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Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

2015 Christmas gift guide
ASUS MATRIX GTX 980Ti PLATINUM Review
be quiet! Dark Rock TF Review
Case Mod Friday: Fallout Vault-Tec Build
Cyberpower Zeus Mini Evo I-970 Review
Fallout 4 Gameplay And Performance Review
HP Officejet X576dw Review
Intel Core i7-6700K Stock versus 4.8GHz Overclocked
Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 PCIe G2 480GB SSD Review
Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ATX Chassis Review
PowerColor Radeon R9 390 PCS+ Review
Razer Mamba Chroma Mouse Review
The Cougar QBX Mini ITX Case Review



2015 Christmas gift guide

We know gift shopping can be hard at the best of times, so the TR staff has banded together to share our favorite gift recommendations for the PC enthusiast this year.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

ASUS MATRIX GTX 980Ti PLATINUM Review

The GeForce GTX 980Ti has been a successful achievement for NVIDIA – taking the crown on the single-GPU battlefield. We’ve seen various custom designed GTX 980Tis since its release back in May 2015; ASUS themselves offering a variety of graphics cards under their different sub divisions.

In the spotlight today is a graphics card which has been highly anticipated for many months – the MATRX GTX 980Ti PLATINUM edition. Taking the top spot in the ASUS lineup, this ROG flagship seeks to modify just about every aspect of the GTX 980Ti that you could think of.

The MATRX GTX 980Ti PLATINUM comes factory overclocked and custom cooled via DirectCU II. Having the MATRIX badge means this card is primarily designed for overclocking enthusiasts and as such the PCB is loaded with features and components which lean in this very direction.

Read full article @ Vortez

be quiet! Dark Rock TF Review

Can a mid-height downdraft cooler keep up with our overclocked Haswell-E CPU? We put the Dark Rock TF by be quiet! through our tests to find out.

Read full article @ Toms Hardware

Case Mod Friday: Fallout Vault-Tec Build

Welcome to another Case Mod Friday showcase! This week we have BS MODS' “Fallout Vault-Tec Build” build. Here is what they had to say about it, "We had to pick a game based theme and we wanted something with a well-established fan base. Fallout 4 is scheduled to come out soon and has great lore to work with. Our build is more Fallout in general, but most of the build inspiration came from the Fallout 4 trailer. We focused on just the Vault-Tec side of Fallout."

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Cyberpower Zeus Mini Evo I-970 Review

One of the thinnest PCs to feature a Core i5 CPU and GTX 970 graphics. The UK's best system integrators are making a push for small-form-factor gaming PCs. Scan Computers, Chillblast and DinoPC have recently sent in their wares and it's now Cyberpower's turn to go under the spotlight with the Zeus Mini Evo.

Priced from £999 for a Core i5 configuration with GeForce GTX 970 graphics, Cyberpower's rig boldly claims to redefine the small-form-factor desktop space by employing a custom Zeus Mini chassis that isn't available off the shelf.

Read full article @ Hexus

Fallout 4 Gameplay And Performance Review

Fallout 4 is finally here. Channeling its best 50's era paranoia and the allure of a warm, radiation-free bomb shelter, Bethesda’s newest RPG tells us doomsday prepping and cryogenics actually work—yay! Well, that is until they malfunction and you’re thrust topside to an irradiated, post-apocalyptic wasteland filled with vile mutated everything, all gunning and clawing for you...

It’s no surprise for us PC folks that the PC version of Fallout 4 offers the most definitive experience by far, and allows the new engine to really shine. Unfortunately, consoles are locked at 1080p at 30fps, with lower levels of in-game image quality. However, though the game is not without is fair share of bugs and in-game quirkiness, it scales very well with mid-range hardware...

Read full article @ HotHardware

HP Officejet X576dw Review

Sometimes, you have to reinvent the wheel to get better results, and that's what HP has done with its new inkjet print technology. The HP Officejet Pro X576dw ($354, £232, AU$497) is a wireless multifunction printer that defies conventional wisdom, proving that inkjet printers can deliver faster print speeds, more cost-effective print costs and match the quality of laser printers.The HP Officejet Pro X576dw is priced at the premium end of small business printers. In addition to the multifunction capabilities, wireless connectivity and cloud-connected print apps place the Officejet Pro X576dw in the same category as workgroup inkjets like the Epson WorkForce Pro WF-4630 ($200, £130, AU$253). However, its performance is more in line with laser printers, like HP's Color LaserJet Pro MFP M277dw ($429, £273, AU$528).DesignIn addition to class-defying 70 page-per-minute print performance, HP is also changing the way you view inkjets.

