Tech News
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Thermaltake SWAFAN EX12 RGB Cooling Fan Review @ APH Networks
Published: Monday, March 20, 2023 | By: DennisWe recently took a look at the SWAFAN from Thermaltake and found them to be quite nice despite being just a spinning RGB light. One of the key features was the ability to swap out the fan hubs allowing you to change the airflow direction to match how you wanted your build to look.
The Thermaltake SWAFAN EX12 RGB is an upgrade to its predecessor, having improved performance while retaining its heavy focus on appearance.
That is a pretty short description but, right on point. Check out the review if you want to know more or check out our review for more context.
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Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II Card GOLD Series Snags Best Memory Card Award from Photography News
Published: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 | By: DennisSan Jose, CA, USA, March 6, 2023—Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is proud to receive the “best memory card” award from Photography News readers for the Lexar® Professional 2000x SDHC™/SDXC™ UHS-II Cards GOLD Series.
Once a year the readers and editors of Photography News vote on their favorite photography tech—everything from cameras to accessories. The Lexar® Professional 2000x SDHC™/SDXC™ UHS-II Cards GOLD Series was nominated along with 7 other excellent cards and took the coveted best card award. According to Photography News, “the need for reliable and fast memory cards is greater than ever. That’s just what you get with the Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II card.”
“The Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II card has the powerful performance that professional creators need to capture stunning photos and cinema-quality video while also delivering 300MB/s1 read speed to accelerate post-production2,” said Joey Lopez, Director of Brand Marketing.
The Lexar Professional 2000x SDHC/SDXC UHS-II card is compatible with UHS-II and backwards-compatible with UHS-I cameras and comes in capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB. It is available online for the following MSRP: 32GB—49.99, 64GB—$79.99, 128GB— $169.99, 256GB—$269.99
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YEYIAN Gaming Launches ODACHI Gaming PCs Powered by AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D and 7950X3D Gaming Processor
Published: Friday, March 3, 2023 | By: DennisUnveils Revolutionary Flagship Gaming Desktops Delivering Unmatched Performance for Gaming, Streaming, and Content Creation
San Diego, California, Feb 28th, 2023 - YEYIAN Gaming, the prominent designer and manufacturer of innovative pre-built gaming PCs, peripherals, and computer components, is thrilled to announce the market launch of their latest offering, the ODACHI Gaming PCs. These high-performance gaming machines are powered by the cutting-edge AMD Ryzen™ 9 7900X3D and 7950X3D gaming CPUs, providing gamers with a remarkable gaming experience. The ODACHI Gaming PCs are available in three impressive models, the ODACHI 795DC-490, ODACHI 790DC-480, and ODACHI 790DC-79W. Each model is expertly crafted to meet the specific needs and preferences of discerning gamers who demand nothing but the best.
These new additions to flagship ODACHI gaming PCs are designed to meet the fluctuating demands of pro gamers, content creators, and streamers. Powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D and 7950X3D gaming processors incorporating next-gen AMD 3D V-Cache. The new ODACHI gaming desktop PCs are integrated with the latest AMD RX 7900XTX and NVIDIA RTX 4000 series graphic cards, supporting the fastest DDR5 6000MHz memory and Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe SSD for unparalleled system performance and reliability. Gamers can now enjoy the latest games, live stream broadcasts, and multitask with ease, without experiencing any lags or slowdowns
"Our team at YEYIAN is excited to introduce these new powerful ODACHI gaming desktops. ODACHI series is YEYIAN's flagship gaming desktop PC created to offer top performance, stability, and excellent built quality. YEYIAN partnered with AMD to enhance our customers' gaming experience further. The newly launched AMD Ryzen 9 X3D processors are a great fit for ODACHI gaming desktops and perform extremely well with AMD RX7000 and NVIDIA RTX4000 series GPUs. With the ODACHI flagship gaming desktops, users can enjoy a seamless gaming and streaming experience while achieving top-notch content creation," said Frank Lee, the VP of YEYIAN Gaming.
The YEYIAN ODACHI 795DC-490, ODACHI 790DC-480, and ODACHI 790DC-79W gaming PCs are tailor-made for hardcore gaming, visual content creation, or live streaming performance, based on AMD's latest Ryzen 9 X3D platforms and AMD/NVIDIA latest graphic cards these three gaming desktops come equipped with a 32GB DDR5 6000MHz DRAM kit and a 2TB/1TB NVMe Gen4x4 SSD for extreme system performance and ultra-low game latency. Moreover, these ODACHI gaming desktops are built with a 360mm AIO watercooler and four 14cm ARGB cooling fans to maintain good ventilation under the most demanding system conditions.
