Reviews 51911 Published by

Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

5 tips on migrating to open-source software
AMDs FX-9590 Eight-Core At Up To 5.0GHz On Linux Preview
Corsair Flash Voyager GTX USB 3.0 128GB Flash Drive Review
EVGA SuperNOVA G2 1600 W
EVGA X99 Classified Review
Func KB-460 Keyboard Review
GPU Charts 2014: 66 Graphics Cards
Intel Core i7 5960X Review
Intel Core i7-5960X Haswell-E LGA2011-V3 Processor Reviewed
Noctua NH-D15 Review
PC Specialist UltraNote II Review
Surface Pro 3 vs Macbook Air head-to-head review
Tesoro Tizona G2N Elite and G2N-P Elite Mechanical Keyboard Review
Tesoro Tizona G2N Elite Keyboard
Transcend SSD370 SSD Review (256GB) – Great SSD Value Point
Tt eSPORTS Verto Gaming Headset Review
VisionX 420D Review: ASRocks mini-PC Lineup Continues to Impress
X99 Charts: 5 Boards - EVGA X99 Classified
XTracGear Ripper Mousepad Review



5 tips on migrating to open-source software

Jack Wallen offers up some tips for making the migration to open source software easier on end users.

Read full article @ Techrepublic

AMDs FX-9590 Eight-Core At Up To 5.0GHz On Linux Preview

Since last year AMD's had the FX-9590 as the top-end Vishera CPU that can top out at 5.0GHz with its Turbo Frequency, but initially this processor was only available to OEM system builds. Over time the OEM version of the FX-9590 became available to consumers while earlier this summer AMD launched a retail version of the FX-9590 that included the eight-core CPU with a closed-loop water cooling solution. Today we're reviewing this highest-end Vishera CPU to see how it compares to other AMD and Intel processors on Ubuntu Linux.

Read full article @ Phoronix

Corsair Flash Voyager GTX USB 3.0 128GB Flash Drive Review

Corsair has gone even further in terms of performance by including a SSD controller inside their latest USB Flash Drive; this way the Voyager GTX USB 3.0 was born and features a nice brushed aluminum chassis for a sturdy design and is available in both 128GB and 256GB variants.

Read full article @ Madshrimps

EVGA SuperNOVA G2 1600 W

EVGA recently introduced their new flagship SuperNOVA unit with 1600 W capacity and 80 Plus Gold efficiency. According to their description, this PSU is the ultimate tool for any highly overclocked system, and in this review, we plan to push it beyond its limits to see how it fares.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

EVGA X99 Classified Review

The X99 Classified is the high-end X99 motherboard from EVGA and therefore it comes with a good looking design as well as a lot of features. Apart from that the X99 is EVGA's overclocking motherboard so you can combine it with EVBot and there are quite a few other interesting options.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Func KB-460 Keyboard Review

A few years ago, an era of change came to Func, and with it came a desire to redefine the gaming experience once again. In order to do this, they had to look beyond just cosmetics, and find a way to bring performance and functionality to its peak in one place. That’s where the KB-460 mechanical keyboard comes from. As Func’s first attempt at a gaming keyboard, it will definitely be a redefining moment for it to be good at what it does.

Read full article @ TechnologyX

GPU Charts 2014: 66 Graphics Cards

In our charts you find benchmark values of 66 DX11 graphics cards. Furthermore we do not comment the benchmark values. The idea and also the goal is to present to you a market overview which helps you choose the right graphics card.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Intel Core i7 5960X Review

A few days ago, Intel simultaneously launched its X99 platform and a trio of Haswell-E processors to match. This launch marks the end of the X79 platform's reign, which lasted over three years and truth to be told, started to feel outdated in terms of feature set and even performance levels. Looking at previous reviews across the web, you can see that the 4770K and 4790K processors from the mainstream Haswell family coupled with a Z97 board provided similar performance - if not higher - than the very respectable 4960X IVB-E. It was about time for an LGA2011 update! The long wait is indeed over with the release of an updated LGA2011-v3 socket, the new X99 chipset, and a high end desktop processor lineup that supports the brand new DDR4 memory standard. Is your head spinning yet?

