PC Case Buyer’s Guide | PAX South 2016 | Modder Q&A: Rod Rosenberg

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March | Vol. 16 Iss. 03

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FRONTSIDE — P. 5 PC CASE BUYER’S GUIDE — P.50 DID YOU FIND THE HIDDEN
News, product release information, and
stats from the tech industry.
The search for your next power supply
begins right here.
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The latest PC hardware is here: reviews, Software projects, betas, updates, and more.
product profiles, and category roundups.
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HARD HAT AREA — P. 33 Trends and leisure, news from around the
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 EKWB Introduces Predator 240 AIO
Cooler With Quick Disconnects
EK Water Blocks updated its Predator 240 AIO cooler to
include quick disconnects (or, in EK parlance, QDC). By
adding QDC, EK makes it possible for users to take their
existing CPU cooling loop and add in a block for their GPU.
This is great for users on a budget who are building a system
piecemeal or upgrading over time. For example, you can
install your cooling loop now for your CPU, and then when
you save up enough to buy that high-end graphics card you’ve
Zotac Announces SONIX Line Of been craving, you can install a waterblock for it and connect
NVMe PCIe SSDs For Enthusiasts it to your existing loop. You won’t have to do a complete
teardown or stop using existing cooling components. Along
ZOTAC is launching its first SSD products based on the with expanding its lineup of Predators with QDC, EKWB
NVMe PCIe interface. The company says its new SONIX PCIe also has upgraded all Predators to Revision 1.1, which
SSD offers top-of-the-line performance for serious gaming includes an updated CPU mounting mechanism for the
and productivity in comparison with SATA-based SSDs. The block. The EK-XLC Predator 240 with QDC costs $219.97.
SONIX’s four express lanes provide sequential read and write
speeds of 2,600MBps and 1,300MBps, respectively—up to
four times faster than SATA drives. The initial drive in the
SONIX line has a capacity of 480GB with 512MB DDR3
cache. It uses a Phison E7 controller and MLC flash memory
from Toshiba. Zotac says the drive has built-in technologies
such as end-to-end data path protection and dynamic wear
leveling to keep data secure and help boost the MTBF to 2
million hours. The company ships the SONIX with both
standard mounting brackets as well as low-profile brackets for
people building small-form-factor systems. The MSRP for the
new SONIX PCIe SSD was not available at press time.

WATCHING THE CHIPS FALL

CPU Released Original Price Last Month’s Price Online Retail Price*
Here is the pricing AMD FX-9590 Eight-Core 6/11/2013 N/A $239.99 $239.99
information for AMD FX-9370 Eight-Core 6/11/2013 $375 $199.99 $199.99
various AMD and AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core 10/23/2012 $195 $179.99 $169.99
AMD FX-8320 Eight-Core 10/23/2012 $169 $144.99 $139.99
Intel CPUs.
AMD FX-6350 Six-Core 4/30/2013 $132 $129.99 $129.99
AMD A10-7850K Quad-Core 1/14/2014 $173 $129.99 $114.99
AMD A10-7800 Quad-Core 7/2/2014 $153 $126.99 $125.65
AMD A10-7700K Quad-Core 1/14/2014 $152 $115.99 $109.99
AMD A10-6800K Quad-Core 6/4/2013 $142** $131.50 $137.81
AMD A10-5800K Quad-Core 10/2/2012 $122** $104.99 $95.99
Intel Core i7- 5960X Eight-Core 8/29/2014 $999** $1,049.99 $1,049.99
Intel Core i7- 4960X Six-Core 9/3/2013 $990** $1,299.95 $1,310.64
Intel Core i7- 5930K Six-Core 8/29/2014 $583** $579.99 $579.99
Intel Core i7- 4930K Six-Core 9/3/2013 $583** $700.00 $740.32
Intel Core i7- 5820K Six-Core 8/29/2014 $389** $389.99 $389.99
Intel Core i7-6700K Quad-Core (Skylake) 8/5/2015 $359** $413.99 $381.99
* As of February 2016 Intel Core i7-4790K Quad-Core (D.Canyon) 6/25/2014 $339** $339.99 $339.99
** Manufacturer’s Intel Core i7-4820K Quad-Core 9/3/2013 $323** $390.00 $444.43
estimated price Intel Core i7-4790 Quad-Core (Haswell) 5/11/2014 $303** $309.99 $309.99
per 1,000
Intel Core i5-6600K Quad-Core (Skylake) 8/5/2015 $249** $259.99 $249.99

CPU / March 2016 5

 Corsair Introduces White VOID
Wireless 7.1 RGB Gaming Headset
Corsair has rolled out a new white version of its most
advanced headset, the VOID Wireless 7.1 RGB Gaming.
This headset works on the 2.4GHz frequency band and
has a wireless range of about 40 feet. Along with Dolby
technology and 7.1 surround sound audio, the headset
includes RGB lighting that you can sync with other Corsair
RGB products using the CUE (Corsair Utility Engine)
software package. In conjunction with the new headset
GIGABYTE Has News For AMD Fans: release, the company announced it has added a new feature
The 990FX-GAMING Motherboard called VOID Visualizer to CUE starting with version
1.15.36. The new software lets owners of VOID headsets
GIGABYTE has two new motherboards for users wanting and RGB keyboards turn their audio or microphone signals
to build AMD systems. The GIGABYTE GA-990FX- into real-time multicolor graphics displays. The white
GAMING and GIGABYTE GA-970-GAMING support version of the Corsair VOID Wireless 7.1 RGB headset is
the latest AM3+/AM3 processors and have all the bells available now at retailers and has an MSRP of $129.99.
and whistles of the GAMING line of products, including
GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS technology and Ultra Durable
PCIe metal shielding. The GIGABYTE 990FX-GAMING
is the higher-end release of the two boards and has an AMD
990FX northbridge and an AMD SB950 southbridge. It
supports four DIMMS for dual-channel DDR3 memory up
to 2,000MHz and also supports XMP memory. The ATX
board is 2-way SLI/Crossfire-ready and has a Killer Gigabit
Ethernet controller for smooth online gaming. It has a Realtek
ALC1150 codec for up to 7.1-channel HD audio. There is one
M.2 and six SATA 6Gbps connectors and one USB Type-C
port (back panel). The board retails online for about $140.

Lian Li PC-M25 Small-Form-Factor

Case With Hot-Swap Hard Drive Rack
Lian Li has announced a new case for people building small-
form-factor systems. The PC-M25 chassis is built for Mini-ITX
and microATX motherboards but has plenty of room inside
for enthusiast-level components. The aluminum chassis can fit
graphics cards up to 16.1 inches; ATX PSUs up to 9 inches;
and CPU coolers up to 3.1 inches, and there are four expansion
slots. The PC-M25 can also be loaded with up to seven 3.5-
inch hard drives. As many as five of those drives can be placed
in a tool-less hot-swap rack, with two more drives fitting into
a separate bottom HDD tray. The case comes with two fans: a
low-RPM 140mm intake fan that pulls air in through vents on
the sides near the front of the case and a 120mm exhaust fan
that blows hot air out the back of the top panel. Lian Li says
its newest chassis is available in black or silver versions for an
MSRP of $169.

6 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 EVGA Releases First Graphics Cards
Aimed At Virtual Reality Products
There is a wave of virtual reality headgear coming, and most
will have significant minimum computing system requirements.
To help power those products, EVGA has announced two new
“VR-ready” graphics cards. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti VR
EDITION card is available in two versions: one with a reference
cooler and one with EVGA’s ACX 2.0 cooling package that gives
you more headroom for overclocking. Both versions ship with a
5.25-inch drive bay that has front-facing HDMI and USB ports
for the new VR headsets. A separate cable will link from the rear
of the bay to an internal HDMI outlet on the VR EDITION
card. The GeForce GTX 980 Ti VR EDITION card has a base
clock of 1,000MHz and a boost clock of 1,076MHz. It has 6GB
of GDDR5 memory. The memory clock is 7,010MHz and the
total memory bandwidth is 336.5GBps. The card is ready for
2-way/3-way SLI and retails for about $700 (ACX version).

HARDWARE MOLE

ASUS Unveils Wireless Repeater

ASUS announced a new wireless repeater that not only has
serious tech abilities but also sports a stylish design that will
fit right into the decor of a gaming enthusiast. The top-of-
the-line ASUS RP-AC68U provides dual-band 802.11ac
Wi-Fi that can extend a wireless network at speeds up to
1,900Mbps. The distinct housing features a Myan split-
block design, with the valleys in the splits incorporating a
rich red background. LEDs on the unit change intensity to
indicate signal strength. The RP-AC68U also features five
ports in the back for wired Gigabit Ethernet connections.
Phanteks Eclipse P400 & P400S It has one USB 3.0 port that can be used to attach PCs,
Phanteks says its Eclipse P400 and Eclipse P400S cases are storage devices, or other products. There are four internal
meant for system builders who want to create a clean system antennas (three transmit and four receive), and the unit
with little effort. Both cases have a solid metal exterior with operates at 2.4GHz as well as 5GHz. ASUS says the RP-
ambient RGB illumination. The midtower P400 comes in AC68U will be available soon at select retailers.
black, white, or grey with a side window and measures 18.3
x 8.3 x 18.5 inches (HxWxD). It supports motherboards up
to 10.7 inches wide (includes some E-ATX) and graphics
cards up to 15.2 inches long. There are two USB 3.0 ports,
mic and headphone ports, reset, and LED control on the
front. There are seven expansion slots, two 120mm fans
(one in front and one in the rear) with room for two more
in the front and two in the top. The P400S (pictured above)
has all the same specs as the P400 model but comes in both
windowed and windowless versions, plus it has a three-
speed fan controller.

CPU / March 2016 7

 Former Mozilla CEO
Building New Web Browser
Citing the need to “avert war” between Web users, browsers,
and site owners over issues such as advertising and privacy,
Brendan Eich, the former Mozilla CEO who also created
JavaScript, launched the 0.7 developer version of Brave.

In a post making the announcement, Eich described Brave

as “a new browser and a connected private cloud service
with anonymous ads.” The Brave browser, he said, will block
Tool Adds Dictation, Transcription everything, including initial signaling/analytics scripts behind
online advertising, impression-tracking pixels, and ad-click
Features To Microsoft Word confirmation signals.
Speech Tools from Dual Writer Software adds a task pane inside That means pages will
the Microsoft Word document window with more than 800 load faster, as Brave
voice commands for tasks such as navigating documents, selecting notes that as much
and editing text, and opening dialog boxes. You can search that as 60% of a page’s
command list using voice. The Speech Clipboard lets you save load time is spent
text such as addresses and phone numbers you can enter later loading the underlying
using a voice command, while a noise filter reduces extraneous technology and 20%
sounds and a read aloud feature helps with document proofing. of that time is spent
Plus, you can import vocabulary lists into the Windows custom loading things that are
speech dictionary. Speech Tools’ transcription system features a trying to learn more
media player with support for most popular audio and video file about you. Brave will
formats. The media player opens inside Microsoft Word, where insert ads in a few standard-sized spaces, Eich said. Ads will be
you can control it via keyboard shortcuts, mouse clicks, and voice “clean” and fund website owners and Brave users, who will be
commands. Other useful features include a timestamp button and able to spend their funds to go ad-free on their favorite sites,
speed control. You can download a 30-day trial of Speech Tools or according to the company. By default, the browser won’t store
purchase the full version for $29.95 at the Dual Writer website. any information about you or your data without permission.

SOFTWARE SHORTS

Open-Source Suite Gets Revamped each application and repositioned icons and menu commands
based on user preferences.
Interface, Greater Interoperability
Since launching in 2011, the LibreOffice suite has been The Document Foundation notes that LibreOffice stands
downloaded 120 million times, according to developer The apart from competitors by offering superior interoperability;
Document Foundation, with that interoperability has been
customers that include large improved in version 5.1, with
organizations on every continent. greater compatibility with
The Document Foundation says proprietary document formats
the program compares head-to- and filters for Apple Keynote 6,
head with every product in the Microsoft Write, and Gnumeric
same category. Version 5.1 of the files. Other new features include
program is now available, and it an improved spreadsheet formula
has a completely reorganized user engine and the ability to access
interface to provide faster, more files on remote file servers such
convenient access to the most- as SharePoint and Google Drive
used features, with new menus in right from the File menu.

8 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Facebook Working On New
Wireless Network Tech
Pushing ahead with its efforts to bring Internet access to more
of the 4 billion people who currently don’t have it, Facebook
is reportedly working on a new wireless technology that uses
the cloud for data management and computation.

The patent application filed by Facebook and engineer Sanjai

Kohli describes the wireless network as using packet-switched
beams, with the beams formed and switched electronically. The
Researchers Hit Milestone new wireless data network will reuse the same frequency band
in all cells, with all frequency channels available to every node
In Wireless Transmission Speeds in the network and channels being dynamically assigned by the
56Gbps. That’s the world’s fastest wireless transmission speed, and cloud to maximize network
researchers at Fujitsu and the Tokyo Institute of Technology have capacity. Rather than focusing
reached it. For years, optical fiber networks have been the best on just one particular link,
option for coping with today’s data traffic demands, the researchers the patent application
note. However, optical fiber isn’t always feasible in more urban or notes, this new system will
remote areas. The new technology developed by Fujitsu and the dynamically adjust route
Tokyo Institute makes it possible to have high-capacity wireless and frequency channel
communications equipment installed outdoors in applications assignments, transmit power,
where fiber-optic networks would be difficult to deploy. The modulation, coding, and
CMOS wireless transceiver chip the researchers built can process symbol rate to maximize
signals at high speeds with little loss across a range of frequencies network capacity and the probability of packet delivery. The
from 72 to 100 GHz. The CMOS wireless transceiver and wireless technology is in line with the work being done by Facebook’s
module use a low-loss, high-bandwidth transceiver circuit and Connectivity Lab in conjunction with Internet.org to use a
modularization technology. The initial test achieved data transfer variety of methods, including drones, satellites, and lasers,
rates of 56Gbps at a somewhat underwhelming distance of 10cm, to bring the Internet to everyone. No word on when we can
but Fujitsu expects commercial implementation by 2020. expect formal testing of the new technology.

SITE SEEING

Google Expands Safe Browsing Google considers embedded content on a website to be

social engineering when that content either pretends to act,
To Deceptive Links & Buttons look, or feel like a trusted entity or tries to trick users into
We’ve all run into various forms of social engineering doing something they would only do for a trusted entity
attacks when browsing the Web—links that try to trick you (sharing passwords, for example).
into downloading malicious software or images that warn
something is wrong with your system, for example. Google’s
Safe Browsing technology has been expanded to protect you
from just such things and other embedded content such as
social engineering ads.

Google first announced Safe Browsing would protect from

social engineering attacks last November and, in a blog
post announcing these latest additions, the company notes
its fight against unwanted software and social engineering
is just beginning and that it will continue to improve Safe
Browsing protection.

CPU / March 2016 9

 Job Of The Month
The land of blue football fields and potatoes is also the home turf for Micron, a NASDAQ 100 company
that is one of the world’s largest producers of DRAM. Micron is a technology giant and has an opening 1
for an enterprise data scientist at its Boise, Idaho, headquarters. Applicants should be people who “think Number of zettabytes of data that will move
in algorithms” and who are “comfortable working with one hand on a whiteboard and the other on a over the Internet annually by the end of
keyboard.” This person will work with a team of engineers and IT experts to uncover patterns in data that this year. This number will increase to 2
lead to innovative types of business intelligence solutions. You’ll work on projects across company silos zettabytes by the end of 2019. (A zettabyte
(sales/IT/finance/marketing/yada yada) and should be ready to make presentations to the corporation’s equals a thousand exabytes or a thousand
top wonks. You need to have at least five years of experience in stats, data science, and analytics; know billion gigabytes.) For more info on the
your way around R, SAS, SPSS, and related stat programs; and have a broad and intuitive understanding growth rate of data on the Internet, see “Not
of data science and machine learning. Interested? Man (or woman) up, and head for Idaho. Enough Hours (Or Seconds) In A Day” in the
Source: jobs.micron.com
column at left.
Cisco
Anybody Out There
Know How To Code? Top 10 Software Technologies
Searched For On Google In 2015
15
You never know for sure why someone is searching Percentage of adults in the United States
for a particular term on the Internet (and sometimes 1. Java who have used online dating sites or apps.
you may not want to know), but it’s always 2. HTML This includes 27% of young adults ages
interesting to peruse the end-of-year “top searches” 3. Python 18 to 24 and 12% of older adults ages 55
lists compiled by the major search engines. One of 4. JavaScript to 64.
Google’s lists, for example, shows the top software 5. SQL Pew Research
technologies people searched for during 2015. 6. CSS
Although some people may have just run across an 7. Adobe Flash
unfamiliar term or wanted to know more about a 8. R 43
certain language or technology, we’re guessing a 9. C Percentage of millennials in the United
lot of those searches were by people in the industry 10. Go States who consider social media an
looking for a little coding help. We all get by with a important part of their skillset at work. About
little help from our friends. 37% of Generation Xers agree, but only 20%
Source: Google of boomers feel that way.
CompTIA

Not Enough Hours (Or Seconds) In A Day

The amount of data going through the old Intertubes continues to skyrocket, but percentage-wise, 12 million
the growth rate is finally starting to slow down. Back in the early days of the Internet, traffic could be Number of smart watches that Apple
measured in tens of gigabytes per day. Now it’s measured in tens of thousands of gigabytes per second. shipped during 2015. This represented
According to data compiled by Cisco Systems for its Global IP Traffic Forecast, traffic on the Internet about two-thirds of all smart watch
grew five-fold in the past five years but is projected to grow only three-fold between 2014 and 2019. shipments made during the year.
Canalys

129 million
Number of autonomous (self-driving)
vehicles forecast to be sold between
2020 and 2035.
Navigant Research

Source:
Cisco

10 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 The Perfect Storm
MSI’s Vortex Is As Powerful As It Is Stunning
f you’re here looking for a small form hardware technology from both desktop Let’s start with the processor, where

I factor PC that plays by the rules, you’ve

come to the wrong place. Oh sure,
there’s nothing inherently wrong with
components and mobile components.”

Big Power In Small Spaces

MSI gives you a choice between three of
Intel’s best quad-core Skylake processors.
At the top of the stack is the Core i7-
traditional SFF cases, but when was the Consider your own wish list for a 6700K, arguably our favorite overclocker
last time “traditional” excited anyone? high-end build. You’re likely looking of the family. The 6700K motors along
We know what a box looks like, and, by for a CPU with an unlocked multiplier, at a crisp 4GHz, and it can bounce up
and large, what we can put in it. There a respectable graphics card (or more, if to 4.2GHz as loads dictate. With four
are rules. you have the cash), a smokin’ solid-state physical cores and Hyper-Threading,
MSI’s Vortex isn’t terribly fond of the drive to keep the system fast on its feet, the 6700K can handle multi-threaded
rules. On the outside, it’s a sleek and and a mass storage drive for all your workloads like a boss.
stylish small form factor PC. At a mere files. The Vortex checks all those boxes, You also have the option of Intel’s
10.5 inches tall and a total volume of and then some. Core i5-6600K. It’s a salty CPU, too,
6.5L, though, it doesn’t seem like much with the same four physical cores and
room for components that are even unlocked multiplier as the 6700K; the
remotely powerful. key distinction is that the 6600K
What we’re really talking about doesn’t have Hyper-Threading,
is more than a shrunk-down, cool- so if that’s more important to
looking computer. We’re talking you than having an unlocked
about changing the way we think m u l t i p l i e r f o r ov e r c l o c k i n g ,
about SFF PCs. Beneath its unique you might want to consider the
exterior is an outrageous number Vortex’s third option: an Intel Core
of cutting-edge parts. i7-6700. The standard 6700 has
“Our goal in designing the lower base and Turbo clocks than
Vortex was to create a radical the 6700K (3.4GHz and 4GHz vs.
design that would push the limits 4GHz and 4.2GHz, respectively).
of small form factor desktop The tradeoff is the 6700’s 65W TDP,
gaming without sacrificing which is almost 30% lower than the
desktop gaming performance,” 6700K’s 91W.
says Vincent Chen, associate “We could have utilized a mobile
marketing manager at MSI. processor to save more space and
Starting a revolution like this power,” Chen says, “however, it was
wasn’t easy according to Chen. still viable to push performance further
He says MSI’s design team created and integrate a socketable desktop
“countless” revisions before finally CPU for more extreme performance
deciding on the sweet little system and upgradeability. It all worked
you see before you. “Initially, out perfectly.”
the Vortex took on a more literal Regardless of the processor you pick,
design, with a spiral-like exhaust, you’ll be able to support the latest and
and evolved to a much more sleek greatest complementary hardware. The
and clean design. Vortex has either 16GB or 32GB of
“Trying to fit all that hardware DDR4-2133 by default, but it supports
in such a small space was no easy up to 64GB. (Be sure you use SO-DIMM
feat. We had to utilize cutting-edge modules.) The Z170 chipset offers plenty
Advertisement

12 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

The exploded view of MSI’s Vortex will blow your mind. Somehow, MSI’s engineering heroes were able to design a small form factor PC that can include an Intel Core
i7-6700K CPU and two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 MXM graphics cards. Also tucked inside the Vortex are two PCIe 3.0 NVMe M.2 solid-state drives configured with
MSI’s Super RAID 4 technology, a 1TB hard drive, Killer networking controllers, and an innovative cooling system that makes it possible to put all this in a 6.5L chassis.

of PCIe 3.0 lanes, the best bus for the Good things continue to come in pairs a cooling system that thumbs its nose at
new crop of SSDs to hop aboard. when we move to the Vortex’s storage conventional wisdom.
The Vortex’s graphics subsystem is equally drives. Solid-state drives that use a MSI Storm Cooling Technology works
impressive, if not more so. The reason? MSI combination of PCIe 3.0 and NVMe by creating a rotating column of airflow
manages to include not one, but two elite are at the top of the food chain, so MSI that swirls through the system. It pulls
NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards inside the bestows the Vortex with two of ’em. cool air in through the bottom of the
system. Like you do with the CPU, you Then, the PCIe SSDs inside the Vortex chassis and blasts hotter ambient air out
get a choice—a pair of GTX 980s or GTX receive the Super RAID 4 treatment, a through the top of the case. According
960s. Note that these are MXM cards, so technology exclusive to MSI. According to MSI, Storm Cooling Technology is
they’re not quite as potent as their desktop to the company, Super RAID 4 is capable extremely efficient.
counterparts, but it’s close. For example, of yielding a maximum throughput of “We needed to create a cooling
the MXM GTX 980 has the same number up to 3,300MBps, so you can expect the solution that could efficiently cool
of CUDA cores as the desktop GTX 980, Vortex to move at a very brisk pace. a system of this size and power while
as well as the same GDDR5 memory still maintaining a relatively low volume
bandwidth. Each GTX 980 in the Vortex has Cool Operator for the fan,” Chen explains. “Since the
an 8GB frame buffer, while the GTX 960s A quad-core processor and two Vortex is a cylindrical design, it made
each have 3GB. Working together in SLI, it’s graphics cards tend to turn up the heat, sense to use only a large single-fan
easy to see why MSI’s internal testing of the which can be a dangerous proposition solution so it would require less power
Vortex revealed that the mighty mini delivers for SFF PCs—especially one as small as yet still keep the system cool and stable
graphics performance on par with PCs the Vortex. MSI’s engineers rose to the even in extreme gaming scenarios. The
that are much larger. challenge and outfitted the Vortex with single fan located at the top of the
Advertisement

CPU / March 2016 13

 Vortex would draw in all the air from Windows updates, etc.) travels TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT
the bottom of the system and pull it over the Vortex’s integrated
Specifications MSI Vortex
throughout the core, circulating air Killer Wireless-AC 1535 wireless
throughout and expelling the heat adapter. This 802.11ac module Available CPU Intel Core i7-6700K
through the top exhaust. It’s a very is particularly advanced, since it Intel Core i7-6700
unique design.” supports MU-MIMO (Multiuser Intel Core i5-6600K

Incredibly, the Vortex is able to keep its MIMO), which improves Chipset Intel Z170
components cool without sounding like throughput while simultaneously
Memory options 32GB DDR4-2133
a jet engine. MSI reports that the Vortex decreasing latency.
16GB DDR4-2133
produces less than 22dB of noise at idle, The Vortex also has an ace up
and while running basic tasks (Office, its . . . cylinder: the all-new Killer Max memory Up to 64GB DDR4-2133
web browsing, etc.) the system is scarcely Shield K9000. This nifty devil is a Available GPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX
louder, at less than 28dB. Even when the digital LAN transformer; what you 980 SLI
Vortex is running at full throttle, MSI need to know is that it’s capable of NVIDIA GeForce GTX
says it will remain below 37dB. lowering latency while gaming. It 960 SLI

should also reduce jitter. Storage 2 x PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2

Gold, Standard 128GB SSD (NVMe)
MSI saved some ingenuity for the Here Be Dragon 1 x 2.5-inch 6Gbps SATA
HDD
Vortex’s power supply. Inside, the The Vortex’s hardware lineup
system boasts an 80 PLUS Gold- is stacked with talent from top Wireless communication Killer WIFI 802.11ac 2x2,
certified PSU capable of doling out 450 to bottom, but MSI has software Bluetooth 4.1
watts of juice to the components. The at its disposal that will let you Rear I/O 4 x USB 3.0 (Type-A)
best part about the power supply is that push the system’s components 2 x Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1
it’s installed within the Vortex. Unlike even more. For those who are (Type-C)
a mini PC, there’s no external power unfamiliar, allow us to introduce 2 x HDMI
brick to worry about. MSI’s Dragon Center. 2 x Mini DisplayPort
2 x Gigabit Ethernet
“During the design process, we did Dragon Center gives power
(Killer)
make changes in order to fit the PSU users a tremendous amount 1 x S/PDIF out
inside the unit,” Chen says, “because of control over the Vortex. Audio I/O
no one wants to lug around a giant Overclockers can use it to fine-
PSU Embedded 450W
power brick.” tune frequencies in order to
80 PLUS Gold-certified
squeeze additional performance
Supercharged Networking out of their hardware. The
The Killer brand has been at the System Monitor gives users an
forefront of networking for power users at-a-glance view of the PC’s
for many years, and the chips found vitals, including CPU and
within the Vortex work together to give memory utilization, fan speeds, power With all this in mind, it’s safe to say
gamers a comprehensive system that puts consumption, and more. The LED there’s very little the Vortex can’t handle.
the important web traffic (as in, games) Wizard takes control of the Vortex’s At the time of this writing, MSI was
first. The genius that calls the shots is LEDs (obviously), giving you the ability prepping two versions of the Vortex for a
Killer’s DoubleShot-X3 Pro. to set a custom color for the light as well March 16th launch. The flagship model
Killer DoubleShot-X3 Pro, takes as pick from a nice list of lighting effects. includes two GeForce GTX 980 GPUs
advantage of the Vortex’s three network- “Enthusiasts can even easily access and 32GB of DDR4-2133 will carry a
ing pipelines by prioritizing the packets their system information via their mobile price tag of $3,999.99. If you opt for
from your game and funneling the phone with the Dragon Center App the Vortex with dual GTX 960s, you’ll
rest elsewhere. Important, real-time that is available for Android and iOS get 16GB of DDR4-2133; this system’s
traffic goes through one of the Vortex’s devices,” Chen adds. MSRP is $2,199.99.
two Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet Whichever Vortex you choose, it’s plain
controllers, while the second E2400 Monsoon Season to see that you’ll have a capable rig right
handles the medium-priority stuff, such In addition to all this power, the out of the box (just add keyboard, mouse,
as Twitch streams and YouTube videos. Vortex has the enough display outputs to and monitor). For your next system, defy
Finally, everything else (file downloads, run 4K video to as many as six displays. expectations: Go big by going small. ■
Advertisement

14 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 “Software snags aside,
the Viper V760 is a terrific
mechanical keyboard that
doesn’t have a stratospheric
price tag.”

