December 2017

Misc Pics (11 Comments) (link)  Friday, 29-December-2017  12:52:26 (GMT +10) - by Agg Early this week - last Misc Pics of 2017! Thursday Night (0 Comments) (link)  Thursday, 28-December-2017  22:46:27 (GMT +10) - by Agg There's a fun modding contest being organised in the forums.. a $100 Bunnings Build Challenge. $100 total with of copy of the receipt/s posted in the build log. All construction materials, consumables, paint, fasteners, glues, lighting, etc etc are to be included as part of the $100 total. People are up in arms about Apple admitting (after being caught) that they are slowing down older iPhones deliberately. Apple say it is to prolong the life of older phone batteries, but at least one class-action lawsuit has been organised. According to the lawsuit, Bogdanovich and Speas have owned the iPhone 7 and several older iPhone models and have noticed that their "older iPhone models slows (sic) down when new models come out." The two say they did not consent to have Apple slow down their devices, nor were they able to "choose whether they preferred to have their iPhones slower than normal." Discussion in this thread. Meanwhile Belkin are in hot water over warranty issues. Belkin has agreed to honour claims under its lifetime warranty policies after it was found that the electronics manufacturer applied a policy of only repairing or replacing products under these warranties within the five years from the date of purchase. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on 19 December it had accepted a court-enforceable undertaking by Belkin to honour the claims by local buyers. Retro Apple fans might be interested to hear that Apple's Lisa operating system will be released as Open Source soon. More than three decades ago, Apple unveiled the Apple Lisa. It turned out to be one of the biggest flops of Apple, selling only 10,000 units; Apple spent a mammoth $150 million on R&D. Lisa, one of the first commercial computers with a GUI, also set the stage for a conflict between CEO John Sculley and Cofounder Steve Jobs. For those who don’t know, LISA stood for Local Integrated System Architecture. Discussion here. Tis the season for end-of-year roundup articles, looking back at 2017's most disappointing games on GamingNexus and the Best Products of 2017 on TechPowerUp. TechReport meanwhile have a System Guide, while ThinkComputers have a Holiday Gaming Survival Guide. TechSpot cover their Top 5 Intel Z370 motherboards, as well as 10 tech products that are almost impossible to repair. Thursday Afternoon Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Thursday, 28-December-2017  15:07:55 (GMT +10) - by Agg Input Etc: Cooler Master MasterMouse MM520 Gaming Mouse on Tweaktown. Thermaltake DRACONEM RGB – Cloth Mouse Pad on FunkyKit. Storage: Seagate Barracuda Pro 12TB SATA III HDD on NikKTech. TerraMaster D5-300C USB Type-C 5-Bay RAID Enclosure on LegitReviews. 1TB SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD (SDSSDH3-1T00) on TechARP. Cases: Raijintek Asterion Classic Case on ThinkComputers. Caselabs Bullet BH8 Unboxing Video on Modders-Inc. Audio Visual: Jaybird Freedom 2 Wireless Sport Headphones on Tweaktown. VIZIO SmartCast M65-E0 4K UHD HDR Display on BenchmarkReviews. Misc: noblechairs ICON PU Faux Leather Chair on TechPowerUp. Scanner Sombre game on OCClub. Samsung Galaxy A8 2018 & Galaxy A8+ 2018 Preview on TechARP. Seasonic PRIME Ultra 850W Titanium Power Supply on PC Perspective. ASRock X299 Taichi Intel LGA 2066 Motherboard on OCInside. ASUS ROG Strix GTX 1080 Ti video card on PC Perspective. Boxing Day Evening Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Tuesday, 26-December-2017  19:45:15 (GMT +10) - by aftahours Hope the man in red treated you all to some new hardware goodies, or at least a few cold beers! :) CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2500U on TechSpot 2nd-Gen Core i7 vs. 8th-Gen Core i7 on Techspot Display: BenQ W1700 4K HDR Projector on TechARP Viewsonic XG2730 on Ocaholic Motherboard: ASRock X299 Taichi XE Motherboard on FunkyKit ASUS ROG Crosshair VI Hero on OCC Storage: WD My Passport SSD 1TB on ThinkComputers.org WD My Book Duo 20TB on TweakTown Toshiba TransMemory U363 