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Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

ADATA XPG Spectrix D41 DDR4-3000 16GB Memory Kit Review
Alexa on Windows 10 Review
AMD Launches High-Frequency EPYC 7371 Processor
AORUS RTX 2080 XTREME Review
ASRock DeskMini 310 SFF PC Review
Assassin's Creed Odyssey Review
ASUS ROG RTX 2080 Ti Strix OC (O11G) Review
Asus ROG Strix Z390-I Gaming Review
be quiet! Pure Power 11 700W PSU Review
Brainwavz HM5 Studio-Monitor Over-Head Headphones Review
Buying an MP3 Player in 2018
Creative Sound BlasterX H6 USB Gaming Headset Review
Enermax NEOChanger Review
First AMD EPYC Rome Motherboard Spotted
HyperX Alloy FPS RGB Review
Intel Core i9-9900XE Extreme Edition Review
Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review
Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review
Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review
Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review
Intel Core i9-9980XE Extreme Edition Processor Review
Intel Core i9-9980XE Extreme Edition Review
Intel Core i9-9980XE Review
Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee Review
Scythe Ninja 5 Review
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB 850W Gold PSU Review
Windows 10 October 2018 Update Review



ADATA XPG Spectrix D41 DDR4-3000 16GB Memory Kit Review

ADATA's XPG Spectrix D40 was one of the company's first RGB DDR4 memory kits.  They were a little over the top and while they looked and performed well many people wanted a more subtle and sleek look.  Well today we have ADATA's XPG Spectrix D41 memory kit that gives users that sleek look, but still offers RGB lighting, and of course great performance.  The kit we are looking at today is the AX4U30008G16-DT41 kit which is a 16GB (2x8GB) kit running at DDR4-3000 speeds with timings of 16-18-18-36 at 1.35v.  This this is RGB kit you need for your next build? Read on as we find out.

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Alexa on Windows 10 Review

Alexa has a very particular set of skills, but they're not that useful on Windows 10.

Alexa is now available on all Windows 10 PCs and with it come thousands of skills. But in a landscape full of digital assistants and Alexa devices becoming more and more accessible, is Alexa on PC that big of a deal?

Read full article @ Windows Central

AMD Launches High-Frequency EPYC 7371 Processor

AMD has announced its new high-frequency EPYC 7371 processor designed for applications that benefit from high clocks. The CPU has 16 cores and is aimed at tasks like electronic design automation, high-frequency trading, and other. The EPYC 7371 can work in dual-socket configuration, thus offering up to 32 cores and 64 threads per box.

The AMD EPYC 7371 processor features 16 cores with SMT (spread across four eight-core Zen dies), 64 MB of L3 cache, an eight-channel DDR4 memory subsystem, and 128 PCIe lanes. The CPU features a 3.1 GHz default frequency, yet can run all cores at 3.6 GHz, or just eight cores at 3.8 GHz.

Being aimed at workloads that need a high single-thread performance, the EPYC 7371 takes advantage of its massive L3 cache along with its rather high frequencies. Meanwhile, its ability to work in dual-socket configuration is a major advantage that the EPYC 7371 has over other high-clock CPUs because the processor still enables 32 physical cores and 64 threads per system.

Read full article @ Anandtech

AORUS RTX 2080 XTREME Review

While GIGABYTE's lineup of RTX 20-series graphics cards have been coming in thick and fast, the AORUS series has suffered a short delay but today we'll be exploring the delights of the AORUS RTX 2080 XTREME - a card which doesn't hold back. On offer is a factory overclock to the GPU and memory, a triple fan cooler and what promises to be some of the most spectacular RGB LED lighting to be seen.

Read full article @ Vortez

ASRock DeskMini 310 SFF PC Review

The DeskMini 310 is ASRock's latest iteration of their SFFPC using their STX motherboard form factor. The form factor allows for NUC style expansion options but with support for a desktop CPU, in this case, up to 65W.

We tossed in an i7-8700, and it did just fine with Intel's stock cooler and ASRock's VRM on their H310M-STX motherboard. Let's see how this SFFPC stacks up against the rest.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Assassin's Creed Odyssey Review

I am back again following Assassin's Creed Origins with its sequel, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, a title actually set earlier in the game series' universe. From Ancient Egypt we are now in Ancient Greece, following the life of one of two exiled Spartan mercenaries, Kassandra or Alexios. The choice of which you play as is a permanent one, without starting a new game. There are multiple save slots though, so you can play as both without losing your progress with the other. As it has been stated Kassandra is the canon character, she is who I have been playing as. Quickly starting an Alexios playthrough, and seeing something written about the two characters, it seems their stories are reflections of each other, so you should not miss anything too substantive by choosing one over the other.

