Reviews 51952 Published by

Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

Apple Watch Series 4 Review
Cougar Conquer Essence Case Review
CRYORIG C7 Cu Review
Enermax LiqTech II 240mm TR4 Review
Fractal Design Define S2 Case Review
Fractal Design Define S2 Case Review
Fractal Design Define S2 Review
Fractal Design Define S2 Review
Fractal Design Define S2 Review
Fractal Design Define S2 Review
Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro Motherboard Review
LaCie Rugged RAID Pro 4TB Portable HDD Review
LG V40 ThinQ Review
MSI B450 Tomahawk (AMD B450) Motherboard Review
Palit RTX 2080 GameRock Premium 8GB Review
Patriot Viper RGB DDR4 3600 16GB Kit Review
Seagate Fast SSD 1TB Review



Apple Watch Series 4 Review

When people ask me whats different about the new Apple Watch Series 4, my immediate answer is simply the design. Theres way more to Apple Watch Series 4 than its appearance, but the way it looks is arguably the one difference that anyone can appreciate.
The design isnt so different that Series 4 feels like something different than the Apple Watch on your wrist though. Its absolutely the biggest external change to Apple Watch since the original, but Ive encountered a number of existing Apple Watch users who cant immediately pinpoint whats different.
I think thats partly because the first three Apple Watches pulled off a great illusion: blending a thick black bezel with deep black elements using the OLED display. If youre very familiar with the actual confines of the previous screen, the new rounded corner-to-corner display feels like a serious breakthrough.
While design is a major advancement on Apple Watch Series 4, its the features that you cant see and may never need that matter the most.

Read full article @ 9to5Mac

Cougar Conquer Essence Case Review

Although the Cougar Conquer Essence is sleek, stylish and has very good thermal performance, there are just too many things wrong with this chassis to recommend it at this price.

Looking for an open-air micro-ATX case that is stylish, easy to mod and stands out from the crowd right out of the box? Cougar's Conquer Essence might be right up your alley, if you can stomach all the dirt, dust and pet hair that will likely fall into the case and the price tag.

This chassis is essentially a smaller version of the Cougar Conquer chassis. The design is similar, but not only is the Conquer Essence smaller, a number of features have been removed, retooled and / or completely redesigned from the Conquer. The overall look is much more spartan than the full-sized Conquer chassis.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

CRYORIG C7 Cu Review

The C7 Cu by CRYORIG takes the C7 and makes it better by using an all-copper design. When it comes to Mini-ITX heatsinks, this one sits at the top in terms of weight at 675 g. The copper not only adds a great deal of weight but also increases performance and makes it feels like a premium heatsink.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Enermax LiqTech II 240mm TR4 Review

Our first review of the Enermax LiqTech TR4 cooler was great, and in fact, I highly recommended it as a great option for Threadripper systems. However, shortly before I began this review, some news reached me of premature failures and even leaks, along with an online statement from Enermax.

“We are fully aware of the leaking issue and have stopped selling our 1st gen TR4 cooler as well as the first batch TR4 II. The revised TR4 II coolers have fixed the problem and are arriving to our warehouse bi-weekly by air shipments since early September. We have reserved some units just for RMA so if you are still having problems with the 1st gen Liqtech TR4 or the early production of Liqtech TR4 II, we are more than happy to replace it with the newest version. It can be done by filing an RMA request on our website, https://www.enermaxusa.com/support.php Feel free to PM or reply to this post for any questions. We are here to help :-):” – Enermax USA Support Team

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

Fractal Design Define S2 Case Review

When Fractal Design introduced its Define S chassis a little over three years ago, PCs—and indeed, PC cases—looked a lot different than they do now. Power-supply shrouds were rare, and builders didn't take any issue with a neat bundle of slack cabling zip-tied up in front of their PSUs. Since that time, most every case designer has embraced the shroud at every price point. A visible power supply and cabling these days is kind of like jorts: functional, but unfashionable.

