Tech News
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Building an HTPC: Planning, Part Picking & Building @ Techgage
I did this once, it was good fun until I discovered that nVidia HDMI never fit the screen of television monitors resulting in a manual adjustment and thus a decrease in resolution. AMD on the other hand had perfect HDMI to TV synchronization.
Today, most of us are always on the hunt for tools that can make our lives easier. Enter the HTPC. We have the Internet, movies and photos on our phones – why not on our TVs? Come along on a voyage of technological discovery that is fraught with peril, as we cover the good and potentially bad of building one of these handy systems.
Personally after having built a HTPC and used it off and on for almost a year I have come to the conclusion that for the cost of the HTPC I could have bought a high-end OPPO Blu-ray player and got the same basic functionality I a package that just worked out of the box.
Which is precisely what I did and I haven’t looked back.
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Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 16GB DDR3 1866 MHz Review @ HCW
I am often disappointed in Crucial reviews, not in who reviews them or if they get good marks/scores but rather that I could actually throw rocks at the Crucial HQ and yet I get nothing of theirs to sample. In contrast sites halfway around the world getting sample after sample and are loving every minute of it.
We look at the Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 16GB kit at 1866 MHz. Is it worth upgrading to 1866 with Haswell? What about IGP performance? Let's find out!
Here we have the Ballistix Sport XT modules running at 1866Mhz. Sadly, as an overclocker I rarely pay attention to anything slower than 2133Mhz since EVERYONE has a kit running that speed these days.
But hey, they look good
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Asylum: Review Block - Cards and Cases
I told myself I wouldn't do any more of these review blocks but, it seems I get more news than I get time to post.
On this list we have a basic breakdown do Video card reviews and Cases. Many of them on this list I have already reviewed including the famed EVGA GTX 780 Classified and AMD R9 270.
Cards
- EVGA GTX 780 Ti SC ACX Review @ Hardware Canucks
- PowerColor Devil Radeon R9 270X 2GB Review @ Hardware 360
- ASUS R9 270 Direct CU II OC 2 GB @ techPowerUp
- ASUS MARS 760 review: dual GTX 760 graphics card
- ASUS GeForce GTX 760 MARS review
- Powercolor Radeon R9-270X Devil @ Bjorn3D
- Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X OC Edition Video Card Review @ ThinkComputers
- PowerColor Devil R9 270X 2GB @ Custom PC Review
- HIS Radeon R9-290X review
- EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Classified ACX Review
- MSI R9 270X Gaming @ LanOC Reviews
- MSI R9 270 Gaming 2GB @ Custom PC Review
Cases
- Cooler Master Cosmos SE @ HW-Journal
- Cooler Master Cosmos SE @ techPowerUp
- Fractal Design Arc XL High Airflow Full Tower Case Review @ Legit Reviews
- Cooler Master HAF Stacker Review @ Hardware Canucks
- Cooler Master Storm Stryker PC Chassis Review
- SilverStone Raven RV04 Case Review @ OCIAOf course, more news to come.
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Cooler Master Nepton 140XL & Nepton 280L
Nepton Series
Chino, California – November 19th, 2013 - Cooler Master, an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of premium PC components and cooling, today introduced yet another unique All-in-One (AIO) watercooler series, Nepton 140XL / 280L. Each features a pump with an exclusive Cooler Master design that maximizes performance and flow.
Versatile & Powerful All-In-One CPU Watercooler
Nepton 140XL and 280L both are factory filled and sealed for immediate installation and maintenance-free operation for years. Affixed to Nepton 140XL and 280L are premium JetFlo 140 Series fans that are built specially for the high air pressure and heat dissipation required for high performance watercooling. For greater cooling compatibility, JetFlo 120 Series fans and other 120mm fans are supported via compatible mounting holes on the radiator.
Nepton 280L comes equipped with dual JetFlo 140 fans and an extra large 280mm radiator that, together, generate substantial cooling power that can dissipate up to 300W of heat. This, coupled with a pure copper base, means Nepton can handle high CPU overclocking. Longer and thicker FEP tubing assists in maintaining exceptional performance through less restrictive water flow and superb evaporation resistance.
Express Tool-free Installation
The struggle is over; Nepton 140XL and 280L include specially designed thumb screw based mounting kits for the fans and pump. No longer will your installation be bogged down by unnecessary mounting steps and tool requirements. All that you need to install the Nepton 140XL or 280L are your fingers.
Step into a new world of watercooling with user-friendly installation and usage and high performance cooling.
Availability
The Nepton 140XL & 280L will be available in November. Price and availability may vary based on region. -
How to use the PS4 Controller in Windows with XBOX Controller XInput Games
This sounds like a word alphabet but if the article is correct you can use a PS4 controller on your windows machine using a .Net application called XInput.
