Reviews 51945 Published by

Here today's reviews and articles, including GTX 760 SLI Results, Lian Li PC-Q30 Mini-ITX Case Review, Asus Cube Google TV Review, Mobile GPU Comparison Guide Rev. 14.8, and Palit GeForce GTX 780 Super Jetstream Review



GTX 760 SLI Results @ LanOC Reviews
I recently had the chance to check out a couple of Nvidia’s new GTX 760’s. Now that we are past the launch and things have calmed down, I can now also share the results of my SLI testing of those cards as well. It will be interesting to see how they compare to the GTX 770 SLI results as well as single card performance of the GTX 780 itself.

As usual with our SLI results we get right to the point and let you see the results without any in-depth explanations. This is just to give you an idea of what you should expect if you decide to go with a GTX 760 and are considering picking up a second card now or in the future. Enjoy!

Read more: GTX 760 SLI Results @ LanOC Reviews

Lian Li PC-Q30 Mini-ITX Case Review @ KitGuru
Today we are going to look at the PC-Q30 which is one of the latest Mini ITX cases from Lian Li. We have looked at a number of compact cases from Lian Li in the past and have been generally very impressed with what they have to offer. This particular model has a very unusual design which features a large curved window in the front of the chassis.

Read more: Lian Li PC-Q30 Mini-ITX Case Review @ KitGuru

QNAP TS-469L Network Attached Storage Device Review @ ThinkComputers.org
NAS devices have come a long way in the past several years. What used to be a bunch of hard drives plugged into a motherboard with an Ethernet NIC and a power port, running a stripped down Linux kernel with a few fileshare services running has expanded to these comparative monstrosities with connectivity galore: USB ports, eSATA ports, multiple NICs, and now HDMI. A NAS isn’t so much a NAS any longer: it’s a multimedia computer not just suited for the office closet, but for the living room, as well.

The QNAP TS-469L, combined with QTS 4.0.1, wants to be in your living room. It wants to be your multimedia machine, storing the things you want to see on your television, be those things cast from your laptop, HTPC, or streaming device, or shown directly from the device itself.

In this review, we’ll go into light depth on many of the features of the QNAP TS-469L, but also QTS 4.0.1, as this is the first QNAP product review we’ve done since the overhauled firmware was released several weeks ago.

Read more: QNAP TS-469L Network Attached Storage Device Review @ ThinkComputers.org

MSI GTX 780 TwinFrozr Gaming 3 GB @ techPowerUp
MSI's GeForce GTX 780 GAMING is a factory overclocked custom design GTX 780. It is the quietest GTX 780 we tested so far, making it a great choice for gamers who want low noise levels. With a price of $650 it is just $10 more expensive than the reference design, a reasonable price increase.

Read more: MSI GTX 780 TwinFrozr Gaming 3 GB @ techPowerUp

Fractal Design Define XL R2 Case Review @ Legit Reviews
Full tower PC cases are quite abundant in the PC enthusiast market; each manufacturer trying to make that perfect case with not only features and functionality, but also style. Sweden based Fractal Design is no stranger with making good looking cases that are easy to work with, so today we are going to take a look at the Define XL R2 Full Tower Chassis.

Read more: Fractal Design Define XL R2 Case Review @ Legit Reviews

MSI Z87-G43 Motherboard Review @ HardwareHeaven.com
Over the last month or so we have covered Intel's latest generation of CPUs in a number of ways from the initial CPU article, through system reviews and motherboard comparisons. In that last category we looked at MSI's Z77-G45 Gaming board and it scored well against a slightly cheaper offering from another manufacturer. Having seen that MSI felt they could compete really well with their G43 board so today we have that very product on our test bench to see how it compares.

Read more: MSI Z87-G43 Motherboard Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Magellan SmartGPS RM5295T-LMB Review @ TechReviewSource.com
The Magellan SmartGPS is the first true 'smart' GPS as it utilizes Wi-Fi or your smart phone's data connection to interact with Magellan's Cloud service to get Yelp and Foursquare content, live traffic and other alerts. It also has a premium design and a new interface that is extremely interactive.

