THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE EMPIRE AND THE REPUBLIC GETS FIERCER WITH RAZER™

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE EMPIRE AND THE REPUBLIC GETS FIERCER WITH RAZER™

Razer™, BioWare™, and LucasArts™, announce a suite of MMO gaming peripherals designed for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™

Carlsbad, Calif. – June 7^th, 2011 – Razer™, the world’s leading high-end precision gaming brand, is proud to send your Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ gaming experience into hyperspace with the release of a licensed Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ product line, expected to launch in conjunction with the hotly anticipated title. In collaboration with BioWare and LucasArts, this collection of gaming weaponry will equip you, whether you’re carrying out the work of the Dark Sith lords or righteously defending the people of the Galactic Republic.

“As fans of Star Wars™ ourselves, we are absolutely thrilled for the chance to create a product line for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. The result is a spectacular collection of the highest grade peripherals that is a tribute to the franchise, its fans and gamers alike,” said Robert “RazerGuy” Krakoff, President, Razer USA. “And whether you’re using our revolutionary new keyboard with the world’s first LCD touch-panel, or the multi-award winning MMO gaming mouse styled in the Star Wars™ universe with a twelve-button thumb grid, it goes without saying, we equip gamers to win.”

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ is being developed by BioWare, creators of the critically-acclaimed Star Wars™: The Knights of the Old Republic™. With this product line by Razer, gamers can fearlessly dive into the game armed with unparalleled competition-grade gaming technology fully decked in aesthetics that evoke the Star Wars™ universe. All peripherals come with the ability to interchange Galactic Republic and Sith Empire faction symbols to showcase your allegiance with pride.

“We want gamers to fully immerse themselves in the expansive universe of The Old Republic™, and that extends to the peripherals they use,” said Rob Cowles, Senior Product Marketing Manager, LucasArts. “When we began development of the peripherals with Razer, our goal was to not only compliment game play but also create products that feel like a part of the Star Wars™ universe. Everyone wants an Aurebesh keyboard---right?”

The Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Keyboard is a revolutionary first for gaming technology. It features a full-color multi-touch LCD panel with a row of adaptive tactile keys above that can cycle through skills, hotkeys and macros with matching graphics from the game for maximum competitive efficiency. These adaptive tactile keys were introduced as an unprecedented new concept technology by Razer at CES 2011 and are now available to gamers worldwide for the first time through this keyboard.

The Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ product line also includes a wireless gaming mouse with a twelve button thumb-grid for more skills at your fingertips, a dual-sided mouse mat for precise swiping, and a 5.1 surround sound headset for total comfort and immersive positional audio. Arm yourself with the entire line-up and your domination into the far reaches of the galaxy will be effortless.

About the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Keyboard by Razer

A first for the world of gaming technology, the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Keyboard by Razer features a full-color highly sensitive multi-touch LCD panel, and incorporates ten adaptive tactile keys, providing more room for easily accessible skills, hotkeys, and macros. Plus, you can convert the entire keyboard from alpha-numeric to Aurebesh!

The interchangeable gold backlit faction symbols let you showcase your allegiance with the Galactic Republic or the Sith Empire. The Force is with you in this ultimate tool for intergalactic domination.

Product features:

Touch-sensitive LCD track-panel for better control and efficient skills management
Ten dynamic adaptive tactile keys for customizable controls
Gold backlit keys with slim key caps for faster actuation and shorter travel distance
Fully programmable keys and on-the-fly macro recording
Adjustable multi-color LED (Up to 16 million colors)
1000Hz Ultrapolling/1ms response time
Braided 7 foot USB cable

Price: US $199.99 / EU €199.99

Availability:

Razerzone.com – At Game Launch

Worldwide – At Game Launch

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Keyboard by Razer Images

About the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Mouse by Razer

Wield the Force with the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Mouse by Razer, featuring gaming-grade wireless technology for complete swiping freedom and a fully programmable twelve button MMO thumb-grid for more skills at your fingertips. It also comes with interchangeable faction symbols and multi-color lighting so you can annihilate all those who oppose you with pride and in style.

