Antec fully supports Haswell

Subject: General Tech, Cases and Cooling | May 31, 2013 - 05:27 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: antec, haswell, PSU

Antec released two lists today covering the compatibility of both their PSUs and their notebook chargers.  If you are worried that your current hardware will not support the new low power states implemented in Haswell check through the list and if your product is listed you are good to go.  If not you can treat these as shopping lists for your next PSU or notebook adapter.

PSUs

Notebook Adapters

Dell U3014 30" UltraSharp 2560 x 1600 @ $1250

Subject: General Tech | May 31, 2013 - 03:01 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

Continuing this weeks theme of monitor deals is the Dell U3014 30" IPS display, an updated version of their long running Ultrasharp 30" series.  The specs remain similar to the old U3011 with new connectivity options, a 4-port USB 3.0 hub, DisplayPort 1.2 and mini-DisplayPort 1.2 along with legacy connections.  With a $250 instant rebate now is a good time to jump on this deal if you were planning on moving your display up to the big leagues.

Dell U3014 30" UltraSharp 2560 x 1600 LED-backlit IPS LCD Monitor
Dell Home is offering flagship 30" UltraSharp - the U3014 (successor to the existing U3011 model) for $1,249.99 with FREE shipping. Backed by 3-Year Advanced Exchange Service and Premium Panel Guarantee. Use $250 instant savings to get final price.

Computex 2013: ASUS PQ321 is a 31.5" 4K monitor

Subject: General Tech, Displays, Shows and Expos | May 31, 2013 - 02:12 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: PQ321, computex, asus, 4k

Computex, the second largest expo for computer hardware, is less than a week away but its influence tends to bleed over a little bit. And, since we know our readers love 4K displays, we thought we might pass along a leak we found for a new ASUS monitor.

Image source, ASUS via TechPowerUP

And yes, that is a 32"

The Asus PQ321 is both a relatively easy-to-remember model number and a 31.5" computer monitor with 4K2K resolution. Connect it to your computer with DisplayPort or, for at least some US models, dual HDMI to have the same resolution as IMAX Digital as well as have a legitimate reason to pick up multiple GeForce Titan graphics cards.

The raw specifications are:

• 31.5 inch display size (16:9 aspect ratio)
• Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) panel, LED backlit
• 3840x2160 resolution (140ppi)
• 1.07 billion colors (10-bit RGB)
• 176 / 176 (H / V) degree viewing angle
• 350 cd/m² brightness
• 8ms (gtg) response time
• Color temperature and gamma adjustments
• I/O: DisplayPort, 2x HDMI ("optional"), RS-232C, 3.5mm audio in and out
• 2W stereo speakers
• Tilt, swivel, height adjustments; VESA mount (no landscape/portrait pivot)
• 750mm x 489mm x 256mm with stand, 13kg net weight
• Comes with DisplayPort 1.2 cable and an RS-232C conversion cable (???)

Looking at these specifications, it certainly feels like an IPS-equivalent technology with some very telltale characteristics: the relatively slow response time for seemingly no reason, the 1.07 billion colors, the very wide viewing angle, and the relatively high pixel density per inch. This prompted me to look over at the ASUS website for some tea leaf reading. It looks as though all P- or M-series monitors utilize some form of IPS technology, the M-series referring to thin-bezel options and the P-series to relatively image quality-focused products.

So as best as I can tell, the PQ321 is a 31.5" 4K IPS monitor.

ASUS is expected to display this at Computex 2013 in Taipei along with a 39" 4K monitor. No word on pricing or availability, at least not yet.

Samsung announces Galaxy S4 mini: what's different?

Subject: General Tech, Mobile | May 30, 2013 - 05:40 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Samsung, Galaxy S4 mini

Because there is a cellphone SKU for everyone, both in design and in direct quantity.

The latest big release, the Galaxy S4, arrived just about a month ago with its 5-inch 1080p screen and potentially dual quad-core processors depending on where you buy it. You could wait until late June and purchased on from the Google Play store containing the full Google experience. If that does not suit you, how about a 4.3" 960x540 version? That would be the Galaxy S4 mini, or at least one of the localized versions they will invariably make for multiple carriers.

