SteelSeries is not a new name in the world of high-end gaming gear. In fact, their heritage stretches back to the early days of Counter-Strike when they made actual mouse pads made of… you guessed it… steel! Ah, those were the days, hard wrist on a cold pad at 3am, refusing to care about how I’d feel the next day when I had to go to class. But alas, SteelSeries have moved on from the original products that made them so famous among gamers. Now they offer a plethora of gaming gear that runs the gamut from superb value, to ultimate quality and performance, and in everything from mice and keyboards to audio equipment, such as the 7H Headset that we are reviewing for you today.

The 7H represents SteelSeries top of the line, and touts extreme comfort, convenience, and performance for gamers and audiophiles alike. To accomplish each of these goals, SteelSeries would have had to invest serious time in their R&D for this product, and perhaps they have. I’m sure you are all itching to see what I think of them, so please read on for a taste of what Steel brings.

The SteelSeries 7H:

The packaging of the SteelSeries 7H is high in quality, but also not such a pain in the rear to open that you end up hurting yourself in the process. Everything fits into its own neat compartment and is safe and secure.

Next: Unboxing, Features & Specifications

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Fairly painless right?  We hope this giveaway is both simple and easy to enter, and we know that you will enjoy the prizes.  That being said, we greatly appreciate our readers, followers and fans, which is why we have giveaways like this.

Discuss the giveaway in the TechREACTION forums. Thank you to all who participate! Thank you to Zalman for sponsoring this giveaway!

Contest is open to North America, Europe and Asia. Contest ends at 12:00AM (Midnight) PST, January 31, 2011. Winners will be drawn at random on February 1st, 2011.  Winners will be informed via Facebook message, so be sure this is an active Facebook account.  Two prizes in total will be awarded, one to each of the two winners selected.  TechREACTION will be selecting the winners. Neither TechREACTION nor Zalman are liable to any claims or damages.  Prizes will be shipped directly from Zalman to the winners.

Girl: "It's so tiny!" *giggles*

Check out that image above (Don’t laugh!).  That is a Zacate APU, featuring 2x Bobcat cores and the equivalent of a Radeon HD5450 DX11 graphics processing unit, with a TDP of 19 watts, all in a package no larger than your thumbprint!  Now, to call such a chip ‘impressive’ simply doesn’t give AMD enough credit.  Scale down the clock speeds on both the Bobcat cores and the GPU and you have yourself an Ontario with a TDP of just 9 watts!  Also important to mention is that the GPU in Zacate/Ontario is not all HD5XXX generation, but in fact contains the video processing engine from the HD6XXX series of cards.

So what products will these chips be fitting into you ask?  Primarily netbooks and low-end ultra-portable notebooks.  On the netbook side, users will be gaining substantially in the CPU/GPU performance department, while hopefully maintaining, if not improving on existing battery life numbers.  With that however, users should expect prices to be between $50/$100 higher than current ATOM-based netbooks of similar size/spec.  On the notebook side, you’ll likely take a hit in CPU power when compared to ULV Core 2’s, and especially Core i3’s/Sandy Bridge.  However graphically, Zacate will offer an improvement over current ION/Optimus graphics solutions and should maintain excellent battery life.

What about tablets, slates, or even smart phones?  Are they in the cards?  Yes, for 2012.  AMD says that in order to accommodate the tablet market, ideally they’d like to get these chips under the 3-5w mark, depending on application.  For that, they expect to be able to tune the silicon as it is and have a solution by the end of the year that should be ideal for these markets.  And smart phones?  Well, again, John tells me that AMD has a plan for this and Zacate/Ontario is ideally the first step toward having a solution for those products.  Will there be a Zacate/Ontario based smartphone this year?  Absolutely not, with their be a derivation at some point in 2012?  Probably not, but 13 may be the lucky number for AMD in our opinion.

In the gallery above you can see the current road map for AMD’s APU line up.  You will notice that in 2012, Krishna and Wichita bring along several improvements.  The most noticeable being a die-shrink from 40nm all the way down to 28nm, as well as adding 2 more Bobcat cores, for a total of up to 4 cores per APU!  The Bobcat cores will also be further “enhanced”, most likely adding in further TDP improvements per core.

Overall, we are looking at a very impressive, very interesting year for AMD in the ultra-portable mobile sector.

Moving on to video cards, we have a new HD6870 Hawk Edition, HD6950 Twin Frozr II, HD6970 Lightning Edition and GTX580 Lightning Edition.  Each of these cards features slightly improved versions of their coolers from the previous generation of cards, primarily having to do with the fan shrouds.  MSI decided that there was too much plastic on the fan shrouds and had them changed to use more aluminum for a firmer construction and cleaner look.

Next up we’ll take a look at MSI’s new flagship for the P67 chipset, the Big Bang Marshall.

