Corsair H100i GTX review

Taking AIO Liquid cooling to your GTX performance level

Corsair H100i GTX review

We ensure that you review the innovative Corsair Hydro Series H100i GTX Series Liquid cooler. An all-in-one liquid CPU cooler for cases with 240mm radiator mounts. This updated revision CPU cooler is compatible with Corsair's LINK software. This enables you to program, customize and monitor this all-in-one liquid cooling solution on your processor. Armed with two SP120L PWM fans as well as a nice 240mm radiator the performance must be really good, along with Corsair's LINK integrated, it is possible to monitor temperatures, adjust cooling performance and customize LED lighting completely from your desktop.

You know, on earth of CPU coolers nothing ever stops developing. These days you may pick a hundred different heatpipe based coolers, where many are shaped, formed and priced exactly the same. The better heatpipe based coolers are wonderful though. Next in line are LCS systems (liquid cooling), the basic products are affordable, very easy to install pre-fab liquid cooling kits. We've seen and tested a lot of them as Corsair, Asetek, CoolIT etc all have interesting kits.

The bigger dilemma is cooling performance. The gear behind these kits are perfect yet the performance is usually battling a smaller included 120mm radiator with thin tubing and lacking coolant levels on account of missing reservoirs. To compensate FAN RPM comes up making a good-looking product noisy again. With that in mind Corsair did start to develop a new H series (for Hydro) coolers.

The product we test in specific could be the Corsair H100i GTX, an updated design with new cooling block and regulated control for pump and fans. Next to that what's interesting is the product is based on a 240mm radiator giving it a large amount of cooling expanse. It is a cooler series that is certainly easy around the eyes and has an relatively tool free installation. Next to some really good performance, the Corsair H100i GTX is compatible with Corsair's LINK software. You get together the LCS unit towards a USB port and so the software lets you program, customize and monitor this very easy to install Liquid Cooling solution. And hey inside new RGB concept, the brand at the top of the water-block could be configured with a color of your choice.

So without further ado, let's possess a peek on the Hydro Series Corsair H100i GTX and after that head onwards in the review.

Features

Corsair announced the all-in-one Hydro Series GT and GTX, the company’s most sophisticated liquid CPU cooler, as well as a new Hydro Series HG10 N780 Edition GPU cooling bracket for NVIDIA GeForce 700 Series graphics cards. Actually three products are actually launched recently, here an instant overview.
The Hydro Series H100i GTX liquid CPU cooler pairs two 120mm fans that has a 276x125x30 millimeter radiator to supply CPU cooling inside the most processor-intensive applications or quiet operation if your PC is idle. The H110i GT also incorporates a new generation, high-efficiency cooling block that has a striking facelift with logo inserts on the market and radiator. Integrated Corsair Link support provides monitoring and customization of built-in logo lighting, fan speed, pump speed. As with all Hydro Series CPU coolers, the H100i GTX is very self-contained, requires no maintenance or filling.

1.     276mm x 125mm x 30mm aluminum radiator
2.     Two SP120L 120mm high static pressure fans
3.     Corsair Link support for customization and monitoring
4.     Sleeved wide diameter, low evaporation rubber tubing
5.     Support for Intel LGA 115x, 1366, 2011 and AMD AM2, AM3, FM1, FM2
6.     5-year limited warranty
7.     MSRP: $109.99

The included fans are custom-designed for high static pressure air delivery with minimum turbulence and noise. They’re PWM controlled, so that you can customize the fan speed to get the optimal balance of cooling and noise.


Package contents

1.     Hydro Series H100i GTX Liquid CPU Cooler
2.     Mounting kit for many modern CPU sockets
3.     Two SP120L High Torque 120mm Fans
4.     USB cable for Corsair Link Integration
5.     Fan and radiator mounting screws
6.     Thermal compound (pre-applied)
7.     Quick Start Guide

Compatibility

•     Intel LGA 1150, 1155, 1156, 1366, 2011 and 2011-3
•     AMD sockets FM1, FM2, AM2, and AM3

Technical specifications

1.     Radiator dimensions: 276x125x30
2.     Fan dimensions: 120mm x 25mm
3.     Fan speed: 2100 +/- 10% RPM
4.     Fan airflow: 113 CFM
5.     Fan static pressure: 3.99mm-H2O
6.     Noise level: 43dB(A)

"The user-selectable fan control and Corsair Link Digital compatibility gives performance enthusiasts the energy to customize their cooling performance and manage fan noise by deciding on the amount of cooling they require," concluded you can actually rep. A quick search shows prices of roughly 125 EUR to the H100i GTX here within the Netherlands. But let's check out the product, in depth.

Final words and conclusion

Much much like the H110i GT this H100i GTX is showing more muscle when compared with its predecessor, it can do show excellent performance with regard to cooling - specifically in overclocked conditions. As you have had the capacity to notice in the results, we started by using a new test-platform that's more representative anno 2015. The reality remains which the Core i7 4970K is definitely such a nasty processor to cool down. Regardless we must build is a result of scratch again and more than time more comparative results are going to be added. The new test platform uses the Core i7 4790K and that we test it within a default setup (clocks) and overclocked at 4600 MHz with 1.3 Volts. Now the 1.3 Volts is just not needed for the overclock, 1.2 Volts would have been sufficient as well. However we inject more voltage to discover how the cooler behaves, and that we know with certainty that a great many of you are overclocking your 1.3 Volts. That does however convert it into a tough task for any cooler to manage.

We are actually pleasantly surprised from the Corsair H100i GTX, the cooling performance is basically nice and on par with high-end cooling, cooling capacity is unquestionably impressive with obviously any good proper overclock.

Aestethics & Design

The overall looks are certainly tasteful in terms of I am concerned, a completely black design using the subtle shades of grey allow it to become an appealing product towards the eyes. It is easy to install with all the mounting system, and factory filled up with coolant in the closed loop. The black design is likely to make this kit look nice in any PC. It simply is an excellent alternative to heat-pipe coolers using the added benefits for being fairly quiet whilst offering pleasant looks. No skills are important other than the necessity for ten minutes to set up the kit. Added benefit should you use LINK is perhaps you can change the hue of the Corsair logo embedded in to the cooling block, to the RGB color. We can visualize that with an ASUS ROG themed motherboard you'd change that to red, perhaps orange or green through an accompanying Gigabyte motherboard along with perhaps yellow by having an MSI XPower series motherboard. As subtle as that LED is, it truly does bring a 'finished' feel on your final PC build and color theme.

Pricing

The Corsair H100i GTX will likely be introduced at 119 USD. We expect roughly similar prices inside EU, but that will depend on the VAT with your country along with the USD to EURO differential. I think it's really a fair sum of cash as this cooler offers tremendously. It is silent (if kept at default settings), at the default settings it really offers fabulous cooling performance. The extra bonus is found inside the LINK functionality also as the RGB lighting system. But make no mistake, the performance and features are perfect for a 240mm rad based product as of this price level. Let me also remind you that you could easily spend 200/300 EUR on tubing, radiators, cooling blocks, reservoirs etc.

