Reviews 52118 Published by

Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

Cooler Master MasterAir MA410M Review
Cooler Master MasterMouse MM531 Optical Mouse Review
Crucial BX500 480 GB SSD Review
E-Lektron EL225-UHF Mobile Sound System Review
Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock Docking Station Review
Ethereum Crypto Mining Linux Performance Benchmarks On The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
Seagate IronWolf Pro 14TB Review
The 21 Coolest Things We Saw at Maker Faire 2018
Thermaltake X1 RGB Gaming Keyboard Review



Cooler Master MasterAir MA410M Review

The Cooler Master MasterAir MA410M, although a more ‘civilian’ version, performs just as well as its TUF Alliance twin.

Cooler Master was part of our ASUS TUF Alliance build preview by providing us with two, heatpipe cooler models: the MasterAir MA410M TUF Gaming Edition and the MasterAir MA620P TUF Gaming Edition. Simply put, we wanted to see if there was any recognizable difference between the performance and build of these models and today’s focus, the Master Air MA410M, as this is often the question among enthusiasts when we see similar products marketed and stocked under slightly different SKU numbers.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Cooler Master MasterMouse MM531 Optical Mouse Review

Cooler Master has delivered a superleggera version of the MM530 with the MM531, which performs in all the right ways.

Apple has yet again released a new series of iPhones, eagerly awaited by many. I was excited for what Apple was going to reveal next, especially just from a curiosity standpoint. I owned an iPhone for two years back in high school, and since switching to an Android device, I have never looked back. However, it is still cool to see the new products released by Apple and if they will innovate in some new and interesting way. I know many people did not like the notch the iPhone X introduced, but I sure do like it. Anyway, Apple does major changes to their phones every two years on average, and in between there are relatively minor changes done to the hardware. The new line of iPhones prove this point. They are almost identical on the outside, but updates to the internal components make it faster. Now, if these changes are actually worth the ridiculous price tag is a debate for another time. Apple upgrades the internals and delivers the new product. I am sure if we look closer at other manufacturers, we might find similar strategies. This strategy is not necessarily a bad one, as a good design can be upgraded considerably with a few tweaks here and there. Cooler Master has potentially done something similar with the MasterMouse MM531, which we will be taking a look at today. When it comes to looks, the MM531 is indistinguishable from the MasterMouse MM530. But read on to find out what changed!

Read full article @ APH Networks

Crucial BX500 480 GB SSD Review

Crucial announced their new BX500 series SSDs. They did so quite silently at first, the press releases are a little shy and perhaps too shy as Crucial might have created the super value SSD (SATA3). The BX500 as such is just that, all about value, stuff that you drop in easily and add as fast storage. And with advertised performance numbers in the 540/500 MB/sec ranges It is available in 120, 240 and 480 GB versions offering that familiar performance at 540 MB/sec reads, 540 MB/sec writes (sequential). The official and Random Write IOPS for all models have not been listed, but hey, we can measure that. We've already mentioned that the prices on these units are just terrific, 29 bucks for the 120 GB model, 49 bucks for the 240 GB model and for 89 USD you can grab the 480 GB model. These are MSRP prices, so in a couple of weeks, you may expect even lower street prices.

The 120 GB version has a TBW (Terabytes written) value of 40 TB, that is 80 TB for the 240 GB model and 120TB written for the 480 GB model. That is a lower than normal for TLC NAND, and Crucial is not mentioning the NAND type used on its packaging or website. So we figured the BX500 is making use of QLC already, quad level cell NAND, a NAND technology that writes four bits per cell. However, after inquiring, they denied this and stated, it is TLC NAND. It is a DRAMless design product paired with the proven very reliable SM2258XT controller. To cope with the TLC write gap, Crucial created a big SLC written buffer on these SSDs.

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D

E-Lektron EL225-UHF Mobile Sound System Review

Just like the JAD38-B the EL225-UHF Mobile Sound System again by E-Lektron may not score high in terms of design but thanks to its massive power output of 300WRMS and its many features including a 7200mAh built-in rechargeable battery it's a far more versatile choice.

