switches complete with 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports with an additional four GBIC ports.
First, Layer 2 switches have the ability to learn and build a table from the MAC addresses of your NICs. MAC addresses or Media Access Control address is a 48-bit hardware address burned into the NIC from the manufacturer, this means it does not change like an IP address.
Layer 2 switching is very efficient because its hardware based and thus provides broadcasts at wire speed with low latency.
Specifications, Pricing and Availability
As far as the interface is concerned, we have 24 10/100/1000Mbps Auto-MDIX ports, along with 4 SFP Mini-GBIC ports that are shared with ports 21-24 on the switch. Cabling uses the standard Cat5, 5e or 6 twisted pair copper for distances up to 100 meters.
Another specification of note here is the switch capacity, listed at 48Gbps. When purchasing a switch, it's very important to take into account the fabric of the switch, especially in high network utilization situations. For the most part, the rule of thumb is P x I x 2, where P equals the number of ports times the interface speed which in our case would be 24 ports times 1Gbps equals 24Gbps, and since we account for Tx (Transfer) and Rx (Receive) packets we multiply by two to reach our 48Gbps switch fabric.
In addition to switch capacity, we have forwarding rate. Forwarding rate is measured in packets per second or in the case of most switches these days, Mpps or million packets per second. Forwarding capacity is the highest amount of traffic that can be put through the switch regardless of packet loss or load, and for this one it's 35.7Mpps.
Warranty of the TRENDnet TL2-G244 is listed at three years from date of purchase with pricing sitting at $289.99.
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Gaming Is About To Go Next-Gen, but With No Thanks to Sony and MS
Gaming in 2013
Everyone talks about mobile gaming, like it's going to be this next big thing, but the way I see it is that it's just a way for companies to make money from mobile gamers. It's not a new frontier into gaming, but something that has been here since the original iPhone. Mobile gaming only really started out with App Stores, something that has now become a staple of our mobile lives.
But, mobile devices are small, and over the last few years, we haven't seen anything new. Sure, we've seen screen sizes and resolutions continue to increase, but we haven't seen anything new. I'm talking about something that you and I haven't played, or experienced before.
We're gaming on our mobile devices at crazy resolutions like 2560x1600, and this will continue to swell right up to 4K in the near future. The problem is, current generation console games are limited to rendering the games at sub HD resolutions, usually 1280x720 or lower, and then upscaled to 720p, which is just abysmal in 2013.
PC gamers like myself, and probably you, have been gaming at higher resolutions than that for quite some time. Even 1600x1200 CRT monitors were pushing high resolutions back in the 1990's.
This year we saw the big push from the Kickstarter-funded Oculus VR, who introduced the virtual reality headset, Rift. Oculus Rift is going to be a nice breath of fresh air to the entire market, especially gaming. Even with the Development Kit at just 720p, it runs rings around anything else I've used in terms of immersion.
It doesn't matter what the next-gen consoles can do, they will never, ever match the immersion factor that virtual reality can bring to the table. And at $300, Oculus Rift is going to really shake things up.
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Corsair Vengeance Pro PC3-23400 8GB Dual Channel Memory Kit Review
Saying that, we do have a new kit of RAM on our hands today from Corsair. This particular one falls under the Vengeance Pro line which isn't a new one for us. Recently we saw a 16GB PC3-14900 1866MHz DDR kit from Corsair, along with the higher-end 16GB PC3-19200 2400MHz DDR kit for people who are looking at something a little faster.
Today we're looking at something a bit faster than that, but before we get into what exactly we're dealing with, let's see what's going on with the kit itself. Looking below, you can see we're not dealing with anything that we really haven't seen before. Like the higher-end PC3-19200 kit, this particular set comes with the red insert. The PC3-14900 kit carried with it the silver one.
The biggest trade-offs to memory kits that come off at this speed is the fact that they're usual smaller in size, in this case it's an 8GB kit, instead of 16GB, which is what we mainly see these days. Along with that, though, the timings are always a lot looser. You can see when it comes to the timings, we're dealing with a 12-14-14-36-2T @ 1.65v kit.
Throwing the kit into our system, we powered up our GIGABYTE Z87X-OC Force. This is the first time we've used the board and we're really looking forward to seeing just how it goes. With the kit installed, we fired up our system and headed into Windows with the kit just running at a low 1333MHz DDR. Before we did anything, we wanted to grab the latest BIOS for the board, which at the time was the F7 version.
With the new BIOS in hand, we headed into the BIOS and updated to the latest version. With that all done, we headed back in and set the XMP Profile to number 1. We then double checked that the speed looked corrected and proceeded to reboot the system. We didn't run into any problems at all with the stock settings.
These numbers are about where you'd expect them to be considering the speed of the kit. As always, the next thing we try to do is see if we can get anything more out of the kit. To date, though, we really haven't had much luck at all when it comes to going above 2933MHz DDR. We're not sure if it's been our motherboard or our CPU or the RAM itself. We've never had any issue getting 2933MHz DDR, but trying to get higher by an increase in BCLK or memory divider has always resulted with our system no longer booting.
Saying that, though, we're dealing with a new motherboard and of course a new kit of RAM, so we headed into the BIOS and tried to adjust our BCLK higher as there was no option for a memory divider above 2933MHz DDR. We moved up to just a 101 BCLK and had no issue booting and getting into Windows. We then started moving up .2 BCLK at a time until we ran into problems.
Along with the higher memory clock this also brings with it a higher CPU speed due to the increase BCLK. As you can see in the above image, we've gone a little higher from the default 3.9GHz to 3.96GHz. With everything looking good, it's time to get into the benchmarking side of things again.
Under AIDA64, we ended up with Read / Write numbers of 29,629 MB/s / 35,508 MB/s, Copy speed of 30,437 MB/s and latency of 41.1ns. While this is an overclock from the stock speed, it's not a massive increase. For that reason, we didn't expect a massive jump in performance. Looking above you can see that compared to our original numbers, we've just got a small increase in performance across the board, along with a slight reduction in latency.
The next thing we do once we've found our maximum overclock is head back into the BIOS and increase our CPU speed, while leaving the memory at the same overclocked speed. Looking below you can see we've pushed our CPU up to 4.47GHz via a 44x multiplier and 101.5 BCLK. The memory runs just a little higher at 2978MHz DDR with the exact same timings.
This isn't anything new, nor is it an error. The release of the Z87 platform has seen memory performance barely change when overclocking the CPU - no matter how high you go. We've tested it on a number of motherboards, CPUs and RAM kits.
The Corsair Vengeance Pro PC3-23400 8GB Dual Channel memory kit doesn't hold much in the way of surprises. The Vengeance Pro series isn't a new one so the overall design isn't new to us. When it comes to the performance side of things, it sits where we'd expect it to. The numbers are strong across the board.
I think the biggest surprise comes from the overclocking side of things. Sure, 2978MHz DDR isn't a huge increase from the 2933MHz DDR stock clock, but it's the highest clock speed we've had to date and that's never a bad thing. Whenever it comes to these kits that carry such a strong out of the box clock rate, though, we've always got to mention the importance of your CPU. If you're buying a 2933MHz DDR kit, you'd really want to know that your CPU can handle the clock speed - without actually testing the kit that can be hard to know.
Testing these high-end RAM kits are always fun and it's awesome to go into Windows with the RAM running at such high speeds. These kits are in no way for everyone, though, for a number of reasons. While we haven't got a price on the kit, we know it's going to carry a premium, like others that come in at 2933MHz DDR. The other reason that these kits aren't for everyone is that they'd prefer to have 16GB kits at lower speeds for less.
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MSI Radeon R9 280X 2GB Twin Frozr OC in CrossFire Video Card Review
Introduction
The particular cards we're looking at today are the R9 280X 2GB offerings that comes from MSI and are part of the Twin Frozr Gaming series, which is one that has really impressed us since its introduction. We're also really glad to have the R9 280X 2GB as our first CrossFire setup. The other day we got the chance to check out the Sapphire R9 280X 2GB TOXIC and found ourselves really impressed with what the new model was able to do.
Today, though, is all about the MSI R9 280X 2GB Twin Frozr OC cards and we're looking forward to see what kind of performance CrossFire brings with the latest models.
Let's take a closer look at one of the cards, before we move into the performance side of things.
Package
Turning over you can see some of the main features including Military Class 4 components which bring with it Hi-C Caps and Solid Capacitors. Along with that, we've got support for the MSI Gaming App, Advanced Thermal Design via the Twin Frozr IV cooler and mention of UEFI BIOS support via the included switch that we'll take a closer look at in just a moment.
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Pokemon X Y Nintendo 3DS Review
The story of Pokemon X Y remains the same as before. You either play as a boy or a girl (with the main character from the series Ash, being consigned to history it seems) who receives a letter from a professor about the Pokemon and invites you to go on a journey to discover all about the Pokemon and to fill your Pokedex with the goal of becoming the regional champion for Pokemon. This remains fairly similar to previous games, but there are a few things in the story we won't spoil that mixes this up a bit and keeps the interest in the game fresh until the credits are rolling.
You can if you wish turn this off. This also means you can use Pokemon at any time even if they are a low level. For example, I desperately needed a water based Pokemon so got a level 2 one off the GTS, even though I had level 50 characters. Within about 30 minutes of grinding, the character was up to level 40. It just makes the game simpler and easier to fix mistakes.
The main gameplay of the series remains intact and is made up of three key tasks; catching Pokemon, battling them and trading them. The key addictive nature of the game comes from trying to find and collect rare Pokemon and as per usual there is some Pokemon unique to each version of the game.
Another change is the introduction of a number of Internet and Wireless features which really assist with the game. First of all it's a lot easy to trade Pokemon than it once was. No longer meeting in person, you can now just randomly jump on the internet anywhere and connect either to the Global Trade System which is now enhanced for 3DS or the wonder trade. The wonder trade is like a lucky dip.
You put up a Pokemon up for trade and then the system finds a random person to trade Pokemon with. The difference is you don't get a choice as to whether the trade goes ahead or not, so it can go either very good or very poorly. We traded a level 11 Pokemon on wonder trade and ended up with a level 61 Pokemon. It really is a lucky dip. EXP Share means if you lose a high level Pokemon, it's not too long before you will have a high level Pokemon again, and so it somewhat negates the potential downsides to this system.
Perhaps surprisingly, I wouldn't consider the 3D implementation one of the best features of the game. Whilst it is impressive, it seems like an afterthought in many ways for the game, and with the release of the 2DS recently, this does not surprise us. There is not many areas in the game which uses 3D - in fact, it's generally consigned to the fights only. And not only that, fights which are either against hordes or multiple characters also do not appear in 3D. There appears to be good reason for this. When 3D is enabled, the frame rate can be very poor and most of the time we had it turned off. However, in the towns, the over world and the other areas no 3D is enabled.
A lot of what makes Pokemon the game it is still remains, and if you have played and understood the many mechanics of Pokemon in the past, you will be at an advantage. You can still breed Pokemon, the weaknesses and strengths of each Pokemon remains the same and there is a new fairy type to mix things up a little bit more. If you are new to the series, then the game is a very good place to start, however we would recommend downloading a strength and weakness comparison table for the different Pokemon types. The game isn't the best at teaching you how to play.
