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Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

ASRock Z97 Extreme6 Intel LGA1150 Motherboard Review
ASUS Maximus VII Formula Preview
ASUS Z97-PRO Motherboard Review
Biostar Hi-Fi Z97WE Review
BitFenix Neos Mid-Tower Chassis Review
CM Storm Resonar Review
Cooler Master V650S 650W Power Supply Review
DeepCool STEAM CASTLE Review
Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming G1 WIFI-BK Motherboard Review
HIS R7 260X and R7 250X Review
MSI Z97 MPOWER MAX AC (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review
NEC MultiSync EA244UHD 24-Inch 4K Monitor Review
OS X Yosemite Beta: First Impressions, Installation Tips, Known Issues, and Bug Fixes
Raspberry Pi Model B+ Review
SanDisk Extreme Pro 480GB Review
Sapphire Dual-X R9 280 3GB OC Video Card Review
Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Vapor-X 4 GB
Seagate NAS 4-Bay with Marvell ARMADA 370 Review
Silverstone Raven RV05 Case Review
Thermaltake Urban T81 Full Tower Case Review



ASRock Z97 Extreme6 Intel LGA1150 Motherboard Review

Today, a very special review of the ASRock Z97 Extreme6 motherboard is published here at OCinside.de, which brings tears of joy to the eyes of enthusiasts.
The motherboard is based on the Z97 chipset, which already has many features and ASRock has perfected these features again at this new Z97 flagship.
The ASRock Z97 Extreme6 offers e.g. a HDD saver function, an Ultra M.2 slot with up to 32 GB/s, a M.2 with 6 GB/s, a mini PCIe slot, SATA Express port, purity sound 2 with DTS connect, digital sound output by an optical S/PDIF output, TPM, additionally five PCIe slots, up to ten USB3.0 ports, ten SATA3 ports, eSATA3, DisplayPort, DVI-I, HDMI, two Gigabit LAN ports and many other innovative features, we will explain in detail in this LGA1150 mainboard review.

Read full article @ OcInside.de

ASUS Maximus VII Formula Preview

With the Maximus VII Formula, ASUS actually surprised us, since we did not expect this board to arrive already now. Like with the predecessor you get an "Armor" and the same characteristic looks as with the Maximus VI Formula. Furthermore there is an armada of features, which should make this board appealing to overclockers, modders, enthusiasts as well as - obviously - gamers.

Read full article @ ocaholic

ASUS Z97-PRO Motherboard Review

The ASUS Z97-PRO is a mid-range socket LGA1150 motherboard based on the new Intel Z97 chipset, supporting the fourth and the forthcoming fifth generation Core i processors. It brings a high-end audio codec, eight SATA-600 ports (allowing one SATA Express connection), and eight USB 3.0 ports. Let's take a good look at it.

Read full article @ Hardware Secrets

Biostar Hi-Fi Z97WE Review

Along that line, overclocking the Hi-Fi Z97WE proved to be fairly easy once I found my way around the BIOS. I finished my overclocking with a clock speed of just over 4.6GHz, which puts the Hi-Fi Z97WE within 50MHz of most of the boards I have tested. It pretty much gave me about as much as I can get with the chip I used. Performance still seemed a little off, but more tuning and digging further into the memory sub timings would likely fix this. As an overclocking motherboard, the 10-phase power circuit seems to do the trick in delivering consistent power to the processor.

Read full article @ OCC

BitFenix Neos Mid-Tower Chassis Review

BitFenix are one of the coolest names around when it comes to PC cases, their Prodigy, Phenom and Colossus have already proven a smash hit with the gaming community, but they’ve all got one slight problem in common – they’re all a little on the expensive side for your average consumer. BitFenix clearly don’t want to alienate the largest part of the market and their new Neos mid-tower represents what BitFenix can do for those on a tighter budget, without sacrificing the style and feature sets we’ve come to expect from such an established brand.

Priced at just £30 (plus shipping if you’re ordering online) the Neos is certainly wallet friendly, but just how much you’re going to get back for your money remains to be seen. There are already a few very competitive chassis on the market at this price range from Cooler Master, Cougar, Antec, even a few older NZXT ones that aren’t too bad either, so I’m eager to see how a budget model from BitFenix compares to the rest of the market, and more importantly what they’ve done to make their product stand out from the crowd, as there are often very few differences in terms of specifications at this price range.

As you can see from the specification below, there is room for mini-ITX, mATX and ATX motherboard, plenty of storage bays (for a chassis of this size), a single 120mm fan pre-installed with mounts for an additional two, USB 3.0 support, PS2 ATX PSU support and a range of dust filters included.

