Reviews 51924 Published by

Here a roundup of todays review's and articles:

Asus ZenFone 2 Review: Excellent Android Value
Asus ZenPad S 8.0 review: Hands-on
Crucial BX100 1 TB SSD Review
EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming SOC Review
Intel SSD 750 PCIe 1.2TB NVMe Solid State Drive Review
LUXA2 GroovyA Bluetooth Speaker Review
Raidmax Narwhal Case Review
SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Multi-Format Gaming Headset Review
Thermalright Macho Rev.B
TRENDnet TEW-818DRU AC1900 Review



Asus ZenFone 2 Review: Excellent Android Value

The ASUS ZenFone 2 is one of the more interesting devices to hit the HotHardware reviews desk in some time. We spent a bit of time previewing it earlier this month, and now we've assembled a full review after using it more regularly as our daily dialer. The higher-end model, which is what we're testing here, is available widely for just $299 unlocked.

To put that in perspective, most flagship Android phones retail for upwards of $599 unlocked.

This ASUS smartphone is one of the few phones to ship this year with an Intel Atom chip inside. Intel is surely looking to get its label onto more handsets as time marches on, but it'll be tough to oust platform players like Qualcomm and Samsung that already have a firm grip. On paper, the ZenFone 2 looks like a mid-to-high range phone, but again, it's the $299 price point that keeps everything in focus.

Can ASUS' latest (now finally available in the US as well) come close to matching the performance of phones that cost twice as much? We'll find out in the pages ahead.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Asus ZenPad S 8.0 review: Hands-on

A productivity-focused tablet that's also a fashion accessory. Asus unveiled a number of hybrid devices, an update to its ZenWatch wearable and even a phone dedicated to selfies at Computex in June, but what stood out among the crowd - perhaps for all the wrong reasons - were two 8in ZenPad tablets.

Replacing the MeMO Pad series launched at Computex two years ago, the ZenPad family of tablets are aimed at the more fashion conscious among us. They feature Asus' fresh Zen UI user interface design alongside a series of fashion cases and accessories, such as the "ZenClutch" - a pastel coloured leather case aiming to make the tablet more desirable as a fashion accessory.

Read full article @ V3

Crucial BX100 1 TB SSD Review

Today, we published a review of the Crucial BX100 1 TB SSD on OCinside.de. Recently, we were able to evaluate the Crucial BX100 500 GB SSD and award it with the OCinside price tip. However, many PC and Mac users hope since the beginning of the first Solid State Drives on inexpensive 1 TB SSDs and this hope is fulfilled with this BX100 1 TB SSD ! In this SSD review, we compare the CT1000BX100SSD1 with the other SSD models from the made by Crucial such as the MX200, MX100, M550 and many other SSDs from other manufacturers.

Read full article @ OCinside.de

EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+

A couple of weeks ago we reviewed the latest Nvidia GTX980Ti reference card, and today we follow up with a look at the latest flagship model from one of their key partners. The ‘EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked+ ACX 2.0+’ is quite the mouthful, but EVGA have earned a reputation for releasing some of the finest hardware to target the enthusiast audience. This particular model ships with a 6+2 power phase, custom cooler and unlike the reference Nvidia card, EVGA have decided to fit the card with a custom backplate.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming SOC Review

In this review we take the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti G1 Gaming for a test-drive, the product is superb as it has awesome cooling, it's silent, it's factory overclocked (and not a little) and combined with the default variables like the 6 GB graphics memory this product oozes performance and awesomeness.

And then the GPU that resides on inder the hood, big Maxwell oh man it's a freak of nature with that kind of game rendering powah ! In this review we look deeply into the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti G1 gaming. You'd expect a product with '980' in it to have a similar slightly tweaked GPU, but no Sir. Nvidia shifted a thing or two around, the 980 Ti is based on the BIG Maxwell GPU, the same GPU that is powering the Titan X. Obviously the product has been trimmed down a tiny bit, but trust us when we say, there's plenty performance to be found. This product comes with a luxurious six Gigabytes of graphics memory and with these specs, the GTX 980 Ti should be fetching a lot of interest for the true gamers among is. The GPU empowering the GeForce 980 Ti is big, this one has a massive transistor count; it is a slightly revised GM200 A1 GPU that currently feeds the Titan X its horsepower. So yes, a slightly different iteration of the GM200. The card has five display outputs: three DisplayPorts, HDMI and DVI-I. Where the GTX 980 has 4 GB, this product has a nice 6 GB frame buffer, and close to a third more shader processors when compared to the GeForce 980, accumulating up-to 2816 of them playing the binary game in a GPU that has a whopping 8 Billion transistors (GeForce GTX 980 has 5 Billion). The card looks pretty identical to previous models with subtle changes here and there and with that familiar cooler shroud. Memory wise NVIDIA equipped its GeForce GTX 980 Ti with 7 Gbps memory, the fastest GDDR5 memory you can find on a graphics card today, that's until HBM (stacked memory) is released by the competition in the near future.

