Tech News

  • TerraMaster Introduces D2-310 2-Bay RAID Storage with USB 3.1

    Empowering creative professionals in small home and office setups with 5Gbps SUPERSPEED+

    March 16th, 2021 Shenzhen, China - TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products, introduces the D2-310 2-bay RAID storage with USB 3.1 5Gbps port for small home and small office setups. The D2-310 features a high-speed USB 3.1 Gen1 SUPERSPEED+ 5Gbps Type-C that’s compatible with Windows and Mac systems. The highly-compatible, high-speed Type-C connector deliver speeds of up to 410MB/s, allowing users to copy 1GB videos in just 2~3 seconds.

    Competitively priced at $159, the D2-310 is perfect for creative professionals like video editors, graphics designers, and animators working at home and in small offices. Its two bays support 2.5” and 3.5” SATA drives and up to 36TB storage capacity (2x 18TB 3.5” HDDs). It uses a sturdy aluminum enclosure with superb temperature management and low noise.

    Designed for Professionals
    For professionals that demand high-speed, high-capacity, and secured storage, the D2-310 is the perfect storage solution for your valuable work files whether you are using a Windows or Mac computer. The USB 3.1 Gen 1 5Gbps SUPERSPEED+ Type-C connection can deliver a maximum read speed of 410MB/s and maximum write speed of 400MB/s using SSDs. Users can have up to 36TB of storage. Users can also select one of the four support storage modes including RAID 0, RAID 1, JBOD, and SINGLE to fit their needs.

    Designed to Fit Your Needs
    For professionals that work with sensitive data such as financial records and corporate records, the D2-310 comes with the necessary safety features to secure your data at all times. Use RAID 1 mode to automatically secure stored data with a mirror backup. For professionals like video editors and content creation that need speed, RAID 0 mode offers faster speeds, reducing copy time significantly to boost productivity.

    Learn more about the TerraMaster D2-310 2-bay RAID storage at TerraMaster

  • AMD Will Not Artificially Limit Radeon 6000 Crypto Mining Performance @ Hot Hardware

    With all of this talk about crypto consuming the entire supply of gaming GPUs it really puts some perspective into the power of money and why get rich quick schemes actually work. 

    At least for one person.

    You see when you drive the promise of money into the minds of people and then make it extremely easy to obtain said money, they do whatever it takes to make that one thing happen.  Spend over a grand on a video card and in a year they might be able to pay it off.  Pick up a second and halve that prospect. 

    This sort of model rarely happens in the world and is a powerful motivator.  So, what happens when a company releases a product that has been designed for a single purpose which doesn't include crypto.  For business types and crypto miners they would say it is a failure while gamers might hail it as the second coming.

    Enter the Radeon 6000, the card that is so sub-standard it is only good at playing games.

    The quick and simple answer is a resounding "no." According to AMD Director of Product Management Nish Neelalojanan, "[AMD] will not be blocking any workload." While that is good news at face value, AMD doesn't exactly need to put an actual hardware/software limiter on GPUs like the Radeon RX 6700 XT and Radeon RX 6800 XT to limit the appeal to cryptocurrency miners. The company's design choices during development mean that RDNA 2 GPUs are a relatively poor choice from a performance/efficiency angle.

    We can thank the power of CUDA and AI for why NVIDIA cards work well to solve complex math problems and how a product that is too good will keep it out of the hands of gamers until the next product release.

  • Noctua presents redux line CPU cooler and second fan kit

    Vienna, March 16th 2021 – Noctua today presented the NH-U12S redux, the first CPU cooler within its redux line of products. True to the spirit of the redux line, the NH-U12S redux takes the proven concept of the original, award-winning NH-U12S and reduces it to its essential core: a quiet, quality-made 120mm cooler with streamlined accessories that is highly compatible, easy to install and accessibly priced. With the NA-FK1 second fan kit, the NH-U12S redux can be upgraded to a push/pull dual-fan configuration for further improved performance.

    “Our redux line fans have earned an excellent reputation for providing trusted Noctua quality without breaking the bank”, says Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO). “Today, we’re proud to present our first redux line CPU cooler, which does exactly the same thing. We’re confident that the NH-U12S redux will be a perfect choice for anybody who has always wanted a Noctua heatsink but couldn’t quite justify the investment.”

