Here a roundup of todays reviews and articles:

AMD Athlon 5350 Review
BitFenix Comrade M-ATX Chassis Review
Bitfenix Neos Review
Creative Sound Blaster ZxR Versus Onboard Audio
Deepcool Gamer Storm Maelstrom 240
Motorola Moto G Smartphone Review
MSI Z97 XPower AC Review
Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler Review
PAPAGO! Dashcam P2PRO 1080p Review
QNAP TurboNAS TS-121 NAS Server Review
Rosewill Legacy W1 Mini-ITX Computer Case Review
Round-Up: 5-way Radeon R9 280X Battle
SilverStone Roundup July 2014 - featuring GD09 Case, ST60F PSU and AR02 Cooler
Synology DS414j: An Ideal Backup NAS
Thecus N4800Eco 4-Bay NAS Review
Thecus N5550 Network Attached Storage Review

AMD Athlon 5350 Review

Moving away from the mainstream computing, AMD bring a modern twist to entry level computing in the form of the AM1 platform. Based around the FS1b socket, which is essentially a more compact version of the sockets many will recognise distinctly as AMD. The Athlon 5350, based on the 28nm Kabini architecture that has a close knit CPU and GPU, AMD aims to provide an excellent general performance at a low power draw. Being the flagship, the Athlon 5350 is the most costly APU for this platform right now, coming in at just £40-43 inc VAT. Combined with an AM1 motherboard of your choice, that can be had at just £25 or maybe even less, you have the base for a PC system in a price range of an incredible £40-70 and potentially a complete system could be had for £150-200 (not including OS). At this price, you may be thinking that there would be significant cuts on some features, however this is not the case, the Jaguar CPU cores comes with a full complement of instruction sets, we even find USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gbps and compatibility for 4K resolution over HDMI and Displayport. Let's move on to marvel at the wonders of this SoC.

Read full article @ Vortez

BitFenix Comrade M-ATX Chassis Review

The budget market is incredibly competitive these days, there are loads of great chassis from many of the top manufacturers that won’t cost the earth. Not every system builder is on the market for a £200 one-of-a-kind behemoth of a case, some people not only lack the finances for a crazy build, but also don’t really care for anything too crazy anyway. When it comes to building a system on a tighter budget you need a chassis that will at the very least hold all the components you want to install; cheaper cases are often a smaller form factor such as the mATX one we are reviewing today, so they’re likely not going to be ideal for AMD 295X2 graphics cards and eATX motherboards.

“Aimed squarely at builders on a budget, Comrade delivers high-end features at an incredibly competitive price point. Available in two classic colours, Comrade brings a sleek, no-nonsense design that’s ideal for the first-time builder. Dedicated 3.5″ and 2.5″ drive racks offer ample expansion possibilities, as well as room for long graphics cards up to 30cm in length. Tool-free drive locking mechanisms make installing storage a breeze, while dual dust filters enable quick and easy cleanup. A high-speed USB 3.0 port has also been included to save you time during file transfers. Adorned with premium touches like a powder-coated interior and an aluminium-finish BitFenix badge, Comrade is a trusty mid-tower design and an unprecedented value.”

The BitFenix Comrade is not only affordable, but also fairly capable given its price range as it will hold a graphics card of up to 300mm, mini-ITX, Micro-ATX and ATX motherboards, plenty of storage, three 120mm fans and a standard ATX PSU; it’s not a huge amount, but that’s more than enough to fit a pretty decent gaming rig.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Bitfenix Neos Review

With the Neos, BitFenix have the next case in their portfolio that aims at entry-level market. In this case you get midi tower, that features a mesh front, that is available in different colors. Inside there is quite some space and we're curious to find out wether this is a convincing product or not.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Creative Sound Blaster ZxR Versus Onboard Audio

Today we're looking at the Sound Blaster ZxR, Creative's flagship audio solution for PC power users. It's also one of three available cards in Creative's ultra high-performance Z-Series of sound cards, the ZxR being the top-end solution. It boasts a signal-to-noise (SNR) of 124dB that Creative claims is 89.1 times better than your motherboard's integrated audio solution. It also features a built-in headphone amplifier, beamforming microphone, a multi-core Sound Core3D audio processor, and various proprietary audio technologies.

We'll examine the Sound Blaster ZxR in detail and figure out what kind of audience is best suited for a card of this caliber. To do that, we'll compare the ZxR to onboard audio and offer up some subjective analysis based on what we hear, as well as look at any potential impact in gaming performance...

http://hothardware.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=efc4c507c2cf964fc2462caca&id=9329848484&e=0c004f9c13]Read full article @ HotHardware.com[/url]

Deepcool Gamer Storm Maelstrom 240

Deepcool is jumping into the sea of all-in-one liquid CPU coolers with the release of the Maelstrom 240. Featuring stunning looks, solid performance and high quality fans it has the specs and features that enthusiasts not only expect, but demand.

Read full article @ techPowerUp

Motorola Moto G Smartphone Review

The Motorola Moto G is a smartphone with a 4.5-inch HD (1280 x 720) touchscreen that runs the Android 4.4 "KitKat" operating system, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 1.2 GHz quad-core processor. It has 1 GiB of RAM and 16 GiB storage space, a 5 MP main camera, a 1.3 MP frontal camera, and supports two SIM chips in this version.

Read full article @ Hardware Secrets

MSI Z97 XPower AC Review

The Z97 XPower is MSI's flagship offer when it comes to Z97 Express based motherboards. This board not only comes with a massive 32 phase digital power design but also lots of additional overclocking and gaming related features. Other than that MSI provided this board with their unique and good looking color scheme, where basically almost anything is black apart from a few yellow spots.

Read full article @ ocaholic

Noctua NH-D15 CPU Cooler Review

In sports, there are matches worth watching, simply because one side is just as competitive as the other. The tension is strong, the outcome is hard to predict, and the excitement really builds as everyone puts in their very best to bring joy for all those who cheer for them. At the end of the day, whether it is a win or a loss for the team you are cheering for, we can all look back and say, "That was a match well played." For example, in the Winter Olympics, Canada versus United States in ice hockey is always the game to look for. In the World Cup, Brazil versus Germany is the one to get excited about... unless the year is 2014. If you have been following the World Cup, and watched the humiliating defeat of Brazil on Tuesday, you will know exactly what I am talking about. Prior to the game, some of my friends even thought about taking a day off work to watch this epic battle of the two countries. However, eleven minutes into the game, and things began to turn sideways. When Germany scored four additional goals within six minutes twenty nine minutes into the game, this became the cornerstone of one of the most humiliating defeats in Brazil's history in an unprecedented 7-1 loss. Who would have known? Germany's incredible outcome and Brazil's utter defeat is simply a shocker to everyone worldwide, even if they are not big into the sport. Similarly, in the computer world, there are always companies that you can depend on to deliver excellent performance. In fact, in the seventeen products that Noctua has sent us since 2007, they have taken home eleven awards -- an award percentage of 65% with an average score of 7.7/10. This makes Noctua one of best performing manufacturers here at APH Networks. Today, we will take a look at their latest product, the Noctua NH-D15. Will it sweep home another glorious victory like Germany, or will it suffer a surprising unprecedented defeat like Brazil? Let the kickoff begin.

Read full article @ APH Networks

PAPAGO! Dashcam P2PRO 1080p Review

In the end, I was quite impressed with the PAPAGO! P2PRO Dashcam. It surprised me with its video quality, as well as its ease of use. I was able to use it very shortly after taking it out of the box; I only needed an SD card and a little time to set up the very basic of settings before it was ready to go. The mount for the windshield was most impressive in the ability to stay attached even in the most extreme use of driving at the track. With a car that vibrates quite a bit and driven hard around a track full of turns on a hot day, I was left with no questions about the dashcam's ability to stay in place – that mount never moved. The built-in GPS sensor and speed monitoring made for good fun when looking at the resulting videos as well. This feature also provides great information for an insurance claim, as well as monitoring young drivers you may have in your household.

Read full article @ OCC

QNAP TurboNAS TS-121 NAS Server Review

When i first started testing NAS (network attached storage) devices a few years back my main target audience were small business and enterprise users so naturally the main focus of my reviews were high-end multiple-bay models that could easily feel right at home in such demanding environments. Years passed however and i can't say that I’ve changed my focus group that much since pretty much every single NAS device i test has at least 4 bays and is also ment for SMB and sometimes even for Enterprise use. Some of you have brought this to my attention over the past few months so instead of uploading yet another review of a high-end multi-bay model today i decided to take things the other way around and look at a much more affordable solution primarily aimed for home use. Well what better way to do that than to test the latest TurboNAS TS-121 single bay NAS server by our friends over at QNAP?

QNAP Systems, Inc., as its brand promise "Quality Network Appliance Provider", aims to deliver comprehensive offerings of cutting edge network attached storage (NAS) and network video recorder (NVR) solutions featured with ease-of-use, robust operation, large storage capacity, and trustworthy reliability. QNAP integrates technologies and designs to bring forth quality products that effectively improve business efficiency on file sharing, virtualization applications, storage management and surveillance in the business environments, as well as enrich entertainment life for home users with the offering of a fun multimedia center experience. Headquartered in Taipei, QNAP delivers its solutions to the global market with nonstop innovation and passion.

The TurboNAS TS-x21 line of NAS servers is amongst the last ones to "graduate" from QNAPs production line so although the TS-121 is a single bay model still it packs quite a punch thanks to its 2.0GHz Marvell single-core CPU (88F6282 Kirkwood SoC) which is paired with 1GB DDR3 RAM and 16MB of flash memory. Connectivity is also very good since the TS-121 comes ready with 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 Gigabit RJ45 port, 1 eSATA port and support for 4TB SATA II drives which although not the best choice (especially for people who may want to use an SSD) still it's quite normal for a single bay system (for HDD users at least). Granted we don't expect from the TurboNAS TS-121 to break read & write performance records since in the end it can only use a drive in single mode but thanks to its specs it should be quite fast.

Read full article @ NikKTech

Rosewill Legacy W1 Mini-ITX Computer Case Review

Rosewill’s Legacy series of cases brought a new image with them to the Newegg in-house brand’s typically budget-oriented lineup. That’s not to say there weren’t splendid offerings available previously – I still maintain that Rosewill’s Thor V2 chassis is one of the best “price for performance” cases produced in recent memory. Even excluding the stand-out cases, there was a chassis at almost every price point that usually offered just as much as the competition at a lower price (even though they may have sacrificed a feature or a little build quality – usually negligible – to do so). Still, Rosewill’s penchant for penny-pinching produced (alliteration!) a few compromises along the way. Looking to provide some premium offerings and possibly shed their “budget” image of the past, Rosewill may just end up revamping their legacy with the new Legacy W1 Mini-ITX computer case. Available in black or silver with or without a window, this aluminum-clad mini-ITX case appears to be a premium answer to enclosures like the BitFenix Prodigy.

Read full article @ Benchmark Reviews

Round-Up: 5-way Radeon R9 280X Battle

Shopping for a new enthusiast GPU? Assuming you want the best value, your pick will be between the Radeon R9 280X and the GeForce GTX 770. To us the former is a better value so the decision is more about sifting through a handful competing brands. To make that process a little easier, we're going to compare what we think are the best five R9 280X cards in the market right now.

Read full article @ =?utf-8?Q?TechSpot?=

SilverStone Roundup July 2014 - featuring GD09 Case, ST60F PSU and AR02 Cooler

There was a time a few years ago that Hi-Fi/AMP like HTPC cases were everywhere. That has changed a bit in recent times due to some excellent m-ATX boards allowing builds in compact chassis however there is still something about the home theatre component style of design which can be appealing in certain setups. Today we have a modern take on the HTPC style of chassis from Silverstone, in the form of the GD09. We’ll also be taking a quick look at the 600w ST60F PSU and AR02 cooler as they could be ideal for this build.

Read full article @ Hardware Heaven

Synology DS414j: An Ideal Backup NAS

The consumer Network Attached Storage (NAS) market has seen tremendous growth over the past few years. As the amount of digital media generated by the average household increases, the standard 2-bay NAS is no longer sufficient. 4-bay solutions based on ARM platforms are the most attractive for home users, thanks to their low cost and power consumption profile. We have already evaluated solutions from Western Digital (WD EX4) and LenovoEMC (ix4-300d) in this space. Today, we are going to take a look at Synology's offering in this market segment, the DS414j.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Thecus N4800Eco 4-Bay NAS Review

In today’s market, performance, connectivity and software features are not the only areas that NAS manufacturers have to focus on when developing a new product. As businesses strive to save overhead costs wherever they can, the focus is now shifting over to saving power. Although performance is still a key area of focus, like desktop components, trying to get as much processing power as possible whilst using as little power as possible is the next step in the NAS evolutionary timeline. The N4800Eco that we are taking a look at today is by no means a newcomer to the market, in fact it saw its debut in the early part of last year, but with so many systems on offer today, Thecus are looking to give this system a second push to the market, proving that you don’t have to get the latest system in order to get the best balance between performance and cost of ownership.

As its name suggests, the N4800Eco is in fact a direct relative to the renowned N4800 4-bay system that came to market in the middle part of 2012. Powered by a 3rd generation Intel Atom D2700 series CPU, the N4800 once again proved that it was a strong contender in the SMB market as it superseded the N4200 that we took a look at ourselves. Where the N4800Eco differs over the N4800 mainly comes down to the price point. Aside from the removal of the battery backup unit, the N4800 and the Eco are almost identical part-for-part, although the Atom CPU has been updated to a D2701 from the D2700 as seen on the N4800 – giving a slightly better power consumption in respect to the older unit. The Eco branding is there to show that it is a more economically cost-effective product to buy, with the 20% power saving that is advertised relating to the power difference between this system and the much older N4200.

Even though the N4800Eco is positioned within the SMB market, we find a number of features that also make it a worthy consideration for the SOHO market, with full multimedia support through a HDMI connection and a built-in media front end for direct playback of content from the system itself. Since the launch of OS6, Thecus now ship this system with the latest Linux-based OS, offering up a more fluid and intuitive user interface, with support for link aggregation, McAffee Antivirus, Cloud access as well as the sharing of devices connected through the systems eSATA and USB3.0 ports.

Read full article @ eTeknix

Thecus N5550 Network Attached Storage Review

Thecus released the N5550 NAS and gives the consumers a ton of options on how it can be configured. The Thecus N5550 is aimed at home and SOHO users and houses up to 5 hard drives

Read full article @ Modders-Inc