Reviews 51924 Published by

Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4-2400 Memory Review
All-round Deluxe PC - April 2015
ASRock X99 Extreme4 Intel LGA 2011-3 Motherboard Review
Corsair Hydro H100i GTX & H80i GT Review
Divoom Voombox Travel Bluetooth Speaker Review
Galaxy S6 vs iPhone 6 vs One M9
Grand Theft Auto V Graphics Performance Review
In-Win 904 Plus Chassis Review
Oppo R5 Review: The slimmest smartphone going around
Ozone Rage 7HX 7.1 Surround Headset Review
QNAP TS-431+ Review
Raijintek Triton CPU Water Cooler Review
Roku 2 Review
Rosewill's RK-9000V2 mechanical keyboard reviewed
Seagate Backup Plus 8TB Desktop Drive Review
Sound Blaster E5 Review (USB and Smartphone DAC/Headphone Amp)
Synology DS1515 Review
The 2015 MacBook Review



ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4-2400 Memory Review

ADATA is no stranger to the DRAM market, they’ve been making high quality memory kits for both the consumer and enterprise markets for years, as well as consumer flash storage such as flash drives, SSDs and memory cards. Today we’ll be reviewing the latest in their XPG gaming and enthusiast series: the ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4-2400 quad channel memory kit; which promises improved cooling efficiency and, DDR4 performance.

Read full article @ TechnologyX

All-round Deluxe PC - April 2015

The all-round Deluxe PC will last you a few years without requiring any upgrades. It is a bit more expensive, but is very complete as well. Using the internet, gaming, business applications, photo and video editing - all of these are possible on a good all-round PC, and you should never feel that you are lacking in performance for any of those activities.

This means a good processor and graphics card from the upper mid-range segment. Fast, yet affordable. You also need enough RAM and storage space, not to mention an attractive chassis and reliable power supply that can last several years. Of course you need a quality monitor, mouse and keyboard, as these are used very frequently.

This PC will cost more than the standard all-round PC, but it is also more powerful and has higher-end components. If this exceeds your budget somewhat, then you can have a look at out standard All-round PC instead.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

ASRock X99 Extreme4 Intel LGA 2011-3 Motherboard Review

Today, we published a new X99 motherboard review here at OCinside.de. This time we tested the ASRock X99 Extreme4 LGA2011-3 motherboard with an Intel Core-i7 5930K CPU and four Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4-2400 memory modules and overclocked it up to the limit. The motherboard will be available shortly additionally as ASRock X99 Extreme4/3.1 with USB 3.1 interface card (see CeBIT 2015 report). The ASRock X99 Extreme4 offers like the recently tested ASRock X99 Extreme6 motherboard eight DDR4 slots, an Ultra M.2 slot with up to 32 GB/s, ten SATA3 connectors, eSATA3, the HDD saver feature, purity sound 2 with analog and digital sound output, five PCIe slots, Gigabit LAN and lots of more powerful features.

Read full article @ OcInside.de

Corsair Hydro H100i GTX & H80i GT Review

Corsair's Hydro H100i GTX and H80i GT represent huge improvements over their predecessors but can they compete with some of today's best alternatives?

Read full article @ Hardware Canucks

Divoom Voombox Travel Bluetooth Speaker Review

Not that long ago we took a look at Divoom’s Voombox Outdoor, which proved to be a great Bluetooth speaker and even better it was weather resistant and could take quite a beating. While this speaker was great, it was a little big for people who may want something they could easily throw in a backpack or travel with. This is where Divoom’s Voombox Travel comes in, it has a smaller single-speaker design, but still has the same weather resistant properties and rugged design. Will this be the perfect Bluetooth speaker to take with you when you are on the go? Read on as we find out!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Galaxy S6 vs iPhone 6 vs One M9

We see whether Samsung's, Apple's or HTC's flagship smartphone is most deserving of your attention

Read full article @ V3

Grand Theft Auto V Graphics Performance Review

Winter has been coming .. twice for the PC community to finally enjoy Grand Theft Auto V on that true gamers platform, the PC. The game after an announcement delay back in 2012 was released September 17, 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and later on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Afterward the PC launch version got postponed, delayed and then once more delayed, to much annoyance of the community. Back in Q1 of this year the game was again pushed back, now to be released April 14th, 2015.

It's finally here though and GTA-V seems to become one of the hottest PC game releases of 2015 and Rockstar is doing it right with this release, all 13 previously released DLC updates are available including the latest Heists, featuring Adversary Modes, new jobs, vehicles, weapons, clothing, masks, and more for this PC version. Developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games they certainly took the time for this game, but the PC version has graphics enhancements, specifically for the PC gaming. A long wait, but will it be worth it ? Well, we think so. While Grand Theft Auto V is said to be an AMD Gaming Evolved title, the game’s GeForce page lists one exclusive NVIDIA feature that will be supported by it as well.

Read full article @ Guru3D

In-Win 904 Plus Chassis Review

And the award for ‘Novel ATX PC case 2015 goes to … In-Win for the 904Plus.’ That might seem premature as we have only reached April but the odds of another radical design that will top the 904 Plus are slender to non-existent. In-Win has updated the 904 very slightly to create the Plus which replaces the original version and sells at the same price. You still get an aluminium chassis with flawless front and top panels that are capped off with tempered glass side panels.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Oppo R5 Review: The slimmest smartphone going around

Smartphone manufacturers are obsessed with thinness. Being the 'best at' this or 'most' that gives you bragging rights and that's what Chinese OEM Oppo appears to be after with the R5. At just 4.85mm thick, it's a pretty impressive form factor, though you'll have to compromise with a smaller battery, a pretty standard 1080p display, average camera and a mid-range SoC. Can the R5 still deliver a better experience over a thicker device with, potentially, better hardware?

