News Archives for August 2015

In a single day, the Sun dumps far more energy onto Earth than humanity uses, which is one of the reasons many want to see solar energy grow in use. Among the problems with this family of technologies is the cost of the materials used, such as gallium and indium. By shifting to other, cheaper materials, solar power can become more common, and researchers at Rice University have made an important to that end.

This discovery concerns the plasmonic properties of metallic nanoparticles. When light shines on these nanoparticles, some of the photons will couple with electrons to form plasmons, but some electrons will be excited to even higher levels, becoming 'hot electrons.' These hot electrons are what one wants for solar power, but their formation and behavior has not been well understood because they could not be filtered out from less-energetic electrons. This is what the Rice researchers have overcome by placing a gold nanowire on top of titanium dioxide, with a layer of titanium between during some tests. When the titanium was present, all of the excited electrons would flow through, but when it was not, only the hot electrons were collected.

This discrimination between the systems allowed the researchers to correlate systems properties with hot electrons. They found the hot electrons were by a plasmonic mechanism called field-intensity enhancement, and not the total absorption of light by the nanoparticle. With this discovery it should be possible to design and tune metallic nanoparticles for solar power, which will be cheaper than modern solar cells and also more capable, as the nanoparticles can be made to absorb the whole spectrum, and not just specific pieces of it.

ASUSTOR, a leading innovator and provider of network storage solutions, has officially released version 2.3 of its Surveillance Center application. The stable release of Surveillance Center 2.3 comes just over two months after the company released the beta version of the application. According to ASUSTOR, Surveillance Center 2.3 includes a variety of improvements such as flexible automated event action rules, a variety of improved simple on-screen controls, more detailed permissions management, and foreign object detection for Intelligent Video Analytics. IVA happens to provide administrators with the ability to search through videos to detect if a foreign object has appeared in a specified area. The latest release of Surveillance Center from ASUSTOR also comes with full support for cameras from ACTi, BUFFALO, and PLANET.

Thermaltake has announced a new case, the Core V51 Riing Edition, that combines two of its popular products into a single unit. The Riing Edition takes the Core V51 mid tower case and pairs it with the Riing 14 high static pressure radiator fan to create an "enthusiast’s grade mid-tower chassis that creates unprecedented space for high-end hardware and liquid cooling expansion." The case features a green color scheme with the front panel, side window, and case fans all sporting the color. Three 140mm fans are included with the case with room for a total of nine fans and support for radiators up to 360mm in size. Motherboards ranging in size from Mini ITX to Extended ATX are supported and there is room for five 3.5" drives and two 5.25" drives.

A new week and a new month is upon us, with plenty of items to help get you started. There is a review on the Sapphire Nitro R9 390 8G D5 video card, as well as the MSI R9 380 Gaming 4G card to give you a couple different looks at AMD's new products. The Cyonic AU-450x Fully Modular 450W Power Supply that is produced from a SeaSonic partnership, so it will be interesting to see how it performs. We also have a look at the Logitech G29 Driving Force Racing Wheel, which can be used on the PC, PS4, and PS3, and incorporates force feedback to give you a better feel of the in-game action. Toshiba's FlashAir III Wireless SD card gets put to the test to how well it can wirelessly send you the pictures or videos on it. The Samsung Galaxy S6 gets compared to the Motorola Moto E to show what flagship and budget smartphones will get you. Finally a new podcast looks back at the latest news and reviews from the past week.

ECS has officially introduced a pair of new LIVA PCs that were first shown off at Computex 2015, the Core and X2. The LIVA Core uses an Intel Core M CPU with a 120GB SSD, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and Intel WIDI technology. The LIVA X2 uses a 64GB eMMC hard drive with the option to upgrade to a 1TB M.2 drive, up to 4GB of memory, and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. The new LIVA models are the first mini PCs on the market supporting Windows 10 out of the box, with the inclusion of dual microphones to also give users access to the Microsoft Cortana digital assistant.

Silicon is reaching the end of its days for electronics as we approach fundamental physical limits for its performance. We still have time though, and many are spending it to find replacements. One contender is black phosphorus and researchers at the Institute for Basic Science have discovered a powerful way to control its electronic properties.

For silicon to work as a semiconductor, it has to be doped with certain atoms to give it a positive or negative flavor. It is by combining n-type and p-type semiconductors that basic electronic components are made. What the researchers discovered is that doping is not required to give black phosphorus the extra electrons to be n-type, or the extra electron-holes to be p-type. Instead the thickness of black phosphorus will determine this, as will the metal used to contact it. This gives black phosphorus an interesting advantage as its electronic properties can be so readily tuned. It also has very good carrier mobility, which is the ease at which electrons can travel through it.

While this is all good news for a future for black phosphorus electronics, actually making the material is very difficult. Currently no means exists to make it on a large scale, and thin layers of it can only be made by scraping them off of bulk crystalline black phosphorus. Fortunately while black phosphorus can be a two-dimensional material, just one layer thick, it should be useable when there are more layers, and may even operate better that way.

Windows 10 has arrived, and if you're one of the many people who have downloded it so far, you're no doubt getting acquianted with everything Microsoft has done to its long-running operating system. However, if you've noticed a decrease in your download speeds, there is an explanation for that. Microsoft implemented a new peer-to-peer delivery system for Windows Update, which helps seed any updates to any computer on your network, as well as any PC connected to the Internet. This feature, if you can call it that, is enabled by default, and luckily it is one that can be easily disabled. You do need to go through some menu options, but once it's done, your bandwidth is back to normal.

In order to disable the P2P Windows Update, simply go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Advanced options. From there, click on "Choose how updates are delivered" and then click on "PCs on my local network" or just click "Off" to turn off P2P entirely. That's all there is to it, so you can either keep P2P for everything, just your network, or only rely on Microsoft's servers. Your bandwidth should now be back to normal.

With Intel officially launching Skylake-S tomorrow, it comes as no surprise that price leaks for the upcoming products are being posted online. Benchlife.info, a source that has been highly accurate in the past when it comes to rumored specifications and price details, has posted a table that shows the alleged prices of various SKUs in the Skylake lineup. From the data, it looks the Skylake-S lineup offers some serious value, as the Skylake “K Series” i7 is $64 less than the Broadwell flagship and $26 cheaper than the Haswell flagship. Additionally, the Core i5 6600K is a whopping $52 cheaper than the Broadwell Core i5-5775C, which happened to retail for $277, and $14 cheaper than the Haswell Core i5, which was selling for $239 upon release.

No matter the track record of Benchlife.info, the following prices are simply rumors at this point, but with Intel launching the Skylake-S chips tomorrow, consumers will soon find out if the following data happens to be correct.

The two main ways I learned in school to store electricity are capacitors and batteries. These two technologies operate in very different ways and thus have very different applications. Capacitors are able to quickly charge and discharge, giving them a high power density, while batteries are slower to charge but can store large amounts of energy, meaning they have a high energy density. Something that can achieve both high power and energy densities would revolutionary by how much it would simplify technologies, and researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology may have that solution.

The researchers have created a hybrid material by combining a silica sol-gel thin film with a monolayer of octylphosphonic acid. The silica sol-gel is the part the researchers were first working with and found it acts well as a capacitor, but when they tested it on a mylar film the capacitors suffered high current leakage. This problem was solved by adding the octylphosphonic acid, which acts as an insulator and blocks the leakage, without impairing the capacitor's performance or flexibility.

When measured, the capacitors demonstrated a maximum energy density of 40 joules per cubic centimeters and a power density of 520 watts per cubic centimeter. This exceeds conventional capacitors as well as thin-film lithium ion batteries. The lithium ion batteries used in our devices and electric vehicles though are still superior, but this still marks the first time a capacitor has surpassed a battery for energy density.

The beginning of a new day is here, with a couple of items for your viewing pleasure. We have a review on the Antec Signature S10 full tower case, which boasts a sleek design and plenty of features to go with a rather high price tag. There is also a look at the Shuttle DS57U Barebone kit, a model on the opposite end of the size spectrum that can fit a variety of Intel CPUs based on what you require.

Halo Wars was a real-time strategy game released for the Xbox 360 that put gamers in control of human and Covenant forces as they battled each other in a change of pace from the traditional FPS nature of Halo games. A sequel was announced by Microsoft today for Xbox One and Windows 10 devices with the added bonus that it is being developed by Creative Assembly, the team behind the Total War series of games. A brief teaser trailer was included with the announcement and a release date of Fall 2016 is expected.

Homefront: The Revolution received a new trailer today for gamescom 2015. Anyone at the show, media and public attendees, can get their hands on the game.

The open-world FPS is set in an occupied United States, with the player in the middle of a guerrilla war against a Korean corporation, and its military control. Surveillance drones, armored patrols, and police violence are the new norm under the Korean occupiers, as they have the advantage with better tech, weapons, armor, and air support. You will have to rely on hit and run tactics, ambushes, and surprise attacks to survive and eventually lead the Resistance to victory.

This new trailer shows a young child reading from a prepared document a thank-you message for all the occupiers have done from the United States, while the actual events are shown, both the beatings and the resistance. The game is scheduled to launch Spring 2016 for PC, Xbox One, and PS4.

Tt eSPORTS, the gaming focused product line from Thermaltake, has announced the addition of an audio component to the Battle Dragon series in the form of the Battle Dragon Wireless Speakers. The speakers sport a "simplistic and clean cut matte finish" that give them "a modern look that shouts sophistication and elegance." Six watts of output power provide mono and stereo output modes and a 900mAh Li-Polymer battery provides for up to nine hours of battery life. The speakers can be charged wirelessly or using micro USB in just three hours. The feature set of the speakers is rounded out with Bluetooth pairing, aux-in functionality, and multi-colored LED indicators.

Gamescom has officially kicked off in Cologne, Germany, and while plenty of games are going to be shown off during the conference, gaming gear will also be part of it. Corsair is a name many equate with a variety of computer hardware, from cases to RAM and SSDs, but today's announcement focuses on getting a deeper level of control in your games. An assortment of new peripherals have been unveiled at Gamescom, with the STRAFE RGB mechanical keyboards, the Scimitar RGB MMO/MOBA mouse, and VOID gaming headsets leading the way.

First up are the STRAFE RGB mechanical keyboards, which come in two varieties: STRAFE RGB and STRAGE RGB Silent. Both feature Cherry MX switches, RGB backlighting for a truly custom key lighting setup, FPS/MOBA keycaps with a textured and contoured style, anti-ghosting on the whole keyboard, and macro support on every key, but the difference is in which Cherry MX switches each one uses. The STRAFE RGB can come with either Cherry MX Reds or Browns, but the STRAFE RGB Silent uses a new switch dubbed a Cherry MX Silent. Corsair says these new switches combine with the noise-suppressing chassis of the keyboard to deliver up to 30% less noise than other mechanical keyboards, which should make anyone in your house or office quite appreciative.

Moving on to the Scimitar RGB MMO/MOBA mouse, this uniquely designed mouse features 12 mechanical side buttons paired with Corsair's patent pending Key Slider control system. This system allows the buttons to be moved up to 8mm to always keep them within your reach, so regardless of hand size, the macros can always be laid out to ensure a victory. The Scimitar mouse also has a 12,000 DPI optical sensor to provide the utmost precision in your game of choice.

The last part of Corsair's lineup are the VOID gaming headsets, which come in wireless, USB, and analog configurations. All feature microfiber-wrapped memory foam earcups designed to accomodate your entire ear for comfortable gaming sessions, without missing a moment of the action, and 50mm drivers. The wireless and USB versions have InfoMic status LEDs and a CUE Control dial to let you make audio adjustments without pausing the game, while also including RGB lighting, EQ, and Dolby 7.1 surround sound. Battery life is rated at 16 hours of uninterrupted gameplayThe analog version comes with a universal stereo solution that allows it to be used on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and mobile devices.

In addition to all this gear, Corsair also updated its CUE software with new presets for some unique lightshows, easier than ever lighting effects, and synchronized lighting across keyboards, mice, and headsets. The CUE software also allows for macros to be set up on keyboards and mice, mouse sensitivity and button setup, headset EQ, surround sound, and many more options depending on what items you are currently running.

The Corsair STRAFE RGB and STRAFE RGB Silent mechanical keyboards will be available in October for $149.99 and $159.99, respectively, with pre-orders starting this month. The Scimitar RGB MMO/MOBA mouse launches next month for $79.99, while all three VOID gaming headsets arrive in August. The VOID analog is $79.99, the VOID USB for $99.99, and the VOID Wireless $129.99 for the carbon color, or the Wireless SE with a snazzy Yellowjacket color and wireless extension dock (and Best Buy exclusivity) for $149.99.

During E3 in June, EA showed off the new Need for Speed game, which looks to recapture the experience of the older Underground games, while adding in new elements to the formula. Racers can modify their cars in any number of ways, with a wide variety of cars available to tweak, modify, paint, and drive however they want. Take the cars out on races, compete how you see fit, and advance along based on your style of play: Speed, Build, Crew, Style, and Outlaw. This new Need for Speed takes us to the city of Ventura Bay, and in it are five real world icons for you to impress and get on your side. These five icons introduce you to the five different playstyles, and each one can help you on your chosen path. Check out the new Gamescom trailer below to see just who is along for the ride.

Also introduced at Gamescom is a new trailer combining elements from the E3 trailer and the Icons trailer, along with some all-new footage. The in-game scenes are in-engine shots, while the real-life scenes are just that. Whether or not the story is told through those in the game or not remains to be seen, but either way, the real star are the cars. Porsches, BMWs, Mazdas, Toyotas, Subarus, Fords, and beyond are all featured, plus a few high-end models every now and then.

Need for Speed arrives on November 3 for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. If you missed the E3 footage, well, you can check that out below.

For a great many technologies, transparent electrodes are necessary, but few actually exist. The most commonly used example is indium tin oxide (ITO) and is actually quite expensive because of how rare indium is. Some alternatives involve networks of silver, which is also a rare metal, but researchers at Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie have created a new conductor that uses so little silver, that the result is cost effective.

A common design for silver transparent conductors arranges strips of the metal into grids, but this new solution instead uses nanowires in a loose mesh. First the silver nanowires are in a suspension with ethanol and then deposited onto a substrate. As the ethanol dries the nanowires organize themselves into that mesh, maintaining transparency and conductivity. Next the researchers deposit a layer of AZO, a wide bandgap semiconductor made of zinc oxide with a heavy dose of aluminum. This composite has proven to be as conductive as the silver grids, though the conductivity can be manipulated by altering the length and concentration of the nanowires.

In the end the new electrode uses just 0.3 grams of silver per square meter, compared to the 15-20 grams per square meter for the silver-grid solutions. Currently the researchers are working to optimize the software used to determine the optimal properties of the nanowires and see the new transparent conductor being used in solar cells.

We have arrived at the middle of the week, with several items to help get you over the hump. The be quiet! Shadow Rock LP CPU cooler gets put to the test to see how this low profile model can handle a workload. We also have the EK Water Blocks L360 liquid cooling kit that comes with everything you need to get your own custom loop set up and running. For storage needs, there's a review of the MyDigitalSSD's 240GB SATA m.2 SSD that sees how fast this small drive can access your data. If you need a way to control your PC from a distance, perhaps the Azio Vision backlit wireless keyboard is the one for you. Lastly we have the Lenovo LaVie Z and LaVie Z 360 laptops, two 13.3" models that feature reduced weight to allow for new levels of portability.

