Tech News
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Corsair Carbide Series AIR 740 Cube Case Review @ [H]
Funny thing about Corsair cases, they seem to be really popular and I have yet to find out why. Sure I have seen them in person and even got to sit in on a few press conferences but, what really escapes me is why the general public "believes the marketing".
Corsair is back with another cube type case this time in its Carbide AIR series. The model AIR 740 is a big steel case that has a big footprint, and along with that comes a spacious interior that will lend itself to just about any amount of hardware you want to install and Corsair has its sights set on excellent cooling for all that hardware.
Don't get me wrong, cube cases are pretty darn cool, not only do they hold a good number of components and offer rather good cooling but also take up entirely too much desk space. At least this one comes with a decorative front and features some Corsair branded fans.
big whoop!
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Lian Li Pitstop PC-T60A Open Air Test Bench Review
I am no stranger to an open air test bench and test just about everything that comes though the lab on a custom platform I designed or a cut down chassis that has been in the lab since the very beginning.
Thing is the way I test my hardware may not suit everyone, in fact the majority of users could care less if you have easy access to heatsinks or a tray system to hold hard drives, they just want a side window, flashing lights and maybe a few fans.
Well, you get none of that with this gem of a product.
We’ve got a few semi-dedicated test systems in the office and a dedicated test bench, the MicroCool Banchetto 101 chassis. So, we swap components a lot if we want to use the Banchetto 101 chassis for any sort of sustained testing, like motherboard reviews.
What I find to be the best thing about this review is how they mention the Microcool Banchetto in the opening quote and don't even include a picture of the product until page two. I guess that is how you do things in the review world these days.
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KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 OC 6GB Video Card Review @ Madshrimps
Here is what I would call the Zotac of Europe. KFA2 is a brand you rarely see in the US and while I joke at the expense of Zotac the truth is KFA2 is a sub brand of Galaxy which is also loosely associated with Gainward.
Gainward, as you may know, was one of the best video card builders in the world until they were bought by Galaxy and almost instantly reduced to a name.
The GTX 1060 OC video card from KFA2 features a very solid build, while the cooling system succeeds to keep the GPU at low temperatures on high loads. In DirectX11, the card does trade punches with the RX480 and wins most of the time! Surprisingly, in DirectX12 the RX480 from AMD gains a small advantage but considering the low number of DX12 titles nowadays, we think currently this card is a better buy.
KFA2 surprises us once again with the pricing of the reviewed model; the 6GB version of the GTX 1060 OC is available for just about 259 Euros -> this makes it clearly the cheapest dual-fan custom cooled card on the market, which is also pre-overclocked from the factory.Da Shrimps seem to really like the card and given the massive array of heatpipes shown through the branded fans I am sure the love is warranted.
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GIGABYTE Z170X-UD5 TH Motherboard Review @ Hardware Canucks
Some people wonder, "What is the best motherboard I can buy?" and depending on who you ask you will get a different answer each time. The real question is.
If I wanted a good motherboard, with great features I will use from a company I can trust, what would it be?
GIGABYTE's Z170X-UD5 TH has it all; awesome overclocking headroom, a great price and Thunderbolt 3 compatibility but is that enough to differentiate this board from its countless competitors?
The UD (Ultra Durable) series from Gigabyte is designed to be a all around motherboard solution to fit a wide range of markets from the fledging enthusiast to the seasoned builder who knows quality. The Thunderbolt 3 controller is just icing on the cake.
You know for all of those Thunderbolt devices everyone has cause it is sooooo popular. *sic*
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Competitive Gaming on a Budget FNATIC Says Yes @ Techgage
Maybe one of the shortest system reviews I have ever seen but does bring up a good question. "Can you game on a $500 system?"
Short answer "Yes", You can game on anything from an Android tablet to a Dell to something you found at the thrift store.
Longer answer: "Depends on what you want to play"
This will undoubtedly raise a few eyebrows, as I admit I was a little suspicious whether you would actually be able to seriously game without a dedicated GPU. CPUs with integrated graphics have come a long way, and you are hard pressed to find motherboards nowadays without integrated video. There is an obvious push by the industry to integrate graphics. Years ago, it was common that the higher end motherboards didn’t have integrated graphics, but again, not the case these days.
