Month: July 2014

Reviews

ASUS ROG Matrix Platinum R9 290X Graphics Card Review

July 31, 2014 Dino DeCesari 7

Back in March of this year, ASUS announced plans to release two new video cards that fall under their ROG Matrix family. An AMD R9-290X and NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti version are now both available. ASUS sent us the AMD R9 290X version to have a look at, so that’s just what we’ll do. Because this card is squarely aimed at the overclocking enthusiast, it makes perfect sense ASUS chose to incorporate AMD’s fasted GPU into this offering. If you’re thinking this card is just another re-branded R9 290X reference design… think again. The ROG Matrix R9 290X is built on a custom PCB and is loaded with ASUS unique features that look great on paper, but will it live up to the ROG Matrix name? Let’s go find out, shall we?

Cooling

Swiftech H220-X CPU Liquid Cooling Kit Review

July 29, 2014 Dino DeCesari 7

Expandability, replaceable G1/4 fittings, and a transparent reservoir are terms not usually associated with all-in-one CPU water cooling kits. Swiftech aims to change the way you think when considering an all-in-one cooler and provides all those options and more with their newly released H220-X CPU liquid cooling kit. The Swiftech H220-X has a lot of innovative and unique features your standard re-branded Asetek units just can’t match, and we’ll explore these feature in detail today. The Swiftech H220-X aims to provide extreme thermal performance at an almost inaudible noise level, so let’s find out how they did!

Reviews

HIS R9 290X iPower IceQ X2 Graphics Card Review

July 28, 2014 Dino DeCesari 9

HIS was kind enough to send along their new flagship R9 290X for us to check out, which boasts a factory overclock, a beefed up power delivery section, and a host of other features we’ll dive into. Now that Cryptocoin mining has lessened its impact on AMD based graphics card pricing, cards in this class should be a bit more appealing to those in the market for one. The HIS R9 290X iPower IceQ X2 falls within the HIS “Turbo” family of graphics cards that promise a balance of great gaming performance and cooling. So, let’s take this latest offering from HIS, run it through our review process, and see if it’s a worthy contender in the crowded R9 290X market!

Cooling

Enermax Liqtech 240 HP Liquid Cooler Review

July 24, 2014 Dino DeCesari 5

Once known only for being a supplier of quality power supplies, Enermax has expanded their product line over the past several years. They now provide cases, cooling products, and a host of peripherals to computer enthusiasts. Today, we’ll be looking at their latest all-in-one CPU water cooler, the Liqtech 240 HP. This all-in-one CPU cooler is armed with Enermax’s unique water block and a 240 mm radiator, but how well does it perform? Let’s take it for a spin and find out.

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Reviews

HIS R7 260X iCooler Video Card Review

July 22, 2014 Joe Shields 1

It’s been a long while since we have had a chance to review a video card from HIS, but beginning today we will start to see reviews hit the front page as we finally hooked back up with them. HIS is ready to share their complete lineup with us, so be prepared to be inundated! That out of the way, this review will be about their R7 260X iCooler. HIS always straps great and quiet cooling solutions on AMD cards, so let’s check out their newest revision that rests on the R7 260X!

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Reviews

Lian Li PC-Q28 Case Review

July 16, 2014 Jeremy Vaughan 2

We’re here today with a Lian Li case that isn’t your typical fare, at least for the systems I typically build. Why, you may ask? Because the Lian Li PC-Q28 is tiny. Sit back, relax and have a read through to find out why you’d want such a tiny case – and find out why we like it so much.

Reviews

HIS R7 250X iCooler Graphics Card Review

July 15, 2014 Dino DeCesari 1

Whether you’re building a HTPC or a system intended to run everyday applications, you don’t always need a high-end graphics card to get the job done. HIS thinks they have the perfect solution for such system builds in their R7 250X iCooler graphics card. The R7 250X series of graphics cards were released to fill the void between the R7 250 and R7 260, which results in a re-badged HD 7770 GHz edition using the same Cape Verde XT GPU core. While today’s review sample appears to be a reference design card based on its specifications, it does come with the proprietary HIS iCooler. Hopefully this will equate to cool and quiet operation with a little overclocking thrown in the mix too! Let’s go find out!

Motherboards

MSI Z97M Gaming Motherboard Review

July 10, 2014 Dino DeCesari 1

Z97 chipset based motherboards have begun to saturate the market as of late, and we’re here to bring you another offering from MSI. We’ve already had a look at MSI’s upper-end Z97 MPower Max AC and Z97 XPower AC, so this time around we’ll explore one of their new Gaming series motherboards in the form of the Z97M. This mATX offering aims to pack a powerful punch and a plethora of features, all in a small form factor size. There is little doubt the popularity of small form factor systems has exploded over the past few years, and MSI is doing their part to give those customers a Z97 offering with little to be compromised because of its size. So, how did MSI do this time around? Let’s dive in and find out!

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Reviews

AMD R9 295×2 Video Card Review

July 8, 2014 Joe Shields 31

Boy oh boy oh boy. What a ride this card has been. AMD really went through a lot of effort to bring this unique card to market, being their first dual GPU solution that is not cut down in some way. Here the two R9 290x cores have full Stream Processors, ROPs, APUs, and even raised the clock speed a bit to offset the added latency from using the PLX chip for inter GPU communications. There is no doubt there are two full R9 290Xs on this card! The overall feel of the card is sturdy due to its mostly metal construction throughout.