General Gaming Article |
- Midrange SSD Head-to-Head
- How to Build a Linux Gaming PC
- Newegg Daily Deals: WD My Book 2TB USB 3.0 HDD, Rosewill PSU Tester, and More!
- Who Wants Some Free Stuff?
- Retired Music Theorist Concocts Krush Keyboard So Everyone Can Type 100 WPM or More
- Advertisers Miffed Over Mozilla's Upcoming Do-Not-Track Default in Firefox
- Western Digital Acquires Stec to Solidify Enterprise SSD Business
- Despite Ongoing Decline in Traditional PC Demand, Sales Will Trump Tablets Through 2014
Posted: 24 Jun 2013 04:20 PM PDT Samsung and Corsair SSDs go at it once againSeveral months ago, the supreme high-end SSDs from Corsair and Samsung faced off in the Octagon known as the top of our desk area that holds drives being tested. In that blood-curdling battle (in which neither drive moved nor made a sound), the Samsung 840 Pro was victorious, vanquishing its opponent by a slim margin in a contest where zero trash talk was delivered by either storage device. This month, round two commences as the companies' value-conscious SSDs clash like cars in a demolition derby by sitting quietly on a test bench while we perform benchmarks upon them. Neither of these drives is as fast as their top-tier brethren, but they are priced accordingly, and both are a damned-good value. Corsair Neutron Series 240GBThe Corsair Neutron is a slightly detuned version of the company's Kick Ass award–winning Neutron GTX SSD. It shares the GTX's all-new Link A Media Device (LAMD) controller, the same slim 7mm form factor, and the same five-year warranty, which is as good as they get these days. The biggest difference between the two drives is the type of NAND flash they use, with the expensive GTX drive boasting the swanky Toshiba 24nm Toggle NAND, and the less expensive Neutron using 25nm ONFI MLC NAND from Micron, which helps keep the drive's price in check. According to the drive's spec charts, the ONIF NAND is significantly slower than the Toggle NAND from Toshiba for write operations, but the two are evenly matched when it comes to read speeds. The GTX also has a slight edge when it comes to 4K random-write IOPS. Corsair's Neutron uses the LAMD controller found in the Neutron GTX, but goes with the less-costly Micron NAND. We tested the 240GB version of the drive, which is 223GB after being formatted. The extra 16GB of space you can't see or access is used for over-provisioning. The drive comes with a SATA 6Gb/s connector, it supports the Trim command in Windows 7, and is also available in a 120GB capacity. Its bundle includes a 3.5-inch bay adapter but no software. To test the drive, we ran it through our gauntlet of benchmarks and compared it with the Samsung 840 as well as other drives at its price point. On the whole, the Neutron performed extremely well for a midrange drive, though it didn't top every category of testing. In our top-speed test of sequential reads, it delivered impressive 454MB/s and 363MB/s read and write speeds, respectively, placing it just behind the Samsung in read speeds, and making it the second-fastest in write speeds, just behind the OCZ Vertex 4. When it comes to incompressible data such as MP3s and video, the Neutron performed respectably in our AS SSD benchmark, again losing slightly to the Vertex 4 but outpacing the Samsung. Corsair claims the drive shines in tests such as this, and though its score isn't top of the charts, it's in line with Corsair's marketing, as its read speeds are stellar, even if its write speeds are a bit slower than the competition. In our ATTO 64K sequential-read and -write test with a four-command queue, the Neutron was about on par with the Vertex 4 in read speeds but back-of-the-pack in write performance by a small margin. Where the Neutron really shines is in high I/O scenarios such as our Iometer test, which pummels the drive silently via software with a queue of 32 4K random write requests. In this test we saw the Neutron deliver a beatdown on every other drive we tested, and its score of 80,466 IOPS puts it in the same league as its much more expensive top-tier competitors. It also threw down the gauntlet (despite not having arms) in our real-world PCMark Vantage test, racking up a surprising score of 70,030, which is impressive for a drive of this price range. In our final test of Premiere Pro, the Neutron hung with its compatriots, so there's nothing special to report on that front. All in all, the Neutron impressed us with its speed, warranty, and price point. It's not quite as inexpensive as the Intel 335 or the Samsung 840, but it's faster. When compared to the Vertex 4, though, it loses in most tests by a healthy margin even though the two are priced the same. That makes it a nail-biter since both drives have a five-year warranty and the Vertex 4 is a little long in the tooth. But the numbers don't lie—the OCZ drive is faster. $225, www.corsair.com Click the next page for the Samsung 840 Series SSD review.
Samsung 840 Series 250GBBy now, you've probably heard of the Samsung 840 Pro—it's the new fat cat in town in the SSD world, and sits atop our benchmark charts lazily cleaning itself while peering down at all the other SSDs clamoring to take its place. That drive is redonk, but there's only one problem—it's quite expensive at $250. To satiate those who want a Samsung SSD but don't have two-fiddy lying around, Samsung introduced its midrange drive, the 840 Amateur (that's what we are calling it). The big deal with this drive is that it features an all-new kind of NAND known as TLC instead of using the very common MLC NAND (literally every consumer SSD on the market uses MLC). TLC stands for triple-level cell as opposed to multi-level cell, as it stores three bits per cell instead of two. More bits on the same wafer means higher capacities without increasing cost, but there's a catch—TLC NAND has lower overall endurance than MLC NAND, but don't get too worked up over it. Though the drive only has a three-year warranty, as opposed to the five-year warranty of the Pro version, it's still rated to run for a decade under normal consumer-usage patterns. Samsung's vanilla-flavored 840 SSD is the first to use TLC NAND flash, which helps keep the price down. The drive itself features a slim 7mm form factor in case you want to stuff it inside an Ultrabook, and it rides the SATA 6Gb/s rails. Its bundle includes Samsung's SSD Magician utility, which handles everything from drive diagnostics to data migration and more, but it lacks a 3.5-inch bay adapter. It's available in 120GB, 250GB (seen here), and 500GB versions; the 250GB version we tested is 232GB after formatting. During testing, the 840 performed admirably, especially in sequential-read speeds, where it was the fastest drive in both the tests we use to measure this metric. In CrystalDiskMark it saturated the SATA 6Gb/s bus at 523.6MB/s, but its sequential-write speed was its Achilles' heel at just 260.1MB/s. The OCZ Vertex 4, by comparison, is twice as fast. Its performance was similar in our four-command-queue test with a 64K file size, hitting 530.2MB/s read and 265.9MB/s write speeds in ATTO. The drive deals pretty well with incompressible data too, taking the top spot in our AS SSD test for 4KB-write IOPS, but placing mid-pack in 4KB reads. When dealing with a heavy queue of 32 4K write commands, it placed third overall; not too shabby considering it's the least-expensive drive here. In our real-world PCMark Vantage test, its score of 56,482 was again third-best, so it's once again better than average. Its Premiere Pro 20GB write-test time of 241 ties the OCZ Vertex 4, but all the drives are very close in this test, suggesting it's CPU-limited. In our estimation, there's nothing wrong with the Samsung 840 SSD. It's a low-cost SSD, so you have to consider that factor when examining the benchmark scores. All the Internet rumors about TLC NAND being unreliable are just that—rumors. Nobody has worn out a TLC NAND device yet, and it would take quite a long time to ever do so; the same goes for MLC NAND, so don't believe the trash talk. Also, we should point out that Samsung is not an SSD manufacturer that has a reputation for being unreliable. That said, aside from its excellent sequential-read speeds, there's not much else to get excited about with this SSD. It's a low-price drive with decent-to-great performance, and that's the bottom line. $180, www.samsung.com Benchmarks
Best scores are bolded. Our current test bed is a 3.2GHz Core i5-3470K processor on a Gigabyte Z77X-UP4TH motherboard running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. All tests used onboard 6Gb/s SATA ports with latest Intel drivers. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
How to Build a Linux Gaming PC Posted: 24 Jun 2013 02:05 PM PDT We show you how to build an affordable Linux gaming PCThe free Linux operating system has been around for ages, but its inherent complexity and limited support has always relegated its use to extreme enthusiasts, programmers, and other hardcore types. That might be changing, though, as a lot of loyal PC enthusiasts are less than pleased with Windows 8, and gaming juggernaut Valve has thrown its hat into the ring by launching a Linux version of Steam, its popular online content delivery service. Given the lackluster reception of Windows 8 and the renewed popularity of Linux, we decided to build a Linux gaming box to see for ourselves whether the OS, at this time, could be a reasonable alternative to Windows for gaming. Choosing the HardwareOur Linux machine was built with a low target price of $650 because we wanted this project to be semi-easy to duplicate by anyone. With this in mind, we started with Intel's Ivy Bridge Core i3-3220 processor, as it comes at a reasonable cost, gives us a great upgrade path, and its low TDP of 55W means we won't need a massive CPU cooler or PSU. Our Asus P8Z77-V LE motherboard is also affordable while offering both SLI and CrossFire support, as well as two USB 3.0 ports. Power is provided by a CX430 Corsair power supply from the company's low-cost Builder series. Given our modest build-out, we figured anything bigger than 430W would be overkill. GPU duties are handled by a Gigabyte GTX 650 video card, which at $120 performs better than a Radeon HD 7750 and should be sufficient for our Linux adventure. The system requirements of the available games are very low, so a more powerful GPU would be wasted. As our budget didn't allow for an SSD, we went with a 500GB, 7,200rpm WD Caviar Blue. We scored 8GB of G.Skill Ripjaws RAM because it was dirt cheap at just $45. Holding all the gear is a Corsair Carbide case, which is just $60 but has USB 3.0 front panel ports, cable routing, and tool-less drive bays. With the hardware in hand, it's time to build the machine. If you need any guidance putting it together, check out this step-by-step PC building guide from a previous build. Now, let's turn your new box into a Linux gaming rig. INGREDIENTS
Click the next page to see how to install Linux. 1. Download Your DistroWe chose the Ubuntu flavor of Linux for this project because it's considered the easiest to use for beginners. To get started, we headed to the website (www.ubuntu.com) and downloaded our preferred flavor (image A). We chose version 12.04 LTS because it will be supported for five years rather than the latest 12.10 version, which will be only be supported for two years. After the download was complete, we prepared to burn the ISO image to a blank CD-R. 2. Burn the ISO to DiscWe had to find suitable software for burning the ISO to CD-R (at 695MB, the distro fits on one disc). We then used the free and easy-to-use Active@ ISO Burner to burn our distro to a CD. Go to www.ntfs.com/iso-burning.htm for the download, then run it. Browse to the ISO, select your optical drive, and hit the Burn button (image B). When it's done, pop the disc into the optical drive of your new guinea rig, and prepare to install Linux. 3. Install the OSThe biggest decision you'll have to make when installing Linux involves drive partitioning (a partition is a chunk of a storage device that appears to the OS as a separate volume). If you're multibooting, install Linux to a separate partition, but if you're like us and just want to run it off one storage device, you can ignore partition options (image C). After you've finished (or skipped) partitioning your hard drive, the OS will begin to install. It took about 30 minutes on our 7,200rpm drive, but it will take about 10-15 minutes on an SSD (we tested it just for fun). 4. Update the OSJust like with Windows, the first thing you'll want to do after you've installed Ubuntu is update the operating system. To do so, you will need to grab the latest updates from the Update Manager. Do this by clicking the power button in the right-hand corner of the screen and then clicking Update Manager to see a list of the latest updates; click Install Updates (image D). Unlike with Windows, which can take days to get up to date if you're not using a Service Pack, the update process for Ubuntu took about 15 minutes. After that and a single reboot, we were up to date. Click the next page to read about how to install the video/sound drivers.
5. Install Video/Sound DriversThe last thing you'll need to do before installing Steam is to install the latest video drivers and other non-open-source or proprietary drivers, such as those for your motherboard. To install these drivers you'll simply click the green video-card icon in the right-hand corner of the screen, which pops up a window that displays the proprietary drivers for your computer (image E). One of the cooler features of Ubuntu Linux is that it finds all the available drivers for your system, so you don't have to visit the manufacturers' website to download them. After you've finished downloading the drivers, you'll need to restart your system, and then you'll be completely set up and ready to tackle some games with Valve's Steam client. 6. Install SteamInstalling Steam is fairly simple. Download the client from Valve's website and then double-click it to run the installer, which takes you to Ubuntu's Software Center. This Software Center shows you any newly installed software, and it's where we'll install Steam (image F). Once it's installed, you can run the client. But first, you might want to check out other open-source games that are listed in the Software Center, which is a mini app store providing a few games and other small applications for Linux users. 7. Set Up SteamAfter Installing Steam, you will need to log into your account and authenticate your computer via email. You can start installing games on your Ubuntu 12.04 machine (image G) after your first log-in. As of this writing, there were 41 games available, and just like in Windows, each of them (aside from TF2, of course) costs money. You will also be able to download any of your previously purchased games that are Linux-compatible (Team Fortress 2, for example). Although 41 games isn't very many, Valve has been adding new titles at a steady clip. The company added 15 of the 41 titles in its Linux library in just the first month of the new Steam client's existence. Living La Vida LinuxOverall, we were impressed with the experience we had using Linux for Internet browsing, word processing, and playing games. The OS ran surprisingly well on our modest rig. It booted quickly, shut down in a heartbeat, and handled multitasking without any problems. When it comes to gaming, our feeling is that it handles the games we play just fine, but the test bed of 41 offered by Steam at this time is too small a sample—we want more! We know