Our Most Recent Reviews
XFX R7750 Black Edition DD
Not everyone is looking to spend $500 on their video card, in some cases that is the total budget for a build. When you are up against a wall trying to pack the best performance you can get into a budget build you still want to get the most performance you can out of your video card. That’s where cards like the XFX R7750 Black Edition Double Dissipation come into play. XFX has taken the styling and cooling from their high end cards and combined it with the price of budget cards like the HD 7750. Today we are going to take a look at how those two things do combined in XFX’s R7750 Black Edition Double Dissipation.
Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X
Earlier this year when AMD introduced the HD 7770 we took a look at cards from both Sapphire and XFX. Although we were impressed with the cards performance it was a little ill-timed due to AMD still clearing out discounted back stock. Three months later we are able to revisit the situation with today’s release of Sapphires new HD 7770 Vapor-X. With Sapphires Vapor chamber cooling technology along with a nice overclock over the reference design, the Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X could be a great option for a gamer on a limited budget. Let’s take a look.
Motherboard Sizing
When we got in a few oddly sized dual CPU motherboards from EVGA and Asus I posted up a few pictures on our forums and on Facebook. The problem was that even though they looked large there wasn’t any prospective. So we tossed in a couple other boards to give everyone a little perspective. This lead us to digging out even more motherboards to put together all of the standard motherboard sizes all together for everyone to be able to see the differences. Along with the picture we also have a breakdown on the dimensions of each size standard; I hope this helps everyone as some point. Sometimes it can be hard to understand all of the different motherboard sizes and how they all relate.
Android to the Maxx, DROID Razr Maxx
The list of different Android based phones available at any time is both overwhelming and frustrating. It’s almost impossible to get good feedback from friends who have the same phone because of this. So it’s rare than you have any one phone that manages to stand out. Doing something different is the only way to do this normally, but most times this ends off coming off as gimmicky or just lame. When Motorola introduced the Droid Razr Maxx it caught my attention right away. This was just before our trip out to San Francisco for the GTX 680 Editors day, what a better way to put the Maxx’s proposed batter life to the test!
Lian Li PC 100 “The Hammer”
We have had a few different Lian Li chassis come through the LanOC Offices and there hasn’t been a time that we haven’t been impressed with the new and interesting features Lian Li always seems to slip in. When they wanted to ship over their new case “The Hammer” PC 100, we signed up right away. We had seen the case previewed from a few shows prior and this time around Lian Li took a new perspective with its design, I was very interested to see how their changes worked out. Let’s jump in and see what it’s all about!
Nvidia GTX 670
When Nvidia launched Kepler with the GTX 680 I was impressed with the launch price of the card but even at such a great value it is still out of reach for some people. Just because you can’t afford the top card doesn’t mean you don’t want to experience Kepler’s performance. Of course it was only a matter of time before we saw Nvidia filling in the gaps in their product line, starting first with the GTX 690 then going to the next step down from the GTX 680, the GTX 670. Today we get to have a look to see how the performance compares to both the GTX 680 as well as AMD’s offerings. We are also very curious how it compares to the GTX 580, a card that has found its way into most of our office PC’s.
ioSafe Rugged Portable
So you do the smart thing, you backup your data from your laptop and your home PC to an external or network drive and go on with life feeling confident that you have gone well and above what most people do. For the most part, you did. What about when you’re traveling, have you seen how much abuse a device can take when on the go? For some people, and I know I’m one of them, some of the data you carry with you while traveling is more important than the laptop or device that you actually carry it on. In that situation you need a way to not have to worry about your data, no matter the situation, and to have a guarantee to back it up as well. The folks over at ioSafe focus specifically on this crowd. Not only do they offer products that are according to them build to handle almost anything, but they back it up with data recovery if something does happen. Today we are going to take a look at that Rugged Portable hard drive to see what all of the fuss is about, without any more buildup, let’s dig in.
Cooler Master Storm Trigger
Just two years ago the only mechanical keyboards you would find were from companies like DAS keyboard trying to create a nitch market. Over the past two years things have really exploded with every manufacture you can think of introducing their own mechanical keyboards. Cooler Master has been especially aggressive with multiple unique designs like their Quickfire series. What they did lack was a full featured mechanical keyboard with full backlighting, until now. Today they officially introduce their Storm Trigger, although it you look around the board was available Globally before now. With full backlighting it falls into a small category of Mechanical Keyboards with very little competition. I am excited to see how it performs.
Cooler Master HAF XM
The topic of cleaning your computer out came up last week on our forums and it got me thinking about how often I really need to clean out my computer. As it turns out it’s not very often anymore. All because of improvements in case design like fan filters. You don’t really see them on low end cases yet but they have been slowly trickling down. At CES this year we had a chance to get our hands on one of Cooler Master’s upcoming chassis, the HAF XM. A mid-range case packed with the features we have come to love from their high end HAF line. Today we are going to dig into the final product and see how it came out.
Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H
Z77 boards come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and prices. Just about every manufacture has a whole lineup of boards covering the whole range to make sure you can find what you are looking for. Gigabyte is no different; they have a whole selection of boards that will fit your needs. Today we are taking a look at their Z77X-UD3H, one of their budget boards. It may not be a high end board but it is still packed with features. I am curious how it will perform now that the cat is out of the bag with Ivy Bridge. Let’s jump in and see what it’s all about.
