Introduction

The PC Cabinet space has seen a lot of changes in the recent years, both good and bad. It has certainly traversed a long way, and the cabinet has now become as much of a pièce de résistance of the PC build as it is just a humble container for the components. While I dont really mind much when manufacturers go to extreme lengths to just make a cabinet look better, it does get on my nerves when they choose to ignore the features and primary purpose of the cabinet in lieu of aesthetics, and use good looks as a justification for exorbitantly high prices. In this era of apparent hopelessness, comes the NZXT’s Source series as a breath of fresh air. With it’s simplistic styling, ample room and abundant features all at a reasonable price, it has earned the respect of many PC builders.

This review is of the Source 530, the biggest cabinet in the Source series.

Specifications

Packing and Accessories

The Source 530 comes in a corrugated cardboard packing which is pretty much standard for PC cases. On the front of the package is a front view render of the case. On the left side, an angular projection of the Source 530 in all it’s glory is printed out as a promo, and the right side features, ahem, the various features of the case. Vents are cut out in the front and back of the packing to make carrying it easier.

Inside the packing, you’ll find the case wrapped in a plastic sheet to shield it from moisture and dust. Styrofoam packing inserts are given in the top and bottom of the case to protect it from any shocks encountered while transit. A user manual is also provided with the case to help you with your build.

Packing Front

Packing Left

Packing Right

Packing Inside

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Exterior

The Source 530 has a fully meshed front panel covered around the edges by plastic. The steel mesh is slightly angled on the top-right and bottom left portion. On the top portion of the front panel you’ll find an embossed NZXT logo, two USB 3.0 ports and 3.5 mm jacks for audio in and out. Below that there are three tool free (latch type detachable) 5.25″ bay covers that are also meshed to give a uniform look.

Exterior Front

Exterior Front Angled Parts

Exterior Front Drive Bays

Exterior Front IO

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The right side lip of the plastic edge is slotted on the top for three buttons; Power, Reset and a third button that lights LEDs provided on the back for rear I/O. Pretty cool and innovative! The left side panel has a trapezoid shaped transparent window rivetted to it. The right side panel is just the regular plain steel. The side panels can be removed by removing the thumb screws on the back and simply sliding them out (duh!!!).

Exterior Right

Right Lipped Part Slot for Buttons

Exterior Left

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The top of the case is again, meshed(but with slightly bigger holes and pitch for exhaust). The top is slightly elevated at the middle to provide more clearance for thick radiators and/or fans. Three 120mm/Two 140mm fans and/or radiators can be mounted at the top. The mounting holes are kept slotted to account for any tolerances and position adustments.

Exterior Top

On the back of the case is the normal arrangement of one 120/140mm exhaust fan mount(with slotted mounting holes) and the backpanel slot at the top, eight expansion slot covers at the middle and the PSU mount at the bottom. Apart from these, you’ll also find 2 rubber grommets at the mid-right portion for passing through the tubes in case you’ve got an external water cooling setup. Pretty handy.

Exterior Back

Expansion

Grommets

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On the bottom of the case there is a tray type dust filter provided that can be slid out easily. Also, four rubber pads are given to keep the chassis stable and fixed.

Exterior Bottom

Exterior Bottom-Dust Filter

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Interior

Removing the front panel exposes mounts for two 120/140mm fans or one 200mm fan.

Interior Front

Front Panel Removed

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The left side of the chassis accomodates the motherboard tray, the drive and PSU bays. The motherboard tray comes prefitted with standoffs. It has an assymetrically placed cutout to provide access to the CPU Cooler backplate. Apart from this five other cutouts are provided for cable management. All the coutouts are hemmed to provide smooth edges. On the PSU bay, six rubber dampeners are provided to keep PSU induced vibrations and noise to a minimum. There is also space for an additional 120 mm fan towards the front of the PSU bay. The three 5.25″ external drive bays are tool-free and have latches to hold the drive in place. Below these are three modular 3.5″ drive cage sections that can house a total of upto 6 drives(Top Section-3; Mid Section-2; Bottom Section-1).The top section has a tiltable 120mm fan mount attached to it.

Interior Left

Interior Left w. Drive Cages Removed

Removed Drive Cages

Drive Cage

Drive Tray

Drive Bay Latch

PSU Rubber Dampeners

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On the right side you’ll find a 2.5″ Drive mount, perfect for low profile SATA SSDs. Adjacent to this NZXT has provided a PCB with all the chassis fan connections (FAN1-FAN11) broken out. Really helpful to keep the wiring organized when you use more than 4 fans in your chassis.

Interior Right

2.5″ Drive Mount

Fan Connections PCB

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NZXT provides two 120mm fans with the Source 530 case. One fitted at the back and the other at the top.

The Build

Specs:

Images:

Build Interior

CPU Cooler

Front Fans

Side Window

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Temps:

Closing Thoughts

I must say I’m pretty impressed with the Source 530. Not only does it look simple and inconspicuous (No one’s gonna stare at THIS like it’s something that’s come straight out of a sci-fi movie!!!), it’s also a pretty capable performer in it’s own right. The temps achieved in our tests were pretty stable and well under control. For anyone who’s looking for a simple looking cabinet with a good build quality, I highly recommend having a look at the Source 530. Trust me. You wouldn’t be disappointed in the slightest.

The post NZXT Source 530 Full Tower Case Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

QZ-HD01 Specifications

Gallery

The Box:

QZ-HD01 HDD Dock with accessories:

Closeup of USB3.0 cable end connectors:

12V Adapter:

Build Quality

The overall build quality of the Dock is quite good. The plastic used seems to be ABS, but I may be wrong. The outer surface of the ‘bed’ has fine-grain matte texture – it looks similar to sandblasted powder coated finish. The plastic below the logo is translucent black with glossy finish under which Power and Data LEDs are present. The drive fits snugly into the SATA connectors when sliding it along the drive bay. You just need to apply gentle pressure for the SATA connector to snap in. The newer version of the dock now comes with a lid which completely encloses the harddrive. The dock as a whole, could have been more sturdier.

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Inside QZ-HD01 – PCB and ASM1153E chipset:

The PCB is secured to the dock using 5 screws. The top layer of the PCB consists of the power circuit along with Power Switch, DC input Jack, USB 3.0 Type B connector, Power and Data LEDs. The power circuit includes FP6115 switching buck convertor IC. Now lets see what we have at the bottom layer of the PCB.

If not yet obvious, the first thing to note is that the Sata to USB Translator PCB incorporates ASMedia ASM1153E chipset. ASMedia is well known to Computer Enthusiasts and System builders since its controllers are commonly found on High-End Motherboards.

Here is a closeup of the ASM1153E on the PCB:

Overall the PCB quality is good with some hand-soldered components. I couldn’t find any flaw with hand soldered components, all pads were covered up properly.

Benchmarks

The test Rig which I used for benchmarking is as follows :

ASM1153E chipset based QuantumZero QZ-HD01 delivers exceptional performance, given its price, as shown in benchmarks below. For benchmarks the following softwares were used:

• Crystal Diskmark v5.2.1 x64
• ATTO Disk Benchmark v3.04
• Diskmark

The tests were performed on Hitachi HDS72101 1TB 7200RPM Harddrive.

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Final Thoughts

The post QuantumZERO QZ-HD01 USB3.0 SATA Hard Drive Dock Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Specifications

KZ ED

KZ ES

Packing and Accessories:

The earphones came in separate cardboard boxes. For 14.75$, I really wasn’t expecting a whole lot of accessories (provided that I got 2 earphones at this price). So, I wasn’t disappointed (or pleasantly surprised ;-)) when I opened the box to find only the earphones with multiple pairs of silicone buds.

Packing

ES (on the left) and ED (on the right)

Silicone Buds (Left: ES; Right: ED)

Build Quality:

Both the earphones come with an inline mic and a single button remote. The cables are of fairly decent quality with negligible memory. They are sheathed in a translucent dark brown sleeve. The silicone earbuds provided with these earphones are pretty comfortable and fit snugly in the ear. The driver housing is the only distinguisishing feature (physically speaking) between the two earphones. In ES the drivers are housed in a cylindrical metal casing with a dark grey glossy finish. In ED the housing is a slightly tapered black colored cylinder with a diamond knurled outer surface, a meshed back and a gold finish nearing the nozzle. While The ED also has Red and Blue rings indicating the left and Right positions, the ES has straighforward L and R markings on the housing surface.

Overall, both appear to be well built and somewhat durable.

Driver Housing (Left: ES; Right: ED)

Nozzle (Left: ES; Right: ED)

Performance:

This is the part where the differences between the two start to emerge.

The performance of ES was a letdown. While the bass output was clear and punchy, heavily recessed mids and a bland treble performance ruined the whole deal for me. Compared to what most IEMs at this price range offer, I really wouldn’t call this outright terrible. Just mediocre, reiterating how cheap I got it for.

On the other hand, the ED, boy oh boy did it surprise me. After listening to the ES, I was preparing myself for another disappointment. I am happy to admit that I was wrong in thinking so. The bass was as clear and booming as can be and the mids and sub bass were slightly recessed. The treble output, while not as sharp as I’d like it to be, wasn’t that bad either. And the soundstage was as wide as can be expected in a low cost IEM.

