Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

AMD Readies B2 Stepping of the Ryzen Summit Ridge Silicon
AVADirect Affinity HTPC System Review
Core i9 7900X processor and MSI X299 Gaming Pro Carbon AC Review
GIGABYTE X299 AORUS-Gaming 3 Review
Intel Core i7 7820X Skylake X Review
Intel Core i9 7900X Skylake-X & Core i7 7740X Kaby Lake-X review: rushed release raises the bar
Intel Core i9 review: The fastest consumer CPU prepares for Ryzen war
Intel Core i9-7900X And Core i7-7740X CPU Review: Skylake X and Kaby Lake X Debut
Intel Core i9-7900X Review: Meet Skylake-X
Intel Core i9-7900X X-Series Skylake-X CPU Review
Intel Core X Series i9-7900X and i7-7740X
Intels Core i7-7900X CPU reviewed, part one
MSI X299 GAMING PRO CARBON AC Review
Synology RT2600ac AC2600 Wireless Router Review
The Intel Core i9-7900X 10-core Skylake-X Processor Review
The Intel Kaby Lake-X i7-7740X Review
The Intel Skylake-X Review: Core i9 7900X, i7 7820X and i7 7800X Tested

AMD Readies B2 Stepping of the Ryzen Summit Ridge Silicon

AMD is readying a new stepping of its 14 nm "Summit Ridge" eight-core CPU silicon, which powers its socket AM4 Ryzen processors, according to Canard PC. The new B2 stepping reportedly addresses a lot of hardware-level errata which cannot be fixed merely by AGESA updates. According to Canard PC, the changes seem to be focused on the uncore components of "Summit Ridge." Typically, uncore refers to the integrated northbridge, which includes components such as the memory controllers, PCI-Express root complex, etc.

If the B2 stepping is mostly focused on uncore-level errata, it could mean improved PCI-Express device support, and perhaps even memory support improvements beyond even what AGESA 1.0.0.6 brings to the table. Canard PC reports that it hasn't come across any CPU core-specific errata being addressed with the B2 stepping. The glaring FMA3-related bug has been patched through BIOS updates, and most newer batches of socket AM4 motherboards come with the patch pre-installed.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

AVADirect Affinity HTPC System Review

AVADirect is a custom PC maker located in Twinsburg, Ohio, which is basically between Cleveland and Akron. It is great to see a rather large custom PC maker so close to us and in the mid-west. So many PC builders are on the west coast. AVADirect offers all different types of custom PCs from high-end gaming PCs to the home theater variety, which we are taking a look at today. The home theater PC is something that really has evolved over the past few years. So many people want to play their PC games in the living room and AVADirect’s Affinity HTPC System will definitely allow you to do that. At the same time the system will look like it actually belongs in your home theater and it will be nice and quiet. Let’s take a look at this Affinity HTPC system and see what it can do.

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Core i9 7900X processor and MSI X299 Gaming Pro Carbon AC Review

Join us as we take the hottest processor of this moment for a test-spin. yes, the 10-core Core i9 7900X. Despite many announcements this is the most versitile (in cores) processor has got to offer for you starting today, the $999 Core i9 7900X that sits in the new Core X line of processors.

Read full article @ Guru3D

GIGABYTE X299 AORUS-Gaming 3 Review

The Gaming 3 is therefore a mid-high end motherboard in the X299 range and carries with it numerous features - some of which include; dual M.2 slots, 3-way graphics card support, and server-class durability. On paper the Gaming 3 appears to have all the boxes ticked for performance, audio, connectivity and longevity - so let's find out if this holds true!

Read full article @ Vortez

Intel Core i7 7820X Skylake X Review

The Intel CPUs that have topped their range have, for a long time, been something we all dream about and the lucky few get to own. With a price tag as huge as their performance there isn't a single one of us who haven't looked at our children and decided which ones we can live without, or wondered if we really need both kidneys.

The X99 chipset has been home to a raft of desirable silicon offerings, whether you go for the early Haswell-E i7-5960X, or the monstrously powerful Broadwell-E i7-6950X, there is no denying that little else offers so much raw performance for your video encoding needs. However, technology is rapidly evolving and the need to refresh the X99 chipset to take advantage of the winners from the latest round of feature battles is uppermost in Intel's mind. M.2 has rapidly become the format of choice for blisteringly fast storage, DDR4 has quickly reached stratospheric speeds, and USB 3.1 offers enough benefits over its predecessors that it is a must have, even if Type-C hasn't achieved the same ubiquity as the Type-A connector.

