Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

32 water coolers test: cooling without compromise
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 Benchmarks Leaked
Asus ZenBook 13 UX331UN Review: An ultraportable laptop with a knack for gaming
Best Dell Laptop in 2018
Corsair Dark Core RGB SE Review
Corsair PBT Keycap Set: Making a Great Keyboard Even Better
Far Cry 5 PC Performance Analysis
Far Cry 5 Review - Montana Is Pure Open World Bliss
Far Cry 5 Review: an American tale
Far Cry 5 Review: The best open-world shooter on Xbox One
LEPA NEOIllusion Cooler Review
Linksys VELOP Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System Review
Linux 3.17 To Linux 4.16 Kernel Benchmarks On Intel Gulftown & Haswell Hardware
Razer Nommo Chroma Speakers Review
Sennheiser CX 6.00BT Bluetooth Earphones Review
SuperMicro H11SSL-NC Server Motherboard Review
Xiaomi Mi A1 Review: A $220 iPhone clone with stock Android

32 water coolers test: cooling without compromise

We recently published a benchmarking test of a large number of air coolers for modern processors. This time it is the turn of water coolers! For this article we tested 32 ready-to-use (all-in-one) water coolers, i.e. models that are completely assembled and filled from the box. The prices of the tested kits range from around 50 pounds / 55 euros to more than three times the price. That raises the question: which water cooler to buy to cool your PC? After reading this article you will have the answer.

A water cooling system consists, in large strokes, of three components: a metal water block that is placed on the processor through which (cooled) water flows, a radiator in which the heated water cools down again and a pump that ensures that the water circulates between radiator and water block. For all-in-one water coolers such as those tested here, the pump is usually integrated in the water block mounted on the processor.

Read full article @ Hardware.Info

AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 Benchmarks Leaked

SiSoftware was one of the few companies to receive early samples of the 2nd Generation Ryzen processors. They tested both Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 processors, and inadvertently leaked their benchmark results and performance findings.

They have since removed their leaked performance evaluation of the Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600, but the Internet never forgets. So we present to you – the leaked benchmark results and findings of the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X and Ryzen 5 2600 processors!

Read full article @ TechARP

Asus ZenBook 13 UX331UN Review: An ultraportable laptop with a knack for gaming

Yes, you can scoop up a faster 8th-generation Intel quad-core ultraportable than the $1,000 Asus ZenBook 13, but good luck finding one with a discrete graphics core, perfect for Photoshop-minded professionals or casual gamers craving on-the-go Fortnite or Dota 2. A solid array of ports, a snappy keyboard and impressive battery life round out the enticing (if fingerprint-prone) package.

We tested the $1,000 royal-blue version of the ZenBook 13, which comes with a 13.3-inch touch display, an 8th-generation quad-core Intel Core i5-8250U processor, discrete Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive.

Read full article @ PC World

Best Dell Laptop in 2018

It's pretty well known by this point how much we love the Dell XPS line, and the updated XPS 13 9370 model (starting at about $1,000) makes things smaller and more powerful. The 13.3-inch display has thinner bezels and is available in 1080p or 4K touch, eighth-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors (CPU) bring four cores of power, and the smaller body is available in a white and gold color combination along with the original carbon fiber version. Toss in a battery that still lasts a workday and you have one slick little device.

Read full article @ Windows Central

Corsair Dark Core RGB SE Review

High-end wireless gaming mice under £100 are a rare thing - can this Corsair model compete with the best? This new wireless mouse from Corsair forms part of a broader wireless peripherals push off the back of CES 2018. The Dark Core RGB is available for £85 for the normal version or £95 for this SE one, with the only difference being added support for wireless Qi charging for the SE.

Qi charging is incorporated, unsurprisingly, into the Corsair MM1000 mousepad that was announced at the same time. We show it below purely because we were sent a sample, but it is sold separately to the mouse and is not a focus of this review.

Read full article @ Bit-Tech

Corsair PBT Keycap Set: Making a Great Keyboard Even Better

So, you’ve bought yourself a nice Corsair mechanical keyboard. Life is good, right? What if I told you there was a way to make that keyboard even better? Well, there is with Corsair’s own PBT keycap set. $50 might seem expensive for a replacement set of caps, so we took a close look to see just what this DIY mod has to offer.

Here’s the thing, keycaps are kind of a niche thing to care about. For most of us, it’s not something you really think of. Corsair knows this and with this PBT set, they’re hoping to open your eyes. See, even though keycaps are one of those things gamers usually don’t think about, it’s something the mechanical keyboard cared deeply about for years: quality keycaps can make a big difference in how good your keyboard feels to use. Once you use a high-end set of caps, suddenly it’s something you do think about.

Read full article @ MMORPG

Far Cry 5 PC Performance Analysis

Far Cry 5 is built on the Dunia Engine, and as you can see above, there are a few graphics options to tinker with, but not as many as some other AAA games.

