Pay Your e-Troll

The dues of internet usage…

Working in the digital and social media space, everyone in this industry eventually comes across the little understood creature called the troll. Unlike the mythological beast that appears in Terry Pratchett and Harry Potter novels (or in your favourite role playing game), the internet troll is a very real, and very nasty creature. In the books and movies, trolls stick to the dark and dank recesses of the fantasy world to prey on unsuspecting travellers or wayward children, but the internet troll is far more bold and far, far more wicked. Unlike their mythical counterpart, the internet troll uses the anonymity of cyberspace to venture boldly into the public eye, and thrives on the reactions, misery and discord they can sow amongst unsuspecting online communities, rather than simply boiling their bones for meals.

XBMC On Your HDTV

If Valve’s Steam Machines delay has you feeling down in the dumps about HDTV-based PC gaming, we‘d like to take this opportunity to remind you that alternatives abound. As much as we love the developer for its contributions to PC gaming, the Steam Machine’s core concept — putting a PC in the living room — isn’t terribly novel. Enthusiasts have been connecting PCs to TVs and playing games on them since graphics cards first started shipping with S-Video outputs. Thankfully, in the high-def era, doing so has gotten significantly prettier (and more practical).

How To Buy A Power Supply

When pricing out a new system, the power supply unit is usually the component at the bottom of the list. We admit, it’s hard to get excited about the PSU. Jacob Freeman, product manager at EVGA, thinks the PSU’s role in gaming, overclocking, and enthusiast computing is underrated. “Due to the nature of the device, it is not easy to measure the performance of the power supply without expensive equipment, thus some users may buy PSUs that offer low efficiency, or have low quality components that can cause all sorts of issues from system crashes to power supply failure.”

No, the PSU doesn’t directly impact the performance of your PC, but it does feed the components that do make that impact. It’s very possible to get it wrong and never know it. Buying too much power wastes energy, and buying an underpowered PSU may prevent your computer from booting, fail whenever you hit it with a load, and limit your overclocking potential and future upgrade options. Read on to determine what to buy when it comes time to replace your power supply.

ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4-2400

The linchpin of ADATA’s XPG Z1 DDR4 modules is its Thermal Conductive Technology, which improves heat dissipation to boost performance. ADATA has certainly put TCT to good use, as its XPG Z1 kits are already available at speeds up to 2,800MHz. ADATA also plans on releasing a 3,200MHz kit in the near future. The XPG Z1 lineup is already an imposing collection, considering the DDR4 standard is still in its infancy. ADATA sent us a 16GB 2,400MHz quad-channel kit (model AX4U2400W4G16-QRZ) to put through the wringer.

Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4-2400

Last month, we checked out Crucial’s DDR4 desktop memory lineup, which operate at 2,133MHz. Crucial pumps up its Ballistix Sport DDR4 modules’ speed to 2,400MHz, thanks to a heat spreader that improves heat dissipation. Although you can buy Ballistix Sport DDR4 by the module or in a dual-channel kit, we’ll be focusing our attention on the 16GB quadchannel kit. (Crucial also has a 32GB quad-channel kit consisting of a quartet of 8GB modules if you want to stuff your X99-based rig with an obscene amount of memory.)