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PC Enthusiats: What Can We Expect to See at CES 2015?

VR World Staff — Sat, 03 Jan 2015 00:08:07 +0000

With the annual Consumer Electronics Show right around the corner and the industry’s marketing efforts going into overdrive, what is it that we will likely see next week?

It’s a safe bet that if will be a week of opposites.

From hardware going to both larger and smaller designs, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) G-Sync versus AMD (NYSE: AMD) FreeSync, small displays with massive resolution, and gaming notebooks of both massive and diminutive sizes.

Small form factor hardware as is one of the fastest growing areas in the hardware segment, and no doubt there will be a lot of it on display at CES. With hardware becoming so powerful and small we are seeing a lot of really powerful builds that can be done. With even MATX X99 boards we are seeing that there is a move toward making things small and potent. On the other side there is a lot of huge pieces of hardware showing up on the market, namely 4K and ultra wide monitors. They are becoming even more prolific and the ultra wide monitors are drawing a lot of interest from gamers and power users who were once planning on going for a 4K monitor or two. There will be a lot of talk this CES about AMD’s FreeSync for enthusiast gaming monitors as it is the newcomer challenging Nvidia’s established G-Sync. FreeSync will draw the attention of monitor manufacturers since it is less costly to implement and license than the G-Sync solution. The LG 34UM67 will be a curved ultra wide monitor that will feature AMD’s FreeSync, and should definitely steal a lot of the spotlight next week.

The mobile computing segment is also something to watch next week as we will see a lot of small notebooks with very high resolution displays. It is easy to say that there will be a number of notebook models that will feature 3K and 4K screens, even at the 15.6-inch sizes. There will also be a movement with ultraportable gaming notebooks of small size that can be docked with a desktop graphics card for superior gaming ability while at a desk. With the shrinking of parts that make up computers we will be seeing a drastic reduction in size and weight of these ulta portable notebooks. Not only will they be smaller but they will be potent and even come equipped with quad-core Intel i7 processors and decent graphics. On the other hand you will also see that there is a move to the opposite extreme as there will be new 18″ gaming notebooks that will be the true embodiment of the “desktop replacement” name. Some of these huge notebooks will even sport gaming grade mechanical keyboards featuring Cherry MX Brown switches.

Be sure to check back throughout next week as CES 2015 kicks off in Las Vegas.

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Silent Base 800 Is The First Gaming Chassis From be quiet!

Harish Jonnalagadda — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 15:28:28 +0000

be quiet! made its name selling power supplies and cooling solutions, and now the vendor is entering the enclosure segment with the Silent Base 800, a high-end gaming chassis that offers sound insulation. Cooling is another factor that be quiet! lavished its attention on, with users getting the ability to add several aftermarket cooling solutions with ease in the chassis.

The Silent Base 800 is offered in three color variants: an all-black version, a black and orange model and a black and silver edition. Other than the variations in colors, the three models offer the same features. The side panels and front door feature an anechoic material that insulates sound. Behind the noise insulation panels at the front of the case are two 140mm Pure Wings 2 fans that are installed by default. A 120mm Silent Wings 2 fan is installed at the back of the chassis. The case comes with mounting holes for installing four additional fans.

be quiet! mentions that the panels on the sides have been designed to provide optimal airflow to the chassis. For those concerned about maintenance, all air intakes are covered by dust filters. The case can accommodate motherboards in ATX, micro-ATX or mini-ITX form factors, and can fit in CPU coolers 170mm in height and video cards 290mm in length. Removing the hard drive cage allows users to fit in video cards 400mm in length. The toolless-design drive cages can slot in seven 3.5-inch drives, four 2.5-inch drives and three 5.25-inch drives.

For users looking to install liquid-cooled radiations, the Silent Base 800 allows for installation of 120mm to 280mm variants. At the front, the case has two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports and HD audio connectors. All three color variants of the chassis will be available from November 24 for $139 in the US.

