IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 09/06/2014

SanDisk Launches Extreme PRO SSD with a 10 Year Warranty
Computex 2014 - SanDisk released a new flagship consumer / prosumer SSD that fits into what we call the Hyper Class of product at Computex 2014. The new Extreme Pro SSD carries an industry leading 10-year warranty that shows the companies confidence in the drive but just as impressive are out early tests here in Taipei on a loaner system from the TweakTown Taipei office.

The SanDisk Extreme PRO is one of the most significant SSD product launches of the year for enthusiasts and demanding users who need high reliability coupled with top tier performance. SanDisk has raised the warranty bar and doubled previous hyper-class warranty lengths, showing that the company is very confident in releasing a product of this caliber. At the same time, the Extreme Pro SSD warranty triples the existing standard for mechanical storage warranty. In our view, this isn't a marketing ploy, SanDisk SSDs are worthy of such a high standard and it the industry should take note.

Offered in three capacity sizes that range from 256GB to a massive 1TB model. Just as impressive as the warranty is the fact that SanDisk was able to achieve high data write transmissions at a constant rate without using additional overprovisioning. On paper and in traditional SanDisk fashion, the Extreme PRO's specification sheet shows conservative performance numbers to account for older and slower computing systems. In our early tests, we confirmed the tested drives deliver higher than advertised speeds in nearly all areas right out of the box without any system tweaking.

While at Computex, Paul Alcorn and I had the opportunity to test a new, unreleased Areca ARC-1883ix-24 RAID controller with early firmware and drivers. We reached out to SanDisk to run the new Extreme PRO SSD with the controller and achieved a set of very impressive results even with the beta driver on the Areca Technology ARC-1883ix-24. The unmatched performance consistency of this product makes it an ideal candidate for RAID environments.

The Extreme PRO has a broad range of applications with the starting point at gamers and power users who demand the fastest response times and reliable operation that allows faster game loading times, ultimate system response and the best user experience possible.

The drive also carries over to professional markets as well, such at audio and video engineers and photographers who value reliability and the fastest speeds possible. When booking celebrities and super models that charge by the hour, you don't want to waste time on slow system boot times and slow file transfers.
It's difficult not the come back to the the SanDisk Extreme PRO's 10-year warranty though because no matter what your market or system demands, the Extreme Pro will outlive every other component in your system, period.
Look for a full review of all three capacity sizes in the coming days from out US SSD testing lab.









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Marvell demonstrates powerful LDPC encoding at Computex 2014
Computex 2014 - Error rates are increasing as NAND manufacturers shrink lithography. This requires SSD controller innovation to provide stronger error correction without negative performance ramifications. Even with a standard HDD, data read directly from the media is rarely decipherable without post-processing, such as BCH error correction. As we move towards smaller NAND with much higher bit-error rates, manufacturers are scrambling to develop error-reduction technologies. Some approaches occur prior to, and during, drive operations. However, there are inevitable errors that require correction after command completion.

The method currently favored is BCH ECC. BCH can handle the error rates of current NAND, but all error correction methods add additional processing overhead to command latency. As the error rates have increased, designers have simply implemented more robust BCH ECC. The problem is the diminishing point of returns, and more robust BCH adds too much overhead on thee low-wattage controllers utilized in SSDs. Eventually there is a point where the controller can no longer correct the errors, and the data is corrupted.
Enter LDPC. Enabling a more efficient algorithm, that is also adaptive, provides intelligent error correction with less overhead. This provides more error correction power with less impact on SSD performance. In the video above Marvell is intentionally injecting errors into the path of the controller, thus simulating errors encountered during SSD use. A simple view of the two video streams side-by-side illustrates the vast difference in ECC performance between the two methods. Other manufacturers are also utilizing LDPC technology, such as SandForce and Adaptec. There are varying levels and complexity to LDPC algorithms, and until products reach the market it will be hard to determine which works best. It is clear that Marvell has a great grasp of the technology, and the increased performance will allow the use of smaller NAND lithographies with no impact to data integrity.

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Cybercriminals find great resources sharing information, tactics
Cybercriminals are becoming more brazen about their cybercriminal activities, boasting on social media, and offering custom wares on underground forums. It's also possible to visit these forums to recruit cyber mercenaries to conduct hacking behavior and create malware to customers willing to pay for their services.

Tools available for purchase include some of the following: keyloggers, print screen stealers, webcam stealer, firewall bypasses, spam email dispatchers, remote logins, and similar technologies.
"Offering cybercrime software tools for sale is not new," a May 2014 malware report from RSA noted. "However, advertising them out on the open web and social networking sites like Facebook is quite unusual. This particular software tool author does not seem to be afraid or concerned about exposing his software or his email addresses to the general public. Such behavior goes against the trend of pushing cybercriminal activity further underground as has been witnessed by RSA over the last two years."
Chinese hackers also are using organized underground networks to share exploit tactics to launch attacks against foreign networks. It's a confusing time for cybersecurity experts and companies trying to keep data secure, with multiple types of legitimate threats that must be addressed.









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Industry unsure if Amazon will launch smartphone later this month
Popular etailer Amazon.com is expected to launch its very own smartphone sometime this summer, and it could become official during a Seattle media event on June 18. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is expected to unveil the device, which is a unique effort to jump into the smartphone market controlled by Apple and Samsung.

The rumored Amazon device is expected to have 3D viewing capabilities, but it is still uncertain how it would be integrated into the phone. The Amazon device is expected to run using Google Android, with Foxconn and other well-known hardware OEMs also expected to play a role. Meanwhile, Amazon continues to diversify its product and service offering, with the company already offering an e-reader - and providing music, books, video and other digital content.
"There is a very big hill for Amazon to climb, but if they are successful, the opportunity can be huge," said Jeff Kagan, wireless industry analyst, in a statement. "Remember, Amazon.com does not appear to make a profit on their devices like the Kindle. They look at these devices like the shaver and the razor. They give devices like the Kindle and perhaps this new smartphone away almost at cost, and make their profits on the products they buy with it."









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Companies becoming aware of botnet zombies and the risks they pose
Governments and police authorities are cracking down on organized cybercrime groups operating botnets and other digital crime operations. Companies trying to stay safe from sophisticated attacks need to be aware of the tactics cybercriminals use, which largely depends on deception and exploiting users.

Botnets target a variety of different industries, but banks and financial intuitions must be aware of the growing risks their networks face.
"Deception is always the name of the game," said Joe Caruso, Global Digital Forensics (GDF) founder, in a press statement. "Whether it's a phishing email that's made to look like it's coming from a recognized and trustworthy source, with links to a fabricated website which can look quite convincing, or the evasion techniques malware uses to circumvent standard antivirus and antimalware solutions, the goal is to make you trust your eyes on face value."
The Citadel botnet that was shut down in 2013, which was brought down by the Microsoft Cyber Crime Center and multiple police authorities, accounted for 98 percent of online financial fraud in Australia. Meanwhile, malware tied to botnets also help hijack computers and turn them into zombies, stealing personal information and user account data.









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ASRock Shows X99 Extreme4 and Extreme6 - DDR4 and Ultra M.2 Support
Computex 2014 - In typical Computex fashion, embargos-be-damned! At the show we saw a handful of X99 boards behind closed doors but a few brave decision makers publicly displayed the upcoming chipset in bold fashion.

ASRock had two boards on display, Extreme4 and Extreme6. Both utilize new technology standards designed to decrease system latency while optimizing power consumption and increasing the user experience.

First up is the Extreme6. As you can see the board doesn't have a heat sink on the PCH but the company has some time left to iron out the details as this chipset shouildn't hit the market till later this year.

The spec list looks like a check list for every bad-ass feature a user could ask for including Thunderbolt, Ultra M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 for advanced performance SSDs) and a full trio of PCIe 3.0 x16 for your multi-GPU pleasure.

The Extreme4 should come out with a lower price point than the Extreme6 but is still feature rich.

Extreme4 also offers 3 PCIe 3.0 x16 ports for triple SLI / Crossfire, Ultra M.2 but loses Thunderbolt support. The spec cards show all of the details but from what we've gathered through various roadmap leaks, X99 loots to set a new standard in high performance computing at the prosumer and enthusiast level.









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Supermicro demonstrates dense server solutions at Computex 2014
Computex 2014 - Supermicro's booth was positively buzzing with activity as they displayed their diverse line of products at Computex 2014. Perhaps most impressive were the dense server designs that provide a ton of compute muscle in a small footprint.

The 6U 112-node MicroBlade Server is a good example of maximizing rack space for datacenter and hyperscale applications. This impressive box features 28 hot-swap micro blades.

Each blade holds four 8-core Intel C2000 processors, RAM, and storage. The beauty of the design lies in the shared power, networking, and cooling in the rear of the unit.

8 1600W power supplies provide power to the 112 CPU's. 10GbE and 40GbE network connections line the rear of the unit.









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Apple smartwatch sales rumored to begin in October
Popular electronics maker Apple is reportedly preparing to launch its own smartwatch, with sales starting in October. Partner OEMs will begin making parts starting sometime in July, and Apple wants to manufacture 3-5 million units per month. The rumored "iWatch" will use a curved OLED touchscreen and monitors health, such as calorie consumption, blood pressure, blood glucose, and sleep activity. Additional smartwatch specifications are unknown.

Following the release of Samsung Galaxy Gear watches, and other rivals jumping into the market, Apple is expected to answer back. As the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy smartphones lead the market, being able to pair smartphones with smartwatches will help extend customer loyalty.
Apple still hasn't publicly announced a device, but analysts expect a press event to be held shortly before the device debuts.









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Super Talent's new RAIDDrive II Plus on display
Computex 2014 - Super Talent displayed their new RAID Drive II Plus, an SSD designed to address supercomputer and caching applications. There were also several other industrial and enterprise SSDs on display, highlighting Super Talents continued focus on SSD designs for the professional segment.

The RAIDDrive II Plus features speeds of 2.6GB/s in maximum sequential read and 3.2GB/s in sequential write. The drive features fairly standard built-in ECC and redundant firmware. There is also a fairly large chunk of 1GB of DDR2 cache, but this will be needed for LBA mapping for the large capacities, up to 2TB, provided by the PCIe 2.0 x8 drive.

The DuraNova III SSD features maximum speeds of up to 450 MB/s read and 400MB/s write. These SSDs are available in capacities up to 640GB.

The DuraDrive AT7 builds on the line of AT6 drives, and delivers up to 1TB of capacity with either MLC or SLC flash.









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PNY Publicly Shows Optima 120GB with New Case Design
Computex 2014 - We've already tested, poked and prodded the new PNY Optima 240GB SSD in its coming out party here at TweakTown but the 120GB model has eluded us. While preparing for the 240GB review, we were told the case would change in the coming months to further differentiate the Optima line from the XLR8 models.

At Computex, we caught our first glimpse of the new case Optima case design. While in itself not that big of a news story but the Optima is a news worthy product. When we reviewed the Optima 240GB model the price at Newegg was $89.99. Newegg is currently sold out but Google Shopping returned a price of just $112.
Optima uses a new Silicon Motion 4-channel low power controller that delivers solid mainstream performance at a low price point.









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New PCIe SSD Brings G.Skill back to the SSD Market
Computex 2014 G.Skill has been quiet in the SSD market for the last two years due to low flash availability and high flash prices. Now that flash is abundant again the company is testing the SSD waters with an impressive showing at Computex 2014.

At this time, the Phoenix Blade isn't a guaranteed retail product. The company received the first samples just days before the show so TweakTown didn't have a warning in advance but once the show started we called into action.

A 960GB model and 480GB model were on display at the G.Skill booth and the 480GB model was actually running full tilt.

Here we see some performance numbers with Anvil's Storage Utility. The Phoenix Blade 480GB delivered a solid 1,773 MB/s sequential read and 820 MB/s sequential write performance. The Phoenix Blade uses SandForce SF-2281 controllers in RAID with an unknown RAID controller and unknown flash.
After talking to the product manager, we confirmed there is a good chance this product will come to market, at least in limited quantities. When G.Skill ran a full SSD product line, the company's drives were very cost competitive and because of that we would live to see G.Skill get back in the SSD game even if that means only producing high-end products like the Phoenix Blade.









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30 Japanese government agencies and companies face cyberattacks
At least 30 different Japanese government ministries and other organizations have faced cyberattack threats since May 2009, with many hijacked PCs and servers phoning home to Chinese-based servers. Japan is one of the most tech-savvy countries in the world, though is often overlooked in regards to cyberattacks that must be addressed. Much like other western countries, cybersecurity has become a major political talking point in Japan, in the country's effort to stay safe from espionage and theft.

Specifically, Japan must defend against a higher number threats from China and North Korea - and with China conducting cyberespionage operations against the United States and its partners, there is no surprise Japan is a popular target. The country saw 12.8 billion cyberattacks in 2013, according to the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT).
Japan also saw a lot of attacks from the United States, Russia and Brazil, including distributed denial of service (DDoS) and phishing attacks, along with network probes.









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U.S. government warns of traffic-sign hackers, as incidents increase
After a few road signs were hacked, the government is warning cities and highway operators using signs manufactured by Daktronics of possible cyberattacks. The United States Department of Homeland Security Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) released a statement saying operators should prepare "defensive measures" against these types of attacks. The ICS-CERT team said hackers have published a guide on how to compromise Daktronics systems to alter the normal message.

"CIS believes it is likely that a small percent of Watch Dog players will experiment with compromising computers and electronic systems outside of game play," according to a recent report from the Center for Internet Strategy (CIS).
Years ago, vandals would write messages such as, "Warning, Zombies Ahead!" on road signs - and only small number of incidents have been reported. However, authorities were immediately concerned, because changing road signs can be a serious public safety issue, and the signs often help drivers deal with possible traffic and road issues.









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MSI tease its beautiful new Twin Frozr V cooler
Computex 2014 - While it's not much; over at the MSI booth we saw the company showing off the heat sink prototype for its next generation Twin Frozr cooler the Twin Frozr V. To the right you can see that it's going to be come in under the Gaming Series as you'd expect and use MSIs Propeller Blade Technology.

Looking in a bit closer we can see the massive heat sink that will sit over the core and what looks to be a total of six heat pipes coming out of the card. You can see based on this design it will of course be a dual fan setup and surely an improvement over the current Twin Frozr IV cooler. We can't deny, though, that the current Twin Frozr IV is one of the best VGA coolers on the market. It will be interesting to see just what kind of improvements the latest version brings to the table when released.









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Microsoft warns against registry hack to update Windows XP
Current Microsoft Windows XP users making tweaks to the registry to receive support for XP until April 9, 2019 was quickly discovered by Microsoft. A registry hack is available for both the 32-bit and 64-bit copies of XP, though Microsoft and security experts still recommend migrating to Windows 7 or 8/8.1.

The registry hack tricks traditional desktop versions of Windows XP into thinking it's really a copy of Windows Embedded POSReady 2009, a version of Windows designed for point-of-sale machines. However, Microsoft warns the security update won't make XP fully secure, and it's still advisable to upgrade to a newer OS.
"We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers," a Microsoft statement said. " The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP."









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MSI tease DDR4 wielding X99 motherboard
Computex 2014 - While being spoken about a little; the upcoming X99 platform continues to be quiet around the show with few companies showing it off. Over at the MSI booth, though, we got a chance to take a look one of their upcoming boards based on the chipset. The blue and black color scheme is fairly common and we'll indeed see it fall under the GD naming scheme.

Taking a look at the specification sheet next to the board you can see a number of the main features including support for HSW-E or Haswell-E 8-Core Extreme Edition processors utilizing the 2011 socket design. 8 DIMM slots give us support for up to 64GB of DDR4 at speeds going too 2666MHz DDR via overclocking.

You can also see that we've got four PCIe x16 slots, two PCIe x4 slots, M.2, SATA Express and SATA III slots along with 12 USB 3.0 ports and Gigabit networking via the I218-V chip. As for MSI specific features you can see Military Class 4 and OC Genie 4 is being offered on the model.









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MSI GTX 780 Ti Lighting - the GPU you can't buy
Computex 2014 - The Lightning Series from MSI has been one of our favorites for as long as we can remember. When we saw the GTX 780 Ti Lightning at the corner of our eye when walking around the MSI booth, we found ourselves instantly excited with just what was being shown off.

Carrying the massive triple fan Twin Frozr cooler and sporting Lightning features like GPU Reactor, Military Class 4 Components, Enhanced Power Design and Triple Force Architecture we knew that this was a card we must have. To then be told that the card wouldn't hit the market, though, was quite upsetting. Due to NVIDIA not allowing MSI to increase the voltage specification, MSI have decided to not release the model as it wouldn't give users the Lightning experience that they have come to known.

A small amount of the cards have been made which will be used by overclockers. With a modified BIOS they can increase the voltage to levels that continue to be safe while using LN2 cooling. It's really disappointing we'll never get a chance to test this model.









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LG unveils the G3 smartphone for consumers in the United States
Korean company LG Electronics recently unveiled the G3 smartphone that will be available later this summer in the United States. The device will receive support from Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint, so consumers will have plenty of opportunity to purchase LG's flagship device.

Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, the phone includes 3GB DDR3 RAM, a 5.5-inch color display, 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and runs Google Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
"With the LG G3, we've developed a premium smartphone that provides a one-of-a-kind simple and intuitive user experience," said Morris Lee, LG MobileComm Senior VP, in a press statement.
The smartphone market in the United States is extremely competitive, with Apple and Samsung capturing most of the attention. However, LG controls the No. 3 spot in the market, trailing far behind Apple and Samsung, though









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EA will release Battlefield: Hardline on October 21, unveils trailer
We knew it was coming thanks to a leaked trailer, but now EA has let the cat out of the bag with an official trailer for Battlefield: Hardline. Not only that, but the company also unveiled a full release date: October 21.

The trailer doesn't show off too much, but that's because E3 2014 is right around the corner. For me, it looks like Payday mixed with Bad Boys, which is something that you can't complain about. The full reveal by EA will take place next week, something that I'm sure a lot of gamers are looking forward to.

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ASRock updates its M8 system to the new Z97 chipset
Computex 2014 - Last year we got a chance to see ASRock team up with BMW Designworks USA to create a new barebone system. The M8 was born and we found ourselves instantly in love with what was being offered by the company. Jump forward a year and ASRock have taken the cover off an updated version of the great looking M8 system.

While the chassis looks the same; inside we've got a few new key components to bring it into 2014. First we've seen the ITX motherboard get updated to the latest Intel Z97 chipset bringing support for the latest crop of processors. The other big upgrade is the power supply which now sees an SFX 600 Watt unit. This gives us the chance to install a higher-end video card without a problem continuing to show us that you can pack some serious punch into a nice slim system.

As for the rest of the system you can see not too much has changed. We've still got the A-Command OLED button that gives us the ability to see a bunch of different settings. Other features include USB 3.0, 4-in-1 Card Reader and Gigabit LAN alongside Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac support.









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Angelbird demonstrates SSD with Novachips Bugatti controller
Computex 2014 - Angelbird gave us a look at their upcoming Novachips Bugatti-powered SSD.

This is the new Angelbird X2 Wings. This AHCI compatible PCIe card is bootable and utilizes an undisclosed RAID controller to aggregate the performance of two SSDs in RAID. The card can be a bit power hungry, pulling over 75 Watts. There is a embedded power connector to assist with external power. There is also backlighting during operation to appeal to the enthusiast crowd.

The NVS 3600A is a 10 channel controller that works in concert with 256MB of DRAM in this configuration.

On the rear of the PCB we note the Micron NAND on the new Angelbird product.

These portable bus-powered SSDs provide large capacity in a small form factor for mobile users.









