Tech News
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MSI GTX 660 N660 Gaming 2GD5/OC Video Card Review @HiTech Legion
Published: Thursday, September 19, 2013 | By: DennisI must say the intro to this review is quite, informative.
Here is an unrelated quote approved by their email distribution.
The MSI N660 Gaming features an NVIDIA GTX 660 GPU with a factory over clock and an upgraded cooling solution The N660 Gaming seprates itself from it's N660 TF sibling by having a newer version of the Twin Frozr IV cooler and an application to utilize 3 overclocking presets. The upgraded cooler's fans are 12mm larger in diameter and te heatsink has a built in deflector plate to get more air moving directly over the heatpipes.
(OMG that is painful)
You might take 45 seconds and at least check out the intro, it has something to do with South Korea and some car Chevy wants to import but when they do the US public calls it nasty names. I guess it has some sort of parallel to what MSI did by releasing a GTX 660 Gaming card when they already had a GTX 660 on the market.
Of course the existing card was *Not* the GTX 660 Gaming but something different and didn't follow their new marketing direction. Dunno, maybe I don't see the issue.
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Intel Z87 and Haswell 24/7 OC Guide @ techPowerUp
Published: Monday, September 16, 2013 | By: DennisThe overclocking I do is focused on borderline stable performance and while this type of overclock gets the most performance it is only useful when doing competitive benchmarks. When you look at 24/7 stability you must consider the impact of long term overvoltage exposure and cooling. More often than not simply dialing back your OC is the solution
Overvoltage can damage the CPU and cause it to degrade while cooling can impact stability and also cause various components to prematurely fail. The TechPowerUp article touches on these facts and preaches that you should buy the best. (duh)
Make sure to grab from popcorn and a fresh beverage, you'll be reading for awhile.
Recently purchased a new Haswell-based CPU only to run into an overclocking nightmare? Looking for some tips to get a bit more out of your chip? After pushing the limits for several weeks and ending up with more than a few dead chips, we've come up with a guide focused on 24/7 overclocking with Haswell!
My suggestions are a little simpler.
1) Buy the best as a good motherboard goes a long way. Most any board featured on this site is a good candidate.
2) Get good memory. With Haswell 2133Mhz is a starting point, faster is better.
3) Get a factory overclocked video card, DX11 games are dependent on a good GPU.
4) Get a high powered PSU, the higher the rating the lower the heat output.
5) Get good cooling in your chassis, large cases tend to cool better.
6) DIY Watercooling is best
6) When it comes to actually overclocking the system keep voltage changes to a minimum, On the CPU you can often get 500+Mhz just from multiplier adjustments without voltage (limited to X and K type). Set memory to XMP and enjoy yourself. -
CYBERPOWERPC Infuses Enthusiast Gaming PCs with “King of the Core”
Published: Thursday, September 12, 2013 | By: Dennis4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7 Ivy Bridge-E processors
CITY of INDUSTRY, CA (September 10, 2013) – CyberPower Inc., www.cyberpowerpc.com a global manufacturer of custom gaming PCs, gaming laptops, and performance workstations, today announced the addition of Intel’s new Core i7 processors, codename “Ivy Bridge-E”, to its lineup of enthusiast and performance class gaming PCs.
Among the list of CYBERPOWERPC systems to incorporate the powerful 4th Generation Intel chip includes the Fang III Black Mamba and Cobra, Zeus EVO Storm series, Pro Gamer FTW, and Power Mega III high performance workstations. The E in Ivy Bridge-E stands for enthusiast as all three processor options are unlocked and ready for overclocking. Customers have three amazingly flexible and powerful CPU solutions – the quad-core i7-4820K; the six-core i7-4930K; or the king of the Core series, i7-4960X six-core processor – the ultimate weapon when users demand unrivaled PC performance for gaming or work.