Intel's new Core i7 6700K has arrived today, bringing with it the company's 6th Generation Core architecture and the Skylake series. This new chip is built on the 14nm process and features four cores and eight threads, thanks to Intel's Hyper Threading. It also has a stock speed of 4GHz and a Turbo Boost of 4.2GHz, 8MB of shared L3 cache, DDR4 to the masses, and the potential to be a serious overclocker. The Core i7 6700K is just the first of the Skylake products to arrive, as the Core i5 6600K and beyond will be shown off during IDF15 later this month. Be sure to check out our reviews and others to see just how well the Core i7 6700K performs and overclocks to see just what Intel has on offer.

Last week, 2K Games confirmed that Mafia 3 does, in fact, exist, and we would get to see it during Gamescom. Well, a short while ago the worldwide reveal trailer for Mafia 3 was officially shown off, and boy, does this game look to be one to get. Mafia 3 takes us to 1968 and the heart of New Orleans, where our new protagonist, Lincoln Clay, has just returned from Vietnam. He's discovered that family just isn't who you're born into, considering he's an orphan, but who you die for, which he didn't learn until he was off fighting a war halfway around the world. Upon returning from the war, Clay, a half-black veteran, joins up with the Black Mafia in New Orleans, but sadly, they're wiped out soon after by the Italian Mafia, and Clay is left for dead. Now it is up to him to exact a path of vengeance and eventually create a power vacuum in the city, one in which Clay and his new mob can fill.

NSFW (language and violence)

Mafia 3 features different factions vying for control of New Orleans, and Clay has a way to bring them all together. Different gang leaders can serve as Clay's new lieutenants as they're welcomed into his mob, and all bring their own background to the party. Cassandra is leader of the Haitians, Burke has his Irish, and Vito Scaletta, who you may remember from Mafia 2, has his Italians, a different group than the one who wiped out Clay's former Black Mafia. You can bring these different groups into the fold and have them help you out with different abilities and favors, or watch as they try to undermine and betray you if they are unhappy with the current state of your crime empire.

The 1960s were a turbulent time, but also one filled with hope and change. Mafia 3 looks to play this up nicely, with New Orleans being an unwelcoming, racially charged city in 1968, one that looks to offer a unique experience to carry organized crime into a new era. Muscle cars, iconic songs, and the swamps and bayous of Louisiana should make for a stunning backdrop in Mafia 3, and one that we'll get to experience next year. Mafia 3 is set to arrive in 2016 (no exact date given just yet) for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Dust off your helmets and gear up for another adventure in Thedas, as BioWare has officially announced a new piece of DLC for Dragon Age: Inquisition. Called The Descent, this DLC takes us into the Deep Roads to an area far beneath the surface, where a Darkspawn horde await us. The Inquisition must solve one of Thedas' greatest mysteries, as the world is beset by earthquakes that could consume it. The Darkspawn may be the ones to blame, but there could be something else lurking within the depths, something more ancient and dangerous. The Descent can be undertaken anytime after you reach Skyhold, so while we don't get the questions after Inquisition ends answered, we do get to square off against the "ultimate Darkspawn horde." Based on how monstrous some of them look now, we should be in for one wild ride, especially when some Blighted dwarves stand in our way. The Descent features level scaling, so as your journey deeper and deeper in, you'll start facing tougher and tougher challenges.

Dragon Age: Inquisition - The Descent arrives on August 11 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One for $14.99. EA Access members can enjoy a 10% discount on the DLC, which is a nice little bonus.

Intel's new Skylake processors have arrived, and with them come a new chipset and socket for motherboards. The Skylake processors run on Z170 motherboards and the LGA1151 socket, which is no surprise given the processors support DDR4 memory. It does mean that some CPU coolers may not support the LGA1151 socket right away, but if you have an older Noctua cooler, you're in luck. Noctua has announced the NM-i115x kit that can upgrade its older coolers to support the LGA1151 socket and allow you to keep using that favorite cooler. This kit is a free upgrade for most Noctua owners whose cooler won't work on Skylake (there are some coolers that require the kit to be purchased). All you need to do is a provide a proof of purchase (screenshot, photo, or scan) of the Noctua cooler and either the Z170 motherboard or Skylake processor, and then Noctua will ship you the NM-i115x kit.

The NM-i115x kit works on all Noctua coolers made since 2005, but all new coolers that came with the SecuFirm 2 mounting kit won't need to take advantage of it. If you own one of those and are already on an LGA1150, 1155, or 1156 motherboard, you can swap over to LGA1151 without worry. To see which coolers already fit on which motherboards, you can see Noctua's handy chart here. The NM-i115x kit can also be purchased in stores for a small fee if your cooler is not part of the free upgrade offer.

Kingston has announced the addition of 8GB and 16GB dual-channel kits to the HyperX FURY DDR4 line of memory. The new sets of memory are targeted at the latest sixth generation Intel Core processors and Z170 chipsets and will be available at frequencies of 2133MHz, 2400MHz, and 2666MHz. The memory runs at just 1.2V and is cooled by a low profile black heatspreader. HyperX business manager Lawrence Yang described the memory stating, "We are thrilled to announce additional HyperX FURY DDR4 dual-channel kits in low-latency 2133MHz, 2400MHz and 2666MHz speeds for entry-level enthusiasts looking to maximize their gaming performance and user experience. These new modules reach the highest frequencies possible through automatic overclocking with no hassle. HyperX FURY DDR4 is ideal for anyone looking for maximum speed with minimum initial investment."

