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Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

20 of the Worst PC Setups - August 2018
Arctic Accelero Twin Turbo III GPU Cooler Review
Corsair Crystal 280X RGB Review
Das Keyboard 5Q and X50Q Review
Das Keyboard 5Q Review
ECS LIVA Q2 Pocket PC Review
ELEPAWL EP6 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Bluetooth Headphone Review
Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7HVK Review
MSI Aegis 3 8th PROTOTYPE! (i7-8700 & 1070 Ti) Review
MSI GT63 Titan Gaming Laptop Review
NZXT E850 PSU Review
OnePlus 6 Review
Phison PS5012-E12 Preview
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG) Xbox One Review
Quick Look: Toshiba XG6 1TB NVMe SSD - Upgraded to 96-Layer BiCS Flash
Riotoro Builders Edition 1200W Power Supply Review
Supermicro X11SRA LGA2066 C422 Motherboard Review
Toshiba XG6 1TB SSD Review



20 of the Worst PC Setups - August 2018

I’m sure at some point you’ve had a bad PC setup. Maybe moving into a new place, waiting for a new desk to arrive or you just ran out of room. I can remember my horrible PC setups from when I was living at the dorms in college. If you have ever ventured over to the Shitty Battlestations sub-reddit you will find a lot of horrible PC setups. We will are going to pick 20 each month and feature them as 20 of the Worst PC setups for that month. Here are some of the bad ones from August.

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Arctic Accelero Twin Turbo III GPU Cooler Review

After recently testing Arctic's Twin Turbo II on OCinside.de, we are now focusing on the successor Arctic Accelero Twin Turbo III. According to Arctic, it should offer the same cooling performance as its predecessor, but without the use of thermal glue. You can read in the following review whether Arctic has managed this and if you have to make compromises.

Read full article @ OCInside.de

Corsair Crystal 280X RGB Review

The Corsair Crystal 280X may remind us of the Corsair Air 240, which made big waves back in 2014. However, as a lot of time has past, the Corsair Crystal 280X shares only the idea as a generic layout with the older chassis. Available in black or white, the Corsair Crystal 280X in its RGB variant employs multiple solid glass panels and retail RGB fans, and incorporates Corsair's own Lightning Node PRO controller and, hence, iCUE software. For those who are not fans of RGB lighting, Corsair offers a non-RGB version for around US$50 less.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Das Keyboard 5Q and X50Q Review

If you're a PC gamer, you’re likely familiar with the likes of Razer, Corsair, and Logitech who offer gaming keyboards and other related solutions. But if you're a true computer enthusiast, let alone a mechanical keyboard enthusiast, then you enter into a different territory of high quality niche players. Das Keyboard is arguably the most renowned brand within this group.

We reviewed the first revision of the Das Keyboard back in 2008 and we still have that same device working perfectly in one of our office's computers. With that kind of reputation, Das built a following and many other players started to notice. However as competition has cropped up and the playing field has leveled with reputable manufacturers relying on trusty switches from the likes of Cherry MX, the industry feels a bit stagnant.

Read full article @ TechSpot

Das Keyboard 5Q Review

Das Keyboard’s long-awaited web-connected 5Q is a solid mechanical keyboard with stable software. But we’re not convinced blinking keys are the best way to get notifications.

Are you eager for a new way to get notifications? Do you yearn for an alternative to the smartwatch? Does Chrome’s placement of notifications in the Windows 10 Action center not give you the notification fix you crave? Do you wish you could get notifications somewhere other than on the screens you spend all day staring at? And are you also in the market for an expensive mechanical keyboard?

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

ECS LIVA Q2 Pocket PC Review

The tiny ECS LIVA Q2 did really impress us on how much performance it can deliver, judging by its small size. Even if the manufacturer did opt-in for an active cooling system, the internal fan barely makes any noise: in IDLE we have recorded about 28.1 dBA, while when running the AIDA64 stress test...

Read full article @ Mad Shrimps

ELEPAWL EP6 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Bluetooth Headphone Review

Legit Reviews was recently contacted by Shenzhen Youkeshu Technology to see if we’d like to review their ELEPAWL EP6 Active Noise Cancelling Wireless Bluetooth Headphones. We like to cover new companies to keep the content fresh on the site, so we figured we’d give Youkeshu a chance. We were also intrigued by the price point on this headset as Youkeshu is giving every site that reviews them a 50% off promo code that works on Amazon (ELEPAWL2) for their readers that lasts until the end of November 2018. Amazon has the ELEPAWL EP6 headphones listed at $69.99 with free shipping on Amazon, so after the discount they are just $35 shipped. That doesn’t seem like a bad price for a pair of active noise cancelling wireless headphones that last 30 hours per charge and is backed by an 18-month warranty.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Intel NUC Kit NUC8i7HVK Review

The NUC Kit NUC8i7HVK is a petite computer system which takes advantage of the Intel Core i7-8809G. This new CPU is superior to anything we've seen in previous NUCs so it should be very interesting to see what the performance figures are like later in the review. While we may not get memory and storage out of the box due to this being a barebones kit, there is support for up to 32GB DDR4 and PCIe M.2 SSDs - combine this with the Radeon RX Vega M and its 4GB HBM2 and we have a mini-powerhouse on our hands.

Read full article @ Vortez

MSI Aegis 3 8th PROTOTYPE! (i7-8700 & 1070 Ti) Review

It's a pre-built desktop from MSI - with a VERY interesting design.

I’ve reviewed a lot of gaming PCs for KitGuru – to the point where I’ve lost count. I have never seen a PC like the MSI Aegis 3 8th, however, as it is truly unique. I am of course talking about the aggressive, angular design of the machine – you will either love it or hate it. It does have some decent internal hardware, though, including an i7-8700, GTX 1070 Ti and support for Intel’s Optane technology. Is it any good?

