Reviews 51946 Published by

Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including Intel removes modest 'free' overclocking from standard Haswell CPUs, Mushkin Enhanced Ventura Plus Series 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review, DinoPC Asusinator 4670K OC (w/ GTX770), Mad Catz R.A.T. M and M.O.U.S. 9 Gaming Mice Review, and AVerMedia Live Gamer HD Capture Card Video Review



Intel removes modest 'free' overclocking from standard Haswell CPUs @ The Tech Report
With Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge, standard Core i5 and i7 processors offer enough multiplier headroom for 400MHz overclocks. K-series chips are only required to push higher. Things are different for Haswell, which removes the multiplier allowance for standard CPUs, making multiplier-based overclocking exclusive to K-series processors.

Read more: Intel removes modest 'free' overclocking from standard Haswell CPUs @ The Tech Report

Panasonic TC-L55DT60 Review @ TechReviewSource.com
Joining the ET60 and E60 series of recently announced Panasonic LED-backlit Viera HDTVs, the DT60 series offers good performance, stylish looks, and lots of features, including four sets of 3D glasses, Wi-Fi, and a 120Hz refresh rate. The TC-L55DT60 features a 55-inch IPS panel that delivers good color quality and dark blacks along with great viewing angles.

Read more: Panasonic TC-L55DT60 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

Mushkin Enhanced Ventura Plus Series 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review @ Madshrimps
The Ventura Plus is a new brand of USB 3.0 Flash Drives from Mushkin Enhanced and comes with good transfer speeds, while maintaining and affordable price. The drive has a small aluminum chassis which is great for compatibility purposes and in the back we can attach a lanyard for easy accessibility and transport.

Read more: Mushkin Enhanced Ventura Plus Series 16GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive Review @ Madshrimps

Dell Latitude 10 Review @ Neowin
The Dell Windows 8-based Latitude 10 is built to appeal to the business market. With all day battery life, pen support and ability to offer a docked computing experience, could this be an office hit?

Read more: Dell Latitude 10 Review @ Neowin

Cooler Master Notepal Ergostand II @ LanOC Reviews
Over the past 10 years there has quietly been a small change in the mobile computer market that I don’t think everything has noticed. The name laptop has slowly been dropped and everyone uses the term notebook now. This might seem like a small change but this was actually to help prevent issues for a lot of manufactures. You see, with the name laptop, a lot of people would actually use them on their laps sometimes causing overheating issues. Even now with the new name, heat is still a concern. That is exactly why we have products like Cooler Masters new Notepal Ergostand II.Today I am going to take a look and see what has changed from the original.

Read more: Cooler Master Notepal Ergostand II @ LanOC Reviews

DinoPC Asusinator 4670K OC (w/ GTX770) @ KitGuru
Today we look at the latest gaming PC from UK system builder DINOPC. Their Asusinator 4670K OC is based around the Asus Z87-K motherboard and features the Intel Core i5 4670K processor, overclocked to 4.2ghz.

Rounding out the specifications is a GTX770 graphics card, ideal for gaming at high settings. How is the build quality and can this system compete with the best of them today?

Read more: DinoPC Asusinator 4670K OC (w/ GTX770) @ KitGuru

Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler Review @ DragonSteelMods
Noctua is always innovating with new product designs and they’ve just introduced a new tower style cooler, the NH-U12S which is what I have for review today. This cooler is a thin design, it’s only 45mm deep which makes it ideal for using with performance style ram that utilizes large style heatspreaders as it doesn’t protrude over the ram slots of the majority of motherboards made today. The cooler utilizes the Noctua NF-F12 which is a 120mm forced focus fan that’s made specifically for use with CPU coolers. The NH-U12S can use one fan or you can purchase an additional fan for even more cooling performance, with one or two fans the NH-U12S runs virtually silent like most all Noctua products. I’ve put the NH-U12S up against several other coolers for comparison, and it performs very well indeed, so read on to learn more…

Read more: Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler Review @ DragonSteelMods

Cooler Master Seidon 120XL CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets
We tested the Cooler Master Seidon 120XL, a sealed liquid cooling system for CPUs, with a 120 mm radiator cooled by two 120 mm fans. Check it out!

The Cooler Master Seidon 120XL is a liquid cooling system for processors. It has a 120 mm radiator with two 120 mm fans. Let's test it.

