Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

Acer Predator XB271HK 4K G-SYNC Monitor Review
AMD A10-7890K APU Review
Bloody ML160 Commander Mouse Review
Creative Sound Blaster Roar 2 Review
CRYORIG R1 Universal CPU Cooler Review
Deepcool Gammaxx 400 Slim-Tower CPU Cooler Review
Dell XPS 15 Review
Fedora 23 & Skype
Gigabyte XM300 Gaming Mouse Review
Hands On With the Apple 9.7 Inch iPad Pro
Hands On With the Apple iPhone SE
How do I get Redstone on my Windows 10 Mobile Eligible Device?
How to Install and Setup Chef Workstation on Linux
Noctua NH-C14S Review
Silverstone ML08 Case Review
The 10 Most Anticipated PC Games of 2016
Versus: iPad Pro 9.7 vs Surface Pro 4
Water Cooling 101: Upgrading Your Loop
Zalman Z9 Neo Mid-Tower ATX Case Review

Acer Predator XB271HK 4K G-SYNC Monitor Review

Acer has been on a roll lately with a veritably army of monitors all focused with laser like intensity on different portions of the gaming monitor marketplace. For well-heeled consumers the awesome X34 is sure to satisfy, for those who want the absolute fastest curved monitor on the block the Z35 is there and for the more typical gamers the X270HU was there.

However, Acer is not one to sit on their laurels and instead is one of the few monitor manufacturers actively pushing the boundaries. In this instance it means EOL’ing a not all that old product and replacing it with not one but two models: the $750 XB271HU, and the $875 XB271HK. Yes it may sound confusing and some serious research will be required before hitting that “buy now” button but the differences between these models is relatively straightforward.

Read full article @ Hardware Canucks

AMD A10-7890K APU Review

AMD's new A10-7890K represents the very top of the low-cost APU family. We're answering whether it can breathe new life into the line via online gaming, or if its small clock rate bump just isn't worth more money compared to the A10-7870K.

Read full article @ Toms Hardware

Bloody ML160 Commander Mouse Review

A4TECH has a secret weapon in the gaming industry developed by their own “bloody” division that boasts the world’s fastest key response using Light Strike infrared micro switch technology. This new type of switch uses an actual beam of infrared light that when interrupted triggers the mechanism. The main advantage of this is not merely the speed, but also insures against accidental double-clicks, the eventual corrosion and breakdown of metal in the switch component, and makes it almost completely waterproof. In this article, we test the Bloody ML160 Commander Laser Gaming Mouse.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Creative Sound Blaster Roar 2 Review

Sound Blaster and its parent company Creative have a long-standing tradition of audio excellence going back to its creation. Since then the company has grown explosively and has significantly expanded their product line since its humble beginnings. Today’s Sound Blaster offering brings us to the new and improved ROAR 2. This portable Bluetooth speaker leaves all other compact Bluetooth speakers in its dust.

The ROAR 2 is a compact portable speaker that is Bluetooth/NFC capable and has a built-in battery to keep the device powered on the go and is also capable of charging your mobile device. By using a 5 driver system, Sound Blaster was able to cover a large frequency range to ensure a rich listening experience for the user.

Read full article @ Bjorn3D

CRYORIG R1 Universal CPU Cooler Review

Just a few weeks ago was the NHL Trade Deadline. On that day, there are usually a flurry of trades with 'buyer' teams trying to stock up on rental players to make a deep run into the playoffs, and 'seller' teams stocking up on assets for the future. Being located in Vancouver, I was watching our local team, the Vancouver Canucks, who were supposedly one of the 'seller' teams. However, by the 12:00PM PST deadline, not a single trade had been made. The overall consensus from the fans and even sports critics was the Canucks took too long to make deals, and failed to gain anything from quality rental players they could have traded. To say the least, people were quite disappointed in the overall process, and the lack of additions for the future in the form of draft picks or prospects. One takeaway from all this is, sometimes you need to make changes in order to improve for the future. Be it in the form of a change of players or in branding, there are always new things out there that can surprise you. Today, we will get a chance to look at a product from a company we have not looked at in the past, and maybe they will be able to show us being new can be better. We will be looking at the R1 Universal, a CPU cooler from CRYORIG. Let us move right to it, and see if something fresh can improve on things we have seen in the past.

Read full article @ APH Networks

Deepcool Gammaxx 400 Slim-Tower CPU Cooler Review

Deepcool Global pushes its value message with low pricing, but can its $30 Gammaxx 400 provide enough cooling power for a high-end processor? We compare it to two of our favorites to find out!

Read full article @ Toms Hardware

Dell XPS 15 Review

Dell has been producing some of the most powerful gaming laptops since well before it purchased Alienware almost exactly a decade ago. The original XPS Gen2 was one of the most potent gaming laptops in its day, and the XPS brand has been synonymous with entertainment prowess ever since. However, 17in machines like the Gen 2 and its successors are usually monsters, and if you want a portable gaming platform you can actually carry around, a 15in unit is a much more sensible choice. So here we have the latest 15in model in the XPS lineage. Weighing in at a smidgen over 2kg, this is still a laptop that merits the title, and doesn’t require a lap reinforced with steel girders.

Read full article @ KitGuru

Fedora 23 & Skype

Spring time! Time to listen to Vivaldi again. And so, I've written a short tutorial explaining how to install Skype in Fedora 23 using the official RPM package and dnf, optional Gnome Shell integration, other pointers, and more. Have fun.

