General Gaming Article |
- Samsung Announces Portable SSD T3 with up to 2TB Capacity
- Newegg Daily Deals: MSI Gaming Z97 Motherboard, AMD A10-7850, and More!
- Corsair Carbide 400Q and 400C PC Cases Keep It Classy and Quiet
- Oculus Will Start Taking Rift VR Headset Pre-Orders on January 6
- Maingear Alpha 34 Brings 18-Core Computing to All-in-One Sector
- Corsair Takes Aim at Gamers with Carbide Spec-Alpha Mid-Tower ATX Case
- Lenovo Expands ThinkPad X1 Line of Mobile PCs
- HFS HTTP File Server: A Portable Ninja Tool
| Samsung Announces Portable SSD T3 with up to 2TB Capacity Posted: 04 Jan 2016 12:41 PM PST Today Samsung announced their new Portable SSD T3 line of external SSDs, building on the success of the existing T1 line. From a technology perspective, not a whole lot has changed from the T1. The core SSD remains the same TLC V-NAND and controller found in Samsung's 850 Evo line of SSDs, which has proven quite capable since it launched in late 2014. The changes with the T3 can be broken into two areas: new features and aesthetics. Starting with the latter, the T3 sports an all-new metallic casing in place of the plastic casing used on the earlier T1. The idea is to create a product that feels like more of a premium device, and an external SSD tends to be very firmly planted in the premium market. Along with looking and feeling nicer, the metal casing is also more durable, which could be important if you happen to purchase one of the larger models. That brings us to the new features and technology. Last year, Samsung updated their 850 Evo line with a 2TB model (see our full review). The T3 updates the portable SSD portfolio to now include a 2TB model, in addition to the T1's existing 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB capacities. Along with the updated capacity and new chassis, the T3 also features a single USB 3.1 Type-C connector. Note, however, that this is a 5Gb/s USB 3.1 connection, so transfer rates are still limited by USB speed rather than the SSD. In practice, that means transfer rates top out at 450MB/s, the same as the T1. While the idea of an external SSD attached via USB is nothing new, Samsung has proven capable of making some of the fastest SSDs around, and the industrial design of the T3 is much nicer than other alternatives that simply use a 2.5-inch form factor SATA drive in an enclosure. Adding a Type-C USB connector does mean users with older systems will need an adapter, but newer laptops in particular should have native Type-C support. NAND storage is also much less likely to be damaged than traditional spinning disks, potentially making the T3 more reliable. Availability of the Portable SSD T3 is slated for February 2016, with pricing not yet announced. Given the similar features, pricing should be close to that of the T1, perhaps with a slight premium for the metal case. For more information, visit www.samsung.com/T3.
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| Newegg Daily Deals: MSI Gaming Z97 Motherboard, AMD A10-7850, and More! Posted: 04 Jan 2016 12:37 PM PST Top Deal: It's time to make good on that New Year's resolution, the one where you promised to build yourself a new PC and get back into gaming. You also promised to reuse as much of your existing hardware as you can, like your DDR3 memory. If that's the case, then check out today's top deal for an MSI Gaming Z97 GAMING 5 LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard for $130 with $3 shipping (normally $157). It won't get you into Skylake territory, but it is a solid option for something like an Intel Core i7-4790K. Other Deals: WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-inch for $50 with free shipping (normally $55 - use coupon code: [ESCKNNX22]) G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2400 (PC3 19200) Desktop Memory Model for $68 with free shipping (normally $80) AMD A10-7850K Kaveri Quad-Core 3.7 GHz Socket FM2+ 95W AD785KXBJABOX Desktop Processor AMD Radeon R7 for $120 with free shipping (normally $130 - use coupon code: [EMCKNNX23]) Samsung DVD Writer SATA Model SH-224FB/RSBS for $15 with free shipping (normally $19) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Corsair Carbide 400Q and 400C PC Cases Keep It Classy and Quiet Posted: 04 Jan 2016 12:15 PM PST Choose between a side panel window or sound dampening Corsair is fleshing out its case lineup with a little bit of something for everyone. For gamers, there's the Spec-Alpha, a case that sports aggressive angles and lines, and on the opposite end of the spectrum, there's the new Carbide 400Q and Carbide 400C. Like the Spec-Alpha, the 400Q and 400C are both mid-tower cases, only with a more traditional (and conservative) aesthetic. Whereas you wouldn't want to plop a Spec-Alpha system in a professional setting, visitors to the dentist office wouldn't think twice about spying a 400Q and 400C behind the reception desk at the dentist's office, especially the former. The difference between the 400Q and 400C comes down to your side panel preference. If you want to show off the guts of your system with a window, the 400C will oblige, giving onlookers a clear view of just about the entire build. But if you'd rather focus on quiet computing the 400Q trades the side window for sound dampening material to muffle whirring fans. Corsair says it's easy to build a system inside either case -- they both offer tool-free installation and lots of cable routing options. You'll also find dust filters; 3.5-inch bay covers; room for up to a 360mm radiator in front, 240mm radiator up top, and a 120mm radiator in the rear; space for a full size ATX motherboard; and enough room for multiple graphics cards. You can install up to two 3.5-inch drives and three 2.5-inch drives. For cooling duties, fan mounts consist of:
