Tech News

  • Introducing the EVGA SR-3 DARK Motherboard

    The DARK rises again. Not content to merely shatter records and competition in the consumer market, the EVGA SR-3 DARK merges two extreme performance lines of EVGA motherboards to bring balance to the force with exceptional performance and engineering.

    Featuring the Intel® C622 chipset, hexa-channel memory support, 23 phase power design, 16-layer PCB, dual-10GbE LAN ports, a waterblock to passively or actively cool the DARK’s VRM, and so much more, this board is packed with everything and is still compact enough to fit in a full E-ATX form factor

    With the EVGA SR-3 DARK, you don't need to see its identification to know that the next evolution of the X299 and Z390 DARK motherboards features the latest improvements for performance and enthusiast needs.

    16-Layer PCB
    A 16-layer high-speed E-ATX PCBA with gold-plated shielded edge enhances stability for heavy loads, improved overclocking, and durability for today's extreme cooling hardware.

    Highly-Efficient 24-Phase PWM
    The SR-3 DARK features a 24-phase Digital VRM (18 VCore, 1 VSA, 1 VCCIO, 4 VDDR) for the cleanest, most stable power design to ensure that you're ready for Intel’s 28-core XEON® W-3175X Processor.

    300% Higher Gold Content in CPU Socket
    Higher volume of precious metal (300% Gold) used in the Narrow 30u socket creates lower contact resistance, resulting in better power delivery.

    Intel® sSATA to Mini-SAS 6Gb/s Port
    The Intel® C622 PCH supports 10 SATA 6Gb/s drives, including an additional 4 ports through a mini-SAS connector located behind the SATA Ports. The controller also supports NCQ, TRIM, hot swap capability, and RAID levels 0/1/5/10.

    PCIe Disable Switches
    The SR-3 DARK offers PCIe disable switches to quickly shut off PCIe slots to troubleshoot or restore used resources without the need to physically uninstall hardware.

    Triple BIOS Select Switch
    Switch between up to 3 different BIOS ROMs for overclocking, benching, 24/7 use, or anything you can think of.

    SW Slow Mode Switch
    Changes the CPU Ratio to the minimum CPU ratio in real-time for stability purposes or to reduce heat/power usage between long benching sessions.

    ProbeIT Connectors
    Attach your Digital Multimeter to the included ProbeIT adapter and monitor all your voltages in real-time.

    Creative Core3D Audio
    Creative 5.1 Channel Audio with output amplifiers – the industry standard for audio quality.

    Safeboot Button
    Pressing this button will restart the system and launch into the BIOS at safe setting, while keeping the same settings when you previously left the BIOS. Handy for those times when the board fails to POST, but you only need to make one or two changes to fix it!

  • SK hynix to Introduce Consumer PCIe NVMe SSDs at CES 2020

    Seoul, Korea – December 27, 2019 – SK hynix Inc. (or “the Company,” www.skhynix.com), a global semiconductor maker based in Korea, is set to introduce its newest offering of “Gold P31” and “Platinum P31” PCIe NVMe Solid State Drives (SSDs) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020, which will be held on January 7–10 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The drives are built with SK hynix’s 128-layer 4D NAND flash, only six months after the Company announced the mass production of the world’s first and highest vertical stack for NAND flash, demonstrating the chipmaker’s technological edge.

    As a leading manufacturer of memory chips, SK hynix builds and supplies its own DRAM and NAND flash devices, as well as SSD controllers designed and developed in-house. The company has a proven track record as a major supplier to global OEMs including top-tier PC makers, who have trusted and purchased SK hynix’s SSDs for nearly a decade now. As a next step, SK hynix is now expanding into the consumer market with its newest drives.

    “SK hynix’s new SSDs were built as premier solutions for users seeking advanced performance to run multimedia tools and the most demanding of PC games,” said a company spokesperson. “We are excited to introduce SK hynix’s Gold S31 SATA, Gold P31 PCIe, and Platinum P31 PCIe SSDs for the first time at CES, at a time when the brand continues to expand its presence in the United States.”

    The new Gold P31 and Platinum P31 PCIe SSDs will be on display at SK hynix’s booth #13529 in the Las Vegas Convention Center’s Central LLCC Hall. Before this newest addition, SK hynix launched “SuperCore” series of consumer SSDs starting with Gold S31, the 2.5-inch SATA III SSD offering the industry’s best-in-class speed and reliability, available on Amazon in the U.S.

    About SK hynix
    SK hynix Inc., headquartered in Korea, is a top-tier semiconductor maker that offers DRAM, NAND flash, and CMOS Image Sensors (CIS) for a wide range of renowned electronics makers across the world. The company’s shares are traded on the Korea Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxemburg Stock Exchange. Further information on SK hynix is available at https://www.skhynix.com and https://news.skhynix.com.

  • Thermaltake View 51 Tempered Glass ARGB Edition Full-Tower Chassis

    Taipei, Taiwan-January 3rd, 2020-Thermaltake, the leading PC DIY premium brand for Cooling, Gaming Gear, and Enthusiast Memory solutions, is thrilled to announce a new member of the View Series chassis - the View 51 Tempered Glass ARGB Edition full-tower chassis coming in both black and white versions.

