Tech News
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AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Processor Review @ Madshrimps
Ryzen 7 is a powerhouse of a processor, eight cores with sixteen threads makes it a perfect complement to any application where multi threading performance is important. Thing is, that despite desktop PCs having multi core processors for YEARS the software used on those machines is still largely single threaded or optimized for dual core situations.
This makes Ryzen 7 a little overkill and yet slower than what we have come to know.
Madshrimps is taking a look at the lower end Ryzen 5 1600 series processor. This is a slower version of the Ryzen 7 that draws less power and costs less as a result.
The Ryzen 5 1600 CPU does arrive with notably lower core clocks and 30W lower TDP versus its 1600X brother, all other technical specifications remaining the same. While we can see a small performance drop with the Ryzen 5 1600, both CPUs seem to share similar overclock margins on AIO water cooling; however, we did manage to achieve 3.9GHz at a considerably higher voltage than on the 1600X, which tells us that the more expensive SKU did belong from a more capable batch.
Like me the Madshrimps crew loves to overclock and likes to include overclocking scores in their reviews. By the looks of it they seem to have done quite well with their Ryzen 5 1600 sample.
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ASUS ROG STRIX Z270I GAMING ITX Review @ Hardware Canucks
Overclocking and MiniITX, seems like a good combo. Gigabyte did that back in the day and EVGA has always had a good board, Heck even MSI offered a good overclocker on the tiny form factor.
The question is, can ASUS deliver on a platform designed by VIA and never intended for performance applications?
They say good things come in small packages and ASUS' new ROG STRIX Z270I GAMING proves that. This tiny ITX motherboard packs all the performance and overclocking chops of boards twice its size.
It would seem that Hardware Canucks is asking the same question, but only because of click-bait. So, the real question is...
Did it work?
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EpicGear Morpha X Gaming Mouse Wins Computex d&i Award
Taipei, Taiwan – May 4, 2017 – EpicGear, the leading brand in professional gaming peripherals, today announces that they have won the prestigious Computex d&i Award (design and innovation) from Computex organizers TAITRA (The Taiwan External Trade Development Council) in conjunction with iF (International Forum Design).
“We’re really honored to receive the Computex d&i Award” commented Jennifer Huang, Vice President of EpicGear. “EpicGear Morpha X Modular Gaming Mouse showcases our determination to offer innovative features and the absolute best gaming experience.”
COMPUTEX d&i awards 2017 – Organized by TAITRA and iF
The COMPUTEX d&i awards, hosted for the first time in 2008 by TAITRA in cooperation with iF have become a constant feature of the COMPUTEX TAIPEI trade fair and honored products that stand out through excellent design. In the Computex d&i award category of Gaming Devices + Content of Games, EpicGear won with their submission of the EpicGear Morpha X Modular Gaming Mouse. Learn more about Computex d&i Awards here: https://goo.gl/bUKNsf -
Intel says to stop overclocking your Core i7-7700K to avoid high temps
I love this. And before people get all triggered let me explain.
A couple months ago I posted an article that detailed how to delid your Kaby Lake processor using a tool called the Rockit 88. It made delidding your processor extremely easy and the benefits are quite good.
Thing is some users really don't understand why someone would delid the processor, nor want to bother learning but, somehow listen to tech people saying. "Monitor your temps!", "Burn in your processor for stability!", "Use only the best thermal paste!" and.. the list goes on. I'm a hardware enthusiast and know from my 20+ years building custom pcs that NONE of that really matters if you do things correctly.
So, long story short, I was reading through the comments of my Delidding Video and noticed a user asking about temperature spikes on his 7700K and linked to the Intel Support forum post. I knew that the spikes people were talking about where well within range and likely due to sudden spikes in processor activity. That is just how Windows works, end of story.
But, people seem to insist that it is an Intel problem and bring up complaints from Enthusiasts thinking that is going to change their mind. Well. Intel had this to say.
"We appreciate the feedback you have provided, and your patience as we investigated this behavior. The reported behavior of the 7th Generation Intel Core i7-7700K Processor, showing momentary temperature changes from the idle temperature, is normal while completing a task (like opening a browser or an application or a program).
In our internal investigation, we did not observe temperature variation outside of the expected behavior and recommended specifications. For processor specifications, please refer to the Intel Core i7-7700K Processor Product Specifications.
