Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including iOS 7 vs iOS 6, Intel Iris Pro Linux Graphics Yield Some Wins Against Windows, PC Gaming in Ultra High Definition review with the ASUS PQ321 monitor, Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 10 Review, and Budget video cards: AMD Radeon HD 7730 vs. Nvidia GeForce GT 640 GK208



In Depth: iOS 7 vs iOS 6: how different are they? @ Techradar

iOS 7 is the biggest change to Apple's iOS since the arrival of apps in 2008. It's brighter, bolder and guaranteed to annoy anyone who thought iOS looked just fine, but there's much more to it than that dramatic new user interface. iOS 7 is packed with new features big and small. These are the highlights.

Read more: In Depth: iOS 7 vs iOS 6: how different are they? @ Techradar

iOS 7: replacing the elegant with the tolerable @ The Tech Report

In his latest blog post, TR's Cyril Kowaliski talks about Apple's tradition of elegance in design—and how iOS 7 falls short of it.

Read more: iOS 7: replacing the elegant with the tolerable @ The Tech Report

Samsung ATIV Book 6 Notebook Review @ HotHardware

Despite some fierce competition, Samsung has experienced an impressive level of success in the mobile space and has managed to nurture the Galaxy brand into a household name. Part of that success was due to the company unifying its ultra mobile products (phones, tablets, phablets, etc.) under the Galaxy brand, and thus, Samsung decided to take a similar route on the PC side earlier in the year. The ATIV brand is a relatively new one for Samsung, but it's definitely gaining traction. In addition, Samsung's pouring a ton of resources into industrial design, as evidenced by the ATIV Book 6.

Read more: Samsung ATIV Book 6 Notebook Review @ HotHardware

Mountain Mods Ascension CYO @ Modders-Inc

Since I’ve started building I’ve been hacking up almost every case I’ve received because there is always a feature that seems to be missing to support all of my components. Mountain Mods knows this first hand and they are giving the buyer every possible option.

Read more: Mountain Mods Ascension CYO @ Modders-Inc

Intel Iris Pro Linux Graphics Yield Some Wins Against Windows @ Phoronix

For the past few days at Phoronix we have begun looking extensively at the Intel Iris Pro 5200 graphics under Linux, since receiving the System76 Galago UltraPro. The Iris Pro 5200 are the new high-end Intel Haswell graphics that have 128MB of embedded video RAM on the die, which should yield a nice performance boost when properly implemented within the Intel Linux driver. Already our testing has found the Iris Pro performance on Linux has doubled with open-source driver improvements since Haswell's launch. Now we're out today with our first Intel Iris Pro OpenGL gaming benchmarks between Ubuntu Linux and Microsoft Windows 8 for this Intel Core i7 Ultrabook.

The most recent Linux vs. Windows benchmarks done at Phoronix for Intel Haswell hardware was done at the end of July when the results were still rather mixed. The Intel Windows OpenGL driver still tended to be faster than the open-source Linux driver. The Windows driver is also more feature-rich in supporting OpenCL and OpenGL 4.0 while the Linux driver isn't yet to feature parity with all of the hardware's capability, only handles OpenGL ~3.2 at the moment, and there's only an experimental OpenCL implementation. As another example, even OpenGL debugging is worse with Linux than Windows.

Read more: Intel Iris Pro Linux Graphics Yield Some Wins Against Windows @ Phoronix

PC Gaming in Ultra High Definition review with the ASUS PQ321 monitor @ Guru3D

Every now and then in the PC gaming segment two rules re-apply; bigger = better and faster = better. PC gamers are the more enthusiast aficionado's and lots of you all start with say a GeForce GTX 760 as bare minimum. Often our reader base is in the Radeon HD 7970 and GTX 770/780 range though. That said, PC gamers want the best in performance and visual quality and set th bar really high. However it has been quiet in the graphics arena, most video cards albeit faster are rather similar and over the past year or so not a lot of new technology has been released.

There is one upcoming trend though, display resolutions are on the rise fast. Most if not all of you guys are at FullHD or something close by now (1920x1080). The high-end community all have been migrating towards 2560x1440 monitors or triple-display solutions. And yeah, then there is that all new HD resolution called UHD, or in short Ultra High Definition. Once we learned about UHD my mind immediately went bazerk, as this we have got to look into PC gaming wise. And then there was that announcement from ASUS back in May 2013, the press release mentioned a PQ321 Monitor with 3840 x 2160 IGZO Display. Bazinga ! That's 4K Ultra HD baby. That announcement was late May 2013 prior to Computex. And to date the availability has been incredibly small. There has been a limited stock available in the USA, but EU allocation is close to NIL and just downright horrible.

Read more: PC Gaming in Ultra High Definition review with the ASUS PQ321 monitor @ Guru3D

Rayman Legends (PS3) @ HardwareHeaven.com

Are we all completely sick of GTA yet? Have you had enough of the near 24/7 coverage about Rockstar's latest and greatest? Well Ubisoft may well have the exact opposite of GTA for us in the form of Rayman Legends... The follow up to 2011's Rayman Origins it takes one of the most impressive game engines around and takes us to a universe filled with colour, heart and fun.