But is the only difference the screen? Of course not.

Image, Samsung via Samsung Tomorrow.

Btw, why does Samsung watermark photos on their company blog? Anyone?

One of the constants between the computational hardware of each Galaxy S4 version is the 2GB of RAM; basically everything else differs between specific subversions of the flagship phone. Not the mini! For whatever reason, the S4 mini backs off on the RAM by half a gigabyte leaving it with 1.5 GB.

One of the main selling features of the large S4 is the eight-core (quad-core A15, quad-core A7) SoC developed by Samsung. It was available in the international version, the American version instead having a quad-core processor from Qualcomm. The mini, on the other hand, will contain a slightly lower-clocked dual-core processor.

In the other features: the battery is about 27% smaller albeit with less power-hungry components; the rear camera drops from 13 megapixels to 8 megapixels, whether or not that is worse picture quality is unknown; and the internal storage is 8GB (5 user-accessible), down from the minimum 16GB of the not-mini.

So beyond the name, there does not seem to be many similarities between the regular and the mini S4. It is basically software which links the two devices. The mini has access to services such as S Translator and S Health, although there does not seem to be any discussion of other services like S Travel and OCR software.

Samsung will officially unveil it, with hands-on demos to various press members, on June 20th in London.

The return of the ergonomic keyboard, this time it is mechanical

Subject: General Tech | May 30, 2013 - 04:27 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: cherry mx brown, Truly Ergonomic, mechanical keyboard, Model 207, input

Ergonomic keyboards go in and out of style, with some adherents sticking to a particular model but for the rest of us we seem to prefer the clumsy QWERTY layout above all others.  The Model 207 from Truly Ergonomic is a mechanical keyboard, so if your fingers can find the keys you will be rewarded with the satisfaction of knowing that key did depress.  On the other hand as you can see from the picture below finding those keys will take some practice.  You can also take a look at the back of the keyboard at the review on LanOC which shows off the customization possible thanks to the inclusion of dip switches that change the function of some keys.

"When it comes to ergonomic keyboards there are only a few to pick from and, for the most part, all of those are rubber dome keyboards. Ergonomic mechanical keyboards are really limited to two different models, one being the Truly Ergonomic. Today we are going to take a look to see how it compares to everything I have tested to date. I expect an adjustment period just to its shape alone, but as a writer by trade I am very curious how it will affect me day to day. The gamer in me is just as curious on how it will perform in game as well. Let’s take a closer look."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• TteSports Challenger Gaming Keyboard @ eTeknix
• Logitech k310 Washable Keyboard @ NikKTech
• TteSports Knucker Plunger Gaming Keyboard @ eTeknix
• ROCCAT Hiro Mousepad Review @ OCC
• Mionix Naos 8200 Gaming mouse @ Rbmods
• Mad Catz R.A.T.M Wireless Mobile Gaming Mouse @ NikKTech
• Mad Catz M.O.U.S.9 Wireless Mouse @ NikKTech
• A4Tech Bloody Gun3 UC3 Headshot V8 Gaming Mouse Review - $40 For The Ultimate Package @ SSD Review
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Gaming Mouse Review @ Madshrimps
• Steelseries WoW MMO Gaming Mouse Legendary Edition @ eTeknix
• Roccat Kone Pure review: a mouse for delicate hands @ Hardware.info
• Logitech G700s Rechargeable Gaming Mouse @ Tweaktown
• Steelseries Sensei [RAW] Frost Blue Gaming Mouse @ FunkyKit

Ubuntu bug #1 closed with a sense of humour

Subject: General Tech | May 30, 2013 - 02:34 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: ubuntu, linux, microsoft

The first bug reported about Ubuntu has been closed, it was titled "Microsoft has a majority market share" and could be easily reproduced.

"1. Visit a local PC store
2. Attempt to buy a machine without any proprietary software"

The bug has now been updated to "Fix Released", thanks to the fact that the definition of computer has greatly increased in breadth over the past few years.  Smartphones are running predominantly non-Microsoft OSes and the availability of iOS and Android tablets have really turned the market in a new direction.  Now it is possible to pick up a computer that is good enough for casual usage which has no Microsoft software installed whatsoever.  Finding white box laptops with no installed OS is still uncommon but nowhere near as rare as it once was.  Slashdot links to his full post here.

