Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including AMD A10-5800K vs A10-6800K Gaming-Performance, How to pick the right Usenet provider, ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer Motherboard Review, Enermax iVektor Casemod, and XFX Radeon DD R270X 1050M 2GB reviewed



AMD A10-5800K vs A10-6800K Gaming-Performance @ ocaholic

In the past few months we tested and compared quite a few Intel CPUs regarding gaming performance. Therefore it's about time that we have a closer look at some AMD CPUs. Today we're going to check out AMDs A10-6800K and put it up against its predecessor the AMD A10-5800K. We're quite curious if there will be bigger differences than with the Intel CPUs.

Read more: AMD A10-5800K vs A10-6800K Gaming-Performance @ ocaholic

Corsair Obsidian 750D review: the real flagship @ Hardware.Info

Earlier this year Corsair introduced a new high-end chassis called the Obsidian 900D. It was positioned above the old flagship model, the 800D. Today we're taking a closer look at the Obsidian 750D, the best desktop tower Corsair has ever designed in our opinion. Considering how high Corsair set the bar in the past, that is quite the achievement.

The Obsidian 900D was too much in some ways. It's a beautiful piece of design with a clever mechanism for locking the side panels and tons of interior space, truly a flagship product. Cooler Master's Cosmos II follows a similar concept. Like the 900D, it has an average price of almost £300, so it was disappointing that the cooling performance was acceptable but definitely not a new standard. When you add the huge (and unnecessary) size, the 900D was more a showcase than a product that many people would want.

When you look at photos, the Obsidian 750D looks a lot like the 900D. There are significant differences, however, and they're not just limited to the smaller size. The essence of the enclosure is basically the same, except that you can buy the 750D for £130.

Read more: Corsair Obsidian 750D review: the real flagship @ Hardware.Info

How to pick the right Usenet provider @ gHacks

If you never came into contact with the Usenet before, it is quite the challenge to get started. Not only do you need to select a Usenet provider to gain access to it in first place, you also need to pick a software that lets you do so, and understand how it all works.

Read more: How to pick the right Usenet provider @ gHacks

Gigabyte Radeon R9-290X Review @ Guru3D

Today we review the mighty Gigabyte Radeon R9-290X. This reference design graphics card is 100% similar to the original Radeon R9-290X. These cards are little beasts. As such this in-depth review will cover the Volcanic Islands GPU architecture, Hawaii for the 290 series, we'll benchmark these cards with FCAT Frametimes, Ultra High Definition and of course, we'll check out game performance with the latest games next to power consumption and heat levels as well. This is one review you don't wanna miss!

Now before we begin with the new graphics cards, the first thing that you guys will need to get used to is the new naming schema. AMD ended with the Radeon HD 7000 and 8000 series graphics cards in 2013. Logic dictates that AMD would have continued with a series 9000. But hey now, we already have had the Radeon 9000 series many years ago (2003), oh and who doesn't remember the Radeon 9800 Pro right? As such it was time to bring in a new naming scheme, a bit more in line with AMD's APUs. R9 will be high-end and R7 will be mainstream and inevitably R5 being entry level. After that you'll notice products being tagged as 250, 260X, 270X, 280X and the coolest two of them all are the Radeon R9 290 and R290X.

Read more: Gigabyte Radeon R9-290X Review @ Guru3D

ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer Motherboard Review @ KitGuru

Forming the entry-level Z87 board in ASRock's gaming-orientated Fatal1ty series, is the Z87 Killer able to prove itself as a good-value gaming motherboard?

Read more: ASRock Fatal1ty Z87 Killer Motherboard Review @ KitGuru

SteelSeries 5Hv3 Gaming Headset @ NikKTech

At the time i was writing these lines Paul Walker the actor we all learned and loved from the Fast movies died at the age of 40 after a very tragic car crash involving a red Porsche GT driven by one of his friends. We are well aware that this is not something that has to do with a technology related site but we are all humans above all else so we would just like to extend our condolences to his family and close friends, he will be missed by millions around the world that's for certain. Moving back to today's review i think we all know the importance of having a good quality headset when watching your favorite movies, playing your favorite games and listening to your favorite tunes. However most of the time really good headsets that deliver high audio clarity cost quite a bit but thanks to SteelSeries and their latest H line of headsets featuring their brand new tournament grade audio driver technology this may change for the best. Today on our test bench we have the 2nd best model in the new H line and more specifically the 5HV3 Gaming Headset.

Read more: SteelSeries 5Hv3 Gaming Headset @ NikKTech

ROCCAT Tusko Across-The-Board Widescreen Bag Review @ OCC

Overall, ROCCAT offers another innovative product that does what it advertises and does it well. My only suggestion would be to revisit the straps for the keyboard to make them compatible with smaller units, and add some sort of overall water-proof cover for total protection against rain and accidental liquid spills. I'm amazed that this bag from ROCCAT was out for almost four years and I didn't have one already, it could've spared me all the packing and unpacking of my monitor whenever I wanted to take it somewhere farther than my living-room! Hopefully ROCCAT will release a new version for bigger monitors with more peripheral portability options.

Read more: ROCCAT Tusko Across-The-Board Widescreen Bag Review @ OCC

Enermax iVektor Casemod @ Hardware Asylum

Last month I published a build log for a custom painted Level 10 GT and offered it up in a website promotion. The promotion was such a success that I decided to do a few more. As some of you know casemodding is an art that can be traced back to the early days of personal computers. Back then chassis designs were rather plain but were built to be extremely rugged and could withstand almost anything. Given that little changed over the years many system builders and end users would modify the chassis to accept different hardware configurations saving them from buying a new case.

Casemodding isn’t a difficult task however given the variety of case designs you can buy there is little need to mod like we did in the old days. In fact most mods are limited to simple component swaps like fan upgrades, lights and windows. Anything beyond that and you might as well buy something different.

The modding project in this article is designed to highlight a casemod I have done to help promote my new hardware review site called Hardware Asylum (http://www.hardwareasylum.com). I purchased the domain in 2012 with the soul intention that it will take over the review activities from Ninjalane (http://www.ninjalane.com). As with any new website launch you need a few features to draw attention to yourself and, for me I decided that a custom casemod is just the ticket.

Read more: Enermax iVektor Casemod @ Hardware Asylum

Thecus N2560 NAS Server @ NikKTech

Roughly a week ago some friends visited our testing grounds (lab as some people like to call it) to see how we do things and from all the things they saw in here what really piqued their interest was the QNAP TS-469U-RP rackmount NAS Server which has taken a permanent role as our download server, DVB-T server and surveillance station. Of course the moment our friends learned of the price tag that specific mode has (or had since it's not widely available anymore) they were slightly disappointed since they too are looking to purchase NAS servers mainly for use as download servers and media players. Personally i also think that a NAS server used for media playback (thus placed close to your TV set) also has to be small in size and not just cost-effective something which obviously most NAS servers we've tested/used over the years are not. Thecus is trying to change that by introducing the latest N2560 2-Bay NAS Server which we've been testing for roughly a week now.

Read more: Thecus N2560 NAS Server @ NikKTech

Buffalo LinkStation LS421DE Enclosure Review @ KitGuru

Buffalo are a leading Network brand, and today we are reviewing a new release of their popular LinkStation series. The LS421DE is a high performance two-bay network attached storage device, which even features Raid 0 and Raid 1 configurations.

Read more: Buffalo LinkStation LS421DE Enclosure Review @ KitGuru

Western Digital Black 120GB+1TB review: combined SSD and HDD @ Hardware.Info

Western Digital just introduced the Black², a combination of SSD and conventional hard disk in a single 2.5-inch enclosure. It's not SSHD, however, with SSD cache. This is a normal 120 SSD on top of a normal 1 TB hard disk. For laptops with room for only one disk, this could potentially be the holy grail of storage.

The Black² measures 9.5mm in height, quite impressive when you consider it contains a 7mm notebook hard disk with a 120 GB SSD on top of it.

What's also impressive is that both communicate via a single SATA600 port, which technically shouldn't be possible. Western Digital came up with a pretty clever work-around. When you first hook it up to your computer, initially you can only access the 120GB SSD. After installing Windows and the special drivers for this disk, it turns into a single 1,120 GB disk with two partitions: one for the 120GB (the SSD) and one for the 1TB conventional hard disk. The OS sees it as a single disk, so it's the Black² that creates the distinction.

Read more: Western Digital Black 120GB+1TB review: combined SSD and HDD @ Hardware.Info

Bulk Image Downloader 4.65 Review @ gHacks.net

Most web browsers let you download individual images with relative ease. It usually takes only a couple of clicks to do so.

You will run into issues when you try to download multiple images displayed on a page, or pages. While it still works to select images individually for download, it takes a lot of time to do so. Time, that is better spend doing something else.

Bulk Image Downloader looks on first glance just like any other mass-downloader out there. But if you spend some time getting used to it, you will realize that it is probably the most sophisticated program in this niche that you can get you hands on.

Read more: Bulk Image Downloader 4.65 Review @ gHacks.net

Amazon Kindle Paperwhite E-reader Review @ Benchmark Reviews

First introduced in 2007, the Amazon Kindle e-ink book reader has become the standard by which all e-ink book readers are measured. Since that time, many users have taken to reading books on portable devices such as tablets and smartphones. The new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite aims to convince readers that the e-ink reader still deserves to be your go to device for reading.

Read more: Amazon Kindle Paperwhite E-reader Review @ Benchmark Reviews

XFX Radeon DD R270X 1050M 2GB reviewed @ Fudzilla

oday we want to share our thoughts on XFX's Radeon DD R9 270X. The full name of the card is XFX Double Dissipation R9 270X 1050M Boost 2GB DDR5 Ghost Thermal Dual Mini DisplayPort HDMI dual-DVI or Part No.: R9-270X-CDFC. Let’s also add that XFX is giving away a Battlefield download code and the deal is retroactive – it even applies to consumers who happen to already have an XFX R9 270X, bought before November 12 2013.

Read more: XFX Radeon DD R270X 1050M 2GB reviewed @ Fudzilla