General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Gigabyte Radeon R9 290X OC Review

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 12:52 PM PDT

As good as it gets, if you can find one to buy

Aftermarket Radeon R9 290X GPUs are beginning to make the rounds, and this month we had a WindForce-cooled behemoth from Gigabyte strutting its stuff in the lab. Unlike last month's Sapphire Tri-X R9 290X, this board features a custom PCB in addition to the custom cooler, whereas the Sapphire slapped a huge cooler onto the reference design circuit board. Theoretically, this could allow for higher overclocks on the Gigabyte due to better-quality components, but more on that later.

Unlike the reference design, Gigabyte's R9 290X is cool, quiet, and overclockable.

Unlike the reference design, Gigabyte's R9 290X is cool, quiet, and overclockable.

This is the overclocked version of the card, so it clocks up to 1,040MHz under load, which is a mere 40MHz over stock. These boards always have conservative overclocks out of the box, though, and that is by no means the final clock speed for this card. We've covered its WindForce cooler in past reviews, so we won't go into all the details, but it's a three-fan cooler that only takes up two PCIe slots and uses six heat pipes with inclined heatsinks to better dissipate the warm. It's good for 450W of heat dispersal, according to Gigabyte, and since the R9 290X is roughly a 300W card (AMD has never given a TDP for this particular model for some reason), the WindForce cooler should be more than up to the job.

Like all Radeon R9 290X boards, this sucker is big and long, measuring 11.5 inches. Gigabyte recommends you use at least a 600W power supply with it, and it sports two dual-link DVI ports for 2560x1600 gaming, as well as HDMI 1.4 and DisplayPort 1.2a if you want to run 4K. The card comes bundled with a free set of headphones. It used to include a free copy of Battlefield 4, but the company told us it was no longer offering the game bundle because it had run out of coupons. The MSRP of the board is $620, but some stores had it for $599 while others marked it up to $700.

Once we had this Windy Bad Boy in the lab, we were very curious to compare it to the Sapphire Tri-X R9 290X we tested last month. Since both cards feature enormous aftermarket coolers, have the exact same specs and clocks, and are roughly the same price, we weren't surprised to find that they performed identically for the most part.

If you look at the benchmark chart, in every test the two cards are almost exactly the same—the only exception being Metro, but since that's a PhysX game, AMD cards can get a bit wonky sometimes. In every other test, the two cards are within a few frames-per-second difference, making them interchangeable. Both cards also run in the mid–70 C zone under load, which is 20 C cooler than the reference design. We were able to overclock both cards to just a smidge over 1,100MHz, as well.

"Okay," you are saying to yourself. "I'm ready to buy!" Well, that's where we run into a small problem. Gigabyte's MSRP for this card is $620—the same as the Sapphire Tri-X card—but at press time, the cheapest we could find it for was $700 on Newegg. We can't ding Gigabyte for Newegg's pricing, but it's a real shame these R9 290X cards are so damned expensive.

$620, www.gigabyte.us

NZXT H440 Review

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 12:46 PM PDT

Remarkably clean, and limited, too

We love the fact that NZXT bills this semi-silent-themed case as a "hassle-free experience." We wonder if the company was using the same case that we were, because we encountered quite a bit of hassle building a standard configuration into this smaller-than-usual chassis.

For starters, the case itself ships with no printed manual—at least, ours didn't. We only hope that's an oversight with our early review unit instead of a standard feature of the chassis itself, because there are definitely some features of the H440 that warrant a bit of instruction, especially for neophyte builders.

The H440 is the first case we've tested that doesn't have 5.25-inch drive bays.

The H440 is the first case we've tested that doesn't have 5.25-inch drive bays.

Case in point: There are absolutely zero 5.25-inch bays to be found on the H440, which is a good thing to know before you start attempting to pry off the H440's front (Dremel in hand). We know, we know, the optical drive is dead, long live the optical drive—but is it too soon? To be honest, there's an upstart contingent here at Maximum PC who think it's a plus, while some cranky old farts think it's a minus. Additionally, installing the power supply might evoke a bout of head-scratching at first, as there's seemingly no way to just stuff it into the chassis thanks to how it's been compartmentalized on the case's bottom. This does build on the case's motto of "remarkably clean," though, by hiding your messy PSU cabling.

