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Mad Reader Mod

Triton
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Modding Masters
Part 5
MAY 2013 | VOL 13 ISSUE 05
FRONTSIDE P. 4
News, product release information,
and stats from the tech industry.
HEAVY GEAR P. 12
The latest PC hardware is here:
reviews, product profiles, and
category roundups.
HARD HAT AREA P. 34
CPUs Mad Reader Mod winner,
LAN party coverage, and in-depth
looks at the latest and greatest
hardware and technology.
LOADING ZONE P. 80
Software reviews, betas, updates, and
how-tos.
DIGITAL LIVING P. 87
Games and leisure, news from
around the web, tech company
interviews, and more.
BACK DOOR P. 95
Monthly last-page interview with
people who help to shape the PC
industry.
DID YOU FIND THE HIDDEN
CPU LOGO ON OUR COVER?
Gotcha. Here it is.
Copyright 2013 by Sandhills Publishing Company. Computer Power User is a registered trademark of Sandhills Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material appearing in
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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Smart Computing, P.O. Box 82545, Lincoln, NE 68501.
Contact Us
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email: [email protected]
WA T C H I N G T H E C H I P S F A L L
Here is the pricing
information for
various AMD and
Intel CPUs.
* As of April 2012
** Manufacturers
estimated price
per 1,000
CPU Released Original Price Last Months Price Online Retail Price*
AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core 10/23/2012 $195 $199.99 $199.99
AMD FX-8320 Eight-Core 10/23/2012 $169 $179.99 $174.99
AMD FX-8150 Black Edition Eight-Core 10/12/2011 $245** $169.99 $179.99
AMD FX-8120 Black Edition Eight-Core 10/12/2011 $205** $159.99 $159.99
AMD FX-6100 Black Edition Six-Core 10/12/2011 $165** $119.99 $119.99
AMD A8-3870K Black Edition Quad-Core 12/20/2011 $135** $104.99 $99.99
AMD A8-3850 Quad-Core 7/3/2011 $135** $99.99 $84.99
AMD FX-4100 Quad-core 10/12/2011 $115** $104.99 $104.99
AMD A10-5800K Quad-Core 10/12/2012 $122 $129.99 $129.99
AMD A6-3650 Quad-Core 7/3/2011 $115** $81.99 $81.99
Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition 11/12/2012 $999** $1,049.99 $1,049.99
Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition 11/14/2011 $990** $1,069.99 $1,069.99
Intel Core i7-3930K 11/14/2011 $555** $569.99 $569.99
Intel Core i7-3770K 4/23/2011 $332** $329.99 $329.99
Intel Core i7-3770 4/23/2011 $294** $289.99 $289.99
Intel Core i7-2600K 1/9/2011 $317** $319.99 $319.99
Intel Core i7-3820 2/12/2012 $305** $299.99 $299.99
Intel Core i5-3570K 4/23/2011 $225** $229.99 $219.99
Intel Core i3-2130 9/4/2011 $138** $129.99 $129.99
Intel Core i3-2120 2/20/2011 $138** $124.99 $124.99
Thermaltake Goes Urban
With New Chassis
Say hello to the Urban S41, the latest chassis introduced to
Thermaltakes new Urban Series of mid-towers. Sporting
a brushed-aluminum fnish and a steel mesh front door
panel (thats available in windowed and non-windowed
versions), the S41 joins a chassis family that collectively
possesses a sophisticated and cutting-edge look thats
designed for users who look for powerful performance.
Among the notable inclusions are preinstalled foam on the
side panels, one 200mm top-mounted and two 120mm
fans, and a top-mounted 2.5-/3.5-inch HDD docking station
that enables blazing fast fle transfer and effortless hot-
swap replacement. Other members of the Urban Series
clan include the S21 and S31, both also available with or
without a window. Thermaltake has also announced plans to
introduce another Urban Series model soon. For now, theres
no word concerning the S41s availability or pricing.
Hyperkins RetroN 5 Goes Back In Time
If youre an avid player of cartridge games from years gone by, youre likely familiar with
Hyperkins RetroN 3 (pictured above), the only console that allows you to play all of your
favorite NES, SNES, Genesis, Super Famicom, and Mega drive cartridges on one console.
Well, prepare yourself for the RetroN 5, Hyperkins upcoming console that will not only
accept NES, SNEs and Genesis cartridges but also Famicom and Game Boy Advance
games. The latter slot will also work with Game Boy Color and Game Boy cartridges.
Hyperkin recently announced that it will forgo developing the RetroN 4 in favor of the 5,
which will provide a pair of ports each for original NES, SNES, and Genesis controllers and
bundle a wireless Bluetooth universal controller complete with macro support. Additionally,
the RetroN 5 lets players save games at any time, adjust gameplay speed up or down as
they like, and enhance in-game audio. An integrated HDMI output will support up to 720p
gaming. Look for the console possibly this summer for $90 to $100.
4 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Stelulu Puts Its Foot Down
Its only natural you might have reservations about a product
named Stinky Footboard. Dont let the name keep you from
getting up close and personal with this gaming peripheral from
Stelulu Technology, however. Two years in development, the
Stinky Footboard ($119; June release expected) integrates four
Cherry MX switches that correspond with forward, back, left,
and right foot presses on the board. Overall, the customizable
switches give users up to 16 command possibilities with the
help of the CTRL, ALT, and SHIFT keys (onboard profle saves
are supported). The board itself includes an aluminum top
plate, steel inner frame, and hard plastic exterior. Additionally,
Stelulu uses patented R2N (Return to Neutral) technology so
that once engaged, the board snaps back to neutral position
on its own, giving you quick execution between actions with
no foot strain.
Corsair Directs Its
Vengeance At Users
Once Again
Earlier this year, Corsair delivered news
of its new fagship, high-end, fully-
mechanical bruiser of a gaming keyboard,
the Vengeance K95 ($150). Now the
company is touting the April release of
the Vengeance K70, a lower-end board
that sports a friendlier price tag ($129.99) but still manages to offer plenty for your fngers to like. That includes a brushed-aluminum exterior thats
available in silver and anodized black colors and with blue or red backlighting. The board also features Cherry MX Red mechanical switches, dedicated
multimedia controls, a detachable wrist rest, USB connector, 20-key rollover and 1000Hz reporting rate specs, and the ability to individually backlight
each key (adjustable to four intensity levels), The WASD and 1-6 keys, meanwhile, include contoured, alternate-colored keycaps.
DeepCool Puts Audio Spin On Cooling
If youre thinking that DeepCools M6 notebook cooler possesses a striking
resemblance to a race car, youd be right. The company says that the coolers
design was inspired by the Need For Speed franchise and combines the
looks of a luxurious sports car and the stunning sound effect of its engine.
Among the sports car design touches on display are the M6s angular front
end that approximates a sports cars aerodynamics and silver and red side
vents draped with black metal mesh that resemble windows. The M6s most
alluring feature, however, might be its integrated 2.1 speaker system, with
a tweeter on each side of the cooler and a woofer in the middle. DeepCool
throws in a headphone jack, one USB input, and four USB outputs. Cooling
comes thanks to a 14cm fan thats adjustable from 700 to 1,100rpm via an
integrated control knob.
CPU / May 2013 5
GIGABYTE Hits The Road
With New Products
GIGABYTE has launched its NEW IDEA Tech Tour 2013 thats touching
down in four continents and 12 cities through May. The aim is to bring
all the gamers and consumers some stunning new products. After
launching in Taiwan and Thailand in late March, the tour will hit Malaysia,
Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Korea, Indonesia,
Russia, Brazil, China, and the Czech Republic. A U.S. stop is planned in Los
Angeles on April 24. During the tour GIGABYTE will introduce new ideas
for both gaming environment and tech life. Gamers can look forward to
details concerning GIGABYTEs new Aivia Uranium gaming mouse, new
WINDFORCE cooling products, a new 17-inch gaming notebook, and a
new all-in-one system. The company will also show off a new Aivia Neon
presenter mouse, headsets from its new FLY product family, S3000 USB
3.0 speakers, and a super mini mobile offce PC.
Hardware Mol e
Bowers & Wilkins Flies A
Refreshed Zeppelin
If you know anything about Apple-compatible speaker system
docks, you know that UK-based Bowers & Wilkins is a major
player among companies that make them. You probably also
know that although the companys audio systems command a
fairly hefty chunk of change, B&W has a reputation for audio
quality that rises well above whats typical. The companys new
Z2 ($399.99) and updated Zeppelin Air ($599.99; available in
May) look to live up to that reputation. Unlike the companys
recently released wireless A5 and A7 speakers that dont
feature a dock, the Z2 and Zeppelin Air both sport an Apple
Lightning connector and offer AirPlay support. The compact
Z2 comes in black (available in April) and white (June) options
and benefts from proprietary Flowport technology that aims
to output tight and controlled bass performance. The updated
Zeppelin Air, meanwhile, retains its fetching elongated design
(nothing looks like it), which B&W says places the driver units
as far apart as possible to aid sound dispersion.
University Of Michigan Scientists Take Up Painting
Less expensive and environmentally friendlier gadgets. Thats one possibility from research that
University of Michigan scientists are conducting on a new paintable electronics technique that
makes unruly semiconducting polymers more manageable. Essentially, while silicon, cooper,
and other inorganic materials used in modern electronics spread a charge well, theyre expensive
and require specialized equipment to produce. Conversely, organic and plastic semiconductors
the scientists are working with are easier to create but dont carry a charge as well. Thus, the
scientists developed a liquid, paintable semiconducting polymer solution they can brush on to
create a thin layer that can carry an uninterrupted charge. Reportedly, upon painting polymers
onto a plastic film piece, the scientists transformed a paintable semiconductor into workable
transistor. By combining the established molecular design principle with a polymer that has a
very good intrinsic charge carrier mobility, we believe it will make a huge difference in organic
electronics, says U of M Professor Jinsang Kim.
6 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
China Turns To Canonical
To Help Create Own OS
If you want to get more citizens of your country using a particular operating
system, and you want to steer your IT sector away from using Western-
produced software (read: Windows), what do you do? If youre the Chinese
government, you reach an agreement with Canonical to create your own
home-grown, customized, open-source OS. Set for an April release, the
OS will reportedly be a version of Canonicals Ubuntu dubbed UbuntuKylin
(built using Ubuntu 13.04) and is aimed at desktop and notebook usage.
Canonical will also reportedly help China develop a server version of Kylin.
According to the BBC, the desktop Kylin version will include usage of Chinese
character sets and do more to support the way Chinese people interact
with computers as well as reflect Chinas data conventions. Overall, the
effort is part of a five-year plan that China has cooked up to get more of its
population using open-source software.
Kickstarter Does A Game Good
Prior to Marchs PAX East gaming convention, crowdfunding site Kickstarter
announced a slew of impressive numbers related to games, including that
roughly 633,000 donors at the site have pledged $107.6 million to game
projects. Overall, users have helped successfully green-light 1,476 game
projects over four years, including more than 1,000 receiving pledges in the last
year alone. To illustrate just how much has changed in four years, Kickstarter
reported that $60,601 was pledged to games in 2009 vs. $83.14 million in
2012. Already this year, donors have pledged $22.4 million to games. Among
the frst successfully backed game projects was Adam Poots Kingdom Death
campaign in 2009 that raised $1,741. In 2012, Poots raised $2 million-plus
for a second Kingdom Death project. As part of the announcement, Kickstarter
provided a list of 10 successfully funded video games that are playable now,
topped by the monster hit FTL (Faster Than Light).
Sof t ware Short s
Users Embrace Mobile Apps,
Shun Poor Performance
Smartphone owners do like their mobile apps. A new global
survey of roughly 3,500 people by Compuware points out as
much, with 85% of participants indicating they favor mobile
apps over mobile websites. Why? Because users fnd apps more
convenient (55%), quicker (48%), and easier to navigate (40%).
That doesnt mean smartphone owners have all the patience in
the world if an app starts acting up, though. Compuware reports
that 56% of those surveyed indicated they experienced a problem
with a mobile app in the last six months, including 62% reporting
a crash, freeze, or error; 47% citing slow launch times; and 40%
encountering an app that wouldnt launch at all. Even worse for
developers and publishers, 79% stated theyd retry a mobile app
only once or twice if it failed to work the frst time and only 16%
would go bother trying more than twice.
CPU / May 2013 7
Play Roulette With Nicolas Cage
You Cant Lose
Add Scott Luptowski to the list of people who, for whatever reason, cant get
enough of Nicolas Cages irresistible kookiness. Unlike most of us who simply
sit back and enthusiastically bask in the glorious weirdness that is Cages
personality and seemingly nonsensical approach to choosing movie roles,
Luptowski took his appreciation a step further by creating NicolasCageRoulette.
com. The clever yet simple website gives visitors who are Netfix subscribers
one-click access to streaming a random Nicolas Cage movie on Netfix. On the
sites home page, click the All Movies or Action Movies button and youll be
whisked away to Netfix to immediately sink into the opening sequence of, say,
2002s Oscar-winning Adaptation, in which Cage skillfully pulls double acting
duty, or 1997s so-bad-its-good Face/Off, in which Cage deliciously goes
mano-a-mano with John Travolta for screen-mugging time.
Congressman Touts Legislating
From Home
Vast numbers of workers from around the world successfully
telecommute, so why cant our elected offcials do the same? Why
not indeed, asks Steve Pearce, a U.S. representative from New
Mexico who has proposed the creation of a virtual Congress
in which legislators could participate in various responsibilities
(debates, hold hearings, etc.) from the offces in their home states
using video conferencing and other technology. Pearce introduced
legislation (H.Res. 137) in mid-March to make the proposal reality,
explaining that Congress top priority should be constituents in
our home states and districts, not the lobbyists and bureaucrats in
Washington. The move, Pearce reasons, would save money, keep
lawmakers in closer proximity to those who elected them, and pull
back Washingtons curtain and allow constituents to see and feel,
frst-hand, their government at work.
Si t e Seei ng
New 49ers Stadium Tackles
Wi-Fi In Big Way
Want to tap into the nations most power Wi-Fi network? Then get yourself
some tickets to a San Francisco 49ers home game during the 2014 NFL
season. The new, roughly $1.2 billion Santa Clara Stadium the 49ers will
play in reportedly will provide more than 1 terabit of wireless capacity
when it opens. If installation and performance go according to plan, every
person in the stadium will be able to simultaneously connect to the network
at speeds on par with high-speed LTE without suffering any hiccups. When
it opens in late 2014, the stadium is set to support 802.11ac access, as
well as 802.11n/a/b/g. The senior IT director and CTO heading up the
networks installation previously worked at Facebook building its network
and are reportedly viewing the stadium as a large data center.
8 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Job Of
The Month
Want to really shoot the moon on your next job application? SpaceX, the privately held space
exploration company founded by Elon Musk of Tesla and PayPal fame, is looking for a Guidance
Navigation and Control Engineer (Software Emphasis) to help make sure the companys rockets end
up where theyre supposed to go. The ideal candidate will have a Masters or Ph.D. in aerospace
engineering, mechanical engineering, physics, or the like (this is rocket science, after all), and will be
a whiz at Python, C++, and Matlab. You also need to know Linux inside out and be ready to confgure
and deploy servers. The company would like someone with launch vehicle experience, because that
might just come in handy, you know. And you need to be an independent problem solver who also
can work well on a team, yada yada. Your job will be developing navigation and guidance controls
(surprise!) and also creating launch and vehicle simulations. The companys pitch: By joining the
SpaceX team, you are not just a part of history, you are making it. Sounds good to us! If you think
you have what it takes, head to www.spacex.com.
I Want Crepes With That
A survey of smartphone users in fve countries (France, Spain, Germany,
United Kingdom, and United States) by the API company Apigee revealed some
interesting ways that people interact with their phones:
32% of respondents said they cant wake up in the morning without an app
2% of people report using more than 50 apps per day
53% of people said they use apps even while driving
The survey also found that many responses varied across cultures. For example,
18% of French users said they are unable to order dinner without using an app,
while only 8% of people in the UK feel that way. And while 64% of Germans said
they have used apps while driving, only 49% of Americans admitted doing so.
1/3
Ratio of all online minutes spent by devices other
than a traditional PC
(comScores report 2013 Mobile Future in Focus)
12
Number of hours per week that women report
spending on social media
(Weber Shandwicks report Women In Social Media)
1.3
Number of car accidents in the U.S. during 2011
that involved the use of cell phones
(National Safety Council)
400
Number of tweets worldwide each day on Twitter
(Twitter)
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And The Crown
Goes To . . . Houston
Pingdom.com studied the worlds 1 million largest (by
traffc) websites to fnd out which cities in the world
hosted the greatest number of the sites. The winner?
Houston, Texas is home to more than 50,000 of the biggest
sites online. Coming in a distant second was Mountain View,
Calif., which hosts about 30,000 of the top-ranked sites. If
the folks in Houston get a little uppity, though, the California
residents may want to point out that on a hosting per capita
basis they crush the Texans, as Mountain Views population of 75,000
is only 1/28th that of Houstons 2.1 million.
Versace? Check. MCSE? Check. Come On In!
Newegg surveyed nearly 3,500 of its customers to fnd out what sort of products they felt were
must haves for a properly outftted man cave. The answers:
When asked what type of special guests they would like to have visit their man-cave, 26% of the
respondents said a supermodel . . . which was just slightly ahead of the 23% who said a technical guru.
Flat-screen TV
Surround sound system
Computer
Videogames
CPU / May 2013 9
tray, HDD trays, and tool-free 5.25-
inch drive locks are all black.
The top panel features power and
reset buttons, power and HDD activity
LEDs, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, a lone
USB 3.0 port, line out and mic audio
ports, and a three-speed fan controller.
I
f you put some thought into it, the case
you buy today should see you through
multiple motherboard, CPU, memory,
and graphics card upgrades. But unlike
most hardware you see covered in the
pages of CPU, you cant really bench-
mark a case: Assessing enclosures is all
about practicality.
As builders ourselves, we know that
you probably arent the type to build
a system and forget it. Youll go back
in, reroute the wiring, swap out fans,
add and remove expansion cards, add a
liquid-cooling system, upgrade HDDs
to SSDs, supplement interior lighting,
and more.
Although the cases in this roundup all
cost around $100 or less, they all feature
numerous builder-friendly features.
As such, well point out the aspects of
each one that youre sure to appreciate,
how easily it is to upgrade them, and
how much room each case offers for
routi ng wi res and accommodati ng
CPU coolers and one or more large
graphics cards. Well also comment on
available cooling options. To get the
coveted CPU seal of approval, these boxes
will have to turn heads with more than
just lights and Plexi.
ENERMAX Hoplite ST ECA3261
ENERMAX s ent us t he whi t e
version of its value enthusiast Hoplite
ST midtower. Te front and top panels
consist of white plastic and black wire
mesh vents. The l arge front panel
vents all have foam backing that act
as dust filters. You cant remove the
foam inserts, but you can pop out the
individual drive bay doors and the
lower mesh panel to wash them when
they get too gummed up. Te case feet
match the curved plastic top and front
panels, making a uniform frame around
the steel box that forms the foundation
of the case. Te interior and exterior are
painted white to match. Te expansion
bays, grommets in the motherboard
Crazy For Cases
Seven Enclosures Vie For Our Attention
Hoplite ST ECA3261
$69.99
ENERMAX
www.ecomastertek.com
12 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Teres also a plastic panel that fips open
to reveal a hot-swap SATA drive port, so
you can quickly slide in an HDD or SSD
to grab fles, troubleshoot problems, or
back up fles.
Enthusiasts will appreciate all the
cooling options this case has to offer.
There are two 120mm blue LED fans,
one in the front and one on the rear
panel. Theres also a removable dust
filter under the PSU. Theres room
for a 120mm or 140mm fan in the
top panel, and two more 120mm fan
mounts on the side panels acryl ic
window let you add additional cooling
for your graphics card(s). On that
topic, the Hoplite ST can support
graphics cards up to 11.26 inches long
when you leave the topmost 3.5-inch
drive cage in. Pinch the two plastic
catches on the cage to pull it out, and
you now have room for 15. 9-i nch
graphics cards. Last time we checked,
they dont even come that big.
Theres approxi matel y 20mm of
space behind the motherboard tray
for tucking wires and a large CPU
cutout in the motherboard tray for
painlessly adding and removing CPU
coolers. Tere isnt room inside the case
for more than a 120mm or 140mm
radi ator, but there i s a quartet of
grommets in the rear panel that let you
install an external radiator. Te case has
six interior drive bays.
Overall, we came away from the
Hoplite ST pleasantly surprised. This
case may not have the curb appeal of
some of the cases in this roundup,
but it has many more enthusiast-level
features than most sub-$100 cases out
there. If you would rather splurge on
components, this case should make your
short list for your next build.
ENERMAX Coenus ECA3290
Compa r e d t o t he s howr oom
white of the Hoplite ST, the Coenus
represents a dramatic contrast. It has
an industrial graphite gray exterior,
chi sel ed angul ar f ront panel , and
smoked acrylic side panel. The front
Coenus ECA3290
$69.99
ENERMAX
www.ecomastertek.com
Compared to the
showroom white of
the Hoplite ST, the
Coenus represents a
dramatic contrast.
CPU / May 2013 13
handle anything larger than microATX
motherboards. But just because its
small doesnt mean it comes up short
on features.
This steel case has a matte black
exterior and a painted black interior.
The front panel has a full metal mesh
face with an inch-wide strip of plastic
running down the right side. There
are two external drive bays, one for a
5.25-inch optical drive and another
for a 3.5-inch device. The front panel
features two USB 2.0 ports, one USB
3.0 port, mic and line out ports, power
and reset buttons, and LEDs for the
power but t on and HDD act i vi t y.
Behind the metal mesh of the front
panel youll find a finer plastic mesh
thatll do an excellent job of keeping
edge of the top panel bul ges and
presents the power and reset buttons,
a pair of USB 3.0 ports, line out and
mic ports, and power and HDD LEDs
on an angl ed pl ane for easy access
whether the case is on the floor or on a
desk next to you.
Behind the bulge youll fnd a pair of
fan mounts that can accommodate up
to two 140mm fans, or a single 180mm
fan. Theres one red LED 120mm fan
in the front panel, but theres room to
add a second 120mm fan, as well. The
front mesh panel and the trio of 5.25-
inch drive bays all have foam backing
to block incoming dust, but youll have
to remove the whole panel to access the
lower grilles foam. Youll find another
120mm fan mount on the bottom panel,
and ENERMAX gives you a 120mm
fan in the rear panel. Te bottom panels
fan mount and PSU vent both have
removable dust flters.
On the interior of the case, the
motherboard tray, expansi on bay
covers, and drive cages are all painted
black. Theres a large CPU cutout in
the motherboard tray, and the back side
panel features a ton of space for routing
cables. Te motherboard tray also features
numerous anchors for bundling and
routing those wires. A handful of cutouts
also ring the motherboard tray, making
the time-consuming task of routing cables
a little easier.
There are three 5.25-inch external
dri ve bays, but t he i nt eri or bays
ar e wher e ENERMAX s hows us
something new. Instead of giving us
drive trays that can handle 3.5-inch
HDDs or 2.5-inch SSDs, the Coenus
features a middle cage that you can
convert to all HDDs or all SSDs. To
make the transition, just remove the
thumbscrews in the bottom of the
topmost drive bay and move the left
side of the middle drive bay to the out
(for 3.5-inch drives) or in (for 2.5-
inch drives) position. Then just use the
included drive rails designed for HDDs
or SSDs. You can also remove the drive
cage side altogether to accommodate
particularly long graphics cards (up to
16.3 inches long).
