| Rig of the Month: Project PCB Posted: 23 Dec 2014 01:28 PM PST  An inside-out computer
We've seen quite a range of computer modifications come into our inbox as part of the Rig of the Month series, but we haven't had many as well thought out as Stuart "noobas4urus" Johanson's Project PCB. This month's Rig of the Month is lovingly themed after the very PCBs that give it life. Stuart settled on a metallic green fleck paintjob with white accents alongside actual circuit boards that really complete the look. It's based on the Silverstone TJ-08E case, an Asus Z87 Gryphon motherboard, an i5-4670K, an EVGA GTX 670 FTW, some customized Crucial Ballistix Tracer RAM, a modded Corsair H80i, and 20 feet of RGB LED lighting. There are so many LEDs that most of them shine through the custom PCB shrouds on the GPU and motherboard. 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. |
| Heads Up: Nvidia GeForce 347.09 WHQL Driver is Available to Download Posted: 23 Dec 2014 10:57 AM PST  GeForce GTX 980M SLI and GTX 970M SLI notebook users steer clear of this one
Nvidia today made available its latest GeForce Game Ready driver, release 347.09 WHQL, which the company claims will give users the best possible gaming experience for Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Elite: Dangerous. Otherwise, there's not a ton to cover in the new driver update -- it includes the usual round of 3D Vision Profile updates, along with the addition of 3D Compatibility Mode for select titles. There's also a warning. "GeForce GTX 980M SLI and GTX 970M SLI notebooks are not supported with this driver. With SLI enabled on these notebooks, a black screen will occur upon uninstalling this driver. To workaround this issue, disable SLI before uninstalling the driver," Nvidia states in its release notes (PDF). Our advice for GTX 980M SLI and GTX 970M SLI is to stay away from the driver update unless you have a really compelling reason to install it, and give Nvidia time to work out the issue. As for 3D Compatibility Mode support, Nvidia gave "Excellent" ratings to Alien: Isolation, Elite: Dangerous, Escape Dead Island, and Far Cry 4, while tagging Middle-Earth - Shadow of Mordor with a "Good" rating. You can download the new driver here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Asus ROG GL551 Gaming Laptop, Logitech G501 Proteus Core Mouse, and More! Posted: 23 Dec 2014 10:12 AM PST  
Top Deal: The holiday season is winding down, and if you're anticipating another year of ties, fruitcakes, and socks, well, then it's up to you to gift yourself something you really want. How's a gaming laptop grab you? If that's where your mind is at, then check out today's top deal for an Asus ROG GL551 Series Gaming Laptop for $989 with free shipping (normally $1,050 - use coupon code: [EMCWHHG23]). It's a 15.6-inch notebook with a Core i7 4710HQ CPU, 16GB RAM, GeForce GTX 860M GPU, and 1TB HDD. Other Deals: Seagate NAS HDD 4TB Internal Hard Drive for $150 with free shipping (normally $165 - use coupon code: [ESCWHHG82]) Corsair RM1000 1000W Full Modular Power Supply for $140 with free shipping (normally $150 - use coupon code: [EMCWHHG22]; additional $30 Mail-in rebate) Logitech G502 Proteus Core Tunable Gaming Mouse for $60 with free shipping (normally $80) Seagate Constellation ES.3 1TB 3.5-inch Enterprise Internal Hard Drive for $85 with free shipping (normally $89) |
| EVGA Announces Beastly SuperNova 1600W Titanium PSU Posted: 23 Dec 2014 09:46 AM PST  The definition of overkill
Looking for a power supply that can handle your monster build with juice to spare? Well, EVGA's new SuperNova 1600 T2 PSU is a good start. Rated at 1600W, EVGA's new PSU also boasts 80 Plus Titanium certification for 94 percent efficiency. It's also the highest 80 Plus certification available, the others being Platinum (92 percent), Gold (90 percent), Silver (88 percent), Bronze (85 percent), and simply Plus (80 percent), all of which represent efficiency at 50 percent load levels. The SuperNova 1600 T2 is really a PSU for the 1 percenters, in terms of the relatively few people who have the hardware that might need anything remotely close to what this unit can offer. If you're running anything less than quad-SLI/CrossFire, this is probably too much power supply. Assuming you can make use of it, the SuperNova 1600 T2 sports bundles of modular cables that are braided, including nine 8-pin (6+2), five 6-pin PCIe connectors, and 16 SATA connectors. It's fully modular, meaning even the 24-pin ATX and dual 8-pin (4+4) EPS cables are detachable. Brace yourself, as this is where we reveal the price -- it's set at $450 MSRP. To help soften the blow, EVGA includes a generous 10-year warranty. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Google Overhauls Transparency Report, Makes Government Takedown Requests Easier to Digest Posted: 23 Dec 2014 09:10 AM PST  Google's latest transparency report has a new look
