| Asus Unveils New Enthusiast Mobo and Video Card Posted: 05 Jun 2013 04:21 PM PDT 
Hybrid liquid-cooled Maximus VI Formula motherboard and Poseidon video card series announced at Computex Asus has revealed its hybrid-liquid cooled Maximus VI Formula motherboard and liquid-cooled Poseidon video card at Computex 2013. The Maximus VI Formula motherboard sports a plethora of cooling, inviting overclockers to go nuts with their new enthusiast board. The Maximus VI Formula also rocks the company's CrossChill design meaning it can run on either air or liquid cooling. The top-mounted heat sink has two G ¼ inch sockets that support standard liquid cooling loops. Asus claims that in a liquid cooled setup the board operates at temperatures up to 23 degrees Celsius lower than when it is run in an air-cooled setup. The new motherboard also features including Digi+ III VRMs with 60 A Blackwing chokes, efficiency NexFET MOSFETs, and 10K black metallic capacitors for "enhanced overclocking" according to Asus. Premium sound also is squished into the Maximus VI Formula as it sports the company's new Supreme FX on-board audio. The Supreme FX gives users a 120dB SNR headphone output with a 600ohm headphone amplifier, and WIMA and ELNA audio capacitors. 
The Asus Poseidon is one of a few cards that combine a standard heat sink with a water block. The company's new Poseidon video card touts the firm's new DirectCU H2O design which can be used in a standard air or liquid cooled setup. Asus says the card runs up to 31 degrees C cooler when liquid-cooled. While the company didn't specifically state which GPU its Poseidon card would use, Asus did state that it will feature an Nvidia GeForce GTX 700 Series GPU. |
| London Comic Con 2013 Cosplay Gallery Posted: 05 Jun 2013 02:50 PM PDT 50 cosplay pictures from the London MCM Comic Con Expo It's fair to say the cosplay phenomenon has reached every corner of Earth and England bears no signs of bucking that trend. Last week we had the chance to check out London's MCM Comic Con Expo, an event where all things gaming and cosplay collide. We saw tons of costumes from the Mass Effect universe to the myriad champions in League of Legends and everything in between. Take a peek below to see all of the crazy costumes in our gallery and let us know which cosplay is your favorite! Note: The preview images may look like we cut off some of the cosplayers' heads so make sure to click each picture to see the full image! |
| Wikipad 7 Gaming Tablet Coming to the U.S. on June 11 for $249 Posted: 05 Jun 2013 01:33 PM PDT 
Global launch planned for this summer A product first showcased at last year's Consumer Electronics Show, the Wikipad gaming tablet is so woefully behind its original release schedule that all but the most optimistic people believed Wikipad, Inc., the Los Angeles-based company behind the tablet, when it promised a spring 2013 debut back in February this year. It now seems that the company is indeed pretty serious about avoiding the ignominy of perishing without bringing a single product to the market. The Android Jelly Bean-powered Wikipad 7 will finally be available in the U.S. on June 11 at a retail price of $249, the company said in a press release Tuesday. Even though the tablet in question is, as the company promised in February, a 7-incher, the Wikipad was originally supposed to be an 8-inch device. Best characterized by its "award winning and patented" snap-on gamepad accessory, the Wikipad 7 is a Tegra 3-powered tablet that sports a 7" multi-touch display (1280x800), 1GB DDR3 memory, 16GB internal storage, up to 32GB microSD storage, 2MP front camera, micro USB, micro-HDMI, GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope and a 4100mAh battery. Since the Wikipad 7 is a PlayStation Certified device, gamers will be able to enjoy both Android (including Tegra-optimized titles) and Sony PlayStation Mobile games on it. "The Wikipad is the only tablet to possess both the unique combination of console quality experience with the functionality and portability of a tablet thanks to its award-winning and patented detachable dual-analog controller," reads the press release. "When the gamepad controller is detached, Wikipad's sleek design and full Android 4.1 Jelly Bean functionality make it a powerfully versatile tablet whether you are surfing the web, reading emails or enjoying all the latest films, books, magazines music, Skype and apps at home or on the go." According to the company, the Wikipad 7 will be available in the UK and other parts of the world this summer. Image Credit: Wikipad, Inc. Follow Pulkit on Google+ |
| Gigabyte Injects Discrete Graphics Into New U-Series Ultrabooks Posted: 05 Jun 2013 10:59 AM PDT  Gigabyte and Nvidia tag team the Ultrabook scene.
