Computer Power User October 2013

QUAKECON MOD CONTEST
SO GOOD THERE WERE 3 WINNERS
5038AD-T
SERVER-CLASS RELIABILITY, SERIOUS FUN
October | Vol. 13 Iss. 10

Complimentary Copy
OCTOBER 2013 | VOL 13 ISSUE 10
24
Socket 2011 Is Back
Intel Ivy Bridge-E Preview
Mad Reader Mod
QuakeCon Mod Contest Winners
33
DID YOU FIND THE HIDDEN
FRONTSIDE — P. 5 LOADING ZONE — P. 66 CPU LOGO ON OUR COVER?
News, product release information, Software reviews, betas, updates, and
and stats from the tech industry. how-tos.
HEAVY GEAR — P. 14 DIGITAL LIVING — P. 73

The latest PC hardware is here: Games and leisure, news from
reviews, product profiles, and around the web, tech company
category roundups. interviews, and more.
HARD HAT AREA — P. 26 BACK DOOR — P. 87

CPU’s Mad Reader Mod winner, Monthly last-page interview with
LAN party coverage, and in-depth people who help to shape the PC
looks at the latest and greatest industry.
hardware and technology.
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Intel Readies Depth-sensing
Camera For Next Year
Prepare to enter the world of “depth sensing,” a technology
Intel is working on in the form of enhanced 3D camera
abilities. Reportedly, the technology will find its way into
notebooks and ultrabooks in 2014’s second half. Intel’s
Anil Nanduri told IDG that a depth-sensing camera will
enable entering deeper inside images to “bridge the gap
between the real and virtual world.” The technology is
expected first in external web cams (Intel and Logitech
Android Gaming have co-developed a Senz3D model, for example) and
Done The Amazon Way eventually in smartphones and tablets. Nanduri says
while Microsoft’s Kinect “was a good initial version of a
Black Friday. If rumors end up turning into reality, that’s the depth camera more from a long-range perspective,” Intel
day you can expect Amazon.com to make available its own is looking at depth sensing primarily “as more personal
Android-based gaming console. Word of such a possibility interaction, short range, which is probably a meter or
began spreading online in August when GameInformer.com meter-and-a-half range of interaction.”
reported sources “who have knowledge of the in-development
hardware” had informed the site that Amazon.com will
leverage game titles already available within its platform and
include its own dedicated controller with its console. Other
outlets conjectured the console will use a Qualcomm MPQ
chip and could also give Amazon the means to dip its toes
into the burgeoning set-top box arena. Reportedly, rather
than compete with the behemoth Xbox and PlayStation
platforms, Amazon’s console will be more on scale with such
lower-cost consoles as the Android-based Ouya.
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 NA $899.99 $849.99
information for AMD FX-9370 Eight-Core 6/11/2013 $375 NA $349.99
various AMD and AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core 10/23/2012 $195 $199.99 $199.99
AMD FX-8320 Eight-Core 10/23/2012 $169 $159.99 $159.99
Intel CPUs.
AMD FX-8150 Black Edition Eight-Core 10/12/2011 $245** $169.99 $169.99
AMD A10-6700 Quad-Core 6/4/2013 $142** $148.99 $148.99
AMD A10-6800K Quad-Core 6/4/2013 $142** $149.99 $149.99
AMD A8-6600K Quad-Core 6/4/2013 $112** $119.99 $119.99
AMD A8-6500 Quad-Core 6/4/2013 $112** $118.99 $118.99
AMD A10-5800K Quad-Core 10/12/2012 $122** $129.99 $129.99
Intel Core i7-3970X Extreme Edition 11/12/2012 $999** $1,029.99 $1,019.99
Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition 11/14/2011 $990** $1,069.99 $1,069.99
Intel Core i7-4770K 6/2/2013 $339** $339.99 $339.99
Intel Core i7-4770 6/2/2013 $303** $309.99 $294.99
Intel Core i7-3820 2/12/2012 $305** $299.99 $299.99
Intel Core i5-4670K 6/2/2013 $242** $239.99 $239.99
* As of September 2013 Intel Core i5-4670 6/2/2013 $213** $219.99 $219.99
** Manufacturer’s Intel Core i5-4570 6/2/2013 $192** $199.99 $199.99
estimated price Intel Core i5-4430 6/2/2013 $182** $189.99 $189.99
per 1,000
Intel Core i3-2130 9/4/2011 $138** $129.99 $129.99
CPU / October 2013 5

Microsoft Sculpts An
Ergonomic Combo
Sticking with the input device theme, if you’re a Windows 8 user
and seeking a keyboard and mouse with your health in mind,
set your hands on Microsoft’s new Sculpt Ergonomic Desktop
($129.95). The bundle includes the Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard
($80.95 separately) and Sculpt Ergonomic Mouse ($59.95
separately). Of the two, the “domed” Ergonomic Keyboard
is particularly intriguing due to a design that puts a spin on
traditional split-layout boards. Microsoft says the “Natural Arc”
Logitech Gets Touchy Feely layout “mimics the curved shape of the finger tips.” Additionally,
With TK820 the board’s cushioned palm rest “provides support and promotes
a neutral wrist position,” while the split-key approach “helps
Type, touch, and swipe. That’s the story of Logitech’s new position wrists and forearms in a natural, relaxed position.” In a
Wireless All-in-One Keyboard TK820 ($99.99), a board nod to Windows 8, Charms keys are positioned in the top row,
that effectively lets users stash their mouse away for good if and the Ergonomic Mouse includes a Windows button to jump
they so desire. Think of a 4.17 x 4.17-inch touchpad built to a Windows 8 Start screen.
into a keyboard you can pinch, point, swipe, and zoom
on and you get the idea. Overall, Logitech says the TK820
supports up to 13 unique Windows 8 gestures. The board
also benefits from Logitech’s PerfectStroke key system,
hailed as distributing “typing pressure evenly across the key
surfaces” so every keystroke is “smooth and whisper-quiet.”
The keyboard’s wireless ability, meanwhile, comes by way of
the company’s Advanced 2.4GHz Unifying receiver. Beyond
making a mouse unnecessary, the TK820 is constructed to
free up space via an ultra-thin design measuring just 0.8 x
5.7 x 16.1 inches (HxWxD).
Wax On, Heat Gone

The future of combatting processor-related overheating in
mobile devices and possibly servers and supercomputers
very well could be wax. According to a recent Wired article,
University of Michigan and University of Pennsylvania
researchers are using the substance on a prototype Intel Core
i7 chip to tackle overheating issues that result from packing
so many transistors in so little space. As Wired describes, if
a smartphone used all transistors at once, overheating would
quickly result. Thus, chips often power down parts not in use.
To squeeze out more computing ability, the researchers are
alternatively experimenting with “computational sprinting.”
Essentially, this involves powering transistors to extreme levels
for short bursts, letting them rest, and picking the pace up
again. It’s during the “sprints” that wax helps absorb the extra
heat. Ultimately, the researchers hope to achieve short boosts in
the 100 watts of power neighborhood, thus enabling a chip to
“briefly do an amazing amount of computing.”
6 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

No Batteries? No Problem
As University of Washington researcher Shyam Gollakota recently
explained to MIT Technology Review, traditional wireless
communications have involved devices that produce radio frequency
signals. With so many radio signals from TV, Wi-Fi, and cellular
networks present, however, he asks “why not use them?” Gollakota
and colleagues are doing just with credit card-sized prototype wireless
devices equipped with oversized antennas that can send and receive
data sans battery or other traditional power sources. In testing, the
researchers wirelessly completed an experimental payment process
between the cards. Reportedly, TV signals powered the devices’
LEDs, touch sensors, microcontrollers, and wireless transmissions.
To communicate the devices vary how much of the TV signals
they absorb and reflect (“a quality known as backscatter”). The tests
reached a data transfer rate of 1Kbps over a 2.5-foot stretch, but
the researchers hope to expand this to 20 feet with upgrades. They
also believe networking the devices to cover longer distances and
connecting to Internet nodes could be possible.
HARDWARE MOLE
MakerBot Brings 3D Scanning

Closer To The Masses
In case you haven’t been paying attention, 3D printing is all
the rage. In addition to major retailers now selling consumer-
targeted 3D printers and a new Kickstarter campaign being
launched seemingly daily to fund a promising new model,
analysts are predicting big growth for the industry in the
near future. One player in this space, MakerBot, recently
announced the Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner, a $1,400
desktop 3D scanner able to scan objects measuring about
ROCCAT’s Kave Sheds Weight, 20cm x 20cm. The company says the scanner’s software can
Gains Features create 3D models ready for printing with two-click ease. The
scanner is optimized to work with MakerBot’s own Replicator
German gaming peripheral maker ROCCAT Studios claims Desktop 3D printers but can generate files compatible with a
its Kave 5.1 is the best-selling true 5.1 gaming headset in the 3D printer of the user’s choice.
world. Coming in November for roughly $170, you should
be able to get your hands on the black-and-blue-themed Kave
XTD 5.1 Digital, a new headset that uses the original Kave
5.1 as its foundation. Changes include a new headband and
detachable microphone design, new materials and engineering
touches, and 25% less weight from the original version.
Perhaps most notably, like its predecessor, the XTD 5.1 Digital
will output true 5.1 surround sound via three drivers in each
earcup. Buyers will also get a 5.1 sound card integrated into a
slick-looking desktop remote and SmartLink technology that
will enable pairing a smartphone to the remote via Bluetooth.

Software Brings Fake
Photos To Light
You know the routine. Someone posts a seemingly amazing,
once-in-a-lifetime photo online that goes viral drawing oohs
and ahs before someone else slaps the “Photoshopped” label on
it. Well, Dartmouth and U.C. Berkeley researchers have created
software that uses algorithms to reliably spot phony or altered
images by inspecting suspicious shadows. The New York Times
reported that to verify an image’s authenticity, the software’s
geometric formulas analyze shadows to decide if they’re
Feedly Enters The Professional Ranks physically consistent with the light source. Inconsistencies
If you were someone who missed out on the limited 5,000 indicate something is awry. (Some inconsistencies can be
paid accounts that Feedly made available in early August, invisible to the human eye.) The process is detailed in a
take solace. In late August, Feedly announced it was making study in September’s “ACM Transactions on Graphics” issue.
a Pro version of its news aggregator generally available Sorry, moon skeptics: The New York Times reports that the
to all comers willing to fork over $5 per month or $45 researchers analyzed an often-questioned photo related to the
annually. That sum will gain you one-click Evernote and 1969 moon landing and determined it was indeed real.
Pocket integration, searches within Feedly feeds, and
premium support. On its blog, Feedly reported that users
can also expect new Pro features to be added regularly.
Feedly gave thanks to the initial 5,000 paid users, whose
funds the company claims helped bulk up Feedly’s cloud
infrastructure, create new features, and enhance support.
Reportedly, the $99 lifetime accounts Feedly offered
the initial 5,000 wave is now off the table. According to
TechCrunch, Feedly’s user base has swelled past 13 million
users since Google shut the doors on its Reader in July.
SOFTWARE SHORTS
Torvalds Celebrates A Milestone

On Aug. 25, 1991, Linus Torvalds posted a fairly innocuous forum
message that began, “Hello everybody out there using minix. I’m
doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
since April, and is starting to get ready.” The OS, of course, went
onto become Linux. To commemorate the OS’ beginning, Torvalds
slyly posted a similar message Aug. 25, 2013 tied to Linux 3.11-rc7,
writing, “Hello everybody out there using Linux -- I’m doing a (free)
operating system (just a hobby, even if it’s big and professional) for
486+ AT clones and just about anything else out there under the
sun. This has been brewing since April 1991, and is still not ready.”
Torvalds separately wrote “he wanted to try to come up with some
interesting numbers” concerning Linux, but ultimately, “it’s just that
single number: 22 years. More than half my life, and things have
certainly changed since then.” Much for the better, we’d say.

Broadband Expands,
Dial-Up Still Hanging On
The latest report from Pew Research Center’s Internet &
America Life Project (based on input from roughly 2,200 U.S.
adults gathered in May) is chalk full of interesting tidbits. For
example, while about 70% of U.S. adults enjoy the benefits of
high-speed broadband at home (up from 66% in April 2012),
3% are still tolling away on dial-up connections. Though
the dial-up percentage is down considerably from 41% in
2001, it hasn’t noticeably budged in the last two years. Among
Detach Yourself With Justdelete.me those lacking home broadband, 10% do have smartphones to
Anyone who has tried to kill off an online account knows connect to the Web. Reportedly, 46% of adults have broadband
what a seemingly endless obstacle course some companies and a smartphone, 24% only have broadband, and 20%
make of the process. Enter Justdelete.me, a site that presents lack both. Americans with the highest home-broadband rates
a directory of links to services that offer guidance. As the include college graduates (roughly 90%), adults 49 or younger
site describes, numerous companies use “dark pattern” (69%), and those living in households earning at least $50,000
techniques—or “carefully crafted” designs “with a solid annually (84%).
understanding of human psychology” that “do not have the
user’s interests in mind”—to severely complicate deleting
accounts. Via a simplistic but effective UI, Justdelete.me
presents links to several dozen popular web services (Steam,
Ustream, Flickr, Yahoo!, etc.) that are color-coded and labeled
to indicate how painful the site makes the task. Want to
delete a Vine account, for example? It’s “Hard,” as the only
way to do so “without deleting your Twitter account is to
contact Twitter through their contact form.”
SITE SEEING
A Handful Of Virtual Awesomeness

At least in terms of gaming, we won’t claim the good ole’ days
were better than today’s offerings. That doesn’t mean we don’t
occasionally clamor for the years gone by from a nostalgia
standpoint. If you do too, visit Pica Pic (pica-pic.com). Featuring
more than 20 keyboard-playable digital versions of handheld games
from the 1980s and 1990s, the site is a treasure chest of memories
for gray-hairs who fell in love with gaming on handhelds. The site
comes from husband and wife Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinscy.
Daniel Mizielinscy told Mashable a mere blog of photos wouldn’t
due to express his love of his handheld collection, thus, he made
them playable online. “Everyone who had those games back when
they were the coolest thing a kid could have knows that static image
doesn’t even begin to be enough,” he says. Mizielinscy says his
younger friends “couldn’t believe that people actually played them
and that they were popular.” We believe, Daniel. We believe.

Job Of The Month
Ahh, fall. Nights get longer, air gets crisper, and football reigns across the land. It’s peak season for ESPN,
the granddaddy of all sports entertainment networks. If you’d like to have their name on your business
card, maybe this position is for you. ESPN is looking for a Senior Project Manager at its Bristol, Conn.,
headquarters; someone who can take the ball (in the form of a new project) and run with it. You’ll be
responsible for all aspects of projects with budgets up to $5 million, from start to completion. The ideal
candidate will have at least 10 years of experience managing various projects in organizations, have
worked for five or more years in a tech or media company, and have three or more years of experience
15
Number of nations ranked ahead of the
working with software teams developing new products. You should be an agile/Scrum master, and PMI
U.S.A. when it comes to citizens having
certification is preferred. You must be able to put together a winning team and be able to motivate and
digital access and digital literacy
lead them to victory (uh, successful completion of the project). We doubt we’ll see your face on College
(Professor Eun-A Park, University of New
GameDay Saturdays, but who knows—maybe you’ll bump into Lee, Chris, or Kirk around campus. Haven)
(See espncareers.com for more info.)
That’s OK, 32%

Keep The Change Percentage of U.S. adults who perform
some of their banking activities using a
Way back in 1981, it cost about $71,000 if you wanted to buy mobile phone
1 gigabyte of storage space. Today that same space will set (Pew Research)
you back about a dime. It’s too bad for consumers that other
industries don’t experience the same sort of relentless advances
and downward pricing pressure . . . here’s a sampling of what
you might be able to pay for various items if they did. 1.6 million
Average number of hard drives that
Actual Price “Storage Equivalent” Price manufacturers produced each day
Lamborghini Veneno (Sportscar) $3.9 million $5.49 during 2012
Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner (Jet) $288.7 million $406.62
(Storage Products Association)
Apple, Inc. (Company) $457 billion $643,662
(Storage Products Association, various websites, and a calculator)

225 million+
Fitness First . . . Then The Fun Stuff Number of smartphones sold worldwide
during the second quarter of 2013 –
The latest forecasts from the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association) for 2013 show that several new equivalent to nearly 2.5 million each day
categories of products continue to grow rapidly. According to the report, unit shipments of fitness (Gartner Group)
technology products are expected reach 10.2 million this year, with revenues of $854 million. Nearly
57,000 Ultra HD TVs, also known as 4K TVs, are expected to ship by the end of the year, generating
revenues of $314 million. Right behind the new TVs in terms of revenue are sales of Bluetooth/Airplay-
enabled speakers, which are forecast to reach $302 million revenues in 2013 with unit sales of 2.2
million. Bringing up the rear but still garnering a lot of press attention are unit sales of desktop 3D
printers, which are projected to
Projected Revenues for 2013
reach 41,000 this year, generating
revenues of $52 million.
Desktop 3D Printers
(Consumer Electronics Association) Ultra HD TV
Portable Connected Speakers
Fitness Technology
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Millions of Dollars

Supermicro 5038AD-T
& C7Z87-OCE
Performance You Can Depend On
f you go to or host many LAN parties, computer for serious business or serious
I you’ve seen this happen more than once:
A gamer packs his rig and a comfortable
fun, and Supermicro understands this.
Supermicro has built a reputation
chair in his car, drives a few hours to spend for rock-solid servers and server com-
an entire weekend of bliss with friends at a ponents over the years; people in
nearby LAN party, hauls all his stuff in and datacenters and corporate IT environ-
sets it up, and then tries to start his machine, ments know this. When downtime is
only to find that—at least for the moment— the difference between big sales and big
his PC is a 75-pound paperweight. losses, smart techs choose motherboards,
Maybe his problem is a simple, quick power supplies, and other parts that they
fix, maybe it’s catastrophic. Either way, know won’t let them down. They choose
instead of slapping on his headset and components from Supermicro.
setting off a weekend of fun, this poor
guy is frantically troubleshooting and Changing The Game
hoping that he hasn’t driven all that way Supermicro decided to offer gaming
only to pack up and go home again, motherboards and chassis based on feedback
minus one functioning gaming rig. from their server and workstation customers.
The bottom line is that durable, “We listened to our customers, who
dependable components aren’t just for over the years have helped us become
servers. Getting parts you can rely on first to market with new types of servers.
makes sense whether you’re building a And practically all of them said that they
Advertisement
were looking for a dependable gaming will deliver lower operating temperatures, (compared to six of each on most boards),
motherboard and system that can handle even at full loads.” dual bootable BIOSes, and onboard power
the power that their cards require,” says controls and LED debug readout.
Supermicro’s Leo Lin. “We have tested Haswell On Board The C7Z87-OCE is also the heart of
thousands of motherboard components Dependability is crucial, but Supermicro Supermicro’s 5038AD-T, the foundation
and only a selected few components would also knows that you are looking for the of a gaming rig that also consists of
pass our quality tests. We use these same latest technology. That’s why the company’s Supermicro’s CSE-732G-903B chassis with
high-quality server components with our C7Z87-OCE motherboard (and by a 900-watt 80 PLUS Gold-level power
gaming motherboards.” extension the 5038AD-T) was built to supply. The case sports a steel mesh left side
The results are gaming PC components work with Intel’s 4th Generation Haswell panel window, a pair of sturdy carry handles
that have what Supermicro refers to as Core processors. (very handy for LAN parties), and interior
“server-level power design.” The C7Z87-OCE takes full advantage lighting controls that lets indicate hardware
“Server-level power design is our of the strengths of the Z87 platform, and acceleration status.
servers’ ability to handle the power is packed with features near and dear to
needed to run a server 24/7,” says Lin. DIY builders’ hearts, such as one-touch The Total Package
“Each component and design must overclocking buttons (OC1 gives a 15% Built with server-level power design
withstand this pace. In the server world, boost, OC2 gives a 23% boost, and OC3 and the latest technologies and features,
there is no room for downtime, so our provides a user-defined overclock), dual Supermicro’s 5038AD-T is your first step
designs have higher power efficiency Gigabit Ethernet, support for eight USB toward the most dependable, highest-
(green power) and higher density. This 3.0 ports and eight SATA 6Gbps ports performing system you have ever built. ■
DashDrive Air AE400
$49.99
ADATA
www.adatausa.com
ADATA DashDrive Air AE400

very now and then a product comes Moving beyond the DashDrive Air’s usability is a chief concern. In this case,
E along that’s tough to classify. Graphics
cards, for example, are easy; they basically
wireless capabilities, you also get a
5,000mAh power cell that ADATA claims
the most “demanding” task is switching
between modes. (The DashDrive Air has
just do graphics. Power supplies? Very is good for two full charges of an iPhone three: wireless transfer mode, power bank,
straightforward. CPU coolers? Again, we 4S. Obviously, the amount of charge you’ll and wireless transfer mode + power bank.)
don’t lose sleep over the taxonomy. get for your mobile device(s) will vary, but The power button is the same button that
Here we have ADATA’s DashDrive Air we really like the idea of being able to take toggles between these modes. Although
AE400, which does a little of everything. a second of tank of gas with us wherever we would’ve preferred a separate button
About the size of a bar of soap, the we go. The same USB port that you use to for switching modes, you can just as easily
DashDrive Air wears a lot of hats, but most connect external USB drives does double make a case for having a single button to
of its functionality centers on its wireless duty charging phones and tablets. give the DashDrive Air a more streamlined
capabilities. You can connect it to an existing The gatekeeper for most of the Dash- look. That said, switching modes isn’t
wireless network and then set it up as a Drive Air’s functionality is a free app, difficult by any measure, and using the
wireless hotspot, letting up to 10 other devices DashDrive Air Elite, that’s available for DashDrive Air Elite app to access content
connect to the Internet through the device. iOS and Android devices. (The app is and connect to wireless networks is simple
Also, by using the AE400’s built-in also available at Amazon’s Appstore for and painless.
SD card slot or USB port, you can stream Android, although we didn’t test it on a ADATA smartly avoided making the
media to wireless devices. According to Kindle Fire.) Once you download and DashDrive Air a brick-sized device, which
ADATA, the DashDrive Air is capable of launch the app, you’ll be able to access would’ve increased its battery capacity
simultaneously streaming 1080p video to the DashDrive Air and any storage that’s at the expense of portability. And with a
up to three devices, or 720p to up to five. currently connected to it. The app is also device like this, portability is king. For
The DashDrive Air does more than media, what you’ll use to connect the DashDrive 50 bucks, the DashDrive Air is the Swiss
though. When you have removable storage Air to a wireless network and set it up to Army Knife of portable devices and a
connected to the DashDrive Air, it should function as a hotspot. must-own for mobile power users. ■
appear to computers as a networked storage Any time of you have a gizmo that
device, letting you transfer all types of files. performs a variety of different roles, BY VINCE COGLEY
Specs: Wireless: 802.11b/g/n; Battery: Lithium-polymer 5,000mAh rechargeable; Ports: Micro-B USB, USB AF, SD; Dimensions: 0.8 x 2.3 x 3.1
inches (HxWxD); Warranty: 1 year

