Here a roundup of today's hardware reviews, including NVIDIA G-Sync Explored and Explained, GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z87 Gaming Motherboard Review, SanDisk Optimus Eco SAS Enterprise SSD Review (400GB), BitFenix FLO Review, and ASUS RT-AC68U and Linksys EA6900 review



NVIDIA G-Sync Explored and Explained @ Guru3D

NVIDIA recently announced G-Sync, a technology that will eliminate some pretty hardcore stuff, things we have taken for granted many years, screen-tearing and VSYNC stutters. For that you will need to dig a bit into your wallet though as you will need a compatible Geforce graphics card and a compatible monitor that has been equipped with an Nvidia G-Sync module. But once you have established that combination, you'll be nothing other then impressed -- that much we can guarantee! G-Sync, a technology that is named to be a game changer, yes G-Sync eliminates the problems that come with VSYNC (both on and off) versus what is displayed on your monitor. See, in recent years we all have been driven by the knowledge that on a 60 Hz monitor you preferably need 60 FPS rendered by your graphics card. This was for a very specific reason, you want the two as close as possible to each other as that offers you not only the best gaming experience, but also the best visual experience. Running 35 FPS on a 60 Hz screen with VSYNC on would be great, but you'd still see a hint of what I like to name "soft vsync stuttering".

Then the hardcore FPS gamer obviously wants extremely high FPS, and for these frag-masters the alternative is simply disabling VSYNC. However if you have that same 35 FPS framerate on 60 Hz, you'd see visible screen tearing. Heck, this is why framerate limiters are so popular as you try to sync each rendered frame in line with your monitor refresh rate. But yeah, these are the main reasons for screen anomalies, and ever since the start of the 3d graphics revolutions (all hail 3dfx), we simply got used to these sync stutters and/or screen tearing. To compensate we have been purchasing extremely fast dedicated graphics cards to be to be able to match that screen refresh rate as close as possible.

Read more: NVIDIA G-Sync Explored and Explained @ Guru3D

GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z87 Gaming Motherboard Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Sitting at the £120/$169 price point is Gigabytes G1.Sniper Z87, a recent addition to their Z87 range. This board looks to pack as many features from the high end gaming boards as possible into a more approachable price point for consumers. Today we find out if they have succeeded in balancing the two aspects.

Read more: GIGABYTE G1.Sniper Z87 Gaming Motherboard Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

NVIDIA G-SYNC Display Technology Explored @ HotHardware

Back in September at a press event held in Montreal, NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang announced what he called "one of the most important works NVIDIA has done for computer graphics." The technology was called G-SYNC. G-SYNC is an end-to-end graphics and display architecture that starts with a Kepler-based GPU and ends with a G-SYNC module within a monitor.

To put it simply, what G-SYNC does is keep a display and the output from a Kepler-basd GPU in sync, regardless of frame rates or whether or not V-Sync is enabled.

Did we mention that G-SYNC is also compatible with 4K resolutions? It is, and we hope some manufacturers will make a 30-inch+ 4K display with this new NVIDIA technology on board. If they do, you can take our money right now.

Read more: NVIDIA G-SYNC Display Technology Explored @ HotHardware

Dropcam HD Wi-Fi Wireless Video Monitoring Camera @ Bigbruin.com

Video monitoring cameras for personal use have seen a surge in popularity in recent years. The technology has gotten more affordable and easier to implement, and people are taking advantage of this to keep an eye on their homes. While they may primarily be used for home security, there are plenty of other practical uses for these devices, such as baby monitors, wildlife spotters, remote peepholes for your front door, and so on.

Dropcam launched in 2009 with the focus of offering a high quality video monitoring camera that can be implemented by anyone, including those that might have been scared off by the typical IP camera. You don't need to read lengthy manuals, understand things like port forwarding and other router settings, and you don't have to have any disk space on your network for storage.

Read more: Dropcam HD Wi-Fi Wireless Video Monitoring Camera @ Bigbruin.com

SanDisk Optimus Eco SAS Enterprise SSD Review (400GB) @ The SSD Review

A lot has changed since the announcement of the Optimus Eco earlier this year. The most notable change is the company supplying it. When we last looked into SMART Storage Systems, they had just finished being acquired by SanDisk. At that point, though, nothing had really changed except for SanDisk Company being added to their name. Many were unsure exactly how the SMART brand would fit into the SanDisk family. With the release of the SanDisk Optimus Eco SAS SSD, with full SanDisk labeling, we have a much clearer picture.

