Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including Are Valve and AMD about to ruin PC gaming?, Beginners Guides: Repairing a Broken LCD Screen on a Laptop, D-Link DIR-868L Wireless AC1750 Dual-Band Cloud Router Review, AMD Radeon R9 280X / R9 270X from ASUS and MSI review: R9 in practice, and Mionix Avior 8200 Gaming Mouse



Are Valve and AMD about to ruin PC gaming? @ The Tech Report

Valve's SteamOS and AMD's Mantle API have the potential to do great things for PC gaming. However, they also threaten to fragment the platform at a critical time, when next-gen consoles are about to reduce the PC's performance and image quality lead by a long shot.

Read more: Are Valve and AMD about to ruin PC gaming? @ The Tech Report


ASUS RT-AC66U AC1750 Wireless 802.11AC Router Review @ MissingRemote

When you cannot install Ethernet throughout your house there are a few options available, but none tantalize the same way as 802.11AC’s promise of Gigabit-esque bandwidth with ease of wireless installation. Admittedly the recent trend in marketing routers by summing their potential speed is a bit confusing, but given the chance to redefine the home networking landscape we can forgive a lot. With a pair of ASUS’s RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 on hand we have the opportunity to explore this exciting new standard in depth. Can this $189 802.11AC multifunction home networking appliance deliver, or will it simply join the list of “not good enoughs” when it comes to meeting our most demanding media streaming needs.

Read more: ASUS RT-AC66U AC1750 Wireless 802.11AC Router Review @ MissingRemote

Beginners Guides: Repairing a Broken LCD Screen on a Laptop @ PC Stats

Just shattered the screen on your laptop? In this Beginners Guide, PCSTATS will show you how to replace that busted laptop screen with a minimum of fuss and for less money than a service center charges. PCSTATS will be fixing a cracked LCD screen on a Lenovo T530 ThinkPad notebook, the general procedure will work with any notebook though.

Read more: Beginners Guides: Repairing a Broken LCD Screen on a Laptop @ PC Stats

MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX Review @ Vortez

It goes without saying that overclocking has vast become a popular practise for devoted hardware enthusiasts. Hardware vendors specifically design their products to be tweaked in this fashion nowadays and today we are to take a look at a motherboard which plans to project enthusiasts to overclocking stardom.

MPOWER MAX is an attractive high-end Intel Z87 motherboard which focusses primarily on overclocking as a key attribute. Boasting a burly 20 phase digital power design, do we have a record breaker in our hands?

Read more: MSI Z87 MPOWER MAX Review @ Vortez

ASUS AOOC 2013 Finals Moscow Report @ techPowerUp

ASUS AOOC is the company's open overclocking event, uniting 13 teams of the best overclockers from all of Europe, Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. With combined cash prizes of $6000, teams were eager to show off their overclocking talent, during live overclocking at IgroMir Expo 2013.

Read more: ASUS AOOC 2013 Finals Moscow Report @ techPowerUp

IgroMir 2013 Gaming Exhibition Russian Booth Babes @ techPowerUp

IgroMir is Russia's biggest gaming expo, not unlike E3 or GamesCom. We had the chance to take a look and brought you back tons of photos showing hot Russian booth babes promoting their products.

Read more: IgroMir 2013 Gaming Exhibition Russian Booth Babes @ techPowerUp

Silverstone NT01-Pro Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech

Silverstone's NT01-Pro is a heatsink designed for small form factor cases or finicky situations where a standard tower heatsink just won't fit. Really though, if you've got a SFF chassis, HTPC or a height restricted 4U rack mount case, the Silverstone NT01-Pro heatsink is going to be of particular interest.

Read more: Silverstone NT01-Pro Heatsink Review @ FrostyTech

Motorola Moto X (T-Mobile) Review @ TechReviewSource.com

The Motorola Moto X is an excellent Android smartphone, but senseless carrier neglect will make this a tough sell on T-Mobile.

Read more: Motorola Moto X (T-Mobile) Review @ TechReviewSource.com

D-Link DIR-868L Wireless AC1750 Dual-Band Cloud Router Review @ Legit Reviews

D-Link has introduced their new DIR-868L Wireless AC1750 Dual Band Gigabit Cloud router. Built around using a dual-band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, the router is capable of up to 1.3Mbps speeds over its 5.0GHz band. Of course, you can still obtain 450Mbps on the 2.4 GHz channel if your networking device doesnâ€t support the faster 5GHz channel, or you need the range that the 2.4GHz provides. Along with the Gigabit Ethernet ports, the D-Link DIR-868L is designed to be fast, stable, and offers up wide Wi-Fi coverage supporting USB 3.0 making network attached peripherals simple and fast. Read on to see how it performs!

