Here a roundup of the latest reviews and articles:

ACER Predator X34 Curved G-Sync Gaming Display Review
Alienware Steam Machine Review: Dell's SteamOS Console Competitor
ASRock G10 Gaming Router Review
Asus Strix RAID DLX 7.1 sound card review
BIOSTAR GAMING Z170X Review
Cooler Master MasterCase 5 Chassis Review
Cooler Master MasterCase 5 Review
Corsair Hydro H80i GT / H100i GTX review: sexy watercoolers
D-Link DXS-1210-12TC 12-Port 10GBASE-T Web Smart Switch Review
Dell XPS 13 (2015) Review
Fallout 4: tested with 22 GPUs
G.SKILL RIPJAWS SR910 Real 7.1 Gaming Headset Review
HP Spectre X2 Review: A Core m Powered Surface Alternative
IN WIN 909 Full-Tower Case Preview
NVIDIA Quadro M4000 Review
Origin PC Omega Review: Powerful mini-ITX gaming
Patriot Viper V560 Gaming Laser Mouse & V760 Gaming Keyboard Review
PowerColor Devil HDX Sound Card Review
Rantopad MXX Gaming Mechanical Keyboard Review
Scythe Ninja 4 CPU Cooler Review
Synology DiskStation DS1515+ NAS Review
Synology DS216se 2-Bay Entry-Level and Cloud NAS Review
System Builder Marathon Q4 2015: $895 LAN Box PC
Thermaltake Suppressor F31 ATX Chassis Review
U-Tec Ultraloq UL3 Smart Lock Review
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Is Continuing To Prep ZFS Support
Vibox Defcon 3 Red Gaming PC Review
Windows 10 installed on over 200 million devices, says report
XTracGear Carbonic XL Mousing Surface Review

ACER Predator X34 Curved G-Sync Gaming Display Review

If you are looking for a curved monitor with NVIDIA G-Sync support the Acer Predator X34 might be exactly what you are looking for. This monster 34-inch curved display sports an IPS panel with a 3440x1440 screen resolution for a 21:9 aspect ratio. The monitors default 60Hz refresh rate might not be anything to get excited about, but Acer is letting users overclock the panel up to 100Hz if DispalyPort video input is used to help cut down on motion blur. Read on to see how this monitor performs!

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Alienware Steam Machine Review: Dell's SteamOS Console Competitor

Dell's Alienware Steam Machine is under the microscope today. In partnership with several leading PC makers, Valve has finally taken their often-talked about Steam Machine with custom SteamOS to market, promising the depth and precision of PC gaming driven by a purpose-built operating system, that offers a standardized platform similar to a tried and true "just push play" console gaming experience.

The Alienware Steam Machine seems like just the thing for PC gamers looking for a simpler way to game without a lot of fuss and configuration. The Steam Machine is a PC-based set top box that functions as a dedicated portal into the Steam digital marketplace, where players can download or stream games and media just as you would using Steam on your desktop PC...

Read full article @ HotHardware.com

ASRock G10 Gaming Router Review

When searching for an optimal lag-free solution for online gaming, buyers typically go towards wired internet solutions since they tend to offer the best bandwidth and connection uptime. However, with the advent of 5GHz Wireless AC, WiFi has come all that much closer to achieving what gamers need and companies have begun to take advantage of that fact with new so-called “gaming grade” routers. While products from ASUS, Netgear and Linksys are the most visible in today’s market, ASRock is now introducing their own unique option: the G10 Gaming Router.

ASRock is a company known for their outside the box thinking and value-oriented mindset. Before many other companies jumped on the whole gaming motherboard bandwagon ASRock was there. When DDR3 was expensive but DDR2 was cheap, ASRock was there with innovative solutions that granted the ability to use older memory on newer systems. Basically if there is a company known for thinking so far outside the box that you can no longer even see the box it is ASRock. One thing they are not known for is their networking solutions which is why the G10 may feel like a breath of fresh air.

Today’s wireless router marketplace is not exactly bereft of excellent choices so in order to not just get noticed, but actually make a dent in the likes of Linksys, D-Link, and ASUS’ bottom-line ASRock has pulled out all the stops and included a lot of nifty features usually not seen in a consumer-grade router.

