Monthly Archives: November 2017

MSI X399 SLI PLUS Review: Gaming Motherboard

Motherboard reviews

<![CDATA[MSI is a world leading gaming brand, MSI is the most trusted name in gaming and eSports. They’ve dedicated countless hours and committed numerous resources to the eSports community to support the world’s most aspiring and best gamers and use their knowledge and expertise in our products in return. Dedicated to gamer-driven innovation, MSI leverages its remarkable R&D strengths to craft top-notch, well-acclaimed notebook PCs, graphics cards, motherboards, and desktop PCs
(Micro-Star International) is a Taiwanese multinational information technology corporation headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It designs, develops and provides computer hardware, related products and services, including laptops, desktops, motherboards, graphics cards, All-in-One PCs, servers, industrial computers, PC peripherals, car infotainment products, etc. (MSI Wikipedia)
 
Specifications

  • ATX Form Factor
  • Supports Ryzen ThreadRipper (TR4) Series Processors
  • 8 DDR4 slots that support up to 128GB in quad channel
  • 4 PCI-Ex16 slots
  • 2 PCI-Ex1
  • 8 SATAIII Ports
  • 3 M.2 Slots
  •  Supports SLI & Crossfire
  • Integrated Realtek ALC122 Codec Audio

In testing the motherboard I found that it is extremely fast, and better than most motherboards at this price range ($349). It supports a beastly cpu, large amount of ram, lots of storage options, and even a few M.2 slots. This motherboard is a great option if you are looking to get into the Ryzen Threadripper scene for a lower price. As this is an expensive motherboard, higher-end Threadripper boards can cost you anywhere from $500-$600. In conclusion, the X399 SLI PLUS motherboard is a great, well rounded, motherboard that gives you a lot more, for the little price that you are paying to get into the Threadripper scene.

  • NOT THIS IS PART OF A CLASSROOM PROJECT

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813144118&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleKWLess&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleKWLess-_-IM-PC-_-MB%20%3E%20Motherboards%20-%20AMD-_-N82E16813144118&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm9vPBRCQARIsABAIQYdfFBnkzj_7MFRCeEyjfP2dx2ftvowisQ0ugHrtE-fR4bIkzu6LwqsaAq_1EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-Star_International
https://us.msi.com/]]>

ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming Motherboard Review

Motherboard reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[ASUS offers a very large variety of motherboards, from efficient but basic home PCs to high-end but costly gaming PCs. In this review, I will be talking about the ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming motherboard. This motherboard costs $209.99 (£206.99).

Click photo to enlarge

AsusTek Computer Inc. is a Taiwanese multinational computer and phone hardware and electronics company headquartered in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. Its products include desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, networking equipment, monitors, WIFI routers, projectors, motherboards, graphics cards, optical storage, multimedia products, peripherals, wearables, servers, workstations, and tablet PCs (Asus Wikipedia).
There are many aspects to consider when reviewing a motherboard that has been made for gaming. Especially one that will cost you almost $210. The  ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming motherboard in question today has a very mixed blend of pros and cons to it, according to many reviews from sites including PC TeK Reviews, KitGuru, and Bit-Tech.
Click photo to enlarge

The Z370-E motherboard is the newest product from Intel‘s “Coffee Lake” family of CPUs. With RGB LED lighting complimenting silver heatsinks, the style and aesthetics of this motherboard are definitely there. According to Bit-Tech, this style is much different from the dark grey/black colors we have been seeing in boards.
However, the most important part is the performance. A review by PC TeK Reviews led me to believe that this motherboard had no cons. It is a very well performing board for gamers and mainstream users. It has good overclocking performance and is perfect for user- customization. Although, another review by Bit-Tech disagreed. They argued that the main issue for this motherboard was that it didn’t offer much for its price. There are much cheaper options by ASUS, but at the same time there’s very little for this price option that offer more (Bit-Tech).
Specifications:
Chipset Intel Z370
Form factor ATX
CPU support Intel Socket LGA 1151-V2
Memory support Dual-channel, four slots, max 64GB
Sound Eight-channel SupremeFX S1120A
Networking 1 x Intel Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2
Ports 2 x M.2 PCIe 3.0 x4 32Gbps (1 x PCIe/SATA 6Gbps up to 2280, 1 x PCIe/SATA 6Gbps up to 22110) , 6 x SATA 6Gbps, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C, 1 x USB 3.1 header, 4 x USB 3.0 (2 via headers), 6 x USB 2.0 (4 via headers), 1 x LAN, audio out, line in, mic, Optical S/PDIF out
Dimensions (mm) 305 x 244
Extras Wi-Fi aerials, RGB LED extension cable, 40/60mm fan mount (Bit-Tech).
Overall, the ASUS ROG Strix Z370-E Gaming Motherboard is a solid contender when looking at high-performance motherboards with solid gaming compatibility. Although the price may seem pretty steep for what you’re getting, there’s really not much more you can get for the same price. All in all I would recommend this motherboard for anyone looking for a high-end gaming experience.
Note: This review is part of a classroom project.
References:
bit-tech.net.   https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/motherboards/asus-rog-strix-z370-e-gaming/8/
pctekreviews.com. http://www.pctekreviews.com/Reviews/STRIX_Z370E.aspx
kitguru.net. https://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/ryan-martin/asus-rog-strix-z370-e-gaming-motherboard-review/
wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
asus.com. https://www.asus.com/sg/
Newegg.com. https://www.newegg.com
 
 
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MSI Z370 SLI PLUS Review: High-End Gaming Use

Motherboard reviews, NT IT Reviews

<![CDATA[

This is a review of the MSI Z370 SLI PLUS motherboard for high-end gaming use. A review by AnAndTech is what spurred my interest in the MSI Z370 SLI Plus. On Newegg, you can find this motherboard for $149.99. The  motherboard’s purpose is to fully utilize the Intel® Coffee Lake 6 core processors, ready to deliver world class performance when gaming (MSI). The MSI Z370 SLI PLUS is 12.0″ by 9.6″ with a form factor of ATX.
The MSI Z370 SLI PLUS motherboard is made by Micro-Star International, a Taiwanese multinational information technology corporation. MSI’s current global success can be credited to their computer motherboards, which made their company popular when it was established in the late 1980s (Wikipedia).
    Specifications:
  • Supports 8th Generation Intel Core Processors, and Intel Pentium and Celeron Processors for Socket LGA1151, *Not backward compatible with older generation of LGA 1151 CPUs
  • Four DDR4 slots that can support a maximum of 64GB
  • Native motherboard speed of 2667 MHz
  • Video (supported by CPU with graphics)
  • Supports NVIDIA 2-Way SLI & AMD 3-Way Crossfire
  • Integrated Audio (Realtek ALC1220, 7.1 channels)
  • Integrated LAN (Intel l219-V)
  • 3 x PCI Express 3.0 x16
  • 3 x PCIe 3.0 x1 slots
  • 6 x SATA III ports (6Gb/s)
  • 2 x M.2 slots, can reach speeds up to 32GB/s
  • 8 USB Ports

The MSI Z370 SLI PLUS is a great motherboard for gaming; in the game Fire Strike, overclocked, the MSI motherboard hit a high score of 23902, winning first place. The two Steel Armor PCle 3.0 x16 slots ensure that the motherboard will be able to physically support the high-end graphics cards needed for a gaming PC. Not only can you use this MSI Z370 for gaming, but you can also personalize it. With the click of a mouse, you can change the variety of color schemes to one of your liking adding a flare of colors to your gaming rig. Overall, the MSI Z370 SLI Plus is an excellent choice for a quality gaming motherboard at a price that will not empty your savings.
Note:  This review is part of a classroom project.

AnAndTech <https://www.anandtech.com/show/11860/z370-motherboards-asus-asrock-    ecs-evga-biostar-msi-gigabyte/28>.                                                                                                     eTeknix <https://www.eteknix.com/msi-z370-sli-plus-motherboard-review/>.                       MSI <https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z370-SLI-PLUS.html>.                                             Newegg <https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813144111>.    Steel Armor <https://www.eteknix.com/msi-z370-sli-plus-motherboard-review/2/>.                Wikipedia <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micro-Star_International>.
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Can you remove the swap file?

NT IT Reviews, Tech Administration

<![CDATA[As we migrated to a 1:1 environment at our school I knew from experience that the only way to do it well was with all SSDs in our laptops.  My experiences have told me that users rarely put away laptops  correctly.  This leads to many problems with windows loads, ruined drives, and a lot of headache.  SSDs are a great way to save yourself a lot of headaches, as well as making your users very happy.    We had an one issue, the original laptops only had 2Gb of RAM and we were seeing SSDs last only 3 years as the use of the swap files overused the SSDs with countless writes.
This year we decided to upgrade the RAM to 4Gb and take away the swap file.  The increased RAM would theoretically reduce the need for the swap file while also eliminating thousands of possible swap file writes.  The idea could possible increase SSD lifetime many fold.

Our research on the subject always warned against removing the swap file.  But all the warnings (on a myriad of websites) seemed to be repeating the same concerns, with no actual testing.  So we decided to take the leap.
Tested systems.

  1. Dell E6500 Latitude laptops with 4Gb of RAM, 64Gb SSDs, Windows 10 LTSB (32 bit,) Office 2016, and a variety of other programs .
  2. Dell E6520  Latitude laptops with 8Gb of RAM, 128Gb SSDs, Windows 10 LTSB (64 bit,) Office 2016, and a variety of other programs .

We started with a couple dozen systems and asked students to complete a google form and let us know How things were going.  2 months in and we are up to 100+ laptops with the swap file removed.
So far our students have reported 0 system hangups and 0 blue screens.  These were the two common reasons most people said it was a bad idea.  Only time will tell if this actually extends the life of our SSDs, but to those out there saying it doesn’t work, I think your should try it before you actually advise against it.]]>