General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Thor's Hammer Slams into Computex as a Case Mod

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 02:54 PM PDT

Don't try picking it up

Thor Hammer

Who would have thought that Thor's hammer would make a kick-ass case mod? Suchao Prowphong, that's who. The talented modder built the case you see above from the ground up, and it's currently on display at Computex over at Thermaltake's booth.

According to The Verge (which is hosting a ton of pics), Prowphong used to be a fisherman before he was discovered by Thermaltake. These days he comes up with awesome case mods, some of which you can view on his Facebook page.

If you ask us, Thor's hammer (or Thermalthor, as it's called) is his best one yet. There are different colored lights running throughout and lots of intricate details to appreciate.

Ironically enough, the mighty Thermalthor has one crushing weakness—there's no room for a discrete graphics card, so it has to push pixels around using integrated graphics. Ah well, this is still one of the coolest case mods we've ever seen.

Newegg Daily Deals: Corsair 600W PSU, NZXT H440 Razer Case, and More!

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 02:37 PM PDT

Corsair CX600

Top Deal:

We can sit back and dream of running a system with quad graphics cards, terabytes of solid state storage in RAID 0, multiple IPS displays, and so forth. But save for the 1 percenters, such a setup will remain a dream. The good news is, you can build a sweet system on a budget, and if going that route, you can save a bit of jingle by not overspending on a 1300W power supply -- you're not trying to power your neighborhood, after all. Keep it sensible, like today's top deal for a Corsair CX600 600W PSU for $57 with free shipping (normally $65 - use coupon code: [EMCATAN24]; additional $20 mail-in-rebate). It's an 80 Plus Bronze certified PSU with long cables and 46A available on the +12V rail.

Other Deals:

OCZ Aarc 100 ARC100-25SAT3-240G 2.5-inch 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) for $90 with free shipping (normally $100 - use coupon code: [EMCATAN23]; additional $20 Mail-in rebate)

Corsair AX760 760W Full Modular Power Supply for $130 with free shipping (normally $140 - use coupon code: [EMCATAN29]; additional $30 Mail-in rebate)

NZXT H440 Razer Steel Mid Tower Case for $135 with free shipping (normally $140 - use coupon code: [EMCATAN28]; additional $10 Mail-in rebate)

Asus X99-A LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard for $220 with $3 shipping (normally $240 - use coupon code: [EMCATAN34])

Computex 2015: Getting Up Close and Personal with Gigabyte [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 02:22 PM PDT

Tri-fan cooling and G-Sync on the go

Gigabyte 980 Ti

One thing you can always count on when there's a new graphics card launch is custom cooling designs. So it goes with Nvidia's GeForce GTX 980 Ti, the newest addition to Nvidia's lineup and the recipient of Gigabyte's tri-fan Windforce treatment.

There's obviously plenty of cooling potential that comes from having three fans blow air onto a massive heatsink. Whether you find the design visually appealing or not is another question. To give the card even more flair, Gigabyte's Windforce logo comes with seven LED color options.

Gigabyte also brought a gaming laptop under its Auros brand to the convention. Dubbed X9, it's a burly system equipped with two GeForce GTX 965M GPUs running in SLI. As far as Gigabyte is concerned, it's the most powerful 15.6-inch laptop out there.

On the display side, the laptop runs at a 2880x1620 resolution and comes with Nvidia's G-Sync technology baked in. Gigabyte says it will be available this month for around $2,300.

Computex 2015: MSI Shows Off a Mini PC, Gaming AIO, and More [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 02:05 PM PDT

New gear for gamers

Msi Aio

MSI brought a variety of products to show off at Computex, including a mini ITX system housed in a 10-liter chassis. Despite its small size, MSI says it can hold up to a GeForce GTX 970 graphics card, which would be powered by a 350W power supply. This isn't MSI's first and only little PC, though it is smaller than its previous model. MSI reduced the size because it said gamers wanted a slightly more portable design for LAN parties.

Have a look:

Thinking outside the box (or outside the monitor), MSI also showed us a new all-in-one system with discrete and swappable graphics. Say what? The discrete card sits in a box on the backside of the monitor where it's easy to access and upgrade, should the need arise. AIO systems aren't typically geared towards hardcore gamers, but by going this route, the potential is certainly there.

Check it out:

Lastly, MSI gave us a peek at its new gaming laptop dock and gaming notebook with G-Sync display.

Starting with the dock, it adds a bunch of additional ports, though at present it's only compatible with a single laptop model, the GS30. However, MSI plans to expand its lineup to include more compatible models. Look for it to come out in the second half of this year.