Read more: SanDisk Optimus Eco SAS Enterprise SSD Review (400GB) @ The SSD Review

Corsair Flash Voyager GS 128GB USB Flash Drive Review @ Madshrimps

The Voyager GS is a very speedy USB 3.0 Flash Drive from Corsair which comes in three different capacity flavors: 64GB, 128GB and 256GB and sports a sleek brushed aluminum chassis for extra durability.

Read more: Corsair Flash Voyager GS 128GB USB Flash Drive Review @ Madshrimps

ASUS ROG GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum Review @ Guru3D

In this review we test the gorgeous looking ROG GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum edition from ASUS. The customized product is equipped with a massive cooler that can chill down the graphics card air-cooled, but you may also connect it to a liquid cooling loop. Yup, You get to decide how to use it. Even on air the card remains quiet and keeps temperatures under 70 Degrees C. This particular GeForce GTX 780 is part of the Republic of Gamers lineup and will feature DIGI+ VRM, highly-durable black metallic capacitors and the DirectCU H20 cooler which combines air and liquid cooling to allow for better performance and quieter operation.

Surprisingly, the Poseidon packs a GTX 780 GPU, unfortunately not a 780 Ti. So the more 'regular' GeForce GTX 780 is being used. This means it is based on the GK110 GPU and has a whopping 7.1 Billion transistors. That makes it a nice chunk faster opposed to the GeForce GTX 680 GPU. Just like Titan, the GTX 780 is based on the GK110 GPU with the distinctions that the Titan has a GK110-300 GPU and the GeForce GTX 780 a GK110-400 GPU. Same stuff, yet with some things disabled. The GK110 chip is BIG, and that makes it a difficult chip to bake, its recipe is refined though as the product has 2304 Shader Processing Units, 192 TMUs and 32 ROPs on a 384-bit memory interface of fast GDDR5. So yeah, NVIDIA trimmed down that 45 mm × 45 mm 2397-pin S-FCBGA Titan with its 2688 shader/stream/CUDA processors a bit, whereas the 780 Ti is unlocked. Memory wise you are looking at 3 GB over 6 GB, that is still huge (12 pieces of 64M ×16 GDDR5 SDRAM) of memory (384-bit) on there and started designing a bunch of new tricks at BIOS and driver level. Combined with GPU Boost 2.0 you will see this product boosting towards the 1100~1150 MHz range once you tweak it.

Read more: ASUS ROG GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon Platinum Review @ Guru3D

Logitech G19s Gaming Keyboard Review @ OCC

In the end the Logitech G19s was quite the spin on keyboards. It's not quite what Razer has with its touchpad screen, but it is quite fancy when it comes to just being a discrete screen. Other keyboards on the market (at least in the past) either lacked color, lacked so many app choices, and were just a neat, clunky, expensive add-on. I will say I'm not sure that I'd choose the G19s over the G510s despite the full color display and additional apps. The upcharge to get such effects is almost a full $50 from the G510s (and more depending on where you are shopping) making this keyboard quite the costly chunk of keys.

Read more: Logitech G19s Gaming Keyboard Review @ OCC

Cooler Master GX II 650W @ PureOverclock

The power requirements of enthusiast and gaming PCs have increased dramatically over the last few years, due to the development of ever more powerful and sophisticated CPUs and graphics processors. During this time, the computer power supply unit has risen in stature from being an anonymous, unimportant component choice to become one of the most fundamentally important components in any modern PC.

While the general trend has been higher energy consumption, there are many consumers that don’t need a high end kilowatt power supply. There is a considerable market for mid-range units to power a single graphics card setup, somewhere around 600W to 650W of power.

Read more: Cooler Master GX II 650W @ PureOverclock

Tt eSPORTS Battle Dragon Bag Review @ Neoseeker

With the massive growth in competitive gaming over the past several years, gaming peripherals and accessories now require a much balanced ratio between performance and aesthetic design. Brand recognition and style are emphasized more than ever as product placement has potential to reach millions of dedicated consumers. For the purpose of mainstream recognition, this has also led to a new market for accessories outside of the traditional mice and keyboards for gamers such as bags and clothing. The Tt eSPORTS Battle Dragon Bag is one such product.

