Tech News
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GIGABYTE Launches the Z170 Winter OC Challenge
City of Industry, California, January 19th, 2016 – GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced its next competition for the overclocking community with the GIGABYTE Z170 Winter OC Challenge, to be hosted this February on HWBOT.org. All overclockers are invited to overclock their 6th Gen. Intel® processors on GIGABYTE 100 series motherboards. A total of 5 GIGABYTE motherboards are up for grabs, so warm up your test benches, Winter OC is coming!
Starting January 31st 2016, overclockers can join 4 different rounds for a chance to win the big prize. The participant with the most points amongst all stages of a category wins -- it’s as simple as that! But don’t fret if you don’t think you can win it all, you also have a chance to win the lucky draw which is a Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard! Simply submit a score in all stages of a round to be eligible.
Here are the rounds and stages details.
Round 1: Enthusiast, Rookie and Novice Overclockers – 2 Cores
Stage 1: 3DMark11 Physics - CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHz
Stage 2: HWBOT Prime - CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHz
Stage 3: Geekbench Multi Core - CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHZ
Round 2: Enthusiast, Rookie and Novice Overclockers– 4 Cores
Stage 1: XTU - CPU frequency limited to 4500.00 MHz
Stage 2: HWBOT Prime - CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHz
Stage 3: Geekbench Multi Core - CPU frequency limited to 4503.00 MHz
Round 3: Elite and Extreme Overclockers – 2 Cores
Stage 1: 3DMark11 Physics - CPU frequency limited to 5003.00 MHz
Stage 2: HWBOT Prime - CPU frequency limited to 5003.00 MHz
Stage 3: Geekbench Multi-Core - CPU frequency limited to 5003.00 MHz
Round 4: Elite and Extreme Overclockers– 4 Cores
Stage 1: XTU - CPU frequency limited to 5000 MHz
Stage 2: HWBOT Prime - CPU frequency limited to 5003.00 MHz
Stage 3: Geekbench Multi Core - CPU frequency limited to 5003.00MHz
Contest Rules
This competition is limited to GIGABYTE Z170 motherboards only.
Every submission must include the screenshot with the competition background and a picture of the rig.
To be eligible for the lucky draw, participants must submit in all stages of the round they select.
A participant is eligible to win in only one round. If he is found to be the winner in multiple rounds, the prize will go to the runner up. If a participant is a round winner, he will not be eligible for the lucky draw.
In case of a tie, the tie-breaker is the best score in Stage 3. If there’s still a tie, the best score in Stage 2, etc.
Contest Prizes
Each 1st place winner in a round will be awarded a Z170X-SOC Force Motherboard.
Users that submit scores to all stages of a round will be eligible to enter the lucky draw for one GIGABYTE Z170X-Gaming G1 motherboard.
The GIGABYTE Z170-Winter OC Challenge will run from January 31st until February 28th 2016, 23:59 (UTC +8).Good luck to all!
For complete contest rules, scoring and more details, please visit the contest pages at HWBOT or OC-ESPORTS: http://oc-esports.io/#!/round/gbt_z170_winterocchallenge
For more information about GIGABYTE motherboards, go to: http://www.gigabyte.us/products/main.aspx?s=42 -
Thermaltake Announces TT Premium.com
The Most Professional Liquid Cooling and Modding Online Shop
Taipei, Taiwan-January 28 2016-Thermaltake, an industry leader in computer chassis, thermal solutions, and power supply units, is pleased to announce TT Premium.com, the most comprehensive liquid-cooling and modding online shopping experience. The platform is designed to provide exceptional high-end products and services to customers worldwide, and takes Thermaltake to the next step with access to a broader market. To deliver a better user experience, the TT Premium platform includes all detailed product information, pricing, payment and shipping methods, as well as customer support information. Global shipping is also available. All products follow Thermaltake’s core values of Excellent Quality, Unique Design, Diverse Combinations, and Boundless Creativity.
Core Values of TT Premium
To continue achieving the corporate mission of delivering the perfect user experience, Thermaltake developed “TT Premium” with the essence of combining supreme quality products with a new logo design. TT Premium is far more than just a guarantee of quality. Behind the name, it represents the passion in DIY, Modding and Thermaltake’s desire to be the most innovative brand in the PC hardware market. To satisfy the demand of the high-end PC users, TT Premium follows its core values of Excellent Quality, Unique Design, Diverse Combinations and Boundless Creativity to provide a high performance PC product for every enthusiast.Comprehensive Product Lines for Liquid-Cooling Solution and Modding
Four main categories are displayed in the TT Premium online shop: Products, Liquid Cooling Kits, Chassis, and Digital Power Supplies. Users can find CPU/VGA/MB water blocks, VGA bridges, reservoir and pump combos, tubing, coolants, case/radiator fans, fan controllers, fittings, and other accessories under the Products section. In addition to choosing from RL240, RL140 D5, RL120, R360, and RL360 Water Cooling Kits,the Build Your Own DIY Kit provides customers with an option to freely construct the LCS kit content on their own. The Core W Series (Core WP100, Core W100, and Core P100) is now open for pre-orders under the Chassis section and will be released at the end of February. Lastly, the full range of digital power supplies, including the Toughpower DPS G RGB Titanium, Toughpower DPS G Platinum/Gold Series, and Smart DPS G Gold/Bronze Series with Smart Power Management, are available as well.Thermaltake is dedicated to providing premium products and services to its customers. The company strives to provide a safe and easy shopping experience for computer enthusiasts. Staff is at hand to provide support and answer any questions.
