Armory Staff

If you’re in the market for a new high-performance gaming laptop and don’t want to wait until Black Friday to take advantage of the holiday tech deals out there, Newegg has early Black Friday deals on a pair of laptops, the GeForce GTX 850M-powered ASUS ROG GL551 and GeForce GTX 860M-powered Lenovos Y50. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/Black_Friday_GeForce.jpg?itok=oXq4hpVL View the full article

Steel Wool Games’ vibrant platforming adventure, Flyhunter Origins, lands on the SHIELD family of devices packing Tegra K1 and Tegra 4-enhanced sci-fi visuals. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/Featured_SHIELD_Game_Flyhunter_Origins.jpg?itok=UVBb-uey View the full article

Check out our exclusive PC screenshots that introduce the world to the long-awaited conversion of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, and see how the conversion shapes up to the original PlayStation 4 release with our interactive screenshot comparisons. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/metal-gear-solid-v-ground-zeroes-featuredmain_0.jpg?itok=AIvVTTnW View the full article

Kojima Productions announces the official PC system requirements for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's playable prologue, Ground Zeroes, which launches on Steam on December 18. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/mgsvgz-thumb.jpg?itok=2f22pMJZ View the full article

Our Maxwell-based GeForce GTX 980 & 970 set a new standard for PC Gaming. Now we plan to do the same for PCs in general with our 2014 GeForce Garage Monster Build. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/monster-build-thumb.jpg?itok=ytj7icvj View the full article

In our fifth skill guide for PC modders who mod like they mean it, we’ll show you how to wipe out those fugly stock component labels with custom vinyl decals for your parts, your rig, your peripherals, and even your pets. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/thumb-gfgarage-video5_0.jpg?itok=CVyN739N View the full article

http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u69/netflix_remote_4.jpgTaking into account viewing habits of cord cutters A growing number of consumers are moving away from cable and satellite TV subscriptions in favor of streaming services like Netflix and Hulu Plus. It makes sense in a lot of ways -- why pay a premium for a bloated TV package just so you can access the handful of channels you really want to watch? That's a topic/rant for another day, but in the meantime, Nielsen will start taking into account the viewing habits of streaming subscribers by measuring viewership data for online video services. Nielsen will make the change effective next month, The Wall Street Journal reports. Though long overdue, it's not necessarily Nielsen's fault that subscription-based online video services weren't being accounted for. Services like Netflix simply refuse to share that kind of data, so an end-around is needed. Based on client documents reviewed by WJS, Nielsen has a new measurement capability that will allow it to meter viewership data from services like Netflix and Amazon Prime all on its own. The technology works by analyzing audio to determine which show is being streamed. The downside to harvesting this data is that it could put more power into the hands of Hollywood when it comes time to renew contracts with streaming providers. It's not as though big media has been all that fanatic about embracing streaming services to begin with, and by knowing how much a show is viewed, they'll be sure to use that information during contract renewals. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook View the full article

Save big with an NVIDIA SHIELD Black Friday Bundle. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/newsheader-blackfriday_0.jpg?itok=WNdL0cIR View the full article

http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u69/geforce_gtx_980_gpu.jpgIncremental update boosts performance in Far Cry 4 Nvidia's been on a driver-releasing frenzy lately. Following two prior GeForce driver releases already this month, Nvidia has now made available its GeForce 344.75 WHQL driver, its third release in as many weeks. As with previous versions, the focus here is on new games --specifically, installing the GeForce 344.75 driver is supposed to offer the best gaming performance for Far Cry 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Crew, and World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor. According to the release notes (PDF), the driver also introduces support for Multi-Frame Sampled Anti-Aliasing (MFAA) mode. Bug fixes are plentiful, too. The latest driver is supposed to fix an issue that was causing choppy video playback of 3D Blu-ray moves, which is just one of many fixes. However, there are still some open issues that need to be resolved, like video picture-in-picture content not being played within Internet Explorer in 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. You can download the latest driver here. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook View the full article