The new Intel Core i7 processors also feature the advanced technology you’ve come to expect from Intel including Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.0 that provides the extra burst of speed for demanding applications and Intel Hyper Threading to ensure smooth system operation and multi-tasking.
You can also take your computing to the next level with CYBERPOWERPC’s expert venom boost overclocking option that can boost your overall CPU speed up to 30%.
CYBERPOWERPC has your cooling covered with a wide variety of water cooling solutions including its Advance Hydro Liquid Cooling Kit with 480mm radiator or the dual pump Advance Hydro 2 system.
The base price a CYBERPOWERPC gaming system featuring the new Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition starts at $1,859.
All Core i7 Extreme Edition models can be customized with a number of performance hardware and component upgrades such as CPU/GPU upgrades, solid state drives and storage hard drives, performance memory, peripherals and business software to enhance your productivity, and more at the company’s website, www.CYBERPOWERPC.com. All CYBERPOWERPC desktop systems include an industry best 3-year limited warranty.
About CyberpowerPC Inc.
CyberpowerPC Inc. www.CyberpowerPC.com was founded in 1998 and has emerged as a leading global provider of custom computer systems and interactive gaming products. Headquartered in Baldwin Park in Southern California, CyberpowerPC manufacturers and distributes a complete line of custom built gaming desktops, gaming notebooks and high performance workstations to meet the unique needs of gamers, businesses, government agencies, educational institutions and other end-users. For more information contact: Sales (800) 707-0393; Email CyberpowerPC@CyberpowerPC.com.
All products/company names are either trademarks or trade names of their respective holders. -
Intel i7-4930K & i7-4820K Ivy Bridge-E Review @ Hardware Canucks
Published: Thursday, September 12, 2013 | By: DennisI just bought a Core i7 4930K, I sure hope its a good one.
Intel's Ivy Bridge-E may be associated with extreme pricing, but the i7-4930K and i7-4820K brings things down a notch. With great performance and lower price points, they add some value to the IVB-E equation.
Based on the review they topped out at a little over 4.6Ghz which isn't really all that good considering my SB-E processors all do 4.7Ghz on air/water. Of course under LN2 they all scale up to 5Ghz+ so with any luck my IVB-E will do the same.
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Thermaltake NiC C4 CPU cooler @ PureOverclock
Published: Thursday, September 12, 2013 | By: DennisHeatsinks are created to keep your processor cool and also designed to fit a pre-determined form factor. This is one reason why OEM coolers are quite small and the aftermarket ones are just the opposite. Well as heatsinks got larger and more universal they created a problem with memory clearance.
Most companies took the easy way out and built their coolers to allow standard height memory to fit under the fins and let's face it when was the last time you bought a standard height memory module?
“We all probably know the name Thermaltake. They’ve been around for quite some time now and make cases, power supplies, GPU coolers, CPU coolers, and a ton of cool accessories. They’ve been taking the CPU cooler market by storm in recent years with their Frio line of coolers. They recently released their Water 2.0 series of AiO cooling systems as well. Their latest entry into the CPU cooler market is the NiC series which consists of four models – the F3, F4, C5 and the cooler we’ll be looking at today – the C4. NiC stands for non-interference cooling and the main goal was to provide performance and maximum RAM compatibility. Let’s take a closer look.”
I tested the NiC not to long ago and determined it works as advertised but does lack a little in the cooling department.
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LanOC V13 Recap @ LanOC Reviews
Published: Thursday, September 12, 2013 | By: DennisI have done a few small lan parties in my day and Darren has hosted some of the largest ones in Idaho and regardless of the size the effort to get everything together is quite big.
Of course the real challenge is trying to enjoy yourself while getting asked questions and taking care of the guests.
It’s been a few days now and not only have I set all of the PCs around the house back up, I also took the time to do detail cleaning around my desk. Even after a few days I feel little tired, an impromptu nap that went until 3pm yesterday helped some but it’s going to be a little while before I’m back to normal. All of it means we had another successful LAN. Of course the work doesn’t stop on Sunday for me, but before I get too far into it I wanted to post up a little bit of a roundup. Read on to hear more about it.
