25
Jun

General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

PC Gamer is Giving Away One Million SpaceChem Steam Keys

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 04:38 PM PDT

PC Gamer logoThe first of five massive giveaways

No, you did not visit the wrong site. Yes, you did read that right. Sister site PC Gamer is giving away one million SpaceChem Steam keys. This is part of a five million Steam key giveaway happening over the next five weeks, with SpaceChem being the first title currently up for grabs.

SpaceChem, developed by Zachtronics, is an indie puzzle game where players build factories in order to create progressively more complex molecules. As a Reactor Engineer, players are tasked with designing chemical reactors that can collect raw resources and use them to create new chemical products. The game has a Metacritic score of 84 (PC Gamer gave it an 89) and has been praised for its challenging puzzles and engaging story.

Those interested in receiving a free copy of SpaceChem should go over to PC Gamer, who has teamed up with Bundle Stars to make this giveaway possible, and scroll down towards the bottom of the page. In order to redeem a copy you will need an eligible Steam account and "Like" PC Gamer's Facebook page. 

SpaceChem Steam keys are being given away on a first come, first serve basis so be sure to get your copy as soon as possible. The SpaceChem giveaway will end at 17:00 GMT on July 2, 2014. 

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Rig of the Month: Watermod Gold 24k

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 04:17 PM PDT

Gold 24k PerspectiveStand back Gucci and Prada, Watermod's latest is a crocodile-skinned masterpiece

Last month's Rig of the Month may have been gold and black, but Mathieu Heredia's submission takes it a step further with a high-fashion inspired case mod complete with crocodile skin. Mathieu calls it the Watermod Gold 24k after the case's styling and the name of his modding team.

It may not be actual crocodile skin, but the gold and black crocodile vinyl covers most of the case's exterior as well as key bits of the interior. The promimant Watermod logo gives it that extra bit of flair that makes it stand right up there with the flashiest of Prada merchandise. 

Based on the Cooler Master Cosmos SE, the Gold 24k features a rotated motherboard tray to better display the dual GTX 780s packed inside. Mathieu fabricated shrouds to cover the less interesting parts and even custom built a gold-colored front panel. Oh, and did we mention that the side panel is a custom creation? Those gold bolts aren't just for show, they're what keep the side panel affixed to the case along with a pair of hinges.

Hidden inside the case is a powerful rig. An Intel Core i7 3970X on an Asus X79 Deluxe with a whopping 32GB of DDR3 Kingston Beast memory, two Kingston HyperX 3K SSDs in Raid 0, and the two Zotac GTX 780s we mentioned earlier. It's all powered by a Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 PSU with the Neptune 280L all-in-one cooling loop for the CPU and matching Prolimatech MK26 Black Edition GPU coolers with customized Corsair Static Pressure fans.

Have a case mod of your own that you would like to submit to our monthly feature? Make sure to read the rules/tips here and email us at mpcrigofthemonth@gmail.com with your submissions.

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Google Talks Android L, Set-Top Box, and More at I/O Developer Conference

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 11:34 AM PDT

Google I/OIt's shaping up to an Android world

Google's I/O developer conference kicked off today and much of the talk so far has been about Android, Android, and more Android. That's not surprising, or even a bad thing, especially if you're a fan of the open-source platform. Based on the keynote, Google wants to expand Android into just about every facet of your life, from your living room to your car and everywhere in between.

Android L

One of the most exciting developments is that of Android "L," the next version of Android (it may still end up being called Lollipop), and its underlying Android Runtime (ART) software layer. Through ART, Google claims Android apps will run roughly twice as fast as they do currently. The best part about that is developers don't have to do anything different with existing apps.

"All your app code gets the performance for free," Android Engineering Dave Burke said, according to CNET.

ART also works on 64-bit chips, though not just ARM-based processors that are so prevalent in mobile today -- it also supports 64-bit x86-64 parts from Intel and AMD, along with the MIPS64 architecture from MIPS.

Just as iOS recently underwent a major design change, so too will Android with its "L" release. You can expect a flatter aesthetic, rounder elements, softer edges, simplified shapes, smooth transition animations, the illusion of depth through elevation and shadows, and more.

On the feature end, you'll be able to interact with notifications from the Lock screen, which will be sorted by relevance and importance rather than chronologically. Endgadget has more on what you can expect.

Android TV (Set-Top Box)

Google has some unfinished business in the living room. As was previously rumored, Google is releasing a set-top box to compete with the likes of Apple TV and Roku. It's called Android TV but unlike the company's failed Google TV platform, it will have an added focus on gaming.

According to The Verge, search is baked into the Android TV experience, as is content from the Google Play Store. It will provide recommendations based on what you watch, and you'll even be able to control the software with an Android Wear-enabled smartwatch.

Android Auto

With your living room and mobile devices covered, Google switched gears to automobiles and discussed Android Auto with a redesigned interface built specifically for cars.

"Android Auto will make it easier and safer to use the connected services drivers want in a card," Google's Patrick Brady said, according to ArsTechnica.

Things like navigation, communication, and music will be front and center so you don't have to fiddle around looking for the appropriate app. It's also voice enabled, allowing you to keep your hands on the wheel and eyes where they should be -- on the road.

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AMD Catalyst 14.6 Release Candidate Drivers Now Available to Download

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 09:40 AM PDT

Watch DogsImproves frame pacing in Watch Dogs

AMD has made available its Catalyst 14.6 graphics card drivers in Release Candidate form. There's not a ton to cover with this latest release, though there are a handful of performance improvements, including better frame pacing in Watch Dogs when running a CrossFire configuration. AMD's also promoting performance improvements in Plants vs. Zombies (Direct3D) with its Radeon R9 290X graphics card.

At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, you can expect up to an 11 percent performance gain in PvZ. At 2560x1600 (typical resolution for most 30-inch panels), gains creep up to 15 percent, and at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings and running CrossFire, AMD says performance is improved by as much as 92 percent.

There are some new CrossFire profiles, as well. These include profiles for Battlefield Hardline beta, Wildstar, and Grid Auto Sport.

You can find out more here and download the drivers for Windows here.

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Puget Systems Refreshes Quad Socket Workstations

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 09:14 AM PDT

Puget Systems Peak Quad Intel XeonConfigure a workstation with up to 64 CPU cores and 1TB of RAM

Building quad socket workstations isn't new territory for Puget Systems -- the company's been offering such setups for several years now. However, the boutique builder just refreshed two of its models to offer more capacity, better cooling, and quieter operation. You can configure a Peak Quad Intel Xeon machine with up to 48 CPU cores and the Peak Quad AMD Opteron setup with up to 64 CPU cores.

"Our intention with this refresh is to take some of the highest performance workstation configurations available today and make them something you can put in your lab or office," Puget Systems explains. "Most workstations and servers of this caliber come with a prohibitive noise level but the Peak line of workstations solves this problem while still providing excellent cooling and long component lifespan."

Having up to four CPUs is just the beginning -- both systems also support high performance options like large SSD arrays, gobs of RAM (up to 1TB), and various accelerator cards including Intel Xeon Phi (Peak Quad Intel Xeon) and Nvidia Tesla.

The new Peak workstations in Intel and AMD form are available to configure and order today -- be sure to bring a king's ransom.

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Google Glass Now Shipping with 2GB of RAM, Early Explorers Peeved

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 08:58 AM PDT

Google GlassGoogle Glass comes with twice as much RAM as before, but only for new orders

Being an early adopter comes with its own set of risks and rewards, as some Google Glass "Explorers" are finding out. In a Google+ post today, the Mountain View firm announced that all new Glass orders will ship with 2GB of RAM. That's twice as much as the 1GB of RAM all previous Glass orders contained, and with no plans to upgrade existing users, some early adopters are feeling burned.

For Google, this is just the natural evolution of a product that's still in beta. Since launching last year, Google's improved Glass battery life by over 20 percent, made search 10 percent faster, and added new wearable options such as frames, shades, and prescription support.

"If defective Glass units get free upgrades to 2GB, you will see a lot of 'defective' models this month," a user wrote in the comments section of Google's post.

"Thanks Google Glass for basically saying you don't care about the explorers who've helped you push glass to the forefront and making people understand them and see what potential they have. We're not asking for a lot but some love and it looks like you've just slammed the door on us current Explorers. I'm more upset because I thought you guys would've done better then this. You weren't obligated to do it but doing it would've shown and said a lot," another user wrote.

Not everyone in the comments section feels sympathetic to angry early adopters.

"Wow guys, do you not understand how beta tests work? You get an inferior product out of the gate. If you aren't willing to deal with the consequences of that, don't sign up to be a tester and wait for the finished product," another user wrote.

All that aside, RAM isn't the only upgrade Google rolled out. Google also made it easier to frame your shots -- just say, "OK Glass, show the viewfinder" and you'll see four Ls in the four corners that frame your potential photo. And finally, there are two new Google Now cards to remind you where you parked your car and let you know when packages are coming your way.

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Netgear's Nighthawk X6 Wields Six Antennas, Offers Tri-Band Wi-Fi

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 08:23 AM PDT

Netgear Nighthawk X6Three wireless bands to balance your network load

Netgear today announced what it claims is the industry's first AC3200 tri-band Wi-Fi router, the Nighthawk X6. That claim is born from the fact that this is the only consumer tri-band router that's available to purchase today (in pre-order form, with shipping expected in July) -- Asus has its RT-AC3200 on tap as well, though it doesn't look like it will beat Netgear's newest unit into homes.

The X6 (or R8000, if you prefer) utilizes Broadcom's new 5G WiFi XStream chipset. It has six high-performance antennas and three network bands -- one 2.4GHz and two 5GHz. By adding the maximum theoretical throughput of each one (600Mbps + 1300Mbps + 1300Mbps), Netgear arrives at its advertised combined speed claim, though as we're often remiss to point out, you can't combine separate radios into a single super-channel.

What this router can do, however, is balance the load on your home network. The X6 discerns between slower and faster devices and then directs them to the appropriate band rather than treat all devices the same. And with two 5GHz bands to play with (split into upper and lower channel ranges), the X6 can effectively de-clutter crowded networks competing for the same high-speed bandwidth.

"Home networks are being weighed down by an exploding number of WiFi devices demanding bandwidth for more and more video content," said Sandeep Harpalani, Netgear's director of product marketing for Retail Network Products. "Nighthawk X6 solves these issues by not only providing more WiFi bandwidth but also segmenting slower and faster devices across different Wi-Fi bands, and balancing the number of devices in each band to deliver the best-in-class experience for streaming, sharing and gaming."

Other features of the X6 include a 1GHz dual-core processor with three offload processors, Beamforming support, VPN support, five GbE ports (one WAN and four LAN), and a USB 3.0 port.

The Netgear Nighthawk X6 (R8000) is available to pre-order today for $300.

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Newegg Daily Deals: Samsung 840 Evo 500GB SSD, HGST 4TB NAS HDD, and More!

Posted: 25 Jun 2014 06:10 AM PDT

Samsung 840 Evo SSDnewegg logo

Top Deal:

Following up on yesterday's top deal for a Mushkin Enhanced Chronos 240GB SSD, today's theme is the same, only bigger (as in, more capacious). Sure, we could have mixed it up a little bit, but there are still mechanical hard drives in the wild being used as the primary storage device, and that's causing us to lose sleep at night -- bottleneck nightmares are the worst! Help us sleep better by checking out today's top deal for a Samsung 840 Evo 500GB SSD for $240 with free shipping (normally $250 - use coupon code: [EMCPDHF24]). Using Samsung's 3-core MEX controller, this drive kicks out 540MB/s sequential read and 520MB/s sequential write performance, along with up to 98,000/90,000 IOPS 4KB random read/write.

Other Deals:

Intel Core i5-4670K Haswell Quad-Core 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor for $220 with free shipping (normally $240 - use coupon code: [EMCPDHF22])

HGST Deskstar NAS 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5-inch for $175 with free shipping (normally $185 - use coupon code: [EMCPDHF23])

EVGA SuperClocked w/ ACX Cooling GeForce GTX 770 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 Video Card for $310 with free shipping and free Watch Dogs game with Purchase (normally $330; Additional $20 Mail-in rebate)

Microsoft Windows 8 Professional 64-bit (Full Version) - OEM for $120 with free shipping (normally $140 - use coupon code: [EMCPDHF33])
Posted by Shri Krishna

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