Tech News
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OCZ Vertex 450 256GB SSD @ Custom PC Review
Personally I still don't have an SSD in my main system but I know a few who do and most of them use Vertex.
This of course leads us OCZ’s latest offering, the OCZ Vertex 450, which we’ll be reviewing today. The OCZ Vertex 450 is the newest SSD in OCZ’s lineup and for the most part is an update of sorts to the already successful Vertex 4. On the controller side, OCZ has moved away from their short lived time with the Marvell hardware based Indilinx Everest 2 controller in favor of the completely in house designed Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller...
These drives have gotten rather popular in recent months and I wouldn't expect a slowdown anytime soon.
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Patriot Viper III 2400MHz "Black Mamba" @ Bjorn3D
I tried for years to review Patriot memory in the early days only to get snuffed by the "we don't need any 3rd party opinions of our products". Then, when I did get a few review samples my "crew" f-ed me over and stole all the gear.
Sadly that hasn't changed my opinion of Patriot and had they spent more time promoting their products they wouldn't be suffering.
So why say all that? Well, would you have stuck around long enough to read that Patriot memory is one of the best for super high-end overclocking? Seems strange but it comes down to the chips they use.
Patriot has been in the market for a long time but it is the lesser known little brother in the memory game. However this has not kept them from making some very cool memory models among other devices such as USB flash drives, mobile wireless storage and even a Android powered set top box and im sure many more things I cannot even think of right now.
But without getting too crazy off topic what we are looking at today is their model from the Viper III series labeled “Black Mamba” which is very nice looking sticks with aggressive heatspreaders and a very aggressive speed/timing configuration. Being named Black Mamba I could only assume means to assert the aggressive and deadly power these sticks hold within.Nothing like getting off topic the "hook" from the publisher, isn't that supposed to draw the reader in to learn more about what they have to say?
Cake and Ice Cream (Kudos if you know why I included this)
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Intel Core i7-4960X Extreme Edition Review @ Techgage
Ever wonder how the better half live? Well with a processor like this you would know.
Intel’s latest processor series has arrived, and we’re looking to find out if it becomes the company’s greatest. Compared to Intel’s latest mainstream part, Haswell, IV-E avails a quad-channel memory controller, a far more robust PCIe configuration, and the only place to get six-core parts. Are there other perks to be found? Let’s find out.
I ended up buying the 3960X last round and thought I was h0t shi+ until I found out the 3930K overclocked better and was cheaper to aquire. Decided against going with the top dog this round for that reason. I've been seeing a few 6Ghz 3D stable 4930K's out there so I might end up buying another just for "fun"
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Cooler Master Announces the Release of the Cosmos SE
Chino, California – September 24th, 2013 – Cooler Master, a leading creator, innovator and manufacturer of desktop components and more, today proudly launches the newest addition the ultimate line of premium cases, Cosmos SE.
Built and inspired by the spirit of the Cosmos and Cosmos II and their supercar design origins, Cosmos SE comes loaded as a more aggressive and more nimble sports car in a decidedly more compact form. Driven by this aesthetic, Cosmos SE features the trademark curved aluminum handles and sleek outer exterior that fans have come to love. Its divergent styling comes from a more forceful, road hugging, and compact sports car feel.
Contained within the desirable exterior of the Cosmos SE is the support for truly exceptional system builds. Cosmos SE comes capable of supporting up to 8 fans with four being preinstalled. Two 120mm blue LED fans in the front with LED on/off control, one 140mm fan in the top, and one rear 120mm fan provide strategically placed cooling for all of a user’s systems components. Superior liquid cooling support is built in for 120, 240, 280, and 360mm radiators with users being able to install a 120, 280, and a 360mm radiator all at once. Users with light to massive storage needs will find their needed balance with support for up to 8 HDDs / 18 SSDs via removable HDD/SSD cages. The Cosmos SE supports multiple high-end graphics cards up to 395mm / 15.5 inches long and even support for tall CPU coolers up to 175mm / 6.9 inches.
Proper system maintenance and clean cable management make a large difference in system airflow and performance. Cosmos SE ensures that system maintenance will be easy with multiple removable dust filters placed in the top, front, and bottom. To ensure that system airflow stays optimal, many cable pass-through areas and a large rear cable management space of 34mm are provided to make it easy to route cables in a more efficient manner.
Price and availability may vary based on region. This release is meant for US only. Please consult your local Cooler Master Representative for more information.
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Grand Theft Auto 5 sales surpass $1 billion
Color me not suprised.