Pokemon X Y is the revolution the series needed. It fixes many problems that some players have had in the past, and even though it is a well-established series, Gamefreak has done a very good job at making this new game accessible for people new to the series. If you own a 3DS, you really should own this game.
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Beyond: Two Souls PlayStation 3 Review
A few years back, Cage announced Beyond, a game that was going to use real-world actors and actresses and a game that would focus on how gaming could be an emotional experience. It is Cage's opinion that gaming has not explored emotionally enough, and the possibilities it can bring to the industry. Beyond: Two Soul begins to explore this further than his previous games, but the failure to take more out on the cutting room floor keeps this game from being a classic.
Beyond takes place during 15 years of the life of Jodie (played by Ellen Page). During her infantile years, it is discovered that Jodie has a gift and that she has a special connection to an entity known as Aidan. Aidan can assist her and protect her and can also be controlled by the player. Her parents leave her with a secretive government department early on in her young life, and from there she has trained under lock and key to ultimately become a weapon for the United States in their various wars around the globe.
Here's an example. In one scene, you are on a date with Jodie in her apartment. The game tasks you with choosing a dinner, and then preparing the meal. This means cutting up vegetables, then moving the vegetables into the pan and finally flipping the pan to cook them. Need I go on? It is things like this that really harm the game. There are times where the interactions within the world are extremely important and very interesting to play, but when there is other elements which ask you to do mundane tasks, it leaves a sour taste.
Aside from the mundane tasks and lack of cohesion to the story, the gameplay can be interesting, especially when taking control of Aidan. As Aidan, you can float about the environment and assist Jodie in her tasks. It may be that you choke an enemy out, or smash a wall into them or even something as simple as flash lights to show that Aidan is around to other characters. Funnily enough, this is somewhat where the game works. This also represents the multiplayer component where two players can work together - one as Jodie and one as Aidan.
To call this game a bunch of QTEs in a row is a bit harsh, but overall that is pretty much the case. The only area where the game starts to diverge from this is Aidan, but also when Jodie is involved in combat. When in combat, you need to move the analogue sticks in the direction that Jodie is leaning. For example, if it looks like she wants to duck, pull the sticks down.
This also leads us to the next interesting part of the game, and that is there is no real consequences for failing QTEs. The game carries on, but you will see different outcomes. The game never really punishes the player for doing something wrong, which is one of the reasons why it can be such a boring experience to play through.
The game also encourages exploration and most of the ten hours you will spend playing this falls into exploration. At the start of each scene, you are generally just placed into the center of an environment and tasked with what to do next. That's not to say the game doesn't give you hints as to what may be the goal, it does, but it very much encourages exploration. It is almost impossible to get stuck in this game because there is generally always something to interact with.
The other focus on Beyond is trying to get casual gamers involved and playing. Cage should be commended for this, because consoles can be quite inaccessible and so to assist with this a Beyond app is available on Android and IOS to actually play the game. Once connected, instead of using a regular controller, you can control the game with a simplified control scheme. As well as this an easy mode has been included that simplifies the controls and also gives a bit more hints as to where Aidan can interact.
There is one thing that stops this game from being instant bargain bin, three out of ten status, and that is Ellen Page. Her performance throughout is unbelievably good, perhaps some of the best performances of a virtual character in a game to date. If you want an argument as to why game studios should go after Hollywood talent more often and that it can work, then Beyond: Two Souls is the new benchmark.
There is flashes of brilliance in this game that shows that Quantic Dream can actually put together stunningly beautiful titles. I will admit that there are emotions I felt playing this game I generally do not feel when playing games, and in that regard Beyond is a huge success. This is a game that focused on emotions and emotional connections and in that regard this is a David Cage master class. This is why it is such a shame that the rest of the game really is close to a mess. If Cage can take this emotional investment that you have in Beyond and pair it with some very interesting gameplay, he will really be onto something big. It's a simple fact though that this isn't what Beyond: Two Souls is.
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FIFA 14 PlayStation 3 Review
The focus for EA this year with FIFA has been all about momentum. On the next generation consoles (which will have FIFA at launch), EA has built a brand new engine called IGNITE, however on the current generation, we have more one more go around with the old technology and the strain on the systems is starting to show a little bit. EA wanted a game where players couldn't turn on a dime and first touch wasn't guaranteed. They said it was a bit more like what you see on the television, but the result has turned out to be a bit more frustrating than EA may have intended.
FIFA 14 is the first time really I have felt frustrated playing a football game. Most of the time if a goal is scored against me, I know why and get on with the game, but in FIFA 14, it is a constant struggle in general to get the ball, let alone score. FIFA has focused on being a slow methodical game like PES the past few years and overall it's worked. This year is no different, but the realism is going to be despised by just as many as those who love it.
However, for the rest of us, this is a frustrating game. It is almost controller smashing frustrating sometimes and this for a football game is disappointing. You pass a ball not knowing if the player will take it properly and it's all random. Seemingly nothing you do really can influence the random number that determines if the player makes a mistake or not. That said, there are positives from this new gameplay. Players at full speed can no longer turn on a dime (in fact, they have a turning circle more like a cruise ship), and you can use a player's momentum against them. If you see a player move one way and dodge to the other, that player has to stop, turn around and start running just like in the real-world. This is one area where this system does actually improve the game.
EA Sports Matchday returns and is already well into action with the new European season under way. Basically Matchday downloads stats from the EA servers based on the latest results. So, if your club team is on a roll, their stats will get a boost and so will their attitude, but in a relegation battle, the opposite happens. This is actually an incredibly interesting component of the game and to see how the teams can flip flop during a season.
On the licensing side, EA has had some wins and losses this year. First of all the Brazilian team is not licensed this year which is interesting considering they one of the top teams globally right now, but they have had a win in the Camp Nou from Barcelona returning as a selectable stadium. However, overall, they still remain formidable in this area with the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Hyundai A-League, J-league and others all appearing in the game. There is no doubt that this is where EA is dominating right now and it is hard to see whether the other side can fix this.
We recently got the chance to see FIFA 14 on the next generation consoles and it is clear as day that is where this year's product is going to shine. There is the possibility that they have tried to translate changes from the next gen product down to this level and it just hasn't worked. The game can be frustrating to play, but it can also be enjoyable.
Most games have this ebb and flow and really not knowing what the game is going to do next (be it a player's first touch or if a player will pass correctly) is frustrating. FIFA 14 isn't necessarily a bad game, but it's certainly in our opinion the worst of a very good bunch from the previous few years. Next generation will see this title return to the top upon its release, but for now, wait until then.
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Saints Row IV Xbox 360 Review
The storyline picks up after the ending of Saints Row III. The saints manufacturing machine rolls on and they become even more popular, so much so the leader (who you play) becomes the President of the United States. After ascending to the most powerful position in the free world, the globe is subjected to a surprise Alien attack and earth falls and is obliterated. It is up to you as the POTUS to rewrite history and try and save earth once and for all.
In terms of the core gameplay, not much has changed since Saints Row III. The game is still mission based in an open world and with the story progressing as you complete missions. What thankfully also hasn't changed is the Saints Row series penchant for unique humor. The characters are as witty and funny as ever, and the game just rolls on. Hours turn to minutes when playing through the campaign as the story becomes crazier by the minute.
Tasks on offer are sometimes run of the mill, but sometimes out and out crazy and many push the 360 console to its absolute limits, with frame rate issues all over the place. The side missions are where most of the generic stuff is found with the good missions saved for the main campaign, as you would expect. You might be stealing a tank, lining up some portals or trying to rescue a character. In fact, it is these missions where one of the many surprises found in the game is found.
One thing that has carried over from Saints Row III is the tight controls. The 360 controller just seems perfect for this game with fluid movement present throughout. We never really had to think about what we were doing with the controls, and that is always an indication as to how tight the controls are.
The thing is about this game is that it really is pure unadulterated fun. It just feels fun - like a video game should feel. It never really gets frustrating because there is a lot in the game to assist with getting past difficult points in the story. Your character can be upgraded as per previous games with health, more weaponry and other improvements, and you can of course customize your character with crazy clothing or wear nothing at all (with a censor bar). It just screams fun. In a time where a lot of video games take themselves far too seriously, SR4 is a breath of fresh air in this regard.
In terms of the open world, the game impresses, but it is a bit disappointing that it is not set in a new city. Instead you basically get Saints Row 3 with a bunch of alien ships included. However, it feels different, and that is because one of the key additions is superpowers for your character. Being able to jump over buildings and up them instead of just being on the ground makes the world feel new and different - so much so that when those powers are not present, it really does feel like a run of the mill SR3 mission.
It's clear that Volition had to stick with the SR3 world, but they have done enough to make it feel new, which is quite an achievement, but the super powers come at a cost. The QA of this game would have been intense and so it's almost expected that you will get stuck in the world occasionally, and you do. The game sometimes cannot handle just how fast and quick you are moving about and you get stuck. It happened a few times during our play through.
Saints Row IV was quite an anticipated game that in many ways lives up to the hype, but in others it does not. The fact you play as the POTUS is not exploited enough by the storyline, and whilst there are some crazy moments, after Saints Row 3, they do not have the same impact. What started out as an expansion pack has become a full blown sequel and it shows. If you were a cynic you could call SR4 a total conversion for SR3, but that would be unfair given the amount of work Volition has clearly put into the title. Play it, just don't expect the same impact that SR3 had on the gaming world.
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Killzone: Mercenary PlayStation Vita Review
You play as Arran, a mercenary for hire on a routine mission to evacuate a captured ambassador, when things predictably go awry. You come across a young boy who turns out to be the difference between winning the war and losing the war. As you would expect, the story focuses on the struggle to keep control of the boy, and to stop him from falling into enemy hands.
For the most part, the objective remains to shoot a lot of enemies and get to the other end of the level, although the touchscreen has allowed the developers to mix up the gameplay somewhat. Unfortunately this often results in frustrating game mechanics that leave you wondering if the additions enhance or detract from the game. One such mini game is the firewall hacking system. This is done via the touchscreen by matching up polygonal shapes to that which is displayed. The main problem with this mini game is that it's not well explained within the game, and there isn't a single mention of it within the game's electronic manual.
There are also other problems which come from the gameplay that could have been avoided. It seemed that on almost every mission, we were asked to defend a position, whilst an area was hacked or a character hid, as we defended them. This becomes tedious and the generic nature of some of the missions will leave you turning off the Vita and coming back later - especially if you are not playing this on the move, and are instead playing at home, for example.
However, looking past some of the problems with the missions themselves, the game is a technical marvel. We finally have a game that shows the true power of the PS Vita system, and the claims of console level gaming on the move by Sony has finally been found to be true. The control system also works perfectly - whilst we have seen first person shooters attempted on systems without dual sticks, there is no doubt that the dual sticks are what makes this game as good as it can be, in terms of control.
Another disappointment comes from the actual core gameplay and missions. The checkpoint system within the game just doesn't lend itself to a portable game. Many times we lost around ten minutes of mission progress because the checkpoint system is built more for a home console game than a portable, and many times we found ourselves just turning off the Vita at that point and coming back later. This is one of the main flaws we found with the game. This is a console game that has been put on a handheld system, which at times does not take into account the fact that it's portable. There are many things which happen that would be acceptable in a home version, but on a portable game, are incredibly frustrating.
