Reviews 51944 Published by

Here a roundup of the latest reviews and articles:

Antec High Current Gamer M 750W Power Supply Review
Chrome 34 brings back scroll arrows on Windows, better password field handling
CM Storm Reaper Mouse Review
Enermax Fulmo ST Review
Gigabyte Geforce GTX 780 GHz Edition Video Card Review
GPU Charts 2014
In Depth: Super AMOLED vs Super LCD: top smartphone screens compared
Intel 730 SSD Reviewed Breaking 1GB/s in RAID0
Intel Core i7-3960X SLI Gaming Performance Scaling
Intel launches Solid State Drive 730 Series
Intel SSD 730 (480GB) Review: Bringing Enterprise to the Consumers
Intel SSD 730 Series SSD Review (2x480GB)
Intel SSD 730 Series: Enthusiast Class Storage
Intel's 730 Series solid-state drive reviewed
Jabra Motion review
Kingston DataTraveler Mini 3.0 16GB Flash Drive Review
Kiss Quiet I-Bat 120mm Cooling Fan Review
Matsunichi 500GB USB 3.0 Portable HDD
MSI A88X-G45 Gaming Review
MSI GTX 760 GAMING ITX OC Review
Nomad ChargeKey Lightning Cable Review
Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear Headphone Review
SSD Endurance Diary with OCZ Vector 256 GB
Super Flower Leadex Gold 750 W
Thecus N2310 NAS Server Review
ThermoLab ITX30 30mm CPU Cooler Review
Thief Benchmarked: Graphics & CPU Performance
XFX Type01 Bravo Case Review



Antec High Current Gamer M 750W Power Supply Review

It has only been a few weeks since Chinese New Year, but there were certainly some unforgettable moments for me this year. Let's be honest, most years, I just scrape by, collecting Red Pockets and dishing out the standard Chinese greetings to friends and family. However, this year some interesting things happened. It all started a few days before Chinese New Year, when I was on campus hanging out with a few of my friends. While hanging out in the food court, we had a discussion about our upcoming plans to celebrate. Of course, we all talked about collecting Red Pockets and our dinner events. One thing I didn't expect was said by one of my friends, "We're going to be hosting a giant dinner party with family and friends." Usually this wouldn't be out of the ordinary, but this person has barely ever hosted any social events. A few days later after the New Year had passed, I met up with my friends again, and we once again recapped how our celebrations went. When it finally got to this person's turn, he was almost in tears. Apparently, their family had completely forgotten to invite anyone over, as they were too busy preparing for the day. In the end, their family had a giant party and feast set up just for themselves. This story really reminds me of how we can be so focused on one thing that we forget the true meaning behind it all. The same can be said for products as well. Sometimes companies work so hard to make something, they have completely forgotten the root purpose for its existence. This week, we have the Antec High Current Gamer M 750W up for evaluation. Is it a power supply that is back to the basics in delivering lots of power efficiently for the enthusiast? Antec is well known for their computer chassis, power supplies, and other computer supplies. Without further delay, let us dive into our report this week and see how the Antec High Current Gamer M 750W stacks up.

Read full article @ APH Networks

Chrome 34 brings back scroll arrows on Windows, better password field handling

Small changes that you make to a product can have a big impact on its perception. Google removed scroll arrows in Chrome 32 on Windows, and that change infuriated part of the web browser's userbase.

What does not seem like a big deal is a major one for users who use those scroll arrows all the time to navigate web pages. While there are many alternatives available, it is difficult to make changes if you are used to using scroll arrows for that.

The only option for affected users was to install a third-party extension for the browser that would add scroll arrows back to the browser.

Read full article @ gHacks

CM Storm Reaper Mouse Review

Cooler Master, a company world renown for their excellent case and cooling solutions, has recently augmented their Storm series lineup with some new additions. “What is this Storm series?” one may ask. It is Cooler Master’s answer for consumers looking for higher then average specifications, durability, and aesthetics. Today Benchmark Review’s has taken the opportunity to give the CM Storm Reaper a formidable shakedown to see what sets this apart from the rest.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Enermax Fulmo ST Review

With the Fulmo ST, Enermax released a new ATX case. The front shows a lot of mesh material with suggests a case that support a high airflow. Other than that it look like the interior offers good flexibility and other than that no less than ten 2.5 inch drives can be installed. Furthermore there are several possibilities to place radiators. At a very first glance it looks like this could be quite a neat case for gamer and maybe also modder.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Gigabyte Geforce GTX 780 GHz Edition Video Card Review

All of the great ones have it. The ability to reach back and deliver just a little more. Johan Santana and Pedro Martinez are two of the best examples of this. Neither was ever considered a “power pitcher”. Both possessed better than average fastballs, but not the best fastballs in the game, and they certainly weren’t among the hardest throwers in the game. They both had excellent movement on the fastballs, but it was always their changeups that made them special. While 100 mph fastballs are cool, most tended to be infinitely more hittable than 76 mph changeups from these two men. When they were on, the best major league hitters flailed away like little leaguers facing them.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

GPU Charts 2014

As usual we have used an up to date system with three synthetic benchmarks and ten more or less recent games, benched at 1920x1080 with highest graphics settings. Only reference cards from both nVidia and AMD/ATI will be listed (aka no AIB cards). The idea behind is to show a performance overview of the current gaming graphics cards.

Read full article @ ocaholic

In Depth: Super AMOLED vs Super LCD: top smartphone screens compared

Super AMOLED and Super LCD are two of the best and most popular screen technologies currently in use on phones, and are the display tech of choice for two of the most popular Android phones around. HTC for example, packed its One flagship with a Super LCD screen (in fact, it's one of the biggest customers of the tech by some way) while Samsung not only uses Super AMOLED, the company actually created it. But what's the difference between them? And which is better?Super AMOLEDTo understand Super AMOLED you first need to understand its origins. It started with OLED, which stands for 'organic light-emitting diode' and consists of a thin organic film with electrodes at either side. As soon as an electric current is applied to the film it emits light.

Read full article @ TechRadar

Intel 730 SSD Reviewed Breaking 1GB/s in RAID0

Typically when most individuals think of Intel, their thoughts drift to that of Intel’s superiority in the CPU market, even though their product diversity is far more vast then some can imagine. Intel’s products range from CPU’s to chipsets, integrated graphics processing units, server components, and solid-state drives. Today, Technology X has the opportunity to take an in-depth look at the new Intel SSD 730 Series (480GB), as both an individual drive and as part of a RAID 0 setup with another Intel 730 Series SSD.

Read full article @ TechnologyX

Intel Core i7-3960X SLI Gaming Performance Scaling

In our SLI gaming performance scaling articles we're going to investigate SLI scaling factors with different CPUs and different clock speeds (since a lot of guys asked for this). In eight recent games and two theoretical benchmarks we want to find out what difference SLI makes, when we run benchmarks with the CPU at stock clocks as well as overclocked to 4.5 GHz. Let's kick off with an Intel 3960X CPU and two ASUS GTX 780 DirectCU II graphics cards and find out what the differences are going to be like.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Intel launches Solid State Drive 730 Series

Flagship consumer SSD for PC enthusiasts uses overclocked Intel 3rd gen controller. The Intel Solid State Drive 730 Series is particularly suitable for Gaming, Digital Content Creation and Workstation applications and uses a third generation Intel controller that has been with 'factory tuned' firmware. The drives announced today are expected to ship to customers on 18th March.

Read full article @ Hexus

Intel SSD 730 (480GB) Review: Bringing Enterprise to the Consumers

The days of Intel being the dominant player in the client SSD business are long gone. A few years ago Intel shifted its focus from client SSDs to the more profitable and hence more alluring enterprise market. As a result of the move to SandForce silicon, Intel's client SSD lineup became more generic and lost the Intel vibe of the the X-25M series. With the SSD 730 Intel finally provides an in-house designed consumer drive after a hiatus of a few years. Based on the S3500/S3700 platform, the SSD 730 adopts many enterprise features and brings them to the hands of consumers. Does Intel retake the crown with the SSD 730? Read on and find out!

Read full article @ Anandtech

Intel SSD 730 Series SSD Review (2x480GB)

Yesterday, we posted a report that seems to have drawn amazing attention, one that spoke to Intel's final acknowledgement that their 3rd Generation controller was manufactured by none other than LSI. That really isn't that big of a news scoop unless you are an SSD geek. It does tell us a great deal about the Intel 730 Series SSD we are helping Intel introduce to the world today; an SSD that also contains Intel's 3rd Gen controller. The controller inside the SSD 730 we are reporting on today has been around for some time and has proven itself at the enterprise level.

Read full article @ The SSD Review

Intel SSD 730 Series: Enthusiast Class Storage

Intel has established a strong record in the solid state storage space, dating all the way back to 2008 with its debut of the excellent X25-M series of drives. Back then, Intel upped the ante in enthusiast-targeted solid state storage, and they want to do it again with the drive we'll be showing you here today, the upcoming Intel SSD 730.

The new Intel SSD 730 will be the company's latest flagship consumer-targeted SSD. The drive, however, features technology gleaned from Intel's experience in data centers, and is actually quite similar to the DC S3500 we reviewed back in June. Intel is doing a few things to set this drive apart, though. The SSD 730's controller and NAND components are have gone through additional qualification at the factory and the drive's firmware is tuned for high performance...

