Reviews 51924 Published by

Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer LGA 1150 Motherboard
Battle of the Galaxy S5s: Exynos vs Snapdragon
Evercool Venti
HIS Radeon R9 280 IceQ X2 OC 3GB Video Card Review
HIS Radeon R9-280 IceQ X2 OC Review
Juno dev platform lays foundation for 64-bit Android on ARM
Kitguru updates test rigs with DINOPC
Mionix Nash 20 Headset Review
NZXT H440 Review
NZXT H440 Review
Panasonic TX-42AS600 Review
PC Specialist Cosmos II 15.6" Notebook Review
Preview: Fedora 20 Updated vs. Fedora 21 Rawhide Benchmarks
Samsung SSD 850 Pro 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB Announced
Shuttle Fanless Slim-PC DS437T
Sony Xperia T2 Ultra Dual Smartphone Review
SteelSeries Sensei Wireless Gaming Mouse Review
Synology DiskStation DS414j Review
The Intel Core i7-4790K Processor Reviewed
Windows 8.1: Personalizing Your Start Screen



ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer LGA 1150 Motherboard

Our evaluation of the ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer LGA 1150 motherboard is online for your viewing pleasure. If you are shopping for a budget motherboard, this review will definitely be of interest to you.

The ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Killer offers very little frills and boasts tons of performance at a very low cost. ASRock with us has been hit and miss in the past in terms of reviews. This $125 has all the features though that are needed to get you overclocking though. We put the ASRock Z97 Killer Fatal1ty to the test.

Read full article @ HardOCP

Battle of the Galaxy S5s: Exynos vs Snapdragon

Back in May I had the chance to review the Samsung Galaxy S5, and as expected it performed fantastically. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC is one of the fastest smartphone chips out there, and its inclusion in the Galaxy S5 G900F allows it to easily power through any task.

However, the G900F isn’t the only Galaxy S5 model available. Like with previous high-end Samsung smartphones - including the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 3 - the company has released an Exynos-powered model alongside a Snapdragon-powered model. The Exynos Galaxy S5 is known as the G900H, in keeping with the standard nomenclature for S5 SKUs.

Read full article @ Techspot

Evercool Venti

It is easy to get carried away with size and bulk in the air cooler market. Many tower coolers have moved on to incorporate 140mm fans into their designs and push the limits on available board real estate around the CPU socket. Still there is a market for value market air-cooling that doesn’t take up space and still gives you competitive performance for your dollar. Recently we took a look at the NH-U12S and today we are back with a smaller cooler offering by Evercool. This four heat pipe 120mm air cooler promises to offer you a cooler processor without the need to hand over your wallet. Join me as we take a look at the Venti and see if this budget cooler is worth your time and money.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

HIS Radeon R9 280 IceQ X2 OC 3GB Video Card Review

In this next installment of AMD’s GPU 14 R9 line-up, Benchmark Reviews will be testing the HIS Radeon R9 280 IceQ X² OC 3GB Video Card (Model# H280QMC3G2M). As the name suggests, this particular model features the high end IceQ X2 cooler from the HIS labs and faster Core and Memory speeds. I have seen the evolution of this cooler first hand and I know it to be fully capable. Two 89mm dual axial fans and five heatpipes ensure that your temperatures will stay well within safe limits.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

HIS Radeon R9-280 IceQ X2 OC Review

In this review we look at the Radeon R9-280 IceQ X2 Turbo review from HIS. R9-280 You read that right, anyone remember the Radeon HD 7950? Armed with a customized PCB and their top model IceQ coolers; they factory overclocked the product and will try to get you as much value for money as they can. Follow us into this review where we'll look at temperatures, noise, performance, Frame latency and we'll even give Ultra High Definition gaming a go with the latest game titles on the globe.

