Techreport

The results that Jeff got from one of those Optane cache drives are pretty promising, don't you think? MSI also seems to think so, as it's launching three motherboard bundles with pre-installed 16GB Optane Memory devices. The Z270 Tomahawk, B250M Bazooka, and B250M Pro are all getting models with "Opt Boost" appended their names to let buyers know they include an Optane cache. ...Read more...

Another day, another graphics driver release. Today's pack o' DLLs comes from Nvidia, who released the GeForce 381.89 drivers. This update doesn't bring any major new features but comes with support for a handful of new games along with a few bugfixes. The new drivers should be good for dispensing major dakka in Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, controlling towers on Heroes of the Storm 2.0, having fun in Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality or employing your local laundrymen after playing some Wilson's Heart. ...Read more...

Much ado about Optane

The recent focus on VR, coupled with the amount of graphics horsepower you can get in a small package, has led companies like MSI and Asus into the business of building PCs meant for gaming in the living room rather than the desktop. MSI's Trident 3 and Asus' G20ci both went on sale recently, and now Asus has another option unquestionably aimed at offering a console-like package with enough punch for driving a high-end VR headset: the VivoPC X. The system is now available after being unveiled in January, and we have the full details on it. ...Read more...

Nvidia has been hyping the special VR sauce baked into its Pascal graphics cards since the GeForce 1080 launch day event in early May of 2016. Since then, the company has put its money where its mouth is with its VR Funhouse experience-game-demo hybrid, game bundles with HTC's Vive, and the FCAT VR benchmarking tool. The green team's latest VR-related promotion is meant to entice prospective buyers to take the plunge into Oculus' Rift ecosystem. ...Read more...

In some circles, High-Bandwidth Memory (HBM) has already been crowned as the graphics card memory of the future. However, it's still not the time to forget about trusty ol' GDDR. SK Hynix has announced that it will produce GDDR6, the successor to the widely-used GDDR5 and GDDR5X, and plans to have the chips available in consumer products sooner than many might expect. ...Read more...

Corsair's K70 keyboard has been reviewed on TR three separate times in three different configurations, and it's won two TR Editor's Choice awards. If there's a TR keyboard all-star list, the K70 is definitely on it. The K70's bigger brother, the K95, has never starred in a single TR review until now. However, this isn't a review of any old K95. Today, we're looking at Corsair's shiny new K95 RGB Platinum. ...Read more...

If water-cooling a CPU is a good idea, then using a liquid as a cooling medium for both the CPU and the power delivery circuitry on the motherboard must be better. This line of thinking led to the development of custom water blocks for a number of Intel X99 and Z270 motherboards from Asus, Gigabyte, and MSI. EK Waterblocks is at it again with the EK-FB ASUS C6H RGB Monoblock. The company calls this unit the first waterblock for an AMD Ryzen mobo—in this case, for Asus' high-end ROG Crosshair VI Hero. ...Read more...

AOC has a couple of new monitors coming out that should appeal to folks who need everything in their lives to look as good as they do. The venerated Studio F.A. Porsche design house collaborated with AOC on the look of the PDS241 and PDS271 displays. As you might guess from the model names, these are incredibly stylish monitors in 24" and 27" sizes. ...Read more...

Accurate color reproduction may not be a monitor's most important characteristic for gamers, but it's critical for professionals that create games, movies, and work on photography. HP designed its DreamColor Z24x G2 and DreamColor Z31x Studio displays with these folks in mind. The company's DreamColor product page proudly proclaims that the DreamColor line won a 2015 Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. ...Read more...

When you think "Thunderbolt 3 enclosure", you probably think about the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, the Razer Core, or the Powercolor Devil Box. There's a lot more that can go in a PCIe slot than graphics cards, though. If, for example, you need to hook up an NVMe SSD to your laptop, Akitio has you covered with the Node Lite Thunderbolt 3 external PCIe enclosure. ...Read more...

