Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including HP Envy TouchSmart 15 Review, TDK STi710 High-Fidelity Headphones With iPhone Control, Haiku Alpha 4 - So what's next?, AMD Introduces Radeon R9 and R7 Series Graphics Cards w/ AMD TrueAudio, and Aerocool Strike-X Xtreme Black Edition Case Review



HP Envy TouchSmart 15 Review @ Techradar

HP's Envy line is the company's high-end range - the top-class stuff, in theory - but has produced mixed results recently. We were impressed by the Spectre XT and Envy X2, but weren't so sure about the Envy 6 or Envy 4.But the HP Envy TouchSmart 15-j004ea is closer to what the Envy line originally stood for, so we always had high hopes for it. It's simply a highly spec'd machine, fitted into a smart chassis.

Read more: HP Envy TouchSmart 15 Review @ Techradar

be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 CPU Cooler Review @ ThinkComputers.org

be quiet! is known mainly for their power supplies and cooling fans. They have some of the top products around in those categories, but if you didn't know they also make CPU coolers. Today we are going to be taking a look at one of their latest CPU Coolers the Shadow Rock 2, which is the successor to the original Shadow Rock Pro cooler. The Shadow Rock 2 features an aluminum heatsink design with a copper base and four 8 mm copper heatpipes. To aid in cooling you also have a 120 mm SilentWings fan, which only runs at 1600 RPM so it should be pretty quiet. Will this cooler help keep your CPU and system nice and cool? Read on as we find out!

Read more: be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 CPU Cooler Review @ ThinkComputers.org

TDK STi710 High-Fidelity Headphones With iPhone Control @ NikKTech

Much like hardcore gamers who always like to use the highest-end graphics cards to enjoy playing their favorite games at their maximum audiophiles are also after the best possible set of headphones to enjoy listening to their favorite tunes and watching their favorite movies. Looking back now although I've used and tested countless headsets and headphones i still haven't found the "one" suitable for me. Many have come really close but personally I'm one of those people who seek perfection (the jack of all trades) in every possible aspect so although I've really enjoyed the audio reproduction of quite a few headsets/headphones i can't say the same about their design, comfort and build quality. So while the quest for the best headphones out there continues for me TDK was kind enough to send us their STi710 High Fidelity Headphones with iPhone control and after 2 weeks of testing we can finally upload this review.

Read more: TDK STi710 High-Fidelity Headphones With iPhone Control @ NikKTech

Nikon Coolpix S9500 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

The Nikon Coolpix S9500 is a pocket-size camera that manages to squeeze an 18-megapixel image sensor, a GPS radio, Wi-Fi, and a long 22x lens into a slim form factor. It's a stylish design that can snap sharp photos in automatic mode, but it doesn't offer the level of manual control that some others in this class do.

Read more: Nikon Coolpix S9500 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

MSI N780 TF 3GD5/OC GeForce GTX 780 GAMING Review @ Hardcoreware

GeForce 780, Titan’s little brother, is available in many flavours from various brands. MSI themselves offer four different models, from a bone stock 780 to the triple-fan cooled version with a special BIOS for sub zero cooling. Today we’re going to look at the MSI N780 TF 3GD5/OC GeForce 780 that carries their GAMING moniker.

Read more: MSI N780 TF 3GD5/OC GeForce GTX 780 GAMING Review @ Hardcoreware

be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 @ techPowerUp

be quiet! seeks to take the competition out from the shadows with the Shadow Rock 2. Offering up four 8 mm heatpipes, 51 aluminum cooling fins, and a unique feature in the freely selectable fan mount, it brings quiet and quality together at an attractive price point and with a unique design.

Read more: be quiet! Shadow Rock 2 @ techPowerUp

Corsair RM650 Power Supply Review @ Legit Reviews

Corsair is perhaps the most active company in the PSU market this year, which may be slightly ironic, as they originally were a memory manufacturer that diversified into the PSU market just a few years ago. Apparently, the tens of products which they have been marketing via their six PSU series were not enough, leading Corsair to develop a seventh, new series. Today, the company's new power supply series, the RM, is a fact, bringing 6 new units into their already crowded power supply ranks. The smallest power supply of the series starts at 450 W and the most powerful version reached up to 1000 W. Today we are having a close look at the RM650 which, as the name implies, is the 650 W version.