It has been five years since the last Grand Theft Auto hit the shelves and may fans of the series have been hungrily waiting for the next installment. Sales figures put worldwide sales at $800 million on launch day and $1 Billion after three.
Talk about kicking COD in the balls.
Take-Two Interactive announced today that based on internal estimates it believes Grand Theft Auto 5 sales have surpassed $1 billion during its first three days at retail. According to the company, the game is the fastest product to achieve that milestone.
If the estimates by the Rockstar Games' parent company are correct, it will have beaten the already ridiculous achievement by Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 last year, which hit the billion milestone in 15 days.Sadly, and I said I wouldn't do this, I helped pad those figures but not until the following week. Say good-bye to my free time and, likely any fresh news posting.
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CYBERPOWERPC Infuses Enthusiast Gaming PCs with “King of the Core”
4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Ivy Bridge-E processors
CITY of INDUSTRY, CA (September 10, 2013) – CyberPower Inc., www.cyberpowerpc.com a global manufacturer of custom gaming PCs, gaming laptops, and performance workstations, today announced the addition of Intel’s new Core i7 processors, codename “Ivy Bridge-E”, to its lineup of enthusiast and performance class gaming PCs.
Among the list of CYBERPOWERPC systems to incorporate the powerful 4th Generation Intel chip includes the Fang III Black Mamba and Cobra, Zeus EVO Storm series, Pro Gamer FTW, and Power Mega III high performance workstations. The E in Ivy Bridge-E stands for enthusiast as all three processor options are unlocked and ready for overclocking. Customers have three amazingly flexible and powerful CPU solutions – the quad-core i7-4820K; the six-core i7-4930K; or the king of the Core series, i7-4960X six-core processor – the ultimate weapon when users demand unrivaled PC performance for gaming or work.
The new Intel Core i7 processors also feature the advanced technology you’ve come to expect from Intel including Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 that provides the extra burst of speed for demanding applications and Intel Hyper Threading to ensure smooth system operation and multi-tasking.
You can also take your computing to the next level with CYBERPOWERPC’s expert venom boost overclocking option that can boost your overall CPU speed up to 30%.
CYBERPOWERPC has your cooling covered with a wide variety of water cooling solutions including its Advance Hydro Liquid Cooling Kit with 480mm radiator or the dual pump Advance Hydro 2 system.
The base price a CYBERPOWERPC gaming system featuring the new Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition starts at $1,859.
All Core i7 Extreme Edition models can be customized with a number of performance hardware and component upgrades such as CPU/GPU upgrades, solid state drives and storage hard drives, performance memory, peripherals and business software to enhance your productivity, and more at the company’s website, www.CYBERPOWERPC.com. All CYBERPOWERPC desktop systems include an industry best 3-year limited warranty.
About CyberpowerPC Inc.
CyberpowerPC Inc. www.CyberpowerPC.com was founded in 1998 and has emerged as a leading global provider of custom computer systems and interactive gaming products. Headquartered in Baldwin Park in Southern California, CyberpowerPC manufacturers and distributes a complete line of custom built gaming desktops, gaming notebooks and high performance workstations to meet the unique needs of gamers, businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and other end-users. For more information contact: Sales (800) 707-0393; Email CyberpowerPC@CyberpowerPC.com.
All products/company names are either trademarks or trade names of their respective holders. -
Mobile Devices Will Be Dead by 2015!
The great thing about the internet is that just about anything can be a story. Some are based on fact while others happen to genesis with speculation. Some have speculated that unless a new battery technology is created you will no longer be able to power a laptop, cell phone, tablet or electric car because of the scarcity of Lithium.
Oh ya, and not to mention a whole race of crazy people off their meds.
What do a cell phone, a laptop and an electric car have in common?
All three use batteries made with lithium - the lightest metal in nature. About five grams is in an average laptop, about half a gram in a cell phone. Surprisingly, what keeps your devices charged and wireless can also affect your brain: It's an active ingredient in drugs used to treat manic depression. Batteries using lithium have twice the capacity of traditional nickel cadmium batteries, creating a "lithium boom" in several places around the world as these technologies become more ubiquitous. In China, cell phone sales were up 57 percent last year; in India, cell phone use is expected to double by 2014.They claim the world is running out of oil and the one thing we created to combat an oil shortage is a plastic filled electric car.
Maybe I'm missing something there but that just doesn't seem right.
