Introduction Building computers is a work of progress. Most of us are happy if our first system turns on and we can successfully install Windows on it. After that we start finding ways to make Windows run smoother, cut the tearing/stuttering out of our gaming, make our cables look prettier, and even risk voiding warranties to overclock our parts for more performance. This is what we can consider the final stages of performance. However, if you’re really into building a PC for the sheer fun of building it, there’s a whole new level that makes a custom PC an entirely different experience. Most of our reviews focus on the straightforward attributes of a component’s ease of use, value, and performance. That frame of mind makes it very easy to give a recommendation on the majority of parts out there, but some companies force the reviewer to change their perspective entirely and gauge a product on a whole new level. That’s what In Win is going to do to us today. Sure, we’re not going to forget the practical aspects of this case, but we also have to consider the “Art” level of the design. This is the ultimate stage where a system becomes more than a high performance machine, but also represents a work of art reflecting the builder’s personal taste. In Win lives here and we’ll soon figure out how well the 301 Chassis fits into that level, right after taking a quick look at the values of this company. IN-WIN Development Inc., ...

The year of Ryzen has turned out to be a very good year indeed. AMD’s new architecture only had some minor set backs to overcome, but now it’s poised to be the competitive champion of the PC market. I’m going to let you google the Threadripper reviews this time, because I’m going to focus on some incredible firsts that basically sum up how great this release is and why Threadripper is demolishing competition. For starters…. Holy Cats! Intel has dominated this chart for ages now, yet there’s a Threadripper at the very top!!! AMD is at the top of the charts!!!!! Wow! I’m sure Intel is working hard to dethrone that, but for the time being, AMD is at the top of the PassMark chart and that’s pretty incredible. However, shock and awe is just beginning….. Are we really seeing this!?! Was that Nvidia congratulating AMD!?!?!?!?!?! What’s going on? Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria! Did we ever see a day where Nvidia and AMD acted…. cordially to each other? But it didn’t end there…… AMD just high-fived Nvidia!!!!!! I’m not saying the future won’t have some sort of confrontation again, it’s just weird to see what what was thought as mortal enemies having such a great exchange. I remember during my sales years that I was told to essentially hate my competition. I think we can prove that you don’t have to hate someone to be competitive with them (all ...

You may remember something about a new input device called the RBT (rabbit) that was supposed to improve the mouse design dramatically. We got the chance to review it and the conclusion was that the button layout worked in a completely surprising way. Even now, in spite of being back on a regular mouse for some time, I still can’t get used to the tension that is so obvious in my neck and should after having the RBT experience. Well if price was a factor, there’s good news. For $55 right now, you can add to the campaign funds and secure an RBT Rogue for yourself. The DPI sensor is going to be quite a bit lower than the gaming version, but if you aren’t the type to set sensitivity to the point that a tiny flinch causes the cursor to shoot across the screen (like me), then the office version might be perfect anyways. Check out the link below because if you’ve ever experienced discomfort from using a mouse, the RBT is well worth the cost. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mouse-no-more-rbt-rebel-rogue-taking-over-esports#/

Introduction Everyone has different priorities for their PC build: Power, silence, size, comfort, lighting, cheap as possible, etc. When you are on a budget, some part of your build is going to suffer. Great power; you sit on the floor. Huge monitor; graphics card tops out at 30 fps. Lots of RGB lighting; keyboard and mouse from the 90’s. This review is for the latter. If you’ve shopped for an RGB keyboard recently, your options are $150+ mechanical or $50 fixed color membrane. Good news! Rosewill built something bright, colorful and affordable. They’ve also built a mouse with RGB as well, though affordable RGB mice have stiffer competition. However, should you buy them? Let’s find out. First, a bit about Rosewill: Rosewill’s mission is to consistently deliver reliable, high quality PC gaming, IT hardware and home products through leading innovation and long-lasting relationships. Rosewill Inc. was established in 2004, founded by manufacturing reliable, high-quality technology products. The first products under the Rosewill brand name included computer components such as computer cases, power supply units, keyboards, mice and cables. Over time, the product line strategically developed and entered new areas of growth, including PC gaming and home products. Under the management of experienced e-retail experts, Rosewill products can be found on all top e-commerce sites, along with product information and reviews. Today, Rosewill currently manuf...

Introduction The gaming mouse industry has been overrun with competition for quite some time now. That doesn’t surprise me, but I am starting to get a little surprised at how many budget cases are being introduced into the market. It seems like computer building is a pretty niche market, but on second thought, the idea that there’s a surge of prospective buyers in the $50 range makes a lot of sense. If you’re new to PC building, you’ve probably allocated a large amount of budget to other components and if you’re just looking to upgrade, pre-built system cases can have serious space limitations. FSP has traditionally been known for power supplies, but they’ve decided to enter the budget case arena with their CMT210 mid-tower chassis. Call me a sucker for punishment, but I still want to find that budget tower that really hits all the marks I think a budget case should hit. We’ll dive into the chassis soon enough, but first let’s take a look at a bit of info from FSP. Since 1993, based on its professional R&D expertise, enormous production capacity and high Quality Assurance, FSP has achieved an important position in the challenging IT industry. To strengthen the brand image and to provide better service to our customers, FSP built its own brand in 2003. FSP has a good understanding of customer needs, which includes providing products of high quality and reliability, after-sales service and continuous development of new pro...

