Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including AMD Radeon R7 reviews, Razer Kraken 7.1 Surround Sound USB Gaming Headset Video Review, The Silverstone NT06-PRO Low Profile CPU Cooler Reviewed, Intel NUC Kit D54250WYK Review, and Troubleshooting common Steam problems



Cougar CMX V3 Series 850 W @ techPowerUp

Cougar revamped their CMX series, and today, we take a close look at the CMX 850 W unit slotting in behind the 1 kW and 1.2 kW models of the series. It is Bronze certified, but achieves, according to Cougar, up to 89% efficiency, which is noteworthy for a unit of the bronze efficiency class.

Read more: Cougar CMX V3 Series 850 W @ techPowerUp

Razer Tartarus Membrane Gaming Keypad Review @ Benchmark Reviews

The Tartarus is a new dedicated game pad from Razer that boasts an improved form factor to deliver longer-lasting comfort and minimum fatigue during gameplay. In this article, Benchmark Reviews will look at the Razer Tartarus Membrane Gaming Keypad to evaluate its comfort and efficiency in gameplay as well as determining if the expense of a dedicated gamepad translates into an improved game experience.

Read more: Razer Tartarus Membrane Gaming Keypad Review @ Benchmark Reviews

CM Storm Pulse-R Review @ Vortez

The design team has been churning away at Cooler Master's gaming hardware stable and eventually they came out with the new Aluminium Series, the audio part of which is the Pulse-R gaming headset. Presenting consumers with bold, attractive features such as aluminium side plates that can be removed and modded, an aluminium reinforced headband and glowing LED lights, the Pulse-R is not short on features. As eSports reach new heights in popularity, it becomes apparent why makers of gaming peripherals need to stand out and be noticed with unique yet distinguishable designs to help push their brand awareness and increase desirability. Instantly we can see that the CM Storm Pulse-R looks good, so let's take a closer look and put it to the test.

Read more: CM Storm Pulse-R Review @ Vortez

Razer Kraken 7.1 Surround Sound USB Gaming Headset Video Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Today DaveChaos reviews the Razer Kraken 7.1 Surround Gaming Headset. Check out his video review.

Read more: Razer Kraken 7.1 Surround Sound USB Gaming Headset Video Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

AMD's Radeon R7 260X graphics card reviewed @ The Tech Report

Barely seven months after the release of the Radeon HD 7790, AMD has introduced a new, faster graphics card based on the same silicon: the $139.99 Radeon R7 260X.

Read more: AMD's Radeon R7 260X graphics card reviewed @ The Tech Report

MSI R9 280X GAMING 3 GB @ techPowerUp

The new Radeon R9 280X is based on the AMD HD 7970 GHz Edition design. MSI has taken their highly successful dual fan cooler from the GAMING Series and put it on the new card. They also included an overclock out of the box and software voltage control.

Read more: MSI R9 280X GAMING 3 GB @ techPowerUp

AMD Radeon R9 270X 2 GB @ techPowerUp

AMD's new Radeon R9 270X matches last generation's HD 7950 in performance, while still coming at an attractive $200 price point. We were a bit disappointed by the reference design cooler, but board partners will soon release their own designs with custom heatsinks that will perform better.

Read more: AMD Radeon R9 270X 2 GB @ techPowerUp

AMD Radeon R7 260X, R9 270X, and R9 280X Tested @ HotHardware.com

A ton of AMD related news hit over the last couple of weeks, thanks in no small part to a multi-day event AMD held in Honolulu, Hawaii the company held to showcase all of its upcoming GPU technology. GPU14 Tech Day, as AMD called it, began with a quick talk from AMD's Corporate Vice President, Visual Computing Division Raja Koduri at Diamond Head state monument, in which Mr. Koduri dismissed much of the recent doom and gloom-directed at both AMD and the PC market in general-and claimed AMD was poised for a comeback in his opinion. He also said it was his goal to better intermingle AMD's hardware and software development teams to ultimately improve the company's products, both in terms of performance and user experience.

But Koduri's early talk was just a precursor to much bigger news that broke at the event. During a live webcast, a number of AMD execs and partners were brought out on stage to reveal a myriad of new products and technologies, including the three graphics cards we'll be showing you here, the Radeon R9 280X, the Radeon R9 270X, and Radeon R7 260X...

