The cooling specialist Alpenföhn presents the successor of the Heidi VGA Cooler. The new cooler called Alpenföhn Peter utilizes twelve heatpipes and offers a much larger cooling area than the Heidi. In addition, the fan rail allows for up to four fans to be installed, so that the Peter is capable of dissipating up to 420 Watt of heat. For a clean look, the entire surface of the VGA cooler has been Nickle plated.

Modern graphic cards are very complex pieces of engineering, always pushing the envelope in speed, power consumption and thermal design power (TDP). In addition to this, graphic cards have to be cooled while keeping the cooling unit within the constrains of one or two PCI slots, so that it does not block any additional expansion slots of the mainboard. To generate the required cooling performance in such tight quarters a noisy high speed fan tends to be the only option.

MSI, the global leading brand of All-in-One PCs, has released its new touch model- Wind Top AE2070 in response to the increasingly demand of touch capability. The perfect 20-inch, multi-touch LCD screen with MSI proprietary "Wind Touch 4" smart user interface and value-added software allow you to connect social networks and embrace the digital life all at one move of your finger tips.

The built-in Intel 2nd generation Dual-core Processor G620 and Intel HD Graphics 2000 deliver breathtaking graphics performance you can enjoy seamless videos and vivid image in the best response time. Wind Top AE2070 also provides hardware upgrade options so you can customize the AE2070 with Intel Core i3 CPU or NVIDIA GeForce GT540M high-performance graphic card based on your own need. Experience the revolution of all-new touch control technology from now on.

For the greater part of the last decade, PC device connectivity was limited to the 480 Mbps bandwidth of USB 2.0. The pressing need for more bandwidth to run external hard drives and disk racks was alleviated by eSATA, but eSATA lacked the versatility of USB. After quite some delay, came the next big version of USB, the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed, with its massive 5 Gbps bandwidth, plenty for fast and capacious flash drives, and external storage devices.

There was, however, a potential bottleneck lurking with running SSD-based RAID boxes in USB 3.0, as many SATA 6 Gbps SSDs are getting close to the bandwidth limit of USB 3.0. There has also been the need for an interconnect faster than USB 3.0 for high-bandwidth applications such as lossless ultra high definition video streaming in professional environments, and hence came Thunderbolt, which is a copper-electric variant of a fiber-optic interconnect Intel had been working on, codenamed Light Peak. The successor to Thunderbolt is reportedly already under development at Intel Labs.

Club 3D B.V. announces the introduction of the Radeon HD 6750 CoolStream Edition video card based on the Juniper LE chipset, AMD' second generation DirectX 11. Club 3D has built a good reputation on silent cooled video cards with the award winning CoolStream series. This card is no exception, with speeds of 700 Mhz core and 4600 Mhz for the memory with a totally silent heatpipe cooler, it makes one of the fastest silent graphics card available today.

With the latest UVD hardware on board, it considerably reduces the CPU load delivering and decoding stunning Blu-Ray and H.264 content. HDMI has been upgrated to 1.4a for 3D content making it the perfect choice for a HTPC.

Plextor, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, announces the newest addition to its Blu-ray lineup with the new PX-LB950UE external 12X Blu-ray Writer - the fastest Blu-ray writer available in the market today. This drive features the latest superspeed USB3.0 and eSATA connections, providing bandwidth for high data transfer rate.

Supplied with advanced Blu-ray and DVD playback software and recording applications, the PX-LB950UE offers a full Blu-ray HD experience. The drive is designed to provide smooth and quiet HD Blu-ray movie playback with excellent sound reproduction and a crystal clear picture quality. This drive also supports 3D playback and is able to convert 2D contents to simulate 3D effects.

NZXT released colorful new additions to its FS Silent Fan Series, the FS-200 LED. Available in red, green, and blue, these LED-lit variants of the famous round-framed 200 mm fan bear the same exact specifications as the original. The fans come with switches (compatible with NZXT Phantom LED switch) that can toggle the LEDs on/off, so you can still have a colorful fan if you find its lighting too gaudy for your case.

