Here today's reviews and articles, including System Builder Marathon, Q2 2013: $2500 Performance PC, Gainward GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST 2GB "Golden Sample" Review, PC Gaming Hall of Shame: Games That Weren't Cancelled, But Should Have Been, Corsair 350D Review, and Haswell and GK110 vs. Ivy and GK104: DigitalStorm Virtue System Review



System Builder Marathon, Q2 2013: $2500 Performance PC @ Tom's Hardware

Can a bigger budget help this quarter's tiny PC beat my previous performance monster? Is it any more attractive than some of the mini-ITX-based platforms from the boutique builders? I'll answer that first question for you, and you answer the second.

Read more: System Builder Marathon, Q2 2013: $2500 Performance PC @ Tom's Hardware

Angelbird SSD2Go 480GB External SSD Review - Incredible Build and Performance @ The SSD Review

Up on our Test Bench early this morning are three of the most colorful SSDs we have ever seen, these being the Angelbird SSD2Go External USB 3.0 SSDs. Don't let their good looks alone fool you; these drives are among the best built we have ever seen, scream out LSI SandForce performance at above 460MB/s and are as at home with a PC as they are a Mac. This speed has yet to be seen in any portable SSD before today.

Read more: Angelbird SSD2Go 480GB External SSD Review - Incredible Build and Performance @ The SSD Review

Gainward GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST 2GB "Golden Sample" Review @ Madshrimps

The Gainward GeForce GTX 650Ti BOOST card is excellent for people which do not want to spend a fortune on a video card, but would still get good performances in most of the games until 1920x1080. The card from this manufacturer includes a silent 2-fan cooling system but also an easy to use ExperTool II utility, which allows us to monitor and to further overclock the card.

Read more: Gainward GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST 2GB "Golden Sample" Review @ Madshrimps

Antec Mobile Products ISO Review @ KitGuru

Antec launched the A.M.P. (http://www.antecmobileproducts.com/) brand in October 2012 and today we'll be taking a closer look at their ISO Bluetooth Headphones. Antec claims these headphones will allow you to escape the distraction of everyday noise and immerse yourself into the world of your favorite music, movies, or games

Read more: Antec Mobile Products ISO Review @ KitGuru

PC Gaming Hall of Shame: Games That Weren't Cancelled, But Should Have Been @ Techspot

Although some decent games do poorly for no good reason, many titles are so headscratchingly bad that you have to wonder why the developer even bothered.

In the group of terribly bad games, there are the truly bad ones and then there are the big flops: those that have built an irredeemable amount of hype. Without further ado, here's our PC gaming hall of shame: games that weren't cancelled but should have been...

Read more: PC Gaming Hall of Shame: Games That Weren't Cancelled, But Should Have Been @ Techspot

Noctua NH-U14S 140mm U-Type Tower Heatsink Review @ Ninjalane

There are a variety of different cooling solutions that can cater to the way you plan to use your computer. For those looking to get the best thermal performance a self contained watercooler or large tower heatsink might be the best option, especially when overclocking. OEM replacement coolers are extremely popular in the DIY market and often sacrifice cooling performance for cost and quality of components. While these styles can often be found as hybrids of each other but can never replicate a third popular style, the silent cooler. Silent coolers are more than high performance coolers with slow moving fans but instead are specifically engineered to get the best thermal performance when overall airflow may be at a premium.

In this review we will be looking at the Noctua NH-U14S 140mm U-Type heatsink. As the name suggests this is an oversized tower heatsink designed for 140mm fans. The cooler features a total of six heatpipes in a staggered array that loop from one end of the radiator to another.

Read more: Noctua NH-U14S 140mm U-Type Tower Heatsink Review @ Ninjalane

Mad Catz M.O.U.S.9 Gaming Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews

We've come a long way from the original Hawley mouse, with its blocky design and offset friction wheels. Modern mice switched to purely optical sensors years ago, and as technology improved, resolution and features abounded. First came Microsoft's high-resolution mouse (400dpi!), then scroll wheels, then optical sefnsors, then wireless mice, then programmable mice, and now a plethora of mice specialized for specific uses: there are standard mice, gaming mice, MMO mice, even business mice. Mad Catz, of course, specializes in the "gaming" area.

Read more: Mad Catz M.O.U.S.9 Gaming Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews

The TR Podcast 136: A whole heap of AMD news @ The Tech Report

In this episode of the TR Podcast, we cover AMD's latest processor releases and roadmap disclosures. We also answer listener mail and discuss some of the highlights from WWDC and E3.