TT Premium Online Shop
http://ttpremium.com/. -
The Lexus of wireless routers the Asus RT-AC88U @ CNET
Funny thing, the subject of wireless routers came up during lunch today. Full disclosure here, the wireless I use at home is just a basic Linksys G something, the tablets hook into it, my phone uses it and the Wii will connect when it is on but EVERYTHING else is hardwired at the gigabit level.
Needless to say I'm not up on the latest wireless router technology because I don't need to be. However when the new Linksys WRT1900 was announced with unlocked firmware I got excited. That is until found out it comes with a cooling fan, instant point of failure.
Anyhow I digress, the Asus RT-AC88U seems like a total win, its fast, has lots of network ports and is badass black. The reviewer calls out that the USB 3.0 port is in a strange place. (I'm like uhhh seriously?) and you gotta love the "bottom line" in this review.
You'll pay a lot for the Asus RT-AC88U, but it has everything you'd want in a router. If you have the money, this is the router to get.
I dunno, not having good access to the USB 3.0 port for a device "intended" to be stored away and not year your PC seems like a total "don't buy this" to me
But, hey, what do I know.
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PAI Sandman Clock Review @ Techgage
You may not think a simple clock could have such an impact. In fact clocks are so much a part of our lives that we almost forget they are there.
The PAI Sandman clock is an interesting product designed for hotels. It comes with large red digits and will wake you up at a specific time. What makes this clock different is that it can also charge your USB devices while you sleep.
Something EVERY traveler needd to do.
We all need to tell the time – and worse still, wake up at a specific time. Power supplies for digital clocks are fighting over USB chargers for that last remaining wall socket. The Sandman Clock scores points for practicality by being an easy-to-see alarm clock, while providing four USB ports for charging. Let’s check it out.
Techgage has a short review posted of this new CES launched device. Give it a look.
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Gigabyte Z170N-Gaming 5 Mini-ITX Motherboard Review @ ThinkComputers
I have started to believe that the future of the PC isn't with high-end overclocking and gaming rigs but in how much power you can pack into the smallest space possible. This means Mini ITX and the new Intel 5x5 form factor.
The mini-ITX form factor is becoming extremely popular with gamers who will be using a single graphics card because it allows them to build a system with premium components that is small and easy enough to take with them to LAN parties or other events. The problem with mini-ITX motherboards has been that they lack many features that their larger ATX counterparts offer. Well Gigabyte is changing that with their Z170N-Gaming 5 motherboard that has all of the features you would want in a full-size ATX motherboard, but in the tiny mini-ITX form factor. Gigabyte was able to pack in Killer E2200 gaming networking, Sound Blaster X-Fi MB3 support, a PCIe Gen3 x4 M.2 slot, two USB 3.1 ports (1x Type-C, 1x Type-A), and even 802.11ac dual band wireless. Gigabyte wants this to be the perfect board for gamers building in the mini-ITX form factor. Is it? Let’s take a look and find out!
Over the next year or so I believe there will be a lot of effort put into the small form factor(s) to turn them into proper desktop replacements for the hardware enthusiast.
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XFX Radeon R9 390 Black Edition OC 8GB Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews
The fun thing about AMD video cards is their ability to overclock with virtually no effort. Some tweaking is needed for LN2 but on air and water these cards do pretty well.
It has been a long time since we've looked at any AMD Radeon R9 390 video card here on Legit Reviews. Steve's article way back in June 2015 on the Sapphire Nitro R9 390 8GB video card was the first and only review we've done on a Radeon R9 390 8GB video card here on the site. The card that we are going to be reviewing today is the XFX Radeon R9 390 DD Black Edition OC 1050MHz 8GB DDR5 . This card is factory overclocked with all 2,560 stream processor inside the 28nm Hawaii GPU core running at 1050 MHz. Read on to see how this card performs with Crimson 16.1 WHQL Drivers against the GeForce GTX 970 and GeForce GTX 980 in the latest game titles at multiple resolutions!
I'm pretty sure Legit doesn't cover overclocking much anymore but the XFX Black Edition in their review comes factory overclocked so, that is something, oh and has 8GB of ram for super awesome 4K textures and ultra high screen resoutions.
And... Darn I'm running out of things to say.
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MSI Nightblade MI2 GAMING PC @ techPowerUp
Is it wrong when I hear the name "Nightblade" I think of "NightTrain" from Public Enemy?
