Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Graphics Card Review
AMD Threadripper: 2 of the 4 dies are 'basically rocks' says exec
Asus' ROG Strix Z270E Gaming motherboard reviewed
CCleaner was hacked to spread malware to millions of users for a month
ECS Z270H4-I LGA1151 Motherboard Review
Intel Core i9-7900X Skylake-X 10 Core CPU Review
Kanto YU4 Desktop Computer Speakers Review
Opteron vs. EPYC Benchmarks & Performance-Per-Watt: How AMD Server Performance Evolved Over 10 Years
Reolink Argus Wireless Battery-Powered Security Camera Review
Riotoro Prism CR1280 Full Tower RGB Review
ROCCAT Isku+ Force FX Gaming Keyboard Review
ROG Zenith Extreme vs ASRock X399 Taichi
Ryzen ITX Cooler Roundup
Seasonic PRIME 650 Platinum Review
SteelSeries Apex M750 Review

AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 Graphics Card Review

It's been a long wait, but it's here now. Let's take a close look at the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 graphics card and find out how well it performs

Read full article @ Tech ARP

AMD Threadripper: 2 of the 4 dies are 'basically rocks' says exec

So there is "no path to operation", and no way to convert a Threadripper to an Epyc CPU. In further investigations late last week der8auer bought a new retail 1950X CPU (EUR 1000) and then ground the surface off the four dies to see the silicon structures inside (see above). He concluded that "there is no such thing as a dummy die" as all four looked the same and appeared to contain eight processor cores. Der8auer went on to guess that AMD would therefore one day release a 32 core Threadripper.

Since the extra two dies didn't look like 'dummy' dies or simple structural slabs of silicon, as had previously been indicated, AMD's dummy die assertion was brought into question. Thankfully, to address the confusion AMD's James Prior, Tweeted and responded to a query or two this weekend.

Read full article @ Hexus

Asus' ROG Strix Z270E Gaming motherboard reviewed

Asus' Republic of Gamers brand has become one of the best-known in gaming PC components, and ROG motherboards tend to be some of the fanciest and most innovative around at the dawn of each new socket generation. The downside, if there is one, is that ROG boards tend to go for a pretty penny. You want the best, you gotta pony up.

Not every PC builder can spare the scratch for a full-on ROG Maximus IX Formula or similar board, so Asus has recently broadened the availability of entry visas for the Republic of Gamers with the Strix family of motherboards. These boards might not offer as much RGB LED lighting, "thermal armor," or exotic port and cooling options as their highest-end cousins, but they bottle up some of that ROG magic for the critical $200-and-under price brackets. On the bench today, we have Asus' top-end ROG Strix board: the Z270E Gaming. At $199.99, the Z270E Gaming slots in right under the $200 mark that we consider the threshold for diminishing returns with mainstream motherboards.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

CCleaner was hacked to spread malware to millions of users for a month

Now this is an ironic flub-up. Popular utility tool CCleaner (short for ‘Crap Cleaner’), which promises to clean up your system for enhanced performance, was hacked to distribute malware directly to its users, Cisco Talos reports.

The app, which touts more than two billion downloads and over two million active users according to parent company Avast, was infected with a malicious payload that made it possible to download and execute other suspicious software, including ransomware and keyloggers.

While developer Piriform and Avast have already confirmed the attack, the good thing is that there is currently no evidence to suggest the exploit was used to install additional malware.

Read full article @ TNW

ECS Z270H4-I LGA1151 Motherboard Review

ECS Z270H4-I is a pretty solid offering from the manufacturer that does support the Intel’s 6th gen and 7th gen processors and despite the Mini ITX size, we do get quite a bit of expansion options. The board packs no less than four SATA ports, one M.2 slot for Wi-Fi/BT, another one for 2242/2280 SSDs, but also one PCI-Express x16 Gen 3.0 slots. In terms of memory, we can equip it with up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM and at the same time it does not seem to have issues running with higher frequency RAM since it is able to read the XMP profiles properly.

Read full article @ Mad Shrimps

Intel Core i9-7900X Skylake-X 10 Core CPU Review

Since the introduction of AMD’s Zen CPU architecture to the market, communities, consumers and media outlets have been abuzz from all of the hype; not just the hype prior to the launch, but of course performance upon release too. It’s been no surprise that AMD’s Ryzen processor launch has been a success due to the price/performance ratio of their processors, more impressively the Ryzen 7 range with the 1700 being one of the top core/performance/price effective processors of the last 5 or 6 years. The big question from most people however was “how are Intel going to respond?”. Well Intel made their response well known from the outset and decided to bring forward the launch of their latest HEDT platform based on the X299 chipset, with the processors being codenamed ‘Skylake-X’…

Read full article @ Play3r

Kanto YU4 Desktop Computer Speakers Review

The Kanto YU4 speakers are versatile speakers that delivers expected performance for the price.

