2014: Year in Review

July

Samsung SSD 850 PRO

Samsung's SSD 850 PRO is quite simply the best consumer-level (i.e. non-enterprise) SSD currently available. Its key feature is Samsung's 3D V-NAND, where at a very basic level cells on a NAND die are stacked vertically as well as horizontally to alleviate the pressures of constantly shrinking process nodes that have been felt recently by traditional 2D NAND designs. 3D NAND is more expensive to produce, but the benefits are clear when it comes to performance, endurance and efficiency – it's just better all round. Our benchmarks demonstrated Samsung's dominance when it came to performance, and the software suite the company offers in the form of Magician make accessing all of the drives features very easy. Most users don't need a drive of this calibre, but for professionals with demanding enough workloads there's no better choice.

Asus Maximus VII Gene

Since the Gene was first launched as a ROG SKU, the Hero and Ranger have also been added to the line-up, making the Gene more niche in its appeal since there are now these two options for those looking for cheaper ROG boards. That said, if you've considered everything and find micro-ATX to be your form factor of choice, there's no better board for building a Z97-based system with. It does command a premium over its rivals, but the quality of ROG hardware means this is always true, and the feature set and aesthetics remain awesome as ever. The onboard overclocking tools, KeyBot, UEFI-based SSD secure erase are some highlights, but there are of course many more. It also has the bonus of being supported by water block manufacturers, making it ideal for enthusiasts keen to liquid cool their hardware.

News

• UK government plans emergency data retention law and it passes
  
• Raspberry Pi Model B+ launched
  
• Google denies Fibre UK launch plans
  
• Dell starts accepting Bitcoin payments
  
• Nvidia officially unveils Shield tablet and controller
  
• AOC offers up u3477Pqu 34in ultra-wide 3,440 x 1,440 monitor
  
• Valve redesigns the Steam controller once again