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The AOC Q2781PS Announced: 'Frameless' Rose Gold 27" QHD with Swarovski Crystals
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The AOC Q2781PS Announced: ‘Frameless’ Rose Gold 27″ QHD with Swarovski Crystals

AOC this week introduced two new 27” displays with thin bezels, a fancy asymmetric stand, an IPS panel and QHD resolution (2560×1440). The more expensive of the two monitors comes with a rose gold base as well as a rear embedded with Swarovski crystals.

When it comes to stylish computer hardware in general and displays in particular, it is not always easy to get something that is both aesthetically attractive and technologically advanced. High-quality backlighting requires space, and full-size connectors make devices thicker too, so sleek designs usually have certain compromises. AOC attempted to combine style and technology in its Q2781-series monitors, if having crystals on your monitor is your thing. The displays are based on AH-IPS panels featuring a 2560×1440 resolution suitable up to 350 nits brightness, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 178°/178° viewing angles, a 5 ms response time and a 60 Hz refresh rate. The manufacturer claims that the Q2718PQ and the Q2718PS displays can reproduce 16.77 million colors, and also claims “full sRGB” (but we would cautiously call it 99%).  

The monitors have very thin bezels on all four sides and have asymmetric L-shaped stands as shown in the picture above. The AOC Q2781PQ has a silver stand and a regular black back panel. The AOC Q2781PS comes with a rose gold base, whereas its back panel is decorated with Swarovski crystals. The tilt of both displays can be adjusted, but the height is fixed.

AOC Q2781-Series Displays
  Q2781PQ Q2781PS
Panel 27″ IPS
Native Resolution 2560 × 1440
Maximum Refresh Rate 60 Hz
Response Time 5 ms (gray-to-gray)
Brightness 350 cd/m²
Contrast 1000:1
Viewing Angles 178°/178° horizontal/vertical
Pixel Pitch 0.2331 × 0.2331 mm
PPI 109
Inputs 1 × DisplayPort
2 × HDMI
1 × D-Sub
Audio 3.5-mm headphone jack
Color Silver Rose gold
Bling No Bling Bling Bling
Power Consumption Standby < 0.5 W
Maximum 45 W

As for connectivity, the AOC Q2781-series displays have a DisplayPort, an HDMI header, a D-Sub input as well as a 3.5-mm headphone output. Keep in mind that D-Sub does not support HDCP and certain content may not playback when using such connectors. AOC mentioned that the Q2781-series monitors also feature the company’s Clear Vision video engine to upscale SD content to HD quality.

The AOC Q2781PQ is available now at Amazon.com for $349.99, which is below the MSRP of $499. The rose gold version with the Swarovski ‘bling’ (Ian’s edit: each to their own) will be available in the coming months for $599.

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The AOC Q2781PS Announced: 'Frameless' Rose Gold 27" QHD with Swarovski Crystals
  • Comments are Closed

The AOC Q2781PS Announced: ‘Frameless’ Rose Gold 27″ QHD with Swarovski Crystals

AOC this week introduced two new 27” displays with thin bezels, a fancy asymmetric stand, an IPS panel and QHD resolution (2560×1440). The more expensive of the two monitors comes with a rose gold base as well as a rear embedded with Swarovski crystals.

When it comes to stylish computer hardware in general and displays in particular, it is not always easy to get something that is both aesthetically attractive and technologically advanced. High-quality backlighting requires space, and full-size connectors make devices thicker too, so sleek designs usually have certain compromises. AOC attempted to combine style and technology in its Q2781-series monitors, if having crystals on your monitor is your thing. The displays are based on AH-IPS panels featuring a 2560×1440 resolution suitable up to 350 nits brightness, a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 178°/178° viewing angles, a 5 ms response time and a 60 Hz refresh rate. The manufacturer claims that the Q2718PQ and the Q2718PS displays can reproduce 16.77 million colors, and also claims “full sRGB” (but we would cautiously call it 99%).  

The monitors have very thin bezels on all four sides and have asymmetric L-shaped stands as shown in the picture above. The AOC Q2781PQ has a silver stand and a regular black back panel. The AOC Q2781PS comes with a rose gold base, whereas its back panel is decorated with Swarovski crystals. The tilt of both displays can be adjusted, but the height is fixed.

AOC Q2781-Series Displays
  Q2781PQ Q2781PS
Panel 27″ IPS
Native Resolution 2560 × 1440
Maximum Refresh Rate 60 Hz
Response Time 5 ms (gray-to-gray)
Brightness 350 cd/m²
Contrast 1000:1
Viewing Angles 178°/178° horizontal/vertical
Pixel Pitch 0.2331 × 0.2331 mm
PPI 109
Inputs 1 × DisplayPort
2 × HDMI
1 × D-Sub
Audio 3.5-mm headphone jack
Color Silver Rose gold
Bling No Bling Bling Bling
Power Consumption Standby < 0.5 W
Maximum 45 W

As for connectivity, the AOC Q2781-series displays have a DisplayPort, an HDMI header, a D-Sub input as well as a 3.5-mm headphone output. Keep in mind that D-Sub does not support HDCP and certain content may not playback when using such connectors. AOC mentioned that the Q2781-series monitors also feature the company’s Clear Vision video engine to upscale SD content to HD quality.

The AOC Q2781PQ is available now at Amazon.com for $349.99, which is below the MSRP of $499. The rose gold version with the Swarovski ‘bling’ (Ian’s edit: each to their own) will be available in the coming months for $599.

Related Reading:

GIGABYTE Extends Aorus to GPUs: A New GeForce GTX 1080
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GIGABYTE Extends Aorus to GPUs: A New GeForce GTX 1080

GIGABYTE this week announced its first graphics adapter that belongs to the Aorus line of products – the Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G. The video card features a very high GPU frequency and will be among the fastest GeForce GTX 1080-based offerings from GIGABYTE and other hardware makers. The board will be the first graphics card to be sold under the Aorus brand, but soon other members of the same family will join it.

Over the past several years, GIGABYTE has introduced multiple sub-brands to address the market, from gaming on a budget to the most demanding PC enthusiasts. For graphics cards, the company used the G1 Gaming and the Xtreme Gaming sub-brands for its highest-end products. In the meantime the motherboard arm of the company (which almost acts like a different company internally anyway) was using UltraDurable, SOC Force, G1 Gaming and some other names. The fact that there was a split suggested a lack of synergy, especially when GIGABYTE’s main competitors were unifying their product lines under a single gaming brand.

As a result, in order to make things simpler going forward, the company will consolidate its top-of-the-range offerings under just one brand, ‘Aorus’, which has been used for the company’s premiumhttp://forum.aorus.com/forum/main-forum/5170-what-does-aorus-logo-stands-for?p=5182#post5182 laptops so far and was introduced to 200-series motherboards with the launch of Kaby Lake in January. From now on, GIGABYTE’s most advanced products, including notebooks, motherboards, and graphics cards will carry the Aorus brand.

To clarify ‘why’ Aorus: taken from an Aorus marketing rep forum post on 11/6/2016,

‘the name AORUS stems from the Egyptian patron god Horus and was known for being a symbol of kingship in ancient Egypt. We picked Horus because we strive to be on top. We did replace the “H” with “A” to represent our philosophy of striving for grade A product and collectively as a company being the striving to better ourselves and be the “A-Team”

The Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G (GV-N1080AORUS X-8GD) in many resembles GIGABYTE’s previously announced GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8G (GV-N1080XTREME-8GD). The new card has a nearly similar Windforce 3X cooling system with multiple heatpipes, two fans with special fins and RGB lighting, but a slightly altered backplate. This first Aorus video card also has exactly the same GPU frequencies as the previously announce card: 1784/1936 MHz base/boost in OC mode. The new GPU also has the same display output configuration (three DP, one HDMI, one DVI as well as one ‘VR Link’ – a HDMI on the back of the card). Based on the images, the PCBs of the cards are not exactly the same (at least based on the parts we can see on the images below the story), but they may be very similar. In any case, from an out-of-the-box performance point of view, the two cards would appear to perform almost exactly the same depending on firmware.

The fact that the Aorus card resembles the Xtreme Gaming board is not something completely unexpected: development of brand new products takes a long time and the company already has a flagship graphics product with an advanced cooling system and feature-set that satisfies the buyer. Going forward we would expect to see exclusive Aorus offerings, but for now the new cards will resemble existing products. Meanwhile, when it comes to motherboards, all advanced Intel 270 PCH-based offerings from GIGABYTE already carry the Aorus trademark. As soon as GPU companies come up with new processors, the Aorus family will get unique graphics cards as well.

Comparison of GIGABYTE’s Aorus and
Xtreme Gaming GTX 1080 Graphics Cards
  Aorus
GeForce GTX 1080
xtreme edition 8G GV-N1080AORUS X-8GD		 GIGABYTE
GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8G GV-N1080XTREME-8GD		 NVIDIA
GeForce GTX 1080
Founders Edition
Stream Processors 2560
Texture Units 160
ROPs 64
Core Clock (MHz) 1759 – 1784 1607
Boost Clock (MHz) 1898 – 1936 1733
Memory Capacity 8 GB
Type GDDR5X
Clock 10 Gbps
TDP 180 W
Launch Date Q1 2017 Q3 2016 5/2016
Launch Price ? $680 – $744 $699

GIGABYTE did not officially announce the recommended price of the Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G, but since the card has similarities with other products we expect the new unit to cost about the same amount of money. Right now, Newegg offers GIGABYTE’s GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming graphics cards for $680-$744. Both the Aorus and Xtreme Gaming graphics cards come with a four-year warranty in North America (with online registration required).