Microsoft has announced at Gamescom that the Xbox One will soon have "full-featured DVR functionality" that will be available to all owners with no additional subscription required. Television shows can be recorded in the background and can be streamed to Windows 10 devices using the Xbox app. The recordings can also be transferred to other devices to be viewed elsewhere. A Microsoft spokesperson clarified the functionality stating "DVR for Over-the-Air TV lets you record live over-the-air TV only," meaning that you won't be able to record cable or satellite broadcasts.

Flash memory has done a lot to change the state of electronics, as the medium is nonvolatile and much faster than traditional, magnetic HDDs. We are not done with magnets though, especially with the amount of effort being invested into spintronics that will enable computers to boot in an instant and use significantly less power. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have recently solved a problem they had in prior research that should help bring about spintronics.

The previous research concerned nanomagnets of tantalum, which the researchers found could have their polarity flipped by an electrical current, and not an external magnetic field. Magnetic fields are large and inefficient to make, so their use has prevented certain magnetic technologies from being integrated into chips. The problem the researchers encountered was that the nanomagnets had to be vertically stacked to pack enough onto a chip, but this orientation negated the polarity switching. It turns out that giving the magnets a slight tilt of even two degrees is enough to re-enable the electrical switching.

By creating a nonvolatile magnetic memory system that can be integrated directly into computer chips, it should be possible to significantly reduce the power consumption of a computer. This is because of how much energy is needed to transmit data between memory devices.

AMD's new line of video cards, the R9 Fury X and Fury, are slowly finding their way into the hands of consumers, but it seems R9 Fury owners can get a pleasant surprise. A tool is available to unlock the R9 Fury into an R9 Fury X video card, granting a higher level of performance than the card already has. Hawaii and Tonga video cards can also use this tool to unlock to the next step up, but before you rush out and try it, there are some issues to be aware of. The most obvious is you can damage and brick the card, while some cards may not be able to be unlocked at all or all the way. Still, if you don't mind the risk and want to try for more performance, this is your opportunity.

This tool, known as CUINFO, scans your video card to see if it had a cluster or two disabled, and if it has, then you can unlock it. Instant performance right then and there. Not all R9 Furys can become a full blown Fury X with 4096 stream processors (SP), but even if you can just unlock the Fury to 3840 SPs, you'll be able to get a boost. Remember, do this at your own risk as your card can break from it. If you're interested, hit up this link for the guide.

Semiconductors are critical to computers because they allow for nanoscale electronic switches to be built. They do have limits though, as the switches can only go so small and they put out a fair amount of heat. For some time now researchers have been working on switches without semiconductors, and those at Michigan Technological University have made an important discovery towards that goal.

This discovery is a hybrid material consisting of a sheet of graphene that has had pinholes put in it so boron nitride nanotubes could grow off of the sheet. Graphene is an atom-thick sheet of carbon that is highly conductive, while boron nitride can be made a single molecule thick and is a great insulator. Both of these materials feature the same hexagonal pattern, so they actually connect very nicely, and where they do heterojunctions are formed. These junctions are what make the hybrid material viable as an electronic switch, due to how the electrons flow near and around them.

Switches made from this hybrid material could potentially operate at very high speeds because of a high switching ratio, thanks to the great difference in conductivity between the two materials.

A new day is here, and with it comes a couple of items to get you closer to the weekend. We have a review of the ASUS Z170-A motherboard to use with the new Intel Skylake processors without breaking the bank, while still giving you USB 3.1, SATA Express and M.2, and overclocking potential. For those needing a new video card, there's the Zotac GTX 980 Ti AMP! Extreme, which has a triple fan cooler and a factory overclock to deliver some crazy fast performance.

Overclocker Chi-Kui Lam has set a new world record in DDR4 memory frequency using G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 memory at a speed of 4795.8MHz. The new record was set using the latest Intel i7-6700K CPU running on an ASRock Z170 OC Formula motherboard. Liquid nitrogen was used to keep all system components running at an acceptable temperature. The Ripjaws 4 series from G.SKILL has also been used to set new highs in several benchmarks when paired with the Intel Skylake CPU including 3DMark, Aquamark, and Cinebench.

BIOSTAR has announced the newest addition to its Gaming Z170 lineup, the Gaming Z170X, targeted at the latest Intel Skylake CPUs. The board is built around Intel socket 1151 with four DDR4 slots, three PCIe x16 3.0 slots, and support for SATA Express 16Gb/s storage. The board has a broad array of rear panel connections including six USB 3.0, two HDMI, one DisplayPort, and two gigabit Ethernet. Touch OC functionality is included which allows "overclockers to enjoy the best performance from their system with a touch of a finger." The Gaming Z170X has an MSRP of $219.

Since they entered the commercial market, lithium-ion batteries have proven themselves to be invaluable for mobile technologies, but sadly improving them has been difficult. This is because many possible ways to improve them have serious flaws, such as reduced lifespans and fire dangers. Researchers at MIT and Tsinghua University have recently developed a nanoparticle that could significantly improve batteries, without the problems.