Introduction This was it. The moment I’ve been waiting for from the first day I joined PureOC. I took the res out of the box, grabbed a fitting, and gently screwed it into the port…..OH MY GOODNESS! That was my last moment to turn back and be a normal computer user. From this moment on, I can only imagine making even better custom cooling loops in the future. The look of a new XSPC fitting inside the Enermax NEOChanger brought new levels of joy that reminded me of my very first PC build, then I bent the edges of the next fitting by screwing it in a bit too tightly and knew that the experience was just like my first computer build. Enough about me, though. Let’s get into this beautiful looking piece of hardware from Enermax. I think their designers have pointedly found pieces of hardware that don’t represent RGB LED enough and decided to fix the problem themselves. I absolutely love them for this! Here at PureOC, it started with the NEOllusion and continues today with the NEOChanger. How will Enermax fair in the custom cooling arena? We’ll find out right after a brief word about the company. Lepatek Corporation an ENERMAX Company is an exclusive authorized supplier for ENERMAX and LEPA brand products for both North America and South America. Lepatek Corporation strives to provide only high quality products within the Computer Hardware & Components and Consumer Electronics market. Both manufacturers specialize in high-end computer componen...

Most driver releases are copy and paste ordeals, but this one is a bit bigger than that. Radeon continues to take feedback and make it reality, which is why their driver landscape is better than it’s ever been. With one great new feature and one huge throwback setting added in this update, you should definitely download this driver if you own compatible AMD GPUs. The new feature I want to point out is Enhanced Sync. This allows you to exceed your monitors refresh rate, but not have the tearing that typically comes with that. V-Sync is also supposed to help, but the input lag can be extremely noticeable, except with the possibility of Triple-Buffering, but not all games have that feature. This is similar to Nvidia’s Fast Sync, but the ability to decrease stutter below the refresh rate is something unique to Radeon. The throwback feature that I’m super glad is back is Color Saturation. All my life, I’ve used a tiny saturation boost to make the colors pop on all of my screens and remember discovering that I couldn’t find the setting anymore. Not only is it back, but all of the additional settings are completely incorporated into Radeon settings now. It turns out that AMD can bring in the new and the nostalgic feelings in one, simple driver update. It’s a bit surprising that it releases as a second driver version this month, but hey, I’m not complaining. Check out the release notes below because there is far more going on than the two...

You might have seen the name Lamptron pop up on our site a couple of times. They might seem a bit obscure, but they have some surprisingly cool products that cover niches not explored by other companies. Our recent review of their LED strips showed some brilliant designs in giving users lighting control without software or a large-ish control boxes. Once again, Lamptron is at it with designing an all-in-one RGB LED Light and Fan controller. The CL420 is a 5.25″ bay controller that is meant to control LED strips and RGB LED fans from nearly every manufacturer. If you like NZXT’s strips but prefer the lighting design on Corsair’s fans, in theory you can control each from this single controller. The question comes in how many lighting options you’ll have, but it’s nice to know that you wouldn’t need any additional software to handle the settings. Based on the performance of their recent RGB LED strips, I imagine there will be numerous effects built into the controller. The good news is it looks like Lamptron already has a page up on their site for the CL420. You can check out the details at the link below, but it’s hard to narrow down what the availability and price will be at the time being. Hopefully time will permit us to get a chance to take a look at it and really see what it’s capable of. http://www.lamptron.com/2016/08/08/lamptron-cl420-case-controller/

A while back, Raijintek introduced some new CPU coolers that were pretty excellent. Well, I inadvertently let them off my radar, but that didn’t stop them from going crazy with awesome new product designs. Why am I writing about this? I’m saying that you will probably be interested in the new designs coming out of this company. For starters, they have numerous aluminum case designs that mix a great aesthetic blend of gaming and professional looks. Not many designers try to compete in this field but I think Raijintek is bringing some great things to the table. On the top of that list is the Paean. This is one of the nicest open designs I’ve personally seen and would also make a great test bench as well, imho. I was digging through their products and noticed an aftermarket air cooler called the Morpheus II Core Edition. A black coated air cooler for GPU cooling up to 360 watts? Yes, please! Raijintek also has products ranging from CPU air coolers and RGB LED fans, as well a nice assortment of custom loops liquid cooling parts. It looks like they’re just getting started and I have high hopes that we have some great things in store from them in the future. Check out their website in the link below and let us know what you think in the forums! http://www.raijintek.com/en/index.php

Introduction Liquid cooling is all the rage with these kids today, but back in my day…. Ah who am I kidding? I’ve mostly experienced the ease and simplicity of CLC units myself. While I firmly believe that aluminum rads and integrated pumps have their clear performance limits, CLCs offer a simple, yet fairly safe alternative to air cooling while giving consumers a huge variety in aesthetic design. The only problem is that these units have primarily catered to cooling the CPU. NZXT is trying to change that with their Kraken G12 cooling bracket. Even though it isn’t a full closed loop cooler, it’s supposed to easily adapt the Kraken (an other) coolers to be used on a graphics card instead of your CPU. The concept is great and I suspect we’re getting closer to an age where extra cooling isn’t going to net near as much of a benefit on a 95W CPU as it is on a massive 300W GPU. Before we move on, let’s take a quick look at NZXT’s company values. 13 YEARS OF SUCCESSFUL SERVICE CORE VALUES These are the principles that inspire our creativity, drive our decision-making, and guide us in bringing you the best PC gaming products possible. PURSUE PASSION WE ARE A COMPANY OF GAMERS CREATING THE BEST PRODUCTS FOR GAMERS. REVEL IN THAT. FOSTER COMMUNITY WORK AMONG FRIENDS. LISTEN TO AND SUPPORT OUR USERS. BOTH ENSURE OUR CONTINUED SUCCESS. DEMONSTRATE COURAGE GO BEYOND WHAT’S EXPECTED. DO NOT COMPROMISE OR FEAR MAKING MISTAKES. BE HUMBLE...