| No BS Podcast #230: Kingston Talks DDR4, SSD Controversy, and New Headset Posted: 21 Aug 2014 04:46 PM PDT  We talk SSD bait-and-switch, pricing of DDR4, and more
Kingston dropped by for a quick visit to show off some new HyperX toys and we figured we'd bring them into the podcast room so you could also get a front seat in on the conversation. On episode #230 of the No BS Podcast, Jimmy and Tom are joined by Kingston's Senior Technology Manager Mark Tekunoff, Public Relations Manager David Leong, and Reverb Communications Public Relations Director Douglass Perry. In the short half-hour podcast, we look at the company's new HyperX Cloud headset and discuss the fairly recent "bait and switch" SSD controversy in which synchronous NAND was later swapped out with slower asynchronous NAND on retail shelves. We also talk about the future of DDR4, particularly in regards to pricing, yields, and performance.   
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| Newegg Daily Deals: OCZ Vector 150 Series 120GB SSD, AMD FX-9590 Vishera 8-Core, and More! Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:52 AM PDT |
| CyberPowerPC's Raven X6 Gaming Laptop Takes Flight Starting at $1,199 Posted: 21 Aug 2014 11:36 AM PDT  A sleek and stylish laptop
CyberPowerPC today uncaged its new Raven X6 laptop for gamers. The Raven X6 sports a 15.6-inch In-Plane Switching (IPS) display with a 1920x1080 resolution powered by an Intel Core i7 4710HQ mobile processor and Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M graphics. It all comes wrapped in an aggressive looking chassis with sleek angles and subtle aesthetic enhancements and accents. Pricing starts at $1,199. In addition to the components listed above, the Raven X6 also features 8GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, 1TB hard drive (7200 RPM), two USB 3.0 ports, HD webcam with dual digital microphones, backlit keyboard, HDMI output, 4-in-1 media card reader, and Windows 8.1. There are a few upgrade options, such as bigger and faster storage choices, more RAM, and a bunch of accessories (mice, keyboards, headsets), though you can't hog wild pimping this thing out with more powerful components -- the options just aren't there. You can order a CyberPowerPC Raven X6 right now. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| HP Turnaround Effort on Track as Quarterly Sales Top Expectations Posted: 21 Aug 2014 10:51 AM PDT  Rise in desktop and laptop sales helped HP beat Wall Street estimates
Though HP didn't reclaim its spot as the number one supplier of PCs, the second-place OEM surprised analysts with a strong third quarter. HP's net revenue in the third quarter came to $27.6 billion, up 1 percent compared to the same period a year ago, while earnings per share came to $0.89, up 3 percent year-over-year. That's slightly better than Wall Street's estimate of a drop in revenue to $27.01 billion. HP has been working hard to turn things around as it restructures its operations. Unfortunately, doing so entailed making significant job cuts in the tens of thousands, though on the bright side those efforts seem to be paying off. "Overall, I'm very pleased with the progress we've made," said Meg Whitman, chairman, president and chief executive officer, HP. "When I look at the way the business is performing, the pipeline of innovation and the daily feedback that I receive from our customers and partners, my confidence in the turnaround grows stronger." HP's revenue from its PC division rose 12 percent year-over-year, with a 9 percent uptick in desktop sales and an 18 percent jump in notebook sales. This helped offset declines in printing, software, and enterprise revenue. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Facebook Extends Bug Bounty Program to Oculus Rift Posted: 21 Aug 2014 10:32 AM PDT  Get paid to root out bugs in Oculus Rift
The concept of a bug bounty program is nothing new, and even Facebook will line your pockets with cash if you discover a qualifying security vulnerability in the social network or select acquisitions it's made. Until now, however Oculus Rift was exempt. Facebook has now extended its bug bounty program to Oculus Rift, which joins other Facebook acquisitions such as Instagram, Parse, Onavo, and Moves. Bounties are awarded at the discretion of Facebook's bug bounty team. Should yours qualify, the minimum reward you're receive is $500. On the flip side, there is no maximum reward, and the more severe and creative the bug, the higher the bounty will be, according to Facebook's bug bounty page. Though this is Facebook's first hardware device, Facebook security engineer Neal Poole tells The Verge that at present, the majority of bugs related to Oculus Rift are in the message system for Oculus developers and parts of the website. As a result, the bugs are similar to the ones found in the social network. "A lot of the issues that come up with Oculus are not necessarily in the hardware yet," Poole says. "Potentially in the future, if people were to go explore and find issues in the SDK or the hardware, that is definitely of interest to us." Image Credit: Flickr (Sergey Galyonkin) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Graphics Porn (August 2014): Cheat Technical Officer Jim2point0 Posted: 21 Aug 2014 10:10 AM PDT 