AMD's first Radeon Pro Duo graphics card brought the power of twin Fiji GPUs and 8GB of HBM RAM to bear on professional graphics tasks just under a year ago. Today, the company is updating the Pro Duo with twin Polaris chips and 32GB of GDDR5 RAM on board. Going by the card's 4608 stream processors, it's not a stretch to guess that the new Pro Duo is using a pair of fully-enabled Polaris 20 chips, although we're waiting for confirmation on that point. Each GPU offers a 1243 MHz peak boost clock. The card's 7 GT/s GDDR5 memory is subdivided into two 16GB pools, each of which is connected to a GPU over a 256-bit bus. ...Read more...

A couple of weeks ago, whispers were swirling that Intel was moving the launch of its Basin Falls high-end desktop platform and its component CPUs up from late July to the end of June. Earlier this week, the rumor mill was churning out reports that the silicon giant would show off Basin Falls at Computex at the end of May. Benchlife is adding fuel to the fire today with more specific details about the replacements for Broadwell-E and X99. Based on a reading of an automated translation, the page appears to contain four specific pieces of information that were not a part of the rumors we reported on earlier.The story contains reportedly-leaked information that Intel senior vice president Navin Shenoy will deliver a keynote speech at Computex 2017. The fact that an Intel senior VP will be delivering the keynote suggests that it may be a major announcement. The company has already shown ...Read more...

Nvidia and AMD have traditionally gone back and forth creating new products and tweaking existing models to position one card or another at just about every conceivable price point. AMD has been absent in the high-end space despite Nvidia's launches of the all-conquering GTX 1080 and GTX 1080 Ti, but the red team has been striking first at lower price points of late. To wit, AMD drew first blood in the more budget-friendly end of the market last year with the RX 480 and the related RX 470, while the RX 460 made it to market before the GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti competition. With this background, it should come as no surprise that whispers about a possible GeForce GT 1030 begin to circulate just as cards based on AMD's teeny-tiny Radeon RX 550 begin to hit the market.Speculators can't seem to agree on whether the rumored graphics card will rely on a further cut-down version of the GP107 silicon found in the existing GeForce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti, or on a new chip ...Read more...

If you're in the exclusive group who'd really like a Microsoft Surface but refuse to give Microsoft money, Samsung has your product. The Galaxy Book is a Windows 10 detachable that comes in 10.6" and 12" sizes. The smaller tablet comes with a Core m3 processor and 4GB of memory, while the larger portable is a more direct Surface Pro competitor with a Core i5 processor.

Greetings, gerbils! This is where I'd write something funny, stupid, or both... if I had anything today. We're buzzing bees at TR HQ right now, so all I have time to say is: here's deals. You buy, now.There's a chance you're looking for something we haven't covered. If that's the case, you can help The Tech Report by using the following referral links when you're out shopping: not only do we have a partnership with Newegg ...Read more...

AMD's Radeon RX 570 and RX 580 graphics cards have dominated PC hardware headlines this week. Now, hardware reviewers and rumor mongers are shifting their attention to more petite pixel pushers from AMD. A number of closely-related topics have emerged about these cards of late, and we will cover the news and rumors in order of "officialness." ...Read more...

The population of HDR televisions is already growing, but the number of HDR PC displays is just getting off the ground. That makes each new entry into this segment a noteworthy one. The latest monitor to join the HDR ranks is a Dell UltraSharp 27" display, the UP2718Q. ...Read more...

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google intends to include an ad-blocking component in future versions of its popular Chrome web browser. The new feature reportedly will be enabled by default in both the desktop and mobile versions of the browser. The WSJ says the rumors come from sources "familiar with Google's plans." The paper says the blocking will be targeted at ads deemed "beneath a threshhold of consumer acceptability." While at first the notion that a major player in online advertising would offer features to disable ads in one of its most popular software products seems counter-intuitve, recent trends suggest the idea is not as strange as it sounds at first. ...Read more...