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive on Madshrimps Videocard: Zotac GeForce GTX 1080 Ti ArcticStorm Mini on Guru3D Gigabyte Aorus GTX 1070 Gaming Box external graphics card on Tech Report Crucial MX500 1TB SSD on Guru3D Cooling: Phantek C350I CPU Water Block on OCInside EK-Vardar EVO 120ER Fan on TechPowerUp Audio: Jabra Elite Sport Wireless Earbuds on TweakTown HAVIT M22 Outdoor Bluetooth Speaker on NikKTech Mouse: Patriot Viper V570 Blackout Edition Laser Mouse on APH Networks Razer Basilisk Gaming Mouse on Madshrimps Misc: Star Wars Battlefront II 2017 (XBOX) on Gaming Nexus Geil EVO Spear DDR4 RAM for Ryzen on TechPowerUp Linksys LAPAC2600 AC2600 Dual Band MU-MIMMO Access Point on NikKTech Camorama 4K 360 Degree Camera on APH Networks EwinRacing Flash Series Ergonomic Office Chair on Bigbruin.com Merry Picsmas (12 Comments) (link)  Friday, 22-December-2017  13:45:12 (GMT +10) - by Agg Thanks to Axe, Merlin and mpot this week. Have a happy and safe Xmas! Thursday Evening (2 Comments) (link)  Thursday, 21-December-2017  17:55:36 (GMT +10) - by Agg The University of NSW has unveiled a new quantum computer. Researchers from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) have come up with a new kind of architecture that uses standard semiconductors common to modern processors to perform quantum calculations. Details aside, it basically means the power of quantum computing can be unlocked using the same kinds of technology that forms the foundation of desktop computers and smart phones. A man has been jailed for hacking Perth's airport. Although he was keen to stress that the public was not put at risk by the activities of the hacker, Mr MacGibbon described the attack as “a near miss”, that could have been a lot worse. What is perhaps most interesting to us is just how the hacker managed to breach sensitive computer systems at the international airport. The answer is sadly predictable. The hacker simply used the login credentials of a third-party contractor to gain unauthorised access to what should have been a well-secured network. HWInfo have a 69-drive SSD comparo. You can consider yourself very lucky if you bought an SSD last year. Since September 2016 we have been warning you about a possible price increase and nowadays the price of SSDs is at least a quarter more than we were used to. Which SSD should you purchase and what can you save on, especially now? You can read this in our test of no less than 69 sata SSDs. TheSSDReview walk us through building a 5GHz machine with instant startup thanks to an Intel Optane drive. So I originally started this upgrade on the advise of a peer who sold me on the fact that new Z370 PC builds were a natural for the Intel Optane SSD, displaying significantly faster startups, shutdowns and typical PC tasks. He never lied. The difference is not just visible; it is significant. Here's yet another bizarre aspect to the cryptocurrency boom: people trading virtual cats. CryptoKitties, a game where users breed and trade digital kitties using Ethereum-based smart contracts, has emerged as the latest mark of society’s obsession with rising cryptocurrency values. In some ways, the popularity of the game reflects the skyrocketing values of digital currencies like Bitcoin and Ether. Total sales on the platform created by Canadian startup Axiom Zen have reportedly hit $12 million, according to Coin Telegraph, as some cats with rare attributes have been sold for upwards of $80,000. Another damaged undersea cable may affect Australia's internet performance. Australian internet users will continue to experience inter-Asia latency for at least the next three weeks as the operator of the SEA-ME-WE3 subsea internet cable works to repair a cut. SEA-ME-WE3, which connects Perth to Singapore, has been down for over two weeks thanks to a cable cut that occurred on December 3. Thursday Afternoon Reviews (1 Comments) (link)  Thursday, 21-December-2017  17:21:02 (GMT +10) - by Agg Input Etc: Genius K10 Wired Gaming Keyboard on FunkyKit. Mistel MD870 SLEEKER Keyboard on TechPowerUp. GAMDIAS Hermes P2 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on Tweaktown. Tecware Phantom Mechanical Keyboard on TechARP. Cases: Fractal Design Define R6 on Guru3D. Fractal