Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including Intel Fixes 8-series Chipset USB 3.0 Erratum, Reid Heath Acoustics MA350 Earphones Review, Litecoin, the GPU Mining Alternative to Bitcoin, Frame Rating: GTX 660 vs HD 7870, plus HD 7790, HD 7850, GTX 650 Ti BOOST, and The HTC One Review



Intel Fixes 8-series Chipset USB 3.0 Erratum @ techPowerUp

Intel issued a product-change notification (PCN) to partners in the motherboard industry, informing them of a new C2 stepping of the 8-series "Lynx Point" chipset. The stepping introduces a metal layers change that fixes the USB 3.0 remuneration erratum, which causes devices plugged in to USB 3.0 ports to fail to reinitialize after waking up from sleep states such as S3, requiring uses to unplug and replug them, which could get particularly irritating for people with external RAID devices that rely on USB 3.0 for host connectivity.

According to the PCN, the first socket LGA1150 motherboards in the market may not feature C2-stepping chipset. It predicts samples to be available to motherboard manufacturers by April 19, 2013; availability of qualification data (when Intel has finalized design after taking feedback from partners), by July 1 2013; customers should be ready to receive C2-stepping chips by July 31. These dates indicate that the very first batches of socket LGA1150 motherboards will still feature C1-stepping chipset that are affected by the erratum, and if you can't live with it, you should ideally wait until late-August or mid-September for the first motherboards with C2-stepping chipset to make it to the markets. Intel expects to launch its 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors and compatible LGA1150 motherboards by mid-June.

Read more: Intel Fixes 8-series Chipset USB 3.0 Erratum @ techPowerUp

Finis SwiMP3 X18 2GB Review @ XSReviews

It’s getting to that time when the good intentions of the new year resolutions are becoming more of a distant memory than a daily driver. Many people start the year with the resolve to get in shape, lose weight and exercise more, but by the time April rolls around 80% of those gym memberships will be unused. To try and help keep that motivation going, we’re starting a small series of reviews looking at fitness and health gadgets, diving in (*groan*) with the Finis SwiMP3 X18 2GB, an mp3 player which is waterproof and requires no earphones, allowing you to enjoy your podcasts, audiobooks or favourite tunes while at the pool.

Read more: Finis SwiMP3 X18 2GB Review @ XSReviews

Reid Heath Acoustics MA350 Earphones Review @ TopReviewShop

Reid Heath Acoustics has developed and launched a number of headphone and earphone models, most recently the CA200 headphones we reviewed, with their latest offering for folks in the U.S. being the $39.95 priced MA350 earphones. Targeted toward value conscious users who want a step up from their stock ear buds, the MA350 features a braided cable, solid aluminum housings and a unique "aerophonic" design. Let's see if these blokes from the UK have a delivered a winner with the MA350!

Read more: Reid Heath Acoustics MA350 Earphones Review @ TopReviewShop

Ozone Rage ST Gaming Headset @ techPowerUp

Ozone's newest gaming headset dubbed Rage ST gets put to the test. The headset retails for 29.90 and is available in a lot of different colors. Unlike many lower end gaming headsets, the Rage ST has an around-ear design, which gives them an edge in terms of comfort.

Read more: Ozone Rage ST Gaming Headset @ techPowerUp

Modern shooters and the atrophy of fun @ The Tech Report

Since the days of Doom and Quake, we've seen shooters take quantum leaps in graphics, writing, voice acting, and just about everything else—except for gameplay. Somehow, gameplay hasn't evolved. It hasn't gotten more fun or more engaging or more interesting. Instead, it's atrophied into a bland rut, to the point where big-budget shooters feel just like old light-gun arcade games.

Read more: Modern shooters and the atrophy of fun @ The Tech Report

Litecoin, the GPU Mining Alternative to Bitcoin @ Hardcoreware

I came across Litecoin eventually when looking for useful GPGPU tasks that people would use themselves rather than relying on synthetic benchmarks. My first choice was the more popular Bitcoin mining, and I started using it in our reviews. I really wish I would have done this sooner, because after being introduced, I was hooked on bit mining and CryptoCurrency in general.