The space demands on the average case have changed, too. With the ever-greater density of hard drives and the increasing accessibility of NAS boxes, builders don't need 10 local 3.5" devices to reach 10 TB of storage in a system. They can just slap one big drive in there or plug in a Gigabit Ethernet cable to reach their disk array. SSDs don't take up as much space as they used to, either. Builders rarely need to choose 2.5" storage when even SATA SSDs can go right on the motherboard, and the majority of NVMe drives need an M.2 slot to work at all.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Fractal Design Define S2 Case Review

Fractal Design’s Define Series of cases has to be one of their most popular. We’ve reviewed quite a few of the Define cases over the years. Well Fractal Design is back with a new Define case in their Define S2, which is a successor to the original Define S case. This case improves upon the original and of course has that Fractal Design quality we know and love. Some of the main features of this case include a large tempered glass side panel, modular open-layout design, sound dampening properties, ModuVent top cover, and three included 140 mm fans. There are quite a lot more too, so let’s jump right in!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Fractal Design Define S2 Review

It's a new Fractal case aimed specifically at water cooling enthusiasts. Is it any good? Fractal Design Define S2 is a variant on the Define R6 that is aimed squarely at water cooling enthusiasts. We admired the Define R6 and were pleased it ended 2017 on a high note. The two cases share so many features that it would be a good idea to take a look at our review to refresh your mind. In addition you can see Leo’s personal build in the Define R6 featured HERE.

The Define S2 is the same size and shape as the R6 and comes in the same four colour options we have come to expect from Fractal Design: Black, White, Blackout and Gunmetal Grey, and all have a tempered glass panel that covers the whole side of the case. Our sample is the Blackout model, and certainly the Define S2 looks nicely understated – cosmetically this case is very appealing.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Fractal Design Define S2 Review

Fractal Design continues its tradition of updating their case families by increasing a number in the name. The Define S2 builds on the success of the liquid-cooling-focused Define S, but adds a slew of new features and improvements to the mix.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Fractal Design Define S2 Review

We’re checking out the new Fractal Design Define S2, a mid-tower PC chassis, and the successor to the Define S, which we reviewed over three years ago, time is passing by quickly. The first things you’ll notice to have changed, are the appearance of the full-length PSU shroud, and the seamless tempered glass panel. Dust filtration has been improved, with a double-airflow nylon mesh used instead of plastic filters. Another important feature is the Nexus+ PWM Fan Hub that can manage up to three PWM fans and six 3-pin fans. Three Dynamic X2 140 mm fans come preinstalled, so you get one fan more than in the Define S.

It’s also possible to mount the GPU vertically, with an additional tp purchase PCI-Express card riser. The design of the front panel has been revised, with a brushed aluminum cover, an additional sound dampening system, and 15% more space for better airflow. A third-generation ModuVent cover dampens sound when installed, but you can safely remove it as there is a filtered exhaust vent underneath it. It’s also worth mentioning that a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port has been added to the front I/O panel, supporting fast charging and transfer speeds up to 10 Gbps. The case will house motherboards up to the E-ATX format (285 mm).

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D

Fractal Design Define S2 Review

Following a modular open-layout design, the Define S2 carries similar characteristics from previous cases in the portfolio, building on success and introducing new, exciting and innovative features. There is strong support for those with an affection towards watercooling - up to 420mm radiators can be housed and there is a dedicated fill port.

Read full article @ Vortez

Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro Motherboard Review

Featured-packed and affordable, but lacklustre for overclocking. AMD’s B450 chipset has economic advantages over Intel’s Z370 at the budget-end of the market. For equivalent money, AMD’s overclocking-ready B450 motherboards are better equipped than their Z370 counterparts and, for now, AMD CPUs for the B450 platform continue to have higher core counts than Intel Z370, 8 vs 6 cores. Affordable ATX motherboards for the B450 platform, such as the Gigabyte B450 Aorus Pro, are increasingly appealing to consumers looking to maximise value for money in their next PC build.

Read full article @ KitGuru

LaCie Rugged RAID Pro 4TB Portable HDD Review

I’ve had the pleasure to review several of LaCie‘s Rugged-series drives in the past, and it’s always been a pleasure. I have no doubt that I’ll have the same experience today where I’ll be taking a closer look at one of the newest versions: The Rugged RAID Pro (product link) with 4TB capacity.

