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Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

6-Way Ubuntu 14.10 Radeon Gallium3D vs. Catalyst Driver Comparison
D-Link DIR-880L Wireless AC1900 Gigabit Cloud Router Review
Galax GeForce GTX 980 SOC Review
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming Graphics Card Review
Hands-on review: Kogan Agora 4G
HIS Liquid-Cooled R9 290X Hybrid IceQ Review
HIS Radeon R9 290X Hybrid IceQ 4GB - Liquid Cooled
HP Stream 11 is Now Available for $200
MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC Motherboard Review
ROCCAT Kave XTD Stereo Gaming Headset Review
Scythe Ashura Shadow CPU Cooler Review
Silicon Power Armor A60 USB 3.0 Hard Drive Review
SilverStone SST-AR06 Low-profile CPU Cooler Review
SteelSeries Siberia V3
Y-Cam Bullet HD 1080 (2nd Generation) Review



6-Way Ubuntu 14.10 Radeon Gallium3D vs. Catalyst Driver Comparison

As a follow-up to last week's Ubuntu 14.04 vs. Ubuntu 14.10 AMD Performance Comparison and yesterday's Radeon R9 290: Gallium3D vs. Catalyst driver comparison, here's taking things further in looking at the performance of the open-source AMD Radeon Linux graphics driver in several configurations while compared against the closed-source AMD Catalyst graphics driver as found on Ubuntu 14.10.

Read full article @ Phoronix

D-Link DIR-880L Wireless AC1900 Gigabit Cloud Router Review

Introduced earlier this year, the D-Link DIR-880L Router is designed to be D-Link's newest flagship and provide wireless speeds of up to 1.9 Gbps (1900 Mbps) over 2 wireless bands. The 5 GHz band can provide up to 1300 Mbps, while the 2.4 GHz band runs at 600 Mbps. The unit has three external antennas and has native gigabit Ethernet. Users who are looking to utilize fast internet speed throughout their house or small office. With the advent and expanded use of wireless-AC devices, users should be looking to upgrade their older-generation routers and networking devices to take advantage of these new speeds. As we see more and more connected devices or Internet of Things users will have to take a look at their infrastructure. Read on to see how this router performs!

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Galax GeForce GTX 980 SOC Review

Galax picks up where Galaxy and KFA2 left off. The arrival of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 980 makes this an opportune moment to launch a new graphics brand. At least, that's the thinking over at Galaxy Microsystems, who after 20 years of trading has decided to merge its regional Galaxy and KFA2 arms into a single, worldwide brand known as Galax.

We're not entirely convinced by the new name - we preferred Galaxy to Galax - but it's the hardware that matters most so let's take a look at one of the first Galax cards to hit retail, the top-tier GeForce GTX 980 SOC.

Read full article @ Hexus

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming Graphics Card Review

NVIDIA’s GeForce 900 Series has been a long time coming and gamers have anxiously awaited it. NVIDIA has been using the Kepler architecture for quite sometime and when Maxwell was introduced last year we only saw the entry-level and budget friendly cards. When we finally got word that we would be seeing performance segment Maxwell cards let’s just say we got excited. Today we will be looking at our first review of a GeForce 900 series card and it comes in the form of the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 G1 Gaming. For starters the GeForce GTX 970 has 1664 CUDA cores, 104 texture units, 64 ROPs and packs 4GB of GDDR5 memory. Normally this card would have speeds of 1050 MHz core and 1178 MHz boost, but Gigabyte has overclocked their version to speeds of 1178 MHz core and 1329 MHz boost. On top of that Gigabyte has implemented their latest WindForce 3X cooler on the card to give you the best cooling possible. Let’s get this card on the bench and see what it can do!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Hands-on review: Kogan Agora 4G

Kogan's smartphones have come a long way since its first Agora prototype. While that first handset was more old-school Blackberry than shiny Nexus-rival, Kogan's latest handset, the Agora 4G, brings a level of sophistication and elegance that doesn't seem to gel with the $229 price tag.This particular model, the third official release to come from the Australian tech company, shares its branding with BenQ, a company better known for monitors and projectors than smartphones in Australia.The association has definitely helped Kogan here. The hardware itself is both nice to look at and comfortable to hold.

Read full article @ Techradar

HIS Liquid-Cooled R9 290X Hybrid IceQ Review

Although the AMD Radeon R9 290X is blisteringly fast it also has a problem with heat. Board partners solved this issue for the most part with massive heatsinks riddled with copper heatpipes cooled by a battery of fans. But what if you want a 290X that is even faster and at the same time much quieter? Seems like a dream, but HIS has been working hard to make it a reality with the HIS Radeon R9 290X Hybrid IceQ 4GB.

