Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

Apple iPhone XS Review Addendum: Small Core and NN Performance
Assassin's Creed Origins Full Experience Review
Batch image processing in GIMP ... with BIMP
Cooler Master MasterAccessory MP510-L Mousing Surface Review
CORSAIR STRAFE RGB MK.2 Keyboard Review
EKWB EK-Kit RGB 240 Cooler Review
MSI B350M Gaming Pro Review
Raijintek ORCUS 360 RBW Liquid CPU Cooler Review

Apple iPhone XS Review Addendum: Small Core and NN Performance

Last week we published our iPhone XS and XS Max review, in which went into great depth into the various aspects of the phones, especially into the section regarding the new-fangled A12’s CPU performance. However I wanted to dig a bit deeper into CPU performance than I had time for in the initial review, which Im finally able to get around to now. The A12’s small cores were especially something I wanted to have in the article, as Apples small cores havent been very well investigated to date. As it’s still an important topic, I’m posting that part here as a pipeline as well as integrating it as an additional page in the review:

The A12 Tempest µarch: A Fierce Small Core

Apple had first introduced a “small” CPU core alongside the Twister cores in the A10 SoC, powering the iPhone 7 generation. We’ve never really had the opportunity to dissect these cores, and over the years there was a bit of mystery around them as to what they’re capable of.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Assassin's Creed Origins Full Experience Review

At the end of it, is Assassin's Creed Origins, with its DLC, worth playing? I think it is. I found it overall to be quite fun, but I feel like this complete experience might be one best gotten on sale (like I did). The base game is fun and enjoyable, but does have some annoyances to it (the lock-on camera, at times confusing narrative, and the non-Trireme Aya gameplay). The Hidden Ones DLC gives a good look at the start of the Assassin Brotherhood precursor, and some pains it suffered as it started. The Curse of the Pharaohs is more about Egypt, and its religion, so while I did have fun with it, it does not really seem to build onto the Assassin's Creed story. It builds onto the game and is an enjoyable exploration of Egyptian mythology, but otherwise does nothing more than maybe adding another First Civilization artifact to the world.

Read full article @ OCC

Batch image processing in GIMP ... with BIMP

As John Lennon once sang: Image all the photos, being processed up in batch. Imagine an article and guide introducing BIMP, a batch image manipulation plugin for GIMP, including installation and setup against GIMP versions 2.8 and 2.10, workflow, preset and general procedures, examples, and more. Imagine no more. Read.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo

Cooler Master MasterAccessory MP510-L Mousing Surface Review

The Cooler Master MasterAccessory MP510-L provides an environment for good mouse tracking and liquid resistance.

As part of filling up my house, I thought it would be a good idea to get some sort of book to place in the living room. This way, if I had company over and they were looking around, they could pull out this book and read through it. As it turns out, I was browsing Amazon when I found the full collection of Calvin and Hobbes on sale. To me, Calvin and Hobbes is one of my favorite series of comics, mostly because it contains a lot of wholesome humor with thought-provoking dialogue. The typical boyhood mind from Calvin combined with a whimsical Hobbes made for a fun read. However, like a lot of things from my childhood, it would seem a lot of youth today have no idea who this duo is. To be fair, Calvin and Hobbes only lasted for about ten years from 1985 to 1995. While it may be a dated comic, Calvin still complains about the same things that bothers kids and asks Hobbes the same philosophical questions that people dabble upon today. To me it shows the strength in writing of Bill Watterson, the cartoonist behind the series. Another thing that has disappeared from a lot of computer desks is the humble mousepad. While I was growing up with mice with trackballs inside, most mice are made with sensors that can generally track on most tables. However, we are no strangers to mousing surfaces. Today we have the Cooler Master MasterAccessory MP510-L, which is a large sized fabric surface. Does it hold relevancy for today's crowd and, more importantly, is it any good? Let us find out!

Read full article @ APH Networks

CORSAIR STRAFE RGB MK.2 Keyboard Review

CORSAIR has updated the original STRAFE RGB keyboard after three years and aims to offer a similar enthusiast-grade keyboard with more value for money. The new STRAFE RGB MK.2 now has hardware playback, more dedicated buttons, and support from a new unified software driver, and retains the rarely-seen option of the Cherry MX Silent Red RGB switch.

CORSAIR announced the original STRAFE keyboard around three years ago, and a lot has changed since then. For example, it was reviewed here on TechPowerUp by not just my predecessor, but his predecessor to boot. CORSAIR used to be referred to as Corsair then (marketing had not caught on to the impact of all caps at the time presumably), and then there was the Corsair Gaming logo that was.. divisive at best. RGB mechanical keyboards have become the norm for the higher-end market today, and there are significantly more switch options to choose from as well. Is there enough room to bring forth an update in 2018? CORSAIR certainly thinks so, as we see with the announcement of the new STRAFE RGB MK.2 keyboard.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

EKWB EK-Kit RGB 240 Cooler Review

High performance luxury watercooling, now available in your favorite choice of 16.7+ million colors. EK WaterBlocks offers a high-quality, 240 watercooling component kit with RGB lighting glory that cools just as well as it looks in the EK-KIT RGB 240. All said and done, this 2x 120mm kit provided the professional appearance and configuration flexibility of an open loop with the performance of a 3x 120mm AIO system.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

MSI B350M Gaming Pro Review

Although most manufacturers have a primary focus on X470 chipset motherboards, AMD has made it clear that the B350 chipset will be sticking around for a long time. The MSI B350M Gaming Pro aims to offer gamers a low-cost option on the smaller mATX form factor, without all the glitz and glamour of RGB LEDs and over zealous power delivery configurations.

The MSI B350M Gaming Pro targets the more budget conscientious gamer looking to use the B350 chipset, not just for an entry-level price, but also with a mATX form factor. While the appeal of the mATX form factor offers a smaller alternative to the regular ATX sized boards, the form factor usually allows for up to two graphics cards to be installed on the more premium boards; the MSI B350M Gaming Pro omits a secondary full-length PCIe x16 slot for a less bandwidth hungry and small PCIe x1 slot. Given the price point of around $80 at Newegg, the B350M Gaming Pro sits as not only one of the cheapest AM4 socketed mATX motherboards on the market, but as one of the cheapest AM4 offerings completely.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Raijintek ORCUS 360 RBW Liquid CPU Cooler Review

While Raijintek may not be that well known, and since their inception in 2013, this is the first time we have looked at anything from them. From what we can gather, Raijintek describes how they want to be one of the big players in the PC game by delivering high-end products that will eventually lead to user recommendations, ending up with Raijintek as a household name. Sadly, without any previous testing to draw from, or work with this company in the past in any fashion, all we have to go on is what they have put in print. Their mission statement being what it is, we can only hope that Raijintek lives up to the hype with something interesting for us to bring forward in our reviews.

Read full article @ TweakTown