The environments in which the missions take place are that of which you traditionally see in Killzone. Run down urban areas, caves and huge enemy structures are the name of the game and one issue which wasn't present on the home versions rears its ugly head here. There are times where the game becomes really dark with not much lighting, and in sunlight it can be hard to see the screen. This became such an issue that we found ourselves adjusting the brightness setting, which of course can impact the system's battery life.
From a graphical perspective, as said before, this game is a technical marvel. There are some stunning visual effects that you tend to only see on home consoles, such as reflective surfaces, and overall the game is beautiful. What's most amazing is that the game runs constantly without nary a sign of frame rate drops. This is a game that could easily be mistaken for a PS3 game and that is a credit to the graphics team on this title. The sound effects are also impressive with voice acting present and a strong cinematic soundtrack.
Killzone: Mercenary is a game that in many ways proves why the PS Vita exists. Up until now, we haven't really had a game that delivered on Sony's promise of console level gaming on the road. The game is stunning, to say the least, and whilst there are some problems with the design and some of the missions can become repetitive alongside the multiplayer, it's still a very strong package. If you have a Vita system already, this is a must buy game, and may just be enough with the recent Vita price drop to entice some more gamers into its ecosystem.
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Spelunky PlayStation VITA Review
Spelunky tells the story of an adventurer who stumbles upon a book with secrets about some hidden caves that the user explores. What the book fails to tell our character is just how dangerous the journey is and how many have gone before him or her and failed. Aside from that, there isn't much backstory to the game, but that is not a major issue because the focus is on the core gameplay, and that is where this game shines.
Ultimately the core gameplay of Spelunky is platforming, however, it does contain puzzle elements. Before each jump, you need to figure out if there is a trap or other enemies waiting for you, and rushing through the missions is a recipe for disaster.
However, this is the beauty of the game. Knowing you are seconds away from having to restart generally leads to cautious play, but the game is also incredibly good at lulling you into a false sense of security. Most of the time you will succumb to the levels because you are rushing as opposed to the level being unfair and most of the time when you do die, you will know why it happened. It is entirely possible for you to sneak through to area three, lose your life and then get stuck in area one for hours trying to progress again. But again, this is the beauty of the title, and if this doesn't sound like something you can handle, don't buy this game.
To assist with this, you can unlock shortcuts as you progress through each area. However, to unlock the shortcut, you need to progress through the area three times, and also give the shortcut man some goods like bombs or ropes. In many ways, this is proving to the game you have conquered the area. With levels randomly generated, the challenge is never the same, and sometimes you will get a good set of levels, and sometimes you will get some brutal levels.
The visuals of the game are impressive and suit the style of game well with cartoon style visuals playing into the comedic style deaths that the character often will encounter. There will be times where you will want to smash the VITA because of what happened, but the visuals do tend to keep you from really exploding in rage when playing.
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Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist Wii U Review
The storyline of Blacklist focuses on funnily enough the Blacklist. The Blacklist is a series of terrorists and planned terrorist attacks being led by one major terrorist group known as "the engineers". After a successful terrorist attack, Sam Fisher is thrown onto the case, along with some of his old crew like Anna and some new characters that enhance the storyline well. The days where Sam was a single killing machine are over, and instead you now have a lot more of a relationship with your staff and see how all the puzzles fit together for a successful mission.
One of the biggest changes to the series is the ability to upgrade structures. The main base of Blacklist is the Paladin, a large US air force plane, which contains the operations center for Sam to get the job done. As you progress through missions, you earn cash that can be used to upgrade the Paladin. For example, if you upgrade the infirmary, Sam will have access to purchase health upgrades, whilst upgrading the tech side will lead to access to black market weaponry. How you wish to play is up to you and this is the theme of this game. Ubisoft has tried to cater to everyone and no more so than the upgrade system. Sam can also be upgraded and you can have multiple load outs.
If you play in a stealth style, you are rewarded for it. You will gain cash for exploring areas of the mission that generally are only found on a stealth play through and you gain more cash for taking down enemies silently than in combat. Yet generally the way most people will play is a combination of both. That is aside from a few specific areas in the game where there is not much of a punishment for being detected, and as long as you can take the enemies that will charge at you down, the mission will continue on and even then you can just run towards the objective to progress as well. Once or twice we just bolted for the next objective, and as soon as it was reached, the previous enemies stood down and stopped following - not the most realistic AI in that regard.
It's hard to criticize Ubisoft because they have crafted an incredible experience. The old feeling of Sam being one of the toughest bastards on the planet returns, and as you silently take out enemies, it feels rewarding. It feels much more rewarding to creep through an area undetected, instead of just shooting the place up and that plays right into the hallmarks that makes Splinter Cell the franchise that it is. As well as this, many of the locations you visit are iconic, and there is one particular mission that gave us the same feeling the CIA mission did in the very original game.
It would be remiss of us not to mention the control set especially considering we played it on the Wii U - the good news is the controls have ported just fine. The touchscreen is used in many ways and not just for a map. If you are controlling a drone that will be done via the touchscreen, whilst switching weapons quickly and easily can also be achieved on the tablet. It is also possible to play the game entirely on the tablet. By default, motion controls are enabled, and we found that frustrating and it increased the difficulty on some missions. Thankfully you can turn that off.
On the multiplayer side of things the infamous spy's vs. mercenary's mode is back and better than ever. For those unaware in Spies vs. Mercs one team plays from a third person perspective, whilst the other, the mercs, play first person. The spies have to complete single player style objectives, whilst being hunted by the mercenaries. During its time it was one of the most original and interesting multiplayer features around, and it remains so. The only problem with multiplayer specifically on the Wii U is that local co-op is not possible.
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist sure took its time to come out, but the wait has been worth it. The single player campaign is an interesting tale of typical intrigue from the series, whilst the additional co-operative play and multiplayer areas really add up to a well-rounded package. The Wii U port is fine when compared to the other consoles, and the lack of Wii U local co-op shouldn't be missed too much.
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Divekick PS Vita Review
Shortly after the Kickstarter went live, it disappeared, with the announcement that Iron Galaxy Studios were going to take the concept and run with it. Divekick is not meant to be a serious fighting game, but it contains serious elements, and in many ways, it can be hard to know at times as to whether it wants to be a proper fighting game or one that is a parody, and that is one of its core problems.
The main gameplay of Divekick completely removes most of the complexity associated with fighting games. In fact, you only need to learn two buttons. You do not directly control your character, but instead only control when the character jumps either high, backwards or dives foot first towards the opponent.
Each round lasts a maximum of 20 seconds, with most significantly less than that, giving the game a very snappy feel. Although every so often in the single player, a story cut scene will play, which takes you out of the game somewhat and really breaks the snappy feel the rest of the game builds so well.
There are other parodies, but we won't ruin those because some of them are truly laugh out loud funny. However, there are times where the game reminds you that it is trying to be serious. For example, in the options, you can set a maximum ping and GGPO frames, something that will be a completely foreign language to most casual players.
And this is where Divekick to a degree is a failure. This is not really a game that can be enjoyed by a casual player (to the degree others can) that has no idea about the elite fighting game tournaments and people involved in them. Many of the characters are based on people prominent in that arena such as Markman, the community manager from Mad Catz, and S-Kill, who is clearly based on Seth Killian, one of the more prominent fighting game people in the United States.
The other characters are generally based on parodies from other popular fighting games such as Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom. To get the most out of this game, you really need to be in on the jokes, and whilst we were, not many people just buying something on PSN will be.
However, the game does exhibit a level of depth that was unexpected, and is not a game that can be completely mastered within a night. Each of the characters has a special move set and as well as this also dives and jumps with different angles. Just like a typical fighting game, it is likely you will find a character you like and will stick to that character. Also some of the characters have moves which go against the rest of the game where they will create lightning by dive kicking for example, as opposed to actually just hitting the other character. Again this adds to the challenge of the game.
Multiplayer is where you will gain the most value from this game, and if you have no interest in playing fighting games online, this really isn't a game you should buy.
Divekick is an interesting game and actually we found it somewhat a difficult game to review. We actually enjoyed it, but we know we enjoyed it a lot more than a typical person off the street would, because we could pick out most of the in-jokes present in the game.
If you are knowledgeable about the fighting tournament community or really just want a crazy fighting game to play, then this is the one for you. You may enter it thinking it will be a throw away game that you can be done with in a night, but the opposite is true. Divekick has an unexpected level of depth that may see it become popular for months to come.
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Pikmin 3 Nintendo Wii U Review
Pikmin 3 takes a step away from the previous two titles with the main protagonist Olimar being replaced by three new characters. These human characters are from a planet which has run out of food and is stranded in space. They are sent as the last real chance to save the human race from starvation and are sent to an island where food has been detected. Little do they know there are many challenges and obstacles to gain that food and it is that which forms the core gameplay of Pikmin 3.
Not much has changed in the gameplay stakes from Pikmin 2, but there are definitely additional challenges to tackle. First of all the change to three characters has been a major positive. This leads you to be able to have three different groups of Pikmin spread over the map to finish tasks. Every so often the game will force you to work in these groups (or at least, it's not possible to finish some levels without doing it) to reinforce the fact that this strategy can be used. Tasks range from bashing down walls, to carrying fruit and defeating boss characters. The other strategy involved is the various Pikmin on offer which have differing abilities, such as the new winged Pikmin.
The main challenge with Pikmin 3 is managing time and fruit. Each day has a set time and if you are not controlling Pikmin when the sun goes down, they will perish and so time management, one of the hallmarks of the Pikmin series, makes a return and is key. You will find yourself having some days where you are just consolidating a previous day's work, such as finding fruit or bringing a dead boss back to the ship. It is important to gather fruit, because if you do not, eventually the crew runs out of food, and it is game over.
The biggest surprise we found with Pikmin 3 is the lack of handholding that the game offers the player. The first few hours do feel a bit like a tutorial, but there is nothing like what we have seen in recent Nintendo games. First of all there is no super guide to speak of, and in general, the game opens up on a brand new day and says go for your life.
However, this isn't a major problem, as one of the key aspects of the Pikmin series has always been exploring the game map trying to find new Pikmin, a boss character or new objectives. In many ways this is one of the least casual friendly games Nintendo has released recently, but also a game that should appeal to the casual market. This is why it's a surprise Nintendo decided to leave most of the formula alone.
Aside from the main game mode, there is a single player and multiplayer challenge mode, which tasks you to take down as many enemies as you can in a set time frame, progressively getting harder. The game also has the ability for you to play the main campaign multiplayer as well, however, inexplicably Nintendo has limited the multiplayer options to local only. The game itself should take you around ten hours to complete first time through, and there certainly is room to go back and better your score, because you can jump to any point in the day cycle, at any time.
Pikmin 3 is Nintendo's big hope to shift Wii U consoles out of stores. There is no doubt that this game is a success, but there is huge doubt that this is the game Nintendo thinks it is going to be. It's a fantastic game for Wii U owners that you simply must play if you have one of the consoles, but whether it is worth picking up a console just to play this game... well, that is debateable.
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Payday 2 PC Hands-on Preview
For those who haven't played the original Payday, the game basically revolves around you and a team of three taking down banks. There isn't too much of a story to go with it, although that has changed somewhat in Payday 2. Before each mission, you are presented with a small information cut scene to detail what you need to do and how. Aside from that, you are on your own, and in a multiplayer focused game, that isn't surprising.