The Core i7 5960X I will be looking at in this review is Intel's first 8-core desktop processor, which sets it as the cream of the crop of the chipmaker's desktop line of processors. This fully unlocked beast of a processor comes loaded with 2.6 billion 22nm Tri-Gate 3-D Transistors that fit into a large 17.6mm x 20.2mm die and eight physical cores that translate into 16 processing threads thanks to Hyper Threading. It also boasts an impressive 20MB L3 cache and no fewer than 40 PCI-E 3.0 lanes. The 5960X has an out of the box base clock of 3.0GHz that bumps to 3.5GHz with Intel's Turbo Boost 2 Technology. The base clock might seem low at first glance, but the two additional cores play a role in this drop and the overall performance should not suffer. However, the 140W TDP that seems to be the norm with the new Haswell-E processors just might make overclocking a bit problematic. Looking at the overclocking track record of the previous Haswell chips, I'm not holding my breath for any ground breaking numbers.

Read full article @ Neoseeker

Intel Core i7-5960X Haswell-E LGA2011-V3 Processor Reviewed

Haswell-E is here. Well, technically, it’s been “here” for a while but has undergone refinements throughout the last year to ready itself for launch. One of those refinements was more performance and cooler operating temperatures. Without creating a whole new architecture, the only feasible direction, given the current TDP and heat challenges facing Haswell, was to refine the silicon, add more cores, lower the core voltage, and assign a frequency that can be maintained across those cores. The result is the new Core i7-5960X Haswell-E processor that uses 8 physical cores and 16 threads to flex its muscle.

Today, we’re giving the new Core i7-5960X its debut, after repeated torture tests for days on end. The question on everyone’s mind is, do all those threads really make this new processor worth the money? That’s exactly the question we want to answer.

Read full article @ Futurelooks

Noctua NH-D15 Review

Today DaveChaos brings us a Noctua NH-D15 Review, comparing it to three other coolers.

Read full article @ HardwareHeaven

PC Specialist UltraNote II Review

The UltraNote II is a 15-inch mid-range laptop from PC Specialist, a British system builder that has been producing mobile and desktop PCs for what seems like forever.An analogy that could sum up the UltraNote II is that it's the unremarkable middle kid of laptop designs. Neither the cheapest, nor the most dear; not exactly powerful, but not particularly underpowered either. Almost every aspect of it fits squarely between expensive, high-end systems and cheap mobile computers.The analogy can be extended to its design too. At 2.2kg it's not especially light, but not ridiculously heavy, and its 25mm chassis is neither chunky nor portable. The black and dark grey plastic chassis doesn't look bad at all. It has an executive-style gunmetal grey lid, although it's fairly bland, with no real distinguishing features – not even a company logo or branding.

Read full article @ Techradar

Surface Pro 3 vs Macbook Air head-to-head review

We see if Microsoft's tablet hybrid beats Apple's flagship ultra-portable laptop

Read full article @ The Inquirer

Tesoro Tizona G2N Elite and G2N-P Elite Mechanical Keyboard Review

This is an excerpt from a poem in Cantar de Mio Cid or The Poem of the Cid, and it describes the great power of the Tizona. Even before Ferrán González was struck by the Tizona, he knew immediately that he was finished, just by the sight of this mighty sword. Now you may be wondering, what is the Tizona? You might think of the game Terraria, where the Tizona was one of the strongest swords in the console version of this game. But the Tizona is more famous for being one of the swords carried by Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, also known as El Cid. The name Tizón translates to burning stick, or firebrand, despite the fact it can neither burn anything nor start fires. Today, the Tizona can be found in the Museum of Burgos, and weighs in at 1.1 kg or 2.4 lbs, measuring at 103 cm or 41 inches. The museum obtained the sword from the Army Museum in Toledo in 1999, when the Autonomous Community of Castile and Leon purchased the sword for 1.6 million Euros. Now prior to this review, I have never heard of the Tizona, even with its importance and worth, and likewise before today, I have not heard of Tesoro Technologies Inc. This company is a relatively new company, starting only in 2008, but now making gaming mice, keyboards, and mousing surfaces. Tesoro also only recently started selling their gaming peripherals to the North American audience. Here at APH Networks, we are definitely more than excited to see what Tesoro can bring to the table, as competition really will only bring improvements to all keyboards from different companies. Is the Tesoro Tizona really a mighty keyboard to be had? Does it render the rest of the keyboards defeated? These and other questions will be answered in today’s review!