Viper V760
$109.99
Patriot
www.patriotmemory.com

Patriot Viper V760

atriot has been producing enthusiast- the uninitiated, Brown mechanical switches keyboard, a substantial improvement over
P grade memory for decades, and the
company has naturally become pretty good
are both tactile and non-clicky, meaning
they provide a slight “bump” but no
the cheap plastic-on-plastic connections
(that always feel like they’re an awkward
at it. Over the years, Patriot’s shown a knack audible report, respectively, when the switch twist away from breaking) most keyboards
for making other high-end PC hardware, actuates. This combination makes them a use. I liked the V760’s aluminum chassis,
too, as its fleet of enthusiast gear has steadily good “compromise candidate,” if you will, too. In addition to giving the keyboard a
grown. Now, with the Viper Gaming trio, providing a solid typing/gaming experience refined look, the aluminum does a nice job
gamers have even more firepower at their without assaulting your co-workers’ or reflecting the V760’s LED lighting.
fingertips, particularly with the Viper V760 clanmates’ ears. Personally, I thought the The Viper V760’s customization soft-
mechanical keyboard. V760’s switches felt great in use, but that ware provides an extensive number of
With so many mechanical keyboards on comes with the standard mechanical switch options and is easy to use, but it’s not
the market, you could say that the Viper disclaimer: The set of fingers I used to test without a few quirks. When I used the
V760 is rather late to the party, but this the V760 is the only set I’ve ever used and software to update the V760’s firmware,
keyboard certainly knows how to make will ever use. You may prefer Blue or Black it rendered much of the keyboard useless.
an entrance. The keyboard’s LED lighting mechanical switches, and that’s OK. Just Fortunately, I was able to reset the keyboard
is among the best we’ve ever experienced. know that if Brown switches are your jam to factory state, and Patriot tells me a fix
In addition to per-key customizable the Viper V760 is quite good. is in the works. In the meantime, the
backlighting, the Viper V760 has an Elsewhere, the fit and finish of the V760 best way to restore the Viper V760 to
astounding 11 available lighting modes. give the impression that Patriot has been full functionality is to press and hold the
Many of the modes are further adjustable, producing gaming peripherals for years; Viper (Function) key and Pause/Break key
as well (such as changing the speed of the for a first effort, this keyboard is extremely together for 10 seconds.
effect). If you’re an enthusiast who likes impressive. Take the V760’s wrist rest (an Software snags aside, the Viper V760
pretty, eye-catching hardware, the Viper afterthought with a lot of keyboards), for is a terrific mechanical keyboard that
V760 looks mighty tough to upstage. example. The surface is essentially the same doesn’t have a stratospheric price tag.
Naturally, though, there’s more to the soft-touch rubberized coating you’ll find Put it in your arsenal and take down
V760 than simple good looks. From ESC to on many PC cases, which gives it a touch the competition. ■
the numpad’s ENTER key, the V760 uses of class, but that’s not even the best part.
Kailh Brown mechanical keyswitches. For The wrist rest magnetically attaches to the BY VINCE COGLEY

Specs: Switch type: Kailh Brown mechanical; 50 million keystroke life span; Interface: USB; Per-key RGB backlighting (11 lighting modes); 14 light
control keys; 104-key rollover; Macros: Yes (5 profiles); USB pass-through port; Game mode; Warranty: 2-year limited

CPU / March 2016 15

 of 20 million clicks. Other vitals include
“. . . anyone who plays games
an adjustable polling rate (125Hz to
that involve a lot of frenetic
1,000Hz), a maximum acceleration of 50g,
clicking should find the XM300
and a maximum tracking speed of 200
to be a capable performer.”
inches per second.
Like most gaming mice, the XM300
relies on a downloadable utility to manage
a lot of its settings. GIGABYTE calls
its software Xtreme Macro Engine, but
it does quite a bit more than create and
manage macros for the XM300. You
can reconfigure what every button does,
change DPI presets and polling rate, and
customize the mouse’s main LED lighting.
The software is effortless to use and only
requires a modest amount of RAM (it used
just under 32MB on our test system).
Using the XM300 was a mostly positive
experience. As mentioned, the mouse’s
body and its long main buttons really
make it ideal for palm grip gamers, and
the XM300 was very comfortable when
I used it as such. The main buttons were
crisp and fast during in-game action, and
anyone who plays games that involve a lot
of frenetic clicking should find the XM300
GIGABYTE XM300 to be a capable performer. The mouse’s
two thumb buttons were positioned
hen you think about GIGABYTE, palm, claw, or fingertip. That’s not an perfectly for my hand, as well. The large
W you think about motherboards. You
think about graphics cards. It’s possible
outlandish assertion, particularly because
the main left and right mouse buttons
Teflon feet (GIGABYTE also includes a
set of replacement feet for when you grind
you even think about the company’s are fairly responsive regardless of where original set down to nothing) do help the
BRIX mini PCs or its laptops. But gaming they’re pressed. (Claw and fingertip grips, XM300 glide across a mousepad, but I
peripherals? Naw, you think, that’s what for example, will wind up making contact couldn’t help but feel that the mouse itself
other hardware manufacturers do. further back on the main mouse buttons, is a little light (weighing 3.56 ounces) for
Well, think again. for example.) Personally, though, I was its size. All in all, though, I’d gladly take
As it turns out, GIGABYTE’s existing most comfortable—by a wide margin, in the XM300 into battle again.
stable of peripherals is fairly substantial, fact—using the XM300 with a palm grip; With an inviting price, the XM300 is
and the the XM300 happens to be the because of the mouse’s 5.1-inch length, I what I’d call a meat-and-potatoes gaming
first mouse in the company’s recently found it easier to maneuver using such a mouse. The XM300 goes to work and
launched XTREME GAMING series. grip. Your mileage may vary. does its job admirably. That’s all I need. ■
Gamers looking to replace an old mouse Internally, the XM300 has the com-
or upgrade from a general-purpose mouse position you’d expect from a gaming BY VINCE COGLEY
can’t have enough options, and the mouse of its caliber. Its optical sensor
XM300 is certainly worth a closer look. (a Pixart 3988) has a user-configurable XM300
GIGABYTE positions the XM300 resolution that ranges from 50 to $49.99
as a solid, jack-of-all-trades option for 6,400dpi. The main mouse buttons use GIGABYTE
gamers of any grip style, whether that’s Omron switches that have a rated life span www.gigabyte.us

Specs: Sensor: Optical (50 to 6,400dpi); Body Type: Right-handed; LEDs: Yes (16.8 million colors, 3 effects); 8 programmable buttons; Macros: Yes (up to
50); Onboard Memory: Yes; Weight; 3.56oz.; Interface: gold-plated USB; Cable length: 5.9ft.

16 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 “ . . . adding this custom-
looking reservoir to a
front panel that is already
very attractive is a design
home run.”

Gamer Storm Genome

$249.99
Deepcool
www.deepcool.com In addition, the Genome smartly follows
the newest case trend in taking all of its 3.5-
inch and 2.5-inch drive bays out of the visible
space in front of the motherboard tray and
moving them behind the right-side panel.
There’s a two-bay drive cage for 3.5-inch
drives beneath the PSU shroud near the front
panel, and there are four 2.5-inch vertical
mounts on the back of the motherboard tray
Deepcool Gamer Storm Genome for SSDs, so the Genome helps minimize the
amount of work you’ll need to do to manage
ne of the first things many of us look Our review unit was the white variant, your system’s power cables.
O at when considering the purchase of a
new case is whether it will accommodate the
which comes with a blue helix reservoir, but
you can also get the Genome in black with
The Genome’s all-steel interior matches
its external finish and looks fantastic. The
cooling subsystem that we’d like to install in either a red or green reservoir. There’s no inwardly slanting lattice that acts as the front
our next build. Can you install big enough wrong answer here; the translucent tubing on of the interior allows for good-sized graphics
radiators? Is there room in the main interior the Captain CPU cooler’s pump/waterblock cards as-is, but in the event that you load
space for the reservoir and pump that you unit matches the color of the reservoir installed up with one (or two) that requires a little
have your eye on? How will it look when in the case, making it easy to put together a more elbow room, the lattice includes an
everything is put together? And so on. build with a uniform color scheme. easily removable window that extends GPU
In this regard—as well as in a few More good news: The Genome’s list support up to nearly 13 inches.
others—Deepcool’s Gamer Storm- of cool touches doesn’t end with its pre- Deepcool’s Gamer Storm Genome has an
branded Genome certainly has a leg installed CPU cooler. The case also provides MSRP of about $250, which seems a little
up on the competition, as it comes with a great-looking PSU shroud that conceals high until you remember that in addition
everything you need to cool your CPU wiring but still lets you show off a bit to a solidly built mid-tower PC case, you’re
pre-installed right out of the box. The case of your PSU. On top of this shroud is a also getting a CPU liquid-cooling setup with
comes with Deepcool’s Captain 360 all- vertical slot with a corresponding external a 360mm radiator and a reservoir built into
in-one CPU cooler, so there’s a 360mm slot cover that you can use to mount a its front panel. And speaking of the double-
triple rad installed beneath the top panel graphics card vertically, so that the front of helix reservoir, we have to say once again that
complete with three 120mm fans, and the the card faces out through the Genome’s adding this custom-looking reservoir to a
CPU pump and waterblock assembly is in window panel instead of straight down. The front panel that is already very attractive is a
place and ready to attach to your CPU. In case doesn’t come with the PCIe extender design home run. When it’s turned on and lit
addition, there’s a very cool twist: Deepcool that you need to pull this off, which is a up, the Genome looks like some alien artifact
built a clear, cylindrical double-helix little disappointing, but we love the fact that of immense power. And who doesn’t want
reservoir into the front panel, so not only the case allows for vertical GPU mounting, one of those? ■
does this case keep your CPU nice and cool, and an extension cable shouldn’t set you
but it also has a great custom look. back much more than six or seven bucks. BY CHRIS TRUMBLE

Specs: Dimensions: 19.9 x 8.3 x 20 inches (HxWxD); Materials: SGCC steel, ABS plastic; Motherboard support: Mini-ITX, mATX, ATX; Drive bays: 2 x 3.5-inch internal, 4 x
2.5-inch internal; Fans (included): 1 x 120mm rear, 3 x 120mm top (radiator); Fans (optional): 2 x 120mm front, 2 x 140/3 x 120mm top ; Ports: 2 x USB 3.0, audio I/O

CPU / March 2016 17

 “ . . . if you need an affordable
case that accommodates
lots of storage, has good
ventilation, and is easy to
build in, the Stealth might just
be your huckleberry.”

Stealth
$69.99
Rosewill
www.rosewill.com

Rosewill Stealth
ne thing that we know from spend- and/or SSDs than there is just inside Other amenities onboard the Stealth
O ing lots of time at LAN parties
and talking to modders and DIY PC
the left-side panel.
Rosewill knows this, and also knows
include no fewer than four removable
dust filters, generous rubber-grommeted
builders everywhere: Where PC cases that there are still builders out there who cable management holes in the
are concerned, one size does not fit want to really beef up their PCs’ storage motherboard tray with corresponding
all. Certainly there are popular trends capabilities. To that end, the Stealth tie-down anchor spots, a spacious PSU
in case design, just like in any other doesn’t push its drive bays out of sight— bay with insulation pads to minimize
product market, and the other Rosewill in fact, it doubles down on them. The vibration, four pre-installed fans and
case we review in this issue (the Stealth has three 5.25-inch external drive mounts for two more, a windowed
Gungnir) is a great example of how to bays, one of which you can easily convert side panel, and thumbscrew-equipped
build a budget case and still include to a 3.5-inch bay, and no less than eight expansion slot covers. There’s also
many of the hottest features avail- internal 3.5-/2.5-inch drive bays stacked a motherboard tray cutout for
able today. below them. The hard drive/SSD bays mounting a CPU cooler, wide plastic
The Rosewill Stealth, on the other are all equipped with plastic slide-out feet with rubber insulation pads,
hand, is a little bit of a throwback, trays that are easy to move in and out and the aforementioned fan conrol
especially where its storage capabilities once your drives are attached to them speed buttons.
are concerned. As we have seen in with standard mounting screws, and the You get all of this stuff for less than
lots of cases lately, the move to clear 5.25-inch bays above use spring-loaded $70, so if you need an affordable case
all the internal drive bays out of the locking clips for completely tool-less that accommodates lots of storage,
main space in a case’s interior (which installation and removal. has good ventilation, and is easy to
we heartily approve of, by the way), The Stealth also has a recessed external build in, the Stealth might just be
often does so at the expense of having hard drive dock near the front of the your huckleberry. ■
lots of bays, as there’s considerably less top panel in between its two fan speed
room behind the motherboard tray for control buttons; yes, this case can handle BY CHRIS TRUMBLE
stacking large numbers of hard drives your storage needs.

Specs: Dimensions: 19.7 x 8.3 x 19.7 inches (HxWxD); Materials: SECC steel, plastic; Motherboard support: Mini-ITX, mATX, ATX; Drive bays: 3 x 5.25-
inch external (one can convert to 3.5-inch), 8 x 3.5-/2.5-inch internal; Fans (included): 2 x 120mm LED front, 1 x 120mm top, 1 x 120mm LED rear; Fans
(optional): 1 x 120mm top, 1 x 120mm bottom; Ports: 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x 1 x USB 2.0, audio I/O

18 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 “Patriot’s V360 gaming
headset has a handful
of features you’d expect
to find on much more
expensive units . . . ”

Viper V360
$69.99
Patriot
www.patriotmemory.com

Patriot Viper V360

atriot’s foray into gaming headsets comfort. Another really nice feature is movies more immersive. Despite
P comes to us as the Viper V360, a
red and black-themed unit that looks
the foldable mic boom, which becomes
nearly invisible when you don’t need it,
the number of discrete drivers, this
headset offers virtual 7.1 surround
like a close relative of the Patriot Viper and flips down when you do. sound, which was particularly effective
V560 Gaming Mouse. This headset The omnidirectional mic has a in FPSes like Dying Light and Star
has a similar matte black finish with 100Hz to 10kHz frequency response, Wars: Battlefront.
a rubberized texture to it. There is a 60dB SNR, and a 44dB (+/- 3dB) The UBR switch resides on the left
Viper logo on each of the cans, and a sensitivity. There are a pair of drivers can, along with a volume dial and a
glossy black metal mesh grille covers in each can, with a large 40mm switch for enabling/disabling the LED
an LED-lit panel on each ear cup. A neodymium magnet driver acting as panels. Each can also has a clearly
thin lightweight headband adjusts to the mid-range and high-frequency marked R and L to help ensure you
fit your head and a pair of rigid plastic speaker. The other driver is a smaller put the headset on correctly every time.
bands connect the cups and keep the 30mm unit, which handles the low- Patriot also backs the Viper V360 with
unit properly seated on your head frequency sounds in each can. Patriot’s a two-year warranty.
where it belongs. UBR (Ultra Bass Response) switch Patriot’s V360 gaming headset has a
The ear cups are lined with soft, lets you enable/disable these drivers, handful of features you’d expect to find
breathable foam covered in black fabric but it’s hard to imagine a situation on much more expensive units, it’s
mesh. The ear cushions are rectangular where someone would want to turn comfortable to wear for extended periods,
and enveloped most of this reviewer’s them off. It added something to just and it looks sharp enough to show off at
ears, making the headset comfortable about ever y situation, such as an the LAN party. If you’re in the market for
to wear for hours on end. The fabric extra punch to bullets in shooters, a a gaming headset, this one needs to be on
ear covers don’t isolate sound as well as growl to the engines in racing games, your short list. ■
a nonporous material would, but what a percussive emphasis to music, and
you lose in noise isolation, you gain in an extra oomph that makes action BY ANDREW LEIBMAN

Specs: Drivers: 40mm neodymium main driver, 30mm sub driver, 20Hz to 20kHz; Impedance: 32 ohm @ 1kHz; Sensitivity: 105dB +/- 3dB @
1kHz; Mic: 100Hz to 10kHz; Sensitivity: -44dB +/- 3dB Controller: on-can volume, red LED on/off, and UBR switch; Connector: gold-plated USB;
Extras: Ultra Bass Response switch, 7-foot braided nylon cable

CPU / March 2016 19

 “Rosewill is increasingly
offering enthusiast-grade
products at bargain
prices, and that’s a win for
enthusiasts, on a budget or
otherwise.”

Gungnir
$64.99
Rosewill
www.rosewill.com

Rosewill Gungnir
e recently reviewed Rosewill’s Stryker Inside, the surprises keep coming, as the PSU mount, and offers two vertical
W M, a budget case with a surprisingly
refined set of features. For $59.99, it
Rosewill adopts the latest interior design
trends for the Gungnir. For starters, the case
2.5-inch drive mounts on the back of the
forward interior panel, so although the case
comes with two front-mounted LED has a PSU shroud that provides enough space does include two top-mounted 5.25-inch
fans, removable dust filters on top and at for a massive PSU, which not only gives the tool-less drive bays, the rest of the interior
the bottom, a windowed side panel, SSD interior a cleaner look, but also makes cable is clean and open. As a result, you can
mounts on the back of the motherboard tray, management much easier. And speaking of install graphics cards up to 15.35 inches
and more. Next up, Rosewill sent us its new cable management, instead of including a in length without making any special
Gungnir case, and we have to say that we’re series of cable management slots along the adjustments or moving anything.
even more impressed. edges of the motherboard tray for running Gungnir supports standard ATX mother-
The Gungnir (its name comes from necessary power cables in from behind, the boards as well as microATX and Mini-ITX
the legendary spear of the Norse god Gungnir staggers motherboard tray and the boards, and of course it bears the now-
Odin) costs five bucks more than the interior panel that runs vertically along the standard motherboard tray cutout for easy
Stryker M, and has all of the stuff you front of the case just enough that you can CPU cooler installation. You can mount
get with that case (minus the captive side- easily bring cables in between them from 280mm radiators behind its front panel and
panel thumbscrews, for some reason). In behind. (There is one rubber-grommeted beneath its top panel, and all five internal
addition, Rosewill gives the Gungnir a cable aperture on the top of the PSU fan mounts accommodate both 120mm and
more elaborate front panel, with a high- shroud.) There are several twist-tie anchor 140mm fans.
gloss inset with red accents, and adds a points along both surfaces so that you can We think you’ll agree, that’s an awful
third removable dust filter behind that keep things tidy. lot of case for $65. Rosewill is increasingly
front panel. The case also adds more USB Moving the obligatory cage of 3.5- and offering enthusiast-grade products at
ports up at the front of the top panel (two 2.5-inch drive bays out of the way is hot bargain prices, and that’s great news for
USB 2.0 ports), as well as a fan speed right now, too, and Rosewill obliges. The enthusiasts, on a budget or otherwise. ■
control button that controls all three pre- Gungnir has a two-bay 3.5-inch drive cage
installed fans plus three more. behind the PSU shroud, well forward of BY CHRIS TRUMBLE

Specs: Dimensions: 17.3 x 8.3 x 18.6 inches (HxWxD); Materials: steel, plastic; Motherboard support: Mini-ITX, mATX, ATX; Drive bays: 2 x 5.25-
inch external, 3 x 3.5-/2.5-inch internal, 2 x 2.5-inch internal; Fans (included): 2 x 120mm front, 1 x 120mm LED rear; Fans (optional): 2 x 140mm
front, 2 x 120/140mm top, 1 x 140mm rear; Ports: 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0, audio I/O

20 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 “If you’re looking for a
feature-packed laser mouse
that won’t chew through
your wallet, Patriot’s Viper
V560 is one of the best
options out there.”

Viper V560
$49.99
Patriot
www.patriotmemory.com

Patriot Viper V560

n the past, we’ve known Patriot pri- including red, green, blue, cyan, and that the DPI switch is a toggle that
Imarily by its blisteringly fast DRAM
and flash memory products. When we
magenta. Each preset is tied to a
color, and you can tweak the nine
requires some force to adjust, which
significantly reduces the chances you’ll
were at CES this year, we were pleased programmable buttons from the Viper bump it unintentionally.
to discover that, in addition to this utility. You can also adjust the lift-off, We used the V560 at low resolutions
mouse, the company is launching a tweak the sniper function’s DPI, enable/ and up to 4K and found the DPI
range of new peripherals designed for disable angle snapping, and create settings more than capable of handling
enthusiasts and gamers. And perhaps macros and store them on the V560. The our needs. The mouse looks good, and
best of all, they’re very accessible for software is easy to use and finding the the ceramic pads feel good on fabric
gamers of meager means. function you want is fast and intuitive. and plastic mousing surfaces alike;
The Viper V560 is a laser gaming The V560 has an adjustable weight they’ll also likely last longer than those
mouse that has a rubberized matte system that consists of a tray that holds Teflon stickers many mice ship with.
black finish with glossy red buttons up to six five-gram weights, accessible The mouse’s rather high peak makes
and highlights, as well as Patriot’s red from behind the swappable side grip. The it feel good in medium and larger
viper logo on the back-right corner of tray is centered in such a way that you hands, but it’s narrower than some of
the mouse body. The left side of the can add weight on the right, left, front, or the large-sized mice we’ve tested in the
mouse features a soft rubber pad that back, depending on your preference. past. Patriot backs the V560 with a
helps keep your thumb from sliding There’s a DPI toggle switch that lets two-year warranty.
and losing grip, and the right side of you cycle between four DPI presets If you’re looking for a feature-packed
the Viper V560 lets you swap between and an LED indicator lets you know laser mouse that won’t chew through
a pair of swappable side grips. The USB at-a-glance which setting you’re on. your wallet, Patriot’s Viper V560 is one
cable is red and black braided nylon. With the software installed, you can of the best options out there. ■
There are three LEDs on the mouse move sliders to configure your presets,
and you can cycle between five colors, between 50 and 8,200dpi. We loved BY ANDREW LEIBMAN

Specs: Sensor: Laser (50 to 8,200 DPI); Body Type: right-handed; LEDs: five color lighting in two zones; Adjustable weight system; 9
programmable buttons; Macros: Yes; Onboard Memory: Yes; Interface: gold-plated USB; Cable: braided red and black nylon

CPU / March 2016 21

 “. . . the Gaming 27T 6QE’s
AIO design also allows it to
blend into spaces where
traditional PCs may not.”

