General Gaming Article

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• Motherboard Makers Bring Z170 OCing Support to Non-K Skylake CPUs
• Newegg Daily Deals: Acer Chromebook (Refurb), TP-Link Portable Router, and More!
• Microsoft to Offer Custom Version of Windows 10 to Chinese Government
• Universal Netflix App for Windows 10 Arrives as Windows Store Tops 2.5 Billion Visits
• Acer's Curvy Predator Z35 Delivers 35-Inches of UltraWide Visuals with G-Sync
• Budget Printing Strategies
• Best CPU

Motherboard Makers Bring Z170 OCing Support to Non-K Skylake CPUs Posted: 17 Dec 2015 11:43 AM PST Overclocking locked Skylake processors Good news, budget builders -- motherboard makers are releasing BIOS updates that allow non-K Skylake processors to be overclocked. That isn't how it's supposed to be. Like Haswell and Broadwell, Intel "locks" certain 6th Generation Core processors so that users can't easily make BCLK adjustments to boost base clock frequencies. If you want to overclock, you have to shell out for an unlocked (and pricier) K-series Skylake part. Well, not anymore. Taking advantage of an architecture change, ASRock found a way to enable overclocking locked processors on its Z170 motherboards and is calling the technology "Sky OC." The caveat? This only works on Z170 chipset motherboards. It also disables the integrated GPU, which enthusiasts aren't likely to give two spits about, and disables both Turbo Mode and C-states. CPU temperatures readings might be out of whack, as well. Though ASRock was first to enable overclocking on budget Skylake chips, other motherboard makers have followed suit with BIOS updates of their own, including Asus and MSI, according to this thread at HWBot.org. We imagine Gigabyte won't be far behind. According to PCWorld, Intel is aware of this backdoor method motherboard makers are exploiting, and its official response is that it doesn't recommended OCing processors that weren't designed for it. That's pretty much what we would expect Intel to say. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Acer Chromebook (Refurb), TP-Link Portable Router, and More! Posted: 17 Dec 2015 10:53 AM PST Top Deal: One day little Billy will be old enough (and responsible enough) to own a decked out gaming laptop with all the amenities. But for now? He just needs something to surf the web and type up his homework. That's where Chromebooks come in, and if you're looking for a great price on one, check out today's top deal. It's for an Acer CB3-111-C8UB Certified Refurbished Chromebook for $120 with free shipping (normally $160; additional $10 mail-in-rebate). It sports an Intel Celeron N2830 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB SSD, and of course Google's Chrome OS. Other Deals: TP-LINK TL-WR700N Wireless N150 Portable Router, Pocket Design, Multifunction, 150Mbps for $10 with free shipping (normally $13 - use coupon code: [EMCKNKT27]; additional $5 Mail-in rebate) XFX Radeon R9 8GB 512-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card for $310 with free shipping (normally $330; additional $30 Mail-in rebate) Dell Black 23.8-inch 6ms HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor IPS for $130 with free shipping (normally $140) Xbox One Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition 1TB Bundle for $400 with $6 shipping (normally $450 - use coupon code: [EMCKNKT26])

Microsoft to Offer Custom Version of Windows 10 to Chinese Government Posted: 17 Dec 2015 10:42 AM PST Easing tensions Microsoft is participating in a new joint venture that will allow the the company to ship a special version of its Windows 10 operating system to China's government agencies, the company announced today. Certain state owned enterprises will also have access to the custom Windows 10 build, which will include ongoing support and services. China's grown increasingly wary of using software from U.S. companies, a feeling that was exacerbated when former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked confidential documents to the public revealing a mass government spying program. At one point, China banned government officials from running Windows 8 and announced plans to replace all Windows machines with Linux by 2020. The aforementioned joint venture, tentatively called C&M Information Technologies, will be based in Beijing and will serve government agencies and state owned enterprises in select fields, such as energy, telecommunications, and transportation. "Importantly, we will maintain ownership of the core Windows 10 technology while working, as we've always done, to allow customers and partners to build components that plug into our platform," Microsoft said. "We'll continue to keep Windows 10 secure and sustain our strong privacy standards, while recognizing that public sector solutions may differ from technology offered to private sector enterprises and consumers around the world." The other half of the joint venture is China Electronics Technology Group (CTEC). Microsoft and CTEC have been working on a custom Windows 10 image ever since they partnered up three months ago, and this new deal is an extension of their collaboration. Assuming the joint venture receives regulatory approval, C&M will act as the exclusive licensor of the custom OS. It will also provide product activation and patch management, and collect feedback from customers. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Universal Netflix App for Windows 10 Arrives as Windows Store Tops 2.5 Billion Visits Posted: 17 Dec 2015 10:01 AM PST Bark commands at Netflix on Windows 10 On the surface, it looks like Netflix freshened up its app for Windows 10 with a revamped user interface and called it a day. However, there's more to the update than just a pretty new face. In fact, calling it an "update" might be a disservice. The finished product is an "entirely new implementation" based on MIcrosoft's Universal Windows Platform. What that means for end users is a consistent experience across all Windows 10 devices. Netflix updated its app from top to bottom, addressing everything from the sign-in screen to how it resides and functions on the desktop, including the ability to pin the app to Start and the Task Bar. One of the areas Netflix spent the most time on is the browsing experience. It supports vertical scrolling for categories and horizontal scrolling for titles within a category, making it easier to drill down and find what you're looking for. Netflix also updated the Details view for movies and TV shows. It now features large, cinematic artwork with episode information, and for movies, it also includes suggestions for other content. "Our members on Windows run across many different screen sizes, resolutions and scaling factors. The new version of the application uses a responsive layout to optimize the size and placement of items based on the window size and scaling factor," Netflix explains. Cortana is part of the experience, too. You can issue voice commands to look for content, and can do so even if Netflix hasn't been loaded yet. You can grab the revamped Netflix app from the Windows Store. 2.5 Billion Visits and Counting In a blog post of its own, Microsoft touted the new Netflix app while also announcing that its Windows Store has crossed the 2.5 billion visits mark. "We recently hit an important milestone, with 2.5 billion visits to the Windows Store since the Windows 10 launch. We're continuing to welcome new customers to the Windows Store every day – in fact, on Black Friday, we were thrilled to see 75% of our customers were first-time Windows Store purchasers," Microsoft said. Remember the 10-cent deals promotion Microsoft ran a few weeks ago? It proved popular among Windows 10 users with Microsoft noting a 29 times spike for paid app purchases along with strong repeat traffic. At last official count, Microsoft said Windows 10 had jumped out to 110 million active devices. The Redmond outfit said it will update that figure soon, adding that it's seeing "billions and billions of hours spent on Windows 10" on a monthly basis. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Acer's Curvy Predator Z35 Delivers 35-Inches of UltraWide Visuals with G-Sync Posted: 17 Dec 2015 09:23 AM PST What's the catch? Acer just added what seems like an awesome entry to its monitor lineup, the Predator Z35, a 35-inch UltraWide display with a curved panel, G-Sync support, and up to a 200Hz refresh rate (via overclocking). We always take these things with a grain of salt, but for what it's worth, Acer rates the contrast ratio at 3,000:1 (native) and brightness at 300 cd/m2. The panel also promises 100 percent coverage of the sRGB color space, and if that claim holds up, designers and photographers might join gamers in showing interest in the Predator Z35. There's a lot to like when running down the list of features, like a futuristic desigh with underglow lighting (you can adjust the ambient lighting through the on-screen display menu), a stand with ergonomic tilt (-5 to +25 degrees) and height adjustments (up to 5 inches), a cable management hole for keeping cords from cluttering up your desk, blue light filter (if you care about such a thing), and built-in 9W speakers with Dolby DTS. On the connectivity front, you'll find HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 inputs, and four USB 3.0 ports. "We're thrilled to bring the Predator Z35 to our customers in the United States," said Charlotte Chen, Acer America product manager. "This state-of-the-art gaming display offers one of the most exciting visual gaming scenarios available today. We believe the combination of super smooth action play, lifelike images and powerful audio will put this on the wish list of even the most ardent gaming enthusiasts." Even the price is reasonable for a 35-inch display at $1,100 MSRP (I paid more for my 30-inch monitor several years ago). So what's the catch? It's the 2560x1080 resolution. Some will find the limited vertical space a deal killer, others won't. If you fall into the latter category, keep your eyes peeled -- Acer is uncaging the Predator Z35 sometime this month. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Budget Printing Strategies Posted: 17 Dec 2015 12:00 AM PST Get more bang for your printing buck Decades ago, the promise was made of the "paperless office." In retrospect, we can see how unrealistic that plan was. Whether to hand in a school paper, save a tax return, or sign a legal document, the antiquated technology of printing is firmly entrenched for the foreseeable future, despite the ubiquity of screens. For years now, the profits in printing have not come so much from the printers themselves, but from the attendant consumables. In fact, with the cost of the ink and toner cartridges, any user with more than minimal printing needs will end up spending far more than the original cost of the printer over time. Printers continue to follow the business plan of losing money on the printer and making the profits on the ink, the so called " Razor-razorblade business model." It's gotten so bad that HP ink has been analyzed to cost almost twice as much as human blood. Armed with the right knowledge, however, there is potential to save significant money on printer consumables. Inkjet versus laser For two decades now, the dominant printing technologies on the market have been laser and inkjet. Due to cost issues, inkjet printers are more common in the home, laser printing in the workplace. Inkjet printers work via printing cartridges that squirt microdroplets of ink onto the paper. Their advantage is that they can print in color. However, they have significant disadvantages: the cartridges are expensive from a cost-per-page perspective, and the cartridges tend to dry out when sitting idle over weeks of disuse. For users who can do without color printing, a black-and-white laser printer can be an attractive option. One advantage of laser printing is faster speeds, with some inexpensive models boasting over 25 pages per minute of output. Another advantage is that the toner and drum cartridges for laser printers will provide many more pages of output compared to their inkjet counterparts. Additionally, the toner is a dry powder, which gets fused to the page with heat, so there are no cartridges to dry out. The pluses that traditionally made laser printing the technology of choice for office applications have allowed it to become more commonplace in the home market in recent times. Contributing to this trend are ever lower purchase prices of laser printers, with basic non-networked models under $50. With prices this low, one cost strategy has been to purchase a new printer whenever the toner cartridge ran out, as the printer with the cartridge was at times less expensive than the replacement cartridge. Don't toss your laser printer just yet, though; in response to this trend, manufacturers now ship printers with "starter cartridges," which feature less toner/ink to encourage sales of cartridges down the road. Also bear in mind that the consumables for the cheaper printers often cost more in the long run, as companies try to recoup the discounted cost of the printer. As the epic battle between the inkjet and laser technologies has progressed, the lines are continually redrawn as each side tries to encroach into enemy territory. Inkjets look to satisfy business users with "business inkjets" that feature faster printing speeds and larger inkjet cartridges, which combined with the inherent quiet of inkjet printing, make them worth a look in situations that value color, speed, and quiet over the affordability of a B&W laser printer. An example of this type of business inkjet is the  HP OfficeJet Pro X576dw, which can be found for a street price of under $400. In the laser camp, color laser printers, such as the Samsung Xpress SL-C410W, ship with four toner cartridges (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) to overcome the traditional black-only printing of lasers. However, the toner cartridges are often smaller in these color laser printers, yet again increasing the cost of the consumables, making them less attractive for text printing. In the case of that Samsung Xpress SL-C410W, a new set of the four toner cartridges is about the cost of the entire printer! Replacement cartridges Manufacturer replacement cartridges are generally very expensive. Over the lifetime of a printer, far more will be spent on the ink or toner than the cost of the printer or the paper. There are some strategies to reduce these costs. Just keep in mind that using anything other than the manufacturer replacement cartridge, as specified in the owner's manual, will void the manufacturer's warranty for the printer. Many replacement cartridges are offered in both a standard and a higher-capacity replacement cartridge. While the higher-capacity cartridge will initially cost more, when the page output ratings are checked, it is usually the better deal in terms of cost per page. Think of it as buying the six-pack of paper towels from the box store as opposed to a single roll from the supermarket—it's all about economy of scale. Refilling cartridges has become a popular option. There are DIY kits specific to the inkjet cartridge; the ink is inserted via an access hole that is then covered with a sticker. While this can be dirt cheap, there are continued concerns about the quality, or more accurately, the lack thereof, of the ink included in these kits. There are additional issues as the ink can be messy, and this refill process is another way to void the warranty. If cyan and magenta fingers from refilling sound unappealing, another option is a professional refilling service. There are outlets and kiosks