Save 58% on a Lifetime Subscription to Penzu Pro Digital Journal

TweakTown Deals | Deals | Jul 7, 2015 11:29 AM CDT

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Give your journaling a makeover with a lifetime subscription to Penzu Pro, now $39 at TweakTown Deals.

Continue reading: Save 58% on a Lifetime Subscription to Penzu Pro Digital Journal (full post)

Realtek has produced a new onboard LAN chip aimed at gamers

Chris Smith | Networking | Jul 7, 2015 8:02 AM CDT

Said to be targeting motherboards to be placed in online gaming PC builds, Realtek is looking to win back some lost market share in the DIY motherboard scene - taken by Intel and Killer over the past few years. The new Realtek Dragon is said to offer lower latencies for those wanting to play games online.

Realtek has produced a new onboard LAN chip aimed at gamers

This chip features the new Realtek RTL8118AS, showcasing gigabit Ethernet speeds. Said to offer better performance for small packet traffic and lower power consumption than competitors, Realtek has released a fancy new logo for this model as seen above - asking motherboard manufacturers to print it onto the PCB.

Set for debut in LGA1151 motherboards through the help of ECS, there has been no other mentioned manufacturers taking this new Realtek design on board just yet.

Continue reading: Realtek has produced a new onboard LAN chip aimed at gamers (full post)

Meet the low-profile GELID Polar 1U air cooler for Intel LGA115x

Chris Smith | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Jul 7, 2015 6:35 AM CDT

Air cooling is certainly still a thing, even though the plethora of mods seen in the current market sometimes make us think it is not. One of the latest releases is Polar's 1U low-profile CPU cooler, designed for Intel LGA115x processors.

As part of its SILENT product line, this cooler is designed with HTPC, Panel PC, Car PC and 1U server applications in mind - all thanks to its 27mm tall heat sink. Claiming an improved heat sink fin design, this product weighs in at a tiny 127g.

Including a frameless 75mm spinner complete with GELID PWM controls, also on offer is pre-installed GC-2 thermal compound and a design suited for Intel Celeron, Pentium Dual-Core, Core i3 and Core i5 chips - expect a TDP of 65W to be your maximum.

Continue reading: Meet the low-profile GELID Polar 1U air cooler for Intel LGA115x (full post)

Storage is no sweat for the Transcend StoreJet 8TB USB 3.0 drive

Chris Smith | Storage | Jul 7, 2015 5:01 AM CDT

Offering transfer speeds if up to 200 MB/s, Transcend's new 35T3 8TB USB 3.0 external HDD sets out to solve all of your portable storage needs. Housing more data than many home NAS setups, this 3.5" external hard drive boasts the ability to transfer a 4.7GB DVD movie in 24 seconds flat.

Including "One Touch auto-backup" integration for instantaneous backup and synchronization of your personal data, also on offer is Transcend's data management software which also assists in backup processes and securing private information.

If 8TB isn't what you're after, the 35T3 can also be found in 3TB and 4TB models, with this whole range being coupled with a three-year limited manufacturer warranty.

Continue reading: Storage is no sweat for the Transcend StoreJet 8TB USB 3.0 drive (full post)

Ubisoft learns from Watch Dogs, shows games on 'target machines' at E3

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jul 7, 2015 2:34 AM CDT

After the mess that was Watch Dogs, where Ubisoft was caught gimping the graphics of the PC version of the game and showing off footage from the game that was clearly not captured on consoles at the time, it changed its policies for E3 2015.

The studio has reassessed how it shows off pre-release games, with Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot telling The Guardian: "With E3 2015 we said, OK, let's make sure the games are playable, that they're running on the target machines. When we show something, we ask the team, make sure it's playable, make sure gamers can immediately see exactly what it is. That's what we learned from the Watch Dogs experience - if it can't be played on the target machine, it can be a risk".

Guillemot in a way blames the undefined early hardware of next-gen consoles (at the time) for the problems of Watch Dogs, where he added: "It's a real challenge to create those types of games. When they come out, especially the first iterations, they are not perfect on everything. We think we launched a good quality game for a first step in a new brand with a new technology. It's just so complex - seamless multiplayer, connectivity with mobile and tablets, so many things - it was maybe a bit too much for a first iteration".

Continue reading: Ubisoft learns from Watch Dogs, shows games on 'target machines' at E3 (full post)

AMD financials continue to decline, even with the launch of Fury X

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Jul 7, 2015 1:40 AM CDT

AMD has launched its new first flagship video card in nearly two years, the Radeon R9 Fury X, and even still it's looking down the barrel of yet another quarter of disappointing financial results.

The chipmaker is expected to announce its Q2 results on July 16, with numbers that are said to be lower than even the worst estimates by analysts. AMD's Q2 sales have reportedly underperformed the worst estimates by analysts, and that investors are to expect revenue to be down 8% sequentially.

