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Update – Gotham City Impostors pushed back to February

Vee — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:15:46 +0000

So we’ve heard about Gotham City Impostors for a while now, unfortunately today we hear a sad tale from WB where the game is been pushed back to February now with no specific date of when to expect it.

It’s an unfortunate setback for the game as it is set to pit 12 players head to head in mock super hero and super villain teams using licensed material from the Batman franchise of course. Xbox, Playstation and PC users will be able to get access to the game as a downloadable title and battle it out to their heart’s content. I saw the game in action at E3 2011 and it looked decent enough but unfortunately we’ll have to hold out a while longer to see if it’s worth jumping into.

For more info keep an eye on the Gotham City Impostors homepage for details. Otherwise check out the video below to get an idea of what feels like a Batman themed TF2 massive shooter.

Review – GELID GX-7 CPU Cooler

Vee — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 21:50:35 +0000

GELID got into the custom cooling late in the game, 2008 was the first experience to the world while everyone was already pursuing the next trend to come in cooling tech. It hasn’t taken the company long to come forward from that point, today we have a unique setup with their GX-7 CPU cooler. A 7 stage heat-pipe design that directs heat not only using near flush connected heat-pipes but a stacked system as well. The stacked part is where things get sketchy, normally the idea is to spread your pipes equally and maximize the surface absorption and distribution, you’re still getting that in the GX-7 design though. The change is the 5 pipes handle the surface contact while the upper 2 remove excess heat over the center of the cooler as that’s where the silicon and primary heat rest.

With that breakdown said, let’s get into the details of what we’re running and jump into testing.

Test system:

AMD Phenom 9750 B3
Jetway 790GX HA08 ComboL
ASUS EAH 6850 DirectCU
4GB Crucial DDR2 800 (5-5-5-12)
Hitachi 1TB 7200RPM
Seagate 300GB 7200RPM
Cooler Master Real Power Pro 650W
NZXT Phantom Case (extra NZXT 200mm on top)

Coolers:

AMD OEM Cooler – Standard Phenom
AMD Black Edition Cooler (2 Heat-pipe design)
Cooler Master Hyper 612 PWM
GELID GX-7
GELID GX-7 (2-fan w/Wing 12PL PWM)

Thermal Paste:

GELID GC-Extreme Thermal Compound

Monitoring:

Core Temp 1.0
AMD OverDrive 3.1.0

Synthetic bench:

HyperPI 0.99b (12M calculation for stress testing)
SiSoft Sandra 2011 (Arithmetic)

Gaming bench:

Battlefield 3
Saints Row: The Third

With all the details out-of-the-way let’s get rolling!

Bundle

The GX-7 packs everything you need in a slim case, the packing is enough to protect it from shipping trauma and they make sure to keep the extra screws and panels isolated to their own box to prevent confusion.

As a special case with this review we have an extra 120mm GELID fan to attach so we’ll be using those extra wire tension bands for the rear. What will not go into use is the default cooling paste as we’ll be using the GELID GC-Extreme compound instead so we can max this out.

Supported AMD Platforms: AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1
Supported Intel Platforms: 775/1155/1156/1366

Design

Out of the box the GX-7 is conservative looking for a cooler for this market, the pipes on top are capped off with a plastic cover, the side fins are extremely tight together allowing for little turbulence to develop as wind passes through. Speaking of which, the frosted finish on the back of the blades gives the cooler a dull appearance when it’s not running, crank up the power and the and the glow fills the blades and the case itself.

From an external viewpoint the design comes off like a sleeper until it goes live, once the juice hits the fan all bets are off.

From a technical standpoint, the design of the GX-7 is unique, the finish is competitive with current generation offerings, nothing too smooth for the finish but it’s not unpolished either and leaves a slight mirror effect. The pipes are welded with care and in touch testing there was a noticeable level of heat gathering in those pipes that would normally fall to rogue currents or a basic heat sink. Copper pipes to aluminium fins channel the main power and the PWM fan takes up airflow duty from 800 – 2000 RPM depending on your workload. If you plan to run dual fans I would say try to get the same model fan so you’re not suffering with turbulence in the fins as one pushes harder than the other.

Installation

Installation is a snap with the GX-7, by that I mean it’s about as hard as any other performance cooler on the market and that in itself is incredibly hard the first time around. Fortunately GELID has heard the cries of the fallen and has attempted to help with their setup this time around.

How it works:

Remove your old CPU cooler (remember to clean the top and re-apply paste)
If you have an access port big enough to remove the back plate for the cpu bracket then do so
If not, remove the motherboard and remove the bracket and plate
Install the included washers over the mounting holes for the bolts and then slide the bolts through as shown in the diagram.
Tighten the nuts down to the motherboard base so you have all 4 exposed
After that, lower the cpu cooler on the 4 posts and use the special twist caps with springs to tighten the cooler down on each point, move in an X pattern to give equal pressure to each side.
Once tightened plug-in the PWM fan to the port and you’re ready to roll!