that will refill the cartridge for a cost that is higher than a DIY kit, but lower than a new manufacturer cartridge. Depending on cost and availability, this is an option to consider. A final option is third-party cartridges, also known as a generic cartridges. These are recycled cartridges that a company other than the original printer manufacturer refills with ink or toner. These are widely available online and also sold alongside the manufacturer cartridges at big box retailers. While these can also void a printer warranty, the ink is generally higher quality than what is supplied in a DIY kit. Not all printers, particularly the latest ones, will have readily available generic cartridges, so it can pay to research the availability of generic cartridges before making a printer purchase to help you asses the total cost of ownership. With any of these refill strategies, YMMV (your mileage may vary). The printer manufacturers have gotten out ahead of this, and some newer printers have chips in their cartridges that only allow them to be used once. There are methods to reset the printers in some cases with replacement cartridges, but these are specific to each printer. Hacking cartridges In a continued attempt to maximize profits, printer companies set up cartridges up so that they print for a predetermined number of pages, and then the printer triggers that more ink is needed. Often, the "more ink" appears with a popup from the printer software that links directly to the printer's website to order more ink or toner. Helpful, right? However, a new cartridge is not always the answer, as in at least some cases, the cartridge is not totally out of ink, and would support additional printing had the message not been triggered. Recently, a Brother HL-2270DW laser printer around here spit out the "low ink" message. The Brother HL-2270DW is a popular entry-level laser printer that features network printing, as well as built-in duplexing. It was still on its starter toner cartridge, which was rated for 700 pages, yet when we did some investigation we found that it had printed only 445 pages—quite a bit fewer than the expected output rating. On top of this, the printer refused to print more, and continued to flash the toner warning light. The "Go" button on the Brother HL-2270DW gets a workout when hacking the printer to reset the toner sensor. The Brother HL-2270DW's replacement cartridge is either the TN-420 standard or the TN-450 high-capacity. However, neither cartridge was truly required to get the printer working again. In fact, all that was need was for the toner sensor to be reset. This tricks the printer into thinking that the same old cartridge is a new one, and printing can then continue. Tossing a cartridge with enough toner in it to print more than 200 pages is ludicrous! So, we did a little research on how to reset the Brother HL-2270DW's toner sensor. Here's what we did: Open the front cover Turn off printer Hold the "Go" button and turn on the printer Release the "Go" button Press the "Go" button twice (all panel lights go on at this point) Press the "Go" button five times consecutively Toner light will go to off Close the front cover This example of hacking the laser toner cartridge is hardly unique. For another example of this, let's look at the Brother HL-2140. This is an older laser printer with a USB connection that was popular some years back (incidentally, some laser printers can last for many years when not abused, adding to their value proposition). This printer uses either the TN-330 standard or the TN-360 high-yield cartridge. The Brother HL-2140 uses an optical sensor across the toner cartridge via two small, clear plastic windows on either side of the cartridge. When the "needs new toner" message pops up, the fix is quite simple. Just remove the toner cartridge, and apply small pieces of duct tape to the clear plastic windows on either side of the toner cartridge. Yes, it's really that easy. With this hack, the printer will go on printing, reportedly more than doubling the output of the cartridge. On the Brother HL-2140 laser printer, the optical sensor on the toner cartridge can be hacked with a piece of duct tape. We can personally attest to the hacks above for the pair of Brother laser printers as they have worked on the printer models we listed. While we obviously can't go through how to hack each and every printer on the market, more hacks can be found with either a web search, or a website such as www.fixyourownprinter.com, which aggregates these types of tips for printers from a variety of manufacturers. In addition, there are walkthroughs in video form from helpful users that you can find on YouTube. Print away! Maximizing printer output from a budget perspective starts with choosing the correct printer. From there, many options and strategies are available to help you get the most out of each toner or ink cartridge. Whether you choose to buy generic replacement cartridges, refill existing cartridges, or hack the printer to keep on printing with the same cartridge, there are options to maximize a printer's output and cartridge lifespan. Not only is it good for the wallet, but it can keep a few extra cartridges out of the landfills just a bit longer.

