Reviews 51945 Published by

Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AOC G90-series Review
AORUS B360 Gaming 3 WIFI Motherboard Review
ASROCK H370M-ITX/AC (Intel H370) Motherboard Review
ASUS AiMesh Whole-Home Mesh Wi-Fi System Review
ASUS ROG STRIX H370-F Gaming Review
Charts CPU Performance Content Creation: 21 CPUs tested - Core i3-8350K
Cooler Master MasterAir G100M CPU Cooler Review
Exploring Intel's H370, B360, and H310 chipsets
Gigabyte Aorus B360 Gaming 3 (WIFI) Motherboard Review
Gigabyte Aorus H370 Gaming 3 (WIFI) Motherboard Review
GIGABYTE B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WiFi Review
GIGABYTE H370 AORUS GAMING 3 WIFI (AMD X370) Review
Huawei P20 Pro + P20 Smartphone Launch Event
Intel Core i5 8600 Processor (65W) Review
Intel Core i7-8750H Review
Intel Optane SSD 800p Review
Jabra Elite 65t True Wireless Earbuds Review
Kingston A1000 960GB PCIe NVMe SSD Review
Koolance CPU-400I Water Block Review
MSI B360M Mortar Titanium Review
Nest Hello Review
Plextor M9Pe(Y) 512GB SSD Review
Samsung Odyssey Z 15 first look: the first gaming laptop with Nvidia Max-P graphics
SteelSeries Arctis Pro/GameDAC and Pro Wireless Headset Review
Toshiba X300 6TB Desktop Internal Hard Drive Review



AOC G90-series Review

The recent introduction of AMD's Raven Ridge processors enables building gaming PCs at a particularly low price point, good news for the gamers with a modest budget. Of course, an affordable PC also includes a screen for which you don't have to plunder your bank account. Preferably one with FreeSync, because the new AMD APUs are now a default. Nowadays you have a number of interesting models to choose from, and since a couple of weeks ago, a few more. AOC introduced its new entry-level gaming range - the G90 series. We tested the AOC G2590PX, G2590VXQ and G2790PX and here is what we can report.

AOC has made a furore in recent years with its Agon line of gaming monitors, in which it has captured almost any size and type imaginable that is currently technically possible, from 4K with G-Sync to 34” UWQHD to 24” WQHD with 144 Hz. Although Agon screens are certainly not the most expensive in their respective class, they are premium displays and that is reflected in the price.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

AORUS B360 Gaming 3 WIFI Motherboard Review

Finally, Intel releases lower-budget chipsets for the 8th generation Coffee Lake CPUs. I am reviewing the B360 chipset motherboard from AORUS, but it makes sense to know what H370 and B360 provide in comparison with Z370. It will be more interesting to see the difference in purchase decisions as AMD Ryzen has its chipset motherboards available at good pricing with overclocking features on the B350 chipset.

Technically, you may compare the AMD A320 with the Intel B360. But it shares similarities with the AMD B350 chipset naming. Since motherboard manufacturers go over the top with gaming labeled motherboards, Intel B360 motherboards with such feature sets should be more accessible to the mass.

Read full article @ Hardware BBQ

ASROCK H370M-ITX/AC (Intel H370) Motherboard Review

You might have read our first H370 motherboard review earlier, and now you will read our second H370 motherboard review on the ASRock H370M-ITX/ac. Now, we have looked at past ASRock ITX motherboards, and they are typically impressive.

ASRock tends to not skip on the VRMs on their top ITX motherboards, and they include features we typically don't find on others. The new motherboard here is very similar to what ASRock offered for the Z370 chipset, so let's see what is different.

