Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

A Way Out Review
ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac Motherboard Review
Audioengine A5+ Wireless Speakers Review
CORSAIR HS60 SURROUND Gaming Headset Review
CORSAIR K63 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard Review
Crucial MX500 SSD Review
Dropping cable with the Nvidia Shield TV
Gigabyte X299 Designare EX ATX Motherboard Review
GPD Pocket Review: A tiny Windows 10 laptop that requires compromise
Intel Core i7-8700K Review
MSI Z370I Gaming Pro Carbon AC mITX Review
NZXT H400i Review
Patriot's Viper V570 FPS-MMO Hybrid Gaming Mouse rReview
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ Benchmarks
Razer Nommo Chroma Review
Reolink Argus 2 Wireless Battery Powered Security Camera Review
Seagate Barracuda Pro 12TB HDD Review
Thermaltake View 22 TG Case Review
ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2018) Review: 6th Gen Workhorse, HDR Brilliance
Windows 10 Pro vs. Five Linux Distributions In Various Benchmarks
Windows 10 vs. Ubuntu Linux With Radeon / GeForce GPUs On The Latest 2018 Drivers

A Way Out Review

Movies are usually best enjoyed with other people. The action scenes are more exciting, the jokes are funnier, and the tear-jerking bits are more moving when someone is experiencing them with you, and yet, most “cinematic” games like Uncharted or Tomb Raider tend to feature single-player-only campaigns. A Way Out looks to shake up that status quo.

Created by small Swedish developer Hazelight Studios, A Way Out is a unique split-screen co-op cinematic gaming experience. In fact, the game has to be played with somebody else – there’s no single-player option available. The game’s director, Josef Fares, made a name for himself at last year’s Game Awards with his viral “f*ck the Oscars” speech, but is his swagger justified? Does A Way Out’s split-screen gimmick and ambitious story work, or does the game need to be locked away?

Read full article @ Wccftech

ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac Motherboard Review

Thanks to ASRock, we’ll be taking a quick look at the ASRock Fatal1ty Z370 Gaming ITX/ac motherboard. It utilizes Intel’s latest Z370 chipset and supports all of Intel’s latest 8th Gen processors (Coffee Lake) using the LGA1151 socket.

This is one of the tiniest motherboard I’ve had the pleasure to review. But for Bart Wuluk, our European editor, he’s already reviewed his fair share of ITX motherboards, including the ASRock Fatal1ty X370 Gaming-ITX/ac, ASRock X299E-ITX/AC, and the Supermicro C7Z370-CG-IW ITX.

Read full article @ FunkyKit

Audioengine A5+ Wireless Speakers Review

Today we're taking a look Audioengine's latest studio speakers, the A5+ Wireless. The original A5+ speakers were one of our picks in last year's Best Of feature and now they're in for a repeat with the added support for Bluetooth playback.

When you've decided that your TV or monitor's built in speakers just don't cut it anymore, there are plenty of options to choose from. Of course, you can go to your local big box store and grab a pair of cheap bookshelf speakers, but for those that care about audio quality, you'll want to do some research beforehand.

Read full article @ TechSpot

CORSAIR HS60 SURROUND Gaming Headset Review

We have tried the HS60 right away in The Crew, Need for Speed: Payback, Guild Wars 2, Wolfenstein and Diablo III: thanks to the large drivers, the low frequencies were well represented (but not over the top as on some other gaming headset) and the voices were crystal clear which concluded in a very good overall experience. When turning 7.1 virtual surround on, we have got a positive experience and, in many cases, it will help identifying the virtual objects which produce sound around you easier (location, distance etc…).

