Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

20 of the Worst PC Setups – July 2018
ASUSTOR AS1004T V2 NAS Server Review
Fnatic CLUTCH 2 & FOCUS 2 Review
LG G7 Review
Noctua NH-U9 TR4-SP3 Review
NZXT E850 (850W) Review
Patriot Scorch 512GB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD Review
QNAP TS-473 4-Bay NAS Review
Ryzen (2000-Series) Overclocking Guide
Samsung SSD 970 EVO Review
SilverStone Nightjar NJ450-SXL PSU Review
Wonder Workshop Dash Robot and Sketch Kit Review
Ys Memories Of Celceta PC Review

20 of the Worst PC Setups – July 2018

I’m sure at some point you’ve had a bad PC setup. Maybe moving into a new place, waiting for a new desk to arrive or you just ran out of room. I can remember my horrible PC setups from when I was living at the dorms in college. If you have ever ventured over to the Shitty Battlestations sub-reddit you will find a lot of horrible PC setups. We will are going to pick 20 each month and feature them as 20 of the Worst PC setups for that month. Here are some of the bad ones from July...

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

ASUSTOR AS1004T V2 NAS Server Review

Equipped with a 60% faster Marvell Armada 385 SoC resulting in overall performance gains of 20% the brand new AS1004T V2 NAS by ASUSTOR offers a much higher bang for your buck compared to its predecessor the original AS1004T.

As NAS servers become more popular just like with any other segment of the industry competition between manufacturers grows even stronger and that means they are presented with two valid choices/options either design, manufacture and roll out brand new models or save both money and time by upgrading existing ones with the latest hardware components. This of course is nothing new since we've seen it countless times over the years in most areas of the industry from electronics like TV screens, speaker systems and PC related products up to even cars so it's really nothing we can or should complain about. ASUSTOR released the AS1004T NAS back in late 2016 and after a somewhat successful run they decided to give it a boost by upgrading its hardware components and releasing it once again as the AS1004T V2 model which has been with us for roughly two weeks.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Fnatic CLUTCH 2 & FOCUS 2 Review

The Fnatic CLUTCH 2 shares a variety of different features with their FLICK 2, these attributes include the same Pixart 3360 optical sensor, identical Omron switches and also the same 1000Hz polling rate and maximum CPI which is 12,000. The CLUTCH also utilises the same OP software suite which allows the same levels of customisation as you get with the FLICK 2. Where they slightly differ is in the design, the FLICK 2 is more low-profile and features a symmetrical shape whereas the CLUTCH 2 is slightly taller and favours right-handed users.

The FOCUS 2 mousepad is the base for the Asphalt series of pads which we reviewed alongside the FLICK 2 mouse. The FOCUS 2 mousepad is designed to perform one task, and that is to provide an excellent surface for your mouse which is done by utilising what Fnatic dub the ‘FOCUS TEXTURE’. This is a unique surface that is cloth based and is supposed to provide more precision and increased control when gaming.

Read full article @ Vortez

LG G7 Review

This year was a change in pace for LG, as we saw the company change its usual release plans for its “mainline” flagship device, the LG G7, which was released a couple of months later than in years prior. This gave LG an opportunity to try to raise its build-quality and to offer a well-rounded smartphone to offer a viable alternative with the current fierce competition.

We run the phone through its paces and try to see if it lives up to LGs promises.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Noctua NH-U9 TR4-SP3 Review

Noctua’s small-profile Threadripper cooling powerhouse dresses and impresses. Noctua has released a trio of coolers directly targeted at AMD's Threadripper and Epyc sockets in the NH-U12S TR4-SP3, NH-U14S TR4-SP3 and, today's subject, the dual-fan NH-U9 TR4-SP3. Designed with a shorter cooling tower, the twin, 92mm NF-A9 PWM fans team up in push/pull configuration to direct airflow through the six-heatpipe cooling stack and produce the same cooling potential of larger coolers. As a somewhat compact cooling powerhouse, the NH-U9 TR4-SP3 is impressively capable of taming overclocked Threadripper CPUs in cramped system builds.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

NZXT E850 (850W) Review

Part analogue, part digital. Better known for its chassis line-up, NZXT has recently bolstered its PSU offerings with the E series. Available in 500W, 650W and 850W capacities, the units tout 80 PLUS Gold support, fully-modular cabling, 50°C ambient temperature rating, a 10-year warranty and semi-passive fan operation at low loads. Impressive from a spec point of view.

Read full article @ Hexus

Patriot Scorch 512GB M.2 2280 NVMe SSD Review

NVMe SSDs are no longer reserved for the high-end market as they once were. We’ve seen more entries into the budget-end recently and today I’m taking a closer look at such a solution. On the test-bench is the Patriot Scorch NVMe SSD with a capacity of 512GB (product link).

The Scorch is an M.2 2280 PCIe Gen.3 x 2 NVMe 1.2 drive. With just 2 PCIe lanes, it’s slower than a lot of other drives, but it’s still faster than its SATA brothers.

Read full article @ eTeknix

QNAP TS-473 4-Bay NAS Review

The QNAP TS-473 is a four-bay NAS with high performance and an affordable price for its specifications. It uses an AMD R-Series CPU, and its capabilities can be further expanded thanks to its two PCIe slots, which let you add 10 Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi or an M.2 SSD.

QNAP isn't restricting itself to Intel and Marvell SoCs in its NAS offerings and has several models featuring AMD CPUs. One of these is the TS-x73 line consisting of three models with four, six, or eight bays respectively. All TS-x73 models are equipped with an AMD RX-421ND quad-core CPU and two PCIe slots for an optional QM2 card for M.2 SSDs and 10GbE RJ45 connectivity, a wireless network card, or a graphics card. Yes, the time has come for NAS server to support graphics cards, which will greatly enhance their multimedia capabilities. With a dedicated GPU, the TS-x73 models will not only feature enhanced multimedia encoding capabilities, but HDMI outputs, which are, in our opinion, essential for any multimedia device.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Ryzen (2000-Series) Overclocking Guide

AMD's Ryzen CPUs have been out for almost a year, and it's now time for us to put out an easy to understand and easy to follow overclocking guide for the CPU. The AM4 platform has matured a lot, and so things are much more stable and overclocking is easier now than ever. AMD offers two ways to overclock their Ryzen CPUs; through the motherboard's UEFI and through AMD's Ryzen Master application. We are going to focus on the UEFI as AMD has done an excellent job of covering how to overclock with their software. If you aren't okay with overclocking in the UEFI you can read AMD's Ryzen Master OC Guide.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Samsung SSD 970 EVO Review

Samsung recently debuted their second-generation 3-bit MLC V-NAND flash technology with their SSD 970 EVO NVMe M.2 solid state drive series. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the 1TB Samsung SSD 970 EVO, which pairs their latest 64-cell layer V-NAND and a 1GB LPDDR4 DRAM cache buffer with their new Phoenix controller to produce up to 3400 MB/s reads at 500,000 IOPS and 2500 MB/s writes at 450,000 IOPS, and we compare performance against all the leading competition. We’ll find out if Samsung’s 970 EVO SSD is worth the money.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

SilverStone Nightjar NJ450-SXL PSU Review

Its a totally silent SFX-L power supply. Its expensive, but it is highly spec'd. Worth it ? SilverStone was the first to release a passive SFX-L unit based on a platform provided by Enhance Electronics. The NJ450-SXL is fully modular, highly efficient and its overall performance is very good. It is built like a tank since it is surrounded by heatsinks and the only downside is the stiff price tag, which is partly due to the innovative design.

SilverStone was the first brand to fully support the SFX and SFX-L form factors by releasing a great number of relevant models. This brand is devoted to bringing the smallest physical power supplies. Even its ATX form factor models feature increased power densities, thanks to their compact dimensions.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Wonder Workshop Dash Robot and Sketch Kit Review

While many STEM kits require kids build a robot first and program it second, Wonder Workshop takes a different approach. Its $149.99 Dash robot comes pre-assembled and ready to teach programming lessons right out of the box. The brightly colored automaton, which looks like a set of three turquoise balls with an infrared eye and wheels below, is filled with personality. And its app is addictive. Kids, even those who can't read all the text directions in the software, will learn a lot from Dash and even more from optional accessories like the $39 Sketch Kit, which we also tested.

The adorable little rolling robot has a goofy personality and plenty to do to keep you entertained. My editor's six-year-old son doesn't have advanced reading skills yet, but he had no problem navigating through the interface and writing simple programs on all four of the available apps.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Ys Memories Of Celceta PC Review

Falcom’s Ys series started getting some well-deserved recognition in recent years, mostly thanks to XSEED’s efforts. The North American publisher has been taking care of the series since the release of Ys SEVEN, also bringing older entries in the series on PC and consoles. Following last year’s PC release of the seventh main entry in the series, XSEED brought the former PlayStation Vita exclusive Ys Memories Of Celceta, remake of the fourth entry in the series. Or rather entries, as two different versions of Ys IV have been released back in the 90s, Ys IV: Mask of the Sun on SNES and Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys for PC Engine. The PC release of the Vita remake is not only one of the best entries in the whole series, but also another excellent PC port.

Ys Memories Of Celceta starts once again series’ protagonist Adol Christin, who finds himself stranded in the frontier town of Casnan, at the edge of the Great Forest of Celceta, with no recollection of who he is and what he is doing in the town. Bringing him up to speed is the informant Duren, who claims to know Adol. The red-haired adventurer apparently traveled to the Great Forest and he is one of the few ones to make it back to Casnan in one piece. Following a minor crisis, where Adol gets reacquainted with his good-hearted nature and swordsmanship, the adventurer and Duren accept Gover General Griselda’s proposal to explore and map the Great Forest of Celceta. During the long journey, Adol will meet several companions and understand why he lost his memories during his first venture into the forest.

Read full article @ Wccftech