‘D&D Beyond’ takes the pen and paper out of tabletop RPGs

Despite all the newfangled ways one can play Dungeons and Dragons, there’s something special about playing it the old fashioned way — in person with a bunch of friends and a geometrical mess of dice. Still, if you want to modernize your tabletop adventure just a little, you’ll have the option soon. Wizards of the Coast just announced that it’s working with Curse to create an official digital toolset designed to replace the pen and paper character sheets of yore.

D&D Beyond isn’t set to launch until sometime this summer, but the pitch is pretty appealing. Players will have access to digital character sheets (complete with capability to manage abilities, skills, level, hit points and more) and a official compendium from smartphones, tablets and PCs. Ultimately, the toolset isn’t poised to change much about how you play the game, but eliminating the need to do paperwork to play definitely sounds like an improvement. D&D Beyond is taking sign-ups for its beta trial right now. Interested? Check out the source link below.

Source: Dungeons and Dragons, D&D Beyond

What’s on TV: ‘Iron Fist,’ ‘Workaholics’ finale and March Madness

Despite some disappointing reviews, the fourth entry in Marvel’s run of Netflix series is here with this week’s debut of Iron Fist. It’s also time for the start of March Madness, so get those brackets filled out and watch all the games across four networks + streaming. Comedy Central also has a big week planned, with the series finale of Workaholics, and the long-awaited third season premiere of one of my favorite shows, Review. Look after the break to check out each day’s highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).

Blu-ray & Games & Streaming

• Passengers (4K, 3D)
• Fences
• Elle
• Collateral Beauty
• Red Dawn
• Solace
• Battlefield 1 – They shall Not Pass (DLC) (Xbox One, PS4)
• Trove (Xbox One, PS4)
• Styx: Shards of Darkness (PC, PS4)
• Dead Rising 4 (PC)
• ATV Renegades (Xbox One, PS4)
• ACA NeoGeo Sengoku (PS4)
• NieR: Automata (PC – 3/17)
• Kona (3/17 – PS4, Xbox One)

Monday

• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• 24: Legacy, Fox, 8PM
• The Bachelor, ABC, 8PM
• Cries from Syria, HBO, 10PM
• The Breaks, VH1, 10PM
• Scorpion, CBS, 10PM
• Bates Motel, A&E, 10PM
• Taken, NBC, 10PM
• Humans, AMC, 10PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Tuesday

• Jim Norton: Mouthful of Shame, Netflix, 3AM
• The Mindy Project, Hulu, 3AM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• The Flash, CW, 8PM
• The Middle, ABC, 8PM
• The Game of Dating, TV One, 8PM
• WWE Smackdown, USA, 8PM
• The Fosters, Freeform, 8PM
• The American Housewife, ABC, 8:30PM
• The Challenge, MTV, 9PM
• Switched at Birth, Freeform, 9PM
• Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
• Outsiders, WGN, 9PM
• This is Us (season finale), NBC, 9PM
• The Real O’Neals (season finale), ABC, 9:30PM
• Trial & Error (series premiere), NBC, 10PM
• The Americans, FX, 10PM
• The Partner, CNBC, 10PM
• People Icons, ABC, 10PM
• The Detour, TBS, 10PM
• Stranded with a Million Dollars, MTV, 10PM
• Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
• Imposters, Bravo, 10PM
• Teachers, TV Land, 10PM
• Detroiters, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Throwing Shade, TV Land, 10:30PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Wednesday

• The Path, Hulu, 3AM
• Catfish, MTV, 8PM
• The Goldbergs, ABC, 8PM
• Arrow, CW,8PM
• Lethal Weapon (season finale), Fox, 8PM
• Survivor, CBS, 8PM
• Speechless, ABC, 8:30PM
• Chicago PD, NBC, 9PM
• The 100, CW, 9PM
• Are You the One? (season finale), MTV, 9PM
• The Magicians, Syfy, 9PM
• Star (season finale), Fox, 9PM
• Major Crimes, TNT, 9PM
• Designated Survivor, ABC, 10PM
• Chicago Justice, NBC, 10PM
• Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, CBS, 10PM
• The Expanse, Syfy, 10PM
• Legion, FX, 10PM
• The Quad, BET, 10PM
• Suits, USA, 10PM
• Time: The Kalief Browder Story, Spike TV, 10PM
• Workaholics (series finale), Comedy Central, 10PM
• Jeff & Some Aliens (season finale), Comedy Central, 10:30PM
• Ripper Street, BBC America, 11PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Thursday

