General Gaming Article |
- Newegg Daily Deals: Samsung 500GB Portable SSD T1, Dell 27-Inch Monitor, and More!
- Tor to Implement a Bug Bounty Program
- Biostar Readies Trio of Racing Themed Motherboards for Skylake
- iBuyPower's Revolt 2 Desktop Shows Off Graphics Card, Takes Aim at eSports
- Dealing with Memory Leaks
| Newegg Daily Deals: Samsung 500GB Portable SSD T1, Dell 27-Inch Monitor, and More! Posted: 31 Dec 2015 10:23 AM PST Top Deal: USB flash drives are great and all, but if you crave truly fast portable storage, there's another option. That option is today's top deal for a Samsung 500GB Portable USB 3.0 Portable SSD T1 for $160 with free shipping (normally $180 - use coupon code: [EMCKNPA26]). It's not very bulky and it offers max sequential read and writes of up to 450MB/s. Other Deals: Acer Laptop Aspire E Intel Core i5 5200U (2.20 GHz) 8 GB Memory 1 TB HDD NVIDIA GeForce 940M 2 GB 15.6-inch Windows 10 Home 64-Bit for $480 with free shipping (normally $490) Intel 535 Series 2.5-inch 480GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) for $160 with free shipping (normally $180 - use coupon code: [EMCKNPA27]) Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB Portable External Hard Drive with 200GB of Cloud Storage & Mobile Device Backup USB 3.0 for $80 with free shipping (normally $90 - use coupon code: [EMCKNPA25]) Dell Black 27-inch 6ms HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor IPS for $210 with $1 shipping (normally $220 - use coupon code: [EMCKNPA22]) |
| Tor to Implement a Bug Bounty Program Posted: 31 Dec 2015 10:13 AM PST Another money making opportunity for bug hunters It pays to be a bug hunter. No, not the squishy kind that scurry about (unless you're an exterminator), but the kind that leave software vulnerable to attack. There are numerous bug bounty programs out there, and soon you'll be able to add the Tor Project to the fray. Nick Mathewson, co-founder and chief architect of the Tor Project, recently made the announcement during the State of the Onion talk at Chaos Communication Congress in Hamburg, Germany. "We are grateful to the people who have looked over our code over the years, but the only way to continue to improve is to get more people involved," Mathewson told Motherboard. He added that the program will kick off sometime in 2016. Bug bounty programs are one way to stay ahead of the bad guys, especially since there are outside companies that offer up cash for exploits and then sell them to government agencies. One of the more prominent ones is Zerodium, which awarded $1 million to researchers who hacked iOS. A zero-day exploit affecting the Tor Browser fetches $30,000 from Zerodium. It's not yet known how much the Tor Project will pony up for different exploits. However, Mike Perry, lead developer of the Tor Browser, did say that the program will be an invite-only affair at first. |
| Biostar Readies Trio of Racing Themed Motherboards for Skylake Posted: 31 Dec 2015 09:48 AM PST Fighting for pole position Motherboard makers continue to flesh out the market with socket 1151 options for Skylake builders. Count Biostar among them, which is getting ready to release three new options as part of its new Biostar Racing series. The Biostar Racing line combines "cutting edge features" with a "new racing design for a stylish and powerful build," or at least that's the way Biostar is selling things. Each of the three boards feature pin stripes, checkered accents, and customizable LED lighting for that racing vibe. More importantly, Biostar claims they use high end components like 100 percent solid capacitors and "Super Durable" Ferrite chokes. You'll also find two BIOSes onboard, giving you a backup in case something goes sour with the main BIOS. The highest end of the three is the Z170GT7, a rather boring name considering Biostar is paying so much attention to the racing theme. In any event, it sports a 9-phase power design, four DIMM slots supporting up to DDR4-3200, four PCI-E x16 3.0 slots, three PCI-E x1 3.0 slots, a single M.2 port, three SATA Express ports, eight USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0 ports, a single USB 3.1 Type-C port, and DVI-D, two HDMI, and VGA outputs. Sitting in the middle of the pack is the B150GT5 with a 7-phase power design. It supports DDR4-2133 memory and has two PCI-E x16 3.0 ports, a single PCI-E x1 3.0 port, three standard PCI ports, four SATA 6Gbps ports, a single SATA express port, half a dozen 3.0 and 2.0 ports each, and the same video outputs (but with a single HDMI port, not two). Finally there's the H170GT3, also with a 7-phase power design. It too supports DDR4-2133 memory and has two PCI-E x16 3.0 ports, but doubles up the PCI-E x1 3.0 to two and swaps the PCI ports for a single M.2 port. For storage, it has two SATA 6Gbps an a single SATA Express. Other features include eight USB 3.0 ports, four USB 2.0, and HDMI (two) and DVI-D output. Biostar didn't mention any price points but said all three boards will be available soon in its eBay store. |