Read full article @ Techradar

Intel Core i7-6700K Stock versus 4.8GHz Overclocked

In this article we're going to have a closer look at what difference overclocking your CPU makes regarding performance in several different recent games. For that purpose we're going to test our Intel Core i7-6700K CPU at stock clocks as well as overclocked to 4.8 GHz.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 PCIe G2 480GB SSD Review

We've mentioned numerous times in the past that SATA III compatible solid state drives (SSDs) have pretty much maxed out the performance limit of that standard (bandwidth limitations) and although that might be just in maximum read/write data transfer speeds and not continuous/constant ones (that would be nice to see) the end result doesn't really change. PCIe and M.2 based SSDs have surpassed that limitation both in maximum and constant read/write performance for a while now and although the first tend to cost quite a bit more compared to regular SATA III ones while the second are not compatible with older mainboards in the end these drives are a way out for people who are looking for something faster. It may have taken a while for them to do so but Kingston finally released their very own HyperX PCIe and M.2 models inside 2015 and with us today we have the top of the line Predator 480GB M.2 PCIe G2 SSD.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ATX Chassis Review

It's not often we come across a piece of luxury in the tech industry. Actually much of the industry tries to sell you faux-luxury, or plastic components with a sleek and slick finish to make it appear like it's worth much more than you paid for it. This is not the case with the new Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ATX Mid Tower Chassis!

Read full article @ TechnologyX

PowerColor Radeon R9 390 PCS+ Review

If you are in the market for a powerful sub £300 graphics card AMD’s R9 390 still bears serious consideration. Right now there are some partner cards available at very competitive price points – the PowerColor R9 390 PCS+ that we look at today for instance, is currently available at only £250 inc vat. This card is supplied in an overclocked state and it ships with a proprietary triple fan, custom cooling solution. Is it worth a shortlist for a pre-Christmas upgrade?

Read full article @ KitGuru

Razer Mamba Chroma Mouse Review

Wireless mice don’t have the best reputation with gamers. Early wireless connectivity options introduced noticeable lag, and response times were far higher than comparable wired solutions until very recently. And nobody wants their battery running out during an intense Counter-Strike match. With the latest edition of its wireless gaming mouse, the Mamba Chroma, Razer aims to leave the previous generation behind by bringing together wireless convenience and wired response times.

The Mamba has been a mainstay in Razer’s line-up since 2009, and many gamers love its contours and those of its wired sibling, the Death Adder. More than half a decade of refinement has helped Razer perfect the feel of the mouse, with well-placed and firmly responsive buttons, an off-centre bump on which to rest your palm, and a solid plastic shell with rubberized sides that lets you keep an instinctive and firm grip. The scroll wheel is solid, and includes side clicks that are easy to use without scrolling the wheel itself. The Chroma feels intuitive and natural from the first moment you use it.

Read full article @ Hardware Canucks

The Cougar QBX Mini ITX Case Review

Cougar originates from Germany and originally specialized in advanced computer peripherals. During the past few months we have looked at several of their high end peripherals and mice. The company however produces more than just keyboards and mice, having diversified towards PC power supply units and cases. Cougar however is not particularly well-known for their cases, even though they have nearly a dozen designs available. One of their most recent releases is the their first Mini-ITX case, the QBX, which was unveiled at Computex and even won a design & innovation show award in the process. This is the case that we will be reviewing today.

Cougars marketing is making some very bold claims regarding the performance and capabilities of the QBX. "Powerful Graphics". "Massive Storage". "The Best Cooling of Its Class". And then we notice a $53 price tag, which makes everything sounding a little bit too good to be true. So today we are putting the QBX to the test to see for ourselves where the new case excels and where it falls short.

Read full article @ Anandtech