Welcome to 2014 - GOTY Awards, Tapatalk, CPU Benchmarks and Stand News

Submitted by skipclarke on 24 January, 2014 - 16:03

WSGF News

It's been a while since the last site newsletter. I wanted to take some time to let everyone know about some big updates to the site. In upcoming newsletters we'll get back to regular updates of new game entries into the database.

2013 Game of the Year

We have opened voting for our 2013 GOTY awards. For a game to be considered, it has to get Gold Medal Certification in Widescreen, Multi-Monitor and 21:9. We have three polls open for your vote - Game of the Year, Mainstream Dev of the Year, and Indie Dev of the Year.

Tapatalk

A few months ago we installed the Tapatalk plugin on the site forums, and a few of us have been testing it during that time. It works well, and we hope you'll take to using it on your mobile devices. We haven't figured out how to get the little banner to pop up, when you are browsing on a mobile device. Even without that you can download the Tapatalk app and get an optimized mobile experience.

CPU/APU Benchmarks and Reviews

We also spent considerable time at the end of 2013 putting out two large review/benchmark articles. The first was a review of the AMD "Richland" and "Trinity" APUs, for consideration as a "Steam Box". I tested eight games that fit my use case of creating a living room PC for myself and the kids to use.

The second article was a 10-Way CPU Gaming Shootout. The goal was to look at different CPU/APUs (10 of them), and how they performed with a variety of video cards (3 different cards), in both 1080p single screen and 1080p Eyefinity. And each of these configurations was tested for three different games, for a total of 180 different test scenarios.

The goal was to provide an insight into how best to match a CPU and GPU, and to ensure you're getting the best bang for your buck. Overbuying CPU often means no discernable difference in gaming, and robs money that you could spend on a better GPU - where the investment really pays off.

I'm working on an update to both articles. I have some of the first Kaveri chips, and will be repeating my "Steam Box" tests, in addition to looking at some cool mini cases. I will also be testing the APU on more mainstream "AAA" titles to see how it fairs.

For the CPU shoot-out, I'm updating the article for CrossFire configurations, as well as the AMD R9 290. I've also received some of the very high end AMD FX processors to test as well.

WSGF Stand Availability

As you will be aware, we have been out of stock on the WSGF Ultimate and Triple XL stands since early November. There were some unforeseen delays with shipping - both overseas, and in country. Those are all sorted, and while delayed, the stands are the hands of Ergotech.

Ergotech has agreed to ship all existing backorders direct to customers. This will shave about a week off the arrival time, and help make up for some of the delay. The balance of the stands (we've already sold through more than 1/3 of the new shipment) will arrive in my possession shortly. Any new orders will ship in early February, after I have received the new stock. Status is updated through this forum thread.

New Stand Options

We are also updating our Options for 2014. We are adding two new options to the store. The first is a short pole wall mount kit, which will compliment the existing tall pole wall mount kit. This new option will allow users of the Freedom Triple or Triple XL stands to wall mount with a pole of the proper length.

Additionally, I have been prototyping and testing a new option for through-desk mounting. I have designed a plate which fits under the desk, and bolts through the desk, into the mounting collar (which is removed from the base) and the monitor pole. This new option provides an excellent footprint for weight distribution, excellent stability and a clean lines once installed. The plate is made at a local machine shop, from an up-cycled piece of PEEK organic polymer. Purchasing this part supports both the environment and local businesses.

We recently (and surprisingly) found out that Ergotech had discontinued the ICE Cube. They are working on a replacement, but that is still several months off. I've tried to find a suitable replacement - looking both at off-the-shelf items, as well as mods. In the end I couldn't find a suitable replacement for sale, but gluing a surge protector to a couple of the cable clips looks to be a good substitute.

Given the lack of a suitable replacement, we are not going to offer an interim power option while we wait on the new ICE Cube to be released. We are however going to combine the short cable kit and cable clip kit into one option, and we are going to add some additional clips if you'd like to mount a surge protector on your stand.

You can get all of the details in the set of YouTube videos we've loaded.

Connect & Support

There are may ways to keep up to date with the WSGF, and support us in our efforts. Over this past week we hit 1k likes on Facebook, and 1k subscribers on YouTube. Spread the word with your gamer friends about the WSGF.