New GeForce Game Ready driver adds support for Far Cry 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, The Crew, and World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, and introduces gamers to Multi-Frame Sampled Anti-Aliasing (MFAA), a faster form of high-quality hardware anti-aliasing. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/news-featured-nvidia-geforce-drivers_17.jpg?itok=rDHxjqPI View the full article

http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u69/amd_radeon_0.jpgAMD might not be finished with Hawaii Ever since AMD launched its Hawaii GPU architecture, there have been rumblings that a faster version exists, perhaps locked away in the Sunnyvale chip designer's underground vault for a rainy day. If that's the case, be on the lookout for storm clouds -- word on the web is that AMD will launch a faster Hawaii part next year before it comes out with Fiji. How exactly it will be faster isn't yet known. There are multiple paths AMD could take, from higher clock speeds to more stream processors. AMD could also make optimizations to the architecture, though none of this is confirmed, of course. Whatever the case may be, news and rumor site Fudzilla seems to feel confident that a faster card is coming. "We have learned that AMD plans to launch another Hawaii-based product before it releases Fiji," Fudzilla said, adding that both are scheduled to arrive in the first half of 2015. If that's the case, the likely scenario will be a faster clocked part. The folks at wccftech.com, another site that's known for digging up unannounced information, thinks the new Hawaii GPU will be part of the Radeon R9 300 series rather than the current R9 200 series. The site surmises that the recent price cuts indicate AMD wants to push out as many GCN GPUs as they can in the 200 series before bumping up to its first round of R9 300 parts. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook View the full article

Battlefield 4™ Final Stand brings the all-out war to the cold arctic with secret military installations unleashing high-tech prototype weapons and vehicles in four new multiplayer maps. Available... From: Battlefield Views: 6 http://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_full_11x11.gifhttp://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_full_11x11.gifhttp://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_full_11x11.gifhttp://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_full_11x11.gifhttp://gdata.youtube.com/static/images/icn_star_full_11x11.gif 1 ratings Time: 02:17 More in Gaming

http://www.maximumpc.com/files/u46168/nextbook8win.jpgE Fun Nextbook will come with a 1 year Office 365 Personal subscription Another ultra-cheap Windows 8.1 tablet is getting ready to join Microsoft’s ongoing assault on Chromebooks and low-end Android tablets. The 8-inch Nextbook from E Fun will be available at Walmart stores on Black Friday 2014 for as low as $99.99, Microsoft announced in a blog post Thursday. Where specs are concerned, the Nextbook contains the usual suspects: a twisted nematic (TN) 1280 x 800 touch display, a quad-core Intel Atom Z3735G clocked at 1.8GHz, 1GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage, WIFI 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, 0.3MP front camera, 2MP rear shooter, one mini USB port, a micro HDMI port and a microSD card slot. Also included in this price are a 1 year subscription to Office 365 Personal (includes 1TB cloud space) and, as part of a limited time offer, a 16GB microSD card. Follow Pulkit on Google+ View the full article

An in-depth look at NVIDIA GameWorks enhancements, game technology, PC-exclusive extras, and GPU performance in the highly-anticipated Far Cry 4, which launches worldwide this week. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/far-cry-4-graphics-performance-and-tweaking-guide-featuredmain-2-icc.jpg?itok=MnHrxmXo View the full article

New trailer provides a sneak peak at the exclusive content featured in the Season Pass for Ubisoft's next-gen, open-world racer, The Crew. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/The_Crew_Thumbnail.jpg?itok=ces-H515 View the full article

