GeekwithEnvy

PC

It’s No Longer Blue, It’s Windows 8.1

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Windows 8 LogoThe next update to Windows 8, which was codenamed “Blue”, now has an official name, Windows 8.1. That sounds about right, there’s really no need to put any spin on it, just increment and improve please. Windows 8 is an adventure and whether you love it or hate it, it’s clear that the OS needs a bit of repair and a whole lot of love. The update will be available for free.

One of the biggest problems I have with Windows 8 is it’s dual personality. Currently, the new UI doesn’t allow you to access to all of the settings that are available in the control panel, instead you end up back in “Desktop Mode” with the “old” control panel open. The experience needs to feel complete and flipping between old and new just breaks up the flow. It needs to be one or the other. Windows 8.1 will hopefully address some of these issues by fully integrating your settings into the new UI.

This is the first of many updates that will eventually hit Windows 8 users as Microsoft has ramped up their update release schedule. Some see this new cycle as an advantage for Microsoft as it allows them to keep things “fresh”. Others have criticized the new cycle saying that updates could be a lot less stable and/or secure since they have less time to work out the bugs. No matter what we think, Microsoft has chosen a direction and time will tell whether it was the right direction.

 

 

3DMark Wants to Benchmark Everything

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3dmark logo3DMark, the go-to benchmarking software, is not only improving it’s Windows based tests but it’s also moving onto other types of hardware besides the PC. Apple iOS, Android, and Windows RT are all fair game when it comes to being benchmarked by 3DMark.

I must admit that I never really thought about benchmarking my smartphone, it’s kind of interesting idea. We read the specs on our tablets and smartphones and we know how much memory we have  and what our screen resolution is but do we really know just how much power we have to work with ?

When it comes to performance in multitasking, surfing the web, or gaming we really don’t think of measuring it all, at least not as often as we should. For the most part we download our apps and they run, but can they run better? How far can we push the hardware, what are the limitations, and how does it stand up against the competition?  These are all great questions that can be answered by a trusted benchmark tool that provides a standard to go by.

The new benchmarks are visually, much improved and a leap ahead from previous iterations. There are three benchmarks, FireStrike for Windows gaming PC’s, CloudGate for Windows Notebooks and home PC’s, and Ice Storm for Android, iOS and Windows mobile. This is great for enthusiasts who really want to get a clearer picture of what’s going on under the hood of their favorite non-PC devices.

To make things even better, the basic version is free and can be found at 3DMark along with complete details on the benchmarking software.

Going Next-Gen With Call Of Duty: Ghosts

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The next installment of Call of Duty, Call of Duty Ghosts, is officially coming and it’s also going to be on next-gen hardware like the Playstation 4 and Xbox (Infinity?). The new COD is also set to be released on the PC. I have tried to find information confirming the release of Ghost on the Wii U but I haven’t come up with anything as of right now.

The teaser trailer provides essentially no information about the new game but it’s enough to leave us in anticipation for more. Luckily, we will be getting more details at the Xbox reveal which is set to go down on May 21st at 10:00 am PDT on Xbox Live, Xbox.com and Spike TV.

Call of Duty: Ghosts will release on Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PC on November 5.

First Round of BlizzCon Tickets to Go on Sale at 7PM

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The first round of BlizzCon tickets will be going on sale a 7pm and they sell out quickly. Tickets are $175 and ticket holders get one BlizzCon badge that grants access to the convention and a BlizzCon goody bag, which it’s contents have yet to be revealed.

You pick purchase tickets from the official BlizzCon Ticket Sales page. For complete details on the event head to Blizzard’s official BlizzCon page.

How To Test Your CPU Performance with SuperPi and wPrime

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superPi

For a custom PC builder there’s nothing more satisfying than finishing up your build so you can put it to the test. Sure you can open up an application and perform certain tasks to give you an idea of how your new build is performing, but you can also use specific programs that are designed specifically to benchmark.

One of these applications is actually quite simple. SuperPi calculates Pi to a specific number of digits and then displays the time it took to calculate the answer for each iteration. You can also determine the accuracy of the calculation which can also help determine stability of the system, this is perfect for overclocking.

It’s important to note that SuperPi is intended to test single threaded performance, if you’re looking to test multi-threaded performance you can utilize wPrime.

wPrime uses a recursive call of Newton’s method for estimating functions, with f(x)=x2-k, where k is the number we’re square rooting, until Sgn(f(x)/f'(x)) does not equal that of the previous iteration, starting with an estimation of k/2. It then uses an iterative calling of the estimation method a set amount of times to increase the accuracy of the results. It then confirms that n(k)2=k to ensure the calculation was correct. It repeats this for all numbers from 1 to the requested maximum.