Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including Four Z87 Express Motherboards For Three- And Four-Way SLI, GIGABYTE G1-Killer Sniper 5 Z87 Gaming Motherboard Reviewed, A first look at Nvidia's G-Sync display tech, Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD Review (500GB) Exceptional Performance in a Large mSATA Capacity, and iPad Air vs Nexus 10 head to head review



Four Z87 Express Motherboards For Three- And Four-Way SLI @ Tom's Hardware

Formerly a very exclusive component, the PCI Express switch that makes Intel?s LGA 1150-based platforms three- and four-way SLI-capable is now available across a range of high-end motherboards. Today we compare four premium enthusiast-oriented models.

Read more: Four Z87 Express Motherboards For Three- And Four-Way SLI @ Tom's Hardware

GIGABYTE G1-Killer Sniper 5 Z87 Gaming Motherboard Reviewed @ Futurelooks

What makes a motherboard a gaming platform? Simply stated, it has to offer more than fancy colors, packaging, and clever marketing labels. The features and components should be designed to improve or create a better than standard gaming experience. For motherboards, this is a difficult challenge because it requires serious quality control to ensure proper implementation of gaming specific features and that will normally mean premium price for premium features.

When the GIGABYTE G1-Killer Sniper 2 (Z68) arrived, it did that quite well offering an array of features including high quality audio and networking. But the GIGABYTE G1-Killer Sniper 5 promises to provide even more with a true gamer theme. Read on to see how this new board stacks up to an in depth inspection.

Read more: GIGABYTE G1-Killer Sniper 5 Z87 Gaming Motherboard Reviewed @ Futurelooks

D-Link DGL-5500 Gaming Router AC1300 Review @ HiTech Legion

In New England if you don’t like the weather wait ten minutes. At least that’s is what it seems like at times, it can be 60 degrees one day and then 20 degrees the next day. January means winter, so there are more cold days than warm ones. Many of us just want to chill out on the couch and watch a good movie. I am finding that it is more common to stream a movie off the internet, rather than finding a physical disc, even if the physical disc offers the best viewing experience. With that said I think that most of us have experience slow stuttering frames or sound that is not in sync.

Wouldn’t it be great if you never had to deal with degraded picture quality and streaming problems ever again? Most of these problems crop up due to a bandwidth limitation or a particular service not playing nice with your network. I know for a fact when I am downloading a game from one of the common digital distribution systems that they tend to suck every ounce of bandwidth that they can get. It is particularly noticeable when trying to download and stream a movie. Ideally unlimited bandwidth would solve that issue, but we know that is not on the horizon anytime soon. So this problem needs to be fixed through the use of software optimizations.

Read more: D-Link DGL-5500 Gaming Router AC1300 Review @ HiTech Legion

A first look at Nvidia's G-Sync display tech @ The Tech Report

We got our first look at G-Sync a couple of months ago at an Nvidia press event in Montreal, and we came away impressed with the handful of demos being shown there. Now, we've had the chance to spend some quality time with early G-Sync hardware within the comfy confines of Damage Labs, and we have much more to say about the technology. Read on to see what we think.

Read more: A first look at Nvidia's G-Sync display tech @ The Tech Report

Bioshock 2 3-Years Later Review @ OCC

Should we save Eleanor from the Family and Sofia Lamb, or leave her's and Rapture's fate alone? That depends on how much you enjoy first-person shooters. BioShock 2 offers a solid FPS and fun experience, with many mechanical improvements over the previous game, but is otherwise unremarkable. The story does not stand out and the graphics are aging; aging gracefully, but still aging. If you are an FPS fan and looking for another title to enjoy, BioShock 2 is a fairly easy recommendation to give with its refined combat mechanics. If you are looking for a game with more story-meat on its bones, then you can probably skip over this, unless you are very interested in all BioShock games.

Read more: Bioshock 2 3-Years Later Review @ OCC

BioShock 6-Years Later Review @ OCC

Should we take the bathysphere down to Rapture, or leave it to decay and die beneath the foam and tide? That is up to you. My recommendation is that if you love FPSs, you should get and play BioShock, and if you enjoy games driven primarily by story, you should definitely give this one a chance. If you fall outside of those groups then you can probably let this be. Do not misinterpret my meaning though. BioShock is a good game and a fun experience! My feeling is just that its time may have already come and gone, and that what gameplay it introduced is either no longer novel enough or smooth enough to earn a stronger recommendation.

Read more: BioShock 6-Years Later Review @ OCC

Western Digital Black2 Dual Drive Review (1TB HDD/120GB SSD) @ The SSD Review

Recent designs in the laptop market are now seeing the availability of both an mSATA connector for SSDs, as well as the typical SATA connector for hard drives; the Lenovo Thinkpad is a great example of this. With the demand for additional capacity, we had also seen adapters which allowed for the swapping of optical drives for an additional hard drive. But what about newer models that have eliminated the optical drive altogether, or older models where you don't want to give up the optical drive?

Read more: Western Digital Black2 Dual Drive Review (1TB HDD/120GB SSD) @ The SSD Review

Corsair Raptor HS30 and HS40 Gaming Headsets Reviewed @ Legit Reviews

It was late-summer in 2012 when Corsair announced it had acquired Raptor Gaming, a German based maker of gaming peripherals. Corsair gained both a European based headquarter to distribute its wide range of computer hardware and Raptor Gaming's entire portfolio of keyboards, mice, headsets, and accessories, which formed a new series of gaming products alongside Corsair's Vengeance gaming products. Corsair has respected the Raptor name and not only continues to maintain many of the acquired products, but has integrated the name into new products. New Corsair Raptor products represent gaming products aimed at a more mainstream audience alongside the premium Corsair Vengeance peripherals. We look at the first ever Corsair Raptor headsets to be released, a pair called the HS30 and HS40 which join the rest of the 2013 Vengeance headsets for a refreshed lineup of Corsair gaming headsets.

