The latest Sound BlasterX G6 DAC and external sound card is very flexible in terms of supported platforms, but also features important upgrades over the G5. We do have now a future-proof 32-bit/384kHz, 130dB DAC that is combined with separate amplification for each channel, marketed as Xamp. The amplifier supports up to 600 ohm headphones and with the G6 we also have now Dolby Digital Decoding. Scout Mode was been introduced quite some time ago and applies certain filters in-game, for hearing more clearly footsteps, weapons and should give you an advantage. For easy operation, we do also have a hardware button for Scout Mode, but also for switching between different preset profiles or for choosing the amplification. read more

The tiny ECS LIVA Q2 did really impress us on how much performance it can deliver, judging by its small size. Even if the manufacturer did opt-in for an active cooling system, the internal fan barely makes any noise: in IDLE we have recorded about 28.1 dBA, while when running the AIDA64 stress test the noise level did get up to 30.9 dBA, which is barely noticeable (27.8 dBA ambient). The unit does feature two USB ports in front for connecting peripherals, extra storage and besides the LAN interface we can connect it wirelessly thanks to the included internal 802.11ac adapter (Bluetooth 4.1 compatible). read more

The M.2 Type 2280 Crucial MX500 250GB does have about the same performance as its 500GB version and the installation process is pretty straight-forward. With a MTTF of 1.8 million hours, an endurance of 100TB (TBW) and a limited five-year warranty, we can consider it an ideal upgrade as a boot drive for many mainstream systems. MX500 does come with hardware-based encryption, while the integrated power loss immunity does avoid unwanted data corruption if the system would suddenly freeze or shut down. read more

With the DL10J, Shuttle is offering a solid upgrade option from the Apollo Lake DX30, thanks to the upgrade to the latest generation Gemini Lake Intel Celeron J4005 SoC. Even if we are talking about the same TDP, IPC has been increased along with the maximum clock speeds and on the graphics side, the new processor does feature Intel UHD Graphics 600, being able to drive up to three monitors. The chassis is compact and solid and preserves the outside appearance as the previous model; the VESA mount is included in the package by default, so you can mount the mini-PC in the back of the display right away. read more

With the Racing X470GT8, BIOSTAR has built a solid mainstream platform for the AMD Ryzen 2000 series and packs quite a bit of features. The UEFI interface is easy to navigate and within it we can fine-tune the system performance or adapt the settings depending on the installed hardware. Thanks to the total of four memory slots, we can install up to 64GB of RAM and theoretically up to 3200MHz RAM is supported; in our tests, the GEIL PC4 25600 3200MHz CL16 8GBx2 Samsung B-die based kit did run well until 2933MHz, but considering that we were running the latest BETA BIOS, things may improve in the future. read more