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Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AMD EPYC Secure Encrypted Virtualization Not So Secure: Researchers
Antec Mercury RGB 240 AIO CPU Cooler Review
Ballistix Tactical Tracer 32GB DDR4-2666 RGB LED Memory Kit Review
MJX Bugs 2 WiFi FPV (B2W) GPS Brushless Camera Drone Review
MSI GS65 Stealth 8RE Review
Noctua Chromax CPU Cooler Accessories Review
Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler Review
Plextor M9PeG 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD Review
Samsung C34H890 review: ultra wide 100 Hz alternative?
The Best Laptops 2018



AMD EPYC Secure Encrypted Virtualization Not So Secure: Researchers

Secure Encrypted Virtualization (SEV) was touted as one of the killer features of AMD EPYC and Ryzen Pro series processors. It involves encryption of parts of the memory of the host machine which house virtual machines (or guests), with encryption keys stored on the processor, so the host has no scope of infiltrating or reading the contents of the guest's memory. This was designed to build trust in cloud-computing and shared hosting industries, so web-present small businesses with sensitive data could have some peace of mind and wouldn't have to spend big on dedicated hosting. A Germany-based IT security research team from Fraunhofer AISEC, thinks otherwise.

Using a technique called "SEVered," the researchers were able to use rogue host-level administrator, or malware within a hypervisor, to bypass SEV and copy decrypted information from the guest machine's memory.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Antec Mercury RGB 240 AIO CPU Cooler Review

With the Mercury range, Antec doesn’t have many products on offer to choose from when it comes to cooling. What it does have though, tends to be excellent. Although not the first name you would think of when it comes to CPU coolers, they are slowly but surely attempting to carve themselves a slice of the AIO pie.

This is a somewhat unusual situation for us here at eTeknix as we have also reviewed the original Mercury 240 cooler. In that instance, we were impressed with the cooler. You might, however, be wondering if there are any differences. Well, yes there are. Wouldn’t be much point reviewing it again if there wasn’t.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Ballistix Tactical Tracer 32GB DDR4-2666 RGB LED Memory Kit Review

I couldn’t wait to see new memory kit from Ballistix series, especially that I heard about it a couple of months ago. Ballistix is not releasing products without proper tests so even though we have to wait some more then we can always count on a perfectly stable and well-prepared product.

The Tactical Tracer is equipped with a set of RGB LEDs which are offering amazing effects. It’s the main feature of this memory series but there are more interesting things in the presented memory kit.

Stay with us to see what is so special in the Ballistix Tactical Tracer.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

MJX Bugs 2 WiFi FPV (B2W) GPS Brushless Camera Drone Review

A recent 2017 report from ‘The NPD Group’ has found that drone sales in the USA have grown 117% year-over-year. While premium priced drone sales have been steady, there’s a large demand for lower cost drones, especially by the holiday season.

Since Q4 2016, I’ve been reviewing new brushless motor drones from MEIJIAXIN TOYS CO., LIMITED (simply referred to as MJX) and so far up to this point I’ve been very impressed with their playful Bugs series of drones.

I reviewed the unique MJX Bugs 3 back in Q4 2016 and after I’d flown it, I knew MJX had a hit going into 2017. It’s no surprise the MJX Bugs 3 has been selling like hotcakes worldwide, because it’s one of the best and affordable brushless drones you can purchase. Read our MJX Bugs 3 Brushless Drone Review if you haven’t already.

