Reviews

Date: Sep 7th 2012
Author: cadaveca
In: Motherboards
Gigabyte X79S-UP5 WiFi Intel LGA 2011

Got a ton of hard drives, and not enough ports? Looking to buy a RAID card, and found the $400+ pricing too much? What if you could get a motherboard, and a RAID controller, for less than a RAID card itself? Gigabyte says you can! The Gigabyte X79S-UP5 WiFi is no normal LGA2011 board - fitted with an Intel C606 chip instead of a standard Intel X79 Express, this Workstation product not only has eight SAS ports, but also everything else you need to build your own supercomputer.

9.1
Date: Sep 6th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
Sapphire HD 7950 Vapor-X 3 GB

Sapphire's new HD 7950 Vapor-X comes overclocked out of the box. Thanks to clever use of the dual BIOS feature you can also activate a second "Lethal Boost" BIOS which runs even higher clocks. Cooling is provided by a large dual fan vapor chamber cooler which keeps the card cool and provides low noise operation.

Date: Sep 5th 2012
Author: crmaris
In: Power Supplies
FSP AURUM 92+ 650 W

The FSP AURUM 92+ series was first revealed at CeBIT 2012 and is an update to the successful AURUM series, with the most noteworthy upgrade being the Platinum efficiency. Today we have in our hands the strongest of the AURUM 92+ line, which has 650 W capacity and features a semi-modular design with low profile flat cables.

Date: Sep 4th 2012
Author: cadaveca
In: Memory
G.Skill TridentX F3-2400C10D-8GTX 2400 MHz DDR3

Looking to get a new high-end motherboard, and don't know what memory to pick? Does that board happen to be red and black? G.Skill takes an older brand and makes it new, this time Trident becomes TridentX, changing from black and blue to black and red, and adds something else, too.

Date: Sep 3rd 2012
Author: crmaris
In: Power Supplies
LEPA G850-MAS 850 W

Today we will test the strongest PSU of the newly enriched LEPA G Series, which has 850 W capacity and offers 80 Plus Gold efficiency. The G850-MAS also comes with DC-DC converters for the minor rails generation and uses only Japanese-made caps for enhanced reliability.

Date: Aug 31st 2012
Author: cadaveca
In: Motherboards
ASRock X79 Extreme11 Intel LGA 2011

The ultra-high-end ASRock X79 Extreme11 is fitted with an onboard PCIe 3.0 LSI RAID controller, and not just one, but TWO PLX PEX8747 PCIE 3.0 switches. The ASRock X79 Extreme11 really does take it to the Extreme, offering functionality and capabilities no other motherboard can claim. But does it perform to the Extreme?

8.5
Date: Aug 30th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
Powercolor HD 7990 Devil 13 6 GB

PowerColor's HD 7990 Devil 13 is the first dual-GPU HD 7990 that reaches our labs. This huge triple slot, triple fan card comes with fully enabled Tahiti XT GPUs, running in an internal CrossFire configuration. As a result the Devil 13 is the fastest AMD-based graphics card we ever tested.

8.7
Date: Aug 29th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
Club 3D HD 7750 Low Profile 1 GB

Club3D has just released the fastest single-slot low-profile graphics card, based on the HD 7750. This means that full HD gaming on your compact media PC might just be a possibility. In our review we will take a close look at gaming capabilities, but also look at power consumption and noise.

9.2
Date: Aug 28th 2012
Author: crmaris
In: Power Supplies
PC Power & Cooling Silencer MK III 1200 W

We are testing PC Power & Cooling's new flagship PSU, which promises insane performance even up to 50°C ambient temperatures and also features Platinum efficiency along with a semi-modular design, which utilizes heavy-duty modular connectors. All above are combined with a hefty 7 year warranty.

Date: Aug 27th 2012
Author: Frederik S
In: Mice
Epic Gear Meduza HDST Gaming Mouse

Epic Gear's line of gaming products is expanding rapidly, and they have just launched a somewhat radical new gaming mouse dubbed Meduza. The Meduza mouse features an HDST tracking system which combines tracking data from both an optical and laser sensor, using an onboard Cortex CPU.

Date: Aug 24th 2012
Author: cadaveca
In: Motherboards
ASUS Maximus V Formula/ThunderFX Intel LGA 1155

The ASUS Maximus V Formula is the logic evolution of the Maximum V Gene, providing a bigger form factor, new features and a USB based sound card. We take a close look at this new board, which comes at a hefty $380.

Date: Aug 24th 2012
Author: crmaris
In: Power Supplies
Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 10 1000 W

Dark Power Pro is Be Quiet's flagship series and today we will review the second strongest member which has 1000 W capacity. With its nine PCIe and two EPS connectors it can support up to four high-end VGAs and server mainboards. Moreover it features silent operation thanks to its special fan design.