The reason being you as the single player have to carry each bag back one at a time and dump it in the car. The reason why this is quite frustrating is that the same problem was present in the original game and so not much has changed. The offline component is definitely more for training than a significant single player campaign, but considering how useless the AI is, we wonder if it should even be there at all. Hopefully something changes before the release in this aspect.
However, move onto the multiplayer, and you start to see why Payday 2 is one of the most anticipated games of the year. It takes everything right with the original game and continues it, whilst improving and including some brand new features to really take it to the next level. As you complete heists, you gain experience points, which level your persistent character up and at some point you will need to choose between four specialities. This again makes the single player component hard, but again shines in multiplayer.
This may not necessarily turn out to be a huge problem, but in a game so multiplayer focused and class based, in the longer term, it may be. There is nothing wrong with having four technicians for example, it just makes the missions a tad more difficult to complete.
In each mission there is also a whole bunch of ways to tackle problems and situations that may arise - there is also generally a risk reward element to each one. For example, you can silently knock a guard out and then patch in a radio to be able to communicate with the other guards. The risk is that every so often the guards won't believe you and trigger an alarm. Once an alarm is triggered, the police will arrive and it really does just turn into a shootout at that point... generally not what the game is about.
After which you move into the casing phase. Your characters can freely move about the environment figuring out where cameras and other detection devices may be, but there is always the risk that you will be detected and finally the execution phase where it either all goes to crap or runs perfectly, depending on how well you planned.
During the planning phase, you can use money obtained in earlier heists to unlock additional help during the next mission. That help may be something as small as another way to enter the target building, through to something like a camera feed to help you keep an eye on the cops. This takes the strategy and planning to another level in Payday 2, and utilizing this will be the key to success.
In the multi-day missions, your performance is looked at during each mission to see how the heist will progress. If you perform poorly during a mission and alert the cops, you will most likely then encounter an escape mission, but perform well and that will not happen. Dynamic changing of events is a core component of this game and will really add to the replay value.
This is why the game is one of our most anticipated for the year. It really has the potential to be a deep game with incredible gameplay and the version we played definitely has an inkling of that. No two games ever play out the same, and despite the focus on multiplayer gameplay, it's still looking like it could be one of the year's best.
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Hotline Miami PlayStation VITA Review
Hotline Miami has not got much of a storyline and that which is present is incredibly weird, to say the least. You play as an unnamed protagonist who picks up the phone one day to be told to go and pick up a box of food at a particular location. Inside the box is a message to go and return a brief case, whilst eliminating everyone at the location via any means possible. From there the madness and mayhem of the game begins.
However, this is a 2D game and plays very much like the original Grand Theft Auto. You control the player from a top down perspective (like a floor plan view) and have to quickly get through the missions set in various buildings. As the game progresses, the challenges get harder and start to be set on multiple floors. Another challenge is that the environments begin to change and include things such as glass windows, allowing enemies (and yourself) to shoot through them. The difficulty progression is balanced incredibly well and you never feel like the game is being 'cheap', so to speak.
The hardest part is that the protagonist can only take one hit or bullet before being taken out and that is where the true challenge lies. You need to quickly move through each room, perform the tasks quickly and get out, all the way knowing that one false move and you have to start again.
To assist with this, when you reach high scores, the game unlocks new masks for the protagonist to wear, such as a zebra or horse mask - these mask change the game in many ways. Some masks allow you to have silent guns, and other masks allow the protagonist to kill enemies with a single punch. Working out the right mask to use in the right situation is all part of the allure of the game. And here's the surprising part - Hotline Miami in many ways is not an action game, but instead a puzzle game where you have to figure out the exact sequence of events to follow to succeed.
This may sound frustrating, but it is anything and this can be put down to the quick restart option. Whenever the protagonist is taken out, within about half a second, you are back playing again, trying out a new strategy. This is the crucial point of the game, had this not been present, it would have completely killed the flow of the game and frustration levels would've through the roof.
Hotline Miami is a controversial game with a controversial setting and story. However, once you look past the violence and destruction within, you start to see that it is not a 'shock' game. It is not one that relies on its shock level and adult content to actually be interesting. In fact, the gameplay probably could have been done in another way and been just as good. The PSVITA is fast becoming the system to have to play indie games on and Hotline Miami is one to add to that list.
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Far Cry 3 PC Review
In Far Cry 3 you take control of Jason Brody, a young college kid with rich parents enjoying life to the max on an island paradise when things go awry. Jason and his friends are captured by pirates and the infamous Vaas. Taken for ransom from their wealthy parents, Jason manages to escape with his brother and from there the story becomes that you as Jason must rescue your friends, but also as you build acquaintances on the island, decide how you want the future to be for those people. There is a point where the story just becomes boring and formulaic unfortunately, but until then it's one of the best stories of this generation.
As expected based on the first two games, Far Cry 3 puts you in a massive open world with side missions and main story to complete. One of the key facets of the title is exploration and the game significantly rewards you for exploring. Whilst there are scripted elements to some of the missions, sometimes it's just interesting to wander about the island and see what the enemy and other NPCs are doing. One example was we were closing in on an enemy kill, only to see a crocodile jump out of the water to take him alive. If someone else was to go to that exact spot, it may not happen because those sequences are not scripted.
For example, if you get some shark skins, you can craft a new pouch which improves your inventory level - something which is a lot more interesting to do than just buy a new pouch. You can pick up leaves and plants to help you concoct medicine to heal Jason. At no real point in the game are you forced to buy things. For example, one area which encourages exploration is the local stores. If you manage to take over the local radio tower, the shops will give you free weapons as a reward whilst that tower is not held by the enemies. It's a really interesting mechanic that rewards exploration in a manner that is tangible rather than just 'let's see this entire island'.
For the most part the missions are also enjoyable to play as well. There are over thirty campaign missions with quite a number more side missions to complete. To complete Far Cry 3 without doing side missions will take you about 10 hours and so it is a fairly meaty game when you compare it to most releases. The game does contain fast travel once you have visited a location although sometimes it is better to just explore and see the world on offer.
What Far Cry 3 manages to achieve is a believable world. This island could be a real world thing (although it's not), and the developers have clearly put a lot of work into building a fantastic world for the game. It has the crazy professor and the tribal warriors to complete the mix. But what takes it to the next level is the various fauna milling about the place. You can be swimming quietly in the rivers or ocean and the next minute a shark or crocodile attacks. The first time this happens you will literally jump in your seat and it's generally over before it even starts. You can imagine this is how it happens in the real world as well with most victims attacked before they even know it's happening.
On the PC at least, Far Cry 3 is a visual tour de force and one of the best games graphically we have ever played. If you have the hardware and video card to push this to the max you will see a visually stunning world with amazing graphics. Tone the graphics done a little and the game still shines even on older hardware, so it is clear Ubisoft has done its job in optimizing this game for fairly run of the mill systems as well. This is something that the original Far Cry game was criticised for not doing.
The game also features a co-operative multiplayer portion for up to four players to take part in. It is set six months before the actual events of the single player campaign and so in many ways is its own story. Introducing co-operative into such an awesome, open world game is something that Ubisoft had to do to take this game to the next level. With a length of about six hours, you certainly get your money's worth even though it's not the main campaign.
Far Cry 3 started out with a great E3 presentation that put the hype levels through the roof. Usually when this happens games significantly let us down, but in this case Ubisoft has delivered. No doubt they felt the pressure of such an awesome opening with Vaas and our main character, but instead of crumbling, they produced what is sure to be one of the best games of 2012.
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Hitman: Absolution Xbox 360 Review
This game became Kane & Lynch which had middling success in both sales and critical format. So six years later we have the return of Agent 47 and it's not without changes. Absolution completely changes up the series in many ways and we still aren't sure if all the changes and decisions made were the right ones.
Absolution picks up with Agent 47 being tasked to kill his agency handler Diana. She has gone rogue and has been selling secrets to enemies of the agency so his final contract becomes her. The agency has produced another agent from a child, Victoria with Diana on her deathbed asking 47 to protect her at all costs. This is what the story primarily revolves around; the protection of Victoria and escaping from the agency that 47 once called home. From the outset this shows just how much of a departure Absolution is to the regular format with previous games tasking 47 with contracts to fulfil for the agency.
This is only apparent on some of the levels. On many levels within the game there are no targets and instead it is 47's goal to reach another area to continue the story. As well as this there are times where the game takes control from you and performs kills in cut scenes. For a series which has focused so much on clean quiet kills from a gameplay perspective, to have this happen is frustrating. There are some sections in the game where quiet kills just cannot occur.
This is where you will like this game or not. Whilst in the past each mission was one huge environment for 47 to traverse and come up with sneaky ways to take out the target, in this game you are instead tasked with basically getting from point a to point b. Hitman in many ways becomes a third person shooter with the amount of sandbox missions able to be counted on less than two hands. Given that there are 20 missions overall in the game, this is a bit disappointing.
However, on those levels which do give you the freedom to explore and come up with various ways to take out the targets, the game absolutely shines. Previously seen at E3, the King of Chinatown level is one such example where there is many different ways to take out the target such as poisoning fish or blowing up a car. And it is these missions that you will revisit over and over again to try and come up with different ways to end the mission without being seen.
As well as the actual targets each mission contains a number of challenges to complete. Sometimes these challenges are to take out the targets in various different ways whilst other times it can be tasks such as finishing the mission only using 47's suit. Given that you very often traverse areas where you should not be, doing this is harder than it sounds.
Many of the elements we have seen in previous titles have again come back. You can still take the disguises of other characters although this is a bit harder than last time around.
Enemies will spot that you are not one of them quite easily and so it becomes a case of still having to focus on stealth even when blended in. To aid with this, 47 now has an instinct ability which allows you to see enemies through walls and walk near enemies in disguise without being spotted. You gain more instinct by performing quiet kills and tasks.
One of the more frustrating elements of Absolution is the change from limited save games to checkpoints. Instead of being able to save at any point in the game (within a limited number), you now have to track down and find checkpoints in the level. They are generally off the beaten track and this can be very frustrating especially on the tougher levels. The checkpoints also do not get retained if you leave your game which we have no idea why IO Interactive decided that was a good idea.
On the visual and environmental side of things the game is generally impressive. Whilst there is quite a variety to the locations that you will visit during your time with the game, it is not as varied as it was in Blood Money with some locations being visited more than once. Some of the missions are quite large in size whilst others are almost corridors only. It goes without saying the larger missions are the ones where 47's abilities can really shine. One thing that is true is that in general IO Interactive has used the environments to the best of their abilities with 47 being able to perform numerous environmental based kills on his targets.
Multiplayer comes in the form of contracts mode and in an ironic twist this system is much closer to that of the older games. You can either build or download contracts from other users and basically you are dropped into a world and have to kill targets silently to fulfil the contract. As you do so you gain money which can be used to upgrade your weaponry in multiplayer. This is an interesting take on multiplayer and we hope that users really embrace this system because it's entirely possible this could give the game a lot of legs.
Hitman: Absolution is a game that made us think about how we review games in many ways. Should we review a game based on what the name is on the box, or what the content actually is. Of course the latter is the answer, but we can't help but feel that this is not the greatest Hitman game. It's significantly different to other Hitman titles, but it's also not a bad game. If you come into the game expecting Blood Money 2 you will be disappointed, but if you look past this you will find a competent Hitman game that has just enough elements of its predecessors to ensure you should play as 47 again.
