Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

33 mouse pads review: in search of the best mouse surface
AMD bans ASRock from entering European GPU market
Asustor AS7004T-i5 Consumer NAS Review
Avantree HT3189 Bluetooth Headset Review
Ballistix Tactical Tracer 2666 MHz DDR4 Review
Charts CPU Performance Content Creation: 22 CPUs tested - Ryzen 7 2700X
Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120R RGB Review
DDR4 Memory Scaling Performance with Ryzen 7 2700X
Installation workaround for read-only BIOS - GRUB2 ISO boot
SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT & ST1200-PT PSU Review
SilverStone Strider Titanium ST1100-TI 1100W PSU Review
Skylake-X and the 128-GB-of-RAM CAD translation workstation
Sphero R2-D2 and BB-9E from 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Review
SteelSeries Apex M750 TKL Mechanical Keyboard Review
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS vs. Fedora 28 vs. Clear Linux Benchmarks

33 mouse pads review: in search of the best mouse surface

Even though most mice nowadays work fine on a typical desk, a good mouse pad provides more precision and comfort. A good mouse pad is therefore not only a requirement for gaming; the productive user also certainly benefits from it. We tested no less than 33 samples.

Our previous test of mouse pads dates back to 2012, so it was high time for a new one. After all, almost every demanding computer user uses a mouse pad. The changes don't happen very quickly, but hardly any of the models from our previous test are still available. Of course, there are a lot of new mouse pads, also from new players.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

AMD bans ASRock from entering European GPU market

According to Tom's Hardware, AMD has not allowed ASRock graphics cards to be sold in Europe. No ASRock graphics cards in Europe The manufacturer has reached out to Tom's Hardware to ask how the sample for their review was obtained because clearly, it wasn't provided by ASRock, who had no interest in marketing exposure in Germany (the review was posted on German TH's website). ASRock Sales Manager: The problem is that AMD has not agreed to sell (ASRock graphics cards) in EU, that is really a pity.

Read full article @ VideoCardz.com

Asustor AS7004T-i5 Consumer NAS Review

Early 2015, we had the AS7004T in-house for a full review. That unit came with 2GB of memory and a Core i3 at its heart. Now a few years have passed and requirements have changed for NAS platforms to the point we have a revamped SKU of the 7004T in-house; AS7004T-i5.

Physically this model isn't different at all, it shares the same enclosure, drive trays and rear I/O but internally things are much different. This latest model, works off the Intel Core i5 processor effectively doubling the core count of the original while keeping the AES-NI encryption engine and hardware acceleration engines. This new solution offers up a 3.0GHz quad-core paired with 8GB of DDR3 still expandable to 16GB via the DDR3 SO-DIMM standard.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Avantree HT3189 Bluetooth Headset Review

Avantronics designs, develops and manufactures innovative high-quality accessories for the world’s most popular gadgets. From cases, screen protectors and accessories for iPod, iPhone, iPad, smartphones and tablets to portable speakers, earphones and cables and power products.
Avantree is a well-known brand owned by Avantronics.

The headsets are packagd in a completely white cardboard box with a transparent plastic window that showcases the headsets. The front side of the box is used to present the main features of the headsets such as Low Latency. On the upper side there is the Avantree logo and name next to the model name of the product.

Read full article @ Tech-Legend

Ballistix Tactical Tracer 2666 MHz DDR4 Review

If you've been into enthusiast computing for a while, you've known Ballistix Tracer DIMMs before. These highly popular memory designs were lauded throughout the globe for decent overclocking headroom and some fancy flashing LEDs built onto the PCB long before "RGB-everything" became a common mantra within the PC market. They came in varying colors too, with red, gold, black, blue, and green all making an appearance over time, each available with LEDs and fancy heatspreaders to match the LEDs included. And then they disappeared...

Over the past couple of years, we've seen RGB designs take over the entire market, with nothing missing the RGB treatment; even your mousepad can be purchased with functional and customizable RGB LEDs included. With Ballistix's previous designs come and gone, it only made sense that we'd see the return of RGB LEDs to memory from within the Ballistix tracer line-up—yet that never happened. DDR4 has been out for a long time now, but those often-asked-for Ballistix Tracer DIMMs have been missing—until now.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Charts CPU Performance Content Creation: 22 CPUs tested - Ryzen 7 2700X

These days there are basically two different groups of customers who demand lots of processing power: content creators and gamers, while this 2D performance comparison is targeting content creators. After having had a look at the following pages you'll have an overview on how fast recent CPUs are in regarding a variety of programs, may it be video encoding, rendering, ...

Read full article @ ocaholic

Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML120R RGB Review

Stylish liquid cooling for RGB enthusiasts. Cooling a high-end CPU used to be a challenge back in the day, but the modern crop of efficient chips is such that just about any well-made air- or liquid-cooler will do a decent job. You might see a small variance in performance, and noise output tends to be a better differentiator of the best models, yet for most users the buying decision is much of a muchness; anything cheap and cheerful will do.

But there's no harm in giving your PC an extra layer of bling, and for the enthusiasts who like a rig that looks as good as it performs, manufacturers have taken to RGB lighting as a point of temptation. Just about every component can be illuminated in a modern build, and the once-humble CPU cooler can be the most eye-catching element if done right.

