By Chris Scott Barr

Whenever you purchase a new PC, one tends to notice all of the extra software that comes with it. If you ask the manufacturer, they’ll tell you that they’ve done you a favor by providing lots of “useful” trial applications for you. Of course any tech-savvy person with half a brain immediately goes through and systematically removes every bit of it. Well if you want a computer without all of these “extras”, apparently you’ll be able to get one at the Microsoft Store.

That’s right, Microsoft’s new retail stores are going to carry computers without any additional 3rd-party software. That’s of course nothing to say for first-party software, as they will be installing all of the optional Microsoft software that you would otherwise have to download. This includes Windows Live Essentials, Bing 3D Maps, Security Essentials and the Zune client. Sure, it’s not a completely crapware-free computer, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.

[ Method of Failed ] VIA [ Electronista ]

By David Ponce

It’ll never cease to amaze us how crafty some people are at separating others from their money. In this particular case, Gaiser High End PCs seems to make a line of computers that don’t do much more than cover themselves up in precious or semi precious materials to better justify your spending obscene amounts of money. While adorning themselves in anything from 24 carat gold leaf to what looks like Swarovski crystals, these PCs can fetch up to $32,300. At that price, those crystals very well may be actual diamonds… though one has to ask how necessary it really is to put diamonds on a PC case. Our understanding is these items exist for the sole purpose of showing to your other rich friends just how much wealthier than them you are. Then again (and not to get too philosophical), isn’t this the very definition of luxury?

Hit the jump for a gallery and a few links.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Born Rich ]

By Shane McGlaun

I have a couple gaming PCs in my house and none of them can be called green. In fact, my personal gaming PC can double as a heater in the winter and after a few hours use in the summer it makes my office unbearably hot.

Maingear has announced a gaming PC for the eco conscious gamer called the Pulse. According to Maingear, the Pulse is the world’s greenest gaming PC and is the first upgradable NVIDIA Ion PC ever. The machine uses NVIDIA Ion graphics for power savings and can be upgraded with a GeForce 9800 ECO video card.

The 9800 ECO is similar to the 9800 GT but draws 40% less power than the normal 9800 GT. The computer starts at $799 and can be fitted with Intel Core 2 Duo processors or Intel Core 2 Quad parts. The machine can also be stuffed with up to 8GB of RAM and optional Blu-ray.

[ Maingear ]

This post is syndicated with permission from GamerFront.net

For 10 to 12 hours a day during the week I work in a small office with wooden floors and a low ceiling and every noise is amplified, not the least of which being my pc with it’s 6 fans (not including the fan on my graphics card which beats them all). It’s not until a power outage, or re-arranging the office when everything is shut off do you realize just how much racket a PC can make and that it’s time for a change. Enter NZXT’s WHISPER Classic Series chassis, engineered from top to bottom to provide a quieter computing experience.

Assembling an ultimate gaming rig or digital audio workstation based on the WHISPER chassis is an enjoyable task thanks to its smart layout and a pre-drilled wire management system that makes routing cables a snap. One thing to keep in mind when putting a system together is the length of the cables coming from the power supply and the positioning of the power connections on the motherboard, some motherboards have their power connections placed towards the top which can for an impossible reach for some power supplies.

Today’s games and digital media take up a lot of space and with the price-per-gigabyte of storage space falling all the time, it’s not uncommon to have several hard drives in a pc. The WHISPER provides plenty of room for stuffing terabytes worth of storage space with its nine hard drive bays, even including brackets to support newer 3.5″ SSD drives for those that can’t be bothered with balancing their sensitive data on spinning plates. It also provides six 5.25″ bays with front facing panels for media drives and expansion cards.

So how does NZXT’s WHISPER keep quiet? It uses 10mm noise-dampening foam pads on the side and top panels to deaden noise before it exits the case. Rubber grommets on the hard drives and a padded PSU holder reduce the amount of vibration within the case.

