Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including How the ADSL Connection Works, Panasonic SC-NT10 Review, AMD Shows Off New APU Powered Devices and Kaveri System With Oculus Rift Attached, Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3-inch Smartphone Review, and ASUS GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU Mini Review



How the ADSL Connection Works @ Hardware Secrets

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is one of the most popular technologies for Internet connection, using the infrastructure of your local telephone company. There are several types of DSL (a.k.a. xDSL) connections, such as VDSL, with ADSL being the most popular one in most countries. Its name comes from the fact that its download speed is higher than its upload speed, hence classified as asymmetrical. A symmetrical connection is one where the download and the upload speeds are the same.

Read more: How the ADSL Connection Works @ Hardware Secrets

Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler Review @ ThinkComputers.org

When I think of Noctua I am reminded of their very large and powerful CPU coolers. These cooler have rivaled even some liquid cooling systems. Noctua knows cooling but these larger CPU coolers do not fit in all systems. That is why they have come up with the NH-U12S and NH-U14S which are guaranteed to fit in your system even if you have memory with larger heatspreaders. Today we are taking a look at Noctuas NH-U12S. This cooler features a tower design with aluminum fins and a copper base and heatpipes. There is a single 120 mm Noctua NF-F12 PWM fan and the cooler uses Noctuas SecurFirm2 mounting system for easy installation. Will this smaller cooler still provide the excellent cooling that we know Noctua for? Read on as we find out.

Read more: Noctua NH-U12S CPU Cooler Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Panasonic SC-NT10 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

The Panasonic SC-NT10 is a solid, weatherproof portable Bluetooth speaker that outperforms some models that cost significantly more.

Read more: Panasonic SC-NT10 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

LSI 9300-4i4e SAS PCIe 12Gb/s HBA Card Review @ Benchmark Reviews

The LSI 9300-4i4e is a PCI-Express to Serial Attached SCSI (PCIe-to-SAS) host bus adapter (HBA) card fits server and high-performance workstation computers to deliver internal and external storage connectivity. Also called the LSI 12GB/s SAS HBA card, the 9300-4i4e model provides eight lanes of 12Gb/s SAS connectivity and is matched with eight lanes of PCIe 3.0 8Gb/s performance. LSIs 9300-4i4e 12GB/s SAS HBA is based on the proprietary Fusion-MPT architected LSI SAS3008 / Fusion MPT 2.5 controller that fuses 8Gb/s PCIe 3.0 technology to 12Gb/s SAS technology. In this article, Benchmark Reviews inspects the features and functionality for the LSI SAS 9300-4i4e PCIe 12Gbps HBA Card.

Read more: LSI 9300-4i4e SAS PCIe 12Gb/s HBA Card Review @ Benchmark Reviews

NZXT H series H630 review @ Guru3D

Today we'll do a review on the NZXT H series H630 Full tower PC chassis. The H630 is considered a high-end yet silent case offing a combo of features combined with a snazzy design. Add low acoustics and a great build quality and you summed it up. Let's find out if the H630 Full tower PC chassis lives up-to its reputation shall we?

NZXT has been around for years, building an ongoing reputation with mostly their controversial chassis designs. It all really started with the Guardian chassis years ago and has ever since put numerous chassis designs out on the market. Expanding from the ashes of their crafted series is the H630 full tower chassis, absolutely impressive in many ways as the design is simply great, the features are grand and this baby was designed to remain silent, very silent.

Read more: NZXT H series H630 review @ Guru3D

AMD Shows Off New APU Powered Devices and Kaveri System With Oculus Rift Attached @ HotHardware

Although IDF13 is a decidedly Intel-centric event each year (obviously), it doesn't stop numerous companies from camping out at nearby venues to steal away travelling tech journalists for a few moments of face time. Traditionally, AMD is one of those companies, and as you have probably guessed by now, we stopped in to see what AMD had on display.

...Perhaps the most interesting demo in AMD's suite was a Kaveri-powered system connected to an Oculus Rift VR helmet. Rumors had been swirling recently, which claimed Kaveri-AMD's next-gen, Steamroller-based APU--had been delayed until 2014. Today, however, reps from AMD said Kaveri would still ship this year, though no other details were given.

Read more: AMD Shows Off New APU Powered Devices and Kaveri System With Oculus Rift Attached @ HotHardware

Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3-inch Smartphone Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

The Note 3 will soon be on sale with its 5.7-inch display, 0.4 inches bigger than the original but that isn't the largest "phone" that Samsung offer. That title goes to the Galaxy Mega, a smartphone designed to offer great media consumption without the added expense of the stylus found on the Note range. Today we take a look at the 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3-inch Smartphone Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

NZXT Kraken X40 & X60 CPU Water Cooler Reviews @ Legit Reviews

NZXT has been making CPU coolers, computer cases, and other PC enthusiast related products for quite some time now. On the CPU cooler side of things, they have more recently created their Kraken series sealed liquid CPU coolers. This cooler is one that allows NZXT to tout as being the world's first manufacturer to have a 140mm and 280mm radiator on a sealed water cooling system. These slightly larger radiator sizes, 36% larger to be more precise, are sizes that they're hoping will give them the edge over other similar popular products that are already doing really well...

Read more: NZXT Kraken X40 & X60 CPU Water Cooler Reviews @ Legit Reviews

Mushkin 996996 8GB DDR3 2133Mhz Review @ OCC

Try as I might there is nothing I have to say bad about this set of Redline modules from Mushkin. The modules perform just as well as I expected them to do based on using these as part of the OCC test bed back during the heyday of the P67/Z68 chipsets, where the modules performed well when paired with an Intel Core i7 2600K or even with the Third Generation Core i7 3770K. Overclocking was just as I remembered and fairly robust with a 200MHz boost in speed achieved with just a bit of tuning time. The boost in speed did not come with the serious drop in performance that I have seen with some of the modules I have tested as the speeds increase and the timings get looser.

Read more: Mushkin 996996 8GB DDR3 2133Mhz Review @ OCC

Thermaltake NiC C4 CPU cooler @ PureOverclock

The power requirements of enthusiast and gaming PCs have increased dramatically over the last few years, due to the development of ever more powerful and sophisticated CPUs and graphics processors. And while the general trend has been higher energy consumption, there are many consumers that don’t need a high end kilowatt power supply. There is a considerable market for mid-range units to power a single graphics card setup, somewhere around 750W of power.

Read more: Thermaltake NiC C4 CPU cooler @ PureOverclock

Rosewill Throne Full Tower Case Review @ Hardware Canucks

Rosewill’s Throne series represents yet another entry into what is becoming an extreme crowded full tower market. With competitors well priced competitors like NZXT’s new Phantom H630 and Corsair’s always-popular Obsidian series, one has to wonder what the Throne could possibly bring to the table that would sway buyers’ votes in its direction. Rosewill likes to believe their unique design and low price will accomplish this task but we’ve seen this approach before and more often than not, the resulting case either alienates gamers with an outlandish approach or skimps on build quality.

Read more: Rosewill Throne Full Tower Case Review @ Hardware Canucks

CM Storm QuickFire XT (Cherry MX Blue) Gaming Keyboard Review @ HiTech Legion

In the automotive industry, you have dozens of car categories. There are models which target people who think of cars as a necessary evil, and there are models which seek to be the ultimate thrill for the super-rich enthusiast. In between, you have everything from low-end sports cars to super luxurious sedans. Every so often, though, a manufacturer gets the idea to fit all the high-performance upgrades into a luxury sedan and create a vehicle that roars like a lion and drives like a bat out of hell while giving you a deep muscle massage.

Read more: CM Storm QuickFire XT (Cherry MX Blue) Gaming Keyboard Review @ HiTech Legion

LanOC V13 Recap @ LanOC Reviews

It’s been a few days now and not only have I set all of the PCs around the house back up, I also took the time to do detail cleaning around my desk. Even after a few days I feel little tired, an impromptu nap that went until 3pm yesterday helped some but it’s going to be a little while before I’m back to normal. All of it means we had another successful LAN. Of course the work doesn’t stop on Sunday for me, but before I get too far into it I wanted to post up a little bit of a roundup. Read on to hear more about it.

Read more: LanOC V13 Recap @ LanOC Reviews

SilverStone Zeus ZM1350 1350W Power Supply Review @ HardOCP

SilverStone's Zeus series is back from a four year hiatus with a new 1350 watt PSU offering to enthusiasts. This Zeus is rated with Silver efficiency at 50°C, and comes to the alter with a host of features including modular cables to keep your build looking tidy. You can even tune the rails by hand if you wish. Time to see if heads roll.

Read more: SilverStone Zeus ZM1350 1350W Power Supply Review @ HardOCP

Fractal Arc Midi R2 Computer Case Review @ Madshrimps

Swedish company Fractal Design was also present at the Computex 2013 trade show in Taipei Taiwan. We saw some nice watercooled enclosures and this triggered our desire to review another one of their cases. The Fractal Arc Midi R2 is designed from the ground up to maximize airflow, thus main objective is keeping the most demanding hardware at cool operating temperatures. Three 140mm fans should take care of that goal Hassle free watercooling installation is also warranted, supporting up to two 240mm RADs in a mid tower case is quite impressive. On paper the ARC Midi R2 has got a lot to offer. Time to explore another mid tower creation from Fractal Design.

Read more: Fractal Arc Midi R2 Computer Case Review @ Madshrimps

Gigabyte Z87X-OC @ Bjorn3D

Well we are now many boards deep into the Z87 line and now we got a new fun toy from the team over at Gigabyte. This is one of the OC Series boards, and yes I did say one of them as there are two different OC model boards the Z87X-OC and the Z87X-OC Force. The Z87X-OC Force is a full 4 Way sli and Crossfire model designed for overclocking and using a bridge chip to allow more PCIe lane availability to allow 4 Way SLI function.

The board we have today is the Z87X-OC which omits the bridge chip and Liquid cooled VRM area in favor of a much more affordable cost. The tradeoff however does mean you give up the ability to run more than two way SLI or Quad SLI with two dual GPU cards, but since AMD does not limit crossfire to a specific lane width you can actually still run 4 card crossfire on this board but the lower three cards will be running at x4 PCIe which means there could be a bottleneck there.

Read more: Gigabyte Z87X-OC @ Bjorn3D

Sony Xperia Z1 Review @ The Inquirer

We put Sony's latest flagship smartphone with a 20.7MP snapper to the test     

Read more: Sony Xperia Z1 Review @ The Inquirer

ASUS GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU Mini Review @ Guru3D

In this article we review ASUS GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU Mini edition. It is a compact performance graphics card designed primarily for small form factor PCs with mini ITX motherboards. This tiny dual-slot card measures just 17cm and features the NVIDIA GTX 760 GPU.

The GeForce GTX 760 is a re-spin product, meaning NVIDIA took an older GPU, rebadged it, tweaked some parameters and injects it back into the market at better price-point. You might like that, or not. But the fact remains that the GeForce GTX 760 is to be considered a mainstream to high-end product, yet comes at a competitive price with the very same chip used in the GeForce GTX 670 and GTX 680. And also a year ago, they where the second and top high-end graphics cards. As such the card remains very interesting in terms of performance. See the GK104 GPU itself being used will have two shader cluster disabled. This gives the GK104 GPU 1152 CUDA cores to work with, with in total, 96 texture and 32 raster operating units. The GPU being used is actually tagged as GK104-225 A2. The graphics card also has slightly slower clock frequencies than big daddy GTX 680. However the GTX 760 comes with a Boost clock which is set at 1033 MHz. The core clock frequency (for the reference products) is 980 MHz with the 256-bit DDR5 memory clocking in at 6008 MHz.

Read more: ASUS GeForce GTX 760 DirectCU Mini Review @ Guru3D