Design Define R6 Tempered Glass on ThinkComputers. Fractal Design Define R6 on OCAholic. Fractal Design Define R6 on TechPowerUp. Storage: Transcend StoreJet 200 For Mac on TechARP. StarTech TB3DK2DPPD Thunderbolt 3 Dock v2 on Tweaktown. Seagate 12TB Hard Drives And Synology DS918+ NAS on HotHardware. Tuesday Night Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Tuesday, 19-December-2017  23:39:49 (GMT +10) - by Agg Motherboard & CPU: ASUS ROG Strix Z370-I Gaming on OCAholics. ASRock X299E-ITX/ac w/ Bitspower Leviathan Xtreme AIO 240 Video on OCInside. Input Etc: SteelSeries Apex M750 keyboard on PCWorld. Patriot Viper V570 and RGB Mouse Pad on HWAsylum. Patriot Viper V570 Blackout Gaming Mouse on Tweaktown. Tecware Phantom Mechanical Keyboard on TechARP. G.SKILL RIPJAWS KM570 RGB on Vortez. Genuis SlimStar 8008 Mouse and Keyboard on FunkyKit. Logitech's Craft keyboard on TechReport. Video Cards: NVIDIA TITAN V Review: Volta Compute, Mining, And Gaming Performance Explored on HotHardware. NVIDIA TITAN V Review Part 2: Compute Performance on PCPerspective. PowerColor Red Devil Vega 56 8GB on Guru3D. SAPPHIRE Radeon RX Vega 64 NITRO+ on Tweaktown. The PowerColor Red Devil Vega 56 benchmarked vs. the GTX 1070 Ti on BabelTechReviews. Audio Visual: Corsair HS50 Stereo Gaming Headset on Guru3D. Pittasoft BlackVue DR650S-2CH Car Dashcam on NikKTech. Corsair Void Pro RGB USB on TechPowerUp. SteelSeries Arctis 3 Gaming Headset on LegitReviews. ViewSonic VP3268-4K Monitor on TechSpot. Cooling: Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB 240 TT Premium Edition on Vortez. IN WIN POLARIS Silent RGB PWM Case Fan on Tweaktown. IN WIN AURORA Addressable RGB PWM Case Fan on Tweaktown. Storage: Seagate BarraCuda Pro ST12000DM0007 12TB Hard Drive on APHNetworks. Crucial BX300 480 GB SSD on OCInside. SanDisk iXpand Base 256GB card reader on Tweaktown. Crucial MX500 1 TB on TechPowerUp. Cases: Aerocool's Project 7 P7-C1 Pro on TechReport. IN WIN 101 Mid-Tower on Tweaktown. Furniture: nerdytec COUCHMASTER Cycon gaming furniture thingy on TechPowerUp. Nitro Concepts S300 Gaming Chair on ThinkComputers. Misc: SilverStone SFX SX650-G 650W PSU on APHNetworks. Dell XPS 13 laptop on TechSpot. AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition on TechARP. Contests (0 Comments) (link)  Sunday, 17-December-2017  11:19:29 (GMT +10) - by Agg The Sizzle's contest to win a GTX1060 closes tonight, so get your entry in. Also I just noticed OCAU Major Sponsor Scorptec have two simple contests: one to win a $3.7k gaming PC and another for a pile of NETGEAR goodies. Could be a nice last-minute Xmas surprise! Misc Pics (30 Comments) (link)  Friday, 15-December-2017  11:44:12 (GMT +10) - by Agg Early this week as I'm heading down for an early Xmas with the folks. Thanks to mpot and Simon this week! Friday Morning Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Friday, 15-December-2017  10:48:31 (GMT +10) - by Agg Software: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin adds in-game overlay, mobile app, wider API support on PC Perspective. AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition Overview on TechPowerUp. AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition Drivers Detailed on Tweaktown. Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition Driver December 2017 Analysis on Guru3D. The AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition Tech Report on TechARP. AMD Adrenalin Drivers: Monitor & Control Your System From A Smartphone on TechGage. AMDGPU-PRO 17.50 vs. RADV/RadeonSI Radeon Linux Gaming Performance on Phoronix. Lenovo Star Wars: Jedi Challenges on HotHardware. Input Etc: Mionix Wei Keyboard on TechPowerUp. Cougar Puri TKL Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on Tweaktown. HyperX Alloy FPS Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on TechARP. Mionix Wei Ice Cream Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on Tweaktown. Roccat Kone AIMO Gaming Mouse on BenchmarkReviews. G.Skill Ripjaws MX780 RGB game mouse on Guru3D. Audio Visual: Corsair HS50 Stereo Gaming Headset on BenchmarkReviews. Creative Halo Portable Bluetooth Speaker on MadShrimps. SteelSeries Arctis 3 Bluetooth Headset on FunkyKit. Storage: ASUSTOR AS6302T NAS Server on NikKTech. Synology DS918+ 4-Bay NAS on TechPowerUp. SilverStone TS421S 4-Disk SATA/SAS Disk Enclosure on Phoronix. OWC Mercury Helios 3 Thunderbolt 3 Enclosure on Tweaktown. SilverStone TS421S 4-Disk SATA/SAS Disk Enclosure on Modders-Inc. Misc: OPSEAT Master Series Gaming Chair on ThinkComputers. be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 case on ThinkComputers. Microsoft Surface Book 2 laptop/tablet on TheGuardian. Zotac GT 1030 2 GB video card on Modders-Inc. Arctic BioniX F120 and F140 fans on DVHardware. Forum Projects (0 Comments) (link)  Wednesday, 13-December-2017  17:55:42 (GMT +10) - by Agg Here's some cool reviews and projects from the forums. Another good way to see what's going on at any moment in the forums is to hit the New Posts link. Enjoy! Duality92 has built the Ultimate GPU Review Testbench Phatboy built a very impressive 3-screen Pinball Machine Defyant is working on a project called Disco Scorpion windwithme reviewed the MSI GS63VR 7RG Stealth Pro as well as the MSI GE63VR 7RF Raider StreekG is building an old-school gaming PC while cokeeffekt is building a custom Tiny Gamer PC Ripjaws reviewed a cheapy Rota K500 Full Glass Case and another cheapy, the SHAW Micro R Line mATX Gaming Case Tuesday Afternoon (2 Comments) (link)  Tuesday, 12-December-2017  15:15:19 (GMT +10) - by Agg NVIDIA recently announced the Titan V, a new ultra-high-end video card with a $3000 USD price tag. NVIDIA TITAN V is the most powerful graphics card ever created for the PC, driven by the world’s most advanced architecture—NVIDIA Volta. NVIDIA’s supercomputing GPU architecture is now here for your PC, and fueling breakthroughs in every industry. More info on Anandtech and HotHardware, with discussion here in the forums. Meanwhile Intel have new Pentium Silver and Celeron CPUs. The new Intel Pentium Silver and Intel Celeron processors are based on Intel’s architecture codenamed Gemini Lake, and are engineered for a great balance of performance and connectivity for the things people do every day – working on office documents and spreadsheets, browsing online, enjoying favorite shows and movies, and editing photos – with great battery life. Discussion here. We're still waiting for the Government's report on the game development industry in Australia - but it will apparently be tabled before the end of the year. The federal government will finally deliver its response to the “zombie” report on the Australian games development industry by the end of the year, more than 20 months after it was received. Bitcoin continues to dominate the headlines, but one new aspect is concern about the amount of power it consumes. At present, the most widely used estimate of the energy required to "mine" Bitcoins is comparable to the electricity usage of New Zealand, but this is probably an underestimate. If allowed to continue unchecked in our current energy-constrained, climate-threatened world, Bitcoin mining will become an environmental disaster. If you have an HP laptop, you might want to check for keyloggers. Security researcher Michael Myng found the keylogging code in software drivers preinstalled on HP laptops to make the keyboard work. HP said more than 460 models of laptop were affected by the "potential security vulnerability". It has issued a software patch for its customers to remove the keylogger. The issue affects laptops in the EliteBook, ProBook, Pavilion and Envy ranges, among others. HP has issued a full list of affected devices, dating back to 2012. Microsoft have a new Quantum Development Kit. Thank you for your interest in Microsoft's Quantum Development Kit preview. The development kit contains the tools you'll need to build your own quantum computing programs and experiments. Assuming some experience with Microsoft Visual Studio, beginners can write their first quantum program, and experienced researchers can quickly and efficiently develop new quantum algorithms. Discussion here. Optus joins Telstra in having to compensate NBN customers over slow speeds. Optus will compensate more than 8,700 customers who were misled about the speed of their plans. The telco also admitted it is likely to have breached the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) by providing speeds slower than what it advertised between September 2015 and June 2017. These slower speeds were due to "technical limitations" on the customers' fibre to the node (FTTN) or fibre to the building (FTTB) NBN connections, said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). President Trump has signed a new space policy directive, instructing NASA to return humans to the Moon, and then onward to Mars. “The directive I am signing today will refocus America’s space program on human exploration and discovery,” said President Trump. “It marks a first step in returning American astronauts to the Moon for the first time since 1972, for long-term exploration and use. This time, we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprints -- we will establish a foundation for an eventual mission to Mars, and perhaps someday, to many worlds beyond.” Tuesday Afternoon Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Tuesday, 12-December-2017  13:25:47 (GMT +10) - by Agg Cases: Antec P8 on TechPowerUp. be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900 on OCClub. Input Etc: Quick Look: Corsair Gaming PBT Double-shot Keycaps on PC Perspective. ROCCAT Suora FX Gaming Keyboard on ThinkComputers. Storage: Mantiz Venus MZ-02 Thunderbolt 3 eGPU Enclosure on Tweaktown. SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD 1TB on FunkyKit. Misc: OcUK Cobalt Gaming prebuilt PC on Vortez. ASUS ROG Zenith Extreme motherboard on Vortez. Monday Midday Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Monday, 11-December-2017  12:43:52 (GMT +10) - by Agg Motherboard & CPU: ASUS Republic Of Gamers Maximus X Apex motherboard on Guru3D. Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Boosts CPU And GPU Performance on HotHardware. Input Etc: Rantopad MXX RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on NikKTech. SteelSeries M750 TKL Mechanical Keyboard on LegitReviews. HyperX Alloy FPS Pro Mechanical Keyboard on TechARP. ROCCAT Sova MK keyboard on TechPowerUp. ATEN Phantom S UC3410 Gamepad to Keyboard Emulator on Tweaktown. Corsair MM800 RGB Polaris Gaming Mouse Pad on ThinkComputers. Cases: Zalman Z-Machine X7 Full Tower on BenchmarkReviews. SilverStone Primera PM01-RGB Tempered Glass Case on PC Perspective. Portable & Prebuilt: Stormforce Onyx Ryzen 1200 prebuilt gaming PC on Vortez. HP Spectre x360 (2017) laptop on HotHardware. Audio Visual: CORSAIR HS50 Stereo Gaming Headset on MadShrimps. EZVIZ Mini Trooper Wi-Fi Security Camera System on BigBruin. Lenovo Explorer and Windows Mixed Reality on OCClub. AOC Agon AG322QCX monitor on TechSpot. Misc: Xiaomi Aqara Smart Water Sensor on BigBruin. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus game on OCClub. D-Link COVR-3902 AC3900 Wi-Fi System on BigBruin. LaCie 2Big Dock Thunderbolt 3 20TB External HDD on Tweaktown. AeroCool Project 7 850W Platinum PSU on NikKTech. Misc Pics (10 Comments) (link)  Friday, 8-December-2017  15:38:35 (GMT +10) - by Agg Friday again! A few people pointed out that Homefront is free on Humble Bundle at the moment. Have a great weekend! TheSizzle Competition (20 Comments) (link)  Thursday, 7-December-2017  16:44:20 (GMT +10) - by Agg Daily tech newsletter The Sizzle is giving away an Nvidia GTX1060 graphics card to a lucky OCAU forum member that signs up for a two-week free trial. The newsletter is written by forum member decryption, who covers important tech news with an Aussie slant every weekday. To enter the competition, simply visit The Sizzle's website, pop in your name, email address and the game you'd most like to play on the GTX1060 if you win. The full terms and conditions are on competition page. Good luck! click for the competition page! Thursday Afternoon (2 Comments) (link)  Thursday, 7-December-2017  16:09:11 (GMT +10) - by Agg There's been a lot of buzz lately about NiceHash, a service which lets you get involved in crypto mining relatively easily - but unfortunately they've been hacked overnight, with over $60M USD in bitcoin stolen. Posting on social media, NiceHash said that "there has been a security breach involving NiceHash website" resulting in a loss of funds. NiceHash, formed in 2014, serves as a marketplace for miners to rent