Read full article @ TweakTown

ASUS AiMesh Whole-Home Mesh Wi-Fi System Review

We have generally been impressed by the range and throughput potential of Mesh WiFi systems (https://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/james-morris/ultimate-mesh-wifi-router-shootout/) . But these either require you to turn off your existing WiFi or replace your original router entirely, which is a waste of money if you only just bought it. If you replace your router entirely, you will also be locked into the features available from the mesh kit, which may be limited for some routers. But what if you could get a mesh system using your existing router’s WiFi? This is the basic theory behind ASUS’s AiMesh.

Read full article @ KitGuru

ASUS ROG STRIX H370-F Gaming Review

ASUS releases its budget-friendly ROG STRIX H370F Gaming motherboard, we'll pair it with a six-core Core i7 8700K processor. Yes, this is the Coffee Lake platform being more affordable.

So what if you want to reap the benefits of the Coffee Lake platform, but do not need all the exquisite tweaking options and features the more expensive Z370 motherboards offer? Well, pair the H370 with the new Core i5 8600 (non-K), and you'll have the ability to create a beast of a gaming rig. With an H370 chipset you get most of the features and functionality from that Z370 platform, yet scrap the tweaking and overclocking functions. This effectively means that K model processors are not something you should spend your money on as you cannot OC them easily anyway. Any H370 chipset based motherboard, however, offers plenty of features for both internal and external connectivity. For example, you will spot things like an HDMI port, USB 3.1 ports, six SATA3 ports, and even two M.2 slots. There are Gigabit Ethernet and proper 8-channel HD audio.

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D

Charts CPU Performance Content Creation: 21 CPUs tested - Core i3-8350K

These days there are basically two different groups of customers who demand lots of processing power: content creators and gamers, while this 2D performance comparison is targeting content creators. After having had a look at the following pages you'll have an overview on how fast recent CPUs are in regarding a variety of programs, may it be video encoding, rendering, ...

Read full article @ ocaholic

Cooler Master MasterAir G100M CPU Cooler Review

This year at CES we noticed a very interesting CPU cooler in Cooler Master's suite, it was the MasterAir G100M.  The reason this cooler really caught out attention was the  unique design and RGB lights.  The cooler more or less looks like a UFO with some awesome lighting.  Under the hood the G100M uses heat column technology that is 7X larger than normal heatpipes, a circular fin design, and a top-down air flow 92 mm cooling fan.  The smaller size of the cooler also makes it very viable for mini-ITX builds.  Let's get this cooler in our test system and see what it can do!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Exploring Intel's H370, B360, and H310 chipsets

Intel's Coffee Lake CPUs have been with us since October of last year, and they put the blue team back on a competitive footing after AMD's Ryzen onslaught of multithreaded bang-for-the-buck. Today, Intel unveiled a range of new desktop and mobile CPUs that fill out much of its eighth-generation processor lineup, including several new locked desktop parts.

New chips with more cores are just one ingredient in a competitive recipe, though. Intel has so far required the use of its unlocked Z370 motherboards with every Coffee Lake CPU, whether those chips were multiplier-locked or multiplier-unlocked. For budget builders who wanted a cup of Coffee Lake, that fact forced them to pair relatively inexpensive and multiplier-locked Core i3-8100 and Core i5-8400 CPUs with costly motherboards designed for overclocking the top-end Core i5-8600K and Core i7-8700K. In contrast, AMD's Ryzen CPUs have long enjoyed a full range of compatible AM4 motherboards, from inexpensive A320 models to mainstream enthusiast B350 boards and on to the range-topping X370 chipset. Builders of every stripe could find an AMD motherboard to go with their budget largely from the get-go.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Gigabyte Aorus B360 Gaming 3 (WIFI) Motherboard Review

