Noctua's unveils the successor to the NH-D14, the NH-D15

Charles Gantt | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Apr 8, 2014 2:21 PM CDT

With its previous flagship CPU cooler, the massive NH-D14, being widely recognized as one of the best CPU coolers ever made, Noctua has once again released a larger-than-life tower cooler to aid in your CPU cooling needs. The all new NH-D15 elite-class dial tower CPU cooler features several major improvements over its predecessor that not only improves performance, but continues Noctua's goal of creating the quietest CPU coolers in the world.

"Having convinced tens of thousands of quiet cooling enthusiasts around the globe, our NH-D14 has become a reference for top-tier dual tower heat sinks," explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "In the end, it took us more than three years of continuous development, countless thermal simulations and over hundred samples to come up with a substantial improvement in efficiency. Staying true to our policy of not releasing anything we're not 100% satisfied with, we had to accept some delays in order to squeeze out the last few percent of performance, but now we're proud to finally release the NH-D15 as a worthy successor to the venerable D14."

The new NH-D15's "fin-stack" has increased in size from 140mm to 150mm allowing the company to better space out the cooler's heat pipes. This wider spacing allows for a more uniform heat distribution over the entire finned surface. The NH-D15 features recessed lower fins that provides clearance for tall memory heat sinks while in single fan mode. Additionally, the NH-D15 ships with Noctua's NF-A15 premium fans and are PWM controllable for maximum system performance. The new flagship is expected to retail for $99 USD.

Continue reading: Noctua's unveils the successor to the NH-D14, the NH-D15 (full post)

Netflix to air second season of Ricky Gervais comedy Derek on May 30

Shane McGlaun | Celebrities & Entertainment | Apr 8, 2014 1:08 PM CDT

I will readily admit to having never watched any of the Netflix original shows. Most of them just don't sound like something that I am interested in. Take for instance a show with Ricky Gervais called Derek. It looks rather weird, but if you are a fan, you will be glad to hear this.

Netflix has announced that the second season of Derek will air on May 30. As Netflix typically does, all six of the 30-minute long episodes will be offered on May 30 so you can binge. The show will air everywhere Netflix is available except for the UK. In the UK, you will have to watch the show on Channel 4 where it was commissioned.

Derek is a comedy about a group described as living outside of society's margins. In the new season, Derek will make new friends and continues working at a retirement home he views as an extended family.

Continue reading: Netflix to air second season of Ricky Gervais comedy Derek on May 30 (full post)

Samsung ramps DDR4 production before Intel E5-2600 V3 launch

Chris Ramseyer | RAM | Apr 8, 2014 12:02 PM CDT

Just moments ago Samsung announced the companies has increased DDR4 production. This comes on the just before of Intel's E5-2600 V3 series announcement that we expect soon.

Upon launch, DDR4 will increase DRAM performance while at the same time lower power consumption.

Here we see the evolution of DRAM over time with both throughput and power.

Continue reading: Samsung ramps DDR4 production before Intel E5-2600 V3 launch (full post)

GM says 8L90 8-speed auto trans will shift faster than a Porsche DCT

Shane McGlaun | Business, Politics & Money | Apr 8, 2014 11:34 AM CDT

One of the most exciting cars that GM has produced in recent years is the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray. The 2015 Stingray will have a new automatic transmissions option that enthusiasts should like. It's not a dual-clutch transmission as you would find in other high-end cars; rather it is a more traditional automatic transmission with a torque converter.

More than a few enthusiasts, though that would mean it was a slow shifting slush box that wouldn't be up to track or performance driving. GM is talking a bit about the 8L90 8-speed transmission with paddle shifters and claims that this transmission can shift faster at wide-open throttle than the dual-clutch unit in a Porsche 911.

GM says that the transmission is eight-hundredths of a second faster in shifts than the 911 DCT is. The same auto transmission is able to be smooth around town thanks to the torque converter. This transmission will be offered in the standard Stingray and the Z06. The normal Stingray will get a different torque converter and gear ratios than the Z06 will get.

Continue reading: GM says 8L90 8-speed auto trans will shift faster than a Porsche DCT (full post)

US Navy will deploy prototype laser on a ship later this summer

Shane McGlaun | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 8, 2014 11:05 AM CDT

The US military has been working on directed energy weapons, which is a fancy way to say laser, for a long time. A successful test of a laser about a year ago showed that a weapon aboard a ship could be used to down a drone aircraft. The Navy has announced that its laser weapon will be deployed on a ship later this summer.

The prototype laser weapon will be installed on the USS Ponce for at sea testing in the Persian Gulf. Military leaders are touting the laser weapon for its ability to engage targets at the speed of light and for having an unlimited magazine.

Previous tests have shown that the laser weapon can be used against targets on the water as well. The targets in recent tests have been tracked with a Phalanx Close-in Weapon that can hand tracking data over to the laser. Sailors control the laser with a video game like controller and have the ability to stop a threat or destroy it.

Continue reading: US Navy will deploy prototype laser on a ship later this summer (full post)

Corsair releases the Black Aluminum Vengeance K70 Mechanical Keyboard

Charles Gantt | Peripherals | Apr 8, 2014 10:38 AM CDT

Corsair has just announced the launch of the latest mechanical keyboard to be added to its already impressive arsenal. The new Vengeance K70 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard features a rugged black-anodized aluminum frame with red back-lit keys who's brightness can be adjusted as a whole or individually. Corsair says that the new K70 features authentic German-made Cherry MX switches for the best reliability, accuracy, and longevity of any other mechanical switch on the market.

The Vengeance K70 is designed with a 100-percent anti-ghosted matrix with full n-key rollover and a 1000Hz reporting rate, meaning that you never miss a keystroke, or a key combination while typing or gaming. The Keyboard also features multi-media controls, a built-in USB hub, and a "soft-touch" wrist wrest that helps reduce fatigue during those long gaming sessions. The K70 is available with Cherry MX Red, Cherry MX Blue, and Cherry MX Brown switches to suit each individual gamers needs. The Vengeance K70 will retail for $129.99.

Continue reading: Corsair releases the Black Aluminum Vengeance K70 Mechanical Keyboard (full post)

Xbox 360 GoPro Channel lands as an app with exclusive videos

Shane McGlaun | Gaming | Apr 8, 2014 9:30 AM CDT

The Xbox 360 is now the old Microsoft console and it's good to see that Microsoft is still supporting the console rather than trying to push everyone to the Xbox One. Earlier this year Microsoft mentioned that the Xbox 360 would be getting a new GoPro channel where people could enjoy action sports footage and other content recorded using the GoPro cameras.

The GoPro channel is now available via the GoPro app on the Xbox 360. Users will be able to stream and curate content on the channel to their TV. To celebrate the launch of the new Xbox 360 channel, GoPro is offering users on the game console exclusive videos.

GoPro has two videos that will be available to Xbox 360 users a week before the videos are available elsewhere. The videos include a basketball trick shot involving a car. The other is an extreme snowmobile jump. Those videos are only on the Xbox 360 and should be available to watch now.

Continue reading: Xbox 360 GoPro Channel lands as an app with exclusive videos (full post)

Intel teases "Thunderbolt Networking" for Windows, 10Gbps transfers

Anthony Garreffa | Connectivity & Cloud | Apr 8, 2014 6:38 AM CDT

Intel has just shown off an incredible new way of networking between PCs at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show currently going on in Las Vegas. The new technology is called Thunderbolt Networking, and will soon be made available to all PCs that feature Thunderbolt 2 controllers.

There will soon be an updated Windows driver released, that will "emulat[e] an Ethernet connection environment" which will provide a 10Gbps two-way link between computers that are connected through a Thunderbolt cable. Thunderbolt Networking will not be enabled for older PCs that feature the first-generation Thunderbolt controllers.

Windows PCs aren't the only things receiving Thunderbolt Networking, with two connected Thunderbolt-enabled Macs also capable of this new technology. It's not going to be as good as the PC version, but it will work nonetheless. We should see this new Thunderbolt Networking technology update for Windows pushed out soon.

Continue reading: Intel teases "Thunderbolt Networking" for Windows, 10Gbps transfers (full post)

Xbox One update will deliver twice the GPU performance it has now

Anthony Garreffa | Gaming | Apr 8, 2014 4:31 AM CDT

There's a massive update coming to the Xbox One in the coming months that will reportedly offer up twice the performance of what the next-gen console is currently capable of delivering.

Stardock founder and CEO, Brad Wardell, took to Neowin, where he said that DirectX 12 is the driving force behind it, and that it will pave the way for multi-core processing on the Xbox One. It will also allow the console to provide Full HD video games, instead of just the 720p (or so) that Xbox One gamers are receiving now.

He wrote: "The results are spectacular. Not just in theory but in practice (full disclosure: I am involved with the Star Swarm demo which makes use of this kind of technology.) While each generation of video card struggles to gain substantial performance over the previous generation, here, the same hardware will suddenly see a doubling of performance. Xbox One is the biggest beneficiary; it effectively gives every Xbox One owner a new GPU that is twice as fast as the old one".

Continue reading: Xbox One update will deliver twice the GPU performance it has now (full post)

Qualcomm is ready to kick some mobile ass in 2015 with new Snapdragon

Anthony Garreffa | CPU, APU & Chipsets | Apr 8, 2014 12:29 AM CDT

Qualcomm already power countless smart devices, but the competition is heating up with Intel, NVIDIA, Apple, Samsung and much more wanting to change the game with their own devices.

The company behind the Snapdragon range of system-on-chips (SoC) has already announced its 64-bit capable Snapdragon 810 and 808 processors, which are high performance hardware designed for the best of the best Android-powered devices. Both chips are baked on a 20nm process, meaning they will use less power, will be lighter and smaller, and deliver more performance.

The eight-core Snapdragon 810 is the star of the show, featuring four Cortex-A57 cores for power-hungry tasks, while four lower-power Cortex-A53 cores will be used for everything else. We will have LPDDR4 RAM show up for the party, as well as 4K display support. There'll also be voice activation and dual Image Signal Processors for better imaging.

Continue reading: Qualcomm is ready to kick some mobile ass in 2015 with new Snapdragon (full post)

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