Testfreaks | The Blog http://blog.testfreaks.com Sun, 13 May 2012 13:42:14 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Review of Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/85Z231hgCRA/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-capdase-320a-mkeeper-slr-camera-bag/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 13:41:10 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74342 mkeep1I’ve taken a look at plenty of camera bags in my time reviewing products and it has always amazed me at how different they really are. Well that’s not quite right, they’re the same in most ways but still different in their styles and functionality. Today for review Love Cases has sent me over the Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag which is made for large DSLR cameras but of course can be used with any type of camera as [...]

Review of Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> I’ve taken a look at plenty of camera bags in my time reviewing products and it has always amazed me at how different they really are. Well that’s not quite right, they’re the same in most ways but still different in their styles and functionality. Today for review Love Cases has sent me over the Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag which is made for large DSLR cameras but of course can be used with any type of camera as well. The MKeeper has plenty of room for even the largest DSLR and its accessories like lenses, batteries and memory cards. The bag even has an integrated rain shield so you can be sure your equipment is protected no matter the weather.

Specifications:

Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag

The Capdase mKeeper camera bag has been beautifully designed to hold and protect your SLR camera. It features several moveable compartment dividers which allows you to securely hold the camera body and 2 lenses and an external flash, for the tightest fit, which provides the best protection.

The case is made from a strong nylon, and has a rainproof cover in the back-pocket to keep it perfectly dry. The bag has a comfortable shoulder strap, which is fully adjustable and removable, belt clips and a padded carrying handle, so you have lots of options when carrying around this mKeeper camera bag.

Features:
- Ultra-strong nylon material provides excellent protection for your camera and accessories
- Inner padding provides knock and bump resistance
- Rain cover is included, so your equipment stays totally dry when it rains
- Can be carried by a comfortable grab handle, or an adjustable should strap with non-slip patch
- Features inner and outer pockets, with zips, so you can store your accessories securely
- Strong rubber feet protect the contents from impact when placed on the ground

Compatibility:
- Perfect for medium – large sized Digital SLR cameras
- Space for memory cards, filters, batteries, lenses and a flash
-Internal size: 320 X 160 X 200 mm
-External size: 350 X 200 X 230 mm

Price: £29.99 / $48.20


There’s no special packaging for this product, just a plastic bag, not much else is needed.

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The bag is nylon and it’s gray in color with a handle on the top.

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On the back is what looks like a pocket but it isn’t actually, inside is a waterproof cover that you stretch and pull over the entire case.

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On the bottom of the case you’ll find rubber non-slip feet for protection and support.

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The top flap is usually something that you open to reveal the interior but that’s not so with this case. The flap is held on with velcro and it opens to show two zippered compartments, one on the front with smaller pockets and then the main area of the case.

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When you open up the main flap you’ll be greeted with three section and inside you’ll find the shoulder strap. The top flap actually has its own netted pocket for any other accessories you might need.

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The shoulder strap is long and features a padded section for comfort. The strap attaches to hook on the side of the case with metal clips.

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So back to the inside, you’ll find three compartments with dividers between them.

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The center compartment has a a ‘U’ shaped divider for lens support.

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The right and left compartments have rectangular dividers.

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All of the dividers, including the main ones are attached with velcro and can be moved as needed so you can configure the bag for your specific needs.

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I used the bag with a Canon 10D, T3 and Lens along with other accessories.

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Once I got the camera and parts in the case I found there’s plenty of room for even the largest of cameras.

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The case offers a lot of protection for your camera and components, they should be well protected.

 mkeep23 thumb Review of Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag 

It’s a camera case, you put stuff in it, there’s not much more to say really.


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Conclusion:
The Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag is truly a versatile bag that should be more than enough to handle all of your photographic needs. Yes it’s a rather large bag but it’s meant to be as the cameras meant to go in it are large, but you don’t need to use it for DSLR cameras you can use it pretty much any camera as well. The bag is more than big enough to carry your camera, batteries, lenses, memory cards and many other accessories you might need to bring along with you for a day of shooting photos.

The case is nicely made of durable nylon and includes a handy rain cover built right into the case itself to offer protection from the elements. You’ll be able to take the bag with you no matter what the conditions and your equipment will be safe and secure in the Capdase 320A MKeeper Camera Bag.

10 thumb1 Review of Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag

Pros:
+Plenty of room for all your photography needs
+Includes padded shoulder strap
+Space inside can be arranged as needed
+Includes built-in rain cover

Cons:
-None really

Grades:  
Overall score 10 10 thumb1 Review of Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag
Design score 10 10 thumb1 Review of Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag
Performance score 10 10 thumb1 Review of Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of Capdase 320A MKeeper SLR Camera Bag is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-capdase-320a-mkeeper-slr-camera-bag/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-capdase-320a-mkeeper-slr-camera-bag/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/xHtNi7lkBxU/ Review of Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/dbQPYvgH0P8/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-kingston-hyperx-3k-240gb-ssd/#comments Sun, 13 May 2012 11:23:04 +0000 Tom http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74284 HyperX 3K 01Kingston built its reputation on its memory and flash storage technology. This knowledge and experience has help make their SSD (solid state drives) some of the best performing ones on the market. Their first enthusiast based SSD the HyperX was the fastest SSD we have tested at TestFreaks. Not content to rest on their laurels they have recently released another enthusiast grade SSD – the HyperX 3K SSD. The big selling point for the HyperX 3K SSD is the lower [...]

Review of Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> Kingston built its reputation on its memory and flash storage technology. This knowledge and experience has help make their SSD (solid state drives) some of the best performing ones on the market. Their first enthusiast based SSD the HyperX was the fastest SSD we have tested at TestFreaks. Not content to rest on their laurels they have recently released another enthusiast grade SSD – the HyperX 3K SSD.

The big selling point for the HyperX 3K SSD is the lower price point. Its predecessor is still available and will run you more than the newer version. While the HyperX 3K SSD is supposed to be a hair slower you really are not sacrificing performance with this newer model.

The Kingston HyperX 3K SSD comes as either a stand-alone drive or in an upgrade bundle. For today’s review we will look at the stand-alone version.

Kingston ships the HyperX 3K SSD in a black cardboard box with the drive pictured in the center of the box. The packaging is very similar to the original HyperX SSD model. Additional drive info is found on the front of the package including drive capacity, Sandforce support, three-year warranty and the drive’s read/write speeds.

For the first time since I have been reviewing SSDs the reference benchmark is indicated on the front of the package. Kingston chose ATTO Disk Benchmark 2.41 which measures raw transfer rates for both reads and writes. Also I’ve been told in private that ATTO seems to be the SSD bench standard.

On the back is a list of package contents and some features of the drive in numerous languages. The Kingston HyperX 3K SSD comes in 90, 120, 240 and 480 GB capacities. Kingston advertises sequential readsusing SATA Rev. 3.0 of 555MB/s for the 90GB/120GB/240GB capacities and 540MB/s for the 480GB version and sequential writes of 510MB/s with 90GB/120GB/240GB and 450MB/s on 480GB using SATA Rev. 3.0.

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Opening the box we find the HyperX 3K SSD, a getting started guide, 3.5” mounting bracket and two sets of four screws.

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Appearance wise Kingston changed the color scheme of the HyperX 3K SSD to black and slate grey. Gone is the classic HyperX blue and silver; this was probably done to differentiate this drive from its predecessor. The casing is still composed of aluminum. The HyperX and Kingston names are seen on opposite corners of the SSD.

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The HyperX 3K SSD is a 2.5-inch form factor measuring 69.85 x 100 x 9.5mm. The internals of the drive features a 2nd Generation SandForce Controller SF-2281 and MLC NAND (3k P/E Cycles). This is down from 5k P/E Cycles found on the original HyperX SSD. This is probably one of the reasons why the newer drive is more affordable than the older model.

In addition the drive supports OS capable TRIM and garbage collection at the firmware level. Kingston provides a three-year warranty with free technical support, which is always handy to have.

The included bracket allows the HyperX 3K SSD to be installed in a desktop environment, while its normal 2.5” size makes the HyperX 3K SSD laptop friendly. Kingston does not recommend this drive for a server environment and indicates this on the back of the packaging.

HyperX 3K 10 thumb Review of Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD


Specifications:

Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD

HyperX performance at an exceptional price.

Budget-minded gamers and enthusiasts will benefit from the lower price of Kingston’s new HyperX 3K SSD. This solid-state drive combines premium 3000 program-erase cycle NAND with the second-generation SandForce controller. Its lower price means more users can experience ultra-responsive gaming, multitasking and multimedia computing power. 3K loads games and applications faster, increases frames per second (FPS) for an improved gaming experience and allows for quick transfers and edits of large media files. HyperX 3K provides high-speed SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s) performance and blazing fast random and sequential read/write speeds. SandForce DuraClass technology provides the latest data integrity protection for ultimate endurance over the entire life of the drive. HyperX 3K SSD comes in a sleek, black and aluminum case design, accentuating the look of any power user’s system. For added peace of mind, HyperX 3K SSD is backed by a three-year warranty and legendary Kingston reliability.

Features

  • SandForce controller technology
  • High-speed SATA Rev 3.0 (6Gb/s) transfer speeds
  • Advanced Wear-Leveling Technology
  • User-Configurable Over Provisioning
  • Performance — incredible speeds for enhanced productivity
  • Reliable — much less likely to fail than a standard hard drive
  • Shock-Proof — dropping your notebook no longer means losing your data
  • Cool & Quiet — runs silent and with no moving mechanical parts to generate heat
  • Innovative — uses NAND Flash memory components
  • Supports TRIM — enhances device wear leveling by eliminating merge operation for all deleted data blocks
  • Supports S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology)
  • Guaranteed — three-year Kingston warranty, free technical support

Specifications

Capacities: 240GB
Sequential reads: SATA Rev. 3.0 – 555MB/s
Sequential writes: SATA Rev. 3.0 – 510MB/s

Form factor: 2.5″
Dimensions: 69.85 x 100 x 9.5mm
MTBF: 1,000,000 Hrs

Total Bytes Written (TBW):
240G: 153.6TB (based on 140GB per day for 3 years)

Interface: SATA Rev 3.0 (6Gb/s), SATA Rev 2.0 (3Gb/s)
Controller: 2nd Generation SandForce Controller SF-2281
Components: MLC NAND (3k P/E Cycles)
Warranty/support: three-year warranty with free technical support

Sustained Random 4k Read/Write: 240GB – 40,000/57,000 IOPS

Max Random 4K R/W: 240GB – 86,000/60,000 IOPS

PCMARK Vantage HDD Suite Score: 240GB: 60,000

SMART Tools: Self Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology to ensure a healthy drive

Power Consumption:
0.455 W (TYP) Idle / 1.58 W (TYP) Read / 2.11 W (TYP) Write

Price: $279.99 (from Amazon at time of review)


nstallation of the HyperX 3K SSD is straightforward. When it is first recognized by a Windows system you will need to initialize then format it. Once this is performed we see 224 GB of useable space.

For testing the following platform with the latest Intel Rapid Storage Technology was used:

CPU: Intel Core i7 2600K

Motherboard: Asus P8P67 PRO

Memory: 8GB Mushkin DDR3 1300

Video Card: Galaxy 460GTX

Hard Drive: Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM, Samsung 1 TB 7200 RPM

PSU: Ultra X-Finity 1000-Watt Power Supply

As a frame of reference the following SSDs were used:

Kingston HyperX 240 GB – 555MB/s read, 510MB/s write – SATA Rev 3.0 (6Gb/s)

Kingston SSDNow 200 V+120GB – 535MB/s read, 480MB/s write – SATA Rev 3.0 (6Gb/s)

Intel X25-M SSD 80 GB – 250MB/s read, 70MB/s write – SATA Rev 2.0 (3Gb/s)

Verbatim SATA II 128 GB – 270GB/s read, 225MB/s write – SATA Rev 2.0 (3Gb/s)

Benchmarking was performed using ATTO Disk Benchmark, Anvil Storage Utilities and AS-SSD.

ATTO Disk Benchmark tests both the read/write speeds of the drives. Looking at the results we see the three SATA Rev 3.0 capable drives from Kingston were the fastest in terms of reads and writes with the HyperX 3K coming out on top.

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Next up is the Anvil Storage Utilities, which shows the HyperX 3K, coming out ahead of its peers once again.

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Finally here are the AS-SSD results using the Main, Copy and Compression Benchmarks.

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Benchmarks are great but how does the HyperX 3K SSD perform in real world settings? Using the SSD as the boot drive for a Windows 7 system made for stellar performance as boot times were less than ten seconds. While a fully operations desktop was obtained in under a minute. Applications loaded significantly faster when compared to a platter based hard drive.

Overall the HyperX 3K SSD is a solid performer. The inclusion of TRIM and garbage collection will keep the drive clean and in optimal shape for the life of the solid state drive.



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Conclusion:

With the HyperX 3K Kingston continues its trend in producing reliable, fast solid-state drives. Coming in at a lower price point than the older version, the HyperX 3K provides lightning fast read/write speeds for the enthusiast, gamer or power user. Installing the HyperX 3K into one’s desktop one laptop will significantly improve that machine’s performance. In the past the best way to upgrade one’s computer was by adding more memory; in 2012 it seems an SSD is the best way to supercharge your sluggish system.