Now that Nvidia gave the OK, everyone's releasing gussied-up GeForces with hot-clocked RAM. The GeForce GTX 1060 gets a potential step up to 9 GT/s, while the GeForce GTX 1080 can move to 11 GT/s like its bigger brother the GTX 1080 Ti. We had a glance at some Aorus cards already, but Asus, MSI, Zotac, Inno3D, and EVGA are getting in on the action today.

Radeon RX 500 series roundup

A couple of weeks ago we wrote about Gigabyte's Brix IoT PCs—a pair of fanless miniature computers with Intel Apollo Lake SoCs inside. We read over at Fanlesstech that the company has expanded the Brix IoT range with models packing a dual-core 2.4 GHz Intel Core i3-7100U CPU. The brawnier GB-EKi3A-7100 also packs two USB 3.1 ports, though it loses some of the connectivity options present on its less-powerful siblings. ...Read more...

We were quite impressed with the performance of Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, but the card left us wondering if better cooling might help the mighty GP102 push pixels even faster. Corsair must have been thinking the same, seeing as the company developed the Hydro GFX GTX 1080 Ti graphics card. To make the Hydro, Corsair tapped a graphics board from MSI and put one its own water blocks on the GP102 graphics chip. A system of heatsinks and a centrifugal fan keep the memory and power delivery circuitry cool. ...Read more...

Phanteks chose the right name when it named the Enthoo Evolv line of cases. Since the original Evolv case debuted, Phanteks continued to iterate on the design one step at a time, bringing out models with changes that reflect new trends in case design. The newest model is the Enthoo Evolv mATX Tempered Glass. ...Read more...

AMD's manufacturing friends have kept us busy this week with an onslaught of new RX 580 and RX 570 graphics cards. Buying shiny new computer hardware isn't very fun when there's no software support for it, so AMD has Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.4.3 out and ready to download. ...Read more...

NZXT's limited-edition H440 Hyper Beast was apparently such a hit last year thatthe company has decided to do it all over again—using the S340 Elite case this time around. The S340 Elite Hyper Beast's biggest and hardest-to-miss feature is the wild paintjob adorning the side of the case, ensuring that you won't want to stuff this thing in a corner. As with the H440 before, NZXT brought in artist Brock Hofer to do a case-sized rendition of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 'Hyper Beast' weapon skin. ...Read more...

Graphics card makers haven't been releasing their various Radeon RX 500 series cards in any particular order, but it somehow seems fitting that we get to XFX after seeing fresh cards from Asus, Gigabyte, MSI, PowerColor, and Sapphire in the last few days. Zotac is a Nvidia-only house, so XFX is probably the last card in AMD's board partner Rolodex. PowerColor rolled out six different Radeon RX 570 and 580 cards, Sapphire will burden shelves with nine models, and XFX is firing both barrels with an even dozen of different takes on the Polaris 20 theme. ...Read more...

Sapphire has been selling Radeons as long as it has existed, and so it should come as no surprise that the company has the widest variety of graphics cards based on AMD's new Radeon RX 500 series, at least so far. The gemstone guys are making no less than nine cards for the new family, split between the classic Nitro+ series and the new Pulse series.

Using a membrane keyboard is like the PC Master Race's version of playing with a janky third-party bargain-bin console gamepad. Logitech's G413 mechanical gaming keyboard is designed to make the transition from rubber domes to mechanical switches a little less expensive than usual. The G413 packs the same Logitech-exclusive Romer-G switches as the company's much pricier G Pro and Orion keyboards, but foregoes its bigger brothers' RGB LED backlighting. ...Read more...

