Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles, including Intel Core i7-4960X vs Intel Core i7-4930K DDR3-2400, Corsair Obsidian 250D Mini ITX PC Chassis Review, Falcon Computers Dead Silence Kaveri Gaming BattleRig Review, XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation Edition, and How to install Focus Blur plugin in GIMP - tutorial



Intel Core i7-4960X vs Intel Core i7-4930K DDR3-2400 Gaming-Performance @ ocaholic

Once more we're having a look at gaming performance in combination with two different high-end processors. Today we're also overclocking the memory to DDR3-2400 and we're definitely curious to see how well the Core i7-4960X stacks up agains the Core i7-4930K in recent games.

Read more: Intel Core i7-4960X vs Intel Core i7-4930K DDR3-2400 Gaming-Performance @ ocaholic

Corsair Obsidian 250D Mini ITX PC Chassis Review @ Legit Reviews

It doesn't seem that long ago that I was able to get my hands on the Corsair Obsidian 900D, AKA Godzilla. Without a doubt the Obsidian 900D is a massive case to say the least. It has all the bells and whistles and just an enormous amount of room to work with. Today we go to the opposite side of the spectrum of the Godzilla case with the Corsair Obsidian 250D. Corsair has decided to take a step into the mini ITX chassis market, and with the release of the Obsidian 250D it looks like they are going to make a splash! The Corsair Obsidian 250D may be a mini ITX chassis but it isn't exactly a case of small stature, measuring 13.8 x 10.9 x 11.4 it's certainly pushing the SFF boundaries. Read on to learn more about the Corsair Obsidian 250D!

Read more: Corsair Obsidian 250D Mini ITX PC Chassis Review @ Legit Reviews

Falcon Computers Dead Silence Kaveri Gaming BattleRig Review @ KitGuru

Today we target the readers who want a new low cost system to handle basic duties, such as high definition media playback, casual gaming and office work. The new Dead Silence Kaveri Gaming Battlerig from UK system builder Falcon Computers looks set to fit the bill. This system features the latest AMD A10 7850K APU, built inside the diminutive, award winning Aerocool Dead Silence chassis.

Read more: Falcon Computers Dead Silence Kaveri Gaming BattleRig Review @ KitGuru

Antec EarthWatts Platinum 550W Non-Modular Power Supply Review @ eTeknix

With energy efficiency becoming more and more important to consumers it was only a matter of time before 80 Plus Platinum was made available in low-wattage power supplies for relatively affordable price points. Currently we see 80 Plus Platinum reserved for high end power supply units like Enermax’s Platimax series and Corsair’s AX1200i among others. Yet today we have with us an 80 Plus Platinum rated power supply from Antec in a modest 450W capacity for users who care about energy efficiency and only have a modest system to power. The Antec EarthWatts Platinum 450W power supply we have here today fills exactly that market segment.

The focus of Antec’s EarthWatts Platinum series is really quite simple, they want to offer you 80 Plus Platinum rated power supplies that are more affordable because they come in more realistic wattages for “normal” systems. In fact 450W is more than enough power for any high-end system. You could easily run a single high end GPU and high end CPU platform off this power supply, such as an Core i7 3960X with a moderate OC and an Nvidia GTX 780. Of course the typical user of this power supply is more likely to have an LGA 115X platform and less demanding GPU but the point still remains – 450W is enough for most people making this a very accessible and applicable power supply.

Read more: Antec EarthWatts Platinum 550W Non-Modular Power Supply Review @ eTeknix

Gigabyte GTX 780 Ti GHz Edition 3GB Graphics Card Review @ eTeknix

With AMD’s R9 290 coming in at a price point of $399 Nvidia’s GTX 780 has been put under pressure at its $499 price point since the R9 290 more or less beats it for 100 dollars less. Nvidia was already on the defensive from the release of the R9 290X, forced to drop the price of its GTX 780 down from $649 to $499, but with the release of the R9 290 at a much lower price than expected the GTX 780 is surely due another price cut? Well Gigabyte aren’t hanging around for that to happen and they are instead doing something a bit different by making a GTX 780 “GHz Edition”. Yes you heard that right, a GHz Edition – that notorious AMD phrase which AMD used on the HD 7970 GHz Edition and HD 7870 GHz Edition. Gigabyte’s interpretation of a GTX 780 “GHz Edition” is taking the GTX 780 GPU and overclocking it from the stock 863MHz on the core and 900MHz on the boost, to 1020MHz on the core and 1072MHz on the boost. That’s a whopping 19% overclock compared to a stock GTX 780!

Read more: Gigabyte GTX 780 Ti GHz Edition 3GB Graphics Card Review @ eTeknix

Shogun Bros. Ballista MK-1 Gaming Mouse Review @ KitGuru

A brand that needs more recognition in the PC gaming peripheral market is Shogun Bros. They make high quality products worthy of the highest praise, and the Ballista MK-1 Gaming Mouse is proof of that. The market in the ~$50 price bracket is very high, so it is hard to wade through all the different brands and mice. In this article Benchmark Reviews hopes to shed some light on why the Shogun Bros. Ballista MK-1 is quite possibly the best-in-class must have gaming mouse.

Read more: Shogun Bros. Ballista MK-1 Gaming Mouse Review @ KitGuru

Mionix Avior 7000 and Naos 7000 @ Hexus

A recent HEXUS QOTW found that there are plenty of gamers out there using mice from familiar brands such as Microsoft, Logitech and Razer. It's a market that appears to be difficult for newcomers to break into, though not through a lack of effort or willingness.

One brand that's slowly but surely making inroads is Swedish outfit Mionix. Founded in 2007, the company, like so many others, has sights set exclusively on high-end gamers and has built up an attractive portfolio of products in next to no time.

The Avior 7000 and Naos 7000 mice, priced at £70 apiece, are two recent additions and both are under the microscope today.

Read more: Mionix Avior 7000 and Naos 7000 @ Hexus

SilentiumPC Fera2 HE1224 Heatsink Review

The SilentiumPC Fera2 HE1224 is a 154mm tall CPU cooler built around four 6mm diameter exposed copper heatpipes. The relatively thin profile should allow it to fit with ease in most motherboards, with a minimum of interference from near by memory module or VRM motherboard heatsinks.

Read more: SilentiumPC Fera2 HE1224 Heatsink Review

SanDisk CloudSpeed 1000E Enterprise SSD Review @ HotHardware.com

If you've spent any time at all following PC and storage technologies, you probably know that SanDisk is a brand that is synonymous with flash memory. Whether it's a memory card for a digital camera or a high-performance solid state drive for an enthusiast-class PC, odds are SanDisk has got you covered. And even in the highly unlikely event that you've never heard of SanDisk, we'd bet you still own a gadget or other piece of electronics/tech that's uses some sort of SanDisk flash memory, the company's products are that pervasive.

Though SanDisk's technology is widely used in the consumer space, they've also got an array of products that target the enterprise, one of which we'll be showing you here-the CloudSpeed 1000E enterprise grade 2.5" SSD...

Read more: SanDisk CloudSpeed 1000E Enterprise SSD Review @ HotHardware.com

XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation Edition @ LanOC Reviews

Out of last year’s AMD cards there was one card that stood above the rest with an all metal custom cooler. That was the double dissipation HD 7970 from XFX. This year there is a lot more competition and XFX has changed their design once again. I’m excited to find out how XFX stands up against the competition this year. With a black and chrome it certainly has the styling needed, but how is the performance? Let’s find out!

Read more: XFX R9 290 Double Dissipation Edition @ LanOC Reviews

Logitech PowerShell iPhone Controller Review @ Techradar

The waters of iOS 7 controllers, enable by Apple's MFi (Made for iPhone) initiative, are still incredibly murky.iPhones have had controller support baked right into the operating system since iOS 7 launched last year, but the pickings are still slim and developers have yet to adopt any widespread support of these devices.So how are iPhone gaming enthusiasts to decide what iOS 7 controller, if any, to invest in at this early stage?

Read more: Logitech PowerShell iPhone Controller Review @ Techradar

How to install Focus Blur plugin in GIMP - tutorial @ Dediomedo

I've written a short tutorial explaining how to install the Focus Blur plugin in GIMP in (Ubuntu) Linux, covering the configure, make, make install chain, how to obtain build tools, how to interpret and work around compilation errors by installing missing headers and development packages, additional resources, and more. Useful for all plugins, and all compilation attempts. Do it.

Read more: How to install Focus Blur plugin in GIMP - tutorial @ Dediomedo