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Chinese manufacturers testing entry-level, dual-boot tablets
Smaller Chinese manufacturers are still testing dual-boot tablets using both Microsoft Windows and Google Android, with most established markets largely avoiding tablets with two operating systems. During Computex 2014, a few Chinese companies showed off tablets that supported Windows 8.1 or Android 4.2 or 4.4 - with a larger interest from emerging markets.

The Chinese manufacturers are releasing lower-priced, entry-level tablets that had the feel of a Windows 8 tablet with some Android functionality. Not surprisingly, both Microsoft and Google aren't a big fan of dual-boot devices, as battle lines are drawn between OEMs and software providers.
Windows remains the most popular desktop operating system, but a small number of tech enthusiasts dual-boot their PCs. Microsoft has struggled to keep up with Android and Apple iOS-powered tablets in the mobile market. Many established tablet manufacturers rely on a single OS for their mobile products, though ASUS stepped up and introduced dual-boot tablets - but halted production earlier in 2014. Meanwhile, Dell said it's too difficult to share files between two OSes on a single tablet, with many users relying on just one OS.









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Sapphire show off 6 x 4K display wall at Computex, 49 million pixels
Computex 2014 - Heading over to see the folks from Sapphire today we found ourselves instantly drawn to a massive video wall that's present at the end of the room. The massive six screen setup instantly grabs your attention the second you notice it.

Consisting of six Dell 28" Ultra HD P2915Q monitors which come in at 3840 x 2160 each. The Dell Precision T7610 Workstation sporting the impressive Sapphire W9100 FIREPRO does a truly wonderful job handling all six screens. Combined; the six screen setup gives us a resolution of 11,520 x 4320 or nearly 50 million pixels with an exact 49,766,400 being offered.

While not needed for majority of people we can't deny the coolness that is associated with this setup. We must admit, though, we can't wait to see those bezels drop down; something that continues to bother us in these massive multi monitor setups.









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Mario Kart 8 is helping Nintendo kill PS4 sales in Japan
We only just reported that Mario Kart 8 is spinning up some good sales for Nintendo, selling 1.2 million copies in a week, but the game is so successful in Japan that it is hurting Sony's PS4 sales.

Between May 25 and June 1, the Wii U was the top-selling console in Japan pushing 19,312 units. The PS4 on the other hand, sold only 6,508 units in its home country. When it comes to Mario Kart 8 sales, it was the the leader of the top 20 games sales chart, selling 325,892 units in Japan, for a total of 1.2 million worldwide so far.
The PS4 continues to dominate in the US, but it isn't doing so well back in its home country of Japan. Sony has sold just 500,000 or so units in Japan, so if Nintendo can unveil some exciting new titles at E3 next week, Nintendo could soon take control of its home country and put a nail in Sony's coffin - in Japan at least.









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G.Skill show off 3500MHz DDR4 Trident X kit
Computex 2014 - Looking at the G.Skill booth we got a chance to see the new RAM cooler that G.Skill had recently introduced. While that was indeed what got our attention at first; what sat under the cooler was what really made us excited.

G.Skill are no slouch when it comes to RAM speed and looking above you can see the company has got the 16GB kit which consists of four 4GB modules running at an amazing 3501MHz DDR4 with a 14-31-31-45-2T setup on the mATX ASUS MAXIMUS VII GENE using an Intel Core i7 4770K CPU.

Showing that the speed isn't just limited to one motherboard; we see the same kit running the same timings on the ASRock Z97 OC Formula next to it. The biggest issue with memory like this, though, isn't having a motherboard that can support these speeds; but having a CPU with a memory controller that can.









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ADATA Premier Pro 128GB SDXC UHS I Class 3 Memory Card Review

With the new UHS I U3 standard, many vendors are now introducing their solutions into the market. In our very first U3 SD card review, we took a look at the Kingston SDA3. Today, we switch gears and look at the latest top-tier solution from ADATA.
In the lab today, we have the 128GB Premier Pro, a top of the line solution from ADATA. This new U3 solution features marketing specifications of 95 MB/s read and 60 MB/s write, making it perfect for those that want to shoot high resolution video.
MSRP for the Premier Pro UHS I U3 in the 128GB capacity is set at $109.99 with a lifetime warranty.

The Premier Pro is housed in bubble packaging. The front of the cardboard retainer carries quite a bit of marketing information.

Here we have the back of the packaging. At the top, ADATA has included a table describing how many pictures or how much video can be recorded at each quality setting. As you can see, this card is capable of 160 minutes of 4K video or 965 minutes of Full HD video.

Above, we have our first look at the card itself. On the front, we have the UHS I U3 class designation with expected read and write speeds.

The back of the card carries the same standard pin out as all SD cards.

The ADATA Premier Pro is factory formatted with the exFAT file system. The usable capacity after formatting is 117GB.

Running the ADATA through CDM, we found the card touching 93 MB/s read, just below the prescribed 95 MB/s. Coming in at 66 MB/s, write performance exceeded the 60 MB/s from marketing.

Price/Performance is where the ADATA really stands out. With ADATA pricing the Premier Pro under 1$ per GB, the 128GB model has claimed the top spot in the chart.
The ADATA Premier Pro is a rather good solution for those of you wanting to shoot 4K video, and even for those just shooting HD video, whether it be in the 17Mbps or 9Mbps category. Further, I found no build quality issues with the card; everything worked as it should.
Performance of the Premier Pro in the 128GB capacity was on par with what marketing has said in the specifications, and the card even exceeded the write numbers slightly.
MSRP for the 128GB ADATA Premier Pro UHS I U3 SDXC card is set at $109.99 with a lifetime warranty.
PRICING: You can find the 128GB ADATA Premier Pro UHS I U3 SDXC card for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The 128GB ADATA Premier Pro UHS I U3 SDXC card retails for $109.99 at Amazon.