Read full article @ OCC

ASUS ROG RTX 2080 Ti Strix OC (O11G) Review

It's one of the best graphics cards we've tested - but also one of the most expensive

Read full article @ KitGuru

Asus ROG Strix Z390-I Gaming Review

Well, it wouldn’t be a new chipset and CPU launch if I wasn’t trying to get my hands on a good ITX board to use in one of our LAN rigs. Especially with a few LANs upcoming. Well from looking at the initial boards announced for the Z390, one of the most exciting ITX boards was the Strix Z390-I Gaming from Asus and I was excited to see it come in. I’m curious what is different from the Z370 or the Z270 for the matter and to dive into Asus’s feature set and see if the Strix Z390-I Gaming covers all of the bases for a high-end gaming PC that will take up less space on your desk and be easy to pack up and take to events to play with your friends. Let's run through the boards features, look at its software, check out the performance, then see how it fits in the market overall.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

be quiet! Pure Power 11 700W PSU Review

Today we look at a new power supply from be quiet!. Its expensive but can it deliver ?

Read full article @ KitGuru

Brainwavz HM5 Studio-Monitor Over-Head Headphones Review

Introduction Brainwavz HM5 Finding the right headphones can be a daunting task, as there are countless brands and models on the market. From a few dollars to the thousands, theres a product for every budget, every shape, size, and beyond.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Buying an MP3 Player in 2018

While most people who enjoy music on the go these days are listening from their phones, there are still many reasons someone might want to own a standalone portable music player. Models range from around $1 to more than $3,000, for what is already a niche market, the world of dedicated MP3 players is fragmented into various sub-niches targeting wildly different shoppers.

Read full article @ TechSpot

Creative Sound BlasterX H6 USB Gaming Headset Review

Creative is back again with a brand new gaming headset and we?ve spent the last two weeks putting it through its paced. On the bench today is the Sound BlasterX H6 USB Gaming Headset with 7.1 Surround Sound. It?s compatible with just about everything and looks darn good but for $79.99, does it blast away the competition? Join us as we find out!

Read full article @ MMORPG

Enermax NEOChanger Review

For a custom water cooling system, Enermax offers an interesting reservoir / pump combination with lighting, which we will take a closer look at, listen to, and test thoroughly. At our OCinside YouTube Channel there is a new video of all Enermax NEOChanger 300ml RGB effects and in the review there is of course a 360 degree view in addition to the sound sample of the integrated pump.

Read full article @ OCInside.de

First AMD EPYC Rome Motherboard Spotted

Part of AMD’s recent pre-announcement of its next generation Rome server processors, using 7nm chiplets and running up to 64 cores, is that the new processors will be compatible with current motherboards on the market. However, one of the new features of Rome is the use of PCIe 4.0. PCIe 4.0 has different standards for on-board signalling in order to get the required speed, so even though the processors are backwards compatible with PCIe 3.0, we expect new motherboards and new systems to be developed with PCIe 4.0 specifications in mind. Today, we saw the first early revision of such a motherboard.

Read full article @ Anandtech

HyperX Alloy FPS RGB Review

The FPS pro is a tenkeyless keyboard, and the FPS is a full-sized one, the FPS RGB looks to add to those offerings by introducing RGB to the mix. Other compelling features are the mobile phone charging port, removable braided cable, full N-key rollover, anti-ghosting and compatibility with HyperX's NGenuity software.

Read full article @ Vortez

Intel Core i9-9900XE Extreme Edition Review

As usual, we try to take a bit of a different tack when reviewing CPUs. In our Intel Core i9-9980XE vs AMD Ryzen Threadripper review we do what you might think, and compare the newest Intel HEDT processor against every HEDT processor that AMD currently produces.

Read full article @ HardOCP

Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review

It has been over a year since Intel launched its Skylake-X processors and Basin Falls platform, with a handful of processors from six-core up to eighteen-core. In that time, Intel’s competition has gone through the roof in core count, PCIe lanes, and power consumption. In order to compete, Intel has gone down a different route, with its refresh product stack focusing on frequency, cache updates, and an updated thermal interface. Today we are testing the top processor on that list, the Core i9-9980XE.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review

When Intel officially announced its 9th Generation Core processors at an event in NYC a few weeks back, it used the opportunity to also unveil a beastly, unlocked 28-core Xeon processor that’ll be arriving at a later date, and a refreshed line-up of 9th Gen-branded Core-X series processors as well. Unlike the 9th Gen Core i products, however, which leverage an updated Coffee Lake microarchitecture, the “new” Core X series remains based on Skylake-X. We’ve had the flagship Core i9-9980XE in hand for a little while now and will lay out its performance, power, and overclocking capacity on the pages ahead...

