New to the ASUS ROG line-up, the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO is for those looking to get that high-end ROG "GENE" experience in a full ATX format, but does stretching the GENE also stretch the HERO's ability too thin, or has the ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO come to save the day?
Sunrise Audio's newest DAC / amp gets put to the test. The Ray DA-P1 is built with Android devices in mind and works with devices that feature USB Audio in the kernel. It is also a very capable small form factor DAC / amp that won't give you any problems with Windows.
EVGA decided to dive deeper into the PSU market by recently releasing some new models, including the Super NOVA G2 1000W, which we will test today. The SuperNOVA G2 1000 W can easily be classified as a high-end unit, and considering its features, its price also looks very good.
Crucial expanded their line-up a short while ago at Computex by introducing the Ballistix Sport XT product for mainstream users and those who know how to tweak their memory. We take a look at the high-end 1866 MHz C10 model, which carry a few surprises.
The Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 is the second generation of the water-cooling friendly Arc series, and it brings many more or less obvious improvements along for the ride. Will these be enough to make an even better impression than the original?
The NZXT Respire T40 packs a punch with four 8 mm heatpipes and 48 aluminum cooling fins. As an "easy to install" and "easy on the wallet" option, it could be a force to be reckoned with in the budget cooling arena.
MSI's GeForce GTX 780 GAMING is a factory overclocked custom design of the GTX 780. It is the quietest GTX 780 we tested so far, making it a great choice for gamers who want low noise levels. With a price of $650, it is just $10 more expensive than the reference design, a reasonable price increase.
Be Quiet! recently revamped their Pure Power line with several new additions. They released six new non-modular units, and we will test the new 500W unit today. It promises a high price/performance ratio along with ultra-quiet and reliable operation.
The Intel DC3217IYE Next Unit Computing is quite the beast, with the ability to connect two HDMI screens at the same time and the power of an Intel Core i3 and QS77 Express Chipset all in a tiny package. Just add memory and SSD and take this tiny system for a ride - we sure did!
Seagate is trying to establish a strong presence in the SSD market using their new 600 and 600 Pro SSDs, which are based on a Link-A-Media controller. Clocking in at $400 for the 480 GB version, our testing shows good price/performance, at affordable storage cost.
Hatched at the same time as MSI's other GAMING Dragon, the Z87-G45 GAMING comes from the same brood as its bigger brother. The genes may be the same, but the abilities offered are different, including the hole the MSI Z87-G45 GAMING is going to burn into your wallet; being smaller sometimes has its benefits.
UE BOOM is a brand new Bluetooth speaker with a lot of neat functions. It plays for roughly 15 hours, is very small, and light. It might just be the ideal companion for a day on the beach or as a wireless speaker for small rooms. With a huge range of colors and a good-looking design, it could be a major hit!
The Corsair Carbide Air 540 is the company's first cube chassis; it aims to offer the perfect base for a compact water-cooling system. Don't be fooled by the name as it can swallow up to two 280 mm radiators without issue. While everything looks great on paper, we check to see how it stacks up against the competition.
The NH-U14S from Noctua continues their well-known tradition of exceptional quality. Offering low noise levels and exceptional cooling performance, the NH-U14S looks to give the competition a serious beating.
Antec added new models to their High Current Gamer series of PSUs, which feature interesting characteristics and good performance. Today, we will evaluate the fresh HCG-750M, that is 80 PLUS Bronze certified and comes with a five-year warranty.
The ZOTAC GTX 770 introduces a new dual-fan cooler that looks quite sleek. Even though the card isn't overclocked, it delivers improved performance thanks to ZOTAC's smart thermal design.
The Rosewill Line-M may not look like much, but it comes with a long list of features that make it not only interesting to office users but also budget-minded gamers. Will its inner values be enough to stand out from among the plethora of mATX chassis on the market? Only a closer look will tell!
MSI's GTX 760 TwinFrozr GAMING comes with the same powerful cooler as their GTX 770. This means that the card is extremely quiet in both idle and load, yet doesn't run hot at all. The card is also overclocked out of the box.
EVGA's GTX 760 SC comes overclocked out of the box and uses the company's new SCX cooler that promises good performance and low noise levels.
Gigabyte is launching the new GTX 760 with their WindForce 3X triple-fan cooler. The card is also overclocked out of the box, which provides a nice performance boost over the reference design.
The ASUS GTX 760 DirectCU OC uses the same compact PCB as the DC II Mini, which makes it the smallest GTX 760 reviewed today. Its new DirectCU II cooler keeps temperatures low and noise levels in check. An overclock out of the box is also provides an extra performance boost.
Palit's GeForce GTX 760 JetStream comes with a large overclock out of the box, on both GPU and memory. This makes it one of the fastest GTX 760s reviewed today. The card also uses a dual-fan, triple-slot cooler, and Palit is only asking a $5 price premium over the reference design.
Today, NVIDIA launches their new GTX 760 that sets out to provide affordable gaming to the mass market. With a competitive price of $249, it easily beats everything AMD has to offer.
Antec released many new PSUs, including the VP550F we will test in today’s review. The unit belongs to the mainstream category and is made by Delta, so we have high expectations of it considering that the older VP550 we tested a while ago, managed to score a good high price/performance ratio.
MSI's new GeForce GTX 770 Gaming is optimized for the demands of gamers. It comes overclocked out of the box, but what's more important is that it runs extremely quiet in both idle and load. With no premium over the reference design, it is also one of the most affordable GTX 770s out there.
Cooked up from the crazy LN2-cooled insides of a pro overclocker's mind, the Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC speeds onto my test bench, aiming to finish first in global overclocking rankings while keeping its price so low that anyone can line up at the starting gates. Can the Gigabyte Z87X-OC take the pole position?
I have another Kingston HyperX kit here to play with, this time one fully clad in Black. The Kingston HyperX Beast Black 2133 MHz 16 GB kit out of a pair of high-performance, high-density DIMMs is ready to rip the heart out of your PC. They sure left me beat up and confused.
MSI's GeForce GTX 770 Lightning uses a completely re-engineered PCB design with a large dual-fan cooler. The card is also overclocked out of the box, which gives it an additional performance advantage.
We recently tested the 512 GB version of Toshiba's latest SSD with 19 nm flash chips and a rebranded Marvell controller. Today, we are looking at the 256 GB version to investigate whether the smaller capacity reduces performance, or if it too manages to claim the performance throne.
The Nanoxia Deep Silence 2 is a simpler version of the Deep Silence 1, with a noticably lower price tag and the aim to offer the same core functionality. We take the heavy case for a spin to see what had to change for the case to be offered at a very interesting 30 Euros less than the number 1 of the DS series.
QPAD's newest high-performance headset, the QH-90, gets put to the test. This headset features some brilliantly performing 53mm drivers and a highly ergonomic design. Priced at €99, this headset is sure to mix things up in the sub €100 price category.
With the GTX 780 DirectCU II OC, ASUS introduces a new cooler design with upgraded heatpipes capable of carrying even more heat and two new fans that optimize airflow. The card is also overclocked out of the box and comes with a 10-phase power design.
SteelSeries recently revamped their Sensei design with a [RAW] Frost Blue Edition. [RAW] is SteelSeries' way of marketing a no-nonsense thoroughbred gaming mouse without any extra features. We take it for a spin to see if this more down-to-earth design performs well!
Like the mix of lion and eagle of legend, the ASUS GRYPHON Z87 is ready to fight over air or water with a giant wingspan of features that cover a broad range of users. A warrior of The Ultimate Force, it also has a suit of fortified GRYPHON ARMOR to back it up when things get rough.
Computex Taiwan is the leading computer tradeshow in the year. Thanks to its asian location the booths are full of hot show girls in short skirts. TechPowerUp brings you the complete collection with over 120 girls - including high-res images.
Card readers are steadily catching up with the fastest memory cards out there, and with the help of USB 3.0, speeds well beyond those of USB 2.0 can be achieved. Lexar packs all this punch into the Professional USB 3.0 Dual-Slot Reader aimed at professional users that need the fasted transfer speeds.
Fractal Design is making a strong entry into the PSU market with many interesting PSU offerings. Today, we are going to take a look at the Tesla R2 1000 W, a PSU with a non-modular design, but Gold efficiency and good overall performance.
AMD Richland APUs have been talked about in enthusiast circles for weeks. Rumors have made their rounds and everyone is left wondering. I take a look at AMD's A10-6800K, put it through the paces, and see what's what in the world of Elite A-Series APUs.
The combination of brand and name goes well with a compact gaming chassis. A fairly compact predator with the ability to strike at its opponents. Clocking in at a budget friendly $39.99, the Spike stands out in the crowd of other mATX cases.
Noctua seems to have a mantra of silence, quality, and excellent support, and this mantra is enjoyed by enthusiasts the world over. Today, we put this mantra to the test again as we review their latest cooler the NH-U12S. This single tower design offers ultra low noise levels and 100% RAM compatibility.
In this review we compare the latest top Haswell processor Core i7-4770K against two unlocked Ivy Bridge CPUs. We test synthetic performance, real-life computing performance and gaming.
Man the ramparts! A dragon is approaching! It's coming to eat our pretty Haswells! Clad in black and red like its older brother, MSI's Z87-GD65 GAMING was genetically engineered out of the base DNA the Z77-GD65 GAMING used, but don't be fooled, the Z87-GD65 GAMING has a few unique abilities.
Today, Intel released their new Haswell processors which include improvements to the integrated graphics core. We test 17 of the latest games to investigate whether the Intel HD Graphics 4600 is of any use for serious PC gaming.
Silverstone has expanded their portfolio of CPU coolers with the all new Argon series AR03 cooler. Featuring a blue and white fan and six heatpipes, this traditional tower cooler serves up exceptional cooling performance with solid acoustics.
The ASUS GTX 770 employs the company's well-known DirectCU II thermal solution using heatpipes that directly touch the GPU surface for optimum heat transfer. The card is also overclocked out of the box.
Palit has equipped their GTX 770 JetStream with a 2.5-slot cooler that promises lower temperatures and improved fan noise. The card also comes with a large 100 MHz overclock, which is amongst the highest available.
Gigabyte's GeForce GTX 770 features the company's new WindForce 3X cooler with three fans to keep the card cool. The card is also overclocked out of the box for an extra performance boost.
Today, NVIDIA released their new GeForce GTX 770, which is based on an improved GTX 680 design. The card features higher clocks and the new Boost 2.0 algorithm. It also comes with shiny new 7 Gbps GDDR5 memory, which is a first for a graphics card.
FLY is the name of Gigabyte's first set of headphones. These supra-aural headphones only weigh 79g and feature a heavy-duty cable. Despite their low weight, Gigabyte managed to fit 40 mm drivers into the medium-sized ear cups.
PowerColor's HD 7850 SCS3 is a fanless implementation of the HD 7850, which means that it does not emit any noise while offering enough performance for serious gaming in full HD. With a price increase of $25 over the reference design, it's not too expensive either.
Prowling the depths of extreme environments, the Kingston HyperX Predator DIMMs come out from Kingston's lab to settle within the hot jungle of your PC case. Today, we take a look at the 2400 MHz C11 2x4 GB kit, one of the few affordable higher-end kits on the market.
EVGA has engineered a new cooler for their GeForce GTX 780 called ACX--Active Cooling Xtreme. This dual-fan design delivers temperatures and noise levels that match the quiet NVIDIA reference design. The GTX 780 SC ACX is also overclocked, which yields performance higher than the Titan.
Gigabyte's GTX 780 WindForce OC introduces a brand-new triple-slot cooler design that uses improved heatpipe technology. Thanks to a large overclock out of the box and clever thermal engineering, the card ends up faster than the GeForce GTX Titan.
NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 780 delivers impressive performance. We put two of them into an SLI configuration to see what you can expect when doubling down on the GTX 780.
Today, NVIDIA released their new GeForce GTX 780, which is based on the GK110 GPU - just like the GTX Titan. The new card not only inherits the fantastic looks of the Titan, but is also very close to it in overall performance. NVIDIA's pricing is certainly not cheap at $649.
Today, we will take a look at a small and affordable NAS server from Shuttle, a company that specializes in the development and production of mini PCs. The OMNINAS KD20 supports up to two HDDs, doesn't cost much, and supports Android- and iOS-based devices.
ZOTAC's GTX Titan AMP! Edition comes with increased GPU and memory clocks for an extra performance boost. The package also includes three Assassin's Creed games and a Metro: Last Light coupon. But with pricing of $1139 is it worth it?
Cooltek has expanded the Coolcube line with two new cases. On one hand, the ultra-compact Coolcube Mini and, on the other, the mATX Coolcube Maxi. We had the chance to look at the larger of the two, which cannot only hold a larger motherboard, but also more hard drives and bigger components.
The Rosewill RDEE-12002 combines USB 3.0 with the latest generation SATA interface. With easy access to the interior, solid use of aluminum, and the ability to hold even the tallest high-capacity drives, the list of specifications makes for an impressive read, but will it perform?
Sunrise is known for their high end ear buds. Today, we will take a good look at their two most recent offerings--namely, the Charm3 and Dragon2 ear buds. Both come with a big bundle and are competitively priced.
Phanteks seeks to beat the heat with the PH-TC12DX. Comprised of two fin stacks, each made up of 49 anodized aluminum cooling fins, and paired with a nickel-plated copper base and heatpipes, This U-type cooler might just have what it takes.
Crucial's new M500 SSD is built on an upgraded Marvell flash controller with new 20 nanometer 128 Gbit die MLC flash. This combination makes for a very affordable drive that also provides excellent performance in both synthetic and real-life performance testing.
Shuttle is a key player in the mini-PC, slim-PC, and barebone system market. Today, we will check on their Slim-PC DS61 solution that was designed for digital signage purposes, although it can easily, depending on the CPU and other hardware you install, play the roles of an office PC, HTPC, etc.
MSI's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost Gaming uses the company's famous TwinFrozr dual-fan cooler. In our testing, we see fantastic noise levels that make the card almost inaudible even during heavy gaming. The card is overclocked, too, which makes it a great buy, being just $5 more expensive than the reference design.
The flagship custom in-ear solution by Ultimate Ears gets put to the test against the best customs around. The Personal Reference Monitors target audiophiles who want a go at tuning their own custom in-ears. Almost everything is customizable, from the sound signature to the bundle.