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NZXT Sentry 3 5.4-inch Touch Screen Fan Controller Review

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

While there still are a few purists out there that really do prefer the finite control that a slider or a turn dial offers for exacting control over their fans, most users are looking for something a bit more stylish than a bunch of knobs. Most users also want a more automated way of taking control of the cooling inside of a chassis. Both views have their merits, and we are not here to dispute one being better over the other – it is just that this latest product from NZXT to hit our labs just happens to fall in the latter category, and is a product we believe many would like to try out for this reason.
NZXT of course went to a touchscreen to clean things up and give this fan controller a much more stylish appearance, and reduced the surrounding bezel as much as possible to offer the 5.4 inch diagonal measurement of this screen. Along with manual and automatic touch controls, it also offers a thermal readout, a probe to measure thermal dynamics to control Performance mode, and it even has an alarm so that users are warned when things get a bit too hot.
We are here today to look at the newest fan controller from NZXT, the Sentry 3. We alluded to a few of the features of this design, but there is still a lot to see and cover as we put this touchscreen fan controller through its paces. While initially we were very taken by the design and specs, there will be some interesting points to note later, so this definitely is a review you will want to read down to the last letter.
As for now, let's dive right in and see what exactly we are dealing with in this NZXT Sentry 3.
Following the chart, we find that the Sentry 3 is also known by the AC-SEN-3-B1 model number. We also see that it is made from steel, ABS plastic, it has a capacitive touchscreen, and of course there is a PCB behind the screen controlling functionality; all of this is packed into a single 5.25 inch bay device that measures 129mm wide, and is 31mm in height. Behind the scenes we find five fan leads that will accept three-pin or four-pin fans, and there is a four-pin Molex connection for power. Along with these leads, there is also a thermal probe that displays a thermal range of 0 – 120 degrees Celsius.

The rest of the specifications show that this fan controller is a power house. Across its five channels, each receives 15W of power for a total of 75W across the entire Sentry 3. This is huge for those looking to control loops with push/pull setups on multiple radiators. It even has enough power that you could build a chassis out of fans, and still control them all with this system. Power delivery isn't everything though, and while definitely strong in this department, and it is most of what counts, we still have aesthetics, control, fit, and an overall opinion to cove.
What is really nice about the whole idea of fan control via a controller such as this, is that you can be the master of the thermal dynamics of a chassis, and typically there isn't a huge expense involved. We have seen some very pricey single bay models, and of course the dual bay and stand-alone versions get even more expensive, but the Sentry 3 from NZXT is priced right along with most of their other single bay models. The Sentry 3 should not cost you more than $30 USD to obtain. Considering what sort of power we are offered, and the amount of controllability, right now we find that there isn't really too much we could complain about on paper.
PRICING: You can find the NZXT SENTRY 3 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The NZXT SENTRY 3 retails for $34.99 at Amazon.
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Limefuel Nexus 5 2860mAh Battery Case Review

Introduction and Specifications

I use Limefuel's external batteries as my everyday units now, but when the company sent me the Nexus 5 case, I raised an eyebrow. Could it gel the world's of external batteries with a sleek cover for one of the best smartphones on the market?

Limefuel only does one external battery case, which is the one we're reviewing today: the Limefuel Nexus 5 Battery Case, or L28N5.
The Nexus 5 Battery Case features a slim design with an easy-to-install two-piece snap-on design that makes getting your Nexus 5 into it very, very easy. We have pass-through charging, a smudge-resistant rubber finish that feels great in the hand, and four LED indicator lights to tell you just how much charge you have left in the L28N5.

The case has easy access to your speakers, buttons, headphone jack, and camera, so you don't need to worry about it covering up anything special.

The battery itself is a 2,860mAh model that provides a fully charged Nexus 5 with an entire charge and a smidge left over. This makes the L28N5 the perfect accessory for the Nexus 5, which doesn't last an entire day by itself. With the L28N5, it has no problems going through an entire day of heavy use without running out of juice.
Charging the L28N5 takes around three hours or so because of its 5V/1A input, but don't worry about the output, which is rated at 2A. It doesn't weigh much, coming in at just 105g, adding to the 130g of the Nexus 5 itself. With the Nexus 5 installed into the Limefuel L28N5 cover, we have a total of 235g. This isn't ideal, but for power users, this is a great solution.
Limefuel is selling the L28N5 for $74.99 on Amazon, which is not bad at all. For something that doubles as a protective case for your Nexus 5, this is a competitive price.

Using the Limefuel Nexus 5 Battery Case

I wondered how I would test the Limefuel L28N5 apart from my usual everyday use, but I ended up doing just that. These cases aren't built for those who use their phones a few times a day, as it adds some considerable bloat to the phone. It makes the thin Nexus 5 quite thick, something I didn't enjoy.
It is 16mm, or 0.63 inches wide, making it quite chunky against the petite 8.6mm, or 0.34 inches, of the Nexus 5's body. Adding the Limefuel L28N5 to the Nexus 5 makes it much thicker, which is something you're going to need to decide on whether it works for you.

Fitting the Limefuel L28N5 and Nexus 5 into my pocket became much harder, as the Nexus 5 is over twice as thick with it installed. However, these thickness problems became an afterthought once I began really using the Nexus 5 to its potential.
I use my smartphone to tether my mobile Internet connection to my Ultrabook quite often, but this seriously drains the battery from my phone. I usually get a few hours out of it before it dies, but using the Limefuel L28N5, I was able to double my normal battery life. Instead of my Nexus 5 dying just a few hours into work, it was going through the entire day as a mobile hotspot.
For general use, I never had to worry about my Nexus 5 running out of battery. I keep all of my GPS, Bluetooth, and location settings turned on because I'm a big user of Google Now. Bluetooth is constantly going as I have my Google Glass connected for most of the day, so I would consider myself a "power user."
With the Limefuel L28N5 powering my Nexus 5, all of those problems of "will I get through the entire day without recharging" disappear. I would typically carry around the Limefuel Blast L60X with me just in case I ran out of battery. But with the L28N5 on the Nexus 5, I didn't need an external battery when I was out.
The four LED indicator lights on the back are convenient, as you know how low your L28N5 case is getting. Thanks to the pass-through charging capabilities, at the end of the night, you just plug your charger into the bottom of your L28N5, and it will charge both the case itself and your Nexus 5.

What's Hot

Stylish, Two-Piece Snap-On Design: Limefuel knows how to make its products look attractive, and the L28N5 is no exception. It looks great, and the smudge-resistant rubber finish really comes into play when you've been using your phone for hours on end.

LED Indicator Lights: Just how much charge does your L28N5 have? With four LED indicator lights, you'll always know how much charge you have left. Once all the lights are out, you've still got a fully charged Nexus 5 at your disposal.
Great For Power Users: For those of us who need more battery life out of the Nexus 5, which doesn't have the best battery life, it really is a massive selling point. To be able to use the Nexus 5 so much longer thanks to the extended battery, you can get more done without having to find the closest power socket.

What's Not

It's Just Too Thick: I could make a nice, dirty joke here, but you're on a tech site, right?! Well, Limefuel has another great device here, but the thickness of the L28N5--for me at least--is just too thick. I could barely fit it in my jeans half the time.