GAMING 27T 6QE All-in-One PC

$2,699.99 (as tested)
MSI
us.msi.com

MSI GAMING
27T 6QE
All-in-One PC
he idea of using an All-in-One especially when using the Nahimic Audio USB 3.0 ports boasts MSI’s Super Charger
T computer as a gaming desktop hasn’t
probably crossed the minds of many
Enhancer utility to tune the sound.
MSI’s engineers put some thought into
technology to up the port’s amperage for
faster recharging of smartphones, tablets,
enthusiasts and gamers. And until we the visual aspect of the gaming experience, and other mobile devices.
saw MSI’s Gaming 27T 6QE All-in-One too. The 27-inch display features anti- The majority of MSI’s Gaming
PC, we wouldn’t have blamed you, as glare and anti-flicker technology, which products feature some form of Killer
AIOs typically feature cut-down mobile helps to reduce eye-strain. The Gaming NIC. The Gaming 27T 6QE boasts both
versions of components and limited GPU 27T 6QE also lets you lower the display’s Killer’s E2400 (for wired connections)
horsepower. MSI flips the script with the blue light emissions to further lessen eye and Killer’s Wireless-AC 1535. The
Gaming 27T 6QE by packing an Intel fatigue. The low blue light option can be wireless capabilities are notable, because
Core i7-6700, as well as an NVIDIA found in the MSI Gaming Center utility, the Killer Wireless-AC 1535 supports
GeForce GTX 980M with 8GB of where you can also switch among other MU-MIMO (Multi-User, Multiple Input,
GDDR5 memory, into an AIO with a preset visual modes optimized for games Multiple Output) and beamforming for
27-inch, Full HD display. and multimedia playback. The Gaming optimal range and wireless transmission
If you’ve read any of the reviews we’ve 27T 6QE is even compatible with multi- speed. Killer’s Doubleshot Pro technology
done recently on MSI’s Gaming products, monitor setups. It supports two additional is onboard, too, so you can direct
which include motherboards, laptops, monitors via two HDMI outputs. bandwidth from the wired and wireless
and barebones systems, it should be no The Gaming 27T 6QE’s storage NICs to individual applications.
surprise that the Gaming 27T 6QE comes subsystem is as impressive as anything This gaming rig also comes with the
with a host of additions to improve the you’ll find on a prebuilt desktop PC. traditional AIO amenities, such as an
gaming experience. Top of the list is MSI’s MSI pairs two 128GB Samsung SM951 HD web cam, touchscreen functionality,
Audio Boost technology, which includes PCIe SSDs in RAID 0 to deliver read and a sleek, clutter free exterior. If you
Nahimic Technology’s audio processing speeds of up to 3,300MBps. In our want your gaming PC to do double duty
software and the ESS SABRE Hifi Audio testing, Windows and games loaded in as a living room PC, the Gaming 27T
DAC (digital to analog controller) that no time. If you’ve got a big collection of 6QE’s styling is modern enough that it
can drive headsets at impedance levels as personal media files, you’ll like that MSI will fit nicely into contemporary spaces.
low as 16 ohm and as high as 600 ohm. also includes a 2TB Seagate Barracuda MSI expands the Gaming 27T 6QE’s
The Gaming 27T 6QE’s built-in speakers HDD. For external I/O, this AIO includes functionality as a living room PC by
are respectable, as well. We found the a Blu-ray burner, as well as four USB 3.0 including an HDMI input that lets the
audio quality to be reasonably detailed, ports and two USB 2.0 ports. One of the built-in display function as a standalone

22 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 can perform in games. We’re happy to
report that the Gaming 27T 6QE was
able post better than 45fps in all of our
games, including the demanding Witcher
3, at the Gaming 27T 6QE’s 1,920 x
1,080 native resolution. The AIO’s results
in CrystalDiskMark were outstanding,
as well. The two Samsung SM951 PCIe
SSDs posted a 2954MBps Sequential
Read (Q32T1) speed and 1412MBps
Sequential Write (Q32T1) rate.
The Gaming 27T 6QE retails
for $2,699.99, and the price makes
sense, when you consider that laptops
featuring NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX
980M with 8GB of GDDR5 typically
start at around $2,000. Any such
The Gaming 27T 6QE includes an HDMI input so laptop, of course, won’t house a 27- This AIO gaming rig features a sleek, clutter-free
the display can function as a standalone screen. inch touchscreen display, nor will many exterior that is stylish enough for living rooms.
deliver the mind-bendingly fast speed
of two PCIe SSDs in RAID 0. Most
monitor. You’ll be able to connect a game importantly, the Gaming 27T 6QE’s need to hide their gaming system in
console or Blu-ray player, for instance. A AIO design also allows it to blend into plain sight. ■
VESA mount on the back of the Gaming spaces where traditional desktop PCs
27T 6QE makes it easy to affix the AIO may not. It fills a need for those who BY NATHAN LAKE
on a wall.
MSI bundles a gaming MSI Gaming 27T 6QE All-in-One PC
mouse and keyboard that
match nicely with the Gaming 3DMark Fire Strike Score 8660 POV-Ray 3.7 (Pixels per second) 1632.67

27T 6QE. The mouse is MSI’s Graphics Score 9901 Cinebench 15 (Points) 792
Interceptor DS100, which
features a laser sensor with a Physics Score 11781 CrystalDiskMark 5.1.1 (MBps)

sensitivity up to 3,500dpi. PCMark 8 Creative Score 4310 Sequential Read (Q32T1) 2954
There are seven programmable
buttons, including two DPI SiSoftware Sandra 2016 Sequential Write (Q32T1) 1412

buttons behind the scroll Dhrystone AVX2 (GIPS) 159.91 Random 4K Read (Q32T1) 712
wheel to adjust DPI on-the-fly.
Whetstone AVX (GFLOPS) 99.67 Random 4K Write (Q32T1) 535.5
RGB LED lighting is present
on both the mouse and the Multi-Media Integer AVX2 x32 (Mpixels/s) 368.67 Games 1,920 x 1,080
keyboard, so you can adjust Metro: Last Light (DX11, V High, 16XAF, V
the color to your décor. The Multi-Media Long-int AVX2 x16 (Mpixels/s) 157.4
High Tess.)
66fps

keyboard, MSI’s Interceptor

Dying Light (High, AO On, AA On, Vsync
DS4100, features keys that Multi-Media Quad ALU x1 (Mpixels/s) 2
Off)
70.2

require very little pressure (55g)

Integer B/F AVX/128 (GBps, mem Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Vsync off, Unl. fps,
to actuate. bandwidth)
25.18
Ultra)
46.7
When it comes to our
benchmark testing, we’ll Floating B/F AVX/128 (GBps, mem 28.82
bandwidth)
guess that you’re primarily
interested with how the AIO

Specs: CPU: Intel Core i7-6700; GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M; RAM: 16GB DDR4-2133; Chipset: H170; Storage: 128GB Samsung SM951 (x2, Raid 0),
2TB Seagate Barracuda; Dimensions: 26.47 x 2.60 x 19.01 (HxWxD); Mouse: MSI Interceptor DS100; Keyboard: MSI Interceptor DS4100; OS: Windows 10
Home; Warranty: 1 year

CPU / March 2016 23

 GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE
here’s no mistaking the target audience get interesting is the button panel near
T for GIGABYTE’s GA-Z170X-SOC
FORCE. It’s aimed squarely at extreme
the DIMM slots. GIGABYTE provides
a series of buttons to raise or lower the
“If you want to achieve
peak performance, few
performance enthusiasts. Similar to CPU ratio, raise or lower the BCLK, motherboards are better
previous iterations of GIGABYTE’s SOC and change the BCLK stepping ratio equipped for the job than the
FORCE lineup, this motherboard is filled (from 0.1MHz to 1MHz). GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE.”
with exceptional overclocking features to For case mod demonstrations
push your Intel Skylake processor and and testing watercooling setups, to enter the BIOS on the next boot, you
system memory to new heights. Total GIGABYTE provides an OC Ignition can press the Direct To BIOS button. The
benchmark domination is within reach, button that continues to deliver power multitude of recovery options makes it easy
as well, because the GA-Z170X-SOC to the motherboard and connected to get back to the business of overclocking.
FORCE features a PEX 8747 bridge to components when the system is shut Not every function on the OC Touch
overcome the multi-GPU limitations of down. There’s also an OC Tag button to panel is button-based. There are four PCIe
the Z170 chipset. Did we also mention load a profile you’ve created in the BIOS DIP switches to let you can toggle on or off
there are three M.2 slots that support and quickly apply custom settings. the individual PCIe x16 slot. This feature is
RAID 0, 1, 5 configurations? The OC Touch section includes so many particularly handy if you need to diagnose
To easily tap into the power of the buttons that GIGABYTE can’t fit them all a problem with your GPU(s), because you
GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE, GIGABYTE onto the panel. One of these is the Settings won’t need to physically remove the card
provides an OC Touch section that lets Lock Button, which lets the motherboard which can be particularly challenging if your
you overclock on the fly, as well as quickly remember your last successful boot settings— GPUs are part of the liquid-cooling loop.
recover from missteps. The usual suspects even after you’ve cleared the CMOS. There’s To make it easier to hit and record target
are all here, such as the power, reset, and also a Memory Safe button, which loads a frequencies, the GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE
clear CMOS buttons. Where things really failsafe DDR4 configuration. If you want includes an OC Trigger Switch that lets

GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE
$399.99
GIGABYTE
www.gigabyte.us

24 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

your system jump between the
Benchmark Results:
lowest CPU ratio and your GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE
current OC. This way, you can
3DMark Fire Strike Extreme 7582 POV-Ray 3.7 (Pixels per second) 1980.57
minimize CPU load during
system boot and switch to the Graphics Score 7995 Cinebench 15 (Points) 927
OC frequency when you’re
Physics Score 13360 CrystalDiskMark 5.1.2 (MBps)
ready to chase records.
With so many onboard PCMark 8 Creative Score 5854 Sequential Read (Q32T1) 559.4
buttons and switches, the GA-
SiSoftware Sandra 2016 Sequential Write (Q32T1) 292.5
Z170X-SOC FORCE shines
on an open test bench, and Dhrystone AVX2 (GIPS) 194.9 Random 4K Read (Q32T1) 365.4
GIGABYTE provides a few Whetstone AVX (GFLOPS) 113.59 Random 4K Write (Q32T1) 264.8
extras to ensure everything goes
Multi-Media Integer AVX2 x32 (Mpixels/s) 409.68 Games 2,560 x 1,600
smoothly when you don’t have
the support of a traditional Metro: Last Light (DX11, V High, 16XAF, V
Multi-Media Long-int AVX2 x16 (Mpixels/s) 194.14 78.67
chassis. There’s an OC Brace High Tess.)
that functions as an expansion Dying Light (High, AO On, AA On,
Multi-Media Quad ALU x1 (Mpixels/s) 2.22 84
slot bracket and locks up to Vsync Off)
four GPUs in place. Two USB
Integer B/F AVX/128 (GBps, mem Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Vsync off, Unl.
2.0 ports are added near the bandwidth)
33.74
fps, Ultra)
59.5

SATA ports, so overclockers

Floating B/F AVX/128 (GBps, mem
won’t need to reach over an bandwidth)
34.17
LN2 pot, for example, to plug
in USB peripherals.
For convenient voltage
readings, GIGABYTE includes A flat heatsink over the PCH section shows in a Cinebench 15 mark of 927 and a
eight voltage measurement cables, so you won’t off the SOC FORCE logo. POV-Ray 3.7 score of 1,980.57 pixels per
need to hold the lead of your multimeter to Hardware support on the GA- second. The results are some of best we’ve
a measurement point. If a multimeter isn’t Z170X-SOC FORCE is tremendous. 4-way seen from a motherboard paired with Intel’s
handy, you can also monitor voltages (and SLI or CrossFire setups operate at up to x8/ Core i7-6700K. Its performance in the
adjust basic OC settings) via an Android or x8/x8/x8, while 3-way GPU configurations processor-intensive tests within SiSoftware
iOS device using GIGABYTE’s HW OC app. run at x16/x8/x8, and 2-way setups run at Sandra 2016 are also superb, such as the
You can use the app to adjust the CPU ratio, x16/x16 speed. You can install up to 64GB 409.68Mpixels per second in the Multi-
BCLK, and CPU Vcore, among others. of DDR4 memory at speeds as high as Meida Integer AVX2 X32 test.
As you might imagine, GIGABYTE DDR4-3866. The three M.2 slots support If you want to achieve peak performance,
deploys precise power handling hardware type 2242/2260/2280 form factor drives, few motherboards are better equipped for
to back up the board’s OC capabilities. The and these slots support both SATA and PCIe the job than the GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE.
board features a 22-phase digital power M.2 SSDs. Also onboard are eight 6Gbps The mainboard is overflowing with extras to
design, highlighted by 4th generation SATA ports, and the majority of these share boost OC speed and manage settings. And
International Rectifier digital power bandwidth with the M.2 slots. GIGABYTE compared to some previous SOC FORCE
controllers and 3rd Generation PowIRstage includes a detailed chart in the users manual models, the GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE isn’t
ICs. The GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE also that details which slots will be disabled when designed solely for overclockers. Why shoot
features a large VRM heatsink with G1/4 you install an M.2 SSD. for personal bests when this motherboard
threaded ports to let you easily install the It should come as no surprise that the will let you upstage everyone else? ■
fittings of your choice. The heatsink also GA-Z170X-SOC FORCE did well in our
benchmarking. The motherboard turned BY NATHAN LAKE
functions well with passive air-cooled setups.

Specs: Max memory: 64GB DDR4 (DDR4-2133; Max OC: DDR4-3866); Slots: 4 PCIe 3.0 x16, 3 PCIe x1; Storage: 3 M.2 (Type 2242/2260/2280), 3 SATA
Express, 8 6Gbps SATA; Rear I/O: 1 Mini-DisplayPort, 1 HDMI, 1 DVI-D, 2 USB 3.1 (1 Type-C, 1 Type-A), 5 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0, 1 PS/2, 1 S/PDIF, audio I/O, 1
Ethernet, 1 OCPSW button; Form factor: E-ATX; Warranty: 3 years
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K; GPU: PNY GeForce GTX 980 Ti; Memory: 16GB Kingston HyperX Predator DDR4-3000; Storage: 240GB
Intel SSD 730 Series; OS: Windows 10 Enterprise

CPU / March 2016 25

State-Of-The-Art
Standards
HDMI

ltra HD and 4K appear ready to compatibility for 4K and Ultra HD, and of 4.95Gbps, which allowed for up
U ascend the display throne. A recent
IHS report expects that Ultra HD
add features for better image quality. to 1080p video at 60Hz, as well as
8-channel, 24-bit audio. At the time
TV panels are expected to account HDMI’s Humble Beginnings of HDMI 1.0’s release in 2002, merely
for 40% of TV shipments in 2016. The original HDMI specification combining digital video and audio in
The official 4K resolution, 4,096 x provided a maximum bandwidth a single cable was a big deal. HDMI
2,160, is slightly larger than Ultra
HD’s 3,840 x 2,160 resolution, yet
you’ll often see 4K and Ultra HD used
interchangeably in display marketing
materials. Whatever the terminology,
there’s no doubt that the visual detail
and clarity of the 2160p formats leave
1080p in the dust.
Display panel technology is only part
of the equation, though, as interface
standards must also support the more
than 8 million pixels in Ultra HD and
4K. HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia
Interface) has long been a dominant
digital interface standard, and it has kept
ahead of the times. For example, HDMI
1.4 (released in 2009) introduced support
for resolutions of 4,096 x 2,160 and
3,840 x 2,160, but it did so at limited
frame rates. The most recent HDMI Current High Speed HDMI cables will support the advanced features and bandwidth of HDMI 2.0.
specifications, 2.0 and 2.0a, improve

CPU / March 2016 27

 the specification) revised the interface to
support up-and-coming audio formats.
HDMI 1.1 added support for DVD-
Audio, while HDMI 1.2 provided
support for the DSD (Direct Stream
Digital) audio format developed for the
Super Audio CD system. Maybe more
importantly for PC users, the HDMI
1.2 revision added the ability for PC
sources to use the native RGB color
space, as well as mandated that HDMI
1.2 displays support low-voltage sources,
such as the HDMI outputs from a PCIe
graphics card.

HDMI 2.0 offers a much bigger data pipe than previous revisions. HDMI Broadens Color Space
In 2006, HDMI Licensing, LLC
announced HDMI 1.3, which brings a
number of big improvements. To start,
eliminated the complexity of routing and you can use the remote for one device HDMI 1.3 ups single-link bandwidth
connecting component, S-Video, RCA, to perform certain functions on other to 10.2Gbps, more than double that of
and S/PDIF cables from A/V devices to devices that are connected via HDMI the previous spec. The extra bandwidth
digital TVs. cables. CEC’s Remote Control Pass allowed HDMI to support new high-end,
HDMI’s all-digital signal was a big Through feature, for example, lets lossless digital audio formats of the time,
upgrade over component and S-Video you send commands over HDMI to including Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD
cables, as the analog connections required components behind doors or walls that Master Audio. HDMI 1.3 also let source
digital-to-analog conversions that often would otherwise block IR signals. HDTV devices synchronize audio and video,
reduced picture quality. The DVI (Digital manufacturers typically rename the which helps in situations where digital
Visual Interface) interface carries a CEC feature with another title, such as signal processing might lag behind the
digital signal, but DVI isn’t a commonly Samsung’s Anynet+. sound or video elements.
available input on digital TVs, nor With HDMI 1.1 and HDMI 1.2, Version 1.3 delivered support for a
does it deliver an audio signal. HDMI HDMI Licensing, LLC (the governing greater color range, including 30-bit, 36-
1.0 supports HDCP (High-bandwidth body that licenses HDMI and maintains bit, and 48-bit color depths, which are
Digital Content Protection) to let the
interface deliver premium content, and
while it’s an optional feature, most all
devices that transmit or receive HDCP
content support it.
HDMI 1.0 includes two-way communi-
cation between digital TVs and connected
video devices, so the device can deliver
the most ideal format, such as 720p vs.
1080p, to the given display. The two-way
communication exchanges EDID (Extended
Display Identification Data) information that
includes the display’s preferred resolution and
refresh rate. The EDID could also include
things like physical image dimensions and
color characteristics.
HDMI 1.0 works with CEC (Con-
sumer Electronics Control) devices to
let you more easily control your home If you tiled together four 1080p panels, you’d equal the resolution of one Ultra HD display.
theater. With the CEC connection,

28 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

also referred to as 10-bit, 12-bit, and 16-
bit per one color depths. “Deep Color”
is how HDMI refers to the color ranges,
as the possible color options jump from
8-bit’s 16.78 million colors to billions.
Deep Color is said to reduce on-screen
banding and increase the available
contrast ratio. HDMI 1.3’s Deep Color
specifications were a bit ahead of their
time, as we’re just recently seeing 10-bit
monitors and 4K Blu-ray players capable
of delivering content in 10-bit per one
color depth.
For better connectivity with portable
devices, HDMI 1.3 introduced a mini
HDMI connector that would better fit
onto small devices like camcorders. There
were several small revisions to the HDMI
1.3 standard, and these incremental
changes generally focused on compliance
testing for HDMI products and cables.

HDMI 1.4, 4K & 3D

The next major revision to HDMI
wouldn’t be until May 2009, and it was a
major step forward. HDMI 1.4 defined
support for 4K at a maximum resolution
of 3,840 x 2,160 at 24Hz/25Hz/30Hz or
4,096 x 2,160 at 24Hz. Because HDMI
Licensing, LLC was so far ahead of the
technology trends, it’s likely that your older
PCs and multimedia devices support 4K
resolutions. The restricted frame rates aren’t
ideal for all types of content, but it’s nice
that HDMI 1.4 devices aren’t deal-breakers
for 2160p formats. HDMI 1.4 also adds With support for up to 32 channels, HDMI 2.0 can pass along advanced speaker configurations,
support for 3D over HDMI at 1080p, including this 9.1.2 Dolby Atmos example.
and the specification supports a variety
of 3D formats.
HDMI 1.4 introduced an ARC (Audio
Return Channel) feature that allows
you to route audio from your HDTV
to an upstream connection, such as an
A/V receiver. HDTVs typically can
accomplish the same thing with an S/
PDIF output, but adding ARC to the
mix is just another way HDMI helps to
eliminate cable clutter. At the time of
HDMI 1.4’s release, ARC was touted
as an ideal feature when running audio
from the HDTV’s built-in TV tuner.
And while ARC is certainly useful in this
Tighter audio sampling, up to 1,536kHz, helps to improve audio fidelity in HDMI 2.0.
capacity, the arrival of smart HDTVs

CPU / March 2016 29

 expands ARC functionality to pass along devices, cables, and
audio from online streaming services built A/V components.
into the smart HDTV, such as Netflix or The 2.0 revision
Amazon Prime Video, to an A/V receiver. i s h i g h l i g h t e d by
One heavily marketed feature of support for 4K and
HDMI 1.4 that hasn’t gained much Ultra HD at 60Hz, as
traction is HDMI Ethernet Channel. well as a bandwidth
In practice, it allows HDMI devices to increase to 18Gbps.
share video, audio, and IP-based data “When you consider
at up to 100Mbps. Few multimedia 4K plus 60fps, you
devices ever adopted support for HDMI have now quadrupled
Ethernet Channel, and it remains and then doubled the
relatively unused today. amount of bandwidth
For better color quality with still required to transmit
images, HDMI 1.4 includes support content,” says Glenn
for sYCC601, Adobe RGB, and Adobe H o w e r, r e s e a r c h
YCC601. The additional color models a n a l y s t a t Pa r k s
allow for a wider range of color than Associates. “Of course
HDMI’s previous RGB color spaces compression will
and helps to provide consistent color help, and no one will
quality when viewing still images on a be transmitting raw
monitor or HDTV. Lastly, HDMI 1.4 video to their TV, but
introduced a Micro HDMI connector, with high-resolution,
which is much smaller than even the h i g h - f r a m e - r a t e HDMI 2.0 supports the wider color gamut of BT.2020.
Mini HDMI connector. video, bandwidth is
everything.”
HDMI 2.0 Ups The Bandwidth Officially, the 2.0 revision supports 4K with DisplayPort, which had supported
Released in September 2013, HDMI and Ultra HD resolutions at both 50Hz 4K at 60Hz since 2009 with DisplayPort
2.0 was the first revision of the standard and 60Hz. When compared to Ultra HD 1.2. HDMI 2.0’s 18Gbps pipeline slightly
to be developed by the HDMI Forum’s content displayed 24Hz or 30Hz, the lags behind DisplayPort 1.2 and 1.3’s
Technical Working Group. The group quicker frame rates help to reduce the maximum data rates of 21.6Gbps and
is made of up members that represent chance of on-screen flicker when viewing 32.3Gbps, respectively.
some of the world’s leading manufacturers action-filled video. The 2.0 update was In addition to the improving refresh
in consumer electronics, PCs, mobile somewhat critical for HDMI to keep pace rates at 4K, HDMI 2.0 expands
the color gamut with support for
BT.2020, which is a color specification
re c o m m e n d a t i o n f r o m t h e I T U
Do You Need A New Cable For HDMI 2.0? (International Telecommunication
With the greater bandwidth available in HDMI 2.0, it’s reasonable to guess that you’ll Union). BT.2020 defines a larger color
need new HDMI cables. Fortunately, it’s possible you can use what you have. HDMI palette that will take better advantage of
Licensing, LLC indicates that High Speed HDMI Cables, also known as Category 2 cables, the formats using Deep Color. At 4K
are designed to support the increased bandwidth needed to transmit 4K content at 60Hz. and Ultra HD resolutions, HDMI 2.0
The HDMI Licensing, LLC, also has introduced the HDMI Cable Certification Program supports the BT.2020 colorimetry at
to further help consumers find HDMI cables that will deliver the best possible video 24/25/30/50/60Hz.
and sound. “This program encompasses additional and enhanced HDMI cable testing, The 2.0 revision brings massive
as well as a comprehensive anti-counterfeiting label program,” says Jeff Park, senior improvements to HDMI’s audio
manager of product marketing, HDMI Licensing, LLC. “This empowers participating HDMI capabilities. To start, it ups the maximum
adopters to design and test their High Speed HDMI Cables for ultra-reliability and the high amount of channels from eight to 32.
performance typically needed for emerging 4K/Ultra HD content.” Cables that meet the “With the rise of content that supports
certifications will carry a tamper-proof, anti-counterfeit label, and there will be a mobile new audio features, such as 3D and
app to let you (and retailers) scan the label to confirm its authenticity. object-based audio, 32 audio channels
will allow for multi-dimensional
immersive audio experience beyond

30 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 intriguing option should game designers
decide to utilize it. HDMI Licensing,
LLC indicates the multi-stream audio and
video might also come into play in the
car, as the driver could have the front
screen display GPS directions, while
people in the backseat could watch a
movie and not have to listen to turn-by-
turn navigation directions.