AMD recently joined the multi-core fray with their Ryzen 7 range of CPUs, with the 1700 and 1800X both managing to push the Intel chips close in every CPU heavy benchmark around. It was only a matter of time before Intel released a new range of processors to try and reclaim their place on the performance throne.

Read full article @ OC3D

Intel Core i9 7900X Skylake-X & Core i7 7740X Kaby Lake-X review: rushed release raises the bar

Today, Intel introduces five new high-end desktop processors, called the Core X-series. All CPUs utilize a new socket (Socket 2066), and have to be used in conjunction with motherboards that have a new chipset (Intel X299). The new CPUs are divided into two families, Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X. The now available top model has 10 cores, but Intel already announced that we can expect models with up to 18 cores in the future. We tested the top model from both series: the 10-core i9 7900X and the quad-core Core i7 7740X.

If you followed the Computex news in the first week of June, the release of the new processors should not come as a surprise. Intel announced these during their press conference. Furthermore, Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X were already part of their release schedule; that Intel would announce that their new high-end chips have up to 10 cores is in line with expectations. The news was primarily in the moment of the announcement – this introduction was only planned for two months later – and mostly in the announcement of desktop CPUs with 12, 14, 16 and even 18 cores. We will have to wait a while yet for these models: Intel states that the models with the highest amount of cores will be available come October. Nevertheless it is difficult not to link this early and upscaled release to the successful introduction of AMD’s new Ryzen-architecture and the corresponding processors.

Read full article @ Hardware.info

Intel Core i9 review: The fastest consumer CPU prepares for Ryzen war

We’re reviewing our first Core i9 chip—Intel’s Core i9-7900X 10-core part—as a veritable CPU storm looms. Sure, Core i9 blew in as the most powerful CPU the company has ever sold to consumers, and it’s currently the fastest Core-series CPU available. But an ill wind is blowing: AMD’s Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 chips offer stiff competition in the low end, while its massive 12-core and 16-core Threadripper CPUs loom on the high end.

Because there’s so much to say about Core i9, we put the prices, features and FAQs into a separate story you’ll want to read for background. For this review, we’ll walk through some of the under-the-hood issues directly related to performance, and then we’ll dive into the benchmarks.

Read full article @ PC World

Intel Core i9-7900X And Core i7-7740X CPU Review: Skylake X and Kaby Lake X Debut

Over the next few months, Intel will be releasing an array of new high-end desktop processors in the recently-announced Core X Series, based on the Skylake X and Kaby Lake X micro-architectures. The first chips in the series to arrive in the lab are the 10-core Core i9-7900X and quad-core Core i7-7740X. We’ve got an array of benchmarks and platform details on tap for the processors, including some overclocking data as well.

The Core i9-7900X will be the first of the high-end chips to arrive and it will supplant the 10-core Core i7-6950X at the top of Intel’s desktop processor line-up...

Read full article @ HotHardware

Intel Core i9-7900X Review: Meet Skylake-X

Intel’s new Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X CPUs span the Core i5, i7, and i9 families. They all drop into the same LGA 2066 interface, supported by the X299 chipset.

Read full article @ Toms Hardware

Intel Core i9-7900X X-Series Skylake-X CPU Review

Competition between vendors doesn't happen in real-time these days. Instead, it happens in a series of strategic product launches. While Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X (I will refer to them as Sky-X and Kaby-X from here on out) were both on the books since before Ryzen launch, it does seem that Intel has strategically priced these new processors based on their performance in response to the competition. ADVERTISING Skylake-X brings about more than just multiple Skylake-S cores put together; it also offers cache changes, a shift to an integrated VRM, the additional of AVX-512, and the use of a 2D mesh interconnect instead of a ring bus. Let's see how the current top dog i9-7900X does.