• Beau Sejour (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Snatch (S1), Crackle, 3AM
• Supermansion, Crackle, 3AM
• Supernatural, CW, 8PM
• Grey’s Anatomy, ABC, 8PM
• The Voice, NBC, 8PM
• Superstore, NBC, 8:30PM
• Chicago Med, NBC, 9PM
• Kicking & Screaming, Fox, 9PM
• Scandal, ABC, 9PM
• Review with Forrest Macneil (season premiere), Comedy Central, 10PM
• The Catch, ABC, 10PM
• The Blacklist: Redemption, NBC, 10PM
• Lip Sync Battle, Spike TV, 10PM
• Baskets, FX, 10PM
• Colony, USA, 10PM
• The Blacklist, NBC, 10PM
• Nirvanna the Band the Show, Viceland, 10PM
• Training Day, CBS, 10PM
• Nightwatch, A&E, 10PM
• 2017 MTV Woodies, MTV, 11PM
• Desus & Mero, Viceland, 11PM

Friday

• Marvel’s Iron Fist (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• Pandora, Netflix, 3AM
• Julie’s Greenroom, Netflix, 3AM
• You Are Wanted, Amazon Prime, 3AM
• Samurai Gourmet (S1), Netflix, 3AM
• The Originals (season premiere), CW, 8PM
• Grimm, NBC, 8PM
• Last Man Standing, ABC, 8PM
• Tattoo Age, Viceland, 9PM
• Sleepy Hollow, Fox, 9PM
• SXSW comedy with Natasha Legerro, Showtime, 10PM
• Vice, HBO, 11PM
• Animals. (season premiere), HBO, 11:30PM

Saturday

• Mommy’s Little Boy, Lifetime, 8PM
• Planet Earth II: Grasslands, BBC America, 9PM
• Samurai Jack, Cartoon Network, 11PM

Sunday

• The Good Fight, CBS All Access, 3AM
• The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth (season premiere), Showtime, 8PM
• Top Gear, BBC America, 8PM
• Once Upon a Time, ABC, 8PM
• The Missing, Starz, 8PM
• NCIS: LA, CBS, 8PM
• Making History, Fox, 8:30PM
• Time After Time, ABC 9PM
• Big Little Lies, HBO, 9PM
• Madam Secretary, CBS, 9PM
• The Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
• Black Sails, Starz, 9PM
• Homeland, Showtime, 9PM
• Into the Badlands (season premiere), AMC, 10PM
• American Crime, ABC, 10PM
• Feud: Bette and Joan , FX, 10PM
• Shades of Blue, NBC, 10PM
• Billions, Showtime, 10PM
• Trapped, Viceland, 10PM
• Girls, HBO, 10PM
• Talking Dead, AMC, 11PM
• Crashing, HBO, 10:30PM
• Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, HBO, 11PM

Hack targets a Canadian government website

The Canadian government just suffered an embarrassing online security breach… although it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Officials temporarily took down key parts of two government websites, the tax-oriented Canada Revenue Agency and Statistics Canada, for days after discovering that an unknown entity hacked the statistics bureau’s website. The intruders took advantage of a recent vulnerability in Apache web server software to get in. While the CRA site wasn’t attacked, it shared the same vulnerabilities — the government took down its pages (including online filing and payment systems) as a precaution while applying patches.

The government stresses that the culprit didn’t take any personal or secret information, which would have been extremely damaging for the CRA given its tax role. However, the downtime resulting from the attack couldn’t have come at a worse time for the government and residents alike. The Canadian government’s fiscal year wraps up at the end of March, and most people have to file taxes a month later. If you needed to file taxes early or were hunting for stats to finish a report, you were stuck until officials gave the all clear.

And crucially, the Canadian hack may be a sign of things to come. Officials noted that it’s relatively easy to exploit the Apache security hole, and that there are other countries having a worse time of things. Canada dodged a bullet, to put it another way. While this was troublesome, there’s the potential for future hacks to be far more damaging.

Via: Motherboard, Reuters

Source: CRA, Statistics Canada

Microsoft preps for the official release of Windows 10 Creators Update

Why it matters to you

Windows Insiders will likely get an early look at the Creators Update, with a release candidate due to arrive sometime next week.

Windows 10 is getting closer to its next major update, Creators Update, which is expected to be released next month. Creators Update, as its name implies, focuses on creative professionals, with enhanced 3D support, better Windows Ink functionality, and more — with a nod to gamers with improved PC gaming performance.

If you’re a member of the Windows Insider program, then you’ve been using preview versions of Creators Update for a few months. You’ve likely noticed that the latest builds have focused on fixes rather than new features, and Microsoft is getting ready to give the update its official stamp of approval, as Windows Central reports.

More: Windows 10 users will reportedly receive the Creators Update on April 11

The last Windows Insider Bug Bash, held in February, likely heralded the point at which the Creators Update was considered feature-complete. From that point forward, every new Windows 10 preview build has focused on fixing bugs and polishing up existing features rather than adding new ones.

Now, sources confirm that Microsoft is getting ready to push out a Creators Update release candidate to Windows Insiders, which will give the company some time to test out the build and make sure it’s ready for public release. The release candidate build is expected to arrive next week, with a target date of April 11 for the PC version of Windows 10 and a few weeks after that for mobile devices and Xbox One.

Once the company finalizes the update with a release candidate, all of the bugs that Windows Insiders identify will be held for an update release that will launch soon after the Creators Update officially arrives. Windows Insiders can continue to install preview builds for as long as they want, and they can drop out of the program and remain on the production version once the update has installed on their machines.

Once Creators Update is up and running, then the process starts all over again. Windows Insiders will start receiving builds of Redstone 3, the next update expected to arrive at the end of 2017, which is expected to bring significant changes to the Windows 10 user interface and could be a more significant change than Creators Update.

Brilliant retroreflective sunglasses bamboozle facial-recognition algorithms

Why it matters to you

We live under a constant state of surveillance, but these clever glasses might help you stay hidden when you want a little privacy.

If you live in an urban area, you also live in a state of constant surveillance. Security cameras watch over every street corner and bus stop you visit, traffic cameras watch you pass through intersections on your way to work, and every person you pass by has a smartphone that’s ready to be whipped out at a moment’s notice. The average person is caught on camera over 70 times per day, and thanks to advances in facial-recognition tech, it’s now possible for governments and private corporations to not only recognize us, but also cross-reference our faces with other personal data found online.

Whether you like it or not, you are being watched — but that’s not to say there’s nothing you can do about it. There’s a new set of spectacles on Kickstarter that might help you bamboozle even the most sophisticated facial-recognition tech.

The Eko shades, as they’re called, are rimmed with a type of retroreflective material that bounces light back to exactly where it came from. Most surfaces reflect light by diffusing or scattering it in all directions, but this material is specially designed to reflect light back at the exact same angle as it arrived from. If caught in flash photography, Eko will send most of the light directly back to the camera’s sensor. In most cases, this will likely result in an image that’s underexposed for everything but the rims of your glasses — thereby making it much more difficult for facial-recognition software to identify you.

More: Bye-bye bifocals: These smart specs use liquid lenses to focus at any distance

The only downside, however, is that this clever design probably won’t help much for any camera that doesn’t require a flash, which means you’re still not safe from most security cams. The design certainly isn’t flawless, but it makes up for those shortcomings with a reasonable price. You can currently get your hands on a pair of Eko shades for about $45 on Kickstarter — which isn’t half bad for a set of stylish spectacles that’ll obscure your mug next time you roll through an intersection, or fuzz out your face when the guy sitting in front of you starts snapping selfies on the bus.

Instrumments 01 measuring tool: Our first take

There’s a finite limit to the number of ways you can measure an object, but some are more labor intensive than others. Take a tape measure, for instance: You’ve got to grab hold of one end tightly and extend the retractable end, all the while trying to maintain a semblance of perpendicularity against the fixture you’re trying to measure. It’s enough to give even the most seasoned contractor an ulcer.

But technology’s here to help. Enter the 01, an ultra-compact, pen-shaped measurement tool by Canadian startup Instrumments. It has an enticing promise: The ability to measure the sorts of obtuse angles and contoured edges that conventional rulers and calipers can’t.

