Tech News
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NZXT Kraken X61 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler Review @ HardOCP
Looks like NZXT has built a successor to their previous 280mm AIO cooling platform, the X60. The new X61 still sports the 280mm radiator and twin 140mm fans, but has added a few new updates. The biggest, is the highly touted variable speed system, allowing the fan speed on the radiator fans to increase as the CPU heats up. Now if GPU waterblocks continue to see their popularity increase, maybe there's a chance one day we'll see a DIY version to loop in the video cards as well.
NZXT is known to many enthusiasts for its computer cases but not so much for its Kraken series of CPU closed loop liquid coolers. After a year of design NZXT has introduced its new Kraken X61. Its claim to fame is that it is the "world's first variable speed liquid cooler."
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Republic of Gamers Announces Maximus VII Formula Z97 Motherboard
Republic of Gamers unveiled a new Z97 motherboard, along with hinting at a limited edition Watch Dogs Z97 Formula package as well.
The full press release is linked below. Attached is a teaser of the board and some of the features.
The Maximus VII Formula is about to arrive in a retail store near you! Packed to the gills with top-notch hardware like CrossChill Copper (yep, this years’ is 100% copper cored), mPCIe Combo III, SupremeFX Formula 2014, an updated ROG Armor design, two SATA Express ports and much more.
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Where Did EVGA Precision X Come From?
Well this escalated quickly. "queue Ron Burgundy"
I'm not going to take sides here but, I can provide a little unrelated 3rd party insight. As some of you may know one of my jobs is that of a Web Solution Architect. Over the years I have had clients. A few of them I have fired while others have left for some reason or another. Most that part company do so because they felt I didn't have their best interest in mind, or that somehow I didn't do what they asked. Either way that falls on my shoulders as a consultant and I'm ok with it. 90% of the time that client goes off and has another developer provide the same service and will often take the quick way out by copying what I already done.
The battle in this article is mostly "he said, she said" along with some "use my influence to sway opinion" but this was bound to happen. Asus "rolled their own" with GPU Tweak and EVGA needed an overclocking solution. Given that the interface was always radically different from the competition it was only a matter of time before they brought development "in-house" to save time and effort.
I'm sure EVGA could have gone further to change the back end interface but I suspect there was some pressure to get things done quickly and most programmers aren't known for their design ability.This is a happy repost from something I wrote on the Facebook Fan Page.
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DeepCool Gabriel Low-Profile CPU Cooler Review @ NikKTech
Deepcool has recently released a new compact cooler aimed at the growing small form factor enthusiast crowd. As is the goal with most air cooling manufacturers, their aim is to wring as much cooling performance out of the sink, without it sounding like a jet engine is strapped to the processor. So how successful were they, both in how cool it kept everything in such an enclosed space, and how much noise did it make doing it?
Getting back to the Gabriel its two most important features given to it by DeepCool are without doubt the high-RPM 120mm PWM top down fan (almost normal size model) and the 4 nickel plated 6mm heatpipes two features we don't really see much with such solutions. Size-wise the Gabriel is slightly larger compared to what we've seen lately by Thermolab/Cooltek, Thermalright and Noctua which might be the reason as to why we've been hearing about this model for quite some time now.
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EVGA PrecisionX 15 on Steam
I'm not sure why but I really think having EVGA PrecisionX on Steam is an awesome idea. For one you will always have the latest version and won't need to belong to the EVGA forum to get a copy.
The best part is the achivements and I plan to get them all!
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Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan Black review @ Guru3D
The GTX Titan, the first consumer card equipped with a superprocessor, and break the one-thousand dollar price tag barrier. While it wasn't initally designed for gaming, the sheer amount of processing power it brought did put it on top of the heap for a while. Now, years later, NVidia appears to be trying to get lighting to strike twice, releasing a Black-edition of the Titan. Its important to remember that this still isn't primarily designed to be a dediated graphics processing card, but a calculation-devouring beast, as it still retains the double precision capabilities of the original Titan.
But that doesn't mean that we can't still sit back and revel in all that power.
A while ago Nvidia launched the GeForce GTX Titan Black which we review. We never tested it as it was supposed to be a professional series and targeted card. Nvidia's Board partners however are slowly re-releasing this product as a gaming graphics card, as well as Nvidia who is plugging the product in their gaming benchmarks on their own website.
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SilentiumPC Aquarius X90 Mid-Tower Case Review @ Madshrimps
I'd like to call this a new modular case for liquid cooling enthusiasts on a budget, but that would entail that there are, well, modules inside - something to move around. This seems to be more a blank canvas kind of chassis with a lot of open room inside its mid-tower dimensions to build and install. Which depending on how large of a cooling project you plan on installing, could be a great thing.
Today we introduce you to the SilentiumPC Aquarius X90: a mid-tower case, designed specifically for the liquid cooling enthusiasts in mind. SilentiumPC labels it as the ultimate choice for high-end gaming systems with compact dimensions and at an amazing value.
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Borderlands 3? That is Super Scary
With the Pre-Sequel set to be released in October 2014 you have to wonder what Gearbox has planned for the actual Borderlands 3, eg the story after Handsome Jack. There are plenty of theories from the obvious where the Vault Hunters travel to different planets looking for more vaults to a MMO style game where co-op play is taken online complete with micro transactions and all the stuff that made Elder Scrolls Online such a crapfest.
It would seem that Randy Pitchford is expressing the same concerns and claims that even thinking about what Borderlands 3 "could/should/would" be is scary.
Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford is uneasy about the very idea of Borderlands 3, he told Game Informer in a new interview. That's because a third entry in the numbered series--which is absolutely not announced or even in development--would need to be "so crazy and so big" that the developer might not be able to launch a game worthy of its ambition.
Personally I think they should stick with what they know and what appears to be working. Maybe start with the idea that each game is another planet and another vault and another power struggle to control what is there. Of course, We still need a "voice in our head" so that will need to be sorted out but, who is to say it needs to be another siren. maybe this time it really is a computer.
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Swiftech Apogee XL CPU Block Review @HiTech Legion
We all knew this was coming, it was just a matter of when. With trends towards opening up visibility to the chassis, either through mods like plexiglass side windows, or just new architecturally crazy chassis designs made out of a single piece of folded aluminum, it was just a matter of time until someone put the CPU back as the shining centerpiece with a nice set of multi-LEDs.
With the Apogee XL CPU Block, Swiftech is looking to cover all of the angles consumers are looking for in a new liquid cooling component. While Swiftech has historically used rather subdued styling, the Apogee XL features a unique design implementing an LED logo and design with four included color changes and is available with black or clear polycarbonate body.
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The Best PC Games @ Gamespot
Coming up with a list of the best PC games can be really difficult and for every "best" one you call out there is maybe 10 more that really should be in that spot. Gamespot is attempting to tackle the list and has come up with quite a few.
PC gamers have always had a huge selection of titles--both old and new--to choose from, so trying to figure out which ones to dedicate your precious time to can prove to be a daunting experience. But never fear, GameSpot is here to give you some suggestions on the best PC game experiences you can play right now. Since the history of PC games is both long and varied, we've focused on some of the best games released in recent years,
I also noticed that instead of limiting the list to "the top X" they simply listed all of the popular titles with a short description. For me I think picking the "best" games should be based on legacy and what games changed the modern landscape or influenced a generation. If you don't do that then your list is simply the high school of games.
For instance the first Doom and Wolfenstein are good examples of games that spawned the modern FPS movement and laid the framework for every game that came after. Sure they changed the formula but that is what makes the genre so fun.
And, of course there are more and plenty outside of the FPS world..