One of the coolest features of the
Coenus is the tool-free 5.25-inch drive
bay l ocks. As the drive sl ides into
place, the locks automatically engage;
simply flip the switch to release the
drive. Other highlights include side
panel handles, rubber grommets for
an external radiator, and enough room
in the top panel to fit an internal
240mm radiator.
Te Coenus is a solid case that looks
like it should cost much more than its
reasonable sticker price suggests.
Cooler Master N200
As the l one mi ni tower i n thi s
roundup, Cooler Masters N200 cant
N200
$49.99
Cooler Master
www.coolermaster-usa.com
14 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
mic and line out ports, and youll fnd
them at the curved edge between the
front and top panels. Te power button
is backlit blue, and theres also a red
HDD activity LED.
The l eft si de panel has a l arge
window that gives you a good view of
everything from the PSU to the CPU
cool er. Thi s case can handl e CPU
coolers up to 6.3 inches tall. Youll
have to remove the side panel to see
the i nternal dri ve bays. There are
six internal 2.5/3.5-inch bays. Install
hard drives by fexing the plastic drive
tray, and a quartet of foam pads keep
HDD vibration to a minimum. Each
dust out. The top panels 120mm
fan port also has a fine plastic mesh
filter, and theres another filter under
the PSU bay. The latter slides out for
quick cleaning.
Inside, theres a single drive cage
that can handle three HDDs. The top
of the cage has mounting holes for
one SSD. There are two sets of screw
holes in the bottom of the case so you
can move the drive cage toward the
front panel, for more PSU and cable
clearance, or toward the rear panel,
for better airflow or to make space
for a 240mm radiator. You can install
another SSD under the external 3.5-
inch drive bay. If you have no need
for an external 3.5-inch bay, you can
remove a pair of screws in the front
panel and slide the cage out, which
provides clearance for another SSD
mount thats located under the optical
drive bay. Using the included rubber
grommets, you can install another pair
of SSDs on the motherboard tray to the
right of the motherboard. Because the
middle portion of the case is clear, you
can install graphics cards as long as the
case, if desired.
Wiring this case should be simple
as long as you install a modular or
relatively conservative power supply;
theres not much room behind the
motherboard tray f or routi ng the
excess. Thankful l y, Cool er Master
beveled the side panel to give you a
l i t t l e ext r a br eat hi ng r oom and
numerous tethers to zip-tie your wiring
into neat bundles. There is a large CPU
cutout and several wiring cutouts in the
vicinity of the motherboards SATA and
24-pin ATX power ports. They dont
have rubber grommets like the other
cases in this roundup, but the edges of
the cutouts are rolled, so your cables
wont suffer scoring.
The Cooler Master N200 is one of
those rare enclosures that are afordable
without feeling cheap. Its not fashy, but
utility wins out against vanity any day of
the week for us, making this case an ace
in our book.
Thermaltake Chaser A31
Termaltake sent us the Chaser A31,
an afordable case with a muted visual
aesthetic and numerous enthusiast-
friendly features. The case features
plastic front and top panels, with a
large metal mesh fan port on the top
panel and nine mesh bay covers on the
front panel. Each bay cover has a blue
plastic frame, which gives the case some
color. Youll also get color from the two
fans Thermaltake gives you. Theres a
120mm intake fan in the front panel
and another blue LED fan for exhaust
in the rear panel. Te front panel ports
consist of a pair of USB 3.0 ports and
Chaser A31
$79.99
Thermaltake
www.thermaltakeusa.com
CPU / May 2013 15
tray also features four screw holes for
mounting SSDs.
By default, the case has room for
graphics cards up to 11.4 inches long,
but you can remove the middle drive
cage for extra space. In addition to
the included intake and exhaust fans,
theres space for two more 120mm fans
in the top panel, another 120mm in
the front panel, and one more in the
bottom panel. A large CPU cutout gives
you plenty of access to the back of the
motherboard, and a trio of grommeted
motherboard tray ports let you route
wires out of sight. Other features we
like include the removable fan filter
in the bottom panel , the tool -free
5.25-inch bay locks, and the pair of
grommeted ports on the rear panel
for installing an external radiator for a
liquid-cooling system. Theres a little
room behind the motherboard tray for
routing wires, but the right side panel
features a convex bevel, giving you
another quarter of an inch of space.
Overall, the Chaser A31 is a roomy
enclosure that will not only handle
plenty of gear, but it is also priced very
affordably, leaving more room in your
budget for all the cores, megahertz, and
gigabytes your enthusiast heart desires.
Thermaltake Chaser A41
Thermaltake also sent us its Chaser
A41, which is a slightly larger and
more feature-laden enclosure than the
A31. The Chaser A41 features a similar
steel frame and pl astic front panel
construction as the A31. The top panel
on this one is composed of a large
piece of steel with a pair of fan slots;
one 200mm blue LED fan preinstalled.
Theres also a 120mm exhaust fan on
the back panel. A plastic tray toward
the front panel features power and
reset buttons, two USB 3. 0 ports,
and mic and line out ports, as well
as HDD acti vi ty and power LEDs
(red and blue, respectively). The front
panel features four external 5.25-inch
bays, a dedicated external 3.5-inch
bay (with a tray that can also handle
The Chaser A41 features
a similar steel frame
and plastic front panel
construction as the A31.
Chaser A41
$109.99
Thermaltake
www.thermaltakeusa.com
16 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Tese trays are a little more substantial
than those in the Chaser A31, and the
foam pads are replaced here by rubber
ones that surround the screws used to
secure the HDD to the tray. The drive
cages in the Chaser A41 are all fxed in
place, but despite this, theres still room
for graphics cards up to 12.4 inches
long. Other features include space for a
bottom panel fan, four folding case feet
for added stability, tool-free 5.25-inch bay
locks (these are the same as those on the
Chaser A31), and three large grommeted
ports on the rear panel for mounting an
external radiator. Speaking of radiators,
theres even room on the top panel for an
internal 240mm radiator.
At first glance, the Chaser A31 and
A41 share many of the same features.
For $30 more, however, the A41 gives
you more space, more cooling, and more
features. Its a gamers enclosure that will
leave you with plenty of money in your
budget for those components thatll boost
your frame rates.
Aerocool Xpredator X1 Black Edition
Aerocools entrant is the Xpredator
X1 Black Edition, a steel and plastic
midtower case thats painted black
inside and out. Te front panel features
three external 5.25-inch drive bays
above a large metal mesh panel. It
also has spaces for up to three 120mm
intake fans. Aerocool installed a red
LED fan in the front panel and another
120mm fan in the rear panel. You can
slide a switch to open and close the
large vented top panel. The front of
the top panel is tapered and bordered
with a pair of red LED backlit strips
of transparent plastic. Between these,
youll fnd two USB 3.0 ports, mic and
line out ports, a power switch, and a fan
speed controller dial.
The left side panel features a pair
of spaces for 120mm or 140mm fans
that you can fll to help keep the CPU,
memory, and graphics card(s) cool. Te
bottom panel also has a 120mm fan
port, and the vented top panel has space
for two more 120mm fans. The fan
a 2.5-inch SSD), and a large metal
mesh fan gri l l e. Behi nd that front
panel, youll find a 120mm blue LED
fan and a removable fan filter. Theres
another fan filter in the bottom panel
and a fine plastic mesh is fastened to
the top panel.
One of the first things that strikes
us when looking at the Chaser A41 is
its impressive width. Termaltake uses
this to great efect, letting you install
high-profile CPU coolers, up to 6.9
inches tall. Teres also a ton of space
behi nd t he mot herboard t ray f or
routing wires. Four rubber grommeted
holes in the motherboard tray help keep
your wires routed where necessary, and
a large CPU cutout in the motherboard
tray lets you access the back of the
motherboard for easily installing and
removing the CPU cooler.
The l ef t si de panel f eat ures a
transparent window and a folding headset
holder. Inside, youll fnd an internal 3.5-
inch drive cage capable of holding up
to fve HDDs or SSDs in plastic trays.
Xpredator X1 Black Edition
$89.99
Aerocool
www.aerocool.us
CPU / May 2013 17
controller lets you take greater control
over your cooling and can handle up
to 25 watts per channel. (Note: the fan
controller features three 4-pin Molex
connectors, two labeled fan, and one
labeled power. It could be dangerous
connecti ng the fan pl ugs to your
power supply, so exercise caution when
installing a system inside this case.)
Te Xpredator X1 also features a pair
of predrilled and rubber grommeted
holes in the rear panel for mounting an
external radiator.
The case is wide enough to handle
CPU coolers 6.2 inches tall (without
side panel fans installed). Teres 15.7
inches of space between the seven
expansion brackets and the front panel,
which is more than enough for one or
more high-end graphics cards. If you
plan to install an HDD or SSD in the
same plane as the graphics card, youll
have less room, naturally, about 11.5
inches to work with.
Te drive cages can handle up to four
external 5.25-inch devices and up to six
3.5 or 2.5-inch HDDs or SSDs. The
internal drive bays are all 5.25-inch-
sized, but you can use Aerocools six
converter brackets hori zontal l y to
accommodate 3.5-inch HDDs or 2.5-
inch SSDs, and vertically to add a
120mm fan in the front panel. Aerocool
also includes tool-free drive locks for
the external 5.25-inch bays. Other
features we like include the large CPU
cutout and the right side panel vent
that prevents warm air from collecting
behind the CPU.
The Xpredator X1 Black Edition
is an attractive yet utilitarian case; we
particularly like the vented top panel.
When open, the vents direct air, and
noise, toward the back of the system, so
its less likely to be audible. Enthusiasts
looking for a slick but afordable gaming
case will find a lot to love about the
Aerocool Xpredator X1 Black Edition.
In Win GT1
The black-painted steel-framed In
Win GT1 takes its sports car-inspired
GT1
$69
In Win
www.inwin-style.com
The black-painted steel-
framed In Win GT1 takes
its sports car-inspired
namesake seriously.
18 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
in each tray support 2.5-inch storage
drives. You can remove the left side
wall to the middle drive cage, which
costs you space for two storage drives
but gives you an extra four inches of
room for graphics cards longer than 12
inches. In Win also gives you a spare
2.5-inch drive mount on top of the
lower drive cage.
Theres enough room i nsi de t o
support CPU coolers approximately
6. 5 inches tal l . There are ports in
the motherboard tray to route PSU
cables around the motherboard, and
the metal edges are all rolled so theres
no chance youll carve grooves into
your cables.
Aestheti cs are al ways subj ecti ve,
but we cant help but be impressed
by how slick the GT1 looks, especially
gi ven i ts pri ce. There are qui te a
few enthusiast features here that make
this case worth considering for your
next build.
namesake seriously. The top of the
plastic front panel features a pair of
blue headlights on either side of the
front panel ports, which include two
USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.0 port, and
mic and line out ports. Power and reset
buttons are on the front edge of the
all-plastic top panel, and the former
is LED-backlit. A switch on the top
panel also lets you toggle fans between
silent and turbo modes. The hood
also features a faux carbon fber ramp
with SATA power and data ports that
let you connect a 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch
HDD or SSD.
There are two 120mm fan slots in
the top panel and another two in the
front panel. In Win ships the GT1 with
a front panel fan in the lower slot. It
also has a removable dust flter clipped
to the front of it. Youll fnd two more
dust filters on the bottom panel, one
under the PSU and another under an
internal 120mm fan bay. Tere are three
external 5.25-inch drive bays with metal
mesh bay covers. Te front panel also
has a series of 18 air intake ports, and
In Win gives you red plastic accents
that you can snap in to add some color
to the front panel.
The left side panel features a large
window that protrudes a proximately
a quarter of an inch from the panel.
In Wins l ogo adorns the panel on
the uni t we tested. The ri ght si de
panel features a bevel ed convexi ty
t hat gi ves you s ome ext r a cabl e
routing room. There are two rubber
grommeted ports on the rear panel,
above the included 120mm red LED
exhaust fan, which can support an
external liquid-cooling radiator.
Inside the GT1, youll find room
for six 3.5-inch HDDs or 2.5-inch
SSDs. You can flex the plastic trays
onto HDDs, and the rubber bumpers
around the trays pegs can reduce drive
vibration. A quartet of screw holes
Dimensions
Specifications External Ports Drive Bays Included Fans Window Extras (HxWxD) Price
Enermax Hoplite ST ECA3260 2x USB 2.0, 4x 5.25-inch ext., 1x red 120mm YES Tool-free 5.25-inch 19.5 x 7.9 x 19.2 $69.99
1x USB 3.0, 6x 3.5/2.5-inch int. intake, 1x red bays, fan controller,
mic, line out 120mm exhaust external SATA dock
Enermax Coenus ECA3290 2x USB 3.0, 1x red 120mm 1x red 120mm YES Bays, side panel 19.2 x 9.2 x 19.2 $69.99
mic and ext., 6x intake, 1x 120mm handles, tinted side
line out 3.5/2.5-inch int. exhaust panel window
Cooler Master N200 2x USB 2.0, 1x 5.25-inch ext., 1x 120mm intake, NO Removable 14.6 x 7.5 x 17.3 $49.99
1x USB 3.0, 1x 3.5-inch ext., 1x 120mm dust filters
mic and 4x 3.5-inch int., exhaust
line out 2x 2.5-inch int.
Thermaltake Chaser A31 2x USB 3.0, 3x 5.25-inch ext., 1x blue 120mm YES Tool-free 5.25-inch 19.7 x 8.4 x 19.5 $79.99
mic and 6x 3.5/2.5-inch int., intake, 1x blue bays, top panel tray
line out 1x 3.5-inch ext. 120mm exhaust
adapter
Thermaltake Chaser A41 2x USB 3.0, 4x 5.25-inch ext., 1x blue 120mm YES Tool-free 5.25-inch 19.5 x 9.9 x 20.1 $109.99
mic and 1x 3.5-inch ext., intake, 1x blue bays, folding case
line out 5x 3.5/2.5-inch int. 200mm top, 1x feet, side panel
120mm exhaust headset folder
Aerocool Xpredator X1 Black Edition 2x USB 3.0, 3x 5.25-inch ext., 1x red 120mm NO Tool-free 5.25-inch 19 x 7.5 x 18.7 $89.99
mic and 6x 3.5/2.5-inch int. intake, 1x 120mm bays, fan controller,
line out exhaust front panel LEDs,
adjustable top
panel vent
In Win GT1 2x USB 2.0, 3x 5.25-inch ext., 1x 120mm intake, YES Tool-free 5.25-inch 18.7 x 8.3 x 19.3 $69
1x USB 3.0, 6x 3.5/2.5-inch int., 1x red 120mm bays, fan controller,
mic and 1x 2.5-inch int. exhaust external SATA dock,
line out red grille accents

CPU / May 2013 19
speeds. It doesnt end with light settings,
because youll also use the software to
set the double click speed, scroll speed,
sensitivity, and DPI settings, as well as
assign buttons and macro controls. You
can build up to six profiles using the
software, so you can make sure you always
have the right settings for a specifc game.
The GX Gaming Gila mouse is a
powerhouse full of helpful features for
gamers. The Gila not only looks great
and demands attention, but it also has
the perfectly tuned performance to
complement its style. If customization is
key for you when it comes to gaming, then
the Gila mouse should meet and exceed
your expectations.
BY JOSH COMPTON
G
amers require a certain level of custom-
ization when it comes to their mice.
You want to be able to tailor the experience
to your exact specifications to make sure
you arent fighting your mouse when you
should be fighting the enemy. GX Gamings
Gila MMO/RTS gaming mouse, a CES
Innovations 2013 Design and Engineering
Awards honoree, takes customization to the
next level, delivering millions of potential
configurations for even the most detail-
oriented enthusiasts.
It all starts with the Gilas design. Its a
great mix of style, with sharp edges, red
accents, backlighting, and a scorpion logo.
This mouse is comfortable, too, because
GX Gaming designed it with a focus on
ergonomics. It fts perfectly in the hand and
has rubberized grips on either side to make
marathon gaming sessions more enjoyable.
Physical customization comes into
play with the included metal weights. Te
bottom of the Gila has an easy-to-open
compartment; inside, theres a removable
rubber triangle with six holes where you
can arrange the weights any way you
want. GX Gaming included a plastic
carrying case, so you can store the weights
when youre not using them.
Style and design are important, but a
mouse lives and dies by its performance.
Here, the Gila is a winner, as well. It
sports a braided cable to reduce snags
and tangles and has a 1ms response time,
which is important to get a leg up on
opponents. The mouse glides across a
mousepad with ease, and we didnt fnd
ourselves losing our grip or our control
while testing it out. Another thing we
love about the Gila specifcally for gaming
is being able to change the DPI on the
fy with one button press. Tis could be
particularly helpful in FPS games where
you might want a faster DPI while using
an SMG, but you need a slower, more
precise DPI for long-distance combat.
And with the SG Core II, the mouse has
a range of 200 to 8,200 dpi, so theres
plenty of room for fne-tuning.
Te style and overall performance of
the mouse is certainly impressive, but the
included software is what really makes
the Gila shine (literally). The Scorpion
Gaming UI lets you change the backlight
color (with 16 million RGB colors, to
be exact) for three separate sections of
the mouse, adjust the brightness, and
even make the light pulse at different
GX Gaming Gila
Gila
$99
GX Gaming By Genius
www.gx-gaming.com
Specs: Sensor type: Laser; Resolution: 200
to 8,200 dpi; 12 programmable buttons;
12 macro keys; 6 profles; 16 million RGB
colors; Interface: USB; Cable length: 5.9 feet
20 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
F
ew companies have been selling made-
to-order enthusiast notebooks as long
as CyberPower has, and the judging by its
latest mobile creation, theres a good reason
theyve survived so long in such a competitive
market. The FANGbook we got our hands
on is an upgraded version of the X7-200
model, which has a base price of $1,549.
Te notebook has a gray angular plastic
lid with a backlit CyberPower logo. The
102-key chiclet-style keyboard is backlit
with red LEDs, and blue LEDs accent both
the two speakers at the base of the screen
and the mouse buttons below the enlarged
touchpad. A row of touch-sensitive buttons
along the base of the screen let you adjust
key backlighting, enable/disable Airplane
Mode, put the system to sleep, eject the
optical drive tray, launch Windows 8s
Music app, and manually increase the fan
output. Tere are two user-programmable
buttons here, as well. The wrist rest and
hotkeys are black and textured like brushed
aluminum, and the deck surrounding the
keyboard is the same shade of gray as the lid.
Teres a 2.1 speaker system built into the
FANGbook, and it delivers excellent sound.
When gaming, however, youre going to
want to use headphones. This models
Realtek ALC888S can output 7.1 surround
sound via the analog ports on the left side
of the FANGbook, or via the HDMI port.
Tere are three USB 3.0 ports on the left
side, a pair of USB 2.0 ports on the right
side, a media card reader, RJ-45 Ethernet
port, eSATA port, and a Kensington lock
port on the rear.
This notebook has a large 17.3-inch
screen with a non-reflective matte finish,
and it runs at a native resolution of 1,920
x 1,080. Driving the graphics in this beast
is NVIDIAs GeForce GTX675MX, which
has 4GB of GDDR5 onboard memory and
a 666MHz core clock, 3,600MHz memory
data rate, and a 256-bit bus. Te system is
based on the MSI MS-17626 whitebook,
which utilizes Intels HM77 chipset, an Ivy
Bridge platform that supports Intel Core i5
and i7 mobile processors with TDPs up to
45 watts. CyberPower confgures the system
with the quad-core Intel Core i7-3630QM,
which is clocked at 2.4GHz and includes
Hyper-Treading.
After using the FANGbook for a few
days, we came away impressed with the
overall build quality. Te keys are large, and
the keyboard is spacious; we particularly
appreciated the full-sized numeric keys, and
the profusion of LED lighting made gaming
in low light not just possible, but enjoyable.
It handled everything we threw at it and was
considerably more portable than many of
the DTRs weve tested in the past.
In the benchmarks, the FANGbooks
discrete graphics adapter and Intel Core
i7 processor give this system an edge in
both the synthetic and real-word tests. Te
price is also remarkable, considering the
performance CyberPower packed into the
FANGbook. Wed be more than proud
to show up at our next LAN party armed
with this impressive notebook.
BY ANDREW LEIBMAN
CyberPowerPC FANGbook
FANGbook X7-200
$1,549
CyberPowerPC
www.cyberpowerpc.com
Specs: Dimensions: 2.17 x 16.85 x 11.85 inches (HxWxD); Weight: 8lbs.; Display: 17.3-inch LED-backlit LCD (1,920 x 1,080); Processor: Intel Core
i7-3630QM (2.4GHz, 4-core); Chipset: Intel HM77; Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX675MX (Driver 306.14); RAM: 16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600;
Storage: 60GB Intel 520 SSD, 750GB WD Scorpio Black; ODD: TSST Corp CD-RW DVD+/-RW Multi Burner; Networking: WLAN 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth
4.0, Killer e2200 Gigabit Ethernet; Webcam: Built-in 720p
CyberPower
Benchmark Results FANGbook
3DMark 11 (Extreme)
Overall X1343
Graphics Score 1205
Physics Score 7573
Combined Score 1493
Graphics Test 1 (fps) 5.85
Graphics Test 2 (fps) 5.83
Graphics Test 3 (fps) 6.51
Graphics Test 4 (fps) 3.74
Physics Test (fps) 24.04
Combined Test (fps) 6.94
PCMark 7
Overall 5892
Productivity 4734
Creativity 10296
Entertainment 4349
Computation 20394
System Storage 5168
SiSoft Sandra 2013 Lite
Processor Arithmetic
Dhrystone SSE4.2 (GIPS) 127.5
Whetstone SSE3 (GFLOPS) 81
Processor Multi-Media
Integer x16 AVX (Mpixels/s) 187.58
Float x16 AVX (Mpixels/s) 266.7
Double x8 AVX (Mpixels/s) 149.57
Memory Bandwidth
Integer Buffered iAVX/128
(GBps) 20.47
Float Buffered iAVX/128
(GBps) 20.43
Media Transcode
Transcode WMV (MBps) 4.74
Transcode H264 (MBps) 4.75
Cinebench 11.5
CPU* 6.4
POV-Ray 3.7 Beta** 1160.6
Games*** 1,920 X 1,080
Aliens vs. Predator (Very HQ,
Shadows High, 4XAA, 16XAF,
SSAO On, HW Tess., Adv.
Shadows) 28.5
Metro 2033 (DX11, Very High
Quality, 4X MSAA, 16XAF,
DOF off) 23.67
* Points
** Pixels per second
*** Frames per second
22 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
A
t first glance, the GIGABYTE GA-
X79S-UP5-WiFi doesnt look like much
more than another enthusiast X79-based
motherboard from a company that already
has five boards based on that chipset. But this
isnt an X79 motherboard. Its based on Intels
C606 Patsburg, which is a server chipset
designed to run Intel Xeon Processor E5-
2600/1600 CPUs. This Socket LGA2011
motherboard can handle any of the above
Xeons or your choice of LGA2011 Intel
Core i7 processors. Thanks to the chipset,
this board gives you access to some nifty
technologies usually reserved for much
more expensive boards and processors, such
as ECC memory compatibility and SAS
ports. If you do decide to splurge on a Xeon,
you can also get access to Intel Direct I/O,
Integrated I/O, and caches up to 20MB.
