ASUS Z87-Pro Intel Z87 LGA1150 Motherboard Review

Legit Motherboard Reviews

ASUS is without a doubt one of the top manufacturers of computer components out there today. If you've been building your own computers for any length of time, you have most likely used one of their products in a build. Today we are going to look at one of their Intel Z87 LGA1150 motherboard for the latest Intel 'Haswell' platform. The ASUS Z87-Pro can currently be found for as little as $199.00 shipped. When considering everything you get with this ASUS motherboard, it almost seems like a steal!

As you undoubtedly figured out, the ASUS Z87-Pro features the Intel Z87 Express chipset and all the latest features that come with it. One of the features that is selling me on the Intel Z87 upgrade path is the fact that gone are the days of SATA II Ports, the Z87 chipset, and hence the ASUS Z87-Pro feature all SATA III 6Gbps ports. Of course that's only one of the many features that we get with the Intel Z87 chipset. Intel has doubled the number of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports from two to four over the previous Intel 'Ivy Bridge' Z77 platform.

All the goodness of the Intel Z87 chipset and the 'Haswell' platform aside, we're here to focus on the ASUS Z87-Pro LGA1150 motherboard. According to ASUS, the Z87-Pro features 'Perfect one-stop system optimization and enhanced Wi-Fi control on Intel Z87'. It boils down to three key features, more specifically three key sets of features. Starting with Dual Intelligent Processors 4 with 4-way optimization for one click and done. The second key features is the Wi-Fi GO! which is designed to create the perfect fusion of desktop, smartphones, and tablets. Last but not least is the Fan Xpert 2, this is easily one of the most customizable sets of fan controls out there. The culmination of these three sets of features certainly lays the ground work for a killer system.

The ASUS Z87-Pro Intelligent Processors 4 and 4-way optimization are really a unique feature that are a great way to easily tweak your system. If you're looking for performance you can set the system up with a quick overclock, if you want to conserve some electricity you can enable the EPU and you're saving power and money without sacrificing performance.

 The ASUS Z87-Pro is outfitted with the latest, greatest version of the ASUS exclusive Wi-Fi GO! technology. One of the aspects about the Wi-Fi GO! technology on the ASUS Z87-Pro that is great, is the ability to set-up a wireless network without the use of another router. It's the little things like this that go unnoticed by many that will separate this board

ASUS has made a number of changes to their UEFI BIOS in both the EZ Mode, and the Advanced mode. The two most significant changes in the EZ Mode are the EZ Fan settings and the EZ XMP Settings. The Previous generation of UEFI BIOS you needed to navigate through the advanced BIOS settings to locate both the fan controls and the XMP Profile. This latest generation ASUS has put it right on the EZ Mode! My personal favorite change to the UEFI BIOS is the last modified page. When you save and exit a pop-up window comes up showing what has been changed this time around in the BIOS. I would be amiss if I were to tell you that I haven't changed the wrong setting in the past, this is one feature I have really enjoyed using.

Intel Socket 1150 for 4th Generation Core i7/Core i5/Core i3/Pentium/Celeron ProcessorsSupports Intel 22 nm CPUSupports Intel Turbo Boost Technology 2.04 x DIMM, Max. 32GB, DDR3 3000(O.C.)/2933(O.C.)/2800(O.C.)/2666(O.C.)/2600(O.C.)/2500(O.C.)/2400(O.C.)/2200(O.C.)/2133(O.C.)/2000(O.C.)/1866(O.C.)/1800(O.C.)/1600/1333 MHz Non-ECC,Un-buffered MemoryDual Channel Memory ArchitectureSupports Intel Extreme Memory Profile (XMP)

Integrated Graphics Processor

Multi-VGA output support : HDMI/DVI-D/RGB/DisplayPort 1.2 ports

Supports HDMI with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 2560 x 1600 @ 60 HzSupports DVI-D with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 HzSupports RGB with max. resolution 1920 x 1200 @ 60 HzSupports DisplayPort with max. resolution 4096 x 2160 @ 24 Hz / 3840 x 2160 @ 60 HzMaximum shared memory of 1024 MBSupports Intel HD Graphics, InTru 3D, Quick Sync Video, Clear Video HD Technology, InsiderSupports up to 3 displays simultaneouslySupports NVIDIA Quad-GPU SLI TechnologySupports AMD Quad-GPU CrossFireX TechnologySupports AMD 3-Way CrossFireX Technology2 x PCIe 3.0/2.0 x16 (x16 or dual x8)1 x PCIe 2.0 x16 (x4 mode) *34 x PCIe 2.0 x1

Intel® Z87 chipset :

6 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), yellowSupport Raid 0, 1, 5, 10Supports Intel Dynamic Storage Accelerator, Intel Smart Response Technology, Intel Rapid Start Technology, Intel Smart Connect Technology

ASMedia ASM1061 controller : 

2 x SATA 6Gb/s port(s), dark brownIntel I217V, 1 x Gigabit LAN Controller(s)Intel LAN- Dual interconnect between the Integrated LAN controller and Physical Layer (PHY)Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/nSupports dual band frequency 2.4/5 GHzBluetooth V4.0Bluetooth V3.0+HS

Realtek ALC1150 8-Channel High Definition Audio CODEC

Supports : Jack-detection, Multi-streaming, Front Panel Jack-retaskingHigh quality 112 dB SNR stereo playback output (Line-out at rear) and 104 dB SNR recording input (Line-in)

Audio Feature :

Absolute Pitch 192kHz/ 24-bit True BD Lossless SoundDTS Ultra PC IIDTS ConnectOptical S/PDIF out port(s) at back panelBD Audio Layer Content Protection

Intel Z87 chipset :

4 x USB 3.0/2.0 port(s) (2 at back panel, blue, 2 at mid-board)

Intel Z87 chipset :

8 x USB 2.0/1.1 port(s) (8 at mid-board)

ASMedia USB 3.0 controller :

4 x USB 3.0/2.0 port(s) (4 at back panel, blue)

ASUS Dual Intelligent Processors 4 with 4-Way Optimization :

The tuning key perfectly consolidates ASUS-exclusive DIGI+ Power Control, TPU, EPU, and Fan Xpert 2 optimize the digital power setting, system performance, power saving and whole system cooling configuration

ASUS 5X PROTECTION :

ASUS DIGI+ VRM - 12 Phase digital power designASUS Enhanced DRAM Overcurrent Protection - Short circuit damage preventionASUS ESD Guards - Enhanced ESD protectionASUS All 5K-Hour Solid Capacitors - 2.5x long lifespan with excellent durabilityASUS Stainless Steel Back I/O - 3x more durable corrosion-resistant coating

ASUS EPU :

ASUS Digital Power Design :

Industry leading Digital 12 Phase Power DesignIndustry leading Digital 2 Phase DRAM Power DesignASUS DIGI+ VRM UtilityCPU Power UtilityDRAM Power Utility ASUS Wi-Fi GO!

Wi-Fi GO! Function:

Cloud GO!, DLNA Media Hub, Smart Sensor Control, Remote Desktop, Remote Keyboard & Mouse, File Transfer, Capture & SendWi-Fi Engine for network sharing and connection: Client Mode, AP ModeWi-Fi GO! & NFC Remote for portable Smartphone/Tablet, supporting iOS & Android systems

ASUS Exclusive Features :

USB BIOS FlashbackMemOK!AI Suite 3Ai Charger+USB Charger+Anti-SurgeOnboard Button : PowerFront Panel USB 3.0 SupportASUS UEFI BIOS EZ Mode featuring friendly graphics user interfaceNetwork iControlUSB 3.0 BoostDisk Unlocker

ASUS Quiet Thermal Solution :

Stylish Fanless Design Heat-sink solutionASUS Fan Xpert 2

ASUS EZ DIY :

DirectKeyPrecision Tweaker 2ASUS O.C. ProfileASUS CrashFree BIOS 3ASUS EZ Flash 2Multi-language BIOS

