Z170 offerings from ECS look great with GeIL and Avexir RAM

Chris Smith | Motherboards | Jun 3, 2015 9:54 PM CDT

Computex 2015 - Showcasing what ECS has to offer in the Intel Z170 chipset department is the Z170-CLAYMORE and the Z170-BLADE offerings.

Z170 offerings from ECS look great with GeIL and Avexir RAM

The Z170-CLAYMORE boasts four memory ports capable of DDR4 Dual-Channel support up to 32GB, five PCIe x16 slots and a display outputs including HDMI 2.0 and Display Port. Adding to this is 2-Way graphics support for those looking at increasing performance.

Next up is the Z170-BLADE. Also supporting Intel's 6th Generation processors, expect four RAM bays supporting Dual-Channel DDR4 up to 32GB, two PCIe x16 slots, one PCIe x1 slot and further 2-Way video card support. Adding to this is six SATA (6Gb/s) ports and a single M.2 offering. Outputs on this board include HDMI, SVI, D-Sub and Display Port sitting alongside a 6-Channel (5.1) HD audio output by Realtek, two USB 3.1 ports, siz USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0 offerings.

Continue reading: Z170 offerings from ECS look great with GeIL and Avexir RAM (full post)

How small can you go? Miniscule ECS LIVA PCs pictured

Chris Smith | Computer Systems | Jun 3, 2015 9:38 PM CDT

Computex 2015 - "What could you possibly fit into such a small box?" This is the question that I am most commonly asked when I show my friends pictures of systems as small as this - quite a lot is the real answer.

How small can you go? Miniscule ECS LIVA PCs pictured

Introducing the ECS LIVA PC series. First is the Core, brandishing an Intel Core M-5Y10C SoC processor, 4GB of DDR3L memory, one M.2 SSD for storage, Gigabit LAN, a wireless card offering Wi-Fi 802.11 ac and Bluetooth 4.0 are just some of what this beast has to offer.

As for outputs you can expect two HDMI ports, one combo sound/microphone jack, two microphones, four USB 3.0 ports and a Micro SD card reader all bundled into this 136 x 84 x 38mm package.

Continue reading: How small can you go? Miniscule ECS LIVA PCs pictured (full post)

Mini PCs are out in force, here it BIOSTAR's Intel Celeron addition

Chris Smith | Computer Systems | Jun 3, 2015 9:25 PM CDT

Computex 2015 - Named the iDEAQ-T1 IN294KT1 and also known as the Karaoke, this product comes complete with an Intel Celeron N2940 processor and integrated Intel HD graphics and marks BIOSTAR's addition to the wide range of miniature PCs available from many different companies on display this year in Taiwan.

Mini PCs are out in force, here it BIOSTAR's Intel Celeron addition

Adding to the features list is Dual-Channel DDR3L memory support at 1333 MHz in the form of two bays housing up to 16GB total, a Realtek Gigabit 10/100/1000 controller, a Mini PCie WLAN connection provided and one bay for a 2.5" hard drive.

As for connections, expect one USB 3.0 port, one USB 2.0 port, one Gigabit LAN port, one line-out and one mic-in on the rear I/O. The front I/O panel offers two USB 2.0 options.

Continue reading: Mini PCs are out in force, here it BIOSTAR's Intel Celeron addition (full post)

Colorful shows off its NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 iGame at Computex 2015

Anthony Garreffa | Video Cards & GPUs | Jun 3, 2015 8:58 PM CDT

Computex 2015 - One of the companies that I'm most excited about reviewing video cards for is Colorful, a Chinese video card manufacturer that builds some of the craziest cards you have seen. Colorful recently said it was aiming to become the second largest VGA vendor in the world.

We went and introduced ourselves here at Computex in Taipei, and had a close look at their GeForce GTX 980 Ti iGame card, which is a beautiful card with an insane cooling setup on it.

We hope to get some samples of Colorful video cards in the near future, so keep your eyes peeled to TweakTown.

Continue reading: Colorful shows off its NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 iGame at Computex 2015 (full post)

Magic Leap wants developers to use its augmented reality platform

Magic Leap has added a developers section to its website, as the company reportedly prepares to launch a development platform for augmented reality (AR) software engineers. There is no word when the software development kit (SDK) would be released, but it's expected to be compatible with the Unity and Unreal game engines.

"We're about having a completely open platform for every app developer, artist, writer, and filmmaker," said Rony Abovitz, CEO of Magic Leap, while speaking on stage at the MIT Technology Review's EmTech Digital conference. "We're going to open it up for the world."

It is a monumental step forward for Magic Leap, which has largely remained below the radar - despite its heavy emphasis on bringing objects or characters to life in the world around you. However, it seems a bit strange that developers will have the chance to begin creating apps using the Magic Leap SDK before actually interacting with the company's hardware. Even so, I look forward to seeing what AR developers can create using the tools given to them.

