
Into the Storm (2014) Cinema Movie Review


When the storm cell forms directly in the path of a school leaving ceremony, Pete must decide to either put aside his own aims, or join with school vice Principal Gary Fuller (Richard Armitage) and assist the civilian population.

Conversely (and despite a very low budget of $50 million), Into the Storm's CG effects sequences are undoubtedly spectacular and utterly convincing, and for good measure too, for they undoubtedly serve as the film's raison d'être.

Mercifully, the 90 minute run time of Into the Storm means that it's all over reasonably quickly, but the format, which alternates between 'found footage' and traditional storytelling gets tiresome quickly. Exceedingly dumb too is the southern hick comedy relief duo, which doesn't provide comedy - only serving to grate.

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ASRock EP2C612D16FM (Intel C612 and DDR4) Server Motherboard Review
Introduction

We have in the lab the newly released Haswell-EP processors and DDR4 ready to roll with this motherboard. ASRock Rack is releasing its new EP2C612D16FM motherboard, which is geared to handle a large amount of storage devices on a small form factor, dual-socket platform.
The EP2C612D16FM is designed to fit into a case that has the main storage bays up front, and includes a series of four edge connectors that make connecting to the backplane simple and clean. We have not yet seen what these new systems will look like fully assembled, but this design does look promising, and should make a nice compact system that allows more drives to be installed in front bays.

Packaging




- ASRock Rack EP2C612D16FM / EP2C612D16FM-N Motherboard (ATX Form Factor: 12.0-in x 10.5-in, 30.5 cm x 26.7 cm)
- Support CD
- User Manual
- 4 x SATA3 Cables (50cm)
- 2 x MiniSAS Cables(6G) (60cm)
- 1 x I/O Shield
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VisionTek Radeon R9 290 Video Card - Circuit and Overclocking Guide
Introduction

This type of commitment to the ultra-high-end really makes VisionTek shine in a way other graphics vendors don't typically shine. Today I will look at one of VisionTek's consumer level video cards with a really hefty cooler, and take it through my process of analysis.


VisionTek has done a really nice job in this regard, the heat sink utilizes some really huge heat pipes, and there are two fans on the radiator. Not only does VisionTek provide a really hefty cooler, they also provide a backplate for extra protection. R9 290s aren't cheap products, and thus this level of protection shows how much VisionTek cares about its products' endurance. The backplate also gives it a nice look considering GPUs' sit upside-down in most cases.
PRICING: You can find the VisionTek R9 290 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 VisionTek R9 290 retails for $388.63 at Amazon.
Canada: The VisionTek R9 290 retails for CDN$576.81 at Amazon Canada.
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SanDisk Ultra II 240GB SSD Review - SanDisk TLC NAND Flash takes shape
Introduction

TLC flash is cheaper to manufacture on a capacity basis since each die holds more data. The initial wafer costs are the same regardless of the flash for the most part, so adding more data capacity per square inch reduces the overall cost. In turn, it also means flash makers can produce more flash capacity and that too reduces the cost to consumers.
At the time of writing, the SanDisk Ultra II 240GB SSD with 550 MB/s sequential read performance and 500 MB/s sequential write performance sells for just $99.99 at some e-tail outlets. Clearly TLC flash is doing what it's designed to do, reduce the cost of SSDs.
Specifications, Pricing and Availability



PRICING: You can find the SanDisk Ultra II 240GB SSD 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 SanDisk Ultra II 240GB SSD retails for $110.95 at Amazon.
Canada: The SanDisk Ultra II 240GB SSD retails for CDN$199.99 at Amazon Canada.
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Angelbird SSD2go Pocket 512GB External SSD Review

Earlier this year, we had the chance to look at our second product from Angelbird when the SSD2go Pro made its way through the lab, and today, we finally get our hands-on the latest from Angelbird, the SSD2go Pocket.
For the longest time, Angelbird's products filled a niche market for enthusiasts wanting the highest possible performance, while cutting no corners on quality. This led to products that while offering great performance and reliability, priced many consumers out of the market. With the SSD2go Pocket, Angelbird is looking to change this bringing their first external solution to market that while keeping with the same high standards for quality, lowers the cost of ownership by quite a bit.
Specifications of the SSD2go Pocket have the drive offering 420 MB/s sustained read and 300 MB/s sustained write, while capable of delivering 36K random write IOPS. The SSD2go Pocket will be made available in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities, along with several color options including Silver, Blue, Red and Black. Along with the specifications mentioned above, the SSD2go Pocket is the first external SSD to support both TRIM and SMART in Windows and OS X.
MSRP of the Angelbird SSD2go Pocket is set at $179.99 for the 128GB model, $259.99 for the 256GB model and $439.99 for the 512GB model. Each carries a three-year warranty.





Next we have Parallels Desktop that allows OS X users to run Windows seamlessly on their Mac. Last, we have System Reflection, a professional backup software suite for Windows and OS X, utilizing this software you can clone your OS to the SSD2go Pocket and then boot from it.







With this SSD2go Pocket being the third drive to come through the lab from Angelbird, you quickly realize when you get a drive like this how much attention to detail goes into the product. I often tell people it's kind of like the feeling you get when you purchase a Noctua CPU cooler, or your first high-end chassis - you can tell the amount of work that goes into a product the first time you hold it in your hands.
With the SSD2go Pocket, there are a few firsts for the external SSD market. The Pocket introduces both TRIM and SMART support over USB 3.0, and if that isn't enough for you, it also includes overload protection, EMS and ECC capabilities.
Performance of the SSD2go was quite good. We were able to achieve 438 MB/s read and 394 MB/s write on our Windows platform, while installing the drive on our MacBook Pro netted us 427 MB/s read and 385 MB/s write.
In our price/performance chart, the Angelbird SSD2go Pocket managed to take top honors where just a week ago the OWC Envoy Pro was sitting. This is due in part to the performance and also the aggressive pricing Angelbird has deployed with this new model.

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Overview of Supermicro's DDR4 Intel Xeon C612 Server Motherboards
An overview of Supermicro's new DDR4 Xeon Server Boards
While we have all been waiting for the release of the new Intel Haswell-EP processors, Supermicro has been busy with their new line of X10 motherboards to support these new CPU's. We made a trip over to Supermicro last week, and picked up a good sampling of what Supermicro has in store for us.The timing of the new processor release and samples has been very tight, and not all material was ready for us to do complete reviews. There was also not enough time for complete motherboard testing, so for now we will just be looking at the new boards provided to us.
We have had a chance to do some basic tests, and everything looks good so far, but we'll save that for later when we can really dig into these boards. Let's get started, and see what these motherboards have to offer.
Supermicro X10DRC-T4+

Maximum memory expansion with quad 10GBASE-T and SAS3 HW RAID.
Key Features:
- Dual EP E5-2600 v3 (Socket R3), QPI up to 9.6GT/s
- Intel C612 Chipset
- 24 DIMM, 1.5TB Reg. ECC DDR4 up to 2133 MHz
- Two PCIe 3.0 x16, three PCIe 3.0 x8, one PCIe 2.0 x4 (in x8 slot)
- 10-port SATA3, six ports USB 3.0
- 8-port LSI 3108 SAS3 controller
- Dual x540 10GBASE-T (four ports)
- 13.68" x 13" Form Factor
A large number of SATA ports (10) gives this board plenty of storage capabilities, also throw in the 8-port LSI 3108 SAS3 controller, and you have a powerful storage system at your control. Dual x540 10 GBASE-T (four ports) gives ample network connections right out of the box. If that's not enough, then six PCIe slots allow for plenty of network expansion.
Supermicro X10DAi

Key Features:
- Dual HSW EP E5-2600 v3 (Socket R3 up to 160W), QPI up to 9.6GT/s
- C612 Chipset
- 16 DIMM, 1TB Reg. ECC DDR4 up to 2133 MHz
- Three PCIe 3.0 x16, two PCIe 3.0 x8, one PCIe 2.0 x4 (in x8 slot)
- Ten SATA3, eleven USB Ports (six USB 3.0)
- Intel dual i210 GbE
- 7.1 HD audio
- Thunderbolt AOC support
- 12" x 13" E-ATX Form Factor
This board also includes eleven USB Ports, and six of those are USB 3.0; this allows a large number of external devices to be connected. We always seem to need more USB ports on our workstations, and the X10DAi is equipped to handle that. 7.1 HD audio and Thunderbolt AOC support are included to round out the features on the X10DAi.
Supermicro X10DRG-Q

Key Features:
- Dual socket R3 (LGA 2011) supports Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 family; QPI up to 9.6GT/s
- Intel C612 Express chipset
- Up to 1TB ECC DDR4 2133MHz;16x DIMM sockets
- 4x PCI-E 3.0 x16, 2x PCI-E 3.0 x8 (1 in x16), 1x PCI-E 2.0 x4 (in x8)
- Intel i350 Dual port GbE LAN
- 10x SATA3 (6Gbps); RAID 0, 1, 5, 10
- Integrated IPMI 2.0 and KVM with Dedicated LAN
- 5x USB 3.0 ports, 4x USB 2.0 ports
- 7.1 HD Audio with optical S/PDIF
- 15.2" x 13.2" (38.6cm x 33.5cm) Form Factor
For rack mount systems, Integrated IPMI 2.0 and iKVM allow easy access to system administers.
Supermicro X10DRi-T

Key Features:
- Dual EP E5-2600 v3 (Socket R3), QPI up to 9.6GT/s
- Intel C612 Chipset
- 16 DIMM, 1TB Reg. ECC DDR4 up to 2133MHz
- Three PCIe 3.0 x16, three PCIe 3.0 x8
- Ten port SATA3, six ports USB 3.0
- Dual port Intel X540 10GBASE-T
- 12" x 13" E-ATX Form Factor
Install two Haswell-EP processors, DDR4, GPUs, Network and Storage cards, and with the new features of the Supermicro X10 platform, this motherboard can be the base of very powerful systems that are sure to sell well.
Final Thoughts

Supermicro has added these new features to update the X9 series of motherboards that create better value for the new line. Depending how invested you are already in the X9 line, or picking out new systems, the X10 series offers a lot of bang for your buck. The addition increase in features and performance makes upgrading a no brainer in our opinion.
We will be completing our reviews of these motherboards soon, and will find out just how they perform. So, stay tuned for reviews on these boards.
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BitFenix Phenom Mini-ITX Chassis Review
Introduction, Specifications and Pricing

For whatever reason you passed on the Prodigy when it was released, or since then, this most recent SFF BitFenix design may just sway you in their favor. BitFenix is taking another crack at this design aesthetically to try to sway those that were on the fence to come and party in their yard. If you already own a Prodigy, you may have been waiting for a return to this idea. The funny thing is that we just looked at the Core V1 from Thermaltake, and really liked what they had going on in that design, and there just so happens to be many external similarities to both the Thermaltake Core V1 and this BitFenix chassis. Even so, some major design differences are very apparent. It is nice to have the Core V1 fresh in our minds for comparison to the newest SFF chassis from BitFenix, along with many other Mini-ITX chassis designs that have crossed our photo booth over the years.
Today we are going to have a look at the latest Mini-ITX chassis to be offered from BitFenix, the Phenom Mini-ITX. So far in the lineup, there are only black and white versions of this chassis, both of which are trimmed in black. We can only assume this chassis will also be available in a multitude of flavors as time passes and customer interest develops. Yes, at the heart of it all, this is a Prodigy on the inside, but with a refreshing of the exterior to a sleek and smooth aesthetic approach. We feel this Phenom Mini-ITX case will be much more welcomed in HTPC use, or out in the kitchen for the kids to be using; wherever really, as this version will blend in much easier with any setting.
The specifications chart covers all of the majors things we need to concern ourselves with. We find the chassis is made mostly of steel, has plastic in the drive trays and in the front bezel, and we see the SofTouch coating has not been lost on this chassis either. There are color options of black on black, and white on white, but all of the images of the chassis show a white version with black logo and mesh. We also see that this Mini-ITX chassis measures 250mm wide, 330mm in height, and 374mm in depth.