Date: Aug 23rd 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
Sapphire HD 7970 Toxic 6 GB

Sapphire's HD 7970 Toxic comes with 6 GB GDDR5 memory, a large clock speed increase out of the box, a "Lethal Boost" button to increase performance even further, and a large dual-fan cooler. In our testing this monster delivered the highest single-GPU performance we've ever seen, overclocking worked well, too.

9.5
Date: Aug 22nd 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: SSD
Samsung 830 Series SSD 512 GB

The Samsung 830 Series SSD is based on Samsung's own controller design, which uses a triple core ARM processor, promising better stability. In our performance testing we see outstanding results, which makes the drive the fastest one we ever tested, together with the Corsair Performance Pro.

Date: Aug 21st 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
Microsoft Windows 8 Gaming Performance

Microsoft's latest operating system is ready! We took a closer look at gaming performance using NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680 and AMD's Radeon HD 7970 in 19 games at resolutions from 1280x800 to 2560x1600.

Date: Aug 20th 2012
Author: crmaris
In: Power Supplies
Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 850 W

The Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 850 W is a well priced mid-range PSU with enough juice to power a triple-GPU system. Besides that, it packs enough interesting features like silent operation, modular cables, 80 Plus Silver efficiency and five year warranty. All that is offered at a very good price, resulting in great price/performance ratio.

Date: Aug 17th 2012
Author: cadaveca
In: Motherboards
Gigabyte Z77X-UP5 TH Intel LGA 1155

First out the gate with Thunderbolt at TPU is none other than Gigabyte, with the Z77X-UP5 TH. Using a layout quite similar to its older sister the Z77X-UD5H, the newcomer Z77X-UP5 TH has a few other new features too, and should not be overlooked.

9.3
Date: Aug 16th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
Palit GeForce GTX 660 Ti JetStream 2 GB

Palit's GeForce GTX 660 Ti JetStream comes with a large dual-fan triple slot cooler which promises better cooling performance than other GTX 660 Ti cards. We also see great FPS numbers thanks to the factory overclock.

Date: Aug 16th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
ASUS GeForce GTX 660 Ti Direct CU II 2 GB

The ASUS GTX 660 Ti Direct CU II TOP uses the same wonderful cooler we've seen first on the company's GTX 670, which means it is by far the quietest high-performance card you can find on the market - in both idle and load. The card is also overclocked out of the box, which gives it a 5% performance advantage.

Date: Aug 16th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
MSI GeForce GTX 660 Ti Power Edition 2 GB

MSI's GTX 660 Ti Power Edition is one of the fastest GTX 660 Ti cards we tested today because it comes with some secret BIOS sauce that enables it to run faster than other cards at lower clocks. This is also confirmed by our overclocking tests where it reaches the highest overclocked performance of all GTX 660 Ti cards.

Date: Aug 16th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 660 Ti AMP! Edition 2 GB

ZOTAC's GeForce GTX 660 Ti AMP! Edition comes with a compact footprint, that enables high-performance gaming for smaller cases. Thanks to an overclock out of the box, the card runs around 5% faster than the NVIDIA GTX 660 Ti reference design.

9.5
Date: Aug 15th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
Point of View TGT GTX 680 Ultra Charged LLS 4 GB

Point of View's GeForce GTX 680 TGT Ultra Charged is the first 4 GB GeForce GTX 680 we review, so we took a close look at what the extra memory brings. The card also has an extremely low noise profile thanks to its triple slot cooler.

Date: Aug 14th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: Video Cards
AMD HD 7950 Boost Clock BIOS Update

AMD just released a free BIOS upgrade for the Radeon HD 7950, which provides an extra speed boost by updating the company's PowerTune algorithm. We will thoroughly test this update and not only look at performance but also power consumption and heat.

8.1
Date: Aug 13th 2012
Author: W1zzard
In: SSD
OCZ Agility 4 256 GB

OCZ's Agility 4 is positioned as a high-end, mid-range drive based on Indilinx Everest 2 controller technology. Our real-life performance testing will investigate whether this drive is a worthy opponent of the SandForce drives available on the market now.

8.9
Date: Aug 10th 2012
Author: cadaveca
In: Motherboards
ASRock Fatal1ty X79 Champion Intel LGA2011

A Champion has emerged! The ASRock Fatal1ty Champion seeks to beat out all other Intel X79 Express contenders, clad in red and black armor and carrying a loadout of features that is sure to have other boards run and hide. Can the ASRock Fatal1ty X79 Champion live up to its claim?