With pretty much nothing left out there info wise now the the Radeon R9 290 (non-X) reportedly will be launched on the 31st of October, 2013. The R9 290 should be based 28 nm "Hawaii" silicon as the R9 290X, but with a lower stream processor count. 

ASUS announced the Xonar Essence STU USB external digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and headphone amplifier, based on the acclaimed design and quality of Xonar Essence ST/STX internal sound cards and going beyond their already high standards. Offering audiophile-grade performance, Xonar Essence STU delivers USB connectivity and accessible external controls.

This six and a half minute video gives you a look at UE4's new visual effects pipeline, illustrating how GPU particle simulation, collision and dynamic particle lights are used in Epic's Infiltrator real-time demonstration. Epic's Tim Elek and Zak Parrish go under the hood of Unreal Engine 4 to show how artists utilized a host of visual effects, including advanced GPU particle simulation and collision, materials, dynamic particle lights and other VFX to create the Infiltrator real-time demonstration.

Seagate announced it has shipped over one million drives using shingled magnetic recording (SMR). SMR is the next generation in storage technology and is critical for continued improvement in areal density (the amount of data that can be stored on a single disk) to support global growth in cloud and mobile usage. The SMR generation of storage technology is expected to power gains of up to 25 percent.

A new report by WSJ claims Microsoft is testing a new web-connected eyewear product that is similar to Google's Glass. A person familiar with Microsoft's project said the company has asked several component makers in Asia to supply cameras and other key components for eyewear prototypes. The person cautioned the device may never reach mass production.

S2innovation developed a new way of Dust Collector called 'S-Filter' and released the premium PC case 'AXIOM Pro' which is adopting the S-Filter for the first time in the world. Using the S-Filter, the dust included in flowing air is effectively collected to the dust-box and the inside of the device like PC, Electronic component, Household appliance and machinery etc. is kept clean.

Apple released the cylindrical Mac Pro that it showed off a couple of months is now available. Prices start at a whopping $2,999. Apple today redefined pro computing with the launch of the all-new Mac Pro. Designed around an innovative unified thermal core, the Mac Pro features the latest Intel Xeon processors with up to 12 cores, dual workstation-class GPUs, six Thunderbolt 2 ports, PCIe-based flash storage and ultra-fast ECC memory. Packing amazing performance in a stunning new design, the all-new Mac Pro starts at $2,999 (US) and will be available in December.

Two new iPads are set to be released in November, being the iPad Air, a new tablet thast is thinner. The iPad Air features Apple's dual-core A7 SoC and a 2048 x 1536 pixel screen. Also new is the iPad mini with Retina display, this device has the same 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution as the Air and gets the same A7 SoC. Apple today announced iPad Air, the latest generation of its category defining device, featuring a stunning 9.7-inch Retina® display in a new thinner and lighter design. Precision-engineered to weigh just one pound, iPad Air is 20 percent thinner and 28 percent lighter than the fourth generation iPad®, and with a narrower bezel the borders of iPad Air are dramatically thinner—making content even more immersive. 

Hmm, yam-yam-yam ..

Download AMD Catalyst 13.11 BETA3 Driver. This Beta driver works with Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.

Download here.

Download AMD Catalyst 13.11 BETA3 (13.250.18.0 October 7) Driver. This Beta driver works with Windows 7, 8 and 8.1.

COUGAR has just launched the new version of CMX power supply units, which offers multiple improvements with an affordable price. Through better designs, the version 3 CMX models offer multiple improvements along with an even more affordable price.

Cooler Master, an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of premium PC components has today introduced the ultimate semi-DIY CPU liquid cooler, Glacer 240L. This modular and expandable semi-DIY liquid cooling system offers the utmost in performance and convenience.

Cooler Master now announces the availability of the QuickFire XT mechanical keyboard in Europe. Over at the CM Storm Store, the Cherry MX Blue version costs $89.99 while the Cherry MX Red costs $99.99. Cooler Master, a leading creator, innovator and manufacturer of desktop components, mobile accessories, and gaming peripherals, today announced the long awaited QuickFire XT, the full 104 key sibling to the top-rated QuickFire Rapid. Exhibiting the same extremely solid construction that won the hearts of QuickFire Rapid owners, QuickFire XT is sure to impress gamers once again.

