Review Index Page 16

  • Ryzen 9 3950X vs. Core i9-9900KS Gaming, Feat. Tuned DDR4 Memory Performance

    Today we're comparing the Ryzen 9 3950X and Core i9-9900KS in a massive number of games, using one of G.Skill's most premium 16GB memory kits, the Trident Z Neo DDR4-3600 CL14. For those of you spending $600+ on a CPU, purchasing top end DDR4 memory doesn't seem like a stretch, so here's a head to head comparison between AMD and Intel processors using manually tuned timings.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Intel Core i7-1065G7 Gaming Test: Integrated Graphics Performance

    After exploring the capabilities of the new Ice Lake Core i7-1065G7 on the productivity side, we're coming back to test the CPU for ultrabook gaming using the G11 Iris Plus integrated graphics.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • Intel Cascade Lake-X HEDT vs. AMD Ryzen: Fight!

    As anticipated earlier this week when we tested AMD's HEDT Threadripper, Intel is also coming out with their own new high-end desktop series codenamed Cascade Lake-X. You already saw some preliminary data on the Core i9-10980XE, and now we're bringing you a full series review by testing the 10980XE, 10940X, 10920X and 10900X CPUs.
    By Steven Walton on
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  • Third-Gen Threadripper Lands: AMD Threadripper 3970X & 3960X Review

    The latest 32-core and 24-core high-end desktop CPUs from AMD have now landed. And yes, we've benchmarked the heck out of them. The Threadripper 3970X is a 32-core, 64-thread chip with a massive 128MB L3 cache, runs at 3.7 GHz and it's priced at $2,000 making it AMD's most expensive desktop CPU ever. If that's too rich, maybe the 3960X costs $1,400 for 24 cores and 48 threads.
    By Steven Walton on
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  • Intel Core i7-1065G7 Benchmarked: Ice Lake with Iris Plus Graphics

    This has been a long time coming, as we're finally getting around to testing Intel's Ice Lake architecture. This is Intel's first real attempt at a 10nm CPU, and in this review we'll be comparing it against their 14nm offerings to see how it stacks up in terms of performance.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super Review

    Today we're bringing you a day-one review of the new GeForce GTX 1650 Super and it seems we're doing so against Nvidia's wishes. In a puzzling decision, they decided to block drivers and pricing ahead of release. It's not the first time they pull this kind of tactic, last time it was with the horrible GTX 1650, which scored 60 out 100. On the other hand, we're finding the GTX 1650 Super to be worth your money, so read on.
    By Steven Walton on
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  • AMD Athlon 3000G Review: An Unlocked $50 CPU

    Today we're taking a look at the new Athlon 3000G, AMD's most affordable Zen-based processor yet coming in at just $50. To be clear, this unfortunately isn't a Zen 2 processor. In order words, this is similar to the Ryzen 3 2200G and Ryzen 5 2400G, featuring Zen logic cores with an integrated Vega GPU.
    By Steven Walton on
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  • Ryzen 9 3950X on Good and Bad B450 Motherboards

    As we anticipated when we reviewed AMD's new flagship 16-core Ryzen 9 3950X, rather than testing it on the very high-end Gigabyte X570 Aorus Xtreme, we want to see how it does on budget AMD B450 boards. Maybe this combo doesn't make sense right now, but it will in the future as a potential upgrade for many AM4 owners.
    By Steven Walton on
  • AMD Ryzen 9 3950X Review: The New Performance King

    The Ryzen 9 3950X looks to bridge the gap between mainstream and high-end desktop platforms and is the most expensive mainstream platform CPU we've seen in a long time. This puts AMD in the position to command a price premium for desktop computing. But is their new 16-core/32-thread monster worth the asking price?
    By Steven Walton on
    90
  • Red Dead Redemption 2 PC Graphics Benchmark

