Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AMD stock downgraded due to imminent ETH ASIC Miner release
ASUS ROG Maximus X Formula Motherboard Review
ASUS RT-AC86U AC2900 Wi-Fi Router Review
Budget Game PC Guide - March 2018
Corsair AX1600i power supply review: the first PSU with gallium nitride transistors
Corsair Hydro Series H115i Pro RGB 280mm Liquid CPU Cooler Review
Deepcool Dukase Liquid Review
EK Fluid Gaming A120 and A240 Liquid CPU Cooling Sets Review
Far Cry 5 Benchmark Performance Analysis
Far Cry 5 Review: Five steps back
Fractal Design Meshify C Mini review: Small(er) but just as good!
Huawei P20, P20 Pro + P20 Lite Smartphones Revealed
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Review
Neverwinter Guide for New Level 70 Players
Stormforce Crystal 1070 Ti PC Review
Synology Insight 2018 Report
TP-Link AC2600 Wi-Fi Range Extender Review

AMD stock downgraded due to imminent ETH ASIC Miner release

Smarter Analyst states that ETH ASIC Miners might be the answer to end the GPU shortage. If you are a PC enthusiast or gamer who has been putting off a GPU upgrade due to current market pricing we might have some good news for you. On the other hand, if you are an AMD investor, the news doesn't look so good over the near term. What is this all about? Well, Susquehanna analyst, Christopher Rolland, has just downgraded AMD to negative from neutral. AMD stock is currently at $10.44 but Rolland has posted a $7.50 price target. The reason is that Bitmain is about to release a powerful Ethereum ASIC Miner.

The analyst likens the arrival of the Bitmain Ethereum ASIC Miner to the arrival of the steam shovel, a large steam-powered excavating machine which revolutionised mining and excavating. Obviously a common-or-garden GPU miner is thus likened to a gold prospector relying on his trusty spade and a can of spinach.

Read full article @ Hexus

ASUS ROG Maximus X Formula Motherboard Review

For every Intel Z-Series chipset in recent memory ROG Maximus Formula motherboards have been among the best that money could buy. Nothing appears to have changed with Intel Z370 as the latest iteration of the Formula is just as feature-packed, stylish and desirable as ever.

Read full article @ KitGuru

ASUS RT-AC86U AC2900 Wi-Fi Router Review

ASUS has been at the top of the networking market from day one. When they launched their 802.11n lineup, I had the opportunity at that time to review the "Dark Knight" or RT-N66U, I loved that router and only replaced it after the launch of 802.11ac. Today, ASUS has hundreds of routers under their belt and a router for every situation or use case.

For those of you that need raw power to handle tons of wired and wireless devices, the RT-AC5300 or ROG Rapture fits the bill. If you need modest internet over a large estate, Lyra can easily take care of your needs but for most of us a simple single node platform does the trick and late last year, ASUS announced and launched the latest, RT-AC86U.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Budget Game PC Guide - March 2018

The Hardware.Info Budget Game PC Advice has a balanced configuration for playing video games, without having to spend too much. The components have been selected to offer the best bang for your buck.

That means you cannot always expect the highest settings, resolution and frame rate, but at the same time you should be able to play all modern games in Full HD resolution without making huge concessions to either the image quality or your enjoyment of the game.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

Corsair AX1600i power supply review: the first PSU with gallium nitride transistors

Today we take a look at a new high-end power supply manufactured by Corsair, namely the AX1600i digital power supply. It immediately stands out because of its high output, but it is also the first PSU that uses gallium nitride transistors, because they are normally made of silicon. This innovation is supposed to take the efficiency to a level that we have never seen before. Can Corsair fulfill the big promises?

The AX1600i is a high-end 1600W power supply with all specifications that you expect in that segment. 80Plus Titanium, modular, a semi-passive FDB-fan and fully equipped with Japanese capacitors that have a rating of 105 °C: everything that a power supply enthusiast wants. In terms of efficiency Corsair even claims that it surpasses the specs of 80Plus Titanium by a fair amount.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

Corsair Hydro Series H115i Pro RGB 280mm Liquid CPU Cooler Review

We take a quick look at the Corsair H115i Pro RGB – It’s a liquid CPU Cooler with RGB featuring sleeved tubing and a 280mm Aluminium radiator that’s cooled by 2 x Corsair’s 140mm magnetic levitation fans for low noise. The waterblock features an all copper base with built-in SATA powered pump. It supports the downloadable Corsair Link software, which allows you to change the RGB effects as well as monitoring the temperature, and the fan and pump speeds. We decided to mount this beast of a cooler on to our tiny mini-ITX motherboard!

All-in-one (AIO) CPU coolers are getting hugely popular these days, especially among enthusiasts and gamers. Not only do they look good, but they also provide a great cooling solution for your systems. What’s more, AIOs are easy to install, cost less than a custom loop, and some even offer programmable functionality, like fan speeds, RGB effects etc.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

Deepcool Dukase Liquid Review

There is no doubt that Deepcool has been bringing some of most innovative case designs to the market in recent years. We’ve seen the likes of the Tristellar, then the Quadstellar, and now we have the Dukase Liquid. It is essentially a fairly typical mid-tower design, but with an integrated liquid cooler and flow meter. At £150, however, can it do enough to prove a worthwhile investment?

Read full article @ KitGuru

EK Fluid Gaming A120 and A240 Liquid CPU Cooling Sets Review

Bridging the gap between AIO liquid CPU coolers and complete water cooling kits the Fluid Gaming A120 and A240 liquid CPU cooling sets by EK Water Blocks are the ideal solution for people looking to get the best of both worlds.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Far Cry 5 Benchmark Performance Analysis

Far Cry 5 takes the fight to crazy Christian fundamentalists in forgotten Montana, who are just waiting for the US Government to collapse. We tested 15 cards, using today's latest GameReady drivers, with actual in-game gameplay for the most accurate picture. AMD Radeon performance results are impressive, often beating their NVIDIA counterparts substantially.

In Far Cry 5, you find yourself stranded in Hope county, Montana, a state that doesn't have the national attention it needs. White supremacist cults fueled by religion and guns run amok. At the head of one such cult is preacher (and this game's kill target) Joseph Seed, heading Project at Eden's Gate. His congregation is made up of disgruntled veterans, junkies, or just cookie-cutter a-holes. A failed attempt by the government to arrest Seed only ends up polarizing the locals and the cult, who plan a resistance movement against the government, with you caught in between.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Far Cry 5 Review: Five steps back

Far Cry 5 is a disappointment largely of Ubisoft’s own making. The publisher may well have set unrealistic expectations for the game’s story, which features a villainous cult that clearly draws from the current and complex state of the political far right in the US. After a marketing campaign that leans on evangelical and militia imagery, players could be forgiven for expecting some smart political statements (or at least biting satire) from the game. However you expected to feel about the game’s portrayal of gun culture, militias, and weaponized evangelism going in, though, you’ll probably come away let down by the game’s lack of follow-through on that promise.

Read full article @ ArsTechnica

Fractal Design Meshify C Mini review: Small(er) but just as good!

Half a year ago, Fractal Design introduced the Meshify C, a compact atx chassis designed to deliver optimum cooling performance at a reasonable price. Today this chassis gets a little brother in the shape of Fractal Design Meshify C Mini TG, with the same design and appearance, but then intended for micro-atx motherboards. 

In our review of the Meshify C we praised the case for its good cooling performance and low noise production. With its recommended price of £70 / €90, the Meshify is also very well priced. The new Meshify C Mini has exactly the same recommended price of £70 / €90. In this case, you get a chassis which is four centimetres lower for your money. It is just a tad too small to accommodate a 36 cm radiator though.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

Huawei P20, P20 Pro + P20 Lite Smartphones Revealed

Do the new *Huawei P20* and *Huawei P20 Pro* smartphones have the chops to take on Apple and Samsung? And what do the rumours say about the upcoming *Huawei P20 Lite*? Read on and find out!

Read full article @ Tech ARP

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Review

Lenovo announced its new lineup of flagship ThinkPad X1 PCs at CES. For the most part, they contain improvements upon the existing products, such as eighth-generation Intel processors and a privacy guard that's built into the webcam.

The company sent me the new X1 Carbon, and while other features like Amazon Alexa and Dolby Vision were announced, this unit contains neither of those. Alexa support will be coming later this spring, and Dolby Vision is only on the 1440p model.

But speaking of Alexa, these PCs do come with far-field voice microphones, which do support Cortana at the moment. Once Alexa arrives, you'll be able to say different wake words to use either voice assistant.

Read full article @ Neowin

Neverwinter Guide for New Level 70 Players

Companions are a great resource. They can provide buffs, healing, stat boosts, and more. To make the most of your companion, you need to do some research and ask questions to other experienced players to find what the best fit is for your character. Companion selection varies by your role. There are a LOT of companions out there to choose from! As you start out, I recommend using the best companions you come across and leveling them up as you go along.

Read full article @ OCC

Stormforce Crystal 1070 Ti PC Review

The last system we looked at from Stormforce was aimed at the £600 price point, offering great performance within its class; today we kick it up a few gears with a machine priced at over three times that; £1652.99.

The Crystal 1070 Ti packs an Intel i7 8700K processor, with 6 cores and 12 threads, overclocked to 4.8GHz. Along with that is 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a Z370 motherboard, NVMe SSD and HDD storage, and of course, the incredibly capable NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti graphics processor.

Read full article @ Vortez

Synology Insight 2018 Report

Last week Synology invited OCinside.de to the Synology Insight 2018 event in Munich. Gabiza7 visited the event for us and had a look at the latest Synology products. Even if some products were only shown behind the scenes and can therefore only be shown later, there are a few interesting NAS products on display.

Read full article @ OCinside.de

TP-Link AC2600 Wi-Fi Range Extender Review

There were not so many reviews related to data communication and networking recently, so it’s time to show something new from TP-Link. This brand is growing each year and is releasing many interesting devices which sometimes seem not so unique till we take a closer look. One of that devices is the AC2600 WiFi range extender. In this review you will find out why it’s not a typical range extender.

The package of the AC2600 range extender looks quite modern. We can see that TP-Link is improving not only products but also the package. Box is not large but it contains everything we need to install the device.

Read full article @ FunkyKit