HDMI 2.0a
HDMI 2.0a is the latest revision, and
it introduces support for HDR (High
Dynamic Range) formats. Parks says
“While HDR is not a color-specific
MSI’s GTX 980Ti GAMING 6G features an HDMI 2.0 port that supports 3,840 x 2,160 at 60Hz. feature, it does enhance the overall picture
quality by simultaneously enabling greater
details for both dark and bright parts
today’s traditional ‘surround sound,’” capabilities. “With the wide range of of an image, including enhancing the
says Jeff Park, senior manager of product video content sources available today, existing color saturation and contrast.”
marketing, HDMI Licensing, LLC. video processing times vary greatly HDR is delivered via additional metadata,
Although placing 32 speakers might be between content sources and/or devices,” and HDMI 2.0a allows for devices to
a stretch for many homes’ TV rooms, says Parks. “This can introduce delays in transmit and receive the data. Support
the end goal of having so many more the audio/video timing.” for HDR was the only major revision in
channels is to provide a way for HDMI Dynamic Auto Lip-sync happens HDMI 2.0a.
to deliver clearly perceptible, three- without any user intervention, but
dimensional, and positional audio. like most HDMI features, it’s up to 4K & Beyond
And as we’ve seen with previous home the manufacturers to decide which “With the recent introduction of the
entertainment standards, it never hurts to HDMI features to support. Parks tell Ultra HD Blu-ray specification, which
stay ahead of the curve. us that “For most consumer devices, includes support for 4K at up to 60
For better audio clarity, HDMI we expect the support for 32 audio frames per second, HDR, BT.2020, and
2.0 allows for up to 1,563kHZ audio channels and Dynamic Auto Lip-sync object-based sound, we expect a new wave
sampling, which is double what’s found to be fairly commonplace in newer and of content to hit the market fairly soon,”
in previous HDMI versions. A higher upcoming AVRs.” says Park. “Many future HDMI devices
sampling rate is ideal for delivering Gamers will like that HDMI 2.0 will add support for these features to take
sound identical to the master source. allows devices to split video and audio advantage of the new content experience
The standard also introduces the aptly signals, so two people playing a game in the home.”
named Dynamic Auto Lip-sync, which could enjoy their own view and game To date, HDMI has done an excellent
helps to better synchronize video and audio on a single screen. We’ve yet to see job staying ahead of trends, and the
audio streams than HDMI 1.3’s sync any implementations of this, but it’s an HDMI Forum is working on further
revisions. “We believe that the market
will require support for higher video
resolutions and frame rates (beyond
Is My 4K Display Really 4K? 4K at 60Hz), additional HDR video
Many so-called “4K” consumer displays actually have a native resolution of 3,840 x 2,160. formats, additional audio formats, and
And while the resolution is certainly a lot of pixels, you’ll notice that the pixel width doesn’t power over the HDMI interface,” says
quite reach 4,000. The official 4K resolution of 4,096 x 2,160 isn’t commonly found on Parks. “Addressing these trends with the
consumer displays because it features an aspect ratio (1.9:1) that’s slightly wider than the next version of the HDMI Specification
16:9 aspect ratio of 720p, 1080p, and Ultra HD TV content. The 4K moniker, though, seems to ensures that the HDMI interface will
be a more catchy title than Ultra HD or 2160p, and has stuck around for marketing purposes. continue to support the highest level
Where you more likely to view the 4,096 x 2,160 resolution is at cineplexes, as the films are of audio and video quality.” Looks like
sometimes shot at the official 4K resolution. we haven’t seen the last update to the
HDMI specification. ■

CPU / March 2016 31

CPU / March 2016 33
 Trooper
ach year we judge lots of mod contests at lots of LANFest systems. Occasionally, I have the opportunity to do a crazy modded

E events across the United States, and at the end of each year, we
put all of the winners into a final, overall contest and choose
the best of the best. Picking a winner this year was difficult as it
build, and I do a lot of the concept and design in my lab at work.
After that, I will usually work with a professional modder, like Lee
Harrington of Pcjunkiemods, to do the final build. I’m a designer
always is, but in the end, we came to a unanimous decision: Trooper, and only an amateur modder. The really cool stuff is done by
by Johnnie Rodriques and Lee “Pcjunkie209” Harrington is the people like Lee. The work he does, like in this build, is amazing.”
overall winner of the 2015 LANFest season. “Johnnie is too kind!” Harrington says. “I recently moved into
a 5,700 square-foot shop that I share with Mainframe Customs,
Dat Armor Tho which works out great when I need mod supplies. For the most
It’s not hard to see where the guys got the inspiration for Trooper; part now I am able to work on multiple projects at once. I have
the right-side panel’s airbrushed helmet is very clearly the already iconic separate work areas, depending on the work being done. Like a
updated Stormtrooper helmet from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” clean area and a cutting and grinding area.”
“I have always been a big Star Wars fan,” Rodriques says. “The The duo tell us that they spent about three to five weeks on
NZXT Noctis case was released in April 2015, and looking at it, I Trooper, including custom airbrushed paint, carbon fiber wraps,
saw hints of the Stormtrooper armor. With that idea in mind, I did custom-cut vinyl accents, and of course paint, assembly, and so
some research and found some good images of Clone Troopers and forth. Rodriques and Harrington outsourced the custom CPU
chose the blue armor accents, representing a commander.” waterblock with circuit graphics cut into it to Performance-PCs.
On the left side of the rig, you can see the emblem of the First “There’s always a few things that don’t turn out as planned,”
Order (emblazoned on the side and wrapping around onto the Rodriques says. “For example, the Intel SSD 750 Series PCIe
front panel) and the Imperial Crest (on the backplate of the system’s drive was supposed to have a waterblock from EK, but we couldn’t
graphics card), both images that have been tied to Stormtroopers at get it in time to complete the build for LANFest. I’m a bit of a
various times throughout the Star Wars saga. perfectionist, so I see everything that isn’t perfect that otherwise
And, as Rodriques points out, the blue accents on the front panel— goes unnoticed, but I’m very happy how this build turned out.”
complete with battle scarring—denote a trooper commander. “Honestly, I thought the mod came out super-clean,” Harrington
says. “When Johnnie first described what he wanted, I was a little
By Our Powers Combined skeptical on the outcome. But the end result is awesome!”
Trooper is the first mod featured in CPU’s Mad Reader Mod by
Rodriques, but many readers will likely recognize Harrington’s name, Trooper Field Gear
as he’s had Mad Reader Mod winners on our cover twice, in our Aside from the aforementioned NZXT Noctis 450 case, Trooper
March (Diablo Azul) and September (F&G Project) 2011 issues. consists of an Intel Core i7-5960X mounted on an MSI X99S LSI
“I work with computers every day,” Rodriques tells us. “Part of Krait Edition motherboard, 32GB of Corsair Dominator Platinum
my job is building custom systems, including enthusiast gaming Series DDR4-3000 memory, two EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN

34 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

X graphics cards, a Corsair AX860i power supply (with custom-
sleeved cables, natch), two Intel SSD 730 Series 480GB drives, and
an Intel SSD 750 Series 1.2TB PCIe drive.
We Want Your Mod
The rig’s cooling subsystem includes the customized EK- Have a computer mod that will bring tears to our eyes? Email
Supremacy MX CPU waterblock, EK-FC Titan X waterblocks photos and a description to [email protected]. If
with EK-FC Titan backplates, an EK-XTOP DDC pump, EK, we choose your system as our “Mad Reader Mod,” you’ll win
Bitspower, and PrimoChill fittings, PrimoChill PETG tubing, a $1,500! (U.S. residents only, please.)
360mm PrimoChill Frosted CTR Phase II reservoir, a Koolance
PMP-400 pump, and two Hardware Labs 360mm radiators.

Trooper Clones?
Rodriques tells us he’s built a number of custom systems,
and of course we know quite a bit about Harrington’s work. In
addition to the Mad Reader Mods mentioned earlier, Harrington
built a mod called “Simplicity” for EK that you can find out
more about on Intel’s Expertmode videos on YouTube along with
many others.
But it sounds like Harrington and Rodriques plan to
collaborate again on mods, and Rodriques also mentioned a
possible joint project with Ron Lee Christianson, another two-
time Mad Reader Mod winner.
Harrington is also just getting started on a new liquid-cooled
dual-Xeon workstation.
“In that build, I will be using a Dell XPS BTX chassis that will
require a lot of fab work,” Harrington says.
Drop Us A Line Today!
Based on what we’ve seen from Harrington over the years, his
work will certainly be fab. ■

CPU / March 2016 35

36 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com
 PAX South 2016
Enthusiasts Rally In San Antonio
At the end of January, groups of like-minded individuals gathered together to share their passions, forge new alliances, and
maybe even engage in a spirited debate. We’re talking of course about the return of the Penny Arcade Expo to Texas, a state
that suddenly finds itself hosting a staggering number of major events (also QuakeCon, SXSW, and the brand-new DreamHack
Austin). It’s good to be a geek in the Lone Star State.

The second ever PAX South convened on Friday, Jan. 29, and wrapped up two days later. A “smaller” affair than its two older brothers,
PAX Prime and PAX East, PAX South was nonetheless jam-packed with things to do. Whether you wanted to attend a bunch of panels,
rock out at a concert, grab a seat in the Main Theatre for Storytime with industry legend Cliff Bleszinski or PA VIPs Gabe and Tycho, or
simply meander through an expo hall full of exhibitors (including Computer Power User!), PAX South made it easy for attendees to fill
up their days with fun. Be sure to view this article online at URLURLURL for tons of bonus pictures.

Apparently, when you give away thousands of dollars of computer hardware, including a complete gaming PC, it tends to draw a large crowd. What can
we say? We like to give back to the power user community.

A staple of every PAX event since PAX 1.0, the

Omegathon is a brutal struggle that spans all
three days of the event, and the final is the last
official event of the show. Omeganauts compete
against each other in a series of elimination
games (this year’s slate included Beautiful
Katamari, Kerplunk, Geometry Wars, Super
Avalanche 2, Lumines Live) that culminated in
the final showdown: a best two out of three in
the N64 classic Goldeneye. In the end, last year’s
runner-up Lee found himself the bridesmaid yet
again, losing to champion James.

38 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Welcome To The Game Show
Unless Pinochle and Jenga are your games of choice, it’s safe to say that PAX South has something for you. Videogames take
center stage, naturally, but tabletop gaming has a huge presence at the show, as well. PAX South’s Expo Hall was loaded with
exhibitors give attendees the chance to play several highly anticipated games, check out new and upcoming gaming gear, and of
course score lots and lots of swag. Everywhere we turned, there was something new to see and, in most cases, do.

PAX South provided an abundance of opportunities for PC

gamers to have a blast. At Alienware’s booth, attendees could
take a ride with the company’s latest beast of a machine, the
Area-51 (right). LANFest was back (below), and if you didn’t
bring your own system, Intel had a bank of systems loaded
with games set up in the PC Freeplay area.

PAX draws gamers of

every kind. The event’s
tabletop freeplay area was
buzzing at all hours of the
show, bringing in people
with impressive CCG
decks (left) or those with
the precision and patience
for minifigs (below).

The brothers Mario, equipped with some serious Goomba-walloping

upgrades, take a stroll through the main floor. At PAX South, like other
PAX events, you never have to look far to find cosplayers who are
extremely devoted to their craft.

CPU / March 2016 39

 Mods On Parade
Any event that puts a big focus on PC gaming is bound to have a strong showing of excellent mods, and we found a few great
ones at PAX South. A couple turned up in the LANFest BYOC, and there were several more skulking about the Expo Hall, waiting
to be discovered. As usual, we judged the field at the LANFest mod contest, and the
winner is our first contender for the 2016 LANFest Mod of the Year.
This extreme close-up of mod contest champion
Michael Evans’ Beater Box shows that it’s possible
to cram a complete custom liquid cooling loop
into a ridiculously small case. Said ridiculously
small case is an NCASE M1, which Evans modded
from top to bottom. He took a Dremel to the M1’s
side and top panels and replaced them with clear
acrylic that he beveled with 45-degree angles.
Evans also added scoring to the system’s GPU
waterblock, RAM heatsinks, and several other
parts to give the Beater Box its beaten-up look.
Although Evans took home the trophy, he credits
fellow modders Hassan Alaw and Joe Mercado for
helping to bring the mod to life.

This mod contest turned

out to be the friendliest
competition yet, as the
runner-up, Trevor, came
to PAX South with Evans.
Making ample use of
custom-cut acrylic, the
system was cool, clean,
and unique.

When you have the opportunity to use a reservoir as a big ol’ Tesla
Cannon, you take that opportunity every time. This crazy-cool Overwatch We just had to (sort of) get in on this modding craze, too. At the CPU booth,
mod featured at Intel’s booth is the handiwork of a pair of Lees: Mad attendees had the opportunity to feast their eyes on Alain Simpels’ Deepcool
Reader Mod alumni Lee Harrington and Ron Lee Christianson. Tristellar Whetstone mod, which will be touring the country with us this year.

40 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Winner Winner, Hardware Dinner
Team CPU attends every Penny Arcade Expo in the country, and we do so for a lot of reasons. We get to talk shop with fellow
power users, introduce other attendees to the world of hardcore PC hardware, and of course, give away lots of fabulous prizes.

Many entered, but in the end our Silent Knight

custom gaming PC rode off into the sunset with
Frank B., and it couldn’t have come at a better
time. Frank built his current PC four years ago and
was preparing to upgrade.

“I guess I don’t need to anymore,” he says. We’d

call that an understatement.

Frank says he’s an avid PC gamer and plans to use

his new rig to play League of Legends, Fallout 4,
and the Batman: Arkham series.

Congratulations, Frank!

Allen W. took home

a solid mechanical
keyboard from AZIO,
Audio-Technica’s ATH-
M50x headphones, and
the ability to turn those
headphones into an epic
headset, thanks to Antlion
Audio’s ModMic. We also
gave him Antlion’s new
Über-Wide mousepad.

Have a seat! Hiding behind, and beneath, winner David is one of DX

Sometimes being snakebit isn’t such a bad thing, particularly if you’re Racer’s new Iron Series gaming chairs. David eventually wheeled the
Menhsin C., who came to PAX South and left with an armload of chair away, but not without relaxing for a bit.
Patriot Memory Viper Series gaming gear.

CPU / March 2016 41

 The GXL 2015: TITAN
Who Won The Battle For
Philadelphia? Everyone
Last October, 400 gamers converged on The Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pa., for The GXL 2015: TITAN. This LAN party kicked off at noon on Friday,
October 16, and ran through 5 p.m. on Sunday, October 18. Well, sort of, anyway. According to the official TITAN schedule, you could actually check
your system in and start gaming as early as 12:01 Friday morning, at which time “Premature Lanners” were admitted. The event included contests and
tournaments in Unreal Tournament 2K4, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Rocket League, Guitar Hero 3, Tetris, Halo 4, Mario Kart 8, StarCraft II: Heart of the
Swarm, Left 4 Dead 2, Hearthstone, DOTA 2, Half-Life 2, Ultra Street Fighter 4, Super Smash Bros. 64, Team Fortress 2, and more. There were also eSports
trivia contests, a cable-sleeving demo and contest, and (of course) a CPU case mod contest.

42 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Mods In The House
Our mod contest came down to four great-looking rigs. One was packed into a Corsair small-form-factor case, one was
built into Apple’s very attractive G5 case, one had a cool Borderlands theme, and the last (our winner) was a custom
build with a unique structure and very sharp internals built by Alex Quaintance, aka FrozenQ of FrozenQ PC Tech. (You
may be more familiar with the site’s previous name, FrozenQPCMods.) FrozenQ also brought the Borderlands mod
(“VaultHunter.exe”) to the party.

You might
recognize
the charming
fellow etched
onto the side of
VaultHunter.exe
as the bandit
from the cover of
Borderlands, one
of the greatest
FPS games ever
made. This mod is
another FrozenQ
production.

WinMac, a high-powered (Windows) gaming PC, tucked neatly into

the confines of a Mac G5 tower case.

Gravity, the mod that won The GXL 2015: TITAN’s CPU case mod
contest, is a FrozenQ custom build.

Brutus, another mod entered in our contest, is a powerful gaming

PC built into Corsair’s Obsidian Series 250D, a Mini-ITX case that
nonetheless had all the space inside that it needed.

CPU / March 2016 43

 Massive
LANFest MLP’016 Winter
The second weekend in January saw the observance of a time-honored tradition at the Erie County Fairgrounds in Hamburg,
New York. Starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, January 8, MassiveLAN (or LANFest MLP, as it is more recently known) held its 2016
Winter edition LAN party, which ran through Sunday the 10th, and included contests and tournaments in Counter-Strike: Global
Offensive, Rocket League, America’s Army, League of Legends, Guitar Hero Live, and Magic: The Gathering, as well as free-play
Garry’s Mod and Team Fortress 2 events. In addition, there was a pizza feed on Saturday evening, a trivia game on Sunday
afternoon, and (of course) a big prize raffle.

44 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Fabulous trophies
were awarded for
feats of heroism and
exceptional valor!

MassiveLAN’s network admin, Dennis Nedry, had to leave

unexpectedly for something or other.

The end-of-the weekend hardware raffle is always one of a LAN

party’s most popular events.

The MassiveLAN staff also concocted a fairly novel

new contest: They put slips of paper with letters
on them inside balloons, blew the balloons up, and
put them in a ball-pit-like construct with chairs
holding the colorful game pieces at bay. Teams
were chosen and then given five minutes in the pit
to pop balloons, retrieve letters, and put together
the longest word they could. Members of the team
with the longest word won prizes!

CPU / March 2016 45

 Cash & Fabulous Prizes
Cooler Master’s Case Mod World
Series 2016 Is Underway
We recently had an opportunity to talk to Cooler Master’s Strategic Alliance Manager Michelle Wu about Cooler Master’s Case
Mod World Series 2016 contest. Check back for more info on the Case Mod World Series 2016 as the contest develops.

igniting the modding spirit—the maker it’s not just about the hype and the prizes.
Q : Tell us about Cooler Master’s Case
Mod World Series 2016! spirit—on the web and right in your
community. This year, we will be running
The field is open and all you need is that itch,
the itch to tweak, improve and go beyond
: The Case Mod World Series local events to involve modders everywhere. what you are given.
MW is about fuelling the growing
worldwide passion for modding. It’s about
Our winners have included everyone from
first-time tinkerers to seasoned veterans, but
Join a community that shares your passion,
grow together and then make it your own.

46 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Q : So registration recently opened,
and it runs through June 12, correct?
Where can modders sign up, and what
Q : How did you pick your judging
team, and how much weight will
public voting have in the final decision?
does the registration process entail?
: That’s easy! We chose some

MW : Modders can sign up at

our event site and can find
MW of the most well-known,
established professionals in the game today.
out more about the process at mod. Year after year, they crack out the biggest,
coolermaster.com/en-us/infohub/10. baddest, and craziest cases on the planet,
including mods that have won previous
Case Mod World Series competitions.
Q : Who will be judging entries in the
contest, and what are the criteria they
will be using?
Considered the cream of the crop, these
guys have the masterpieces to prove it.
This year will see a mix of new and
familiar faces from four continents for a truly
international powerhouse panel. Ronnie Hara
has been gaining widespread recognition
since his bit-tech Mod of the Year 2013, and
Richard Keirsgieter has built more than 45
cases in just seven years. Antony Leather has
been covering mods and tech news for over a
decade on bit-tech. Richard Surroz’s modding
has propelled him into mainstream media,
including TV appearances with Vanilla Ice.
Q : What kind of prizes are up for grabs,
and are there any age or location
restrictions for signing up?
This year’s first-time judges include Ermanno
Bonandini from Italy and Brian Farrell
from the USA, both with ample experience
: Some fantastic prizes totaling in the modding scene.
MW $30,000 are in store for this
year’s winners. If you’ve ever gone beyond
Needless to say, this year’s contestants
should be on their toes! ■
the factory-farmed PC, then you’ll recognize
ASUS, Avexir, Dremel, NVIDIA, and
OCZ. These are the people that might just
be making your case hum this year, and
they’re certainly assembling an impressive
package of prizes. Without them, this
competition would not be able to offer such
a sweet range of high-end gear.
Avexir has stepped up as a first-time : Judges on this year’s panel will
sponsor this year with their RAM lines,
including premium ASUS ROG-certified
MW feature recognized names from
around the globe, including Ermanno
DDR4 modules for this year’s first-place Bonandini from Italy, Ronnie Hara from
winners. OCZ keeps pace with sizable SSDs Brazil via Japan, Richard Keirsgieter from
from their heavily decorated, award-winning the Netherlands, Antony Leather from
Vector 180 series. Pile on NVIDIA’s coveted The UK, Richard Surroz and Brian Farrell
GeForce graphics cards, massive motherboards from the U.S.A. Our sponsors (ASUS,
from ASUS, and precision rotary tools from Avexir, Dremel, NVIDIA, and OCZ)
Dremel, and try not to spasm thinking about will also be participating in the judging
how you could deck out your case. process from their respective fields of
As for restrictions, the competition expertise, and they will be basing their
is open to everyone worldwide, and scores on four equally weighted areas: (1)
residents of the United States and Canada complexity, (2) design, (3) originality,
must be at least 18 years old to enter. and (4) overall look.

CPU / March 2016 47

 Modder Q&A: Rod Rosenberg
On Sleeving, Filing & Modmanship
Rod Rosenberg has been modding PCs since 1999 and has appeared in CPU’s “Mad Reader Mod” feature twice with solo
projects and twice more as part of BS Mods, a prolific modding duo that includes Rosenberg and Bob Stewart.

case with the CPUs on water. I also lined

Q : We first got to know you at PDX-
LAN, thanks to your excellent Trash80
mod! Do you still have it?
the entire case with heavy felt and added
dual front 120mm fans for intake.

: Yes, it was used by Intel at IDF and

RR currently has a 3770K running in it! Q : And now, nearly 17 years later, you’re
one half of the BS Mods team. What
do you remember about the first mod that

Q : That was in our May 2008 issue,

and exactly one year later you were on
you worked on with Bob Stewart?

: I got stuck doing the sleeving!

the cover again with your Steel Curtain
mod. In that issue, you told us you had
been modding since 1999. What was your
RR It was a beautiful build with dual
Xeons and a very unique “Bob Stewart
first project? Paint Job” using natural sea sponge for the
primary effect.
: My first Mod was really more
RR about performance. I had a
dual-Celeron 500 system with an ABIT Q : Sometimes when Bob is painting
a case, do you tell him he missed a
BP6 mobo and installed it in a Koolance spot just to mess with him?

: I’m sure I’ve done that, we

RR always have a ton of fun when
working in the shop.

Q : How many times have you attended

PDXLAN over the years?

: I’ve been to every major PDX-

RR LAN since 8, and we’re soon
attending 27. So that makes 19 main
events and a handful of charity LANs.

Q : We’ve always kind of been blown

away by the ridiculous amount
of modding talent on display at that
LAN every year. Why do you think
the Pacific Northwest is such a mod-
ding hotspot?

: Well, we’re not in Silicon Valley,

Rosenberg’s first appearance in CPU came in 2008 when he won the case mod contest at PDXLAN with
RR but having a crazy number of
tech companies in the Pacific Northwest,
his Trash80 mod, which also earned him a spot in “Mad Reader Mod” and $1,500.
like Intel, Microsoft, Micron, and Valve,

48 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 : I build things! Recently, I’ve
should buy, what would be
the first thing you’d tell them
to get, and why?
RR spent a ton of time improving
on my shop space and I’ve taught myself
how to run both a wood lathe and a
: Some old, quality metal lathe.
RR files. I don’t think
I’ve ever worked on a mod
where a file wasn’t used. In
total, I think I have about
Q : OK Rod, it’s time for Five Quick
Questions!
1) NVIDIA or AMD?
30 types of files, but it only
takes about three to five to Mod them all!
really get started. The very
best files can be found at 2) Arnie or Sly?
garage sales and flea markets
for a couple dollars each! Bob Stewart could take ’em both!

Q : Which would you

rather do: sleeve a full
set of power supply cables, or
3) Seahawks or Broncos?

Steelers! (For my wife, the number one

disassemble and strip a case to fan of my modding.)
prepare it for painting?
4) Cooling loop: rigid or flexible?
Rosenberg’s favorite project, Throne Industrial. : Ugh. I think sleev-
RR ing is the bane of
modding; I can’t stand doing
Rigid for sure!

drives much of that along with events it. (Sorry, sleeving guys!) I love stripping a 5) Quake or Half-Life?
like PDXLAN and PAX. We’re also a case, though. It’s really the birth of a mod,
community of modders that strive to inspire as you unwrap the elements you have to Half-Life! Hey, do you guys at CPU
others and drive ourselves to greater heights! work with and throw away about 30% of know when HL3 is coming out?
what was shipped in the box!

Q : If you had to pick one of your

mods to be the one people most
associate with you, which one would you Q : What do you do for fun when you
are not modding?
[ED NOTE: Yes, but that informa-
tion is highly classified. We could tell
you, but we’d have to kill you.] ■
choose, and why?

: I think I’d have to go with

RR the Throne Industrial Mod. It
has so many elements that show the
quality Modmanship®.

Q : Have you ever gotten a few days

into a project and then regretted
having started it?

: Sometimes a few days in a

RR project won’t look like much and
you can start to wonder if it will come
out. Most of the time the mod takes
shape and you start to really get into
the design.

Q : If a beginning modder asked you for

recommendations on what tools they
Rosenberg and Bob Stewart hard at work on a project for NVIDIA’s GeForce Garage.

CPU / March 2016 49

 BUYER’S GUIDE

Best-Case Scenario
Find A New Home For Your Hardware

With requirements that often include support for gigantic graphics cards, custom liquid-cooling loops, and stacks of
fans, power-user builds demand a well-designed case. Fortunately, case manufacturers are well aware of our needs.
Modern cases, even entry-level models, generally provide proper cable management and enough internal flexibility
to cope with the majority of high-end hardware. Premium chassis build upon the basic amenities, such as CPU cooler
cutouts and tool-less, removable drive trays, with a fit and finish that won’t require a modder’s touch to deliver the
internal and external look you desire.

Free-Range Storage
Although most cases are not yet “cage-free,” case manufacturers now provide some alternative mounting locations
for your storage devices, so you won’t necessarily have to pack them into drive cages behind the front panel. Mounts
behind the motherboard tray are the most common option for 2.5-inch (and sometimes 3.5-inch) storage devices. And
while one or two drive cages are still typically present, the cages are often removable or height adjustable to maximize
support for long graphics cards. The reduced need for optical media has also led some case manufacturers to exclude
5.25-inch drive bays. In turn, this opens space near the front and top panels for gear such as radiators
and reservoirs.

Window, Color & Finish Options

A few of the cases in our guide are offered in windowed and non-windowed versions, so if you don’t want or care about
a side-panel window you can save a few bucks. When it comes to the exterior aesthetic, we found a multitude of cases
offered in black and white options, among other colors. Case manufacturers often provide an appealing accent color,
such as red or orange accents on a black case or blue accents on a white case. Happily, we’ve come a long way from
the beige boxes of yore.

The case plays a huge part in the “wow” factor of your build, and we know how important it is to select a chassis that
matches your exact needs. On the following pages, we examine the strengths of many of the latest cases. Dimensions are
listed in the height x width x depth format, and you’ll find a chart at the end of the guide where you can quickly and easily
compare the key features for all the models listed.

50 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

be quiet! Silent Base 600

$109.90/$119.90 (Window)
www.bequiet.com

Why You’ll Dig It: The Silent Base 600 is the mid-tower version of
be quiet!’s Silent Base 800, and it delivers the same innovative sound
proofing and near silent cooling performance in a slightly smaller size.
That being said, it still provides enough space for high-end components,
as you can install GPUs up to 16.2-inches long if you remove the
upper 3.5-inch drive cage. Even with the drive cage, this mid-tower
supports GPUs up to 11.5-inches long. be quiet! offers windowed and
non-windowed versions of the Silent Base 600. The top panel supports
dual-length radiators and you can mount a single rad behind the front
panel for liquid-cooling support. The Silent Base 600 is full of helpful
amenities, including a three-step fan control switch behind the front
panel, big case feet with rubber insets, and SSD mounts on the back of
the motherboard tray.

Who Should Apply: Power users who want to keep things quiet,
whether it be a budget build or a system filled with high-end hardware.

Dimensions: 19.4 x 9.1 x 19.5 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 3 x 5.25-inch external, 3 x 3.5-inch internal, 3 x 2.5-inch internal

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Fractal Design Define S

$79.99/$89.99 (Solid Panel/Window Panel)
www.fractal-design.com

Why You’ll Dig It: Fractal Design forgoes drive cages in this case to
expand air and liquid-cooling support. The Define S can support up to a
420mm radiator in the front panel, as well as up to a 360mm radiator in
the top panel. Fractal Design pre-drills holes on the bottom panel to let
you easily mount the majority of DDC and D5 pumps. To hold reservoirs
in place, the Define S features adjustable mounting brackets, which are
located where drive cages would traditionally go. On the back of these
mounting brackets, the Define S provides three mounts for 3.5-inch
or 2.5-inch storage devices. Two more 2.5-inch mounts are available
behind the motherboard tray. Besides allowing for big radiators and
other custom cooling loop hardware, the design allows for a straight
front-to-back airflow path. Strategically placed sound-dampening
materials are included to reduce noise without compromising airflow.

Who Should Apply: Liquid-cooling enthusiasts who want maximum

space and support for radiators, reservoirs, and pumps.

Dimensions: 17.8 x 9.2 x 20.5 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 3 x 3.5-inch/2.25-inch internal, 2 x 2.5-inch internal

CPU / March 2016 51

 CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5

$139.99
www.coolermaster.com

Why You’ll Dig It: The MasterCase Pro 5 comes with several of the
parts and accessories that are optional add-ons for the lower-priced
MasterCase 5. The extras include a windowed side-panel, a top cooling
bracket, and a mesh top cover. Liquid cooling enthusiasts will like the
top cooling bracket, as it extends the space in the top panel to support
radiators (up to 280mm long) and fans (up to 65mm for radiator and
fans). The mesh top cover hides your radiator and fans while providing
a look that matches the case’s exterior structure and aesthetic. The
clear windowed side-panel features a tinted add-on that attaches to
the bottom of the panel and conceals the power supply partition. The
MasterCase Pro 5 also comes with an extra HDD bay that provides three
more slots for 3.5-inch drives.

Who Should Apply: Builders who want the best that Cooler
Master’s FreeForm Modular System has to offer.

Dimensions: 20.2 x 9.25 x 21.6 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 2 x 5.25-inch external, 5 x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch internal,
4 x 2.5-inch internal

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

be quiet! Silent Base 800

$139.90/ $149.90 (Window)
www.bequiet.com

Why You’ll Dig It: be quiet! combines sound insulation materials

with its whisper-quiet fans, which makes the Silent Base 800 one of
the best cases to prevent system noise. On the non-windowed version,
for example, both the side panels and the front panel feature foam to
dampen sound. be quiet! also pre-installs its excellent Pure Wings 2
fans, including two 140mm units behind the front panel and a 120mm
in the rear. The Pure Wings 2 fan features an airflow-optimized design
that reduces fan turbulence. There’s space for up to four more fans,
including two 140mm/120mm in the top panel, a 120mm in the bottom
panel, and a 120mm behind the left side panel. To provide internal
flexibility, the 5.25-inch drive cage and both of the 3.5-inch drive cages
are removable. You can also replace the 5.25-inch drive cage with one
of the 3.5-inch cages.

Who Should Apply: Enthusiasts who prize quiet operation and

internal flexibility above all else.

Dimensions: 22 x 10.5 x 19.5 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 3 x 5.25-inch external, 7 x 3.5-inch internal, 4 x 2.5-inch internal

52 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Cooler Master MasterCase 5

$109.99
www.coolermaster.com

Why You’ll Dig It: It’s built to be adjustable and customizable.

Cooler Master’s FreeForm Modular System lets you vertically adjust the
position of drive bays and system fans, so you can find the ideal spots for
internal amenities. The case’s Clip-and-Click panels can also be used to
integrate optional accessories, such as extra fan brackets for reservoirs.
The MasterCase 5 supports up to six 140mm fans, including three
140mm fans in the front panel. The big space in the front panel provides
the necessary room for a 280mm radiator. There’s also a shelf directly
above the PSU to separate it from your system’s big heat generating
components. Cooler Master smartly includes two cable management
openings into the shelf, as well as two 2.5-inch drive mounts. If you’d
rather hide your SSDs, there are two spots behind the motherboard tray.

Who Should Apply: Power users who demand the ultimate

modularity inside and outside a case.

Dimensions: 20.2 x 9.25 x 21.6 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 2 x 5.25-inch external, 2 x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch internal,
4 x 2.5-inch internal

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Deepcool Genome
$249.99
www.deepcool.com

Why You’ll Dig It: Deepcool pre-installs a closed-loop CPU cooler

into the Genome, and the loop features a 360mm radiator, Deepcool’s
CAPTAIN visual flow pump-cold plate unit, and a double-helix shaped
reservoir. The latter is built into the front panel, so you can see the coolant.
Deepcool offers the Genome in a few models, each with its own coolant
color. There’s one with red coolant and black exterior, one with green
coolant and black exterior, and one with blue coolant and a white exterior.
The Genome also features a large side-panel window, so you’ll be able to
clearly see the hardware inside your case. There’s even a riser slot, so you
can mount your GPU vertically and show off its cooler through the side-
panel window. The 3.5-inch drive cage and PSU mount beneath a partition
to prevent heat from affecting your GPU, motherboard, or memory.

Who Should Apply: Power users who want the look and performance
of a high-end cooling loop without having to preplan or install it inside the
case.

Dimensions: 19.9 x 8.3 x 19.9 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 2 x 3.5-inch internal, 4 x 2.5-inch internal

CPU / March 2016 53

 CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Rosewill Gungnir
$64.99
www.rosewill.com

Why You’ll Dig It: The Gungnir features a chamber in the bottom
of the case where you’ll install the power supply and HDDs. Rosewill
separates the case’s airflow between the top and bottom chambers
to isolate heat from subsystem hardware. The shroud-like cover also
helps to obscure cabling for a clean look. Rosewill includes three
120mm fans—two in the front panel, one in the rear—and the latter
features a bright red LED to illuminate system internals. Both the top
and front panels support radiators up to 280mm, so liquid cooling is
certainly an option. For easy maintenance, the Gungnir includes dust
filters on the front, top, and bottom panels. The case also features a
fan-speed control switch on the top panel to let you manage cooling
performance and system noise.

Who Should Apply: Enthusiasts who want a case that helps them
to minimalize cable visibility, as well as optimize cooling performance.

Dimensions: 17.3 x 8.3 x 18.6 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 2 x 5.25-inch external, 3 x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch internal,
2 x 2.5-inch internal

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Deepcool Tristellar
$399.99
www.deepcool.com

Why You’ll Dig It: The Tristeller is a truly unique case. It features
three independent component compartments, and Deepcool isolates the
hottest hardware into separate cabins. In particular, the GPU is housed
in a different compartment than the CPU and motherboard. You can
install graphics cards up to 12.5-inches long, and the GPU connects to
the motherboard through a riser card and cable that’s run through the
chassis to your motherboard’s PCIe x16 slot. The compartment with the
GPU can also hold up to three 2.5-inch storage devices. In the lower
right compartment, you’ll be able to install a Mini-ITX motherboard, as
well as low-profile CPU cooler or closed-loop with a 120mm radiator.
The last compartment is where you’ll install the PSU and 3.5-inch hard
drives.

Who Should Apply: Enthusiasts that want a case that makes

a statement with its appearance, as much as it does with cooling
performance.

Dimensions: 15.2 x 15.5 x 17.1 inches

Motherboard Support: Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 2 x 3.5-inch internal, 3 x 2.5-inch internal

54 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Rosewill Stryker M
$59.99
www.rosewill.com

Why You’ll Dig It: With support for up to six fans and 15.3-inch
graphics cards, the Stryker M provides the necessary airflow and space
to house a high-end gaming system. Rosewill includes two 120mm, blue
LED fans in the front panel to pull in cool outside air, while the 120mm
rear fan exhausts hot air. You can add up to two 120mm/140mm fans to
the top panel, as well as one 120mm fan to the bottom panel. Both the
top and front panels also support a 240mm radiator. To show off your
build’s internal components, there’s also a clear side panel window. For
storage, Rosewill provides a HDD bay that supports up to three 3.5-
inch or 2.5-inch units, and there’s also a 2.5-inch mount behind the
motherboard tray. A magnetic dust filter above the top panel makes it
easy to quickly remove any accumulated dust.

Who Should Apply: Power users who want a simple, yet highly
effective mid-tower case.

Dimensions: 18.5 x 7.75 x 18.5 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 2 x 5.25-inch external, 3 x 3.5-inch internal,
1 x 2.5-inch internal

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Aerocool GT-RS
$79.99
www.aerocool.us

Why You’ll Dig It: This cube-shaped case is split vertically down
the middle to create two chambers. One side contains the power
supply, optical drive, and storage devices, while everything else
is in the other side chamber. The design separates several of the
heat generating components in your build and allows the case to be
small in height—while still accommodating an ATX motherboard and
long graphics cards (up to 11.8-inches). Aerocool also inverts the
motherboard 180 degrees, which puts your GPU front and center in
the case’s acrylic side-panel window, rather than your CPU heatsink
and system memory. The front panel provides enough space to
fit a 120mm or 240mm radiator. You can install up to five fans to
maximize airflow.

Who Should Apply: Builders who want a tiny mid-tower case

with a design that optimizes the cooling potential of your system.

Dimensions: 16.1 x 10.7 x 14.4 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 1 x 5.25-inch external, 1 x 3.5-inch external,
3 x 3.5-inch internal, 2 x 2.5-inch internal

CPU / March 2016 55

 CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Fractal Design Define Nano S

$64.99/$69.99 (Solid Panel/Window Panel)
www.fractal-design.com

Why You’ll Dig It: It’s a Mini-ITX case that can support a 240mm
radiator in the top panel, as well as a 280mm radiator in the front panel.
Being a small form factor case, there are some clearance caveats, such
as that your memory modules can’t be taller than 1.37 inches, but it’s
nearly unheard of that a Mini-ITX case will even support a 240mm
radiator, let alone a 240mm and 280mm radiator. Fractal Design also
pre-drills holes to mount brackets for custom reservoirs and pumps. The
Define Nano S provides two expansion slots and can handle GPUs up to
13.1-inches long, though there will be less space if you install a radiator
in the front panel. Somehow, Fractal Design also manages to support
four storage devices. There are two dedicated SSD mounts, as well as
two mounts that support either 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch storage devices.

Who Should Apply: Enthusiasts planning an exceptionally powerful

small form factor system.

Dimensions: 13.5 x 8 x 16.2 inches

Motherboard Support: Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 2 x 2.25-inch internal, 2 x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch internal

CASE BUYER’S GUIDE

Aerocool Aero-1000
$99.99
www.aerocool.us

Why You’ll Dig It: We’ve reviewed every model in Aerocool’s PGS-A
case lineup, and all deliver exceptional value. The Aero-1000, for example,
is only $99.99 and provides a host of enthusiast features. A removable
drive bay cage lets you extend maximum graphics card length from 11.4
inches to 16.4 inches. The top panel allows for up to 280mm radiators, and
Aerocool recesses the panel, so you can install both a radiator and fans
without having them hang over the motherboard tray. The front panel can
also support a 280mm radiator that’s up to 45mm thick. If big heatsink/
fan coolers are more your thing, the Aero-1000 can handle those, too (a
maximum height of 6.7 inches tall). The Aero-800 ($79.99) and Aero-500
($69.99) are slightly smaller and slimmer than the Aero-1000, while still
offering support for most of today’s high-end components.

Who Should Apply: Those who need an affordable mid-tower case

that supports today’s biggest graphics cards and large radiators.

Dimensions: 19.7 x 8.3 x 19.6 inches

Motherboard Support: ATX, microATX, Mini-ITX
Drive Bays: 2 x 5.25-inch external, 5 x 3.5-inch internal, 2 x 2.5-inch internal

56 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

CASE COMPARISON CHART BUYER’S GUIDE

Motherboard Internal Drive Max GPU Fans

Case MSRP External Drive Dimensions
Support Length (Preinstalled/
Bays Bays (inches; HxWxD)
(inches) Optional)

2 x 3.5-inch
Deepcool Tristellar $399.99 Mini-ITX none 12.5 1/1 15.2 x 15.5 x 17.1
3 x 2.5-inch

ATX
2 x 3.5-inch
Deepcool Genome $249.99 microATX none 13 4/2 19.9 x 8.3 x 20
4 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX

$149.90
ATX
(window) 7 x 3.5-inch
be quiet! Silent Base 800 microATX 3 x 5.25-inch 15.7 3/4 22 x 10.5 x 19.5
$139.90 4 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX
(no window)

ATX
Cooler Master 5 x 3.5-/2.5-inch
$139.99 microATX 2 x 5.25-inch 16.2 3/3 20.2 x 9.25 x 21.6
MasterCase Pro 5 4 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX

$119.90
ATX
(window) 3 x 3.5-inch
be quiet! Silent Base 600 microATX 3 x 5.25-inch 16.2 2/5 19.4 x 9.1 x 19.5
$109.90 3 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX
(no window)

ATX
Cooler Master 2 x 3.5-/2.5-inch
$109.99 microATX 2 x 5.25-inch 16.2 2/4 20.2 x 9.25 x 21.6
MasterCase 5 4 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX

ATX
5 x 3.5-inch
Aerocool Aero-1000 $99.99 microATX 2 x 5.25-inch 16.4 3/2 19.7 x 8.3 x 19.6
2 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX

$89.99
ATX
(window) 3 x 3.5-/2.5-inch
Fractal Design Define S microATX none 17.7 2/7 17.8 x 9.2 x 20.5
$79.99 2 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX
(no window)

ATX
3 x 3.5-inch 1 x 5.25-inch
Aerocool GT-RS $79.99 microATX 11.8 1/4 16.1 x 10.7 x 14.4
2 x 2.5-inch 1 x 3.5-inch
Mini-ITX

$69.99
Fractal Design Define (window) 2 x 3.5-/2.5-inch
Mini-ITX none 13.1 2/4 13.5 x 8 x 16.2
Nano S $64.99 2 x 2.5-inch
(no window)

ATX
3 x 3.5-/2.5-inch
Rosewill Gungnir $64.99 microATX 2 x 5.25-inch 15.7 3/2 17.3 x 8.3 x 18.6
2 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX

ATX
3 x 3.5-inch
Rosewill Stryker M $59.99 microATX 2 x 5.25-inch 15.3 3/3 18.5 x 7.75 x 18.5
1 x 2.5-inch
Mini-ITX

CPU / March 2016 57

 Sync Your Game Saves To The Cloud

or gamers, the most useful feature to

F come along in the past few years isn’t In addition to keeping your
DirectX 12, lifelike hair effects, or even
real-time physics; it’s cloud-based game
saves. With this feature, you can play your
progress synced between
games on your main PC, switch to your
HTPC, and even log in to your accounts multiple systems, cloud saves
on another PC and have your progress from
each session carry over to the next. Cloud
saves are one of the most popular features of
can also save your bacon if
online game stores and platforms, including
Steam, Origin, and Uplay, and now even you encounter a catastrophic
consoles such as the PS4 and Xbox One
support them. In addition to keeping your
progress synced between multiple systems,
storage drive failure or a
cloud saves can also save your bacon if you
encounter a catastrophic storage drive failure corrupted file forces you
or a corrupted file forces you to reinstall the
game. Once you’re back up and running
again, your saves automatically download to
to reinstall the game.
their respective folders, ready for you to get
back at it, almost like magic.
There’s one glaring problem with this For any of the games or situations exchange. It sounds more complicated than it
feature, however: It’s not supported by every listed above, users who want to continue is, so let’s dive in.
game. After a quick perusal of our Steam their progress using a different PC need
library, we found that 69 of the 150 games to manually share the game saves via Pick A Cloud, Any Cloud
didn’t support Steam Cloud, and we’re not email, a flash drive, or a third-party cloud There are a ton of cloud services available
just talking about indie games or games storage service and then copy them to the that will work for this purpose, including
developed before the word “cloud” was saves folder on the new PC. This month, Microsoft OneDrive, Box, Dropbox,
used to describe anything other than water we’ll show you how to set-and-forget SugarSync, Amazon Cloud Drive, Google
vapor in the sky. Just Cause 3, Grand Theft an automatic cloud-based game-saving Drive, and more, all offering a handful of
Auto V, Rust, Call of Duty: Black Ops III, scheme for all your games. gigabytes of free storage for whatever you
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, Street Fighter V, want. For the most part, this procedure will
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, and Far Symbolic Links work for any service that offers to sync one
Cry 4 are just a handful of the thousands of The technical term for what we’ll be or more folders on your PC.
titles that don’t support Steam Cloud. doing in this tutorial is creating symbolic If you don’t already have an account
Some games that support the feature links inside a third-party cloud storage service with a cloud storage provider, you’ll need
have inadvertently corrupted users’ save folder. These links effectively let a folder exist to create one. Start by visiting the provider’s
files, leading many to swear off the feature. in two locations at once. We need to locate website, downloading the application,
Plus, there are online game stores where the game save folder, which is different for and creating an account. For this tutorial,
the feature isn’t supported at all, so even if every game you own, and give it a secondary we tested it to work with Dropbox (www
the developer intended to support cloud location inside the cloud service’s sync folder. .dropbox.com) and Microsoft OneDrive
saves, the platform won’t. For instance, The Then, on each successive system you plan (www.onedrive.live.com). If you’re new to the
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Steam supports to play on, you’ll need to create another services, you will get 5GB with OneDrive
cloud saves, but on GOG, it does not. symbolic link to establish the two-way file and 2GB with a Dropbox basic account.

58 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 will often be your best bet. If the game
save files are not there, look up the game
on the PC Gaming Wiki (pcgamingwiki
.com/wiki) and scroll to the Save Game
Data Location entry. For instance, The
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt game saves are in
<USERNAME>\DOCUMENTS\THE
WITCHER 3\GAMESAVES.

Starbound Goes Cloudbound

The game we’re using for this tutorial
is Starbound, a game that stores its save
files in the same folder in which the game
is installed, and one that doesn’t natively
support Steam Cloud. To access Starbound’s
save files, we need to launch File Explorer
and navigate to the C:\PROGRAM
FILES (X86)\STEAM\STEAMAPPS\
COMMON\STARBOUND\GIRAFFE_
STORAGE folder, which should be where
you’ll find the files if you let Steam install the
This procedure carries with it a chance of wiping the contents of the folder, so always make sure to game in its default location. If you have this
back up your game saves. game and/or others installed on an alternative
drive, look in D:\STEAMLIBRARY\
Once everything is set up, create a new goes on. The saves are usually in a folder S T E A M A P P S \ C O M M O N \ S TA R
folder in Dropbox or OneDrive to which that bears the name of the game. BOUND\GIRAFFE_STORAGE,
we’ll copy the game saves. Navigate to C:\ The <USERNAME>\DOCUMENTS substituting the “D:\” for the drive letter
USERS\<USERNAME>\ONEDRIVE, and <USERNAME>\DOCUMENTS\ of your alternate game storage device. The
C:\USERS\<USERNAME>\DROPBOX, MY GAMES folders are two of the most last folder in that path named GIRAFFE_
or the path you chose when setting up commonly used locations, so checking there STORAGE actually refers to the version
your cloud service. Right-click in the folder
and click New, Folder. Name the folder
GAME SAVES.

