Tech News

  • Lexar Announces PLAY 2280 PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD – The Perfect Storage Solution for the PlayStation5

    Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2024 | By: Dennis

    Designed to complement the PS5® and enhance the gameplay experience

    San Jose, CA, USA, August 27, 2024—Lexar, a leading global brand of flash memory solutions, is excited to announce the PLAY 2280 PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD. Delivering blazing performance of 7400MB/s max read and 6500MB/s max write, this SSD is made to live up to hardcore gamers’ demands, ensuring reduced load times and seamless gameplay. Tested and approved for the PS5, this drive provides additional storage and allows gamers to play directly from the drive, so they don’t need to transfer or delete files from their consoles. The included heatsink, optimized for PS5, allows the console to maintain peak performance and power efficiency. With capacity up to 8TB, users can store about 150+ AAA games and an endurance rating of 6400 TBW offers assurance about the drive’s stability.

    Key Features

    • Tested and approved for the PS5
    • Exceptional performance of 7400MB/s max read and 6500MB/s max write ensures reduced load times and seamless gameplay
    • Play directly from the drive – no need to transfer or delete games from your console
    • Features a heatsink optimized for the PS5 to maintain peak performance and power efficiency
    • Capacities available in up to 8TB allow users to store about 150+ AAA games
    • Endurance up to 6400 TBW

    The PLAY 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD can also be used for PC gaming. It features HMB and SLC Dynamic cache which deliver improved performance, accelerated data access speeds, and enhanced overall responsiveness when used with a PC.

    “The PLAY 2280 SSD is the perfect companion for the PS5, offering lots of additional storage, the ability to play directly from the drive, and the performance that gamers demand,” said Sherry Chiang, Product Marketing Manager.

    The Play 2280 SSD is compatible with the PS5, laptops and desktop computers. The 4TB model is available now for an MSRP of $379.99. The 2TB and 8TB will be available in Q4, 2024.

    Availability: Amazon

  • Thermaltake INTEL Gamer Days Live Streams and Giveaway

    Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2024 | By: Dennis

    Thermaltake kicks off  INTEL Gamer Days 2024 with a series of live streams starting on August 21st. These weekly streams will offer an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the assembly of a cutting-edge gaming PC featuring the renowned Tower 600 PC Case, showcasing the full potential of Thermaltake’s advanced gaming setups.

    Live Stream Details: Starting August 28th and continuing every Wednesday through September 11th, these streams will be broadcasted at 1 PM PT on Thermaltake’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. This event is a must-see for gamers and PC enthusiasts, providing a rare opportunity to see high-performance gaming hardware in action, interact with the Thermaltake community, and gain insights into the latest in PC gaming technology.

    Key Dates to Watch:

    • August 28th: Launch of INTEL Gamer Days 2024, including the start of the Tower 600 PC build, special announcements on exclusive deals, and the beginning of the giveaway.
    • September 4th:  Continuation of the Tower 600 PC build, with a focus on AI-enhanced performance and a PC demo highlighting airflow optimization 
    • September 11th:  Completion and testing of the Tower 600 build and the series conclusion.

    Where to Watch:

    • Thermaltake USA Official Twitch Channel: click here
    • Thermaltake USA Official YouTube Channel: click here

    Exciting Giveaway: In conjunction with the live streams, Thermaltake will host an exclusive giveaway from August 28 to September 15. The grand prize is a fully-built gaming PC featuring the INTEL® Core™i7 processor, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4080 graphics card, and Tower 600 PC Case — valued at $2800.

    Enter the Thermaltake Intel Gamer Days Giveaway:

    Learn More:

    All Thermaltake Gaming PCs come with the comprehensive Thermaltake USA warranty, ensuring peace of mind and reliable support. For full details and to learn more about our warranty coverage, please visit Thermaltake Support.

  • Thermaltake Celebrates INTEL Gamer Days 2024 with Exclusive Deals on Gaming Desktop PCs

    Published: Tuesday, August 27, 2024 | By: Dennis

    Walnut, California - August 26th, 2024 – Thermaltake USA, a leading brand in PC cases, cooling solutions, power supplies, and memory, is excited to announce its exclusive promotions for INTEL Gamer Days 2024. This highly anticipated online gaming festival, running from August 26th through September 15th, offers limited-time deals on a wide range of INTEL-based gaming desktops.

    Thermaltake is offering unbeatable prices on select gaming desktop PCs powered by INTEL® Core™ 14th/13th Gen CPUs and NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4000/3050 Series GPUs, with discounts of up to $400. These promotions provide gamers and PC enthusiasts a fantastic opportunity to enhance their setups with top-tier hardware. These exclusive deals can be accessed through Amazon, BestBuy.com, and the Thermaltake Webstore.