Cooling options are really good in this design. The front of the chassis ships with a single 120mm fan installed. However, there is room for a second fan once the ODD bay is removed, and to make it more secure, the chassis ships with fan brackets to allow screws to be used in the 5.25" bay at the top of the fan. The top of the chassis offers the same thing, with room for a pair of 120mm fans. This also means that with some adjustments, both the front and the top of the chassis are fair game for water cooling as well. Lastly, as far as cooling is concerned, there is a 120mm fan installed in the back of the chassis, but this location is also drilled for 140mm fan usage.
As we typically do, we scoured the internet to try to find the best deal for the chassis on hand. As we looked around for the Phenom Mini-ITX chassis, we found it readily available almost anywhere you would typically spend your hard earned money. On the lower-end, we found Newegg.com with a listing just shy of $90, including shipping costs. We also thought we had a great find over at Amazon, where they are showing the Phenom Mini-ITX for $79.99; that was until we realized that they are also asking $23 to ship it. The worst of it is, we also saw pricing well into the $120 range at quite a few places, so buyers: beware when looking to obtain this chassis. For our evaluation today, we will be going with an average of everything we saw, which is closer to the $100 mark; to be honest, at this price, things better be good.
PRICING: You can find the BitFenix Phenom Mini-ITX chassis 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 BitFenix Phenom (BLACK) retails for $79.99 at Amazon, and the BitFenix Phenom (WHITE) retails for $85.87 at Amazon.
Canada: The BitFenix Phenom (BLACK) retails for CDN$149.09 at Amazon Canada, and the BitFenix Phenom (WHITE) retails for CDN$149.09 at Amazon Canada.
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MSI X99S GAMING 9 AC (Intel X99) Motherboard Review
Introduction of the MSI X99S GAMING 9 AC
We've been really impressed with the new X99 platform from the second we looked at it. Performance shows us it's got some serious power, and it truly stands out in a league of its own. While that is great and everything, all this power comes at a cost, and it's not a low one. Everything that revolves around the new platform carries a hefty price tag with the cheapest processor - the i7 5820K carries a price tag of $389.It doesn't stop there! X99 motherboards also start at quite a high price point, and go upwards of $500. Another thing to consider is you're not able to bring over the DDR3 from your previous build. Instead, you're on the hook for a new set of DDR4 modules that also carry quite the price tag. Still, once everything is up and running, you will realize that it's all money well spent, as you will have a truly beautiful system that is capable of handling so much.
When it comes to building a new X99 system, one of the toughest decision is going to be which motherboard you buy. We've already looked at some fantastic options from both ASUS and ASRock, and we've got more in the pipeline to look at, including an offering from EVGA, and multiple offerings from GIGABYTE.
However, today is all about our first X99 motherboard from MSI. As the name suggests, the MSI X99S GAMING 9 AC is part of the popular GAMING Series from MSI. We've loved the GAMING Series since it was first introduced, and truly enjoy how MSI has given a common name between their video cards and motherboards. There's really not much else we need to say; instead, we should get right into the swing of things to see if MSI can keep up with the other X99 boards we've looked at.
So far, the GAMING Series motherboards from MSI have impressed us thanks to a good list of features, and an aggressive price point. Let's see if Intel's new high-end X99 chipset can help MSI follow the trend that has been set.
Package - What comes inside the box


Upon opening the box, we can see some of those main featured explained a bit more, with a big mention of the Streaming Engine across the top. The Streaming Engine brings hardware encoding when streaming. Combined with a two-year premium license of XSplit Premium, you've got a motherboard designed for gamers who want to show off.
Moving downward, you can see we've got a push in Speed, which brings M.2 Gen3 x4, and the Gaming APP to make overclocking easy. Sound brings Audio Boost 2, and Sound Blaster Cinema 2. Finally, we finish up with Stability, which brings Military Class 4 components, and board protection.






PRICING: You can find the MSI X99S GAMING 9 AC 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 MSI X99S GAMING 9 AC retails for $428.99 at Amazon.
Canada: The MSI X99S GAMING 9 AC retails for CDN$591.31 at Amazon Canada.
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Overview of GIGABYTE's DDR4 Intel Xeon C612 Server Motherboards
An overview of GIGABYTE's new DDR4 Xeon Server Boards

GIGABYTE has also added a few innovative features on this new line up, so let's look at GIGABYTE's new platform features.
DDR4 Memory Performance Edge
On Intel's previous server platforms, by design, the maximum supported memory frequency has always automatically downgraded with more DIMMs added. As this trade-off between performance and capacity represents a dilemma to many memory-hungry server applications, GIGABYTE offers a unique solution. All GIGABYTE motherboards based on the LGA 2011-3 socket support, by default, a maximum frequency of 2133 MHz in any memory configuration.
Easy BIOS Update
Because updating the version of a BIOS can be a troublesome experience, GIGABYTE has developed an integrated function (no utility to install) that allows you to update the BIOS of your motherboard(s):- Without having to install CPU(s), memory, drives, operating system, etc.
- Without having to power on the system (but a power supply must be connected)
- One board at a time via standard IPMI 2.0 web interface
- Multiple boards simultaneously via command line
Intel Xeon Processor E5-2600/1600 V3 Product Families
Based on the Haswell microarchitecture, these new Intel processor families bring a new set of performance enhancing features. In addition to the usual boost in frequencies and core numbers, the Intel Xeon E5-1600/2600 V3 families are the first in the server industry to support the brand new DDR4 memory technology. Moreover, these new processors include encryption performance, overhead reduction features, and technologies improving run time and migration VM integrity.DDR4 Server Memory Support
The Intel Xeon E5-1600/2600 V3 families are the first generation of server processors to support exclusively the new DDR4 technology on the market. Still built on a quad channel architecture, these new memory modules feature an increased stock frequency of up to 2133MHz, and a lower voltage of 1.2V per module. Together, these two main improvements can deliver a large bandwidth performance boost to memory intensive applications, but also considerable energy savings to large-scale server deployments.GIGABYTE MW50-SV0

Notably, it features a mezzanine card slot with four PCIe lanes, with custom mounting sockets to receive one of GYGABITE's proprietary LAN controller cards. Positioned right between the board's CPU socket and its rear I/O, it can add more LAN ports (including 10GbE fiber ports) to the standard interface, and fit into a larger range of possible network scenarios.
Moreover, it includes comprehensive audio connectivity with five audio jacks, an optical S/PDIF output on the rear panel, a front audio header, an S/PDIF-In header, and an S/PDIF-Out header on the board.
Key Features:
- 8 x DDR4 DIMM slots
- 2 x GbE LAN ports (Intel I210 controller)
- 1 x GbE LAN port (Intel I218 controller) supporting Intel vPro
- Rear I/O add-on card slot
- 3-way and 2-way NVIDIA SLI & AMD CrossFireX support
- 1 x mSATA 6Gb/s slot
- 13 x SATA III 6Gb/s ports
GIGABYTE MU70-SU0

Moreover, this motherboard uses a mezzanine card slot with four PCIe lanes, with custom mounting sockets to receive one of GIGABYTE's proprietary LAN controller cards. Positioned right between the board's CPU socket and its rear I/O, it can add more LAN ports (including 10GbE fiber ports) to the standard interface and fit into a larger range of possible network scenarios.
Key Features:
- 12 x DDR4 DIMM slots
- 4 x GbE LAN ports (Intel I210 controller)
- Rear I/O add-on card slot
- 1 x mSATA 6Gb/s slot
- 9 x SATA III 6Gb/s ports
- ASPEED AST2400 remote management controller
GIGABYTE MD30-RS0