Now before we begin with the new graphics cards the first thing that you guys will need to get used to is the new naming scheme. AMD ended with the Radeon HD 7000 and 8000 series graphics card in 2013. Logic dictates that AMD would have continued with a series 9000. But hey now, we already have had the Radeon 9000 series many years ago (2003), oh and who doesn't remember the Radeon 9800 Pro right? As such it was time to bring in a new naming scheme, a bit more in line with AMD's APUs. R9 will be high-end and R7 will be mainstream and inevitably R5 being entry level. After that you'll notice products being tagged as 250, 260X, 270X, 280, 280X and the coolest of them all the Radeon R9 290, R290X and 295x2. Though almost all of these are all new model graphics cards, most of them are respin products based on the Radeon HD 7000 series with a number of improvements. The respin products will get a new PCB, cooling, clock frequencies and much like NVIDIA boost, power, voltage, fan and load limiters. In the long run there are three products in the lineup that come with a new GPU. For example The R7 260X and then of course R9 290 / 290X will be Hawaii GPU based. The cards with new silicon come with a truckload of new features like integrated DSPs offering TrueAudio technology. The rest (270X/280/280X) will keep the older specs. I agree that is a little confusing, but we'll explain it all over the next pages.

Read full article @ Guru3D

Juno dev platform lays foundation for 64-bit Android on ARM

ARM has created its own custom SoC and platform for 64-bit development. The folks at Linaro have used this Juno dev platform to port an early version of Android L to the ARMv8 instruction set. Here's a first look at the Juno hardware and the 64-bit software it enables.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Kitguru updates test rigs with DINOPC

KitGuru reviews hundreds of products every year and having high performance, up to date test systems at hand to partner with the latest components is always important. This is particularly true when we are reviewing the latest graphics cards.

In the last week several of our older 4770k systems have been disassembled and we are proud to announce that we have been working with DINOPC to configure several new test rigs for our key reviews.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Mionix Nash 20 Headset Review

Today on our test bench we have a new stereo gaming headset from Mionix, the NASH 20. Mionix is a relatively new company having been formed in 2007 and are based in Sweden. We took a look at the NAOS mouse in our recent video review, where it won our gold award. So the NASH has a lot to live up to.

Read full article @ Hardware Heaven

NZXT H440 Review

At a first glance the H440 from NZXT is one good looking case. The design is very elegant and apart from that this particular case is available in different color combinations. It's quite clear that while developing this case, NZXT have had a strong focus on the design aspect and they wanted to come up with something beautiful. For us this is certainly already reason enough to have a thorough look at this case.

Read full article @ ocaholic

NZXT H440 Review

On the flip side the NZXT H440 has a lot more positive things going for it. In fact so many I'm only going to cover a few. To get started the standard of excellent support for aftermarket CPU coolers and enough space (lengthwise) for every video card currently on the market. This does not come as a surprise as it's almost required to be considered a good well-rounded chassis in 2014. Along with a well built metal frame and hard drive trays this chassis has a lot going for it.

Read full article @ OCC

Panasonic TX-42AS600 Review

Since the demise of its brilliant plasmas, Panasonic has gone a bit down-market.2014 has so far seen Panasonic concentrate on entry-level and mid-range TVs, with the obvious exception of the 4K-ready AX800 and AX900 Series.The TX-42AS600 stands-out by being the most affordable way to get Freetime. Selling for £499 (RRP £699.99) at the time of writing (only in the UK and Europe) the 42-inch TX-42AS600 is distinctly mid-market, yet Panasonic has piled-on the features.This Full HD LED TV is blessed with My Home Screen, perhaps the best looking and most helpful smart TV platform around. It also has an integrated Freeview HD tuner, which comes with Freetime for super-easy navigation.Add a bunch of apps, including Netflix and BBC iPlayer, along with a dual core processor and the TX-42AS600 could be something special.

Read full article @ Techradar

PC Specialist Cosmos II 15.6" Notebook Review

When it comes to finding a decent-spec notebook you will be overwhelmed with options. If you’re after something slim and stylish you’re likely to be stung for a hefty premium by Apple, Sony, Samsung and so on. If you’re after something with a decent amount of CPU and GPU horsepower then you’re likely to be dragged into the depths of gaming notebooks (like those made by ASUS, MSI, Alienware and so on) even if you don’t want to game. So where do you go if you’re looking for something in between? Something that has style and is fairly slim but still has a fair amount of performance to allow you to be productive and game? Well PC Specialist are always a good place to start because you can customise just about any base notebook to have anything you want. Today we have a mid-range PC Specialist Cosmos II notebook in for testing and it looks like an epic all-rounder. With a dual core Haswell Core i5, an Nvidia GTX 850M 2GB graphics card, 8GB of RAM and a 1TB SSHD it has a great balance of performance, functionality and most importantly value. The design may be a little plain-Jane for the style conscious notebook buyer but if you’re happy for simplicity then this could be the ideal notebook for you. Below you can see the specifications of our PC Specialist Cosmos II notebook as we have it configured. You can change and configure just about every aspect of the Cosmos II if for whatever reason you need more or less of something.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Preview: Fedora 20 Updated vs. Fedora 21 Rawhide Benchmarks

While Fedora 21 remains under heavy development, for some new benchmarks to get July started I ran some tests of a stock Fedora 20 installation versus Fedora 20 with all stable updates versus Fedora 21 in its "Rawhide" state.

