Tech News

• NVidia GTX 760 Launch Day

  Published: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Its another video card launch day this time we have a GK104 GPU designed to replace the GTX 660 Ti from vendors who have done everything they can to get this card out quick with as little to no R&D as possiable.

  Be sure to check out our review of the Gigabyte GTX 760 OC and how it stacks up against the GTX 660 Ti OC and even the reference designed GTX 760.  Is it faster? is it sleaker? will it cook eggs?  Read on!

  

  Web Reviews:
  - HEXUS Review: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 WindForce 3X
  - Nvidia GTX 760 @ LanOC Reviews
  - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 Graphics Card Review (Gainward, Palit and ZOTAC) @ HardwareHeaven
  - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 Review @ HotHardware
  - MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming OC 2GB Video Card Review in SLI @ Legit Reviews
  - NVIDIA GTX 760 2GB Review @ Hardware Canucks
  - Gigabyte GTX 760 WindForce OC 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 review: boost for the mid-range segment
  - Nvidia's GeForce GTX 760 graphics card reviewed
  - EVGA GeForce GTX 760 SuperClocked w/ ACX Review @ Ocaholic
  - MSI GTX 760 TwinFrozr Gaming 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - EVGA GTX 760 SC w/ ACX Cooler 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - ASUS GTX 760 DirectCU II OC 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - Palit GTX 760 JetStream 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2 GB @ techPowerUp

  Check back when we put two GTX 760's under SLI, there might be lights!

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• The 150 Things the World's Smartest People Are Afraid Of @ Motherboard

  Published: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Ever wonder what the smartest people in the world worry about or are afraid of?  Well wonder no more because there is a list.  After reading a few of the entries I have come to the conclusion that most of the people on this list have not taken the question seriously and are either full of themselves for being considered smart or really have no idea.

  One of the best responses:

  21. Not much. I ride motorcycles without a helmet. –J. Craig Venter, genomic scientist

  Some of the answers range from "Men" to things like Drugs and the fact that we may never travel space. If you need a laugh be sure to read them all.

  For me, I have many worries and fears and it is hard to narrow them down to one.  For instance I worry about our reliance on "off-shore" resources, I also worry about the social economic divide and how it will impact us in the future.  I worry about world resources and how technological progress is changing things for the worse.

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• CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme 5200 Haswell System Review

  Published: Monday, June 24, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Looking for a good out of box gaming rig using the latest Haswell CPU?  Look no further than CyberpowerPC.

  Now that Intel's 4th-generation Core processors are flowing in the market, all your favorite boutique builders are churning out new systems based around those Haswell chips. The new Intel processors require a new socket (LGA 1150), and the associated motherboards have the new Z87 chipset. If you're as excited as we are to see how Haswell fares, stick around--there's a lot of good stuff coming down the pike.
  
  One of our first Haswell-based system is the CyberPowerPC Gamer Xtreme 5200, which comes in a surprisingly subdued mid-tower chassis that belies the powerful components inside. It's hard to say what CyberPowerPC's going for aesthetically here, but it's easy to see that this machine is fully loaded.

  This system comes with the AMD Radeon HD7990 and should downright murder games and HWBot benches, that is unless you want to see some fancy PhysX in Borderlands 2.

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• Rumor: Ivy Bridge-E Core i7 4960X Delidded – Uses Solder, Not Paste

  Published: Monday, June 24, 2013 | By: Dennis

  One of the hottest debates is the proper use of thermal paste and if it deserves to be under the "lid" of your shiny new Haswell and Ivy Bridge CPU of if Intel should go back to soldering the heatspreader to the CPU.  In case you ddn't know Ivy Bridge ushered in the age of awesome transistors and hotter than normal processor temps thanks to using dry chunky thermal paste between the CPU and heatspreader.  While these temps are within Intel spec the fact that a CPU is running 60c under load and the heatsink tops out at 29c tells us that something isn't getting transfered correctly.

  And yes, the heatsink was mounted properly.

  These rumored photos of a delidded Core i7 4960X Ivy Bridge-E CPU shows that Intel continues to use solder on their server and high end CPU models.

  With any luck Ivy Bridge E and Haswell E will both have soldered connections and in the meantime I'll be in the back room cutting the lid off my CPU and replacing the thermal paste with something better.  With any luck I'll be able to get a few more Ghz from the chip and be able to use it in heatsink tests.

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• NL: Review Block - Cards and Boards for All Ages

  Published: Friday, June 21, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Looking over the list I see a whole lotta MSI and not so much Gigabyte.  I wonder why?  Oh, don't forget the Asrock either.  They are the new guy on the block in a bold attempt to change their budget spin-off nature into a real overclocking powerhouse backed by overclocking professionals.

