Tech News
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ROCCAT to Reveal Biggest Product Line-up at CES 2014
Hamburg – January 2, 2014 – At CES, German manufacturer ROCCAT will kick off 2014 with a full line-up of new gaming peripherals. From January 7 – 10 ROCCAT opens the doors to its Venetian Hotel showroom, showcasing new products in every category: mice, keyboards, headsets, mousepads and accessories. “2014 will be a phenomenal year for PC gaming – so much is changing at the moment and ROCCAT is about to prove its role as the industry’s leader in technology and innovation once more. With the products coming up next year we will be able to provide a whole ecosystem for PC gaming,” says René Korte, founder and CEO of ROCCAT.
At CES 2014 ROCCAT will introduce two new Kave XTD gaming headset models, making the Kave XTD series the company’s full range line-up when it comes to audio products.
The Kave XTD 5.1 Analog is the successor to the best-selling true 5.1 gaming headset in the world: the original Kave 5.1. Made for gamers with a 5.1 soundcard already built into their PCs, the Kave XTD 5.1 Analog features classic 5.1 audio jacks plus a USB connector to power up the in-cable remote and the LED lighting. The headset features unique Zero Noise technology thanks to the interference isolator built into its dual-mode in-cable remote. The remote can be used either as a desktop or clip-on remote. The overall comfort and build quality has also been improved significantly, with the weight impressively reduced by 25%.
The Kave XTD Stereo offers the same build and design, dedicated to comfort and durability. The stereo version of the Kave XTD features two powerful driver units delivering intense and rich gaming sound, pushing the boundaries of what is possible with stereo headset solutions. The detachable noise-cancelling microphone provides supreme sound quality and offers fan-favorite features like the mute LED, pioneered by ROCCAT in the original Kave 5.1.
With the Kave XTD 5.1 Digital, ROCCAT will also present again the flagship version of the series, featuring an inbuilt premium 5.1 soundcard, world-first headset-to-smartphone Bluetooth pairing and full audio controls with the comprehensive desktop remote.
The legendary Kone Series by ROCCAT is the origin of many features that are standard for gaming mice nowadays. Kone series models where the first ones to feature multicolor lighting, state of the art sensor technology and innovations like the tracking and distance control unit (TDCU). Now ROCCAT introduces the Kone XTD Optical with an adjustable distance control unit to customize lift-off distance and a new 6,400dpi optical sensor. Gamers are now able to significantly improve their accuracy with optical sensors. The Kone XTD Optical offers renowned features like Omron™ switches, the 4D Titan Wheel, Easy-Aim and ROCCAT Talk.
For the smaller Pure version of the Kone Series, ROCCAT presents three new designs at CES 2014. The Kone Pure Military features a 5,000dpi optical sensor with TDCU and will be available in three different styles: Desert Strike, Naval Storm and Camo Charge. ROCCAT will also make the new Kave XTD 5.1 Analog plus a mousepad available in the same design and sell the mice alone or as a bundle.
ROCCAT’s mechanical gaming keyboard series, Ryos, gets two compact ten key less versions - one with per-key illumination feature and one without backlighting. The new versions are called the Ryos TKL Pro and Ryos TKL. Their development is based directly on user feedback via Facebook. “We posted the ten key less version of the Ryos as an “easter egg” earlier this year. The demand from the community was overwhelming so we basically had no choice but to build it,” says René Korte. The TKL Pro version features a cutting-edge MCU, which supports impressive illumination effects such as “breathing” and will be available in four different switch colors.
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Gigabyte Z87X-UD4H Review @ HCW
Gigabyte does an extremely good job at creating clear separation between their motherboard segments and while the UD4H might be considered a mid-range motherboard it does quite well at delivering high-end performance.
Gigabyte aims to allow overclockers to take Haswell as far as possible on air with the 16-phase "Ultra Durable" Z87X-UD4H.
I just gave one of these away in the December 2013 Custom Gear Giveaway. Be sure to check out the event pages for details on the current contest
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EVGA 780 Ti Classified Kingpin Clocks Final
Just heard via twitter that the clocks for the K|ngp|n edition 780 Ti Classified are now final.
1072Mhz Base
1137Mhz BoostCompare that to the 1020Mhz / 1085Mhz of the standard EVGA GTX 780 Ti Classified and you have one monster of a hot-clock.
#daddywant
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Apple’s Newest Mac Pro Costs Less than DIY PC Build Thanks to AMD @ Techgage
Everyone has been talking about the new Mac and how it costs less than building your own PC and is able to be upgraded. Not being a fan of all things Mac I'll be honest and say that I haven't been following the story but Techgage has some info.
Word’s out that Apple’s latest Mac Pro costs less than an equal-configured do-it-yourself PC, but as we’ve discovered, this is one of those cases where there’s more than meets the eye. Has Apple finally loosened up on its famed “Apple Tax”? Not so. Instead, the attractive pricing of the latest Mac Pro owes its thanks to none other than AMD.
Is it just me or does the new Mac look like a high priced trash can? Well, at least its not a tissue dispenser like the cube back in the day.
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HIS Radeon R9 280X iPower IceQ X2 Turbo Boost | ChipLoco
I'm not really a fan of the new R7 and R9 naming scheme. The performance overlaps the 7000 series but it is difficult to know what card to buy if you are trying to match an older card. Along the same lines, how do you know if a 280X is faster than a HD7870? I suppose that is part of the allure but still pretty lame.
Of this, I have determined that getting a card with an "X" in the name tends to be better than without.