The question is, can you game at the level of the competition gamers, without dropping a bundle? Can you get enough power into a small form-factor that is smaller than a 6 pack of beer? Let’s take a closer look at what AMD and FNATIC have come up with.Something deep down tells me that you should NEVER game on internal graphics but most of that comes from several years knowing that internal graphics was always intended for corporate America and suzy/sammy homemaker checking email and watching pr0n.
If you want to really game you need a better graphics card.
Thing is internal graphics have gotten better and while 4K gaming is still a long way off you can do 1080p with several hefty graphics tweaks.
Of course, just because you can build a cooler sized PC "designed for gaming" the real question is should you? Why bother building something like that when you could buy one off the shelf, have access to tech support and will likely come with an OS.
Believe me I am all for building your own computer and tell people they should but "this" isn't how you do it.
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EVGA Z170 Classified K Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews
EVGA makes some really good motherboards and none are better than the "Classified". That is unless you are into LN2 overclocking then you will want the "Dark" or need something smaller then maybe a "Stinger" is in your future.
Either way EVGA has something for everyone including Legit Reviews.
With a change in Intel Chipsets we get new motherboards based on that chipset. When the Intel Z170 chipset came out, EVGA provided us one of their three ATX Z170 based motherboards, the Z170 FTW. We found that the motherboard provided the basic features that we were looking for in a basic Z170 motherboard; good overclocking features, USB 3.0, and M.2 NVMe support. However, we found that it lacked some of the more advanced features that advanced enthusiasts were looking for; dual M.2 NVMe, and USB 3.1. For these features, you need to look at EVGA’s more advanced Z170 ATX motherboard, the Z170 Classified K. Read on to see if it has what it needs to be your next motherboard!
I have already reviewed the EVGA Z170 Classified K and found it to be an exceptional overclocker and not bad in the performance department either. I was curious to see how they tested overclocking and found this little gem.
Following our standard process, we were able to get the Intel i7-6700K to boot up at 5GHz, and successfully run the benchmarks. Going beyond that, we would have various failures to boot or run the benchmarks.
Ok, so I know a few things about overclocking and while I can believe they got a Core i7 6700K to run at 5Ghz I'm not sure how successfully run the benchmarks they were. I mean, there are no overclocking scores and no confirmation on what cooler was used.
Wow!
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Phononic HEX 2.0 Thermoelectric CPU Cooler Review @ HWS
Several companies have tried adding TEC (Thermoelectric coolers) to their heatsinks with little success. The one that comes to mind is the V10 from Cooler Master. This was a monster heatsink that included a small TEC to help keep things cool.
Problem was the TEC was undersized and really didn't increase the cooling performance but did increase the heat output. I wonder what Phononic did differently?
You have probably seen some of the news around the internet about the Phononic HEX 2.0 CPU cooler. We spotted it a while ago and from a cooler point of view at least, this really did spark our interest. We were lucky enough to catch up with some of the guys at Phononic and they sent us over a sample to test. We are familiar with the background technology; Peltier extreme CPU coolers have been dabbled in for some time. In the past they generally were for the extreme overclockers, before things like dry ice cooling pushed Peltier into obscurity.
I like how they referenced extreme overclocking and Peltier usage. It's true that nobody uses them for CPU cooling anymore and that was simply because they were not affordable and processors started producing too much heat.
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EKWB EK-XLC Predator 280 @ techPowerUp
All in One cooling with quick disconnect fittings and what appears to be DIY quality components. Seems like a good way to leverage gear you already sell.
The Predator 280 from EKWB aims to eat the competition alive. Offering top-tier performance, low noise levels, and easy expansion thanks to its QDC fittings, it offers users near custom watercooling performance without the headaches of doing it all yourself.
This is a dual 140 AIO cooler using the EK "square" style radiators. From the photos I can't tell where the pump is located however, given the DIY style watetblock I am guessing it is attached to the radiator. Quick disconnect fittings appear to be included to rival what Asetek has been doing for EVGA and should help average users expand their loops. Or, mess them up completely.
I mean, com'on look at who actually buys AIO coolers! Now give them a chance to "accidently" drain their loops or hook an empty waterblock and wonder why they can't fill the loop? I think it is a great product however, for the money, time and effort you might as well go with an off the shelf AIO or man/girl up and go DIY.
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ADATA Launches the XPG SX8000 PCI Express 3.0 x4 M.2 2280 Gaming SSD
Taipei, Taiwan – October 3, 2016 – ADATA® Technology, a leading manufacturer of high performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash products, today launched the XPG SX8000 SSD, which uses an M.2 form factor loaded with 3D MLC NAND Flash and an SMI 2260 controller. The SX8000 meets NVMe 1.2 specifications and connects directly to motherboards via PCI Express 3.0 x4 (PCIe 3x4) to deliver 2.4GB/s read and 1GB/s write, with 100K/140K IOPS. The SX8000 arrives in diverse capacities (128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB), ensuring a new generation of SSD performance is available to more users. A slightly faster version fitted with an attractive XPG heatsink will release by the end of October, promising an aesthetic bonus for case modding enthusiasts.
Compact M.2 PCI 3x4 shatters speed barriers
The XPG SX8000 connects to desktop and notebook PCs via low profile M.2 2280 and channels data through PCI Express 3.0 x4 (four lane). The low latency and big bandwidth of PCIe enable up to 2.4GB/s read and 1GB/s write – four times the read and twice the write performance of average SATA 6Gb/s SSDs. Random 4K IOPS figures are 100K read and 140K write, also significantly more than SATA-based drives. The SX8000 features full NVMe 1.2 compatibility, powering a large performance boost that means users notice gains in real world scenarios, especially loading times within games that require heavy asset streaming and in professional applications such as graphics and audio rendering.Flexible and durable 3D NAND
The SX8000 represents a new era not just in performance, but in its very architecture. It uses reliable 3D MLC NAND Flash, allowing ADATA to produce versions in capacities from 128GB to 1TB. With 3D NAND, reliability, performance, and efficiency all get a boost as more storage is fitted onto a smaller form factor without increasing power demands. The SX8000 features a 2 million hour MTBF (mean time between failures) rating, or 25% longer than 2D NAND SSD (which average 1.5 million hours).Range of data-enhancing features
ADATA firmware design takes utmost data performance and integrity into consideration with every SSD. Intelligent SLC Caching allows the drive to operate in pseudo single-level cell mode for speed boosts when extreme data loads are encountered. It can also leverage system RAM to increase performance via DRAM Cache Buffer, helping maintain consistent throughput even during the most intense tasks. LDPC ECC (low density parity check error correction) prevents data corruption and promotes integrity, while Data Shaping evenly distributes task loads across NAND Flash cells. The SX8000 is therefore a pioneer in performance that offers a complete package of reliability-augmenting features. It is backed by a 5-year warranty.Availability
SX8000 PCIe will be available at Amazon.com and Newegg.com.Product Webpage
SX8000 PCIe Express http://www.adata.com/en/ssd/feature/423MSRP
SX8000 PCIe Express 128GB $129.99
SX8000 PCIe Express 256GB $189.99
SX8000 PCIe Express 512GB $319.99 -
Titanfall 2 Game Play Video at 4k 60fps on Titan X
The lackluster release of the first Titanfall was very exciting, mostly because the game was overhyped. That excitment quickly changed because it did nothing to keep players engaged. It was a Multiplayer only game and suffered from the COD effect where unless you are playing at 0 Hour you will be so far behind on experience you'll never advance.
Titanfall 2 is the next installment and should be dropping any day now.
In hopes of getting the hype train moving again the NVIDIA camp has released a gameplay video at 4K claiming 60FPS using a Titan X.
This is a cleaver bit of marketing for NVIDIA by featuring an anticipated game title on an exclusively expensive GPU claiming that it can attain the magical 4k60max and here is the proof. I will admit the graphics look great and the captured gameplay seemed really smooth despite the numerous cuts and edits but they designed the game for consoles, it would be hard NOT to.
Getting back to the gameplay. We see that the jump mechanic is back which allows you to bounce off walls and quickly propel yourself across the map. This is maybe one of the best features from the first game so I'm glad to see it make a return. The appearance of the Titans has changed and while their movement speed seemed to have improved they still struggle getting around in the city.
Basically these two game features are the only thing to provide balance between the two and honestly was what made the game boring. I sure hope the single player campaign brings a reason to play the game more than once else we will see the game once again discounted in the bargain bin at $10.00 with nobody buying. That, of course, will leave you stuck with a $1200.00 GPU and go game to play.
The game is due to be released October 28 and NVIDIA recommends a GTX 1060 but is suggesting a GTX 1080 (of course) a Core i5-6600 or higher is also suggested. Much to my suprise this is only DirectX 11 title which means you can play it on Windows 7! #w00t.