    Adding to the excitement, Thermaltake will host a series of engaging livestream events from August 28th to September 11th. During these streams, viewers can gain expert insights into optimizing their gaming setups and even have the chance to win a $2,800 gaming desktop featuring the Tower 600 PC Case. This event promises to be a must-watch for anyone passionate about gaming and cutting-edge PC technology.

    “INTEL Gamer Days is a premier event for gamers and tech enthusiasts worldwide. Thermaltake is excited to collaborate with INTEL to bring exceptional deals to our TT gaming PCs, known for their outstanding performance and quality,” said Michael Guo, VP of Sales and Marketing at Thermaltake USA. “We deeply appreciate the support from our gaming community and are delighted to offer these exclusive promotions through Amazon, BestBuy.com, the Thermaltake webstore, and live stream giveaway events. This is a fantastic opportunity for gamers to elevate their setups and experience the excellence in gaming technology.”

     

    $200 off Reactor i7TS Gaming PC

     

     

    Thermaltake’s Reactor i7TS Gaming Desktop is designed for serious gamers and tech enthusiasts. It features the INTEL® Core™ i7-14700KF processor and a B760 mATX motherboard, liquid-cooled by the Thermaltake 360mm ARGB AIO cooler. Paired with the NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 4070 Ti Super graphics card, this setup delivers exceptional performance. The gaming PC is equipped with 32GB of DDR5 5600MT/s RGB memory and a spacious 2TB NVMe M.2 SSD for fast and efficient storage. Housed in the Thermaltake Tower 300 micro-tower chassis, it offers a seamless and aesthetically pleasing gaming experience. The Reactor i7TS is available for a special deal at $1999.99, $200 off its MSRP of $2199.99. This is an excellent choice for gamers who prioritize a consistent and powerful gaming experience.

     

    Learn more about Thermaltake INTEL Gamer Days deals: 

  • Funky Kit Review - MSI Z790 Project Zero Motherboard

    Published: Monday, August 26, 2024 | By: Dennis

    Motherboards that have started to relocate the power connections to the back of the PCB have been a hot topic on the Hardware Asylum Podcast.  On the surface they appear to be a logical evolution in the custom PC space but, are also a perfect example of what happens when everyone runs out of ideas.

    The MSI Project Zero (and other motherboards like this) have a bright future but, a very limited demographic and while they are being marketed to the DIY crowd, I fully expect these to be the last custom motherboards that we will be buying as consumers.  The design will be pushed to the OEM crowd while budget minded DIY builders (98% of pc builders) will stick with the less expensive traditional designs while they are still available.

    If you're planning to build a PC with great aesthetics, as well as a clean and neat looking motherboard, then the MSI Z790 Project Zero will do just the job, provided that you have a compatible case. The motherboard comes with plenty of features, and offers decent performance as expected from a Z790 chipset. 

    While I am of the opinion that these boards solve a problem that doesn't exist, I cannot stress enough that they do look amazing when you see them in person.

  • be quiet! Dark Base 701 Computer Case Review @ APH Networks

    Published: Monday, August 26, 2024 | By: Dennis

    The Dark Base series from bequiet is a nice combination between offering what people need without breaking the budget.  This can be an important distinction when building a PC either as an OEM or DIY'er.

    While the style reminds me of what Cooler Master had been doing some 8+ years ago, it still looks great and should be a great addition to your high-performance builds.

    The be quiet! Dark Base 701 is a full-featured, high-end mid-tower computer case that delivers on usability and performance. 

    Also keep in mind that bequiet does offer LED versions of their popular silent wings fans so you can finally keep with the bequet ecosystem and build a rig the way they want you to.

  • Gigabyte AORUS CO94DQ 49-Inch QD-OLED Gaming Monitor Review @ ThinkComputers

    Published: Monday, August 26, 2024 | By: Dennis

    There comes a time in everyone’s life, and maybe that time is now, when you have to start thinking about going wide screen.  dual, triple and quad monitors can often get you the width you need but require so many resources that it can sometimes be a little too messy for the average user.

    So, where do you get the best widescreen experience?  Seems Gigabyte might have the answer in the form of the AORUS CO94DQ 49 inch QLED Gaming Monitor. 

    The last time we took a look at a monitor from Gigabyte it was their AORUS FO27Q3, which was very much gaming focused with its 360 Hz refresh rate. Today we are going to be taking a look at another QD-OLED panel from Gigabyte, but this model is more of an all-around monitor that is going to be great for gaming, but also productivity. The AORUS CO49DQ is a 49-inch super-ultrawide display that makes use of a QD-OLED panel with a Dual QHD (5120 x 1440) resolution, 144 Hz refresh rate, 0.03 ms gray-to-gray (GTG) response time, a DisplayHDR True Black 400 rating, built-in KVM, and of course Gigabyte's OLED care to avoid burn-in and keep the panel just like the day you got it. This review is going to be a bit different as I've been using this panel as my daily driver for about a month now. So it is going to be very productivity-focused, but of course I will be gaming on the monitor as well! Let's jump in!