PQI has made things as small as possible with the i-mini flash drive while also offering the modern USB 3.0 interface. We take the minuscule i-mini for a spin to see if PQI has not shaved off too much performance in the process of shrinking things down.
The Phanteks PH-TC14PE is a behemoth of a CPU cooler that looks ready to maul the competition. This anodized aluminum and nickle-plated copper beast has twin cooling towers and five 8 mm heatpipes. Are the giant towers and fleshed-out pipes enough to deliver top tier performance?
The Samsung 840 SSD is the first solid-state drive using TLC flash technology, which promises higher data density for a lower overall cost. Our testing sees decent performance that turns into "outstanding" when taking into account performance per dollar and price per GB.
The Enermax NAXN series is one of the few models Enermax doesn't produce themselves. This is done for cost-reduction reasons. In this review, we will check on the performance of the strongest member of the NAXN 82+ ADV line. It has a capacity of 650 W, features a non-modular design, and is 80 Plus Bronze certified.
Fourteen SSDs, quad VGAs, 32 GB of RAM, and 8 threads of high performance Intel horsepower--is that what you are looking for? Look no further as the ASRock Z77 Extreme11 offers all that. ASRock's flagship Intel Z77 Express product, the Z77 Extreme11, does it all and includes an LSI SAS controller for an additional eight SATA ports.
The Android operating system is starting to invade the world of PCs. Today, we will test a mini-PC from Giada, the Q11. It uses an ARM CPU and runs on an Android OS. This unit has access to numerous applications through the Google Play store and consumes very little energy, barely exceeding 10 W at full load.
Inno3D has engineered a unique GTX 650 Ti Boost using the company's iChill triple-slot, dual-fan cooler. It provides amazing noise levels, which makes the card almost inaudible during gameplay. Temperatures are also much improved, so the triple-slot design certainly paid off. The card is also overclocked and comes at a reasonable $190 price-point.
Lian Li has taken a traditional mini-tower case and moved the PSU to the side of the chassis. The result is the PC-V650: a case that can still take full-sized components for a powerful rig. This unique capability, the four pre-installed fans, and a card reader, make it an interesting foundation for a functional high-end system.
Silverstone's Heligon series HE01 is a truly monstrous and unique cooler. The insane 140 mm x 38 mm 171 CFM fan really serves up some big air flair. Will the Heligon HE01 deliver blistering performance or is its big fan just for show?
Corsair decided to enrich their mainstream CX series with new units that feature modular cables. Today, we will test the fresh CX600M going for only a few more bucks than its non-modular CX600 counterpart. The "M" specification will most likely have many users pick the new unit over the non-modular version, despite the slight price increase.
Today, AMD releases their highly anticipated HD 7990 dual-GPU flagship. It is based on two full Tahiti GPUs running at 1000 MHz. AMD has also worked hard to keep power draw and noise in check, but can this $1000 card compete with NVIDIA's GTX 690 and GTX Titan?
Rosewill recently updated its mechanical gaming keyboard lineup with the introduction of the RK-9100. New for the 9100-series keyboards are LED lit key modes. This keyboard features the same sturdy steel base plate design as its predecessor.
XFX has completely revamped the HD 7790 reference design, optimizing it around their requirements. The R7790 Black Edition OC 2 GB comes at the reference design price of $150, yet is overclocked out of the box and provides twice the video memory. But can its extra memory make a difference?
Cooler Master teamed up with Seasonic to make a strong entry into the high-end category where it faces competition using the same OEM (Seasonic). The new V series consists of three models. Today, we will test the strongest one featuring a capacity of 1 kW, a fully modular cabling design, Gold efficiency, and a single +12V rail.
From within MSI's high-tech laboratories, the MSI Z77A-GD65 GAMING motherboard is a dragon unleashed to deliver the best in gaming performance from every angle. Equipped with a KillerNIC E2205 Ethernet Controller and a high-end Realtek Audio CODEC, the board also has the looks and the performance to bring the latest game to its knees.
GELID Solutions are experts when it comes to keeping components cool. Their Black Edition CPU cooler looks to make its mark with impressive cooling performance and ultra-low noise levels.
RHA's new portable on-ear headphones are put to the test. These $59.99 headphones feature an Apple i-device compatible remote and microphone, which make it great for on-the-go use. With its user-replaceable cable, you do not need to worry about the cable wearing out.
Silverstone has a rich variety of PSU offerings to cover all market segments and every user's needs. Today, we will take a look at one of their budget PSUs: the Strider Essential ST50F-ES promising good and reliable performance without any extra bells and whistles in order to be as affordable as it gets.
EVGA's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost SuperClocked comes with a large overclock of 92 MHz out of the box which gives it a significant performance boost over the reference design. Since it's only $10 more expensive than the reference GTX 650 Ti Boost, the card actually offers a better price/performance ratio than the original.
A rabid animal hungry for food, the Kingston HyperX Beast stampedes into the overclocking scene, ripping through our benchmarks like no other. Clocked in at 2400 MHz out of the box, these beasts are ready to take on whatever you want to feed them.
Updated to the latest Ivy Bridge mobile hardware, the ASRock VisionX HTPC is a high-power HTPC option that is ready to knock the socks off its competitors. Packed with a powerful AMD Radeon GPU and a Blu-Ray drive, the ASRock VisionX HTPC isn't only pretty to look at, it also puts on a good show!
Toshiba recently released new solid-state drives based on their own 19 nm flash chips and a rebranded Marvell controller. In our testing, we see amazing real-life performance results that easily beat drives from other well-known vendors, like Samsung, Corsair, and OCZ.
After the Centurion 5 in 2004, Cooler Master is rebooting the Centurion series with the 6th edition of the chassis. The series has always been known for offering excellent quality and good features for a small price. Will the Centurion 6 make its predecessors proud, or will it just in cash on the name?
Corsair's new Hydro Series H110 is a monster of a cooler with its 280 mm radiator, but is bigger always better? It is time to put the H110 to the test and see what all the hype is about.
Ozone's newest gaming headset dubbed Rage ST gets put to the test. The headset retails for €29.90 and is available in a lot of different colors. Unlike many lower end gaming headsets, the Rage ST has an around-ear design, which gives them an edge in terms of comfort.
The ASUS GeForce GTX 670 DirectCU Mini promises to revolutionize the small-form-factor gaming market. It finally enables you to build a powerful mini-ITX gaming rig that can handle all the latest titles in full HD at highest settings. Our testing shows that there are no compromises to be made in terms of noise and performance.
With GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost having just been released last week, at amazing pricing, we were curious to see how two of these cards in SLI handle our test suite of 17 games. Scaling worked very well and performance easily matched the GTX 680 and HD 7970 GHz Edition, with a much better price/performance ratio.
Today, we get to fully evaluate another high-end SMB NAS server from QNAP. The TS-569 Pro can accommodate up to five HDDs for a total of 20TB storage with 4TB drives. This NAS is also compatible with QNAP's new feature, the HD Station, which transforms it into a fully capable media player.
ASUS has equipped their GTX 650 Ti Boost with a silent Direct CU II cooler and a small GPU overclock out of the box. They also changed the voltage regulation circuity, which results in a 5% efficiency improvement. Pricing is up by a reasonable $10, resulting in a price of $179.
Func's leave from the gaming scene is over, and they are back with a revamped 1030 mat and a brand new mouse dubbed the MS-3. Based on Func's previous outings, the bar is set high for their products. We take both mat and mouse for a spin to see if they can live up to the Func name.
ZOTAC's GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost uses a compact dual-fan cooler to significantly improve noise levels and temperatures over the GTX 650 Ti reference design. The card comes at the reference design price of $169, which makes it a great choice for anyone looking for a card in the sub-$200 market.
Today, NVIDIA launches their new GeForce GTX 650 Ti Boost offering a large performance increase thanks to the added Boost algorithm and wider bus interface. With a price of only $169, it is the new price/performance king in the sub-$200 segment.
In a crowded market where everyone is releasing all-in-one liquid CPU coolers, is Cooler Master's Seidon 120XL different enough to distinguish itself from the competition? The low price point of $89 is certainly enough to attract attention.
Today, we test our first Cougar PSU, the PowerX-550 that belongs to the mainstream category. It addresses the budget-oriented user looking for a reliable PSU that will get the job done. This unit doesn't include many bells and whistles, but promises a high price/performance ratio.
PowerColor's new HD 7790 is a custom design, overclocked implementation of the HD 7790. It uses a dual-fan cooler and comes at $149, so there is no price premium for a better cooler or an overclock out-of-the-box.
AMD's newly released HD 7790 provides great price/performance in the sub-$200 segment and supports CrossFire. So we wondered: Can you build a powerful and cost-efficient gaming rig with two HD 7790 cards in CrossFire configuration?
Sapphire's new Radeon HD 7790 Dual-X improves on the reference design with a dual-fan cooler and large overclock out of the box. The highlight of our review is certainly the large overclocking potential of the card.
Today, AMD released their new Radeon HD 7790 to provide a competitively priced option to gamers. The ASUS HD 7790 DC II comes overclocked out of the box for an even smoother experience. In our testing, we also see amazing noise levels.
The Tt eSPORTS Level 10 M gaming mouse has a lot of new novel features, like an adjustable palm plate and an aluminum base. We take it for a spin and see how it fares against simpler mice!
Enermax, one of the major power supply unit manufacturers, recently introduced their Thriathlor series consisting of mainstream budget-orientated units. This review will look at the entry level modular Thriathlor PSU with 550 W capacity to figure out how it performs against our load testers.
In Win once more aims to create a unique chassis with an even more extraordinary approach than the H-Frame, as the D-Frame uses welded aluminum pipes and a die-cast metal core for an unbelievably cool and unique chassis of which only 1000 will ever be sold.
The Cooltek is an extremely light, full aluminum Mini-ITX case. It features a simple but effective design, the ability to hold a full ATX power supply, and keeps overall dimensions as compact as possible.
If you are looking for a compact flash drive that is robust enough to go on your key chain while still offering the benefit of a USB 3.0 interface, the PQI Tiffy is certainly a good candidate on paper. We take the unit for a spin to see if it can combine the best of both worlds: shape, size and speed.
According to Silverstone, the Strider Gold series represents the perfect balance of performance, efficiency, and quality. We will take a look at the mid-level member of the series, the ST65F-G. It can deliver 650 W of power, utilizes a fully modular cabling design, and has an extra small footprint.
With more and more of today's CPU coolers getting ever larger, Noctua has released the NH-L12. This small, versatile, low-profile cooler gets put to the test as we find out just what it offers today's PC enthusiasts.
The Sapphire VS8 is the new high-end model in the manufacturer's Mini-PC line-up. Equipped with a quad-core CPU and Radeon 7600 graphics, the VS8 manages to impress, setting new standards in performance for a system of this size.
To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the HyperX brand, Kinston has released a limited edition line up called the HyperX Genesis 10th Anniversary Special Edition. We take a look at the top-end 16 GB 2400 MHz CL11 kit, a blazing fast kit with performance to match.
RHA is a headphone company which gaining more and more momentum. Today we will be taking a look at their MA350 in-ears which sell at $39.99 and pack a lot of bass and very good build quality. On top of that you get a 3 year warranty.
Seasonic upgraded their smaller fanless units with the new KM3 platform. Not only does it offer better performance than the KM2 platform, but it also offers the highly sought after Platinum efficiency certification. Today, we will take a look at the fresh fanless unit with 460 W capacity and Platinum efficiency.
Kingston's HyperX 3K SSD is positioned at a more affordable price level than its blue non-3K sibling. Our performance testing reveals surprising numbers: the drive actually ends up being faster than the regular HyperX.
The Zotac ZBOX AD06 utilizes the newest generation of AMD APUs, while the Plus model comes fully configured with a 320 GB hard drive and pre-installed memory.
Intel's latest Ivy Bridge processors promise extra high performance in every sector (gaming, encoding, etc.). Today, we will compare the performance of the most popular models: the Core i5-3570K and the Core i7-3770K, at stock and overclocked.
The Kingston Ultimate 3.0 G3 flash drive is a third-generation unit for professional business users demanding high performance and a solid, understated, stylish, and cap-less design. With capacities of up to 64 GB, it also offers the storage required by some.
The NOX Xtreme Coolbay VX Goblin Green Edition offers a whole lot of bang for your buck with a long list of features and some unique aspects for a surprisingly low price tag. Is it a goblin's magic trick, or is there some real substance behind this unbelievable mix of price and performance?
Forged deep in the depths of Poseidon's armory, G.Skill's F3-2666C11Q-16GTXD kit is a weapon for the seasoned and new overclocker. The G.Skill F3-2666C11Q-16GTXD, clad in black and red, pushes the limits of performance at a decent cost, making it a valuable weapon to any enthusiast.
NZXT released the successor of their flagship HALE90 series, the HALE90 V2. The latter includes three members that retain the same efficiency – Gold - while the competition has already jumped on the Platinum wagon, but it has many interesting features and looks great. In this review, we will look at the HALE90 V2 1000 W.
Dropped like a block of gold on your foot, the ECS A85F2-A Golden arrived on my doorstep, nearly blinding me with its flashy package. The ECS A85F2-A Deluxe is ECS's high-end AMD APU offering right now, and it is sure to add that "bling" to any new AMD APU build.
We compare one, two, and three GeForce TITAN cards in our multi-GPU comparison on X79. The cards will have to fight against three HD 7970 GHz Editions, two GTX 690s, and three GTX 680s to settle the argument: what is the fastest graphics solution you can buy today?
Announced earlier this week, NVIDIA's $1000 GeForce GTX TITAN set out to claim the single-GPU performance throne. The new card offers not only performance improvements but also comes with a new GPU Boost 2.0 algorithm that helps keep temperature and noise levels down.
JDSLabs's O2+ODAC combination combines two designs by NwAvGuy with excellent build quality and a sturdy enclosure. The O2+ODAC sells at just $285 which, performance considered, is a bargain. We test whether this amplifier and DAC combination is really the giant slayer it is made out to be!
The Coolink Corator is a competitively priced cooler for Intel's LGA2011 socket. Not only pricing is good, but it also provides decent cooling performance at relatively low noise levels.