More: Startup Instrumments’ 01 measuring tool measures curved surfaces

It’s a lot to deliver, but in our short time with a pre-production 01, we were impressed by what the little measuring tool could do.

It may look like a pen, but it does a lot more

A little background: The 01, which doubles as a refillable pen, packs a high-tech multi-sensor capable of recording the surface profile of objects. A rubberized wheel on the topmost axle handles measuring duties, and a red laser near the tip serves as a visual alignment guide.

Instrumments put a lot of care into the measuring pen’s design. The 01’s aluminum frame feels solid in the hand and comfortable in the palm, and that polish extends down to the packaging. The 01 ships in tightly padded foam casing, and comes with a hard-cover instruction manual with graphics that explain the setup and pairing processes. The attention to detail isn’t terribly surprising — Barbaric founded the design studio Pearl, and served as the industrial designer for the Misfit Shine fitness tracker and Empatica Embrace seizure detector.

Those measurements get sent to your phone. The 01 pairs to an Android or iOS device via Bluetooth and populates the Instrumments companion app with real-time length data, producing a reassuring, audible clicking noise as it rolls. The minimalist app lets you switch between metric (millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer) and U.S. (inch, foot, yard, and mile) measurements, and saves those measurements in a log for later perusal.

A paid, $10 a month subscription will soon unlock additional capabilities. The 01 will gain the ability to capture the curves of a 3D object and save that data in a format that modeling programs can understand.

Setup is a cinch. Once the 01’s tiny cylindrical battery is removed from its foam enclosure and placed in the 01’s battery receptacle, the unit powers on right away. We didn’t have any trouble activating the 01’s Bluetooth pairing mode or getting the companion app to recognize it. Minutes later, we were measuring every office nick knack within reach.

A new way to measure with a few quirks

We put the 01 through the wringer, rolling the diminutive measuring tool over a table, computer monitor, several chairs, smartphones, and our reviewer’s arm and palm. Subsequent measurements of the same objects produced results within millimeters of each other, and impressively, the 01 never once crashed or lost Bluetooth connectivity over the course of a workday afternoon.

We found some of the 01’s features particularly nifty. The laser can be programmed to blink at predetermined increments to help space measurements equally. The app can automatically translate scaled quantities on a map or drawing to real-time units, which is presumably useful if you’re working with blueprints.

If the 01 has a fatal flaw, it’s consistency. It may be accurate to within 01.mm, but the 01’s rubber wheel is extremely difficult to keep on a steady trajectory. It’s impossible to roll the wheel in a perfectly straight line. Barbaric said that the 01’s software compensates for errors by straightening out wavering lines, but for ultra-precise applications where millimeters matter, it’s probably best to break out a meter stick.

More: Consumer project measurement tasks could become easier with Plott’s Cubit

Ultimately, the 01 doesn’t clear the sky-high bar set by its advertising, but when it comes to a measuring tool that can get around angles and curved edges, there may not be a better — or more cost-effective — solution out there.

The 01 raised $464,000 on IndieGoGo, and in February, the 01 went on sale in London. It starts at $150, or an additional $30 for an optional leather case.

The 01’s replacement batteries, which last up to six months, are $20 for a two-pack, and Instrumments is selling non-proprietary ink and lead refills in three-packs for $16. You can read all about it and order one on Instrumments’ website.

Highs

• Polished app with useful features
• High build quality
• Works as advertised

Lows

• Expensive for what you get
• Requires a subscription to unlock additional features
• Produces inconsistent results

Instrumments 01 measuring tool: Our first take

There’s a finite limit to the number of ways you can measure an object, but some are more labor intensive than others. Take a tape measure, for instance: You’ve got to grab hold of one end tightly and extend the retractable end, all the while trying to maintain a semblance of perpendicularity against the fixture you’re trying to measure. It’s enough to give even the most seasoned contractor an ulcer.

But technology’s here to help. Enter the 01, an ultra-compact, pen-shaped measurement tool by Canadian startup Instrumments. It has an enticing promise: The ability to measure the sorts of obtuse angles and contoured edges that conventional rulers and calipers can’t.