out their hash rate to others. The announcement follows an hours-long outage and reports from a multitude of users that their NiceHash-associated wallets had been emptied. NiceHash previously announced that it was "under maintenance," a message that it had posted to its official website as well. Discussion here. Meanwhile, Australia's main stock exchange has embraced blockchain technology in a big way. ASX Ltd. will start using blockchain -- the ledger software that makes bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies possible -- to process equity transactions, according to a filing Thursday. Digital Asset Holdings LLC, the startup run by former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker Blythe Masters, will supply the technology. “We’re the first exchange to consider taking this step,” said Peter Hiom, ASX deputy chief executive officer said on a media conference call. Also in local news, the ACCC are looking into digital platforms, in what sounds like an extremely general inquiry. The Federal Government has today formally directed the ACCC to commence an inquiry into digital platform providers such as Facebook and Google. The ACCC’s inquiry will look at the effect that digital search engines, social media platforms and other digital content aggregation platforms are having on competition in media and advertising services markets. AMD have apparently silently lowered the RX 560 spec to include RX 460-class GPUs. Spotted yesterday by Heise.de, AMD has silently lowered the specifications of the Radeon RX 560 to encompass parts with 14 CUs (896 Stream Processors), allowing them to be sold alongside standard 16 CU (1024 SP) parts. The net effect of this change is that it allows Radeon RX 460-level products to be sold as Radeon RX 560 cards. More info and a response from AMD over on GamersNexus. Today's timewaster is Google's Santa Tracker, with a discussion thread here. Thursday Afternoon Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Thursday, 7-December-2017  14:55:08 (GMT +10) - by Agg Storage: Western Digital BLUE 1TB 3D NAND SSD on FunkyKit. Crucial BX300 240GB Solid State Drive on ThinkComputers. WD Gold 10TB Datacenter Enterprise-Class Hard Drive on Tweaktown. Cooling: Swiftech Apogee SKF TR4 Water Block Breakdown on HardOCP. Phanteks G1080 GPU Water Block Assembly and Flow on HardOCP. Audio Visual: Antlion Audio ModMic 5 Modular Microphone on LegitReviews. 1MORE MK802 Bluetooth Headphones on TechPowerUp. Misc: EVGA X299 DARK Motherboard Thermal Review on GamersNexus. ASUS ROG STRIX GTX 1070 Ti GAMING Advanced Edition on HardOCP. ROMOSS UPower 10,000mAh and Lovely Elf 6,000mAh Power Banks Video Review on APHNetworks. MSI's GP62 7REX Leopard Pro gaming laptop on TechReport. Cougar Minos X5 Gaming Mouse on NeoSeeker. Computer Alliance Contest (0 Comments) (link)  Wednesday, 6-December-2017  15:38:05 (GMT +10) - by Agg OCAU Major Sponsor Computer Alliance are running an impressive competition on their website and Facebook. You can win an "Ultimate Gaming Package" worth over $10,000 RRP. click for the contest! Wednesday Afternoon Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Wednesday, 6-December-2017  13:58:03 (GMT +10) - by Agg Storage: HP SSD M700 Solid State Drive on BenchmarkReviews. SilverStone TS12C USB 3.1 Dual-Drive Dock and Cloner on Tweaktown. Synology DiskStation DS418play NAS on Modders-Inc. Input Etc: Corsair Glaive RGB mouse on TechPowerUp. SteelSeries Apex M750 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard on MadShrimps. Audio Visual: Dell UltraSharp 27 Premier Color UltraHD 4K Monitor on HotHardware. Logitech G433 headset on Vortez. Kingston HyperX Cloud Alpha Pro Gaming Headset on OCClub. Portable & Prebuilt: Gigabyte Aero 14 i7-7700HQ and GTX 1050 Ti Notebook on eTeknix. The Acer Predator Orion 9000 HEDT Gaming PC Up Close on TechARP. Misc: EVGA DG-77 Case Review featuring the Star Wars TITAN Xp on BabelTechReviews. BIOSTAR Z370GT6 Motherboard on Tweaktown. Noctua NH-U9, U12S, U14S TR4-SP3 Threadripper cooler on Guru3D. Retro Let's Play - DOOM (1993) (0 Comments) (link)  Tuesday, 5-December-2017  14:36:40 (GMT +10) - by Agg The "Retro Let's Play" game for early December is the timeless classic "DOOM", from 