Hardware Reviews. One MegaHertz at a Time

Peripherals are subjective, you like what you like and leave the rest for someone else right? ASUS is trying to win you over with compelling entries in the highly addictive ROG family. The ROG Gladius II Origin Mouse has taken the modular Gladius mouse and given it an RGB facelift to compliment the socketed Omron Switches and detachable cords. The ROG Scabbard masquerades as a mousepad, but it’s actually a premium gaming surface designed to protect your entire desk as well as provide the accurate base for your mouse to glide on. Is it enough to win you over or did they have you at first sight?

In a world of flashy, wallet breaking ‘gaming’ components, it’s easy to forget the other 90% of the market. For your office, the kid's computer, or even your home theater system you just want something reliable and affordable, and BIOSTAR has a pair of boards targeted directly at that corner of the market. Between the B360MHD PRO and the H310MHD PRO, BIOSTAR has the entry-level 8^th generation Intel market squarely in its sights and today we’ll be taking a closer look at the H310MHD PRO.

When Intel’s 3D XPoint technology hit the market as Intel Optane Technology, it could do wonderful things to your computer, but only in the right configuration. To take advantage, you had to couple an Optane module to a SATA based drive. Not long after, larger drives big enough to hold your entire system became available, but only for the deeper-pocketed enthusiasts. Many users couple a smaller PCIe storage drive with the OS to a large mechanical Hard Drive for storage and Intel has now opened up Optane Acceleration to kick your data drive into high gear as well. Those smaller 32 and 64GB Optane modules can now be put to good use, and we’ll be looking at how this typical SSD+HDD configuration can benefit from Intel Optane Acceleration Technology.

Peripherals are something every gamer drools over but rarely changes. Once you are used to something you use daily, it's hard to break away from that familiarity and muscle memory you’ve earned. Keyboards have been around longer than computers, and not much has really changed, so what does it take to motivate someone to take a leap of faith on new input devices? A few years ago, you might have been able to say ‘mechanical switches’ or ‘backlighting’ but it seems even the budget devices have that too. Unless yours has died and you just plain need a new one, it’s most likely going to be a combination of things you are looking for. Does ASUS have the right combination to win you over?