If you've been reading our mouse and headset reviews, you'd know Tt eSPORTS as no newbie in the gaming scene. As a subdivision of the long-standing Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS specializes in bringing forth peripherals that not only perform well but look stylish enough for public showcase in gaming tournaments, especially those in Asia where Thermaltake is based. The Tt eSPORTS Battle Dragon is an oversized carrying bag designed to hold all of your accessories during travel to LAN parties and competitions. Packed with nine fully-zippered pockets, padded shoulder and back straps, and a nylon-polyester construction, the Battle Dragon looks to become the end-all-be-all solution to transporting your gaming gear.

Read more: Tt eSPORTS Battle Dragon Bag Review @ Neoseeker

Ducky Shine 3 Review @ Vortez

Although Ducky Channel may not be a name commonly spoken of in the mainstream peripheral market they have actually been around since the late 90s. Avid peripheral enthusiasts on the other hand hold Ducky in high regard because they have been a forerunner for mechanical keyboards and their well-known Shine series has in fact been a mainstay for the brand. Just recently the third iteration of this range has finally reached the finger-tips of devoted supporters.

Shine 3 builds on the success of its predecessor but is packed with even more features. Within the product line there are a multitude of colours available as well as Cherry MX switch types. RGB lighting modes are now interactive and extensive and there are additional features to take advantage of such as key acceleration control and a handy dip switch to disable features such as the windows key. Ducky appear to have everything covered with this new and exciting offering, is this the best mechanical keyboard money can buy?

Read more: Ducky Shine 3 Review @ Vortez

Prolimatech Black Series Genesis @ techPowerUp

Prolimatech looks to beat the competition with the Black Series Genesis CPU cooler. Utilizing a unique design out of ninety matte black fins and being whisper quiet as tested, this stylish heatsink keeps more than just the CPU cool.

Read more: Prolimatech Black Series Genesis @ techPowerUp

X2 XPAD Pro XXXL MP03 Mouse Pad Review @ Benchmark Reviews

If you're a PC gamer, then chances are very good you've spent money on a high-performance keyboard a mouse. These are peripherals that work with your hands to act like an extension of your body. Unfortunately, your body can fatigue from using them, and mouse accuracy suffers when your hands and arms get tired. This is why the top gamers use a quality mousing surface, which reduces sliding resistance and allows for smooth gliding over the mat. Personal comfort plays a big role in this decision, which is why many products are made soft as opposed to solid surfaces. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the XPAD MP02 and desk-sized XPAD Pro XXXL MP03 professional Mouse Pads by X2 Products.

Read more: X2 XPAD Pro XXXL MP03 Mouse Pad Review @ Benchmark Reviews

BitFenix FLO Review @ Vortez

BitFenix can be quickly identified by their unique and fresh styling to which has given us some outstanding chassis, such as the Prodigy and Shinobi line ups.

Making a bold move into the audio sector, Bitfenix plunge feet first, bringing their experience, fresh design and SoftTouch surface with them, and so, born is the FLO. Powered by high grade 40mm Neodymium drivers in a fully modular, lightweight shell, the FLO looks on to pound the audio arena into shape.

Read more: BitFenix FLO Review @ Vortez

Noctua NH-U12S Review @ ocaholic

With their NH-U12S, Noctua has yet another single tower cooler in its portfolio. The company, which has it's roots in Austria, is very well known for making high-end after market coolers, which offer great cooling performance as well as a low noise levels. We're quite curious to find out if Noctua is able to continue with this tradition and the fact, that this cooler is rather slim makes it quite interesting.

Read more: Noctua NH-U12S Review @ ocaholic

ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP Video Card Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Today we are checking out our third Radeon R9 280X graphics card. The previous two cards were from Sapphire and Gigabyte and both those cards featured factory overclocks and custom cooling solutions. That card we are taking a look at today is no different. The ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP features a factory overclock up to 1070 MHz, ASUS's own DirectCU II cooling solution, DIGI+ VRM with 12-phase Super Alloy Power, and ASUS's own GPU Tweak utility for easy tuning and monitoring of the card. Will this be your choice when looking at a Radeon R9 280X? Read on and find out!

Read more: ASUS Radeon R9 280X DirectCU II TOP Video Card Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Fractal Design Integra R2 750W Power Supply Review @ Legit Reviews

A little while ago we had our first encounter with Fractal Design's power supply units, in our review of the Tesla R2 650W. The 80Plus Gold certified Tesla R2 proved to be a formidable adversary for the competition; however, the retail price is placing it out of the reach of most mainstream users. Today we will be having a look at the most powerful PSU of the Integra series, the 80Plus Bronze certified series of Fractal Design, the Integra R2 750W.

Read more: Fractal Design Integra R2 750W Power Supply Review @ Legit Reviews

Crucial M500 480GB SSD @ Custom PC Review

When your parent company is the owner of one of the largest NAND fabs in the world, it gives you some perks. Your cost of NAND is lower, your engineers know the NAND better, and you’re able to obtain creme of the crop NAND that, quite frankly, you don’t want anybody else to have. I generally refer to these lucky guys as Tier 1 SSD manufacturers and it pretty much only consists of Intel, Micron, Samsung, SanDisk, Toshiba, and SK Hynix.

Now a little more than two years ago, Crucial introduced their M4 SSD which was pretty revolutionary at the time. Most of the Tier 1 SSD manufacturers had little to nothing to show for on the consumer side, instead focusing most of their efforts on their OEM businesses. This left a good chunk of the market untapped and when Crucial unveiled the M4, it quickly became one of the best selling SSDs out on the market. While it wasn’t the fastest SSD out there, it had great reliability and low pricing – a winning combination at a time when SSD technology was still in its infancy.

Read more: Crucial M500 480GB SSD @ Custom PC Review

NVIDIA G-Sync Review @ Anandtech

With ATI and AMD fully integrated, and Intel finally taking graphics (somewhat) seriously, NVIDIA needs to do a lot more to remain relevant (and dominant) in the industry going forward. Simply putting out good GPUs will only take the company so far. NVIDIAs latest attempt is G-Sync, a hardware solution for displays that enables a semi-variable refresh rate driven by a supported NVIDIA graphics card. Read on for our review!

Read more: NVIDIA G-Sync Review @ Anandtech

ASUS RT-AC68U and Linksys EA6900 review @ Hardware.Info

Until recently, the fastest 802.11ac routers were labeled 'AC1750' or something along those lines. That refers to the combined theoretical bandwidth of the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands. On 2.4 GHz that is 450 Mbps and on 5 GHz that is 1.3 Gbps. The new routers have the same speed on the 5 GHz frequency, but on 2.4 GHz they're now capable of 600 Mbps. The ASUS RT-AC68U and the Linksys EA6900 we will look at today are the first two routers of that new generation.

Read more: ASUS RT-AC68U and Linksys EA6900 review @ Hardware.Info

Meze 11 Classics Earphones Review @ TestFreaks

In my opinion nature and technology really don’t go together, to me they are at odds with one another. Technology to me is cold and hard and just not anything I would put together with something natural like wood. Wood is soft, organic and just really natural, you can’t really get much more natural than wood, to put it simply. It bugs me when I see things like an iPod dock dressed up in real wood or even fake wood, to me they just don’t go together at all, but that’s my opinion. To me, I love walking into a home and seeing the original wood trim work and hardwood floors and everything else that goes with that, it’s warm, and soft and just welcoming and really beautiful. Technology has its place, it’s here, it’s not going anywhere, nature has its place as well, it was here first and normally I think they just don’t mix. There is an exception to that though, and just one for me, and that’s sound. When you look at high end speakers, you’ll notice that they have one thing in common and that’s wood, their cabinets are made of natural wood and that’s because wood just helps to produce a better sound overall. The sound you get is more natural, it’s softer and more authentic and more organic really. In a speaker, technology and nature are combined or merged and work in harmony with each other to produce something amazing I think.

Today for review I’ve got a pair of headphones or earbuds from a company called Meze and they’re called the 11 Classics and what makes these special I think is the fact that they’re made of wood. The majority of headphones on market are plastic with some made of metal but not many from wood. I’m not sure why you don’t see more headphones made from wood. Take a look at speakers, the best ones are made from wood and they produce the best sound, so why don’t we see more wood headphones if we know that wood gives us a better sound overall? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know the headphones I have for review today are very much worth a look if you appreciate good sound from your music. The Meze 11 Classics are priced at about $80 and that’s not overly expensive but it’s not exactly inexpensive either, I guess it depends on what you consider expensive or not. The headphones do come with a nice carrying case and I have to say that they are quality made overall. So read on…

Read more: Meze 11 Classics Earphones Review @ TestFreaks