Ryan Glovinsky, Author at VR World

Gaming, Hardware, VR World

SteelSeries Announces New Siberia Headsets

Today SteelSeries announced a refresh of its Siberia headset family. The new models are as follows: The Siberia v3 (MSRP $99.99), which replaces the Siberia v2. The v3 includes updated and improved audio drivers, as well as a headset redesign which utilizes noise-reducing memory foam ear cushions. The v3 has a single-plug cable along with a dual-jack extension to allow the v3 to be used with PCs, consoles, and mobile devices. The Siberia v3 will be available in black or white. The Siberia v3 Prism (MSRP $139.99) is an upgraded version of the standard v3, which adds the performance and style features available in the

Gaming, Graphics, Hardware, VR World

Nvidia Game24 Event: The Launch of GTX 980 and GTX 970

This past Thursday (September 18th), Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) hosted its GAME24 event from Hangar 8 at the Santa Monica Airport in Los Angeles. The event was billed as a “celebration of PC gaming”, and it certainly was. However, the main event was no secret to those in the press – the release of the new top end Maxwell GPUs: GTX 980 and GTX 970. This announcement was made in conjunction with the NDA expiry of the GTX 980 reviews, including our very own review of the GeForce GTX 980. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang soon took the stage to welcome the attendees and to present Maxwell and the

Hardware, Reviews

NZXT Kraken G10 GPU Bracket Provides A Great Cooling Solution

NZXT’s Kraken G10 GPU bracket is somewhat of a unique product. The only similar product appears to be Corsair’s HG10, but that has yet to hit the market despite a soft-launch back in June 2014. The Kraken G10 GPU bracket is designed to replace a GPU’s stock cooler, and allow it to be fitted with a closed-loop liquid cooling system. The compatibility of NZXT’s solution is impressive, supporting a variety of graphics cards and liquid coolers. The current compatibility options are listed below in the specifications: Model Number: RL-KRG10-W1 (White), RL-KRG10-B1 (Black), RL-KRG10-R1 (Red), RL-KRG10-U1 (Blue) Dimensions: 177 (W) x 32.5 (H) x 110.6 (D)

Gaming, Graphics, Hardware, VR World

Digital Storm Launches Bolt II Battle Box Titan Z Special Edition

Digital Storm has launched the Bolt II Battle Box Titan Z Special Edition – a Bolt II small form factor system designed specifically to meet Nvidia’s GeForce GTX Battle Box grade gaming standard. Rather than just upgrade the components in an existing system, Digital Storm redesigned the Bolt II to house the company’s new Hardline Cooling System. The custom liquid cooling components include a 240mm radiator, pump, and acrylic tubing that delivers vibrant yellow coolant to key components in the Bolt II’s tiny chassis. “Nvidia launched the GTX Battle Box Program to allow gamers to play AAA, combat-focused games at max settings and super high

Gaming, VR World

SteelSeries Announces Exclusive Heroes of the Storm Mouse and Mousepad

SteelSeries has announced an exclusive Heroes of the Storm Mouse and QcK Mousepad, which were designed in collaboration with Blizzard Entertainment. “Heroes of the Storm has been such a highly anticipated title that we were excited to create a product exclusively for the game. We knew that Blizzard and players would want a mouse designed for versatility and that would evoke the aesthetics from within the game. The SteelSeries Engine is such an important component of this mouse in that players can save an unlimited number of profiles and settings for each that would reflect the type of character you’re playing; assigning illumination settings to

Hardware, VR World

SteelSeries Introduces DeX Mousepad

Earlier this week, SteelSeries introduced a new surface for gamers in the way of the DeX Mousepad. The SteelSeries DeX is made of a low-friction polymer, and it features a unique 3D optical pattern designed to improve tracking accuracy. The 3D special textured pattern consists of raised hexagonal ridges that reduce the contact points between the mouse and the pad. A reduction of contact leads to less friction, allowing the mouse to easily glide over the surface. The SteelSeries DeX offers a fast glide surface for mouse movements, but has a heavy silicone base to keep the pad anchored to the desk. The DeX also

Hardware, VR World

Digital Storm Unveils VELOX Midsized Gaming PC

Digital Storm recently unveiled the VELOX enthusiast-level gaming PC. The system uses a custom chassis designed to showcase components and maximize airflow. The VELOX is a mid-sized system designed to sit between the small form factor BOLT II and the huge AVENTUM II PCs. Like the other models, the VELOX features forged steel and exotic cooling elements that are standard on Digital Storm PCs, as well as vented panels designed to maximize airflow. It uses Digital Storm’s new Hardline H2O cooling solution, as well as the company’s proprietary Hydrolux control software which includes detailed temperature graphs, thermal linked LED lighting and automated airflow optimization. “VELOX