For benchmarking Far Cry 5, we used the in-built benchmark which proved to be very consistent and reliable – I would go as far as to say it is probably the best baked-in game benchmark I have ever used in terms of its consistency. After playing through the story mode for a couple of hours, I can also say that the benchmark figures closely resemble real-world in-game performance as well.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Far Cry 5 Review - Montana Is Pure Open World Bliss

Quietly behind the scenes of Hope County, Montana, a religious zealot has been amassing power and forming a cult so strong, that even the US Government has little chance of taking it down. Project at Eden’s Gate and its followers, colloquially known as Peggies, have been making life a bit of a hell for the citizens that don’t wish to join its ranks. The leader of the cult, Father Joseph Seed, marks one of the Far Cry series’ most believable bad guys, a charismatic leader whose sins he wears proudly upon his flesh. Far Cry 5 marks the series return in a few years and the setting couldn’t possibly be closer to home.

The open fields and wooded back-paths of Hope County, Montana are best explored with a partner, and even if you’re not the social type of player to hop online, there’s always someone that’s got your back. As the Deputy, you’re going to need as much help as you can get to stand a chance against the PEG elite. Accompanying the Deputy can be one or two Guns for Hire, a new system that’s been implemented into Far Cry 5, giving the player incredible freedom to deciding whether to balance their fighting style or take some squadmates that complement each other nicely.

Read full article @ Wccftech

Far Cry 5 Review: an American tale

Ubisoft Montreal’s open-world shooter playground returns with a nightmarish skew on the American dream. If you’ve played either of the recent numbered entries in Ubisoft Montreal's open-world franchise, much of Far Cry 5’s DNA will be familiar right from the off. You’ll use stealth and all out warfare to defeat a seemingly endless army of militant fanatics; you’ll help a homegrown Resistance slowly reclaim their home from said encroaching cult; you’ll then complete myriad missions to earn extra cash, while using a garage full of vehicles to get from firefight A to firefight B. So far so Far Cry.

However, in an effort to address some of the tropes that have hampered the series for years, the Canadian developer has made some significant changes to that recognizable formula. Some enhance the open-world shooter for the better, but some actively replace one problematic element with an another.

Read full article @ TechRadar

Far Cry 5 Review: The best open-world shooter on Xbox One

Far Cry has become a staple open-world shooter series in recent years, but with Far Cry 4, I had felt like there was a real danger of the series becoming stale. Thankfully, like Far Cry Primal, Far Cry 5 continues Ubisoft's recent efforts to keep things fresh.

Far Cry as a series has never really taken itself too seriously. It's a sandbox adventure series known for truly psychotic villains, Hollywood-style over-the-top action, with guerrilla-style stealth combat. Far Cry 5 fully embraces what the series does best with a confidence lacking in previous titles.

Simply put, this is probably the best open world games you can possibly play on Xbox One today. Here is our Far Cry 5 review.

Read full article @ Windows Central

LEPA NEOIllusion Cooler Review

The NEOIllusion comes packaged with an impressive assortment of mounting hardware, which covers many current and legacy Intel and AMD processors, although AMD AM4 and TR4 are not currently supported. The cooler is mounted and supported by back plates, crossbars, and standoffs, like many tower coolers of similar design.

Power for the 120x25mm cooling fan is provided via 4-pin PWM, and it can employ the included PWM speed-reduction adapter to allow the cooler to always operate at lowered noise levels; we tested without it. The cooler tower itself houses multi-color LEDs powered by a separate 3-pin fan adapter, although only the two power leads are used and can be powered by a motherboard header or an included 3-pin-to-Molex adapter.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Linksys VELOP Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System Review

The Linksys VELOP mesh system is quite innovative, very easy to configure via the mobile application but also very stylish looking; its main purpose is to offer full wireless signal in the whole house at optimal speeds and besides the wireless connectivity it does also come with two Gigabit LAN ports for linking wired stations (such as printers, desktops, consoles, TVs and so on). Right after we have realized the setup procedure on the initial node which acts as a main router, the rest of the nodes will be added in a very simple manner, picking up the configuration automatically. If we connect to the main node and perform changes such as a new SSID name/password, the new changes will be automatically sent to the secondary and third nodes in a few minutes, without any user intervention. The mobile application is also able to change the name of the nodes (depending on the room we have them in or other custom names) or we can perform a Wi-Fi channel scan so the mesh system will move itself to the less occupied channel.

Read full article @ Mad Shrimps

Linux 3.17 To Linux 4.16 Kernel Benchmarks On Intel Gulftown & Haswell Hardware

Our latest benchmarking of the near-final Linux 4.16 kernel is checking on the performance of two Intel systems going back to the days of Linux 3.17, the oldest kernel that would successfully boot with the Ubuntu 18.04 user-space. Every major kernel release was tested as we see how the Linux kernel performance has evolved on these Haswell and Gulftown systems since October 2014.