The Cheat Engine whiz of Dead End Thrills opens up his archives for Graphics Porn We're mixing things up again this month to showcase another tour de force of the video game screenshot world. James 'jim2point0' Snook is a front-end web developer at eBay Enterprise by day and a devoted screenshot aficionado at night. Just like K-putt, he's dedicated to showcasing the very best that our favorite games have to offer. Whether that's a stunning scene or just a particularly awesome ray of light, James is there to grab some spectacular screenshots. It all started when James stumbled upon some of Dead End Thrill's screenshots on Reddit. Now, he's a diehard screenshot-taker. 4K downsampling and a technical-level of control over Cheat Engine—a utility used to modify games—means that James can add free cameras, control over the field of the view (FOV), and even time-stop functions to games like Watch Dogs and Tomb Raider. He's good enough at it that he's the de-facto: "Cheat Technical Officer" on the DeadEndThrills forum. His work behind-the-scenes helps people like K-Putt and Dead End Thrills capture such inspiring screenshots. James' love of the technical goes beyond Cheat Engine and screenshots. His personal rig is packed to the brink with an Asus Maximus V Extreme motherboard, an Intel Core i7-3770K overclocked to 4.4GHz, two EVGA GTX 780s in SLI, 16GB of 1866MHz Corsair Vengeance RAM, and a QNIX QX2710 2560x1440 monitor. We've got 15 of James' personal favorites in the gallery below. Check them out and while you're at it follow him on Twitter to keep up with his latest exploits. Visit his Flickr for the complete collection of his screens as well as higher-resolution downloads. Last, but not least, check out the Dead End Thrills forum for game-specific guides on getting total control over your screenshot adventures. Whether you've been using Steam's nifty screenshots feature or simply print screening some beautiful wallpaper-worthy game moments, we want to be able to share your captured works of art with the world. If you think you can do better than the pictures submitted below, please email your screenshots to mpcgraphicsporn@gmail.com so we can show them off. Make sure to include the name of the game, a title for the screenshot, and a description of what's happening on-screen. |
| Acer Announces Compact Chromebox CXI Series Starting at $180 Posted: 21 Aug 2014 09:01 AM PDT  Acer's first desktop PC running Google's Chrome OS
Does Google's Chrome OS have the legs to stretch beyond Chromebooks and into the mini PC category? Looks like we'll find out, as Acer just announced its new Chromebox CXI line for customers in North America. Acer isn't taking aim at just one category of users -- instead, the company says the CXI series is an appropriate solution for education, small to medium businesses, and budget-conscious shoppers who don't need a mobile platform. Housed in a compact 0.6 liter (6.41 x 5.12 x 1.3 inches) chassis that stands upright and is VESA mountable, the Chromebox CXI makes the most out of its space by offering fast boot up times in around 8 seconds and near-instant resume from sleep mode. Acer plans to launch two Chromebox CXI models, the first of which is the CXI-2GKM with an Intel Celeron 2957U processor, 2GB of DDR3-1600 RAM (supports up to 8GB), 16GB solid state drive, SD card reader, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GbE LAN, four USB 3.0 ports (including one with power off charging for smartphones and tablets), DisplayPort and HDMI output, and of course Google's Chrome OS. 
The second model is the CXI-4GKM. It boasts the same specs, save for the RAM, which gets doubled to 4GB. Both the CXI-2GKM and CXI-4GKM will be available next month for $180 and $220, respectively. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Velocity Micro Adds Custom Designed MX3 Case to System Configuration Options Posted: 21 Aug 2014 07:07 AM PDT  Micro in size, big in expandability
In days gone by, deciding between high end components and a space saving configuration was a delicate balancing act with compromises made along the way. Things are different today. Hardware has evolved, and it's now possible to build a potent system inside a smaller size case. Velocity Micro's custom designed MX3 chassis is one such example of a compact case that can handle full size components, and it's now available from the boutique builder as a configuration option. The MX3 is a microATX case that can handle up to two high-end graphics cards like the Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 Ti, a 240mm liquid CPU radiator, and up to half a dozen hard drives. As far as Velocity Micro is concerned, it's the most power-capable and upgradeable mATX case available in the custom PC industry. "This latest chassis is the culmination of nearly six months of research, design, and development," said Randy Copeland, President and CEO of Velocity Micro. "We believe its unique combination of design, power capabilities, and outstanding thermals will make it extremely popular with our enthusiast audience. It's a significant leap forward both for us and for the industry." Velocity Micro's MX3 case option is available now in configurations starting at $1,099 (Edge Z40). For that price, you get a Gigabyte H97M-D3H motherboard, Intel Core i5 4460 processor, 8GB Crucial Ballistix DDR3-1600 RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 750 graphics card, 1TB hard drive, 24X Asus DVD burner, 500W EVGA power supply, and Windows 7 Home Premium. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
