Hardware Asylum CES 2025 Coverage
I would like to thank Yeyian Gaming for helping sponsor Hardware Asylum during CES 2025. The Consumer Electronics Show starts Jan 9th and runs through Jan 12th.
Yeyian Gaming offers an wide range of solutions for the PC gamer including pre-built PCs to fully customized gaming computers with an online configurator. Their builds feature the latest in computer hardware including Intel Ultra, AMD Ryzen 9 and the latest in Nvidia RTX.
Be sure to check them out at https://us.yeyiangaming.com and the Venetian Tower if you'll be attending CES 2025.
Tech News
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Gigabyte BRIX i7-4500 Barebones Mini-PC Review
Gigabyte launched a new Mini PC computer system at Computex that they called BRIX. The idea behind it is to provide a barebones computer system that could power industrial systems like signs and television displays but also give retail customers the option for something smaller than MiniITX.
I wasn't all that interested in the BIRX when I first saw it at Computex but I cannot be the only one who secretly wanted to take one home.
With modern computer components continuing the trend of shrinking in size while also increasing in performance, the small form-factor (SFF) market is big business. Taking size reductions to the extreme, can Gigabyte’s BRIX prove its worth to downsizing system builders?
Personally the Mini PC has a place in the computing world. I'm just not sure it will replace a real desktop anytime soon.
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OCZ Filing for Bankruptcy, Toshiba to Purchase Assets
Big news this week. OCZ is filing for bankruptcy with their assets being purchased by Toshiba. It is hard to imagine that OCZ started out as a overclocking reseller who would take stock video cards and tweak the BIOS to increase the clock speed. With that they also added custom coolers and basically started the factory overclocking movement. A short time later the company went under with the name being purchased by a memory company.
Not many people know this but OCZ started in Idaho. Of course that information has since been purged from the google results.
Shares of solid-state drive technology vendor OCZ Technology Group (OCZ) remain frozen since 9 am, Eastern this morning, and the reason came across the transom just a short while ago: The company has received an offer from Toshiba (6502JP) to purchase all the company’s assets in a bankruptcy proceeding.
OCZ said it believes all the “material terms have been agreed to,” though there are a number of conditions that have to be satisfied, such as retention of employees. OCZ would file for bankruptcy right after agreeing to a deal, but it would also file even if it doesn’t reach agreement with Toshiba, it said.
I am glad to see that the company will remain intact during the buyout which means that current products will continue to be sold, at least until Toshiba figures out what stays and what goes.
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Deep Silence 5 Now Available from Nanoxia
Now available: Deep Silence 5 and Deep Silence 5 Window
The Deep Silence 5 is the first big tower of our case series. It is perfectly fitted for installing gaming systems with extra-long VGA-cards and high-end CPU coolers and can be equipped with E-ATX or XL-ATX motherboards. For users who prefer more insight into their cases, the Deep Silence 5 is also available as Window-Edition with an elegant window side panel.
The case is fully soundproofed with two noise-insulated front doors. Included are three 140 mm Deep Silence fans and a stepless two-channel fan control for up to 6 fans. The Deep Silence 5 offers a broad variety of awesome features.
One of the main features of the Deep Silence 5 is the outstanding versatility. The case comes with a total of 4 fully modular HDD-cages for up to 11 HDD/SSD. Thanks to the modular system, customers can easily remove or add HDD-cages, depending on their personal desire. This also makes it easy to accommodate extra-long VGA cards or a water cooling system in the big tower. With all cages in place, 338 mm mounting space are available. By removing HDD-cages, VGA-cards with a maximum length of 468 mm can be installed in the big tower.
The Deep Silence 5 is – as are all Deep Silence cases – “Watercooling ready”. Thanks to the versatility of the case, users can for example install a 240/280 mm compact water cooling solution behind the case front. With the secondary cage in place, it is even possible to set up a push-pull configuration with up to four 120/140 mm fans cooling the radiator while still keeping at least three HDD-bays. And on top of that there is always the possibility to place a water cooling solution with a slim radiator under the top cover.
More features of the Deep Silence 5 are, for example, the “Easy Access Fan Trays” behind the lower front door, equipped with easy-to-clean dust filters and silent running 140 mm Deep Silence fans. Under the bottom of the case a dust filter protects both the PSU and the additional 120/140 mm fan mounting space from dust. Two Nanoxia VentCovers can be found in the top cover, which can easily be removed to mount two 120 or 140 mm fans, while keeping dust and dirt out of the case when no fans are installed.
The I/O-Panel in the front of the top cover offers 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0 and the usual audio connectors. Four 5.25 inch bays are available behind the upper front door, 10 PCI expansion slots allow the installation of multi GPU systems. The case rests on specially designed, decoupled “HiFi” style case feet, which add another layer of sound insulation to the case while at the same time offering an exquisite look.
Thanks to the intelligent design of the Deep Silence 5, high-end CPU-coolers with a maximum height of 185 mm can be placed in the case. -
Building an HTPC: Planning, Part Picking & Building @ Techgage
I did this once, it was good fun until I discovered that nVidia HDMI never fit the screen of television monitors resulting in a manual adjustment and thus a decrease in resolution. AMD on the other hand had perfect HDMI to TV synchronization.
Today, most of us are always on the hunt for tools that can make our lives easier. Enter the HTPC. We have the Internet, movies and photos on our phones – why not on our TVs? Come along on a voyage of technological discovery that is fraught with peril, as we cover the good and potentially bad of building one of these handy systems.
Personally after having built a HTPC and used it off and on for almost a year I have come to the conclusion that for the cost of the HTPC I could have bought a high-end OPPO Blu-ray player and got the same basic functionality I a package that just worked out of the box.
Which is precisely what I did and I haven’t looked back.
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Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 16GB DDR3 1866 MHz Review @ HCW
I am often disappointed in Crucial reviews, not in who reviews them or if they get good marks/scores but rather that I could actually throw rocks at the Crucial HQ and yet I get nothing of theirs to sample. In contrast sites halfway around the world getting sample after sample and are loving every minute of it.
We look at the Crucial Ballistix Sport XT 16GB kit at 1866 MHz. Is it worth upgrading to 1866 with Haswell? What about IGP performance? Let's find out!
Here we have the Ballistix Sport XT modules running at 1866Mhz. Sadly, as an overclocker I rarely pay attention to anything slower than 2133Mhz since EVERYONE has a kit running that speed these days.
But hey, they look good
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Asylum: Review Block - Cards and Cases
I told myself I wouldn't do any more of these review blocks but, it seems I get more news than I get time to post.
On this list we have a basic breakdown do Video card reviews and Cases. Many of them on this list I have already reviewed including the famed EVGA GTX 780 Classified and AMD R9 270.
Cards
- EVGA GTX 780 Ti SC ACX Review @ Hardware Canucks
- PowerColor Devil Radeon R9 270X 2GB Review @ Hardware 360
- ASUS R9 270 Direct CU II OC 2 GB @ techPowerUp
- ASUS MARS 760 review: dual GTX 760 graphics card
- ASUS GeForce GTX 760 MARS review
- Powercolor Radeon R9-270X Devil @ Bjorn3D
- Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X OC Edition Video Card Review @ ThinkComputers
- PowerColor Devil R9 270X 2GB @ Custom PC Review
- HIS Radeon R9-290X review
- EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Classified ACX Review
- MSI R9 270X Gaming @ LanOC Reviews
- MSI R9 270 Gaming 2GB @ Custom PC Review
Cases
- Cooler Master Cosmos SE @ HW-Journal
- Cooler Master Cosmos SE @ techPowerUp
- Fractal Design Arc XL High Airflow Full Tower Case Review @ Legit Reviews
- Cooler Master HAF Stacker Review @ Hardware Canucks
- Cooler Master Storm Stryker PC Chassis Review
- SilverStone Raven RV04 Case Review @ OCIAOf course, more news to come.
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Cooler Master Nepton 140XL & Nepton 280L
Nepton Series
Chino, California – November 19th, 2013 - Cooler Master, an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of premium PC components and cooling, today introduced yet another unique All-in-One (AIO) watercooler series, Nepton 140XL / 280L. Each features a pump with an exclusive Cooler Master design that maximizes performance and flow.
Versatile & Powerful All-In-One CPU Watercooler
Nepton 140XL and 280L both are factory filled and sealed for immediate installation and maintenance-free operation for years. Affixed to Nepton 140XL and 280L are premium JetFlo 140 Series fans that are built specially for the high air pressure and heat dissipation required for high performance watercooling. For greater cooling compatibility, JetFlo 120 Series fans and other 120mm fans are supported via compatible mounting holes on the radiator.
Nepton 280L comes equipped with dual JetFlo 140 fans and an extra large 280mm radiator that, together, generate substantial cooling power that can dissipate up to 300W of heat. This, coupled with a pure copper base, means Nepton can handle high CPU overclocking. Longer and thicker FEP tubing assists in maintaining exceptional performance through less restrictive water flow and superb evaporation resistance.
Express Tool-free Installation
The struggle is over; Nepton 140XL and 280L include specially designed thumb screw based mounting kits for the fans and pump. No longer will your installation be bogged down by unnecessary mounting steps and tool requirements. All that you need to install the Nepton 140XL or 280L are your fingers.
Step into a new world of watercooling with user-friendly installation and usage and high performance cooling.
Availability
The Nepton 140XL & 280L will be available in November. Price and availability may vary based on region. -
How to use the PS4 Controller in Windows with XBOX Controller XInput Games
This sounds like a word alphabet but if the article is correct you can use a PS4 controller on your windows machine using a .Net application called XInput.
The PS4 is supported by Windows, but the buttons can be reversed, and the axis gets messed up. Also, many game use XInput, while the PS4 controller uses DirectInput. This method allows you to use a PS4 controller in Windows, including games that normally only support the XBOX Controller.
The software is basically a controller driver which isn't something Sony would ever release despite gamers using Xbox controllers in Windows for years.
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EVGA Z87 Classified Available Now
At Computex this year I got to see first hand what EVGA had in store for Haswell and Ivy Bridge Extreme. I have already reviewed the X79 Dark and found the board to be the best X79 I have ever used due in part to the upgraded BIOS interface.
EVGA has posted on their official twitter that the Z87 Classified is now available and by the looks of it promises to be the Haswell based motherboard to have for multi-GPU benching.
Welcome to a new class of high performance motherboards that boast 4th Generation Intel® Core™ Processor compatibility. These platforms offer a return to greatness with a completely redesigned GUI BIOS interface, reimagined power VRM that focuses on efficiency, and loaded with features like up to 4-Way SLI, Creative Sound Core3D quad-core audio processor, Intel Gigabit LAN, native SATA 6G/USB 3.0 and more.
Did we also mention that this motherboard is designed for the overclocker? Built from the ground up to give you all the essentials you need for overclocking, with a GUI BIOS that is focused on functionality, brand new software interface for overclocking in the O.S., ultra high quality components, and robust PCI-E 3.0 and memory trace layout.
With any luck I'll be able to show you excatly what this motherboard can do
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AOL shuts down Winamp for good
I caught this story on twitter today and it got me thinking. Every podcast I listen to is either using a web player or is cataloged in my Winamp library. Along the same lines I have used Winamp to rip every CD I own for easy digital storage and at one time I used to subscribe to several Shoutcast servers for music and tech news.
Now that Winamp is going away I won't have any more of that. There might be a chance that someone will pick it up as an open source project but given that AOL paid big bucks for the startup I highly doubt it.
On Wednesday, Ars confirmed the announcement with Geno Yoham, Winamp’s general director since October 2008. He declined immediate comment but said that he would try to arrange a future interview.
Ars wrote an extensive feature on the rise and fall of Winamp in June 2012, detailing AOL’s mismanagement of the property since its dotcom-boom acquisition. As we reported then, Winamp continued to receive updates and make a tiny amount of money for AOL throughout the last 15 years. AOL even released the first Android version in 2010 and a Mac version in 2011.
I guess it will be time to make sure I'm upgraded to the latest version, pay to make sure I have a good key and hope for the best while I wait for the next big thing to come along.
