Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

ASRock Phantom Gaming X Radeon RX580 8G OC Review
Blue Sadie Headphones Review
Cougar Panzer Evo RGB Full Tower Case Review
Cutting Game Install Size Guide
Deepcool New Ark 90 Review
Enermax LIQTECH TR4 280 AMD Threadripper CPU AIO Cooler Review
How to Build a Commodore 64 Mini Using a Raspberry Pi
Intel Core i7-8700 Review
MSI Infinite X Desktop PC Review
NETGEAR Orbi Mesh Router With Cable Modem Review
PC Specialist Vyper 15 Review
SteelSeries Rival 600 Review
Thermaltake Premium X1 RGB Cherry MX Speed Mechanical Keyboard Review
Things AMD Needs to Fix
Western Digital WD Black 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD Review
XPG Spectrix D41 RGB DDR4 Review

ASRock Phantom Gaming X Radeon RX580 8G OC Review

We review the ASRock Phantom Gaming X Radeon RX580 OC with 8GB graphics memory. A two slot cooled mainstream graphics card series will allow you to play your games in both the Full HD 1080P range, as well as gaming in WQHD (2560x1440) range. It's ASRock's first in a series of a new graphics card lineup. In Q1 2018 rumors surfaced that ASRock would be releasing graphics cards. Then all of the sudden we started to see a few teasers from ASRock, slowly word got out that the new series would be called Phantom gaming, but would it be for miners, gamers or both? In April some cards got released, however at the time seemed restricted towards an Asia region, which sparked a nasty discussion on the web, some saying that AMD would not allow sales of these cards in the EU and USA. Back in May, that rumor got denied, meanwhile, in the background we've been talking towards ASRock to see what was going on. A couple of weeks ago I received word and confirmation that the Phantom Gaming series will hit the EU markets as well. We know there have been some reviews out already, likely with the help of a bit of grey import and some favors. The time, however, has arrived for us to review an actual retail sample from ASRock. Today we look at their first born, the Phantom Gaming X Radeon RX580 OC 8GB. This dual slot cooled mainstream to higher end (read the words well) graphics card series will allow you to play your games in both the Full HD 1080P range as well as gaming in WQHD (2560x1440) range. Yes, that RX 480 580 is the familiar Polaris based (P20), a code-name indicative of the Radeon RX 580 series. AMD also refers to this GPU as Ellesmere. The GPU is the same as the Radeon RX 480, it, however, is fabbed with a more up-to-date 3rd generation 14nm process, let's call it a bit more refined over time. That results in a GPU that can be clocked and boosted a notch faster (compared to the RX 480). As you guys know, both the Radeon RX 570 and 580 graphics card are made available in 4 and 8GB versions, you will also see both reference and tweaked slash customized models from the board partners. The GPU used in the 580 is based on Polaris 20 (XTX). For the RX 570 that would be a Polaris 21, which is based on the same GPU. The Radeon RX 580 has been going strong and still is. It pushes just over 6 TFLOPS of peak performance, 5 TFLOPS for the Radeon RX 570.

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D

Blue Sadie Headphones Review

Blue Microphones have a wave of popular and high-quality sound equipment all the way from headphones to desktop microphones, products for musicians to bolster their sound as well as PC gamers wanting to connect together over voice applications… but today we check out the Sadie, a set of premium headphones designed for music lovers with a built-in audiophile amplifier.

Music is life, life is music, or so some people would tell you. To me, music is actually life and when I’m on my travels where ever that may be, I demand quality as let’s be honest, music is a magical thing which can leave you riding an emotional roller coaster… and who wants to listen to their favourite songs with distortion, mud and fuzz? Not me!

Read full article @ Play3r

Cougar Panzer Evo RGB Full Tower Case Review

Today we're taking a close look at the Cougar Panzer Evo RGB, a full tower case aimed squarely at gamers and enthusiasts. In addition to supporting 5 different motherboard form factors all the way up to E-ATX, the case promises enough interior real estate for up to 4 double-slot 390mm graphics cards, and up to 6 2.5" SSDs to facilitate a number of builds. The "RGB" in the name comes from no less than four included fans featuring 18 LEDs each, with speed and illumination that can be further customized using the included Core Box controller.

It comes with four 120mm Vortex LED RGB fans (with the ability to add four more 120mm fans), allowing you to set up a case with strong cooling potential as observed with just the four included fans in this review's testing alone. You can also install the Cougar RGB "Core Box" to control fan speed and lighting, and add up to four more LED lighting mod strips; then use the Cougar Remote to sit back and cycle through over a hundred RGB lighting effect sequences without having to install any drivers on your computer system.

Read full article @ Neoseeker

Cutting Game Install Size Guide

Removing unneeded redistributables is an easy way to recover space while removing unwanted videos and unneeded localizations can be dangerous, but so long as you do not permanently delete the files, you can always put them back. Compacting games can tremendously reduce install size, but can increase loading times and potentially cause games to no longer load. It takes some experimentation and trial and error, but can have such an impact it may be worth consideration just the same.

Read full article @ OCC

Deepcool New Ark 90 Review

With the New Ark 90, Deepcool has a case for E-ATX motherboards in its portfolio, which comes with a lot of features and an integrated all-in-one cooler. Apart from that, it offers a lot of room for high-end setups. In addition this model supports RGB illumination and it's compatible with several lighting systems. For now, we're really curious to find out how
this case is going to do in our review.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Enermax LIQTECH TR4 280 AMD Threadripper CPU AIO Cooler Review

Because of lower price and similar advantages for a typical gamer, AMD Ryzen for AM4 socket is much more popular than the Threadripper. I guess that some manufacturers are focused only on popular products while the Threadripper is simply too expensive for most users. What in this case can make users who want AMD Threadripper? There are not many options but one of the more interesting is Enermax LIQTECH TR4.

In this review, we will present the LIQTECH TR4 280 AIO cooler. Enermax also offers a version with 240mm or 360mm radiator. A lot depends on the PC case size as all of these coolers should support all available AMD Threadripper series processors.

Let’s take a look at the LIQTECH TR4 280 cooler.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

How to Build a Commodore 64 Mini Using a Raspberry Pi

Looking for some 8-bit gaming action? Cant afford the amazing prices of original Commodore 64 games on eBay? Not keen on the C64 Mini? Thats okay! You can always build your own compact Commodore 64 using nothing more than an affordable Raspberry Pi. Heres everything you need to know about how to do it. Why Not Use a C64 Mini? Released in early 2018, the C64 Mini is a compact computer that successfully emulates the original Commodore 64. Unfortunately, its not without its bugs, and shipping at $100, thats not ideal.

Read full article @ MakeUseOf

Intel Core i7-8700 Review

Intel's Core i7-8700 packs all of the Coffee Lake architecture's goodness into a 65W envelope, including six Hyper-Threaded cores, the benefits of 14nm++ manufacturing, and higher Turbo Boost clock rates than previous-generation CPUs. Although it's handicapped somewhat by a locked ratio multiplier, stymieing enthusiasts looking for a 5 GHz+ overclock, Core i7-8700 does feature operating frequencies that come close to the flagship -8700K. As a result, its performance is often similar in real-world tasks. And yet, the vanilla -8700 costs $50 less. That's a win if you weren't planning to overclock anyway.

Great benchmark results and an attractive price also put Core i7-8700 up against AMD's revamped Ryzen 7 line-up. Specifically, it's forced to contend with Ryzen 7 2700's eight cores, 16 threads, unlocked multiplier, affordable motherboard support, and capable cooler. Particularly on that last point, Intel's solution is severely deficient.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

MSI Infinite X Desktop PC Review

At $1,899, the Infinite X VR8RE is a worthy consideration for gamers looking for a high-end PC that delivers excellent 1440p gaming performance at a reasonable price. MSI’s Infinite X features an edgy design with a tempered glass panel, a company-branded Z370 chipset motherboard and top-tier Nvidia graphics. Our review model, the VR8RE-006US, features a liquid-cooled Intel Core i7-8700K, 16GB of DDR4-2400, a 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, and a company branded GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card; an arsenal strong enough for an enthusiast gamer. At $1,899, the Infinite X VR8RE is a worthy consideration for gamers looking for a high-end PC that delivers excellent 1440p gaming performance at a reasonable price.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

NETGEAR Orbi Mesh Router With Cable Modem Review

The Orbi (CBR40) we will be showing you here today is not Netgear's first mesh Wi-Fi router, nor is it the first to enter our lab. Back in 2016 we were able to review the Netgear Orbi AC3000, a powerful mesh WiFi system that consisted of a single router and satellites that offered 3Gbps of Tri-Band Wi-Fi coverage of up to 4000 sq ft. It did this without traditional range extenders, boosters, or repeaters, many of which create more problems than they solve. Unlike these products, the AC3000 didn't need to create a secondary SSID as is the case with some range extenders. It also didn't need to process and repeat the Wi-Fi signal, effectively cutting your total bandwidth in half. Instead it offered total home coverage with no dead spots at full speed over a single wireless network, with devices linked together over a dedicated, high-speed backhaul...

Read full article @ HotHardware

PC Specialist Vyper 15 Review

With the rising popularity of LAN gaming events and gaming as a whole, being able to transport your system with you is essential to some users; while there are some desktop machines that could be thrown into a rucksack and plugged into a monitor at your destination, nothing will compare to a laptop for ultimate portability.

PC Specialist has provided us their latest Vyper system, packed with a capable Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 (6GB) graphics, 16GB of DDR4 memory and a Samsung 970 EVO NVMe SSD, all housed within a 15.6” chassis that weighs only 2.4kg.

Read full article @ Vortez

SteelSeries Rival 600 Review

The SteelSeries Rival 600 was introduced at CES 2018, and it pretty much instantly won the show. Objectively, according to its technical specifications, it is among the very best mice currently available. Dedicated lift-off sensor, great weight system, excellent materials, and, of course, amazing lighting for those who seek the eye-candy too.

When you hear SteelSeries, high quality gaming gear could very well come to mind right away, which is no surprise since they have been in the business for more than seventeen years, constantly innovating and releasing better and better gaming peripherals since their inception. They revealed the Rival 600 at CES 2018, and it won over the hearts of many people right away, featuring a unique dual sensor system called TrueMove3+ alongside some other great additions. It truly is a premium gaming mouse, the absolute flagship of the Rival series right now.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Thermaltake Premium X1 RGB Cherry MX Speed Mechanical Keyboard Review

I’ve been reviewing peripherals for many years, I’ve literally reviewed hundreds of them, and some of my first reviews here at eTeknix were the early TteSports gaming devices from Thermaltake. Wind the clock back to 2013, when I reviewed their MEKA G Unit mechanical keyboard, as well as the Knucker Plunger, and you’ll see they’ve come quite a long way over the years. The quality has been getting better and better, and today, Thermaltake think they’ve created their finest keyboard to date, the X1.

Featuring Cherry MX Silver Speed Switches, it seems that Thermaltake is taking a break from Kailh switches. There’s nothing wrong with Kailh from my experience with them, but Cherry does have a better range, and a pretty loyal fan base too. With that in mind, this keyboard is sure to appeal to a wider market but likely comes with a price premium that Cherry often commands.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Things AMD Needs to Fix

This is the second part of our "Needs to Fix" series. Last week we talked about a number of issues we felt Intel’s customers would like to see the company address and in the face of growing competition they should certainly consider a few of them. Platform compatibility, the underwhelming box cooler, TDP rating abuse, and some others.

It is now AMD's turn. As the underdog, AMD has far more reason to play nice and you could argue they’ve been forced into doing many of the things we want Intel to do because of their smaller market share. We don’t believe AMD is a saint, it’s still a big company trying to accomplish what most businesses should: make money.

Read full article @ TechSpot

Western Digital WD Black 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD Review

Today is a grand day as I get to test Western Digital‘s WD Black NVMe SSD (product link). Western Digital has used colours to identify their drives for a long time and black has always been the crown. That is no different now that we’re moving from HDDs into the SSD area. The drive on the test bench is a 1TB version of the M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe SSD.

This is actually the second version of the WD Black NVMe drive and this time it is a full in-house production. The easiest way to spot the new version is that it now uses a black PCB where the first version had a blue PCB.

Read full article @ eTeknix

XPG Spectrix D41 RGB DDR4 Review

XPG, well known for flashy RGB and solid performance, have provided us with another set of DDR4 RAM. This time we take a look at the successor to a review we only published a couple of weeks ago, the Spectrix D41. With this new kit we see a more diffused RGB strip on top as well as less obstruction, allowing brighter and more vibrant effects. We also see support from many more manufacturers for synchronising the

Not only have they improved the RGB element, we also see an improvement in speeds, starting at 2666MHz and soaring to an insane 5000MHz for those who need the absolute bleeding edge of performance. The sticks arrive with both a bright red heatsink or a titanium grey option.

Read full article @ Vortez