Reviews 51951 Published by

Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

AOC G2460PG G-Sync 144Hz 1ms Gaming Monitor Review
ASUS Essence STX II 7.1 Sound Card Review
ASUS Z97-Pro WiFi AC Review
Biostars Hi-Fi Z97WE motherboard reviewed
CM Storm Mech, Reaper en Pulse-R desktopset Review
Corsair Flash Voyager GTX (128GB) Review
Corsair Flash Voyager GTX 128GB Review
Digital Storm Vanquish II custom gaming rig Review
Eclipse TD-M1 Review
GAMDIAS HERMES Essential GKB2000 Mechanical Keyboard Review
Haswell Devils Canyon Performance
Hazard Ops Open Beta Launch Video Review
Juiced Wireless Charger Pad Review
LaCie Fuel 2TB wireless HDD Review
Linksys WRT1900AC Dual Band Smart WiFi Wireless AC Router Review
Maingear Rush Review With Radeon R9 295X2 CrossFire
Phanteks Enthoo Luxe
Review: Samsung 845DC PRO 400GB SATA SSD
SB Inferno Gaming Headset
Shuttle Barebone DS81 Review
Silverstone Raven 5 (RV05) ATX Case Review
SSD Throughput, Latency and IOPS Explained



AOC G2460PG G-Sync 144Hz 1ms Gaming Monitor Review

On July 4th we reviewed the latest G-SYNC monitor from ASUS, the 1440p ROG Swift PG278Q 144hz (http://www.kitguru.net/peripherals/monitors/zardon/asus-rog-swift-pg278q-144hz-g-sync-monitor-w-gtx-780ti-rog-matrix/) . It was undoubtedly one of the best monitors we have reviewed in the last year. However at £719.99, it will prove too expensive for the majority of the enthusiast audience. Today’s review product, the 24 inch 1080p AOC G2460PG G-Sync 144Hz will be more palatable for many – priced at less than 50% of the ASUS screen, at £347.99 inc vat. Is it worth the money?

Read full article @ KitGuru

ASUS Essence STX II 7.1 Sound Card Review

My fellow audio maniacs, it is that time once again. That's right, time for a new review from the Guru3D Audio Lab. For those that have been following the advancement in the PC audio world, you may have noted the Xonar Sound machine has become quite the diverse player in the audio world. ASUS products have been seen everywhere from the high end external market, HTPC world to the entry level price conscience segment.

For the past while, ASUS has been concentrating their efforts on the external desktop component market with the impressive Essence external product lineup. We think many proponents of the PC audio market place where unsure if the Xonar label would ever grace another soundcard product or if the company would continue to concentrate on the arguably more lucrative world of external audio.

The Xonar Sound Machine decided to switch gears and once again has aimed their design prowess at the high end add in soundcard market. The Xonar soundcard line started with the early D series card, with their last contributions being the premium STX and PCI 7.1 version, the ST Deluxe.

Read full article @ Guru3D

ASUS Z97-Pro WiFi AC Review

The initial set of Z97 reviews demonstrated that most motherboard manufacturers were implementing at least one the new storage options offered by the chipset: SATA Express and M.2.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Biostars Hi-Fi Z97WE motherboard reviewed

Biostar's latest Haswell motherboard sells for only $125, but it's specced like pricier alternatives. You get an overclocking-friendly Z97 chipset, PCIe slots primed for multi-GPU configs, an M.2 slot for next-gen SSDs, and upgraded audio hardware. We spent some quality time with the Hi-Fi Z97WE to see what it's really like, and you might be surprised by what we learned.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

CM Storm Mech, Reaper en Pulse-R desktopset Review

CM Storm sent us a complete gaming kit from the Aluminium Gaming Series. The Mech, Reaper and Pulse-R are a keyboard, mouse and headset respectively. They are all aimed at gaming and share a similar design. All three products feature an aluminium front which can be customized with your own design. This is also the prominent feature for the Aluminium Gaming Series.

On all three products you can unscrew the aluminium plates after which you can personalize them with the logo of your gaming team or your own design. This allows you to create a complete set of gaming peripherals with a similar appearance. We are eager to find out whether the performance can match the design.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

Corsair Flash Voyager GTX (128GB) Review

Meet one of the fastest USB 3.0 sticks around. The sheer convenience of a high-speed USB 3.0 device cannot be underestimated. Creative types have files measured in gigabytes, and even Joe Average is consuming high-definition content at a frenetic pace. Transferring between devices is easy over a decent network but onerous if you're limited to, say, 100Mbit/s. This is where large-capacity, super-fast USB 3.0 comes in handy. Corsair's latest Flash Voyager GTX USB 3.0 sticks aim to be the go-to solution for premium portable sticks.

