Congratulations! If you're reading this article it means you are either trying to overclock your LGA 1156 platform for the first time or you have already overclocked it but might want to know more about how is it done and how can you "enhance" your setup to reach that sweet point. The LGA 1156 platform has been out for a while now, and it quickly got adopted by users as the main performance platform thanks to lower prices compared to the LGA1366 platform while keeping the same performance. Intel launched 4 cores/8 threads processors (Core i5 and Core i7) based on Lynnfield's architecture, and after that, we saw 2 cores/4 threads CPUs with Intel GMA HD graphics (Core i3 & Core i5) based on Clarkdale's technology. Thanks to a better and more efficient technology, along with the reduced manufacture's size, the entire LGA 1156 gamma is able to overclock in a very decent way within air-cooling conditions, and that's what we're analyzing today. Benchmark Reviews will teach you how to understand overclocking values while doing the process at the same time. After that, the Core i3, Core i5 and the powerful Core i7 processors will be deeply analyzed to check how MHz increase against heat, voltage and power consumption. Start your engines and have a look at our latest Intel LGA 1156 Overclocking Guide to setup your latest Core i3/i5/i7 CPU to the max!

With each new release of an Athlon-II processor, AMD reasserts its control on the entry-level market by providing another great quality CPU at a very affordable price. The release of the Athlon-II X4-645 ADX645WFGMBOX quad-core processor is no different. At 3.1GHz, the X4-645 becomes the fastest Athlon-II quad-core processor on the market. Similar to previous Athlon-II X4 series release, the release of the X4-645 will also push the price of its predecessor, the X4-640 to under $100, making quad-core processing at 3.0GHz an affordable option for many users. Benchmark Reviews as been there for the release of many of the most recent Athlon-II and Phenom-II processors and we wouldn't miss the chance to bring you the test results on the latest Athlon-II quad-core release. In this article, Benchmark Reviews has prepared an in-depth look as the Athlon-II X4-645 ADX645WFK42GM quad-core processor and compares it to a wide-variety of other processors on the market. Dive in for the latest results on AMD's flagship Athlon-II quad-core.

The NVIDIA GTX 460 is quickly establishing itself as the graphics card to beat in its price segment. The reconfigured Fermi architecture gives the card a real edge in gaming performance. With 1/3 fewer transistors to feed, it uses less power, runs cooler, and overclocks extremely well on air. With that kind of capability baked into the design, it didn't take long for NVIDIA's partners to start releasing overclocked editions. EVGA is one of the top AIC vendors for NVIDIA products, with a well established and loyal customer base. Their latest GTX460 video card is an SC (Superclocked) model that takes the reference design and pumps it up to 763 MHz. Benchmark Reviews takes a comprehensive look inside the EVGA GeForce GTX460 SC 01G-P3-1372-TR and then runs it through a full test suite. Read on if you want to see how this EVGA Superclocked edition performs and then watch as we push it even further with EVGA Precision and OC Scanner software.

Although the memory controller built into Intel's Socket 1156 processors only supports DDR3-1333 speeds officially, any enthusiast knows that there's more than a bit of overclocking headroom there. DDR3-1600 memory is increasingly common, and recently a number of memory vendors have upped the ante even more, with DDR3-2000 and higher speeds becoming available. G.SKILL has entered the enthusiast memory market with a broad selection of high-speed and low-latency memory kits, and Benchmark Reviews tests their new DDR3-2133 memory kit (F3-17066CL7D-4GBPIS) to see what kind of performance benefits it will yield when overclocked.

One of the great things about a free market are the options. In today's computer market there are options between brands and even within brands. Cooler Master's High Air Flow (HAF) series is one example of products designed to fit a range of different needs. The launch of the HAF 912 helps fill out the offerings from the HAF series of feature rich computer cases. The HAF 912 is a mid-tower offering to satisfy both the fanatic and the frugal. In this article Benchmark Reviews compares model RC-912-KKN1 with the rest of the HAF lineup to see how the 912 compares to it's older brothers. As a budget case it will certainly try to offer as many features as possible, but ultimately it costs less because some sacrifices must be made compared to the top of the line products. Read on to see how the HAF 912 approaches the often precarious balance between performance and cost.

When Benchmark Reviews first tested the video card, we knew that NVIDIA had a winner on their hands. For the mid-range price of $200, gamers can enjoy high-speed frame rates and PhysX enhancements. After some additional investigation, it seemed that the price point offered more than just a successful domination of the rivaling ATI Radeon HD 5830, it also surpassed the more expensive GeForce GTX 465. There are several enthusiast video cards that cost more than the GTX 460, which presents the case for combining two of these video cards into a $400 SLI set. At this price segment the GTX 460 SLI set directly competes against the ATI Radeon HD 5870, but could potentially deliver more performance than ATI's Radeon HD 5970. In this article, Benchmark Reviews compares single and SLI performance for the 768MB GTX 460 against the entire enthusiast graphics card segment.

Precision is a trait that gamers from all walks of life strive to achieve. Having quick reflexes is vital when proving your worth online; your mouse becomes your weapon, and your virtual existence is held in place by the reliability of its performance. When there's a thirst for pixelated blood that needs to be quenched, there's no substitution for quality. Ergonomics, precision, endurance; it all screams one thing: fancy gaming mouse. Mad Catz has provided just the thing in their Cyborg R.A.T. 7!

NVIDIA recently earned its reputation back with the GF104 Fermi-based GeForce GTX 460; a video card that dominated the price point even before it dropped to $179 USD and completely ruled the middle market. Priced to launch at $129, the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 packs 192 CUDA cores into its 40nm GF106 Fermi GPU and adds 1GB of GDDR5 memory. Benchmark Reviews overclocked our GTS 450 to nearly 1GHz, and even paired them together in SLI. NVIDIA expects their new GTS 450 to compete against the Radeon HD 5730 at 1680x1050, but we learned from GTX 460 there's usually more performance reach than they suggest. Since the price to performance ratio is critical to this entry-level segment, Benchmark Reviews also tests the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 1GB against the more-expensive Radeon HD 5770 using several of the most demanding DirectX-11 PC video games available.