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Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI : The Start Of A HTPC

VR World Staff — Sat, 15 Nov 2014 00:58:44 +0000

When considering a new HTPC build a lot should be taken into account, and a big part of that should be the motherboard, If size is to be kept to a minimum then the obvious choice for a motherboard is a Mini-ITX form factor board. If it should be power efficient then the AMD APU lineup is a good starting place since it has decent GPU and CPU power. Choosing something that fits both of those criteria will mean that a A88X Mini-ITX board is likely on the list. This Gigabyte GA-F2A88XN-WIFI will fit the bill nicely since it has a lot of features that a user will want when building a HTPC and not a lot of unnecessary fluff filling up the already cramped board.

The HTPC is a great option for those who have a lot of media that they have accumulated over the years and want to watch on a tv or home cinema. There are plenty of large HTPC builds that users can do with a simple ATX sized board and a big case. But for those looking for something a bit smaller that will look great next to the tv or in the home cinema the Mini-ITX solutions are often the best. They will be compact builds and many of the HTPC cases for them look great and will blend right in with current components that users may have or will be getting.

Overview

Gigabyte is a well known and trusted brand and its boards are many peoples first choice when it comes to picking a new motherboard. They have a couple different choices of A88X Mini-ITX boards. The only current AMD chipset Mini-ITX boards that you can find on sites like Newegg are the A88X boards. So they made sure that people have a few choices in that small segment, which is great for selecting a board that will suit your needs. This board sits at the top of the lineup and it comes packaged with a dual band 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.0 add-in card. This means that the board is up to date with the speediest Wi-Fi standard available, and will be able to operate at speeds of up to 867Mbps.

The board offers a few features to enhance this board. The board has Gigabyte’s Ultra Durable 4 Plus, meaning that the board is built with good quality components that should stand up to stress that may come from certain setups. The board also uses all solid capacitors and Low RDS(on) MOSFETs which will work at higher temperatures and have longer lifespans. This board also features DualBIOS which means that users will have a second BIOS to fall back on if the first one has issues, such as a failed BIOS flash. Humidity Protection, Power Failure Protection, and Electrostatic Protection are all in the board as well. Also on the board is ESD protection for USB and LAN, as well as one fuse per USB 3.0 porst.

AMD Eyefinity technology is available for those who choose to use this as a small desktop build with multiple monitors. This board also has two HDMI ports instead of having multiple different options. With using a qualified AMD APU and GPU that have Dual Graphics technology the board will use both the discrete GPU and the APU to deliver better graphics performance. 4K Ultra HD support is there right out of the box as well via HDMI ports.

Specifications:

Model: GIGABYTE GA-F2A88XN-WIFI
CPUs: FM2+ / FM2 Athlon/A- Series
Chipset: AMD A88X (Bolton D4)
Memory: 2×240pin Dual Channel DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333
Maximum Memory Supported: 64GB
Expansion Slot: PCI Express 3.0 x16
Mini Card Slots: 1 x mini-PCI Express slot for the wireless module
SATA: 4 x SATA 6Gb/s
SATA RAID: 0/1/5/10/JBOD
Audio: Realtek ALC892 / 7.1 Channels
LAN: Realtek 10/100/1000Mbps
Wireless: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac with Bluetooth 4.0, 3.0+HS, 2.1+EDR

Rear Panel Ports

1x PS/2 keyboard/mouse port
1 x DVI-D
2 x HDMI
2 x USB 3.0
4 x USB 2.0
1 x Optical
5x Audio Ports

Internal I/O Connectors

2 x USB 3.0 + 2 x USB 2.0
1 x 24-pin ATX main power connector
1 x 4-pin ATX 12V power connector
1 x APU fan header
1 x system fan header
1 x front panel header
1 x front panel audio header
1 x S/PDIF Out header
1 x Clear CMOS jumper
1 x chassis intrusion header

Physical Spec

Mini ITX
6.7″ x 6.7″
Power Pin: 24 Pin

Features

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 4 Plus Technology
IR Digital 4+2 phase APU power design
GIGABYTE UEFI DualBIOS
Support for @BIOS
Support for Q-Flash
Support for Xpress Install
Support for EasyTune
Support for Smart Recovery 2
Support for ON/OFF Charge
Support for Wi-Fi Share
Support for Cloud Station

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MSI Z97I Gaming AC Review: Small Wonder

Harish Jonnalagadda — Tue, 11 Nov 2014 07:57:28 +0000

The mini-ITX market has seen a resurgence of late that has seen the rise of several products that cater to users looking to build a portable machine that offers stellar performance in a small form factor. To take advantage of the increased attention this form factor is receiving, vendors like Asus, Gigabyte and MSI have released motherboards and video cards catered to this segment, with MSI’s Z97I Gaming AC being the standout offering of the lot.