Read more: Corsair RM650 Power Supply Review @ Legit Reviews

Hyundai HS2 128GB Review @ Vortez

Hyundai are more commonly known for their expertise in the automobile market but they are also no stranger to consumer technology products too. Having delved into storage products in the past, Hyundai are now pursuing external SSD storage in a bid to bring super-fast transfer speeds for portable data storage.

HS2 is an external SSD which utilises the USB 3.0 interface. Within the range, an assortment of colours are available and a selection of model capacities including: 60GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 750GB, 1TB. Today we will be taking a look at the 128GB version to discover how this new USB 3.0 SSD compares to a conventional USB 3.0 drive and SATA 3 SSD.

Read more: Hyundai HS2 128GB Review @ Vortez

Haiku Alpha 4 - So what's next? @ Dedoimedo

Inhale. Can you smell that? Nostalgia. This is a short review of an alpha version 4 of Haiku, an open-source recreation of BeOS, covering basic look & feel, networking, programs, installation, and a bit more. Fun away.

Read more: Haiku Alpha 4 - So what's next? @ Dedoimedo

Asus Xonar U7 Review @ Guru3D

USB headphone amps have gained a lot of popularity in recent years. There's a lot of good reasons for having an external DAC for audio, chief among them less noise to draw better performance from higher-quality parts, and of course more power to drive high-end or even audiophile quality headphones. ASUS has been focused on bringing interesting products based on these ideas, you only have to look at their Xonar Essence line of cards to realize that.

The Xonar brand has been around for quite a while and we love the quality of ASUS’s design and build. The first Xonar product in the Guru3d Audio Lab was the D2X, a product that I called ‘a showboat’. It was ASUS’s first top-tier gaming audio card, and of course, they made an asteroid sized splash in the market. We liked it. Then, of course, if the D2X wasn’t enough quality for you, ASUS released the Essence series of sound cards. These are the ultimate expression of what ASUS could do with audio, showing their engineering chops and, dare I say it, passion. Oh, we liked them, too. Today we have in house another Xonar, the ASUS Xonar U7 External USB sound card. It is the performance enhanced version of the Xonar U3, a thumbdrive sized USB audio adapter. The U7 is not the average external USB DAC/headphone amp. It is loaded with features, offering 7.1 surround sound audio with 192KHz/24-bit capability, 114dB SNR, line-level outputs, S/PDIF input/output, and selectable gain for those audiophile headphones you were trying to convince yourself into buying (do eet, do eeet!). While it’s not a ROG branded product, the Xonar U7 is designed to work with the ROG Vulcan or Orion headsets. But, you can use it with any headset of your choice. This means you get both a dedicated headphone amp and microphone input, in a nice external USB powered package with some impressive specifications. The U7 also has a knob. We like knobs.

Read more: Asus Xonar U7 Review @ Guru3D

CM Havoc Gaming Mouse and QuickFire XT Mechanical Keyboard Review @ OCC

Overall I really enjoyed the CM Havoc gaming mouse. I usually don't go for the fat mice, but this is one you can definitely be a chubby chaser for and still be thought of as okay. It is definitely set to fancy those with a palm grip and despite having small hands there's not too much there. It is built nice and sturdy and even some rage smashes of the mouse have not shown any instant signs of loss. The little bit of lighting really adds to the mouse in my opinion; for some reason I fall into the category of loving a little bit of customization through a little bit of lighting on my peripherals. The lighting is subtle enough and you can turn it off completely without it looking like it is broken. I didn't like that I couldn't have my full RGB spectrum, but I can settle with the standard options provided. The mouse glides quite well even on the cheapest of mouse pads and is great for many hours of game play, work, and whatever else you use your mouse for. It's just a nice simple connection between you and your machine.

Read more: CM Havoc Gaming Mouse and QuickFire XT Mechanical Keyboard Review @ OCC

Thermaltake Chaser A31 @ LanOC Reviews

e have been on a Mid Tower kick here lately with case reviews and a few have left us impressed while others leave us scratching our head with odd design choices. One of those cases was the Urban S21 from Thermaltake, a company generally known for good, solid case design. Today Thermaltake is back with another mid tower offering in a slightly higher price range, the A31 Chaser. While the color of the Thunder Edition was enough to catch everyone’s attention at CES, I will be putting the Chaser through a more thorough examination today.

Read more: Thermaltake Chaser A31 @ LanOC Reviews

AMD Introduces Radeon R9 and R7 Series Graphics Cards w/ AMD TrueAudio @ Legit Reviews

Legit Reviews is at the AMD GPU 14 Tech Day and they just announced the new AMD Radeon desktop graphics card series. Read on to find out more!

Read more: AMD Introduces Radeon R9 and R7 Series Graphics Cards w/ AMD TrueAudio @ Legit Reviews

AMD Announces TrueAudio Technology For Upcoming GPUs @ Anandtech

As part of todays public session for AMDs 2014 GPU product showcase, AMD has announced a new audio technology for some of their upcoming GPUs. Dubbed TrueAudio, Although technical details are light at this time more is certainly to come under NDA what AMD is describing would be consistent with them having integrated some form of audio DSP into their relevant GPUs. The inclusion of an audio DSP comes at an interesting time for the industry. The launch of the next generation consoles has afforded everyone the chance to make significant technology changes, as the consoles and the realities of multi-platform game publishing meant that many developers stuck with a least common denominator on input, graphics, and audio. For PC game audio this meant that most audio was implemented entirely in software, just as it was with the consoles.

Read more: AMD Announces TrueAudio Technology For Upcoming GPUs @ Anandtech

AMD Announces Next Generation R7 and R9 Video Cards @ Anandtech

At AMDs 2014 GPU Product Showcase, AMD has just announced their upcoming next generation product lineup. In an unusual move theyre announcing a complete top-to-bottom of products at all once, rather than announcing products piecemeal as theyre ready for launch. The upcoming generation of products will be branded R7 and R9. R7 will be AMDs lower-end mainstream parts, while R9 will be for their higher-end enthusiast parts. Notably, AMD is taking care to note that certain features are only available on certain cards. The R9 series is Direct3D 11.2 compliant, for example, but the R7 was not mentioned as being so.

Read more: AMD Announces Next Generation R7 and R9 Video Cards @ Anandtech

Driver fix for CrossFire + Eyefinity/4K frame pacing issues coming this fall @ The Tech Report

I just spoke with Raja Koduri, the new head of graphics hardware and software development at AMD, who recently returned to the company after some time away. Koduri, incidentally, spearheaded the development of the original CrossFire implementation way back when.

In our talk, Koduri acknowledged that the frame delivery issues with CrossFire were "unfortunate," and he expressed a desire to make things right. Koduri told me AMD is working on a fix for CrossFire and single-large-surface display configurations, like Eyefinity and tiled 4K monitors, for current Radeon graphics cards. He said AMD plans to deliver a driver with the fix this fall.

Read more: Driver fix for CrossFire + Eyefinity/4K frame pacing issues coming this fall @ The Tech Report

Sony Xperia Z1 Camera Features Review @ The Inquirer

We take a tour of the camera features found on Sony's flagship Xperia Z1 smartphone     

Read more: Sony Xperia Z1 Camera Features Review @ The Inquirer

Aerocool Strike-X Xtreme Black Edition Case Review @ KitGuru

Today we are taking a look at Aerocool's Strike-X Xtreme Black Edition case. This mid-tower case aims to deliver high-end performance at a competitive price point. To help the Strike-X Xtreme Black Edition deliver on this promise it ships with three fans pre-installed, pre-drilled cable routing holes and even offers support for water cooling set-ups. With a retail price of £64.99 inc vat., can the Strike-X Xtreme Black Edition hit the sweet spot?

Read more: Aerocool Strike-X Xtreme Black Edition Case Review @ KitGuru