In terms of portability, an Ultrabook is a great solution for taking work with you, but what about when you want to unwind with a bit of gaming? Integrated graphics hardly cut it, so Gigabyte went and tapped Nvidia to power its U-Series of Ultrabooks. These new notebooks pack a potent one-two combo consisting of 4th Generation Intel Core processor options (Haswell) and Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics with 4GB of dedicated video memory. The largest and most expensive of the three new Ultrabooks is the U35. It's a 15.6-inch notebook with a Full HD 1080p display, Core i5 4200U / i7 4500U processor options, 8GB of DDR3L-1600 memory, support for two 512GB mSATA SSDs and two 1TB HDDs, two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, HDMI output, and various other tidbits. Pricing ranges from $1,099 to $1,699. Below that is the U24F, a 14.1-inch Ultrabook with a 1600x900 resolution. It boasts most of the same features but only comes with a Core i5 4200U processor option and can hold a single 256GB SSD or 1TB HDD. Depending on the exact configuration, it will run anywhere from $1,099 to $1,599. Finally, there's the U24T. It too is a 14.1-inch Ultrabook but with a touchscreen display and 1366x768 resolution. Pricing will range from $999 to $1,499. All three models have the same GPU, and all three will be available in late July or early August. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Newegg Daily Deals: Acer 27-inch monitor, 3TB HDD, and More Posted: 05 Jun 2013 10:28 AM PDT |
| Acer to Auction Off Rare Star Trek Themed Aspire R7 Ultrabook Posted: 05 Jun 2013 10:25 AM PDT  The ultimate Ultrabook for Star Trek fans.
One lucky (and presumably wealthy) Star Trek fan is going to win an eBay auction for a limited edition Acer Aspire R7 Ultrabook. Acer and Paramount Pictures partnered to create the Star Trek-themed Aspire R7, of which there are only 25 models in the wild. One of those, and only one, will be up for bidding on eBay, with the proceeds going to two charitable organizations: The Mission Continues and Save the Children. The Ultrabook celebrates the theatrical release of Star Trek Into Darkness. It's a touch-enabled notebook dressed with a stainless steel Star Trek logo with sand-blast finish and polished surface. In addition to the notebook, whoever wins the auction will also receive a flim poster signed by the movie's cast, special Star Trek Into Darkness content (wallpapers and videos), movie soundtrack, video game download, and a certificate of authenticity. "Acer is giving one lucky person in the world the opportunity to become the sole owner of the Acer Aspire R7 'Star Trek Into Darkness' Limited Edition Package," said Hugues Gontier, senior director of marketing, Acer America. "We know this extremely rare Limited Edition will be a treasured prize for the winner, and it will also help two worthy charities further their missions of empowering military veterans and helping children in need." 
The notebook itself rocks a 15.6-inch Full HD 1080p touchscreen display, Core i5 processor (Ivy Bridge), 500GB hard drive + 24GB SSD, and Windows 8. The bidding begins June 14 and runs through June 24. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Crucial Launches Ballistix Sport SODIMMs for Laptops and Mini ITX Systems Posted: 05 Jun 2013 10:02 AM PDT  Little memory has game.
If the PC market is insistent on moving towards smaller form factors and mobile devices, then kudos to Crucial for following along. The memory maker announced new Ballistix Sport SODIMMs designed to boost performance of gaming laptops, all-in-one systems, and mini ITX setups that require the smaller size memory modules. The new memory kits feature low latencies and are optimized for Haswell, Crucial says. Crucial also says the kits are engineered to run on 1.35V instead of the standard 1.5V found in most laptop memory kits. They'll come in 4GB and 8GB densities, long with dual-channel kits of 8GB (2x4GB) and 16GB (2x16GB). You'll also have two speeds to choose from, DDR3-1600MHz (9-9-9-24) and DDR3-1866 (10-10-10-30). "Gamers want to arm their system with a performance edge, and Crucial Ballistix Sport SODIMMs represent a new weapon of choice for laptops, mini ITX motherboards, and all-in-one systems," said Jeremy Mortenson, Ballistix product manager, Crucial. "Ballistix Sport SODIMMs offer faster speeds and lower latencies than standard SODIMM modules and enable the performance users come to expect from Crucial Ballistix memory." Crucial Ballistix Sport SODIMMs will be available in early July. No word yet on price. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Outlook 2013 Shipping Free to Windows RT Tablets via Windows 8.1 Update Posted: 05 Jun 2013 09:11 AM PDT  Will this make you consider a Windows RT tablet?
