Reviews 51950 Published by

Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

4 Ways To Reset Your OS X Account Password
4K for $649: Asus' PB287Q monitor reviewed
be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim High Compatibility CPU Cooler Review
Best Video Cards: May 2014
Complete overview of Nvidia GeForce GT 740 graphics cards
ECS L337 GANK Drone Z87H3-A3X Review
JMicron JMF667H Reference Design (128GB & 256GB) Review
Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Review
MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC Motherboard Review
NZXT Sentry 3 Fan Controller Review
Phanteks Enthoo Pro Review
Rig of the Month - May 2014
Trying Out Steam In-Home Streaming With Hamachi For Remote Play
Twelve CPU Air Cooler Roundup
Vantec EZ SWAP M3500 Series Review
Z97 & Z87 Motherboard Charts: 34 Models tested - Update ASUS Z97-K
ZBOX Sphere OI520 Plus Review



4 Ways To Reset Your OS X Account Password

Let me guess: You forgot your OS X login password. Dont panic! There are four different ways to regain access so one is bound to work for you. Each of the techniques covered are quick and easy, and wont keep your waiting. Check them out below. Use Users & Groups In System Preferences The main (and most obvious) method of resetting your OS X account password is to use the Change Password option in System Preferences. While this is the easiest option, youll need an administrator password.

Read full article @ MakeUseOf

4K for $649: Asus' PB287Q monitor reviewed

4K monitors just grew up in a hurry. This new Asus display works as a single tile at 60Hz refresh rates, which is the right way to do things—and it's only $649. How good is it? We take a long, hard look and come away impressed

Read full article @ The Tech Report

be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim High Compatibility CPU Cooler Review

We all have too many choices to make on a daily basis, and it seems that far too many involve the need to sacrifice one area to satisfy another. Many times this is unavoidable, but more often than not there is little or no need for the sacrifice at all. One of the biggest co-existence quandaries in computers has been enthusiast CPU cooling and tall RAM. Does one actually preclude the other? Well, it shouldn’t but, many times, manufacturers have made this the case.

While the large heatspreaders on RAM have been largely ornamental rather than functional for quite some time, it is often difficult to find high performance RAM without them (there, of course, is a marketing reason behind this…..but I won’t go into that rant right now). This has left many needing to choose between faster RAM, or proper CPU cooling. Sure, you could go to a CLC (hmmm….CLC, tall RAM, marketing ploy…..), but as we have seen in test after test after test, you're asking for a huge noise increase for similar (or decreased) performance, and you can expect to pay a premium for that privilege. Recently, we have seen cooling manufacturers react and new designs have been brought to the forefront with increased compatibility for tall RAM.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

Best Video Cards: May 2014

We’re back once again with our monthly guide to video cards and video card industry recap, this time for May of 2014.

All things considered, the month of May has been extremely quiet in the land of video cards, even more so than April was. There have been no major product announcements from either NVIDIA or AMD this month – not that we were expecting any – so the video card market hasn’t shifted very much this month compared to the bigger shake-ups of earlier this year.

The biggest change for the month of May is of course yesterday’s launch of NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX Titan Z. NVIDIA’s dual-GPU flagship was originally scheduled for release in April but was held back to this month, leaving a two month gap between announcement and release. The GTX Titan Z is NVIDIA’s most powerful card yet, packing a pair of GK110 GPUs and all functionality/features that have come to define the Titan family, including uncapped (1/3rd rate) double precision performance and 6GB of VRAM per GPU. However at a price tag of $3000 it’s twice the price of AMD’s dual-GPU R9 295X2 and NVIDIA’s more conservative power consumption and clockspeeds means that they face an uphill battle when it comes to performance. Consequently the GTX Titan Z is being treated as more a compute card than a gaming card by NVIDIA, though if money is no object then it can certainly be used as a gaming card and should turn in some impressive numbers.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Complete overview of Nvidia GeForce GT 740 graphics cards

Following Nvidia's launch or the GeForce GT 740, or course all board partners are introducing their own versions of the new graphics card. The table below shows all the ones we know about including specifications as far as they are known at the time or writing. All models are pictured below in the same order as in the table.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

ECS L337 GANK Drone Z87H3-A3X Review

The ECS L337 GANK DRONE Z87H3-A3X was a breeze to overclock. Literally setting the CPU multiplier to 45, setting the CPU and RING voltage, and using the XMP profile for the memory was all that was needed for 4500MHz! The launch BIOS is also the only BIOS available and seems to be perfectly stable. In all of the testing there were no stability issues from the motherboard, the only issue I had was using too low of voltage for this CPU (obviously the ECS motherboard was not at fault here). The eOC program had almost no real features for this motherboard. It would be nice to see a little more features in the BIOS such as profiles and screenshots to aid in overclocking. The limiting factor in overclocking here was definitely the CPU and I feel like the Z87H3-A3X could have gone further. At stock, the motherboard put the CPU in Turbo Mode at 3600 MHz consistently.

Read full article @ OCC

JMicron JMF667H Reference Design (128GB & 256GB) Review

Back in 2008 and 2009, JMicron was a relatively big name in the SSD industry. Many OEMs were using their controllers as there weren't many alternatives and JMicron had very alluring pricing. However, as soon as SandForce entered the market in late 2009, JMicron faced issues. Their controllers had major problems with performance compared to SandForce, and that ultimately lead to many OEMs switching to SandForce's controllers. Now, five years later, JMicron is looking to make a comeback to the market with their new JMF667H SATA 6Gbps controller. We got reference design samples straight from JMicron with a brand new firmware, so read on to see how JMicron stands today!

