Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

ADATA XPG Spectrix D40 16GB RGB DDR4 Memory Review
ASUS Wireless-AC2900 RT-AC86U Gaming Router Review
Fedora 28 KDE - Call the doctor, it's not feeling well
GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Review
Gigabyte UD PRO 256GB Solid State Drive Review
How to Upgrade to Linux Mint 19 (In 4 Simple Steps)
Intel Pentium Gold G5600 3.9 GHz Review
VIZIO SB362An-F6 36" Sound Bar Review
Z370 & H370 Motherboard Charts: 10 Models tested - MSI H370 Gaming Plus

ADATA XPG Spectrix D40 16GB RGB DDR4 Memory Review

Years ago picking out memory was fairly easy, as long as it was compatible with your motherboard you were good to go. Now there are many things to take into consideration, such as the heatsink, speed, timings, overclockability and design. The recent trend is to put RGB LEDs on everything possible, allowing the user to customize the color to their specific color scheme. Memory is just the latest product to get RGB LEDs installed on them. The XPG Spectrix D40, is part of ADATA’s gaming line that includes RGB LEDs, along with compatibility with ASUS AURA Sync.

The XPG Spectrix D40 is available in speeds starting at 2400MHz, and going up to 4400MHz (not all speeds are currently available), in 8GB and 16GB modules. Today, we are looking at their 16GB (8GB x 2) DDR4 3000MHz kit, which has dual XMP 2.0 profiles, and runs with a latency of 16-18-18. This kit is currently available under part number AX4U300038G16-DRS, $186.99 shipped and the kit is backed by a lifetime warranty. All versions of the Spectrix D40 include both Intel and AMD compatibility, with a red “armor-inspired” heatsink with a RGB LED strip at the top edge.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

ASUS Wireless-AC2900 RT-AC86U Gaming Router Review

ASUS’ RT-AC86U router is built around a 1.8 GHz dual-core processor and 512MB RAM. The operating system has 256MB of flash available.

As a dual-band device, it offers us a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz network. The first runs of a 3×3 setup while the latter has a 4×4 setup. The MU-MIMO router features three external detachable antennas as well as one internal to accomplish this. This solid hardware setup in combination with the beamforming technology, 1024-QAM technology, and 80MHz bandwidth availability, allows the router to cover very large homes effectively. With compatible products, it can achieve up to 2167 Mbps on the 5GHz band and 750Mbps on the 2.4GHz band.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Fedora 28 KDE - Call the doctor, it's not feeling well

Happiness everywhere. Behold, a long, negative review of Fedora 28 KDE, tested in a dual-boot setup on a laptop with Nvidia graphics, covering live session, installation and a partial post-install usage, including look & feel, fonts, networking - Wireless, Bluetooth, Samba sharing, printing, multimedia support - MP3 playback and HD video, partitioning, customization, numerous application crashes, errors and bugs, broken smartphone support, and a dead desktop after graphics drivers installation. Take a look.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo

GeForce GTX 1050 3GB Review

Nvidia recently inserted a new entry-level SKU into the graphics arena, a GeForce GTX 1050 with 3GB graphics memory. In this review, we'll confirm if this product really is a GeForce GTX 1050, or a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 1GB less memory. If so, that might make these cards an interesting and attractive product to purchase as it has a little more oomph under that hood at a small budget price level.

We say budget minded as these cards are supposed to be very affordable and positioned in a 129~139 dollar (US) segment with a product as tested today costing closer towards €139,- here in the EU. A while ago we mentioned that there would be a new SKU released based on the Geforce GTX 1050, a 3GB version of the GeForce GTX 1050. The card is to fill the gap between the GTX 1050 with 2GB and the GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB. Back then I already mentioned that it would be interesting to see how that would work out memory controller wise. Nvidia, shortly ago, posted the full specs. That 3GB version is a real thing, it, however, comes with a deficit in the memory controller, one chip less means it's 96-bit and that is a significant change especially since low-end entry-level graphics cards are always very memory deprived in bandwidth. So you gain 1GB more memory but your memory bandwidth will drop by 25% Once good thing, however, is that the shader proc count and base clock has been increased a bit over the 2GB model. This product is set at 768 shader processors (coming from 640 on the 2 GB 1050). And I can see you smile already, as yes, that means the card is based on a 1050 Ti. Is the new 3GB 1050 really a GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 1GB cut away? Well yeah, we do think so.

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D

Gigabyte UD PRO 256GB Solid State Drive Review

On a random sunny day, I was driving to my friend's place with my windows slightly open. I had just started moving away from an intersection when something small and furry hit me on the cheek. It was a bit of a shock considering I do not generally expect to be hit in the face while driving. I looked around my car but had no idea what it was. At the next red light, I slowed down and glanced towards my passenger side. Near the window was a bee that measured two to three centimeters long and was trying to exit the vehicle. With my quick reaction, I opened the passenger side window and the bee flew out. While I am generally okay with bugs, I do not love them, especially the stinging ones. However, while I was pretty fearful of it, the bee too was trying to get out. It ran itself into the window several times, trying to escape the moving hunk of metal and glass. At the end of the day, I laugh at this event because it comes down to perspective. Both the bee and I were afraid of each other for different reasons, and we both wanted to return to a more normal environment. When Gigabyte announced they were entering the SSD market with their UD PRO series, a lot of people thought this was yet another manufacturer in the already over-saturated market. However, in Gigabyte's perspective, they clearly saw this as a market where they could be competitive in. Marketed as a wallet-friendly way to bring speed to your machine, the Gigabyte UD PRO 256GB is not meant to defeat any records. However, how will it perform and is it competitive enough to justify Gigabyte's perspective? Let us read on to find out!

Read full article @ APH Networks

How to Upgrade to Linux Mint 19 (In 4 Simple Steps)

But what if you want upgrade to Linux Mint 19 from an earlier version instead of doing a fresh install?

Not all users of this Ubuntu-based Linux distribution will want to reinstall their OS from scratch, but similarly they won’t want to miss out on the new features and improvements included in Linux Mint 19.

Well, some good news: you can now upgrade to Linux Mint 19 from Linux Mint 18.3 using the command-line ‘Mint Upgrade‘ tool.

Read full article @ OMG! Ubuntu!

Intel Pentium Gold G5600 3.9 GHz Review

Intel's Pentium Gold G5600 processor features HyperThreading, which turns its two cores into four threads. The result is one of the most affordable entry-level CPUs that's fit for gaming. Tough competition comes in form of the AMD Ryzen 2200G, which is similarly priced, but offers four real cores.

We got our hands on the new Pentium Gold G5600 dual-core processor based on the "Coffee Lake" architecture and designed for the Intel 300-series chipset platform. There was a time when the Pentium brand denoted the very best in client computing. Since the advent of the Core brand of multi-core processors, Intel brands from the previous millennium, such as Pentium and Celeron, were relegated to the entry-level segments. The fastest Pentium couldn't match the performance of the slowest Core 2 Duo, so this product stack change made sense. AMD did something similar with its Athlon brand. Over the years, Intel's entry-level client processor lineup swelled, and stratified.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

VIZIO SB362An-F6 36" Sound Bar Review

Over the past several years home entertainment has undergone a transformation, slowly replacing bookshelf style speakers for sound bar systems. While many enthusiasts still cling to their large speaker systems, others have seen the wisdom in downsizing. Offering big sound for under $100, the 2018 VIZIO 36-Inch 2.1 Sound Bar with Built-in Dual Subwoofers (model SB362An-F6) delivers more than you might expect. In this article for Benchmark Reviews, we test this Bluetooth/wired 2.1-channel sound system using Dolby Audio and DTS media.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Z370 & H370 Motherboard Charts: 10 Models tested - MSI H370 Gaming Plus

Meanwhile you can find benchmark values of the first Z370 motherboards in our comparison tables. We do not comment the benchmark values. The idea and also the goal is to present to you an overview which helps you choose the right motherboard simply based on facts in the form of numbers.

Read full article @ ocaholic