There are more than a few enthusiast-
friendly technologies built into the E-ATX
GA-X79S-UP5-WiFi as well, such as support
for three-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD
CrossFire, 8-channel audio with a 110dB
SNR, quad-channel memory with support
for DDR3 memory up to 2,133MHz, eight
DIMM slots, and PCI-E 3.0. Te boards
dual-chip 3D BIOS gives you an intuitive
way to explore the systems potential and
the freedom to try new BIOS revisions
with a quick and easy way to recover should
something go awry. Te BIOS also features a
slew of manual overclocking controls you can
use to really push an unlocked processor.
As an Ultra Durable 5 board, GIGA-
BYTE built the GA-X79S-UP5-WiFi with
a humidity-resistant glass fabric PCB, a
2-ounce layer of copper in the PCB, and
high-current ferrite core chokes rated up
to 60A. GIGABYTE also upgrades the
MOSFETs to IR3550 PowIRstage ICs from
International Rectifer, which are designed
to efficiently manage the high current
demands of the CPU to keep it running
cool and reliably for the life of the system.
The storage subsystem is also worth
noting. Te motherboard features six SATA
ports (two 6Gbps, four 3Gbps) and eight
SAS ports. On the rear I/O youll find a
pair of eSATA ports powered by a Marvell
controller: one eSATA/USB combo port and
a dedicated 6Gbps port.
We also like that this system comes
with an 802.11a/b/g/n/Bluetooth 4.0
module that fts into the one of the PCI-E
slots. It has dual antennas to support
WLAN 2Tx2R, works on 2.4GHz and
5GHz bands, and supports Bluetooth
Enhanced Data Rate. Buttons on the rear
I/O also let you quickly switch between
the BIOS chips, clear the CMOS, and
enable/disable the overclocked settings.
In the benchmarks, GIGABYTEs GA-
X79S-UP5-WiFi paired with an Intel
Core i7-3820X posted some excellent
scores in both the synthetic and real-
world benchmarks. But the best reason
to pick it up is to enjoy all the benefts
of a server or workstation board, with
enthusiast-level overclocking and access
to signifcantly less pricey but still very
capable processors.
BY ANDREW LEIBMAN
GIGABYTE
X79S-UP5-WiFi
GIGABYTE X79S-UP5-WiFi
$329.99
www.gigabyte.com
Specs: Max memory: 64GB (DDR3-2133); Slots: 2 PCI-E x16 (x16 speed), 1 PCI-E x16 (x8 speed),
1 PCI-E x16 (x4 speed), 1 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI; Storage: 2 SATA 6Gbps, 4 SATA 3Gbps, 8 SAS; Rear I/O:
1 eSATA 6Gbps, 1 eSATA 3Gbps/USB Combo, 5 USB 2.0, 4 USB 3.0, 1 PS/2, 1 IEEE 1394a, Dual
Gigabit LAN, optical S/PDIF audio, 8-channel analog audio jacks
GIGABYTE
Benchmark Results X79S-UP5-WiFi
3DMark 11 Extreme
Overall X3172
Graphics Score 2897
Physics Score 9103
Combined Score 3558
Graphics Test 1 (fps) 15.87
Graphics Test 2 (fps) 16.22
Graphics Test 3 (fps) 14.32
Graphics Test 4 (fps) 8.13
Physics Test (fps) 28.9
Combined Test (fps) 16.55
PCMark 7
Overall 2526
Productivity 2291
Creativity 5475
Entertainment 3145
Computation 7485
System Storage 1985
SiSoft Sandra 2013 Lite
Processor Arithmetic
Dhrystone SSE4.2 (GIPS) 151.85
Whetstone SSE3 (GFLOPS) 93.62
Processor Multi-Media
Integer x16 AVX (Mpixels/s) 223
Float x16 AVX (Mpixels/s) 311.59
Double x8 AVX (Mpixels/s) 176.92
Memory Bandwidth
Integer Buffered iAVX/128
(GBps) 41.55
Float Buffered iAVX/128
(GBps) 41.43
Media Transcode
Transcode WMV (MBps) 1.92
Transcode H264 (MBps) 2.27
Cinebench 11.5
CPU* 7.35
POV-Ray 3.7 Beta** 1294.28
Games*** 2,560 x 1,600
Aliens vs. Predator (Very HQ,
Shadows High, 4xAA, 16xAF,
SSAO On, HW Tess., Adv.
Shadows) 40.9
Metro 2033 (DX11, Very High
Quality, 4x MSAA, 16XAF,
DOF off) 34
* Points
** Pixels per second
*** Frames per second
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-3820X
Extreme Edition (3.6GHz, 4-core); Chipset: Intel
C606; Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7970 (Catalyst
12.8); RAM: 16GB Patriot Viper Xtreme DDR3-
1866; Storage: 1TB WD Black; PSU: Antec High
Current Pro 1,200W; Windows 8 Professional
CPU / May 2013 23
T
he CX500M is part of Corsairs line
of CX Series Modular power supplies,
which are designed to be affordable yet
provide the reliability and hybrid cable
system thats ideal for PC builders. The
hardwired cables of the CX500M consist
of the 20+4-pin main power and 4+4-
pin EPS12V power connectors. The
remaining cables are flat and modular,
which makes them easy to route inside
your case. This power supply measures
only 6.5 inches long, including cable
bend, so itll fit nicely inside a small case.
Wi th the CX500M, you l l fi nd
enough connectors to support most any
basic build. Theres a PCI-E cable that
provides two 6+2-pin connectors for one
high-end graphics card or two midrange
cards. To power your SATA devices, youll
find two cables: one with three SATA
connectors and another with two. For
Molex connectivity, Corsair provides one
long cable with four connectors; this cable
also has a FDD connector.
Te CX500M is built with the same
care as youll fnd in the rest of Corsairs
lineup, and Corsair backs the unit with
a three-year warranty. The CX500M
features a single 12V rail that supports up
to 38A, which equals around 456W. Te
+3.3V rail supports up to 25A, while the
+5V rail can handle 20A. Te combined
maximum wattage between the +5V and
+3.3V rails comes out to 120W. Corsair
designs the unit with safeguards against
overvoltage, overpower, undervoltage, and
short circuits.
Tose concerned about energy efciency
will like that the CX500M is 80 PLUS
Bronze-certified, thanks in part to the
power supplys ability to reach 85%
efciency at 50% load. Its also compliant
with ErP Lot 6 requirements, which allow
power supplies to work with compatible
motherboards to run at a minimal amount
of power when the PC is in sleep mode.
To test the CX500M, we simul-
taneousl y ran POV-Ray Beta 3. 7
(stresses all CPU cores) and the Aliens
vs. Predator (stresses GPU) benchmark.
Key hardware in our benchmark system
incl uded an Intel Core i7-3770K,
GIGABYTEs GA-Z77X-UD4H, and a
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580. Under load,
we saw a maximum wattage of 395W
and a power factor of .977. Te unit also
posted a maximum voltage of 118.1V and
maximum amperage of 3.43A.
The CX500M is a good option for
builders looking to get good value for
a budget system. It has all the features
necessary to provide reliability for years to
come, as well as a semi-modular cabling
system for a clean interior look.
BY NATHAN LAKE
Corsair CX500M
CX500M
$79.99
Corsair
www.corsair.com
Corsair
Specs CX500M
Rated continuous (W) 500
12V Rails 1
+12V max (A) 38
+5V max (A) 20
+3.3V max (A) 25
SLI/CrossFire-ready Yes
Max wattage tested 395
Power factor tested .977
Efficiency rating
(as advertised) Up to 85%
Fan(s) 120mm
PCI-E 2 (6+2-pin)
Main 12V 20+4-pin
8-pin EPS 12V 1 (4+4-pin)
SATA 5
4-pin Molex 4
Floppy 1
Length (including cable bend) 6.5 inches
Warranty 3 years
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K;
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H; GPU:
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 (2x, SLI); RAM: 16GB
Kingston HyperX Predator DDR3-1866; Storage:
128GB Crucial RealSSD C300; OS: Windows 7
Enterprise (64-bit)
24 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
PLUS Platinum-certifed 750-watt PSU.
Performance and value certainly make
the Tachyon 750W a unit to consider for
your next build.
BY NATHAN LAKE
I
n our January 2013 issue, we checked
the Tachyon 1000W, the big brother
to this 750W model, and we came away
impressed with its performance under
load, as well as its efficiency. Like the
kilowatt Tachyon, the Tachyon 750W
boasts 80 PLUS Platinum certification,
as it can reach a peak efficiency of
92% at 50% load. We also like that
Rosewill builds the Tachyon 750W
with an intelligent 140mm fan that
can automatically increase or reduce
its speed based on load, which lowers
system noise when the power supply
isnt taxed.
With the Tachyon 750W, Rosewill
uses a partially modular cabling system.
The only hardwired cables are the
20+4-pin main power, two EPS12V
cables (one 8-pin, one 4+4-pin), and
one PCI-E cable with two 6+2-pin
connectors. Another two 6+2-pin PCI-E
connectors are available among the
modular cables, so the Tachyon 750W
will support SLI and CrossFire setups.
Te remaining modular cables provide
you with eight SATA connectors, five
Mol ex connectors, and one FDD
connector. All the cables have thick
mesh sleeves that prevent damage to the
wiring. Te PSU is around 7.3 inches
long, including cable bend.
Rosewill rates the Tachyon 750W to
provide 750 watts of continuous power
at temperatures up to 50 degrees Celsius.
The PSU has a single 12V rail that
supports 62A, while the +5V and +3.3V
rails can handle up to 20A each. Built-in
protections for overcurrent, overvoltage,
overpower, undervoltage, input voltage,
and short circuits keep the Tachyon safe.
Rosewill backs the Tachyon 750W with a
fve-year warranty.
We pushed the Tachyon 750W by
simultaneously running POV-Ray Beta
3.7 (stresses all CPU cores) and the
Aliens vs. Predator (stresses GPUs)
benchmarks. We took measurements
with a single NVIDIA GeForce GTX
580 and with two in SLI, which shows
how the power suppl y perf ormed
under diferent loads. In SLI, the PSU
delivered a maximum wattage of 627W
with a power factor of .985. We also
saw a maximum voltage of 117.2V and
a maximum amperage of 5.25A. With
one GTX 580, the Tachyon 750W
produced a maximum wattage of 423W
at a power factor of .977.
The Tachyon 750Ws efficiency is
ideal for builders who want to get the
most out of the energy going into their
system. Power users will also like that
this unit is competitively priced for an 80
Rosewill Tachyon 750W
Tachyon 750W
$199.99
Rosewill
www.rosewill.com
Rosewill
Specs Tachyon 750W
Rated continuous (W) 750 (at 50 C)
12V rails 1
+12V max (A) 62
+5V max (A) 20
+3.3V max (A) 20
SLI/CrossFire-ready Yes
Max wattage tested 627
Power factor tested .985
Efficiency rating
(as advertised) Up to 92%
Fan(s) 140mm
PCI-E 4 (6+2-pin)
Main 12V 20+4-pin
8-pin EPS 12V 2 (1 8-pin, 1
4+4-pin)
SATA 8
4-pin Molex 5
Floppy 1
Length (including cable bend) 7.3 inches
Warranty 5 years
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K;
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H; GPU:
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 (2x, SLI); RAM: 16GB
Kingstons HyperX Predator DDR3-1866; Storage:
128GB Crucial RealSSD C300; OS: Windows 7
Enterprise (64-bit)
CPU / May 2013 25
system builders who want a power supply
that will provide more than enough
connectors to meet their needs for current
and future builds.
BY NATHAN LAKE
H
ave f our power- hungr y GPUs
and want to guarantee they receive
enough juice? Check out Rosewills
HERCULES-1600, which is built with
two high-power 12V rails. The first one
can deliver up to 110A, while the second
supports 50A. Combined, they deliver
up to 1,560 watts. Rosewill also builds
the HERCULES-1600 with 16 6+2-
pin PCI-E connectors, so itll easily be
able power a quad GPU setup, as well
as motherboards that provide additional
graphics stability through the use of
onboard PCI-E power connectors.
Tis partially modular power supply
ofers much more connectivity than its
16 PCI-E connectors. The hardwired
cabl es i ncl ude the 20+4-pi n mai n
power and two EPS12V (one 8-pin,
one 4+4-pin). Te remaining cables are
modular, including 16 SATA connectors,
six Molex connectors, and two FDD
connectors. Other hardware features
include a 135mm, PWM fan that users
can ramp up to full speed by pressing the
Turbo button on the back of the power
supply. Te HERCULES-1600s fan will
also stay on for a few seconds after the
PC turns off to remove residual heat.
Rosewill packs the HERCULES-1600
inside an impressively sturdy silver case
thats great for storing accessories you
plan on taking to a LAN party.
The 110A 12V rail is engineered to
support all of the PCI-E connectors to
power your graphics subsystem. The
50A 12V rail powers everything else
you connect. Besides the two 12V rails,
Rosewill designs this PSU with a +5V
and +3.3V rail that can each handle up
to 25A for a combined 150W. Rosewill
protects the HERCULES-1600 against
overtemperature, overcurrent, overvoltage,
overpower, undervoltage, and short
circuits. Rosewill doesnt leave out energy
efficiency in the HERCLUES-1600,
either, as the PSU is certifed 80 PLUS
Silver with a peak efciency of 89%.
To test the power suppl y, we
simultaneously ran POV-Ray Beta 3.7
(stresses all CPU cores) and the Aliens vs.
Predator (stresses GPUs) benchmarks. We
started with two NVIDIA GeForce GTX
580s in SLI. We saw a maximum wattage
of 641W and a power factor of .975 in
SLI. When we tested this unit with one
GTX 580, it produced a maximum wattage
of 432W and a power factor of .944. We
expected a lower power factor for 1,600-
watt power supply with only one GTX
580 because the PSU was only operating at
around 25% load.
The HERCULES-1600 is certainly a
good fit for power users with multiple
high-end graphics cards. The extra
PCI-E connectors will also be handy for
Rosewill HERCULES-1600
HERCULES-1600
$399.99
Rosewill
www.rosewill.com
Rosewill
Specs HERCULES-1600
Rated continuous (W) 1600 (at 50 C)
12V rails 2
+12V max (A) 110 & 50
+5V max (A) 25
+3.3V max (A) 25
SLI/CrossFire-ready Yes
Max wattage tested 641
Power factor tested .975
Efficiency rating
(as advertised) Up to 89%
Fan(s) 135mm
PCI-E 16 (6+2-pin)
Main 12V 20+4-pin
8-pin EPS 12V 2 (1 8-pin,
1 4+4-pin)
SATA 16
4-pin Molex 6
Floppy 2
Length
(including cable bend) 10.5 inches
Warranty 5 years
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K;
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H; GPU:
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 (2x, SLI); RAM: 16GB
Kingstons HyperX Predator DDR3-1866; Storage:
128GB Crucial RealSSD C300; OS: Windows 7
Enterprise (64-bit)
26 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
E
very now and again, we like to
take a look at the small low-power
components that might not make it
into your gaming rig or workstation but
nonetheless work well for countless other
projects. Thats particularly true of the
Intel Celeron 847 and NM70 chipset that
constitute the core of the GIGABYTE
GA-C847N-D Mini-ITX motherboard.
When you think Celeron these days, dont
think Pentium; the Celeron 847 processor is
based on Intels Sandy Bridge architecture.
But dont also think youre going to get Core
iX performance out of this unit, either.
Te Celeron 847 was originally launched in
mid-2011, and it is designed to hit a max
TDP of 17 watts. It is manufactured on the
32nm process and features two cores clocked
at 1.1GHz and 2MB of L3 cache. It also
supports onboard graphics, courtesy of Intel
HD Graphics 2000 with a 350MHz base
clock and 800MHz maximum dynamic
frequency. The 64-bit capable processor
supports Intel Virtualization Technology,
Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology, Idle
States, and Execute Disable Bit. But the
Celeron 847 leaves several key technologies
out of the design, including Turbo Boost,
Wireless Display, RAID, Smart Response
Technology, Anti-Teft Technology, Rapid
Start, and Hyper-Treading.
GIGABYTE builds this board using its
Ultra Durable 4 Classic components, which
consist of humidity-blocking glass fabric
PCB, built-in ICs to thwart electrostatic
discharge, solid caps, and low RDS(on)
MOSFETs for better temperature tolerance
and reliability than traditional MOSFETs.
The DualBIOS technology also lets you
experiment with BIOS revisions without
risking the viability of the board.
The GA-C847N-D features a pair of
memory slots for up to 16GB DDR3-1333
memory, a single PCI slot, two internal
3Gbps SATA ports and one 6Gbps SATA
port. Te rear I/O features a pair of PS/2
ports, VGA and HDMI ports for display
output, a 3Gbps eSATA port, a Serial
COM port, and two Gigabit Ethernet ports
powered by a pair of Realtek controllers,
and a trio of analog audio ports. Tere are
four USB 2.0 ports on the back panel, and
you can connect another four to the boards
internal headers.
The Celeron 847 features a graphite
gray heatsink and a 60mm fan bolted on
to keep it cool. While testing, the unit
stayed extremely quiet despite such a
small fan, and the heatsink only ever felt
warm when under full load.
Were fans of low-power packages.
Although this one wont make much of a
general-purpose system, it does look like the
ideal platform for bringing a legacy system
back from the dead, an HTPC, a dedicated
Web browsing system, network firewall,
or simple fle server. Te fact that you can
do any of the above on a motherboard
starting at less than $100 is perhaps the
GA-C847N-Ds most impressive feature.
BY ANDREW LEIBMAN
GIGABYTE
GA-C847N-D
GIGABYTE GA-C847N-D
$79.99*
www.gigabyte.com
Specs: Max memory: 16GB (DDR3-1333); Slots: 1 PCI; Storage: 1 SATA 6Gbps, 2 SATA 3Gbps; Rear
I/O: 1 eSATA 3Gbps, 2 USB 2.0, 4 USB 2.0, 2 PS/2, VGA, HDMI, In/Line Out/Mic audio ports, 2 RJ-45
LAN ports, 1 Serial port
GIGABYTE
Benchmark Results GA-C847N-D
3DMark Vantage Entry
Overall E3282
GPU Score 3593
CPU Score 2605
GPU Test 1 (fps) 11.05
GPU Test 2 (fps) 9.98
CPU Test 1 (ops) 348.31
CPU Test 2 (ops) 3.76
PCMark 7
Overall 1565
Productivity 1057
Creativity 1903
Entertainment 1299
Computation 1331
System Storage 2399
SiSoft Sandra 2011 Lite
Processor Arithmetic
Dhrystone SSE4.2 (GIPS) 13.6
Whetstone SSE3 (GFLOPS) 7.88
Processor Multi-Media
Integer x16 SSE4.1
(Mpixels/s) 23
Float x8 SSE2 (Mpixels/s) 17
Double x4 SSE2 (Mpixels/s) 9
Memory Bandwidth
Integer Buffered SSE2/128
(GBps) 10.87
Float Buffered SSE2/128
(GBps) 10.87
Media Transcode
Transcode WMV (KBps) 159
Transcode H264 (KBps) 175
Cinebench 11.5
CPU* 0.85
POV-Ray 3.7 Beta*** 1645.03
Left 4 Dead 2***
1,280 x 1,024; Shader/Effect/
Model Detail: Low; No AA/AF;
Multicore Rendering Enabled 24.81
* Points
** Pixels per second
*** Frames per second
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Celeron 847
(1.1GHz, 2 core); Chipset: Intel NM70; Graphics:
Intel HD Graphics 2000; RAM: 4GB Patriot Sector
7 DDR3-1866; Storage: 600GB WD VelociRaptor;
PSU: Corsair HX620W 620W
CPU / May 2013 27
There are lots of laptops out there that claim to be gaming laptops, but CyberPowerPCs latest creation, the FANGbook series, more than
lives up to the label. For starters, although there are three starting configurations to choose from, even the most affordable model has a
17.3-inch, LED-backlit, 1,920 x 1,080 display. Every FANGbooks keyboard is backlit, programmable, and equipped with anti-ghosting
technology to preserve every crucial keystroke. The FANGbooks also come armed with a 3rd Generation Intel Core processor and an NVIDIA
Kepler mobile GPU, and there are loads of options that let you build the FANGbook thats perfect for you. We recently talked to
CyberPower Marketing Manager Joey Wang to find out more.
Q
Obviously, CyberPower already has a
wide assortment of gaming laptops.
What prompted the design of the
FANGbook line, and what would you say
sets it apart?
JW
Our desire to cater to what
the gamer wants in a gaming
machine. We based the FANGbook off
our Fang series machines, which are
known for their style and power, and
designed the FANGbook to hold the
same core values. We also customized the
FANGbook in a way to make it unique,
something that really sets it apart from
other gaming notebooks. The panels
backlit CyberPowerPC logo and the
design of it gives the FANGbook a look
that makes people say, Daaang, where
can I get one?!
Q
How did you choose NVIDIAs
Kepler-based mobile GPUs
for FANGbook, and what
can you tell us about their
performance at 1,920 x 1,080?
JW
We wanted to use the
most recent technol ogy
in the FANGbook, and NVIDIAs
mobile GPUs powered by their Kepler
architecture were just what we were
looking for. Its an improvement over
the already advanced Fermi architecture,
has improved memory, is faster, and the
rendering is better. Later down the line,
we plan to incorporate AMDs upcoming
mobile GPU in our next generation of
FANGbooks.
Gaming at 1,920 x 1,080 on the GTX
675MX and 680M is smooth like butter;
theres no stuttering, and everything is so
clear and crisp. Its simply amazing.
FANGbook
CyberPowerPCs Latest Gaming Laptop Is Ready To Strike
28 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Q
A gaming PC is only as good as its
human interface devices. Can you tell
us about FANGbooks display, speakers,
and keyboard?
JW
The FANGbook comes with a
clear 17.3-inch display, which I
think is the perfect size for a gaming laptop
since its big enough to see everything clearly
and small enough to carry around. The
display is bright and the colors are right:
Whats not to like? Its equipped with full-
bodied speakers and is accompanied
by a built-in subwoofer that en-
hances gaming as well as listening
to music. The keyboard is
fully backlit and provides
good feedbackthe keys
are a little stiff so you
can feel the key being
pressed down, similar
to a mechanical keyboard.
Its overall build quality and
cutting-edge hardware make the
FANGbook the perfect solution for
the gamer on the go.
Q
The FANGbook comes in three
starting confgurations: the X7-100,
the X7-200, and the X7-300. Can you tell
us how these models difer?
JW
Each model of the FANGbook
comes standard with a 17.3-
inch 1,920 x 1,080 display, Intel Core i7
3630QM CPU, and Intel HM77 Express
chipset. Te X7-100 is the basic model;
it doesnt come with an SSD, but it still
packs the heat with a GTX 675MX GPU.
Next up is the X7-200 model, which
comes with a 64GB SSD, 750GB HDD,
GTX 675MX, and 16GB of RAM (double
the RAM of the X7-100). Lastly, the X7-
300 is the highest model and comes with
an upgraded GTX 680M 4GB GPU and
a 6X Blu-ray optical drive. Despite the
diferences, the FANGbook is ready to take
on any game.
Q
What is FANGbooks Ultra RAID
option, and what kind of performance
boost can customers get by choosing it?
JW
The Ul t r a RAI D opt i on
utilizes two mSATA solid-state
drives in RAID 0 to give power users
read speeds of up to 900MBps, which
drastically decreases loading times of
applications. Better yet, Ultra RAID
only takes up one hard drive bay, leaving
an extra hard drive bay for a data storage
drive or another solid-state drive for
even faster performance.
Q
Most gamers are likely to want to
use a mouse instead of a touchpad
for gaming, and it looks like you have
a pretty wide selection of mice from
which they can choose. What other
optional equipment are people adding
to their FANGbook orders?
