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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Corsair HS50 Stereo Gaming Headset Review @ Legit Reviews
Maybe this is the new thing or some sort of strange justification of something costing too much but starting your review with the comment claiming you ignore a very important pricepoint rather pompus IMO.
What worse they turn around to say, oh but wait these headphones from Corsair are only $50 bux so you had better pay attention, cause: Corsair.
The moment I start looking for a headset, I usually bypass anything less than $100, because the typical pricepoint that equates a high level of performance with an outstanding in-game experience is at least $100. At least. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Corsair has done some great work in appealing to a gamer with not-so-deep pockets that still yearns for a high-quality sound experience. At $49.99 shipped in there different colors, the HS50 STEREO is sure to find itself under many Christmas trees with the recipients being thrilled at the experience they’ll have and the giver being excited about the price. Read on to see how the new Corsair HS50 Stereo Gaming Headset performs!
I cannot speak to the quality of these muffs but the price for the market and if Corsair follows their normal patterns they have some sort of expert standing behind the design saying they conform to some sudo standard to make them better than the $50 dollar set from XYZ company.
For the money, drop $80 on the BlasterX H5 and enjoy your games/movies/p0rn with premier audio quality and full interpolated surround sound.
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AORUS GTX 1080 Gaming Box Review @ ThinkComputers
Its not every day that you run into a website with a broken stylesheet but they are out there. They are annoying and often an oversight and assumption by the designer that "everyone" has their browser maximized. or that "Everyone" is using a mobile device.
Yes, I know "mobile first" but seriously grow up!
Oh. So, lets get back on topic. Aorus has been addicted to bringing you new and exciting ways to bring you full sized gaming computers at a faction of the size. Small boxes like this aren't a huge deal in the States however, overseas space is sometimes a luxury people cannot afford which really limits the size of your gaming computer.
Thin and light laptops are great! Carrying them around is super easy, they have a super-long battery life, and are more than powerful enough for most tasks. But when it comes to serious gaming a thin and light laptop just won’t cut it. Most people have a nice Ultrabook and then when they get home they have a full-blown gaming PC. Well AORUS wants you to game on your Ultrabook and they have just the device to do so, their GTX 1080 Gaming Box. It is an external box that houses a desktop-class GeForce GTX 1080 and it connects to your PC with a single cable via Thunderbolt 3 (Type-C). So when you need to be on the go you have your thin and light laptop, but when you get home you just plug in 1 cable and you have the power of a desktop-class graphics card. Let’s jump in and see what this gaming box is all about.
I'm not a fan of gaming laptops, they are often heavy and actually larger than you might expect. Likewise smaller laptops often lack the power to play current AAA gaming titles which begs the question. Gaming Console or PC.
Of course you say PC but if you only have room for a gaming console then maybe it is time to look at something like the Aorus Gaming Box.
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XSPC RayStorm Neo CPU Water Block @ TechPowerUp
I'm a fan of XSPC watercooling gear and while I buy plenty of there components I have avoided the waterblocks and compression fittings. Why? they just look damn strange.
The RayStorm Neo is XSPC taking their flagship RayStorm Pro block and applying a new look to it. Featuring a polished acrylic top, chrome-plated aluminum brackets, and included RGB LEDs with controller, the Neo offers an option to those who want more than a matte/metal top block. Add in a precise installation mechanism and good performance alike and this is a block well worthy of consideration in the sub-$80 market.
The RayStorm blocks look pretty good. they feature a dual barb microchannel design with an accelerator plate to add back pressure and to increase coolant speed. Back in the day I would have been super critical about how water flows though a waterblock and questioned simple block designs like the RayStorm Neo. However, it seems that enthusiasts are not concerned with that anymore and have settled for whatever a company is willing to produce.
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NZXT H700i Mid Tower Chassis review @ Guru3D
Words like "Impressive" and "accent" really make me want to... ya click the link to find out more. The NZXT H700i has a very "How can we be like Corsair but, Not get in trouble" kind of name.
