General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article


Newegg Daily Deals: Turtle Beach Ear Force Elite 800X, Acer Intel Core i3 Desktop, and More!

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 01:32 PM PDT

urtle Beach Ear Force Elite 800X Premium Fully Wireless Gaming Headset Xbox One

Newegg

Top Deal:

We know your dirty little secret. And you know what? It's totally fine. Seriously, there's nothing at all wrong with sneaking away to play games on an Xbox One console every once in awhile. Maybe you're waiting on a replacement part for your PC or want to play an exclusive. Whatever the reason, it's okay. Not only that, we'll throw you a bone. Check out today's top deal for the Turtle Beach Ear Force Elite 800X Premium Fully Wireless Xbox One Gaming Headset for $260 with free shipping (normally $300 - use coupon code: [EMCARAN33]). This is a pre-order item that ships next month, so keep that in mind. It's also loaded with features, like DTS X 7.1 sound, active noise cancellation in console and mobile modes, hidden microphones, and charging via a magnetic charging stand.

Other Deals:

Gamdias Hades GMS7001 Optical Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse for $30 with free shipping (normally $40)

Dell P2314H Black 23-inch 8ms Monitor for $170 with free shipping (normally $180 - use coupon code: [EMCARAN22])

Seagate Expansion 3TB 3.5-inch Desktop External Hard Drive for $90 with free shipping (normally $100 - use coupon code: [EMCARAN23])

Acer Desktop PC Intel Core i3 4GB DDR3 500GB HDD Windows 8.1 for $330 with free shipping (normally $380 ; Free Windows 10 upgrade when available)

Digital Storm's Bolt 3 Bears All with Edge-to-Edge Glass Side Panel

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 01:14 PM PDT

Digital Storm Bolt 3We'd tap that glass

The third generation small form factor (SFF) Bolt from Digital Storm is arguably the best looking version yet, assuming you like side windows. If you do, you'll probably love Digital Storm's Bolt 3 featuring an edge-to-edge glass side panel, brushed aluminum chassis, "enthusiast level cooling," and relatively small footprint measuring 18.3 inches (H) by 5.4 inches (W) and 15.1 inches (L).

"The Bolt 3 is what we originally envisioned when we created the original Bolt system 2 years ago," Said Harjit Chana, Chief Brand Officer. "Users looking for a SFF machine powered by the latest and greatest technology need look no further."

So third time's the charm, in other words. This time around, the air delivery and exhaust system is paired with a custom liquid-cooling solution that combines the pump, reservoir, and fluid level indicator into a compact unit. Multiple perforated ventilation ports also help to keep the system cool.

Pricing starts at $1,547 for a "Level 1" or "Good" configuration, followed by three other starting points: Level 2 (Better) starting at $1,957, Level 3 (Best) starting at $2,586, and Level 4 (Ultimate) starting at $3,569.

The least expensive configuration comes with an Intel Core i5 4590 CPU, 8GB of DDR3-1600 RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 graphics card, 120GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD, 1TB HDD, 450W Silvertone PSU, and Windows 8.1.

Each level is customizable, and once you're in possession of a Bolt 3, Digital Storm says you won't have any trouble upgrading down the line, as the power cables and cooling tubes are kept away from areas inside the case. That means you needn't fiddle with rewiring if you need to swap out any of the internal components.

The Bolt 3 is available now.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Asus Unveils Limited Edition Gold Edition GeForce GTX 980 Graphics Card

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 12:49 PM PDT

Asus Gold GTX 980Celebrating 20 years of graphics card production

It was in 1995 that Asus introduced its first graphics card, and to celebrate 20 years of graphics card production, Asus is releasing a limited edition 20th Anniversary Golden Edition GTX 980 that it claims is the fastest of its kind. How fast? Asus cranked the GPU to 1,431MHz, up from Nvidia's reference specification of 1,126MHz. It's even higher than Nvidia's 1,216MHz reference boost clockspeed.

The 4GB of GDDR5 memory remains untouched at 7,010MHz on a 256-bit bus, though the clockspeed and gold colored cooling solution aren't the only standouts. The card boasts high quality components that should stand up better to overclocking, and the cooling apparatus boats 0dB fan technology that cools 15 percent better than reference and runs three times quieter, according to Asus. There's also a memory defroster, in case you plan on going nuts with liquid nitrogen.

On top of the card is a 20th Anniversary designation. More than just eye candy, it changes color depending on load -- blue is a light load, orange is a medium load, red is a heavy load, and green means you're back in safe mode, or default clocks (you can restore clocks to default with a tap of the Clear VBIOS button).