The new Rugged RAID Pro was introduced at NAB 2018, and now it’s available. The drive continues all the things we know and love about the Rugged series: The durability, performance and the Neil Poulton design.

Read full article @ eTeknix

LG V40 ThinQ Review

LG is at the ready again with its latest V-series smartphone, the V40 ThinQ. Like its predecessors, the LG V40 ThinQ is a large-screen device that’s outfitted with some high-end internal hardware and an array of innovative features meant to distinguish it from the competition.

In the case of the LG V40 ThinQ, in addition to its beautiful 6.4” OLED display and svelte exterior, the phone is equipped with a total of five cameras – two in front, and three in back – and the ability to do some interesting and useful things with those cameras...

Read full article @ HotHardware

MSI B450 Tomahawk (AMD B450) Motherboard Review

Today we are taking a look at our first MSI B450 motherboard. The Tomahawk series is a more affordable series of motherboards designed to facilitate high-end platform features at a very reasonable price. In this case the motherboard also looks pretty good too. Without further hesitation let's take a look at the MSI B450 Tomahawk.

Specifications: The B450 Tomahawk features a x4 PCI-E 3.0 M.2 slot, DVI-D, HDMI, USB 3.1, and SATA6Gb/s. Pricing: The B450 Tomahawk costs $99.99

Read full article @ TweakTown

Palit RTX 2080 GameRock Premium 8GB Review

It's Palit's flagship RTX 2080 - but is it worth it over the Founders Edition? Continuing our look at the range of RTX 2080 partner cards which have just hit the market, today our attention turns to the Palit RTX 2080 GameRock Premium. It’s the biggest aftermarket card we’ve seen so far, measuring almost 30cm in length, while it also has one of the fastest out of the box boost clocks that we’ve seen. The question is: is it worth the extra cash over the Founders Edition?

Read full article @ KitGuru

Patriot Viper RGB DDR4 3600 16GB Kit Review

Like it or not, just about every PC component has an RGB version, RAM not excluded. The big question is this: can it looks good AND deliver performance at the same time? Patriot would like to think so.

Read full article @ MMORPG

Seagate Fast SSD 1TB Review

Raise a hand if you've heard of Seagate? Most of you? Fair enough. Most well known for their wide array of internal hard drives, ranging from your standard 1TB 7200rpm affair, all the way to full enterprise-grade NAS/Surveillance drives in the Ironwolf/Skyhawk range, Seagate has also started to expand in the SSD space. If you'll just allow me a small moment of praise, here, I really do like the product line names and visuals Seagate use for their HDDs. There is something highly appealing about it, and that isn't a praise that regularly gets leveled at a normally fairly boring part of your PC. Anyway. Seagate is now offering a 2.5'' flash version of their venerable Barracuda drive, with specs exactly as you'd expect. 3D TLC memory and speeds of up to 560/540 MB/s read/write. This is an entirely standard affair in 2018, and should be expected of even a regular grade SSD. What still isn't so common, however, is the wide adoption of external SSDs. When most of us think of external storage, we think of a little 2.5'' 'box' that houses a regular mechanical hard drive. Seagate do them. Western Digital do them. They're often bundled with some form of backup software, as well as options of additional security (e.g. drive unlock via passkey), and so on.

Who is this targeted at? I would say, realistically, the creative professional who needs on the go storage. Those large projects in FCPX/Premiere, or Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop? What about CAD? All, in my mind, are perfect targets for this product. An average edited photo that I take/edit for the purposes of reviews can be as large as 17mb with post-processing applied. Multiply that by a fair bit for someone who works with larger/more complex projects, and multiple, and suddenly you have a very large local folder that really could do with being stored elsewhere. Trouble is, you don't want to wait hours for it to transfer back over? Enter the 1TB 'Fast SSD' from Seagate... though it must be said, points are certainly not going their way for creativity on the naming scheme.

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D