How it really worked:

Everything went relatively well until it came to installing the cooler on the posts, I had to remove the clips holding the fan on the heat sink to get my hand in to tighten the posts on that side.
The clips are actually easy to use, just remember to keep tension and equal pressure on them or they will pop off during fan installation.

Comparing this to the Hyper 612 is tough, if you’re scared about supporting the cooler while sideways or you’re not a fan of having your board upside down to mount and tighten the screws the GX-7 starts to step in as your cooler. If you’re fine with that it’s really a toss-up that our performance area will help you decide with.

Performance

The GX-7 took no mercy just like the rest of the lineup, I did go ahead and split coverage up with the 2 fan and single fan setups though for fair representation. Idle measurements were made after 30 minutes in Windows 7 with no active applications running (Steam/Origin/etc). Load was taken with HyperPi running all 4 cores to 12M at normal priority once temps reached an average plateau. Load was verified again against Battlefield 3 in-game and Saints Row: The Third as they’re both CPU intense especially on mid-range models.

The results are interesting, 2 fans do make an impact on the GX-7 results, high does bring a bit more noise into the scenario but leaving it at auto for the PWM to work seems the best choice for those who have no wish to constantly adjust the fan speed by hand. The most interesting area was the configuration differences with the GX-7 and Hyper 612, the idle temps were higher than the 612 but the performance of the cooler at higher temps held low, it’s a trade that users will have weigh on their own. Lower idle temps vs roughly equal load performance once the real use goes into effect. In game, average temps between high load often left the cooler in the high 30′s most of the time.

Noise

Given the setup of this review it’s a unique situation to discuss loudness of this cooler, I’ll break it down based on the type of user you might be.

Power User: Using manual control to force the fan to 100% load will bring some extra noise, no more than the Cooler Master variant in real world application. When using a dual fan setup there is a bit of extra noise created and the trade-off versus auto mode is questionable.

Casual User: Using auto control leaves the GX-7 to manage itself and the noise level is able to stay at the bottom end of the spectrum. If you’re gaming you’ll rarely ever notice the fan kicking up in speed and in dual fan mode the same will stay true as the cooler rarely brings itself to 100% fan speed by default.

Over a stock cooler the GX-7 makes the time for installation well worth the effort, no tiny fans spinning up to high dB levels creating annoying sounds. Instead the 120mm just hums along cranking out high cfm through the cooler and you rarely ever notice it speeding up during games.

Conclusion

At $69.99 the GELID GX-7 is a solid performer, at idle temps the cooler runs a little higher than the competition but when then the pressure is on it matches up against top coolers in the field around the same price. The perk with the GX-7 is the gamer focus of the cooler with the LED PWM fan that really is super bright in the case, it saves users from having to invest in a new fan for another brand and essentially shelve the packaged fan.

If you’re a modder looking for an all-in-one CPU cooler that delivers performance and lighting then look no further than the GELID GX-7. You get a bit of everything with the cooler, design, lighting, performance and a simpler installation system. I do feel that some might find the design of the mounting system itself to be a huge plus over other installations, be sure to follow the guidelines packaged with the cooler so you don’t install the washers on the wrong side though.

With GELID looking to expand in 2012 the enthusiast market certainly has something to look forward to. If you plan on investing in the GX-7 I would say do yourself a favor and get the Wing 12PL to go with it and take up those 3-4c off in temps.

Performance:	8.5/10.0
Design:	9.0/10.0
Weight:	9.5/10.0
Overall:	9.0/10.0

GELID GX-7 Gallery:

Day 14: The Steam Holiday Sale Encore

Vee — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 18:12:07 +0000

Yes it’s the fabled day, the end of the great sale of Steam. But it’s huge and you’re going to love what they just brought out.

Missed Skyrim? No problem. Missed Arkham City? No problem. Check out the list and feel the love.

As you can see, they’re blowing out as much crazy goodness as they can, you have another 3.5 hours to still get the games from yesterday too such as Hitman. Score up while you can, you wont see something remotely like this until the summer sale.

For final objectives, there are none, go out and capture everything you’ve missed!

Day 13: The Steam Holiday Sale continues with a GRID of Hitman and Magika

Vee — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:51:59 +0000

Seriously today is one of the fun days of the sale, Hitman is sweet, GRID is a great racing title that Codemasters never followed up on and Magicka is just hillarious fun.

