General Gaming Article

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• How to Create Cool Custom Case Mods
• GOG Offering Up to 90 Percent Off During Spring Insomnia Sale
• Mozilla Updates Plan to Sell Sponsored Ads in Firefox's Tab Page
• Microsoft Gives Slowpokes an Extra Month to Install Windows 8.1 Update
• Hey Look, Portal and Half Life 2 Now Available on Nvidia Shield
• Maingear Refreshes Vybe Desktop Gaming PC, Pricing Starts at $799
• Newegg Daily Deals: MSI N660 GeForce GTX 660, Intel Core i7 3770, and More!
• Nvidia Tegra K1 Could Find Its Way Into Servers

How to Create Cool Custom Case Mods Posted: 12 May 2014 03:07 PM PDT Modding tips from the masters  A truly custom computer case is a work of art (See our awesome reader submitted rigs here for more proof). It is a one-of-a-kind unique statement that stands out among mass-market boxes, and pushes the aesthetic of the creative 'case mod' (adapting an existing case with paint and trim) to the edge. Most importantly, a custom case can be as different as its builder desires. Take the Cor Leonis built by Attila Lukas: Its sleek lines and polished grills are more sports car than computer case. The uber-thin Tenius2 case by Peter Husar is again quite different: Its tall finished wood and black metal shell looks more like a top-end Bang & Olufsen audio component, rather than a PC.  Blowing them both out of the water – at least when it comes to radical design -- is Mohamed Metwally's Project Performer. With its flexed metal robotic legs, hydraulic rams and swivelling machine gun, Metwally's Project Performer looks like a weapons droid from some futuristic war videogame. Despite the substantial differences between all of these custom cases, they all share some qualities in common. First, each case was built within the limits of each builder's skills and available tools. Second, each one houses a functioning PC with sufficient room for all components and cooling; plus ways to easily access the controls and I/O jacks as needed. Third, each of these custom cases highlights the particular taste of each builder, and expresses it in a way that demands attention. Here's how they did it. Project Performer We start with Mohamed Metwally's Project Performer; a case whose shape was inspired by "a pic I saw on the Internet," he says. Known as "Momed," Metwally is an accomplished case modder who has won numerous awards (you can see his various creations at www.ModsCases.com). Motwally started by using the onscreen image to work up a design on paper. He then made the central part of the design large enough to accommodate the guts of a high-powered PC, and scaled all of his other parts from there. Despite its apparently complex metal design, Project Performer's case is actually made from lightweight foamboard. This is a readily available, easy-to-cut material that Matwally was able to fashion into all the parts he needed. He just worked out the design on paper, then cut the foamboard to match his drawings. "I used ½-inch foamboard for the legs, and put it together with hot glue, with strips of wood added for support" he says. This created legs that were stout enough to hold Project Performer up. The rest of the case uses slightly thick 3/16" foamboard, cut into whatever shapes suited Matwally's design. The CPU and all other components are housed with Project Performer's central case, which measures 14x13x5-inches. "I cut the front of the case and added three clear acrylic pieces for showing the hardware inside," Matwally says. It contains an Intel Core i7 2600K processor, 4GB of G.Skill RAM and two Kingston SSDs. The cooling is achieved using a ThermalTake Water 3.0 Pro Water/Liquid CPU Cooler.   The upper section was built from foamboard and eight pieces of PVC pipe cut into 7-inch lengths to form the hydraulic rams; again held together by hot glue. Once assembled, Matwally painted Project Performer with gray spray paint, and used an airbrush with black paint to texturize and bring out the details of his 3D design. He added plastic bullets in the units' side-mounted 'carrying pockets', and his case was done. Click the next page to read about the Tenius2.   Tenius2 Peter Husar is another accomplished case builder, as can be seen by his work at www.gtek-computerdesign.com/projects.html. Unlike Matwally, Husar's tastes are geared towards the elegant and understated. His PC cases are literally works of art sculpted in fine varnished walnut and hand-brushed, black hard anodized aluminium. Husar's Tenius2 fits this mold. On the outside, Tenius2 appears to be a tall (2.5 feet), impossibly thin case that could sit discreetly beside a desk, or serve as a media center. Yet it can be packed with a decent amount of firepower. Tenius2's case can hold a Thin-ITX motherboard, a range of CPUs from i3 to i7 with up to 16GB RAM, a dedicated sound card (or TV tuner), an SSD, a full-size HDD and a Blu-ray/DVD optical drive. The motherboard is attached to Tenius2's black aluminum side (the other is aluminium with walnut attached to its exterior) to provide semi-passive cooling. "The overall design of case was dictated by the components I was planning to use," says Husar.  "For example, the case is less than two inches thick, because it was designed specifically for an Intel Thin-ITX motherboard and Intel cooling solution." Husar made the Tenius2 case out of aluminum sheeting. "It's relatively easy to work with, even with a few basic tools like a bench drill, jig saw, tapping kit and screw drives," he says. "As well aluminum is durable, strong enough for something like a PC case and can be painted easily." To get the dimensions right. Peter Husar laid out his components on a large measuring square. Using the dimensions he found there, Husar determined the size and shape of case parts he needed to cut from the aluminum sheeting.  "The next stage was manufacturing all of the aluminium parts," he says. "The easier ones I had laser-cut. The more complicated parts I cut out, machined, drilled and tapped by myself." Husar tapped (drilled holes into) the case so that he could countersink the screws flush with its exterior surface; both to assemble it cleanly and attach the components on the inside.  (The only visible exterior screws are on the back of the case.) He also sanded and brushed the aluminum, before sending them to a finishing shop for black anodizing. As for the wood? "I bought all of the walnut panels at the right thickness, so I just cut them to sizes I needed, glued them together using high adhesion glue, then sanded them down and finished the walnut with seven layers of clear satin wood lacquer," says Husar. The finished wood shell was then glued to the appropriate aluminum side panel. The other side panel serves as the plate onto which all components are bolted. Husar attached the CPU cooler directly to the side panel, adding lots of thermal paste to draw as much heat from the CPU and into the case for passive heat dissipation. Husar also reworked the CPU's blower so that it blows heat out of the case. "I covered the blower with a custom-made cover to create low pressure chamber, which forces air through the heat sink and out," he says. "The whole set-up resulted in absolutely quiet operation even under full load." Because he built his case using actual component measurements and layout, Peter Husar had a simple and easy assembly process. Once everything was in place, he hit the 'On' button and Tenius2 fired up without a hitch. Loading the O/S and software went without any serious problems. Today, his first Tenius2 runs at 62 C at full load, without any issues. Click the next page to read about the Cor Leonis.   Cor Leonis Of the three cases profiled here, Attila Lukacs' Cor Leonis (www.stillthinking.com.au) looks the most like a conventional PC case. However, it is anything but: This case was built from the ground up using hand-machined aluminum pieces and sheets, in an attempt to create something as stylish and sleek as a luxury automobile. "Very basically, I wanted to build a case with super car styling," Lukacs says. "The original idea was to have a 'flat' shape, with the top opening a la auto hood, to reveal the 'engine' ... Looking at lots and lots of photos of many types of cars, various design ideas were used and adapted to suit my needs. So, in the end, the front and rear grilles, the curving and flared out top, the side panels and the support struts and feet all have the flavor I was looking for." Lukacs has detailed his construction process at forums.bit-tech.net/showthread.php?t=204512&viewmode=author. He began by creating a computer-generated layout for his 'engine'; namely an Intel i7, GTX 480 graphics, 650 watt PSU, 128GB SSD and a 500GB hard drive. From there, he built the case around the computer; designing and specifying every single part that he made from rough aluminum slabs and sheets. As the photos show, Attila Lukacs cut, ground/sanded, and polished every element of this PC's case by hand. This meant that he had to work out every single element of his case beforehand, and then keep comparing his work against that design to ensure that he was indeed making the parts properly.  For folded pieces, Lukacs ground v-shaped grooves in the fold lines, so that the aluminum could be folded by hand. He then assembled the parts as he went along – inside first, then the outside. In some cases, Lukacs sent the metal out for professional; finishing, using black anodizing  For the gun metal case exterior, Attila Lukacs did everything he could to create a surface worthy of a luxury car's glasslike skin. To achieve this effect, "body filler was used to smooth everything off," he says. "The trim is polished aluminium ... Power and reset switches are incorporated into the 'headlights' at the top front." Clearly, the work involved in making Cor Leonis means that this is not a beginner casemaker's project. But you can't argue with the results; Cor Leonis is as smooth and elegant as custom cases come. The Bottom Line The three custom cases represent a range of skill levels, with the Project Performer design being the most accessible to case-building newbies.  The good news is that custom case building is within the reach of the average computer aficionado, as long as they figure out the component layout and requirements first, and then create enclosures that meet those needs while delivering true 'Wow!' appeal.