Find Your Game Saves

The next step, finding out where
each of your game save files are stored,
can sometimes be the trickiest. That’s
because there’s no standard location for
storing them. Common locations include
C:\USERS\<USERNAME>\SAVED
GAMES, C:\USERS\<USERNAME>\
DOCUMENTS, C:\USERS\
<USERNAME>\DOCUMENTS\MY
GAMES, C:\USERS\<USERNAME>\
APPDATA\ROAMING, C:\USERS\
<USERNAME>\APPDATA\LOCAL,
C:\PROGRAM FILES (X86)\, C:\
PROGRAMDATA\, C:\PROGRAM
FILES (X86)\STEAM\STEAMAPPS\
COMMON\, C:\PROGRAM FILES
(X86)\UBISOFT\UBISOFT GAME Creating symbolic links is the key to making your own cloud game saves.
LAUNCHER\SAVEGAMES, and the list

CPU / March 2016 59

 TIP OF THE MONTH:

Game Save Utilities

The method described in this article works well, but if you’d rather not Junction Link Magic
jump through the requisite hoops, you’ll be glad to hear that there are a Junction Link Magic is another freeware utility that attempts to make
handful of utilities that’ll manage your game saves for you, with minimal symbolic links a no-brainer. You can download it from www.rekenwonder
effort. And better yet, they’re free. Here’s a look at two: .com/linkmagic.htm. After installing the utility and launching it, you’ll have
the option to run a scan of your system to locate existing junction points.
GameSave Manager These aren’t necessary for our purposes, so you can ignore them for now.
To download InsaneMatt’s GameSave Manager (freeware), visit
www.gamesave-manager.com, click the Download tab, then click the
Download button on the next page. This one comes as a .ZIP file, so extract
it, open the folder, and double-click the Gs_mngr application to launch the
install. We clicked Yes when asked to allow the utility to enable administrative
rights to perform its functions, clicked Yes on the UAC warning, left the
settings at their defaults, and clicked OK to complete the install.

While the application continues to set up, it’ll scan your system for game
saves before the utility displays its menu of main functions. There are
hyperlinks for backing up game saves, restoring them, customizing
settings, and viewing logs. But the function we’re looking for is the Steam
Spreader. This lets you move directories to another location and create a
symbolic link between the two locations. Sound familiar?

After clicking the Steam Spreader link, you’ll find an empty Move
Junction Link Magic simplifies the creation of junction links, which are
Directories box. When you click Add, you can select radio buttons to display
very similar to symbolic links.
game directories that the utility detected from Origin and Steam or opt
to manually specify a directory. The JUST CAUSE 3 directory, although a
Steam game, wasn’t detected, so we clicked the third radio button to find From the main menu, we clicked Create to open the Create Junction Link window.
it ourselves, then navigated to C:\USERS\<USERNAME>\DOCUMENTS\ The left pane is where the host folder needs to be and the pane on the right is
SQUARE ENIX\JUST CAUSE 3 and clicked OK. Next, we clicked the Browse where we’ll locate the target folder. The best way to use a junction link with this
button from the Move To field, navigated to the JUST CAUSE 3 folder we utility is to make the game’s default save location the host and turn the cloud
created in OneDrive, and clicked OK. Finally, we clicked Move to create the storage folder, such as OneDrive or Dropbox, into the target folder. To do this, we
symbolic links. After installing the utility on a secondary PC and creating first need to empty the game’s default save location, so we navigated to THE
the new symbolic link, we quickly verified that it works. GameSave WITCHER 3\GAMESAVES, copied the contents of the folder, and pasted it into
Manager is easy to use and performed admirably. a new THE WITCHER 3\GAMESAVES folder we created in OneDrive. Junction
Link Magic requires that the host folder be empty before creating a link, which
is why we had to perform this file swap to continue. Now, back in the utility, we
can navigate to the C:\USERS\<USERNAME>\DOCUMENTS\THE WITCHER 3\
GAMESAVES folder from the left pane and then navigate to OneDrive’s version of
that folder in the right pane. Finally, we clicked Create to make the link. With this
step out of the way, we went to our secondary PC and performed the same steps,
making sure to designate the game’s default save folder as the host and making
sure it’s empty before we attempt to create the junction link.

The big difference between junction links and symbolic links is that the
former only works with directories, whereas symbolic links can exist as
GameSave Manager cuts the Command Prompt out of the symbolic individual files. This utility works well, and the UI is fairly straightforward.
link-generating equation. We have no problem recommending this utility to those looking to avoid
messing around with the Command Prompt.

60 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Create The Symbolic Link <USERNAME>\ONEDRIVE\GAME
This is where the magic happens. Start by SAVES\STARBOUND\UNIVERSE”
opening a Command Prompt by clicking and press ENTER. To make sure it worked,
Start, typing cmd, and then right-clicking return to the original save location where
Command Prompt from the search window you’ll find the UNIVERSE and PLAYER
and clicking Run As Administrator. In folders have returned, but now they sport
the Command Prompt window, we’ll be shortcut icons.
using the mklink command with the /d
parameter, which lets us create a symbolic On Your Other PCs…
link for a directory; mklink by itself merely So far, we’ve made the game saves for
creates a symbolic link for a single file. Starbound available to any PC where we
In the Command Prompt window, set up a Dropbox or OneDrive account,
type mklink /D “D:\STEAMLIBRARY\ but it won’t automatically load when we
STEAMAPPS\COMMON\ launch the game on our other PCs, nor
STARBOUND\GIRAFFE_STORAGE\ will any progress we make in the game
PLAYER” “C:\USERS\<USERNAME>\ sync over. To get this to work, we need to
O N E D R I V E \ G A M E S AV E S \ perform the same functions as before.
STARBOUND\PLAYER” and then press Start by making sure you have
ENTER. The first path in quotes needs OneDrive or Dropbox installed on this
You’ll need to launch the Command Prompt as to point to the original save directory, and secondary PC and then sign in. If you’re
an administrator to continue. the second path needs to refer to your just now setting up the cloud account
new location in Dropbox or OneDrive. on this PC, it’s a good idea to make sure
of Starbound you’re running, and when Be sure to substitute your PC’s username there’s plenty of storage capacity on the
the game updates next, it’ll likely change, where applicable. Next, do the same for drive where you plan to install OneDrive
potentially forcing you to alter your symbolic the universe directory. Type mklink /D or Dropbox, at least enough to duplicate
link, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. “D:\STEAMLIBRARY\STEAMAPPS\ everything you have stored in the cloud.
Starbound has a handful of save file types COMMON\STARBOUND\GIRAFFE_ We already know where the game saves
stored in two different subfolders within the STORAGE\UNIVERSE” “C:\USERS\ are, so navigate to the directory and delete
GIRAFFE_STORAGE folder, the first of
which saves your character and shipworld,
and the second stores the universe and
everything you’ve constructed and looted
from the various planets you visit. There’s a
third folder in the STARBOUND folder
for mods; you can ignore this folder for now.
Highlight the PLAYER and UNIVERSE
folders, right-click them, and click Copy.
Next, go to your GAME SAVES
folder in OneDrive or Dropbox, create a
subfolder for Starbound, open that folder,
right-click in the empty space, and click
Paste to deposit copies of the folders here.
Now we can rename the folders in the
STARBOUND game directory so that new
saves aren’t deposited there. We like renaming
these folders instead of deleting them (also
a viable option), as it gives us a nice little
backup location should our cloud plans
go up in a puff of smoke. To proceed, we
right-clicked the PLAYER and UNIVERSE
folders, clicked Rename, and typed
PLAYER_BACKUP and UNIVERSE_ This is what our completed symbolic link commands look like in the Command Prompt window.
BACKUP for both folders, respectively.

CPU / March 2016 61

 With our symbolic links in place, we can pick up where we left of on virtually any PC.

the PLAYER and UNIVERSE folders, if different. For us, the first command looked do the same for the universe folder. We can
they’re there (making sure that these saves like this: mklink /D “H:\PROGRAM do this easily by duplicating the command
are older than the saves you’ll be syncing FILES (X86)\STEAM\ STEAMAPPS\ we just entered by pressing the Up arrow
over from the cloud). There’s no need to COMMON\STARBOUND\GIRAFFE_ key, then just using the arrow keys to replace
keep backups of the saves here. STORAGE\PLAYER” “C:\USERS\ “player” with “universe.” Our new command
Next, start an elevated Command <USERNAME>\ONEDRIVE\GAME looks like this: mklink /D “H:\PROGRAM
Prompt session as before, then type the SAVES\STARBOUND\PLAYER” FILES (X86)\STEAM\ STEAMAPPS\
symbolic link command as before, changing Press Enter to input the command and COMMON\STARBOUND\GIRAFFE_
only the paths in quotes, as they may be create the symbolic link. Next, we need to STORAGE\UNIVERSE” “C:\USERS\
<USERNAME>\ONEDRIVE\GAME
SAVES\STARBOUND\UNIVERSE”
Again, make sure to substitute your PC’s
username where applicable, and then press
ENTER to complete the symbolic link
command. As before, you can check to make
sure it worked by visiting the original save
location and checking for shortcut icons.

Another First-World Problem, Solved

A DIY cloud save scheme isn’t a problem
most people who game on a single PC
encounter, but if you find yourself switching
between two or more systems on a regular
basis, this procedure is easy to perform and
it eliminates the tediousness of having to
You know the procedure worked when you see shortcut icons in place of the folder icons. manually juggle save files. Best of all, you
don’t need to insert a coin to continue. ■

62 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Upgrades That’ll Keep You Humming Along
It’s a little of this, a little of that for this month’s gang of software updates. We have updates for apps that every
power user should have, such as Process Lasso and HWiNFO, plus a handful of other very useful programs. As
usual, NVIDIA keeps doing its thing, releasing another driver for its GeForce graphics cards.

SOFTWARE UPDATES anywhere in the house, whether that’s an February update, Willow added a pair of
Apple TV, iOS and Android devices, or new features that gives users more flexibility
Bitsum Process Lasso 8.9.6.8 another computer. It also lets you stream when working with notes in a particular
Nothing whips your system’s unruly audio from Spotify and Pandora, as well as track. Version 2016.02.01 also fixes one
processes into shape quite like Bitsum’s any web-based audio. Version 5.0.1 fixes a bug that caused some 8th/16th notes to
Process Lasso. Naturally, a program handful of critical bugs, but the 5.0.0 release be drawn without a stem and another bug
designed to lighten the load on the CPU is the real headliner. Airfoil for Windows that potentially stopped recording Control
isn’t going to be resource-intensive to 5.0.0 makes the software compatible with Change events from external MIDI devices.
begin with, but the latest update makes thousands of Bluetooth speakers and www.anvilstudio.com
the software even more efficient in terms headphones, and it also now works with
of its CPU utilization. Version 8.9.6.8 the Airfoil Satellite companion app. It also
should also be more agreeable with security features an ultra-sharp new UI. HWiNFO 5.20
software and “tamper-resistant” processes. https://www.rogueamoeba.com HWiNFO tells you more about your rig’s
https://bitsum.com /airfoil components than you could possibly want
to know, and then it tells you a little more.
Maybe that’s hyperbole to the most exacting
Cloudfogger For Windows 1.5.33 Registry Finder 2.9.1 of power users, but the software is very, very
Cloud storage is great, but if you’re not It’s not often that two updates for one thorough. In version 5.20, SSDs receive a
wild about Dropbox, Google, Microsoft, program are released on the same day, lot of attention. The update extends NVMe
etc. taking a peek at your files, you might but that’s the case with Registry Finder. S.M.A.R.T. and makes a few changes for
want to encrypt them before beaming them Technically, version 2.9.1 is the latest release, select SSDs. Specifically, monitoring of total/
up. Cloudfogger does the trick rather nicely, but think of it more as a postscript to NAND reads and writes for some SanDisk
and now it fogs faster than ever. Version version 2.9. In fact, all it does is fix a crash drives should be better, and HWiNFO now
1.5.33 introduces “significant” performance bug related to the big feature introduced in supports Samsung SSD 950 Pro drives that
improvements according to the Cloudfogger version 2.9: the ability to search for Registry use the default Microsoft NVMe driver.
team, especially if you encrypt a huge keys that were modified within a specified Preliminary support for AMD Ellesmere,
batch of files using the software’s Auto- date range. As it turns out, not specifying Baffin, and Greenland GPUs are rolled into
Fogg function. This update also irons out a date range caused Registry Finder to go the update, too.
a few minor wrinkles, including a bug that down in flames; version 2.9.1 patches the www.hwinfo.com
listed files at 0 bytes (even thought the files issue. Otherwise, version 2.9 fixes a pair of
themselves were fine) and another issue with additional bugs.
Cloudfogger’s Windows Explorer context registry-finder.com
menu extension. DRIVER BAY
https://www.cloudfogger.com
Willow Software NVIDIA GeForce
Anvil Studio 2016.02.04 Game Ready Driver 361.91
Rogue Amoeba Software Digital composers can do a lot with Anvil The most current driver for NVIDIA’s
Airfoil For Windows 5.0.1 Studio, and now the MIDI and audio editor GeForce graphics cards adds a handful of
You didn’t grow your collection of digital is even better. In early February, Willow new SLI profiles for several games, including
music into the terabytes just to be forced Software released version 2016.02.04, which Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, XCOM 2, and
to play it on a single PC. Rogue Amoeba makes improvements to the software’s menus Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2.
Software’s Airfoil can blast your tunes almost and fixes a few bugs. In a separate early www.nvidia.com

CPU / March 2016 65

 Inside The World Of Betas
THE EASYUEFI DEVELOPMENT TEAM WINTOHDD 1.0 BETA
ptical drives have been on death’s door
O for quite some time now. With the
prevalence of digital distribution, usually
WinToHDD 1.0 Beta
Publisher and URL: The
the only time we need an optical drive EasyUEFI Development Team;
for a game, music album, or movie are www.easyuefi.com
those quaint moments when an out-of- ETA: TBD
touch family member gifts us one. Some Why You Should Care:
users have held onto their ODDs in Dumping Windows on a
order to have an easy, if time-consuming, drive is easier than ever
option for installing Windows, but over with this tool.
the years a number of apps have made
it much easier to ditch the installation
disc. WinToHDD, an offering from The
EasyUEFI Development Team, is one and 500 megs of disk space will do the on a blank hard drive. The final option
such app. trick—and the software can handle Win10 mirrors your current Windows installation
The EasyUEFI Development Team in addition to Vista/7/8/8.1. to another HDD (which takes some time,
already has a similar program, WinToUSB, Using WinToHDD is embarrassingly so grab lunch, watch Netflix, etc.)
in its stable, so they already know a thing simple. The software’s UI presents you WinToHDD doesn’t have a lot of tricks,
or two about shuffling Windows to with three options: Reinstall Windows, but it performs the tricks it does know very
alternate media. There’s nothing partic- New Installation, and System Clone. The well, which is what good software does.
ularly demanding about WinToHDD’s first two options use an ISO file to either, If you’re constantly shuffling Windows
requirements—at least 512MB of RAM well, reinstall Windows or put a fresh copy installations around, check this app out. ■

FUTUREMARK 3DMARK HOLIDAY BETA

uturemark’s 3DMark benchmarking
F software has a been a staple of the
power user community for nearly a
3DMark Holiday Beta
Publisher and URL: Future-
decade. Whether you use it to make sure mark; www.futuremark.com
your hardware is performing the way it ETA: 1H 2016
should or if you’re simply in pursuit of Why You Should Care:
a top score for bragging rights, 3DMark Experience 3DMark in VR.
serves a lot of purposes beyond letting
you gawk at a parade of pretty 3D demos.
With the release of the 3DMark Holiday
Beta, Futuremark gives us something
special: the ability to gawk at a parade of
3D demos . . . in virtual reality.
The beta, which is available to But the holiday beta is a lot more install and run any of the benchmarks in
existing 3DMark users, offers a taste than virtual fun and games, as it offers 3DMark’s suite.)
of Futuremark’s upcoming VRMark. all enthusiasts, whether they have a VR Another welcome change the beta
Specifically, the beta gives VR headset HMD (head-mounted display) or not, brings is breaking up the benchmark into
owners the chance to watch—and even a sneak peek at the upcoming 3DMark. separate, independently downloadable
move within—four “classic 3DMark scenes.” At center stage is a brand-new UI with benchmarks. The ability to pick and choose
Futuremark has a knack for stunning visuals, a Home screen that presents each user benchmarks, rather than downloading a
so the ability to immerse yourself in them is with the recommended benchmark single monolithic file, is long overdue. Get
definitely a fun novelty. for their system. (Of course, you can the beta and look around, virtually. ■

66 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

The Office Of 2016
Remote Workers Use Tele-robots To Gain A Presence
emote working isn’t just a workplace describing them as “a smart computer on is that generally easy access to Internet
R approach more companies (including
Fortune 500 ones) are supporting. It’s also
wheels” that users can control remotely
and project “senses in a cognitive way.”
connectivity and communication/
collaboration tools means employees can
an arrangement that research, experts, and Long-term, he expects tele-robots will now perform a wide swath of jobs out of
executives alike indicate holds numerous become more pervasive as hardware and the office. Research shows it’s middle-aged,
potential benefits for everyone involved. Internet costs continue to decline. college-educated, salaried employees with
Thus, even as Yahoo and other companies Though tele-robots have been available higher incomes at companies with 100-
have changed policies in recent years to for office use for years, they seem to be plus employees who most commonly work
pull remote workers back into the office,
others are letting employees work from
the office and elsewhere, even on a full-
time basis.
An evolving workforce is driving many
companies to adopt remote working.
Because there are more developer,
programmer, data scientist, and other
tech-related positions available among
companies than the workforce can fill,
those with such skills find themselves with
increasingly more bargaining power to
dictate where they will and won’t work.
Research also shows younger professionals
are increasingly fine working as freelancers
and consultants and willing to explore
entrepreneurial options to secure the work Compared to what other telepresence tools can provide, tele-robots are gaining praise for the ability
lifestyle they desire. they give remote workers to have a more engaging presence in areas throughout the office.
Traditionally, remote working has meant
using email; chat; videoconferencing; gaining traction of late, particularly with remotely. Research also indicates remote
and other communication, collaboration, tech-driven firms known to embrace new workers typically work longer hours;
and telepresence tools to connect with technologies. Tele-robot manufacturers are perform better in certain business aspects;
in-office workers. Although these work, also pushing tele-robot use in health care, are less likely to quit; are less stressed; and
some remote workers say what they don’t tourism, education, and other industries. are more highly engaged, alert, attentive,
do is help them establish an ongoing Still, skeptics question whether tele-robots productive, profitable, and happy.
“presence” in the office or help them feel are even necessary, especially given the GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com states
truly engaged in office culture. Enter the tools already available. Everyone, however, a typical business can save $11,000 per
telepresence robot, or “tele-robot,” “iPad seems to agree that tele-robots are definitely employee annually by allowing remote
on a Segway,” or “Skype on wheels.” cool and possess all kinds of potential. The working even half the time. Nationally,
Like telepresence systems, tele-robots following focuses on how remote workers this could mean an economic benefit
essentially let a user be in two places at and companies are using them. totaling more than $700 billion annually.
once. Tele-robots, though, add an element Savings would stem from reductions
of mobility that broadens what a remote Remote Working In 2016 in employee turnover (14% of U.S.
user can see, hear, and interact with To understand why a company would workers have changed jobs to eliminate a
in the office. Wendell Chun, principal even consider a tele-robot, it helps to commute); absenteeism (78% of people
analyst at Tractica, hails tele-robots as the know why companies are allowing remote phoning in sick aren’t); and company real
next evolution in telepresence systems, working in the first place. The reality estate, electricity, travel, and compliance

CPU / March 2016 67

 expenses. Remote working can also benefit increasingly recruiting. An AfterCollege corporate culture have often been cited
companies in times of disaster. The U.S. survey, for example, found that 68% of as problems for tele-workers and the
General Services Administration, for job seekers polled who were millennials organizations they work for,” he says.
example, reportedly positioned itself so said working remotely would increase
that all but 200 of its 3,800 staff members their interest in an employer. Susan Eustis, The Office Robot
had the ability to work remotely during the president of Wintergreen Research, says Historically, remote workers have
recent blizzard that closed federal offices in because the younger workers companies combined periodic trips to corporate
Washington, D.C. consider valuable are willing to jump to headquarters with communication and
On average, 2015 Gallup research shows companies that support the flexible lifestyle collaboration tools to keep pace with in-
U.S. workers work from home about two they’re after, managers are having to adapt office colleagues. No matter how good
days monthly. GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics to retain them. the tools, though, some remote workers
.com states 50% of the U.S. workforce Rob Bamforth, a Quocirca princi- (especially full-time ones) report feeling
has jobs compatible with part-time pal analyst focusing on business isolated, being “out of sight, out of mind,”
teleworking, and 37% would take a 10% communications, says younger workers and having a “fear of missing out” on key
pay cut to work from home. FlexJobs, also tend to view social media and developments, conversations, brainstorming
which offers services to flexible job seekers, enabling sharing and collaboration in the sessions, and even promotions. In other
states it saw a 26% increase in remote job broadest sense. Thus, being connected words, the tools can’t easily enable
listings from 2013 to 2014. to colleagues and co-workers becomes the impromptu and often beneficial
Experts warn companies should heed more important to them. “This is a conversations that happen with co-workers
such data, particularly where it concerns positive development for remote working, in hallways, at water coolers, in breakrooms,
the younger, tech-savvy workers they’re as isolation and loss of camaraderie and or at employees’ desks.
Such flexibility and mobility is precisely
what a Wi-Fi or 4G-enabled tele-robot
can provide by combining a display or
Through These Store Doors Waits No One tablet with video and audio capabilities
Set your coordinates to 425 University Ave., Palo Alto, Calif., in Silicon Valley, and you’ll find a retail store with a wheeled base the remote worker
unlike any you’ve likely encountered. That’s because the Beam store, which Suitable Technologies controls via keyboard or mouse after
opened in late 2014, is completely unmanned. The only salespersons onsite take the form of logging in to a Web or mobile app. While
telepresence robots the employees log in to and control remotely from New York, Hawaii, Sidney, and the remote worker takes in live audio
other locations. and video streams the tele-robot captures
from the office, she broadcasts her own
The Beam store intentionally operates this way to give people interested in tele-robots a firsthand presence back to co-workers. Imagine a
experience with Suitable Technologies’ Smart Presence System via its BeamPro and Beam+ models. company owner who, rather than flying to
The company’s blog states that although its robots can do amazing things, not everyone has access to his overseas factory several times a month,
experience them. The Beam store grants such access. Even if you’re unable to visit the store physically, instead uses a tele-robot to roam factory
you can schedule a test drive remotely. floors to check in whenever he wants.
“Increased engagement is one thing, but
In case you’re curious, the Beam store employees remotely lock and unlock the store’s doors and control there can also be strong value in problem-
the lighting and temperature. One Beam Store manager reportedly has gone as far as strolling his Beam solving or improving process efficiencies
robot self to a nearby ice cream shop to fetch a couple scoops for Facebook Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. when an expert or a manager can ‘walk
along’ and see the operations and the
problems, essentially firsthand,” says
Barbara Kraus, Park Associates director of
research, connected CE and platforms.
Chun says although tele-robots have
been used for research purposes for
decades, there’s been a recent explosion
of new, commercial tele-robots that
incorporate high-quality visual and audio
sensors on the robot and at the operator’s
The Beam store, which Suitable Technologies opened in Silicon Valley, has no actual salespersons control station. High bandwidth and
on location. Instead, employees log in to onsite tele-robots from various locations. mobile connectivity are also driving
adoption, he says. Long-term, Tractica

68 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 forecasts the tele-robot market to expand
from 4,200 units in 2015 to annual
shipments of 31,600 by 2020, a 49.7% Face-To-Face
CAGR. Cumulative shipments for the
period are forecast to hit 92,000. Tractica
Meetings That Matter
sees two business models for tele-robots: The White House offered an example of how
rentals of high-priced units and purchases effective and appropriate it can be to use
of more affordable, basic units. a telepresence robot to help people from
Key to growth, Chun says, is having all walks of life access environments they
tele-robots function seamlessly and otherwise might find difficult, if not impossible.
properly at all times, meaning no
connectivity dropouts and providing In July 2015, Alice Wong, founder and project
high-quality video, clear audio with coordinator for the Disability Visibility Project,
noise cancellation, obstacle avoidance, attended a reception in the Blue Room at
adequate battery life, and intuitive user 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. that marked the 25th
interfaces. “Once trying the technology, anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities
its advantages are obvious,” says Chun, Act. Wong did so with the assistance of a
who reasons that as more companies BeamPro tele-robot. Beyond meeting and
expand globally, demands to connect speaking with President Barack Obama
engineering with manufacturing and via her tele-robot self, Wong met with Vice
distribution and sales will increase. Tele- President Joe Biden and other officials using
Although the Revolve Robotics Kubi telepresence robots could alleviate the pains of uniting the BeamPro’s streaming video and audio and
system doesn’t have wheels, the base unit does team members across long distances. mobility abilities.
enable users to tilt, rotate, raise, and lower the Currently, Eustis says traditional
display to see more and to engage with others videoconferencing remains an essential According to the Disability Visibility Project,
more directly. tool for tele-workers, but scheduling calls Wong is the first person to use a telepresence
or asking someone to configure a laptop robot in the White House. Considering the
to chat “is a hassle.” Adding robotic potential a tele-robot has to, say, enable
abilities to telepresence “brings enormous foreign leaders and dignitaries to attend key
flexibility to the communications task,” events when time and circumstances make
she says. Eustis foresees the remote aspect doing so otherwise challenging, it’s definitely
becoming almost invisible as workers not inconceivable Wong won’t be the last
get accustomed to working this way. person to make such a visit.
Ultimately, tele-robotics could extend
to platform technologies that enable
performing remote hands-on operations,
she says. “Telepresence robots will
surely decrease the cost of telepresence
systems,” Eustis says. “They’ll enhance
the value of telepresence by creating
the opportunity for more versatile
communications scenarios.”
Marcus Rosenthal, CEO of Revolve
Robotics, maker of the Kubi tele-robotic
system, says businesses are using tele-robots
in team-desk clusters to give remote workers
a presence, in conference rooms as hybrid
One selling point of tele-robots such as this meetings, in executive briefing centers, and
for corporate training. He says the Kubi Alice Wong of the Disability Visibility Project
Beam model from Suitable Technologies is
enhances the engagement and interaction attended a celebration at the White House
that their mobility enables remote workers
of videoconferencing to the extent that using a tele-robot, making her the first person
to communicate with co-workers beyond the
interacting remotely becomes comparable to ever visit the White House in such a way.
constraints of traditional videoconferencing.
to being there in person. “We see