The new fans use continue to use black frames like the original, the edges of the four arms of the round frame hold the color LEDs, the impellers are colorful and transparent. With a speed range of 500 to 900 RPM, these 200 mm spinners can push up to 89.5 CFM of air while being as quiet as 20.16 dBA. It uses rifled bearing, with a rated lifespan of 40,000 hours. Its cord is sleeved, and draws power from a 3-pin fan header. Attachments for 2-pin header and Molex connector come bundled. Slated for release in late May and backed by 2 year warranty, the NZXT FS-200 LED are priced around US $18.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of high-performance solid state drives (SSDs), today unveiled the VeloDrive PCI-Express SSD. Designed to meet the needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), enterprise clients and system integrators, the VeloDrive optimizes high-performance computing and storage applications, providing unparalleled versatility and simplified integration.

"The VeloDrive is the latest addition to our comprehensive lineup of PCIe SSDs. A truly configurable solution, it helps a range of customers accelerate their application performance," said Daryl Lang, VP of Product Management, OCZ Technology Group. "The ability to run the VeloDrive in multiple modes provides clients with the freedom to use the raid stack of their choice. This maximizes performance and creates faster, more seamless deployments with RAID stacks that may already have been qualified for their unique usage model."

It could be curtains down for NVIDIA nForce SLI chipset for AMD platform, as the GPU giant formally announced its intentions to license NVIDIA SLI technology for use on AMD chipset-based motherboards starting from AMD's upcoming 9-series chipset. Rumors about this development started trickling in around late March. NVIDIA's public release confirms most of what was outlined in the leaked company slide in the older article, that licenses will be only offered to 9-series (and later) chipset-based motherboards, and that only those motherboard manufacturers that are licensed by NVIDIA for SLI on their Intel platform motherboards will be given licenses. NVIDIA specifically mentions ASUS, Gigabyte, ASRock, and MSI as qualifying partners.

The more interesting part of the release, however, was the box-art of ASUS' upcoming high-end socket AM3+ motherboard, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Crosshair V Formula. Its salad of product logos is what is most fascinating. For one, it confirms the product name and logo of AMD's new high-end desktop processors to be "FX", as revealed by the box designs. The next logo is of Phenom II, and as we know, AM3+ gives backwards compatibility to older AM3 processors. Next up is the AMD 9-series chipset logo, another Radeon-like logo by AMD. Next to it is the logo of the moment: NVIDIA SLI, and lastly ATI CrossFireX. There is a newer rectangular logo of "AMD CrossFire" that succeeds the ATI CrossFireX logo, but maybe ASUS, like many, found it too hideous. You can probably make a better one on MS Paint.

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer of graphics cards, motherboards and mini-PCs, today introduces the new FUSION-ITX WiFi A-series - a world-class mainboard that combines the power of AMD Radeon HD graphics processing with class-leading energy-efficiency for the ultimate flexible mini-ITX form factor.

The ZOTAC FUSION-ITX WiFi A-series features the AMD E-350 APU platform that incorporates a dual-core 1.6 GHz processor with Microsoft DirectX 11 compatible AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics for the ultimate synergy of CPU and GPU performance. The combination enables flawless high-definition Blu-ray and streaming Internet video playback capabilities for a visually rich computing experience in a mini-ITX platform.

Patriot Memory, a global pioneer in high-performance memory, NAND flash, storage and enthusiast computer products, today announces the new high-performance Torqx 2 - a new SSD that delivers the perfect balance of price and performance. The Patriot Torqx 2 series enables users to boost performance of existing desktops and notebooks to achieve maximum performance with SATA II 3.0 Gb/s interfaces.

By combining a cutting-edge newSSD controller with high-performance 3x-nm NAND flash memory, the Patriot Torqx 2 SSDs achieve up to read speeds up to 270MB/s for a noticeable performance boost with daily computing tasks. Write speeds up to 230MB/s ensure the Patriot Torqx 2 series can write virtually as fast as it reads for lightning-fast software installations and large-file creation.

Club 3D B.V. announces the introduction of the Radeon HD 6770 video card based on the Juniper XT chipset, AMD' second generation DirectX 11. The new Club 3D Radeon HD 6770 1 GB GDDR5 video card replaces the very successful HD 5770, the preferred choice by gamers, adding twice the horsepower (28.8 Gpixel/s vs 13.6 Gpixel/s) and incorporating new technologies already found in the 6K series.

The Radeon HD 6770 delivers stunning HD gaming and computing experience. Supporting HD3D which enables 3D gaming and experience Blu-ray 3D, AMD APP to accelerate everyday applications and multi-monitor displays, it makes a this card the ideal upgrade.