Steam is not the only supplier of games, but we're still talking about a relatively small gaming universe on Linux. As an example, Steam offers more than 6,000 titles on the Windows platform, so clearly no hardcore gamer can survive on Linux alone. Also, there are zero triple-A titles on Steam for Linux at this time—that right there is a deal-killer for us, at least in the long run. In testing, we sampled Team Fortress 2, Trine 2, and Waveform, and they all ran with ease at 1920x1200 on our budget box, with all settings maxed. We were greatly impressed by just how smoothly the games hummed along. Just because we can't survive on Linux alone doesn't mean we didn't like experimenting with it on the side, however. Building the Linux gaming box was a fun experience, and we'd recommend any enthusiast take it for a test drive. Besides, both Linux and Steam are free, so trying either one won't cost you a dime. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Newegg Daily Deals: WD My Book 2TB USB 3.0 HDD, Rosewill PSU Tester, and More! Posted: 24 Jun 2013 01:25 PM PDT Top Deal: Every power user knows he should be regularly backing up his data, but not everyone does it. Unfortunately, you never really appreciate a solid backup solution until you desperately need one, but rather than wait for something to go wrong, prepare yourself in advance. We'd like to help by offering up our top deal for a WD My Book 2GB Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive for $90 with free shippping (normally $150 - use coupon code EMCXPVX63). It's affordable, fast, and comes with automatic backup software! Other Deals: Rosewill RTK-PST Digital LCD Power Supply Tester for $12 with free shipping (normally $17 - use coupon code:[EMCXPVX74]) Rosewill 2.5" SSD / HDD Mounting Kit for 3.5" Drive Bay w/60mm Fan for $5 with free shipping (normally $10 - use coupon code:[EMCXPVX73]) Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0 for $23 with free shipping (normally $35; additional $5 mail-in rebate) Sony 4.7GB 16X DVD-R 100 Pack Spindle for $17 with free shipping (normally $22 - use coupon code:[EMCXPVX47]) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Posted: 24 Jun 2013 10:43 AM PDT We're giving away a Crucial M500 120GB solid state drive and a three-year license for iolo's System Mechanic softwareWe know there are two things that our readers love; Pure PC Power, and free stuff. Since we've always got your PC power needs covered, we figured you might need some gear, and we love running contests, so here's our newest one. In this contest one winner will receive both a Crucial M500 120GB SSD and a three-year license to iolo's System Mechanic software. You can check out the review of Crucial M500 SSD here on the Maximum PC website. Though we haven't reviewed System Mechanic software, we've heard good things about it. Here are the official blurbs about the contest prizes: Crucial M500: http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.aspx?imodule=CT120M500SSD1 System Mechanic: http://www.iolo.com/company/pressrelease.aspx?pressreleaseid=cebfe631-c315-4aac-8a86-2629b29da1c3 How to EnterSend an email to contests@maximumpc.com with the subject "Crucial and iolo Contest" and in the body your answer to this question – When discussing flash memory, what does MLC stand for? Along with the answer, email us your complete name, age, adress and zip/postal code. One prize winner with the correct answer in alignment with reporting by Maximum PC will be randomly selected by July 05, 2013. This contest is available to readers in the USA (excluding Arizona) and Canada (excluding Quebec). This giveaway has rules, so please read them on the next page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Retired Music Theorist Concocts Krush Keyboard So Everyone Can Type 100 WPM or More Posted: 24 Jun 2013 10:14 AM PDT Built for comfort and speedThere have been many attempts to replace QWERTY keyboards with more efficient layouts, some of which are in use today. However, QWERTY is by far the most common type of layout available, though will that always be the case? Joseph M. Krush, a retired music theorist, hopes his Krush keyboard will become the new standard. The reason he hopes this is because he claims it enables most people to type at 100 words per minute, while the fastest typists should hit 200 WPM or more. His keyboard introduces four new features, the most important of which is a 12x3 layout. The 12 most commonly used letters lay in the home row, and the next 12 lay in the row above. This allows 99.8 percent of typing to be done in these two rows, Krush says. There's also a Double Shift key located where the Spacebar would normally sit. "This key has enabled me to eliminate the entire top row of the current keyboard by placing the digits, and their shift position symbols, in the home row, and in the row above, respectively," says Krush. Typing speed isn't the only benefit. Krush's keyboard is optimized for comfort as well, and the people who will benefit the most are those who suffer from arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome, Krush claims. Intrigued? Krush is currently seeking $9,000 in funding on FundaGeek to turn his keyboard into a reality. Check it out and tell us what you think. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Advertisers Miffed Over Mozilla's Upcoming Do-Not-Track Default in Firefox Posted: 24 Jun 2013 09:29 AM PDT A war is brewing, will there be casualties?There's an interesting article in AdWeek discussing Mozilla's plans to eventually enable its Do-Not-Track feature by default in an upcoming version of its Firefox browser, which would effectively block third-party tracking cookies. Mozilla announced plans to implement DNT as a default setting months ago, though as recently as last month, the browser maker said it still needed to perform more testing. As it stands, there's no concrete release date for when Firefox will turn on the feature, we only know it's coming, and advertisers aren't the least bit happy about it. "It's troubling," Lou Mastria, managing director for the Digital Advertising Alliance, told AdWeek. "They're putting this under the cloak of privacy, but it's disrupting a business model." It's easy to see why DNT technology would be popular among consumers, especially in the wake of all this PRISM business, but advertisers fear that turning it on by default would end up destroying thousands of small web publishers that need third-party targeted ads to stay in business. Mozilla wouldn't block all cookies, and instead is working with the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School to launch a Cookie Clearinghouse. It will consist of a six-person panel to determine a list of unwanted cookies, and then block them. Nevertheless, there's a risk this could turn ugly. For DNT technology to work, websites and advertisers have to be on board and respect the request not to install tracking cookies. They could just as easily ignore requests, and may decide to play that card if Mozilla and other browser makers play hardball. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Western Digital Acquires Stec to Solidify Enterprise SSD Business Posted: 24 Jun 2013 08:51 AM PDT Savvy move by Western Digital is low risk, high rewardThere will always be those who doubt or remain skeptical of the long-term reliability of solid state drives (SSDs), but at this stage of the game, they're generally viewed as a viable storage medium, even among enterprise clients. Hence Western Digital felt compelled to spend approximately $340 million in cash ($6.85 per share) acquiring Stec, a Santa Ana firm that specialize in flash memory-based solutions and the first vendor to develop SSDs for large-scale enterprise storage. Western Digital intends to use the acquisition to augment its own joint enterprise SSD operations with Intel, not supplant it, as the drive maker said it remains committed to delivering current and future SAS-based SSD products. And for Stec, the decision to sell likely came easy, as it now gains access to Western Digital's resources. "At this key point in the evolution of the storage industry, Stec is excited to consummate this transaction. It will be an important next step in proliferating many of the innovative products and technologies that Stec has been known for throughout its 23-year history and provides immediate value for our shareholders and a strong future for our employees and customers," said Mark Moshayedi, president and chief executive officer, Stec. "This merger will enable our world-class engineering team and IP to continue to make a significant contribution to the high-performance enterprise SSD space that has long been Stec's focus." Stec's board of directors unanimously voted to approve the deal, which is expected to close in the third or fourth calendar quarter of 2013. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Despite Ongoing Decline in Traditional PC Demand, Sales Will Trump Tablets Through 2014 Posted: 24 Jun 2013 07:13 AM PDT Desktops and notebooks still rule the roostYou'd have to stick your head under a rock the size of Kansas to miss the current trend towards mobile devices, and it's certainly true that OEMs (save for Lenovo) are getting hammered by slumping desktop and notebook sales. But just like Rocky Balboa, it would be a mistake to count traditional PCs out of the fight. In fact, desktops and notebooks combined will continue to outpace tablets through this year and next, according to Gartner. You might not know it looking at the headlines or surface data. For example, Gartner expects traditional PC shipments to decline 10.6 percent in 2013, while tablet shipments increase 67.9 percent. That's a major disparity. "Consumers want anytime-anywhere computing that allows them to consume and create content with ease, but also share and access that content from a different portfolio of products. Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. Milanesi speaks the truth, though a closer examination of the numbers reveals that it's not yet time to hit the panic button. By the end of 2013, Gartner forecasts more than 305 million new desktop and notebook shipments, compared to 201.8 million tablets. In 2014, the race will tighten a bit, with 289.2 million traditional PC shipments versus 276 million tablet shipments. It certainly looks like a changing of the guard is inevitable, though it won't come for a few more years (perhaps by 2017, as Gartner previously predicted). Even then, millions of new desktops and notebooks will still be entering the market. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
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