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November 24, 2013

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Home » Sunday » Technology

New PC gaming gear amazing

By Ron Harris | November 24, 2013, Sunday | Print Edition

PC gaming has been a withering entity lately. Consoles rule, and game makers primarily target Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox as the game systems of choice. That hasn’t stopped PC gaming specialists from trying their best, though.

Despite the dwindling number of quality PC game titles, the machines themselves are getting stronger. Intel’s latest processing chips, known as Haswell, easily handle the rigors of the most demanding PC games. These may be the waning days of PC gaming, but as far as technical heft, they could very well be the best.

Here’s a look at a new gaming laptop and a desktop tower, both running Windows 8. They come from MSI and Digital Storm, two strong builders of high-quality gaming PCs. And also a few devices that can augment those factors while gaming:

 

• MSI GT70 laptop                             (US$2,799 for configuration with 3.4 gigahertz processor, 32 gigabytes of RAM):

Calling MSI’s GT70 a laptop is technically true, but it’s a beast compared with the thin and light breed of laptops that dominate these days. But those trim and slim PCs aren’t optimized for gaming. This unit is large and in charge: The configuration I tested weighs 8.6 pounds and boasts a 17.3-inch screen, measured diagonally, with a resolution of 1,920 pixels by 1,080 pixels for high-definition graphics. It has plenty of ports for accessories.

The gaming gravitas, of course, is under the hood in the form of an Intel Core i7 3.4 gigahertz quad-core processor. Coupled with 32 gigabytes of internal memory, the maximum this processor can use, the GT70 handles a demanding blend of titles without a hitch. There’s a generous 1 terabytes of hard drive space to store your games and 128 gigabytes of solid-state storage for faster access to data.

“Wolfenstein,” a first-person shooter involving Nazis and supernatural powers, recommends systems with at least at a 2.4 gigahertz processor and 2 gigabytes of memory. The GT70 essentially stomps all over these recommendations. That’s the case with all the other titles I tested, including “Far Cry 3,” “Crysis Warhead,” and “Risen.”

I couldn’t make this laptop wilt even after toggling the screen resolution, shadows and graphics options to the highest settings. There was no buffering, lagging or glitches.

 

• Digital Storm Virtue desktop PC (US$2,174 for configuration with 3.5 gigahertz processor, 16 gigabytes of RAM):

If you are a purist gamer, you’re likely in the market for a liquid-cooled PC running a quad-core Intel chip with enough fans to dissipate the heat of your overclocked microprocessor. Overclocking lets your processor perform faster than the manufacturer’s specifications, but it also generates more heat.

The Virtue is a black obelisk of  gaming tower power. The build I tried had an Intel Core i7 3.5 gigahertz processor that is unlocked, meaning I could overclock it to up to 4.2 gigahertz to target higher performance. I didn’t need to, though.

My model came with 16 gigabytes of internal memory, a 1 terabyte hard drive and 120 gigabytes of solid-state storage. This build also comes with a Corsair liquid-cooling system with a radiator that is easily more advanced than the ones in my cars.

There’s a bit of noise from the chassis with five large fans at work, but I played primarily wearing gaming-grade headphones and didn’t notice the fan noise during the heat of battle.

Running the maximum shadow and detail settings while playing “Crysis” in full-screen mode, I still breezed up to 95 frames per second during full melee action.

I got a lower frame rate while playing “Far Cry 3” on the Virtue, but it’s a newer game with higher system recommendations. I was still able to achieve 80 to 85 frames per second at the maximum graphics settings during frenetic battle sequences. There are tweaks and modifications I could use to gain even higher frame rates. My experience at up to 90 frames per second was pretty smooth.

The base price for the Digital Storm Virtue is US$1,509, but most gamers tend to choose specific component upgrades when ordering a PC to add RAM, extra hard disk space, Blu-Ray drives and other niceties.

 

• Plantronics RIG headset and mixer (US$129):

It’s a wired headset with the added functionality of a stereo input for your mobile phone. That way, you can take calls and keep gaming if you can’t be bothered to pause. Overall, I found the fit to be good. The 40-millimeter drivers in the headset carried a good range of bone-rumbling bass during sessions of “Crysis.”

There are separate volume controls for the game on the PC and for my mobile phone, when the phone is attached with a single audio cable. These controls are nicely backlit, so you can find them even in a dark environment.

 

• Roccat Isku FX keyboard (US$100):

The keyboard is where the magic happens in PC gaming. Sure, you can get an Xbox-like controller for your PC gaming, but a true gaming-grade keyboard offers granular control for lighting, smart macros for toggling weapons and configurable hotkeys for menus, maps and other in-game content. The Isku FX has all of that and some twists:

— Programmable “thumbster” keys rest about an inch below the space bar. This came in handy during a “Far Cry 3” session.

— The keys have programmable backlighting zones. I turned my main W-A-S-D keyboard section — the keys used to move my game characters — into glowing green color.

 

• The AOC e1659Fwu external USB monitor (US$139):

I include this not because it augments the gaming experience, but because it augments the other stuff you can keep an eye on while gaming. It was useful to plug in this monitor into a USB 3.0 port and have my Facebook and Twitter feeds open on it.

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