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Assassin's Creed III: Liberation PlayStation Vita Review
However, with the release of a new platform, the PS Vita, Ubisoft decided to give the portable space another crack with the AC series and have come out with mixed results. Liberation is not necessarily a bad game, but there are some areas which can be quite infuriating to play.
Liberation for the first time introduces a female character as the main lead. You play as Aveline, the black daughter of a rich businessman in the 1700's. A result of infidelity, Aveline lives with her step mother and father in New Orleans as one of the wealthy and famous. However, Aveline wants to rid the world of slavery, especially for her people and sets about trying to bring down the tyranny which existed in the time. Set in the 1700's, the game takes place during the same timeline as that of the main console game, and to get the most out of the story, you need to play both.
This is probably the most interesting change to the franchise because it means you often have to change your clothing to complete tasks. Having to change clothing to complete a task can be a tad tiresome (especially when it's not clear which clothing you should be wearing), but all the same the addition enhances the franchise.
As well as the main city, you will also visit the bayou of New Orleans which gives you the opportunity to partake in tree climbing and jumping. Ripped directly from the console game with Connor you can at will climb trees and often have to when completing assassination tasks. The game controls well and it's very obvious when you can and cannot climb trees. The Bayou has a very Metal Gear Solid 3 feel to it - a large, lush jungle full of crocodiles and other animals that can hurt Aveline. The main difference being that Aveline does not need to eat animals to survive.
The structure of the game takes on that of its console big brothers. The game includes nine sequences to complete which is a little on the short side and you will have this game down in around six to eight hours depending on how good you are at it. There is no difficulty setting so once you finish it, that's it really.
There are a number of side tasks to complete and there is a meta game where you can control a shipping company to gain money, but really in the grand scheme of things, you can ignore these and easily complete the game. One of the interesting elements is that the story you get if you just play the main missions is not the actual story. To get the real ending you need to take out a particular hidden character in each sequence.
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One of the biggest bugbears we have with the game is the PS Vita controls. The main controls themselves are fine, but when the developer is trying to shoe horn in the touch mechanics of the game, it just starts to break. For example, the game will at times ask you to put the Vita camera near a bright light. It took us a while to find a light that would give the Vita what it wanted, and there was no indication at all whether we were getting closer or not.
There are also other sections of the game which use the back touchpad such as paddling a canoe. There is nothing wrong with trying to include Vita specific controls, but when they work like they do in Liberation (it's a lucky dip as to whether your motions will be picked up), it would have been best to leave them out.
The environments that the game is set in are impressive for a handheld product. The city of New Orleans is beautifully represented by period buildings and the actual city itself is quite large, but nowhere near what you find in the console games of course. The split of the bayou and the city is an interesting feature with both environments having graphical problems as well as also some impressive sections. Voice acting on the system is impressive especially for a handheld and whilst the soundtrack can become repetitive, it suits the game and setting well.
There is no doubt that Assassin's Creed III: Liberation is the most impressive handheld version of the series yet. Ubisoft has used some of Vita's power well, but also included some utterly frustrating mini games based on the touch and camera features. It is on the short side and that means it's not really suitable as something for a long distance trip, but for short spurts on the way to work, it works almost perfectly.
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AMD's Revolutionary Mantle Graphics API Adopted by Various Developers
AMD today announced three new game developer partnerships for Mantle, its highly acclaimed, groundbreaking graphics API. Cloud Imperium Games, Eidos-Montréal, a part of the Square Enix Group, and Oxide Games are the latest game developers to join AMD in optimizing the way PC games are developed to extract maximum performance from a modern graphics architecture that spans desktop PCs, notebooks and consumer devices like tablets.
Cloud Imperium Games is currently developing "Star Citizen," the highly anticipated, crowd-funded PC space simulator from legendary game designer Chris Roberts.
"AMD's Mantle will allow us to extract more performance from an AMD Radeon GPU than any other graphics API," said Chris Roberts, CEO, Cloud Imperium Games. "Mantle is vitally important for a game like Star Citizen, which is being designed with the need for massive GPU horsepower. With Mantle, our team can spend more time achieving our perfect artistic vision, and less time worrying about whether or not today's gaming hardware will be ready to deliver it."
Eidos-Montréal is the studio behind "THIEF," an upcoming first-person stealth adventure set for release in February 2014. Eidos-Montréal also developed "DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION," an AMD Gaming Evolved title.
"Mantle lets you use AMD Radeon GPUs the way they are meant to be used, unlocking many new opportunities and increased CPU and GPU performance," said David Anfossi, studio head, Eidos-Montréal. "Because of this, Mantle is one of the most important changes to PC graphics in many years."
Helmed by industry veterans, Oxide Games is designing the new "Nitrous" engine for 64-bit, multi-core processors.
"AMD's Mantle technology lets us get more out of the hardware than any other solution available," said Dan Baker, co-founder, Oxide Games. "Adding Mantle support to our multi-platform, 64-bit Nitrous engine realizes significant gains in performance on Mantle-enabled hardware without adding enormous development overhead."
Cloud Imperium Games, Eidos-Montréal and Oxide Games will join AMD and DICE in speaking about Mantle architecture and implementation at the AMD Developer Summit (APU 13), running Nov. 11-14 in San Jose, Calif. In addition, Oxide Games will be showing a public sneak preview of Mantle performance at the event.
For those interested, complimentary access to all APU 13 keynote sessions is available by registering online, in limited numbers while quantities last. Notable keynote speakers include: Dr. Lisa Su, senior vice president and general manager, Global Business Units, AMD; Johan Andersson, technical director, DICE; Dominic Mallinson, vice president, research and development, Sony; and Mark Papermaster, chief technology officer, AMD.
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ViewSonic Announces New Wireless Presentation Gateway
ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual display solutions, delivers the ultimate in wireless sharing, flexibility and connectivity with its new Miracast and Intel WiDi optimized ViewSync WPG-370 gateway solution.
"Now that tablets deliver enough processing power to support most business applications, users are often choosing to present from their tablets," said Jeffrey Hsieh, Senior Manager of Product Marketing for ViewSonic. "Additionally, as individuals experience wireless streaming capabilities with devices like Google's Chromecast and Apple TV in their everyday personal lives, we anticipate that they will look for a natural extension of this benefit in their professional work environment as well. That's why we developed the WPG-370."
Multiple connectivity options such as HDMI and optical audio make connecting to any display effortless, while convenient features like PC-less media streaming work directly from a USB thumb drive. This presentation gateway also enables users to wirelessly stream full HD 1080p video to any projector or display, when using an Intel WiDi laptop3, Ultrabook, smartphone or tablet. Furthermore, the WPG-370 is Wi-Fi Miracast-ready and supports direct content streaming to the gateway from Android and iOS smartphones and tablets with the iMediaShare mobile app4. With this third-party app, users can stream multimedia files such as videos and images for wireless sharing. Paired with 802.11a/b/g/n and the latest WPA2/WPA wireless encryption, the WPG-370 is ideal for practically any commercial environment.
The WPG-370 is now available in the Americas for an ESP of $169.
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HGST Ships 6 TB Ultrastar He6 Helium-Filled Hard Drives
HGST, a Western Digital company, today announced that it is shipping the 6 TB Ultrastar He6 hard disk drive (HDD). Key OEM, cloud and research leaders working closely with HGST to qualify the drive include HP, Netflix, Huawei Unified Storage, CERN, Green Revolution Cooling and Code42, as well as some of the world's largest social media and search companies.
"With ever-increasing pressures on corporate and cloud data centers to improve storage efficiencies and reduce costs, HGST is at the forefront delivering a revolutionary new solution that significantly improves data center TCO on virtually every level - capacity, power, cooling and storage density - all in the same 3.5-inch form factor," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing, HGST. "Not only is our new Ultrastar helium hard drive helping customers solve data center challenges today, our mainstream helium platform will serve as the future building block for new products and technologies moving forward. This is a huge feat, and we are gratified by the support of our customers in the development of this platform."
Through HGST's innovative and patented HelioSeal process, the Ultrastar He6 drive is the industry's first hermetically sealed helium-filled HDD that can be cost-effectively manufactured in high volume. The breakthrough development of the hermetically sealed process is arriving just in time as key market requirements are colliding with HDD areal density constraints. According to IDC, areal density growth rates have slowed, and are expected at a rate of less than 20 percent per year from 2011 to 2016. Moving forward, HGST's helium platform will serve as the main platform for new technologies like shingled magnetic recording (SMR) and heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) where HGST will continue to push the HDD areal density envelope. The helium platform will also serve as the future building block for new, growing market segments such as cold storage, a space that HGST plans to address over the next couple of years.
"HDD industry areal density growth is not keeping pace with the rate of storage capacity growth in enterprise data centers," said John Rydning, research vice president, IDC. "HGST's proprietary, new, hermetically sealed, helium-filled HDD solution - the industry's first helium filled platform that simultaneously increases capacity while lowering power consumption and operating temperature - is intersecting the market at a time when IT managers are seeking out capacious and energy efficient new disk drives that will help to reduce the total cost of ownership of enterprise storage systems."
TCOptimized - Driving Down Data Center TCO with Helium
The amount of data that companies need to store is growing exponentially, but IT budgets remain flat. With 6 TB, a low 5.3 idle watts, a reduced weight of 640g, and running at 4-5C cooler, the new Ultrastar He6 lowers data center TCO on virtually every level. Key TCO benefits when compared to a 3.5-inch, five-platter, air-filled 4 TB drive include:
- Highest Capacity HDD on the Market; 6 TB, Seven-disk Design, Providing the Best TCO
- Lowest Power Consumption with Best Watts-per-TB
- 23 percent lower idle power per drive
- 49 percent better watts-per-TB
- Best Density Footprint in a Standard 3.5-inch Form Factor
- 50 percent higher capacity
- Lighter Weight than a Standard Five-disk 3.5-inch Drive
- 50g lighter even with two more disks, offering 50 percent more capacity
- 38 percent lower weight-per-TB
Data center designers and server vendors are continuing to pack more capability into smaller spaces, and with that, effective cooling is becoming a new challenge due to hotter components and less space for efficient airflow. One solution, which has been explored by many, is liquid cooling. Liquid, which is denser than air, can remove heat more efficiently and maintain a more constant operating temperature. However, traditional drives cannot be submerged as they are open to the atmosphere and would allow the cooling liquid inside, damaging or destroying the HDD. HGST's HelioSeal platform provides the only cost-effective solution for liquid cooling as the drives are hermetically sealed and enable operation in most any non-conductive liquid. Today, HGST is working with leading innovators in this space such as Huawei and Green Revolution Cooling.
HGST Ultrastar He6 Availability
The 6 TB HGST Ultrastar He6 hard drives are now generally available. For more information, please visit: http://www.hgst.com.
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Top 10 TweakTown Press Releases from the past week [04 November 2013]
Here are our top 10 posted press releases from the past week!
- ASUSTOR NAS Products Now Compatible with PowerWalker UPS Units from BlueWalker
- MSI Debuts the Z87M GAMING Micro-ATX Motherboard
- SanDisk Ventures Invests in Magisto
- HGST Launches New, 1 TB, 7.0 mm Hard Drive
- Aqua Computer Adds Radeon R9 290X Full Cover Block to Product Line
- Mad Catz Announces S.T.R.I.K.E.M Mobile Keyboard
- G.SKILL Sponsors HWBOT Country Cup OC Competition with Exclusive Memory Kits!