"Mark Shuttleworth of Ubuntu fame has closed the primal bug on Launchpad, standing since 2004 and titled 'Microsoft has a majority market share,' due to the 'changing realities' of tablets, smartphones, and wearable computing."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Shortcuts for Windows 8 @ TechNet
• Intel's extreme ultraviolet dream still somewhere over the rainbow @ The Register
• Stop the Microsoft, Skype wedding, screams enraged Cisco in court @ The Register
• Ruby on Rails exploit could hijack unpatched web servers @ The Inquirer
• Microsoft waxes lyrical over Windows 8.1 and its Start button @ The Inquirer

World’s Top Overclockers to Compete at Computex OC Main Event Sponsored by Corsair

Subject: General Tech | May 30, 2013 - 02:22 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: corsair, overclocking, competition, haswell

There is more than one reason to keep an eye on Corsair's Overclocking Main Event at Computex this year, not only will you be hearing about the results from the best overclockers around, these results will be from Haswell chips.  In just a few short days we will see their success at overclocking Intel's newest processor, not yet released for purchase by mere mortals.  While there will be growing pains in learning the ins and outs of the new CPU and chipset, you will get an idea how fast these new processors will go when extreme overclockers get their hands on them.

FREMONT, California — May 30, 2013 — Corsair, a worldwide designer of high-perform­­­­­­ance components to the PC hardware market, is teaming up with Intel to host the Computex OC Main Event on June 3rd in Taipei, Taiwan. The event will bring the world’s best overclockers together to compete in setting the first speed records with 4th generation Intel Core processors and Corsair’s soon-to-be-announced new line of highly overclockable memory.

Overclocking is a way of boosting the computer performance by increasing the clock frequency settings of components such as the CPU, memory, and motherboards. Popular with PC enthusiasts, overclocking has grown from being a hobby to a professional technical sport with competitions held in countries around the world.

At this year’s Computex OC Main Event, elite overclockers from around the world will be vying for $20,000 USD in cash prizes. Competitors at the event will include some of the finest overclockers in the world including 8-Pack, Andre, Coldest, Coolice, Der8auer, Dinos22, Elmor, Hazzan, HiCookie, Lin222, lucky_n00b, Mad222, Nick Shih, Pt1t, Slamms, Smoke, Splave, tor_za, ZoLKoRn, and Zzolio. The live event broadcast by Overclocking-TV will be available at corsair.com/OCMainEvent on June 3rd from 13:00 – 18:00 GMT +8.

In addition to the overclocking competition, the event will feature presentations by Intel and Corsair, including a PC building master class and a demonstration of the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. Attendees will also be among the first to see Corsair’s new line of products that are designed for use with the 4th Generation Intel Core processor. “We are excited to be hosting the premier overclocking event of Computex 2013 with our friends at Intel,” said Thi La, Senior VP and GM of Memory and Enthusiast Component Products at Corsair. “Together we’ll be unleashing the world’s top overclockers for the first time on the latest Intel processors and our new line of Corsair memory. With the sheer level of overclocking talent and the capabilities of the new hardware, I anticipate seeing groundbreaking levels of performance.”

“Our upcoming 4th Gen Intel Core processors will deliver amazing new levels of performance to the enthusiast community,” said Zane Ball, Intel Vice President, Global Ecosystem Development. “We are excited to sponsor the world’s top overclockers at this year’s Computex OC Main Event.”

HP 2511x 25" 1080p LED-backlit LCD @ $200

Subject: General Tech | May 30, 2013 - 02:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

At $200 the HP 2511x display is a little more affordable than yesterdays, but at the same time is smaller and a lower resolution.  With a 5ms response time it will provide a decent gaming experience as TN displays tend to be quicker than their IPS counterparts.  The display is incredibly thin which makes it attractive for surround setups but there is no sign of a VESA mount if you had planned on mounting your monitors.

