Luke Hill | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Wed, 13 Dec 2023 17:31:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png Luke Hill | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Endorfy Navis F360 AIO Cooler Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/endorfy-navis-f360-aio-cooler-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/endorfy-navis-f360-aio-cooler-review/#respond Mon, 03 Apr 2023 11:00:28 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=609866 It's a no-nonsense AIO cooler from Endorfy - but does it perform?

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We have looked at several Endorfy (formerly Silentium PC) CPU coolers over the past several months. These range from budget air coolers to RGB equipped all-in-ones. In this review, we are looking at the biggest cooler from Endorfy thus far – the 360mm Navis F360. No frills, no gimmicks, just solid cooling at an affordable price point is what Endorfy aims for with the Navis F360. So, let’s see how this triple-fan unit performs on our test system.

Video Timestamps

00:00 Intro
00:39 First look at the cooler
01:49 Pump and CPU block
02:36 Fans / cables
03:37 Warranty details
04:01 Installation process
04:40 Test setup
05:45 Testing and performance
08:40 Closing thoughts

The accessory bundle is the usual set of mounting hardware for modern Intel and AMD sockets, excluding Threadripper. Endorfy also supplies a small tube of Pactum PT-3 thermal paste. And there’s a fan extension connection cable.

For the 360mm-class aluminium radiator, Endorfy goes with the standard thickness of 27-28mm. The radiator fins are all black, as we would expect from a styling perspective.

Black, braided tubing is a clear quality touch that adds to the feel of a premium product. With regards to tubing flexibility, this is reasonably positive. Factoring in the rotation of the connection entry points on the pump-block unit, and the flexibility is solid.

Sizing of the copper cold plate is large and should easily suffice for even bigger CPUs such as Ryzen or Intel HEDT. As Endorfy supplies a tube of its Pactum PT-3 thermal paste separately, there is none pre-applied. This is an approach that I personally prefer as it simply gives a little more control, especially as the tube of paste has sufficient quantity for multiple applications.

Chunkiness is clearly one of the main focus points for Endorfy’s design of pump-block unit. The bracket mounting hardware for Intel and AMD platforms is pre-applied. This should ease the install procedure, albeit at the cost of limited upgradability if Intel designs to change the mounting solution anytime soon.

The ceramic bearing pump is PWM controlled. SATA power and a 4-pin fan connection manage the pump unit for its speed range of 1600-2600 RPM.

Just like the rest of the cooler, there is no LED lighting on the pump housing, which will certainly appeal to some. One short-sighted design feature is that the Endorfy brand logo cannot be rotated. So, depending on the installation location, the logo orientation may not suit your individual preference.

Three of Endorfy’s Fluctus 120 PWM fans are pre-applied on the radiator, allowing a more straightforward install for the end-user. Rated speed for these 120mm fans is 250-1800 RPM via their 4-pin PWM control.

To further aid cable management and ease of installation, all three fans are daisy-chained together out of the Endorfy facility. This means that a single 4-pin extension cable – as supplied in the accessory bundle – can be used to power and control all three fans from just the motherboard CPU header.

Endorfy uses a Fluid Dynamic Bearing inside the fans and there are clear optimisations on the blades to suit the pressure-biased use case.

Cable management for the Navis F360 cooler is good, and that is thanks in large to the pre-installed fan cables. Leaving the pump unit, you have a 4-pin PWM cable and a SATA power cable, though these aren’t particularly difficult to hide.

So, that just leaves the 4-pin fan extension for the main fans to be plugged in. And this is easily routed down to the rear side of the motherboard tray.

Warranty is just OK from Endorfy at 3 years. That’s not particularly great for a modern AIO cooler, as many of the top units offer 5-year warranties, but it isn’t too bad, either. Especially as the fans are rated 100,000 hours MTBF.

Installation was very quick and easy, thanks in large to Endorfy’s pre-applied hardware. All we needed to do was insert the threaded stand-offs into the default AM4 backplate. We then applied paste and positioned the pump-block unit, and once the spring and thumbscrew were tightened, the block was in position.

Pre-applied fans made radiator installation quick and simple, and then the reasonable number of cables was easy to route and deal with neatly.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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DeepCool AK500 CPU Cooler Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/deepcool-ak500-cpu-cooler-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/deepcool-ak500-cpu-cooler-review/#respond Wed, 29 Mar 2023 11:00:07 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=598076 We check out a chunky air cooler from DeepCool, hitting the shelves at £50

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DeepCool’s reputation with air cooling is superb, and the variety of differing products for differing market segments that the company offers is impressive. In today’s review, we are examining the £50 DeepCool AK500. This is a fat single tower cooler that comes equipped with a 120mm PWM fan.

Video Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:36 First look at the AK500
01:58 Fan spec
03:02 Warranty details
03:43 Installation process
04:24 Test setup
05:32 Performance data
08:31 Closing thoughts

When it comes to accessories, we get the usual set of Intel and AMD installation hardware. This is in addition to a small tube of thermal paste, as well as four fan clips to allow for push-pull upgradability. DeepCool also includes a low noise adapter cable that reduces top speed by 300 RPM, if that’s an approach you prefer versus motherboard speed control.

DeepCool uses a thicker-than-usual 120mm-class heatsink for the AK500. As a note, the AK500 sample that we have uses a conventional aluminium heatsink colour with a black fan, but there are all-white and all-black versions if you prefer those.

The reason we call this a thicker 120mm-class heatsink is because that’s exactly what it is. The AK400 from DeepCool is 45mm thick for the fin array, which is about normal. The AK500 is double that at 90mm thick for the fin array.

Given this thickness, DeepCool offsets the angle of the five 6mm nickel-plated copper heatpipes to allow for RAM clearance. Though be aware of potential VRM heatsink headaches.

Those five heatpipes feed into a nickel-plated copper contact base. This is a different, more premium approach the Heatpipe Direct Touch design used on cheaper coolers such as the AK400. And it should pay dividends on CPUs with large area heatspreaders.

DeepCool deploys its 120mm FK120 fan for use with the AK500. This Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan operates at a speed range of 500-1850 RPM using a 4-pin PWM connector.

500 RPM on the low speed side is not particularly strong for a £50 CPU cooler. I would have expected better here, as we see from some competing coolers from the likes of Arctic. Even the included low speed adapter cable only reduces the high-speed limit to 1550 RPM, but not the 500 RPM low speed limit.

There’s no RGB lighting on the fan, which I know will be appealing to many. DeepCool does, however, use an all-black design approach, apart from the company’s turquoise or teal logo.

The fan also mounts to the heatsink via rubber dampers pre-applied to its frame. That’s a good quality touch for noise control.

Warranty for the AK500 is 3 years, which is fine but hardly inspiring or market leading. At this price point, we are getting close to Noctua territory. And of course, Noctua and Arctic, offer far superior warranty lengths to most competitors.

Of course, this is simply a block of metal and a fan, so the need for a long warranty is not as necessary as with an AIO that could have a pump failure.

Pricing for the DeepCool AK500 is currently £50 on Scan, or a few pounds extra on Amazon in the UK.

AM4 installation of the AK500 was simple and quick, as DeepCool uses the default AMD bracket.

I put the stud posts in place and then mounted the brackets on top of them. The plastic top cover has to be removed from the heatsink, and it can then be screwed onto the mounting brackets. Thankfully, DeepCool includes a long screwdriver for this task. The 120mm fan is then clipped into place and connected.

The mount is quick, easy, and solid. We had no issues with RAM interference, as DeepCool’s design intends. Though, it is easy to see how tall VRM heatsinks could cause problems. But that’s an unlikely situation for this cooler.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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DDR5 Round-Up: Crucial, G.SKILL, Kingston, KLEVV Tested https://www.kitguru.net/components/memory/luke-hill/ddr5-round-up-crucial-g-skill-kingston-klevv-tested/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/memory/luke-hill/ddr5-round-up-crucial-g-skill-kingston-klevv-tested/#respond Wed, 01 Mar 2023 14:00:19 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=594946 Luke puts four different DDR5 memory kits through their paces on the AM5 platform

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Realistically, DDR5 is now the go-to option for enthusiasts upgrading their system; the latest-and-greatest mainstream CPUs from AMD and Intel support the newest memory technology, albeit with Intel’s options also being able to run DDR4. And modern motherboards allow for kits to operate well over a lofty 5GHz RAM speed.

Given AMD’s still recent launch of the AM5 platform and the fact that we have a handful of kits to review, this seemed like a good opportunity to throw a few of the DDR5 sets onto the new AM5 platform and see how they perform.

Watch via our Vimeo Channel (Below) or over on YouTube at 2160p HERE

We have already taken a look at the memory subsystem in our launch review of AMD’s new Ryzen 7000 series Zen 4 processors, so make sure you check out that video and written review.

The sweet spot for Zen 4 now seems to be DDR5 6000MHz speed. But, is cheaper RAM really a big performance downgrade? And do 32GB DIMMs help performance? Let’s take a closer look at the four kits we will be checking out today.

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AMD Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-Series: Three CPUs tested! https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-threadripper-pro-5000-wx-series-three-cpus-tested/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-threadripper-pro-5000-wx-series-three-cpus-tested/#respond Tue, 14 Feb 2023 13:52:56 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=593232 We check out three Threadripper Pro CPUs and see how they stack up in 2023

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We know that Zen 4 is AMD’s latest-and-greatest on the mainstream, desktop CPU market. But let’s not forget about the big dog from years gone by for prosumers and workstation users – Threadripper. Today we put three of AMD's current Threadripper CPUs through their paces.

Watch via our Vimeo Channel (Below) or over on YouTube at 2160p HERE

Of course, the last HEDT prosumer-level Threadripper processors that we saw were the Zen 2-based 3000 series that was flagshipped by the awesome 64-core 3990X. AMD has, however, launched the more workstation-focussed Zen 3-based Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-series in recent months.

This line-up is once again led by a 64-core, £7,000 model – the Threadripper Pro 5995WX. We are also looking at the 32-core, £3,500 5975WX and 24-core, £2,500 5965WX in today’s mini review or ‘wow! look at that!’ piece of content.

So, with 120 total cores of Threadripper Pro 5000 WX-series processors, 256GB of DDR4 RAM, and a WRX80 motherboard at hand, let’s take a closer look…

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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Gigabyte Aorus 17H (2023) Laptop Review (i7-13700H / RTX 4080) https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/luke-hill/gigabyte-aorus-17h-2023-laptop-review-i7-13700h-rtx-4080/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/luke-hill/gigabyte-aorus-17h-2023-laptop-review-i7-13700h-rtx-4080/#respond Tue, 07 Feb 2023 14:00:50 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=592523 New year, new laptops! We check out the Aorus 17H, with RTX 4080 and i7-13700H

The post Gigabyte Aorus 17H (2023) Laptop Review (i7-13700H / RTX 4080) first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
New CPUs and GPUs means new laptops, and that’s exactly what we are looking at today with the Gigabyte Aorus 17H. This Core i7-13700H and Nvidia RTX 4080-infused seventeen incher is gunning for high performance gaming usage. Let's find out what this machine is capable of, and if it's worth a purchase.

Watch via our Vimeo Channel (Below) or over on YouTube at 2160p HERE

Timestamps

00:00 Intro
00:49 RTX 4080 and i7-13700H specs
02:22 System core spec
04:38 Test setup / Control Center
06:04 Power modes comparison
09:34 Noise levels
10:15 SSD / Battery
10:58 CPU and memory benchmarks
12:45 GPU and game benchmarks
14:20 Closing thoughts

Of course, a 17-inch screen means plenty of space for proper accompanying hardware. So, we will be keen to see how much power the beefy cooling system can handle. Plus, that 99 Whr battery looks juicy!

With an interesting and high-end blend of brand-new hardware, let’s take a closer look at this Gigabyte Aorus 17H.

  • Processor: Intel Core i7-13700H (6 P-cores, 8 E-cores, up to 5.0GHz Turbo, 35-115W Rated TDP)
  • Memory: 16GB (2x8GB) DDR5 4800MHz SODIMM
  • Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop 12GB, up to 150W
  • Display: 17” 1920×1080 360Hz
  • System Drive: 1TB Gigabyte Aorus Gen 4 7000s PCIe Gen 4×4 NVMe SSD
  • Battery: 99 Whr battery with 280W barrel-style power adapter
  • Design: Around 2.7kg weight with around 30mm chassis thickness
  • Operating System: Windows 11

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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AMD Ryzen 9 7900 & Ryzen 7 7700 Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-9-7900-ryzen-7-7700-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-9-7900-ryzen-7-7700-review/#respond Mon, 09 Jan 2023 14:00:49 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=589559 Luke checks out AMD's new 65W CPUs - the 7700 and 7900 (non-X)

The post AMD Ryzen 9 7900 & Ryzen 7 7700 Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
AMD’s Zen 4-based Ryzen 7000 series processors were introduced with a positive reception when they launched back in September 2022. Performance was strong, frequency was impressive, and the overall platform features were very user friendly. With that said, it wasn’t all plain sailing. The 170W TDP Ryzen chips guzzled power and they ran at lofty temperatures – often hitting 95C. And the story wasn’t too dissimilar for the 105W TDP Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5, either.

With those points in mind – as well as the proven excellent performance even at lower power levels – AMD has made the decision to release 65W TDP non-X chips in the form of Ryzen 9 7900, Ryzen 7 7700, and Ryzen 5 7600.

Other than the reduced TDP and therefore operating frequencies, these non-X chips are practically the same as their X-rated siblings.

It’s the same TSMC 5nm process, the same 32MB of L3 cache per core chiplet, and the same IO Die with PCIe Gen 5, DDR5, and RDNA 2 iGPU support.

AMD does, however, include a Wraith Prism cooler with the Ryzen 9 and Ryzen 7 and the Wraith Stealth for the Ryzen 5.

MSRP is $429 USD for the Ryzen 9 7900, $329 USD for the Ryzen 7 7700, and $229 USD for the Ryzen 5 7600. Those price seem pretty reasonable given the current retail market competition.

Pricing in the UK, however, is different. The Ryzen 9 7900 is £439.99, the Ryzen 7 7700 is £339.99, and the Ryzen 5 7600 is £239.99. Even by the usual dollar-to-pound standards, that is a very poor conversion for us Brits.

I guess the weak pound and strong dollar really does not help.

Will those price points and the inclusion of a Wraith CPU cooler make the non-X chips a tempting proposition? Let’s look at the performance and find out.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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Five ASUS X670E Motherboards – The Roundup! https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/five-asus-x670e-motherboards-the-roundup/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/five-asus-x670e-motherboards-the-roundup/#respond Thu, 08 Dec 2022 09:16:00 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=585333 We go hands-on with no less than FIVE ASUS X670 motherboards

The post Five ASUS X670E Motherboards – The Roundup! first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
AMD’s new AM5 platform has been on the market for a couple of months, so we still have a variety of feature-rich motherboards to look at. In this article, we have no less than five (!) of ASUS’ X670E product offerings ranging from the high-end ROG line-up, the TUF Gaming option, and a mainstream Prime product.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start
00:39 Introduction
01:00 X670E Plus and X670E Pro WiFi
05:03 ROG Strix X670E-F Gaming WiFi
10:03 ROG Crosshair X670E Hero
14:31 ROG Strix X670E-I Gaming WiFi / Hive Unit
18:36 Test System
19:49 UEFI / Clocks / Temps / Performance / Power
23:41 Luke's Closing Thoughts

The Five Motherboards Looked At:

  • ASUS TUF Gaming X670E-Plus WiFi
  • ASUS Prime X670E-Pro WiFi
  • ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-F Gaming WiFi
  • ASUS ROG Crosshair X670E Hero
  • ASUS ROG STRIX X670E-I Gaming WiFi
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AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-9-7900x-cpu-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-9-7900x-cpu-review/#respond Wed, 23 Nov 2022 11:00:19 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=583046 We check out AMD's 12-core Ryzen 9 7900X - can it beat Intel's i7?

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We have already taken a look at three of AMD’s four new Ryzen 7000 processors. Next up is the 12-core Ryzen 9 7900X. And we have comparison data from its two main competitors – the Core i9-13900K and Core i7-13700K – to help us in our assessment of the chip.

So, what does this 12-core, £560 Zen 4 chip have to offer? And with a very clear price zone being occupied, can this work out to be a sensible purchase option on AMD’s new, feature-rich AM5 platform? Let’s take a closer look.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
01:18 A closer look – 7900X specs
03:43 Test setup
05:27 Power, clocks and thermals
06:24 CPU benchmarks
07:55 1080p game benchmarks
08:58 PBO / overclocking / ECO
10:14 OC/ECO results
10:56 Performance per Watt
11:18 Closing thoughts

Ryzen 9 7900X has 12 cores and 24 threads with 76MB of total cache – 64MB of which is L3. Base clock of the new TSMC 5nm-fabbed chip is listed at 4.7GHz, and maximum boost clock is 5.6GHz.

The 7900X’s TDP is 170W, meaning that it will get up to 230W of package power delivered, just like its Ryzen 9 7950X flagship sibling. And there is no boxed cooler, which is a very sensible choice at this market segment.

There is the integrated RDNA 2 iGPU with actually decent performance capabilities and solid media consumption support.

In the UK, the Ryzen 9 7900X is around £560 currently, so it sits very much in its own zone when it comes to pricing.

The 7900X is around £90 more expensive than the Core i7-13700K and around £90 cheaper than the Core i9-13900K. And compared to AMD’s own line-up, the 7900X is around £200 cheaper than the 7950X flagship or £130 more than the Ryzen 7 7700X that sits below it in the line-up.

Of course, Ryzen 7000 runs on AMD’s PCIe Gen 5-capable AM5 platform so will also need to be used alongside a new motherboard and DDR5 memory; get your wallet ready if you’re upgrading from an AM4 platform!

Key to highlight is that the Intel competitors will also need a modern motherboard, many of which support PCIe Gen 5. But the 13th Gen processors can also run on considerably cheaper DDR4 platforms, which is worth bearing in mind.

At this end of the CPU market, I would say that going for the whole-hog with a new PCIe Gen 5 motherboard and DDR5 memory is sensible.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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A month with the $2200 Thermaltake Argent P900 https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-reviews/luke-hill/a-month-with-the-2200-thermaltake-argent-p900/ https://www.kitguru.net/tech-news/featured-tech-reviews/luke-hill/a-month-with-the-2200-thermaltake-argent-p900/#respond Sat, 05 Nov 2022 09:51:54 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=581260 Thermaltake have released a $2200 desk, we have had it for a month now - should you buy it?

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What on Earth is this?! Yes, we are reviewing a smart gaming desk that comes in at $2199.99 USD. Yes – that's right; Thermaltake's Argent P900 will bust a hole of more than two-grand in your credit card!

Are the features worth it though? Maybe you will value the 70-100 cm mechanised height range. Or perhaps 150 kg of load capacity is appealing. Or perhaps you just want RGB lighting through Thermaltake's software. Let's take a closer look at the desk and its features.

Timestamps

00:00 What is this?
02:00 Software
02:41 Desk features
03:13 The shape / size and weight
04:03 Building the desk discussion
05:43 Feeding problems back to Thermaltake
07:01 Closing Thoughts

The Thermaltake Argent P900 is a truly bizarre product. Designed in collaboration with Studio F. A. Porsche, this $2199.99 USD desk has some genuinely useful features.

Firstly, there is the ability to change the desktop height in 1cm intervals between 70cm and 100cm. More so, there are four individual height profiles that can be set, as well as upper and lower limits to avoid the desk hitting any obstructions.

Thermaltake’s marketing materials highlight an ‘anti-collision safety sensor’. I did not have success with this. I placed my clenched fist on top of the radiator and reduced the desk level to the point where it was crushing my fist and caused bruising. So, I’ll have to call out Thermaltake’s marketing materials based on my real-world and genuinely relevant test. This incorporates a seriously strong motor.

There’s more to the desk’s smart features than movement and height adjustment. Thermaltake deploys a strip of RGB lighting along the rear-centre edge. This can be controlled via the supported software tools and can be synchronised with other Thermaltake components.

Speaking of software, we had mixed results on this front. The reason that our editorial piece is going live a handful of weeks after this desk’s launch is due to some issues with the desk – many of which included software.

To be clear, the Windows app seems to work OK. The desk shows up with its lighting profile, and the height adjustment functionality works. For us, though, the Android app simply does not work due to refusing to connect with the control box. And that’s a real shame given that the app holds more functionality and usage data than the Windows tool.

Some of the other issues that we worked on with Thermaltake related to the actual functionality. Initially, we could not get the desk to change its height with RGB lighting connected. Thermaltake suggested that we needed to reconnect the wires, because the manual was unclear. But we already had the wires connected correctly.

Almost by random, the desk started to successfully function alongside RGB after two disconnection and reconnection attempts. This is slightly concerning given that there was no clear reason for the fix.

The other key issue was ‘buildability'. The overall process of putting this desk together was very unpleasant. In fact, I think most people in the position to drop more than two-grand on a desk will simply refuse to spend over four hours of their time putting it together with awkward phases and atrocious instructions.

The guidance via the manual was bad – really bad! Thermaltake has assured us that the Chinese guidance mixed in with English will be removed. But how on earth did this not get presented as an issue during initial internal feedback sessions? The actual guidance itself is poor, too – there’s little clarity and the images are largely ambiguous diagrams.

Plus, the included Allen key is a bargain basement unit that doesn’t really fit properly for the assembly procedure. Cheaping out a few cents on a $2199.99 product is silly. I found the mixed and vague fasteners difficult to work with, too.

There is clearly some genuinely good functionality for the Thermaltake Argent P900 Smart Gaming desk. Its height control works well. The ability to take 150kg load is very good. And small touches such as the headphone hook and cup holder are positive.

I can see how some people may appreciate the design, too. I’m personally not a fan of the non-rectangular angles, but some people may be. The 2.5cm MDF surface feels solid, though I do question the application of MDF on such an expensive product. And that secondary surface adds valuable real estate, even if the wings are limited to 5kg of load each.

Where the Argent P900 really struggles, though, is on the software side of the equation. This gave us headaches that Thermaltake are aiming to address after our extensive feedback, so we can only hope that updates will solve some issues.

Other than that, the ‘buildability' of this 80+kg behemoth was unpleasant, but the finished product is good. And that lifting capacity is impressive.

Should anybody actually buy the Thermaltake Argent P900 Smart Gaming desk? Well, I cannot personally relate to the type of person who has $2199.99 USD to spend on a desk such as this, so I really must refrain from commenting. I guess my overarching feeling is why does a product such as this – and at such an expense – exist? If you’re the type of person who can indeed drop really good gaming rig-type money on a desk that will take half-a-day for you to assemble, then please do let me know the answer to that previous question.

KitGuru says: It’s heavy, it’s cumbersome to build, and the quality touches are often questionable. There is, however, something cool about loading 150kg onto a desk and then having it climb up to 100 cm without breaking a sweat. That’s cool, even if the unit does cost a mind-blowing $2199.99 USD.

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AMD Ryzen 5 7600X CPU Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-5-7600x-cpu-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-5-7600x-cpu-review/#respond Thu, 03 Nov 2022 12:20:21 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=580753 Today we look at the new Zen 4 AMD Ryzen 5 7600X to see how it holds up against tough competition

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Things are heating up in the more budget-friendly segment of the CPU market. Well, I say budget-friendly with trepidation as the circa-£400 and lower mid-range section is still pricey. Now though, we have the new Zen 4 AMD Ryzen 5 7600X that we will be looking at today. And it has tough competition from the slightly more expensive Intel Core i5-13600K Raptor Lake competitor. Plus, there are the old AMD Ryzen 5000 and Intel 12th Gen Core chips to deal with.

So, let’s jump into this review and see how the new six-core, £320 AMD Ryzen 5 7600X performs against the previous generation competitors, as well as the new Core i5-13600K that Leo has reviewed and given us test data for.

 

Ryzen 5 7600X has 6 cores and 12 threads with 38MB of total cache – 32MB of which is L3. The base clock of the new TSMC 5nm-fabbed chip is listed at 4.7GHz, and the maximum boost clock is 5.3GHz.

The 7600X’s TDP is 105W just like its Ryzen 7 sibling. And there is no boxed cooler, which is arguably sensible for use with AMD’s Precision Boost 2 algorithm. But in this market segment, we can also see some argument for including even a budget heatsink.

There is the integrated RDNA 2 iGPU with actually decent performance capabilities and solid media consumption support.

In the UK, the Ryzen 5 7600X is around £320-330. That puts it around £50-60 cheaper than Intel’s Core i5-13600K competitor and around £100 below the Ryzen 7 7700X.

There is, however, notable competition from Intel’s last-gen Core i5-12600K and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X; both of those chips are cheaper than the new Ryzen 5. Plus, they can both run on considerably cheaper DDR4 platforms, which is worth bearing in mind. It is also worth noting that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D has had a notable price drop in the last few days too.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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MSI MPG B650 Carbon WiFi Motherboard Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/msi-mpg-b650-carbon-wifi-motherboard-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/msi-mpg-b650-carbon-wifi-motherboard-review/#respond Mon, 10 Oct 2022 13:00:19 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=577894 In this review, we are taking our first look at AMD’s new B650 chipset via the MSI B650 Carbon WiFi motherboard. Coming in at £380 in the UK, this certainly is not the value successor to B550 that many users may have expected. With that said, though, there are a host of truly high-end features …

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In this review, we are taking our first look at AMD’s new B650 chipset via the MSI B650 Carbon WiFi motherboard. Coming in at £380 in the UK, this certainly is not the value successor to B550 that many users may have expected.

With that said, though, there are a host of truly high-end features including a 16+2+1 VRM with 80A power stages, quadruple M.2 slots, and dual high-speed networking connections. So let’s take a closer look at this premium B650 offering.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start
00:50 Tech data
03:10 A closer look at the board
06:10 M.2 / connectivity / audio
07:40 Rear I/O
08:33 BIOS
10:42 Luke's view of the UEFI
11:02 Test System platform
11:44 Performance testing / Temps / Power
16:09 VRM Cooling performance
16:43 Closing Thoughts

Features (information taken from the MSI webpage):

  • Supports AMD Ryzen™ 7000 Series Desktop Processors
  • Supports DDR5 Memory, up to 6600+(OC) MHz
  • Enhanced Power Design: 16+2+1 Duet Rail Power System, Dual 8-pin CPU power connectors, Core Boost, Memory Boost
  • Premium Thermal Solution: Extended Heatsink with Heat-Pipe, MOSFET thermal pads rated for 7W/mK, additional choke thermal pads and M.2 Shield Frozr are built for high performance system and non-stop gaming experience
  • High Quality PCB: 6-layer PCB made by 2oz thickened copper and server grade level material
  • DIY Friendly Design: Patented Screwless M.2 Shield Frozr, EZ M.2 Clips, Pre-installed I/O Shield, Steel Armor
  • 2.5G LAN and AMD Wi-Fi 6E Solution: Upgraded network solution for professional and multimedia use. Delivers a secure, stable and fast network connection
  • Lightning Fast Game experience: PCIe 4.0 slots, Lightning Gen 5 x4 M.2, USB 3.2 Gen 2×2
  • MYSTIC LIGHT: 16.8 million colours / fancy lighting effects controlled in one click. MYSTIC LIGHT SYNC supports the latest ARGB Gen2 strips, RGB strips and Ambient devices
  • AUDIO BOOST 5: Reward your ears with studio grade sound quality for the most immersive gaming experience

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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Endorfy Navis F280 CPU Cooler Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/endorfy-navis-f280-cpu-cooler-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/endorfy-navis-f280-cpu-cooler-review/#respond Fri, 07 Oct 2022 11:00:28 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=577411 SilentiumPC has rebranded, so we're checking out the Endorfy Navis F280 AIO

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SilentiumPC has undergone a rebranding – now we are introducing Endorfy. Still designed in partnership with Synergy cooling, the Polish company is aiming to maintain its goals of offering strong price versus performance cooling hardware.

In this video, we are examining the Endorfy Navis F280 – a 280mm AIO liquid cooler that aims to offer no-frills performance cooling at a competitive price of 98 Euros. We have already reviewed the Navis F240 ARGB in SilentiumPC guise, so this review will be very similar indeed, but let’s take a quick look at the cooler and then jump into the important 280mm cooling performance.

Video Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:54 The cooler up close
05:04 Test System
06:23 Test Results
09:05 Performance/cost
09:32 Noise output
09:51 Installation thoughts
10:30 Warranty
10:50 Closing thoughts

Mounting hardware and accessories are provided for all modern Intel platforms as well as AM4/AM5. You get some cables for handling the fans and connections, plus there’s a tube of Pactum PT-3 thermal paste which I always like to see included.

A pleasant surprise was the Endorfy pre-applied the cooling fans. This gives the user one less installation task – nice!

Endorfy uses a conventional 27-28mm-thick, 280mm-class black aluminium radiator, albeit with fins that don’t span the entire thickness.

The black-coloured liquid tubes are covered by a high-quality, attractive braiding. Flexibility of the tubes is positive, especially when coupled with the reasonable degree of movement for the entry points at the pump-block unit.

A well-sized, bare copper cold plate is used to extract heat from a CPU. I prefer that the cold plate is void of pre-applied thermal paste, particularly as Endorfy includes a small tube which is sufficient for multiple applications.

Physically very chunky, the pump-block unit features integrated mounting hardware for the Intel and AMD platforms that this cooler supports. This is a unique design as most competitors use brackets for mounting capability. I guess this has the benefit of ease of installation because it’s one less part to think about, but it does have the downside of making future upgraded support of new sockets a more challenging – perhaps impossible – task.

PWM control is used for the ceramic-bearing pump. This allows the unit to operate in a speed range of 1600 to 2600 RPM, which is ideal for noise output.

There is no LED lighting on the pump housing, which will certainly appeal to some. However, the Endorfy brand logo cannot be rotated either, which is a little short-sighted.

The pair of Fluctus 140 PWM fans come pre-applied on the radiator. These fans are rated at a speed range of 250-1800 RPM via their 4-pin PWM control.

The two fans are daisy-chained together on the radiator meaning that only a single 4-pin header is required to power them. That’s smart.

Endorfy uses a Fluid Dynamic Bearing inside the fans and there are clear optimisations on the blades to suit the pressure-biased use case.

Given the smart daisy-chaining of the pre-installed fans’ cables, management is very easy. There’s just the pair of cables leaving the pump-block unit – SATA power and 4-pin PWM control. And then the 4-pin fan cable can be hidden easily behind the motherboard tray without sprawling across the CPU socket area.

Installation was very quick and easy, thanks in large to Endorfy’s pre-applied hardware. All we needed to do was insert the threaded stand-offs into the default AM4 backplate. We then applied paste and positioned the pump-block unit, and once the spring and thumbscrew were tightened, the block was in position.

Pre-applied fans made radiator installation quick and simple, and the reasonable number of cables was easy to route and deal with neatly.

As a note, the review guide we got sent said that the pump block should be installed with the Endorfy logo facing up. This isn’t really feasible for our installation approach (which has specific tubing placement to maintain test consistency). Plus, it really limits installation options for users, so I don’t think that this is necessarily a helpful suggestion from Endorfy.

Warranty is just OK on the 98 Euro Navis F280. Three years for a modern AIO cooler is fine at this price point, albeit hardly inspiring. The fans are rated at 100,000 hours MTBF, which is also absolutely fine.

But competition namely from Arctic and Corsair is strong at below £90 and those two vendors offer longer warranties.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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Gigabyte X670 & X670E Motherboards Overview https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/gigabyte-x670-x670e-motherboards-overview/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/luke-hill/gigabyte-x670-x670e-motherboards-overview/#respond Fri, 30 Sep 2022 15:25:09 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=576522 AMD’s new AM5 platform has launched with the new Ryzen 7000 series processors. Alongside useful upgrades such as PCIe Gen 5 and DDR5 support, the new platform ushers in a new cohort of motherboards with extensive feature sets. In this video, we will be taking an initial overview look at three of Gigabyte’s new Aorus …

The post Gigabyte X670 & X670E Motherboards Overview first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
AMD’s new AM5 platform has launched with the new Ryzen 7000 series processors. Alongside useful upgrades such as PCIe Gen 5 and DDR5 support, the new platform ushers in a new cohort of motherboards with extensive feature sets.

In this video, we will be taking an initial overview look at three of Gigabyte’s new Aorus AM5 motherboards. These are: the X670E Aorus Xtreme, the X670E Aorus Master, and the X670 Aorus Elite AX.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start
00:59 Introduction
01:11 X670E Aorus Xtreme
04:53 X670E Aorus Master
09:28 X670 Aorus Elite AX
13:19 Luke's Closing Thoughts

 

We have already covered the new AMD processors and the AM5 platform in our launch review, so make sure you check that out. This piece will be an initial overview of these motherboards and their feature sets, prior to a full review with testing.

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AMD Ryzen 9 7950X & Ryzen 7 7700X ‘Zen 4’ Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-9-7950x-ryzen-7-7700x-zen-4-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-9-7950x-ryzen-7-7700x-zen-4-review/#respond Mon, 26 Sep 2022 13:00:27 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=575644 We check out the brand new AMD Zen 4 CPUs, starting with the 7950X and 7700X

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AMD launched its Ryzen 5000 – Zen 3 – desktop processors back in late 2020. Coupled with the venerable AM4 platform, the variety of 7nm-built chips have proven incredibly successful. But that AM4 platform has been around for six years. It’s time for an update. Enter the new AM5 platform, with the first chips for this new platform, the Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 series, launching today.

We are examining the 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X flagship and the 8-core Ryzen 7 7700X. The 12- and 6-core reviews will follow in the near future. With a new underlying – Zen 4 – architecture, DDR5 and PCIe Gen 5 support on the AM5 platform, and manufacturing using TSMC’s 5nm process node, let’s take a closer look at the £739.99 Ryzen 9 7950X and the £419.99 Ryzen 7 7700X.

AMD's Ryzen 9 7950X has 16 cores and 32 threads with 64MB of L3 cache and 16MB of L2. This 5nm, dual-CCD chip features a rated base clock of 4.5GHz and a maximum boost clock up to a lofty 5.7GHz. A 170W rated TDP means up to 230W of stock-clocked package power is allowed. That is a large uptick versus previous Ryzen chips which mandates no included CPU cooler, as is the case for all Ryzen 7000 series chips.

The $699 USD Ryzen 9 7950X will sell for £739.99 including VAT in the UK. That’s similar to the launch price of the Ryzen 9 5950X. Competition comes in the form of the incumbent Ryzen 9 5950X at £520 currently, as well as the £620-£700 Core i9-12900K or KS on the advanced, DDR5-capable Z690 platform. Until Intel 13th Gen Raptor Lake launches shortly, that is.

AMD's Ryzen 7 7700X has 8 cores and 16 threads with 32MB of L3 cache and 8MB of L2. This is a single-CCD chip, so it just has the 5nm-fabbed core chiplet alongside the 6nm-built IO Die. Base clock is rated at 4.5GHz with maximum boost listed as 5.4GHz thanks to its 105W TDP.

The $399 USD Ryzen 7 7700X will sell for £419.99 in the UK.

Competition for the new 8-core comes from several vectors; the £380 Ryzen 9 5900X and £440 Ryzen 7 5800X3D on the affordable AM4 platform, in addition to the £430 Core i7-12700K on the advanced Z690 platform. Once again, until 13th Gen replaces it shortly.

With the two processors on review today having been overviewed, let's take a deeper look at the Zen 4 architecture and AM5 platform.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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Is It Cake or GeForce? Nvidia Deals Week at OCUK https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/luke-hill/is-it-cake-or-geforce-nvidia-30-series-deals-this-week/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/graphic-cards/luke-hill/is-it-cake-or-geforce-nvidia-30-series-deals-this-week/#respond Tue, 06 Sep 2022 16:16:01 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=573243 Nvidia approached us last week and posed the question - if they hired one of the UK's finest bakers, could we tell their cakes apart from the GeForce RTX 30 series? Today we put that theory to the test, and find out if it is cake, or if it is GeForce.

The post Is It Cake or GeForce? Nvidia Deals Week at OCUK first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Today we have something a bit different for you all. Nvidia approached us last week and posed the question – if they hired one of the UK's finest bakers, could we tell their cakes apart from the GeForce RTX 30 series? Today we put that theory to the test, and find out if it is cake, or if it is GeForce.

As part of this Nvidia-sponsored project, we were sent three replica graphics card cakes, expertly crafted by The Cake Illusionist, as you can see above and in the video. An enthusiast might be able to spot the difference fairly quickly, but what about your average punter who doesn't follow the GPU market as closely? That's what we find out today.

This video is promoting a range of RTX 30-series deals running this week at Overclockers UK, and below we have highlighted several that are already live, or will be going live on different days this week.

NVIDIA Deals Week at Overclockers UK

Deals already live:

7th September:

8th September:

9th September:

10th September:

11th September:

KitGuru Says: We had a blast filming this video and hope you enjoyed watching it. Don't forget to check out the 30-series deals too!

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AMD Details Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 and AM5 – Launch September 27th https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-details-zen-4-ryzen-7000-and-am5-launch-september-27th/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-details-zen-4-ryzen-7000-and-am5-launch-september-27th/#respond Mon, 29 Aug 2022 23:30:50 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=572382 AMD has today given more details on its upcoming Ryzen 7000 Series - Zen 4 - processors and the AM5 platform. Launching 27th September, the Ryzen 9 7950X flagship is touted as having a 29% faster core for gamers versus Ryzen 5000 Series whilst also enhancing power efficiency thanks to the application of TSMC's 5nm process node. Four chips launch on September 27th alongside DDR5- and PCIe 5.0-capable X-Series motherboards, with B-Series boards to follow-up in October.

The post AMD Details Zen 4 Ryzen 7000 and AM5 – Launch September 27th first appeared on KitGuru.]]>

AMD has today shared more details on its upcoming Ryzen 7000 Series – Zen 4 – desktop processors. Shipping to customers on September 27th, the flagship 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X will sell for $699 USD and is touted as having 13% IPC uplift versus Zen 3, up to 5.7GHz peak frequency, and up to 29% higher single-thread performance against Ryzen 5000.

The three other Zen 4 desktop processors shipping at launch are the 12-core Ryzen 9 7900X for $549, the 8-core Ryzen 7 7700X for $399, and the 6-core Ryzen 5 7600X at $299. All of these processors are based on the new Zen 4 architecture – which is a derivative of Zen 3 with enhancements – and they are built using TSMC’s 5nm process node.

Ryzen 7000 Series

Looking more closely at the product stack, we see the flagship Ryzen 9 7950X featuring 16 cores and 32 threads. The base clock speed is 4.5GHz with a boost frequency up to 5.7GHz – which is a lofty 800MHz higher than the Ryzen 9 5950X this chip replaces!

Total cache is 80MB thanks to a doubling of the L2 cache to 16MB compared with Ryzen 5950X. And the TDP is rated at 170W – a new increase versus the typical 105W TDP that we have been used to with AM4 desktop chips.

AMD said that this increase to 170W TDP is simply because it is what the market participants have been asking for. Plus, their confidence in the chip’s ability to efficiently deliver its required performance mean that the higher TDP can be deployed for when higher performance is necessitated, without compromising lower-power workload efficiency.

Looking at the other chips aside from the flagship, we have the 12-core Ryzen 9 7900X that runs at 4.7GHz base and up to 5.6GHz boost. This processor is essentially a cut down Ryzen 9 7950X, so its cache capacity is reduced by 4MB total on the Level 2, but the TDP is maintained at 170W.

And then the $399 Ryzen 7 7700X and $299 Ryzen 5 7600X are both 105W TDP chips. The Ryzen 7’s eight cores are rated at 4.5GHz base and up to 5.4GHz boost with 40MB of total cache. And the Ryzen 5 is clocked a little higher on the base at 4.7GHz, with a boost of up to 5.3GHz and 38MB of cache.

Of clear relevance is the across-the-board boost frequency loftiness of well over 5GHz – and actually more than five-and-a-half Gigahertz for the two Ryzen 9 processors. Clearly, enhanced boost frequencies are one of the key areas of improvement with Ryzen 7000 versus all Zen-based predecessors that we have seen to date, not just Ryzen 5000.

The other area worth noting are the USD-based MSRPs. The new flagship Ryzen 9 7950X comes in at $699 USD which is $100 cheaper than the Ryzen 9 5950X at launch. Given the current state of the Great British Pound, an optimistic guesstimate would put this at perhaps £649-699 in the UK at launch. So, AMD is clearly confident in its ability to compete with the £600-650 Core i9-12900K/KS based on the current, pre-Intel 13th Gen market.

In fact, AMD was very keen to show off its performance advantages for the Ryzen 9 7950X versus Intel’s Core i9-12900K. In a V-Ray rendering workload that we were shown at the launch announcement in Texas, AMD’s chip was up to 57% higher performance with up to 47% better performance-per-Watt.

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TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB 6400MHz Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/memory/luke-hill/teamgroup-t-force-delta-rgb-32gb-6400mhz-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/memory/luke-hill/teamgroup-t-force-delta-rgb-32gb-6400mhz-review/#respond Fri, 26 Aug 2022 11:00:41 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=572030 Would you pay £450 for 32GB DDR5? TeamGroup certainly hopes so

The post TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB 6400MHz Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
With availability of DDR5 memory having improved substantially over the past few months, you can now actually buy a high-speed and alluring kit from your chosen vendor. In this review, we are examining the latest TeamGroup offering – that is the T-Force Delta RGB set of memory that comes in black or white form and with varied specifications. The specific set that we have is white-coloured and operates at 6400MHz CL40 for its two 16GB modules.

Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:50 Introduction
01:33 The styling / RGB
02:55 Pricing
04:24 Test System and Methodology
05:20 Performance Results
06:30 Gaming Results
07:11 Overclocking
07:58 Closing Thoughts

TeamGroup’s specs for the T-Force Delta RGB kit we have here are impressive. This is a DDR5 kit running at 6400MHz XMP 3.0 frequency, it’s a dual-channel 2x16GB 32GB set modules, and timings are 40-40-40-84 at 1.35V.

The set uses SK Hynix ICs according to CPU-Z, but unfortunately we can’t tell the exact IC model details as Thaiphoon Burner doesn’t seem to like our Z690 and DDR5 test system.

For reference, the actual model code of this kit is: FF4D532G6400HC40BDC01. You also get a thermal sensor to monitor module temperatures in software.

In terms of styling, TeamGroup has gone for a clean, angular aesthetic. We get an angled heatspreader that can be coloured black or white – white in our case. There’s plenty of writing on the side of the modules highlighting the product name, and the jet-black PCB that is barely visible underneath offers an appealing contrast.

I would describe the module design as sensible and reasonably unobtrusive for a modern, high-speed, RGB kit.

At around 46-47mm tall at the peak, module height is not unreasonable. It is very inefficient though, with the modules being taller towards the edges than the centre, thus potentially inhibiting CPU cooler installation abilities or VRM heatsinks on motherboards.

LED lighting is handled by several RGB zones on top of the Delta RGB DDR5 modules. This light then disperses through a plastic diffuser bar for a smooth and graduated colour gradient.

I think that TeamGroup does a good job with the RGB lighting’s visual appearance. The brightness is a clear strength and the fact that the diffuser bar is visible from the side (not just above the heatspreader) will appeal to many.

In terms of RGB management, you will use motherboard vendor software for control and synchronisation to match other components.

Pricing of the TeamGroup T-Force Delta RGB 32GB 6400MHz CL40 kit is extremely high in the UK at £449.99 on Overclockers UK. This is very expensive for a 2x16GB set of DDR5 memory, and that is particularly true when 6000-6200MHz sets even from the likes over Corsair are almost £200 cheaper for Vengeance and even £100 less for Dominator.

In the US, TeamGroup’s pricing is far more reasonable at $349.99 USD on Amazon, though this could be a temporary price decrease from $440 USD. This is comparable to the likes of G.SKILL Trident Z5 at the same rated frequency and the price bump versus 6200MHz DDR5 kits isn’t as difficult to stomach.

So, TeamGroup is notably more expensive for its 6400MHz set of DDR5 in the UK. But 6.4GHz memory is inherently expensive and difficult to come by this side of the pond. If you really want that speed bump versus 6200MHz alternatives, for example, then you’re going to have to pay up for it!

  • Model Number: FF4D532G6400HC40BDC01
  • Capacity: 32GB (2x 16GB)
  • Rated Frequency: DDR5-6400MHz
  • Rated Timings: 40-40-40-84
  • Voltage: 1.35V XMP 3.0

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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HP V10 DDR4 RGB 16GB 3600C14 (Samsung B-Die) Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/memory/luke-hill/hp-v10-ddr4-rgb-16gb-3600c14-samsung-b-die-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/memory/luke-hill/hp-v10-ddr4-rgb-16gb-3600c14-samsung-b-die-review/#respond Fri, 19 Aug 2022 11:00:10 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=568987 HP hits the market with some RGB DDR4 memory - Luke puts them to the test

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HP probably isn’t the first name that comes to mind when thinking of system memory – and that’s perfectly fine given the company’s relative presence within the market. There is an aim to change that point, though. And what better way to do that than to bring out a 3600MHz kit of RGB-lit DDR4 memory with Samsung’s legendary B-Die ICs?

So yes, HP is a relative newcomer to the DIY, enthusiast memory market. And perhaps that point is emphasised nicely with the naming system – HP V10 DDR4 RGB. Simple, concise, and no ‘super-gamer-uber-turbo’ nomenclature whatsoever.

The sticks are clearly designed for an enthusiast audience. Biwin – the manufacturer that operates the HP license – goes with a sizable and heavy metal heatspreader that measure in at around 47-48mm tall. Black and shiny silver form the basis of the colour scheme and there’s a centralised ‘hp’ logo splitting the colour quadrants.

I actually think that this is a pretty sleek looking set of memory. And the heft of the heatspreaders in undeniable, so that’s positive from a build quality perspective. As always, though, a little under 50mm height for a set of RAM is largely excessive and will undoubtedly cause interference with CPU coolers, VRM heatsinks, or roof chassis fans inside a variety of builds. There’s always a trade-off.

The rated speed of this 2x8GB DDR4 kit is 3600MHz with timings of 14-15-15-35. Operating voltage is quoted as 1.35-1.50V on the packaging which is just bizarre – there should be a specific voltage for the XMP configuration. Our sample set ran at 1.45V on our Intel Alder Lake 12900K DDR4 test platform.

There’s no temperature sensor on the PCB which is perhaps slightly disappointing for a memory kit geared towards being premium. And a pair of 8GB modules means that we get a single-rank setup.

Usage of Samsung’s legendary B-Die DDR4 ICs is likely to have enthusiasts more excited. As we have now come to expect, B-Die excels when it comes to tight timings at sensible frequencies such as 3600MHz, and with strong voltage scalability.

UK availability is still non-existent. However, our contact does tell us that this is being worked on. The 2x8GB 3600MHz C14 kit that we have sampled is $150 MSRP in the US. But we can see the kit currently available for $129.99 on Amazon US.

That's steep and it is clear that HP is charging a significant premium for Samsung B-Die ICs. By comparison, a generic 3600MHz kit of Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro can be had for around this price in 32GB form! Or if you are happy with 16GB, a 4GHz kit of similar Corsair memory is about the same cost, and 3600MHz from G.SKILL and the likes is notably cheaper.

And one point that I have to really complain about is the 5-year warranty. Almost every modern set of RAM comes with a lifetime warranty – that has been the case for many years. If you're a small player trying to compete in the market, only mustering up a 5-year warranty – when competitors offer lifetime coverage – is not an effective way to project confidence to potential buyers.

HP goes with what I would deem to be the conventional RGB lighting approach.

A plastic light diffuser bar sits atop the metal heatspreaders. This design is reasonably seamless, and the light diffusion is good in my opinion. I actually quite like how the light diffuser bar extends down to the central HP logo. I don’t have any major complaints for the lighting granularity or smoothness, either.

RGB control is handled via motherboard vendor software. This is ideal for synchronisation with other components, particularly if you’re not already invested in the Corsair or Thermaltake ecosystems, for example.

Looking at Thaiphoon Burner, we see that Samsung B-Die are used. B-Die is legendary for DDR4, so there's really not much more that I need to say.

  • Model Number: HP V10 DDR4 RGB
  • Capacity: 16GB (2x 8GB)
  • Rated Frequency: DDR4-3600MHz
  • Rated Timings: 14-15-15-35
  • Voltage: 1.45V XMP
  • Format: 288-pin DIMM
  • Warranty: 5-Year Limited Warranty

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Corsair iCUE H150i RGB Elite Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/corsair-icue-h150i-rgb-elite-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/corsair-icue-h150i-rgb-elite-review/#respond Tue, 02 Aug 2022 10:00:04 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=568939 Corsair are back with their latest AIO - but is it worth the £165 asking price?

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In this one, we are looking at Corsair’s new iCUE H150i RGB Elite 360mm AIO. Intended to offer stellar performance at a lower cost versus the LCD and Capellix versions of Corsair’s triple-fan units, the newly-designed H150i Elite – as I will shorten its name to – uses Corsair’s AF120 Elite series PWM fans and limits RGB lighting to just the pump-block housing. Coming in at £164.99 in the UK, let’s take a closer look at the new, more affordable Corsair H150i Elite cooler.

Video Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:52 Radiator and CPU block
02:07 Fans / cables
03:12 iCUE control
04:03 Installation
04:40 Test setup
05:49 Noise performance
07:02 Thermal results
08:58 Closing thoughts

Corsair uses a conventional 27mm-thick, 360mm-class black aluminium radiator for the H150i RGB Elite. The low-permeation rubber, black sleeved tubes have a reasonable degree of flexibility to them. Alongside the flexibility of the tubes, there is also adjustment at the entry points to the pump block unit.

As is usual for Corsair, the bare copper cold plate is supplied with pre-applied thermal paste. Technically, Corsair says that this is a ‘Micro-skived copper split-flow’ cold plate. Basically, that’s a lot of fancy terminology to describe how it is manufactured and how its fins work.

Sizing of the contact area is reasonably large and that is critical because Corsair offers support for all modern Intel and AMD sockets including AM5, LGA 1700, and Threadripper.

One of the areas of refinement for Corsair’s design has been on the pump. The new design features 16 individually addressable RGB LEDs which diffuse into an all-around housing.

The pump itself is capable of varying its speed via iCUE and runs at 2900 RPM under its highest – Extreme – speed profile in our testing. I must say that the understated look of the pump top with a simple Corsair logo cover and RGB surround is very appealing to my preference.

The AF120 Elite PWM fans deployed on Corsair’s new cooler do not feature RGB lighting – the pump instead covers LED duties. The 120mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing blowers operate at 400-1850 RPM but they also support a 0 RPM mode. Corsair highlights the use of anti-vortex vanes to better concentrate airflow.

I must say that I appreciate the relative lack of cables for Corsair’s fans. There are no proprietary or RGB cables – just simple 4-pin PWM connector. The units themselves look pretty good too, particularly if you aren’t fussed by RGB lighting.

Corsair’s approach for cable connectivity is superb, as we have come to expect from the vendor. A single, discreet USB-C cable connects to the pump block unit. This then provides all the necessary connectivity for the fans, the RGB lighting, and the iCUE link. So, you only have to manage a single cable across the motherboard socket. That is absolutely ideal! Plus, it uses a convenient Type-C connector rather than micro-USB.

iCUE handles control for the entire CPU cooler.

You can mess with the various RGB lighting options for the pump housing – including synchronisation with other Corsair components such as memory. And Hardware Lighting for prior to iCUE initialisation such as during system boot.

You can also set fans and pump speeds with a high degree of adjustment – particularly for the fan curves. I like the fact that Corsair includes temperature data for the AIO cooler’s liquid as this is another useful metric when assessing your cooling setup.

Overall, there’s nothing bad to say about iCUE, as has been the case for quite a while. Yes, it’s certainly not a lightweight solution these days, but it is feature-heavy and works very well.

Warranty for the £164.99 Corsair H150i Elite comes in at 5-years, as we would expect for a premium AIO.

Installation of the cooler is very easy.

You install the relevant standoffs on the default AMD backplate. After switching out the Intel cold plate brackets to AMD ones, the block and its pre-applied thermal paste can be mounted.

Then the radiator and fans are mounted. And finally, one can connect the USB-C cable to the pump block housing and connect all the relevant cables including internal USB 2.0.

The mounting process is quick, it is secure, and cable management is very clean.