Super Workstation 5038AD-T
Supermicro
www.supermicro.com
Supermicro Super Workstation 5038AD-T

he SuperServer 5038AD-T is a bare- analog audio I/O. Two large, long handles cards, courtesy of two PCI-E 6+2-pin and
T bones gaming system from Super-
micro that includes a C7Z87-OCE
run along the top panel, too, which makes
the case easy to carry.
two 6-pin connectors. The power supply
offers four Molex connectors, one of
motherboard, which we cover elsewhere On the interior, another drive cage which is required to connect to the Molex
in this issue, as well as a 900-watt power provides you with hot-swap connectivity input that powers all of the hot-swap
supply that is 80 PLUS Gold-certified. for three 3.5-inch HDDs, which is SATA ports. The 900-watt power supply
Let’s take a look at Supermicro’s first handy because you won’t have to bother also offers two SATA power connectors,
attempt at courting gamers, based on routing any power or SATA cables to the perfect for powering optical drives.
Supermicro’s strong server foundation bay. Beneath the drive bay, Supermicro With its cool LED lighting effects, this
and reputation. installed a 120mm fan that moves air attractive midtower has a look that will
The midtower case has a metal mesh over your build’s graphics cards. A help it fit right in at a LAN party, and the
side panel window, and Supermicro 120mm rear fan is also included to sturdy carrying handles will help you take
includes a blue LED light strip on the exhaust hot air from the interior. The it there. You also have some component
inside of the case to illuminate its interior. power supply is located at the top rear flexibility, as you’ll be able to choose what
LED lights are also built into the front of the case, and there are cutouts in the processor, graphics card, memory, and
panel, which delivers a subtle glowing motherboard tray where you can route storage to add. The hot-swappable features
effect. Supermicro engineered the case with the excess cabling. make it easy for enthusiasts with large
hinged covers that you can swing open to Supermicro packs its 900-watt PWS- digital collections can quickly switch out
access the two 5.25-inch optical drive bays 903-PQ power supply into the Super backup drives and portable storage. Armed
and one 3.5-inch device bay. The system Workstation 5038AD-T. The PSU with a C7Z87-OCE motherboard and a
also has space below for two hot-swap 3.5- boasts four 12V rails that each carry 25A 900-watt 80 PLUS Gold-certified PSU,
inch HDD bays and optional four hot- of current. The 5V and 3.3V rails each the SuperServer 5038AD-T lays a solid
swap 2.5-inch HDD/SSD bays. The top can handle up to 25A, too. The power foundation to build a mean gaming rig. ■
of the chassis provides two USB 3.0 ports, supply’s cables are all hardwired, and
two USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA port, and there’s support for multiple graphics BY NATHAN LAKE
Specs: Dimensions: 20.08 x 8.66 x 22.8 inches (HxWxD); Motherboard: Supermicro C7Z87-OCE; Power Supply: Supermicro PWS-903-PQ; Bays:
2 5.25-inch external, 1 3.5-inch external, 3 3.5-inch internal HDD; Optional bays: 4 2.5-inch hot-swap HDD/SSD; Fans: 1 120mm in HDD rack, 1
120mm rear; Ports: 2 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0, 1 eSATA, audio I/O

Supermicro C7Z87-OCE
Sthat’supermicro products have a reputation
for reliability and stability, something
important for both servers and
on the 16 PCI-E lanes built into Haswell
processors. As such, three-way CrossFire runs
at x8/x4/x4. In two-way CrossFire, both
gaming systems. And although Supermicro cards run at x8 speed. A single GPU will run
has long been a player in the server side, at the full x16 speed. If you opt to use the
the company hasn’t made much of a foray Haswell processor’s graphics, you’ll be able to
into the gaming arena. The C7Z87-OCE choose among the VGA, DisplayPort (via the
is set to change that, as it gives you all of Thunderbolt port), DVI, and HDMI ports
the goodness of Intel’s Z87 chipset with the on the C7Z87-OCE’s rear I/O.
polish and attention to detail that gamers For wired connectivity, Supermicro
look for in a motherboard. includes two Ethernet ports. One is powered
The C7Z87-OCE is engineered with by Intel’s i217V controller, while the other
server-grade components, including all solid uses the i210AT controller. Supermicro
capacitors, ESD (electrostatic discharge) designed the motherboard to support lots
protection, ferrite chokes, and support of storage, as there are eight 6GBps SATA Supermicro
Benchmark Results C7Z87-OCE
for working temperatures up to 50 C. ports, and six of the ports support RAID
Supermicro also provides you with onboard 0, 1, 5, and 10 configurations. The top two 3DMark Fire Strike 2986
tools for overclocking your CPU. There are SATA ports support RAID 0 and 1 setups. Extreme
three buttons where you can quickly lock There are a total of 14 USB ports—eight Graphics Score 3077
in the overclock settings you’d like to use. USB 3.0 ports (four rear, four internal) and
Physics Score 10295
The bottom button automatically boosts the six USB 2.0 ports (two rear, four internal).
processor’s speed by 15%, and the middle The Realtek ALC1150 controller delivers Combined Test 6.08
button down increases the processor speed by 7.1-channel audio. PCMark 8
23%. The top button utilizes custom settings We tested the C7Z87-OCE with an
you configure in the BIOS. There’s also a clear Intel Core i7-4770K (run at stock clocks), Creative Score 5021
CMOS button to quickly reset BIOS settings a GIGABYTE’s GV-N760OC-4GD, and SiSoftware Sandra 2013
to their default if the board won’t POST. A 8GB of ADATA DDR3-2400. We saw an SP2 Lite
dual BIOS is provided for redundancy in overall score of 2986 in 3DMark Professional’s
Dhrystone AVX2 (GIPS) 130
the event a BIOS fails or becomes corrupted. Fire Strike Extreme test and 31.2fps in
To diagnose hardware problems, Supermicro Aliens vs. Predator at 2,560 x 1,600 on the Whetstone iSSE3 95.62
(GFLOPS)
includes a Post Code display. highest quality settings. In our CPU-intensive
For memory support, you’ll find four benchmarks, numbers for the 4770K x32 Multi-Media Integer 403.24
DIMMs that combined can handle 32GB produced a score of 8.07 in Cinebench 11.5 AVX2 (Mpixels/s)
of DDR3 clocked up to 3,000MHz. In the and POV-Ray 3.7 Beta mark of 1,535.5. x16 Multi-Media Float 374.6
BIOS, you can tune memory voltage in The C7Z87-OCE is a good fit for gamers FMA3 (Mpixels/s)
0.01V increments all the way up to 1.75V, looking to take advantage of multiple AMD Integer B/F AVX/128 16
and you can adjust the reference clock 1MHz GPUs, and there are plenty of overclocking (GBps)
at a time. Supermicro also allows you to features to keep Haswell enthusiasts happy. ■
Floating B/F AVX/128 16
overclock graphics cards plugged into the (GBps)
three PCI-E x16 slots on the motherboard. BY NATHAN LAKE
Again, clock tuning can be as fine as 1MHz. POV-Ray 3.7 Beta 1535.5 pixels
per second
The C7Z87-OCE supports up to C7Z87-OCE
three-way CrossFire, though you won’t find Supermicro Cinebench 11.5 8.07 points
support for SLI. This Z87 motherboard relies www.supermicro.com Games (2,560 x 1,600)
Metro: Last Light 26.89fps

Specs: Form Factor: ATX; Max memory: 32GB (DDR3-1600/Max OC: DDR3-3000); Slots: 3 PCI-E 3.0 (4XAA, 16XAF)
x16, 3 PCI-E x4 (all run at x1 speed); Storage; 8 6Gbps SATA; Rear I/O: 1 HDMI, 1 DVI; 1 Thunderbolt
(10Gbps), 4 USB 3.0, 2 Ethernet, 2 USB 2.0, 1 S/PDIF out, audio I/O; Warranty: 3 years Aliens vs. Predator 31.2fps
(4XAA, 16XAF)
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K; GPU:GIGABYTE GV-N750OC-4GB; RAM: 8GB
ADATA XPG V2 DDR3-2400; Storage: 128GB Crucial RealSSD C300; OS: Windows 8 Enterprise (64-bit)

ENERMAX
Specs Platimax 850W
Rated continuous (W) 850 (at 50 C)
12V rails 4
+12V max (A) 30
+5V max (A) 24
+3.3V max (A) 24
SLI/CrossFire-ready Yes
Max wattage tested 642
Power factor tested .980
Efficiency rating Up to 94%

(as advertised)
ENERMAX Platimax 850W Fan 139mm
NERMAX’s Platimax PSUs are all level of 935 watts, which gives you some
E compliant with the 80 PLUS Platinum
standard, which means that the PSU must
extra headroom when your graphics cards
are working hard.
PCI-E 6 (6+2-pin)
Main 12V 24-pin

produce an efficiency level of at least 92% The partially modular power supply
at 50% load, as well as being 90% efficient has hardwired cables for the 24-pin 8-pin EPS12V 1 (4+4-pin)
at 20% load and 89% efficient at 100% main power, 4+4-pin CPU, and two
load. ENERMAX rates the Platimax of the 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors. The SATA 12
850W for a peak efficiency of 94%. This remaining modular cables are sheathed
power supply also satisfies the ErP Lot 6 with the same black, yellow, and red 4-pin Molex 8
2010 requirement to deliver standby power pattern as the hardwired cables. We like
of less than one watt when paired with that ENERMAX provides SATA and Floppy 1
ErP-complaint motherboard. Molex cables that are plenty long (around
ENERMAX focuses on reliability with 35 inches for SATA and 41 inches for Length (including cable 8.5 inches
the Platimax 850W, too, as there are a Molex) to reach components in the top bend)
variety of features that should extend the and bottom of tall cases. Other helpful Warranty 5 years
life of the PSU. For instance, its SafeGuard inclusions are the cables with a mix of
technology monitors the circuitry for two SATA and two Molex connectors,
overvoltage, undervoltage, overcurrent, which helps to avoid routing another
and many other gremlins that can eat long cable when you just need one more maximum wattage of 416W and a power
a power supply. SATA or Molex connector. In all, you’ll factor of .969 when SLI was disabled.
The Platimax 850W supports triple- find 12 SATA connectors, eight Molex With SLI enabled, the PSU pushed up to
GPU configurations with its six 6+2-pin connectors, and one FDD connector. 642 watts and a power factor of .980.
PCI-E connectors. The PSU distributes We tested the Platimax 850W in a The high-performance results combined
12V power across four rails, each of which system featuring Intel’s Core i7-4770K, with the variety of cabling options make
supports 30A. Together, the 12V rails with two ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580s in the Platimax 850W a wise choice for power
can handle up to 70A at one time, for a SLI providing the graphics power. To max users. If you want to pack your system with
combined 840 watts. Both the 5V and 3.3V the load, we simultaneously ran POV-Ray multiple GPUs and RAID configurations,
rails are rated for up to 24A, for a combined 3.7 Beta and Aliens vs. Predator. Our this PSU demands your consideration. ■
power of 120 watts. ENERMAX indicates tests backed up ENERMAX’s efficiency
that the Platimax 850W has a peak power claims. The Platimax 850W delivered a BY NATHAN LAKE

CNPS2X
$28.99
Zalman
www.zalman.com
Zalman CNPS2X
t a little more than an inch thick, to 22.7dBA of sound. The fan blows holes in the clips and screw the heatsink
A Zalman’s new ultra-thin CNPS2X
CPU cooler is designed with small
air toward the motherboard, which
should help to cool the surrounding
to the backplate.
Our test system included an Intel Core
form factor rigs in mind. Despite components as well, according to i7-4770K, two ZOTAC GeForce GTX
the miniature cooler’s short stature, Zalman. There’s a small packet of 580s in SLI, and 8GB of ADATA XPG
Zalman boasts that the CNPS2X Zalman’s ZM-STG2M thermal grease V1.0 DDR3-1866. We ran the 4770K
supports CPUs with a TDP of up to included with the CNPS2X, so you at its stock clock speed for 30 minutes
120 watts. should have everything you need to in idle, and it reached a temperature
The key factor here is Zalman’s DTH install it. In total, the CNPS2X measures of 52 degrees Celsius. To stress-test the
(Direct Touch Heatpipe) technology. a mere 1.1 x 3.3 x 3.3 inches (HxWxD). CNPS2X, we ran two tests separately
The CNPS2X’s single S-shaped heatpipe The CNPS2X is compatible with for 10 minutes: POV-Ray 3.7 Beta and
is part of the cooler’s base and therefore most of today’s mainstream CPUs. four instances of Prime95’s Small FFTs
makes direct contact with the CPU, Support for Intel processors includes test. After running POV-Ray 3.7, we
which minimizes thermal resistance LGA775/1150/1155/1156 sockets; saw a maximum temperature of 96 C,
and improves cooling performance. you can install the CNPS2X on AMD while Prime95 pushed the processor to a
The CNPS2X’s fins are also directly AM2/2+/3/3+ and FM1/2 sockets. To maximum temperature of 100 C.
connected to the heatpipe, which install the CNPS2X, find the clips that We also liked how quiet this fan was,
further bolsters performance. match your socket and install them even under load. If you have a SFF or
Zalman manages to fit an 80mm on the heatsink. Then, attach nuts to HTPC case, the CNPS2X will certainly
PWM fan inside the ring of cooling the universal mounting backplate and save some space. ■
fins; the fan has an operating range of install it behind the motherboard’s CPU
1,500 to 2,600rpm and produces 17.4 socket. Finally, align the nuts with the BY NATHAN LAKE
Specs: Materials: Copper (base, heatpipe), aluminum (fins); Fan: 80mm (1,500 to 2,600rpm); Noise level: 17.4 to 22.7dBA; Dimensions: 1.1 x 3.3 x 3.3
inches (HxWxD); Warranty: 1 year
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K; Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD5H; GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 (2x, SLI); RAM: 8GB ADATA
XPG V1.0 DDR3-1866; Storage: 128GB Crucial RealSSD C300; OS: Windows 8 Enterprise (64-bit)

Tt eSPORTS POSEIDON Illuminated
$79.99
Thermaltake
usa.ttesports.com
Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS POSEIDON Illuminated

hall we pause for a moment and take While we’re on the subject of those We went a few rounds in StarCraft II
S stock of the current state of affairs
regarding premium keyboards? Enthusiasts
lovely Cherry MX keyswitches, we
should point out that the POSEIDON
and can report that the POSEIDON is
every bit a gaming keyboard, minus the
who don’t want to compromise on build Illuminated uses Cherry MX Blues. These macros. Now, if macros and profiles are
quality have had to deal with considerable keyswitches are definitely tactile and your thing, well, find yourself one of
feature creep over the years. Cherry MX definitely audible. The “clicky” report is Tt eSPORTS’ more well-appointed
mechanical keyswitches are tried and true definitely something you may want to keyboards; the POSEIDON Illuminated
at this point, but if you want a keyboard seek clearance from your fellow cubicle doesn’t have them.
with Cherries, you also have to accept a barons before hauling the POSEIDON That’s not to say this keyboard is com-
whole fruit basket of everything else—900 Illuminated into the office, but it’s nothing pletely bereft of bling. The laser-etched
kajillion macro keys, more game profiles that will stand out over the din of a LAN keycaps are all individually backlit, and
than games you play, and USB and audio party. And, to be honest, once we were the LEDs have four intensity settings. A
ports that will assuredly go unused. click-clackin’ away for an hour or so, the button in the upper-right corner of the
Sometimes, all you want is a keyboard. sound wasn’t much of an issue. As always, keyboard will disable the Windows key
Thermaltake knows how you feel. The between your mileage and ours, there may during gaming, which is always a plus.
latest addition to the Tt e SPORTS line be some variance. Physically, the POSEIDON Illuminated
of gaming keyboards is the POSEIDON Using the POSEIDON Illuminated has good heft and feels sturdy.
Illuminated, a mechanical keyboard was a treat. The MX Blues’ actuation For 80 bucks, the POSEIDON Illumi-
that strips away almost all of the frills force is slightly less (50g) than MX nated feels like a breath of fresh air. It
found on other gaming keyboards and Blacks (60g) but slightly more than MX has the guts of keyboards that cost $30,
just gives you keyboard. Of course, Reds (45g). Actuation force is also a $40, or even $50 more, so if you want
Thermaltake does you a solid and passes matter of personal preference, but the a keyboard that’s just, well, a keyboard,
the savings straight to you; at $79.99, keys on the POSEIDON Illuminated Tt eSPORTS’ latest is just what the
the POSEIDON Illuminated is one of felt great. For general-purpose use, minimalist doctor ordered. ■
the most affordable Cherry MX-based the POSEIDON Illuminated shines.
keyboards we’ve run across in a while. Keystrokes felt crisp and clean. BY VINCE COGLEY
Specs: Interface: USB; Cable length: 5.9 feet; Cherry MX Blue mechanical keyswitches; Polling rate: 1,000Hz; N-key rollover (via PS/2 adapter);
Backlight: Blue

quite crisp. And of course, the scene’s
signature sonic blast, Thor dropping
Mjolnir on Cap’s shield to create a
timber-shattering vibranium gong, had
a clean, deep resonance that made us
feel like we were right in the middle of
the action.
Being culture power users in addition
to computer power users, we also
listened to several musical numbers
from last year’s “Les Misérables.”
Although reproducing lows and mids
is the CRONOS’ strongest suit, the
drivers are certainly sufficient for highs,
as well, blasting out the soaring strings
throughout the film. The CRONOS
cannot, however, fix Russell Crowe’s
Tt eSPORTS CRONOS singing. There are limits.
$59.99 Finally, we went behind the mask
Thermaltake of Corvo Attano and brought the
usa.ttesports.com CRONOS along with us as we skulked
through the back alleys and rooftops
of Dunwall. Using the headset really
Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS CRONOS brought the whalepunk world to life in

a way that we had yet to hear. Every rat
squeak, every parasitic insect buzzing
ometimes, we think there’s a ten- has good looks and terrific sound; a around a weeper, every tallboy footfall—
S dency among manufacturers to pour
all their resources into their flagship
trio of Jacksons nets you one sweet set
of cans.
we were a tin of potted whale meat away
from being totally transported to the
hardware. It’s clear that the highest of One clue to the coup is that the world of Dishonored.
the high end is where all the R & D C RO N O S ’ h e a d p h o n e s p r o d u c e The flourishes and design touches
money goes. Deep-pocketed power 2-channel audio. We understand the of Thermaltake’s pricier headsets
users are thusly rewarded when buying temptation to stuff extra drivers into the are included on the CRONOS, too.
the best of the best, but what about the headphones and lure power users with LEDs on the plastic earcup housing
enthusiasts who have to devote most the promise of full surround sound. But blaze a fier y red when you plug
of their gold to more mundane things, in the $60 price range, something has in the CRONOS’ USB plug. The
like food, shelter, and a whelpling or to give. Inevitably, what gives is driver foam-padded headband is swathed
two? Don’t these gamers deserve some quality: they end up tinny, flat, weak, or in LYCRA and very comfortable to
love, too? If you’re looking for a new all of the above. Instead, the CRONOS wear. As we mentioned before, the
headset but have neither arm nor leg uses a powerful 40mm neodymium CRONOS looks the part of a much
to spare, check out Thermaltake’s Tt driver on each side, and you can tell. more expensive headset.
eSPORTS CRONOS. The quality was evident in movies These days, budgets rule. If you’re
Looking at the CRONOS, you and games. We fired up the forest fight looking for places to save a little cash,
might think Thermaltake has pulled scene between Iron Man, Thor, and know that Thermaltake’s Tt eSPORTS
a neat little trick, disguising a low- Captain America in “The Avengers” CRONOS produces big sound for a
rent headset as a sleek model that and were blown away by the broad, small price. ■
looks two or three times more expense well-articulated spectrum of sound.
than its $59.99 price tag. The real The Mark VI’s thrusters roared, and BY VINCE COGLEY
trick, though, is that the CRONOS the sound of splintering wood was
Specs: Connectors: 3.5mm, USB; Drivers: 40mm neodymium magnet; Frequency response (headphones): 20Hz to 20kHz; Frequency response (mic):
100Hz to 10kHz; Mic sensitivity: -54 +/-3dB; Mic impedance: 2.2K ohm; Cable length: 5.9 feet

T.B. VEGAS QUAD CLUSTER Advance EVEREST Advance
$19.99 $15.99 $13.99
ENERMAX ENERMAX ENERMAX
www.ecomasterk.com www.ecomasterk.com www.ecomasterk.com
ENERMAX T.B. VEGAS QUAD / CLUSTER Advance / EVEREST Advance

ase fans are such unheralded system in ENERMAX PSUs, for example), but the VEGAS QUAD with 48 diodes, and the
C components. We take what we get with
our case and leave it at that, trusting that
abridged version is that T.B. fans should last
longer and stay quieter over time than ball
end result really is the Vegas strip in fan
form—phone banks not included.
the manufacturer put the right number of or sleeve bearing fans. All three of the fans The CLUSTER Advance is white on
fans in the right places to get the job done. have detachable blades, which is surprisingly white on white. The white fan blades are
Stop and think about that for a moment. helpful when cleaning time rolls around. set in a white frame, and white LEDs add
Should we be satisfied with simply getting ENERMAX also gifted all of these fans even more pop. We like this fan for an all-
the job done? There are all sorts of reasons with Smart APS (Adjustable Peak Speed). white build, but it would make for stunning
not to accept your case’s fans at face value. This lets you cap their max speed at three contrast installed in a black chassis. This fan is
Maybe they don’t match the rest of your levels: Ultra Silent Mode, Silent Mode, and the most powerful of the three, too: You can
components. Maybe you need more Performance Mode. Considering that when crank it all the way up to 1,800rpm.
airflow. Maybe you want to distinguish you lower the ceiling on a fan’s rotational Completing the trifecta is the EVEREST
your UberGamerCase from the other 50 speed you’re also limiting the noise it Advance, which is similar to the CLUSTER
UberGamerCases at your next LAN party. produces, Ultra Silent Mode and Silent Mode Advance. Both use ENERMAX’s Batwing
Whatever the reason, ENERMAX are self-explanatory. In Performance Mode, fan blades and Carved Halo Frame to
has your hookup. We selected a trio of the gloves come off, and the fans can spin up increase airflow by up to 30%, according
120mm fans and cased them out. The T.B. to their maximum speeds (listed in the specs). ENERMAX. The EVEREST Advance has
VEGAS QUAD, CLUSTER Advance, Smart APS is nice to have if you’re not able to clear blades, a clear frame, and blue LEDs. It
and EVEREST Advance should give you connect the fans to a fan controller. tops out at 1,600rpm.
a pretty good idea of what ENERMAX Although all three fans have built-in Whether it’s performance, looks, or both,
currently offers. LED lighting, the T.B. VEGAS QUAD these ENERMAX fans are that little extra
The fans share a few similarities. All three makes LEDs its specialty. You can adjust you never knew you needed. And it’s those
use ENERMAX’s Twister Bearing technology. the four-color LEDs (blue, red, green, little extras that make all the difference.
We’ve covered the tech in prior reviews and white) to flash in one of five display
(Twister Bearing fans are commonly used patterns. ENERMAX loads the T.B. BY VINCE COGLEY
Specs (T.B. VEGAS QUAD): 120mm; Speed: 500 to 1,800rpm; Airflow: 20.4 to 76cfm; Static pressure: 0.618 to 2.276mm-H2O; MTBF: 100,000 hours
Specs (CLUSTER Advance): 120mm; Speed: 500 to 1,800rpm; Airflow: 26.5 to 86.7cfm; Static pressure: 0.483 to 2.414mm-H2O; MTBF: 100,000 hours
Specs (EVEREST Advance): 120mm; Speed: 500 to 1,600rpm; Airflow: 26.5 to 76fm; Static pressure: 0.483 to 1.907mm-H2O; MTBF: 100,000 hours

GT-S Black Edition
$199
Aerocool
www.aerocool.us
Aerocool GT-S Black Edition

he Aerocool GT-S Black Edition is the on the left side of the top panel that lets you Aerocool even built in screw-less
Tof hot-rod/automotive-themed
newest member of Aerocool’s GT family
cases; it’s a
quickly cycle through four speed settings.
Speaking of fans, the GT-S comes with
expansion slot cover latches, which we
really dig, and rather than bolting a
full tower with a snazzy black exterior and three pre-installed units with red LED standard hinged door on the front panel
impressive red interior accents, including lighting: a 20cm monster in the front, over the external drive bays, the company
the motherboard tray, rear panel accessories, another in the top panel, and a 14cm added a cool magnetic cover that you can
and internal drive bay trays and locks. As its exhaust fan near the top of the rear panel. move wherever you like it on the front of
name suggests, the Black Edition is not the If you are desirous of greater airflow, the the case, or just remove altogether.
only color option—this case also comes in chassis supports the further installation The GT-S provides enough internal
white, with blue interior accents. of a 12 or 14cm bottom fan and a pair space from front to back to install graphics
Either way, you get a roomy case that is of 12s or 14s behind the left side panel’s cards up to 333mm (or a hair over 13
built to accommodate all the stuff high-end ventilated window. The left side panel can inches) long, and the drive trays are equally
PCs need these days, as well as all the nice accomodate one 20 or 23cm fan instead of at home housing SSDs or 3.5-inch hard
little design touches that you have come to two smaller fans, too. If 20cm fans aren’t drives. There’s 185mm of lateral space for
expect. USB 3.0 ports with internal header quite big enough to suit your particular big CPU coolers, and the motherboard
connections? Check. Easy-to-use drive bays? idiom, you can upgrade the front and top tray will handle anything you throw at it,
Check. Rinsable dust filters, motherboard fans to 23cm units. The rear panel will from FlexATX up to XL-ATX.
tray cutouts for cooler installation, and also hold a 12cm instead of a 14cm fan, Aerocool’s GT-S Black Edition is a
grommeted cable management holes? and you can replace the top panel fan with roomy, good-looking case that is perfect for
Check, check, and check. We’re also seeing a pair of 12s or a dual rad. Speaking of those looking to go black and red for their
the best cases include built-in fan controls watercooling, the GT-S has four pre-drilled next build. ■
lately, and the GT-S does a nice job with and rubber-grommeted watercooling holes
this, as well, providing a two-button control at the top of the rear panel. BY CHRIS TRUMBLE
Specs: Dimensions: 25.2 x 10.04 x 22.05 inches (HxWxD); Materials: Steel, plastic; Motherboard support: FlexATX, mATX, Mini-ATX, SSI CEB, E-ATX, XL-ATX;
Bays: 5 5.25-inch external, 7 2.5/3.5-inch internal; Fans (included): 1 200mm LED front, 1 200mm LED top, 1 140mm LED rear; Fans (optional): 1 230mm
front, 1 230mm top, 1 120mm rear, 2 120/140mm top, 1 200/230mm left, 2 120/140mm left, 1 120/140mm bottom; Ports: 2 USB 3.0, 2 USB 2.0, audio I/O

ADATA
Benchmark Results XPG V1.0
DDR3-1866
SiSoftware
Sandra 2013 Lite
Integer B/F AVX2/256 27.1

(GBps)
Float B/F FMA/256 27

(GBps)
Memory Latency 20.4ns
Cache Bandwidth (GBps) 176.8
ADATA XPG V1.0 DDR3-1866

ast month, we reviewed ADATA’s memory chips are selected based on a GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD5H mother-
L XPG V2 8GB DDR3-2400 kit. This
month, an XPG V1.0 kit, specifically
strict filtering process to deliver high
performance and low voltage levels.
board. In the Memory Bandwidth test,
the XPG V1.0 DDR3-1866 kit produced
one clocked at 1,866MHz, goes under This XPG V1.0 kit is also engineered speeds of 21.77GBps (Integer Buffered)
our microscope. XPG V1.0 kits are also to work with the JEDEC DDR3-1333 and 21.76GBps (Float Buffered).
available at 1,600MHz and 2,133MHz standard at 9-9-9-24 timings. ADATA’s memory kit delivered a quick
speeds; the heat spreaders on the XPG Setting up the 8GB kit to run at result of 22.7ns in the Memory Latency
V1.0 kits are color-coded based on 1,866MHz and its rated timings is test. To measure the transfer speed from
speed. The blue XPG kit operates at as simple as selecting the Intel XMP system cache to memory, we ran the
1,600MHz with timings of CL11, while profile in the BIOS. Nearly all of the Cache Bandwidth benchmark, which
the black RAM runs at 1,600MHz with modules in the XPG V1.0 lineup run reported a speed of 162.22GBps.
timings of CL9. Red modules, like at 1.5V. The only exceptions are the The XPG V1.0 kit tested well in our
those in our 8GB kit, are available in kits running at 2,133MHz, which benchmarks, and the modules’ bright
1,866MHz and 2,133MHz. operate at 1.65V with latencies of red color will stand out in most any case.
The 8GB DDR3-1866 kit runs at 10-11-11-30, and a low-voltage kit This kit would be ideal for enthusiasts in
10-11-10-30 timings and operates at (which consists of two 8GB DDR3- need of low-profile modules that provide
1.5V. The modules feature a design 1600 modules) that runs at 1.35V solid performance. ■
that’s similar in style to the XPG V2 with 9-11-9-27 timings. ADATA backs
modules, but the heat spreaders are not all of the XPG V1.0 modules with a BY NATHAN LAKE
as tall. The low-profile design means lifetime limited warranty.
that the modules should easily fit under To test the memor y, we used XPG V1.0 DDR3-1866
large CPU coolers that extend over a SiSoftware Sandra 2013 Lite SP2’s $74.99
motherboard’s DIMM slots. ADATA memory benchmarks. Our test system ADATA
indicates that its XPG Gaming V1.0 included an Intel Core i7-4770K and a www.adatausa.com
Specs: Capacity: 8GB (2x 4GB); Timings: 10-11-10-30; Frequency: DDR3-1866 (PC3-14900); Voltage: 1.5V; Unbuffered; Non-ECC; Lifetime warranty; Intel
XMP-certified
Test system specs: Processor: Intel Core i7-4770K; Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD5H; GPU: ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 (2x, SLI); Storage: 128GB
Crucial RealSSD C300; OS: Windows 8 Enterprise (64-bit)

Ivy Bridge-E
The Best Just Got Better
he update to Intel’s Ivy Bridge CPU its integrated memory controller, as well in 3D modeling workloads. Thanks to its
T family has been a long time coming—
nearly twice as long as the gap between Sandy
as support for 40 lanes of PCI-E 3.0.
Intel says the 4960X is up to 18% faster
12-thread capabilities and blistering speed,
the Core i7-4960X is especially adept at
Bridge and Sandy Bridge-E—but now that than its Extreme Edition predecessor, the running demanding multithreaded soft-
it’s here, it is clear that these 4th Generation Core i7-3960X, when everything else is ware such as Photoshop, Autodesk, Sound
Core processors are worth the wait. equal. That number is derived from tests Forge, and so on.
at stock clocks, however, and the 4960X
Core i7-4960X achieves these performance gains largely Core i7-4930K
The Core i7-4960X is the first six- through architectural improvements. If The second member of the Ivy
core CPU to arrive on Intel’s 22nm you’re an overclocker, the news is even Bridge-E family, the Core i7-4930K, is
manufacturing process, and it comes with better; Ivy Bridge-E offers improved also a six-core/12-thread CPU and boasts
full Hyper-Threading support (which of overclocking capabilities in the form of a a similar 22nm architecture to its Extreme
course means 12-thread capability) and higher bus/core ratio (63 vs. 57) and real- sibling, but with slightly lower stock and
a whopping 15MB of L3 cache. The time overclocking, power limits, and turbo Turbo Boost clocks (3.4GHz and 3.9Ghz,
4960X’s stock clock speed is 3.6GHz, voltage control. respectively), and a smaller integrated
which can jump to 4GHz with Turbo The Core i7-4960X’s performance gains Smart Cache (12MB).
Boost 2.0. The chip is compatible with are even more impressive when compared Ringing in at roughly half the cost, the
Socket LGA2011 and Intel’s X79 Express to current 4th Gen Core processors; Intel 4930K supports Hyper-Threading and
chipset, so it enjoys unfettered access to says it outperforms the Core i7-4770K by Turbo Boost 2.0, and has similar support
four channels of 1,866MHz memory via as much as 36% in 3D games and 37% for Intel’s XMP (Extreme Memory

like will be interested to note that Intel
thought of you when packaging its new
Ivy Bridge-E processors. As it did with the
previous two Extreme Edition processors,
Intel boxed the three newest 4th Gen
Core processors without a cooling
solution. This means that you can install
your own cooler without the guilt of
leaving a perfectly good, brand-new part
in the box. Best of all, it looks like the
Core i7-4960X will be priced lower than
the 3960X, and that the difference will
be roughly similar to the cost of many
closed-loop watercooling units.
A New Performance Champion

Intel’s Ivy Bridge-E family of 4th
Gen Core processors represents the
pinnacle of computing horsepower;
combined with the X79 Express
chipset, they provide an unbeatable
combination of extreme memor y
bandwidth, multi-threaded compute
Profile) 1.3, which provides simple and granular overclocking options, especially performance, overclocking options, and
safe DDR3 overclocking with XMP- when used with Intel XTU. PCI-E 3.0 support.
supported quad-channel memory kits. If you’re looking for the most power-
As the “K” in its name suggests, the Cooler Cooling ful desktop CPU in the world for your
4930K also provides full overclocking Fans of custom cooling, watercool- next build, the Core i7-4960X is the
capabilities, and as part of the Ivy ing, closed-loop watercoolers, and the clear choice. ■
Bridge-E family enjoys tight integration
with Intel’s XTU (Extreme Tuning
Utility) 4.2.
Core i7-4820K
Users who want the muscle of the
X79 platform and the benefits of Ivy
Bridge-E’s 22nm process technology
but have tighter budgets should find
exactly what they’re looking for in
the Core i7-4820K. This quad-core
processor provides solid multi-threaded
performance (eight threads with Intel’s
Hyper-Threading technology), hearty
stock clocks (3.5GHz and up to 3.9GHz
in Turbo Boost), and a generous 10MB
L3 Smart Cache.
By virtue of its familial connection
to the X79 platform, the 4820K gets
the same 40-lane PCI-E 3.0 support
and quad-channel memory support as
its higher-priced siblings, all for about a
third of the cost of the 4960X. You’ll also
enjoy its unlocked multiplier and flexible,

LANFest Atlanta Summer 2013
War In The 404
The second of LANFest Atlanta’s two annual LAN events, LANFest Atlanta Summer 2013, ran from the 19th of July to the 21st
at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. (The first took place in January.) This 160-seat event tends to sell out pretty quickly, and Summer
2013 was no exception. Once the doors opened on Friday afternoon, the weekend was packed with all manner of fun, including
Battlefield 3, StarCraft II, and League of Legends tournaments, and a slew of other contests and activities, including the largest
wall-sitting contests we’ve ever seen. (The wall-sitting contest winner took home a Cooler Master CSX Stacker 830 Spartan case!)

Mod Contest
The LANFest-CPU mod contest brought this beauty into the spotlight. Daniel Adkin’s system starts with a BitFenix Prodigy and
ends with the impressive use of what little internal space Adkin had to work with. This is a no-compromises Mini-ITX gaming rig
with amazing cable management and an excellent custom cooling system.

Modders-Inc.com Mod-Off 2013
The Results Are In
n the August 2013 issue of CPU, we told you that the crew
Parts List
I from Modders-Inc.com were at it again and were preparing
to have a Mod-Off similar to the one we covered back in our
November 2010 issue. They modded and built their rigs, hauled
Case: Thermaltake Urban S41
Keyboard: Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS CHALLENGER Illuminated

them to QuakeCon, and then had a panel of master modders
from the community (Jeremy “E.E.L. Ambiense” Birch, Richard
Mouse: Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS THERON
“DarthBeavis” Surroz, Brian “Boddaker” Carter, Rod “[TB]Rod”
Rosenberg, Ton “TiTON” Khowdee, Bob “BS Mods” Stewart,
Headset: Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS CONSOLE One
and Ken “TGS” Kirby) pick a winner.
Each modder began with the same list of parts, provided
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake BigTyp Revo
by several sponsor companies. (See the “Parts List” sidebar
for more information.) The modders then chose themes
Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000, 860, or X850
for their rigs, each based on an id Software or Bethesda
game: Dewayne “Americanfreak” Carel chose Fallout 3 as
SSD: ADATA Premier Pro SP600 128GB
the inspiration for his PC, Craig “Tech-Daddy” Tate chose
Wolfenstein, and Vic “XcaliburFX” McGuire chose Elder
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer PC3-14900
Scrolls V: Skyrim for his build.
In addition to working from the same parts list, each
Motherboard: ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0
modder was allowed to get outside help with painting
and/or fabrication, but was limited by a common $250
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 680
budget. The parts from sponsors did not count toward the
$250 limit, and all mods had to be completed in time to
CPU: AMD FX-8350
display at QuakeCon 2013.

First Place
Americanfreak: Fallout 3 Mod
y plan for this build was to try and create a PC case mod there. I could have done this by airbrushing them on, which I did
M incorporating items from the game in such a way that

people would easily recognize it. Of course, there were
no ATX cases in Fallout 3, but hopefully I made the Thermaltake
some testing and practice with, but it just would not give me the
realistic look I wanted. So I found a process that did, and believe
it or not it involves hair spray. (You can see how I did this in my
Urban S41 look like it is was taken right out of the game. I was work log at bit.ly/16NWY1n.)
trying to create a PC that looked like something you might have I put about 80-plus hours into this build; I had to mod a plain pre-
in your room inside the Vault, and when you returned you would molded Pip-Boy 3000, create the Nuka-Cola bottle caps, repurpose
take the items out of your pockets and place them on top of the the analog gauges, finish the lighting, paint the case, and then create
computer; some of you might be doing that right now with your the worn and rusted detail on the inside and outside of the case.
wallet and keys.
One of the hardest parts of this project was to make it look like
it something from the apocalyptic time frame that the game is
based upon. Old, dirty, and worn, with an old-world look is not
that easy, but I like a good challenge. One thing that I have found
to be helpful when creating game-themed mods is to make sure
and incorporate some key items drawn from the game, like the old,
oversized control stations in Fallout 3. Another thing that seemed
to make sense was using some analog-style gauges that you see
throughout the game, so I had to hunt some of those down online.
A well-placed bid later, and I had just what I needed for a mere $15.
Yet another game item I thought I could work into this project
was one of the darn terminal screens that you could turn on (I could
never get into some of them or crack their passwords), so that would
have to be in there for sure. This would make a great window for the
side of the case. And, of course, I had to get the Pip-Boy 3000 wrist
controller into this one way or another, as it basically the main device
in the game.
What I think really helped me achieve the look and feel that I
wanted for the case was the realistic worn and rusted areas here and

Second Place
XcaliburFX: Skyrim World Eater
really enjoyed doing the “Skyrim World Eater” mod. The with all the rain and the humidity approaching 100% at my home
I whole project took somewhere between 60 and 80 hours to

complete. It was all done at my home, with the exception of
the waterjet cutting I outsourced. In addition to saving me some
almost the entire month, you can probably imagine how the semi-
clear anodizing paint clouded on me. So I immediately hit it with
the heat gun, racing to dry the cloudiness out. It worked out great,
time, the waterjet cutting also gave my plexi etching the precision although in the end I didn’t quite get the effect I wanted in the
that allowed it to line up perfectly inside the Skyrim Dragon. finish, as it made the paint dry somewhat darker. It still pops in the
Speaking of the etching, it was the only mishap of the whole light, though.
mod. The first etch I did looked perfect until I removed the As for the exterior, I strayed from the usual grayish hue of the
adhesive sandblast stencil I used. Not only did the stencil have skies found throughout most of the game and went with blue
a blue protective layer on the sticky side, but it also had a clear skies. I just wanted to add more color and a dramatic effect for
layer that was so hard to see that I didn’t realize it was there until those seeing it for the first time—this was my own vision of what I
after removing it. This was one lesson I learned the hard way! If wanted to see a bit of in the game.
I had known, I could have sandblasted through it, but as it was I’d like to thank my daughter Rose McGuire and her best friend
I ended up with partial etching in spots, and that simply would Savannah Ikhmais for their work on the hand-painted artwork.
not do. So, I did it again, this time making sure I found the clear Not only did the artwork turn out fantastic, but I also introduced
layer and removing it, as well. The second etching was flawless, modding to two aspiring art students, and they enjoyed it. I’m
and the lights running across the panel made the etching really still not ready to turn the Dremel over to them, but we are
pop inside the waterjet cutout of the Skyrim Dragon. I was more making headway.
than pleased. I would also like to give another special thanks to CPU for
The tree bark I used to blend the dragon wall into the case covering our event in their great magazine, and to our wonderful
turned out great, I think. This took more than eight hours to hardware sponsors for this Staff vs. Staff Mod-Off.
complete. I literally had a 5-gallon bucket full of bark that I went
through, trimmed, shaved, and even shaped on my belt sander just
to get the right 20-some-odd pieces to match up. It was truly one
of the hardest puzzles I have ever put together, but the end result
was well worth it.
I also took a new approach to painting this case. I sprayed the
interior with bright, hammered-metal copper and then sprayed
a couple layers of anodized red over it to make it pop. However,

Third Place
Tech-Daddy: Dritter Wolf
he Wolfenstein build was meant to be a moody, dark, ’60s-era
T piece of technology. The lighting on the front has a reactor

that is exposed (the front red intake fan), as well as three
exposed plasma pipes that are circulating cold plasma (the blue LED
lighting on the bottom) past the heat source to help bring it up to
the proper working temperature (the orange LEDs on the top).
This is supposed to be what is feeding the “computational center”
of the machine, as seen from the micro-routed orange plasma (the
changing orange LEDs on the Crucial memory). The cooled blue
plasma is seen being routed away (the blue bases of the RAM), only
to be circulated all through the process again.
I made the top exhaust “blast vent” out of thick, black
styrene, overlaying a foam and fiberglass foundation that formed
the basic shape. I cut the Styrene into the basic side shapes, then
heated them with a heat gun until they conformed to the desired
shape. To give the appearance of metal, I put aluminum pop
rivets in through the styrene, gave everything a coat of black, and
then scuffed it up to expose the metal rivets. All of this was built
around a floor vent that I pulled apart to salvage the direction-
adjustable louvers and incorporate them into the top.
The piping on the side was purely cosmetic, and was meant
to represent cooled plasma circulation pipes. I am planning
on adding more to it, and to the keyboard, along with more
stressing, bullet nicks, and ricochets.
I would like to thank all the sponsors that provided parts for
these mods for supporting the enthusiast community with your
awesome products. Your products keep PC gaming on the front
burner and the modding heartbeat strong. Thank you.