TODAY HIS launches the HIS 6770 & 6750 Fan 1GB GDDR5, delivering a stunning HD gaming and computing experience with complete DirectX 11 support and a broad array of advanced graphics, display and memory technologies.

Loaded with core speed at 700MHz and memory speed at 4,600MHz, the HIS 6750 transfers serious high-definition gaming frame rates. The HIS 6770 supplies the same 1GB GDDR5 but a higher core clock at 850MHz and memory clock at 4,800MHz, fulfilling the needs of our Power Gamers who desire an incredible gaming experience on the latest and most demanding titles.

MSI, the leading graphics card and motherboard manufacturer in the world, releases three new graphics cards based on the AMD Radeon HD6000 architecture: The R6770-MD1GD5, R6750-MD1GD5 and R6750-MD512D5. All of the new MSI R6700 series graphics cards support the latest version of MSI's exclusive Afterburner overclocking software with the Predator video capture function.

Gamers can enhance their usage experiences by capturing in-game videos and sharing them with friends over the web! MSI's latest R6700 graphics cards are equipped with 8cm PWM fan to offer better heat dissipation, and Military Class II concept components for extreme stability and durability2. MSI R6700 series adopt HDMI 1.4a connectivity for the latest in 3D video support, and 7.1 channel lossless high-quality TrueHD and DTS-HD sound.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today released advanced gaming video cards: the PowerColor HD6700 series. Compatible with all the latest technology, the PowerColor HD6700 series includes HD6770 and HD6750, enabling the immersive HD gaming experience like never before.

PowerColor HD6770 has 800 stream processors, clocks in at 850MHz core speed and 1200MHz of memory speed; easily boost up your gaming rig with 1.36 teraFLOPs of computing Power. The PowerColor HD6750 clocks at 700MHz core and 1000MHz memory, with 1GB GDDR5 onboard memory, delivering a faster speed and higher bandwidths to accelerate the PC and enhance the gaming performance.

SAPPHIRE Technology has just strengthened its current range of graphics cards with the introduction of several new models in the HD 6700 series aimed at users wanting to benefit from the latest features including multi-screen displays and stereoscopic 3D output.

Several models will be introduced in the HD 6700 series offering a choice of memory configurations and outputs. All of them feature DX 11 engines from AMD and on-board hardware video decoding with the AMD UVD (universal Video Decoder) supporting Blu-Ray 3D for stereoscopic 3D over HDMI 1.4a. They all support AMD APP Acceleration with Stream processing as well as AMD Eyefinity multi-screen technology. Eyefinity gives users the ability not only to play games on multiple monitors, but also to work across three or more monitors as though it were one large monitor, bringing huge productivity benefits to applications such as photo editing, music creation and document creation.

In its 25th anniversary year, Antec, Inc., the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, today announced the availability of the soundscience halo 6 LED bias lighting kit. The halo 6 LED bias lighting kit is an affordable option for outfitting PC monitors with professional-grade backlighting. This helps reduce eye fatigue and increase image clarity during long gaming sessions and similar periods of extended computer use.

The bias lighting illumination technique adds a ring of white backlight to PC monitors, reducing eyestrain caused by differences in picture brightness from scene changes in movies, TV shows and video games. The soundscience halo 6 LED bias lighting kit's USB-powered LED strip (14.6" / 370 mm in length) attaches to the back of the monitor and complements any PC monitor up to 24". The color and brightness of the LEDs are carefully calibrated and help increase a monitor's perceived contrast ratio - enhancing perceived black levels, vibrant colors and picture detail by enabling dark adapted viewing.

Remember the very first strains of Ibex Peak LGA1156 platform motherboards such as this one? Remember that small memory slot next to the bigger DIMM slots? That was Intel's ambitious "Braidwood" technology, a NAND-flash based hard drive assist feature. Fast NAND flash memory would be installed onto the motherboard in the form of removable modules, and those modules would quicken system booting, and act as a fast cache for the system drive. Alas, Braidwood was axed for reasons unknown till date. Maybe it made Ibex Peak platform a lot faster than it should be, or maybe its design wasn't perfected or flawed. Regardles, it disappeared.