Read full article @ APH Networks

Tesoro Tizona G2N Elite Keyboard

Tesoro is a company that is likely not well known by many computer enthusiasts, except for perhaps some of the diehards in the crowd. In truth, Tesoro hasn’t been around for a long while, only since 2011, but has recently been making a bigger push in the popular gaming peripheral market, including keyboard, mice, gaming surface, and audio products. Today we’re looking at the latest and greatest flagship mechanical keyboard from Tesoro, the Tizona G2N Elite. Mechanical boards have become all the rage of late, and it’s easy to see why. After you’ve used one, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without, shunning the membrane boards for the sexy individual switch designs. There’s something refreshingly satisfying about a keyboard that provides real feedback, rather than sitting there like a piece of wasted plastic. And if you’re a great touch typist, then a mechanical board is like the Autobahn for fingers.

Read full article @ PureOverclock

Transcend SSD370 SSD Review (256GB) – Great SSD Value Point

Today, value and ease of installation seem to be key ingredients in finding success at the consumer level; great performance, high-capacity and reliability of which have all become commonplace. Transcend hopes to have found just the right mix in the SSD370 SSD, making it widely available in more capacities than we have seen from any other in some time, but also, selling it at a price point that has only ever been equaled by the likes of Samsung, SanDisk and Crucial/Micron themselves. Somehow, their pricing is at, or below that of even the NAND flash memory manufacturers. This might just be a great start…but what about ease of installation?

Read full article @ The SSD Review

Tt eSPORTS Verto Gaming Headset Review

Tt eSPORTS is Thermaltake’s gaming accessory line. With multiple headsets, mice, and keyboards, they are a major player in the professional gaming industry. Today we have their new headset, The Tt eSPORTS Verto. The 2 channel headset comes with synthetic leather ear pads and an auto adjusting headband. Branded as having “strong styling paired with comfort”, we decided to take a go at it.

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

VisionX 420D Review: ASRocks mini-PC Lineup Continues to Impress

ASRock has been one of the few motherboard vendors to focus on mini-PCs targeting the HTPC and portable gaming markets. Starting from the ION-based nettop days, they have consistently refreshed the mini-PC lineup in sync with Intel's product cycle. We have been reviewing members of their CoreHT lineup (rechristened as VisionHT last year) since the Arrandale days, but today, we are focusing on their gamer-targeted mini-PCs. The VisionX lineup marked the departure from NVIDIA to AMD for the discrete GPU component, and their Haswell version, the VisionX 420D combines a Core i5-4200M with an AMD Radeon R9 M270X. Read on to see how the mini-PC fares under both gaming and HTPC workloads.

Read full article @ Anandtech

X99 Charts: 5 Boards - EVGA X99 Classified

So far we've tested 5 X99 motherboards and we have to say that sometimes we got quite interesting results. What we've also done is, we have added results gathered with Right Mark Audio Analyzer in order to chek the quality of the onboard audio.

Read full article @ ocaholic

XTracGear Ripper Mousepad Review

There’s a lot things that I think people overlook when it comes to their computer setups and one of them is the mousepad, the average person I mean of course, gamers and enthusiasts know that a good mousepad can make a real difference. Today for review I have the Ripper from XTracGear which is a textile mousepad, it’s cloth but yet the surface feels and works like a hard surface pad would, it’s sort of a combination between hard and soft pads really. Read on the learn more…

Read full article @ TestFreaks