Samsung Galaxy J1 Ace Goes Official with Dual-Core CPU, Super AMOLED Display

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Intel Shaking Global Semiconductor Market

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Meizu MX5 with Octa-Core CPU, 3GB RAM Goes on Sale in India for Just $300

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Samsung Announces The Gear S2 Smartwatch

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Today Samsung announced the Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic, the newest products in their line of smartwatches. The Gear S2 has what Samsung describes as a more minimal and modern design, while the Gear S2 classic uses leather and a black finish in an attempt to appeal to fans of traditional mechanical watches.

In addition to WiFi versions, there's also the Gear S2 3G which includes cellular capabilities to allow the user to make phone calls from their watch. All three models of the Gear S2 are similar, but there are some differences to accommodate visual changes between the Gear S2 and Gear S2 classic, as well as to fit a larger battery in the 3G edition. I've laid out all the known specifications of the Gear S2 in the chart below.

	Samsung Gear S2 and Gear S2 Classic	Samsung Gear S2 3G
SoC	1.0GHz Dual Core CPU
RAM/NAND	512MB RAM, 4GB NAND
Display	1.2" Circular 360x360 SAMOLED (302ppi)
Dimensions	Gear S2: 42.3x49.8x11.4mm (47g) Classic: 39.9x43.6x11.4mm (42g)	44.0 x 51.8 x 13.4mm (51g)
Battery	250 mAh (0.95 Whr)	300 mAh (1.14 Whr)
OS	Samsung Tizen
Sensors	Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Heart Rate, Ambient Light, Barometer
Connectivity	802.11/b/g/n + BT 4.1, NFC

The Gear S2 is powered by an unnamed dual core SoC with a peak frequency of 1GHz. The circular display has a maximum horizontal and vertical resolution of 360 pixels, which equates to 302 pixels per inch. With Tizen being Samsung's own operating system they can tune the interface to work best with their AMOLED displays to minimize power consumption. Both WiFi versions of the Gear S2 include a 250mAh battery, while the 3G edition increases this to 300mAh, with a corresponding increase in case thickness. According to Samsung, the WiFi only version of the Gear S2 will last between two and three days of typical usage, while the 3G model will last around two days.

The Gear S2 also includes a number of sensors in order to track information pertaining to exercise and fitness. It includes an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a heart rate tracker, an ambient light sensor, and interestingly, a barometer which can be used for tracking elevation by measuring atmospheric pressure. A barometer is a sensor that was notably absent from the Apple Watch, and it could help give Samsung an edge when it comes to the accuracy of their health tracking.

Notably absent from the 3G model is a SIM slot. This is because the Gear S2 makes use of an e-SIM card, an embedded version of the SIM chip current devices use to register and work on mobile networks. It's not clear what implications this will have for carrier compatibility, but it would make sense that support from a carrier would be required in order to use the Gear S2 3G on their network.

Something that differentiates the Gear S2 from Samsung's previous watches are the methods of input that Samsung has included. The bezel around the circular display acts as a rotating input, which the user can use to zoom, scroll, etc. There are also two buttons located next to each other on the right side of the case, which function as home and back buttons respectively. This is again an advantage of Samsung using their own operating system, as they can implement controls that may not work within the control scheme of another operating system like Android Wear.

Naturally, Samsung's Tizen smartwatches don't have access to the application library or functionality that comes with Android Wear. However, a look at Samsung's history with smartwatches makes it clear that they are pushing Tizen as their major wearable platform for their devices rather than Android Wear. It will be interesting to see how this turns out for them. On one hand, they can tune the OS to work seamlessly alongside the hardware. On the other hand, they're limited in terms of third party support from app developers.

The Gear S2, Gear S2 Classic, and Gear S2 3G will be launching in the near future. There's currently no word on pricing, but there is already a commitment from AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile USA to sell the 3G version of the watch.

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Lenovo C460

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... desktop featuring a full HD display and a dual-core Pentium processor. ... The more expensive Lenovo B50 and its Intel Core i7 CPU led the pack ...

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Updated: Buying guide: Best gaming mouse: top 10 gaming mice reviewed

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Best gaming mouse rundown

PC gamers have never had it so good. The e-sports scene is enjoying unprecedented popularity, with plenty of (not entirely frivolous) talk about how gaming should be added to the Olympics roster.

Whether you fancy becoming the next League of Legends or Call of Duty superstar, or something more sedate, like leading a vicarious virtual life in an MMO or RPG, one thing is for sure: you will be at an instant disadvantage if you skimp on your choice of mouse.

And there's no excuse for that if you've lashed out eye-watering sums on an overclocked, water-cooled rig festooned with neon lights, or a top-of-the-range gaming laptop.

How to choose the best gaming mouse

Your choice of mouse depends very much on your gaming preferences: if you're into first-person shooters, say, finding the right balance of sensitivity and responsiveness is vital, so you'll need to pay attention to DPI ratings and decide between optical or laser sensors (fear not – leave the technical stuff to us). Whereas if you're into real-time strategy, MMOs or MOBAs, it's vital to pick a mouse that lets you map macros triggering the actions you use most to specially configured buttons.

So, we've picked the 10 best gaming mice: whatever your gaming preferences or needs, one of these will complete your ultimate PC or Mac gaming setup.

1. Roccat Nyth

The most customizable mouse, bar none

DPI: 1200 | Features: Custom button layout, Mid-finger fin switch, AlienFX Illumination, 3D printing support, 2x hotswappable sidegrips

See more Roccat Nyth deals

Highly customisable

Contoured body

Can't change length

Roccat's Nyth is one of the more innovative mice in recent times. Clicking a button pops out its 12 side buttons, which you can then re-configure in any order you like - giving you a potential 36 side button combinations. Mapping is done using Roccat's Swarm driver, which lets you create custom button configurations and map buttons to programs. That makes it suitable for not just MMOs, but a whole range of genres - from FPS to MOBA titles. If you've got a 3D printer, you can even 3D print your own buttons for it.

Read the full review: Roccat Nyth

2. Cougar 550M

Feels and looks more expensive than it costs

DPI: 6400 | Features: Braided cable, Omron Micro Switches, Gaming-grade scroll wheel, Programmable trigger buttons, Anti-slip flanks, Premium pro-graming surface, 1000-Hz polling rate/1ms response time

See more Cougar 550M deals

Satisfying clicking action

Smooth scroll wheel

Not suitable for small hands

If you prefer your mice to be a little more restrained when it comes to design, the Cougar 550M is a capable performer and an unfussy one at that. Packing a responsive, gaming-grade optical sensor that can track up to 6400DPI, a grippy scroll wheel and an on-the-fly DPI button, the 550M has enough features for the average gamer. Its two-zone RGB lighting is illuminating without being overbearing, and can be controlled using the Cougar UIX software. Its textured grip lends it a solid grip, but the mouse itself may be slightly large for small hands.

3. Razer DeathAdder Chroma

Sports a classic design and has an insane DPI

DPI: 10,000 | Interface: USB Wired | Buttons: 5 | Ergonomic: Yes | Features: Textured rubber side grips, Chroma lighting, 1000Hz Ultrapolling, On-the-fly sensitivity adjustment, Always-on mode

See more Razer DeathAdder Chroma deals

High DPI

Grips well

Pedestrian design

No macro buttons

Many pro gamers swear by Razer's PC peripherals, and the Death Adder Chroma mouse is one of the most popular gaming mice around. There's nothing too flash about it (except for the ability to make various bits of it glow in different colours), but it feels right in the hand, is light, the rubber side-grips come in handy at frenzied moments, its optical sensor is tried-and-tested and it goes up to an insane 10,000DPI (probably too sensitive for mere mortals, but it's there if you need it). MMO fans may be slightly disappointed by a less-than-generous allocation of macro buttons, though. But in the world of gaming mice, it's considered something of a design classic.

Read the full review: Razer DeathAdder Chroma

4. Roccat Kone XTD

A true button-basher

DPI: 8200 | Interface: Wired | Buttons: 8 | Feature: Ergonmic design, 1000Hz polling rate, 1ms response time, 12000fps, 10.8megapixel, 30G acceleration, 16-bit data channel, 1-5mm Lift off distance, 72MHz Turbo Core V2 32-bit Arm based MCU, 576kB onboard memory, Zero angle snapping/prediction

See more Roccat Kone XTD deals

Plenty of buttons

Fast response time

Software bit gimmicky

With a clever easy-shift system that effectively doubles the number of its buttons, Roccat's Kone XTD scores particularly highly with those who crave macros at their fingertips. But it's a great all-rounder which is built to last, with easily adjustable sensitivity and a rugged wheel. With a 32-bit processor and ability to analyse your mouse-pad and automatically set lift-distance, it might just be the most high-tech mouse on the market. Plus it looks and feels spot-on. Some of the software may be a tad gimmicky, but it provides all the customisability any serious MMO, MOBA or RTS gamer could desire, and can hold its own on the first-person shooter scene.

5. Turtle Beach Grip 500

Laser-guided

DPI: 8200 | Interface: Wired | Buttons: 7 (plus scroll wheel) | Feature: Avago 9800 laser sensor, Omron switches, Customizable software to program buttons, Independently adjust X and Y DPI, Create up to 50 macros with up to 100 commands each, 16.8 million colour effects, Non-slip, soft-touch coating

See more Turtle Beach Grip 500 deals

Lift-distance control

Independent X and Y axis DPI

Lacks right-edge buttons

Turtle Beach is best known for its gaming headsets, but the Grip 500 suggests it's ready to muscle its way into the gaming mouse market. It's competitively priced, but a decent all-rounder, with 8,200DPI sensitivity for the first-person shooter brigade, and the ability to load several different macro setups into its own memory, which you can switch between on the fly with the help of colour-coded LEDs. With a maximum of 45 macros possible, it's ideal for those who favour MMOs and MOBAs. And aesthetically, it's a bit more discreet than some of its rivals.

6. Mad Catz R.A.T.M

Small rodent

DPI: 6400 | Interface: Wireless | Buttons: 12 (10 programmable) | Feature: GameSmart Multi-platform, USB Nano Dongle, Bluetooth, 1 year from 2 AAA batteries, Adjust grip in 0-15mm in 5mm increments, dang

See more Mad Catz R.A.T.M deals

Built-in Bluetooth

Adjustable grip

Fits better in smaller hands

Finding the right mouse is a perennial problem for gamers who prefer laptops to PCs, but Mad Catz's R.A.T.M has been specifically designed to solve that conundrum. As is typical for laptop-specific mice, it's tiny (which could prove problematic for the giant-handed), but at least it's size-adjustable, and packs surprisingly decent specifications for such a tiny package, with 6,400DPI sensitivity and a clever four-way button that can run five macros. And it's wireless – with a built-in Bluetooth dongle so it works even if your laptop doesn't have native Bluetooth. Worth considering for those who place portability at a premium, but like to play MMOs and MOBAs.

7. SteelSeries Sensei

A shot in the (32-bit) ARM

DPI: 6400 | Interface: Wireless | Buttons: 12 (10 programmable) | Features: Customisable lift distance, Button functionality and CPI, Ilumination, Macros, SteelSeries Engine, 32-bit ARM CPU, 1 - 5,700 CPI, 10.8-MP HD image correlation at up to 12,000 FPS, Tracking movements of up to 150 inches per second

See more SteelSeries Sensei deals

Handy 8 macro buttons

Customisable "lift distance"

Bland design

SteelSeries peripherals have a huge following among the professional gaming community, and many pros swear by the Sensei. With 11,400DPI sensitivity and a handy eight macro buttons, it comfortably straddles the first-person shooter/MMO/MOBA divide. Meanwhile, underneath its deceptively conventional looks, it's precision-engineered for all the precision and sensitivity you could desire. And it even lets you customise its "lift distance" – so whatever surface you use it on, you can get it performing perfectly. We can't vouch for your general level of talent, but the SteelSeries Sensei will at least put you on a par with the pros in terms of equipment.

8. Logitech G602

Battery warrior

DPI: 2500 | Interface: Wireless | Buttons: 2 | Features: 250 - 2,500 DPI, 20G max acceleration, Max speed 6.6ft/second, 250-hour battery life, 9.8ft wireless range, In-game sensitivity switching, Performance mode, Logitech Gaming Software

See more Logitech G602 deals

Long battery life

Low DPI

SteelSeries peripherals have a huge following among the professional gaming community, and many pros swear by the Sensei. With 11,400DPI sensitivity and a handy eight macro buttons, it comfortably straddles the first-person shooter/MMO/MOBA divide. Meanwhile, underneath its deceptively conventional looks, it's precision-engineered for all the precision and sensitivity you could desire. And it even lets you customise its "lift distance" – so whatever surface you use it on, you can get it performing perfectly. We can't vouch for your general level of talent, but the SteelSeries Sensei will at least put you on a par with the pros in terms of equipment.

9. SteelSeries Sensei [RAW]

White hot metal

DPI: 62155 | Interface: Wired | Buttons: 8 | Features: Advanced macros, Scalable pointer speed from 90 to 5670 in increments of 90, 10.8-Megapixel HD image correlation at up to 12,000 FPS, Tracking movements of up to 150 inches per second, White illumination, UPE material

See more SteelSeries Sensei [RAW] deals

Long battery life

Scalable pointer speed

Low DPI

The Sensei [RAW] is a cut-down, and considerably cheaper, version of the classic Sensei, which keeps all the Sensei's most important attributes, but does away with some more exotic features – notably the 32-bit ARM processor and the LCD display. In terms of all its mechanical bits, though, it's the same as the Sensei. So you get that tournament-honed feel and precision (and it's available in a nice rubberised finish, too). Worth considering if you're pretty sure that you don't possess the raw talent to make it to the very top of the online gaming world, and happen to be a tad impecunious – yet still want a mouse that handles impeccably.

10. Logitech G502 Proteus Core

Tunable gaming mouse

DPI: 200 - 12,000 | Interface: Wired | Buttons: 11 | Features: Control weight and balance, Comes with five 3.6g weights, 11 programmable buttons, In-game DPI shifting, Dual mode mouse wheel, 32-bit microcontroller, 3 on-board profiles, 1 millisecond report rate, Mechanical microswitches, Rubber grips

See more Logitech G502 Proteus Core deals

In-game DPI shifting

Adjustable weight and grip

No right-hand buttons

If you like a bit of weight in the hand, as it were, Logitech's bombastically named G502 Proteus Core is undoubtedly the mouse for you. That's because its weight is customisable: it comes with five weights that you can add and reposition (making it nose-heavy, say) to your heart's content. Beyond that, its specification is sufficiently tasty for it to have made inroads into the pro-gaming community, with 12,000DPI sensitivity (adjustable on the fly) and 11 programmable macro buttons. And even its wheel can be adjusted between clicking and scrolling. A top-notch all-rounder.

