IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 8/11/2014

Sunday, August 10, 2014

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 8/11/2014

TweakTown

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition announced for next-gen consoles, PC
Following the success of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, we can expect a remastered version of Sleeping Dogs for next-gen consoles and PC in October. Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition includes all of the DLC released so far, as well as improved gameplay, graphics and more.

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition will be running at 1080p on both the Xbox One and PS4, "tuned gameplay", upgrades to the audio and visuals of the original game, 24 DLC packs and more. The included DLC is worth $85, and pre-order customers will receive a limited edition art book, as well as a boxed retail copy of the game.
Square Enix will be releasing Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition on October 10 for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC.

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The new Alienware 13 laptop is a portable gaming powerhouse
Dell has just taken the wraps off its new Alienware 13 laptop, which seems to be quite the improvement over the Alienware 14 from last year. We start with a 13-inch HD display, that can be optioned with either a Full HD display, or Quad HD (touchscreen-capable) display if you choose.

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Inside of the Alienware 13, we have an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M handling the visual side of things, and a slew of Intel Core processors to do the CPU side of things. Gamers can choose between an SSD and normal HDD in the Alienware 13, too. The company is touting an 8-hour battery life for streaming video, but if you want to get some gaming done, this will reduce, dramatically.
All of this arrives in a laptop that is under 4.5 pounds, which is a huge 2 pounds lighter than the Alienware 14. Dell expects to begin shipping the new Alienware 13 sometime in November.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on PC requires the same specs to Ghosts
The next-gen Call of Duty is nearly here, with the PC's required specifications being released for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. You'll need 40GB of HDD space, an Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 or AMD Phenom X3 8750 CPU minimum, 6GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450, or AMD Radeon HD 5870 or better to play Activision's next-gen COD. But, these specs are identical to those of the last entry of the first-person shooter, Call of Duty: Ghosts.

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As you can see, every single point is identical between the 'next-gen' Advanced Warfare, and the previous entry in the series, Ghosts. Considering Ghosts didn't look that great, and didn't run all that well on the PC (even with its relatively mild requirements), I don't think we should be excited about the technology side of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare on PC.

Battlefield 4's next update will offer core gameplay improvements
There's an update coming for Battlefield 4 next month that will offer core gamelpay improvements, with soldier movement in the game getting a tweak as well. DICE says that it is tweaking the soldier movement so that it "closely matches the one in Battlefield 3, but without compromising the visual fidelity".

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The developer has also said that the changes will make it easier to get yourself out of "undesirable firefights". The new update will also see a refresh to the HUD of the game, which will, from September onward, "only show what is important". Players will have more options to select what they want to see, or not see during the battles in BF4.
DICE is also doing some work on the vehicles, weapon balance and making reviving another soldier a little easier. The new update will see a players defibrillators paddles make a sound when they're fully charged, and ready to revive a teammate. The developer has also promised improvements to the Rush, Obliteration, Obliteration Competitive, Capture the Flag and Carrier Assault game modes. The new update is expected sometime next month, but between now and then, if you don't own the game, enjoy a week free thanks to Origin's Game Time.

Twitch CEO apologizes over changes, says that improvements are coming
Twitch has landed itself in some hot water in the last 48 hours, with some changes after its acquisition by YouTube. 24 hours ago, the company announced it was undergoing some serious changes that would see the use of unauthorized music in Twitch streams silenced for 30-minute periods.

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Emmett Shear, Twitch's CEO, took to Reddit to answer some questions from users. The new rules about the use of unauthorized music don't apply to live broadcasts, and it will not affect games that feature original compositions. Reddit users were firing off some good points, that will see Rock Band playthrough videos muted because of the music that is copyrighted within the game.
The company was quick on pushing through changes though, where Twitch took to a blog explaining the new changes, that come after the news of the changes from yesterday. The maximum time limits applied to highlights have now been removed, and the company has said it is rolling out an "appeal" button for videos that have been flagged as violations. What do you think of these changes? Do you think Twitch has been sucked up into the big bad world of mega corporations that is Google?

YouTuber pranks consumers with fake iPhone 6, with 26-core processor
I don't know why I didn't do this first, but YouTuber Jonathan Morrison took a fake iPhone 6 to a bunch of random consumers to see if he could convince them that his early next-gen iPhone 6 was truly revolutionary. The results, are hilarious.

The iPhone 6 in question is a cheap Android smartphone with a very convincing skin of iOS painted on top, with Morrison explaining that: "once you look a little closer and spend even a minimal amount of time with it, you'll quickly realize that it is a big pile of s***". Better yet, he was able to convince people that this early iPhone 6 he had in his hands had a 26-core "A10" processor, because Apple was just so ahead of the competition it decided to skip the A8 and A9 processors.
Morrison continued bragging the specs up, telling the people in the video that it had an 8K display that was a Fire Phone-style 3D panel. Morrison went as far as telling the people in the video that Apple had replaced Siri with Google Now, because Google Now was superior and Apple had finally realized this.

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GIGABYTE teases its X99 Gaming G1 Wi-Fi motherboard
The X99 chipset tease continues, with GIGABYTE now offering its X99 Gaming G1 Wi-Fi motherboard up to gander at. GIGABYTE has used a truly gorgeous black-and-red theme on its X99-powered motherboard. There's also some hints of white, grey and green across the board.

