The TR Podcast 140: Remaking the desktop PC

Date: Aug 25, 2013
Duration: 1:09:54

Hosted by: Jordan Drake

Co-Hosts:Scott Wasson, Geoff Gasior, Cyril Kowaliski, and Cyril's seagull, Phineas

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Show notes
We cover a lot of ground on this episode of the podcast. After a slew of listener mail questions, we digress from our PC hardware discussion to riff on Ben Affleck's appointment as the next Batman. Then, announcements from Gamescom provide a series of gaming stories to discuss, including updates for Call of Duty: Ghosts, The Division, and more. Cyril's controversial thought piece on the future of desktop PC hardware is fodder for further conversation, after which Geoff explains how we plan to test SSD endurance over the next few weeks.

Send in listener mail, and we'll answer on the podcast. - jdrake@techreport.com

Follow us on Twitter - Scott - Jordan - Geoff - Cyril - The Tech Report

Listener mail/tweets:

TR BBQ X - from Dash - (0:00:52):

"Because I'm sure the BBQ will get a brief mention on the next podcast.... It was my first time at the BBQ and it was a fun, laid back event that noone should miss. There were a lot of names from the forums and I had a lot of good conversations with people who come from all corners of the tech world. Damage and Adam were nice, insightful guys and it great to meet them and I look forward to future events with them.

I should mention that Damage Jr. was a cool guy to talk to who had some interesting things to say about tablets; though it was odd he mentioned needing a new GPU for his home setup, *ahem.* I passed on taking GPU home as a prize, so there's a karma GPU somewhere. But thanks to the community for hosting, TR for coming, and to the sponsors that provided the high-end loot. See you all next year."

Card upgrade? - from Jay - (0:07:23):

"I just bought the EA humble bundle with games like Medal of Honor, Crysis 2, Burnout paradise, and mirrors edge. Medal of Honor only goes to medium settings. I run AMD 4170 Quad core 4.2, 8gig ram and an AMD 6570 card. Should I upgrade the card to something newer and what would be the lowest card I can look at to make a difference?"

GPU RAM? - from Sean - (0:09:43):

"I am upgrading from 2 460s to a new GTX 770(unless I wait for the new AMD launch) to power a 27" Korean monitor. But I'm unsure how much VRAM I will need. Currently nothing seems to take advantage of VRAM over 2 GB, but with the new consoles having more memory available, and 4K becoming more prevalent will 2 GB limit me until my next upgrade in 2-3 years? Would I be safer springing for a 4 GB variant?"

Tech discussion:

• TR BBQ X sets records for attendance, epic uses of fire - (0:00:52) - Read more

  Ben Affleck Is the New Batman - (0:13:29) - Read more

  Call of Duty: Ghosts will look best on PC - (0:18:44) - Read more

  Ubisoft: The Division is coming to the PC - (0:21:16) - Read more

  EVE: Valkyrie promises multiplayer dogfights in virtual reality - (0:24:58) - Read more

  Gamescom trailers reveal more of Titanfall, BF4, and Thief - (0:29:54) - Read more

  Crytek's Warface lets you point gun at entire world for free - (0:35:02) - Read more

  Corsair's Obsidian Series 350D case reviewed - (0:39:20) - Read more

  The desktop PC needs a makeover - (0:41:45) - Read more

  Introducing the SSD Endurance Experiment - (0:58:21) - Read more

That's all, folks! We'll see you on the next episode.