Read more: Rayman Legends (PS3) @ HardwareHeaven.com

Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 10 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

The Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 10 Tablet is a fairly well-built Windows slate tablet, but it does little to distinguish itself in a crowded field of competitors.

Read more: Lenovo IdeaPad Miix 10 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

MSI GTX780 Lightning 3GB Graphics Card Review @ KitGuru

The review product today will certainly appeal to our audience who appreciate a heavily customised graphics card. The MSI GTX780 Lightning is a 20 (16+3+1) phase power solution featuring a proprietary three fan cooler with separate controllers for each fan. As we would expect with such a flagship solution, the core has also received a substantial clock boost. Is this the ultimate GTX780 if you can afford the £599.99 asking price (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-207-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1341) ?

Read more: MSI GTX780 Lightning 3GB Graphics Card Review @ KitGuru

ASUS Xonar Essence STU DAC/Amp @ techPowerUp

ASUS's most recent DAC/amp gets put to the test. This time, the Xonar Essence One gets a new little brother in the Essence STU. The new STU is a sleek-looking, small foot-print DAC/amp with excellent specs. We put it to the test to see how it measures up to other similar solutions!

Read more: ASUS Xonar Essence STU DAC/Amp @ techPowerUp

GAMDIAS HERMES GKB2010 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review @ Benchmark Reviews

Mechanical gaming keyboards continue to pour into the market, and it is blatantly obvious that this is more than merely a passing fad. More and more companies continue to throw their hats into the ring in order to capitalize on the popularity of this gaming peripheral. One of the latest entries is the Gamdias Hermes GBK2010 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard. I know what you're thinking who? Gamdias was recently established (2012) and has a singular focus, which is to redefine the Electronic Sports (eSports) landscape for gamers worldwide.

Read more: GAMDIAS HERMES GKB2010 Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review @ Benchmark Reviews

Vantec NexStar HDD Duplicator Review @ Legit Reviews

We've seen our share of hard drive docks and even a few from Vantec, but this time they have something a little different. The NexStar HDD Duplicator also does as its name implies, it can duplicate drives on a sector-by-sector basis. The beautiful part is that it can do it independently, without the need of being connected to a host PC. Therefore, no software is needed and it doesn't really care what data or OS is on the drive. This makes for a very flexible tool which may appeal more to the techie crowd than the average user since not everyone has the need for drive duplication. Read on to see how it works!

Read more: Vantec NexStar HDD Duplicator Review @ Legit Reviews

XSPC Photon 170 Tube Reservoir Review @ HiTech Legion

It is human nature that we sometimes do things that are completely frivolous, and would seem to make little sense in a rational way. Many times, these acts are completely and totally motivated in order to keep up appearances. Think about it for a minute; there is absolutely no reasonable justification for buying an uber-expensive mink coat from a functionality standpoint. There are many materials that cost a small fraction of the price that offer as much warmth, far better durability and can be made just as stylish. However, they don’t allow you to know you own a mink coat. If you think this type of thinking and effect doesn’t extend into the computer world, you are dead wrong. I am willing to bet that every single individual reading this overbought at least one component of their system simply for “cool factor”.

Read more: XSPC Photon 170 Tube Reservoir Review @ HiTech Legion

EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Classified @ Hexus

Take a peek at our recent graphics reviews and it's undeniable that we've gone to town on the £500-plus GeForce GTX 780. Nvidia's partners have been overly keen to send them in - presumably because they're high-margin parts - and we've set about determining which is the best.

Examining the GTX 780 in detail provides sure footing when the next-generation Radeons arrive in the not-too-distant future. Conjecturing somewhat and intimating a lot, the best Radeon is likely to mix it up with the GTX 780.

Our first non-reference GTX 780 was from EVGA's stable. Despite being first on the block, the SuperClocked ACX remains one of the best, with the passage of time and competing cards doing little to diminish its appeal. But EVGA hasn't been content to sit idle whilst Nvidia's other AIBs launch their own brand of GTX 780 awesomeness. Perhaps an indication of the best an air-cooled GTX 780 can be, let's take a look at the GTX 780 Dual Classified with ACX cooler, to give it the full name.

Read more: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Classified @ Hexus

Budget video cards: AMD Radeon HD 7730 vs. Nvidia GeForce GT 640 GK208 @ Hardware.Info

Not too long ago, both AMD and Nvidia introduced new cards for the budget segment, costing around £60 - £70. AMD came out with the Radeon HD 7730, and Nvidia has a new version of the GeForce GT 640. We compared the two budget cards to each other, and to other similar cards.

Read more: Budget video cards: AMD Radeon HD 7730 vs. Nvidia GeForce GT 640 GK208 @ Hardware.Info