Today, Intel released their new flagship processor for the LGA 1151 platform. The Core i9-9900K finally comes with eight core and 16 threads, reaching parity with AMD's Ryzen offerings. Maximum Boost Clock has been increased as well, now to a staggering 5 GHz.
ASRock once again brings forward a new generation of motherboards in their Taichi family. The ASRock Z390 Taichi boasts all the improvements of the refreshed chipset, plus some clever extras. It has a strong legacy to live up to and strong rivals to outshine.
More than a flagship, the MEG Z390 GODLIKE from MSI is a statement of what the company is capable of. MSI pulled out all the stops; from the Infinity Mirror RGB LED to the M.2 PCIe expansion card, Streaming Boost capture card, and Game Boost overclocking dial: this one goes to 11, literally.
GeForce RTX 2070 is NVIDIA's most affordable RTX-capable graphics card today. We ran it through 23 games at three resolutions, and the performance results are encouraging. The card sits right between the GTX 1080 and GTX 1080 Ti, with pricing lower than for the GTX 1080 Ti, and you get all the new features, like DLSS and RTX.
AMD is bringing back their Athlon brand with the Athlon 200GE, featuring two cores and four threads. With a price of only $60 for the reviewed processor, this is the cheapest option to join the Ryzen+Vega game and a clear winner when it comes to price/performance.
EKWB has listened to market demands and came out with an RGB-lit version of their already-excellent Vardar EVO 120ER fan. With bold claims of no performance reduction in spite of 9 RGB LEDs added and a re-worked fan design with a different impeller/hub and bearings to before, the fan merits a detailed look in more ways than one.
The RHA MA750 Wireless is the company's best wireless pair of in-ear monitors. They are based on the extremely popular wired model MA750 known and liked for its excellent price-performance ratio. Those are big shoes to fill, so let's find out if the transition to wireless was successful.
Crucial has finally released their first M.2 NVMe solid-state drive. The Crucial P1 SSD is built using QLC NAND flash, which is the next generation in flash memory, promising lower cost per GB than previous technologies. In our testing, we see good results that are competitive with popular TLC drives like the Samsung 970 EVO and Intel 760p.
Zotac's RTX 2080 Ti AMP is the company's current GeForce RTX flagship. The card is built around a large triple-slot, triple-fan cooler that delivers amazing temperatures of only 65°C. It's the first custom-design we review that's sold at a price matching the NVIDIA Founders Edition: $1,199.
The Samsung 970 EVO is the company's offering for users who want the blazing speeds of NVMe, but aren't willing to pay premium for the 970 Pro. Read speeds of the 970 EVO match the 970 Pro; writes are lower, but still very good at 1.7 GB/s.
The QSAN XN3002T has a distinctive nice look and uses a promising operating system utilizing the ZFS filesystem, which is known for its increased data protection. In order to boost performance you can add an SSD-based caching layer. However, is it worth its high asking price of $499?
CORSAIR has updated the original STRAFE RGB keyboard after three years and aims to offer a similar enthusiast-grade keyboard with more value for money. The new STRAFE RGB MK.2 now has hardware playback, more dedicated buttons, and support from a new unified software driver, and retains the rarely-seen option of the Cherry MX Silent Red RGB switch.
The Silverstone Primera PM02 goes all out on Steel. There are no tangible plastic elements to be found on the frame of the case, which really pushes the build quality. While other all-steel cases tend to go for an understated look, the PM02 offers a bit more detail, and a few surprises.
Samsung's 970 Pro flagship SSD offers incredible performance, especially when it comes to writes, where it tops the charts with up to 2.4 GB/s because of MLC flash. Reads are even faster at 3.5 GB/s. If only the SSD was more affordable: $200 for 512 GB is not exactly cheap.
The G.SKILL Trident Z sticks have been around for a while now, available in a multitude of colors and speeds, as well as with RGB. These 4000 MHz sticks are for all you non-RGB lovers out there, but with such a high speed, you best make sure your motherboard and CPU are capable.
The 1MORE Triple Driver BT In-Ears are the wireless successor to the highly-praised wired pair of in-ear headphones of the same name. They're equipped with three speaker drivers, as well as a couple of unique features that make them stand out among competing products.
There is a huge list of big gaming mice out there, and a much smaller one for small ones—the ASUS TUF Gaming M5 tries to improve this ratio. It might be small in size, but it's not cheaply made by a long shot. It features a great optical sensor, main switches rated for 50 million clicks, and Aura Sync RGB lighting.
Gigabyte's RTX 2080 Gaming OC is a customized, overclocked variant of the RTX 2080. It runs at a boost clock of 1815 MHz, which is 15 MHz higher than the Founders Edition. Gigabyte has also released a new BIOS that increases the card's power limit. We ran all our tests with the stock and new BIOS.
ASRock once again brings forward a new generation of motherboards in their Taichi family. The ASRock Z390 Taichi boasts all the improvements of the refreshed chipset, plus some clever extras.
MSI pulled out all the stops for their massive, EATX-sized MEG Z390 Godlike motherboard, which comes with three M.2 slots, full RGB support, and an adapter to add two more M.2 NVMe slots. You also get an OLED screen that can display pre-programmed stats and messages.
The Gamdias Achilles is not just a gaming chair of high build quality as it is one of the very few to feature RGB lighting and support for users of up to 200 kg. The cherry on top is the embedded footrest, which proved to be a nice feature, especially after long hours of gaming.
Assasin's Creed Odyssey is this year's version of the epic series and takes you to ancient Greece. We tested the game at 1080p, 1440p and 4K using a large selection of graphics cards, including the RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti. We also investigated VRAM requirements and CPU performance scaling.
Seagate's new BarraCuda SSD lineup marks the company's return to the SSD world. The drive comes with a 5-year warranty and is available at a highly competitive price of $79 for the reviewed 500 GB version. Seagate uses 64-layer 3D TLC flash from Toshiba, and a DRAM chip is included, too.
Fractal Design continues its tradition of updating their case families by increasing a number in the name. The Define S2 builds on the success of the liquid-cooling-focused Define S, but adds a slew of new features and improvements to the mix.
The C7 Cu by CRYORIG takes the C7 and makes it better by using an all-copper design. When it comes to Mini-ITX heatsinks, this one sits at the top in terms of weight at 675 g. The copper not only adds a great deal of weight but also increases performance and makes it feels like a premium heatsink.