Read more: Corsair Raptor HS30 and HS40 Gaming Headsets Reviewed @ Legit Reviews

Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD Review (500GB) Exceptional Performance in a Large mSATA Capacity @ The SSD Review

Samsung is a manufacturer that needs no introduction and they are about to release a mSATA SSD that will definitely be making waves across the SSD market, never mind the technology world. The Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD will soon be gracing our presence, and the performance unprecedented thanks to Samsung's software engineering sorcery.

Read more: Samsung 840 EVO mSATA SSD Review (500GB) Exceptional Performance in a Large mSATA Capacity @ The SSD Review

Lenovo ThinkCentre E93z Review @ TechReviewSource.com

The Lenovo ThinkCentre E93z is a 21.5-inch all-in-one desktop PC that comes loaded with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Core i7 CPU. It has a 1080p full HD touch screen display mounted on an ultra flex arm for maximum adjustment.

Read more: Lenovo ThinkCentre E93z Review @ TechReviewSource.com

Gigabyte Z87-UD3H Review @ ocaholic

Gigabyte's recent motherboards, which are based on Intel Z87 chipset are certainly amogst the most interesting products you can buy these days. The Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H is a well equipped mothboard where the manufacturer must have thought a lot about what the feature list should look like. At a first glance it looks like this could be quite a compelling offer since pricing is definitely attractive.

Read more: Gigabyte Z87-UD3H Review @ ocaholic

be quiet! Power Zone 1000 W @ techPowerUp

Today, we will test the strongest member of be quiet!'s latest series, the Power Zone line. With 1000 W capacity and six PCIe connectors, it will easily handle a high-end gaming system. The PSU can even power and thermally control up to three case fans, which contributes to the quiet operation of your entire system.

Read more: be quiet! Power Zone 1000 W @ techPowerUp

Specifications and score of Samsung's 12.2-inch tablet @ Hardware.Info

Samsung will reportedly introduce the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2, with model number SM-P905 (with LTE) or SM-P900 (Wi-Fi only) at MWC in Barcelona. The Mobile World Conference takes place between February 24 and 27. The new tablet will be part of a line of high-end devices Samsung will introduce in 2014.

Read more: Specifications and score of Samsung's 12.2-inch tablet @ Hardware.Info

Roccat Gaming Gear Trio Review @ Hardware Asylum

Ask some gamers what their preferred mouse is, and the name Roccat will get its fair share of mentions. Roccat has been specializing in gaming mice, peripherals and accessories since 2008, beginning with the original Kone mouse. Even in 2008, the Kone mouse helped shape the face of the gaming mouse market for years to come. They were trendsetters for their time, providing solid ergonomics, quality construction, and focusing on new innovative customization features. Their Tracking Control Unit (TCU) allowed their laser mice to function effectively on a multitude of surfaces - something that was rather groundbreaking for the time.

Now fast forward to the present day, Roccat has released an updated line of Kone mice called the Kone Pure, and the Kone Pure Optical. The Pure Optical does lack some choices of external body colors, and swaps the 8200dpi laser and accompanying TCU with a 4000dpi Pro-Optic R3 sensor from Roccat's popular Savu line of mice. The Kone Pure line does not offer many of the external customization that we're seeing in the market lately, (adjustable weights, swappable palm and pinkie rests, etc.) but is marketed as an affordable, comfortable, ergonomically built gaming mouse with an onboard MCU processor and memory, to make it a solid gaming contender without breaking the bank.

Read more: Roccat Gaming Gear Trio Review @ Hardware Asylum

Review: Seagate 600 Pro 200GB Enterprise SSD @ Custom PC Review

A couple weeks ago we reviewed the Seagate 600 480GB, which is Seagate’s latest and greatest consumer oriented SSD. In our review, we found the drive to be a great performing drive carrying a low pricetag and the backing of one of the storage industry’s largest players.

While the Seagate 600 is a fantastic consumer oriented drive, it also has an enterprise oriented twin – the Seagate 600 Pro, which we’ll be checking out today. Now the Seagate 600 Pro is a fairly new category of SSD that’s become quite popular with enterprise users in recent years. Whereas faster, costlier, and more durable SLC NAND has traditionally been used in enterprise environments, many enterprise users have since switched over to MLC NAND based SSDs that are essentially consumer drives with enterprise oriented features and higher binned NAND. This gives enterprise users who don’t necessarily require a lot of writes a lower TCO, but still provides more write endurance than a typical consumer SSD can provide.

Read more: Review: Seagate 600 Pro 200GB Enterprise SSD @ Custom PC Review

iPad Air vs Nexus 10 head to head review @ The Inquirer

We pit the aging Android heavyweight against Apple's swish newcomer     

Read more: iPad Air vs Nexus 10 head to head review @ The Inquirer

XFX Radeon DD R9 290X 1000M previewed @ Fudzilla

The eagerly awaited custom Hawaii cards are coming and one of the first ones made its way to our test rig. The card hails from XFX and of course it features a custom cooler design with a two-fan cooler, which is quite a looker.

Read more: XFX Radeon DD R9 290X 1000M previewed @ Fudzilla