Tech News
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Palit Super Jetstream GTX 980 Ti Review @ Hardware Slave
Is it just me or does the cooler on this card look like it was inspired by the coolers MSI uses on the Gaming and Lighting video cards?
Yes, I thought so too.
Hardwareslave, like most of the older websites started out of the desire to make amazing rigs, better than anyone else, with the best components in chassis that looked amazing. Of course we are also pro gamers and will dominate everyone with our gaming rigs and our superior skills (cough cough).
I'm not sure how "Pro Gaming" fits with a 980 Ti review but, I'm not going to judge
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Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 Z170 mITX Motherboard Review @ APH Networks
The MiniITX platform has really gotten exceptionally good over the past sever years and stands as one of the only motherboards that will come with more high-end features than the full sized version.
The Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 may be a baby-board in its size, but it definitely is capable of punching above its weight class.
I'm not sure a boxing reference is good for a motherboard but if you are looking to build "any" system don't discredit these small form factor versions.
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Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 @ techPowerUp
32GB of 2400Mhz DDR4 Crucial memory. Makes me feel all funny inside just thinking about it.
With a flurry (pun intended) of white products on store shelves now, one thing that has been sorely missing are white memory sticks. However, Crucial is here to save the esthetics of your white build with their Ballistix Sport 32 GB kit clad in white heatspreaders and a white PCB! Not only do they look good, their huge capacity means you'll nearly never run out of memory!
Seriously though these modules feature all white heat spreaders, some graphics and respectable CL16 ratings at 1.2v. One thing is for certain they may not be "omg melt my spec sheet fast" but with 32GB you will be hard pressed to run out of memory.
Well, unless you are using Firefox and vist a site using way to many "bad" flash ads.
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Gigabyte X170 Extreme ECC and Intel Xeon E3-1230 v5 review @ Guru3D
One of the items Gigabyte was showing off at CES was their new Extreme ECC line of gaming motherboards. These boards are following their military theme complete with digital desert camo and all of the high-end accessories like Killer Nic and the Gigabyte audio solution. In fact if you saw these boards in passing you would think they are a regular Skylake enabled gaming motherboard.
But you would be mistaken, kinda.
This new motherboard line is using the self named X170 chipset or, as it should be called, the Intel C236. Yes a server chipset to support the Xeon line of Skylake processors.
Join us in a test on the all new Gigabyte X170 Extreme ECC motherboard. We arm it with an Intel Xeon E3-1230 v5 and ECC memory. Though the chipset and processor used are intended for the server platform this motherboard was made all consumer grade with all whistles and bells. It is SLI/Crossfire capable.
So what are the benefits?
Overclocking? Uhh No, Xeons don't clock cept via BCLK.
High core count? Uhh maybe but all of the documentation claims E3-12xx V5 processor so that might be all it supports and those are only 4c/8t.
Lower Cost? Uhh maybe? $280 USD for a E3-1230v5 vs $320 for a Core i7 6700 (non-K)The board looks cool though.
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Thermaltake Pacific RL240 Watercooling Kit Review @ TechwareLabs
We have talked about the new Thermaltake Premium Online Store where you can buy Thermaltake branded Pacific Watercooling components and one of the most popular and least expensive options is the RL240 Watercooling Kit.
The kit comes with everything you need to cool a single CPU with the ability to add additional items later.
Heat is the enemy, and extreme performance requires serious cooling power. The Thermaltake Pacific RL240 Watercooling kit is purpose built and brings quality and excellent design to enthusiasts everywhere.
There are many kits on the market, but today we get to test one of the best we have gotten our hands on. Thermaltakes Pacific RL240 is the icing on the cake, the real deal in water cooled kits. This Limited Edition kit comes with a 240mm dual-fan radiator, a PT40 D5 w/Silent Kit reservoir/pump combo, W1 CPU waterblock, 2 Luna Red 12-LED fans, and more. The RL240 is not for the water cooling newbie, though it could be installed, we recommend you have some experience or have someone to help you who has had experience. Directions are light and minimalist as you would expect with a custom kit of this caliber. Thermaltake includes some necessary tools you will need that they have custom created for their kit. Let's talk about what you get.I'm still working on my review of their hardline systems which will eventually be spread out over the course of an entire article series.
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Datamancer Oaken 60% Keyboard Case @ LanOC Reviews
What a cute keyboard case! It's all elegant wood with straps to hold everything together.
For the last year to year and a half I’ve been running a tiny 60% keyboard with my LAN rigs to help cut down on how much I carry to and from events and also to open up more space on the small table space you get at events. Its worked so well that I wanted to swap my wife’s keyboard to a 60% as well. To prevent damage to the keyboard in transport I tossed around the idea of getting a sleeve to put it in but then I came across the Oaken 60% keyboard case from Datamancer. The case replaces the case on my wife’s Poker 2 with a custom machined wooden case and it has a matching second half that encloses the entire keyboard for transport. After taking it to a few events over the past few months I wanted to talk a little about the case and its pros and cons. So check it out.
Based on the size the case will only fit certain keyboards making it a fairly niche product but as they say. Niche means custom and custom means awesome.
Wait, nobody says that but it sure sounded good.
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AMD A10-7890K, A10-7860K, and Athlon X4 880K @ LanOC Reviews
I can just smell the FM2+ in the air.
Seems like a good thing right?
