Under The Shroud

Fan Technologies Unwound

There have been fans in computers ever since the power demanded by the components inside outstripped the cooling capabilities of passive convection. For CPUs, this occurred in 1989 with the launch of Intel’s 80486, commonly known as the 486. Discrete graphics cards were ushering in a new era of 3D aming in the late ’90s when cards like ATI’s Rage Fury Maxx, NVIDIA’s RIVA TNT2, and 3DFX’s Voodoo Banshee all launched with active cooling. PSUs have shipped with built-in fans for even longer, and at least one intake and one exhaust fan have become the minimum requirements in PC enclosures.

Remembering… Maths Coprocessor

This week, we get a little help from a mathematician

Back in the early 80s the PC was essentially a business only machine. Gaming hadn’t really taken off, and there would still be a few more years until the PC would become a recognised gaming platform, so the vast majority of PC-based computing was word processing, spreadsheets, design and CAD stuff.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Into a land of magic, war and terror we ride. Mouse and keyboard in hand

Polish developer CD Projekt Red has had extraordinary success with the Witcher series. Since the release of the first title in the series, in 2007, the core game has matured and evolved into something rather epic. But does The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt have what it takes to be the best open world RPG ever released or is it just a passing fad?

Sennheiser Urbanite XL Wireless

With the freedom to walk around untethered, Michael Fereday has been testing a Sennheiser headset

The Urbanite XL Wireless product is a Bluetooth on-the-ear type headset from Sennheiser. This particular model is a collapsible headset, which comes packaged with a standard micro-USB lead for battery charging, an audio lead with built-in remote and microphone plus a draw-string soft cloth carry case for transporting the headset when not in use.

i-Rocks Rock Series K10 USB Gaming Keyboard

A no-nonsense keyboard for those who want quality and durability

i-Rocks may sound like a relatively new company in the technology arena, but it has been in operation for at least 13 years, producing computer peripherals. With this experience behind it, the company is now introducing more affordable and interesting products to the peripheral market, in particular gaming products.

Acer Chromebook 15 C910

Acer’s adds a chubster to its burgeoning Chromebook range

The number of Chromebooks available is increasing rapidly, though many of them are just too small for me to use on a regular basis. For those who crave a bigger keyboard and screen, Acer has now released the C910, a Chromebook for the distinctly harder working Chrome OS fan.

Picking the C910 up for the first time, you’d be easily forgiven for thinking it was a low-cost PC running Windows. And given the technical specification, that option probably isn’t as implausible as it would be with other Chromebook designs.

D-Link mydlink Home Smart Plug

D-Link arrives in force at the home automation party

Ashort while ago, I covered some Belkin smart devices, and I’m now lucky enough to have received some D-Link ones to make a comparison.

The DSP-W215 is exactly the sort of thing that most people think about when the phrase ‘home automation’ is used, as it’s the simplest level of control that you can extend to any of your appliances.

MSI AP16 Flex

A smaller AIO than usual but one that’s at the heart of your connected lifestyle

At 15.6 inches, the MSI AP16 Flex is smaller than the other all-inone touchscreen devices that MSI offers. Indeed, it’s not far off from being a tablet, albeit one that’s slightly heavier than usual. This makes it quite a versatile touchscreen PC, as there are more situations where it can come in handy compared to the far bigger 22"-plus panels.

Top 5 Ways To Avoid Fixing Other People’s PCs

Excuse us while we leave our morals at the door

1 Claiming Ignorance

Okay, it’s going to be a bit difficult to persuade your friends and family that you don’t know anything at all about PCs, because chances are you’ve already fixed theirs for them more than once. (And we all know what that means: you’re their tech monkey for life.) But rather than pretending you don’t know anything, wait until they describe their problem, then suck some air in between your teeth, shrug, and say something along the lines of “Sorry, that’s a bit too advanced for me.” If you’re talking to them face to face, try to avoid looking at the inevitable disappointment in their eyes, otherwise there’s a danger your conscience will make you backtrack, and you’ll be up to your eyeballs in SATA cables and BIOS settings before you know it.