What time is it? It's time to Build a PC with our Blueprints! This month, we've built three rigs at three approximate price points: Baseline, Performance, and Ultra. Baseline gets you a powerful system for gaming and content creation at 1080p, Performance beefs everything up across the board, and Ultra lets the dogs out. These rigs are lab-tested and editor-approved.
Prices listed here reflect print time and may not match the ones you find elsewhere online. In addition, Newegg has jumped on board to offer packaged deals for each of the builds below in an attempt to offer a better overall value. To see these bundle prices, click the "Buy-or-get-more-info-at-Newegg" button at the bottom of each build. Feedback is welcome. Tell us what you think!
Note: Some of the prices/links listed below may not show up properly if this page is ad-blocked.
We call this build the "baseline" because it's the bare framework for an expandable system. For example, a single video card doesn't need anywhere near 750 watts of power, but those watts are reserved for a second GPU down the road. The Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z87 motherboard is also well-suited for dual video cards and can deliver respectable overclocking, and the Intel Core i5-4670K is a high-grade workhorse to pair with it. The Corsair C70 case gives you plenty of options for cooling, too, so you can always upgrade from a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo air cooler to a closed-loop liquid cooler later. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 remains the best bang-for-the-buck GPU, but this month we went from the SC version to the vanilla ACX, due to pricing fluctuations.
The 280mm NZXT Kraken X60 CPU cooler's availability was sketchy at press time, so we replaced it with the Corsair Hydro Series H100i. At 240mm, its radiator is a bit smaller, but it's quiet and reliable. We're sticking with the Core i7-4820K CPU since it's an LGA 2011 part, so it offers more bandwidth for multi-GPU setups than a Haswell-based LGA 1150 system. The CPU is slower in some tests than a Haswell part, though, so it's not for everyone. The GeForce GTX 780 is a great card for gaming at 2560 resolution, and two of them can handle Ultra HD quite well, should we feel the need to upgrade in the future. The NZXT Phantom 530 case has lots of room for activities, so we're sticking with it for now.
The high-end landscape will be seeing some major shifts over the next few months. Nvidia just announced the GeForce GTX Titan Z, which combines two GTX Titan Blacks onto one dual-slot card, and AMD recently dropped the Radeon R9 295X2, which combines two R9 290Xs onto one dual-slot card with an integrated closed-loop liquid cooler (CLC). These are some monster products. Intel's LGA 2011 platform will be seeing an upgrade to Haswell architecture, eight cores with sixteen threads, DDR4, SATA Express, and bunches of native SATA 6Gb/s ports. So what you're looking at is the calm before the storm. This rig is still highly respectable, though (as it should be, for this kind of money).
The Corsair Obsidian 900D super-tower case has easily fit every CLC we've ever used, and it won't break a sweat over complicated custom loops, either. The 1200-watt Silverstone Strider Evolution will handle three GPUs easily. Speaking of which, we're holding steady with two GeForce GTX 780 Ti video cards, but if you prefer AMD's Radeon tech, their 295X2 is a fine challenger.
PowerColor's next Devil 13 graphics card may require four 8-pin PCI-E power connectors
You might of expected hell would freeze over before you'd ever see a graphics card with the audicaty to demand four -- yes FOUR! -- 8-pin PCI-Express power connectors. You'd also be wrong. Maybe, anyway -- if leaked photos posted to a Chinese language web forum turn out to be legitimate, then PowerColor's upcoming Devil 13 Radeon R9 295X2 dual-GPU graphics card will have a hellish thirst for electricity.
Here's what we know for sure -- PowerColor is conjuring up another Devil 13 graphics card. We know this because the company teased a Devil 13 photograph on its Facebook page with the caption, "Something very special is coming in May... dare to guess?"
Guesses might not be necessary, as a handful of blurry photos (aren't they always?) posted to Chip Hell show what the poster claims is PowerColor's Devil 13 Radeon R9 295X2 graphics card. One of the photos shows a row of 8-pin PCI-E connectors, four in all, waiting to be filled. That's twice as many as found on a reference Radeon R9 295X2.
The rest of the card sports an aggressive design that takes up three slots looks authentic, so we're inclined to believe this is the real deal.
New capacities and cloud capabilities highlight Seagate's latest batch of Wireless Plus HDDs
Seagate this week unveiled a new family of Wireless Plus mobile storage solutions that offer more capacity and features than the previous generation. The Wireless Plus line is now available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities and come with integrated cloud services, including Dropbox and Google Drive. These are designed for a wide range of mobile devices and platforms, such as Android tablets and smartphones, iPhone, Kindle Fire, Windows 8 PCs, and just about any device with Wi-Fi connectivity.
