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Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AUKEY KM-G3 RGB Mechanical Keyboard Review
Autonomous SmartDesk 2 Hybrid Edition Review
Black Desert Mobile Preview
Fractal Design Ion SFX 650G Power Supply Review
Fractal Design ION SFX 650G Power Supply Review
Fractal Design Ion SFX Gold (500W) Review
Fractal Design ION SFX GOLD 650G Review
Huami Amazfit GTR 47mm Smartwatch Review
Kingston A2000 1TB SSD Review
MediEvil Review
Phrozen Shuffle XL 3D Printer Review
Plasma 5.17 Review
QPAD MK40, QH-25 & DX-30 Review
Six Reasons Why iOS 13 and Catalina Are So Buggy
Threadripper Air Cooling Roundup



AUKEY KM-G3 RGB Mechanical Keyboard Review

One of the most active segments of the PC peripherals market is that of mechanical keyboards, with the number of available products and total sales continuously rising over the past several years. As the size of the market constantly expands, ever more companies are making attempts to enter it and claim their own piece of the sales pie. The problem here is that the market is virtually saturated, leaving very little room for innovation, therefore most companies are nowadays trying to compete in terms of aesthetics and/or value.

For today's review we are taking a look at the KM-G3 RGB Mechanical Keyboard from AUKEY. AUKEY is a Chinese-based company that designs and sells all kinds of peripherals, from input devices to car dash cameras. They have very few local distributors around the globe, and instead they prefer to base their business model on direct sales via Amazon.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Autonomous SmartDesk 2 Hybrid Edition Review

I’ve been a fan of Autonomous’s SmartDesk 2 ever since I first reviewed it back in 2017. While this was my first sit-stand desk, it actually remained my main desk up until about a week ago. There were other desks that we’ve reviewed, but they just were not as good as the desk from Autonomous, that is why I always kept that desk as my main desk. Since I started using that desk I’ve made some upgrades to my setup, namely a 34-inch ultra-wide display. With that display I really was not able to put my computer on my desk, which made me either put it on the floor or on a shelf next to the desk. I was actually considering just upgrading my tabletop to a larger one when Autonomous reached out about reviewing their SmartDesk 2 Hybrid Edition. They let me select which version I wanted so I went with the white XL Top (70.5″ x 30″) with a white frame. This would give me more than enough room for my computer as well as monitor. Is this the desk you need for the ultimate PC setup? Read on to find out!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Black Desert Mobile Preview

Nearly 4 years ago, a Korean MMO by the name of Black Desert Online launched in the west by developer Pearl Abyss. Despite the PC version receiving high marks here, there was an exorbitant amount of skepticism that the mobile version would bring the same kind of depth to the mobile space. With the mobile MMO space growing at an increasing rate, how does Pearl Abyss? premiere title fare on the small screen?

Read full article @ MMORPG

Fractal Design Ion SFX 650G Power Supply Review

Today we are taking our first look at Fractal Design’s new Ion SFX 650G power supply. The Ion SFX Series includes two models: the SFX 650G and SFX 500G.

Read full article @ PC Perspective

Fractal Design ION SFX 650G Power Supply Review

Fractal Design and one of their new ION series are one of the first power supplies we have reviewed. This is since we recently restarted PSU content. Today we have another new release in the SFX version of that same ION series. The Fractal ION + 850 we looked at previously impressed quite a bit, taking a draw of over 1000W from the wall and handling it under an extended duration workload on our real-world testbench. Now today we see if Fractal knocked out another good one or just another PSU. SFX form factor PSUs are for the smaller form factor rigs. These include such cases as the TU150 we looked at before, the Streacom DA2, and things such as the Dan Case models. Fractal, of course, has its own SFX compatible chassis such as the Node 202 and others. These are made for those who live the SFF life or small form factor/slimline rigs. Being Gold rated at 650W, I have to assume that at the least, this can support a quite high-end platform with a beefy GPU or even pair of GPUs depending on the enclosures capabilities.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Fractal Design Ion SFX Gold (500W) Review

A solid, no-nonsense supply for a quality SFF build. We have often said that even high-end gaming PCs don't need to invest in kilowatt power supplies. An overclocked Core i7-8700K and GeForce RTX 2080 Ti consumes less than 400W at full load, backed up by 32GB of memory and spacious SSDs. Companies such as Corsair have shown that one can build even more luxurious small-form-factor PCs with SFX PSUs at the helm.