Corsair includes a 140mm fan up front and a 120mm in the back. Both cases carry a $100 MSRP and will be available to order in early February. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Oculus Will Start Taking Rift VR Headset Pre-Orders on January 6 Posted: 04 Jan 2016 11:47 AM PST The wait is almost over It's been right around three years since Oculus Rift appeared on Kickstarter, which in turn reinvigorated interest in the virtual reality market as a whole. Ever since then, VR has been one of the hottest, most widely talked about subjects, and come Wednesday, you'll finally be able to pre-order an Oculus Rift. The journey to pre-order status has been a long and interesting one. Facebook acquired Oculus VR back in March 2014 for a cool $2 billion, and the knee-jerk reaction was that Zuckerberg would ruin the experience by focusing on crappy casual titles for mobile devices. Thankfully that hasn't been the case. Interest in Oculus Rift remains high, and to give early adopters a taste of the technology, every pre-ordered Rift headset will come with Lucky's Tale by Playful and CCP's EVE: Valkyrie bundled in for free. It's also said to come with an Xbox One controller since the Oculus Touch controller isn't yet ready for release. The question on everyone's mind is how much Oculus Rift will cost. That hasn't been revealed yet, though an announcement is expected at CES, hopefully before it goes up for pre-order Wednesday morning (starting at 8 AM Pacific). As for other unknowns, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey has promised to answer "all your questions" during a Reddit AMA on Wednesday evening at 6 PM Pacific. This looks to be a big year for VR. In addition to the Rift finally making it to retail, the HTC Vive is expected to launch sometime this year, likely around April. With the hardware coming into view, it will be interesting to see what compelling games and software developers come up with. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Maingear Alpha 34 Brings 18-Core Computing to All-in-One Sector Posted: 04 Jan 2016 11:25 AM PST Not your typical all-in-one Remember when all-in-one systems were considered basic PCs for general computing chores? For the most part, they still are, though don't tell that to Maingear. The boutique builder just announced the Alpha 34, the first AIO to offer 8-core Intel Extreme Edition and 18-core Xeon processor options. The battle-ready Alpha 34 is big in every way -- size, performance, and price (if going the distance when configuring a model). Starting with the size, the crux of the Alpha 34 is its 34-inch curved WQHD (3840x1440) display. That's a lot of pixels to push around, and to get the job done, you can configure an Alpha 34 with a range of graphics cards including a GeForce GTX 980 Ti, Titan X, and Radeon R9 390X at the higher end. For workstation chores, Maingear offers several professional GPU options, up to an AMD FirePro W9100 or Nvidia Quadro M6000. "The superb combination of Intel's blazing fast processors with state of the art graphic cards and an astounding screen, gives Alpha 34 the muscle to handle any task while being the centerpiece in every room," says Wallace Santos, CEO and Founder of Maingear. "Alpha 34 is a super stocked modern dream car with old fashioned muscle under the hood that is perfect for gaming, movie watching or even designing in Adobe's Creative Suite." For lesser needs and tighter budgets, you can configure a toned down version of the Alpha 34, though price can still be prohibitive at $1,999. That gets you an Intel Core i3-6100 processor plopped into a Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming-5 motherboard, 8GB of Kingston HyperX Fury DDR4-2666 RAM, AMD Radeon R7 360X graphics card, 1TB HDD (7,200 RPM), 8X DVD burner, and Windows 10 Home 64-bit. From there, the price and power scales upward with Intel Haswell-E and Xeon-based foundations. You could easily drop several grand and have the baddest AIO ever built. The Maingear Alpha 34 is available to configure and order now. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Corsair Takes Aim at Gamers with Carbide Spec-Alpha Mid-Tower ATX Case Posted: 04 Jan 2016 10:39 AM PST Not your average looking mid-tower Corsair's newest case for gamers, the Spec-Alpha, is likely to be a love-it or hate-it affair. As with many gaming oriented products, the Spec-Alpha uses aggressive lines and angles to appeal to its audience, and in doing so, limits its appeal to a wider audience. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- it just means the Spec-Alpha likely won't find its way into too many professional office settings, like a lawyer's office or in the reception area of a tax specialist. "Uniquely styled with a sharp, stand-out design and LED fans, the Spec-Alpha gives gamers a stunning tower that looks as great as it performs," Corsair says. "Featuring native USB 3.0 support and room for up to four SSDs, the Spec-Alpha is is able to handle and hold the best performance PC hardware." Corsair stopped short of elaborating on the extent of the Spec-Alpha's hardware support, though the company did say it's without a "bulky" 5.25-inch drive cage. That means air sucked in from the intake gets a straight line to the CPU and GPU. Cooling is a point of emphasis in the Spec-Alpha. It comes with 120mm fans, has a built-in three-speed fan controller, and supports liquid cooling by way of accommodating a front 240mm radiator. While Corsair kept the exact specifications vague, it did say the case offers native USB 3.0 and SSD support. Expect more details soon, as the Spec-Alpha will be available to purchase in March for $80. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Lenovo Expands ThinkPad X1 Line of Mobile PCs Posted: 04 Jan 2016 10:14 AM PST X1 marks the spot The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas officially kicks off tomorrow, though companies are already rushing to announce new product launches. Count Lenovo among them -- just ahead of CES, the world's top supplier of PCs announced the expansion of its X1 portfolio, including a modular ThinkPad X1 Tablet, ThinkPad X1 Yoga, and ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Starting with the ThinkPad X1 Tablet, Lenovo's sales pitch is that it's the only slate that offer expanded capabilities through simple clip-on modules. For example, if you need more battery life, you can add a Productivity Module to increase run time up to 15 hours. There's also a Presenter Module that adds a pico projector and HDMI port to the mix, and a 3D Imaging Module with a rear-facing Intel RealSense camera. The ThinkPad X1 Tablet is sort of like Microsoft's Surface Pro line, but modular. It has a 12-inch Full HD 1080p display, up to an Intel Core m7 vPro processor, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of SSD storage, full-size thin keyboard and stylus pen, 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity, USB 3.0 port, mini DisplayPort, microSD card slot, and various other odds and ends. Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Yoga measures just 0.66 inches thick and is the first convertible to boast an optional Samsung OLED display. As with previous Yogas, the newest version supports four different modes: Laptop, Stand, Tent, and Tablet. Other notable features include a 14-inch display with up to a 2560x1440 resolution, up to an Intel Core i7 vPro processor, up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, up to a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD for fast storage, three USB 3.0 ports, microSD slot, mini DisplayPort and HDMI outputs, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and up to 11 hours of battery life. Lastly, Lenovo announced a new ThinkPad X1 Carbon. Its latest model is a 14-inch business notebook that's thinner, lighter, and faster than before. Lenovo says the bulk of changes it made were based on customer feedback. As such, it includes more display options (14-inch panel available in both Full HD or WQHD), more memory at up to 16GB of DDR3 RAM, and more storage options culminating in a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. Other features include a 720p webcam, mini DisplayPort and HDMI output, three USB 3.0 ports, microSD port, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and up to 11 hours of run time. Lenovo says the ThinkPad X1 Tablet will be available in February starting at $899; the ThinkPad X1 Yoga this month starting at $1,449; and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon next month starting at $1,299. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| HFS HTTP File Server: A Portable Ninja Tool Posted: 04 Jan 2016 12:00 AM PST Interested in a tiny Windows program that will let you directly transfer files from your PC to any smart phone, tablet, Mac, Chromebook, or another PC without installing any software on the receiving device? How about the ninja stealth of a portable app that can set up a file server running off a Thumb Drive in only a few seconds? We have you covered. Meet HFS, a free, open source, easy to use drag-and-drop file server for personal file sharing. HFS is a portable web server application designed for sharing files instead of web pages. It requires no installation, little or no configuration, and can easily move large files from your PC to other computers, mobile devices, and even virtual machines. Any device with a web browser can connect to HFS, which will present a simple HTML page that lists the shared files and allows them to be downloaded. (HFS stands for HTTP File Server and has