| iBuyPower's Revolt 2 Desktop Shows Off Graphics Card, Takes Aim at eSports Posted: 31 Dec 2015 09:20 AM PST Leading a Revolt Boutique builder iBuyPower has a new system on tap, the Revolt 2, that it's billing as the world's first eSports focused gaming machine. Beyond the marketing angle, what's most interesting about the Revolt 2 is the placement of certain components. iBuyPower set out to a build a system that highlights the most important components in a gaming system, one of those obviously being the graphics card. Rather than having the GPU tucked away inside the PC with its heatsink and fan contraption facing downward, it sits at the top of the case behind a see-through window. It's oriented so that the side faces upward, while customizable Smart Lighting technology gives it a bit more visual bling. "With all of the effort manufacturers put into the striking designs of their cards, it's a shame that all we see is the backplate at best. The Revolt 2 flips this notion on its head," iBuyPower explains. Another somewhat unique feature is the Revolt 2's LAN-ready "SSD Swap" feature. It's basically a pair of hot-swappable SSD slots situated in the front of the case, both so you can show off your storage just as prominently as the graphics card (and with the same lighting effects) and so you can easily switch between SSDs with various games installed. In addition to the two 2.5-inch SSD drive slots in the front, ther's an optional internal location that supports either a 2.5-inch SSD or 3.5-inch HDD. Based on the photos iBuyPower shared with us, the Revolt 2 looks like an aggressive system that would fit right in with an eSports settings. It has plenty of sharp angles and an overall look that's clearly aimed at gamers. Beyond the aesthetics. the Revolt 2 sports a mini-ITX motherboard paired with standard ATX components. In addition to the storage amenities, there's room for a 280mm liquid cooler and a full size power supply. iBuyPower will share more details about the Revolt 2, including price and specific hardware configurations, at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas next month. |
| Posted: 31 Dec 2015 12:00 AM PST How memory leaks happen, and what to do about themYou may have heard the phrase, "You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much RAM." RAM is a vital part of a computer system, providing for computer data storage via volatile memory. The current recommended minimum for a new system build is 8GB of RAM, with 16GB quite common these days for those who want to "future-proof," or have more advanced needs, such as multitasking, CAD, or video editing. For even more advanced users, 32GB or even 64GB of total system RAM may be easily justified. Our computer systems have large amounts of RAM at their disposal, all to avoid running low on this all-important resource. A shortage of memory on a desktop will grind the system to a performance halt. This is because when the computer is running low (or out) of available RAM, it performs a process called "paging," in which it swaps out data that's in RAM to the storage drive. This creates virtual memory, which then allows the computer to continue its task. All of this shuttling of data back and forth between RAM and the slower virtual memory has a negative impact on performance, as you might guess. So the recommendation is to have plenty of RAM installed, with "the more RAM, the better" being the mantra. One rule of thumb is to figure out how much you really need, and then buy twice as much, to be certain you've always got enough. Despite having this overabundance of RAM in modern computer systems, there can still be situations where the system runs out of memory. The most obvious is simultaneously running multiple memory-hogging applications—4K video editing software, or a ridiculously large number of tabs open in a browser—that use up all available memory resources. The solution to this issue is to install more RAM, and/or have the computer run fewer programs simultaneously. What is a memory leak?However, despite having adequate RAM and not running resource-intensive software, there can be another situation where all available RAM gets used and performance degrades. This is known as a memory leak, and it happens when software fails to manage the available RAM correctly. With the computer functioning normally, RAM gets used by software in a dynamic fashion, and memory resources are allocated as needed. When software no longer needs the RAM resource, it is then "returned," so that it can be reallocated to the next program when needed. In a situation with a memory leak, RAM gets allocated to the software but is not freed up when no longer needed. It's akin to the memory getting stuck in a roach trap—"Roaches get in, but they can't get out." As this continues, a large chunk or even a system's entire complement of RAM can be tied up in this dysfunctional process. This is ultimately caused by a software bug. Last year, the Google Chrome browser developed a memory leak issue. Thankfully, subsequent versions of Chrome addressed it, and the issue was resolved. Firefox has also experienced memory leaks in previous versions. While it certainly seems a common issue in browsers, it can happen in all types of software, including drivers, as was the case recently in AMD's Catalyst driver. What does the user experience? Unfortunately, no version of Windows flashes a popup to alert the user that a memory leak is occurring, so it's not a simple issue to diagnose. The system can have a myriad of symptoms that point to a leak, though: decreased performance, a slowdown plus the inability to open additional programs, or it may freeze up completely. This is often exacerbated by having lots of available memory; if the leak only consumes a few MB of RAM each minute, it could be a day or two before the problem reaches the critical level. The solutions at this point are to close the offending process in the task manager, or a system reboot, which will free up all the RAM so that the process can start again. While a reboot as a solution will get the system running again, it does not precisely diagnose the issue, nor give the user a good idea of what happened or how to avoid it happening again. It is analogous to lighting your lawn on fire just to get rid of some dandelions—too much treatment for the problem at hand. Finding a Memory LeakTracking down a memory leak