Tech News
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Crucial X8 Review @ Vortez
Published: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 | By: DennisIn recent years I have been pretty close with Crucial. That is a big deal for me since before that I would usually get snubbed then I would make a joke about being able to throw rocks at the building and yet not getting a product to review.
That was some good banter and in keeping with tradition we have a portable storage solution reviewed that isn't too bad.
Offering the drive in 500GB and 1TB capacities, with speeds up to 1050MB/s in both directions, the drive can be used for modestly-sized backups, as a Steam drive to take round to a friend’s or just for transferring files at speeds way in excess of what a typical USB flash drive is capable of.
Some of the external SSD drives I have won't work on all systems. Where they may work well on my Windows 10 machine it just won't connect on Server 2008 R2. Pretty sure that is an OS dependency or could be the USB controller. Either way the speed is there however compatability can be kinda meh.
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Team Group MP33 512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD @ TechPowerUp
Published: Wednesday, March 25, 2020 | By: Dennisit is no suprise that NVMe is the way to go when it comes to high-end storage options. The drives still lack storage capacity but offer enough space to satasify most everyone.
Team Group has their own drive and TechPowerUp has a review.
Team Group's MP33 SSD is based on 96-layer TLC NAND from Toshiba paired with a new Phison controller that achieves impressive sustained writes and has the best thermals we've ever seen. Even when fully loaded, without airflow, there is no thermal throttling.
Of course, one of the biggest issues with NVMe is speed. The interface is the fastest you can get however the controller and chips used have a profound impact on total transfer speed and access times.
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Here Are All The Free Games You Can Claim Right Now @ Gamespot
Published: Monday, March 23, 2020 | By: DennisGamespot has a list of free games available now (or when this post went live) to help many of us pass the time while stuck at home.
Being stuck inside can be a real hassle, but thankfully, online storefronts and developers are taking note and giving away a bunch of games for free to help us kill the time. PS4, Xbox One, and PC games are all being given away. Because of this, we've decided to collect all of the games that are free for a limited time so you can easily claim any you're interested in. This list won't include any games that are normally free-to-play--like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends--but you're sure to find something to fall in love with, whether it's an old PC classic, a must-play iPhone game, or a brand-new game.
For me I'll be playing some Doom Eternal, Borderlands 3 (maybe, the game kinda sucks) and 7 Days to Die.
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Lian Li Strimer Plus @LanOC Reviews
Published: Monday, March 16, 2020 | By: DennisSo, do you remember those RGB lighted power cables from Computex 2019?? Well, I do and to be honest they got WAY too much press. First off all they weren't lighted cables but more of a lighted covering that looked like cables. In photos they looked amazing but in reality they were just adding bulk to your build.
LAN OC has a review of these cable lights posted and I'm not sure if they are dissing on them or actually found a use.
Lets find out.
I’ll be the first to admit that the entire RGB scene has just been crazy, anything and everything you can think of now has it. It's not for everyone and for some of the people who don’t like it, it can even lead to an angry response. Three years ago, I wrote an article on the topic of why RGB can still be useful even if the idea of that rainbow look isn’t your thing. Last year Lian Li came out with one of the most outrageous RGB products with their Strimer RGB cable extensions and this year they have upped the ante by upgrading them with addressable lighting with a lot more effects. Today I’m going to check them out and see what they are all about and try to figure out if they should only be used on the craziest RGB builds or if maybe you can use them as an accent in a “normal” build.
Well based on the intro I'm not sure though it seems they are trying to rationalize RGB? I mean how can you do that??
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Funky Kit Review - Patriot Viper VPR100 RGB 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD
Published: Wednesday, March 11, 2020 | By: DennisNVMe is the way of the future, down with SATA, Down with IDE and down with PATA. We need M.2 and we need it yesterday.
Oh ya, its been out for a LONG time. So, where you been?
The Viper VPR100 RGB is an interesting SSD that's perfect for any gamers, who are looking for a fast and exceptional looking M.2 SSD drive. There are not many SSD with RGB lighting and even less at a similar price, so the VPR100 is for sure worth considering. With extended warranty and high compatibility with popular motherboards ... you really can't go wrong with this drive.
When NMVe hit the market is was an Intel exclusive and Intel charged you for the privilege. Shortly after Samsung was allowed to produce NVMe drives and the performance storage market somewhat exploded from there. Buyer be aware though, not every NVMe M.2 SSD is created the same and some aren't really all that good.
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Silicon Power P34A60 PCIe 3x4 M.2 2280 512GB SSD Review @ Madshrimps
Published: Sunday, March 08, 2020 | By: DennisRumor is if you want to get super fast NVMe storage performance you need to be running PCI Express Gen 4 which begs the question. Why do we care about SSD drives that are limited to PCI Express Gen 3??
I think the answer is obvious, AMD
The mainstream PCIe Gen 3x4 P34A60 mainstream SSD from Silicon Power does offer good all-around performance and does not drop to very slow speeds when the cache fills up completely, as we could notice from the HD Tune Pro write test. When copying large files continuously to the drive, we haven’t seen drops of under 90MB/s, which is great for a TLC-based drive, while the 512GB capacity should be enough for a boot drive.
