Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

Anime Expo 2014 – Part 3: Next-Level Cosplays
ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer Motherboard
Attitude One Vintorez Review
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 Review
Cherry MX-Board 3.0 MX Blue, Red, Brown & Black Mechanical Keyboard Review
Creative Sound BlasterAxx Axx 200 Intelligent Wireless Sound System Review
Fractal Design Core 3500 Review
HIS Radeon R7-260X iCooler Review
HTC Desire 816 Review: A Large Screen For The Mid-Range
In Win S-Frame Open Air Case Review
Intel Pentium G3258 Dual Core Processor Gaming Performance
Intel SSD DC P3700 Review (800GB) – NVMe for Enterprise…and Enthusiasts
Kingston HyperX Fury 240GB SSD Review
LEPA LV12 Review
OCZ Vertex 460 (240GB) Review
Phanteks Enthoo Pro Case Review
Roccat Syva High Performance In-Ear Headset Review
Tesoro Lobera Supreme Mechanical Keyboard Review
The NVIDIA TITAN Z Performance Review
Thecus N7510 7 Bay NAS Review
Windows 8.1: Working with Accounts and Exploring Sync Settings

Anime Expo 2014 – Part 3: Next-Level Cosplays

Anime Expo 2014 has ended, but we’re not quite finished yet. We’re closing our Anime Expo 2014 coverage with over 300 pictures of the devoted cosplayers that have been a staple at this annual convention. Even with that many photographs, this entire gallery collects of only a fraction of the enormous quantity of cosplayers at AX 2014.

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer Motherboard

Let’s take a look at the ASRock Fatal1ty H97 Killer, a mid-range socket LGA1150 motherboard based on the Intel H97 chipset, bringing a high-end audio codec, six SATA-600 ports (allowing one SATA Express connection), and six USB 3.0 ports.

Read full article @ Hardware Secrets

Attitude One Vintorez Review

It's always hard to chose a gaming mouse, since the feeling with it is totally subjective. Luckly for gamers, the market offers any kind of product, and today we are talking about a new one which should be an interesting entry level choice.

Read full article @ ocaholic

be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 Review

Be quiet! gives you a three-year warranty and, while I may not be a fan of the mounting system, the Dark Rock Pro 3 does have great build quality to go along with the attractive dark nickel finish. Priced at around $89, it is toward the higher end of the spectrum. If you're thinking about an air cooling solution and you don't constantly load your system to the limits, then the Dark Rock Pro 3 should be on your list. On the box it says, "NO COMPROMISE SILENCE AND PERFORMANCE" and I think the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 lives up to the claim.

Read full article @ OCC

Cherry MX-Board 3.0 MX Blue, Red, Brown & Black Mechanical Keyboard Review

The name Cherry is synonymous with mechanical keyboards, their switches are used in a vast amount of mechanical keyboard from pretty much all major manufacturers such as Cooler Master, Corsair and Logitech to name but a few, and they have been using MX switches for many years now. With so many brands using their switches, it’s more than likely that most of our readers have owned a Cherry MX switch keyboard.

Mechanical switches are well-known for their durability, long life span and tactile feedback. The only downside of the switches is that their quality often comes with a big increase in price compared to membrane switch keyboards. Which is something that Cherry seem well aware of as their latest Cherry MX-Board 3.0 keyboards come in at a super affordable price of around £50-60. Still expensive, but certainly cheaper than a lot of competing mechanical keyboard products, so it’ll be interesting to see what this keyboard has to offer at this price range.

The MX-Board 3.0 comes in a choice of four switch types, Cherry MX Blue, Brown, Black and Red. Fortunately for you I have all four at my disposal today, so not only do I get to take a closer look at the keyboards, but also get a real feel for the differences between each switch type and the tasks each switch is best suited to.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Creative Sound BlasterAxx Axx 200 Intelligent Wireless Sound System Review

If you've happened to visit your local electronics superstore lately or if you've just surfed into Amazon to check all their latest offers then you should be well aware that wireless portable speakers are taking over the market and with good reason really since they provide a much smaller alternative to the old generation Boombox machines people had to carry around with them every time they wanted to party with their friends. Unfortunately technology hasn't reach the level required for one of those portable speakers to actually compare with those boomboxes in terms of raw volume power (some not so "portable" ones can however) but most of those devices make up for that by offering extra features like the ability to make/answer calls (speakerphone) and recharge other portable devices like your smartphone (PowerBank). Creative however seems set on changing that by squeezing even more extras into such devices and their latest Sound BlasterAxx Axx 200 may just be the beginning.

Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, wireless headphones and portable media devices. Today, Creative re-invents the Sound Blaster, which has a user base of over 400 million, with its ground-breaking Sound BlasterAxx that aims at the new mobile networked generation by bridging the worlds of the computer, smartphones, and tablets. Creative’s proprietary technologies, innovative hardware, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment - anytime, anywhere.

Creative is one of the very few companies that i really respect not only because they've been the pioneers in sound for the PC without which i doubt things would be the way they are currently but also because I’ve been using their products since the early 90's (it was still Creative Labs back then) starting with the Sound Blaster 16 and owning pretty much every single one of their models until the X-Fi Titanium HD which as many of you know i still use till this day. Of course through the years Creative has expanded into many other areas in the industry from speakers, headphones and headsets up to webcams and mp3/4 players so it was really a matter of time before they focused their resources towards the design and manufacture of portable wireless speakers. The Sound BlasterAxx Axx 200 is not really their very first attempt to create a multi-function portable wireless speaker since there have been three more before that the SBX8, SBX10 and SBX20 models (unfortunately i never had the chance to test those so i can't compare them to the Axx 200). Specs-wise Creative has equipped the Axx 200 with their latest SB-Axx1 multi-core audio processor (offers real hardware acceleration), Bluetooth v2.1 (EDR/aptX/AAC), two vertically positioned 40mm stereo drivers, one passive radiator, quad-microphone array (used both to make/answer calls and for audio recording), touch-sensitive control panel, built-in rechargeable 5200mAh battery (can also be used to recharge your compatible portable devices), NFC (Near Field Communication) sensor and a microSD card slot which is connected to an integrated WMA/MP3 player. Thanks to the SB-Axx1 multi-core audio processor the Sound BlasterAxx Axx 200 also features Creative’s' proprietary SBX Pro Studio technology (intelligently enhances audio in real-time), Super Megaphone technology (not only allows you to boost and change your voice but can also be used as a karaoke machine when used with the integrated WMA/MP3 player) and also allows the speaker to be used as an external sound card. So Creative has definitely taken things further down the road, the only question is whether or not that's the road to take and as always we're here to find out.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Fractal Design Core 3500 Review

Fractal Design always created elegant and sleek looking products with refined details, and the new Core 3500 PC case is just like that. Apart from the good looks this case also comes with quite a few interesting features which we we'll certainly cover on the following pages.

Read full article @ ocaholic

HIS Radeon R7-260X iCooler Review

Today we'll review the AMD Radeon R7-260X, a brother of the 260. The Radeon R7 260X is fitted with a Curacao XT core which has cut down specifications with a total of 896 Stream processors, a compute performance of 1.96 TFlops, 2 GB of GDDR5 memory and a low TDP of 115 W which will be supplied through a single 6-Pin power connector. Clocks are set at 1.0 GHz for the core while the memory operates at 5.0 GHz effective clock speed aside a 128-bit memory interface. The card is PCI-Express 3.0 compatible.

Equipped with AMD’s Graphics Core Next Architecture and providing 2x the performance of similarly priced products 2-4 years ago, the AMD Radeon R7 260X graphics is ready for next-generation games being played on a budget. The AMD Radeon R7 260 graphics card comes with features like AMD TrueAudio Technology, is AMD CrossFire compatible as well as supporting AMD Eyefinity Technology and is AMD ZeroCore Power ready. The card would be an excellent HTPC card, but you can certainly play games with it as well if you stay away from the higher resolutions of course.

The SEP of the AMD Radeon R7 260X will start at 89 EUR + VAT. We look at the HIS iCooler version, have a peek at the card first hand then let's start up this review...

Read full article @ Guru3D

HTC Desire 816 Review: A Large Screen For The Mid-Range

Since the launch of the first successful large-screened smartphone back in 2011, the Samsung Galaxy Note, there has been a growing demand for devices with larger-than-normal displays. Samsung’s line of Notes has been a big seller for the Korean giant, but other companies such as Nokia, LG, Sony, Huawei, Asus and even HTC have also been jumping in on the party.

The Galaxy Note products tend to be in the very upper echelon when it comes to smartphone pricing, so naturally not everyone is willing to fork out the cash required for such a premium device. This creates space for a market of mid-range handsets with large displays, exactly where HTC’s new product – the unimaginatively named Desire 816 – fits right in.

