Logitech G502 Proteus Core Tunable Gaming Mouse

Most gamers like to be able to customize their mice, whether they like it heavy or light, with high sensitivity or low. So when a gaming mouse comes out that enables them to suite it to their needs while having what Logitech calls, “the world’s most powerful and accurate sensor,” it immediately gets gamer’s attentions.

The Proteus Core offers a ridiculously fast 12,000 DPI sensor. However, to use it you will have to have a very high resolution PC or you will probably lose track of your cursor as it moves around at that high speed. Most games might have some trouble translating the movements of your mouse at that speed as well. Logitech has also stated that there mouse sensor has zero mouse acceleration and no smoothing or filtering. The sensor also has a surface tuning feature, this is very cool because it enables the device to find your optimal surface data. All you have to do is move your mouse around on the surface while the sensor analyzes it, then it will apply your settings. The mouse comes pre-tuned to the Logitech mouse pads, and you can add as many mouse pad profiles as you need.

The G502 comes with five weights at 3.6 grams each. The mouse at stock weighs 145 grams, so it is a little on the heavy side compared to most gaming mice. You can place the weights anywhere in the mouse to distribute the weight exactly how you want it. The door on the bottom of the mouse is magnetic and stays shut very well.

The shape of the mouse is very angular, it fits perfectly in my hand. I have reasonably large hands, I wear extra-large gloves and I can palm the mouse easily. I can reach all of the buttons well except the DPI down button. To push it I have to shift my hand a little more than I would like to. The thumb and pinkie grips are rubber coated which is a very nice feature, especially if your hands are sweaty or have condensation from a drink on them. The mouse has 11 programmable buttons that all are very responsive and make a nice sound when you push them. I really like the color scheme of the mouse, it is very subtle and elegant. The cable is a nice high-quality braided cable.

The mouse features 3 profiles and 5 separate DPI levels for each profile. The software is very easy to use and understand. You can use on board memory or the software’s automatic game detection, which detects the games you have on your PC, and lets you set up your keybindings through the software. I would definitely recommend this mouse to anybody who wants a mouse that has lots of customization. You can buy it for $79.99 from Logitech.com.

Sources:
http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g502-proteus-core-tunable-gaming-mouse

The_GregMcMac out.

Logitech introduces the G502. Is it a combination of the MX518 and the G9X?

Logitech recently announced the G502, a mouse that is specifically geared towards gaming and ones who want to get really high DPI, roughly 12,000 if they would like. Even though many people still only use a DPI setting in between 2,000-3,000, it hasn’t stopped Logitech from making such a high DPI sensor which they entitled “Proteus Core”. They do say, however, that the sensor has zero acceleration, zero smoothing or filtering, and zero pixel rounding.

I was actually pretty let down that my mouse, the G700S, did not have the removable weights like many other Logitech mice. The fact that they added removable weights and in a decent styling makes for a pleasing aesthetic look. An additional feature about the weights on this mouse compared to other mice is that one can adjust where the center of balance is. I prefer the center of balance to be around the back of the mouse. Others may want it out on the center or up front. Either way, this makes for an extremely adjustable experience.

However, unlike the G700S that has 13 programmable buttons, the G502 only features 11 programmable buttons and they they seem to be really ergonomical. What the G502 does that many other mice do not is have two buttons right by the left-click. With these buttons one can change the DPI or even set it to something else like volume up and volume down. With the user profiles one can switch back and forth and each profile can have a different key mapping for each one. With my G700S I made a profile that was specifically geared towards photoshop/shortcut keys for general use, makes things incredibly faster.

In all, I would recommend the G502 if you see that you want the best gaming grade Logitech mouse. If you are not that interested in the DPI sensor or the adjustable weights, the G700S is another great option.

This has been Nickster258

Sources: http://www.pcgamer.com/2014/04/08/logitech-announces-g502-gaming-mouse-with-12000-dpi-sensor/
http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/g502-proteus-core-tunable-gaming-mouse

Turtle Beach Ear Force X12 Gaming Headset

The Turtle Beach X12 is a stereo headset designed for use with Xbox360 and PC. They are popular for beginning gamers because of their low cost, and provide the user with very breathable ear cups, comfort over long gaming sessions, and pretty nice audio. They are made entirely of plastic so they are very light. When I first got them they took a little getting used to because the bass mainly comes out the right ear cup, and everything else mainly comes out the left. I found this a little odd at first but I quickly got used to it.

Personally, I think the color scheme of black and green is pretty cool looking. They have cloth earcups that are very breathable and have about three-fourth’s of an inch of foam, which makes them pretty shallow. My ears can touch the inside of the cups and this can cause some discomfort to the user. I will take a quick break every couple of hours or so, and it fixes this problem. The headband is made of cloth as well, and is very comfortable, it distributes the weight of the headset very evenly. 

Would I recommend this to people? Yes, they are a pretty decent headset. They sound good for both games and music,  I have used them for countless hours doing both. The only downside to this headset is that the cloth cups can leak sound. So, if you are around other people a lot, these may not be the best choice.

