Avalanche

Rick Lane parachutes into the tech behind the spectacular Just Cause open-world sandbox games

When it was released back in 2010, Just Cause 2’s virtual island archipelago of Panau was one of the largest true-3D open worlds ever created. Its landscapes ranged from rugged mountain ranges to thick tropical jungles and even a sprawling metropolis.

Eclipse i7 Liquid Vengeance

Corsair’s Graphite range of cases is finding favour among loads of enthusiasts and system builders at the moment. Eclipse is the latest firm to deploy the glass-panelled Graphite 760T in its i7 Liquid Vengeance PC, and it’s easy to see why. Those swinging glass not only look great, but they’re also practical, being much easier to unclip than conventional thumbscrews.

Eclipse has chosen the black version, making the Liquid Vengeance a big, dark, brooding machine, which makes the flashes of red stand out more. The power button is ringed with crimson, the two 140mm fans in the front panel are red, and Eclipse has fitted a pair of red 140mm fans to the Corsair liquid cooler. Even the logo on the Corsair cooler’s waterblock/pump unit glows red.

PC Specialist Ignis

PC Specialist’s Ignis stands out with its use of a Parvum case, made from 5mm acrylic rather than metal. There are obvious differences between the Parvum Veer 1.0 and more conventional cases deployed in other mini-ITX chassis. The matt black material throughout is divided by red acrylic that looks especially impressive when it catches sunlight and its smart, layered design is augmented by good-looking touches.

Transcend MTS800 M.2

Although most storage firms are moving towards higher SSD capacities, chopping even 128GB flavours from their line-ups, Transcend is clearly still keen to cater for those users who absolutely don’t care about huge amounts of flash memory storage. Accordingly, the SATA-based MTS800 M.2 series is available in five capacities, including just 32GB, a capacity that could only be useful in extremely cheap laptops.

Plextor M6e Black Edition 256GB

Whenever a new disruptive product is launched that seriously outclasses its competition, it instantly alters the landscape of that market. It doesn’t mean alternative products cease to become a worthwhile purchase, but it often forces them to compete in terms of pricing and value for money rather than performance. Anything that costs more money than the new killer product, or even costs the same amount, without any inherent advantage, instantly becomes uncompetitive. With SSDs, that new product is Samsung’s 950 Pro, so Plextor’s M6e Black Edition, with its price of £220 inc VAT, is now up against some serious competition.

How Secure Is Windows 10?

Microsoft’s new Windows 10 operating system contains several features that can threaten your system’s security and data protection. In this article, we will show you what to watch out for

It’s not very often that users eagerly await the arrival of Microsoft’s Windows operating system as much as Windows 10. According to an analysis by Statcounter, three percent of PC users installed the new system during the release weekend itself. The web service registered the hits on over three million websites and analysed the system information contained in them. Soon after, a large chunk of Windows users around the world were recorded to have moved on to the new Windows 10 operating system, not at all different compared to the pick-up rate when users shifted to Windows 7 from Windows XP and Windows Vista.

MSI Z170i Gaming Pro AC

Mini-ITX is becoming a big hit in enthusiast circles, with every major motherboard manufacturer looking set to offer at least one dinky motherboard that can take advantage of Intel’s K-series Skylake CPUs. Last time, MSI was at the forefront of the small form factor battleground and its Z97 offering was easily a match for Asus and Gigabyte’s equivalents. Sadly, there’s still no competitor for Asus’ top-end Impact, but with the new Z170i Gaming Pro AC, MSI is definitely looking to win some mid-range ground.

Asus Sabertooth Z170

With a price that’s close to £200 inc VAT, there are certainly cheaper options than Asus’ Sabertooth Z170 TUF board if you’re looking to jump on the Skylake bandwagon. However, few boards offer anywhere near its number of features.

Let’s start with Asus’ Thermal Armor, which the company claims improves cooling by directing airflow from a couple of tiny included fans onto the PCB. We’ve always been in two minds about the Thermal Armor – you need to use the fans to keep your system cool and they can sound whiny – if you don’t use the fans, a huge area of the PCB is essentially blocked off from your case’s airflow. Also, it can get in the way. For instance, the top left-hand corner of the CPU socket area is very cramped and installing coolers is tricky as a result. Oddly, there are also vents that can be opened and closed, although it’s unclear why you’d want them closed.

The Witness

An extended journey into the Braid creator’s new game

Jonathan Blow’s post-Braid game, The Witness, has been in development for seven years now. In that time, audiences have been introduced to the game’s mix of linedrawing puzzles and island exploration. I didn’t know what to make of the game at first. How could drawing lines remain interesting for any real length of time? Was that all there was to it? After spending nine hours playing the game, I now have a sense of how the seemingly simple concept is expertly stretched, twisted, and manipulated to become something far more fascinating than a surface reading might lead you to believe.