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Asus Z77 Roundup
When doing all of our Ivy Bridge launch prep we spent a LOT of time benchmarking and testing a whole collection of boards. You guys have seen our reviews of the Intel and Gigabyte boards. When it came time to write about the four different Asus Z77 boards I realized that most of you are not going to want to read through a lot of information that we would cover over and over on each review. We decided to roundup all four of the boards and cover them together. This way we can get to the point a little quicker, saving you time, as well as giving us a chance to talk more about the differences between the variety of boards that we tested.
ASUS P8 Z68-V/GEN3
Perhaps one of the most daunting tasks after making the decision that you do not wish to purchase an off-the-shelf computer is attempting to figure out which components go in the machine. There are fun aspects, like the graphics card and processor, and then there are the not-so-fun aspects, like the motherboard (at least in my opinion). Why do I think it is a whole lot of not fun? There are so many out there to choose from, with all sorts of features. When shopping you will likely come across the ASUS board that I am going to review today. Arguably, it is one of the better all-around boards out there, with features like good integrated graphics and killer sound. But to a gamer that generally does not mean squat. Does the ASUS P8 Z68-V/GEN3 board have what it takes to function as a serious gaming component? Read on to find out!
XFX R7750 Black Edition DD
Not everyone is looking to spend $500 on their video card, in some cases that is the total budget for a build. When you are up against a wall trying to pack the best performance you can get into a budget build you still want to get the most performance you can out of your video card. That’s where cards like the XFX R7750 Black Edition Double Dissipation come into play. XFX has taken the styling and cooling from their high end cards and combined it with the price of budget cards like the HD 7750. Today we are going to take a look at how those two things do combined in XFX’s R7750 Black Edition Double Dissipation.
Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X
Earlier this year when AMD introduced the HD 7770 we took a look at cards from both Sapphire and XFX. Although we were impressed with the cards performance it was a little ill-timed due to AMD still clearing out discounted back stock. Three months later we are able to revisit the situation with today’s release of Sapphires new HD 7770 Vapor-X. With Sapphires Vapor chamber cooling technology along with a nice overclock over the reference design, the Sapphire HD 7770 Vapor-X could be a great option for a gamer on a limited budget. Let’s take a look.
Motherboard Sizing
When we got in a few oddly sized dual CPU motherboards from EVGA and Asus I posted up a few pictures on our forums and on Facebook. The problem was that even though they looked large there wasn’t any prospective. So we tossed in a couple other boards to give everyone a little perspective. This lead us to digging out even more motherboards to put together all of the standard motherboard sizes all together for everyone to be able to see the differences. Along with the picture we also have a breakdown on the dimensions of each size standard; I hope this helps everyone as some point. Sometimes it can be hard to understand all of the different motherboard sizes and how they all relate.
Android to the Maxx, DROID Razr Maxx
The list of different Android based phones available at any time is both overwhelming and frustrating. It’s almost impossible to get good feedback from friends who have the same phone because of this. So it’s rare than you have any one phone that manages to stand out. Doing something different is the only way to do this normally, but most times this ends off coming off as gimmicky or just lame. When Motorola introduced the Droid Razr Maxx it caught my attention right away. This was just before our trip out to San Francisco for the GTX 680 Editors day, what a better way to put the Maxx’s proposed batter life to the test!
Lian Li PC 100 “The Hammer”
We have had a few different Lian Li chassis come through the LanOC Offices and there hasn’t been a time that we haven’t been impressed with the new and interesting features Lian Li always seems to slip in. When they wanted to ship over their new case “The Hammer” PC 100, we signed up right away. We had seen the case previewed from a few shows prior and this time around Lian Li took a new perspective with its design, I was very interested to see how their changes worked out. Let’s jump in and see what it’s all about!
Nvidia GTX 670
When Nvidia launched Kepler with the GTX 680 I was impressed with the launch price of the card but even at such a great value it is still out of reach for some people. Just because you can’t afford the top card doesn’t mean you don’t want to experience Kepler’s performance. Of course it was only a matter of time before we saw Nvidia filling in the gaps in their product line, starting first with the GTX 690 then going to the next step down from the GTX 680, the GTX 670. Today we get to have a look to see how the performance compares to both the GTX 680 as well as AMD’s offerings. We are also very curious how it compares to the GTX 580, a card that has found its way into most of our office PC’s.
ioSafe Rugged Portable
So you do the smart thing, you backup your data from your laptop and your home PC to an external or network drive and go on with life feeling confident that you have gone well and above what most people do. For the most part, you did. What about when you’re traveling, have you seen how much abuse a device can take when on the go? For some people, and I know I’m one of them, some of the data you carry with you while traveling is more important than the laptop or device that you actually carry it on. In that situation you need a way to not have to worry about your data, no matter the situation, and to have a guarantee to back it up as well. The folks over at ioSafe focus specifically on this crowd. Not only do they offer products that are according to them build to handle almost anything, but they back it up with data recovery if something does happen. Today we are going to take a look at that Rugged Portable hard drive to see what all of the fuss is about, without any more buildup, let’s dig in.
Cooler Master Storm Trigger
Just two years ago the only mechanical keyboards you would find were from companies like DAS keyboard trying to create a nitch market. Over the past two years things have really exploded with every manufacture you can think of introducing their own mechanical keyboards. Cooler Master has been especially aggressive with multiple unique designs like their Quickfire series. What they did lack was a full featured mechanical keyboard with full backlighting, until now. Today they officially introduce their Storm Trigger, although it you look around the board was available Globally before now. With full backlighting it falls into a small category of Mechanical Keyboards with very little competition. I am excited to see how it performs.
