General Gaming Article

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• Dell XPS 13 Review
• Newegg Daily Deals: XFX TS Series 550W Power Supply, MSI GTX 960 Video Card, and More!
• Intel Eyes Real Time Analytics with New Xeon Processor E7 v3 CPU Line
• Oculus Rift Will Ship to Consumers in First Quarter of 2016

Dell XPS 13 Review Posted: 06 May 2015 02:33 PM PDT The new standard for Ultrabooks Dell's XPS 13 line of laptops has been around for many years now, and while the company's 2015 model doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, Dell has made enough improvements to it to claim that it has the best Ultrabook on the market. We'll see about that… The compact chassis gives the notebook some sex appeal. Measuring 11.9x8x.5 inches and weighing just two pounds, 12.4 ounces, it's extremely portable. While a chassis this small usually sports an 11-inch panel, Dell impressed us with its finesse in squeezing in a 13.3-inch 10-point touch display. This is done through what Dell calls its "Infinity Edge" display. That's marketing jargon for what amounts to really thin, flush bezels that measure 5.2mm across.  While the panel isn't huge, the resolution is enormous at 3200x1800. Certain Windows programs might look small but, surprisingly, it looks fine for most applications. Some users may also be put off by the glossy panel, but the viewing angles on this IPS display and the vibrant colors it offers are undeniably fantastic. The body shape puts it in the MacBook Air category of laptops, and while it even sports a downward slope that's similar to Apple's popular notebook, it's got its own thing going aesthetically. The XPS 13 is mainly composed of machined aluminum, and has a carbon fiber palm rest. Most of the notebook is black, with the exception of its silver back; here you'll also find the Dell logo etched in. It would be nice if the logo had a lighting option (all the cool kids are doing it), but maybe Dell designers thought it would be best to go minimal this time around. Luckily, it does have a backlit keyboard, which is more important. Because the laptop is small, some people may be bothered by the compact keyboard, but it didn't bother us. We weren't too crazy about the trackpad, however, which offers a little unwanted acceleration. The notebook's speakers have a surprising amount of firepower, but we're a little let down that they're side-firing as opposed to front-facing. In terms of ports, you've got your charging port, two USB 3.0 ports, mini DisplayPort, headphone jack, and SD card slot. We wish the laptop offered Mini-HDMI, but it's got all the bare essentials otherwise, and offers more ports than other leading notebooks (ahem, Apple, we're looking at you).  When it came to performance, our Dell XPS 13 and its 2.2GHz Core i5-5200U processor didn't blow our socks off. It performed better than our Acer S7's Ivy Bridge processor in our Stitch CPU benchmark by eight percent, but lagged three percent behind in our multithread-heavy x264 test. It's worth noting that this isn't an apples-to-apples tier comparison, however. Our zero point uses a Core i7-3517U processor that has a max turbo frequency of 3GHz, which trumps the i5's 2.7GHz top speed. Also, when our S7 zero point goes full blast, it's almost leaf-blower loud. The XPS 13, on the other hand, plays it cool and quiet.  In graphics territory, the XPS 13 was gave our zero point a thorough thrashing. Intel has been making very noticeable improvements when it comes to integrated graphics; the fruit of its labors means a performance delta between 40–70 percent here. If you're thinking this means you'll be able to do some hardcore gaming on this thing, however, you'll want to think again. Even with everything turned low, we got unplayable framerates (mid-20s) running Tomb Raider at 1080p. This proves that gaming laptops aren't getting pushed off the table by lighter fare anytime soon.  There were a few other areas where the laptop failed to impress, battery life being chief among them. In our video-rundown test, the XPS 13 lasted 223 minutes, which is fine for even the lengthiest of Peter Jackson movie edits, but if you're hoping for something that will last an entire workday, this particular model isn't for you. Dell says its 1080p configuration will last longer, since the laptop doesn't have to push as many pixels, but as we don't have that unit to test, we can't validate the claim. Another gripe we had with the XPS 13 is that the camera is located on the lower left-hand corner of the monitor, as opposed to the top-middle, where most laptops place it. This placement sort of validates the old saying that the camera adds 15 pounds, at least that's the excuse we're going with in our case. Finally, the laptop does get a little warm underneath, but it won't singe your lap. These knocks against the XPS 13 prevent us from awarding it a Kick Ass score, but quibbles aside, this is still a great Ultrabook. Its 12.9-second boot-up time is among the fastest we've ever seen, and the laptop is ultimately quite sleek, incredibly portable, and priced fairly. It's not perfect, but it may very well be the best Ultrabook out there at the moment.  Price, $1,400; www.dell.com