Sources:
http://www.turtlebeach.com/product-detail/xbox-360-headsets/ear-force-x12/56

The_GregMcMac out.

NVIDIA makes a dual GPU card?! AMD responds with one of their own.

The new card introduced by AMD is basically two R9 290Xs with extra memory. Everything is doubled, the memory, the cores, the GPUs themselves, and, the bad part, so is the wattage. The R9 295X2 has a total power consumption of 500W. This just might be the downside to having two AMD chips, considering power consumption seems to be the least of priorities for AMD. This card is also the first reference card to feature hybrid cooling. "What is hybrid cooling?" One might ask. Hybrid cooling is where one can use the GPU in fan cooling mode and whenever they want they could plug in a custom water loop and get immediate liquid cooling. Remove the loop and clean out the tubes and it is back to fan cooling.

This card is essentially the AMD version of the Titan Z. Even though we do not know the price still, it is safe to say that it may not surpass the Titan Z as the most expensive practical one on the market.

This has been Nickster258

Sources: 

http://videocardz.com/50130/exclusive-amd-radeon-r9-295x2-preview

GeForce GTX Titan Z - Wuh?

The Titan Z... What is it?

Okay, we are all familiar with the Titan, the most powerful workstation GPU right now. It is incredibly powerful and hasn't been matched in performance. The Titan Z tops the charts in return of the Titan series GPUs.

What is the Titan Z? It has a total of 5760 Cuda cores, 12 GB VRAM, and a price of $3000. Another interesting thing about this is that the performance was not made through one GPU, it is dual chip architecture, hence the drastic change in the looks of the cooler. This can be compared to a few pairs of modern NVIDIA chipsets:

        Two 780 Ti's in SLI:           5760 Cuda cores, 3GB VRAM, $1200

        Two Titan Blacks in SLI:    5760 Cuda Cores, 6GB VRAM, $2000

Initially, it looks as if the Titan Z would be a complete waste of money. This, however, is not the case. The Titan Z has its place in the market of workstation GPUs and even in the high-end GPU ranks.

What does the Titan Z have that other cards do not? For one, it is the only up-to-date NVIDIA card with SLI, basically taking the conventional two-card setup and putting it on one card. Secondly, for a single card to have 12GB VRAM is astounding. I have only seen 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 GB variants of GPUs and NVIDIA bumps that up to 12GB. It is, at-least marketed to be, extremely power efficient while keeping the noise down.

How does this card apply to the marketplace? For one, businesses don't mind nudging out another $1000 for a nicer GPU as long as it improves what they are doing and gives them a profit. Secondly, if one person wanted to create the ultimate ITX machine, this would be the card, no doubt.

Do you want it? If you want to make the best of the best workstation PC, you want the Titan Z. If you want to make an insane ITX rig, you want the Titan Z. If you care at all about the use of your money and effectiveness of the card for the money spent, you do not want the Titan Z.

This has been Nickster258

Resources:
http://anandtech.com/show/7894/nvidia-gtc-2014-keynote-live-blog
http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2014/03/25/titan-z/
http://www.geforce.com/whats-new/articles/announcing-the-geforce-gtx-titan-z

Google Docs add-ons, are they worth it?

Google just recently added the ability of Add-ons for Google docs web-based editors. Are they worth it? In a word, not-totally-worth-it. Let me explain.

Due to the recent release of this add-on function, not many add-ons have been made. As it is in the early stages of development for most people, it doesn't seem that big of an issue, but it is. Many add-ons are cumbersome. Some made to create diagrams, others made for outlining, and more made for highlighting. Quite frankly, add-ons have worked splendidly with many of the other applications from Google from Hangouts and the option to add certain elemental functions otherwise impossible on its contenders, like Skype, and in total the countless tons of add-ons available to the Chrome browser. It is a mystery as to why add-ons, so far, are not having the impact that they were perceived to get.

Even some diagram makers are a bit awkward. It isn't a simple drag-and-drop diagram that you fill or a simple diagram maker, but instead an awkward interface that doesn't allow for the functionality that it should. The only diagram maker that is worth-while is Lucidcharts diagrams. While it is easy and incredibly flexible, it has to take you to a different website and no longer is in docs, which others would find perfectly fine, but I find it annoying.

Simply put, docs is a text editor. That is it. While it lets others join and edit text with you, it is still a text editor and that is shown in its core. The issue being that it needs to be incredibly flexible to make some of these add-ons worth-while. Highlighting add-ons are cumbersome and still don't feel like a highlighter. One still has to select an area and click the color that is appropriate. Highlighters lets one trace what they want out of the document and it is immediate. While this isn't a real highlighter and it still has plenty of ways to improve, it is a start.

Like many other add-ons, they is limited by what Google has made available through its program. And until the inner core of the application has changed, it will be limited to very basic functions.

This has been Nickster258