The QuakeCon PC
his year at QuakeCon in Dallas, we worked with
T Modders-Inc.com to judge the case mod contest. As in

the past, the contest split entrants into three categories:
id/Bethesda-themed mods, case mods, and scratch builds, so this
month we present a three-way “Mad Reader Mod” feature so that
we can show you the winners of each category.
The inspiration for the winner of the id/Bethesda-themed
mod category is readily apparent. Mike “whiterice” Walt chose to
honor QuakeCon itself.
“I’ve now been to five QuakeCons,” Walt says. “This
particular PC case means a lot to me because I remember
buying it brand-new in 2006 and building it for QuakeCon.
This case has traversed the country with me. I used to live near
Chicago, and now in my home is in Florida. This system has
been to QuakeCon multiple times. The design of the PC is
entirely inspired by the QuakeCon event. It only felt fitting to
call it ‘The QuakeCon PC.’”
The Build
Walt says he started planning and designing the mod of his
beloved case six to seven months prior to QuakeCon this year.
Walt’s brother uses AutoCAD every day at work and helped him
out with the design of the QuakeCon Q-logo grilles. Then Walt
spent about three or four months on teardown, modifications,
finish prep, painting, and his build.
“I cut the Q-logo fan grilles and the 16-inch backlit Q on the
right side panel from acrylic and have a brushed aluminum faux

finish,” says Walt. “This was the starting point of the entire mod ABS plastic boxes where I could run excess wiring to create
for me. When the idea of using the Q logo came to mind, the the clean installation of the final product. The crossbeams
whole mod began.” of the case behind the motherboard actually touch the right
Walt mounted the side panel Q using Plexiglas risers side panel, and I was able to run, zip-tie, and hide all my
and put orange LEDs underneath to create a backlit effect. excess wiring very well—it’s one of my proudest points of
He converted the rest of the Koolance case’s blue LEDs the case.”
to orange, as well. In total, there are 212 orange LEDs in
the mod. The Parts
“If there’s one thing I knew I wanted from the start, it was In addition to the Koolance case, The QuakeCon PC
an unmistakable orange glow to go along with the color of the consists of an Intel Core i7-950, an ASUS SABERTOOTH
standard QuakeCon logo,” Walt says. X58 board, 24GB of tri-channel 2,000MHz Corsair XMS
Walt wanted to replace the original left side panel window, memory, a 2GB Galaxy GeForce GTX 660, a 1,200-watt
which had become a little scratched up over the years, so he BFG power supply, a 120GB OCZ SSD, and a WD Caviar
went to a shop that works with Plexiglas and was talking to Black 500GB hard drive. The rig’s cooling subsystem includes
them about cutting him a new panel when he discovered that a Koolance CPU waterblock, a Koolance pump and reservoir,
they could also do etching. That’s when he decided he needed Koolance tubing, Xigmatek orange LED fans, and a BitFenix
a Q logo on the left side to match the one on the right. Recon fan controller.
Walt ended up having them etch “QuakeCon 2013” on the
window, too. The Next One
The QuakeCon PC has a fairly elaborate paint job. Walt Walt says he’s already begun designing a new mod for next
says he used 12 cans of paint on the project, including year’s QuakeCon event, but he won’t give any details yet.
primer, the satin black on the interior, black metallic on “As I move onto my next build, this PC will become my
the outside, and clear coat. Cable management was also a son’s first gaming PC, and I keep telling him how jealous I am
big concern. of him for getting that at only 12 years old,” Walt says.
“The Koolance PC3-720SL was based on the popular We’re jealous, too. ■
Chieftec Dragon, which was produced before wire
management was really a concern,” he says. “I had to create

Frank N. Stein
ichard Schaefer is a “Mad Reader Mod” veteran, and
R his PC’s nickname (which doubles as his gaming

handle) is one CPU readers will likely remember, as
well: Frank N. Stein. A Frank N. Stein mod first made the
cover of CPU for our January 2012 issue. Schaefer says the
name came from a guy who did some work for him on a
previous mod.
“One of my first builds had red liquid-cooling tubes going
everywhere,” Schaefer says. “A guy I hired in Atlanta asked me,
‘What are you building, Frankenstein?’ The name was born, and
here we are a few iterations later.”
Impeccable cabling is one of the hallmarks of a Frank N. Stein
mod. Schaefer says this is a throwback to work he used to do as a
telecom hardware tech.
“I used to install DC power and transmission cables in open
cable racks in telecom offices,” he says. “That’s where I learned
the art of cable sewing (with much larger cables, of course),
which I brought to the modding community and raised the bar
of cable dressing in mods today.”
Fourth Of His Name

Schaefer spent “eight solid months of nights and weekends” on
this fourth Frank N. Stein mod.
“On holidays and weekends, I modded 10-plus hours a day,”
he says. “I either work or I mod—it’s that simple.”
Unlike many modders who make it into these pages, Schaefer
mods without a specific end goal or design in mind.

“I never start out knowing what the end product will EXTREME motherboard, 32GB of G.Skill RAM overclocked to
become,” he says. “I know the case, the hardware, and the 2,133MHz, three EVGA GTX 680 4GB graphics cards, a LEPA
colors, then I get them all together and start building. This may G1600 power supply, an ASUS Xonar sound card, four 128GB
sound crazy to those who do not mod this way, but I let the SSDs in RAID 0 as a boot drive, a WD 2TB Caviar Black, and a
mod tell me what it will be. I mess with it until one day that 1.5TB Caviar Black.
vision appears and then I go down that path. And even then it The mod’s considerable cooling system includes Alphacool
never ends up exactly the way I saw it when it first became clear VPP 655 pumps, a PrimoChill 400mm CTR reservoir,
to me; many times it is better.” two 250mm Bitspower Z-Tubes, Bitspower fittings, the
Schaefer chose Frank N. Stein’s Mountain Mods case at least aforementioned PrimoChill coolant, a Swiftech MCR320-XP
in part because he craves the challenge of creating a clean, great- eXtreme Performance Radiator 360, a Black Ice Xtreme 360
looking rig “that has zero places to hide anything.” He made all rad, an Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 360 radiator, Watercool
of the custom cables by hand, from crimping the pins to sleeving HEATKILLER backplates, a Watercool MO-RA3 LT
the cables with Lutro0 Customs coreless paracord and hand- converted to push/pull, a Watercool HEATKILLER CPU
sewing them into shape. block, EK motherboard blocks, a Koolance INS-FM17N
In addition to the mod’s insane cable management, Schaefer inline flow meter and display, Phobya Red LED temperature
had custom backplates made for each of its three GeForce GTX sensor displays, and fans from ENERMAX, BitFenix, SilenX,
680s and then swathed them in 3M DI-NOC carbon fiber film. and Xigmatek.
He also used DI-NOC on the floor panels of the case, on the
CPU waterblock, the RAM blocks and heat spreaders, the PCI Other Projects
slots, the ASUS sound card, the motherboard cooling blocks, Schaefer says he has several builds in the works, including
the Samsung Blu-ray drive, and the mod’s radiators. Schaefer a Quake-themed mod for next year’s QuakeCon, a mod for
also custom-sleeved each of the mod’s 41 fans and then custom- his wife (“Mrs. Stein”), and The Cody Build, a system he’s
tinted the PrimoChill Blood Red coolant to match the red of putting together for an 11-year-old who recently lost his father to
his fan covers. cancer. The Cody Build will consist largely of parts donated from
Frank N. Stein’s case consists of an Extended U2-UFO and vendors and members of the modding community, and Schaefer
an attached Water Barrel 24. In addition, the mod includes an says he will work on the rig with Cody to teach him the ropes of
Intel Core i7-3930K running at 4.8GHz, ASUS’ RAMPAGE IV PC building and modding. ■

NES Coffee Table
Computer
he winner of the scratch build category in the QuakeCon
T 2013 case mod contest was Adam “DOHCDragon”

Owen’s NES Coffee Table Computer, which is instantly
recognizable to most gamers. The computer is a giant control pad
from the Nintendo Entertainment System, an 8-bit videogame
console that hit the shelves in North America in 1985, and it is
also a coffee table. And just in case you’re wondering, yes, the
control pad is fully functional.
The Man
Owen is a senior IT coordinator for the Lisle Auto Plaza
Automotive Group in Lisle, Ill., and has been modding PCs
for 20 years.
“My job allows me to play with hardware from time to time,”
Owen says, “but I also run a LAN center in Big Rock, Ill. I have
a group of people who play at least weekly, and we have been
doing it for over 15 years. I came to QuakeCon the first time in
2006, and someone brought a giant Optimus Prime computer.
I was very impressed and realized that I was going to have
to bring my modding skills up if I wanted to win any of the
contests at QuakeCon.”
Owen won in 2009 with The Behemoth, a full tower with a
phase-change cooling system. For the 2011 event, he built an
RC truck computer; that mod didn’t win, but it did garner the

interest (and signature) of id Software’s John Carmack. Then mounted so that you can see it when sitting in front of the
in 2012 Owen took second place with an Antec LanBoy Air NES Coffee Table Computer, and the lock that keeps the lid
case mod, so although he hasn’t won CPU’s Mad Reader Mod closed requires a directional code. Can you guess what the
contest before, he has been a fixture at QuakeCon’s modding code is?
competitions for several years.
The Code
The Mod “The code is the directional portion of the Konami code,”
Owen does most of his modding at the LAN center facility he Owen says. “It seemed fitting.”
owns in Big Rock, and in this case he also spent some time using The “computer” part of the NES Coffee Table Computer
his friend Jay’s CNC machine to build the cradles and buttons is an Intel Core i7-4770K running on an ASUS H87I-PLUS
for the NES controller mod. motherboard, 16GB of Corsair Vengeance memory, an EVGA
“I built this computer to act as my coffee table,” Owen says. GeForce GTX 650 Ti, a Seasonic 850-watt PSU, and a 120GB
“I wanted it to be functional both as a table and a working OCZ Agility 3 SSD.
controller. The idea of the computer being inside of it came Like both of the others who won their categories in this year’s
later, but it makes perfect sense now. The controller is large QuakeCon mod contest, Owen has begun working on a mod for
enough to house a keyboard, a mouse, guitar controllers, and QuakeCon 2014. He’s also not talking much about it.
a ton of other USB controllers, so I can plug in the controllers “It’s a secret,” he says with a smile. “You will see it at
to the table, turn on a game, and play from the couch. If I get QuakeCon 2014.” ■
bored, I can watch a movie on Netflix or Hulu. If my friends
get drunk, I can laugh at them while they try to play on the
giant controller itself. It works very well and does more than I
could ever have hoped.”
Owen built the main structure out of MDF (medium Give Us Your Mod
density fiberboard), with a Plexiglas window that shows off Have a computer mod that will bring tears to our eyes? Email photos
the more than 300 LEDs that light up when it’s powered on. and a description to madreadermod@cpumag.com. If we include your
He says he hasn’t worked with MDF before, but as you can system in our “Mad Reader Mod” section, we’ll send you $1,500 and
see he seems to have gotten along just fine with it. The PC is a one-year subscription to CPU. (U.S. residents only, please.)

QuakeCon 2013
Everything’s Bigger In Texas
Last year’s QuakeCon drew more than 10,000 attendees, over a fourth of which came with their rigs in tow for the event’s BYOC
LAN party. These gamers soaked up over $150,000 in prize giveaways, as well as more than 1,000 gallons of energy drinks.
With those stats in mind, CPU descended on Dallas for a weekend of QuakeCon tournaments, presentations, and mod contests.
In fact, we co-sponsored the latter, working with Modders-Inc.com gurus Dewayne “Americanfreak” Carel and Craig “Tech
Daddy” Tate and last year’s mod contest winner Gary “NavyChiefEWC” Murphy to select a top mod in the following three
categories: Case, Scratch, and Bethesda/id. We saw 31 superb rigs, and the three winners are rounded up in this month’s “Mad
Reader Mod.” But the competition was so tight that you’ll want to check out some of the other finalists, as well.

Case Mods
2nd Place: Red & Black Attack

Clint “n3farious” Satterwhite put about 430 hours of work into turning a Corsair 650D into the Black & Red Attack. The exterior is highlighted by a candy apple red
faux marble paint job. The marbling in the paint is a brilliant match for the solid black chassis. Satterwhite welded the custom top fan housing out of 16 gauge sheet
metal to make room for the radiator and the two custom liquid-cooling loops. The welded fan housing was so seamless that, to the naked eye, it appeared to be
part of the original case. Satterwhite cut all all of the power cables to length and individually sleeved sleeved them, too. Intelligently placed LED lighting showcases
Red & Black Attack’s exceptionally clean interior.
3rd Place: Mad Science

This mod’s claim to fame is its use of leftover chemistry lab equipment.
Builder Adam Stark tells us that his goal was to create “a great mod on
the cheap,” and he certainly accomplished his mission. The turret on top
of the system is made of a discarded air desiccator that’s wrapped with
liquid tubing. The top of the mod also features round bottom flasks filled
with green coolant, which spins in a vortex created by using surplus
magnets. To save on money on the ultraviolet coolant, Stark mixed
clear distilled water with dye he extracted from around 18 green/yellow
highlighters. Another cool feature of Mad Science is its Arduino keypad
control, which Stark uses to turn on the PC by entering a keycode; other
codes can be entered to control the lighting and fans. Manual switches
built into the front panel turn the case’s interior lighting on and off. Stark
used a 3D printer to create color-matched panels for the keypad and
other case cutouts.

Scratch Builds
2nd Place: Archer Terminal
Michael “Helix_3” Kraft is a big “Archer” fan, and this build is a tribute to
the computer found in the ISIS offices. Kraft’s mod is mix of foam and wood
construction, as well as pieces created with a 3D printer. True to the show,
this PC has a built-in monitor, keyboard, speaker, and floppy drive—all of
which are functional. As there are no Function keys on the “Archer” PC,
Kraft removed them from his keyboard. He also added some hidden extras
into the mod. The right side of the monitor offers a covert drink dispenser
that Kraft says “is handy if you get a little thirsty after a long day of spying.”
3rd Place: Blue Steel

Dillon “Dilmolish” Haspany says he learned how to use AutoCAD just so
he could figure out how to design, space, and shape everything for this
all-metal case. There are a series of rugged steel pieces that have been cut
with a plasma cutter, and Haspany installed LEDs around the interior and
sides of the case to give it a blue glow. He left off a side panel to give it an
industrial look and ensure that all of the components are easily accessible.

Bethesda/id Mods
2nd Place: Quake OWB

Inspired by the colors of QuakeCon, Hassan Alaw took a Cooler Master CM
Scout case and turned it into an orange, white, and black masterpiece.
Alaw added a custom acrylic window on the side panel, which shows off
the orange and white internals. Perhaps the most impressive part of Alaw’s
mod is its hard acrylic cooling loop with orange coolant that matches the
exterior of the case. Alaw was able to fit a 360mm radiator into the front
of the case, plus a tall reservoir filled with the orange coolant. He also
individually wired the case with a mix of white and orange sleeved cables.
3rd Place: Take The Leap!

Ethan Prus loves Fallout 3, and he wanted to create a mod that looked like it
was straight out of that universe. We’d call it a success. Prus’ mod definitely
looks like it could be radioactive, thanks to a side panel window that looks
melted away; it gives a clear view of the PC’s internal components, too. On
the right side panel, you’ll find the phrase “Drink Nuka-Cola Quantum.” A
bright blue backlight illuminates “Quantum,” and ambient noise makes the
sound-activated backlight flicker at a pitch-perfect rate. Prus told us that
the pulsing light “makes it look like old neon.” On the front of the case, Prus
painted “Take The Leap!” in a light blue color that looks like it could be,
according to Prus, “old ’50s, or an alternate ’50s.”

QuakeCon Sights
Chances to play demos of new games and participate in tournaments are another big reason to come to QuakeCon. Here are just
of few of the fun booths attendees were able to check out.
Virtuix showed off the Omni, which is a

device that lets you stand up and walk or run
within almost any game. It also utilizes the
Oculus Rift for head movements to further its
This mecha-dog tank stands guard as gamers play a demo of Wolfenstein: The New Order.
potential for virtual reality gaming.
Minecraft PVP was a popular booth at QuakeCon 2013.

The BYOC
Gaming was front and center for attendees who brought their rigs to the show. There seemed to be a new tournament beginning
every hour or so.
This shot covers a mere quarter of the BYOC area of the show.
Bob Stewart’s amazing Gipsy Danger mod was on display at the There were plenty of great-
event, and in related news QuakeCon was Kaiju-free. You can draw looking, interesting systems
your own conclusions. around the show floor.

SWAG Attack
$150,000 worth of prizes takes some time to dole out. You could find a giveaway just about everywhere you turned on Saturday. We decided to join in the fun
ourselves and hook up one lucky winner with a dream machine that’s all set for any id or Bethesda title.
The event hall was wall-to-wall attendees during several portions of the show.
Daniel “AquaR3gia” Kidd won our Clark Kent giveaway system, which Modders–Inc.com’s booth was loaded with giveaway parts, and they
came with Intel’s Core i7-4770K, a GIGABYTE GA-N770OC-4GD spent the better part of an hour reading off winners’ names for the
graphics card, MSI’s Z87-GD65 GAMING motherboard, and a host massive drawing.
of other high-powered hardware.

