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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.

STEELSERIES AND GUNNAR OPTIKS INTRODUCE A NEW STYLE OF PERFORMANCE EYEWEAR – THE STEELSERIES DESMO

CHICAGO and SAN DIEGO - Oct. 13, 2010 – Today, SteelSeries and GUNNAR Optiks introduced a new style of eyewear designed for competitive gamers, the SteelSeries Desmo.  Featuring GUNNAR’s i-AMP® lens technology, the new co-branded eyewear improves visual efficiency, endurance, and recovery during gaming sessions.  To minimize peripheral distractions, the unique design is semi-rimless and provides an exceedingly broad visual field that allows the user to completely focus on the screen.  The sleek frame features flexible twin-rail temples combined with adjustable nose pads to provide a lightweight, stable fit. As an added benefit for gamers, the ultra-slim temples rest comfortably beneath a gaming headset. The new style will be available in two color options - the Desmo Onyx and Desmo Snow (limited edition).

“We’ve been collaborating with the GUNNAR Optiks team in marketing and events for more than two years now, including the launch of our first co-branded eyewear model, the SteelSeries Scope," said Bruce Hawver, SteelSeries CEO.  "When we started on this new design, it was important that it was more than just lightweight and comfortable, but that the lens shape, frame style and temples were chosen and perfected in order to impact and improve the way players saw their game. We believe we’ve achieved that goal with the Desmo and are excited for players to try it out.”

"SteelSeries is a fantastic partner," said Rob Aarnes, president of GUNNAR. "They've pushed us to the next level in our joint design of the SteelSeries Desmo and we are proud to put the eyewear into our Advanced Gaming Eyewear Collection.  We expect it to be an immediate success as we roll it out to the market."


Together with the lightweight, durable design of the frames and comfort of the temples, the SteelSeries Desmo lenses are optimized to enhance a user’s visual performance. GUNNAR eyewear enhances optical performance to give users an immediate, noticeable visual advantage using i-AMP® lens technology.  This optical lens innovation includes the following components:

  • Tint: Specially formulated tint conditions and shifts the color spectrum to provide superior contrast, detail and resolution.
  • Wrap/Shape: Features a highly wrapped, curved lens shape limiting air flow and maintaining moisture near the eyes, while providing a slight focusing power to help ease eye fatigue and enhancing detail for sharper, clearer vision.
  • Material: A proprietary lens material that is optically pure, insuring the clearest image by eliminating distortion, impurities and haze. 
  • Coatings: An anti-reflective coating that reduces glare and other distractions caused by reflective light.
  • 20/20 or Rx: Out of the box ready for 20/20 vision or used with corrective contact lenses, and also prescription compatible in partnership with Carl Zeiss Vision with optional coverage by VSP Insurance. Visit www.gunnars.com/rx/ for more information. 

Whether you’re touring the competitive gaming circuit, playing MMO’s for hours or switching between work and play on your PC or MAC, the SteelSeries Desmo provides a premium visual experience while delivering both style and comfort. The SteelSeries Desmo Onyx is $99.99/ €99.99 MSRP and will be available online at both the SteelSeries and GUNNAR Web Shops.  The Desmo Snow (limited edition) is also $99.99/ €99.99 MSRP, but will be exclusively sold at SteelSeries.com.

 

BlizzCon attendees will get an exclusive first look to try out the style and experience the product on October 21st and 22nd in Anaheim, CA. Fans at home can check out pictures of the event and of the glasses in action at the SteelSeries booth at both SteelSeries’ and GUNNAR’s Facebook pages - www.facebook.com/SteelSeries and www.facebook.com/GUNNAROptiks.

 

About GUNNAR Optiks

Founded in 2005, GUNNAR Optiks, LLC designs and engineers Advanced Computer Eyewear and Advanced Gaming Eyewear to protect and enhance vision using revolutionary technology solutions. GUNNAR introduced the Technology Eyewear category in 2008 and pioneered eyewear to combat eye strain associated with long-term viewing of digital screens. At CES 2010, GUNNAR unveiled the first professional-grade, optically correct 3D glasses on the market, utilizing the latest in lens technology.  GUNNAR is a privately held company headquartered in Carlsbad, California. For more information, visit www.gunnars.com.

 

GUNNAR, the GUNNAR logo, and i-AMP are registered trademarks of GUNNAR Optiks, LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. Copyright 2010. GUNNAR Optiks, LLC. All rights reserved.

 

About SteelSeries

SteelSeries is a leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, software and gaming surfaces. SteelSeries has been on the forefront of professional gaming gear since its inception in 2001, thanks to continued innovation and product development in cooperation with leading professional gamers. All SteelSeries products are developed in cooperation with professional gamers to ensure optimum performance and durability. SteelSeries supports the growth of competitive gaming and electronic sports through professional team sponsorships and community support all over the world. For more information, please visit www.SteelSeries.com.

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