Following the affordable HS50, CORSAIR has recently released an upgraded version featuring 7.1-surround sound. This model is compatible PC/Mac/PS4, Xbox One (with an extra accessory) but also the Nintendo Switch or other mobile devices

Read full article @ Mad Shrimps

CORSAIR K63 Wireless Mechanical Keyboard Review

CORSAIR joins the higher-end wireless keyboard market with the K63 Wireless, a TKL mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX Red switches, configurable blue backlight, a reliable and powerful software driver, and fast wireless response times despite the industry standard encryption that has been built in for security. At $110, it aims to provide convenience, features, and performance without breaking the bank.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

Crucial MX500 SSD Review

For years, we've overlooked the Crucial brand for our enthusiast recommendations. We've felt let down by the company that introduced us to the C300, which was the world's first SATA 6Gbps SSD. Since then, Crucial's consumer SSDs have trailed the competition, and the performance gap between Crucial and other tier-one manufacturers has grown. Some of Crucial's products even have similar performance to SSDs coming from tier-two and tier-three manufacturers. It isn't just the performance that links Crucial SSDs to products from companies you most likely have never heard of; in some cases, the components inside the drives are identical.

But now Micron, Crucial's parent company, has a revamped leadership team, many of which led SanDisk before it was sold to Western Digital. Familiar names are popping up in press releases, LinkedIn profiles have changed, and with the new blood comes a new spirit. Micron's conservative past is far from over, but suddenly there is an enthusiasm that we haven't seen in some time.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

Dropping cable with the Nvidia Shield TV

For years my wife and I dropped cable television simply because we didn’t have the money for it in our budget. Then eventually we added back a basic package and were okay with that. Fast forward 6 years later and we are spending a fortune and have every channel under the sun. What happened was they slowly offered us deals that added additional channels, we started watching shows on those channels and then when the deal went away I would call and tell them I was going to drop it all and they would add even more channels to get me to stay. When we bought a new house though it was finally time to find a better option to save some money and it just so happened that Nvidia had sent out their Shield TV to us and it was sitting unused. So today I’m going to talk a little about how I dropped cable by using the Shield TV and I’ve been loving it.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Gigabyte X299 Designare EX ATX Motherboard Review

Intel refers to the X299 platform as “High-End Desktop” (HEDT), but the term "high-end" means different things to different people. A gamer might think the top mainstream parts are better because they support higher overclocks, while a power user would scoff at that platform’s lack of connectivity. The overlap continues as the cheapest HEDT components don’t even have any of the features called “high end” when placed on a mainstream platform.

Conversely, some boards far exceed "high-end" expectations. And the X299 Designare EX’s feature set places it among these elite parts.

Read full article @ Tom's Hardware

GPD Pocket Review: A tiny Windows 10 laptop that requires compromise

It's interesting to think that long ago, I thought that we were at the pinnacle of mobile devices with my first encounter with Windows Mobile. The Pocket PC (PPC) ran a version of Windows that looked similar to what you would find on PCs and it also was quite capable during day-to-day use. Despite its popularity in certain circles, it would eventually fall by the wayside, making way for new mobile operating systems. Almost a decade later, I still yearn for a pocketable computing device, and the GPD Pocket PC could be just the thing to satisfy.

Read full article @ Neowin

Intel Core i7-8700K Review

Cores and clock speeds, base, boosts, and threads: the march of progress in the processing world continues ever on. With each passing generation, we see these advancements tick by but with Coffee Lake, Intel is defending their claim on the marketplace superiority against a reinvigorated AMD. We wanted to see for ourselves just what Intel’s latest i7 has to offer, so today we’re putting the Intel Core i7-8700K through its paces. We’re upgrading from an i7-7700K and had to know: is it worth the upgrade?

Read full article @ MMORPG

MSI Z370I Gaming Pro Carbon AC mITX Review

Many of us have gotten used to wanting things smaller and smaller in terms of today's electronics, and many enthusiasts have followed that trend when it comes to building fully capable high end desktop PC system. MSI is turning up the heat in the mini-ITX segment with it Gaming Pro Carbon series motherboards.

