Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

2014 Christmas gift guide
AMD A4-5000 CPU Review
Antec EDGE 650W Review
Apple OS X 10.10 vs. Ubuntu 14.10 Performance
ASRock WS-E/10G motherboard offers 22Gbps networking
BitFenix Pandora Core Window mATX Case Review
Corsair H1500 Dolby 7.1 Gaming Headset Review
EVGA SuperNova 1600 P2 80 PLUS Platinum Power Supply Review
FUNC MS-2 Gaming Mouse Review
GIGABYTE G1 GAMING GTX 970 Review
Holiday Gift Guide 2014: Tablets, Smartphones, Laptops
Lenovo Tab A8 Tablet Review
Reeven Ouranos RC-1401 Review
Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 Tablet Review

2014 Christmas gift guide

It's that time of year again. The big man to the north is making his list and checking it twice while shoppers to the south contemplate what to get for the beloved techies on their lists. Our staff has compiled a stack of suggestions based on our favorite PC hardware, mobile devices, and other gadgets.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

AMD A4-5000 CPU Review

Recently, we analyzed the ASRock QC5000-ITX motherboard, which brings an on-board AMD A4-5000 CPU. In this article, we will compare its performance to other two low-cost, low-TDP CPUs, which we tested recently: the Sempron 2650 "Kabini" from AMD and the Celeron J1800 "Bay Trail-D" from Intel. Let's see if the A4-5000 is faster than its competitors.

Read full article @ Hardware Secrets

Antec EDGE 650W Review

Another contender for that new high-end build. There is no shortage of quality power-supply units (PSUs) on the market. The sweetspot, as far as we're concerned, is with 80 PLUS Gold-rated models that offer fully-modular cabling. Significantly cheaper than Titanium supplies but offering almost all of the performance, these £70-£100 models are a good fit for anyone looking to power a new PC build.

Stepping into this market is Antec with the release of a trio of new supplies that are marketed under the EDGE banner. Now available in mainstream 550W (£75), 650W (£90) and 750W (£100) capacities, the EDGE series combines high efficiency and modular cabling in one tidy package.

Read full article @ Hexus

Apple OS X 10.10 vs. Ubuntu 14.10 Performance

While I delivered some OS X 10.10 Yosemite preview benchmarks back in August, here's my first tests of the official release of Apple OS X 10.10.1 compared to Ubuntu 14.10 Linux. Tests were done of OS X 10.9.5 and OS X 10.10.1 against Ubuntu 14.10 Utopic Unicorn when running the benchmarks under both GCC and LLVM Clang compilers.

OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks and OS X 10.10 Yosemite were both benchmarked from the 2013 Apple MacBook Air that was used as the basis for all of the tests. Both OS X releases were tested to see how the performance compares against the two latest versions of Apple OS X before comparing it to Ubuntu 14.10. Ubuntu 14.10 was tested both in its stock form -- using the GCC 4.9.1 compiler -- and then again a second run when switching over to its packaged LLVM Clang 3.5 compiler. Apple uses LLVM Clang by default with Xcode as its development environment while Ubuntu Linux uses GCC as its build environment default. Thus I tested Ubuntu under both compilers to try to rule out any large performance swings being attributed to just the compiler. All other settings were maintained at their defaults by the tested operating systems.

Read full article @ Phoronix

ASRock WS-E/10G motherboard offers 22Gbps networking

Four onboard Ethernet ports, combined via Teaming, provide the headlining bandwidth. ASRock has announced a new motherboard offering users an impressive 22Gbps networking experience. The new motherboard is called the ASRock X99 WS-E/10G and was launched yesterday.

Read full article @ Hexus

BitFenix Pandora Core Window mATX Case Review

Many case manufacturers have been around for many years, BitFenix is a relatively new contender in the world of computer cases. In four years, they have gone from a new unknown company, to one that is recognized in the industry and recommended along with the big names in cases. Today, we are looking at the newest case offered by BitFenix, the Pandora. Like most cases, there are multiple versions of the Pandora, designed to meet as many needs as possible, while keeping the overall look and feel of the case the same. Read on to find out more about the BitFenix Pandora Core Window.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Corsair H1500 Dolby 7.1 Gaming Headset Review

Longevity is very important in any industry. It is extremely likely that, when the longevity moniker is affixed to an organization's label, consumers can buy with confidence. Corsair is one of those labels that can has been doing it well since 1994 and in this industry, 20 years is a VERY long time. Whether you are buying a power supply or a gaming mouse, you know that if it wears the Corsair logo, it is a quality device that will withstand the test of time and perform brilliantly. Performance is one of the qualities we will test on the Corsair Gaming H1500 Dolby 7.1 Gaming Headset today at Benchmark Reviews. I encourage you to read on in order to find out if this device is worthy to carry the Corsair logo.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

