Review Index Page 33

  • Gigabyte GTX 780 Ti OC & Gigabyte GTX 780 GHz Edition Review

    As if it wasn't already fast enough, Gigabyte has armed its GTX 780 Ti with a massive air cooler that allows its variant of Nvidia's newcomer with a 17% overclock. The company has also been working on other overclocked GTX 780s, including a "GHz Edition" allowing a core clock of 1.02GHz or 18% higher than the standard version of the card.

    By Steven Walton on

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  • Asrock M8 Mini-ITX Gaming PC Review

    Even if the Asrock M8's style is not your thing, there's less room to argue that the M8 is unique and that was enough to earn our attention. We've been impressed with the looks of previous Asrock products, but the M8 is a clear step up having been designed by BMW Group DesignworksUSA, the driving force behind Thermaltake's Level 10 chassis, a case as overpriced as it is iconic.

    By Steven Walton on

    75
  • OCZ Vector 150 SSD Review

    The Vector 150 is an evolutionary step forward for OCZ's enthusiast series, improving the original Vector's endurance and security by supposedly being able to withstand 150% more writes along with providing AES-256 encryption. Performance-wise, little has changed about OCZ's Vector series over the last year.

    By Steven Walton on

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  • AMD Radeon R9 290 Review

    Before Nvidia can strike back, it'll have to eat another blow in the form of the new Radeon R9 290. At $400, the R9 290 offers fantastic value when you consider it will trail the 290X closely enough. In a sense, the R9 290 has kind of made R9 290X redundant, much like the GTX 780 did to the GTX Titan.

    By Steven Walton on

    95
  • Battlefield 4 Benchmarked: Graphics & CPU Performance

    With roots that stretch back more than a decade and enough fans to justify new content every year, Battlefield is among the handful of franchises that needs no introduction around here. Even if you hate EA's approach modern military madness, you can typically expect Battlefield's graphics to raise the bar.

    By Steven Walton on

  • Battlefield 4 Review

    Occasionally in Battlefield 4's solo campaign you'll meet some variance. Jump out of a plane to land on a ship, ready to attack immediately after landing. Ride a speedboat while shooting down those of the enemies'. Hike around that quintessential snow level. You know the sort of thing if you've ever played any shooter ever.

    By Tina Amini on

  • Batman: Arkham Origins Benchmarked: GPU & CPU Performance

    Despite being built with Epic's aging Unreal Engine 3, WB Montreal used a heavily modified version of the software. The PC version has received some special attention in the graphics department including many DirectX 11 and PhysX effects.

    By Steven Walton on

  • Batman: Arkham Origins Review

    On multiple levels, this game is about finding one's voice. Players inhabit a Bruce Wayne who's been Batman for two years, as he faces a crucible that will test his resolve as never before. The people making Origins are trying to establish their creative voice as well. The game has been made by a new studio who are following up two well-regarded games by originating studio Rocksteady.

    By Evan Narcisse on

  • AMD Radeon R9 290X Review

    In a sense, the Radeon R9 290X could be considered AMD's Titan, as it takes the Tahiti architecture and stuffs with nearly 2000 million more transistors. It's the most complex and powerful GPU AMD has created and by no coincidence, it's also one of the most expensive, but before you click away, that's 'only' $550, which is substantially cheaper than Nvidia's solution.

    By Steven Walton on

    95
  • Gaming Mouse Roundup: Corsair, Steelseries, Gigabyte, Tt eSports, Logitech & Razer

    Shifting from a standard office mouse to something more appropriate for gaming is worthwhile if you care about your performance, but investing $60 or more in handful of plastic might seem silly if you've never experienced the realm of difference a proper mouse can make.

    By Chris Ittensohn on

  • Apple iPhone 5s: The TechSpot Review

    As an incremental update, the new iPhone 5s borrows heavily from its predecessor, building upon its solid foundation yet adding an all-new 64-bit A7 processor, the Touch ID fingerprint reader, a totally revamped operating system, while also learning a few new software tricks that enhance how the camera operates.

    By Shawn Knight on

    90
  • LG G2 Review

    LG has jam-packed nearly every feature you can imagine into the G2, from a powerful Qualcomm Snadpdragon 800 SoC and a 1080p display, to an optically stabilized camera and finely tuned software. LG has clearly thrown everything they can into this device, but does it stand above the rest of the flagship pack?

    By Tim Schiesser on

    85
  • AMD Radeon R9 270X and R7 260X Review

    Previous years have seen the release of a new GPU generation every year which makes the Radeon HD 7000's shelf life surprising, even more so considering the majority of the new RX 200 series cards rebadges from existing HD 7000 products. The RX 200 series will consist of the Radeon R7 240, R7 250, R7 260X, R9 270X, R9 280X and later this month the R9 290 and R9 290X. Confused yet? Well let us try and clear a few things up.

    By Steven Walton on

  • HTC One Mini Review

    On paper, the naming of the HTC One mini makes perfect sense. The mini is a mid-to-high-end aluminum-clad smartphone with a 4.3-inch display, designed for those who want a premium device without the massive size that's often associated with its bigger and faster brother, as well as other Android 'superphones'.