Specification
ODACHI 795DC-490
ODACHI 790DC-480
ODACHI 790DC-79W
CPU
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X3D
CPU COOLER
YEYIAN AIO - 360mm
YEYIAN AIO - 360mm
YEYIAN AIO - 360mm
MB CHIPSET
X670 Platform
B650 ATX Platform
B650 ATX Platform
MEMORY
32GB - DDR5 6000MHz
32GB - DDR5 6000MHz
32GB - DDR5 6000MHz
GPU
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
AMD RX 7900XTX
POWER
1000 Watt 80+ Gold
850 Watt 80+ Gold
850 Watt 80+ Gold
Storage
2TB - NVMe Gen.4 SSD
2TB - 3.5" Hard Drive
1TB - NVMe Gen.4 SSD
1TB - NVMe Gen.4 SSD
OS
Windows 11 Home
Windows 11 Home
Windows 11 Home
MSRP
$4,199
$3,199
$2,999
Backed by the YEYIAN-Shield program, the gaming PCs warranty, the YEYIAN ODACHI gaming PCs are now available pre-order from select retailers or through the company's website and ready to ship starting March 13th, 2023.
Amazon:
- YPA-OD795DC-4901U: www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWRLRRBM
- YPA-OD790DC-79W1U: www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWS1K78V
- YPA-OD790DC-4801U: www.amazon.com/dp/B0BWRRDNHK
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NVIDIA’s latest drivers hint at Counter-Strike 2 or Counter-Strike Source 2
Published: Thursday, March 2, 2023 | By: DennisThere once was this free game that quickly became the defacto reason to host a late night LAN party with friends, beer and friendly razzing. The game was called Counter Strike and was one of the games that helped launch Steam as a powerhouse in online game distribution and DRM security.
Since then, Steam has become a go-to source for current hardware trends from actual gamers which help hardware makers determine what people are playing and what platforms they are using.
It would seem that NVIDIA may have leaked a new Counter Strike game by including that profile in their latest driver release. While this sounds a little far-fetched it is not outside the realm of possibility given that these line items that make it past QA are often rather reliable.
My guess is that this is most likely the rumored remaster of CS in Source 2 Engine. After all, it can’t be a sequel to CS as we’d have heard at least something about such a huge project. However, you should temper your expectations. Do not expect this to be a full remake of this classic game.
My guess is that if this is Counter-Strike Source 2, it will only feature QoL improvements (as well as some performance improvements due to Source2 Engine). And yes, I don’t expect higher-quality textures or any Ray Tracing effects.
It will be interesting to see what finally gets released or, if the lines end up getting removed in the next driver drop. Knowing a little about software development and how "overworked/lazy" developers and their QA counterparts can be I wouldn't be surprised either way.
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NVIDIA News: February is Filled With DLSS and Reflex Upgrades for GeForce Gamers
Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2023 | By: DennisGeForce Gamers continue to reap the benefits of RTX ON Upgrades, with seven new DLSS games and six new Reflex games.
DLSS Performance Upgrades for Seven New Games!
NVIDIA DLSS has revolutionized graphics rendering, using AI and GeForce RTX Tensor Cores to boost frame rates while delivering crisp, high quality images that rival native resolution. And DLSS 3 adds new Frame Generation technology to multiply performance, along with NVIDIA Reflex, for the fastest and most responsive gaming possible.
This month, DLSS arrives in another seven games, including:
- Atomic Heart (launches Feb. 21 with DLSS 3)
- Blood Bowl 3 (launches Feb 23 with DLSS 2)
- Hello Neighbor 2 (updating Feb. 17 with DLSS 2 & Ray Tracing)
- HI-FI Rush (available now with DLSS 2)
- PlanetSide 2 (available now with DLSS 2)
- Returnal (available now with DLSS 2 & Ray Tracing)
- Sons of the Forest (enters Early Access on Feb. 23 with DLSS 2)
- Wanted: Dead (available now with DLSS 2)
Altogether, there are over 270 released DLSS games and apps, giving GeForce RTX GPU, desktop and laptop users significantly faster performance and the best possible image quality, for the definitive experience in every supported title.