10 thumb Review of Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD

Pros:
+Stylish HyperX appearance
+Lightning fast speeds
+TRIM Support
+Three year warranty

Cons:
-3k P/E Cycles instead of the 5k P/E Cycles found on the earlier HyperX SSD

Grades:
Overall score 10 10 thumb1 Review of Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD
Design score 10 10 thumb1 Review of Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD
Performance score 10 10 thumb1 Review of Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-kingston-hyperx-3k-240gb-ssd/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-kingston-hyperx-3k-240gb-ssd/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/czI6AJa4qHg/ News for Saturday May 12th 2012 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/xIVrdu5plbI/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-saturday-may-12th-2012/#comments Sat, 12 May 2012 12:56:59 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74234 NewsHere’s some good news for you, Steam has Skyrim on sale this weekend for 33% off or $40.19! I think that’s the lowest I’ve ever seen it. I have the PS3 version but I’m getting rid of it as I bought it on launch day and really couldn’t play it up until the last patch which was how many months after it was released. It’s ridiculous that I had to wait several months to actually play a game?! I will [...]

News for Saturday May 12th 2012 is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]>

News thumb2 News for Saturday May 12th 2012

Here’s some good news for you, Steam has Skyrim on sale this weekend for 33% off or $40.19! I think that’s the lowest I’ve ever seen it. I have the PS3 version but I’m getting rid of it as I bought it on launch day and really couldn’t play it up until the last patch which was how many months after it was released. It’s ridiculous that I had to wait several months to actually play a game?! I will not be buying games on launch day anymore that’s for sure. I’m sick of companies making their customers pay to be beta testers. Anyway, that’s my little rant for the day so go and read the news…


Storage Related:

G.Skill Ripjaws Z DDR3 2133 8GB Quad Kit @ Pro-Clockers

Kingston MobileLite G3 Memory Card Reader

Kingston SSDNow V+ 200 120GB Solid State Drive Review

Kingston HyperX Genesis DDR3 1866 16GB Quad Kit @ Pro-Clockers

Akitio MyCloud Duo NAS Review

IOSafe Rugged Portable @ LanOC Reviews

Crucial m4 256 GB Review @ HCW

 

Audio / Video / Video Cards:

NVIDIA Strikes Again: The GTX670 Gets Reviewed And Benchmarked

Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition Overclocked 2GB Video Card Unboxing

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce OC Version 2GB Video Card Unboxing

HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo and IceQ X Turbo X Review

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 SLI

Zotac GeForce GTX680 2GB Review @ HardwareLOOK

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 670 AMP! Edition 2 GB

Gigabyte GTX670 OC Video Card Review @ Ninjalane

EVGA GeForce GTX 670 SuperClocked Video Card Review

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 Video Card Tests @ Benchmark Reviews

Palit JetStream GEFORCE GTX 670 2GB Video Card Review

Palit GeForce GTX 670 JetStream 2 GB

EVGA GTX 670 Superclocked Graphics Card Review

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card.

GIGABYTE GTX 670 OC.

Gainward GeForce GTX 670 Phantom Review

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 Reviews, EVGA and Gigabyte

Gigabyte GTX 670 Windforce @ PureOverclock

NVIDIA & EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews

GEFORCE GTX 670 Launch Review at Hardware Heaven (Zotac AMP! Edition and Palit Jetstream Edition)

ASUS GeForce GTX 670 Direct CU II 2 GB

NVIDIA GTX 670 Review @ Vortez

Nvidia GTX 670 @ lanOC Reviews

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 2 GB

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670

HIS Radeon HD 7870 IceQ X Turbo X 2GB Graphics Card @ eTeknix.com

Pivos aios HD Media Center Review @ NikKTech

Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition OC Video Card Review

Dell UltraSharp U3011 30-inch Monitor Review

MSI GTX 680 Twin Frozr Graphics Card Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Alienware OptX AW2310 23-inch Monitor De-bezel Modification Guide

Samsung UN55ES8000 LED HDTV

 

PC Cooling:

Vapor Chamber Cooling via Coolermaster’s TPC-812 Heatsink @ Frostytech.com

Cooler Master TPC 812 Vapor Chamber CPU Cooler Review

Noctua NH-C14 Low-Profile CPU Cooler Review @ NikKTech

Xigmatek SD1283 Dark Knight Night Hawk Edition CPU Cooler @ Pro-Clockers

DeepCool Ice Wind Pro Heatsink Review @ Frostytech.com

Zalman CNPS11X Performa Heatsink Review @ Frostytech.com

Thermaltake Frio Extreme Cooler Review

Noctua NF-F12 PWM Cooling Fan @ Pro-Clockers

Prolimatech Megahalems Rev. C CPU Cooler Review @ eTeknix.com

Titan Fenrir Siberia Edition CPU Cooler Review

 

PC Cases:

NZXT Switch 810 @ PureOverclock

Cubitek HPTX-ICE Case Review

 

Power Supplies/ Related:

Cooler Master Extreme 2 475 W Power Supply Review

Xigmatek Centauro 1000-watt Power Supply Review

eXtreme Power Supply Calculator Update

Super Flower Golden King 650 W

 

Motherboards:

Gigabyte Sniper M3 Review

Virtu Universal MVP Review

 

Assorted:

Liar Liar (1997) Blu-ray Movie Review

How To Build a Water Cooled Mini-ITX SFF PC w/ Ivy Bridge & Kepler @ Legit Reviews

Win HIS HD7870 IceQ Turbo and IceQ X Turbo X Video Cards!

Intel Core i7 3770K Ivy Bridge @ PureOverclock

Speed (1994) Blu-ray Movie Review

Funky Kit Review: Zotac ZBox Nano-XS AD11 Plus

Why Nvidia don’t like eTeknix @ eTeknix.com

ZOTAC "Inner-Beauty" Small Form Factor PC Preview featuring Z77-ITX WiFI and GeForce GTX 680 AMP! Edition

BitFenix Alchemy Multisleeved Cables Review @ Quentin Rademaker Dot NL

HardwareHeaven 10 year Anniversary Giveaway

 

Gaming:

20 Years of Epic Games @ ThinkComputers.org

Sins of a Solar Empire Rebellion Beta @ Benchmark Reviews

Weekly Gaming Giveaway #1: Conflict of Heroes: Awakening The Bear @ eTeknix.com

Tt eSPORTS MEKA Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Thermaltake eSports Shock One PC Headset Review @ eTeknix.com

SteelSeries Kana Mouse Review @ XtremeComputing

CM Storm Sentinel Advance II Laser Mouse @ Benchmark Reviews

News for Saturday May 12th 2012 is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-saturday-may-12th-2012/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-saturday-may-12th-2012/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/Tp_eOKkwilo/ Thermaltake Announces Water2.0 Performer & Pro All-in-One Cooling Solutions http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/O3jCPpLPrHY/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/thermaltake-announces-water2-0-performer-pro-all-in-one-cooling-solutions/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 14:47:06 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74230 ttwproWater 2.0? Is that like web 2.0? Seriously though Thermaltake has just come out with two new all-in-one liquid cooling solutions that look pretty good in my opinion. They’re just announced the Performer and Pro models with an announcement that they’ll be introducing an Extreme model this summer. The Performer versions I more of the low-end of the scale for those that want water cooling but aren’t really interested in overclocking. The Pro model is for gamers and enthusiast and [...]

Thermaltake Announces Water2.0 Performer & Pro All-in-One Cooling Solutions is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> Water 2.0? Is that like web 2.0? Seriously though Thermaltake has just come out with two new all-in-one liquid cooling solutions that look pretty good in my opinion. They’re just announced the Performer and Pro models with an announcement that they’ll be introducing an Extreme model this summer. The Performer versions I more of the low-end of the scale for those that want water cooling but aren’t really interested in overclocking. The Pro model is for gamers and enthusiast and the Extreme model is of course for those that want it all.

 

ttwpro thumb Thermaltake Announces Water2.0 Performer & Pro All in One Cooling Solutionsttwperformer thumb Thermaltake Announces Water2.0 Performer & Pro All in One Cooling Solutionsttwp1 thumb Thermaltake Announces Water2.0 Performer & Pro All in One Cooling Solutions

 

WATER2.0 Performer- Price Does Not Compromise Performance Even with the great value of the WATER2.0 Performer it uses a top quality engineered performance 25mm radiator.

WATER2.0 Pro- A Step Above The WATER2.0 Pro take the Performer design even further by applying a thicker high performance radiator which allows for more surface area and better cooling potential

WATER2.0 Extreme- When "Good Enough" is Not The WATER2.0 Extreme is for the user who wants the absolute best performance with room to push the limit. With a expanded 240mm radiator the WATER2.0 extreme can push the limits of an extreme platform.

 

Here’s the product page for the Pro but if you’ll scroll down there’s a nice comparison chart of all of them included: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?C=1444&ID=2116

 

Amazon has the Performer listed for $69.99 right now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B007UIX1RO/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1336501858&sr=8-1&condition=new

and the Pro for $99.99 now: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B007UIX1M4/ref=sr_1_3_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1336501858&sr=8-3&condition=new

That’s not bad for a liquid cooling setup like this I think..

Thermaltake Announces Water2.0 Performer & Pro All-in-One Cooling Solutions is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/thermaltake-announces-water2-0-performer-pro-all-in-one-cooling-solutions/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/thermaltake-announces-water2-0-performer-pro-all-in-one-cooling-solutions/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/30CaHwuxcOU/ Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/UDo70mcBo7M/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-his-radeon-hd-7870-ghz-edition-video-card/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 14:25:26 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74222 his1A lot of video card reviews lately, and that’s good thing I think. We’re moving up the line of 7000 series cards and today we have the HIS Radeon 7870 Ghz Edition which obviously runs at 1Ghz core clock, along with that it comes with 2gb of DDR5 memory and it runs on the PCIE 3.0 interface for the fastest speeds. The card comes equipped with two Displayport connections along with HDMI and DVI so you can run a few [...]

Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> A lot of video card reviews lately, and that’s good thing I think. We’re moving up the line of 7000 series cards and today we have the HIS Radeon 7870 Ghz Edition which obviously runs at 1Ghz core clock, along with that it comes with 2gb of DDR5 memory and it runs on the PCIE 3.0 interface for the fastest speeds. The card comes equipped with two Displayport connections along with HDMI and DVI so you can run a few monitors off of it or you can enable Eyefinity for some real gaming fun. I’ve put it up against some other cards I’ve got on hand for comparison, so let’s get into it….

And as usual we start with the box pictures:

his1 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card his2 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Open the box and find another box with eh HIS logo.

his3 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

When you open it up you’ll find the 7870 in a styrofoam casing.

his4 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Under the styrofoam tray you’ll find some accessories:

his6 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

The accessories include a folder with the driver disc, instructions and a case sticker. You’ll also find the crossfire bridge, DVDI to VGA adapter and the software disc.

his7 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

 his8 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card his9 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card 

Then here’s the card, it’s rather large, at least it’s the biggest of the 7000 series so far I’ve seen. I like the black and blue styling of it.

his10 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

The one thing you’ll notice if you look close is the heatpipe cooler that the 7870 uses.

his11 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Here’s a side view, the card uses two PCIE power connectors.

his12 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Through the venting on the side you can see the heatpipes a little better and then here’s a closer look at the two power connections.

his13 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card his14 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

The other side is rather plain really.

his16 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

The card comes with two Displayport connections along with an HDMI and a DVI connection.

his15 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Here’s the back end of the card:

his17 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

The PCB is blue, not much else to say..

his18 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

 

Specifications:

HIS 7870 Fan 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI/2xMini DP

The card offers outstanding graphics quality and excellent cooling technology for enthusiastic users. With core and memory clocks at 1000MHz and 4800MHz, the card ensures the highest graphics enjoyment during hardcore gaming. Equipped with HIS outstanding cooler, the card is 13 °C cooler than the reference cooler and provides a less than 28dB quiet environment for daily tasks and movies. The card is made of HIS high quality component. It has better OC capability with overclocking equipment and longer life span with safety design. The card also comes with the innovative overclocking software by HIS – iTurbo. User can control the temperature, speed and power in their hands!

Cooler- Equipped with HIS outstanding cooler, the card is 13 °C cooler than the reference cooler.

Quiet- It’s extremely quiet and noise level is less than 28dB. You feel the quietness when viewing photos, browsing webs, checking your email and playing movies in UVD mode.

iTurbo- iTurbo is your software assistant to control your graphics card to be quiet, cool and experience overclocking by simply pressing the iTurbo Button!

User Friendly Overclocking Software: Cooler, Quieter, OC!- iTurbo’s Fan Control and Fan Monitoring allow easy adjustment of your card to its maximum cooling performance or to run your card quietly!

Press iTurbo: OC Right Away!- With the smart auto overclocking function, users can experience a slight performance boost for selected HIS graphic cards with just one click!

Powerful Overclocking Software- Either you wish to unleash its full potential or to make it more environmental friendly, iTurbo is ready for you!

