Tech News
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NL: Review Block: Keyboard Kindness
Published: Monday, July 23, 2012 | By: DennisKeyboards have been the new hot accessory for the past couple years with the majority of vendors concentrating on making them more expensive thru key switch technology and gamer centric features.
Does this actually help you write news or a term paper? not likely but it can help get a few more frags in your favorite MMO.
Interweb Reviews
- ROCCAT Isku Illuminated Gaming Keyboard Review @ ThinkComputers
- AZiO Levetron Mech 5 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review @ Custom PC Review
- CM Storm Trigger review: mechanical keyboard
- CM Storm Quick Fire Pro Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @ techPowerUpCheck back tomorrow you might be surprised to see a review in the keyboard variety.
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Asustek considers acquisition to expand in motherboard market
Published: Thursday, July 19, 2012 | By: DennisIn a market that has put increased pressure on mobo makers to cut costs and build smarter designs you have to wonder if gobbling up other companies is better than letting them fold up. For instance would DFI still be in the game had they purchased Abit or Soltek before they folded?
As the global motherboard market has been seeing weak growth since 2005, Asustek Computer reportedly is considering acquisitions to further expand its economic scale in the motherboard market, but the company has refuted the rumors and said that it is seeing stable development of its motherboard business and has no plans for acquisitions or strategic alliances.
Currently, motherboard makers' shipment growths each year are mainly contributed by shipments that were snatched from fellow competitors; therefore, price competition in the motherboard market has never ceased with first-tier players such as Asustek and Gigabyte Technology which have larger resources, gaining market share from smaller players such as Micro-Star International (MSI), Elitegroup Computer System (ECS), ASRock and Biostar.Price and margins are what keep these companies afloat and the retail sector is not where they make their money. Money is made in volume or by creating one off models that fill a niche market with no competition.
Read more about this story at Digitimes
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Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700: Infinite potential, limited OS
Published: Wednesday, July 18, 2012 | By: DennisIt is no secret that there is at least one Asus Transformer in the house and Nnjalane Podcast Co-Host Darren has three of the little buggers floating around his home. Considering that I had recently bought the Asus Slate I didn't think getting an additional Transformer was all that necessary.
Turns out I was wrong. Slate style tablets work great as a laptop replacement but the limited battery life is a real downer when surfing the web or chatting with people online. The solution to this would be an entertainment tablet like the new Transformer Pad Infinity TF700. Tegra 3 provides the multimedia power and the keyboard is a nice option for those looking to actually work on their android device.
The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 is the Transformer Prime as it should have been. A Gandalf the White to the Prime's Saruman. Asus has clearly listened to the grievances -- most notably, GPS issues -- of some Prime owners and in most cases, addresses said grievances and then some.
The TF700 is more than just an upgrade to the Prime. It's also a chance to represent the full potential of the Transformer line. Check out the full review to see if Asus succeeds (despite the Android market's relatively paltry support for high-resolution screens and the Tegra 3 processor).Sign me up! It is too bad the new device is difficult to find in the US, hopefully things will get better in the next couple weeks.
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NL: Motherboard Roundup
Published: Monday, July 16, 2012 | By: DennisYeeHaww!! It's time to round up those pesky motherboard doggies, eat us some beans and make pretty lights around the campfire.
First on the list is an awesome motherboard from EVGA called the Z77 FTW. At the time this was one of the first boards on the market to feature the PLX switch to enable quad SLI and Crossfire on a Z77 motherboard.
- EVGA Z77 FTW Intel Z77 Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews
- EVGA Z77 FTW review (at Guru3D, they never include that with their news alerts, it must be an elitist thing)Next on the list is another awesome motherboard, and the second one I have seen with the PLX switch, the Gigabyte Sniper 3. Look for a review of this very motherboard soon, (its currently going thru the testing phase)
- Gigabyte G1.Sniper3 Z77 Motherboard Review @ HotHardware
Lastly there are some misc boards like something from MSI and Asus
- MSI Z77-GD55 @ PureOverclock
- ASUS Maximus V Formula review (again from that site, Guru3D)Now that you have seen them, which do you like best? Which do you like least? Sound off in the forum, or fart on the fire. Your choice
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Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB OC Graphics Card Review @ APH Networks
Published: Monday, July 16, 2012 | By: DennisWe love us some hot Gigabyte action!! This time featuring the Radeon HD 7870 GPU and triple fan Windforce cooler. Yes, the same one featured on the GTX 670 OC video card I reviewed.
APH Networks reviews Gigabyte's interpretation of the 7870. Does the company's classic formula of using a great cooler, good electronic components, and a slight overclock set a standard for excellence again? Read on to find out!
Only a slight overclock? WTH!?!
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Sapphire HD 7970 6GB Toxic Edition Review @ Kitguru
Published: Monday, July 16, 2012 | By: DennisThis looks like a halfway decent card and with 6GB of video ram to boot.
Last week we had some hands on time with the latest AMD GHZ HD7970. At the end of the day it left us feeling distinctly uninspired. There was no doubt the card was fast, but AMD sadly adopted their ill equipped, painfully loud cooling solution with tiny, single red fan.