Two platforms (Ibex Peak and Cougar Point) later, a similar technology is making its way through Intel's pipes, this time it has a proper market name: Intel Smart Response Technology, and comes with another new development, Larsen Creek. Larsen Creek is the codename of Intel's upcoming line of solid state drives. However, it is targeting entry-level, low-capacity markets, and what better way to sell it than club it with Intel's new platform technology, Smart Response. Instead of NAND flash modules (Braidwood), Intel's Smart Response technology uses SATA SSDs to accelerate hard drives. The SSD can be of any size and speed, it's just that Larsen Creek is the most appropriate given that it will come in capacities as low as 20 GB, and be quite inexpensive.

MD today announced a new collaboration with Multicoreware, a leader in software solutions and tool development for multi-core and heterogeneous computing environments, to deliver an advanced set of tools for OpenCL optimization. The tools development effort accelerates software developers' ability to create and optimize software that fully exploits the unique processing capability of AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs).

"Accelerated parallel processing represents unprecedented levels of computing capability in mobile form factors, and the tools suite that Multicoreware is developing enables application developers to achieve this performance benefit with less effort," said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. "Our work with Multicoreware marks another milestone toward broad industry adoption of OpenCL as we equip developers with necessary tools to build innovative, next-generation applications ranging from consumer PCs to high-performance computing."

Buffalo Technology, a global leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of storage and wireless networking solutions, is today announcing a stylish and convenient design for its optical storage range.

The compact and sleek portable DVD device will allow users to watch DVDs and burn data to CDs/DVDs at their convenience, anytime anywhere. The drive is powered by integrated USB cables which snap to the chassis for easy mobility, contributing to the compact design. The lightweight and slim drive fits comfortably into any travel bag, making it an ideal product for laptop and netbook users on-the-go.

AMD today released this month's timely release of its Catalyst software suite, a unified software package that installs the latest drivers for AMD Radeon graphics processors, AMD HDMI audio device, 7-series and 8-series chipsets, and related system software. This particular release has been touted by its makers within the community to provide significant performance improvements, some of which have been demonstrated by a "preview" version of Catalyst 11.4 released last month. A partial list of those games can be found here. Apart from performance enhancements, Catalyst 11.4 WHQL includes new features such as task based display management controls, an improved Eyefinity setup group, and a new Catalyst update notifier that lets your know if a newer version of AMD Catalyst is available online. There are some OpenCL GPU compute enhancements, and a list of bugs fixed, as listed in the Release Notes document.

DOWNLOAD:AMD Catalyst 11.4 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

Slides detailing Intel's upcoming "Panther Point" chipset reveal that the next generation of LGA1155 processors will feature PCI-Express 3.0 bus to connect with graphics cards. PCI-Express 3.0 doubles bandwidth over PCI-Express 2.0, and comes with a number of new features and electrical specifications. With Panther Point, Intel put an end to chipsets meant for discrete graphics (such as P67). Here on, all LGA1155 chipsets will support Intel Flexible Display Interface (FDI), although only the Z-series will support overclocking. Among the Z-series, Z77 is the top part supporting a wider range of PCI-Express configurations, Z75 supports discrete graphics with up to 2 graphics cards, while H77 only supports one graphics card, and lacks overclocking features.

Unlike the X79 LGA2011 chipset, Panther Point chipsets don't feature massive 10-port SATA 6 Gb/s storage controllers. Like Cougar Point, it features two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and four SATA 3 Gb/s. The chipset embeds a USB 3.0 controller, but only 4 out of 14 USB ports are USB 3.0, rest are USB 2.0. Intel's Ivy Bridge will make for the company's 2012 Core Family portfolio, supplying entry-thru-performance segments with processor, while enthusiast segment is care of a different platform.

Foxconn, the world leading manufacturer of computer components and systems, today announced incredible performance results for the new NT-A3500 Barebone - with over twice the performance of the NT-330i it replaces, whilst using significantly less power.

Utilising the new AMD Fusion APU with built-in Radeon HD 6310 graphics, the NT-A3500 is capable of delivering DirectX 11 graphics and true 1080p HD playback with real-time image processing, all in the ultra-small form factor of the Foxconn NT-series chassis.

Buffalo rolled out the new MiniStation HD-PNTU2 series portable USB 2.0 hard drives. Available in 500 GB and 1 TB variants, the drives are available in red, black, and silver color options. A highlight here is a new shock-absorbing system that uses springs along the sides, and eight cushions to minimize the impact of mechanical shock. The 500 GB variant measures 118 x 82 x 16 mm, weighing 190 g, while the 1 TB variant measures 118 x 82 x 19 mm, weighing 220 g. The drives come with various software utilities that help with data transfer, backup, and encryption. The bundled EcoManager software powers down the drive when idling to conserve power. Backed by 1 year warranty, the 500 GB and 1 TB Buffalo MiniStation HD-PNTU2 hard drives are priced at US $129 and $177, respectively.