The new H700i is an advanced series from NZXT, it's a mid-tower with very nice looks, spiffy RGB LED and fan control through a CAM controller. With a new tempered glass side panel, and LED accent lighting the chassis is impressive.
Thing is, the case looks like a copy of a classic InWin design with all of the good stuff removed. And, what is with the crazy strap going down the middle?? It all makes you wonder about case designs these days.
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BitFenix Aurora @ TechPowerUp
Ever have that feeling that your chassis is just too fat. I'm not talking casual chub due to consuming two more more nVidia or AMD based video cards with a full water loop but, rather that the case is just too wide.
#wideload
Well if you are having the problem of a case that is just too wide for your liking then BitFenix has the solution with the BitFenix Aurora and its slimming front bezel design.
The Bitfenix Aurora packs dual 280 mm liquid-cooling support, a bracket for reservoirs, an Aura-compatible RGB controller, and glass side panels into one case. We take it for a spin to make it glow in all its colors and take a closer look to see if it manages to shine even in deep space.
All jokes aside the case looks pretty good. It features a full tempered glass side panel and front bezel that looks like it should be the carrying handle. But, you know anything to dress up an otherwise worthless panel on a modern computer case lacking external drive bays.
You'll have to check out the review to know what I mean.
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TUNAI Drum Earphones Review @ APH Networks
Ok so this might be the shortest quote for a product review that I have seen in awhile.
The TUNAI Drum offers a decent listening experience if heavy bass is your thing and heavy bass is all you care about.
TUNAI is a Taiwanese company that made their mark developing connectivity devices. Like ways to connect your phone to your car or your phone to a set of headphones all using BlueTooth. Given their experience building wireless audio devices it seemed only natural for them to branch in the other half of the audio world, sound reproduction. aka speakers.
Their first venture is a set of ear buds / earphones called Drum.
Drum is designed to deliver a wider sound spectrum than normal earphones by expanding the frequency range to include more bass and crisper highs.
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Ballistix Elite 3466 MHz DDR4 Memory Kit Review
When it comes to memory one of the longest running brands is the Crucial Ballistix which makes sense considering that the parent company, Micron, builds the chips powering many of the popular high performance modules on the market. Crucial has been known to deliver some extremely solid memory but has always been plagued with "not being all that fast".
Well it would seem some of that is changing with their Ballistix Elite DDR4 line with speeds topping out at 3466Mhz. Still not the fastest you can buy but better than nothing.
Our last Ballistix memory review was the Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Red DDR4 2666Mhz Memory Kit, which was good and represents the entry speeds for performance or enthusiast level DDR4. If you want a little more speed and capability, you can have a look at some Ballistix memory at the other end of the performance spectrum, the Ballistix Elite 3466MHz DDR4 Memory Kit. 3466 MHz memory speed is amazing, but it’s becoming common amongst high end memory. 3466Mhz is a full third faster than the Ballistix Sport LT 16GB Red DDR4 2666Mhz, which is enough to get anyone’s attention.
To be fair Crucial is offering OEM replacement modules so, for many of you wanting to keep your factory processor warranty it is important to run memory that is approved and compatible with your processor. Crucial is a front runner in that space whereas other memory makers focus on high-performance modules that are not warranty friendly.
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ASRock Z370 Taichi @ TechPowerUp
TAICHI!!!
ASRock does it again with their famous Taichi series this time supporting the new ExpressoJavaCoffee Lake processor platform from Intel. Coffee Lake is what I would consider the first real upgrade since Sandy Bridge and supports some pretty amazing performance.
Sadly to take advantage you have to get a 300 series motherboard and is where Tachi comes in.
With yet another platform upon us, we have yet another ASRock Taichi motherboard to play with. The ASRock Z370 Taichi is just like all the other Taichi boards before it, ready to make the most of what Intel's Z370 platform has to offer, and with three 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, you can throw in all your HDDs and SSDs, too.
If I was to be impressed with the motherboard it would be the onboard graphics. Not so much what comes from the CPU but, rather what is printed on the PCB and accented by the chipset coolers. Call me crazy but I like gears.
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ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 Ti ArcticStorm Mini with Fearless Cooling
Gonna post this because of "FEARLESS COOLING"
HONG KONG –October 19, 2017 -ZOTAC International, a Hong Kong based and a global manufacturer of innovation, is pleased toannounce the launch of ZOTAC GeForce®GTX 1080 Ti ArcticStorm Mini. Get the best of both worlds with the most compact GeForce®GTX 1080 Ti water blockedgraphics card packing the ultimate gaming performance combined with fearless cooling.
The card combines the 212mm (8.35-inch) long super compact design of the GeForce® GTX 1080 Ti Mini with a full-coverage water block utilizing a nickel plated direct copper contact with precision 0.3mm micro-channels for maximum heat extraction.
The see-thru tinted acrylic top allows the cooling magic to be visible,supported by a metal backplate, the overall color neutral design adds the finishing touches with an all-white LED lit touch. Builder’s now have the option of making one of the most compact with extreme cooling PC gaming systems around and have it fit into any color scheme.
Make for the ultimate compact gaming system with an open-loop water cooling system that incorporatesstandard G1/4 type fittings make ZOTAC GeForce®GTX 1080 Ti ArcticStorm Mini compatible with most third-party liquid cooling solutions. A pair of barbs supporting 10mm ID tubing are also included.
#FearLessCooling
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Patriot launches Viper LED Gaming Mouse Pad
Illuminate Your Way to Victory
Fremont, California - October 9th, 2017: Patriot, a global leading brand in performance memory, SSDs, gaming peripherals, and flash storage solutions today announced a new addition to its Viper series, the Viper LED Gaming Mouse Pad. The Viper Series Gaming LED Mouse Pad offers fantastic decorative LED backlighting with an advanced polymer gaming surface. The Viper LED gaming mouse pad is a perfect match for any high-end gaming mouse and is designed to provide a better gaming experience for the serious gamer.
Patriot is committed to creating a better gaming environment for enthusiasts and gamers and is launching the Viper series LED mouse pad right after V570 Blackout edition gaming mouse.
Most of the gamers agree that peripherals with fantastic backlighting will stimulate their gaming appetite. The Viper LED gaming mouse pad features six different LED color settings that provide a continuous backlighting effect around and beneath the entire mouse pad. Users may customize their own LED lighting effects through the control switch on the USB power cord.
Whether users play MMORPG or a fast-paced FPS the precise control and accuracy of the mouse is a key to winning battles. The Patriot Viper LED mouse pad made of high-quality rigid polymer, which provides a scratch-free, sleek surface to enhance the mouse controlling performance while enhancing durability. For providing a smoother gaming surface for the mouse, polymer material ensures your gaming mouse glides with just the right amount of resistance for precise movements without sacrificing speed.
To complement the multi-colored LED backlighting, the Viper LED gaming mouse pad features a high-grip rubber backing that covers the entire surface guaranteeing a non-slip performance during intense gaming battles. The dimension of the Viper LED mouse pad also follows the scale of current a wide-screen monitors allowing the gamer highest degree of flexibility when setting up their battle stations.
*The mouse pad features a single mini USB cable with the controller located on the braided cord and backed by a 2-year warranty
Viper LED Gaming Mouse Pad Features High-light
- Continuous LED Backlighting beneath
- Six colors LED illumination
- Six different sets of LED lighting effects
- High-quality rigid polymer surface
- Non-slip rubber backing design
- Micro USB connector with braided cord
- Warranty: Two-year limited warranty
- Unit Dimension: 35.35cm(L) x 24.27cm(W) x 4.6cm(H) / 13.9”(L) x 9.5”(W) x 1.1”(H)