Read full article @ Techspot

Ozone Rage 7HX 7.1 Surround Headset Review

We previously took an in-depth look at the Ozone Neon Precision Laser Gaming Mouse with the Lepton Rigid Mouse Pad, but we were only missing one item that would set us up for any gaming session, a headset. Today, we have the opportunity to take a detailed look at another Ozone Gaming Gear peripheral, Ozone Rage 7HX 7.1 Surround Headset. Let’s take a closer look!

Read full article @ TechnologyX

QNAP TS-431+ Review

On hand is the QNAP TS-431+ mainstream performance NAS offering home users 4-bays of high-speed storage at an affordable price. When compared to the vanilla TS-431 the new plus model gets a faster processor and more memory which will help beef up performance...

Earlier this year we got the chance to check out the then new QNAP TS-431, a budget NAS designed to deliver big storage at an affordable price. Priced at $380 upon release the TS-431 currently retails for just $290, an unbelievable bargain at that price.

Read full article @ Legion Hardware

Raijintek Triton CPU Water Cooler Review

What makes this liquid cooling unit unique is the room for expansion. Users can either use this cooling unit as it is, or expand on it with additional radiators and GPU blocks. The 240mm radiator uses a high fin density design, which results in better cooling potential overall. To top it off, three color coolant dyes are included in the packaging for further customization (only available for Triton / Triton Core editions). Benchmark Reviews is excited to receive a sample of the Raijintek Triton for this review. Let’s take a look at what this AIO liquid cooling unit has to offer against the competition.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Roku 2 Review

Intro, design and contentThe Roku 2 has always been - and always will be - the middle child of the Roku family. At $69 (£59, about AU$90), it's pricier than the Roku or Roku Streaming Stick, but comes in well under the cost of a $99 (£79, about AU$129) Roku 3. Likewise, it has more features and a landslide of better specs than its predecessor, the original Roku, but it's not quite as feature rich as its video game-ready older brother, the Roku 3.

Read full article @ Techradar

Rosewill's RK-9000V2 mechanical keyboard reviewed

Rosewill's RK-9000 is one of the most popular mechanical keyboards around. Now there's a new version, the RK-9000V2, and we've gotten our hands on one to see how it compares to the original.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Seagate Backup Plus 8TB Desktop Drive Review

This is the first 8TB hard disk drive we've received at TechRadar and the biggest external (single-drive) hard disk currently on the market. This particular model – the Seagate Backup Plus – was announced earlier this year but uses an enterprise-grade drive which was unveiled back in August 2014. You could probably cram about 1500 DVDs in 8TB or the content of 160 Blu-ray discs, or the equivalent of almost six million 3.5-inch, 1.44MB floppy disks (remember those?).Seagate's mammoth drive, otherwise known as the STDT8000200 in the UK and STDT8000100 in the US, is so new that it hasn't appeared on the company's own website yet. It sells for around the £250 mark (around $365, AU$485).SMR magicSo how exactly did we get there? This storage capacity was achieved by making use of a new technology called SMR (Shingled Magnetic Recording) which allows the cramming of more bits on a given surface by using a similar technique to what roofers do with roof tiles.Drives that use SMR have one flaw – they do not perform well when it comes to sustained, random writes. They do however excel when it comes to sustained read speeds and burst write speeds.

Read full article @ Techradar

Sound Blaster E5 Review (USB and Smartphone DAC/Headphone Amp)

We cant remember the last time we reviewed a device which was so flexible, feature packed and still managed to remember awesome performance... the desktop, laptop and smartphone compatible Creative Labs Sound Blaster E5 (USB DAC and Headphone Amp)

Read full article @ HardwareHeaven

Synology DS1515 Review

Synology is fleshing out its range of SMB NAS solutions with the launch of the DS1515. Priced at £498, this five-bay unit is the latest addition to the company's Value Series range and touts a quad-core CPU, hardware encryption engine and four Gigabit Ethernet ports.

Designed as a "cost-effective storage solution for growing businesses," the DS1515 undercuts the existing DS1515+ (£640) by juggling its internal hardware. Whereas the + model is outfitted with an Intel Atom processor and expandable memory, the streamlined DS1515 carries an ARM-based processor from little-known Israeli chip manufacturer, Annapurna Labs.

Read full article @ Hexus

The 2015 MacBook Review

I’m still not entirely sure when it actually happened, but at some point over the last couple of years the crossover between tablets and laptops stopped being an idea and became a real thing. Perhaps it was Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3, which came out as an x86 Core architecture tablet that was finally thin enough to no longer be an awkward laptop without an attached keyboard. Or maybe it was the more recent release of Intel’s Core M family of CPUs, which brought the Core architecture to a sub-5W design for the first time while making the overall SoC thinner than ever before.

But either way you cut it, the line between tablets and laptops is blurrier than ever before. The performance of tablets is continuing to improve though faster CPUs and unexpectedly powerful GPUs, all the while laptops and high-performance x86 tablets are getting thinner, lighter, and lower power. There are still some important differences between the devices, and this is a consequence of both current technological limitations as well as design differences, but clearly the point where traditional tablets end and traditional laptops end is no longer a well-defined one.

This brings us to today’s review and today’s launch of Apple’s latest ultra-thin laptop, the simply named MacBook. Though Apple’s device is distinctly a laptop in terms of form factor and design, you’d none the less be excused for mistaking it for a large form factor tablet if you took a look at its overall size and internal configuration, both of which are far closer to a tablet than a laptop. Apple may not be doing any kind of wild 2-in-1 transforming design, or even pushing the concept of a touchscreen OS X device, but they have clearly tapped their immense experience with tablets in putting together the new MacBook.

Read full article @ Anandtech