MSI was founded in the late 1980s like many of its competitors. In that time, it's flourished in what is essentially, a cut throat business. You old timers like me probably can recall half a dozen motherboard brands that have come and gone over the years. I got into this hobby in the early to mid-1990s and there are only a handful of brands left that were around when or even before I started working with PCs as we know them now. While MSI is primarily known for motherboards, it offers a wide range of products. These include monitors, graphics cards, desktops, laptops and peripherals.

Read full article @ HardOCP

NZXT H400i Review

Today we have with the H400i from NZXT a high-quality Micro-ATX case tested, which can already be classified in the higher price range. Unlike many of its competitors, NZXT uses in this small case a tempered glass instead of acrylic glass. Beside some pictures there is also a video with different RGB effects contained in this review. As always, we hope you enjoy it.

The housing is protected by two matching polystyrene parts. It is also wrapped in foil and the real glass panel is protected on both sides by a foil.

Read full article @ OCinside.de

Patriot's Viper V570 FPS-MMO Hybrid Gaming Mouse rReview

Usually when I'm offered a product for review I'm cautiously enthusiastic. When Patriot offered up its Viper V570 Blackout Edition mouse (and accompanying RGB LED-festooned mousepad) to review, I was considerably more interested than usual. I hadn't seen the Blackout Edition before, but I was already familiar with the Viper V570 from scouring the depths of Amazon listings.

The taxonomy of gaming mice was more or less established by Razer and Corsair. Razer decided that gamers playing massively-multiplayer online games want lots and lots of buttons, and advertised its Naga mouse as an MMO gaming mouse. Otherwise, gaming mice were generally targeted at FPS players. It wasn't until Corsair came along with its M65 sporting a "sniper button" that we had our first mouse targeted specifically at FPS gamers. Holding down said button temporarily reduces the mouse's DPI and thus sensitivity, improving accuracy in fine motions.

Read full article @ The Tech Report

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ Benchmarks

Last week on Pi Day marked the release of the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ with a slightly higher clocked Cortex-A53 processors, dual-band 802.11ac WiFi, faster Ethernet, and other minor enhancements over its predecessor. I've been spending the past few days putting the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ through its paces the past few days with an array of benchmarks while comparing the performance to other ARM SBCs as well as a few lower-end Intel x86 systems too. Here is all you need to know about the Raspberry Pi 3 B+ performance.

Read full article @ Phoronix

Razer Nommo Chroma Review

Today we'll look at the Razer Nommo Chroma. This is Razer's first real venture into the world of PC speakers, featuring a 2.0 set-up with custom woven glass fibre 3-inch drivers, rear facing bass ports, RGB lighting within the base of each speaker, and volume and bass control knobs on the right-hand speaker.

The Razer Nommo arrives in three different flavours; the Nommo, The Nommo Chroma, with added RGB base-lighting and the Razer Nommo Chroma Pro, with a pair of extra tweeters, a stand-alone subwoofer and in-line remote control. The first two are largely similar with the latter being a whole different ball game, along with a £330 price increase to boot.

Read full article @ Vortez

Reolink Argus 2 Wireless Battery Powered Security Camera Review

Roughly a year after the first Argus was released, we now we have the Argus 2. What makes it any better than the original Argus? Well, the Argus 2 combined with the optional solar panel is a real game-changer. Any concerns with battery replacement are simply gone. Even without the solar panel, the rechargeable battery by itself adds life to the camera. If the charge gets a little low, then plug in a charger and you are back in business. We aren't talking about a huge hit in the wallet to add the solar panel, either. For somewhere in the $30 range, the solar panel, to me, is a must-have that puts the camera out in front of the competition.

Read full article @ OCC

Seagate Barracuda Pro 12TB HDD Review

In our media-rich world, storage is in constant demand. Cloud services and video streaming have helped curb the need for huge amounts of local storage, but not everyone has the bandwidth or desire to keep everything on someone else’s computer. Hard drives are still the cheapest option for bulk and infrequent access storage, something Seagate has provided for many years.

