Cougar MX300 Review
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ECS Announces New AMD F2+ Motherboards
ECS has announced the release of three new motherboards based on the the AMD FM2+ APU socket, featuring additional features over the FM2 platform. The boards will offer support for PCIe 3.0, DirectX 11.1, and 4K resolutions. The A78F2P-M2 uses the A78 chipset, offers six SATA 3 connections, HD Audio, and video connections through HDMI, Display Port, DVI, or VGA. The A58F2P-M4 uses the A58 chipset and has four SATA 2 connections with HDMI or VGA options. The A55F2P-M2 uses the A55 core, adds DVI capability, and can accommodate an additional PCIe x1 card when compared to the A58F2P-M4. All three boards have two memory slots for dual channel DDR3.
Source: Press Release
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Sapphire Announces R9 290 Vapor-X OC GPU
Sapphire has announced its newest iteration of the AMD R9 series of graphics cards, the R9 290 Vapor-X OC. The card is based on the AMD Graphics Core Next architecture and has 2560 Stream Processors. The card is factory overclocked to a core speed of 1050MHz with 4GB of GDDR5 running at 1400MHz. As the card has been overclocked, Sapphire has taken care to include an improved cooling solution with its Vapor-X technology. "Sapphire pioneered the use of vapor chamber technology on graphics cards and has now used it in several generations of highly successful products. The vapor chamber is mounted between the GPU itself and the base of the heatsink and cooler assembly to ensure the maximum transfer of heat away from the GPU into the cooler." The cooler has five heatpipes and three 90mm fans, and a PCB component heat spreader helps to round out the cooling solution.
Source: Press Release
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New Algorithm to Help Orienteering Robots
When in a new environment, or lost in an old one, we will do the natural thing of picking out landmarks to help us keep our bearings. For humans this is natural, but for robots and computers, such a process is quite difficult. Researchers at MIT though have devised a new algorithm to help robots find their way.
One of the reasons robots have such difficulty tracking landmarks to orient themselves is that they have a hard time identifying the orientation of the landmark to begin with. The researchers' algorithm addresses this by mapping estimates for the orientations of points onto a sphere. As a robot moves in one direction, the sphere will rotate in the opposite direction, allowing the robot to follow how the landmarks change. As the estimates are not going to be perfect and will cluster together, the algorithm forms Manhattan frames, which are sets of axes within the sphere. It is these axes that the robot follows, as they should be more accurate than the individual points, and simpler to operate on than a multitude of points.
This algorithm is also useful in achieving plane segmentation, which a computer does to determine what planes elements in a scene are in, as there are fewer orientations to consider. This is used to build representations of the objects to compare to reference objects.
Source: MIT
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Watch Dogs' PC Requirements Officially Unveiled
Ubisoft's highly anticipated open-world hack-a-thon Watch Dogs appeared on Steam the other day, and while at first the system requirements were listed as temporary, it now seems the list has been finalized. Back in March, Creative Director Jonathan Morin tweeted out the minimum specs and was pretty spot-on. Of key importance to take note of is the requirement of a quad-core CPU and 6GB RAM, minimum. The latter obviously means that the game only supports 64-bit operating systems, which includes Vista, 7, and 8.
The new tidbit of information comes in the form of the Recommended Specs, and that's where things get quite interesting:
- Processor: Eight core - Intel Core i7-3770 @3.5 GHz or AMD FX-8350 X8 @ 4 GHz
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: DirectX 11 graphics card with 2 GB Video RAM - Nvidia Geforce GTX 560 ti or AMD Radeon HD 7850
In addition to the specs, the Steam page was also updated with confirmation that Watch Dogs will indeed utilize Uplay (when the page first went live, there was no mention of it). As with any Steam game that features third-party DRM, there is already an outcry on the Steam forums, but personally I've never had an issue with Uplay. It's really no different than a game that features a launcher, like Borderlands 2. Unfortunately, what it does mean, is that the game doesn't feature any Steamworks features like Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, or Steam Trading Cards.
