- Details
-
Category: Cooling Hardware
-
Published: Thursday, 07 December 2023 15:29
Cooler Master is one of only a few companies that has been designing their own all-in-one cooler designs, even going as far as having a very public lawsuit with Asetek. Because of that though they have a wide selection of cooler designs and are always evolving. The latest in their cooler designs is the MasterLiquid Atmos line of coolers which has a unique hexagon-shaped pump housing and even a pump top that can be customized with 3D printed designs. Today I’m going to check out the MasterLiquid 240 Atmos and see what it is all about and check out its performance. Is it your next water cooler? Let’s find out.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Networking
-
Published: Tuesday, 21 November 2023 13:26
Zyxel Networks is part of Zyxel Group which was established in Taiwan back in 1989 and the Zyxel Networks brand was split off from the Zyxel Communications subsidiary in 2019. The Zyxel Communications side of things focusing on hardware for service providers and Zyxel Networks focusing on network hardware for businesses but they do also have routers, access points, and powerline products for the home as well. Today I’m going to check out the Zyxel NWA220AW-6E which is part of their business lineup, a WiFi 6E capable PoE access point that is designed for upgrading or adding in capacity in high-density WiFi situations with its bandflex radio.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Pc-hardware
-
Published: Wednesday, 08 November 2023 13:53
The other half of Lexar’s recently announced additions to their gaming lineup comes in the form of their Lexar ARES lineup for RAM. They have introduced new DDR3 and DDR5 RGB memory kits and I’ve got one of each in today. DDR5 prices have come down and both AMD and Intel have support for them but Intel still has the option to run DDR4 with their chipsets and of course, you have all of the older chipsets as well that need DDR4. So it’s great to see that Lexar hasn’t forgotten DDR4 this launch. They have had RGB kits in the past with their Hades lineup that I previously took a look at. Today I’m going to see what the ARES kits have to offer, let’s get to it!
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Cooling Hardware
-
Published: Friday, 03 November 2023 00:32
This past June I finally caught up with Enermax, checking out their Aquafusion Adv coolers, and was impressed with their performance. Well, today they have introduced their latest AIO cooler lineup, the LIQMAXFLO AIO Series which has an integrated VRM cooling fan on top of their pump/waterblock to help with cooling your VRM which can be an issue when you don’t have additional cooling through your case. The LIQMAXFLO lineup has a standard 27 mm radiator thickness model with their LIQMAXFLO SR models and then the LIQMAXFLO that we have in to test today which has a thicker 38mm radiator which is thicker even than the 32mm Lian Li Galahad II Trinity Performance that I previously took a look at. So I’m excited to see how that affects performance.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Power Supplies
-
Published: Friday, 06 October 2023 16:02
The Be Quiet! Straight Power 12 isn’t the first Be Quiet! power supply we have had in the offices. In fact, I’ve had a lot of experience with them, and are running a Dark Power in our main test bench because Be Quiets! priorities line up well with my own. They value quality, efficiency, and aim to keep noise to a minimum. Their Straight Power 12 lineup was announced back in June and it sits behind the Dark Power lines with a Platinum 80 Plus rating. This is a lineup targeted at users and builders who want efficiency and features but don’t need to go completely on the high end with the Dark Power lineup. Today I’m going to take a closer look at that Straight Power 12 1000 watt and see what it has going on.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Storage
-
Published: Thursday, 28 September 2023 08:53
Lexar recently expanded on their gaming lineup and one of the new products that they have added into the mix is their new NM790 SSD. It is a PCIe 4 SSD with the standard 2280 M.2 form factor using four lanes. This isn’t Lexar’s first PCIe 4x4 SSD, in fact, they have 7 other models that fall into that category. But even though PCIe 5.0 drives are now also on the market the PCIE 4 drives are still the sweet spot. The NM790 is a DRAMless design that they are looking to put behind the NM800 Pro which has DRAM in their lineup. Today I’m going to see what it is all about then put it to the test, then when I’m done we can see how the NM790 is positioned in the market to find out if it’s a good option for your next build.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Video Cards
-
Published: Tuesday, 26 September 2023 14:29
One of the interesting things about video cards is that while we only get a relatively small number of new GPUs each year, how models fit into the market and what is a good and bad buy is always changing. Prices go up and down and once you have new models out it changes things as well. Not to mention when you have previous generations of cards marked down as well. That doesn’t even figure in the used market which is its own monster. As reviewers, most of the cards we get in to test come in right around the launch so it is nice when later on I get a chance to revisit things. Gigabyte sent over their RX 7600 Gaming OC 8G and now that the 7700 XT and 7800 XT are out it should be interesting to see how it fits into the market, so today we are going to do just that after testing it and seeing how it compares to other RX 7600s that I’ve already tested.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Audio
-
Published: Tuesday, 19 September 2023 09:07
Logitech purchased Blue Microphones back in 2018 for $117 million and for the last five years, we have seen them integrate the Blue lineup with the Logitech brand. This includes using the Logitech G Hub software for some of the Yeti microphones and the Blue brand being used in their software for the microphone controls for things like their headsets. This past June they put out an update on social media updating the status on integrating things letting everyone know that the Blue brand would be fully integrated into the Logitech brand and it wouldn’t be independent like we have seen with other Logitech-owned companies like Ultimate Ears and Jaybird. The Blue Mic website forwards to the Logitech Gaming website now and today's announcement of two new Yeti microphones are fully under the Logitech G branding now. The new microphones are the Yeti Orb and the Yeti GX. People familiar with the Blue brand will recognize the Yeti Orb to share a lot of similarities with the popular Blue Snowball microphone and then there is the Yeti GX as well which is targeted to be a more premium option. I’m going to check out both today, diving into the features, performance, and how they fit into the market so let’s get to it!