I’m not wasting time, GRID is great for racing fans, the mix of pro racing and pro-street racing cars in the game isn’t overkill but it satisfies the need for grip and drift racing. You can cut loose as you wish and still have a good time. Online might be a little dead though. Hitman is awesome, you can play it like you want and have fun with it in the process. No blood in your kills? No problem just lure them off a pier instead.

Dead Island is a great title to have as well, most of the bugs have been worked out and it’s a solid Zombie experience this year as it has little to compete with fortunately in that genre. LA Noire is on the scene, it’s a mixed bag but it’s a solid single playthrough experience. If you want replay value, you might have to look elsewhere.

Only one title to consider avoiding, Daggerdale. The reviews aren’t that pretty so buyer beware.

Objective time!

Steam – Turn on Steam Guard
Trine – Winter Secrets – Find the Academic, Bony and Crystalline holiday secret gifts.
Hoard – Ruin Christmas – Incinerate 10 thieves who are dressed up like Santa’s elves!
Bit.Trip Beat – Jingle.Bells – Make a bell chime in Descent
Counter-Strike: Source – Valve Gift Grab 2011 – CS:S – Collect three gifts dropped by opponents.
Magicka – Ice Age – It’s what killed the dinosaurs. Smash 100 frozen creatures to bits

We’re almost out of time, tomorrow we’ll have Day 14 as we join you in the new year!

Day 12: Steam Holiday deals Drive Meatboys and Deus Ex home

Vee — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:28:44 +0000

We’re reaching the end here but the goodies keep falling into place, here we are with an epic showing.

The recommendations are pretty easy here as Tech2k would vouch, if you don’t have New Vegas… why not? GTA is a classic even though IV goes into way too serious of a game design, you can always get the ENB mod for San Andreas though and upgrade your experience heavily. Driver is a bit of a trip but if you like that go for it and Super Meat Boy is retro platform goodness.

Did I forget anything? Of course not, DEUS EX, it’s one of the most interesting titles of the year and visually stunning. A lot of time and care crafted the entire game and I have yet to experience it again in full DX11 mode. Make the time and play this game, especially for $16.99

Those who want the objectives, here’s the missions!

Day of Defeat: Source – Valve Gift Grab 2011 – DoD:S – Collect three gifts dropped by opponents
Super Meat Boy – The Golden Gift! – Complete all levels in “The Kids Xmas” chapter in super meat world IN ONE PLAY SESSION.
Universe Sandbox – Snowball Earth – Freeze the Earth by moving further from the Sun
Spacechem – Polar Expedition – Reach the south pole of Semimir IV
Puzzle Agent 2 – Christmas Tree Census – Spend over $202,259 of taxpayer dollars; The number of Christmas trees cut in Minnesota in 2007 (Source: USDA)
Flight Control HD – Snowball – Land 5 helicopters in a row on the Windy airfield

That’s all of the goods for today, Day 13 is tomorrow so I’ll see you then!

Day 11: Steam Holiday deals bring zombies, samurai, mafia

Vee — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:22:16 +0000

Today brings a tamer moment for buyers, Quake, Mafia, Dungeon Siege and Left 4 Dead round out some of the picks. Also for those who saw the sale page early, the out of region game was Two Tribes, the team has fixed the regional issue already.

Need some ideas on what to pick? You can’t go wrong with Mafia, if you’re a dungeon fan DS III is hard to pass up. If you want to relive your oldie days then grab Quake and if you’ve missed out on Left 4 Dead somehow then it’s time to catch up, you’ll get hours and hours worth of enjoyment out of all these on super cheap prices. Of course, if you’re a strategy fan you’ve most likely already played the Total War games and so it’s a waste to have to suggest them.

Your objectives for the day if you choose to select them…

Steam – Link your Facebook account to Steam
The Binding of Isaac – A gift from Krampus – Find Krampus in Satans room for a gift!
Xotic – Brain Freeze – Found and destroyed a blue crystal orb brain
Total War: SHOGUN 2 – Requiem of the Dead – Win a defensive siege battle with your daimyo during any winter turn.
Men of War: Assault Squad – Crazy Scientist from the northern Arctic Cycle – Complete the bonus mission!
Left 4 Dead 2 – Valve Gift Grab 2011 – L4D2 – Collect three gifts dropped by special infected in versus mode

We’re still rolling with the news until the sale is over, good luck to everyone and get on it for those objectives. If you meet the quota you could win the entire Steam catalog!

Day 10: Steam Holiday Sale Deals get crazy

Vee — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:39:37 +0000

I seriously can’t think of how many times this sale has managed to one up itself, today we get another dose of goods and a lot of franchise sales again.

Looking for the best of the bunch? Dead Space, Assassin’s Creed, Serious Sam, Tomb Raider and Dungeon Defenders are great fun and on this much of a discount there’s little reason to skip past these titles.

Want the daily objectives? Fine here you go!

Team Fortress 2 – Valve Gift Grab 2011 – TF2 – Collect 3 gifts dropped by opponents
SPAZ / Space Pirates and Zombies – Santa’s Little Helper – Feed Santa so much milk and cookies that an elf falls off his sleigh
Revege of the Titans – Drunken Family Argument – Hurrah! Christmas is finally over!
Serious Sam 3: BFE – Christmas in Cairo – Decorate the Christmas tree
Dungeon Defenders – Jingled all the Way – Delivered all the presents, and saved Santa Tavernkeep from the vile clutches of Mega-Snowman in the ‘Etherian Holiday Extravaganza Challenge Mission’!
Sanctum – Festivus for the rest of us – Collect 10 presents

That’s all of it for today, stay tuned for Day11 tomorrow and get in on the goods while you can, we’re almost out of sale days!

Day 9: Steam Holiday Sale Deals keep rolling along

Vee — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:21:31 +0000

If your wallet has survived this long you’re either rich or very picky about what you buy. Either way, welcome back and let’s get started.

So if you’ve managed this long you’re probably broke after this. 66% off Warhammer, Terraria <- Why don’t you have that already? F.E.A.R. is a good one if you do the first two, 3 can be hit and miss. Star Wars is a biggie, Prince of Persia is crazy especially if you download the HD packs for the game and Gothic is a nice topper.

Seriously though, if you haven’t gotten Terraria, do it now while you can! After that, check out the objectives.

Steam – Write a recommendation – Write a recommendation for a game you own
AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! – I have come to the point in my life where I appreciate Christmas mall music - get 4 stars on all the levels in the freeeee Christmas Mall Music pack.
Solar 2 – Snowflake Star – Get 4 points in the star challenge mission “Snowball Fight”
Sequence – Yet, I love the holidays – Defeat the holiday whompa
Cities in Motion – Winter Wonder – Transport 1000 passengers during November, December and January of any year
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II: Retribution – Winter Assault – Play for a total of 30 minutes against a human opponent on: Ice Station Obelis, Selenon Fissure or Argent Shelf

Not terrible but the AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! objective actually gets cut off on the Steam page, good luck and see you tomorrow for day 10!

Day 8: Steam holiday sale deals are a Far Cry from a Bulletstorm

Vee — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 18:40:41 +0000

So we’re back, Day 8, tons of casualties so far and the sale machine keeps going strong. Today we have a new assortment that many will find attractive. Without any other jabbering on…

What to buy? Far Cry is a staple in the FPS genre, while Crytek made the first game and Ubi had a new team do the sequel the games are still amazing examples of technical achievement. Worms is a classic to pass the day with fun strategy gaming and Kings Bounty handles the more hardcore elements.

While normally that’s it, Beat Hazard is a sweet deal, Rock of ages is a blast, Bastion has gotten so much praise this year it’s crazy and Red Faction and Bulletstorm will have you gaming for months to come.

It’s hard to pass up anything in this batch but if your’e budgeting time go for what looks to fit your desires best. Also, some of the franchise bundles are a steal right now.

Need the daily objectives?

Rusty Hearts – All I want for Christmas is sewers – Complete the quest “A simple task” from technical officer Ryan
A Game of Thrones – Genesis – Winter is coming – Play as the Starks an entire multiplayer game or vs AI
Beat Hazard – Survive Christmas 10 – In survival mode, last 10 minutes while playing to a Christmas Radio Station
Rock of Ages – Snowball War – Win a match using the Snowball boulder
Bastion – Ride the wind – Use the Skyway in the Wharf District
Worms Reloaded – 12 days of winterval – Deal exactly 12 damage to a worm with 100 health

Good luck, good gaming and I’ll see you tomorrow for day 9

Day 7: Steam Holiday Sale Christmas Deals

Vee — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 20:42:11 +0000

Merry Christmas to all! Here’s the deals of the day

Objectives for the day:

Steam – Have 10 items on your wishlist
Nuclear Dawn – Bad Santa – Kill a commander in silo during the 2011 winter sale
X3: Albion Prelude – It’s cold outside – Force a pilot to eject from his ship
Killing Floor – A Bloody Christmas Carol
Demolition Inc – Cap Jump I – You jumped 400m
Atom Zombie Smasher – KringleJammer – Defeat Wave 7 in the KringleJammer mini-game

Sorry for the brief update but it’s a busy day, I’ll add some extra flair tomorrow and I think it’s clear that Batman, Fallout, MW3, Alice and X3 and even FM2012 are the biggest features for the day and part of the highlight reel for the sale.