CPU / March 2016 69

 organization-wide deployments expanding At about $500, Rosenthal says the hours and recharges via a docking station
as the telepresence robots get designed Kubi makes it easy to deploy telepresence it parks on.
into the company workflows,” he says. across an organization to let remote The Suitable Technologies Beam models
As such, Revolve Robotics has integrated employees “literally teleport from location also use a charging dock. Instead of a poll,
videoconferencing applications into the to location almost instantly.” And by though, the Beam models situate a display
Kubi system and plans to integrate full- integrating leading videoconferencing on two legs extending from a wheeled base
blown videoconferencing platforms soon. tools, he says, the Kubi creates interactive unit. The BeamPro, for example, sports
Outside of offices, others are finding telepresence experiences that stretch a 17-inch LCD with two wide-angle
a purpose for tele-robots, including to beyond the conference room. cameras, a six-microphone array with echo
attend conferences and tradeshows. and background noise cancellation, and
Imagine roaming PAX Prime with a The Robot-Employee Relationship integrated speaker. Suitable Technologies
tele-robot, for example, and seeing and Besides the Kubi, examples of tele- also uses proprietary software and
speaking in real-time with attendees face robots suitable for remote workers algorithms and TLS/SSL, AES-256,
to face. Others are using tele-robots to in office settings include Suitable and HMAC-SHA1 security, meaning
regularly check in on elderly grandparents Technologies Beam+ and Beam Pro units all communication passing through the
still living at home and to enable people, (about $2,000 and $17,000 for homes system is encrypted.
including those with disabilities, to tour and enterprises, respectively) and Double The Kubi also moves but doesn’t
museums. Educationally, a student stuck Robotics Double 2 (about $2,500), which include wheels. Instead, the system
at home due to injury or illness could improves upon the original Double’s essentially lets a remote user tilt, pan,
still interact with classmates, while a speed, stability, and other abilities. twist, raise, and lower a tablet mounted
teaching specialist could provide services The Double 2 essentially looks like to a base unit, all of which aims to
to rural schools otherwise difficult to an iPad (not included) on a remotely give the user a more dynamic presence
reach. College coaches and academic adjustable poll (47 to 59 inches) that’s in videoconferences, view more of the
recruiters reportedly are using tele-robots connected to a Segway-looking base environment, and make more direct face-
to give key recruits tours of university that incorporates lateral stability control to-face contact with other participants.
facilities, while physicians are using them via an “absorption mechanism” to help Rosenthal says some customers use Kubis
to enhance patient consultations. Eustis maneuver cords, bumps, and other nearly all day, every day.
sees tele-robots as the most promising of obstacles. The iPad and Double 2 connect Karen Tingey, a remote worker
all the communications robots. “I believe via Bluetooth. An optional Camera Kit, for Intuit, says the Kubi is the best
they will find a use in every industry meanwhile, provides a 5MP camera with telecommuting experience she’s had. “The
segment, including healthcare where 150-degree wide-angle lens for a 70% consistent feedback from my team is that
so much of the communication is via viewing field right and left. The Double they often forget I’m not there in person,”
smartphone,” she says. 2’s battery is rated for about eight to 10 she says, to the point “it really doesn’t

Conversely, using a tele-robot gives a remote worker a physical

A Report From The Trenches manifestation that’s easier to include in conversations, Young says. “You
When Justworks (www.justworks.com), a startup that helps companies can interact with the person more naturally. You walk with the person to
cover their benefits, payments, and HR needs, was seeking ways to make and from meetings. It changes how you feel about the person and how
a key team member who was working remotely feel “really integrated” much you engage with them in subtle ways,” he says. Recently, Young
with day-to-day office happenings, it turned to the Suitable Technologies says a co-worker was excited enough about the tele-robot to give it a hug
BeamPro tele-robot after seeing one in action. as it puttered around the office. “It’s a small thing, but it’s impossible to
replicate that kind of connection with just a videoconference,” he says.
“I’ll admit, I was skeptical at first—it looks like an iPad on a stick—but it
has been great,” says Will Young, Justworks director of micro-acquisition. Young notes that getting the tele-robot to/from meetings can take some
“It really feels like our teammate is more present than he was before awkward maneuvering. Battery life can also pose problems in long
we got him the robot.” Before adding the BeamPro, Young says it was meetings. Further, multitasking on a computer (doing screen-shares, for
easy for a remote worker to feel marginalized when participating in example) can cause lag for the remote worker. There’s also a matter of
videoconference meetings. “Somebody has to remember to dial you in expense. As Young notes, “these things aren’t cheap.” That said, Young
every time. It’s harder for you to get a word into the conversation. Nobody says adapting to a tele-robot has been easy, and his initial perspective on
is making eye contact with you. In general, the remote person just feels tele-robots has changed. “I can easily see how these things will become
more ‘absent’ than ‘present,’” he says. an integral part of the Justworks office in the future,” he says.

70 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 matter that I’m remote.” Lou Gallo, an
employee and remote worker at Onshape,
has used Kubi for about 20 months to help
create a presence in the company’s Boston
office from his home in Phoenix. Gallo
has access to numerous communication/
collaboration tools but says the Kubi is his
go-to. “I log eight-plus hours a day on it,”
he says. “I’m part of our culture in Boston,
even though I sit at my home in Arizona.”
Lisette Sutherland, director at
Collaboration Superpowers, which helps
teams work together from anywhere, also
Tele-robots like those from Double Robotics give remote workers the mobility and freedom to move uses tele-robots, which she considers a
around an office complete with real-time video and audio streaming abilities. couple steps up from videoconferencing
due to the mobility and “sensation of 3D
sound” they provide. “The ability to move
oneself as a remote participant is more
powerful than people expect,” she says. “As
the person beaming in, telepresence gives
you the ability to move and keep track of
who is in the room. For those who are in
the flesh, telepresence gives actual presence
to the remote person.”
Beyond using tele-robots to attend
conferences and panel discussions “on the
other side of the world,” Sutherland has led
workshops in Lebanon while in Barcelona
and in Palo Alto while in the Netherlands.
“I’m not saying we should all stay home
Both Suitable Technologies and Double Robotics offer charging docks for their various tele-robot units that
and just beam around the world. But when
remote users can navigate the robots to when needed.
we can’t physically be somewhere, or if
our companies have a need to enhance the
virtual team experience, we certainly have
some great options to explore,” she says.

An Iffy Future?
Despite the undeniable potential of
tele-robots, there’s a sentiment among
skeptics that while tele-robots are handy,
they aren’t exactly mandatory. Kraus, for
example, sees marginal, if any, value in
tele-robots for typical videoconferences.
The more compelling value with tele-
robots is their mobility, especially in
dynamic environments, she says. “The
ability to move around and see things
in real-time is the benefit that has the
potential to drive adoption,” she says.
Dan Kara, ABI Research practice
Suitable Technologies offers Beam+ and Beam Pro tele-robot models respectively aimed at consumers director for robotics, says the marketplace
and enterprises. for tele-robots, which ABI quantified as
recently as March 2015, is still fairly small

CPU / March 2016 71

 have a hard time when getting into places
that are lived in,” he says.
DORA, Your Personal Avatar Another issue simply concerns the
Meet DORA (Dexterous Observational Roving Automaton), a robotic platform created by a team of risk that colleagues initially will find
University of Pennsylvania mechanical engineering students. In short, DORA is an immersive tele- tele-robots distracting and annoying.
operated platform designed for navigating and exploring remote locations. It’s been described as Bamforth says though workers may
“your personal avatar” and even as a form of early teleportation in the sense it makes someone be more comfortable sharing time and
located remotely feel like she’s in the same room as DORA. information with remote colleagues now,
they might view “remote eyes” as a covert
Theoretically, anyone located anywhere could log in to, drive, and manipulate DORA. The encroachment on their personal space.
system incorporates patent-pending technology to track the driver’s head movements in six Plus, some employees still don’t like even
degrees of freedom and simultaneously using videoconferencing because they
provides real-time visual and audio don’t like being on camera, he says.
feedback via an Oculus Rift VR headset. Kara says while some tele-robots
Christopher Mims, writer for The Wall have gone away, others are entering
Street Journal, describes the DORA the marketplace. To stick, Kara says
experience as “a robot that exactly copies companies need to find areas where the
every movement of your head” while you employees require a social presence,
simultaneously see what DORA sees. He embodied presence, and mobility traits.
writes DORA is a natural evolution of the Such companies must be willing to
“Skype robot with wheels” experience spend on novel technologies that can
that consumer tele-robots provide. “As gain them incremental savings, boosts
I use DORA,” Mims describes, “I find in productivity, or additional capabilities
myself thinking I’m inhabiting the robot’s they can tie to revenue. “So far, the
body. As I turn around to look at my marketplace hasn’t found that yet,”
actual body, sitting at a desk and wearing he says.
a VR headset, I think, ‘Who is that guy?’” Chun agrees acceptance has been a bit
slow and gradual, but he believes as the
DORA’s team hails the use of virtual reality technology proves itself and demonstrates
and tele-operated robotics as establishing its economic worth, greater acceptance
a groundbreaking PVI, or physical-virtual and adoption will result. “In the same way
A group of University of Pennsylvania students
interface. However the team describes teleconferencing software has matured,
has created a robotic platform called DORA that
DORA, the system’s potential seems almost such as with Skype, the computer with a
it describes as “your personal avatar.”
unfathomable in scope. mobility base will be universally adopted
by businesses,” he says.

and hasn’t lived up to early expectations. who is going to argue with that?,” Kara Finding Value
Companies finding success using them says. “The problem is that’s just not As Kraus notes, tele-robots are still
are mostly smaller firms in the Bay area enough to make a viable marketplace or a very much in the early adopter stage.
on the leading edge in terms of adopting viable business model.” She expects it will be five to 10 years
technologies, he says. “Once you get past Other challenges concerning tele- before any type of meaningful adoption
that, it really drops off,” Kara adds. “The robots include wireless coverage/ occurs, “assuming that the robots provide
robotics industry has a lot of really good connection dropouts and difficulties in a meaningful value proposition at an
things going for it, but it has a lot of bad navigating around obstacles. Kara notes affordable cost. Remote participation
things going for it in terms of what users’ manufacturers are making improvements and travel cost-savings apply to any
expectations are.” concerning wireless support, but “there’s videoconferencing system. Robots need to
Kara acknowledges there’s an often- a reason why when you see commercials offer unique benefits and functionality to
repeated notion that there’s a huge for remote telepresence systems or robotic succeed.” For now, Sutherland says based
social or moral imperative for using tele- vacuum cleaners they don’t look like on her experience, reality concerning tele-
robots—think of the elderly in-home they’re in any house I’ve ever lived in,” robots has exceeded her expectations. “And
example or that tele-robots and remote meaning tele-robots are typically shown what I find most exciting is that we’re still
working will keep more cars off the road moving on hardwood floors in areas with in the beginning phases. The technology
and enhance workers’ home lives. “Well, little clutter and few rugs. “These systems will only get better,” she says. ■

72 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Yeah, we know you have blogs to post, video to encode, reports to write, and code to compile. We do,
too, but you have to take a break once in a while (and maybe blow some stuff up). That’s why each
month we give you the lowdown on what to expect from the latest interesting games.
Game Of The Month

Searching For Meaning

In A Maze
BY JOSH COMPTON

$39.99 (PC, PS4) • ESRB: (E)veryone

Thekla • www.the-witness.net

There was a moment in The Witness where I felt trapped. I solved a If you don’t enjoy the challenge of not only solving a puzzle but understanding
few puzzle panels in a row and then the walkway beneath me moved, how it works and why you were able to solve it, you’re probably not going to
separated from the main island, and connected to a new area with winding like The Witness. To fully enjoy the game, you need to be willing to tackle that
metal paths and stairs. I looked around and realized there was no way out challenge head-on and let the world around speak to you.
except to solve two puzzles to open a door or to solve a series of panels
to keep moving forward. I felt like I was out of my depth with some of the Even when I thought I was stuck, the game didn’t make me feel stupid for
other panels, so I opted for the door. I solved the first puzzle easy enough, not quite “getting it.” I had to realize, in my own time, that the game was
but then I spent 20 or more minutes trying to solve the second one. Yep, I slowly feeding me information and telling me, without any text or dialog,
was trapped, and it was time to quit playing for the day. how to solve the different types of puzzles in the game. It felt like The
Witness was communicating with me, trying to tell me that I needed to
I left, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the puzzle. Luckily, I had taken a explore a bit more and then come back later.
picture of it with my phone. I sent it to myself in an email and uploaded it
into MS Paint (I know, I know). I started tracing it again and again. Nothing The Witness, with all its secrets, gives you just enough information and holds
seemed to work. Then, something clicked. I realized I had to invert the way onto its mystery just enough to keep pulling you through the island. Each time
I was looking at the puzzle. I had to actually change the way I was thinking, you solve a given type of puzzle, it gives you a little more insight into the rules
and once I was able to solve the puzzle of my own misguided thought of the island. As an example, with the knowledge I gained from later puzzles
process, I finally came around to the solution for the real puzzle. That and from moving on to a different area for a while, I was able to go back to
feeling of relief, and the feeling of accomplishment once I was able to leave the game’s start and open a vault that at first seemed impenetrable.
that area, is something not many games, if any, can achieve.
Some puzzles reward you with more puzzles, but others open up an entire
The Witness seems simple on the surface. You walk around a beautiful new area to learn and explore. But in the end, the real reward for me was
and colorful island full of unique locations and solve a series of maze-like getting to play a game as masterful as The Witness. It took nearly eight
line puzzles. But as you move deeper into the world, you’ll find yourself years for Jonathan Blow and his team to finish the game, but it was well
surrounded by different puzzle mechanics that will take you out of your worth the wait. If you’re not afraid of solving puzzles and can work through
comfort zone and make you think outside the box (sometimes literally). the confusion and frustration that sometimes comes along with it, you owe
While the world beckons you to explore and the puzzles start off simple it to yourself to experience The Witness. I’ve never played anything quite
enough, things can quickly become complicated as you try to progress. like it, and I don’t think that experience will be replicated anytime soon. ■

74 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 That Belongs In A Museum
BY ANDREW LEIBMAN

$59.99 (PC, Xbox One) • ESRB: (M)ature

Crystal Dynamics • www.tombraider.com

A year after the events of Tomb Raider (2013), Lara Croft has been The game also doles out credits for performing various feats. From the
discredited in the ensuing cover up. So she goes home and buries Marketplace menu, you can spend these on Expedition Cards, which
herself in the research of her late father, a man who was also shunned modify gameplay in a variety of ways. There are cards that make the
by his peers for obsessively pursuing an immortality-granting artifact enemies stronger, give Lara even more of an unfair advantage, and
called The Divine Source. His shame and disillusionment ultimately just make things more interesting. Exploding chickens, big head mode,
took its toll on him, but Lara’s trip through a tomb in Syria suggests automatic reloading weapons, and time-slowing enhanced reflexes are just
that maybe he was onto something. a few of the effects you can enjoy in the alternate gameplay modes. Score
Attack changes the game objectives and gives you a time limit, Remnant
The game starts with Lara and her cohort Jonah scaling a snowy Resistance lets you configure your own objectives and battle the enemies
mountain peak in Siberia in search of the mythical lost city of Kitezh. you choose, and Chapter Replay lets you dive back into completed portions
As Lara leaps, shimmies, grapples, zip lines, and rope swings her way of the game with all the skills and upgraded weapons you’ve managed to
through the wilderness dotted with tombs (seriously, Siberia is teeming earn during your playthrough. Four difficulty levels add to the replay value
with tombs), a mysterious organization called Trinity keeps popping up to and ensure that the game is as easy or difficult as you want it to be.
thwart her expedition.
The PC version of Rise Of The Tomb Raider looks fantastic, and as such,
Like the previous game, Lara has a deep skill tree to help make her a more the developers recommend a GeForce GTX 970 for running the game
efficient killer, hunter, and survivalist. You earn points for nearly everything at 1080p with high settings. Even more impressive than the visuals
you do, but performing headshots and stealth kills, chaining your attacks, is the story, which has just the right amount of plot twists, solid voice
and using finishing moves grant you even more. Lara has a host of acting, and hours of spoken dialog that really give you a sense of the
firearms, bows, and other gear that she can wield, and each item can be numerous characters and their varied motivations. But how good is
upgraded to deal even more damage. Wild animals such as bears, wolves, Lara, the heart and soul of the game? Fear not TR fans, Lara’s arc is
and lynxes roam the forests and valleys, and although they’re challenging believable and interesting, her movements are lifelike, and the voice
prey, their pelts are necessary for crafting Lara’s upgraded gear. work is better than ever.

As you explore, you’ll discover caches of Byzantine coins that you can Rumors suggest that Crystal Dynamics is working on another TR
exchange in-game for weapon upgrades. Toward the end of the 30- game, but after watching Lara tear through mercenaries, wildlife, and
hour campaign (it took us 34 hours) you’ll have loads of the things, so supernaturally-powerful guardians like a hot machete through a snow
don’t hesitate to spend them. drift, we’re surprised there’s anyone dumb enough left to oppose her. ■

CPU / March 2016 75

 The Tell-Tale Canvas
BY VINCE COGLEY

$19.99 (PC, XOne, PS4) • ESRB: (M)ature

Aspyr Media • layersoffear.com

What frightens you? Is it the well-timed, unexpected jump scare?

Perhaps it’s the disfigured monster (or horde of disfigured monsters)
that pursues you relentlessly, hungry for a snack? Maybe the
atmosphere and story combine to create a crescendo of dread, letting
your own thoughts become the monster. Layers of Fear, the latest
from Polish developer Bloober Team, uses damn near everything in the
horror toolbox, to varying degrees of success.

The game puts you in the shoes of an unnamed painter (I never

discovered his name, at least) who’s clearly fallen on hard times. As
fame, fortune, and sanity have slipped away, you’re left with a single,
overriding compulsion: finish the masterpiece you were born to
create. The journey sends you through your Victorian mansion, which essentially a guided tour through a haunted house, a little more subtlety
quickly turns into a labyrinthine nightmare that reveals the depths of here and there would’ve made for a much more chilling experience.
your psychosis.
The real star of LoF is the haunted house. As you explore, the mansion
Crazed artist sound a little tropey to you? Well, it is, but this is the twists, turns, and folds back on itself. Rooms reconfigure and disfigure
first time we’ve seen a horror game use painting as its focus, so themselves as you look around, and the effect is marvelously seamless.
we’ll cut LoF some slack. We’re less charitable with the scare tactics Built on the Unity engine, LoF’s graphics are better than mind-
the game tends to rely on, though. The first half of the game seems blowing—they reveal the painter’s madness so perfectly that it very
positively giddy at throwing jump scare after jump scare at you, to nearly redeems the game’s heavy-handed writing. Add music that’s
the point you know exactly where they’re lurking. Nothing makes fear pitch-perfect, and I was left wondering whether LoF would’ve been a
wilt quite like predictability. stronger game without speaking a single word.

For a game that puts painting front and center, perhaps it’s no surprise Although LoF lurches and flails through its first half (not unlike the ghoul
that LoF’s writing tends to be pretty clichéd. Granted, great horror writing that torments you at various points throughout the mansion), it really
isn’t easy to pull off, but like its jump scares, LoF takes every opportunity finds its footing at the midway point and wraps up with a satisfying
to remind you, “HEY, THIS ARTIST IS CRAY-ZAY!” When your game is denouement. In fact, LoF has three endings based on a few minor
choices you can make, and each one (h/t to YouTube for “unlocking”
them for me) is profound in its own way. It’s hard enough to have one
good ending; having three sensational conclusions is LoF’s true magnum
opus. What started as crayon scribbles became a real work of art.

So in a way, Layers of Fear succeeds in spite of itself. Collectors and

treasure hunters will also enjoy that the game rewards you for opening
every drawer and inspecting every nook and cranny (including the
ceiling). Depicting psychosis is a difficult and delicate task, and there
are definitely moments when the game fails. But when it succeeds, it
creates a waking nightmare that’s tough to shake. If that frightens you
like it frightens me, let Layers of Fear paint you something scary. ■

76 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Fire In The Sky
BY JOSH COMPTON

$19.99 (PC, PS4) • ESRB: (M)ature

Panic • www.firewatchgame.com

often, but getting lost can actually benefit you in certain situations as new
conversations unlock and you get to know the characters better.
Firewatch is all about the story, and your experience with the game
will almost solely depend on whether you connect with the two main The other star of Firewatch, besides the two interesting and relatable
characters, Henry and Delilah. What I will say is that the game starts off characters, is the art design. Much has been made of Olly Moss’s
with a Pixar-like punch that will at least make you feel somewhat sorry for involvement (look up his poster designs when you get a chance), and it
Henry as he embarks on his summer as a fire lookout in Wyoming. His only shines through every step of the way. From the rock formations, trees,
touchpoint in this lonely scenario is Delilah, who also happens to be Henry’s and rivers to the posters, book covers, and every item you interact with,
boss and a fire lookout in her own right. You communicate with her via the game is brimming with style. I’ll admit I fell in love with the art style
handheld radio as she gives you orders, but your relationship soon evolves, when I first saw the trailer and screenshots, but exploring the world of
depending on which dialog options you choose. Firewatch and interacting with it is like stepping into a painting.

In my playthrough, I found the conversations between Henry and Delilah You can’t talk about Firewatch’s visuals without mentioning the lighting. As
to be touching in certain situations and outright hilarious in others, but you pass through each day in the game, you get a real sense of time, whether
what impressed me most was how real they felt. I don’t think I’ve ever it’s early in the morning, deep into the heat of the afternoon, or at sunset. The
played a game where I got so lost in the world and found myself thinking way the light shines through the trees and outlines the silhouettes of faraway
about what Henry would do in a given situation and what choice he cliffs and outcroppings is—there’s no other word for it—beautiful. There
would make rather than what I thought was the right decision. I almost were times when I could’ve moved the story forward by performing a certain
felt like I was in on the writing process and helping craft the story along action, but I instead decided to sit there and take it all in.
the way. And every time the story twisted and turned, I was right there
with Henry and Delilah trying to figure out what was going on as the Firewatch was a special experience for me. I could honestly see myself
mysteries began piling on top of one another. playing it once or twice a year just to spend some time with Henry and
Delilah again, and of course to wander through the beautifully realized
Your interaction with the world typically involves Delilah telling you about world. In a medium where narratives tend to rely on fantasy, science
an event, such as fireworks in the sky or a pillar of smoke rising in the fiction, or other otherworldly themes, it was refreshing to play a game
distance, and then telling you to take care of it. You have a map, compass, that was so grounded and human. This is the first release from Campo
and backpack at your disposal at first, but you gradually pick up tools Santo, which includes developers that worked on Telltale’s The Walking
along the way that give you access to new areas or new ways to interact Dead and the BioShock series, but with this game, the studio has created
with areas you’re already familiar with. If you’re like me, you’ll probably something wholly unique. Firewatch is an instant classic in my eyes, and
get turned around a few times, so it’s important to check the map every so it’s clear that Campo Santo has a bright future. ■

CPU / March 2016 77

Arrows & FRAPS
Benchmarking With Rise Of The Tomb Raider
f you’ve read our review of Rise
I Of The Tomb Raider, then you
know we’re fans of how great the
game looks. To get the most out
of Lara’s latest adventure, however,
the developer suggests using a
powerful graphics card. In this
article, we’re passing along some
instructions for benchmarking
with ROTTR. Use this benchmark
to tweak your settings to the
point that you’re happy with the
game’s performance, or maybe it’ll
convince you that it’s time for an
upgrade. Whatever the case may
be, this game is worth it.