The Xigmatek Asgard Pro is one of the most affordable cases out of the company's current line-up, but it may fool some into believing it is more expensive through the way it looks and is constructed. We dig in to see if this brethren of the Asgard deserves the Pro naming or if it is nothing but a good-looking shell.
Today, we will look at Fractal Design's fresh Newton R3 1000 W power supply. The press loves their cases, but Fractal PSUs haven't knocked anyone's socks off yet. Can their first Platinum efficiency unit change things for the better?
The Precision PS08 is the newest addition to the Precision family of cases from Silverstone. Its key selling point is the ability to hold large graphics cards within its compact and nearly weightless belly, but is it enough to sway people away from mid-tower cases for the same price?
Today we have on our testbench the EVGA GTX 650 Ti SSC with 2 GB of GDDR5 memory. The card runs at 1072 MHz GPU clock, which is higher than any other GTX 650 Ti available at this time. Using manual overclocking we could even increase memory clocks by 40%!
HiFiMAN's newest baby, the RE-400 in-ears, are put to the test. The in-ears will retail for $99, and it is clear that HiFiMAN is pulling out all the stops to regain leadership in the sub $99 in-ear segment. Packed with several new features, these in-ears are an interesting departure from previous HiFiMAN designs.
Aerocool enters the high-end PSU market with their fresh GT-SG PSU series. It offers great looks, Gold efficiency, modular cables, and quiet operation. In this review, we will take a detailed look at the GT-SG unit with a capacity of 700 W - Aerocool's medium capactiy member of the series.
ASUS's monsterous ROG flagship is here! The ASUS Maximus V Extreme is built for the hardcore overclocker, with its sights firmly set at knocking the competition off of the top overclocking global records. Packed full of overclocking features and options, I get to see if I can make this lion purr. Turns out, it's easier than I had hoped.
The Xigmatek Asgard 381 is aimed at first-time DIY builders on a budget. It comes in three different colors with the basic feature set we have come to expect from modern enclosures. This includes USB 3.0 and plenty of space for large components - all at a low price tag of below 40 USD.
Leetgion's El'Druin Diablo III gaming mouse is put to the test. This mouse has been optimized for Diablo III and features a lot of unique functions such as a S-Pad controller and a secondary scroll wheel.
The Mushkin Chronos 240 GB comes at an amazing price of just $165, which makes it one of the most affordable drives out there if you want to get going with SSDs. But does such a value oriented SSD offer the performance you need?
Silverstone has a rich portfolio of PSU products, which became even richer with the addition of the Strider Plus 600 W unit: one of the shortest ATX PSUs available on the market. This one exploits a fully modular design, which greatly simplifies the installation process, something many users will appreciate.
Corsair is once again expanding their lineup of CPU cooling solutions. This time with the Hydro Series H90, pairing good cooling and low noise levels up in one attractive package. At less than $100 it is also priced competitively to go head-to-head with high-end air coolers.
Looking at overclocking your new AMD FM2 APU to the max? Just want to build a light-budget gaming rig with a ton of features? The ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 is ready for both. It is ASRock's top AMD A85 chipset offering, packed full of features, including one or two no other FM2 board provides.
Creative's long awaited new line of sound cards is here. Today, we take a thorough look at the new entry-level model called "Sound Blaster Z". The sound card comes equipped with the new Sound Core processor and Creative even bundles it with a decent microphone.
ASUS releases their ARES II dual-GPU HD 7990 today. Using two full Tahiti GPUs with clock speeds beyond the HD 7970 GHz Edition, it provides plenty of performance for even the most demanding titles at their highest settings. But does it provide enough to warrant a price of $1599?
PC Power & Cooling decided to enrich their Silencer MK3 line with two new units of 750 W and 850 W capacity. Today, we will fully test the 750 W unit featuring a semi-modular cabling design, Gold efficiency, selectable hybrid fan operation and a nice white color.
EVGA's new GeForce GTX 670 FTW Signature 2 comes with a brand-new dual-fan cooler providing a very quiet experience. Performance is also great thanks to an overclock out of the box that matches GTX 680 clock frequencies.
NZXT has taken the 820 and shrunk it, removing some non-vital features in the process: the case clocks in at 50 US Dollars less while still being quite massive, with the same futuristic look and extremely well-engineered interior. We take the 200 US Dollar case for a spin to see if we end up eyeing its bigger brother at all.
The 840 Pro SSD is Samsung's current flagship solid state drive. It comes with increased performance and better steady state long-time endurance. We pit the 840 Pro against ten other SSDs, including the OCZ Vector.
With the HAF XB, Cooler Master has taken a HAF case and some tech bench genes to create a unique chassis that turns out to be quite the useful enclosure - for both (LAN Party) Gamers and avid tinkerers.
The Kingston DataTraveler HyperX is one of the fastest flash drives from the memory manufacturer. It advertises speeds of more than 200 MB/s write and 100 MB/s read. Too good to be true? We take a close look to find out.
The VTX3D HD 7870 Black is based on AMD's recent Tahiti LE GPU. It comes with 1536 shaders and very decent clock speeds. As a result, the card is 8% faster than the HD 7870 and almost as fast as the HD 7950 that costs significantly more.
Looking to build a tiny HTPC, or a diminutive LAN box? Shopping for a board that fits? Today, we take a look at the Gigabyte Z77N-WiFi, a mini-ITX Intel Z77 Express motherboard fitted with a slew of options including Intel's WiDi for wireless video connectivity.
The Node 605 may be considered the larger brother of the Node 304, but it is aimed at the HTPC user looking for an excellent case of similar dimensions for their home theater equipment - with the looks and the functionality of an HT system and a justifiable price tag to go with it.
Ozone Xenon is the name of a brand new mouse that features the Avago ADNS-3090 sensor. The Xenon is a no fuss gaming machine and even side buttons are omitted in order to achieve better handling. We put it to the test to see how it fares against other, similarly priced mice.
Asustor is a new company with the purpose of providing top solutions for network attached storage and video surveillance. We are lucky to have one of their first products for review: the AS-606T NAS server. It is designed for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) or enthusiast users that need a lot of storage space and a ton of features.
Silverstone is taking it to the next level of compactness with the SG09. The case is tiny with just 23 litre volume, but can hold a mATX board, large CPU cooler, long GPUs, and potent PSU. We stuff the chassis full with such gear to see if it can hold it all in.
The OCZ Vector SSD is based on a brand-new Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller that is a 100% in-house development by OCZ. We see outstanding steady state performance and excellent real-life results from this new drive that will strengthen OCZ's position in the SSD market.
Rosewill just introduced their first passive cooling PSU: the SilentNight 500 W made by Super Flower. It offers Platinum efficiency, high performance, and noise output at close to zero levels because of the absence of a cooling fan. This unit goes up against some strong competition, but has many interesting features.
Antec has updated their ISK100 mini-PC to fit a modern mini-ITX board with desktop CPU and standard cooling. As the name implies, the new unit also offers the ability to be mounted on the back of a monitor VESA 100 mount with the included tray.
Despite having new Platinum PSUs available, Seasonic decided to keep some Gold units in their arsenal to provide an alternative to users that want an affordable high-end PSU at competitive pricing. In this review, we will evaluate the Seasonic X-750 that utilizes the company's latest KM3 platform.
Corsair continues to move down the price range ladder to offer cases for every budget. The Carbide 200R is the most affordable case from Corsair yet, but still manages to impress with a simple but very effective feature set.
Intel's 330 Series SSD is available in a capacity of 180 GB, which could be the new sweet spot for users who need more than 120 GB of storage. Being based on the Sandforce SF-2281 controller, it offers good performance at a very competitive cost per Gigabyte.
Corsair is hitting the high-end category hard with their excellent AXi and AX units. In a recent review we evaluated the AX760, which amazed us with its features and the performance it registered. Now, the time has come for its stronger sibling, the AX860, to prove its worth against our loaders.
The Sugo SG08 is the flagship version of this type of chassis for ITX boards from Silverstone. With a thick aluminum front panel and solid 600W PSU, it demands quite the hefty price tag. We make the SUGO eat an ITX board and large graphics card to see if it can keep its figure or whether such a set-up would tear at its seams.
Fractal Design is making a strong re-entry into the PSU market, and their fresh Integra R2 series addresses the budget-oriented users. In this review, we will evaluate the strongest Integra R2 unit; it manages to combine enough power with compact dimensions, since its length is restricted to 140 mm, so it will fit into an extra-small chassis.
ASUS's ROG Vulcan Pro headset features an active noise-cancellation system and folds up neatly in its carrying bag. ASUS even throws in a well-performing USB sound card. We put this well-featured headset to the test to see if active noise cancellation is the next must-have on gaming headsets.
After the super expensive NEX1500 Classified, EVGA caught us off-guard by enriching the SuperNOVA series with two budget oriented PSUs featuring Gold efficiency and a fully modular cabling design. Today, we will evaluate the NEX750G with half the capacity of the NEX1500 at a quarter of the price.
Club3D is the first one to release a Tahiti LE based HD 7870. Their jokerCard runs 1536 shaders with very decent clock speeds, which results in an 8% performance improvement over HD 7870 - just 2% shy of matching HD 7950. This performance increase does come at the cost of increased power draw, though.
Rosewill recently introduced their flagship series named Tachyon, which lists four Platinum efficiency PSUs made by Super Flower. The Tachyon 1000 W is the strongest unit of the series and supports up to three high-end VGAs, thanks to its powerful +12V rail and to the six PCIe connectors it is equipped with.
Logitech UE's newest universal high-end in-ear gets put to the test. The UE 900s are a set of quad-driver in-ears. They ship with an extensive bundle including two cable options with and without a podded microphone and a remote.
Corsair's new AX power supplies bring a long awaited refresh to the series. The fresh Corsair AX860 and AX760 PSUs are based on Seasonic's Platinum platform, and we will evaluate the 760 W unit in this review.
Built with one of the most crazy power designs ever, featuring no less than 40 phases for CPU and memory, each capable of 60 Amps, the Gigabyte Z77X-UP7 is Gigabyte's new flagship model. This board does it all and has Quad SLI & CrossFire support. But do Gigabyte's words "A New Legend is Born?" ring true?
The HIS Radeon HD 7950 IceQ X² Boost comes with a large overclock, which increases its out of the box performance to GTX 670 levels. Thanks to a large dual fan cooler we also see great temperature and massive overclocking potential: +20% real life performance from overclocking.
Fractal Design expands their line of cases with the NODE family aiming to provide unique enclosures to storage and HTPC enthusiasts. We take the little one - the NODE 304 - for a spin to see what scenario it is best suited for.
A new PSU series, named Power Force, was just added to Kingwin's portfolio. It currently includes only one member with 850 W capacity. The PF-850 features a semi-modular cabling design and Bronze efficiency. With a price tag a little above 100 bucks, it targets the budget oriented user.
The Lexar JumpDrive Triton tries to offer excellent build quality with quite the performance. Even though Lexar advertises maximum attainable speeds and not average numbers, the Triton still manages to push the envelope in read speeds while achieving good write performance.
Biostar is at it again with a mid-range entry level product, the Biostar Hi-Fi A85W. Ready to rock out with AMD's new Piledriver FM2 APUs, the Biostar Hi-Fi A85W comes with an audio-oriented theme that's usually reserved for high-end products. Did it play sweet music, or is it a bit out of tune?
Silverstone decided to bring back their top of the line power supply series named after the "Father of Gods and men". The new Zeus ZM1350 is currently the flagship of Silverstone's PSU offerings, and it promises top of the line performance with 1350W continuous power at 50°C.
The HIS HD 7970 X Turbo is the company's entry into the super high-end HD 7970 market. It comes with a massively overclocked GPU which provides a 6% performance boost over the GHz Edition. Also included are six monitor outputs that can be used at the same time without breaking dual-link DVI functionality.
In Win recently released the third version of their combat PSUs, the Commander III. The new series consists of three members, and today we will take a look at the smallest of them whith 600 W capacity, Gold efficiency, a modular design, and a unique, tactile finish!
Being a more affordable product from Lexar, we do not expect the JumpDrive S73 to break any records, but it should still deliver the benefits of USB 3.0 connectivity. While it does lack write speed, it makes up some ground in read performance.
Seasonic has decided to upgrade the platforms of their smaller PSU models, which includes the fanless ones. The fresh SS-520FL features Platinum efficiency, increased capacity, and promises sky high efficiency. Read our review to find out how good this new Seasonic PSU is.
Got a shiny new FM2 APU, and want to clock the snot out of it? Looking to add a couple of RAID controllers to house a storage monster? Gigabyte's got the F2A85X-UP4 for you! Built with enthusiasts in mind, the F2A85X-UP4 comes with a lot of overclocking features.
A couple of days ago we reviewed the Corsair AX760i, which impressed us with amazing performance. Today we'll evaluate its bigger brother, the AX860i, which should perform equally as good and offer the same features with a little higher capacity.
The MX-ES can be mistaken for a cheap run-of-the-mill USB 2.0 drive, but its generic housing holds an SLC-flash-based heart. Mach Xtreme got us drooling with advertised speeds of 170/185 MB/s read/write. The drive did not quite hit those numbers, but managed to get our nod of approval.
CM Storm just launched the Recon gaming mouse and the Scorpion mouse bungee. Today, we test to see whether the Recon has the performance to take up the fight against other mid-range gaming mice. We will also see if mouse bungees should get their place back on our gaming desks.
Corsair's new AX860i and AX760i promise to blow away the competition with their performance and digital (DSP) control. The smaller of the two will be the test subject of this review, and we are eager to see how it will perform on our test bench.
The HIS HD 7750 IceQ X Turbo is a custom design, overclocked HD 7750. A separate 6-pin PCI-Express power connector has been added to the card, which improves power delivery and might have an effect on overclocking potential. In our testing, we saw over 25% real-life performance gain from overclocking.
Patriot has released an updated version of the Rage drive that offers up to 180 MB/s read and 50 MB/s write in a small & compact package. We take a closer look to find out if the Rage XT is like Speedy Gonzales, or ends up huffin' and puffin' through the benchmarks.
Fresh on store shelves is Biostar with a completely new take on budget-board features through none other than the Hi-Fi Z77X. Bringing upgraded audio functions to the entry-level market, the Biostar Hi-Fi Z77X is going to rock your socks off.
