Tech News
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COUGAR QBX mini-ITX Gaming case has won the COMPUTEX d&i award
6th May, 2015 Taipei, Taiwan - COUGAR, leading brand in the gaming hardware market, is proud to announce today that the new COUGAR QBX Mini-ITX Gaming case is one of the award winners of COMPUTEX d&i awards 2015, organized by iF. The award has been granted in recognition of QBX's innovative design.
Obtaining this recognition is another confirmation of QBX's extraordinary value and revolutionary nature. Its support for high end graphics cards (up to 350mm long) and impressive amounts of memory (including several SSDs to maximize loading speed) as well as its superb cooling potential make QBX the ultimate gaming case. The idea of a powerful compact case with a competitive price has already generated huge amounts of expectation. This is because QBX directly eliminates the last advantage gaming consoles used to have over gaming PC: their compactness and stylish looks.
QBX is as elegant as any new generation console, it is compact enough to be placed in the living room, and can house a gaming PC much more powerful than any console on the market. QBX's elegance does not come only from its small size and looks, but also for its compatibility with slot loading ODD and its extremely efficient cable management. This means low space consumption, clean environment and freedom for placing it anywhere the user wants.
Regarding its graphics potential, with the right components installed QBX simply leaves the most powerful consoles on the market far behind. Its compatibility with high end graphics cards gives gamers the possibility of enjoying real 4K games without sacrificing, as often happens in consoles, frame rate or other key specs. Besides that, being a PC case, its components can still be updated in the future if the need arises. Finally, QBX's cooling potential keeps it safe from overheating, allowing gamers to play at ease using the most powerful components.
The prestigious award obtained by QBX and the expectation of the public makes it one of the most expected gaming-related products of this year, and justifiably so: it comes to settle once and for all the debate about which is the best gaming platform.
This revolutionary gaming case will be available starting May 2015.
About COUGAR
COUGAR products target enthusiast gamers who not only demand state-of-the-art PC chassis and highly efficient power supplies, but also want to enjoy gaming with the best peripherals. COUGAR provides these enthusiasts with cutting-edge high quality gaming products. Founded in 2007 by a group of enthusiasts in Germany who were tired of the boring looks of PC hardware, COUGAR aims to blend passion with innovation. COUGAR products are renowned for their highly stylish concepts and strict quality standards. -
Gigabyte X99 Champion Challenge - Mid Competition Results
I won't lie, it has been awhile since I did much with Team Ninjalane on HWBOT and while the allure of building an overclocking team faded a few years ago I still support HWBOT and have been known to submit a few scores and still enter a few select competitions.
As it would turn out one of my teammates from the Ninjalane days has entered the Gigabyte X99 Champion Challenge and is currently sitting in 3rd place with 24 days to go.
We all know that these competitions can change rather quickly but, with two stages left and only five competitors in the running he has a really good chance to take one of the top spots.
Good Luck nikilla!
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ASRock Fatal1ty X99M Killer Intel LGA 2011-3 Motherboard Review
Asrock is at it again, this time with a "Killer" Fatal1ty X99 motherboard in the Micro ATX form factor.
There is again a new X99 motherboard OC review here at OCinside.de - now even in the micro ATX format. It is already amazing to see the features of Z97 mATX or ITX motherboards, but ASRock outdid itself once again with this ASRock Fatal1ty X99M Killer Intel LGA2011-3 X99 micro ATX motherboard. Like the previously tested X99 Extreme4, this X99M killer will be available soon additionally with an USB 3.1 interface card. Let us evaluate the currently available version first.
From a spec standpoint this board is really good. X99 chipset paired with a USB 3.1 and all of the normal gaming accessories to help you get the most out of your gaming rig. The question remains on if it is a good motherboard or just another hidden and buried Fatal1ty design.
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Hardware Asylum Mobile Site Development
I have been checking my site stats on a regular basis and noticed that a good number of readers are surfing this website from a mobile device. While I find that completely strange and backwards it also makes total sense.
First of all folks may be in the market for building a PC and only have access to a mobile tablet or phone, or maybe they are researching products to buy while their gaming rig is down for perpetual maintenance. Then there is my favorite the user who is always overclocking and has their machine apart more than it is together.
All of those are valid reasons and reaffirms why Hardware Asylum should be mobile friendly. Look for the style and code update to be pushed out later this month which will include a new navigation and removal of some "nice to have" features that work best when you have more than a 320px of screen real estate.
I’ll be using browser detection for this update so the most common devices will get detected. Everything else will default back to the normal desktop format.
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Zotac GTX 970 AMP! Extreme Core Edition Review @ Technic3D
I have seen these cards up close and even held a few in my hand and I'm still confused by their naming scheme. is the AMP! any good? Is this the version you need for overclocking?
Lets find out.
The Zotac GTX 970 AMP! Extreme Core Edition Graphic Card arrived Technic3D. Technic3D will check the AMP! in the following Review with a Resolution from 2560x1600, 1920x1200, 1680x1050, the real Power Consumption, loudness, temperature, Overclocking and many more against other Graphic Cards.