  Cards: of the Video Variety
  - MSI GTX 770 TwinFrozr Gaming 2 GB @ techPowerUp
  - PowerColor HD 7850 1GB SCS3 Fanless Video Card Review @ HiTech Legion
  - MSI GeForce GTX 770 Gaming edition Graphics card review
  - MSI GTX 770 Gaming @ Bjorn3D
  - ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC Review @ Ocaholic
  - Gigabyte GTX 780 WindForce 3X OC Review @ Hardware Canucks
  
  Boards: of the Mother Variety
  - MSI Z87 MPower Motherboard @ PureOverclock
  - GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-OC (Intel LGA 1150) @ techPowerUp
  - MSI FM2-A85XMA-E35 Micro ATX Motherboard Review @ HiTech Legion
  - MSI's Z87-GD65 Gaming motherboard reviewed
  - ASUS Z87-PRO Motherboard Review @ HiTech Legion
  - ASRock Z87 Extreme4 Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
  - ASUS Maximus VI Extreme Z87 motherboard review
  - ASUS Z87-DELUXE Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets

  More to come including a few Gigabyte related articles.

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• Cooler Master Seidon 240M @ PureOverclock

  Published: Thursday, June 20, 2013 | By: Dennis

  The Cooler Master Seidon is a completely new cooling concept brought to the AiO market that combines the "what works" in existing coolers with the Cooler Master flair for building great cooling devices.  The Seidon 240M is just bigger than most. 

  AiO (all in one) CPU coolers have been around for quite some time now. These days just about every company is coming out with their own version and most of them typically look the same with only one or two distinguishing features. Then there’s the Cooler Master Seidon 240M. The Seidon on the surface seems like your typical 240mm AiO CPU cooler, but Cooler Master has added their own unique style to this unit. We’ve got one to put through the wringer, so let’s get to it, shall we?

  I got the opportunity to test a pre-release version of the first Seidon 120 followed by the larger Seidon 120 XL.  Both coolers worked great on LGA 115x and could handle LGA 2011 in a pinch but wasn't pretty.  The 240M should solve the LGA 2011 cooling dilemma and I can't wait to try one out.

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• EVGA GeForce GTX 780 ACX SC Review @ Hardware Canucks

  Published: Thursday, June 20, 2013 | By: Dennis

  One of the best things a video card mfg can do is offer up their own cooling solution but you have to be careful that it not only outperforms the stock cooler but also looks good.  The ACX cooler from EVGA does both of these things.

  

  The GTX 780 is one of today's most popular graphics cards and EVGA's Superclocked series boosts its performance to some impressive levels.  Added to this pre-overclocked goodness is a new custom designed ACX cooler which boosts cooling levels and remains blissfully silent.

  EVGA is famous for their Superclocked video cards but don't let that fool you because there is a Classified edition in there someplace that demands some attention.

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• Computex 2013 Madshrimps Style @ Madshrimps

  Published: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Computex is so big you're never quite sure what you will see or who you will run into.  Case in point, two editors from Madshrimps.  As a hardware enthusiast and overclocker I can usually be found at the component booths but also lurking around some of the after events such as the Gigabyte Overclocker Gathering and MSI OC Workshop.

  If you look careful you might even find a photo of me in their gallery.

  Even though CeBIT still is one of the biggest tradeshows in Europe, most big vendors seem to slowly but steadily be less and less present at the Hannover hallen. Most of the big names, either have rented hotel suites outside the CeBIT fair or are solely represented at the Planet Resellers booth. Secondly most new hardware launches are done at CES in Las Vegas or at the center of the computing world, Taipei City in Taiwan. This year we opted to go to the Computex Tradeshow to visit an old friend and gather with some of world's most famous overclockers. Time to bag up and head inbound Taiwan !

  Instead of a daily post they opted to do one big article so hunker down and check out the carnage.  (psst.  good stuff on page 15+)

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• ASUS GeForce GTX 780 DirectCU II OC review

  Published: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | By: Dennis

  GTX 780 is the yum when it comes to video cards under a G in the US.  Does Asus do the card justice?

  We review the ASUS GTX780-DC2OC-3GD5. Its Titan's little brother, the GeForce GTX 780 from ASUS, in a DirectCU II OC flavah-flaf. This is the 3GB DirectCU II & CoolTech Fan edition that comes factory clocked for you at 889 MHz (Ref 863) with a Boost clock of 941 MHz (Ref 900). However, ASUS increased the power limits a little as it seems, as the during monitoring the card ran steady at 1058 MHz. We'll throw our entire benchmark arsenal at the card including multiple FCAT tests.

  The clocks seem good and the DirectCU II cooler is quite good though it is difficult to see the PCB construction and overclocking results are somewhat weak at 1000Mhz.  It seems like there is some room for improvement.

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• MSI GTX 770 Lightning 2 GB @ techPowerUp

  Published: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 | By: Dennis

  Most people in the know will think the following quote might be a bit of an overstatement considering that the GTX 770 Lighting is using the same PCB as the GTX 680 but, then again, that isn't common knowledge either.

  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 extra performance advantage.
  

  When it comes to custom video cards that you can buy in the US there are basically three companies you can choose from.  MSI, EVGA and Asus.  MSI is by far the most popular with the Lightning edition and happens to be the only card you want to use in the MOA.  EVGA has been making good headway to become one of the premiere go to partners with their Classified edition cards.  Asus on the other hand doesn't market in the US all that often so it's hard to know if their stuff is all that good or just an understated overachiever.

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