Read full article @ Anandtech

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 Review

Early last week, Microsoft unveiled the third iteration of its Surface Pro tablet, the aptly named Surface Pro 3. Unlike previous revisions to the product, the new Surface Pro 3 can be considered a major overhaul. Not only does the new device feature more powerful internal components and offer a handful of new features, but its form factor is a complete departure from the previous version, thanks to its screen’s 3:2 aspect ratio. The Surface Pro 3 does leverage many of the same industrial design queues as its older siblings, so there’s no mistaking it for anything but a Microsoft Surface. However, the similarities end there...

Read full article @ HotHardware.com

MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC Motherboard Review

We review the MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC motherboard, probably is one of the most aesthetically pleasing Z97 motherboards available on the market. MSI took the Z97 chipset and then started adding with the results a gorgeous motherboard that has SLI/Crossfire support, AC WIFI, heaps of SATA3 connectors, overclock features, adding a very nice audio solution. Join us in a the Z97 Gaming 9 AC review, a product that is bound to please the PC gamer.

Intel released their series 9 chipsets, among them will be low-end and high-end desktop solutions. For the consumers and readers of Guru3D, H97 and Z97 will be the two most interesting ones. For the HTPC end of things H97 is the most appealing as tweaking options are stripped away with a lower price-tag. For the more hardcore gamers and PC aficionados, the Z97 is the most interesting. Z97 by itself as a chipset is nothing special. HOWEVER we have plenty to look at as the motherboard manufacturers went totally nuts and started redesigning their motherboards, added new features and made them extraordinarily cool. You'll spot new redesigns build on the DNA of Z87 yet improved massively. Cool looks, features like AC WIFI, M2 SSDs and Sata Express will bring some very interesting features onto the market. So if (at the time) you didn't upgrade to Z87, now might be a good time.

Read full article @ Guru3D

NZXT Sentry 3 Fan Controller Review

Today we are taking a look at the NZXT Sentry 3 fan controller. With the ability to manually adjust every fan in your case, link multiple fans together, monitor temperature, and do all of that while looking stylish with a large touchscreen, this controller really shows some promise. Read on to see how it performs.

Read full article @ TechwareLabs.com

Phanteks Enthoo Pro Review

When I received word that I would be getting a computer case from Phanteks to review, I immediately looked around my little computer room to ascertain other cases I have used. I noted the full tower cases- one (extra wide) used to setup water cooling systems and one (normal width) for installing extra case fans (12 in total, a hovercraft in the making!). I also noted the mid and mini tower cases (most without internal components) that I have collected from upgrading users or just donated to me from friends. These cases are all just plain, drab computer cases with an occasional fancy front door, with nothing really that makes them stand out.

Now I get to put together a computer system into Phantek's Enthoo Pro using my new ASUS M5A99FX motherboard, AMD FX 8320 CPU, 16 (2x8) GB G.SKILL DDR3 RAM dual channel memory kit and Thermaltake TR2 600W power supply. How will these components work with the new model computer case just put on the market from Phanteks? Let’s first take a look at the case and see what it has to offer.

Read full article @ Neoseeker

Rig of the Month - May 2014

We just adore hardware. And sometimes some you guys really make a PC that really stands out. We ask you to answer a few simple questions and send in photo's of your rig. Each month we'll have a look at the entries and perhaps pick you and post your PC with photo's and everything here at Guru3D.com Here you can find out what you need to do and win a nice prize package courtesy of Corsair.

Read full article @ Guru3D

Trying Out Steam In-Home Streaming With Hamachi For Remote Play

Steam's in-home streaming service just had its official launch, and with some configuration, it has the technical capability to be run as a users personal cloud gaming service. The premise is simple enough, rent a VPS (virtual private server), install Steam, create a VPN (virtual private network) connection with Hamachi, and stream games to a capable PC with reasonable bandwidth. Read on to see how it works!

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Twelve CPU Air Cooler Roundup

With every contest there are winners and there are losers. However, when it comes to CPU cooler ANY of the coolers listed above will do a good job of keep the CPU cool and going for years to come.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

Vantec EZ SWAP M3500 Series Review

You probably aren’t a secret agent, are you? Well, I guess you couldn’t tell me if you were. You may not carry around classified national secrets on your PC, but you probably still don’t want people at LAN parties, or anyone, to access your personal files. If you use a hot-swappable drive, you definitely do not want people to steal your physical hard drive. We all have secrets. Here at HTL, we get all kinds of information about products that are under NDA, and I cannot afford to let something like that slip.

Today’s fast paced world of mobile data means that almost anything can and should be portable and versatile. It also means that we have a greater need for more and more data storage every day. If you have an older office PC with limited SATA ports then you may need a way to use those ports more efficiently, so being able to use multiple drives in one spot is the way to go. Maybe you are just average Joe office worker who wants to take home some of your work, but you don’t want to migrate all your data back and forth twice a day. The best way to do that, and keep it separate from your private files, is with a swappable HDD, one that has your office OS and all of your work on it, and you can just carry the hard drive instead of the entire PC.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

Z97 & Z87 Motherboard Charts: 34 Models tested - Update ASUS Z97-K

In our comparison tables, meanwhile you find benchmark values regarding 34 recent Z97 and Z87 motherboards. 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 motherboard.

Read full article @ ocaholic

ZBOX Sphere OI520 Plus Review

There was a time when a computer in most cases consisted of a big beige box that you certainly did not want to show off or which took up a lot of space on your desk. Those days are gone and today we have a lot more variety both how computer looks and how big they are. Zotac is a company that for quite some time have been pumping out smaller mini-PC’s under their ZBox brand and today we are taking a look at their new round ZBox Sphere OI520.

Read full article @ Bjorn3D