"Wireless connectivity is a feature that has been added to external storage over the last couple of years; it provides the convenience of high capacity and easy sharing for mobile devices that are limited in their storage capabilities," said Ross Rubin, principal analyst at Reticle Research. "Now, with the integrating of popular cloud storage services to these products, there exists an invaluable bridge to even more content."
Using the included Seagate Media app, you can sync your files on the Seagate Wireless Plus storage device with an existing cloud storage provider. It creates your own Dropbox or Google Drive folder so that files are always available. Once you connect to the network, your files will automatically re-sync.
According to Seagate, these drives offer up to 10 hours of battery life.
Seagate's Wireless Plus drives are available now in 2TB ($200 MSRP) and 1TB ($180 MSRP) capacities. The 500GB model ($150) will be available on Friday.
We're eagerly awaiting the arrival of DDR4 memory into the mainstream market, though it's going to take some time. After all, Intel's next generation Z97 chipset still uses the DDR3 standard, though on the bright side, a transition is slowly taking place. One of the driving forces is Crucial, a subsidiary of Micron, which has begun sampling next-generation DDR4 server memory through its new Technology Enablement Program.
Crucial's DDR4 memory is designed to enable next generation enterprise environments with data rates that start at 2133 MT/s -- that's up to twice as fast as DDR3 when it was first introduced, and it's expected to get even faster as the technology matures, Crucial says. When paired with Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product family-based systems, Crucial DDR4 memory doubles memory bandwidth from 8.5GB/s to 17GB/s while using up to 20 percent less voltage than DDR3 (it operates at 1.2V compared to 1.5V). It's up to 40 percent more energy efficient than DDR3.
"Memory is one of the biggest limitations when it comes to enterprise server environments. Many memory-dependent server applications are crucial to the day-to-day operations of a business, but they require higher densities of memory and increased performance," said Michael Moreland, worldwide product marketing manager, Crucial. "Crucial DDR4 memory enables servers to perform faster and run more efficiently than ever before, reducing power and cooling expenses along the way – essential for meeting the ever-increasing workload demands of data centers."
Crucial didn't say how much its DDR4 modules cost, though it did point out that it backs its DDR4 RAM with a lifetime warranty.
If you're anxious to make the leap to Intel's 9 Series platform, boutique system builder Origin PC is more than happy to oblige. In fact, Origin PC is the first custom PC builder to announce the availability of motherboards based on Intel's next-generation Z97 chipset. You'll find the Z97 motherboard option in Origin PC's Genesis, Millennium, and Chronos line of desktop PCs.
"The new Intel 9-series chipset raises the bar by adding support for solid-state drives in PCIe M.2 form-factor, Intel device protection with boot guard technology and Intel Rapid Storage technology with support for PCI Express-based storage drives. The new 9-series also features support for a new set of Intel Core processors with a speed boost to bring power and efficiency to the next level," Origin PC points out.
Gaming desktops build around an Intel X79 motherboard start at $1,159 for the Chronos line, $1,674 for the Millennium line, and $1,736 for the Genesis line. To give an example of a configuration, the Genesis at $1,736 comes with a Gigabyte GA-Z97X-SLI motherboard, Intel Core i5 4460 quad-core processor clocked at 3.2GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Boost), 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 memory, 500GB hard drive (7200 RPM), 650W Corsair RM650 power supply, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, and a few other tidbits.
Next generation Chromebook models boast all-day battery life
With Intel throwing its weight behind Google's Chromebook platform, get ready for a barrage of announcements based on its Bay Trail-M and 4th Generation Core i3 processor line. To kick things off, Asus just rolled out a pair of Chromebooks built around Intel's Bay Trail-M dual-core N2830 processor clocked at 2.42GHz. They include the 11.6-inch C200 and 13.3-inch C300.
Both feature a 1366x768 resolution, though the C200 wields a glossy display while the C300's panel is non-glossy. Other than the display, size, and weight, the C200 and C300 share the same feature-set, including 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 720p HD webcam, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4, audio jack combo, SD card slot, and of course Google's Chrome OS.
The extra-spacious touchpad supports multi-finger gestures, while the chiclet keyboard is "engineered with a high quality mechanism for a solid fee with responsive and accurate action," Asus says.
Watch for the Asus Chromebook C200 and C300 to land on U.S. shores at the end of June starting at $250.
Go big or go home. Living by that motto is the reason why you own a full size truck, why you always order a trenta when getting your coffee fix, and why you cohabit your dwelling with an Irish Wolfhound instead of a Xoloitzcuintle. It's also why you're interested in today's top deal featuring NZXT's Phantom Black Full Tower Computer Case for $75 with free shipping (normally $110 - use coupon code: [EMCPEPC89]; addtional $20 mail-in-rebate). There's a lot of case here for the money, and it also comes with four cooling fans and integrated fan controller.