Read more: Magellan SmartGPS RM5295T-LMB Review @ TechReviewSource.com

Asus Cube Google TV Review @ Bjorn3D
Asus Cube is the device that features latest Google TV OS that want to be part of your living room entertainment setup. With a good design, an unique remote, and $139 price tag, can it push Google TV further where others may have failed? Lets find out. 

Read more: Asus Cube Google TV Review @ Bjorn3D

Mobile GPU Comparison Guide Rev. 14.8 @ Tech ARP
hese days, there are so many mobile GPU models that it has become quite impossible to keep up with the different configurations. Therefore, we decided to compile this guide to provide an easy reference for those who are interested in comparing the specifications of the various mobile GPUs in the market as well as those already obsolescent or obsolete.

Currently covering 415 mobile GPUs, this comprehensive comparison will allow you to easily compare up to 22 different specifications for each and every GPU! We hope it will prove to be a useful reference. We will keep this guide updated regularly so do check back for the latest updates!

Read more: Mobile GPU Comparison Guide Rev. 14.8 @ Tech ARP

Fractal Design Define XL R2 Black Pearl Chassis Review Full-Tower Nearly Perfected @ TechnologyX
Fractal Design has been in the chassis market for some time now, and those familiar with the name should instantly relate it with the words minimalistic and professional. The Swedish company has always strived to make more of less, while keeping their products aesthetically pleasing. The shear elegance of the Fractal Design Define XL R2 Black Pearl chassis then, makes it a truly unique case for those consumers who require space. Like its predecessor, the Define XL R2, a second generation XL case, is an attempt to further develop the chassis line by the ability to re-adjust, add, or remove select components of the XL case to better suit a wide range of consumer needs.

Read more: Fractal Design Define XL R2 Black Pearl Chassis Review Full-Tower Nearly Perfected @ TechnologyX

Logitech G510s Gaming Keyboard Review @ Hardware Canucks
Logitech G-series keyboards are nearly legendary in their stature among gamers and enthusiasts. The early products within the lineup are still regarded as some of the best peripherals ever released due to their amazing ability to adapt to nearly every situation. For example, the G11 and G15 keyboards incorporated an innovative LCD screen that showed critical information. This was a feature which many competitors tried to mimic but few succeeded in achieving Logitech's seamless integration.

This is where the new G510s comes into the equation. In an effort to stay ahead in a cut-throat market, it has been designed to take advantage of the latest technology and adapt it in a way that fits perfectly with today's gaming high level expectations. Make no mistake about it though; the G510s' $120 price tage retains Logitech's premium position above all else.

Read more: Logitech G510s Gaming Keyboard Review @ Hardware Canucks

Silicon Power Velox V55 240GB SSD @ NikKTech
Silicon Power Computer & Communications Inc., founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic specialists in International Business, Global Marketing, and Technical Engineering of flash data storage industry. Well dedicated in brand image and product quality, Silicon Power has been recognized and well accepted by millions of end-users in more than 100 countries, becomes the world's leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, DRAM modules, solid state disks, and portable hard drives in less than a decade. Headquartered in Taipei, we continuously established various branches throughout the world including Netherlands, Japan, Russia, Mainland China and other emerging market to reach the worldwide market. Silicon Power's overall performance has gradually drawn great attention worldwide. In 2006, we received Taiwan Rising Star Award for our foreign business achievement. In 2008, we won 17th National Outstanding Small & Medium Enterprise Award for our outstanding progress. Moreover, with superior quality and innovative design, our products stood out in several competitions and awarded Taiwan Excellence and COMPUTEX Design & Innovation Award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Winning trust of global consumers, Silicon Power holds a record of successive double-digit revenue growth for last seven years. According to the Common Wealth Magazine's 2010 Survey of Taiwan Top 1000 Manufacturers, our 2009 revenue growth rate was ranked No.11 among Taiwan's top 1000 manufacturers, and even ranked No.1 in semiconductor industry. Positioned as Passionate, Creative and Hungry for Success, Silicon Power introduces products for users who are seeking individualized, unique and personal digital storage devices. With the mission of creating unprecedented experience for users, Silicon Power will endeavor to deliver a full range of high quality products that have innovative designs, distinctly unique features and comprehensive after sales services to create and fulfill your personal memory.