Read full article @ HotHardware.com

Intel's 730 Series solid-state drive reviewed

Intel's new 730 Series desktop SSD is rather unique. It's based on the company's datacenter drives, it has an extra flash die onboard, and the controller and NAND are both clocked well beyond their usual speeds. We take a closer look.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Jabra Motion review

Once in a while, a product pops up that reminds you just how remarkable digital technology can be. The Jabra Motion Bluetooth headset does just that.It integrates such an impressive array of functionality into such a tiny device, you simply have to marvel at what's possible.Put another way, it's that Star Trek thing - the Jabra Motion is Lieutenant Uhura's ear-dangling comms device productionised and available to buy.

Read full article @ TechRadar

Kingston DataTraveler Mini 3.0 16GB Flash Drive Review

There are so many options for USB flash drives, sometimes it can be impossible to choose one model to fit everybody’s needs. Kingston knows this and has enough models that finding one to suit a specific need should be fairly easy. Their smallest USB 3.0 flash drive is the DataTraveler Mini 3.0, it is less than 2inches in length and no wider than the USB 3.0 port. However, keeping things small there is a bit of a sacrifice, that comes in the form of speed, Kingston says the DataTraveler Mini 3.0 is capable of 70MB/s read and up to 15MB/s write...

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Kiss Quiet I-Bat 120mm Cooling Fan Review

Cooling plays a very important role in computing. Components can run hot and the heat must be dissipated efficiently. Noise is usually a concern so we tend to look for quieter solutions. Cost can also play a deciding factor for those who are on a budget. Today we will take a look at Kiss Quiet's I-Bat 120mm cooling fan to see how it performs.


Read full article @ FunkyKit

Matsunichi 500GB USB 3.0 Portable HDD

Matsunichi is one of those Chinese electronics firms that is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere. Everywhere, in that you can find their stuff on Amazon, in Best Buy, and even Wal-Mart; nowhere in that hardly anybody outside the industry recognizes their name. They focus mainly on tablets, media streamers and portable hard drives, and it's this last group we'll be taking a look at today. Their 500GB USB 3.0 hard drive offering, model number DM256-BU-500GB, aims to give you half a terabyte for half a benjamin with minimal fuss. A cursory examination of the major online retailers confirms that they hit their price point, but what sort of performance do you get for your money? Let's put this drive through its paces and find out.

Read full article @ TechwareLabs.com

MSI A88X-G45 Gaming Review

AMD's latest chipset gets a premium makeover from the team at MSI. AMD's release of the Kaveri-based Accelerated Processing Units (APUs) has given motherboard manufacturers license to promote a range of FM2+ boards. This new socket, which remains backwards compatible with FM2, is the ideal, and only, candidate for the new slew of APUs using Steamroller cores and GCN graphics. Got a 7-series APU? You'll need an FM2+ board.

Headlining the FM2+ socket is the A88X chipset, and MSI takes it on with eight motherboards that, between them, use full-ATX, micro-ATX and mini-ITX form factors. The best of the bunch is the A88X-G45 Gaming board that's due in retail in a few days priced at £95. The UK market will receive the special edition bundle that includes Assassin's Creed Liberation HD, which is worth up to £15 on its own.

Read full article @ Hexus

MSI GTX 760 GAMING ITX OC Review

As the PC market evolves, more and more users have been looking to do away with their oversized cases from generations past and look towards smaller, more compact form factors. This means mini-ITX components have seen a surge in popularity. While cases, motherboards and even CPU heatsinks have caught onto the trend, graphics cards have traditionally lagged behind due to their relative complexity and the fact that up until now, most ITX users have been content to use integrated GPUs. MSI is aiming to change what gamers look for in a small form factor system with their new GTX 760 GAMING ITX OC Edition.

The GTX 760 GAMING ITX is exactly what its name implies: an overclocked, custom cooled mini-ITX video card that’s focused on packing as much performance into the smallest form factor possible. While the recently released GTX 750 Ti does come in a satisfyingly diminutive package, it’s quite underpowered for anyone that wants a competent gaming card. That’s where the GTX 760 GAMING ITX comes into play.

Read full article @ Hardware Canucks

Nomad ChargeKey Lightning Cable Review

I can’t tell you how many phone chargers I have gone through. They always break or I end up losing them. At the same time I hate when I’m out and I forget to bring a charger with me. Well Nomad has the perfect solution for this, the ChargeKey. The ChargeKey is exactly what you think it is, a Lightning cable that is shaped like a key so you can easily bring it with you. Let’s take a look and see if the ChargeKey is something that you need to add to your mobile arsenal.

