ASRock's Z77 Extreme9 is equipped with a PLX PCI-Express bridge chip, which adds additional PCIe slots to the board, for a total of six x16 slots. This will be a godsend for all users who want to run CrossFire or SLI with more than two cards. ASRock has also delivered a very usable BIOS implementation to maximize overclocking potential.
Today we have on our testbench OCZ's 256 GB Vertex 4 SSD, using the latest version 1.5 firmware. In our testing we see excellent performance from this Indilinx based drive. OCZ also brought the price of the SSD down to $210, which makes it one of the most affordable drives on the market both in terms of performance per Dollar and GB per Dollar.
Today we are testing the Synology DS212j, an entry level NAS that comes at an attractive price of $199. Even at that price, the NAS is equipped with a huge list of features and offers good power savings potential since it needs only 17.6W in operation.
Cubitek has entered the market last year with their Tank series of cases, which were quite an affordable alternative to Lian Li cases. The latest unit from the Magic Cube family, simply called AIO or All In One, carries a similar price tag as Lian Li alternatives. Will an interesting interior layout and the fact that it is apparently the smallest EATX chassis out there be enough to sway users to the new player in the market?
Sapphire's HD 7950 Flex adds the capability to run three DVI monitors without active DisplayPort adapter. It also comes with increased clock speeds out of the box, which gives the card a 6% performance advantage over the reference design.
CM Storm's full sized Quick Fire Pro keyboard is the bigger brother of the original Quick Fire gaming keyboard. The pro version features user selectable switches and has partial backlighting. At only $99.99 the Quick Fire Pro is one of the cheaper full sized mechanical gaming keyboards with backlight.
Gigabyte's first G1.Killer Intel Z77 Express product takes a completely new slant on enthusiast gaming products, shrinking down to a mATX form factor, as was widely requested by end users. The G1.Sniper M3 is a gaming soldier that's ready for battle, equipped with some of the latest and greatest technology, including a Creative Recon3Di audio CODEC, and Intel LAN controller that supports CFOS traffic shaping technology.
Xilence has taken the Interceptor chassis and slapped another compartment on the already big HPTX case to add a separate ITX section. Called the Interceptor Pro, this gargantuan unit offers a surprising amount of functionality for a very good price.
Sapphire's HD 7870 Flex adds comes with the capability to run three HDMI/DVI monitors without active DisplayPort adapter. Something that's not possible on reference design cards. This means that many EyeFinity users will be able to save $30, because they don't have to buy an active DP adapter. But what else does the Flex offer?
The Aerocool Strike-X Advance chassis aims to offer cool looks, a spiffy red interior and elaborate design for everyone on a budget. Will the case manage to hold everything we throw at it, or crack under the pressure?
According to Corsair their Game Series PSUs are ideal price-performance solutions for gamers that want style along with high performance. The updated GS units, which keep the same naming scheme, feature a renovated design and upgraded efficiency. Today we will test the strongest member of the series, the GS800 and see how it performs and if it is worth your money.
Today we will evaluate the DS412+, a NAS server specifically designed for small and medium-sized businesses that need reliability, performance and features like centralized data backups, advanced file sharing etc. In our tests we will find out if the DS412+ manages to achieve the performance levels that Synology claims, so stay tuned.
Be Quiet's Dark Power Pro P10 850 W is based on an excellent Seasonic platform, which features Platinum efficiency. Be Quiet has enhanced it with a quieter fan and the ability to combine all rails into a single powerful one by an easy switch.
Already own a Sandybridge CPU? Want to update to the new Intel chipsets, and use everything offered, like triple PCIe slots? Bought a new Ivy Bridge CPU, and want a power-sipping full-sized board? ASUS has the answer, and that answer is the P8Z77-V.
ZOTAC's GeForce GT 640 is based on NVIDIA's new Kepler architecture. Thanks to its energy efficient design, ZOTAC managed to release a single-slot graphics card that will be interesting to many media PC builders. It also comes with HDMI and 2x DVI outputs, adding to the card's versatility.
CM Storm's gaming product portfolio just got expanded with the release of the Speed-RX cloth mats. The mats feature a new high performance surface and have a hefty 5 mm thick rubber base. The mat is available in three different sizes and costs $19.99.
Today we are going to test Lepa's new 1600W beast, the GA1600-MA, which is based on the Enermax Platimax platform. It is 80 PLUS Gold certified and with its huge power it can easily feed every PC system out there. It not only offers outstanding power, but also comes at very attractive pricing, cheaper than many competing products in this category.
Corsair has successfully entered the gaming arena with their Vengeance brand, be it memory or gaming gear. Their first case offering geared towards this market goes by the name Vengeance C70 and is available in three colors right out of the gate: black, white or military green. Did Corsair manage to throw a grenade into the fray or will it turn out to be nothing but a dud?
MSI's GTX 670 Power Edition comes with a large overclock out of the box, which enables the card to provide GTX 680 performance out of the box at much lower pricing. Thanks to the large Twin Frozr IV cooler the card keeps its cool, overclocking works well, too.
QNAP's TS-669 Pro NAS boasts six drive bays, which lets you create RAID arrays of up to 24 TB. Thanks to its Atom dual-core processor and dual Gigabit Ethernet, the device was responsive throughout all our testing. If you need more than the included 1 GB RAM, the system can be easily upgraded to 3 GB.
With the launch of Intel's latest Z77 Express platform, Biostar steps up to the plate with a new game in mind, ready to hit a homerun. Featuring a new aesthetic design, and a new more efficient VRM design, the Biostar TZ77XE4 is ready to knock one clear out of the park.
BitFenix's latest case offering, by the name "Prodigy", has already turned many heads at Computex. It combines the best of many worlds, with its included handles, ability to hold full size components to be used on an ITX board and the choice between potent air or liquid cooling. Is it really the wonder child we have been waiting for, or just a cheap imposter?
Today AMD launches the HD 7970 GHz Edition, in a move to take away the performance crown from NVIDIA. The new card boasts clock speeds of 1050 MHz GPU and 1500 MHz memory. Price-wise the card is on the same level as the GTX 680, but is that enough to defeat NVIDIA's single GPU flagship?
FSP is one of the key players on the PSU market, so every new product they release is of great interest. Their most recent PSU releases are the two fanless Aurum Xilense units, which come in 400W and 500W versions with modular or non-modular cabling design.
MSI's GTX 680 Lightning combines the outstanding performance of the GTX 680 with the unique heritage of MSI's Lightning series. The card brings many features geared toward overclockers and advanced users, but even for gamers it's a good choice thanks to the overclock out of the box.