In addition to its ten SATA III 6Gb/s ports, the MD30-RS0 has two Mini-SAS 6Gb/s connectors that can be activated with the addition of GIGABYTE's proprietary CRA220-8 add-on SAS card, providing at the same time RAID 0/1/1E/10 levels for these ports.
In spite of its very packed placement, this board still uses standard sockets, and not narrow ones. Therefore, users have a larger choice of available cooling devices to install on this board.
Key Features:
- 2 x LGA 2011-3 sockets on an ATX form factor
- 8 x DDR4 DIMM slots
- 2 x GbE LAN ports (Intel I210 controller)
- 10 x SATA III 6Gb/s ports
- Up to 8 x SAS 6Gb/s ports
- ASPEED AST2400 remote management controller
GIGABYTE MD50-LS0

In addition to its ten SATA III 6Gb/s ports, the MD50-LS0 has eight SAS 6Gb/s ports that can be activated with the addition of GIGABYTE's proprietary CRA220-8 add-on SAS card, providing at the same time RAID 0/1/1E/10 levels for these ports.
With both of its sockets completely offset, the board's processors are able to receive equally cold airflow without disturbing each other's thermal levels, and the operating efficiency of the CPUs.
Key Features:
- 8 x DDR4 DIMM slots
- 2 x GbE LAN ports (Intel I210 controller)
- 10 x SATA III 6Gb/s ports
- Up to 8 x SAS 6Gb/s ports
- ASPEED AST2400 remote management controller
GIGABYTE MD60-SC0

Key Features:
- 16 x DDR4 DIMM slots
- 1 x QSFP+ port supporting two 10GbE outputs via split cable
- 10 x SATA III 6Gb/s ports
- Up to 8 x SAS 6Gb/s ports
- ASPEED AST2400 remote management controller
GIGABYTE MD70-HB0

Key Features:
- 16 x DDR4 DIMM slots
- 2 x 10GbE BASE-T LAN ports (Intel X540 controller)
- 8 x SAS 12Gb/s ports
- 10 x SATA III 6Gb/s ports
- ASPEED AST2400 remote management controller
GIGABYTE MD80-TM0

Key Features:
- 24 x DDR4 DIMM slots
- 2 x 10GbE BASE-T LAN ports (Intel X540 controller)
- 8 x SAS 12Gb/s ports
- 10 x SATA III 6Gb/s ports
- Onboard M.2 slot
- ASPEED AST2400 remote management controller
Final Thoughts
GIGABYTE has come out with an impressive lineup of server motherboards that look to be very good performers. The new C612 chipset and E5-2600 v3 processors add many new features to server platforms, and this new line up of motherboards from GIGABYTE takes advantage of them, and adds a few new ones.The new BIOS updating feature allows you to flash without the need of a processor, memory, drives, or even an OS installed, and completely through IPMI, and adds flexibility to server management to keep everything updated. We are really looking forward to testing these new motherboards in our lab.
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Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4-3200 16GB Quad-Channel Memory Review

This isn't our first Corsair DDR4 memory kit we've looked at. The first wasn't part of the higher-end Dominator Platinum range that we have here today and was instead part of the new Vengeance LPX series. The 2800MHz DDR4 16GB Kit also did a great job of impressing us as it offered both some excellent performance and a strong price tag that makes it attractive to people thinking about building an Intel X99 based system.
While both kits did a good job of impressing us, today it's time to kick it up a notch and take a look at not only the fastest kit we've received to date, but also the fastest kit we've currently got sitting our labs. While we've got a couple of other DDR4 kits to look at over the next few weeks, none of them carry the same kind of clock speeds as the kit we've got here.
Taking a look at the kit for the first time, you might notice an overall familiar look as its part of the popular Dominator Platinum series. We've got a black and silver theme, which looks good, and if you look closely, you can see we've got a black PCB, which looks great offset against the heat sink color to make quite a stealthy looking kit of RAM.