HP 2511x 25" 1080p LED-backlit LCD Monitor
HP Home offers 25-inch HP 2511x 1080p LED-backlit LCD Monitor (XP599AA#ABA) on sale for $199.99 with free shipping. Use $100 coupon code: MT3912 to get final price.

Why get this and why you need it?
HP 2511x features 1920 x 1080 resolution, ultra-slim (1" max thickness), VGA + DVI + HDMI inputs, 5ms response time, 250nit brightness, tilt adjustment, and 3,000,000:1 (Dynamic) contrast ratio.  Also ENERGY STAR 5.0 qualified and EPEAT Silver registered.

Rising Storm gets a release date... er... time?

Subject: General Tech | May 30, 2013 - 01:33 AM | Scott Michaud
Tagged:

Does it really count as a "release date" if it is the day after you announce it?

Red Orchestra started out as a modification for Unreal Tournament 2004. From there, the team won the first Make Something Unreal where they were granted a license to use Unreal Engine commercially. They grew, as a company, to not only develop multiple titles but also publish a few.

Rising Storm is based in the World War II Pacific Theater. Four factions are playable: two American and two Japanese; each country has an army faction and a naval infantry faction. Multiplayer gameplay, note that single-player will arrive at some point beyond launch, is based on a balance of imbalances. Managing the perception of inequality is a difficult task for a developer to take, but also provides a broader experience for players; expect a storm to rise in the official forums.

Rising Storm will be available at some point in the early afternoon of May 30th, 2013 (US Eastern Timezone). The base game will be available on Steam for $19.99 USD, or $29.99 USD for the digital deluxe; for the next handful of hours, you will still be able to pre-order for a 15% discount ($16.99 and $25.49 respectively).

Podcast #253 - NVIDIA GTX 780, OCZ Vertex 450, Western Digital Se Hard Drives and more!

Subject: General Tech | May 30, 2013 - 12:19 AM | Ken Addison
Tagged: video, vertex 450, vertex, titan, podcast, pcper, ocz, gtx 780, 780

PC Perspective Podcast #253 - 05/30/2013

Join us this week as we discuss the NVIDIA GTX 780, OCZ Vertex 450, Western Digital Se Hard Drives and more!

You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still access it directly through the RSS page HERE.

The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!

• iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
• RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader
• MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file

Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Jeremy Hellstrom, Josh Walrath, and Allyn Malventano.

Program length: 1:04:43

1. Week in Review:
   1. 0:01:40 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Graphics Card Review - GK110 Mini
      1. PCPer Live! GeForce GTX 780 3GB Graphics Card
   2. 0:14:30 Opteron X-series debut
   3. 0:22:00 OCZ Vertex 450 256GB SSD Full Review - Indilinx drives 20nm flash
2. 0:31:50 This week we thank you for IGG support!
3. News items of interest:
   1. 0:33:45 Epic Games is disappointed in the PS4 and Xbox One?
      1. Console manufacturers don't want much, just the impossible.
   2. 0:45:15 MSI Z87 MPOWER Motherboard Series
   3. 0:46:20 Western Digital refreshes enterprise lineup, launches new Se series datacenter HDD
   4. 0:50:15 Cirrus7 Launches SFF Nimbus PC With Aluminum Fin Stack (Heatsink) Case
   5. 0:53:00 AMD Catalyst 13.6 Beta Drivers For Windows and Linux Now Available
   6. 0:54:15 ASUS Maximus VI Formula Supreme FX Evolution
4. 0:55:30 Hardware/Software Picks of the Week:
   1. Ryan: Ball Bearing fans / EVGA ACX Cooler
   2. Jeremy: Fry thy brain and stimulate the maths
   3. Josh: I like storage, and I want it.
   4. Allyn: Sony HX300 (20MP, 50x optical zoom (24mm-1200mm))
5. 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
6. http://pcper.com/podcast
7. http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
8. Closing/outro

Windows 8.1 can Boot to Desktop and has a Start Button

Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Systems | May 29, 2013 - 07:16 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: windows blue, Windows 8.1, windows, microsoft

Personally, I really cannot care too much about the user experience quirks inherent to Windows modernization; the wedge slowly being shoved between the user and their machine is far too concerning. No matter how they modify the interface, restricting what users and developers can install and create on their machine is a deal breaker. But, after that obligatory preface reminding people not to get wound up in UX hiccups and be complacent to the big issues, Windows Blue will certainly address many of those UX hiccups.

