Dominator
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MSI GT72 Dominator review: a worthy successor to a great gaming notebook
The last time I saw MSI's Dominator laptop, I was sick of it. There wasn't anything wrong with it, but at the time, the product name belonged to the GT70: a powerhouse gaming machine that hasn't evolved much since its introduction in 2012. Back then, I loved the machine's heavy chassis, superb keyboard and excellent sound -- but over time, the machine's aesthetic trappings began to bore me. Someone at MSI must have felt the same way: Earlier this year, the company released the GT72, a new Dominator with a whole new design. Soon after, it relaunched the machine with NVIDIA's latest graphics architecture. OK, MSI, let's see if you can make me fall in love again.
MSI GT70 Dominator review: everything it's supposed to be, not much else
Thin and light gaming notebooks may be a new trend, but they're by and large the exception. Traditional gaming rigs look more like MSI's GT70 Dominator: large, heavy and questionably portable. It's an old-school gaming laptop, one that truly fits the term "desktop replacement." It's also the complete antithesis to the sleek gaming notebooks that have swept the market in recent years. Is bigger still better? Let's find out.
New RIFT trailer showcases the Mage
The destructive might of the elements, the restorative power of life, and dominion over the mind itself: These are just a few of the tools RIFT's Mages have at their disposal. Trion Worlds has released a new trailer showcasing all this and more as the Mage archetype blasts, heals, and controls his way through numerous dangerous situations. The trailer specifically concentrates on three different builds of RIFT's Mage archetype: the damage-dealing Pyromancer, the supportive Chloromancer, and and the controlling Dominator. Each has its own way of tackling the problems that the invading rifts throw out, but the trailer makes it clear that each is equally capable of contributing mightily to the cause. Skip past the cut for the full trailer, and if it happens to inspire in you a desire to manipulate the arcane channels of Telara, keep in mind that RIFT is still running a free trial program.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Zero-sum game
Ever since I started following RIFT, I've been entranced by the wide-open -- but not limitless -- class system. After all, the virtual world and everything populating it is only half the game; the other half resides in the avatar that sticks with you while you explore it all. Many MMOs have interesting ways of letting you build and grow your character, but sooner or later they come to a point where there's little more to be done other than incrementally increasing your stats by gaining better gear. Not so with RIFT, as even a level 50 can drop a few coins to shape a completely new build from scratch. No longer are we bound to a rigidly defined creation; we are free to experiment, tinker, and try out these roles to our hearts' content. With RIFT's soul system, there are a few ground rules that everyone learns early in the game. You can have up to three souls in your archetype active at any one time; you can only spend as many points in a build as you have in levels (such as 10 points at level 10); and you'll end up with 66 points at level 50, which means that you'll at least dabble in a second soul tree with every build. And while you can certainly spread soul points across all three trees, today I wanted to look at the benefits of a zero-point soul, the "third wheel," if you will, of builds.
Exclusive: A look at RIFT's Dominator
Mages in RIFT are not particularly nice people. Admittedly, that's not speaking to their character so much as the souls available to them, but between the corpse-raising Necromancers, entropy-spreading Warlocks, and strength-leeching Archons, the precedent has been set. And today's reveal of the Dominator isn't going to change that image, even though it's a soul quite likely to make a number of new friends. But those friends may or may not be willing companions. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, even if you have little to no intention of letting your opponent use it. That's the Dominator philosophy in a nutshell, with a number of abilities designed to confuse, terrify, and control opponents. Although physically fragile, the Dominator will hopefully be in a position where none of his opponents are still coherent enough to take advantage of physical weakness. Take a look at more lore and ability details on RIFT's latest soul past the break, and check back tomorrow for our last soul reveal. %Gallery-101448%
Corsair pushes speed envelope with 2,333MHz Dominator GTX RAM modules
Corsair and speed generally run in the same circles, so it follows logic to see said memory outfit cranking out the planet's fastest Intel XMP-certified RAM. The 2,333MHz Dominator GTX now has Intel's stamp of approval, and it easily surpasses the company's 2,000MHz stuff that was king of the castle just yesterday. As the story goes, each module is "hand screened" and tested to the hilt before being shipped to end users, which apparently explains the $200 per 2GB stick that you'll be asked to lay down. Speed kills... the wallet.
XCM Dominator joystick for PlayStation 3 ships next week for $89.99
Well tell ya, these cats at XCM really know how to craft some irresistible gear. After making us wait seven painstaking months for a new gadget to drool over, the creators of the Mega-Cool component-to-VGA converter have announced that the Dominator Joystick for PlayStation 3 is all set to ship next week. The highly programmable arcade-style stick includes a Combo Attacker and Rapid Fire mode for borderline cheating, and the four memory buttons enable macros to be stored and kept at arm's reach. Of course, a gaming joystick wouldn't be a gaming joystick without a superabundance of blue LEDs, so you'll certainly find those there as well. You can toss in your pre-order now if you'd like, but make sure you've got $89.99 free and clear before doing so.[Via Slashgear]
Corsair's Peltier memory cooler gets demonstrated
Corsair's Dominator memory can apparently get quite hot, particularly if the overclocking bug catches you right. If a product shown off at CES hits the commercial market, however, everything is sure to stay cool. The Peltier cooling device is expected to play nice with second-gen Dominator modules, and when attached to existing heatsinks it can be used to cool a larger heat block in pretty much any water cooling setup. We know, you're probably scratching your head, but hop on past the break for a quick video demonstration.[Thanks, Ryan]
HP's Blackbird 002 gets exclusive configuration for retail launch
Just because you haven't seen one on every street corner doesn't mean that HP's Blackbird 002 gaming rig hasn't been around the block a time or two. Still, those of you who haven't found the nerve (or spare change) to pull the trigger can look forward to being tempted even more this summer. Starting soon, the Blackbird 002 will be available in an exclusive configuration at Amazon, NewEgg and select Best Buy, Circuit City, J&R and Micro Center locations. This launch marks the first time the unit has sashayed into B&M outlets, and packed within will be an Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 processor, dual NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT graphics cards, 4GB of Corsair Dominator RAM, 500GB SATA drive, 7.1-channel onboard HD audio, a 15-in-1 multicard reader, 900-watt power supply and an nForce SLI motherboard with RAID support. Said config will run customers $3,299, and a list of locations from which to buy it will be made available on June 29th.