Read full article @ eTeknix

CM Storm Resonar Review

Gaming on the go has become very popular and what better way to support this habit than to use a lightweight in-ear headset. Cooler Master pull out the stops with their latest entry, sporting exclusive 8mm drivers housed in all aluminium. Going the extra mile, they also introduce the BassFX technology that, at a turn of a dial, you can can change the audio signature and bolster the bass for your finest fragging hour. The dial is said to literally move the position of the driver by mechanical means thus in theory changing the audio output properties.

Read full article @ Vortez

Cooler Master V650S 650W Power Supply Review

Cooler Master has been off the enthusiast radar in terms of computer power supplies for a while now. It simply walked a different line than much of the rest of the field. Today however we have one of Cooler Master's second foray back into the high end with a mid-level PSU rated for operation at 650 watts.

Read full article @ HardOCP

DeepCool STEAM CASTLE Review

A number of weeks ago DeepCool announced their STEAM CASTLE and received a mixed reception. This bold new design follows the Steampunk genre and therefore by its very nature breaks away from the current trend of discreet and subtle styling which we are all too familiar with.

STEAM CASTLE is a fun and exciting new Micro ATX computer chassis which is available in a selection of colours. This case comes with a handy fan controller, two cooling fans and the prospect of future modding projects.

Read full article @ Vortez

Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming G1 WIFI-BK Motherboard Review

Interior decorating is something that I need a lot of help with. It would be great to have the cash to pay someone who could spruce up my home. An unlimited budget is something that my family does not have. This, unfortunately, means that I can’t pick out a color scheme for a room by myself. Thankfully, there is a woman in my life who can make a room look awesome without having to hire a decorator. The most recent project, updating the kitchen from a classic 1970’s look to a kitchen with a modern feel. I did all the work but she did all the design and I love it. I especially like that the tacky colors of the old kitchen countertops are gone.

With my computers, though, I have some major preferences to matching components so that the system looks like all the parts are meant to go together. Personally, I am not one for a lot of glitz and glam on my boards, either. It is nice to see that Gigabyte has gotten away from some of that with their current G1 series boards. This particular board, the Gaming G1 Black Edition, doesn’t have any gun shaped heatsinks on it or colors that would not match any other components on the market. Instead they have gone with a classic black, red, and grey theme.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

HIS R7 260X and R7 250X Review

While powerful flagship graphics cards may garner most of the buzz in the press, it’s often the lower-end affordable cards that can rake in the profits, not to mention being far more attainable to the average person who’s on a really tight budget yet still wants to do some light duty gaming.

AMD has made it clear that framerates aren’t the company’s primary goal, instead wanting to make affordable products that offer value gaming performance, which is arguably one of the most important criteria for gamers out there who may be hard-pressed to choose where to spend their hard-earned money.

Read full article @ PureOverclock

MSI Z97 MPOWER MAX AC (LGA 1150) Motherboard Review

When it comes to premium motherboards bursting at the seams with features MSI’s MPower and XPower motherboards are certainly well recognised. Although tailored specifically for overclocking, and themed to join the ranks of other MSI Lightning hardware, the M and XPower motherboards still offer all the high-end features we’d expect from a good motherboard. Today we have a motherboard with us that epitomises that from MSI, the Z97 MPower Max AC. Not only is it geared towards overclockers with its advanced BIOS, voltage read-off points, assortment of onboard tweaking buttons and even integrated liquid cooling but it is also geared towards the power user with Gigabit Intel LAN, AC WiFi, Bluetooth, M.2, SATA III, high quality audio and a shed-load of USB connectivity. There isn’t really a lot else to say about the Z97 MPower Max AC other than it has just about everything you could possibly want in a motherboard, and better still it certainly won’t make your wallet cry with a very reasonable price of £170 or $260.

Read full article @ eTeknix

NEC MultiSync EA244UHD 24-Inch 4K Monitor Review

Today we're evaluating NEC's new MultiSync EA244UHD, a 24-inch 4K Ultra HD monitor. As part of NEC's EA series, this monitor is intended for high-end desktop users as opposed to professional graphics users, though there are features of the EA244UHD that may tempt potential customers who fall into the latter category. Things that separate this monitor from a traditional desktop display include extras like up to four-way display matrix support (there are multiple inputs for connecting multiple PCs), a ControlSync feature that lets users control the settings for up to half a dozen daisy-chained displays, a high-speed USB 3.0 hub, and a standard warranty that even covers the backlight for the first three years.

The star of the show, of course, is the 10-bit panel. It boasts 99.3 percent coverage of AdobeRGB and 1.07 billion displayable colors, along with wide viewing angles (178 degrees horizontal / 178 degrees vertical)...