/files/u166440/nv_shield_tablet_green_box_bundle.jpgHalf-Life 2: Episode One optimized for Shield Owners of Nvidia’s Shield Tablet will be in for a surprise soon. Nvidia is releasing a major software update and new capabilities for the Shield Tablet which will involve upgrading its OS to Android 5.0 Lollipop, refreshing the handheld’s apps, and introducing the company’s new GRID on-demand gaming service. The Shield Tablet, which features Nvidia’s 192-core Tegra K1 chip, will receive an update that will allow the tablet to make use of Android 5.0 Lollipop later this month. Aside from a new interface with improved app performance, the update will also update the device’s painting software Dabbler app that will offer support for layers and additional stylus functionality. Nvidia also plans to update the Shield Hub as well, which gives users the ability to stream their PC games over the internet to the Shield Tablet. Half-Life 2: Episode One will be making its way to the tablet and will be free for those who purchase the 32GB, LTE-enabled version of the Shield Tablet as part of the “Green Box” bundle which includes Half-Life 2 and Portal for $399. Joining the roster of Shield-optimized games, available through Google Play, are four new games; Pure Pool, Strike Suit Zero, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath, and Turbo Dismount. Nvidia also revealed that its GRID game streaming service is also coming to Shield Tablets. The service comes with 20 triple-A games that includes Batman: Arkham City, Psychonauts, and Borderlands 2 with the company promising that new games will be forthcoming every week. The GRID service will be free on the Shield Tablet and Shield portable until June 30, 2015. According to Nvidia, GRID will be available in North America this month and become available for western Europe in December and Asia next year. If you are curious about the Shield Tablet, and would like to know what we thought of it, then be sure to check out our review. Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook View the full article

NVIDIA's Maxwell GPU architecture helps make possible a new demo that sheds fresh light on an iconic photograph from Apollo 11. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/14-NV-GF-GTX_980_Apollo11-670x300-GF-Header-1A.jpg?itok=UpqVFDdO View the full article

/files/u69/asus_x205ta.jpgThe return of the netbook? We're beginning to notice more low-cost Windows laptops in the $200 range, though one thing we haven't seen is a manufacturer revive the netbook nomenclature. Fair enough, since these machines are more powerful than yesterday's netbooks, and generally cheaper too. The least expensive so far is the Asus X205TA Signature Edition, a $199 laptop that's been reduced to $179 in the Microsoft Store. The Asus X205TA sports an 11.6-inch HD (1366x768) display powered by an Intel Atom Z3735F quad-core processor (1.33GHz to 1.83GHZ, 2MB L2 cache) and 2GB of DDR3L-1333 memory. It also features 32GB of eMMC storage, a microSD card slot, 480p webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi (Miracast enabled), Bluetooth, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, micro HDMI output, headphone/microphone combo port, 2-cell battery good for up to 12 hours of run time, and Windows 8.1 with Bing (32-bit). Asus calls it an ultraportable companion, a seemingly accurate description considering it measures 0.68 inches by 7.61 inches by 11.25 inches and weighs just 2.11 pounds. It's available now at the Microsoft Store, and also on Amazon, albeit for $199. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook View the full article

/files/u69/youtube_music.jpgYouTube Music Key is a slightly better name than Google Play Music All Access Google has figured out there's big potential in the streaming music business, it just has a hard time coming up with names that don't roll around the mouth like a fistful of chipped marbles rubbed in hot sauce. By that we mean first there was Google Play Music All Access, and coming soon, Google is getting its YouTube subsidiary into the subscription music game with YouTube Music Key. To Google's credit, it isn't the only company having a difficult time naming its music services (Samsung Milk Music, anyone?), and Google Play Music All Access is now just Google Play Music, which sounds much better. But whatever, this about the content and not the name. So, beginning today, there will be a new home just for music in your YouTube app for Android and iOS, and on YouTube's website. It will show your favorite music videos, recommended music playlists, and playlists of trending music across YouTube. You'll find all this under a new Music tab. As for YouTube Music Key, it's an ad-free subscription service that's rolling out in beta form. Like Google Play Music, it will debut at the promotional price of $7.99 per month before going up to $9.99 per month. It will include background play, offline viewing, and a subscription to Google Play Music with its catalog of over 30 million songs. "Thanks to your music videos, remixes, covers, and more, you’ve made YouTube the biggest music service on the planet. To turn YouTube into your perfect music service, we’re launching YouTube Music Key as a beta with our biggest music fans first, and then we’ll bring YouTube Music Key to the whole world together," YouTube says. "So, if you see an invite in your app or email, try it out for six months for free." While we haven't been able to confirm this yet, CNET claims that a subscription to either service includes access to both, so if you're currently a Google Play Music subscriber, you'll get YouTube Music Key at no additional cost. If that's the case, it will be interesting to see if those who are paying $9.99/month for Google Play Music will be dropped down to $7.99, or if that will only happen by cancelling service and re-upping through YouTube Music Key's promotional period (which is currently by invite only). Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook View the full article