    By Tim Schiesser on

    70
  • Mionix Avior 8200 Gaming Mouse Review

    Like its bigger brother the Naos, the Avior is that rarest of beasts, a fantastic gaming mouse that's also subtle in design. There are no enormous logos or flashy color schemes, build quality is superb, the soft matte finish to the exterior is extremely comfortable, and not once did it stall, slow down or glitch out during tests.

    By Luke Plunkett on

  • Silverstone Fortress FT04 Case Review

    The Fortress FT04 has been designed to maximize cooling while generating as little noise as possible and it sets out to do it in style. Upon first glance this latest version looks a lot like the FT01 that was released back in 2008.

    By Steven Walton on

    70
  • Google Nexus 7: The TechSpot Review

    Time to refresh the Nexus 7 with a new model and new specifications. Asus is still producing the device, receiving a serious speed boost, a better quality display, a rear camera and new features. At $220 the new Nexus 7 presents itself as a remarkably attractive proposition for people who want to read, watch or play.

    By Tim Schiesser on

    90
  • ARMA 3 Benchmarked: GPU & CPU Performance

    Built with Real Virtuality 4, Arma 3 expands on its predecessors' realistic military experience with features including an enhanced mission editor, DirectX 10 and 11 support, improved physics across the board, underwater environments, volumetric clouds, better lighting and a 20km view distance with photo-realistic terrain.

    By Steven Walton on

  • Grand Theft Auto V Review

    GTA V's credits roll for 36 minutes. For however many hours they play the game, players will feel that they are playing a game made by the amount of people it takes to keep a crawl rolling that long. The attention to detail in GTA V is likely unparalleled in any other video game.

    By Stephen Totilo on

  • Samsung SSD 840 Evo 1TB & 250GB Review

    Having aced its attempts at speed and durability, Samsung seems focused on solving flash's biggest sacrifices: size and affordability. Its new SSD 840 Evo lineup has models spanning from 120GB to 1TB, with the largest costing only $0.65 per gigabyte thanks to its use of TLC NAND.

    By Steven Walton on

    95
  • Sony Xperia Z Ultra Review

    If I had to describe the Xperia Z Ultra in two words, it would be 'gorgeously massive'. On the one hand, Sony has crafted an astoundingly beautiful smartphone, combining a slim design with premium materials. On the other, the device is ridiculously large, pushing the boundaries of what can be considered a phone, and making it somewhat hard to use.

    By Tim Schiesser on

    70
  • The Best CPU Coolers: 10-Way Roundup

    An often overlooked but always important side of PC building, we test 10 of the best CPU coolers in the market including units from Noctua, Thermalright, Xigmatek, Silverstone and Thermaltake.

    By Steven Walton on

  • Intel Core i7-4960X Ivy Bridge-E Review: New flagship, old flagship

    Intel is now ready for a refresh of its Extreme platform, but they won't be skipping the Ivy Bridge architecture and moving straight to Haswell. Rather, the LGA2011 platform is getting an upgrade with new Ivy Bridge-E processors.

    By Steven Walton on

    70
  • Splinter Cell: Blacklist Performance, Benchmarked

    Equipped with his iconic night vision goggles and a new counter-terror agency, Sam Fisher has returned to foil another anti-US plot in Ubisoft's sixth Splinter Cell game. PC gamers can look forward to a typical array of graphics options including TXAA antialiasing, soft shadows, horizon-based ambient occlusion and advanced DX11 tessellation

    By Steven Walton on

  • LCDSysInfo for GOverlay Review

    As a PC builder and gamer I find it fun and incredibly interesting to tinker around with my set-up, whether that's buying a new graphics card to improve its speed, fiddling with the cooling to ensure everything can run smoothly, or overclocking to squeeze out some extra performance.

    By Tim Schiesser on

    75
  • Plants vs. Zombies 2 Review: Free-to-play that's better without paying

    Plants vs. Zombies 2 is a free-to-play game with optional in-app purchases. But rather than alienating fans of the franchise by locking content behind pay walls or dumbing-down gameplay, the game is every bit as challenging and rewarding as the original.

    By Mike Fahey on

  • Leap Motion Controller Review

    The miniscule gadget barely measures larger than a USB flash drive, however inside the Leap you'll find two cameras and three infrared LEDs that are capable of tracking hand movements in all three spatial dimensions. Making use of motion-sensing technology to interact with your computer is at least refreshing, if not magical.

    By Rick Burgess on

    70
  • Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon 27-Inch All-in-One Review

    Lenovo's IdeaCentre Horizon embraces Windows 8's touch capabilities with a social twist - it moonlights as a Surface (the table, not the tablet) that can be used by the entire family for a "fun night in." The design is innovative and has a ton of potential on paper. But how does this translate to real world usage?

    By Shawn Knight on

    65
  • Corsair Obsidian Series 350DW Case Review

    Branded the Obsidian 350D, Corsair's newcomer crams its more expensive sibling's features into an affordable microATX package and sports the same clean, black brushed-aluminum finish, handy tool-free design and innovative cable management.

    By Steven Walton on

    95
  • Nokia Lumia 925 Review

    The Lumia 925 is what the Lumia 920 should have been at launch: a device with some fantastic technology packed into a design that isn't a massive, heavy slab of plastic. If you're after a Windows Phone, this is the high-end device you should be looking at, as it's simply the best one out there.

    By Tim Schiesser on

    80