Asus didn't say when the card will be available or for how much, though in the meantime, you can take a trip down memory lane and see see what innovations came out of Asus over the years. For example, did you know that Asus was the first to plop a cooling fan on a graphics card? Or that it was the first to offer a video card with a premium black PCB? These and other fun facts have been assembled onto a timeline, a neat pit stop before making your way over to the product page.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Velocity Micro Outs Compact NX Chassis Available with Configurations Starting at $879

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 12:03 PM PDT

Velocity Micro NXSmall size aluminum case supports full size graphics cards

Boutique system builder Velocity Micro sent word today that its new NX chassis is available immediately, provided you let the company fill it with parts with configurations starting out at $879. In other words, you can't buy the compact case on its own, though if you're looking for a small form factor system, Velocity Micro will happily assemble one for you inside the NX chassis.

To be clear, this isn't a rebadged case designed by another manufacturer -- Velocity Micro's team of Virginia-based engineers took their existing Smallblock case and added depth and more fans to it. Velocity Micro says it learns new things each time it custom designs a case, and while the NX isn't a drastic new design, the company's goal was to offer "extreme power capacity in a minimal footprint."

What it came up with is an aluminum enclosure that measures 12.75 inches (H) by 8 inches (W) by 12.5 inches (D) and is capable of swallowing full size, double-width graphics cards like Nvidia's Titan X and standard ATX power supplies. The NX can also hold up to four hard drives. Cooling is handled by side and top case fans.

Velocity Micro NX Open

The NX is available in three different PC lines -- Vector Z25 starting at $879 (home and office), Raptor Z40 starting at $1,179 (gaming), and ProMagix HD30 (workstation). You can check them out here.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Five Alternative BitTorrent Clients to uTorrent

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 11:17 AM PDT

BitTorrent ClientsFind the best torrent software for you

One of our favorite BitTorrent clients, uTorrent, recently came under fire over complaints that an updated build silently installed a cryptocurrencly miner called EpicScale. Several uTorrent users took to the Internet to voice their displeasure over the situation, though it turns out there was plenty of blame to go around. On the user side, those affected by the mining software failed to read the fine print and gave EpicScale the green light to install. As for uTorrent, it could have done a better job letting users know what they were getting into, as the bundled software looked a lot like a Tos/EULA box.

EpicScale isn't a nerfarious software application. In fact, the program taps into unused CPU cycles to solve "math problems, for weather prediction, physics simulations, cryptography (including cryptocurrency mining), and more" and donates about 75 percent of the proceeds it generates to various charities.

In the end, we're still fans of uTorrent, though it's not the only BitTorrent client on the block. Far from it. To be clear, we don't condone using BitTorrent software to illegally download and share copyrighted files, but we do recognize it as a wonderful platform for legal content, especially large files like Linux ISOs, game updates and demos, non-copyrighted videos, and so forth. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to gather up five worthy BitTorrent client alternatives to uTorrent, all of which are capable of getting the job done. Let's have a look.

qBittorrent

qBittorrent

Straight to the point, qBittorrent describes its main purpose as being an alternative to uTorrent, so it's a strong contender on hype alone. In practice, qBittorrent offers up a similar user interface to uTorrent, so if you're making the switch, you'll find that it's easy to use and navigate. And if you're worried about situations like cryptocurrency miners slipping underneath your nose and putting your CPU to work without your knowledge, you can rest easy knowing that qBittorrent doesn't bundle any other software in its installation, nor does it serve up ads.

As mentioned, we're fans of uTorrent, and likewise there's a lot to appreciate about qBittorrent as well. It's loaded with features, like integrated and customizable search (requires Python 2.x) on most of the popular BitTorrent search sites, it supports BitTorrent extensions, and it offers advanced controls for trackers, peers, and torrents.

All the basics are covered, like support for UPnP / NAT-PMP port forwarding, upload and download speed management, and support for proxy servers. You can also fine tune various functions like disk write cache size and other bits that most users will likely leave alone. In our experience with qBittorrent, tweaking wasn't necessary. The client had no trouble taking advantage of our broadband connection, both to search for torrents and when downloading large files.

Finally, qBittorrent earns brownie points for being open-source software that's available not only for Windows, but also Linux, Mac OS X, OS/2, FreeBSD, and even Haiku.

Free, www.qbittorrent.org

Deluge

Deluge

Deluge is another open-source, cross-platform BitTorrent client that somewhat resembles uTorrent, though it's not as fleshed out. It's a lightweight program free of hidden software and ads. There are a handful of first-party plugins that come pre-installed, like WebUI (start the web interface from within Deluge), Scheduler (limit Deluge bandwidth depending on schedule), Blocklist (download and import IP blocklists), and several others. It also supports a few dozen third-party browser and application plugins, which you can find here.

One of the neat things about Deluge is that it can run as a daemon or service, allowing you to install Deluge as a headless service that handles all BitTorrent activity and control it from a remote machine. You can then control the daemon using the Deluge client or through your browser.