Read full article @ TweakTown

Intel Core X Series i9-7900X and i7-7740X

To say that the X299 and Core X launch has been bumpy would be an understatement. During Computex, details were announced and the boards were shown off and Youtubers like Linus took to the streets literally and figuratively to voice their opinions. I myself have kept quiet, avoiding a lot of the drama, but mostly because I don’t like to voice an opinion on something from specification sheets and rumors. So I held out waiting to get everything into the office and take a closer look. Well, Intel sent over the new i9-7900X and the i7-7740X and today I’m going to talk a little more about everything and then dive into the performance. When that is all said and done, then we can finally start to look at the overall picture.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Intels Core i7-7900X CPU reviewed, part one

Intel's Core i9-7900X and its Skylake-X brethren bring AVX-512 support, a new cache hierarchy, and a new on-die interconnect to high-end desktops. We examine how this boatload of high-performance computing power advances the state of the art in productivity applications.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

MSI X299 GAMING PRO CARBON AC Review

The X299 GAMING PRO CARBON AC is a mid-high end motherboard found within the HEDT platform. MSI has kitted this board out with features which should satisfy both gamers and enthusiasts. For storage needs this board utilises U.2, M.2 and SATA 3 6GB/s. In the USB department USB 3.1 features heavily on the back panel and we even get a new USB 3.1 header for the front panel connectivity.

Read full article @ Vortez

Synology RT2600ac AC2600 Wireless Router Review

Synology has a solid reputation for making high-quality, feature-rich network-attached storage (NAS) devices. But the company also started making wireless routers about two years ago (https://www.kitguru.net/professional/networking/anton-shilov/synology-rolls-out-its-first-router-802-11ac-wi-fi-ethernet-and-nas-capabilities/) . It has taken a while for these to arrive in the UK, but our first look is finally here, and begins with the flagship of the two-product range – the RT2600ac.

Read full article @ KitGuru

The Intel Core i9-7900X 10-core Skylake-X Processor Review

Intel is at an important crossroads for its consumer product lines. Long accused of ignoring the gaming and enthusiast markets, focusing instead on laptops and smartphones/tablets at the direct expense of the DIY user, Intel had raised prices and only shown limited ability to increase per-die performance over a fairly extended period. The release of the AMD Ryzen processor, along with the pending release of the Threadripper product line with up to 16 cores, has moved Intel into a higher gear; they are more prepared to increase features, performance, and lower prices now.

Read full article @ PC Perspective

The Intel Kaby Lake-X i7-7740X Review

This launch-day coverage isn’t going to be easy for us due to the fact that it entails a number of firsts, some of which are positive, others certainly aren’t. Parts of this introduction are also going to be a bit more personal than is typical for me but there’s good reason for that too: Intel’s launch of the Core-X series is unique in terms of scope, market conditions and their approach to press engagement.

These also happen to be some of the most controversial processors launched in recent memory and many of you are likely here to see whether or not we’re going to give Intel’s latest endeavor a failing grade since anything else would be unacceptable. Don’t deny it. If you’re here for fireworks, and I promise you there will certainly be some.

Before I get too far into this let’s get let the cat out of the bag: this is the first time in more than a decade we almost missed a launch-day review of a major new processor evolution. To say I’m disappointed would be an understatement of epic proportions but I won’t dwell upon it other than to simply explain the situation. However, we do have content here and now due to a benefactor who will remain anonymous. It just won’t be of the processor that Intel was hoping they would get coverage for. Instead of focusing primarily on the top-of-the-line i9-7900X, my focus here is solely upon the oddball 7740X, the Kaby Lake-X black sheep runt of this litter.

Read full article @ HardwareCanucks

The Intel Skylake-X Review: Core i9 7900X, i7 7820X and i7 7800X Tested

Building a PC is an experience worth having. Finding out what works with what and putting it all together is an experience, and the first time always gives a sense of achievement and accomplishment. In the high-end desktop space, even more so: trying not to break your first $500+ CPU can be akin to feeling like a surgeon. Following the HEDT space can be a journey, especially after five years of iterative updates we are seeing something special happening in 2017. Intel, the incumbent, is changing its 2017 strategy in a few ways which means there is more to understand, and in the future, and also means it is set to release 18-core consumer processors. Today is the first part of that release, with the new Skylake-X processors: the Core i9-7900X, the Core i7-7820X and the Core i7-7800X. These throw a few curveballs into the mix which are worth walking into.

Read full article @ Anandtech