More: Startup Instrumments’ 01 measuring tool measures curved surfaces

It’s a lot to deliver, but in our short time with a pre-production 01, we were impressed by what the little measuring tool could do.

It may look like a pen, but it does a lot more

A little background: The 01, which doubles as a refillable pen, packs a high-tech multi-sensor capable of recording the surface profile of objects. A rubberized wheel on the topmost axle handles measuring duties, and a red laser near the tip serves as a visual alignment guide.

Instrumments put a lot of care into the measuring pen’s design. The 01’s aluminum frame feels solid in the hand and comfortable in the palm, and that polish extends down to the packaging. The 01 ships in tightly padded foam casing, and comes with a hard-cover instruction manual with graphics that explain the setup and pairing processes. The attention to detail isn’t terribly surprising — Barbaric founded the design studio Pearl, and served as the industrial designer for the Misfit Shine fitness tracker and Empatica Embrace seizure detector.

Those measurements get sent to your phone. The 01 pairs to an Android or iOS device via Bluetooth and populates the Instrumments companion app with real-time length data, producing a reassuring, audible clicking noise as it rolls. The minimalist app lets you switch between metric (millimeter, centimeter, meter, kilometer) and U.S. (inch, foot, yard, and mile) measurements, and saves those measurements in a log for later perusal.

A paid, $10 a month subscription will soon unlock additional capabilities. The 01 will gain the ability to capture the curves of a 3D object and save that data in a format that modeling programs can understand.

Setup is a cinch. Once the 01’s tiny cylindrical battery is removed from its foam enclosure and placed in the 01’s battery receptacle, the unit powers on right away. We didn’t have any trouble activating the 01’s Bluetooth pairing mode or getting the companion app to recognize it. Minutes later, we were measuring every office nick knack within reach.

A new way to measure with a few quirks

We put the 01 through the wringer, rolling the diminutive measuring tool over a table, computer monitor, several chairs, smartphones, and our reviewer’s arm and palm. Subsequent measurements of the same objects produced results within millimeters of each other, and impressively, the 01 never once crashed or lost Bluetooth connectivity over the course of a workday afternoon.

We found some of the 01’s features particularly nifty. The laser can be programmed to blink at predetermined increments to help space measurements equally. The app can automatically translate scaled quantities on a map or drawing to real-time units, which is presumably useful if you’re working with blueprints.

If the 01 has a fatal flaw, it’s consistency. It may be accurate to within 01.mm, but the 01’s rubber wheel is extremely difficult to keep on a steady trajectory. It’s impossible to roll the wheel in a perfectly straight line. Barbaric said that the 01’s software compensates for errors by straightening out wavering lines, but for ultra-precise applications where millimeters matter, it’s probably best to break out a meter stick.

More: Consumer project measurement tasks could become easier with Plott’s Cubit

Ultimately, the 01 doesn’t clear the sky-high bar set by its advertising, but when it comes to a measuring tool that can get around angles and curved edges, there may not be a better — or more cost-effective — solution out there.

The 01 raised $464,000 on IndieGoGo, and in February, the 01 went on sale in London. It starts at $150, or an additional $30 for an optional leather case.

The 01’s replacement batteries, which last up to six months, are $20 for a two-pack, and Instrumments is selling non-proprietary ink and lead refills in three-packs for $16. You can read all about it and order one on Instrumments’ website.

Highs

• Polished app with useful features
• High build quality
• Works as advertised

Lows

• Expensive for what you get
• Requires a subscription to unlock additional features
• Produces inconsistent results

Tag Heuer will launch new Connected smartwatch with Android 2.0 on Tuesday

Why it matters to you

If you’re looking to get your hands on an Android 2.0 watch as soon as possible, Luxury Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer will be among the first to offer one.

Luxury Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer is gearing up to release a new smartwatch. Company CEO Jean-Claude Biver confirmed to Switzerland’s Neue Zürcher Zeitung recently that the firm’s second-generation watch, the as-yet-unnamed follow-up to the Tag Heuer Carrera Connected, is expected to launch as soon as Tuesday, during a live-stream that will begin at 7 a.m. ET.