The notorious rumor mongers at Digitimes report that Intel is planning to move several upcoming releases foward. The first rumor concerns the release date of the rumored Basin Falls high-end desktop (HEDT) platform, the accompanying Skylake-X and Kaby Lake-X CPUs, the X299 chipset, and the rumored LGA 2066 socket. According to "Taiwan-based PC vendors," Basin Falls' premiere is moving from the end of July to a release date during the Computex trade show at the end of May. This news comes just days after rumors that the same launch was being moved from late July to late June.For those who don't follow the minutiae of Intel's ever-shifting codename structure, Skylake-X is expected to be the Skylake incarnation of Intel's long-running HEDT series of chips, which have traditionally born the '-E' suffix. Skylake-X CPUs are rumored ...Read more...

With the launch of the Radeon RX 500-series cards, Gigabyte's ready to go with a bundle of new Radeons. The company is launching four cards under its Aorus brand and three more boards under its own nameplate. ...Read more...

AMD's high-octane Radeon RX 500-series graphics cards are powered by respins of existing Polaris silicon, but the entry-level Radeon RX 550 features a tiny (and as-yet-unnamed) new GPU that AMD said was meant to make its way into notebooks, as well. Now, a product page for the mobile version of that mini-GPU has appeared on AMD's website. It seems we can expect this power-sipping Polaris chip to appear in notebooks as the Radeon RX 540.Base

Bigger might not always be better, but it's hard to say no to a giant display. Users who require a massive amount of real estate on top of their desks might want to take a look at AOC's latest mammoth monitor, the C4008VU8. This 40" curved display comes with professional credentials and a reasonable price tag. ...Read more...

MSI is known for producing an inordinate number of variations on every motherboard, and the company's modus operandi with graphics cards is quite similar. That's not necessarily a bad thing, since there's a card for every taste, and for every wallet. Here's what the company has in store after today's unveiling of the Radeon RX 500-series cards.There's a total of five RX 580 cards based on the fully-enabled Polaris 20 GPU, and two slightly-cut-down RX 570 offerings. Let's start with the big ones first. The range-topping card is the RX 580 Gaming X+ 8G, a beast that can hit a 1441 MHz boost clock in its most aggressive mode. MSI's Twin Frozr VI cooler makes an appearance here, complete with ...Read more...

Check outside for airborne pigs, cows returning home, and Beelzebub on a sled. Among all the other things about 2017 that were inconceivable just a year ago, a Halo game is now coming to Steam. Microsoft announced that the remastered version of the 2009 RTS Halo Wars is hitting Valve's game shop on April 20, in addition to its standalone release on the Windows store. ...Read more...

The current generation of chips fabricated on 14-nm and 16-nm processes have allowed for previously-unattainable levels of performance in thin-and-light laptops. MSI's Leopard Pro series of 15.6" and 17.3" laptops capitalize on the capabilities of Intel and Nvidia's latest silicon to offer capable gaming performance in thin form factors. ...Read more...

I have an LG 24UD58 10-bit 4K monitor that can reproduce 72% of the NTSC color space, and I'm pretty happy with it. My display's color performance probably looks downright pathetic next to Eizo's new Prominence CG3145 HDR Reference monitor, though. This 31.1" monitor is part of Eizo's Professional Color Management series, and can reproduce up to 98% of the digital movie DCI-P3 color space. ...Read more...

PC hardware and computing

PowerColor's cards based on AMD's ever-so-slightly refreshed Radeon 500-series silicon have been something of a worst-kept secret over the last few weeks. The company has now officially unveiled two Radeon RX 570 cards along with a quartet of RX 580 pixel pushers. The two RX 570s both pack 4 GB of 7 GT/s GDDR5 memory, while the higher-end cards carry varying amounts of memory at 7 GT/s or 8 GT/s depending on the model. ...Read more...

The Radeon RX 500 series is upon us, and that means there are new graphics cards from the usual suspects. Asus was the quickest on the "send e-mail" button this morning. The company dropped us a line informing us of its four new graphics cards based on the refreshed Polaris GPUs: ROG Strix versions of the Radeon RX 580 and RX 570, plus a more mainstream "Dual" version of the RX 580. ...Read more...