JW
Ot he r t ha n a ga mi ng
mouse, people usually add a
mousepad and gaming headset to their
order, for gaming on the go. I guess
they want to be prepared when theyre
gaming anywhere and everywhere with
the FANGbook!
Q
Some gaming PCs and gaming
peripherals are designed with a
particular type of games in mind, such
as FPS games or RTS and MMO games.
What type of gamer or user do you see as
the best ft for the FANGbook?
JW
I would say the FANGbook can
handle any type of game, but
I think its best suited for MMO games.
Te screen is big and bright enough to see
everything in the game environment. The
keyboard is perfect for accessing your macros,
its easy to type with, and it can take the
pounding that most gamers dish out on their
keyboardseven when they ragequit!
CPU / May 2013 29
movie in less than 30 seconds or backing
up a full year of continuous MP3 playback
in just over 10 minutes. The Promise
Pegasus R6 Tunderbolt RAID appliance
is capable of 864MBps read and 746MBps
write performance.
Thunderbolt uses mini-DisplayPort
connectors, and its adaptable to DisplayPort,
HDMI, DVI, VGA, Ethernet, USB, and
more. These devices can also run in a
Tunderbolt daisy chain, typically as the last
device in the chain. Display Port 1.1a devices
T
hunderbolt is one of the latest stan-
dards to arrive on the computing
scene. Unlike most new protocols that are
architected to replace an existing protocol,
Thunderbolt appears to have multiple
connector standards in its crosshairs. Intel
played the biggest role in creating the
technology behind Thunderbolt, but Apple
also had a hand in its design and release.
Thunderbolt Highlights
Tunderbolt is a 10Gbps (1.25GBps)
interface that combines PCI Express with
DisplayPort in a single cable. It is capable
of transmitting data, video, audio, and
power over a single cable connection.
Te electrical power supplied to a single
Thunderbolt-capable peripheral is 10
watts. But Tunderbolt doesnt just stop
at one; users can daisy-chain compatible
devices, typically up to six from a single
Tunderbolt port on the host PC. Each
of the auxiliary devices requires two
Tunderbolt ports, one to connect to the
PC (if it is the frst device in the chain)
or the upstream device and another
connecting to the downstream device,
unless it is the last device in the chain.
Thunderbolt also supports hubs, which
lets you use a single cable connection to
link your computer to a mouse, keyboard,
monitor, LAN, and external storage drive.
Thanks to its speed capabilities, the
Thunderbolt interface can even handle
an external RAID array of SSDs (current
SSDs with a SATA III interface max out
at 6Gbps). At 10Gbps, Thunderbolt is
capable of transferring a full-length HD
State-Of-The-Art
Standards
Thunderbolt
This logo is your key to 10Gbps data transfers and much, much more.
Thunderbolt connectors look identical
to Mini DisplayPort connectors.
30 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
can also support Tunderbolt natively, but
they wont support downstream connections
to other Tunderbolt devices or adapters.
Thunderbolts Stormy Past
Before products became commercially
available, Intel referred to the technology
by the codename Light Peak. More than
just a catchy moniker, Light Peak actually
hinted at the technologys core mode
of communication; it was an optical fiber
standard that transmitted data using pulses
of infrared light. Intel frst showed of Light
Peak at the 2009 Intel Developer Forum;
the demo involved a modified Mac Pro
motherboard streaming two 1080p videos,
running a LAN connection, as well as storage
devices all from a single Tunderbolt port, at
a distance of 30 meters. Tis demonstration
used optical cables, which is one of the
reasons the 30 meter span was possible.
Optical is the ideal technology for
transmitting large amounts of data across
longer distances. Light Peaks original data
transmission cable design consisted of a
pair of 62.5-micron-wide fibers (one for
upstream trafc, the other for downstream
traffic) to transport infrared signals at
distances up to 100 meters. Light Peak uses
specialized cables that feature a controller
integrated into the connectors at either end.
Tese are designed to convert the electrical
signals received from the host PC, native
Mini DisplayPort connector, or adapted
device into optical signals. Te controller
on the other end of the Light Peak cable
then converts the optical signals back into
electrical signals. As costs come down, Intel
had planned to eventually move the optical
transceivers onto the PCs chipset.
Aside from being able to transmit over
long distances, the other big benefit of
using optical technology is that 10Gbps
is just the beginning. Intel initially stated
that it had plans to expand the protocol
to support up to 100Gbps throughputs
over the course of the next decade.
One of the biggest drawbacks of a purely
optical transmission standard was an inability
to pass power over strands of optical fber,
which limited Light Peak from matching
established standards like USB 3.0, FireWire,
Power over Ethernet, and others.
When Intel originally showed of Light
Peak, they expected time to market would
be just a year following the show, but Light
Peak devices hadnt progressed past prototype
stage as of IDF 2010. In January 2011, Intel
revealed that the early Light Peak, now called
Thunderbolt, would employ copper wires
instead of optical fiber. Although copper
wire cant handle long distances as well as
optical fber and the former is more prone
to electrical interference than the latter,
the 10Gbps target bandwidth was still
possible. Additionally, using copper enables
Tunderbolt to power devices at up to 10
watts per port. Depending on the cable
used, the Thunderbolt controllers (either
embedded in the cable or in the PC) convert
electrical signals to optical and vice versa.
Tunderbolt can still support optical fber
devices that favor higher bandwidth and
longer cable runs over port-supplied power.
According to Intel, active electrical-only
cables will be limited to three meters in
length. Optical-only Thunderbolt cables
dont supply power to devices, but are
available in run up to 50 meters in length.
Thunderbolt Architecture
If any company in the industry knows how
difcult it is to launch a new protocol and
make it successful, its Intel. So rather than
do that, the frm decided to rely on existing
protocols for Light Peak and eventually
Thunderbolt. Intels goal was to unify the
disparate audio and video signals that are
currently handled by HDMI, DVI, VGA,
optical, and DisplayPort standards with an
established and powerful data transmission
protocol; PCI Express. Mini DisplayPorts
connector is compact enough to ft in small-
form-factor devices such as Ultrabooks
and powerful enough to support multiple
simultaneous HD video streams and up to
The Apple Thunderbolt
Display connects via
Thunderbolt and acts
as a hub for other
peripherals.
This Thunderbolt-to-Ethernet adapter is just one
example of the kinds of adapters that
Thunderbolt can support.
CPU / May 2013 31
eight discrete channels of audio, making it a
perfect choice. In Tunderbolt devices, the
Mini DisplayPort connector would support
two full-duplex channels, each one capable
of bi-directional 10Gbps bandwidth. By
piggybacking on the DisplayPort standard,
Intel ensured that existing DisplayPort-based
monitors that users have purchased to replace
DVI- and VGA-based monitors will be
fully compatible.
The transport layer is the heart of
Tunderbolts architecture. Features include
very low overhead (so devices can enjoy
as much of that 10Gbps bi-directional
bandwidth as possible), support for hot
swapping, and a fairly low-power interface.
Thunderbolt is a packet-based protocol
that offers flexible QoS support that lets
the host PC recognize the Thunderbolt-
connected device as either a PCI Express
or DisplayPort device, even though the
packets are passing between host and
endpoint simultaneously on the same link.
Tis enables the PC or host device to work
with the Thunderbolt peripheral without
requiring additional drivers. Tunderbolt is
a time synchronization protocol that lets the
hosted devices synchronize their time within
8ns of one another.
The key to managing Thunderbolts
packets and timings are the controllers.
Youll fnd controllers at each Tunderbolt
port on a device and on the chipset of
Thunderbolt-capable motherboards. The
specialized controllers on each end of
both electrical and optical Thunderbolt
cables are called Tunderbolt transceivers.
Each Thunderbolt controller features a
high-performance cross-bar Thunderbolt
protocol switch, one or more Tunderbolt
ports, one or more DisplayPort protocol
adapter ports, and a PCI Express switch
with one or more PCI Express protocol
adapter ports.
Manufacturers can easily build Tunder-
bolt adapters using a controller chip, Mini
DisplayPort connector, and existing PCI
Express-to-whatever controllers. For
system builders, Thunderbolt lets them
integrate multiple functions into a single
device, from a single port. For instance,
an Ultrabook manufacturer can include a
Tunderbolt port, enabling users to connect
Thunderbolt or Display Port monitors,
external RAID, and a slew of other
Tunderbolt devices.
Future Prospects
Tunderbolt is still in its relative infancy.
Since Apple launched the MacBook Pro in
2011 with Tunderbolt in tow, a handful of
other manufacturers have added the interface
standard to its products, but some aspects
of the technology could limit its market
potential. Because every Tunderbolt cable
requires a controller chip in either end, the
cables cost significantly more than passive
cables from competing protocols, such as
FireWire, eSATA, and USB 3.0.
As we went to press, Apple was selling its
2-meter Tunderbolt cable for $39 and a
.5-meter cable for $29. Each has Gennum
GN2033 Thunderbolt Transceiver chips
inside the connectors on both its ends.
It wasnt until late last year that other
manufacturers began releasing Tunderbolt
cables, which is the first step in driving
costs down.
Intersil, a Thunderbolt transceiver chip
maker, recently announced that it will
begin producing transceivers that require
fewer chips, use thinner conductors, and
support on-chip signal testing, all of which
can reduce the cost of Tunderbolt cables.
Intel also released a second generation of its
Tunderbolt controller chips with Ivy Bridge.
Corning recently announced an optical-only
Tunderbolt cable, and Intel was showing it
of at their booth at CES in January. Several 7
Series motherboards from GIGABYTE also
feature dual Thunderbolt ports, including
the GA-Z77MX-D3H TH, GA-Z77X-UP4
TH, and GA-Z77X-UP5 TH.
Although Tunderbolt got of to a slower
start than many expected, it does appear
to be making headway. Furthermore, Intel
has indicated that it will relax its licensing
and certification process for third-party
Thunderbolt products. Will 2013 be the
year Tunderbolt fnally takes of?
A handful of GIGABYTEs
motherboards support
Thunderbolt.
32 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
On Feb. 16, CPU attended Gamers For Giving, an Intel
LANFest event held in conjunction with the Gamers
Outreach Foundation (www.gamersoutreach.org).
Gamers Outreach provides portable game kiosks
for hospitals and sends games and consoles to U.S.
troops serving overseas. The event took place in
the student center of Eastern Michigan University in
Ypsilanti, Mich., and ran Saturday morning through
Sunday night.
Our Intel LANFest
CPU mod contest
yielded this beauty
as the overall winner.
Aaron Hassells
Company Spirit
mod bears the colors
of Beyond Gaming,
a social competition
platform for gaming
that Hassell does
marketing for.
34 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Company Spirit is a Thermaltake Level 10 GTS with custom color accents. It includes an AMD FX 8120 on an ASUS SABERTOOTH
motherboard, 8GB of Kingston HyperX memory, a Sapphire HD 6870 FleX Edition video cad, Kingston SSD, and more.
The event included CoD Black Ops 2 and Halo 4 tournaments for Xbox 360,
League of Legends and StarCraft 2 tournaments on PC, and a 150-seat
BYOC. The two-day event raised nearly $12,000 for Gamers Outreach, and
was generally pretty cool.
Like many other Intel LANFest events, Gamers For Giving included a rock-
paper-scissors competition during the raffe/swag distribution phase.
CPU / May 2013 35
Intel LANFest Northwest started 7 p.m. Friday, March 22 and ran through noon on Sunday,
March 24. The 120-seat BYOC took place in the cafeteria at Intels Aloha campus in Aloha,
Ore., near the western edge of the Portland metro, and unsurprisingly sold out.
36 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
The winner of our Intel LANFest CPU mod contest
was Ryan Havok Headricks modded ENERMAX
Fulmo. The rigs metallic silver base really makes
the candy purple metallic front and top panels pop,
not to mention the candy purple metallic flame job,
which is matched inside by the purple flames on
the systems LEPA G1600 power supply.
This mod is an Intel Core i7-3960X system built on
an ASUS SABERTOOTH X79 board, with a pair of
GeForce GTX 680s in SLI, 64GB of Kingston HyperX
Predator memory, two HyperX SSDs in RAID 0, a
Corsair Hydro Series H100 CPU cooler, and four
1TB WD Raptor drives, also in RAID 0.
CPU / May 2013 37
38 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
I
f the name Jon PennyWise Hansz sounds
familiar, it should. Hansz created the incredible
EpiDemic mod that graced the cover of the May
2012 issue.
Another May issue, another cover mod: Hansz
entered Triton, his latest creation, in the CPU Mod
Contest at PDXLAN 21 and emerged victorious.
(See our coverage of PDXLAN el sewhere i n
this issue for looks at the rest of the fnalists from
the contest.)
Hansz says the whole concept stems from Tritons
watercooling system. I wanted to go with a water
theme to show off the custom, five-bay waterfall
reservoir that I built, he says. I made icicles out of
blue acrylic rods for the top to give it that cold look,
and I lit the top with an LED board I built.
The reservoir in question is pretty impressive. It
works with the blue and green color scheme and the
custom accent line decals that form the tridents and
lettering on the side panels to give this mod the aquatic
feel that Hansz was after. But thats only the tip of the
proverbial iceberg.
Triton also benefits from an insane amount
of work inside, where Hansz delivers the same
painstaking cabling work we saw in EpiDemic, not
to mention more custom fit-and-finish work on
his components than weve ever seen in a single
mod. Hansz redid every logo and brand badge on
Tritons quad radiator, Corsair Dominator Platinum
DIMMs, Corsair SSDs and PSU, EVGA SLI water
bridge, and more.
He painted every component save his motherboard
and Koolance G5 variable-speed pump and created
custom outer panels for several of them using carbon
fber and acrylic. Blue lighting and blue coolant tubing
complete the interior, while Hanszs custom blue
Triton
CPU / May 2013 39
acrylic case feet with internal LEDs tie the whole thing
together nicely.
Triton began life as a CaseLabs SM8 and includes
an EVGA Z77 FTW motherboard, an Intel Core
i7-3770K, 16GB of Corsair Dominator Platinum
DDR3-2133, a pair of EVGA GTX 680 Hydro
Copper Classified cards, a Corsair AX1200 PSU,
two Corsair Force Series GT SSDs (a 240GB and
a 120GB), and two 2TB Samsung hard drives.
Tritons cooling loop includes Hanszs custom res,
a Black Ice GT Xtreme 480 radiator, Xigmatek
fans, Bitspower compression fittings, Danger Den
DreamFl ex tubi ng, a Kool ance vari abl e-speed
pump, and a Koolance CPU-370 CPU waterblock.
He added a matching ROCCAT Kone XTD mouse,
and would like to thank ROCCAT, CaseLabs, and
EVGA for their help with the project.
Hansz spent about three months on Triton, working
off and on. I have about a week into the wiring,
he says. Most of the time I spent modifying all the
components and [doing] detail work.
But Hansz didnt work alone, and he asked us
to pass along more special thanks. I have two
daughters, Odessa (10) and Olivia (9), who got
involved in this build with me, Hansz says. They
had more questions than I had answers. I want to
thank them for all their help. It was a lot of fun to
build this with them, and I cant wait to start the
next build.
Hansz did have an answer for our next question,
though. I am starting another large build. Its still
in the planning stages, but I have been working
on prototypes for parts, including several for an
idea I came up with last October for injecting air
bubbles into the reservoir, Hansz says. Keep your
eyes peeled for videos and pictures in the next
couple months.
Consider our eyes peeled.
Have a computer mod that will bring tears to our eyes? Email
photos and a description to [email protected].
If we include your system in our Mad Reader Mod section,
well send you $1,500 and a one-year subscription to CPU.
Give Us Your Mod
40 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
CPU / May 2013 41
Another PDXLAN has come and gone, and what a LAN party it was.
The fun began on Friday, Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. PST and didnt let up until
the big raffe at 4 p.m. on Monday. Thats 68 hours of unadulterated
fun, including numerous tournaments, contests, giveaways, and
more. (More includes a couple Worlds Largest Harlem Shake
attempts and other items that are equally diffcult to describe and,
therefore, categorize.)
CPU was there, and as we are often wont to do, we held a mod
contest. The PDX crowd once again fielded an amazing number
of top-shelf systems. We picked a winner Saturday night, and
on Sunday night/Monday morning we gave away the CPU
System Workshop build from our January issue, the New Year
Annihilator. The system, as you may recall, was a Thermaltake
Armor Revo case (updated to the white Gene Snow Edition), an
Intel Core i7-3960X, a Zalman LQ320 closed-loop CPU cooler,
Intels DX79SR motherboard, a 240GB Intel 520 Series SSD,
and more.
In between and around these events, we played Counter-Strike: GO,
took some pictures of the festivities, and enjoyed the opportunity to
hang out with one of the best LAN crowds anywhere.
42 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
SECOND PLACE. Another former Mad Reader Mod winner came in second
in the PDXLAN 21 mod contest: Stephen Leatherface Popa. His Dark Matter
mod is a Thermaltake Level 10 GT with some pretty excellent upgrades.
For starters, Popa took the side panels rear-edge hinges off and attached
the entire door panel to a cabinet rail and an actuator, so the panel slides
smoothly to the rear on its own power to open, and then slides forward again
when you close it. Popa also took the 200mm fan out of the side panel and
converted the bottom half into more case window: When your interior is as
clean and neat as Dark Matters, you want as much window as you can get.
Popa rerouted his PSUs cabling so that it runs away from the side, straight
under the motherboard tray. He also soldered the 24-pin ATX and 8-pin
CPU cables to the back side of the motherboardPopa says this took three
attempts and two slagged motherboards to get right. The result is almost
invisible power cables; you see a couple inches of them where they come
up to power the video card, and thats about it.
Popa added a few other nice touches, as well, such as painting the formerly
black mesh on the front, top, and side panel silver, and creating a cool effect
up front with red and blue LED fans, one behind the other.
You could hardly swing a bat at PDXLAN without hitting a modded PC, and the number of really good mods was astonishing.
As always, it was a tough process to narrow down all the quality entries to a top fve, and even tougher to pick a winner.
Choose we must, however, and so we did. The winner of the contest, Jon PennyWise Hanszs Triton mod, is this months
Mad Reader Mod, so check it out elsewhere in the issue. (You may remember Hanszs EpiDemic mod from the cover of May
2012 issue.) The rest of our top fve fnalists were too good not to show you, though, so here they are.
CPU / May 2013 43
THIRD PLACE. Thats rightanother Mad Reader Mod alumnus took third place. (If you think this is strange,
you need to attend PDXLAN and take a look at the PCs that show up there.) Ron Christianson, creator of the
Iron Man mod that showed up on our January issues cover, is back with another pop-culture-themed mod:
Biohazard. For the uninitiated, the videogame series we know as Resident Evil here in North America is
known as Biohazard in Japan.
Biohazard is a scratch build made mostly of foam board to resemble an industrial facility owned and run by
the nefarious Umbrella Corporation. Inside and out, this mod bears an incredible amount of detail, including
several Umbrella Corp. logos, twin helipads on the roof, and much more. The entire top panel (the roof) lifts off
to reveal Christiansons components and cooling loop, and LEDs here and there add to the overall effect.
FOURTH PLACE. The XCOM gaming franchise was reborn last October with the release of XCOM: Enemy
Unknown, and our fourth-place mod at PDXLAN 21, called simply XCOM, is Kurt Schuffs tribute. Schuff
built XCOM starting with a stripped-down, rebuilt Danger Den case that he modifed so that the top and
front panels are a single piece that opens out toward the front on hinges at the bottom of the front panel.
There are XCOM-themed etchings on several panels, complete with LED backlighting to make them pop, and
Schuff did a lot of custom construction to facilitate better cable management (he cut channels in the acrylic
for cabling) and cooling. (He fabbed his own copper waterblock support.) XCOMs power cables are also
neatly sleeved. This is a unique mod that will impress you whether or not youre a fan of the latest XCOM title.
44 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
FIFTH PLACE. Our fourth runner-up, a mod called Power Sucker, is based on a gorgeous white
Corsair Graphite Series 600T that has a bright red custom powder coat interior. The front panel
and right side panel mesh inserts are a matching red, and the stock, windowed left side panel has
been replaced by a custom panel built from a sheet of clear acrylic. The clear panel makes perfect
sense given the gorgeous interior, not to mention that monstrous quad-SLI setup.
Matt Vector Conwell, founder and organizer of
PDXLAN (shown at center), set up a charity raffe
for Saturday night during the LAN. Attendees
could purchase raffe tickets for a chance to win
a Razer Blade gaming laptop or the New Year
Annihilator, the custom gaming PC we built in our
January issues CPU System Workshop feature.
Proceeds from the raffe went to Smile Train
(www.smiletrain.org), a non-proft organization
that provides free cleft surgery to children in
developing countries.
The raffe was a hit: Attendees purchased $5,750
in tickets, and NVIDIA matched the frst $2,500,
for a total of $8,250 for Smile Train. Robert
Coviello (right), won the New Year Annihilator.
Congratulations, Robert, and thanks to everyone
who participated!
CPU / May 2013 45
the mods, but wouldnt it
be great to have a sit-down
chat with the sages of modding, who
have collectively amassed thousands upon
thousands of hours of experience?
Modding Masters provides you with
up-close and personal access to the pillars
of the modding community. Weve called
on previous Mad Reader Mod winners
as well as modders who have taken frst-
place honors at our LAN party case mod
E
very month, CPUs Mad Reader
Mod feature showcases an unbe-
lievable, jaw-dropping custom mod that
redefines what we thought was possible
with the right tools in the hands of an
inspired, creative, and determined
modder. These are the systems that turn
heads and win prizes at LAN parties, and
the modders behind them are the rock
stars of the PC enthusiast scene. Many of
these modders are commissioned to create
custom mods for the biggest companies in
the business, but a lot of them got their
start with little more than an idea and a
clunker case in need of a visual refresh.
What if youre just beginning your
modding career? Mad Reader Mod
shows you the end result, but if youve
ever followed a worklog online you know
the insane amount of work that goes into
these stunning creations. Sure, worklogs
help explain much of the magic behind
A great can of primer is a modders guy behind the guy. Without it, you paint job will suffer.
Modding Masters
Paint Like A Pro
CPU / May 2013 47
contests to provide their expert opinion
on all things mod. Its the closest youre
going to get to these rotary tool ninjas
and paint booth Picassos short of online
videoconferencing or criminal trespass.
Listen to their wisdom, learn from their
mistakes, and follow their advice, and
perhaps the coveted Mad Reader Mod
spread will one day belong to you.
Tis month, were covering a topic so
epic and so important to the finished
product that we required a separate
article just to make sure you were fully
prepared. In the February 2013 issue, we
showed you the techniques necessary to
break your case down to its individual
components and sand them down. Hey,
we know, its not the most glamorous
work, but it hints at the awesome to
come. We hope you fol l owed our
Masters instructions to the letter,
because now the fun really begins. Its
time to start painting.
As far as their skill with a steel canvas
is concerned, the three modders who will
be guiding us this month easily qualify
as master artists. What these guys can do
with a little bit of paint and a spray gun
is nothing short of amazing, and theyve
graciously ofered their advice to you, free
of charge (tips appreciated). It made sense
to call back two Modding Masters from
the prep article to fnish the job, so Bob
BS MODS Stewart and Ton TiTON
Khowdee are joining us for a second act.
Vic XcaliburFX McGuire joins the fun,
too, and were glad hes here.
Tis is the moment when youll frst
start to see your modding vision come to
life. Lets help you not screw it up.