It's pretty cool ....

I haven't any hesitation recommending you the Hydro series Corsair H100i GTX, it is a darn good performing product with nice looks, thick sleeved tubing plus the comfort of RGB color selection. If we solely zoom in at performance then for the AIO kit this is one of the better performing ones available and in its default configuration it remains as a very silent product. The product is quite user friendly to fit and joined with its apperance and nice performance may buy a product that's spot on money wise. You'll have an abundance of extra ability to overclock. If you are thinking about the temperatures you have often seen at 1.3 Volts, well remaining under 70 Degrees C using a Haswell processor in this class is nice. You will likely n't want 1.3V for 4400~4600 MHz. Overall the cooler manages really well while using tested Core i7 4790K processor we fired off in internet marketing, as well as if you need 1.30 Volts; the idea will offer enough cooling performance and this remains a troublesome task for any cooler. A small additional bonus may be the LED lit Corsair logo which you'll want to color to the RGB preference with all the help of LINK software. LINK itself is something which belongs inside category either hate or love, nothing is in-between. But hey it is an option that lets you monitor and customize your cooling, this is a plus in our books.  The one remark I have to make is always that there is a fair level of wires leading out and in to the cooling block. So design wise there's more cable spaghetti clutter to handle.

Overall one more words might be short, we shall recommend the Corsair H100i GTX with no hesitation. The cooling performance is quite good for a program of this class, combined with all the aesthetics, ease of installation plus the RGB coloring logo with LINK functionality we are able to recommended this puppy for certain.

GTA-V PC Graphics Performance Review

GTA-V for PC -  VGA graphics performance

GTA-V PC Graphics Performance Review

Winter continues to be coming .. twice with the PC community to finally enjoy Grand Theft Auto V on that true gamers platform, the PC. The game after a statement delay back 2012 premiered September 17, 2013 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and then on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Afterward the PC launch version got postponed, delayed after which once more delayed, to much annoyance on the community. Back in Q1 on this year the experience was again pushed back, now to be removed April 14th, 2015.

It's finally here though and GTA-V surely one from the hottest PC game releases of 2015 and Rockstar is performing it right with this particular release, all 13 previously released DLC updates can be purchased including the latest Heists, featuring Adversary Modes, new jobs, vehicles, weapons, clothing, masks, plus more for this PC version. Developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games they certainly took the time because of this game, nevertheless the PC version has graphics enhancements, specifically with the PC gaming. A long wait, and often will it be worth every penny ? Well, we presume so. While Grand Theft Auto V is claimed to be an AMD Gaming Evolved title, the action’s GeForce page lists one exclusive NVIDIA feature which will be supported by it as well.

For those not familar together with the series, Grand Theft Auto V is surely an open world, action-adventure video gaming developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was published on 17 September 2013 for your PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. An enhanced version from the game was launched on 18 November 2014 for that PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and was scheduled to be removed on 14 April 2015 for PC slash Microsoft Windows. The game would be the first main entry within the Grand Theft Auto series since 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV. Set in the fictional state of San Andreas (according to Southern California), the single-player story follows three criminals and efforts to commit heists while pressurized from a government agency. The open world design lets players freely roam San Andreas, consisting of open countryside as well as the fictional capital of scotland - Los Santos (dependant on Los Angeles).

It is stated that the action on the PC platform is featuring probably the most graphically and technically advanced version of GTAV with enhanced resolution, increased frame rate, greater draw distances, new depth of field effects, plus much more. Grand Theft Auto V for PC also features the Rockstar Editor for advanced moviemaking, a chance to create custom soundtrack playlists a fresh radio station featuring many new music designed for and inspired by the action. Grand Theft Auto V for PC also may include Grand Theft Auto Online, now let's talk about 30 players. All previously released Rockstar Games-created content including Heists, can be purchased at launch for PC.

In this informative article we will test modern graphics cards about the following resolutions, Full HD (1920x1080) - WHQD (2560x1440)  and 3840x2160 (Ultra HD) using this type of game title, we'll peek at graphics memory usage, frame-time micro-stuttering performance and overall quality versus performance. 

The prologue

GTA-V is played from sometimes a third-person or first-person view and it is world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Players control several lead protagonists over the single-player mode, switching bewteen barefoot and shoes both during and outside missions. The story is centred on heist sequences, and plenty of of the missions involve shooting and driving gameplay. Players who commit crimes may incite an answer from law enforcement officials agencies, measured with a "wanted" system that governs the aggression of the response. Grand Theft Auto Online, the web based multiplayer mode, lets nearly 30 players explore outside world and embark on cooperative or competitive game matches.
Grand Theft Auto V - The Plot

Nine years after having a botched robbery in Ludendorff, North Yankton, former bank robber Michael Townley is living under witness protection regarding his family in Los Santos, San Andreas, within the alias Michael De Santa. When Michael discovers his wife Amanda during sexual intercourse with her tennis coach, he chases the coach with a mansion and destroys against eachother of anger. The mansion's owner is Mexican drug lord Martin Madrazo's girlfriend. Madrazo demands compensation, so Michael with the exceptional accomplice Franklin Clinton perform jewellery shop heist to pay for their debt. Michael's sole surviving partner from the Ludendorff robbery, Trevor Philips, hears in the jewellery heist and realises it was Michael's handiwork. The two reunite after Trevor tracks Michael down in Los Santos.

The personal lives from the protagonists start to spiral out of control. Michael's family leaves him, with his fantastic attempts to make something of himself bring him into conflict with Devin Weston, a self-made billionaire venture capitalist and corporate raider who develops a grudge against him and vows revenge. Franklin rescues his friend Lamar Davis from gangster Harold "Stretch" Joseph, who repeatedly efforts to kill Lamar to prove himself to his brethren. Trevor's reckless efforts to consolidate his treating various black markets in Blaine County see him waging war resistant to the San Andreas chapter of The Lost outlaw motorcycle club, numerous Latin American street gangs, rival meth dealers, government-sponsored mercenaries and Triad kingpin Wei Cheng. Federal Investigation Bureau (FIB) government agents Dave Norton and Steve Haines contact Michael and demand that he start a series of operations with Franklin and Trevor to undermine a competitor agency, the International Affairs Agency (IAA). Under Haines' direction, they attack an armoured convoy carrying funds designed for the IAA and raid a bank containing the payroll for everyone corrupt police and public officials in Los Santos. As Haines comes under increasing scrutiny for his methods, he forces Franklin and Michael to infiltrate the FIB headquarters and erase any evidence being employed against him using their servers. Michael takes the opportunity wipe any data on his own activities, destroying Haines' leverage over him. The trio start planning their most daring feat ever: raiding the Union Depository's gold bullion reserve.