With the successful ST45SF counting more than two years in production, it was about time for Silverstone to release its successor, the ST45SF-G. The latter is the strongest SFX PSU and on top of that is the only one in its category that features Gold efficiency and a fully modular cabling.
The Zotac ZBOX nano is minuscule in size, but packs a full AMD based system within. The compact dimensions along with the wall mount and plethora of connectivity make the ZBOX nano an interesting choice for HPTC and Office users.
Logitech bought Ultimate Ears about a year ago and now we are finally seeing the first joint effort of the two companies. Today we will be taking a look at their new Boombox which is a basically a battery powered wireless speaker with over six hours of battery life.
Synology recently introduced several new NAS servers, including the DS213+ which includes many upgrades over its predecessor. A dual-core processor powers the DS213+ offering faster speeds in every RAID configuration it supports. Also, with only 2.6 Watts during system hibernation this NAS offers great energy savings, something many users will appreciate.
Unlike the majority of SSDs on the market, the MX DS Turbo SLC uses the faster and more durable SLC flash chips. As a result the drive is the fastest SSD we ever tested, and it also comes with improved durability thanks to the different flash type.
NZXT has evolved the Phantom into the next generation chassis. Bigger, more elaborate, plenty of new features and a higher price tag are some of what sets the Phantom 820 apart from its older brethren. Is this big case a true evolution into something great or a mere mutation with no place to be?
Without much fanfare, AMD is launching yet another new product, this time the Piledriver-based AM3+ CPUs. Ready as a drop-in replacement for current 9-series AMD motherboards, the FX-8350 not only offers a bit of a surprise in performance, but also a suprise that your wallet will like too!
MSI's new GeForce GTX 660 HAWK is a fully customized, overclocked GTX 660. It comes with the company's signature TwinFrozr cooler and includes goodlies like dual BIOS and voltage measurements points.
Today AMD announced a new game bundle for their Radeon graphics cards and the new Catalyst 12.11 driver which brings performance improvements across the board. We test each card of the HD 7000 lineup in 20 games and benchmarks to verify what the new driver offers.
QNAP recently released their new TS-x69L series which, in essence, is the economical alternative to the Pro series, but with almost identical performance because the same hardware is used. In this review we will evaluate the TS-869L NAS, which can take up to eight HDDs for up to 32 TB of storage!
Nanoxia is known for its cooling products. Their first chassis takes aim at the established Fractal Design Define family and fires a few salvos in the direction of the R4. Does the Deep Silence 1 have what it takes to stand up to the established players? You will be just as suprised as we are.
The ASUS HD 7970 Matrix Platinum is the company's new card geared towards enthusiasts and hardware overclockers. It comes with many features for the extreme crowd, but also caters to more normal users. One unique feature is buttons on the card that let you adjust voltage on the fly.
Akasa enriched their Venom Power PSU series with two new models, featuring Gold efficiency. Today we will take a detailed look at the Venom 850 W which utilizes semi-modular cable design and has a strong +12V rail that can deliver up to 70 A of current, making it suitable for systems equipped with two high-end VGAs.
The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 650 Ti AMP! Edition comes with a large overclock on both GPU and memory. Having 2 GB GDDR5, it also features twice the memory capacity than most other GTX 650 Ti cards. Will these improvements provide enough performance and is pricing low enough to make the card competitive?
KRK Systems are known for their high-end studio monitors. Today we will be taking a good hard look at their entry level model dubbed Rokit 5. Instead of the usual studio use we see how usable they are as PC speakers.
Like a high-priced premium sports car, the ASRock Z77 OC Formula races to the finish line, equipped with XFast speed. Bred with nothing other in mind than breaking clock limits while retaining full stability, ASRock has enrolled Nick Shih, to help them design one of the best overclocking-centric products.
The new ASUS GeForce GTX 650 Ti DirectCu II TOP comes with a 100 MHz clock increase out of the box, which gives the card an extra performance boost. It also features a DC II thermal solution that is ultra-quiet, despite its two fans.
Today MSI launches their new GeForce GTX 650 Ti Power Edition. This card comes overclocked out of the box, runs extremely quiet and has one of the lowest power consumptions we've ever seen. Especially Blu-ray power is ultra-low which might make it a candidate for a media PC.
Cooler Master is entering the fray of the Mini-ITX sector for those wanting to combine a small motherboard with desktop components. It comes with solid build quality and the ability to hold a large high-performance graphics card while keeping the price of the chassis refreshingly affordable.
Recently Enermax enriched their high-end MAXREVO series with the addition of a 1500 W unit. The new MAXREVO 1500 W uses almost the same platform as the Platimax 1500 W and LEPA 1600 W PSUs, so it easily achieves high efficiency throughout all load range along with tremendous power levels.
Rosewill's newest supra-aural headphones, dubbed RHTS-11004, are put to the test. This new old looking design comes with quite a few neat tricks up its sleeves such as user replaceable cable and pleather pads. At only $30 these headphones should definitely be checked out by anyone looking for a set of portable and affordable headphones.
The results are in! Today we take a better look at AMD's FM2 APU performance results, including updated results from the last we posted, now using an AMD A85X-based motherboard instead of AMD's A75 FCH. Does the FCH used matter? Does the APU do its job well?
In this review we will utilize our shiny new Chroma loaders and the Seasonic G-550 will have the honor to be the first PSU tested on them. The G-550 offers Gold efficiency, a semi-modular design, long warranty and promises very good performance. The best part is that all above won't cost you a fortune.
Today we've got an early look at what AMD's latest and greatest desktop products, namely AMD FM2 APUs. Soon to launch into the retail space, we take an early look at what's coming from AMD, in the form of the AMD A10-5800K processor.
The latest case from BitFenix aims to deliver a silent computing experience in combination with extensive cooling and a functional feature set. The unique paint job along with the sleek understated look do not give away much of what the chassis is capable of.
Rosewill's impressive product line-up also includes some very interesting headphones and in-ears. We will be taking a look at the RHTS-11002 Rosewood in-ears which features 10 mm dynamic drivers, and real rosewood ear cups!
Cooler Master presents the new generation of the Scout line of CM Storm cases, simply called the Scout 2. It comes with a long list of new features and brand new looks. We cautiously scout ahead to see what hides behind the exterior.
Corsair's Neutron GTX SSD uses a new Link A Media SSD controller, which is a great addition to a market that's full of SandForce and Marvell drives. The SSD performs very well in our real-life testing, we also added a new MySQL Enterprise benchmark to the test suite.
The PowerColor HD 7870 PCS+ Vortex II is one of the highest clocked HD 7870 cards available today, in our testing we see it match HD 7950 performance. PowerColor also engineered a special feature that lets you adjust the fan's distance from the card, promising improved cooling performance.
In Win is known for their uniquely designed cases. The H-Frame takes this aspect to the next level, combining unrivaled looks with a high quality construction - all at a premium price. With the "out of this world" looks, we will see if the chassis manages to sway us or end up dropping to the surface like a meteor.
Fractal Design has once again refreshed the Define series, now called R4. It brings a few small changes to the table, further improving on the already excellent design.
A few weeks ago, we saw MSI's OC Certified memory launch, which is now available in stores, and those DIMMs sported a pretty fancy color scheme that matches their Lightning VGAs. That set of hardware would not be complete without a board to run those other two in, and today we look at that board, called the MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower. Like the recently-launched memory, the MSI Big Bang Z77 MPower comes "OC Certified", ready to be the base of getting the most out of your other MSI products.
The MSI GeForce GTX 650 Power Edition OC is a fully customized, overclocked, GTX 650 design which comes with a unique cooler. Depending on your cooling requirements you can add a second fan in two possible configurations to reduce temperatures.
The KFA² GTX 650 EX OC uses NVIDIA's new GK107 graphics processor. Despite its reference design pricing it comes with a small overclock out of the box with gives the card a 5% performance advantage over the normal GeForce GTX 650.
In Win's GreenMe 650 Watt power supply comes with 80PLUS Bronze certifcation and a white paint job. That's about all it offers in unique features, but it provides solid clean power at an extremely competitive price.
MSI has equipped their latest GeForce graphics card with its signature Twin Frozr III dual-fan cooler. Despite having two fans the card is quiet in both idle and load and also comes with a nice performance boost thanks to the overclock out of the box.
Zotac's new GTX 660 comes with just a small overclock out of the box, but is offered at reference design pricing. Unlike the other cards tested today it uses a very compact form factor thanks to a shorter cooler, which makes it an attractive choice for a powerful small form factor gaming rig.
The ASUS GTX 660 Direct CU II uses the cooling solution which we love most for its low noise in both idle and load. ASUS has also overclocked their board, which provides enough extra performance to match the AMD Radeon HD 7870.
Today NVIDIA launched their new GTX 660. Gigabyte has sent us their overclocked GTX 660 Windforce OC which also comes with a large dual-fan cooler that provides extremely low temperatures in both idle and load. The overclock out of the box helps to gain some performance on the HD 7870.
CM Storm Sonuz is the name of a brand new headset which features massive 53 mm diameter drivers and a smart detachable microphone. The headset is aimed at gamers looking for good overall performance.
Once again Corsair refreshes their Dominator line-up, and this time, they've got some big changes! Today I've got the Dominator Platinum modules for testing, and none other than the high-end 2666 MHz CL10 kit. Made for overclocking, while having a sleek and very sophisiticated look, the Dominator Platinum brings a lot to the table.
EVGA's new SuperNOVA NEX1500 power supply packs a great deal of features with the most fascinating being its enormous capacity, reaching 1500 W and up to 1650 W, when overclock mode is enabled. Combined with software monitoring and control, the fully modular design and the sleeved cables this is a PSU enthusiast's dream come true.
Gigabyte's newest line of gaming products, dubbed Aivia, features a rather special keyboard which is named Osmium. The keyboard features Cherry MX Red mechanical switches and an unusual amount of extra features such as macro-keys, two scroll wheels, and on-board memory to store up to six different profiles.
Got a ton of hard drives, and not enough ports? Looking to buy a RAID card, and found the $400+ pricing too much? What if you could get a motherboard, and a RAID controller, for less than a RAID card itself? Gigabyte says you can! The Gigabyte X79S-UP5 WiFi is no normal LGA2011 board - fitted with an Intel C606 chip instead of a standard Intel X79 Express, this Workstation product not only has eight SAS ports, but also everything else you need to build your own supercomputer.
Sapphire's new HD 7950 Vapor-X comes overclocked out of the box. Thanks to clever use of the dual BIOS feature you can also activate a second "Lethal Boost" BIOS which runs even higher clocks. Cooling is provided by a large dual fan vapor chamber cooler which keeps the card cool and provides low noise operation.
The FSP AURUM 92+ series was first revealed at CeBIT 2012 and is an update to the successful AURUM series, with the most noteworthy upgrade being the Platinum efficiency. Today we have in our hands the strongest of the AURUM 92+ line, which has 650 W capacity and features a semi-modular design with low profile flat cables.
Looking to get a new high-end motherboard, and don't know what memory to pick? Does that board happen to be red and black? G.Skill takes an older brand and makes it new, this time Trident becomes TridentX, changing from black and blue to black and red, and adds something else, too.
Today we will test the strongest PSU of the newly enriched LEPA G Series, which has 850 W capacity and offers 80 Plus Gold efficiency. The G850-MAS also comes with DC-DC converters for the minor rails generation and uses only Japanese-made caps for enhanced reliability.
The ultra-high-end ASRock X79 Extreme11 is fitted with an onboard PCIe 3.0 LSI RAID controller, and not just one, but TWO PLX PEX8747 PCIE 3.0 switches. The ASRock X79 Extreme11 really does take it to the Extreme, offering functionality and capabilities no other motherboard can claim. But does it perform to the Extreme?
PowerColor's HD 7990 Devil 13 is the first dual-GPU HD 7990 that reaches our labs. This huge triple slot, triple fan card comes with fully enabled Tahiti XT GPUs, running in an internal CrossFire configuration. As a result the Devil 13 is the fastest AMD-based graphics card we ever tested.
Club3D has just released the fastest single-slot low-profile graphics card, based on the HD 7750. This means that full HD gaming on your compact media PC might just be a possibility. In our review we will take a close look at gaming capabilities, but also look at power consumption and noise.
We are testing PC Power & Cooling's new flagship PSU, which promises insane performance even up to 50°C ambient temperatures and also features Platinum efficiency along with a semi-modular design, which utilizes heavy-duty modular connectors. All above are combined with a hefty 7 year warranty.
Epic Gear's line of gaming products is expanding rapidly, and they have just launched a somewhat radical new gaming mouse dubbed Meduza. The Meduza mouse features an HDST tracking system which combines tracking data from both an optical and laser sensor, using an onboard Cortex CPU.
The ASUS Maximus V Formula is the logic evolution of the Maximum V Gene, providing a bigger form factor, new features and a USB based sound card. We take a close look at this new board, which comes at a hefty $380.
Dark Power Pro is Be Quiet's flagship series and today we will review the second strongest member which has 1000 W capacity. With its nine PCIe and two EPS connectors it can support up to four high-end VGAs and server mainboards. Moreover it features silent operation thanks to its special fan design.
Sapphire's HD 7970 Toxic comes with 6 GB GDDR5 memory, a large clock speed increase out of the box, a "Lethal Boost" button to increase performance even further, and a large dual-fan cooler. In our testing this monster delivered the highest single-GPU performance we've ever seen, overclocking worked well, too.
The Samsung 830 Series SSD is based on Samsung's own controller design, which uses a triple core ARM processor, promising better stability. In our performance testing we see outstanding results, which makes the drive the fastest one we ever tested, together with the Corsair Performance Pro.
Microsoft's latest operating system is ready! We took a closer look at gaming performance using NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680 and AMD's Radeon HD 7970 in 19 games at resolutions from 1280x800 to 2560x1600.
The Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 850 W is a well priced mid-range PSU with enough juice to power a triple-GPU system. Besides that, it packs enough interesting features like silent operation, modular cables, 80 Plus Silver efficiency and five year warranty. All that is offered at a very good price, resulting in great price/performance ratio.
First out the gate with Thunderbolt at TPU is none other than Gigabyte, with the Z77X-UP5 TH. Using a layout quite similar to its older sister the Z77X-UD5H, the newcomer Z77X-UP5 TH has a few other new features too, and should not be overlooked.