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The company is using a full 4-way PCIe layout, with 8 DIMM slots, 10 SATA 6Gbps ports, two of the SATA feature SATA Express capabilities, which goes hand-in-hand with the M.2 slot smack bang in the middle of hte PCIe slots. There's also a mini-PCIe slot which looks like it contains the Wi-Fi module, with an antenna that is connected through the rear panel near the audio ports.
At the bottom of the motherboard, it looks like there are two USB 3.0 headers, two USB 2.0 headers and a Thunderbolt header. The X99 Gaming G1 Wi-Fi also looks like it has a Sound Core 3D audio chip with filter caps, PCB separation, an EMI shield on the codec, an audio gain switch and switchable op-amp. Up in the top right, we have multiple buttons and switches for the usual dual BIOS/selectable BIOS functionality, and much more. We should expect the GIGABYTE G1 Gaming Wi-Fi motherboard to be higher up on the X99 food chain for GIGABYTE, with more boards to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

FMS 2014 - Marvell speaks about their latest NVMe SSD controllers
Flash Memory Summit 2014 - The SSD industry is moving fast, and several companies with core SSD controller IP have been purchased by larger companies. As SSDs become more mainstream some of the smaller players, such as SMI, JMicron, and Phison, have become more prevalent in the SSD market.
We took a few moments to speak with Iri Trashanski from Marvell Technology Group about the state of the SSD controller industry. Marvell has one of the broadest lines of SSD controllers in the industry, and they recently announced their latest NVMe SSD controller. The NVMe 88SS1093 also features 3rd generation NANDEdge LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) technology. LDPC is the newest form of error correction that requires less space on the drive and also provides more error correction power. LDPC also allows for varying levels of error correction during different stages of the SSD life cycle.

The 88SS1093 features 4GB/s or 2GB/s endpoints, dependent upon host system customization, via a x4 PCIe 3.0 connection. The leaner command set and multiple queue/pair mechanisms within the NVMe stack will provide higher performance and lower latency in comparison to older interfaces.
Perhaps most importantly, LDPC technology can support 15nm TLC and 3D NAND.The endurance trade-offs of TLC require robust error correction technology. More TLC products are coming to market soon as Toshiba and Hynix start to sell TLC NAND to third parties. The controller supports NVMe 1.1 with its Tri-core CPU architecture, and also supports volumes up to 2TB. The 28nm CMOS process will enable lower cost and less power consumption. Power consumption is always relevant in mobile applications, and the small footprint of the 88SS1093 will likely be found in many laptops in the M.2 form factor.

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FMS 2014 -- Jim Handy speaks on the future of storage technology
Flash Memory Summit 2014 - Jim Handy from Objective Analysis stopped by our booth to talk about the latest and greatest in the storage market. Jim's 3D NAND series, which explores the rationale behind 3D NAND and delves into an in-depth breakdown of the architecture, has became a go-to source of information on 3D NAND. His informative series of articles can be found here on thememoryguy.com.

Jim also discusses the possibilities of future storage technology. Objective Analysis offers third-party independent market research and data for the semiconductor industry and investors in the semiconductor industry.

Netflix now has more subscription revenue than HBO
Netflix has been clear that it wants to be like HBO, the company is working hard to make that happen. Netflix announced in its most recent earnings report that it has more subscription revenue than HBO, indicating it is well on its way to being more like HBO. That isn't to say that Netflix has profits on the same order as HBO though.

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Netflix currently has about one-seventh as much profit as HBO rakes in. As far as subscription revenue goes, Netflix racked up $1.146 billion compared to HBO pulling in $1.141 billion. "They still kick our ass in profits and Emmys, but we are making progress," CEO Reed Hastings wrote. "HBO rocks, and we are honored to be in the same league."

US Navy successfully recovers Orion capsule in splashdown test
The Orion capsule is the spacecraft that will help American astronauts get back into space in the future. It's first flight is set for December, but preparations for other aspects of Orion operations are underway. One of those practice aspects is the recovery of the capsule after a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California.

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This week, US Navy dive teams aboard the USS Anchorage recovery vessel successfully recovered the Orion capsule during a practice test using a cradle and winch system. This test is the last time the Navy and NASA get to practice before the Orion is sent 3600 miles above the earth.
During that unmanned test flight, Orion will land in a splashdown in the ocean where it will be recovered and used again. NASA hasn't performed an at sea recovery of a spacecraft in a real mission since 1975.

Origami robot can unfold itself and walk away without human help
Robots that are able to do things all by themselves are nothing new. DARPA has been pushing for robots that can autonomously operate in all sorts of environments. A group of researchers from Harvard and MIT have been working together to develop a new small robot that is able to assemble itself and walk away without human help.

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The robot starts out as a flat sheet of paper and polystyrene plastic that has been etched with hinges. Along with that material is a flat and flexible circuit board, a pair of motors, a microcontroller, and two batteries.
The microcontroller activates the circuits that produce heat on command and that heat is required to fold the plastic to shape. Once done the little bot can amble off. Right now, the transformation process is triggered by connecting the battery. The team wants to make the bot smarter so it will transform in response to pressure or temperature changes.

Vizio recalls TVs due to faulty stands increasing tip over risk
We hear plenty about recalls of faulty cars for defects that can cause injury to owners, but we rarely hear about TVs being recalled. TV maker Vizio has done just that with a recall that has been expanded to cover 245,000 E-Series TVs that were sold between late 2013 and mid-2014.

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The TVs covered in the recall are 39-inch and 42-inch units and the recall is due to faulty stands that cause an increased risk of tip over. This can be particularly problematic for homes with small children who are more likely to be injured if the TV tips over.
The TVs in the recall include model numbers E390-B0, E390i-B0, and E420i-B0 sold between December 2013 and June 2014. Vizio says that the defect that can lead to tip over isn't visible on the outside of the TV. No injuries have been reported, but 51 TVs in the recalled line have tipped over.