Of more interest is the G-Sync laptop. Rather than wax on about it, have a look:

Computex 2015: Asus Puts on Display G-Sync and FreeSync Monitors [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 01:39 PM PDT

New monitors for gamers

Asus Monitors

There's a bit of standards war brewing between AMD and Nvidia (what else is new, right?) in regards to display technology. While AMD is pushing its FreeSync technology, Nvidia would like the monitor industry to adopt G-Sync. Both accomplish the same thing in slightly different ways -- smoother game play with less screen tearing and stuttering. Rather than pick a side, Asus is coming out with new FreeSync and G-Sync monitors, and we took a look at some of them.

For team FreeSync, Asus showed us its MG279Q and MG278Q, two seemingly similar monitors with quad HD resolutions and 144Hz refresh rates. However, there's a pretty big difference between the two -- the MG279Q sports an IPS panel, while the MG278Q features a less expensive TN panel.

IPS panels that can refresh at 144Hz are fairly new, so we're pretty stoked to see Asus pounce on the technology with an offering that it says will be available "pretty quick here."

As for Nvidia and its G-Sync technology, Asus showed off a new 21:9 IPS panel with a 75Hz refresh rate. It's a 34-inch curved display that Asus will market under its ROG brand. Right now it's a proof of concept without a release date or price, though Asus fully intends to bring it to market.

Take a look:

Computex 2015: Ducky Showcases Its Mechanical Keyboard [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 01:07 PM PDT

If it types like a Ducky, and clicks like a Ducky, it's a Ducky

Ducky

You haven't truly lived until you've typed on a mechanical keyboard. That's not to say there aren't some very good membrane keyboards out there, but even the best ones fall short of the finger-pecking ecstasy that mechanical key switches induce. And when it comes to mechanical keyboards, one of the more interesting players is Ducky, a smaller brand that's built up a cult following in the U.S.

We asked Ducky why it thinks it's been able to do that. The answer? By not just taking aim at gamers. Ducky says it also focuses on office workers, the ones who type all day long and will perhaps benefit the most from a more comfortable typing experience.

With the focus on office workers, Ducky has mostly kept its designs fairly simple and a little conservative, though what we saw at Computex was a new model with RGB lighting. Dubbed the Ducky Shine 5, the keyboard uses Cherry MX key switches and ABS keycaps that are supposed to feel different than your standard keyboard.

Have a look at the Ducky Shine 5, along with a new line of colorful planks that Ducky's planning to release in the near future:

Computex 2015: A Closer Look at In Win's Transforming PC Case [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 12:41 PM PDT

More than meets the eye

In-Win Transformer Case

Remember the transforming PC case we told you about yesterday? It's safe to say that In Win captured our attention, so we headed over to the company's booth at Computex to check it out for ourselves. What we learned is that there are actually two versions: In Win's own, and another that's been certified by Asus ROG. (As far as we can tell, that means it's been given some red accents).

There are several brushed aluminum panels that comprise the case, and with the press of a button, they all separate to reveal the guts of the system. You can also change the color of the internal LEDs with the button.

When the case opens up, the motherboard tray rises to the top and turns until it lays flat. This is presumably to make it easier to service and upgrade the system, as needed. Speaking of which, In Win tells us the case can accommodate up to E-ATX motherboards with four graphics cards, so there's the potential to build an over-the-top PC in what we have to say is one of the most unique cases we've ever seen.

Why build this? In Win denies it was inspired by Transformers, saying it simply wanted something different. Mission accomplished.

Intel Busts out New Broadwell Chips with Iris Pro Graphics

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 12:25 PM PDT

Latest Broadwell parts up the ante in graphics

Broadwell Die

Faster graphics is fast becoming a theme at Computex. First we had Nvidia representing the discrete side of the fence with its GeForce GTX 980 Ti (check out our review and benchmarks), and today Intel rolled out no less than 10 new processors sporting Iris Pro 6200 graphics baked in.

This is the first time that Iris Pro has been available in a socketable LGA package. Also included among the new CPUs is the first mobile Intel Core i5 processor with Iris Pro.

Here's a look at the desktop parts:

Broadwell Desktop CPUs

Two of the five desktop chips are unlocked, including the flagship Core i7-5775C. That also happens to one of just two with Hyper Threading support, the other being its locked brother, the Core i7-5775R.

Bear in mind that the pricing information you see above is for trays of 1,000. Retail pricing will likely be a little higher, though probably not by more than $10-$15.

Intel is pitching its new chips at "content creators, mainstream gamers, and PC power users." That latter category might be a tough sell with Skylake not far in the distance. The other thing to keep in mind with Skylake is that you'll be looking at a new socket and RAM (DDR4), so even though these new Broadwell-H parts boast better integrated graphics than previous chips, it's a bit of a dead-end platform.

Perhaps more intriguing for some are the mobile parts, as in most (not all) cases, it's either difficult or impossible to upgrade a laptop's CPU. That makes the longevity of the platform less of an issue.

These are the mobile parts:

Broadwell Mobile

Pricing from top to bottom has been set at $623, $434, $434, $378, and $289. Again, these are also in trays of 1,000. You can expect to see these new parts show up in Ultrabooks and mini PCs like Zotac's Zbox line.

While you're not going to pull off high-end gaming on any of the new parts, you may find that Iris Pro is capable of running less demanding titles. According to Intel, the Core i7-5950HQ can play League of Legends at 1920x1080 with high settings and average 147 frames per seconds. Likewise, Intel claims the same chip can average 61fps in World at Warcraft at 1920x1080 with medium settings -- not too shabby for integrated graphics.

These new processors should start showing up by the end of the month and into July.

In the meantime, if you're looking for a process right this minute, check out our our guide on the best CPUs on the market.

Computex 2015: Enermax Shows Off a Digital Fanless 550W PSU [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 11:27 AM PDT

Providing power without the noise

Enermax PSU

Ever tried building a quiet PC? It's not overly complicated, you just need to select the right components. That includes the power supply, and one way to go when selecting a PSU for a quiet or silent build is with a fanless design. That's exactly what Enermax had on display at Computex.

The PSU is a new digital fanless model. At 550W (rated at 40C), Enermax claims it's the biggest available that's both digital and fanless, though that's not the only unique characteristic -- it can switch between single or multiple +12V rail modes.

Since it's a digital model, there's a wealth of information you have access to through software, including total output power, temperature, efficiency, and information on how all the rails are holding up.

The obvious concern with a fanless PSU is heat buildup. Towards that end, Enermax says it sent its power supply to a sophisticated testing lab where it was able to run just fine at 50C. Nevertheless, if it heats up to the point of danger, it will shut itself off to prevent damage.

That said, Enermax disclaims that it's not really intended for extreme gaming or heavy duty setups, but simply for people with modest requirements who want a quiet PSU.

Here's a closer look:

Computex 2015: Diving into the Deep End with Deepcool [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 11:05 AM PDT

Thinking outside the beige box

Deepcool

We've spied some funky case designs over the years, some of which have been intriguing while many have been...interesting, to put it nicely. It's always a gamble to come out with something drastically different than the norm, but that didn't stop Deepcool from diving into the deep end of creativity, and we're glad they did.

Our first thought when looking at Deepcool's Nephrite case for ITX motherboards is that it looks like the PlayStation 4's bigger, badder brother. Deepcool didn't deny that the PS4 was its inspiration, but it's not a total knockoff. From the carbon fiber material to putting the GPU on a pedestal with clear acrylic protection, this is a case that's clearly meant to be a talking piece. It could also be a neat option if you have a GPU you want to show off. There's no price or release date yet, though we were assured that it's a "high-end" offering, which typically translates into "expensive."

If you don't like the design of the Nephrite but dig the idea of showing off your GPU, you might like another of Deepcool's cases. It's an unnamed one that's also intended for mini ITX builds, and like the Nephrite, it has a special compartment -- albeit tinted -- for the graphics card.

Have a look and tell us what you think!

Computex 2015: Meeting Up with G.Skill [Video]

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 10:49 AM PDT

New RAM and peripherals

GSkill Mouse

There's a lot going on at Computex, and kicking off our coverage is a visit to G.Skill's booth. It's there that we caught a glimpse of the company's new Ripjaws 4 Series DDR4 memory clocked at 3800MHz running in an ASRock Fatal1ty X99M Killer motherboard alongside an Intel Core i7 5960X CPU.

G.Skill showed off both its 4GB and 16GB modules, the latter of which can sport up to 64GB in pairs or four, or a whopping 128GB when filling all eight slots in a motherboard. As we've mentioned in the past, that's overkill for gaming, but if you're into heavy content creation or other workstation-level chores, having an abundance of RAM can be useful.

We also saw a Trident Z Series that G.Skill is designing specifically for Intel's forthcoming Skylake CPUs. G.Skill expects to release its Trident Z kit in August. Have a look:

After we were done ogling G.Skill's RAM, we made our way over to the company's peripherals. On the audio side, G.Skill announced a pair of Ripjaws headphones, the SR910 with 7.1 surround sound through 10 discrete drivers, and the SV710 with virtual 7.1 surround sound powered by Dolby Pro Logic IIx through dual 50mm drivers.

G.Skill also jumped on the mechanical keyboard bandwagon with the Ripjaws KM780 RGB and KM780 MX. Both come with Cherry MX Red or Brown keys, have dedicated macro keys, and feature an aggressive looking design. The difference between the two comes down to the backlight -- the RGB gives users millions of colors to play with, while the MX boasts a red backlight.

Lastly G.Skill showed off its new MX780 RGB gaming mouse. It has a cyborg look to it and is ambidextrous with a height-adjustable palm rest and interchangeable palm grips.

GeForce GTX 980 Ti Overclocked

Posted: 02 Jun 2015 10:12 AM PDT

GeForce GTX 980Ti BOX Open

Is that shiny-new GeForce GTX 980 Ti not fast enough for you? Overclock it!

GeForce GTX 980 Ti is fast; this we know. And now that you've just spent $650 on your new "baby Titan X," what are you planning to do? Sure, you could play games all day, but we have other plans. With the initial review all wrapped up in a tidy bow, we wanted to soup up our hot rod and overclock the 980 Ti. So today,  we're sharing the results of our testing. Just to be clear, overclocking isn't something to be done haphazardly. We noted in the review that bumping the GPU clocks by 10 percent and the GDDR5 clocks by 5 percent should be an easy and safe goal that any 980 Ti can attain. Turns out those are very tame targets, and now that we've had a couple of extra days of testing we're ready to kick it up a notch.

The stock clocks on the 980 Ti are 1,000MHz core and 7,010MHz VRAM. We're not trying to redline the card here, as fine-tuning to the ragged edge of stability takes more time, not to mention the variability between cards as well as games. Instead, armed with EVGA's Precision X16 utility and with a knowledge of how well GTX 980 and Titan X overclock, we set our sights on settings that should be in reach of any well-cooled system. First, we set the power target to the maximum plus 10 percent (275W instead of 250W), as without increasing the power target we aren't likely to see much in the way of performance gains. With that done, we pushed the throttle until we encountered turbulence, and then we eased off a bit and settled for a bump of 200MHz on the core and 800MHz (plus 400MHz in Precision X16) on the VRAM.

That represents a rather impressive 20 percent core overclock and an 11 percent RAM overclock—and since the core is likely to play a bigger role in most games we're looking at, this represents as big of a jump as going from GTX 970 to GTX 980, or from the 980 to the 980 Ti. All for free, thanks to the magic of overclocking.

Except few things in life are truly "free," and the cost with overclocking comes in two forms. First, no matter what anyone tries to tell you, there is always a bit of risk involved with pushing computer hardware beyond the prescribed limits. We're all big boys and girls at Maximum PC, and more than willing to take that risk, but we have had components fail on us in the past. Never say "never." The added stress on the hardware can also cause fans to fail sooner than they otherwise might—just ask any reformed Bitcoin miner how many GPU fans they killed. [Ed—For reference, in one year I managed to ruin both fans on four out of five dual-fan Radeon HD 7950 cards; then again, only one out of ten of my blower fans failed.]

The second cost is less of a concern for enthusiasts: power and noise. Power requirements scale linearly with clock speed and quadratically with voltage (P≈cV 2f). Since overclocking increases both frequency and voltage, power use can go up quite a bit. More power use means more heat to dissipate, so fans have to spin faster, and that makes your system noisier. It also means potentially higher electricity bills, but not as much as you might think. To wit, even if you use 100W extra and play games for eight hours every day for an entire year—as a pro gamer or living in your mama's basement, we won't judge!—that's only $30–$60 for most US residents. Skip eating out a couple of times and you're set. But we'll check power requirements regardless.

Enough Already! Show Us the Overclocked 980 Ti Benchmarks
Average Frame Rates
Game Resolution GTX 980 Ti 980 Ti OC Improvement
Batman: Arkham Origins 1080p 181 208 14.9%
1440p 110 128 16.4%
2160p 53 62 17.0%
GTAV 1080p 63 70 11.1%
1440p 46 53 13.8%
2160p 24 28 17.1%
Hitman: Absolution 1080p 93 103 11.1%
1440p 63 72 15.4%
2160p 32 37 14.8%
Metro: Last Light 1080p 111 124 11.9%
1440p 77 90 17.6%
2160p 41 49 20.0%
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor 1080p 113 133 17.2%
1440p 81 97 19.2%
2160p 46 55 19.6%
Tomb Raider 1080p 131 154 17.2%
1440p 87 105 21.3%
2160p 44 52 20.0%
Unigine Heaven 4.0 1080p 97 114 18.0%
1440p 60 71 18.0%
2160p 25 30 18.1%
The Witcher 3 1080p 56 63 12.6%
1440p 45 50 11.6%
2160p 28 31 11.8%
Average of Eight Tests 1080p 106 121 14.7%
1440p 71 83 17.2%
2160p 37 43 17.6%
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme 1440p 7,535 8,525 13.1%
3DMark Fire Strike Ultra 2160p 3,944 4,552 15.4%