Read full article @ Hardware Canucks

Asus Strix RAID DLX 7.1 sound card review

When it comes to building a gaming PC these days, a high-end sound card is likely pretty far down on your list of priorities. However, if you are serious about audio and want to get the best out of your speakers or high-end headphones, then you will find that your average on-board audio solution won’t cut it. Today, we are taking a look at the Asus Strix RAID DLX, their flagship sound card, offering full support for 7.1 surround sound, along with a headphone DAC and amplifier to enhance your listening experience.

Read full article @ KitGuru

BIOSTAR GAMING Z170X Review

BIOSTAR has been manufacturing motherboards since the mid-80s, yet their focus has been in countries other than Europe and many enthusiasts will probably be unfamiliar with their products. Whilst they may not be deemed a top-tier motherboard manufacturer for the enthusiast market, they do offer a combination of solid features and good value for money.

We’ve already reviewed a series of Intel Z170 motherboards from a variety of different brands but today we’ll be turning to BIOSTAR for a detailed look at what the GAMING Z170X has to offer.

Read full article @ Vortez

Cooler Master MasterCase 5 Chassis Review

Personalization and innovation, this is the vision of Cooler Master by bringing you the MasterCase 5. This ATX mid-tower is appealing from the box in. The concept brought to us in the MasterCase is that Cooler Master wants your chassis to look and function under your complete control. In our opinion it’s a big step in the right direction.

Read full article @ TechnologyX

Cooler Master MasterCase 5 Review

Cooler Master was a name brand when it came to PC Cases, their HAF and Cosmos series of cases were brand names to builders. Over the past few years though heavy competition and innovation from newer brands has sort of made Cooler Master an afterthought when it comes to cases. Well they want to change your mind with their brand new MasterCase series, which is made up of the MasterCase 5 and MasterCase Pro 5. Cooler Master says this new case series has the “Maker Spirit” inside, meaning that no matter your setup you can “Make it Yours”. Today we will be taking a look at the MasterCase 5, which is the entry-level case in the series currently. This case has everything you will need to build the perfect system like room for water cooling, 4 hard drives, plenty of cable routing holes, and more. Let’s jump in and see what this case is all about!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Corsair Hydro H80i GT / H100i GTX review: sexy watercoolers

A few months ago we published a big comparison test of seventeen AIO liquid coolers. Since then Corsair, a big contender in this market, launched two new high-end models: the H80i GT and the H100i GTX. With their new design the 120mm- and 240mm-kits can compete with other high-end models for a while to come. We find out if Corsair is able to beat our favourite, the NZXT Kraken X61.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

D-Link DXS-1210-12TC 12-Port 10GBASE-T Web Smart Switch Review

As a review site, we need to keep our testing equipment above or at least on the same level as the hardware that we test in order to provide you with relevant reviews and in that regards we’ve just upgraded our network test are with new 10 Gbps equipment. Among the new devices is the D-Link DXS-1210-12TC 10 Gigabit Ethernet Smart Switch that I’m taking a closer look at today.

In order to test this switch I need two systems with 10 Gbps capabilities and four CAT7 cables and below you see all but the one network card as that is onboard in one of my test systems. In my opinion, we have been stuck at Gigabit level for way too long and 10 Gigabit Ethernet is slowly starting to make an entry. It is starting to become more affordable which allows SMBs and enthusiasts to enter an area of the market that previously was limited to enterprise and large corporations.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Dell XPS 13 (2015) Review

An Intel Skylake CPU makes this slimline, UHD+ laptop even better

Read full article @ The Inquirer

Fallout 4: tested with 22 GPUs

he long-anticipated successor of Fallout 3 was finally released two weeks ago: Fallout 4 is here. Just like its predecessors, it's a post-apocalyptic open-world RPG. We tested 22 different GPUs with this game, and we also checked out how well the game runs on two GPUs and a multi-core processor.