Yahoo to offer end-to-end email encryption for users by next year
Many people are very focused on security and keeping their communications private. Some of the focus on privacy and security came after Edward Snowden leaked documents to the world that showed the US government was capturing information on the internet from unencrypted websites.

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Yahoo announced this week that users of its email service will have the option of encrypting emails sent from start to finish. The encryption will be available starting next year and will be enabled via a browser plug-in.
Yahoo's announcement comes only a short while after Google made a similar announcement. Yahoo says that it will bootstrap Google's code and that the Yahoo and Google encryption services will be compatible. Once the encryption is complete, the people will be able to send emails that only the intended recipient can read. Yahoo will use PGP encryption for its email.

Google to use its dominance to push encryption on more websites
When it comes to getting better rankings for their websites, you can bet many business users will do anything that Google tells them to. Google has a formula that it uses to determine the page raking for the sites that are returned in its listings when you type in a word or phrase.

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Exactly what Google uses to rank the pages is a secret, but it will occasionally give site owners an idea what they need to do to get better rankings. Such is the case with an announcement made this week that involves a change to the formula used to rank pages online.
Google has said that web pages that automatically encrypt their services will get a ranking boost in the Google recommendation system. Google says for now the encryption will be a small factor in ranking, but the company says that it may put greater emphasis on encryption in the future. Sites that start with "https" are going to get rankings boost.

IBM develops 4096 core processor that mimics a brain
Researchers at IBM are working on a new chip that is designed to mimic a human brain. The chip has 4096 cores and according to IBM, it is able to simulate millions of neurons. The chip was fabricated by Samsung and is known as SyNAPSE. Samsung used 28nm process to build the chip and it features 5.4 billion CMOS transistor gates.

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Total power consumption for the chip is 70mW and IBM says that the processor architecture is compatible with today's CPUs. The development of this processor was funded by DARPA with $53 million being contributed to the team for development.
IBM designed the chip with 16 TrueNorth chips on one circuit board allowing the chip to mimic sixteen million programmable neurons and four billion programmable synapses. Development of the chip continues with IBM working to improve density and power aiming at 20mW per cm2.

The Windows Phone Store is now home to over 300,000 aps
Microsoft has announced through its by the Numbers webpage that its Windows Phone Store is now home to over 300,000 apps. This doesn't begin to compare with Apple and Google, but it's a big milestone for Windows Phone, and Microsoft.

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A Microsoft spokesperson spoke with The Next Web, where they said: "We have more than 300,000 Windows Phone apps today and the Windows Phone Store continues to grow. In the past year alone the Windows and Windows Phone app catalog has grown 94%, while the number of active developers has grown by 50%".
The company was asked when it reached the 300,000 app milestone, where TNW was told the data: "is as of end of June 2014". If we rewind to December 2013, Microsoft had 200,000 apps and rewinding further to June 2012, it had just 100,000 apps. So we're seeing many more apps uploaded to the Windows Phone Store as time goes on, with over 100,000 apps uploaded within the last six months alone.

ADATA unveils its enthusiast-ready DDR4 memory, XPG Z1 RAM at 2.8GHz
We've already seen ADATA unveil its DDR4 kits, but they're only sitting at 2133MHz, and what fun is that? The company has now just unveiled its new enthusiast-focused DDR4 kits, named the XPG Z1 DDR4. These new kits are kicking up some speeds, and even though they don't match some of the insane speeds of DDR3, they're still faster than the original kits, at 2800MHz.

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ADATA will maek its new XPG Z1 DDR4 kits available as 4GB and 8GB modules, with 1.2V of power required in both dual- and quad-channel kits. The new kits are rated to run at 2133MHz at CL 15 15-15, or CL 13 13-13 timings. Cranking it up to 2400MHz, we have CL 16 16-16, and then we have the 2800MHz setting which sees the timings relaxed more to CL17 17-17.
The new kits are based on an advanced 10-layer printed-circuit boards with 2oz copper, meaning they're designed for some serious overclocking. The new ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4 kits sport a new cooling system, which features a very nice looking jet wing-inspired design with carbon texture that is used on race cars, which gives off the impression of serious performance. ADATA will make its new XPG Z1 DDR4 kits available to consumers next month, with a lifetime warranty.

Facebook is meeting with Hollywood execs for Oculus Rift movie content
Now that Facebook owns Oculus VR, it has been setting up meetings with various studio executives and directors around Hollywood, where it wants to see special content created for the Oculus Rift.

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We've already seen a few examples of how this would work, but now from massive Hollywood directors, with tens of millions of dollars behind them. People may have bad words to say about it, or doubt, but I think we're going to see more content for the Rift created and bigger success for true VR in movies than 3D ever did. Maybe not today, or next year, but within the next five years.

Mass Effect creator Casey Hudson leave BioWare
BioWare has just lost a key player to its ranks, with Casey Hudson leaving the company. Hudson was an Executive Producer on the Mass Effect series, but it looks like he's not leaving BioWare to join another company, he has explained that he just needs to "hit the reset button".

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Hudson wrote: "While I feel that the time has come, this is without a doubt the most difficult decision of my career. BioWare is as magical a place today as it was when I started. The projects we are working on are some of the most exciting and prestigious in the world. The talent in our teams is second to none. And the people here are some of my closest friends. I've spent more time with many of you than my own family, and I have enjoyed every day of it".

