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Xbox One: Entertainment Hub First, Gaming Console Second -- But Could It Disrupt TV?
Tech companies have been trying for years to get broadcast behemoths to change their ways and there's been a good bit of progress. But it's not enough. Technology is simply outpacing the traditional broadcast model. Something's gotta give. Could the Xbox One be the catalyst for change that we've all been hoping for?
Metro: Last Light Performance, Benchmarked
Metro: Last Light follows its predecessor roots by using a heavily customized version of the 4A Engine. Boasting one of the most graphically advanced engines and visuals today, our focus will be on benchmarking almost 30 graphics cards and CPU performance.
Building a Thin Mini-ITX PC: Small and Silent Performance
The Thin Mini-ITX form factor allows for seriously compact computers. Our PC build goal: extremely compact, powerful, and near silent operation, as in no-moving-parts silent.
Metro: Last Light Review
At the heart of Metro: Last Light is the return of the mysterious "Dark Ones," some freaky-looking humanoid beings who possess psychic powers and terrify the human denizens of the Metro. Last Light assumes that players got the "bad ending" in Metro 2033 and took the option to blast the entire population of Dark Ones into oblivion. The subsequent discovery of a single surviving Dark One sets the plot of Last Light in motion.
Gigabyte U2442F Ultrabook Review
Without question the Gigabyte U2442F is cutting edge stuff when it comes to ultrabook performance. Armed with a 3rd-Gen Core i7 processor, plenty of memory, and a quality SSD, the U2442F is as capable as a high-end desktop.
8 Free to Play Games That Are Too Good to Be True
The gaming world is making a dramatic shift towards free to play games. Of course, full price retail titles still make up for a majority of releases on the PC and most other platforms, but playing a quality game without cracking your wallet open is a completely viable option nowadays.
Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Review
'The game is stupid,' Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon creative director Dean Evans proudly proclaimed during a recent press event — not foolish pride, but pride in foolishness. The story unfolds through a series of 2D cutscenes that wouldn't be out-of-place in an NES-era adventure (well, except for the foul language and... other things). And when those scenes end, it's into a day-glo nightmare from the early days of MTV.
Samsung Galaxy S 4 Review
If the Galaxy S III was Samsung's crowning achievement, the Galaxy S 4 is the first defense of the throne. Arriving on the heels of one rival's flagship, the Galaxy S 4 will prove whether Samsung is continuing its trend of advancement or becoming just as predictable as the old guard that it mocked. So naturally we must ask: just how good is the Samsung Galaxy S 4?
AMD Radeon HD 7990 Review
Although it's been over a year since AMD launched the Radeon HD 7970, we are just getting an official dual-GPU version. The Radeon HD 7990 takes a pair of 7970 GPUs with overclocked cores and memory, packing 8.2 TFLOPS computer power, 6GB GDDR5 and an upgraded PEX bridge to connect the two GPUs.
Sapphire Edge VS8 Mini PC Review
The idea of shrinking hardware hasn't been overlooked by manufacturers as several are now feature space-saving designs based on mobile hardware. Such is the case with Sapphire's new Edge VS8 mini-PC powered by AMD's A8 APU.
GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost & SLI Performance Review
At $170, the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost sits between the Radeon HD 7790 and the 7850. In terms of performance, we actually expect the GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost to be a lot faster than the GTX 650 Ti, even when it's based on the same GK106 architecture.
LG Lucid 2 Smartphone Review
The Lucid 2 sports 4G LTE, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, plenty of software additions courtesy of LG, and a favorable price for someone looking for a new Android smartphone. You may be surprised to learn how tall the Lucid 2 can stand against the rest of the mid-range pack.
History of the Modern Graphics Processor, Part 4
Before 2006 there was no point in adding undue complexity to GPUs by enlarging the die area. With DX10's arrival, vertex and pixel shaders maintained a large level of common function, so moving to a unified shader arch eliminated a lot of unnecessary duplication of processing blocks. The first GPU to utilize this architecture was Nvidia's iconic G80.
LG 29EA93 Review: Are Ultra Wide Monitors Next?
The 29EA93 is LG's first entry into the nascent category of ultra-wide consumer displays. While the 29EA93 seems suitably equipped to watch movies with its expansive 21:9 aspect ratio, how does it fare against other types of computer use? Could it be a worthy replacement for your trusty dual-monitor setup?
History of the Modern Graphics Processor, Part 3
With the turn of the century the graphics industry bore witness to further consolidation. Where 3dfx was once a byword for raw performance, its strengths before its dismissal laid in its full screen antialiasing image quality. By the time 2001 dawned, the PC graphics market consisted of a discrete card duopoly (Nvidia and ATI), with both of them in addition to Intel supplying the vast majority of integrated graphics chipsets.
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