Read full article @ Phoronix

Samsung SSD 850 Pro 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB Announced

The Samsung SSD 850 Pro 128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB Solid State Drives with latest 3D V-NAND will be available mid of June 2014, but is already extensively tested.

Read full article @ Hardwarespot

Shuttle Fanless Slim-PC DS437T

Today, we will evaluate another slim-PC by Shuttle. The DS437 is for applications like digital signage, POS, education, etc., and its fanless design makes it incredibly reliable and completely silent. It uses a dual-core Intel Celeron CPU with an embedded Intel HD Graphics solution and comes with a large number of I/O ports.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

Sony Xperia T2 Ultra Dual Smartphone Review

The Sony Xperia T2 Ultra Dual is a smartphone with a six-inch HD (1280 x 720) touchscreen that runs the Android 4.3 "Jelly Bean" operating system, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor. It has 1 GiB of RAM and 8 GiB storage space, a 13 MP main camera, a 1.1 MP frontal camera, and supports two SIM chips, hence the name "Dual"

Read full article @ Hardware Secrets

SteelSeries Sensei Wireless Gaming Mouse Review

Powered by the Pixart ADNS-9800, the Sensei Wireless mouse from SteelSeries is feature-packed and comes with a solid and professional-looking charging dock, which also acts as a wireless station. The mouse is backed by the most recent version of SteelSeries Engine 3 which will allow us to set different battery saving modes, customize LED lighting, acceleration, lift distance and many more.

Read full article @ Madshrimps

Synology DiskStation DS414j Review

Introduction and designThe newest member of Synology's popular family of Network Attached Storage (NAS) appliances, the DS414j, is the first of its budget-friendly j series to feature a dual-core processor which, according to Synology, gives it a throughput ceiling of 112 MB/sec when reading data and 80 MB/sec when writing. Add in a maximum capacity of 20TB spread across four disks plus a fast USB 3.0 port for backups and you have a product suitable for small business as well as demanding home use. However, with a recommended price of just £258 (ex VAT, around US$440, AUD$465), you can't expect too many bells and whistles, and indeed compromises have been made to achieve this price point.In design terms Synology has gone back to its roots with the DS414j, housing the new appliance in a utilitarian black cube powered by a chunky external AC adapter. Build quality is reasonable, although nowhere near as good as on more expensive Synology products. The front-mounted USB port found on other models is missing too, plus there's a surprise waiting for anyone expecting to load disks from the front as the DS414j fascia is fixed, containing little more than a central power button flanked by status LEDs.Access all areasTo gain access to the innards you have to go round the back, unscrew the four thumbscrews and lower the hinged rear panel holding the two cooling fans. The top cover can also be removed, and inside there's a metal chassis containing four plastic carriers to take either 3.5in or smaller 2.5in SATA disks – or SSDs if you can afford them.

Read full article @ Techradar

The Intel Core i7-4790K Processor Reviewed

Haswell’s successor is code named “Devil’s Canyon” and it’s here for us to check out today. And it turns out that the LGA 1150 socketed processor is compatible with both Z87 and Z97 motherboards which is great news for all enthusiasts. In short, Devil’s Canyon has two major revisions, which include a better thermal interface underneath the aluminum cap and a higher 4GHz base operating frequency than Haswell. The two simple questions we asked right away are, does the new processor actually run cooler than Haswell? And, will that 4GHz base frequency be an advantage without melting down itself? With the latest Z97 hardware in hand, we find out!

Read full article @ Futurelooks

Windows 8.1: Personalizing Your Start Screen

When you first begin using Windows 8.1, you are given the option of picking your colors during the initial set up. Once the user's account boots for the first time, their Start screen will be decked out in those colors. Of course you may want to change them, in fact, you may not want the Start screen to look that way at all.

Read full article @ Howtogeek