Final Thoughts

The Limefuel L28N5 is a no-brainer for Nexus 5 users, especially power users. The one thing holding this back from true greatness is its thickness. I would've preferred something with, say, a 2000mAh charge if it meant I would get a battery case that was significantly thinner.
Limefuel has splashed its delicious design chops all over the L28N5, something the company seems to excel at. It looks great, feels great, and provides your Nexus 5 with more than an entire day worth of charge, something that you can't complain about at $74.99.
PRICING: You can find the Limefuel L28N5 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The Limefuel L28N5 retails for $74.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The Limefuel L28N5 retails for CDN$55.64 at Amazon Canada.

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Enermax Liqtech 240 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

For those who paid close attention when the previous pair of Enermax cooler reviews went live: we had completely screwed up by the confusing names of both designs. The main point taken from that experience of emails and corrections is that we have found out what makes the Liqmax what it is, as well as what makes the Liqtech different. And, what we have found out is pretty simple. Liqmax is the name associated with the plastic square head units that are more like what we typically see from Asetek and CoolIt. The Liqtech naming is used for those that use the all metal head units, and have the radiators dressed up more fashionably than the typical AIO.
We were pleased on two fronts with this latest entry though. For one, it is a dual radiator design. This raises efficiency levels, and should make this entry the best performer out of the group. The second reason we were eager to see this design is that it follows the likes of the SilverStone AIOs, and with Enermax under the Liqtech naming, we know we are getting the all metal head unit, and better styling throughout. Plus, if the Liqtech 120X is an indication of what we are getting here, this is an AIO that will easily fit into most of the custom builds out there, and blend right in to the color scheme.
The reason Enermax has us here today is to take a look at the largest AIO that they currently offer, the Liqtech 240, which we will soon be going over in fine detail. If the previous solutions we tested are an indicator of potential performance, then this cooler could just sneak into the top of the list as far as AIOs are concerned. But, this is why we are here: to see just how well this Liqtech 240 AIO liquid CPU cooler does in the real-world. So let's get to it.
The ELC-LT240-HP, or Liqtech 240, offers a metal head unit as described earlier, and as we would expect, the cold plate at the bottom is made from copper. On top of the plate and its micro-channels is the ceramic bearing pump that is rated for speeds up to 2500 RPM. The coolant inside is cycled through 310mm of PA rubber tubing on its way to the 240mm aluminum radiator. In this 27mm thick radiator, the coolant passes through, is cooled by fans, and is then returned to the head unit.

Along with finding out this cooler is able to fit any current mainstream processor, we also found out all there is to know about the pair of ED-122512S-PA fans that come in the kit. These are 120mm fans based on the Twister bearing, and they are rated to spin for 160,000 hours. There are also fan speeds shown, and these can be set via a switch on the back of the fans to allow for low speed, medium speed, or full speed. Each of the fans is rated to deliver 111 CFM while also pushing 7.4mmH2O of static pressure. These are four-pin PWM fans, and with the switches on them, it's almost like getting three fans in one.
What we have left to cover here is the biggest part of the decision for most customers when it comes to a new cooler: the cost. With the reasonable pricing of the previous two solutions, we did not expect any kind of price gauging when we went to look for it, and we found the Liqtech 240 to be just as reasonable. We see that this cooler can be had for just over $100 in some locations. On the flip side of that coin, we did also see some listings that we felt were a bit pricey. However, as long as time is taken to look for the best deal on hand, from what we gather so far, the Liqtech 240 is not only reasonable, but much cheaper than most other dual radiator solutions when they were all released.
PRICING: You can find the ENERMAX LIQTECH 240 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The ENERMAX LIQTECH 240 retails for $105.24 at Amazon.
Canada: The ENERMAX LIQTECH 240 retails for CDN$202.59 at Amazon Canada.
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Seagate Surveillance ST4000VX000 4TB HDD Review

Introduction

With WD launching their "Purple" surveillance drive, I knew in the back of my mind it wouldn't take Seagate long to bring their solution to market. Now, about a month later, we have the Seagate Surveillance 4TB HDD in our hands.
Surveillance hard drives stem from the enterprise market, where consumers need 24/7 reliability and high performance capabilities from their storage solutions. With this in mind, I don't think it's too far off to say the Seagate Surveillance we have here is a beefed up NAS drive. This Surveillance drive offers the same 4TB capacity, along with 64MB of multi-segmented cache and a 5900RPM spindle speed.

Specifications, Pricing and Availability

The Seagate Surveillance is available in 3TB and 4TB capacities, with both units recommended for one- to 16-bay enclosures. Seagate says the Surveillance can handle up to 32 cameras with a max-sustained data rate of 180 MB/s, and further down, we find typical power consumption listed at 8 watts.
The Seagate Surveillance in the 4TB capacity carries an MSRP of $189.99 with a three-year warranty.
PRICING: You can find the Seagate Surveillance (4TB) for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The Seagate Surveillance (4TB) retails for $188.21 at Amazon.
Canada: The Seagate Surveillance (4TB) retails for CDN$331.11 at Amazon Canada.
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Buffalo Technology TeraStation 5400r WSS R2 8TB Storage Server Review

Introduction

Windows Storage Server 2012 has gained a lot of traction in the SMB NAS market over the last year. Regardless of how easy the Taiwanese NAS makers build a Linux interface, it's difficult for some system administrators to turn away from Windows. I can't say I blame them. Windows Storage Server fits into a Windows office seamlessly without any fuss.
Without any fuss could be the Buffalo TeraStation 5400r Rackmount WSS's motto... aside from the extremely long name. The server integrates well in a network full of Windows clients. With unlimited users and CIFS and iSCSI support, this system can easily become the center hub for your small office's storage. With up to 16TB of data capacity, the system has enough capacity to store a significant number of system backups, and with iSCSI, your office can work from the same server.

Hardware Specifications and Pricing

Modern NAS servers have moved beyond data storage through a wire network. In order to get the most out of a NAS, you need to look at the extra I/O hardware and the mountain of potential software features.

Through four drive bays, the Buffalo Technology TeraStation 5400r WSS supports RAID 0, 1, 5, or JBOD. Our system shipped with four Western Digital Green 2TB drives, making 8TB of total storage space. The operating system was preinstalled on the server, spread across two drives, and took up a total of 200GB. The system shipped with the storage configured in RAID 5. We feel most users will want to keep the server in RAID 5 for data redundancy purposes, and that's how we test four-bay systems.
The heart of the NAS is the Intel 2.13GHz Atom dual-core D2700 processor with HyperThreading. Playing a supporting role is 4GB of DDR3 DRAM. Connectivity comes from two gigabit Ethernet ports, two SATA 2.0 ports, and three SATA 3.0 ports.
Buffalo has four model numbers for the 5400r product line. Divided by capacity size, 8TB or 16TB, and operating system, the four combinations are the 5400r options available. Newegg Business actually shows a diskless version available as well for $1,949.99. After further investigation, we found six other product SKUs at Newegg Business under the Buffalo 5400r search term. Four of the systems have 2GB DRAM, and two systems have 4GB of DRAM with Windows Storage Server. The unit we're testing today tips the scales at an even $2,600 and uses four Western Digital Green 2TB HDDs. The larger 16TB model is available at Newegg Business as well for $3,599.99.
The TeraStation 5400r WSS ships with a three-year warranty, and Buffalo offers an additional two years of coverage for a fee. For the 5400r WSS, the extended two years comes out to $559.99. The system ships with everything you need to install the NAS in a 4-post rack, including rack rails.
PRICING: You can find the Buffalo TeraStation 5400r WSS (8TB) for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The Buffalo TeraStation 5400r WSS (8TB) retails for $2,660.57 at Amazon.
Canada: The Buffalo TeraStation 5400r WSS (8TB) retails for CDN$3,546.58 at Amazon Canada.
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Kinkoo Infinite One 8000mAh Portable Backup Battery Charger Review

Introduction and Specifications

When the e-mail came through about reviewing the Kinkoo mobile battery, I had no idea who or what 'Kinkoo' was, but when the package arrived, it began to sink in. Kinkoo is new to the market, but it has its beautiful Infinite One series of batteries to show off to the world.

Kinkoo has two portable chargers on offer: the Infinite Nova, which offers 10,500mAh of charge, and the Infinite One, which features 8,000mAh of portable battery. The Infinite One comes in two colors: black and white.

When it comes to the Kinkoo Infinite One charger's specs, we have the usual things to look at: input and output power, the amount of charge, and its size and weight. We start with 8,000mAh of mobile charge, 5V/2A input power, 5V/2.1A output, and now, for the dimensions and weight.
We have 5.3" x 2.64" x 0.43", or 135 x 67 x 11mm for the dimensions, and 5.72oz or 162g for the weight. It's actually quite thin, which is great--it's able to slip into your pocket or bag without a problem at all. Kinkoo provides a full one-year warranty with a bonus three months of warranty, totaling to 15 months of warranty.

In the box, we have the Kinkoo Infinite One Portable Charger itself, two high-speed micro USB cables, and a super-soft microfiber carrying bag. I didn't expect the carrying bag, but it is definitely a nice touch to keep the entire experience premium.
Kinkoo has priced its Infinite One 8,000mAh Portable Backup Battery Charger at $69.90, but this includes free worldwide shipping. So while the battery is a bit on the expensive side, free worldwide shipping is insanely good.

Using the Kinkoo Infinite One 8,000mAh Portable Backup Battery Charger

I used the Kinkoo Infinite One charger with three devices: my Nexus 5 smartphone as my daily driver, the Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone, and my Google Glass. With 8,000mAh of portable battery in my pocket, I was able to go out for the night and keep my devices fully juiced up the entire time.

My Nexus 5 ran down to around 10 percent, while the Xperia Z2 got down to 20 percent or so; my Google Glass was reduced to nothing. I was able to charge all three of my devices--two smartphones and Google Glass--and two LEDs were still lit on the Infinite One charger.

The four LED notifications light up nicely, with Kinkoo using some quality materials and design on the Infinite One. The texture used on the Infinite One is insanely good to touch, something we tried to capture on our macro lens.
Kinkoo has crafted a beautifully premium battery in the Infinite One, something that is astonishingly thin, making it superbly portable. I loved the fact that I could walk around with an additional two days of charge for my mobile devices, something I can't do with most other chargers as they don't fit in my pocket.

What's Hot

Stylish Design, From a Newbie: Kinkoo has stepped out of the dark and into a very crowded space with its Infinite One battery. There's nothing on the Infinite One that feels cheap, which is a great thing to see.
Thin Enough For Your Pocket: Not every 8,000mAh (or so) battery can fit in your pocket, so Kinkoo has some bragging points right here.
Free International Shipping: Offering 3-5 day delivery within the US would've been great by itself, but extending that to so many countries is a real step up to the plate for Kinkoo.

What's Not

A Bit on the Expensive Side: Priced at $69.99, it is on the expensive side, especially compared to some of its much cheaper competitors, like LUXA2. But, Kinkoo redeems itself with free international shipping.

Final Thoughts

For a company that has only just started out, its first offering is an extremely premium one. The Infinite One from Kinkoo is a deliciously good mobile battery, something that I see myself using for a long time to come.
The ability to slide it into my pocket and charge up my smartphone 3-4 times over is incredible, and for those of us who are serious users who walk around with multiple devices or wearable devices, Kinkoo's Infinite One 8,000mAh Portable Charger is a real treat to use. I'm going to be taking this along to Computex with me (I leave in a few days...at the time of writing, at least) as it'll fit into my pocket nicely to top up my devices during the day.
PRICING: You can find the Kinkoo Infinite One 8,000mAh (black) for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The Kinkoo Infinite One 8,000mAh (black) retails for $59.97 at Amazon.

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Lenovo ThinkServer RD340 Server Review

Introduction

The Lenovo ThinkServer line up provides a user with a feature-rich load out and offers great performance and value.
Not only do users want great value for their purchases, but they also want a vendor that will provide support and services that go along with that. Lenovo has a great line up of machines that are backed by an online suite of services to provide a user with configurations designed for their needs and to provide ample software to aid the users in setting up and managing servers.
The server we will be looking at in this review is the ThinkServer RD340-70AB. This server comes with dual CPU capability and four storage bays.
There are several other versions of the RD340 that expand on storage capabilities, with 4, 6, and 8 storage bays, depending on what you need. This gives the RD340 line up a storage capacity of up to 16TB of storage in a 1U package.
The ability to use just one CPU (out of two possible) gives expansion abilities. This gives flexibility on starting costs to get servers up and running. The RD340 can use up to two Intel Xeon E5-2400 v2 series processors with up to 10 cores each. This is a huge amount of CPU power in a 1U package
When looking at just what the RD340 can provide as far as services go, you can head over to Lenovo's ThinkServer Buying guide found here. Lenovo ThinkServer Buying Guide
This shows that a client can expect a ThinkServer RD340 to handle: up to 75 users for Windows Storage Server & Windows Server 2012 R2; up to 1,000 users for email and messaging; up to 400 users for Apache Web serving; up to 25 users for Active Directory; up to 50 users for Microsoft SQL Database; and up to 15 VMs. These are approximate numbers, and server load outs can affect these numbers, so only use this as a guide.

Packaging

Opening the shipping box, we find the contents' layout, foam packing, and accessories. Removing the accessories, we find that the foam inserts split into two halves. Taking out the two top sections of the foam inserts allows easy removal of the server itself. We prefer this way of packing as it eases taking out the server, which can sometimes be very heavy. The shipping box did take a hit to the side, but because of the ample space and foam inserts, there was no damage to any of the contents.