ASUS Q-Design :

ASUS Q-CodeASUS Q-LED (CPU, DRAM, VGA, Boot Device LED)ASUS Q-SlotASUS Q-DIMMASUS Q-Connector

100% All High-quality Conductive Polymer Capacitors

Overclocking Protection :

ASUS C.P.R.(CPU Parameter Recall)1 x PS/2 keyboard/mouse combo port(s)1 x DVI-D1 x D-Sub1 x DisplayPort1 x HDMI1 x LAN (RJ45) port(s)6 x USB 3.0 (blue)1 x Optical S/PDIF out6 x Audio jack(s)1 x ASUS Wi-Fi GO! module (Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth v4.0/3.0+HS)1 x USB 3.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 2 USB 3.0 port(s) (19-pin)4 x USB 2.0 connector(s) support(s) additional 8 USB 2.0 port(s)1 x TPM header8 x SATA 6Gb/s connector(s)1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin)1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin)4 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (4 x 4 -pin)1 x S/PDIF out header(s)1 x 24-pin EATX Power connector(s)1 x 8-pin ATX 12V Power connector(s)1 x Front panel audio connector(s) (AAFP)1 x System panel(s) (Q-Connector)1 x DirectKey Button(s)1 x DRCT header(s)1 x MemOK! button(s)1 x TPU switch(es)1 x EPU switch(es)1 x Power-on button(s)1 x Clear CMOS jumper(s)1 x USB BIOS Flashback button(s)User's manual I/O Shield4 x SATA 6Gb/s cable(s)1 x ASUS 2T2R dual band Wi-Fi moving antennas (Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n compliant)1 x SLI bridge(s)1 x Q-connector(s) (2 in 1)64 Mb Flash ROM, UEFI AMI BIOS, PnP, DMI2.7, WfM2.0, SM BIOS 2.7, ACPI 5.0, Multi-language BIOS, ASUS EZ Flash 2, ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3, My Favorites, Quick Note, Last Modified log, F12 PrintScreen, F3 Shortcut functions, and ASUS DRAM SPD (Serial Presence Detect) memory informationWfM 2.0, DMI 2.7, WOL by PME, PXEDriversASUS UtilitiesEZ UpdateAnti-virus software (OEM version)ATX Form Factor12 inch x 9.6 inch ( 30.5 cm x 24.4 cm )

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ASUS USB-AC53 Dual-band Wireless-AC1200 Adapter Review

Legit Mods and Ends Reviews

As more and more devices choose to embrace the latest 802.11ac standard, there is a growing number of PCs and laptop devices where upgrading is not straightforward.  A while back, we looked at a couple of different solutions to make your home or office computers faster – namely by using an internal card and antenna array for your desktop computer.  Today, we look investigate a way to upgrade your laptop or notebook, this time using an USB-compatible device.

ASUS has been on the forefront of AC-enable networking devices and their router, so we are expecting great things out of the ASUS USB-AC53 Dual-band Wireless-AC1200 Adapter. The ASUS USB-AC53 adapter was designed to deliver the 802.11ac to any “legacy” device looking for a boost in speed.  You can get the ASUS USB-AC53 for less than $50 right now from vendors like Amazon.com.

The AC53 works over an 802.11ac WiFi network so we expect to see a lot more speed out of it than we do our normal 802.11n devices.  In fact, the speed rating for the 5GHz channel is 867Mbps, and 300Mbps for the 2.4GHz channel. Thus, the device is being marketed as a Wireless-AC1200 device (as opposed to our ASUS RT-AC66U Wireless AC1750 which gives a maximum of 1300Mbps on the 5GHz channel and 450 on the 2.4GHz).

The USB-AC53 is about half the size of a sharpie marker and comes with a USB extension cradle and cable so that you can easily attach it to your computer. 