One way to improve lithium-ion batteries is to change the materials used as electrodes. Currently graphite is used for the anode, and it can store about 0.35 ampere-hours per gram (Ah/g), but other materials have much higher charge storage capacities, like aluminum at 2 Ah/g. The issue with aluminum, and many other materials, is that it swells so much when it receives lithium ions that it could cause electrical contacts to disconnect and damage the electrolyte. What the researchers have done to address this problem is create yolk-shell nanoparticles of aluminum and titanium-oxide. In this configuration, the aluminum yolk is free to swell within the shell, as there is plenty of separation between the yolk and the shell, unlike core-shell nanoparticles where the components are bonded together. The new nanoparticles have a charge capacitor of 1.2 Ah/g at a normal charging rate, and 0.66 Ah/g when charged six times faster than normal, after 500 charge-discharge cycles.

The researchers actually created the nanoparticles by accident when they were processing aluminum particles and found the aluminum shrunk within the titanium-oxide shell they formed around it. This is actually very good news too, because the process is so simple it is easily scalable.

Treyarch, the developer of the latest upcoming Call of Duty title known as Black Ops 3, has revealed that the computers powering the first person shooter title at Gamescom 2015 have been provided by NVIDIA. The rigs feature an interesting and aesthetically pleasing design, and happen to be running Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 at 4K, thanks to the included NVIDIA GeForce Titan X GPUs. While the game is running at 4K and looks quite amazing at such a resolution, it is being limited to 60FPS. The Director of Development at Treyarch noted that Black Ops 3 is being limited to 60FPS due to G-SYNC, and that the computer builds provided by NVIDIA are more than capable of running the game at 4K with higher framerates.

Black Ops 3 is available for immediate preorder, which will provide customers with access to the beta version of the game. The final release of the latest Call of Duty title is currently scheduled for November 6, 2015.

TRENDnet, a company who has been building network solutions since 1990 and is a best-in-class wired and wireless networking hardware brand, has announced that its metal-enclosed network switches now come with a limited lifetime warranty. This warranty is only applicable to purchases made within the United States of America and Canada, but is retroactive to products purchased as early as January 1, 2015. Sonny Su, the Technology Director at TRENDnet, noted that, "Our switches have earned their reputation for being durable and reliable, and our limited lifetime warranty policy reflects this confidence in our products."

iBUYPOWER, a company that has been delivering some of the best gaming systems for the most discerning gamers since 1995, has officially announced that the latest Intel Skylake processors are available in select systems. Gamers will benefit from the overclocking potential, Turbo Boost Technology, and DDR4 support of the quad core i5-6600K and i7-6700K, allowing them to stay ahead of their competition. Intel's 6th Generation Core processors offers gamers with excellent performance and efficiency, and while a great video card is obviously needed to provide a truly immersive experience, the Intel Skylake systems available from iBUYPOWER can be configured with some of the best computer hardware available today.

Ever since unconventional, or high temperature, superconductors were discovered researchers around the world have been trying to understand how the phenomenon occurs. Now those at Brookhaven National Laboratory and ORNL have discovered that current theories for iron-based superconductors may be wrong. Instead of finding a link between long-range electronic and magnetic order, the researchers found a liquid-like magnetic state exists prior to superconductivity, and may be linked.

Current theories for high temperature superconductors state that long-range electronic and magnetic order, like patterns of electron spins, precede superconductivity. By doping an iron-telluride superconductor with sulfur though, the researchers were able to prevent the long-range order from forming, but the material still became superconducting as temperatures dropped. What they did observe was ordering only on a very local level, which is liquid-like behavior. This behavior comes from two coexisting and competing magnetic phases interacting within the material. Superconductivity came about after the electronic spin correlations changed, which would be like dancers changing partners on the dance floor.

In addition to challenging theories for iron-based unconventional superconductors, the researchers also got results that may require a revision to the model for electron orbitals in metals. The tight binding model has the electrons existing in rigid energy bands, but the spin-liquid state the researchers observed indicate new electron-orbital hybrids. This is likely the result of the sulfur doping and temperature changes.

The end of the first week of August is here, but not before some items arrive to get you through to the weekend. Intel's new Core i7-6700K processor gets reviewed to see what kind of boost Skylake can bring to your system. To run the new processor, you'll need a brand new motherboard, and luckily the MSI Z170A Gaming M5 motherboard is reviewed to see if it should be the one for you. If a new video card is what you're after, perhaps the Zotac GTX 970 AMP! Extreme Core Edition, with its custom cooler and high factory overclock, is for you. Or if you need something a little more powerful, we have a look at how the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti in SLI handles the AMD Radeon R9 Fury X in Crossfire. A new case mod uses the Corsair Obsidian 750D case for a very green internal build, complete with rigid tubing for the water cooling setup. Wrapping it all up is a podcast covering the latest news and reviews from the past week.

The Intel Extreme Masters gaming series from ESL has entered its tenth season, with the second event currently occurring at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. StarCraft II will be played for the second time this season while Counter-Strike: Global Offensive makes its first appearance after being added for season 10. As the official motherboard and graphics card sponsor of IEM, GIGABYTE has "equipped IEM Contestants with hardware that many gamers have dreamed to use." In addition to providing the hardware used in the tournament PCs, GIGABYTE is showing off its latest G1 Gaming motherboards with technology such as the Killer DoubleShot-X3 Pro which allows "all types of gamers to experience the performance of combining 3 different network interfaces for the most fluid and lag-less connection possible."

