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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The Truly Ergonomic Mechanical Keyboard @ techPowerUp
The name of this company is a bit of a misnomer when applied to their Ergonomic mechanical keyboard. Looking at the design I can't see how it is really all the ergo, nor comfortable to type on.
Of course, if the company ever sent me one I might be inclined to give it a try and maybe change my mind though, to be honest. I'm still married to my Microsoft Natural Elite and can't imagine typing on anything else.
Even if it was supposed to be better.
The Truly Ergonomic Keyboard in its current revisions 227 and 229 aims to get past the issues that plagued the predecessors to re-establish a loyal customer base. It features all new switches, updated firmware, support for niche keyboard layouts, full programmability and more in a form factor smaller than most keyboards.
The problem I have with their ergo keyboard is the size. TechPowerUp comments on how it is smaller than most which is due to the lack of a 10-key but to be truly ergo I feel it needs to be wider so your hands aren't so close together.
10-key would also be nice but, only because we are used to having one.
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Asustor AS6202T NAS review @ Guru3D
Funny thing, I just got done installing the Asustor AS6204T NAS for a client of mine to replace an aging Dell server that has been running non-stop for the past 13 years. Let’s hope this cutting edge prosumer level NAS can last just as long.
While the NAS installed is the 4-drive version of the one in this review I can tell you that the OS and hardware are identical and even offers a RAM upgrade if you plan to run a good number of web applications from it.
In this review we test the Asustor AS6202T NAS. The AS6202T is more powerful in the sense that it comes with a much stronger processor, more memory and a plethora of features. The 2 in that product name means we'll be testing the 2-bay version of this quad-core processor based NAS with 4 GB of internal RAM memory.
My install featured a three drive RAID-5 using the out of box Asustor NAS OS and configuration. Much to my surprise the install went flawless and so far has been working great without any issue, including a nightly backup to an external USB 3.0 portable hard drive.
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Crucial MX300 Limited Edition 750GB SSD Review @ ModSynergy.com
The cost of a storage option has always been a deciding factor and is something that has really been taken for granted. For instance there was a time when a 500MB (yes megabyte) hard drive might have cost over $500 USD and has technology has improved we can get larger drives for less money.
This was an easy progression to monitor and eventually things became so affordable that many enthusiasts didn't care about storage aside from making it fast.
Fast forward to the launch of SSDs. Here we have a super fast storage technology and an effective reset on price, so much in fact that many "young" users complained about the cost not knowing why it was priced that way. Much like with system memory there is a limit to the storage density of a SSD and is something that 3D NAND is designed to address.
Crucial, a brand name from top five semiconductor company Micron Technology Inc, becomes the second company (in partnership with Intel) to develop and offer 3D NAND technology inside a Solid State Drive. Read our thoughts on the Crucial MX300 750GB SSD.
Be sure to check out my review of the Crucial MX300 750GB SSD. The drive is really good and marks a stepping stone to a viable replacement to rotational drives.
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AMD Ryzen Launch Day - Ryzen 7 1800X and Others
A few days ago I speculated about what Ryzen would actually be. If you are curious about my thoughts be sure to check out my news posting on the subject. Of course with that being said Ryzen has launched and there are a good number of reviews out there. Sadly, None from Hardware Asylum, at least yet.
I'm not the only one who wasn't able to get a launch review ready. Our friends over at Techgage had issues getting their Ryzen sample in before heading out to GDC to witness the GTX 1080 Ti launch (which I think is better). So while they work to get performance numbers they posted a technology article instead.
A Quick Look At AMD’s Ryzen CPU Launch @ Techgage
I'm not going to say it is the best article on Ryzen, but it is the best article I have read since getting up this morning.
After having my morning Pepsi I checked out FB and noticed a post from one of the HWBOT mods claiming that Ryzen benchmarks have been posted. Knowing that FB comments are always the best source of what people "really" think I gave them a look and this one stood out.
They look really good under LN2, but air/water... NOT good..
I'm not sure what that actually means but. it has to be true right? Well, lets check some of the web reviews and see what the professionals have to say.
Web Reviews
- AMD Ryzen 7 1800X processor review
- AMD's Ryzen 7 1800X, Ryzen 7 1700X, and Ryzen 7 1700 CPUs reviewed
- AMD Ryzen 7 1800X CPU Review: The Wait is Over at Modders-Inc
- AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, 1700X, And 1700 Reviews And Benchmarks: Zen Brings The Fight Back To Intel
- AMD Ryzen 7 1800X, 1700X and 1700 Processor Review @ Legit Reviews (seems legit)
- Gigabyte AB350 Gaming 3 @ LanOC Reviews
- AMD Ryzen 7 1800X Linux Benchmarks @ Phoronix
- AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs @ LanOC Reviews
- AMD Ryzen 7 1800X Review @ Vortez
- The AMD Ryzen 7 1800X Performance Review @ Hardware Canucks (Whoa they included a "the" *damn that is slick)Well that is the list, at least what was sent to the Hardwre Asylum news inbox. For overclocking results be sure to check out HWBOT.org, they are currently the defacto source for overclocking scores sorted by hardware type and a pretty good indication as to what you can expect, at least in terms of overclocking.
I'll be working on getting some Ryzen stuff in the Hardware Asylum Labs soon so, until then, I guess. wait? ya seems like an appropriate response.
Take care
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NVIDIA Launches GTX 1080 Ti before GDC - And it is good
We all knew this day would happen, the mighty Ti has landed and it should be good. Of course anyone who has paid any sort of attention will know how NVIDIA does things as they did the exact same thing with GTX 780 and GTX 980.
According to reports the new Pascal based GTX 1080 Ti will sit between the Titan X and GTX 1080 in terms of intended performance however will have the same number of CUDA cores with less ROP pixels per clock . That will lower overall computational performance which is then made up for with a 1600Mhz boost clock and suspected 2000Mhz OC performance. All Pascal based cards all top out around 2000Mhz so that is really no surprise.
The card will feature a 220w TDP and 352 Bit memory interface (WTF?) and 11GB of GDDR5X Micron memory. For anyone waiting to get their GTX 1080 this might also be the perfect time considering that NVIDIA Is also lowering the price of the 1080 down to $499 and will price the GTX 1080 Ti at around $699.
Of course the best part and the part I got wrong in my speculation is that the new GTX 1080 Ti FE cards will be available next week and with any luck the custom boards will also be launched around the same time.
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CyberPowerPC Debuts AMD Ryzen Series of Fully-Customizable Gaming Enthusiast Rigs
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA (February 22, 2017)—CyberPower Inc., www.cyberpowerpc.com, a global manufacturer of custom gaming PCs, gaming laptops, and performance workstations, today announced the pre-sale of a new series of enthusiastic gaming PCs based on the AMD Ryzen CPU and AM4 platform, which features advanced overclocking and more PCI Express lanes for handling high-bandwidth, immersive computing.
CyberPowerPC Ryzen based gaming PCs come in a multitude of flavors and offerings, including a Virtual Reality-ready system, refreshes to its current award winning Gamer Dragon, as well as high performance machines in the new Gamer Master Series and Hyper Liquid series. All Ryzen equipped systems will be fully customizable.
AMD’s latest Ryzen CPU requires new motherboard chipset based on the AM4 platform. CyberPowerPC Ryzen system will feature the AMD Ryzen 7 series CPUs which features 8-Core CPU/16 threads and AMD X370 chipset Motherboards. The X370 chipset delivers ultimate graphics card bandwidth with its support for multi-GPUs. The chipset also supports both, CFX (CrossFire) and SLI. Other notable features include dual-channel DDR4 memory support; NVMe, which allows a solid-state drive (SSD) to make effective use of the high-speed PCIe 3.0 bus; support for M.2 SATA devices and USB 3.1 Gen 1 and Gen 2 compatibility.
For a limited time during CyberPowerPC’s Ryzen pre-sale event, all Ryzen equipped computers are bundled with the Corsair Hydro Series H60 liquid cooling as a free upgrade, which features a new split-flow manifold that delivers coolant directly to the center of the cold plate — the core area of the CPU which generates the most heat. The Corsair H60 comes pre-filled, and never needs refilling or priming.
The series includes the following base configurations:
AMD Ryzen 7 Configurator – Starting $983
- AMD Ryzen 7 1700 8-Core CPU
- AMD X370 Killer SLI Motherboard
- AMD RX 470 4GB Graphics Card
- Corsair H60 Liquid Cooling
- 8GB (4GBx2) DDR4
- 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
- NZXT Source 340 Elite Mid Tower Gaming Case
- 600 W PSU
Gamer Dragon – Starting $1097
- AMD Ryzen 7 1700X 8 Core CPU
- AMD X370 Killer SLI Motherboard
- AMD RX 470 4GB Graphics Card
- Corsair H60 Liquid Cooling
- 8GB (4GBx2) DDR4
- 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
- Raidmax Viper II Mid Tower Gaming Case
- 600 W PSU
VR Ready Deal Syber M GTX 1060 – starting $1159
- AMD Ryzen 7 1700 8 Core CPU
- AMD X370 Killer SLI Motherboard
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB
- Corsair H60 Liquid Cooling
- 8GB (4GBx2) DDR4
- 120GB SSD + 1TB 7200 RPM HDD
- Syber M Mid Tower Gaming Case
- 600 W PSU
Hyper Liquid Ryzen X Starting $2399
- AMD Ryzen 7 1800X 8 Core CPU
- AMD X370 Killer SLI Motherboard
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB
- Custom CyberPowerPC Hydro II D5 Liquid Cooling Kit
- 16GB (4GBx4) DDR4 Memory
- 512GB M.2 SSD + 3TB HDD
- In Win 303 White Mid Tower Gaming Case
- 1000W 80+ PSU
All CyberPowerPC Ryzen-based gaming PC’s can be custom configured with a number of hardware options, including high-performance gaming memory, solid state drives, graphics cards, and gaming peripherals. Fully-assembled systems include a 3-year limited warranty and lifetime tech support via chat, email or telephone.
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GIGABYTE Announces AM4 Ryzen Support
AORUS Motherboards Arise with the New AM4 Ryzen Platform
City of Industry, California, February 24th, 2017 – GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is proud to announce the rise of the AORUS Gaming Series Motherboards on the New AM4 Ryzen Platform from AMD. The AM4 Platform will host the X370, B350 and A320 Chipsets which all support the Ryzen CPUs. GIGABYTE will have all three chipsets available, each fully optimized for CPUs with 8-Cores and 16 Threads, for consumers who are interested in any segment of the platform. With user-centric features exclusive to GIGABYTE, consumers will find RGB Fusion, Smart Fan 5 and Dual Audio Chips that provides a solution like no other.
With anticipation building for the new platform, GIGABYTE has made no compromises with its innovative technologies. The fully customizable RGB LEDs from RGB Fusion will allow users to customize their system exactly the way they want. Smart Fan 5, an intuitive user interface, works in tandem with hybrid fan headers for optimum cooling performance and system protection. Moreover, RGB Fusion has made its way onto many accessories and peripherals already in the market. RGB Fusion Ready devices allow enthusiasts to control all of their RGB lit products from a single interface.
“This is an exciting time for GIGABYTE as Ryzen processors will bring new technologies and innovations that many of our consumers have longed for,” said Henry Kao, Vice President of GIGABYTE’s Motherboard Business Unit. “Even more so, GIGABYTE has continued to improve upon the platform adding exclusive GIGABYTE features that enthusiasts demand.”
Ryzen - Powerful in Purpose. Efficient in Design.
The new GIGABYTE Gaming and AORUS Gaming Motherboards will be built with support for Ryzen. Ryzen, built on the AM4 platform, has crucial technologies that ensure users have the most efficiency when it comes to performance and power consumption. With features like Pure Power, Precision Boost, Neural Net Prediction, Smart Prefetch and an Extended Frequency Range, Ryzen is ready to address the needs and demands of gamers and enthusiasts.Ryzen Motherboards will be released on March 2nd, 2017. To find out more about the performance and features of GIGABYTE and AORUS Gaming series motherboards be sure to follow GIGABYTE.
For more information, please check our newsroom for the latest information.
For AORUS Gaming Series Motherboards:
http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/AORUS-GamingFor GIGABYTE Gaming Series Motherboards:
http://www.gigabyte.us/Motherboard/GIGABYTE-GamingTo learn more about AORUS:
http://www.AORUS.com/To learn more about GIGABYTE:
http://www.gigabyte.us/ -
Expanded AMD Ryzen CPU Lineup Along with my Thoughts
To be honest, I haven't been following anything AMD Ryzen aside from what I have heard in the grapevine. So far the rumors are extremely positive claiming that the Ryzen CPUs are fast enough to compete with the Intel LGA 2011 and faster than many of the Intel LGA 115x stuff.
