Tech News
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Borderlands 3 isn’t being made
I really like this statement from Randy, shows that they are committed to building games and building the popular titles the way they should be.
We love Borderlands, and we know customers do too. So we will be doing more in Borderlands. But the thing that, when you think of what Borderlands 3 should be... No. We are not developing that right now. We don't know what that is yet. We can imagine what it must achieve, but we don't know what it is yet. I'm not going to fuck around with you like Valve does with Half-Life 3. Look. We know we want it and we know it should exist, but we don't know what it is yet. But we are doing things in Borderlands that we'll announce soon, that are good, and that I think people will be really excited about if you love the franchise.
If you read thru the corporate speak it would appear that Gearbox knows that Borderands 3 needs to be made and maybe put it on a projection calendar at some point but isn’t actively developing the title.
For that I applaud them since there is nothing worse than a cookie cutter COD style franchise that somehow makes a ton of money with each release and yet fails to release a new game. It is hard to say what Borderlands 3 will be however, if they screw it up that might be the end of Gearbox Software as we know it. Until then I’ll be waiting for the eventual BL3 game announcement and may even be first in line when it goes gold.
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Futuremark announces Servermark benchmark
HELSINKI, FINLAND – February 13, 2013 – Futuremark® is creating a new benchmark for measuring and comparing the performance of servers. Designed for industry, enterprise and press users, Servermark™ will be a comprehensive benchmarking tool for x86-based servers running Linux and will be especially suitable for testing virtual machines. Servermark will feature a variety of benchmark tests for web servers, file servers, database servers, media servers and other common server use cases. For details please visit http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/servermark
As with all Futuremark benchmarks, Servermark will be developed in partnership with leading hardware companies. Servermark Benchmark Development Program™ members will have the opportunity to provide input at all stages of development in addition to receiving regular development builds and complimentary site licenses for the new benchmark.
Technology companies interested in joining the Servermark Benchmark Development Program should call Oliver Baltuch on +1-408-614-2025 (PST) or email bdp@futuremark.com.
Jukka Mäkinen, Futuremark CEO said,
"We take great pride in working with the world's top technology companies to create the industry's most relevant and widely used benchmarks. I invite all companies with an interest in server performance to join our Benchmark Development Program and participate in the creation a new industry standard benchmark for server performance."
Oliver Baltuch, Futuremark President said,
"Servermark will offer IT professionals an accurate and reliable benchmark for evaluating real-world server performance in enterprise and business environments. Servermark will be the ideal complement to PCMark and Powermark, expanding our range of enterprise solutions for businesses of all sizes."
Find out more about Servermark and the Benchmark Development Program on the Futuremark website, or follow Futuremark on LinkedIn for the latest company news. -
GeForce GTX 780 Ti Custom Card Roundup @ GeForce.com
Ever wondered just how many custom GTX 780 Ti cards are out there?? Well, given that nVidia must qualifiy every card using their GPU you can be assured that they know.
Those who jumped at the chance to buy the planet’s best gaming GPU quickly found considerable extra overclocking headroom, further increasing the GeForce GTX 780 Ti’s impressive frame rates. Reaching even higher frame rates, however, required aftermarket air cooling or water cooling. Enter stage left, custom GeForce GTX 780 Ti video cards equipped with extra cooling and new components, designed specifically for aggressive overclocking.
Each card features custom cooling, almost all have higher out of the box clock speeds, many boast specialist hardware for extreme overclocking, and several overclock the GeForce GTX 780 Ti’s record-breaking 7000 MHz memory. In real world terms, the custom GeForce GTX 780 Tis can be up to 10-30 frames per second faster out of the box, and faster still when overclocked by the buyer.Of course the best part of this article is that Hardware Asylum is on the list with our reviews of the EVGA GTX 780 Ti Classified and EVGA GTX 780 Ti Classified KPE. One card appears to be absent from the list on GeForece.com, the MSI GTX 780 Ti Lightning. The current rumor is that MSI made a small number of cards and sent them out to the top overclockers as a souvenir. Given how much trouble they had with the GTX 780 Lightning I'm not surprised that they are holding back the Ti variant.
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EVGA KPE LN2 Results - Delayed
Just a quick note for those of you wondering when the LN2 results of the KPE (Kingpin Edition) will get published.
As you know, I suggested in my review that the second part of the KPE card review will feature some extreme overclocking under LN2. I'm happy to report that I did do some testing however, the full results of those tests have been delayed while some techncal issues are being sorted out.
Followers of the Hardware Asylum Facebook fan page will know what I'm talking about.
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Gigabyte to ship over 5 million motherboards in 1Q
This is good news for Gigabyte and bad news for all the haters of Gigabyte motherboards. Soon the markets will be filled with excess Gigabyte gear and you will have no choice but to buy an Ultra Durable or generic "blue board"
Gigabyte Technology is expected to ship over five million motherboards in the first quarter of 2014, having a chance to surpass Asustek Computer, which is expected to ship about five million units, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Gigabyte shipped over 20 million motherboards in 2013 mainly thanks to strong demand in China, which accounted for about 40% of the shipments, the sources said.
