Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including How to Get Windows XP Mode on Windows 8, MSI GK-601 Gaming Keyboard Review, Rig of the Month - August 2013, SMART Storage Systems CloudSpeed 1000 and 1000E Server Grade SSD Review, and A closer look at RAPID DRAM caching on the Samsung 840 EVO SSD



How to Get Windows XP Mode on Windows 8 @ Howtogeek

Windows XP Mode isnt included with Windows 8. Microsoft will soon be discontinuing support for Windows XP and doesnt want anyone using it, even in a virtual machine. However, you can easily set up your own Windows XP mode in Windows 8. You can virtualize Windows XP with almost any virtual machine program, but well cover a solution that gives you Windows XP-mode like desktop and taskbar integration on Windows 8.

Read more: How to Get Windows XP Mode on Windows 8 @ Howtogeek

Cougar PowerX 550W PSU Review @ KitGuru

Today we take a look at the Cougar PowerX 550W power supply. Never heard of Cougar? well they are a retail subset of parent company HEC. The PowerX 550W is a 80 Plus Bronze certified, compact, non modular design built into a brightly coloured chassis. We last looked at their CS 800W (http://www.kitguru.net/components/power-supplies/zardon/cougar-gx-800w-power-supply-review/) unit in January this year and while it didn't earn a really high award from us, it was a capable all round unit.

Read more: Cougar PowerX 550W PSU Review @ KitGuru

Nanoxia Deep Silence 2 Case Review @ KitGuru

Today we are going to look at the Nanoxia Deep Silence 2 case designed for users who want to build a powerful system with low noise acoustics performance. In fact, it features sound-proofing similar to that of Fractal Designs Define series which is a great starting point to reduce noise. Is this a new low noise challenger that should be at the top of your shortlist?

Read more: Nanoxia Deep Silence 2 Case Review @ KitGuru

iconBIT NETTAB Mercury XL (NT-3504M) Mobile Phone Review @ Madshrimps

The NETTAB Mercury XL (NT-3504M) smartphone from iconBIT is powered by a Quad-Core ARM Cortex-A7 CPU, with PowerVR IMGSGX544. The 4.5’’ screen comes with a 1280x720 resolution and we also have a 2MP sensor for the frontal camera and 8MP for the back.

Read more: iconBIT NETTAB Mercury XL (NT-3504M) Mobile Phone Review @ Madshrimps

MSI GK-601 Gaming Keyboard Review @ HiTech Legion

At the dawn of the 20th century, Buffalo, New York was a city unlike any other. It was then the 13th largest city in America and was an economic power house. The city’s proximity to Niagara Falls afforded it vast sums of hydroelectric power that was the envy of New York City and Chicago. All the extra power generated by the falls attracted mills and factories which relocated their center of operations to Buffalo, increasing the city’s coffers further. Extra power and money also meant that Buffalo could afford to illuminate the entire city with electric incandescent lights, dubbing themselves the “City of Light” for their expansive lighting coverage that was that was unparalleled for its time. Unfortunately, the city of Buffalo has lost its luster and is now a far cry from those glory days.

Read more: MSI GK-601 Gaming Keyboard Review @ HiTech Legion

Rig of the Month - August 2013 @ Guru3D

We just adore hardware. And sometimes some you guys really make a PC that really stands out. We ask you to answer a few simple questions and send in photo's of your rig. Each month we'll have a look at the entries and perhaps pick you and post your PC with photo's and everything here at Guru3D.com Here you can find out what you need to do and win a great prize brought to you with the courtesy of OCZ Technology.

Read more: Rig of the Month - August 2013 @ Guru3D

a.m.p iSO Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Headphones @ NikKTech

Whenever we hear the term Bluetooth wireless headsets the first thing that naturally comes to mind are the typical around the ear models we use with smartphones for hands free calls like the Voyager Legend by Plantronics or the MOTION by Jabra. However lately many people turn towards another less popular type which basically consists from two parts, a set of earphones and a Bluetooth receiver/transmitter. The overall size of the unit may not be as "portable" as the usual Bluetooth wireless headsets but it has three positives that we can't simply ignore. So first of all it offers stereo sound which means that not only can you answer/make calls and listen to the other person from both ears but you can also listen to music a lot better than with a single monophonic headset. The other plus is that since the Bluetooth receiver/transmitter is placed on the far end you can place it far away from your head and although so far there are no indications that Bluetooth connectivity can affect us in any way still this makes people feel safer and i can understand the why. Finally since the earphones have very little weight it can be used by people while jogging or exercising without falling off (or at least not as much). Antec mobile products chose to go with this solution and so today we will be taking a look at their ISO Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Headphones.

Read more: a.m.p iSO Noise-Canceling Bluetooth Headphones @ NikKTech

SMART Storage Systems CloudSpeed 1000 and 1000E Server Grade SSD Review @ The SSD Review

At Storage Vision 2013 in January, SMART Storage Systems made a splash with the announcement (http://thessdreview.us7.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=3d9b6193ffd32dd60e84fc74b&id=6e26445850&e=312ec141fb) of the CloudSpeed 1000 and 1000E enterprise SSDs. We have been patiently waiting for our chance to put these drives through their paces. In SSD time, it felt like an eternity but with our previous experience with their Optimus SSDs, we knew the wait would be worth it. Plus, SMART had a busy summer, as their acquisition by Sandisk (http://thessdreview.us7.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=3d9b6193ffd32dd60e84fc74b&id=fb3927f82e&e=312ec141fb) was finalized just last week, so we will cut them some slack.

As you may have guessed, the CloudSpeed series focuses on enterprise server and cloud computing environments. Specifically, they are optimized for the mixed workload conditions that typical enterprise SSDs encounter. The CloudSpeed series is outfitted with the features you would expect from an enterprise SSD, such as error correction and detection, power loss protection, data path protection, data fail recovery and AES 256-bit encryption. SMART also throws in thermal management for good measure.

Read more: SMART Storage Systems CloudSpeed 1000 and 1000E Server Grade SSD Review @ The SSD Review

Angelbird SSD2Go & Angelbird SSD2go TWIN 480GB External SSD Review @ The SSD Review

With the rapid progress of technology from one day to the next, concepts, ideas, inventions, and reinventions suddenly turn from wishful thinking into reality. In the case of solid-state drives the burning question was whether we would see a viable external solution. Conventional hard-drives already go their external variant primarily thanks to USB 2.0; with the raw speed and performance of SSDs however, the lagging catalyst was the upgraded USB 3.0 interface standard. Of course a slue of other components were needed as well cooling, enclosure size, controllers, design, chipsets just to name a few.
Only recently after advancements in each area did this mix come together to form a practical external SSD concoction in the Angelbird mobile SSD line. Today we take a look at two different models the $780 Angelbird SSD2go 480GB and the $900 dual Angelbird SSSD2go TWIN 480GB (240GB x 2). We will see if the Angelbird drives are worth their premium prices, and if they can indeed perform at SATA 3.0 speeds using USB 3.0.

Read more: Angelbird SSD2Go & Angelbird SSD2go TWIN 480GB External SSD Review @ The SSD Review

Cougar Archon Mid-Tower Gaming Case Review @ The SSD Review

The mid-tower PC case market is a very crowded segment, so differentiating yourself from the competition is what is going to be required in order to become a successful product. Even the sub-category of "gaming" mid-tower PC case is becoming populated with dozens of choices. When we drill even further down to the sub-sub-category of "budget" "gaming" mid-tower PC case, the choices begin to thin considerably. The Cougar Archon mid-tower PC case is being marketed as "the cutting edge gaming case" -- a very strong statement for a budget case with an MSRP of $49.99 (priced on Newegg.com 8/19, $3.99 for shipping). We would like to thank Cougar for providing the review sample. Let's give the Cougar Archon a closer look, and see how it is to build a system into.

Read more: Cougar Archon Mid-Tower Gaming Case Review @ The SSD Review

A closer look at RAPID DRAM caching on the Samsung 840 EVO SSD @ The Tech Report

Along with its SLC-based TurboWrite cache, Samsung's 840 EVO SSD has a secondary caching layer that stores data in system memory. This so-called RAPID cache is coming to other Samsung SSDs, and we've taken a closer look at how it affects performance.

Read more: A closer look at RAPID DRAM caching on the Samsung 840 EVO SSD @ The Tech Report

MSI GeForce GTX 780 LIGHTNING Review @ Guru3D

We test and review the MSI GeForce GTX 780 LIGHTNING edition. The MSI team has been hard at work with this product, completely revamping the design, the PCB, the cooler, adding new components (high current chokes, International Rectifier PowIRstage, DirectFET chips, tantalum capacitors) and yeah, to make this amongst the best overclockable graphics cards in the world, MSI put in some extra lovin into AfterBurner.

Now who doesn't like that with a graphics card based on the chip that is embedded in the GeForce GTX titan, eh? Correct as the 780 is making use of the GK110-300-A2 GPU which is packed with 2,304 cores, 192 TMUs and 48 ROPs. The GeForce GTX 780 is NVIDIAs high-end graphics card based off their Flagship product, the GTX Titan. This means it is based on the GK110 GPU and has an whopping 7.1 Billion transistors. That makes it a nice chunk faster opposed to the GeForce GTX 680 GPU. Just like Titan, the GTX 780 is based on the GK110 GPU with the distinctions that the Titan has a GK110-300 GPU and the GeForce GTX 780 a GK110-400 GPU. Same stuff, yet with some things disabled. But we are a bit surprised to see NVIDIA move forward with GK110. See, the GK110 chip is BIG, and that makes it a difficult chip to bake, its recipe is refined though as the product has 2304 Shader Processing Units, 192 TMUs and 32 ROPs on a 384-bit memory interface of fast GDDR5. So yeah, NVIDIA trimmed down that that 45 mm × 45 mm 2397-pin S-FCBGA Titian with its 2688 shader/stream/CUDA processors a bit. Memory wise you are looking at 3GB to over 6GB, that is still a nice amount of memory (384-bit) on there. Combined with GPU Boost 2.0 you will see this product boosting towards the 1100~1150 MHz range once you tweak it. The reference clock is 863 MHz with a boost clock of 900 MHz. Looking at the specs you must think that this product must consume heaps of power, well it's not great, but definitely not bad at all. The maximum allowed board design power draw is roughly 250 Watt, which considering what this product is, is good.

Read more: MSI GeForce GTX 780 LIGHTNING Review @ Guru3D