Xbox One exclusive breaks its chains, Ryse: Son of Rome coming to PC
One of the Xbox One launch titles was Ryse: Son of Rome, developed by Crytek, published by Microsoft. Ryse is now coming to the PC, with Crytek and Deep Silver co-publishing the game. Deep Silver recently acquired the rights to Homefront: The Revolution from Crytek, too.

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The flood gates aren't quite open for all games to come over from the Xbox One to PC, but they're happening. Ryse is the second Xbox One exclusive to come over to the PC, with Dead Rising 3 coming to the PC next month. Now all we need is for Microsoft to see the light and in order to better compete with the PS4, it could unleash Halo, Forza and a slew of other Xbox games to the PC.
What will Ryse on the PC have on offer? We'll see the original game with downloadable extras, 4K support, and hopefully much more.

Come watch a fish play Pokemon. Yes a fish, in a fish tank
Well, this is something you've probably never seen before: a fish playing Pokemon. Over on Twitch, there's a channel called FishPlaysPokemon (did you think it would be any different?) where they have Grayson Hopper, the fish in question, playing Pokemon.

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The channel explains: "Hi everyone! Welcome to our stream where our fish, Grayson Hopper, plays a Pokemon game. Unfortunately, we don't have a dedicated light for Grayson at night as he lives in a tiny dorm room and we would rather not sleep with the light on. :( But in the future we will be getting him a dedicated lamp and improving the quality of the stream to include recent inputs determined by the motion tracking. Things can move a little slow, so another option we're considering is making the system distributed where we have a site where you can provide a fish stream link and we'll include it in the controlling".
Right now there are 17,877 people watching, with a total of 1.17 million total channel views. Grayson has been playing Pokemon for around 125 hours, and now has a Charmander named 'AAAABBK' and even defeated his first opponent, the rival's Squirtle.

Charms menu in Windows 9 ditched, Microsoft to offer virtual desktops
We're starting to hear more and more about Windows 9, but what big changes should we expect with Microsoft's new desktop OS? For starters, we should be treated with a new Start Menu, as well as windowed "Metro-style" apps.

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Beyond that, it looks like Microsoft will be removing its Charms bar, which is an overlay from the right hand side of the OS that gives users quick access to search, share, the Start screen, devices and settings. This new information is being reported by The Verge, which has seen the changes in the latest builds of Windows Threshold, the codename for Microsoft's upcoming OS. Charms are useful for touch-based systems, something I often used to quickly search for something on my Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro Ultrabook, but outside of that, it's close to useless on traditional mouse and keyboard setups.
Another new addition to Windows 9 is the rumored virtual desktops feature, that will see power users and enterprise customers welcoming the new OS. Windows has supported virtual desktops before, but always through third-party software, but now Windows 9 users will be capable of creating their own separate active desktops, with the ability of switching between by clicking, or tapping a button on the taskbar. The addition of virtual desktops shows that Microsoft is getting serious about its focus on the desktop.

Samsung rumored to be working on smartphone with wraparound display
The latest prototype smartphone from Samsung looks super interesting, with the South Korean giant reportedly playing around with the idea of a smartphone prototype that features a wraparound display that would ditch the need for side bezels, reports ZDNet Korea.

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What this means is that the touch display will extend to the side of the smartphone, and will be used instead of the side buttons that we have on our smartphones today. ZDNet Korea's supply chain sources have said that it's "unclear whether Samsung will produce the new phone massively or change it to a limited edition premium phone for developed countries". What do you think about this type of smartphone? Would you love to ditch your tablet and have the best of both world's sitting in your pocket?

Orign's Game Time program makes Battlefield 4 free for a week
For the next 168 hours, or one week, Battlefield 4 is completely free. For those who haven't purchased it yet, EA is providing you with the chance to play the first-person shooter for free, thanks to Origin's Game Time program.

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Previously, Origin's Game Time program offered up Titanfall for free. The one-week of free Battlefield 4 goodness isn't just locked to single-player or multi-player, but it opens up the world's of both for the 168-hour timeframe. Gamers are open to downloading Battlefield 4 and playing it for free all the way through to August 14 at 10am PT. Once you start playing it, you'll receive a countdown to this time, so you'd better get in quick!

Silicon Motion SM2256 with Toshiba TLC A19 Flash SSD - Exclusive Tests

Introduction

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This may be one of the longest previews you've read and it will certainly be the longest I've ever wrote. Today, we have one circuit board sporting two new significant parts. Solid state drives are made up of a controller, NAND flash and little bits and pieces that are not as fun to talk about.
The controller is a bridge from your motherboard to the flash. It plays a significant role in the SSD since, as the name implies, it controls everything going in and out, as well as keeping your data safe. The R&D board we are using today has a fresh controller from Silicon Motion (SM2256) that was just publicly announced a few days ago. We'll cover the new SM2256 in detail on the following page.
You may wonder why SMI would release a new controller so soon after launching the SM2246 controller now found on a number of new consumer SSD products like the Corsair Force LX, PNY Optima and ADATA SP610. The answer is simple, it's the flash.
I think most of you already know the second significant part of an SSD is the NAND flash, the memory that holds your data. Flash makes up a large percentage of the overall SSD cost, some say around 90%. Any reduction in the cost of flash carries over into a lower priced final product, or at least it should.
The drive we're testing today uses Toshiba 3-bits per cell flash, also commonly referred to as triple-level cell or TLC. This is the first time a R&D board came to us with Toshiba TLC flash, and this preview will serve as the first third-party public test of Toshiba's new A19 TLC product.
We have a lot of information to cover today, so let's dive in and look at the controller, then the flash and follow up with some tests, and a breakdown on how this combination will affect your next SSD purchasing decision.
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D-Link DCH-S150 Wi-Fi Motion Sensor Review

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D-Link over the past few months has emerged as a leader in providing home users with the means to setup and maintain their own connected home.
Adding to this portfolio, D-Link has recently launched the Wi-Fi Motion Sensor DCH-S150. This motion sensor allows the average consumer a viable option to monitor motion in their home with its 26-foot PIR sensor. You can also pair the sensor with a Smart Plug to turn on lights when motion is sensed.
myDLink Home, an app available for both android and iOS devices, allows you to quickly setup your device and create events for it, so that you can be notified.
MSRP of the D-Link Wi-Fi Motion Sensor is set at $39.99 with a one-year warranty.