Read full article @ Hexus

DDR4 Memory Scaling Performance with Ryzen 7 2700X

When AMD announced the new Ryzen 2000 Series processors along with the new X470 platform on April 19th, 2018 many might have missed that G.Skill released new Trident Z RGB and Sniper X DDR4 memory kits custom tailored for this platform. We test a kit with the same timings at 2400, 2666, 3000, 3200, 3466, 3600 and 3733MHz to see of the performance scales on a Ryzen 7 2700X CPU.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Installation workaround for read-only BIOS - GRUB2 ISO boot

Let's fix things. Here be a short, experts-only article about using GRUB2 ISOBoot feature to allow installations on a system with read-only NVRAM that prevents any use of external installation media, some additional tools and pointers, and more. Proceed with caution.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo

SilverStone Strider Platinum ST1000-PT & ST1200-PT PSU Review

In todays review we are taking a look at the SilverStone Strider Platinum 1000W and 1200W PSUs. Clearly designed for top-tier gaming and workstation systems with more than two graphics cards installed, they are coming to compete in a small, demanding segment of the market. We will see how they fare in this review.

SilverStone is one of the most reputable PC chassis and PSU manufacturers, known for their focus on small form factor (SFF) and micro-ATX designs. We have reviewed numerous of their SFX PSU in the past, ranging from the cost-effective ST30SF/ST45SF to the monstrous SX800-LTI with the 0.76kW/l power density. SilverStone also produces several compact cases that do support ATX PSUs but are of limited proportions, leading the company to research methods to reduce the size of their ATX PSUs as well.

Read full article @ Anandtech

SilverStone Strider Titanium ST1100-TI 1100W PSU Review

Silverstone has been very active on small form factor front when it comes to power supplies for a couple of years. Today it totally switches gears and serves up an 1100 watt beast that is fully modular and carries with it the highest efficiency rating on the market. Silverstone says it is the go-to for gaming, folding, mining, scientific calculations, or machine learning.

SilverStoneTek is a company best known for its high quality cases but its product lines extend into other components such as cooling, power, fans, storage, and so on. As a company, Silverstone has built up this impressive product repertoire in a very short time having been founded in 2003. Today, however we are interested in its power supplies which are comprised of the Strider, SFX, Nightjar, Gemini, and Zeus model lines that range from 300W to 1350W DC output. For this review, we are looking at another member of the Strider Titanium line of power supplies, the ST1100-TI, which is produced in conjunction with Enhance.

Read full article @ HardOCP

Skylake-X and the 128-GB-of-RAM CAD translation workstation

As some of you probably know, being a one-person IT department can be a blessing and a curse. For me, it means being a jack of many trades and master of woefully few. Suffice it to say that I try, but that it can be difficult to keep up with everything. One part of the job that I had to concede to others years ago was building my users' PCs. Nowadays, almost everyone is content with a laptop and calls for a desktop are few and far between.Every once in a while, though, there's a need for something special. When those needs come along, I can't resist the call to build them myself. I mean, how else are you going to get exactly what you want? You're not going to get it from Dell, dude.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Sphero R2-D2 and BB-9E from 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Review

Toys, and particularly tech toys, can have very short half lives. AppleInsider has been playing with three of Sphero's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" app-controlled droids by a dad who was there in 1977, and by a pair of children who long to be a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

In case you missed it the first time around, the app-controlled BB-8 was a big hit around the release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," even with relatively rudimentary software. Since then, BB-8 has seen several software and firmware updates, and has been joined by evil twin BB-9E. Also joining the fracas is long-time droid hero R2-D2 and his evil twin R2-Q5 who was shown briefly in "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi."

Read full article @ Apple Insider

SteelSeries Apex M750 TKL Mechanical Keyboard Review

At my current work place, we have several places that we hit up for lunch that are within walking distance. Majority of them are a bit expensive, at least in my opinion, but I enjoy going for the walk to get some fresh air. As a software developer, you do not really get out of your chair a whole lot, so getting this opportunity is nice. One day on our way back, one of the interns glanced over at a building and pointed out some graffiti on the side of a building. As our office is located in a somewhat industrial area in Calgary, this was not too surprising to see some art from the locals around. "WITNESS THE LITNESS" was spray painted on the side of a building in black. Immediately, I took a shot and sent it off to one of my more meme-craving friends, jokingly asking her if she was responsible. While of course I knew she was not actually the perpetrator, I knew she would get a kick out of it, especially with her deep love of current trends and jokes. However, when I got wind of the fact SteelSeries could send us a new keyboard for review, I immediately wanted it. As you may have read in the past, I have both the Sensei 310 and the QcK Prism, and from those products, I knew I could use their utility to synchronize all of the lighting. This keyboard we have today, the Apex M750 TKL, is a tenkeyless keyboard, which is something I really like. As such, I hope today's review will allow both you and I to truly witness the litness.

Read full article @ APH Networks

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS vs. Fedora 28 vs. Clear Linux Benchmarks

Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Fedora 28, and Clear Linux 22250 were each tested on six systems. The hardware for each system was obviously maintained the same throughout the testing process. The purpose of testing the six systems isn't to compare the performance between processors/systems given other hardware differences at play, but for getting a relatively broad look at how each of the three modern Linux x86_64 distributions are performing in an out-of-the-box manner across these different generations and brands of hardware.

Read full article @ Phoronix