Reviews 51924 Published by

Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AOC Agon AG352UCG6 Black Edition Review
Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB 32GB DDR4 4x 8GB DDR4-2666 Review
Barrowch Whale Shark Threadripper Water Block Review
be quiet! Dark Base 700 Midi Tower Review
Corsair HS60 Review
Crucial MX500 1TB M.2. SSD Review
E-Win Flash XL Gaming Chair Review
Intel Optane SSD 905P 960GB AIC NVMe PCIe SSD Review
MSI B350m Gaming Pro AM4 Motherboard Video Review
MSI X299 XPower Gaming AC Review
Rating RAVPowers wireless iPhone charger lineup
ROCCAT Khan AIMO Review
ROCCAT Kone AIMO Gaming Mouse Review
ROCCAT Kone AIMO Review
The Swords of Ditto Review



AOC Agon AG352UCG6 Black Edition Review

A solid choice for ultra-wide GeForce gaming. When contemplating a premium monitor purchase, it pays to consider your most frequent usage scenario. The emergence of multiple panel technologies is such that some monitors are better suited to specific tasks; the viewing angles and colour reproduction of IPS tends to be favoured by creative types; the fast response time of TN panels plays well with gamers; and VA displays are a middle-ground of sorts, with better viewing angles than TN and typically impressive contrast.

There's no one-panel-fits-all, and AOC reckons VA technology has improved to the extent that it now serves as a prime candidate for enthusiast gamers. Last year's Agon AG352UCG did a decent job of presenting ultra-wide gaming in a curved 35in form factor, and the manufacturer is hoping to go one better with a 2018 upgrade dubbed the Agon AG352UCG6 Black Edition.

Read full article @ Hexus

Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB 32GB DDR4 4x 8GB DDR4-2666 Review

We test the brand new Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB memory modules on OCinside.de, which were officially introduced at review date! The brand new 32GB DDR4-2666 Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB Gaming Memory Kit from Micron, consists of four 8GB DDR4 modules or two 16GB DDR4 kits of two 8GB modules each. The four DDR4 modules are suitable for Intel X299 or AMD X399 PCs in Quad Channel Mode, as well as for Z370, X370 or X470 systems in Dual Channel Mode. There is of course a short video with the effects, an interactive 360 degree view and thermal image, as well as lots of memory benchmark results in the following Ballistix Tactical Tracer RGB 32GB DDR4 RAM review.

Read full article @ OCInside.de

Barrowch Whale Shark Threadripper Water Block Review

The Barrowch Whale Shark Water Block is built specifically for AMD's Ryzen Threadripper processor and its TR4 socket on X399 chipset motherboards. It is one of the best looking water blocks we have seen for Threadripper, and even has an onboard temperature sensor and display right on the water block. Once mounted, how does it cool

Barrow is a Chinese company that is no stranger to making water cooling products for enthusiast computer systems. It continually churns out a long line of custom cooling products for all sorts of CPUs and GPUs. The "Barrowch" name is a brand that Barrow uses to differentiate product lines for the Barrow products.

Read full article @ HardOCP

be quiet! Dark Base 700 Midi Tower Review

If the Dark Base Pro 900 Full Tower by be quiet! has everything you ever wanted in a PC case but its size is not ideal then you really should take a look at its smaller and almost as impressive brother the Dark Base 700.

Whether you admire RGB lighting when you see it or not the truth of the matter is that because of its quite unique "looks" it has spread in many markets and not just the PC one. Now the good thing about RGB LEDs (and LEDs in general) is that manufacturers can use pretty much as many as they like for a project so in the market currently we have eye catching products that really stand out and are primarily ment for the gaming community and products which are mostly aimed towards people who want something more subtle. Unfortunately when it comes to PC cases since most manufacturers provide RGB lighting via the addition of RGB fans it's not that easy to create something subtle which is why be quiet! took a different path with their brand new Dark Base 700 Midi Tower.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Corsair HS60 Review

When it comes to headsets Corsair has been in the market for years now. But a lot of their designs, while good, have been a little on the aggressive side for styling. Now a lot of gamers are into that sort of thing, but for some people looking like a 15 year old kid while at their PC might get them judged by their significant other, roommate, friends, or by their own self. So some people just want a classic looking headset and a while back Corsair filled that gap with their HS50 and HS60 headsets. Well, I’ve had the HS60 around for a while and have been testing it out, let's talk a little about what its all about and how it performed in my testing.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Crucial MX500 1TB M.2. SSD Review

The differences between the 'regular' 2.5" SSD and the m.2. series really aren't that different, aside from form factor and interface. The MX500 m.2. is available in three models, a 250GB, 500GB and 1TB version. For the regular 2.5" SSD there also is a 2TB version available. The MX500 uses Microns own TLC NAND, the new 64-layer vertical stacked version with a bit of DRAM cache and. Our tested MX500 1TB SSD is advertised at proper SATA3 SSD performance metrics with 560MB/s for sequential read and 510MB/s on sequential writes. Random 4K IOPS show numbers in the ~90 for both random read and write IOPS. Crucial basically offers two performance and price positioned series, MX and the slightly, lower positioned (affordable upgrade) BX series. The MX500 series what I label as absolute value storage, it is very price-competitive compared to mainstream to high-end class SATA3 performance. You guys likely know it, I've been in the computer industry a LONG time and have noticed that two developments evolve in very fast paces, graphics cards, and storage technology. If you look how far and fast we've become with NAND technology you can only acknowledge, it is just amazing. My first HDD storage unit was connected towards a Commodore 64, back in 1984 (!), that unit was SCSI based and could hold a whopping 10 MB of data, it did that (if memory serves me right) at roughly 40 KB/sec in read performance which honestly was blazingly fast at that time and cost me something in the extent and equivalent of 500 USD / EURO. And yes, here we are in an era where NVMe SSDs reaches 3 GB/sec and SSDs having storage capacities of 2 Terabyte priced at that same level as that Commodore 64 storage unit back in the days. It is these trends that drive SSD storage to the high-level momentum in evolution as we see today: endurance, performance, price, and capacity. The MX500 series covers all these metrics.

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D

E-Win Flash XL Gaming Chair Review

The EWin Flash XL office gaming chair has a weight capacity of 500 pounds, and it has steel frame construction with an aluminum base with 5 caster wheels. Not only will the Flash XL handle your weight, but handle your height as well. I am very tall, and I can actually make use of the head rest built into the Flash XL gaming chair. I do not even need to raise the chair at all for my legs to be comfortable and feet sit planted flat on the floor. EWin has made a great looking gaming chair, but how well does it function, and how comfortable is it for hours of gaming?

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Intel Optane SSD 905P 960GB AIC NVMe PCIe SSD Review

Hardcore enthusiasts take note. The best just got even better. Intel's Optane SSD 905P builds on the success of their 900P series by offering double the capacity, more performance and a bit of LED bling on the AIC (Add-In-Card) model.

Intel's Optane SSDs are not your average run of the mill solid state storage devices. Optane is unique in the storage world, because it is the only SSD that is not flash-based. Intel's Optane SSDs are based on IMFT 3D XPoint (cross point) non-volatile phase-change memory media.

Read full article @ TweakTown

MSI B350m Gaming Pro AM4 Motherboard Video Review

Shopping for a budget motherboard can often be an exercise in frustration. That is until you just give in an buy the one that looks nice in your case. When it comes to the MSI B350M Gaming Pro, it has the looks, and a few extras that might make it jump to the top of your list.