Voyager GTX supplants Voyager GS at the top of the USB pecking order. Keeping it premium, they are available in 128GB (£90) and 256GB (£170) alone; there's little point in producing the very best drives in smaller capacities because their price-to-performance ratio would be financially unreasonable. We have the 128GB version in for review today.



Read full article @ Hexus

Corsair Flash Voyager GTX 128GB Review

A few days ago we reviewed Corsair’s new Voyager Air 2 – a mobile storage drive for media users in the home or on the go and today we are back again looking at another storage device from the multi-award winning brand. As with the Voyager Air 2, Corsair are known for pushing the boundaries and the product which is in the spotlight today is another example of this.

Voyager GTX is a USB 3.0 flash drive with a difference. Corsair has integrated an SSD controller inside this drive along with SSD-grade NAND memory in a bid to deliver blistering speeds which enter the realms of the distinguished Solid State Drive. The question is, will these claims stand up throughout our rigorous testing procedures? Let’s find out!

Read full article @ Vortez

Digital Storm Vanquish II custom gaming rig Review

People love their PC gaming, and while many gamers like to build their own rigs, many others like to put down some money and buy a fully assembled device capable of rocking high framerates on their favorite games. One company, Digital Storm, promises to provide gamers with any type of gaming PC they want. With machines starting at $699 and topping out at nearly $9,000, there's a gaming machine available for everyone. Digital Storm sent me their top-of-the-line Vanquish II rig to test out, so I ran it through the paces to see how well it stacks up with other options on the market.

The Digital Storm Vanquish II is shipped to your home fully assembled and in a pretty big box. When it was delivered, my wife called me to complain that it was blocking the entire front door and that she had to pull it inside by herself.

Read full article @ Neowin

Eclipse TD-M1 Review

The Eclipse TD-M1 is not a cheap pair of speakers. In the UK they cost £999 and many will balk at the idea of spending a pound shy of a grand on a pair of 2.0 speakers.In the US they will go on sale for a whopping $1300 (about AU$1832). It seems a horrendous amount to pay, a price tag that would rule them out for anyone but hardcore audiophiles, the sort of person that spends more on cables than most people do on their entire sound system.But ease of use, stylish good looks and – most importantly – a gorgeous sound make Eclipse's TD-M1s a reasonable option for the less hard-core too. Or at least those that can afford them.TD-M1 is a 2.0 system, that is, two discrete speakers but no sub-woofer to boost the low end. As you can see from the pictures, the speaker units are ovoid in shape.

Read full article @ Techradar

GAMDIAS HERMES Essential GKB2000 Mechanical Keyboard Review

Gamdias Technology Co., Ltd. is a Taiwan based company that was recently formed in 2012. As a result, their offerings are quite small, with four keyboards, a few mice, a couple of gaming headsets and some accessories such as gaming gloves. The Gamdias HERMES is their premier gaming keyboard series, with Cherry MX switches, 512KB of memory, 32-bit ARM processor, 13 customizable macro keys, and USB / audio ports. With many already existing gaming keyboards such as the Logitech G510 and Corsair Vengeance, can the HERMES Essential make inroads in an already congested market? In this Benchmark Reviews article, I’ll discuss the design and features of the HERMES GKB2000 as well as Gamdias’s peripheral software, the Gamdias HERA.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Haswell Devils Canyon Performance

When the fourth generation Core processors were released many people complained about the poor overclocking performance. Of course overclocking is influenced by several factors including quality of the processor silicon, motherboard and cooling method. Cooling is a big factor and is why large aircoolers tend to work better than the OEM heatsink and also why most extreme overclocking is done with LN2 instead of phase or chilled water. You see phase coolers only operate at a single temperature while with LN2 you can control temps and compensate for the lack of thermal transfer between the processor and the integrated heat spreader. Since the launch of Ivy Bridge the interface between these two is no longer a metallic bond but rather uses an inefficient TIM that is no better than what you would find on the OEM heatsink.

Devils Canyon is the code name for the Haswell Refresh processor that attempts to address the overclocking issues with the previous generation by changing the TIM under the heatspreader and tweaking a few things on the package. Under the surface the processor is still Haswell based silicon but with a higher clockspeed and the promise of more overclocking headroom.

Read full article @ Hardware Asylum

Hazard Ops Open Beta Launch Video Review

Today we have a walk-through of the latest Hazard Ops open beta, including 4K game footage.

Read full article @ Hardware Heaven

Juiced Wireless Charger Pad Review

Microsoft Surface owners might remember Juiced Systems as the seller of the super useful Surface Adapters, which squeeze a bunch of extra functionality out of the Surface tablets' single USB ports. Juiced sells a variety of unique USB hubs for mobile devices. All very good, but our Windows Phones can't use 'em. Still, owners of certain Windows Phones like the Lumia 920 or those with the wireless charging cover can certainly benefit from the Juiced Wireless Charger Pad. The pad is tiny and ultrathin, providing a stylish and affordable way to pump power into phones that support Qi wireless charging. It draws that power from a micro-USB cable, providing a clear advantage over Nokia's Wireless Charging Plate.

