Tech News
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SilverStone Air Penetrator SST-AP123 Cooling Fan Review @ APH Networks
Published: Thursday, August 8, 2013 | By: DennisThese are some of the best fans, hands down, feet down, air down, it doesn't matter they are the best.
Is it an improvement from the past even if the specs don't say so? Let's see how the testing goes.
In checking out the review I rather like the tissue paper test which helps to show directionality. At Computex several years ago Silverstone levitated a balloon with an Air Penetrator fan using the Bernoulli Effect. (the same one that allows planes to fly)
Most case fans exhaust air in a cone which is why you always position fans to pull air thru a radiator when you are watercoolig. With the Air Penetrator you no longer need to do that however, the fans tend to work best cooling cases rather than heatsinks.
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Oculus Rift hires FPS Developer John Carmack to be CTO
Published: Wednesday, August 7, 2013 | By: DennisFor some reason this doesn't surprise me and I think it will be extremely good for both parties involved.
Carmack said in a prepared statement that the first time he wrote code for Oculus, it stood up to many firsts he's experienced in modern gaming: "the intensity of the first-person experience, LAN and internet play, game mods and so on." Additionally, he believes VR "will have a huge impact in the coming years" -- Carmack is the first announced big new hire at Oculus.
The key word in the above snippet is "coming years". We all know that VR exists and that past versions of the technology were limited by the very technology that created it. Of course the Oculus implementation is considerably better there are still issues with the technology.
Sadly enough, those issues are with the 2D content that is digitally converted to 3D and then displayed on the screen. Movies recorded in 3D are usually pretty good but games where the pictures are generated in real time often suffer from motion sync issues and just poor 3D implementation.
Let's hope that Carmack can make a difference. Given his track record in the FPS world, I'm sure he can. -
Oculus Rift hires FPS Developer John Carmack to be CTO
Published: Wednesday, August 7, 2013 | By: DennisFor some reason this doesn't surprise me and I think it will be extremely good for both parties involved.
Carmack said in a prepared statement that the first time he wrote code for Oculus, it stood up to many firsts he's experienced in modern gaming: "the intensity of the first-person experience, LAN and internet play, game mods and so on." Additionally, he believes VR "will have a huge impact in the coming years" -- Carmack is the first announced big new hire at Oculus.
The key word in the above snippet is "coming years". We all know that VR exists and that past versions of the technology were limited by the very technology that created it. Of course the Oculus implementation is considerably better there are still issues with the technology.
Sadly enough, those issues are with the 2D content that is digitally converted to 3D and then displayed on the screen. Movies recorded in 3D are usually pretty good but games where the pictures are generated in real time often suffer from motion sync issues and just poor 3D implementation.
Let's hope that Carmack can make a difference. Given his track record in the FPS world, I'm sure he can. -
NL: Review Block - Random Stuffs Part Tre
Published: Monday, August 5, 2013 | By: DennisJust a quick list of hardware reviews to start out the week.
Keyboards(?)
- Rosewill Helios RK-9200 Gaming Keyboard @ Hardware Asylum
- Corsair Raptor K50 Review @ Ocaholic
Coolers
Funky Kit Review: Thermaltake NiC 5 - Untouchable CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-U14S and NH-U12S High Compatibility CPU Cooler Review @ HiTech Legion
Noctua NH-U14S CPU Cooler Review
Games
Civilization V: Brave New World Review @ TechgagePutting the game in there was a stretch but people like Civ 5 right?
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GPGPU performance of modern graphics cards
Published: Monday, August 5, 2013 | By: DennisI considered adding this benchmark to my reviews but not to showcase raw performance but rather to expose PCI Express bandwidth between the GPU and CPU. As you can imagine that didn't work out so well, especially considering how much data actually travels the PCI-E lanes in DX11 vs DX10/9.
While not that many consumer applications are available yet, we can still say that GPGPU has reached maturity. For now the main benefits can be found in photo and video editing software.
The interesting thing to notice is how even the slowest GPU is still faster than a CPU at this stuff and that the speed of the GPU doesn't dictate overall performance. Drivers maybe?
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Microsoft Drops $100 from Surface Pro Price
Published: Monday, August 5, 2013 | By: DennisWho saw this one coming?
Following the drastic price cuts on Surface RT tablets the Redmond giant has slashed $100 from the Surface Pro price in hopes of selling a few.