Read more: Litecoin, the GPU Mining Alternative to Bitcoin @ Hardcoreware

Marware MicroShell Folio Kindle Fire HD Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

When you buy a tablet or any piece of technology it is an investment and you want to protect it. I’ve had my Kindle Fire HD for a little while now and I use it quite often so I knew I needed to get some type of protective case for it. I couldn’t keep throwing it in my laptop bag and expect to to not get scratched. There are so many Kindle covers and cases I really did not know what to get. After looking around I was set on the MicroShell Folio from Marware. It has a hard shell case back that will protect most of my Kindle, but has a folio top cover. This still protects the screen of the Kindle, but keeps the size of device as a whole down, which is what I wanted. Will this be the next case for your Kindle Fire HD? Read on as we find out...

Read more: Marware MicroShell Folio Kindle Fire HD Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Corsair H110 Liquid CPU Cooler Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Recently Corsair added a new model at the top end of their Hydro range of factory sealed liquid coolers. The H110 increases the radiator and fan size over the H100/H100i and looks to enhance performance while doing so. Today we have a H110 connected to our system and will see how it performs in standard and heavily overclocked scenarios using our i7-3960X.

Read more: Corsair H110 Liquid CPU Cooler Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Corsair Hydro Series H110 @ techPowerUp

Corsair's new Hydro Series H110 is a monster of a cooler with its 280 mm radiator, but is bigger always better? It is time to put the H110 to the test and see what all the hype is about.

Read more: Corsair Hydro Series H110 @ techPowerUp

Frame Rating: GTX 660 vs HD 7870, plus HD 7790, HD 7850, GTX 650 Ti BOOST @ PC Perspective

Today marks the conclusion of our first complete round up of Frame Rating results, the culmination of testing that was started 18 months ago. Hopefully you have caught our other articles on the subject at hand, and you really will need to read up on the Frame Rating Dissected story above to truly understand the testing methods and results shown in this article. Use the links above to find the previous articles!

To round out our Frame Rating testing in this interation, we are looking at more cards further down the product stack in two different sets. The first comparison will look at the AMD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 graphics cards in both single and dual-card configurations. Just like we saw with our HD 7970 vs GTX 680 and our HD 7950 vs GTX 660 Ti testing, evaluating how the GPUs compare in our new and improved testing methodology in single GPU configurations is just as important as testing in SLI and CrossFire. The GTX 660 ($199 at Newegg.com) and the HD 7870 ($229 at Newegg.com) are the closest matches in terms of pricing though both card have some interesting game bundle options as well.

Read more: Frame Rating: GTX 660 vs HD 7870, plus HD 7790, HD 7850, GTX 650 Ti BOOST @ PC Perspective

SilverStone TS231U RAID HDD Enclosure @ DreamWare Computers

Teratrend aims to deliver products with diverse features and the best in customer services. The Teratrend lineup includes 2-bay and 4-bay HDD RAID USB 3.0 enclosures with tray-less and tool free designs.

Read more: SilverStone TS231U RAID HDD Enclosure @ DreamWare Computers

Thermaltake Urban S21 Review @ Vortez

Thermaltake are well-known for their gamer style of cases, within each of their series the product lines are furnished with flashy cases with mostly rugged appearances. Those in the computer case sector know full well that the demand for silent cases is prevalent and finally, Thermaltake have designed a new series to specifically deal with this trend. Enter the Urban series.

Today we will be taking a look at the entry level offering within the Urban series, namely the S21. S21 is all about affordability and though it may have certain features absent, the price-tag could be the deciding factor regardless. Those who are on a tight budget could be in for a treat today.

Read more: Thermaltake Urban S21 Review @ Vortez

The HTC One Review @ Anandtech

It is nearly impossible to begin to review the HTC One without some context, and I’ll begin our review of the HTC One (formerly the device known as codename M7) much the same way I did my impressions piece simply by stating that HTC is in an interesting position as a result of last year’s product cycle. If there’s one thing Anand has really driven home for me in my time writing for AnandTech, it’s that in the fast-paced mobile industry, a silicon vendor or OEM really only has to miss one product cycle in a very bad way to get into a very difficult position. The reality of things is that for HTC with this last product cycle there were products with solid industrial design and specs for the most part, but not the right wins with mobile operators in the United States, and not the right marketing message abroad. Its easy to armchair the previous product cycle now that we have a year of perspective, but that’s the reality of things. HTC now needs a winner more than ever.

Read more: The HTC One Review @ Anandtech