We hoped that Sapphire would rectify the sorry state of affairs and today we have their latest HD7970 ‘Toxic Edition’ in our labs, featuring a proprietary dual fan cooler, a staggering 6GB of GDDR5 and a ground breaking ‘lethal boost’ overclock core speed of 1,200mhz.The cooler is a custom design with dual fans that cool the GPU and memory. Small heatsinks cover the PWM mosfets and are cooled with blowby air from the primary radiator. Those of you familiar with the Asus ROG GPUs will recognize the basic design.
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An Army of Gigabyte Sniper Reviews
Published: Friday, July 13, 2012 | By: DennisOne of the newest gaming motherboards to hit the enthusiast sector is the Gigabyte G1.Killer line complete with a military color theme and pirate skull beret wearing hat logo guy.
Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 Intel Z77 Express @ techPowerUp
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.
Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 @ Techreaction.netWe are going to take this one in another direction (perhaps a little in reverse with a bit of the end at the beginning). At first glance, this board does not seem to be worth the money and we want to clear the air a little about what most people may not (do not) need.
GIGABYTE G1.Sniper 3 Motherboard @ Bjorn3DGIGABYTE now has a second entry into the G1.Killer series for the Z77 lineup. Needless to say, when we look at a gaming board, we expect the appearance to scare the competition away, and the power to back it up. Does the G1.Sniper 3 deliver? Let’s take a look.
We have the full sized Sniper 3 in the Lab and so far it looks pretty darn good.
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NL: Review Block - Video Cards and Even More Video Cards
Published: Friday, July 13, 2012 | By: DennisJust look what happens when I let the news box go for a few days. Yep that's right, way to many video card reviews to handle in one sitting. As you can tell from the list there were quiite a few GTX 670 and GTX 680 cards released along with a few custom AMD Radeon cards.
Video Card Goodness
- Zotac GTX 670 AMP! Review @ XSReviews.co.uk
- MSI GTX 670 Power Edition OC (Twin Frozr IV) Review
- HIS Radeon HD 7950 ICEQ Turbo review
- ASUS GTX 670 DirectCu II TOP Review @ Hardware Canucks
- MSI GeForce GTX 670 Power edition OC review
- ASUS GTX 680 DirectCU II TOP Review @ Hardware Canucks
- MSI GTX 670 Power Edition Twin Frozr IV 2 GB @ techPowerUp
- Sapphire HD 7950 FleX Edition @ TechwareLabs
- Sapphire HD 7870 FLeX @ LanOC Reviews
- Sapphire Radeon 7870 FleX @ PureOverclock
- Gainward GeForce GTX 670 Phantom 2GB Review @ NikKTech
- MSI GeForce GTX 680 Lightning 2 GB @ techPowerUp
- MSI GeForce GTX 680 Lightning review
GPU Coolers
- Gelid Icy Vision-A GPU Cooler Review at HardwareHeavenWe don't have any more Video cards in the review "hoppa" but am planning to get a few in before the end of the month.
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Crucial Ballistix Elite 2x4GB DDR3-1866 MHz CL9 @ ocaholic
Published: Friday, July 13, 2012 | By: DennisCrucial is an old school company that still manages to poop out a few new products now and again. Keep in mind this is a local company (to me) and often the target when I go off ranting about sample support but sadly that won't happen this time. The modules in this review are somewhat lackluster in their timings and speed so really not an interest to the overclocker.
Those who have been around in the Socket 775 era might remember a brand named Crucial. Being in a very close business relationship with Micron, the maker behind the legendary D9GMH and D9GTR chips, has enabled Crucial to launch the Ballistix series, which instantly became an overclocking hit. In the following chip generations, Micron have failed to repeat their success, which meant that Crucial memory division have mostly been flying under the radar. But now, judging by the new outburst of Ballistix on the market, it seems that Micron might have again come up with something interesting.
Maybe Crucial will get back into the enthusiast game and show off their awesome binning skills or simply continue on and keep us guessing and hoping for more. I guess it might be time to go knock on the door and get some solid answers.
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Custom NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670/680 Round Up: EVGA, ZOTAC, MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS
Published: Thursday, July 12, 2012 | By: DennisI do like me a custom PCB and Hot Hardware has a grip of them on display.
Now that Kepler has had a few months to marinate, NVIDIA’s board partners are ready with newer, custom GeForce GTX 680 and GTX 670 cards that push things a bit further than the initial batch of products based on NVIDIA’s reference designs. As such, we thought it would be a great time to round-up some of the hottest offerings to see how they compare to each other and to AMD’s latest, the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, which hit the scene recently.
We’ve got six cards on tap for you today, four GeForce GTX 680 and two GeForce GTX 670 cards, from companies like MSI, Asus, EVGA, ZOTAC, and Gigabyte...There is a review of the Gigabyte GTX 670 on Ninjalane already and is almost identical to the Gigabyte card featured in this article. I'm not a fan of their overclocking results but I am impressed to see that all of the cards were within a few frames of each other and of course the card that clocked the highest also netted the best score.