EVGA SuperNova 1600 P2 80 PLUS Platinum Power Supply Review

Can you have too much power? Well, in the case of PSUs the actual answer is “no”, but you can certainly spend more than you need to on a PSU with more power than you actually require. For most, a 1600 watt PSU would be a complete waste. Even higher end gaming systems rarely draw more than ~600 watts at peak, and if you are running some of the newer processors with incredible efficiency, that number could be lower. On the other hand, running multiple AMD 290/290x along with an overclocked FX-Series processor can draw some serious power. And mining can bump this even further. So, really, this article isn’t about figuring out how much you need. This article is for those who already know they need the power, and a 1600 watt PSU would fit the bill.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

FUNC MS-2 Gaming Mouse Review

Today we are looking at the latest gaming mouse from FUNC, the MS-2. With a street price that’s expected to level out around £44, it is almost £15 cheaper than its big brother, the MS-3, which launched 18 months ago. This is a mid-sized gaming mouse and according to Func, has been designed to accommodate different grip styles with minimal stress & strain to your poor hand.

Read full article @ KitGuru

GIGABYTE G1 GAMING GTX 970 Review

GIGABYTE are perhaps best known for their range of motherboards but are rapidly becoming a firm favourite for that other essential PC component, the graphics card. With the advent of their Windforce cooling a few generations back, GIGABYTE are up there competing with the very best thanks to huge support and adoration of PC enthusiasts and overclockers alike. The G1 gaming (formally Super Overclock) range makes use of a innovative feature called GPU Guantlet which GIGABYTE say guarantees higher overclocking capability in terms of excellent power switching - a feature we will be putting to the test later in this review. So we have a custom PCB, custom cooling along with one of the fastest factory overclocks found on NVIDIA's GTX 970 (BASE: 1178 MHz / BOOST: 1329 MHz). All this at a reasonable £289.99.

Read full article @ Vortez

Holiday Gift Guide 2014: Tablets, Smartphones, Laptops

It feels like only yesterday that we were whipping up last year’s holiday gift guide, but somehow a full year has passed and we’re staring yet another winter in the face. Don’t fret, though — just because you haven’t prepared for this season doesn’t mean that you’re hung out to dry. As the technology behind smartphones, tablets, and laptops has evolved over the past twelve months, we’ve collected the best and brightest in order to shape your gift buying.

Regardless of whether you’re shopping for yourself or a loved one (or both), it’s a great time to be in the market. From budget products to flagship device, your options have never been so diverse--or powerful...

Read full article @ HotHardware.com

Lenovo Tab A8 Tablet Review

Lenovo’s A-Series of tablets is made up of three models. First you have the 7-inch A7 which is made for reading and browsing, the 8-inch A8 billed as an entertainment tablets and the 10-inch A10 which can be used for both entertainment and productivity. All three tablets feature the same Mediatek 1.3 GHz quad-core SoC, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and run Android 4.4.2. Today we will be checking out the Tab A8 which sits right in the middle of the A-Series with an MSRP of $149.99. Let’s take this tablet for a spin and see what it really can do!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Reeven Ouranos RC-1401 Review

Here at OCC we have had a chance to look at two of the latest from Reeven - the Steropes and the Brontes. Both of them are small horizontal style single fan coolers targeted at small form factor or HTPC systems - systems that are short on space and need the clearance afforded by a small, compact cooler. There are two more coolers in this latest release by Reeven: the Ouranos and the Okeanos. Both are much larger, tower style coolers that find themselves more at home in larger builds that need the heat removal capacity that only larger coolers can deliver.

If you think that these names are a bit odd, here is a snippet from the last review that explains the names from the latest series from Reeven: If you have a general understanding of Greek and Roman mythology, then the names of the latest Reeven coolers may make some sense. Steropes, Brontes, Okeanos, and Ouranos fill out the list of new coolers from Reeven. Without going into too much detail, the Ouranos RC-1401 CPU cooler is named for the primeval god of the sky, Ouranos. Ouranos (aka Uranus) and Gaia (the earth) had 12 children together, which includes the three cyclops sons known as Steropes, Brontes, and Arges. The three were essentially blacksmiths of the Olympian gods. You weren't expecting a history lesson at OCC, were you?

Read full article @ OCC

Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 Tablet Review

The Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12.2 a high-end tablet with a 12.2-inch, 2560 x 1600 screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 (MSM8974) processor (four Krait 400 cores, 2.3 GHz, Adreno 330 GPU), 3 GiB of RAM, and 32 GiB of storage space. It has support for 4G LTE networks, an 8 MP main camera and a 2 MP front camera, and the operating system is the Android 4.4 ("KitKat"). Let's take a good look at this huge tablet.

Read full article @ Hardware Secrets