Component

The availability of multiplier-locked Skylake chips has sparked an even greater emphasis on the need for low-cost motherboards to partner with such processors. ASRock's affordable Z170 Extreme4 utilises the Z170 chipset's host of worthwhile features but minimises add-on components in order to maintain aggressive pricing. Aside from the Z170 chipset's …

The commercial release of virtual reality hardware is closer than ever before and with the announcement of Oculus Rift CV1 pre-orders opening up on 6th January, the hype train is hitting maximum speed. To help fan the flames of its boiler, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey announced that much like the …

Overclocking today is far easier than it once was, but that doesn't mean that there isn't some real science behind it. Only a deft hand can coax those few extra megahertz from a CPU, especially this latest generation of Skylake chips. If you think you might be one of those …

Last year, Samsung revealed its first 1TB portable SSD known as the T1. However, technology has evolved since then and not only has Samsung come out with its first 2TB SSD in the 850 Evo line, but it has also managed to shrink things down to a portable version, known …

This is set to be a big year for AMD with so many highly anticipated releases set throughout the course of 2016 and it looks like things are starting off strong as the Radeon team has shown off its new Polaris GPU architecture, which is designed and optimized for the …

If you've been planning on making the jump to Intel's Skylake platform or even the X99 chipset, then chances are you're planning to spend a fair bit on a new motherboard. Fortunately, right now MSI is running a cashback promotion, which should help lessen the burden on your wallet when …

We have officially entered 2016, which is set to be the biggest year for virtual reality yet. With the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive just on the horizon, Nvidia has implemented a new ‘VR Ready' program, which will help those looking to get a new rig ensure that it is …

Corsair Carbide 400Q is the junior sibling of the Carbide 600C we saw quite recently. The Q suffix stands for Quiet and C for Clear (i.e. it has a windowed panel) and both Carbide 400 and 600 come in Q and C variants. Unboxing the 400Q reveals a case that …

HTC's Viveport online store for virtual reality games, experiences and applications was learned about in mid-December through some investigative digging from fans, but it now looks to be available. Although there are no apps listed of yet, the system itself appears to be up and running, with libraries for purchased …

MSI has expanded its range of X99 and Z170 chipset motherboards, with a new pair of Carbon mobos, each sporting its new “mystic light,” features, which adds RGB LEDs to the PCB – because RGB lighting needs to be everywhere. They also feature carbon-fibre styling, which we're told helps represent …

It looks like we can expect an AMD APU based on the Zen architecture in the future, though rather interestingly, it will include stacked High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) with bandwidth speeds of 128GB/s along with a larger onboard GPU for better gaming performance. This information comes to light from a paper(via: …

CES is going to have a lot of virtual reality hardware and software on show. HTC/Valve will probably showcase the final version of the Vive headset, Oculus is expected to announce the final price and specifications of the CV1 Rift and Samsung has now announced that it will be showing …

When it comes to building a gaming PC these days, a high-end sound card is likely pretty far down on your list of priorities. However, if you are serious about audio and want to get the best out of your speakers or high-end headphones, then you will find that your …

Even though it developed the first truly viable, commercial virtual reality solution, Oculus has known from day one that content is king. Which is why it's bundling so much of it with the CV1 headset when it releases in Q1 2016. Along with the already announced Eve: Valkyrie, it's now been …

Asus has today revealed the latest addition to its ROG Maximus lineup with the ROG Maximus VIII, a top of the line motherboard with tons of overclocking features and an integrated EKWB water cooling block. There are even some RGB LEDs to allow users to further customise the look of …

The NVIDIA Quadro M4000 has been out since August, but as the successor to the K4200, it's the flagship mainstream professional graphics card. So we are reviewing it here to show how it compares to its predecessor (and the higher-end K5200). In terms of specification, it's another step forward, despite …

One of the more noticeable (read: exterior) changes from the Oculus Rift DK2 virtual reality headset, to the CV1 launch model, is the inclusion of built-in headphones. Provided earcups don't have much of a reputation for strong sound reproduction with other products, but Oculus assures us the Rift will do, …

We've been hearing quite a bit about AMD's upcoming Fury X2/Gemini dual GPU over the last couple of months. However, we may not see the card launch for a while, if new rumours are to be believed, as AMD may be delaying its launch to coincide with the release of …

NZXT has updated its HUE lighting controller and while the HUE+ name may sound familiar the system has undergone a radical overhaul. Previously you had a control unit that sits in an optical drive bay with three rotary controls that adjust the behaviour of the LEDs. By contrast the HUE+ …

While we won't be getting an Oculus Rift pre-order option this side of Christmas, we're not far away from being able to put money down on a first-generation, commercial VR solution. That stack of cash may be a bit taller than we initially thought though. In a number of tweets over …

Internal component, system and peripheral manufacturers, ASUS and Gigabyte, are working on their own takes on virtual reality headsets according to a new report. Expected to debut in 2016, the headsets will come from ASUS internal developments we're told, while Gigabyte's will come out of a partnership it has with Chinese …

There are two distinctly different ways to approach the Mini-ITX Fractal Design Core 500. The first is to pack out the drive bays with a ton of storage (optical drive, three hard drives and three SSD) to effectively convert your tiny PC into a server or NAS. The second approach …

When it became clear that Sony was working on a virtual reality solution for the PlayStaton 4, those who had experienced early VR with the DK1 and 2 were a little worried. The PS4 could barely handle 60 FPS at a decent resolution, let alone the 75+ it would need …

It looks like Samsung might start making chips for AMD starting early next year according to new reports from South Korea. These chips would include a CPU (possibly of Zen architecture) as well as a GPU, both based on 14nm technology. South Korean newspaper, Electronic Times (via: Reuters) was the …

Today we analyse one of the new power supplies from Deep Cool – the DQ750ST. This non modular unit is 80 Plus Gold Certified and they have also incorporated a quiet 120mm speed adjustable fan into the chassis. Deepcool claim this power supply offers ‘outstanding and stable performance'. Deepcool are …

Oculus VR has known about virtual reality's chicken and egg problem since day one. Without games and experiences ready to play, nobody would buy a VR headset, but without VR headsets, nobody would develop them. It's assuaged that issue with developer kits over the past couple of years and to make sure …

Even though Oculus VR had a big lead in with fans of the head mounted display (HMD) technology, Valve and HTC have gone a long way to garnering their own following with the Vive and its Room Scale VR set up. However they've taken some flak as of late, as …

Tracking our hands in virtual reality has been something all of the big VR makers have been working on for the past year or so. Oculus has its Touch controllers which will release soon after the Rift CV1 and Valve/HTC have their motion tracking controllers, which will come with the …

In a leak on the HTC website, excited virtual reality fans have discovered the final, commercial version of the HTC Vive headset. It looks quite similar to the original, with a few noteworthy changes, but it's the controllers that really look different. Overall though, everything is just much more polished, …

NZXT has updated its enthusiast H440 case. This new version goes by the unimaginative name ‘H440 New Edition' however the list of changes from the original H440 is very encouraging: All black matte colour, Scratch resistant paintwork, Tinted black window (with optional no window version), Increased height & depth with …