To start things off, this is a Micro ATX AM4 socket motherboard, that boasts an AMD B350 chipset, allowing overclocking on all of AMD’s first and second generation Ryzen CPUs and APUs. A pair of red DDR4 DIMM slots, (2) 1x PCIe slots, a Turbo m.2 NVME slot, and a single 16x PCIe slot with Steel Armor reinforcement, which is a welcome addition given the Gaming Pro’s price of just $65 at the time of writing.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

MSI X299 XPower Gaming AC Review

MSIs flagship motherboard for HEDT the X299 XPower Gaming AC. The XPower Gaming AC pulls from its overclocking and enthusiast pedigree as well as including features more focused on gaming, designed to attractive to an even broader audience. MSI also focuses on storage, including U.2 support and the ability to use five M.2 devices out of the box. 

Previous generations of MSI XPower models were primarily focused on extreme overclocking and enthusiasts looking to wring every last MHz out of their CPU. The boards were designed with enough power delivery to be able to handle just about anything thrown at it, as well as some overclocking only accessories. As time has moved on, we have seen the line start to blur the markets between overclocking, enthusiasts, and gaming, and now we have crossover boards, such as this one, which combine the feature sets.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Rating RAVPowers wireless iPhone charger lineup

When the iPhone X and iPhone 8 gained faster 7.5W charging with iOS 11.2, RAVpower was one of three brands to offer compatible high-power solutions. With a slew of third-party accessory makers now marketing compelling options, we examine whether RAVPower's latest chargers deserve a spot on your desk or nightstand.

Aside from their flagship wireless charger, RAVPower has also released a trio of additional models, known as the HyperAir series. They are meant to be more lightweight, affordable and useful than the original.

Read full article @ Apple Insider

ROCCAT Khan AIMO Review

The Khan AIMO builds upon the Pro by modernising the aesthetics, improving the build quality, upgrading the audio feature set and adding the AIMO intelligent lighting system. The Khan AIMO does borrow the Hi-Res audio capabilities from the older sibling but now includes 7.1 audio. As well as this, ROCCAT has enhanced the audio with a built-in 24-bit 96kHz DAC sound card. A vast frequency range is on offer too as the Khan AIMO can delve all the way down to 10Hz and extend all the way up to 40,000Hz.

Read full article @ Vortez

ROCCAT Kone AIMO Gaming Mouse Review

As the original Kone, AIMO was designed for people with larger hands, while its comfortable shape does really help during longer gaming sessions. With the revised LED lighting setup, Kone AIMO looks more interesting than before, and thanks to the 4D silent titan scroll wheel, the lateral buttons and the EasyShift[+] function, we can assign plenty of macros to it.

Read full article @ Mad Shrimps

ROCCAT Kone AIMO Review

ROCCAT introduced their amazing Living Light system for three of their products at CES 2018, and the Kone AIMO is one of them. Of course, lighting alone can't make a good mouse, but when it's wired up with a high-end optical sensor, 50 million click-rated Omron gaming switches, and an extremely good build quality, it can surely turn out great.

CES 2018 was pretty much about the Living Light system called AIMO from ROCCAT's side. According to them, this system is intelligent, organic, and evolving, so it is safe to assume there is actual AI involved in this. They introduced three products that have this feature so far, but we can expect many more to come in the future. Of course, lighting alone does not make for a good mouse, and unfortunately, there are quite a few companies out there who have made RGB their number one priority by making everything else secondary. Thankfully, ROCCAT is not one of them. Let me introduce you to the Kone AIMO, which is the upgraded version of their previous palm-grip-oriented flagship model.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

The Swords of Ditto Review

The graphics are a specific art style that works well, but can make the game look like something that should be easier than it is. The performance is solid, but it would be weird if it were not. The surface-level story is fine and gets the job done, but the deeper story misfires to me in how it is told (collectible logs you find in a random order). The gameplay is fun, and challenging, but can also flirt with being just hard. It could use some improvements and refinements, and I think it is reasonable we will see some made. I have no 'inside information' about any refinements or patches, just a guess the developers are reading feedback and will act on some of it. We will have to see what happens, but even as it is now, The Swords of Ditto is a fun adventure.

Read full article @ OCC