As we reported, last month, boot-to-desktop and the Start Button were planned for inclusion with Windows 8.1. Then, the sources were relentless to emphasize: "Until it ships, anything can change."

Images courtesy, Paul Thurrott.

Mary Jo Foley gathered quite a few details since then. Firstly, the option (as in, disabled by default) to boot directly to desktop will be there; from the sounds of it, it looks like it will be disabled by default but not exclusive to Enterprise SKUs. This is somewhat promising, as it would be slightly less likely for Microsoft to kill support for the desktop (and, by extension, x86 applications) if they feel pressure to punctuate it. Still, assuming because "it makes sense" is a bad way to conduct business.

Also available (albeit, enabled by default) is the Start Button, seen in higher quality above. This will be, as far as we know, enabled by default. Its functionality will be to bring up the Start Screen or, alternatively, a new All Apps screen visible at ZDNet. Now this has me interested: while I actually like the Start Screen, a list of apps should provide functionality much closer to the Start Menu than Microsoft was previously comfortable with. Previously, the Start Screen attempted to make the desktop applications feel less comfortable than modern apps; this interface appears like it would feel more comfortable to the desktop. While probably still jarring, it looks to make finding desktop applications easier and quickly gets out of the way of your desktop experience.

According to Paul Thurrott, for those who wish to personalize the Start Screen, you will have the option to share your desktop wallpaper with the it. For tasteful backgrounds, like the one above, I can see this being of good use.

Just please, do not grief someone with a background full of fake tiles.

As a final note, there is still no word about multiple monitor support for "Modern Apps". If you have tried to use them in the past, you know what I am talking about: basically only one at a time, it will jump between monitors if you bring up the Start Screen, and so forth.

Raspberry Pi Replacing X11 With Wayland/Weston To Get GPU Acceleration

Subject: General Tech | May 29, 2013 - 05:20 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: x11, weston, wayland, videocore iv, Raspberry Pi, linux, bcm2835, arm

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has been working with Collabora to fund development of a Wayland display server that is compatible with the Raspberry Pi and also allows the continued use of legacy X applications.

So far, operating systems that run on the Raspberry Pi have used X as the display server and window compositor. The Raspberry Pi Foundation wants to move to a window compositor that will take advantage of the Raspberry Pi's Hardware Video Scaler (HVS) and take the burden of window composition off of the relatively much slower ARM CPU. The Raspberry Pi Foundation has chosen Wayland as the display server for the task.

The Raspberry Pi Model A.

Taking advantage of the HVS and OpenGL ES compatible GPU will make the system feel much more responsive and allow for advanced effects (fading, Expose'-like window browsers, et al) for those that like a little more bling with their OS.

The Wayland/Weston display server allows for GPU acceleration and window composition using the Pi's VideoCore IV GPU and HVS (which is independent of the hardware units that run OpenGL code). The display server will feed the entire set of windows along with how they should be laid out on screen (stacking order, transparency, 2D transform, ect.) to the HVS which will hardware accelerate the process and free the ARM CPU up for other tasks.
According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the Raspberry Pi's HVS is fairly powerful for a mobile-class SoC with 500 Megapixel/s scaling throughput and 1 Gigapixel per second blending throughput.

In addition to GPU acceleration, Wayland will allow non-rectangular windows, fading and other effects, support for legacy X applications with Xwayland, and a scaled window browser.

The Raspberry Pi Foundation has been working with developers since late last year and is nearly ready to roll a technology preview into the next Raspian operating system release. The developers are still working on improving the performance and  reducing memory usage. As a result, the new Wayland/Weston display server is not expected to become the new default in the various Raspberry Pi operating systems until late 2013 at the earliest.