Specs:
Product Code: H787F2G2M
Cooler: Fan
GPU: 7870
Core Clock: 1000 MHz
Memory Clock: 4800 MHz
Memory Size: 2048 MB
Memory Type: GDDR5
Memory Interface: 256 bit
Interface    PCI Express: 3.0 x16
Card Dimension: 12.7 x 4.2 x 25.6 cm (HxWxD)

Price: $339.99 (from NewEgg at time of review)

My system:

Asus P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 Motherboard

Corei7 2600K

12 gigs of ram

Here’s’ what I like to call a family photo of the 7000 series of AMD cards and you can probably guess which is the 7870. From left to right, 7870, 7850, 7770 and 7750.

his19 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Not pictured above, but I’ve also included the 6670 and the 465 GTX for comparison below.

So let’s get this started with the old favorite, 3DMark06:

 

3dmark06graph thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Here we can see a 1400 point increase when using the 7870, not bad.

 

Next up is 3Dmark Vantage running at Performance default settings but with the resolution changed to 1920×1080.

3dmarkvantgraph thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Here we see over 3000 points more using the 7870, not bad here again.

 

Next up is 3DMark11 running all three tests for Entry, Performance and Extreme.

3dmark11graph thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

An 1100 or so increase, less than I expected but decent.

 

Next up is Aliens vs Predator. I ran two sets of tests at medium settings and maximum settings, both at 1920×1080 resolution.

avpgraph thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

As you can see both the 7850 and the 7870 can easily handle Aliens vs Predator on high or max settings. The 7870 does a bit better though.

 

Next up is Section 8 which runs off the Unreal 3 engine, settings were all maxed out at 1920×1080 resolution. Yeah it’s not the most taxing game but it was there.

section8 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

So pretty much every card can run this game as I expected and I’m sure you did too.

 

The next game is Mafia II at a resolution of 1920×1080. I ran two different sets of tests with the settings on max but one set was with Antialiasing on and the other is Antialiasing off.

 

The first test is with Antialiasing on:

mafia2aaon thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Antialiasing is hard on cards but the 7870 handled it well as did the 7850. The other cards were playable with some slowdowns.

The next graph shows AA off:

mafia2aaoff thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

No surprises here, all of the cards can handle it well, at leas the 7750 and up can.

 

The next game to test is Just Cause 2 with two tests for this one, but are at 1920×1080 resolution. In the graph you’ll see two sets of results, one labeled Max and one labeled Med or medium. Max is everything on maximum setting while medium is Motion Blur is off, Texture Detail is High, Shadow Quality is Low, Antialiasing is 2x, Anisotropic Filtering is 4X, Water Detail is Low, Objects Detail is Low, Decals are On, Soft Particles are On, High-Res Shadows are Off, SSAO is Off and Point Light Specular is Off. I used the Concrete Jungle test level for all of these.

justcause2 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

On medium settings we can see the the top four cards are close but when maxed out the 7850 and the 7870 do very well with an oh so slight increase for the 7870.

 

The next game is Dirt 3 and it’s two more tests with two more graphs.

The first is maximum setting with everything set to High or Ultra where available, the highest settings of the game.

dirt3max thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Here we see a nice increase when going from the 7850 to the 7870, still playable though with most cards.

Then here’s testing with the setting on high:

dirt3high thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

A bit of an increase but is it worth it in the long run? Dirt 3 is more than playable with a lot of the cards in the chart. Then again, one game is just that, one game, you want a card that’s going to run every game you want to play smoothly.

 

Next we have Batman Arkham Asylum on maximum settings at 1920×1080 resolution.

bmanasylum thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Look at that though, all over 100FPS and that 225FPS, that’s ridiculous isn’t it?

 

Last we have Batman Arkham City and with two graphs, one medium settings and one with maximum settings.

bmancitymed thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Finally I’ve found a card that can really handle Batman Arkham City, at least on medium settings.

Let’s see how it does on maximum settings:

bmancity thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

The average and maximum FPS are pretty good but the minimum is below that magic 30FPS number sadly, it’s close though, really close.

 

AMD Eyefinity:

Just like with the HIS 7850, I ran the 7870 in Eyefinity mode with dual monitors.

I ran Aliens vs Predator first off at maximum settings and compared it to the 7850 both at a resolution of 3984×1080.

7850: 24 FPS

7870: 29 FPS

Still not really playable at maximum settings with Eyefinity, oh well.

 

Next up is Dirt 3 at 3976×1080 resolution and I ran two tests with settings on Maximum and High.

Max Settings:

7850 Minimum FPS: 26.18

7870 Minimum FPS: 35.94

7850 Average FPS: 30.80

7870 Average FPS: 41.35

High Settings:

7850 Minimum FPS:54.37

7870 Minimum FPS: 69.64

7850 Average FPS:65.65

7870 Average FPS: 83.00

There’s a nice increase here it seems when moving from the 7850 to the 7870 getting almost 20 more FPS on average with settings on high.

 

Just Cause 2:

I then ran the same Just Cause 2 tests, maxed settings and high settings, as I ran earlier but at the resolution of 3984×1080.

7850 Max Settings: 24.19 FPS

7870 Max Settings: 32.40 FPS

7850 High Settings: 54.28 FPS

7870 High Settings: 57.20 FPS

A slight increase for both cards but not what I would call amazing.

 

Batman Arkham Asylum:

The settings were all on maximum and the resolution was 3948×1080.

7850 Minimum FPS: 67

7870 Minimum FPS: 75

7850 Average FPS: 88

7870 Average FPS: 99

7850 Maximum FPS: 109

7870 Maximum FPS: 124

The 7850 was more than enough to handle this game, the 7870 is overkill I think.

 

Temperatures/Noise:

Ambient room temperatures for most of my testing was 24C (+/- .3C). I monitored the temperature of the 7870 and the highest it hit was 79C but that was only a second or so, and under load the card basically maxed out at 78C. The fan never went above 43% no matter what I did, and yes at this speed the card was audible but not overly loud at all. I played many games and the card never really hit those temperatures, it was only when actually stressing it with OCCT GPU test did the card hit these temps. I manually set the fan speed to 100% and it was unbearably loud, I’m glad the card, under normal use never hits that speed.

 

Overclocking:

Sadly, try as I might I couldn’t get this card to overclock and be stable. I played with the Core and Memory frequencies and even the voltages and no matter what I did I couldn’t get the card stable for everything I did. Sure it would work for a few games and benchmarks and then the system would crash. I tried and tried and I just couldn’t do much with this card. This happens sometimes, it’s just the luck of the draw really, some cards can overclock and some can’t and I apparently got one that can’t. Even not overclocking I’m more than happy with the performance of this card. I explained iTurbo in the HIS 7850 review and it works well

I’m going to finish this off with a little note about power consumption and the fact that I was having some problem with this card and I kept getting blue screens. I spent days trying to figure it out and then I decided to try swapping the power supply from my 850watt up to a 1250watt. When I did that everything was perfectly fine and no more blue screens. I wondered what the real problem was as I thought the 850watt PSU should have been more than enough to handle my system and the card. I checked the specs of both power supplies and found that that the 1250watt power supply actually has a higher amperage on the 12v lines, so it seems this card needs a more beefy power supply. My power supplies are both from Sparkle but only the 1250watt is certified by AMD so I guess that was the problem. I personally thought the 850watt was more than enough and I was wrong, not all power supplies are created equal. This is something to keep in mind for the future for not only me but for you as well.

The price of the 7870 is bit high but you’re paying for new technology as always happens when something new comes out. The question is would it be worth it to spend the extra money going from the 7850 to the 7870? I’m not sure, on one hand yes as I’m the type of person who needs or actually wants the best of the best and to be able to game on the highest settings possible.

 


his1 thumb1 Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card his7 thumb1 Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card his4 thumb1 Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card his10 thumb1 Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card 

Conclusion:
The performance of the HIS 7870 is excellent, there’s no doubt about that and if you’re looking for a video card that can handle your gaming needs then I suggest you seriously take a look at this one.

I’m happy with this card personally but I want the best performance I can get and for the price I think it gives me that.

The power supply issue I ran across is something that everyone should keep in mind. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that an AMD certified PSU fixed my BSOD issues, so if you’re thinking of getting a 7870 then you might want to double check your power supply specs to make sure it’s up to the task.

As far as overclocking, as I said it’s the luck of the draw and and I didn’t get one that can do much of anything sadly.

9 thumb1 Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Cardrecommended5 thumb Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

Pros:
+Runs quiet and cool
+Excellent performance
+PCIE 3.0 interface
+Multiple connection choices
+Big card but not too big

Cons:
-Need certified power supply apparently
-Requires dual power connections
-Card not that great at overclocking

Grades:  
Overall score 9 10 thumb1 Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card
Design score 9 10 thumb1 Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card
Performance score 10 10 thumb1 Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of HIS Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition Video Card is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-his-radeon-hd-7870-ghz-edition-video-card/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-his-radeon-hd-7870-ghz-edition-video-card/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/OmgSPBTnG3g/ News for Tuesday May 8th 2012 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/FhrYwRLhtkw/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-tuesday-may-8th-2012/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 17:18:01 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74146 NewsThe news just keeps flowing and flowing, so I’ve got more for you and I only hope that the since I post the news for others they post the news for us. It would be nice wouldn’t it? I don’t know I guess I have to look into it some more but there’s plenty of news and reviews for you to read right now. A couple days I’ll post some more, I really have to get into a schedule for [...]

News for Tuesday May 8th 2012 is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]>

News thumb1 News for Tuesday May 8th 2012

The news just keeps flowing and flowing, so I’ve got more for you and I only hope that the since I post the news for others they post the news for us. It would be nice wouldn’t it? I don’t know I guess I have to look into it some more but there’s plenty of news and reviews for you to read right now. A couple days I’ll post some more, I really have to get into a schedule for these things, then I have to get another review done and hopefully another after that on another site. I’ve just got too much going on right now….


Storage Related:

WD MyPassport 1TB USB 3.0 Drive Review

OCZ Vertex 4 128GB Solid State Drive Review (with 1.4 R6 firmware)

Akitio Taurus Mini Super-S LCM External RAID Storage Review @ TechwareLabs

SilverStone DS321 Dual-Bay HDD Enclosure Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Intel 910 Series 800GB PCIe Review

Kingston SSDNow V+ 200 120GB Solid State Drive @ Pro-Clockers

Corsair Performance Pro Series 256GB SATA III (CSSD-P256GBP-BK) Review at Overclockers Online

Kingston HyperX Genesis 8GB DDR3-2400 @ PureOverclock

Verbatim Store ‘n’ Go Traveller: USB 3.0 750GB @ Rbmods

Intel 520 Series 480GB Review @ Vortez

OCZ Vertex 4 SSD – Progress in the Firmware (testing with v1.4RC)

HIS HD 7870 IceQ Turbo Review @ Vortez

Patriot Viper Xtreme Division 4 DDR3-1866 16GB Quad Channel Memory Kit Review @ ThinkComputers.org

OWC Mercury Accelsior 480GB PCIe SSD Review

Western Digital My Book Live Duo 4TB Review

Sandberg USB 3.0 HDD Cloner Review @ NikKTech

Intel SSD 910 PCI Express SSD Performance Review

Zalman F1 Series 120GB SSD Review @ HardwareLOOK

OCZ Synapse Cache 64GB SSD Review@ HardwareLOOK

 

Audio / Video / Video Cards:

Hama 90 Colt Syscase Camera Bag Review

NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 2GB Video Card Overclocked Performance Preview

Why I Chose Bose QC15 Over Beats Studio Headphones @ OCModShop

Zotac GTX 680 AMP! Review

Zotac GTX 680 AMP! Edition Review

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 680 AMP! Edition 2 GB

HIS HD7950 IceQ Turbo 3GB Video Card @ Benchmark Reviews

HIS Radeon HD 7750 iCooler Video Card @ Benchmark Reviews

HIS Radeon HD 7770 iCooler 1 GB

Zotac GTX 680 AMP! Edition Review

Noontec MovieHome V8 NAS Media Player Review

Ivy Bridge PCI-Express Scaling with HD 7970 and GTX 680

Genius SP-i250G LED Portable Gaming Speakers Review

NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 670 2GB Video Card Performance Preview

Antec Soundscience Rockus 3D 2.1 Review @ HardwareLOOK

 

Mobile Related:

Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook Review

Tech Behind BlackBerry 10′s Camera application

BlackBerry World: It’s all about BlackBerry 10

Digital Cameras vs Mobile Phones

Samsung Chronos Review @ HardwareLOOK

MSI GE620 Gaming Laptop Review @ HardwareLOOK

 

PC Cooling:

Noctua NH-L12 CPU Cooler Review

NZXT FX Enthusiast 140mm & 120mm Fans @ OCModShop

Corsair Hydro H80 Watercooling System Review @ Frostytech.com

Thermaltake Frio OCK CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews

Thermaltake BigWater 760 Plus CPU Liquid Cooler Review @ NikKTech

Coolermaster Gemin II S524 Heatsink Review @ Frostytech.com

Thermalright Silver Arrow Extreme CPU Cooler Review @ NikKTech

Xigmatek Gaia Review @ XSReviews.co.uk

Enermax ETD-T60-TB CPU Cooler Review @ HardwareLOOK

Coolermaster Hyper 612S CPU Cooler Review @ HardwareLOOK

Coolermaster Gemini II M4 Cooler Review @ HardwareLOOK

Coolermaster Gemini II SF524 Cooler Review @ HardwareLOOK

 