After going back to Los Santos, Michael makes amends along with his family plus they start living together again. Trevor, however, discovers a former Ludendorff heist accomplice, Brad Snider, hasn't been in prison because he was led to believe, but killed in the heist and buried inside the grave marked for Michael. Trevor's feelings of betrayal cause friction from the group and threaten to undermine their Union Depository plans. When Michael and Norton, each of whom are betrayed by Haines, are caught within a Mexican standoff relating to the FIB, IAA and security firm Merryweather, Trevor helps with their escape, holding that only she has the right to kill Michael. Despite not forgiving Michael, Trevor still would like to perform the Union Depository heist; the duo accept to part ways afterwards.

The Union Depository heist is finished successfully, but Franklin is approached by two parties separately who demand that she kill Trevor or Michael. Haines and Norton contend that Trevor is really a liability, and Weston wants retribution for Michael's betrayal. Franklin has three choices: kill Michael, kill Trevor or kill neither and face their enemies together. Should Franklin kill either Michael or Trevor, he ceases exposure to the survivor and returns to his old life.Should he kill neither, the trio join forces to stand up to an onslaught in the FIB and Merryweather prior to going on to kill Weston, Stretch, Cheng and Haines. With all their enemies disposed, a few cease participating, but remain friends.

The single-player mode lets players control three characters: Michael De Santa, Trevor Philips and Franklin Clinton—criminals whose stories interconnect when they complete missions. Some missions are finished only one character as well as others feature a couple of. Throughout single-player, players may switch between protagonists as you desire by means of a directional compass within the HUD. The game may switch between characters automatically in single-player missions to try and do certain objectives. A character's compass avatar will flash red if they are in danger and requirements help, and flash white if he's got a strategic advantage. Though players complete missions each and every of several protagonists, the harder difficult heist missions require help from AI-controlled accomplices with unique skill sets, for instance computer hacking or driving. If an accomplice survives a prosperous heist, they require a cut in the cash reward and will be available for later missions with improvements thus to their unique skills. The game encourages differentiation in heist mission strategies—for example, within a holdup mission, players either can stealthily subdue civilians by having an agent or conspicuously storm the venue with guns drawn.
Can my PC play GTA-V ?

If you’re thinking of cranking the display settings to your maximum, ensure that your gaming rig has what it requires.  The game looks pretty nice together with your average settings. Here's what Rockstar thinks you will have to enjoy GTA-V on PC:

Minimum Specs

1.     OS: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1, Windows Vista 64 Bit Service Pack 2* (*NVIDIA video card recommended if running Vista OS)
2.     Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs) / AMD Phenom 9850 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs) @ 2.5GHz
3.     Memory: 4GB
4.     Video Card: NVIDIA 9800 GT 1GB / AMD HD 4870 1GB (DX 10, 10.1, 11)
5.     Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
6.     HDD Space: 65GB

Recommended Specs

1.     OS: Windows 8.1 64 Bit, Windows 8 64 Bit, Windows 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1
2.     Processor: Intel Core i5 3470 @ 3.2GHZ (4 CPUs) / AMD X8 FX-8350 @ 4GHZ (8 CPUs)
3.     Memory: 8GB
4.     Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB / AMD HD7870 2GB
5.     Sound Card: 100% DirectX 10 compatible
6.     HDD Space: 65GB

Yes, apart from storage these are typically very lightweight minimum PC specs, that is nice to discover. And if you're ever unsure with regards to how big a casino game it is, that 65GB hard disk drive requirement should create in without doubt. The Steam download is 59 GB to be precise, enhance that some decompressed files and future patches which will explain the 65GB requirement. This PC release brings all of the benefits on the most recent console versions. This includes the first-person mode as well as an expanded soundtrack, and, mainly for the PC version, native 4K support. According to Rockstar, the recommended specifications provide hardware which could run the action at 1080p, at 60 frames-per-second. For that, Rockstar suggest a Nvidia GTX 660 2GB or AMD HD7870 2GB.

    "To run the action on a 4K display at 30fps," says Hoare, "you’ll need at minimum an AMD HD 7870 or Nvidia GTX 760 with 2GB of VRAM." As for the 4K at 60 frames-per-second, that'll need a "high-end SLI or Crossfire setup."

GTA V on PC was manufactured to perform exceptionally using a wide range of hardware configurations. There are numerous built-in options to increase performance and/or visual fidelity including:

1. Textures
2. Shaders
3. Water quality
4. Grass and particles
5. Tessellation
6. Reflections
7. Post FX and more
8. City density slider, letting you configure how busy the streets and sidewalks are and the way busy metropolis can be round the player.

Before we start with the graphics performance tests a bit explanation. We make use of a time based measurement and never the internal benchmark. The test is really a representative for virtually any modern age GPU.

If you love to try out the benchmark:

•     In the advanced graphics menu press TAB.

•     Make sure you finished the prologue, otherwise the benchmark will exit with an error.

Again, we diverted from the interior benchmark even as felt don't you find it representative an ample amount of the actual frame rate you may experience. Our measurements are taken on the road running towards a vehicle to hijack. 

 Obviously twenty-four hours a day twiddle around with settings a little. We choose quality settings, as hey as PC gamers @ Guru3D.com it is precisely what we are after.

The graphics cards utilized in this specific article are:

• GeForce GTX 660
• GeForce GTX 680
• GeForce GTX 760
• GeForce GTX 770
• GeForce GTX 780
• GeForce GTX 780 Ti
• GeForce GTX 960
• GeForce GTX 970
• GeForce GTX 980
• GeForce GTX Titan
• GeForce GTX Titan X
• Radeon HD 7950
• Radeon HD 7970
• Radeon HD 7970 GHz
• Radeon R7 260
• Radeon R9 270X
• Radeon R9 280X
• Radeon R9 285
• Radeon R9 290
• Radeon R9 290X (4GB)
• Radeon R9 290X (8GB)
• Radeon R9 295x2

So that's a selection of the harder popular graphics cards anno 2015. Our test could be the a level recording based up-on a whopping on the GPU level. Therefore our FPS can look and feel a little lower then what we guys see yourself.
A test run may be quick or slow determined by your graphics card according to several factors like scene, resolution and image quality settings. Typically for the benchmark run you will have a scene rendered the place that the output of the volume of frames rendered with time equals for an average framerate. 

Our test strategy is based about the eight-core Intel Core i7-5960X Extreme Edition with Haswell-E based setup about the X99 chipset platform. This setup is overclocked to 4.40 GHz on all cores. Next to that people have energy saving functions disabled because of this motherboard and processor (to be sure consistent benchmark results). We use Windows 8.1 all patched up. Each card runs for the same PC with similar operating system clone.

•     GeForce cards utilize latest 350.12 WHQL driver.
•     AMD Radeon graphics cards we used the newest 15.4 Beta driver.

Our test rig was assembled that way (heavy setup) in order to avoid and remove CPU bottlenecks that might influence high-end GPU scores. Especially in resolutions up-to 1080P with good performance graphics cards, CPU limitation quickly begins.

Graphics memory usage (VRAM)

GTA-V PC Graphics Performance Review

So you would want to know how much graphics memory the action utilizes it versus your monitor resolution right ? Well, look into the chart below.

We have observed some scenes utilize a little more while others a little less, so please require a healthy deviation in the used VRAM count into mind, say 15%. Ultra quality is and are hard on the GPU, it appears good though. With 2x MSAA enabled up-to 1080P you'll reach roughly 2~3 GB of graphics memory. They balanced that out nicely.

Once you visit WHQD at 2560x1440 we'll pass 3 GB and also, since card for the reason that resolutions frequently have 3 to 4 GB graphics memory, that's good at the same time. In Ultra HD you need a lot more memory even as we jump towards 4 GB of VRAM usage. But hey, that's Ultra HD and MSAA for ya. It's also indicative that say a GeForce GTX 780 Ti using its 3 GB of graphics memory will seriously come upon issues. 4GB will be the minimum, that or lower image quality settings and AA levels, in Ultra HD.

Concluding

We can complain about Rockstar with regard to how nauseating long the PC community has become ignored together with to wait within this game. But we also have to give credit where credit is born, GTA-V is really a terrific game and it is usually a very worthy addition on triple A gaming titles.

The gameplay is sophisticated, enjoyable and overall the graphics experience 's what you can, may and will expect from the title in this caliber.

    A note - since we measure within the online city rather than the internal benchmark, you may spawn arbitrarily places with random weather and differences in day an night. This will cause a bad offset in frame-rate. So please start using these numbers as indicative at best. There can be weird variations in-between the performance of graphics card even if at some point it rains, the your next card had say dry sunny weather. This WILL impact the FPS. So keep a 15% margin available and please again, buying a indicative results.

Due for the note above, natural meats re-do the full session with the inner benchmark, but there are a few bugs with this initial release that will have to be squashed first and now we do think that testing within the actual city running and shooting around, is a bit more representative on the real performance.

So yes, the action itself looks and plays surprisingly well, it will require a relatively normal number of GPU horsepower for the purpose it needs about renders and isn't a graphics memory hog such as previous title to be real. Once you commence to hit monitor resolutions of 2560x1440 or Ultra HD, that is where you have to bring out the large guns with regard to graphics hardware.

But hey, if you can't have a high-end class graphics card you may want to drop into a normalized AA level and Full HD and WQHD will continue to be to be the right domain to game at. For gaming up-to Full HD, a GeForce GTX 960 can do fine, on AMD's side that may be the Radeon R9 270 series. Up-to WQHD a GeForce GTX 970 or Radeon R9 280 series will suffice. Once you bump it upwards to Ultra HD or heavy graphics with stuff like VSR/DSR down-sampling That when a GTX 980/Titan-X also comes in to play or from AMD's side the Radeon R9 290X or 295x2.

Source: http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/gta-v-pc-graphics-performance-review,1.html

Noctua NH-L9x65 Low Profile CPU cooler review

Noctua NH-L9x65 Low Profile CPU cooler review

In today's review we shall look at the Noctua NH-L9x65 Low Profile CPU cooler, with 65 such as 65mm. These smaller than average and petit CPU coolers can be utilized with any style factor motherboard and CPU but give attention to Micro ATX and Mini ITX. They are small, deadly silent but do pack enough punch to even cool a Core i7 4790K. And yes, you can also overclock a little as well. Yup, that will be Noctua for ya.

You know, there really aren't bad performing coolers produced anymore. For every segment and budget you will find something you need. The market stabilized and in the entire range and scope of heatpipe based coolers you will find there's certain comfortable zone with a corresponding product available. As a result, the majority of coolers out there are all adequate at least. There are always exceptions for this, there exists a handful of manufacturers on the market that offer the really interesting stuff, the kit and gear that truly stand out from the cooling crowd, the hardware me and you crave and wish so badly... that may be in the enthusiast domain of gaming hardware. And that's where we should make a take a look at Noctua when they tick all of the boxes.

In their long distinct CPU coolers, Noctua recently introduced the L9-type coolers, especially created for the small form factor range The cooler has been introduced in to the channel to make available OK performance however its main focus is going to be silent according to small form factor PCs. The Noctua NH-L9x65 Low Profile CPU cooler is likely to keep any CPU released currently cooled including the most high-end Haswell SKUs.

Have a peek at the model tested, it would look a little bulky, but keep in mind that when I say this is a very small coolers. 

The Noctua Cooler

Noctua released its new NH-L9x65 low-profile cooler plus a 4-pin PWM version of the company's popular NF-A6x25 60mm fan. While the latter adds PWM support for automatic speed control towards the proven NF-A6x25 design, the NH-L9x65 is usually a taller, performance-enhanced version of Noctua's award-winning NH-L9 low-profile coolers.

"Our NH-L9 coolers have grown to be a default option for customers seeking premium grade quiet coolers inside sub-40mm class, though a height of only 37mm, their performance is inevitably limited", explains Mag. Roland Mossig (Noctua CEO), "The new NH-L9x65 supplies the increased performance essential to cool high-end CPUs quietly while still offering excellent case and component compatibility."

Due to its compact heatsink along with the renowned 14mm thin NF-A9x14 PWM fan, the NH-L9x65 stands only 65mm tall (the identical height as low-profile expansion cards), rendering it ideal for utilization in compact HTPCs or Small Form Factor cases that include limited clearance for CPU coolers. With 65 rather then 37mm height and four rather then two heatpipes, the NH-L9x65 is a lot more powerful than its smaller siblings yet retains their 95x95mm footprint, which guarantees 100% RAM and PCIe compatibility on Intel based ITX mainboards and helps make the cooler far easier to work with mainly because it doesn't overhang near-socket connectors.

Topped served by the professional SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system for Intel and AMD, Noctua's renowned NT-H1 thermal compound and 6 years manufacturer's warranty, the NH-L9x65 fuses everything users have arrived at expect from Noctua's larger coolers right into a compact premium package for space restricted systems.

Prices and availability

The new models are now shipping and are available shortly. The manufacturer suggested retail cost is as follows:

•     NH-L9x65: EUR 44.90 / USD 52.90

The NH-L9x65 can be a taller, performance-enhanced version of Noctua’s award-winning NH-L9 low-profile coolers. With 65 rather than 37mm height and four as an alternative to two heatpipes, the NH-L9x65 is much more powerful than its smaller siblings yet retains their 95x95mm footprint, which guarantees 100% RAM and PCIe compatibility on Intel based ITX mainboards and definitely makes the cooler far easier to work with since it doesn’t overhang near-socket connectors. Thanks towards the highly optimised NF-A9x14 premium fan that supports fully automatic speed control via PWM, the NH-L9x65 runs remarkably quiet. Topped served by the professional SecuFirm2™ multi-socket mounting system for Intel and AMD, Noctua’s renowned NT-H1 thermal compound and 6 years manufacturer’s warranty, the NH-L9x65 fuses everything users have learned to expect from Noctua’s larger coolers to a compact premium package for space restricted systems.

Caution: The NH-L9x65 can be a highly-compact low-profile quiet cooler created for use in small form factor cases and HTPC environments. While it provides an awesome experience performance in their class, it's not suitable for overclocking and really should be used with pride on CPUs exceeding 84W TDP (Thermal Design Power). Please consult our TDP guidelines to determine whether the NH-L9x65 is suggested for your CPU.

Preparing the System Overclock

We'll consider the cooler in numerous system configurations/conditions. For the audiophiles amongst us your focus must be noise levels mostly. Then there is your normal non-overclocked mainstream usage therefore the performance enthusiast overclocking users. So with all the many variables at heart we'll be testing three things for your cooler.

1.     dBA noise pressure levels
2.     Temperature together with the CPU at default settings
3.     Temperature together with the CPU at 4600 MHz with 1.3 Volts placed on the CPU

Mind you that every our tests are carried out at a room temperature of roughly 21 Degrees C. We decided to go with all the Core i7 4790K the way it literally could be the hottest processor your dollars can get you. You guys are all aware of that once overclocked with added voltage, the temperatures escape control big-time.

We've been battling the question whether or otherwise not to actually work with a Core i7 4790K on the Z97 motherboard. The Haswell processors all have poor heat transfer on the silicon die on the IHS. Fact remains that it CPU is really what the Guru3D audience buys -- and thus you -- may want to know how these coolers perform. We could likewise have used one thousand EUR 8-core Core i7 5960X processor but exactly how many people do actually purchase these processors? The vast majority of our readers will buy the Core i7 47x0 series -- so this is exactly what most of our readers are actually interested in hence we took the very best tier 4-core SKU -- it's only that Intel made things very complicated which has a rather poor heat transfer design.
So we'll be testing that processor at default clock frequencies, then we'll blast the processor with 1.30 Volts like shown above. That voltage isn't needed for 4600 MHz but typically will provide the processor having a non-performance heatpipe cooler towards 90 Degrees C (!). We are merely attempting to see how the cooler will behave under such stringent conditions. All temperatures reported will be the processor package sensor temps. The cores will independently differ slightly in Degrees C every now and then. We measure in an ambient room temperature of 21 Degrees C.

The CPU stresser

We test processor coolers carrying out a strict protocol. We have already shown you the BIOS settings to the overclock. To stress the CPU we apply the strain modes (default and OC 1.3V) and have absolutely our stress software wPrime finish the whole run twice. We however possess a security feature enabled, when a cooler reaches 98 Degrees C the machine will power right down to prevent it from damage.

Below, an illustration of this one of our test runs. We compose the package temperature, the per core temps as a result can differ occasionally. For LOAD testing we make a note of the MAXIMUM measured temperature from a two full wPrime 1000M runs. In the example below we employ a clock setting of 4600 MHz on all CPU cores which has a strict 1.3 Volts for the processor.

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Final words and conclusion

The Noctua NH-L9x65 is really a small form factor cooler and must be used as such. Our testing methodology and hardware used just isn't exactly what the Noctua NH-L9x65 function is for, hence the somewhat high temperatures. Obviously overclocking had not been an option in cases like this and circumstances.  That said, which has a lower spec processor things could consider looking much better, and again, small form factor ... think silent HTPCs here as that si the location where the Noctua NH-L9x65 shines. Given the size both coolers, it truly is hard to believe how well they with regards to noise though. I mean, this cooler is give or take 95x95mm possibly at default clock frequencies nevertheless can tame the beast be the Core i7 4790K well.

Aestethics & Design

Fot the Noctua NH-L9x65, the looks remain trivial. We stated often times that Noctua could really work with a change in their color scheme in regards to their products. The brown/beige colors simply are not consistent with today's high-end preferred and colored products. Despite the colors the end-users are prepared to look away, because the quality with the coolers are just too good, which matters more. Noctua, why don't you consider a black cooler with darker brown/beige fans? We do comprehend the dilemma accessible for Noctua though, Gigabyte uses Blue, ASUS ROG used Red with each company really has their unique house color design thereby trademark for company branding. Also achievable market growing, we might REALLY like to find out Noctua engage the AIO Liquid cooler segment, a location where they may be very popular using their low-noise and high quality fans.

Performance

Cooling wise it performed okay average at best, but perform need to mention that we armed our test system using the difficult to cool Core i7 4970K, obviously intentionally as we test that other part of the spectrum (liquid cooling) for this setup likewise. The default clock frequency performance is OK at best, no more, nothing less. Overclocking that has a CPU in this way is ill-advised though. With our 4790K processor at 1.3 Volts / 4600 MHz heat jumped to around 80 Degrees C, not advised. Keep planned though that in several mITX configurations, this device is meant for mainstream CPUs with silent operation planned.

Pricing

Mind you the prices listed here are suggested prices (MRP). Shave off another five bucks per cooler when they are available in good volume in e-tail. The manufacturer suggested retail prices are as follows:

•     H-L9x65: EUR 44.90 / USD 52.90

Remember it is Noctua quality with great after sales and pure silence. You get 6 years warranty so we all know the extraordinary after sales.

Final Words

For the NH-L9x65 you need to see the purpose, silence. And that is meant for low-end to mainstream processors. We tested high-end/enthusiast level knowning that paints some a different picture. With its low profile, an appropriate alternative to use within a HTPC or net / mainstream PC. Cooling performance is average when comparing full size models, but that has been to be expected. The Core i7 4790K we used remains within acceptable temperature levels as long as we all do not overclock it. The trade-off with all the small form factor and relative average performance can be an incredibly low noise level, you can be hard pressed being able to even hear noise via this puppy. So in that respect, the item ticks the best boxes as which is the sole purpose of this system. Installation is easy as mounting kit is superb, sturdy and simple to install. Sure the motherboard will ought to come out, even so the mounting design and ease of use within installation is top quality. Even a screwdriver is roofed in the kit. The noise levels are low, heck even when you can't PWM control the fans, a little resistor wire is protected to force the fans at low RPM. The looks and aesthetics, well you either love or hate the Noctua design colors I guess, absolutely nothing is in-between it therefore that remains trivial go over. The NH-L9x65 is usually a decent performing product, in case you stick to repeat the Core i5 series the performance will probably be fine, the secret however continues to be low noise level combined with all the small form factor this supplement has to offer. The NH-L9x65 can be found from the stores even as we speak and they are covered by a 6-year carry in warranty. Recommended for those who need a tiny yet silent solution because of their mainstream PC / HTPC / Net PC.

Source:http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/noctua-nh-l9x65-low-profile-cpu-cooler-review,1.html

Razer Blade Pro Review

Razer Blade Pro Review

The Razer Blade has earned a solid reputation among those looking for a lightweight gaming notebook, but what if your mobile gaming rig also doubles as your productivity machine? Sure, a 14-inch system could technically get the job done but a working professional would greatly benefit from something a bit larger if you plan this to be your desktop replacement. The extra real estate for gaming wouldn't hurt either.

If it’s an all-in-one gaming and productivity machine you’re after, Razer would encourage you to check out the larger Blade Pro. The 2015 revision features a generous 17.3-inch display which affords the real estate necessary for the highlight of the notebook, Razer’s Switchblade UI.

Razer Blade Pro Review

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s start with the basics. The Blade Pro is powered by Intel’s Core i7-4720HQ, a quad-core chip clocked at 2.6GHz (Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz), mated to 16GB of DDR3 RAM alongside a 512GB mSATA SSD and a 1TB hard drive for storage.

Razer Blade Pro (2015)
Starts at $2,299, $2,799.99 as tested

•     17.3” 1920 x 1080 IPS LCD (127 PPI)
•     2.6GHz - 3.6GHz Intel Core i7–4720HQ
•     16GB DDR3L 1,600MHz RAM
•     Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M GPU 4GB GDDR5
•     512GB SSD + 1TB HDD
•     Backlit anti-ghosting keyboard
•     Razer Switchblade UI
•     3 x USB 3.0 , 1 x HDMI 1.4a
•     802.11a/b/g/n/ac + Bluetooth 4.0
•     Windows 8.1 64-bit
•     6.76 lbs, 16.8" x 10.9" x 0.88" inches

Curiously enough, Razer has elected to equip the Blade Pro with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M (4GB GDDR5 VRAM) and a 1080p IPS display. Its smaller, more gaming oriented sibling ships with a GTX 970M and up to a QHD+ (3,200 x 1,800) panel.

Elsewhere, the system includes 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, a backlit anti-ghosting keyboard and a 74Wh lithium-ion battery. Our price as tested today is $2,799.99 due to the extra storage, but it’s worth mentioning that the Blade Pro can be had for as little as $2,299.99 if you opt for the 128GB SSD and a 500GB HDD.

The laptop measures approximately 16.8” x 0.88” x 10.9” for width, height and depth, respectively, while tipping the scales at a slim (for its size) 6.76 pounds.

The Hardware

Razer used a CNC aluminum chassis to build the Blade Pro rather than stamped aluminum for added rigidity. It’s black in color although under bright lighting, it takes on more of a grayish tint.

The lid features two subtle ledges at about a quarter and three-fourths across that provide a bit of depth. Razer’s iconic snake logo is positioned in the center between the ledges, emitting a green glow when the computer is in use.

Razer Blade Pro

The front edge of the system features a single LED indicator on the left side that lights up green and then pulses white when the system is on with the lid closed. There’s a beveled edge in the center that makes it easier to open the lid and happens to provide a place for your wrists (well, at least the right one) to rest comfortably during use.

Razer Blade Pro Review

The right side of the Blade Pro is also very minimalistic save for the Kensington security slot and cooling vents near the back. The rear of the system is devoid of any connections or cooling vents which leads us to the left side where you’ll find a headphone jack, three USB 3.0 ports with green internals to match Razer’s theme, an HDMI port, Ethernet jack and the power connector. It’s worth highlighting the fact that there’s no memory card slot or DisplayPort connection.

Razer Blade Pro Review

A second set of cooling vents is also located on the left edge near the back of the system. These vents and the others are aided by two bottom vents with fans that draw in cool air from the bottom and expel it out the sides of the system.

Post-purchase memory and storage upgrades appear to be possible as there are more than a dozen screw holes lining the perimeter on the bottom of the system. They’ve been covered with a small cap for aesthetic purposes but I suspect these could easily be popped off to remove the screws and gain access to the internals.

With 16GB of RAM on tap, up to 512GB of speedy solid state storage and 1TB of extra storage space, the only reason you’d ever really need to get inside would be to replace dead hardware.

A pair of large rubber feet at the rear and two smaller ones up front provides plenty of elevation for the cooling system and ensures the computer stays put during intense gaming sessions. And if it’s not obvious, the battery is non-removable (not easily, at least) as it’s built into the system.

Lifting the lid reveals a sizable bezel that frames the 1080p matte finish display. At the top is a 2-megapixel webcam flanked by microphones on either side. If you look closely at the top corners of the bezel, it appears as though there was once some padding installed for cushioning purposes when the lid is closed but they were nowhere to be found here (or in any press material).

Razer Blade Pro Review

Below the display, you’ll see that Razer has discreetly printed the “Blade” branding. If you’re not looking for it, it’s difficult to see, especially under standard indoor lighting.

The keyboard deck of the Blade Pro is unlike anything else I’ve seen. Just above the LED-laden power button are the system’s stereo speakers tucked neatly under a minimalistic grill. The keyboard itself and Switchblade UI are slightly inset, again, with a beveled edge.

Razer Blade Pro Review

There’s little to complain about with regard to the keyboard. The backlit keys feel great when typing and the overall layout is logical without feeling too cramped. The Switchblade UI is the name Razer has given its multi-touch LCD trackpad and 10 customizable tactile keys. Each key measures 15mm x 15mm with a 115 x 115 resolution and a 2mm travel distance.

Razer Blade Pro Review

The trackpad works double-duty both as a traditional pointing device with gesture control and a secondary display. The screen measures 4.05 inches with a resolution of 480 x 800 pixels and there are two traditional click buttons below it just as you’d find on most other notebooks.

Source: http://www.techspot.com/review/995-razer-blade-pro-2015/

When SSD Performance Goes Awry

An unfortunate tale about Samsung's SSD 840 read performance degradation

An avalanche of reports started to surface last September when users began to notice that their usually speedy Samsung SSD 840 and SSD 840 EVO drives were no longer performing as they used to.

The issue has to do with older blocks of data: reading old files would be consistently slower than normal – as slow as ~30MB/s – whereas any newly written files, like the ones used in benchmarks would perform as fast as new – around 500MB/s for the highly regarded SSD 840 EVO. The reason no one had noticed before (we reviewed the drive back in mid-September 2013) is that data has to be several weeks old to show the problem. Samsung promptly admitted the issue and proposed a fix.

The First Firmware Update

About a month later, on October 15th, Samsung released an updated firmware for the 840 EVO that covered both 2.5” and mSATA models (EXT0CB6Q and EXT42B6Q respectively). The update consisted of a two-stage process:

1) A new firmware with an updated algorithm for handling the inherent voltage drift that occurs in all NAND based storage devices as they age but is reinforced by how many bits the NAND stores:

When SSD Performance Goes Awry

•     In SLC NAND only one bit is stored per cell, this is great because it’s very easy to read one bit, it can either be 0 or 1.
•     In MLC NAND two bits are stored per cell, so it gets harder to read but there’s a cost advantage: you get twice as much storage space from the same amount of NAND.
•     In TLC NAND three bits are stored per cell, so again the complexity increases but the advantage is that you can store 50% more information vs MLC, further reducing costs.

According to Samsung, the algorithm that adjusts the voltages used to read the NAND as it ages had a problem which meant that data previously written but never rewritten became harder and harder to read. The speeds to read such a file could plummet from 500MB/sec to below 50MB/sec, a 10x reduction in performance!

But this was a difficult problem to detect, because most benchmarking programs write new data that they then read back, which circumvents the problem as it only occurs on old data. However most data used by users is indeed old: your Windows installation folder, installed apps, your documents, game files, etc.

2) The second stage of Samsung’s new firmware with the updated algorithm mandated that all data on the disk should be rewritten to restore performance on older data. Since it took around 8 weeks for the issue to become visible in the 840 EVO, this meant that we could not fully know if Samsung’s firmware worked or not until some weeks later.
A Second Firmware Update: Reading Between The Lines

We couldn’t know for sure if the firmware was a successful solution in the long term, and in fact the problem did come back. Samsung started to work on newer firmware (EXT0DB6Q), but this time with a different approach: instead of simply adjusting the algorithm for reading old data, the disk would now continuously rewrite data in the background.

It’s not an elegant fix, and it’s also a fix that will degrade the lifetime of the NAND since the total numbers of writes it’s meant to withstand is limited. But as we have witnessed in Tech Report’s extensive durability test there is a ton of headroom in how NAND is rated, so in my opinion this is not a problem. Heck, the Samsung 840 even outlasted two MLC drives.

As of writing, the new firmware has only been released for the 2.5” model of the SSD 840 EVO, so users of the 840 EVO mSATA model still have to be patient. It should also be noted that the new firmware does not seem to work well with the TRIM implementation in Linux, as this user shared how file system corruption occurs if discard is enabled.

The route Samsung has taken with this latest fix is significant: the original problem was not in the firmware of the drives, it’s Samsung’s TLC NAND which drifts in such a way that it’s not possible to write a generalized algorithm that accounts for it. Thus by admission we now know this is a fault inherent to the NAND used in the Samsung 840 EVO.
How About Other TLC SSDs?

Samsung claims the read performance degradation issue only exists in the NAND used by the popular SSD 840 EVO. However there are OEM versions of the drive that use the exact same NAND. For example, the Samsung SSD PM851 usually seen on Dell products. Case in point, here are users posting on support forums showing the exact same problem.

Then there's the “vanilla” SSD 840 which was the first drive to use TLC NAND. As things stand today no updated firmware has been released for this drive. Samsung Germany admitted the problem exists on the 840, but in Samsung’s subsequent communications they have always claimed that the issue does not exist on it. Here's an extract from a recent Samsung Q&A posted at PC Per:

    PC Per: Will there be a firmware update for the other Samsung TLC-based SSD models that have also demonstrated this read performance issue? If so, which models and how soon will that firmware be made available?

    Samsung: This issue had been reported for the 840 EVO SSD only.

Well, here is a Samsung SSD 840 “vanilla,” or whatever you want to call it:

When SSD Performance Goes Awry

According to data we've gathered from user forums:

•     The 840 EVO uses 19nm TLC NAND, it takes about 8 weeks to degrade.
•     The regular “840” pictured above uses 21nm TLC NAND, it takes about 40 weeks to degrade.

The test above was performed on a Lenovo ThinkPad T530 running Windows 7, using a Plextor M5M mSATA drive as primary storage and the Samsung SSD 840 connected as a secondary drive. A 64KB block size was used in HD Tune, this limits the peak performance of the drive to ~375MB/s as you can see where it flat lines. This flat also corresponds to the free space area of 40GB on the drive; it contains no data and thus is not affected by the degradation.

When SSD Performance Goes Awry

The first part of the disk has really poor performance, the reason is very simple: The drive was cloned from a regular HDD in a Compaq laptop, and the first partition contains a 13GB recovery partition (really bad design for a mechanical HDD as that’s where they perform best, but I digress).

That recovery partition has 2GB free space, which corresponds with the lone spike in performance in the first 13GB batch of the test. Obviously the data in the recovery partition never changes and thus sees the worst performance.

Delving deeper using the SSD Read Speed Tester tool developed by forum user Techie007 for the sole purpose of testing and visualizing the issue in the Samsung 840 drives, we get a graph of the performance of files in relation to how many weeks old they are. The graph includes all partitions because I mounted the recovery partition as a volume mount point under the main partition:

Looking at the graph, it becomes increasingly clear that the older the file is, as shown on the x-axis, the worse its read performance becomes.

Because I was testing with data that is several years old and the tester app limited the visualization to 99 weeks, I took the raw data and put it on Excel to see what I came up with:

When SSD Performance Goes Awry

The x-axis shows how old the data is in days, and the y-axis the read speed in MB/s. A healthy drive would have shown a flatter horizontal line hovering around the 500MB/s mark, but instead we get this mess!

For the sake of comparison, here's what a Samsung SSD 840 Pro looks like in SSD Read Speed Tester. Because the SSD 840 Pro uses MLC NAND, it doesn't suffer from the same degradation issues:

When SSD Performance Goes Awry

Temperature Driving SSD Performance?

My benchmark results saw wild fluctuations and I could not understand why. As it turns out the drive is also sensitive to heat, and not in the way you might expect: the drive actually works better the hotter it is!

This is not so strange because temperature differences affect the voltage drift in the NAND. Only now we begin to realize just how difficult it must be to get that algorithm right… it’s just a pity that it took Samsung just as long to realize as well.

The data for the graph above was gathered using SSD Read Speed tester when the drive reported that it was 40°C. The graph below loops the previous graph and the same test performed with the drive cooled to 15°C. You can see how the worst-case performance is right down at ~50MB/s, a far cry from the optimal 500MB/s for this drive.

When SSD Performance Goes Awry

It’s entirely possible to presume that while the NAND in my drive performs better with increased temperatures, a different drive might be the total opposite. It’s also been proven by PC Perspective that the drive’s controller will throttle if it becomes too hot, so I would in theory want to cool down the controller, but heat the NAND chips to get optimal performance.

When SSD Performance Goes Awry

 Just like the SSD 840 EVO, there are OEM variants of the standard SSD 840. The Samsung SSD PM841 uses the same 21nm NAND, as does the SSD PM843. Samsung claims these drives do not have the speed degradation issue either, but the data above speaks for itself. We have tested a second SSD 840 in-house that shows the same degradation patterns along with the numerous reports that can be found online.

Dell is not the only OEM using the drives either. The Razer Blade Pro laptop we reviewed recently sports one of these Samsung OEM drives, and honestly "like new" performance is really good. Microsoft also uses them in the Surface Pro 3, and Samsung went as far as releasing a firmware update to fix read degradation, only to pull it later.

Yet another potentially affected product is the Samsung SSD 845DC EVO**, an enterprise drive for server use, specifically suited for and I hope you enjoy irony as much as I do: “suitable for read-intensive applications”. The 845DC ECO uses NAND with the exact same part number as the 840 EVO and PM851: K90KGY8S7M-CCK0. Samsung may have binned the best part of the TLC NAND for use in this drive, so the problem is likely to take a bit longer to show up on it.

Quoting Samsung below, these were the kind of claims the company made when it promoted the use of TLC NAND. In all fairness, we've recommended the drives in our reviews, as have many others, and we happen to be using a handful of them in our systems as well.

    "To top it all off, you can rest assured knowing that your SSD will continue to offer excellent performance throughout its useful lifespan. With its simple upgrade solution and sustained, industry- leading performance, the Samsung SSD 840 is the single best upgrade you can make to your PC."
    Source

    “The 840 Series represents the first consumer SSD to implement 3-bit/cell MLC (also called TLC) technology (...) This is nothing a good firmware algorithm can’t handle, however. Samsung’s 3-bit/cell MLC-based SSD 840 Series, equipped with mandatory OP, will still far outlast the useful life of the hardware it powers.”
    Source

Reliability, as in data loss, has not been put into question. So here’s my open request to Samsung: admit the problem exists in all the affected drives as evidenced in this article and in the countless reports found in this lengthy thread on the Overclockers.net forums and elsewhere online.

As of writing, this single discussion has gathered over 2,770 replies and 345,000 views. Thus far Samsung has decided to ignore the SSD 840 and all the aforementioned variants even though the drives carry 3-year warranties. Samsung, the ball is on your court now...

Source: http://www.techspot.com/article/997-samsung-ssd-read-performance-degradation/

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

The launch of the Samsung Galaxy S6 is one of the most important for Samsung in a long time. The company’s smartphone revenues are slipping, profits are down, and competition is stronger than ever. Apple’s strong launch of the iPhone 6 heaped a particularly large amount of pressure on the company, especially after the relatively tepid launch of the Galaxy S5.

Noticing that the company was falling behind Apple and other smartphones OEMs in the looks department, Samsung sought to completely revamp the design for their next flagship: the Galaxy S6. Combined with top-of-the-line hardware on every front, this was undoubtedly going to be Samsung’s best effort at creating a compelling high-end phone in a long time. It could finally be the Samsung device I can safely recommend.
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But this time around there’s not just one flagship from Samsung, but two: the company has released a curved-display Edge variant that carries mostly the same hardware as its standard flat-screen brother. Both come with a 5.1-inch Super AMOLED display with a top-end 1440p resolution, a brand new Exynos 7 Octa 7420 SoC, and a 16-megapixel optically stabilized camera. Unlike with the past three generations of Galaxy flagships, there’s no Qualcomm model in sight.

The Edge model is particularly interesting, because just like the mediocre Galaxy Note Edge, it brings few new features to the table for an inflated price tag. This time there are two curved edges to contend with, as well as a refined design and better software, but going in to this review I certainly wasn’t optimistic about the improvements.

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

From the moment I unboxed both the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge, it was clear that these devices have the nicest designs Samsung has ever produced. Late last year the company finally got the message that cheap, crappy plastic isn’t good enough for a high-end smartphone, releasing both the Galaxy Alpha and Galaxy Note 4 with a touch of metal. Samsung has refined this further with the S6, opting to use classy, smooth glass on the front and back of the device reminiscent of Sony’s Xperia Z line.

The metal around the edges of the Galaxy S6 complements the clean glass on the front and back well from a visual standpoint. Samsung has opted for an attractive matte finish to the aluminium side panels, with comfortable curves and slight sculpting on all sides. And like most phones with metal edges, there are a few polycarbonate strips that break up the solid metal frame to ensure adequate wireless performance.

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

Like most current flagships, the S6 is available in a range of colors that include black, white and gold. I received the black S6 and S6 Edge to review, which has a slightly blue hue when the reflective glass panels are viewed under strong lighting. This effect is rather unusual, but the reflective panels bereft of texturing look slick and classy from most angles.

When the Galaxy S6 was announced, many comparisons were made between its design and that of the iPhone 6. It’s true that the bottom edge that features the 3.5mm audio jack, microUSB 2.0 port and speaker grille is suspiciously close in design to the latest iPhones, but that’s where the similarities end. The top edge features just an infrared LED for controlling home theatre equipment, while the left side has the volume buttons, and the right side has the power button.

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

 The S6’s bezels to the top and bottom of the display aren’t the smallest going around, and that’s in part due to the inclusion of offscreen navigation buttons. However the handset is very thin, with most of the body clocking in at 7.0mm thin, or 7.1mm on the S6 Edge (Samsung lists both devices as slightly thinner, but real world measurements tell the full story). I was also pleased by how light both devices are: 138 grams for the S6 and 132 grams for the S6 Edge is pretty svelte for devices that uses large portions of metal and Gorilla Glass 4.

Of the two flagship handsets, the S6 Edge has the nicer visual design. The way the screen curves away to either side is unlike any other phone on the market, and this creates a very swooshable front panel. The curvature of the metal edges also adds that extra bit of interest that you simply don’t get with the regular Galaxy S6, and it’s head and shoulders above the awkward, lop-sided look of the Note Edge.

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

However I wouldn’t say the Galaxy S6 or the S6 Edge have the nicest smartphone designs I’ve ever seen. The iPhone 6 has a more refined body that continues to set the standard for seamless craftsmanship, and I still love the full-metal design of HTC’s latest smartphones, including the One M9. But for the first time ever, I can comfortably say the Galaxy S6 is right up there with the best designed phones on the market.

Unfortunately the beautiful Galaxy S6 design comes with a number of pretty significant trade-offs compared to its predecessor. The use of glass on the front and back, coupled with relatively smooth metal, makes the S6 an extremely slippery handset. You’re going to need a firm grip on this device, or there’s a good chance it will slide out of your hand and end in disaster.

Samsung has also removed two features that select users loved about the Galaxy line. The S6 doesn’t come with a removable battery – which isn’t a big deal considering a sealed battery leads to a slimmer, more elegant design – but more importantly there’s no microSD card slot. Smartphone OEMs continue to rip consumers off with the pricing of higher capacity devices, and microSD cards have been a great way to combat this. Without the inclusion of expandable storage though, you’re forced to pay exorbitant amounts for more internal storage, which is an unacceptable solution.

And it’s not like Samsung couldn’t have implemented a microSD card slot on a device without a removable back cover. The company already implemented a nano-SIM tray below the S6’s power button (or on the top edge of the S6 Edge), so there’s no good reason why there couldn’t be another tray to facilitate expandable storage.

Samsung Galaxy S6 & S6 Edge Review

While the regular S6 is generally a very comfortable device to hold and operate, despite its slippery body, the same can’t be said for the S6 Edge. Like with the Note Edge, this is down to the relatively sharp metal edge below the curved display on either side. As the display’s curve is gentler on the S6 Edge, the device is easier to hold than the Note Edge, but the outward-angled metal sides aren’t as comfortable to grip as the regular S6, even though it reduces the slipperiness somewhat.

The side buttons on the S6 Edge, particularly the power button, also aren’t as ergonomically positioned as they are on the regular S6. Due to the angle of the metal edge and their slimmer design, they’re harder to hit; another compromise relating to the curved display. Luckily Samsung had the sense to move the power button from the top edge, which is where it was positioned on the Note Edge, although usability still remains an issue.

Source: http://www.techspot.com/review/996-samsung-galaxy-s6/