- Apacer Announces the SSDWidget Real-Time Monitoring Software
- ORIGIN PC Introduces the EON17-SLX High-Performance Laptop
- Kingston Bundles HyperX Memory, SSD with Battlefield 4 Mouse Pads from QPAD
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G.SKILL Sponsors HWBOT Country Cup OC Competition with Exclusive Memory Kits!
Taipei, Taiwan - 31 October 2013 - G.SKILL International Co. Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage, is extremely excited to sponsor the HWBOT Fifth Annual Country Cup. HWBOT Country Cup is one of the most popular and longest running annual online OC competition at HWBOT, with hundreds of extreme overclockers from around the world, to compete country versus country through 8 comprehensive stages of cutthroat overclocking!
As a contribution to the international extreme overclocking community, G.SKILL shall offer exclusive limited edition extreme memory kits to the top three overclocking teams who proudly represent their country:
PI series DDR3 2000MHz CL 6-9-6-24 2GBx2 kit - Considered as the holy grail of low latency memory kits, this is one of the most frequently used overclocking memory kit by pro-overclockers, now impossible to find. Priceless.
"GIGABYTE is thrilled to partner with G.SKILL for the 5th annual HWBOT Country Cup 2013," commented Colin Brix, Marketing Director of GIGABYTE Motherboard Business Unit. "Overclockers better bring their A game, which includes using only the best hardware from G.SKILL, GIGABYTE, Intel and Cooler Master if they hope to lead their country to OC victory."
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Mad Catz Announces S.T.R.I.K.E.M Mobile Keyboard
Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. ("Mad Catz") announced today the S.T.R.I.K.E.M Mobile Keyboard. Expected to ship in time for Holiday 2013, the S.T.R.I.K.E.M features a tablet sized footprint, ideal for mobile use and designed to interface with a wide variety of platforms and smart devices including the Company's forthcoming M.O.J.O. Micro-Console for Android.
The S.T.R.I.K.E.M features micro P.U.L.S.E. scissor keys for crisp actuation with a tactile click response and an Optical Finger Navigation (OFN) Mouse Sensor with dedicated mouse buttons. Powered by a rechargeable Lithium Polymer Battery, the S.T.R.I.K.E.M features illuminated backlighting for use in darkened environments, dedicated media buttons with volume scroll wheel and on board memory used for storing multiple macro commands.
The S.T.R.I.K.E.M will be available in gloss black, gloss white and gloss red.
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Toshiba Announces PX02SS SSD for Write-Intensive Workloads
The Storage Products Business Unit of Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc., a committed technology leader, announces a new addition to its family of enterprise solid state drives (eSSD), the PX02SS. In capacities of up to 800GB1, the new 2.5-inch form factor SAS interface eSSD is designed for various write-intensive enterprise applications and is ideally suited for large workloads, such as data processing and online transactions.
"Toshiba's unique integrated SSD design and manufacturing capability ensures that key components of the SSD, including NAND flash, are designed by Toshiba," said Don Jeanette, senior director of product marketing at Toshiba Storage Products Business Unit. "Component and design commonality reduces qualification time for our customers and reflects Toshiba's partner-driven approach to SSD design and manufacturing, helping our customers save time and money."
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ASUSTOR NAS Products Now Compatible with PowerWalker UPS Units from BlueWalker
ASUSTOR Inc., a leading innovator and provider of network storage solutions, announced today that its NAS devices are now compatible with over 100 different PowerWalker UPS devices from BlueWalker. This integration provides SOHO and small business users, who have a need for uninterruptible power supplies, with greater flexibility and a larger variety of solutions when looking to deploy a NAS with a UPS.
"In order to protect their critical electronic equipment against the damage that can potentially be caused by power outages and power surges, modern enterprises can choose to deploy uninterruptible power supply mechanisms," said Quote Lin, Director of Research and Development at ASUSTOR. "After passing our strict verification and testing process, we are happy to announce that PowerWalker UPS devices are now compatible with all ASUSTOR products. This provides our users with a wealth of options when choosing a UPS device to provide protection for their NAS."
The ASUSTOR range of NAS products consists of the 2, 3 and 6 series desktop models along with the AS-604RD and AS-609RD rackmount models which feature redundant power supplies. All of ASUSTOR's NAS devices feature Intel Atom dual-core processors which offer supercharged performance with low power consumption. With regards to software, each and every ASUSTOR NAS comes with the intuitive ADM 2.0 operating system which features ASUSTOR's exclusive App Central NAS App repository. App Central contains over 100 unique Apps that users can download and install for free. Users can choose to install only the Apps that fit their interests and needs, creating a customized device for themselves while maximizing resources and productivity. Additionally, ASUSTOR NAS devices offer significant hardware expandability by supporting a wide range of USB and eSATA devices such as external hard drives, UPS devices, printers and more, meeting the varied demands of small and medium business environments.
Product compatibility list.
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OCZ Technology Introduces StoragePro XL 1.1 Central Management System
OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today introduced an SSD management application that centrally monitors and manages OCZ enterprise drives connected to network servers, storage arrays or appliances. Developed as a network-accessible management system, OCZ's new StoragePro XL 1.1 provides IT managers with a cross-platform view of their enterprise flash resources for centralized management, monitoring, maintenance and reporting.
The user-friendly StoragePro XL GUI provides the following key capabilities:
- A structured group-based view of host and SSD activity throughout the data center
- Critical alert displays and warnings from hosts and connected SSDs
- Simpler and easier SSD installation, management and maintenance
- Fast and easy routine SSD maintenance runs, host system checks and administrative tasks from firmware updates to printing detailed reports
StoragePro XL supports OCZ's complete portfolio of enterprise SSDs including the Z-Drive PCIe Series, the Deneva 2 SATA Series, the Talos 2 SAS Series, the ZD-XL SQL Accelerator and the soon-to-be-released Intrepid 3000 SATA Series. Its management console supports popular browsers (such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox).
To download StoragePro XL 1.1, OCZ enterprise SSD customers are invited to complete the online registration form available within the StoragePro XL Product Page
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SanDisk Ventures Invests in Magisto
SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK), a global leader in flash storage solutions, today announced it is helping improve the mobile video storytelling experience by investing in Magisto, creator of the popular video editing app with more than 13 million users on iOS and Android platforms. While pervasive use of mobile devices is enabling the recording of billions of videos annually, most user-generated content is not very engaging. This is largely due to today's lengthy and manual video editing process. Magisto's mobile app solves this problem by enabling amateur videographers to create captivating professional quality movies in just a few clicks, converting average videos into memorable content.
"As the world's most recognized brand in professional photography, SanDisk's partnership with Magisto will further accelerate our growth trajectory," said Oren Boiman, CEO and co-founder, Magisto. "We look forward to leveraging SanDisk's tremendous expertise in mobile imaging, and we are very excited about having SanDisk as a strategic partner for our company."
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HGST Launches New, 1 TB, 7.0 mm Hard Drive
HGST, a Western Digital company, today announced that it has shipped more than 100 million Travelstar Z-series, 7.0-millimeter (mm), 2.5-inch hard disk drives (HDD). As the 7.0 mm HDD market maker, HGST also launched the new 2.5-inch, 1 TB, Travelstar Z5K1000 drive - the industry's fastest 7.0 mm 5,400 RPM HDD with best-in-class shock robustness for thin, ultra-portable laptops, Ultrabooks, external storage and ultra-compact CE devices. Embraced by all of the top global PC OEMs, HGST's 7.0 mm Z-series HDD family features common connectors and mounting points for easy integration into existing systems to enable greater design flexibility for new thinner, lighter and more robust consumer electronics devices.
ASUS is an early adopter of the new Travelstar Z5K1000 drive and states, "As a company we're disrupting the mobile computing landscape again with our ASUS Transformer Book Trio. To deliver game-changing technology for the mobile lifestyle, we need partners who are pushing the boundaries of innovation while allowing us to deliver an affordable solution to our customers. The HGST 7mm Z-series line has eliminated capacity and design limits without compromising reliability for our customers."
According to IHS , the demand for thin HDDs is predicted to reach 140 million units by 2017, due to the increasing demand for ultra-thin PCs and tablets. The expanded HGST 7.0 mm Z-series will help feed this demand. With 1 TB of capacity in a true 7.0 mm format, an industry-first 6Gb/s SATA interface, an ultrafast 3.0 second boot time, as well as a 32 MB cache, the rugged, low-power Travelstar Z5K1000 mobile HDD offers manufacturers the features required to design new, thinner systems. With its 26 percent slimmer z-height compared to traditional 9.5 mm 2.-5-inch drives, and weight of only 95 grams, OEMs and integrators have an opportunity to differentiate product lines by utilizing space savings to produce thinner, lighter devices, add battery capacity, increase shock robustness, or improve internal airflow.
"Hard drives will remain the mass storage vehicle of choice, having the best cost-per-GB ratio of any storage medium on the market," said Fang Zhang, analyst, storage systems, IHS. "Also, as consumers create and consume more and more digital content, the need for additional storage becomes essential. Because of this, 7 mm HDDs, especially HGST's 1TB Travelstar Z5K1000, will continue to play a major role in the thin and light device segment moving forward."
Based on a unique, compact, two-disk 7.0 mm design, the new Travelstar Z5K1000 family features 1.6 watts (W) read/write power and 0.5W low-power idle, and delivers a nearly silent operation at 2.1 idle/2.2 seek bels. It also offers the industry's highest operating shock at 400G/2 ms and non-operating shock at 1000G/1 ms to protect against bumps and rough handling in mobile environments. A dual stage actuator is included for track miss registration improvements for greater data integrity and reliability, as well as Advanced Format to improve drive capacity and error correction capabilities of the drive.
Travelstar Z5K1000 is the seventh generation self-encrypting drive (SED) to feature HGST's Bulk Data Encryption. HGST's hard drive-based encryption is a highly attractive option for any company routinely carrying sensitive information on laptops or portable storage devices. Designed to the Opal specification established by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), the SED encrypts data using protected keys in real time, providing users with the highest level of data protection available. It also speeds and simplifies drive re-purposing. By deleting the encryption key, the data on the drive is rendered unreadable, thereby eliminating the need for time-consuming data-overwrite.
The Travelstar Z5K1000 family comes in 1 TB and 750 GB capacities. HGST is currently qualifying its Travelstar Z5K1000 with select OEMs. Broader qualification samples are now available with channel distribution scheduled in November. For more information, please visit http://www.hgst.com/hard-drives/mobile-drives.
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Aqua Computer Adds Radeon R9 290X Full Cover Block to Product Line
Aqua Computers latest addition to their full cover water blocks is the kryographics Hawaii for R9 290X cards. The block is entirely made in Germany and milled from 1kg high-purity electrolytic copper raw material. It covers the GPU, all RAM chips and the voltage regulators. All areas are covered by the flow path of the cooling liquid to provide an excellent cooling performance. The GPU is covered by a micro structure with a 0.5mm grid. To efficiently cool down the voltage regulators this block also features the 3D flow technique which uses a lateral flow path to transport water through the Plexiglas directly to this array.
The block with a copper base is available for 99.90 Euro while a nickel plated variant can be purchased for 114.98 Euro.