Watch Dogs is launching May 27, 2014, on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, and Xbox 360, with the Wii U version coming at an undetermined later date. There is a Digital Deluxe Edition that provides a bunch of extras, while pre-ordering either version on Steam gets you the Blume Agent Pack, containing an outfit and weapon perk.
Source: Steam Store Page
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Skype TX Announced by Microsoft
Skype is used by various radio stations and video channels to bring callers into broadcasts. While it has been decent at doing so, Microsoft has decided to launch a revised version of Skype that is specifically aimed at audio and video broadcasters. The new version, dubbed Skype TX, offers higher quality audio and video while also supporting the HD-SDI interface. Skype TX also handles multiple calls through a single interface and eliminates advertisements as well as call notifications.
Availability and pricing have not yet been announced for Skype TX.
Source: Engadget
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HBO GO Crashes Due to Game of Thrones Premiere
While some viewers were able to watch the Game of Thrones premiere that debuted last night, others were left angry and disappointed. Those who tuned into the premiere through HBO GO were unable to successfully complete the episode, with the HBO service crashing due to overwhelming demand that the service experienced. An HBO GO representative did confirm the issue that affected potentially millions of viewers of Game of Thrones, and stated that the service was available on several platforms shortly after the outage took place.
It is worth noting that HBO GO also experienced an outage last month when it aired the finale of True Detective.
Source: TechCrunch
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New Borderlands 'Pre-sequel' Coming to PC, PS3, and 360?
Back in February, Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford said that the company wasn't currently working on Borderlands 3, but did add that, "We have more to do in the franchise." We already knew about the Tales from the Borderlands Telltale Games collaboration, but that may not be the only Borderlands game in the works. And no, I'm not talking about Borderlands 2 Vita or the final Borderlands 2 Headhunter DLC.
According to UK-based GamePointsNow, 2K Australia is currently working on Borderlands: The Pre-sequel, which takes place during the five year gap between Borderlands 1 and 2. While I was initially hesitant about the news, despite being a huge Borderlands fan, if the details are true, it actually sounds like a pretty sweet installment – adding a slew of new aspects to the series' highly addictive and popular gameplay mechanics.
The game is reportedly set on the moon of Elpis, where Hyperion has set up a large H-shaped moon base (which could actually be seen in Borderlands 2). The game follows Handsome Jack before he became known as Handsome Jack, and players get to play as one of his four lieutenants: Athena The Gladiator, Wilhelm The Enforcer, Nisha The Lawbringer, and Fragtrap.
Athena made an appearance in the General Knoxx DLC for the first game and "will be a melee focused character able to absorb incoming fire with here kinetic shield while dispatching enemies with her plasma sword." Wilhelm was the half human, half Hyperion Loader boss in Borderlands 2, but sadly he's just a human in this game, though he does have a shoulder-mounted cannon and drones that can aid you in combat. No information was provided on Nisha, though GamePointsNow says that she "bears a striking resemblance to [...] Sheriff of Lynchwood" from Borderlands 2, who happened to be Jack's girlfriend. Fragtrap, in the meantime, is a militarized Claptrap!
Aside from those brand new playable characters, The Pre-sequel will add two new weapon types: laser and cryo. The former is pretty obvious (and how can you be set on a moon and not have lasers?), while cryo finally adds the one elemental attack that has been sorely missing in the Borderlands series, cold/freezing! Because the game is set on the moon, gravity (or rather, reduced gravity) will come into play, allowing you to toss enemies into orbit. It also means a new method of travel (jetpacks!) and one of the biggest changes: oxygen will be a new lootable resource in the form of OX-Kits. While this means you'll have to carefully manage your own oxygen levels, it also means you can utilize it to your advantage by shattering an enemy's helmet and depriving them of oxygen.
While this is all just a rumor, the sheer amount of details does add a bit of credibility to the report – or is an extremely elaborate hoax. Borderlands: The Pre-sequel does not have a set release date, but will likely be this year since it's supposedly only coming to PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. If it's real, it sounds like it could be a nice stopgap until Borderlands 3 inevitably arrives.
Source: GamePointsNow via IGN
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NVIDIA Releases the Highly Anticipated DirectX 11 Performance Drivers Along with GeForce ...