    The I/O ports are positioned vertically on the right side of the front panel with tempered glass windows on its left, showing the two preinstalled 200mm ARGB fans, which work with the one 120mm ARGB fan on the rear side creating the perfect airflow. With a press of the RGB button alongside the I/O ports, the RGB fans can sync with motherboards from ASUS, MSI, GIGABYTE, and ASRock to display your own lightshow. View 51 TG’s magical interior space design serves outstanding liquid cooling expansions and advanced cable management. This well-engineered full-tower chassis utilizes a swing-out side panel and a total of three 4mm tempered glass panels allow its users to demonstrate their DIY handwork and showcase their internal components. With the support of the latest architecture, the View 51 TG ARGB Edition is not only fascinating in its appearance but provides endless possibilities for pc lovers.

    For more details on Thermaltake View 51 Tempered Glass ARGB Edition Full-Tower Chassis , please visit:

    White- https://www.thermaltake.com/view-51-tempered-glass-argb-snow-edition.html
    Black- https://www.thermaltake.com/view-51-tempered-glass-argb-edition.html

  • Happy New Year from Hardware Asylum

    So, funny story

    Back in the early days of Hardware Asylum which can be best said as “When Hardware Asylum as actually Ninjalane” I would do a short holiday post.  For the fourth of July I might do a digit check to ensure everyone had all their fingers and toes and for Christmas and New Years I might congratulate fellow hardware enthusiasts on another successful year of great computer building.

    I would have to look but, I’m pretty sure I haven’t done that since Hardware Asylum launched and I’m feeling pretty bad about that.  No sense of community, no giving back and I’d like to change that.

    Welcome to 2020, I hope this year serves you well and, if you voted for Pedro, all your dreams will come true.

    I have CES 2020 coming up and will be in Vegas for a few days checking out the new tech.  After that I’ll be recording the January Hardware Asylum Podcast and I’ll be publishing a new “State of the Hardware Asylum Address 2020” that none of you will want to miss. 

    Happy New Year from all of us at Hardware Asylum

  • VIPER GAMING by PATRIOT Unleashes VPR100 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x4 RGB Solid State Drive

    FREMONT, CALIFORNIA — Dec. 5th, 2019 — VIPER GAMING by PATRIOT, a trademarked brand of PATRIOT and a global leader in performance memory, solid state drives, and flash storage solutions, is pleased to announce the official launch of the VPR100. The new m.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 x4 RGB solid state drive offers capacities available from 256GB up to 2TB. The VPR100 is targeted to deliver uncompromising speed and performance for intense gaming, overclocking, video content creating, and 3D rendering. Built with the latest Phison E12 PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe controller to bring out lightning-fast sequential Read and Write speeds and OS start-up time. The VPR100 utilizes a low-profile aluminum heatshield that not only dissipates performance-robbing heat but also brilliantly highlights the on-board LEDs making the VPR100 an eye-catching centerpiece of any PC build.

    The VPR100 is the first PCIe m.2 SSD that offers users to customize their RGB illumination through the user-friendly VIPER RGB app 2.1 application. The software equipped with up to five customizable lighting profiles along with eight pre-programmed RGB lighting patterns, including viper, heartbeat, breathing, and more. The user-friendly interface makes it easy for the user to select from the entire RGB spectrum and lighting patterns to match their gaming setup.

    The VPR100 RGB SSD is fully compatible with the many sync software on the market today, including ASUS AURA Sync, GIGABYTE RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and ASRock Polychrome Sync giving users the ultimate RGB control.

    SSD Read and Write speeds are essential metrics when choosing a performance-based NVMe m.2 SSD especially when the system is subjected to heavy workloads like intensive gaming or UHD video editing. The VPR100 offers better performance over traditional non-PCIe storage products and is considerably more compact. The VPR100 delivers exceptional sequential Read and Write performance with up to 3,300 MB/s Read speed on 1TB/2TB model and 2,900MB/s Write speed. The drive provides 4K random-read IOPs up to 700K and random-write IOPs up to 650K on the 1TB/2TB model for exceptional throughput. Performance is enhanced thanks to the structure of the Intelligent SLC (Single Level Cell) caching algorithm, ensuring that data is handled quick and efficient.

    The VPR100 is built with best-in-class components on a 10-layer PCB board for ensuring the best signal integration and excellent stability and an External Thermal Sensor to monitor internal temperatures of the drive and prevent the risk of overheating. It aims to reduce performance degradation and extends the life of the drive. The VPR100 is built with a military-grade aluminum heatshield with a unique alloy design to provide excellent thermal dissipation.

  • SiSoftware Sandra 20/20 (2020) SP1a Released

    Update November 25th: Released patch (version 30.24) to add further hardware and software support.

    Update October 24th: Released patch (version 30.21) to corrrect Windows 7 / Server 2008/R2 run-time issues.

    We are pleased to release SP1a (version 30.24) update for 20/20 (2020) with the following updates:

    Sandra 20/20 (2020) Press Release

    Hardware Support:

    • AMD Ryzen2 (series 3000 Matisse), Stoney Ridge updated support
    • Intel Cascade Lake (CSL), Comet Lake (CML), Cannon Lake (CNL), Ice Lake (ICL) updated support

    CPU Benchmarks:

    • Tools (Visual C++ compiler 2019) Update

    GPGPU Benchmarks:

    • CUDA: Updated SDK 10.2/10.1
    • OpenCL: Updated SDK support
  • EK-Meltemi 120ER Fan @ TechPowerUp

    So, there are fans and then there are FANS.  While they both "blow" there is a difference between the two.  One one hand you have a fan that any YouTube channel will love, they can put paper strips on the fan and show that it moves air from one location to another.

    On the other hand you have FANS, these are manly fans, no offence to womenly fans as some of them can be just as powerful and loud however, we need fans with blemishes and big blades and who are not afraid to get their gears wet or call each other dude and kiss the fins of a finely crafted radiator for a lifetime of servatude.

    We are talking, of course, about the EK Meltemi.  Or as the name suggests a fine wine you have at the race track.

    EK Water Blocks adds to their fan portfolio with the massive 38 mm thick Meltemi. Available in their -ER (extended range) version, the EK-Meltemi aims to take their popular Vardar fan as a base and build upon it with a bigger, badder motor, and promises high static pressure optimization for PC DIY water cooling.

    All jokes aside, this fan is pretty darn impressive BUT..

    I have seen better.

  • EK-Classic InWin 303EK Available for Pre-Order

    First we have case manufactures building heatsinks and AIO coolers.  Then we have video card makers releasing power supplies and memory and now we have a watercooling company (one of the largest in the world) releasing a custom case from InWin complete with a distro plate.

    For those of you who don't know, a distribution plate is a fancy name for a watercooling manifold that becomes a decorative part to your casemod and often replaces, or enhances, the reservoir you normally have.  For many this helps to clean up the build and give "builders" an easy excuse for why they aren't "modding"

    The EK-Classic InWin 303EK case is a unique version of the popular In Win 303 case. It features an integrated distribution plate and this makes it really special as there is no similar product on the market. This is the only mass-produced case that is specifically re-designed and modified to seamlessly integrate the coolant distribution plate equipped with a powerful DDC pump. The 303 is one of InWin’s most popular cases which has been on the market for quite a while now. It is a tested, market-proven case with interesting fan and radiator layout options. The 303EK version brings this a new level, wherewith the purchase of the case, the customer will get a fully integrated coolant reservoir and a pump in the form of a distribution plate.

    Look for it on the EK Web Shop for a little over 300 bones.

  • Be Quiet! Dark Rock Slim @ LanOC Reviews

    Call me old school but I still think cooler reviews are relevant and that people looking to build a PC should venture out and read what other people are saying instead of picking the Hyper 212 cause some reddit friend put it into their PC Parts Picker shopping list.

    By now most of you know of the company Be Quiet! and their heatsinks, fans, and power supplies. Early on when they first came to the US market they were involved in our LANs as a sponsor and we have covered a few of their heatsinks in the past. But they have grown in popularity a lot in the heatsink market especially with their all-black styling, quiet fans, and good performance. Especially with a few of their heatsinks in the SFF community and with their high-end heatsinks for those of you dedicated for the best possible cooling performance without the downsides of All in One coolers like pump noise and the potential for leaks. Well I have had their Dark Rock Slim sitting around the office and as I clean things out for the end of the year I didn’t want to miss checking it out. It is designed for those of you who need a thinner cooler for memory, motherboard, and case clearance reasons. Today I’m going check it out and see how it compares to a few other 120mm air coolers. 

    I am still going to go on record and say the mounting hardware from Be Quiet is one of the worse on the market EVER and that is a very LONG list to sample from.

    Be sure to check out our review of the Be Quiet Shadow Rock Slim that we did back in 2014.  Its not bad. happy smile

  • AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X Review @ Vortez

    When Threadripper first launched I told myself I wouldn’t get all sappy and get one just because.  Well, fast forward several years and you have a guy who will be buying one just to see what all the fuss is about.

    And check out some of the super sweet motherboards that are being built for the platform.

    Third Generation Threadripper is based the Zen 2 architecture found in both EPYC ROME enterprise CPUs and desktop Ryzen chips. It’s a significant departure from the Zen+ architecture of Threadripper 2000-series CPUs, and is manufactured in a chiplet fashion utilising 7nm lithography. This allows them to cram in even more active cores running at higher operating frequencies than equivalent Zen+ models, pushing the bounds of performance outwards yet again.

    I am still a firm believer that the only reason Threadripper exists is to get YouTube'ers all juicy and the prospect of performance and views while AMDs true reason is to show what their cores can do since at the lowest level they are pretty darn slow.

    Yes I am talking about threaded performance not the collective performance of a BUNCH of threads.

    BTW, the Vortez editor must have been sleeping when they sent out the press release. OR figured that nobody would post it cause:google.  Basically I'm saying sorry for the misspelling.