Continue reading: Magic Leap wants developers to use its augmented reality platform (full post)

Pictured: MSI gaming motherboards out in force

Chris Smith | Motherboards | Jun 3, 2015 6:23 PM CDT

Computex 2015 - The red MSI dragon has a strong showing this year in Taipei, seeing motherboards on display across the X99 and Z170A models.

Pictured: MSI gaming motherboards out in force

First up is the X99A GODLIKE GAMING motherboard, featuring support for Intel Core i7 LGA 2011-3 socket processors, eight RAM bays supporting Quad-Channel DDR4 RAM at 3300MHz (overclocked) up to 128GB total, five PCI-E 3.0 x16 slots supporting 4-way SLI or Crossfire, one M.2 SATA port (32G/bs) ten SATA ports (6G/bs) and two Killer Gigabit LAN cards coupled with one Killer Wi-Fi module. For the audio lovers there is also added support for a 6.3mm Hi-Fi audio jack.

The other X99 motherboard on display is the X99A GAMING 9 ACK, sporting similar features but with the addition of two USB 3.1 ports and one less Killer LAN card. This model motherboard also took home a BC award thanks to its cool looking design.

Continue reading: Pictured: MSI gaming motherboards out in force (full post)

NVIDIA pushes the boundaries of virtual reality, showing off demos

Computex 2015 - NVIDIA wants to help gamers in Taiwan experience virtual reality, and brought its GeForce VR Experience to Computex 2015. The idea behind the effort is to allow consumers to enjoy VR for the first time, ahead of a likely onslaught of VR headsets in the coming years.

Gamers interested in VR will have to be ready to spend for it, especially if they need to purchase new PC components. However, it's expected gamers will see a drastic increase in VR-themed software releases in the coming years - and NVIDIA teamed up with CCP Games for a Tron-like VR experience, which you can read about here.

"VR changes the way you play and experience games by putting you in the game," NVIDIA said. "When you're in VR, you're directly in the action with a full 3D world all around you. Move your head and the view changes. Move your physical body and your virtual body moves with it."

Continue reading: NVIDIA pushes the boundaries of virtual reality, showing off demos (full post)

The product you never knew you needed - GIGABYTE's hands free selfie

Chris Smith | Business, Financial & Legal | Jun 3, 2015 6:04 PM CDT

Computex 2015 - Adding to the wacky lineup of products on display across multiple companies this year in Taipei is GIGABYTE's selfie generating product - the Selfie Assistant.

The product you never knew you needed - GIGABYTE's hands free selfie

Said to provide you with a great tool to record and track a speaker during an important meeting or class lecture, this product also takes group selfie pictures by using face tracking technology alongside 360-degree panorama support.

Featuring an infrared remote control and smart recording, this product is certainly more than the title may suggest.

Continue reading: The product you never knew you needed - GIGABYTE's hands free selfie (full post)

Breaking: More info on GIGABYTE's impressive Z170x-Gaming G1

Chris Smith | Motherboards | Jun 3, 2015 5:52 PM CDT

Adding to yesterday's exclusive release of the GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard, our man on the ground Steven Bassiri went for a closer look and this is what he discovered.

Breaking: More info on GIGABYTE's impressive Z170x-Gaming G1

Today GIGABYTE showed off its top of the line next generation gaming motherboard, the Z170X-Gaming G1. Off the bat you can tell that the board is totally different than anything GIAGBYTE has done before. To start things off GIGABYTE has added RGB LEDs to the board and through an application you can control them and make them whatever color your heart desires.

A nice mix of white shielding and red slots add to the aesthetic appeal of the product. While we don't know too much about the product, we do know a few things. First off the 20 phase (16+4) VRM is powered by IR components and PowIRstages. The memory also seems to use an IR PWM and powerstages. The heat sink has built in watercooling as well.

Continue reading: Breaking: More info on GIGABYTE's impressive Z170x-Gaming G1 (full post)

AORUS is at it again with the world's most poweful 15" laptop

Chris Smith | Laptops | Jun 3, 2015 5:23 PM CDT

Computex 2015 - Yesterday (local time) we covered the release of AUROS' new 17" slim laptop that boasts the most powerful performance in the world, including two NVIDIA GeForce 970m video cards and measuring just 0.9 inches thick. Today this new brand is at it again, making claim to having produced the "earth's most powerful 15 inch" laptop.

AORUS is at it again with the world's most poweful 15

Complete with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 965M SLI setup coupled with NVIDIA G-Sync, AUROS has presented us with a 3k IPS display running at 2880 x 1620 resolution, three SSDs in RAID boasting transfer speeds of up to 1500Mb/s and 25 sets of macro keys.

Adding to the pile of features, AUROS claims this is the first laptop in the world to be able to cast your game-play to the world in-house, boasting a live streaming engine located within. There's no telling if this is a third-party collaboration with someone like BlackMagic or AVeRMedia just yet, or pre-installed software like XSplit or OBS.

Continue reading: AORUS is at it again with the world's most poweful 15" laptop (full post)