It's to this background that a growing number of SFX and SFX-L supplies are coming to market, and it's an area that Fractal Design is moving into today with the release of Ion SFX Gold.

Read full article @ Hexus

Fractal Design ION SFX GOLD 650G Review

This is based on a killer Seasonic design, and its cheaper - whats the catch? Fractal Design are launching a new power supply range today, the ION SFX. This new range of power supplies will be offered in two capacities – a 500W and a 650W model. As the name would suggest this new design is 80 Plus Gold certified, fully modular and ships with Fractals new ‘UltraFlex’ cable design.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Huami Amazfit GTR 47mm Smartwatch Review

There are two types of wrist watches in the market available currently, mechanical and digital ones which in turn have several different sub-categories. For example, quartz and automatic wrist watches are all mechanical ones whereas digital, smart watches and smart bands all belong in the digital category (worth pointing out is that both categories also feature solar powered models). Personally i don't think that an good digital/smart wrist watch can ever compete with an good quartz/automatic wrist watch in terms of quality and elegance but due to the many technologies packed into smart watches (like heart rate sensors, vivid OLED screens, bluetooth wireless connectivity and GPS systems) they do represent a more all-around (not to mention state of the art) solution. Huami is one of the leading manufacturers of smart watches and bands in the world and today we'll be checking their Amazfit GTR 47mm Stainless Steel model.

Amazfit is a self-brand of Huami. Huami is a biometric and activity data-driven company with significant expertise in smart wearable technology. Also, Huami is a provider of wearable technology for Xiaomi and exclusive maker of the Mi Band. Since September 2015, Huami has begun to use the brand, Amazfit, to sell smart wearable products that are not designed and manufactured for Xiaomi to address the middle to high-end market. According to the Frost & Sullivan Report, Huami shipped 11.6 million units of smart wearable devices in the first nine months of 2017, more than any other company in the world. 18.1 million units of smart wearable devices were shipped in 2017. As of March 31, 2018, a total of 56.5 million devices were shipped since Huami’s inception in 2013. Mobile Apps of Huami, Mi Fit and Amazfit, work hand in hand with smart wearable devices, which provide users with a comprehensive view and analysis of their biometric and activity data. As of December 31, 2017, mobile Apps of Huami had 56 million registered users. Huami is transforming the way individuals connect with the Internet and with each other through smart wearable technology and data-driven innovations. Its mission is to make the world more connected. On February 8, 2018, Huami was listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Read full article @ NikKTech

Kingston A2000 1TB SSD Review

Kingston Technology Company has sold millions of SSDs over the past decade and continues to ship a ludicrous numbers of SSDs to this day. In the first half of 2019 they shipped over 13.3 million SSDS alone. Near the end of Summer, Kingston released a new M.2 NVMe drive aimed at the entry-level market, the A2000 series. Kingston is planning on selling millions of these drives down the road and we have nothing to argue with that statement. The Kingston A2000 series is mighty impressive on paper with 250GB ($39.99), 500GB ($59.99) and 1TB ($99.99) capacities available at rock bottom pricing. The best back for the buck would be the 1TB model as it is priced at just $0.10 per GB.

