The NZXT Kraken X40 Compact Liquid Cooler Review (Part 1) |
Founded in 2004, NZXT Corporation has launched a variety of products including the cases of many different models, power supply devices, controllers, cables, accessories and cooling systems. Recently, two new liquid cooling solutions, which are well-known under the name of Kraken, have been introduced by this corporation. |
|
|
|
|
The Performance Review Of AMD Radeon HD 7790 And Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST (Part 1) |
In 2012 AMD and Nvidia, the two leading developers of GPUs for discrete graphics cards, did everything to launch complete line-ups of new products to their users. Both were ready to offer a solution for any budget. Furthermore, Nvidia has recently improved its position in the high price segment by releasing GeForce GTX Titan while AMD has responded with dual processor Radeon HD 7990. |
|
The NZXT Kraken X40 Compact Liquid Cooler Review (Part 1) |
Founded in 2004, NZXT Corporation has launched a variety of products including the cases of many different models, power supply devices, controllers, cables, accessories and cooling systems. Recently, two new liquid cooling solutions, which are well-known under the name of Kraken, have been introduced by this corporation. |
|
The NZXT Kraken X40 Compact Liquid Cooler Review (Part 3) |
As you can see from the chart, the NZXT Kraken X40 is not like most of the compact liquid coolers that we have tested before. It operates in such a good way even in its default configuration with one 140 mm fan. The larger heat-sink and high-performance pump is comparable with the Phanteks PH-TC14PE as well as the super-highly efficient Corsair H100i. |
|
The NZXT Kraken X40 Compact Liquid Cooler Review (Part 2) |
One of the main features of the NZXT is supporting the ability to regulate and monitor via software. It comes with the Kraken Control V1.1.0, which has a screen to show the coolant and each CPU core’s temperature and the rotation speed of the fan and pump. |
|
Evercool Silent Shark CPU Cooler Review (Part 3) |
At the maximum speed of its default fans Silent Shark is only 1⁰C behind PH-TC14PE, at the medium speed of 1640/1670 RPM the difference is the same 1⁰C, though the Phanteks cooler works at only 800 RPM in this case. If we look at lower fan speeds, Evercool Silent Shark loses very little efficiency. And the main reason here is the external cooling fan, with the rotational speed can not be adjusted. |
|
Evercool Silent Shark CPU Cooler Review (Part 2) |
Evercool Silent Shark is compatible with all modern platforms, as well as LGA 775. Step by step installation instructions is provided in the manual (a PDF file, 9.69 MB). We will talk about the characteristics of the installation process of Evercool Silent Shark by using LGA 2011 platform as an example. |
|
Evercool Silent Shark CPU Cooler Review (Part 1) |
The Taiwanese Evercool Thermal Co., Ltd. has been in the cooling components business for almost 20 years. They have established themselves as a manufacturer of affordable cooling components including fans for many reference coolers out there and focus on the entry-level market. |
|
Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan 6GB - Gaming Supercomputer Graphics Card |
The next major graphics card launches from Nvidia and AMD are both still a long way off, so the new GTX Titan 6GB from Nvidia is interesting in that it enters the market as the green team's top-end single GPU card, but at a price equivalent to that of its dual GPU monster, the GTX 690 4GB. |
|
MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 Motherboard Review (Part 7) |
Ever since the Turbo Core tech reduced the processor frequency to a lower level than of the nominal mode when CPU overloaded, practical system power consumption in nominal mode is unable to measure accurately. Therefore, we have to head for a harmony and disable the CPB mode readings in motherboard’s BIOS. |
|
MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 Motherboard Review (Part 6) |
As usual, we will compare the motherboard speed in 2 different modes: in nominal mode and in the overclocking process of all system components: processor, built-in graphics core, memory. The first mode is quite interesting because it shows that how the motherboard works with its default settings. |
|
MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 Motherboard Review (Part 5) |
The control elements on the top right corner of the program window allow you to watch its version, zoom out or close it, or leave a small window with info about the current clock rate (CPU and built-in graphics core) and the temperature of CPU. |
|
MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 Motherboard Review (Part 4) |
If you accidentally disable that image, you will have several reminding hot keys at the bottom of the screen, besides, the motherboard reports the info about the BIOS version, CPU frequency, system memory frequency and numbers, and the connected storage devices. Though, the CPU clock rate is reported to be different from the fact, as we will see right below. |
|
MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 Motherboard Review (Part 3) |
In our previous MSI motherboard review, we have discussed MSI Click BIOS II, representing the quite successful apply of UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) standard. The uppermost of the screen shows not only info function but also allows choosing interface language, change the startup device order by dragging and dropping them simply with a mouse pointer. Running devices will be marked. |
|
MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 Motherboard Review (Part 2) |
MSI is not a new competition on the motherboard market. In fact, it’s one of the big manufacturers. So, there’s nothing to be surprised when FM2-A85XA-G65 is neatly and smartly designed and even looks compelling. |
|
MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 Motherboard Review (Part 1) |