    Launched on PC a year after it debuted on consoles, Red Dead Redemption 2 is still a big release that deserves a detailed benchmark analysis, much like what we've done for other titles this year like Borderlands 3 where we compared over 60 GPUs, Metro Exodus, and most recently Fornite Chapter 2. Unfortunately those plans went out the window when we discovered how hard benchmarking this game was going to be.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Death Stranding Review

    There is no elevator pitch for Death Stranding. Every inch of the game teems with meaning or implication. Even the most pretentious developments build to create a multi-layered game. It is a story about fatherhood. It is a dig at the gig economy. It is deeply concerned with environmental disaster and American politics, old and new.
    By Heather Alexandra on
  • Intel Core i9-9900KS Review

    Intel launched today the "new" Core i9-9900KS processor which appears to be a pointless release, similar to the Core i7-8086K that we never bothered to look at. Intel says this new processor delivers up to a 5.0 GHz all-core turbo frequency. It's a limited special edition set to become available starting today for $513.
    By Steven Walton on
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  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Super Review

    Just in time for the holiday shopping season, we have not one but two new Super graphics cards from Nvidia. So what's new on the GTX 1660 Super? Not a lot on the GPU front, but Nvidia has upgraded the GDDR5 memory with a massive 75% increase in memory bandwidth. In fact, this provides the 1660 Super with even more memory bandwidth than the Ti model.
    By Steven Walton on
    90
  • Mesh Wi-Fi System Roundup

    Mesh Wi-Fi routers are a recent trend in the networking market and aim to bring some of the advanced features of enterprise networking systems to the consumer. How well do they work, and what performance benefit do you get by switching to one? We'll take a deep dive today into the top players on the market to find out.
    By William Gayde on
  • The Outer Worlds Review

    Yes, The Outer Worlds mechanically resembles the Fallout series. It was made by the same team that worked on the first two Fallout games. It's built on the skeleton of Dungeons and Dragons. This is not dissimilar to what Fallout has become under the ownership of Bethesda, though I will say that I have not felt as motivated to finish Fallout 3 or 4 as I felt to finish The Outer Worlds.
    By Gita Jackson on
  • Intel Core i5-10210U Tested: 10th-Gen Laptop CPU with Adaptix Technology

    Today we're reviewing another 10th-generation Intel CPU, and like the last one we tested, the 4-core/8-thread Core i5-10210U is much more interesting than it appears at face value. You'd think that with these 14nm+++ CPUs Intel has basically nothing left in the tank, but even with the quad-core we're reviewing today, that's surprisingly far from the truth.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • $400 GPU King: Radeon RX 5700 XT vs. GeForce RTX 2060 Super

    We've got yet another big game benchmark for you, this time comparing the GeForce RTX 2060 Super to the Radeon RX 5700 XT. This is an apples to apples comparison of the two top $400 GPUs in the market for these holidays and beyond.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Fortnite Chapter 2 GPU Benchmark Update

    Today we're revisiting graphics card performance in Fortnite. With the new Chapter 2 Season 1 update the game's visuals have been improved and since we do include Fornite in our big benchmark features, we thought a large scale benchmark update would be in order. The last time we ran a dedicated Fortnite benchmark article was back in Chapter 1 Season 2, nearly two years ago now and since then the game's popularity has only risen.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Intel Core i7-10710U Benchmarked: 14nm+++ Comet Lake

    Time to get back into some CPU benchmarking, and we're not looking at any old CPU, but the first of Intel's 10th-generation processors. Seeing Intel reach the limits of their 14nm process, we genuinely weren't expecting the Core i7-10710U to be this good.
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • AMD Radeon RX 5700 vs. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Super: 40+ Game Mega Benchmark

    Today we've got a massive 41 game benchmark comparing the GeForce RTX 2060 Super and Radeon RX 5700 head to head. This big comparison includes new titles such as Borderlands 3, Gears 5 and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. All the results are brand new and were gathered during the last week using the latest display drivers as well as the latest game versions.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Flashing a Radeon RX 5700 to 5700 XT: Free 10% Performance Boost