Before You Get Started

In order to run the bench-
mark, you’ll need to download You can pop these three with a single poison gas arrow.
and install the frame-counting
utility FRAPS (www.fraps.com).
Once it’s installed and running, go to From here, press and hold the SHIFT and then use another poison arrow to nail the
the FPS tab, put checks in the FPS and key to run down the mountain path, guy in the middle of the room, mopping up
MinMaxAvg boxes. The utility stores a log collecting the blue wisps to keep you anyone left standing with the bow.
file in the C:\FRAPS\Benchmarks directory. moving in the right direction. There will Move ahead until you fall through the
But before we can begin, you need to be a cutscene when you approach a stone floor, then silently take out the two guys
progress far enough in ROTTR’s campaign archway, but these are rendered in real- here. There are enough mushrooms in this
to unlock The Acropolis level. Once there, time and shouldn’t adversely affect your area to craft more poison arrows, so grab
manually save the game and quit. framerates, so you won’t need to skip them. them to make the final room a breeze.
When the cutscene ends, immediately use Climb through the high gap in the bricks,
The Run your bow to take out the three men, starting head left, and then hit the middle guy with
Start by launching and running FRAPS, from the right and moving to your left. Next, a poison arrow. Step forward, and when
then launch ROTTR. From the main grab a couple more wisps, but then target the the next cutscene begins, hit the FRAPS
menu, click the Expeditions menu, then middle of three men in the far-right corner of shortcut again to stop counting frames.
choose Score Attack and The Acropolis for the marketplace, shooting him with a poison
the Mode and Level, respectively. Click gas arrow (using the middle mouse button). Our Scores
Continue, click Continue again on the This should take out all three and maintain This benchmark offers a little bit of
Choose Challenges screen, and then click your stealth. Pick up the remaining wisps, everything in a span of about four minutes.
Start Game on the Choose Cards screen and head down the narrow path and into the With the graphics set to High, we were
and press the FRAPS Benchmarking underground area, taking out the two men able to score between 70 and 74 frames per
hotkey (F11 by default) once the you’ll find there, one at a time, using your second on average. Check out the video at
countdown begins. bow. Next, press F to perform a stealth attack, bit.ly/1Ldd1B2 to see how we did it. ■

Test System Specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-5960X; Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-X99-Gaming G1; GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 970 XTREME GAMING;
Memory: 16GB Crucial Ballistix Elite DDR4-2400; Storage: 240GB OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS SSD; OS: Windows 10 Enterprise (64-bit)

CPU / March 2016 79

 Q&A With Frank Azor
Alienware Leader Talks 20 Years
Of Serving PC Gamers
On Oct. 15, Alienware will turn 20 years old. That’s 20 years of innovating, developing, and building top-level desktops, notebooks, PC
consoles, and other PC gaming gear with PC gamers specifically in mind. To learn about Alienware’s origins and how it grew, evolved,
innovated, and prospered over that stretch, there’s no better source than Frank Azor. As Alienware’s fourth employee ever, Azor hasn’t just
been around the block, he helped cut and pave the stones that Alienware used to build a global, critically-acclaimed presence.

Hired in 1998, Azor is now general manager of Alienware- and XPS-branded products at Dell, which acquired Alienware in 2006.
Along the way, he left college early to focus completely on Alienware; acquired multiple patents as an engineer; helped bring about
numerous company and industry firsts (including the first high-performance gaming notebook with the Area-51m); and helped Alienware
successfully transition from a small, private custom PC gaming system builder to an integral part of Dell’s business. All this and he’s still
just 34. In association with a host of “20 years of Gaming Excellence” events scheduled this year to mark Alienware’s 20th anniversary,
we spoke with Azor about Alienware’s past, present, and future. (Read our entire conversation at www.computerpoweruser.com/20191)

serves to help amplify everything we

Q : It’s safe to say some users have never
owned anything but an Alienware-
made system. What does that loyalty say
wanted to do and help our vision come
true across all these different innovations
both about Alienware and its customers? and categories and countries that we’ve
expanded to since the acquisition. As our
: Thanks for the question, actually. customers have seen our progression over
FA We’ve been doing this a long
time. Almost 20 years, as we’ll celebrate
the years, they’ve seen us keep them at
the forefront of everything we do. They’ve
this year. We know the thing that truly seen our quality only improve over time.
kept us successful over this time frame They’ve seen our commitment to them
has been our emphasis on our customer improve over time. I think that’s what
base, and also the leadership in charge of keeps folks on Alienware and trusting us
Alienware. We are our own customers. It over such a long period of time.
helps a lot in ensuring that we preserve
our integrity and preserve our tenants as
a brand and as a company to our own
customers because when we don’t, if we
Q : You made an interesting comment
elsewhere about Alienware serving
the person who can build a great gaming
don’t, we’re violating that trust and loyalty system himself but who no longer has
that we have ourselves in our products. the time or even energy to do so. That’s
We started by focusing on a very of our resources, all of our innovation. where a high-performance turnkey
specific profile or user, that being the PC Everything we do is centered around this gaming solution is of great value. Can
gamer. I think by doing that—and over thing we love to do ourselves, which is you comment on that?
the years we deviated in some points in play videogames, and for us specifically,
our history where we experimented a primarily on our PCs. So that’s been the : A lot of us who work here, and even
little bit with workstation customers and
digital home stuff, but we always came
secret sauce, if you will. Even when Dell
acquired us almost 10 years ago now, it
FA the founders of the company, were
DIY guys. We built it ourselves. And for a
back to the PC gamer, and that’s always did an excellent job of listening to us long time even after we started Alienware,
been our primary focus—it’s allowed and preserving everything that made we just still tinkered and built our own rigs.
us to prioritize all of our thinking, all Alienware unique and special. It only The truth is you’re always going to build your

80 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 own rig better than anyone else is going to
build it for you. You’ll always find a way to
build it cheaper. You’ll always find a way to
customize it just the way you want it. There’s
no way we’ll ever be able to compete with
that and that’s nowhere in our strategy. We’re
trying to let people know, “Guys, that’s not
what we’re trying to do. We’re not trying
to say we build it better than you by any
means.” But there comes a point in most
people’s lives, not everybody, but most
people, where we still love PC gaming, but
we have a little less time for it. When that
occurs in your life, that’s where Alienware
makes the most sense.
If you don’t want to have to learn all
the technical know-how of building your
own system or you’ve run out of time to
be able to do so and just want to really
focus on playing the games, we give you
a turnkey system that’s not only going to
be pretty damn good as compared to what
you’ll build yourself—it would probably
get you 90% of the way there—but when
Alienware invested millions of dollars and three years of design, innovation, development, and something goes wrong, it’s our problem,
production work into the Area-51 Triad chassis before its launch in 2014. not your problem. You call us, we’ll get
it up and running for you. We’ll even
dispatch an engineer or a technician to your
house to swap out the parts for you and
get things running for you so you basically
have as little downtime as possible, if not
any downtime. Then we have some retail
partners even where you can bring the
system in and they’ll fix it for you onsite.

Q : Alienware has already announced

several events and new releases
for 2016 to correspond with its 20th
anniversary, including an Area-51
Case Mod-Off Challenge that CPU is
participating in. What other events and
releases do you want customers and others
to know about, and what does Alienware
have planned for the near future?

: There are a lot. We have several

FA new things going on around
our community. Our Twitch page. Our
Alienware Arena. Our YouTube channel.
We’re going to be doing a lot of cool things
around there to inform folks about our
The Alienware Area-51 Triad chassis blown apart to reveal all its internal design and innovation glory. history, to have them participate and join
us in celebrating the 20th anniversary.

CPU / March 2016 81

 The Alienware Story, 20 Years In The Making
Alienware is the rare company that’s earned and deserves every bit of passion, and work ethic supplied by its like-minded founders Nelson
the “pioneer” and “trailblazer” accolades customers, critics, and industry Gonzalez and Alex Aguila who believed that rather than having to mass-
vets have tagged it with over the years. When Alienware turns 20 years produce systems at a commodity as other manufacturers were doing,
old in October, it will also be the rare company that’s never altered from they could cater to an audience of hard-core gamers just like themselves
its original mission: building, innovating, and supporting extremely high- who craved custom-built, high-octane systems that let them game the
performance PC gaming systems specifically for PC gamers. way they yearned to. Moreover, Alienware was determined from the
outset to hang its hat on providing personalized
It’s not exaggerating to say Alienware’s 20- 24/7 customer support that made any problems
year ride has been a wild one. Beyond scads with systems their own and not their customer’s.
of industry firsts, there was the acquisition by More than 200 editor choice awards and millions in
Dell in 2006 and, of course, a steady stream of sales later, Alienware’s success and dedication to
now iconic, industry-defining gaming products. its customer base continue to speak volumes.
In 1997, Alienware was the first to release
a custom-built gaming PC. The next year, it Alienware has planned numerous “20 Years of
released the legendary Area-51 desktop. In Gaming Excellence” events to celebrate its 20th
1999, it was the first to offer custom-painted anniversary, including an Alienware Case Mod-Off
desktops and first to offer both 16- and 32-bit Contest where CPU will help pick a winner from
graphics and sounds cards so gamers could play three teams of pro modders. Other events, including
DOS and Windows games on the same rig. In some surprises, are set for PAX East, E3, and other
2002, Alienware forever redefined where PC gaming could occur with the events. In no way, though, is Alienware heading into its next 20 years with
Area-51m, the first high-performance gaming notebook. Launching the first a sense of fulfillment. Appropriate for a company whose own name and
liquid-cooled gaming desktop and first customizable chassis lighting, and that of its products (Area-51, Hangar 18, Aurora, and so on) stem from its
being the first PC gaming system maker to offer user-upgradeable graphics founders’ love of space exploration, aliens, and science fiction, Alienware
cards and break the 4GHz barrier via an overclocked Area-51 ALX are just a is committed as always to keep exploring new gaming frontiers. Already
few in a long, long line of other accomplishments. this year, Alienware has previewed its upcoming Alienware 13 R2 gaming
notebook with its remarkable 13-inch OLED display. Plus, Alienware is
Fitting of a technology startup, Alienware’s wild 20-year ride started in a heading into the world of virtual reality with guns blazing via a bundle that
garage (in the Miami area) with just $13,000 in financial backing. What combines an Alienware X51 desktop and Oculus Rift at a reduced price
the fledgling company did have was an abundant supply of conviction, for customers.

I don’t want to ruin all the surprises, developers, customers, us, and our kin for HTC for that matter, to work smoothly,
though. We’re going to be showing some the next 20 years. like a turnkey experience. What does that
cool stuff at E3 that’s going to be in this We want to have interesting dialogue sound like? That sounds like Alienware in
vein. We look at 2016 as kind of the year like that. So there will be a dialogue at PAX 1996 and 1998. Not too different of an
of VR. This is like the first year of what East around that where I’ll be participating environment, right? Games were tough to
we expect it is going to be in terms of in. We’re doing an event here in Miami on get to work, required a lot of hardware, and
being a really successful platform and March 31 with a panel to talk about VR you had to be technically savvy to get this
medium for consuming and interacting and its future, and the 20th anniversary stuff to work. Well, we’ve been there.
with content and being relevant to our ties into that very well. The way we look at
lives for a pretty decent amount of time, VR to us is a lot like “Back To The Future”
probably as relevant as the PC has been
for the past 30 years. So a lot of the stuff
because VR is not the easiest thing to set up.
You have specific hardware requirements
Q : It often gets noted you’re Alienware’s
fourth employee ever, with the
implication being that you’ve seen it
we’re doing around 20 years is to look at that are pretty burdensome. The software all. On a personal level, though, how
the past and the amazing accomplishment has to be optimized. The entire platform has being a part of Alienware and this
we’ve had, but we also want to look at the has to be optimized, which is why Oculus industry so long enriched you? What has
future and what the next 20 years are going has been really sensitive to this Oculus- it taught you that you apply every day?
to bring for us and what technologies and certified PC program. There’s a fair amount
products and experiences are going to be of technical work that needs to go into : Wow. To be clear, I’ve been here
relevant for everyone, the entire industry, getting an Oculus-certified system, and FA since 1998, right after we renamed

82 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

the company to Alienware. I don’t like to over 100,000 employees that does business the list below the line started shrinking
say the original name because I like to use in pretty much every country around the considerably and the list above the line
it as a trivia question. But it was actually world. I had to learn what it was like to starting growing considerably.
a different name before that. Really, the integrate into a company like that. That We had always wanted to build
angle of creating Alienware occurred in was a lot to learn. an ultra-portable notebook, but it’s so
1998 when I joined. expensive to build a notebook product.
Wow, that’s a deep question. Alienware The engineering that’s involved. The
has been more in my life than it hasn’t
been. I’ve been a part of Alienware longer
Q : A lot has been written and still
is about Dell’s acquisition of
Alienware in 2006 and how it would
tooling that’s involved. It’s a lot of the
reason why when you look at a lot of our
than I wasn’t a part of Alienware. I’ve been taint what was special about Alienware. smaller competitors, they often pick up
here about 17 or 18 years now, and I’m You’ve stated many times, though, that someone else’s notebook and rebrand it
because it’s literally millions of dollars to
go make your own notebook. It’s tough
to do that, to go and experiment in a
notebook category like the M11X that
you’re not sure. There’s no market there,
and you don’t know if there’s going to be
a market around it. And that moved from
below the line to above the line. That’s
when we were like, “Wow, this is really
going to change things.” And then we
took external graphics, and that moved
from below the line to above the line.
“Let’s go put a patent around it. Let’s go
put a whole team around it. Let’s go make
it a reality.” We were like, “Wait a minute.
This is getting really interesting.”
The Alienware Graphics Amplifier, an external box
that brings full desktop system-level graphics
performance to notebooks, is a perfect example of
Q : Alienware has long had a global
presence, yet it has stayed true
to its Miami-area roots throughout
how a company full of PC gamers at heart sees a
its 20 years. What is Alienware’s
need and fills it so other gamers can also benefit.
ongoing relationship with the Miami
community, and why is it important?

only 34 years old, so about half of my : We’re in the same building today
life has been Alienware. I met my wife at
Alienware. I had my kids when I was at
Dell has actually enabled Alienware in
numerous ways. Bottom line, what is
Alienware doing now that it couldn’t
FA that we were in over 10 years ago
when Dell acquired us. How’s that for
Alienware. At one point, my picture was or wouldn’t be doing without its symbolism for how true to our roots we
on the manual that we used to ship out to connection to Dell? actually are? Miami is where I was born
customers wearing some glasses and a mask and raised. Most of the team that still
like a secret agent, which was pretty funny. : We always have this funnel of works out of Miami was born and raised
It’s not everything I know in my
professional life. I was given a phenomenal
FA ideas of things we want to go
do. And when we were a small, private
in Miami or moved here. We have teams
all over the world. You can’t run a global
foundation by my parents and my company, we called it “the line,” things organization like ours out of one city.
siblings, but when it came to professional above the line and things below the line. So we have teams in Austin, California,
experience, up until 2006, all I knew was The list of things below the line that Seattle, Taiwan, Europe, China, and
Alienware. I knew Alienware as a small we couldn’t do or afford to do or have Australia. We have teams everywhere. But
startup. I knew Alienware as a midsized the resources to do was huge. After we Miami has kind of remained that central
company. And then when we got acquired got acquired and started working on hub where everyone reports to, where we
by Dell, I had to learn a lot of new things. the strategy with Dell as to what our come together at least once a year because
I had to learn how to operate in a large long-term strategy was going to be, the this is where it all started. This is where
multinational enterprise company with simplest example that I can give you is the roots are. ■

CPU / March 2016 83

 Look For CPU At These LAN Parties

03.04-06.16 03.19-20.16
FITES LAN LanOC V18
Mechanicsburg, PA Van Wert, OH
www.fites.net www.lanoc.org
03.04-06.16 03.19.16
GNWLAN15 Oklahoma Gamers Group
Hillsboro, OR Oklahoma City, OK
www.gnwlan.com www.okgg.org
03.12-13.16 03.19.16
Gamers for Giving 2016 Willamette Valley
Ann Arbor, MI Gamers LAN
www.gamersoutreach.org Eugene, OR
03.12-13.16 www.wvgamers.com
LANtasy 2016 03.25-27.16
Victoria, BC Easter LAN
www.lantasy.com Menomonie, WI
03.17-19.16 pong.uwstout.edu
South By Southwest 03.25-27.16
Gaming Expo Wardogz LAN Group
Austin, TX Orange Park, FL
www.sxsw.com/exhibitions/gaming-expo www.wardogz.org
03.18-20.16 04.08-10.16
LANified 25: Colossal ATR Gamers
Calgary, AB Troy, NY
www.lanified.com/events/details/22 www.atrlan.net
03.18-20.16 04.09-10.16
MidWestLAN16 LAN WAR XXX
Milwaukee, WI Bloomington, IN
www.midwestlan.com www.indiana.edu/~gaming/lanwar.html

84 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

 Across The Nation—& Beyond!* Event scheduled to include a CPU case mod contest

04.09-10.16 04.22-24.16
Nexus LAN 17 PAX East*
Miamisburg, OH Boston, MA
www.nexuslan.org www.paxsite.com
04.09.16 04.23-24.16
SWVA Gaming X Eagle LAN
Abingdon, VA Fort Meyers, FL
www.swvagaming.com www.eaglelan.com
04.15-17.16 04.29-05.01.16
LAN ETS JGL Spring LAN
Montreal, QC Jackson, TN
www.lanets.ca www.lanreg.org/jgl/springlan2016
04.15-17.16 04.30-05.01.16
Maryland Parlor City
LAN Gamers LAN 4.0
Greenbelt, MD Bluffton, IN
www.marylandlangamers.net www.parlorcitylan.org
04.15-17.16 05.06-08.16
VectorLAN 7 Dreamhack Austin
Portland, OR Austin, TX
pdxlan.net dreamhackaustin.com
04.16.16 05.14.16
Oklahoma Gamers Group BearTrap Gaming LAN
Oklahoma City, OK Orem, UT
www.okgg.org www.beartrapgaming.com
04.16.16 05.20-22.16
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Eugene, OR San Diego, CA
www.wvgamers.com www.Sandiegolan.net/lanathon

Would you like us to help promote your next LAN?

Give us a call at 1.800.733.3809
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CPU / March 2016 85

 Q&A With Saeed Arash Far
Patriot’s Global Director of Engineering
On Viper Gaming Peripherals
: Wow, tough one, but here’s an
Q : For starters, what can you tell us
about Patriot’s Viper brand in general?
How did it get started, and what sets Viper
SAF analogy for you: When you buy
a car, you don’t look at the options menu
products apart? to see if the car comes with four wheels
and windows that roll down, you simply
: Patriot started the Viper assume that the car has those (options) by
SAF brand back in 2004 with our
high-performance Viper Series memory. The
default. So, to rank features that are in a way
expected to be present in a product of this
Viper line has since become one of our most caliber would be a bit hard.
well-known product lines in the computer If I have to rank them, I would put
memory market and consists of our high- them in this order: mechanical keys,
precision and engineered DRAM products. macro buttons, RGB LED lighting,
Patriot’s goal is to produce high-performance, consistency and management, and finally,
quality products at an affordable price for our a comfortable removable (magnetic)
customers, and that’s what we want to come palm rest. For any professional or casual
to mind when someone thinks of Patriot and gamer, the functionality of the keyboard
the Viper brand. trumps aesthetics.
Consistent click feel and switch weight on
mechanical switches are a must. Numerous
Q : Last year, Patriot added several
gaming peripherals to the Viper lineup.
How did the company decide to get into
affordable price to continue with our core
messaging and to set Viper products apart
research data points on mechanical switches
vs. membrane on how they operate and
the peripheral market, and what were your from the rest of the market. provide feedback to a gamer gave us all
goals in designing these products? Though we are new to the gaming that we needed to decide which direction
peripheral segment, we have more than 31 we would move in. The gamers want
: Yes, we added the V760 RGB years of experience in the computer hardware mechanical switches that have a tactile
SAF mechanical keyboard, the V560
RGB laser mouse, and the V360 7.1 virtual
industry. We leveraged all of that expertise
and know-how and consulted with our target
feedback yet are quiet with a consistent feel
when the keys are actuated. (This is how
surround sound headset to our lineup. When demographic to ensure our first series of we chose mechanical brown switches over
we made the decision to expand the Viper gaming peripherals would have the same other options.) Mechanical switches also
line, we wanted to support the gaming level of success as our storage and DRAM have superior performance when it comes
community with the same dedication and solutions. A lot of careful consideration, to durability vs. traditional membrane keys;
quality we already have in our storage and late nights, coffee, and pizza deliveries were this guarantees the keyboard to outlast all
memory solutions. For us, it appeared to involved in developing and perfecting this traditional membrane keyboards.
be the most organic step in Patriot’s pro- product line. We knew Patriot needed to 103 macro keys allow for customization
gression and our Viper line to engineer a create something that was appealing in both no matter what games are being played. Not
high-quality line of HID (human interface function and aesthetics, and I think that’s every gamer has the same style, setup, or even
device) peripherals. something we accomplished here. macro layout, so the Viper V760 allows users
As a result of countless hours of develop- to program up to five different profiles to
ment, we produced some of the most support their favorite games.
customizable HID solutions on the market,
built with quality materials and the options
Q : Let’s talk a little bit about the Viper
V760 Gaming Keyboard. How
would you rank the importance of the
When it comes to RGB lighting, the
visibility of the light and the uniformity of
that consumers look for when wanting to following features, and why? Mechanical the colors are of the most importance. You
update and upgrade. We also made sure keyswitches, RGB LED lighting, macro want all 104 keys on the keyboard to project
to offer the Viper gaming products at an support, and magnetic palm rest. the same color blue or green or any other

86 March 2016 / www.computerpoweruser.com

color from the possible 16.8 million choices We’ve been working in the background to fighter jet flying overhead, the Ultra Bass
that it can be set to. When it comes to light perfect the way this translation takes place Response enables the user to feel as if they are
effects, high-quality LEDs are important to between the mouse movement on the desk living the game and not just playing it.
avoid flickers and choppy animation. surface and the mouse cursor movements
With the removable magnetic palm rest, on the computer screen. In many cases,
it came down to functionality, comfort, and
ease of portability. The Viper V760 magnetic
we have found most gamers to be gaming
comfortably at 4,500dpi. The additional DPI
Q : For most of its history, Patriot has
focused on memory and memory-
based products like SSDs and flash
palm rest is designed to securely attach to settings are aimed at users that desire quicker drives, so peripherals seem like a pretty
the keyboard and be comfortable when cursor movements on the screen. big departure. What kinds of internal
playing hours of games, yet removable when
transporting the keyboard from one LAN
party to another.
 Q
  : Shifting gears now to the V360 7.1
virtual surround sound headset: Why
adjustments did designing, manufacturing,
and marketing gaming peripherals require?

: As with any new project and

Q : What inspired the interchangeable

side grips the V560 gaming mouse?
did you put the controls on the left ear cup
instead of the cord? SAF product, it required many
long meetings to analyze research, discuss
: Simple, by removing the consumer behavior, and determine how the
We’ve seen some of its features before, but
interchangeable grips are a new one. SAF controls from the headset cord product will be received. The important

Viper V360 Viper V560 Viper V760

: Selecting a mouse can be a and integrating them directly into the ear thing is to always remember that the work
SAF very personal experience for a
gamer. Interchangeable side grips have a
cup, we removed the weight of the control
mechanism from the cord, which makes for
is never finished. The way we interact with
everyday items can always be improved
profound effect on the way the mouse feels a much more comfortable feel when playing to create an easier and better overall
when it is held and operated. We wanted to games or listening to music for several experience. The recent improvements we’ve
make sure we could accommodate different consecutive hours. Additionally, not having implemented on the Viper V560 mouse
hand sizes and provide a solution that the controls on the cord prevents the control software are a testament to that idea. We
would feel comfortable for hours of game module from accidentally getting caught are always looking to further improve our
play, everyday use, or office work. against other objects and causing damage to products and welcome all feedback.
the cord and the headset.

Q : The V560 is selectable up to

8,200dpi out of the box, but when
users download and install the software, Q : We can get behind a headset with an
Ultra Bass Response feature, but why
Q : Can we expect more peripherals from
Patriot in 2016? What about other
new lines of products?
they can adjust it up to 12,000dpi. Why would anyone ever turn it off?
: New peripherals are already
the difference, and what kinds of gaming
scenarios benefit from 12,000dpi?
SAF : Good question. Experimen-
tation and curiosity perhaps?
SAF in the works! Specifications are
currently being defined, and we should have
: The laser sensor built in to With the UBR feature activated, the user is a full picture very soon. We are working on a
SAF the V560 has always been
capable of performing at 12,000dpi.
submerged in the game even more. With
explosions going off, rapid fire, or even a
new keyboard, headset, and mouse and hope
to release further information by June. ■

CPU / March 2016 87