Only 10 days to train up for the Fragging Frogs VLAN #16

Subject: General Tech | August 16, 2017 - 01:33 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: vlan, fragging frogs, gaming, kick ass

That's right fellow gamers, in just over a weeks time you will be able to once again dedicate your Saturday to a truly noble effort, fragging friends, family and strangers in the 16th Fragging Frogs VLAN party.  It kicks off at 10AM EDT and goes until the last player succumbs to weakness and falls asleep.  Lenny is hard at work organizing the event as well as gathering hardware and other goodies for the giveaways.

You can't win unless you let him know you are coming by posting to this thread and if you don't set up Teamspeak then you'll never know if you won or not, not to mention that the day is a lot more fun when you are chatting with your fellow Frogs.  The thread also lets you suggest games as well as providing valuable information on the event and getting your mods and patches set up.

Be there or be a pixellated block!

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Gaming

• Deadlight free on GOG as lucky dip sale starts @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Sonic Mania review: 16-bit return breathes new life into struggling series @ Ars Technica
• Arma 3: Laws of War DLC coming in September @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• No Man’s Sky version 1.3 is live, adds “joint exploration,“ more @ Ars Technica
• BattleTech delayed into 2018 @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• Bethesda announces Fallout 4: Game of the Year Edition @ HEXUS
• Wot I Think – Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN
• kaven tunnel into Total War: Warhammer 2 @ Rock, Paper, SHOTGUN

Well that's not good, VGA RAM prices spike 30%

Subject: General Tech | August 16, 2017 - 12:41 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: Samsung, SK Hynix, micron, EVGA G3 850W

DigiTimes is the bearer of bad news for fans of GPUs, as the supply challenges which have marked 2017 are now spreading to GDDR5(x).  This month the price has spiked up just over 30% and that trend is going to continue into September and perhaps beyond.  This will not have an immediate effect on the MSRPs of graphics cards, not that we would notice due to the price inflation from the current mining craze however it will reduce the margins that NVIDIA and AMD receive from sales.  They do not specifically mention AMD in the article, nor HBM2, however the same companies fabricate both so there are likely to be repercussions felt by both technologies.  On the positive side, flash storage prices are reported to have stabilized; so we have that going for us.

"August quotes for RAMs used in VGA graphics cards have risen to US$8.50, up by 30.8% from US$6.50 in July. Both RAM industry leaders Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix have allocated part of their VGA RAM production capacities to producing memories for servers and handsets, fueling the price rally."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Fresh Microsoft Office franken-exploit flops – and you should have patched by now anyway @ The Register
• Outage outed: Bing dinged, Microsoft portal mortal, DuckDuckGo becomes DuckDuckNo @ The Register
• How To: Taking Pictures of PCBs @ Techspot

Patriot’s Viper V570 RGB, a mouse for bargain hunting gamers

Subject: General Tech | August 15, 2017 - 03:52 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: patriot, Viper V570 RGB, gaming mouse, RGB

For a $50 mouse, the Patriot Viper V570 RGB has a lot going for it.  There are weights you can use to adjust the heft of your rodent, an Avago 9800 sensor which can be adjusted from 800 to 3200 DPI and eight programmable buttons without counting the right, left and scroll wheel.  Techgage found the materials used in the mouse felt a little lower quality than other mice but not enough to overly concern them, especially considering the price though Patriot did not skimp on the feet.  Check out the full review, including the RGB, over at Techgage.

"Have just 50 bucks to spend on a new gaming mouse, but feel anxious about the features you may have to give up? With its Viper V570 RGB, Patriot has your back. Despite its modest price, the V570 sports a weight system, RGB lighting (as its name suggests), awesome macro support, and even a solid software solution."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• SteelSeries' Rival 500 @ The Tech Report
• Gamdias Zeus M1 RGB Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews
• Dream Machines DM PAD L & XL Soft Gaming Mouse Pad @ techPowerUp
• Azio MGK L80 RGB Backlit Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review @ NikKTech
• Sandberg Hailstorm Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review @ NikKTech
• Aukey KM-G4 RGB Mechanical Keyboard @ techPowerUp
• Matias Quiet Pro Mechanical Keyboard @ techPowerUp

Qualcomm's new Spectra Module Program and ISPs

Subject: General Tech | August 15, 2017 - 01:35 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: qualcomm, spectra

Back in May Ryan covered the hardware that comprises Qualcomm's new SOCs, the Snapdragon 660 and 630 which will feature the new Spectra Image Signal Processors.  Today, The Tech Report have published a look at how these powerful new ISPs will change the mobile market.  The Spectra Module Program has been created to offer the a complete package to hardware developers instead of having them create the software themselves and customize the hardware for that software.  Drop by to take a look at the various sensor packages Qualcomm will be offering right here.

"Qualcomm's next-gen Spectra image signal processors bring extensive depth-sensing capabilities to the company's mobile processing platforms. We explore how these capabilities could shape the next generation of mobile devices."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Print A Flexible Keypad @ Hackaday
• Intel confirms upcoming 9th-gen 'Ice Lake' CPUs built on 10nm+ @ The Inquirer
• Get Your Eclipse Glasses Emblazoned with Hackaday @ Hackaday
• Another Arduino Compatible? This Time, It’s A Sony @ Hack a Day

A look at Surfacegates past and present

Subject: General Tech | August 14, 2017 - 01:32 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: surface, microsoft, Skylake

Paul Thurrott has posted a reasoned look at the recent negative rating Consumer Reports have handed the Microsoft Surface and Intel's reaction to it.  There were problems with the release of Skylake powered Surface products and Microsoft initially laid the blame fully on Intel; which proved awkward when they conversed with Lenovo about the problems Skylake caused as Lenovo had not had a similar experience.  Instead the reliability issues stemmed from Microsoft's drivers and when you break down the issues, most had to do with frozen screens and unresponsive touch interfaces. 

Microsoft have since rectified this issue and the new Surface products do not have the same issues as the previous models.   There is an interesting bit of speculation in the article about the fallout of this issue, it could be that this was the driving force behind Microsoft's sudden push to have Windows 10 run on ARM processors.  For more on that as well as some interesting background on how companies measure the success of their products you should head over to read the full article.  At the very least you can bask in the glory of the quote from an internal memo at the beginning of the article, describing your purchase as an "ownership journey with our products".

"Thurrott.com has seen an internal Microsoft memo that indicates that the software giant is readying a broader campaign to undercut this past week’s news from Consumer Reports. It also provides greater insight into why Microsoft believes the Consumer Reports recommendations are incorrect."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Notebook lithium battery prices rising @ DigiTimes
• Infosec eggheads rig USB desk lamp to leak passwords via Bluetooth @ The Register
• A Year Later, You Can Still Upgrade to Windows 10 for Free @ Techspot
• Firmware update blunder bricks hundreds of home 'smart' locks @ The Register
• Revealed: The naughty tricks used by web ads to bypass blockers @ The Register
• We'll deliver 'in a few weeks' says troubled ZX Spectrum reboot firm @ The Register
• Linksys LGS326P 26-Port Smart Gigabit PoE+ Switch Review @ NikKTech

Just Delivered: Oculus Rift with Touch Controllers

Subject: General Tech | August 13, 2017 - 03:14 PM | Scott Michaud
Tagged: pc gaming, Oculus

The Oculus Summer Sale finally gave me the courage to pick up a VR system. In Canada, where the Oculus, with touch and two sensors (something that their website doesn’t highlight very well), is currently $550 CDN and the Vive is $1100 to $1200 CDN, it feels like the former dropped into impulse buy territory, especially as a game development tool. More on that in the coming days or weeks (I hope).

I played around with it over the weekend, mostly Robo Recall, Lucky’s Tale, and Valve’s The Lab. I was a bit surprised at how virtual objects (like GLaDOS and the Robo Recall robots) getting into your personal space feels slightly intimidating. More accurately, I am a bit surprised how effective the “layer of glass” effect that a traditional computer game, on a computer monitor, isolates you from what’s going on. I know this was a hot topic a couple years ago, but I didn’t experience it at the time. Now I did. It could be very useful for expressing ideas...

From a technical side, it’s a bit annoying setting up the sensors. They were a bit picky until I figured out what they were trying to do, and I would probably want a third sensor at some point for when I turn around. Setting up the back end of the play area perimeter is annoying when you’re trying to move your body around to not block the sensor.

Also, the extra USB devices pushes my system to about the limit, showing me a few notifications of my USB hard drive dropping and reconnecting at times. I’ve heard that many people install add-in cards for extra USB ports (if they don’t have a high-end processor platform). That could be useful.

Windows Defender no longer protects you from third party antivirus software

Subject: General Tech | August 10, 2017 - 03:09 PM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: microsoft, Kaspersky Labs, windows defender

Microsoft have decided to remove the function in Windows Defender which disabled other antivirus software without notifying the user.  The decision comes after Kaspersky Labs brought an antitrust law suit against Microsoft for disabling products their customers had purchased and expected to work.  The resolution will not be immediate, it will be the Fall Creators Update which brings this change as well as changing the permissions of third party AV messages.  Drop by The Inquirer for more details on the changes to the messaging.

"Microsoft had poo-pooed the complaint but previously confessed that an update changed the way that Windows 10 deals with AV incompatibilities - by switching them off without warning the user."

Here is some more Tech News from around the web:

Tech Talk

• Intel Pumageddon: Broadband chip bug haunts Chipzilla's past, present and future @ The Register
• Consumer Reports stops recommending Microsoft's 'unreliable' Surface lineup @ The Inquirer
• Intel to launch top-end processors to counter AMD resurgence @ DigiTimes
• Mellanox SoCs it to NVMe over Fabrics with BlueField platform @ The Register
• TP-Link NC450 HD Pan/Tilt Wi-Fi Camera Review @ NikKTech

Podcast #462 - AMD Threadripper, Intel Rumors, and more!

Subject: General Tech | August 10, 2017 - 10:45 AM | Alex Lustenberg
Tagged: x299, X-Series, wraith max, video, Threadripper, Shogun, ryzen, podcast, msi, LaCie, Intel, corsair, coffee lake, bitfenix, amd, 850W

PC Perspective Podcast #462 - 08/10/17

Join us for AMD Threadripper, Intel Rumors, 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 (audio only)
  • Video version on iTunes
• Google Play - Subscribe to our audio podcast directly through Google Play!
• RSS - Subscribe through your regular RSS reader (audio only)
  • Video version RSS feed
• MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file

Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Ken Addison, Sebastian Peak

Peanut Gallery: Alex Lustenberg

Program length: 1:29:38