The latest in the Carbide series of PC cases from Corsair would be the 330R, also known as hero. The new model is aimed at a more audiophile tense segment as it has sound dampening materials all over the place. These chassis remain to be good looking but really are feature rich products. Keywords here would be an okay design chassis, tool free, lots of space, nice airflow and prepped for liquid cooling. Have a peek at we'll review today, the Corsair Carbide 330R.

Read our full review right here.

The latest in the Carbide series of PC cases from Corsair would be the 330R, also known as hero. The new model is aimed at a more audiophile tense segment as it has sound dampening materials all over the place. These chassis remain to be good looking but really are feature rich products. Keywords here would be an okay design chassis, tool free, lots of space, nice airflow and prepped for liquid cooling. Have a peek at we'll review today, the Corsair Carbide 330R.

Here’s the newest member to Dell’s Full HD monitor line-up, the E2214H. Adopting a TN panel, this new 21.5-inch LED-backlight monitor provides 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution, 1000:1 contrast ratio, 250 cd/m2 brightness, 5ms response time and 170/160 degree viewing angles, and has D-Sub and DVI-D connectors. The E2214H is available now for 16,980 Yen (about $174).

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) today announced that in partnership with Ubisoft it will bundle Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag with the Rampage IV Black Edition motherboard and selected gaming PCs including Tytan G30 and the G750 gaming laptop. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is the newest instalment of the stealthy adventure title and its release has been awaited eagerly by gamers worldwide - and ASUS ROG will be Ubisoft's recommended hardware brand partner for the PC launch.

iiyama, one of the leading manufacturers of high quality monitors, is proud to announce the launch of the LCD ProLite X(B)83 series featuring Full HD resolution, LED backlit and the enhanced AMVA+ panel technology. iiyama's new ProLite monitors (X24/2783HSU and XB24/2783HSU) feature a the latest high quality AMVA+ panel technology. Due to the optimized colour-resist implementation and a new pixel design they feature a static contrast of 3000:1

Synology America Corp. is excited to announce its first media-centric DiskStation, the DS214play. The play is the first DiskStation to launch with dedicated hardware acceleration, specifically for video transcoding. The DS214play can stream multiple 1080p video codecs, and is still able to handle a variety of additional processor-heavy tasks. 

ENERMAX's new line of liquid CPU cooler LIQMAX 120S (ELC-LM120S-HP/ELC-LM120S-TAA) offers users a one piece solution for a quiet and efficient way to cool their computer systems. The new LIQMAX 120S series features a patented Shunt-Channel-Technology (SCT) (Figure 1) to improve thermal conductivity, a unique 3D extruded cold-plate structure designed for better stability and rapid heat conductivity. The HP variant has a high-pressure airflow fan while the TAA variant comes with patented blue circular LED lights. Both fans feature a Smart APS (Adjustable Peak Speed) Control provides 3 peak RPM options.

Beginning in December, Microsoft will be offering free Office 365 to all students at institutions that license Office Education under the Student Advantage Program. Starting on December 1st, Universities that license Office Education for their faculty and staff can offer students Office 365 ProPlus for free thanks to a new program called Student Advantage. 

Crytek announced today that its new online shooter, Warface, is now live and playable for free in North America, Europe and Turkey on GFACE. Players can gain instant access to the game by signing up at its official website. 

You can now download PCMark 8 from Futuremark. PCMark 8 is designed to test the performance of all types of PC, from tablets to desktops. With five separate benchmark tests plus battery life testing, PCMark 8 helps you find the devices that offer the perfect combination of efficiency and performance. It's the complete PC benchmark for home and business. PCMark 8 includes five new benchmark tests, each designed around a typical use scenario. Choose the benchmark that best matches your needs, or run all five for a complete picture of your PC's performance. Each benchmark produces a score you can use to compare systems as well as detailed results you can use to gain a deep understanding of system performance.