Home Server Strategy
Hardware & Software Options For Building
Servers For Games, Email, & More
s we enter the waning months of personal home server was marching but a game server can really improve
A 2013, it would be an understatement
to say that cloud-based technology and
toward certain oblivion. But this ain’t
no eulogy, son. We’re here to show
your multiplayer gaming experience
in Counter Strike: Global Offensive,
software has been a disruptive force in the you how having your own server can Left 4 Dead 2, Minecraft, and more.
computing industry. Just a few years ago, make your life easier and your day- Building one can ensure the games you
if you wanted to be able to access music, to-day computing more seamless, even play are always available, run with the
videos, files, and more, from any Internet- if you happen to be doing it on several rules of your choosing, and matches
connected PC, about your only resort different machines scattered across are constantly available for you and
was to create your own server. Today, town, the country, or the world. Below, your friends to join at any time.
however, there’s SkyDrive, Box, Dropbox, we’ve listed a handful of the top reasons Don’t like a particular play style? Ban
SugarSync, iCloud, Amazon Cloud Drive, to consider building your network it and blacklist players who disregard
Google Drive, and dozens more, all around a fully capable home server. the rules. You’re in control with your
offering gigabytes and gigabytes of free Security. Of all the cloud services own game server. The rules that apply
storage for whatever you want. Another we mentioned above, none offer the to a game server will also apply to a
nail in the traditional home server’s coffin ability to filter the Internet for your dedicated application hosting server.
is the fact that we’re constantly accessing entire home network like a home server The former is merely a more specific
these files from smartphones and tablets, can. As a firewall and network-based version of the latter.
which don’t interface well with x86 sharing device, your server is capable Email. If multiple people access email
operating systems. of filtering out as much (or as little) accounts within your network, having
malware, unauthorized users, and other a dedicated machine that filters and
Never Obsolete questionable content as you want. distributes the email to each user can be
Given all of the above, we wouldn’t Game and application hosting. We handy. Some email server software also
blame you for thinking that the talk a lot about gaming in these pages, includes collaboration, calendaring, and
conferencing components.
Printing. Being able to access a printer
from anywhere can be incredibly
It’s true you can pay for powerful. With a print server, not only
can multiple PCs and mobile devices
web hosting, but using a within a network send print jobs to
a local printer, but remote devices
can, too.
dedicated machine means Media and file storage. Although
numerous cloud-based services can
you’re not at the mercy offer similar benefits, you can save a
considerable amount in monthly fees
using your own file server. Capacity
of someone else if there’s is practically limitless, and the files
all come in your preferred format
ever a problem. and resolution. You can even build a
server capable of performing on-the-fly
transcoding. Any file storage server you

more upload bandwidth. As a result,
many ISPs cap upload bandwidths
at fairly low levels, reserving higher
bandwidths for business accounts that
are more likely to have need of it thanks
to their servers. Some ISPs even block
ports 25 and 80 to restrict access to
email and WWW servers. If this is the
case with your ISP, then a server may
only be useful to PCs on your LAN.
Contact your ISP if you’re interested in
running a server that will allow access
from remote systems. There may be fees
or service level changes you need to
agree to before you’re allowed to make
use of a server on your network.
Server Guts
Depending on the server you plan to
build, the hardware you put inside can
vary greatly. If you only need the server
If you can still find a copy, Windows Home Server is a very affordable way to get a Windows- for handling personal requests for files
based server up and running. and other data, then a fairly lightweight
machine may be capable of doing the
job to your satisfaction. In the case of
create can very easily do double duty as majority of an ISP’s business is derived an email or game server, the chances
a backup server, so keep that in mind from users who just want Internet that more than one client PC will be
as you consider the software you plan access on one or more PCs. Servers, on accessing the server at once is high.
to run. the other hand, require considerably For this reason, you’re going to want to
Web hosting. It’s true you can pay
for web hosting, but using a dedicated
machine means you’re not at the mercy
of someone else if there’s ever a problem.
If you run a business that deals with the
public or has a devoted clientele, keeping
your web hosting in-house can be a
simple matter of taking responsibility for
your customers’ experiences.
Sure, there are other reasons to create
your own server, but these are some of
the most common that are still very
relevant in today’s cloud-saturated
culture. In the sections that follow,
we’ll describe what you need on the
hardware side, what kind of operating
systems you need to consider, and
what additional software components
you may need to install to get your
particular server up and running.
ISP Minefield
Typically, PCs tend to require Windows Server 2012 has the look and feel of Windows 8.
loads of download bandwidth. A vast

have at least a few modern components
running inside.
Processor. Depending on the type
of server you’re building, something
as outdated as a Pentium 4 could be
sufficient or you may need something
as powerful as to a pair of 8-core Xeons.
The bulk of a server’s performance
actually comes from the width of its
pipes, namely its network bandwidth.
Simple file and web servers require
very few if any desktop applications
running beyond the operating system
and firewall software; for these we
recommend getting a very energy-
efficient processor. If you have to
compromise, prioritize a higher core
count over raw clock speed. This type
of server may even be run on very old
equipment; Windows XP and server-
optimized distros of Linux are typically
not very demanding. From the Windows Server Dashboard, you can accomplish basic server tasks including add user
If you plan to run CPU-intensive accounts, setup anywhere access, and configure a media server.
ser ver applications, such as game
servers, you may need to get a more
capable processor. Again, the ability If you anticipate that a handful sufficient. If dozens or more users will
to handle multiple threads is more of users may be accessing the server be accessing the server multiple times
important than a high clock speed, s i m u l t a n e o u s l y, t h e n a s t a n d a rd a day, consider getting a processor
but energy efficiency is also important. desktop-grade processor will be built to handle the rigors of server
operation, such as one
or more Xeon or Opteron
processors. These processors
tend to have large caches,
which is an important
feature to have once those
requests start piling up.
The best servers are the
ones that run reliably for a
long time. For this reason,
make sure you’ve carefully
c o n s i d e re d t h e s y s t e m’s
cooling needs. While we do
love our piecemeal liquid
cooling systems, a server
may not be the place to
install one. A closed-loop
cooler with a better than
3-year warranty, or a large
aftermarket CPU cooler
can reduce the processor
a n d s y s t e m’s o p e r a t i n g
Automated backups are a built-in function of Windows Server 2012. temperatures by as much as
10 degrees or more, which

might be worth the extra expense in
these cases. You can always buy larger
memory modules, but after you’ve
occupied every slot with the highest
capacity memory available, you may be
looking at a very expensive upgrade to
overcome that bottleneck.
Storage. One of the most vital
aspects of any server is the onboard
storage. It’s true, not all server types
need a lot of storage capacity, but
those that do, such as file and
backup servers, will need a pretty
sophisticated storage structure. RAID
is something you should look into,
primarily for redundancy, but RAID’s
speed advantages can shave valuable
n a n o s e c o n d s o f f d a t a b a s e s e r ve r
operations. Look for hard drives that
have long warranties; up to five years
is ideal. A good server-oriented hard
drive will also have a large cache, up
to 64MB or more. If you plan to run
critical applications, you should look
into acquiring server-grade storage that
uses the SAS (Serial Attached SCSI)
interface (you may also need to use a
Installing Ubuntu Server is easy, but you can also run a Live CD if you’d rather just get a feel for the OS. SAS-capable motherboard). These drives
support error reporting and recovery,
and allow multipath I/O to devices,
can ensure your processor lasts longer hosting, try to get a motherboard which adds another layer of redundancy
than you need it to. with at least four memory slots. Eight to the storage subsystem.
Motherboard. If you’re using a is even better; a processor capable Networking hardware. When it
desktop-class motherboard, then make of handling quad-channel memory comes to network protocols, servers
sure to use one with a few PCIe ports,
which you can use to add additional
network adapters, RAID controllers,
and other devices you want your
server to support. A motherboard with
dual Ethernet ports can quickly be
converted into a web server, standalone
firewall, or other kind of network-
edge device. The network controllers
on Desktop boards should be able to
handle server-specific traffic, but make
sure you set Gigabit Ethernet as your
minimum requirement. So too with
any network adapters you purchase for
your server.
Memory. A somewhat motherboard-
specific concern is memory; if the
server needs to handle high traffic As we went to press, Raring Ringtail (13.04) was the latest version of Ubuntu available for download.
and memor y-intensive application

differ quite a bit from standard
desktop PCs. For this reason, you
should look into networking hardware
that is built to handle server traffic. If
you plan to connect multiple devices
to the network, you may need more
than the four ports that come with
a consumer-grade router. An 8-port
s w i t c h c a n w o rk i n c o n j u n c t i o n
with a wireless router to ensure both
wired and wireless devices on your
local network have access to the files
they need. Again, Gigabit Ethernet
should be a priority, but the biggest
advantages this will afford will be for
the local network systems; Gigabit’s
i m p r e s s i v e s p e e d s s i m p l y w o n’t
translate to devices logging in from
across the Internet. Most consumer-
grade networking equipment available
today supports WPA/WPA2 security
protocols, which should be sufficient. The Synaptic Package Manager is the key to expanding your horizons in Linux.
If the server you’re building will be
filtering Internet access, you can
focus more attention on securing the application in question. In many Microsoft account. For more details,
the server than on the individual cases, the graphics card best suited visit tinyurl.com/lcvn6ml.
devices connected to it, at least until to this kind of workload will be a Windows Server. If you want more
everything is connected and working as workstation-grade unit, such as an than just single-user access to your files
you expect. NVIDIA Quadro or AMD FirePro. and applications, you are probably going
Support. For the most part, this A monitor, keyboard, and mouse to have more success with an operating
article is for those who want to take can be handy, but they’re not necessary. system designed for servers. Microsoft’s
a DIY approach to setting up a home You can even add a layer of security latest server OS is Windows Server 2012,
server. If you require a server for your to the system by leaving these and it comes in Datacenter, Standard,
business or anything more serious than components out and using a different Essentials, and Foundation versions.
to satisfy idle curiosity, we suggest you computer to remotely access and Windows Server 2012 Datacenter is ideal
look into obtaining server hardware configure the server. for organizations that operate in a highly
through a third-party vendor. At the very virtualized cloud computing environment.
least, look into getting a service contract Server Software Priorities here are maximum uptime
with a firm that can troubleshoot server Once you have nailed down the to meet client service level agreements,
problems to help you keep the system hardware you’ll need to build your resource monitoring, and support.
online moving forward. sever, the next step is crucial; determine Standard edition is optimized for a more
Ever ything else. We’ve covered the software you want to run on it. For traditional server environment, where
most of the traditional PC components some of the most basic types of servers, client machines are physically connected
you need for a ser ver, but those such as a file or Internet sharing server, to the server, either locally or over the
that remain, such as the graphics you can keep things simple and use a Internet. Microsoft targets the Essentials
card, are much less important. The consumer-level operating system, such version of Windows Server 2012 at
instances where you’d want to have a as Windows 7 or 8. Microsoft offers small businesses with up to 25 users and
powerful graphics card are limited to a handful of file-sharing technologies 50 devices. Essentials is the version that
any application that requires server- built into their operating systems that effectively replaces Windows Home Server,
side rendering or massively parallel negate the need for more sophisticated which Microsoft recently retired. If you’re
GPGPU processing. In these cases, ser ver software. Windows 8, for lucky, you may still be able to find a
look for a graphics card that has instance, lets you have access to files standalone copy of Windows Home Server,
documentation stating its support for on any system you log onto using your but after the end of the year, chances

are you’ll be forced to look elsewhere. uninitiated. Setup is directed via a step- networking and server capabilities. Once
Foundation is designed for even smaller by-step process, which covers configuring you’ve installed Ubuntu, for instance,
organizations, those with up to 15 users, the server as well as the client-side you’ll want to start by tapping into the
but this version isn’t currently available software for the devices connected to the Synaptic Package Manager to install some
as a retail package. If you want Windows local network. The process also creates new features and utilities. Some options
Server 2012 Foundation, you may have to user accounts and lets you jump right include Samba for setting up file sharing
purchase a prebuilt machine. in and start using automated backup, and letting the networked clients access
Cost is one of the biggest drawbacks file sharing, and remote access. When other devices such as printers. Install VLC
of using Microsoft’s server operating the Windows Server software setup is Media Player to enable media playback
systems. Datacenter, Standard, and complete, you should be able to walk and streaming capabilities. SBackup is a
Essentials versions can be had for $4,809, away and it will handle the rest. good choice for users who want a Linux
$882, and $501, respectively. Linux. More experienced users tend server capable of managing and executing
Many times, the applications you plan to favor Linux for a variety of reasons. automated backups for connected devices
to use on your server will require support One of the best reasons to try the and hosting remote web access.
for a specific server OS, so make sure open-source alternative is cost; there Because Linux is so versatile, the
you know this before you shell out for are multiple distributions available for process of making it do simple things can
an OS. Microsoft Exchange, a tool that little or no cost. There are general server- even seem complicated. But don’t let that
any email server builder should at least optimized versions as well as versions deter you from trying it as the foundation
consider, for instance, is only supported optimized for security, game serving, of your server; the Linux community
on Windows Server 2008 R2 and email hosting, remote access and file is renowned for its willingness to help
Windows Server 2012. If you plan to use sharing, and more. and there are countless tutorials available
primarily Windows-based client devices, Ubuntu is one of the more user- to help you find your way, get back
you may want to stick with Windows friendly Linux distributions available, on track, and do even more than you
Server to avoid the pitfalls of running and it can act as a personal home server thought possible with your Linux server.
a mixed environment. That being said, with just a handful of tweaks. The big One good resource is Ubuntu Guide’s
some Linux distros make running a mixed difference between it and Windows (ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Raring)
environment as hassle-free as possible. Server is that configuring it to work as a Ultimate Server Walkthrough, which can
Running Windows Server is a bit server requires entering a series of text- be found at tinyurl.com/mn2jdcd.
more user friendly, especially for the based commands to beef up Ubuntu’s Although having access to free software
is one of the most popular reasons people
choose Linux, consider that many of
the tools and resources you have access
to are generated by hard-working folks
who do it because they’re looking to help
users like you. If you benefit from any
of their efforts, donating some money
can incentivize these people to keep
contributing to the community at large.
Server Success
As you can see, setting up your own
server can be as simple or as complicated
as you want it to be. For those new to
the world of home servers, we’ve offered
a handful of ways you can get your feet
wet without spending a lot of money.
Once you begin enjoying a server’s
benefits, chances are you’ll come up with
even more features you’d like to add.
Most DIY servers are just a few tweaks
away from handling just about whatever
Linux features integrated desktop sharing; a vital aspect of any prospective server OS. tickles your fancy. ■

Modding Masters
It’s Showtime!
very month, CPU’s “Mad Reader scene. Many of these modders are know the insane amount of work that
E Mod” showcases an unbelievable,
jaw-dropping custom mod that
commissioned to create custom mods
for the biggest companies in the
goes into these stunning creations. Sure,
work logs help explain much of the
redefines what we thought was possible business, but a lot of them got their magic behind the mods, but wouldn’t
with the right tools in the hands of start with little more than an idea and a it be great to have a sit-down chat
an inspired, creative, and determined clunker case in need of a visual refresh. with the sages of modding, who have
modder. These are the systems that What if you’re just beginning your collectively amassed thousands upon
turn heads and win prizes at LAN modding career? “Mad Reader Mod” thousands of hours of experience?
parties, and the modders behind them shows you the end result, but if you’ve “Modding Masters” provides you
are the rock stars of the PC enthusiast ever followed a work log online you with up-close and personal access to
The art of taking great photos of your finished mod is less about the camera you use and more about everything else. Look at how the use of a backdrop
makes this Jeremy “E.E.L. Ambiense” Birch mod practically jump off the page; the contrast between the backdrop and the mod itself is terrific. Avoid using the
camera’s built-in flash and compensate for this by attaching your camera to a tripod.

A project log isn’t just a scroll of pretty
pictures. It’s a story that unfolds as it
begins your journey through the experi-
ence itself—a document to show you’ve
been here, that you did this. -Birch
the pillars of the modding community. at work on their own mods.) Here McGuire reminds you to clean the
We’ve called on previous “Mad Reader to share their insights are Bob “BS mod itself. “If you have a nice mod
Mod” winners as well as modders MODS” Stewart, Craig “Tech-Daddy” you wish to present, you should strive
who have taken first-place honors at Tate, Brian “Boddaker” Carter, Jeremy to present it as clean as possible,” he
our LAN party case mod contests to “E.E.L. Ambiense” Birch, Ken “TGS” says. “I have seen nice mods with fans
provide their expert opinion on all Kirby, Lee “pcjunkie209” Harrington, and heatsinks so dirty that it would
things mod. It’s the closest you’re going “Vic XcaliburFX” McGuire, and Ton taint any great-looking mod. I always
to get to these rotary tool ninjas and “TiTON” Khowdee. Obviously, it goes carry a bottle of car detailing spray
paint booth Picassos short of online without saying that these dudes know with me to events and wipe them
videoconferencing or criminal trespass. their stuff. down. For dust, I use both compressed
Listen to their wisdom, learn from their air and a Swiffer dust pad to clean
mistakes, and follow their advice, and Don’t Blow Off The Show Off delicate surfaces.”
perhaps the coveted “Mad Reader Mod” Take it from our Modding Masters, Tate suggests bringing external lights
spread will one day belong to you. who have collectively brought scores of to compensate for the low lights of
At last, you’ve done it. Hours and mods to LAN parties, expos, and other LAN parties. “If a build is not brightly
hours of work spread across countless enthusiast events: The best mod on the lit and you have external modifications
late nights and long weekends have floor might not be viewed as the best that the [ambient] light is not going to
finally paid off. You’ve cut your last if it doesn’t look the part. First-time show, bring external lights. Get some
cut, sprayed your last coat of paint, and modders can learn from the mistakes light on the outside of [your mod]
put everything together. But you’re not our experts have seen. so your details are seen.” Be sure to
done yet, not by a long shot. “Presentation is an aspect that many observe proper LAN party etiquette,
You see, Thomas Edison left out one new modders do not comprehend,” though. Your LAN party neighbors
important variable when he said genius Khowdee says. “Presentation is all about might take offense to you shining a
is “one percent inspiration and ninety- selling your case mod to the public. floodlight on your mod for the entire
nine percent perspiration.” He forgot What on your mod is awesome and event. Be excellent and only shine
presentation. Now, we’re not here to makes it different from every other those external lights when you have
argue over numbers, but presentation mod? What makes it unique?” an audience.
is a very important part of your overall Stewart and McGuire emphasize Fi n a l l y, K h owd e e re c o m m e n d s
modding strategy. Did you really spend maintaining the same clean space that you think like a power user who
all that time, money, and effort bringing where you present your mod that you doesn’t have much, if any, modding
an excellent mod to life, only to hide it hopefully maintained while creating experience. “When people look at your
from the world? No, it’s your duty as a your mod. Stewart understands that mod, most have no idea what you have
modder to show off that work of art. LAN party attendees need to refuel, put into it. Most will see and notice
We’re not about to abandon you but if you want to make a good less than half of what you have done to
in your hour of need. For our final impression—whether you’re trying the mod.” Khowdee says that modders
installment of “Modding Masters,” we to impress judges, other attendees, need to be specific and point out
extended an invitation to the entire or both—clear your area of pizza exactly what they’ve modded. You can’t
crew, and eight Masters answered the boxes and empty energy drink cans. assume that the average attendee will
call. (No doubt the rest were hard Cut the clutter. know what you’ve modded and what’s

rolled off an assembly line. Playing
Show and Tell with your mod is fun
and practical.
Work logs: Your Online Presentation

We know that not all of you have
t h e m e a n s ( o r p e r h a p s e ve n t h e
inclination) to hit the LAN party
circuit. But if you have an unstoppable
desire to mod, you can still find an
audience for your creations, even if
you never leave the house. Enter the
work log.
A work log shows your modding
progress from start to finish. We
recommend posting your work log to
at least one popular modding forum,
possibly two, to establish yourself in
the community. As the tales of your
modding deeds spread, you may want
to set up your own website for your
work logs.
Although there’s not necessarily a
wrong way to put a work log together,
it’s common to include a decent
number of photos that illustrate what
you’ve completed over the course of
work session or two. Definitely show
off the work you’re most proud of.
It also helps to include a written
description of your work, especially if
you want to share a new technique you
developed that other modders might
not be familiar with.
“Work logs are very important,”
Stewart says. “Other people will enjoy
watching the mod grow and will like
giving ideas of their own. You will gain
a bit of a fan club, and people will love
checking in to see what’s new.”
“A project log isn’t just a scroll of
pretty pictures,” Birch says. “It’s a story
that unfolds as it begins your journey You don’t want to risk your mod to the dangers of travel, so make sure it’s well-protected before you
t h ro u g h t h e e x p e r i e n c e i t s e l f — a send it out of the road. Bob “BS MODS” Stewart really didn’t want to risk his prize-winning Throne
document to show you’ve been here, Industrial mod, so he built his own custom shipping container. If you want something done right . . .
that you did this.”
Birch also recommends injecting
your personality into your work log a weapon to get a giggle, a laugh, or swimming pool in the middle of July
and feels strongly about making your perhaps even an energy drink spit- to look at just the pics.”
writing as compelling as the photos. take on the keyboard. Frankly, I want Carter also stresses the importance
“Those familiar with my logs know I readers to enjoy the log, not dread it. I of making a work log that draws in
have a reputation for being extremely don’t want them to simply scroll down, readers. “I like to make it interesting
sarcastic, but it’s something I use as skimming the log like a neglected for the reader to follow along in the

project,” he says. “I try to explain if it has valid bearing on the build,” Everyone also largely agreed on two
my process clearly and concisely, Tate says. “Make sure you are thinking more recommendations: Whatever
and I always check for spelling and instructionally and not just bragging.” camera you use for final photography
grammatical errors before posting. “I try to avoid the temptation to you need to mount it on a tripod,
Obviously, pics are a must, but keep show off,” Khowdee says. “If a work log and avoid using your camera’s flash if
them to a minimum. People are becomes a gloat-fest, and the poster is possible. These go hand in hand, as
impatient, and nobody likes to see bragging about his 48-core processor you’ll see.
multiple shots of the same thing.” Running Octo-SLI, you end up turning “I cannot stress enough the impor-
Carter also creates low-res thumbnails off the public.” tance of a tripod,” Tate says. “When
of the images he includes in his work you are taking ‘no flash’ night shots
logs. He posts those to his work log Your Mod In Pictures t o s h ow o f f yo u r l i g h t i n g , t h a t
and links them to the hi-res images Taking snapshots of your modding camera must remain still.” Tate also
for curious readers who want to take a progress is one thing. You don’t need to recommends that modders own a
closer look. be Ansel Adams to give your audience a couple of tripods—one full-sized tripod
“Whatever you do, do not post 20 visual idea of how your build is coming for shooting zoomed-out shots of the
pics at 20 angles of your waterblock,” along. But when your mod is ready for entire mod, plus a smaller tripod for
Kirby says. “Trust me, we’ve all seen its cover shoot, what do you do? taking up-close “ground-up” photos.
it—take one and press on.” None of our Masters commission A camera’s built-in flash can bathe
Tate and Khowdee both caution a professional photographer for their your mod in harsh light. Instead,
beginning modders not to let their work mods’ “glamour shots.” A most, follow the Masters’ advice and use
logs become a thinly disguised brag Harrington says he trades work with indirect lighting. Getting a backdrop
roll. “I love detail in a log, but only a photographer. or two is a good idea, as well. Although
How you interact with your audience is completely up to you. You can start small, posting your work logs to any number of modding forums, and build from
there. Several of our Modding Masters have gone even further, establishing their own websites and, yes, YouTube channels. As you gain more experience,
these outlets can serve as more than a way to show off your mods. You can also pass along the knowledge you’ve learned to other modders.