PC Cases:

Lone Survivor PC Review @ eTeknix.com

Senty Optimus Mid-Tower Case Review @ OCModShop

Bitfenix Shinobi XL Case Review

Cooler Master HAF XM Case Review

Corsair Obsidian 550D Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Bitfenix Raider Mid-Tower ATX Chassis Review @ OCIA.net

Funky Kit Review: BitFenix Shinobi XL Full Tower Case

In-Win XFrame Limited Edition Review @ HardwareLOOK

 

Power Supplies/ Related:

Visiontek 800W Modular Power Supply Review

 

Motherboards:

Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard Benchmark Tests @ Benchmark Reviews

Intel DZ77GA-70K Motherboard Features Overview @ Benchmark Reviews

ASUS Maximus V GENE Z77 mATX motherboard

ASRock X79 Extreme9 Motherboard Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

ECS Z77H2-A2X Black Edition Intel Z77 Motherboard Review @ PCSTATS

Gigabyte G1.Sniper M3 Intel Z77 Express LGA 1155 Preview

 

Assorted:

Internet Cowards @ OCModShop

Run Hidden Power Efficiency Report in Windows @ OCModShop

OCModShop’s Most Read Articles of the Past Decade

Intel i7-3770K Ivy Bridge @ LanOC Reviews

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS ARMv7 Linux Performance Gains @ Phoronix

Tones OC Academy IV

Kingston HyperX Event Antwerp

HP Z800 Workstation Review

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Review @ Techgage

 

Gaming:

The Walking Dead: Episode 1 Review @ OCModShop

MadCatz Official Xbox 360 Force Feedback Racing Wheel Review @ eTeknix.com

Nintendo 3DS: Free Repair Time Running Out @ OCModShop

Roccat Kone+ @ Bjorn3D

Tips When Calling Video Game Tech Support @ OCModShop

Gaming Friday: DotA 2 @ ThinkComputers.org

Running Sega Dreamcast Games on Your PC with nullDC @ Techgage

Cooler Master Storm Trigger @ PureOverclock

Kid Icarus: Uprising Nintendo 3DS Review

MEGATech Reviews – The Walking Dead: Episode One

Cmstorm Trigger mechanical gaming keyboard review

SteelSeries Sibera v2 – Natus Vincere edition Review @ XSReviews.co.uk

News for Tuesday May 8th 2012 is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-tuesday-may-8th-2012/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-tuesday-may-8th-2012/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/wNjEdk5f8A8/ Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/uCJtpVBINMo/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-kingston-datatraveler-elite-3-0-32gb-usb-3-0-flash-drive/#comments Tue, 08 May 2012 10:49:04 +0000 Tom http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74140 DT-Elite-01.jpgKingston recently announced the expansion of their USB 3.0 flash drive lineup with the release of the DataTraveler Elite 3.0. This flash drive is an economically priced USB thumb drive that takes advantage of USB 3.0’s faster transfer speeds. As more USB 3.0 enabled computers hit the market the need for flash drives to take advantage of these connections becomes more apparent. The DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is a capless drive, which means folks like myself who invariably lose their caps [...]

Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> Kingston recently announced the expansion of their USB 3.0 flash drive lineup with the release of the DataTraveler Elite 3.0. This flash drive is an economically priced USB thumb drive that takes advantage of USB 3.0’s faster transfer speeds. As more USB 3.0 enabled computers hit the market the need for flash drives to take advantage of these connections becomes more apparent.

The DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is a capless drive, which means folks like myself who invariably lose their caps can rest easy. With USB 3.0 speeds of 70MB/s read, 30MB/s write it should be fast enough for most users.

 

The Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 arrives in a clear plastic package with the drive displayed in the center of the white cardboard card bearing the Kingston logo. On the back is a compatibility table for the drive and the three major operating systems. The DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is designed to work at USB 3.0 speeds with Windows versions from XP (SP3) up to Windows 7 and Linux 2.6. The drive is also recognized on OS X (10.5 and up) as a USB 2.0 drive unless there is an add-on USB 3.0 solution such as a PCI-e or Express Card.

DT Elite 02 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 01 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Inside the package we find just the drive itself. Usually Kingston provides a black lanyard with their USB flash drives but this model did not have one in the package.

DT Elite 03 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 04 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Kingston offers the DataTraveler Elite 3.0 in three capacities – 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. It has advertised speeds of 70MB/s read, 30MB/s write using USB 3.0 and 30MB/s read, 25MB/s write with USB 2.0. For today’s review we received the 32 GB version.

The previous Kingston USB 3.0 drives I reviewed were the DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 and DataTraveler HyperX 3.0 that were thick and solidly constructed. The DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is composed of plastic and seems less solid than those other two models; not that it is poorly constructed it just feels less solid.

Here are some size comparisons against the Kingston USB 3.0 flash series and some standard USB 2.0 flash drives.

DT Elite 05 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

DT Elite 06 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 07 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

It is composed of slate grey, piano black and white plastic measuring 2.7185″ x 0.8504″ x 0.437″ (69.05mm x 21.6mm x 11.1mm).

The bulk of the body is the slate grey component, which has “DataTraveler Elite 3.0” printed in silver letters on one side and an embossed “Kingston” on the other. The white section acts as the “rail” for opening and closing the drive and has several linear grooves in the middle of the body that appear to be for style not function. A single groove on the side of this white area seems designed for sliding the drive open or closed.

DT Elite 08 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 09 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

On the black segment the drive capacity is printed in gold lettering. When the drive is connected a blue LED in this area reveals drive activity. Pulling the black segment towards the grey segment will reveal the USB connector. Missing from this flash drive is a cap which is a nice feature although the end of the USB connector does remain exposed to the outside world.

DT Elite 10 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 11 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Since this is a USB 3.0 drive, the connector is blue unlike the black of USB 2.0 drives.


Specifications:

DataTraveler Elite 3.0

Kingston’s DataTraveler Elite 3.0 USB Flash drive is designed based on the USB 3.0 standard and is an economical choice for fast, multi-stream data transfer. With USB 3.0 speeds up to 70MB/s read and 30MB/s write, it’s ideal for desktops and notebooks with USB 3.0 ports and also reduces data transfer times on system with USB 2.0 ports. DataTraveler Elite features a convenient, tri-colored, capless design with a slider.

Features:

-USB 3.0, backwards compatible with USB 2.0

-70MB/s read, 30MB/s write2 (USB 3.0)

-Capless, tri-colored design

Specifications:

Capacities: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB
Speed:

-USB 3.0: 70MB/s read, 30MB/s write

-USB 2.0: 30MB/s read, 25MB/s writeConvenient: capless design with slider; no cap to lose
Guaranteed: five-year warranty, free technical support
Dimensions: 2.7185″ x 0.8504″ x 0.437″ (69.05mm x 21.6mm x 11.1mm)

Price: $52.89 (from Amazon at time of review)

The DataTraveler Elite 3.0 comes preformatted in FAT32 making it easily recognized by Windows 7 using either USB 2.0 or USB 3.0 connection.

For testing I used a Core i7 2600K on an ASUS P8P67 Pro which has built in USB 3.0 ports. For benchmarking ATTO Disk Benchmark 2.46, Crystal Disk Mark 3.0.1 x64, and DiskBench 2.6.2.0 were employed.

Starting with ATTO using the USB 3.0 interface we see speeds of 70 plus MB/Sec on reads and in the high 30s on the writes. With the USB 2.0 interface the read is just below 35 MB/sec and just above 25 MB/sec on writes.

DT Elite 12 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 13 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Next we look at Crystal Disk Mark. Here we see USB 3.0 speeds of 71.61 on reads and 37.68 on writes using the Sequential benchmark. The USB 2.0 benchmark matches closely to ATTO’s results with reads of 34.6 and writes of 26.73.

DT Elite 14 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 15 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

The final benchmark run was DiskBench which is more of a real world test as it uses files and folders off the user’s PC for testing. The Copy File bench used with a 2 GB file had a transfer rate of 34.303 MB/sec, while the Read File bench showed an impressive 127.823 MB/sec when reading a single file and 76.555 MB/s when reading two files that are threaded.


DT Elite 01 thumb1 Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 04 thumb1 Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 08 thumb1 Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive DT Elite 09 thumb1 Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

Conclusion:

Kingston’s first budget USB 3.0 flash drive is a solid performer meeting its advertised speeds without any issues. While the DataTraveler Elite 3.0 is not as fast as it’s predecessors from Kingston it does pretty well compared to the older USB 2.0 standard flash drives. The drive is well made with a capless which means no lost caps for the owner.

Currently it retails for around $50 at Newegg making it one of the fastest USB 3.0 drives at its price point.

 

9 thumb Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

 

Pros:
+Good performance
+Small
+Portable
+Capless design

Cons:
-Less rugged than other Kingston USB 3.0 flash drives

Grades:
Overall score 9 10 thumb1 Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive
Design score 9 10 thumb1 Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive
Performance score 9 10 thumb1 Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of Kingston DataTraveler Elite 3.0 32GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-kingston-datatraveler-elite-3-0-32gb-usb-3-0-flash-drive/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-kingston-datatraveler-elite-3-0-32gb-usb-3-0-flash-drive/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/TPGxsEfHy6g/ AT&T and Samsung to Launch the Focus 2 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/2-4i6Xc97xQ/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/att-and-samsung-to-launch-the-focus-2/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 16:11:51 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74098 focus2Coming for $49.99 on May 20th you’ll be able to get the Samsung Focus 2 which is a Windows Phone and obviously it’s coming to AT&T. Inexpensive is nice but you’ll need to commit 2 years of your life to get that $49.99 price. The other Focus phones were and are still popular and this one has a 4” super AMOLED screen along with a 5mp rear camera and a VGA front camera.   Beginning May 20, customers can purchase [...]

AT&T and Samsung to Launch the Focus 2 is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> Coming for $49.99 on May 20th you’ll be able to get the Samsung Focus 2 which is a Windows Phone and obviously it’s coming to AT&T. Inexpensive is nice but you’ll need to commit 2 years of your life to get that $49.99 price. The other Focus phones were and are still popular and this one has a 4” super AMOLED screen along with a 5mp rear camera and a VGA front camera.

focus2 thumb AT&T and Samsung to Launch the Focus 2

 

Beginning May 20, customers can purchase the Focus 2, available in a glossy pure white, from AT&T for$49.99 with a two-year contract.

Like AT&T’s other new 4G LTE Windows Phones, the Samsung Focus 2 features the Windows Phone 7.5 operating system which makes it easier to do everyday tasks faster.  Only Windows Phone has Live Tiles, providing real time updates on your Start Screen including calendar appointments, emails or social media feeds. With Bing Search built-in, you’ll never be lost, as finding directions or a highly rated restaurant nearby is quick and easy. Microsoft® Office Mobile and SkyDrive® also allow you to create, save and access documents anywhere from the cloud to help maintain productivity while on-the-go.

The Samsung Focus 2, the latest addition to the Focus family (following the Focus, Focus Flash and Focus S), comes with a 4-inch Super AMOLED™ screen and 5-megapixel camera that makes taking pictures or shooting video in HD 720p a breeze.  The front-facing VGA camera provides the ability for video chat.  Hands-free messaging is available through speech-to-text and text-to-speech features that make it easier to stay in touch safely while out and about.

"AT&T offers our customers the broadest Windows Phone portfolio of any carrier, with three 4G LTE Windows Phones – the only 4G LTE Windows Phones in the U.S. – now at a variety of price points and form factors," said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices, AT&T Mobility.  "The Samsung Focus 2 brings the people-first Windows Phone interface together with AT&T’s fast 4G LTE network for an unbeatable experience."

"Samsung is the unmatched leader in offering smartphones across a variety of platforms and the Focus 2 is a powerful example of our continued commitment to Windows Phone," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile. "As our first 4G LTE Windows Phone, the Focus 2 is a fast and versatile device for productivity, entertainment and social networking."

For more information, customers can visit http://www.att.com/samsungfocus2 or http://www.samsung.com/us/focus2.

AT&T and Samsung to Launch the Focus 2 is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/att-and-samsung-to-launch-the-focus-2/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/att-and-samsung-to-launch-the-focus-2/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/3K0QqY6O7-M/ HTC and Verizon Announce the Droid Incredible 4G LTE http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/LI9Vrxp_g-A/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/htc-and-verizon-announce-the-droid-incredible-4g-lte/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 16:07:43 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74094 237453That’s a long name for a phone isn’t it? Seriously though Verizon and HTC are proud to announce the new Droid Incredible 4G LTE (It probably should be all in capital letters, but whatever…) that features a dual core 1.2GHZ CPU, and of course 4G LTE speeds so you can watch those YouTube videos on the go. The phone also has a 4” super AMOLED screen and an 8mp rear camera I don’t see a price listed nor do I [...]

HTC and Verizon Announce the Droid Incredible 4G LTE is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> That’s a long name for a phone isn’t it? Seriously though Verizon and HTC are proud to announce the new Droid Incredible 4G LTE (It probably should be all in capital letters, but whatever…) that features a dual core 1.2GHZ CPU, and of course 4G LTE speeds so you can watch those YouTube videos on the go. The phone also has a 4” super AMOLED screen and an 8mp rear camera I don’t see a price listed nor do I see an actual release date, just it’s coming in the coming weeks.

237453 thumb HTC and Verizon Announce the Droid Incredible 4G LTE237454 thumb HTC and Verizon Announce the Droid Incredible 4G LTE237455 thumb HTC and Verizon Announce the Droid Incredible 4G LTE

 

The DROID INCREDIBLE 4G LTE captures life’s special moments with an advanced 8-megapixel camera with quick activation from the home screen so customers never miss that perfect shot.  Additionally, there’s no longer a need to choose between shooting video or taking photos, HTC Video Pic™ allows users to shoot HD video and capture photos at the same time.  With 4G LTE speeds, sharing photos and video via email, uploading to the cloud or posting to social networking sites is a breeze.

DROID INCREDIBLE 4G LTE is packed with features to make life easier and customizable.  Customers can personalize and use lock screen shortcuts to quickly access their four favorite apps.  Folders can easily be created on any home screen for additional customization and organization.  A Read Later feature allows people short on time the ability to save browser content like news articles and websites that can be viewed later, even while offline.  The smartphone is also NFC capable so customers can take advantage of Android Beam™ to quickly share Web pages, apps, contacts and YouTube™ videos with friends by simply tapping two compatible phones together.

Additional features:

  • 4-inch super LCD qHD display
  • 8 megapixel rear-facing camera with autofocus, LED flash, BSI, f/2.2 and 28 mm lens
  • Front-facing camera for video chatting with friends and family
  • 1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ S4 processor
  • Mobile Hotspot capable to share 4G LTE connection with up to 10 Wi-Fi-enabled devices
  • Support for up to 32 GB microSD™ memory card
  • 1,700 mAh lithium ion removable battery

The new DROID INCREDIBLE 4G LTE by HTC will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com in the coming weeks.

HTC and Verizon Announce the Droid Incredible 4G LTE is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/htc-and-verizon-announce-the-droid-incredible-4g-lte/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/press-releases/htc-and-verizon-announce-the-droid-incredible-4g-lte/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/Ow6Wm3-Ww24/ Review of Cougar Solution PC Case http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/gdkOG5B3JXI/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-cougar-solution-pc-case/#comments Sun, 06 May 2012 14:04:25 +0000 Tom http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74086 Solution01Today at TestFreaks we will be looking at another PC case from Cougar called the Solution. This is a budget mid-tower case that can accommodate Micro-ATX and ATX sized motherboards. With the ability to house up to eight fans this case should keep any PC build nice and cool. One drawback is the Solution only comes with one 120 mm fan, otherwise you’ll need to supply the rest of the cooling which adds to the cost of your PC build. [...]

Review of Cougar Solution PC Case is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> Today at TestFreaks we will be looking at another PC case from Cougar called the Solution. This is a budget mid-tower case that can accommodate Micro-ATX and ATX sized motherboards. With the ability to house up to eight fans this case should keep any PC build nice and cool. One drawback is the Solution only comes with one 120 mm fan, otherwise you’ll need to supply the rest of the cooling which adds to the cost of your PC build.

Cougar uses a honeycomb and mesh hybrid intake design for improved air cooling. The case also has vented slot covers and holes for water cooling solutions. The inside of the Solution is large enough to accommodate a high end graphics card of up to 32 cm.

The Cougar Solution PC Case arrives in a brown cardboard box with black printing. This seems like an more environmentally friendly packaging but may make the case seem less exciting when displayed next to other artistically covered PC case boxes; but lets not judge a book by its cover. No one really remembers the package their PC case arrives in.

The front of the box has an image of the top face of the Cougar Solution while the back has additional images along with a list of features. On one of the sides is a list of case specs.

Solution01 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case 

Solution02 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution03 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case 

Opening the box we see the Solution held in place between two Styrofoam inserts and covered by a plastic bag.

Solution04 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

Inside the package we find the Cougar Solution case, a bag of screws and parts, two water cooler vent covers and an instruction booklet.

Solution05 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

The Cougar Solution is a black mid tower case composed of black steel and plastic. Cougar offers it with and without an included power supply. We received the one without the power supply for our review. The case measures 19.8cm x 42.5cm x 48.4cm. On the front, top and sides you will notice a honeycomb and mesh intakes to help keep the PC housed inside cool.

Solution06 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution07 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

Looking at the front panel we see the Cougar name and logo in the center along with three 5.25” mesh drive bay covers above it. Beneath this logo is a removable mesh hybrid 3.5" shield. At the very top of the face are a hard drive LED, USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 connectors, audio inputs and a power button. The lower section has a vented area for the storage drives.

Solution08 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

Solution09 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution10 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

On top of the case are two vents that can fit two 120 mm fans.

Solution11 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

The left side door of the Solution has a honeycombed mesh vent opening and is composed of black steel. This vent can accommodate two 120 mm fans as well. The right side door is also solid black steel.

Solution12 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution13 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

At the back of the Solution is an included 120 mm fan, opening for the PC’s mounting bracket, two rear water cooling holes, seven expansion slots, and an opening for a bottom positioned power supply.

Solution14 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution15 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution16 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution17 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case 

Finally the underside of the Cougar Solution has two additional vents, one for the PSU fan and the other for an optional 120 mm fan. Four rubber feet keep the Solution off the floor to help improve the air flow in/out of the case.

Solution18 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

Looking at the inside of the case we find a motherboard tray with elevated standoffs. This is a nice feature as most screw in standoffs have one gets stuck when trying to remove your motherboard. There are additional holes for standard screw in standoffs but if you use an ATX or micro ATX then you won’t need them. In the center of this tray is a raised standoff for centering the motherboard in place.

Solution19 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case 

Solution20 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution21 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

The internal drive cage has room for two 120 mm or one 140 mm fan along with vents.

Solution22 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution23 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

The included rear 120 mm fan is black and orange. While the case is mostly black it does have orange accents mostly inside the case.

Solution24 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

For installation of optical and hard drives there are locking mechanisms making the Cougar a screwless design in this respect.

Solution25 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution26 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case


Specifications:

Cougar Solution PC Case

-Unique honeycomb & mesh hybrid intake design with rugged strong appearance

-Support for 8 fans: front 120mm fan x2 or 140mm fan x1; rear 120mm fan x1; top 120mm fan x 2; bottom 120mm fan x1; left-side panel 120mm fan x2

-Support for longer high-end graphics cards (up to 320 mm)

-Screw-less mechanisms on 5.25", 3.5" & HDD device

-Support 2.5" HDD/SSD

-Holes on the rear panel for water cooling solutions

-Retaining holes in the motherboard tray for easy accessing the backplate of the CPU cooler

-Cable routing holes on the motherboard tray for easy routing and hiding cables behind the MB tray

-Vented slot covers for better cooling performance

-Air filter for the power supply fan

Support 8 fans for strong cooling performance

-Top : 120mm fan x 2 (Optional)

-Front:120mm fan x 2 or 140mm fan x 1 (Optional)

-Bottom : 120mm fan x 1 (Optional)

-Left side:120mm fan x 2 (Optional)

-Rear:120mm fan x 1 (Included)

Case Type: Middle Tower

Motherboard Type: Micro ATX / ATX

Dimensions: 198(W) x 425(H) x 484(D)

Available Color: Black

External 5.25" Drive Bays: 3

External 3.5" Drive Bays:1

Internal 3.5" Drive Bays: 6

Internal 2.5" Drive Bays: 1

Expansion Slots: 7

I/O Panel: USB 3.0 x 1, USB 2.0 x 1

MIC x 1, Audio x 1

Screw-less Mechanism:

5.25" Screw-less Mechanism: 2

3.5" Screw-less Mechanism: 1

HDD Screw-less Mechanism: 2

Cooling System

Max installed: 8pcs fans

Front: 120mm Fan x 2 or 140mm Fan x 1

Top: 120mm Fan x 2

Rear: 120mm Fan x 1

Bottom: 120mm Fan x 1

Left side: 120mm Fan x 2

Bottom Fan Filter: 2

Rear Water Cooling Hole: 2

Maximum VGA Length: 320mm




For testing I installed the following system into the Cougar Solution:

ASUS F1A75-V PRO

AMD A4-3400 Llano 2.7GHz Socket FM 5-V PRO FM

Kingston Hyper X 8 GB DDR

Intel X25-M 80 GB

Samsung 320 GB
NZXT Hale 82 800 Watt
LG 20X DVD +/- RW

Installation of the motherboard, power supply and drives took approximately 45 minutes. Cougar built the case with plenty of cable routing options with the back of the motherboard tray having lots of open areas. My wire management skills are fair at best so I did not go crazy with running wires.

Cougar provides black screws to match the interior of the case but does not provide washers to prevent accidental shorts with the motherboard.

There is plenty of room for the motherboard and the CPU punch out on the back of the tray lined up nicely with the ASUS F1A75-V PRO used for testing.

Solution27 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution28 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

The front face of the Solution pops off by pulling it from the bottom of the case. With this off you can remove any of the three 5.25" screens for installation of optical or other 5.25" sized drives.

Solution29 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

Installation of the 3.5" and 5.25” optical drives was simple with the hands free connectors. Turning the orange knob perpendicular to the drive unlocks it, while moving it into a parallel position locks it.

Solution30 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

The Solution can fit seven 3.5" drives and one 2.5" such as an SSD which rests at the bottom of the drive cage and is screwed in from the bottom of the case.

Solution31 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

One feature that of the Solution that I initially found exciting was the inclusion of the USB 3.0 port on the front of the case. Sadly this port connects to a spare USB 3.0 connector off the back of one’s PC; it does not use an internal connector like the standard USB 2.0 front panel connector. This means you will need to feed this USB 3.0 out the back of your machine to take advantage of this front port. This was a bit of a disappointment.

Solution32 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

 Solution33 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution34 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

 Solution35 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case 

Another problem was the audio cable was too short as the high definition audio header was just out of reach on my motherboard. The area for the top fans seems like it will be tight one fans are installed.

Once everything was installed the Solution housed computer was fired up and you can see the blue LEDs of the hard drive and power indicators. Since the inputs are at the front of the case; they were easy to access and use.

Solution36 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

The included fan was very quiet while providing good airflow down onto the motherboard. Additional fans will add to the price of the case build.



Solution01 thumb1 Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution06 thumb1 Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution07 thumb1 Review of Cougar Solution PC Case Solution19 thumb1 Review of Cougar Solution PC Case 

Conclusion:

The Solution is the budget PC case from Cougar with numerous features not found in similar cases. It is solidly built with plenty of options There is plenty of room to increase case airflow but since the Solution only includes one 120 mm fan, this means more fans will add additional expense to the PC build.

Currently the Solution retails for $59 but is sold at Newegg for around $49. If you hurry right now there is a $15 rebate making the final cost $35 making the Solution a fantastic deal at this price.

 

8 thumb Review of Cougar Solution PC Case


Pros:
+Good Wire Management
+Solid construction
+Plenty of room for expansion
+Low price
+Quiet 120 mm fan

Cons:
-Only one fan included
-USB 3.0 front panel solution not ideal
-Short audio cable

Grades:  
Overall score 8 10 thumb1 Review of Cougar Solution PC Case
Design score 8 10 thumb1 Review of Cougar Solution PC Case
Performance score 8 10 thumb1 Review of Cougar Solution PC Case

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of Cougar Solution PC Case is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-cougar-solution-pc-case/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-cougar-solution-pc-case/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/eeUwC_JNfRw/ News for Friday May 4th 2012–TGIF! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/POSxh9gM9Cs/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-friday-may-4th-2012tgif/#comments Fri, 04 May 2012 12:10:25 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=74002 NewsOk, so you may have noticed the lack of posting, well it’s been a rough couple months but I think it’s over now. We had a couple deaths in the family and I had some annoying legal stuff to contend with but I think it’s over, for now anyway and it’s back to business as usual. It’s Friday and I’m sure everyone is happy about that so while you’re enjoying your morning coffee as I am, you can sit back [...]

News for Friday May 4th 2012–TGIF! is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]>

News thumb News for Friday May 4th 2012–TGIF!

Ok, so you may have noticed the lack of posting, well it’s been a rough couple months but I think it’s over now. We had a couple deaths in the family and I had some annoying legal stuff to contend with but I think it’s over, for now anyway and it’s back to business as usual. It’s Friday and I’m sure everyone is happy about that so while you’re enjoying your morning coffee as I am, you can sit back and read some news from our friends from around the world.


