| AMD Catalyst 14.4 Release Candidate Adds Support for Radeon R9 295X2 Posted: 22 Apr 2014 02:33 PM PDT  Say goodbye to flickering in Titanfall when running CrossFire
AMD this week made available to download its Catalyst 14.4 driver in Release Candidate (RC) form. The release follows the launch of AMD's dual-GPU Radeon R9 295X2 graphics card, which the Catalyst 14.4 RC drivers support. It also boasts full support for OpenGL 4.4, Mantle beta driver improvements, CrossFire fixes and enhancements, and a spattering of bug fixes, including the resolution of game flickering in Titanfall when CrossFire is enabled. According to the release notes, the latest RC offers frame racing improvements in Crysis 3, better performance in Far Cry when running three or four GPUs at high quality settings and high resolution, improved CrossFire scaling in Anno 2070 by up to 34 percent, improved CrossFire scaling in Metro Last Light by up to 10 percent, improved Eyefinity 3x1 support with three 4K panels, and a few other odds and ends. You can check out the full list of fixes and download the RC drivers here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| NZXT Phantom 240 Case Floats an Affordable $70 Price Tag Posted: 22 Apr 2014 01:46 PM PDT  The least expensive Phantom to date
If you're a fan of NZXT's Phantom case line but tend to gravitate towards less expensive enclosures, you might be interested in the company's newest offering, the Phantom 240. NZXT's newly released Phantom 240 carries a $70 MSRP, making it the most affordable Phantom yet. It also sports a new design with a full-view window while maintaining its asymmetrical shape and comes with two FN V2 120mm case fans. Need more cooling? There's room for an additional 120mm fan up front, another on the bottom, and two more on top (or you can opt for 140mm fans on top). Once you've got your airflow scheme figured out, you can route cables out of the way using the 17mm of cable management space behind the right-side panel that NZXT provides. You'll also find seven routing holes and over 20 zip tie points to help with cable management. There's a removable drive cage to make room for extra long graphics cards (up to 400mm without the cage, versus 290mm with the cage). All tallied, the Phantom 240 features three optical bays, six 2.5-inch drive bays, and six 3.5-inc drive bays. On the outside, the I/O panel features audio inputs and two USB 3.0 ports. The Phantom 240 will be available soon. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Benq Starts Shipping XL-Z Series Monitors Aimed at FPS Gamers Posted: 22 Apr 2014 09:59 AM PDT 
Benq's XL-Z monitors are specifically intended for FPS gamers Holy buzzwords, Batman -- Benq is pulling out all kinds of fancy pants terms to describe its new XL-Z series of first-person shooter (FPS) purpose-built gaming monitors. Benq says its XL-Z series monitors have begun shipping, and if you're a gamer -- particularly an FPS gamer -- the company has several reasons why you might be interested in one of its displays, starting with RevolutionEyes technology. What exactly is it? Good question, so we looked it up. Revolution Eyes is essentially what Benq is calling its collection of technologies that makes its XL-Z series the bees knees. Things like Motion Blur Reduction, Low Blue Light, ZeroFlicker, gaming refresh rate optimization management (GROM), and a 1ms GTG response time are among them. Here, have yourself a look at Benq's YouTube video for a bit more detail: "The design of our gaming monitors reflects our overall philosophy of delivering market-first features that give gamers an opportunity to conquer the game. That's why we design all of our gaming products in close collaboration with professional gamers," said Bob Wudeck, Associate Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at BenQ America Corp. "With the latest release of our XL-Z series, we've pushed the limits of performance once again by becoming the first major brand to provide Motion Blur Reduction technology for smoother game play. Add in our other exclusive features, and the XL-Z series gives players fully loaded monitors made to turn opponents on their heads." There are three XL-Z series monitors too choose from. They include the XL2720Z ($529), XL2420Z ($500), and $XL2411Z ($329). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Netflix Posts $1 Billion in Quarterly Streaming, Subscription Price Hike is Coming Posted: 22 Apr 2014 08:22 AM PDT  Netflix is planning to bump up its subscription price by up to $2 for new subscribers
On hindsight, going nearly all-in with streaming was definitely the right choice for Netflix. While the company's DVD-by-mail generated $98 million during the first quarter of 2014, Netflix's streaming revenue topped $1 billion. That's a pretty big disparity and Netflix expects the gap to widen even more each quarter. At the same time, the cost of doing business isn't getting cheaper these days, and if you're thinking about joining Netflix, do it before the price goes up. In a letter to shareholders (PDF), Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells announced that a price hike is likely to occur later this quarter, however it will only apply to new members initially. "In the U.S. we have greatly improved our content selection since we introduced our streaming plan in 2010 at $7.99 per month. Our current view is to do a one or two dollar increase, depending on the country, later this quarter for new members only," Hastings and Wells said. As for existing subscribers, they'll stay at their current pricing, which will remain in effect "for a generous time period." The money generated from raising the price for new subscribers will help Netflix acquire more content and improve its streaming service. Though Hastings and Wells don't come right out and say it, another reason for the price hike could be to cover costs associated with ensuring its traffic is delivered to subscribers unabated. Netflix recently inked a multi-year agreement with Comcast that guarantees the ISP won't throttle its traffic, which means far less buffering and higher quality feeds, especially during peak hours. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Heads Up: EVGA Now Offers Individually Sleeved Cables for G2 and P2 Power Supply Series Posted: 22 Apr 2014 07:53 AM PDT  No visible heat shrink tubing
There are at least a million and one different ways to trick out your PC. One of those ways is to individually sleeve all the wiring for your power supply. The end result looks pretty sweet, assuming you don't drive yourself insane before completing the tedious task. Like most anything else, there's an alternate path to the same end -- toss money at it. If you're willing to pay for the luxury, EVGA will now sell you individually sleeved cable sets that support all SuperNova G2 and P2 power supply series. The cable sets are available in red, black, white, and blue. Each kit consists of individually sleeved cables with no visible heat shrink tubing. They come with: - 1 x 24-pin ATX cable
- 2 x 4+4 pin EPS12V CPU cable
- 4 x 6+2 pin PCI-E VGA cables
- 2 x 6+2 pin + 6-pin PCI E VGA cables
- 4 x 3 SATA cables
- 1 x 3 Molex cable
- 1 x 2 Molex cable + 1 floppy connector
Each sleeved cable set runs $90; they're available to purchase now direct from EVGA. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Cooler Master HAF 922 Case, Intel Core i5 3570, and More! Posted: 22 Apr 2014 06:23 AM PDT |