Two weeks ago, NVIDIA announced that a brand new driver would be arriving in April that would dramatically improve performance across all DirectX 11 (DX11) games. The major selling point was that NVIDIA's flagship card running DX11 would beat AMD's flagship card running Mantle. According to NVIDIA, "by remaining laser-focused on DirectX 11 (and the forthcoming DirectX 12), we have dramatically enhanced the efficiency of our DirectX 11 driver, enabling performance games of up to 71% in DirectX 11 games, and additional benefits in games with multi-GPU SLI support. Unlike changes tailored around custom graphics APIs, our new optimizations can benefit all DirectX 11 titles the second they go on sale, regardless of developer or publisher, and apply to all DirectX 11-capable NVIDIA GPUs."
The driver released today is the 337.50 Beta driver, so your system won't be asking you to upgrade to it automatically. But if you're running an NVIDIA DX11 card and playing some of today's hottest AAA titles, you may want to give it a shot. NVIDIA has provided benchmark results for every GTX 700 series card, both as a single-card configuration and an SLI configuration (see images below). While I won't list every single result for every game, if you're a Total War: Rome II player, you'll definitely want to upgrade, as a single GTX 700 series card can see gains up to 64%, while an SLI configuration can see gains up to 71%, according to NVIDIA's release notes. Other big single-GPU gainers are Skyrim, Sleeping Dogs, Star Swarm, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Metro: Last Light, while other big SLI gainers are Sniper Elite V2, Aliens vs. Predator, Sleeping Dogs, Black Ops 2, and Hitman Absolution.
The other big news is that GeForce Experience (GFE) 2.0 has officially arrived. One of the biggest new additions is Desktop Capture for ShadowPlay, allowing users to capture everything from windowed games, browser games, OpenGL games, and even just Windows use itself. Desktop Capture requires the 337.50 Beta driver and is disabled by default. GFE 2.0 has also added beta versions of ShadowPlay and GameStream for Notebooks, along with the beta of Remote GameStream. Remote GameStream is part of the NVIDIA SHIELD April 2014 Update, which has also officially gone live today.
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Bringing Quantum Cryptography to Mobile Phones
Mobile communication has become an important part of our lives, so secure mobile communication is of vital importance. Personal and sensitive information, such as passwords and account numbers are exchanged between our mobile devices and remote servers over the air, and securing it can be difficult due to the small size of mobile devices. Researchers at the University of Bristol though have demonstrated a means to bring quantum cryptography to mobile devices, without adding too much bulk.
Quantum cryptography is a security system that takes advantage of the sensitivity of quantum systems. These systems are so fragile that even the act of observing them can change them, which is what the cryptographic protocols use. By transmitting an encryption key between two parties with quantum particles, such as photons, they can both be alerted to a third party listening in, as the particles will have been affected. The technology to create those particles though is typically too bulky to be integrated into a mobile device. The Bristol researchers however have developed a protocol that need only have an optical chip built into the device.
With such a protocol it would become almost impossible for a hacker to pull your information out of the air. Now the researchers are just working on bringing the protocol out of the lab and into a real device.
Source: University of Bristol
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Hardware Roundup: Monday Edition
We've arrived at the second week of April, and there are plenty of reviews to keep you occupied on this Monday. There's a look at the MSI Z87M Gaming motherboard, which packs plenty of features and abilities into a Micro-ATX format. We also have a review on the Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16GB DDR3 RAM kit, and it could be ideal for those with large CPU coolers that overhang the DIMM slots. For those needing a new keyboard, perhaps the Logitech G19s has everything desired to fit the bill. We finish off with three different mobile power packs, one from ADATA and the other two from Pivos, to help keep users charged longer while on the go.
Motherboards
MSI Z87M-GAMING @ Madshrimps
Memory
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 16GB 1600MHz C10 Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit @ Madshrimps
Mice/Keyboards
Logitech G19s @ LanOC Reviews
Gadgets
ADATA PV100 Power Bank @ Benchmark Reviews
Pivos MANA 5200mAh & 2200mAh Portable Battery Packs @ ThinkComputers
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