Read full article @ WPCentral

LaCie Fuel 2TB wireless HDD Review

Seagate-owned LaCie announced the Fuel 2TB external hard disk drive earlier this year. It is the second 2TB external wireless hard disk drive we've recently reviewed, Seagate's Wireless Plus 2TB model being the other one.Both LaCie and Samsung Storage, two Seagate subsidiaries, sell wireless external hard disk drives that have similar characteristics to the Wireless Plus 2TB but with a different design, fewer simultaneous device connections for file access and when used as a hotspot.The LaCie Fuel comes in two sizes: 1TB priced at £139 (US$179, AU$229) and the 2TB version priced at £169 (US$249, AU$299).DesignThe Fuel 2TB is slightly smaller than two CD jewel cases stacked on top of each other at 115mm x 115mm x 23mm (4.5 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches) and weighs 300g (9.7oz).

Read full article @ Techradar

Linksys WRT1900AC Dual Band Smart WiFi Wireless AC Router Review

The Linksys WRT1900AC Dual Band Smart WiFi Router takes its design and inspiration directly from the original WRT54G blue/black stackable classic look. The WRT1900AC is designed to be the most powerful and feature-rich home and small office network router available on the market today. Read on to see how it performs!

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Maingear Rush Review With Radeon R9 295X2 CrossFire

When we reviewed the Maingear Epic Rush a few months ago, we found its performance jaw-dropping, and thus we expected the same out of its sibling, the Maingear Rush. However, these are different systems with different configurations on board. For instance, they have different CPUs--the Rush we're testing today has a newer, more powerful GPU configuration, and Maingear approached storage on the two quite differently as well.

What both systems definitely do share is high performance and impeccable build quality. The Maingear Rush is a top-shelf system with killer components; there are no compromises here, and no concern for the final bill either...

Read full article @ HotHardware.com

Phanteks Enthoo Luxe

The Enthoo Primo was Phantek's first entry into the case market, and the company is now throwing the line's smaller brother into the frey: the Luxe. It features the same look, an interesting feature set, and comes in either black or white, along with some nifty lighting element.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

Review: Samsung 845DC PRO 400GB SATA SSD

As the biggest producer of NAND flash in the world, Samsung has been in the enterprise SSD space for a very long time, but unless you’re one of Samsung’s big partners, you probably had no idea.

Even as a SSD reviewer, I was quite stunned when I recently attended the Samsung SSD Global Summit when they showed off a vast selection of enterprise SSDs, most of which I hadn’t even heard of, yet would probably do well in the retail market. Of course, I’m sure Samsung thought the same thing as earlier this year, Samsung took a big leap forward into the retail enterprise SSD space by introducing their first ever enterprise SSD designed for the channel, the Samsung 845DC EVO.

Read full article @ Custom PC Review

SB Inferno Gaming Headset

A few years ago, we used to see the fatal1ty headsets all over the place at events. They were without a doubt the best low budget gaming headset on the market. They performed well and took a beating without falling apart. Even now, it is still one of the highest rated headsets on Newegg. Here we are seven years later and Creative is introducing the SB Inferno, the spiritual successor to the Fatal1ty Gaming Headset. It’s amazing how much has changed in seven years, I can’t wait to see how the SB Inferno compares to today’s latest and greatest in gaming audio.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Shuttle Barebone DS81 Review

The Slim PC chassis from been reincarnated in the shape of the DS81 which supports the latest Haswell processors with a TDP up to 65W and supports 4K video output thanks to the DirectX 11.1 IGP. The DS81 chassis features a 1.3-liter slim design with a thickness of only 43mm, so it is suitable for many commercial applications; a VESA mount is also included as a bundle in order to mount the device behind the monitor.

Read full article @ Madshrimps

Silverstone Raven 5 (RV05) ATX Case Review

Silverstone's Raven RV01 caught our attention back in 2008 with a unique chassis layout that turned the motherboard upward so its I/O panel was on top of the enclosure instead of behind. Called the "stack effect," the design was highly original and more importantly, extremely effective for cooling. 2014's RV05 sticks to this layout but Silverstone claims to have eliminated much of the wasted space in previous models while bringing one of its better looking designs so far.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

SSD Throughput, Latency and IOPS Explained

As fast as SSDs have found mainstream consumer use, they are unfortunately grouped in the same picture as a hard drive, if only for the fact that they are seen as storage and little more. Both the size and demography of our readership paints this picture clearly, however, there exists an amazing opportunity to take our readers a step further; an opportunity to show why we might have such passion for what many might consider a very dry area. In this segment of ‘Learning To Run With Flash’ let’s gain an understanding of the ‘Big 3′ of SSD performance, these being throughput, latency and IOPS.

Read full article @ The SSD Review