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Hands on with the Alienware X51

Gaming system specialist Alienware launched its console sized X51 desktop for the second time in London last night. The machine was originally announced a couple of weeks ago in San Francisco, since when we’ve only seen it in pictures. Now we’ve played with it for a bit, had a go at building a cheaper alternative and spoken to the team behind it, it’s time to gather our thoughts.

The X51 is intriguing. It looks like a media centre, acts like a desktop PC and costs the same as a top end Mac Mini for the most basic of the three specs available. It’s on sale now, so who’s going to buy it?

BT to deliver new 300Mbps ‘on demand’ fibre broadband

More broadband news today: BT’s wholesale arm Openreach, which provides the majority of broadband connections in the UK, is planning to launch a new fibre-based broadband product that’s capable of delivering 300Mbps to your house. The company issued a press release this morning that claimed successful trials in St Agnes, Cornwall of its Fibre to the Premise On Demand (FTTP OD) would be followed up with more tests later this year, and most of its ISP partners would be selling the product by Spring 2013.

FTTP OD should be available to any exchanges which have been upgraded for Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) services like the 40Mbps Infinity. Theoretically, at 300Mbps you could download a 10GB Steam game in about five minutes. So is this the death of copper?

Which broadband provider is best for gaming?

Think your broadband’s rubbish? You’re probably right. UK telcoms regulator Ofcom has released its sixth report on average connection speeds in the country it found that while the average download speed has increased a small amount since May last year, to 7.6Mbps, ADSL customers on packages advertised as ‘up to 24Mbps are getting just under a third of the expected bandwidth.

Shockingly, more than a quarter of customers (27%) are on connections slower than 2Mbps.

AMD launches Radeon HD7950: Review round up

Fancy getting your hands on AMD’s swanky new Graphics Card Next(GCN) technology but don’t want to spend the small fortune it costs to purchase a Radeon HD7970? Rejoice, then, for today we have been blessed with the second card in this new range, henceforth to be known as the Radeon HD7950.

Don’t get too excited: it’s still not what you’d call a cheap card. Retail prices have been set at £355/$449 and upwards, which puts it pound for pound up against the erstwhile fastest current single chip GPU, the GeForce GTX580. So how does GCN compare to NVIDIA’s best?

Xbox 720 to feature Radeon HD6670?

There’s a rumour going round (started by IGN) that the graphics core for the next generation Xbox – possibly known as the Xbox 720 – has gone into production, ready for a release date believed to be some time in 2013.

The GPU in question, says IGN, is based on the Radeon HD6670, a graphics processor that would only have been considered cutting edge in PC terms five or six years ago – around the time of the Xbox 360′s launch.

Windows 8 to restrict desktop customisation?

One of the very few choices we have left in this world is the ability to put a picture of family, friends or favourite frags on our desktop backgrounds, but even that facsimile of free will is being withdrawn. According to an interview over at our sister site TechRadar, customisation of Windows 8′s new Metro interface will be limited to decisions about the solid colour background.

The PC Gamer Rig part II: Son of the Rig

Component prices haven’t changed much over the last week, so there’s no changes to the PC Gamer Rig to write about. Instead of taking a few days off from scouring shopping sites, however, I’ve put together something a bit different.

Inspired by Alienware’s launch of its lounge friendly X51 console sized PC and a feature I’m writing for the mag, this week’s post is about a second system I’m going to try and keep up to date: The PC Gamer Media Centre-cum-Occassional-Games-Rig-With-Console-Beating-Games-Ability. Or, as I like to call it, Son of Rig.

Intel introduces overclocking insurance

Fancy trying your hand at overclocking a CPU but don’t want to risk your precious silicon? Intel may have just the thing for you. The chip giant has announced a new optional insurance policy for Core i-thingumy owners who want to protect their processors.

The new warranty is good for three years and covers a one time replacement of a processor damaged by overclocking. It goes by the name of Performance Tuning Plan, and costs between $20 and $35 depending on which chip you own.

Are Intel planning talking routers?

Tied of your boringly quiet peripherals? Nostalgic for the days when hardware made a proper noise? Do you long for your SSDs to chirrup like a tape loading ZX Spectrum, or your keyboard to click like an old IBM model M?

Seems you are not alone in your antipathy towards the dull silence of the modern microcomputer. According to a report on New Scientist, Intel has just filed a patent for WiFi routers and dongles that can literally talk to each other.

Alienware X51 is a console sized gaming PC

Gaming PC maker Alienware has launched a new desktop with a difference today. Unlike the hulking behemoths of the past, the new Alienware X51 is a small form factor machine, which arrives in a case roughly the size of an Xbox.

The X51 certainly looks the part. Its all corners and curves with a slot loading DVD drive and Alienware’s trademark customisably LED lighting. Prices start at £699 (no US price has been confirmed yet) though, so what’s inside, and is it powerful enough to take on its bigger brethren?

What’s in the PC Gamer Rig this week?

There comes a time for every carefully selected component in the PC Gamer Rig when it’s time to face the big screwdriver in the sky and prepare for replacement. If it’s a part that’s been a stalwart of the Rig for many months, I’ll hunt around the most obscure of online retailers to convince myself it’s still available before giving up and retiring it for something easier to come by.

Especially if it’s something as important as the screen.

Things you could type on one key of a mechanical keyboard before it breaks

For some reason, the last couple of months have seen a glut of mechanical keyboards pass through the PC Gamer labs. From Razer’s Battlefield 3 branded Black Widows, through Corsair’s elegant Vengeance K60, to Qpad’s MK-85 which arrived on my desk today – if I was any good at planning ahead I’d have organised a group test.

All of the keyboards that have come through lately have had one thing in common – Cherry’s MX switches, which have a light action and that familiar clackety clack sound that evokes an old fashioned typewriter. They come in different flavours – my favourite are the smooth action Cherry MX Reds of the K60 and MK-85 – but they all make standard plastic dome keyboards feel like typing in treacle. If only there was a relatively good value ergonomic keyboard that uses them – I’d struggle to write without the layout of my Microsoft 7000 typist’s friend these days.

Kinect for Windows confirmed at CES

Microsoft’s last ever keynote speech at CES last night was definitely more of a whimper than a bang, with a bit of tubthumping for Windows 8 and its phone range, but not a lot of really new stuff to get excited about.

Except, perhaps, one thing. Kinect for Windows has been confirmed for an official launch on February 1st. It brings the firm’s console flavoured motion and voice controller to the desktop proper, with a few tweaks to the original design to make it more desktop suited.