Reflex Lowers Latency in World of Warcraft and more!
Over 60 released games now support NVIDIA Reflex, enabling GeForce players to reduce system latency significantly, for the most responsive gaming experience possible on any platform.
Since our last Reflex update, six games have added Reflex technology for their players, giving millions of GeForce gamers a superior experience, including:
- Deliver Us Mars (available now)
- Dying Light 2 Stay Human (available now)
- Hi-Fi RUSH (available now)
- HITMAN World of Assassination (available now)
- PERISH (available now)
- World of Warcraft (available now)
NVIDIA Reflex is used by over 20 million players each month. For the full list of 60+ supported games, click here.
New, Sortable List of DLSS and Ray-Traced Games
We have recently updated our GeForce.com article to provide press and end-users with an easy way to review games with support for DLSS and/or ray tracing. You can check it out here
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G-Wolves Hati-S Plus ACE @ TechPowerUp
Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2023 | By: DennisWireless mice have become very popular with computer users, no more cord to get in the way and it matches their new wireless USB enabled headset with 200 channel sound and the worst microphone ever conceved by man.
But, the mouse is still good, so that is nice.
I've never heard of the G-Wolves before but, they seem to be using some good components so, it might be worth checking out, assuming you can find it, at 46g's one gust of wind and you'll lose the thing under your desk.
With the wireless Hati-S Plus ACE, G-Wolves presents an ambidextrous mouse weighing no more than 46 g without any holes. Furthermore, the ACE comes with PixArt's latest PAW3395 sensor, Zippy main button switches rated for 60 million clicks, and pure PTFE feet.
Assuming you can get one, seems the G-Wolves are China based which could account for the company name.
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SilverStone VIDA 240 SLIM All-in-One Liquid Cooler Review @ APH Networks
Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2023 | By: DennisWhile I tend to focus on "high performance" cooling solutions they do have some drawbacks that would include noise, cost and size while maybe not delivering all that much more when it comes to performance. One of the biggest challenges when building a system is making sure fans will fit and that the fans you pick will actually do the job.
The Silverstone VIDA 240 Slim addresses these issues by offering "slimmer" components and giving you more room to breathe.
The SilverStone VIDA 240 SLIM is a 240mm AIO cooler that can fit into tight spaces while not sacrificing in performance or features.
Be sure to check out the review for more details about this AIO cooler and how it could be used in yoiur next build.
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MP-9 ModPaste Thermal Compound Now Available
Published: Thursday, February 9, 2023 | By: DennisThermal Paste, Thermal Compound, TIM or whatever you want to call it has become a hot topic in the custom PC world with a new compound being developed for a variety of different cooling needs. These include standard air cooling to harsh temperatures that we would use for Subzero overclocking and even extended usage for high demand servers and workstatsions. These different formulas all bring something unique to the table and show how dedicated some builders can be.
I got word during CES that we will now have a new player in the Thermal Compound market including our friends at ModMyMods. As you may remember, we reviewed their Modwater coolant back in 2020 and found it to be an excellent formula for all types of systems.
MP-9 ModPaste Thermal Compound Now Available
ModMyMods has developed a brand new thermal compound made right here in the USA with international materials! While most thermal compounds are derived from a primarily ceramic, metallic base or silicone. We have developed an effective synthetic industrial oil based compound that is far less electrically conductive while still maintaining a highly effective heat transference between a chip and heatsink/waterblock.
The ModMyMods MP-9 Modpaste comes packaged in a rubber capped borosilicate glass syringe that boasts an impressive three year shelf life, removable, reusable applicator tip and a magnetically closed carrying case.
Features
- Oil Based Thermal Compound
- 3 Year Shelf Life
- Low Electrical Conductivity
- Available in 1g and 2.5g tubes
- Made in USA
- Resealable borosilicate glass tube
- Easy to spread
Properties
- Form: Paste
- Color: Grey
- Odor: Slight Odor
- pH: 6
- Density: 2.6 g/cm3
- Viscosity: 3,000 Pa.s at 22C
- Thermal Conductivity: 9.0 W/mK
- Constant Temperature Range: 50-200C
ModPaste can be purchased from the ModMyMods webstore.
