Patriot Viper 3 DDR3-1866 & Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters DDR3-2133

[Posted by: Steve]

Patriot Memory now offers an extensive range of DDR3 memory modules with their latest Viper 3 series covering a wide range of timings and frequencies. Today we are not just taking a look at a memory kit from the Viper 3 series but also the elite Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters limited edition series, which has been hand tested and verified for guaranteed performance...

The new Patriot Viper 3 series offered a surprising amount of overclocking headroom, though despite this we found little room for improvement when it came to the memory timings. The timings of the Viper 3 series are fairly standard, as you will find most DDR3-1866 memory supports CL 9-10-9-27. The same can be said about the Viper 3 Intel Extreme Masters kit, as most DDR3-2133 memory works at CL 11-11-11-27 timings.

08/29/2012

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 Ti

[Posted by: Steve]

Today we are checking out Nvidias long awaited GeForce GTX 660 Ti which targets mid-range performance. Based on virtually the same design as the GeForce GTX 670, the GTX 660 Ti should deliver unseen levels of performance to the $300 price range...

Whereas we had previously crowned the GeForce GTX 670 the best value high performance graphics card money could buy, the GTX 660 Ti goes a step further in the price vs. performance rating. Based on current estimates we believe by the time you read this the Gigabyte GTX 660 Ti will be hitting shelves for around $300, making it roughly 33% cheaper than the GTX 670. This is amazing news for gamers as the GTX 660 Ti was only 13% slower on average than the GTX 670 in 16 games that we tested.

08/15/2012

Asrock X79 Extreme11

[Posted by: Steve]

Today we are checking out what is arguably the most feature packed Intel X79 based motherboard in existence, the X79 Extreme11. Developed by Asrock this board packs a staggering 14 onboard SATA ports, 7 PCIe 3.0 x16 slots, 8 USB 3.0 ports along with a whole host of other features that help to make this the most extreme X79 motherboard money can buy...

Those that require the ability to create a RAID array with up to eight 6Gb/s drives along with extreme multi-GPU setups will find the X79 Extreme11 actually fairs rather well in terms of value. For those that do not require these features the X79 Extreme11 is obviously overkill and Asrocks less extreme motherboards will fit the bill better, and with the X79 Extreme9, 7, 6, 4 and 3 to choose from, all options are covered.

08/07/2012

QNAP TS-419P II Turbo NAS

[Posted by: Steve]

Today we are taking a look at the QNAP TS-419P II Turbo NAS, which is a 4-bay network attached storage device that aims to deliver the perfect balance of performance and price to small office and home users. The TS-419P II includes a few important features such as eSATA and USB 3.0, while it can be loaded with the latest firmware...

The inclusion of USB 3.0 in the QNAP TS-419P II is actually quite surprising as early samples did not include this technology and instead featured 2.0 support exclusively. Many early reviews were quick to point this out as a disadvantage of this device and it seems QNAP took notice and quickly made an update before hitting mass production.

07/25/2012

Synology DiskStation DS112+, DS112, DS112j

[Posted by: Steve]

Today we are checking out three affordable single bay NAS products from Synology known as the DiskStation DS112+, DS112 and DS112j. These devices are ideal for those that want the convenience of network attached storage without a huge storage capacity, and they offer the same functionality as the bigger more expensive models...

Starting with the entry-level Synology DiskStation DS112j which can be had for as little as $150 in diskless form, we were impressed with the performance of this device. Despite being equipped with just a single drive we saw strong performance in our download tests, delivering similar performance to the more expensive DS112 and QNAP TS-119P II.

07/10/2012

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC

[Posted by: Steve]

Today we are checking out Gigabytes factory overclocked GeForce GTX 670 OC graphics card which features their patented WindForce 3X cooler along with an entirely re-worked PCB. Gigabyte has set out to make the GeForce GTX 670 even better without making it any more expensive and that makes it well worth checking out...

Even better news for value-minded enthusiasts is the existence of the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC, which still retains the alluring $400 price tag while providing better features and performance. Although on average we only saw 5% more performance from the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 OC, that was often enough to put it on par with the more expensive Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition and GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards.

07/02/2012

AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition

[Posted by: Steve]