Microsoft is discounting its Surface Pro tablet this weekend, following heavy reductions to its Surface RT costs recently. The 10 percent price cut to Surface Pro reduces the cost of the 64GB and 128GB models by $100 each in the US. Not all regions appear to have Surface Pro price cuts just yet, but the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are all showing price cuts on both models.
I am not surprised it came to this, assuming Surface Pro is a failure. Microsoft is accustomed to meeting expectations but in terms of selling computer hardware they have a lot to learn. The first lesson: "just because you build it doesn't mean people will buy it". Most content creators don't like Windows 8 and hardware reviewers still compare Slate style tablets to the iPad and those things aren't good for selling powerful tablet devices.
Of course some have speculated that Surface Pro 2 might be coming out which would explain the price drop. Still, i'm not holding my breath, Haswell is a great processor and should help with battery life issue but when it comes down to actually using the tablet you're going to be faced with "meh" performance and a butthurt wallet. -
Microsoft Drops a C-Note from Surface Pro Price
Published: Monday, August 5, 2013 | By: DennisWho saw this one coming?
Following the drastic price cuts on Surface RT tablets the Redmond giant has slashed $100 from the Surface Pro price in hopes of selling a few.
Microsoft is discounting its Surface Pro tablet this weekend, following heavy reductions to its Surface RT costs recently. The 10 percent price cut to Surface Pro reduces the cost of the 64GB and 128GB models by $100 each in the US. Not all regions appear to have Surface Pro price cuts just yet, but the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are all showing price cuts on both models.
I am not surprised it came to this, assuming Surface Pro is a failure. Microsoft is accustomed to meeting expectations but in terms of selling computer hardware they have a lot to learn. The first lesson: "just because you build it doesn't mean people will buy it". Most content creators don't like Windows 8 and hardware reviewers still compare Slate style tablets to the iPad and those things aren't good for selling powerful tablet devices.
Of course some have speculated that Surface Pro 2 might be coming out which would explain the price drop. Still, i'm not holding my breath, Haswell is a great processor and should help with battery life issue but when it comes down to actually using the tablet you're going to be faced with "meh" performance and a butthurt wallet. -
Corsair Carbide Air 540 Case Review on Technic3D
Published: Sunday, August 4, 2013 | By: DennisMost cases you can buy are designed to conform to a variety of different situations such as that single person who wants to run ten hard drives at once, or another person with a fan fetish wanting the largest fans possible because large fans equal less noise right? (The answer is "No" in case you were wondering).
Most normal people don't need these things in a mainstream chassis, especially when you have to sacrifice stuff like cable routing or cooling performance. Thankfully Corsair has revived an old server design based on the cube format. The Cube allows you to separate components for better cooling and cleaner lines.
The Corsair Carbide Air 540 is the next PC-Case in the Technic3D Editorship. The Air 540 Cube supports E-ATX, ATX, Micro-ATX and Mini-ATX motherboards and have place for five 120mm Cooling-Fans or five 140mm Fans. We will check this and many more in the following Review.
No telling what this case can do provided you are logical in your component choices.
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ASRock Z87 Extreme6/ac (Intel LGA 1150) @ techPowerUp
Published: Friday, August 2, 2013 | By: DennisI have a Asrock Z87 motherboard in the lab and have to say, the packing is amazing. Twill let you know about the board in the next week or so.
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I take my first look at ASRock's Z87 products with the Z87 Extreme6/ac. Packed full of connectivity options, it definitely has Extreme connectivity, but is it perhaps also an Extreme disappointment?
Keep in mind that the Extreme6 is one of the top of the line boards with ample gold caps (for the China market) and Nick Shih's signature along the left edge. Those things alone may not make this board awesome but it does give it some style.
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6 Steps for the Perfect Hipster Logo
Published: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 | By: DennisEver wanted to make your own logo? Feel like masking your true identity in a sea of hipster'esq artwork? Well your wait is over and you won't have to hire that expensive graphic designer to make it happen.
With the Hipster Logo Design Guide, you'll cover all the requisite visual cues to ensure that your product looks like it came straight off a shelf from a Dust Bowl-era general store. To start, you'll need to pick a badge-the "seal of approval" variety gives off an especially nice state fair prizewinner vibe. Slap a banner on top, sprinkle in some vaguely related symbols (or, hell, even totally unrelated ones), and throw in some buzzwords. You're not just selling donuts, you're selling authentic, artisanal, handcrafted donuts. Actually, you're purveying them.
As a designer I have always liked these little guides since they not only poke fun at a current trend but also give other designers some ideas for future projects. Maybe it will be for a hipster wannabe or the genuine article, you never know.
