Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

4GHz CPU Battle: AMD 2nd-Gen Ryzen vs. Intel 8th-Gen Core
A Timely Discovery: Examining Our AMD 2nd Gen Ryzen Results
Cities Skylines - Sudden performance lag - Solution
Crucial MX500 1TB M.2 SATA SSD Review
HP DF1050TW Photo Frame Review
Intel confirms Z390 & X399 chipsets
Intel Core i5-8600 3.1 GHz CPU Review
Logitech Craft Wireless Keyboard Review
MASTERAIR MA621P Air Cooler for AMD Threadripper Review
MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC Review
MyDigitalDiscount 128GB/256GB/512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review
Nintendo Switch has unstoppable exploit thanks to Nvidia chip
Noctua NH-L12S Video Review
Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe SSD 500GB/1TB Review
Samsung 970 Pro M.2 NVMe 1TB SSD Review
TUNAI’s WAND – World’s Smallest Bluetooth Transmitter
WD Black NVMe SSD (1TB) Review
Zen man Jim Keller leaves Tesla for Intel

4GHz CPU Battle: AMD 2nd-Gen Ryzen vs. Intel 8th-Gen Core

The second-gen Ryzen CPUs were tested on the Asrock X470 Taichi Ultimate and the Coffee Lake CPUs were on the Asrock Z370 Taichi. Both configurations used the same G.Skill FlareX DDR4-3200 memory with the 'Xtreme' memory profile and the same MSI GTX 1080 Ti Gaming X Trio for all the testing.

We can say upfront that this article is in no way buying advice, but we're testing purely for the science of it. For the unaware, IPC (instructions per cycle) provides a good indicator of how fast a processor is, so with that in mind we're putting Intel and AMD's latest CPU architectures to the test running at a flat 4GHz.

Read full article @ TechSpot

A Timely Discovery: Examining Our AMD 2nd Gen Ryzen Results

Last week, we published our AMD 2nd Gen Ryzen Deep Dive, covering our testing and analysis of the latest generation of processors to come out from AMD. Due to the tight deadline of our testing and results, we pushed both our CPU and gaming tests live without as much formal analysis as we typically like to do. All the parts were competitive, however it quickly became clear that some of our results were not aligned with those from other media. Initially we were under the impression that this was as a result of the Spectre and Meltdown (or Smeltdown) updates, as we were one of the few media outlets to go back and perform retesting under the new standard. None the less, we decided to take an extensive internal audit of our testing to ensure that our results were accurate and completely reproducible. Or, failing that, understanding why our results differed. No stone was left un-turned: hardware, software, firmware, tweaks, and code. As a result of that process we believe we have found the reason for our testing being so different from the results of others, and interestingly it opened a sizable can of worms we were not expecting.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Cities Skylines - Sudden performance lag - Solution

Fast and curious. Here's a tutorial explaining how to work around sudden performance lags that lead to a drop in FPS and CPU/GPU utilization in Cities: Skylines by loading unmodded game saves to reset the game engine. Enjoy.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo

Crucial MX500 1TB M.2 SATA SSD Review

I had a look at Crucial‘s MX500 once before when the series was launched a couple of months ago. Back then, there was a single capacity with 1TB. While great, that wasn’t for everyone. Since then, Crucial has launched other capacity options as well as another form factor version. Today I’m taking a closer look at the M.2 version (product link) which also comes with an amazing 1TB capacity.

While the 2.5-inch version is available with up to 2TB capacity, the M.2 comes with a maximum of 1TB. That’s still a whole lot of storage in a very small form factor. Other capacity options of this SSD include a 500GB and a 250GB version in this form factor.

Read full article @ eTeknix

HP DF1050TW Photo Frame Review

Smartphones have turned all of us into amateur photographers, snapping pictures of anything and everything around us. But unless you have a nostalgia for the 90s, you aren’t likely to print them.

The photos might be great but stuck on your phone or computer they aren’t getting the exposure they deserve. That’s where a digital photo frame comes in. Announced at CES 2018, the HP DF1050TW promises to bring new life to those previously buried digital photos. Join us as we take a closer look, and at the end of this review, we’ve got one to giveaway to a lucky reader.

Read full article @ MakeUseOf

Intel confirms Z390 & X399 chipsets

Intel has confirmed the existence of Z390 PCH The Z390 and the rest of 300-series chipsets will support Coffee Lake (CFL) and Cannon Lake (CNL) CPUs, according to Intel document. The document also revealed Cannon Lake and Coffee Lake series (HEDT) designed for X399 chipset. Intel was expected to skip this codename as it was already taken by AMD for the first-generation Threadripper.

Read full article @ VideoCardz.com

Intel Core i5-8600 3.1 GHz CPU Review

Intel's recently-released Core i5-8600 comes with an identical boost frequency as the i5-8600K, for a lesser price that happens to match that of the Ryzen 5 2600X. While base frequency might look low with 3.1 GHz, in reality, out of the box, the processor runs above 4 GHz all the time.

The Core i5-8400 did enough to disrupt AMD's first-generation Ryzen 5 series, particularly the Ryzen 5 1600. With the advent of the second-generation Ryzen 5 2600X and 2600, both priced below the i5-8600K, Intel finds the need to bolster its Core i5 "Coffee Lake" series at newer price points, with the i5-8500 and i5-8600. The i5-8500, priced at $199, reaches the psychological 3.00 GHz barrier for its nominal clock (the i5-8400 is clocked at 2.80 GHz), while the i5-8600 ups that with 3.10 GHz. Both are 6-core/6-thread parts with 256 KB of L2 cache per core and 9 MB of shared L3 cache, and both feature Turbo Boost, which spool up clock speeds to over 4 GHz.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Logitech Craft Wireless Keyboard Review

The Logitech Craft is an object lesson in not judging a book by its cover. By all appearances, it’s seems to be a standard chiclet keyboard with a volume wheel. Nothing impressive, though, sure, it looks sleek. For those willing to look just as little bit closer, you’ll find one of the most versatile keyboards on the market today. That “volume wheel” is more than meets the eye and has the potential to provide a more efficient workflow for creatives and business professionals alike.

Beginning with packaging, the Craft ships in a nice black box with a nice render of the keyboard on the front. It’s simple and elegant, matching the keyboard itself. Inside you’ll find the keyboard is wrapped in an adhesive dust-protective film. Underneath, we have the USB Type-C cable, 2.4GHz wireless USB insert, and our documentation.

Read full article @ PC Perspective

MASTERAIR MA621P Air Cooler for AMD Threadripper Review

Enter Cooler Master's MASTERAIR MA621P! To say I was doubtful that it could handle HardOCP's testing would be an understatement, but not everyone wants to run an AIO or custom cooling loop, so getting the MASTERAIR MA621P onto our test bench was of course a necessity.

The MASTERAIR MA621P comes extremely well packed up and given its immense size and weight, it makes perfect sense. And of course it comes with all the Frag Harder Disco Lights you could possibly want. Well maybe not, but the included RGB LEDs are supported by a host of motherboard companies so that you can match it up with your motherboard's system.

Read full article @ HardOCP

MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC Review

MSI released its lineup of five socket AM4 X470-based gaming motherboards in time with the new second generation Ryzen processors from AMD earlier this week, covering a range of performance across the gaming market. Today we examine the top dog of this new X470 lineup from MSI in the form of the X470 GAMING M7 AC motherboard.

As you may well know, if you planning on overclocking your computer system to get more performance out of your multi-core CPU, then you will need more power. The MSI X470 Gaming M7 AC boasts dual 8-pin power supply connections with premium power phases and a digital power design to provide cleaner energy for all that extra performance.

Read full article @ Neoseeker

MyDigitalDiscount 128GB/256GB/512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review

MyDigitalDiscount's SBX series M.2 NVMe SSDs are much faster than any SATA SSD. To this point, the one thing SATA had in its favor was lower cost per gigabyte of storage than NVMe could offer. Now MDD's SBX is challenging SATA on the price front as well.

MDD's SBX pairs Phison's PS5008-E8 (E8) 4-channel 2-lane NVMe controller with BiCS 3 64-layer 3D flash to create a powerful yet inexpensive SSD capable of delivering performance that is up to 3X better than SATA has to offer.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Nintendo Switch has unstoppable exploit thanks to Nvidia chip

“All Switch units in existence today are vulnerable, forever,” claim system hackers. A few months ago developer Kate Temkin and others at ReSwitched worked to prove and document the exploit, disclosing it to Nvidia, Nintendo and others. TechCrunch reports that the exploit was independently and separately publicly noted by fail0verflow in early January.

The flaw is described as unpatchable, as it is inside the boot and power management ROM of the Nvidia Tegra X1 used in the Switch. Users only need to initiate recovery mode on the console and the exploit can be triggered via a malformed packet sent during a routine USB device status check. Thence up to 65,535 bytes of extra data can be executed without question.

Read full article @ Hexus

Noctua NH-L12S Video Review

In the era of AIOs (All In One Water Cooling) on everything, air coolers seem to slip through the cracks. But for small form factor and home theater PCs, they’re usually the only option that will fit. Home theater PCs also come with a sometimes unexpected requirement for cooling. They have to be quiet enough so your wife doesn’t care if there’s a PC in your living room.

To solve this problem, we’ll be taking a look at the Noctua NH-L12S. It’s a 120mm cooler featuring 4 Heat Pipes and an all Copper contact plate.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVMe SSD 500GB/1TB Review

For some time now, Samsung has used a marketing approach with respect to flash media that accommodates both business and the consumer. They produce the Pro M.2 NVMe SSD series for business and media needs and the EVO M.2 NVMe family for consumer use, and at a relatively modest price point. One has top performance and the other…is a bit more value conscious. The Pro line uses their 2-Bit V-NAND MLC memory while the EVO line combines 3-Bit V-NAND MLC (TLC really) with Samsung’ TurboWrite technology. Both the Pro and EVO lines have seen a great deal of success and are easily recognized as a staple in the SSD community.

Read full article @ The SSD Review

Samsung 970 Pro M.2 NVMe 1TB SSD Review

Let’s start this summary by putting into perspective just how well the Samsung 970 Pro 1TBV NVMe SSD performed in our rather lengthy test regimen. For a SSD to do well in testing, we might expect it to excel at most of these tests. For it to be looked at as one of the best, we might count on it being the best we have seen at one or two of the tests. In our testing over the past few days, The Samsung 970 Pro 1TB NVMe SSD has proven to be the best at every test we threw at it, most of these tests by a healthy margin.

Read full article @ The SSD Review

TUNAI’s WAND – World’s Smallest Bluetooth Transmitter

I work weird hours, so there are nights I stay up to stupid o’clock but I have to find things to do that doesn’t wake up the 9-5 working other half. Watching late night football is my go to thing, but watching it with the TV muted is just no fun; I want to hear the crowds chanting and groaning, and the commentating of what’s going on. Many moons ago I purchased some wireless headphones for the TV and boy was it big, ugly and sometimes painful to use. For starters, these headphones normally used RF frequencies so not only do you get a massive transmitter with some of those awful extendable aerials, you also have to tune your headphones to the right frequency otherwise you get earfuls of loud static.

As I review a lot of headphones, and has somehow ended up with a half dozen or so bluetooth headphones, I thought I would explore the possibility of connecting these to my TV. Currently out on the market, bluetooth transmitters that lets you hope up to the TV haven’t really become mainstream, mostly made by smaller brands. On the plus side these are cheap to buy, but on the other hand they all have one fault or another. These bluetooth speakers tends to be on slightly big, have limited input sources or has some major lag in the audio they transmit.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

WD Black NVMe SSD (1TB) Review

A truly enthusiast-class drive from the storage giant. WD has been trying to crack the premium SSD market for some time. Spurred on by the acquisition of SanDisk, paving the way for in-house NAND production, and concurrent investment for controller technology, the storage giant is finally ready to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Samsung and Intel across the product stack.

Appealing to the enthusiast and workstation user in one fell swoop, WD's Black NVMe SSDs are now out in the wild. Hold on, you might say, as the WD Black is a known quantity, but as always, the devil is in the details.

Read full article @ Hexus

Zen man Jim Keller leaves Tesla for Intel

Jim Keller, the former AMD chip executive behind the Zen roadmap, has left Tesla for Intel and joining fellow AMD refugee Raja Koduri help Chipzilla sort out of its manufacturing stall of the last few years.

Our industry sources have confirmed that Jim Keller will join as an SVP his old chum Intel SVP Raja Koduri and will report to Dr Venkata (Murthy) Renduchintala. Koduri and Keller will work together.  Renduchintala reports directly to Intel, CEO Brian Krzanich and is a  Group President and Chief Engineering Officer. Murthy folds and unfolds the roadmap, so these appointments are at the highest level.

Read full article @ Fudzilla