Although they call CES…CES for a reason, the show isn’t just about consumer electronics. You’ll find lots of products related to video games, the latest netbooks and cool new cellphones and cameras. Of course, there are lots of cool gadgets but there is also lots to offer to the PC gamer and hardware enthusiast crowd. Though we typically cover hardware like cases and motherboards at shows like COMPUTEX, CES does offer a few new things that might pique your interest. Let’s have a look!
Going Psyko for Sound
One area of the PC gaming product that is growing rapidly is the audio market. Futurelooks has reviewed their own share of headphones and speakers, but lately it seems that this eco-system has stopped evolving. It’s not to say that there aren’t good products out there, but it has seemed that lately, no one has been doing anything different. I guess it takes a bunch of “Psykos” to change that.
Hailing from Calgary, Alberta, which is also home to another Canadian Superstar company known as CoolIT Systems, Psyko Audio has decided to shake things up with a very unique approach in gaming headset design. Their first product, the Psyko 5.1 PC Gaming Headset uses their “PsykoWave Technology” to deliver sound to both ears with the correct direction, timing and volume differences between each ear. Using five audio drivers (front left, center and right) and (rear left and right) with a subwoofer in each ear cup, the sound is channeled through their sophisticated PyskoWave Guides to create a sound that is natural and highly accurate without any simulated audio manipulation.
To ensure that the audio experience is improved from end to end, Psyko Audio outfits this headset with their own special outboard USB sound card and amplifier solution. Currently, the solution only works with the PC platform, but further developments on their talks with Dolby may yield a solution that will work with consoles like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Since the box is external, it should be an easy upgrade down the road.
I had a chance to try the headset in some Call of Duty action. While playing, I was finding myself immediately looking in the right direction for gunfire and enemies. I would then be able to return gunfire much more accurately. In addition, locating positions of enemies nearby was much more accurate. I’m a pretty crappy PC gamer, but if it can improve my game, then it can certainly improve yours. I also found the headset quite comfortable and if your ears tend to get warm, you can even open up the ear pieces to let some fresh air in. We’re definitely looking forward to giving these a real-world review when they become available sometime in February.
These Guys Aren’t Going to CoolIT Anytime Soon
Speaking of companies from Alberta, Canada, CoolIT Systems didn’t have any new products at the show per se. However, their newest product, the CoolIT A.L.C. Domino, which was launched prior to CES was center stage at their booth. It was the subject of a build off contest that showed off just how easy this thing was to put together. CoolIT’s vision for the Domino was to create a product that was truly water cooling for the masses. Based on how any people came to their booth to compete, I think they hit the mark. In fact, they did such a good job with the Domino that Commodore Gaming decided to throw it in all their systems.
Although there wasn’t a new product on display, they did show off a couple of concepts. The first of which was a completely water cooled system built from the ground up. The system is totally sealed and resembles the engine bay of a Mercedes, which is sort of what they were after. Their premise for doing this build was to show off what is possible when you think water cooling from the ground up.
The other product is their MTEC powered INTEL Extreme notebook cooler which was announced last year. Although it was still a bit fragile and totally not ready, it seems that some headway has been made in shaving some excess baggage off. I definitely couldn’t imagine carrying it around in its current form but they are working on it.
Thrustmaster Hasn’t Forgotten About Flight Sims
Just when you thought Flight Sims were dead because everyone plays MMORPGs or FPS Shooters, Thrustmaster comes up with a new stick. The T-16000M flight stick is said to the first in the industry to use 3D Hall Effect technology, a series of magnetic sensors that are said to offer unparalleled accuracy and precision. These sensors deliver precision levels 256 times greater than most current systems, allowing for 16,000 values on each access. I took it for a quick test run in Microsoft Flight Simulator and it felt pretty good. Force feedback and programmable buttons complete the package.
What Was Lian Li Thinking?
I really tried to be nice when I was at the Lian Li booth, but when I saw this thing, I kind of threw up a little in my mouth. Don’t get me wrong. We love Lian Li’s cases, but we don’t love the PC-888 which, according to their literature it “Sails With Speed”. Well, so did the Titanic. They plan on shipping this case out for around $400 in limited quantity. The rest of the line receives small refinements that make their cases just a little better than before.
GIGABYTE Wants You to Upgrade Your Life
Now wouldn’t that be something if I could? Well, in case you can’t, you can at least upgrade your motherboard.