Featured Specifications:

Network StandardInterfaceAntennaOperating FrequencyProduct SegmentAC1200 ultimate AC performance; 300+867MbpsData Rate802.11ac : downlink up to 867Mbps, uplink up to 867Mbps (20/40MHz)UtilitiesWireless setting, Site survey, WPS WizardSecurity64-bit WEP, 128-bit WEP, WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, WPS supportCertificatesCE, FCC, C-Tick, IC, IDA, NCC, PCTDimensionsWeightOS SupportWindows® 8 , 32bit/64bitWindows® 7 , 32bit/64bitWindows® Vista , 32bit/64bitWindows® XP , 32bit/64bitPackage Content Support CDUSB Extension cableWarranty card

Let’s take a look at what ASUS gives us in the box and configure the USB-AC53 for use!

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card Review

Legit Video Card Reviews

GTX760 2GB GDDR5 Reference Card

Over the past month NVIDIA has managed to keep us extremely busy with the launch of the new GeForce GTX 700 series of video cards.  NVIDIA already released the high-end GeForce GTX 780 and GeForce GTX 770 cards and today they continue the refresh of their product stack with the introduction of the GeForce GTX 760.

We have been told that this is the final desktop GeForce GTX graphics card that will be released for a number of months, so let's take a look at the new NVIDIA graphics card lineup.

As you can see the GeForce GTX 680 and GeForce GTX 670 have booth been dropped from the lineup and have been replaced by the GeForce GTX 780 and GeForce GTX 770. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 video card that is coming out today replacing  the GeForce GTX 660 Ti in the lineup. Pricing for the GeForce GTX 760 begins at $249.99 and this will be a hard launch, so you should be able to go out and by partner cards right now. GeForce GTX 760 cards will be offered by ASUS, Colorful, EVGA, Gainward, Galaxy, Gigabyte, Innovision 3D, MSI, Palit, PNY and Zotac. NVIDIA board partners will be offering a wide variety of GeForce GTX 760 configurations, including boards with custom cooling, factory overclocks and some with 4GB of memory instead of 2GB (extra ~$49).

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 reference card features six streaming multiprocessors, 1,152 CUDA cores, 96 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The TDP on the card is 170 Watts and a 500 Watt power supply is recommended.  The memory bandwidth on the GeForce GTX 660 Ti is ~144 GB/s and ~192 GB/s on the GeForce GTX 670/680. The GeForce GTX 760 shares that same memory solution that was found on GeForce GTX 670/680 cards, so it has 192.26 Gb/s of memory bandwidth.  Both 2GB and 4GB versions of the GeForce GTX 760 are in the works, with the 4GB cards costing about $49 more.

At the end of the day you basically have a card running the GK104 with one of the Graphics Processing Clusters (GPCs) disabled (fewer stream processors), but you get the full GDDR5 memory and raster operations setup that is found on the GeForce GTX670/GTX680. Not bad considering yesterday a GeForce GTX 660 Ti would run you $280 and the GeForce GTX 760 comes in $30 less expensive at just $250.

NVIDIA is hoping that the GeForce GTX 760 will get some people with older cards to update as it offers a 300% performance boost over the Geforce GTX 275 that came out in 2009 and is roughly twice as fast as the GeForce GTX 560 from 2011.

 NVIDIA also says that the GeForce GTX 760 will be able to beat the AMD Radeon HD 7950!  Let's take a closer look at the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB reference card and get to testing.

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MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming OC 2GB Video Card Review in SLI and 2D Surround

Legit Video Card Reviews

Earlier today we brought you a review of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB reference card. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 uses the GK104 "Kepler" GPU and has 1152 CUDA cores with a base clock speed of 980MHz, while the boost clock speed is 1033MHz. The 2GB of GDDR5 memory runs on a 256-bit bus and is clocked at 6008MHz (effective). Pretty impressive specifications for a desktop graphics card in the $250 price segment.

However, pretty much every NVIDIA board partner will be offering factory overclocked GeForce GTX 760 boards that run at even higher clock speeds along with custom GPU coolers for improved cooling. This is great for consumers as when you purchase a desktop graphics cards you have a a wide variety brands and models to pick from. The number of different cards can be daunting, but you can get exactly what you want. The very first retail board partner GeForce GTX 760 card that we will be looking at is the MSI N760 TF 2GD5/OC. We were told to call it the MSI N760 TF 2GD5/OC, but if you go by the retail box it would be the GeForce GTX 760 Twin Frozr Gaming OC Edition.

