Reviews 52124 Published by

Here a roundup of the latest reviews and articles, including Identity Fraud Hit 1 Victim Every 3 Seconds in 2012, be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 550W Power Supply Review, Benchmarking GeForce GTX Titan 6 GB, Patriot Gauntlet 320GB Wireless Hard Drive Review, and Dell XPS 12 Review: A Jack of All Trades Flipscreen Ultrabook



Infographic: Identity Fraud Hit 1 Victim Every 3 Seconds in 2012 @ TechReviewSource.com
Nearly 13 million U.S. adults were victims of identity fraud in 2012, an increase of more than one million victims over the past year, according to a new report from Javelin Strategy & Research. Identity fraudsters stole more than $21 billion from 12.6 million victims in 2012, the highest amount since 2009, the research firm said in its 2013 Identity Fraud Report, released Wednesday.

Read more: Infographic: Identity Fraud Hit 1 Victim Every 3 Seconds in 2012 @ TechReviewSource.com

NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
The NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan 6GB is without a doubt the most powerful single-GPU video card ever released. This card is aimed at gamers and enthusiasts that are gaming at Ultra HD resolutions like 2560x1600 or 5760x1080 (Surround gaming setups). The GeForce GTX Titan and the GK110 GPU runs great at 1920x1080, but that is like doing the speed limit with a super car. This card was build to game at high resolutions and really starts to stretch its legs when you get to the higher resolutions...

Read more: NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews

NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN: The Most Advanced Single-GPU Video Card Ever Made @ Hi Tech Legion
PC technology had always been in the vanguard of gaming, accepting no compromises and always looking toward the horizon for the next challenge. Waiting for console developers to get their act together will only result in failure. In the history of personal gaming, consoles have never been more technologically advanced than PC gaming so there is no reason to follow Sony or Microsoft’s lead. As one of the companies at the fore leading the charge of PC gaming progress, NVIDIA has set out to create the fastest single-GPU video card on the planet, not by simply boosting the clock speeds and reselling it at a higher price point but by tailoring their latest Tesla GPUs for the desktop market.

The GeForce TITAN video card is meant to perform beyond any single GPU Kepler video card that has been previously released. The GeForce TITAN is equipped with the GK110 core, with five graphics processing clusters, 14 streaming multiprocessors, 224 texture units and 48 ROP units. The GeForce TITAN runs at an 836MHz Base clock with a Boost clock of 876MHz. In terms of memory, the GeForce Titan has 6GB of GDDR5 to utilize across a 384-bit memory interface providing a total memory bandwidth of 288.4 GB/s. Usually, this much performance is expected to be a power hog but due to further optimizations on NVIDIA’s part, the GeForce GTX TITAN TDP is a scant 250W, requiring only a single 6-pin and 8-pin power connector.

Read more: NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN: The Most Advanced Single-GPU Video Card Ever Made @ Hi Tech Legion

Nvidia's GeForce GTX Titan reviewed @ The Tech Report
At long last, Nvidia has released a graphics card based on its "big Kepler" chip, the GK110. The GeForce GTX Titan is the baddest single-GPU video card on the planet. But is it worth its considerable asking price?

Read more: Nvidia's GeForce GTX Titan reviewed @ The Tech Report

be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 550W Power Supply Review @ ThinkComputers.org
be quiet! is a new company to us here at ThinkComputers. We've seen their products over the past year, but finally caught up with them at CES and were rather impressed with what they showed us. Now we have some of their products in to test and to start things off we are taking a look at one of their latest power supplies, the Dark Power Pro 10 550W. This power supply features an 80PLUS Gold certification, semi-modular design, virtually silent operation and an overclocking key that switches between quadruple independent +12V rail mode and high-performance single-rail operation. be quiet! has really made a name for themselves in Germany let's see if that will carry over to the US.

Read more: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 10 550W Power Supply Review @ ThinkComputers.org

NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan Gaming Review @ OCC
As a single card, the GTX Titan is phenomenal; as a pair or set of three there is nothing the combination could not play. For that kind of graphics horsepower there is a price. In this instance it comes in at $999; a tough pill to swallow that will likely relegate the GTX Titan to those systems where only the best hardware is used for the discriminating buyer or extreme gamer. To that end NVIDIA has given the GTX Titan the looks to go with the hardware and it will deliver all the FPS that you want for a high end gaming fix, for a price!

Read more: NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan Gaming Review @ OCC

Benchmarking GeForce GTX Titan 6 GB: Fast, Quiet, Consistent @ Tom's Hardware
We've already covered the features of Nvidia's GeForce GTX Titan, the $1,000 GK110-powered beast set to exist alongside GeForce GTX 690. Now it's time to benchmark the board in one-, two-, and three-way SLI. Is it better than four GK104s working together?

Read more: Benchmarking GeForce GTX Titan 6 GB: Fast, Quiet, Consistent @ Tom's Hardware

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX Titan Review, Part 2: Titan's Performance Unveiled @ Anandtech
Earlier this week NVIDIA announced their new top-end single-GPU consumer card, the GeForce GTX Titan. Built on NVIDIAs GK110 and named after the same supercomputer that GK110 first powered, the GTX Titan is in many ways the apex of the Kepler family of GPUs first introduced nearly one year ago. With anywhere between 25% and 50% more resources than NVIDIAs GeForce GTX 680, Titan is intended to be the ultimate single-GPU card for this generation.

Read more: NVIDIA's GeForce GTX Titan Review, Part 2: Titan's Performance Unveiled @ Anandtech

GTX TITAN *Preview*: The beast to unseat the best! @ Bjorn3D
Nvidia always seems to have a ace or two up their sleeves when it comes to GPU launches and product planning, but this time it looks like they brought a RPG to a knife fight. The GTX TITAN is here and I am ready to take it for a spin, so read on as I introduce Nvidias newest flagship single GPU!

Read more: GTX TITAN *Preview*: The beast to unseat the best! @ Bjorn3D

ADATA DashDrive Air AE400 Wireless Storage Reader Review @ Custom PC Review
Over the past couple years, a number of companies that have traditionally been geared towards producing computer hardware have shifted their focus a bit to the mobile device market and have unveiled wireless storage devices aimed at mobile users. These devices are generally battery powered and include some sort of wireless functionality that allow PCs and mobile devices to connect to them. Kingston for example has the Wi-Drive, Patriot has their Gauntlet, Corsair recently introduced their Voyager Air, and now ADATA has the DashDrive Air. While all of these devices serve a similar purpose, they all have unique features that set them apart.

Today we’ll be reviewing the recently introduced ADATA DashDrive Air AE400, which ADATA describes as a “wireless storage reader and power bank”. Unlike most of the wireless storage devices on the market, the ADATA AE400 doesn’t include any sort of internal storage and relies solely on either external USB drives or SD cards for storage instead. This is why ADATA refers to the AE400 as a wireless storage reader rather than a wireless drive. Additionally, ADATA also describes the AE400 as a power bank as well. This is because the AE400 also comes equipeed with a 5000 mAh internal battery and is capable of charging mobile devices through its USB port.

With that said, does ADATA offer something truly unique with the AE400? Let’s find out!


Read more: ADATA DashDrive Air AE400 Wireless Storage Reader Review @ Custom PC Review

Diamond Multimedia Mini Rockers Mobile Bluetooth Speakers @ MEGATechNews
You have all this great music on your iPhone or Android device, but sharing those tunes through the built-in speaker certainly leaves something to be desired. At the same time, you don’t want to necessarily rely on large and bulky speaker docks in order to raise the volume. For times like these, you may be interested in the Mini Rockers Bluetooth Mobile Speaker from Diamond Multimedia.

They’ve had a series of these mobile speakers for some time, but the speaker being reviewed today and won’t officially be hitting store shelves (online and offline) until some time in March. You’re seeing them here first, folks!

Read more: Diamond Multimedia Mini Rockers Mobile Bluetooth Speakers @ MEGATechNews

Patriot Gauntlet 320GB Wireless Hard Drive Review @ eTeknix
Portable storage as we know is one of those fundamental items that all of us need to have in our inventory somewhere, in some shape and form, and in the modern world we easily forget how much we rely on data. Alongside data, we are coming to terms with how much we rely on our smartphones and if we roll back just over ten years to when the likes of the Nokia 3330 came out with it revolutionary WAP access and compare that to now, we see just how much things have changed and how important data is on the go.

There is one catch that people are finding with modern smartphones and that is their capacity and ease of sharing data between handsets. With high definition content booming and music libraries bursting at the seams on most peoples’ phones, add in storage cards are a live saver for some. These though only add a little space and there is still that point of sharing data. What if there was an easier option?

Patriot have taken this little problem and using the connectivity that virtually every modern phone houses these days for wireless networking, they’ve created a hard drive that you can take anywhere and can connect to multiple devices at the same time, relieving the sharing conundrum and by offering a huge capacity of 320GB in the variant that we are looking at today, vastly improve the space for data on the go.

Read more: Patriot Gauntlet 320GB Wireless Hard Drive Review @ eTeknix

Samsung Galaxy Note II @ DreamWare Computers
The original Galaxy Note, which debuted in late 2011, was a real trend setter in pioneering the "phablet" market. Phablets are smartphones with screen sizes between five and seven inches, making them larger than a standard phone, but smaller than a typical tablet, hence "phablet". The Galaxy Note's large screen size and included stylus made it easy to interact with the phone through both the traditional touchscreen method, and also through the means of handwriting recognition and drawing using the stylus. The phone's large screen made it a perfect match for the busy and connected worker who was always on the go. It took everything you usually do on your phone and made it a little more comfortable to work with and I even found that in some cases I'd gravitate to the Note before I would use my larger tablet.

About a year after the release of the original Note, Samsung brought the Note II to the table. Built upon a similar architecture and design of the wildly successful Galaxy S III, the Note II also brought several software and design improvements over the original Note. I happen to have a Note II here today and look forward to putting it up against the original Note, my Galaxy S III and some other competition!

Read more: Samsung Galaxy Note II @ DreamWare Computers

Gigabyte Aivia Osmium Mechanical Keyboard @ Benchmark Reviews
Even though Gigabyte's reputation is based on computer components, it is making a serious effort to establish a foothold in the gaming peripheral market. The Gigabyte Aivia Osmium Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is sure to help the company's efforts by giving it even more positive exposure in the gaming community. This keyboard is very solid and is packed with features, which includes Cherry MX Red mechanical key switches, backlit keys with illumination control, integrated USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, and much, much more. Due to the fact that mechanical gaming keyboards are dropping in price, gamers are defecting from dome-based keyboards in droves. The Gigabyte Aivia Osmium Mechanical Gaming Keyboard is certain to be the choice of many of these gamers.

Read more: Gigabyte Aivia Osmium Mechanical Keyboard @ Benchmark Reviews

Revisiting the CM Storm Trigger Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @ OCC
Cooler Master is back with a revision of one of my favorite keyboards. The CM Storm Trigger returns to my desk today with another switch option: MX Cherry Greens. These switches are designed with a higher actuation force of 80g – whereas your MX Cherry Reds are 45g, Browns 55g, Blacks 60g, and Blues 50g for reference – so you can expect to give a bit more press to get your point across. The keyboard itself is constructed the same as the MX Cherry Red version I reviewed back in April 2012, so as a recap review, you may need to take a look back HERE for more details.

The cost of the green switches come at a small price hike of about $10 more than the blue, red or black switches; but to be fair, the switches themselves do cost more. At CES 2013, Cooler Master had one with green LEDs, but sadly the retail version is back to its typical red backlighting, much to my dismay. Still, the body of the keyboard remains that of an utter zombie beating weapon – for those of you a little less familiar, go enjoy yourself by watching a YouTube video of the CM Storm Trigger in action. For some reason, buyers feel the need to smash up their old Razer keyboards with their new Trigger before using it (or drive over it with a truck) – it proves to be quite durable, as it is still usable after some of these smashings.

Enough about that – it's time we move on to the keyboard itself. I'll give a refresher course on some of the key features before we dive in. The CM Storm Trigger (regardless of the switch type) comes with five programmable macro keys, 64KB of onboard profile storage, two USB 2.0 ports, 1000Hz polling rate, and six key rollover through USB. You'll have the option to disable the pesky Windows key that effortlessly takes you away from full screen in the middle of your epic battles and you'll get all this at just less than three pounds weight. Now let's get on to the pictures already.

Read more: Revisiting the CM Storm Trigger Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @ OCC

Dell XPS 12 Review: A Jack of All Trades Flipscreen Ultrabook @ Anandtech
Dells XPS line is for their premium consumer offerings, with some overlap between the consumer and professional users gravitating towards these systems. The XPS 12 Duo carries that catering to a wider audience mentality a step further with a flip screen display that allows you to transition between standard notebook and tablet modes. Unlike some other companies, this is technically a second-generation Ultrabook, but since Dell more or less skipped the first-generation we still expect more from Dell this time around. The XPS 13 Ultrabook looked nice, though we found had some concerns with the temperatures we could hit under stress testing and the resulting noise. Here, Dell has pulled out all the stops and gone with a 12.5 1080p IPS touchscreen. Its definitely one of the more interesting designs to come out of late, but just how well does it work in practice?

Read more: Dell XPS 12 Review: A Jack of All Trades Flipscreen Ultrabook @ Anandtech