10 June 201510 June 2015NetworkBy Bruce Normann

QNAP TVS-863+ vNAS Server Review

The QNAP TVS-863+ Turbo vNAS is part of a new hardware platform for QNAP that brings a high level of performance to the small tower-based format, at a lower cost than was possible before. That’s not an uncommon theme for NAS product announcements, but this is. The TVS-x63 series is based on a System-On-Chip (SOC) offering from AMD. Stunnedâ€¦? I know I was when I first heard it. After years of suffering with multiple generations of Intel Atom-based NAS devices with lackluster performance, from every NAS manufacturer in the market, finally we have a low power replacement that rocks the world. The Intel Bay Trail-D CPU is a great little replacement for the Atom, but the new AMD GX-424CC is in another league altogether. The Radeon graphics section inside, plus four CPU cores running at 2.4 GHz, and a well-developed APU architecture that marries the two together for challenging loads, provides a sea change in computing performance for the low-power, low-cost NAS segment.

1 June 2015CoolingBy Julian Duque

Scythe Mugen Max CPU Cooler Review

The Scythe Mugen Max is compatible with most modern desktop motherboards coming from both AMD and Intel with the exception of the AM1 platform, which you will most likely not need this cooler for. Included with the Mugen Max is a 140 mm Scythe GlideStream fan that has been adapted to have 120 mm hole spacing. Unfortunately it only comes with one and a second one of that same model can not be easily purchased inside the US, but we have managed to get one for our noise tests.

24 May 2015StorageBy David Ramsey

ADATA Premier SP610 SSD Review

Founded in 2001, the Taiwanese company ADATA Technology Corporation specializes in memory-based products, selling everything from USB keys to flash memory cards to DRAM memory for desktop and server computers. A few years ago they branched out into SSDs, and have been competing aggressively on price/performance as SSD prices continue to fall. Today Benchmark Reviews has the opportunity to review their ADATA Premier SP610 256GB SSD.

24 May 201527 May 2015CoolingBy Julian Duque

Scythe Ashura CPU Cooler Review

If you are the type of person that prefers to buy products from experienced companies then you won’t be hard-pressed by the manufacturer of the product in this review. Scythe has been around since 2002, that is thirteen years that sets them as one of the oldest and most experienced companies in the DIY PC market. This week, they have allowed Benchmark Reviews to take a look at some of their latest high performance coolers and today the spotlight falls on the Scythe Ashura, a compact 120 mm cooler which Scythe claims will pass our tests with flying colors.

23 May 2015AudioBy Hank Tolman

Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Analog Headset Review

One of the most critical weapons in any gamer’s arsenal is a good gaming headset. A good headset gives you the ability to isolate outside noise while providing detailed, sharp, and clear sound from all sides. A gaming headset also lets you easily and understandably communicate with the other members of your team. In this article, Benchmark Reviews is looking at the Roccat Kave XTD 5.1 Analog Headset and compares it directly with other top Gaming Headsets to see what sets it apart and how well it performs.

20 May 201524 June 2016PeripheralsBy Meng Vang

Tt eSPORTS POSEIDON Z Forged Mechanical Keyboard Review

The Thermaltake Poseidon Z Forged is the newest edition to the Poseidon Z family. It comes in with a lot of new features that can be appealing to most gamers. This is the first mechanical keyboard in the Poseidon series to offer programmable macro buttons. In addition to that, Thermaltake is confident that the Poseidon Z Forged will become a long lasting keyboard, so they are offering the same five year warranty as they did with their previous Poseidon mechanical keyboards.

11 May 2015PeripheralsBy David Ramsey

Zalman ZM-GM4 Knossos Gaming Mouse Review

Zalman made their reputation with high-end aluminum cases– who could forget the marvelously insane $1,000+ TNN-500? – and CPU air coolers like their “flower”-designed CNPS7000 series. They don’t make insanely expensive cases any more, and air coolers are arguably irrelevant in the enthusiast market these days, but Zalman’s been branching out into gaming peripherals, and today Benchmark Reviews has their top-end Knossos ZM-GM4 Professional Laser Gaming Mouse to review.

11 May 201511 May 2015CoolingBy Julian Duque

Cryorig R1 Ultimate CPU Cooler Review

It is always great to hear about small companies making the headlines in the computer market, but we have seemed to miss a note here. Although Benchmark Reviews has been around long enough to review cooling solutions from most manufacturers in the market, this is the first time we look at a product from Cryorig; a company that has gotten a lot of momentum since it’s first release back in 2013. Today, we take a look at the Cryorig R1 Ultimate, Cryorig’s first attempt of impressing us with a product they claim is an accumulation of years of design and research.