The MSI GeForce GTX 760 Twin Frozr Gaming OC 2GB looks nothing like the NVIDIA Reference card as you can see from the image above.

The MSI GeForce GTX 760 Twin Frozr Gaming OC is clocked at 1020MHz on the core and 1085MHz on the boost clock. This is a 4% overclock on the base clock and a 5% overclock on the boost clock.  The 2GB of GDDR5 memory runs at 1502MHz (6008MHz effective), so the memory has not been overclocked and is running at stock speeds.

MSI was kind enough to send over a pair of their GeForce GTX 760 Twin Frozr Gaming OC cards for us to try out in both single card and 2-way SLI.

The MSI GeForce GTX 760 Gaming features two 100mm (10cm) fans and the Twin Frozr IV GPU cooler that has 5 copper heat pipes. At start up the fans are audible but quickly fade to nearly inaudible.

MSI uses Military Class 4 components on the Gaming series card, so they have Hi-c CAP, new SFC and Solid CAP. The dual 10cm PWM fans have propeller blade technology with dust technology, so they spin backwards for a second when first started to prevent dust from blowing into the heat sink.

MSI went with an 8-pin and 6-pin PCI-e power connectors for their GeForce GTX 760 gaming edition card. MSI suggests a 500 Watt or greater power supply for proper operation.

Here we can see the video output connectors for the GTX760 card. It has a pair of dual-link DVI connectors, the bottom is a DVI-I while the top is DVI-D. Display Port is at the bottom left and HDMI is in the middle. The design looks is identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 reference card, so the video outputs are the same.

Here we have the back side of the card where it should be noted that this card uses a PCB that is 10.0" in length, but the GPU cooler extends past the card making it nearly 10.25" in length. This is about 0.75-inches longer than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 reference card. 

From this angle you can better see that the Twin Frozr 4 GPU cooler extends past the PCB and how it pushes air in all directions. Not much air is exhausted out of the chassis, so it will be interesting to see how the temperatures are during our SLI testin.

MSI is using SK hynix GDDR5 IC's that are marked H5GQ2H24AFR-R0C. These are the same exact ICs that NVIDIA used for the frame buffer on the reference card. According to the SK hynix website these specific IC's are rated to run at 6.0Gbps (0.3ns) at 1.5V.

Let's take a look at the retail box and bundle!

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7-Way 550-600 Watt Power Supply Roundup Review

Legit Power Supply Reviews

It is natural for an enthusiast to be dazzled by monsters such as the Corsair AX1200i and the Cooler Master Silent Pro M2 1500W; however, even the majority of the enthusiasts would not actually purchase such a beast. It is (or should be) common knowledge that even a very good gaming system does not demand more than 300W-350W and thus, as power supplies are being designed to optimally perform at about 50% capacity, 550W-600W units are plenty for the vast majority of gamers and common users. It is only with multiple video cards, large raid arrays and other “specialized” designs that power requirements may increase substantially. As such, the bulk of a company’s sales does not come from top tier products but from their mainstream-focused designs.

Knowing that and realizing the need to offer our readers insight on products which truly are of interest to them, today we bring you a roundup review of seven quality 550W-600W power supplies. Do not be fooled however as the only common capacity of these seven power supplies virtually is their capacity, as each is designed for a different group of users. We will examine and test each unit thoroughly, all while assessing their performance in alignment with the monetary value and quality they offer. Our seven contenders are, alphabetically listed:

All power supplies will be rigorously tested, specifically in order to ensure that their quality matches the high market standards. In this article we have also implemented a 110% load test in order to assess how such these power supplies will react if overloaded for short periods of time. However, note that this is not considered to be a steady state; the power supply will certainly shut down after a short period of time and or might not be able to handle running overloaded at all once aging becomes a significant factor. 

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Anker Astro Slim2 4500mAh Power Bank Review

Legit Mobile Reviews

Astro Slim2 4500mAh Power Bank

Are you tired of your phone’s battery dying during the middle of the day, and finding an outlet can possibly be a chore? Does your tablet need some extra juice to get through the day? Well, Anker is at it again; releasing their newest slim line power bank, named the Astro Slim2. This slim power bank boasts a cool 4500mAh Li-Ion battery, which will help you recharge your gadgets throughout the day, should you need a little jump.

This lightweight, very slim, seemingly easy to use power bank can be had on Amazon for $27.99 shipped. That sounds like one great deal for a convenient way to give your gadgets a little more power during the day.

Taking a quick look at the outside of the packaging, the front and sides don’t really show you much.

When you look at the rear, you’ll notice plenty of information in regards to the power bank’s features. We’ll get into those features in a bit, but you can find the tech specs about this power bank below.

Anker Astro Slim2 Specifications:

Capacity: 4500mAhOutput: 2x DC 5V / 1AInput: DC 5V / 1AWeight: 113g (3.9oz)Size: 4.88 x 1.34 x 0.39inUnit Recharge Time: 4-5 hours (via USB)MTBF: 500+ chargesWarranty: 18 months

When I popped open the box, everything was in there all nice and neat. I was actually quite deceived by the wording “Accessory Bag” on one of the small boxes, so I feel it necessary to point out. I thought there would have been a small pouch inside with the cables and adapters, but they were all just loosely fitting in the small box. No big deal, but it was a poor choice of words on the box.

The accessories that are included are the Micro USB cable, Mini USB adapter, and a 30-pin Apple connector.

With an 18 month warranty, this should help with your buying decisions, as you know you are getting a quality product.

Anker states the finish is a grippy surface, but in all honesty it doesn't really do that. It’s a matte plastic that has a slight grip to it, but it isn’t rubberized. If it were rubberized, I would say this power bank would be darn near perfect! The finish on it may or may not mess with the finish on whatever you rest it against. In my case, I did not notice any new scratches on my Galaxy S3 after having the power bank and it in my pocket for a couple days.

A quick tour around the Anker Astro Slim2 Power Bank, up top you’ll see four LEDs (left hand side of the below picture). These LEDs are a white in color and represent 25% increments for the battery charge.  When you're down to the last 5%, the last LED will begin to blink. While charging this power bank, the appropriate LED will blink, indicating where it is at in its cycle. I would strongly recommend putting this face down if you charge this in your bedroom at night, as the LEDs are pretty bright, but not "ultra bright LED" bright.

On the flip side, you won’t see much more than the labeling for input and output.

Taking a look at one of the sides, you’ll battery specifications, letting you know that there are dual 1 amp outputs. The object on the right hand side is something that I’ll get to in a moment.

The opposite side houses the full sized USB output. In all honesty, this is the only other flaw that I could find with the design of this power bank. This should have been placed on an end, not on a side. Now when you want to charge via this port, you have to contend with the width of the power bank plus the USB end sticking out beyond it a couple inches. Talk about not cool!

Alright, remember that mystery object that I mentioned just a moment ago? Well, when you pull this out, this is the integrated Micro USB cable. Yes, this too is rated at 1 amp output, which is ideal for quickly charging your device.

When you pair it up with a device like the Samsung Galaxy S3, you will indeed see how nicely they hold hands and play nice. The short integrated Micro USB cable is very nice, so you know you won’t have a huge cable sticking out of your pocket.

Fortunately if you don’t have a device that has a Micro USB charging port, you've always got the full sized USB port to plug in a cable of your choice.

Read on to check out what I found in my brief testing and just a recap of what was said here.

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Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WindForce 3X 2GB Video Card Review

Legit Video Card Reviews

NVIDIA's reference design for the GeForce GTX 770 is solidly built, but most video card makers have opted to use their own PCB design and custom GPU coolers on the cards that they bring to market. Gigabyte has come out with a rather impressive NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 2GB/4GB video card that has the company's WindForce 3X GPU Cooler and a custom designed PCB. This card stands out from the crowd due to the WindForce 3X GPU cooler that uses six copper heatpipes (2x 8mm and 4x 6mm) and three 75mm cooling fans to keep this factory overclocked card running smoothly. This beefy GPU cooler marketed as being able to handle thermal designs of up to 450 Watts.