Gigabyte releases its very budget-friendly Aorus B360 Gaming 3 motherboard, we'll pair it with a six-core Core i7 8700K processor. The motherboard with AC WIFI will full throttle that proc, and costs only 119 Euro/USD. Compared to the H370 chipset you'll forfeit another few PCIe lanes and a bit of RGB bling. However you do not need tweaking options, pair it with the new Core i5 8600 (non-K), and you'll have the ability to create a beast of a gaming rig with the right graphics card. With a B360 chipset you get many of the features and functionality from that H370 and Z370 platform, yet scrap the tweaking and overclocking functions. This effectively means that K model processors are not something you should spend your money on as you cannot OC them easily anyway. Any B360 chipset based motherboard, however, offers plenty of features for both internal and external connectivity. For example, you will spot things like an HDMI port, USB 3.1 ports, six SATA3 ports, and even a full speed M.2 slots. There is a Gigabit Ethernet, 8-channel HD audio. There's also space a for a 1x Mini-PCIe Half-Size slot for a WLAN card (WIFI optional though). Heck, Gigabyte fabbed a nice looking board as well.

Read full article @ Guru3D

Gigabyte Aorus H370 Gaming 3 (WIFI) Motherboard Review

Gigabyte releases its budget-friendly Aorus H370 Gaming 3 motherboard, we'll pair it with a six-core Core i7 8700K processor. Yes, this is the Coffee Lake platform being more affordable.

So what if you want to reap the benefits of the Coffee Lake platform, but do not need all the exquisite tweaking options and features the more expensive Z370 motherboards offer? Well, pair the H370 with the new Core i5 8600 (non-K), and you'll have the ability to create a beast of a gaming rig. With an H370 chipset you get most of the features and functionality from that Z370 platform, yet scrap the tweaking and overclocking functions. This effectively means that K model processors are not something you should spend your money on as you cannot OC them easily anyway. Any H370 chipset based motherboard, however, offers plenty of features for both internal and external connectivity. For example, you will spot things like an HDMI port, USB 3.1 ports, six SATA3 ports, and even two M.2 slots. There is Gigabit Ethernet and proper 8-channel HD audio. There's also space for a 1x Mini-PCIe Half-Size slot for a WLAN card (WIFI optional though). Very interesting is the inclusion of a 1x M.2 2280 slot that supports PCIe 3.0 x4 (the second one is limited to 2x). But sure, one M.2 SSD can be fitted with a full speed NVMe enabled M.2 SSD.

Read full article @ Guru3D

GIGABYTE B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WiFi Review

Today we'll be turning to GIGABYTE for a look at their B360 AORUS Gaming 3 WiFi. This motherboard is designed to support Intel's 8th Generation Processors and will offer coverage of the basic Coffee Lake features with the bonus of elements such as 802.11ac.

Read full article @ Vortez

GIGABYTE H370 AORUS GAMING 3 WIFI (AMD X370) Review

Today we look at our first H370 motherboard, and the new H and B 300-series chipsets from Intel are a bit different than their Z370 counterparts. For starters they are Cannon Lake chipsets, so they are of a new design rather than based on an older one. They offer integrated USB 3.1, four on H370 boards and four on B360 motherboards.

They also offer built-in support for Intel's integrated Wi-Fi, which offers up to 1734Mbps on wireless-AC 2x2 on the 160MHz band. While routers with the band enabled aren't common right now, they will be in the future. The next thing these chipsets have are improved audio DSP, and we are seeing some vendors market improvements over the typical ALC1220, and we assume some of that is due to the DSP in the PCH getting an upgrade.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Huawei P20 Pro + P20 Smartphone Launch Event

Huawei today launched their flagship *Huawei P20 Pro* and *Huawei P20* smartphones - a major assault on Apple and Samsung's dominance of the smartphone industry. Find out more about the P20 Pro and P20's key features, price, specifications and availability.

The Huawei presentation, in particular, took special aim at the Apple iPhone X and the recently-launched Samsung Galaxy S9. Find out why Huawei thinks the new P20 Pro and P20 smartphones are more than just rivals to the Apple and Samsung flagship smartphones!

