Tech News
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XFX R9 280 Black Edition OC Review @ Vortez
Aside from a very small boost in clockspeed (reference) and a redesigned cooler, the R9-280 is near identical to the HD7950 refreshed 'boost' edition. Not that this is a bad thing of course because when we tested the HD7950 we were thoroughly impressed. Time has since moved on but with a few driver tweaks and XFX's own speed boosts being that our review sample is the 'Black Edition OC' we hope to see some good figures.
Ignoring the obvious rebadge, the new card does boast some new modern updates to wring even everything it can from its chips. Making solid use of beefed up cooling componants, with monster heat spreaders and piping resting underneath dual fans, along with a factory overclock on the Tahiti GPU and memory that takes it close to the limits of the hardware to earn it's membership as a Black-edition card. This could be one seriously scrappy underdog contender for value buyers. -
Asylum Review Block: Audio Systems
In the past few months there have been a lot of new headsets and speaker systems coming out. So, following on the coat-tails of the Diamond Xtreme 7.1 External Card review, we thought it would be fun to give you a taste of what's new to plug into that new discrete card of your choosing.
Headsets
Attitude One Almaz Headset @ techPowerUp
Genius Zabius M Mobile Gaming Headset - BCCHardware
Mionix Nash 20 Headset Review @ HiTech Legion
Sennheiser G4ME ONE PC Headset Review - BCCHardware
BitFenix FLO Headset Review @ HiTech Legion
Speakers
Edifier Luna Eclipse 2.0 Speaker Set Review @ Madshrimps
UE BOOM Personalized Edition @ techPowerUp -
MSI GTX 780 Gaming 6 GB @ techPowerUp
Boasting a higher clock speed than the Titan, double the video RAM, and double the cooling fans from it's original release, MSI is releasing a new version of the GTX 780 to complete with the 780 Ti. "Add more RAM" has been a common mantra for years in the PC community for a cheap and easy performance boost, but does that same mantra apply to video cards as well?
MSI's new GTX 780 Gaming 6 GB doubles the available video RAM over the reference design, which has just 3 GB. With latest titles requiring 3 GB VRAM minimum for Ultra textures, this 6 GB card could help provide a performance advantage. We will investigate this claim using our brand-new VGA test suite.
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Biostar Hi-Fi Z97WE Motherboard Review @HiTech Legion
Another Z97 motherboard spotlight for enthusiasts on a budget. Being a budget board, it appears at first glance to lack a lot of frills seen on flagship models, such as WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity, but will introduce you into the world of Intel's 9-series chips without busting the bank.
We have to take a look at the Biostar Hi-FI Z97WE motherboard as a basic motherboard that anyone can use. Especially when we consider that it is in the budget to mainstream price range what you get is expected.
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The Start menu will return in new Desktop-optimized version of Windows 8.2
Looks like I might finally make the switch to windows 8. In one of the early podcasts I talked about what I thought Windows 8 would be and how the Metro interface would be the tablet version while a desktop would still lurk under the covers. Sadly they nurfed the desktop and focused on touch and tablets.
Well, it has been over a year now and Microsoft finally understands what they did wrong. I'm still not happy with the visuals given that flat colors and large buttons are so '93 but, babysteps and all.
With Windows 8.1 out of the way, Microsoft has now begun work on Windows 8.2. According to sources close to the development Windows 8.2, dubbed Threshold, Microsoft will bring Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox One closer together — to the threshold, if you will, of being a fully unified OS. Furthermore, again according to insider sources, Windows 8.2 will introduce a “traditional desktop” SKU that is optimized for mouse-and-keyboard Desktop users and resurrects the original Start menu.
I'm all for unifying the platforms but you have to focus on the strengths of each. Tablets are for entertainment so touch is important. Desktops are for work and you need more precision and to maximize efficiency. The XBOX, ya, well that is a console so controllers are king unless you factor in the Kinect which is both good and bad.
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Corsair Force Series LX SSDs Now Available in 512GB Capacity
Fresh off the press. New value-focused SSD for the enthusiast on a budget from Corsair.
FREMONT, California —June 24, 2014 — Corsair®, a worldwide designer of high-performance components to the PC hardware market, today announced the addition of a 512GB model to the recently announced Force Series® LX line of solid-state drives (SSD). The new Force Series LX 512GB SSD brings the amazing performance benefits of high-capacity SSDs to a lower price point.
The faster performance and silent operation of solid-state drives have long attracted PC enthusiasts, but high prices may have put off some users from making the switch to this faster storage technology. In response to this, Corsair is bringing these SSD advantages to more budget-friendly price points. The Force Series LX are available in three capacities and price points—128GB for $79.99, 256GB for $129.99, and the 512GB at $259.99.
Powered by a Silicon Motion SSD controller, the Force Series LX SSDs offer fantastic performance up to 10 times faster than that of a conventional spinning-disk hard drive. The 512GB model and its SATA 3 interface delivers file transfer speeds of up to 560MB/sec read and 450MB/sec write which can deliver massive improvements in system performance. Operating system start-up and application load times accelerate to mere seconds, anti-virus scans complete far faster, and navigating your PC’s files feels much more responsive thanks to near-instant access times.
A slim-line 7mm aluminum housing makes it easy to install the Force LX into almost every desktop or notebook PC with a 2.5 inch drive bay – an ideal upgrade to breathe new life into an notebook, ultrabook or PC in need of a boost. Corsair’s bundled SSD Toolbox software utility is also included as a free download, allowing you to easily optimize your SSD’s performance, clone your existing hard drive, or securely erase all data on a drive. TRIM, NCQ and S.M.A.R.T. technologies automatically maintain drive performance for years to come, and Corsair tops off the package with a 3 year warranty and legendary customer service for total peace of mind.
Pricing, Availability, and Warranty
The Force Series LX 512GB SSD has an MSRP of $259.99 and is available immediately from Corsair's worldwide network of authorized retailers and are backed with a three year warranty and Corsair customer service and technical support.
To learn more about Corsair SSDs please visit:
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Gigabyte G1.Sniper M5 Motherboard Review @ Madshrimps
Gigabyte recently released another Z87 Sniper board. In the new Intel 9-series landscape however that may cause some to scratch their heads. Maybe not though, since Gigabyte has also announced Haswell-refresh support for their Z87 boards as well. However, this new Sniper 5 is a Micro-ATX board. So, all your typical Sniper features all condensed into a 9.6 x 9.6in. package.
The G1.Sniper 5 high-end Z87 board from Gigabyte is also available in a smaller form factor, while retaining some of the most important features like Killer NIC, dual BIOS, Creative Sound Core 3D DSP. The UEFI interface is pretty customizable, has three modes and features the same design as with the Gigabyte G1.Sniper 5.
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KBParadise V60 Mini Keyboard Review @ HCW
Keeping up with their exposure to smaller keyboard options the crew at HardCoreWare is looking at the KBParadise V60. This appears to be only 60% of a real keyboard giving you the ability to carry it around without wondering what your neighbors think.
The V60 Mini is a 60% layout mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Switches. If you are wondering about V60 mini vs Poker II, you will want to read this review!
I'm not a huge fan of small keyboards but they do serve a purpose, for instance the coolest keyboard ever is the little bluetooth number that came with my Asus Slate.
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Asylum: Review Block - Motherboard and Processor Edition
They say the Intel 9-Series has already hit the market and that we really don't have a processor for it but, we do have a Haswell refresh called Devils Canyon to occupy our 5 second attention span.
Motherboards
GIGABYTE Z97X-Gaming G1 WiFi-BK LGA 1150 Review @ [H]
Gigabyte Z97X-SLI Motherboard @ PureOverclockProcessors
Intel Devil's Canyon i7-4790K Performance Review @ Hardware Canucks
Intel Core i7-4790K Devil’s Canyon Processor Review @ ThinkComputersCoolers
Deepcool Gamer Storm Lucifer @ techPowerUpVideo Cards
ASUS GTX 780 Ti Matrix Platinum Review @ Hardware Canucks
EVGA Geforce GTX 750 Ti Video Card Review @ OcModShop (The email said "Watch Dogs Review" but the link goes to a video card so that is what I'm going with.)There you have it, all of the gear any growing Enthusiast PC needs.
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MSI B85M Gaming Motherboard Review @ Modders-Inc
Budget gaming doesn't have to empty the wallet, in fact the whole process should leave you with some extra dollars for a disproportionately powerful processor or video card. Of course buying hardware on a budget has its drawbacks like having to give up good quality sound or living with a slow network adaptor. The MSI B85M Gaming is designed to bring high-end gaming features down to a human level.
For those of limited budget, the MSI B85M Gaming motherboard paired with a Haswell i3 or even an Intel Pentium G3220 saves a lot of money which is better spent on getting a powerful discrete graphics card and an SSD.
Sadly you give up the ability to overclock but that will be the least of your worries once you start fraggin at 60fps.
Be sure to check out our review of the MSI B85M Gaming and remember, K series processors have no busines being on a B-series motherboard.