A funny thing happened last week after I decided to play Trion Worlds' Defiance for this month's Choose My Adventure: Trion announced the game will go full free-to-play! Should I consider this perfect timing to show off the game a bit before the transition? Yes, yes I should.
But before I can jump into the game, guns blazing, we have some work to do. Follow along after the cut to vote on how I'll play Defiance throughout the month of May.
Gaijin Entertainment has just announced that War Thunder, its WWII combat sim, will join games like Saints Row IV and Batman: Arkham City on OnLive's new subscription service, CloudLift. While the game itself will remain free-to-play, those who make use of CloudLift's services will be able to play the game from a toaster. OK, maybe not a toaster, but darn close:
New and existing players of the game will be able to play their game wherever they choose, without needing to re-download the full game client. All progress and purchases are synced in the cloud so the player can move between devices seamlessly. Playing War Thunder through CloudLift also massively lowers the recommended PC or Mac specification while still delivering smooth 720p60 graphics and NVIDIA enhanced effects. The game can even be played on an Android tablet using a Bluetooth controller, making the game mobile for the first time.
CloudLift normally costs $7.95 US per month but has a free trial for those who just want to check out how well it works. We've also got a video embedded below showing off the game as played on an Android tablet.
Carbine has sent out emails detailing its character and guild name reservation policy for WildStar. Reservations are available for pre-order customers only, and pre-ordering ends on May 23rd.
We're excited to announce that on May 8th, we will be starting Open Beta! Through May 18th, you'll be able to continue to explore Nexus up to level 30, and get familiar with exploring, fighting and questing as we make our way towards head start and launch!
As part of pre-ordering WildStar, you'll be able to make an even bigger mark on Nexus by registering one character and one guild name prior to launch! That means your desired name will be safer than a datachron in a Draken's dreadlocks. Try saying that three times fast.
The name reservation page will only be available from May 13th through May 23rd, so be sure you check back to the site early so you can get your top choice, as reservations are first come, first serve. We will also have a FAQ section on the name reservation page that'll fill you in on all of your questions, including name restrictions, which servers the name will be saved to, and more.
With Tempest of Strife rolling out today, Age of Wushu players will be able to experience the sandbox in a whole new way. In fact, it is considered AoW 2.0 by the community. This expansion not only ushers in six additional factions (including a healing class and a group of scheming eunuchs) and their corresponding headquarters but also introduces the ability to change factions or belong to two at once. Additionally, dynamic weather will alter the environment, and special raid-type events will randomly accompany the weather changes. It all sounds pretty intriguing, no? Thanks to a recent walkthrough, I was able to get a taste of what players can expect when they log in to Tempest of Strife. And while the depth that the new faction features add is pretty impressive, the weather raids stole the show.
What does a vanity pet do for my gameplay? If we're talking about adding to my combat potential, it does absolutely nothing. But if we're talking about providing bragging rights, companionship, amusement value, and another layer of personal customization, such a pet has plenty to offer.
Right now my favorite vanity pet is probably the Super Adventure Box spider mini in Guild Wars 2. Not only does it look totally rad in a 16-bit way, but it occasionally does breakdancing even in the midst of dire peril. Dancing retro spider with sunglasses, that's a win any way I look at it.
What's your favorite vanity pet? Why do you enjoy it?
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
"When we started working on Spires of Arak, we only had some basic ideas: tall rocky spires jutting out of a dense forest," Senior Art Director Chris Robinson said in today's dev blog. Spires of Arak is what later on becomes World of Warcraft's Terokkar Forest, but the team had to create its own individual look which included working on "large spiky rocks."
The art team detailed the journey that went into choosing the style and making it happen and included a video of this creation process that you can watch after the jump.
There's always an uproar somewhere in the MMO community, and most of the time you don't have to go looking for it -- it will find you. Sometimes it's fun to roar back at the uproar, which is the task that the hosts have taken up with gusto for this week's show.
Get all of our opinions and analysis on the most important stories of the past week right here on Massively Speaking, the industry's leading MMO podcast. And if you have a comment, question, or topic for the podcasters, send an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!
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Aura Kingdom is set to get a major update this Thursday called The Dark Legion, and Massively has the first look at the patch.
Dark Legion, Aura Kingdom's fifth content update, contains a wide array of new content with an emphasis on high-level adventures. The update will add two new level 60-plus zones: the alliterative Vulture's Vale and Blizzard Berg. Also coming are login bonuses, the Kaiser Zeta eidolon, the level-65 Landing of the Sky Dragon King dungeon, better rewards, improvements to the weapons and partner systems.
You can check out the Kaiser Zeta teaser video after the break!
In the studio's most recent dev diary, SOE'sOmeed Dariani helms a video panel of EverQuest Next designers to discuss not game mechanics or advancement but the story and lore in EQN and Landmark.