Does all that effort really make a difference? Speaking as someone who’s been cooped up in this small office for long periods of time I was amazed when I turned on the machine, half-expecting just to hear a dulled version of the “BEEP whhooooooOOOOOOOOOOSSSSHHH” of my motherboard and video card on bootup all that came from the box was a mulled “beep.”

In all, after two weeks of working in much quieter environment I would have to say that on a day to day basis it’s made my workspace a much more peaceful and enjoyable place to get things accomplished.  The NZXT WHISPER manages to deliver on it’s goal of a quiet PC and manages to do it with a simple and no-frills design that (silently) screams elegance. The WHISPER carries an MSRP of $139.99.

[ NZXT Whisper ] VIA [ GamerFront ]

By Shane McGlaun

Ever wonder why computer monitors are typically black, silver, or beige? No? Well I have wondered why most computer gear is the same color before, I guess no one likes to rock the boat or maybe those colors are cheaper to produce. I’d like to have a nice Ferrari red LCD, but alas I have a silver and black Dell.

Samsung has announced new LCDs for computer users that feature the firm’s Touch of Color design. The monitors have a clear acrylic neck to make them seem to be floating says Samsung. The three models include the P2070, P2370, and P2370HD.

The P2370 and P2370HD both offer 1920 x 1080 resolution for viewing HD content. The difference between the two is that the P2370HD adds an integrated HDTV tuner. The P2070 has a screen resolution of 1600 x 900. All three LCDs offer the same 50,000:1 contrast ratio.

[ Samsung ]

By Shane McGlaun

I am a big fan of Spore. The game is way cool and very original. I have spent lots of time playing it on the PC and begin able to grow your own creature from a single cell organism into an intergalactic civilization is too cool.

EA has announced that since the Spore Creature Creator launched in June of 2008 players have created and up loaded about 100 million creations. Out of that massive number, EA says that 31,017,761 of them are creatures. That means that the Spore universe has about 19 times as many creatures as the Earth. At least until we find the cave entrance into the dinosaur realm in the center of the Earth, obviously.

EA is also getting ready to launch an official expansion pack to the Spore game for PC and Mac called Spore Galactic Adventures on June 23. New games for the Wii and Nintendo DS will also be released. The Wii game is Spore Hero and the DS game is called Spore Hero Arena. The Wii and DS titles will launch this fall.

[ Spore ]

By Shane McGlaun

One of my favorite Need for Speed games back in the day was Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. I liked being able to play the cop and give people tickets and I liked running from the police as well. I guess EA tried to go all “PC” with Need for Speed ProStreet and took the racing off the streets. The game was cool, but I wanted police chases.

The latest title in the franchise, Need for Speed Undercover, gave me my wish and EA has announced that new DLC for the game is available for the PS3 and coming soon for the PC and Xbox 360. One of the DLC packs is a free offering called the Challenge Series and adds 60 events to the game. Along with new events called Highway Wars and Highway checkpoint races.

Players can also win three new cars in the Challenge Series. A premium content pack is also available for $5 or 400 MS points called the Boss Car Pack. The pack gives all of the cars the level bosses drive in the entire game. I am glad to see EA offering some free DLC for fans of Undercover.

[ Need for Speed ]

By Shane McGlaun

I like using multiple monitors for my computer; they are cool for gaming if you extend the desktop. The big downside to multiple monitor setups is that the bezel around the monitor makes for a gap in the on screen image that can be annoying and get your fragged if you miss something right in front of you.

I have also seen big video walls where the gaps make the video pretty much unviewable. Samsung has announced a new line of large format monitors that are 46-inches in size and have very thin bezels. The monitor bezel is 2.4mm on the right and bottom and 4.3mm on the top and left sides making the space between screens only 7.3mm (we can assume that there has to be some space between each screen, accounting for the extra .5mm of space).

The screens have 700 nits of brightness, a resolution of 1366 x 768, and a contrast ratio of 3000:1. The screens have full PC and video connectivity options as well. The line includes the 460UTn with a built-in Pc running embedded Windows XP and the 460UTn-UD with software for creating a video wall with up to 250 displays from one PC.

[Samsung ]