There's no need to wear a helmet when you walk down the Windows RT tablet aisle at your local Best Buy or Microsoft retail location, it's not as though the ARM-based devices are jumping off of store shelves. Might that change sometime in the future? Adding to the value proposition of owning a Windows RT slate and in an effort to boost demand, Microsoft announced that Outlook 2013 RT will be available on such devices as part of the free Windows 8.1 update that's coming later this year. It doesn't matter whether you own a Microsoft Surface RT or a Windows RT tablet made by one of the company's hardware partners, you'll receive Outlook for free either way. "We're always listening to our customers and one piece of feedback was that people want the power of Outlook on all their Windows PCs and tablets. In fact, a Morgan Stanley research study found that 61 percent of people shopping for tablets consider Microsoft Office to be the single most important software feature, Microsoft stated in a blog post. "We're pleased to have Outlook 2013 RT join the other best-in-class Office 2013 RT applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. And just like those applications, Outlook 2013 RT delivers a great touch experience for people using tablets." Outlook 2013 introduces a cleaner, more streamlined look compared to previous versions. It supports inline replies, lets you see all your contacts in one place, has built-in support for Exchange ActiveSync, and more. As a standalone application, Microsoft sells Outlook 2013 for $110. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Intel's Thunderbolt 2 Interface Doubles Bandwidth, Supports 4K Video Posted: 05 Jun 2013 08:42 AM PDT  Second generation Thunderbolt is lightning fast.
Everything lately has been Haswell this and Haswell that, but that's not the only thing Intel's been cooking up. The Santa Clara chip maker announced an upgrade to its Thunderbolt technology that doubles the bandwidth of the previous spec and enables simultaneous 4K video transfer and display. Dubbed Thunderbolt 2, the new spec is already found on a more than a dozen new 4th Generation Intel Core processor-based products. "By combining 20Gb/s bandwidth with DisplayPort 1.2 support, Thunderbolt 2 creates an entirely new way of thinking about 4K workflows, specifically the ability to support raw 4K video transfer and data delivery concurrently," says Jason Ziller, Marketing Director for Thunderbolt at Intel. "And our labs aren't stopping there, as demand for video and rich data transfer just continues to rise exponentially." By taking advantage of Thunderbolt 2, Intel says it's possible to create, edit, and view live 4K video streams delivered from a PC to a monitor over a single cable, while at the same time backing up the file to an external drive or series of drives. It's also backwards compatible with Thunderbolt 1. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| AMD Rolls Out Richland Desktop APUs Posted: 05 Jun 2013 04:49 AM PDT  One part Piledriver and one part Radeon HD 8000 Series graphics.
System builders have no shortage of new processors to choose from this week. Counter-punching the launch of Haswell, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on Wednesday rolled out the red carpet for its 2013 Elite A-Series of Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), otherwise known as "Richland," which supposedly offer discrete-level graphics and an easy upgrade infrastructure. "The new AMD A-Series APU is ideal for desktop PC builders and mainstream gamers wanting outstanding performance for their money, and today AMD delivers an excellent new follow-on to the recently announced mobile lineup," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Products Division at AMD. "The combination of high-performance, third-generation desktop APUs with our existing portfolio of low-power, mobile APUs gives us our strongest-ever lineup of products for our customers and our technology partners." AMD's Elite A-Series APUs combine the company's "Piledriver" CPU architecture with its Radeon HD 8000 Series graphics on the FM2 motherboard infrastructure, meaning the parts support existing A85X, A75, and A55 platforms, as well as newer FM2+ boards. Here's a look at the four new APUs with their base and turbo clockspeeds: - A8-6500: 3.5GHz-4.1GHz, 4MB L2 cache, DDR3-1866, Radeon HD 8570D (256 cores, 800MHz), 65W TDP
- A8-6600K: 3.9GHz-4.2GHz, 4MB L2 cache, DDR3-1866, Radeon HD 8570D (256 cores, 844MHz), 100W TDP
- A10-6700: 3.7GHz-4.3GHz, 4MB L2 cache, DDR3-1866, Radeon HD 8670D (384 cores, 844MHz), 65W TDP
- A10-6800K: 4.1GHz-4.4GHz, 4MB L2 cache, DDR3-2133, Radeon HD 8670D (384 cores, 844MHz), 100W TDP
All four are quad-core chips. The two A8 models run $112 MSRP and the two A10 APUs are priced at $142. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