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Mebotics Debuts World's First Machine Shop in a Box
Somerville, Mass. – August 28, 2013 – Mebotics, LLC is launching the Microfactory – already gaining notoriety as the “world’s first machine shop in a box” – on Kickstarter this week. The Microfactory will be the first widely-available machine to marry both additive and subtractive manufacturing, integrating machining and 3D printing into a safe, self-cleaning, networkable unit. The company has announced a $1 million fundraising goal.
The Mebotics team conceived, designed and built the Microfactory over the past year. “After putting so much effort into what we truly believe to be a revolution in accessible 3D printing technology, we’re thrilled to be ready to share it with the public,” said Jeremy Fryer-Biggs, one of the four co-founders of Mebotics. “The beauty of the Microfactory is its broad range of applications. Imagine being able to do most of your prototyping work, including machining parts and etching circuit boards, on a single machine.”
The Microfactory contains four printing heads on two separate heaters, plus a milling head. This allows it to print in four colors of the same material, or two colors of two different materials, on the same part. The milling component is capable of cutting and etching wood, plastic and some metals (with optional upgrade). Its user-friendly features are designed to bring more industrial capability to smaller workshops. They include a vacuum port to remove all the debris created by cutting, an air filter, prominent emergency-stop button, covered belts and motors (to keep clothing from getting caught by moving parts) and a noise-reducing housing (to keep late-night makers from getting caught by angry neighbors!). The Mebotics team drew on many years experience building and using industrial tools to create an easy-to-use machine for people who are serious about making.Unlike many other 3D printers, the Microfactory contains a full on-board computer, which gives it many unique capabilities. With its Internet connectivity, the Microfactory will allow users to watch the progress of jobs in real-time from a phone or tablet, start and stop jobs remotely, or network machines together for more efficient production. All of the software components of the Microfactory are open-source, and the hardware is designed to be upgraded and modified by more intrepid users: The gantry is intended to support the attachment of different heads, and the entire left wall of the machine is removable to support alternate modules.
“The Microfactory is an open platform designed to be adaptable to the needs of its users,” Fryer-Biggs explained. “Printing and milling seemed like the most obvious initial combination, but we envision people going a lot further -- whether it’s adding a 3D scanning head, converting it to a computerized paint-shop, or making an innovative food-extruder.” He adds, “If anybody does use it for making awesome new food, they’re invited to bring it by the shop.”
Mebotics aimed to make the Microfactory the ultimate all-in-one factory for small businesses -- biotech and design firms, architects, teachers --- as well as artists, early adopters and avid hobbyists. “We’ve tried to leave the door open for even some really extreme applications. With WiFi connectivity, the Microfactory can be run from the middle of nowhere: a research station in Antarctica, a basecamp in the Himalayas, or even a military outpost could download a file and make replacement parts on the spot.” This creative spirit is embodied in the company’s slogan: Ask Me What I Can’t Make.
To learn about the full range of machine specs and available upgrades, visit the Microfactory page on www.kickstarter.com. Backers can donate from $1-$9,995, pre-ordering the Microfactory starts at $3,995. To learn more, visit www.mebotics.com/microfactory.html and follow Mebotics on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mebotics. -
Microsoft Windows 8.1 Goes RTM
Appears the Internet is ablaze about the release of Windows 8.1 (Blue) to manufactures. Windows 8.1 addresses many of the issues people had with Windows 8 including a few UI tweaks that made headlines around the world.
Windows 8.1 brings back the Start button and also features Internet Explorer 11, SkyDrive integration, an updated Windows Store experience, DPI scaling improvements (enabling better readability on high-DPI displays), 3D printing support, more customization options, tweaked mouse and keyboard navigation, and a boot-to-desktop option.
Of course none of that really matters since the UI is only useful on a "small" touch device but there are people raving about Windows 8 claiming its the best thing since Windows 3.1.
Look for the new OS sometime around October 18th with ISO leaks on Bittorrent sometime sooner.
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Borderlands 2 Game of the Year Edition: Too Soon?
Darren and I have talked about Borderlands 2 quite often on the podcast and its no secret that I really enjoy the game but releasing a GOTY edition before all of the DLC has been released just sounds stupid.
The GOTY Edition allegedly includes all of the game's released DLC to date which would include.
- Creature Slaughter Dome
- Psycho Pack
- Captain Scarlet’s And Her Pirate’s Booty
- Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt
- Mister Torgue’s Campaign Of Carnage
- Tiny Tina’s Assault On Dragon Keep
- Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade
- Mechromancer Pack
- Creature Slaughter Dome
I realize that GOTY editions are basically the last version to go out the door before the game developer ties it off but it just seems like this particular one is getting rushed.