Read more: Cooler Master Seidon 120XL CPU Cooler Review @ Hardware Secrets

Enermax Triathlor FC 550W Power Supply Review @ ThinkComputers.org
Enermax is a brand whose strong product is their power supplies, especially when it comes to the high-end spectrum. Their Platimax and MAXREVO units are some of the best out there. But these units are not cheap in terms of cost. Enermax knows not everyone has a ton of cash to throw at a new power supply so they have created the Triathlor series of power supplies. There are actually the Triathlor and Triathlor FC units. The Triathlor units are lower wattage and non-modular and the Triathlor FC units are higher wattage and are modular. Today we are checking out the Triathlor FC 550W unit which is 80PLUS Bronze certified and offers quiet operation.

Read more: Enermax Triathlor FC 550W Power Supply Review @ ThinkComputers.org

ENERMAX HOPLITE ST ECA3261-W ATX Case @ Modders-Inc
Features like these are found in high end cases and to have a few is good but to have this many at this price level is very good. If your a budget builder and want some decent features with moderate quality at a bargain price, this could be what your looking for.

Read more: ENERMAX HOPLITE ST ECA3261-W ATX Case @ Modders-Inc

Mad Catz R.A.T. M and M.O.U.S. 9 Gaming Mice Review @ Legit Reviews
Mad Catz newest additions to the iconic R.A.T. mice are mobility focused designs featuring Bluetooth connectivity and 1-year battery cycles. Are you wondering if these mice are actually robots in disguise? Well they do have lasers! The R.A.T. M is a notebook gaming mouse with a 6400 DPI sensor and the M.O.U.S. 9 has a R.A.T. form with a glass tracking sensor. There's plenty to see and we have you covered with much more!

I have little to complain about using the M.O.U.S. 9. It ergonomically fills and supports the palm and the sliding palm rest significantly adds flexibility to the mouses shape. Claw grip users won't be left out either thanks to the ergonomically flexible R.A.T. shape the M.O.U.S. 9 is built on. No matter how the mouse is held, its difficult to access all the side buttons and sometimes the horizontal scroll wheel, but the M.O.U.S. 9 was just too comfortable for me to care. The two side button locations were perfectly placed for each type of mouse grip and the buttons were not too stiff, but not too soft to accidentally press...

Read more: Mad Catz R.A.T. M and M.O.U.S. 9 Gaming Mice Review @ Legit Reviews

…And the Winner of Next-Gen is: PlayStation 4 (Unless Microsoft Fixes Things) @ Techgage
Prior to the announcements for Sony’s PlayStation 4 or Microsoft’s Xbox One, I couldn’t have ever guessed that things were going to be so interesting. Unfortunately, some of the biggest reasons things are so interesting is because of how negatively certain decisions impact consumers. With E3, many of our long-awaited questions were finally answered, and now, we’re finally able to take a hard look at both offerings and see which one comes out ahead.

I could just wrap things up here and say “PlayStation 4″, but that’d make for a poor article.

I’m a regular Reddit user, and frequent some of the most popular gaming sub-Reddits every day, including /r/games. While I don’t talk too much there, I do pay attention to some trends, and over the past couple of months, the tides have certainly changed. Heck – just look at how things have changed since the PlayStation 3′s launch.

Read more: …And the Winner of Next-Gen is: PlayStation 4 (Unless Microsoft Fixes Things) @ Techgage

ASUS GTX 780 Direct CU II OC 3 GB @ techPowerUp
With the GTX 780 DirectCU II OC, ASUS introduces a new cooler design, which uses upgraded heatpipes that can carry more heat and two new fans to optimize airflow. The card is also overclocked out of the box and comes with a 10-phase power design.

Read more: ASUS GTX 780 Direct CU II OC 3 GB @ techPowerUp

Hands-on review: 2013 MacBook Air @ Techradar
It's been just under a year since Apple last updated its MacBook Air line-up, but Intel's launch of its latest generation Haswell Core processors has resulted in this, the 2013 MacBook Air announced this week at WWDC 2013.

Read more: Hands-on review: 2013 MacBook Air @ Techradar

Hands-on review: Asus MeMo Pad HD 7 @ Techradar
It's only been a few weeks since Asus launched the MeMo Pad ME172V, but that clearly isn't stopping the Taiwanese company from embarking on the next step of its budget tablet crusade - the MeMo Pad HD 7.

Read more: Hands-on review: Asus MeMo Pad HD 7 @ Techradar

Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 Review @ Guru3D
For today's article we head on over to Fractal Design, a company that has built a reputation with their stylish chassis over the past three years. We'll have a peek at the mid-tower Fractal Design Arc Midi R2, an all black, all cool and all silent PC housing for a wide variety of motherboards. This product is made with airflow and liquid cooling in mind to serve the more performance oriented PCs. You'll be excited about storage, style, USB 3.0 options and an integrated three-speed fan controller. The Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 is what you can tag as mid-tower chassis. Not big, even a little compact, yet spacious alright. The Arc Midi R2 has been developed with good airflow in mind but liquid cooling fanatics should not be disappointed, on the contrary, it can hold multiple water cooling setups fairly easily as the Arc Midi R2 can hold thick radiators in the front and at the top. Should you want to stick to air based cooling, three high-performance but silent R2 fans are already factory installed, and that means good ventilation versus fairly little noise. You ca tie these fans towards an internal fan controller. Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 has many other features that we'll show you in this review, like cable routing space, removable fan filters, CPU cooler sizes limits of up to 170mm, a black paint and a top I/O panel with two USB 3.0 ports, audio in/out, power button, HDD activity led, reset button and fan controller.

Read more: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 Review @ Guru3D

Noctua NH-U14S & NH-U12S CPU Coolers Review @ Hardware Canucks
Noctua, a company best known for their iconoclastic designs, recently released two new additions to their CPU cooling solution line-up: the NH-U12S and the NH-U14S. While these two single tower coolers are intended for slightly different market niches, both designs share a same core philosophy of uncompromising performance without compromising ease of installation and long term use.

Noctua CPU coolers haven’t been seen on our pages for some time for a simple reason: the engineering and staying power of each new Noctua design gives it a lifespan of years rather than months. However, with the recent explosion of both AIO water-based CPU coolers as well as air cooler designs from newer companies, even firmly entrenched manufacturers are reassessing their designs to better fit with the new market realities. This is exactly what the U14S and U12S bring to the tables- fresh ideas which still stay true to Noctua’s core beliefs.

Read more: Noctua NH-U14S & NH-U12S CPU Coolers Review @ Hardware Canucks

Thermaltake Urban S31 Mid Tower Case Review @ HiTech Legion
In a sense computer users are looking for a diverse experience as well, especially with the aesthetics of a computer case. Thanks to human nature there are many different types of designs to enjoy. We have very classic designs that are simple and then of course we have the flashy designs too. The modding community often takes cases and makes them even flashier, some of the themed ones are by far my favorite. The one thing that holds true across all people who like to tinker though is how well the internals are designed. The internal design determines how easy it is to install components and change them at will.

The Thermaltake Urban S31 Mid Tower case is designed to have a simple appearance without cutting out features. The Urban S31 has a brushed aluminum finish on the front door panel, covering the external drive bays while leaving the I/O ports accessible. Front I/O ports include two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 Ports, and audio in and out jacks. There is also a 2.5”/3.5” HDD docking station on the top of the case, offering an easy way to swap hard drives. Both the 5.25” and 3.5” drive bays feature a tool-free design making the installation easy to accomplish. The Thermaltake Urban S31 has a cooling system made up of two preinstalled 120mm fans and plenty of optional mounting locations for additional cooling.

Read more: Thermaltake Urban S31 Mid Tower Case Review @ HiTech Legion

AVerMedia Live Gamer HD Capture Card Video Review with Dave Chaos @ HardwareHeaven.com
Today DaveChaos reviews a 1080p capable capture card from AVerMedia. Be sure to check out Dave's YouTube channel for more of his personal videos, and subscribe to the HardwareHeaven channel to keep up-to-date with our video reviews.

Read more: AVerMedia Live Gamer HD Capture Card Video Review with Dave Chaos @ HardwareHeaven.com

Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Review: One Flexible Ultrabook @ Tom's Hardware
Whether in notebook, stand, tent, or tablet mode, the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 is definitely a head-turner. But does this Ultrabook's innovative multi-mode design effectively juggle its multiple personalities in an equally-harmonious, Zen-like manner?

Read more: Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 13 Review: One Flexible Ultrabook @ Tom's Hardware

AMD A10-6800K (Richland) APU Review @ KitGuru
Today we are going to take a look at the latest Richland APUs from AMD which have been refreshed with Piledriver cores to enhance performance. There are numerous other improvements including the addition of 2133 MHz memory support for the A10 models.

Read more: AMD A10-6800K (Richland) APU Review @ KitGuru