Read more: D-Link DIR-868L Wireless AC1750 Dual-Band Cloud Router Review @ Legit Reviews

All Core i5 Models @ Hardware Secrets

The Core i5 is a CPU series manufactured by Intel aimed at mid-range computers. In this tutorial, we will present a series of quick reference tables for you to compare the main differences between all models released to date.

Read more: All Core i5 Models @ Hardware Secrets

Sapphire Toxic R9 270X @ LanOC Reviews

When it comes to AMD video card manufactures there really only a few different names that come to mind. At the top of that list for most people will be Sapphire. Those of you who made it out to LanOC v13 will also remember that Sapphire joined us for our event as well. When they offered to let us take a look at their new R9 series cards, I jumped at the chance. Boy was I surprised to see that they had made some significant changed to their product line, especially the Toxic model that we are going to take a look at today.

Read more: Sapphire Toxic R9 270X @ LanOC Reviews

OCZ Vertex 450 128GB Solid State Drive RAID Review @ ThinkComputers.org

OCZs Vertex line of solid state drives have been around for a while and we have reviewed many different Vertex drives over the past few years. If you remember back in 2011 OCZ acquired Indilinx and with the acquisition they were able to create an SSD controller completely in-house. The controller was the Barefoot 3 and it was featured on OCZ's Vector solid state drive that we reviewed earlier this year. Well OCZ is back with a new drive in their Vertex 450. It will feature the same Barefoot 3 controller, and new 20nm MLC NAND instead of the 25nm that was being used on the Vector. Today we are taking a look at the 128GB version of the Vertex 450 that features sequential read and write speeds of 525 MB/s and 290 MB/s respectively. Not only that OCZ has sent us two drives so we can show you just how fast these drives are when put in a RAID array together. Read on as we take a look

Read more: OCZ Vertex 450 128GB Solid State Drive RAID Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Thermaltake MEKA G-Unit Illuminated Mechanical Keyboard Review @ Benchmark Reviews

Thermaltake's eSPORTS division has updated their MEKA line of mechanical keyboards with the Thermaltake MEKA G-Unit Illuminated Edition gaming keyboard, complete with full red LED illumination on every key and Cherry MX Black linear mechanical switches throughout. Including features comparable to many other premium keyboards, will Thermaltake Technology Co., Ltd.'s eSPORTS offering distance itself from the pack? As always, that's what Benchmark Reviews intends to find out.

Read more: Thermaltake MEKA G-Unit Illuminated Mechanical Keyboard Review @ Benchmark Reviews

HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 3.5-inch 4TB 7200 RPM HDD Review @ Madshrimps

The Ultrastar 7K4000 HDD series comes with capacities up to 4TB and is mostly aimed at enterprise environments by offering a rated 2M hours MTBF and a 5-year warranty. The drive comes with good performances, AF (4096-byte sector size) and uses a total of 5 platters, 800GB each.

Read more: HGST Ultrastar 7K4000 3.5-inch 4TB 7200 RPM HDD Review @ Madshrimps

Kingston 16GB UHS-I Ultimate SDHC/SDXC Card Review @ Funky Kit

Today we wish to present something that almost everyone is using but not many are thinking about it - SDHC card. We can find them in many devices. Most users don't need high speed cards but for all those who are hungry for higher bandwidth, Kingston designed new SDHC/SDXC Ultimate Class 10 UHS-I flash cards.

"Kingston’s Class 10 UHS-I Ultimate card features UHS-I technology and impressive performance that lets users shoot full 1080p HD video and 3D video – and transfer files faster. The card’s higher sustained write speeds support continuous burst mode and ensure video integrity by reducing stutter. The Class 10 UHS-I Ultimate card is compatible with SDHC (16GB, 32GB) and SDXC (64GB) and is backed by a lifetime warranty, free technical support and legendary Kingston reliability."