Seriously, Dont Screw It Up
Like most stages of the modding
process, there are plenty of ways you can
foul up your paint job along the way. Te
worst part about making a mistake during
painting is that your mod will scream out
to passersby exactly where you botched
the job.
Khowdee cuts right to the heart of the
matter: Mistakes in painting suck.
Te unfortunate blemishes . . . will
defnitely show up in your paint fnish,
McGuire says.
Pitfalls that applied before, such as
rushing the job or failing to keep your
workspace clear of debris apply here, too,
so be aware of them. If you maintained
a clean environment during the decon-
struction and sanding stages, you should
be ahead of the game.
If this is your first time painting
your case, however, you could end up
making mistakes without realizing youre
doing anything wrong. All three of our
Masters agree that temperature is a major
consideration for painting, and failing to
heed this will lead to trouble.
Temperature is vital to spraying
paint that will lay fat and cure properly,
Stewart says. If you are not spraying
in at least a 60-degree Fahrenheit temp,
you will have issues. Paint flows better
if its warm, so when you see a heavy
orange peel [a finish effect resembling
the skin of an orange created by improper
technique], cracks in the paint, or sags
and runs, then its a good bet they didnt
have a controlled area.
I have seen beginners paint a project in
cooler or cold weather, McGuire says. Tis
Plastic doesnt play by the same
rules as metal, but its nothing a can
of adhesion promoter cant solve.
Adhesion promoter will etch into
plastic and promote bonding.
48 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Polishing compound is the last step necessary to give your paint job a mirror-like fnish.
can sometimes lead to a cloudy paint fnish
or uneven sprays from the can, even spitting
blobs of paint at times. I like to warm my
paints in a basin full of hot water during
cooler weather, so the paints are at a good
temperature for mixing and spraying.
Khowdee also adds humidity to the
equation. He says that every kind of paint
has a specifc temperature and humidity
level that will ensure optimal results.
High humidity can make it difcult for
paint to dry.
Another potential problem thats wait-
ing to wreck your mod is mixing or
using incompatible paints together. A
beginning modder may not take the time
to research the type of paint he plans to
use on a given project, McGuire says.
Tats a big mistake, as not all paints and
primers are compatible with each other.
As youll soon see, some companies have
designed ecosystems of products (primers,
paints, and so forth) specifcally to work
with each other and only each other, and
Another potential problem thats waiting
to wreck your mod is mixing or using
incompatible paints together.
CPU / May 2013 49
different kinds of paint may not play
nicely together, either. Reading labels
ahead of time and understanding how
your paints will react to each other is key.
The Right Mentality
Because our Masters have been play-
ing the modding game for quite some
time now, all of them have amassed
impressive toy boxes of equipment. (See
the Whats In Te Toolbox? sidebar for
more information.) Its all too easy to get
caught up in the thought that the best-
looking case mods used the best, most
expensive equipment. Stewart, McGuire,
and Khowdee agree that good gear can
often save you time and efort, but that
nothing beats good technique.
You do not need professional-grade
equipment to get professional-grade
results, Khowdee says. Professional
equipment just makes it easier to get the
end results. For the casual modder, the
proper dedication and patience
can also get the desired results.
Planning and preparation will
go a very long way.
Most everyone is going to
say You get what you pay for,
McGuire says, however, if you
dont know how to use what you
pay for, how great is the paint
job going to be? I dont have the
most expensive tools money can
buy. However, by being diligent
and using proven techniques
that I have learned over the
years, I can most likely get the
job done with just a rattle can, if
need be.
Ke e p your a r e a a nd
surface clean, remember the
basics of gun control , the
right temperature and some
ventilation, and you will be well
on your way to a show quality
shine, Stewart adds.
Prime(r) Time
When it comes to the pursuit of the
perfect mod, even your primer requires
special consideration. Briefy (and simply),
primer is what lets your paint adhere to
whatever surface you need to paint.
As Stewart points out, the variety of
primers available is as diverse as the types
of paint. He lists epoxy primer, primer
sealer, primer surfacer, and etching primer
as some of the most common primers.
Tey all have their particular benefts,
he says. We could spend a whole day just
going over them. Tey all spray a little
diferently due to their consistencies.
Khowdee and McGuire both recom-
mend using a primer appropriate to the
material you need to paint. Wood is a
very porous material, and it will just suck
the paint in, Khowdee says. A good
wood primer will allow the paint to sit
evenly on the surface. There are also
primers for metal and plastics. Getting
primer that matches the material that you
will be painting will help ensure the paint
will adhere well to the surface.
McGuire favors a good self-etching
primer for a variety of surfaces. He uses a
self-etching primer for anodized aluminum
(after frst sanding the surface) and bare
aluminum. He also uses self-etching
primer for bare steel and hard plastics,
although in the case of plastics, McGuire
adds that plastic primers and adhesion
promoters are viable options, as well.
Filler primer is an option that can, to a
certain extent, help repair certain surface
imperfections. On scratched metals or
plastics (once the plastic has a plastic
primer over it and cured), sandable fller
primer can fll in the scratches and even
help hide waves in flat panels for that
perfect fnish, McGuire says.
All three of our Modding Masters
also agree that the quality of your primer
is also a factor. Like paints, there are
expensive, high-grade primers out there if
your budget allows, and there are budget
Side panel, side panel on the wallThis is the mirror-like
fnish you can get with diligent wet sanding, a good buff, and an
application of polishing compound.
50 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
brands, too. Picking one or the other isnt
inherently wrong, but there is a reason
that dollar primer only cost you a buck.
So, what exactly do you get if you head
for the bargain aisle to get your primer?
Poor primer typically provides poorer
coverage and requires more cans of
primers, Khowdee says.
Stewart agrees. Cheap primer will take
more coats to hide prep and can have
trouble etching into the surface, as well.
As youd expect, the inverse is true for
high-quality primer.
Steward favors an epoxy primer
because, It will seal off everything
underneath, doesnt need to be sanded,
and provides a perfect foundation for
paint. Its the best thing to use because it
can go over metal and plastic both and
comes in several colors.
If the case youre working with has
plastic components that need modding,
give some thought to using an adhesion
promoter before laying down a coat of
primer. We covered adhesion promoter in
the February issue, but the information
bears repeating. Says McGuire, I usually
use PlastiKote adhesion promoter on
plastic panels, and even some metals,
before priming. I have seen the adhesion
promoter actually chemically react with
plastic when bonding. Just spray some on
and try to wipe it of; it will take some
plastic with it. Once it is applied, be ready
to prime.
McGuire also cites a couple newer paint/
primer combos that make painting plastic
easier. Krylon Fusion and Rust-Oleum
plastic paint use an adhesion promoter in
the actual paint. Do not count them out
when choosing your project paints.
When in doubt, use primer and paint
from the same manufacturer, Khowdee says.
The Good Stuff
By now you can probably guess
that getting paint for your mod is not
as simple as getting paint. You have
a host of options available for paint at
virtually any price. Again, of the paints
that modders use for their projects, there
really isnt a wrong paint; you just need to
educate yourself about each before you go
wild with the credit card.
Lets start at the top of the shelf, powder
coating. McGuire and Stewart agree that
powder coating has the most durable
finish (it resists just about any kind
HVLP (high volume low pressure)
spray guns are perfect for applying
automotive paint and come in a wide
range of prices and quality.
If the case youre working
with has plastic components
that need modding, give
some thought to using an
adhesion promoter before
laying down a coat of primer.
Vic XcaliburFX McGuires paint
booth includes a sealed cabinet that
keeps his painted panels clear of
paint-job-destroying debris.
McGuire poses with HAWG WILD U.S.A., a mod that
used a variety of paints and techniques to get the result
you see here.
CPU / May 2013 51
of abuse you can throw at it, Stewart
says). Its available in a variety of colors
and gloss levels, as well as different
metallic and textured fnishes. However,
powder coating needs to cure at high
temperatures, which rules out using the
process on plastics. More importantly, all
of the equipment necessary to do the job
is economically infeasible unless youre
planning on starting up your own powder
coating business. Taking your mod to
such a business isnt cheap, either.
McGuire doesnt fuss with powder
coating, but he does have a money-saving
tip if youre interested in going that route:
If you know a shop has an existing project
that uses a color youd like to use for your
mod, you might be able to get them to
paint your stuf at a slight discount. (But
dont get your hopes up.)
Stepping down a notch, you have
automotive paint, which is Stewarts
favorite. For beginning modders, he
recommends Dupl i-Col or. Dupl i-
Color makes ready-to-spray lacquer in
quarts that does a pretty nice job if you
are trying to save money but want an
automotive-quality fnish. It also has no
recoat time, so you can spray another
coat any time you feel like it. Te cans are
around $25 each, and it doesnt matter if
its the primer, paint, or clear coat; its still
$25 a quart. You could do a pretty nice
paint job for under $100.
Stewart is quick to point out that
automotive paint can be much more
expensive depending on what you want,
however. If you want a high-quality
automotive finish such as an acrylic
urethane base coat/clear coat, then I
suggest PPG Deltron base and a high-
solids clear. Just make sure someone is
behind you to catch you when you fall
over from sticker shock. If you use an
epoxy primer, a Deltron base coat, and
a high-solids clear . . . plan on slapping
down around $600 or more for a quart of
[each of ] these and the accessories that are
needed to complete the mix.
And oh wait, you want more than one
color? Bright red you say? Thats about
$200 for just a pint.
Khowdee agrees that automotive
paints can produce a sweet fnish, but
he reminds modders to exercise caution
when usi ng them. Most modern
automotive paints are urethane-based,
which has toxic compounds that can be
absorbed through the lungs and skin,
he says.
If youre not qui te ready to l ay
down a coat of automotive paint, then
maybe you should go for the preferred
choice of thousands of modders (and
hooligans): good old-fashioned spray
paint. Believe it or not, you can lay
down some extremely nice paint jobs
using rattle can paints, McGuire says.
Sure, you need to take your time and
may even spend a bit more time wet-
sanding a fnish to get that ultra-slick
paint job, but it can be achieved with a
rattle can.
Khowdee agrees. Rattle cans are the
most common and affordable painting
method. Rattle cans can be easily
purchased from any hardware store. I
personally add a pistol grip for rattle
cans. This allow for me to apply even
pressure on the nozzle and control the
way the paint is being applied.
If your particular mod requires fine
detail work, an airbrush can be an
invaluable tool, thanks to its small spray
pattern. Want your mod to include
a painted scene from your favorite
videogame? An airbrush will defnitely do
the job, but like anything, you either need
to know what youre doing or be prepared
to pay someone who does.
Airbrushing is something that I am
just getting into myself and have a lot
to learn yet, McGuire says. Having
a proj ect ai rbrushed can actual l y
sometimes be even more expensive
than powder coating, as some artists
and companies charge a premium for
custom work. However, if you have the
knowledge to do airbrushing correctly
and are a good artist, you can really
make a mod special.
Skills To Pay The Bills
Although there isnt necessarily a right
or wrong paint to use for your mod,
there are defnitely right and wrong ways
Vinyl paint masking is your ticket to (relatively) fast, easy patterns and designs for your mod.
52 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
to use them. Many of the same good
techniques apply to using automotive
paint or spray paint.
Automotive paint requires an HVLP
(high volume low pressure) spray gun,
according to Stewart and McGuire.
HVLP spray guns al so requi re a
compressor to keep the gun supplied
with a steady stream of air. Stewart
recommends draining the tank to keep
the air lines dry, and also using a flter.
Next, before you start painting your case,
prep the gun by frst spraying some scrap
material. Spray at the proper distance
from and at a right angle to what youre
painting, and, as Stewart says, Do not
ever, ever, ever, stop moving the gun with
your hand still on the trigger.
McGuire adds, When spraying the
short, 24-inch wide panels, I start my
spray past the panel and spray until I go
completely of the panel. I then start my
next pass by overlapping the first pass
about half way and run it of the panel. I
do this until the complete panel is done
in this fashion.
McGuire also applies a light coat to the
edges of the panels hes painting to make
sure when I lay down my fnish coats the
edges dont show up in a diferent color.
Khowdee has a good reason for using
spray paint: Everything you need to
do with the paint is in the can. All you
Do not ever, ever, ever, stop moving the
gun with your hand still on the trigger.
- Stewart
Bob BS MODS Stewart shows off his many talents with this side panels paint. Of course, it shows
off a stunning mirror fnish, and Stewart used a sponge to add the textured effect to the paint.
CPU / May 2013 53
have to do is shake the can and spray on
the surface.
By now you know its not that simple,
though. Khowdee has a few tricks to get
the most out of your rattle cans. To help
increase paint fow, he prepares a warm
water bath for his spray paints and lets
them soak for a few minutes to bring up
the temperature of the paint within. After
that, he shakes the can like its going out
of style.
A common problem is that beginner
modders dont shake the can enough, he
says. Make sure to look at the label and
see how long the can needs to be shaken.
Start the timer from when you hear the
marble inside the can rattling. Make sure
to shake the can vigorously, since this
helps the paint mix.
After these steps, spray a few scraps
before proceeding on to your case panels
and then hold the spray can at the
recommended distance from what youre
painting, just like you would with an
HVLP gun. Khowdee suggests stopping
to reshake the spray can after a few passes.
After youve mastered the basics of
painting with spray paint, over time youll
be able to create unique works of art. On
my HAWG WILD U.S.A. mod, I used to
totally diferent types of paint to achieve
a diferent look to the panels, McGuire
says. He started by applying a base coat
of hammered metal paint. After waiting
for the paint to become slightly less tacky,
he laid down a coat of Krylon gloss black
and, after that coat had cured, he taped
off the panel and sprayed his second
coat: Krylon Pumpkin Orange. He then
removed the tape and fnished with fve
coats of crystal clear acrylic enamel.
The Hammerite paint gives off an
industrial texture to the paint like you
would find on a lot of manufacturing
plants heavy machinery, McGuire says.
By painting over the hammered metal
fnish with multiple layers of color coats
followed by five coats of clear, it gave
the case a very light refective fnish. At
frst glimpse, the texture looks a tad like
orange peel (which must be wet-sanded
to fx), however on closer inspection, you
can see the gentle light refecting waves
in the paint that make the panel glisten
when hit by light.
Pattern Power
Once you feel comfortable with paint-
ing one color, the natural progression is
to move on to multiple colors and wild
patterns. Although you probably know
that working with more than one color
requires carefully masking off areas that
wont receive a certain color of paint, what
you might not know is that the masking
process is easier than you think.
Khowdee explains, With the popu-
larity of vinyl cutters, a complex paint
mask can be cut and applied to a case.
Lets say a modder wanted to paint classic
fames on their case. Te modder would
have to spend countless hours trying to
mask fames by hand. With vinyl cutters,
you can quickly design flames on a
computer and have it cut.
Paint masking this way varies little
from doing it the old-fashioned way.
After youve applied your base coat, put
down the vinyl paint mask and paint
your additional colors/patterns. Repeat
the steps as many times as necessary for
the number of colors and patterns your
mod requires.
The Paint Booth
You can know what type of paint to
use. You can know how to best use said
paint. But you still need a place to paint.
Creating the right environment to paint is
an equally important step.
Khowdees setup is easily the cheapest
(as well as the best way to apply a nice
coat of bronze to your skin): Te great
outdoors. I take advantage of the great
Southern California weather. I just pick a
time of day when the temperature will be
ideal for painting, and make sure it isnt a
windy day. Since I am painting outdoors,
I have great ventilation and avoid the risk
of breathing in the fumes. Even though
I am outside, I still make sure to put on
goggles, a breathing mask, and gloves.
For a paint booth, Khowdee simply
breaks down a cardboard box to provide a
fat surface for his case panels. Its easy to
set up and dispose of.
McGuire currently uses a slightly
more permanent paint booth, but also
one that he can break down when its
not needed. Right now, he uses sheets of
painters plastic to partition an area in
his basement, stapling the plastic to foor
joists and 2x4s in order to create a fully
enclosed space that measures roughly 100
square feet. His area includes a window
You can know what type
of paint to use. You can
know how to best use said
paint. But you still need a
place to paint. Creating the
right environment to paint is
an equally important step.
54 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
that he uses for ventilation (with the aid
of an exhaust fan). McGuire also replaces
the plastic after each paint job in order
remove the paint dust that gathers on the
plastic during painting.
McGuire also takes the curing process
into account. Once hes fnished painting
and the dust has settled (literally, the
paint dust settling), McGuire places the
painted panels in a large, sealed cabinet.
Its another step that helps keep debris
from interfering with his pristine paint
jobs. McGuire also aims a heat lamp at
the cabinet in order to maintain a tight,
consistent temperature range between 75
and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I do this . . .
so that the freshly panels cure evenly and
not too rapidly.
While McGuire is in the process of
transitioning to a dedicated paint booth
(a metal shed measuring 10 by
12 feet), complete with exhaust
fans and drying racks, Stewart
is already there. I am fortunate
enough to have a large shop
with a dedicated spray booth,
he says. I have ventilation
that I can control. Its not only
important to have ventilation
so that you dont pass out from
the fumes but the airfow helps
the paint to flash off. It keeps
the little foating particles from
landing back on your paint and
creating a sand-like texture.
That Mirror Finish
Read CPUs Mad Reader
Mod long enough or attend
enough LAN parties, and youre
going to fnd a case that stares
back at you, one that makes you
wonder if the modder replaced
his case panels with mirrors. If
you want your paint job to not
just pop but refect, you can do
it with a lot of patience and a
little trick called wet sanding.
Weve been talking a lot about
painting even, flat coats of paint; wet-
sanding really just takes that concept
a little further. The paint will have a
texture so it distorts the reflection,
Stewart says. By sanding the surface fat,
you remove the distortion.
McGuire and Khowdee agree. A
mirror-like finish is awesome, but it
requires a lot of work and patience,
Khowdee says. Each coat of primer and
paint has to be completely fat. So you
have to wet sand between coats to remove
any orange peel.
Wet-sanding new paint is meant to
fatten out the thicker areas and smooth
out waves, blotches, and even small
blemishes, McGuire adds.
Saying that wet sanding is like regular
sanding only wetter is actually a fairly
accurate statement. You need sandpaper
designed specifically for wet sanding,
and you should focus on a high grit. For
bad paint runs, you could use 800-grit
paper; youll use grits between 1,000 and
2,000 depending on the texture of your
paint job. (Quick tip: If youre using a
spray gun and want a mirror-like fnish,
Khowdee says that you can use a reducing
agent with your paint for a fatter coat
that requires less wet sanding.)
After you get your wet sandpaper,
you need a block, a bucket, and a spray
bottle. A simple rubber sanding block
will do the trick, giving you an even
surface for your sandpaper. Next, fill
the bucket with a solution of water
and a one or two small capfuls of mild
dish detergent (McGuire warns you to
stay away from detergents with lotion
added) and pour some of that solution
into your spray bottle.
Ton TiTON Khowdees IRONMAN mod is an excellent example of how
using nontraditional painting methods (in this case, using a bristle brush)
are great for mods that are meant to look beaten up and weathered.
CPU / May 2013 55
As we mentioned, this months Modding Masters, Vic XcaliburFX McGuire, Ton TiTON Khowdee, and Bob BS MODS Stewart, have assembled an
impressive portfolio of mods. They know what theyre doing.
These guys have also assembled an impression collection of equipment for fnishing their mods with sensational paint jobs. Here, the Masters reveal a
sampling of whats in their respective lairs.
Vic XcaliburFX McGuire
8everal t]pes of sanders. mouse, dual-
action sander, orbital sander, sander/
polisher, block sanders, etc.
HVlP spra]ers, airorushes
Air compressors (around three to four
total)
Buffers and polishing tools
Auto ood] dent repair tool set
Different ruooing and polishing
compounds
Razor olades to cut down runs
wet and dr] sandpaper
8cotch-Brite pads
Different thinners, mineral spirits,
denatured alcohol, and acetone
Ton TiTON Khowdee
Breathing mask
0oggles
latex/vin]l gloves
Nasking tape
Butcher paper/newspaper
Vin]l cutter
Transfer tape
8tencils
Razor
Fine grit and wet sandpaper
8anding olock
8ingle- and dual-action airorushes
HVlP gun
10-gallon air compressor (for HVlP gunj
8mall desktop compressor (for airorushingj
Bob BS MODS Stewart
8everal different HVlP guns, each for
different spra]s (primer, paint, and clearj
Airorush setup
Respirators
Paint suits
latex gloves
Nasking materials
8ticks and strainers
Tack cloth
8andpaper
8cuffng pads
8anding olocks
Air sanders
Buffng material
wHAT'8 lh THE TOOLBOX?
Spray the panel you want to sand and dip
the sanding block in your bucket until the
sandpaper is saturated. Ten, let the block
do the work. Use light, even strokes and
frequently rinse your sandpaper so paint
fecks and debris dont accumulate. Dont
apply too much pressure and be extremely
careful with curves and corners, where paint
is typically thinner. McGuire recommends
periodically wiping off your panel to see
your overall progress. This way, you can
avoid taking of too much paint.
Depending on your paint job, you
may need to gradually step up to 2,000
grit sandpaper, but once youve fnished
sanding at this grit, youre in the home
stretch. At this point, its time to go
to work on your scratched paint with
a buffer and rubbing compound, then
fnish the it of with a polishing bonnet
and a high-quality polishing compound.
Infict Battle Damage
Thus far, most of the tips Khowdee,
Stewart, and McGuire have ofered will
help you on your way toward a gorgeous,
showroom-quality finish. Such a paint
job will have you well on your way to
an awesome mod, but we enjoy in equal
measure case mods made to look like
theyve been through a war zone.
Tis is where painting gets really fun,
Stewart says. Tere are so many things
you can do to create custom looks.
Naturally, dirtying up a case requires
less care than making it look fawless. Or
does it? It is possible to have too much
of a good thing, McGuire says. Tere is
such a thing as too distressed.
The look you want to achieve will
largely dictate how you mangle your
mod, but al l of our Masters have
specific tips theyve picked up from
their own mods. McGuire recommends
using a Scotch-Brite pad to dull your
paints finish, and a lighter or small
propane torch are best for addi ng
strategic scorching to your mod.
You can use objects like brushes,
sponges, templates, string, tape, lace,
screen, and even plastic wrap to distort
the paint and create designs, Stewart
says. A brush can create scratch marks,
wood grain, etc., and string or fne tape
will create lines. Plastic wrap can be used
on top of multiple layers of wet paint to
create some wild marble-like efects.
Khowdee describes the process he used
to make his IRONMAN mod look like
Tony Starks Mark I suit. I didnt use
paint to make the case look new. Instead,
I used it to look old and dirty. Instead
of applying paint with a rattle can or
airbrush, I used a bristle brush. Tis gave
me the freedom to apply the paint in
diferent directions and consistency.
Dive In
Weve spent a lot of time on the
outside of our hypothetical mod project,
but thats only half of the equation. Over
the next few months, well be doing an
inside job, working to get every inch and
every angle of your mod looking sharp.
First up: Cabling. See you next month!
56 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
contrary to the old saying, LAN parties
aint over even after theyre over). Pull of
these things efectively, and youre all but
guaranteed to host a great, memorable
LAN party.
Meet The Admins
Our panel of experts this month
includes three familiar faces. Returning
to lend a hand are Alex Van Patten of
Pennsylvanias FITES (Frag Infinity
T
his is it. Weve reached the finish line.
Yet in many ways the hardest work
is yet to come. Up to this point, youve
had time on your side (we did tell you to
plan ahead, after all). That all changes the
moment you open your doors. Once your
LAN party starts, you are officially bound
by the hours of your event, so you have to
make every last minute count.