MSI motherboard looks amazing, has convenient layout and uses nothing but high-quality components. This motherboard is efficiently energy-saving, fast and works well with default settings. However, there’re some things in their BIOS that are able to create some extra features and the motherboard can’t keep the power-saving tech working during overclocking process. |
|
|
|
|
Corsair Carbide 200R And Thermaltake Chaser A41 - Affordable Cases Of Game Systems (Part 1) |
Corsair Carbide 200R looks surprisingly impressive compared to its price. It has blank outside, blue USB 3.0 connection, metal rim around the headphone and microphone jacks, and a rotate button that combines Power and Reset. The exterior design looks more valuable than Carbide 300R; however, the blank front panel (instead of a boring black gird) looks interesting. |
|
|
|
|
|
SFF Media PCs: What Hardware To Consider, And What To Ignore (Part 3) |
This is a Mini-ITX socket FM2 motherboard that takes the new AMD A Series processors, the cheapest of which is about $60.4. The GPU is part of that chip, so the better APU you buy the quicker the graphics are also. This is a feature rich design that includes no less than eight (count ‘em) USB 3.0 ports, dual Gigabit Ethernet and onboard Wi-Fi. |
|
|
SFF Media PCs: What Hardware To Consider, And What To Ignore (Part 1) |
Small form Factor (SFF) systems have been around for some time now, spurred on by the switch from processor, technology that put performance above all else to the more energy efficient era we’re now experiencing. With an explosion in personal media, many people want to have a computer attached to their TV to deliver that to them. |
|
Thermalright Archon SB-E X2 - CPU Cooling Business For Producing Quality Products |
Thermalright are well known in the CPU cooling business for producing quality products, so it’s no surprise to see them launch into the premium end of the market. At $83.05, the Archon SE-E X2 is close in price to other high-end coolers like the Noctua NH-D 15 and the Phanteks PH-TC 14PE, so it’s got some tough competition. |
|
QPad Pro MK-50 Gaming Keyboard - Eliminate Multi-Key Read Issuers |
Serious gaming requires a keyboard with a high degree of durability that eliminates multi-key read issuers, and is often well served by a twist of visual flair. The QPad Pro MK-50 offers two of those things, but in a package that comes in noticeably cheaper than I was expecting. |
|
MSI C847IS-P33 Mainboard - Intel Celeron 847 For Atom (Part 5) |
Intel’s economical, nettop-oriented variation of the old Sandy Bridge design looks very good, although there is nothing new about the Celeron 847 which was previously available. But seeing the good sales of Brazos-based mini-ITX mainboards and the lackluster demand for Atom-based mini-ITX solutions, Intel has the right decisions to cut the price of junior mobile energy-efficient Celeron CPUs with Sandy Bridge design and re-target them into compact desktop systems, where they have every opportuni |
|
MSI C847IS-P33 Mainboard - Intel Celeron 847 For Atom (Part 4) |
Actually, the GMA 3650 core from Atom D2700 has the slowest speed but AMD E-350 is not too far ahead. Celeron 847 is ahead of both, but the modern Ivy Bridge Celerons make the OS interface even more responsive. One thing should be particularly noted: Atom D2700 is the only CPU in review that is not compatible with Windows 7's Aero interface. |
|
MSI C847IS-P33 Mainboard - Intel Celeron 847 For Atom (Part 3) |
Celeron 847 looks very good when compared with AMD E-350 and Intel Atom D2700. Despite its relatively low clock rate of 1.1 GHz, it can provide good performance thanks to its Core microarchitecture However, it is slower when compared against the original desktop Celeron G1610, which can be expected considering the differences in their clock rate. |
|
MSI C847IS-P33 Mainboard - Intel Celeron 847 For Atom (Part 2) |
All of these mini ITX mainboards have a lot in common. And they even look the same if they had a built-in microprocessor. So the only different image of MSI C847IS-P33 is its PCI Express x1 slot that is often replaced by a regular PCI (in the case of Atom-based mainboards) or PCI Express x16 (in case mainboard with AMD's E-series processor). |
|
MSI C847IS-P33 Mainboard - Intel Celeron 847 For Atom (Part 1) |
By combining an energy-efficient Celeron 847 processor with an NM70 chipset, Intel created a new desktop platform for SFF PC, which can easily push the Atom and Brazos off position. Our experiment this time will show that whether the new product with Core microarchitecture is able to compete with specialty energy-efficient and inexpensive processors. |
|
Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G Review (Part 1) |
Complaints about the Samsung Galaxy S Blaze Q slider had been voiced out back in August 2012, and the only outstanding point - except for the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor and HSPA+42 connectivity was that lengthy name. Afterward, it is fascinating that Sammy should call the T-Mobile device with a name that does not justify its identity: |
|
Asus F2A85-V PRO Mainboard - A Socket FM2 Mainboard With Good Performance (Part 5) |
The disadvantages of this automatic overclocking are obvious. The processor and graphics core frequencies have increased, but the memory frequency remains the same. In other words, OC Tuner parameter does exactly the opposite: it increases the settings that we do not recommend increasing at all, but doesn’t touch the one that we encourage to bump up. |
|
ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 Socket FM2 Mainboard Review (Part 8) |
Let’s recall every advantage of the ASRock FM2A85X Extreme6 that we keep pointing out during our review. We do not pay much attention to the accessories, PCB layout, manufacturing quality and technical specifications here, because all of these three products seem to be so indistinguishable in these aspects. |
|