To sum it up, while the ES has a more bassy sound signature, the ED has a more neutral tone that is just slightly prejudiced towards the bass.

Conclusion:

Now, the million dollar question that begs to be asked is are these worth it? About the ES, it really isn’t the only earphone on the market with a sound signature that is biased towards the lower frequencies, so I can’t in my right conscience recommend it. The ED, however, is honestly a pretty good IEM. A quick price check on AliExpress shows the ED priced between 8-15$. Anything below 10$, this earphone is the real deal, a steal. I know I sound like a telemarketer here, but trust me, I wouldn’t be saying this if it weren’t so. Above that however, it comes dangerously close to the price of Soundmagic’s ES18S. Between the two of them at that price point, the ES18S does have a slightly warmer sound signature and has more spark on the treble . Overall, it is the better performer. But then again the ED does surpass the ES18S in terms of build quality. So, it all comes down to preference. With that said, Kudos to KZ Acoustics for making a ridiculously low priced IEM that would put many higher priced ones to shame.

KZ ED

KZ ES

The post KZ ED special edition & ES earphones review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

The past few years has seen a drift in this scenario, with a few OEMs consistently pushing out high performance earphones that also won’t put much of a burden on your wallets. Soundmagic is one of these brands. It’s E10S has repeatedly been awarded best budget earphone awards from multiple highly reputed sources. This, however, is a review of Soundmagic’s cheapest offering, the ES18S.

Specifications:

Packing and Accessories:

ES18S comes in a thermoformed plastic clamshell package within a printed cardboard cover. With the earphones we get 3 pairs of silicone earbuds, a rather nice black pouch and a clip. Nothing more to say here.

Packing

Accessories

Build Quality:

The ES18S has an inline mic and a single button remote for call accept/end and play/pause. A unique feature in these earphones is a CTIA-OMTP(read more about about 3.5mm audio jack here) switch, which ensures that this earphone would be compatible with all phones sporting a 3.5 mm jack. Although a pretty noble feature, I do have one issue with this. The switch doesn’t really appear to be of that great a quality, and if it gets damaged, it could possibly render the earphone useless. So I’d suggest you to stick with a position, and not to over(ab)use this switch. If you do want to use this earphone in both modes, a better solution would be to use an adapter. This way, the solution would be independent of the earphones, and you could use it with other earphones as well. The drivers used in the ES18s are housed in a Plastic Casing, with small L and R markings. The cable, although silicone, does have a fair bit of memory. I suggest wrapping the cables over under to avoid the cable getting mangled up(I actually suggest doing this with every cable. But in cables with memory, this is especially a must).

3.5mm TRRS Jack

Mic with Single Button Remote

CTIA-OMTP Switch

Performance:

The performance of this earphone impressed me in a lot of ways. But it does have its own quirks. The bass response is too good, and much better than what other earphones (that I’m aware of) offer at this price range. The mids and highs, however, are a slight letdown. It’s not that the ES18S has poor mid frequency and treble performance. The mids are OK, ie, they are not muddied or anything, but they aren’t that impressive as well. The treble response, on the other hand, is actually really good. Just the right amount without being harsh on the ears. So, why did I say it’s a slight letdown?

Well, the bass response is slightly (mind you, REALLY SLIGHTLY) overpowering, and covers the mids and highs in some places. But believe me, unless you’re a treblehead and prefer your highs a little on the harsher side, it’s highly unlikely you’ll ever notice it. With most earphones at this price offering Pathetic (and I do mean Pathetic, with a capital P!) treble response to say the least, I guess I cant really complain much. I suppose SoundMagic took the easy way out here to overcome sibilance.

The Soundstage on these earphones are a bit on the narrower side, but we cant really have everything now, can we?!?! Besides, I really dont think you should be looking for a low end IEM if you really are concerned about the soundstage performance.

The inline Mic in these earphone are average. They provide more than adequate performance for a phone call, which is the primary reason they are included anyways.

Conclusion:

All things said, the ES18S does offer exceptional value for money. Would I recommend these as a High Performance Primary earphone? Depends on what your budget is. Would I recommend these as a cheap on the go earphone? In a Heartbeat.

The post SoundMagic ES18S Earphone Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Its been years since android is introduced , we have always found that only the nexus line been providing performance + budget friendly combo all together in a sweet package. recently, this opinion is being changed by some companies who fight neck to neck to take that crown which nexus has been holding from a long time. Here we have another contender who have joined the bandwagon about 6-7 months ago but has reached the indian shore recently, the Oneplus One!!. Lets find out whether its worth the price tag of 21999/- rupees, and does it justifes their companies motto “NEVER SETTLE” tag. First lets gp through Specs and Unboxing.

Specifications:

Unboxing:

Oneplus , the company came with an idea to create one device with all the features of a flagship while being easy on your wallet. As a result , “One” is their first device which is crafted the way the company wanted it to be. i.e , a device that looks stylish with an OS which is loved and supported by millions of users for its customization feature along with top of the line specs with a sweet price tag of 21999/- rupee it seems the company is on a right track for fulfilling their motto.Oneplus One has the specs to blow out any enthusiasts mind who has been a fanboy or had a thought that a flagship killer can’t be sold at this price. Oneplus One runs with Qualcomm snapdragon 801 chipset clocked at 2.5Ghz,has 3gb DDR3 ram, shockingly a 64gb inbuilt storage ( yes I meant 64gb !!),all powered with a juicy li polymer 3100 mAh battery(non removable).

UI Screenshots:

Design:

The design of the device is very simple yet stylish, buttons located at perfect location ,has a 5.5 inch display yet it doesn’t feel clumsy or big when held in hand, the back is designed to give a sandstone feel along with a Oneplus logo sitting below the camera.the device has 1 sim slot which can take a micro sd card(people with nano sim doesn’t need to worry u get an nano to micro sim sachet tray for it in the box.). It has a usb 2.0 micro usb for charging and for data exchange with pc or OTG. the device sports 3 microphones, one besides the camera, one on the top of the device while the 3rd one at the bottom and finally the device has an led notifier (multicolored).

Display:

The Oneplus one has a 5.5 inch full hd JDI screen with gorilla glass 3 on top of it to protect it from scratch or damage.the viewing angles on this device is pretty damn awesome. Looking it at from any side angle will always give u the same image that u might expect. Well the company claims of 178 degree viewing angle , is proving to be 100% right.

Camera:

Coming onto the camera, the device is packed with a 13 mp main shooter , with aperture of f/2.0 and a 5 mp front shooter for all those selfie fans out there. The image sensor on both front and back camera is pretty damn awesome and man the software side of the camera is easy and has pretty cool features in it too!. The camera outputs are great that you would expect.also the device supports 4k video recording, slow mo recording(60fps at 1080p,120 fps at 720p) too.

Speakers:

The speakers on this device are dual speakers, located at the bottom of the device, and they are loud enough as u can expect it to be. Talking about the audio, if u are an audiophile, u would simply love its EQ settings which comes pre-installed. There are many preset modes for your headsets, Bluetooth device , speakers , as well as custom settings which u can do to adjust according to your taste.

Multimedia Support:

Looking over the multimedia support the device supports a variety of multimedia formats.in audio it supports MP3, AAC, AMR, OGG, M4A, MID, WMA, FLAC, APE, AAC, WAV etc while recording in AAC and M4A.while for video it supports MP4, H.263, H.264, RMVB, FLV720P while recording in MP4. Image formats are JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP and outputs in JPEG. Raw outputs also supported.

Software:

Coming to the software, its designed by cyanogen team by creating the rom from scratch just for the Oneplus One basically known as cyanogen 11S. The software is as close to pure Android yet there are many options to play with it. For ex, u can change themes, Icons, fonts, button layouts, gestures, etc name it and its already there. Oneplus One is on Kitkat 4.4.4 and will get updates fast as promised by the Oneplus community.(The OTA issue is discussed below).

Performance:

Throw any app at it, it runs flawlessly without a sight of lag. The device wont go down at any cost and will keep up unless it has juice left in it.For gamers out there, this device is a smoking game machine. talking about the juice ( battery life) I would say this thing stays on for atleast 2 days on normal usage and should suffice for a day if you are a hardcore users. I tested out the device using continuous mail syncing, facebooking , instagraming (all on 3g), video recording(slow mo and stuff),gaming, whatsapping etc. I was still left with 5% of battery life at the end of the day with more than 4 hours of screen usage.thats pretty impressive from a phone with this specs and pricing.while playing video loops on the device gave impressive timing of more than 9 hours 30 mins life.Very few Devices have this steady juice capacity to provide even on hardcore use.Also there are 3 preset battery saver modes added to adjust the milage of the device battery according to your usage.Oh one more thing to share,Oneplus One doesn’t heat much at all. Mostly u will just feel a little warmth when playing 3d games that’s it, it doesn’t feel like it would melt in your hands or your hands would burn or anything like that.

The OTA ISSUE

Recently there was an official statement from cyanogen team that it wont give OTA updates to Oneplus one that is purchased locally (i.e from amazon india).While the One that is bought from the global site is updatable and will be supported by cyanogen. This statement came out just before the launch of Oneplus one in india and even the Maker of the device was shocked with the decision cyanogen made. The actual reason behind it is the partnership of cyanogen with an Indian mobile maker company which makes them exclusively sole company to use the cyanogen rom(which is being used by the Oneplus one currently) in India. But there’s a way around it for those who already purchased Oneplus One from the Amazon stores. If you are familiar with cyanogenmod roms flashing systems(most of you would of course be) then you can flash the rom updates of Oneplus one global devices straightly by downloading it from their websites. Otherwise Oneplus has made annnouncement that they will provide lollipop update (community build by end of December) final build by February. So there is no need to be afraid of the OTA issue or any update issues as the company has promised it will support the device for 2 yrs minimum. (Rejoice indian Oneplus one users)

Conclusion

Pros :

• Excellent battery life.
• Top of the line performance.
• LTE support.
• Highly customizable.
• Good Bang for Buck.
• Vast Database for helpful users on forums.

Cons :

• Camera performance is good.
• But Lack Of OIS makes low light image Grainy or dull.

The post Oneplus One Review and the OTA issue clarification appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Introduction

Hi everyone, this time we’ll be reviewing the GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 motherboard. The GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 motherboard is made with the latest Intel Z97 chipset and targeted towards the mainstream to hardcore gamers as well as enthusiasts. It supports the latest Intel Haswell refresh series of CPUs and packs a lot of features.

Here is the link to the motherboard(GIGABYTE official site) : GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 motherboard. This is a full sized ATX motherboard and features Killer E2200 LAN and Realtek ALC 1150 115 dB SNR audio for a complete gaming experience. Lets move on to the specs as shown on GIGABYTE website:

The post GIGABYTE GA-Z97X-Gaming 7 Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Introduction and specifications

Hi everyone, hope you are all well and doing good. A few months back, I got a Dell S2240M and herein decide to write a review since Dell’s S series monitor lineup has proven itself to be very popular to the consumers. Before going into the details, I will briefly explain some of the terms and fields commonly used for monitors.

Resolution:
Resolution of a monitor is defined as the number of pixels in each coordinate, expressed in width(x) * height(y) with respect to pixels. Example: A resolution of 1024*768 means that there are 1024 pixels on the x axis and 768 pixels on the y axis. Higher is better in terms of productivity.

Aspect Ratio:
Aspect ratio in a monitor is defined as the ratio of its width to height calculated either with respect to number of pixels or physical lengths. Thus the aspect ratio of a 1024*768 would be (1024:768) = 4:3. The value is usually expressed in fraction to make the user aware of the physical dimensions of the monitor.

Contrast Ratio:

Contrast ratio are of two types: Static and Dynamic.

Response time:
Response time is defined as the time taken for a pixel to change from one color to another i.e. the color transition time. Response time determines the measure of probable ghosting which can be noticeable in fast moving images especially in games and some movies. This value is usually expressed in some specific color transition times in milliseconds. Lower the time, faster the color change. So a lower value is better.
If you are a hardcore gamer, then you would want to make sure that you get a monitor with low response time to prevent ghosting.

Pixel pitch:
Pixel pitch is the distance between two pixels either horizontally or vertically and measures how close one pixel is from another.

Viewing angle:
Viewing angle is the maximum angle in which the images on the screen can be seen without much appreciable color change. This is a very important aspect for a good display and is a measure of the color accuracy of the screen. You would like to have a screen with good viewing angles if you plan to enjoy your PC with your family or friends. It is expressed in angles horizontally and vertically. A viewing angle of 170 degree horizontal means the image on the screen can be seen without much distortion making 85 degree angle to the left and 85 degree angle to the right. Same goes for the vertical value in terms of top and down views.

Brightness:
This value is a measure of the screen luminance without the backlight expressed per unit area of the screen. In other words, it is luminous intensity of the transistors without the backlight per unit area. A higher value signifies a better quality display. Expressed in candela/m^2 (cd/m^2).

So that is the theory part. Here are the specifications of the monitor.

• Resolution: 1920*1080(Full HD)
• Screen size: 22 inches(diagonal)
• Aspect Ratio: 16:9
• Contrast Ratio: 1000:1(Static) , 8 million:1
• Pixel pitch: 0.248mm
• Brightness: 250 cd/m^
• Viewing angle: 178 degree both horizontally and vertically
• Panel type: In Plane Switching(IPS)
• Backlight module: LED

There are mainly 3 types of panel used in monitors. TN(Twisted Nematic), IPS(In Plane Switching) and VA(Vertical Alignment). TN panel is known for limited viewing angles/limited color accuracy and fast response times. IPS panel is known for wide viewing angle and high color accuracy but slow response times. VA panel is known for exceptional contrast ratio(deeper blacks), fast response times but inferior viewing angles and color accuracy than IPS panel. You can read about these elsewhere.

Close ups and build quality

First of all, sorry for not including the unboxing and packaging section because I suddenly planned to write the review for this monitor. I will add it if someone I know buys the same model.

So this is how the monitor looks.

The monitor is a beauty to look at even when it is turned off. The screen is glare(hard coating 3H). So the screen is glossy. Glossy screens can cause problems in brightly lit environment but offers superior sharpness and contrast when compared to matte finish panels. Also, the bezel is very thin and is “virtually borderless” as Dell says in their website.

Here is the rear of the monitor. There is a stylish Dell logo which looks good. I was disappointed that this does not have provision for wall mount(VESA).

The port choices are DVI and VGA. Please note that the S2240″M” comes with VGA and DVI whereas the S2240″L” comes with VGA and HDMI. Both use the same panels. So this can also be considered as a review of the S2240L with respect to picture quality.

The monitor is slim and occupies a small foot print. We have seen better stand design though especially oval ones from Samsung, LG, BenQ etc. On the optimistic side, the stand is sturdy and the monitor stands rigidly.

The buttons are on the right side faced towards the rear. It is a good approach and enhances the aesthetics. You have to get used to the buttons because they are not marked except the power.

A calm white LED glows when the monitor is active. The light changes to amber when the monitor enters standby mode.

Build quality is quite good except near the borders where pressing the panel causes backlight bleed.

Real world performance

Here are some photos of the inbuilt menu interface: Pretty much self explanatory.

Color modes are given as preset. You can also customize Red, Green and Blue values by selecting “Custom color” mode.

Most of these settings are applicable for VGA interface.

Energy smart is a feature with which the monitor dynamically adjusts the backlight based on what is displayed on the screen. Like when the screen has a lot of dark scenes, the backlight is reduced. On the other hand, the backlight is increased when there are a lot of bright elements on the screen.

DDC/CI stands for Display Data Channel. It is a dedicated signal through the cable which lets the graphics card identify the monitor by its device and vendor ID and also receives some specifications of the monitor like maximum supported resolution, refresh rate etc.

LCD conditioning is needed when there is some image burn-in in the screen due to the same image displayed on the screen for a long time. You can think of this like your eyes also. If you stare at a bright light source for sometime, it appears as if the image is retained in the eye and then it slowly disappears. Same happens with LCD panels but sometimes, LCD conditioning needs to be done to minimize image burn-in.

Shortcuts for frequently used: You can change them as you need.

This is the secret factory menu and shows the offset values and gain. It also displays the total time the screen remained powered on.

And here is the real time performance:

There is negligible color shift in those angles as promised by the 178 degree viewing angle specification based on the IPS panel.
Only in the last picture taken from the top, the contrast is slightly lost and the black level also. Here is a different set of images:

Here also in the photos based on top and bottom color accuracy at an angle, the contrast is slightly lost and the black level is worsened. But note that the black level only gets worse in the diagonals. Here’s the reason:

So yes, that is some bad IPS bleed I am afraid. In real time bright pictures, it might not be noticeable to this extent but dark scenes will look bad. This phenomenon of IPS panel can be termed as IPS light bleed. Basically the diagonal viewing angles are not good.
From a distance, the problem will be reduced by quite an extent.

Black level is average for an IPS panel. The corners are lit up not due to backlight bleed but due to IPS light bleed as I explained above. Please note that backlight bleed is a kind of lottery for various monitors. Some have none and some have very annoying backight bleed. I seem to be on the lucky side so far.

So horizontal viewing angle is very good. Vertical viewing angles are okay but definitely much better than TN panels. Color accuracy is excellent.

About response time, this monitor has got a high response time of 7 ms with which some gamers might not be happy about. However in reality, it did not give much issues. But color transition from light blue to moderately dark green caused some ghosting which was visible while I was playing Medal of Honor Warfighter.
I hardly noticed any other issues.

Conclusion

Pros:

• Wide viewing angles
• Rigid stand
• Premium looks
• Excellent color accuracy
• Good ergonomics
• Very good price to performance ratio

Cons:

• Bad IPS bleed when viewing dark scenes from a diagonal angle
• No wall mount support
• 7 ms response time might make some gamers unhappy

Verdict:

Thanks for reading. Suggestions and feedbacks are warmly welcome. Do not hesitate to ask any questions you might have and I will try my best to answer.

The post Dell S2240M Full HD IPS monitor review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Introduction

Hey Folks , this time we will be reviewing Noctua’s 2 Mid-Range CPU coolers viz. NH-U12S and NH-U14S. These days the trend on forums is such that , if there is no mention of Nocuta in serious discussions relating to CPU Coolers than its considered incomplete; Hmm. Noctua Products are now synonymous with Quality Stuff. Customer Service wise Noctua has been in the lead and with 6 years warranty you could ask for nothing more! NH-U12S is a slimmer version of NH-U14S. This means that, with NH-U12S the real estate surrounding your RAM slots won’t be Hijacked! For NH-U14S that won’t be a problem for LGA2011. With more bulky Air Coolers swapping RAM sticks has been a real big pain in the ass.

NH-U14S features a 6×2 heat-pipe design and U12S features a 5×2 heat-pipe design. Obviously U14S has more Surface area for dissipating heat and 2 additional heat-pipes as compared to U12S. So how much difference is that gonna make, thermal performance wise? Well, we’ll see that shortly. The design of the aluminum fins for both is similar. Its much like a symmetric butterfly design elongated along the horizontal axis when viewed from top. I kinda like this design. The base and the heat pipes, as usual, are copper with soldered joints and have Nickle plated coating.

Fans in Air Coolers are one of the most important part which regulates the air flow through the fins and directly affects the performance of the coolers. The goods news is that NH-U12S comes bundled with 120mm NF-F12 PWM Fan which is one of the quietest CPU cooler Fan around , while NH-U14S comes bundled with 140mm NF-A15 PWM Fan which has performance similar to NF-F12. These fans have very low noise levels and also feature a Low Noise Adapter which reduces speed from 1500 rpm to 1200 rpm to further reduce the noise. And yes , not to mention that these fans support PWM by which the FAN speed can be controlled. Frankly, NF-F12 is one of my favorite CPU Fan. Noctua also bundles extra fan clips and an extra set of custom-designed anti-vibration pads if you want to add a second NF-F12(U12S) or NF-A15(U14S) for creating a push/pull setup. We will see, in our results, if push/pull setup configuration offers any significant advantage over single fan setup for both the coolers.

Compatibility wise both these coolers are good. The SecuFirm2 mounting system used for these coolers offers a, sort-of, broad spectrum compatibility for both Intel(except LGA775/1336) and AMD sockets. These coolers are compatible down to LGA775 and LGA1366 socket with ‘optional’ NM-I3 mounting kit which can be obtained from Noctua for free if you can provide them the proof of purchase , which as far as I recall is needed for both CPU Cooler and Motherboard. For future compatibility Noctua says (on their website) :

“If technically possible, Noctua will also provide upgrade kits for future sockets.”

Well, fingers crossed!

Finally these coolers come with NT-H1 Thermal Compound which is Noctua’s very own ‘professional grade TIM solution’. Equipped with high performance Fans and Thermal Compound – How will these coolers perform as compared to V8GTS , NH-D14 ? We’ll check that out in our results.

The post Noctua NH-U12S & NH-U14S CPU Cooler Review for AMD appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Introduction:

Today we will be looking at Noctua’s Sound and Static Pressure optimized Focused Flow fans. Now Noctua has always been a very great company in making revolutionary heat sinks and fans with a superb built quality which lasts long. NF-F12 are static pressure optimized fans so they are better on heat sinks and radiators. These are PWM fans which means the fan speed could be controlled using the duty mode inside the BIOS of your motherboard.

Here is a snippets from the product page on Noctua’s site:

Teaming up eleven stator guide vanes with a specially conceived seven blade impeller, the NF-F12’s Focused Flow system creates outstanding static pressure and focuses the airflow for superior performance on heat sinks and radiators. At the same time, a wide range of advanced aerodynamic design measures, second generation SSO-Bearings and Noctua’s new, custom designed PWM IC for fully automatic control guarantee astounding quietness of operation. The NF-F12 comes with modular cabling, integrated anti-vibration pads and two speed settings for full flexibility. Its commanding performance, exhaustive set of features and Noctua’s trusted premium quality make it an elite choice for use on air coolers, radiators and other pressure demanding applications.

Specifications:

Product Showcase:

Noctua NF-F12 comes in a premium packaging as all other Noctua products. This is the front side of the box which shows the branding, name of the product and lists some of its main features.

The upper cover on the front side opens up like a flip and gives you a sneak peek at the fan from the back side and shows 3 anti-vibration rubbers. It also explain about the fan and its features in brief.

The back side of the box shows the specifications, warranty and description of fans in many languages.

On fliping the back side on we can see all the features and technologies in the fan.

Inside the box we get the fan itself with accessories inside a plastic packaging and a user manual.

Along with the fan pre attached with the anti-vibration pads on the edges, we get a Y-cable, a Low Noise Adapter which brings down the fan speed to 1200 RPM, an extension cable of 30cm and 4 anti-vibration rubber to attach the fan to case if you wish.

Noctua NF-F12 looks just like other fans except its focused flow frame which helps the air to be directed in one straight direction.

This is the back side of the fan.

Juts a look at the fan from an angle.

The PWM connector of the fan obviously with 4 pins.

A look at the focused flow frame which helps the air to go in one straight direction.

The 3 gaps you can see on the focused flow frame blade increases the turbulence of the air which means more air pressure.

A closer look at the anti-vibration pad on the edge of the fan.

The inner surface microstructures inside the main frame create a turbulent boundary layer when the fan blade pass over it.

The direction of the airflow indicated at the bottom of the fan.

The 4 wires of a PWM fan. Black – GND(Ground), Yellow – +12V(+12Volts DC), Green – TACH(Tachometer which monitors fan speed.), Blue – PWM(Pulse Width Modulation).

Test Setup, Performance, Power Consumption & Acoustics:

Test Setup:

Cooling Custom Liquid Cooling (CPU Water Block: EK Supreme HF Full Nickel, Tubing: Primochill Primoflex LRT, Pump: Swiftech MCP655, Reservoir: Swiftech MC RES-Micro Rev 2, Radiator: EK XTX 360, Fans: Noctua NF-F12 VS Scythe GT AP-30 4250 RPM)

The FX-8150 was tested with different clock speeds at different voltages at ambient temperature of 22C.

The radiator used is a 360 RAD so 3 of both the fans were used.

For putting load on cpu I used OCCT lin pack with AVX and ran each test for 30 minutes.

FX-8150 4.2GHz @ 1.25V, 4.5GHz @ 1.3375V, 4.7GHz @ 1.368V

• Custom Liquid Cooling with Noctua NF-F12 fans
• Custom Liquid Cooling with Scythe GT AP-30 4250 RPM fans

Performance:

The performance on this fan is impressive with a good amount of static pressure. The focused flow frame really helps the fan to direct the air in straight direction which reduces the wastage of airflow unlike the conventional fans. Unfortunately I don’t have any scientific equipment and conditions to measure the airflow or rather show the air moving in straight direction.

As you can see in the graphs there is a difference in the temperatures but the Scythe GT AP-30 spins at much more RPMs than NF-F12. NF-F12 spins at max RPM of 1500RPM whereas Scythe GT AP-30 spins at max RPM of 4250RPM. No doubt the Scythe GT AP-30 will outperform NF-F12 but at the cost of higher noise level and power consumption as well.

But Noctua NF-F12s are only useful when using it on lower or moderate fin density radiators say max of 20fpi and if used with higher fin density radiators then the radiators must be thin. Its simply because more the obstruction less the airflow at low fan speed.

Power Consumption:

Noctua NF-F12 consumes 0.6W whereas Scythe GT AP-30 consumes 6W at maximum speed. Hence power consumption on NF-F12 is very low.

Acoustics:

Noctua as we all know is very good at making silent fans. All the silent freaks out there will just love these fans. You practically don’t hear any noise at all. The vibration compensators provided with the fans also help a lot in reducing the noise a bit. With a low noise adaptor the fans spin at 1200RPM and you won’t hear anything since its noise level is less that 20dB anyway.

Conclusion & Final Verdict:

Conclusion:

Awesome fans from Noctua with optimized static pressure as well as low noise and power consumption. Even with low fans speed and low noise their performance is amazing.

Pros:

• Outstanding performance at low noise and fan speed
• Very good built quality
• 6 years warranty indicates a long life span
• Very low power consumption

Cons:

• Not so good for higher fin density radiators
• Looks may be a concern for some people

The post Noctua NF-F12 Focused Flow 120mm PWM FAN Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.

Introduction
Today we are reviewing The Ryos MK Pro which is the top of the line model in the Ryos MK series of keyboards. Other boards in the series include the Ryos MK Glow and Ryos MK. These boards do not ship with per-key lighting and other features found on the Ryos MK Pro and are priced accordingly.

Specifications:

• Per-key illuminated mechanical keyboard with 113 keys
• Advanced anti-ghosting with N-key rollover
• Choice of four CHERRY MX key switches
• 3 programmable thumbster keys (T1 – T3)
• 5 programmable macro keys (M1 – M5)
• 94 other programmable keys
• 1000 hz polling rate, 1 ms response time
• 1.8 m rear-exit braided cable
• 1 x audio in, 1 x audio out, 2 x USB 2.0 ports

With a choice of different switches, per-key lighting and two 32-bit ARM Cortex processors,Roccat pulled out everything they have on the Ryos MK Pro. The keyboard is priced at an hefty 170USD, but is it worth the price? we will know for sure.

The post Roccat Ryos MK Pro Keyboard Review appeared first on OCFreaks!.