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Kingston Bundles HyperX Memory, SSD with Battlefield 4 Mouse Pads from QPAD
HyperX, a division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced a HyperX memory and solid-state drive bundle with exclusive collector's edition Battlefield 4 gaming mouse pads. HyperX is working with QPAD, an award-winning designer of headsets, keyboards, mice and mouse pads for gamers. The limited-edition HyperX memory and mouse pad product bundle creates more value for gaming fans and will be available in the United States at Newegg.com, Amazon.com and TigerDirect.com shortly after the highly anticipated Battlefield 4 game launch.
"We are always looking for opportunities that will benefit the gaming community," said Thomas Stenberg, CEO, QPAD. "Battlefield 4 is such a great game and we are excited to be working with HyperX to bundle our exclusive collector's edition mouse pad and give gamers more added value."
"The bundle of the mouse pad with our memory is a way to give back to our fans and add value to our products," said Lawrence Yang, business manager, Kingston. "The Battlefield series is one of the most popular games ever and the latest version will be no different. We are honored to work together with QPAD, a company the gaming community knows for high-quality mouse pads, mice, keyboards and headsets."
For more information visit the HyperX home page.
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Apacer Announces the SSDWidget Real-Time Monitoring Software
According to IDC, the CAGR of the storage market for enterprises will continue to grow by 3.9% in the future. By 2020, the global data volume will increase by 50 folds than that of today. Thus, how to manage such large volume of data is bound to be the significant task for IT managers, which includes a vital issue of hard disk real-time monitoring and diagnosis.
Apacer SSDWidget, a real-time monitoring and diagnosis software tool, addresses the shortcomings of S.M.A.R.T. and satisfies the mobile needs in the cloud computing era. Robert Lee, Director of the Product Development Division indicated that, "SSDWidget is designed for SSD current mainstream SATA 6.0 Gbps interfaces. Manager may connect several SSDs within the enterprise together, conduct instant monitoring via web browser or mobile App, and integrate attributes like erase times, unpredicted power failure times, SATA signal failure times, ECC failure times and data written in the system into cloud monitoring content. Meanwhile, users can customize the update cycle of report data themselves to ensure real-time understanding of the status of all SSDs."
Apacer SSDWidget may connect all SSDs within the enterprise through cloud technology, upgraded from single PC monitoring. Provided that the device has access to the Internet, through web browsers, Client Version of PC, and APP (Mobile Version) of Smart Mobile Devices (Phone/Pad), the manager may link with SSDs in all places to check the status, service life, etc. under the most strict security management without any restriction of time and place. By this means, it achieves 3A (Any time, Any where, Any device) management state with fast repair and maintenance, effective risk avoidance from unexpected damage, significant enterprise data lost prevention, enhanced data security of SSD, and also administrative cost reduction.
Besides, Apacer SSDWidget is not merely real-time monitoring software but also a breakthrough in comprehensive SSD management. SSDWidget client version possesses disk blocks scan, including random blocks scan and full scan for hard drive's status checking. Data matching scan ensures the correctness of data. During the matching process, it generates virtual file in the target storage path. When the matching finishes, the virtual file disappears automatically without showing in the disk. Regular scans may ensure whether there is any data damage.
From past PC dominance led by Windows and Intel, till current post-PC era dominated by smart devices, Apacer has enriched its knowledge of user experience revolution promoted by innovation. Thus, besides continual launches of various storage devices, we introduce the versatile Apacer SSDWidget real-time monitoring and diagnosis software tool designed for management. From single PC/SSD control to multi-mainframe/numerous SSDs remote management; from iPad/iPhone monitoring to web browser and App checking at all times and places; from pure S.M.A.R.T. software to comprehensive SSD management, Apacer has witnessed user's changing habits driven by trends, and will further lead disk management to a new cloud computing experience.
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MSI Debuts the Z87M GAMING Micro-ATX Motherboard
MSI, one of the world leaders in main boards, debuts its first Intel 8-chip set based mATX GAMING motherboards- Z87M GAMING. Inherited with the outstanding DNA of MSI's GAMING product family, the new mATX GAMING features a Killer network, Audio Boost sound enhancement technology, and a whole new software and hardware design for enhanced product performance.
In addition to the GAMING series' Killer network gaming chip and Audio Boost sound enhancement technology for better network transmission performance and professional studio grade sound effects, the Z87M GAMING isolates the sound circuit board from other motherboards components for purer sounds with reduced noises. The USB audio power design which powers the USB port independently offers more stable power and audio signals. The whole new design is aimed at clearer and better sound effects with reduced noise along with stable voltage for improved stability for the users' extra devices and enriched sound presentation for the users' live experiences in a stereo audio environment.
The Full GAMING Product Line
MSI GAMING motherboards not only be satisfied with professional gamers but also have full product line and specifications. Now, whole new Z87M GAMING motherboards be a part of MSI enriches compact game hosts with more diversified and flexible application potentials and options.
The Most Stable Military Class Components
These key components have all passed the seven tests of MIL-STND-810G military class which are performed by independent laboratories to ensure stable operation under the harshest environments. In addition, MSI 8 series motherboards are also equipped with many exclusive new technologies, including the all new two-stage one-second overclocking OC Genie 4, the world's first graphical monitoring interface Click BIOS 4, and the Control Center software that combines monitoring, tuning and remote controlling, etc. The humane software and hardware designs allow consumers to gain more convenient experiences.
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ORIGIN PC Introduces the EON17-SLX High-Performance Laptop
ORIGIN PC announces the all new, NVIDIA SLI-Ready, EON17-SLX to their line of award-winning EON laptops for gamers, professionals, artists and enthusiasts. The new EON17-SLX takes mobile gaming to the next level with support for up to DUAL NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M graphics cards in SLI to deliver buttery smooth frame rates when playing today's most demanding PC games at home or on the go.
- Intel 4th Generation Mobile Processors: With Intel's latest Haswell mobile processors, the EON17-SLX offers significant power and performance never before seen in a laptop.
- NVIDIA SLI Ready: Take advantage of the incredible power of NVIDIA SLI with support for up to DUAL GeForce GTX 780M discrete graphic cards for an unprecedented mobile gaming experience with smooth and stunning detail.
- ORIGIN PC Professional GPU Overclocking: Get the most out of the EON17-SLX graphics cards by overclocking DUAL GPUs in SLI with our award winning professional overclocking service.
- Up to 5 storage options: Never worry about storage space again with up to dual mSATA and dual HDD/SSD storage drives in independent RAID configurations plus an additional storage option with the optical bay hard drive caddy for a total of 5 storage drives.
- Intel Thunderbolt Ready: Connect multiple Thunderbolt devices and transfer data at 10 Gbps speed with Intel's Thunderbolt Technology, making it easy to access what you want, when you want.
- Free Lifetime 24/7 Support: Every ORIGIN PC comes with industry leading Lifetime 24/7 Support based in the United States.
Quote from ORIGIN PC:
"ORIGIN PC is excited to bring a dose of SLI into our award-winning EON laptops." said Kevin Wasielewski ORIGIN PC CEO and co-founder. "Combine the power of Intel's 4th generation Haswell mobile processors, DUAL NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M graphics cards, and our professional GPU overclocking, and you easily have one of the most powerful desktop replacements ever made!"
Quote from NVIDIA:
"A custom built gaming laptop that features two of our most powerful notebook GPUs? Yes please!" said Brian Choi, product manager for notebook GPUs at NVDIA. "Combine that with Origin PC's Lifetime 24/7 US based support and their exceptional build quality and it's a slam dunk."
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Top 10 TweakTown Press Releases from the past week [28 October 2013]
Here are our top 10 posted press releases from the past week!
- Toshiba Also Unveils High-Performance, Thin and Light Enterprise Product Lineup
- Toshiba Introduces the Tecra W50 Mobile Workstation
- ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces Matrix R9 280X Graphics Cards
- PowerColor's New R9/R7 Series Offers Users a Complete Solution
- Thecus Adopts Plex Media Server
- ASUS Announces R7 250 and R7 240 Graphics Cards
- Toshiba Updates Versatile Portégé R30 Ultraportable Laptop
- ASUS Announces R9 280X, R9 270X, R7 260X DirectCU II Graphics Cards
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Feenix Launches High End Nascita Gaming Mouse and Dimora Mouse Pad
Feenix, the premiere boutique peripheral firm for luxury gaming instruments, is excited to announce the 2014 Nascita and Dimora; a gaming mouse and pad that provide gamers with unparalleled feel, reliability, and performance.
Please click here to watch a video of the Nascita gaming mouse.
The 2014 Dimora is a mouse pad that features a micro textured surface to greatly minimize contact between the mouse and pad, resulting in very low friction and unrivaled glide. The Dimora's reflective surface technologies sends data back to the sensor at speeds unmatched by conventional mouse pads. The single body structure and internal diamond-shaped support pattern keeps the pad flat and resilient even during aggressive gaming. The Dimora is available at feenixcollection.com for $36.
Every Feenix customer receives their own personally assigned account manager that provides ongoing support. Feenix limits its production volume to less than 1000 units per month to ensure that each product undergoes a thorough hand check before being shipped out. All Feenix products are sold exclusively through http://www.feenixcollection.com to maintain the company's service and quality control standards.
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Brian Angell, NVIDIA's Mobile Business Engineering VP Joins Micron
Micron Technology, Inc., today announced that the company has named Brian Angell, vice president, Advanced Controller Development. Angell will be responsible for leading Micron's controller development in support of Micron's enterprise, mobile and embedded businesses. He brings to Micron nearly 30 years of technology experience in various senior engineering roles across several leading companies. He most recently served as vice president of engineering for NVIDIA's mobile business unit - one of multiple roles he held at NVIDIA since joining the company in 2002.
Angell's professional background includes serving as director of engineering at Vivace Networks from 2000 to 2002, Chief Technology Officer of Raydiant from 1998 to 1999 and director of consumer products at 3dfx Interactive from 1996 to 1998. He also held engineering roles at Sun Microsystems and Sentry Schlumberger. Angell earned a bachelor of science in Electronics Engineering Technology from Devry Institute of Technology in 1984.
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Western Digital Announces Q1 Revenue of $3.8 Billion
Western Digital Corp. today reported revenue of $3.8 billion and net income of $495 million, or $2.05 per share for its first fiscal quarter ended Sept. 27, 2013. On a non-GAAP basis, net income was $514 million or $2.12 per share. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported revenue of $4.0 billion, net income of $519 million, or $2.06 per share. Non-GAAP net income in the year-ago quarter was $594 million, or $2.36 per share.
"We continued to perform well in the September quarter as we remained focused on delivering value to our customers through differentiated and innovative storage solutions in all of our served markets," said Steve Milligan, president and chief executive officer. "Our HGST and WD subsidiaries continued to execute very well. Outstanding linearity drove strong operating results, with gross margins above the midpoint of our model range and earnings per share well above the high end of our guidance. Longer term, we are very excited about our ability to enable the ongoing creation, storage and management of digital content by consumers and businesses."
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Microsoft Reports Record First-Quarter Revenue of $18.53 Billion
Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $18.53 billion for the quarter ended September 30, 2013. Gross margin, operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $13.42 billion, $6.33 billion, $5.24 billion, and $0.62 per share.
The following table reconciles these financial results reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) to non-GAAP financial results. We have provided this non-GAAP financial information to aid investors in better understanding the company's performance.