Best CPU Posted: 15 Dec 2015 09:43 PM PST Best of the Best: Processors 12/17/2015 Update: New recommendations at all price points, with details on the upcoming Broadwell-E, AMD Zen, Skylake recommendations, and more. Gamers may blow all of their hard earned cash buying the best graphics card they can afford, but for all-around system performance, the processor is still a critical component. It gets its hands dirty with everything from running the operating system, to feeding your graphics card, to surfing the web; skimp on the processor and you're going to feel it. While the MHz/GHz race of the 90s and 2000s has ended, there's a new target in sight: IPC. Instructions Per Clock is a measurement of the real throughput your processor is able to achieve, the problem being it can vary greatly depending on the workload. We also need to worry about multiple cores, efficiency, and TDP. For the typical home user, just about any modern processor is "fast enough"—from the lowly Celerons and Athlons to the high-end Core i7 parts, they'll allow you to surf the web, watch videos, and play casual games. But if you're doing more demanding work like video and image editing, or serious number crunching, it pays to have a faster system. We've selected the best processors at various price points below, along with noting some alternatives. Best Desktop CPU There's top of the line, and then there's everything else. In the land of desktop processing, Intel's Core i7-5960X is the top dog…at least for now. While it's not the highest-frequency CPU out there, what it lacks in clock rate, it makes up for everywhere else. This Haswell-E-based chip offers eight Hyper-Threaded cores capable of addressing 16 threads at a time, backed by 20MB of shared L3 cache and a 40-lane PCI Express 3.0 controller. The problem with the i7-5960X right now is that it's getting old, and a new generation of extreme processors is just around the corner. We're talking about the Broadwell-E parts that should be drop-in replacements on most X99 motherboards for existing Haswell-E chips. There are four parts listed in the rumor mill: two six-core offerings, the octal-core i7-6900K, and the 10-core i7-6950X. That last one is the new king of cores, so spending $1000 on the i7-5960X today will leave you two cores short in the first half of 2016. Plus, all of these are built using the latest 14nm FinFET process technology, which means they're likely to use less power and potentially overclock higher than Haswell-E. If you can't wait, we've got two options. First is the primary i7-5960X we're listing here, but one step down and at less than half the price is the i7-5930K. The Core i7-5960X is the clear champion, with 33 percent more cores, but both are faster than the Skylake offerings below if you're doing things like video editing, image manipulation, software development, or any other number of professional-grade workloads. And all of the Haswell-E parts are unlocked, so overclocking to 4.2GHz-4.5GHz isn't too difficult with adequate cooling. Both chips come with 40 PCIe 3.0 lanes, which means you can run two, three, or even four graphics cards. Or you could use two or three cards along with a fast PCIe-based SSDs. There's still room for high-end network adapters, USB 3.1, and more. Intel's mainstream desktop processors on the other hand are still limited to 16 lanes from the CPU, so the step up to 40 gives you a lot more flexibility. If you're really budget conscious but still want six cores, the i7-5820K is also a great option, though these days it's only $100 less than the 5930K and the 28 PCIe lanes may prove limiting. The Core i7-5960X and i7-5930K need an LGA 2011-v3 motherboard, and they use a quad-channel DDR4 memory controller, so even for upgrades you're likely to need new memory and a new motherboard. Thankfully, Skylake (see below) means both of Intel's current platforms are now using DDR4, which paves the way for higher data rates and greater densities. Read our full review here. Best High-End CPU While the Core i7-5960X warrants a call-out for its uncontested place at top of Intel's desktop portfolio, it uses an architecture that's now two generations old. Broadwell for desktops came and went without much fanfare (and even now, those chips are nearly impossible to find), but Skylake is here to stay. Unlike the Broadwell process shrink, Skylake also boasts a new architecture that yields up to 20 percent higher performance than equivalent Haswell parts. The i7-6700K is the halo product, with four cores plus Hyper-Threading yielding eight threads at up to 4.2GHz, with 8MB L3 cache. More importantly, while there are still only 16 PCIe lanes for