Read more: AMD Radeon R7 260X, R9 270X, and R9 280X Tested @ HotHardware.com

Radeon R9 270X and R7 260X Review @ Techspot

AMD announced the next generation Volcanic Islands GPUs last month at their GPU14 Tech Day event in Hawaii. There were a couple of exciting announcements: a widely expected new flagship GPU, the R9-290X, that is meant to compete with Nvidia's GTX Titan, and there was also "Mantle," a new open-source API that at least on paper sounds like a great way to optimize games for the PC platform -- the fact that AMD is also powering Xbox One and PS4 graphics adds credibility to AMD's announcement, of course.

Unfortunately, we are not going to talk about either of those things today since the day hasn't come yet. We will get you up to speed about new Radeon graphics cards outside the R9 290X, however. AMD has done away with the Radeon 'HD' naming scheme that they have used for the past 6 years and replaced it with something a bit more complex.

Read more: Radeon R9 270X and R7 260X Review @ Techspot

AMD R9 270X Review @ KitGuru

Today AMD are launching their new range of R7 and R9 video cards, minus the flagship R9 290X, which is coming later. This particular review focuses on the reference AMD R9 270X. The reference card has a price point set at $199, targeting a wide audience of enthusiast gamers who demand excellent Direct X 11 performance.

Read more: AMD R9 270X Review @ KitGuru

AMD R7 260X Review @ KitGuru

Today AMD launch their latest R7 and R9 graphics cards and Kitguru is looking at some of the official designs, as well as one custom partner solution from Sapphire. This review focuses on the latest R7 260x reference card priced at $139. We put this card through its paces against a GTX650ti and the last generation HD7790. Is this card able to power the latest games at high resolution with modest image quality settings?

Read more: AMD R7 260X Review @ KitGuru

AMD's Radeon R9 280X and 270X graphics cards @ The Tech Report

AMD has uncorked a whole heap of new Radeons, and we've compared the top two Radeon R9 cards against the competition from the GeForce camp--and against some legacy Radeons of yore. Long story short: fast graphics just got a whole lot cheaper.

Read more: AMD's Radeon R9 280X and 270X graphics cards @ The Tech Report

ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Today we will cover the highest specification model available at the time of writing, the R9 280X and our version is the ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU 2 TOP 3GB. That is an overclocked version of the card and one of the highest specification models around. We will be comparing it to the two closest NVIDIA models (pricing wise) in the form of the GTX 760 and 770 (both OC models) as well as the part the 280X replaces, the 7970 GHZ. We are testing on the latest i7-4960X CPU, Windows 8.1 and games such as Battlefield 4, F1 2013 and Total War: Rome 2.

Read more: ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

AMD Radeon R9 270X & R7 260X Review @ Hardware Canucks

AMD’s R9 280X is meant to target the “gamers’ sweet spot” at $299 but there are two other, highly important cards launching today as well: the R9 270X and R7 260X. They each target a very specific segment but, as with the R9 280X, their primary goal is to up the performance quotient in their respective price categories. With that being said, don’t expect either to provide enthusiasts level framerates at high detail settings; these are mid-range cards with some punch but competing with higher level GPUs isn’t part of their mandate.

Read more: AMD Radeon R9 270X & R7 260X Review @ Hardware Canucks

AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB Review @ Hardware Canucks

AMD’s R9 280X has been a long time coming. Ever since the HD 7970 was introduced, rumors have been swirling about what the next batch of Radeon cards would look like, and now we finally have an answer. Today, the R9 280X is being launched alongside the R9 270X, R7 260X and a pair of lower end cards while the flagship R9 290X and R9 290 will see the light of day before month’s end.

This new series of cards has a lot of expectations to live up to since its predecessor, the HD 7000-series, houses cards which have been around for nearly two years but continue to lead the pack in the price / performance category. The R-series is meant to continue this tradition, but in a way some may have not been expecting: by leveraging the same GCN architecture we’ve come to know and love.

Read more: AMD Radeon R9 280X 3GB Review @ Hardware Canucks

Sapphire R9 280X Vapor X Review @ KitGuru

Today AMD release the first of their new graphics series and Kitguru is on hand to cover the R7 260X, R9 270X and R9 280X. This review focuses on a partner board, the Sapphire R9 280X Vapor X which features enhanced clock speeds and a custom cooling solution. Is this the card you need to shortlist for a new upgrade?

Read more: Sapphire R9 280X Vapor X Review @ KitGuru

The Silverstone NT06-PRO Low Profile CPU Cooler Reviewed @ Futurelooks

There was a time when just about every CPU cooler had a flat, or horizontal design. Of course, there were no heat pipes but they fit in every type of computer case which included micro-ATX and mini-ITX cases. Nowadays, heat pipes are the norm especially if a manufacturer is serious about cooling off high performance processors. This also meant limited after-market cooling solutions for the aforementioned smaller enclosures. Previously, we’ve tested products from Noctua including their NH-C14 and NH-L9i which are both solutions for cooling in tighter spaces. But the latter didn’t have heat pipes and the former is still quite large by design. That’s why we wanted to check out Silverstone’s solution, the NT06-PRO Nitrogen series CPU cooler.

Read more: The Silverstone NT06-PRO Low Profile CPU Cooler Reviewed @ Futurelooks

ASUS Essence STU USB DAC and Headphone Amp Review @ HiTech Legion

I have many times (not so) jokingly referred to the rise of the mp3 as “the Day the World Went Deaf”. I say jokingly only because it actually began with the CD more so than the mp3, but the mp3 definitely solidified it. Why do I say this? Simply because that was the point that convenience absolutely won out over quality. Being able to take the music with you, or have it take up less room, or go instantly from track to track was deemed more important than how good the music actually sounded. Now, just a short time later, the majority of people have never even actually heard an audiophile quality playback, or even seen equipment or mediums capable of producing it. Because, unfortunately, the truest reproduction comes from analog sources. And, no, that is not a misprint.

Read more: ASUS Essence STU USB DAC and Headphone Amp Review @ HiTech Legion

Intel NUC Kit D54250WYK Review @ MissingRemote

For home theater PC (HTPC) enthusiasts the news that Intel was leaving the retail motherboard market cut deeply. After all, many of the features we have come to expect, like an Intel network interface card (NIC), consumer infrared (CIR), and outstanding stability along with innovations specific to our market, such as the custom solutions (aka HTPC) header, looked likely to slowly fade away. Fortunately--at least for now--these concerns have proved meritless because the output of that decision, the Intel NUC Kit D54250WYK contains each of these features along with something that was previously unattainable to DIY – a 15W TDP integrated processor graphics (IPG). Running $342 in bulk, the cost of the 1.3-2.6GHz Intel Core i5-4250U makes up much of the $360 (estimated SRP) we expect the D54250WYK barebones to retail for. While not cheap, it certainly appears a good value if the Haswell iteration of the NUC can deliver the perfect client HTPC.

Read more: Intel NUC Kit D54250WYK Review @ MissingRemote

Lian Li PC-10N @ LanOC Reviews

If people left things alone and didn’t continue to innovate we would all still be driving around in Model T’s rather than the car options we have now. Lian Li has impressed me every time I have had a chance to check out their cases, but they haven’t been sitting on their hands. I recently had their new PC-10N come in. With their new rail design for motherboard installation and with its corners cut off the PC-10N does have a few new features while sticking with the all-aluminum design that Lian Li is known for. Of course I can’t leave it at that, I had to dig into the case and see what it is all about.

Read more: Lian Li PC-10N @ LanOC Reviews

Witnessing The League of Legends Season 3 World Championship Finals @ Legit Reviews

An hour before midnight on Friday October 4th, a sense of inevitability came down across the spectators that packed the seats inside the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles. A team of five players collectively called SK Telecom T1 was on an unstoppable train ride to securing $1 million and becoming champions of the Season 3 League of Legends World Championships. There were chants for Royal Club, the opposing team of talented Chinese pro gamers, to take Game 3 Let's go Royal Despite Koreas SKT T1 being the favorite team to win, the fans wanted more matches than what was to become a 3-0 sweep during a best of five series. Read on to find out what happened!

Read more: Witnessing The League of Legends Season 3 World Championship Finals @ Legit Reviews

Asus M51AC-US015S Review @ TechReviewSource.com

The Asus M51AC-US015S desktop offers multimedia performance and even some gaming prowess a price the competition can't quite match, but the performance lags behind similarly equipped competition.

Read more: Asus M51AC-US015S Review @ TechReviewSource.com

ASUS X79 DELUXE Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets

The ASUS X79 DELUXE is a top mid-range motherboard for LGA2011 systems, aimed on overclockers and enthusiasts. It includes four PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, four SATA-300 and eight SATA-600 ports, eight USB 3.0 ports, a high-end audio controller, and an integrated Wi-Fi interface. Let's check it out.

Read more: ASUS X79 DELUXE Motherboard @ Hardware Secrets

Tt eSPORTS VOLOS Gaming Mouse Review @ ThinkComputers.org

eSports are starting to take over the gaming industry with the new push of games that are more team based and focused, with that being said the market for gaming gear for the past few years has been at an all-time high. One of the companies who has been in the scene and going strong for a while is Thermaltake and with their Tt eSPORTS line they have much to offer every level of gamer on the market. Well today we are going to take a look at their new gaming mouse called the Volos. This is their MOBA/MMORPG mouse.

Read more: Tt eSPORTS VOLOS Gaming Mouse Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Troubleshooting common Steam problems @ Dedoimedo

Here's a tutorial explaining how to troubleshoot common problems with the Steam client, including orphaned and suspended downloads, running games the first time as administrator, startup and connection problems, Linux Flash issues, Steam configuration files, general suggestions, other tips and tricks, and more. Party on.

Read more: Troubleshooting common Steam problems @ Dedoimedo

The GeForce GTX 760 Roundup: Gigabyte and EVGA Compared @ Anandtech

Today were taking a look at our first customized GTX 760 cards, the GTX 760 OC Windforce 3X and GTX 760 Superclocked ACX from Gigabyte and EVGA respectively. Based on fully custom designs, Gigabyte and EVGA are pairing factory overclocks with their in-house coolers and software to add value to their cards and stand apart in a crowded market. With both cards similarly overclocked the real test will be who has the cooler cooler: Gigabyte or EVGA?    

Read more: The GeForce GTX 760 Roundup: Gigabyte and EVGA Compared @ Anandtech

Best Windows 8 laptops: the top Windows 8 notebooks we've reviewed @ Techradar

Microsoft has fundamentally changed the way Windows works with Windows 8, ensuring it works better with touchscreens and tablets. But what about Windows 8 laptops, Ultrabooks and convertibles? They're all here, too.One thing Windows 8 has in spades is convergence. A Windows 8 Ultrabook that has a touchscreen? Check. A laptop with a flip-around screen? Check. Tablet PCs that slide up to reveal a keyboard? Check.

Read more: Best Windows 8 laptops: the top Windows 8 notebooks we've reviewed @ Techradar

AMD RADEON R9 270X Review @ Vortez

It is coming up to two years since AMD introduced the last series of desktop graphics cards. The 7 series offered ground breaking performance and some significant leaps in gaming technology so this time we are hoping for much of the same. The 7 series cards clawed back much of the headway NVIDIA had gained and the past two years has seen the performance crown swing too and fro with every driver release, price reductions and of course, NVIDIA's own new family of graphics cards. AMD however have maintained a high proportion of the market share thanks to their aggressive pricing policy which has seen cards such as the HD7950 and HD7850 soar in popularity for those looking for a high performance card which doesn't cost the Earth. It is this market segment that the AMD R9 270X falls within. A card which promises to deliver value yet performance and lead the pack of graphics cards which fall under the $200 threshold.

Read more: AMD RADEON R9 270X Review @ Vortez

AMD Radeon R7-260X R9-270X and R9-280X reviews @ Guru3D

Today we'll review the AMD Radeon R7-260X, R9-270X and R9-280X. So yeah welcome everyone, after many moons it's finally time for AMD to release the initial batch of their new product series. The new R7 and R9 graphics are finally here and in the upcoming weeks we're going to see many new products in the AMD Radeon line-up. Some really are respin products, and others are totally new. We'll brief you through it all though.

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?

Read more: AMD Radeon R7-260X R9-270X and R9-280X reviews @ Guru3D