can be a difficult process. Let's say a program runs for a brief amount of time and has a memory leak. As the process terminates, it may not be an obvious issue if there is more than adequate RAM to support other processes. However, with a longer-running program that grabs more RAM, it can eventually grab all the system's RAM and grind your rig to a standstill. Using Window's Resource MonitorTo find a memory leak, you've got to look at the system's RAM usage. This can be accomplished in Windows by using the Resource Monitor. In Windows 7: Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Resource Monitor In Windows 8.1/10: Press Windows+R to open the Run dialog; enter "resmon" and click OK. With Resource Monitor open, select the Memory tab. Looking at Physical Memory, start by confirming the correct amount is displayed as installed, to ensure that there isn't a hardware issue. Now look at the amount of available memory, and the amount that's in use. This will show if the system is running low on memory, or if there's plenty available. Next, we turn our attention to the processes running that are using the memory. Rather than scrolling through the whole list, you can click "Commit (KB)," which will reorder the list so that the most memory-intensive tasks appear at the top. This makes it easy to see which software is using the most RAM. In the above example it's "Firefox.exe," better known as the Firefox browser (for the record, there were four tabs open at the time of the screenshot). Also note that at the top of the Processes, 39 percent of physical memory was being used, indicating adequate reserves for additional processes. Displayed on the right side of the screen are the monitors over time, which indicate the last 60 seconds. The top panel shows the "Used Physical Memory," and we can see that it is slightly increasing over time, but there's still a significant portion available, allowing the system to remain stable. Limitations of Window's Resource MonitorIt's certainly worthwhile to keep an eye on the Window's Resource Monitor, as it can show the available memory and the processes that are using the most resources. However, it also has some significant limitations. The first is that it is not continuously monitored. It requires opening the Resource Monitor, and doesn't run continuously in the background. As an aside, Windows Gadgets, which were introduced in Windows Vista and continued in Windows 7, offered a gadget that did this. As it turned out, these gadgets were vulnerable (as most software is), so they were discontinued and are no longer available from Microsoft. While we never thought we'd pine for Vista, this was truly a useful feature that may have been dropped a little too soon. The other limitation is that it only goes back 60 seconds. If a memory leak occurs and the software is closed, chances are it will not be caught in the act and correctly identified as the culprit. CleanMem Mini MonitorSo, with Windows not having a robust tool to tackle the memory leak issue, we turn our attention to a third-party software solution. It's called CleanMem Mini Monitor, which you can download here. CleanMem Mini Monitor is designed to sit just above the Windows System Tray in the lower right-hand corner. It's flexible, and can be toggled on and off. This is useful, because it provides real-time status of total memory and the amount that is committed to running processes. As software is opened and closed, it's useful to be able to see how the RAM that is used is impacted, and also to see when there's little or no free memory available. This can also be used as a guide in your decision of whether you need to purchase additional RAM for your rig. In the general tab of CleanMem Mini Monitor, you can choose to run the program automatically at system startup. The background colors of green for 0–50 percent usage, yellow for 50–75 percent usage, and red for greater than 75 percent usage give a good visual indication of the RAM that's being used, and if it's getting critically low. In the free version of the program, the Advanced Monitor settings are locked and not user configurable. However, they do give insight into what CleanMem Mini Monitor is doing. We can see that it is set to Auto Run every five minutes when memory usage is 75 percent or more. It's also set to Auto Clean the file cache every five minutes when the file cache is 50MB or more. While this is generally used as a set-it-and-forget-it program, you can right click the program and run it manually as needed, too. The more you know about what to look for and how to deal with memory leaks, the better. While CleanMem will not eliminate every memory leak issue, it does a good job of getting committed memory back to available status. While a full system reboot is the ultimate solution for RAM that is erroneously misallocated, you can improve your system stability with CleanMem, and make the reboot solution much less common. The permanent solution of course is to get software updates for any applications or drivers that happen to have a memory leak, fixing the problem. In an ideal world, leaks wouldn't happen, but with software becoming increasingly complex, sometimes things are missed. Often, a leak will simply result in the offending application crashing (this has happened with many games where playing for hours ultimately leads to a crash-to-desktop, at which point the memory is reclaimed), but there are many other factors that can also come into play. If you're routinely getting "out of memory" errors, however, keep an eye on your memory usage using the above tools and you will likely discover a leak that needs to be plugged. |
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