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Samsung Galaxy S7 specs, release date: Korean tech giant to use both Exynos and Snapdragon ...

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... 820 while the other will run on Samsung's own Exynos processor. ... Weibo revealed a MSM8996 CPU is being tested on the Jungfrau device.

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Buying the best gaming PC

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Gaming computers offer huge, untapped energy savings potential

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Why the Microsoft Surface 4 Might Be a Huge Deal

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 (8.0) 32GB 4G LTE – The Next-gen Galaxy Tab Comes with an 8.0-inch ...

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... Comes with an 8.0-inch Touch Display, Octa-core CPU, 3GB RAM and 8MP Camera! ... When it comes to internal specs, the new device is powered by a mighty Exynos 7 Octa-core processor together with 3GB RAM to let heavy ...

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SupermicroB. Exhibits All-NVMe Server and Storage Solutions Optimized for Hyper-Conver...

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TwinPro² architecture supporting maximized CPU, memory, SSD, NVMe ... SuperBlade servers support latest Intel® Xeon® Processor E5-2600 v3.

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Toshiba Kirabook (2015)

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Intel G3258 Processor / CPU

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Corsair Flash Voyager GS USB 3.0 512GB Flash Drive Capsule Review

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The ubiquity of USB 3.0 as a high speed interface for PCs and the increasing affordability of flash memory has led to some very interesting products. USB flash drives are a dime a dozen, but there is scope for manufacturers to differentiate themselves. High-performance flash drives have traditionally employed a SATA SSD controller behind a USB 3.0 - SATA bridge. However, this increases the drive cost in what is essentially a price-sensitive market. Controller vendors have recently started to introduce native high-performance USB 3.0 flash controllers. Today, we look at two products from the Corsair stable - the Flash Voyager GTX and the Flash Voyager GS. While the GTX is the high performance play (topping out at 256GB), the GS is more of a capacity play (the top end version has 512GB of flash memory).

Corsair is one of the very few vendors to have a 512GB thumb drive in their product portfolio. In fact, the only other vendor with a 512GB flash drive is Kingston (I am not considering SSDs in an external enclosure like the Samsung Portable T1). This makes the Flash Voyager GS one of the unique products in the market right now. Users looking at the currently available Flash Voyager GTX will find that the same casing is used for the Flash Voyager GS also. The Flash Voyager GTX 256GB was one of the earliest flash drives that we evaluated with the new methodology. Since then, Corsair has changed the casing while retaining the same internals and model name / number. In addition to evaluating the performance of the Voyager GS, we will also be looking at the new Voyager GTX (referred to as Voyager GTX v2 hereon).

Hardware Design and Internals

The housings of both the Corsair Flash Voyager GS and GTX are made of a zinc alloy with aluminium accents. There is a small loop at one end for attaching to a keyring. An activity LED is also near the loop. While the previous generation Corsair Voyager GTX's external design was not as stylish, it at least allowed the protective cap to be securely placed at the other end during active usage. This is not possible in the current housing design. The photographs below show the Corsair Voyager GS and GTX v2 as well as the the old and new Voyager GTX versions side by side.

We already know from our previous review that the Voyager GTX comes with the Phison S9 SSD controller behind a USB 3.0 - SATA bridge. The Voyager GS is a native USB 3.0 flash drive, and the internals (Phison PS2251-01 with Toshiba MLC flash) could be determined without looking at the unit.

Testbed Setup and Testing Methodology

Evaluation of DAS units on Windows is done with the testbed outlined in the table below. For devices with USB 3.0 connections (such as the Corsair Voyager GS and GTX that we are considering today), we utilize the USB 3.0 port directly hanging off the PCH.

AnandTech DAS Testbed Configuration
Motherboard	Asus Z97-PRO Wi-Fi ac ATX
CPU	Intel Core i7-4790
Memory	Corsair Vengeance Pro CMY32GX3M4A2133C11 32 GB (4x 8GB) DDR3-2133 @ 11-11-11-27
OS Drive	Seagate 600 Pro 400 GB
Optical Drive	Asus BW-16D1HT 16x Blu-ray Write (w/ M-Disc Support)
Add-on Card	Asus Thunderbolt EX II
Chassis	Corsair Air 540
PSU	Corsair AX760i 760 W
OS	Windows 8.1 Pro
Thanks to Asus and Corsair for the build components

The full details of the reasoning behind choosing the above build components can be found here. The list of DAS units used for comparison purposes is provided below.

• Corsair Voyager GS 512GB
• Corsair Voyager GTX v2 256GB
• Corsair Voyager GTX 256GB
• LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 500GB
• Patriot Supersonic Rage 2 256GB
• VisionTek Pocket SSD 240GB

Synthetic Benchmarks - ATTO and Crystal DiskMark

Corsair claims read and write speeds of around 290 MBps for the Voyager GS. ATTO reports only around 160 MBps for writes and 270 MBps for reads with our standard test settings. For the GTX v2, the results are in the same ballpark as that of the original GTX (around 375 MBps writes and 460 MBps reads).

Corsair Voyager GS 512GB Corsair Voyager GTX v2 256GB Corsair Voyager GTX 256GB LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 500GB Patriot Supersonic Rage 2 256GB VisionTek Pocket SSD 240GB

CrystalDiskMark, despite being a canned benchmark, provides a better estimate of the performance range with a selected set of numbers. These numbers seem to back up Corsair's performance claims. As evident from the screenshot below, the performance can dip to as low as 0.8 MBps for 4K random accesses at low queue depths for the Voyager GS. For the GTX v2 / GTX, these tests show around 400 MBps reads and 180 MBps writes - the two versions don't differ much in the artificial benchmarks, as expected.

Corsair Voyager GS 512GB Corsair Voyager GTX v2 256GB Corsair Voyager GTX 256GB LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 500GB Patriot Supersonic Rage 2 256GB VisionTek Pocket SSD 240GB

Benchmarks - robocopy and PCMark 8 Storage Bench

Our testing methodology for DAS units also takes into consideration the usual use-case for such devices. The most common usage scenario is transfer of large amounts of photos and videos to and from the unit. The minor usage scenario is importing files directly off the DAS into a multimedia editing program such as Adobe Photoshop.

In order to tackle the first use-case, we created three test folders with the following characteristics:

• Photos: 15.6 GB collection of 4320 photos (RAW as well as JPEGs) in 61 sub-folders
• Videos: 16.1 GB collection of 244 videos (MP4 as well as MOVs) in 6 sub-folders
• BR: 10.7 GB Blu-ray folder structure of the IDT Benchmark Blu-ray (the same that we use in our robocopy tests for NAS systems)

For the second use-case, we take advantage of PC Mark 8's storage bench. The storage workload involves games as well as multimedia editing applications. The command line version allows us to cherry-pick storage traces to run on a target drive. We chose the following traces.

• Adobe Photoshop (Light)
• Adobe Photoshop (Heavy)
• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Illustrator

Usually, PC Mark 8 reports time to complete the trace, but the detailed log report has the read and write bandwidth figures which we present in our performance graphs. Note that the bandwidth number reported in the results don't involve idle time compression. Results might appear low, but that is part of the workload characteristic. Note that the same testbed is being used for all DAS units. Therefore, comparing the numbers for each trace should be possible across different DAS units.

Performance Consistency

Yet another interesting aspect of these types of units is performance consistency. Aspects that may influence this include thermal throttling and firmware caps on access rates to avoid overheating or other similar scenarios. This aspect is an important one, as the last thing that users want to see when copying over, say, 100 GB of data to the flash drive, is the transfer rate going to USB 2.0 speeds. In order to identify whether the drive under test suffers from this problem, we instrumented our robocopy DAS benchmark suite to record the flash drive's read and write transfer rates while the robocopy process took place in the background. For supported drives, we also recorded the internal temperature of the drive during the process. The graphs below show the speeds observed during our real-world DAS suite processing. The first three sets of writes and reads correspond to the photos suite. A small gap (for the transfer of the videos suite from the primary drive to the RAM drive) is followed by three sets for the next data set. Another small RAM-drive transfer gap is followed by three sets for the Blu-ray folder.

An important point to note here is that each of the first three blue and green areas correspond to 15.6 GB of writes and reads respectively. Throttling, if any, is apparent within the processing of the photos suite itself. The Corsair Voyager GS and the new GTX don't suffer from any such issues.

Corsair Voyager GS 512GB Corsair Voyager GTX v2 256GB Corsair Voyager GTX 256GB LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 500GB Patriot Supersonic Rage 2 256GB VisionTek Pocket SSD 240GB

The surprising results in the above graphs involve the GTX v2 and GTX. While the original GTX took around 1900s to finish the benchmark, the GTX v2 took around 2200s. The reason behind this is evident in the robocopy benchmarks also - the write speeds of the new GTX seem to be a tad lower compared to the original GTX even though CrystalDiskMark and ATTO seem to indicate that both should have comparable performance. Corsair assured us that nothing had changed internally, but we did see that our original results were with firmware version S9FM01.7, while the GTX v2 came with S9FM02B1. Corsair indicated that S9FM02B1 is the best firmware to use for both the GTX and GTXv2.

Concluding Remarks

Coming to the business end of the review, the Corsair Voyager GS continues Corsair's leadership in the USB flash drive area. With a 512GB capacity, the Voyager GS is one of only two high capacity thumb drives available in the market. We have already talked about the GTX, and, as mentioned before, the availability of a real SSD controller in the form of the Phison S9 makes it one of the drives we would recommend for portable OS installations.

The Corsair Voyager GS doesn't support TRIM or any SMART commands. The Voyager GTX, on the other hand, supports both. Corsair's SSD Toolbox removed support for the Voyager GTX sometime last year. However, with 1.2.3.5 (released last week), support for the thumb drive is back. The SSD toolbox allows setting of software overprovisioning on the drive, something important to ensure performance consistency when used as a portable OS drive.

In terms of pricing, the Voyager GS 512GB retails for $315, while the GTX v2 256GB comes in at $185. These come in the middle of the pack in the price per GB graph above. As discussed earlier in this section, the GS and GTX v2 have different claims to uniqueness as justification for the slight pricing premium.

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Content partner: 'H' is for Hardware

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Corsair's Bulldog DIY chassis will be available in time for Christmas, priced at $399

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Xiaomi's upcoming independent chipset will be available in two variants

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The second processor manufactured by Xiaomi will reportedly comprise an octa-core CPU and will be used to power its mid-range smartphones and tablets. However, no official confirmation about its own chipset venture has come ...

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Intel Skylake-S Mainstream Desktop Processor Lineup Launching on 1st September - Core i3 ...

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Intel is going to launch their Skylake-S mainstream desktop processor ... i7-6700K and Core i5-6600K that are part of the Skylake-K (Unlocked CPU) ...

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50 years on, Moore's Law still rules: Intel exec

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“Last year, we introduced a 14nm processor and recently introduced our ... The CPU or central processing unit is essentially the brain of a computer.

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Aorus X3 Plus v3 Laptop With GeForce GTX 970M Review And Benchmark Videos

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This is backed up by an Intel core i7-4710HQ CPU clocked at 2.5GHz, with a .... This is a great test of the i7-4710HQ processor inside the X3 Plus v3.

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Why the Microsoft Surface 4 Might Be a Huge Deal

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On the CPU side of things, Broxton is expected to use Intel's next ... graphics performance relative to the Cherry Trail processor found in the Surface 3.

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i.MX 6Quad Processors

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i.MX 6Quad Multimedia Applications Processor Block Diagram ... CPU Complex ... Freescale Processor Puts Filmmaking Robot into the Action.

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Intel unveils all of tge details on the next-gen Xeon Phi

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All new from the core out, this new co-processor promises a three-fold ... through the PCIe card to talk to the CPU for everything from the OS to apps.

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Apple's next MacBook may be in for a powerful Skylake upgrade

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The base MacBook is speculated to arrive with an Intel Core M3 processor when it gets refreshed. The Core M3 6Y30 CPU will be a dual-core CPU ...

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Minix Z series with Pentium 3700 pictured

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It is a completely fanless design based on Quad Core Intel Pentium N3700 processor previously known as Braswell. The CPU runs between 1.6GHz ...

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Intel Stacks Knights Landing Chips Next To Xeons

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The chip will be the first commercial processor with very high bandwidth memory right next to the CPU, and it will also cram dozens and dozens of ...

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Corsair Bulldog DIY 4K Gaming PC Shown in Black at PAX Prime

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... liquid CPU and GPU coolers – all integrated with a mini-ITX motherboard. Simply add a 6^th generation Intel Core processor, memory, graphics card, ...

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The Intel Skylake i7-6700K Overclocking Performance Mini-Test to 4.8 GHz

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With a new motherboard and the same liquid cooler, the same processor that ... In this mini-test, we tested our short-form CPU workload as well as ...

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The Intel Skylake i7-6700K Overclocking Performance Mini-Test to 4.8 GHz

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At the time of our Skylake review of both the i7-6700K and the i5-6600K, due to the infancy of the platform and other constraints, we were unable to probe the performance uptake of the processors as they were overclocked. Our overclock testing showed that 4.6 GHz was a reasonable marker for our processors; however fast forward two weeks and that all seems to change as updates are released. With a new motherboard and the same liquid cooler, the same processor that performed 4.6 GHz gave 4.8 GHz with relative ease. In this mini-test, we tested our short-form CPU workload as well as integrated and discrete graphics at several frequencies to see where the real gains are.

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Xiaomi processors to be available in two versions for in-house use

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The second processor manufactured by Xiaomi will reportedly comprise an octa-core CPU and will be used to power its mid-range smartphones and ...

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Xiaomi processors to be available in two versions for in-house use

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The second processor manufactured by Xiaomi will reportedly comprise an octa-core CPU and will be used to power its mid-range smartphones and ...

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Corsair Bulldog is Back in Black at PAX Prime

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Simply add a 6th generation Intel® Core™ processor, memory, graphics ... The Bulldog DIY kit includes the chassis, power supply, CPU cooler, and ...

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Intel Corporation's Skylake-Based Core M Processors Look Solid

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The ever-reliable CPU World has published the specifications of Intel's upcoming Core M processors based on the company's Skylake architecture.

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Apple Inc. Might Not Refresh the 15-Inch MacBook Pro Later This Year After All

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The truth that the gadget did not embrace an up to date processor was a ... Extremely dependable web site CPU World lately revealed the specs of ...

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ASUS Announces the TUF Sabertooth Z170 Mark 1 Motherboard

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... doesn't buckle under the weight of heavy graphics cards and CPU coolers, ... TUF ICe is a dedicated onboard processor that monitors onboard ...

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Alienware X51 R3: classy and compact gaming PC gets Skylake boost

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The X51's components are kept cool using a new CPU liquid cooler, which combines a pump and radiator into one device. Packing support for Intel's sixth-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors, it lets you bundle higher-end ...

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Swipe ACE Tablet with 6.95-inch Display, Quad-Core CPU Launched at Rs 7299

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Swipe ACE Tablet comes packed with 6.95-inch display, 1.3 GHz Quad Core processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB of built-in memory, expandable up to 32GB, ...

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Alienware 18 Special edition reborn again

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The CPU can be upgraded as it comes in a socket. ... The highest end machine comes with Core i7 4790K Processor with up to 4.4GHz with Turbo ...

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UMi eMax Mini flagship smartphone with 5-inch FHD display, 8MP selfie camera, octa-core CPU ...

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After revealing the processor details, UMi has now confirmed the display, and other specifications of its upcoming flagship smartphone - the eMax mini ...

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From AMD Nano to Skylake, 11 reasons why August was awesome for hardware

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The most notable release of August was easily Intel's new Skylake processors, which bucked recent CPU release trends in a couple of ways. First ...

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Alienware X51 (2015)

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Hot on the next iteration of Intel's processors, Alienware wasn't about to fall into the same pitfall again. And so, the firm has introduced a new line of ...

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Alienware Refreshes Lineup With Laptop Updates, And Liquid Cooled X51 Desktop

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Today Alienware announced some refreshes to its lineup. On the laptop front, the Alienware 13, 15, and 17 notebooks have been updated, and the Alienware 18 notebook has made a comeback. The X51 Desktop is also refreshed, and can now be used with the same Alienware Graphics Amplifier that was available for the notebooks.

Alienware 15 with Graphics Amplifier

Starting with the laptops, the line was refreshed with the graphics amplifier as an option almost a year ago already, and the company says the new models have over 20 updates on tap. This includes USB Type-C ports for USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3 capabilities. Each of the laptops offers a different choice of processors, with the smallest of the bunch being outfitted with the 5^th generation dual-core Core i5 and i7 U series, and the larger models offering quad-core 4^th generation CPUs. On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GTX 960M graces the Alienware 13, the Alienware 15 offers a choice of the NVIDIA GTX 965M, GTX 970M, GTX 980M, or an AMD offering with the R9 M395X. The 17-inch model comes standard with the NVIDIA GTX 970M and can be upgraded to the GTX 980M. Unfortunately all models come standard with a spinning hard drive as the base option, but PCIe SSDs are available in all models. There are quite a few configurations available so it is easiest to reference this table.

Alienware Laptops
	Alienware 13	Alienware 15	Alienware 17
CPU	Intel Core i5-5200U (Dual-Core up to 2.7 GHz, 15w TDP) Intel Core i7-5500U (Dual-Core up to 3.0 GHz, 15w TDP)	Intel Core i5-4210H (Dual-Core up to 3.5 GHz, 47w TDP) Intel Core i7-4720HQ (Quad-Core up to 3.6 GHz, 47w TDP) Intel Core i7-4870HQ (Quad-Core up to 3.7 GHz, 47w TDP)	Intel Core i7-4720HQ (Quad-Core up to 3.6 GHz, 47w TDP) Intel Core i7-4870HQ (Quad-Core up to 3.7 GHz, 47w TDP)
GPU	NVIDIA GTX 960M 2GB	NVIDIA GTX 965M 2GB NVIDIA GTX 970M 3GB NVIDIA GTX 980M 4GB AMD Radeon R9 M395X 4GB	NVIDIA GTX 970M 3GB NVIDIA GTX 980M 4GB
Memory	8-16 GB DDR3L-1600 (2 SODIMMs)
Storage	500 GB 5400RPM Hybrid (8GB) Optional 256 GB - 512 GB PCIe SSD plus 128 GB mSATA	1 TB 7200RPM HDD Optional 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB PCIe SSD boot drive plus 1 TB HDD
Display	13.3" 1366x768 TN matte Optional 1920x1080 IPS matte Optional 3200x1800 IGZO IPS w/touch	15.6" 1920x1080 IPS matte	17.3" 1920x1080 IPS matte Optional 3840x2160 IGZO IPS matte
Ports	USB 3.0 x 2 USB Type-C 10 Gbps and Thunderbolt 3 x 1 HDMI 2.0 Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port Media Card Reader (15 and 17 only) Headset
Networking	Killer 1535 802.11ac WiFi Bluetooth 4.1 Killer e2400 Gigabit Ethernet
Dimensions	H: 1.04-1.098" (26.3-27.9 mm) W: 12.91" (328 mm) D: 9.25" (235 mm)	H: 1.34" (34.0 mm) W: 15.19" (385.8 mm) D: 10.64" (270.2 mm)	H: 1.35" (34.4 mm) W: 16.93" (430 mm) D: 11.49" (291.9 mm)
Weight	4.54 lbs (2.06 kg)	7.07 lbs (3.21 kg)	8.33 lbs (3.78 kg)
Battery	4 Cell 52 Whr, 130w A/C Optional 4 Cell 62 Whr	8 Cell 92 WHr, 180-240w A/C	8 Cell 92 WHr, 180-240w A/C
Price	$999+	$1199+	$1499+

Alienware is also offering dynamic overclocking capabilities for the CPUs which will hopefully take some of the guesswork out of the task for the non-professional overclocker. On the networking side, Alienware has gone with the Killer Wireless-AC and Gigabit Ethernet combination similar to what we have seen from some of the competition.

Alienware 17

The displays should be good, if the Dell XPS 13 is any indication. Similar to that device, the Alienware 13 will also offer a 3200x1800 IGZO display with touch. The 15-inch model has just one display option with a 1080p IPS matte panel, and the 17-inch model starts with a 1080p base offering but will also offer a UHD 3840x2160 IGZO IPS display. The large panel notebooks are one of the few mobile devices which would be capable of running UHD but to this point it has been difficult to get one over 1080p so this should be a nice treat.

All of these laptops can also be connected to the Alienware Graphics Amplifier which would give you access to a desktop class GPU if you need even more compute power.

Alienware 18

Back after a hiatus is the Alienware 18 which we last saw back in 2013 when the dual GPU 18.4-inch monster was reviewed by Dustin Sklavos. There are different offerings, but it will offer dual GTX 970M with 12 GB of GDDR5, or dual GTX 980M graphics with a combined 16 GB of GDDR5 memory. The Intel CPU is going to be socketed, so customers will be able to upgrade it on their own, and it will ship with a factory overclock. The Alienware 18 will be available with up to 32 GB of system memory and four hard drives. The Alienware 18 Special Edition should be plenty capable, but once again the base model ships with a spinning disk, and you have to upgrade to a mSATA SSD boot drive which is a shame for a notebook which starts at $2500.

Alienware Laptops
	Alienware 18
CPU	Intel Core i7-4710MQ (Quad-Core, up to 3.5 GHz, 47w TDP) Intel Core i7-4910MQ (Quad-Core, up to 3.9 GHz, 47w TDP) Intel Core i7-4940MX Extreme Edition(Quad-Core, up to 4 GHz, 57w TDP, Overclocked up to 4.4 GHz)
GPU	NVIDIA GTX 970M 6GB x 2 NVIDIA GTX 980M 8GB x 2
Memory	16-32 GB DDR3L-1600 (4 SODIMMs)
Storage	1 TB 7200RPM HDD Optional 512 GB mSATA SSD boot drive plus 1 TB HDD
Display	18.4" 1920x1080 TrueLife
Ports	USB 3.0 x 4 Mini-DisplayPort HDMI 1.4 Output / 1.3 Input Media Card Reader Headset
Networking	802.11ac WiFi Bluetooth 4.0 Gigabit Ethernet
Dimensions	H: 2.23-2.26" (56.7-57.5 mm) W: 17.97" (456.5 mm) D: 12.91" (327.9 mm)
Weight	12.06 lbs (5.47 kg)
Battery	8 Cell 86 Whr
Price	$2499+

The extra-large laptop displays have not yet made the leap to high resolution, so the Alienware 18 is only available with 1080p offerings.

Finally, Alienware has refreshed its X51 desktop. The X51 fits in space wise between the small form factor Alpha and the large form factor Area-51. Alienware is targeting active keyboard and mouse gamers with this device, and the refreshed R3 model has moved to Skylake for the higher end models, and keeps a Haswell i3 model as the base. The $700 model comes with the NVIDIA GTX 745 GPU, and upgrades are available to the AMD Radeon R9 370 or NVIDIA GTX 960. There are a couple of interesting additions to this desktop. Alienware is offering a custom liquid cooling setup which should keep the temperatures in check, and will allow Alienware to offer overclocking of the CPU. It also adds support for the Alienware Graphics Amplifier which was first released on the notebook line. This may seem like an odd addition to a desktop, but the separate 460 watt power supply and chassis would allow a much larger GPU than could fit inside the small case of the X51. I think it is a neat addition especially if you have a laptop too, but it might be a hard sell to have someone buy a desktop and then buy something they have to put on the top of their desk.

Alienware’s new products are all available now at Alienware.com.

Source: Dell

Gallery: Alienware Refreshes Lineup With Laptop Updates, And Liquid Cooled X51 Desktop

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