Mobile Computing, Reviews

Review: STM Bags Impulse Medium Laptop Backpack

Today I’m taking a look at the STM Bags Impulse Medium Laptop Backpack. The backpack is designed to fit up to a 15” laptop. The full specifications are below: Material: 300D velocity poly Lining: 200D water resistant polyester (Laptop Section: 200g brushed nylex) Device Space: 9.8 x 14.3 x 0.9 in / 24.9 x 36.4 x 2.4 cm Outer Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.9 x 5.5 in / 49 x 33 x 14 cm Capacity: 1220.5 cu in / 20 L Weight: 2.2 lb / 1 kg The Impulse Medium comes in grey and black, our review unit was the black model. The backpack has a

Gaming, VR World

SteelSeries Introduces Siberia Elite World of Warcraft Edition Headset

Improved Siberia Elite World of Warcraft Edition SteelSeries introduced a new and improved Siberia Elite headset, the World of Warcraft Edition for Warlords of Draenor. The WoW edition headset includes improvements such as a new microphone, boosted speaker drivers, and increased comfort. According to SteelSeries CTO Tino Soelberg: Our partnership with Blizzard Entertainment to create unique gear for the World of Warcraft community has culminated in this bold new version of our premium and award-winning headset—a perfect complement to Blizzard’s upcoming Warlords of Draenor expansion. Players deserve the best quality audio to experience the music and sounds of Draenor; this exclusive edition of the Siberia

Hardware, Memory & Storage Space, Reviews

Review: Western Digital Enterprise WD RE 4 TB Drive

Today I’m taking another look at Western Digital’s WD RE 4 TB WD4000FYYZ enterprise drives. I reviewed a single WD4000FYYZ in our Western Digital 4 TB roundup, and Western Digital was kind enough to provide us with some more drives to put through their paces. The WD RE 4 TB FYYZ was the highest performing drive in our earlier roundup, and as an enterprise drive, it’s rated for double the load/unload cycles of the consumer drives. As such, these drives are optimized for RAID arrays. The specifications of the drive are below: Interface – SATA 6.0Gb/s Capacity – 4TB RPM – 7200 RPM Cache – 64MB Load/Unload Cycles

Gaming, Hardware

SteelSeries Announces the Rival Dota 2 Edition Gaming Mouse

SteelSeries just announced the launch of their Rival: Dota 2 Edition Gaming Mouse, along with an exclusive in-game item, Hell’s Glare for Doom, just in time for the final bracket of The International 4 (the premier DOTA 2 tournament). The Dota 2 Edition was inspired by the award-winning Rival Optical Mouse launched in Q4 2013. It features a unique color scheme, customizable illumination up to 16.8 million color options, and a deep arsenal of high-performance hardware that was developed with professional players from Na’Vi, iG, and Team Fnatic. The SteelSeries Rival Dota 2 Edition Gaming Mouse will be available for pre-order after the conclusion of

Gaming, VR World

Robert Morris University-Illinois to Offer League of Legends eSports Scholarships

Robert Morris University-Illinois, a small private university in Chicago, will offer eSports scholarships later this year. Beginning this fall, the scholarships will cover up to 50 percent of tuition and room and board; which is worth up to $19,000 per student. This is the first substantial scholarship of its kind in the U.S. The school plans on offering 45-50 athletic scholarships to competitive League of Legends gamers. League of Legends has 70 million players per month and in terms of hours played, it was the most popular video game in the U.S. and Europe in 2012. RMU is also looking into hiring a coach for

VR World

SteelSeries Officially Introduces Sentry Eye Tracker and Stratus XL Controller

Today, SteelSeries officially announced the Sentry Eye Tracker designed to help train gamers. The Sentry is the official product we saw prototypes of at CES 2014 back in January. According to SteelSeries, it will help players “train for competitive gaming, by allowing the player to analyze a wide range of statistics based on where and how long a user focused, or fixated, on the screen. Fixations per Minute (FPM) tracks how often a user moves his or her eye gaze and attention around the screen; low values indicate that the gamer is able to process a lot of information. For comparison, FPM in eye tracking

