| Nvidia Will Help Disgruntled GTX 970 Owners Get a Refund, Says a Driver Update is Coming Posted: 28 Jan 2015 11:13 AM PST  Upcoming driver could improve GTX 970's memory performance
Nvidia really stepped in a pile of PR poo when it was discovered that there was an internal communication gaffe over the way the GeForce GTX 970 handles its 4GB of onboard memory and the resulting specs. In short, the GTX 970 has 56 ROPs and 1,792KB of L2 cache instead of matching the GTX 980's 64 ROPs and 2,048KB of L2 cache as originally advertised. However, Nvidia wants to make things right and has offered to help GTX 970 owners obtain a refund, if need be. Should you go that route? In most cases, probably not. Before reading any further, however, we highly recommend familiarizing yourself with the situation by reading this. Don't worry, we won't go anywhere -- we'll be right here when you get back. Finished? Great, now here's the deal. Nvidia stated on its forum that it's working on a driver update that will do a better job managing the memory scheme on the GTX 970, and expects to improve performance. Granted there's only so much that can be done on the software side to address a physical design, but given that Nvidia built the card the way it did, it stands to reason that it also knows how to properly tune it. We'll see. If you ultimately decide that you don't want the card, however, that's your choice, and Nvidia says it will help you obtain a refund if you're unable to do so on your own. Here's the full statement. "Hey, First, I want you to know that I'm not just a mod, I work for Nvidia in Santa Clara I totally get why so many people are upset. We messed up some of the stats on the reviewer kit and we didn't properly explain the memory architecture. I realize a lot of you guys rely on product reviews to make purchase decisions and we let you down. It sucks because we're really proud of this thing. The GTX 970 is an amazing card and I genuinely believe it's the best card for the money that you can buy. We're working on a driver update that will tune what's allocated where in memory to further improve performance. Having said that, I understand that this whole experience might have turned you off to the card. If you don't want the card anymore you should return it and get a refund or exchange. If you have any problems getting that done, let me know and I'll do my best to help. --Peter" It's important to note that Peter says he'll do his best to help, which is different than saying Nvidia will take care of things. In other words, if you're having trouble getting a refund, there's a chance you'll be stuck with it anyway. However, given the PR hit Nvidia's already taken on this one, we suspect those scenarios will be few and far between, if at all. For most people, what this boils down to is that your GTX 970 is going to get even faster courtesy of some forthcoming optimizations. And for the few that are truly affected by the way the GTX 970 handles memory above 3.5GB, you now have someone at Nvidia that's willing to help you obtain a refund. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Sticks a Fork in Surface 2 and Windows RT Posted: 28 Jan 2015 10:27 AM PST  Windows RT becomes a footnote
Looking back through the years, it's pretty easy to pick out certain forgettable versions of Windows. You know the ones -- Windows ME, Windows Vista (before the first Service Pack), and now Windows RT, the most recent of the bunch. Microsoft has reportedly stopped producing Surface 2 tablets, which also means that the future of Windows RT is nonexistent at this point. You'll have to excuse us for not weeping. Microsoft has moved on, with the Surface Pro 3 contributing heavily to $1.1 billion in Surface revenue during Microsoft's most recent quarter, up 24 percent year-over-year. Surface Pro 3 tablets outsold Surface 2 during the quarter by a ratio of three to one, making it an easy decision for Microsoft to focus on its newest hardware and leave the old behind. "We are no longer manufacturing Surface 2; however, those still eager to buy Surface should visit Microsoft Retail Stores, MicrosoftStore.com, third-party retailers, and resellers for the latest availability," Microsoft told The Verge. Windows RT has been a dead OS walking almost from the moment it arrived. Microsoft already had the challenge of convincing users to adopt a brand new interface in Windows 8, but to also pile on a gimped version that couldn't run x86 programs was too much to ask. As a result, Microsoft ended up taking a $900 million charge on unsold Surface RT inventory a year and a half ago. Manufactures could still build devices running Windows RT if they really want to, but with even Microsoft giving up on the OS, there wouldn't be much point. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Former Opera Boss Just Built a New Browser Called Vivaldi Posted: 28 Jan 2015 09:53 AM PST  New browser seeks feedback from power users
Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder and former CEO of Opera Software, is back in the browser game with a new startup. It's called Vivaldi Technologies, of which Tetzchner is also the co-founder and CEO of, and he's just made a technical preview of his Vivaldi browser available to the public. While still early in development, it's already fleshed out with features that may attract Opera fans, like mouse gestures and a speed dial interface for displaying your favorite tabs on the new tabs page. Why build a new browser? Tetzchner explains that he's disappointed with the direction Opera has taken in recent years, noting that it's no longer serving its community of users and contributors who helped build it. "So we came to a natural conclusion: We must make a new browser. A browser for ourselves and a browser for our friends. A browser that is fast, but also a browser that is rich in functionality, highly flexible and puts the user first. A browser that is made for you," Tetzchner explains. The build that's available is the first technical preview, and it's intended to show the direction the browser is headed towards. It's missing some key features and needs a lot more optimizing, though even in its early form, there's quite a bit to play with. You'll even find some new goodies, like being able to combine multiple sites into a single tab -- a feature that could come in handy if you're looking to organize similar sites. You can take notes, too, leaving yourself reminders of why you thought a site was worth bookmarking, or for any other reason. As this is a work in progress, the Vivaldi team is seeking feedback. If you're interested in kicking the browser's tires and (optionally) offering up your thoughts, head here and give it a download. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| YouTube Punts Adobe Flash in Favor of HTML5 Posted: 28 Jan 2015 09:24 AM PST  A major win for open standards
Thanks to the continued advancements into HTML5, YouTube has decided to kick Adobe Flash to the curb and default to the open standard instead for playing videos. YouTube would have made the move earlier, but said there were limitations that prevented HTML5 from becoming its preferred platform -- most notable was the lack of support for Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) that allows the streaming site to show more videos with less buffering. "Adaptive Bitrate streaming is critical for providing a quality video experience for viewers - allowing us to quickly and seamlessly adjust resolution and bitrate in the face of changing network conditions," YouTube explained in a blog post. "ABR has reduced buffering by more than 50 percent globally and as much as 80 percent on heavily-congested networks. MediaSource Extensions also enable live streaming in game consoles like Xbox and PS4, on devices like Chromecast and in web browsers." YouTube said it's been working with browser vendors over the last four years, along with the broader community to close the gaps and get to this point. Now satisfied with the state of HTML5, YouTube now uses the HTML5 <video> tag by default in Chrome, Internet Explorer 11, Safari 8, and in beta version of Firefox, the Google-owned streaming site said. "We're also deprecating the 'old style' of Flash <object> embeds and our Flash API," YouTube added. "We encourage all embedders to use the <iframe> API, which can intelligently use whichever technology the client supports." By making the switch the HTML5 for video, YouTube joins content providers like Netlifx and Vimeo, along with companies such as Microsoft and Apple, that have backed the open standard. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Asus ET2040 All-in-One PC Stays Running if You Trip Over the Power Cord Posted: 28 Jan 2015 08:37 AM PST  An all-in-one with a built-in battery backup
As far as we're concerned, every all-in-one PC should have a built-in battery backup, especially now that they're becoming thin and light enough to move from room to room with relative ease. Battery backup is one of the features found on Asus' ET2040 AIO (stays running on battery for up to an hour), though that's not the only thing unique about this system. It also ventures off the beaten path by recognizing gestures without having to touch the screen. Using the Hand-Gesture Recognition Software (HGSR) in conjunction with the built-in camera, you can perform gestures in front of the AIO and do things like play songs, adjust player settings, zoom or rotate photos, and more without leaving behind finger smudges on the display (which is non-touch, by the way). Those are some neat amenities on what's otherwise a mostly underwhelming AIO, albeit one that's sufficiently spec'd for a secondary PC or a general purpose machine. The ET2040 comes with a 19-inch HD (1366x768) non-touch display, Intel Pentium J2900 quad-core processor clocked at 2.41GHz to 2.66Ghz, 2GB of RAM, 500GB hard drive (5400 RPM), 802.11n Wi-Fi, 1MP webcam, three USB 3.0 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, HDMI output, 3-in-1 card reader, Windows 8.1 with Bing, and a few other basics. For the time being, this one's only available in India for 25,000 Rupees (about $407 in U.S. currency). Asus didn't say when or if it plans to make the ET2040 available stateside. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Intel Core i5 4460 Haswell, Acer 24-Inch LED Monitor, and More! Posted: 28 Jan 2015 05:37 AM PST |