That is complete overkill for the reference GeForce GTX 770 clock speeds, so Gigabyte overclocked this card with the highest frequencies that we have seen to date. A standard reference card comes at 1046MHz base clock with a 1085MHz boost clock, but the Gigabyte GTX 770 WindForce 3X comes clocked at 1137MHz core and 1189MHz boost. a nice 9-10% increase in clock speeds on the 1536 stream processors! The 2GB of GDDR5 memory runs on a 256-bit bus and is clocked at 1753MHz (7012MHz), which means that is has not been overclocked.

The Gigabyte GTX 770 WindForce 3X 2GB video card is sold under part number GV-N770OC-2GD and retails for $409.99 shipped.  There is also a 4GB version of the same card that has part number GV-N770OC-4GD that sells for $449.99 shipped. It you are gaming on a triple panel setup it is advisable to spend the extra $40 to get twice as much frame buffer as many game titles use more than 2GB at a screen resolution of 5760x1080 and higher.

The Gigabyte GTX 770 WindForce 3X is a dual-slot card that measures 11-inches in length, which is half an inch longer than the reference design. This card has some weight to it and weighs just over two pounds!

The back side of the card is not covered by a back-plate and none of the GDDR5 memory chips are located on the back of the 2GB card that we are looking at today. Notice that the GPU cooler does extend past the PCB, so Gigabyte tried to make it as large as possible.

The Gigabyte GTX770 WindForce 3X video card looks sharp from the front, with a nice nameplate and all, but once installed in a case this is why you see.  It would have been nice if Gigabyte would have installed some branding on the back of the cards metal fan shroud that extends above the card.  It's just a blank piece of metal that is sticking out when installed in a traditional PC case.

The Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 OC WindForce 3X 2GB GDDR5 graphics card has a total of four display connectors.  You have dual-link DVI-I, dual-link DVI-D, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs. All of the video outputs are standard size, so no adapters are needed, which is nice.  The only downside to using full size connectors is that the exhaust fan outlet is small, but due to the WindForce 3X GPU Cooler design most of the air is blown back into the chassis.

Here is a closer look at the bottom of the video card to show how the fan shroud is pretty much open all the way around the card. The fans push air down into the two large aluminum heatsinks and then the air pretty much goes out in every direction once it hits the PCB.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770 graphics card supports triple-SLI, so Gigabyte supports it as well and the card has a pair of SLI connectors along the top of the PCB for multi-GPU systems. Gigabyte ships the card with blue colors protectors on all the video outputs, PCIe slot and the SLI connectors.

Gigabyte went with 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors on the GeForce GTX770 WindForce 3X video card and recommends at least a 600 Watt power supply with a minimum +12V current rating of 42A. It should be noted that when we plugged in the PCIe power connectors that they made contact with the WindForce 3X GPU cooler, so it is a tight fit to get them on and really tricky to get them off! You just have to be gentle and finesse it!

Now that we have covered the basics of the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 WindForce 3X, let's move along and take a quick look at the retail packaging and accessory bundle for all those folks that like unboxing details.

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Seagate 600 240GB SATA III 6Gbps SSD Review

Legit Storage Reviews

Seagate has long been a player in the storage industry, best known for its hard drive products and more recently, its hybrid HDD/SSD drives. As such, it may be surprising that it's taken so long for them to jump into the pure SSD consumer market as so many other already have. At this point, we are seeing drive makers reduce in number as component prices and sales margins fall, somewhat of an echo of sorts of how the spinning platter drive market evolved. Nevertheless, Seagate has chosen to power their latest 600 series drives with the Link_A_Media Devices (LAMD) LM87800 controller (now owned by SK Hynix) and pair it with Toshiba NAND - a configuration we've seen before with good results.

