Tech News
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Apple’s Newest Mac Pro Costs Less than DIY PC Build Thanks to AMD @ Techgage
Everyone has been talking about the new Mac and how it costs less than building your own PC and is able to be upgraded. Not being a fan of all things Mac I'll be honest and say that I haven't been following the story but Techgage has some info.
Word’s out that Apple’s latest Mac Pro costs less than an equal-configured do-it-yourself PC, but as we’ve discovered, this is one of those cases where there’s more than meets the eye. Has Apple finally loosened up on its famed “Apple Tax”? Not so. Instead, the attractive pricing of the latest Mac Pro owes its thanks to none other than AMD.
Is it just me or does the new Mac look like a high priced trash can? Well, at least its not a tissue dispenser like the cube back in the day.
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HIS Radeon R9 280X iPower IceQ X2 Turbo Boost | ChipLoco
I'm not really a fan of the new R7 and R9 naming scheme. The performance overlaps the 7000 series but it is difficult to know what card to buy if you are trying to match an older card. Along the same lines, how do you know if a 280X is faster than a HD7870? I suppose that is part of the allure but still pretty lame.
Of this, I have determined that getting a card with an "X" in the name tends to be better than without.
It’s been almost two years since AMD launched their Radeon HD 7000 series. The whole series gave a tough time to NVIDIA and when it started to lag behind AMD made a comeback with price cuts and game bundles and once again the HD 7000 series came back to the limelight. But there was obviously a time when AMD had to refresh their lineup to stay relevant and back in
The card looks good and the benchmarks seem solid so be sure to check it out.
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Phobya WaCoolT Benchtable @ HW-Journal.de
It isn't every day that you find a review of a bench table. As you can imagine they are like a chassis but without the outer panels and is often considerbly taller.
During the construction of our water cooler test rig, we want to introduce the Phobya WaCoolT Benchtable you today. Thank certainly should be known, is one of the few manufacturers Phobya from the water cooling sector, which is also active for some time in the housing segment. We have today but made us the WaCoolT Benchtable and it will test its paces. As it has done in our review, you can read on the following pages.
As you can imagine by the headline this review is in german so don't get scared when they say things like "der auch seit einige" and "könnt ihr auf den folgenden Seiten nachlesen".
On a related note I have been working on a bench table design that would cater to extreme overclockers. I'm still working on a name but am leaning towards "The Slab" or something else Asylum related.
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Zotac GeForce GTX 780 Ti AMP! Review @ Bjorn3D
WIth a name like AMP! you might expect this video card to be the most amazing thing since the EVGA GTX 780 Ti Classified with a larger VRM, massive heatsink and overclocking like you wouldn't believe.
Sadly, the truth is, this card is nothing more than a hot-clocked reference card with a large triple fan cooler. The really "good" Zotac gear stays in the Asia/Pacific region.
The GeForce 780 Ti is today the fastest single-GPU card available. This doesn’t stop companies like Zotac to tweak it to get even more performance out of it. Today we are testing the Zotac GeForce GeForce 780 Ti AMP! Edition, a card that comes pre-overclocked out of the box.
I will admit the GTX 780 Ti is the fastest single GPU you can buy and you shouldn't hold out for a super awesome custom PCB if you are in the market, that is unless you are into that sort of thing.
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Silverstone RV04 Casemod All Orange
Orange seems to be the new "black" when it comes to computer mods. The past two (and one future) Custom Hardware Promotions I am hosting on Hardware Asylum all feature a pearl orange custom cases and I have heard rumors that mfgs are now offering orange components in their regular lineup.
I suspect the orange revolution was started with the Gigabyte OC Series and appears to be what this Chinese casemodder used for their inspiration.
The site is *not* in English but the pictures speak volumes.
Personally I am a big fan of Red, it is a primary color on this website and on Ninjalane.com. When I started Hardware Asylum I wanted to include another complementary color that nobody really uses on the web, and that was Orange. Turns out Orange has a ton of potential.
I should also mention the new Raven 4 chassis. The case is designed to be a supreme aircooler with dual 180mm fans. Silverstone includes plastic tabs to enable you to run triple 120mm fans and/or install a 3x 120mm radiator. The radiator in this build uses a push pull configuration but, at the expense of the internal drive bays.
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Battlefield 4 banned in China
If you look at some of the latest game titles you will notice that games often reflect what is currently happening in the world. COD: Modern Warfare was desert based likely to connect with the US conflicts in the Middle East. There was also a game called Homefront which, in my opinion, had the best backstory EVER but failed to deliver with lack luster gameplay, horrible maps and a storyline that ended too quickly. So, why is Battlefield 4 different? Well the primary antagonist is, China and China is one of the largest computer component markets in the world and also has a few smart people within its borders. That isn't to say North Korea or countries in the Middle East are any different but they aren't generally friendly with the US and thus less likely to buy such games. China on the other hand is rather offended and feels the game will threaten national security.
Summary: Chinese government outlaws the first-person shooter game, accusing Electronic Arts of developing content that threatens China's national security and is a form of cultural invasion.
It also accused the U.S. game developer for depicting a form of cultural invasion, according to a PCgames.com.cn report Friday. China's Ministry of Culture issued a notice prohibiting all materials related to the game in any form, including game downloads, demos, patch downloads, and news reports.
Set in the year 2020, Battlefield 4: China Rising features a fictional war in China triggered by Admiral Chang with plans to overthrow the current government. His success will be supported by Russia, but will bring China to war with the United States which relationship with the Russian is tensed. The game showcases the U.S. military's fight against the coup and Chinese Liberation Army.As a gamer I know that there is typically very little in a game that reflects the real world but the actions portrayed can have negative repercussions. Case in point the COD MW3 "No Russian" mission. This short mission actually got the game banned in some places around the world and was so controversial that the gamer studio had to allow gamers to skip it. Likewise, the actions in Homefront "could" have started a war and the fact that Battlefield 4 is implying that China will go rouge on the world is a remote possibility.
Sadly things like this are what sells games and when someone has a problem with it the media goes wild and the game studio gets free advertising. I’m sure EA is saying "thank you world" all the way to the bank.
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EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked ACX Cooler @ Hardwareoverclock
Can't afford a shiny new GTX 780 Ti Classified and still need more performance from your PC? Why not look at the excellent line of GTX 770's from EVGA.
Hardwareoverclock.com has just posted another review. Last week we have taken a look at the EVGA GeForce GTX 770 Superclocked video card with ACX Cooler. If you still searching an present for your computer or an upgrade for actually games, maybe the GTX 770 from EVGA is the right one. The card is overclocked, has an quieter cooler and the performance is enough for the newest games.
The nice thing about the Superclocked cards is that they come with a factory overclock and don't cost much more than a regular reference design. Combine that with the new ACX cooling solution and you'll have a custom hot-clocked video card without all the fuss.
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The $109 Console-killer GPU: AMD's Radeon R7 260 Graphics Card Reviewed @ Techgage
When it comes to video cards you have two basic choices, Go for the card that will provide you the best performance -or- Go with the card that is realistic for your needs.
No one should be surprised at the fact that testing out $500 graphics cards is fun, but with the right perspective, budget cards can be, too. Take the $109 AMD Radeon R7 260, for example, which has debuted following flagship console releases. With that in mind, let’s see what such an affordable GPU can pull off at the much-loved 1080p resolution.
I have to agree with Techgage on how they positioned this video card. It isn't a powerhouse but can play games at 1080p which is exactly what most users "need". The card won't bring home any FPS trophies but when you consider PC vs Console this card wins the performance award and is really well priced.
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Cougar MX500 Mid Tower @ PureOverclock
What is in a name? Phone describes a device that allows you to talk into it, Mouse describes many things from a small furry rodent to a device to move a cursor on a computer and well, Cougar could be a large cat, an attractive wealthy older lady looking to get lucky or could simply be the name of a parts mfg who happens to make cases.
Various price points exist for different ranges of computer case products, though lately several manufacturers have taken to the notion that the ratio of paying less for getting less is too heavily skewed in favor of paying less for getting nowhere near enough for your money. Cougar figures it’s their turn to toss another chip into the stack of affordably-priced gamer cases with the introduction of the MX500 mid tower case. Said to be a sleek, modern designed gaming tower, does this offer gamers the features they crave without breaking the bank? Let’s dig in and find out.
I cannot say I am all that impressed with the case but, I'm sure someone will buy one thinking the small fan on the side will actually do something good.
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ECS GANK MACHINE Z87H3-A2X EXTREME (Intel LGA 1150) @ techPowerUp
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I'm really surprised at this review. Either the reviewer is drinking the koolaid or ECS has finally released a solid motherboard that does more than just look good.
I will admit I saw GANK boards at Computex and was a little suprised at the effort they put in to support multi gpu gaming and overclocking. LGA 1150 overclocking isn't all that difficult so it really comes down OC controls and layout.
Like a mad rush of level 60 rogues, the ECS GANK MACHINE launches its assault on the Intel Haswell platform in a way no other would even attempt, going straight for the kill. Built with gaming in mind, and a bit of overclocking, too, the ECS GANK MACHINE not only surprised me, but left me feeling helpless, and under-skilled.
Sadly, this is still an ECS motherboard so I won't go out of my way to pick one up for testing. But, I am not against doing a review and seeing how it measures up against a Gigabyte Z87X-OC or EVGA Z87 Classified.