Read full article @ Dedoimedo

Gigabyte XM300 Gaming Mouse Review

PC gaming seems to be getting more and more popular as people realize that consoles only can offer so much when it comes to speed and quality. I personally use both my PC and a console and when I go back and forth it is amazing the difference between how much smoother the gameplay is. Take for example a baseball game I was playing on my console. While it was nice to have it on the big screen TV the game would freeze at times even though the graphics were nothing spectacular. Then I go to play The Division on my PC and immediately get immersed into the game.

I am sure another reason why I prefer the PC is just the comfort level of using a keyboard and mouse for me. I guess I don’t use a controller enough to have the muscle memory necessary to excel at the games as much as I can on the PC. While there is something to be said for the equal ground of the console controllers I enjoy being able to purchase peripherals that fit my hands better. With that said I cannot believe how many choices there are when it comes to mice, keyboard, and headsets.

Read full article @ HiTech Legion

Hands On With the Apple 9.7 Inch iPad Pro

Over the past few months I’ve been able to spend some quality time with the iPad Pro and I’ve found that while the iPad Pro isn’t quite a computer replacement in the sense that you should toss your laptop out, it is the first tablet that can actually justify itself relative to a phablet. With the 9.7” iPad Pro, Apple has been able to take the elements of the iPad Pro 12.9” that differentiated it from Android tablets and previous iterations of the iPad, and fit it in a smaller form factor.

The main points of differentiation that make this device more than an iPad Air 3 include the Apple Pencil, Smart Keyboard, and speakers. The Apple Pencil behaves identically relative to the larger device, but the smaller display size makes it feel more cramped. Other than this, the feel of the tip on the glass is identical, as is the pressure sensitivity, tilt sensitivity, and latency.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Hands On With the Apple iPhone SE

It’s probably not a secret at this point that a number of people were disappointed when Apple seemed to move away from the 4” form factor with the iPhone 6. It turns out that there’s a sizeable market for a smaller iPhone, so rather than letting the 4” size die away quietly Apple has introduced the 4” iPhone SE for those that want a smaller iPhone without having to buy something that is relatively out of date.

In the hand, the iPhone SE basically feels identical to the iPhone 5s. The design is pretty much the same with its lack of camera hump and sharp lines, but rather than polished chamfered edges Apple has elected to keep the chamfer sand-blasted matte. The weight of the phone is also noticeably less than the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s, which is due to the lack of 3D Touch and the smaller size of the device. The display also looks to be quite similar to the iPhone 5s.

Read full article @ Anandtech

How do I get Redstone on my Windows 10 Mobile Eligible Device?

The owners of Windows Phone 8.1 handsets who just got the official Windows 10 Mobile upgrade now want into the Windows Insider testing process. Here is what Microsoft has to say about that access.

Read full article @ WinSupersite

How to Install and Setup Chef Workstation on Linux

Chef is an IT infrastructure automation software, which can be used to manage all your servers and network equipments in your organization. You need a chef workstation when you want to interact with the chef server, or any physical nodes (servers, network equipments, etc) in your infrastructure.

Read full article @ The Geek Stuff

Noctua NH-C14S Review

With the NH-C14S Noctua has a predecessor of it's former flagship down-draft cooler in its portfolio. The NH-C14S is equipped with one fan which measures 140 mm in diameter. Meanwhile standard with Noctua coolers is the extensive delivery, including mounting kits offering wide compatibility.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Silverstone ML08 Case Review

Does this SFF system make my desk look fat?" The ITX form factor, once the redheaded step child of the motherboard has become a crowd favorite. This could be for many reasons, the growth of popularity with LAN parties, users realizing they do not need massive towers to house their single GPU configs or simply they love the compact style.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

The 10 Most Anticipated PC Games of 2016

It's impossible to deny that 2015 was an amazing year for the PC ushering in a new golden era of PC gaming. 2016 will have to produce some truly special games to match last year's offerings, and so far, it's not doing too badly but there's still plenty more games to come. Here are our top 10 most anticipated titles.

Read full article @ TechSpot

Versus: iPad Pro 9.7 vs Surface Pro 4

Apple just got done showing off the new, 9.7-inch iPad Pro. And, in doing so, the company made many jabs at Microsoft, namely inviting the 600 million people that are using 5-year-old PCs (most likely Windows) to get one.So, let's put the newfangled iPad Pro to task against Microsoft's own device aimed at upgrading its customers' computing experience, the Surface Pro 4. They're actually more evenly-matched than you might think.DesignSave for the size reduction, almost nothing has changed about the new iPad Pro's design. The four-speaker audio is there, as are the chamfered edges and the Lightning port which doubles as the Apple Pencil charger. In fact, just about the only thing to change within the smaller iPad Pro is its screen technology. But, we'll get to that in a moment.On the other hand, the Surface Pro 4 (SP4) design didn't change much from its previous iteration, either. Save for getting the device a hair thinner and a few inches larger, the SP4 remained untouched from a design perspective.

Read full article @ TechRadar

Water Cooling 101: Upgrading Your Loop

Maybe you’ve been using your first basic loop for a while now and feeling like it’s time to expand or maybe the need to upgrade has struck right away.  Either way you’ve reached the most  inevitable situation for nearly all of us who use water cooling.  Upgrade day!  But what to upgrade and how to go about doing it?  Follow along as we take you on the next step of evolution for our loop!

Read full article @ ThinkComputers.org

Zalman Z9 Neo Mid-Tower ATX Case Review

As you can see from the video the Z9 looks like a pretty cool case. Ours came in white rather then black, so instead of that polished look the black has, white has a glossy look to the front panel and plastic matte top cover and steel side panels. The Z9 comes with a snazzy plastic bag with a mixed bundle of screws, stand-offs and tie-down cables.

Read full article @ TechnologyX