Motherboards

Gigabyte Z170X Designare Motherboard Review

GIGABYTE has released a new motherboard based on the LGA 1151 platform as a little brother to the recently reviewed X99 Designare EX. This newest board is the Z170X Designare. Much like its big brother this board features extensive RGB LED control, a VRM which is more than adequate, and much more. Get comfortable, we’re in for the long haul on this one!

Reviews

MSI GTX 1080 Gaming Z 8G Video Card Review

Today we will take a detailed look at the performance and features of the MSI GTX 1080 Gaming Z 8G video card. For this Gaming card, MSI strapped on its Twin Froz VI cooler and gave the VRM area some additional support for quieter, cooler running parts, and a more stable overclock. Let’s see how they did!

Cooling

Noctua NF-A6x25 5V 60mm Fan Review

Noctua has released the NF-A6x25 5V fans. Unpacking the numbering system a bit, that means they are 60 mm fans that operate at 5 volts. They come as 3-wire voltage-controlled and 4-wire PWM fans that are 25 mm thick. Cute little ol’ things, you say? Well, as we see smaller and smaller form factors, this kind of fan should find great use. So let’s check out these little fans and see how they do.

Reviews

MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X 6G Video Card Review

Today I bring you the latest, custom GPU from MSI, based on the newly released NVIDIA GTX 1060, the MSI GTX 1060 Gaming X 6G! There have been a number of improvements made by MSI to this model of 1060 including, but not limited to, a custom PCB, a dual-fan heatsink, and an 8-pin power connection (in lieu of a 6-pin)! The TwinFrozr heatsink and ZeroFrozr technology should help keep this bad boy both cool and quiet no matter what you’re using it for. Before I get to rambling, let’s take a deeper dive into the card!

Cooling

Thermalright TY-14x SQ Fans Review

Thermalright has finally put their PWM fans in square frames. Long known for their excellent 140 mm PWM heatsink fans, Thermalright finally have those fans ready for radiators. Enthusiasts have admired those blade shapes for years, but they never fit cases or rads, only heatsinks. The TY series has now expanded to include square frames, so they can be placed on 140 mm radiators. With PWM control, they can plug into PWM splitters where they get their power directly from PSU’s to avoid overburdening the motherboard, and still letting you control your fans without needing a separate fan controller. Thermalright sent pairs of these to review, so let’s look at these fans.

Editorials

AMD FX Processors and DirectX 12

Today we’re going to have a look at the benefits of DirectX 12 and system performance when using an AMD FX processor. To best explain why Windows 10 and DirectX 12 will have such an impact on multi-core CPUs we need to take a closer look at what it’s doing behind the scenes.

Motherboards

ASUS ROG Rampage V Edition 10 Motherboard Review

Today we have an opportunity to review another new X99 board from the ASUS camp. This time it is their flagship board, the ROG Rampage V Edition 10. The “10” in Edition represents the companies 10th anniversary for the ROG lineup. It adds several new features over the Rampage V Extreme, which we will get into later. Frankly it is tough to believe there can be any more features added to this monster of a board, but ASUS has managed to improve upon its great pedigree with some added features! This board feels like it was forged from ‘unobtanium’ it’s so heavy and robust. Grab your favorite drink, take a seat, and let’s dig in to see what the RVE10 has to offer!

Cooling

NZXT FX140 V2 and FZ140 Fans Review

NZXT seems to be on a roll recently. They have cases which are whimsical and stolid, take your pick. They have a variety of accessories. They have a line of AIO coolers (one was reviewed on our frontpage). Additionally they have put out a number of fascinating fans. We will review two kinds of fan here – PWM (for rads) and case fans. What we find out should be interesting.