This is a project that is really nice to see, especially since at least a small part of the development work going into supporting the ARM-based Raspberry Pi on Wayland will help other ARM devices and Wayland in general which is becoming an increasingly popular choice in new Linux distributions and the best X alternative so far. Of course, this is primarily going to be a useful update for those Raspberry Pi users that run OSes with GUIs as the responsiveness should be a lot snappier!

If you simply can't wait until later this year, it is possible to install the technology preview (beta) of Wayland/Weston onto the current version of Raspbian Linux by cloning the git project or installing a Raspbian package of Weston 1.0. Blogger Daniel Stone has all the details for installing the display server onto your Pi under the section titled "sounds great; how do i get it?" on this post.

See a video of Wayland technology preview in action on the Raspberry Pi on the Raspberry Pi Foundation's blog.

Read more about the Raspberry Pi at PC Perspective.

Insync Releases 1.0 RC for Linux

Subject: General Tech | May 29, 2013 - 03:19 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: insync, google drive, cloud storage, linux

Insyc has released a new release candidate for its Google Drive companion software that adds a few new features and bug fixes to the Linux client.

According to Insync, the 1.0 RC implements an improved syncing core build from scratch. It also allows users to selectively sync files and folders between local storage and their Google Drive cloud storage. It is no longer all or nothing, and you can choose to only store what you need locally rather than the entire document archive now. The release candidate software also allows customized account folders that can be renamed and moved to other locations on the drive. Symlink support, headless installs, and a CLI (command line interface) client are also included in the Insync 1.0 RC.

Insync has also made changes to the management user interface to make configuring the syncing options easier. Finally, Insync has also coded in a notification function that will notify users of changes to files on Google Drive which will be handy for collaborative documents and spreadsheets.

Insync has put together Debian packages for OSes like Ubuntu (Nautilus) and Mint (Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce desktop environments). Additionally, support for KDE and RPM packages is “coming soon.” You can grab the new beta 1.0 RC client here.

Caution, this headset might blow your head off

Subject: General Tech | May 29, 2013 - 02:57 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Tunguska 2.0, Attitude 1, gaming headset, audio

Attitude's latest headset is named after a certain explosive event in a remote location in Russia, but in theory this does not imply danger to your skull while wearing them.  R&B Mods tried out these brightly coloured headsets, with 40mm drivers and a respectable 20-20kHz frequency range and found them to be quite functional if perhaps not made of the best materials they've seen on gaming headsets.  If comfort and audio performance is more important to you than the construction these headsets make a decent choice, though you will have to wait a while if you want the USB model.

"Today we take a look at something brand new, I have never tested anything from Attitude one but today is the day! We are going to review several of their products but the first thing we are going to test is their Tunguska 2.0 gaming headset. This headset seems to be fairly lightweight and have some cool colors and also a braided cable….lets get on with the review."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Audio Corner

• Gigabyte FLY Headphones @ techPowerUp
• Gigabyte Fly Headphones @ eTeknix
• Antec Mobile Products A.M.P. dBs Headphone @ eTeknix
• Wavemaster Dakota Headphones @ eTeknix
• Mad Catz F.R.E.Q. 5 Gaming Headset Review @ Madshrimps
• ASUS ROG Orion Pro Gaming Headset Review @ OCC
• Sunrise Charm3 & Dragon2 Ear buds @ techPowerUp
• Deep Cool M6 2.1 Speaker System ad Laptop Cool Review @ Pro-Clockers
• ASUS Xonar DGX and Xonar DSX Audio Cards Reviews @ Legit Reviews

GPU beatdown, Metro Last Light edition

Subject: General Tech | May 29, 2013 - 02:47 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: gaming, metro last light

Metro 2033 quickly gained a reputation as a game which can take everything a modern GPU could throw at it and still want more.  Now we have not only a new generation of Metro but also some new hardware to test it with, namely the TITAN and the GTX 780 which are now in [H]ard|OCP's test bed.  They tried out the new game at 2560 x 1600 with high tessellation enabled and found the TITAN to be the overall winner thanks to its ability to support PhysX at these high settings, with the GTX 780 a very close second and perhaps a better choice for those not planning on using PhysX.  Their testing also backs up the developers statement that in order to enable SSAA you will need a second GPU.