But relax. Were not going to abandon
you in your hour of need. For our last
installment, a quartet of seasoned LAN
party admins shared their advice and
strategies for dealing with the throngs
of rabid gamers who will hopefully be
pouring through your doors Friday night.
For our grand finale, well help you
put the fnishing touches on your events
physical setup, prep your staff for the
chaos, stay nimble during the event
proper, and avoid dropping the ball
once your LAN party is over (because
Choose Your
Own LANventure
Its Go Time
Dont overlook the value of having a capable, charismatic emcee for your LAN
party. It doesnt have to be you if youre the shy type, but the person running the
mic will help your LAN succeed more than you might think.
CPU / May 2013 57
Tournament ) , Charl es Cat i no of
Oregon State Universitys Gaming Club
LAN parties, and PDXLANs founder/
organizer/emcee Matt Conwell.
We also recruited some local talent
for more words of wisdom. Travis
Krei kemei er r uns Int el LANFes t
NETWAR, the premiere LAN party of
Omaha, Neb. Kreikemeier has been the
founder and organizer of NETWAR from
the beginning (2002), which means he
brings over a decade of experience to the
table. He recently moved his LAN party
to a new venue and oversaw the largest
NETWAR to date (280 attendees), so he
has plenty of street cred.
Table Tactics
To a certain extent, your venue will
dictate the physical layout of your LAN
party. Tat said, you can still make the
most of the space you have.
Its like Tetris, Kreikemeier says,
trying to find the most efficient way
to lay the tables out to efciently utilize
the space to fit the most attendees
while making the walkways easy for the
attendees to use.
Kreikemeier uses Microsoft Visio
to create a floor plan for NETWAR.
When he plays his game of Table Tetris,
Kreikemeier accounts for his LAN
partys various points of interest
bathrooms, event staf areas, food, and
the exitsand arranges the tables and
chairs in a way that makes these POIs
easy to access.
Van Patten agrees about setting up a
floor plan that promotes a steady flow
of foot traffic. Do your best not to
bottleneck the attendees. Van Patten also
reminds admins to minimize any tripping
hazards, and he has a tip for taping down
power and network cables: gafers tape.
Other kinds of tape, such as duct tape,
leave behind a residue that could upset
your venues management and/or result in
a fne for you.
Conwell stresses the importance of
exits, as well. You dont want to be shut
down from the fre marshal, he says. If
they were to come through and say, You
cant block these doors, theyre fre exits,
that would be a bad thing.
Conwell also tries to limit attendees
to one entrance and one exit. Tat way,
you can kind of keep track of everyone.
If you see a door pop open somewhere
else, you know something else is going
on over there.
When youre setting up your tables, try
to allow at least six feet of space between
table rows, even if youre using the venues
chairs. Our admins recommended a little
more breathing room, ideally seven or
eight feet, especially if you choose to let
your attendees bring their own chairs.
Of course, as your LAN party grows,
youll be adding elements such as prize/swag
tables, console areas, non-gaming events
(like a dodgeball tournament, perhaps)
and possibly even sponsor booths; theres
a defnite strategy involved with including
these areas at your LAN party. Our admins
generally agreed on the placement of
sponsor booths and prize tables.
Prize tables need to be secured,
Van Patten says. You dont want your
Here is the calm before the
storm. Organize your tables in a
way that provides easy access
to your LAN partys amenities,
and try to keep at least six feet
between your rows.
58 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
I like to put my sponsors up toward
the front so that attendees notice
that theyre there.
- Conwell
expensive video card prize to grow legs
and walk away, as youll have some
very unhappy sponsor who was not
represented at the party.
Catino agrees. If you have a prize
table visible, ensure that staff can have
eyes on it at all times.
Youll remember that part of getting
sponsorsand more importantly, keeping
themis making sure that they get as
much out of sponsoring your LAN party
as theyre giving you. Tat means putting
them on display for all of your attendees.
I like to put my sponsors up toward the
front so that attendees notice that theyre
there, Conwell says. The worst thing
that could happen is that you put sponsors
in the back of the room where no ones
walking by, so they get no foot trafc.
Te other admins agree about giving
sponsors prime real estate at your event.
Companies are paying a lot of money
to fy out representatives, as well as booth
and promotional materials, to your
event, Van Patten says, and youll put a
bad taste in their mouth if they are stuck
in some untrafcked corner.
If you want to set up an area for gamers
to take a break from PC gaming and play
console games, be aware of a simple reality
that is often overlooked: External speakers.
More often than not, a designated console
area wont have headphones, and depending
on the games youre offering, the results
could be disastrous.
One event was absolutely horrible,
Conwel l says. I put Rock Band
right next to the people running the
registration desk. They got to hear the
same four or fve songs played on Rock
Band, sung horribly, for 72 hours. Make
sure you put those consoles away from
other people, or they might go postal.
Also consider your surroundings if you
want to include other activities at your
LAN party. Make sure theyre well away
from anything (and anyone) valuable that
could be damaged. Non-gaming events
tend to involve running around and
throwing things, Van Patten says. Tese
activities need to be held away from the
expensive rigs your guests have brought
with them.
Conwell agrees. There are activities
weve tried that werent so safe. A power
supply toss looked like it would be a fun
contest, but one [person] got up, threw
a power supply, and the power supply
landed about 30 feet from a toddler. We
rethought the contest after that.
If you notice something not safe
at the time, its better to rearrange the
contest and redo the rules on the spot
than it is for someone to get hurt.
Prep The Staff
The only thing worse than having
your attendees running around in a state
of confusion is having your staf running
around in a state of confusion. As you and
your staf get a few LAN parties under your
belt, the need for formal prep meetings
will gradually diminish, but having a few
meetings to make sure everyone knows their
roles and responsibilities is a good idea for
frst-timers.
Both Catino and Kreikemeier use
online collaboration tools such as Google
Docs. Google Docs is an amazing tool
for group collaboration, Catino says.
I utilize it almost exclusively when
delegating work and ensuring that
everyone had the latest information
leading up to the event.
About two months before each
NETWAR, Kreikemeier meets with his
staf over Skype on a weekly basis. We
treat it like a major business project, he
says. We have agendas and take notes
with Google Docs and share with all staf
members, useful for those who missed the
meeting and to review later on to make
sure we didnt miss anything we noted to
take action on.
In PDXLANs early days, Conwell
would put together what he calls a
confg. We had a mock LAN party two
weeks before the event. Everyone came
over to my house, set up a mini LAN
party, and then we made sure our network
was working. Basically, we took the event
network and set it up at my house. Ten,
we disassembled it and reassembled it at
the event. Tat way, your event day isnt
as stressful.
At your staf meetings, establishing and
communicating your events schedule is one
of the most important topics. At our very
frst event, we had no schedule for our staf,
Conwell says. Its 2 or 3 oclock in the
morning, we all say, OK, Im going to bed.
Whos staying up, by the way? We didnt
know. Having a schedule planned ahead of
time is a good thing.
CPU / May 2013 59
Aside from telling your stafng when
everything is happening, telling them
what theyll be doing is, obviously,
crucial. However, exactly what your staf
will be doing might not be as obvious.
Every staf member should have the
knowledge to answer basic questions from
an attendee, Catino says, as well as the
skill to solve simple problems that may
arise. At least inform your staff with
power/network debugging [information],
event schedule, tournament times and
where to go if they need backup.
Sometimes its crazy because your staf
doesnt know who on staf does a certain
thing, Conwell explains. For instance,
power. When the power goes out, the
staf runs up to you and says, Te powers
out at table 5. What do I do? Make
sure that your staf knows who is doing
what, so that they can make decisions for
themselves rather than you always having
to be that middleman.
When delegating roles, play to the
strengths of your individual staf members.
It sounds simple, but you must avoid being
the nice guy when someone with limited
technical experience asks to be a part of
your LAN partys network crew.
Its hard, because sometimes people
want to give you their time and be a staf
member, but they have no technical skill
at all, Conwell says. In those cases, you
have to put them in places where they
can help. Sometimes, for example, Ill put
them on the door or registration.
Likewise, the inverse is true: There
are people that have a great level of
understanding of networking, servers,
Linux, etc. Tose are the people you want
to put on your network. As the event
organizer, you have to fgure out who goes
where the best.
Conwell also stresses the importance
of having a capable, friendly emcee. You
dont necessarily have to be that person.
You want someone who can get the
audience pumped up, he says. [The
emcee] becomes a representation of your
brand, your product. If that person is cold
or callous or rubs people the wrong way,
thats a refection of you.
Doors Open
Sign-in and registration can be a
needless formality when your LAN party
consists of you and your bros holing up
in a basement or garage, but you have to
be on top of things once your LAN party
becomes a larger event.
Te check-in table at an event larger
than about 50 people should be stafed at
all times, Catino says. Especially if there
are a lot of randoms.
Catino and the other admins scale their
registration table according to when they
expect the most trafc. For the frst few
hours, you should have most hands on
deck at the registration table. Youll want
to keep a pair of eyes on your network, as
well as your prize table (if applicable), but
everyone else should be helping attendees
get through the door and fnd their seats.
Once your rush is over and the steady
stream of incoming gamers dies down, its
a good idea to lump registration in with
another component of your LAN party.
For Kreikemeier, the registration tables
move to the admin area. Van Patten lets
his help desk take care of stragglers who
show up after the initial mob dies down.
Conwell leaves someone up at the door
and charges them with both registration
as well as keeping an eye on whos coming
and going from the event. (Remember,
one entrance, one exit.)
Tourney Time
Tournaments are, of course, a regular
fi xture at LAN parti es. How you
run them, though, is up to you. All of
the admins agreed that ensuring the
tournaments run smoothly is another
important part of having the LAN itself
run smoothly.
For 3v3, 5v5, and similar tournaments,
Van Patten and Conwell recommend
calling a meeting with the captains of the
participating teams around 30 minutes
Nobody likes a loot ninja, and people like RL loot ninjas even less. As much as
we want to believe in the inherent goodness of LAN party attendees, keep a
close eye on any prizes you have on display.
60 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Show your sponsors
some love by locating
their booths and
banners in areas that
will receive a lot of
foot traffc.
before a given tournament is scheduled
to start. Larger tourneys have a
mandatory captains meeting before the
frst round begins to lay down the rules
regarding expectations, how disputes (if
any) are resolved, and to answer any last-
minute questions from the teams, Van
Patten says.
Te team captain meeting is a good
way to lay out the foundation of how
your tournament is going to run,
Conwell says.
For LAN-sponsored tournaments,
always allow more time than is necessary
for a match to finish. If a match for a
given game usually lasts 30 minutes, allot
45 minutes for each round, for example.
Be sure to communicate start times, and
the consequences for missing them, to
your attendees. Use that PA system.
It is a lot of work to keep the
tournaments on schedule, Kreikemeier
says. You have to be very strict and clear
on timelines. Giving warnings over the
PA about having your games started in X
minutes or you will forfeit this round in
the tournament.
Here Comes Trouble
Te most perfectly planned LAN party
will still run into problems. Hardware fails.
Te venues power hiccups. Sleep-deprived
attendees stop being excellent to each other.
All of it can happen, and all of it is your
responsibility. But how you handle requests
and complaints can be the difference
between an attendees coming back to your
next LAN party or going home for good.
Power and network troubleshooting
requests are high priority, Catino says.
Complaints from an attendee should
not be taken lightly. Oftentimes if one
person has the guts to stand up and say
something, there are many more thinking
the same thing. Be sure to address
concerns of your attendees.
When serious problems do arise, keep
a level head and dont let your attendees
panic become your panic. Take a deep
breath. Just because an attendee runs up to
the help desk and screams, Te network at
Table 5 just went down! doesnt mean were
at DEFCON 2. Walk back and check the
table with the attendee. On your way there,
note if others at the table gaming. Is this just
an issue with one or two people who have a
conficting confguration on their rigs? Very
rarely does an entire table have an issue,
and if it does, your networking team staf
members should already know about it.
Speaking of a crisis thats limited to a
single attendee, a good LAN party admin
should know the limits of his help desk.
Often, theres a fne between not giving
attendees enough help and giving them
too much help. Conwell and Van Patten
explain the diference.
You want to listen to complaints,
Conwell says. Most of the time, when
a complaint comes in, if the person feels
hurt, just listening helps a lot. Dont deny
a complaint with an answer like, Tats
not the way we do things. Youre not
there to fght, youre there to listen. Tey
say management is 70% listening and
30% talking.
However, Catino says, Be hesitant
to offer to fix someones computer at
the event. You dont want to make it
worse and then be blamed for breaking
something as several witnesses just saw
you be the last person at the keyboard.
CPU / May 2013 61
A happy medium is to provide assistance
with problems related to power and
networking but encourage attendees to see
help from friends for other issues. Conwell
says he typically stafs his help desk with
two people and keeps one at the desk at
all times. Tis frees one of your stafers to
follow attendees back to their seats, while
the other is able to prevent other attendees
from wandering into your admin area.
The After-Party
Te last stubborn attendee packs up his
gear and heads for home. Youre done, right?
Not right, at all. Your work is far from
over. Sweeping your space to find left
behind gear (both your LAN partys and
the attendees) is obvious, but Conwell
has a helpful tip for making it less painful.
Get volunteers to help you clean
up. We save a couple prizes back for a
volunteer rafe to help encourage people
to stay and help clean up, because cleanup
is hard to do after the lack of sleep from
those last couple days.
Next, keep taking care of the sponsors
who took care of you. Thank the
sponsors! Catino says. Tis is a huge step
that often doesnt get enough attention.
Sponsors just gave you free stuf to hand
away at an event, and they want to know
where it went. Send the sponsors pictures
of your event and a thank-you. Also be sure
to return any borrowed equipment to its
rightful owner as soon as possible. Tis will
ensure smooth interactions in the future.
Conwell agrees. In the days to follow,
if you have a lot sponsors that will be
curious to see how the event went, getting
emails out to thank them for the prizes
they sent you is an important thing.
As soon as your inaugural LAN party
ends, your next LAN party begins.
Kreikemeier, Van Patten, and Catino
all recommend soliciting your attendees
for feedback about your event, and
incorporating that feedback into your
next LAN party.
[Attendees] are your growth drivers,
Kreikemeier says, by returning to your
events and bringing more friends with them.
Encourage feedback on your forums,
Van Patten adds. After the event is over,
post a note thanking the attendees for
coming. Invite them to ofer the good,
the bad, and the ugly. Listening to these
complaints is the best way to find out
what needs to be fxed with your event so
you can improve for the next one.
Save Us An Aisle Seat
And with that, our LAN party mini-
series comes to an end. We hope youve
learned a thing or three from our experts.
Good luck with your own LAN party.
Maybe someday, well see you there!
Designated console areas can be a boon to your LAN party, but its a good idea
to keep them somewhat isolated from both your attendees and your staff.
62 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
C
omputer problems can be tricky to
pin down. Weve often seen minor
software bugs produce issues that would
seem to be asymptomatic of hardware
problems, and vice versa. Major issues,
like a corrupted Master Boot Record,
can have an immediate effect on how the
computer operates, while other problems
can pop up so randomly that it can be
tough to figure out the cause. This article
will lead you through troubleshooting
techniques for common PC issues.
Computer Wont Start
No matter how securely you attached the
power cords for the PC and monitor, the
cords may have come of while you were
moving the PC into place or when you
were connecting one end to the other. First,
check and see if all the power cords and
display cable are properly connected. To be
completely sure, its a good idea to remove
and firmly reattach the cords, because
cables may appear attached without actually
making a solid connection. Try powering on
the system again.
Do you hear any noise coming from
the PC or see any video on the monitor? If
the PC is making noise but not displaying
any video, you can at least be sure the PC
has power. Next, look at the power supply
on the back of the PC and fip the power
toggle, because it may have accidentally been
switched to the of position. If you still cant
see or hear anything, its time to open up
the case. Moving the case can be rough on
internal cables. In particular, the internal
cable that runs from the cases power button
may have become disconnected during the
shipping process. Consult your motherboard
manual and look for the POWER SW
connector, which is a thin two-pin
connector that can typically be found in
the lower right side of the motherboard. If
youve come this far and have no lights on
the motherboard or any display, you may
have a broken power supply, bad power
cable, or faulty motherboard.
Lights On, No Video
This scenario can be even more
frustrating than no response at all,
because you can hear fans running and
see lights on or inside the computer. First,
check and see if there are any indications
of power on the monitor, such as a light
near the power button or a No Signal
message. Assuming it has power, try
pressing the power button to ensure that
the monitor isnt turned of.
Most current monitors support multiple
types of inputs, and you may need to cycle
through the input selections to switch
the display to the correct input. Typically,
monitors feature an Input button that you
can press to move among the display options.
Its also important to make sure that the
monitor cable is securely connected to both
your monitor and your PCs video output.
Press frmly on the connectors and tightly
fasten the two screws on each plug. You
should also examine the cord for any cuts or
kinks, which can block the video signal from
reaching the monitor. If you have a second
The Root Of
The Problem
Diagnose & Cure Common PC Ailments
A loose video cable can mean a black screen and an orange no video light on
your monitor. Tighten the connectors screws to keep the heavy cable in place.
CPU / May 2013 65
Try reseating components
to ensure that everything
is securely connected.
video cable on hand, try switching cables to
ensure that the cable isnt the problem.
Another way to determine the cause
of the problem is to try the monitor on
another computer. If the monitor works
on a second computer, your PC likely has
an issue with its video card or integrated
graphics processor thats preventing it
from displaying video on the monitor.
Try reseating the video card or contact the
manufacturer about a warranty replacement
for your PC. If the monitor doesnt work
on the second PC, try connecting a spare
monitor to the computer to determine
whether it works with another monitor.
PC Starts But Wont Load Windows
Microsoft introduced the Startup Repair
feature in Vista to give you the ability to
repair Windows (rather than forcing you
to completely reinstall Windows) when
you run into a problem that prevents
Windows from starting, such as missing or
damaged system fles. Te utility will scan
your computer to find the problem with
the Windows installation and attempt to
fx it so that the PC will at least boot into
Windows. Win7 retained the title of Startup
Repair, while Win8 features a similar tool
called Automatic Repair.
Keep in mind that Startup Repair is
only capable of fixing a software issue
with Windows. If the hard drive on your
PC crashes or theres corruption to your
computers memory, Startup Repair
wont fx the component error. With PCs
running Win7 and Win8, the Startup
Repair option is often reachable from the
System Recovery Options in Win7 and
Recovery Environment in Win8. The
caveat is that your PC must be at least
capable of booting into the BIOS.
In Win7 you can reach System Recovery
Options by pressing and holding the F8
key before the Windows logo appears.
Win7 will then load the Advanced Boot
Options screen, where you can select
Repair Your Computer. Select your
keyboard layout and click Next. Select the
Startup Repair option, and the System
Recovery tool will see if it can find any
glitches in the software installation thats
preventing Windows from booting. Follow
the on-screen instructions to determine if
Win7 resolved the problem. If not, its a
good idea to try the System Restore utility
to see if one of the recent applications you
installed was the problems cause.
The Automatic Repair tool built into
Win8 is a bit easier to access, because Win8
will boot into the Windows Recovery
Environment after unsuccessful startups
(typically two failures in a row). In some
cases, Win8 will run the Automatic Repair
one time before it displays the Windows
Recovery Environment. From the Choose
An Option window, select Troubleshoot and
choose Automatic Repair. In some cases,
Automatic Repair has produced an endless
loop of Automatic Repair failures, because
its only capable of fixing problems with
system fles, not any driver or other hardware
issues. If Automatic Repair fails, youll likely
need to use a bootable installation media
that provides other tools for fxing startup
problems, which well cover next.
If you have a Windows installation
disc, insert it into your optical drive
To turn off a
completely
unresponsive PC,
press and hold
down its power
button for around
fve seconds.
66 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
and switch the BIOS to boot from disc.
Typically, this involves pressing F2 or
DELETE and changing the boot order
in the BIOS. If your PC has Windows
preinstalled, youll need to change the
Windows Startup Settings and boot from
the computers optical drive. If you dont
own a Windows installation, well hope
that youve created a System Repair Disc
using the utilities built into Win7 and
Win8. If you havent created a System
Repair Disc, you may need to ask a friend
if you can temporarily borrow a physical
installation disc, where you can follow the
steps listed above to repair Windows.
The Blue Screen Of Death
Traditionally, the color blue is thought
to have a calming effect, but when it
comes to error messages, it symbolizes
the most frightening of Windows errors.
This problem occurs when Windows
has encountered an error that causes the
OS to become temporarily unstable or
unresponsive. To protect the OS from
damage, Windows responds by stopping
every task on your PC and indicating the
problem in the BSOD error message.
Although error messages, such as
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED AREA
or STOP 0x0000000A, often dont seem
very helpful, the text on the BSOD does
provide valuable information about the
problem. Chances are, if you enter the
error message into a search engine or
the Microsoft Knowledge Base (support
.microsoft.com/search), youll find a few
possible causes and solutions that are
specific to the error. Make certain you
write down the error message details that
are displayed after the STOP message,
such as STOP: 0x0000007E. Te BSOD
also displays a description of the error in
all uppercase letters, such as DRIVER_
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL. The
description indicates what process the
OS was attempting to run when the error
occurred. Occasionally, the BSOD may
also indicate the specific file, driver, or
memory location that caused the problem.
If your research indicates a variety of
issues, consider what changes you most
recently made to the PC. For example, if
you recently added new memory, it may
BIOS menus differ, but heres an example of what to look
for when changing the boot order of the PC.
Besides Startup Repair, Windows System Recovery Options also
allow you to perform a System Restore and a complete restore
from a backup image.
When your PC abruptly
slows down, Windows
Task Manager may tell
you why. Notice how
our Chrome browser
has absorbed more
than half a GB of RAM,
triggering lots of data
traffc to the swap fle
on our hard drive.
CPU / May 2013 67
not match up with the type or speed of
the other RAM in your PC. Remove any
new hardware and, if needed, reinstall the
old hardware to see if the BSOD reoccurs.
If you havent added any new hardware,
recently updated drivers are another
usual suspect. For instance, a STOP:
0x0000000A IRQL_NOT_ LESS_OR_
EQUAL error message is generally caused
by faulty device drivers, a problem with
your BIOS, or incompatible hardware.
Storage Problems With Windows
For years, Windows has provided the
Check Disk (abbreviated as CHKDSK)
utility to scan your hard drive for
problems, such as bad sectors and lost
clusters. To access Check Disk in Win7,
right-click the drive you want to check,
click Properties, and select the Tools tab.
Click the Check Now button and select
the Scan For And Attempt Recovery
Of Bad Sectors checkbox. Click Start
to begin the error-checking process.
Typically, Windows will inform you that
it cant check the disk while in use. Click
the Schedule Disk Check button to have
it run the next time you boot up. After it
runs, the utility will tell you if there are
any bad sectors and attempt to move fles
from those sectors. In some cases, you
may need to replace the corrupted fles
with a copy you have stored on backup.
In Win8, the utility is renamed Disk
Error Checking, and Microsoft redesigned
the tool so that it wouldnt need to be
run while the operating system is ofine.
Win8 also periodically runs the Disk Error
Checking as part of the the Automatic
Maintenance utility, and it will inform
you if any errors are found. If you want
to manually run Disk Error Checking,
type Computer and select it from the Apps
section. Right-click the drive you want to
check and select Properties. Choose the
Tools tab and click the Check button under
Error-checking. If any errors are found,
Win8 will ask to check the disk. Click Scan
Drive to begin the process, and when its
done, Win8 will inform you if any errors are
found and ask you to restart the computer
to repair the fle system.
Freezes
When an application hangs, or freezes,
its best to give it a few minutes to recover,
especially if your HDD activity light is
lit or blinking. For programs that remain
frozen, press CTRL-SHIFT-ESC to launch
the Task Manager. In the Applications tab,
select the program and click End Task.
No joy? Click the Processes tab and select
End Process. If your computer hangs soon
after you connect a removable device to it,
disconnecting the device may help.
Some hangs can only be fxed by shutting
down the computer and restarting it.
Make sure to give Windows time to end
every process; if it asks to kill a stubborn
application thats unresponsive, let it.
If the normal shutdown method doesnt
work, try pressing CTRL-ALT-DELETE
and selecting Shut Down. Tese OS-based
shutdown procedures are less likely to lose
data than the next options, which involve a
bit of tough love.
Its hard to read a blue screen error when your PC reboots a few seconds later.
Uncheck the Automatically Restart box in the Startup And Recovery options.
You can troubleshoot
software issues with
Windows 8 using by
accessing Advanced
Options.
68 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
If your system is completely locked up
to the point that you cant even move the
mouse pointer, press and hold your PCs
power button until the system shuts down.
(If you simply press and release the power
button, many computers will enter Sleep
or Hibernate mode, or try to perform a
Windows shutdown.) If the power button
doesnt do anything, you can unplug the
computers AC power cord. On a desktop,
you may have the alternative of fipping the
switch on the rear of the power supply. For
a laptop, you should also remove its battery
for a minute or so.
Driver Issues
Bad drivers are one of the most
common problems for computers. For
example, without the right video driver,
a graphics card may only display video
at the monitors lowest resolution, and
installing the wrong driver or a corrupt
driver can lead to a variety of issues,
including blue screens, freezes, and
random crashes. Bugs can also occur if
youve installed a new driver without frst
uninstalling the previous driver.
Thus, we recommend that you
troubleshoot the above problems by frst
removing the existing driver and then
installing the newest driver for your
device. If a driver confict is preventing
Windows from booting, see our Using
Windows Safe Mode sidebar about how
to fx issues within Safe Mode.
Memory Glitches
Damaged memory can trigger crashes
during memory-intensive operations,
such as when youre installing Windows,
compiling video, editing photos, or
gaming. Data stored in RAM can also
become corrupted, resulting in errors in
your applications or Windows. With more
severe memory damage, applications such
as your web browser or word processor may
unexpectedly close, or Windows may restart
when the computer is idle. In general, you
should consider reseating the memory
whenever the PC displays inconsistent,
hard-to-reproduce system failures.
Once youve removed the RAM, examine
it for cracks, burn marks, or any other signs
of damage. Remove any modules with
visual damage. If system crashes continue
to occur and the memory doesnt appear
damaged, its still possible that one of the
memory modules is bad. You can use
Windows Memory Diagnostic in Win7 and
Win8 to test if the memory is faulty.
To run the utility in Win7, click the Start
button and type Memory in the Search
field. Under Programs, select Windows
Memory Diagnostic. At the dialog box,
you can choose Restart Now And Check
For Problems or Check For Problems Te
Next Time I Start My Computer. Either
way, youll need to restart your PC to
run the utility. For those running Win8,
type Control Panel and select it from the
Apps section. Click System And Security,
choose Administrative Tools, and select
Windows Memory Diagnostic. Choose
Check For Problems Te Next Time I Start
My Computer.
Problem Resolution
Of course, PC issues arent limited to
what weve covered here, but you can use
these troubleshooting steps to narrow down
the problem. If all else fails, open up your
case and remove all unessential hardware.
If the computer is still having trouble,
you know that its one of the remaining
components. If it works fne, you can add
hardware back until you fnd the culprit.
Using Windows
Safe Mode
With Safe Mode, Windows will load using
a basic set of drivers, which is an ideal
environment for troubleshooting problems
from recently installed devices, drivers, and
applications. Youll also be able to perform a
System Restore in Safe Mode, so you could
return your computer to a point before you
installed a trouble program or driver. To
access Safe Mode in Windows 7, turn on your
computer and repeatedly press and hold the
F8 key during the initial boot up process, which
will bring up Windows Safe Mode options.
In Windows 8, you can force the PC to
go into Safe Mode from within Windows.
Open the Charms bar, hold the SHIFT key,
click the power icon, and select Restart
while holding down the SHIFT key. When
Windows boots up again, it will bring up the
Advanced Startup menu. From there, you
can select Troubleshoot, Advanced Options,
and Windows Startup Settings. Then, choose
Enable Safe Mode and select Restart, which
will bring up the familiar Safe Mode.
Once inside Safe Mode, you should be able
to delete the driver or application thats
causing a problem, or you can try to reinstall
the troublesome program or driver to see if it
will fx the issue. If removing the application
doesnt solve the problem, try a System
Restore to a point when the computer was
working normally. If your PC cant even boot
into Safe Mode, you may need to completely
reinstall Windows to fx the issue.
The Disk Error Checking tool in Windows 8 can
help you fnd problems with your hard drive.
Both Windows 7 and Windows 8 come with a
Windows Memory Diagnostics utility that can
discover errors in your systems RAM.
CPU / May 2013 69
I
n an effort to keep pace with the rise
of no-fuss, closed-loop CPU liquid-
coolers, the Old Guard of air coolers has
had to go through something of a Steroid
Era. As manufacturers update their air
coolers, we see these monolithic stacks of
copper and aluminum get progressively
more jacked. Virtually every enthusiast air
cooler now comes packed with multiple
copper heatpipes, thick bases, a mountain
of aluminum fins, and at least one big,
blustery fan. The hardcore air coolers
come with two monster fans, and the
hardestcore will let you add a third.
If, like 99% of the power users who
buy a massive CPU air cooler, youre
aiming for a lofty overclock, then
strapping two or three fans to your
heatsink is the way to go. Weve reviewed
coolers that let you sandwich a 140mm
fan between two towers of aluminum
fns, and then bookend those towers with
120mm fans. When those blowers start to
roar, look out, liquid-coolers.
Tis month, though, its that roaring
that were concerned about. When any
fan shifts into high gear, the price you
pay for performance is noise. Granted,
weve made great strides in improving the
acoustics of air coolers. Bigger fans can
spin slower to move the same amount of
air as a smaller fan, and fan controllers
will let you dial down your fans RPMs if
you dont need them to run full tilt. Fans
that use pulse-width modulation are even
better, dynamically adjusting their speed
based on system load.
No matter how much technology
and innovation you throw at the issue,
though, an air cooler will never be truly
silent while those fans are spinning. If you
want your CPU cooler to post a bagel on
A Farewell To Noise
Intels Core i7-3770K, Passively Cooled
Do these fans make
my fns look big?
70 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
the decibel scoreboard, theres only one
course of action: Ditch the fans.
We Meant To Do That
Our inspiration for this experiment
came from a happy accident. Te CPU
cooler fan on one of our colleagues
home PCs gave up the ghost without his
knowledge. He didnt discover the fans
death for some time because his system
kept chugging despite the lack of active
CPU cooling. His core temps were
higher without the assistance of a CPU
fan, certainly, but the system remained
perfectly functional.
The questionably sane tinkerers that
we are, we started thinking. With a
gimungous heatsink, what kind of CPU
could we keep passively cooled? A low-
watt energy-efficient CPU didnt seem
like a worthy challenger for our pursuit
of silence; we set our sights bigger. We
wanted to stamp out sound without
sacrifcing performance. For this reason,
we decided to put an Intel Core i7-
3770Ks life on the line for science.
A Perfect Match
Lets consider the 3770K for a moment.
As a 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 pro-
cessor, the 3770K is an Ivy Bridge chip
that benefits from 22nm lithography.
Compare that to its predecessor, the
Core i7-2700K. In terms of clock speeds,
the chips are identical, ofering 3.5GHz
and 3.9GHz base and Turbo clocks,
respectively. But because of the Ivy Bridge
die shrink (the Sandy Bridge-based 2700K
is manufactured on a 32nm process), the
3770K is a far more thermally efficient
processor, boasting a 77W max TDP
compared to the 2700Ks 95W. In short,
its just as powerful but not as hot.
To cool our 3770K without the aid
of fans, we needed a meaty slab of metal
capable of soaking up a lot of heat.
Thermaltakes FrioOCK CPU cooler
just happens to hide a chunky heatsink
beneath its plastic shroud that holds twin
130mm fans. We still had the Snow Edition
version of the FrioOCK on hand from our
February 2013 issues CPU cooler roundup,
so we thought wed see if this big bad wolf
of a cooler would be just as vicious when it
didnt have its fans to huf and puf.
Because well be relying on the air-
flow through our case to pull heat off
the FrioOCKs heatsink, its worth
mentioning the case we used for our
endeavor. Corsairs Graphite Series 600T
midtower is a smart choice because it
includes two 200mm (one front, one top)
fans and one 120mm (rear) fan by default.
Te 600T will pull in a healthy supply of
cool air while hopefully banishing the hot
air radiating from our heatsink.
In addition to the 3770K, FrioOCK
Snow Edition heatsink, and 600T
case, our test systems specs include a
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD4H, 16GB of
Kingstons HyperX Predator DDR3-1866
RAM, two ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580s
The FrioOCK Snow Edition did a previous tour of duty in our
February 2013 issues CPU cooler roundup, so we scrubbed its
base of any leftover thermal compound and prepared a fresh
application in order to maximize heat transfer between the Core
i7-3770Ks heat spreader and the FrioOCKs heatsink.
The de-shrouded FrioOCK Snow Edition is still a ferocious
animal. Big and burly, it sports two tall towers of 0.4mm-thick
aluminum fns and six 6mm copper heatpipes. We trusted it to
go toe to toe with the heat from our Intel Core i7-3770K.
CPU / May 2013 71
in SLI, and a 128GB Crucial RealSSD
C300. Its a respectable enthusiast system
that performs well in a variety of tasks.
Setting up the FrioOCK for fanless
operation was a simple afair because its fans
are mounted to the plastic shroud that clips
onto the FrioOCKs heatsink. Removing
the fans of similarly powerful CPU coolers
should be relatively easy, too, but take care
that you dont try to forcibly remove the
fans in a way that could snap retention
clips or damage your CPU/motherboard
in some way. If you have any doubts, we
recommend pulling your motherboard and
CPU from your system, removing the CPU
cooler, uninstalling the fans, and putting
everything back together.
While we were in the process of dissecting
our cooler, we went one step further and
applied a fresh coat of thermal compound.
This step is purely optional, but because
we wouldnt have the assistance of a pair of
mighty fans to help keep temperatures in
check, we wanted to optimize our thermal
transfer as much as possible.
Testing 1-2-Shh
With our fanless FrioOCK installed and
ready to go, we decided to dive right in
and test it as we would normally test a
CPU cooler. First, we let our system idle
for 10 minutes and noted the temperature.
After that, we cranked up two benchmarks
that put processors under a lot of stress,
POV-Ray 3.7 Beta and Prime95. We
used Core Temp to monitor our 3770Ks
temperature, and because we werent
entirely sure how the FrioOCK would
handle the heat without its fans, we set a
thermal limit of 90 degrees Celsius as a
safeguard against runaway heat.
As it turns out, our fears were for naught.
Obviously, temperatures were higher
without the aid of the FrioOCKs fans, but
nothing blew up or melted. Temperatures
at idle ping-ponged around a little more
than usual, hitting as high as 54 C, but
over the course of watching the mercury for
10 minutes, the fanless FrioOCK kept our
3770K running at 36 C the vast majority
of the time. Considering our idle temps
If only our intrepid Ivy Bridge CPU knew what it was
getting itself in for. As it turns out, the Core i7-3770K
had nothing to worry about.
72 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
using active cooling (either fans or a closed-
loop cooler) typically hover around 28 to
33 C, our hearty heatsink was of to a very
impressive start.
Next, we revved up POV-Ray 3.7
Beta and looped it three times in order
to make the FrioOCKs heatsink sweat
a little. Our temperatures across the
3770Ks four cores climbed steadily over
the course of the test but seemed to level
of at 80 C. Although this temperature
is at the upper limit of our comfort zone,
we should point out that the FrioOCK
heatsink kept the 3770K well below its
Tj Max even with all four cores running
at a sustained 100% load. Based on the
FrioOCK Snow Editions performance
in our February 2013 issue CPU cooler
roundup, we paid for our silence with
about 30 C of extra heat.
Te story was the same with Prime95.
Here again, the 3770K reached 83 C at
one point, and our overall CPU temp
hovered around 80 C after running
Prime95 for 15 minutes. Tats still pretty
toasty, but as our testing went on, we
learned to relax and enjoy the idea of
having a passively cooled CPU.
Finally, with our confdence in knowing
that the FrioOCKs heatsink kept the
3770K in check throughout our CPU-
intensive benchmarks, we played
a couple of rounds of Dota 2 in
order to see how the 3770K would
perform in a gaming environment.
As expected, our system ran without
a hitch for the duration. We can
safely say that its defnitely possible
Our FrioOCK heatsink is installed and
ready to rock and roll. Lately, many
monstrous CPU air coolers have intruded
into the airspace traditionally reserved
for system memory, often limiting a
users RAM options. Without any fans
attached to the FrioOCKs heatsink, we
were free to install any RAM we wanted.
Bring on the towering RAMsinks!
CPU / May 2013 73
to cool a Core i7 CPU with nothing but the
power of copper and aluminum.
A Caveat
We were happy with our results, but
before you stake the life of your own
processor on the performance of our
FrioOCKs heatsink, remember that the
Corsair 600T provides quite a bit of air
cooling out of the box. We cant discount
the importance of having a 200mm fan
up front feeding our internal components
with lots of cool air as well as the 200mm
top and 120mm rear fans exhausting the
heated air around the CPU.
Take your own cases cooling into
consideration before attempting to go
silent. If your components are tucked away
inside a small form factor case, a passive
CPU cooler might not be enough to deal
with the heat that builds up when the
CPU is under load. Likewise, if your case
is short on fans, theres a decent chance
that your CPU cooler will need fans to
efectively cool the heatsink. Regardless of
your situation, we recommend keeping a
close eye on your CPU temperature until
you are certain your heatsink alone can
handle your typical workload.
And while were on the subject of
workload, what you do with your PC may
also infuence your decision to go fanless.
For anything thats not CPU-intensive,
we can say with almost absolute certainty
that a sizeable heatsink should be up to
the task. Tat said, if you regularly subject
your system to a workload that puts your
CPU under 100% load for extended
periods of time (for example, lots of video
encoding), sticking with active cooling is
likely the smart move.
Silent But Deadly
The Fr i oOCK Snow Edi t i ons
indefatigable heatsink handled everything
we threw at it, leading us to believe that
passively cooling a powerful CPU such
as the Core i7-3770K might not be the
craziest idea weve ever had. We didnt try
to overclock the processor (but we did
leave Intels Turbo Boost enabled) and
probably wouldnt, truth be told, but that
wasnt the aim of this experiment.
If youre a gamer who has chosen to
go with a midrange CPU in order to free
up cash for a good graphics card or two,
attempting to passively cool your processor
with a sizeable heatsink makes sense. It may
be a little disconcerting to toss your fans
and let the heatsink do its thing, but once
you do, and you know your processors
temperature stays under control, youll fnd
that silence never sounded so good.
The fanless FrioOCK proved itself able to handle the heat. Temperature results from left to right are as follows:
Idle (10 minutes), POV-Ray 3.7 Beta (looped three times), and Prime95 (Small FFTs test, 15 minutes). As you
can see, ditching the fans for the sake of silence caused temperatures to rise by a little more than 50%, but
despite the increase, the FrioOCKs heatsink kept the Core i7-3770K within its thermal limit.
We can safely say that its
defnitely possible to cool a
Core i7 CPU with nothing
but the power of copper
and aluminum.
74 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Can Sound Make
Hard Drives Better?
An Oregon State University Research Team Says Yes
DR. PALLAVI DHAGAT
Its becoming increasingly difficult to find new ways to pack more data onto the platters inside
hard disk drives. But HDDs still have a pronounced cost-per-gigabyte advantage over SSDs that
makes them attractive for storing massive amounts of data, so research continues.
CPU / May 2013 75
A team of electrical engineers led by
Dr. Pallavi Dhagat and Dr. Albrecht
Jander, associate professors at Oregon
State Universitys School of Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science,
recently discovered a new technique
that could pave the way to greater
HDD data density. Tis new approach
hi nges on a somewhat unexpected
technology, however: sound.
Dr. Dhagat was kind enough to shed
some light on how this is possible and
what this research means in practical terms.
Q
Can you start by explaining the
overall concept of acoustically assisted
magnetic recording?
PD
The magnetic storage industry
has been faced with what is
commonly known as the recording
tri l emma, where the need to i n-
crease data density impl ies smal l er
physical bit sizes. In doing so, the
thermal stability or ability to retain
bit information over a long period of
time becomes a concern. One possible
way to overcome this stability concern
i s t o i ncreas e t he coerci vi t y, t he
magnetic field required to reverse the
magnetization, of the medium being
used for storing information. While
this can be done, it poses a challenge
for the writeability of the material,
as doing so can render write fields
from the head inadequate to write
on t he medi um. Sat i s f yi ng t hes e
three goals of data density, thermal
stability, and writeability constitutes
the recording trilemma.
Ener gy- as s i s t ed r ecordi ng ( f or
example, microwave- and heat-assisted
recording) is an idea that is being
pursued to address thi s tri l emma.
We have presented the idea of using
acoustic energy to assist the recording.
Many magnetic recording materials
are magnetostrictive, meaning their
coercivity can be changed by applying
mechanical strain. We have shown that
acoustic waves can signifcantly reduce
the coercivity in such materials.
Q
Why does heating the data storage
material improve data density in
magnetic storage devices, and how
does this relate to the use of ultra-
sound waves?
PD
One way to address the afore-
ment i oned t r i l emma i s t o
increase the coercivity of the material
for long-term storage of data but to
use heat to assist at the time of writing.
In thi s approach, heat i s appl i ed
temporarily to the bit of interest thereby
lowering the local coercivity. Tis then
allows the write feld from the recording
head to reverse the magnetization. Te
storage material must be heated to
several hundred degrees Celsius above
its Curie temperature.
In our approach, we do not use
heat ( t he acous t i c waves do not
result in significant heating of the
magnetic material). Instead, we use
strain. The acoustic wave produces
a l ocal i zed strai n i n the magneti c
storage material which, if the material
i s magnetostri cti ve, can si mi l arl y
translate to a lower write feld. We have
calculated that the energy required to
do this is about 100 times less than in
heat-assisted magnetic recording.
Q
Does a constant cycle of heating and
cooling pose a long-term risk where
the longevity of a hard drive (for example)
is concerned?
PD
Termal cycling is a big concern
in heat-assisted magnetic re-
cording, as is the effect of the high
temperatures on the lubricant layer on
top of the disk. In acoustically assisted
magnetic recording, the material would
experience repeated strain cycling, the
effect of which would also need to
be considered.
In our approach, we do not use heat
(the acoustic waves do not result in
signifcant heating of the magnetic
material). Instead, we use strain.
- Dr. Pallavi Dhagat
76 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Q
How woul d addi ng ul trasound
emitters to a hard drives read/write
head afect unit cost, and why?
PD
Our research is in the early
stages. We have proven the
feasibility of the concept i.e., acoustic-
as s i s t ed magnet i c recordi ng, but
there is more to be done to assess
i ts commerci al vi abi l i ty and cost.
Of course there will be added cost
t o i ncl ude acous t i c t r ans ducer s .
However, the cost would need to be
compared to the alternative, such as
heat-assisted magnetic recording in
which the head must be integrated with
lasers and optics.
Q
Your teams initial rel ease men-
tioned that this technique could
be used for solid-state memory devices
as wel l as magneti c storage; what
kinds of devices beyond hard drives
can you foresee utilizing this approach
to data storage?
PD
Unl i ke ha r d di s k dr i ve s ,
one can envi si on a storage
device with no moving parts, such
as a solid-state device, where a bit
i s addressed by f ocusi ng acousti c
energy onto it and retrieval of data
is based on the interaction of the
acoustic wave with the magnetization
of the bit.
Q
What kind of increase in storage
capacity can acoustically assisted
magnetic recording provide compared to
current technologies?
PD
This is a good and very valid
questi on to ask. As I men-
tioned earlier, our research is in the
early stages, and our next steps are to
assess and answer the requirements
t o t rans l at e t hi s t echnol ogy i nt o
t h e ma r k e t p l a c e . Th i s me a ns
unde r s t andi ng i s s ue s r e l at e d t o
rel i abi l i ty, compl exi ty, and cost of
integrating acoustic transducers with
the storage medium, and the potential
storage capacity.
Acoustically Assisted Magnetic Memory
CPU / May 2013 77
Hidden In Plain Sight
Te MMC isnt as easy to access as the
functions embedded in the Control panel,
but its significantly more transparent to
access and tweak than settings only accessible
from the Registry. Thats because, for the
most part, the MMC exists in specialized
folders that let you click, scroll, and drill
down through fairly straightforward icons,
complete with obvious
names and (usually)
detailed function descrip-
tions. And although you
may not have manually
explored the MMCs
snap-ins as a group, many of them will
be familiar to you. For instance, double-
clicking the Compmgmt.msc (Microsoft
Common Consol e Document) fil e
launches the Computer Management
console, which youre probably more
accustomed to accessing by right-clicking
B
ack in the December 2011 issue
of CPU magazine, we demystified
a few ways you can use the MMC
(Microsoft Management Console) and
snap-in console files to adjust settings,
view system parameters, and manage the
user interface without having to touch
the Control Panel or edit the Registry. If
youve recently made the leap to Windows
8, you can still access the MMC to take
greater control over your computing
experience. In this article, well show you
how to find the MMC, point out a few of
our favorite snap-ins, and show you how
to create your own to quickly access the
most useful tools.
Computer from the Desktop, and then
clicking Manage.
To access the default list of MMC
snap-ins in Windows 8, click the Desktop
tile from the Start screen, click File
Explorer, and then navigate to Windows\
System32. You can also quickly launch the
File Explorer in Windows 8 by pressing
and holding WINDOWS KEY-X and then
clicking File Explorer. In the System32
folder, sort by fle type by clicking Type
from the details row across the top of the
right pane. There are approximately 20
snap-ins in the System32 folder (look for
flenames with a .MSC extension), and you
can explore any of them by double-clicking
their icons.
Most Useful Snap-Ins
Some snap-in consoles are more useful
than others. We created a column on the
Start screen to which well pin our favorites.
The Joy Of Snap-Ins
These icons represent your systems Microsoft
Management Console snap-ins.
In the System32 folder, you can locate these fles by sorting by Type and
then scrolling to the Microsoft Common Console Documents.
80 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
To do this, start by right-clicking one of the
snap-in fles in the System32 folder, then
click Pin To Start. Next, go to the Start
screen by pressing the WINDOWS KEY,
and then click and drag the snap-ins icon
where you want it. If it doesnt automatically
appear in a new column, click and drag
the icon to the space between two existing
columns or to the right-most edge of the
icons until you see a vertical bar appear,
then drop the icon there. Te new icon will
now appear as the topmost icon in a new
column. To apply a name to the column,
click the small horizontal bar in the lower-
right corner of the Start screen. From this
micro view, you can right-click the new
column and click Name Group from
the bottom of the screen. Ten just type
something like Microsoft Management
Console and press ENTER to name it.