Thermaltake continues to add to the Core lineup of cases with the Core V1 Snow Mini ITX offering after announcing the Core V51 Riing Edition earlier this week. The case sports a white exterior and is split into two chambers, the upper chamber for "cooling performance and efficiency" and a lower chamber for the power supply and cable management. The small form factor case doesn't lack in features with room for four hard drives with modular racks, a 260mm graphics card, CPU coolers up to 140mm in height, and liquid cooling solutions. A single 200mm fan is included at the front of the case with space for two additional 80mm fans in the rear of the case.

After being contacted by a user on August 5, Mozilla has discovered and already built patches for a rather serious exploit. Before getting to that, if you use Firefox you should probably update to version 39.0.3 or Firefox ESR 38.1.1, depending on your version. To have the browser check for the update you can go to 'Help' -> 'About Firefox' and click the 'Check for updates' button.

The exploit comes from how the mechanism for enforcing JavaScript context separation (the "same origin policy") and Firefox's PDF Viewer. (If your Mozilla products do not include the PDF Viewer, like the Android version, you are safe.) The exploit does not allow arbitrary code to be executed, but does inject a JavaScript payload. So far the only observed use of this vulnerability was to transmit potentially sensitive files to a server apparently in Ukraine. Oddly the attack has a developer focus, as the files being searched for included configuration data for subversion, s3browser, and Filezilla on Windows, while on Linux it went after the configuration files in /etc/passwd as well as .bash_history, .mysql_history, .pgsql_history, and .ssh files and keys. Mac users would not be immune to this vulnerability, but were not apparently targeted.

The exploit does not leave a trace on a machine after it runs, so you may want to reset passwords if you use Firefox for Windows or Linux. As the exploit attacked via an ad on a Russian news site though, ad-blockers may provide a level of protection, but that is speculative and dependent on the blocking software and filters used.

MSI has chosen Gamescom 2015 to confirm to the public that it is indeed working on a Lightning version of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti. The card is under development as of right now, and while a prototype was not on display at this year’s Gamescom, the card is meant to compete against the likes of the EVGA GTX 980 Ti K|NGP|N. The running rumor surrounding the MSI GTX 980 Ti Lightning is that it will feature a core clock of 1217MHz, a boost clock of 1342MHz, and be priced somewhere between $849 and $1,049. While these numbers have not been confirmed by MSI, it is guaranteed that the GTX 980 Ti Lightning will feature a custom PCB, a revamped cooling solution, additional power phases, and higher quality and capacity VRMs.

Anyone performing an experiment likes it when there are the fewest number of variables involved, but actually achieving this can be very difficult. In the quantum realm where even small phenomena can collapse the system, removing noise and the like is even more important. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have successfully created the world's quietest gas by removing the noise of entropy.

For studying various quantum phenomena, researchers will turn to Bose-Einstein condensates, which are clouds of atoms that have been cooled to the point that all the atoms act as one. Such a system is valuable for studying superfluids, superconductors, and quantum magnets. What the Berkeley researchers created is not the coolest condensate on record (at a billionth of a degree above absolute zero, it is actually twice that temperature) but its entropy is a hundredth that of previous experiments. Entropy is a measure of the noise in a system, and so by reducing it, even the most subtle of quantum effects can be detected. It and the temperature were actually so low a new thermometer had to be invented just to measure them.

With this new, quiet gas it should be possible for the researchers to develop a better picture of how high-temperature superconductivity works. With enough study it may be possible to bring superconductors up to room temperature and then revolutionize everything electrical.

A new week has arrived, and with it comes several items to help get your week started. The MSI Z170A Gaming M5 motherboard gets tested to see how this new chipset handles Intel's Skylake processors. We also have the Fractal Design Core 1500 case, which has all the features of a larger case, but in a smaller and more affordable solution. An article examines the performance levels of Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and the brand new Windows 10 to see what difference there is between the three operating systems. Finally, we have an article looking at what exactly draw call entails with the likes of Mantle, Vulkan, and DirectX 12 APIs, and what it means for gamers.

Many of the higher end laptops you can purchase today feature discrete GPUs that have been designed for the mobile platform. As you can guess, this puts certain restrictions on the performance of the GPUs, so they will not match the performance of their desktop counterparts. According to some recent rumors though, NVIDIA may be getting ready to put the same GPU found in the GTX 980 into laptops.

Rumors popped up a while ago about this possibility, with code names like GTX 990M and GTX 980Mti. Now the rumors are suggesting that the performance of this new GPU, whatever the name may be, could come in around the performance of a GTX 980M SLI. As it is a GTX 980M SLI setup can beat a desktop GTX 980. The TDP of this monster chip, based on the same GM204 architecture of the GTX 980 is supposed to vary between 100 and 185+ Watts, while the desktop GPU has a TDP of 165 W.

Due to the high power requirements and the necessity of custom cooling systems, this new GPU will likely be soldering directly to laptop motherboards, and will not be something you can install on your own. Potentially we could be seeing laptops launching with this by the end of September, but expect it to cost a lot, with some estimates putting it at double the cost of a GTX 980M. We will just have to wait and see.