While normally we would move on from here into covering how everything worked, before we do that, we've got one more thing to look at which is included in the bundle. Corsair has included the latest Dominator Airflow Platinum LED fan. It looks awesome and is more suited to the kit as its black and silver design is similar and matches well.


Heading into the BIOS and setting the XMP Profile to 1, we saw our system boot up straight away. Getting into Windows without a problem, we headed straight to CPUz to make sure that everything was running as it should be. Looking below, you can see we're indeed in Windows with our kit running at 3200MHz DDR with a 16-18-18-36-2T setup.

With the next option for speed via the divider being 3400MHz DDR, we selected it, but didn't expect it to work, as that is a very high memory clock. With no surprise, the system didn't boot up. Heading back into the BIOS, it was time to move the divider back to the 3200MHz DDR setting, and see what we could do by moving our BCLK up.
Messing around, we eventually ended up with a 102 BCLK, which gave us a slight memory boost. From the stock 3200MHz DDR, we got to a slightly higher 3264MHz DDR. Any higher with the BCLK and we had trouble with our system booting. Looking below, though, you can see we have the same 16-18-18-36-2T setup that is seen at the stock 3200MHz DDR clock.



3200MHz DDR is quite a strong speed when it comes to RAM and if we're honest, it's more than most people need. This isn't a kit for everyone, while we don't know 100% the price tag on it, we can tell you that it's going to carry with it a premium. The kind of user that looks at a kit like this is the kind of user who buys an ROG based ASUS motherboard, Extreme Edition processor and has a serious storage setup that consists of two or more SSDs in RAID 0. You simply put all the pieces together, set the XMP profile and then push your multiplier up a bit and don't worry about it anymore.
Combining all this with a massive three or four GPU setup and you have yourself the ultimate PC that is sure to last a good while. One of the biggest issues when it comes to memory at this speed is knowing that your CPU's Internal Memory Controller or IMC can handle it. Thanks to the new OC Socket that is on the ASUS boards, we didn't run into a single issue. ASUS say that thanks to the unique socket design, the ability to get over 3000MHz DDR is much higher. While we would normally just pass this off as marketing hype, we've never had this kind of success when it comes to overclocking memory so high.
The Corsair Dominator Platinum DDR4-3200 16GB Quad-Channel memory kit is no doubt part of what will make the ultimate system. If you have the need for speed, this is what you should be looking at buying. We just wished that Corsair had included a second Dominator Airflow Platinum LED fan in the kit so both sides of the memory could be cooled.

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Alpenfoehn Brocken ECO CPU Cooler Review
Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

Today we will be looking at the third cooler in the Brocken line, the Brocken ECO. There must have been some feedback with concerns surrounding the dimensions of the Brocken 2 following its release, because the newer Brocken ECO is a more compact design. In addition to reduced dimensions, the Brocken ECO is also aimed at reducing cost, and features a 120mm fan rather than a 140mm fan. Despite being more compact than the Brocken 2, the Brocken ECO is intended to stay within the same thermal range as the Brocken 2.
Alpenfoehn opted to keep most of what made the Brocken 2 such a hot seller, so the Brocken ECO has a lot of the same things that the Brocken 2 offered. There is still a split tower design to the fins, and it also still uses the tightly spaced layout that eliminates aluminum between the pipes in the base. The coolers even use the same type of fans.
The major changes to the design are more subtle. For instance, the Brocken ECO has one less heat pipe than the Brocken 2. The ECO also has a lack of any plating to the fins, and the lack of a top cover, so the pipe tips are exposed on the ECO. On top of these changes, the Brocken ECO is shorter, thinner, and it's not as deep as the original designs were.
Now that you have a good sense of how the Brocken line has progressed, we should jump into our review, and see just what sort of performance this cooler doles out. We can also see what a much larger cooler design than the Sella will offer in terms of audio and thermal results, so we can determine if it is worth the cost increase to get a larger Alpenfoehn cooler. Let's get to it.
The chart provided below shows us that the Brocken ECO is 65mm thick, and once you add 25mm more for the fan, it's 90mm in total. The ECO is 126mm wide, and it stands 150mm tall from bottom of the base to the tips of the heat pipes. This cooler is comprised of four 6mm diameter copper heat pipes that run from the aluminum base that help secure them, up into the stack of 45 aluminum fins on either side. Each fin is 0.40mm thick. The base of the cooler where it makes contact with the CPU uses what Alpenfoehn refers to as "Gapless Heat pipe Direct Contact," or "Gapless H.D.C." This is where the heat pipes are laid right next to each other, rather than having bits of aluminum between them.