Read full article @ APH Networks

Opteron vs. EPYC Benchmarks & Performance-Per-Watt: How AMD Server Performance Evolved Over 10 Years

By now you have likely seen our initial AMD EPYC 7601 Linux benchmarks. If you haven't, check them out, EPYC does really deliver on being competitive with current Intel hardware in the highly threaded space. If you have been curious to see some power numbers on EPYC, here they are from the Tyan Transport SX TN70A-B8026 2U server. Making things more interesting are some comparison benchmarks showing how the AMD EPYC performance compares to AMD Opteron processors from about ten years ago.

Read full article @ Phoronix

Reolink Argus Wireless Battery-Powered Security Camera Review

With the Reolink app, setup is fast and easy. And as I mentioned in the RLC-411WS review, Reolink does a great job with keeping the app and firmware up to date. The Argus is a stand-alone camera, meaning that it needs no base station like other battery-powered cameras. Just put the batteries in, set it up in the app, and you are up and running. You do have to supply your own SD card, but they are very inexpensive and come in many capacities. Reolink recommends you start with an 8GB card, but I tried both a 4GB and an 8GB card and had no problems. You have the option to record sound with your video and even talk to someone through the camera, so it is safe to say that for a small camera, the Argus is packed with big features. The Argus retails for $99, which is a very fair price for a camera that you can mount pretty much anywhere. Check out the full line of Reolink security cameras and NVR (Network Video Recorder) systems at the Reolink website.

Read full article @ OCC

Riotoro Prism CR1280 Full Tower RGB Review

We review the Riotoro Prism CR1280 Full Tower RGB, a product series that is designed for ease of use and decent looks as the side panel have been fitted with a see through windows. Armed with proper features and sure, a little RGB it does make this chassis little out of the ordinary. Wanna have a peek?

Read full article @ Guru3D

ROCCAT Isku+ Force FX Gaming Keyboard Review

When we talk about switches with keyboards there are two main types: mechanical and membrane switch keyboard. Granted, there are more than just those however, most involve a switch.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

ROG Zenith Extreme vs ASRock X399 Taichi

It’s an epic battle between two of the most awesome X399 motherboards on the market. the Asus ROG Zenith Extreme and the ASRock X399 Taichi. We put these two motherboards to the test to find out which one is the real winner.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

Ryzen ITX Cooler Roundup

My interest in Small Form Factor builds has grown over the years as my office space has slowly filled up and had less space and each time I take a PC to a LAN event. We have built our Lunchbox project builds all the way back to when nothing was available but that isn’t the case anymore. There are countless case options, tiny power supplies, ITX motherboards with full sized features, and even video cards that will fit in tight spaces. Most recently with the AM4/Ryzen introduction, I was extremely excited to finally have the chance to run an ITX build with a proper high-end AMD CPU. Up until recently, you could really only do it with their APUs. Well even months after the Ryzen launch ITX boards were basically not available, but that is all starting to change with boards getting in stock from Gigabyte, Asrock, and Biostar. Well to celebrate that I decided to bring together a collection of at least most (I’m sure someone will contact me asking for X brand) of the ITX sized coolers that currently have AM4 support. A few of the coolers I got in are pushing the limits of ITX. But today I’m going to check each of them out, make sure they fit an AM4 ITX board (and ram), and test each cooler for noise and temperatures using Ryzen CPUs from the R7, R5, and R3 platforms. Hopefully, we will get a better idea of what fits, what doesn’t, what looks amazing, what is quiet, and what will work with each level of performance. It’s a lot to take in so let’s go ahead and get started.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Seasonic PRIME 650 Platinum Review

This time we review a small Seasonic rated at 650 watts, but this one is part of its flagship Prime series with Platinum rated efficiency. That means, less heat, less noise, and a lower cost of operation over time.

In the power supply realm, when consumers think of quiet and efficient power supplies one of the first companies that comes to mind is Seasonic. Today we are looking at another Seasonic unit that is part of their PRIME Platinum series. In this review, we will specifically be looking at the 650W model in the PRIME Platinum series (SSR-650PD Active PFC F3).

Seasonic is one of the older companies producing consumer power supplies having been founded in 1975 and entering the PC power supply production market in 1980. During that more than 40 years as a company Seasonic has cultivated lines of power supplies that are today some of the standard bearers for efficiency and quiet computing. This focus, and its reputation for quality, has lead to an explosion in production as Seasonic can be found providing OEM services on various model lines for Antec, XFX, Corsair, PC Power and Cooling, and of course under its own Seasonic brand.

Read full article @ HardOCP

SteelSeries Apex M750 Review

Cherry may provide the lion's share of mechanical switches for the gaming market, but several manufacturers, SteelSeries included, are now producing their own tailor-made switches, to their exact requirements. Included within the Apex M750 are the QX2 switches, designed for speed above all else, with an actuation point of only 2mm and a required force of 45cN.

Read full article @ Vortez