While MSI may not have the market share that is commanded by Asus or Gigabyte, the vendor has been distinguishing itself by offering products that cater to all segments. For instance, in the mini-ITX segment, MSI not only has the Z97I Gaming AC that is targeted at gamers and comes with a Killer Gigabit Ethernet, but also a regular variant called the Z97I AC that is aimed at mainstream buyers.

Overview

The Z97I Gaming AC comes with an LGA 1150 socket supports fourth and fifth-generations Intel Core i7/i5/i3/Pentium/Celeron CPUs. MSI is offering an AMI UEFI BIOS with 64 MB ROM that stores confirmation settings. Being a board catered to gamers, the Z97I Gaming AC can accommodate DDR3 memory modules clocked up to 3200 MHz (via overclocking).

The board features MSI’s standard military class 4 components that feature high-quality capacitors and DrMOS MosFETs, which ensure that the board runs stable under extreme conditions and increases longevity. Users also get a hardware overclocking feature in OC Genie 4, and circuit protection with Guard Pro.

In terms of exclusive features, we’ve got Audio Boost 2, which features a Creative Sound Blaster Cinema 2 that delivers 8 channel audio. There’s also 30µg gold plated Nichicon audio connectors and a dedicated headphone out, and a headphone amplifier that delivers 600Ω of distortion-free sound from the board. For users looking to connect an external DAC, MSI offers stable 5V USB ports called USB Audio Power. The USB ports are optimized for stability and feature additional shielding that prevent any fluctuations in voltage. All audio components are shielded from any electromagnetic interference thanks to an EMI cover.

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Lian Li PC-Q26 Is Ideal For Mini-ITX System Builders

Harish Jonnalagadda — Sat, 25 Oct 2014 05:51:56 +0000

The mini-ITX form factor is seeing a resurgence of late, with most vendors launching smaller variants of their products. Gigabyte, for instance, rolled out the mini-ITX version of the GTX 970 earlier this week. To take advantage of the burgeoning interest in this segment, Lian Li has announced its latest mini-ITX chassis, which is dubbed PC-Q26.

As with most Lian Li offerings, the PC-Q26 features a brushed aluminium design that gives the enclosure a premium look. The case is ideal for users looking to build a custom NAS, thanks to its ability to support eleven hard drives internally, with provision for ten 3.5-inch drives and one 2.5-inch drive. There’s also a hot-swappable backplane that can accommodate an additional two 3.5-inch drives. With a volume of 32.3 liters, the PC-Q26 offers system builders more than enough room.

Ease of installation has been a major area of focus with the PC-Q26, which is why the enclosure features pop-off side panels which allow users to quickly add or remove hardware. Hard drives can be mounted without the use of any tools, and the expansion slots are secured by a single thumbscrew.

The chassis comes with ample ventilation in the form of three 120mm fans that blow air inward, while a 120mm fan at the top direct heat away from the chassis. There are dust filters secured by magnets that prevent any ingress of dust, and the case fans come with removable filters for easy maintenance. An additional 80mm fan can be installed at the back if needed.

Being a mini-ITX chassis, the PC-Q26 can accommodate video cards 190mm in length and CPU coolers 150mm tall. Power supplies up to 190mm can fit in the enclosure, with the design allowing for the PSU to be mounted at a height, thereby preventing any contact from the case floor.

Front I/O includes two USB 3.0 ports and HD audio connectors. The PC-Q26 is now available for $189.

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Thermaltake Core V1: A Mini Case With a Big Value

VR World Staff — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 08:42:07 +0000

Looking for an ideal computer case on a budget has long been a challenge, and even more so if that is a small case for a Mini-ITX build.

Thermaltake has come out with its Core series, a line of cases that aims to pack in a lot of features for the price. The Core V1 Mini Cube case is made to accommodate Mini-ITX boards only and has two expansion slots. The size of the case would make it a good choice for a build that you can tuck away or put on a desk with a minimal footprint. A unique design choice that this case has is the lack of any 5.25″ bays, something that is getting more common among cases these days. A 200mm fan takes up the front portion of the case, providing a quiet way to move air through without needing any other fans.