The older system in use was an Intel Core i7 990X, formerly known as Gulftown and was a high-end CPU back in 2011 with its six cores / 12 threads and a 3.46GHz base frequency and 3.73GHz turbo frequency and support for three memory channels. This system with the MSI X58M motherboard was running with 12GB of RAM and a PNY CS1211 128GB SSD.

Read full article @ Phoronix

Razer Nommo Chroma Speakers Review

Chroma. Somehow, it and the Razer brand seem to be slowly infiltrating my life. It all started a few years back when I bought a pair of Razer Tiamat 7.1 gaming headphones. Mostly because I had come back to PC gaming and have been known to be a bit of an audio/home cinema guy in the past and figured I’d give multi-channel on head a try. Unfortunately my initial brush with “The Cult of Razer” wasn’t a great one and I ended up giving the headphones to a friend. Discrete multi-channel on the head wasn’t good and I’ve since settled on single driver headphones for my gaming needs.

But since that initial purchase, I’ve come into contact with Razer increasingly in the last few years and aside from that one ignominious pair of headphones, I’ve genuinely liked a lot of their other products, to such an extent that my phone is now a Razer Phone (pending the RED Hydrogen One launch), my wife has a Razer Blade Stealth, I regularly use a Razer Wildcat controller for gaming and now I’m sitting here reviewing the new Razer Nommo Chroma speakers.

Read full article @ Wccftech

Sennheiser CX 6.00BT Bluetooth Earphones Review

The Sennheiser CX 6.00BT scores well on specifications and looks good on paper, but the sound quality has considerable room for improvement.

I was recently at a Christmas party when I asked my friend who oversaw the equipment whether I could play some music over the speaker system. "Of course," my friend replied. "It is all yours after this song." A few minutes later, I dropped by the booth again as he moved aside to hand me control of the station. When I picked up the cord with the 3.5mm auxiliary audio jack to plug it into my phone, I quickly realized I forgot something. "Actually, I cannot DJ anything," I said. "I have an iPhone X." My friend laughed as he switched the input back to his device. Ever since the birth of the iPhone 7, there has been considerable controversy in the consumer world on whether the removal of the headphone jack was justified or not. For me personally, I argued it was a good thing; we cannot stick to legacy technology forever instead of moving on to more convenient industry-standard interfaces like Bluetooth. Even when I had an iPhone 6, I rarely used the 3.5mm jack. For headphones, I used the excellent V-MODA Crossfade Wireless and later, the Crossfade II Wireless. In the rare occasions I used earphones, I used the Focal Spark Wireless. Thanks to Apple's push of wireless technology in their phones, more audio manufacturers are producing Bluetooth earphones. As such, today, we have yet another set of wireless earphones in our labs. The Sennheiser CX 6.00BT is the company's latest addition to their vast portfolio of audio products for about $100 at press time. How will it compare to other similar priced in-ear monitors like the Focal Spark Wireless? Read on to find out!

Read full article @ APH Networks

SuperMicro H11SSL-NC Server Motherboard Review

Today I will look at a server from SuperMicro, one of the best known white box server motherboard vendors. The H11SSL-NC utilizes no chipset. Instead, it supports all the features of AMD's new EPYC line of enterprise CPUs, which actually integrates the chipset into the CPU package.

AMD's new EPYC CPUs are real beasts; they support 128 PCI-E lanes, 8-channel memory, and up to 32 cores and 64 threads. With such high amounts of cores, features, and compactness EPYC CPUs are poised to re-awaken AMD's competitiveness in the enterprise marketplace. Let's see how SuperMicro's new motherboard gets along with AMD's new EPYC CPU.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Xiaomi Mi A1 Review: A $220 iPhone clone with stock Android

Xiaomi's first Android One phone is a winner, provided you can handle the LTE bands. While Xiaomi keeps pushing back its attempts to get a serious foothold in the US, it's still fun to take a look at one of their phones once in a while. Today, we're looking at one of the highest-profile Android One devices out there, the Xiaomi Mi A1. With this phone, you get Xiaomi's typically great (if unoriginal) hardware with a mostly unaltered build of Android, which makes for a pretty awesome combo, especially for the low, low price of $220.

Xiaomi phones are often pretty difficult to purchase, but this phone, as part of the Android One program, is getting a rollout to more than 40 countries, along with a bit of a push from Google itself. None of those countries is officially the United States, but the Mi A1 is just a click away on Amazon. The problem you'll run into is with the LTE compatibility, but with band 4 it is partially compatible with T-Mobile and, if you're lucky, some Verizon and AT&T signals. There's also always Wi-Fi.

Read full article @ ArsTechnica