    The NH-U12S redux is a streamlined, accessibly priced version of the iconic NH-U12S that has established itself as a benchmark for slim, highly compatible 120mm CPU coolers. The redux version uses the same proven heatsink layout that guarantees 100% compatibility with tall RAM modules as well as excellent case and PCIe compatibility. Thanks to the popular NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM fan that supports automatic speed control through the motherboard, it provides high performance under load and runs whisper-quiet at idle. At the same time, Noctua’s renowned, professional SecuFirm2™ mounting system and the pre-applied NT-H1 thermal compound make installation a breeze. Backed up with Noctua’s trusted 6-year manufacturer’s warranty, the NH-U12S redux is a smart, affordable choice for a quiet, high-quality 120mm cooler.

    Just like with Noctua’s more expensive coolers, future mounting upgrade kits for the NH-U12S redux will be provided free of charge if technically possible, making it a safe long-term investment.

    Users who would like to further improve the cooling efficiency of the NH-U12S redux can do so with the newly introduced, optional NA-FK1 kit that contains a second NF-P12 redux-1700 PWM fan, fan clips, anti-vibration pads, a y-cable and Low-Noise Adaptors. By upgrading the cooler to a push/pull-style dual-fan setup, the NA-FK1 makes it possible to achieve even better performance or to reduce noise levels by having two fans running at lower speeds.

  • March of the Gamer Giveway from Viper Gaming and Hardware Asylum

    Spring is in the air and it is time to clean up those gaming rigs, blow out the dust and why not refresh a couple gaming peripherals with some help from Viper Gaming. 

    Up for grabs are the following.

    1. Viper Gaming V380 RGB Virtual 7.1 Gaming Headset x 1pc 
    2. Viper Gaming V770 RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard x 1pc

    Contest end March 31st, 2021 at 11:59 PM PST and a Total 2 winners will be announced on April 1st, 2021.

    Follow the instructions below to enter and good luck!

    Hardware Asylum and Viper Gaming March Of The Gamer Giveaway

  • Lexar Announces New NM620 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe SSD

    San Jose, USA, March 10th, 2021 — Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is proud to announce the new NM620 M.2 2280 PCle Gen3x4 NVMe SSD. The NM620 is a perfect solution designed for content creators and gamers who want to maximize the speed of their PCs and be able to handle intensive workload.

    Key Features:

    • High-speed PCIe Gen3x4 interface: 3300MB/s read and 3000MB/s write1- NVMe 1.4 supported
    • M.2 2280 form factor
    • Get 6x the speed of a SATA-based SSD3
    • 3D NAND
    • Features LDPC (Low-Density Parity Check)
    • Shock and vibration resistant with no moving parts2
    • Five-year limited warranty

    Enjoy 6x the speed of SATA SSDs with speeds of up to 3300MB/s read and 3000MB/s write, so you can improve overall workflow. Supported by PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe 1.4 technology standard and built with the latest 3D NAND flash, the NM620 puts you in the computing fast lane and offers impressive performance even for demanding creative workstations and gaming experiences.

    For added efficiency, its reduced power consumption and cooler operation makes the battery life last longer than a traditional hard drive.Also, the NM620 is built to last with no moving parts, unlike traditional hard disk drive. On top of that, it’s also shock and vibration resistant, making it one robust and reliable SSD2.

    “We are excited to announce the new Lexar® NM620 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3x4 NVMe SSD to our family line of SSD products. With speeds of up to 3300MB/s read, it is the perfect solution for creators and gamers who want to speed up their workflow. The impressive heat dissipation allows you to complete your workflow smoothly,"
    ~ Joel Boquiren, General Manager of Lexar.

    Lexar NM620 M.2 2280 PCle Gen3x4 NVMe SSD is available this month for purchase online at an MSRP of $89.99 USD (512GB), $159.99 USD (1TB).

  • Zadak Spark RGB 1 TB @ TechPowerUp

    Zadak is a new company for me, never heard of them before but it seems they are making 1TB RGB "somethings" that have been reviewed over at TechPowerUp.  Might be interesting to check out., at least to figure out what "spark" is.

    The Zadak Spark RGB M.2 SSD comes with a gorgeous RGB implementation that neatly synchronizes with all the big motherboard brands. In the motherboard software, the SSD will show up as an additional, individually controllable RGB element, no additional cable is required.

    Oh, so M.2 drives...  We checked out a M.2 from an unknown company called the Asura Genesis Xtreme and it was pretty good.  RGB showing through the heatspreader and really good performance.  The only issue was getting the drive to work on systems that followed the standard M.2 spec and didn't allow room for "extra" heatspreaders.

  • HyperX Cloud II Wireless headset review @ DVHardware

    When it comes to affordable gaming headsets the HyperX Cloud II is pretty good both from a sound quality and fitment standpoint.  You can check out the review over at DV Hardware for more information.

