Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including Intel Core i7-4770K vs AMD A10-6800K IGP - Any good for Gaming?, NZXT H630 Silent Full Tower Case Review, Genius GX Gaming Gila Professional Gaming Mouse Review, Motorola Droid Ultra Review: Ultra-Thin LTE Smartphone, and ASUS A88X-PRO Review



Intel Core i7-4770K vs AMD A10-6800K IGP - Any good for Gaming? @ ocaholic

In the past few years, Intel and AMD have spent a lot of resources in improving the performance of their integrated graphics units. Intel has been working hard to make sure their HD graphics becomes competitive with AMDs Radeon units. Today we're going to compare the HD 4600 graphics unit we find with Intels latest Core i7-4770K CPU to AMDs HD 8670D, that can be found in their A10-6800K APU. Next to the raw performance differences we also want to know if these chips can - under certain circumstances - be used for gaming.

Read more: Intel Core i7-4770K vs AMD A10-6800K IGP - Any good for Gaming? @ ocaholic

NZXT H630 Silent Full Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Being computer enthusiasts we love to build some pretty extreme systems, but that of course comes some with some noise. That is where quiet PC Cases come in to play. Many different companies make them, but today we are talking a look at one from NZXT. The NZXT H630 is a full tower case with a very elegant design and is made to keep your systems noise to a minimum. Not only that this case has room for multiple watercooling setups, XL-ATX and E-ATX motherboards, long video cards, and 9 hard drives. Will the NZXT H630 impress? Read on as we find out!

Read more: NZXT H630 Silent Full Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Toshiba Tecra Z40-A1401 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

The Toshiba Tecra-Z40-A1401 blends in pretty well with the rest of the high-end ultraportable laptops currently on the market. It has a fast, fourth-gen Intel Core i5 CPU, a sturdy frame that's still relatively light and even some unique security features. However, it has very few advantages over its similarly priced rivals, as well as some notable disadvantages.

Read more: Toshiba Tecra Z40-A1401 Review @ TechReviewSource.com

Asus Vanguard B85 Review @ Hexus

Intel's release of 4th Generation Core processors back in June not only ushered in a slew of new CPUs but also introduced a number of associated chipsets and motherboards. The enthusiast-grade Z87 got much of the attention, yet look further down the stack - Q87, Q85, H87, and B85 - and there's good value to be had elsewhere.

Focussing on the value-conscious chipset, B85, Intel simplifies the features by removing the multiplier overclocking support for the K-series chips, limiting the PCIe lane sharing for graphics cards (so no official support for SLI or CrossFire), reducing USB 3.0 support from six ports to four, reorganising the SATA ports into four SATA6 and two SATA3, and removing the RAID capability inherent in the Z87.

The reductions, though many, actually make a lot of sense for a lower-cost motherboard. Most cheaper systems run with a single discrete graphics card, no more than two storage drives, and are rarely overclocked. Starting at below £50 for the cheapest B85s, value is very much key.

Read more: Asus Vanguard B85 Review @ Hexus

Genius GX Gaming Gila Professional Gaming Mouse Review @ FunkyKit

The mouse, in most cases, is one-half of the necessary human interface devices needed to operate a personal computer. Just like every other important piece of hardware in the PC realm, the mouse has definitely experienced an evolution for the better. If you grew up in the era of one-button mice with a roller ball beneath it you will most likely appreciate the evolution that much more.

In this day and age, a user can find a mouse of any size, shape, color, comfort, just name it. Some manufacturers create simple and functional designs, while others go all out on aesthetics and customization. Many mice have adjustable DPI settings, multiple programmable macro buttons, and even LED lighting for extra bling.
We recently had the pleasure of reviewing the Energy Mouse from Genius and were pleasantly surprised by the comfort, battery life, and features that the mouse offered. In case you missed that review, you may read it here.
 
Today we will be taking a look at the GX Gaming Gila Professional Gaming Mouse from Genius, who is well known in the world of computer peripherals. The Gila Professional Gaming Mouse sports some pretty aggressive styling, adjustable levels for backlight brightness, up to 8200dpi resolution, adjustable weight settings, up to seventy-two macros in six game profiles, and a slew of other features as we will see later in this review.

Read more: Genius GX Gaming Gila Professional Gaming Mouse Review @ FunkyKit

120mm Water Cooler Round Up w/ Cooler Master, Scythe and Zalman @ Legit Reviews

Today we are looking at four 120mm sealed liquid cooling loop kits. Kits like these have been around for while as we first saw the Asetek LCLC at IDF 2006! The first sealed loop unit I personally reviewed was the CoolIT Systems Pure way back in 2008, and since I have reviewed several units from Corsair, CoolIT Systems, Intel, Thermaltake and Antec. Today we are taking a look at units from Cooler Master, Scythe, and Zalman. These are all new brands to us when it comes to liquid cooling, so we can't wait to see what they have to offer...

