| CES 2014: Origin PC's Millennium and Genesis Cases [Video] Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:02 PM PST  First cases to feature four-way motherboard mounting options
Boutique builder Origin PC introduced a couple of new cases this week at CES, and in doing so, it flipped traditional case design on its head (quite literally). Origin PC's new Millennium (mid-tower) and Genesis (full-tower) cases are the first ever to allow for the motherboard to be mounted in four different orientations: Standard ATX, Inverted ATX, 90 degrees, or Inverted 90 degrees. These aren't arbitrary options, either. According to Origin PC, the 90 degree and Inverted 90 degree motherboard orientations work best for air cooled graphics cards by utilizing your system's natural airflow. Likewise, an Inverted orientation is ideal for showing off liquid cooled video cards and/or if you prefer to place your desktop on the right side of your desk. And of course there's the Standard orientation for traditional builds. Gordon had a chance to tour the Millennium at Origin PC's suite. Here's a look at it: And here's Origin PC's promotion video showing off both cases: Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| CyberPowerPC Sinks Its Fang Gaming PC into a Battle Box Posted: 10 Jan 2014 11:02 AM PST  A briefcase gaming rig
Update: Now with a hands-on impressions video! Business users typically tote a briefcase filled with all the necessary gear, things like pads of paper, a tablet, documents, TPS reports, pencils, calendars, and whatever else. What if you fancy yourself a professional or diehard gamer who likes to game on the go? Well, you could invest in a notebook, or you could check out CyberPowerPC's Fang Battle Box, a mobile gaming system that acts as a briefcase for your hardware. The Fang Battle Box is essentially a CyberPowerPC Fang system in a compact gaming case that's easy to carry from place to place. It's not for everyone, but if you attend a lot of LAN parties, this could be something that's right up your alley. Not only is it compact and portable, it's also decked out. Gordon goes hands on with the Cyberpower PC Fang Battle Box CyberPowerPC brought a Fang Battle Box to CES. Inside sits a GeForce GTX 780 Ti graphics card, Corsair CX500 power supply, mini ITX motherboard, Corsair all-in-one water cooling loop, 16GB of G.Skill RAM, 120GB SSD, 1TB hard drive, and an Intel Core i7 4770K processor. The case has a handle on the top for easy transport, and when you need to poke inside, just lay it on its side and flip open the door like a briefcase. Have a look: CyberPowerPC says fully configurable Fang Battle Box PCs will be available to purchase in the first quarter of this year. The boutique builder also showed off is Zeus Mini system. Check out Gordon's video tour: Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| IDC and Gartner Agree, Lenovo Top PC Maker for a Full Calendar Year Posted: 10 Jan 2014 10:33 AM PST  Lenovo has figured out a recipe for success
Bean counters at both IDC and Gartner pegged PC shipments at a bit over 82 million units in the fourth quarter of 2013, the former tallying 82.2 million PCs representing a 5.6 percent year-on-year loss, and the latter coming up with 82.6 million system shipments for a 6.9 percent decline compared to the same period in 2012. Gartner called it the worst decline in PC market history, but there's reason to be optimistic, especially for Lenovo. Mikako Kitagawan, principal analyst at Gartner, believes the PC market has finally bottomed out, especially in the U.S. where tablet and smartphone penetration is already pretty deep. Over in emerging markets, mobile handhelds will continue to "negatively impact PC growth" as consumers turn to tablets and smartphones as their first connected device. IDC was nearly as optimistic, noting that even though U.S. growth was nothing to really brag about, PC shipments improved in other parts of the world, "reinforcing our view that growth rates will continue to improve gradually during 2014 despite remaining in negative territory." As for Lenovo, the OEM increased its lead over HP and all others during the fourth quarter of 2013 and now holds an 18.6 percent share of the market according to IDC, and 18.1 percent according to Gartner. This is the first time Lenovo has been the top PC maker (in terms of shipments) for a full calendar year. "Even as we have strengthened our PC leadership position, we have also embraced a major shift in the marketplace," Lenovo CEO and chairman Yang Yuanqing said in a statement. "Lenovo is leading the way in the PC+ era. Not only are we number 1 in PCs, but now we are number 2 in the PC + tablet category, and number 3 in Smart Connected Devices (PCs, tablets and smartphones) globally. Our strong consistent performance in our core PC business has given us the foundation to invest and grow in these new areas." Dell has reason to be optimistic as well. Out of all the major OEMs, Dell was the only one outside of Lenovo to increase its share of the PC market in 2013, though it still trails HP for the No. 2 spot. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| CES 2014: Adata Suite Tour [Video] Posted: 10 Jan 2014 09:03 AM PST  Tomorrow's solid state storage options
