General Gaming Article |
- Palmer Luckey Talks Oculus Rift Price, the State of VR
- 9 Oculus Rift Games We Played at E3
- Newegg Daily Deals: EVGA 750W PSU, Intel Core i7 4790 CPU, and More!
- Lenovo Gets Nostalgic, Considers Building a Retro Looking ThinkPad
- Build It: Creating a Quiet but Beastly PC
| Palmer Luckey Talks Oculus Rift Price, the State of VR Posted: 26 Jun 2015 06:00 PM PDT Last week during E3 2015, Re/code got a chance to chat with Oculus VR co-founder Palmer Luckey who was at the show demonstrating Oculus Rift. He hinted that virtual reality will be as big as Apple's launch of the original iPhone. However, the difference is that mobile phones existed long before the iPhone arrived whereas builders of VR gear are starting from scratch. "The iPhone moment is going to take longer, and it's probably not going to be such a huge, radical jump, it's going to be more gradual," he said. "The Rift is not the 'iPhone of VR.' Nothing out there is 'the iPhone of VR.' They're almost like the Palm Pilots and the Treos of virtual reality." Luckey also talked about the first retail version of the Oculus Rift, stating that the first two years will consist of enthusiasts and gamers who have no problems purchasing high-end machines that will support the Rift headset. Eventually the Oculus Rift will be a mainstream device. "You just don't have the horsepower to make it happen on a device, much less a cheap enough and comfortable enough device that a normal consumer is going to want to have," he said. "There's also going to be more diverse content. Right now, it's almost entirely games, because only the games industry has the tools and the talent to make immersive 3-D worlds." The consumer version of the Oculus Rift is slated to arrive during the first quarter of 2016. The minimum system requirements are somewhat steep and consist of an Intel Core i5-4590 or greater CPU, 8 GB of RAM or more, HDMI 1.3 video output, two USB 3.0 ports and Windows 7 SP1 or greater. On the GPU front, gamers will need a Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or greater, or an AMD Radeon 290 or greater. That said, the Oculus Rift will sell between $200 and $400. Throw in a capable desktop and customers are looking at spending around $1500. "It's not what we want the price to be. But currently … we put out our recommended specs," he said. "That's a known quantity. We want you to be able to buy a Rift and a PC for around that price. People imagine that we're targeting that price, but it's not — it's just a reality. And we're trying to be honest with people." To read the full interview, head here. |
| 9 Oculus Rift Games We Played at E3 Posted: 26 Jun 2015 03:38 PM PDT |
| Newegg Daily Deals: EVGA 750W PSU, Intel Core i7 4790 CPU, and More! Posted: 26 Jun 2015 11:02 AM PDT Top Deal: For new builders, the power supply is arguably the most underrated component. All the attention gets paid to the CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage, but it when it comes time to select a PSU, new builders often wonder why they should pay more for a name brand model when generic high wattage models are so much cheaper. Well, this is one of those cases where you get what you pay for. The good news is, you don't need to spend a fortune on a well-built PSU. Take for example today's top deal for an EVGA 750W SuperNova NEX750G PSU for $90 with free shipping (normally $105 - use coupon code: [EMCATNT37]; additional $25 mail-in-rebate). For less than a Benjamin, this PSU delivers a fully modular experience with 80 Plus Gold certification. Other Deals: Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor for $290 with free shipping (normally $310 - use coupon code: [EMCATNT22]) MSI 970 Gaming AM3+ AMD 970 ATX AMD Motherboard for $80 with $2 shipping (normally $95 - use coupon code: [EMCATNT85]) AMD FX-8320 Socket AM3+ 125W Desktop Processor for $133 with free shipping (normally $140 - use coupon code: [EMCATNT27]; Free AMD Dirt Rally Game Code with purchase, limited offer) Thermaltake TR2 700W Power Supply for $53 with free shipping (normally $60 - use coupon code: [EMCATNT36]; additional $20 Mail-in rebate) |
| Lenovo Gets Nostalgic, Considers Building a Retro Looking ThinkPad Posted: 26 Jun 2015 10:08 AM PDT Old school design meets new school hardware Do you have sit back and reminisce about the old days of computing? Lenovo does, and if there are enough people out there pining for a blast from the past, the world's top PC supplier may bring back the ThinkPad X300. Well, sort of. Lenovo's David Hill wrote a blog post waxing nostalgic on the ThinkPad and its inception in 1992. Back then it was IBM that owned the brand, and after more than two decades of design evolution, Hill reckons IBM and now Lenovo have incorporated hundreds of modifications to 1992's baseline 700c model. "As with all change, there are people who welcome it and others who are most comfortable without it. It's unlikely that anyone would want a ThinkPad today that matches the 700c's original thickness of 56mm, but some loyalists miss the 7 row keyboard," Hill says. "ThinkPad design, however, must continue to evolve to attract new customers and align with shifting market dynamics. With design, it's nearly impossible to please everyone. Or is there a way?" Hill's been contemplating the idea of introducing a classic ThinkPad model infused with modern hardware. His thought is to build a retro ThinkPad with several design cues taken from the X300 released in 2008. It would have a blue enter key, multi-color ThinkPad logo, dedicated volume controls, rubberized paint, exposed screws, lots of status LEDs, and more. He likens the idea to car makers bringing back classic models. For it to work, Hill says "there has to be an emotional connection that is somehow rekindled with its rebirth." To test out whether or not one exists with the ThinkPad, Hill posted several renders of the retro model he wants to bring back. What do you think, would you be interested a old-school ThinkPad design with modern hardware, or do you prefer the look of today's laptops? |
