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E3 wrap up: a slower year for gaming
E3, while crazy, was mostly uneventful. There weren't really any surprises and we knew basically everything that would be shown there. The biggest event for E3 would have to be Nintendo announcing and allowing hands-on tests with their new WiiU console. Sony and Microsoft were still pushing the same stuff, so it was pretty quiet from them.
There were a few smaller games being developed that I got a chance to look at and comment on. These pre-alpha games didn't have the fit and finish of a studio game, but were good nonetheless. Most of the game studios were allowing hands-on demonstrations of their new games, although most weren't allowing any pictures or videos.
On the hardware front, there were a few smaller companies showing new products off, but there were no major releases from the major companies. Razer released the Taipan mouse, Raptorfire.com was showing off a new USB module which would allow Xbox controllers on PS3 and PS3 controller on Xbox, along with game mods.
Continue reading: E3 wrap up: a slower year for gaming (full post)
Kingston shows 64GB of RAM is needed, possibly more
Kingston was at ShowStoppers, an event that runs at the same time as E3, demoing their RAM and the fact that 64GB is needed and, in some instances, not enough. They were running an Adobe program on a 2011 Intel platform with all 8 slots loaded with 8GB sticks of HyperX RAM. CPU usage was around 12%, while RAM usage was at 94% when I grabbed a picture.
The real news from Kingston, however, was the launching of their new RAM to compliment the Ivy Bridge platform. Kingston is now shipping dual-channel RAM kits specifically designed for the third-generation Core line of products. Kingston HyperX memory is available in 16GB and 8GB kits of two at 1600MHz, 2133MHz, 2400MHz and soon to be speedy 2666MHz frequencies.
"The new 22nm architecture of this processor allows significant performance gains for benchmarkers, enthusiasts and overclockers," said Mark Tekunoff, senior technology manager, Kingston. "Enthusiasts who want to push the performance boundaries of the new processors will want to pair it with Kingston HyperX memory. Our 2666MHz kit combined with the top CPU in the Ivy Bridge family will allow unparalleled performance."
Continue reading: Kingston shows 64GB of RAM is needed, possibly more (full post)
Entropic Communications demos MoCA, allows network connectivity over coax
An exciting new technology to expand network connectivity in older homes was shown at E3. Entropic demoed a technology that is similar in function to Ethernet-over-power, but higher performance and more reliable. The technology involves using the existing Coaxial cable (common TV, cable wire) that is in almost every house.
Most people don't have the luxury of having Cat5e wired throughout their house, so this allows them to obtain higher, more reliable speeds than wireless without having to run new wire. "MoCA is the universal standard for home entertainment networking and can support multiple streams of HD video content while delivering up to 175 Mbps net throughput at less than 4.5ms of average network latency. MoCA has more than 100 certified products, which can give gamers:"
The technology is already in use in cable modems and other adapters on the market, so it isn't exactly new technology. At the same time, however, it isn't exactly well known. I can see the promise in this technology and wouldn't hesitate to use it in my own home if the need arose.
NVIDIA GRID: "It's a game changer"
NVIDIA was showing off their upcoming GRID technology which streams games to your television. GRID eliminates the need for high performance PCs or even consoles. Samsung is NVIDIA's launch partner and the technology requires the users have a Samsung SMART TV, but more companies could be added in the future.
I got a chance to mess around with the technology at E3 and have to say I am impressed. The games were streaming from a data center about 5 miles away and I didn't feel like I was lagging. That's my biggest worry with the technology: how will they guarantee no lag? Furthermore, the technology requires a pretty big internet pipe, something that not all of us have the luxury of having.
The minimum spec for the internet is 5Mbps, something unavailable where I live. This means that it would be impossible for me to use NVIDIA GRID technology. Additionally, they haven't decided if it is going to be a subscription based model or something else, so pricing and information like that is still up in the air.
Continue reading: NVIDIA GRID: "It's a game changer" (full post)
WeMade's E3 line-up shows off 6 games, impresses some
The first night, I attended WeMade's press conference at ICON Ultra Lounge. The press conference was good, but I wasn't so impressed by the games shown. Not to say they were bad games, they just weren't something I would play. However, this is probably due to me not exactly being a mobile gamer.