p ro f e s s i o n a l - g r a d e b a c k d ro p s a re work around that,” he says. After years Look, we understand the temptation
available, a solid-colored sheet that of moving mods from event to event, at a LAN party to hunker down in your
helps you mod stand out should work Stewart now builds his own shipping seat and stay put (with the exception of
just as well. containers. addressing certain biological functions).
As far as the camera itself is con- “Transporting a PC can be a night- But as we said earlier, Mount Pizza Hut
cerned, buying a D-SLR isn’t a necessity mare,” Khowdee says. “I try to drive is only going to detract from your mod.
if you don’t already have one. Rather my case mods to public events and However, aside from the obvious waste
than spending money on an expensive showings, if possible. Even if I drive, disposal, try to keep your area as clean
camera, spend time learning how to it doesn’t guarantee the mod will be as possible.
use the camera you own. “Learn your scratch-free.” “To make the mod really shine, I
camera, learn how to turn on long Regardless of whether you decide to make sure to remove any clutter around
exposure, learn no-flash shots, and learn use a shipping company or transport the case,” Khowdee says. “I want the
your timer,” Tate says. t h e m o d y o u r s e l f, o u r M a s t e r s case to be the focal point.”
Stewart says, “If you have a decent recommend “double-bagging” it. “I try There are also tricks to making your
smartphone these days you can get great to pack mine in a good, strong box or mod physically stand out, as Carter
pictures. I’ve seen (and taken) lots of two if necessary, along with foam and explains. “If you want your mod to
great shots with my phone, and I’ve sometimes wax paper to help keep the get noticed, display it up high. I built
seen shots from a D-SLR that looked paint from scratching,” McGuire says.” a raised pedestal for the TRON mod
like it came from a shoe.” “I typically pack the case in a box (mainly due to its size, and how little
Birch agrees. “For personal photo- with couple of inches of padding within table space you get at a LAN) and had
graphy, I’d really start by using a point- the box,” Khowdee adds. “If possible, I the monitor below it. People could
and-shoot digital camera. I still use place the box in another box or case.” easily see it from across the room over
one myself for everyday project log Finally, uninstall certain damage- all the other computers.”
shooting. They have matured quite a prone components, such as video If you used automotive-grade paint
bit over the years, and with some effort cards, if you can do so without too on your mod, feel free to treat it like
you can garner some really good shots.” much fuss. If not, be sure that the you would a showroom hot rod. “With
inside of your mod is as protected the paint I use being high-quality
There & Back Again: as the outside. “Be sure to support automotive paint, I literally polish and
A Mod’s Journey your video card(s) if transporting your wax them,” Stewart says. Stewart and
One of the most terrifying things a mod by vehicle,” Harrington says. McGuire say that they use automotive
modder will encounter is transporting “This can be the most important part paint detailing spray to give these paint
his mod to an event. That goes double because failing to do so can damage jobs extra shine.
when hiring the services of a third the motherboard and card.” Most of our Masters agree that
party. Just when you think you’ve the way to defeat the dimmed lights
packed your mod safely and prepared The Big Day of a LAN party is to stuff your mod
it for shipment, consider Stewart’s At long last, the time has come to full of your own lights (tastefully and
imaginary worst-case scenario. formally introduce your new pride and intelligently, of course). “I don’t think
“Picture your mod being dropped joy to the world. Today, the most common there’s such a thing as too many lights
out of the back of a pickup truck, venue to put your mod on display is a or too many LED fans,” Kirby says. “It
into a mud puddle, after bouncing off LAN party, and our Masters’ advice is also doesn’t hurt to have an off switch
a guard rail, in a hurricane, and then geared toward presenting in this setting. for the lights. Obscenely bright lights
Show your enthusiasm and excitement

about your case mod as you describe
it. Judges can see your passion for the
project. -Khowdee
on a mod in a low-light gaming party
are very annoying to everyone else.”
Carter brings along a flashlight to
LAN parties when he needs to spotlight
a particular detail that might not be
evident in a dark room. Having directed
light available is an excellent way to
show areas of your mod that your case
lighting may not illuminate.
Finally, location plays a bigger role
than you might think. Do your best
to secure a seat at the end of a row. “I
try to sit near an end table so people
can see it from more than one side,”
Harrington says.
“An end seat is crucial to the best
exposure,” Stewart adds.
Khowdee explains, “When I go to a
LAN, seat selection is very important. I
typically pick seat with high foot traffic
and unobstructed view. I usually pick
a corner seat on an outside row by the Great photos of great mods are well within your grasp. When taking pictures of your mod for a modding
main entrance. I want visitors to walk forum or your own website, try to show as much detail as possible without going overboard. Nothing
in and see the case. The outside row sends your followers to their mouse scroll wheels faster than 10 photos of the same case fan.
will allow people to easily walk by,
see, and talk to you about your mod.
Since most case mod setups are large, I work involved. It creates a story, and why you got into the mod game in the
typically purchase two seats. This also people love (short) stories.” first place, isn’t it? “The best mods are
gives you plenty of elbow room.” Tate stresses “professionalism, pre- the ones that have meaning behind
paredness, and personality. Be able them,” Harrington says, “so if yours has
Face The Judges to speak about your build without a story, then make sure to tell it.”
Some modders will mod just for the sounding like you are droning from a “I have both participated in case mod
love of the hobby. (“As my friends will dictionary. Also, [your mod’s] specs may contests at LANs and judged contests,”
say, I do my own thing,” Birch says. “If mean that you have some nice gear, but Khowdee says. “When a judge comes to
someone notices, great. If not, that’s everyone has computer hardware. Talk talk to you about your case mod, you
OK, too. I’m in it simply for the art. mostly about the mod!” should take this opportunity to sell your
Artists must create or they will wither.”) Tate also brings supplemental mate- case modding project. Assume the judge
Other modders want to square off rials to help judges remember his mod. is seeing the case mod for the first time.
against their fellow modders to see “If you have the ability, preprint a sheet Show your enthusiasm and excitement
how well their work stacks up against with the picture and the key modding about your case mod as you describe
the competition. If you think you can points that a judge can take—all the it. Judges can see your passion for the
handle the extra scrutiny, go ahead and better to maintain mindshare.” Tate project. Share the inspiration for your
enter you mod in a contest or two, but also recommends preplanning the key case mod; judges always like to know why
do it the right way. points of your mod that you want cover, you picked the theme for your project.”
“Present it professionally,” Stewart which will help your presentation go
says. “Speak to judges like a responsible smoother. If he’s at a large LAN party What Are You Waiting For?
adult.” Stewart also suggests producing with lots of mod contest entrants, And with that, we bring “Modding
a way to display aspects of your mod Tate tries to keep his presentation to Masters” to a close. It’s time for the
that give judges a behind-the-scenes the judges under three minutes as a student to become the Master. Take
look at your mod. courtesty to both the contest judges and the lessons you’ve learned over the last
“Make a small picture book or a other modders. 10 months and get to work on a mod
digital picture screen showing some of Above all, show the judges the passion of your own. Show us, and the world,
the things you did so you can show the you have for your mod. After all, that’s what you got. ■

Creative Technology
Sound Blaster ZxR
A System, Not Just A Card
Creative’s ZxR isn’t just a soundcard—it’s a three-component sound system that reinvents your PC’s audio acumen.
n this world of DIY, anyone with a The Kingly Trio The result is an audio solution of
I computer and some decent A/V gear

can produce amazing HD content. But
while it’s obvious that a better camera
As you can see, the Sound Blaster ZxR
isn’t just a traditional, single sound card. It’s
a combination of three components in line
interest not only to gamers and media
enthusiasts, but also to “prosumer”
customers such as musicians, foley artists,
will take better video, it’s easy to overlook with Creative Technology’s “Total System and major podcasters.
the importance of your PC’s audio Performance” initiative. “(The ZxR) certainly has the pedigree
components when you’re recording songs “(Our) high-end boards have always and components to be considered
or podcasts. been something we know our hardcore prosumer,” says Schlieper. “It can be
The Sound Blaster ZxR by Creative fan base looks forward to,” says Creative used for professional-level recording and
Technology ($249.99, www.soundblaster. audio product marketing manager Ryan production, so it definitely could fall into
com) is a high-end desktop upgrade that Schlieper. “We wanted to top everything that class of hardware.”
can give you recordings as clean as an we’d done previously. We wanted to get As you may know, Creative Technology
operating table. At the same time, the the best components possible and come up has enjoyed several decades as the
ZxR system supplies ample headphone with a sound card that we could truly say most consistent driving force behind
volume and gaming communication that was the best of the best. And the ZxR was aftermarket PC audio. In fact, its Sound
cuts through the din. born in that thinking.” Blaster brand goes all the way back to

a source of quality degradation). Mind
you, there wouldn’t be room for the
locking connector of a pro-level,
balanced XLR mic, but the big 1/4-
inch jacks do invite you to use mics and
headsets that are of higher quality than
the norm.
Incoming audio heads to the card’s
123dB ADC (analog-to-digital
converter). Elsewhere on the main
board is a 600-Ohm, 80mW headphone
amplifier from Texas Instruments. The
amp provides increased volume along
with studio-grade monitoring capability,
Creative says.
Populating the ZxR main board are
“Fine Gold” capacitors from Nichicon.
These Japanese electrolytic caps are good
at providing deep, rich bass in music
devices. And the nearby operational
amplifiers, or op amps, are replaceable.
With a signal-to-noise ratio of 124dB, you’ve never heard PC playback as clean as the ZxR main board’s.
In other words, you can customize this
board’s sound with chips you prefer for
different sound coloration.
the late 1980s with sound cards in ISA “We designed the quad-core Sound In recording, “the quality will be
(Industry Standard Architecture) and Core3D audio processor to offload SBX vastly superior on the ZxR vs. a
other pre-PCI expansion board formats. Pro Studio and CrystalVoice effects motherboard (audio) solution,” says
Today, of course, Creative’s advanced processing from your primary CPU, Schlieper. “We have several layers of
audio technology allows the company to improving your overall PC performance, interference protection built into the
field sound products and peripherals that resulting in drastically superior audio and ZxR so it’s not nearly as susceptible to
can put your PC well ahead of the curve voice quality,” Schlieper says. motherboard and system interference
in comparison to the integrated audio of The ZxR main board supports audio as integrated audio.”
its motherboard. playback at up to 24-bit resolution The two methods of interference
“The goal was to create the ultimate and up to 192kHz in quality in Stereo reduction Creative builds into the ZxR
sound card for a desktop-based system Direct output mode. Creative calls upon are Multiple Layer Super Grounding
and to outdo ourselves in terms of a Brown-Burr DAC (digital-to-analog and EMI shielding. They help to isolate
functionality and technology,” says converter) for its high fidelity in sound the highly complex audio signals from
Schlieper. “It excels at playback with reproduction. the electronically noisy environment
its audiophile componentr y, and The upshot is a sound card with an inside the PC.
also at recording, giving it a best-in- astonishing 124dB SNR (signal-to- “It really is a night-and-day difference
class recording capability ideal for noise ratio). And because decibels are in quality,” Schlieper says.
audio production, podcasting, and measured on a logarithmic scale, Finally, there’s ASIO 2.0 (Audio
streaming.” Creative can make the claim that the Stream Input/Output) support to
In order to be so many things to so ZxR’s SNR is “89.1 times better than the minimize latency. In the ZxR’s case,
many different types of users, the Sound average sound card.” Creative says, ASIO can reduce the card’s
Blaster ZxR couldn’t fit into one physical An unusual feature (as sound cards latency to as little as 1ms.
product. Let’s go through its three main go) is the pair of 1/4-inch, gold-plated In a typical gaming experience with the
components in order. jacks on the bracket of the board. ZxR, “the instant noticeable difference
These TRS (tip-ring-sleeve) jacks let will be in separation and clarity of audio,”
ZxR Main Board you plug in a microphone and a set of Schlieper says. “I liken it to going from a
The main board of the system is a headphones that have 1/4-inch phono stock radio on a car to a customized audio
PCIe 1X card with a Creative Sound connectors without the need to use a system. You go from an ‘OK’ listening
Core3D audio processor. 3.5mm adapter (and possibly introduce situation to a dynamic and cinematic one.

“The real trick is people hearing the
difference,” Schlieper continues. “Most
don’t know what they are missing.”
Multiplayer gaming is just as much
about voice communication as ambient
sound. Schlieper says that the audio card
doesn’t disappoint in this area, either.
“The voice playback will also be vastly
superior when running through the
ZxR,” Schlieper says. “So if someone is
playing with fellow guild or clan mates
they would instantly notice a difference
in the quality of their voice coming across
Ventrilo, Mumble, TeamSpeak, or Skype
if they were using motherboard or even
USB audio before.
“Then you start stacking on all the
additional technologies, like our SBX
Surround and SBX Crystalizer,” Schlieper
says. “Users can really customize their The daughter card of the ZxR system focuses on pristine input and recording.
audio to exactly how they want to
experience it.”
DBPro Daughter Board card. The daughter board doesn’t consume Why a daughter card? “We wanted
The daughter board bundled with the a PCIe slot, but it does occupy the space to have yet another level of separation
ZxR features a second Sound Core3D of one. A ribbon connector, akin to the from board noise and interference,”
audio processor, this one dedicated to SLI or CrossFireX bridge of a multi- Schlieper explains. “Even though the
recording and input, as opposed to the graphics card setup, carries data between ZxR has several layers of protection
playback that’s the remit of the master the daughter card and the main board. which give it its stunning SNR, we
wanted to really raise the bar with
recording in particular, since streaming
and home recording is a massive
phenomenon.
“By going with the daughter board,
we could isolate the circuitry for
another level of purity and also dedicate
a full chipset to recording and digital
playback/recording.”
Like the ZxR’s master card, the
daughter board uses Nichicon capacitors
and pro-grade ADCs. Its bracket
obviously provides physical room for
additional jacks and ports, such as RCA
digital and TOSLINK optical, which in
the case of single-card solutions might
have to reside in an external breakout
box dongle.
The difference in the Sound Blaster
ZxR’s dual-card arrangement is the
fact that it keeps the extra ports in a
centralized location on the back of your
The Audio Control Module is the third member of the ZxR crew. It gives you volume control, a stereo mic, PC. And unlike a dual-slot graphics card,
and jacks for an external mic and headphones. the two modules of the ZxR system don’t

necessarily have to occupy contiguous Audio Control Module Scout Mode helps you hear enemies at a
PCIe slots—you can place them as far The third component of the ZxR greater distance.
apart as their ribbon connector will reach. system is the ACM. It offers you a remote Also on deck are features that let
knob for headphone you tweak equalization, punch up
SOUND BLASTER ZXR SPECIFICATIONS volume, plus a pair of dialogue, expand the sound stage to
1/4-inch phono jacks additional vir tual speakers, keep
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) 124dB* that can act as extenders volume levels consistent, and more.
for the corresponding You can set custom EQ profiles, too.
Resolution 24-bit microphone and For instance, you probably would like
headphone jacks on the for your multiplayer gaming chat to
Maximum playback quality 192kHz (Stereo Direct), 96kHz main ZxR sound card. sound different than a movie or your
(5.1-ch) The ACM also sports music collection.
3.5mm mic and headset
Maximum recording quality 96kHz (24-bit) connections. The Blast Of Us
That’s not all, though. In this age of “good-enough”
Frequency response (96kHz) 10 to 45kHz (front, center); Creative bestowed a motherboard audio, we asked Creative
15 to 45kHz (rear)
beamforming stereo about the challenge of bringing such
Frequency response (192kHz 10 to 88kHz (front) microphone array on the an advanced (read high-end) PC sound
Stereo Direct) ACM, so you can use system as the ZxR to fruition.
Connectors, main board 1/4-inch (mic, headphones); RCA it like a speakerphone “I think the biggest challenge was
(stereo analog output); 3.5mm if your preferred living up to our own expectations,” says
(rear/center/sub analog output) headset doesn’t include Schlieper. “We had versions early on that
Connectors, daughter board TOSLINK optical (digital input, a boom or inline mic. had amazing SNR, but were just short
output); RCA (stereo analog The ACM’s mic is a of the bar we had set internally. So there
line-level input)
thoughtful touch that was some really clever engineering and
Audio Control Module 1/4-inch (mic, headphones); can come in handy design to get us to our spec that we all
features 3.5mm (mic, headphones); when you’re gaming, agreed we would hit.
volume knob; built-in, beam-
forming, stereo mic
video chatting, using “The result is what I think is the best
voice recognition card we’ve made to date.
Encoding support Dolby Digital Live, DTS Connect software, and so on. “With the latest addition of full
(in hardware)
ASIO playback and the aforementioned
Decoding support Dolby Digital, DTS (via CyberLink SBX Pro Studio recording capability, (the ZxR) can
PowerDVD software download)
The software suite transform a desktop PC into an audio
Other support ASIO 2.0, EAX 5.0 HD Creative bundles with production powerhouse,” Schlieper says.
the ZxR provides you “Couple that with the ACM that can
Audio processor SoundCore 3D quad-core (x2) with a broad lineup of act as a desktop mic and passes along
technologies to help you the very high SNR of the card, and
DACs Burr-Brown 127dB SnR hear and be heard. you’ve got one awesome sound card
For example, the capable of being the best at everything
ADCs 123dB SnR CrystalVoice feature for when it comes to audio on the PC.”
online gaming cancels At $249.99, the Sound Blaster ZxR
Headphone amplifier TI TPA6120 (600 Ohm, 80mW,
out echoes and removes may not be something you casually
>120dB dynamic range) ambient noise. It also buy on a whim to coax better sound
includes Voice Focus out of your PC games. It’s a high-
Capacitors Nichicon "Fine Gold"
technology to help the quality, full-fledged audio solution
AC M ’s m i c ro p h o n e worthy of the desktop content creator.
Compatibility Windows 8/7
array home in on your But if you’re a hardcore gamer—or a
speech. content creator who just so happens to
Price $249.99
SBX Pro Studio also enjoy kicking back with music, movies,
comes with a Scout and games in your off hours—then
*20kHz low-pass filter, you’ll find that the ZxR plays as well as
A-weighted Mode for gaming. At
the press of a hotkey, it works. ■

Performance Pushers
n “Software Tips & Projects,” we you read about come about as a result your components don’t burn out, may
I typically introduce you to the softer side
of enthusiast computing. We show you
of tweaking the motherboard BIOS.
Because this small embedded chunk of
not register something as detrimental as
a stratospheric voltage setting until the
how to eke extra performance out of your code dictates the CPU core and memory processor has had a chance to run at the
operating system, recommend utilities clocks, memory latencies, voltages, setting, however briefly. If your cooling
that help you monitor your equipment, temperature thresholds, fan speeds, and setup, voltage regulators, the traces on
and offer tweaks that can streamline your bus bandwidths, where applicable, you the motherboard, or any other of the
overall user experience. This month, can expect that any changes you make in countless factors involved in overclocking
however, we’re looking at software designed the BIOS will remain constant regardless can’t handle the power you’re trying to
for just one purpose; making your of any changes that occur to memory force them to operate under, there’s the
processor work harder for you. resident code. This benefit is also BIOS- very real possibility that one or more will
based overclocking’s Achilles’ heel. buckle. Avid overclockers always have
Isn’t The BIOS Better? The primary drawback to BIOS a story or two about that component
Overclocking utilities and enthu- overclocking is that your system’s that went up in a shower of sparks and
siasts have a love-hate relationship. built-in protections, such as the cloud of smoke. More often, however,
Most of the record-breaking overclocks temperature thresholds it uses to ensure the damages are less obvious, leading
Overclocking in the BIOS gives you lots of power over your system’s inner workings, but doesn’t offer much in the way of guidance or protection.

