Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

ADATA XPG GAMMIX S11 480GB NVMe SSD Review
BlitzWolf BW-SDB1 36-Inch Smart Soundbar Review
GIGABYTE UD PRO 256GB SSD Review
Kingston UV500 240GB (SATA) Solid State Drive Review
Microsoft Quietly Cuts Off Windows 7 Support for Older Intel Computers
Samsung 970 Pro 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review

ADATA XPG GAMMIX S11 480GB NVMe SSD Review

Today we’re taking a look at once of ADATA‘s newest drives, the XPG GAMMIX S11 PCIe NVMe SSD with 480GB capacity. Besides the 480GB version, there are a 240GB and a 960GB version too. One to match every kind of setup.

The M.2 2280 form factor makes the drive universally compatible. There aren’t many systems these days which won’t take this size. It is a PCIe 3.0 x4 module with NVMe 1.3 specifications. The only place where it won’t fit is small enclosure systems designed for bare modules only.

Read full article @ eTeknix

BlitzWolf BW-SDB1 36-Inch Smart Soundbar Review

The BlitzWolf did exactly what it promised, delivering powerful and clear audio that beats the hell out of anything you’ll find built into your TV. The EQ profiles are great, allowing you to tweak the sound to suit your needs. I do find it weird they have no EQ off mode, yet have a “News” EQ mode. Personally, I found all the EQ’s to sound pretty suitable to most things. Of course, it’s subjective too, so flick through them all while watching a movie, and you’re sure to find something that puts a smile on your face.

With multiple audio inputs, you can easily connect your TV however you like. Of course, you can connect multiple devices with ease using other cables. Furthermore, with the handy remote control, you can tab through the sources as you see fit, making it very practical for day-to-day use. The remote is much higher quality than needed too, although that’s hardly a bad thing. It’s quite large at 36-inch wide, so may not fit under smaller TVs. However, for those with bigger screens, you wouldn’t want a tiny soundbar either. Of course, just remember to measure the available space before you purchase.

Read full article @ eTeknix

GIGABYTE UD PRO 256GB SSD Review

First I want to give a huge shout out to Gigabyte for sending me this product for review. Well be taking a look at their latest UD PRO 256GB SSD.

While the UD PRO may not be much faster than anyone would expect an SSD to be, the UD PRO does deliver good performance and some great extras not normally seen on drives in this price point like a full metal casing and a great internal cache that leads to almost no performance loss as the drive fills up. Overall I highly recommend this drive to anyone that needs SSD performance on a budget. I had absolutely no issues or complaints with the UD PRO and I fully believe you’ll be happy using this drive.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

Kingston UV500 240GB (SATA) Solid State Drive Review

The SATA variant of Kingston's UV500 240GB is one of the most economical solid state drives in the market today, but its performance leaves a bit to be desired even for the price.

A few months ago, my colleague Gina sent me a text message out of the blue. "Do you know how to change batteries?" she asked. "Of course I do," I wrote. "I am an expert in alarm clocks and graphing calculators." I could imagine her rolling her eyes as she sent a semi-sarcastic reply back. "How about locomotives?" More often than not, we have preconceived notions about the form and context of the things that we assume other people already know what we are trying to say. In this particular case, I knew she was asking whether I could help her change the battery in her car, but that did not stop me from having a little fun in the beginning. It is technically correct to say I have experience in changing alarm clock and graphing calculator batteries no matter how trivial the task is; and no, I have never worked on a locomotive before. In another example, what is the first thing that comes to your mind when I say "SSD"? A 2.5" Serial ATA drive? An M.2 expansion card? What about mSATA? For me, it would be a traditional 2.5" SATA drive, even though I have rocked a very nontraditional OCZ RevoDrive 350 480GB PCI Express unit for years. But whether you are thinking 2.5", M.2, or mSATA when I mention "SSD", you cannot be wrong with the Kingston UV500. The company offers their latest budget offering in all three form factors, and we here at APH Networks has all of them sitting in our labs. To start off the first review of our series, let us take a look at the most traditional of the bunch: Serial ATA.

Read full article @ APH Networks

Microsoft Quietly Cuts Off Windows 7 Support for Older Intel Computers

Despite Microsoft's promise of support until 2020, Windows 7 users running older hardware are getting the shaft: those with a Pentium III, for instance, will no longer be able to install monthly rollups or security-only patches. This is related to a bug that Redmond is allegedly ignoring, leading some to believe that MS is "already killing off Windows 7."

Up until June 15, Microsoft was promising that it would fix the bug that prevented Win7 Monthly Rollups and Security-only updates from installing on older pre-SSE2 machines. After June 15, Microsoft wrote off the pre-SSE2 population, without notice or fanfare, and retroactively changed the documentation to cover its tracks.

Read full article @ HardOCP

Samsung 970 Pro 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review

There is no denying that Samsung's EVO Series is facing stiff competition as competitors close the gap in 3-bit 3D flash technology. For the first time Toshiba/SanDisk and Intel/Micron have 3-bit 3D flash that can compete with Samsung's 3-bit V-NAND on the performance front. That said, Samsung is in no danger of losing the flash-based performance crown anytime soon. The reason? 2-bit V-NAND.

While other fabs are abandoning 2-bit flash production in favor of 3-bit, Samsung remains committed to furthering their 2-bit V-NAND technology because it gives them a perpetual advantage on the performance front. 3-bit flash can never deliver performance or endurance that is equivalent to 2-bit provided the underlying technology is also equivalent.

Read full article @ TweakTown