GIGABYTE has done a complete upgrade of their manufacturing process. Known as Ultra Durable 3, this unique technology includes the use of 50,000 Japanese Solid Capacitors, Lower RDS(on) MOSFET’s and Ferrite Core Chokes and finally, a transition to a 2 oz copper PCB core vs the regular 1 oz copper. All of these things combine to give you a much more reliable (and highly overclockable) motherboard and it’s all in their new X58 series of motherboards.
The GA-EX58-EXTREME shown above incorporates all these technologies including a new Hybrid Silent-Pipe2 that decreases temperatures by up to 30% when combined with liquid cooling. These technologies really allow overclockers to shoot for the stars on the INTEL Core i7 platform. Less hardcore enthusiasts or gamers can look towards the GA-EX58-UD5 which uses GIGABYTE’s more standard heatpipe cooling system. Both of these boards will be available in limited quantity so if you want one, make sure you get one when they arrive at a store near you.
North America will also get a permanent addition in the GA-EX58-UD4P which contains the Ultra Durable 3 technology but loses one Gigabit ethernet port and contains pretty much everything else. No biggie. All three boards support triple SLI or CrossFireX. In some markets, a GA-EX58-DS4 is also available, but excludes the Ultra Durable 3. I know. Confusing.
As some of you may be aware, the AMD Dragon Platform has launched along with the new Phenom II CPU’s. GIGABYTE answers with their GA-MA790GP-UD4H motherboard which gets the UltraDurable3 Classic treatment which means they get the 2 oz copper PCB, but only the 50,000 hr Japanese Solid Capacitors. However the DualBIOS feature is part of the package. This board will also be AM3 CPU ready. Speaking of which…
GIGABYTE is also committing resources to ensure the necessary BIOS upgrades so that all their current Phenom boards will be Phenom II compatible. So if you’re eyeing one of their current AM2 boards, but were worried about Phenom II compatibility, you’re in the clear.
RAZER Gets Sharper
For a long time now, people have been asking RAZER to do a wireless version of one of their exceptional gaming mice. Time and time again, they said no, obviously because everyone equates wireless with lesser gaming performance. For a while that was true, until RAZER figured it out…
The new RAZER Mamba’s wireless gaming mouse combines a 5600dpi laser sensor with a rechargeable lithium Ion battery that lasts for 14 hrs of continuous gaming. The 2.4GHz wireless technology provides the magical 1ms response time which is equal to it’s wired counterparts, allowing you to truly cut the cord without any sacrifice in performance.
The Mamba’s best feature is probably it’s ability to operate both wired or wirelessly. When you’re running low on power, you can simply plug the power cord directly into the mouse and continue gaming without interruption. Onboard memory allows you to store all your macros so you can remove the software after programming and they’ve even done some tweaks to the shape to make it even more comfortable. It’s definitely a totally rethought product that seems very well done and we can’t wait to get to testing this out when it becomes available. Pricing has been set for a cool $149 US so start saving.
RAZER also created a new headset called the Carcharias which offers super-lightweight with some larger and very comfortable ear pads that fit over the ears. Big ear pieces are definitely more comfortable than earpieces that sit on top of the ears, especially after long gaming sessions. Interchangeable ear cups further customize the fit to your needs. Other features include a significantly improved noise canceling microphone to ensure that your orders are heard loud and clear and is finished off with an inline volume control. The headphone cords are also covered in a durable weaving that prevents the cords from getting torn up in the heat of battle. They’ll be going out for $79.99 US.
iBuyPower Gives You a High Performance Cooling Alternative
When it comes to high end cooling, it’s either going to be huge heatsinks or water cooling. Well, iBuyPower seems to have picked up the exclusive to be the first to sell systems with Thermaltake’s Express Car Freon based cooling system. We originally saw this system at COMPUTEX 2008 and I did wonder where it eventually ended up. Pricing should be inline with most high end liquid cooling systems so expect iBuyPower to be able to put out a system at a reasonable price either with an AMD Dragon Platform or INTEL’s Core i7 Platform.
SanDisk Gets Into The Solid State Drive Game
Well, technically, they were there all along. In fact, they were one of the first companies to develop one some 20 years ago. However, with the race to produce bigger and cheaper SSD’s raging on, it seemed that SanDisk took a back seat. However, at CES, SanDisk told me that all they were waiting for was the right time and that time is now.
At the show, SanDisk announced three drives in some extremely competitive price points. The new 7000 series drives are produced on a 43 nanometer MLC technology and employ SanDisk’s new high speed controllers to achieve SLC SSD performance at MLC cost. They will be offered to OEM’s in 60, 120 and 240GB sizes at $149, $249 and $499, respectively. They should begin showing up in Q2 this year and hopefully at retail shortly after that. Netbooks will also receive upgrades as SanDisk will also be coming out with a series of plug and play pSSD modules.