Cooler Master HAF XM
The topic of cleaning your computer out came up last week on our forums and it got me thinking about how often I really need to clean out my computer. As it turns out it’s not very often anymore. All because of improvements in case design like fan filters. You don’t really see them on low end cases yet but they have been slowly trickling down. At CES this year we had a chance to get our hands on one of Cooler Master’s upcoming chassis, the HAF XM. A mid-range case packed with the features we have come to love from their high end HAF line. Today we are going to dig into the final product and see how it came out.
Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H
Z77 boards come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and prices. Just about every manufacture has a whole lineup of boards covering the whole range to make sure you can find what you are looking for. Gigabyte is no different; they have a whole selection of boards that will fit your needs. Today we are taking a look at their Z77X-UD3H, one of their budget boards. It may not be a high end board but it is still packed with features. I am curious how it will perform now that the cat is out of the bag with Ivy Bridge. Let’s jump in and see what it’s all about.
CITY OF INDUSTRY, CA -- Sep 09, 2010 -- Shuttle, the industry leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance small form factor (SFF) PC solutions and creator of the XPC, today officially kicks off its new sweepstakes with one of the most highly-anticipated video games of the year, R.U.S.E., to promote the Ultimate Everyday Gaming PC which is available in two configurations -- the Shuttle(R) J1 4100G system and Shuttle(R) SG41J1 Plus barebone.
"R.U.S.E. is one of those game-changing titles that industry insiders think will take the entire RTS [real-time strategy] genre to another level," said Nicolas Villalobos, Director at Shuttle Computer in North America. "As t he game-changer in small form factor PCs, we're excited to collaborate with Ubisoft on this project and re-introduce Shuttle's 'Ultimate Everyday Gaming PC' to the world -- the perfect small form factor budget gaming rig."
Shuttle(R) J1 4100G (System)
The Shuttle(R) J1 4100G, which features the Intel(R) G41 Express Chipset, has been expert configured for everyday gaming and entertainment. It delivers full throttle performance for all your gaming sessions. With some of the fastest processors and graphics inside, supporting up to Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad and 8GB of DDR3, the Shuttle(R) J1 4100G more than meets the demands of today's hottest games -- it straight out exceeds it for more realism and intensity than ever seen before.
Shuttle(R) SG41J1 Plus (Barebone)
The Shuttle(R) SG41J1 Plus barebone comes with a Shuttle(R) G41 motherboard, support for Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad, Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo, Intel( R) Pentium(R) Dual-Core, and Intel(R) Celeron(R) processors, support for up to 8GB of DDR3, Intel(R) X4500 graphics, 5.1 channel audio, a Shuttle(R) J1 case measuring 11.8" x 7.9" x 7.3", and a highly-efficient 250-watt power supply which can handle up to a GeForce(R) GTX 460 should users wish to upgrade the graphics.
The Editor's Choice award winning Shuttle(R) J1 was recently praised by LanOC Reviews for its "capability of running with the big dogs." "Not only was the performance amazing when paired with a few mid-range parts, but it is small and portable…the cheapest Shuttle capable of playing games…you would be crazy not to consider it," notes Wes Compton, Editor-In-Chief.
Buy R.U.S.E. Now:
http://shop.ubi.com/store/ubina/en_US/pd/productID.184144100
Buy J1 4100G Now:
http://bit.ly/ca6au4
Buy SG41J1 Plus Now:
http://bit.ly/akhllu
For the latest information about Shuttle and Shuttle new products, visit http://us.shuttle.com or follow @ShuttleLabs on Twitter.
2010 Shuttle Product Guide
http://bit.ly/8Cqaeg
For the latest information on Ubisoft's R.U.S.E., please visit http://ruse.us.ubi.com.
ABOUT UBISOFT
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has teams in 26 countries and distributes games in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2009-10 fiscal year, Ubisoft generated sales of 871 million euros. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com.
ABOUT R.U.S.E.
Developed by Eugen Systems, R.U.S.E. is set to refresh the strategy genre, introducing deception techniques that will let you bluff your enemy in order to lead your nation's army to victory. Camouflage your troops, lure your opponent with decoy units, sabotage his logistics: strategy is intuitive and carefully thought out at the same time. R.U.S.E. features cutting edge graphics and effects, the outstanding IRISZOOM(TM) Engine, immersive combat and a simplified interface that allows you to determine your nation's strategy to defeat your enemies. R.U.S.E. was released on September 7, 2010 on Windows-based PC and next-gen consoles.
ABOUT SHUTTLE
For over 25 years, SHUTTLE has designed, manufactured, and delivered innovative premium PC solutions that are still unmatched in the industry. SHUTTLE is the creator of the XPC, the first and smallest small form factor (SFF) PC to use standard desktop components, delivering the performance of a full size PC. SHUTTLE is also the innovator behind I.C.E. and OASIS cooling, a patented heat-pipe solution that is custom made for the XPC. Today, SHUTTLE continues to lead the industry with its portfolio of award-winning barebones and solutions for the digital lifestyle. For more information, visit us.shuttle.com.
(C) 2010 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. R.U.S.E, Iriszoom, Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.
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