The lineup included Chaos and Defense, Viking Island, Pet Island, Goblin Mobile, Friend Fighter, Rhythm Scandal, and Hero Square. Since the first night, I have been waiting patiently for screenshots and information about the games so I could tell you, the reader. Finally, the information has arrived.
Friend Fighter, which is the working title, was probably the game I would most enjoy playing. Not to mention, the name is hilarious.
Continue reading: WeMade's E3 line-up shows off 6 games, impresses some (full post)
Intel powered Lenovo K800 smartphone shows NFC and performance aplenty
Computex 2012 - Sitting in a private suite at the Grand Hyatt we got a chance to check out the Intel powered K800 Smartphone from Lenovo to see just what a smartphone from Intel was capable of doing.
I think the most obvious thing we notice is the performance of it. Silky smooth playback of video over a crowded 3G network in Taipei was great.
Of course there's the responsiveness of the phone as well when it's running the video and the Intel powered K800 really has no trouble making sure everything is running super smooth at all times. It's probably the two other features that we really loved, though.
Continue reading: Intel powered Lenovo K800 smartphone shows NFC and performance aplenty (full post)
World Exclusive: Biwin NuvoDrive NX SSD (NovaChips Bugatti controller) First Tests
Computex 2012 - Just moments ago, we brought you the world exclusive first looks of 19nm Toshiba Toggle Flash and 20nm IMFT ONFi2 Flash paired with the SandForce SF-2281 controller. The testing circumstances were not the best but good enough for a first look.
Now we're running at the new Biwin NuvoDrive NX based on NovaChips upcoming Bugatti controller. At Computex the case was sealed up so we don't know what flash this drive is paired with but we do know once again C-States were turned on and the driver used on the systems was the baseline Microsoft default.
Today we're looking at the 320GB drive but due to the system setup (X79, MS driver and C-States) we can't compare these numbers to anything.
World Exclusive: SandForce SSD benchmarks with IMFT 20nm ONFi2 Flash
Computex 2012 - Just moments ago we brought you the world exclusive first numbers of a SandForce SF-2281 controller paired with Toshiba's upcoming 19nm Toggle Mode flash. The system we tested on was provided by LSI and was NOT our normal test system optimized for solid state drive performance. We now have a little something to compare the 19nm test with and it is yet another world exclusive!
SandForce had three drives at their suite of interest to us. The first being the 256GB 19nm Toshiba Toggle Mode product and the other two are 128GB IMFT drives. One drive equipped with 20nm Intel ONFi2 flash and the other with Micron 20nm ONFi2 flash. We've learning that IMFT is a little behind Toshiba in the development of their next generation flash and right now the focus is on ramping up endurance. The performance improvements will come after the endurance is increased.
We're just going to run over the numbers with brief commentary. At the end we'll talk about what we're seeing.
Continue reading: World Exclusive: SandForce SSD benchmarks with IMFT 20nm ONFi2 Flash (full post)
World Exclusive: SandForce SSD benchmarks with Toshiba 19nm Toggle Mode Flash
Computex 2012 - Computex is starting to wrap up and we only have one day left to run the halls. So far I've only visited half of the companies I planned to, but all is not lost as we made a few changes to the schedule to bring you some really nice exclusive coverage.
The first of our exclusive coverage comes from SandForce and what makes this particular SF-2281 controlled drive special is it's paired with Toshiba's upcoming 19nm Toggle Mode flash!
We're just going to run over the numbers with brief commentary. At the end we'll talk about what we're seeing.
We feel a good aura off the new ECS G24 Aura AIO at Computex
Computex 2012 - Walking around the show floor at ECS we bumped into our good friends at ECS who were showing off the latest All in One PC or AIO named the G24 Aura. The new Mini-ITX based AIO PC sports support for Intel 2nd and 3rd Generation Core CPU along with Celeron Processors. We've got support for two SO-DIMM DDR3 modules, one 3.5" HDD or two 2.5" ones along with support for a Slim optical drive or another hard drive.
Moving away from the main specifications we've got a 23.6" screen that offers us a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution with 10-finger multi-touch being an option. At the front we have a 1.3M Pixel webcam and microphone built into the screen. Across the bottom of the display we can also see two speakers.