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Razer Basilisk V3 Pro @ TechPowerUp
Published: Wednesday, February 1, 2023 | By: DennisI got to meet with Razer during CES 2023 and really enjoyed some of the VR accessories they had on display along with this headrest for their line of gaming chairs that had speakers allowing you to have full surround sound from a desktop sound system.
From what I have been told their mice and keyboards are pretty good as is the Basilisk V3 featured in this review.
Being the refresh of 2019's Basilisk Ultimate, the Basilisk V3 Pro has been updated across the board: Razer's latest Focus Pro 30K sensor, 3rd-generation optical main button switches, a highly adjustable scroll wheel, up to 90 hours of battery life, and compatibility with Razer's 4000 Hz HyperPolling Wireless Dongle and MouseDock Pro.
Seems Razer has taken the "if it aint broke, don't fix it" approach but, now with batteries.
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Sound Blaster X5: Make Your Audiophile-grade Headphones Sing
Published: Tuesday, January 31, 2023 | By: DennisSINGAPUR – 31. January 2023 – Creative Technology today launched Sound Blaster X5, its latest USB DAC and amplifier sound card that ticks all the boxes on a discerning audiophile’s gear wish list. Decked with class-leading components, breakthrough audio technologies, a comprehensive connectivity profile and sporting a premium look and feel in a sleek build, the X5 simply pulls out all the stops as a compelling audio solution like no other.
This is It for Pristine Audio
Sound Blaster X5 personifies the best of Creative’s audio engineering and design expertise, equipped with audiophile-grade components to achieve exceptional audio quality. It is the first Sound Blaster to feature a dual-DAC design - 2 Cirrus Logic CS43198 DACs deliver high-resolution lossless playback in 32-bit / 384 kHz over PCM with ultra-high dynamic range of up to 130 dB DNR. These DACs can also decode audio formats in DoP128 and DSD256 for high-fidelity audio streaming. Audio distortion is practically non-existent with an oversampled multi-bit modulator for an incredibly low Total Harmonic Distortion rating of 0.00018%.
From studio-grade headphones with impedance of up to 600 ohms, including the most demanding planar-magnetic headphones, to sensitive in-ear monitors with 1 ohm output impedance, Sound Blaster X5 drives them all effortlessly. The award-winning Xamp discrete headphone bi-amplification technology, which is found in the high-end Sound Blaster AE series and Sound BlasterX G6, receives a design upgrade that, coupled with a dual-DAC and dual-Xamp configuration, delivers a fully-balanced headphone output and experience on the X5. A next-level design for audio fidelity makes its debut, using 2 dedicated Xamp circuits that amplifies the left and right channels separately in isolation throughout the entire chain of amplification, effectively eliminating in-circuit interference, noise and cross-talk. What makes the X5 stand out even more is the fact that this type of audio design is a rare find in its price category (sub-US$300).
Audiophiles with a lean to customize their own audio signatures can do just that with the Sound Blaster X5. When connected to the Creative app, they can make adjustments with a 10-band equalization frequency graph, add on Acoustic Engine effects like Surround, Crystalizer, Bass or Dialog+, or use CrystalVoice to improve communication quality. When in the mood for gaming, Scout Mode enhances in-game audio cues to highlight details for a competitive edge.
Sound Blaster X5 also supports ASIO 2.2 for low-latency playback and recording, as well as easy access to multiple audio inputs and outputs.
Full Marks for Connectivity
Sound Blaster X5 is a competent audio hub in its own right; its versatility means it is also compatible with various devices, including gaming consoles, DVD players and other living room entertainment systems. There are two-way RCA and TOSLINK Optical connectors, a convenient USB-C audio and power port, as well as a 3.5 mm microphone-in port with an easy-to-access mic gain knob. There is also a 4.4 mm port for studio-grade balanced headphones, and a 3.5 mm port for regular headphones. All 3 ports use premium gold-plated connectors for better performance. It features a Bluetooth 5.0 receiver and a dedicated USB-A host audio port for connection to wireless audio transmitters, as well as external USB speakers, headsets and microphones.
With a set of controls designed for an intuitive user experience, Sound Blaster X5’s front-mounted buttons and switches are easy to access and right at the fingertips for the audiophile’s convenience.
Pricing and Availability
Sound Blaster X5 is priced at US$279.99 and is available at the Creative online store.For more information on Sound Blaster X5, visit The Sound Blaster X5 Product Page.
