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Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

Antec Dark Fleet DF500 RGB Mid-Tower Chassis Review
Be quiet! Straight Power 11 1000W Power Supply Unit Review
Beyerdynamic FOX Professional Microphone Review
CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Docks Review
Cougar Revenger S Review
Enermax Saberay RGB Case Review
Gnome 3 and best extensions
How is Google Assistant Becoming More Intuitive?
NZXT H200i mITX Computer Case Review
PLUM NIZ Keyboard Micro84 EC Review
Razer Huntsman Elite Review
SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD 1TB Review
SMI SM2262EN High-Performance SSD Controller Preview
Strange Brigade: PC Graphics Performance Benchmark Review
The RPG Files: Shadows Awakening Review
Two Point Hospital Gets A Clean Bill Of Health! – Review



Antec Dark Fleet DF500 RGB Mid-Tower Chassis Review

While some may not know of the Antec Dark Fleet Series of cases, in fact, we only ever reviewed one of them, the DF85. This aggressively designed chassis was ahead of its time with its included features, with things like dust filters, a SSD dock, backplanes for hard drives, easy access to the preinstalled fans, and was one of the first cases to offer USB 3.0, although you had to connect the lead to the rear I/O of the motherboard at that time. Hopefully, what we know of the Dark Fleet Series rings true today, as we ponder the latest chassis to hit the office.

In this review, we will be discussing the DF500 RGB, a new mid-tower chassis from Antec. In it, you will find that Antec is incorporating many things on trend at this time. The significant points are things like tempered glass on the left side, a tinted front panel that allows a view of the fans in the front of the chassis, and the inclusion of RGB controls via motherboard or by the built-in LED controller. Without giving away too much on what makes up the DF500 RGB, we feel it is time then to get down to the nitty-gritty and see what it is that Antec has in store for us now.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Be quiet! Straight Power 11 1000W Power Supply Unit Review

Due to a wide range of power outputs and features picking up the right power supply unit to cover your needs may not always be easy and between NVIDIA finally unveiling their brand new GeForce RTX lineup (2080Ti/2080/2070), Intel updating their CPU roadmap and AMD releasing the 2nd generation of their Threadripper CPU chances are that quite a few of you will be looking for a brand new model sooner rather than later. On top of power outputs and features add the amount of manufacturers in the market currently and things just couldn't get much more complicated than that. Luckily the number of PSU manufacturers with proven track records over the years is far from large and today's review is about a product released by one such manufacturer and to be more precise on our test bench we have the Straight Power 11 1000W power supply unit by our friends over at be quiet!

be quiet! is a premium brand of power supplies, PC cases and cooling solutions for desktop PCs. Consistently the leader in the German PC power supply market since 2007*, be quiet! is one of the most successful PSU brands in Europe. This enduring success is largely thanks to the typical German passion for quality and precision. All product conception, design and quality control is performed in Germany. German expertise is evident the moment an idea is born and throughout the entire design and production process. be quiet! never releases a product until it meets the highest expectations. All materials used – from the smallest screws to the metals in the cases – are tested to rigorous standards. That is why be quiet! power supplies, PC cases, CPU coolers and case fans are among the most silent, powerful and reliable on the market. Innovative engineering concepts coupled with an uncompromising choice of premium materials and world-class manufacturing quality make be quiet! second to none when it comes to noise reduction. With over ten years of experience, be quiet! are truly the quietness experts.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Beyerdynamic FOX Professional Microphone Review

As a podcast host I am rather familiar with microphones. You talk into one and it records what it hears. The process is pretty simple however as with anything worth doing well the quality of the hardware does come into play.

In this review I’ll be going over the Beyerdynamic FOX. The FOX is a professional grade USB studio microphone. It features a large-diaphragm condenser and is primarily designed for vocal and instrument recording.

Read full article @ Hardware Asylum

CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Mini Docks Review

Last month, CalDigit debuted a pair of Thunderbolt 3 mini Docks, offering the ability to connect dual 4K 60Hz displays, Ethernet, and USB all from one travel-sized accessory that doesn't require its own external power source. Available in dual DisplayPort and dual HDMI versions, CalDigit's Thunderbolt 3 mini Docks are a convenient way to make sure you can easily connect to multiple high-resolution displays wherever you go.

I've had an opportunity to test out both versions of the dock, and I came away impressed with their performance, compactness, and usefulness in making sure you have the connectivity you need available away from your usual workplace.

Read full article @ MacRumors

Cougar Revenger S Review

Cougar surely knows how to upgrade properly. A great example for this is the Minos X5 I reviewed in the past. This time around, the Revenger S is on my plate, an updated version of the Revenger; PMW3360 top optical sensor, RGB lighting, high quality main switches—the recipe is there for a truly great mouse.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Enermax Saberay RGB Case Review

Enermax promises great thermal performance and flashy good looks for $165.99. Unfortunately, there are several issues with this chassis.

When it comes to buying a new case, people usually fall into one of three groups; those that want pure performance, those solely interested in the look of the chassis and those that want both. That's where Enermax's Saberay RGB chassis comes in. The company promises great thermal performance and flashy good looks for $170. Unfortunately, there are several issues with this chassis that will lead you toward other cases in the same price range.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Gnome 3 and best extensions

Baby got Tux. I've written an article introducing several highly useful and practical extensions for the Gnome desktop environment, including desktop dock, clipboard, media indicator, weather, terminal, visual customization, and more. Take a look.

Now, this is an article you probably did not expect. You all know I'm not fond of Gnome 3, because it comes with an inefficient default UI that mandates the use of numerous extensions and tweaks before it can be enjoyed. And as such, it's hardly a bundle of software one gets excited about casually, or willingly.

And yet, I did find it to be reasonable (after tweaks), and even enjoyed it to a moderately high degree in several editions of Fedora, well, for the brief time Fedora 24 and Fedora 25 were around - I am not really happy with the latest version, alas. Recently, having spent some time playing with CentOS, I decided to invest energy in using Gnome to the fullest, and that means exploring the repertoire of its available extensions. Hence this article really. Let's see what I've discovered.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo

How is Google Assistant Becoming More Intuitive?

Smart homes in 2018 are increasingly becoming the norm. Whether we look to technology to help us with how we heat our homes, try out new devices from companies like Nest, or ask Alexa to play our favorite radio show or top 20 hit, we are now living in a world where we rely more and more on technology that doesn't just respond to us, but is actually proactive in terms of knowing what we want through intuition.

Read full article @ Play3r

NZXT H200i mITX Computer Case Review

The H200i may be the smallest H-series case, but NZXT still delivered a product with a superb design and matching feature set.

Over the last week, a few of my friends, including Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Kwan, and I traveled approximately seventeen hundred kilometers by land to the capital of the Northwest Territories. When I was explaining this vacation time off to my friends and coworkers, the first question they always asked was, "Why Yellowknife?" To be fair, it was a valid question. While there are many vacation destinations in Canada, I do not think Yellowknife ranks on the top ten list. It is best known for its optimal location for viewing northern lights, but I would not necessarily make that my primary reason for going. So to answer them, I always replied with a "Why not?” In my opinion, I really wanted to visit because I felt like I had yet to explore all of Canada. Most of my vacations were either to BC or Ontario. Since coming back, I can gladly say I did visit, and I can surely recommend you for going there. When NZXT launched their updated H-series lineup last year, they launched with not only their standard H700i for ATX motherboards, but also their H400i and H200i for micro ATX and mini ITX. Fast forward a year later, and we finally have the H200i in our hands. You may still ask the same question of why, especially when a larger case can hold the same motherboard without many compromises. Hopefully, this review will answer the question of the purpose for the H200i and show if it is a compelling option for your small motherboard.

Read full article @ APH Networks

PLUM NIZ Keyboard Micro84 EC Review

Today, we have the amazing PLUM NIZ Keyboard Micro84 on review. It?s electro-capacitive, which means it?s much quieter while still feeling great to type on. Featuring bluetooth and USB connectivity, full RGB backlighting, programmability beyond any standard MK, and a fresh layout perfect for gaming, this is a keyboard you won't want to miss.

Read full article @ MMORPG

Razer Huntsman Elite Review

It's Razer's latest keyboard, armed with opto-mechanical switches and a hefty £200 price tag

It’s been a while since we last saw a new keyboard from Razer – but the wait is over, as today we are reviewing the £200 Huntsman Elite. This keyboard boasts an aluminium top-plate, new dedicated multimedia keys, as well as Opto-Mechanical switches. It is the latter feature which is most interesting, as we are now seeing optical switches being used by a major player in the peripheral market for the first time. Just how do they work, and what is the benefit? Let’s find out.

Read full article @ KitGuru

SanDisk Extreme Portable SSD 1TB Review

Internet bandwidth hasn’t really kept up with the file sizes needed for supporting 4k content creation or even just movies. You can stream it just fine, but when you are pulling huge amounts of data off of your camera on trips and bringing things to watch while you are away you are most likely going to need some more space than what your laptop has. You could go with a basic hard drive, but when you have a lot of files that could take a long time to transfer them, who wants to sit waiting on all of that while you are enjoying a vacation. That is why portable SSDs have been gaining a lot of traction. I personally keep one in my laptop bag all of the time but the new Extreme Portable SSD from SanDisk caught my eye. Its shape could allow you to clip it to your bag to make sure you don’t lose it. So today I’m going to check it out and see how that works out and also test out the performance of the drive.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

SMI SM2262EN High-Performance SSD Controller Preview

The SM2262EN controller is physically the same as the SM2262, but uses a different firmware build that greatly improves performance. With new programming and caching algorithms, the SM2262EN specifications have been bumped up to 3500/3000 MB/s for sequential read/write performance and up to 420k IPOPS for 4K Random performance. Read on to see how the SM2262EN performs on our test platform.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Strange Brigade: PC Graphics Performance Benchmark Review

So we have a bit of a 'strange' performance analysis today?, hey AMD has added a funny new game towards its software lineup - Strange Brigade is bundled with selected Radeon cards. We wanted to fab a bit of a performance review as this relatively unknown title actually supports rendering APIs like Vulkan and DirectX 12 but also has a DirectX 12 ASync Compute switch available. That all by itself is interesting, e.g. to check out the current state of Vulkan, and DirectX 12. This review is not so much intended as a triple-A game performance review, as really AMD has its name written all over it so the game will certainly have a bias towards Radeon cards. However, we simply figured it would be nice to see where we are on Vulkan and DX12 ASYNC compute wise with both Radeon and GeForce graphics cards.

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D

The RPG Files: Shadows Awakening Review

Mortal adversaries are bound through life and death by a strange and powerful magic. In our preview we found an archmage, a long dead princess, and a demon inexorably and mysteriously bound together through an ancient artifact and political betrayal. As their journey unfolds they discover there are darker more sinister forces at play. This is our Shadows Awakening Review.

Read full article @ MMORPG

Two Point Hospital Gets A Clean Bill Of Health! – Review

Yesterday, a game released that I had (literally) been waiting over 20 years for. Yes, Two Point Hospital, the spiritual successor to Theme Hospital had finally landed.

Personally, I had a massive amount of interest in this game. Since I bought the original (big box) copy of Theme Hospital in 1997, I have found myself regularly returning to the game. It’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve probably clocked up at least 500 hours in this game, probably more!

As such, out of everyone out there, I’m certainly one of those in the top-tier of demanding a lot from Two Point Hospital. Given that it has been dubbed a spiritual successor, in my eyes, this game has a massive task ahead of itself to live up to my expectations. Yes, I freely admit now! My standards for this game are overly lofty!

Read full article @ eTeknix