| Build It: Creating a Quiet but Beastly PC Posted: 26 Jun 2015 12:00 AM PDT This article was published in the May 2015 issue of Maximum PC. For more trusted reviews and feature stories, subscribe here. Low noise doesn't mean low joysLength of Time: 2-4 Hours | Difficulty: Medium The MissionOver the last few months, in the creaking depths of the secret Maximum PC lair, we've been constructing compact PCs or just putting shiny new things together and seeing what they do. And that's usually pretty entertaining. But it occurred to us that it's been a good while since we tackled a quiet PC build. After all, as much as we like raw power, we don't want to hear that power all day long. But that doesn't mean we need to sacrifice performance. If we create a whispery rig, we can still build it to growl and roar in its own way. And it's not as difficult as you might think. With the right case, CPU cooler, and video card, everything can fall into place. Luckily, the hardware components market is chock-full of interesting possibilities, one of which was so new that it hadn't even been reviewed as this issue went to press. We entered this undiscovered territory, and we think it was worth the journey. This build didn't turn out quite the way we expected, but a little ingenuity made it come together in the end. Armed to the TeethThe most important element of a quiet PC build is the case. You want to keep the racket down, and that means sound-absorbing panels. You can glue your own in, or you can buy cases with panels pre-installed. Last time, we used a Fractal Design Define R4, which is still a fine choice. But we needed something with more airflow (the R4 comes with only two fans). Enter the NZXT H440. We decided to go a step further and get the Razer edition, which is almost all black, save for a few neon-green details. It has three 120mm intake fans, a 140mm exhaust fan, and space for a large radiator up top. It fit the bill. The radiator belongs to the Corsair Hydro H110i GT. This has a 280mm rad, thick tubing, and some nice aesthetics. The H110i will be cooling an Intel Core i7-5960X. Like we said, we're not holding back. This 8-core, 16-thread chip is a monster for things like video editing and virtual machines, and we can overclock it quite a bit with the H110i. This hefty CPU sits on an Asus X99 Pro motherboard, which is a premium, feature-packed job. Along for the ride is 32GB of Corsair Dominator DDR4, a 960GB OCZ Vector 180 SSD, a 6TB hard drive from HGST, an MSI R9 290X Lightning, and a Corsair AX1200i power supply. Ladies and gents, we do not mess around. Read on to see how this epic stack of gear comes together. 1. Power Behind the ThroneThe power supply finds its cozy new home in a separate chamber at the bottom of the case, and it gets in there by sliding in gently through the back of the case, instead of coming in from the side as it usually would. To make that happen, you have to first remove this plate, which is held down by four thumbscrews. Then you slide your PSU in, put the plate back on, and screw the plate into the PSU. If you're using a modular power supply, like we are for this month's build, you also need to hang back and attach your cables before you get going with sliding the PSU in. That's because the back of the PSU will be difficult to reach past this point. It's a bit of pain, but that's always going to be one of the drawbacks of a clean-looking case. 2. Going to Great LengthsInteresting hurdles show up right away. We've put the mobo's I/O shield in, screwed the motherboard into the case, and installed our RAM sticks, when we notice the video card is longer than expected. Thankfully, we can remove a drive tray in the front to make room. It's attached with two thumbscrews and slides right out. But connecting the power cables is tight, even when you use these flexible ones. That's partly because this card is also taller than usual. If it used the reference height, then regular rounded cables would probably be fine. Also note this card uses an extra 6-pin cable. Our 8-pin cables come with two detachable pins, so we took the cable with the bonus pins and tucked it out of the way. There's a side window, so we want it looking tidy. 3. Uno, Dos, TraysThere are two trays on top of the power supply compartment where we could have put our solid-state drive, but we like hiding it out of the way. You may have noticed by now that the H440 has no 5.25-inch drive bays. This cage has only 3.5-inch trays, which can also take 2.5-inch drives. After making room for the video card and the CPU cooler, we had three trays left. We took the two that were closest to each other and used them for the SSD and the HDD. That allowed us to use one SATA power cable (which also connected to the CPU cooler). The drive attaches with a set of small bundled screws. 