Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

Antec Kuhler H2O K120 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler Review
ASUS ROG Maximus X Apex Review
Building a Steam Caching Server for Faster Game Downloads
Corsair Carbide Spec-Omega RGB Chassis Review
Dragon’s Crown Pro Review
Forgotton Anne Review
HyperX Predator RGB 16GB (HX429C15PB3AK2/16) Review
Intel Optane Memory Tested With Secondary Hard Drive
Patriot Viper LED PC4-24000 2x8GB DDR4 RAM Review
WD Black NVMe SSD Review
Windows Subsystem for Linux - Many distros

Antec Kuhler H2O K120 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler Review

Usually when people choose an dual/tri-fan 240/280/360mm AIO (all-in-one) liquid CPU cooler over a "regular" CPU air cooler it is because they are after higher cooling efficiency and in some cases even looks (especially when we talk about RGB models). Still those are not always the reasons people prefer AIO solutions and so single-fan 120/140mm models are often ideal for use in very small micro-ATX/Mini-ITX cases where size and noise levels play a very large role. For good or bad it's been a while since we've seen something really new in the single-fan AIO market but the wait is over since Antec (among others) just released their latest Kuhler H2O All-In-One Liquid CPU Cooler line including the K120 which is here with us today.

Antec, Inc. is the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in the industry and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of quiet, efficient and innovative products. Antec has also achieved great success in the distribution channel, meeting the demands of quality-conscious system builders, VARs and integrators. Antec’s offering of enclosures includes a wide range of cases, such as its advanced Performance One Series, economical New Solution Series and VERIS family of media components designed for the home theater PC market. Antec’s products also include front line power supplies, such as its premium Signature Series, powerful TruePower Quattro Series and EarthWatts, one of the most environmentally friendly power supplies available. PC gamers are an increasingly significant consumer of performance components, and many Antec products are designed for the gaming demographic, like the premier gamer enclosure: the Nine Hundred. Antec also offers a line of computer accessories comprising many original products, including its patented LED fans and notebook cooling solutions. Antec is headquartered in Fremont, California, with additional offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, China and Taiwan. The company’s products are sold in more than 40 countries throughout the world.

Read full article @ NikKTech

ASUS ROG Maximus X Apex Review

The ASUS ROG Apex line of boards have always been known for its focus on overclocking as well as unique design implementations like the "X" shaped board and the unique 'DIMM.2' slot - a DRAM-like slot for a bundled add-in card that can be used for two additional M.2 modules on a PCIe 3.0 x8 link. The Z370 ROG Maximus X Apex sticks with its pedigree and even adds a 5G network port to a long feature list.

Straight off the bat, it is hard to ignore that the Apex is not a rectangular motherboard. ASUS has cut the Apex into a more esoteric shape, almost like an X, to differentiate itself from other products on the market. It is a little odd, given generations of rectangles, although it is worth noting that motherboards do not have to be rectangles at all - as long as it fits in the standard, go crazy. The Apex fits the standard, requiring an E-ATX chassis, and the extra PCB area is used extensively for features.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Building a Steam Caching Server for Faster Game Downloads

Thanks to Wendell from Level1Techs for his all of his help on this project and pointing us in the right direction!
A few years ago, we were fortunate enough to get a fiber internet connection installed at the PC Perspective office. Capable of 1Gbps download speeds and about 250Mbps upload, we were excited at the possibilities that laid ahead.

However, when you have access to a very fast internet connection, you begin to notice that the bottleneck has shifted from your connection to the servers on the other side of the content delivery networks (CDNs) that power the internet. While these CDNs have very fast links to the internet, they generally limit bandwidth so that there is more speed to go around to multiple people at the same time.

Read full article @ PC Perspective

Corsair Carbide Spec-Omega RGB Chassis Review

Corsair is well known in the PC component market, and it’s very likely you’ve owned one or more of their products over the years. Their chassis are some of the most popular on the market around the world. To add to that, their Carbide series is hugely popular and continues to offer competitive and innovative chassis year after year. With that in mind, I’m very excited to have their new Carbide Series Spec-Omega RGB Tempered Glass chassis in the eTeknix office today. Priced at around £139.99 at launch, its unique design and plentiful features are sure to appeal to anyone building a stylish gaming PC.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Dragon’s Crown Pro Review

Originally released during the high point of the PS3/Vita era, Dragon’s Crown fused George Kamitani’s beautiful character (and food!) designs with that of an arcade-era brawler. Leaning more heavily on its D&D influence than that of Capcom’s Shadow Over Mystara from the mid-90’s, this adventure brought in persistent leveling and a desire to keep raiding the same dungeons for loot and glory. Those five years have helped Dragon’s Crown become a strong contender for longevity in the genre, but even its art style couldn’t completely stand the test of time. With the added power of the PlayStation 4 and subsequent Pro, Atlus and Vanillaware decided it was time to revisit Kamitani’s greatest adventure with a full remaster of Dragon’s Crown Pro.

Read full article @ Wccftech

Forgotton Anne Review

Forgotton Anne has no right to look as good as it does. From the amazing backdrops to the character design and even animation, this game is a stunning piece of art. The world looks hand-drawn and screenshots almost look like movie frames. Obviously, the camera angles and level design give the game away, but even so Forgotten Anne is spectacular to look at.