You play as a new person in a new year and location in every Fallout game. Fallout 3 took place in Washington D.C., while Fallout 4 is set in Boston and the surrounding area. The story of Fallout 4 begins in the year 2077, when you are put into a cryogenic chamber in an underground bunker at the start of a nuclear war. After 210 years have passed, you escape the facility, but all of the other people who were also in cryogenic storage are now dead. When you wake up, you have to investigate the strange events that took place while you were in storage, and seek revenge.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

G.SKILL RIPJAWS SR910 Real 7.1 Gaming Headset Review

We're rounding up our reviews on G.SKILL's new RIPJAWS gaming peripherals with a quick look at a pair of headsets with lots of promising features. We've already reviewed the MX780 mouse and the KM780 mechanical keyboard both which notably crammed lots of high-end feature favorites at competitive high-end pricing. The RIPJAWS SR910 real 7.1 headset, which this review focuses on, appears to follow that same principle. The sister SV710 virtual 7.1 headset will be the subject of its own upcoming article....

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

HP Spectre X2 Review: A Core m Powered Surface Alternative

When Microsoft first launched its Surface line of products, it caused quite a stir in the mobile PC market. It may have taken a couple of iterations to get things dialed in to the point they are today, but simply entering the market with its own branded hardware put Microsoft in the position of essentially competing with its partners. Microsoft had a specific vision for the future of Windows-based mobile products, however, and decided to develop hardware that embodied that vision.

Now that we’re a few years removed from the introduction of the original Surface and Surface Pro, it’s clear that Microsoft’s vision has merit, and now virtually all of the company’s major OEM partners are producing at least a few machines that were partially influenced by the Surface. The product we will be showing you here today, HP’s Spectre X2 is as similar a machine to the Surface Pro what we have seen to date. The form factor, detachable keyboard design, kickstand and overall look at feel of the machine are very “Surface-like”. But HP has made some well thought-out changes and packed the machine with different hardware, and the end result is rather interesting...

Read full article @ HotHardware.com

IN WIN 909 Full-Tower Case Preview

Last month we introduced the marvelous IN WIN 805 enclosure. For those that are not familiar with this Taiwanese company here's a small snippet from the previous article: IN WIN is one of those manufacturers which really continues to innovate. Last year they stole the Computex show with their highly acclaimed S-Frame, an open air chassis made from a single sheet of aluminum. This year at Computex they surprised friend and foe again with the H-frame case -> compare it with a hydraulic operated transformer case. Many of their prototypes and retail products have won lots of awards at many international trade shows. If you want to house your precious hardware in a luxurious case, have a look at the IN WIN catalog. Today we are taking a look at one of their latest breath taking case solutions, the IN WIN 909 Full-tower case.

Read full article @ Madshrimps

NVIDIA Quadro M4000 Review

The NVIDIA Quadro M4000 has been out since August, but as the successor to the K4200, it’s the flagship mainstream professional graphics card. So we are reviewing it here to show how it compares to its predecessor (and the higher-end K5200). In terms of specification, it’s another step forward, despite having a similar £777 inc VAT price.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Origin PC Omega Review: Powerful mini-ITX gaming

The Origin PC Omega is a small, quiet gaming machine that comes in a few different shapes, all of which are based on Silverstone’s great line of mini-ITX SFF cases. Our review unit is built on the slim desktop design of the Silverstone RVZ01, which houses an overclocked Skylake Intel Core i7-6700K and a full-sized Geforce GTX Titan X graphics card.

Read full article @ TechSpot

Patriot Viper V560 Gaming Laser Mouse & V760 Gaming Keyboard Review

Patriot is stepping into the peripheral gaming realm and with a venomous bite at that. Launching the Viper series, Patriot has made it easy to impress your gaming appetite or if you are out still shopping for that boxing day deal, look no further!

Read full article @ TechnologyX

PowerColor Devil HDX Sound Card Review

Welcome to another sound card review from the Guru3D sound labs. Today on the slab is the latest sound card from PowerColor, who need no introduction from their line of video cards, and it’s a beast. I know you’re thinking PowerColor must’ve had their headphones on too tight when they thought of branching out into the sound card market, and you might be right. There are a lot of good sound cards, the Xonars and Sound Blasters, but PowerColor didn’t just put out a luke-warm offering, no they slaughtered the lamb (proverbially, I assume) and went full high end. Let’s meet the PowerColor Devil HDX.

The PowerColor Devil HDX is a native PCI Express sound card built around CMedia’s CMI8888 APU and a Wolfson WM8741 DAC, delivering 192KHz, 24-bit, audio quality, and a long list of high-end features that should perk the ears of the most jaded PC sound enthusiast. Features like the full-sized ¼” (6.3mm) headphone jack, 600 Ohm rated OpAmp, and a soul eating, dark black 124dB SNR, make for a very tasty elixir of capabilities.

Read full article @ Guru3D

Rantopad MXX Gaming Mechanical Keyboard Review

Despite the fact that the Rantopad MXX does not feature software for additional configuration purposes, we were quite impressed with the build quality of the keyboard, while the compact (TKL) size and space-grade aluminum cover give the product a professional look. MXX does come for now with Gateron Black or Blue switches (and aluminum covers in blue or dark grey), but in the future we will also see white and red variants introduced and a much wider switch selection, including Cherry MX RGB switches.

Read full article @ Madshrimps

Scythe Ninja 4 CPU Cooler Review

Scythe has really made a name for themselves in the DIY PC cooling market since being founded back in 2002. Over the years they have had some really great CPU coolers, many which we have reviewed. The Ninja series has primarily been reserved for the top of the line coolers from Scythe and the cooler we have on the review block today definitely fits that bill. It is the Ninja 4, which is the 4th major revision of the famous Ninja cooler. This very large CPU cooler features 4 heatsink stacks, 6 heatpipes, and a 120 mm cooling fan. Can it compete with some of the other larger CPU coolers out there? Read on as we find out!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Synology DiskStation DS1515+ NAS Review

Does it fully live up to my expectations from Just Cause 2? Not quite and that is mainly for three reasons. The first is the quirk with the missiles needing to be spam-clicked. While I do not hold that quirk against the game on its own, it is enough of a wrinkle to miss the totality of my hope. The second is how some things are locked behind the mods, especially some of the tether enhancements. By the time I had unlocked the mods that gave additional tethers, and importantly stronger tethers, I had already found my groove and felt no desire to change it during fights. Of course now I can go back and replay select military bases and experiment as I wish, without hurting my progression, but having some of that sooner would have been nice. Finally, the planted explosives you have an unlimited supply of take long enough to place that I found their use to be limited, at least during open combat.

Read full article @ OCC

Synology DS216se 2-Bay Entry-Level and Cloud NAS Review

I’ve reviewed quite a few high-end NAS lately and that isn’t the right match for everyone, maybe because you just have a limited budget or you just don’t need more. Today I’m taking a closer look at the Synology DS216se, a budget friendly 2-bay NAS that allows you to set up your own personal cloud for your files and backups as well as serving as traditional NAS for file storage and media streaming.

The Synology DS216se isn’t just a budget-friendly NAS when you purchase it, it keeps being a cost-effective NAS thanks to the low power consumption of just 14 watts while accessing and 5 watts when the hard drives go into sleep mode. You can further lower the running costs with the new scheduled power on and off feature. After all, there is no need to have the NAS running when you don’t need it.

Read full article @ eTeknix

System Builder Marathon Q4 2015: $895 LAN Box PC

Last quarter, I chose to forgo traditional CPU/GPU balance ideas, and was rewarded with superb triple-screen gaming for only $800. This quarter, I have no budget limits.

Read full article @ Toms Hardware

Thermaltake Suppressor F31 ATX Chassis Review

By far one of the most spacious and modular cases we’ve reviewed in a while. This chassis was built for those who do things a little different from the norm. Extremely customizable and fun to build with, buckle up while we talk about Thermaltake’s new Suppressor F31 case.

Read full article @ TechnologyX

U-Tec Ultraloq UL3 Smart Lock Review

I have had poor results with early generation smart locks – the kind you control from a Bluetooth-enabled phone – so when U-Tec offered Benchmark Reviews the opportunity to review their new Ultraloq UL3 Smart Lock, I jumped at the chance. Rather than using your phone, the Ultraloq UL3 offers access through an electronic keypad and an integrated fingerprint reader. In this article, I test the features of this lock and put it to work on a real door.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Is Continuing To Prep ZFS Support

This year the open-source NVIDIA Linux driver (Nouveau) continued to evolve with improvements for re-clocking, the start of OpenGL 4 support, and other new functionality. Here's a recap along with some performance benchmarks showing how the OpenGL performance evolved over the past 12 months.