AMD's total revenue for Q1 was $1.03 billion, down 26.3% from the same period of 2014. If AMD's Q2 results are lower than this, in the $950 million mark, it would be a drop of around 34% from Q2 2014. Why? Well, according to AMD it's because of "weaker than expected consumer PC demand" but with AMD's dropping market share in the discrete GPU market, and NVIDIA securing a large chunk of it after it launched its GeForce GTX 980 late last year, I'd say it was the lack of any new products that saw sales slump, for AMD at least.

Continue reading: AMD financials continue to decline, even with the launch of Fury X (full post)

LG uses Advanced In-Cell Touch technology for next-gen laptop screens

Anthony Garreffa | Displays & Projectors | Jul 6, 2015 11:24 PM CDT

It's not just storage technology and Intel processors making laptops thinner and thinner, but display technology. LG has just announced that its Advanced In-Cell Touch (AIT) screen technology will be getting an increase in size over its mobile counterparts, shifting over to laptops.

LG's AIT technology is already found in smartphones like the LG G4, which substitutes a touch panel layer for a touch sensor, built into the LCD itself. This makes the display up to 25% thinner, and up to 35% lighter than a traditional laptop touchscreen. Not only that, but it will see less light reflection, which LG Display says that it'll make next-gen screens brighter, and clearer.

The South Korean giant plans to usher in multiple sizes, including stylus-compatible models, all in the near future.

Continue reading: LG uses Advanced In-Cell Touch technology for next-gen laptop screens (full post)

GIGABYTE Z170 motherboards teased, with a super-hot new look

Anthony Garreffa | Motherboards | Jul 6, 2015 9:35 PM CDT

With the launch of Intel's new Skylake processors and chipsets right around the corner, GIGABYTE has begun teasing its new motherboards with a seriously slick new look. GIGABYTE will be kicking off its new Gaming G1 series based on the Z170 chipset, with boards like the one pictured below.

GIGABYTE Z170 motherboards teased, with a super-hot new look

GIGABYTE will include the GA-Z170X Gaming G1, GA-Z170X Gaming 7, GA-Z170X Gaming 5 and the GA-Z170X Gaming 3 motherboards all rocking the Z170 chipset. There will also be other motherboards such as the new GA-Z170X-UD5 TH and GA-Z170X-UD3, which will be joined by the new Z170 SOC Force that will be for the super enthusiasts and overclockers.

The flagship motherboard featuring the Z170 chipset will be the new GA-Z170X Gaming G1, which will feature an E-ATX form factor and the usual arsenal of technologies, features and goodies for enthusiasts and overclockers to enjoy.

Continue reading: GIGABYTE Z170 motherboards teased, with a super-hot new look (full post)

Samsung pushes the SSD game with 2TB 850 Evo and 850 Pro additions

Chris Smith | Storage | Jul 6, 2015 8:29 PM CDT

There's no denying that SSDs increasing in size isn't a brilliant thing - have you seen the price of 240GB drives these days? In order to continue forward developments, Samsung has announced 2TB additions to its 850 EVO and 850 PRO product lines. Oh, what's that - we have reviews on those new SSDs right here.

Sitting pretty at a release price of $800, the 850 EVO is bested by the $1,000 850 PRO, with this alone explaining that the PC user isn't quite looking at SSD-only storage just yet. However, in a few years it may be the norm for workstations and general use home PCs to be running on flash-only memory due to performance, storage size and costing when compared to mechanical counterparts.

Samsung Senior Vice President of Branded Product Marketing, Un-Soo Kimm, said that this development was due to "demand for 500 gigabyte (GB) and higher capacity SSDs with the introduction of our V-NAND SSDs," so they went all out with the 2TB. Measuring in at the same dimensions of 7mm thick and 2.5 inches in size, these SSDs are aimed at consumers and are the first major brand to do so.

Continue reading: Samsung pushes the SSD game with 2TB 850 Evo and 850 Pro additions (full post)

id Software: The new DOOM will not take itself too seriously

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Jul 6, 2015 5:31 AM CDT

During an interview with METRO's GameCentral, Marty Stratton, the Executive Producer of DOOM, gave out some details of the upcoming first-person shooter.

id Software: The new DOOM will not take itself too seriously

Strattong said that the studio will not be following in the footsteps of Doom 3, where he said: "We use this phrase all the time: 'Don't take ourselves too seriously!' I worked on Doom 3, I love Doom 3, but it took itself pretty seriously. Doom I and Doom II are a bit more outlandish, they're very comic book, they're very juvenile almost in their approach. That's definitely our inspiration for how we've gone with this one".

When it comes to the environments, DOOM will feature much more varied locations than we saw in Doom 3. Stratton continued: "Yeah, I think visually, because that was a pretty heavily industrial area, it kind of felt that way. There's a visual similarity to Doom 3 there. At that point in the game you are in a UAC facility, which basically all of Doom 3 took place on. But the game is very varied in its locations, and very much unlike Doom 3 that very first area - you put on your helmet, you go through that door, we chose a path where you jump over and get on that landing and go across...".

Continue reading: id Software: The new DOOM will not take itself too seriously (full post)