Turning around to the back side we've got a place for a slim optical driver or another hard drive, we've got I/O connectivity on both sides along with our main buttons on the rear. Also present is a Kensington Lock along with a VESA stand support.
Continue reading: We feel a good aura off the new ECS G24 Aura AIO at Computex (full post)
Touch of gold comes to ECS GEFORCE GTX 680 Black video card
Computex 2012 - Over the past few months since the launch of the GTX 680 we've seen companies add their own touch of flavor to the model. There continues to be a number of companies, though, we haven't seen anything from with one being ECS.
Over at their Computex booth, though, today we got a peek at the ECS GTX 680 Black edition card which carries with it a dual fan setup surrounded by a gold shroud that looks pretty good. We weren't in the best position to take snaps but we can see that the core has been bumped from 1006MHz to 1040MHz while the 2GB of GDDR5 has been left alone.
Hopefully we'll see a sample out of ECS sometimes soon and give you our impressions on the latest GTX 680 variant from the team over at ECS.
Continue reading: Touch of gold comes to ECS GEFORCE GTX 680 Black video card (full post)
Chinese motherboard maker Wibtek enters retail gaming market with Hacker Z75 mobo
Computex 2012 - Walking around the halls today we spotted a motherboard with the model name "Hacker" and it made me stop and pay attention.
The company in question here is Wibtek, a long time Chinese motherboard producer who has only just entered the retail motherboard market at the end of last year. We often walk the show floor each year and see loads of motherboard makers, but they usually don't interest that much with their non-enthusiast entries.
Wibtek was different though as they did get our attention for the Hacker Z77 and Hacker Z75 based motherboards. This is Wibtek's first attempt and creating an enthusiast motherboard and by the looks of things, they are off to a fairly positive start. They are marketing their Z77 board as offering easy overclocking and impeccable performance. They add in an Auto-Overclocking Button with customised software along with a Hacker IC which is something we need to check out more before we can comment on it properly.
Antec shows early version of the P280S, has curves as sexy as your hottest neighbor
Computex 2012 - We just got done showing you the Antec Reverse, next to it in the Antec meeting room was the near finished version of what the company will probably end up calling the P280S.
For me personally this was the most impressive upcoming product from Antec that I saw today mainly because of the amazing curve shape design which is employed throughout the top and front of the case.
The power and reset buttons are positioned on the left and right of the top front of the case with the top also have a sexy curved shape that just does it for me. On the top of the case is room for a radiator with a black grill that lets you see inside to see what's happening in that area of the case.
Antec Reverse prototype case will sit any way you want it and supports HPTX
Computex 2012 - One of our stops on Day 3 was with Antec where we got access into the upcoming toys area where we got to see a couple upcoming case designs that the company is currently working on right now.
The first one we want to discuss right now is the Antec Reverse. That's a temporary name at the moment for this prototype design and Antec may end up going with something else once it starts shipping around September of this year.
The Reverse is a case that gets its name for the fact that it can sit on its top or on its bottom. Depending how you are feeling on a certain day, you can just change it around to how you like. Not only that though, but this case supports motherboards up to HPTX. So if you want to run a high-end enterprise level dual socket motherboard in your system, Antec has you covered well here.
InWin continues creative trend with H-Frame open air concept case at Computex
Computex 2012 - InWin has impressed us over the few months. I'll be honest and say they've had some weird and wonderful designs over the year, but with their recent open air chassis designs, we've really liked what we've been seeing. We just posted our review of the InWin X-Frame recently which received an award for its features. We also awarded the X-Frame with our TweakTown Computex 2012 Recommended award today as well.
The latest unique open air design from InWin is the H-Frame which will go on sale a little later this year. The two designs we saw today featured some rather bright colors including a pink and orange version along with a black and orange version. You will have the option for a full window side panel or a regular closed panel.
The front and back of the case are open and are split with a small gap between each panel to allow for air to freely flow in and out of the case. InWin told us in their testing that some system configurations do not even require a case fan due to the open air concept of the H-Frame.
Intel very proud of Acer Iconia W700, shows what a Windows 8 tablet should be like
Computex 2012 - I've got to say myself that Intel did a good job of impressing us at the end of Day 3 of Computex when all we wanted to do was grab some dinner and relax somewhere.
