Tech News

  • G.SKILL Trident Z Royal DDR4-3200 16GB Memory Kit Review @ ThinkComputers

    Ohh Shiny!

    G.SKILL was one of the first companies to come out with RGB DDR4 modules and they were quite a hit. Their Trident Z RGB kits are still some of the best RGB kits available today and have a sleek and sexy look that you can’t help but admire. How could G.SKILL possibly top their Trident Z RGB kits? Well they showed everyone just how they were going to do that at Computex this year with the introduction of the Trident Z Royal DDR4 memory. This new memory features the same heatspreader design, but the heatspreaders are made of polished aluminum that just looks amazing. Topping off the heatspreaders is a crystalline light bar that is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. Today we are checking out the F4-3200C16D-16GTRS kit which is a 16GB (2 x 8GB) kit running at 3200 MHz, with timings of 16-18-18-38 at 1.35v. Is this going to be the must-have RGB memory for 2018? Read on as we find out!

    These are some pretty sweet modules and have NO business being in a gaming computer.  The style is completely off and the gold motherboards for the Chinese market were soooo last season (thrice removed)

    But, hey they are pretty and should look good covered in frost.

  • Nvidia Targeted With Class Action Lawsuits Over Crypto Crash @ Toms Hardware

    I caught this posted over at Toms.  Have to admit I'm surprised it too investors this long before taking action. 

    On a related note the topic of NVIDIA and their "stumble" was covered on the Hardware Asylum Podcast main show Episode 94 and I might suggest you check it out.

    According to the Complaint, the Company made false and misleading statements to the market. NVIDIA touted its ability to monitor the cryptocurrency market and make rapid changes to its business as necessary. The Company claimed to be “masters at managing our channel, and we understand the channel very well.” NVIDIA also claimed to the market that any drop off in demand for its GPUs amongst cryptocurrency miners would not negatively impact the Company’s business because of strong demand for GPUs from the gaming market. Based on these facts, the Company’s public statements were false and materially misleading throughout the class period. When the market learned the truth about NVIDIA, investors suffered damages.

    While I totally agree I'm not sure what anyone is expecting to get from this.  Investing is a risk, one day you could have your money safely stored in stock the next day a fire could destroy the entire factory along with the design archives.  It could be from mismanagement of fire suppressors or some angry employee who lost his red stapler. . 

    While the article suggests that the inventory excess has been "worked through" by now that really doesn't mean much.  From the side of NVIDIA they would be indicating that the chips have been sold.  However, that doesn't help the excess inventory in the market or the snobby owners who are still upset that they paid over a grand for their card that has virtually $0 value now.

  • AIDA64 v5.99 is released

    AIDA 64 is a benchmark I use when testing memory modules but it can be used for so much more.  In fact it is activly being updated to support many of the latest hardware releases and is super easy to use.

    Be sure to check the program out!
    http://www.aida64.com/whatsnew

    New features & improvements of AIDA64 v5.99
     

    - AVX-512 accelerated benchmarks for Intel "Cascade Lake" processors
    - Fake nVIDIA video cards detection
    - Cooler Master MasterKeys MK750 and SteelSeries Apex M750 RGB LED keyboard support
    - Matrix Orbital GTT and RoboPeak RPUSBDisp LCD support
    - Cooler Master MasterMouse MM530 and SteelSeries Rival 600 RGB LED mouse support
    - Aqua Computer D5 Next and Quadro sensor support
    - Improvements for Intel Z390 chipset based motherboards
    - Corsair ST100 RGB LED headset stand support
    - SanDisk X600 SSD support
    - Advanced support for LSI RAID controllers
    - 32 processor groups support
    - WDDM 2.5 support
    - SteelSeries QcK Prism RGB LED mousepad support
    - GPU details for AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP and Radeon RX 590
    - GPU details for nVIDIA GeForce RTX and Quadro RTX Series

  • Funky Kit Review - Adata XPG SX8200 240GB M.2 SDD

    ADATA. now there is a name I haven't heard in a Loooonngg time. 

    Well, that isn't true, I saw their booth at Computex and had a nice chuckle at their "Shuriken" logo on the gamer hardware.  Its almost like they stole the idea from my other website Ninjalane.

    I sometimes think I should bring that site back, everyone knows me as Mr. Ninjalane but I like the logo better at Hardware Asylum.  Decisions, Decision.

    Much like picking your next M.2 SSD.  Of course if you want to believe a guy who plays the "I'm on YouTube, get out of my" card when at trade shows.

    If you want a super fast boot drive at an amazingly affordable price, then take a serious look at the ADATA XPG SX8200 SSD. You won’t find anything that will beat it … especially under $80!

    Can't argue with 80 bux, or a guy who plays the "I'm on YouTube, get out of my way" card  big grin smile.  Be sure to check out the review or tool around this site and let me know if Ninjalane should make a comeback tour.

  • Crucial P1 500GB M.2 Type 2280 SSD Review @ Madshrimps

    I was super excited when Crucial annoucned their first NVMe based M.2 drive.  It finally ment we could get NVMe performance without having to bow to the Samsung engine or pay through the nose for enterprise ready drives from Intel.  

    It also marked a time when NVMe controllers were finally being opening up to other drive makers. 

    Judging by the transfer speeds, we are dealing with a decent mainstream SSD at quite low sale prices, thanks to the newer QLC technology. As we have seen before with TLC SSDs, the P1 does rely on the RAM cache and SLC cache for delivering higher read/write performance but as soon as this fills up, the overall speeds will drop. The performance drop will be mostly visible when we do write very large files to the drive at once, a scenario not frequently found when used in consumer workstations.