"Today we look at 4A Games Metro: Last Light. Running the 4A Engine it supports modern DX11 effects including tessellation, and NVIDIA PhysX, providing realistic simulations of particles, water, cloth and fog. We'll evaluate this game using today's latest video cards including GTX TITAN and GTX 780, for a total of eight video cards."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

• Metro: Last Light @ LanOC Reviews
• Metro: Last Light PC @ Tweaktown
• Metro: Last Light Performance, Benchmarked @ TechSpot
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review @ OCC
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon @ Tweaktown
• Defiance Review: Resistance is Not Futile @ Techgage
• Wot I Think: GRID 2 @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Endless Space Now Even More Endless Than Before @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN

Beiber can be used for evil

Subject: General Tech | May 29, 2013 - 02:31 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: cell phone, security, fud

If you are feeling safe and secure using your cellphone in public, some research out of the University of Alabama will shatter that confidence for you.  It seems that it is possible to use sound as a trigger to activate malware from a distance, even over low quality speakers.  You already know about Shazam and other apps you can use to identify songs simply by holding up your cellphone and have it successfully connect to a remote database to get the song data, even in a loud room.  This research shows that a previously infected phone could have dormant malware installed which can be remotely activated simply by music with a hidden message contained within it, inaudible to human ears.  Pair this with the known Autoconnect to Saved WiFi Profiles vulnerability and your phone could very easily start leaking information you would much rather keep private.   Follow the links from The Register to read the research paper and reactions to it.

"Security researchers have discovered that specific music, lighting, vibrations or magnetic fields could all be used as infection channels to trigger the activation of mobile malware on a massive scale.

The paper, titled Sensing-Enabled Channels for Hard-to-Detect Command and Control of Mobile Devices, was presented in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou earlier this month by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB)."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Nvidia's Geforce GTX 770 comes close to the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition @ The Inquirer
• Intel nabs mobile GPS business of moribund ST-Ericsson @ The Register
• Apple reportedly to release 2 new iPhones in 3Q13 @ DigiTimes
• Mediatek releases quad-core 1.5GHz ARM Cortex A7 chip for tablets @ The Inquirer

Alienware M17x r4 Core i7 Gaming Laptop w/ 2GB GeForce GTX 660M @ $1345

Subject: General Tech | May 29, 2013 - 02:04 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: deals

A gaming laptop is not the least expensive way to get powerful performance but it is certainly the most mobile and perfect for LAN parties thanks it only needing a power cord.  The Alienware M17x is on special right now, a Core i7-3630QM, 6GB DDR3 and a GTX 660M will provide serious gaming power and the included SoundBlaster Recon3Di will ensure your audio is crisp and clean as well.

Alienware M17x r4 Core i7 Gaming Laptop w/ 2GB GeForce GTX 660M

1. Start here at Dell Home direct store
2. Configure as per needs (optional), click Review & Checkout button
3. Apply coupon code ?SWK4RL9BTX1MD in-cart and proceed to checkout

Now even your mouse can minimize your game window

Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Cases and Cooling | May 29, 2013 - 02:03 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: Windows key, mouse, microsoft, I Hate This Key

Has this ever happened to you while playing a shooter? You need to get to a position so you mash the alt key to sprint and... aw crap I hit the Windows key... well, now I am dead. Have you ever considered purchasing software or a gaming keyboard which allows you disable that button?

Have you ever considered purchasing a mouse which also has that button to give both hands something to fear?

Definitely not a member of their Sidewinder product line.

Okay, so I should be fair: the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort mouse is not designed for gaming and Windows 8-like user experiences revolve heavily around the start button. The mouse button is also more useful than a redundant Windows key; the blue pad also has swipe functionality for extra functions. According to how it is described on its product page, slide gestures are bound to respond to the computer as mouse buttons 4 and 5.

So you can probably bind them to game functions, if you feel daring.

But, in the end, I still need to congratulate Microsoft for trying to innovate computer hardware. This is more than just trying to graft touch functionality to a mouse surface, as both Apple and Microsoft have tried in the past, and tries to make the classical mouse experience better. I doubt it is for most of our audience, but not everything needs to be.