Be sure to check out the full review at Madshrimps.
On a related note, its sites like Madshrimps that makes me wonder why I had issues with getting articles on Ninjalane.com to rank. I mean Ninjas are better than Shrimps right??
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Palit GeForce RTX 2080 Super Gaming Pro OC @ TechPowerUp
Published: Sunday, March 08, 2020 | By: DennisPalit isn't a big brand in the US but from what I remember they are "the" video card maker in the EU, similar to how EVGA is the defacto USA brand. Because of this it is difficult to keep track of what Palit does aside from buying Gainward and killing off one of the best video card makers in the business.
Palit's RTX 2080 Super Gaming Pro OC is a new variant with a triple-slot, triple-fan cooler, to replace their dual-fan designs. It delivers solid temperatures and noise levels. At $720, the card is priced very reasonably, yet includes a factory overclock, idle-fan-stop, and backplate.
Say it aint so plucky!, a RTX 2080 Super with a triple slot cooler?? Where are they getting their market research, Hong Kong?? (Zotac for those of you who are GPU challenged.)
Actually, one look at the cooler and I think we know that to be true.
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Happy Leap Day Everyone
Published: Saturday, February 29, 2020 | By: DennisAs they say leap year only comes along every 4 years as a way to align the world back to the calendar. It is somewhat of a compromise for the imperfect science known as the universe.
While I chug away reviewing new hardware in the Ninjalane Labs I wondered. How many times have I posted on February 29th over the entire 20 years this website has been live.
In terms of news, there have been a total of 3 posts. The first was in 2004 which is a year after I first attended Computex. The second was 2008 when I would post NL: Review Blocks to help share the articles and reviews that other hardware sites were posting.
The final post was in 2012 with a posting about the Gigabyte Battlefield 3 cup which was an online competition with a grand prize of 1200 USD!!
An interesting side note, in 2012 I started two reviews. The SilenX EFZ-120HA5 Heatsink Review and Silverstone ST1200-G Strider Gold Evolution Power Supply Review were started on 2/29/2012 and posted within a day of each other.
It would seem that after 2012 I didn't post anything on Leap Day, until now. There have been 2664 news posts since 2/29/2012 and while that may seem like a lot it works out to be less than 1 post a day. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in that number but, it has been a great ride even though very few readers stop by to read the news anymore.
Happy Leap Year everyone! Enjoy your extra day in 2020 and I hope the rest of the year is wonderful.
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Keep Your PC Healthy With EK-Loop Connect
Published: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | By: DennisA Fan, Pump, and an Addressable D-RGB controller unit that is designed from the standpoint of an enthusiast. With this control hub you can easily set your desired RGB lighting effects with just a few clicks, as well as optimize your cooling performance, and noise levels through a simple PWM chart or pre-defined profiles. That’s not all though, as you’ll have the option of using external temperature sensors, flow meters, and coolant level probes.
The EK-Loop Connect is one of, if not the most powerful, mainstream fan and LED controller available on the market, topping off at 170W of total power delivery. It’s capable of delivering 20W per each 4-pin fan header, combining up to a total of 120W. The industry-standard, non-proprietary addressable D-RGB headers can each handle 8W of power.
With six PWM fan headers, capable of delivering a total of 120W, the user can connect several dozen fans, as standard PWM splitter cables can also be utilized. The same applies to the D-RGB headers since they can deliver up to 50W of power in total. Each header can be used to connect multiple D-RGB products by using an EK D-RGB splitter cable. To put it into perspective, that’s enough for ~20 EK-Quantum Vector D-RGB water blocks. For specific EK-Quantum D-RGB water block power consumption check the table on our blog.
It’s safe!
An LED overpower protection system will make sure you will not damage the controller unit or your addressable D-RGB LEDs. If by any chance, you manage to overload any of the D-RGB headers, the unit will automatically set the color of all the LEDs attached to a red color. A static red color is using only 1/3 of the total power draw and also acts as a warning color for the user to take action and reduce the number of LEDs attached.
EK Connect D-RGB Controller
EK-Loop Connect is connected to the motherboard via an internal USB 2.0 header and is powered by a single Molex cable. In the package, you receive a Molex -> dual SATA power adapter, if you prefer not to have Molex cables in your modular PSU.
Technical Specification
Dimensions (L x H x W): 126 x 18 x 70mm
Power Output for Fans: 20W per header
Power Output for LEDs: 8W per header
Mounting Holes: 2.5? drive mounting holes -
CORSAIR Hydro X Series XD3 Pump/Reservoir Combo @ TechPowerUp
Published: Wednesday, February 26, 2020 | By: DennisI got to see some of this gear during Computex and was really impressed with what they came up with. Sure the system is larger than it needs to be and the RGB can be way over the top but, it moves water and that is all most people will care about.
CORSAIR adds to their Hydro X series of custom watercooling products with their second pump/reservoir combo. The all-new Hydro XD3 uses a Xylem DDC and a lower profile form factor to complement the taller Hydro XD5 that used the Xylem D5, and adds more RGB while sticking with the same excellent installation options.
I do like how they elected to use the DDC and D5 pumps in their pump/res combo. That makes flow and head pressures easy to evaulate and replace if needed.