Don't be surprised if Google's new Transparency Report for the June through December period in 2013 looks different to you, that's by design. The search giant explains in a blog post that after doing things the same way for nearly five years, it was time to give its Transparency Report an update. In addition to a new look, there are also some new features that are intended to make the information more meaningful. Google worked with Blue State Digital to help design a more interactive experience that allows the company to include additional information, such as explanations of its process, and to highlight stats. "Our Transparency Report is certainly not a comprehensive view of censorship online. However, it does provide a lens on the things that governments and courts ask us to remove, underscoring the importance of transparency around the processes governing such requests," Google said. "We hope that you'll take the time to explore the new report to learn more about the government removals across Google." From June to December 2013, Google said it received 3,105 government requests to remove 14,637 pieces of content. The top three products that governmetns requested removals of were Blogger (1,066 requests), Search (841 requests), and YouTube (765 requests). The majority of government removal requests cited defamation (38 percent) as the reason. You can view the new report here. |
| Microsoft Tries Poaching MacBook Users with Surface Pro 3 Website Posted: 23 Dec 2014 08:45 AM PST  New site helps MacBook users make the switch to Surface
Microsoft wasn't so brazen as to post a website trying to lure MacBook users to its original Surface products, including the Surface RT, a particularly forgettable product. But with the Surface Pro 3, Microsoft has hit a groove and come out with a product that, for some, is a tablet that can truly replace their laptop. With its new-found confidence, Microsoft has gone gunning for MacBook users with a new website to help them make the switch to Surface Pro 3. "Computers, and the memories you keep within them, are incredibly personal. We know moving these memories from one platform to another can be nerve-racking and learning new software can seem daunting. We want to make the transition as easy as possible. If you currently have a Mac and have questions about switching to Surface Pro 3 and Windows, we designed this site to help get you started," Microsoft explains on its new site. Will it work? Time will tell, though the answer will depend in part on how MacBook users (and the populace in general) views the site. Modern Readers referred to the site as "teeth-clenchingly annoying" and "not patronizing at all...nope...not a bit," the latter an obviously sarcastic observation. There are four sections: - Getting started with Windows
- Surface Pro 3 for MacBook users
- Moving your content to Surface Pro 3
- Using Surface Pro 3 with iPhone, iCloud, and iTunes
The second section might be the most helpful for a Mac users who isn't familiar with Windows, as it lays out a bunch of "how-to" tasks. Microsoft stated in its most recent earnings report that sales of its Surface tablets more than doubled year-over-year and also sequentially to $908 million. According to Microsoft, the reason for the surge in sales is due to "strong interest from students, professionals, and increasingly enterprises for Surface Pro 3." That's a far cry from the Surface RT days when Microsoft was stuck holding onto $900 million worth of unsold inventory. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| North Korea is Back Online Following Suspicious Internet Outage Posted: 23 Dec 2014 08:06 AM PST  North Korea's Internet service resumes in spotty form
Tension between the U.S. and North Korea could be growing if it's discovered the former had anything to do with the latter's recent Internet outage, which lasted nearly 10 hours. Links have since been restored though the reason for the outage is not yet known. U.S. officials maintain that Washington was in no way involved, but then again, North Korea also contends that it had nothing to do with the cyberattack against Sony despite there being evidence to the contrary. President Barack Obama publicly blamed North Korea for the incident with Sony, calling it an act of "cyber-vandalism" and vowing to "respond proportionately." He didn't elaborate on what type of response would be proportionate or when it might come, other than to say it would be "in a place and time and manner that we choose." There are multiple scenarios that could explain why North Korea's Internet went down. It could be the result of a cyberattack, a hardware failure, or North Korea could have taken itself offline, Reuters reports. It should also be noted that North Korea's Internet links and traffic pass through China. Not that it mattered too much anyway. Relatively few of North Korea's 24 million people have access to the Internet, making it one of the least connected nations in the world. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
