August 5, 2015
CPU, Featured Tech News
While Intel's High-End Desktop (HEDT) CPUs are fast and fun, it's on the mainstream platform where the chip manufacturing company really shifts volumes to gamers and DIY enthusiasts. Multiplier-unlocked Core i5 and i7 variants of the latest mainstream micro-architecture are the popularity champions on an annual basis; an affordable platform …
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August 5, 2015
Featured Tech Reviews, Motherboard
The launch of Intel's Skylake CPUs sees the introduction of a whole new platform based around the LGA 1151 socket. Making use of Intel's feature-healthy Z170 chipset, Asus is targeting gamers who value premium aesthetics and enhanced gaming-grade features with the Maximus VIII Hero. Will the Republic of Gamers (ROG) …
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August 3, 2015
Featured Tech News, Speakers
Microlab is back with a new line of speaker systems for 2015. Today we are taking a look at the B-77 bookshelf stereo speakers, making them a bit smaller and more suited for desk use than the giant Solo 8C speakers we reviewed last year. Microlab impressed us greatly last …
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August 3, 2015
Featured Announcement, Laptop / Mobile, Notebook
Ultrabooks have become increasingly popular over the last few years thanks to their portable yet powerful nature. However, prices remain high – in many cases you can be paying over £1000 for a new Ultrabook. PCSpecialist's Lafité aims to change that. Priced at just £499, Lafité ships with the latest …
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August 1, 2015
Featured Tech Reviews, Laptop / Mobile, Notebook
Lenovo offers its YOGA 15 Ultrabook in a number of different versions (we count at least five SKUs) however the fundamentals remain the same. This convertible laptop is built around a magnesium-alloy frame and boasts a heavy-duty Dragontrail display with a Full HD resolution IPS touch screen panel. The most …
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July 31, 2015
Featured Tech News, SSD Drives
2015 is the year of the Solid State Drive. The technology has advanced to the limit of the SATA 3 interface, and prices have never been more competitive. SK hynix are keen to cement their position in this market and regular readers will be aware of our reviews of their …
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July 30, 2015
Android, Featured Announcement, Laptop / Mobile
Network operators have really begun to emphasise their own mobile handsets in recent years. Today we look at a smartphone from Vodafone, the Smart ultra 6. It costs just £125 but has a full 5.5-inch display and beefy processor. Could this be the budget phone to beat? Perhaps the standout …
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July 29, 2015
Featured Tech Reviews, PC
Don't have time to build your own PC? Want a nice compact, good looking system featuring one of the latest AMD Fury graphics cards? The OCUK ‘Evolution Wrath' System might just tickle the taste buds. This system features an Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.5GHz, Z97 Motherboard, Up to 16GB …
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July 29, 2015
Featured Announcement, Memory
With DDR4 prices being driven down in preparation for the launch of a mainstream chipset supporting the memory type, now can be considered a good time to bag a high density quad-channel kit. Combining a quartet of 8GB DIMMs in a quad-channel configuration with an operating frequency of 2400MHz and …
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July 28, 2015
Cases, Featured Tech Reviews, Power Supplies
Fractal Design offers its new Mini-ITX Node 202 either as a bare case or paired with its Integra SFX 450W PSU. When you consider how few SFX PSUs there are on the market it probably makes sense to go for the combo package, if only to save yourself hassle. This …
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July 27, 2015
Featured Tech News, Monitors
The Asus MG278Q is a 27-inch WQHD (2,560×1,440) TN gaming display that supports AMD FreeSync adaptive-sync technology. When in adaptive-sync mode, it’s capable of a wider frequency range than its IPS cousin, the MG279Q, as it can go from 35Hz all the way to 144Hz. And being a TN panel …
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July 24, 2015
Featured Announcement, Gaming PC, PC
Targeting gamers with a keen eye for a deal, Wired2Fire has combined a concoction of the best bang-for-buck components to form an attractively-priced, and aptly powered, gaming system. Leveraging the power of a 4.4GHz overclocked Devil's Canyon i5 and the well-balanced GTX 970, can the Wired2Fire Diablo Reactor show off …
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July 22, 2015
Featured Tech Reviews, Monitors
BenQ’s latest mid-range monitor is a 27-inch 1440p screen with an IPS flicker-free panel. It’s suitable for most general tasks, with excellent picture quality and a bright screen. It should be fine for working at the computer, watching movies and web browsing. And with a fast response time of 4ms, …
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July 22, 2015
Featured Announcement, Network, Security
Like with every aspect of our modern lives, securing your home is becoming as connected as the rest of it. There are apps and companion hardware available, which is exactly what we are looking at today. It is known as the Piper nv iControl Network, which incorporates everything from a …
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July 21, 2015
Featured Tech News, Graphics
KitGuru has reviewed a wide selection of partner GTX980 Ti's in the last month and today we take a look at the new PNY GTX980 Ti XLR8 OC Edition which is due for release soon in the United Kingdom. This card ships with out of the box overclocked speeds and …