Feeling the need for speed? The GTX 980 Ti was already fast, and yet it still has plenty of headroom for overclocking. Adventurous souls can almost certainly beat our moderate overclock, but the purpose here is to show what nearly every 980 Ti should be able to achieve, plus a chance to look at scaling. We've overclocked the core by 20 percent and the GDDR5 by 11 percent, so unless we're CPU-limited, the scaling should fall somewhere in that range—closer to 20 percent in cases where games are shader-limited, and closer to 11 percent in games that are memory bandwidth–limited. And we get exactly that. Every game shows a 10-plus percent improvement to performance, and particularly at higher resolutions, there are many gains close to 20 percent.

Minimum Frame Rates
Game Resolution GTX 980 Ti 980 Ti OC Improvement
Batman: Arkham Origins 1080p 135 161 19.3%
1440p 83 97 16.9%
2160p 40 48 20.0%
GTAV 1080p 42 48 14.1%
1440p 32 36 10.5%
2160p 18 20 14.0%
Hitman: Absolution 1080p 78 86 10.3%
1440p 52 60 15.4%
2160p 26 30 15.4%
Metro: Last Light 1080p 75 82 9.1%
1440p 55 64 15.9%
2160p 30 37 21.5%
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor 1080p 78 86 11.5%
1440p 61 70 15.3%
2160p 37 44 19.1%
Tomb Raider 1080p 98 118 20.4%
1440p 65 78 20.9%
2160p 33 40 21.6%
Unigine 1080p 32 35 10.8%
1440p 28 31 13.0%
2160p 15 17 14.7%
The Witcher 3 1080p 46 51 9.8%
1440p 38 42 11.4%
2160p 20 21 5.0%
Average of Eight Tests 1080p 73 83 14.3%
1440p 52 60 15.7%
2160p 27 32 17.5%

Minimum frame rates also scale nicely, though there are cases—e.g., The Witcher 3—where we fail to see more than an 11 percent improvement. But minimum frame rates are more prone to fluctuation, so don't read too much into one or two results. Overall, the overclock is behaving quite nicely. With a bit of fine tuning to game settings, the overclocked 980 Ti should be able to run 40-plus frames per second minimums at nearly maximum quality, even at 4K (we'd suggest dropping anti-aliasing, as it's not as necessary at 4K). Pair it up with a 4K G-Sync display—or better yet, get the QHD 144 Hz IPS G-Sync display we talk about in our Best Gaming Displays—and you've got all the makings of a great gaming experience.

Are There Any Downsides?

So, what's the cost? Good news: not very much, at least in terms of power and noise. The radiator for our overclocked CPU creates more noise than the GPU during our benchmarks, plugging along at a steady drone of 39dB from a one meter distance. Overclocking the GPU hardly matters, with a barely perceptible rise in system noise to 40dB. But rest assured, the GPU fan is working harder than before. Opening the case and putting our SPL meter an inch away from the GPU fan, we measure 63dB overclocked compared to 57dB at stock settings.

Power use tells a similar story. We measured system power draw at the wall, which was 112W when idle—not bad for a beefy hexa-core CPU with the second fastest GPU on the planet, both running overclocks! Start doing something useful and that changes, with average power draw across a collection of gaming tests measuring 380W at stock GPU clocks versus 415W with the GPU overclocked. There's nothing concerning with those figures, and in fact, it's really quite impressive when you look at it from a high level. We were able to improve gaming performance by upward of 15 percent and total system power draw only went up 10 percent. Here we have a 140W TDP (Thermal Design Power) CPU and a 250W TDP GPU, both running overclocked, and at the wall we're only using 415W. With our 80 Plus Gold power supply running at around 90 percent efficiency, that means we're not even hitting the combined rated TDP, never mind all the other components in the system.

Bottom line, then: If you've just picked up a GeForce GTX 980 Ti, you're in for a treat. It's the second-fastest graphics card on the market (coming in just shy of its big brother, Titan X), but it has plenty of fuel left in the tank for overclocking. As usual, a finely tuned hot rod puts pavement between itself and a more expensive stock racer.
Posted by Shri Krishna

Total Pageviews

statcounter

View My Stats