With pricing like that the performance on the A2000 series has to be down in the dumpster, right? Not at the very slightest! Performance depends on what capacity you get, but on the 1TB and 500GB models you are looking at sequential performance of up to 2,200 MB/s read and 2,000 MB/s write! If you opt for the smallest 250GB capacity drive you are looking at 2000 MB/s read and 1,100 MB/s write speeds. Random 4K IOPS are also solid for an entry-level drive as the 1TB drive is rated up to 250K/220K, the 500GB drive is at up to 180K/200K and the 250GB drive is 150K/180K.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

MediEvil Review

When I grew up with the original PlayStation, I never could pick out who Sony’s mascot character was. Nintendo had the Mario brothers, SEGA had Sonic the Hedgehog, but what did Sony have? Among the same pantheon of Crash, Spyro and Parappa, I saw a toothless skeleton by the name of Dan Fortesque as the face of Sony. Well, at least as much as someone with half a face could be. Dan’s adventures in the first MediEvil were my first exposure to the 3D platformers of the Sony era and remained one of my favorites for the combat and exploration, even if I never got to finish it as a kid. Now some two decades later, Sony has resurrected Dan’s first adventure from the vault of forgotten games with a complete remake and overhaul of MediEvil, with some help from the creative teams at Other Ocean Emeryville.

Read full article @ Wccftech

Phrozen Shuffle XL 3D Printer Review

Resin printing is becoming mainstream, and large printers like the Phrozen Shuffle XL are going to help in a big way.

While hobbyists have enjoyed FDM 3D printing for a long time, it's only recently that resin printing — DLP printers typically, the ones that use UV light — has become as accessible to the masses. With build areas of around 115 x 65 x 155 mm, all of the recent cheap DLP printers are great for small prints but not much else.

The Phrozen Shuffle XL offers the same detail you get from these smaller printers but with a build area that is nearly double the usable space. You can use that space to print a lot of fantastic stuff, from full-size mechanical pieces to extra large models and sculptures. The big question is if the price is worth the extra space.

Read full article @ Windows Central

Plasma 5.17 Review

Welcome to the middle of the week! Here's a review of the Plasma 5.17 desktop environment, including upgrade process, look & feel, customization, wallpapers, various ergonomic changes, Night Color, Discover and associated bugs, system login management, login speed, consistency, stability, other observations, and more. Ergo cogito fun.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo

QPAD MK40, QH-25 & DX-30 Review

Picking a new set of gaming peripherals can be tricky. There are so many to choose from, in all kinds of shapes, sizes, colours, features, specifications, from many brands. But which one do you choose? Do you mix the brands, or do you pick stuff that all matches? Well, I know there’s a difference between what you want and what your wallet says you can afford. Sure, blowing £250 on a space-age mechanical keyboard is fine for some. However, down here on Earth, not everyone has that budget.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Six Reasons Why iOS 13 and Catalina Are So Buggy

iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 Catalina have been unusually buggy releases for Apple. The betas started out buggy at WWDC in June, which is not unexpected, but even after Apple removed some features from the final releases in September, more problems have forced the company to publish quick updates. Why? Based on my 18 years of experience working as an Apple software engineer, I have a few ideas.

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Read full article @ TidBITS

Threadripper Air Cooling Roundup

Not long ago AMD pushed their 3950X launch out into November and when they did that they also teased in that same announcement that it will come out with their Threadripper 3 processor family. With that, this isn’t a bad time to revisit the cooling options. Unlike every other consumer CPU, Threadripper is large enough that it actually required all of the heatsink companies to go back and redesign their heatsinks to get full coverage. With that there are a lot fewer options available for Threadripper. But there are two big names that stand out. Cooler Master partnered with AMD and is who designed and sells the Wraith Ripper heatsink which goes in line with the rest of the Wraith air coolers that typically come with AMD CPUs. Then there is Noctua, who went all out with three different models in their Threadripper lineup. Today I am going to check out all four of those coolers and see how they perform to help those of you waiting for the new launch or others who have been snatching up the marked down Threadripper 1 and 2 models.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews