Introduction It doesn’t get old. The IBM 350 Disk File from the 1950s had fifty 24-inch platters to give it a total capacity of 3.75 megabytes. Today, we’re looking at a storage solution the size of my pinkie fingernail that can store 256 GB! Storage has certainly come a long way and micro SD cards never cease to amaze me with how much they cram into such a tiny package. What also amazes me is how well SAMSUNG has been doing lately. Even though they may not be the cheapest, I’ve found their EVO line of SSDs to be a go to choice when I want the best balance of cost, performance, capacity and dependability. I imagine that the Micro SD EVO+ with a crazy 256GB capacity will bring us much of the same as it’s SSD predecessors. We’ll look into that soon, but before we do, here’s a statement from SAMSUNG explaining what motivates their product design. For over 70 years, Samsung has been dedicated to making a better world through diverse businesses that today span advanced technology, semiconductors, skyscraper and plant construction, petrochemicals, fashion, medicine, finance, hotels, and more. Our flagship company, Samsung Electronics, leads the global market in high-tech electronics manufacturing and digital media. Through innovative, reliable products and services, talented people, a responsible approach to business and global citizenship, and collaboration with our partners and customers, Samsung is taking the world in imaginative new dire...

Introduction BE QUIET! continues to create exceptionally quiet products. They were awarded nine times in a row as manufacturer of the year in Germany while continuing to innovate. They create premium brand power supplies and cooling solutions for desktop PC’s. I’m going to be looking at one of their Pure Power series power supplies. This power supply is ideal for gaming, silent PC builds, and quiet multimedia home theater systems. Let’s see how silent this PSU can be, and see if it can provide enough juice for some decent overclocking. If you are not sure the amount of power your system needs, check out this PSU calculator on BE QUIET!’s site. The specifications are as follows: Engineering Two independent 12V-rails improve power signal stability Active Clamp + SR design improves efficiency and stability Four PCI express connectors for multi-GPU system configuration Full suite of top safety protections defends against over-currents, over- and under-voltages, short circuits, overheating and overloads High-quality sleeved cables simplify component installation, increase airflow and improve cooling All-in-one cable with convenient easy-plug HDD connector Energy Efficiency 80PLUS® Silver certification means very high operating efficiency for its class of up to 91% High efficiency means money savings, reduced waste heat, and overall quieter operation Standby drain of less than 0.11 watts Meets Energy Star 6.0 guidelines Fulfills ErP 2014 guidelines Zero ...

Introducing the Define Nano S to Modding Headquarters Fans from around the world show good things come in small packages With dozens of MODs already shown off. Fractal Design today is proud to announce the expansion of our ever growing Modding Headquarters. Our Define S has been treated with the upmost love by users from all around the world showing just what you can do with the model. With a new dedicated page for the recently released Define Nano S, we show the amazing capabilities of our smallest Define case yet. Define Nano S Modding Page If you’ve got an exquisite build or completely customized your Fractal Design case. Please don’t hesitate to contact us at modding@fractal-design.com About Fractal Design Without a doubt, computers are more than just technology – they have become an integral part of our lives. Computers do more than make living easier, they often define the functionality and design of our homes, our offices and ourselves. The products we choose represent how we want to describe the world around us and how we want others to perceive us. Many of us are drawn to designs from Scandinavia, which are organized, clean and functional while remaining stylish, sleek and elegant. We like these designs because they harmonize with our surroundings and become nearly transparent. Brands like Georg Jensen, Bang Olufsen, Skagen Watches and Ikea are just a few that represent this Scandinavian style and efficiency. In the world of computer components, there is...

BIOSTAR Debuts G300 Series Solid-State Drives High-performance storage designed for powerful next-generation gaming experiences August 2nd, 2016, Taipei, Taiwan – BIOSTAR is proud to announce its latest product series targeted for power users and gamers looking for high-performance storage: BIOSTAR announces the debut their G300 series of solid-state drives (SSD). With the current trend of enthusiasts switching to SSDs for faster storage performance especially for eSports and the gaming market where performance is a key consideration, SSDs are the top choice for gamers versus traditional hard disk drives. With SSDs, games and level load faster, the system is more responsive and you spend more time gaming. The Preferred Gaming Storage With SSDs growing in popularity as the preferred storage for gaming PCs due to their faster performance, gamers are becoming more and more stringent in their buying decisions because of the large selection of SSDs in the market. All SSDs offer better performance than conventional mechanical hard disk drives but not all SSDs are the same. BIOSTAR has decided to focus on the gamers and power-users’ needs in creating their first solid state drive dedicated specifically for the needs of this people. The BIOSTAR G300 series SSD has been designed from the ground-up to create the perfect storage specifically for gaming. Go Faster, Go with BIOSTAR G300 Series SSD While hard drives are offering larger and larger storage space, there are instances w...

Introduction How many of you feel like you always need a better monitor, but all of your cash ends up going to your computer parts first? Since I can’t see a raise of hands, I’m going to assume I’m not the only one. The reality is, the monitor is a crucial part of the computing, and especially the gaming, experience. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy to throw the extra cash into a powerful GPU and think that you’ll get the better monitor a bit later. Ideally, it would be nice to get a great gaming experience at a cost that would let you have the great GPU as well. VIEWSONIC may be coming to the rescue of gamers everywhere with some incredible prices on their lineup of FreeSync monitors. We’re going to detail the VX2757-MHD, a 27″ 1080p monitor to see how well it measures up in a pretty crowded market. While the company may be familiar to many, we’ll still take a quick look at their core statements to get an idea of the purposes behind their designs. Mission Statement To be the preferred global brand of Visual Solution products. ViewSonic is dedicated to meeting the needs of our customers, generating profitable growth through efficient operations and delivering value to our shareholders. Core Values Customer Focus We meet our customers’ expectations with superior products, customer service and industry knowledge. Integrity We act like owners: taking the initiative, encouraging innovation, setting challenging goals, and ...

I’ve been across a lot of forums and comment sections that talk about 4K being the future, followed by 8K after that when it comes to monitor technology. However, if you do the math for what pixels the human eye can actually see, 1440p is all anyone should ever need. Why is 4K so much better then? The answer lies in what colors the pixels can actually reproduce. Because of this, more pixels end up looking better color wise once they’re grouped up, even though the human eye can’t discern the individual pixels at a normal viewing distance. The patches of color start showing more variance at higher resolutions, tricking us into thinking it’s the higher resolution itself that’s better. AMD stated at CES, earlier this year, that we need better pixels. While the human eye may not work well compared to the magnifying focus of an eagle eye, what it can see as far as the range of colors is concerned is pretty amazing. If pixels aren’t reproducing colors to the extent that the human eye can see them, shades blur together making images look flat, rather than vibrant and varied. This is where High Dynamic Range (HDR) comes into play. HDR can almost reproduce all the colors the human eye can see on an individual pixel basis. This means that a 1080p monitor can actually look better than a 4K that isn’t using HDR. Some of you may be reading this and thinking that it sounds good on paper, but that doesn’t mean it will actually translate to ...

Introduction I have no way to describe just how many mouse and keyboard options there are in the world today. I’m not talking about all of them either. I’m just talking about “gaming” mice and keyboards. The options have gone through the roof and all you have to do is try a quick Amazon search and you’ll have enough mice to send the black death sweeping through Europe again! Needless to say, the eSports phenomenon has had a huge part in bringing many a design from many a company. Today, we’re going to look at a new company for PureOC by reviewing a mouse and keyboard from SteelSeries. Do they have what it takes to stand out? We’ll dive into that further, but I can say that their social media presence and website appearance are already off to a good start. Let’s look at a quick word from their site so we can get a feel for what motivates their product designs. WE ARE GAMING SteelSeries has fueled the gaming industry by creating innovative new products, designed specifically for eSports and passionate gamers everywhere. RELENTLESS INNOVATION Here at SteelSeries, we are obsessed with “firsts”. Dating back to 2001, our company was formed to meet the surface needs of hardcore gamers by introducing the first glass mousepad, the Icemat. Since that original innovation, we created the first mechanical gaming keyboard, the first suspended headband for gaming headsets, the first World of Warcraft mouse and endless other innovation...

Hey everyone! The Hardware Hound is back with a little more “Hound” Advice. RAIDs can be very impractical for normal everyday use, but that doesn’t stop some of us from wanting one anyways. However, if you deal with very large files, then RAIDs can be a mainstay of your builds to help increase performance or add redundancy to your data. Check out the video below to see how to set up a RAID that can also take advantage the UEFI boot for Windows. As always, let us know in the comments below, or in the forums, if there’s something you’d like to see some sound advice on and keep checking out PureOC for your hardware news and reviews!

BIOSTAR Equips Gamers for VR Gaming Experience with GeForce GTX 1080 Graphics Card  Experience Virtual Reality and Ultra High-Definition Games with the latest BIOSTAR Graphics Card July 19, 2016, Taipei, Taiwan – BIOSTAR is proud to announce its latest graphics card, the BIOSTAR GeForce GTX 1080. Designed for the latest generation of games and gaming experiences, the GeForce GTX 1080 takes gaming to the next level with performance and efficiency that beats everything before it featuring the all-new Pascal GPU architecture fabricatedon the 16nm FinFET process technology. The BIOSTAR GeForce GTX 1080 will have an MSRP of USD799. The BIOSTAR GeForce GTX 1080 features the GP104 GPU sporting 2560 CUDA cores and runs with a base core clock of 1607Mhz. Featuring GPU Boost 3.0, the BIOSTAR GeForce GTX 1080 can run up to 1733Mhz and features 8GB of GDDR5X video memory connected a 256-bit bus interface.   The BIOSTAR GeForce GTX 1080 is intended for use for today’s demanding graphics application including next-generation virtual-reality experiences. With thrice the performance of last-generation’s graphics cards, the new GTX 1080 makes gaming in ultra high-definition a much more fluid experience. The card features NVIDIA’s gamer-inspired cooler intended to keep the card running at optimal temperatures while keeping noise levels to a minimum. The GTX 1080 has a rated TDP of only 180W while still delivering three times the performance of previous graphics card from earlier g...

QNAP Releases Upgraded Qsirch 2.2, Enabling More Accurate and Effective NAS File Search Taipei, Taiwan, July 20, 2016 – QNAP® Systems, Inc. today released the upgraded Qsirch 2.2 that adds the following features: personalized filters for improved search accuracy, enhanced email search for efficient management of stored emails, and document previewing for a better browsing experience. Qsirch is an exclusive search engine developed by QNAP. It supports over 6,000 file types to assist users in finding specific files stored on QNAP NAS within seconds. “To complement QNAP NAS as a huge data center, ‘searchability’ is one of the key areas for increasing the value of stored data, and Qsirch is the best tool to realize optimized search capabilities for vast data storage and archiving,” said Cherry Chen, Product Manager of QNAP. The personalized filters in Qsirch 2.2 help to locate files with greater accuracy. Users can flexibly choose search criteria for different file types. For example, photos can be filtered by camera model, resolution, or focal length; music by artist or album name; documents by creator, and more. Qsirch 2.2 also provides a powerful email search. Users can customize search criteria (such as date, carbon copy, sender, and receiver) to efficiently search through .eml files and find specific emails stored on the NAS. Using Qsirch with QNAP’s email apps can make searching through and managing massive amounts of emails much easier. In addition to multi...