The PS4 is supported by Windows, but the buttons can be reversed, and the axis gets messed up. Also, many game use XInput, while the PS4 controller uses DirectInput. This method allows you to use a PS4 controller in Windows, including games that normally only support the XBOX Controller.
The software is basically a controller driver which isn't something Sony would ever release despite gamers using Xbox controllers in Windows for years.
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EVGA Z87 Classified Available Now
At Computex this year I got to see first hand what EVGA had in store for Haswell and Ivy Bridge Extreme. I have already reviewed the X79 Dark and found the board to be the best X79 I have ever used due in part to the upgraded BIOS interface.
EVGA has posted on their official twitter that the Z87 Classified is now available and by the looks of it promises to be the Haswell based motherboard to have for multi-GPU benching.
Welcome to a new class of high performance motherboards that boast 4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor compatibility. These platforms offer a return to greatness with a completely redesigned GUI BIOS interface, reimagined power VRM that focuses on efficiency, and loaded with features like up to 4-Way SLI, Creative Sound Core3D quad-core audio processor, Intel Gigabit LAN, native SATA 6G/USB 3.0 and more.
Did we also mention that this motherboard is designed for the overclocker? Built from the ground up to give you all the essentials you need for overclocking, with a GUI BIOS that is focused on functionality, brand new software interface for overclocking in the O.S., ultra high quality components, and robust PCI-E 3.0 and memory trace layout.
With any luck I'll be able to show you excatly what this motherboard can do
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AOL shuts down Winamp for good
I caught this story on twitter today and it got me thinking. Every podcast I listen to is either using a web player or is cataloged in my Winamp library. Along the same lines I have used Winamp to rip every CD I own for easy digital storage and at one time I used to subscribe to several Shoutcast servers for music and tech news.
Now that Winamp is going away I won't have any more of that. There might be a chance that someone will pick it up as an open source project but given that AOL paid big bucks for the startup I highly doubt it.
On Wednesday, Ars confirmed the announcement with Geno Yoham, Winamp’s general director since October 2008. He declined immediate comment but said that he would try to arrange a future interview.
Ars wrote an extensive feature on the rise and fall of Winamp in June 2012, detailing AOL’s mismanagement of the property since its dotcom-boom acquisition. As we reported then, Winamp continued to receive updates and make a tiny amount of money for AOL throughout the last 15 years. AOL even released the first Android version in 2010 and a Mac version in 2011.
I guess it will be time to make sure I'm upgraded to the latest version, pay to make sure I have a good key and hope for the best while I wait for the next big thing to come along.
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SilverStone Raven RV04 Computer Case Review @ APH Networks
Out of every case known to be released this is by far the one I have anticipated most. Sadly production of the chassis was delayed so what we had expected to be a killer chassis for the summer became a wait and see.
The SilverStone Raven RV04 features a slick and subtle design, yet on the inside, the motherboard is rotated a full one hundred and eighty degrees for increased airflow efficiency. How well does this chassis hold up to APH Networks standards? Keep reading to find out!
I can only hope that Silverstone has enough of these cases because the form factor is quite good for anyone building a solid enthusiast build.
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Bitcoin is Huge in China, Even Bigger Than Real Money
I would call this the Bitcoin IPO, someone in Congress figured that Bitcoin needed to be legit so they could use the "Silk Road" money, and, well, they made it happen.
Another reason for the explosion to $600 per coin is that a surge in Asia is partly responsible. A Bitcoin conference was held in Singapore last week, and speculation suggests that the subsequent coverage in the Chinese press is responsible for the massive surge. When you get a country with a population of one billion people on board, that’s sure to affect a currency. Another related factor could be that BTC China — the world’s largest volume Bitcoin exchange — received five million dollars in financing, further legitimizing Bitcoin in the public’s eye.
With any luck Bitcoin farmers can now justify their efforts and stop the spread of people who figure they are wasting electricity and make it harder for authorities to track down "grow farms" in the process.
In other news Asrock now has a motherboard dedicated to Bitcoin mining. Its basically a motherboard with seven PCI-Express slots which allows to you to "ribbon connect" video cards and build a pretty rocking GPU SuperComputer.
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Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Liquid CPU Cooler Review
Self contained watercooler have come a long way since the first aquagate that Cooler Master released some 10+ years ago. Now, it seems everyone has one.
Cooler Master has been known for their line of AiO coolers for quite some time now and, even though they’ve got a pretty wide selection already available, they constantly seem to come out with something new. A perfect example of this is seen with their new Nepton Series of liquid CPU coolers where they are 140mm class units, yet they can accomodate 140mm or 120mm fans. Our friends at Cooler Master sent us one of these new Nepton 140XL to throw on the bench and check out.
The Nepton looks to have a larger radiator, bigger hoses and much larger pump assembly. Seems like a good combo!.