Newegg Daily Deals: XFX TS Series 550W Power Supply, MSI GTX 960 Video Card, and More! Posted: 06 May 2015 11:01 AM PDT   Top Deal: Protip: Very few people actually need a massive power supply that takes wattage into four-digit territory. It's easy to overspend on a PSU, though you'd be surprised at how much PC a well-built PSU with a modest wattage rating can handle. If you're looking to save a bit of coin by being prudent with your power needs, than check out today's top deal for an XFX TS Series 550W PSU for $52 with free shipping (normally $62 - use coupon code: [EMCASAS22]; additional $25 mail-in-rebate). This is an 80 Plus Bronze certified PSU that's SLI and Crossfire ready, and backed by a 5-year warranty along with a True Wattage Guarantee (XFX says it's wattage rating is based on operating conditions at 50C/120F). Other Deals: MSI GTX 960 2GB Video Card for $200 with free shipping (normally $220; Free Game Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with purchase, limited offer; additional $15 Mail-in rebate) EVGA 850W SLI Ready Modular Power Supply for $90 with free shipping (normally $100; additional $20 Mail-in rebate) Samsung 850 Pro 2.5-inch 256GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive for $160 with free shipping (normally $170; Free Kmart $25 Gift Card (Email Delivery) w/ purchase, limited offer) OCZ Arc 100 2.5-inch 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) for $100 with free shipping (normally $110; additional $20 Mail-in rebate)

Intel Eyes Real Time Analytics with New Xeon Processor E7 v3 CPU Line Posted: 06 May 2015 10:00 AM PDT Will 18 cores suffice? We've seen a lot of action in the micro server market as of late, but lest anyone forget, there's still a need for servers on the other end of the spectrum, ones that deal with machine learning, real-time data analytics, and other mission critical tasks suitable for scale-out data centers. It's that market Intel is targeting with its new Xeon E7 v3 product line consisting of a dozen different processors. The Xeon E7 v3 product family consists of chips with up to 18 physical cores with Hyper Threading (for 36 threads), up 45MB of last level cache, and clockspeeds ranging from 1.9GHz to 3.4GHz. That represents a 20 percent increase in cores compared to the previous generation Xeon family, and combined with the other upgrades, results in up to 70 percent more decision support analytic sessions per hour, Intel claims. Intel's newest Xeon processors are serious workhorses designed to compete with RISC alternatives. According to Intel, it's Xeon E7 v3 family delivers up to 10 times more performance per dollar while delivering up to an 85 percent lower total cost of ownership compared to RISC solutions, claims it makes based on reducing the cost of hardware costs and power and cooling. Hardware partners have already pounced on the new chips, with 17 system manufacturers around the globe starting to announce platforms based on Intel's Xeon E7 v3 product family. The chips themselves range in cost from $1,224 to $7,175 in 1,000-tray quantities, meaning that retail costs will be a bit higher. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Oculus Rift Will Ship to Consumers in First Quarter of 2016 Posted: 06 May 2015 09:29 AM PDT At long last, a release date! It's been over two years since Oculus Rift captured the hearts and imagination (and over $2.4 million) of backers willing to pledge support for something billed as the "the first truly immersive virtual reality headset for video games." There's been a lot of movement in the VR space since then, as well as some skepticism (and anger) after Facebook acquired Oculus for $2 billion -- the idea of Candy Crush VR just didn't seem appealing to many folks. But the excitement remained, and after all this time, we finally have a launch date. Oculus Rift will be shipping to consumers in the first quarter of next year, Oculus VR announced today. In the coming weeks, Oculus VR will reveal more information about the final hardware, software, input, and even some unannounced made-for-VR games and experiences coming to Oculus Rift. As for all the technical specifications, those will be revealed next week. "Virtual reality is going to transform gaming, film, entertainment, communication, and much more," Oculus VR said in a blog post. There have been several iterations of the Oculus Rift since it was announced, the most recent of which is dubbed Crescent Bay. It brought about numerous improvements over the Development Kit 2 model, including a higher resolution display (unspecified, though DK2 rocked a Full HD 1080p resolution, or 960x1080 per eye), 360-degree head tracking, expanded positional tracking volume, improved weight and ergonomics, integrated audio, and more. It's a much more crowded field now than it was several years ago. Google, HTC, LG, Samsung, and Sony all have skin in the VR game, and there are a handful of up-and-comers as well. However, there's been so much hype and positive impressions posted about Oculus Rift that it's likely to see a flurry of pre-orders later this year. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

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