Read full article @ HotHardware.com

OS X Yosemite Beta: First Impressions, Installation Tips, Known Issues, and Bug Fixes

Today marked the first day of Apple's public beta testing program for OS X Yosemite, letting thousands of non-developers download the software for the first time. With so many new users, new issues and bugs in the beta are coming to light and being catalogued in our Yosemite forum. We've pulled out some user reactions from the forums to share, along with some tips on troubleshooting possible issues. For users having problems with the beta, the Yosemite forums can be an invaluable resource, and for users still debating whether or not to install the beta software, make sure to check out this post and our forums before taking the plunge as Yosemite is still somewhat unstable. First Impressions A lot of new Yosemite users think that the operating system looks great. According to one user, it makes Windows and Mavericks look antiquated in comparison with its new focus on translucency and clean lines. A "Yosemite is Beautiful" thread is full of praise, with users calling it "stunning" and "the best OS X has ever looked."

Read full article @ MacRumors

Raspberry Pi Model B+ Review

The miniature PC adds more I/O and USB ports, offering a capable device for around £27

Read full article @ V3

SanDisk Extreme Pro 480GB Review

If you have never heard of SanDisk you must have been living under a rock for the past 25 years because they are one of the world’s biggest providers of PC and mobile storage solutions be it a USB drive, micro flash or like our topic for today, high performance SSDs. You don't get to stay in this business for that amount time unless you are good at what you do. In short SanDisk is a name you can trust and that trust in the electronic storage industry is something you should never take lightly.

The product we are looking at today is the latest innovation in a long line of storage solutions, in particular SSDs. The Extreme Pro is the pinnacle of the range which has both entry level and consumer grades covered along with a variety of storage capacities to fit both budget and performance requirements so no matter what your needs are, SanDisk have a SSD for you.

The SanDisk Extreme Pro has some very impressive figures on paper with a read speed of 550MB/s and a read speed of 515MB/s and it's the SSD we feel most gamers and enthusiasts will choose out of the range.

Read full article @ Vortez

Sapphire Dual-X R9 280 3GB OC Video Card Review

The AMD Radeon R9 280 series is basically a re-branded Radeon HD 7950 with a few tweaks. Powered by a single 28nm Tahiti XTL GPU, it features 1792 Stream processors running at 850MHz with a boost to 940Mhz. The AMD Radeon R9 2xx series has been out since October 2013, and we are continuing to see new versions of the R9 200 series. The AMD Radeon R9 280 series is basically a re-branded Radeon HD 7950 with a few tweaks. Powered by a single 28nm Tahiti XTL GPU, it features 1792 Stream processors running at 850MHz with a boost to 940Mhz. The AMD Radeon R9 280 reference card has its core clocked at 827MHz base clock and 933MHz boost, so this particular card has a small overclock already done to it. Read on to see how it performs!

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Sapphire Radeon R9 290 Vapor-X 4 GB

Sapphire's R9 290 Vapor-X comes highly overclocked out of the box, matching R9 290X in performance. The card's triple fan, triple slot cooler manages temperatures very well and offers a unique feature: you decide whether the card idles with one or three fans running, letting you focus on temperature or noise.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

Seagate NAS 4-Bay with Marvell ARMADA 370 Review

Seagate recently rebooted their NAS offerings, completely revamping their 2013 Business Storage lineup and dropping the old software platform altogether. In its place, they adopted the Debian-based NAS OS, development of which was started by LaCie prior to their acquisition by Seagate. In their 2014 lineup, Seagate has two classes of products, the NAS and the NAS Pro. While the former is suitable for workgroups of 1 to 25 clients, the Pro version pushes that up to 50.

Home consumers and power users form a a rapidly growing market, signified by the wealth of features that Synology and QNAP are bringing to the table in their firmware / product line to target it. Knowing fully well that it takes time to tune the firmware to reach that market, Seagate has wisely decided to concentrate on the SOHO / SMB segment, which is also experiencing similar growth levels. In that segment, purchase decision-makers tend to prefer a single point of contact for the system as a whole, and this works to Seagate's advantage as a hard disk supplier.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Silverstone Raven RV05 Case Review

Now, SilverStone has just released the latest chassis in the Raven series, the RV05. Drawing it’s design straight from the RV01, the Raven RV05 continues a trend started by the NZXT H440 with the removal of all 5.25″ drive bays. Without the bays, the RV05 is smaller than many mid-towers while still retaining compatibility for a full range of standard features such as ATX motherboards and power supplies, bays for dual 3.5″ drives and 2.5″ drives, and even water cooling support.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Thermaltake Urban T81 Full Tower Case Review

For the past few years Thermaltake’s cases have sort of been mainstream, appealing to pretty much anyone who wants a case. While this may or may not be the best thing other case companies have been really becoming popular with enthusiast builders out there. At CES this past January Thermaltake told us that they were going to be returning to their roots with some of their new cases, making these cases specifically for builders, modders and enthusiasts. Today we are taking a looking at the Urban T81 Full Tower which features a dual-swing door design, full modular drive concept, three 200 mm and a 140 mm fans included and the sleek design that you expect from Thermaltake’s Urban Series. Will this case impress? Read on as we find out!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org