GOG Offering Up to 90 Percent Off During Spring Insomnia Sale Posted: 12 May 2014 11:05 AM PDT The quick and decisive save big While you're contemplating when you'll possibly have enough time to make a dent in any of the numerous games you picked up during Steam's frequent sales, let us be the ones to alert you to yet another sale, though this time it's taking place over at GOG. You can save up to 90 percent on 100 titles as part of GOG's "Spring Insomnia Sale" taking place now, or kill some time watching as available copies are snatched up in real time. This is a different setup than most sales you're probably used to. With limited quantities of each title marked for sale, GOG takes a somewhat Woot Off-like approach. As one title sells out, another is put up for grabs. GOG tells you how many copies are left and as people snatch them up, the number goes down, along with a progress bar. As expected, the more popular titles sell out faster than others, though it seems like every title listed goes down at a consistent (and rather rapid) pace. If you want to check it out, head over to GOG's homepage. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Mozilla Updates Plan to Sell Sponsored Ads in Firefox's Tab Page Posted: 12 May 2014 10:44 AM PDT Browser maker is reluctant to give up on the idea of sponsored content Back in February of this year, Mozilla's VP of Content Services, Darren Herman, announced plans to sell advertising space in Firefox in the form of sponsored "Directory Tiles" on a new Tab page. These would consist of pre-packaged content for first-time Firefox users -- upon loading Firefox, they'd see a page with nine tiles in three rows of three, and some of the suggestions would be paid-for content, or ads. That idea didn't go over well with the web community, so Mozilla has decided to abandon sponsored tiles and will experiment with the tab page instead. "A few months ago Darren posted about some experiments we wanted to do with the new tab page. It didn't go over well. A lot of our community found the language hard to decipher, and worried that we were going to turn Firefox into a mess of logos sold to the highest bidder; without user control, without user benefit. That's not going to happen. That's not who we are at Mozilla," Firefox VP Johnathan Nightingale stated in a follow-up blog post. That sounds like a win for the web community, though Mozilla isn't completely giving up on the idea. Instead, Nightingale says Mozilla will experiment with the new tab page to see if it can make it "more useful, particularly for fresh installs of Firefox, where we don't yet have any recommendations to make from your history." Mozilla didn't go deep into details, saying only that it will "mess with the layout" to help understand what users find helpful and what they disable. And while Nightingale says "these tests are not about revenue and none will be collected," he did admit that "sponsorship would be the next stage" once the company is confident it can deliver value to Firefox users. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Microsoft Gives Slowpokes an Extra Month to Install Windows 8.1 Update Posted: 12 May 2014 09:00 AM PDT Windows 8.1 users now have until June 10th to install the Windows 8.1 Update Microsoft is all about grace periods and delayed deadlines lately. For example, the discovery of a pretty serious zero-day bug in Internet Explorer came shortly after Microsoft ended support for Windows XP, though in a show of good faith, the Redmond outfit included XP in an out-of-cycle patch. Fast forward to today and Microsoft is announcing that it's giving Windows 8.1 users an additional month to apply the Windows 8.1 Update before dropping support. Previously Microsoft had set the deadline for May 13 (tomorrow, which also happens to be Patch Tuesday). However, the new deadline to install the first major Update (you can think of it as a Service Pack) is now June 10, 2014. "While we believe the majority of people have received the update, we recognize that not all have. Having our customers running their devices with the latest updates is super important to us. And we're committed to helping ensure their safety. As a result, we've decided to extend the requirement for our consumer customers to update their devices to the Windows 8.1 Update in order to receive security updates another 30 days to June 10th," Microsoft stated in a blog post. Those who ignore the deadline and refuse to install the Windows 8.1 Update for whatever reason will no longer receive security updates after the deadline. That is, unless you're a business user, in which case the deadline is still set for August 12, 2014. If you have Automatic Updates enabled, you don't have to worry about the deadline, so long as you have an active Internet connection. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Hey Look, Portal and Half Life 2 Now Available on Nvidia Shield Posted: 12 May 2014 07:55 AM PDT Grab a Shield handheld console for $199 (for a limited time) Nvidia keeps upping the ante for its promising Shield console in hopes that you'll put your chips in and cash out as a converted gamer. The latest attempt at making you take that leap is the addition of two popular titles -- as of today, Half Life 2 and Portal are both available to Shield owners in Google Play, Nvidia announced. Both run natively on Android, and according to Nvidia, the utmost care and attention was paid to every detail to ensure they both deliver the full PC experience. "Nvidia has done a remarkable job bringing both Half Life 2 and Portal to Shield," said Doug Lombardi, Vice President of Market at Valve. "We're playing both games here on our Shields and fans of both franchises can expect the same game play they've come to love on the PC." Half Life 2 and Portal join a growing catalog of Shield supported Android games, of which there are more than 300 available. The newest releases also come hot on the heels of a recent update that, among other things, added the ability to remote stream games. Half Life 2 and Portal are both available now from Google Play for $9.99 each. And as previously announced, Shield is available for $199 for a limited time. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Maingear Refreshes Vybe Desktop Gaming PC, Pricing Starts at $799 Posted: 12 May 2014 07:26 AM PDT An affordable gaming desktop with style Maingear, a boutique system builder headquartered in New Jersey, went and revamped its affordable Vbye gaming desktop with a new chassis, additional features, and more cooling options. There are three baseline configurations available: Vybe H81 (dubbed "Good"), Vybe Z97 ("Better"), and Vybe X79 ("Best"). In case you didn't guess it, the model name reflects the Intel chipset each tier is built around. Cost of entry into the Vybe gaming club is $799. That gets you a modestly spec'd Vybe H81 with a Gigabyte GA-H81M-HD3 motherboard, Intel Core i3 4330 processor, 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 graphics card, 500GB Seagate Barracuda hard drive (7200 RPM), EVGA 430W power supply, 24X DVD burner, and Windows 8.1 64-bit. Plenty of upgrade options are available, or you can jump up to the Better configuration starting at $1,199 or Best model for $1,599, the latter of which sports a Gigabyte GA-X79-UP4 motherboard, Intel Core i7 4820K processor, Maingear Epic 120 Supercooler, 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 RAM, AMD Radeon R7 260X graphics card, 1TB Seagate SSHD, EVGA 750W PSU, and Windows 8.1 64-bit. "Our new VYBE brings to the table everything that a Maingear gaming PC should be," said Wallace Santos CEO of Maingear, "Sleek exterior design, awesome cooling features, and the space to pack in the latest hardware, the new Vybe delivers in all these areas and more." Maingear's retooled Vybe desktops are available to configure and order now. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: MSI N660 GeForce GTX 660, Intel Core i7 3770, and More! Posted: 12 May 2014 05:32 AM PDT Top Deal: "Hey mom, can I get a new graphics card?," Johnny asked. "What's wrong with integrated graphics?," mom joked back. "I'm kidding honey -- you're due for an upgrade, let's set your budget at $160." Johnny took the money and even feigned happiness with a forced smile, though in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn't enough loot to get a burly graphics card. Or so he thought. A few minutes on the web is all it took to turn his forced smile into a giddy grin. What did he see? He checked out today's top deal for the MSI N660 GeForce GTX 660 Graphics Card for $160 with free shipping (normally $200 - use coupon code: [EMCPEWA44]; additional $20 mail-in-rebate). Johnny became even more excited when he read about the Twin Frozr III cooling solution, which is supposed to lower temps by 19 degrees and reduce noise by 12.9dB compared to reference. The Free Watch Dogs offer was icing on Johnny's cake. Other Deals: Intel Core i7-3770 Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.9GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics for $280 with free shipping (normally $300 - use coupon code: [EMCPEWA26]) Fractal Design Define R4 Black Pearl w/ USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent PC Computer Case for $80 with free shipping (normally $100 - use coupon code: [EMCPEWA24]) Asus Z87-PRO LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard for $160 with free shipping (normally $190 - use coupon code: [EMCPEWA33]; additional $20 Mail-in rebate) G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory for $72 with free shipping (normally $79 - use coupon code: [EMCPEWA35])

Nvidia Tegra K1 Could Find Its Way Into Servers Posted: 11 May 2014 10:59 PM PDT Expects 64-bit Tegra K1 variant to enter production 'long before' year's end Nvidia earlier this year unveiled the Tegra K1 SoC (system-on-chip) with much fanfare, touting it as a "192-core super chip." There are two variants of the Tegra K1 : one that combines its 192-core Kepler GPU with a 32-bit quad-core CPU, and another that packs an 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture CPU (codenamed "Project Denver") instead. While the former has already begun shipping, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang told investors during the company's recent Q115 earnings call that the 64-bit variant is expected "to be in production long before the end of the year." During the call, Huang identified devices, automotive, and gaming as the main areas of focus of its mobile strategy, prompting Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. analyst Kevin E. Cassidy to question him about the likelihood of the 64-bit TK1 variant finding its way into micro servers. In his reply, Huang said there was no reason to rule it out. "I think we're seeing a lot of interest in putting something like Tegra in micro servers, but one step at a time, one step at a time," Huang said. "I think the most important thing about micro servers and putting TK1 in the server is really the software stack. And the software stack we're building for GRID can very well eventually be used on top of Tegra as well." It shouldn't surprise anyone if Nvidia eventually turns its attention to servers with the Tegra K1, for its arch rival AMD is already doing it with its Opteron A1100 64-bit ARM processors (codenamed "Seattle"). Follow Pulkit on Google+

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