The next demo we got from Intel was with our French friend François Piednoël who was clearly thrilled to show us what the upcoming Acer W700 tablet can do when combined with Intel processing power. Apparently the exact final processor has been decided and hence not yet announced from Acer, but it's going to be a "Core processor" of some sort according to François.
I'll say it right now - this is what a Windows 8 tablet experience should be like. I was joined by Shane and Chris at the Intel meeting and over dinner we all said that we would be buying an Acer W700. We saw very smooth and fluid tab switching under Windows 8 on the W700 as well as very solid touch scrolling and zooming in the browser, as you can see in the video above.
Thermaltake's Computex gear is pimp, lots of awesome stuff on show
Computex 2012 - Just like NVIDIA, we visited the Thermaltake grounds today as yesterday was floor to ceiling packed. Thermaltake really take care of you when you're there, and were some of the best guys and girls of the event so far. Ramsom is one of the best guys I've met since being in Taipei and we got to talking about various cases, peripherals, and more.
What impressed me the most were the Level 10, and Level 10 GT cases... I know my good friend Lee will be reading this right now and nodding his head in agreement. Next move he'll go to
Facebook and say "I told you so!", and so he should - these things kick arse. There are so many different variants of colors and themes of them at the booth, we're going to just show them off and stop talking about them, have a look.
Continue reading: Thermaltake's Computex gear is pimp, lots of awesome stuff on show (full post)
We check out the NVIDIA stand at Computex, and survived to tell the tale
Computex 2012 - I'm sure you're aware of our relationship with NVIDIA, and yesterday we walked through their stand in Nangang at Computex. I noticed that my badge was getting looked at by virtually everyone, so I don't know if the staff were told to look out for certain media, but it felt like it. I thought I'd ask for a t-shirt, lanyard, etc - as I'm still a fan of the company, but all I got was a lanyard. We decided to visit again today, and got the same looks, but had more time there as it wasn't so wall-to-wall crazy busy. First up we have the GEFORCE GTX 680 and some awards it won.
Next up we hit the ASUS ROG PCs, where there was a StarCraft II session happening with some pro-gamers, check out the shots below.
A nice panoramic so you can get a feel of the scale of the event itself.
Antec unveils white-colored P280 case, as well as a sweet concept case
Computex 2012 - Antec had a very, very sweet setup here in the halls of Nangang, where they had their new white-colored P280 case, with a high-specced rig inside. 4-way NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 680 cards, Intel's Core i7-3930K, but the surprising bit was it was powered by two power supplies. Antec's High Current Pro Platinum HCP-1300 and HCP-1000. Crazy, right? Check out the pics.
A nice shot of Antec's HCP-1000 Platinum with a side-window, unfortunately this won't be how it is in the box.
The range of colors for the Antec P280
Continue reading: Antec unveils white-colored P280 case, as well as a sweet concept case (full post)
A tour of the GeIL stand, memory, gaming gear, and more
Computex 2012 - Walking through these halls in Nangang is crazy, there is almost too much to see, which is sometimes overwhelming. Then you meet some great guys over at the GeIL booth and they walk you through some of their gear. GEiL are just one division of a three-part company. GEiL covers the memory/storage side of things, Epic Gear covers peripherals such as keyboards, mice and mouse mats, then finally we have power supplies covered by Thortech.
First up we have shots of the Meduza mouse from Epic Gear, which felt great in my hand. The mouse mat under it has 8 layers and can flex back on itself and is an absolute joy to use. I noticed it felt smoother than most other mice I've used at Computex and asked the guy if the monitor was a 120Hz screen, which it was. Nice to see GEiL using a super-smooth 120Hz screen to their advantage with a smooth mouse and mouse mat combo.
The Meduza sports dual-sensors, one optical, one lazer for precision. This is great for those who switch between first-person shooters and MMOs, there is a toggle for 'optical', 'host', and 'laser'. Another surprise was their Compoxite mouse mat which is completely water-proof. This is great for those gamer rage sessions where you might accidentally spill a drink across your mouse mat.
Continue reading: A tour of the GeIL stand, memory, gaming gear, and more (full post)