Read full article @ Techspot

In Win S-Frame Open Air Case Review

Traditional computer cases are elaborate modifications of a simple metal box. There are holes for expansion cards, places to put hard drives and design generally subscribes to a “form follows function” mentality with the cheapest option making the CEO proud. Does that mean all cases have to follow the same formula? If so, when does a chassis move beyond a computer case and transform into something new?

The famous architect Mies often stated that “Less is More” which became a defining phrase in modern architecture and also helped to describe an art movement called minimalism. In terms of architecture the “Less is More” concept was used to describe the removal of ornamentations from buildings and allow structure to define shapes and basically strip everything down to its most basic form. Of course everyone interpreted the minimalism movement differently and while wome took things to the extreme with solid blocks of color others worked in tasteful harmony.

In this review we will be looking at a new limited edition chassis from In-Win called the S-Frame. The S-Frame builds on a growing trend with In-Win who started releasing limited edition chassis designs each year starting with the popular X-Frame during CES 2012, H-Frame, D-Frame and now S-Frame in 2014.

Read full article @ Hardware Asylum

Intel Pentium G3258 Dual Core Processor Gaming Performance

Earlier this week Nate & I were able to get our hands on the Intel Pentium G3258 20th Anniversary Edition Processor to take for a ride. While he was doing this, he focused most of his time on the X86 performance of the 3.2GHz Dual Core processor. He did touch a little bit on the graphics performance of the Intel HD graphics on the G3258 as well as pairing the processor with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 TI for a run through of Metro Last Light. I wanted to take the $72.99 dual core Intel Pentium G3258 processor for a spin and focus on gaming performance with a solid discrete graphics card and see how it would stack up against the same system with an Intel Core i7-4770K processor which retails for considerably more...

Read full article @ Legit Reviews

Intel SSD DC P3700 Review (800GB) – NVMe for Enterprise…and Enthusiasts

With the release of the SSD DC P3700, Intel has delivered on the most anticipated piece of storage technology in recent memory. This release is all about NVMe. We have been hearing about NVMe for years, but an end product always seemed just out of reach. We also expected the first devices to be exorbitantly priced enterprise SSDs. While not the first to market, the Intel solution will be available to the masses and it will be priced to move. This is not something you can always count on for an enterprise product.

Read full article @ The SSD Review

Kingston HyperX Fury 240GB SSD Review

Recently we had a chance to test the latest Kingston FURY DDR3-1866 memory kit which gathered some good comments mainly because of great performance to price ratio and problem free configuration. Today we wish to present one other product from HyperX FURY family - 240GB SSD.
As we all know SSD are lightning fast storage devices so as expected they're great for gaming. FURY series is not top of the Kingston's product line but can we count it will be fast enough for gaming ? We already know that HyperX FURY branded RAM is a great product so let's move on and check in our review if HyperX FURY SSD is also as good.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

LEPA LV12 Review

LEPA may not be as well-known as other cooling brands but since their arrival in 2010 their focus has been on power supplies and computer cases but today we’ll be taking a look at their very first attempt at designing a CPU cooler. LEPA are from the same group as Enermax and therefore we expect good things from this new product today.

LV12 is LEPA’s first CPU cooler and it certainly arrives in style. Available in matt black or matt white, this cooler is stunning in its visual appearance and comes with a three-mode adjustable 120mm cooling fan - allowing the user to choose specific speed zones and finding that balance of silence or performance.

Read full article @ Vortez

OCZ Vertex 460 (240GB) Review

The first SSD from the new Toshiba era. Those who follow the solid-state drive (SSD) landscape will know that earlier this year Toshiba purchased OCZ's assets and launched a subsidiary company known as OCZ Storage Solutions.

It can be reasonably argued that OCZ was very much at the vanguard of the SSD revolution, pushing out a number of drives before the big players - Intel, Crucial/Micron, SanDisk, et al - really took notice. Now, having transitioned and owned by another industry giant, OCZ is looking to reinvigorate the consumer SSD market with a new range of drives.

Kicking off the Toshiba-owned era is the Vertex 460, available in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities.

Read full article @ Hexus

Phanteks Enthoo Pro Case Review

A lot of times when starting a review you want to introduce the reader to the company whose product they are reading about. In the case of this case builder I don’t think that will be necessary. Phanteks is now in it’s 7th year as a company and no doubt you know of them and their wildly popular Enthoo Primo full tower case. But what we are looking at today is not a new flagship product. Rather what we have is Phantek’s first entry into the low-mid price range case market, the Enthoo Pro. Read along as we find out if the Lamborghini of case makers can actually make a coupe that both the average person can afford and more importantly will actually want to drive.