Intel DZ77GA-70K
Now that Intel has opened up the flood gates with Ivy Bridge we can finally take a full look at their latest chipset including testing with the i7-3770. When combining the two we get the latest CPU with the latest chipset and a load of new features. You can now take advantage of PCIe 3.0 along with USB 3.0 integrated into the chipset. We were very impressed with the DZ77GA-70K when we first took a look at it, let’s finally see how it performs!
Intel i7-3770K Ivy Bridge
It seemed like the virtual ink hadn’t even dried on our Sandy Bridge review and people were already talking about waiting for Ivy Bridge to come out. The same goes for our Sandy Bridge E write-up, a lot of people on the forums and at our events spoke about waiting for Ivy before making a decision. Well I can finally say that today is that day. We are going to take a look at Intel’s new Ivy Bridge CPUs, specifically the i7-3770K. We will put it up against all that Sandy Bridge had to offer along with a few Sandy Bridge E CPUs, including the competitively priced i7-3820. At the end of the day you will know what it’s all about and we will hopefully help give you the facts in your buying decision.
Does PC gaming need a doctor? Does it need an undertaker? German Gaming Manufacturer Challenges Fans to Give Opinions, Launches Countdown Leading to Big Announcement
Hamburg, February 21, 2012 – With the headline "Isn't PC Gaming Dead?" emblazoned across the screen, German gaming peripherals manufacturer, ROCCAT Studios, today unveiled a website where they ask for fans' opinions on the state of PC gaming.
"With all the talk lately," the message reads, "you'd think PC gaming was over. Some say PC gaming isn't dead, but think they need to breathe new life into it now and then with yet another 'groundbreaking' reinvention. But is all that necessary? Does PC gaming need a doctor? Does it need an undertaker?"
Says René Korte, ROCCAT™ Founder and CEO: "We hope to get gamers thinking about where things are headed for PC gaming. Certain gaming peripheral companies constantly announce that they've come up with the 'Next Big Thing' that's going to reinvent things. But does PC gaming really need revolution? Or, rather, is evolution the way forward? We, as always, have our own ideas. And very soon we're going to show the world a new and exciting one."
Visitors are invited to give feedback via an on-screen entry form, and ROCCAT™ will post many of the answers on the site for users to read and discuss.
ROCCAT's site also features a countdown clock ticking off the number of days until the company announces what they think "is the smartest way forward for PC gaming."
www.isnt-pc-gaming-dead.com
Arxon wrote:
I'd agree with you on that. I always disliked consoles and the games, which probably has something to do with me never being any decent at them. Today, I still suck at games but not so much. I certainly wouldn't consider buy a console ever again.
Consoles can't even compare to pc gaming.
I'd agree with you on that. I always disliked consoles and the games, which probably has something to do with me never being any decent at them. Today, I still suck at games but not so much. I certainly wouldn't consider buy a console ever again.
The gaming podcasts I listen to used to mostly talk about the console games they played. Now it's a rarity when they do. It's only when it's not available on the PC.
I'm all pc all the way but you guys have to remember we are in the middle of the PC swing. When new consoles come out things will swing back to console partly, until they are out of date again lol
garfi3ld wrote:
There aint gonna be no new consoles, unless they come out before the world ends just before Christmas. Which reminds me I'm gonna have to get my list in early this year
I'm all pc all the way but you guys have to remember we are in the middle of the PC swing. When new consoles come out things will swing back to console partly, until they are out of date again lol
There aint gonna be no new consoles, unless they come out before the world ends just before Christmas. Which reminds me I'm gonna have to get my list in early this year
PC gaming = backward compatibility forever. I can still play games that were released 10 or more plus years ago. Can't do that with an PS3 unless it's on the PSN store.
TV's are for watching TV and movies, not gaming on but that's me and i'm old.
TV's are for watching TV and movies, not gaming on but that's me and i'm old.
i would argue the exact opposite. Console games always work, you don't have to worry about having a good enough video card or the correct drivers.
but like I said before, im a pc guy lol
but like I said before, im a pc guy lol
Kinda agree. You can get away with a pretty low spec computer to play games on. The problem is some of us want all the eye candy turned up to max.
The driver issue has really been a non issue for me. Sure, i'm waiting for the SLi patch for Alan Wake but that's cause I want to play with all settings on max. The drivers do play an important role but if you are on a older GPU most of the time it really doesn't matter to update. I could always be wrong though.
Take what a say with a bucket of salt, lol.
The driver issue has really been a non issue for me. Sure, i'm waiting for the SLi patch for Alan Wake but that's cause I want to play with all settings on max. The drivers do play an important role but if you are on a older GPU most of the time it really doesn't matter to update. I could always be wrong though.
Take what a say with a bucket of salt, lol.
Davey_Boy wrote:
Ok, i'll bite, that was funny as shit.
You can't replace my Keyboard and Mouse with a fuckin remote!!!
Ok, i'll bite, that was funny as shit.
I still remember IGN having a article titled "Is PC gaming dead?" about 6 or 7 years ago. That question always piss me off a little. I believe PC is the driving innovative force in all of gaming. I also agree PC is one an upswing due to powerful hardware, good games (like The Witcher 2), free MMORPGs, and Steam. PC encompasses all of the genres making it the most versatile of all the platforms. In a year or two the new consoles will be out and (in my opinion) there will be a shift in PC's popularity. All the young kids will run out and buy buy buy, But grown up gamer will still be on PC.
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