Palit's GeForce GTX 660 Ti JetStream comes with a large dual-fan triple slot cooler which promises better cooling performance than other GTX 660 Ti cards. We also see great FPS numbers thanks to the factory overclock.
The ASUS GTX 660 Ti Direct CU II TOP uses the same wonderful cooler we've seen first on the company's GTX 670, which means it is by far the quietest high-performance card you can find on the market - in both idle and load. The card is also overclocked out of the box, which gives it a 5% performance advantage.
MSI's GTX 660 Ti Power Edition is one of the fastest GTX 660 Ti cards we tested today because it comes with some secret BIOS sauce that enables it to run faster than other cards at lower clocks. This is also confirmed by our overclocking tests where it reaches the highest overclocked performance of all GTX 660 Ti cards.
ZOTAC's GeForce GTX 660 Ti AMP! Edition comes with a compact footprint, that enables high-performance gaming for smaller cases. Thanks to an overclock out of the box, the card runs around 5% faster than the NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti reference design.
Point of View's GeForce GTX 680 TGT Ultra Charged is the first 4 GB GeForce GTX 680 we review, so we took a close look at what the extra memory brings. The card also has an extremely low noise profile thanks to its triple slot cooler.
AMD just released a free BIOS upgrade for the Radeon HD 7950, which provides an extra speed boost by updating the company's PowerTune algorithm. We will thoroughly test this update and not only look at performance but also power consumption and heat.
OCZ's Agility 4 is positioned as a high-end, mid-range drive based on Indilinx Everest 2 controller technology. Our real-life performance testing will investigate whether this drive is a worthy opponent of the SandForce drives available on the market now.
A Champion has emerged! The ASRock Fatal1ty Champion seeks to beat out all other Intel X79 Express contenders, clad in red and black armor and carrying a loadout of features that is sure to have other boards run and hide. Can the ASRock Fatal1ty X79 Champion live up to its claim?
Today we are going to take a detailed look at the 80 Plus Gold certified Thermaltake Toughpower XT 1375 W. Its massive capacity will easily power any system you can imagine and thanks to the semi-passive operation you won't hear any noise when you're not gaming.
Parrot's infamous AR.Drone just got revamped and we take the new and much improved 2.0 version for a spin around the block. The new drone comes with updated on-board hardware and brand new software tricks as well.
The Corsair AX1200i was launched today. Based on its specifications and features, it will easily carry on the legacy of its predecessor, the legendary AX1200 and Corsair has very high expectations, so do we.
Gigabyte sent me one of their entry-level products to check out, called the B75M-D3H. Yet make no mistake, just because this product is value-oriented, does not mean it by any means cheap! What makes Gigabyte's B75M-D3H so great? We'll find out in our review.
KFA² has revamped the GTX 680 PCB design, picked a sexy white PCB color and added a large triple fan cooler to their GTX 680 LTD OC. As the name suggests, the card is heavily overclocked, which gives it a real-life performance boost of 8% over the GTX 680 reference design.
Gigabyte's HD 7970 SOC introduces a new cooling concept. Instead of placing the fan(s) on the large surface of the heatsink like on all recent graphics cards, the company chose to position five small fans along the top edge of the card. Our review will investigate whether the card will be too noisy and too big, or if it can truly provide some benefit.
The Corsair HX850 has been in production for many years. Its successor has many improvements to show, including Gold efficiency and a new look similar to the HX1050 unit. Fan noise is also under control, the unit will go passive at low loads.
Silverstone has taken the already compact FT03 and successfully shrunk it to fit a Mini-ITX board, while still allowing for long graphics cards to be used. Has Silverstone managed to find the perfect balance between compact dimensions and compatibility, or does the shrink go too far?
Club3D's HD 7850 RoyalQueen comes with a modest 1 GB of memory, which is half that of a typical HD 7850. Nevertheless we got some interesting results in our testing. The card is just as fast as the 2 GB HD 7850, at full HD resolutions and below. Coming at a more than reasonable $195, the card is also one of the most affordable choices on the market.
Gigabyte's first real high-end gaming mouse gets put to the test. It features an 8200 DPI laser sensor and a wealth of buttons to boot. The design is ambidextrous which makes it a great mouse for lefties as well!
Corsair's new Force GS SSD introduces toggle mode NAND flash, which promises increased performance at similar pricing. In our testing we see excellent real-life performance results from this SandForce based drive.
Rosewill decided to join the Platinum party with a brand new PSU series, called Fortress. All units of this line use a non-modular cabling system, probably in an effort to restrict production cost thus making them more appealing to budget oriented users.
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.
Cooler Master has had quite the success with the CM Storm Trooper chassis. The new Stryker utilizes the same shape, design and chassis, but offers different side panels and that important white and black look.
Rosewill's attempt at a mechanical gaming keyboard could be a big success. At $79.99 and featuring user selectable Cherry MX switches it is sure to shake things up. We take the RK-9000 with Cherry MX Red switches aboard for a spin to see how it compares.
Silverstone is known for pushing the envelope with unique internal layouts. The Kublai KL04 series does just that within the bounds of a mid-tower. We take a closer look at the case to see, if Silverstone has done it again, or if they have not managed to reinvent the wheel this time around.
The ASUS ROG Maximus V Gene, based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset is here at TPU, ready to overclock the snot out of your new Ivy Bridge CPU. Built for performance first, the ASUS Maximus V Gene is ready for small-sized high-end gaming, or, if freezing things below zero is what you like, it's ready for that too.
Lian Li is well known for their Mini-ITX cases. Today we are looking at one of their high-end models, which looks much like a small suitcase, is more compact than the PC-Q08, but still offers nearly the same space within. We stuff the belly of the little PC-TU200 full of hardware and step back to see if it will burst or manage to swallow everything whole.
Computex Taiwan is one of the leading computer tradeshows in the year. Thanks to its asian location the booths are full of hot show girls in short skirts. TechPowerUp brings you the complete collection with over 130 girls - including high-res images.
In today's review we are going to test one of the latest Xigmatek Centauro PSUs. More specific the strongest Centauro with 1000W capacity will be our test subject and on the test bench it will prove if it is worthy of the mythical name it carries.
Today we will be taking a hard look at the revamped CM Storm Sentinel Advance II which features the newest sensor technology from Avago which provides up to 8200 DPI native resolution. The design is the same, which turned heads back when it was launched.
GIGABYTE's overclocked GTX 670 Windforce OC comes with a large and silent triple fan cooler and a full GTX 680 reference design PCB. This helps the card deliver out of the box performance comparable to the GTX 680, at a much lower price. Actually GIGABYTE is charging no price premium for their improvements, the card comes at reference design pricing of $399.
Among their many PSU offerings Thermaltake includes the SMART series which includes PSUs that are intended for those who just want a power supply that will get the work done without carrying any extra bells and whistles that increase its price.
A rare Golden weapon, forged to defeat one of the twin dragons, AMD and Intel, has emerged! The ECS Golden Board Z77H2-AX is a limited edition, highly rare sample sent to us directly from ECS, the first in a series that showcases the potential and new outlook ECS has adopted for 2012, and the future. And like any other rare weapon, the damage it inflicts is immense!
Cooler Master is breaking the 100 Euro barrier with their latest silent chassis. Going by the name Silencio 650, it aims to please the high-end gamer and quiet computing enthusiast. But is it worth the price premium over the 550D? Read on to find out!
The Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H WiFi is a full ATX product straight out of Gigabyte's enthusiast-class of board products, featuring not only a new AMI UEFI BIOS implementation, but also an add-in Bluetooth and WiFi card, and is sure to meet the needs of nearly any user.
Sapphire's HD 7770 Vapor-X uses the company's exclusive cooling solution paired with a large overclock out of the box. As result the card is whisper quiet in both idle and load, yet temperatures are comfortably low too. The card also comes at reasonable pricing of $150, an HDMI cable is included, too.
Be Quiet's Dark Power Pro 10 550 W is built on a completely new platform from FSP. It promises low noise, 80PLUS Gold efficiency and high build quality. A unique feature is an overclocking mode which lets users combine all 12V rails into a single more powerful one.
PowerColor's HD 7850 PCS+ is the highest clocked HD 7850 card you can buy at this time. Thanks to its GPU clock speed of 1 GHz it provides excellent performance and the PCS+ cooler keeps everything cool and quiet. With just $20 over the AMD reference design, the price increase is also reasonable.
In today's review we are going to evaluate Huntkey's latest notebook adapter which features a highly reduced footprint, compared to normal power bricks and can deliver up to 90W of power. Also it is compatible with most notebooks on the market and includes also a 5V-2A USB charging port.
The In Win BUC 101 follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, the BUC, offering a fancy look with useful features and fairly compact dimensions. As a futuristic interpretation of the original chassis, with a few new features, the BUC 101 warrants another look at the case line - nearly one year after the original.
MSI has taken the powerful TwinFrozr IV cooler from the MSI Lightning and put a shrunk down version on their HD 7850 Power Edition. Thanks to an overclock out of the box the card can match last generation's HD 6950 in performance, without a significant increase in power consumption.
QNAP is one of the key players in the NAS market and offers a vast variety of relevant products that cover all needs, from home use to business environments. Today we will evaluate the flagship of their Home & SOHO category, the TS-419P II which is equipped with a ton of features and functions and can take up to four HDDs.
Zowie's recently released AM mouse gets put to the test. The mouse features a newly designed Avago sensor equipped with a custom lens made specifically for Zowie which brings down the lift-off-distance significantly. We take it for a spin and see how well the setup works in the real world.
Xilence decided that it was high time to refresh their PSU offerings, so lately they enriched their XQ series with three new members, two with Platinum efficiency and the last one with Gold. In this review we will fully test the 850W model which besides the highest possible efficiency rating features a fully modular cabling design and a unique look which differentiates it from all other PSUs.
VTX3D's HD 7970 X-Edition uses the proven AMD reference design PCB with a custom dual fan cooler and massively increased clock speeds out of the box. Thanks to a large variety of included adapters that will help getting EyeFinity up and running, the card effectively comes at reference design pricing.
With every major case manufacturer trying to offer a silent case option, it was just a matter of time before Corsair did the same. Somewhat late to the party, the Obsidian 550D costs a bit more than the competition, but manages to offer an extremely well rounded package giving the user the flexibility between silence and viable compromise for performance.
With USB drives a dime a dozen nowadays, Kingston is trying to combine affordable flash storage with a certain degree of connectivity in the Wi-Drive. Employing a wireless hotspot, the Wi-Drive allows up to three connected devices to stream files to their display - be it notebooks, iOS or Android units. We take the 16 GB Wi-Drive for a spin to see if it packs enough power and flexibility to shine.
KRK Systems is well on their way to becoming a big name in the headphone business. Today we will be taking a look at yet another interesting set of closed back headphones, namely the KNS 6400s which feature the same mechanical design as the KNS 8400.
MSI's GTX 680 Twin Frozr III uses the company's large dual-fan signature cooler, which provides excellent temperatures in both idle and load. Fan noise is reduced too, and the card is overclocked out of the box, which makes it easier for less experienced users to get the maximum out of their card.
Today NVIDIA released their GeForce GTX 670 which caught the enthusiast market by surprise, bringing outstanding performance and decent pricing to this segment. Now we put two of these cards in a dual card SLI configuration on our shiny new Ivy Bridge PCI-Express 3.0 setup to investigate whether it has the potential to be used in ultra-high end killer gaming rigs.
ZOTAC's GTX 670 AMP! Edition is built around an unmodified NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 PCB which provides a great foundation, on top of which ZOTAC is using a large triple slot cooler. GPU clock has been bumped by well over 100 MHz, which lets the card surpass GTX 680 in our testing, with a 3% performance lead.
Palit's GeForce GTX 670 JetStream comes with a decent overclock out of the box and uses the company's dual fan JetStream cooler which provides improved temperatures despite the overclock out of the box. With a price increase of only $20 over the reference design, the card seems a good choice if you want just a bit more.
ASUS has taken the great GTX 670 and improved it by putting their DirectCU II cooler on it, which provides whisper quiet cooling. The card is also overclocked out of the box and uses a custom PCB supporting software voltage control. Overall the card received a perfect ten score!
Today NVIDIA launches their new GeForce GTX 670 which aims to bring incredible performance levels at more affordable pricing. We see the new $399 card cruise past HD 7970 in many of our tests which will put additional pressure on AMD. Even against NVIDIA's own GTX 680 the performance difference is relatively small.
Today we have the Golden King with 650W capacity on our test bench. Like all other Golden King PSUs this one has platinum efficiency and features a semi-modular design along with semi-fanless operation. In our testing we see excellent stability at 12V and very low noise emitted.
ZOTAC's new GeForce GTX 680 AMP! Edition comes with a huge overclock out of the box, base clock is 1111 MHz. The card uses a large triple slot, dual fan cooler to provide stable gaming at these high clocks, but noise levels are also reduced.
The HIS Radeon HD 7770 iCooler is a close to reference implementation of the HD 7770. Coming at reference design price and clocks, its biggest innovation is its cooler, which is exceedingly quiet. It is actually the quietest HD 7770 we tested so far.
Today's latest graphics cards come with support for PCI-Express 3.0, which promises twice the bandwidth, while still being compatible with older motherboards and graphics cards. In our article we analyze differences in PCIe performance on Intel's Ivy Bridge with GeForce GTX 680 and Radeon HD 7970, using 20 games at five resolutions, each at all three PCIe generations and x4, x8 and x16 link width.
Fresh out of boot camp, Gigabyte's latest platoon of gaming warfighters is here in the TPU motherboard testing facility, ready for battle. The Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 is a tiny mATX gaming fighter, armed with Gigabyte's own Super Hearing, Super Sight, Super Speed, and Super Sheild.
Today NVIDIA releases their new GeForce GTX 690 flagship. The $999 card is based on two GK104 graphics processors that have their full potential enabled. The new card has one of the most extravagant designs, making heavy use of metal which adds to the experience. Performance is outstanding, being neck to neck with a dual GTX 680 SLI setup.
Today we will test the newest PSU offering from Rosewill, Newegg's house brand. The Capstone Modular 750W features Gold efficiency and promises a really interesting review since the OEM behind the new modular Capstone units is Super Flower.
MSI's HD 7870 HAWK is the company's mid-range equivalent of the Lightning Series. The card uses a Twin Frozr dual-fan cooler and features increased clock speeds of 1100 MHz GPU and 1200 MHz. It also includes triple voltage control via MSI Afterburner.
Palit's GeForce GTX 680 JetStream offers several enhancements compared the NVIDIA reference design, like a quiet triple fan cooler, overclock out of the box and reduced power consumption. The best improvement is certainly that it comes at no price increase compared to the reference design.
KRK Systems, known for their studio monitors, recently and quietly released two studio headphones. Today we will be taking a good look at the KNS 8400 headphones which is the current high-end offering from KNS 8400. Intended for studio use and abuse these headphones are durable and feature a more analytical sound signature than most headphones available.
ZOTAC is at it again, making tiny little high-quality HTPC products, this time in AMD flavor. Featuring WiFi, Bluetooth, dual LAN, and XMP support on AMD, the ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi is made to meet HTPC users needs.
This week saw the release of Intel's new 22 nanometer Ivy Bridge processors. The new CPUs also feature a beefed up graphics core that is faster and includes support for DirectX 11. In our review we test 18 games to investigate whether HD Graphics 4000 can provide a decent gaming experience.
MSI's Radeon HD 7970 Lightning is a heavily customized implementation of the HD 7970 with focus on performance and overclocking. The card uses a beefed up voltage regulation circuitry and massive dual-fan heatsink to ensure stable operation at MSI's clocks of 1070 MHz core and 1400 MHz memory.
Cooler Master aims to shrink the HAF X, offering a mid-tower sized variant by the name of HAF XM. Still featuring that rugged, wide and military look, we take the chassis apart to see if it still manages to offer the guts of a war machine, just like the original, or if its looks hide nothing but a bland interior.
Enermax's latest line of PSUs is called Revolution87+, which consists of five members with capacities ranging from 550W to 1000W. All are 80 Plus certified, utilize a semi modular cabling design and are equipped with a twister bearing fan. Today we will evaluate the 850W model which can power up to three high-end VGAs along with other power hungry components.
The ASUS GeForce GTX 680 Direct CU II TOP uses the company's famous triple slot cooler to bring low temperatures and low noise to the GeForce GTX 680. ASUS has also increased the clocks of the card significantly, which gives it a healthy performance boost, for a reasonable $20 price premium.
With the NZXT Switch 810, the company inches toward the higher end spectrum of the market, offering an XL-ATX chassis in white or black. With a unique interior and some really cool features, the Switch 810 makes a great impression.
Akasa's new Venom Power PSU has 550W capacity, utilizes a semi-modular cabling system and features a single +12V rail. With its affordable price it is one of the cheapest modular units in its segment, which will also help with price/performance.
CM Storm's latest keyboard dubbed the Trigger is put to the test to see how it performs, compared to recent offerings from QPAD and Zowie. The Trigger features an ingenious lighting system and has quite a few tricks up its sleeves.
Antec finally released a new flagship PSU: the High Current Pro Platinum 1000W. The previous generation HCP-1200 was the favorite PSU of most extreme users and overclockers. Its outstanding performance helped to breal many records. Now the new HCP-1000 has to carry on the tradition and prove its worth.
Head-Direct's latest addition to the HE-line of headphones is the much anticipated HE-400. The HE-400 sells for only $400 which is quite low for a high-end set of planar magnetic headphones. We take them for a spin to see how they compare to both planar magnetic and dynamic headphones
Today we are going to rigorously test another Super Flower product, the Golden King 500W; a non modular PSU which combines top performance, 80 Plus Platinum efficiency and an affordable price. The cherry on top is the super quiet operation. At low temperatures it can even go fanless.
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 highly efficient VRM, the Biostar TZ77XE4 is ready to knock one clear out of the park.
The eagerly anticipated Intel Z77 Express Chipset is finally here. As always, ECS is first out the gate here at TPU, with none other than their first and only "Golden Board" Z77H2-AX. Built with unmatched quality and funtionality as its main focus, the Z77H2-AX is ECS's latest weapon against the twin overclocking Dragons of AMD and Intel.
Today we take a look at another classic memory kit on the Intel X79 Express platform, this time from Exceleram. The Rippler ERB300A is built for overclocking with its fast CL6 speeds, but will that still work with the overclocks of today?
OCZ decided to work with the famous gamer Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel to develop a high-end PSU that will meet the specific needs of all gamers in performance, stability and ease of installation. The outcome was the Fatal1ty series 1000W PSU which differs from the rest of the bunch mainly because it features individually sleeved cables.
MSI's HD 7870 TwinFrozr III improves on the AMD reference design by adding the company's dual-fan cooling solution to the card. It also comes with increased clock speeds of 1050 MHz core and 1200 MHz memory out of the box. In our testing we saw great additional overclocking potential, well into the 1200 MHz range.
ASUS Xonar Essence One is the name of a brand new DAC & Headphone amplifier combination from ASUS. The unit can decode 192 kHz source material and features a well performing headphone amplifier stage that allows for op-amp swapping.
The ASUS Radeon HD 7870 Direct CU II is a highly overclocked custom version of the Radeon HD 7870. Coming at clock speeds of 1100 MHz GPU and 1250 MHz memory, it is a good deal faster than the AMD reference design. Thanks to aggressive pricing, the card retails at $360, which means there is no price increase for overclocking.
Clar1tyOne is a brand new in-ear company. Their only product is a set of in-ears dubbed the EB110 which feature a new driver design which should minimize EMF effects. According to their studies this will significantly improve square-wave performance of the driver. We take them for a spin and see how they fare against the usual suspects.
Kingwin's most recent Platinum PSU comes at only $99. Making it the most affordable choice out there if you want to power a typical system the green way, with little power wasted in the PSU. Thanks to a great component design we see record low power consumption, even at just 40W, which is important for systems that are lightly loaded all day.
Antec is rebooting their entire case line-up and the Antec ONE successfully manages to place itself in the sub 50 Euro market with a unique approach in tooling. Is this the one to rule them all, or will other cases take the cake?
Yesterday NVIDIA introduced their new groundbreaking GeForce GTX 680, which was very well received. Today we bring you testing of a $1000 dual card SLI setup. We also use the latest WHQL driver to provide up-to-date performance numbers.
Today NVIDIA released their new GeForce GTX 680 which is based on the company's brand-new Kepler architecture. The card comes with massively improved performance per Watt. It also introduces an automatic dynamic overclocking method which gives the card the leading edge, making it the fastest single GPU graphics card in the world.
G.Skill sent us a little surprise, in a 32 GB package. The G.Skill RipjawsX F3-2133C9Q-32GXH kit not only offers huge capacity and speed, but also a little something extra. Intended for P67/Z68, the GSkill F3-2133C9Q-32GXH maxes out the speed, but also the size those platforms offer.
Corsair is extending their case line, further pushing the price down to jump on the bandwagon with the 300R. We take the smallest brother of the Carbide series for a spin to see if it packs the punch of the 400 and 500R, or if other cases offer more performance for your money in this market segment.
Recently Cooler Master decided to update their Silent Pro M series and what better name to choose than Silent Pro M2! The new series includes six new semi-modular PSUs with capacities ranging from 420W to 1000W. All are made by CM's favorite OEM, Enhance electronics, feature a single +12V rail and come with a five year warranty. Today we will evaluate the strongest of the M2s with 1 kW capacity.
Gigabyte's HD 7770 OC comes with a massive clock improvement over the AMD reference design. Operating at 1100 MHz ensures that the card has a healthy performance advantage over other boards. Memory clock is also increased at 1250 MHz.
Today we take a trip back through time, and visit an older product, that just might have more relevance in today's market than first meets the eye. The Patriot Viper Xtreme PX523G2000ELK kit may appear familiar and for good reason, as they were launched nearly 18 months ago, back on October 19th, 2010. Does this Viper from Patriot still have some bite on the modern X79 platform?
The BitFenix Shinobi really put BitFenix on the map for the majority of users with its sleek design and SofTouch surface. Thus it is only natural that BitFenix gives the chassis the growth hormone treatment and offers a full tower variant. We take the XL size Shinobi for a spin and see if it is all fat or mean and lean functionality
Several tech forums are buzzing about Samsung's lastest "Green" 30 nm DDR3, that sips the voltage, and sits on a tiny low-profile PCB. We snagged a pair to see what all the fuss is about, and boy, were we surprised!
Gelid is expanding their product range to include cases. Their DarkForce is the first entry into this crowded market segment. Will it force our head to take notice or is it just another simple blip on our radar?
Kingwin is a company located in the U.S. with presence only in this region. Their product's portfolio includes many noteworthy PSUs with the flagship being the Lazer Platinum Series which consists of five units with Platinum efficiency and top notch performance. In today's review we will test the strongest member of this series, the LZP-1000 which like all LZPs is built by Super Flower, a company that continues to amaze us with their products.
Today AMD released their new Radeon HD 7800 Series, which is based on their new 28 nm Pitcairn graphics processor. The HD 7850 and HD 7870 offer a significant performance increase over the previous generation - up to 40% faster in our testing. Power consumption is also at a new record low, putting these cards in the leading performance per Watt spot.
The new Thermaltake SMART series is a value series so it consists of budget units that according to Thermaltake incorporate high-tech components with Eco-friendly credentials. The capacities of the SMART units range from 430W to 730W and in this review we will test the strongest model with 730W capacity.
The ASUS Radeon HD 7750 OC is a custom implementation of the HD 7750 design from ASUS. It comes at reference pricing, yet features slightly increased clock speeds out of the box. We have seen its cooling solution before on other cards from the company so it is a tested design that works well and delivers low temperatures and low noise levels.
QPAD's MK-50 mechanical gaming keyboard could be what everyone has been begging for. Like its bigger brother the MK-85, you get the choice of key mechanism with the MK-50. The keyboard is available with all the different version of the Cherry MX mechanical keys.
Is it a mATX chassis? No! Is it a mid-tower case? No! What is it? It is the Xigmatek Gigas! Too big to be a compact mATX cube, but too compact to be considered a mid-tower. Will the Gigas end up being the Frankenstein of cases, or manage to impress with this new approach?
In this review we will evaluate Thortech's Thunderbolt Plus 1000W which shares the same cable configuration with its big 1200 W brother, that we recently reviewed. This PSU features a unique aspect, a device called iPower which mounts in a 5.25" bay to display vital statistics like power, current, voltage and efficiency.
ROCCAT Kave 5.1 is the name of a new surround sound headset. The headset features a few new features and a USB powered amplifier that allows for easy control of the surround capabilities. We take the headset for a spin to see if ROCCAT managed to avoide the pitfalls commonly associated with 5.1 headset designs.
Antec recently added three new units to their High Current Gamer series. The main difference between these new PSUs and the older ones is that the first utilize a semi-modular cabling design, becoming this way the first members of this series to incorporate this feature. Today we will test the HCG-620M with 620W capacity.
Thortech's Thunderbolt Plus 1200W is a high-powered 80PLUS Gold certified power supply. One of its unique features is the inclusion of a little 5.25" bay device that displays voltage, power, current and efficiency among others. The unit also has compact dimensions for a 1200W PSU, which means it will fit in all cases.
The XFX HD 7770 Black Edition Super Overclock is the company's flagship HD 7770. It comes with a massively improved heatsink, dual fan and large overclock out of the box. In our testing we are impressed by the ultra low noise and great performance improvement it delivers.
Today AMD introduces their new Radeon HD 7700 Series. While the spotlight is on the HD 7770, HIS has sent us their HD 7750, which will come at a more attractive pricing than the HD 7770. In our testing the card can claim the title "most power efficient card ever tested" - 3x more power efficient than NVIDIA's GTX 480.
ASUS is using their well-proven DirectCU thermal solution on the new HD 7770 DirectCU. The card also comes with a large overclock out of the box, yet stays cool and runs at super low noise levels. ASUS has chosen to follow the AMD pricing, so no price increase for cooler and overclocking.
Today AMD launched their all new Radeon HD 7770 and HD 7750. In our CrossFire review we take both new cards, put them in a dual GPU CrossFire configuration each, and see where they end up on the performance leaderboard. We will also focus on whether two cards can serve as a replacement for a high-end single GPU card.
MSI's HD 7770 OC Edition is a custom design HD 7770 with improved dual fan cooler and overclock out of the box. Compared to the reference design, the overclock is small, but the price increase is also reasonable.
PowerColor's Radeon HD 7770 is a close-to-reference implementation of the AMD HD 7770. It comes at the reference design price, yet offers excellent overclocking capabilities and low power consumption.
Today AMD launches the new Radeon HD 7770 which is the first affordable card based on AMD's new 28 nm GCN Architecture. AMD's reference design HD 7770 offers amazing performance per Watt and a significant performance improvement over the previous generation.
ROCCAT's latest high performance laser gaming mouse is called the Kone[+]. The [+] indicates that it is a refined version of its critically acclaimed Kone mouse. All of the features found on the original are carried over to the [+] version. The [+] brings a slew of new features and an optimized design to the table. We test the mouse to see how it fares against latest and greatest gaming mice on the market.
After settling on the market, with all the quirks and bugs supposedly fixed, all the hype and disappointment blown away, we put AMD's FX-8150 under the scope. Benchmarks are done with and without the Windows 7 hotfix and in depth overclocking should resolve any doubts you have about AMD's flagship processor.
MSI's new HD 7950 Twin Frozr III is a fully customized implementation of AMD's latest 28 nm card. For cooling the card uses the same large dual-fan TwinFrozr III heatsink that we have seen on many other MSI products before. The card also features an overclock out of the box for a bit of extra performance.
Most of you probably know Spire from their cooling solutions and maybe their enclosures. However, the fact is that Spire actually has a rich portfolio of PSU products with capacities ranging from 400W to 1200W (RockIT II). Recently they released a new PSU series, called BlackDragon and they were kind enough to send us the 400W model for review.
Phonak's Audéo line of headphones has just been expanded to include a new interesting high-end in-ear dubbed the PFE232. PFE232 is a dual balanced armature based in-ear that aims at taking on the big guns in the high-end in-ear arena. We test them to see how they perform compared to in-ears like Westone 4 and the Ultimate Ears In-Ear Reference Monitors!
The Cooler Master Cosmos II aims to take the crown as the super car of cases. With a price tag and the looks to match, we take the chassis for a spin in our test lab to see how it holds up and if it manages to impress with features under the hood.