    Be sure to check out our review of the Crucial P1.  The performance wasn't draw dropping but for the price, performance and storage capacity you can't complain.  

  • KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB GDDR5X @ TechPowerUp

    It is really great that we are still getting "new" GTX 1060 cards after the launch of the 20-Series.  This review over at TechPowerUp features the KFA2 GTX 1060 with GDDR5X memory which will give the GPU more memory bandwidth when compared with the older version.

    We bring you the world's first GeForce GTX 1060 GDDR5X review. NVIDIA has recently released a new GTX 1060 variant, which uses faster GDDR5X chips, instead of GDDR5. While out of the box speeds are identical, we found a massive 44% memory overclocking potential, which lifts the card to new performance levels.

    As the quote indicates, the GPU isn't any faster but the memory is and THAT is what makes time travel possiable, or at least your TimeSpy scores better.

    Also keep in mind that there are much better KFA2 cards on the market for those looking for something a little more raw and unchained.

  • Thermaltake Pacific R1 Plus DDR4 Memory Lighting Kit

    Taipei, Taiwan-December 7th, 2018- Thermaltake releases Pacific R1 Plus DDR4 Memory Lighting Kit to offer an easy solution for coloring up memory modules. The RGB memory cover for DDR4 memory module that supports motherboards with 4 DIMM channels features 36 addressable LEDs with 16.8 million colors can be controlled with Patented TT RGB PLUS software and synchronizes with ASUS, GIGABYTE, MSI, AsRock 5V motherboard RGB software. With user-friendly engineered design, R1 can be easily clipped on to the DIMM channel bracket, therefore, users do not need to have all four RAM sticks installed to place R1 and enjoy the RGB effects. It is also compatible with most generations of memory modules on the market, including DDR4, DDR3, and DDR2. The wide range of compatibility benefits most PC DIY users. Pacific R1 Plus DDR4 Memory Lighting Kit offers an easy way for your memory module to outshine the rest!

    Thermaltake TT RGB PLUS Ecosystem
    TT RGB PLUS Ecosystem is the intelligent lighting system for PCs that combines the most advanced addressable LED lighting with Thermaltake’s patented TT RGB PLUS Software, Razor Chroma, and Amazon Alexa Voice Service. TT RGB PLUS ecosystem provides nearly unlimited possibilities for playing with colors, synchronizing lights to games, music, CPU temperatures, Razer Chroma supported gaming peripherals or other TT RGB PLUS products, including case fans, CPU/VGA waterblocks, AIO CPU coolers, PSUs, LED strips, gaming keyboards, headsets, mice and mouse pads. The patented TT RGB PLUS software allows users to change the light modes, colors, speeds, brightness, fan speeds via TT AI Voice Control and Amazon Alexa Voice Service.

    For more details on the Thermaltake Pacific R1 Plus DDR4 Memory Lighting Kit, please visit: https://www.thermaltake.com/Cooler/Liquid_Cooler_/Others/C_00003373/Pacific_R1_Plus_DDR4_Memory_Lighting_Kit/design.htm

  • Antec Torque @ TechPowerUp

    Several years ago there was a casemod that was designed after the MV Agusta F4.  It was an amazing mod that basically took a standard case and split it in the middle horizontally from the back forward.  They left the front intact and started bending the case making it taller and exposing the internals.

    The case was then painted up and became a very popular design that many have replicated.  Including Antec.

    The Antec Torque is the company's take on open air cases. It doubles down on a compact but elaborate look with the usual material mix focusing on aluminium and tempered glass.

    I'm all for open air cases and when you can add style that is just icing on the cake.

  • Battlefield V Tides of War GeForce RTX DirectX Raytracing @ TechPowerUp

    With the only game on the market to support RayTracing there is a lot of pressure to make sure the game plays well and remains in the news as long as possiable.  And, what better way to ensure that than to release an update to increase performance.

    DICE released the Battlefield V Tides of War update today, which includes improvements to NVIDIA RTX raytracing technology. We tested this new version on GeForce RTX 2070, RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti, showing impressive performance gains.

    Most are claiming a 50% performance boost when there is already a 60% hit for running RayTracing.  Seems like it would even out to me  happy smile

  • NVIDIA Readies TITAN RTX Graphics Card @ TechPowerUp

    NVIDIA is at it again, this time allowing YouTube channels to "leak" box shots of the RTX Titan video card.  NVIDIA even posted an interesting photo to their twitter account which didn't make much sense.

    As it would turn out, someone decided to take RTX and make it T-Rx or (T-Rex) and thought it would be funny.  Well joke is on them since there is already a T-Rex program for NVIDIA which is a GPU mining software package supporting all sorts of different algorithms.

    TechPowerUp has this to say:

    NVIDIA is ready with its new flagship halo consumer graphics card, the TITAN RTX. Several video bloggers such as LinusTechTips have apparently already been sampled with this card, and are probably under NDA not to reveal specifications. Given that "Turing" is the only NVIDIA architecture capable of RTX, NVIDIA could be building the TITAN RTX on the largest "TU102" silicon. The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti does not max out this silicon, leaving NVIDIA room to do so with the TITAN RTX.

    A maxed out "TU102" should feature 4,608 CUDA cores, 288 TMUs, 96 ROPs, in addition to 576 tensor cores and 72 RT cores.

    Gotta love it when YT channels are able to break NDA.  Or, what I assume is an NDA since none of the written sites I know have posted anything aside from speculation.

    Given that Titan isn't designed to be a consumer card I suspect there a reason to keep things under wraps.