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The motion sensor carries a rather small footprint with the PIR sensor visible on the front of the device.

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The side of the unit houses the reset button tucked away in the pinhole and WPS button for quick setup.

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The plug side of the device just houses model and regulatory information.

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After installing and launching the app for iOS, we were greeted with a splash screen.

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Next up we started setup by selecting add new device.

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The following few menus guide you through selecting a network and getting the device setup for use.

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During setup, there are a few times you have to switch back and forth between networks to complete configuration.

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You've made it about halfway through when you see this screen for the first time.

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Next up we have to enter the pincode for the device, as it is secured.

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Finally, the app has found the motion sensor on our network and we are ready to finish.

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In the next few steps, you just name your motion sensor however you would like.

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Lastly, we have our motion sensor as part of our home group. From here, as you add devices, you can build events for each device. For instance, motion can turn on a light connected to a smart plug (review coming soon).
The DCH-S150 is a device I welcome in my personal home. I like the idea of setting up and managing my own surveillance and now the ability to add separate motion sensing capabilities is great.
Setup of the device was simple and painless, and while it was a decently long process with the app, in the end we had a garage motion sensor setup and working well.
One downfall I did find via the app on iOS was it became quite buggy when trying to sign up for a myDlink account. For those that already have an account, you shouldn't have any issue, but for those that don't, I would explore signing up for an account via the website before setting up your motion sensor.
PRICING: You can find the D-Link DCH-S150 Wi-Fi Motion Sensor for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The D-Link DCH-S150 Wi-Fi Motion Sensor retails for $39.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The D-Link DCH-S150 Wi-Fi Motion Sensor retails for CDN$56.60 at Amazon Canada.

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AVADirect Quiet Gaming PC Review

Introduction

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AVADirect isn't a name you hear every day when discussing gaming systems. AVADirect is more known for its professional systems, including government contract systems and high-end workstations, which I'm sure we'll see reviews of on here soon enough.
We're most interested, however, in AVADirect's Quiet Gaming PC. The name seems to be somewhat of a misnomer. It's not all that common to combine the words "quiet" and "gaming." I speak from experience. I've seen numerous gaming PCs come through the lab, and none are what I would call "quiet." My test system for monitors sports a pair of reference ASUS Radeon R9 290Xs, and I usually have the fans cranked to 70+ percent to keep them from throttling. It's not quiet by any stretch of the imagination.
Without giving away too much of the review, I can confirm that the Quiet Gaming PC from AVADirect lives up to its name by being the quietest gaming PC we have tested in our labs. Without further ado, let's dive into the meat of this review.

Specifications, Configurations and Pricing

We're looking at a top-notch system in terms of components and performance. The heart of the system is provided by Intel's latest Haswell processor, the i7-4790K. The 4790K is the refresh of the 4770K and comes with a stock clock of 4.0GHz and a max Turbo speed of 4.4GHz. These are blistering speeds, but our review found that it doesn't seem to overclock quite as well as the older 4770K. The 4790K is otherwise identical to the 4770K for all intents and purposes, save for the support of VT-d. A brief note: VT-d allows for direct pass-through of I/O when virtualizing systems. At PDXLAN, we saw a virtualized system playing four copies of Battlefield 4 with just one CPU, motherboard, and RAM. The GPUs were passed through to each VM, along with one USB controller for each VM.
AVADirect has done a good job in choosing a CPU cooler for this system. It's important to pick a cooler that is capable of running at a low noise level, while still providing acceptable temperatures. AVADirect equipped our Quiet Gaming PC with ZALMAN's FX100 Ultimate.
Forming the backbone of the system, GIGABYTE's G1.Sniper Z97 motherboard is a gaming oriented motherboard. With features such as Killer E2200 gaming networking and an onboard Creative Sound Core3D quad-core audio processor, this motherboard makes for a great backbone in a gaming machine.
Slotted into the backbone, four 4GB sticks of Kingston Genesis HyperX LoVo 1600MHz RAM makes for a system total of 16GB. These DIMMs run at CL9-9-9 at just 1.35 volts. They are covered in green heat spreaders to keep RAM temperatures down.
Graphics are provided by an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 3GB video card. In our system, we have a GIGABYTE GV-N780OC-3GD, which makes use of GIGABYTE's WINDFORCE 3X cooler. It features a base clock of 954MHz with a boost clock of 1006MHz. We're happy that AVADirect has chosen to install Windows 7 upon the two-drive RAID 0 array of Kingston HyperX 3K SSDs. Each drive features a capacity of 120GB, so the combined array is 240GB in size.
Housing all of these components is the NZXT H630 Glossy White chassis. The inside of the side panels of this system feature foam to help keep noise inside, and the system features numerous adjustable fans on the inside - we reviewed it back in 2013.
AVADirect offers a plethora of customization options, ranging from different cases to different custom multisleeved cables. Our system spec'd out to $2792.50 plus tax and shipping. Not exactly easy on the wallet, but is it worth it? Keep reading and you'll find out.
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BitFenix Prodigy M Micro-ATX Chassis Review