1993. Doom also introduced a generation of gamers to network multiplayer, both co-operative and "deathmatch". This extended the life of the game well beyond the single player story, allowing up to 4 people on 4 computers to connect on a local area network and battle each other head to head, real time, each with their own viewpoint - Something largely taken for granted in modern gaming, but at the time consider revolutionary. This one you can play in your browser, too! click for the thread! Tuesday Afternoon (6 Comments) (link)  Tuesday, 5-December-2017  13:54:14 (GMT +10) - by Agg Text Messaging turned 25 recently, thanks IntelInside. On December 3, 1992, British software engineer Neil Papworth? sent the world's first ever text message. It was to an executive at Vodafone, saying "Merry Christmas". Swinburne University's Belinda Barnet, who specialises in the history of technology, says no one expected how popular text messages would become. The F1 season has come to an end, which also means the first F1 Esports World Champion has been crowned. Lewis Hamilton was celebrating another World Championship win, but at the same time, fellow Brit, 18 year old Brendon Leigh had just become World Champion in the virtual world. For fans of F1, it's time to start taking notice of the esports equivalent. Leigh won the championship thanks to a thrilling overtake on the final lap of the race. Meanwhile, the Overclocking World Championship Final 2017 has been confirmed for Berlin, Germany, a few days from now. As you may well be aware, the contest will take place at Caseking HQ in Berlin, Germany on December 9th and 10th and is the climax of a year-long campaign to discover this year’s Overclocking World Champion. Today we are confirming the hardware that will be used in the contest, plus the overall structure and rules in place. Here's an interesting cautionary tale about losing your PIN, and your bitcoin with a hardware wallet. The problem was, I was the thief, trying to steal my own bitcoins back from my Trezor. I felt queasy. After my sixth incorrect PIN attempt, creeping dread had escalated to heart-pounding panic—I might have kissed my 7.4 bitcoins goodbye. NASA have successfully fired Voyager 1's thrusters, for the first time in 37 years. The unmanned spaceship was launched along with its twin, Voyager 2, more than 40 years ago to explore the outer planets of our solar system, traveling further than any human-made object in history. But after decades of operation, the "attitude control thrusters" that turn the spacecraft by firing tiny "puffs" had degraded. The small adjustments are needed to turn Voyager's antenna toward Earth, allowing it to continue sending communications. Tuesday Afternoon Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Tuesday, 5-December-2017  13:15:31 (GMT +10) - by Agg Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4-4600 16GB Memory Kit on Tweaktown. Patriot Viper 4 32GB DDR4-3733 Memory Kit on FunkyKit. Power Supply: Cooler Master MasterWatt 550W PSU on PCPerspective. Thermaltake Toughpower iRGB Plus 1250W Titanium on HardOCP. Furniture: Acer Predator Triton 700 Gaming Laptop on TechARP. Nitro Concepts S300 Gaming Chair on HardOCP. VertDesk v3 Electric Sit Stand Desk on ThinkComputers. Misc: PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) CPU Test on TechSpot. AVM FRITZ!Box 7590 AC2600 VDSL/ADSL Modem Router on NikKTech. Roku Ultra and Streaming Stick+ on ArsTechnica. GIGABYTE Z370 Aorus Ultra Gaming Motherboard on HardOCP. Cooler Master MasterKeys MK750 Keyboard on TechPowerUp. Toshiba OCZ TR200 480GB Solid State Drive on APHNetworks. Sunday Midday Reviews (0 Comments) (link)  Sunday, 3-December-2017  11:51:07 (GMT +10) - by Agg Motherboard & CPU: ASRock Fatal1ty X299 Pro Gaming i9 XE Motherboard on Tweaktown. GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS Gaming 5 Motherboard on Tweaktown. MSI Z370 GAMING PRO CARBON AC on TechPowerUp. Intel Core i7 8700k CPU on Modders-Inc. GIGABYTE X299 AORUS Gaming 7 PRO Motherboard on Tweaktown. Cooling: Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler on ThinkComputers. Antec Mercury 120 CPU cooler on OCInside. Input Etc: Patriot Viper V770 Gaming Keyboard on ThinkComputers. Gamdias Hermes M3 RGB Mechanical Keyboard on BenchmarkReviews. Audio Visual: NETGEAR Arlo Pro 2 Wireless 1080p Security Camera on Tweaktown. Elgato Game Capture 4K60 Pro on PCPerspective. Creative Sound BlasterX Kratos S5 2.1 speakers on Vortez. Linner NC50 Wireless Neckband Earphone on FunkyKit. Video Cards: NVIDIA Titan Xp Collectors Edition Star Wars Jedi Order Graphics Card on LegitReviews. MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio on OCClub. Portable & Prebuilt: HP Envy x360 15z SSD Update on HotHardware. Samsung Galaxy Note FE Up Close on TechARP. ASUS ZenFone 4 Max Pro on TechARP. Misc: Arozzi Verona V2 Gaming Chair on TechPowerUp. Songbringer game on OCClub. Be Quiet! SFX L Power 600W PSU on NikKTech. Cougar Conquer case on TechPowerUp. Samsung PM981 SSD on Anandtech. Misc Pics (32 Comments) (link)  Friday, 1-December-2017  14:57:28 (GMT +10) - by Agg Thanks to Axe, Simon and Peter this week! Friday Afternoon (4 Comments) (link)  Friday, 1-December-2017  14:53:06 (GMT +10) - by Agg The latest "High Sierra" version of MacOS has a major security issue, now patched, with more details here. n case you haven't heard the news there is a massive security flaw which affects the latest version of macOS (High Sierra). Essentially, bug allows anybody to log into the root account with a blank, or password of their choosing. Apparently this vulnerability was first posted, rather innocuously, to Apple's very own Developer Forums. Discussion here. Meanwhile there's a new trojan specifically targeting Australian bank customers. X-Force noted that while changes were most significant in the code injection mechanism, the malware’s operators also opted to develop redirection attacks to target business and corporate banking customers in Australia. The redirection scheme is implemented through the configuration file and not embedded into the code itself. This finding is significant because it suggests that a new group has joined the cybercrime arena and is specifically operating in Australia, where malware gangs such as TrickBot and Dridex already have a firm foothold. Tesla's South Australian battery is up and running, one day early. Premier Jay Weatherill is visiting the battery site — alongside the Hornsdale windfarm near Jamestown in the state's mid north — on Friday, to mark its official opening on the first day of summer. But with temperatures across South Australia and Victoria hitting the mid 30s, and output from the state's wind farms low, the battery was called upon early to help meet Thursday afternoon's peak demand. The battery dispatched a maximum of 59 megawatts of power. Intel's Xeon D CPUs will be updated soon, with Skylake-SP cores. Xeon-D is a platform that sits in an odd position in Intel’s product portfolio. The first generation launched in November 2015, based on Broadwell, paired up to 8 Broadwell cores with 32 lanes of PCIe 3.0 and dual 10-gigabit Ethernet controllers. With a thermal design limit of 45W, memory support up to 128GB of ECC, speeds up to 2.7 GHz, and a BGA-only design, the Xeon-D platform found a place in home servers, networking, high-end NAS designs, hyper-scale embedded implementations, and was a general all-around interesting part that never really breached the light of day for most consumers. There's going to be a supermoon this week. Mark December 4 in your calendar because you’ll have a chance to see something very special in the sky that night – supermoon. A ‘supermoon’ is a popular term for the lunar event which coincides with a new full moon and the moon making a closer-than-usual approach to Earth. Basically, because the moon orbits earth in more of an oval than a circle it means that sometimes it is much closer to Earth than normal – combine that with a full moon and you have yourself a big, beautiful ‘supermoon’. A Perth man worked out how to stop his employer tracking his whereabouts - using a Twisties packet. Australia’s Fair Work Commission, a workplace tribunal, heard that Mr Colella blocked his whereabouts by storing his personal digital assistant, a phone-like device that has a GPS inside, in an empty foil packet of Twisties, a puffy cheese-based snack that is popular in Australia.

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