Some good pics in there, be sure to check it out.
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Mobile Devices Will Be Dead by 2015!
Published: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 | By: DennisThe great thing about the internet is that just about anything can be a story. Some are based on fact while others happen to genesis with speculation. Some have speculated that unless a new battery technology is created you will no longer be able to power a laptop, cell phone, tablet or electric car because of the scarcity of Lithium.
Oh ya, and not to mention a whole race of crazy people off their meds.
What do a cell phone, a laptop and an electric car have in common?
All three use batteries made with lithium - the lightest metal in nature. About five grams is in an average laptop, about half a gram in a cell phone. Surprisingly, what keeps your devices charged and wireless can also affect your brain: It's an active ingredient in drugs used to treat manic depression. Batteries using lithium have twice the capacity of traditional nickel cadmium batteries, creating a "lithium boom" in several places around the world as these technologies become more ubiquitous. In China, cell phone sales were up 57 percent last year; in India, cell phone use is expected to double by 2014.They claim the world is running out of oil and the one thing we created to combat an oil shortage is a plastic filled electric car.
Maybe I'm missing something there but that just doesn't seem right.
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Mobile Devices Will Be Dead by 2015!
Published: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 | By: DennisThe great thing about the internet is that just about anything can be a story. Some are based on fact while others happen to genesis with speculation. Some have speculated that unless a new battery technology is created you will no longer be able to power a laptop, cell phone, tablet or electric car because of the scarcity of Lithium.
Oh ya, and not to mention a whole race of crazy people off their meds.
What do a cell phone, a laptop and an electric car have in common?
All three use batteries made with lithium - the lightest metal in nature. About five grams is in an average laptop, about half a gram in a cell phone. Surprisingly, what keeps your devices charged and wireless can also affect your brain: It's an active ingredient in drugs used to treat manic depression. Batteries using lithium have twice the capacity of traditional nickel cadmium batteries, creating a "lithium boom" in several places around the world as these technologies become more ubiquitous. In China, cell phone sales were up 57 percent last year; in India, cell phone use is expected to double by 2014.They claim the world is running out of oil and the one thing we created to combat an oil shortage is a plastic filled electric car.
Maybe I'm missing something there but that just doesn't seem right.
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Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 Mid-Tower Chassis Review @ Techgage
Published: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 | By: DennisFracking Fractal from Fraggle Rock is a chassis.
Fractal’s original Arc Midi chassis impressed us enough to become the base of our CPU cooler testing rig, so when we heard that a sequel to it was released, we couldn’t wait to check it out. With its beefy feature-set, semi modular design, support for up to a 240mm radiator and a $70 price tag, this mid-tower might just be the one to beat.
Another super clean and usable chassis with WAY to many drive bays. Pretty sure the law of chassis design states that any case mid-tower and smaller can only have 4 HDD slots and three external 5.25" drive bay.
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EVGA GTX 780 Classified Reviewed
Published: Friday, September 6, 2013 | By: DennisI was fortunate enough to be one of the first to have a GTX 780 Classified review posted and likely won't be the last, For instance both Guru3D and Hardware Canucks have their own reviews posted.
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Classified review
Check out the EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Classified while we review it. The EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Classified comes factory overclocked for you, has the latest revision of the ACX cooler and can be connected towards an external POD called the EVBOT. All in all definitely stuff to check out we'd think.
Source: http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/evga_geforce_gtx_780_classified_review,1.html
EVGA GTX 780 Classified Review @ Hardware Canucks
EVGA’s GTX 780 lineup may hold an incredible eight different variations but their GTX 780 Classified is without a doubt the flagship. Not only is it fast, but it can overclock to unheard-of levels.
Source: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/63051-evga-gtx-780-classified-review.htmlOf course the real question is who will be the first to freeze their GTX 780 and live to tell about it.