A couple of months ago, Seagate updated its range of storage solutions with 12TB drives from its NAS ready IronWolf range, and under review today, Barracuda Pro desktop drives. While IronWolf is meant for RAID-enabled disk controllers due to error correction limits and vibration dampening mechanisms, the Barracuda Pro is about speed for local storage pools on workstations and desktops.

Read full article @ Techgage

Thermaltake View 22 TG Case Review

Thermaltake, hate them or love them, they have one of the most extensive catalogues of PC components and hardware in the industry. From PC Cases to power supplies, chairs, coolers, peripherals and more, Thermaltake is almost a one-stop shop for your PC gaming needs. Not only is Thermaltake great for gamer’s, they also show the modding community loads of love as well. Not only do they host and sponsor a myriad of modders, a lot of their products are designed with modders and customization in mind. One of the best things about their products is that most of the time they also offer great value for money and are cheaper than similar products.

Today, we will be taking a look at the VIEW 22 TG case. Thermaltake is on a roll right now with their View line of cases that allow users to ‘View’ the internals of the PC. The View 22 has a lot going for it. The front panel has a curved effect to it that reminds me of the Windows logo and the 4mm tempered glass side panel is a great way to show off what’s inside. The View 22 TG offers a well-rounded approach to your case needs and can house a load of storage, components and cooler gear. All in all, it looks good and paper and in photos but let’s see if it can live up to the hype!

Read full article @ EnosTech

ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2018) Review: 6th Gen Workhorse, HDR Brilliance

Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon line has been widely regarded as the company's flagship business-class laptop over the past few years. The previous model, which we poured over in deep-dive detail here, brought a new, more compact chassis design with it, along with thinner display bezels and a refresh of Intel's Kaby Lake mobile processor platform. There was one notable caveat with the previous-gen ThinkPad X1 Carbon, and it could have been a showstopper, depending on your perspective and use case. Last year's model was only available with a 1080p resolution, non-touch display, which could be an obvious shortcoming for content creation professionals, as well as crispy, high-res pixel snobs. Fortunately, however, Lenovo decided to change things up with its new ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th Generation machine, which we previewed for you at CES 2018 earlier this year

The new ThinkPad X1 Carbon ups its display game dramatically versus last year's model. It now sports a 2560x1440p WQHD+ display option that supports 100% of the AdobeRGB color gamut and drives 500 nits of brightness, along with Dolby Vision HDR (High Dynamic Range) capability. So where the X1 Carbon may have left some pixel peepers flat last year, this year's model should have eyes a-poppin'. Couple its promised display brilliance, along with some nice internal upgrades like Intel's 8th Gen Kaby Lake R quad-core CPUs and some new fast NVMe SSD technology on board, and we may have some strong, ultralight mobile workhorse mojo going on here.

Read full article @ HotHardware

Windows 10 Pro vs. Five Linux Distributions In Various Benchmarks

Here are our latest Windows 10 versus Linux benchmarks for the week. This benchmarking dance is looking at the Windows performance compared to Ubuntu, Clear Linux, Fedora, Antergos, and Solus Linux in various workloads. Among the tests this time around were looking at the performance with Go, Java, Perl, Python, FFmpeg, and more.

Windows 10 Pro 16299, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, Clear Linux 21460, Fedora Workstation 27, Antergos Linux 18.3-Rolling, and Solus Linux were the operating systems under test in the latest of our Windows vs. Linux benchmarking.

Read full article @ Phoronix

Windows 10 vs. Ubuntu Linux With Radeon / GeForce GPUs On The Latest 2018 Drivers

Given how fiercely the latest open-source AMD Linux driver code is running now up against NVIDIA's long-standing flagship Linux GPU driver, you might be curious how well that driver stacks up against the Radeon Software driver on Windows? Well, you are in luck as here are some fresh benchmarks of the Radeon RX 580 and RX Vega 64 as well as the GeForce GTX 1060 and GTX 1080 Ti while being tested both under Microsoft Windows 10 Pro x64 and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS while using the latest AMD/NVIDIA drivers on each platform.

Read full article @ Phoronix