Read more: 120mm Water Cooler Round Up w/ Cooler Master, Scythe and Zalman @ Legit Reviews

Sapphire R9 280X Toxic @ LanOC Reviews

When I had the chance to check out the R9 270X Toxic from Sapphire at its launch I was completely blown away at both its performance and styling. Sapphire had obviously put a lot of time and effort reinventing their image, designs, and really stepped it up the performance. When given the chance to check out the R9 280X Toxic, I didn’t even have to think about it. I couldn’t wait to see if Sapphire could do the same with the R9 280X that impressed me so much with the R9 270X. Today is the day, lets dig in and see what it’s all about.

Read more: Sapphire R9 280X Toxic @ LanOC Reviews

Motorola Droid Ultra Review: Ultra-Thin LTE Smartphone @ HotHardware.com

When considering the physical design of a smartphone, there's one key dimension that often matters most to the majority of users: thickness. No one wants to carry around a thick, clunky smartphone. Manufacturers realize thin devices sell, which is why it seems every time we turn around they're constantly fighting for the title of thinnest device.

The current title-holder is the Motorola Droid Ultra, which is billed as the thinnest 4G LTE smartphone. It measures just 0.28 inches thick and is available exclusively through Verizon Wireless...

Read more: Motorola Droid Ultra Review: Ultra-Thin LTE Smartphone @ HotHardware.com

Turtle Beach Ear Force PX4 Wireless Gaming Headset Video Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Kaeyi Dream looks at the Turtle Beach Ear Force PX4 Wireless Gaming Headset in today's video review.

Read more: Turtle Beach Ear Force PX4 Wireless Gaming Headset Video Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

ASUS H87-PRO Review @ Benchmark Tests

This mainboard comes with a lot of features, like DisplayPort, S/PDIF audio, 4 USB ports on the back panel and CrossFireX. The HDMI is able to display the 4K resolution (4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz). One of the USB3 ports supports a Hardware-level USB BIOS Flashback which means that the UEFI BIOS can be updated even without a processor or memory installed. (just connect the power cable and and the reset button switch cable and than press the reset button)

Haswell uses the new socket LGA 1150. The H87 PRO has power control of 6 Phases while the ASUS Z87 PRO has a 14 (12 + 2) Phases. The DIGI+ VRM is a digital voltage regulation instead of the analog VRM in cheaper motherboards.

Read more: ASUS H87-PRO Review @ Benchmark Tests

MSI GTX 780 Lightning 3GB Graphics Card Review @ eTeknix

MSI’s GTX 780 Lightning was a graphics card that was hotly anticipated by the graphics card enthusiasts of a green persuasion. Announced about 3 months ago the MSI GTX 780 Lighting is a feature packed Nvidia graphics card with seven 8mm heat pipes, three fans and a mammoth heatsink. Two of the fans are 90mm while the middle one is 80mm. The MSI GTX 780 Lighting comes with a pretty nice out the box clock speed of 980/1033MHz core/boost and is much faster than the stock GTX 780 which has speeds of 863/900MHz core/boost. Sadly the memory doesn’t get any special treatment and comes with the stock amount at the stock speed of 6GHz. MSI have made some very high-end adjustments to the power delivery system removing Nvidia restrictions, adding a 16 phase VRM and providing an independent memory power source. MSI have also equipped their “GPU reactor” on the rear of the card to provide additional filtering for the power input which should increase stability when overclocking.

Read more: MSI GTX 780 Lightning 3GB Graphics Card Review @ eTeknix

Func KB-460 Gaming Keyboard @ Phoronix

While we don't generally review keyboards and other gaming peripherals at Phoronix, occasionally such a product will come along that is worth checking out in close detail. One of these products is the Func KB-460, a new high-end gaming keyboard. The Func KB-460 looks great, but will it work on Linux and be worth the nearly $120 USD price tag?

Func has now been in business as a US manufacturer of gaming peripherals for almost fifteen years. Func began in California back in 1999 by producing high-end gaming mouse pads, but since expanded into mice and other products for PC gamers. The KB-460 keyboard that we are checking out today is a mechanical gaming keyboard that first was shown off at Computex Taipei earlier in the year but as of this week is finally shipping.

Read more: Func KB-460 Gaming Keyboard @ Phoronix

ASUS A88X-PRO Review @ Vortez

In lieu of the 'Kaveri' APUs, ASUS release a full featured ATX motherboard based on the A88X chipset dressed up in their current garb of golden heatsinks on a darkened background. As ever with ASUS, who are keen to include as many exclusive features as they can cram in, we find the new Dual intelligent processors 4 along with the new AI Suite 3 that aims to give users maximum control over their system performance and power efficiency.

Read more: ASUS A88X-PRO Review @ Vortez