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Sennheiser Momentum On-Ear Headphone Review

ModSynergy has reviewed many products over the past 12-years being online. A wide variety of items have come and gone on this website. I'm shocked and cannot believe I started this website back when I was only 15-years old, just reminiscing about this gives me goose bumps down my arm. It's been a great ride, but it hasn't always been easy finding the motivation at times, but I've been fortunate and blessed to be doing something I very much enjoy for a very long time.

I've said something to this effect in some of my previous audio reviews, an analogy, but thinking about the length of time ModSynergy has been online is kind of like fine wine aging throughout the years. Individuals change, their perspectives change, their taste's change, their styles change, what they previously thought was good change, it's part of that ongoing evolution, but in the end it should get better.

I think that is precisely what is happening with my audio reviews, the momentum has been building steadily for the past 12-years to get to this point. Just looking back when I started and the type of audio gear I reviewed, at the time those products seemed good, but now in actuality they weren't really good at all when I factor in all that I've learned about finding that true audio quality experience. It could be because the products back then just weren't good, or they weren't using quality components, or the technology wasn't there, maybe a mixture of different things, but the audio gear coming out in today's generation is exceedingly better compared to that of past generations, and it doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg any longer to have great audio satisfaction.

Read full article @ ModSynergy.com

SSD Endurance Diary with OCZ Vector 256 GB

Meanwhile most enthusiasts have an SSD in their PC and since manufacturers are successfully conquering the mass maket with SSDs, these new, quick drives are nowadays widely spread. In the past there were quite a few drives that died an all sudden death. Even today customers are not sure for how long their SSD will last and especially the P/E-cylce count (program/erase cycles) is something that worries quite a few well informed users. In this diary we're going to check what it takes to use up all P/E-cycles an OCZ Vector SSD has to offer, that features 256 Gigabyte capacity. So what is your guess, how long is it going to take until the drive refuses to work.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Super Flower Leadex Gold 750 W

Super Flower is hammering the PSU market with incredibly interesting products, and they have now sent us a mid-capacity unit based on the excellent Leadex platform. The Leadex Gold 750 W unit features Gold efficiency, a fully modular cabling design with the crystal-cube connectors particular to the series, and the option for a semi-passive operation.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

Thecus N2310 NAS Server Review

The Thecus N2310 NAS Server is a budget oriented solution; just looking at the plastic construction will give it away - no fancy aluminium enclosure here. The build quality is however, pretty good, great value doesn't necessarily mean a cheap product, and Thecus somehow found a middle ground between cutting costs and delivering a good looking device. The two HDD trays are also made of hard plastic and seem to do a great job of securing the disks in place. The LEDs at the front are very bright and might become a distraction in a dark room.

Read full article @ OCC

ThermoLab ITX30 30mm CPU Cooler Review

Once again we’re turning our attention to small form factor hardware, something I think people are going to become more and more interested in over time. Whether building your own Steam Box, or an HTPC for your living room, you are going to need to be aware of the specialized hardware that is available for these specific needs.

Today we’re looking at the ITX30 CPU cooler from ThermoLab. You may not have heard of this company, but they have been around for over 10 years now, making retail and industrial thermal products. Since their products are rarely seen outside Korea, it makes sense that one would be unfamiliar with them.

The ITX30 fits the specific niche of being a cooler designed for Intel CPUs that is no more than 30mm in height. We actually reviewed a very similar product, the Noctua NH-L9i, a while back. That cooler was 37mm tall with a fan, so the ITX30 pushes specs even further. Of course we’ll be comparing the two by the end of this review, to see if either one is capable of cooling a Haswell based Core i3 CPU with the lowest amount of noise possible.

Read full article @ HCW

Thief Benchmarked: Graphics & CPU Performance

Despite being built with the aging Unreal Engine 3, Thief touts some cutting edge rendering techniques that have put the game on our radar. Along with DirectX technologies such as Phong Tessellation and Bokeh Depth of Field, Eidos' latest stealth entry supports Contact Hardening Shadows, which makes shadows more realistic by sharpening shadows on closer objects while blurring those in the distance.

The developer also mentions the inclusion of Parallax Occlusion Mapping (POM) -- an enhancement of the parallax mapping technique, which in turn is an enhancement of Bump Mapping, something I first recall seeing heavily used in Doom 3 where it brought textures to life. POM gives flat textures 3D definition by using a displacement map to make the textures change relative to perspective.

Read full article @ TechSpot

XFX Type01 Bravo Case Review

Today we are going to take a look at the XFX Type01 Bravo … the companies first attempt at a PC Case. Until now, XFX’s range of products has consisted predominantly of graphics cards and power supplies, so it will be interesting to see if the Type01 Bravo can be competitive against the market leaders.

Read full article @ KitGuru