Read full article @ Tech ARP

Intel Core i5 8600 Processor (65W) Review

Intel released a new six-core proc the Core i5 8600 (non-K model) through our benchmark paces. This $239 USD proc is again a six-core processor that you will need to seat on a Z370, H370 or B360 chipset based motherboard. While it isn't fitted with hyper-threading, it might, however, be one sweet gaming processor with its low 65W TDP, a 3.1 GHz base-clock and a turbo passing 4.1 GHz.

Let me once again start by stating that Intel has not been a part of this review whatsoever. As I have mentioned before and will keep mentioning, Intel is ignoring the bigger part of EU press. And as such we have not received a shred of information let alone a single processor for review. That means we use a processor supplied by the industry. This is a proper Core i5 8600 (ES) processor. But it would be SO GOOD, if anyone from Intel who reads this would take notice and step up, to solve this sad situation in EU for the Nordic region specific.

Read full article @ Guru3D

Intel Core i7-8750H Review

The Core i7-8750H is one of seven new Coffee Lake H-series processors designed for performance notebooks, workstations and gaming laptops. The i7-8750H is essentially the successor to the widely popular 'Kaby Lake' Core i7-7700HQ that was used in nearly every top-end gaming laptop over the last year or so.

This week Intel unveiled a new range of six-core Coffee Lake laptop CPUs, among many other announcements. Today, we’re putting one of these CPUs to the test. The Core i7-8750H is one of seven new Coffee Lake H-series processors designed for performance notebooks, workstations and gaming laptops. The Core i7-8750H is essentially the successor to the widely popular 'Kaby Lake' Core i7-7700HQ that was used in nearly every top-end gaming laptop over the last year or so. I expect the i7-8750H will also be the go-to chip for gaming laptops and other performance mobile devices, so this review will be useful to anyone looking to upgrade to a new Coffee Lake H-series system.

Read full article @ TechSpot

Intel Optane SSD 800p Review

Today we look at the Optane 800p, first mentioned at the start of March, available in 58GB and 118GB with improved speeds to boot; aimed as stand-alone boot drives, with enough room for a Windows 10 install and some essential applications.

Intel first launched their Optane range of storage solutions around a year ago, utilising the 3D XPoint memory within a typical consumer product for the first time; these drives arrived with capacities of 16GB and 32GB, with the main usage scenario being a cache drive for much larger spinning drives.

Read full article @ Vortez

Jabra Elite 65t True Wireless Earbuds Review

Jabra aims once again to dominate the wireless market with their latest Elite 65t True Wireless Earbuds featuring Bluetooth v5.0 connectivity, 4 MEMS microphones and up to 15 hours of battery life thanks to the addition of an charging case.

Wireless earbuds are not only for people who'd like to listen to music while at home, on the road or working out but also for people who'd like to answer calls while driving their cars (or while doing anything for that matter). You see since various such devices have recently made their way to our lab i feel we need to clarify this because many people we know take for granted that wireless earbuds are just good for one thing, audio playback. In reality our tests lately have shown that there are wireless earbuds out there which actually outperform many wired headsets when it comes to outgoing call clarity. Jabra's Elite Sport True Wireless Earbuds were actually the first ones to achieve that and since they recently released the brand new Elite 65t model there's no way we'd miss out on testing it as well.

Read full article @ NikKtech

Kingston A1000 960GB PCIe NVMe SSD Review

The A1000 Solid-State Drive (SSD) is Kingston’s first entry-level PCIe NVMe solution and it is available today in capacities of 240GB, 480GB and 960GB. As Kington’s starting point for PCIe NVMe drives, the A1000 series will sit underneath the KC1000 series that was introduced last year. This affordable drive series boasts speeds that are twice as fast as a traditional SSD using the SATA III interface and around 20x faster than the old school spinning 7200RPM hard drive. We are talking about sequential read/write performance of up to 1500 / 1000 MB/s and random 4K read/write performance of up to 120K / 100K IOPS. Not bad performance numbers from an entry-level PCIe NVMe drive series that uses a single-sided M.2 2280 form factor design. Kingston is targeting users that are trying to breath life into an old system or are building a new system on a budget and want to run the latest drive technology. Kingston is using the Phison E8 (PS5008-E8) controller with Toshiba 64-Layer BiCS3 3D TLC NAND Flash memory on the A1000 drive series.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Koolance CPU-400I Water Block Review

Koolance's new CPU-400I water block promises excellent thermal performance and boasts a new design using POM acetal, a brushed metal cover, and nickel-plated copper to go along with a new cooling engine. Today, we see how well it does in a crowded and competitive market.

