December 2015 - Overclockers

ASUS ROG Matrix GTX 980 Ti Platinum Edition Video Card Review

December 31, 2015 Joe Shields 0

The ASUS ROG Matrix platinum video cards are well known among many enthusiast circles. From the hardcore liquid nitrogen-using, competitive overclocker down to the hardcore gamer that wants some of the fastest clocks and “best of the best” hardware. I remember this line of cards from the HD5870 series on forward being a beast in nearly all aspects of its use. I have a funny feeling that will not change with the latest flagship, the ASUS ROG Matrix GTX 980 Ti Platinum Edition video card, we have for review today. We will talk about some of its unique features, as well as check out its performance. Seat belts on, tray tables in their upright and locked positions…we are a go for launch!

Noctua 24-Volt Fans and Chromax Review

December 24, 2015 Ed Hume 2

When Noctua announced they had released 24-volt fans, I ignored it, asking, “What does that have to do with me?” I had tried 24-volt fans from other manufacturers with unhappy results. But the Noctua rep told me “They actually run nice and quiet in 12V PC environments!” It was at that point I had to test these fans to see how well they do. Do they really run quietly at 12 volts? And how strong are they? Immediately thereafter, Noctua announced their Chromax line of accessories. From having these two releases coming so close together, this combined review was born.

Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum Wireless 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset Review

December 23, 2015 Austin Matthews 3

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, everyone gather ’round for the Overclockers review of the new and improved Logitech G933 Artemis Spectrum Wireless 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset, wow that’s a mouthful, known henceforth simply as “G933”. Following in the footsteps of the widely used G930, the bar is set high for the G933. Sporting wireless connectivity, dual inputs, surround sound, and more it seems like the G933 has all you could need, and more, for a gaming headset. Let’s take a look at this headset, see the new features it brings, and listen to how it performs!

EVGA Z170 Stinger Motherboard Review

December 22, 2015 Austin Matthews 2

Today, I come to you with the fortune to review another new installment from EVGA’s Z170 motherboard series. This time around it’s the Z170 Stinger that’ll be shown the ropes. The Stinger’s feature set is largely unchanged from last generation. I can’t wait to see what they kept, improved, and dropped on this newest iteration. Who else is ready?

Preview 3DMark’s Newest Benchmark VRMark

December 21, 2015 John Nester 0

The folks at Futuremark have reached out to us once again to let us know of a new 3DMark Holiday Beta available through Steam. With this Beta you can preview VRMark, their newest addition to the 3DMark line for 2016, as well as some of the latest features and an all new interface. The preview can be run through steam or with the stand alone 3DMark benchmark.

MSI Z170A SLI Plus Motherboard Review

December 18, 2015 Joe Shields 2

Today we will have a chance to look at yet another board in MSI’s seemingly already full product stack for Z170 based motherboards. The offering we have today is the MSI Z170A SLI Plus. This board, while it should game and overclock well, is pointed to a more specific market: those that use multiple GPUs. It is geared that way because of the spacing between the main PCIe slots (triple slot spacing). So one can use two of your choice cards, be it AMD or NVIDIA based, and still have some room between the cards for better cooling, particularly for the top card.

G.SKILL Announces DDR4-3200MHz CL14 64GB(4x16GB) Memory Kit

December 18, 2015 Matt Ring 1

G.SKILL continues to push the envelope on speed, releasing a new DD4 memory kits up to 64GB capacity with tight CL14 timings and 3200MHz speed. This marks the fastest DDR4 64GB kit available to date. These should hit stores within the next few days.

HyperX OC Takeover (HOT) World Finals to Commence December 16-17th

December 16, 2015 John Nester 0

Hyper-X just announced the HyperX OC Takeover (HOT) World Finals will be streaming live on Overclocking-TV December 16th and 17th. Ten of the top overclockers from around the world will be competeing in a head to head competition sponsored by Kingston Hyper-X, MSI, Cooler Master, and Thermal Grizzly.

Sapphire R9 380x Nitro Video Card Review

December 16, 2015 Joe Shields 0

Just in time for the Holiday season, AMD is releasing another card in their 3xx series to help fill in their lineup. Fill in their lineup you say? Don’t they have 8 cards out (between the 3XX and Fury Series) already you ask? Even though they have several cards in their current lineup, from top to bottom, budget to rare unicorn, there was a fairly large performance and price gap between the R9 380 and R9 390. In comes the AMD R9 380X. The card is marketed towards being a great gaming GPU for 1080p (1920×1080) and entry level for 1440p (2560×1440).

MSI CPU Guard 1151 to Protect Against Bent Skylake CPUs

December 16, 2015 Matt Ring 0

MSI announced today the release of their CPU Guard 1151 product to combat potential CPU bending when using heavier coolers. With the substrate of Skylake being thinner than that of the previous generation Haswell CPUs, larger coolers, specifically ones going beyond Intel’s 50 lb. pressure specification have been doing some damage. If you’re concerned, stick with spring-mounted heatsinks rather than bolts, or get yourself MSI’s CPU Guard 1151 shim.