It’s been almost two years since AMD launched their Radeon HD 7000 series. The whole series gave a tough time to NVIDIA and when it started to lag behind AMD made a comeback with price cuts and game bundles and once again the HD 7000 series came back to the limelight. But there was obviously a time when AMD had to refresh their lineup to stay relevant and back in
The card looks good and the benchmarks seem solid so be sure to check it out.
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Phobya WaCoolT Benchtable @ HW-Journal.de
It isn't every day that you find a review of a bench table. As you can imagine they are like a chassis but without the outer panels and is often considerbly taller.
During the construction of our water cooler test rig, we want to introduce the Phobya WaCoolT Benchtable you today. Thank certainly should be known, is one of the few manufacturers Phobya from the water cooling sector, which is also active for some time in the housing segment. We have today but made us the WaCoolT Benchtable and it will test its paces. As it has done in our review, you can read on the following pages.
As you can imagine by the headline this review is in german so don't get scared when they say things like "der auch seit einige" and "könnt ihr auf den folgenden Seiten nachlesen".
On a related note I have been working on a bench table design that would cater to extreme overclockers. I'm still working on a name but am leaning towards "The Slab" or something else Asylum related.
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Zotac GeForce GTX 780 Ti AMP! Review @ Bjorn3D
WIth a name like AMP! you might expect this video card to be the most amazing thing since the EVGA GTX 780 Ti Classified with a larger VRM, massive heatsink and overclocking like you wouldn't believe.
Sadly, the truth is, this card is nothing more than a hot-clocked reference card with a large triple fan cooler. The really "good" Zotac gear stays in the Asia/Pacific region.
The GeForce 780 Ti is today the fastest single-GPU card available. This doesn’t stop companies like Zotac to tweak it to get even more performance out of it. Today we are testing the Zotac GeForce GeForce 780 Ti AMP! Edition, a card that comes pre-overclocked out of the box.
I will admit the GTX 780 Ti is the fastest single GPU you can buy and you shouldn't hold out for a super awesome custom PCB if you are in the market, that is unless you are into that sort of thing.
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Silverstone RV04 Casemod All Orange
Orange seems to be the new "black" when it comes to computer mods. The past two (and one future) Custom Hardware Promotions I am hosting on Hardware Asylum all feature a pearl orange custom cases and I have heard rumors that mfgs are now offering orange components in their regular lineup.
I suspect the orange revolution was started with the Gigabyte OC Series and appears to be what this Chinese casemodder used for their inspiration.
The site is *not* in English but the pictures speak volumes.
Personally I am a big fan of Red, it is a primary color on this website and on Ninjalane.com. When I started Hardware Asylum I wanted to include another complementary color that nobody really uses on the web, and that was Orange. Turns out Orange has a ton of potential.
I should also mention the new Raven 4 chassis. The case is designed to be a supreme aircooler with dual 180mm fans. Silverstone includes plastic tabs to enable you to run triple 120mm fans and/or install a 3x 120mm radiator. The radiator in this build uses a push pull configuration but, at the expense of the internal drive bays.
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Battlefield 4 banned in China
If you look at some of the latest game titles you will notice that games often reflect what is currently happening in the world. COD: Modern Warfare was desert based likely to connect with the US conflicts in the Middle East. There was also a game called Homefront which, in my opinion, had the best backstory EVER but failed to deliver with lack luster gameplay, horrible maps and a storyline that ended too quickly. So, why is Battlefield 4 different? Well the primary antagonist is, China and China is one of the largest computer component markets in the world and also has a few smart people within its borders. That isn't to say North Korea or countries in the Middle East are any different but they aren't generally friendly with the US and thus less likely to buy such games. China on the other hand is rather offended and feels the game will threaten national security.
Summary: Chinese government outlaws the first-person shooter game, accusing Electronic Arts of developing content that threatens China's national security and is a form of cultural invasion.
It also accused the U.S. game developer for depicting a form of cultural invasion, according to a PCgames.com.cn report Friday. China's Ministry of Culture issued a notice prohibiting all materials related to the game in any form, including game downloads, demos, patch downloads, and news reports.
Set in the year 2020, Battlefield 4: China Rising features a fictional war in China triggered by Admiral Chang with plans to overthrow the current government. His success will be supported by Russia, but will bring China to war with the United States which relationship with the Russian is tensed. The game showcases the U.S. military's fight against the coup and Chinese Liberation Army.As a gamer I know that there is typically very little in a game that reflects the real world but the actions portrayed can have negative repercussions. Case in point the COD MW3 "No Russian" mission. This short mission actually got the game banned in some places around the world and was so controversial that the gamer studio had to allow gamers to skip it. Likewise, the actions in Homefront "could" have started a war and the fact that Battlefield 4 is implying that China will go rouge on the world is a remote possibility.
Sadly things like this are what sells games and when someone has a problem with it the media goes wild and the game studio gets free advertising. I’m sure EA is saying "thank you world" all the way to the bank.
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EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked ACX Cooler @ Hardwareoverclock
Can't afford a shiny new GTX 780 Ti Classified and still need more performance from your PC? Why not look at the excellent line of GTX 770's from EVGA.
Hardwareoverclock.com has just posted another review. Last week we have taken a look at the EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked video card with ACX Cooler. If you still searching an present for your computer or an upgrade for actually games, maybe the GTX 770 from EVGA is the right one. The card is overclocked, has an quieter cooler and the performance is enough for the newest games.
The nice thing about the Superclocked cards is that they come with a factory overclock and don't cost much more than a regular reference design. Combine that with the new ACX cooling solution and you'll have a custom hot-clocked video card without all the fuss.