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Audio
-
Published: Monday, 18 September 2023 23:58
I took a look at the new Logitech G Pro Superlight 2 mouse and their Pro X TKL LIGHTSPEED Gaming Keyboard, both in their pink or magenta colorway. For that same launch Logitech also brought out one other product, they announced the Pro X 2 LIGHTSPEED Gaming Headset in that same pink color. The Pro X 2 LIGHTSPEED Gaming Headset was announced in May and was available in their black and white models. This isn’t a new product but they did match the pink color option to have a full matching set of peripherals available. I was extremely impressed back in 2019 with the original G Pro X Gaming Headset launch and one of my only complaints was that they didn’t have a wireless option available as well but I never had the chance to check out the original wireless model or the new wired X 2. So I’m excited to see what has changed and how well the wireless works, let’s dive in.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Input Devices
-
Published: Friday, 15 September 2023 20:08
Along with the new Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 Logitech also announced their new Pro X TKL Lightspeed gaming keyboard. This isn’t their first pro-focused gaming keyboard, they had the Pro Keyboard and the Pro X Keyboard before it. It might be a little confusing but it’s also not their first pro-focused TKL or tenkeyless keyboard either, those other two keyboards were also TKL this is just the first one to include it in the name. What this does bring however is Logitech’s LIGHTSPEED wireless technology and alongside that, they have made a few changes to the keyboard as well. Logitech sent over their pink model to match our Pro X Superlight 2 and today I’m going to dive in and see what their pro-focused keyboard is all about and how it performs. Let’s go!
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Input Devices
-
Published: Wednesday, 13 September 2023 15:40
I get a lot of different peripherals into the office for testing and you might think that I am constantly changing up what I use as my “main” hardware but that isn’t the case most of the time. Once I find something I like I stick with it. I still use the MasterKeys Pro L for my keyboard and for my mouse over the years I started with the SteelSeries Xai on to the Sensei and eventually switched to the Pro Wireless from Logitech when that came out. I switched to the Superlight and updated that to the bright pink Superlight when someone at Logitech sent a few over. That isn’t to say that I haven’t been a fan of other mice, but it's clear that I have a preferred shape. With that, the announcement of the new Pro X Superlight 2 which has been rumored for a long time is an exciting one. But as always in this situation improving on a popular design can be hard and it can be easy for small changes to upset people. So I’m curious to see how Logitech decided to improve on one of their more popular mice.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Video Cards
-
Published: Wednesday, 06 September 2023 16:32
To start the launch off I had the chance to check out the Sapphire RX 7700 XT Pulse which is their budget-focused card and a stock-clocked card. I also took a look at the overclocked XFX QICK 319 RX 7700 XT Black. Well, now I’ve got the Sapphire RX 7700 XT PURE which sits in between Sapphire’s Pulse and Nitro+ lineups. It is an overclocked card and it also improves on the Pulse with a third fan and a larger cooler but most exciting is this is a white color scheme card from Sapphire. They did bring out the RX 6950 XT PURE which was partially white but still had black fans. White cases and white builds have been popular for a long time now, it is exciting to see Sapphire finally jumping in with their own option. So I’m going to check out what the RX 7700 XT PURE is all about, put it to the test in our test suite, and then we can see how it fits in the market!
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Video Cards
-
Published: Wednesday, 06 September 2023 14:03
With today's 7700 XT and 7800 XT launch, I had the chance to check out a reference RX 7800 XT up against XFX’s MERC 319 RX 7800 XT Black and I was extremely impressed with its performance both from the overclock as well as its cooling and noise performance. So getting in the stock clocked RDX 7700 XT Pulse and checking it out then getting to check out the XFX Qick 319 RX 7700 XT Black which is overclocked and has a similar looking cooler design minus a few bells and whistles. I’m excited to see if the QICK 319 RX 7700 XT Black can impress as well. So we are going to dive in and see what the QICK is all about then put it through our full test suite to check out its performance. Let’s get into it!