However, since the high-end motherboard sector is currently being dominated by Asustek, Gigabyte will need to strengthen its competitiveness in the sector in order to improve its profitability, the sources noted.Another thing to note is that less than 30% of those motherboards will actually make it to the US market. #sadpanda
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Silverstone PT13 and AR04 @ LanOC Reviews
In the modern PC world we have seen a great many things starting with boat anchor cases that not only weigh you down but offer no comfort in knowing your life could be so much more. The new trend is to ditch these monster blocks of metal for a more refined system, a system that is small, under powered and looks great on a shelf next to blocks of paper that most people call books.
When it comes to small form factor builds our main focus has been on builds that can fit high powered video cards for LAN use. But the truth to the matter is there are a lot more people who are looking to build small PCs for routers, HTPCs, and just to save room on your desk. As someone who has HTPCs all around the house I completely get it. After juggling a few parts around I realized I had a half height Mini-ITX motherboard sitting around and I decided to make use of it. I came across the Silverstone Petit PT13 case and the AR04 cooler from Silverstone as well. Together they should make for a small but powerful PC, let’s see how performs.
Most would say that the HTPC died a long time ago but there are still some who think otherwise. For those we need a small form factor system that only needs be fast enough to stream a movie.
For them, we have this case, and it looks great.
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Gigabyte GeForce GTX 780 Ti GHz Edition Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven
I have been doing a ton of overclocking with the GTX 780 Ti and have come to the conclusion that they really are the fastest GPUs you can buy.
Yesterday we took a look at a recent addition to the high end of the GPU market, a custom design overclocked AMD Radeon R9 290X. It went head to head with the similarly priced GeForce GTX in a selection of the latest games. Today we update that comparison with Gigabytes new GTX 780 Ti in its overclocked form. What does the extra price bump get us? Let's find out!
Lately Gigabyte has appeared lost with their video card solutions. Yes, they have a triple fan cooler and offer excellent cooling and a backplate but the overclocking ranges are meagar at best. It is difficult to tell if this is a custom PCB however, looking at the cutouts in the backplate there is something custom happening there.
It might be time to get a sample in for review.
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MSI Refreshes GX Destroyer Series Gaming Laptops
GX70 and GX60 Destroyers armed with AMD R9 M290X Graphics and SteelSeries Gaming Backlit Keyboard
City of Industry, Calif. – January 5, 2014 – MSI Computer Corp, a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, announces the availability of the new GX Destroyer Series featuring AMD A10 processor, AMD Radeon R9-M290X graphics and a variety of gaming features designed to deliver optimal performance.
MSI’s GX Destroyer Series possesses the perfect combination of multimedia capability and gaming performance. Armed with AMD’s state-of-the-art mobile processor, both GX70 and GX60 Destroyers come with AMD’s latest GPU and its proprietary Mantle Graphics technology, which improves gaming performance, ensures higher resolutions and smoother gameplay and allows developers to utilize the GPU more efficiently to create a more immersive gaming experience.
GX Destroyer units are the first gaming notebooks to feature MSI’s Dragon Gaming Center, a gaming shortcut key designed to maximize performance and speed by performing full system check-ups, instantly configuring your machine to your preset gaming environment profile and closing unnecessary background applications to increase processing power. The units also feature SteelSeries’ keyboard customization software that gives users the ability to modify colors, lighting effects, and more.
“The GX Destroyer Series delivers the optimum combination of performance and affordability demanded by both the professional and amateur gamer,” said Andy Tung, CEO for MSI Pan America. “The myriad of multimedia and gaming components in both the GX70 Destroyer and GX60 Destroyer make the units the ultimate portable gaming and entertainment machines.”
The GX Destroyer Series also comes with Killer™ E2200 Game Networking for lag-free gaming, SoundBlaster Cinema for ultra-realistic sound, MSI’s Cooler Boost and Audio Boost technology and AMD’s Eyefinity technology. AMD’s Eyefinity technology allows users to run multiple independent displays simultaneous and supports 4K output displays up to 5760x1080 resolutions.
There are plans to implement the SteelSeries Engine software to provide a deeper level of customization on the GX Destroyer series as well as the upcoming next gen G Series laptops. MSI plans to roll out the software within the next few months and will provide further information on how to obtain the software for current owners of the gaming notebooks once it becomes available.
Select major retailers and e-tailers will also offer Battlefield 4 free for the GX Destroyer series when it becomes available. For more information about the latest generation GX70 Destroyer or GX60 Destroyer, please visit http://www.msimobile.com or http://usgaming.msi.com/.
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Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Keyboard Review - TKL Cherry MX Blue
Gaming keyboards seem to be all over, We just looked at the new Ryos from Roccat with Cherry Black switches and HCW is looking at a SFF keyboard from Razer called the Blackwidow.
I wonder if the keyboard will kill you when the game is over?
The Razer Blackwidow Tournament is a Tenkeyless mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Blue switches. As far as gaming features, it can record macros and that's about it.
I suppose if there is a leeroy jenkins macro that might just work.
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Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive (DTLPG3) @ Custom PC Review
Portable media has a fatal flaw, It can be intercepted by anyone and sometimes those people are not the intended target. To combat this you need to take steps to ensure your data is safe, especially when it isn't in your possession.
Unfortunately, one thing we seem to overlook is data security. While flash drives have become quite convenient for taking lots of sensitive data on the go, it’s also extremely easy to lose, which is bad news for those who sometimes tend to be forgetful. This is why today we’ll be reviewing the Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 16GB. As you may expect...
I really like this device, it gives you an encrypted partition on the flash drive and can only be accessed using the included software and entering the proper password.