My journey into custom watercooling began with one of their CPU water blocks, the CPU-380I to be specific, and it remains a part of my collection even to this day. As with other companies, Koolance has since revised and released newer versions, including the CPU-390I I had examined on release, and it seemed fitting to be able to do so again with their latest and greatest. Koolance is unlike most other brands in that they deal a lot with industrial customers, with the consumer market getting products few and far between. This does not mean they do nothing in the interim, however, with their products coming out when they deem it appropriate and competing right at the top of the performance charts.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

MSI B360M Mortar Titanium Review

In our next review we have the MSI B360M Mortar Titanium in the spotlight. This motherboard dips into two of MSI's renowned series - Mortar (Micro-ATX) and Titanium (Grey, contrast design). A brief glimpse of the styling quickly reveals a rather unique looking solution which is sure to turn heads and allow those wanting to create a light coloured theme with a good foundation.

Read full article @ Vortez

Nest Hello Review

Nest didn't reinvent the doorbell — that was done already. But it's made the best one you can buy.

In retrospect, I should have seen this coming long ago. The idea of a video doorbell isn't all that novel. It's just a basic button, camera, speaker and mic, with some flashing lights tossed in. That's not all that technologically advanced, right?

Read full article @ Windows Central

Plextor M9Pe(Y) 512GB SSD Review

Plextor’s latest NVMe SSD family is the M9 and as with the previous generation M8 drive series, the M9 comes in three versions, two M.2 drives and the HHHL version we are reviewing here.

The two M.2 versions are the M9Pe(G) which comes with a black and red design heatsink on it and the M9PeGN, a bare drive without the heatsink. The M9Pe(Y) HHHL (Half Height Half Length) drive we are reviewing has the same red and black design heatsink as the M9PeGN only much larger obviously. Capacity wise there are just three for all three versions of the M9; 256GB, 512GB and the flagship 1TB drives.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Samsung Odyssey Z 15 first look: the first gaming laptop with Nvidia Max-P graphics

Odyssey Z 15 looks to be Samsung’s most impressive gaming laptop with a hexa-core Intel CPU, Nvidia Max-P graphics and an innovative cooling system.

Samsung’s Odyssey Z 15 is a new, thin-and-light 15-inch gaming laptop featuring Intel’s new hexa-core Coffee Lake processors and the first Nvidia GTX 1060 Max-P graphics chip. On top of that, the laptop features a bold new styling and dynamic cooling system.

Read full article @ TechRadar

SteelSeries Arctis Pro/GameDAC and Pro Wireless Headset Review

SteelSeries have long been the go to brand for gamers wanting a high-quality headset, for a range of different budgets. Now SteelSeries have upped the ante, and dialled their Arctis range all the way up to 12, adding a Pro range of headsets to its line-up.

With a fanfare launch, three different variants of the Pro were made available all on the same day.

Read full article @ Play3r

Toshiba X300 6TB Desktop Internal Hard Drive Review

Judging by the transfer rates, the X300 6TB drive from Toshiba has performed admirably and easily topped our charts; we were also surprised to see that the seek noises were kept at low levels, while the drive did not overheat during our stress benchmarks. Paired with a SSD as a boot drive, this particular model can be easily recommended for gaming systems, backups, video rendering/encoding, which do take a lot of storage space.

Read full article @ Mad Shrimps