Tech News
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Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4-3400 Review @ Hardware Canucks
Published: Thursday, April 9, 2015 | By: DennisHave you found yourself with a Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion and can't decide on what memory would go best with the motherboard? Do you like limited edition products and don't mind paying for them? Is there a grand burning a hole in your pocket?
If so this memory kit from Corsair might be exactly what you are looking for.
Corsair's $1000 Dominator Platinum DDR4-3400 Orange kit is the fastest currently on the market and it's meant exclusively for Gigabyte's X99 SOC Champion motherboard.
Most enthusiasts would pick up this kit simply to color match their motherboard and ignore the 3400Mhz memory speed. Overclockers on the other hand might actually find the super speed an easy way to buy some extra speed in their benchmarks.
Dunno, either way a grand for memory is a little steep esp after spending a grand on a processor.
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XSPC X20 420 Single Bayres/Pump Combo @ PureOverclock
Published: Thursday, April 9, 2015 | By: DennisI have been looking at building a custom watercooler again and am really amazed at how much things have changed. In a way it seems like the innovation has been drained from the niche leaving only a few select brands to choose from.
That isn’t likely to be a bad thing, just a bit of a change. Kind of like this combo unit reviewed at PureOC
With advances in pump, radiator, reservoir and fitting designs, things have gotten to the point where almost anyone can create and install a custom cooling solution specific to their system. XSPC is one of the handful of pioneering companies that made custom liquid cooling so commonplace today. The new X20 420 Single and Twin pump BayRes may save on space and and your hard earned money.
I'm not sure I would ever go combo unless it was a bayres design. They are compact and really are the best of both worlds. Sad thing is, very few cases have 5.25" drive bays anymore.
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Why The National Consumer Electronics Superstore Model Is Obsolete @ Forbes
Published: Monday, April 6, 2015 | By: DennisI noticed this story flipping through my google news feed, (Something that Hardware Asylum has been barred from contributing to, thanks again Google) and found this story at Forbes.
The article takes a stab at why brick and mortar electronics stores are closing. Case in point, Circit City and CompUSA both sold consumer electronics and they were forced to close. Most would say that online shopping took away their consumers and they were forced to go out of business. While I agree with that statement you can also add a lackluster selection of components and poorly trained staff. Of course, with that being said, what about Best Buy, Frys and Microcenter? don't these places sell consumer electronics?
And while online shopping (translation, Amazon,) has no doubt voraciously siphoned market share from physical stores on everything from computers to TVs, e-commerce isn’t the only reason consumer electronics no longer appears to work as a single product category at a national big box chain.
Over the past 15 years, “There’s been a proliferation of competition, from mass retailers to highly specialized retailers, as more and more retailers are carrying electronics since it’s more important to consumers,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis, consumer technology, for market research firm The NPD Group, listing chains as diverse as Wal-Mart, Staples, Kohl’s, Big Lots and Costco, which have dramatically expanded their electronics assortments both in store and online.According to the article the solution is diversity. Diversity to the extent of removing EVERY computer part from their stores OR stocking only cheap mainstream hardware. The idea here is that consumers who actually want good stuff know where to get it leaving the computer illiterate and shoppers with no budget to buy whatever is cheapest item on the shelf.
I was once asked the following questions
- "Why there are no Overclockers in Boise Idaho?"
- "Why doesn't anyone care about Overclocking in the US?"I think this article answers the question and sadly having the US consumer electronics market is being driven by the Apple/Samsung hardware market model "Buy it, Break it then Buy Another" doesn't help.
As hardware enthusiasts it is difficult to draw attention to the hobby in a market situation like this. First of all without a common place to go (like a computer shop) it is difficult to know who in your area is interested in this stuff. Furthermore since the target demographic is buying online there is no incentive for them to even bother going out or anyone pushing them to actually buy higher end hardware. (I shudder to think there are kids out there who are proud of their Dell black boxes).
The one positive is the role of the professional hardware reviewer. Given that you cannot go down to the local computer shop to inspect a product in person you are left reading looking for reviews. Most of these are written by "idiots" complaining about something they didn't understand and a few are the results of doing extensive searches to find the answers. Either way, review sites will play a key role in this ecosystem and with any luck there are a few out there getting it right.
I'll save my opinions on that topic for another rant.
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Why The National Consumer Electronics Superstore Model Is Obsolete @ Forbes
Published: Monday, April 6, 2015 | By: DennisI noticed this story flipping through my google news feed, (Something that Hardware Asylum has been barred from contributing to, thanks again Google) and found this story at Forbes.
The article takes a stab at why brick and mortar electronics stores are closing. Case in point, Circit City and CompUSA both sold consumer electronics and they were forced to close. Most would say that online shopping took away their consumers and they were forced to go out of business. While I agree with that statement you can also add a lackluster selection of components and poorly trained staff. Of course, with that being said, what about Best Buy, Frys and Microcenter? don't these places sell consumer electronics?
And while online shopping (translation, Amazon,) has no doubt voraciously siphoned market share from physical stores on everything from computers to TVs, e-commerce isn’t the only reason consumer electronics no longer appears to work as a single product category at a national big box chain.
Over the past 15 years, “There’s been a proliferation of competition, from mass retailers to highly specialized retailers, as more and more retailers are carrying electronics since it’s more important to consumers,” said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis, consumer technology, for market research firm The NPD Group, listing chains as diverse as Wal-Mart, Staples, Kohl’s, Big Lots and Costco, which have dramatically expanded their electronics assortments both in store and online.According to the article the solution is diversity. Diversity to the extent of removing EVERY computer part from their stores OR stocking only cheap mainstream hardware. The idea here is that consumers who actually want good stuff know where to get it leaving the computer illiterate and shoppers with no budget to buy whatever is cheapest item on the shelf.
