Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

CM Storm Mizar, TteSports Saphira and Balista MK-1 Head-to-Head Mouse Review
Convert Windows XP to a virtual machine with VirtualXP
Entry-level PC August 2014
Intel Octacore i7-5960X Haswell-E Review Part I
Tweak Windows 8 specific settings with ModernUI Tuner

CM Storm Mizar, TteSports Saphira and Balista MK-1 Head-to-Head Mouse Review

Normally when I test mice I do them one per review, but today I though it would be even more fun to put three of them head-to-head to erm head. We’ve got three great low-to-mid budget gaming mice with us today that I’ll be putting to the test, the TteSports Saphira, the Ballista MK-1 and the CM Storm Mizar. Each have their own strengths and weaknesses and today I’ll be finding out just what they are, what kind of gaming their best suited for and of course what they’re like to use in general day to day situations.

All three mice have proven popular choices with PC gamers and if you’re on the market for a new mouse, then there is a good chance that you’re looking within a price range similar to that of these three products, with a similar feature set. My goal is to help you find the mouse that is right for you and show you just what you can get for your money. Is one of these mice greater than all of the others, or is one better suited to MMO while another suited to FPS? There is only one way to find out! So let’s take a closer look at each then crack on with some gaming tests to see what they can do.

First up we have the MK-1 which comes equipped with the popular Avago ADNS-9800 8200 DPI Laser Sensor, ten buttons, right hand ergonomics and a fixed 1.5mm lift-off.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Convert Windows XP to a virtual machine with VirtualXP

Microsoft abandoned Windows XP some months ago and while some users moved on to other operating systems, others are still running windows XP.

The main issue here is that Microsoft won't release official security patches for the operating system anymore which leaves it vulnerable to exploits discovered after end of support.

There is a way to get security updates still, but those are not designed for XP but for POS systems that are still supported by Microsoft until 2019. While based on the same core, it is more of a last resort for users who cannot switch to another operating system.

Read full article @ gHacks

Entry-level PC August 2014

Our guidelines for the Entry-level PC category are as follows. The entire computer system, excluding OS, should not exceed £420. Its primary, but not only, function is to provide a smooth and enjoyable online experience. This means that the cheapest processors won’t be enough, as modern web pages and internet applications do demand some processing power.

Additionally, the system has to be able to efficiently perform internet-related tasks. This includes basic photo editing (cropping and resizing to upload or send a photo) and extracting compressed files. At the same time the necessary background programmes need to be active, such as a virus scanner, a firewall, and anti-spyware software. The computer also needs to be able to efficiently run word processing software and administrative programmes.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

Intel Octacore i7-5960X Haswell-E Review Part I

August 29, 2014 the launch date of another of Intel's finest desktop processors. This time the enthusiast range gets a complete overhaul! Bye bye Ivy Bridge-E, welcome 22nm successor Haswell-E and it is more than a new processor architecture; DDR4 memory support is finally here. Now in contradiction to other launch articles and due to time constraints the exploring of Intel's latest marvel will be spread out over a few parts. Having just received the sample from Intel a few days back it was nearly impossible to properly explore the new architecture. First of all our official Intel sample was lost for over a week in the Benelux Bermuda Triangle; secondly the main motherboard manufacturer which promised us a board for this article had hardly any sample stock. This Haswell-E launch seemed a bit doomed from the start. So in Part 1 we will just provide you with a quick comparison versus the previous generations we have in the MadShrimps Lab. Enlighten you with some insights on how the brand new DDR4 memory behaves versus the high end Quad Channel DDR3 counterparts. More testing is in progress and results will be covered in upcoming updates.

Read full article @ Madshrimps

Tweak Windows 8 specific settings with ModernUI Tuner

The integration of the Start Screen interface in Windows 8 introduced several new features that were not present in previous versions of Windows.

While it appears that Microsoft will remove some of the options in desktop versions of the upcoming Windows 9 operating system, it is likely that they will remain more or less the same for touch-based systems.

ModernUI Tuner is a free program for Windows by WinAero that gives you options to tweak those settings to your liking.

Read full article @ gHacks