graphics, the PCH interface has been upgraded to DMI 3.0, doubling the bandwidth of the previous solution. Coupled with the Z170 chipset and its 20 additional PCIe 3.0 lanes, most Skylake systems have a lot more flexibility than Haswell builds, with M.2 Ultra and USB 3.1 Type-C connections being common. Skylake also moves to DDR4 memory, still dual-channel, which means higher bandwidths and larger (16GB) modules are easier to come by. Early motherboard BIOS teething problems have been addressed, allowing Skylake parts to take a clear 10-20 percent lead over the previous Haswell/Devil's Canyon chips. If you already own one of those, there's no need to upgrade, but if you're buying a new system, Skylake is where it's at. The i7-6700K will still set you back as much as the i7-5820K, and with high demand we're seeing prices that are difficult to justify ($400+ at the time of writing, and often out of stock). That puts a bit of a damper on things, but as frequent users of previous generation Core i7 offerings, we're confident that i7-6700K will be plenty fast for mainstream users and gamers for years to come. Most Skylake chips overclock well, with 4.6-4.8GHz clock speeds on air being common. The platform as a whole is also less power hungry than Haswell-E, running at roughly half the idle power of the X99 platform. Yes, you give up a couple of cores in the process, but unless you're doing CPU-sensitive tasks—and let's be honest, most people rarely push more than four CPU cores hard unless they're doing video editing—the quad-core parts are more than sufficient. Read our full review here. The Smart CPU Choice It's all well and good to lust after the above processors, but if you're after a great balance of performance and price, there's no beating last-generation hardware. The Core i5-4690K has dropped a bit in price since Skylake launched, and more importantly there are tons of viable motherboards to choose from for this venerable platform. And that DDR4 business? You don't really need to worry about it unless you were planning to install four 16GB modules, as DDR3 is basically just as fast in real-world testing. We'd go with the Skylake i5-6600K if it were readily available at reasonable prices, but for now that's not the case (there's a $40 or higher markup in effect due to supply and demand). In our testing, the difference between the two processors typically amounts to 5-10 percent at most, so you're not really missing out on much. You have to give up Hyper-Threading at this level, but you still get four full CPU cores, and that's plenty for gaming and every day home and office use. Like all of Intel's K-series chips, the 4690K is multiplier unlocked, which means even though the base clock speed of 3.5GHz is relatively tame, many are able to hit 4.5-4.7GHz with decent air cooling. AMD will offer you more total cores at a lower price (see below), but each core is weaker than Intel's cores, which means for most tasks Core i5-4690K wins out. There are some caveats to at least mention, but they're nothing new. Socket LGA1150 is at the end of the line now, which means you have no upgrade path (outside of moving to a Core i7-4790K). We've found that CPU upgrades aren't all that common over the life of a PC, however—at least not without upgrading the motherboard as well—and given the plateau in general processing requirements, a 4690K should keep you chugging along quite happily for many years. Best Entry-Level CPU Intel's best parts ship with six and eight cores for consumer processors (and as many as eighteen cores on server parts!), but the least expensive six-core part will set you back nearly $400 (see the i7-5820K mentioned above). What if you could get eight cores for less than half that price—you'd be interested, right? And well you should be. Enter the AMD FX-8320. AMD's Vishera has been around for three years now, and the FX-8320 we're looking at still delivers a tremendous value (though it's worth pointing out the price is only $20 now than at launch). You get four Piledriver modules, each with two integer cores and a shared floating-point core, which gives us our eight-core CPU. Clock speeds are good at 3.5GHz-4.0GHz, and in a few workloads it can actually beat the i5-4690K…but those are the exception rather than the rule. The CPU is multiplier unlocked, which means with adequate cooling you should be able to improve clocks by several hundred MHz. That won't overcome all the limitations of the platform, but most of those limitations (like PCIe Gen2 and DDR3 memory) don't really matter. There's no question that Intel currently rules the high performance CPU market—AMD hasn't had a processor that was legitimately faster than Intel across a broad suite of benchmarks since the Core i7 parts started shipping. Yeah, that's a long time ago, but there's more to processors than being the fastest or having the latest features. The value proposition for the platform remains attractive. Best Ultra-Budget CPU When you get below $100 prices for a component, you know there's compromise involved. The good news is that the tradeoffs might not be as dire as you'd expect. AMD has been pushing their APUs over their CPUs lately, arguing that integrating a good graphics part makes up for the CPU deficiencies, and in some cases that's true. But if you're going to use a faster discrete graphics card anyway, there's no real need for mediocre processor graphics. The Athlon X4 860K gives you precisely that: an AMD Kaveri processor with the GPU section disabled. Clock speeds and performance are otherwise identical to the A10-7850K, at roughly half the price—though you'll have to remember that the video outputs on your FM2+ motherboard are not active. Ultimately, the combination of a $70 price point and widely available inexpensive motherboards and memory means you can build a great little budget PC without breaking the bank. So what's the catch? Many of the items noted on the above FX-8320 apply here, like lower than Intel single-threaded performance. However, the 860K is still multiplier unlocked, and clock speeds are pretty decent at 3.7-4.0GHz. Intel's Core i3-4170 and i3-6100 will generally deliver higher performance, but they cost $40-$60 more; the Intel competition here consists of Celeron and Pentium parts, and with lower clocks, less L3 cache, and no Hyper-Threading, AMD generally wins out. Even if you have some extra money available, that's money that could be better spent on an SSD, faster graphics card, or other items when putting together a budget PC. The 860K is a Kaveri-based processor, which means it uses the Steamroller architecture and the features and tech are a bit more up to date than the Vishera CPUs. It's built on 28nm (still rather dated) and you get PCIe Gen3 support, though you still use DDR3. In truth, none of that matters much on this class of part, as it's intended for builds that perform good enough for daily use rather than for high performance computing. Put another way, you could build a complete ultra-budget system for the price of just the i7-5930K processor if you were so inclined. It won't touch the performance of the Intel part in strenuous workloads, but that was never the point. What it will do perfectly well is run office applications, stream video, and even handle most games (though not necessarily at maximum quality). What's Coming Down the CPU Pipeline? The only constant in the world of computer technology is change, and whatever you buy today will inevitably be supplanted. We've already talked about the biggest upcoming change, which is Broadwell-E. Some rumors are suggesting we could see the top i7-6950X show up in Q1 of 2016, which means if you're serious about plunking down a grand on a processor, you should definitely hold off and nab the extra cores and the process shrink. While Broadwell-E is pretty well understood at the point—it will be a process shrink and drop-in upgrade for the X99/LGA2011-v3 platform—things on the AMD side are far less clear. We've been hearing about AMD's Zen processor architecture for the past year now, and it should come out some time next year. Zen mark's AMD's return to more traditional core designs, and it will offer SMT (Simultaneous Multi-Threading, similar to Intel's Hyper-Threading) in place of Bulldozer's CMT (Clustered Multi-Threading) modules. Zen will also move to a new socket, AM4, which will be used for both CPUs and APUs—so no more of this AM3+/FM2+ split. DDR4 memory will be supported, though it's not clear if DDR3 will also be supported similar to Skylake, or if this will be a DDR4-only design like Haswell-E. Perhaps most importantly, Zen will be manufactured on a modern FinFET process, most likely GlobalFoundries' 14nm FinFET (licensed from Samsung). Considering the current APUs and CPUs are made on 28nm and 32nm, respectively, this will be a massive step forward for efficiency and performance. So here's the bad news: While we expect Broadwell-E to launch in the first half of 2016, possibly even Q1, Zen is much further out. We've heard it will be launched on servers first, with consumer products following, and indications are AMD will only achieve a limited release of Zen in Q4 2016. So if you're waiting to achieve a state of Zen with your PC, you've got about a year to work on it.

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