The Riing product line from Thermaltake is getting crowded with the recent additions of the Core V1 and V51 cases last week and now the Riing 12 and 14 LED Radiator Fans. The fans are 120mm and 140mm, respectively, and are "fitted to enhance static pressure, producing impressive cooling performance with an optimized fan blade." Hydraulic bearings and an anti-vibration mounting system help to minimize noise and increase stability. The fans are equipped with the patented LED Ring that "maintains color and brightness uniformity" and are available in yellow, orange, red, green, blue, and white.

A job listing has been posted by Blizzard for an Art Director on an unannounced project set in the Diablo universe. The job requires a great deal of experience in the field with a "minimum of 10 years' experience in creating video game art, with at least 5 years as a lead artist or art director," and "a proven track record of shipping AAA products in an art director role." Applicants should also have "passion for games with a deep understanding of the Diablo franchise."Diablo 3 started out a bit slow with some issues at launch, including the real money auction house, but seems to have turned it around since then with the Reaper of Souls expansion pack and numerous gameplay patches.

Windows 10 received a lot of hype before its official release, and while some users have had trouble installing the operating system, the latest version of Windows has received a wealth of praise as more and more people download and install it. Unfortunately, some users are not having the best experience with Windows 10, as the latest Microsoft operating system apparently suffers from slow startup times. This can be due to malware residing on the system, high impact processes that run during startup, as well as the disabling of the fast startup option included in Windows 10. Before downgrading to an earlier version of Windows to solve poor startup performance, those utilizing Windows 10 should follow these steps to help improve their system’s startup time.

Get rid of malware and viruses by running a full and complete system scan with a reputable security software suite.

Remove resource intensive startup processes that make Windows 10 appear slow to start. This can be done through the task manager, by clicking on the tab labeled "Startup," as well as through the services administrative tool that is available by running "services.msc."

Turn on the fast startup feature found within Windows 10. This can be done by going to the power options panel, clicking on "Choose what the power button does," then selecting "Change settings that are currently unavailable." From here, a new option titled "Turn on fast startup" will be present under "Shutdown" settings.

Astronomers working on the Galaxy And Masa Assembly (GAMA) project have recently completed a study indicating that the modern Universe is only producing half as much energy as the Universe was just two billion years ago. This drop in energy output was measured across twenty-one wavelengths from ultraviolet to far-infrared, and looked at over 200,000 galaxies. The energy being measured would be that produced by the nuclear fusion within the cores of stars, where mass is being converted into energy according to E=mc2.

The researchers intend to continue their research into the energy production of the Universe, covering more volume and looking at more points in time. To that end the researchers hope to use many new facilities, including the Square Kilometer Array, which is to be built in Australia and South Africa over the next decade.

A new day is here, and with it comes a couple different item to keep you occupied. We have a look at the HIS R9 380 IceQ X2 OC 2GB video card, complete with a factory overclock and custom cooler to help keep the temperatures where they should be. There is also the ADATA Premier SP610 256GB SSD, which uses the Silicon Motion SM2246EN controller for high read speeds and a low cost solution for your storage needs.

An easy way to conserve power on a laptop, tablet, or phone is to turn down the display brightness, as that is one of the primary energy users in these devices. Naturally then, a lot of work is being done to develop displays that are brighter while using the same amount of power. Quantum dots may enable the desired solutions, and now researchers at the University of Illinois have found a way to improve their performance as well.

Quantum dots are nanoscale, semiconductor crystals that can have their optical properties tuned. This capability makes it possible to design the crystals to emit light of specific colors, and so they already being used to enhance some displays. Unfortunately they are not always that bright and can be expensive to produce. What the Illinois researchers have done is add a layer of photonic crystals to the mix. These crystals focus the light from the dots in one direction, doubling their brightness.

To test this discovery, the researchers built a device just one millimeter tall that contains thousands of the quantum dots, with photonic crystals enhancing them. While the device they made was small, it is possible to scale the fabrication process up to create large, flexible plastic sheets, which will prove useful for displays and LED lighting.

The Smach Zero is a handheld version of the Steam Machine consoles that run the Steam OS from Valve, giving users access to their PC game collection in a console form factor. The device will be powered by "an AMD G-Series SoC named Steppe Eagle, which features a Jaguar-based CPU paired with a GCN-based GPU." The specifications of the chip are believed to be around 1GHz for the CPU and 200-300MHz for the GPU. The Steppe Eagle will be partnered with 4GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, and a 5" 720p touchscreen. The Smach Zero will be available for pre-order starting November 10 at a price of $330 with an expected delivery date of sometime in 2016.

A pair of upcoming Lenovo ThinkPads, the P50 and P70, will use Intel Xeon processors built on the next generation Skylake architecture. The laptops will use the Intel Xeon E3 1500M v5 CPU, an unknown NVIDIA Quadro GPU, up to 64GB of DDR4, up to 1TB PCIe SSD, and mechanical hard drives up to 2TB. Both models will also sport four USB 3.0 connectors, Mini DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4, and Thunderbolt 3. The P50 has a screen size of 15.6" while the P70 has a screen size of 17.3". Both screens start at 1920x1080 with the ability to upgrade to 3840x2160. The P50 has a starting weight of 5.6 pounds and the P70 starts at 7.6 pounds. The P50 starts at an MSRP of $1599 while the P70 starts at $1999.