PCWorld February 2019

The PC’s been enjoying a resurgence over the last few years, and judging by what we witnessed at CES, the pedal will remain planted firmly to the metal in 2019. AMD, Intel, and Nvidia all hosted blockbuster keynotes brimming with big announcements. Monitors evolved beyond being simple 27-inch rectangles. Gaming laptops embraced innovation in wildly different ways. And there’s a lot of gear coming that’s just plain badass. These are the big CES hardware reveals and trends that PC enthusiasts need to know about. Buckle up, and be sure to hit those links if you want deeper details about any of these topics. 1. NVIDIA Nvidia kicked CES off with a bang in its Sunday night keynote. Unsurprisingly, the company continued its real-time ray tracing push, bringing the technology to the masses by…

It’s the start of a new era. Nvidia fulfilled its CES promises by releasing GeForce driver 417.71, which lets GeForce graphics cards tap into the Adaptive Sync capabilities of AMD FreeSync monitors for buttery-smooth, tearing-free gaming. Previously, GeForce GPUs could only synchronize their refresh rates with Nvidia’s own G-Sync displays, which tend to cost much more than FreeSync displays. You can snag the driver in the GeForce Experience app or on the GeForce website. It’s not quite plug-and-play, though—at least in most cases. The driver will automatically enable variable refresh rates on FreeSync displays that meet Nvidia’s strict “G-Sync Compatible” requirements. Yours probably doesn’t though; of the 400 Adaptive Sync monitors that Nvidia says it’s tested, only 12—yes, 12—earned the certification. But fear not. If your FreeSync display didn’t make the cut,…

Haptic feedback is the one feature I miss when gaming on PC. I love me a mouse and keyboard, but I find myself reaching for my Xbox One controller sometimes just for the rumble effects. It’s not a very sophisticated version of haptic feedback, but it nevertheless adds so much to the weightiness of guns, the rumble of engines, the boom of an explosion—all these small touches you don’t notice until they’re gone. Nobody’s managed to make haptics work on PC though. Or, at least, nobody’s stuck with it long enough to force adoption. Razer loves a good gimmick though, and in keeping with that spirit Razer might be the company to deliver us from our rumble-less prison. Well, Razer and a gaggle of partners, including Lofelt and Subpac. SHAKING IT UP We already…

RGB lighting on gaming PCs is about to get a whole lot brighter and a whole lot more efficient thanks to Corsair’s new Capellix LED technology, which promises to be 60 percent brighter while using 40 percent less power. The new LEDs are incredibly tiny and dense compared to typical SMD, or surface mount device, LEDs. That density could one day lead to RGB grids on a case door or front panel with far more granularity than today’s LEDs. Corsair didn’t create the LED technology but it did work with a manufacturer to take LED technology that normally would never be applied to a PC and had it adapted to computer applications. The LEDs are so efficient, Corsair said it will be able to use them in wireless keyboards and headphones without jeopardizing…

When Dell made the Alienware Area-51m, it broke one mold and created another. Announced at CES, this gaming laptop is the first to debut a new overall design for Dell’s Alienware gaming line. It also offers no compromises, with desktop-grade hardware and a laundry list of options and upgradable parts. It’s a tantalizing balance of power and refinement. Several customizable SKUs of the Area-51m are available. Prices start around $2,549. We took a detailed look at the Area-51m at a pre-briefing. Check out the video for the deep dive. Below, we’ll highlight some of the innovations and specs. THE BEST FEATURES OF THE ALIENWARE AREA-51M We’ll talk about the design first, because you’ll start to see it on future Alienware products as the year progresses. Dell wanted to get away from the bristly, black…

Maybe PC audio is still important after all. At CES 2019, EVGA introduced Nu Audio, its first-ever sound card with claims that it will bring “lifelike gaming” to your ears. EVGA partnered with UK firm AudioNote on the card, which features a six-layer, gold-plated PCB. Making clean audio depends a lot on getting noise-free power, so EVGA uses AudioNote capacitors and resistors in the card as well as a Texas Instruments power-regulation circuit. There’s also German-made WIMA capacitors and AKM 4493 DACS and AKM 5572 ADCs. The card also embeds an XMOS xCORE-200 processor for most of the audio chores on the card. The card can drive large 600 Ohm cans and also supports up to 384KHz, 32-bit audio files. For ports, you get RCA, quarter-inch, and two 3.5mm jacks, plus a…