Micro ATX gaming is continuing to gain popularity, so today we look at the Chillblast Fusion Raptor – a gaming system that is housed inside the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv mATX chassis. Powering the gaming system are a 4.4GHz Core i7 4790K CPU, MSI's GTX 960 Gaming graphics card, and a 120GB …

The widespread introduction of USB 3.1-capable components is already under way. That roll-out is currently centred around motherboards providing support for the 10Gbps ports, but further devices will make use of the higher speed connector in coming months. We get an early hands-on look at one of Asus' upcoming USB …

The 5820K has shown that a strong boost in CPU performance can be obtained for a reasonable price increase over the LGA 1150 Core i7 CPUs. And many of the X99 motherboards sit well below £200, making them affordable to enthusiast buyers. But where that entire value logic of Intel's …

ASRock is aiming to offer gamers an uncompromising set of features with its micro-ATX X99M Fatal1ty Killer motherboard. Doing so will require integration of the X99 chipset's features and the plentiful PCIe connectivity of Haswell-E CPUs. How does ASRock's gaming-series mATX offering stack up to the tough competition that is …

Arguably the most critical mainstay behind the inter-connectivity of modern technology devices is the Universal Serial Bus, or USB for short. The connection provides opportunity for an almost limitless level of connectivity that has redefined the way in which we use computing devices. So what does it take to make …

If you want to reduce the space taken up by your computer, without significant reduction in performance or functionality, opting for a micro ATX system has long been the most effective way of doing so. Can the performance of ATX parts be matched when the Gigabyte X99M-Gaming 5 motherboard's LGA 2011-3 …

In the computing world, bigger is usually better. But that doesn't stop us trying to squeeze the same performance out of something that is physically smaller in size. ‘Why?' you ask. Well, perhaps desk space is at a premium or maybe you simply never plan to use multiple graphics cards …

Perhaps one of the biggest surprises about Intel's most recent iteration of the High-End Desktop (HEDT) platform has been its relative affordability from the perspective of an enthusiast's budget. OK, DDR4 isn't cheap, and nor are processors starting at £300. But when you consider the additional cost over an LGA …

Forming the more competitively-priced option in MSI's LGA 2011-3 OC Series motherboard range, the X99S MPower aims to balance the requirements of overclockers, gamers, and enthusiasts at a sub-£190 price tag. Can the features, overclocking functionality, and likeable yellow and black colour scheme attract overclocking users to MSI's aggressively-priced X99S …

Everybody loves speed, and there's no easier way to enhance the snappiness of general usage tasks than by using a solid state drive. But the primary storage interface – SATA 6Gbps – saw its speed limit reached by fast SSD's more than two years ago. If you wanted higher performance, …

With the highest possible compute performance that consumers can purchase, Intel's Haswell-E processors and the X99 chipset make a viable combination for users with demanding workloads. If the price, features, and performance are right, there's nothing stopping a semi-professional buying a consumer-grade motherboard to house their LGA2011-3 CPU and DDR4 memory. Bearing that in mind, …

While the Haswell-E CPUs and X99-based motherboards of Intel's newest HEDT platform put a considerable dent in the pocket of any enthusiast, there are ways to lighten the cost burden. We recently reviewed the six-core 5820K and found it to be an excellent choice for users who value compute performance …

Gaming laptops are big business to consumers who want to play their titles at more than one specific location. You get the (relative) portability of a laptop and the computing power sufficient to play modern games at high resolutions. They're also a chance for competing companies to show off their …

There's an interesting point in the processor market and that is the position right where many enthusiasts will draw a line when buying their shiny new chip. While the octa-core, £770 Core i7 5960X is an undeniable powerhouse, it is also considerably past the budget threshold of many consumers. The …

One of the key technological advancements that the Haswell-E processors and Intel's latest High-End Desktop (HEDT) platform iteration have brought into the consumer limelight is DDR4. We compare three 16GB quad-channel memory kits from Corsair, G.Skill, and Kingston, all running at 3000MHz. Is there a specific set of ‘go-to' memory …

In case you missed our recent review of the Core i7 5960X, Intel's first consumer eight-core CPU is an all-round powerhouse with strong overclocking potential to boot. So what better way to analyse ASRock's X99 OC Formula motherboard than by pushing our 5960X as far as we can take it? …