Some utilities even let you create
multiple overclocking profiles and assign
If you rely solely on a them to hotkeys. This way, you can
create separate profiles that can increase
performance in a variety of tasks. Then
BIOS-based overclock, the just hit the hotkey before you begin
performing a task that’ll benefit from one
stresses of startup may be of your presets. At all other times, leaving
your parts at their default values will help
them last until you’re ready to upgrade.
shortening the life of your There are many benefits to software-
based overclocking, some of which
gear or needlessly limiting are unique to one or another utility.
Most are brand or hardware-specific
and some may not work with your
your performance advantage. components. Below, we’ve got first-
party utilities from Intel and AMD,
so no matter which hardware you’re
running, chances are you can overclock
your gear. Read on for CPU’s top
CPU-overclocking software.
many overclockers to continually reboot Software Safe Intel Extreme Tuning Utility
using the damaging settings, further Overclocking utilities, on the other The Intel-specific overclocking
compounding the problem. This can hand, let the system boot with the suite is called the Extreme Tuning
even lead to multiple failed components. settings at their default values; only after Utility, or XTU for shor t. The
Similar mistakes can occur with software- the startup process has completed does latest version available as we went to
based overclocking, but the chances are the software overclock your components. press was 4.1, and it’s designed to be
significantly reduced. Many utilities can also display the used with 4th-generation Intel Core
Furthermore, the boot-up process is cooling and performance metrics of processors. Previous versions of Intel’s
particularly demanding on your system. multiple components. For example, an overclocking utility only supported
If you rely solely on a BIOS-based overclocked processor with an air cooler Intel motherboards, but we were able
overclock, the stresses of startup may will tend to significantly increase your to run this version on a GIGABYTE
be shortening the life of your gear or internal case temperatures, so it’s a good motherboard and an Intel Core i7-
needlessly limiting your performance idea to make sure your case fans pick up 4770K. XTU lets you performance tune,
advantage. the pace while crunching numbers. monitor, and stress-test your system.
Enabling the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility’s monitoring feature lets you keep an eye on temperatures, processor utilization, and frequency.

components can’t handle the frequency
increase, the whole system can crash.
At first glance, the XTU is laid out
like a multi-pane window, with white
text, blue icons and sliders, and a
black background. The leftmost pane
displays an outline of the application’s
main capabilities, including System
Information, Manual Tuning, Stress
Test, Benchmarking, and Profiles
views. The System Information screen
displays speeds and feeds for the
processor, graphics, operating system,
memory, BIOS, motherboard, and
the XTU utility itself. Click the Tune
hyperlink associated with each of the
components to begin tweaking it right
away or click Manual Tuning in the
left pane to expose all the knobs and
dials you can adjust. The settings you
encounter will be processor-specific, but
Just because you’re using software doesn’t mean you can’t damage your components. Tweak with care.
with our 4770K, we were able to tweak
the reference clock, core voltage mode,
One of the key factors to consider XTU all you like with non-K Series dynamic CPU voltage offset, processor
with Intel’s utility is the fact that only processors, this setting also raises the cache voltage mode, processor cache
K Series processors have unlocked frequencies of the uncore, which voltage offset, Turbo Boost short power
multipliers. Although you’ll be able to has implications for the memory and max, Turbo Boost power time window,
push the Reference Clock setting in processor graphics. If even one of these processor graphics ratio limit, processor
Intel’s utility gives you quite a few details about the settings you’re tweaking.

graphics voltage, memory voltage, Turbo the settings and just view the graphs parameters to your heart’s content, or at
Boost power max, and more. and readings. least until the components give out.
One of the best ways to affect a per- The Stress Test and Benchmarking The interface layout is very similar
formance boost is to raise the multipliers. portions of the software let you test your to that of Intel’s utility; it has a column
By default, they were all set to 39, and listed settings for stability using CPU-, graphics-, on the left that lists the main functions,
by active cores. With only one active core, and memory-intensive workloads. Use the including Status Monitor, Performance
you should be able to raise the clocks past Profiles to save the tweaks you want to Control, and System Information, and
45, even with air cooling, and decrease your reuse. The Intel Watchdog Timer Driver each one has a number of sub-functions.
multipliers as the number of active cores integration is another key feature that The GPU and CPU Status screens display
increases. For instance, set the multiplier to lets the system quickly recover from an the frequencies, multipliers, VID (Voltage
44 with two active cores, 43 with three active overclocking-induced error. Identification Digital, or voltage) figures,
cores, and 42 with four active cores. You may If you’ve got an Intel processor, the XTU and temperatures of the GPU and each
need to add to the core voltage to accomplish can be a powerful way to push it to the limit. processor core, respectively.
this, but it’s a fairly modest overclock. The System Information section lets you
One of the best features of the XTU AMD OverDrive click Basic, Detailed, or Diagram to get
is that any setting you adjust from The latest version of AMD Over- details about the hardware, and driver and
the default shows up as yellow, so you Drive available as we went to press was firmware versions of installed components.
always know what’s not running at 4.2.6, and it is compatible with AMD If you encounter problems, this screen lets
default settings. You can also click the A10, A8, A6, and A4 Series APUs; you check to make sure you’re running the
information icons beside each setting to AMD FX 8000, 6000, and 4000 Series latest versions currently available.
get a more detailed description of what processors; AMD A85X, A75X, and A55 The Performance Control section is
it’s likely to do to your system. The chipsets; AMD 9-Series, 8-Series, and 770 where overclockers get their hands dirty.
Monitoring panel, at the bottom of the and higher chipsets; the AMD Athlon Subcategories include Clock/Voltage,
screen, displays a scrolling graph of the II X4 651 CPU; AMD 790FX, 790GX, Memory, BEMP (AMD Black Edition
CPU core temperature, CPU utilization, 790X, 785G, 780G, and 770 chipsets. Memory Profiles), Fan Control, AMD
and processor frequency. Click the AMD’s overclocking software is quite Smart Profiles, Benchmark, Stability
Monitoring Panel option in the top- powerful, providing options for tweaking Test, and Auto Clock. To wring extra
right corner of the screen to minimize your processor, memory, and chipset performance from your AMD-based
CPU, start by clicking the
Clock/Voltage category in the
left pane. The Target Speeds and
Current Speeds of the processor
cores appear in the upper-right
of the main pane, and you can
adjust them independently.
The target and current voltages
appear in the columns on
the right and sliders for clock
multipliers and voltages appear
below their respective target/
current readouts.
On the Memory page, you
can use drop-down menus
to set a host of timings,
modes, delays, refresh rates,
delays, clocks, and latencies.
If you have AMD’s Black
Edition Memory, click the
BEMP option to access
overclocking memory profiles.
AMD OverDrive’s Status screens give you a lot of details about the CPU, GPU, and assorted Motherboard These profiles won’t work
components. for non-AMD Black Edition
memor y, but because the

speeds and temperatures of detected
fans. Click a radio button to take manual
control of a fan and then use a slider to
set the fan output percentage.
The AMD Smart Profiles menu lets
you create multiple Smart Profiles,
or overclocking presets, that you can
enable with a single click. Parameters
you can tweak within each Smart Profile
include core affinity, core multiplier,
core voltage, northbridge VID values,
memory VDDQ, IGP speed, PCIe
voltage, and more.
The Benchmarking and Stability Test
menus feature is what you can use to
make sure your overclocks are stable
and that your scores are improving as
you expect them to. Yes, it is possible
to overclock your system, for it to
appear to be stable, yet for your scores
to go down. Use this section of AMD’s
The Clock/Voltage screen is where AMD processor users can go to push their systems. OverDrive software to sort out these
issues. The custom Benchmark menu
memory profiles come from AMD in instances, you can get memory to run at lets you run a system stress test that
the form of simple XML files, they can tighter timings at the same frequencies includes integer computation, floating-
be tuned and tweaked more readily using BEMP. point computation, memory speed, and
than Intel’s XMP memory, which rely The Fan Control section is fairly self- cache speed tests and then aggregates
on imbedded SPD profiles. In many explanatory; it lets you view the current a system performance score from the
result. Click Stability Test to see a couple
dozen tests that you can enable or disable
and run for a set period of time. This is a
good place to go once you feel like your
overclock is stable and effective. Being
able to operate under overclocked values
for hours on end is the only way to make
sure the settings are stable.
The AutoClock menu lets you sit back
and relax while the software slowly raises the
processor’s values to find a stable overclock.
When the process is complete, the system
saves the settings as a preset and lets you
enable or disable it with a single click.
Powerful & Precise

It hasn’t always been the case, but
today’s enthusiasts are lucky to have such
capable first-party overclocking, testing, and
monitoring software utilities from AMD and
Intel. They’re both intuitive enough for a
novice to use, yet powerful enough to satisfy
Click Preferences in AMD’s OverDrive utility to enable things such as, “Apply My Last Settings even professional overclockers. If you have yet
When System Boots.” to see what your processor is really capable of,
what’re you waiting for? ■

Inside The World Of Betas
SKYCRYPT V1.0.7.7 BETA
o how confident are you that your cloud
S storage service is keeping your files
private? Probably a little less so than you
SkyCrypt v1.0.7.7 beta
Publisher and URL: Data
were, oh, say, before this summer, right? Locker, www.skycrypt.com
SkyCrypt, currently a free beta from ETA: 2013
Data Locker (www.datalocker.com), Why You Should Care:
can locally encrypt files using FIPS SkyCrypt secures the files
140-2 validated, 256-bit AES before you store online with military-
automatically uploading them to your grade encryption.
cloud storage service. It supports Dropbox,
SkyDrive, Google Drive, Amazon Cloud,
and Box.com. Because you keep the
encryption keys, not a third party, you’ll
have that much more peace of mind about local cloud client app, SkyCrypt would have your SkyCrypt folder, will display an
your files’ security in the cloud. You can been limited to encrypting a local folder on unencrypted version of the file you can
even use Google Authenticator to enact our hard drive (internal or external), a USB open and edit.
two-factor authentication. flash drive, NAS, etc. Don’t drop a file directly into your
We usually use Dropbox on our test PC Use SkyCrypt correctly—meaning Dropbox’s (for example) SkyCrypt folder’s
through its web interface. However, in order drop or copy a file to its drive letter (Z: by window, however; a new (in v1.0.7.7)
to connect SkyCrypt with the cloud service, default)—and your corresponding cloud comment folder there points out that
we had to install the Dropbox 2.0.26 client storage folder will show only a scrambled SkyCrypt doesn’t obfuscate files that you’ve
for Windows on our system. Without a filename and no extension. Drive Z:, copied in this fashion. ■
CLASSIC SHELL 3.9.0 BETA

t may not be your favorite thing in the
I world to learn the UI of a new OS,
but—assuming you have the time to do
Classic Shell 3.9.0 Beta
Publisher and URL: IvoSoft/
so—you tend to manage pretty well. On Ivaylo Beltchev,
the other hand, you probably have a non- www.classicshell.net
power user friend or family member who’s ETA: 2013
befuddled by his upgrade to Windows 8, Why You Should Care: You can
or even Win7. use a modern, more secure
There are various applications to add OS without losing your favorite
Start Menu functionality to Win8, but design elements.
the open-source Classic Shell goes even
further. Its Classic Start Menu, Classic
Explorer, and Classic IE features let you
“bring back” useful Windows items such “breadcrumbs,” or clickable file path your OS. New in 3.9.0 are compatibility
as status and title bar info, a dedicated hierarchy in the Windows Explorer improvements for Windows 8.1 (the
Shut Down button, a list of recently Address Bar, if you’d rather use a WinXP- “Blue” update), a Win7-style Start Menu
accessed items in the Start Menu, and style Up (One Level) icon. You get the option, a more comprehensive search
much more. idea. (Come to think of it, maybe this free feature, and other items.
Classic IE lets Internet Explorer 9 and utility can be useful to a power user, too.) Be sure to browse the helpful Readme
later show you a page’s loading progress Classic Shell lets you save your settings file to get the most out of Classic Shell’s
in the status bar, like earlier versions as an XML file for backup. You can also plugins and components. OS support
of IE. Classic Explorer can ditch the reverse all changes the utility makes to includes Win8/7/Server 2012. ■

The Amazon Of Things
Explore The Ever-Changing World Of Jeff Bezos
n 2012, Amazon reported $51.7 billion
I in ecommerce sales, based on a study
from eMarketer. According to the study,
that $51.7 billion accounted for 5.1% of
all worldwide ecommerce in 2012. The
company has become such a force that the
old guard of big box, brick-and-mortar
retailers have had to change their pricing
strategies to avoid being pushed aside.
Despite his company’s success, Jeff
Bezos isn’t one to stand pat. Amazon has
a number of projects in the works that
could change the way you shop, including
the ability to purchase groceries and
fine art. Add Bezos’ investments in The
Washington Post and space travel industry
(among others) to the mix, and there’s
no end to about the possibilities in Bezos’
and Amazon’s futures.
An Art Market
On August 6, Amazon launched Amazon Art provides you with a way to buy all kinds of fine art.
Amazon Art (www.amazon.com/art),
a service that provides access to more
than 40,000 works of fine art from 150 dreams. You can explore so much with to a place where you can buy rare and
galleries and dealers. There are some such a small investment of time and valuable things.”
genuine masterpieces being sold online energy that it’s a natural extension for Unlike the books Amazon sells, the
from these galleries, with the most Amazon to offer more exotic products.” company doesn’t purchase and sell the works
expensive being a Norman Rockwell at a Alexander sees authenticity and listed on Amazon Art. Rather, commercial
price tag of $4.85 million. Amazon Art verification as a potential hang-up for galleries list and sell their artwork through the
collections include pieces from galleries buyers. “The challenge is that, as you site. An Amazon Art press release indicates
in the United States, the UK, the move upscale in terms of what you are that “customers can learn about the work of
Netherlands, and Canada. selling, things like provenance become art, the artist, the provenance, and exhibition
In its first week, Amazon Art’s Fine Art an issue,” he says. “Verifying both quality history and browse additional artworks from
& Collectibles section even received some and legitimacy are things that are better the artist or gallery.” Collectors need to know
unexpected press, thanks to some sarcastic done in person. For example, when you these details, such as if the artwork has been
reviews of Claude Monet’s “L’Enfant a la go out and buy and diamond, you do it exhibited or whether it was previously part of
tasse” that went viral. One reviewer joked, from a reputable diamond shop and get a private collection, because it can drastically
“For as much as I paid, I’m a little upset an appraisal. How do you approximate affect value.
that this isn’t a new painting. You can see that in an online experience? You can buy Besides works created by famous
OBVIOUS cracks, and I’m worried that the a Van Gogh, but how do you determine artists, Amazon’s fine art platform lets
artwork has had several owners before me.” its provenance without a legitimate art people look at works by new artists,
James Alexander, senior vice president dealer there? I think all of these types of which gives those with an interest in
of InfoTech Research Group, says, “I things will have to be addressed, as we paintings, drawings, photographs, and
think that online retail is like a field of move from a place to buy commodities other collectables another venue to look

for high-quality pieces. The two most
plentiful price ranges were $500 to
$1,000 and $1,000 to $2,500, so a good
portion of the artwork is geared more
toward decoration than investment.
“Sites like eBay and Amazon have opened
the world of new products,” says Gene
Alvarez, VP distinguished analyst for Gartner.
“From industrial supplies to high-end autos,
this trend will only pick up more speed as
technology continues to advance.”
Food Delivery
AmazonFresh (fresh.amazon.com) is
a trial service for the Los Angeles and
Seattle areas that provides a complete
grocery shopping experience, including
offerings such as vegan food and organic
meat. A sampling of AmazonFresh’s Some of the pieces of art can be quite pricy, but many can be found for less than $1,000.
grocery categories include the following:
produce, breads and bakery, meat and
seafood, and frozen foods.
Under the current Los Angeles trial,
AmazonFresh runs as an extension
of Amazon Prime. After a free 90-day
trial, you’ll pay $299 per year for an
Amazon Fresh Prime membership. (A
regular Amazon Prime membership costs
$79 per year.) The Los Angeles trial of
AmazonFresh accepts orders as small
as $35. With the Seattle trial, you can
qualify for free delivery with larger order
amounts, so unlike the AmazonFresh trial
in Los Angeles, delivery isn’t tied to an
AmazonFresh Prime membership fee.
One of the keys for Amazon’s food
delivery service to succeed is finding an
economical way to do the heavy lifting
necessary to reach customers. “Amazon’s
move into things like groceries is expensive,
because of the perishable nature of food,
which means the cost of warehousing and
distribution is actually a drag on their AmazonFresh is currently available on a trial basis in Los Angeles and Seattle.
operating margins,” Alexander says. “As
their CFO recently pointed out in an
earnings call, ‘the challenge we have had is select a three-hour time window for keep the totes, or other shipping supplies,
to make it economically viable.’” delivery. For food safety, Amazon places to return to Amazon for the next delivery,
AmazonFresh also offers you two types the items you purchase in temperature- as you would with Doorstep delivery.
of delivery: Doorstep and Attended. As controlled tote bags. Attended delivery One of the perks of AmazonFresh
you might guess, the Doorstep option means that you select a one-hour window is that it can even deliver food from
means that Amazon will leave the items when you know you’ll be home; when the popular local merchants. For example,
you order at your doorstep. When driver arrives, he’ll take the items straight Seattle residents can select options from
choosing the Doorstep option, you’ll into your kitchen. You also won’t have to Pike Place Fish Market and DeLaurenti

“What Amazon does really would indicate which direction he plans on
going with the Post. People speculate that
Bezos can use the brand and reputation of
well is exploit the power of the Post to influence the government, but
Alexander says, “It’s a bit of a double-edged
Big Data to deliver a unique sword. Yes, he will have more influence
because of the brand and reach, but the Post
will have less influence because it will be
shopping experience—why seen as his personal vehicle to some extent.
“Whether it’s Rupert Murdoch or
not do this with the news?” Conrad Black, or any of these newspaper
owners—even back to Lord Beaverbrook,
an influential British media baron in the
-James Alexander, senior vice president of InfoTech Research second World War—it’s clear that the
ownership of a paper has an influence.”
The Post acquisition gives Bezos control
of a major content producer. It’s possible
Food & Wine. An AmazonFresh delivery says. “His career has been built upon that he could use Amazon’s tremendous
can also include other Amazon items, challenging existing business models, content distribution network to extend the
such as books, electronics, and kitchen and this is one that is both intriguing Post into new markets. “Why not include
tools, and you’ll get to enjoy even and potentially part of a string of pearls a Post subscription with every Kindle
faster delivery than what you’d get with when you add it to Amazon, Kindle, and purchase?” Alexander suggests. “This could
Amazon Prime. Amazon Web Services. Since it’s outside be where paid content intersects with
of Amazon, he can do almost anything he advertising, a revenue source Amazon has
Bezos Buys A Newspaper wants in terms of disrupting the business not yet exploited. Plus, you can use the
(Company) model, because there’s no board to answer Kindle platform to personalize the Post in
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos purchased The to and no profitability issues.” order to deliver a very individualized news
Washington Post on August 5, using his Many experts have theorized about experience. What Amazon does really well
own money, rather than Amazon’s funds, Bezos’ purchase of the paper (and its other is exploit the power of Big Data to deliver
to buy the paper. “I am guessing that he assets) but as of press time, Bezos himself a unique shopping experience—why not
really sees this as a challenge,” Alexander hasn’t made any definitive statements that do this with the news?”
Looking to shop organic? Amazon Fresh offers plenty of options.