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You can now download the Nvidia GeForce 331.58 WHQL driver as released by NVIDIA. This Game Ready WHQL driver ensures you’ll have the best possible gaming experience in Batman: Arkham Origins and Battlefield 4. GeForce Game Ready drivers also provide performance increases for a variety of different games.

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An interesting post slash leaked roadmap appeared today, it shows that Intel will only release K-model Broadwell processors end 2014. K-model CPUs have an unlocked multiplier, which we PC enthusiast adore so much. The desktop roadmap shown is for 2014. It also shows that in the 2nd quarter Intel will refresh the Haswell line-up and a chipset update of 8 to series 9. The differences in-between the chipsets should be minimal. Then at the end of 2014 Broadwell makes an entry with the K model CPUs initially. Broadwell is a die shrink of the current Haswell generation and will be baked at 14nm instead of 22nm. 

Download the Nvidia GeForce 331.58 WHQL driver as released by NVIDIA.

ASUS is excited to announce that it will adopt NVIDIA G-SYNC technology into its next generation monitor lineup. NVIDIA G-SYNC, a significant innovation in display technology, provides an excellent gaming experience and stunning visual quality by synchronizing the monitor's refresh rate to the GPU's render rate. Images are displayed the moment they are rendered, which results in smoother gameplay and sharper images through the elimination of onscreen tearing, stuttering, and latency. 

On Friday NVIDIA announced G-Sync, and considering the little details available out there I wanted to write a quick follow-up on this new technology, as it really is a big announcement - a really big thing actually. NVIDIA G-SYNC is a solution that pretty much eliminates screen tearing, VSync input lag, and stutter. You need a G-SYNC module into monitors, allowing G-SYNC to synchronize the monitor to the output of the GPU.

Read our article right here.

On October 19th, the 2013 Master Overclocking Arena (MOA) Grand Finals came to a history changing conclusion. In the end, overclockers broke three world records within just 8 hours.

Ukrainian overclocker T0lsty emerged triumphant as champion in the classic battle and won the cash prize of $3,000 US. Overclocker Rbuass from Brazil, Vivi from South Africa and oc_windforce from Korea defeated all opposition to become the world record masters and won the freestyle battle with a cash prize of $6,000 US. 

HighPoint Technologies has been a pioneering force in the storage industry, unleashing the world's 1st USB 3.0 PCie Controllers to deliver over 1.2GB/s of transfer performance, backed by a revolutionary dedicated per-port Performance Architecture design! In 2011, HighPoint launched the industry's first dedicated 5Gb/s USB 3.0 HBA's and Storage docks. Powered by an innovative new USB 3.0 architecture and quad-port HBA design, these new product series featured dedicated 5Gb/s controllers for each USB port, and were capable of delivering an entirely new level of performance for a USB-based storage solution - up to 250MB/s per port! Our RocketU HBA's and RocketStor storage docks were the fastest USB solutions on the market, but had only begun to scratch the surface of our revolutionary 20Gb/s architecture. 

SteelSeries, the global leader in professional-grade gaming peripherals, announced the Dota 2 Headset is available for pre-order on the SteelSeries Web Shop. Gamers that pre-order now until the product's official launch in early November will be automatically entered to have a chance to play with four team members of Na'Vi's legendary lineup.

A reader has just sent in this image from a Currys/PC World in the U.K. where the tablet is up on display at £499.99 for 16GB of storage and Wifi connectivity. Interestingly the processor is listed as "quad core," even though the model hitting the U.S. is an octa-core (but we wouldn't be surprised if this was a typo in the end). 

Rebellion today announced that gamers will be able to return to the demon-infested ruins of World War 2 Berlin this Halloween when Sniper Elite: Nazi Zombie Army 2 launches on October 31st for PC. Rebellion also kicked off pre-orders for the game at a 20% discount on both Steam and - for the first time - Rebellion's own Gamestore.