This leads us into one of our major gripes with this chassis: There's a lot of screwing. We pretty much pulled out the thumbscrews in the case's side, which are supposedly designed to not do that. Beyond that, you have to unscrew a panel to slide the power supply in, you have to unscrew the standard PCI slot covers for any devices you want to install, and—most frustratingly—you have to first unscrew the case's steel drive trays (up to six total) just for the privilege of being able to screw in your hard drive. Clean, yes. Toolless, no.

The case feels a bit small on the inside, but it adequately supported our standard test setup (including an Nvidia GTX 480 video card) without any cramming or wedging. We like how the case's three rubberized cable-routing holes fit perfectly with a standard video card setup—when using the top-most PCI Express x16 slot on our ATX motherboard, our video card didn't block any of the much-needed routing holes.

That said, cable routing is a bit of a challenge in the H440. There's already not that much room between the rear of the motherboard tray and the case's side panel. Amplifying the claustrophobia is a layer of soundproofing foam adhered to the side panel. We love that NZXT cares so much about our ears, but it makes for a less-than-pleasant smashing of cables against the case's side (especially since there's only one provided hole for power-supply cables to route through otherwise). Cable-management options feel more constrained by this case than others we've tested.

The foam surrounding the case's insides has quite a bit of work in store for it, too. No fewer than four of NZXT's next-gen case fans grace the inside of the chassis: three 12cm fans on the front and one 14cm fan on the back. When we fired up the system with no components inside it, the soundproof-themed case was a bit audible. A full system only adds to the din, and while we appreciate NZXT's efforts toward keeping the volume dial at a three instead of an eleven, it seems to be a bit of a lost cause.

NZXT seems to think this case is perfect for liquid cooling. For some all-in-one setups, sure; for customized loops, you're going to be in for something of a tubing nightmare. Best of luck!

$120, www.nzxt.com

Cooler Master Nepton 280L Review

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 12:35 PM PDT

Not quite god, but still Herculean

In the world of CPUs, closed-loop liquid coolers (CLCs) seem to be standard-issue for enthusiasts these days. They give you higher overclocking headroom than even the most expensive and beefy air coolers, and they can operate more quietly. However, we haven't seen many with radiators as large as 280mm—just the NZXT Kraken X60 and the Corsair H110 come to mind—so we were eager to run the Cooler Master Nepton 280L through its paces.

The Nepton features a massive 280mm radiator.

The Nepton features a massive 280mm radiator.

Many hardware vendors have chosen to license their CLC designs from Asetek, whose patents go back quite a way. With the 280L, however, Cooler Master decided to roll its own with a custom pump. It's definitely larger than usual. The tubes coming out of it are sleeved with a material called FEP, which is similar to Teflon and designed to slow the rate of evaporation inside the loop. That's an important factor for a cooler that's not designed to be refilled. Cooler Master is also using its own JetFlo fans, designed for high static pressure. This feature is needed to penetrate into the fins of the radiator, and the 140mm version of the JetFlo is making its debut here (the radiator can also fit 120mm fans).

Pump installation is pretty straightforward. First, we screwed in a small bracket to each side of the cold plate. Then, since our LGA 2011 motherboard has an integrated CPU backplate, we just attached four bundled screws to that, set the cold plate on top the CPU, and added four fasteners to fix the cold plate's brackets to the four screws in the backplate. The fasteners only take a flat-bladed screwdriver, oddly, but they went in smoothly. The radiator screws also come in two sets of eight, differing only a couple of millimeters in length, so it took a minute to separate each type. It would have been better had they been clearly differentiated.

The pump, plugged into our board's secondary CPU fan header, operated at a steady 6,300rpm, which is unusually high. We checked with Cooler Master, and the company agreed. We used a Zalman Fanmate to manually tune it down to 5,000rpm, at which point the pump noise didn't stand out. Despite a loss of 1,300rpm, temps only went up about 1 C during our load test, indicating that the additional speed offered minimal improvement anyway. We then plugged the pump into a chassis fan header without the Fanmate, and it leveled off at 4,500rpm.

Of course, there are caveats. A large percentage of cases will not accommodate a 280mm radiator; either the dimensions are too small or the fan mounts are not sized for it. This is not the radiator's fault, though, so we can't really deduct points for it. It's just something that you have to be aware of. Also, the thick FEP tubes are not especially flexible. The radiator screws have unusually open heads, requiring an uncommonly large bit to avoid stripping. Lastly, the pump is too loud without some fiddling.

These are fairly minor issues that all have workarounds, though. Considering the Nepton's top-tier cooling performance, reasonably low noise levels, and ease of installation, its quirks don't stick out in the end. Its load temperatures were notably lower than anything else we've tested and may allow you to squeeze another couple-hundred MHz out of an overclock. The Nepton is an indisputable upgrade from Cooler Master's older Seidon series.

$125 (street), www.coolermaster-usa.com

Canalys Report Shows Notebook Shipments Skipping Ahead of Tablets in Second Quarter

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 11:24 AM PDT

HP LaptopTablet demand is waning

Consumers are no longer buying tablets in record numbers. Instead, tablet shipments slipped 5 percent sequentially to 48.4 million units during the second quarter, according to data released by Canalys. Apple still leads the tablet market, but had its weakest quarter since Q1 2012 with just under 13.3 million iPad shipments. Meanwhile, Samsung shipped 8.9 million tablets during the quarter, which also represents a sequential decline.

Part of the reason why demand for tablets is slowing down is because consumers who already own a slate aren't seeing any reasons to upgrade to something faster.

"A slowdown in the pace of innovation is creating an issue for tablet vendors. The tablet market has quickly found itself in the same position the notebook market was in some years ago, with minimal increases in hardware performance forming the basis for an argument to upgrade," said Canalys Senior Analyst Tim Coulling. "But when considering the most common tasks that tablets are asked to perform, the need for more horsepower is often not evident."

Somewhat surprisingly, notebook shipments leapfrogged ahead of tablets with 49.1 million units in the second quarter of 2014. That hasn't happened since the third quarter of last year, according to Canalys. Shipments were especially strong in North America, which saw a 13 percent jump compared to the same quarter a year ago.

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Acer Launches Veriton Z4810G All-in-One For $749

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 11:03 AM PDT

Acer AIOA space saving all-in-one with optional touch support

Forget any talk you might of heard about this being the so-called post PC era. To the contrary, Acer this week announced its new Veriton Z4810G Series of all-in-one desktops with 24-inch Full HD 1080 displays with In-Plane Switching (IPS) panels and optional 10-point multi-touch support. The systems start at $749 and are intended for both business and institutional customers looking for an AIO with a relatively small footprint.

The VZ810G-i34350X is the model with a non-touch panel. It includes an Intel Core i3 4150T processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive, DVD burner, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, four USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, GbE LAN, and Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

For those who prefer a touchscreen panel, the VZ810G-i3435TX brings one to the table for $880. Otherwise, it sports the same specs as its non-touch counterpart.

"Featuring a Full HD display and webcam, our newest commercial AiO desktops deliver stunning images for multimedia applications, presentations, spreadsheets and more," said Leila Axelle Robert, Acer senior business manager. "The sleek and attractive design saves space and makes a positive first impression in high visibility locations including boardrooms, reception areas and executive offices. Plus, IT professionals will appreciate the inclusion of Acer Office Manager and Acer ProShield, which streamline asset management and data security."

Both systems will be available this month.

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Newegg Daily Deals: Seagate 6TB Hard Drive, EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Graphics Card, and More!

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 10:45 AM PDT

Seagate 6TBnewegg logo

Top Deal:

Running out of room in your computer case for yet another hard drive? Perhaps consolidating your older, smaller HDDs is the answer you're looking for. In order to do that, you'll need a capacious HDD to hold all that data. It just so happens that today's top deal is for a Seagate 6TB 3.5-inch Internal HDD for $280 with free shipping (normally $300 - use coupon code: [EMCPBPE99]). In addition to lots of storage space, this 7200 RPM drive also boats 128MB cache.

Other Deals:

EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 Video Card for $465 with free shipping (normally $485; additional $20 Mail-in rebate)

Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 240G 2.5-inch 240GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive for $95 with free shipping

Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor for $230 with free shipping (normally $240 - use coupon code: [EMCPBPE23])

Corsair Dominator Platinum 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 2133 Desktop Memory for $200 with free shipping (normally $220 - use coupon code: [EMCPBPE33])

Roccat Breeds Nyth Modular Gaming Mouse and Skeltr Keyboard with Smartphone Stand

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 10:01 AM PDT

Roccat NythFirst fully integrated keyboard/smartphone combo and modular MMO mouse

Roccat's been known to think outside the box when coming up with unique features for its gaming peripherals, but its newest devices take things to a new level. While at Gamescom 2014, Roccat today announced its Nyth modular gaming mouse and Skeltr keyboard/smartphone combo. Both are supposed to the be the first of their kind, the question is, how will gamers react?

