Tech News
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ASUS GTX 980 STRIX DC II OC Video Card Review @ [H]
I never fully understood how [H] tests their video cards using the subjective image IQ method but when you have an overpowered GPU like the GTX 980 it really doesn't matter.
Today we delve into the ASUS GTX 980 STRIX DC II OC, which features custom cooling, 0dB fans and high overclocking potential. We'll experiment with this Maxwell GPU by overclocking it to the extreme. It will perform head to head against the ASUS ROG R9 290X MATRIX-P in today's most demanding games, including Far Cry
The nice thing about the STRIX card is that it should come with a factory overclock (though seesm to be missing), larger cooler and upgraded VRM for LN2 action if you are so inclined. Their overclocking tests look pretty good though they didn't compensate for "real" turbo speeds bur rather relied on what GPU-Z was reporting.
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Asylum Review Block: Motherboards and the stuff that holds them
I have an amazing review block for you today and this one stretches even back a month or so. First up is a long list of motherboard reviews including a few Asus titles and a *cough*ECS*/cough* board that someone will think is the ducks guts.
After your motherboard tour I bring you to the case section, be sure to check out the Thermaltake designs, they are aimed to please (if you catch my drift)
Motherboards without daughterboards for your building pleasure
- Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z @ LanOC Reviews
- ASUS Maximus VII Impact LGA 1150 Motherboard Review @ [H]
- Gigabyte X99-UD7 WiFi Mainboard Review on Technic3D
- ASRock X99 OC Formula Motherboard Review – Designed For Overclocking <-what a dumb way to send out your news release
- ECS Z97 Machine Motherboard Review @ Guru3D
- ASUS X99-A Motherboard Review @ Legit Reviews
- Asus Z97 Pro (Wi-Fi ac) Socket 1150 Motherboard Review @ HotHardware
- ASRock Z97 Anniversary Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets
- ASUS X99-A LGA 2011-v3 Motherboard Review @ [H]
- ASUS X99 Rampage V Extreme Motherboard @ PureOverclock
- ASUS RAMPAGE V Extreme review @ Bjorn3d
Cases aka Chassis for your junk
- Thermaltake Core V71 Case Review on Technic3D
- Lian Li PC-O5SX @ techPowerUp
- Surprise, Surprise – Thermaltake Core V51 Mid-Tower Chassis Review @ Techgage
- SilverStone Raven RVZ01 @ techPowerUp <- classy and small
- In Win D-Frame Mini Case Review @ ThinkComputers
- Thermaltake Core V51 Midi Tower Review @ NikKTech
- Corsair's Carbide Series Air 240 revisited <- npt sure why but all of their news has single quotes, they must want the XSS attackStay tuned there will likely be another review block in the next few weeks along with from friendly banter back and forth.
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ASUS ROG GeForce GTX 980 Poseidon review @ Guru3D
Not much I can say about this. It is a factory watercooled GTX 980 from Asus that can operate on air or water depending on your system configuration.
so, its like a frog right? Yes
Join us in a review of the liquid cooled ASUS ROG Poseidon GTX 980. The card has 4 GB graphics memory, is energy efficient and factory overclocked for you. Oh and hey, it overclocks very nicely as it is armed with a massive liquid cooling block (DirectCU H2O), a custom PCB, quality components and a factory overclock this product is bound to perform, whilst staying silent.
The card also features a custom VRM so it should overclock rather well. Break out the ice cubes we're going chilled.
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Say what? Mobile is Exploding!!
Ok, so this is interesting.
I have been checking some things and the readership of this site has changed a little. As of this month only 37% of readers are located in the US and while my snapshot is showing 82% of them are using mobile devices the total readership of mobile users is only 15%.
Looks like I have to do a better job attracting US readers (Thanks Google) and need to build a mobile friendly CSS. The new layout works well on a tablet but it doesn't scale well when viewed on a phone.
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HW Labs Black Ice Nemesis 360GTX Radiator Review @ HiTech Legion
There was a time when I knew everything there is to know about watercooling and while things change I am reminded that some of the fundamentals of cooling PC chips with water remain the same.
That being said HiTechLegion has posted a review of... a radiator.
In looking at the new Nemesis 360GTX, I saw a lot of buzzwords thrown out there by Hardware Labs; “Stealth”, “Supercruise”, “Dark Matter”. Buzzwords usually scare me a bit, as it seems they usually turn out to be a gimmicky name for something either underachieving or completely irrelevant. Thankfully, that is not the case with the Nemesis 360GTX.
This is not just any radiator but one with a really long name with an increased chance that I would totally buy one.
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LEGO The Hobbit & LEGO Lord of the Rings now on NVIDIA GRID
Some interesting developments in the NVIDIA camp.
To celebrate the premier of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies movie we are releasing a pair of Middle-earth related titles on NVIDIA GRID. LEGO The Lord of the Rings and LEGO The Hobbit are two family-friendly games we hope will provide some quality holiday gameplay to SHIELD owners.
LEGO The Lord of the Ringsis an action-adventure game from developer Traveller’s Tales set in the universe created by J. R. R. Tolkien and based on the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. LEGO The Lord of the Rings follows the original storylines of The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King. The game is loaded with humor and has over 80 playable characters to explore the open-world of Middle-earth.
In addition, we are making the follow-up, LEGO The Hobbit, available on GRID. LEGO The Hobbit wasalso created by Traveller’s Tales and isbased on the first two Hobbit films, An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug. You can play as your favorite characters from The Hobbit films, including Bilbo, Gandalf, and the Dwarves: Thorin, Fíli, Kíli, Óin, Glóin, Dwalin, Balin Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori and Oriand visit mystic Middle-earthlocations including Bag End, Hobbiton, The Misty Mountains, Goblin-town, Mirkwood, Lake-Town, Dol Guldur, Rivendell and The Lonely Mountain.
Owners of SHIELD Tab and SHIELD portables can play both of these games for free from the cloud on the NVIDIA GRID gaming service until June 30, 2015.
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LG could introduce an 8K beast at CES 2015 @ Digital Trends
Ok so this will have early adopters a little miffed and the hardware enthusiasts rather confused. 8K seems like a nice round number and even before anyone has yet to perfect the 4K display.
Of course you have to keep in mind that CES is all about advancements and a good majority of the times shown there never actually make it to market. 8K might be nice but it will be a few years before it is affordable.
8K means a total of 33.2 million pixels, which translates to 7,680 x 4,320 resolution. Surprisingly, the display will be a “tiny” 55-inch set. That’s quite small compared to LG’s unwieldy 98-inch 8K TV prototype showcased at IFA 2014 in Berlin. It’s small even compared to current 65-inch, 4K televisions.
I'm still waiting for 4K games and legit 4K movies, once that happens I might start thinking about 8K picture quality goodness.
@ 15Hz
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China will get their own version of Borderlands
This seems like a really big deal. At first I thought it was just a random copy by some Chinese developer but this article cites that 2K and Gearbox are involved.
Chinese publisher Shanda Games is working with 2K Games and Gearbox Software to bring Borderlands Online to that market in 2015, according to Kotaku. It will launch on PC and mobile platforms. Borderlands Online will have players to choose from one of four character classes, each based on one of the originals from the first Borderlands.
The story goes on to talk about how the new game is a MMO which seems to support the ending in the pre-sequel where the guardian tells us that Lilith will need all of the vault hunters she can get.
I was never a fan of MMO games and I hate to say it but if Borderlands goes MMO i'm gonna drop the microphone and walk off the stage. (Not the Podcast one, that bad boy is expensive.)
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Borderlands The Pre-Sequel Performance and PhysX Review @ HiTech Legion
I have said this before, and in one of the Hardware Asylum Podcasts. The Borderlands Pre-Sequel sucks! and while that may sound rather bold I put in some wrench time, I have Nisha up to level 50 and completed every mission and side mission in TVHM. Sadly, that is all you can do since the "Raid Boss" is a joke and the two hidden bosses don't drop anything making the incentive to keep playing a pointless joke.
However, there is one redeeming quality to the Pre-Sequel and that is. DLC? Ya, right, go home 2K you're drunk.
If you are still curious about the game and its DX9+PhysX goodness check out this review over at HTL. They have images a video and some average FPS numbers.
Borderlands The Pre-Sequel was developed in partnership with NVIDIA GameWorks. The GameWorks platform provides tools and technologies to the developers, so that they can maximize performance without sacrificing detail levels. As is typical with the Borderlands series the graphics certainly are not the most demanding but the hilarious gameplay continues in this episode of the game.
There was a time when I was asked to do game reviews and "this" is why I don't.
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Raijintek METIS Review @ Vortez
Some of you may not know this but Cooler Master started out making heatsinks and is now one of the largest suppliers of coolers to, well, everyone. In an attempt to capture more market share and diverse the portfolio they started making cases and other computer accessories.
Seems Raijintek is doing the same.
Metis is an aluminium computer case which is primarily designed for Mini-ITX configurations. This computer chassis is super-compact, lightweight and comes in a variety of different colours. With such a low-cost offering, has Raijintek cut any corners? Let’s find out!
Truth is I believe this case was shown at Computex this year and I was rather impressed in the overall layout. Not sure I would buy one for myself but, that doesn't make it bad.
Of course the gold anodizing is likely to make the China market happy since most everyone in the western world knows better.