MSI P67 Big Bang Marshall

Big Bang Marshall

Here she is, in all her glory.  MSI has gone with SFC-chokes and Hi-C caps for the P67 lineup, especially on the Marshall.  You can see how clean the socket is with the new, upgraded chokes and caps, and it’s really a visual upgrade that is also extremely functional.  The board features no less than 8 PCI-E x16 slots and utilizes a new chip from Lucid Hydra as a bridge for additional PCI-E lanes (P67 only supports 8x times 2 by default).  With up to four slots populated, users can expect full x16 support, while with all eight slots populated, each lane will default to 8x.  Slots/PCI-E lanes can also be disabled with the flip of a switch.  This feature can be useful for extreme overclocking situations.

Triple BIOS + OCGenie 2

Triple BIOS feature is also implemented with the Marshall.  With this, the user can essentially use one BIOS entirely for their tweaking and overclocking settings, while still maintaining two totally stable BIOS’ as a fail safe to prevent the user from having to clear CMOS after a failed overclocked.  This is also useful in the case of a bad BIOS flash.

OCGenie II is also included from a hardware level, allowing both beginners and advanced users easier methods of tweaking their boards to get the most out of them.  MSI is very proud of OCGenie II, and we’ll be sure to check it out in detail once we have this board in our hands for review.

The Marshall should be available by next month, or even potentially end of January for a price roughly in the $300 range.  If we could guess, we’d guess more like $350, but maybe MSI will surprise us.  Look for a review on this board from us in the future.

Next up, new AMD board?  But for what?

MSI Big Bang Conquerer

MSI has one more very interesting board on display, this time for the AMD platform.  No details were available on the board, so what I have here is entirely on my own assumptions.  The socket is AM3+, there are 6x SATA 6GBps ports, 10 Phase DrMOS PWM, OCGenie II, and what’s under those heatsinks…well…we’ll have to leave that to your imagination.

Big Bang Conquerer

Black Socket...Cool

The board is already a revision v2.0, which tells me there was some significant update to it since it’s first incarnation, but specifics I do not know, nor can I really speculate.  None the less, if this is a glimpse into the future, the future is certainly a bright one.

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for much more from CES 2011.

Luckily for you, I can report that they are still just as focused on producing top quality enthusiast motherboards, graphics cards and other solutions, as ever before.  Starting with the brand new EVGA P67 Classified board.  Featuring the same great overclocking features you’ve come to expect from a Classified board.  This year, they have gone away from the digital VRM solutions and brought in a new 12-phase analog solution.  A move that Product Manager Jacob Freeman says has helped them save cost without sacrificing performance.  Another unique feature of the P67 Classified is that it will feature the first right-angled 24-pin ATX power connector.  While not a ground-breaking innovation, it’s certainly a feature that’s been a long time coming and will be much appreciated by those who value wire management and clean cases.

EVGA P67 Classified - Early Revision

Unfortunately all of our pictures of the Classified came out blurry with the exception of this one.  Rest assured, however, we will have a full review of this board next month assuming samples don’t get delayed.  Boards should be shipping within the next few weeks.

EVGA will also be releasing a standard P67 edition motherboard at a substantially lower price.

The key features of this lineup are as follows:

· Supports Intel Core i5 and i7 Socket 1155 Processors
· Intel P67 Chipset
· Supports 2-way SLI plus PhysX or CrossfireX
· 4 DIMM Dual-Channel DDR3 1333Mhz+ (up to 16GB)
· 3 PCI Express Graphics Expansion Slots
· 10 USB 2.0 Ports (six rear panel, four onboard)
· 2 USB 3.0 Ports (rear panel)
· 2 SATA 3/6G Ports
· 3 SATA 2/3G Ports (1 E-SATA)
· 2 1394 Ports (firewire, one rear panel, one onboard)
· 2 Gigabit Ethernet Ports (10/100/1000)
· 8 Channel High Definition Audio
· ATX Form Factor

EVGA has also worked on releasing a new custom GTX 570, utilizing a shorter PCB and upgraded cooling.  The reduction in length will allow the card to be installed into small chassis’.  The card also utilizes displayport.

The other exciting thing that EVGA wanted to show us today was their new VMware Zero client.  Essentially, with this device, the customer installs a host card on their main PC, and then connects the client to it a 10/100 or 10/100/1000 ethernet network.  This tiny client will fit into the palm of your hand and allow you to use any high-def television or computer monitor as a super fast workstation or entertainment system.  There is no lag, no configuration hassle, and hardly any foot print.

The box itself will retail for around $299, with the host card coming in at around the same.  The possibilities with a device like this are nearly endless.  Why have multiple, thousand+ dollar PC’s when you can just access one PC from any room on any HD TV or monitor?  The device contains two DVI outputs, along with two USB 2.0 and an ethernet port.

One last thing I’d like to mention is that we did ask EVGA if they plan on continuing the SR-2 lineup for future chipsets and processors.  Joe emphatically said “absolutely”, but he was unable to go into any specifics.  Overall EVGA has some exciting things in the pipeline for us and will continue to be a company worth following.

]]> http://www.techreaction.net/2011/01/06/evga-ces-p67-classified-pcoip-zero-client/feed/ 4 http://www.techreaction.net/2011/01/04/techreaction-at-ces-2011/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=techreaction-at-ces-2011 http://www.techreaction.net/2011/01/04/techreaction-at-ces-2011/#comments Wed, 05 Jan 2011 04:42:10 +0000 EnJoY http://www.techreaction.net/?p=14795 TechREACTION will be attending CES again this year, bringing you up to the minute coverage of the latest computer hardware and gadgets! Drew, myself and Jake will all be attending and we think this will be one of the better shows in recent years. We will be publishing stories every hour, and you can expect exclusives! Stay tuned to TechREACTION starting tomorrow evening with our Coverage from the Corsair and Gigabyte events.

Please congratulate TechREACTION community member silencei2 on winning the Lian-Li H2O Giveaway sponsored by Performance-PCs! We hope you’ll enjoy your prize!  Thank you to all who participated and please continue to follow both TechREACTION and Performance-PCs on Twitter.

The winner has 48hrs to respond via PM or email. If there is no response within the 48hrs, the prize will be redrawn.

Thank you again to all who participated.  Stay tuned for more great contests, giveaways and of course articles, reviews and guides from TechREACTION.  And be sure to keep your eyes peeled on Performance-PCs for great deals on cases, cooling and accessories, and the best customer service on the internet!

This contest will start today and last three weeks, ending on Sunday, October 24th.  The winners will be selected the following Monday, October 25th.  The contest is for US residents only, excluding Hawaii and Alaska.  We apologize for excluding those of you elsewhere, but given the size and nature of the item, it is prohibitive to ship it to other locations.  Limit is one entry per person, multiple entry attempts will result in disqualification. Lastly, you must be a registered member in the TechREACTION forums.

Entry is simple, just follow these three simple steps and you’re in!

1. You must follow TechREACTION and Performance-PCs on Twitter!

2. You must tweet the following message once you are following both of us:

I just entered the Lian-Li H2O Giveaway @TechREACTION sponsored by @PerformancePCs – This watercooled case is sick! (http://bit.ly/cwrGH6)

3. You must then copy the link from this tweet into the form below.  Here is an illustration showing you where to copy the link from:

Fill out the form below completely, including a valid url to your tweet and you will be successfully entered into the contest.  For any questions, please visit our ongoing discussion thread at the TechREACTION forums.

That’s right! FREE HARDWARE! Just for being a registered and active blogger of TechREACTION.net.

How do I sign up? Simple, first register at this page to become a TR blogger. Once you receive your account information, half the job is done.

Second, go to the TechREACTION forums and register there as well. You must be registered in both places to be eligible.

Bloggers are given special access to a private forum where they can discuss content and blogs, as well as be notified of available review samples and other perks.

What about the giveaway? It’s easy. All you have to do is be yourself; a technology enthusiast. To qualify you must follow these simple rules:

- One blog post equals one submission to the contest.
- Two blog posts equals two submissions, and so on, and so forth.
- In cases where there are multiple prizes, a single blogger will only be able to win one. Prizes are drawn at random.

I have never blogged before, what’s the deal? Don’t think of it as something only for the elite. Blogging is really no different from posting on a forum, such as this. The difference being that it’s more organized, looks more professional to the reader, and puts the information on the front page rather than just buried deep in some thread somewhere.

Many average Joe’s who simply starting out with some basic blogging are now writing doing full fledged reviews and making a solid name for themselves, and you can too.

I’m interested, but what can I blog about? Everything, as long as it’s technology related. Here are some examples:

Just did some benching with a few buddies or by yourself? Blog it.
Bought a new smart phone or mobile device that you can review? Blog it.
Testing out the new version of an operating system? Blog it.
Seeing what better cooling does for your CPU overclock? Blog it.

The list goes on and virtually anything can be blogged as long as it’s related to the main subject: Technology.

Giveaways occur once a month, so by registered for this months giveaway you are in fact registering for every giveaway from here on to infinity. Sounds easy enough no?

ASUS M4A89TD PRO & ASUS P7P55D Premium!

Sponsored By ASUS

Previous Contest Prizes & Winners:

June Prize: AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition
Winning Blogger: Archer

May Prize: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition
Winning Blogger: Krab

April Prize: Thermalright Heatsink Pack (TRUE & 2xTRAD2 GTX’s)
Winning Blogger: Burn

March Prize: EVGA P55 Motherboard
Winning Blogger: carpo93

February Prize: Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR3 Kit & OCZ Gladiator CPU Cooler
Winning Bloggers: 0Ro!, The Duke

December Prize: Corsair HX750W & Razer Lachesis Gaming Mouse
Winning Bloggers: The Duke, Archer

November Prize: Gigabyte P55-UD4P Core i5/i7 Motherboard
Winning Blogger: thebanik

October Prize: 2x AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition
Winning Bloggers: mav2000, Neuromancer

Congratulations to you!

The winner of the June Blogger Giveaway is…

Archer!

Thank you for all of the time you put into this website and this community!  Enjoy your new processor!

Thanks to AMD for sponsoring the giveaway.