Product features:

17 fully programmable MMO-optimized buttons (including 12 button thumb grid)
Wired/wireless dual mode capability
Interchangeable gold-backlit faction panels
Charging dock (also functions as a wireless receiver unit)
Adjustable multi-color LED (Up to 16 million colors)
5600dpi Razer precision 3.5G laser sensor
1000Hz Ultrapolling/1ms response time

Price: US $129.99 / EU €129.99

Availability:

Razerzone.com – At Game Launch

Worldwide – At Game Launch

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Mouse by Razer Images

About the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Mouse Mat by Razer

Every war has two sides, and to be victorious, you’ll have to choose. With the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Mouse Mat by Razer, experience enhanced swiping and unparalleled precision thanks to performance-grade tracking surfaces on both sides. One represents the might of the Sith Empire, the other the splendor of the Galactic Republic, so you’ll always be gaming under the right banner with pride.

Product features:

Dual-sided mouse mat to display different faction choices
Performance-grade hard surfaces for smoother mouse swiping
Non-slip, anti-reflective, abrasion-resistant hard coating

Price: US $49.99 / EU €49.99

Availability:

Razerzone.com – At Game Launch

Worldwide – At Game Launch

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Mouse Mat by Razer Images

About the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Headset by Razer

With the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Headset by Razer, your total immersion into the game is complete. Featuring 5.1 surround sound so you can hear everything around you in absolute clarity. With positional audio, get the tactical aural advantage to prevent backstabs and react to enemy attacks no matter where you hear them. It comes with interchangeable Sith Empire and Galactic Republic faction symbols to emblazon your headset with the symbol of your allegiance.

Product features:

5.1 surround sound headset for positional audio
Circumaural design with 50mm driver units
Flexible boom microphone
Interchangeable faction panels
Adjustable multi-color LED (Up to 16 million colors)
Volume and mic control buttons on the headset
Adjustable headband structure for optimal comfort

Price: US $129.99 / EU €129.99

Availability:

Razerzone.com – At Game Launch

Worldwide – At Game Launch

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Headset by Razer Images

To find out more about the Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Gaming Peripherals by Razer visit http://www.razerzone.com/swtor

About BioWare:

BioWare develops high quality console, PC and online role-playing games, focused on rich stories, unforgettable characters and vast worlds to discover. Since 1995, BioWare has created some of the world's most critically acclaimed titles, including Baldur's Gate™, Neverwinter Nights™, Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic™, Jade Empire™, Mass Effect™ and Dragon Age™. BioWare operates in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada), Montreal (Quebec), Austin (Texas), Fairfax (Virginia) and Galway (Ireland). Currently announced projects at BioWare include the ongoing downloadable content for Dragon Age II, Mass Effect 3 and Star Wars®: The Old Republic^TM. In 2008, BioWare was acquired by Electronic Arts, a leading global interactive entertainment publisher.

For more information on BioWare, visit www.bioware.com or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/biofeed. To join the millions of fans already registered on our community, go to http://social.bioware.com.

About LucasArts:

LucasArts is a leading publisher and developer of interactive entertainment software for videogame console systems and personal computers. The company was founded in 1982 by filmmaker George Lucas to provide an interactive element to his vision of a state-of-the-art, multifaceted entertainment company.

Now poised to realize George Lucas' vision of the potential for video games as an interactive medium, LucasArts continues to introduce new heroes for the next generation of gamers.

About the Razer Group:

Razer™ isn't just the world’s leading brand for elite gaming products. We perpetually define competitive gaming technology with our research and development labs and offices in seven cities across the globe. Founded in 1998, in Carlsbad, California, Razer's innovations in precision, ergonomics, and interfacing combine with a distinct aesthetic design that gives gamers the edge. We live by our motto: For Gamers. By Gamers.™

For more information, please visit www.razerzone.com

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