Build a Raspberry Pi 2 Server

Traditionally, servers are great b ig devices that consume vast amounts of power and generate a considerable amount of heat. That’s why data centres are huge, air-conditioned rooms full of racks housing multiple units. But for home or small business use, they don’t have to be that way, and with the Raspberry Pi, we have a small Linux computer that consumes very little power and generates only a small amount of heat.

Infinifactory

The smartest game in the solar system just went 3D

Here’s a fascinating historical ‘might’vebeen’ for you. The man who made Infinifactory – Zachtronics, aka Zach Barth – almost made Minecraft. After all, Notch’s game was an admitted copy of Infiniminer, one of Zachtronics’s early games. But Infiniminer’s source code was leaked shortly after launch and the game was abandoned, allowing Notch to swoop in and make a (much-improved) copy, then sell it five years later for $2.5bn.

Hit the road to anonymity

From blocking cookies to hiding your IP address, here’s how to get off the grid

Internet privacy tends to make headlines with stories of autocratic governments spying on their citizens, creating the impression that we’re careering straight into an Orwellian dystopia. But while state surveillance is undeniable, the first invasion of your privacy is far more likely to come via a humble Google search. Although apparently anonymous, Google has a habit of tracking your searches in order to bombard you with ever-more personalised adverts. By contrast, a search engine such as duckduckgo.com generates unbiased search results without the added user profiling or tracking.

Razer Mamba Tournament Edition

Setting a new bar for sensitivity, without being all touchy-feely

Not that long ago, customisation was all the rage in the mouse world. Back when the first Cyborg R.A.T. scurried across our desks, we thought that every mouse from that point on would be customisable for the subtle nuances of our sweaty palms. And indeed, since its first release, there have been numerous R.A.T.s and copycats released, suggesting that there is indeed a market for mice that can be perfectly tailored to your hands. However, as the latest Razer Mamba proves, there’s more to customisation than how big a mouse is.

Noctua NH-C14S

Impressive design, but lacks cooling capacity

Noctua is best known for its beige and brown fans, and has dominated the market for silent-operation, performance-heavy cooling options for as long as we can remember. It’s a company with ideals pitched at those who don’t care for the aesthetics of the components, more the properties they exhibit. Notably noise cancellation and a high degree of static pressure. As a result, it delivers some of the best performance that money can buy.

Gigabyte P34W V3

Has Gigabyte really found the ‘no compromise’ ultra-thin gaming laptop?

One of the holy grails for a gaming laptop manufacturer is the powerful, ultra-slim gaming machine. That’s the focus from Gigabyte on its P34W v3, and it gets oh-soclose to pulling it off.

The 14-inch laptop hasn’t been a form factor we’ve seen much of; it’s always been held back from our market for reasons we don’t particularly understand. Maybe it’s been a lack of efficient hardware, which might explain why we’re now starting to see more small gaming machines – both the main CPU and GPU manufacturers are now really focusing on power efficiency for their performance hardware.

MSI R9 380 Gaming

Premium looks, value results

On a tight budget? Looking for a graphics solution under £150? Want to play the latest games comfortably at 1080p? Well, the R9 380 might just be the card for you. Okay, we’ll drop the advertising pitch. But seriously, if you’re looking for a budget buy to build your 1080p gaming/LAN rig, the 380 is a serious competitor.

18 Quintillion Worlds

At our E3 show this year, Hello Games announced that the space exploration game No Man’s Sky is coming to PC. The studio’s Sean Murray tells us what you’ll be doing in this colossal, colourful universe

I'm talking to Sean Murray, one of Hello Games’ four co-founders, at our E3 PC Gaming Show in LA’s Belasco Theater. He’s just announced that No Man’s Sky is coming to PC at the same time as PS4. We always had an inkling his game of procedurally generated space exploration was coming to our platform – the team letting us see it at gamescom last year was a big clue – but now it’s confirmed. I can’t think of a better match. It’s a space game with clear shades of Elite, mixed with elements of the survival games that have become such a phenomenon on Steam. It’s so us.

Resist or Die

XCOM 2 envisions a dystopia where mankind lost the war

In Enemy Unknown, the alien invaders were on your turf. In XCOM 2, you’re on theirs. That significantly changes the pace and dynamic of the game. In the demo Firaxis shows me, I see civilians crowded behind barriers, futuristic police cars right out of the Total Recall remake, armoured fascist twats known as Advent and floating holographic billboards. The aliens control everything. In XCOM 2’s world, you lost the war against the extraterrestrial invaders of Enemy Unknown, and this is not your planet any more. You must take it back.