Storage Related:

Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB Hard Drive @ Bjorn3D

Current SSD Projects On The Go

RunCore Pro V MAX 240GB Solid State Drive Review

Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SATA3 SSD Review

Plextor M3P 256GB SATA 3 SSD Review

G.Skill TridentX 8GB 2400mhz Memory Review (Z77 platform)

Crucial Adrenaline 50GB Solid State Cache Review @ circuitREMIX

QNAP TurboNAS TS-259 Pro+ NAS Server Review @ NikKTech

MemoRight FTM Plus Slim 7mm 240GB Solid State Drive Review

Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR3-1866 BLE2CP8G3D1869DE1TX0CEU Review

G.Skill RipjawsZ PC3-17000 32GB Memory Kit Review

Kingston HyperX T1 2800MHz DDR3 Memory Review on Ivy Bridge @ Legit Reviews

Patriot Viper Extreme Division 4 Review – 16GB Quad Channel 1600 MHz @ HCW

 

Audio / Video / Video Cards:

VisionTek 7850 and 7870 @ PureOverclock

NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 690 Features And Benchmark Review

MSI R7950 Twin Frozr III 3GD5/OC Review

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Benchmark Performance @ Benchmark Reviews

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 4GB Video Card Review @ Legit Reviews

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Dual-GK104 GPU Review

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690: The Dual-GPU Beast Arrived! @ Bjorn3D

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 4 GB

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Dual-GPU Graphics Card Launch Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Review @ Hardware Canucks

Egreat S-Series R300 Network HD Media Player Review @ NikKTech

PowerColor PCS+ HD7970 vs Gainward GTX 680 Phantom Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Samsung EHS70 Earphones with Mic

Funky Kit Review: HIS Radeon HD 7870 (2GB GDDR5)

ROCCAT Kave 5.1 Surround Gaming Headset Review @ Legit Reviews

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 Video Card Features @ Benchmark Reviews

HIS 7950 IceQ Turbo @ PureOverclock

Noontec Zoro Headset Review @ XtremeComputing

Sennheiser HD 429 Headphones Review

Palit GeForce GTX 680 JetStream 2 GB

Gainward GeForce GTX 680 Phantom Review

MSI Radeon HD 7870 HAWK 2GB Overclocked Video Card Review

MSI Radeon HD 7870 HAWK 2 GB

KRK Systems KNS 8400 Headphones

 

Mobile Related:

Asus’ Transformer Pad 300 tablet

Toshiba Dynadock U3.0 Universal USB 3.0 Docking Station Review

HTC One X AT&T Smartphone Review

Top 5 Tablets of (early) 2012

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7" 16GB Review

News Leak: Diablotek May Release 7" Android Tablet with $129 Retail Price @ TechwareLabs

Samsung Galaxy SIII / S3: Product Overview, Specs and Pricing @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk

 

PC Cooling:

Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile CPU Cooler Review

BitFenix Spectre Pro LED 120mm Fans

NZXT FZ-140 and FZ-120 Case Fans

Zalman CNPS10X Optima Heatsink Review @ Frostytech.com

Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E CPU Cooler Review

Cooler Master X6 Heatsink Review

Thermaltake Frio Advanced CPU Cooler @ Pro-Clockers

Zalman CNPS8900 Extreme Low Profile Heatsink Review @ Frostytech.com

Cooler Master TPC 812 CPU Cooler Review @ Legit Reviews

Noctua NH-L12 Low Profile Heatsink Review @ Frostytech.com

Be Quiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 CPU Cooler Review

 

PC Cases:

SilverStone Precision PS07 White Case Review

Zalman Z11 Mid Tower Gaming Case Review @ HardwareLOOK

Raidmax Seiran Mid Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

Silverstone TJ04-E Evolution Case Review @ Ninjalane

NZXT Phantom 410 Gunmetal Mid-Tower Chassis Review @ HCW

Cooler Master HAF XM Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Antec Three Hundred Two Mid-Tower Case Review

Lancool PC-K65 Case Review

Little Devil LD-V4 Test Bench Review

Cooler Master HAF XM Mid-Tower Enclosure Review

Antec Eleven Hundred Case

 

Power Supplies/ Related:

Nexus Value 430 Power Supply Review

Rosewill Capstone Modular 750 W

Silverstone Strider Gold Evolution 850W Power Supply @ Pro-Clockers

Coolermaster Silent Pro M2 720w Review @ HardwareLOOK

SeaSonic X-Series 1050W @ PureOverclock

Thermaltake Smart M650w Review @ XSReviews.co.uk

Thermaltake Toughpower XT Platinum 1275W Power Supply Review @ APH Networks

 

Motherboards:

Raspberry Pi Review & Initial How-To Setup Guide

BIOSTAR TZ77XE4 Review @ Vortez

Asus Maximus V Gene (Z77) Motherboard Ivy Bridge Review @ eTeknix.com

Gigabyte Z77X-UD5H Motherboard Review

Gigabyte Z79-UD3 Motherboard Review

Gigabyte GA-Z77-D3H Review

 

Assorted:

‘Tezz’ Review

‘The Avengers’ Review

‘The Raven’ Review

Microsoft Windows 8: Mostly A Crap Wreck @ Phoronix

Biggest Tech Failures of The Last 10+ Years

Ubuntu 12.04 vs. Windows 7: Intel Sandy/Ivy Bridge Loses On Linux @ Phoronix

Lenovo C325 All-in-One PC Review @ ThinkComputers.org

NETGEAR Powerline Nano500 and Powerline 200 Mini Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Making A Easy-To-Setup $50 Linux Multi-Seat Computer @ Phoronix

Adaptec RAID 6805E RAID Controller @ TechwareLabs

Maingear Shift Limited Edition Chassis Review

 

Gaming:

CM Storm Trigger Gaming Keyboard Review @ Techgage

Exclusive First Look Of The Leetgion El’Druin Gaming Mouse @ NikKTech

Prototype 2 Review

Armored Core V Review

The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition Review

Cooler Master Trigger Mechanical Gaming Keyboard @ Pro-Clockers

CM Storm Trigger Gaming Keyboard Review @ Ninjalane

Cooler Master Storm Trigger @ LanOC Reviews

Corsair Vengeance K90 Gaming Keyboard

Razer Naga Hex Review @ Vortez

Prototype 2 (XBOX 360) Game Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Inside the Magnavox Odyssey2

News for Friday May 4th 2012–TGIF! is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-friday-may-4th-2012tgif/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-friday-may-4th-2012tgif/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/plgWZtgVOo8/ Review of Sportiiiis Heads Up Display for Athletes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/SWG85iT4tjM/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-sportiiiis-heads-up-display-for-athletes/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:08:10 +0000 Tom http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=73998 Sportiiiis01Heads up displays (HUD) are designed to provide real time data to the user while allowing them to focus on their external environment. We have seen these devices in movies and video games and now they are making their way into our everyday lives. While the technology is evolving some companies are already employing it in novel ways. One such company is 4iiii Innovations who have designed a device to help athletes and exercise lovers to visual and audio feedback [...]

Review of Sportiiiis Heads Up Display for Athletes is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> Heads up displays (HUD) are designed to provide real time data to the user while allowing them to focus on their external environment. We have seen these devices in movies and video games and now they are making their way into our everyday lives. While the technology is evolving some companies are already employing it in novel ways.

One such company is 4iiii Innovations who have designed a device to help athletes and exercise lovers to visual and audio feedback of critical work out and/or racing data. The Sportiiiis is a multicolored LED boom that attaches to any pair of glasses providing feedback of various parameters such as heart rate, cadence, power, speed, and pace.

Sportiiiis works in conjunction with ANT+ compatible devices to provide this data. The Sportiiiis attaches to any pair of glasses, sitting on the periphery of the users vision allowing full visualization of the road while providing continuous data. Two capacitive buttons on the unit allow the user to interact with the device with one hand. Besides visual feedback the Sportiiiis also provides verbal information.

The Sportiiiis comes packaged in a clear plastic box with the device visualized through the front of the box. On the top of the package is a list of performance data that the Sportiiiis can monitor such as speed, power, heart rate and cadence. On the back is an image of the Sportiiiis with the various features listed and functions of the device.

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Inside the package we find the Sportiiiis boom, a micro USB charging cable, two mounting brackets, ten zip tie wraps and a sheet with the web address for the software download and user guide. 4iiii Innovations sells the Sportiiiis by itself or with an included heart monitor. For today’s review we will look at the standalone version. Since I did not have any ANT+ devices to test with the Sportiiiis, the company was kind enough to also send me their heart monitor as well.

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The Sportiiiis unit looks similar to a Bluetooth headset minus the earpiece. It comes in all black and is composed of plastic at the backend where a speaker, multifunction button and micro USB port are found while the boom is composed of a rubber malleable material and contains seven LEDs that can be programmed by position. Like recent Bluetooth headsets the side of this device functions as a capacitive touch sensor called the TipTap that changes the function of the unit with a simple tap.

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The speaker is located towards the rear of the device and provides audio prompts when triggered by the TipTap Sensor or by a program setting. In front of the speaker is the micro USB port that is protected by a rubbery shield to keep it safe from moisture. The red multifunction button adjacent to this port is also capacitive touch button, which powers the Sportiiiis on and off while controlling other functions as well.

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At the top of the Sportiiiis is a rail for attaching the unit to the mounting brackets.

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Specifications:

Sportiiiis

Sportiiiis is a Heads Up Display and audio system that gives you feedback on critical performance data. This enables you to maintain form, keep your eyes on the road and always be safe. Sportiiiis attaches to virtually any pair of glasses and guides you to your target workout zone with multi-colored LEDs positioned in your peripheral vision. A simple tap of the unit gives you a verbal update on your current performance. Sportiiiis is compatible with ANT+ enabled devices for easy integration with your current training tools.

-Multi-colored LED boom provides instant visual feedback of critical workout and racing data (Heart Rate, Cadence, Power, Speed, Pace, and other ANT+ compatible data)

-Lightweight unit (<10g) with adjustable boom easily attaches to virtually any pair of glasses

-LED boom is positioned in your secondary vision, guiding you to your target zone while eliminating the need to take your eyes off the road

-Built-in speaker provides spoken audio prompts with detailed levels of performance

-TipTap technology allows changing between paired sensors and receiving audible zone updates by simply tapping on the unit

-Intuitive software enables you to create personalized zone profiles

Sportiiiis Specifications

Unit dimensions, LxWxH: 12.7 x 1.5 x 2 cm

Weight: <10g

Battery: rechargeable lithium-ion

Battery life: 9 hours, typical

Battery charge time: 75 minutes (fully discharged)

Operating temperature: -20°C to +60°C

Price: $199 (starting price)


 


To get started using the Sportiiiis you will need a pair of glasses, ANT+ sensor, Windows or OS X computer with USB port, an Internet connection and a pair of scissors.

Initial charge of the Sportiiiis unit takes 75 minutes to complete a full charge and is done by plugging it into your computer via the USB cable. The LEDs on the boom will glow a steady green when it is fully juiced.

While it is charging you can download the installation software from here. 4iiii Innovations offers both Windows and Mac versions of the software. Once it is installed you can launch the Sportiiiis configuration utility.

Upon starting the software with the Sportiiiis connected it will check for the latest firmware and allow the user to update it if necessary.

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The configuration software is set up with three setting tabs – Profile, Zone and Setup. From Profile you can set up your name, e-mail, height and weight along with age and gender. This data is used to calculate various performance parameters such as optimal heart rate.

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The Zone tab allows the customization of how the LEDs respond to input from the ANT+ sensors. Zones can be set for either running or biking in conjunction with the various sensors that the Sportiiiis can interact with. Specific zone programs can be named and saved from this section of the software.

For instance target heart rate and zones can easily be adjusted by sliding each of the diamonds that correlate to the Sportiiii’s LED’s up or down. The device also has an auto announce option, which provides spoken updates during your workout. Once you’re set click on the “Ready To Upload” button to save these values to the Sportiiiis unit.

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From the setup tab you can configure audio volume, auto announce interval, LED brightness and more. Once any changes are made make sure you click the “Ready To Upload” button to save these settings.

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Once the software is setup it is time to attach the Sportiiiis to your eyewear; which can be a little tricky at first. 4iiii Innovations provides two mounting brackets allowing the use of multiple pairs of eyewear. The mounting brackets are attached to the glasses using small zip ties. For such a nice piece of tech, zip ties seem like a low end solution to attaching the Sportiiiis to a pair of glasses; however zip ties will attach to most every style of eyewear.

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The Sportiiiis boom can be placed inside or outside the lens. Once you find the proper positioning of the mounting bracket simply tighten the zip ties and clip the excess from the ties off. Now the Sportiiiis unit can be slid on and off the glasses although you are left with a zip tied on bracket when not exercising.

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4iiii Innovations provides ten zip ties which is nice especially if you make a mistake with your first application like I did. My initial error was not positioning the bracket on the outside of my eyewear before tightening the ties causing me to waste a pair of zip ties.

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Now you’re ready to use Sportiiiis for your exercise activity. The red multifunction button turns the device on and off along with switching it between run and bike mode, adjusting volume, pairing new sensors or clearing all paired sensors. If the heart rate strap came with your Sportiiiis then it should be already paired and ready to go.

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To pair a different ANT+ device tap and hold the multifunction button until you hear the second set of three beeps. You should hear an audible confirmation when the new device is successfully connected.

The TipTap Button allows different actions with the amount of taps. One tap will provide audio feedback of the currently displayed sensor while two taps will switch to the next paired sensor.

For testing the Sportiiiis was used during workouts primarily running. While the boom is out of your direct line of sight, it will take some time to get used to it being in your field of vision. Overall the Sportiiiis used in conjunction with the 4iiii’s heart rate monitor worked very well.

Target heart rate was achieved by hitting the green in the center of the seven LEDs on the boom. Going over or under will get you into the yellow LEDs while orange and red means you are too far under or over your target range.

Battery life was in the seven to seven and half range, which meant I could get a week and change out of one charge which is pretty good.

Controlling the device with one hand was simple, however there were times when the red multifunction button did not respond to my initial touch and required a second press.

The most exciting part of the Sportiiiis system is that it is continually evolving. The software and firmware are frequently being updated with new features. Plus since it is ANT+ capable new sensors can be added in the future.

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Conclusion:

The Sportiiiis is a new tool for the workout warrior’s arsenal. It provides real time feedback to help improve performance and results for a runner or bicyclist. Keeping one’s eye on the road instead of looking down at a wrist watch or other performance computing device will help keep the user safer on the road.

Since 4iiii Innovations is consistently updating the software and firmware the Sportiiiis seems like it will only get better with time. If you are an exercise fanatic then the Sportiiiis is definitely a worthwhile investment.

 

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Pros:
+Can be universally mounted
+Simple to set up
+Lightweight
+Intuitive software
+Works with ANT+ devices

Cons:
-Zip ties seem like a crude way to mount device
-Multifunction capacitive button did not always register with first press.
-Mounting bracket ties up pair of glasses
-Expensive

Grades:  
Overall score 9 10 thumb1 Review of Sportiiiis Heads Up Display for Athletes
Design score 8 10 thumb1 Review of Sportiiiis Heads Up Display for Athletes
Performance score 9 10 thumb1 Review of Sportiiiis Heads Up Display for Athletes

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of Sportiiiis Heads Up Display for Athletes is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-sportiiiis-heads-up-display-for-athletes/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-sportiiiis-heads-up-display-for-athletes/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/0Sz8NwRdgDs/ News for April 28th 2012–It’s Cold Outside! http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/ZMmgeMlxzDE/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-april-28th-2012its-cold-outside/#comments Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:14:43 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=73920 NewsIt’s a couple days until May and I woke up to a temperature of 35F this morning, it’s now 38F and only going up to 47F, which is cold for this time of the year. I always thought that plants don’t like the cold but I’ve got to go and pull weeds as they seem to be impervious to it as they seem to be thriving very well. It was below freezing several times last week and they’re still growing [...]

News for April 28th 2012–It’s Cold Outside! is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]>

News thumb4 News for April 28th 2012–It’s Cold Outside!

It’s a couple days until May and I woke up to a temperature of 35F this morning, it’s now 38F and only going up to 47F, which is cold for this time of the year. I always thought that plants don’t like the cold but I’ve got to go and pull weeds as they seem to be impervious to it as they seem to be thriving very well. It was below freezing several times last week and they’re still growing sadly. So it’s Saturday and we’ve got a bunch of news for you, lots of SSDs in here this time.


Storage Related:

GeIL EVO CORSA 16GB DDR3 2133MHz CL10 PC3-17000 @ TechwareLabs

Cloud Storage: 5 Alternatives, What’s in It for You?

Kingston Wi-Drive @ LanOC Reviews

Crucial Adrenaline 50GB m4 Cache SSD Review @ Legit Reviews

Sandberg 4-Port USB 3.0 Hub Review @ NikKTech

Intel 330 Series 120GB SATA 3 SSD Review

Patriot Pyro SE 240GB SSD

TCS Galatea Ultra-Rugged 240GB SLC SSD Review

Corsair Accelerator Series 60GB Cache SSD Review

Kingston Wi-Fi Drive

Memoright MS-701 mSATA SSD Review

Garbage Collection and TRIM in SSDs Explained – An SSD Primer

Patriot Memory Pyro SE 240GB SATA III SSD Review

Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB Hard Drive Review @ Legit Reviews

ADATA XPG SX900 256GB SATA 3 SSD Review

Runcore ProV Max 240GB 6Gbps SSD Review

BIWIN S836 Elite SATA 3 120GB SSD Review

Samsung 830 Series SATA 3 512GB SSD Review

Kingston HyperX 3k 240GB SATA III SSD Upgrade Kit Review @ NikKTech

Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB Retail Solid State Drive Bundle Review

 

Audio / Video / Video Cards:

Crumpler Muffin Top 90 Compact Camera Case Review

Samsung TA950 HDTV 3D Monitor Review @ HardwareLOOK

Capdase 100B MKeeper Compact Camera Case Review

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime TF201 Review

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge GPU Performance

Case Logic DCB-304 High Zoom Bridge Camera Case Review

VisionTek Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card Overclocked Review

CustomSLR C-Loop HD and Split Strap Camera Strap for DSLR Cameras @ TechwareLabs

Hama Arezzo 50F Leather Style Compact Camera Case Review

 

Mobile Related:

Premium Carbon Fiber Design Rubberized Shield Hard Case Cover for HTC Titan Review

Otterbox Samsung Galaxy S II Commuter Series Case Review

PosR.us Custom Screen Protector for Idolian TouchTab 10 Review

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Android Honeycomb Tablet

Dell XPS 15z Notebook PC Review

 

PC Cooling:

Alpenföhn K2 CPU Cooler Review on Technic3D

Phanteks PH-TC14CS CPU Cooler @ Pro-Clockers

Gamer Storm Assassin CPU Cooler Review

Cooler Master Gemin II SF524 Review @ XSReviews.co.uk

Zalman CNPS8900 Extreme CPU Cooler Review

 

PC Cases:

Thermaltake Armor Revo Chassis (Snow Edition)

BitFenix Raider @ PureOverclock

Cooler Master HAF XM @ LanOC Reviews

Cooler Master HAF XM Computer Case @ Benchmark Reviews

In Win Mana 136 Mid-Tower Chassis Review @ eTeknix.com

Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Review @ ThinkComputers.org

NZXT Crafted Series Phantom 410 Mid-Tower Computer Case Review

Silverstone Raven 3 (RV03) Full Tower Computer Chassis & Strider Gold 850 Watt Power Supply Combo Review

 

Power Supplies/ Related:

Sharkoon WPM 600W Power Supply Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

Enermax Revolution87+ 1000 watt PSU

 

Motherboards:

MSI Z77A-GD65 (Intel Z77) Motherboard Review

ZOTAC A75-ITX WiFi A-E

Gigabyte Z77MX-D3H Review

ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe Benchmark Performance @ Benchmark Reviews

Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H @ LanOC Reviews

Intel DZ77GA-70K @ LanOC Reviews

Asus Maximus Gene V preview @ LanOC Reviews

ASUS P8Z77-V Deluxe LGA1155 Motherboard @ Benchmark Reviews

Sapphire Pure Platinum Z77K Motherboard Review

AMD A8-3870K Review @ Vortez

GIGABYTE Z77X-UD5H (Intel Z77) Motherboard Review

MSI Z77A-GD65 ATX Motherboard Review With Sandy Bridge

 

 

Assorted:

The Avengers (2012) Cinema Review

COMPETITION: Win a pair of MEElectronics RX12 Sound-Isolating In-Ear Headphones @ Tech-Reviews.co.uk

Intel Ivy Bridge Processor Overclocking Proves Challenging For Some Motherboard Makers @ Legit Reviews

Brite-Strike Lightning Strike Tactical Flashlight Review @ Techwarelabs

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge Processor @ Benchmark Reviews

In the Kitchen with Rosewill Appliances? (Video)

Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge LGA1155 Processor Review

MEGATechNews Checks Out The 2012 Fan Expo in Vancouver (Video)

 

Gaming:

Review of CrazyOnDigital Silicon Skin Case for Sony PlayStation PS Vita

A Special Linux Delivery At Valve Software @ Phoronix

Cooler Master Sentinel Advance II and Speed-RX @ PureOverclock

Four Gaming Clichés That Absolutely Need To Die

Razer Naga Hex Expert Gaming Mouse Review @ NikKTech

Cooler Master Quick Fire Rapid Review @ XSReviews.co.uk

Corsair Vengeance K90 Gaming Keyboard Review

Gaming Friday: Pittco Iron Storm XIII Lan Party @ ThinkComputers.org

Corsair Vengeance M60 FPS Mouse Review @ Techgage

Ridge Racer Unbounded Review @ Techgage

Corsair Vengeance K90 Mechanical Keyboard @ Benchmark Reviews

Rosewill RK-8200 Gaming Keyboard Review @ HardwareLOOK

Rosewill RM-5000L Laser Gaming Mouse Review @ HardwareLOOK

Ozone Onda 3HX Headset Review @ eTeknix.com

Razer Mass Effect 3 Gaming Gear Review @ HardwareHeaven.com

MEGATech Reviews: Vessel for Steam

MEGATech Reviews – Pritect Privacy Cover for Xbox 360 Kinect

MEGATech Reviews: Shank 2 for PC

MEGATech Showcase: The Xbox 720 Rumors

News for April 28th 2012–It’s Cold Outside! is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-april-28th-2012its-cold-outside/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/news/news-for-april-28th-2012its-cold-outside/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/a7e92ub5u_M/ Review of XJacKer PS3 Kit http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/zJpS-cRqDNg/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-xjacker-ps3-kit/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 19:23:46 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=73916 jack1I haven’t seen many console accessories in a while but I’ve got a few of them coming for you, starting today with the XJacker PS3 Kit. I’m sure right now you’re wondering what the heck an XJacker is, well it’s an adapter that let’s you use most any headset or headphones with your PS3. They can be the same ones you use with your PC, phone or MP3 player. They can have have a microphone or not, but I think [...]

Review of XJacKer PS3 Kit is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> I haven’t seen many console accessories in a while but I’ve got a few of them coming for you, starting today with the XJacker PS3 Kit. I’m sure right now you’re wondering what the heck an XJacker is, well it’s an adapter that let’s you use most any headset or headphones with your PS3. They can be the same ones you use with your PC, phone or MP3 player. They can have have a microphone or not, but I think you’ll want a microphone to have the ability to chat  of course. The XJacker PS3 Kit is inexpensive product that comes in just under $20 and I think it’s worth as I looked around and really couldn’t find a decent wired headset for the PS3 for under $50. The Xjacker PS3 Kit lets you use your current headset with your PS3 and you don’t any functionality, this way you don’t have to buy separate headsets which is you spending more money.

I don’t know about a lot of you, but I’ve got small kids and I like to game but I can’t exactly do that at night time when they’re trying to sleep. Of course my wife isn’t exactly thrilled either by the booming sounds while I’m playing games. I work from home so I can play games in the day time when no one is here, but I’m supposed to be working so I don’t do it often. I don’t play as much as I want to basically and I’ve been meaning to get a PS3 headset but it’s just one of those things that aren’t a priority for me so I’ve never got one. The Xjacker PS3 kit though now allows me to use my regular headphones for my PS3 to play games without disturbing anyone, and I think it’s just great.

The XJacker PS3 Kit comes in a very small and colorful box with specs and features listed.

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There are no instructions in the box, they’re on the side and you can get more detailed one on the XJacker website.

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You’ll find three things in the box, USB dongle, ‘Y’ audio cable and a lengthy set of audio cables as well.

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The Xjacker kit can be hooked up two way, via RCA style jacks or via a standard 3.5mm jack if you TV or stereo has one. The female end in the picture below is what you would plug your headphones into.The cord is a rubberized style, personally I would have rather seen an anti-tangle cloth style, but these seem more than durable.

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The included ‘Y’ audio cable is for those types of headphones that have a microphone but only a single audio jack. This is the type you’d see that can be used with most phones.

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The included USB dongle hooks to your PS3 and it’s so you can use a microphone for in-game chatting ability. It’s just a small little gadget with a USB connection on one end and a female audio jack on the other.

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Specifications:

XJacKer PS3 Kit

WUT?! I CAN HAZ A PS3 GAMING HEADSET?

YES! In fact, you already haz a headset! All you need is an XJacKer PS3 Kit to unleash your headset’s latent PlayStation 3 potential! Yeah, you read that right. XJacKer PS3 Kits turn any standard PC headset into a full-fledged PS3 gaming headset!

Get stereo game sound + PSN chat via the same headset you already own!

Coordinate tactics in BF3, complain about noobs or boosters in MW3, or talk some sh*t in Madden 12. Remember, good communication is critical to multiplayer gaming. And if you’re not playing well with others, then you’re really just playing with yourself.

So don’t waste a grip of cash on a new PlayStation 3 headset . . . get an XJacKer PS3 Kit and save your hard-earned cheddar for what you really want – MORE GAMES!