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

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If you are in the know, then you can remember the release of the original Prodigy from BitFenix. The chassis released at the perfect time; the design was revolutionary, and gave users something outside the conventions of what a SFF chassis design typically offered. Of course, after this chassis hit the market, it was also a huge hit for the mod community, as it seemed everyone was buying them. The chassis was so well received, that even after quite some time, BitFenix found it productive for the bottom line to go back and offer this chassis in a plethora of colors to help match various system themes.
Some people in the mod community took things a step further. They were taking the Prodigy and hacking away at the back, removing the motherboard tray, and reconfiguring the entire interior to fit Micro-ATX based systems. They just liked the Prodigy so much that come hell or high water, they were going to make the much larger motherboard fit. But those days are now over. BitFenix has listened to the complaints, seen the mods themselves, and they figured: why not offer what all those people want, directly from the factory, with no modding needed?
This is exactly why we have you here today: to have a look at the way BitFenix answered the call for a reconfigured Prodigy that will fit a Micro-ATX system, right out of the box. Their answer to your call is the Prodigy M. The outside of this design kept all of the things that made the original so successful, but with BitFenix taking control of the redesign, you no longer have to worry about things like removing the motherboard tray and PSU location, then having to invent a motherboard tray. But what about storage, since the motherboard support also took care of that?
Well, in this design, BitFenix has covered all of the angles. With the Prodigy M, there is plenty of room for Micro-ATX based systems, and there is a new way of installing the PSU; plus, there are some other very handy design features that you will have to continue reading to find out about.

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The chassis is still mostly made of steel, with the exception of a plastic front bezel, and FyberFlex composite handles or feet, depending on whether you are speaking of the top or bottom. For now, the Prodigy M is only available in all black trimming, or the white version we received, which has highlights of black trim. The chassis is not all that large considering that we can house Mini-ITX, as well as much larger Micro-ATX motherboards. On the inside of the chassis there is room for a single 5.25" device, and the bay is completely removable as well. There is room for either four 3.5" drives, or up to five 2.5" drives, or some combination of the two. At the back of the chassis there are five expansion slots to fill. On the right side of the chassis, the I/O panel offers a pair of USB 3.0 ports, 3.5mm HD Audio jacks, and of course, two lights, a power button, and a reset button.
Cooling in this smaller chassis is quite varied in its options. The top of the chassis is not shipped with any fans, but there is room for a pair of fans, with or without a radiator. The floor of the chassis does ship with a 120mm fan to exhaust out of the bottom, but this location can also house either a 200mm or 230mm fan as well. The rear offers the second fan in the chassis, and it is another 120mm fan installed as an exhaust. The front does have holes drilled to accept fans, but due to the new PSU orientation and location, this area is off limits for optional fans. The nice thing about the PSU location is that the bracket that holds the PSU in place allows the fan to face the front to draw in cooler air, or you can use it with the fan facing inward, as additional system exhaust.
Since the original Prodigy is still widely available on the market for right near $70 U.S. dollars, anyone with a Mini-ITX motherboard based system is well on their way to a new build. However, for those looking for a vertical orientation of the motherboard, less restrictive PSU area, better storage options, and the ability to fit a Micro-ATX motherboard inside - you are going to want to spring for the Prodigy M. The fact that we are finding the Prodigy M at $99.99 is no surprise to us.
Re-tooling costs money; the time to re-engineer the layout costs money; and the fact that there is no need to run to the hardware store to make gear fit, is all worth that $30 difference in the end. If you are still not sure that the Prodigy M, Micro-ATX chassis is the right case for you, then please continue on, as we are certain you will appreciate the updates found in this redesign, even if you are looking for a Mini-ITX chassis, and were already pondering the original design.
PRICING: You can find the BitFenix Prodigy M for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing, but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The BitFenix Prodigy M (White) retails for $99.99 at Amazon, and the BitFenix Prodigy M (Black) retails for $122.99 at Amazon.
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Phobya Pure Performance Kit 240LT CPU Cooler Review

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

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We were first introduced to Aquatuning when we brought our last custom loop review to our readers with the Alphacool. Today, we are once again working with Aquatuning to bring forward another of their assembled kits. When we looked at the Aquacool, we clearly noticed everything had moved over to metric tools, but we also noticed that Aquatuning kits have everything someone will need to get started with a kit style purchase; Aquatuning has done all of the work of selecting products. This also eliminates possible tubing issues, fitting issues, and even covers the small things you may have never thought of in the first place. This gets your purchase and assembly done much faster since virtually everything you need is all-in-one box; no muss, no fuss.
While this is our second time working with Aquatuning, this is the first we are getting our hands-on anything that Phobya has made. If you frequent the forums, and are in the water cooling scene, the Phobya name is nothing new; we just tended to go back to companies like Danger Den, Swiftech, and EK, as the doors there were already open. Expanding horizons is always a good thing though, and we do like that we have an open door to sample pretty much anything Aquatuning, whether it's from their overseas base, or their newer US and Canada site.
It is much easier for people on this side of the pond to gain access to what we used to only see from the EU system builders. The tide has changed now though, and thankfully, we can bring you a much wider perspective on what is currently out there in water cooling, outside of the companies we typically review products from.
The reason we have you here today is because we have been sent the Phobya Pure Performance Kit 240LT for assembly and testing. In this review, we plan cover every aspect of the included components and accessories. To put it simply, this kit from Phobya has to be the best deal in kit style setups that we have seen in quite some time. Our more frequent readers know it is out of the ordinary for us to make such a statement so early in the review, but what we have today will at least raise an eyebrow, and it will definitely leave this Pure Performance Kit 240 LT from Phobya high on your must-have list.

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Since Aquatuning put this kit together, they make short work of the technical details they provide for this Pure Performance Kit 240LT. In the specifications provided, we are given information on the 13mm OD and the 10mm ID of the supplied tubing. We are also informed that Phobya makes all of the parts, and that this kit offers excellent performance for its class. Furthermore, we are told it does not come pre-filled, it uses a dual 120mm radiator, and it is capable of fitting any relative Intel socket. Well, as far as this chart is concerned, we are done with the specs.
Let us take this to another level though; shall we? Now, you do get 13mm OD by 10mm ID, Masterkleer black PVC tubing, and there is nearly three meters of it included. Part of the reason that this kit received an excellent rating is due to the Phobya CPU-Cooler UC-2 LT block that has been tested at other sites with great success. The loop is not pre-filled, but it does include a 1000ml bottle of Phobya ZuperZero Clear coolant. There is also the G-Changer240 V2, which is a 240mm radiator that is 60mm thick.
That isn't all that is included by any means though. There is still the DC12-220 pump that offers 2.2 meters of head pressure, and 400 liters per hour of flow. There is also the clear Balancer 150 reservoir, which has the top and bottom caps, and its diverter plate, all done in black nickel plating. We also get two G-Silent 120mm fans, a splitter cable to power them, black nickel compression fittings, a tubing cutter, an ATX power adapter, and a few Phobya stickers. That should just about cover everything.
What we are really digging about the Pure Performance Kit 240LT, is that it can be easily found on the Aquatuning site, with no signs of stock limitations. On top of that, this kit, which you will soon see abusing our charts, can be had for less than $200. As we looked on the Aquatuning website, we saw that they offer this kit for $182.76, and that is including shipping and tax. For those of you over the pond who may want to search out this kit as well, expect to pay 149.99 EUR, including VAT plus returns.
If what we have discussed about the kit already doesn't drawn your attention, and the pricing does not seem like a very good deal yet, we strongly urge that you continue reading. Once you see what the Phobya Pure Performance Kit 240LT is capable of, we are pretty sure your AIOs will soon find the bin in order to make room for this top-tier kit.
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Crucial MX100 512GB SSD Review

Introduction

For years, we've talked about price versus performance with SSDs. Performance was always the major metric to compare per dollar, because when grouped, a larger SSD didn't fit into other capacity brackets on a per dollar basis. Things are changing though, and mainstream, or value SSDs, whatever you want to call them, have drastically changed the market.
If you plan to spend $200 to $250 on a new SSD, then you have a few options. On the performance side, Samsung's 850 Pro and SanDisk's Extreme PRO ding your credit card for $199.99 in 256GB class capacity sizes. Intel's 730 240GB SSD comes in at $231.98. Then there is the Crucial MX100 512GB, which is double the capacity size, but comes in at a friendly $214.99. To be fair though, even Crucial's flagship M550 512GB, the "Pro" model in Crucial's line up, fits our $250 limit. Newegg has the M550 512GB listed for just $244.99 at the time of writing.
Today we're focusing on the Crucial MX100 512GB. Just a week ago, we tested the MX100 256GB, and we found it to be a solid performer for most non-heavy users. The 512GB is also a value based SSD, but we suspect this capacity size fits the sweet spot for most gamers.
Since a lot of you guys are getting ready to head back to college, and have a pocket full of scholarship or grant money, this is a good time to tell you about Crucial's best capacity per dollar offering.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability

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The MX100 series ships in three capacity sizes, 128GB, 256GB, and the large 512GB model we're testing today. All three capacity sizes are rated for 72TB of data writes, or equal to 40GB per day for five years. The 512GB model is the fastest of the lot; it's able to write sequential data at 500 MB/s -up from the 150 MB/s, and 33 MB/s on the smaller capacity models. The sequential read speed is same across the board, 550 MB/s, which is close to the limits of SATA III.
Inside, Crucial used a Marvell 88SS9189 controller with Micron developed firmware. The controller is paired with Micron's new 16nm lithography NAND flash. The combination delivers very high random read (85,000) and random write (90,000) 4K IOPS; this type of performance is much more than the price would suggest.
The MX100 also uses the same controller Crucial used on the flagship M550. All of the advanced features trickled down to the MX100. Hardware encryption from an AES-256 engine supports both TCG Opal 2.0, and Microsoft's eDrive. Other advanced features also made the list as well.
The MX100 series hit the market in the middle of June 2014, and the prices have leveled off from the MSRPs. The MX100 512GB we're looking at today now costs just $211.99 at Amazon, which is less than 50 cents per GB; a nice place for gamers looking for high capacity in a low price, but high quality build.
PRICING: You can find the Crucial MX100 SSD for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing, but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The Crucial MX100 128GB SSD retails for $73.99 at Amazon, the Crucial MX100 256GB SSD retails for $109.99 at Amazon, and the Crucial MX100 512GB SSD retails for $211.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The Crucial MX100 128GB SSD retails for CDN$79.99 at Amazon Canada, the Crucial MX100 256GB SSD retails for CDN$180.34 at Amazon Canada, and the Crucial MX100 512GB SSD retails for CDN$224.99 at Amazon Canada.
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QNAP Also Announces Support for the New WD Red and Red Pro NAS Hard Drives
QNAP Systems, Inc. announced today that Turbo NAS products now support the new WD Red 5/6 TB NAS hard drives and WD Red Pro NAS hard drives. Specifically designed for NAS applications and featuring exclusive NASware 3.0 technology, the new WD Red and WD Red Pro hard drives provide enhanced reliability and performance for NAS applications.

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The new WD Red 5/6 TB NAS hard drives are designed for NAS systems with up to 8 drive bays and can easily meet the growing data storage demands of SOHO and home users. The WD Red Pro NAS hard drives are designed to provide affordable, robust and highly-reliable hard drives for medium-to-large-scale business NAS systems with 8-16 drive bays.
"Fueled by the continuous growth of the global NAS market, WD Red NAS hard drives now offer larger capacities to fulfill the data storage needs of home NAS users. With the addition of WD Red Pro, the expanded WD Red family now offers medium to large business NAS systems a key solution for handling the increasing workloads in modern business environments," said Darrin Bulik, Director of Digital Video & NAS Products, WD Storage Technology. "We have worked closely with QNAP to ensure compatibility for WD Red &WD Red Pro NAS drives with Turbo NAS, providing users with reliable hard drives for optimal performance and robust data protection."
"We are glad to offer our users more options in choosing suitable hard drives for their Turbo NAS by fully supporting WD's latest NAS drives," said Jason Hsu, product manager of QNAP. "By using the new WD Red hard drives, our users will enjoy higher capacities, greater reliability, and an enhanced WD service."
The new WD Red hard drives and WD Red Pro hard drives are available in 3.5-inch form factors and SATA 6 Gb/s interface to provide capacity-optimized solutions, including:

WD Red 5 TB (WD50EFRX ) and 6 TB (WD60EFRX); 3-year limited warranty
WD Red Pro 2 TB (WD2001FFSX), 3 TB (WD3001FFSX), and 4 TB (WD4001FFSX); 5-year limited warranty

For more information about WD Red NAS hard drives, visit http://wdc.com/en/products/internal/nas/
To discover the full lineup of Turbo NAS-compatible hardware, go to http://www.qnap.com/compatibility. To learn more about QNAP Turbo NAS products, please visit http://www.qnap.com.

NVIDIA Announces Financial Results for Q2 of Fiscal 2015
NVIDIA today reported revenue for the second quarter ended July 27, 2014, of $1.10 billion, up 13 percent from $977 million a year earlier and in line with the previous quarter. Revenue for the first half was up 14 percent to a record $2.21 billion from $1.93 billion a year earlier.

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GAAP earnings per diluted share for the quarter were $0.22, up 38 percent from $0.16 a year earlier and down 8 percent from the previous quarter. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share were $0.30, up 30 percent from $0.23 a year earlier and up 3 percent from the previous quarter.
"We had a great quarter with strong gains in each of our three growth areas -- Gaming, Datacenter & Cloud, and Mobile," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of NVIDIA. "Our Tesla datacenter business is in high gear, benefiting from strong demand from cloud service providers, and our new SHIELD tablet is generating considerable excitement. ‎ NVIDIA's accelerating growth stems directly from investments in extending our visual computing leadership to the mobile-cloud revolution."
During the second quarter, NVIDIA paid $47 million in cash dividends and received 6.8 million shares under the $500 million structured repurchase agreement it entered into in the first quarter. During the first quarter, the company had paid $47 million in cash dividends and had received 20.6 million shares under the agreement. As a result, during the first half, NVIDIA has returned $594 million of the $1 billion it intends to return to shareholders in fiscal 2015.
NVIDIA will pay its next quarterly cash dividend of $0.085 per share on Sept. 12, 2014, to all stockholders of record on Aug. 21, 2014. NVIDIA expects that a portion of this dividend payment may be considered a return of capital for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Second Quarter Fiscal 2015 Highlights
During the second quarter, NVIDIA:

Extended its leading position in datacenter accelerated computing, with the world's 15 most efficient supercomputers all running NVIDIA Tesla GPUs, according to the latest Green500 list.
Surpassed 40 million installations in under two years of its GeForce Experience client, which provides game-ready drivers and optimal playable settings, and allows gameplay to be streamed and shared.
Invented the first-ever GPU acceleration technology for Adobe Illustrator CC, with performance up to 10x faster than previously possible. Adobe Illustrator CC is used by more than six million artists and designers worldwide.
Featured prominently at the Google I/O conference, where Google's new Android L was previewed. NVIDIA Tegra K1 is the first processor to support Android L's advanced gaming capabilities; the first to bring GPU computing to mobile, evident in Google's Project Tango tablet, which features computer vision capabilities; and among the first to support Android TV.
Expanded the SHIELD family of gaming devices with the launch of the world's most advanced tablet built for gamers, the SHIELD tablet, along with the SHIELD wireless controller.
Accelerated the growth of its auto business, as BMW shipped new models, including the i8 and i3 with infotainment systems powered by Tegra. Volkswagen announced that, in addition to the Golf, Tegra will be included in the Passat launching later this year in Europe.

NVIDIA's outlook for the third quarter of fiscal 2015 is as follows:

Revenue is expected to be $1.20 billion, plus or minus two percent.
GAAP and non-GAAP gross margins are expected to be 55.2 percent and 55.5 percent, respectively, plus or minus 50 basis points.
GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $463 million; non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be approximately $416 million.
GAAP and non-GAAP tax rates for the third quarter and annual fiscal 2015 are both expected to be 19 percent, plus or minus one percentage point. This estimate excludes any discrete tax events that may occur during a quarter which, if realized, may increase or decrease NVIDIA's actual effective tax rates in such quarter.
Capital expenditures are expected to be approximately $40 million to $50 million.

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