At the bottom of the chart, we see the Brocken ECO is capable of mounting to all the Intel sockets still worthy of a new cooler, from LGA775 through LGA2011. In terms of AMD, anything from AM2 through socket FM1 are fair game. The last bits on the chart cover the supplied TIM, four fan clips, anti-vibration measures, and the manual.
Again, with all of these Alpenfoehn samples, cost is not a prohibitive factor; it is availability that kills things for North American buyers. Using a bit of Google-fu and looking at other sources, we were able to locate current pricing on the other side of the pond. Just like the Sella, we found the ECO at OCUK, where they list the cooler for a measly £24.95. At this time, currency conversion places the cost around $42; it is hard to look past a cooler like this. It may not be the most compact cooler Alpenfoehn offers, but the Brocken ECO has definitely raised an eyebrow with the performance it offers.
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Sapphire Radeon R9 285 2GB Dual-X in CrossFire Video Card Review
Introduction of the Sapphire R9 285 2GB Dual-X in CrossFire

There's really no need to say a whole lot here, as we really just covered the R9 285 2GB in a fair bit of detail the other day. Normally after our introduction we'd move on to the packaging, and then take a closer look at the card. However, we won't be looking at the card today, as we only just looked at it the other day.
We will take a look at the package, though, since when we got the Sapphire card from AMD, it came with no package to speak of; now we have come packaging information to share with you. We will also fire up GPU-Z today, to make sure everything looks right while we are covering the cards in our graphs today. So, let's get into it and see what Sapphire is doing as far as the bundle goes.
Package - What comes inside the box




PRICING: You can find the Sapphire R9 285 2GB Dual-X 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 Sapphire R9 285 2GB Dual-X retails for $259.99 at Amazon.
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Tt eSPORTS Verto Gaming Headset Review
Introduction
Tt eSPORTS is a name that most of you should've heard of by now, with the company having a slew of gaming orientated products built with some great design, power and quality. Tt eSPORTS by Thermaltake has quite a range of gaming gear, ranging from mice, keyboards, and headsets, to mouse pads and even LAN bags.
What's In The Box
Instead of the usual unboxing pictures, I decided to do a full unboxing using my Google Glass headset. This gives you a unique view through my point of view, while I unbox the Tt eSPORTS Verto headset for the first time.



Specifications, Pricing and Availability
Tt eSPORTS has conjured up quite a headset with the Verto, starting with its fold-flat design, self-adjusting headband, detachable cable, and much more. We're driving it through a 3.5mm jack and not USB, for those who are keeping count. We have two 40mm neodymium magnet speakers, frequency response of 10Hz - 22KHz, 32 ohms +/-15% and sensitivity 98dB SPL/mW at 1KHz.The cable provided with the Verto is detachable from the headset, and is 1m (3.2 feet) long. The second cable in the box is designed for mobile devices, which is simply a 3.5mm to 3.5mm jack without the controller in the middle.
Tt eSPORTS is pricing the Verto quite competitively, at just $79.99. The company has other, cheaper headsets, but this is being aimed at the mid-range market, something that I think it kicks above its weight in. The Verto should be available in either late September or October in the US.
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Available Tags:ASRock , Server , Radeon , SSD , DDR4 , Intel , Xeon , Motherboards , MSI , GAMING , CPU Cooler , CPU , Sapphire ,


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