FEATURES:
-Turns your existing, standard (non-USB), PC/computer headset into a PlayStation 3 gaming headset
-Get stereo game audio from your PS3, your TV, or your stereo via our exclusive Game Sound Multi-Cable
-Enables PlayStation Network (PSN) chat using your PC/computer headset’s microphone via our exclusive PSN Chat USB Dongle
-Enjoy up to 10-feet of distance and mobility
-Fully-backed by our 1-year warranty
-MSRP:  Only $19.99 USD

SPECIFICATIONS:
XJacKer Game Sound Multi-Cable:  Exclusive custom quad-head cable with a 3.5mm TRS jack, a 3.5mm TRS plug, and stereo RCA piggyback connectors; Total length = 9.8 feet (3 meters)

XJacKer PSN Chat USB Dongle:  Exclusive, ultra-low profile USB dongle with integrated DAC/ADC, USB Type A Male plug, and a 3.5mm TRS jack

Beats Adapter (for iSoniTalk cables):  A free bonus from XJacKer; Compatible with Beats models using the Beats iSoniTalk cable; 3.5mm TRRS jack; dual 3.5mm TRS plugs; 10 cm./4 in. of OFC (oxygen-free copper) cable

Price: $19.96 (from Amazon at time of review)



You can use regular headphones or combination headphones with microphone with the Xjacker PS3 Kit. I got out my Denon AH-D510R Over-Ear Headphones that have an in-line microphone. The main reason I used these was to test the little ‘Y’ audio adapter that came with it and see if it would work for the microphone and it does!

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My PS3 is hooked up to my HDTV with an HDMI cable so that meant I had to dig around and find the original component A/V cable to be able to use the XJacker Kit. you can hook up the kit without it but you’ll need to have 3 regular 3.5mm audio jack on your TV or on your audio system and it seems neither one of mine do, so I’m stuck with the A/V cable.

You have to hook the RCA audio connections on the XJacker to those on your PS3 cables, then the other end just hooks right to your headphones. This configuration is just for sound though the headphones and not using the microphone. If you’re like me and use HDMI you’ve got to go into the PS3 settings and adjust it for multi-audio output which I found you can have the sound playing through both the headphones and your TV or stereo at the same time if you don’t do it right. So pay attention when you’re changing the settings. Of course if you’re already using the component cable you’ll just use the pass-though part but that might have a problem of it’s own depending on how far the connection is away. The included cable is long but if your connection is on the back of your TV then you’re going to lose whatever length that is to get there.

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Now if you want to use the microphone in your headset you need to use the included UBS dongle. Some headsets have separate microphone and audio jacks and some don’t, especially those that can be used with phones. The Denon pair I have is one such product so I had to use the special splitter that can in this kit. According to the specs and the Xjacker site this splitter is only really for Beats branded headsets so I wasn’t sure it would even work for the Denon set but I’m happy to say it worked fine.  To use the audio jack the front USB port was the obvious choice for me. If you have the type of headphones with separate audio and microphone plugs then you obviously won’t need the ‘Y’ adapter and you’ll just plug the microphone directly into the dongle.

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The XJacker kit includes a nice long cable but that’s negated when you use the USB adapter as now you’re limited to the length of the cable on your headphones sadly. Just like above when I changed the audio settings you’ll need to do the same thing for the microphone. In the settings you’ll find one labeled USB microphone when it’s plugged in.

For me I’m really not into the whole chatting thing in games, the little obnoxious children that I’ve ran across annoy me. Honestly I prefer single player games myself, but I do play some multiplayer just without chatting. So for me the microphone part of this isn’t that big of a deal as I won’t be using it so I have the whole length of cable to work with in addition to the length of the A/V cable. This is nice as it let’s me sit farther away from my HDTV and not right up on it.

It’s seems like there’s quite a bit to do to get this working but not really, just hook it up and change a few settings and you’re done. The difficulty or length of time it takes to get this up and running is going to depend on your personal set up.

As far as clarity of sound, it sounded perfectly fine to me with the headphones being hooked up this way, no static or buzzing, it works well.

The one thing I noticed is that there really isn’t any volume control when hooked to the PS3, at least I didn’t notice one. There is a volume control on the PS3 but it’s not like it’s easy to access while playing games. The basic or default level seemed more than adequate though for my personal needs.

 


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Conclusion:
The XJacker PS3 Kit is one of those things that I didn’t know existed but it’s one of those things that I think I’m thankful does exist. I found this kit to be very useful and easy to use overall. It’s a great way to save some money as I think pretty much everyone already has some sort of headset floating around. The XJacker PS3 Kit solves the problem of needing and having to spend money on a separate headset for your PS3. There’s not much to the kit, but what there is seems well made and should last through even the most intense gaming sessions.

There are a few small issues but you running into those will depend on how your system is set up and what kind of access you have to audio jacks.

Personally I really like the XJacker PS3 Kit, I know it will be in use often in my home.

9 thumb6 Review of XJacKer PS3 Kitrecommended5 thumb4 Review of XJacKer PS3 Kit

 

Pros:
+Inexpensive
+Very simple to use
+Can save you money
+Nice long cable

Cons:
-When using USB microphone you’re limited by headphone length
-Cable length might be an issue in some instances
-Need to have regular PS3 component cable handy

Grades:  
Overall score 9 10 thumb1 Review of XJacKer PS3 Kit
Design score 9 10 thumb1 Review of XJacKer PS3 Kit
Performance score 9 10 thumb1 Review of XJacKer PS3 Kit

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of XJacKer PS3 Kit is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-xjacker-ps3-kit/feed/ 0 http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-xjacker-ps3-kit/http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/8nEztw6IYiw/ Review of Griffin Helo TC Assault Remote Control Helicopter http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/testfreaks/qwIO/~3/W6B8xcJKoeE/ http://blog.testfreaks.com/review/review-of-griffin-helo-tc-assault-remote-control-helicopter/#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:05:09 +0000 Kristofer Brozio http://blog.testfreaks.com/?p=73878 helotca1I love toys and being a dad means I can get and play with all kinds of toys. My favorite is pretty much anything remote control, but helicopters hold a special place for me. Today for review I’ve got the Griffin Helo TC Assault which is a remote control helicopter that can be controller with either iOS or Android devices. The Helo TC Assault is special though in that it has missiles that actually fire, yes you can have a [...]

Review of Griffin Helo TC Assault Remote Control Helicopter is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

]]> I love toys and being a dad means I can get and play with all kinds of toys. My favorite is pretty much anything remote control, but helicopters hold a special place for me. Today for review I’ve got the Griffin Helo TC Assault which is a remote control helicopter that can be controller with either iOS or Android devices. The Helo TC Assault is special though in that it has missiles that actually fire, yes you can have a lot of fun with this little gadget.

So here we are again with the box. The Helo TC Assault package has a nice window on the front to show you the helicopter and basic specs and features listed.

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When you open the box you’ll find a plastic tray holding the helicopter and a smaller box, on the back of the tray is the bag of accessories.

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The accessory bag contains the UBS cable for charging, spare main rotor blades, a tail rotor, a piece of linkage and six RedEye missiles.

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The helicopter looks like something out of the military but it’s all black, more like a stealth helicopter.

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I think the main or coolest feature of the new Helo TC Assault is the addition of missiles that actually fire! There are two on them, one on each side of the helicopter in rocket pods. The detail on the helicopter is pretty good, it looks like a real helicopter.

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The tail rotor is odd as it faces up instead of on the side like most helicopters.

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On the bottom you’ll find the infrared receiver, power switch and the charging port.

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Specifications:

Helo TC Assault

Launch Missiles From Your Remote-Controlled Helicopter
Fly with your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Android smartphone

Protect your airspace and attack intruders with Helo TC Assault. Your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad or Android smartphone is the remote control for this super-durable, super stable helicopter. Control the heli with your device’s touchscreen, or tilt to steer. Then when you target is in sight, launch Helo TC Assault’s twin RedEye missiles.

Sure, other RC helis may try and start something. Only Helo TC Assault is powerful enough to finish it.

Fire in the Hole!
Fires included RedEye missiles from two spring-loaded launchers built into HELO TC Assault’s fuselage

Flight Modes
Use a virtual joystick on your Multi-Touch display to maneuver the chopper, or tilt your device to move the chopper forward, backward, and side to side.

Flight Plans
Record and store up to three Flight Plans. Make up routes among the furniture, missions to fly, obstacles to avoid, goals to achieve, and replay them later with your friends.

Price: $59.99

I like RC helicopters so I also have the original Griffin Helo TC so here’s both for comparison:

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There’s an obvious difference between them, the original is more metal than plastic, while the Assault is mostly plastic. They both seem fairly well made though.

The first thing you’ll need to do is charge your helicopter, this is done via USB and there’s a an LED in the USB connection to let you know it’s charging and when it’s done.

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The Helo TC Assault has an extremely bright white LED in the front, I guess it might be considered a headlight.

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The original Helo TC only worked with iOS devices but the Helo TC Assault works with both iOS and Android devices. I’ve got Android phones and tablets and an iPod Touch 4th Gen. My phone is the Samsung Galaxy S Captivate which is running Android 2.3.

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To play with the Helo TC Assault you’ll need to download the app from the marketplace, either iOS or Android. The flight deck is your control and you just put your phone into the deck and connect the 3.5mm jack into the phone. The helicopter is controlled by infrared but it uses audio signals or pulses and translates them into the infrared signals. The Flight Deck has soft springy tabs that hold your phone or MP3 player in place.

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I also tried it with two tablet I have, the Le pan TC970 which runs Android 2.0 and the Idolian TouchTab 10 which runs Android 4.0 and the Griffin app wouldn’t run on either one it would just says force close and that was it.

I also tried it with my iPod Touch just because I was curious for comparison.

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The app and controls is pretty much exactly the same for both Android and iOS, just some slight aesthetic differences really. The interesting thing is that you can control both the Helo TC and the Helo TC Assault wit the same app, you just push the button to switch between them.  There is a an Expert mode you can turn on or off, it just basically limits the throttle and when in expert mode there is no limit. You can control the helicopters with an on-screen joystick or you can use the gyros for motion or tilt controls. I found the joystick to be much easier than the motion controls. The app can be used by either left or right handed people, it lets you switch the joystick position to the left or right.

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There is a Help section that has quite a bit of info for beginner and expert pilots alike.

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Here’s the flight controls:

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On the left is a slider for the throttle, slide it up for more power, slide it down for less. In the middle you have three buttons for Flight Plans, Settings and Emergency. The Flight Plans button allows you to record your flights and replay them. The Settings buttons is what I showed you above. The Exclamation point is the emergency landing, if you get into trouble just press the button and the helicopter will shut down and hopefully land safely. On the right side at the top you’ll see trim buttons, then below that is the joystick for flight control. On the bottom is the first buttons, you can fire the right or left missile independently of each other.

I used both Android and iOS for testing and I actually found that the iPod seems to work better for some reason, not sure why. The controls just seem more responsive as does the helicopter when using the iPod Touch.

Speaking of responsive, it’s an infrared helicopter so there is a slight lag in your commands to the helicopter. When you do something like adjust the throttle there’s about a one second lag between you doing it and it actually happening. This takes quite a bit to get accustomed to honestly, and you’ll crash often just because of this lag. Once you use it for a while though you should figure out that you need to make your adjustments before you actually want the helicopter to do it. You sort of have to think ahead really.

Crashing is something else, it’s going to happen no matter how skilled you are or how much experience you have. Luckily the Helo TC Assault is a tough little bird, I’ve crashed it plenty of times and it’s still going strong. The blades have some nicks in them but the helicopter still flies and it’s no worse for wear really.

Firing missiles is hard to do in flight as you sort of have to take your finger or thumb actually off of the joystick really to fire. I found that landing and firing is easier and more accurate. I was surprised that you can fire the missiles without flying. Once you really learn how to fly you’ll get better at firing but still it’s hard to do while the helicopter in in motion and have any real degree of accuracy.


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Conclusion:
The Griffin Helo TC is a fun little toy yes, but it can take a lot of practice to get accustomed to flying it especially since it’s infrared. You’ll crash a lot but luckily the Helo TC Assault is very rugged and durable and thankfully Griffin included spare parts for you just in case you get shot down over enemy territory and need to make repairs. The Helo TC Assault is much more than just a little helicopter, this thing fires missiles and that just makes things more fun of course. I like the fact that you can control it with either Android or iOS devices, but I found that the app is picky in what it can actually run on, specifically for Android devices.

8 thumb1 Review of Griffin Helo TC Assault Remote Control Helicopter

 

Pros:
+Works with both iOS and Android
+Tough little helicopter
+Includes spare parts

Cons:
-Infrared control means slight lag
-Not exactly accurate with missile fire
-Takes a lot of practice

Grades:  
Overall score 8 10 thumb1 Review of Griffin Helo TC Assault Remote Control Helicopter
Design score 9 10 thumb1 Review of Griffin Helo TC Assault Remote Control Helicopter
Performance score 8 10 thumb1 Review of Griffin Helo TC Assault Remote Control Helicopter

To learn more about our review policy please visit this page HERE.

Review of Griffin Helo TC Assault Remote Control Helicopter is a post from: Testfreaks | The Blog

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