Ten click anywhere on the screen to return
the Start screen.
Perfmon.msc, also known as Perfor-
mance Monitor, is one of the best MMC
tools. You can access this one from
the Windows 8 Start screen by typing
Performance Monitor, or by right-clicking
Computer, clicking Manage, and then
clicking Performance from the file tree
in the left pane. In the System Summary
section in the right pane, youll find
detailed information about your memory,
such as the % Of Committed Bytes In
Use, Available MBs, and Cache Faults/
Sec. Scroll down for similarly specific
information on your network interface,
physical disks, and processor. Click
Here are the MMC
snap-ins pinned and
arranged in a column
on our Start screen.
The Performance Monitor console in Windows 8 is as detailed as ever.
CPU / May 2013 81
Performance Monitor in the left pane
to see a real-time line graph tracing the
% Processor Time. One of the coolest
features of the Performance Monitors line
graph tool is that you can create your
own views to monitor a wide variety of
system performance parameters. To do
this, click the green plus sign at the top
of the graph and select the computer you
want to examine. Next, scroll through
the massive list of system components,
expand them for the individual data
points, highlight each one you want to
view and click the Add button below,
and then click OK to see your requested
performance information on the graph.
Tere are hundreds of counters you can
look at using the Performance Monitor,
including many whose functions may
not initially be obvious. For a little more
information about what the currently
highlighted counter actually shows you,
click the Show Description checkbox on
the Add Counters menu.
The Windows Firewall snap-in (aptly
named WF.msc) is another one that we
particularly like. You would be forgiven
for thinking that this one, like Perfmon.
msc, is simply the same applet you can
access via more traditional means, but
the Windows Firewall controls you access
through Control Panel are only a fraction
as powerful as the this MMC snap-in.
Double-click WF.msc to see what we
mean; this console displays the Windows
Firewall with Advanced Security settings
enabled. Upon frst viewing, youll see a
basic overview of the security settings on
the local computer. Te left pane shows a
fle tree structure, starting with Windows
Firewall With Advanced Security On Local
Computer. From here you can determine
whether the Windows Firewall is enabled
or disabled and see the status of your
private and public profiles, and links to
connection security rules, inbound rules,
and outbound rules. Tis snap-in would
be particularly useful for network admins
who need to block or allow connections
to specific ports and programs. Click
Inbound Rules to see a list of applications
that have established inbound rules. You
can use the Actions pane (show or hide the
Actions pane by clicking the right-most
icon on the toolbar) on the right side of
the window to flter by profle, state, or
group. From here you can also create new
rules and export a copy of the list as a
The Windows Firewall console is one of the more powerful MMC snap-ins.
You can essentially whitelist or blacklist individual apps from the Windows Firewall snap-in.
82 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
tab-delimited text document. To modify
an existing rule, simply double-click it to
see the Properties dialog box. Here you
can click the associated tabs to modify
the Remote Users, Remote Computers,
Protocols And Ports, and Programs And
Services for the application in question.
Security-focused folks should also
double-click the Secpol.msc, otherwise
known as the Local Security Policy
snap-in. The file tree in the left pane
features several security policies, organized
in subfolders by type. Click Account
Policies, for instance, to view Password
and Account Lockout Policies in the
right pane. From these, you can double-
click individual settings to perform a
number of security-related functions,
such as enabling password history, setting
maximum password age, and more. You
can double-click Password Must Meet
Complexity Requirements, select Enable,
and then click OK to force the user to
pick more secure passwords.
The Services snap-in, or Services.msc,
lets you explore the applications running
in the background and change how your
system launches the associated services.
To troubleshoot a problem you suspect
may be caused by a certain service, you
can locate that service in the list, right-click
it, and click Properties. In the resulting
dialog, you can cycle the services Startup
Type between Manual, Automatic, Auto-
matic (Delayed Start), or Disabled. Stream-
lining your startup services can also
signifcantly improve the boot performance
of your Windows 8 system, so its a good
idea to go through this list occasionally and
change nonessential services that have an
Automatic startup into Manual ones. Its
also a good idea to export a list of services
and their settings before you go about
disabling them to locate a problem that
might be responsible for an error-prone
startup. Just click the Export icon in the
toolbar to generate a tab-delimited text fle,
viewable in Excel.
Other snap-ins you may want to
check out include Devmgmt.msc (De-
vice Manager), Diskmgmt.msc (Disk
Management), and Eventvwr.msc (Event
Viewer), which lets you look at the system
event, error, and update logs.
Just as in Windows 7, Windows 8 lets you
create your own Microsoft Management
Console snap-ins. To do this, go back to
the Start screen and type mmc, and then
press ENTER to display a blank MMC,
with a Console Root folder showing in the
left pane. Click File and then Add/Remove
Snap-in, then scroll through the list,
highlighting available snap-ins and clicking
the Add button. For some, you will be
asked if you want to enable the snap-in for
the local machine or another computer.
Choose the former and click Finish, or
choose the latter and browse to the desired
computer from the network. Once youve
assembled your list of snap-ins, use the
Move Up and Move Down buttons to
arrange them as you want them to appear.
Click Advanced and enable the ability
to change the parent snap-in by clicking
the checkbox and clicking OK. Now
you can change the uppermost snap-in
to something else, such as Performance,
which is handy because itll then appear at
the top of your self-made MMC. When
you are fnished with your MMC, click the
OK button, click File, Save As, and then
choose a location and name for the MMC.
If you do take the time to craft your own
snap-in, youll defnitely want to pin that
handy utility to the Start screen, Taskbar,
Desktop, or somewhere else convenient.
WINDOWS TIP OF THE MONTH:
Restrict Access To The Registry
You can perform this months Registry tweak without ever launching the Registry. Start by pressing
WINDOWS KEY-R to open the Run command, and then type gpedit.msc and click OK to launch the
Local Group Policy Editor. Navigate to User Confguration, Administrative Templates, System, and then
double-click Prevent Access To Registry Editing Tools. Click the Enabled radio button, and then click OK
to complete the process. Now when anyone using the PC attempts to launch the Registry Editor, they
will get a message saying that Registry Editing Has Been Disabled By Your Administrator. To undo the
change, just relaunch the Local Group Policy Editor and disable the setting.
This Group
Policy Editor
setting lets
you easily
disable
traditional
access to
the Registry
Editor.
CPU / May 2013 83
This months list of application updates and new drivers includes remote access enhancements,
troubleshooting aids, expanded game and video format support, and more.
tech support employees resolve issues
without having to escalate them to sup-
port staf or request a physical return of
the device. LogMeIn Rescue customers
can request a preview of Click2Fix from
the company.
secure.logmeinrescue.com/welcome/
rescueclicka
O&O BlueCon 10
Version 10 of O&O Softwares Win-
dows system recovery utility comes
with optimizations for both Windows
8 and Windows Server 2012. BlueCon
10, which can be licensed by adminis-
trator or technician, can boot a dead
PC from a USB flash drive or CD to
kill problematic drivers, recover de-
leted data, reset passwords, and much
more. This new version can also run
on host systems with extended support
for Hyper-V.
corp.oo-software.com/en/disaster-
recovery
Paragon Hard Disk Manager 12
Business & Premium Editions
New for SMBs are these two edi-
t i ons of Paragons power f ul dri ve
uti l i ty. For compani es wi th up to
100 machines, the Business edition
of Hard Disk Manager 12 provides
storage maintenance, backup, and di-
saster recovery functionality. Step up
to the Premium edition to connect di-
rectly to virtual disks on the network,
Software Updates
Corel VideoStudio Pro X6
Corels latest efort in the consumer
video-editing desktop software market
is version X6 of VideoStudio Pro. It
comes with support for 4K (Ultra High-
Defnition) and ACVHD 2.0 video, as
well as motion tracking. Corel made
improvements to the softwares screen
capture feature, and also to its support
for DSLRs (stop-motion and enlarge
modes). The company also announced
the release of VideoStudio Ultimate X6
with proDAD, Boris Grafti, and New-
Blue plug-ins.
www.corel.com
Defender 1 Step Remote Viewing
This free software makes it easy to
remotely access your networked DVR,
such as on your home surveillance
system. 1 Step Remote Viewing is in-
tended to make it easy to tap into re-
corded video from any web terminal
without having to mess around with
port forwarding settings. Its available
for both PCs (Windows 8/7/Vista/XP)
and the Mac (OS X 10.6 and higher).
www.defender-usa.com/1step
LogMeIn Rescue Click2Fix
Tis new extension for remote access
software LogMeIn Rescue lets customer
service reps diagnose and correct some
iOS and Android device problems.
Click2Fix is intended to help Level 1
even in a cold state without a hyper-
visor running.
www.paragon-software.com
Stellar Phoenix JPEG Repair v2
Data corruption can render a JPEG
image unusable, even if most of the fle is
intact. Tis Windows 8/7/Vista/XP/Server
2008 utilitya Mac edition is forth-
comingmakes it easy to recover as much
of a corrupted JPEG image and its thumb-
nail as possible. Version 2 ofers up to 30%
faster scanning and recovery, along with a
more automated repair process and a nicer
user experience. It can also extract data
from unreadable memory cards. Teres a
free trial, although only the $39 paid ver-
sion lets you save recovered JPEGs.
www.stellarinfo.com/jpeg-repair.php
Driver Bay
NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Driver
314.09
Heres the launch driver for NVIDIAs
new GeForce GTX Titan video card.
Included is a bug fix that helps games
such as Unreal Tournament III, Trine,
and Metro 2033 with a failure to launch.
Version 314.09 also includes the features
of version 313, such as the user ability
to select a CUDA-capable card to run
double-precision calculations. Version
313 also speeds up various games and up-
dates SLI profles for Crysis 3, Warframe,
and DmC: Devil May Cry.
www.nvidia.com/download/index.aspx
Upgrades Thatll Keep You Humming Along
84 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Computer Power User is produced by Sandhills Publishing.
Founded in 1978, Sandhills Publishing is an information processing company with a diverse range of
products covering a variety of industries. Sandhills Publishing is located in Lincoln, the capital of Nebraska,
and benets from the quality of life and strong work ethic traditionally associated with the Midwest.
Because users IP addresses each belong
to an identifiable set allocated to their
ISPs, the content creators can notify the
ISP that a given IP address has violated
the rules of the Copyright Alert System.
Once the information is in the hands of
the ISP, the provider will check its records
to find out which subscribers account
was using the IP address at that particular
time. Ten, they will pass on a copyright
alert notice to the customer. The CCI
points out that no personal information
about consumers is shared between the
content owners and the ISPs. As such,
the content owner wont ever find out
who you are as a part of the Copyright
Alert System. (In the event that a user
has exhausted all six of his strikes and
persists in illegal fle-sharing behavior, its
possible that a content provider could
pursue legal action, in which case an ISP
T
hose who pirate music, TV shows,
and movies may soon begin receiving
notices from their ISP (Internet Service
Provider), as AT&T, Verizon, Comcast,
Time Warner, and Cablevision have
joined up with the RIAA (Recording
Industry Association of America) and
MPAA (Motion Picture Association of
America) to create the Copyright Alert
System. Launched on February 25th, the
program looks to educate consumers by
having the ISP alert individual account
owners when the illegal sharing of
copyright material has been associated
with their IP address. After multiple
notices, the ISP can take measures to
affect the quality of your Internet
experience, according to the CCI
(Center for Copyright Information). Lets
take a look at how the Copyright Alert
System works.
How Copyright Violations
Are Detected
Your ISP wont be monitoring what
you download to your computer or
identifying copyright content stored on
your home network. Instead, the content
owners will be responsible for joining
public P2P sharing networks to discover
when their mediawhether it be a song,
movie, or TV showis being shared in
a way that violates U.S. copyright law.
Then, the content creator must verify
that the fle does contain a full version of
the copyrighted content, not just a small
clip. For example, the content creator
will watch or listen to key sections and
record data about the video file, which
will produce a unique digital identifer
called a hash. Next, the content owner
will need to identify the IP addresses of
those who share the unauthorized fles.
Fair Warning
The Copyright Alert System
The frst notice you receive under the Copyright Alert System wont come with any mitigation steps.
CPU / May 2013 87
might be compelled legally via a subpoena
to provide the ofenders identity.)
Six Strikes
Te CCI has stated that the goal of the
Copyright Alert System is not to punish
consumers, but rather to educate people
about how they can prevent participation
in copyright infringement. To further this
goal, the program uses a six-strike system.
The first alert from your ISP is designed
to make you aware that unlawful content
has been shared using an IP address
associated with your account. Its possible
that someone else within your household is
sharing unauthorized content, or even that
By the ffth notice, youll want to let
everyone in the household know that
illegal fle sharing will soon be causing
problems with the Internet connection.
Internet service providers that havent already will likely be updating their
acceptable-use and terms-of-service policies with information about penalties
for those who participate in peer-to-peer fle sharing.
88 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
someone outside your household is accessing
your Internet access via an unprotected
wireless connection, for example. As such,
you should use the first warning as an
opportunity to talk with everyone in the
house about unauthorized fle sharing and/or
to ensure that if you use a wireless router it
is secured using standard security protocols.
Additional violations will allow the ISP
to take disciplinary steps with your account,
but according to the CCI, your ISP cannot
permanently terminate your Internet access
as part of this process. What the ISP can do
is force your account to bring up a landing
page with contact information, and youll
need to call the ISP or complete an online
copyright education program before you can
use the service again. Tese actions are fairly
extreme and will generally occur following
several alerts, and could be combined with
or give way to further mitigation in the form
of a temporary reduction in the speed of
your Internet connection.
Copyright Alert System Records
Te black marks associated with your
account dont stick around forever. The
CCI indicates that the ISP will clear
your record if no notices of copyright
infringement are received for a continuous
12-month period. Youll also be able to
challenge an alert by requesting a review
when you reach a mitigation stage with
your ISP. An independent review will be
administered by the American Arbitration
Association to see if you have received
one or more copyright system alerts in
error. You must request a review within 14
calendar days of receiving the alert, and
your challenge will cost you a $35 fling fee
that will be refunded if arbitration upholds
your claim.
Alert Escalation
Not all participating ISPs have indi-
cated what process they plan on using
when l earni ng about i nvol vement
in copyright infringement, but well
outline Verizons process to give you an
idea of the diferent types of alerts you
may receive. For frst and second alerts,
Verizon will simply send you an email
and a voice mail. After receiving two
alerts, Verizon will serve a web pop-up
that will require you to acknowledge that
youve received the information about
the unauthorized access. If you reach fve
notices, youll see a pop-up that states
unless you elect to seek an independent
review of the notices you received (see
below for more details), your Internet
access service speed will be temporarily
reduced for a period of 2 days to a rate
of 256Kbps (a little faster than typical
dial-up speed). Verizon will let you know
14 days before any reduction in speed will
occur. Tose who receive a sixth alert will
have a temporary speed reduction applied
for three days.
As part of the alert system, the CCI and its content owner partners will provide
information on legal ways to stream content.
Wi-Fi:
Lock It Down!
Leave your Wi-Fi router open to the
public? Notices from your ISP may
inform you that you should secure
your Internet connection, as it wont
matter to the ISP that it was the
downstairs neighbor, not you, who
was illegally sharing Season Two of
Game of Thrones. Youll be the one
who has to deal with the Copyright
Alert System headache. The Center
for Copyright Infringement suggests
that you use the strongest network
encryption compatible with your
home routercomplete with a hard-
to-guess password. Its also strongly
advised that you install and regularly
update security software.
CPU / May 2013 89
The Why Music Matters website provides many options for streaming and
downloading music to your PC, portable devices, and home audio equipment.
In an efort to educate consumers that
may not be aware of their legal options
for downloading, streaming, and buying
digital multimedia, the Copyright Alert
Systems notices will include links to
RIAA and MPAA websites that provide
this information. Why Music Matters
(www.whymusicmatters.com) is the
website devised by the RIAA, and it even
lists cloud storage services, so you can
take your existing music collections and
save them to a service you can listen to
anywhere. For movies and TV shows, you
can visit www.mpaa.org and select Get
Movies & TV Shows Online. Te CCI
also notes that there are a variety of on-
demand services provided by ISPs, so you
can stream some content directly from
your HDTVs set-top box.
Anti-piracy Future
The Copyright Alert System clearly
targets casual copyright breakers and not
longtime, frequent offenders for whom
awareness and education are moot. It is
also the first of its kind in that it relies
upon notifying consumers of minor infrac-
tions, rather than punishing only major
violators. (Remember the staggering lawsuits
of a few years ago?) Tus, it will be inter-
esting to see if the Copyright Alert System
helps to promote the lawful use of digital
music, movies, and TV shows. If the
program is successful, we may see similar
alert systems for software and other types
of digital content.
The MPAA provides a long list of places
where you can watch or download TV
shows and movies online.
90 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Look For CPU At These LAN Parties
05.18.13
WV Gamers - Eugene, OR
www.wvgamers.com
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
Oklahoma Gamers Group
Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
Forbidden Guild Spring Mayhem LAN
West Strathroy ON Canada
www.forbiddenguild.com
Nexus LAN - Miamisburg, OH
www.nexuslan.org
05.18-20.13
BaseLAN 25 - Winnipeg, Manitoba
allyourbaseonline.com/ca
06.07-09.13
GNWLAN: LANapalooza - Vancouver, WA
gnwlan.com
06.15.13
WV Gamers - Eugene, OR
www.wvgamers.com
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
Oklahoma Gamers Group
Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
06.22.13
Naois Gaming - York, PA
www.naoisgaming.com
07.12.13
SWVA Gaming: PnP.3 - Lebanon, VA
www.swvagaming.com
04.12.13
Legendary LAN - Harrisburg, PA
legendarylan.com/forum
04.12-14.13
LANFest Sacramento - Sacramento, CA
lanfest.intel.com
GNWLAN 9 - Vancouver, WA
gnwlan.com
04.13.13
Naois Gaming - York, PA
www.naoisgaming.com
04.13-14.13
RIT Spring LAN - Rochester, NY
www.egsrit.com
Purdue Gamers Group - Lafayette, IN
pugg.net
04.20.13
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
WV Gamers - Eugene, OR
www.wvgamers.com
Oklahoma Gamers Group - Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
SWVA Gaming: VI - Lebanon, VA
www.swvagaming.com
Wichita LAN - Wichita, KS
wichitalan.com
04.26-28.13
LANFest SoCal @ Cal Poly Pomona - Pomona, CA
lanfest.intel.com/events/pomona
04.27.13
Indiana Tech Ultimate Lan Party - Fort Wayne, IN
iitgamers.com
CPU / May 2013 91
Would you like us to help promote your next LAN?
Give us a call at 1.800.733.3809
Well be glad to consider your event
Across The Nation& Beyond!
07.12-14.13
LANFest MLP013 Summer
Hamburg, NY
lanfest.intel.com
07.19-21.13
LANFest Atlanta Summer 2013 - Atlanta, GA
lanfest.intel.com
07.20.13
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
Oklahoma Gamers Group - Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
08.10.13
WV Gamers - Eugene, OR
www.wvgamers.com
08.17.13
Oklahoma Gamers Group - Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
AWOL LAN 22 - Eau Claire, WI
www.awollan.com
09.06-08.13
Exile LAN XIII - Troy, NY
exilelan.com
09.07.13
LAN OC V13.0 - Ohio City, OH
lanoc.org
09.14.13
SWVA Gaming: VII - Lebanon, VA
www.swvagaming.com
09.21.13
Oklahoma Gamers Group - Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
WV Gamers - Eugene, OR
www.wvgamers.com
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
09.27-29.13
GNWLAN 10 - Vancouver, WA
gnwlan.com
10.18-20.13
Naois Gaming - York, PA
www.naoisgaming.com
10.19.13
Oklahoma Gamers Group - Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
WV Gamers - Eugene, OR
www.wvgamers.com
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
11.11.13
WV Gamers - Eugene, OR
www.wvgamers.com
11.15.13
SWVA Gaming: PnP.4 - Lebanon, VA
www.swvagaming.com
11.16.13
Oklahoma Gamers Group - Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
12.21.13
NGCs LAN-A-GEDDON - Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
Oklahoma Gamers Group - Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org
92 May 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com
Q
In Win unveiled a few new cases
at CES in January, including the
D-Frame, the GT1, the GRone, and
the G7. The G7 has a strong but
conservative look; the rest are all pretty
aggressive designs. What, if anything,
does this new group of products say
about In Wins design philosophy?
AC
Throughout its 26-plus years of
manufacturing experience, In Win
has continuously offered a broad range of
products, from strong, conservative business
chassis to chassis with more of a vibrant flair
to attract those within the exciting world
of gaming. In Wins historical vision and
creativity add up to a wide variety of choices
for those who desire a chassis or component
that challenges the status quo.
Q
The D-Frame is a very striking
chassis, and your site points out
that its the third in a series of open-air
designs that began with the X-Frame,
which debuted at CES in 2012. What
were your goals with the D-Frame?
AC
With the D-Frame open-air chassis,
In Win has once again shown that
the traditional metal box is not the only
consumer option for computer cases. Our
users are looking for creative, sophisticated
alternatives that they can proudly display
both at home and in the office, and In Wins
image chassis, the X-Frame, H-Frame, and
D-Frame, are the perfect solution.
Q
Why did In Win choose to make
the D-Frame a limited-edition
product, and how limited are theycan
our readers find them at retail if they
are interested in buying one?
radiator under the top panel and a 240mm
unit on the bottom panel.
Q
Most of your new cases for 2013 are
midtowers, but the GRone is a full
tower. Are there elements of case design
that are tougher or different when
designing a full tower vs. a midtower, or
is it the other way around?
AC
I believe that full tower cases are
a different breed in part because
they are always more expensive than
midtowers, so customers usually expect
to get something different in a full
tower. We are keeping that in mind as we
develop the upcoming GR2 (not official
yet); it will come with a unique design
and features that you have never seen from
another chassis.
Q
Thanks so much for your time.
Before we let you go, what can we
expect from In Win in the second half
of the year? Any new products coming
that you can talk about?
AC
In the second half of this year,
In Win will have more new full
towers and midtowers coming out. Our
fourth image product will be introduced at
Computex 2013, and we will introduce our
new series of 80 PLUS Platium PSUs, as
well. All of our cases and PSUs are designed
and manufactured by In Win.
AC
It is In Wins belief that customers
fortunate enough to purchase the
limited edition D-Frame will appreciate the
distinction of owning such a rare chassis.
The D-Frame will really stand out and be
a great conversation starter at LAN parties!
The quantity will be limited to 500 pieces
of each color (currently orange and red).
Customers can visit our eStore (estore
.in-win.us) to purchase the D-Frame, and
this chassis will be also available on Newegg
and Frys soon. Canadian customers will be
able to purchase the D-Frame from Canada
Computer and Memory Express.
Q
Your site says that users can customize
the front panel of the GT1. Can you
tell us more about how this works and
what kinds of customization options
users have?
AC
The red hexagonal covers will not
be pre-installed. Customers can
use their imagination to create different
logos or patterns on the front panel.
Q
The GRone has a really strong sort
of classic In Win look; it reminded
us a little of cases like the Mana series
and the Dragon Slayer, but with some
new twists. Can you talk about In
Wins goals for the GRone and which
features were most important during the
design phase?
AC
The GRone will be replacing one
of our top-selling full towers, the
Dragon Rider. Therefore, its design is a
little similar to the Dragon Rider. Based on
feedback from our customers, we designed
the GRone to support two radiators at
the same time: Users can install a 360mm
Q&A With In Wins Andy Che
In Win Opens 2013 With
Bold New Case Designs
CPU / May 2013 95