“The point I’m making is that what is
the value of the Post, beyond brand and a
bunch of influential people, to Amazon?
Part of unlocking that value is accessing
that subscriber base. My guess is that
those half a million people that subscribe
to it are wealthier and more influential
(with higher capacities to spend) than
the average American. [The Post offers]
a regular way of communicating and
listening to an elite subset of the country.
What can you do with that, in terms of
monetizing that subscriber base?”
Amazon Keeps Growing

Amazon has aggressively expanded
its business in recent years by allowing
companies to sell products on the
Amazon Marketplace. Amazon also backs
merchants that use the Marketplace with
the ability to use Fulfillment by Amazon,
Jeff Bezos recently purchased The Washington Post. Bezos bought the paper with his personal funds, so which lets them store their products in
it remains to be seen how he will incorporate it into the Amazon Empire. Amazon’s fulfillment centers. Amazon will
pack, ship, and offer customer service for
orders placed through the Marketplace.
“The Internet is a place where many
go to find the unusual or the hard to
find,” says Alvarez. “The combination
of the well-known sites, such as
Google, Amazon, eBay, and Groupon,
as well as new sites, like Fancy.com and
Wenelo.com, are enabling consumers
to find items they thought existed or
that they couldn’t find.”
Bezos acknowledged that Amazon
had made investments for the future his
annual letter to investors. For instance,
he stated, “Our heavy investments in
Prime, AWS, Kindle, digital media, and
customer experience in general strike
some as too generous, shareholder-
indifferent, or even at odds with being a
for-profit company.”
Amazon has also purchased some of the
online retailers that could otherwise be
competition. Just a few examples include
Zappos.com, Woot, and Quidsi, which
manages a list properties that includes
Diapers.com, Beauty Bar, and Soap.com.
According to Alexander, “Amazon has
shown an uncanny ability to go where
Some experts theorize that political influence was one of the reasons Bezos invested in The Washington Post. others have failed miserably. I don’t think
there are necessarily volumes of scale in

The Amazon Marketplace is where third-party sellers can list new and used items.
every shopping category, but clearly, it’s lists Amazon as the most reputable pay on a third-party website using the
going to be difficult for someone to knock company. It was the fifth consecutive year credit information found in their
them off, because they are beyond a volume that Amazon earned high marks in the Amazon account.
of scale others can handle.” study, and in 2013, Amazon was ranked Another Forrester Research study
Alexander points out Amazon Web in the top five in five of the six reputation found that two-thirds of North American
Services as a key example. “It was really just categories, including Emotional Appeal, customers trust purchases made through
an excess capacity that was built in order Financial Performance, Products & a familiar marketplace, like Amazon.com,
to provide fast service at peak times, like Services, Vision & Leadership, and even if the consumer hasn’t heard of the
Christmas. Once they built it, Amazon Workplace Environment. merchant selling the item.
realized that they could sell it to everyone A Harris Poll survey of online shoppers
else who may not have the same peak in 2012 also found that Amazon was one Amazon’s Big Data
times. Those kinds of spinoff benefits of of the best when it came to customer One of Amazon’s key strengths is its
scale can be recognized in other businesses, satisfaction. Amazon came out on top of ability to provide a more engaging
as well.” the survey with a score of 82 out of 100, shopping experience, based on what you’ve
which was seven points higher than fellow looked at before. It will be interesting to
Happy, Repeat Customers mass merchandisers Costco and Target. see if Bezos applies his Amazon ingenuity
Amazon is certainly one of the first One of the keys to Amazon’s customer with his other personal ventures,
places people go when shopping online. satisfaction is the variety of products and particularly if he’s able to tap into the
A recent study from Forrester Research quick delivery options available with half-million subscribers of The Washington
found that 30% of customers began the Amazon Marketplace, which is an Post. Amazon’s growth in new areas of
research on a purchase at Amazon, while area where anyone can sell products on ecommerce provides the company with
only 24% did so using a search engine. Amazon’s website. A Login With Amazon new, exciting ways of reaching customers,
The 2013 Harris Poll RQ Study, which feature has also been opened up to web as well. As such, we can only guess at what
ranks companies based on reputation, developers and websites to let a customer the future holds for Bezos and Amazon. ■

Q&A With Dr. George Minassian
Crossbar Co-founder & CEO
On Resistive RAM
Memory technology is rapidly approaching a crossroads. The explosion of mobile devices, digital infotainment technology in
cars, solid-state drives, and so on has created a growing demand for fast, compact memory with ever-greater capacity, but
traditional memory tech is reaching a point where greater complexity will become very difficult. As such, the semiconductor
industry is looking for new memory technologies that will allow it to meet increasing demands in a cost-effective way.
Crossbar, a Santa Clara-based startup, presented its Resistive RAM (or RRAM) technology as a solution to this problem at
Flash Memory Summit 2013 in August. We spoke with Crossbar co-founder and CEO, Dr. George Minassian, about RRAM and
its implications for the memory market and personal technology in general.
Q What is RRAM? One of the biggest challenges for RRAM

technology has been the integration of
the RRAM array with standard CMOS
GM Resistive random-access mem-

ory (RRAM) is widely hailed
as the “most likely to succeed” in the race
technology and standard manufacturing
processes. Crossbar RRAM technology
has proven its manufacturability with a
to develop a new, more scalable, high- working array produced in a commercial
capacity, high-performance, and reliable fab. This working silicon is a fully
memory. A typical RRAM cell has a integrated monolithic CMOS controller
switching material with different resistance and memory array chip. The company is
characteristics sandwiched between two currently completing the characterization
metallic electrodes. The switching effect and optimization of this device and plans
of RRAM is based on the motion of ions to bring its first product to market in the
under the influence of an electric field or embedded SOC market.
heat and the switching material’s ability
to store the ion distribution, which in
turn causes a measurable change of the
device resistance.
Q How does this 3D structure differ
from current non-volatile memory
technology?
Compared to traditional flash memory,
RRAM is faster, bit-alterable, and requires
lower voltage, enabling its use in both
embedded and SSD applications. The
GM Non-volatile memory is the most
common storage technology
used for both code storage (NOR) and
reliability, very high capacity, and low
power consumption, Crossbar will enable
a new wave of electronics innovation for
simple RRAM cell structure offers the data storage (NAND) in a wide range consumer, enterprise, mobile, industrial,
best area efficiency (4F2 cell), excellent of electronics applications. Crossbar’s and connected device applications.
scalability, and 3D integration potential RRAM technology will deliver 20x faster Due to its simple three-layer structure,
(both 3D stacking and vertical cell). write performance, 20x lower power Crossbar technology can be stacked in 3D,
RRAM requires lower programming consumption, and 10x the endurance delivering multiple terabytes of storage on
currents than PCM or MRAM with at half the die size, compared to today’s a single chip. Its simplicity, stackability,
comparable performance in terms of best-in-class NAND flash memory. With and CMOS compatibility enable logic
retention and endurance. that breakthrough performance and and memory to be easily integrated onto

from 72nm to 20nm has shown an increase
of the raw bit error rate (BER) from 1e-7 to
1e-2, and a decrease of cycling from 10,000
cycles to below 3,000 cycles. Emerging
storage applications, conversely, demand
higher reliability and endurance. Because
of this, NAND manufacturers are realizing
that present planar NAND flash technology
has reached a limit that will not be able to
serve these applications.
The Crossbar memory cell is based on
three simple layers: a non-metallic bottom
electrode, an amorphous silicon switching
medium, and a metallic top electrode. The
resistance switching mechanism is based on
the formation of a filament in the switching
material when voltage is applied between
the two electrodes. This simple and very
scalable memory cell structure enables an
entirely new class of RRAM, which can be
easily incorporated into the back end of line
of any standard CMOS manufacturing fab.
a single chip at the latest technology Additionally, Crossbar’s RRAM stacking

Q Can you talk about the research that
led to this breakthrough? What led
your team to move in the direction of
node, a capability not possible with other structure has already been proven in RRAM and away from current memory
traditional or alternative non-volatile multiple fabs, including automotive facilities architectures?
memory technologies. and fabs that make image sensors that are
Q In addition to its novel structure,

are there new materials at work in
very sensitive to conductive metals. The
Crossbar stack requires only one additional
element that may be new to some fabs (it
GM Crossbar holds the exclusive
license to the RRAM patents
owned by the University of Michigan,
Crossbar memory, as well? And can already exists in many fabs) and there is no a renowned institution for semiconductor
RRAM be produced by current fabs, or tight stoichiometric control required for this invention. Leveraging these exclusive
will mass production require significant film. It is treated just like any other metal RRAM licenses, Crossbar began the
refits and/or new fabs? film deposited in the fab. commercialization process of the resistive
RAM memory technology in Feb 2010.
GM There are different approaches

to implementing RRAM, based
on different switching materials and
Q We’ve seen periodic enhancements
in memory tech over the years, but
in most cases the improvements come
After technology transfer to its R&D fab
and technology analysis and optimization,
Crossbar developed a demonstration product
memory cell organization. Those variables in the form of incremental increases in a commercial fab. Our team has decades
drive significant performance among the in capacity or speed. Your company of experience in non-volatile memory,
different materials being used. RRAM has claims its 3D memory will not only and we knew early on that RRAM was a
already been the subject of intense research dramatically increase capacity, but will breakthrough technology that could change
and development, with several companies also be 20 times faster than current the entire memory landscape. We have
claiming to have prototype memory chips NAND and will be more power-efficient. already filed 100 unique patents, with 30
available in the next one to two years. What property or properties of Crossbar already issued, relating to the development,
Crossbar Technology uses CMOS-friendly Memory make all these things possible? commercialization, and manufacturing of
and -compatible materials—there are no RRAM technology.
complex materials in our technology. We
have qualified all the materials that we use
in our technology in several commercial
GM Scaling NAND technology
adversely impacts the retention
and cycling characteristics of Flash NAND Q At what point did your team realize
what you had, and that it was a
manufacturing fabs. and the storage system. For example, scaling viable real-world technology?

GM When we successfully pro-
duced a working Crossbar
array, we knew we had achieved all the
major technical milestones that prove our
RRAM technology is easy to manufacture
and ready for commercialization. It was
a watershed moment for the non-volatile
memory industry.
Q Although it’s early, can you talk

about your company’s estimates for
how Crossbar Memory products will
cost compared to current tech?
GM From a manufacturing per-

spective, people perceive
silver to be expensive. A 300mm wafer
on which we will make the 1TB chip
is the size of a large pizza. We can get
350 1TB chips on every wafer. We spread
the silver into a very thin layer on these
wafers to such an extent that 1 gram of
silver (which costs about 60 cents) is used
for 30 wafers. That is 60 cents for more
than 10,000 chips. This is very much in
line with manufacturing costs per step in
the semiconductor industry. In addition,
Crossbar’s RRAM has a much better
area efficiency and better performance
than NAND, providing, for the same
Q What kinds of real-world effects
do you foresee Crossbar’s RRAM
having on current computing and
The Internet of things; the industrial
Internet: Delivers years of battery life for
industrial and connected applications, such
cost, twice the density of NAND with personal tech products? as smart meters and thermostats. Wide
much better performance. Compared to temperature ranges allow for reliability in
3D or planar NAND, we will provide
approximately a 50% die size reduction
compared to MLC NAND designed on
GM With its breakthrough perfor-
mance and reliability, very high
capacity, and low power consumption,
the extreme heat of the summer or freezing
temperatures in the winter. Enables
entirely new, highly integrated SOCs
the same node. Crossbar will enable a new wave of that can be powered with a button cell or
The cost per wafer will be a small electronics innovation for consumer, energy harvesting from the environment
incremental cost over standard CMOS enterprise, mobile, industrial and connected such as solar, heat, or simple vibrations.
processes. We will add no more than device applications. Just a sample of the
two masks for an RRAM stack. The applications that can be driven with this Wearable computing: Enables a
processing steps to add these steps are technology include: new generation of wearable computing
significantly less compared to existing with high-capacity storage in a very
eFlash (embedded flash) technology. The Consumer electronics, mobile small, compact size with very low power
cost per wafer depends on the density phones and tablets: Stores all of your consumption.
of the memory being used. For most personal entertainment, data, photos, and
embedded and code memories, the cost information in a device that fits in your Secure payments: Can permanently
is incremental over standard CMOS. On pocket. Delivers very fast storage, playback, store the codes and encryption keys needed
a 27 masking-layer process, we have two backup, and archiving. for secure applications such as large-
more masking layers with unit processes volume smart cards to high-end mobile
with costs in line with existing processes. Enterprise storage, SSDs and cloud processors for contactless payments.
For a multi-stacked, high-density storage computing: Extends SSD reliability and
product, the costs are comparable to
current NAND devices.
capacity. Improves performance for enterprise,
data center, and cloud storage systems. Q In the event that the semiconductor
industry embraces Crossbar’s RRAM

product in a commercial fab. This
working silicon is a fully integrated
monolithic CMOS controller and
memor y array chip. The compa-
ny is currently completing the
characterization and optimization of
this device and plans to bring its first
product to market in the embedded
SOC market.
Q Thanks so much for your time,

Dr. Minassian. Before we let you
go, though, what other technological
breakthroughs would you compare
the development of RRAM to in terms
of its potential to change modern
computing?
GM By achieving its fullest

potential, Crossbar has the
opportunity to enable game-changing
technology that was not possible in the
past. With very large densities, high
performance, high endurance and non-
volatility produced at current NAND
volumes and price-points, Crossbar’s
RRAM can change the technology
technology, does Crossbar plan to be a R&D fab and technology analysis and landscape in as profound a way as did
manufacturer or to license its technology optimization, Crossbar has now success- the introduction of LCD displays and/
to other companies? fully developed its demonstration or ARM processors. ■
GM Because semiconductor com-

panies are looking to integrate
memory blocks in microcontroller and
processor chips, our first customers will
be semiconductor companies developing
microcontrollers (MCUs), field pro-
grammable gate arrays (FPGAs), or any
application-specific integrated circuit
(ASIC) requiring on-chip memory. In
addition, foundries also want to add
embedded non-volatile memory (NVM)
intellectual property (IP) blocks to their
portfolios, so we plan to support those
customer needs, as well.
Q Now that you have presented

RRAM technology to the world via
the recent Flash Memory Summit, what
happens next?
GM After completing the tech-

nology transfer to Crossbar’s

Look For CPU At These LAN Parties
09.06-08.13 WV Gamers
VectorLAN 3 Eugene, OR
www.wvgamers.com
Portland, OR
vectorlan.com NGC’s LAN-A-GEDDON
Exile LAN XIII Greenville, TX
www.networkgamingclub.com
Troy, NY
exilelan.com 09.27-29.13
09.06.13 GNWLAN 10
Maryland LAN Gamers Vancouver, WA
gnwlan.com
Maryland
www.marylandlangamers.net 09.28-29.13
09.07-08.13 Catacombz 18.0
LANFest Colorado* Harrisburg, IL
www.catacombz.com
Loveland, CO
lanfest.intel.com 10.04-06.13
09.07.13 EmeraldCityLAN Fall 2013*
LAN OC V13.0 Seattle, WA
lanfest.intel.com
Ohio City, OH
lanoc.org 10.04.13
09.14.13 PONG Expo LAN
SWVA Gaming: VII Menomonie, WI
pong.uwstout.edu
Lebanon, VA
www.swvagaming.com 10.08-10.13
09.20.13 PDXLAN Charity Event
Forge LAN V Portland, OR
www.pdxlan.net
Medina, OH
www.forgelan.com 10.11-13.13
09.21.13 LANFest Sacramento Fall 2013*
Oklahoma Gamers Group Folsom, CA
lanfest.intel.com
Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org

Across The Nation—& Beyond! * Event scheduled to include a CPU case mod contest.
10.18-20.13 11.15.13
Naois Gaming SWVA Gaming: PnP.4
York, PA Lebanon, VA
www.naoisgaming.com www.swvagaming.com
10.19.13 11.16.13
Oklahoma Gamers Group Oklahoma Gamers Group
Oklahoma City, OK Oklahoma City, OK
www.okgg.org www.okgg.org
WV Gamers NGC’s LAN-A-GEDDON
Eugene, OR Greenville, TX
www.wvgamers.com www.networkgamingclub.com
NGC’s LAN-A-GEDDON 11.29.13
Greenville, TX Maryland LAN Gamers
www.networkgamingclub.com
Maryland
10.26-27.13 www.marylandlangamers.net
Craftoween 12.21.13
Arnold, MO NGC’s LAN-A-GEDDON
www.landogz.com
Greenville, TX
11.08-11.13 www.networkgamingclub.com
Baselan 26 Oklahoma Gamers Group
Winnipeg, Manitoba Oklahoma City, OK
www.allyourbaseonline.com www.okgg.org
11.09.13 01.18-19.13
NeXus LAN FADECON
Miamisburg, OH Garland, TX
www.nexuslan.org fadecon.org
WV Gamers 02.21-24.14
Eugene, OR PDXLAN 23*
www.wvgamers.com
Portland, OR
www.pdxlan.net
Would you like us to help promote your next LAN?

Give us a call at 1.800.733.3809
We’ll be glad to consider your event

Q&A With Cooler Master’s Jonathon Loo
HAF Stacker Is Ready For Anything
If you’re reading this, it’s likely that you need no introduction to Cooler Master’s HAF family of PC cases; these cases have been
hugely popular for years among PC builders, gamers, LAN party fans, and modders. HAF cases come in all shapes and sizes,
and over the years they have shown up in several colors, as well. But Cooler Master recently unveiled a new line of HAF chassis
that provides all of the builder-friendly features and design that you’ve come to expect and combines them with the flexibility of
a modular enclosure system unlike anything we’ve seen to date. We recently talked to Cooler Master Senior Product Manager
Jonathon Loo to find out more.
Q How would you explain what HAF

Stacker is to people who have never
seen it?
JL The current line includes three
models: two expansion boxes,
the 915R and the 915F, and the full
tower set, or 935. The 935 is packaged
JL Imagine configuring a chassis like a

child would play with interlocking
building blocks. HAF Stacker is a chassis
to include a 915R—designed from the
start to be the traditional “full tower.”
The 935 can support two complete PCs,
that can be made larger by adding a full-featured Mini-ITX and an ATX
expansion units. The ecosystem created motherboard. The 915R and 915F are
by the HAF Stacker series means you no the expansion pieces. They each have
longer need to get rid of an old case to the functionality to install a Mini-ITX
upgrade, which reduces the toll on the motherboard or dual 360mm radiators
environment. With HAF Stacker, users and also are individual chassis for the
can expand to fit any watercooling system space-conscious. The 915R has a rear
imaginable and even turn one PC into power supply, which allows us room
three, each with limitless potential. to fit traditional drive cages; it features
additional support for up to nine drive
Q What kind of user did you have in

mind when designing HAF Stacker?
bays without a motherboard. The 915F
has a front-mounted power supply,
allowing for large tower coolers and more
JL PC enthusiasts have long respected

the raw storage capacity of the
cable management.
JL We envisioned many different
configurations. For example, two
Stacker, while hobbyists have always
respected the cooling options available
within the HAF series. A person who
Q Is it possible to combine all three
HAF Stacker chassis together into
one enclosure?
configurations could be made as follows:
one 915 plus one 935, or three 915s. With
the former configuration there are three
frequently upgrades and constructs PCs separate pieces; you could install two large
will appreciate the expandability and value
brought by the customization options
available in the HAF Stacker series.
JL Every HAF Stacker chassis has
two pairs of frame rails similar
to firearm accessory rails. They can
360mm radiators, a full ATX motherboard,
and at least nine hard drives. With the
latter configuration you could have three
For example, one user we profiled used support additional HAF units on the independent PCs with powerful video cards,
separate Mini-ITX systems to run a home top or bottom. You can combine any or a single Mini-ITX PC supported by 2
server, security, and a home PC. The HAF combination of 915R, 915F and 935 x 360mm radiators plus at least nine hard
Stacker system allows this user to have within the constraints of vertical height drives. Because the 915 expansion boxes
three PCs in one room and in one clean and weight limitations. offer different features, and we strived to
stack, tripling his space efficiency. keep them affordable. In doing so, we
Q How many models are in the HAF

Stacker line, and how do they differ?
Q How many and what kind of configu-
rations did your team envision when
designing the HAF Stacker line?
expect users to be able to show us very
interesting combinations that we never
might have expected. ■

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QUAKECON MOD CONTEST

SO GOOD THERE WERE 3 WINNERS

October | Vol. 13 Iss. 10

HEAVY GEAR — P. 14 DIGITAL LIVING — P. 73

HARD HAT AREA — P. 26 BACK DOOR — P. 87

Contact Us Advertising: (800) 247-4880

WATCHING THE CHIPS FALL

CPU / October 2013 5

Wax On, Heat Gone

6 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

MakerBot Brings 3D Scanning

CPU / October 2013 7

Torvalds Celebrates A Milestone

8 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

A Handful Of Virtual Awesomeness

CPU / October 2013 9

(See espncareers.com for more info.)

That’s OK, 32%

(Storage Products Association, various websites, and a calculator)

(Consumer Electronics Association) Ultra HD TV

Portable Connected Speakers

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800

10 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

ADATA DashDrive Air AE400

14 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Supermicro Super Workstation 5038AD-T

CPU / October 2013 15

Metro: Last Light 26.89fps

16 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Rated continuous (W) 850 (at 50 C)

+12V max (A) 30

+5V max (A) 24

+3.3V max (A) 24

Max wattage tested 642

Power factor tested .980

Efficiency rating Up to 94%

Main 12V 24-pin

CPU / October 2013 17

18 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS POSEIDON Illuminated

CPU / October 2013 19

Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS CRONOS brought the whalepunk world to life in

20 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

ENERMAX T.B. VEGAS QUAD / CLUSTER Advance / EVEREST Advance

CPU / October 2013 21

Aerocool GT-S Black Edition

22 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Integer B/F AVX2/256 27.1

Float B/F FMA/256 27

Memory Latency 20.4ns

Cache Bandwidth (GBps) 176.8

ADATA XPG V1.0 DDR3-1866

CPU / October 2013 23

24 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

A New Performance Champion

CPU / October 2013 25

26 October 2013 / www.computerpoweruser.com

CPU / October 2013 27

Keyboard: Thermaltake Tt eSPORTS CHALLENGER Illuminated

CPU / October 2013 29