The 600 series is actually available in two configurations - one with a z-height of the familiar 7mm and another with a rarely seen 5mm (part numbers end 1). Both are available in capacities of 120GB, 240GB and 480GB. There is also a pro model with similar capacities plus higher overprovisioned capacities of 100GB, 200GB and 400GB. They are essentially the same drives as the non-pro but offers a few extras such as greater endurance and on-board capacitors as an extra measure to prevent data loss should power be suddenly interrupted. Here's a quick little overview video produced by Seagate:

The drives have admirable performance specifications of 550MB/s reads and 450MB/s writes and IOPS performance of 80,000/70,000 reads/writes respectively. All carry a three year warranty and Seagate's track record of quality.

Nonrecoverable Read Errors per Bits Read:Annualized Failure Rate (AFR):Endurance (Total Bytes Written (TBW)):

Our test sample arrived bare in nondescript packaging so we have no images of that but the drive comes as is with no other frills such as adapter plates, cables, stickers or software. Although not relevant to performance, the exterior of the drive is quite attractive with the black textured surface and a white wave accent flowing down the left side. Definitely different than any other drive on the market. How about the inside? Let's see...

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ASUS Republic Of Gamers Maximus VI Hero Intel Z87 Motherboard Review

Legit Motherboard Reviews

Republic of Gamers Maximus VI Hero

The ASUS ROG series is know for being the best of the best, and it's certainly and accurate statement. The drawback with the ASUS ROG motherboards that has prevented the masses from picking one up is the cost. Traditionally motherboards like the ASUS Maximus Extreme and Formula carry a pretty steep price. While this is still the case with the latest Intel Z87 motherboards, ASUS is launching a much more budget friendly ATX motherboard with the Republic of Gamers tags. The ASUS ROG Maximus Hero is a full featured Intel LGA1150 Z87 motherboard that will retail for only $229.00. Some will argue that this is still an expensive motherboard, when compared to the Maximus VI Extreme which will retail for $399.00. $229.00 for the Maximus VI Hero will certainly provided more end users to put the ROG board into their systems.

One of the key features specific to the Hero, is the fact that it has the Republic of Gamers quality attached to it. Being part of the ROG elite motherboards offers up a quality that has been previously available to those looking to drop a small fortune on a board. While there are still some certain perks to having a board like the Maximus VI Extreme, though few will truly take advantage of all the features on it. The Hero offers the same level of quality as on the Extreme just a few less bells and whistles.

ASUS felt that there has been a gap in their ROG product stack. The Maximus VI Extreme is a board designed for the extreme overclockers, the Maximus VI Formula is geared for premium gaming, the Maximus VI Gene is built for the fans of small form factor systems. The Hero will fill the gap between the Formula and the Gene, giving standard form factor users the ROG experience and quality without the price of the Formula and Extreme

There is a lot of technology that goes into the ASUS ROG Maximus VI Hero. Some of the technologies include the Extreme Engine Digi+ III, five 4pin fan headers, USB 3.0 Boost, eight SATA III 6Gbps ports, DirectKey, ROG External Connector, Trusted Platform Module, two PCIe x16 Gen3.0 slots supporting SLI and CrossfireX, one PCIe 2.0 x16 slot (running at x4), three PCIe x1 Gen 2.0 slots, SupremeFX Audio, and GameFirst II Intel Ethernet are just a few of the technologies that make up the ASUS Republic of Gamers Maximus VI Hero Motherboard.

Taking a look at the specifications for the ASUS Maximus VI Hero there are a couple key features to point out. First among them may be obvious but still worth mentioning. The ASUS ROG Maximus VI Hero supports the latest fourth generation of Intel Core i series processors in the LGA1150 package along with the Intel Z87 Express chipset. The Hero also supports dual channel memory at 2800MHz (O.C.) up to 32GB worth. If you're looking to run the integrated graphics, the ASUS Maximus VI Hero only has a single HDMI out, though it does support the latest 4Kx2K video.

Join us on the next page where we delve a little deeper into the technologies.

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