Compared to even just 3-4 years ago portable speakers have grown significantly in size and although there are still not that many in the market which are not considered really "portable" any more thanks to their massive power outputs these also happen to be the only ones that can effectively cover large areas (you don't throw a party in a small room right?). Speakers like the EXOS-9 by Aiwa (and other similar in size models for example by JBL, Ultimate Ears and Marshall) may combine medium size enclosures with impressive power output but for many people (especially professionals) the lack of several features (not applicable to all) like an integrated MP3 player, physical controls (not only via smartphone), FM radio, limited connectivity and even support for Karaoke (although far less popular) are deal breakers. The recently reviewed JAD38-B Digital Sound System by E-Lektron did offer all of the above (and then some) but the lack of an internal rechargeable battery severely limited its uses. Today under our "microscope" we have the EL225-UHF (810.490) Mobile Sound System again by E-Lektron which doesn't seem to be hindered by that rather significant detail.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Elgato Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock Docking Station Review

Having a portable computer is awesome, in most cases. You can take it with you everywhere and do what do you do with it there and then. However, when you get back home again, you might want to hook up all your stationary devices, from monitors to storage and input devices. That can be a hassle with all those cables, that is unless you have a docking station. And that is what I have in the office for a test today. Elgato’s new Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock.

Elgato’s Thunderbolt 3 Mini Dock targets the people who need extra connectors for their portable system and those who do not want to connect every single cable individually. But, as the name suggests, this Mini Dock doesn’t offer a lot of different connectors such as full-sized docking stations do. If you need that, then you might want to look at the previously released Elgato Thunderbolt 3 docking station.

While we don’t get a lot of connectors, we do get some important ones. There are two ports for monitors, which both support 4K at 60Hz, a USB port, and an RJ45 network port. While that doesn’t sound like a lot, it will suffice for a lot of people out there.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Ethereum Crypto Mining Linux Performance Benchmarks On The GeForce RTX 2080 Ti

Over the past few days since receiving the RTX 2080 Ti "Turing" graphics card I have been running many different Linux benchmarks on this card, but one area I hadn't explored until having the time this weekend was to checkout the cryptocurrency mining potential, which I tried out with the CUDA support in Ethereum's Ethminer.

Read full article @ Phoronix

Seagate IronWolf Pro 14TB Review

Seagate’s IronWolf Pro range of hard drives have been designed for use in commercial and enterprise NAS devices from 1-bay units all the way up to 24-bay systems. The new flagship of the range is the 14TB drive that has just been launched.

Seagate has just launched a range of 14TB drives covering a wide range of market segments for its Guardian Series; the BarraCuda Pro aimed at the consumer/desktop segment, the surveillance-optimised SkyHawk drive and finally the IronWolf and IronWolf Pro drives aimed at NAS enclosures.

Read full article @ Kitguru

The 21 Coolest Things We Saw at Maker Faire 2018

A packed lineup of innovation was on display at the 2018 NYC World Maker Faire. Here's some of the best, from a car-crushing robot to a flame-throwing wearable.

World Maker Faire New York is a weekend-long celebration of the creativity, ingenuity, innovation and trailblazing DNA of maker culture. Make: magazine first launched Maker Faire in 2006 in San Francisco, bringing together inventors of all ages to showcase their DIY projects and explain to the world how they dreamed up their concoctions.

With thousands of attendees and countless workshops, exhibits, presentations and enthusiasm, this weekend’s New York City stop of the Maker Faire did not disappoint. Makers definitely brought their A-game to Queens’ New York Hall of Science.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Thermaltake X1 RGB Gaming Keyboard Review

Today Ill be taking a look at another Thermaltake product, this time its the X1 RGB gaming keyboard featuring the fairly new Cherry MX Silver switches. But first some information about Thermaltake.

The X1 RGB gaming keyboard comes in a sleek and stunning finish that delivers 16.8 million of true RGB color illumination with 12 dynamic lighting effects. Best yet, it is exclusively compatible with all Thermaltake TT RGB Sync Power Supply and Liquid Cooling Solutions – iRGB PSU, Riing Plus, Pacific W4 Plus CPU Water Block, Pacific RL360 Plus RGB Radiator, Floe Riing RGB 360, Pacific Lumi Plus LED Strip – and any other product range sporting the TT RGB Sync logo, enabling enthusiasts to sync all RGB colors seamlessly to all Thermaltake compatible product lines for even greater color coordination. In addition, the X1 RGB comes with an exclusively designed smartphone/tablet app with voice-controlled AI for access to light functions and essential macros. The app also includes an exclusive patented designed Virtual Game Controller (VGC) mode for a truly unique and astounding mobile gaming experience.

Read full article @ FunkyKit