While the X99 platform and its plentiful PCIe connectivity form a strong gaming foundation, the cost of an LGA2011-3 motherboard, DDR4 memory, and the Haswell-E CPU will put a considerable dent in any buyer's pocket. So when we see a gaming-orientated motherboard offering 3-way graphics capability, eight-core CPU support, and …

Intel's Haswell-E Core i7 5960X is an all-round powerhouse, there's no question about that. But a powerful chip is only a portion of the battle – an accompanying motherboard and high-speed RAM are essential in exploiting the processor's dizzying multi-core performance. Enter Asus' showcase motherboard for the latest HEDT chipset …

It's that time of year again – Intel is busy releasing the latest update to its enthusiast-orientated High-End Desktop (HEDT) platform. This time we're treated to a new processor based on the Haswell microarchitecture and an improved chipset sporting features appropriate for today's market. And this launch is a significant …

The latest revision of Intel’s High-End Desktop (HEDT) platform is upon us and that means one thing is for sure – new processors and motherboards. Bringing the HEDT platform to the feature-rich realms of 2014, new motherboards based around the LGA 2011-v3 socket will use an X99 chipset that possesses …

Intel's latest revision to its High-End Desktop (HEDT) platform is upon us and that means one thing is for sure – new processors and motherboards. Bringing the HEDT platform to the feature-rich realms of 2014, new motherboards based around the LGA 2011-v3 socket will use an X99 chipset that possesses …

The latest revision of Intel's High-End Desktop (HEDT) platform is upon us and that means one thing is for sure – new processors and motherboards. Bringing the HEDT platform to the feature-rich realms of 2014, new motherboards based around the LGA 2011-v3 socket will use an X99 chipset that possesses …

While Biostar may not be the first company that springs to mind when we ask you to name a motherboard vendor, the Taiwanese board maker does have a long history of providing well-priced Intel- and AMD-based components. We take a look at Biostar's competitively-priced Z97 flagship – the Hi-Fi Z97WE. …

Flagship parts on a mainstream platform can cause confusion for motherboard vendors. Do they go all-out, offering 4-way SLI and CrossFire via a PLX chip, with the knowledge that many people inclined for such configurations will use a HEDT platform instead? Or do they put that expenditure into a full-blooded …

Z87 saw cost-effective gaming-calibre motherboards take the limelight. All of the big vendors released at least one product that provided gaming-orientated features in a cost-effective package. Asus SKU of choice was the successful Hero – a board which ticked many of the boxes and did so with an efficient price …

Intel's 9-series chipset saw the widespread adoption of high-speed storage connections operating via the PCI Express interface. While the 10Gbps transfer speeds of SATA Express and M.2 connections were a noticeable speed boost over the ageing SATA 6Gbps interface, they were still a far cry from the bandwidth offered by …

Boards designed for extreme overclockers have been constants for all of Intel’s most recent platforms. Gigabyte hit success with the Z87X-OC motherboard by driving the overclocking-geared part to an aggressive mid-range price point. Many of the key overclocking-orientated features were still present, but the bank-busting price tag was not. Gigabyte …

Our review of the new Intel Core i7 4790K. It has been some time coming even though we have had an Intel sample for some time now. We wanted to take our time and not only review the processor but create a little overclocking guide for our readers buying one. We found a lot of interesting things - including some processor degradation when we pushed it too hard, for too long. All things considered Is this the processor you want to consider for your next system? What about Intel's new Intel’s NGPTIM? How does it overclock? How is power consumption? How does it rate beside the 4770K?

With growing adoption in laptops and portable devices, as well as desktop systems, 802.11ac WiFi continues to gain pace in the consumer market. With a theoretical transfer speed of well over a Gigabit per second, wirelessly, can the Linksys EA6900 802.11ac router prove that ultra high-speed WiFi connections are indeed …

Continuing our recent focus on gaming motherboards, we have the Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 7 in for review. Hitting retail with an aggressive sub-£140 price tag, Gigabyte is aiming to lure in potential buyers with the Gaming 7 motherboard's gaming-orientated features, striking colour scheme, and four-year warranty.  Fusing together the company's high-performance G1 Audio with …