Over 2015 the Nouveau NVC0 driver for Fermi and newer GPUs received OpenGL 4.1 support along with various other OpenGL 4 extensions. This reverse-engineered, community-based driver is basically on par right now with the RadeonSI Gallium3D driver for OpenGL 4 support and actually beat RadeonSI to exposing OpenGL 4.1. The Nouveau driver stack also made other progress this year when it comes to working on compute/OpenCL support, texture compression (including ETC2 and ASTC), video acceleration, and other features.

With the Linux 4.2 kernel there was the big DRM driver rework to restructure the code and offer improvements going forward. The Nouveau user-space recently landed the support for using the new kernel interfaces to enhance the driver's design, lower memory use, and faster GPU virtual memory.

Read full article @ Phoronix

Vibox Defcon 3 Red Gaming PC Review

Selecting any pre-configured PC can be a daunting experience especially if the end-user feels overwhelmed by the huge array of options. Thankfully, Vibox is one of the leading system builders in the industry and adopts a basic scoring system to help novices gauge the suitability of each configuration. More specifically, the company even outlines typical gaming performance and quantifies the difference between each specification in a transparent manner. This is an essential tool to put people at ease and ensure they purchase the right system for their personal requirements.

Recently, we reviewed the Vibox Element X Green and couldn’t believe how well it performed in a number of demanding games for the price point. Out of all the systems so far, it’s probably the best value proposition I’ve seen and the perfect choice for a console gamer trying out PC gaming for the first time. However, the system’s CPU performance was inhibited somewhat by its AMD FX-6300 processor and wasn’t ideal for non-gaming workloads. The beauty of PC hardware means you can prioritize CPU performance, memory capacity, or graphical grunt. Although, it’s important to create a balanced system and eliminate any bottlenecks.

Vibox decided to send out for review purposes the Defcon 3, which features an Intel 6500 quad-core processor, 8GB DDR4 2800MHz memory and GTX 950 2GB. This basic setup is accompanied by an Aerocool 500 watt 80+ Bronze power supply, 120GB solid state drive, Thermaltake closed-looped liquid cooler, and 1TB data drive. The package is housed in the highly acclaimed, Corsair Carbide Spec-01 chassis and backed by a lifetime support service. As you can see, this particular build opts for a better CPU and lower-end graphics solution. As a result, it will be fascinating to see how it compares to the Element X, and I expect it to perform much better in synthetic benchmarking tasks.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Windows 10 installed on over 200 million devices, says report

This is a significant milestone for Microsoft's latest OS to reach before we hit 2016.

Read full article @ Hexus

XTracGear Carbonic XL Mousing Surface Review

When it comes to shopping, there is always one thing I do when I walk into clothing stores, and this is to head all the way to the back. This is because all the clearance items are generally in this area of the store. Call me cheap, but these products are really only here because they have gone out of season, and there is no blemish with the build. Unfortunately, there are multiple problems accompanying this choice. For one, a lot of other people do the same thing, so it can get quite crowded. Secondly, the clearance prices are not always great, and generally do not stack with current promotions. Thus, you might be spending more for older products. However, the biggest issue in my opinion is the lack of sizing. While you may find a style and article of clothing you like, it generally is on either ends of the spectrum for sizes, and therefore, it is either too big or too small. With me being quite average in terms of proportions, I cannot usually find a good clearance item, since everything I wear is practically medium. As you know, like many other statistics, people sizes follow the normal curve, with majority of people falling in the middle. When XTracGear called us up and told us they had another Carbonic for review, I was curious as to see what they would do. For one, we already had their original Carbonic, as well as their updated XXL version, so I thought they had covered all their bases. Today, they sent us the extra large version. Despite its name, this Carbonic XL is more like a medium, slotting in between the two aforementioned versions. Did XTracGear pull it off, creating the figurative baby bear solution of not being too big or too small, and fitting for the majority crowd? And furthermore, did they change up the formula of the Carbonic? This review will hopefully reveal more than these questions, so let us continue on and find out!

Read full article @ APH Networks