11 May 201511 May 2015CasesBy Joe Gulczinski

RAIDMAX Viper GX II Case Review

Raidmax was founded back in 1988 and is know for their budget oriented gaming cases. Their history indicates that they were one of the first to mass produce gaming cases incorporating innovative designs coupled with excellent performance. The Raidmax Viper GX II is one of the current iterations, building on past styles to achieve a truly unique look.The prominent features that really stand out is a hot-swappable SSD bay on top accompanied by two USB 3.0 ports and ominous yet slick looking vents on the top shroud.

6 May 20156 May 2015CasesBy Jason Maxfield

NZXT Noctis 450 Mid-Tower Case Review

The NZXT Noctis 450 styling on the outside has undergone a major face lift. The Noctis 450 has taken a bit of the popular Phantom series styling queues and wrapped them around the Noctis 450 chassis, creating an attractive looking case. According to NZXT the Noctis 450 allows the case to have 10 times the ventilation surface with the use of floating plastic panels compared to the H440. The Noctis 450 isn’t just about style, but form with function.

1 May 20158 May 2015CoolingBy Julian Duque

SilverStone Tundra TD02-E CPU Cooler Review

Spring signals the fore-coming of summer, but to Benchmark Reviews, it also means time for some cooler reviews. The first manufacturer in our 2015 list is SilverStone. Last week, we reviewed the SilverStone TD03-E, a 120mm all-in-one CPU cooler which served as an update to the already aging TD03. Today we take a look at it’s bigger brother, the SilverStone Tundra TD02-E, an astonishingly stylish 240 mm all-in-one CPU cooler.

30 April 2015Computer Hardware SpotlightBy Olin Coles

High-Rely MPac-G2 RAID Backup Drive Performance

MPac-G2 is essentially made up of two 2.5″ drives (either hard disk or solid state) paired together into a steel cartridge that houses a RAID controller. This cartridge is then used to store backup data that can be accessed outside the backup appliance at extreme speeds for disaster recovery purposes, either by the integrated SATA 6Gb/s port or SuperSpeed USB 3.0 port.

27 April 201531 August 2015StorageBy Olin Coles

Kingston HyperX Savage SSD Review

HyperX, a division of Kingston, had been making headlines. It began with their Predator PCIe M.2 SSD, which fetched data at more than 1400 MB/s. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests the HyperX Savage SSD, designed for performance enthusiasts and replaces the HyperX 3K solid state drive. HyperX Savage utilizes a quad-core eight-channel Phison PS3110-S10 storage controller capable of 560 MB/s read and 530 MB/s write speeds. The 240GB HyperX Savage SSD Upgrade Bundle Kit received for testing (SHSS3B7A/240G) will be tested against the fastest solid state drives available for the SATA interface.

26 April 201527 April 2015CasesBy David Shields

Zalman Z11 Neo Mid-Tower Case Review

This new take on the Z11 design features a new exterior design, mounts for water cooling and filtered intakes, along with the sleek, jet-inspired exterior design from the original Z11. In this article for Benchmark Reviews, I will cover the Zalman Z11 Neo and discuss the changes Zalman has made from the Z11 Plus before delivering my final rating.

26 April 20158 May 2015CoolingBy Julian Duque

SilverStone Tundra TD03-E CPU Liquid Cooler Review

Summer is approaching us, and with temperatures expecting to get hot it means that Benchmark Reviews is evaluating what CPU cooler manufacturers are bringing forward in 2015. In this article, the spotlight will be on the newest SilverStone Cooler, the Tundra TD03-E, the successor of the TD03, and the smaller brother of the TD02-E. As expected from any SilverStone product, expectations are quite high, even if this is merely the first update to SilverStone’s Tundra series, which made it’s debut back in 2013.

18 April 201518 April 2015StorageBy Olin Coles

Kingston HyperX Predator PCIe M.2 SSD Review

Are you in a hurry? Solid state Drive Technology has been serving up data at the fastest rates available to consumers, quickly earning the distinction of ‘instant’ storage. SSDs built for the SATA interface already make most computers open applications in a snap, but the latest generation of PCI-Express 2.0 based SSDs bring that title closer to the truth. The new Kingston HyperX Predator PCIe M.2 SSD is one such example, and boasts 1400 MB/s read speeds with 1000 MB/s compressible data writes. Available in 240/480GB storage capacities, and available as a single M.2 drive or installed to a half-height half-length PCI-Express 2.0 adapter, in this article Benchmark Reviews tests the Kingston Predator against the fastest SSDs on the market.

18 April 201518 April 2015CoolingBy Aidan Moore

Corsair H80i GT Liquid CPU Cooler Review

The new Corsair Hydro series H80i GT challenges this assumption with an extra thick single-width radiator and two fans for out of the box push-pull operation. In this article, Benchmark Reviews will look at the performance of the new Corsair H80i GT all-in-one cooling system and compare it to some of the competition.

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18 April 201518 April 2015CasesBy Jason Maxfield

Fractal Design Core 2500 Case Review

The Fractal Design Core 2500 is in the sub-100 dollar category, which has some really heated competition at the moment. Computer cases are becoming less expensive, while adding more features. I’m going to put the Fractal Design Core 2500 through it’s paces in this article for Benchmark Reviews, and see how it stacks up to the competition.

10 April 201510 April 2015CoolingBy Aidan Moore

Corsair Hydro H100i GTX Review

Corsair’s new H100i GTX all-in-one water cooling system is the latest evolution of the H100 series of dual 120 mm cooling systems. This version adds Corsair link capability, improved cold plate and pump performance for better thermal efficiency and throws in a cosmetic update as well. In this article, Benchmark Reviews takes the new Corsair H100i GTX out for a test drive and compares its performance against a few other popular all-in-one cooling solutions.

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10 April 201528 April 2015ReviewsBy Olin Coles

Kwikset SmartCode 916 Electronic Deadbolt Review

The recent rash of burglaries concerned me, as my new home shared the same basic deadbolt as everyone else. I check with neighbors, and a popular choice with contractors was the Kwikset SmartCode 916 Zâ€‘Wave Touchscreen Electronic Deadbolt, which auto-locks after thirty seconds and can wirelessly communicate with security and home automation systems via encrypted Z-Wave technology. Mine installed in minutes, and is the subject of this article for Benchmark Reviews.

6 April 2015CoolingBy Meng Vang

Raijintek Triton CPU Water Cooler Review

What makes this liquid cooling unit unique is the room for expansion. Users can either use this cooling unit as it is, or expand on it with additional radiators and GPU blocks. The 240mm radiator uses a high fin density design, which results in better cooling potential overall. To top it off, three color coolant dyes are included in the packaging for further customization (only available for Triton / Triton Core editions). Benchmark Reviews is excited to receive a sample of the Raijintek Triton for this review. Let’s take a look at what this AIO liquid cooling unit has to offer against the competition.

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4 April 20154 April 2015ReviewsBy Olin Coles

AKRacing Rush Gaming Chair Review

I have a long personal history with chairs, going all the way back to my early days as an infant sitting tall in a high-chair. I recall the steel folding chairs heated by the sun during my graduation commencement. There was even a memorable chair that followed me around after college, and played several roles at the dining table and behind the office desk. More recently, there was the expensive Embody Chair that stirred controversy. In this article for Benchmark Reviews, I spend hours on my seat to test the new AKRacing Rush gaming chair.

3 April 201515 April 2015StorageBy Olin Coles

Samsung SSD 850 EVO mSATA Review

Powered by their own 32-layer 3D V-NAND technology, the Samsung SSD 850 EVO replaces the 840 EVO solid state drive and delivers up to twice the density and write speed of traditional 20nm planar NAND flash components. In this article, Benchmark Reviews tests the 250GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO mSATA drive against the fastest solid state drives available.

30 March 201515 April 2015StorageBy Olin Coles

Crucial BX100 SSD Review

Crucial has returned with the BX100 series solid state drive, featuring Micron’s most affordable 16nm NAND flash components. The Crucial BX100 SSD offers excellent performance to value-driven mainstream users, and delivers enthusiast speeds at a reasonable price. Benchmark Reviews tests the BX100 solid state drive against the fastest SSDs available.

29 March 2015CasesBy Julian Duque

SilverStone Kublai KL05B-Q Case Review

SilverStone is at it again, but this time they are looking to mix things up by venturing into unprecedented areas. Lately, it seems that the competition has shaken the sub-$100 case market, and SilverStone is not willing to stand down. Mostly known for their premium cases and their innovative ideas, SilverStone has taken a different approach this time from their top notch designs and instead released the SilverStone Kublai KL05B-Q Mid-Tower case, which Benchmark Reviews will be taking a look at today.