"Our devices and services transformation is progressing and we are launching a wide range of compelling products and experiences this fall for both business and consumers," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. "Our new commercial services will help us continue to outgrow the enterprise market, and we are seeing lots of consumer excitement for Xbox One, Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2, and the full spectrum of Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone devices."
"We saw strong focus across our teams, generating record first-quarter revenue even as we navigate a fundamental business transition. Our enterprise renewals were very healthy and our devices and consumer business continued to improve," said Amy Hood, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "We are making strategic investments in areas like technological innovation, supply chain management, and global cloud operations to build for the future and create long-term shareholder value."
Devices and Consumer revenue grew 4% to $7.46 billion.
- Windows OEM revenue declined 7%; Windows Pro revenue grew for the second consecutive quarter.
- Surface revenue grew to $400 million with sequential growth in revenue and units sold over the prior quarter.
- Search advertising revenue grew 47% driven by an increase in revenue per search and volume.
- SQL Server revenue grew double-digits, with SQL Server Premium revenue growing more than 30%.
- Lync, SharePoint, and Exchange, our productivity server offerings, collectively grew double-digits.
- Commercial cloud revenue grew 103%.
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Corsair Announces Hydro Series H75 Liquid CPU Cooler
Corsair, a worldwide designer of high-performance components for the PC hardware market, today announced the Hydro Series H75 dual-fan 120 mm liquid CPU cooler. The easy-to-install H75 provides PC users with quieter and more effective cooling than stock CPU coolers, all in a 120 mm footprint that is widely compatible with most PC cases on the market. The Hydro Series H75 will be available in November at a suggested retail price of $84.99 (USD).
"The H75 is a great choice for PC enthusiasts who want the streamlined features of our H60 120 mm cooler but desire the additional cooling performance of a dual fan design," said Xavier Lauwaert, Director of Product Marketing at Corsair. The Hydro Series H75 features a simple, tool-free mounting system and wide Intel and AMD socket compatibility. Like all Hydro Series liquid CPU coolers, the H75 is completely self-contained and does not require filling or maintenance.
Features and Specifications
- 120 mm aluminum radiator
- 120 mm x 152 mm x 25 mm
- Two SP120L PWM 120 mm high static pressure fans
- 120 mm x 25 mm
- 2000 RPM (+/- 10%)
- 54 CFM
- 31.4 dBA
- PWM fan control for customizable cooling
- Support for AMD and Intel CPUs
- AM2, AM3, FM1, FM2, LGA 1156, 1155, 1150, 1366, 2011
- Advanced copper cold plate and manifold design
- Tool-free bracket for simple installation on most Intel and AMD motherboards
- Sealed all-in-one design, pre-filled and maintenance free
- 5-year limited warranty
Priced at $84.99 MSRP in the United States, the Hydro Series H75 liquid CPU coolers will be available in November from Corsair's worldwide network of authorized distributors and resellers. The cooler is backed with an industry leading five-year limited warranty and Corsair's excellent customer service and technical support.
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VisionTek Announces its Radeon R9 290X Graphics Card
VisionTek Products LLC, a leading manufacturer of award-winning, high-performance upgrades and accessories for PC and Apple Macintosh computers, announced today the VisionTek Radeon R9 290X graphics card. Featuring up to 1GHz clock speed, 4GB 512bit GDDR5 RAM, and compute performance over 5.6 TFLOPs, the $549MSRP VisionTek R9 290X is the fastest graphics card available and outperforms other, more expensive GPU brand-based graphics cards. VisionTek will begin shipping the R9 290X by early November.
Because the VisionTek R9 290X utilizes AMD's Graphics Core Next (GCN) Architecture, which unifies graphics processing and compute cores for higher utilization, this ultra-performance graphics card can deliver over 5 TFLOPS compute performance - a new standard in the graphics card industry - and over 300GB/s memory bandwidth to support 4K gaming with over 100 layers of effects.
Overclocking the Smart and Easy Way
By accessing the Boost State control within an easy-to-use card management GUI, the VisionTek R9 290X can be set to automatically run higher than the base core speed if it is operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits. The card also features two additional automatic performance boosting features. AMD PowerPlay Technology adjusts clock speeds in response to GPU load for energy use efficiency while AMD PowerTune Technology maximizes performance under load conditions by increasing the GPU engine clock to take advantage of unused Thermal Design Power (TDP) headroom.
See What You've Been Missing with 4K Resolution
The VisionTek R9 290X supports Ultra HD 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution, which is 4x the resolution of 1080p. Typically, configuring a graphics card for use with a high resolution monitor must be done manually. However, AMD's Catalyst Graphics Drivers will perform automatic configuration on select popular monitors, such as the Panasonic Viera. Further simplifying the ability to use 4K displays is the card's use of AMD Eyefinity technology which can span multiple monitors into one large panoramic display.
Hear What You've Been Missing with TrueAudio
With an onboard audio processing chip powering AMD's TrueAudio technology, the VisionTek R9 290X can deliver accurate 3D surround sound within games and special audio effects like reverbs and room simulations while reducing CPU load. Now you can hear more real-time voices and situational sounds in-game with any and all audio hardware already owned.
Outperforms Competition in 4K Benchmarks While Costing $100 Less
In a recent performance benchmarking preview publically conducted by AMD, two leading graphics intensive games, BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider, were both run on the same test machine at 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution settings on the Radeon R9 290X and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 cards. The only variable to the tests was that the R9 290X was run in "Quiet Mode" setting, the less aggressive of two performance profiles that are user selectable via a toggle switch on the card. Below are the results of the $649 street price GTX 780 versus the $549 MSRP R9 290X:
BioShock Infinite:
R9 290X "Quiet Mode": 44.25 FPS
GeForce GTX 780: 37.67 FPS
Tomb Raider:
R9 290X "Quiet Mode": 40.2 FPS
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780: 34.5 FPS
These tests are further confirmed by independent performance benchmarking site Anandtech.com which found the R9 290X outperforms the GTX 780 in medium quality setting by 14%.
VisionTek Radeon R9 290X Specifications & Pricing
- Memory: 4GB 512bit GDDR5
- Memory Speed: 5.0Gb/s
- Base Clock Speed: up to 1.0GHz
- Stream Processors: 2816
- Compute Performance: 5.6 TFLOPS
- CrossFire Support: Up to four GPUs with no interconnect bridge required
- Outputs: 2 x Dual Link DVI, 1 x DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI
- Cooling: Single fan 2 slot
- Bus Type: PCIe 3.0
- 3DMark Fire Strike: greater than 8000
- OS Support: Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and Linux
- MSRP: $549.00
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ASUS Introduces R9 290X Graphics Card
ASUS today announced the launch of R9 290X, a new graphics card powered by the latest AMD Radeon R9 290X graphics-processing unit (GPU).
R9 290X with exclusive overclocking controls - only from ASUS
The new ASUS R9 290X has a unique advantage in the shape of GPU Tweak, an exclusive ASUS tool that helps users to squeeze every last drop of performance out of the Radeon R9 290X GPU. This includes the ability to control finely GPU and video-memory clock speeds and voltages, cooling-fan speeds and power-consumption thresholds - so overclocking is both made easy and can be carried out with high confidence.
More displays, more detail, more immersive audio
R9 290X is equipped with 4 GB of high-speed GDDR5 memory, allowing gamers to push their favorite titles much further by upping in-game visuals to maximum resolutions. The new card also includes AMD Eyefinity technology to broaden the gaming landscape, so gamers can expand the playing field across up to six independent displays, via DisplayPort or DVI.
Of course, R9 290X supports the very latest DirectX 11.2 standard that enables on-GPU tessellation, allowing more and incredibly detailed geometry to be packed into game scenes - characters come to life with cinema-quality detail levels. The card also offers AMD's brand-new Mantle API that provides developers with direct access to the GPU's making life simpler for them and allowing game code to run much more efficiently - resulting in faster, smoother graphics and gameplay.
R9 290X also benefits from AMD TrueAudio technology, a dedicated digital signal processor (DSP) that's built in to the GPU. The provides game developers with processing power that's designed purely for audio, allowing R9 290X to generate soundscapes that are much more true to life - so gamers become even more immersed in the action.
Brilliant graphics card, brilliant free game
To help gamers experience the best of R9 290X right away, ASUS is bundling a free game with the graphics card - Battlefield 4. Developed by EA Digital Illusions Creative Entertainment, this brilliant first-person shooter (FPS) lets gamers take control of a special-operations squad as they embark on numerous covert missions around the world.
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AOC Launches Three 16:10 Monitors
Display specialist AOC launches three new 61 cm (24") monitors in a 16:10 format. The 60 series models from the AOC Professional Line deliver a WUXGA resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels, adding valuable desktop space in height compared to the widespread 16:9 Full HD format. Coming in a classy texturised black finish and different equipment variants, these high performers will provide for a great viewing experience in company and home offices. Users can also benefit from a number of tailor-made features such as integrated USB hubs, great ergonomics and intelligent software.
The three new Pro Line models are targeted at office users at home or in enterprises, who require extra desktop real estate for working on complex tables, long texts or pictures. Due to their wide viewing angles and short response times, however, they are more than well-equipped for the occasional movie or game.
The i2460Pxqu is based on a top-notch eIPS (In-Plane Switching) panel, allowing for exceptional colour stability from even larger viewing angles of up to 178-degree/178-degree horizontal and vertical. The model reaches a brightness of up to 300 cd/m²; it also boasts the same ergonomic versatility as the e2460Pxda. In addition to D-Sub and DVI-D, the i2460Pxqu features an HDCP-compatible HDMI socket as well as a DisplayPort.
Both the e2460Pxda and the e2460Sxda utilise an LED-backlit TN panel, providing excellent high-definition picture quality with 1920 x 1200 pixels, a luminosity of 250 cd/m² and a static contrast of 1000:1. Both analogue and digital video signals can be received via D-Sub and DVI-D. In addition, the e2460Pxda offers full ergonomic flexibility, allowing users to adjust the panel height by 130 mm as well as to tilt and swivel the monitor. These ergonomic features are especially practical in offices with shared desk environments or for a quick presentation of the screen to colleagues. Thanks to the pivot function, the display can even be rotated into portrait format - just perfect for working on long tables and texts or for editing photographs.
That certain something: extras
For the utmost user convenience, AOC fits out the Pro Line IPS display with an USB hub integrated in the bezel - keyboards, pen drives, webcams, smartphones and other USB gadgets are thus connected without causing cable clutter on or behind the desk. All 16:10 models from the series 60 are equipped with 2 W speakers for basic sounds. For the more demanding, sound can be looped to external audio set-ups over a 3.5 mm jack.
The models also come with intelligent software. Programs such as e-Saver or Eco Mode help saving energy. With i-Menu, the monitor settings can be conveniently adjusted with the mouse. And Screen+ allows for the large 61 cm (24") to be divided into different panes, which are accessible via shortcuts - making work much easier for multi-taskers.
Sustainable and energy-efficient
The monitors are produced entirely mercury-free. Thanks to the energy-efficient LED backlights, the energy consumption lies at a very moderate 22 W. Demanding sustainability certificates such as Energy Star 6.0, TCO 6.0 or EPEAT Silver are thus easily fulfilled.
As for all its monitors, AOC offers 3 years of warranty on the three new members of the series 60. Prices are listed in the table below.
Technical Specifications
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