Specifications:

Model	Core V1
P/N	CA-1B8-00S1WN-00
Case Type	Mini Case
Dimension (H x W x D)	276 x 260 x 316 mm (10.9 x 10.2 x 12.4 inch)
Side Panel	Transparent Window (Interchangeable)
Color	Exterior & Interior : Black
Material	SPCC
Cooling System	Front (intake) : 200 x 200 x 30 mm fan (800rpm, 13dBA)
Drive Bays	Hidden: 2 x 3.5” or 2 x 2.5” or 1 x 3.5”, 1 x 2.5”
Expansion Slots	2
Motherboards	6.7” x 6.7” (Mini ITX)
I/O Ports	USB 3.0 x 2, HD Audio x 1
PSU	Standard PS2 PSU (optional)
Fan Support	Front: 1 x 120mm or 1 x 140mm or 1 x 200mm Rear: 2 x 80mm
Radiator Support	Front: 1 x 120mm or 1 x 140mm
Clearance	CPU cooler height limitation: 140mm VGA length limitation: 255mm (Inner chassis) 285mm (Outer chassis) PSU length limitation: 200mm

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In Win’s D-Frame Mini Is The Mini-ITX Version Of The Original D-Frame

Harish Jonnalagadda — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 17:28:03 +0000

Taiwanese case manufacturer In Win is collaborating with Caseking in launching the In Win D-Frame Mini, a smaller version of the D-Frame, an aluminium ruggedized chassis that is ideal for LAN parties.

The D-Frame Mini is constructed out of a 4mm aluminium frame, and features 3mm tinted glass panels on each side. The 16 shock-proof rubber stands means that you can place the chassis on any side, and an integrated handle allows you to easily carry it around. While the D-Frame Mini carries the same design as its larger variant, it is designed to be used for mini-ITX builds. The mini-ITX segment has seen a lot of great new additions lately, with In Win’s efforts echoing that of casemaker Lian Li, which offers several mini-ITX enclosures in interesting form factors.

The case can comfortably accommodate dual-video cards, each 340mm in length, as well as a 220mm ATX-sized PSU. CPU heatsinks up to 165mm in length can fit in the chassis, which means that you can install CPU coolers like Noctua’s NH-D15 without any issues. If you’re looking to go with a liquid-cooled configuration, the D-Frame Mini can accommodate a 240mm radiator block. In terms of storage, the chassis features five drive bays, which can be configured to fit three 3.5-inch drives and two 2.5-inch drives. The ruggedness and the criss-crossing aluminium construction differentiate In Win’s offering against traditional enclosures in this segment, and with the original D-Frame becoming a huge hit with gamers, it is likely that this smaller version will also see similar interest.

In Win is offering the chassis in three color variants: matt black, red and orange. The black version will be available initially, and other color variants will be available at a later stage. International pricing is yet to be determined, but the chassis is retailing for $388 (299.90 EUR) on Caseking, with deliveries set to commence from October 31.

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Mini-ITX 4 GHz Haswell: Climbing the 'Devil’s Canyon' With Size Constraints?

Nebojsa Novakovic — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 06:22:36 +0000

Ever thought of an ultra-small, yet fully overclockable, high speed desktop PC squeezed inside the compact Mini-ITX platform? A combination of Intel’s Core i7-4790X and Gigabyte GA-Z97N board could give you that, just watch the Mini-ITX size and power limits.

First, with its jacked up CPU and GPU core speeds, the “Devil’s Canyon” 4 GHz four-core Haswell does have enough muscle to drive a home-theatre UHD 3840×2160 TV platform, in everything minus the 3D games. The latter point would, of course, have to wait for some substantial GPU architecture refresh within Intel, something not likely until Skylake platform a year and half from now.

System overview

A UHD home theatre PC with OC capability may not be the first thing that comes to one’s mind when matching the desired features, however Taiwan vendors did create the solution anyway. One of the best such boards available is the GA-Z97N Gaming from Gigabyte, which was matched for testingwith the i7-4790X. The other key components used were a pair of Kingston 4 GB HyperX DDR3-2400 DIMMs, and GELID SlimHero 4-heat pipe heat sink fan unit. As you will see, the Kingstons did manage to even improve on the default latency while cutting 3% of the default voltage required, while GELID SlimHero nicely covers both the VRM and DIMM parts for a bit of extra airflow to avoid need for a separate system fan altogether.

Back to the motherboard: knowing that overclocking the 4 GHz Haswell to somewhere around 4.5 GHz before Turbo, plus running the memory at highspeed, and still providing for an optional PCIe v3 GPU, was already a tall order for even a mATX mobo, I was pleasantly surprised that Gigabyte managed to squeeze far more into it.

A combination of (now Qualcomm) KillerNIC Gigabit Ethernet and PCIe WiFi, 4 SATA plus 1 eSATA, all 6 Gbps, Realtek1150 audio codes, and, yes, still having one PS/2 keyboard or mouse connector besides the USB, just in case. The video interface portion didn’t disappoint either,

with DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort – but no Thunderbolt, though. And then, you would notice the 24+8 power connectors, the full complement needed for a decent OC gaming platform feeding a high end GPU, all in a Mini-ATX format.

For this first look, I put up the system to run in the open, before finding a truly good Mini-ATX casing and PSU that would do it justice – not an easy task knowing this compact format’s limitations. The setup, including CPU, HSF and memory, took all of ten minutes, and, this being a Mini-ATX board, it was darn easy to handle the connectors and cables.

Even though the default BIOS was dated April – and I would try to keep it as long as I can, since it keeps the TSX transaction memory extensions turned on, unlike the versions from June onwards – it fully supported the i7-4790X out of the box, including the 4 GHz default frequency and 4.4 GHz Turbo. The CPU voltage was a little high in my mind, going at 1.35 V, so, as incrementally overclocking it, I managed to find a sweet spot of 4.6 GHz default frequency at 1.32 volts CPU voltage. The resulting CPU Tcase temperature also dropped to 45 degrees Celsius, as you can see in the lovely FullHD UEFI BIOS screenshot.

In the same screenshot, you can see that I managed to slightly tune the Kingston memory and reduce the latency to 11-12-12 at DDR-2400 while dropping the voltage a bit to 1.6 volts. This is only a minor first round tune in to basically lower the power requirements ever so slightly so that a standard 150W Mini-ITX/ITX PSU can handle the whole box including a SSD and a DVD/BD-ROM drive.

Talking about UEFI BIOS, It looks great and gives out a lot of info, but, frankly, functionality wise, all that was there in the old text-mode BIOS user interfaces anyway, and there would be less system overhead with them. Having FullHD UEFI doesn’t save you from having to

toggle multiple screens still, and sometimes there can be a slight lag in getting a setting applied and in effect. Luckily, Gigabyte still provides the text mode BIOS option here.

More to come

So, what to say after this first look? From the point of achievable performance and features, the combo of Intel Devil’s Canyon and Gigabyte GA-Z97N Gaming Mini-ITX board gives up almost nothing compared to much larger format OC platforms, unless you need much more RAM or dual GPUs, among other things. It would be even more fun if Intel’s graphics was yet another step better for actual 3-D game use, but then, I guess, that’s a beyond-Broadwell question for those who’d be willing to wait for “GT4” graphics in Skylake CPU generation. If, aside of 3-D gaming, you’re happy with UHD capable setup that can nicely handle your new high-end TV and still allows an extra GPU if you move it to a little bigger casing, then this is the thing for you.

Based on this initial experience – upcoming benchmarks notwithstanding, since they will be in line with other similar Devil’s Canyon platforms – I would recommend the setup with this Gigabyte board for a Mini-ITX HTPC, on one condition: it should not be fitted into the tightest Mini-ITX casings out there.

Give it a bit of room to spare, including one for a bit better PSU than what Mini-ITX boxes usually supply. Here I ran it with a standard 500W ATX PSU for the initial stability purposes, however the main review will include trying out a few Mini-ITX casing and PSU combos on it right out of Shenzhen factories in a week’s time – after all, it will be one of our Mini-ITX reference platforms until Broadwell shows itself.

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