I was once asked the following questions
- "Why there are no Overclockers in Boise Idaho?"
- "Why doesn't anyone care about Overclocking in the US?"I think this article answers the question and sadly having the US consumer electronics market is being driven by the Apple/Samsung hardware market model "Buy it, Break it then Buy Another" doesn't help.
As hardware enthusiasts it is difficult to draw attention to the hobby in a market situation like this. First of all without a common place to go (like a computer shop) it is difficult to know who in your area is interested in this stuff. Furthermore since the target demographic is buying online there is no incentive for them to even bother going out or anyone pushing them to actually buy higher end hardware. (I shudder to think there are kids out there who are proud of their Dell black boxes).
The one positive is the role of the professional hardware reviewer. Given that you cannot go down to the local computer shop to inspect a product in person you are left reading looking for reviews. Most of these are written by "idiots" complaining about something they didn't understand and a few are the results of doing extensive searches to find the answers. Either way, review sites will play a key role in this ecosystem and with any luck there are a few out there getting it right.
I'll save my opinions on that topic for another rant.
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Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion Overclocking Motherboard
Published: Sunday, April 5, 2015 | By: DennisHardware Asylum has a great review of the new Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion motherboard posted and even do some subzero overclocking using the Core i7 5960X.
The Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion is different type of X99 and is one designed for a single purpose, Overclocking and while the sparse I/O might indicate otherwise the high-end audio chip and 4-way SLI support makes this motherboard good for workstation duty too.
The new SOC Champion is basically an upgraded version of the X99 SOC Force that was never upgraded to handle faster, and more modern, DDR4 memory speeds beyond 2666Mhz. So, instead of simply issuing a BIOS update they issued a motherboard refresh. Seems Legit right?
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Springtime is Boring for the Hardware Enthusiast
Published: Thursday, April 2, 2015 | By: DennisSpringtime is one of the worse for PC hardware. Sure there might be a random awesome speed SSD released, "big whoop" There might even be a video card out there so powerful it has been dubbed the GPU of Power, "meh, needs more VRM" and yes there is always LN2 but after you figure delivery and kneaded eraser invoices you have blown your wad and have nothing left for beer.
I guess it might be time for something new, something totally fresh and new. Something I haven't done in awhile.
Watercooling.
Seems I have one of those "S-Frame" cases and a closet full of hardware but nothing exotic enough in the cooling department to really make the case stand out.
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Springtime is Boring for the Hardware Enthusiast
Published: Thursday, April 2, 2015 | By: DennisSpringtime is one of the worse for PC hardware. Sure there might be a random awesome speed SSD released, "big whoop" There might even be a video card out there so powerful it has been dubbed the GPU of Power, "meh, needs more VRM" and yes there is always LN2 but after you figure delivery and kneaded eraser invoices you have blown your wad and have nothing left for beer.
I guess it might be time for something new, something totally fresh and new. Something I haven't done in awhile.
Watercooling.
Seems I have one of those "S-Frame" cases and a closet full of hardware but nothing exotic enough in the cooling department to really make the case stand out.
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PNY GTX 980 XLR8 Pro OC Review @ Hardware Canucks
Published: Thursday, April 2, 2015 | By: DennisPNY still makes video cards! This is pretty impressive. Not only does it come with a custom (larger) VRM but features a very sleek heatsink design and comes with a custom backplate.
It my be a bit late to the market, but the GTX 980 XLR8 Pro OC is one of the best Maxwell-based cards on the market and boasts a lifetime warranty to boot.
In terms of layout the card looks to be following the 980 KPE with a single loaded site of video connections and has a few voltage test pads across the top. Keep in mind that PNY is still bound by the NVidia rules for overclocking so to get the most from this card you'll likely need a custom bios image and some great overclocking software.
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GIGABYTE Z97X Gaming 7 LGA 1155 Motherboard Review @ [H]
Published: Thursday, April 2, 2015 | By: DennisI have always iiked the Gigabyte Gaming motherboards, they seem extremely solid and come with the right amount of features.
GIGABYTE's Z97X Gaming 7 promises solid overclocking and performance. The feature list for the Z97X Gaming 7 is long and includes gamer focused features like a dedicated audio amplifier, Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 support and more. We've had mixed results with the GIGABYTE lately, so the real question is; does it work?
This might just be my opinion but, I really liked the green and black boards from the G1 series. It would seem that green is just too progressive for some folks or brings back frightful nightmares of that one time with Kermit.
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Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion, Budget Overclocker? @ Bjorn3d
Published: Thursday, April 2, 2015 | By: DennisI recenlty reviewed the Gigabyte X99 SOC Champion and felt it was an extremely solid motherboard and does overclocking really well. Thing is the X99 SOC Force seemed like the better board for the mainstream and cost more as a result.
When you’re looking at the 2011v3 Haswell E CPU family, nothing about it is inexpensive. The entry-level CPU is about $390 and it doesn’t even feature 40 full PCI-E lanes. The lowest tier CPU has 28 PCI-E lanes and you have to go to the second tray CPU, the Intel Core i7-5930K Haswell-E 6-Core 3.5GHz, to get full PCI-E lanes. So for a fully functional 40 PCI-E lane CPU, we are looking at $560 smackers. Decent air cooling will set you back around hundred bucks if you want to overclock. Sixteen gigabytes of quality, high-speed DDR4 memory runs in the $300 dollar range. Just the CPU, CPU cooler and memory means that we are just short of $1,000. If you are looking for a Champion Overclocker but don’t want to break the bank the Gigabyte X99 SOC come in at $300 when you can find it on the shelves.
Whoa. ^ This quote ^ wow