"We've wanted to develop our own MMO mouse for a long time, but like always, we end up seeing a bigger picture once we begin brainstorming. MMO mice have these massive button grids that are locked in. You can change the button functionality, but what if you don't like the layout? Our solution is a wholly modular MMO mouse, with interchangeable button combinations that suit the player," explains Rene Korte, CEO and founder of Roccat. "No two gamers are alike, and because we know that, we've gone many steps beyond just allowing them to switch out the in-package button options. Our fans will have access to our button inventory files, and those that are into 3D printing can even create their very own."

The side part on the Nyth is replaceable, allowing gamers to transform the MMO mouse into one that's better suited for FPS gaming.

Skeltr

Also unique is Roccat's Skeltr keyboard. It has a smartphone stand, which you can use to mount your phone as a secondary display synced to the keyboard via Bluetooth. The sliding rail and rotating holster fit every size smar device, according to Roccat.

"We also believe being able to use your keyboard to communicate on your smartphone is a no-brainer feature Roccat fans will deeply appreciate," Korte said.

No word yet on when these devices will come out or for how much.

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MSI Touts WS60 as World's Thinnest and Lightest Mobile Workstation

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 09:31 AM PDT

MSI WS60A workstation for road warriors

What happens when you combine the DNA of a workstation with the form factor of an Ultrabook? You end up with MSI's WS60, supposedly the thinnest and lightest mobile workstation the world has ever seen. The WS60 sports a 15.6-inch display with either an Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) or WQHD+ 3K (2880x1620) resolution in a chassis that measures 15.35 inches (W) x 10.47 inches (D) x 0.78 inches (H) and weighs 4.36 pounds.

There are two versions available. The one with the Full HD 1080p display costs $2,300 and includes an Intel Core i7 4710HQ processor, Nvidia Quadro K2100M graphics card, 128GB mSATA SSD, 1TB hard drive, 16GB DDR3L-1600 memory, Killer Gaming Network, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, memory card reader, three USB 3.0 ports, HDMI 1.4 output, 1080p webcam, SteelSeries full-color backlit keyboard, Dynaudio speakers (4.1), and Windows 7 Professional.

For $2,600, MSI bumps up the resolution to 3K and adds a second 128GB SSD to run in RAID 0 mode. All other features are the same.

"The WS60 is the perfect workstation for mobile designers and CAD CAM Engineers," says Andy Tung, president of MSI Pan America. "It combines the versatility of an ultrabook with the performance of a workstation and takes it to another level with Thunderbolt connectivity, MSI's Shortcut Manager, and an array of gaming components."

MSI's WS60 are currently touring Siggraph 2014 and should be available soon.

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Fifth Edition of Scrabble Dictionary Gets Geeky with Terms Like 'Vlog' and 'Texter'

Posted: 05 Aug 2014 08:40 AM PDT

Scrabble Dictionary"Hashtag" is one of 5,000 new words included in a dictionary update for Scrabble

It's been about a decade since the last time an official Scrabble dictionary was released, and in terms of technology, you might as well be talking about a century. Well, here's some good news for all you geeky wordsmiths who've grown tired of being challenged for playing the word "texter" and other tech terms -- Merriam-Webster is getting ready to release the Fifth Edition of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary with 5,000 new words.

Merriam-Webster provided a partial list of the updated words ahead of the dictionary's launch, and included among them are several technology and geek culture terms, including "selfie," "vlodcast," and "webzine." Even "hashtag" made it into the dictionary as Hasbro attempts to keep the game hip, which would also explain why "bromance" made the cut. If an opposing player groans at you for playing "joypad," try playing "chillax" on your next turn -- you'll win both challenges.

"Language is constantly evolving and new words are added to Merriam-Webster dictionaries on an ongoing basis," Peter Sokolowski, Merriam-Webster editor at large, said in a statement, according to PCMag.com. "Now thousands of those words can officially be played on the Scrabble game board."

The fifth edition of the Scrabble dictionary will land on shelves Wednesday; digital versions will be available for iOS, Android, and Kindle later this month.

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