4. Something Up Our SleeveOur fancy individually sleeved cables came in handy behind the motherboard, because there wasn't as much space back there as we would have liked. The sound-absorption panel takes up a few millimeters in an already-challenging space. Thankfully, there was plenty of room in front of the power supply to tuck things out of the way, and we'd removed two drive trays for some more space. Since the drive cage in the front of the case is hidden by a large metal plate, we were able to use that to our advantage and obscure most of the mess. We also made sure to install the 8-pin CPU power cable before installing the CPU cooler. Otherwise, the cooler's radiator and fans would have blocked our path. We also needed to whip out a Molex cable to power the hub that the case fans were connecting to. The fans themselves were hooked up to the hub at the factory, so that saved us some time and energy. 5. Joining the Fan ClubThe H440 case can take up to two 140mm fans on top, and up to three 120mm fans. But because of the contour of the frame, you can't set the radiator right against the metal. It's too tight. You have to put the fans in between the case and the radiator, which can be pretty tricky if you haven't tried it before. Getting the screws to line up correctly with the holes in the fans and the rad is a time-consuming process. We have the fans facing upward so that they will pull the heat rising off the rad and send it out the vent in the panel that will sit on top of the case. The fans also need to be oriented so that their cables come out at the same location. This makes cable management much cleaner once the fans are hooked up to the cooler. You just tug the cables gently back behind the motherboard until you run out of slack. 6. Two Can Play This GameThe H440 had room for pretty much everything we threw at it, but there wasn't space to add two more fans to the radiator. This is pretty normal for a mid-tower case. What we didn't expect is just how tight our fit would be. There's literally 1 to 2mm between the radiator and the mobo's rear I/O shroud. Because of this limitation, the radiator tubes had to be placed on the other end, and putting another set of fans on the cooler was out the window. The side effect was that installing the CPU cooler with the Corsair logo right-side up was difficult to do in a way that looked natural. So we ended up with the logo upside-down. Not a big deal, and it has no impact on performance. We chalked it up to a learning experience. We've seen this case accommodate two extra radiator fans before—it's just not going to work with this particular motherboard. Conquering the Quiet LifeAs we're preparing this issue for the printers, OCZ informed us it was pushing back the release date of its Vector 180 SSD, due to unspecified technical problems brought to its attention by people it had sent these units to for review. It was too late for us to re-build, rebenchmark, and re-photograph, so you'll have to visualize your favorite SSD in there instead. The good news is that SSD selection has a negligible impact on our set of benchmarks. Speaking of performance, we were impressed by how easily the Asus X99 Pro overclocked this CPU. An OC from 3GHz to 4GHz at 1.3 volts is nothing to sneeze at, but this board needed no tweaking beyond our initial set of adjustments, which was mostly just beefing up the power sent through the voltage regulators. Not many programs use 16 CPU threads, which is why this chip wrecked our zero-point machine's stock-clocked hexcore i7-3930K in some tests, but not in others. The 5960X got into the low 80s Celsius during our Premiere Pro bench, indicating there wasn't much wiggle room left. You'd probably need a custom water cooling loop to push performance much further. But let's not forget why we built this system to begin with: quietude. Well, plugging the fan hub directly into the power supply will create some noise, and there's no fan speed controller. And the CPU cooler's fans are also right underneath the top panel, instead of the radiator getting sandwiched in between. So the Fractal case we mentioned earlier still has some better options for noise level, and more space behind the mobo for cable routing. Still, the case's stock fans aren't loud, and the sound-absorbing panels do muffle some noise, though the window on the side panel has an acoustic cost as well. If low noise is really important to you, we'd recommend the Define R4, though it needs at least one more fan for good airflow. The MSI Lightning card, with its monster three-fan, triple-slot cooler, hardly rose above a mild drone throughout testing, yet it still punched above its weight in Batman: Arkham City. The 290X is a great GPU that performs within range of an Nvidia GeForce GTX 980, but for less money. Overall, we enjoyed wrangling this build into shape, and we were gratified to get solid, stable overclocks without needing hours of experimenting and fine-tuning. |
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