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July 20, 2015
Featured Announcement, Laptop / Mobile, Notebook, Tablet PC
Not too long ago we looked at the Asus Transformer Book T100 Chi, a smaller 2-in-1 hybrid laptop. While the concept of a 2-in-1 is interesting, the T100 Chi simply did not have powerful enough components inside to be a true laptop replacement. The 12.5″ T300 Chi, however, incorporates an …
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July 17, 2015
Featured Tech Reviews, Graphics
Today we take a look at the second Fury card to hit our labs, the Asus Radeon R9 Fury Strix. This card ships with the latest Asus DirectCU III cooler and a very modest overclock, activated directly via ASUS GPU Tweak 2 software. I was impressed with the Sapphire Tri-X …
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July 17, 2015
Featured Tech News, Laptop / Mobile, Notebook
Retrofitted with a new CPU based on Intel’s latest-and-greatest Broadwell micro-architecture, MSI’s GT72 2QE Dominator Pro G also ships with an additional gaming-centric gem – the use of a 1920×1080 G-Sync panel that runs at 75Hz. As is expected from MSI’s GT72 series of gaming laptops, a considerable portion of …
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July 15, 2015
Featured Announcement, Graphics
Today we take a look at the latest high end solution from Palit, the new GTX980 Ti Super JetStream. This card ships with a custom cooler, out of the box clock enhancements, and the price point has dropped to £539.99 inc vat. How does it compare to leading GTX980 Ti …
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July 15, 2015
Cases, Featured Tech Reviews
KitGuru had a sneak preview of the be quiet! Silent Base 800 Window at Computex and now we have got our hands on the finished case (we're still waiting to see the Silent Base 600, however). The quick take is that the Silent Base 800 is unchanged, the windowed panel …
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July 15, 2015
Featured Tech News, Network, Routers
The Asus RT-AC3200 is a second-generation 802.11ac router. It features three separate wireless networks, two of which work on the 3×3 5GHz 802.11ac band, with another for 2.4GHz with TurbQAM for 600 Mbps speeds. It also has a pair of USB ports, and a setting called Smart Connect, which allocated …
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July 12, 2015
Cases, Featured Announcement
One glance at the Mini ITX Deepcool GamerStorm Tristellar makes it clear this isn't a run-of-the-mill PC case. In fact you might struggle to tell it is a PC case at all. Watch our video and you'll see there is a degree of confusion ‘the motherboard goes here – wait, it …
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July 10, 2015
Featured Tech Reviews, Graphics
Today we take a look at AMD's second graphics card based on the 28nm ‘Fiji' Silicon. The Sapphire Fury card is the first to hit our labs, and it features a new version of their highly acclaimed ‘Tri-X' cooling solution. To reduce the retail price against Fury X – the …
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July 9, 2015
Featured Tech News, SSD Drives
Today we look at the new OCZ Trion 100 drive, in 240GB and 480GB capacities. These drives are designed to deliver excellent all round performance while being very cost effective at £60.99 and £124.99 inc vat respectively. This is also the first 100% Toshiba based OCZ SSD featuring a Toshiba …
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July 8, 2015
Featured Announcement, Graphics
We have reviewed many GTX980 Ti partner cards in recent weeks and today the MSI GTX980 Ti Gaming 6G makes a somewhat belated appearance in our labs. This high end board is actually one of the cheapest flagship, overclocked Ti's currently available – hitting the £599.99 inc vat point – …
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July 8, 2015
Cases, Featured Tech News
Phanteks has released a budget PC case with a model code that suggests it is a junior version of the Enthoo Pro. In fact the Pro M (M for mid-tower) is a hybrid of the Pro and the recent Enthoo ATX, with a number of changes to keep the price …
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July 7, 2015
Featured Tech Reviews, Graphics
Today we look at one of the most exciting graphics cards to hit our labs this year – the new Asus STRIX Gaming GTX 980 Ti featuring the latest Direct CU 3 cooling system. This 3 fan cooling system uses a new patented wing blade fan to provide greater air …
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July 6, 2015
Featured Announcement, General Purpose PC
As fashions and technology have changed in the PC industry over the past few decades, systems have invariably become smaller. That means that while you can get yourself a monstrous double sized desktop gaming system from the likes of Chillblast, you can also order much smaller form factor machines with …
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July 6, 2015
Featured Tech News, Laptop / Mobile, Notebook
The Asus Republic Of Gamers G551J laptop delivers the styling cues we have come to expect so you get a black and red colour scheme with red accents on the WASD keys and red back lights for the keyboard. If you take a squint inside the cooling exhaust vent you'll …
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July 3, 2015
Featured Tech Reviews, Graphics
Today we take a somewhat belated look at the latest AMD flagship, the R9 Fury X. This graphics card has been designed to tackle Nvidia in the high end, specifically their similarly priced GTX980 Ti. The Fury X is the first consumer GPU equipped with Stacked High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) …
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