Lead Content Designer Steve Danuser, Creative Director Jeff Butler, and Senior Game Designer Bill Trost debate how to reboot a classic franchise, how to select the best material to incorporate into the new games, and how to insert the lore in an organic way rather than infodump on the players.
If lore is your thing, you'll enjoy the video embedded after the break.
While a Wonder Woman movie still seems about as likely as the Earth transforming into a giant robot, DC Universe Online is giving the heroine star billing in its latest DLC. Amazon Fury Part I is the first of three DLC packs focused around the Amazon Civil War, with an emphasis on Wonder Woman, her mother Hippolyta, and her nemesis Circe. The new DLC includes two solo Iconic Visions in which players take the role of Circe or Wonder Woman, walking through the start of the war now raging.
Two new Duos and one new four-player Alert are also available, taking players through Themyscria's palace, port, and warehouses. A new open area dubbed Gotham Under Siege ties in as well, with the divided Amazon forces rampaging across an alternate phase of Gotham City. Members are able to download the new content now at no additional charge, while free players can purchase the DLC separately if they'd like to jump in.
To the surprise of no one still anxiously tapping his foot for the release of Warlords of Draenor, Activision Blizzard noted during its quarterly investor call today that World of Warcraft's subscriber levels have dropped to 7.6 million.
Back in February, the game reportedly jumped to 7.8 million (up 200,000 since November 2013) on the heels of BlizzCon'sWoD reveals.
Activision Blizzard's net revenue is down slightly year on year: $1.11 billion compared to $1.32 billion this quarter last year.
The Elder Scrolls soundtrack is pretty well-known and highly regarded, even outside of our tiny field of video game music enthusiasts. That's what you get when you have smash hit games and a conductor who knows what he's doing. Jeremy Soule helmed the musical side of the franchise from Morrowind through Skyrim, but with the MMO, that streak is broken. Soule returned only for the main theme and then headed off for more SOEish pastures, leaving Brad Derrick (Warhammer Online) and Malukah to carry on the legacy with Elder Scrolls Online.
I think that they did a fine job. It took me a while to listen through the 47-track album (and how awesome is it that it got released?), and afterward I let it stew in my brain for a bit. During a discussion with friends, I realized that while it's beautiful, there's little here that really pops out the way that past Elder Scrolls scores did. I think the music here would do a great job to enhance the gameplay experience, but on its own, it is pleasant and often lukewarm.
It's also a soundtrack that I could play from beginning to end without it grating on my nerves, which is another testament to how it goes down the ear canals smoothly. There's a good sense of cohesiveness and atmosphere, even if it lacks the rabble-rousing tracks that I was hoping to hear. Let's dig in!
Will Star Citizen's dogfighting module feature collision damage? Will the game allow you to buy used ships from other players? Will you be able to name your ship (and will said name be visible to other pilots)? These and seven other gameplay questions are answered by Cloud Imperium boss Chris Roberts in the latest episode of 10 for the Chairman.
The answers are yes, yes, yes (and yes), if you don't have time to watch the video embedded after the break.
In the world of online gaming, there's been a longstanding perception that's not actually been true: that World of Warcraft has the most players. Today we can add another title to the "Greater Than WoW" Club, as the official site displays a counter showing that Dota 2has a larger playerbase.
Dota 2 had 7.86 million players log in during April, a number that outmatched World of Warcraft's current shrunken subscribership. Of course, it's important to keep in mind that we're comparing a MOBA to an MMO and a free-to-play title to a subscription game, but even so it's an impressive achievement for Valve.
Gamespot noted that League of Legends has both games eclipsed by a teeny, tiny amount -- something on the order of 67 million players per month.
EVE Online is 11 years old today, and CCP is gifting players three Gecko superheavy drones as a result. Said Geckos sport "more damage, more durability, and more striking power than any drone ever released before," according to the company's news blurb.
EVE players can unlock eight more of them by completing a collective community challenge, CCP explains, though it says the details will be released "over the course of the next week."
Is Destiny the most expensive game ever made? Time will tell, but Activision CEO Bobby Kotick intimated that total development and marketing costs for Bungie's sci-fantasy shooter epic may reach half a billion dollars.
"If you're making a $500 million bet you can't take that chance with someone else's IP. The stakes for us are getting bigger," Kotick said. According to Gamasutra and Reuters, an Activision spokesperson said that Kotick's estimate includes marketing, packaging, infrastructure, support, royalties, and other costs.
[Update: During the Activision Blizzard call today, Bungie noted that it anticipates Destiny's beta in July.]
PowerColor's next Devil 13 graphics card may require four 8-pin PCI-E power connectors
New capacities and cloud capabilities highlight Seagate's latest batch of Wireless Plus HDDs
The transition to DDR4 RAM has begun
Boutique builder jumps on Intel's Z97 platform
Next generation Chromebook models boast all-day battery life
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's 