/files/u69/windows_95_setup.jpgA critical bug went unaddressed since Windows 95 The second Tuesday of every month is known as Patch Tuesday for Windows users, and if you didn't install yesterday's batch of security updates, there's a good reason why you might want to put it on your short-term list of things to do. One of the patches in yesterday's Tuesday roundup addresses a critical bug in Windows that went unnoticed for 19 years and is present in every version of the OS from Windows 95 on up. A security researcher for IBM discovered the bug, which an attacker use can use for drive-by attacks to remotely run code and take over a victim's PC. The vulnerability also allows a remote attacker to sidestep the Enhanced Protected Mode (EPM) sandbox in Internet Explorer 11, as well as the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET) anti-exploitation tool Microsoft offers for free, the researcher says. The bug affects Windows Server platforms as well. It's been compared to Heartbleed in potential severity, and though it doesn't appear it's been exploited in the wild, nor does a proof-of-concept exist, now that it's been made public, there could be attacks on unpatched systems. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook View the full article

Purchasing a new 32GB, 4G LTE NVIDIA SHIELD tablet will give gamers access to three great games from Valve for free. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/Green_Box_Thumbnail.jpg?itok=K_zRdULn View the full article

/files/u69/radeon_graphics_ac.jpgBeta driver boosts performance in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Assassin's Creed Unity AMD Radeon graphics card owners had to sit back and watch as Nvidia released not one, but two WHQL certified driver releases in less than week, one of which included performance tweaks for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and the other adding Assassin's Creed Unity optimizations to the mix. If you've pitched a tent in AMD's camp, you can stop pounding sand now -- AMD's Catalyst 14.11.1 beta driver is now available with performance enhancements for both titles. The standard disclaimer applies -- this is beta software we're talking about, so it could be buggy. If you game on a mission critical machine or otherwise have an aversion to even small risks, sit back and wait for the gold driver release, it shouldn't be far behind. For everyone else, Catalyst 14.11.1 beta is supposed to net up to a 30 percent performance increase in CoD:AW with FXAA and lower game resolutions, as well as introduce a CrossFire Profile update for improved performance when running multiple GPUs. And in Assassin's Creed Unity, single GPU performance gets a performance bump, along with a CrossFire Profile of its own. If you've been noticing occasional corruption in CoD:AW while running CrossFire, Catalyst 14.11.1 beta should help with that as well. Driver Download Release Notes Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook View the full article

NVIDIA went to Portland over the weekend to one of the West Coast’s biggest LAN parties and helped PDXLAN raise over 40,000 pounds of food for charitable causes. . http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/pdxlan-header.JPG?itok=DqjSZTwX View the full article

/files/u154082/blizzcon_2014.jpgNew games, awesome cosplay costumes, and more BlizzCon 2014 marked the 8th annual event for Blizzard and it was arguably the company’s biggest one yet. After 17 years, the company finally revealed an entirely new, original IP in multiplayer team-based shooter Overwatch. In addition to that, we got to see more from other upcoming titles such as StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void and Blizzard’s MOBA, Heroes of the Storm. Of course, with a plethora of awesome PC games comes awesome PC hardware and we saw some really cool stuff from Intel, Rosewill, Turtle Beach, HP, SteelSeries, Lenovo, Gigabyte, and more. And it wouldn’t be Blizzcon without some of the best cosplay costumes you’ve ever seen. We’ve taken a bunch of pictures of these cosplayers and can't quite recognize all of them so if you know any that we don't, feel free to let us know in the comments below! View the full article

The new SHIELD tablet update adds Android 5.0 Lollipop to the ultimate tablet for gamers, including updates to SHIELD Hub, nationwide release of the GRID gaming service, release of Half-Life 2: Episode 1, and Dabbler 2.0 art studio. http://www.geforce.com/sites/default/files-world/styles/210x100/public/thumbnail_image/shield-ota-640px_0.png?itok=IHsV9GHA View the full article