Unfortunately, despite its visual appeal, this game made me curse it in frustration more than once. Forgotton Anne is a 2.5D puzzle platformer that has some painful missteps through its six-hour adventure. You play as Anne, forgotten in our world but infamous in her own. She is the Enforcer for the ruler of the world of forgotten things. This world is populated by Items that arrive full of life and personality, while her and Master Bonku are the two humans. Wandering the world is a wonderful stroll through someone’s imagination as you see how objects give life move and interact with each other. A Magnum walks by bouncing on its clip, a bookshelf shuffles its pages into a face, and many other items adorn clothes and rags to give themselves a glimmer of humanity.

Read full article @ Wccftech

HyperX Predator RGB 16GB (HX429C15PB3AK2/16) Review

Can it outshine the competition? The RGB bandwagon shows little signs of slowing down. Monitors, keyboards, mice, chassis, headphones, motherboards, coolers, system RAM, and even SSDs have been given the light fantastic makeover. Some do it better than others and done well RGB adds a touch of panache to what would otherwise be a boring build.

The system memory guys have all been busy, with Corsair, G.Skill, GeIL and Crucial all having a multitude of offerings. Newest in line for some RGB pimping is HyperX, who claims its proposition is unique. Intrigued, we sought to find out why by getting a pack in.

Read full article @ Hexus

Intel Optane Memory Tested With Secondary Hard Drive

Last month, Intel revealed a number of changes to help promote their Optane Memory line. You know what Intel Optane Memory is right? Intel Optane Memory comes on a M.2 2280 ‘gumstick’ drive and has super fast Intel 3D Xpoint memory chips on it. Once installed into an open M.2 slot, Intel software allows you to cache slower SATA based storage devices like hard drives. By adding a non-volatile (retains data when powered off) cache to a spinning disk you’ll end up with faster response times and have ‘SSD like’ performance in a wide range of applications. Intel offers 16GB, 32GB and 64GB Optane Memory modules and bigger is better as it allows for the storing of more of your most frequently used data. If you have a hard drive and are looking for a way to speed up game load times, content creation applications, improve your web browsing experience and open and close pretty much every app known, an Intel Optane Memory module could be your savior. The best thing is that pricing starts at just $24.99 shipped, so it’s an affordable upgrade and thankfully very simple to install.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Patriot Viper LED PC4-24000 2x8GB DDR4 RAM Review

The Patriot Viper LED PC4-24000 2x8GB's highlight could be its red LEDs or competitive price, but the real distinction is it touches the heart of the true enthusiast with its overclocking potential.

A few months ago, I was walking in downtown Banff with a moderately large group of friends. For some unknown reason, one of them started to sing The Star-Spangled Banner, and slowly but surely, many others began to join in spontaneously. I was a little bit aware that we were still in Canada, so I cautiously reminded them to avoid singing the American national anthem in public. My friends did not heed my advice; instead, they suggested that maybe other people thought we were American tourists and continued with the next line. As people on the streets started to look at us, I decided if I could not get them to stop, I might as well play along. "We are from AMERICA!" I said. "I love guns and we are the best country in the world!" All I could say is people did not look at us any less weird as a result, but my friends were all too embarrassed to continue. With all due respect for my American friends -- I love the USA -- sometimes it is still a lot of fun to play on stereotypes. And why not? Singing the Star-Spangled Banner and claiming to be a stereotypical American in Canada is a combination that is no less strange, than say, adding RGB LEDs to your mousepad or power supply. In fact, sometimes these combinations do work out. Today, we have something slightly more conservative in our lab, the Patriot Viper LED PC4-24000 2x8GB DDR4 RAM. It features only red LEDs, which comes in right between the RGB GeIL EVO X GEX416GB3200C16DC 2x8GB I reviewed back in 2016 and pretty much every other memory kit without LED lighting. Read on to see if this is the RAM to buy!

Read full article @ APH Networks

WD Black NVMe SSD Review

Western Digital recently launched a new family of NVMe-based solid state drives targeting gamers and enthusiasts. The simply-branded WD Black NVMe SSD family has a similar naming convention to some previous-generation solid state drives built by the company, but these latest offerings are packing some new technology and offer performance much higher than any of the earlier WD-made storage product offerings that came before it.

The WD Black NVMe SSD family features a new controller, 64-layer BiCS3 3D TLC NAND flash memory, an intelligently laid-out PCB that optimizes thermal characteristics, and firmware tuned for enthusiast desktop applications. The drive’s main features and specifications are listed below if you’d like to take a look at the particulars and we’ve got a full suite of numbers to share on the pages ahead, after we take a quick tour of the SSD itself and explain what makes it tick...

Read full article @ HotHardware

Windows Subsystem for Linux - Many distros

We are family, I've got all my distro with me. We are family, Windows 10 and test. Here be a review of additional Linux distributions available through Windows Store as part of Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) in Windows 10, including openSUSE testing, openSUSE and Ubuntu shells and programs side by side, graphical applications via X11 server, custom distro builder tools, performance, some errors, and more. Enjoy.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo