ASUS announced its first Republic of Gamers (ROG) motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, the Maximus VI Impact, which could go on to become choice number one for SFF gaming PC builders. Arguably the most feature-rich mini-ITX motherboard ever made, the Maximus VI Impact is a socket LGA1150 motherboard based on Intel Z87 Express chipset, which supports 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors.

The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it using a 10-phase VRM that off-shoots into its own little PCB, with heatsink. The other three daughterboards on the Maximus VI Impact include the SupremeFX Impact, a sound-card with an audiophile-grade 115 dBA DAC, OPAMPs, and audio-grade capacitors; and an mPCIe combo card that lends it 802.11 ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0; and an ImpactControl card that gives overclockers POST diagnostic readouts and CMOS reset/restore at the push of a button, right from the rear panel.

ASRock Z87-Extreme11/ac motherboard can connect to no less than 22 drives over its six SATA 6 Gb/s, and sixteen SAS3 ports, so why not show it off? It's just that ASRock chose 22 Plextor M5 Pro SSDs, which make for a creepy cemetery-like sight. Sadly, they couldn't give us performance numbers because the 22 drives aren't exactly striped across in any RAID configuration, but at least you know you can take something like this to your next Left4Dead LAN, and pull crowds. It's not just the drives, ASRock also fitted the board with four Radeon HD 7970 cards in CrossFireX, maxed out the memory, and wired the board to its Wi-SD box accessory, a 3.5-inch front-panel that features the board's WiFi+Bluetooth antenna, a couple of USB 3.0 ports, and a multi-format card reader.

At Computex, GIGABYTE showed off the first AMD platform motherboard in its coveted G1.Killer series, which targets gamers and overclockers, the G1.Sniper A85X. The board is based on AMD A85X FCH chipset, and comes with out-of-the-box support for AMD A-series "Richland" APUs, including the AMD A10-6800K quad-core APU, with the fastest integrated graphics in market. Built in the narrow ATX form-factor, the G1.Sniper A85X draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and uses a 6-phase VRM to condition it for the APU.

The FM2 socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, which support up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-3000 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. In addition, the board offers a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4, wired to the FCH), three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and two legacy PCI. The board shines in connectivity, where it offers eight SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports, a combination of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI display outputs, Creative Sound Core3D audio with user-replaceable OPAMP and audio-grade capacitors, four USB 3.0 ports, and gigabit Ethernet. The board is driven by AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, backed by GIGABYTE Dual-UEFI redundancy, and the new BIOS interface that made its debut with GIGABYTE's socket LGA1150 motherboards.

Ahead of its grand Computex launch alongside the Core "Haswell" processor family, Intel's homebrew socket LGA1150 Desktop Board products are being previewed online. One such covers the company's flagship motherboard, the DZ87KLT-75K "Kinsley." The board features a CPU power supply that's most compliant to Intel's iVR design for Core "Haswell" processors, with an 8-phase design. You'll either love or hate the new heatsink design. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/x8/x4), three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and surprisingly, a legacy PCI.

Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the Z87 PCH, two from a third-party controller, and an mSATA 6 Gb/s. The board features a single first-generation Thunderbolt port, which doubles up as mini-DisplayPort, the only other display output than HDMI. A variant of this board without Thunderbolt (in which the port works only as mini-DisplayPort), could be sold as DZ87KL-70K. Rest of the board's connectivity include eight USB 3.0 ports (six rear, two by header), eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports, two 800 Mbps FireWire ports (one rear, one by header), 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, and an optional front-panel module that gives the board front-panel USB 3.0 ports, 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0. In addition to the five 4-pin PWM fan headers, the board appears to feature several overclocker-friendly features. Find a video presentation at the source.

We've had GIGABYTE's premium mainline socket LGA1150 motherboards, the Z87-UD4H and Z87-UD5H detailed last week. A little earlier, we've been through the company's gamer-centric G1.Sniper series, and Z87 OC Force. Below are pictures of the company's sub-$150 lineup based on the Z87 Express and B85 Express chipsets, the B85M-D3H, the Z87-D3HP, and the Z87-UD3H.

The B85M-D3H, as the name might give away, is based on Intel's B85 chipset that gives you most of the platform's feature-set, including Small Business Advantage, but excluding CPU overclocking features. Built in the micro-ATX form-factor, the board offers a simple 4-phase CPU power supply, four DDR3 DIMM slots, a single PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4), two legacy PCI, four SATA 6 Gb/s and two SATA 3 Gb/s, four USB 3.0 ports (two rear, two by header), a combination of DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub display outputs; gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio.

In addition to the Z87N-WiFi mini-ITX motherboard, GIGABYTE showed off a couple of its top ATX products from its mainline Z87X series, the Z87X-UD4H and Z87X-UD5H. The two mark GIGABYTE's complete breakaway from the blue color scheme, and lack the color even on their heatsinks. The Z87X-UD4H features a hot-rod red+silver+black color-scheme, while the Z87X-UD5H features gold+silver+black. Both boards are based on the company's Ultra Durable 5 construction. Both boards appear to offer overclocker-friendly features that are reserved for the high-end, such as redundant BIOS, diagnostic LEDs and measurement points for each power domain, and high-grade electrical components.

The Z87X-UD4H offers a 16-phase CPU power supply, three each of PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (electrical x16/x8/x4), PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. It offers eight internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, two eSATA 6 Gb/s, ten USB 3.0 ports (six on the rear panel, four by headers), 8-channel HD audio, and display outputs that include DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. The Z87X-UD5H, on the other hand, offers the same 16-phase CPU VRM and the same expansion slot layout as its sibling, but tops it up with ten internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, dual gigabit Ethernet, a second DVI connector instead of D-Sub, and FireWire (by header). The two will most likely be part of GIGABYTE's first wave of socket LGA1150 motherboards, and could be priced above $150.

GIGABYTE unveiled the first mini-ITX motherboard based on Intel's upcoming Z87 Express chipset, ready for 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors in the LGA1150 package. The Z87N-WiFi from GIGABYTE takes advantage of the smaller package size of the Z87 PCH, to cram in every feature you'll need, on the space constrained form-factor. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin and 4-pin ATX connectors. It uses a 4-phase power supply for the CPU, which is wired to a pair of DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel memory, and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. The only other expansion slot is an mPCIe, populated by the board's WiFi card. Storage connectivity on the Z87N-WiFi includes four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, all from the PCH. A pair of HDMI connectors, and dual-link DVI make for its display connectivity. Two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF, six USB 3.0 ports (four rear, two by header), and 802.11ac WLAN make for the rest of it. The Z87N-WiFi could be part of the first wave of LGA1150 motherboards by GIGABYTE.

ASUS announced a fleet of socket LGA1150 motherboards, covering its mainline (classic), Republic of Gamers (ROG), and The Ultimate Force (TUF) lines. With this series, ASUS is adopting a new color scheme for its mainline motherboards, breaking away from the black PCB with blue heatsinks scheme it maintained since the first LGA1156 motherboards, almost four years ago. The new mainline motherboards from ASUS feature black PCBs with golden-colored heatsinks covering the VRM and PCH, and simpler naming. ASUS' first wave of Z87-based mainline (classic) motherboards include the entry-level Z87-C and Z87-A, mid-range Z87-PLUS and Z87-PRO, and premium Z87-DELUXE.

Along with the Z87 mainline (classic) series, ASUS unveiled its premium gamer-overclocker targeted Republic of Gamers (ROG) Maximus VI series, consisting of three models, the Maximus VI Hero, the Maximus VI Gene, and the Maximus VI Extreme. The Maximus VI Hero is the more affordable ATX model among the three; the Maximus VI Gene is the only micro-ATX offering, while the Maximus VI Extreme is the flagship motherboard from ASUS for socket LGA1150.

The Maximus VI Hero offers a 12-phase CPU power supply, most ROG-exclusive features, expansion slots that include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, SupremeFX onboard audio with ground-layer isolation, and essential connectivity options that include four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and HDMI display output. We won't be surprised if Maximus VI Hero ends up being a sub-$200 option, to compete against similarly priced alternatives from ASRock and MSI.

Here are some of the first clear pictures of MSI Z87 MPower, one of the company's top socket LGA1150 motherboards, which will be unveiled a little later. The board retains the black+yellow color-scheme from its predecessor, the Z77 MPower, built more solidly. The board appears to feature a 16-phase CPU power delivery, which uses a combination of SFC chokes, DrMOS, and high-C tantalum capacitors. It draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors, in addition to the 24-pin ATX.

The CPU socket on the Z87 MPower is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel memory, and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4); three PCI-Express x1 slots make for the rest of the expansion area. Connectivity includes an enhanced onboard audio solution named "Audio Boost," which we imagine is an onboard amp for select channels; gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth, display outputs that include dual-HDMI and DisplayPort connectors, and a number of USB 3.0 ports. Storage connectivity includes eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Find more pictures at the source.

I-O Data rolled out the SSDN-3V line of consumer SSDs. Built in the Ultrabook-friendly 7 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor, the drives just about take advantage of SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and include a USB adapter that lets you plug it externally, to clone your existing software installation, using the included Acronis True Image 2013 software license. Available in 60 GB (SSDN-3V60), 120 GB (SSDN-3V120), and 240 GB (SSDN-3V120) capacities, the drives appear to be based on a SandForce 2281 controller platform, offering transfer-rates of up to 308 MB/s reads, with up to 185 MB/s writes. A 7 to 9.5 mm adapter comes included. The three are slated for the end of May.

At a media event held in its Taipei headquarters, GIGABYTE demonstrated its AMP-UP integrated audio solution that will feature on some of its upcoming motherboards. On that pretense, it even got to show of two of its top socket LGA1150 motherboards, built for Core "Haswell" processors, the G1.Sniper 5, and the G1.Sniper M5. Positioned in gamer-overclocker targeted G1.Killer series, the two boards are based on Intel Z87 Express chipset. The G1.Sniper 5 is the larger standard ATX motherboard; while the M5 is a compact micro-ATX offering. The pictures also confirm that socket LGA1150 retention module and bolt-spacing is identical to sockets LGA1155 and LGA1156.

The G1.Sniper 5 appears to feature a 16-phase VRM, which uses ferrite-core chokes, and the same International Rectifier PowIRstage components as Ultra Durable 5 motherboards from the previous generation. This time around, the CPU plays a greater role in voltage regulation. The driver-MOSFETs on the board are cooled by an active fan-heatsink, which also has a liquid channel running through it, so you could make it part of your CPU loop. Thankfully GIGABYTE didn't let its imagination run away with designs of the other heatsinks on the board, one of which cools the Z87 Express chipset, and the other we imagine, a PLX PEX8747 48-lane PCI-Express 3.0 bridge chip. This chip gets you 4-way SLI/CrossFireX support.

Chinese peripherals company Orico introduced a trio of external multi-bay 3.5-inch HDD enclosures. These include a gigantic 10-bay stacker (model: 1088USJ3), and its 8-bay (8988USJ3), and 5-bay (5988SUSJ3) siblings. The three use standard ATX PSUs to power the drives. The three feature matte black SECC steel bodies, with brushed metal front. The three internally use SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and lockable caddies. The 10- and 8-bay models only feature USB 3.0, while the 5-bay gives you both USB 3.0 and eSATA host connectivity options. The enclosures lack RAID support, so each disk is visible to the host as an independent mass storage device, with partitions showing up as volumes. The 10-, 8-, and 5-bay enclosures are priced at RMB 2399¥ ($390), 1999¥ ($325), and 1399¥ ($227), respectively.

Intel expanded its performance-segment SSD 335 series with a new entry-level 80 GB variant (model: SSDSC2CT080AK5). It joins the 180 GB and 240 GB variants, and occupies a price-point around the 110€ mark (excl VAT), which makes it particularly pricey in comparison to 120 GB drives. SSD 335 combines an LSI-SandForce SF-2281 series controller with Intel-made 20 nm MLC NAND flash.

Intel didn't update the product sheet with details of the new 80 GB model, but its bigger siblings offer sequential speeds as high as 500 MB/s reads, with up to 450 MB/s writes. Built in the 9.5 mm-thick 2.5-inch form-factor, SSD 335 features SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and supports most standard consumer SSD features, including TRIM and NCQ. The drive should begin showing up on online stores worldwide, in both OEM (drive-only) and retail (includes bay-adapters and data migration software) trims.

Intel may be a couple of months away from launching its Core "Haswell" processor family, and the 8-series "Lynx Point" family of chipset to back it, but is already talking to partners about the platform's successor, slated for the second quarter of 2014. Core "Haswell" introduces the industry to socket LGA1150 motherboards, and Core "Broadwell" could, in all likelihood, provide continuity to it, much in the same way "Ivy Bridge" did to "Sandy Bridge." Intel could introduce a new chipset to tag along with "Broadwell."

According to a roadmap slide seen by VR-Zone, Intel's 9-series chipset will include at least two models, the Z97 targeting enthusiasts, and the H97 targeting mainstream consumers. These chipset could drive socket LGA1150 motherboards going into the second half of 2014, and could support both "Haswell" and "Broadwell," in the same way today's 7-series chipset support "Sandy Bridge" and "Ivy Bridge." Intel could introduce a major feature with 9-series, SATA Express.

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., a leading HBA and storage solutions manufacturer, announces the industry's first 20-drive, single-port 6GB/s SATA RAID HBA, the RocketRAID 644LS. Powered by HighPoint's 6Gb/s SATA Port Multiplier architecture and industry-proven RAID IP, the RocketRAID 644LS represents the industry's best SATA RAID storage performance value, and is fully compatible with PC and Mac computing platforms.

The RocketRAID 644LS utilizes the latest SATA storage technology, HighPoint's 6Gb/s SATA Port Multiplier Architecture, and a PCIe 2.0 host interface to deliver a blazing fast transfer bandwidth - ideal for large scale RAID 5 configurations comprised of today's cost-effective, high-capacity 6Gb/s SATA hard disk drives.

Are you still spending your quality time waiting for your computer to boot up? Have you experienced lag problems while operating multiple applications? SP/Silicon Power, the world's leading provider of memory storage solutions, today introduces an addition of the Velox series 2.5" SATA III SSD - Velox V50 to solve your problems. The Velox V50 features the latest controller technology to provide a brand new computer experience in excellent performance and cost effectiveness for those who are about to retire their traditional hard drives.

Different from the other solutions in the market, SP Velox V50 is equipped with a brand new controller, delivering a more stable and more powerful user experiences. Combining with the latest firmware and advanced controller circuit design, Velox V50 is able to maintain a long-standing IOPS performance while using it under extended period.

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., a leading HBA and storage solutions manufacturer, announces the industry's first 40-Port SATA 6 Gb/s HBA - the Rocket 750. HighPoint is proud to introduce our innovative SATA Aggregation Technology to the storage marketplace - this revolutionary architecture allows a single host adapter card to support up to 40 SATA hard drives, and represents the industry's lowest-cost mass SATA storage solution.

The Rocket 750 is ideal for applications that require huge levels of storage capacity such as data Libraries, archiving and backup solutions, but need to maximize cost savings over SAS expander-based configurations. Powered by a PCIe 2.0 x8 host interface, 40 device channels, and HighPoint's Intelligent Storage Health Management Suite, the Rocket 750 is an ideal DAS solution for PC platforms and SMB server applications.

Mushkin, Inc., an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance and mission-critical computer products, today announces the worldwide availability of its new line of 1.8-inch Chronos GO SATA III (6Gbps) solid-state drives (SSDs), now shipping in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacities.

The new line of 1.8-inch Chronos SSDs feature a smaller, lighter footprint than the previous generation, and offer performance and reliability improvements for power users. Originally designed as an enterprise-class drive, the new Chronos SSD has been adapted and re-engineered to deliver the highest possible storage capacity in a drive that is optimized for high-performance and ultimate reliability, even in the most demanding 24x7 environments.

By far the most comprehensive expansion dock we've come across, the Echo 15 from Sonnet plugs into your MacBook's 10 Gb/s Thunderbolt port, and then productively uses that bandwidth to hook you up with 15 connectivity options. These include a 3.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s internal drive bay (2 TB HDD optional), a slimline optical drive (options include DVDRW and Blu-ray writers), two eSATA 6 Gb/s ports, 4-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ports, gigabit Ethernet, and FireWire 800, each device is Mac OS X compatible. The device features two Thunderbolt ports, so it can be daisy-chained with other devices. Prices start at US $399.95.

Seagate reportedly began shipping the industry's first 4 TB-class hard drives with 1 TB per platter density. Slotted in the company's Barracuda 7200.15 series, the drive provides 4000 GB of unformatted space, backed by 7,200 RPM spindle-speed, 64 MB buffer, and SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The drive is said to provide sequential speeds as high as 146 MB/s, with the 6 Gb/s interface enhancing buffer-to-host burst speeds. When it reaches stores, the OEM trim (drive-only) can be purchased for as low as US $190, and the retail version (boxed, with cables and documentation), for $212. At these prices, Seagate is claiming the lowest price-per-GB for any internal storage device in the industry. The terabyte platter technology should also make it possible for Seagate to launch a 5-platter 5000 GB hard drive soon.

Known more for its graphics cards, Galaxy has an SSD lineup, with which it targets the Greater China region. It rolled out the Thunder GT 128 Pro, a 128 gigabyte SSD in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The drive utilizes Toshiba-made Toggle-NAND flash, JMicron JMF667H processor, and an unknown amount of DRAM cache. The drive offers sequential transfer rates as high as 480 MB/s reads, 300 MB/s writes, 70,000 IOPS QD64 reads, and 58,000 IOPS QD64 writes. Available in China from later this month, the Galaxy Thunder GT 128 Pro is priced at 799¥ (US $128).

Century Japan announced the CSS25U3 line of external drive enclosures. Capable of holding 9.5 mm-thick HDDs and SSDs in the 2.5-inch SATA form-factor, the enclosure supports SATA 6 Gb/s interface internally, and connects to the host over USB 3.0 SuperSpeed. A single cable handles both power and host-connectivity. Measuring 85 x 134 x 12.5 mm (WxDxH), its dry-weight is 60 g. It is available in four color options: black (CSS25U3BK6G), silver (CSS25U3SV6G), green (CSS25U3GR6G), and red (CSS25U3RD6G). To stay in shape, the enclosure avoids using a square type-B receptacle, and instead uses a rectangular type-A one. Slated for the end of this month, it is expected to be priced at 2,480 JPY (US $25.7).

GIGABYTE rolled out the C1007UN-D mini-ITX motherboard, for entry-level desktops. It ships with an Intel Celeron 1007U BGA processor hard-wired to the board, with a compatible fan-heatsink pre-installed. Based on the 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" micro-architecture, the 1007U is a dual-core chip, clocked at 1.50 GHz, with 2 MB of L3 cache, and 17W TDP. Backing the chip on this motherboard is Intel's NM70 chipset.

The C1007UN-D from GIGABYTE features two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel memory. Storage interfaces consist of one SATA 6 Gb/s and two SATA 3 Gb/s internal ports, and an eSATA 3 Gb/s port. Legacy PCI makes for the lone expansion slot. Connectivity includes two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, 6-channel HD audio, six USB 2.0 ports, an RS232 COM port, LPT (by header), and PS/2. Display outputs include D-Sub (VGA) and HDMI. GIGABYTE did not release pricing information, but considering the CPU itself is priced around $90, we expect this board to be priced around $150.

At CeBIT, Plextor showed off a yet unnamed line of consumer SSDs featuring 19 nm triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash memory. The series consists of 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB variants, with 256 MB, 512 MB, and 768 MB of DDR3 DRAM cache, respectively. The three are driven by Marvell 88SS9189 processor, and are built in the 2.5-inch form-factor, with SATA 6 Gb/s interface.

The 128 GB variant offers sequential read speeds as high as 530 MB/s, with up to 380 MB/s writes, and 72,000 IOPS 4K random write performance. The 256 GB variant ups that with 540 MB/s reads, and 450 MB/s writes. Leading the pack is the 512 GB variant, with 540 MB/s reads, and 465 MB/s writes. The lineup is expected to be launched this August.