The Antec ONE case has not launched yet, but we had the chance to take an in-depth look at the upcoming entry-level chassis. Will it be able to take the spoiled market by storm, will it be the one for Antec, or will it end up shooting nothing but blanks? While only the retail unit can give a definitive answer, this preview will shed some light on things to come
The AC Ryan Veolo is not just another media player. At its heart beats an Android OS, enabling true connectivity and expendability on a media player like never before. We whip out the pop corn, grab the unique remote and fire up our favorite clip along with some Angry Birds fun, to see if the OS manages to impress on the big screen as much as on the smartphone.
ROCCAT's newest double sided gaming surface is dubbed Alumic. New for the Alumic is an aluminum core construction, to which ROCCAT has applied two different plastic surfaces. The Alumic features a control and speed side in order to accommodate all gaming styles.
Here we are again, testing another high-end Enermax unit from the Platimax series. The innovative platform of this unit offers huge power along with Platinum efficiency. Also we find top quality components used along with great build quality.
PowerColor's HD 7950 PCS+ is a fully customized version of the HD 7950 with changed PCB and large dual fan cooler. It also comes with an 80 MHz overclock out of the box - at a price premium of $15. Its strongest feat is certainly the greatly reduced noise output when compared to the AMD reference design, making this an excellent low noise high performance solution.
In this review we put two Radeon HD 7950 graphics cards in a dual-GPU CrossFire configuration and test whether this $900 setup is worth its money and how it fares against other alternatives.
Today AMD released their new Radeon HD 7950, the second card to be based on AMD's GCN shader architecture. Compared to its bigger brother, the HD 7970, the card comes with less shaders and reduced clock speeds. Other features have remained the same, like 3 GB memory, improved power consumption and support for EyeFinity.
QPAD's keyboard line-up is expanding rapidly. Today we are taking the MK-85 high-end keyboard for a spin. This new keyboard from QPAD features Cherry MX Red linear key mechanisms. Besides that QPAD have developed a brand new driver suite and a few other new features.
Antec finally decided to enter the Platinum efficiency club with the new EarthWatts Platinum series. These units address all users that just need a high efficiency PSU, with no bells and whistles. This new series creates a new mainstream class of PSUs and is placed between the EarthWatts Green and the High Current Gamer series.
Westone's newest product is the Westone 4R quad driver in-ears. New for the 4Rs is a user replaceable cable and more tightly matched drivers, and a slightly altered bundle. We take the 4Rs for a spin to see how they compare to the originals.
Despite the name, the Super Flower Golden King PSUs are 80 Plus Platinum certified. Today we will test the 1000 W flagship model to find out if it has the potential to claim the throne for the best, high capacity, Platinum PSU and put the excellent Seasonic SS-1000XP in second place.
Epic Gear's mouse mat offering is the slimline Hybrid Pad. As the name suggests the mat uses a hybrid type surface coating. It comes in two sizes to fit both average and low sensitivity gamers. With a thickness of only 3 mm the mat is ideally suited for prolonged gaming sessions and can be transported with ease.
XFX is well known for their graphic cards but for quite some time they are also into the PSU market with two series called classic and Pro. Today we will test the flagship unit of the Pro series which with 1250W capacity will easily power even the most demanding systems.
With more and more smartphones and tablets in people's hands, Soundgraph is aiming to bridge the gap between the HTPC and these devices by offering the Smartbay. We take the device for a spin to see if Soundgraph has done their homework or if the money could have been spent in a more efficient manner.
Corsair's Performance Pro 256 GB SSD is based on Marvell's 88SS9174 controller which promises great performance at affordable price levels. In our testing we see the drive claim a leading performance spot thanks to some clever firmware tuning by Corsair.
Silverstone recently updated their PSU offerings with a new series, called Strider Gold Evolution. Besides the various internal component upgrades, which provide a small boost to efficiency and offer better performance, the new Striders are equipped with Silverstone's Air Penetrator fan which features increased cooling along with lower noise output.
G.Skill sent us their Ripjaws Z F3-17000CL9Q-16GBZH kit, now that Intel's latest platform has been launched, and new memory kits are needed, due to the new quad-channel configuration that the Intel X79 Express platforms offers. We put the 16 GB G.Skill 2133 MHz kit through the paces, and push it to the max.
Almost everybody knows Gigabyte from their VGA and motherboard products, but the company also makes power supplies. Their newest PSU series is called Sumo, which consists of two high power PSUs with 80 Plus Silver certification. Today we test the smaller one with 900W capacity and find out how it performs.
Kingston is a big name in the memory business and their HyperX system memory is legendary. When they decided to put that name on an SSD many people were sceptical, but it seems Kingston achieved their goal. In our testing we see the HyperX SSD cruise past the competition, making it the fastest SSD we ever tested.
The fight for the top spot in the 80PLUS Platinum category is raging, especially now that many OEMs started offering platinum units with over 1 kW capacity. At this time Enermax probably has the most complete Platinum series, called Platimax. Today we will test its strongest model which features monstrous 1500W capacity.
AMD's Radeon HD 7970 has quickly established itself as the fastest single GPU graphics card in the world. In our ASUS HD 7970 CrossFire review we take two of these beasts for a spin to see what benefit they offer. One of the highlights is reduced power consumption thanks to AMD's new ZeroCore power technology.
With more and more possibilities to store and playback media to and from different devices the limiting factor tends to be how you can lay down a cable to connect these. PowerColor aims to break that bond with their JustSling, a WHDI solution allowing for wireless, 1080p HDMI to be beamed to your TV without the need of any cables. We take the JustSling for a spin to see if it can sling all our favorite media from end end of the home to the other successfully or if it falls short.
With a brand new BIOS designed around the AMI UEFI implementation, Gigabyte has a new mid-range overclocking master, clad nearly all in black. The GA-X79-UD5 recently hit the news with the recall of previous BIOS, and the introduction of a new BIOS that boasts some serious clocking abilities. We put the new board, and the new BIOS through testing, and the results may surprise many.
Corsair's Professional Gold series consists of four PSUs with the most recent addition being the AX650, which as its name implies has 650W capacity. Since more and more users finally find out that they actually need a mid-wattage unit to power their systems, Corsair decided to offer a high quality PSU which addresses all the enthusiasts who defy cost and seek the best possible performance along with top efficiency.
The Tempest 410 is intended to carry the genes of the original Tempest series, with the updated guts to offer modern features. Clocking in at 80 or 100 US Dollars it will be interesting what makes this chassis stand out from the crowded market.
In our CPU scaling article we investigate gaming performance of AMD's latest Radeon HD 7970 flagship. The processors in our test group have been selected to match popular CPUs used by gamers and enthusiasts: AMD FX-8150 Bulldozer, Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge and Intel Core i7-920 Nehalem.
Antec made a big splash with the P280 and now is following up with a new gamer case called Eleven Hundred. Will the chassis manage to put Antec back on the map for pure gamer/enthusiast cases or leave us unimpressed with a lack of functional features?
Parrot's AR.Drone is a remarkable piece of kit which incorporates video games with RC-piloting. The AR.Drone is a fully fledged drone with on-board cameras and hardware which allows it to almost fly itself.
When most people think of ASUS, they immediately think of the "ROG" product line, one that has set itself apart from the rest due to extensive functionality, and top-level overclocking ability. however, ASUS does have a few other products out there that offer the same, if not more, and the ASUS P9X79 Deluxe that recently arrived on our doorstep is definitely one of those products. Boasting ASUS's improved "Dual Intelligent Processors III" VRM design, the ASUS P9X79 Deluxe offers performance customization abilities that few other products do, easily setting it apart form the rest.
Today AMD launches their new Radeon HD 7970. The card is based on brand-new 28 nanometer silicon which promises reduced power consumption. Another important change is AMD's move to a new shader architecture, enabling increased performance, easier design of future products and more efficient rendering.
SteelSeries' newest rodent, dubbed Sensei, gets put to the test. The Sensei mouse features a few new tricks due to the implementation of an ARM CPU. The addition of a CPU makes the mouse capable of running all acceleration and smoothing corrections onboard and even allows for interpolation up to 11400 DPI.
Thermaltake recently added three new models to the Toughpower XT series. Today we are testing the 1275W model, which is the first Platinum unit that Thermaltake releases. With more and more Platinum certified models on the market, it will be interesting to see how Thermaltake's latest power supply manages.
Today we test the middle member of Coolermaster's fresh Silent Pro Hybrid series, which with its 1050W will easily power even the most power hungry systems and at the same time will save you some money from electricity bills, thanks to its Gold efficiency. This PSU will be loved by all silence fans out there since it goes fanless at low loads and on top of that you can control its fan speed.
Ultimate Ears have quite the reputation in the in-ear industry. Today we will be taking a thorough look at the In-Ear Reference Monitors. The name tells us that Ultimate Ears are excited, we put them to the test and see how they compare to the very best in-ears available today.
With the launch of Intel's latest well under way, ECS has sent us another warrior to battle the twin dragons of injustice, the ECS X79R-AX. Undoubtably the best board ECS has ever released, the ECS X79R-AX is ready for battle, after receiving training no ohter boards has. Set to finally banish the dragons back to the demise they planned for humanity, the ECS X79R-AX has hit the TechPowerUp testing battlefield.
The NZXT Tempest 210 is the entry level chassis for the current Tempest family. While costing a bit more than the Source line-up, it shares a lot of functional similarities. We take the case for a spin to find out if it is all a more expensive deja vu or if the Tempest 210 offers more than just higher price tag when compared to the Source variants.
The Xigmatek Midgard chassis has been one of the most popular cases in its price class. After almost 3 years, Xigmatek now presents the successor simply called Midgard II. It features a timeless design just like the original one, but includes a long list of new and updated features. The Midgard II has some big shoes to fill - let us see if it manages to impress as much as the original.
The Silicon Power Velox V30 60 GB SSD is built around Sandforce's successful SF-2281 flash controller which promises outstanding performance and full support for the SATA 6 Gbps interface. After a closer look we noticed that the drive uses only half the flash channels available, will this turn out to be a dealbreaker?
There are very few cases out there, which allow you to cool the CPU passively. Of those most only allow for Mini-ITX boards to be installed. Streacom breaks that tradition by offering the FC5 OD, able to take a mATX board and three 2.5 hard drives, while still offering enough cooling power to keep modern, high-performance CPUs cool. Can the 250 Euro enclosure deliver on all these promises and stand the heat?
The Commander MS-I case is the most affordable of the new cases from Thermaltake. With the choice between a model with two USB 2.0 and one with a mix consisting of a single 2.0 and a single 3.0 connector at the same price point, it is interesting to see what difference such a feature makes in terms of alternatives and placement in the crowded sub 50 US Dollar range.
The Silicon Power Diamond D05 aims to combine the stylish look and feel of brushed Aluminum with a good price/performance ratio. We take a look a the unit to see if all that shines is golden, or if the D05 is just a dull performer.
The Thermaltake Overseer RX-I is positioned just below the Chaser chassis. It costs slightly less, is slightly smaller, but still has a very similar feature set. We take a close look if there is more to it than meets the eye or if the Overseer RX-I offers the same price/performance value as its bigger counterpart.
The NZXT Phantom has been a huge success, spawning various color options including pink and black/orange. The Phantom 410 continues with the same design elements, but at a much smaller overall size - lovingly called "Phantom Mini".
Once again the dragons are upon us, and once again a challenger emerges to defend humanity from their wrath. ECS's A990FXM-A socket AM3+ has landed on our testbench, ready for battle, sword and shield in hand. Will the ECS A990FXM-A save us from the black hole that is slow computing? We find out.
After testing its bigger brother with 600W capacity, it's high time for the PC P&C Silencer MK3S400 to prove its worth. The new Silencer units pose a big change for PC Power & Cooling since they are the first ever modular PSUs that this company introduces to the market. Along with the top mounted 120 mm fan all PC P&C traditions are broken in these new units.
There are a few cube chassis manufacturers out there, but CaseLabs guns for the ultimate chassis with their MAGNUM M8 and M10, right out of the gates. Will it come out guns blazing and mowing down everything in its path or end up shooting nothing but blanks? We aim to find out!
ZOTAC's GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores comes with some of the highest overclocks out of the box, compared to other GTX 560 Ti 448 cards released today. The card also uses a more compact form factor, which should help it fit smaller cases or compact media PCs.
The ASUS GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores DCII is the only GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores released today that comes with a massive triple slot cooling solution. It promises less noise, lower temperatures and better overclocking potential.
MSI's GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Twin Frozr III uses the company's well established TF III cooler which we have seen on other products before. The two fans and the massive heatsink easily keep the card cool. MSI's card is also overclocked out of the box for that little extra performance boost.
Palit's new GeForce GTX 560 Ti Twin Light Turbo is a custom design, dual fan GTX 560 Ti that comes overclocked out of the box and features LED lit fans which add a smooth glow to the card. Despite having two fans, the card is actually one of the quietest GTX 560 Tis that we tested so far - in both idle and load.
Till now NZXT had only one PSU series, HALE90, which included only Gold efficiency PSUs. However since Gold efficiency leads to higher prices, NZXT decided to release a new line of PSUs with lower efficiency and more affordable prices, targeting a wider range of users. The name of the new series is HALE82 and all of its members are 80 PLUS Bronze certified and feature a semi modular cabling design.
Eminent may not be a well known name in the media player market, but the company from the Netherlands manages to deliver a full range of players with a surprisingly unique set of features. We take a look at the EM7280, whip out the popcorn and see what it can paint on the big screen.
LEPA is a newcomer in the PSU market, behind which a major manufacturer is hiding: Enermax. Their products target mostly the mid-range market and are characterized in general by good price/performance ratio. Today we will test the G700-MA, a Gold efficiency 700W unit which will be of great interest to users who seek a high quality PSU of average capacity with many high-end features.
Arctic has been diversifying their product range greatly in recent years. While their foray into some things like toys or gaming consoles may be a bit too far fetched for some, the MC001-BD Media Center takes the company back to the roots. The Home Theater PC offers all the bells & whistles like Blu-Ray, USB 3.0, Intel Atom in combination with Radeon Mobility graphics and much, much more, while managing to cool the entire system passively. We take a look at the new, compact system along with a few accessories to see if it can take center stage and shine.