Most motherboard manufacturers offer customizable fan speed control settings that may allow for smoother transition of fan revolutions per minute (rpm). Please consult your motherboard manufacturer’s manual or website for instructions on how to change default fan speed control settings.
We do not recommend running outside the processor specifications, such as by exceeding processor frequency or voltage specifications, or removing of the integrated heat spreader (sometimes called 'de-lidding'). These actions will void the processor warranty."
In a way this equates to what Microsoft did to the Windows 8 start menu when people started complaining. Honestly Windows 8 was horrid but when Microsoft decided to address the issue by adding an icon to activate the start menu. Not a button but an icon. I think Penny Arcade said it best. "This is how UI Designers say 'Fuck You'"
Well in similar fashion Intel simply told everyone to stop overclocking.
I am in full agreement with Intel on this one, they have 0 liability to support anything outside the bounds of what they are offering which includes overclocking and anything a 3rd party motherboard maker enables or sets by default. (*cough* BCLK over Voltage Adjustment */cough*)
Be sure to check out my video on how to properly delid your Core i7 7700k on the Hardware Asylum YouTube channel and keep the enthusiast juices flowing.
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Aqua Computer and Rockit Delidding Tools tested on Core i7-7700K @ techPowerUp
How could you "not" give an editor's choice award to a delidding tool??
A couple months ago I took on the Rockit Cool Rockit88 Delidding tool and found it to be extremely easy to use and the results were amazing.
Be sure to check out the review and how-to video I posted on the Hardware Asylum YouTube Channel.
Intel mainstream CPUs have had a bottleneck in cooling due to poor heat transfer from the CPU die to the integrated heat spreader. Thanks to new de-lidding friendly tools released recently, it is now easier than ever before to handle this yourself and get a cooler running CPU. We examine two such solutions from Rockit Cool and Aqua Computer today, both of which promise fool-proof de-lidding and re-lidding.
There is a good chance that most every LGA 115x style processor coming from Intel will have the same TIM under the heatspreader so it will be interesting to see if they change the size of the CPU to battle "delidders"
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PrimoChill Praxis WetBench Review @ ThinkComputers
Everyone has a different idea as to what a test bench is, what i needs to do and what kind of support it needs to have. Personally I'm old school finding that a broken down chassis and using the motherboard tray.
Of course with that said EVERYONE has tried to improve the simple design, so much in fact that some are just cases with the sides ripped off while others are super simple and giving you less than I have with a broken down case.
PrimoChill has entered the test bench chassis world with their Praxis WetBench. As the name suggests it is a test bench designed for watercooling. Or, as I see it, a chassis with external watercooling support.
Unlike typical PC cases where you have a wide variety of options to choose from the test bench category is very limited. Having a test bench is great, it allows you to easily switch out hardware, monitor components and much more. We have two different test benches here at ThinkComputers and when we were building out our Z270 test system it was time to get third. Both of our previous test benches got the job done, but had certain things that we did not like. After doing some research the PrimoChill Praxis WetBench was at the top of our list. The motto for the Praxis is “A testbench with watercooling in mind” which definitely caught our attention. The biggest thing about many test benches is that really do not have radiator support, which is very disappointing as we use AiO’s for our test systems. Let’s jump in and see if the Praxis is the perfect test bench for us!
It is a self assembled chassis that has accessory storage underneath while the motherboard and cooling components sit topside at an angle for maximum viewing. I can't diss, it looks good but cannot say if it is "my" type of bench.
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Sound BlasterX Katana @ LanOC Reviews
I joked after CES that everything was RGB and the one product that really drive it home was the new Sound BlasterX Katana. This is a sound bar speaker solution that combines the features of the iRoar with a stand along 2.1 speaker system with triple amplifiers and patented Sound Blaster technology.
For living rooms, it used to be a big push for multi-speaker configurations with a big receiver. For some people, this is still the goal, especially for surround sound. But recently there has been a trend where people have been moving to soundbars. They take up a lot less space while still being an audio improvement over your TVs speakers and they better fit with today’s ultra-thin TVs. There are some downsides though and performance can be a little limited. Well, Sound Blaster came out with the Sound BlasterX Katana and they don’t even like to put it in the same category as a traditional sound bar. They call it an Under Monitor Audio System aka a UMAS. This is because beyond having speakers under your monitor it has a built-in 224 bit DAC, a Dolby Digital 5.1 Decoder, and 5 drivers all with their own amps. With my wife getting a new desk, we started to look at her options and the Katana from Sound Blaster looked to be a good fit to keep the desktop footprint low by using unused space under her monitors. So today I’m going to check the Katana’s out and see just how they perform.