Watch the announcement live, tomorrow at 12:00pm CET on Youtube https://t.co/ZAUEc8i9eq #ConnectedToEternity pic.twitter.com/oA2UvFesmB

— TAG Heuer (@TAGHeuer) March 13, 2017

In 2015, Biver suggested Tag Heuer would release a second-generation Connected smartwatch by the end of 2016 or the beginning of 2017, and the company’s sticking to that promise. Biver revealed precious little about the forthcoming watch’s design, but said that it will boast GPS tracking accurate to within one meter, better wireless reception, a higher-capacity battery, NFC, and a “more powerful” display.

More: February 9 may be Android Wear 2.0’s big release day

It will be one of the first to ship with Android Wear 2.0, the next-generation of the Google operating system. Standout features include the ability to run stand-alone apps, meaning the watch won’t have to be connected to a phone all the time. Improved input options will make it easier to respond to texts and messages. Support for Android Pay will enable contactless payments.

The new smartwatch will also come in a smaller size aimed at women. It will be made in collaboration with Intel, won’t carry Tag Heuer’s “Swiss Made” label, and will come in a range of colors and finishes. The watch housing and design is undergoing finishing touches in Switzerland, Biver said.

Biver wasn’t willing to spill the beans on the smartwatch’s price tag, but it won’t be cheap if the company’s last-generation entry is any indication. The Connected retailed for $1,500.

More: Swarovski partnering with Qualcomm, Google on an Android Wear smartwatch

It also isn’t clear if the company will extend the same exchange offer it did to buyers of the Connected. For an additional $1,500, Connected owners can pop into a Tag Heuer dealer and swap the smartwatch out for a mechanical Carrera watch.

Biver revealed that the Connected has sold briskly. Tag Heuer has shipped 56,000 units so far, besting the company’s projection of 20,000 units and reinforcing reports in 2016 that select retailers carrying the watch couldn’t keep it in stock. The company increased production of the watch from 1,200 per week to 2,000 in order to keep up with demand, Biver said.

The company isaiming to ship more than 150,000 in 2017 as it reconstitutes a greater share of production resources to smartwatches.

More: Expect more smartwatches and wearables this year, Qualcomm executive says

At the 2016 launch event for the Connected, Biver called the watch “a new chapter in wearable devices” and the first “premium” smartwatch. It was distinctive for its design, which paid homage to Tag Heuer’s classic mechanical Swiss watches with a grade 2 titanium dial of numbers that encircle the screen.

But there is now far more competition on the market. Luxury brand Movado launched the Movado Motion and Bold Motion in late 2015. Fossil took the wraps off new high-end watches at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. And Swarovski plans to launch a smartwatch at this year’s Baselworld conference.

Put simply, Tag Heuer has its work cut out for it.

Updated on 03-13-2017 by Christian de Looper: Added tweet saying that Tag Heuer will launch a new watch during a live-stream on March 14.

The Aukey KM-G3 mechanical keyboard is just $49 for a short time

Many gamers, writers, and others who spend considerable amounts of time at their computers will preach the importance of choosing a quality keyboard, particularly one that features old-school mechanical switches rather than the “rubber dome” system that most modern designs use. If you need a new mechanical keyboard or if you use a standard model and want to upgrade, then Amazon is offering the Aukey KM-G3 mechanical keyboard for $49 with the checkout code AUKRGBG3, giving you a combined discount of $31 for a limited time.

Mechanical keyboards like the Aukey KM-G3 are popular and highly regarded for the increased precision and improved tactile feel that mechanical switches provide. When you type on most standard modern keyboards, each key presses down on a rubber dome switch attached to a single-piece membrane. While efficient and cost-saving, this dome design can give the keys a “squishy” feel when compared to a mechanical keyboard where each key uses its own complete mechanical switch. This gives mechanical keyboards their characteristic springy feel and clicking sound which many users find to be very satisfying.

More: Why mechanical keyboards aren’t just for geeks anymore

The Aukey KM-G3 mechanical keyboard uses blue switches in each of its 104 keys, making it a good all-around option for general typing due to the significant tactile feel and audible feedback that blue switches offer. The keys on the KM-G3 are also backlit for easy typing in the dark, while 10 lighting effects, seven different colors, and five gaming pre-sets let you customize the appearance to your liking.