Read full article @ ModSynergy.com

MSI GS65 Stealth 8RE Review

MSI GS65 is a thin and light laptop that is powered by a combination of Intel 8th Gen. CPU and Nvidia GTX graphics, but we know that’s not going to be the focus of your attention. For one thing MSI has adopted a black and gold colour scheme, rather than the usual black and red, and for another, just look at that screen. It measures 15.6-inches on the diagonal but looks much smaller as it has a tiny bezel – around 5mm in thickness. When the laptop is running you will also appreciate the way the 144Hz refresh rate almost breaks new ground. We say ‘almost’ because we saw the same refresh-rate with the Gigabyte Aero 15X so yes, we’re excited by GS65 but you need to know we have seen some of these features before.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Noctua Chromax CPU Cooler Accessories Review

Noctua Chromax is probably one of the most awaited products from the premium cooler manufacturer. We’ve said in most of our Noctua reviews, the branding and colour scheme is a marmite issue, love it or hate it, you are basically stuck with it. Last year, Noctua released the Chromax range. A range of products aimed at anyone who loves Noctua, but hates the branding. Or even, maybe for those who love the branding, but want something a little more contemporary.

The Chromax range is designed for Noctua and if you have one of their coolers or fans already, the Chromax range should also fit. Basically, if you have a Noctua product, Chromax could make the visuals a bit better.

Read full article @ Hardwareslave

Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler Review

Here at Hardwaresalve, we have reviewed most of Noctua’s Intel CPU coolers from the recent generation of products. We had received a shipment of Noctua’s Chromax CPU cooler customer shrouds, fans and coloured accessories and took the opportunity to pick up an NH-U12S to test on its own and with the Chromax range.

The Chromax review is coming shortly, we have a couple of Noctua CPU coolers that we used with the Chromax range, and provides a unique opportunity for Noctua owners, more on that soon.

Read full article @ Hardwareslave

Plextor M9PeG 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD Review

lextor, the leading Storage solution provider, and a subsidiary company of LITE-ON, has been on the market since 1989. Entered the SSD market and introduced its first SSD, PX-M1, in 2009. As it had grown further, the contribution in consumer grade SSD increased and with the fastest SATA 3.0 6Gb/s SSD, it became one of the top SSD manufacturer around the globe. Being a World-Leading developer, Plextor has only strived to offer high performance product to price with uncompromising quality.

Plextor being professional SSD developer entered the NVMe M.2 market in 2013 and with induction of M8Pe, Plextor became the stronger competitor. With the new impression in storage performance, the NVMe M.2, the performance levels have been massively increased, which silently proving its significance and replacing the 500 MB/s SATA SSDs in some usability sectors. Having being new and improved technology, it offers the blazing fast speed starts from 1300 MB/s and reaches up to 3200 MB/s.

Read full article @ Pakgamers

Samsung C34H890 review: ultra wide 100 Hz alternative?

Since last year, Samsung has two monitors of 34” format in its range format, both with 3440x1440 pixels resolution and a refresh rate of 100 Hz. We discussed the C34F791 earlier, but not the C34H890. On paper, this is a business model, but since it shares many of the characteristics of the counterpart for consumers and is a bit cheaper, it also sounds like a very interesting option for the gamer looking for a super wide screen which will not cost too much. Whether they are well catered for with this ultra-wide screen, we will find out in this review.

Let's say first, that Samsung did not design the C34H890 with the gamer in mind: it is above all a business model and we can see this by more than the height adjustable foot (which the C34F791 also has, fortunately). For example, it is made of moody black, and features a USB-C input that also supports video and can charge a laptop. This makes it an almost complete docking solution (Ethernet is not available, but that can be done in the form of a separate adapter) and potentially an interesting alternative to the relatively expensive classic docks that the business notebook manufacturers supply.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

The Best Laptops 2018

When choosing the right laptop it all comes down to what you are willing to spend and what you plan to use it for. After looking at several of the best devices this year and analyzing dozens of professional reviews and user opinions, we bring you the best of the best in a handful of popular categories.

This is a really tricky category to pick a winner in, because there are so many high quality ultraportable laptops on the market today. Every company, from Dell to Asus, Lenovo, Apple and HP and more, all have a fantastic top-end laptop option, and to be honest, for the most part you can’t go wrong with many of these flagship models.

Read full article @ TechSpot