Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including AMD Announces Its First ARM Based Server SoC, Asus Transformer T100 Review: Windows 8.1 convertible for less than $500, Thecus N2310 NAS Video Review, Radeon R7 240 And 250: Our Sub-$100 Gaming Card Round-Up, and AMD 13.35 Mantle driver leaked



It Begins: AMD Announces Its First ARM Based Server SoC, 64-bit/8-core Opteron A1100 @ Anandtech

Around 15 months ago, AMD announced that it would be building 64-bit ARM based SoCs for servers in 2014. Less than a month into 2014, AMD made good on its promise and officially announced the Opteron A1100: a 64-bit ARM Cortex A57 based SoC. The Opteron A1100 features either 4 or 8 AMD Cortex A57 cores. There's only a single die mask so we're talking about harvested die to make up the quad-core configuration. My guess is over time we'll see that go away entirely, but since we're at very early stages of talking about the A1100 there's likely some hedging of bets going on.

Read more: It Begins: AMD Announces Its First ARM Based Server SoC, 64-bit/8-core Opteron A1100 @ Anandtech

Func HS-260 Gaming Headset Review @ Benchmark Reviews

On January 27th 2014 Func will start shipping their HS-260 gaming headset, completing a first run of peripherals that started with the MS-3 gaming mouse in February of last year (and the KB-460 mechanical keyboard this past November). Sporting tuned 50mm drivers, detachable audio cables and removable microphone which can switch sides at will, Func brings their focus on functionality to the gaming headset category with their new headset, model FUNC-HS-260-1ST. Benchmark Reviews has a sample on hand, and in this review I'll do my best to explain my experience with the Func HS-260 gaming headset.

Read more: Func HS-260 Gaming Headset Review @ Benchmark Reviews

Asus Transformer T100 Review: Windows 8.1 convertible for less than $500 @ Techspot

Windows is still relatively new to the tablet market, with the launch of Windows 8 occurring just a little over a year ago. But that doesn’t mean the market isn’t filled with options for consumers, ranging from ARM-based Windows RT options such as the Microsoft Surface 2 and Nokia Lumia 2520, to full-blown Windows 8.1 convertibles and hybrids.

High-end tablets tend to capture a lot of attention from the press thanks to their fancy features and top-tier hardware, but sometimes the entry-level products can be the most interesting.

The device I’m looking at today is one such entry-level product, the Asus Transformer Book T100, which consists of a 10-inch tablet, Intel ‘Bay Trail’ internals, and a keyboard dock all for under $500. The Transformer line of products has typically been quite solid, so it’ll be interesting to see how an affordable Windows-based model fares.

Read more: Asus Transformer T100 Review: Windows 8.1 convertible for less than $500 @ Techspot

XFX Radeon R9 290X Double Dissipation Review @ Hardware Canucks

With the excitement surrounding custom versions of AMD’s R9 290X, the amount of time between the initial release and availability of board partner designs came as a surprise to some. It’s taken well over two months but there’s good reason for that: much like gamers have been looking for lower temperatures and reduced acoustics, actually engineering a heatsink that’s capable of delivering on those expectations is easier said than done. This is why it has taken XFX and their competition so long to release their respective solutions.

Read more: XFX Radeon R9 290X Double Dissipation Review @ Hardware Canucks

Cooler Master HAF Stacker 915F & 915R Review @ Neoseeker

Recently one of the bigger turnabouts in the computer hardware industry is the rising popularity of small form factor systems. Although miniaturized components have existed for a long time, they were commonly plagued with propriety hardware and restricted airflow that truly limited performance and expansion. Moving forward to today and the availability of low-powered chipsets and cases such as the Bitfenix Prodigy is abundant. It is now viable than ever to put together a nice micro-ITX system build with overclocking potential and performance closer to what you would see from a full-sized desktop equivalent.

In our original review of the innovative Cooler Master HAF Stacker Mod-Tower case, we worked with a massive chassis package consisting of a single mid-tower case dubbed the HAF Stacker 925 and two m-ITX cases: the HAF Stacker 915R and 915F. While a lot of hype has gone into the series' stacking capability, details of individual case capabilities have unfortunately been overshadowed in the process. Today, we will focus entirely on the m-ITX HAF Stacker 915R and 915F cases to see if they are worth the money on their own. If you haven't read the aforementioned HAF Stacker review, I would highly advise a quick glance because we have already gone fairly in-depth on the packaging and case features. Here, we will do an examination on the actual installation process and thermal performance versus other smaller form factor cases on the market.

Read more: Cooler Master HAF Stacker 915F & 915R Review @ Neoseeker

Assassin's Creed Liberation HD Review @ OCC

Shall we visit New Orleans and Aveline, or let her past remain in the past? My recommendation is to let it stay in the past. The primary reason for that is the story I found to be of low quality. The graphics are not great, but they work for an upgraded handheld game. The gameplay is more-or-less consistent with the franchise. The story is just confusing, inconsistent, or lacking in good storytelling to the point that it does not immerse you and does not drive the interest really needed to continue playing.

Read more: Assassin's Creed Liberation HD Review @ OCC

Func HS-260 headset review @ KitGuru

Despite the fact that being a PC gamer usually means you're swimming in much deeper nerd waters than your average console or handheld gamer, there's always been a desire to make peripherals look cool. A lot of the time, that means black, heavy duty plastic and bright LEDs with varying colours. But not so with the Func: HS-260. It combines greys, blacks and a touch of orange to make it stand out from the crowd at least that's what Func is hoping for. This headset represents the first in a line of new audio devices from the peripheral maker and today we are taking a look at the flagship model.

Read more: Func HS-260 headset review @ KitGuru

Thecus N2310 NAS Video Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Today DaveChaos reviews the Thecus N2310 NAS, a 2-bay network storage device.

Read more: Thecus N2310 NAS Video Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Dynatron G555 2U Xeon Server Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech

In this review Frostytech is testing a 2U server heatsink for Intel Xeon processors called the Dynatron G555. The heatsink stands 67mm tall and uses a top mounted fan which impinges air downward into densely packed aluminum fins. The fan rotates at 5,5000RPM and moves upwards of 54CFM airflow at a very loud 67.8 dBA noise level. The 23x84x84mm PWM fan can slow to 1000RPM (8.4CFM) during low duty cycles and is rated to between 0.24mm-H2O to 5.6mm-H20 static pressure.

Read more: Dynatron G555 2U Xeon Server Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech

Akasa Newton NUC Case @ techPowerUp

Intel managed to turn some heads with the NUC, but with its active cooling solution, it leaves things to be desired in terms of noise. A few manufacturers have stepped up to offer passive cooling platforms, one of which is the Akasa Newton. Competitively priced and with a good feature set, it has all the right ingredients to make for an excellent silent solution.

Read more: Akasa Newton NUC Case @ techPowerUp

LaCie 5Big 20TB Thunderbolt RAID Review @ KitGuru

Thunderbolt, and lightning, very very frightening me! Tacky Bohemian Rhapsody quotes aside, it is great to see that the Thunderbolt interface is finally seeing some traction in the PC marketplace, having already experienced great success with Apple's hardware. The major motherboard manufacturers are adopting Thunderbolt on a handful of their latest products, although licensing costs are still prohibitive. With this is mind, we thought we would revisit the LaCie 5Big Thunderbolt RAID device, in a stonking 20TB capacity. What can a Thunderbolt equipped storage device do for you?

Read more: LaCie 5Big 20TB Thunderbolt RAID Review @ KitGuru

Le Pan TC1020 Tablet Review @ TechwareLabs

Today we are taking a look at Le Pan's entry in to the high-end tablet game, the TC1020. With a Tegra 4 quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, a 9000 mAh battery, and the highest resolution (2560 x 1600) 10 inch IPS display available right now, you can tell right off the bat that this thing is no joke. Read on to see how well it performs and if it can stack up to the competition.

Read more: Le Pan TC1020 Tablet Review @ TechwareLabs

Cooler Master CM Storm Ceres 300 Headset Review @ HiTech Legion

Any time you watch a space launch there's one little detail that you will always see but might not think about all that much. Pretty much everyone involved at mission control will be wearing a headset. No they aren't listening to music or secretly holding a League of Legends tournament while the computers manage the whole launch. Although that is a very likely scenario in the Kerbal Space Program, at NASA it's to facilitate sharing data. Can you imagine the pure chaos that would ensue at NASA if everyone was shouting across the room? No one would be able to communicate clearly and there's a good chance that it would end with tragedies.

Whenever you go to a large video game competition you'll see everyone wear headsets as they play. Again, you can probably imagine the pure chaos there would be if everyone was fragging opponents with their speakers turned up. It would be insanely loud and difficult to concentrate to say the least. So if you're a serious gamer, or even just a casual gamer going to your first LAN party you will probably want to invest in a good headset so you can dish out severe pwnage without a whole lot of distractions. Your opponents will thank you too. Plus you can secretly get your Yani fix without anyone being the wise.

Read more: Cooler Master CM Storm Ceres 300 Headset Review @ HiTech Legion

Lexar microSDHC UHS-I 633x 16GB Card Review @ Legit Reviews

Today we'll be taking a closer look at the Lexar high-performance 16GB microSDHC UHS-I 633x Flash memory card that is backed by a limited lifetime warranty for the card and a 1-year warranty for the included SuperSpeed USB 3.0 card reader. Lexar offers this card in three different capacities, but all are speed rated at Class 10 and leverage UHS-I technology to deliver a transfer speed of up to 633x (95MB/s)...

Read more: Lexar microSDHC UHS-I 633x 16GB Card Review @ Legit Reviews

Couchmaster Pro Microfaser Review @ ocaholic

Playing off the couch with the keyboard and mouse is possible or is it an utopia? Nerdytec has introduced something of really interesting and innovative. Couchmaster is a gaming seat that can be used on sofas and beds, interesting isn't it? Let's find out in this new review.

Read more: Couchmaster Pro Microfaser Review @ ocaholic

Sapphire Dual-X R9 270 Graphics Card Review @ Modders-Inc

One of the most upgraded items in a PC is the Graphics Card. If your PC is older or you are a gamer you know that this is where you can normally see a instant return on your money. But the question most people ask is what card do I choose? Do you need to reach deep into your pockets for a $500 card or will a more affordable one do the trick? Like most people I tend to go for a nice mid-range card to get the job done. The Sapphire Dual-x R9 270 is a card that you can grab at a low cost and see a nice improvement over your older video card.

Read more: Sapphire Dual-X R9 270 Graphics Card Review @ Modders-Inc

Zowie P-TF Rough mousepad review @ DV Hardware

In this review I'm taking a quick look at the Zowie P-TF Rough, this mousepad is similar to the G-TF Rough that I tested a couple of months ago, the only difference is the size. The P-TF Rough measures 320mm x 250mm x 2mm, which is more in line with the size of most mousepads.

The P-TF Rough is a cloth mousepad with a heavily textured surface. It arrives curled up in a cardboard box.

Read more: Zowie P-TF Rough mousepad review @ DV Hardware

AMD reveals its first ARM processor: 8-core Opteron A1100 @ ArsTechnica

Codenamed "Seattle," the processors will be branded Opteron A-series and built on a 28 nm process. The first of these will be the A1100. This will have 4 or 8 cores based on ARM's Cortex-A57 design. This is a high performance, 64-bit ARM core, and it will run at clock speeds of at least 2 GHz. The chips will have up to 4MB of level 2 cache and 8MB of level 3 cache, with both caches shared across all the cores. They'll support dual channel DDR3 or DDR4, with up to 128GB RAM. The chips will also include a bunch of connectivity: eight PCIe 3 lanes, eight SATA 3 ports, and two 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports. Rounding out the SoCs, they'll also include dedicated engines for cryptography and compression. The whole thing has an expected power usage of 25W.

While these chips are aimed at high density, low power servers, AMD is also putting together a micro-ATX development kit built around the A1100. This will include a Fedora-based Linux environment with development tools, Apache, MySQL, PHP, and Java 7 and 8. This software stack is consistent with the goals of these low power servers: running Web applications is likely to be their primary role.

Read more: AMD reveals its first ARM processor: 8-core Opteron A1100 @ ArsTechnica

Radeon R7 240 And 250: Our Sub-$100 Gaming Card Round-Up @ Toms Hardware

Now that AMD's Radeon R7 240 and 250 are here, we want to know a little more about what the sub-$100 market looks like. Can the latest Oland-based boards serve up playable performance in the latest titles, or are there other hidden gems to discover?

Read more: Radeon R7 240 And 250: Our Sub-$100 Gaming Card Round-Up @ Toms Hardware

Hands-on review: Olympus OM-D E-M10 @ Techradar

Olympus is hoping that the new OM-D E-M10 will find favour in the same way as the OM-10 did when it was launched way back in 1979. Whereas the OM-10 was the first consumer-level camera in Olympus's OM series of SLRs, and went on to be a big hit and a popular choice for family photography, the Olympus E-M10 is the first consumer-level model in the highly-respected OM-D series. It sits below the Olympus OM-D E-M5 and Olympus OM-D EM-1 in the company's line-up of Micro Four Thirds compact system cameras.For those unsure of the difference, the Olympus OM-D series distinguishes itself from the Pen series (Olympus Pen E-PM2, Pen E-PL5 and Pen E-P5) by its more SLR-like styling and the presence of a built-in electronic viewfinder (EVF).FeaturesMany of the features found in the E-M10 are the same as in the Olympus E-M5, the original OM-D. The Four Thirds type (17.3x13mm) 16.1-million-pixel LiveMOS sensor and 1,440,000-dot electronic viewfinder, for example.

Read more: Hands-on review: Olympus OM-D E-M10 @ Techradar

AMD 13.35 Mantle driver leaked @ Fudzilla

Ahead of schedule. It turns out that the Battlefield 4 Mantle patch has been pushed again, and AMD has little to do with it. This is an EA internal issue, as EA controls the release of the patch but AMD got us on our toes since it said that Mantle patch should speed up Battlefield 4 on AMD hardware by up to 45 percent.

We heard even a number higher than that, but 45 percent is what AMD's legal department was comfortable with, and that's the figure graphics CTO Raja Koduri was allowed to disclose. Now Toshiba has jumped the gun leaking the AMD Catalyst 13.35 beta driver that comes with Mantle API support as well as TrueAudio support and it is a 316 MB download. The bad thing for most of you who cannot wait to give it a try that this download likely works only on Toshiba notebooks and nothing else but make sure to give it a try and let us know if it works for your AMD enabled system in desktop or notebook form.

Read more: AMD 13.35 Mantle driver leaked @ Fudzilla

ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ Review @ Hexus

AMD launched a trio of new APUs just recently. Codenamed Kaveri and using an updated CPU architecture (Steamroller) alongside GCN graphics present in discrete Radeons, the premium mainstream A8 and A10 chips offer solid performance in most applications.

But there have been physical changes in the move between last-generation Richland and Kaveri APUs. The new processors have two extra pins over their APU brethren, meaning that a new motherboard socket, FM2+, is required. AMD's partners have already launched such supporting boards based on the revised A88X, A75 and select A55 chipsets.

Leading the motherboard charge is ASRock, who has no fewer than 20 FM2+ boards in its arsenal. Available with varying feature sets and form factors, Kaveri, especially the power-efficient A8-7600, is ideally suited to being paired with a Mini ITX board. ASRock has that base covered with a couple of boards headlined by the FM2A88X-ITX+.

Read more: ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ Review @ Hexus

Iiyama ProLite XB2483HSU review: true colours @ Hardware.Info

When you're looking for a 23- or 24-inch Full HD monitor below £200, there is so much choice it's difficult to know what you should buy. Since monitor manufacturers don't really make it clear what the differences are, you could get the impression that it doesn't matter so much what you choose. Nothing could be further from the truth, when you look at actual test results. With a little research, you can find yourself a diamond in the rough, such as this Iiyama ProLite XB2483HSU.

The specifications manufacturers put on the box actually say very little about how the monitor looks and performs. Almost every manufacturer claims a contrast of 1000:1, a brightness of 250-300 cd/m² and 1, 2 or 5 ms. These figures are of course based on real tests, but they don't tell you how they did the measurements.

When you're standing in the store it's easy to therefore primarily focus on the price, but there are many more important differences than just cost. That much has become clear from many years of testing computer monitors. Brightness uniformity varies drastically, as do response times and contrast.

Read more: Iiyama ProLite XB2483HSU review: true colours @ Hardware.Info

Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ Starter Kit @ NikKTech

Although the majority of people out there seem to choose Wi-Fi as the primary way to share their internet connection there are some people who prefer wired connections for a number of rather obvious reasons (speed, security being the two most important ones). Powerline adapters were introduced in the market several years ago to help those who prefer wired connections save both time and effort by transferring the signal via the structures electrical wiring. The only downside with this technology is that in very old houses or in houses that have three-phase electrical wirings speed may get very low and in some rare cases they may not work at all. That being said most people i know always wanted powerline adapters to have one significant feature which is to broadcast the signal from the secondary adapter using Wi-Fi (quite useful for smartphones and tablets) and even though it took some time for manufacturers to do so there are such solutions available in the market as we speak. Today we will be taking a look at one such solution and more specifically the dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ Starter Kit by Devolo.

Read more: Devolo dLAN 500 AV Wireless+ Starter Kit @ NikKTech

MSI Z87I Gaming AC Mini-ITX Motherboard Review @ KitGuru

Much of the computing industry is rapidly moving towards physically smaller components without downsizing performance. Can MSI's Mini-ITX Z87I Gaming AC prove that Small Form Factor gamers need not worry about finding a motherboard which tends to their requirements?

Read more: MSI Z87I Gaming AC Mini-ITX Motherboard Review @ KitGuru

AMD unveils 64-bit ARM-based Opteron A1100 processors @ Hexus

AMD unveiled its first ARM-based server chips at the Open Compute Summit V in San Jose, California yesterday. The new AMD Opteron A1100 series of chips, codenamed 'Seattle', will be fabricated using the 28nm process. Sampling of these four or eight core ARM Cortex-A57 processors by customers should start in the current quarter along with the introduction of a development platform to aid software design for the servers. AMD also said that it would introduce a new micro-server design making use of the Opteron A-series, as part of the Open Compute Project.

Suresh Gopalakrishnan, CVP and general manager of the AMD server business unit said that the AMD Opteron A-series addresses the changing needs of data centres. He added that "The new ARM-based AMD Opteron A-Series processor brings the experience and technology portfolio of an established server processor vendor to the ARM ecosystem and provides the ideal complement to our established AMD Opteron x86 server processors."

Read more: AMD unveils 64-bit ARM-based Opteron A1100 processors @ Hexus