The Aukey KM-G3 mechanical keyboard is a solid and affordable option even at its discounted price of $65, but the limited-time coupon code AUKRGBG3 saves you even more money by bringing the price down to just $49 at checkout. Aukey is a popular manufacturer of computer peripherals and the KM-G3 has earned solid reviews all around, so if you’re shopping for a good mechanical keyboard then be sure to snag this deal before it expires.

Buy it for $49 on Amazon with code ‘AUKRGBG3’

AMD Ryzen 7 1700 review

Research Center:
AMD Ryzen 7 1700

AMD is back — again. This time it’s Ryzen, a new processor line that’s a fresh start for not just the Red Team’s architecture, but its perception, as well. These powerful chips start at eight cores and sixteen more conventional threads, aiming to compete in an area where Intel charged a premium.

That means the $329 Ryzen 7 1700, the most budget-friendly of the line, is the chip most likely to draw users from those looking at Intel’s Core i7 Kaby Lake chips — specifically, the crowd favorite Intel Core i7-7700K. That’s a big ask, considering Intel’s current market position and prevalence in desktops and laptops alike.

With the odds stacked against it, the humble Ryzen 7 1700 hopes to escape the shadow of the flagship Ryzen 7 1800X by redefining value and multi-core performance. Does it pull off the task?

Ryzen to the challenge

This may be one of the first chips to feature AMD’s new Zen architecture, but the flagship chip is the Ryzen 7 1800X. For a full breakdown of the new architecture and chipset design and feature set, make sure to head over to our 1800X review.

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

Bill Roberson/Digital Trends

There are some key differences between the high-end 1800X and the more modest Ryzen 7 1700. The lack of an “X” at the end of its SKU signifies it’s missing Extended Frequency Range. This feature falls somewhere between Intel’s Turbo Boost and an auto-overclock in concept, squeezing a bit of extra clock speed from Ryzen when thermals and power allows. Without it, the 1700 maxes out at its stated Precision Boost speed (unless you overclock it, of course).

More: AMD Ryzen 7 1800X review

Perhaps more importantly, the Ryzen 7 1700 only has a 65-watt Thermal Design Power, compared to the 95-watt TDP found on the 1700X and 1800X. Total power draw tends to have a noticeable effect on performance, and on a chip’s overclocking ability. With such watered-down numbers, the Ryzen 7 1700 is starting to look less appealing.

Close behind the pack

The Ryzen 7 1700’s obvious competitor is Intel’s Core i7-7700K, which retails for around $350. That’s at the top end of what we’d recommend for most users anyway, and right off the bat, the Intel chip claims a 4.2GHz base clock — a full 500MHz faster than the Ryzen’s boost clock.

But it isn’t a fair fight. More cores means lower speed across the board, and the Ryzen 7 1700 doubles the Core i7-7700K’s core count, so each core in the AMD chip runs quite a bit slower. The Ryzen 7 1700 boasts a 4MB L2 cache, and a 16MB L3 cache, over twice the 8MB of Smart Cache found in the Intel offering. There are minor advantages on both sides, so let’s see how things shake out.

We’re running a wider than average suite of tests on these chips, which should give us a better idea of where each processor excels. In addition to the typical GeekBench synthetic test and Handbrake 4K conversion, we’re also running Cinebench R15, 7-Zip’s built-in benchmarking tool, and the Octane and Kraken browsing tests, both run in Chrome.

The Ryzen 7 1700 offers the best value of any of AMD’s new chips.

As you might expect, the Ryzen chips’ extra cores allow them to take a strong lead in any test that makes efficient use of them. The Ryzen 7 1700 steals a victory from its rival, the Core i7-7700K, in both the GeekBench 4 multi-core test, and the 7-Zip compression/decompression task.

It can’t keep up with Intel’s Core i7-6950X of course, but it doesn’t go down without a fight. Particularly when you consider the Ryzen’s price point, which is less than one fifth the Intel flagship. Even somewhat competitive performance is a pleasant surprise.

Of course, one of the biggest questions about Ryzen is whether it fits into the gaming world, or whether Intel still has a stranglehold on that market.

A player, but not the champion

PC gaming remains one of the most prominent uses of high-end hardware in home systems, and unfortunately for AMD, it’s also a task that rarely uses more than four cores. That means the sprawling Ryzen 7 1700 is at a disadvantage, and the Core i7-7700K’s higher clock speed packs a lot more punch.