    Of course, your mileage may vary but, 49 inches is quite a few samishes.

  • Lian Li EDGE EG1000 1000W ATX 3.1 Power Supply @ Guru3D

    Published: Monday, August 26, 2024 | By: Dennis

    Power supplies have become rather popular over the last 10 years and seems that every hardware maker has a version available.  They are rather cheap to produce with high margins that ultimately make up for the lack in demand.

    So, what happens when a hardware maker decides to change things up a bit.  Well, that is the basis for the Edge series PSU from Lian Li and something we talked about during our Computex 2024 coverage Podcast.

    The Edge series PSU comes with several key components that facilitate a streamlined installation process. Included are flexible cables with individual sleeving and cable combs, ensuring neat and organized cabling. The unique T-shaped design is tailored for vertical installation in dual-chamber PC cases, allowing for better airflow and space optimization.

    The PSU is really designed more for the Lain Li dual chamber chassis designs but could be used in just about any computer case if you didn't mind having to double route your cables.

  • Cooler Master MasterBox 600 @ TechPowerUp

    Published: Tuesday, August 13, 2024 | By: Dennis

    Cheap cases can be found almost anywhere and while most of them are worth the cost you pay there are some that can suprise you.

    The Cooler Master MasterBox 600 aims squarely at the magical $100 market, aiming to offer as much functionality as possible. This includes four fans with a built-in controller, a fine mesh front and full BTF support. The MasterBox 600 checks off all the boxes while also managing to include a few fairly unique aspects.

    We have reviewed a number of MasterBox cases from Cooler Master and most of them are pretty good.  Nothing too special but, at the desired price point you really cannot complain too much.

  • AMD Ryzen 9600X and 9700X @ LanOC Reviews

    Published: Thursday, August 8, 2024 | By: Dennis

    I will be the first to admit that AMD seems to be killing it with their latest generation of Ryzen processors.  As many of you know I haven't been the biggest fan of AMD hardware for a very long time but, seeing AMD based overclocking friendly systems during Computex was a real eye opener.

    This year at Computex AMD announced the next generation of their Ryzen CPU lineup, the 9000 series which is built on the Zen 5 microarchitecture. They announced four different CPUs, The Ryzen 5 9600X with 6 cores, the Ryzen 7 9700X with 8 cores, and then two Ryzen 9 CPUs, the 9900X with 12 cores and the 9950X with 16 cores. AMD was originally launching these at the end of July but they did push things slightly with the 9600X and 9700X hitting stores on the 8th and the 9900X and 9950X hitting stores on the 15th. So today I will be checking out the Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X to see what they are all about ahead of that store launch. Let’s dive in!

    Seems I might have to get on this AMD train and see what all the fuss is about.

  • Apex Pro Skeleton Carbon Case

    Published: Thursday, August 8, 2024 | By: Dennis

    A case made of carbon? The Apex Pro Skeleton Carbon is the first case from Alphacool on the market that is second to none. This design case offers great flexibility, which is ideal for comprehensive water cooling of PC components.

    Made from real carbon tubes and held in place by CNC-milled aluminum corners, the case can be fully dismantled and individually adapted to your own wishes. Completely in the stylish and modern Apex design, it also includes a distro plate specially adapted to this case, including a pre-assembled VPP Apex pump. With the usual chrome-plated brass connections and brilliant digital aRGB lighting, it fits perfectly into the ensemble. The smoked glass side panels complete the iconic look.

    The Alphacool Apex Pro Skeleton Carbon case impresses with its outstanding design and offers unparalleled customization options thanks to its fully screw-fastened construction. Equipped with three radiator mounts, this case provides ideal conditions for high-performance cooling systems. An included GPU bracket with cable enables vertical mounting of the graphics card. The mainboard tray including cable box can also be positioned flexibly, giving the user a wide range of creative configuration options for the Skeleton case.

    The included Distro Plate with a 750ml reservoir offers connection options for CPU, GPU and radiators. The pre-installed Alphacool Apex pump is powerful enough to support complex water cooling loops. The connections of the Distro Plate are made of chrome-plated brass, as is usual with Alphacool. By embedding the connections in the acrylic, the problem of possible leaks due to cracking is avoided. Fitted with O-rings, the two connector parts lock together during installation and ensure maximum safety.

    The Apex product line from Alphacool represents the highest level of perfection. First-class materials and innovative technologies guarantee an exceptional premium product. Consisting of genuine carbon and modular, CNC-milled aluminum connectors, the Apex Pro Skeleton case offers limitless creativity with a unique look. Each Skeleton case is one of a kind, designed to unleash the user's vision and creative ideas.

    The Apex Pro Skeleton Carbon and Apex Skeleton Carbon cases (standard version, without distro plate and without vertical GPU mount) are now available in the online store.
    Features

    • Genuine carbon
    • Can be completely dismantled
    • Optimized for water cooling
    • Smoked glass side panels