About two months ago AMD did a large product line refresh that focused around the newly introduced Wraith Cooler, at the time we took a look at the cooler. Then closer to our LAN event they sent out samples for some of the other CPUs and APUs introduced. In their FM2+ mainstream line they refreshed the Kaveri APUs as well as an Athlon X4 CPU. Well with our LAN event keeping my schedule tied up I’m just now finally getting a chance to see what the new A10-7860K sample and Athlon X4 880K that they sent out a that time. Then on top of that just last week the A10-7890K came in to round things out. So today I’m going to run through AMDs FM2+ refresh and see how they perform. I’m especially interested I the Athlon X4 880K to find out if it’s a worthwhile budget replacement for someone considering an AM3+ build.
I cringe every time someone comes to me asking to look over their build and in the middle is an FM2+ based motherboard. Not only is it slow but, not much cheaper than a low end Intel with more power.
Of course with that being said I'm rather excited to see what new processors AMD has for the 990FX motherboard refresh, whenever that might be.
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DX11 vs DX12 AMD CPU Scaling and Gaming Framerate @ [H]
This seems like a good thing to know. I'll be adding DX12 to the video card testing suite just as soon as I get a new video card to test.
#nstuff
One thing that has been on our minds about the new DX12 API is its ability to distribute workloads better on the CPU side. Now that we finally have a couple of new DX12 games that have been released to test, we spend a bit of time getting to bottom of what DX12 might be able to do for you. And a couple sentences on Async Compute.
There are quite a few games that support DX12 so it will be interesting to see if they really do run better on Win10 than on WIn7.
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Beat Extreme Temperatures with AVerMedia's New Rugged Video Capture Card
Mini PCI-E Card Records High-Quality Video in -40°C to 85°C temperatures
April 12, 2016 – Taipei, Taiwan – AVerMedia today announces the release of another rugged Mini PCI Express capture card that is designed and tested to capture high-quality video in extreme temperatures ranging from -40°C to 85°C (-40°F to 185°F). The brand new CM313BW card is designed to capture video from SDI sources. This card will join AVerMedia's existing wide-temperature cards – the C351W card, which captures video from Composite sources, and the C353W card, which captures from both HDMI and VGA sources.
This thermally robust product line is specifically designed to provide greater flexibility for rugged industrial applications like industrial automation, in-vehicle operation, military applications, and more.
Resilient in Extreme Thermal Environments
Various tasks are often performed in harsh environmental conditions. AVerMedia's new CM313BW card (like our existing C353W and C351W cards) is specifically designed to be thermally resilient for these extreme industrial applications. By being able to function perfectly in a very wide range of temperatures (-40°C ~ 85°C, or -40°F ~ 185°F) these cards ensure reliable and stable high-quality video capturing in extreme temperature conditions.
Convenient, Compact Form Factor
The compact form factor of the Mini PCI Express card fits perfectly into small-footprint embedded systems. These cards also consume less power, resulting in a more energy-efficient solution. These AVerMedia cards feature vibration-proof build quality and their locking holes are specifically designed for in-vehicle, military, and industrial applications.
Hardware H.264 Encoding Reduces Burden on CPUS
The existing C353W card and the new CM313BW cards come equipped with an advanced, built-in H.264 hardware encoder, enabling the system to encode and maintain high video quality, without impacting the CPU. This feature increases the system’s reliability. As a result, the C353W and CM313BW cards significantly reduce the performance drain on a system's hardware and software, helping the system focus on other important tasks.
4-channel simultaneous capture
The existing C351W card features four parallel composite video input interfaces, allowing for more versatility within this compact card. With 4-channel input, the C351W can simultaneously capture up to four video channels at the highest performance levels, for great video quality and efficiency.
Software tools
AVerMedia SDK is a feature-rich development toolkit which offers industrial customers a complete set of functional modules to flexibly and efficiently develop vertical applications. AVerMedia SDK constantly updates the latest industrial standards, protocols, and media formats for optimal compatibility and to support cutting-edge technologies. AVerMedia also supports various programming languages for quick and easy application, providing sample source codes.
For more information please check the product sites:
C353W - http://www.avermedia.com/professional/product/c353w/overview
C351W - http://www.avermedia.com/professional/product/c351w/overview
CM313BW - http://www.avermedia.com/professional/product/cm313bw/overview
About AVerMedia Technologies
AVerMedia is the leader in Digital Video and Audio Convergence Technology. Aside from the full line of TV Tuners and gaming recorder products, AVerMedia provides video capture cards, streaming encoders and video systems for consumer and corporate markets. As a leader in innovative manufacturing and environmentally friendly products, AVerMedia is also highly involved in community and social responsibilities. AVerMedia also partners with ODMs for the development of AVerMedia’s technologies for integrated applications.
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Noctua NH-L9x65 Low Profile Heatsink Review @ Frostytec
If you are looking for a low profile cooler that actually can handle some heat the L9x65 is one to look at. I have this heatsink in the Hardware Asylum Podcast machine and so far it is working great.
Noctua's low profile NH-L9x65 heatsink stands just 64mm tall and has a very compact footprint of only 95x95mm. The NH-L9x65 is designed to cool some fairly intensive Intel sockets, along with the full spectrum of AMD processors and APUs. Compact CPU coolers can be a little tricky to install, but Noctua long ago laid down the framework of an excellent motherboard mounting system,, so the NH-L9x65 is a breeze to work with.
the L9x65 does have some heat limitations and cannot handle CPUs over 85w. Basically this means you can run an LGA115x at stock speeds and nothing from the LGA2011 camp. In the AMD world, pretty much anything FM2+ based.