Read full article @ Guru3D

Intel SSD 750 PCIe 1.2TB NVMe Solid State Drive Review

Once in a while we see a new generation of products being released that completely change how we view the area and make what we used to think was good into something rather mediocre. Such a time is upon us right now thanks to Intel and their brand new consumer drives, the Intel SSD 750 Series. I’ll be taking a closer look at the 1.2TB PCIe Half-Height Half-Length (HH-HL) add-in card today, but the drive is also available as a smaller version with 400GB capacity and both capacities are also available as 2.5″ inch form factor with an SFF8639 connector.

The Intel SSD 750 series is an NVMe based drive which both is a wonderful thing and has a hitch at the same time. Your motherboard has to support it and you need the proper drivers to get the full potential. But assuming we have this, and major manufacturer are all upgrading their Intel 9 series motherboards to support this, then you have the next generation of storage drives.

Read full article @ eTeknix

LUXA2 GroovyA Bluetooth Speaker Review

Bluetooth speakers are great! They make it extremely easy to add sound to any room and at a very low cost too. LUXA2 has sent us one over of their latest Bluetooth speakers, which is the GroovyA. This Bluetooth speaker features a sleek brushed aluminum design, 7W of total audio output, up to 15 hours of playtime, a speakerphone function with microphone, and a cool stand that it sits in that allows you to angle the speaker for a better listening experience. Is this the right Bluetooth speaker for you? Read on as we take a look…

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Raidmax Narwhal Case Review

Back in March Raidmax introduced another new design to its extensive line up of computer cases, the Narwhal. This is a mid-tower case with pricing to match. Employing a sleek design, the Narwhal presents a robust business front with four external drive bay openings and an easily removable front air filter grill.

Along with the front removable air filter, the Narwhal also incorporates removable top and bottom air filters which should help keep the interior free of dirt and dust. The side of the case has a small window with a raised honeycomb-style pattern on the inner side of the plastic pane that is not geometrical in shape, so when viewing through the window you get a slightly distorted view of the case interior.

Inside the case you can remove the middle HDD drive bay, allowing for installation of video cards measuring up to 430mm in length. The bottom HDD drive bay has three drive trays that have mounting points for 3.5” drives (held in place by slightly bending the plastic trays with pins in the side rails, then inserting the drive) or 2.5” SSD drives by using screws to mount the drive in the middle of the tray.

Read full article @ Neoseeker

SteelSeries Siberia Elite Prism Multi-Format Gaming Headset Review

SteelSeries are one of the hottest gaming brands around, so I’m very happy today to have their flagship gaming headset, the Siberia Elite Prism, in the eTeknix office. The Siberia series has long proven to be a big hit with the gaming community, especially their excellent V2 and more recently, the V3 versions of the headset, as they offer great performance for a very reasonable price; something that has made them a smash hit with the eSports community.

The Elite Prism more than doubles the price of the V3 headset, but promises a lot more features and functionality for desktop users, such as multi-format support, USB and 3.5mm connectivity, Dolby surround processing and a whole lot more, so I have pretty high expectations of what this headset should be capable of.

As you can see from the specifications below, it’s certainly packing a lot of features and should be a great headset, so let’s get right to it and take a closer look at what the Elite Prism has to offer.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Thermalright Macho Rev.B

Thermalright looks to improve upon the ever-popular Macho series with the new Macho Revision B. This revision offers an offset design for better memory compatibility while sticking with a massive single tower. Offering fantastic performance for the price when compared to ultra high end solutions, it could very well be just what you are looking for.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

TRENDnet TEW-818DRU AC1900 Review

TRENDnet has been in the business of networking since 1990. Their portfolio of products and accolades are testament to the brands success and yet unlike other companies which are crowned with similar success, still persist in offering good value for money. This is our first outing with TRENDnet and we’ve heard good things about the brand!

Today we’ll be taking a look at TRENDnet’s TEW-818 DRU – an AC1900 dual-band wireless router. 802.11ac has been a hot topic in the networking world in the last 18 months and many home users are seeking to take advantage of the extra bandwidth this standard offers. The 818 DRU seeks to provide an affordable option to those wanting to transition to this new technology.

Read full article @ Vortez