Silverstone has managed to turn heads with the 90° turned motherboard tray. One of the cases, the Raven 2 has now been updated with a new hard drive tray system and USB 3.0. We take the chassis out during the night to see if we manage to scare it away or if it can hold its ground.
As technology advances necessarily some old designs and beliefs are left behind. Without any doubt in today’s highly competitive market only the companies who decide to adapt to the current user demands and needs will see their sales increasing. Apparently this is what PC Power & Cooling did with their new Silencer MK III PSUs in which the abandoned the non modular design and adopted a semi modular one.
OCZ's Synapse Caching SSD offers a unique way to achieve SSD-like performance for your big hard disk, which could be up to 3 TB in size. In our testing we see a performance improvement of 250% when compared to a SATA 6 Gbps HDD alone.
Antec aims to deliver a functional, good looking chassis at an interesting price point with the P280. As part of the Performance One line-up, you can expect the ability to fill the chassis with high-end components like an XL-ATX motherboard and long graphics cards. But will the chassis break a sweat doing so or keep on performing?
The NZXT Source 220 aims to deliver cool looks, capable interior, USB 3.0 - all at a really affordable price point. The Source series of cases aims to take on the budget market, but still offers the distinct NZXT looks we have come to expect. How does it turn out?
The Superior SH14 drive from ADATA offers two fairly unique attributes: shock resistance and water resistance. We take the drive for a spin and torture it to see if we can break it.
anidées is a new brand in the tough case market. Their first chassis - the AI6 aims to deliver the utmost quality with a solid choice of features. All this at a sub 100 Euro price point. We were impressed by the quality of materials used and also the attention to detail.
The latest chassis from BitFenix aims to offer "relentless performance". It offers a cool looking design, three retail Spectre cooling fans connected to a fan controller and a whooping four USB 3.0 ports. But will the Raider manage to flex its muscles and withstand our bombardment or will it fail to defend itself?
The Carbide 500R is the high-performance version of the 400R with additional cooling and an edgier design. Will these be enough to justify the higher price tag and will it leave us as impressed as with the more affordable brethren?
PowerColor's HD 6970 Devil 13 is a brand-new premium class Radeon HD 6970 which comes with the highest clocks available on any HD 6970 card. The Devil 13 also includes voltage monitoring points for voltmodders and a high quality power conversion system. But is that enough to justify a price of $549?
Biostar is back in our test station, this time with a stylish and affordable AMD 990FX solution, the TA990FXE. Straight out of their "Extreme Edition" product line, the TA990FXE is for discerning gamers on a budget, who want top-level performance. Is it truly "Extreme"? We take a look.
The CM Storm Trooper aims to take the gaming crowd by storm and position itself as the elite chassis for LAN Party goers, as it offers a long list of unique and useful features. We take the chassis hostage and stuff it full of hardware to see if it buckles or manages to strike back like a trooper.
While USB 3.0 equipped external hard drives are a dime a dozen, the Verbatim Store'n'Go for Mac adds Firewire 800 to the mix. This makes the external drive rather unique and offers a noticeable price advantage when compared to the likes of LaCie or Freecom variants.
Thermaltake's initial release of the Level 10 was co-designed with luxury car manufacturer BMW. The second iteration is a boiled down and condensed version that maximizes all the enthusiast wants while reducing the price considerably. The Level 10 GT just might be the best gaming case on the market.
Seasonic entered the Platinum party late since they wanted to make a big and well planned entrance. After many rumors, spy photos and lots of unconfirmed data Seasonic's Platinum series is finally released and is ready to fight for the crown. The stronger of the two fresh units, the Platinum-1000W, will be the test subject of today's review.
Stuffed with some cool features, like the hot-swap bay in the front, or the Air Penetrator fan in the top, the Precision PS06 offers many aspects while staying under that oh so important 100 USD barrier. We take the spacey looking chassis for a spin and test the usability of its long list of features.
The first PSU line that NZXT released is HALE90 which consists of five members. All feature 80 PLUS Gold efficiency, modular design, have a single +12V rail and the 140 mm fan they are equipped with is really quiet even at high loads/ambient. Today we will test the HALE90 850W which is the second strongest unit of the series and see if besides looks it offers good performance too.
After the Viako ML-55, we now get to take a look at one of the larger mini-ITX cases by the name "ML-Style". While it is bigger, it also allows for installation of a 3.5 inch drive along with a cool, slot-loading slimline DVD or Blu-Ray. We pull the case apart, stuff it with hardware and close it down to see if it can contain everything or burst at the seams.
OCZ's new ZT series fills a gap between the ZX and ZS series. The ZT units feature a fully modular cabling design, 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency, five year warranty and an affordable price for what they have to offer, so the deal sounds sweet. But before we jump into early conclusions let's first see if the OCZ ZT 750W will manage to impress with its performance, too.
Spire packs the Sentor 6004 with six LED equipped fans and offers an extended chassis to allow for large graphics cards to be installed. We pull the chassis apart and fill it with with hardware to see if it manages to impress with its understated, timeless looks or if these are signs of weakness.
Recently Thermaltake has added three new models to the Toughpower series, which are intended for power hungry systems with triple or even four-way SLI or Crossfire configurations. Today our load testers will have some extra work to do since we are going to test a monstrous Toughpower unit with 1500W capacity.
Intel's 320 Series SSD has been on the market for a while now. Recently the drives were plagued by a series of failures which caused the drive to report as 8 MB. A recent Intel firmware update adresses this issue. The installed the new firmware and gave the drive a spin.
Soungraph is the company behind all the great functionality of the major brand HTPC cases found on the market. With their retail products the company enables users to morph their normal cases and employ these as home theater system. We take a look at their first designed HTPC chassis called the Hummin' 3.03 and the first ever wireless USB based touch screen monitor.
The PC-V600F takes the successful V1020 series and shrinks it down for the mATX crowd. We will take the case for a spin to make sure it did not lose any of the important features on the way and to see if the chassis is really worth more than 200 bucks.
Strictly power is Antec's primary slogan for the new members of their Basiq PSU series, the VPx50P units. As it seems only three things were the main concerns during the design/manufacturing of these PSUs: quality, performance and high price/performance ratio.
After the Maxrevo series Enermax hits again with the Platimax. The members of this series meet the 80 PLUS Platinum certification requirements so they are among the most efficient units on the market. In today's review we will take a detailed look at the Platimax 850W which, among others, uses a semi-modular cabling design and promises reliable performance even at 50°C ambient.
Lian Li has made quite a few unique enclosures in the past. This includes the Spider looking PC-T1 or the extravagant PC-888. Now, their newest designer case, the PC-U6, comes in the shape of a snail's house, with round circular shapes. Such a case will turn heads, even with a Van Gogh hanging next to it, that is for sure.
In Win's first Commander power supplies were built by Channel Well Technology. The second generation, which we are reviewing today, uses Andyson as OEM. Internally the Commander II uses a modern design based on DC-DC converters, which promises high efficiency and stable voltage supply.
Antec's new Basiq series offers affordable power supplies that are engineered for 230VAC only, to maximize price/performance. While we don't see fancy colors, sleeved cables, modular connectors or LED lighting, the VP550P features great performance characteristics and good component selection like japanese capacitors.
Patriot's new Wildfire SSD is based on the popular Sandforce SF-2281 controller, but is advertised as "enterprise" model by Patriot. In our real-world testing we are amazed by the drive's performance, which makes it the fastest Sandforce SSD we tested so far, even the mighty Intel 510 SSD is only 1% ahead.
ModMyMachine's first mouse mat is tested to see whether it can compete with the more estabilshed brands. The SlamePad is made from aluminum and has a lot of distinctive design features. All those looking for a certain color of mouse mat will be pleased to find that the SlamePad is available in a multitude of different colors.
The Fractal Design Define Mini is not only a successful shrink of the award winning Define R3 or Define XL cases, but also adds USB 3.0 to the mix. We take the chassis for a spin to see if the small case really carries the same genes as its bigger brothers.
In Win Glacier is a new modular PSU series which focuses on efficiency and reliability. The Glacier 900W is the first released model and provides up to seven PCIe power connectors for maximum expandability. Warranty is a whole seven years which shows the confidence In Win has in their product.
ECS is back, with another "Black Series" product, the ECS A75F-A. Built for the recently released Llano AMD APUs, the ECS A75F-A offers entry-level pricing, with quite a few enthusiast features. We take the shinig knight in black armor, and put it into battle!
Akasa can be considered an institution or constant as a computer brand. The Venom Toxic chassis is their latest case aimed at the gaming crowd. The neon green accents make for a badass chassis. We give the large chassis a spin to see if it's all hot smoke or if the Viper has a real toxic bite.
Mach Xtreme's MX-DS Turbo SSD is based on the Sandforce SF-2281 controller which features support for the SATA 6 Gbps interface among other improvements. In our real world testing we pit the MX-DS Turbo against a handful of competing solid state drives to check whether it can stand out in the crowd of Sandforce drives.
The Centon Rush boasts with good read performance but also excellent write speeds. We shred through the plastic packaging and test the compact flash drive on our testing station, with surprising results - it's even faster than what the manufacturer advertises.
HPTX cases are usually so tall that they do not fit under a normal desk. Lian Li - the company who first offered such a chassis - has managed to shrink things down to mid tower size while still offering HPTX compatibility and the ability to install up to 12 hard drives. We rip the case apart to see how everything is suppose to fit in such cramped spaces.
OCZ, having the value-oriented user in mind, recently released a new PSU series. According to OCZ the ZS series PSUs offer affordable power solutions to value-oriented gaming systems.
ASUS has updated their microATX ROG offerings with the latest chipset from Intel, and we take a look. A red and black racer, the ASUS Maximus IV Gene-Z is ready for high speed gaming without a doubt, and packs in many exclusive features that just might see it hit the finish line first. Ready? Set? GO!
Be Quiet, as the name implies, specializes in the construction of silent PC components like CPU coolers, fans and power supplies. In this review we will test the Pure Power CM L8 730W, a modular PSU that targets the tight budget users since it features an affordable price, it is 80 PLUS Bronze certified and is equipped with four PCIe connectors. On top of that it promises quiet operation even at full load thanks to the SilentWings fan technology.
Pandawill Rii mini i6 is the name of a new miniature keyboard and remote combo product. The device integrates a full Bluetooth QWERTY-keyboard into the back of a normal infrared remote control. The unit is priced at $60 so it will not break the bank.
The Thermaltake Chaser MK-1, a futuristic looking chassis with a long list of useful features manages to impress in terms of looks, but can it hold up on our test bench? We fill the case with hardware to see if it ends up being chased or really manages to stay the chaser in every scenario.
OCZ is very busy lately releasing new PSU models. Today we have the chance to test the OCZ ZS 650W. The main difference compared to the bigger ZS 750W, besides capacity, is the reduced number of available PCIe connectors, only two. Like all ZS units it has 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency, its OEM is Sirfa and it uses a non-modular cabling design.
The CORE 1000 is the most affordable entry into the Micro ATX case market from Fractal Design. It is aimed to take on the Cooler Master Elite and the Xigmatek Asgard by offering as many features at an affordable price point. Will it prevail?
Fostex's newest product is a headphone amplifier and DAC dubbed the HP-P1. The HP-P1 offers a fully digital connection to any newer iPod or iPhone. Its ability to read digital data from the device is a unique feature that promises maximized audio quality because it bypasses the cheap analog hardware in the i-device.
Outfitted with a real X-Fi chipset and a KillerNIC E2100 to score maximum kills, Gigabyte's latest from the G1.Killer series, the G1.Sniper2, hits TechPowerUp's boot camp. Ready to jump into trenches and enter combat, we put the Intel Z68-equipped G1.Sniper2 in the front lines, target in sight.
The new Corsair TX M lineup is an evolutionary step forward from the Corsair TX V2 Series. It introduces modular connectors and a new fan grill design. Internally, the platform provider has been changed from Seasonic to Channel Well Technology. Overall the TX750M is a rock solid performer that comes at only a moderate price increase.
AMD's new Llano APU lineup gets a stylish new addition with the Biostar TA75A+. Sporting an fancy color scheme, and a low price, the Biostar TA75A+ seeks to bring some enthusiast features to the entry-level market.
OCZ's Vertex 3 is the company's flagship solid state drive. It is based on the fast Sandforce SF-2281 controller which offers support for the latest SATA 6 Gbps interface. We tested the 240 GB version against ten other SSDs in both 6 Gbps and 3 Gbps mode.
After the huge success of the Obsidian and Graphite cases, Corsair is entering the sub $100 market with the Carbide 400R. We show no mercy and review it just like its bigger brethren and are happy to report, that it holds up in an impressive manner.
Today we have a chance to test the Super Flower Golden Silent SF-500P14FG, a fanless power supply with 500W capacity which can be overclocked to 600W. In order to achieve this, the PSU will drop a bit in effiency: from Platinum to Gold.
The Enermax Hoplite has a long list of features and sports edgy industrial looks, which seem to be inspired by other cases in the market but also turns some heads with a competitive price point. We whip out the screw driver to see how it holds up on our test bench - turns out Enermax has done a great job and that tool is barely needed.
Our first look at PCIe 3.0 comes from none other than MSI, with their recently launched Z68A-GD65 (G3). Adding support early for future Intel CPUs, the Z68A-GD65 (G3), with its true PCIe 3.0 support, not only offers a bit for the future, but also a bit of extra speed, right now. We take the overclocking-oriented Z68A-GD65 (G3) for a spin.
Thortech is GeIL's power supply brand which has 15 years of experience in designing PSUs for industrial use. Today we will test the Thunderbolt Plus 800W, a PSU with Gold efficiency and a shiny iPower Meter device. The iPower Meter displays voltages, power, current and efficiency on a small panel which mounts in a 5.25" bay and also lets you control the PSU's fan speed.
Sennheiser's newest portable headphones are dubbed the PX 200-II. Its design closely resembles that of the previous high end ultra portable offering, the PX 200s. The new II-version features a multitude of smaller upgrades.
RedGiant have just released a very interesting set of in-ears named A03 Ossicle. The in-ears feature a dual dynamic driver setup and are aimed at satisfying all the bassheads of this world. We put them through their paces and see how they fare against other modern offerings.
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