    In addition to our launch day reviews of the Radeon RX 5700 and 5700 XT, we followed up with extended comparisons, overclocking, and more. Most recently enthusiasts have gone further though, by tinkering and flashing vanilla RX 5700 cards with 5700 XT BIOS, making them instantly faster at no extra expense. Sounds like a really good deal.
    By Steven Walton on
  • Nintendo Switch Lite Review

    The Nintendo Switch Lite is one of the finest handheld gaming devices I've ever used. It's sturdy, stylish, and comfortable. It launches with a library that's already over 2,500 games strong. If all you're looking for from the Nintendo Switch is personal, portable play, it's perfect.
    By Mike Fahey on
  • PCIe 4.0 vs. PCIe 3.0 SSDs Benchmarked

    High performance storage is in transition as the industry is beginning to adopt the PCIe 4.0 standard. In this roundup, we'll be taking a look at the new Corsair MP600, Sabrent Rocket and Gigabyte Aorus SSDs, all new PCIe NVMe 4.0 drives pitted against the excellent Samsung 970 Pro SSD and Intel's top of the line Optane SSD 905P.
    By William Gayde on
  • Acer Predator X35 Review

    The Acer Predator X35 packs the same specs as Asus' ROG PG35VQ which we recently called the best monitor we'd ever tested, because it uses the same panel. It's a 35-inch ultrawide 3440 x 1440 VA panel with up to a 200 Hz refresh rate, 1800R curvature, proper HDR and G-Sync Ultimate support.
    By Tim Schiesser on
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  • Borderlands 3 Graphics Benchmark

    We nearly lost count of how many graphics cards we put down for this test, but let's say it was roughly sixty GPUs from both camps to check out Borderlands 3 performance. We've tested this new game at 1080p, 1440p and 4K, then re-tested with a group of budget and older GPUs at 1080p with medium quality settings for good measure.
    By Steven Walton on
  • LG 27GL850 Review: Fast IPS for Gaming

    The LG 27GL850 is currently one of the most popular and hotly requested gaming monitors in the market, but what makes it so special? It is the first IPS monitor that claims to hit TN-level response times. Combine that with a 27-inch panel size, 2560 x 1440 resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate with adaptive sync, it's positioned as the perfect monitor for gaming.
    By Tim Schiesser on
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  • How Does the GTX 1080 Ti Stack Up in 2019?

    This is a straightforward comparison pitting the previous generation GeForce flagship, the GTX 1080 Ti head to head against the RTX 2070 Super and RX 5700 XT in 39 games. We'll learn how the GTX 1080 Ti stacks up versus these new "mid-range" GPUs and if you should buy one, something that will be answered before this article is over.
    By Steven Walton on
  • DLSS is Dead: New Nvidia Freestyle Sharpening Tested

    Nvidia's latest major driver update brought with it several new features including performance enhancements, GPU integer scaling for retro games, a new ultra-low latency mode and perhaps the biggest addition: a new Freestyle Sharpening Filter to rival Radeon's RIS. Is Nvidia's new Freestyle better, and does it make DLSS completely obsolete?
    By Tim Schiesser on
  • Gears 5 Single Player Campaign Review

    Gears 5 has the longest and most ambitious campaign that Gears of War has ever done and, for the most part, that ambition pays off. In a series first, the story focuses on a female character, putting the player in a woman's shoes for the majority of the game.
    By Maddy Myers on
  • Asus ROG Strix XG438Q 43" Review: A Massive 4K 120Hz Gaming Monitor

    Today we're checking out the latest large format gaming monitor from Asus, the ROG Strix XG438Q which brings several cool technologies together in a single (huge) package. This is a 43-inch 4K panel at 120 Hz using VA technology combined with DisplayHDR 600 certification and FreeSync 2 HDR support.
    By Tim Schiesser on
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