More products were also announced at the show so we put together a little video to run you through the rest…
It was definitely a busy CES for SanDisk and I’m definitely excited to see those new SSD drives hit the market. I had one rep from another memory company tell me that this might push prices down a little faster than they would have liked. Well, it’s good news for the rest of us I guess and it means that a sub $2 per GB price might not be too far away.
BFG Branches Into Systems
BFG Technologies, long known for their video cards and motherboards is entering the gaming system arena. Targeted at the “Graduated Gamer” which they describe as someone who has a lot of money but doesn’t necessary want to build their own system, the Phobos is a high performance gaming/home theatre system that will meet their every need. At price points of $3000, $5000 and $8000 US, it better!
The signature feature of the Phobos systems is this touch screen control center. Unlike typical touch screens or LCD’s that you might see out there, this one contains an ARM processor and has the ability to do so much more than just tell you what’s going on with your system. The screen will actually allow you to shut off the system and turn it on in addition to all the multimedia features. Speaking of multimedia, the Phobos contains a built in iPod dock on the top of the case.
Each Phobos system is hand delivered to its owner and a service technician will take care of all the duties of transferring all your files from your old system to your new Phobos system. They called this their “Concierge Service” which makes me wonder if they will wear the suit and the white gloves. After a couple months, they will even schedule a follow up to tune up your system. Tech support is included for the first year, 24/7 and you can extend this at reasonable prices. Ownership also gets you access to a trade up program so your system is always top of the line.
D-Link Takes Networking Up a Notch
The folks at D-Link have been hard at work networking things like digital photo frames and they don’t make a bad wireless N router either. While at CES, we spotted a couple of other goodies that will make life easier for some of us.
Although Powerline Networking is definitely a great alternative to wireless, even that has it’s own set of hurdles. I mean, if you use all the power plugs, how do you plug stuff in? Well, D-Link has answered that with a new coaxial based networking product called the D-Link DXN-221. It takes your ethernet and runs it through the existing television cable in your home and provides up to 100Mbps of bandwidth (MoCA 1.0). A firmware upgrade down the road will get you up to 175Mbps (Moca 1.1).
D-Link has simplified network storage as well as wireless and wired connectivity with the DIR-685 Xtreme N router. The product takes a standard SATA 2.5 inch hard drive via a hatch on the side and immediately offers it up as a network storage device. You can then use it to backup all your data or view your photos with the included 3.2 inch color LCD screen. There’s even FTP access and you can use the two included USB ports share printers or other external storage devices like a DROBO for instance. All of this is packed into a package no bigger than a standard router which makes it almost ideal to carry around with you when you travel to trade shows like CES.
The Empire Strikes Back
CES wouldn’t be CES without Microsoft. There had been some rumors about Windows Mobile 7, a Zune Phone, and a portable Xbox. None of those came to pass at CES 2009, but Microsoft still had a pretty big gun to unleash onto the crowd.
The big news to come out of Microsoft was the public beta release of Windows 7, the official successor to Microsoft Windows Vista. From an aesthetic point of view, Windows 7 is pretty similar to Vista, but it does bring many neat innovations into the mix. For example, a minimized window gets reduced to a simple icon on the taskbar rather than a block with some text. Hovering over this, you get a preview of what that minimized window contains, not unlike what you get in a Mac OS X environment. Did I mention that it feels faster than bloated Vista?
A couple of other features that I thought were pretty neat were the automatic split-screen snapping of windows and the automatic ability to stretch a window to its vertical maximum. With the first, you simply drag the window of choice off the left side of the screen and it will automatically “snap” to fill the left half of the display. Grab another window and “snap” it to the right, and you effectively have a perfect split-screen effect. This can be incredibly useful for editors, photo geeks, and other people who need to see two windows at once.
The vertical stretching is also cool. If you stretch a window to the top of the screen, the bottom of the window will automatically stretch to the bottom of the screen. You can tell I’m really excited about this new OS. If you want a taste of your own, Microsoft has released the public BETA and you can go download it here.
There’s definitely no shortage of stuff for PC Gamers and Enthusiasts at CES 2009. Keep your eyes on the front page as we continue our brain dump. More pictures from all these visits on the next page in the gallery.
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CES 2009 – Something for PC Gamers and Hardware Geeks Too Photo Gallery