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AMD Ryzen 7 6800U Review – with ASUS ZenBook S 13 OLED https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-7-6800u-review-with-asus-zenbook-s-13-oled/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-7-6800u-review-with-asus-zenbook-s-13-oled/#respond Fri, 29 Jul 2022 08:16:01 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=568870 We check out AMD's latest mobile chip in the ZenBook S 13 OLED laptop

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AMD’s new Ryzen 6000 Mobile processors are focussed heavily on strong computational and graphics performance at low power levels. That combination makes the U-series chips right at home inside 15-28W-class, sub-15mm, 1kg ultraportable style laptop chassis; and that’s exactly what we have at hand to examine the performance of AMD’s new 8-core Zen3+ processor – the ASUS ZenBook S 13 OLED.

We have already examined Zen 3+ Mobile in its 35W-class Ryzen 9 6900HS form with the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and that was a glowing success with the chip proving to be absolutely superb. So, let’s see if that outstanding performance and performance-per-Watt translates well for the Ryzen 7 6800U in a market where such metrics are absolutely critical.

Timestamps

00:00 Start
01:10 Introduction to the 6800U
02:49 ASUS ZenBook S 13 OLED
04:50 Test setup and comparisons
06:25 Temps, clocks and overall behaviour
07:45 CPU/System benchmarks
10:27 Gaming benchmarks
13:22 Media consumption
14:54 Noise levels
15:34 SSD and battery
16:35 Closing thoughts

In this review, we are going to primarily focus on the brand-new hardware that ASUS deploys in the ZenBook S 13 OLED UM5302TA laptop. Notably, that is the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U processor and its accompanying LPDDR5 memory. Make sure you check out our previous Ryzen 6000 review videos and written article if you want more details on the SoC features.

The Zen 3+ Ryzen 7 6800U is an 8-core, 16-thread processor with 2.7GHz base frequency and up to 4.7GHz boost. 20MB of total cache is supplied and the chip is built on TSMC’s 6nm process node to provide 13.1 billion transistors.

The platform side of things has been improved significantly versus previous generations, too. You now get support for LP or standard DDR5, PCIe Gen 4 connectivity is deployed throughout, and there’s overarching USB4 support too, which is fundamentally critical for ultraportable laptops such as this – particularly with the interoperability with the well-established Thunderbolt ecosystem.

The new Radeon 680M integrated GPU is built around RDNA2 and features 12 Compute Units clocked up to 2.2GHz. Those specs make us intrigued by the possibilities of some light gaming duties.

But the real area where the GPU shines is for its media and general usage performance. Ryzen 6000 offers up AMD’s improved support for H264, H265, and AV1 – all at high resolutions and often high refresh rates. Plus, the new display controllers could be ideal for outputting to high-resolution displays with HDR and other technologies.

These Ryzen 7 6800U specs are clearly very similar to the higher-end 8-core HS and HX series processors in AMD’ Ryzen 6000 Mobile line-up. Despite similar specs, those HS and HX processors will be notably faster due to their greater power budgets.

For market competition, AMD is realistically targeting Intel’s up-to-28W parts here. Historically, that would be Intel 11th Gen Tiger Lake, but now it is Intel 12th Gen Alder Lake in the form of parts such as the Core i7-1260P.

With the Ryzen 7 6800U deployed inside the ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED laptop that we have been sent for testing, there’s a strong amount of horsepower squeezed into this 13.3-inch class, 14.9 mm-thick magnesium-aluminium chassis that weighs around 1 kilogram.

You get 16GB of LPDDR5 6400MHz memory alongside a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD. 16GB is a bit slim by modern standards, even for an ultraportable laptop, but it is high speed!

The 13.3-inch touchscreen OLED 16:10 display runs at 2880×1800 resolution and 60Hz. This is a glorious screen with a 1-million-to-1 contrast ratio, HDR support, 100% DCI-P3, 550-nits peak brightness, and Pantone validation. You even get slim bezels from the NanoEdge display, which also supports stylus usage thanks to its swift response time.

MediaTek/AMD WiFi 6E is provided alongside a 3.5mm audio jack and triple USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C connections that all support DisplayPort and power delivery. Plus, AMD’s SoC design means that USB4 support is a BIOS update away.

Charging of the 67 Whr battery is done via the included 65W USB-C adapter. ASUS also has the cool feature where even lower-spec USB-C chargers can deliver power to the laptop, as tested with a 25W Samsung phone fast charging brick.

And peripherals on the laptop are good for my personal preference; the backlit keyboard is functionally solid, I like ASUS’ trackpad that doubles up as a number pad and calculator quick launch, there’s a good enough webcam, and the fingerprint sensor is a useful security feature.

Pricing for the ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED in its Ryzen 7 6800U form is meant to be $1449 USD according to the documentation we received from AMD. This translates into around £1300 in the UK. But as is typical for the current world we live in; availability seems to be questionable right now.

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SilentiumPC Navis F240 ARGB Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/silentiumpc-navis-f240-argb-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/silentiumpc-navis-f240-argb-review/#respond Fri, 08 Jul 2022 10:29:14 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=567045 SilentiumPC is back - but this time with an ARGB liquid cooler, coming in at £85

The post SilentiumPC Navis F240 ARGB Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
We’ve already examined some of SilentiumPC’s air cooling products and have continuously been impressed by their cooling performance and build quality for very affordable price tags. In this one, we’re taking a looking at a foray into AIO liquid cooling for the vendor – that’s with the Navis F240 ARGB. So, how will this 240mm liquid cooler perform? And how will its value appear with a price tag of £75 or £85 the ARGB fans version?

Video Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:47 Unboxing and radiator
01:41 Tubing / coldplate
02:22 Pump and block
03:19 Looking at the fans
04:11 Cable management / warranty
05:22 Installation process
05:42 Test setup
07:08 Noise results
07:48 Thermal results
10:11 Closing thoughts

Mounting hardware and accessories are provided for all modern Intel platforms as well as AM4. You get some cables for handling the fans and connections, plus there’s a tube of Pactum PT-3 thermal paste which I always like to see included.

A pleasant surprise was the SilentiumPC pre-applied the cooling fans. This gives the user one less installation task – nice!

SilentiumPC uses a conventional 27mm-thick, 240mm-class black aluminium radiator, albeit with fins that don’t span the entire thickness. There is some form of fill/drain port on the unit, but this is not intended for user applications.

The liquid tubes are around 390mm in length and are covered by a high-quality, attractive braiding. Flexibility of the tubes is positive, especially when coupled with the reasonable degree of movement for the entry points at the pump-block unit.

A well-sized bare copper cold plate is used to extract heat from a CPU. Despite being bare copper in form, SilentiumPC highlights compatibility with liquid metal thermal interface material if you’re feeling fancy.

I prefer that the cold plate is void of pre-applied thermal paste, particularly as SilentiumPC includes a 1.5g tube which is sufficient for multiple applications.

Physically very chunky, the pump-block unit features integrated mounting hardware for the Intel and AMD platforms that this cooler supports.

This is a unique design as most competitors use brackets for mounting capability. I guess this has the benefit of ease of installation because it’s one less part to think about. But it does have the downside of making future upgraded support of new sockets a more challenging – perhaps impossible – task.

PWM control is used for the ceramic-bearing pump. This allows the unit to operate in a speed range of 1600 to 2600 RPM, which is ideal for noise output. Interestingly, there is no LED lighting on the pump housing, which feels like a bit of a missed opportunity for an ARGB liquid cooler.

The pair of Fluctus 120 PWM ARGB fans come pre-applied on the radiator. These fans are rated at a speed range of 300-1800 RPM via their 4-pin PWM control. The two fans are daisy-chained together on the radiator meaning that only a single 4-pin header is required to power them – that’s smart!

SilentiumPC uses a Fluid Dynamic Bearing inside the fans and there are clear optimisations on the blades to suit the pressure-biased use case.

As far as ARGB goes, control is handled via the standard 3-pin header and management is done by your motherboard vendor’s software. This means that there is no requirement for third-party or SIlentiumPC-specific software. And synchronisation with your other components should be seamless.

Given the smart daisy-chaining of the pre-installed fans’ cables, management is very easy. There’s just the pair of cables leaving the pump-block unit – SATA power and 4-pin PWM control. And then the 4-pin and 3-pin ARGB fan cables can be hidden easily behind the motherboard tray without sprawling across the CPU socket area.

Warranty is just OK on the £75 Navis F240 and the £85 Navis F240 ARGB. Three years for a modern 240mm AIO cooler is fine at this price point, albeit hardly inspiring. The fans are rated at 100,000 hours MTBF, which is also absolutely fine.

But competition namely from Arctic and Corsair is strong at below £90 and those two vendors offer 6-year and 7-year warranties, respectively.

Installation was very quick and easy, thanks in large to SilentiumPC’s pre-applied hardware.

All we needed to do was insert the threaded stand-offs into the default AM4 backplate. We then applied paste and positioned the pump-block unit, and once the spring and thumbscrew were tightened, the block was in position.

Pre-applied fans made radiator installation quick and simple, and then the reasonable number of cables was easy to route and deal with neatly.

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DeepCool LS720 360mm AIO Liquid Cooler Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/deepcool-ls720-360mm-aio-liquid-cooler-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/deepcool-ls720-360mm-aio-liquid-cooler-review/#respond Tue, 05 Jul 2022 08:00:58 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=566705 DeepCool's latest 360mm AIO cooler is a performance powerhouse - and it's cracking value at £119.99

The post DeepCool LS720 360mm AIO Liquid Cooler Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Today, DeepCool is introducing its new LS series liquid coolers. This series deploys a new 4th Gen pump design that is touted as having improved microchannels alongside its 3-phase motor. We have the 360mm LS720 in for review. This unit features a trio of 120mm RGB PWM fans together with the eye-catching Infinity Mirror cap design for the pump-block unit. Coming in at £119.99 in the UK, let’s take a closer look at the new DeepCool LS720.

Video Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
00:50 Radiator and tubing design
01:34 CPU block/coldplate
02:55 Pump and fans
04:19 Lighting and cables
05:09 Warranty info / fan lifetime
05:37 Installation process – could be better!
07:09 A note on tubing positions
07:47 Test setup
09:15 Noise levels
09:57 Thermal results
12:44 Closing thoughts

DeepCool uses a conventional 27mm-thick, 360mm-class black aluminium radiator for the LS720. It is good to see the continued inclusion of DeepCool’s Anti-Leak technology on the radiator.

This is via the EPDM pressure relief bag that contracts to create a void when pressure rises to relieve the pressure inside the radiator. In theory, this helps to reduce the risk of leakage, which is a clear positive.

The 410mm-long braided tubes have a decent degree of flexibility to them. Alongside the flexibility of the tubes, there is also a reasonable degree of adjustment at the entry points to the block.

Two plastic cable guides are pre-mounted on the reasonably thick tubing. This is a nice quality touch by DeepCool.

One of the most simplistic benefits of DeepCool’s in-house pump/coldplate design is the avoidance of patent issues with the likes of Asetek.

The cold plate is bare copper with pre-applied thermal paste. DeepCool highlights support for modern Intel and AMD platforms including HEDT, and there’s also support in place for the upcoming AMD AM5 platform, too.

In typical DeepCool fashion, the pump-block unit is physically massive – it measures in at 86x74x57 mm. We wouldn’t expect too many interference issues outside of ITX or RAM either side like on HEDT, though.

DeepCool deploys the eye-catching Infinity Mirror display that features the brand logo on a plastic face plate. This face plate can be removed and rotated in 90-degree intervals to allow for correct orientation of the logo, irrespective of one’s installation preference. There’s also an additional blank plate provided that can be installed. This is provided to allow users some degree of customisation over the visual appearance on the plastic cover.

Two light loops project an eye-catching ARGB LED glow through the Infinity Mirror display.

The 4th Gen Pump is 3-pin 12V DC-powered by a 3-phase motor. It runs at a lofty speed rating of 3100 RPM but it is disappointing to see a less controllable DCrather than PWM – pump on a premium cooler such as this.

The trio of DeepCool’s FC120 fans feature translucent white blades that are optimised for static pressure performance. These 120mm fluid dynamic bearing fans operate at a speed range of 500-2250 RPM and are PWM controlled. The lack of a clear 0 RPM silent mode is disappointing for a premium cooler, though 500 RPM lower limit is likely fine for most usage.

What is a point of contention, though, is the proprietary connectors and cables that DeepCool chooses to use for combined fan and ARGB control. Some people are OK with proprietary, some people aren’t.

DeepCool does a very good job of implementing the daisy-chain system that carries fan speed and ARGB control with minimal cable clutter to the motherboard. And then the motherboard handles lighting control and synchronisation which means you don’t need to install additional vendor-specific software.

RGB lighting for the cooler’s fans and Infinity Mirror pump-block unit is absolutely superb. The lighting is bright, the colours are clear, and granularity is very smooth. I like the lighting on this cooler very much.

 

Back on the topic of cables, only a single 3-pin fan connector and a proprietary DeepCool connector emanate from the pump-block unit. This is ideal for minimising the sprawl of cables across one’s motherboard area.

Warranty is very positive for the £119.99 LS720, with DeepCool giving the unit 5 years of coverage. That’s excellent and compares nicely with the likes of Corsair and Arctic. The fans are rated at 50,000 hours MTBF, which is slim but is fine alongside a lengthy warranty.

Installation was a process that I found a little more frustrating and time consuming than it needed to be. For reference, this cooler took me about twice as long to install as a conventional Asetek competitor.

You first screw the appropriate brackets onto the bottom of the pump-block unit. But DeepCool doesn’t make is hugely clear that each bracket has a very specific position with respect to the tubing.

The default AM4 backplate is held in position with four of DeepCool’s thumbscrew stand-offs. The pump-block unit then sits on these stand-offs and is screwed into position.

Then the radiator and fans can be installed, the cables connected, and the DeepCool logo inside the infinity mirror display rotated as desired. I would recommend installing the fans on the radiator whilst it is still outside the chassis because the small proprietary cables and connectors are difficult to deal with otherwise.

The final step is to connect up the cables. DeepCool supplies break-out adapters that can be used to link SATA power, 4-pin PWM control, 3-pin ARGB, and the proprietary fans connections.

I thought the process was just a little more fiddly than the simple hand-twisted brackets used by Asetek and the conventional fan cables also used in general.

One thing I also want to note is that DeepCool does suggests there is a benefit to installing with tubes in the 6 O’clock position specifically on Intel platforms. We use an AMD platform, so 3 O’clock or 6 O’clock should be similar.

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MSI MEG Coreliquid S360 AIO Liquid Cooler Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/msi-meg-coreliquid-s360-aio-liquid-cooler-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/msi-meg-coreliquid-s360-aio-liquid-cooler-review/#respond Wed, 22 Jun 2022 14:31:04 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=564763 MSI's Coreliquid S360 features a 360mm radiator and a chonky pump unit, with an LCD screen too

The post MSI MEG Coreliquid S360 AIO Liquid Cooler Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
Screens on AIO liquid coolers have been one of the new fashion features in recent times. We have already examined some models from big cooling vendors such as Corsair and Thermaltake. This time, it’s MSI’s turn on our test system. The MSI MEG Coreliquid S360 is a £250 Asetek 7th Gen 360mm All-in-One liquid cooler with a 2.4” IPS display and an integrated 60mm waterblock fan.

Timestamps:

00:00 Start
00:43 First look at the cooler
01:44 Pump/block and sizing
02:39 MEG SilentGale fans
03:22 MSI Center app
04:29 Closer look at the IPS display
05:56 Installation process
06:34 Test setup
07:52 Noise output
08:37 Thermal performance
11:40 Luke’s closing thoughts

Once we open the box and remove the generic Asetek installation hardware, we see the radiator. MSI uses a conventional 27mm-thick aluminium radiator with dense fin spacing optimised for high-pressure fans. The radiator is coloured all-black to match the underlying colour scheme.

MSI uses what it calls evaporation-proof tubing on the unit which it says is constructed with rubber and a reinforced mesh. The tubes measure in at 400mm-long and have a high-quality braided outer to maintain a sleek appearance.

Flexibility of the tubing is a positive. Though MSI’s other design implementations severely limit the realistic flexibility of the cooler’s install and orientation.

We see a bare copper cold plate in the standard Asetek form for this generation 7 cooler. The unit does come with thermal paste pre-applied, but we had already used this prior to photography. There’s no spare tube of thermal paste which is disappointing.

Sizing of the cold plate should be fine for even large HEDT CPUs, as we have seen over the years with Asetek.

Physically, the pump-block unit is not all that big given that it is an Asetek system. However, the unit is huge in practise thanks to the inclusion of a 60mm 4000 RPM waterblock fan positioned directly above. Oh, and there’s the 2.4” display mounted on top of that.

The pump unit is PWM controlled and operates up to 2800 RPM top speed. Its speed curve can be controlled within MSI’s Windows software.

That software-controlled, 60mm waterblock fan is intended to aid nearby component temperatures by directing airflow to the VRM and M.2 SSDs, for example. However, it is a relatively small 60mm blower and has significant airflow restrictions above from the screen and below from the pump-block unit.

So, we will have to wait and see how useful it actually is for incidental motherboard VRM cooling.

MSI’s choice of fans is a trio of the MEG Silent Gale P12, which are intended for noise-efficient cooling according to MSI. These hydro-dynamic bearing 120mm blowers operate at up to 2000 RPM top speed.

They use a 350mm-long, braided 4-pin PWM cable for connection and can operate under a zero-RPM mode. There is no fancy RGB LED lighting on the fans, which is odd given the already superfluous nature of an AIO with an LCD screen.

MSI does include rubber noise-isolating dampers on each corner of the fans, though, which is good to see.

Control for the fans and cooler operation is handled through the MSI Center software. The pre-defined fan speed settings are helpful, and the ability to set custom fan curves is useful.

There is a limitation of 70% minimum radiator fan speed when the CPU temperature is above 80C, though this is unlikely to be an issue for most users.

While MSI Center is functionally good and worked for our needs, it is undeniably basic versus the market-leading Corsair iCUE implementation. That’s particularly true with respect to synchronising with other system hardware – a task that iCUE handles very well.

The sheer number of cables leaving the pump-block unit will make tidy management more challenging. You get USB 2.0, SATA power, 3-pin power, and three-way fan splitter cables. This is versus the far sleeker single- or dual-cable approach used by the Corsair and Thermaltake competing coolers.

Thankfully, these cables are lengthy enough to be hidden behind the motherboard tray. But you’ll still have five wires trailing away from your build’s CPU area.

The 2.4” IPS display is fastened to the pump-block unit and has a very large, magnetically-held cover sitting atop it. This cover is designed to allow ventilation for the 60mm fan whilst also hiding the connectivity cables and projecting the screen’s image. It does, however, severely limit the angles of the tubing entering the block.

Resolution is 320×240 with 16-bit colour depth and 500-nits of brightness. 500-nits of brightness was just about fine in our testing, but the 320×240 screen lacks some sharpness versus the 480×480 resolution competition from Corsair and Thermaltake.

For the functionality it offers, I was happy with the screen’s performance. Seeing things like fan speeds, CPU temperature, liquid temperature, and FPS are all useful and are clear on the screen. Plus, the ability to use personalised images or local weather updates are also useful, depending on your preference.

Control for the screen is handled through the MSI Center software and works well.

Interestingly, MSI rates the fans and pump life expectancy as 50,000 hours each, which is very low by modern PC cooling hardware standards. As such, you will have to take care as to which e-tailer you purchase this cooler from, and how much warranty support and coverage they offer.

Worth quickly noting is that MSI supports all modern Intel and AMD platforms and has already highlighted AM5 support when it releases.

Installation on our AM4 platform is as easy as we would expect from an Asetek cooler.

You screw the posts into the default AM4 backplate before fixing the pump-block unit and its pre-applied thermal paste into position. Once this is all fastened, the cables can be routed and the screen cover can be applied.

The screen cover’s design does mean that it should be mounted in the correct orientation to the tubing. But the images displayed on the screen can be rotated by 90-degree increments inside MSI’s software.

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MSI Crosshair 15 R6E Laptop Review (Core i7-12700H / RTX 3070) https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/luke-hill/msi-crosshair-15-r6e-laptop-review-core-i7-12700h-rtx-3070/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/luke-hill/msi-crosshair-15-r6e-laptop-review-core-i7-12700h-rtx-3070/#respond Thu, 16 Jun 2022 09:00:27 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=564276 We check out another laptop from MSI, which will set you back two grand

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In this review, we are examining the MSI Crosshair 15 R6E Rainbow Six Extraction edition. Hardware comes in the form of an Intel Core i7-12700H processor, an RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, 32GB of DDR4 memory, a 1TB SSD, and – arguably the star of the show – a 15.6” 2560×1440 165Hz IPS-level display. With a pretty hefty price tag of £2000 currently, but £2199 MSRP, let's take a closer look at what MSI offers for that money.

Timestamps

00:00 Start
01:05 Intro and Specs / Inside / Slots
03:09 The Screen
03:56 Connectivity and concerns
05:24 Camera/Speakers/Trackpad/Keyboard
07:00 Battery
07:12 Pricing mess
08:07 Testing states / software
09:02 Comparison data
09:23 Noise / Power / Temps / Freq
12:37 SSD performance
12:54 Battery life
13:20 Test Results
15:13 1080p Gaming Performance
16:25 1440p Gaming Performance
17:46 Luke's Closing Thoughts

In terms of design, the Crosshair 15 R6E is very similar to the Katana GF66 that we reviewed recently – aside from the Rainbow Six Extraction-inspired black and yellow colour scheme, of course. I’m not going to pass comment on my preference (or lack thereof) for the colour scheme as this is an undeniably personal choice.

This is pretty much a generic 15.6” chassis and it certainly is not designed to be sleek and portable. At well over 30mm-thick in some areas with the lid closed, and still 26.9mm even with the lid open, this is very much a park-it-on-the-table gaming laptop. The 2.47kg weight and chunky 240W power brick backup that point.

Importantly, though, to many gamers is the strong allocation of ventilation gaps for adequate cooling. Plus, the thickness means that a solid chunk of heatsink can be squeezed inside MSI’s unit.

Under-the-hood hardware starts with the Intel Core i7-12700H processor. This features 6 Performance cores and 8 efficient cores. The maximum rated Turbo speed is 4.7GHz for the 35-115W allowable TDP range, but we will see what MSI allows this laptop to actually run at later in the review.

Graphics comes in the form of an Nvidia RTX 3070 8GB Laptop GPU. This is rated at 140W maximum power in MSI’s deployment, according to the spec sheet. 140W of RTX 3070 goodness should be pretty zippy, even at this price point where a 3080 is perhaps a wallet stretch.

Important to note, though, is that the Intel Iris Xe integrated GPU is connected to the display, as standard.

Memory is 2x16GB of DDR4 3200MHz in SODIMM form, so there is upgradability if you whip out the current modules. Opting for cheaper DDR4 versus DDR5 is fine in my opinion. MSI equips dual M.2 SSD slots, one of which is filled with a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 model.

Focusing on the screen, we are treated to a 15.6” 2560×1440 IPS-level display. We feel that the combination of size and resolution is perfect for a laptop at this price point and that’s particularly true when the impressive 165Hz refresh rate is factored in.

The screen quality is actually good, too. It is rated for 100% DCI-P3 typical which means that colour accuracy is a strength and the contrast was good to my eyes. Peak brightness was definitely lacking, so anybody wanting to do gaming outside on a bright day may struggle.

But the image quality, pixel density of the resolution, and fluid motion from the 165Hz refresh rate make for an appealing combination.

Physical connectivity for MSI's now roughly £2000-2200 Crosshair 15 R6E is the same as for the often £900 cheaper Katana GF66. I regarded that laptop as having poor connectivity, even for its affordable £1099 price tag.

Let's be perfectly honest; the deployment of ports for this two-grand Crosshair 15 R6E is nothing short of a joke!

You get three 5Gbps USB ports – one of which is Type-C – and with a USB 2.0 Type-A to round out the bundle. That’s right – there’s no 10Gbps or 20Gbps connectivity – never mind Thunderbolt 4 – on a laptop of this price.

The only video output is 4K60 HDMI as the Type-C does not support video or power. Gigabyte Ethernet and a combo audio jack are fine. And then there’s the barrel-style power connector.

Single video output, 5Gbps peak transfer rates, no Type-C charging – MSI’s port selection is outrageously bad! If we look at the ASUS TUF Gaming F15 competitor laptop just as an example, you get Thunderbolt 4, 10Gbps USB-C with DisplayPort and G-Sync capability, and no silly USB 2.0 port. And that laptop is cheaper than MSI’s.

Yes, Intel 802.11ax WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 are deployed, but they don’t detract from the fact that MSI’s port offering is terrible.

In terms of peripherals, it’s once again very similar to the cheaper MSI Katana GF66. So, my feedback will be the same.

There’s a 720p30 webcam, but it doesn’t support Windows Hello and there is no fingerprint scanner. So advanced sign-in options are limited. The speakers are a pair of 2W units which genuinely surprised me for decent punch to the bass, good maximum loudness, and solid ability to maintain decent quality at high volume outputs.

Trackpad sizing is modest for my giant hands, but the responsiveness and flow of the implementation and the solid clicky buttons were good.

The keyboard is good for my personal preference and large hands. I had very few accidental key strikes because of the sensible key pitch segregating neighbours. I also felt that the actuation point of the 1.7mm-high keys was clear and firm, which enhanced comfort. MSI includes a number pad, which I personally find pointless, but it is there.

The keyboard backlighting is inspired by Rainbow Six Extraction game colours, with three step of brightness and a completely off option. MSI uses green for the lower third, blue for the middle third, and yellow for the upper third. The WASD keys are presented in a different style though.

I really don’t have any complaints with the keyboard. Its styling is unique, but the quality is good, in my opinion.

For the battery, a 90Whr, 4-cell unit is deployed and used in combination with the sizable 240W power brick. There is no USB-C charging even for trickle top-ups, which is disappointing.

UK pricing for the MSI Crosshair 15 R6E B12UGZ-299UK model that we tested looked to be around £2200, but this dropped down to a more sensible £1739-1799 at the likes of CCL and Laptop Outlet in May. However, as of early June, actual availability pricing looks to be around £2000 in the UK, and the MSRP is £2199.

This makes ASUS’ RTX 3070-equipped, 16GB DDR5 TUF Gaming F15 a direct competitor at around £1700. Or the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H alternative TUF Gaming A15 also at around £1700. Both of those are £500(!) cheaper than MSI's MSRP.

There is actually a basically identical Crosshair 15 R6E model that is downgraded to 16GB of RAM available for £1500 at Currys (albeit at £1699 MSRP). Given that a 32GB set of DDR4 SODIMM can be had for £130, that makes the current pricing on Currys a good deal, and MSI's 32GB-RAM-tax a complete and utter – disgraceful – rip-off!

So, consider this Core i7-12700H, RTX 3070, 1440p 165Hz laptop to be around £1500-1700 in its 16GB form, or vastly more expensive in the 32GB form that we have on review.

Let’s get into testing.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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MSI Katana GF66 (i7-12700H / RTX 3060) Gaming Laptop Review https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/luke-hill/msi-katana-gf66-i7-12700h-rtx-3060-gaming-laptop-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/lifestyle/mobile/laptops/luke-hill/msi-katana-gf66-i7-12700h-rtx-3060-gaming-laptop-review/#respond Thu, 09 Jun 2022 10:16:22 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=562556 RTX 3060 and i7-12700H - for £1399?

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Sporting an RTX 3060 and Intel’s new Core i7-12700H processor, it may come as a surprise to see the MSI Katana GF66 priced at £1399 in the UK. In fact, the GPU and CPU combination – coupled with 16GB of DDR4 memory, a 1TB SSD, and a 240Hz 1080p display – make this laptop seem like an intriguing asking price of just under fourteen-hundred Great British Pounds.

But how do MSI’s overall design and connectivity choices stack up? And does the blend of hardware perform inside this 15.6”-class chassis? Let's take a closer look.

Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:53 Katana technical details
02:37 The screen
03:12 Connectivity
04:08 WiFi / Bluetooth / Webcam / Speakers
04:43 Trackpad / Keyboard
05:18 Battery / power brick
05:40 Pricing – GF66 12UE
06:16 A look at system, software and install
07:53 Power settings
09:43 Noise output
10:10 SSD performance
10:30 Battery Life
10:48 Test results
12:20 Game results
13:16 Luke's Thoughts

Edit – 9th June 2022: Our initial review coverage and video used the MSI Katana GF66 12UE-406UK model with a reference price of £1099 in the UK. Unbeknownst to us, this was a time-limited promotion for the month of May 2022. The typical retail price of the laptop has now increased to £1399.

Starting out with a look at the overall design, I wouldn’t say that we are seeing anything particularly fancy from the MSI Katana GF66 12UE. This laptop takes the form of a generic 15.6” chassis – not particularly thin bezels, not particularly sleek thicknesses, and not particularly low weight.

You get a roughly 2.25kg laptop that is over an inch thick with the screen down – or about 23mm thick with the screen open. That weight may seem OK, but you have to add the best part of half a kilo for the 240W barrel-style power brick.

Sleek and eye-catching, this laptop is not, particularly with its largely plastic construction. You do get a good allocation of cooling ventilation on the side, rear, and bottom though. So, that may well appeal to a budget gaming audience more so than slick bezels and metal construction.

Primary to the under-the-hood hardware is the Intel Core i7-12700H processor. This chip features 6 performance cores and 8 efficient cores for 20 threads total. It can Turbo as high as 4.7GHz with the 35-115W rated power range, but that depends on the manufacturer's deployment, which we will analyse in this review.

You also get the Nvidia RTX 3060 Laptop GPU in its 6GB form. This is rated at 105W maximum power in MSI’s deployment, according to the spec sheet. A 105W RTX 3060 should be a genuinely competent laptop graphics card, though not mind-blowing at this price point.

Memory is 2x8GB of DDR4 3200MHz, which is a cheaper option than DDR5 so is sensible from a budget perspective. And the SSD is a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 model, but there’s a spare M.2 slot for upgrades.

Focusing on the screen, MSI deploys a 15.6” 1920×1080 IPS-level display. That is fine from a budget perspective, but it’s the 240Hz refresh rate that will really appeal to gamers.

No, the screen quality is not the best; peak brightness is mediocre, colour quality is just decent, and the sharpness is undeniably lacking given the 15.6” and 1080p combination. But that refresh rate really does steal the show and it helps translate into an enjoyable gaming experience thanks to the fluid motion.

Looking at the physical connectivity for MSI’s Katana GF66, this is another area where we see an undeniably budget feature set.

You get three USB Type-A ports, one of which is actually old USB 2.0 with the other two being 5Gbps. The single USB Type-C port is also 5Gbps and does not handle power or display output. You get Gigabyte Ethernet and 4K60 HDMI, which are good to see. And finishing off is the combo audio jack and the barrel DC power connector.

So, to summarise, there’s only one USB Type-C port, no 10Gbps USB connectivity, and only a single high-resolution video output. That’s pretty atrocious for anybody who wants to connect up more than just the laptop and a single display or odd few peripherals.

Clearly, Thunderbolt is missing but that’s probably fair on this class of laptop. Thankfully, MSI does deploy 802.11ax WiFi 6 capability from the Intel AX201 adapter, and there’s also Bluetooth 5.2.

In terms of peripherals, there is a 720p30 webcam, but it doesn’t support Windows Hello and there is no fingerprint scanner. So, advanced sign-in options are limited. The speakers are a pair of 2W units which genuinely surprised me for decent punch to the bass, good maximum loudness, and solid ability to maintain decent quality at high volume outputs.

Trackpad sizing is modest for my giant hands, but the responsiveness and flow of the implementation and the solid clicky buttons were good.

The keyboard is good for my personal preference and large hands. I had very few accidental key strikes because of the sensible key pitch segregating neighbours. I also felt that the actuation point was clear and firm, which enhanced comfort. MSI includes a number pad, which I personally find pointless, but it is there.

One point is that the backlit keyboard cannot be changed away from red, but there are three steps of brightness.

For the battery, a 53.5Whr, 3-cell unit is deployed and used in combination with the sizable 240W power brick. There is no USB-C charging, even for trickle top-ups, which is highly disappointing.

Pricing for the MSI Katana GF66 in its 12UE form as we are testing is £1399 at Currys in the UK. This gives it very tough competition on the market, with competitors from the likes of Acer, ASUS, Gigabyte, and Lenovo all offering models with 45W Ryzen chips and RTX 3070-class graphics. Let's see how the Katana GF66 fairs.

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AMD Ryzen 7 5700X & Ryzen 5 5600 Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-7-5700x-ryzen-5-5600-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-7-5700x-ryzen-5-5600-review/#respond Mon, 23 May 2022 11:00:32 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=561025 Say hello to the new, lower-cost Ryzen 7 5700X and Ryzen 5 5600

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AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 7 5800X have been the company’s go-to six-core and eight-core models since their introduction in late 2020. Healthy performance offerings coupled with numerous price drops made them firm fan favourites for a long period of time. But in late 2021, Intel struck back with formidable competitors in the 12th Gen Alder Lake line-up – most notably the sub-£300 Core i5-12600K.

AMD knew that a retaliation blow was a necessity, particularly given the hefty price drops already applied to Ryzen 5 5600X and Ryzen 7 5800X SKUs. And this is where the new, lower-cost Ryzen 7 5700X and Ryzen 5 5600 come into the picture.

Timestamps

00:00 Start
01:00 AMD 5700X / 5600 details
04:04 Comparison procedures
05:49 Clock speeds
06:47 Test results
09:07 Gaming results
12:05 Power Consumption
12:57 CPU temperatures
13:37 Precision boost Overdrive tuning
14:15 Manual overclocking
15:15 Overclocked results
16:07 Luke's closing thoughts

Ryzen 7 5700X has 8 cores and 16 threads with 36MB of total cache – 32MB of which is L3. Base clock is listed at 3.4GHz – 400MHz slower than the 5800X – and maximum boost clock is 4.6GHz – 100MHz slower than the 5800X.

Notably, the 5700X’s TDP is 65W rather than the 105W of the 5800X. This will likely have a considerable influence on the actual Precision Boost 2 operating speeds of both chips. Particularly as neither come with a boxed cooler and so a good AIO or air heatsink is anticipated for usage.

In the UK, the Ryzen 7 5800X is around £290-310, but mainly around £310. Whereas the new 5700X is around £270. Intel’s notable competitor is the £270 Core i5-12600K that features six Performance cores and 4 Efficient cores for sixteen total threads.

Ryzen 5 5600 has 6 cores and 12 threads with 32MB of L3 cache and 3MB of L2 cache. Base clock is listed at 3.5GHz – 200MHz slower than the 5600X – and maximum boost clock is noted as 4.4GHz – 200MHz slower than the 5600X, though this remains to be seen in actual operation.

TDP for both Ryzen 5 chips is 65W and they both ship with the same AMD Wraith Stealth CPU cooler. So, I am anticipating very comparable real-world operating clocks from both of the Ryzen 5 parts. And if that is the case, it may make the newer – cheaper – Ryzen 5 5600 a bit of a bargain compared to its X-specced sibling.

The 5600X street price is around £190-210, but mainly £210. The new Ryzen 5 5600 is £180. Intel’s £165, twelve-thread Core i5-12400F is the notable competitor.

For completeness, the new processors use the same single Zen 3 chiplet built on TSMC’s 7nm process technology alongside the standard 12nm-built Ryzen 5000 IO Die.

If we focus on the platform for these new Ryzen chips, AMD looks to have a strong advantage versus Intel’s competing solution when it comes to ease-of-deployment. Users on older B450 or X370 motherboards who want a quick, drop-in upgrade aren’t going to care that the expensive Z690 platform is more feature rich and supports DDR5.

With that said, those opting for a brand-new motherboard alongside their non-K Intel processor will likely find the B660 platform to be a strong – albeit more expensive – contender to AMD’s B550 solutions.

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G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB 32GB 6000MHz Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/memory/luke-hill/g-skill-trident-z5-rgb-32gb-6000mhz-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/memory/luke-hill/g-skill-trident-z5-rgb-32gb-6000mhz-review/#respond Thu, 05 May 2022 10:00:18 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=559055 We check out G.Skill's Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 kit, with excellent timings and flashy RGB

The post G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB 32GB 6000MHz Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
DDR5 is still relatively fresh on the scene but thankfully availability has now improved since its launch about half a year ago. With improved availability comes not only the chance to actually buy a kit, but also the ability to buy some higher-end, more boutique modules. That’s where G.SKILL’s Trident Z5 RGB 32GB set comes into play, with an impressive 6000MHz operating speed and CAS Latency of 36. 6GHz RGB DDR5 from G.SKILL – let’s take a closer look!

Timestamps

00:00 Start
00:52 Specifications
02:08 Appearance / Styling / Lighting
03:11 RGB Management
03:37 Pricing
04:20 Test system
05:16 Test results
07:22 Luke's findings / overclocking
08:18 Closing Thoughts

In terms of styling, G.SKILL has shifted the design slightly from the DDR4-era Trident Z. Now, we get a little more curved flow to the angles of the tri-fin, aluminium heatspreader instead of the sharp corners of DDR4 Trident Z.

G.SKILL sells the modules in matte black or metallic silver colour; we have the silver set which I think contrasts the black naming strip nicely.

I would describe the Trident Z5 module design as sensible, high-quality, and eye-catching. At around 45mm tall, module height is reasonable.

G.SKILL’s specs for the Trident Z5 RGB kit we have here are impressive. This is a DDR5 kit running at 6000MHz XMP 3.0 frequency, it’s a dual-channel 2x16GB 32GB set using single-rank modules, and the timings are 36-36-36-96 at 1.35V.

The set uses Samsung ICs according to CPU-Z. But unfortunately we can’t tell the exact IC model details as Thaiphoon Burner doesn’t seem to like our Z690 and DDR5 test system. You also get a thermal sensor to monitor module temperatures in software.

For reference, the actual model code of this Trident Z5 RGB kit is: F5-6000J3636F16GX2-TZ5RS.

Pricing of the 6GHz G.SKILL kit is certainly hefty at a penny under £420 in the UK. This is very expensive for a 2x16GB set of DDR5 memory. As a comparison, the 5600C36 Dominator Platinum RGB competitor is around £100-120 cheaper at £300-320.

In fact, £420 for G.SKILL’s 32GB set is close to 64GB alternative kit money. Though, granted a comparable 64GB kit of something like Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB is closer to £500 with a notable speed reduction too.

Other 6000MHz kits set you back at least £380 when looking at equivalently premium levels. So G.SKILL is still notably more expensive, but an extra 10% for one premium RAM kit versus another is likely tolerable for this market segment.

For a better look at the G.SKILL kit's RGB lighting, check out our video review.

LED lighting is handled by eight RGB zones on top of the Trident Z5 RGB modules. This light then disperses through a plastic diffuser bar for a smooth and graduated colour gradient.

I personally loved the Trident Z RGB and Trident Z Royal modules of the DDR4 era and I think G.SKILL does a superb job to make the DDR5 Trident Z RGB to look just as good, particularly with the smoothness of that LED light diffusion bar.

In terms of RGB management, G.SKILL offer their own lighting control software. It is actually reasonably comprehensive and allows individual control of the 8 LED zones. You can select a few different modes and then settings such as speed and brightness.

You will probably want to use motherboard vendor software for control and sync to match other components. That can be done through the individual tools which are: ASUS Aura Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion 2.0, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and ASRock Polychrome Sync.

Looking at CPU-Z, we see notation of the Samsung memory ICs used. But with the incompatibilities of Thaiphoon Burner, it is difficult to tell exactly which Samsung ICs are used.

  • Model Number: F5-6000J3636F16GX2-TZ5RS
  • Capacity: 32GB (2x 16GB)
  • Rated Frequency: DDR5-6000MHz
  • Rated Timings: 36-36-36-96
  • Voltage: 1.35V XMP 3.0

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DeepCool AK400 CPU Cooler Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/deepcool-ak400-cpu-cooler-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/deepcool-ak400-cpu-cooler-review/#respond Tue, 26 Apr 2022 08:00:40 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=558070 Can DeepCool's new budget air cooler take on the likes of Arctic and SilentiumPC?

The post DeepCool AK400 CPU Cooler Review first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
DeepCool has proven its ability in designing and manufacturing a range of competitive coolers. We have examined the vendor’s premium single-tower units, high-end dual-tower air coolers, and eye-catching AIO liquid coolers. This time, we are looking at the wallet-friendly AK400, a 120mm-class air cooler that costs less than 35 Euros.

In terms of accessories, DeepCool includes mounting hardware for modern Intel and AMD mainstream platforms. There is also a spare set of metal fan retention clips if you feel the need to upgrade to a dual-fan setup in the future. No tube of thermal paste is supplied as this is pre-applied to the cooler’s base.

DeepCool uses a 120mm-class heatsink as the foundation for the AK400. The raw aluminium fin array is sensibly sized at 120x45x152 mm. Four 6mm copper heatpipes shift energy away from the CPU heatspreader.

These heatpipes are deployed in the Heatpipe Direct Touch (HDT) approach, as we often see from lower-cost coolers. This is a sensible move by DeepCool. DeepCool does, however, squeeze the central two heatpipes closer together than the outer two. This is designed to bias heat extraction potential towards the centre of a CPU’s heatspreader, which can possibly make a difference depending on your specific Intel or AMD chip.

The fin array itself is manufactured using a ‘matrix array design’ according to DeepCool. There are areas where some fins jut out further than others. This will control the pressure profiles throughout the fin array, to some extent.

DeepCool deploys its 120mm Fluid Dynamic Bearing fan for use on the AK400. The speed range on the 4-pin PWM control curve is 500-1850 RPM, which is pretty good for a budget cooler. Though it is – unsurprisingly – outdone by Arctic’s competing A35 series coolers.

Gunning for a no-nonsense design that focuses primarily on performance and cost, DeepCool uses a reasonably good-looking all-black fan but opts not to run any form of RGB lighting. There is, however, provision for noise reduction, as the fan is mounted to the heatsink with rubber contact dampers.

With a 50,000-hour rated operational lifespan for the FDB fan, DeepCool looks to be middling for a budget cooler in that number.

Warranty is three years, which is OK for a simple air cooler. But as a comparison, the likes of Arctic and SilentiumPC are offering up 6-year and above warranties on their competing, budget products. So DeepCool does look to be lacking in this department.

Pricing for the DeepCool AK400 is 34.90 Euros which should translate into around £30-33 in the UK. According to DeepCool, there is also set to be a white version of the cooler available in June 2022.

AM4 installation for the AK400 is straightforward and was simple enough with a pair of hands.

Four orange retention plastic pieces hold the default AM4 backplate in position. The metal bracket is then screwed into position using the specific AM4 mounting holes. With the fan removed, the AK400 heatsink can be screwed onto the retention bracket. No thermal paste handling is required as it is pre-applied to the cooler’s base. The 120mm fan is then clipped into position and connected via its 4-pin PWM cable.

The overall mount is solid and the small stature of the cooler means that RAM and VRM interference looks to be a non-issue for most sensibly laid out motherboards.

Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here

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AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Review – Worth the Cache$?! https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-7-5800x3d-review-worth-the-cache/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/amd-ryzen-7-5800x3d-review-worth-the-cache/#respond Thu, 14 Apr 2022 13:00:18 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=557270 AMD's 3D V-Cache is here - but what does that mean for the Ryzen 7 5800X3D?

The post AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Review – Worth the Cache$?! first appeared on KitGuru.]]>
AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series of processors took the market by storm when they launched in late 2020. But a lot changes in almost one-and-a-half years, and in that time, Intel has regained the gaming performance crown with its highly-competitive 12th Gen Alder Lake chips. Adamant not to be outdone, AMD is striking back to prove that it too has a market-leading gaming option for users. Introducing the Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

Timestamps

00:00 Start
01:08 Introduction – what is the 5800X3D?
03:26 So who’s it for?
05:12 Test setup and comparisons
06:49 Clock speed analysis
07:47 Productivity benchmarks
08:55 Gaming benchmarks – 1080p
10:46 Gaming benchmarks – 1440p
12:27 Power and thermals
14:03 Closing thoughts – what does Luke reckon?

‘What’s new with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D?’, you ask. Well, the innovation comes in the deployment of AMD’s new 3D V-Cache technology. Effectively, AMD trebles the L3 cache of a Ryzen 7 5800X processor and calls it a Ryzen 7 5800X3D.

Eight high-performance cores and a copious 96 Megabytes of L3 cache. Has AMD worked its way back to the top of the gaming performance charts with this $449 USD or £410 chip? Let’s take a closer look.

Let’s start out by making it perfectly clear that this chip is basically the Ryzen 7 5800X with a slab of 3D Vertical Cache added on.

It’s the same 8 cores and 16 threads of Zen 3. The same 81mm2 chiplet built on the 7nm TSMC manufacturing node. The same AM4 platform with DDR4 memory and 24 PCIe Gen 4 lanes. The same 4MB of L2 and 32MB of L3 cache built into the CCD.

The difference is – crucially – that 64MB slab of stacked AMD 3D V-Cache.

So, what is AMD 3D V-Cache?

Well, instead of redesigning the underlying Zen 3 chiplets to feature a higher capacity of cache, AMD decided to deploy a 64MB slice of L3 on its own 41mm2 TSMC 7nm-manufactured die and stack it above the CPU chiplet.

The L3 cache die uses direct copper-to-copper bonding and high-density Through Silicon Vias (TSVs) for connection.

This means that the added 64MB can combine with the already-present 32MB of L3 cache on an 8-core Zen 3 CCD to appear as 96MB seamlessly to the OS. The 64MB stacked L3 die’s cache also runs at the same clock speed as the CCD-based sibling, so significant performance drop-offs are not anticipated, other than a slight pinch of added latency.

Oh, and let’s not forget about the structural silicon that is added atop the CCD for mechanical integrity of the actual chip package, as well as cooling proficiencies.

The new chip does, however, come with slightly lesser clock speeds as there are some voltage operating limitations induced by the 3D V-Cache.

Now, AMD quotes 3.4GHz base and 4.5GHz boost for the 5800X3D versus 3.8GHz and 4.7GHz for the 5800X.

Critically, there’s also no overclocking support. That’ll be an irritation to tinkerers who love messing with the BIOS. Though the 105W TDP for an eight-core chip should give ample out-of-the-box power headroom for Precision Boost 2 to work its clock speed magic.

Who exactly is this $449 8-core processor with copious amounts of L3 cache intended for? Well, there are a couple of notable use cases, particularly where shifting data towards the memory is common.

There’s an argument that software engineering or code compile applications may benefit from the added L3 cache. That’s particularly true for workflows using software that doesn’t scale well (or cheaply in terms of license fees!) past sixteen threads.

Realistically, though, AMD is pushing the Ryzen 7 5800X3D as a gaming processor.

We have seen the benefit to gaming performance brought about by the cache improvements AMD made with Zen 2 and Zen 3. So, in essence, AMD is gunning for more of the same.

As always, though, AMD does have a slight trump card versus Intel in terms value, and that is the AM4 platform.

Yes, LGA 1700 and Z690 are far more feature-rich for 2022. But Z690 is also more expensive.

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D could potentially shine to current AM4 users who want a drop-in upgrade, particularly as this straightforward approach continues to diverge from Intel’s offering.

Oh AM4, if this processor is to be your last major outing, how we have loved your venerable longevity as a superb platform.

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DeepCool Castle 360EX A-RGB White Review https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/deepcool-castle-360ex-a-rgb-white-review/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cooling/luke-hill/deepcool-castle-360ex-a-rgb-white-review/#respond Thu, 07 Apr 2022 09:54:51 +0000 https://www.kitguru.net/?p=556139 This is one of the best looking AIO coolers on the market - but can it perform well too?

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DeepCool’s Castle 360EX all-in-one liquid cooler has already seen plenty of time on the market. But now, we have a revision that has been updated to include addressable RGB lighting alongside the clean, pure white colour scheme. With this latest revision, DeepCool retains the infinity mirror display on the pump, we get triple CF120 series PWM fans, and price tag is competitive at just under £115. Let’s take a closer look at this eye-catching, all-white 360mm AIO.

Video Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
00:56 Unboxing
01:31 A Closer look
01:53 ‘Anti Leak’ Technology & braided tubes
02:28 In house pump / coldplate / pump block
03:14 Powering the pump / Fans
04:35 RGB system (connections)
05:08 Warranty
05:46 Installation
06:41 Test hardware configuration
07:23 Test results
11:10 Luke's Closing Thoughts

Mounting hardware and accessories are provided for all Intel and AMD platforms, including LGA 1700 and Threadripper. You get some cables for handling the fans and their RGB lighting connections.

DeepCool also includes a manual LED lighting control box, but this clearly defeats the point of an addressable RGB cooler. So we expect this to stay firmly in the box while the motherboard header takes care of lighting.

DeepCool uses a conventional 27mm-thick aluminium radiator and the fins fill out roughly the entire volume of the radiator housing. That housing and its fins are coloured in a sleek, clean white to ensure consistency. There is a fill/drain port near the tubes, but this is for warranty purposes, not user maintenance.

Perhaps more important is the inclusion of DeepCool’s Anti-Leak technology on the radiator. This is via the EPDM pressure relief bag that contracts to create a void when pressure rises to relieve the pressure inside the radiator. In theory, this helps to reduce the risk of leakage, which is a clear positive.

The 465mm-long braided tubes have a decent degree of flexibility to them. They also maintain the clean white appearance of the rest of the cooler, though the white material will certainly get dirty quickly if it is touched by fingers regularly. Alongside the flexibility of the tubes, there is also a good degree of adjustment at the entry points to the block.

DeepCool’s in-house pump/coldplate design helps the vendor avoid any patent issues with Asetek or the likes. The copper cold plate is a sizable area thus making it sufficient for large heatspreader coverage on Ryzen or Intel HEDT.

25% more skived fins on the copper cold plate’ is advertised on the DeepCool webpage. Though 25% more than what, is not exactly clear. Realistically, DeepCool is saying that the copper plate has a large enough surface area to allow for appropriate heat dissipation.

Physically, the pump-block unit is massive; it measures in at 86x75x71 mm. This is clearly not an ITX-friendly pump-block design. The overall design is cylindrical and maintains the consistent white colour scheme.

DeepCool deploys the eye-catching infinity mirror display that features the brand name. The top cover can be removed so that the name plate can be rotated in 90-degree intervals to allow for correct alignment of the orientation, irrespective of one’s installation preference.

There is also eye-catching ARGB LED lighting that shines through the infinity mirror display, as well as in a ring around the pump block unit. The dual-chamber pump itself is 3-pin 12V DC-powered by a 3-phase motor. It runs at a speed rating of 2550 RPM.

The trio of DeepCool’s CF120 A-RGB PWM fans feature an all-white housing alongside translucent blades. This maintains the white theme of the entire AIO and allows the 12 LED on each fan to shine brightly through the blades.

The Hydro Bearing 120mm fans are rated at 500-1800 RPM via the 4-pin PWM connector. The low-speed limit of 500 RPM is likely fine for most usage. It’s not as good as the lower bottom limits we see from some more expensive competing options, but it is fine for the price point.

ARGB lighting is handled by the proprietary connector that inserts into the DeepCool-supplied break-out cable. Motherboard A-RGB control is the go-to mode, and this is very much preferable over third-party software in my opinion.

Kudos to DeepCool for (sensibly) using white colouring for the fan and LED connection cables. This – once again – helps to maintain the overall white appearance. A pair of connectors emanate from the pump-block unit and each of the 120mm fans. These are for power/speed control and RGB lighting.

I’m perfectly fine with this number of cables as only the two from the pump-block unit are difficult to hide. However, I do not like that DeepCool is using proprietary connectors for its LED lighting interface. This necessitates the use of an adapter from the motherboard’s standard RGB or A-RGB header.

Warranty is clearly an area where DeepCool’s offering is weak. Even at the roughly £115 current selling price, 3 years of coverage is poor for a 360mm AIO. We’d typically expect to see 5 years or better at this segment of the market. So that’s one thing to bear in mind.

Installation is a multi-step process, but it is not difficult. You first screw the appropriate brackets onto the bottom of the pump-block unit. The default AM4 backplate is held in position with four of DeepCool’s thumbscrew stand-offs. The pump-block unit then sits on these stand-offs and is screwed into position.

Then the radiator and fans can be installed, the cables connected, and the DeepCool logo inside the infinity mirror display rotated as desired. There are a lot of cables with the ARGB approach via a break-out connector, but they are easy to hide round the back of the motherboard tray.

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