If reference coolers for even top-of-the-line graphics cards have a single blower fan, the average aftermarket graphics card cooler has a pair of fans, and ultra-high-end stuff like EVGA's GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 packs three fans... the next logical step can only be a quartet of spinners. Palit must agree with this logic, judging by the two cards it's just taken the wraps off: the GameRock GeForce GTX 1080 Ti and the GameRock GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Premium. ...Read more...

Mice are a critical component of most gaming PCs. I would venture to say a portion of the TR audience would accept furry mice into their kitchens rather than give up the plastic rodent attached to their entertainment or productivity computer. Thermaltake's Ventus X Plus is made for the type of heavy user that would take that deal. The Ventus X Plus couples an Avago 9500 laser sensor with a Bluetooth module that allows stats-obsessed gamers to track performance figures like total distance, actions per minute, and number of lift-offs. The stats can be inspected using Thermaltake's Tt eSports Plus+ app for Android, iOS, and Windows. ...Read more...

Intel unceremoniously killed its long-running Intel Developer Forum event series today with a terse announcement on the IDF site:Intel has evolved its event portfolio and decided to retire the IDF program moving forward. Thank you for nearly 20 great years with the Intel Developer Forum! Intel has a number of resources available ...Read more...

MSI is already one of the most prolific providers of Ryzen-ready motherboards, but over the weekend the company launched four more ATX boards. The X370 Gaming Pro Carbon-AC, X370 Gaming Plus, B350 Gaming Plus, and B350 Krait Gaming all belong to the company's Performance Gaming family, marking them as enthusiast-class hardware with an emphasis on stylish design. ...Read more...

It's nearly that time of the year again. The magical weekend where TR gerbils from around the country (and maybe the world) descend upon the shores of Lake Michigan is less than three months away. If you're not already familiar with the event, suffice it to say that the TR BBQ is family-friendly and open to all readers of The Tech Report as well as their friends and families. All you have to do is make your way to Holland, MI on Saturday, July 15.It's a little too early in the year for human-acceptable beach weather, but I took my dogs to the cottage yesterday to make sure the venue was still up to their standards. The only thing that disappointed them was when it ...Read more...

Faster memory doesn't help in every PC task, but a select group of programs and games seem to benefit more from RAM throughput than from just about anything else. Ask an informed Arma enthusiast what he has planned for his next hardware upgrade, and it'll probably have something to do with faster memory. G.Skill has launched the latest entry in its expansive lineup of Trident Z high-performance memory, targeted at those willing to pay the price for high bandwidth. The company's new DDR4-4333 kits ship with a pair of 8 GB modules for a total capacity of 16 GB. ...Read more...

Benchlife is showing off another purported Intel slide with some pretty juicy details about that company's next desktop chipset series. The image appears to describe the upcoming 300-series chipsets intended for use with the chip giant's "Cannon Lake" processor family. Most notably, the chips are rumored to include support for USB 3.1 (10 Gbps) and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

Benchmarks are a crucial part of what we do here at TR. As fun as it can be to compare performance figures for competing widgets, any given benchmark has little value if it doesn't correlate to performance in a real workload. Google's V8 JavaScript engine team has taken a long look at its Octane benchmark and concluded that the test is no longer indicative of real-world JavaScript performance. The team has therefore chosen to retire the benchmark and stop recommending its use as a JavaScript performance test. ...Read more...

Well, the day has arrived. We previously reported that Microsoft had plans to block users of Kaby Lake and Ryzen systems from installing or updating Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. The company has gone ahead with the plan. Owners of systems with those CPUs inside should now see the error screen below when using Windows Update. The company notes that users may also receive an "unknown error" with code 80240037. ...Read more...

Skimping on your power supply is one of best ways to guarantee system instability or even a short life for the parts inside your rig. A new build rarely comes without a budget attached, though, and sometimes a top-of-the-line power supply isn't in the cards. EVGA's new B3 line of power supplies is set to offer solid features without breaking the bank. ...Read more...