Though it's lightweight, Deluge isn't short on features, like Local Peer Discovery, UPnP / NAT-PMP, proxy support, and support for private torrents, to name a few.

Free, http://deluge-torrent.org

BitComet

BitComet

Quick warning—be careful when installing BitComet, because like uTorrent, it tries to slip in other software during the install process. It also attempts to change your browser's default homepage, so don't click through the installation process haphazardly. In our experience with BitComet, a single screen presented both options (another software program and a new homepage). Uncheck them and proceed.

Once you get past the installation shenanigans, you're left with a popular and versatile BitTorrent client that lets you preview partial downloads before they're finished collecting bits from cyberspace. It also has a Torrent Share feature that lets you get torrent files directly from other BitComet users.

Advanced users will like having control over the read and write frequency of their storage drive, options you'll find by navigating to Tools > Option > Preferences > Advanced > Disk Cache. The advanced section also contains settings for scheduling bandwidth so that more is available at night when you're sleeping and less during the day when you're working on your PC (or vice versa), and the ability to set up remote downloads.

You should always scan downloaded files with an antivirus program before running them, and in BitComet, you can automate the task. That's nifty.

Unfortunately, the built-in search isn't all that great. It kicks searches out to your browser and is fairly limited in what it can find. We had much better luck searching on our own and then letting BitComet handle the torrent file. Otherwise, there's not a lot to complain about here.

Free, www.bitcomet.com

 

Tribler

Tribler

One of the more interesting BitTorrent clients is Tribler, a program that was developed by researchers at Delft University of Technology over a decade ago. They've since offered up its client with support for a subset of the TOR onion routing protocol, which allows everyone to function as a relay. Note that it's not using the TOR network, but its own custom version.

In other words, it has built-in anonymity. When you download a file, you're not grabbing bits of code directly from a seeder. Instead, all downloads go through other computers via three layers of proxies. This is supposed to make it more difficult to trace what you're doing, details of which you can read here.

Tribler Warning

At the same time, this isn't a free pass to steal copyrighted software. There's even an omnious warning during installation that the anonymity feature is experimental, and that by becoming an exit node for other users' downloads, you "could get in trouble in various countries." If you're freaked out by this, you can opt-out and still use Tribler.

Tribler is a continual work in progress and has the potential to be a privacy advocate's dream come true in the BitTorrent space. Regardless, if you're wanting a straightforward BitTorrent client that's easy to use, has built-in search that works well, and takes a minimalistic approach to downloading files, Tribler is a strong contender.

Free, www.tribler.org

Vuze Leap or Vuze

Vuze Leap

Vuze Leap and Vuze are two separate BitTorrent clients by the same developers, both of which are free. The difference between the two is that Vuze Leap is a basic client for users who just want to download files with a lightweight program and don't have a need for plug-ins, remote access, and other advanced features, while Vuze offers several additional amenities for power users.

It's also worth mentioning that Vuze Leap doesn't have ads, but Vuze does (there's a paid version of Vuze that removes ads, but we're focusing on free clients here). However, Vuze Leap is only compatible with Windows, whereas Vuze also works on Mac and Linux. Got all that?

Whichever you choose depends on what you're looking for from a BitTorrent client. Either way, be careful during the installation process. During one of the steps, Vuze will attempt to install Yahoo Search, though at a glance, it appears to be a normal ToS screen. Hit Cancel to opt-out of the additional software and settings, and installation will proceed.

Both versions offer built-in search and media playback. They're also both fast.

Free, www.vuze.com

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Acer Chromebase is First Chrome OS All-in-One Desktop with a Touchscreen Display

Posted: 02 Apr 2015 09:04 AM PDT

ChromebaseAll your Chromebase belongs to Acer

It was rumored earlier this month that Samsung and Hewlett-Packard were both working on Chrome OS all-in-one desktops, but it looks like Acer has beat them to the punch. Not only that, but Acer's new Chromebase AIO is the first of its kind to sport a touchscreen display, the company says. Acer was also the first to launch a 15.6-inch Chromebook as it tries to solidify itself as a top Chrome OS player.

Citing data from market research firm Gartner, Acer says it owned a more than 36 percent stake of the Chromebook market at the end of 2014. Apparently the company is confident that Chrome OS systems have the legs to go the distance, both in laptop form and now as a touch-based AIO.

The VESA-compliant Chromebase features a 21.5-inch display with a Full HD 1080p resolution and 178-degree viewing angle. It's powered by an Nvidia Tegra K1 quad-core processor. Other features include 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI output, USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, and two built-in 3W speakers.

Acer says its first Chromebase model will be available sometime during this quarter, though the company didn't specify a starting price. However, it did say that Chromebase purchases will come with 100GB of Google Drive storage.

Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Total Pageviews

statcounter

View My Stats