Read more: Kingston 16GB UHS-I Ultimate SDHC/SDXC Card Review @ Funky Kit

AMD Radeon R9 280X / R9 270X from ASUS and MSI review: R9 in practice @ Hardware.Info

Two days ago AMD introduced the new Radeon R9 280X, R9 270X and R7 260X graphics cards (you can find our review here). Granted, the main 'new' thing about the cards were their names, considering the R9 280X is a different version of the Radeon HD 7970, the R9 270X is an updated version of the HD 7870 and the R7 260X is based on the Radeon HD 7790. AMD's partners were therefore already very familiar with the hardware, so it was easy for them to create new cards based on AMD's latest. ASUS and MSI did not wait long, and sent us a total of four cards. We tested the ASUS R9280X-DC2T-3GD5, MSI R9 280X Gaming, MSI R9 270X Hawk and MSI R9 270X Gaming 2G.

Official prices are still unknown, and these cards go on sale tomorrow.

Read more: AMD Radeon R9 280X / R9 270X from ASUS and MSI review: R9 in practice @ Hardware.Info

Asus Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP Review @ Hexus

AMD launched a number of new graphics cards on Tuesday. Now branded the R-series but using technology that's very much from the existing Radeon HD 7000 range, the standout feature of the R9 280X, R9 270X and R7 260X is pricing that, at the moment, is more attractive than equivalent Nvidia GPUs.

Take the Radeon R9 280X as a case in point. The architecture is practically identical to the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, translating to very good gaming performance at monitor resolutions as high as 2,560x1,440. Where this new Radeon scores big is price, as stock-clocked cards are available for £230, with partner-overclocked models running closer to £275.

Asus is one big name that's definitely not going to pass up on this new Radeon jamboree. The Taiwanese giant has multiple R9 280X in its arsenal, but the most interesting, from an enthusiast's point of view, remains the DirectCU II TOP model. It just so happens we have one for review today.

Read more: Asus Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP Review @ Hexus

Just Dance 2014 Video Review with Kaeyi Dream @ HardwareHeaven.com

Kaeyi Dream reviews Just Dance 2014 from Ubisoft in her latest video review for HardwareHeaven.

Read more: Just Dance 2014 Video Review with Kaeyi Dream @ HardwareHeaven.com

BlackBerry Z30 Review @ Engadget

Let's be honest: it's not a great time to be BlackBerry right now. Each morning brings yet more news stories that hint -- no, scream -- at the company's rapid unraveling. In the nine days following the announcement of the Z30, the company halted its BBM rollout and announced plans to fire 4,500 employees. Meanwhile, T-Mobile withdrew retail support, Motorola started sniffing around BlackBerry's top talent and its manufacturing partner looked for an exit. Finally, BlackBerry entered into a sale agreement, and the company had to concede that it lost a billion dollars on unsold Z10 handsets. So, what does all of this make the Z30?

There had been plenty of rumors ahead of time that suggested BlackBerry would launch a phablet. The 5-inch Z30, however, isn't big enough to warrant that name, and the company itself has positioned the device as the flagship for the holiday season. That means the handset dodges comparisons with devices like the Galaxy Note, but instead stands in the line of fire between the iPhone 5s, Galaxy S 4, HTC One and Lumia 1020. Unlike those other devices, however, the Z30 isn't packing any flashy, headline-grabbing specs, nor does it offer bleeding-edge internals that will excite performance nuts. There's also the looming question of whether this hardware will make it over to the US in a timely fashion, as BlackBerry has only confirmed that it'll launch in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the UK (priced at £500 off-contract).

Read more: BlackBerry Z30 Review @ Engadget

AMD Radeon 7000 and Radeon R200 Series Mixed CrossFire Testing @ Legit Reviews

The new AMD Radeon R7 and R9 series video cards went on sale this morning and a number of our readers have asked if they can enable AMD CrossFireX technology with their current AMD Radeon HD 7000 series card with them. The new AMD R-200 series is essentially a product re-brand, so the hardware is the same. AMD confirmed to use earlier this week that you would be able to run mixed CrossFire, but we wanted to try it out for ourselves and see how it works in the real world. Read on to see what worked and what did not!

Read more: AMD Radeon 7000 and Radeon R200 Series Mixed CrossFire Testing @ Legit Reviews

MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Video Card Review @ Ninjalane

Ninjalane has posted their review of the Gaming edition of the MSI R9 270X. Its red, that's about all I can say.

Read more: MSI Radeon R9 270X Gaming Video Card Review @ Ninjalane

Mionix Avior 8200 Gaming Mouse @ Rbmods

Today we are taking a look at a new gaming mouse from Mionix, they sent us a sample of the Avior 8200. Will it follow the high quality trend that Mionix has had in the past; that is the quesiton.
It seems to have some cool features and be a decent size; so lets not waste anymore time and get on with the review!

Read more: Mionix Avior 8200 Gaming Mouse @ Rbmods