I'm pretty sure there is an English version of this review, though if not look at the pretty pictures and smile.
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CYBERPOWERPC Delivers Trinity Gaming PC With Other-Worldly Form, Fashion and Function
Radical Triple Blade Design is not Just Eye Candy, It’s a Performance Beast
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA (April 21, 2015) – CyberPower Inc., www.cyberpowerpc.com, a global manufacturer of custom gaming PCs, gaming laptops, and performance workstations, today announced it is taking orders for its Trinity gaming PC, a striking new concept in gaming PC design that splits the common hulking tower enclosure into three distinct “blades.”
The CYPOWERPC Trinity is both an exercise in radical case design and a case study on the benefits of component compartmentalization. While the case defies imagination, there is a method to the madness of segregating certain components from others in order to dissipate heat while not sacrificing performance.
Split into three blades, the Trinity is designed to individually provide maximum cooling capacity to the major heat-generating components in the system. The tri-point design of the Trinity allows for powerful configurations in this striking chassis. The chassis supports the biggest and highest-output power supplies, as well as the longest and most powerful graphics cards. Support is also included for 120mm liquid cooling for the CPU.
The "Performance Blade" houses the graphics card that allows the Trinity to rip through the latest games. It supports full-length graphics cards, including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN X and AMD Radeon R9 series. Several SSDs can be mounted adjacent to the graphics card for extra storage flexibility and performance.
Trinity can actually house an enormous amount of hardware. In addition to full-sized, high-output ATX power supplies, the "Storage Blade" in the Trinity can accommodate up to three SSDs, two hard drives and even a slim optical drive.
The "CPU Blade" is compatible with mini ITX motherboards with both Intel and AMD chipsets, and supports up to 16GB of DDR3 memory and the latest processor technology to power through all of the latest games and demanding applications.
CYBERPOWERPC hides the tangle of wires in a hollow hexagonal steel spine that connects all three blades and acts as a conduit for cable management.
The Trinity will be available in three models: the Trinity 100 with AMD A10-7700K CPU, Trinity 200 with Intel Core i5-4690K CPU, and Trinity Xtreme with Intel Core i7-5820K CPU. All models can be customized and are liquid-cooled by default. Base specs and MSRP include:
Trinity 100- Windows 8.1
- AMD A10-7700K CPU
- 8GB DDR3/1600MHz RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750Ti 2GB
- MSI A88XI AC FM2+AC WiFi+BT MB
- (120GB + 1TB) SSD
- 8X DVD Rewritable Drive
- DeepCool Tristellar Gaming Case
- $955
Trinity 200- Windows 8.1
- Intel® Core™ i5-4690K CPU
- 16GB DDR3/1600MHz RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 4GB
- GIGABYTE Z97N-WIFI MB
- 240GB SSD + 2TB HDD Combo
- 8X DVD Rewritable Drive
- DeepCool Tristellar Gaming Case
- $1339
Trinity XTREME- Windows 8.1
- Intel® Core™ i7-5820K CPU
- 16GB DDR4/2400MHz RAM
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB
- ASRock X99E-ITX/AC Motherboard
- 240GB SSD + 2TB HDD Combo
- 8X DVD Rewritable Drive
- DeepCool Tristellar Gaming Case
- $1795
The CYBERPOWERPC Trinity can be configured with a number of hardware options, including high-performance gaming memory, solid state drives, graphics cards, and gaming peripherals. Fully-assembled desktop systems from CYBERPOWERPC include a three-year limited warranty. For more information, see www.cyberpowerpc.com/landingpages/Trinity/
About CyberPower Inc.
CyberPower Inc. www.cyberpowerpc.com was founded in 1998 and has emerged as a leading global provider of custom computer systems and interactive gaming products. Headquartered in City of Industry in Southern California, CYBERPOWERPC manufacturers and distributes a complete line of custom built gaming desktops, gaming notebooks and high performance workstations to meet the unique needs of gamers, businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and other end-users. For more information contact: Sales (800) 707-0393; Email cyberpowerpc@cyberpowerpc.com.
All products/company names are either trademarks or trade names of their respective holders. -
GIGABYTE Hosts X99 CHAMPION CHALLENGE on HWBOT
Tweak your GIGABYTE X99 Systems for Big Cash Prizes
City of Industry, California, April 20th, 2015 – GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced another great competition for the overclocking community with the GIGABYTE X99 CHAMPION CHALLENGE, to be hosted this May on HWBOT.org. This new challenge gives the community a chance to test their skills on the GIGABYTE X99 platform by tweaking both the CPU and graphics side of things. By participating, overclockers have the chance to win $2,800 USD in cash prizes and some exciting hardware, including the leader of them all, the X99-SOC Champion!
Attention overclocker nation. You have until May 1st 2015 to get your platform ready and jump in to become the X99 Champion! To make your way up to the grand prize of $1,500 USD, you’ll have to collect the most points by submitting your best scores in 6 different stages designed to test both your CPU and Graphics card overclocking skills. Do you feel up to the challenge? Good luck to all!!