Darren did an excellent review of the Sound BlasterX Katana so I urge you to check it out.
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GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Custom Card Roundup
I'm certain there will be more. But, DAMN 22!! that is crazy.
The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti sits on the top echelon of NVIDIA's Pascal-driven, 10-Series GPUs. The GTX 1080 Ti offers performance up to 35% faster than the already impressive GTX 1080, and it boasts a 1480 MHz base clock, a 1582 MHz boost clock, 3,584 CUDA cores, and 11 GB of next generation GDDR5X video memory. Tech Radar calls the GTX 1080 Ti "NVIDIA's most impressive graphics card to date," and IGN echoes that sentiment, saying: "The GTX 1080 Ti is the fastest gaming graphics card available, by a wide margin."
Aside from the obvious advantage in the speed department, the GTX 1080 Ti also uses a 7-phase power design along with 14 high-efficiency dualFETs, as well as a reconfigured high-airflow cooler, which keeps the card chillier and quieter than any graphics cards that have come before it. Thanks to the GTX 1080 Ti's cooling and power efficiency, it's quite friendly to overclocking, allowing enthusiasts to squeeze as much raw power out of the GPU as possible.
I know that factory "overclocking" video cards are kinda on their way out but I'm still expecting to see an EVGA Kingpin edition and a Lightning from MSI. Crossing my fingers for Computex.
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SteelSeries Brings Gamers the World's First Dual-Surface RGB Illuminated Mousepad
CHICAGO – April 26, 2017 – SteelSeries, brings innovation to its 15-year legacy of engineering the best gaming mousepads in the world by introducing the QcK Prism Gaming Mousepad. Built with purpose, the QcK Prism delivers features that go beyond the aesthetics of illumination and presents performance benefits for PC gaming. The new mousepad provides gamers with dual-sided premium surfaces – the first of its kind, 360 degrees of continuous illumination in 12 separate zones, and interference-free USB cable placement.
The QcK Prism is the world’s first dual-surface RGB illuminated mousepad, featuring a premium micro-textured cloth that adds friction for more deliberate movements and a hard polymer surface for a fast-paced glide. The QcK Prism comes with brilliant 360-degree, 12-zone Prism RGB illumination with advanced lighting effects and supports SteelSeries GameSense, providing reactive illumination to in-game events such as low ammo, health, kills, cooldown timers and more.
Jason Christian, Category Manager for Gaming Surfaces, Mice and Keyboards says “Every aspect of this peripheral was built with purpose. It delivers premium surface performance with brilliant lighting and zero mouse cable interference.”
In addition to the millions of colors and lighting effects, the QcK Prism also supports SteelSeries Prism Sync. Gamers can create dynamic multi-color lighting effects between the QcK Prism and all other Prism-enabled gear, including the Arctis 5 headset, Rival 700 mouse and Apex M800 keyboard.
The QcK Prism was made with a game-tested design. Unlike all other RGB mousepads, the cable housing is positioned out of the way, on the left side, where it will not catch a gamer’s mouse cable.
The QcK Prism is now available at http://steelseries.com/qckprism for $59.99 and online retailers including Amazon and Best Buy. For more information about SteelSeries’ QcK Prism or SteelSeries complete selection of gaming accessories, visit www.SteelSeries.com. -
PowerColor Red Devil Golden Sample RX 580 Review @ Vortez
Yesterday I did a candid news posting about the naming of products and how it seems shelf appeal has become more important than actually coming up with a good name. For this Powercolor RX 580 it would seem that one product name wasn't good enough and had to add a second.
Red Devil Golden Sample
just rolls off the tongue.
PowerColor’s Red Devil Golden Sample RX 580 is an excellent showcase of how the new 500-series can deliver an effective rival to NVIDIA’s mid-range GTX 1060 (and in some cases even GTX 1070). Our Golden Sample card handled DX12 games with ease and even proved an impressive level of prowess at 1440p and 4K resolutions.
I'm all for the Devil series of products, it just sounds tough even if they aren't really all that special. Well, now they have thrown in a Gainward favorite the "Golden Sample" in hopes of capturing some nostalgia for some and "wow look at that" for others.
At least has a pentagram on the back
In an unrelated note, I flat out dislike developers who feel "mobile first" applies to desktops and insist that anyone running a browser in a window must be on mobile. Ugg.