nothing to do with Apple's similarly abbreviated Hierarchical File System.) You can use HFS on your Wi-Fi or local network with almost no configuration. This is a great way to transfer that huge eBook or video file from your PC to your iPad without battling with iTunes. If you are willing to set up port forwarding on your router, HFS has advanced features for connecting to the public Internet, allowing anyone in the world to download or upload files directly to your PC. HFS will automatically find your public IP address, allow you to set up user accounts, limit bandwidth used, and even work with dynamic DNS services so you can have a consistent URL to connect to HFS even when your ISP changes your home IP address. Why not Dropbox or FTP?There must be a hundred ways to transfer files, so why bother with HFS? As it turns out, HFS is often faster to set up and use than most alternatives. HFS has the advantage of facilitating a high-speed direct connection between your PC and the downloading computer or device. This eliminates the need to upload a file to a remote service and then download it again. FTP software such as FileZilla Server also allows a direct connection, but it is more complex to set up than HFS and quite a bit harder to get working with your firewall and router if you want to use it on the public Internet. Using the web makes sense since web browsers are available on most devices, and HFS makes sense because it's free, easy to use, allows a direct connection, and offers a lot of flexibility in a small, portable, ninja-like package. Try it outLet's take HFS for a spin. You'll need a PC running any modern version of Windows. HFS is reported to work on every version from Windows 98 to Windows 10. Start by downloading hfs.exe here. The entire program is just over 2MB, which is impressive when you consider that many phones these days take single photos that are larger than that. HFS does not have an installer, so you can keep the hfs.exe executable file anywhere on our system. You can run it right from the Desktop, a USB Thumb Drive you keep on a keychain, or copy it to the C:\Program Files folder like traditionally installed software. HFS does not require Administrator privileges to run, but you'll need Administrator access if we want to copy the program to C:\Program Files. Massimo Melina, the author of HFS, has not digitally signed the program, so you should expect to see a security warning from Windows that it is from an unknown publisher. Also, if you are using Windows Firewall, the first time you run HFS, Windows may open a dialog box asking if it should allow hfs.exe to communicate on private and public networks. HFS is useless if it cannot connect to the network, so you should give it permission. Next, HFS will open an Option dialog box asking if you want an "Add to HFS" shortcut on the Windows context menu that is displayed when you right-click on files. Since we're just trying out HFS, go ahead and select No. You can always add this later from the application if you find yourself using HFS a lot. (You do this in Expert mode by selecting: Menu > Other options >→ Integrate in shell context menu). For such a tiny program, HFS has a surprising number of features. To keep the program simple and focused on how the majority of people use it, HFS starts in "Easy mode," which hides more advanced functionality. Let's explore some of Easy mode's common uses. Pick a few files that you do not mind sharing and drag and drop them onto the Virtual File System pane in HFS. To keep things simple for now, do not drag and drop a folder, only individual files. Click anywhere in the Virtual File System pane to make sure that your files are not selected and then click the "Open in browser" button, which will open your default web browser to http://localhost. You should see your shared files in a simple web interface. At the moment, your PC is acting as both the server (HFS) and the client (web browser), which is not that useful, but it does demonstrate how HFS works. The web interface allows you to click on files to download them individually, or to select multiple files that can be downloaded in a tar-format archive (you can open tar files on Windows using 7-Zip). Notice that with the default settings, you do not need a login to gain access and there is no ability to upload or delete files, only download them. As long as the firewall software on your PC allows connections to HFS on port 80, any web browser on any device on your local network should be able to view the web interface and download files. Give this a try on another device on your network, such as a laptop, an iPad, or your phone. Use the web browser on this device and go to the URL shown in the HFS URL bar. Using HFS to move an eBook to an iPadIn the example below we share a few ePub format eBook files in HFS by dragging them into the Virtual File System pane. We open the address that HFS gives us (in this case http://10.0.0.7) on an iPad using the Safari web browser. The web interface looks very similar to how it looked in Chrome on the PC. We tap the shared Dracula eBook, and the iPad begins downloading the file. The iPad asks us which app we want to use to open the book file. We tap Open in "iBooks," which saves a copy of the book in iBooks. We have successfully transferred the book from the PC to the iPad and can start reading it in iBooks. The HFS Log pane records the request made by the iPad and shows the transfer speed of the file. Using folders and accounts, and enabling uploadsYou have access to additional functionality when you use folders. Create a new folder on the Desktop called WebUpload and drag it into the HFS Virtual File System pane. HFS may display a dialog box asking if you want ANYONE to be able to upload to this folder. If it does, be conservative and click No. It is far better to set up an account to allow upload access only to specific users. We will do that below. When you drag a folder into HFS, it asks if we want a Real folder or a Virtual folder. Selecting a real folder provides the most flexibility, allowing web users to upload files to the folder if we grant them access. Let's try this now. Click Real folder when HFS asks what kind of folder you want. Right-click the WebUpload folder in HFS, select Properties and then select the Upload tab. From this tab you can both create users and grant them upload permissions. For now, let's create a user named Anna and give her the ability to upload files into the WebUpload folder. To do this, click New account and enter the Username Anna and a password, and click OK. HFS will show the Anna user with a checkmark in the Upload tab. Click OK to save your changes. Click "Open in browser" to view the web interface. Note that there are no upload buttons in the interface because we have not yet logged in. Go ahead and click Login and enter Anna's login information. In the Actions section of the web interface you should now see an Upload button that will place any uploaded files into the WebUpload folder. You can add granular security by allowing only certain users to access specific folders. You do this in exactly the same way that you added Upload permissions, except this time you check the names of users in the Access tab instead of the Upload tab. Selecting Anna in the Access tab and clicking OK will allow only Anna to see this folder. We can restrict access to the entire website to Anna by right clicking on the web root ("/"), selecting Properties, and checking Anna in the Access tab. Going globalBefore we talk about setting up HFS for use on the public Internet, we need to talk about security. You obviously need to be careful when allowing Internet traffic to directly access your PC. It is critical that you use Windows Update and ensure that our system has all the most recent security patches installed. We highly recommend setting up HFS with a sufficiently complex root-level password. Also, be aware that just creating an account in HFS is not enough to protect your files, you must follow the directions in the previous section to right click on a folder or file and set the permissions to explicitly require a login to access the folder or file. Finally, we recommend testing your system from outside your network to make sure it works as you expect. While we're talking about security, you should know that HFS can support HTTPS and SSL, but it requires setting up an additional tool called Stunnel. You can read about Stunnel here. If you're not using SSL, be aware that your file transfers are not encrypted. To allow users outside of your home network to access HFS over the Internet, you generally need to set up port forwarding on your router. Because some ISPs block port 80, it is usually a good idea to pick a higher port, such as 8000. To set this up on our Comcast router, we start by logging into the router's web interface, then selecting Advanced, and Port Forwarding. You router will likely have a different interface, but the concept should be the same. We enable port forwarding and add a service directing all traffic on port 8000 to the IP address shown in the HFS address bar. The router shows port forwarding enabled. In HFS, click on the "Port: 80" button and change the port to 8000. HFS contains a feature to test Internet access and tell you the IP address for browsers to use. To activate it, select Menu > Self Test and follow the prompts. If we see the "test successful" message, we should be all set to use HFS to connect to our PC from anywhere on the Internet. When you're done allowing Internet users to directly connect to our PC, you should immediately turn off port forwarding on our router to improve the security on our network. When you exit HFS, it will ask if you want to save your current file system. Saving it will create a vfs file that will remember your shared directory structure. Note that other settings, including information about users, are stored in the Windows registry by default. This can be saved to a file instead, or erased from the registry by putting HFS in Expert mode and selecting the appropriate command from Menu > Save options. Remember, HFS is a ninja tool. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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