Related Reading:

GIGABYTE Extends Aorus to GPUs: A New GeForce GTX 1080
  • Comments are Closed

GIGABYTE Extends Aorus to GPUs: A New GeForce GTX 1080

GIGABYTE this week announced its first graphics adapter that belongs to the Aorus line of products – the Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G. The video card features a very high GPU frequency and will be among the fastest GeForce GTX 1080-based offerings from GIGABYTE and other hardware makers. The board will be the first graphics card to be sold under the Aorus brand, but soon other members of the same family will join it.

Over the past several years, GIGABYTE has introduced multiple sub-brands to address the market, from gaming on a budget to the most demanding PC enthusiasts. For graphics cards, the company used the G1 Gaming and the Xtreme Gaming sub-brands for its highest-end products. In the meantime the motherboard arm of the company (which almost acts like a different company internally anyway) was using UltraDurable, SOC Force, G1 Gaming and some other names. The fact that there was a split suggested a lack of synergy, especially when GIGABYTE’s main competitors were unifying their product lines under a single gaming brand.

As a result, in order to make things simpler going forward, the company will consolidate its top-of-the-range offerings under just one brand, ‘Aorus’, which has been used for the company’s premiumhttp://forum.aorus.com/forum/main-forum/5170-what-does-aorus-logo-stands-for?p=5182#post5182 laptops so far and was introduced to 200-series motherboards with the launch of Kaby Lake in January. From now on, GIGABYTE’s most advanced products, including notebooks, motherboards, and graphics cards will carry the Aorus brand.

To clarify ‘why’ Aorus: taken from an Aorus marketing rep forum post on 11/6/2016,

‘the name AORUS stems from the Egyptian patron god Horus and was known for being a symbol of kingship in ancient Egypt. We picked Horus because we strive to be on top. We did replace the “H” with “A” to represent our philosophy of striving for grade A product and collectively as a company being the striving to better ourselves and be the “A-Team”

The Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G (GV-N1080AORUS X-8GD) in many resembles GIGABYTE’s previously announced GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8G (GV-N1080XTREME-8GD). The new card has a nearly similar Windforce 3X cooling system with multiple heatpipes, two fans with special fins and RGB lighting, but a slightly altered backplate. This first Aorus video card also has exactly the same GPU frequencies as the previously announce card: 1784/1936 MHz base/boost in OC mode. The new GPU also has the same display output configuration (three DP, one HDMI, one DVI as well as one ‘VR Link’ – a HDMI on the back of the card). Based on the images, the PCBs of the cards are not exactly the same (at least based on the parts we can see on the images below the story), but they may be very similar. In any case, from an out-of-the-box performance point of view, the two cards would appear to perform almost exactly the same depending on firmware.

The fact that the Aorus card resembles the Xtreme Gaming board is not something completely unexpected: development of brand new products takes a long time and the company already has a flagship graphics product with an advanced cooling system and feature-set that satisfies the buyer. Going forward we would expect to see exclusive Aorus offerings, but for now the new cards will resemble existing products. Meanwhile, when it comes to motherboards, all advanced Intel 270 PCH-based offerings from GIGABYTE already carry the Aorus trademark. As soon as GPU companies come up with new processors, the Aorus family will get unique graphics cards as well.

Comparison of GIGABYTE’s Aorus and
Xtreme Gaming GTX 1080 Graphics Cards
  Aorus
GeForce GTX 1080
xtreme edition 8G GV-N1080AORUS X-8GD		 GIGABYTE
GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming 8G GV-N1080XTREME-8GD		 NVIDIA
GeForce GTX 1080
Founders Edition
Stream Processors 2560
Texture Units 160
ROPs 64
Core Clock (MHz) 1759 – 1784 1607
Boost Clock (MHz) 1898 – 1936 1733
Memory Capacity 8 GB
Type GDDR5X
Clock 10 Gbps
TDP 180 W
Launch Date Q1 2017 Q3 2016 5/2016
Launch Price ? $680 – $744 $699

GIGABYTE did not officially announce the recommended price of the Aorus GeForce GTX 1080 xtreme edition 8G, but since the card has similarities with other products we expect the new unit to cost about the same amount of money. Right now, Newegg offers GIGABYTE’s GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming graphics cards for $680-$744. Both the Aorus and Xtreme Gaming graphics cards come with a four-year warranty in North America (with online registration required).

Related Reading:

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The ADATA Ultimate SU800 SSD Review (128GB, 256GB, 512GB)

ADATA’s Ultimate SU800 is their first SSD to use 3D NAND and the first 3D NAND SSD from a company that doesn’t manufacture their own NAND flash memory. The SU800 pairs Micron’s 3D TLC NAND with Silicon Motion’s SM2258 controller to produce an entry-level consumer SATA SSD, available in both 2.5″ and M.2 form factors.