Read more: The TR Podcast 136: A whole heap of AMD news @ The Tech Report

RHA MA150 Earphones Review @ HiTech Legion

The electronics market is packed and provides plenty of options for users to choose from. The problem is that it becomes hard to choose as a consumer when there are so many options out there. Just with budget noise isolating earphones alone, the selection is overwhelming. A good place to start would be to look at manufacturers who have been known to provide good bang-for-buck products to begin with such as UK-based RHA. RHA’s MA450i and MA350 mainstream segment earphones thoroughly impressed in our previous reviews but for the under-$20 price range RHA offers their MA150 earphones.

The RHA MA150 utilizes RHA’s signature aerophonic shape design resulting in a greater dynamic range despite the small space. The RHA MA150 includes three size of noise isolating silicone tips in each package for a comfortable fit and effective noise reproduction. Inside the ABS material housing is a 10mm Mylar driver with a frequency range of 16-22,000Hz and sensitivity rating of 103dB. The 1.2 meter long cable is coated with a rubber material for durability and is outfitted with 3.5mm gold plated connector in the end. For manageability, the RHA MA150 also features a Y-cable slider for cable mess untangling and the 3.5mm jack is angled at 45 degrees to minimize clearance issues with aftermarket phone cases. The MA150 is available in black, packed inside a compact recycled ECO packaging and is backed by RHA with a 12-month warranty.

Read more: RHA MA150 Earphones Review @ HiTech Legion

Corsair 350D Review @ OCC

The windowed case is available at Newegg for $109.99, and the non-windowed case is $69.99 after a $20 rebate. If you are planning on building a system based on an ITX or Mini ATX motherboard, then you won't be disappointed with the 350D - especially if you want to live on the wild side and go with a full on water cooling system. You get all of what makes Corsair cases some of the best on the market with excellent visuals to go along with the function and form.

Read more: Corsair 350D Review @ OCC

Walkera QR Ladybird V2 RTF Micro Quadcopter reviewed @ Metku.net

Walkera Ladybird V2 model offers a toy like price but includes all the features that a larger model would have. Let us see if this is the next gadget you just need to buy!

Read more: Walkera QR Ladybird V2 RTF Micro Quadcopter reviewed @ Metku.net

Plextor M5 Pro PX-256M5P 256GB SSD @ NikKTech

When the first mass production consumer oriented solid state drives (SSDs) made their appearance roughly 5 years ago we were all swept away by the performance gap compared to normal mechanical drives which in some cases was as much as 3 times over. Back then however price was indeed a huge issue and thus it wasn't until around 2 years ago that prices took a serious dive and allowed more and more people to own one either in their systems or to carry around as a portable solution. However although prices are very low as we speak since the introduction of SSDs we haven't really seen anything ground breaking that can match the how we felt back then and by that i mean that back then even normal consumers could "feel" the difference in loading times and system responsiveness whereas now this is not the case. Of course the technology behind SSDs keeps improving and aside the incredibly fast PCIex solutions we've just seen the introduction of 12Gbps drives however those are primarily aimed towards demanding enterprise use and because of that their launch prices are as expected off the charts. So since the next best thing for consumers is regular SATA III SSDs today we will be taking a thorough look at the PX-256M5Pro by Plextor.

Read more: Plextor M5 Pro PX-256M5P 256GB SSD @ NikKTech

Red Bull Training Grounds Santa Monica - StarCraft II Tournament @ Legit Reviews

On Friday in a secluded part of Santa Monica, California, eight of the world’s best eSports athletes gathered in the halls of Red Bull to participate in a sort of ‘Training Camp’ for StarCraft II players. As MLG Anaheim approaches, eSport gamers are trying to get in the most practice as they can. This invitational is for some of StarCraft’s biggest names to not only get some practice in, but let fans see who has the momentum going into one of the year’s biggest tournaments.

We caught up to eSports star EG.DeMusliM at Red Bull Headquarters before the tournament started to find out his thoughts on the Red Bull Training Grounds and what he expected to get out of it.

Read more: Red Bull Training Grounds Santa Monica - StarCraft II Tournament @ Legit Reviews

Haswell and GK110 vs. Ivy and GK104: DigitalStorm Virtue System Review @ Anandtech

While NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 780 has proven to be a solid update to the venerable 680, Intel's Haswell architecture has left enthusiasts underwhelmed. Can a good GPU and overclock make up the difference?

Read more: Haswell and GK110 vs. Ivy and GK104: DigitalStorm Virtue System Review @ Anandtech