Read full article @ Techspot

HIS Radeon R9 290X Hybrid IceQ 4GB - Liquid Cooled

Today from HIS we have their latest take on the Radeon R9 290X which they call the Hybrid IceQ. Using liquid HIS hopes to deliver the coolest, quietest and best performing R9 290X money can buy. With the recent arrival of the GeForce GTX 980 they certainly have their work cut out, so let’s see what they came up with...

It is hard to believe one year has passed since AMD released Radeon R9 290X into the wold. The 290X just doesn’t feel like it has been around for that long, at least not to me anyway. Perhaps that is down to the fact for at least half of its life pricing was so heavily inflated that most gamers ignored the 290X.

Read full article @ Legion Hardware

HP Stream 11 is Now Available for $200

It's real. And it's here now. HP's much-lauded $200 laptop is now available for purchase: The HP Stream 11 is a colorful, small laptop with an 11-inch screen and a free year of Office 365 Personal that provides over 8 hours of battery. And it presents a sharp contrast to the big and bulky $200 Acer laptop I recently purchased.

Read full article @ WinSupersite

MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC Motherboard Review

Aside from the obvious Wireless AC feature shared with its high-end OC series cousins, the MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC also features the most ambitious non-discrete front panel audio solution ever integrated into a motherboard.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

ROCCAT Kave XTD Stereo Gaming Headset Review

ROCCAT is not a newcomer in terms of producing quality gaming headsets. A variety of ROCCAT gaming headset models, which includes the in-ear variety, are currently available. The current addition to the stable, the ROCCAT Kave XTD Stereo Gaming Headset, is regarded by ROCCAT as possessing the, “highest quality sound experience gamers can engage in.” Considering that these Kave XTD Stereo Gaming Headsets are equipped with 50mm neodymium speaker units in each ear cup, that statement is within the realm of possibility.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Scythe Ashura Shadow CPU Cooler Review

When searching for quality coolers or fan controllers one is often finding products from the company Scythe.
One more reason to test a performance Scythe CPU cooler after the recent test of the Scythe Kaze Master II fan controller.
Today, we take a look at the Limited Edition of Ashura Shadow CPU cooler, that Scythe has released for their 10th anniversary.
If this cooler put all other coolers in the shade, is tested in the following review.

Read full article @ OcInside.de

Silicon Power Armor A60 USB 3.0 Hard Drive Review

Sometimes, when you’re the technology go to person in your family, it can be a real pain. For some reason, the impression is usually that no matter what the damage, it’s fixable. My family, in particular, has brought me everything from destroyed laptops, cellphones, and audio equipment to non-functional hard drives. They always seem surprised when I tell them that their information is not recoverable off of a hard drive or thumb drive without sending it to a specialized company. Usually, for the average consumer, the cost is prohibitive so using a data recovery company is not really possible. Even for some businesses, it can be an issue to dedicate the amount of funds necessary to get data off of a crashed drive.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

SilverStone SST-AR06 Low-profile CPU Cooler Review

SilverStone this year, released a new series of coolers called the Argon series, today were going to take a look at one of these; the SilverStone AR06, a low profile CPU cooler. SilverStone are very well well known for their cases such as the iconic TJ07 and TJ11, both excellent cases for system builders and modders alike. They also have a very successful range of power supplies and some AIO coolers. When you think of SilverStone you generally think of quality, good design, usability and when things do occasionally go wrong, good customer service. I’m really looking forward to this one as I recently struggled to find a low profile cooler that worked well, looked good and was cost effective. Let’s hope their new range stands up to their high expectations.

As you can see from the specification below, the cooler supports a range of sockets for both Intel and AMD. It comes installed with a 92mm blue and white PWM fan.

Read full article @ eTeknix

SteelSeries Siberia V3

The tech geek in me loved hearing about the new SteelSeries Siberia V3 while the developing grumpy old man in me was a little concerned. I have learned over the years that sometimes a launch like this can be an amazing thing and other times companies change things just to change things and they end up messing up something that was great in the first place. You see, the original Siberia was good, but had many flaws. When SteelSeries introduced the Siberia V2 I was seriously amazed. They really stepped things up. Heck, I’ve been using the V2 in both the office and also with my LAN rigs for a few years now. Now with the introduction of the Siberia V3, will this model be a requirement in the office as well? Let’s take a look to see what has changed to determine that!

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Y-Cam Bullet HD 1080 (2nd Generation) Review

Y-Cam has had a phenomenal precedence since their arrival to the surveillance market back in 2007. Their popularity has increased significantly after appearing on popular TV programmes such as The Gadget Show and we’ve experienced first-hand how brilliant their products are in the last couple of years with the Bullet HD 1080 and Cube HD 1080.

Nowadays good hardware isn’t difficult to acquire, it’s the software which is the crucial element which many companies fall flat on their faces with. Y-Cam has demonstrated their prowess in both departments and today’s product review seeks to highlight this very fact.

Read full article @ Vortez