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Video Cards
-
Published: Wednesday, 06 September 2023 09:22
With our RX 7800 XT testing out of the way with both the reference card and the XFX overclocked card I can finally jump into the Radeon RX 7700 XT to check out its performance. For this card AMD doesn’t have a reference design so to check out stock clocked performance I’ve got the Sapphire RX 7700 XT Pulse. It has the stock clocks and is Sapphire’s budget friendly card which in the past has combined great performance while avoiding adding in all of the unneeded flashy features you see on higher-end cards including RGB. So I’m going to dive in and check out what Sapphire has done with their card design, and then after that, we can put it through our test suite. When we are done we can then step back and see how it all comes together and where the 7700 XT as well as the 7700 XT Pulse fit into the market.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Video Cards
-
Published: Wednesday, 06 September 2023 09:14
I already took a look at the Radeon RX 7800 XT reference card this morning so we have an idea of how the new 7800 XT GPU performs. But most people aren’t picking up the stock-clocked reference cards, they run the partner cards with larger coolers and are overclocked. To get an idea of how the 7800 XT performs in that situation, XFX sent over their Merc 319 7800 XT Black. I’ve been a fan of XFX’s clean styling for the last few generations, they haven’t done the standard “gaming” styling that packs a bunch of angles into the design with multiple shades of grey. They have simple smooth fan shrouds and stick mostly with black. I’m hoping that the Merc 319 7800 XT Black is going to continue that. So let’s dive in and see what the Merc 319 7800 XT Black is all about and how it performs.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Video Cards
-
Published: Wednesday, 06 September 2023 09:07
AMD launched their first 7000 Series cards back in December with the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX. They have also launched the lower end of their 7000 Series with the RX 7600 but the middle of the lineup has been completely missing until now. At Gamescom, AMD announced both the Radeon RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT to fill in some of the middle of the lineup with a focus on 1440p performance. Today I’m going to check out a few options from both GPUs but to start things off I am going to check out the Radeon RX 7800 XT reference card to get a look at the base performance the 7800 XT is capable of then we can go from there.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Storage
-
Published: Wednesday, 30 August 2023 16:31
Spinning hard drives are surprisingly easy to damage when they are running and they get moved or banged around. The move to SSDs was not only huge for performance, but when they hit external storage they finally helped with durability significantly and also helped with the sizing of portable drives as well. Crucial has been in the market for a while now with the Crucial X8 being the first Crucial-branded portable SSD, but Micron their parent company did have them under the Lexar brand before the brand was sold in 2017. The X8 however was still a little large. Crucial just announced two new portable drives, their X9 Pro and the X10 Pro which are similar but with the X9 Pro being a USB 3.2 Gen-2 drive and the X10 Pro doubling the transfer speed with USB 3.2 Gen-2x2. Today I’m going to check out both and see what they are all about as well as put them to the test.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Networking
-
Published: Thursday, 24 August 2023 08:59
When it comes to EnGenius’s enterprise-focused lineup, especially when it comes to access points, they have a wide variety that covers most needs. I’ve taken a look at some of their indoor and outdoor options but one area where they have been missing something on their outdoor lineup that they have had on their indoor access points is having a 4x4 Wifi 6 Access Point. I previously took a look at the ECW260 which is a 2 x 2 Wifi 6 AP. Well, they now have the ECW270 to fill in that gap. Like with the ECW260, it connects with a 2.5 Gigabit PoE connection but the ECW270 doubles up on its antennas and radios to better utilize that bandwidth. They have also given it a 1 Gig PoE capable port to make it easy to run a PoE camera nearby. We have been using the ECW260 to get better coverage outside and I’m curious how the upgrade to the ECW270 might perform. So today I’m going to take a closer look at the ECW270 and also see how it performs.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Power Supplies
-
Published: Tuesday, 22 August 2023 11:20
It wasn’t that long ago when anything above a 450-watt model in the true SFX form factor wasn’t possible at all and even in the larger SFX-L form factor you could only find 600 watts. That has changed quickly over the years and Cooler Master has been one of the companies leading the charge with higher wattages and improvements in the small form factor focused SFX and SFX-L sizes. They even have a new model that reached 1300 watts which is just insane. That power supplies brother is the Cooler Master V SFX Platinum 1100W which I have in the office today. As a big SFF fan I’m curious to see what all Cooler Master has to offer with their new power supplies, so let's check it out and see what is going on.
Read more ...
- Details
-
Category: Storage
-
Published: Thursday, 17 August 2023 12:45
It used to be that M.2 SSDs didn’t need much if any cooling but as speeds have improved that has changed and we have seen some situations where without cooling performance drops off or they fail completely. That along with the PS5 requiring a heatsink for M.2 drives has helped us see a lot of different SSD models that have heatsink and heatsinkless models. The Crucial P5 Plus which I took a look at back in 2021 is now included in those with the introduction of its own heatsink models. With drive prices dropping the P5 Plus was $179.99 when I originally took a look at it. The drive is now $54.99 or $67.99 for the heatsink model. I thought this would be a great time to see if the P5 Plus is still keeping up and to test out how the heatsink performs, so today I’m going to check it out.
Read more ...