How to win
Points will be given to the top ranking scores in each stage. The top 3 participants with the most points at the end of the challenge will win cash prizes. You also have the chance to win some great hardware via 3 lucky draws. Lucky Draw #1 will be rewarding participants that submitted scores with temperatures set above 25 Celsius, Lucky Draw #2 will be rewarding participants that submitted scores with temperatures set below 25 Celsius, and Lucky Draw #3 will be rewarding participants that submitted the lowest score. Please see the contest rules for more details.
Contest StagesStage 1: XTU - May 1st until May 8th, 2015
CPU frequency 4GHz max
RAM at 3300MHz max.
GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only
Stage 2: XTU - May 8th until May 15th, 2015.
CPU frequency 4.5GHz max
Uncore at 4.5GHz max.
GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only
Stage 3: XTU - May 15th until May 31st, 2015.
CPU frequency 5GHz max
GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only
Stage 4: Fire-Strike - May 1st until May 27th, 2015.
Single NVIDIA GT 730 graphics card
GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only
Stage 5: Catzilla 720p - May 1st until May 28th, 2015.
Single NVIDIA GT 730 graphics card
GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only
Stage 6: 3DMark 2001 SE - May 1st until May 28th, 2015.
Single NVIDIA GT 730 graphics card
GIGABYTE X99 Motherboards only
Contest Rules- This competition is limited to GIGABYTE X99 motherboards only
- Submissions will open on the first day of the stage at 00:01 (UTC +8) and close on the last day at 23:59 (UTC+8)
- To be eligible for the Lucky Draw #1, participants must submit in all stages, and have their XTU submission shown ABOVE 25 Celsius. One random winner will be selected within the eligible participants.
- To be eligible for the Lucky Draw #2, participants must submit in all stages, and have their XTU submission shown BELOW 25 Celsius. One random winner will be selected within the eligible participants.
- To be eligible for the Lucky Draw #3, participants must have submitted within the 3 lowest scores in any of the stages. One random winner will be selected within the eligible participants.
- User ranked #1, #2 and #3 in any stage ae not eligible for the lucky draw.
- Every submission must include the competition background, XTU’s CPU frequency and temperature and a picture of the rig.
- A participant is eligible to win only once. If he is found to be the winner in multiple categories, the prize will go to the runner up.
Contest Prizes Stage 1 ~ 6- $1,500 USD for 1st place
- $800 USD for 2nd place
- $500 USD for 3rd place
Lucky draw (To be held at the end of the competition)- An X99-UD4P motherboard for one randomly selected overclocker with temps above 25 Celsius.
- An X99-Gaming 5P motherboard for one randomly selected overclocker with temps below 25 Celsius.
- An X99-SOC Champion motherboard for one randomly selected bottom 3 low score overclocker.
The GIGABYTE X99 CHAMPION CHALLENGE will run from May 1st until May 31st 2015, 23:59 (UTC +8).
For complete contest rules, scoring and more details, please visit the contest page on HWBOT.org:
http://oc-esports.io/#!/round/gbt_x99_champion_challengeFor more information about GIGABYTE motherboards, go to:
http://www.gigabyte.us/ -
SilverStone Kublai KL05 Computer Case Review @ APH Networks
How is this for a review quote
A budget case with a window. How will the SilverStone KL05 fare?
Truth is, many of the cheapest cases you can buy come with pre-modded windows and has been that way since the days of installing plexi side panels using window edging for a motor home.
The Kublai is actually a really good case and is designed such that system integrators can build in it quickly and still get decent results.
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Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 2400MHz @ PureOverclock
Darren and I talked about these modules in the latest podcast episode [Orange and Black Attack Stack, Custom Watercooling and The Beast]. Of course the modules in the podcast were the Elite's and the review is looking at the Sport, however the underlying chips are likely the same.
The Ballistix performance series memory has proven popular for their stock performance, overclock-ability, quality and the ever changing style employed by Crucial. We are looking at the latest addition to the Ballistix family, the Ballistix Sport LT. These should land right between the Sport models and the higher end Elite kits, hopefully netting us the best of both worlds, tighter timings and high clocks.
These modules are the taller "tactical" style with grey metal heatspreaders and ridge vents. A bit dated given that nobody is doing military theme motherboards anymore but, the specs look good for a 2400Mhz module kit.
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AMD’s FX-8320E: The Right Answer For The Gamer On A Budget? @ Techgage
A bit of an older article but Techgage brings up an interesting question. Can you really game on an AMD FX processor? I already know the FM2+ based boards make good low in gaming rigs but for the cost it always seems like Intel is the better choice.
Released this past fall, AMD’s FX-8320E processor promises to deliver a lot of processing power for those on a budget. It sports eight cores, and as a Black Edition, its overclocking capabilities are unrestricted. But is that enough to make this the best go-to budget processor, especially for gamers?
AMD based systems have several things against them, the first being the aging motherboard supply. Sure you can find a AM3+ motherboard but for a long while nobody had them stocked and what is available aren't all that special. The second is that even though the proc has 8-cores they are generally slower than Intel cores and thus have slower performance in DX9 based games.
Of course, DX11 is a different story.