    For a company that had never made a gaming headset before 2014, HyperX really took the market by storm. Millions of unit sales later, HyperX has ranked in the US as the best-selling PC gaming headset brand for several years now. One of the company's best-selling products is the sub-$100 HyperX Cloud II -- the original launched in 2015 and now there's a wireless version of this classic. The original received rare reviews at the time, it's still available and has been sold millions of times. The Cloud Wireless II gaming headset builds upon this legacy by cutting the cord -- the new model offers 2.4GHz wireless connectivity, up to 30 hours of battery life, and 20 meters of wireless range. But is it as good as the original? Read on to find out!

    I'm not sure I would fully agree with the way this review was introduced but, there is some truth to it all.

  • Miners Found A Way To Bypass NVIDIA's Hash Limits

    As the famous movie quote goes. "Life will find a way" and in this case Miners found a way to use "cheaper" video cards to mine for their digital "get rich quick" coin.

    Key points from the post

    • However, it seems that cryptocurrency miners have continued to use GeForce RTX 3060 as their mining chip of choice, bypassing NVIDIA's deliberate restrictions in hash rate.
    • What Happened NVIDIA Corporation NASDAQ NVDA announced the creation of a new product offering the NVIDIA CMP, meant exclusively for cryptocurrency mining in February.
    • 2021 Screenshots posted by a Twitter account that documents tech leaks depicted a stack of eight RTX 3060 graphics cards operating at far above NVIDIA's imposed 2025 MH/s mining limit.

    I remember back in the day NVIDIA decided that the GTX 770 would be limited to only 3-Way SLI while the GTX 780 would be unlocked to run 4-Way SLI.  They did this in a driver update and it really crushed the hopes and dreams of overclockers.

    Given that NVIDIA controls what the driver can do it seems to reason that they could also limit the hashrate provided they could identify the card being loaded.  Well, given time and some knowledge it would seem that you can bypass just about anything.

  • Lexar Announces New PLAY microSDXC UHS-I Memory Card

    San Jose, USA, March 3rd, 2021 – Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is proud to announce the Lexar PLAY microSD card.

    Key Features:

    • Compatible with portable gaming devices, smartphones and tablets
    • Fast transfer speeds for quick loading time with up to 150MB/s read
    • Large capacity options up to 1TB - Store more videos, movies, games, music and more
    • Quickly captures, plays back and transfers Full-HD video
    • Loads apps faster with A1 or A2-rated performance

    The Lexar® PLAY microSDXC™ UHS-I Card is designed to keep up with all your content, no matter if they are games, movies, music or books. Avoid slow load times with read speeds of up to 150MB/s1 and fast A1 or A2-rated performance2, so you can play more of what you love without missing a beat. With large capacities up to 1TB you can save all your favorite content and is ideal for portable gaming devices, smartphones, and tablets.

    Cut down delays with fast transfer speeds of up to 150 MB/s1 and get A1 or A2-rated performance2, so you can load apps faster on your mobile devices and play more of what you love without missing a beat.

    “The Lexar PLAY microSDXC Card is the perfect solution for gamers looking to take their game to the next level. It is compatible with the Nintendo Switch™ and other portable gaming devices including phones and tablets. With capacity options up to 1TB, you can continue to game without running out of storage space,” said Joel Boquiren, General Manager of Lexar. 

    Lexar® PLAY microSDXC UHS-I card is available this month for purchase online at an MSRP of $21.99 USD (128GB), $45.99 USD (256GB), $94.99 USD (512GB), and $249.99 USD (1TB).

    About Lexar
    For more than 20 years, Lexar has been a trusted leading global brand of memory solutions. Our award-winning lineup includes memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, solid-state drives and DRAM. With so many options, it's easy to find the right Lexar solution to fit your needs. All Lexar product designs undergo extensive testing in the Lexar Quality Labs with more than 1,100 digital devices, to ensure performance, quality, compatibility, and reliability. Lexar products are available worldwide at major retail and e-tail stores. For more information or support, visit www.lexar.com

  • MSI RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio @ LanOC Reviews

    MSI has been building some really great video cards and while the Lightning might be a think of the past we can still be assured that MSI video cards will push the performance envelope awhile offering triple fan cooling when it is no longer needed. happy smile

    With my first look at the newly launched RTX 3060, I had the chance to take a look at the XC Black which has a stock 3060 clock and is designed to reach the target MSRP Nvidia announced. But what other kinds of options are out there? MSI sent over their RTX 3060 Gaming X Trio which has an overclock out of the box and a significantly larger three fan design. I’m excited to see what MSI has going on with their higher-end RTX 3060 and to see how the 3060 performs with an overclock. So let’s dive in and see what the Gaming X Trio is all about!

    All jokes aside this is a pretty good looking card.