This system was a popular attraction at CES because it combined two basic things that every gamer "needs". Big Power and Compact Size and while these things aren't always popular at college social functions for a computer it can be the holy grail.
350W? 10 Litres? What sort of power can you get inside that space? MSI's Nightblade MI2 answers both those questions in a very surprising way. Packing a GTX970, Skylake CPU, DDR4, M.2 SSD, and a built-in optical drive, the MSI Nightblade MI2 is a fully 1080p-capable GAMING PC you can lug around under your arm.
I didn't get much time with the Nightblade but it looked good and came with its own version of the Mystic Lights found on the X99 Godlike so you know it will be popular with the ladies, even if it is compact.
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Deep Integration Means No Backwards Compatibility
Microsoft is drawing the line on hardware selection and choosing for you what systems their OS will run on.
The above statement is an over generalization but in a recent blog post from Microsoft they are claiming a win with Windows 10 which is nothing more than "how you look at the data". Or in this case, "We gave it away for free to create positive marketing for the future".
Last week at CES we were excited to see Windows 10 devices from many of our partners, including Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, Samsung, and Toshiba win over 50 major awards, including Best of CES, Best 2-in-1, Best Gaming Laptop and many more. It has been awesome to welcome hundreds of new Windows 10 devices - adding even more options for people choosing Windows 10 around the world. This builds on the momentum we've seen, with over 200 million active devices already running Windows 10 and unprecedented demand from our enterprise customers.
I know for a fact (cause I was there) that many enterprise customers shield their networks from Microsoft updates and even setup their own authentication servers so they can control when updates are released so to prevent their ecosystem from going down due to a bad update or too many updates being applied at once.
The blog goes on to talk about Deep Hardware Integration which is a fancy term for saying they asked chip makers for help them make their code run efficiently on their hardware. This goes against what made Windows popular in the beginning but aligns with what they are doing with the Surface. These days if your hardware wasn't supported simply download a driver and away you go. By aligning hardware to software they are in fact telling the consumer when you buy a new PC you can run Windows 10 or you can throw it away. (Or run Linux, which isn't aways a good solution)
Granted for a retail system this isn't much to ask however, for the hardware enthusiast this forces us to be even more selective in our component choices almost to the point of eliminating a good number of options.
I would hate to think what this will do to new people just getting started with the computer hobby. You know, the type of people who think a 6700K is more powerful than a 5960X?!?.
Overall I can see why Microsoft is going down this road. The process of writing and testing software on mulitple platforms is expensive and all of the excess tends to slow things down. However, you don't agressively push something "this much" unless there is something in it for them.
I phjear what that could be.
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Shuttle H170 Skylake XPC SH170R6 Barebone Desktop review @ Guru3D
Wow blast from the past, the Shuttle "cube"
This is actually a barebones PC and in the toaster style form factor that was popular back in '03. The form factor brings with it a lot of good things like external 5.25" drive bays and several internal locations for hard drives. Older versions supported low profile coolers and full height dual slot expansion cards and this done does too.
In fact its like they took the formula and upgraded the hardware.
Shuttle recently released their first small 14 liter H170 Skylake ready barebone. W review their all new XPC SH170R6 in the their CUBE series. A barebone basically entails a chassis/casing, motherboard, power supply and Shuttle I.C.E. heatpipe cooling system. On your end you add storage, memory and a processor, and you are good to go.
One thing is for sure, there was always room for improvement, not only from the hardware side but also power efficiency, cooling and interior drive locations.
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Introducing the Spectre Xtreme & Spectre Xtreme LED
(BitFenix Design Lab, January 14, 2016): With the introduction of dual frame design of the BitFenix Spectre Pro series we raised the standards of system fans to a new level. The new BitFenix Spectre Xtreme fans offer many features redefining the standards of cooling fans. Spectre Xtreme gives you the best performance and aesthetics using the latest in cooling fan technology and innovative designs.
Cooling fans used in liquid cooling systems not only need to have a high airflow but also they need to be optimised for static pressure. The newly designed blades of the Spectre Xtreme not only look good but also improve the airflow of the fan to 66CFM while maintaining optimum static pressure. This makes the Spectre Xtreme fans an ideal choice for liquid cooling solutions.
BitFenix Spectre Xtreme is engineered to provide an extremely silent performance. Use of high quality Fluid Dynamic Bearings have reduced the noise levels while increasing the efficiency and life expectancy of the fans. Carrying on the signature dual frame design of the Spectre series, the new Spectre Xtreme frame design provides a high level of noise dampening due to the use of TPU the construction of the frame. The result is a fan that can operate at different fan speeds from 950RPM to 2000RPM.
The aggressively designed Spectre Xtreme comes in a wide variety of colours and options. The black Spectre Xtreme comes without any installed LEDs, while the Blue, Green, Red and White ones do. Special care has been taken to match the Green LED with the light emitted from NVIDIA GeForce GTX stock coolers. Adding to the customizability of the Spectre Xtreme, the illuminations can be toggled with the jumper cable.