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Roccat Syva High Performance In-Ear Headset Review

Gaming on the go is becoming big business, sure there are many of us who would rather be sat at our desks while gaming, or even in front of the big screen, but there are many more options out there. These days we’re gaming on or phones, tablets, hand-held games consoles, laptops and more these days, so having a headset that’s as mobile as your gaming device can be very important. Not to mention lugging all your gear to a LAN event can be hard work, so having compact and easy to transport can literally lighten the load.

Roccat is highly regarded by the gaming community for their high quality peripherals, and they’re also the creators of some of the finest gaming headsets on the market, such as the Roccat Kave. With that in mind, the Syva headset has a lot to live up to, so I’ll be looking for that same high-end performance, premium build quality and attention to detail that Roccat is renowned for.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Tesoro Lobera Supreme Mechanical Keyboard Review

The desire to customize is something that is embedded in human nature. All we need to do is take a look around ourselves every day to see that this is true. We change our hairstyles, wear different jewelry to make ourselves look different, and of course there are all the different styles of clothing that people like to wear. Another area where this is clear is the huge business of body modification in regards to piercing and the art of tattoos. Our bodies and physical appearances are not the only place where customization is desire though, machines and electronics are another area where we want to be different.

From custom motorcycles to custom computer chassis the desire to make have something unique is universal, it all just depends on what you are into. One of the ways companies have been tapping into these desires is offering the ability to make things your own in some ways. Even if we are talking about stock items that are not unique in the same way as a custom motorcycle, the ability to easily change something as simple as backlighting still fulfills the desire to have something your way. The Tesoro Lobera Supreme mechanical keyboard is one example of an item that offers plenty of customization.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

The NVIDIA TITAN Z Performance Review

NVIDIA’s TITAN Z is an odd GPU. On one hand it is the most powerful graphics card the company has ever launched and yet the amount of media coverage for it has been surprisingly limited. Reviews have been few and far between and despite a very public announcement, its eventual coming out party was muted at best. Considering the well-oiled PR machine NVIDIA has working behind every one of their new product introductions, the TITAN Z’s somewhat flaccid release was atypical. And yet from our perspective, after some last minute changes it went exactly the way they wanted it to.

To understand the TITAN-Z’s troubled inception and ultimate relegation to a footnote in NVIDIA’s product line, we have to go back to before NVIDIA's chief Jen Hsun Huang actually announced it back at the end of March. NVIDIA had already been working on their dual GPU follow-up to the extremely popular GTX 690 for quite some time. It included a pair of toned-down GK110 cores topped off by an air cooled heatsink and remained true to Kepler’s “efficient, quiet performance” mantra. They took a relatively conservative approach with the knowledge that AMD had no way to roll out a double-dipped R9 290X without either severely limiting its clock speeds or boosting fan speeds to laughably high levels.

Right before that fateful March 25th keynote, the first confirmations of AMD’s so-called R9 295X2 began to trickle out and it wasn’t good news for NVIDIA. Instead of going the air-cooled route, AMD’s engineers and product specialists threw their weight behind what they hoped was the market’s broader acceptance of AIO water cooling units. More importantly, by going the liquid cooled route, the R9 295X2 was able to run at high clock speeds without throttling, had a good amount of overclocking headroom and remained blissfully quiet. With that knowledge, plans were changed.

Read full article @ Hardware Canucks

Thecus N7510 7 Bay NAS Review

Smaller, Cooler, more efficient, those are three things that I have been working on with both our LAN equipment and in my own office for a few years now. For years the enthusiast in me would get excited about adding a new server, more storage capacity, and new toys to play with. At some point you look back and realize that as much fun as the toys are, you could really get the same job done with one device when you were using two or three before. Not only are you wasting space, but you are also using substantially more electricity each month/year to power it all. On top of all of that when its summer time, you have all of this hardware putting out more and more heat, fighting against your air conditioning, or even worse its already hot and you are making it even hotter. Late last year I took at look at the hardware we use here in the LanOC office and decided to work on combining as much as I could. Today I’m going to tell you about that experience.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Windows 8.1: Working with Accounts and Exploring Sync Settings

In this lesson, we continue our tour of the PC Settings with a focus on Windows User Accounts and Accounts Settings, namely what you could do in the Control Panel versus what you must do now in PC Settings.

Read full article @ Howtogeek