Here a roundup of the latest reviews and articles:

Apple and Blackmagic eGPU with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity Review
Asus ROG Strix Hero II and Scar II Review
Ballistix Elite 32GB Kit (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3466 Review
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3200 4x 8GB Review
Crucial MX 500 1TB SSD Review
EasySMX ESM-9013 Wireless Gamepad Review
Enermax Platimax D.F. 750W 80+ Platinum PSU Review
Fnatic Streak Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review
Goldman Sachs Downgrades Intel, Upgrades AMD
Hands on with Windows 10 build 17733
Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 Review
The New 3GB GeForce GTX 1050: Good Product or Misleading Product?
VMware Player 14 Review

Apple and Blackmagic eGPU with Thunderbolt 3 connectivity Review

AppleInsider takes an in-depth look at Apple and Blackmagic's Thunderbolt-enabled eGPU, testing the MacBook-accelerating hardware with a gamut of tests from 5K gaming to video editing. We show you everything that sets this eGPU apart from the pack.

The Blackmagic eGPU, built in cooperation with Apple, might seem pricey at $699, but it comes packing a Radeon Pro 580 GPU, the same chip that comes in the top-spec 2017 5K iMac. By itself, the silicon is worth just under $300, and you can now get it bundled with some other eGPU's for around $500.

So why would anyone want to pay extra for this particular unit from Blackmagic and Apple?

Read full article @ Apple Insider

Asus ROG Strix Hero II and Scar II Review

Gaming notebooks are often a hassle. They're large, heavy and often have horrible battery life - a phat processor and graphics card card, of course, but then corners will be cut everywhere else, from the keyboard to the wifi card. Last Computex Asus introduced two new Republic of Gamers gaming notebooks, the Strix Hero II and the Strix Scar II, which we were already able to test. This had to be done at a rapid pace, because Asus could only lend them to us for a short period of time. Fortunately, the new Hero and Scar not only turned out to be remarkably fast, but also remarkably good in other respects. If you are looking for a gaming notebook, then you should definitely read on.

It's not so long ago that we tested the previous version of the Asus Scar, back in January. The model was launched in the autumn of 2017, together with the first Hero. Both were then still referred to as 'Edition', as a specific version of an existing line. Now it seems as if Asus has upgraded both to its own lines, but that is not the case, and that can be seen in the shared type designation, GL504GM. Hero II and Scar II versions are available, but the basis is the same - as we will see in the further discussion.

Read full article @ HardOCP

Ballistix Elite 32GB Kit (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3466 Review

The Ballistix series of memory, from Cruicial (Micron) represents a step up compared to the run-of-the-mill (fab?) stick of green stuff that you put in an aging Macbook to slightly delay the inevitable wallet-crushing upgrade. What’s your first clue? The PCB is black. The upgraded modules and kits also come with heatsinks, and more significantly for anyone interested in how his or her PC performs, hearty increases in timings and speeds. There are three tiers of Ballistix memory. According to Crucial’s website, Ballistix Sport offers, “faster speeds and timings than standard desktop and laptop memory.” The Tactical series modules and kits are, “engineered to deliver explosive speeds and new levels of customization.” Of course, by customization, Crucial means RGB LEDs. And finally, the subject of this review, the Ballistix Elite series, which is designed to “crush the memory bottleneck with some of the fastest speeds and bandwidths available.” Although in the year or more since this kit initially debuted, significantly faster memory has begun to seep into the market, but prices for memory kits rated faster than DDR4-3600 tend to be prohibitively high. It may not be the new kid on the block, but this Ballistix Elite kit is some of the fastest memory we’ve gotten our hands on.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3200 4x 8GB Review

Corsair's Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4-3200 combines the performance of a moderately high data rate at moderate timings with nine-LED RGB lighting.

Builders who put a premium on aesthetics often face a tough choice between the best-looking and best-performance parts. Corsair brings a bit of both in its Vengeance RGB DDR4-3200 kit, providing four 8GB DIMMs (32GB total) at CAS 16 timings for a price that’s reasonably moderate given recent market trends. And this kit isn't all about looks; it has the goods where benchmarks are concerned, too.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Crucial MX 500 1TB SSD Review

Crucial, a subsidiary of Micron is a brand known for memory and storage for over a decade, has recently released its MX 500 SSDs which I took a look at the 500GB last month and was quite impressed, so impressed in fact that it is now currently my OS drive, at least until I get an NVMe drive with say the new Phison E12, but I digress.

We asked Crucial to take a look at the 1TB model and wanted to see if performance was more or less the same if so currently priced below $175 could be an even better value than the 500GB we looked at last month. With it only being a few dollars more than the Silicon Power 1TB A55, and around the same price as the SanDisk and WD Blue drives floating on Amazon while likely being a better performer.

Read full article @ Wccftech

EasySMX ESM-9013 Wireless Gamepad Review

The EasySMX ESM-9013 is an excellent value pick with a familiar shape and a satisfying feel. Personally, I have always had a weird feeling about deciding between console and PC gaming. This is one competition that has gone back for many years. Personally, I think there are pros and cons to both sides. On the console side, it provides a no-nonsense environment to play games. You will see exclusives that are for the systems, especially with Nintendo. Furthermore, upgrading within generations of consoles is not necessary, as the hardware to play these games stay consistent during its existence. Even if you do see minor upgrades, they generally do not inhibit you from playing the game altogether. As for PC gaming, while the initial cost for gaming is definitely higher, computers provide more function than just gaming. As well, you can see a much greater variety of games and a larger library overall. Not only are all the old games available to newer gamers, but some genres of games play only well on computers. This stems from the fact these two types of systems provide different types of inputs. Computer gaming is done mostly using a keyboard and mouse, while consoles use controllers. However, today we have something crossing the line, as we have a game controller on the PC side. While this is nothing new, this is from a lesser known brand in the name of EasySMX. Is this controller any good or should I just stick to gaming with a keyboard and mouse? Read on to find out!

Read full article @ APH Networks

Enermax Platimax D.F. 750W 80+ Platinum PSU Review

Enermax was always one of my favorite PSU makers. All the units I was using, were top quality for its time. Each new generation is better so I count that the Platimax D.F. 750W PSU presented in this review will be also exceptional.

Many users forget that one of the key elements of stable PC is the PSU. Especially when we spend a lot of money on other components like a graphics card or motherboard, then is good to protect them with high-quality PSU.

Stay with us to check how much to offer has Enermax Platimax D.F 750W PSU.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

Fnatic Streak Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review

Fnatic is one of the hottest names in the gaming market. They’ve obviously got one of the best eSports teams in the world. However, their team use their own branded peripherals. Unlike the super expensive pro gear in some other sports, the Fnatic peripheral range is actually relatively affordable. Priced at £119, the Streak is in premium keyboard territory, but it has a long feature list that’s sure to put a grin on any PC gamers face. It’s not like it’s all show and no go either, as the Fnatic team use these keyboards, win tournaments, and get fame and glory. So they must be pretty good keyboards, right? Let’s dive in and take a look!

Read full article @ eTeknix

Goldman Sachs Downgrades Intel, Upgrades AMD

Due to chip manufacturing issues and repeated delays in moving to next-generation process technology, Goldman Sachs has downgraded Intel to sell from neutral, as they believe these struggles will have a great impact on the company's competitive position. Sachs has done the exact opposite for AMD, however, upgrading its rating to neutral from sell, thanks to shares being up more than 80%.

"We believe Intel's struggles will provide a reason for customers (PC OEMs, server OEMs, Cloud Service Providers, etc.) to adopt, or at least investigate, AMD's product," he said. Hari estimates AMD server chip market share will rise to 5.1 percent in 2019 and increase to 9.4 percent in 2020 from an estimated 2.2 percent this year.

Read full article @ HardOCP

Hands on with Windows 10 build 17733

Build 17735 is out for Insiders, so let's go hands on with all the latest changes found in the recent builds!

We're back with another exciting Windows 10 build video, showcasing all the latest changes and enhancements found in the new Windows 10 Redstone 5 builds. It's been a while since we last did a build video, so there's a few new things in the OS since our last walkthrough.

This week, our build video is showcasing build 17733, which is pretty much identical to the 17735 build released to Insiders on Friday. These builds include new changes such as Your Phone, dark File Explorer, and a whole lot more!

Read full article @ Windows Central

Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 Review

Netgear have designed their latest XR500 Nighthawk Pro Gaming router from the ground up to provide the optimum gaming experience; packing features like a dual-core 1.7GHz CPU, 512MB of RAM, 256MB of flash memory and four antennas for extended wireless range. We also see things like an advanced QoS system, optimising your gaming traffic, and a Geo-Filter which blocks hosts and game servers outside of a specified region.

Read full article @ Vortez

The New 3GB GeForce GTX 1050: Good Product or Misleading Product?

There's a new budget GPU in town, the 3GB version of the GeForce GTX 1050, and boy is this one a strange animal.

Recently we checked out the disaster that is the DDR4 version of the GT 1030, a horribly misleading product that shouldn’t exist. We expect that to go down as one of the worst graphics card released in history.

We don't expect this GTX 1050 3GB version to be nowhere near as bad, in fact it might not even be bad at all. However we bring up the GT 1030 to memory because it's an unnecessary odd release and a bit misleading.

Read full article @ TechSpot

VMware Player 14 Review

Behold. I've written a review of VMware Player 14, a free, cross-platform virtualization product, tested on KDE neon with Ubuntu guest operating system, covering installation, configuration settings, 3D acceleration, VMware Tools, performance, tweaks, other features, and more. Have fun.

Long long time ago, I started my virtualization journey with VMware Player. Back in the day, it was one of the few GUI-based virtualization solutions for the desktop, allowing you to test and use guest operating systems with relative ease. Since, virtualization has become more common and more accessible if not outright decadent, and you have a lot of programs to choose, should you decide to explore complete software stacks in a contained, isolated environment.

VMware Player is currently at its 14th major increment, and this calls for a review. The program is now called Workstation Player, a not so subtle hint to the fact it's a freeware version and tech demonstrator of the fully fledged work [sic] horse. Again, another great tool, which I paid and used for many years, but the focus here is on the free utility. Let's roll.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo