Sins of a Solar Empire is one of those Real Time Strategy games that you won't be able to tear yourself away from easily. Sins is one of those addictive experiences that you start to gauge other games by. Very few space-based RTS games come close to perfection, and Sins is one of them. After playing Sins, you'll be daydreaming about it while trying to play other RTS titles. In this article, Benchmark Reviews offers our opinion of the Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion expansion pack.

Back in September 2009, CM Storm released the Sentinel Advance Laser Gaming Mouse. It sported a 5600 DPI laser sensor, which was the top-of-the-line at the time. 5600 DPI is still very high for a gaming mouse. Now Cooler Master is releasing the next evolution of this gaming mouse, the CM Storm Sentinel Advance II Laser Gaming Mouse SGM-6010-KLLW1. Sporting an Avago ADNS-9800 laser sensor, the Sentinel Advance II has the capability to scale up to 8200 DPI and all the way down to 200 DPI. In this article, Benchmark Reviews examines the CM Storm Sentinel Advance II Laser Gaming Mouse SGM-6010-KLLW1.

Intel always sends reviewers their top-end motherboards when new CPUs are introduced. Called "Extreme Boards", these motherboards are designed for "extreme performance" and festooned with skulls. The past Intel Extreme Boards I've looked at came with early, buggy BIOSes; performed relatively poorly, and had very few additional features other than those provided by the CPU and chipset. So I wasn't expecting much from the Intel DZ77GA-70K Z77 Express motherboard, but was amazed to find that this time, Intel might have a winner on its hands. Join me as Benchmark Reviews takes a look at Intel's new Z77 Express standard bearer.

Of the many platforms available for gamers to enjoy video games, there's no question that the highest quality graphics come from PC. While game developers might not consider PC gaming as lucrative as entertainment consoles, companies like NVIDIA use desktop graphics to set the benchmark for smaller more compact designs that make it into notebooks, tablets, and smartphone devices. NVIDIA's Kepler GPU architecture is an example of this, delivering unprecedented performance while operating cooler and consuming far less power than previous flagship discrete graphics cards. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 video card equipped with a 28nm GK104 Kepler GPU, and compares it against the best DirectX 11 video cards available. Featuring their new NVIDIA GPU Boost technology, the GeForce GTX 680 video card can dynamically adjust power and clock speeds based on real-time application demands.

I've sometimes thought that Intel tries too hard with its enthusiast level motherboards. The Extreme series, which is what Intel seeds reviewers with when new CPUs are introduced, tend to "shout" with prominent skull logos, POST code readouts, POST sequence LEDs, and other bling, but in my experience they fall down badly on features and performance. So you can understand that I wasn't expecting too much from the DZ77GA-70K motherboard. But I was in for a surprise.

At Benchmark Reviews, we have established that the main three items to look for in a computer case are price, functionality, and style. All three of these are vitality important for a case that will be taking up space in your home or office for the foreseeable future. None of them should be overlooked. As a gamer, I take a special interest in Full Tower cases because of the functionality they offer. But sometimes Full Tower cases are just too big to fit comfortably where they need to. Mid-Tower cases can provide a lot of the functionality of a Full Tower case but with the style that might be preferred, depending on the circumstance. It's the balance of providing that functionality that often gets case manufacturers into trouble. Benchmark Reviews has Cooler Master's new HAF XM case on hand and this article is dedicated to discovering if the famous HAF-X's little brother holds true to the family tree.

If the you have read the reviews of the AMD Radeon HD 79xx series of video cards here at benchmark reviews you will know that owning the fastest single GPU video card will hurt your wallet. While we can all aspire to (or dream of) owning one or more of these high end video cards, the simple fact is that not everyone can afford such luxuries. In this article we take a look at the more moderately priced HIS Radeon HD 7770 iCooler 1GB video card armed with AMD's Cape Verde 28nm GPU Core. Sure enough it won't run your favorite games maxed out at 1080p but with an msrp of $129.99 you might be pleasantly surprised at its power to weight ratio. Benchmark Reviews aims to provide you with an unbiased review of the HIS Radeon HD 7770 iCooler 1GB video card (model H777F1G2M) and report back our findings, keeping you informed on the latest technologies available on the market today.

Back on 22 March 2012, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 video card made headlines and became the best-performing single-GPU graphics card on the market. Only six weeks later NVIDIA engineers have successfully combined two 28nm GK104 GPUs together to create their new GeForce GTX 690. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests game performance with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690, a double-slot graphics card equipped with a pair of Kepler GPUs. Featuring NVIDIA's cutting-edge GPU Boost technology, the GeForce GTX 690 video card can dynamically adjust power and clock speeds based on real-time application demands. Using EVGA Precision-X, the GeForce GTX 690 has both GPUs overclocked beyond 1200 GHz to produce ultimate graphical performance in PC video games.