Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including Inside the Intel Haswell Microarchitecture, Xbox One vs PlayStation 4: Upcoming Consoles Compared, Intel Linux Driver For Ivy Bridge Still Catching Up To Windows, Seagate's 600 SSD solid-state drive reviewed, and Synology DS713+ NAS



Inside the Intel Haswell Microarchitecture @ Hardware Secrets

The Haswell microarchitecture expands the Ivy Bridge microarchitecture by adding a few new features, such as a new graphics engine, the new AVX2 instruction set, new dispatch ports, and more. Let's see what is new.

Read more: Inside the Intel Haswell Microarchitecture @ Hardware Secrets

Xbox One vs PlayStation 4: Upcoming Consoles Compared @ TechReviewSource.com

Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4 are coming, and they will be facing off against each other in the newest generation of game consoles.

Read more: Xbox One vs PlayStation 4: Upcoming Consoles Compared @ TechReviewSource.com

The Chromebook Pixel Review @ Anandtech

It arrived in a white nondescript cardboard box, with just a flash of color, and one word on the lid: Google. Inside was a Chromebook. Chromebooks are dull. Chrome OS is quaint. Theyre like generic granola bars, they get the job done, but theyre no Clif Bar. Right? Google’s product team didn’t set-out to build a Chromebook, their mission was to design the most covetous and capable machine they could. And theres no denying that it’s a looker. But is it enough to draw users away from their Retina MacBooks and Ultrabooks? Or is it just a browser in a nice suit?

Read more: The Chromebook Pixel Review @ Anandtech

MSI GTX 650Ti BOOST OC Review @ Vortez

When we first tested the NVIDIA GTX650Ti BOOST, we gave it our gold award, perhaps somewhat prematurely as inevitably, 2 months on we find a host of custom cooled and overclocked variants have hit the scene. One such card is the MSI GTX650Ti BOOST OC which features MSI's famed Twin Frozr cooling technology and a factory overclock to further 'boost' performance.

Read more: MSI GTX 650Ti BOOST OC Review @ Vortez

Intel Linux Driver For Ivy Bridge Still Catching Up To Windows @ Phoronix

After yesterday's Intel Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge Linux graphics comparison using the very latest Intel Linux graphics driver, here are new benchmarks using the latest Windows and Linux Intel OpenGL graphics driver. Facing competition this morning is Microsoft Windows 7 Pro x64 and Ubuntu 13.04 with its updated open-source stack.

Past Windows vs. Linux testing of Intel hardware with their in-house graphics driver has been mixed. Lately, the Linux OpenGL driver has been slower than Windows although the Linux driver has matured greatly. Back in 2011 though there was a time for Sandy Bridge hardware that the Linux driver could out perform the Windows driver, but then Intel came out with a feisty new Windows driver.

Read more: Intel Linux Driver For Ivy Bridge Still Catching Up To Windows @ Phoronix

Seagate's 600 SSD solid-state drive reviewed @ The Tech Report

For years, hard drive makers have largely steered clear of consumer SSDs. Seagate is finally ready to get into the market, and we've taken a closer look at its affordable 600 SSD.

Read more: Seagate's 600 SSD solid-state drive reviewed @ The Tech Report

2x Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256GB SATA3 SSD RAID0 Review @ OcInside.de

We recently reviewed one of the fast Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256 GB SSD, but we wanted it faster again.
Said and done, because today we test two of these fast Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256 GB SSDs.
We build a hardware RAID0 striping with two of these SSDs and compare their performance with a software RAID 0, with one single Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256 GB SSD and with two Crucial m4 SSDs in RAID 0.
Let us continue to see, how fast two Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256 GB SSDs are in RAID 0.

Read more: 2x Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme 256GB SATA3 SSD RAID0 Review @ OcInside.de

Silverstone Argon AR03 @ techPowerUp

Silverstone has expanded their portfolio of CPU coolers with the all new Argon series AR03 cooler. Featuring a blue and white fan and six heatpipes, this traditional tower cooler serves up exceptional cooling performance with solid acoustics.

Read more: Silverstone Argon AR03 @ techPowerUp

Case Mod Friday: ViRoiD @ ThinkComputers.org

Welcome to another Case Mod Friday showcase! This week we have Bens ViRoiD build. Here is what he had to say about it: Pictures speak louder than words. Getting a 690 to fit in a prodigy is not a big deal until you start thinking about watercooling it, and a cpu, and ram. I wanted a color that matched the p8z77-i, and blue was the ticket. The orange case was chosen because of its location opposite of blue on the color wheel. Modding the front of the case to fit the 200mm rad was fun, plus it gave me some extra materials to make some psu covers with.

Read more: Case Mod Friday: ViRoiD @ ThinkComputers.org

Synology DS713+ NAS @ TechwareLabs

Sharing files over network is a somewhat awkward affair; either you set up a shared folder on someones computer and leave it running all the timeand hope it doesnt crashor you commit to the expense and trouble of setting up a dedicated file server. NAS devices are meant to occupy the gap between those two extremes, providing workstation-independent storage without the configuration headaches and electricity bill of a full-fledged server. Synology is one of the most prominent names in this space, and weve had ample experience with their products in the past. Today were going to be taking a look at one of their latest SOHO offerings, the DS713+.

Read more: Synology DS713+ NAS @ TechwareLabs

Water Cooling Radiator Comparison: Thickness vs Fin Density @ PC Perspective

The latest rage in CPU cooling seems to be the self-contained water cooler because of the cooling potential of these coolers without the noise of a comparable air-based cooling system. This is something that cooling enthusiasts have known for years with the custom water cooling solution heat dissipation capacity only rivaled by its varied composition. A typical custom water loop is comprised of a pump, CPU cooling block, and a radiator in its simplest form.

Today, we are looking at the impact of the radiator on the custom water cooling loop, specifically the affects of radiator thickness and fin density on the cooling efficiency of the cooling loop. For this testing, we are comparing a single Swiftech MCR 320-QP Radiator, dual Swiftech MCR 320-QP Radiators in series, and an XSPC RX360 radiator while keeping the pump, CPU cooling block, and coolant used constant between tests.

Read more: Water Cooling Radiator Comparison: Thickness vs Fin Density @ PC Perspective