Of course with that being said I haven't actually used any of the new AM4 stuff, I wasn't invited to the AMD press event at CES nor was I invited to the launch that happened in San Francisco. I did however see an AM4 motherboard at CES and the socket looked A LOT like an old AMD FM2/FM2+ complete with pins missing in the middle. (Remember the old Socket 754?, similar format and they later released a full pin socket processor with more power.)
At the time of this news posting you can pre-order AMD Ryzen CPUs with the three flagship processors being available. (1800X, 1700X and 1700 They are all 8 core / 16 thread processors and come with 16meg cache and a very attractive price point at less than $500 USD. From a specifications standpoint we have an LGA 2011 killer with a power sipping 95w TDP to boot.
The rest of the line-up is pictured below with the slowest of them clocking in at 3Ghz while the fastest will turbo to 4Ghz. There was a leaked benchmark showing the Ryzen 7 1800X overclocked to 5Ghz on LN2 indicating that there isn't much headroom but, with an unlocked multiplier that opens up a wealth of tweaking options.
Chart credit to OCaholicI have written this post with a little cautious optimism.
Reason? Well, I believe that AMD has a great product but many of the performance gains are a little overhyped. For instance, I saw a slide claiming that they achieved a 50% performance increase over previous generation. Well, considering that every CPU is dual threaded you can make that claim because you are splitting the work across two threads. Likewise, we have 8 cores and only 95w TDP. The FM2 based stuff was rather power efficient and if you use that as a base, tweak the power delivery a little and add more cores you can easily achieve those targets. That is simply how things scale but is scaling from an crappy FM2 that nobody wanted to begin with.
Of course some of my skepticism comes from past AMD releases where everything was overhyped and lack luster. We had people going nutz over the launch and it quickly died off. I have no doubt that TechTubers will beat Ryzen to a pulp as they struggle to come up with video ideas. This is fine IMO as the CPU has decent specs and it has gotten plenty of people excited about competition in the CPU space. I just hope it can actually deliver.
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Countdown for Ti at NVIDIA
A cleaver bit of marketing over at Nvidia today. They have a countdown and as of this posting it is saying 6 Days and 5 Hours which coincides perfectly with GDC (Game Developers Conference). If I was a betting man I would guess that GTX 1080Ti and GTX 1070Ti will be announced during that show with products being available later this summer.
You will notice that the TI in "Time" is bold so unlike with the inital Pascal launch they are being a little more forward with their intention. Don't get me wrong the puzzles were fun to solve but, several YT sites kinda ruined it by posting the answers while other sites played it cool and fed off the traffic influx.
As they say marketing works only when people play by the rules and set aside their quest to create clickbait.
#butwait there is more!
Well, not really though I can guarantee that Jen-Hsun Huang will say that at least once during the presentation.
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Relid Your Intel CPU on the Cheap with no Delid Tools
I recently published an entire series dedicated to Delidding and Relidding a Kaby Lake Core i7 7700K processor. You can find information in three locations.
First is the Hardware Asylum Podcast Episode 72 Main Show. In that episode we dive into delidding, why it is important and the tools you need to make it happen.
The Second and Third are combined starting with a short review of the Rockit Cool Rockit 88 delidding tool followed by a short video showing you how to properly delid a processor WITH real temperature testing. Some have commented on the process and all make really great points however my Core i7 7700K will eventually find cold so I took some care to make sure I used good thermal compound for subzerio operation.
As you may expect HardOCP has also taken on the task of delidding and started looking at all of the current methods used to delid a processor and his review on how effecive they are.
While many folks do not worry about affixing their Integrated Heat Spreader after delidding and replacing the Thermal Interface Material, I have found it to be somewhat important that it be done in my testing. So yes, I have found "relidding" your processor to be functionally important. I have seen higher temperatures when not affixing the IHS. If done properly, I think properly "gluing" the IHS to the processor substrate helps keep the CPU die and IHS mating surfaces closer together. This is all based on what I have seen over the last month while delidding, running naked, and relidding CPUs.
I would fully agree and would also agree that heatink force plays a huge role in how effective your heatsink works. This wasn't a huge issue with Haswell and Ivy Bridge however with Skylake and Kaby Lake the substrate is so thin that it will bend rather easily. (and break as I have also discovered.)