The Velox V55 240GB SATA III SSD is based on a controller made by PHISON electronics (this is actually our first encounter with one of their controllers) and more specifically their latest PS3108-S8-I SATA-to-Flash micro-controller featuring SATA III support, NCQ (Native Command Queuing), ECC (Error Checking and Correction) technology, S.M.A.R.T. health monitoring, RAID and TRIM-based garbage collection. PHISON seems to focus mostly on reliability rather than raw performance and so according to the specifications sheet of the PS3108-S8-I controller we see that it can achieve R/W speeds of up to 500/300 MB/s numbers which as many of you know are far from the highest ones available. Fortunately as you will see later on in all our tests the Velox V55 managed to surpass these numbers with ease (perhaps due to firmware optimizations) but was that good enough for it to match and/or move ahead from the immediate competition?

Read more: Silicon Power Velox V55 240GB SSD @ NikKTech

SanDisk's Extreme II SSD reviewed @ The Tech Report
With MLC main storage and an SLC flash cache, the SanDisk Extreme II is unlike any other SSD we've encountered. We explore the drive's unique design and see whether it can keep up with the fastest SSDs on the market.

Read more: SanDisk's Extreme II SSD reviewed @ The Tech Report

Palit GeForce GTX 780 Super Jetstream Review @ Guru3D
We test and review the Palit GeForce GTX 780 Super Jetstream review edition. The card comes with a most excellent cooler that is silent and performs really well. Next to that, this card comes factory overclocked for you guys, and not a little as at default clocks this puppy runs as fast and sometimes faster than a GeForce GTX Titan. Very impressive to observe, and it's a very impressive card to see as well. We test the product with the hottest games like Grid 2, Metro: Last light, Battlefield 3, Sleeping Dogs, Far Cry 3, Medal of Honor Warfighter, Hitman Absolution and many more. Now who doesn't like that with a card based on the chip that is embedded in the GeForce GTX Titan, eh?

The GeForce GTX 780 is NVIDIA's all new high-end graphics card based in their Flagship product, the GTX Titan. This means it is based on the GK110 GPU and has a whopping 7.1 Billion transistors. That makes it a nice chunk faster opposed to the GeForce GTX 680 GPU. Just like the Titan, the GTX 780 is based on the GK110 GPU with the distinctions that the Titan has a GK110-300 GPU and the GeForce GTX 780 a GK110-400 GPU. Same stuff, yet with some things disabled. But we are a bit surprised to see NVIDIA move forward with GK110. See, the GK110 chip is BIG, and that makes it a difficult chip to bake, its recipe is refined though as the product has 2304 Shader Processing Units, 192 TMUs and 32 ROPs on a 384-bit memory interface of fast GDDR5. So yeah, NVIDIA trimmed down that that 45 mm × 45 mm 2397-pin S-FCBGA Titan with its 2688 shader/stream/CUDA processors a bit.

Read more: Palit GeForce GTX 780 Super Jetstream Review @ Guru3D

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch Review @ KitGuru
Today we are taking a look at the latest ThinkPad X1 Carbon from Lenovo, which features a Multitouch screen. The review sample we received features a Core i7 processor, 240GB Solid State Drive and 8GB of DDR3 memory. With prices starting around £1,400 this laptop targets the high end enthusiast and business user but is it worth the money?

We put the diminutive business machine through a series of synthetic and real world tests today.

Read more: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Touch Review @ KitGuru