Here we have the accessory boxes laid out, and you can see one box is the rail kit and the other is filled with accessories. There is also folder with contact information in case you might need to contact support.

The accessory box has two power cords, a software and manual disk, and installation instructions.

Here we have opened the rail kit box and get a chance to see the contents.

The kit comes with everything you need to install the rails: two sliding rails, two mounting screw packages, and instructions for how to install the rails.
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Synology DiskStation DS414 4-bay NAS Review

Introduction

In March, Synology released a new operating system for the company's NAS products, DSM 5.0. The operating system included several new features. Many of the features trickled down from enterprise class products, making even Synology's lowest priced products capable of enterprise features.
DSM 5.0 ushers in a new GUI interface that makes the system easier to manage. Synology calls it simple and straightforward, and we found the claim to be true. The system is easier to setup than Windows, and management, even for complex tasks, takes less time than previous versions.
The new Synology DS414 NAS sits in the middle of the home user and entry-level small business user markets. Over the last year, we've seen several 4-bay models with enhanced features like HDMI output for A/V functions, but many businesses and even home users still want a cost effective unit without the added features and increased cost.
The DS414 is that product: a NAS for data storage and data connectivity without the added expense of hardware functions that wouldn't be utilized. I wouldn't call the DS414 a stripped down model though. It has so many software bells and whistles--more than what anyone could use at the same time--that we have to call it a loaded system.

Hardware Specifications and Pricing

Modern NAS servers have moved beyond data storage through a wire network. In order to get the most out of a NAS, you need to look at the extra I/O hardware and the mountain of potential software features.

The Synology DS414 uses a Marvell Armada XP dual-core processor running at 1.33GHz. Feeding the processor is a 1 GB of DDR3 DRAM. Four 3.5-inch drive bays with toolless drive sleds support up to 20 TB (5TB HDD x 4) formatted with an EXT4 file system.
Connecting the system back to the network are two gigabit Ethernet LAN ports that support link aggregation for more than 200 MB/s file transfer performance or failover. Additional connectivity comes from two USB 3.0 ports on the back of the system and a single USB 2.0 port on the front of the NAS. That's the limit of hardware connectivity on this model, but on the next page, we'll walk through the software options that include cloud based options.
The DS414 ships with an external power brick, software disk, screws for mounting drives, a paper manual, and two Ethernet cables. Synology backs the system with a two-year warranty. We found the Synology DS414 for $475.99 through Google Shopping at the time of writing.
PRICING: You can find the Synology DS414 for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The Synology DS414 retails for $479.49 at Amazon.
Canada: The Synology DS414 retails for CDN$561.19 at Amazon Canada.
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ASUS Z97I PLUS Mini-ITX (Intel Z97) Motherboard Review

Introduction of the ASUS Z97I PLUS

Ever since we saw BitFenix release the Prodigy all that time ago, I've been a huge fan of the tiny Mini-ITX platform. As much as I love the platform, though, I must sadly admit that I've never had my own system based on it. While it really does seem to offer absolutely everything I need, I continue to find myself building systems around the ATX platform instead.
At launches, one of the first companies to send us their Mini-ITX motherboards is ASRock. This time around, however, it comes from the folks over at ASUS in the form of the Z97I PLUS. While the platform is very small, they continue to pack a ton of features.
Today, we want to see if ASUS can continue that trend of strong Mini-ITX motherboards. We'll hopefully see the tiny platform continue to not impact overclocking too much and continue to offer us strong out of the box performance. I can't lie; this is one motherboard I am finding myself really excited to test.
So, let's leave it at that and get stuck into the box and bundle to see just what is going on.

Package - What comes inside the box

While small, you can see that ASUS is able to pack a ton of information on the box. While the front doesn't give us too much outside of the model and brand, after turning the box over, you can see we get a look at the board along with the main specifications of the board.
You can see ASUS is heavily promoting the quality and trust of the product via the 5x Protection, 1000+ Compatible Devices, and 7000+ Validation hours. Below that, you can see mention of the audio and LAN features that are offered.

Moving inside the package, you can see the standard inclusions like manual, driver CD, I/O back plate, four SATA cables, and an EZConnector for your front panel header. Along with that, you can also see an antenna for the Wi-Fi feature along with the connectors that attach to the Wi-Fi card on the motherboard.
PRICING: You can find the ASUS Z97I PLUS for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The ASUS Z97I PLUS for $179.00 at Amazon.
Australia: The ASUS Z97I PLUS retails for $369.99 AUD at Mighty Ape Australia.
New Zealand: The ASUS Z97I PLUS retails for $399.99 NZD at Mighty Ape NZ.
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4K Showdown: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3GB vs. AMD Radeon R9 290X 4GB

Introduction

The other day, we got the chance to do our very first 4K Showdown article, a new series that has started thanks to our video card lab now having a permanent 4K monitor on hand in the form of a Dell P2815Q. The first article we did was focused on the AMD Radeon R9 295X2 8GB running in both its single card form and its dual CrossFireX form. The experience did not go smoothly. In the end, we really discovered that CrossFireX continues to be far from a perfect technology.
If you want to see just how a $3,000 video card setup goes, though, then I highly recommend you read our first 4K Showdown article.
Today, we're looking to have a whole bunch more success as we move away from those monster setups and check out something a bit more common for the gaming enthusiast. We're going to be checking out the performance of the GTX 780 Ti 3GB from NVIDIA and the R9 290X 4GB from AMD to see just who comes out on top.
I'm glad to say that we didn't run into any of the problems that we saw in our first article. That means today we'll have the full line up of benchmarks with the removal of just 3DMark 11 and 3DMark Fire Strike, due to the fact that benchmarking both those applications at 4K doesn't result in an overall score. We don't have a whole lot more to say as everything is fairly self-explanatory. So, let's move onto a quick look at our Test System Setup and then move straight into the benchmarking to see just which card performs better at 4K.
PRICING: You can find the R9 290X and 780 Ti for sale below. The prices listed are valid at the time of writing but can change at any time. Click the link to see the very latest pricing for the best deal.
United States: The R9 290X (Sapphire) retails for $557.47 at Amazon.
Canada: The R9 290X (Sapphire) retails for CDN$534.53 at Amazon Canada.
Australia: The R9 290X (GIGABYTE) retails for $707.99 AUD at Mighty Ape Australia.
New Zealand: The R9 290X (GIGABYTE) for $749.99 NZD at Mighty Ape NZ.
United States: The 780 Ti (EVGA) retails for $719.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The 780 Ti (EVGA) retails for CDN$790.98 at Amazon Canada.
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