Hardware, Reviews

Review: Escort Inc PASSPORT Max Radar Detector

Today we’re taking a look at the Escort PASSPORT Max radar detector. I’ve been using the PASSPORT Max daily for the past year or so, so I’ve gotten a pretty good sense of how the device works and how useful it is. Let’s start off with the unboxing. The PASSPORT Max came in a simple box, which contained the radar detector, the SmartCord power adapter, the StickyCup Windshield Mount, the manual, and a soft carrying case for the detector and accessories. In addition, I also received a SmartCord Live to utilize for the purpose of the review. The SmartCord Live provides the normal features of

2014, Comic-Con, Event, Gaming, Graphics, Hardware, Memory & Storage Space, VR World

Corsair Launches Variety of New Products at Computex 2014

Today at Computex 2014, Corsair released a variety of new products. First up are the Cherry MX RGB Gaming Keyboards, the first mechanical keyboards to utilize the Cherry MX RGB switches that allow for different lighting. They’ll be available as the K70 RGB and K95 RGB. Also launched is the M65 RGB mouse, a gaming mouse that provides three zone 16.8 million color backlighting. The K95 RGB will have an MSRP of $189.99, the K70 RGB will be $169.99, and the M65 RGB will be $69.99. Next up is Corsair’s new Hydro Series HG10 GPU cooling bracket. The cooling bracket will replace the reference cooler

Hardware, Reviews

Review: Cooler Master CM Storm QuickFire XT Stealth (MX Green)

Today we are taking a look at the Cooler Master (CM) Storm QuickFire XT Stealth mechanical keyboard (with Cherry MX Green switches). The QuickFire XT is the full size variant of the QuickFire series, and the Stealth denotes the fact that it has front-printed keys (as opposed to top-printed). We previously reviewed the QuickFire TK as well as the QuickFire Stealth. Since the QuickFire XT Stealth is basically just a full sized version of the QuickFire Stealth, we’re going to focus primarily on the differences between the models, as well as our experience using Cherry MX Green switches. Specifications: Key Switch: CHERRY MX Blue /

Hardware, Reviews

Review: Seagate Backup Plus FAST 4 TB Portable Hard Drive

Today I’m taking a look at the Seagate Backup Plus FAST 4 TB portable hard drive. However, referring to it as a hard drive is a bit misleading, as the Backup Plus FAST is actually two 2 TB 2.5” drives in a RAID 0 array. This contributes to the speeds the drives can provide, as a striped RAID 0 array improves performance to up to double of what a single drive would be capable of. The drive comes in basic packaging, which includes a quick-start guide, an 18” USB 3.0 cable, and a USB 3.0 Y cable, which has two USB connectors: one for power

Hardware

Review: LUXA2 TX-200 Dual Wireless Charging Station

Today we are taking a look at the LUXA2 (Thermaltake) TX-200 Dual Wireless Charging Station. The TX-200 utilizes the Qi inductive power standard. It comes with two wireless charging pads as well as a USB port for wired charging, allowing for up to three devices to charge at once. Full specifications are below: Length: 182 mm (7.1 inches) Width: 97 mm (3.8 inches) Height: 14.5 mm (0.5 inches) Input: DC 5V3A Output: USB Output : 5V1A, Wireless Output 1 : 5V1A (Qi Compatible), Wireless Output 2 : 5V1A (Qi Compatible) Material: Plastic, Silicone Weight: 188g Warranty: 2 year The TX-200 is a solid feeling, sleek

Hardware

Corsair announces new high wattage and extremely efficient PSU, the AX1500i

Corsair announced the AX1500i, a new 1500w power supply that meets the current draft for ATX 115 Volt 80 PLUS Titanium. It will be able to supply 1500 watts in total, providing 94% efficiency at 50% load at 115V. It will retail at $449. The full press release is below: CES 2014 ? Las Vegas, Nevada ? January 7, 2014 ? Corsair®, the most awarded PC power supply brand in the world1, today announced the AX1500i Digital ATX power supply. The PSU?s digitally-controlled circuitry delivers 1500 watts of ultra-stable power with efficiency that goes beyond 80 PLUSTM Platinum, making the AX1500i the most technologically advanced,

Hardware

Digital Storm shows off Bolt II at CES 2014

We met up with Digital Storm to check out their new Bolt II Hybrid SFF Gaming PC and Steam Machine. The Bolt II is a clear improvement over the original Bolt. It can be stood up vertically or laid on its side. It will be configurable with either Windows 8.1, SteamOS, or both. Digital Storm is aiming to bring down the price to have the Bolt II start around the $1500 mark, possibly outfitted with an Intel i5/i7 and potentially an Nvidia GTX 760. The Bolt II will also be configurable up to an Nvidia GTX Titan. The Bolt II comes standard with a liquid