Read full article @ KitGuru

MSI GT63 Titan Gaming Laptop Review

Sure, laptops are portable, but when it comes to gaming, bigger can be better. MSI’s GT63 Titan ($2,199 to start; $2,999 as tested) forgoes thinness for a powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 paired with an Intel Core i7-8750H and 32GB of RAM with SODIMM slots to spare. That makes for a powerful machine, though it uses MSI’s most tired design and has a fussy touchpad when it comes to Windows 10 gestures.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

NZXT E850 PSU Review

Known for their clean designs and sharp lines, NZXT is making a name for themselves with their premiere PC components. Whether it their H-Series cases to show off your shiny new rig, a Nuka Cola themed CRFT motherboards, or a Krazen-series AIO to deliver deep-sea chill to your CPU, NXZT has a style that evokes class. Can they make a power supply just as sexy? This is our review for the E850 PSU by NZXT.

Read full article @ MMORPG

OnePlus 6 Review

Shenzhen China-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus has been on the rise as of late, cultivating a strong following of mobile users that subscribe to the company's "Never Settle" moniker. Its Never Settle mantra refers to an effort the company has made to bring lower cost, unlocked phones to market that do not compromise on quality or performance. If there's one device that perhaps underscores that mantra best, it may be the OnePlus 6. Codenamed "Enchilada", the OnePlus 6 really has it all...

Read full article @ HotHardware

Phison PS5012-E12 Preview

We had our Phison PS5012-E12 reference design NVMe SSD for a few months before publishing the first preview article that you can read here. When we published the article, the company already improved the E12 firmware and was ready to show updated performance at Flash Memory Summit. Today we're testing the 11.0 reference design firmware to see the improvement and to get a better understanding of when the timing for retail availability.

Read full article @ TweakTown

PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG) Xbox One Review

Just over eight months after the PC version, PUBG on console is finally all set to follow suit later on this week with its 1.0 release. Exiting it’s long-lived ‘Game Preview’ on Xbox, PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (PUBG) is marking the occasion with the release of its popular (PC) 4km x 4km map, Sanhok. War Mode and support for custom games will also accompany the update alongside a proper Achievements system that will carry over from the Game Preview version. The 1.0 update also introduces a new currency system that tackles the absence of a marketplace on the console. As a result, BlueHole will be dishing out 13,000 G-Coin to every player for them to spend on skin sets and the Event Pass.

If you haven’t tried PUBG before and are considering picking it up for the first time, now is the best time to do so. After months in Game Preview on Xbox, the game has seen a number of improvements including performance boosts, weapons balancing and bug fixes. While the game will likely always be behind the PC version in terms of both content and optimisation, the existing player base seems relatively optimistic about the game’s future.

Read full article @ Wccftech

Quick Look: Toshiba XG6 1TB NVMe SSD - Upgraded to 96-Layer BiCS Flash

Today we take a quick look at an update to Toshibas line of OEM SSDs. The first product to employ 96-layer 3D TLC NAND, the XG6:

Im going to keep this one brief since this is to be an OEM-only product that is not expected to be available in retail channels. Its good to have some results out there since it will appear in many laptops and may result in the creation of a parallel retail product at some point in the future.

Read full article @ PC Perspective

Riotoro Builders Edition 1200W Power Supply Review

When it comes to power supplies, there are occasions where a simple option is often the best. For those of us who have more powerful systems though, sometimes you need an absolute beast of a PSU to back it up. Particularly for those who run multiple CPUs or err towards the extreme end of overclocking.

With this in mind, we take a look at the Riotoro Builders Edition power supply. This monster of a PSU not only has 1200w of power, but it is also gold efficiency certified. In terms of high-end power supplies, this certainly ticks all the right boxes. Not only does it have a massive level of power output, but it is also capable of doing it at high-levels of performance efficiency.

In terms of Riotoro, this certainly represents their high-end of power supplies and as such it’s well worth a closer look!

Read full article @ eTeknix

Supermicro X11SRA LGA2066 C422 Motherboard Review

The X11SRA supports the latest Intel Xeon-W processors with a TDP of up to 140W, which means the entire line-up. That also means that you get the 48 PCI-E lanes for a lot of expandability. The 8 DDR4 DIMM slots support up to 256GB registered ECC RDIMM memory or up to 512GB registered ECC LRDIMM with up to 2666MHz. Those two facts already paint us a picture of the kind of power you can get from this motherboard. The whole thing is connected to the Intel C422 chipset which handles the SATA storage among other things.

The standard ATX form factor of the Supermicro X11SRA makes it easy to build your system. It will fit any standard chassis. That’s always a bonus and not a given in this market segment.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Toshiba XG6 1TB SSD Review

In 2017, Toshiba was the first vendor to ship 64-layer 3D NAND in the consumer SSD market with their XG5 NVMe SSD. Now a little over a year later, the XG6 is the first SSD with 96-layer 3D NAND. The new generation of flash memory allows for better performance, improved power efficiency, and lower costs.

As the high-end tier of Toshiba's OEM SSD product line, the XG series is not officially available for retail purchase, but we think this one is pretty likely to be used as the starting point for a retail product. The last XG series drive with a retail counterpart was the XG3, the planar MLC-based sibling to the OCZ RD400. Toshiba's low-end NVMe BG series of single-chip BGA SSDs also got a retail version in the Toshiba RC100, mounted on a M.2 2242 card. Retail and OEM versions usually have some firmware differences and occasionally one or two significant hardware differences such as 19nm vs 15nm MLC for the XG3 and RD400, or 30mm vs 42mm card length for the BG3 and RC100. Despite those differences, OEM SSDs are usually a pretty accurate preview of later retail versions.

Read full article @ Anandtech