At this point in the game, it's safe to say that solid state storage devices are here to stay. They've proven reliable (mostly), are insanely fast compared to mechanical hard drives, and continue to drop in price. At CES, Adata was all about showing off its upcoming solid state solutions, including a 2TB SSD for big capacity needs, and a micro SSD solution that combines NAND flash memory and the chipset controller into a single package. Micro SSDs won't make their way to traditional desktops, but we do expect to see them as embedded solutions in ultrabooks and NUC-like systems where space is at a premium. You might even see micro SSDs embedded into motherboards at some point. Adata says it can fit 8GB to 128GB on a single chip. The SSD maker has a number of products on display, including an SSD build around the new M.2 form factor that is supposed to replace the mSATA standard. Here's a look at the various products Adata brought to CES: Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| CES 2014: Zalman Suite Tour [Video] Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:09 AM PST  Funky fresh fan, heatsink, and case designs
We all love fast hardware -- burly graphics cards, oodles of RAM, multi-core processors -- but one of the unsung heros is cooling. Crucial as it may be to a stable running machine, cooling isn't always glamorous or sexy. That being the case, it was refreshing to see a few vendors showing off new fan designs, including Zalman, which brought to CES a crop of cooling (and case) products. Gordon made it over to Zalman's booth where he was able to see its brand new FX70, a passive heatsink with heatpipes and crinkled fins. Why crinkled? It allows Zalman to increase the surface area of the fins for superior cooling capabilities without taking up a ton of space in your case. If you need additional cooling, you can mount fans to either side. Here's a look: Zalman also showed off a brand new fan design with blades that look like thunderbolts. The big feature, however, is a button on the front of the fan that allows you to select your fan speed. Check it out: Before exiting Zalman's booth, Gordon caught on camera a couple of new cases. One is a prototype mini ITX case that's rather large for the form factor, but is intended for enthusiasts who want to use a small mobo but run a lot of hardware. The other case is the Zalman Z15, a bigger chassis with some nifty controls on top. In addition to fan speed controls, you can open up flaps on the top of the case for additional cooling. Take a look: Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: HP Pavilion 27xi 27-inch Monitor, Crucial 16GB DDR3-1866 RAM, and More! Posted: 10 Jan 2014 06:12 AM PST  
Top Deal: Given our druthers, we'd all have three 4K monitors strung together to a monster PC capable of gaming at 12K. Just thinking about it gets us all hot and bothered. Reality is the ultimate buzzkill, which in this case is the cost of such a setup. So, if you've come to the conclusion that you're not destined for 4K (or 12K) at this time and simply want an affordable Full HD 1080p monitor with an IPS panel, then check out today's top deal. It's for an HP Pavilion 27xi 27-inch IPS Monitor for $234 with free shipping (normally 260 -- use coupon code: [HPTNPCTJN2014]). It has a high-quality IPS panel, 10,000,000:1 contraast ratio, and three connectivity options (D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI). Other Deals: Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB (2x8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1866 Gaming Memory for $180 with free shipping (normally $200 - use coupon code: [EMCPWPA25]) OCZ Vector 150 Series 2.5-inch 120GB SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD) for $117 with shipping for $1 (normally $130 - use coupon code: [EMCPWPA24]) NZXT Phantom 630 White ATX Full Tower Computer Case for $136 with shipping for $13 (normally $170 - use coupon code: [EMCPWPA43]) WD Black Series 1TB 7200 RPM 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive for $80 with free shipping (normally $89 - use coupon code: [EMCPWPA27]) |