Read full article @ HotHardware

Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review

Intel's high-end desktop dominance has been under siege ever since the name Threadripper was first uttered. The blue team's first round of Core X CPUs, topping out with the i9-7980XE's 18 cores and 36 threads, held a front against the first wave of AMD's high-end Ryzens, but PC builders groused nonetheless—and rightfully so. Where did the solder that had joined heat spreaders to dies of past high-end Intel CPUs go, especially on a $2000 chip? Why did X299 motherboards have problems keeping their VRMs cool enough under extreme loads with the platform's highest-core-count CPUs? Why did quad-core parts exist for the X299 platform at all?Next to the unrestricted, segmentation-free approach of Threadripper CPUs and the X399 motherboards, the X299 platform and the breadth of the CPUs that could light it up looked by turns stingy and scattered. The Core i7-7800X and i7-7820X offered only 28 PCIe lanes from the CPU, compared to the 44 from the Core i9-7900X and better CPUs in the lineup.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Intel Core i9-9980XE CPU Review

The high-end desktop hits keep on coming as Intel rolls out its 18-core, 36-thread Core i9-9980XE.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Intel Core i9-9980XE Extreme Edition Processor Review

Last month, Intel announced the "Basin Falls Refresh" for their Core X-Series HEDT processors. Seven new parts were announced with the flagship of the series being the Intel Core i9-9980XE 18-core, 36-thread processor that is the successor to the Intel Core i9-7980XE 18-core, 36-thread processor launched just last year. Architecturally, the Core i9-9980XE is very similar to its Core i9-7980XE predecessor, but is made on the latest 14nm++ manufacturing process. The improvements on this node along with the switch to solder thermal interface material (STIM) have allowed Intel to increase base/boost clock speeds. Read on to see how that improves performance.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Intel Core i9-9980XE Extreme Edition Review

Introduction Intel's high-end desktop processors are getting an upgrade today as Intel launches the 9980XE and we assume other 9th generation X-series processors. Lower-end SKUs in the X-series family are getting PCI-E lane bumps, as well as solder thermal interface material and frequency bumps.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Intel Core i9-9980XE Review

Shopping for a CPU in 2018 has been a bit of a moving target. Between the launch of AMDs Ryzen 2000 series processors in the beginning of the year, new AMD Threadripper X and WX-series products, and a consumer CPU refresh from Intel last month, its been difficult to keep track of.
Now we are rounding out 2018 with new products for the last remaining platform that hasnt seen a refresh this year, Intels Core X-series of processors, namely the Intel Core i9-9980XE.

Read full article @ PC Perspective

Pokémon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee Review

For the last year or so, Pokémon has been a regular staple of how I get to sleep. In my younger years, I loved Pokémon. It was my first RPG experience, and I would play through the game, start a new save, and repeat, seemingly endlessly.

Read full article @ Wccftech

Scythe Ninja 5 Review

Scythe has updated their long running Ninja series with the Ninja 5. It offers a solid upgrade over the previous iteration, featuring quality of life improvements like its increased memory compatibility and updated mounting hardware. Pair that with solid performance and a nearly silent operation and you have a winning combination.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB 850W Gold PSU Review

Thermaltake goes full RGB again with its new Toughpower 850W unit. Will it be good enough though to fight with the RM850x and the Focus Plus Gold 850W PSUs?

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Windows 10 October 2018 Update Review

The latest Windows 10 feature update brings with it lots of refinements and a few new features. So is it any good? Check out our in-depth review for answers.

It's been almost seven months since the last Windows 10 feature update was released to the public, and we're due for another big one. After some early issues, Microsoft today will begin rolling out the Windows 10 October Update to the world again, bringing with it new features, enhancements, and more to millions of Windows 10 PCs.

Microsoft has gotten very good at making sure these big new updates don't change much on the surface, ensuring users won't be freaked out by huge new changes once the update is installed. The changes will only become apparent once you start digging a little bit. On that note, we did some digging to find the most significant new changes and features available in the October 2018 Update.

Read full article @ Windows Central