Depending on the title, the difference between the two is either a wash, or an advantage for the Intel Core i7-7700K. It’s much more prominent in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI than it is in more graphics-heavy games like For Honor. The 3DMark synthetic Time Spy test is almost a tie from all sides, which is evidence that neither chip is a bottleneck for the GPU.

More: Digital Storm Velox (Kaby Lake) review

However, the overall victory here goes to the Intel Core i7-7700K, depending on the game. Most modern games don’t use more than four cores, and the Intel Core i7-7700K’s first four are faster than the Ryzen 7 1700’s. If gaming is all you plan on doing with your system, it’s hard to argue Intel’s Core lineup aren’t still a better choice.

Push it to the limit

Pushing a chip outside its normal performance boundaries has long been a pursuit of the tinkerer looking to squeeze more productivity out of their hardware. AMD’s Ryzen Master, which you can read about more on our Ryzen 7 1800X review, has taken the process out of the BIOS, which can be daunting for the uninitiated, and brought it into an easy to use piece of software.

We slowly bumped the clock speed and voltage on our Ryzen 7 1700 until we felt we had reached a stable 3,850MHz overclock. We might’ve been able to push higher by bumping the voltage further, but at 1.35V, we were starting to get nervous about frying this low-power chip. We’re using a Noctua NH-U12S to cool the chip, a beefy air cooler with a generous heatsink and 120mm fan.

Our Ryzen 7 1800X chip sits a little higher, at 3,975MHz, and where we have them, we’ve included results from the 4.4GHz overclocked Core i7-6950X in the Origin Millenium, and the overclocked 5.0GHz Intel Core i7-7700K in the Digital Storm Velox.

More: Origin Millennium (2016) review

After overclocking the snot out of the Ryzen 7 1700, performance improves dramatically. The chip immediately picks up the energy level and joins the peloton. Depending on the workload, the chip now manages to trade a few blows with even its older sibling, the Ryzen 7 1800X.

We’re not saying it’s a better chip in all situations, but it’s hard to argue with the value proposition here. For once, spending less and putting in a few minutes tweaking the software could save you some serious benefit. AMD recently sent us a massive 240mm EK closed loop liquid cooler as well, so be on the lookout for even more extreme benchmarking results on the Ryzen 7 1700.

Warranty

The Ryzen chips include a three-year warranty, which is similar to the Intel Core i7-7700K, and an industry standard. It doesn’t cover damage from overclocking or improper installation, so take it slow if you decide to lift the hood.

Our Take

Why spend more? As it turns out, AMD’s Ryzen 7 1700 offers the best value of any of the new chips at just $329, provided you’re willing to roll up your sleeves and spend a little time overclocking. Thankfully, AMD has made the process dead simple, which is sure to help convert would-be tinkerers into masters of speed. The extra cores may not count when it comes to gaming, but there are a lot of folks out there with home workstations and video editing rigs for whom this chip is an excellent fit.

Is there a better alternative?

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Samsung 960 EVO Series 250 GB

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Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB RAM

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Corsair Hydro Series cooler

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MSI X370 motherboard

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Intel’s Core i7-7700K still beats out the Ryzen 7 1700 for the same price point, at least in some tests, and is likely the best choice for most users looking for high-end consumer hardware, at least when it comes to gaming. If your workload involves highly-optimized tasks, including video encoding and editing, streaming, or computational tasks, the Ryzen 7 1700 takes a lead, particularly if you spend the time overclocking it — which you absolutely should. It just depends on your workload.

How long will it last?

We have no reason to doubt that the Ryzen 7 1700 will last just as long, if not longer, than competing chips from Intel. The extra cores will only become more relevant as processors with that many threads become more common, and as developers work to expand workloads past more common four core systems. Beyond that, AMD has promised to continue supporting and releasing products for the AM4 chipset until at least 2020, which gives you an even better upgrade path.

Should you buy it?

Yes, if your workload consists of more than just gaming. Most moderns games have little use for anything beyond four cores, so the sacrifices you make in clock speed and single-threaded optimization for more threads doesn’t mean a whole lot. If you often find yourself encoding video, rendering objects, streaming, or running computational tasks outside the GPU, the Ryzen 7 1700 offers a healthy boost to performance without the same costs associated with extra cores on the Intel side of the aisle.