Are you still messing around with one of those old-style keyboards? In the heat of battle, do you sometimes find that you left the game, because you accidently hit the Windows "Start" key and by the time you get back, your character is already dead? If so, MSI has heard your cry. It got together with leader in professional gaming equipment manufacturing SteelSeries to forge a keyboard for the serious gamer. Not only is the new keyboard much more durable, the Windows key has been moved to the right side of the keyboard where you're less likely to strike it when the adrenaline's pumping. The GX780 also comes with a 30-color LED backlit keyboard with five modes to throttle up your visual experience.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, notes that the GX780 not only sports Intel's second generation Core i7-2630QM quad core CPU and nVidia's DirectX 11-supporting GeForce GT 555M discrete graphics card, it also has four DDR3 slots and accelerated dual hard disk architecture endowing it with impressive computing powers, making it equally suited for the digital content creator as it is for the serious gamer. The GX780 also comes with smart wrap around sound courtesy of Dynaudio and THX TruStudio Pro and a 17.3" full HD high resolution display to guarantee the ultimate multimedia experience.

The GS-AH6G3N embeds the new LGA1155 Intel platform for mobile products, with the most powerful and efficient processor and chipset for a reliable and durable business notebook. Designed for professional end users, our product includes all the most important features required by a utilization in a business environment. The GS-AH6G3N is therefore a very versatile business notebook, with the highest standard of performance and quality from GIGABYTE. It is nevertheless a stylish product, with an excellent design and ultra-thin profile, as well as a very light weight and a large power autonomy for the smoothest mobility. With its high value features, the GS-AH6G3N has everything to be the best work tool for your daily business life.

The GS-AH6G3N offers all the important features that e good business notebook should have. Probably the most critical feature, the GS-AH6G3N has a power autonomy of about 7 hours, which can be extended to 10 hours with a second battery docked in the swappable ODD bay (this bay can also dock a second HDD).

Japanese display maker Mitsubishi released its latest addition to the DiamondCrysta series, the RDT233WX-3D. This 23-inch LED-backlit LCD monitor with stereoscopic 3D capabilities uses an in-plane switching (IPS) panel that can provide 178°/178° viewing angles. With full-HD resolution (1920 x 1080), the panel features response time of 3.8 ms (GTG), a honest-sounding 5,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (1,000:1 static contrast), and its display inputs include HDMI 1.4, DVI, and D-Sub.

The Mitsubishi DiamondCrysta RDT233WX-3D features stereo 3D support, and bundles a pair of 3D glasses; Giga Clear II image enhancement engine that adjusts various image parameters dynamically to give out the best image quality; and PIP (picture-in-picture) function. 2W stereo speakers are embedded. Its stand is designed to allow height and tilt adjustments. Slated for release by the end of May, the Mitsubishi DiamondCrysta RDT233WX-3D is expected to be priced at 52,800 JPY (US $645).

Apart from a brand new CPU architecture, Intel's Sandy Bridge LGA1155 platform saw the mass introduction of EFI (extensible firmware interface) to the PC, a new BIOS-replacement component that can eliminate several limitations of BIOS, most notably, the ability to boot from volumes bigger than 3 TB in size. While most motherboard manufacturers have given their LGA1155 models support for UEFI, not everyone has a graphical user interface (GUI) based UEFI setup program that uses mouse as a pointing device, and presents users with UI elements such as radio buttons, drop-lists, and checkboxes to make changes. Gigabyte has been one such manufacturer with its first wave of P67 and H67 based motherboards.

With its newest B3-revision motherboards that include the upcoming Z68 chipset based motherboards, Gigabyte wants to make amends. It has to, being the number two motherboard vendor in terms of volumes. Gigabyte wants to go a step ahead of other vendors, and design a UEFI setup program that not only supports mouse, but also touchscreens, and present a user interface with large icons and design elements that resemble tablets, which are designed to make configuration easier than on mouse-driven UEFI setup programs. The TouchBIOS ("BIOS" here is just used as a verb) from Gigabyte should be available on Gigabyte's upcoming motherboards, as well as in the future, on Gigabyte's all-in-one PCs, tablets, and notebooks.UPDATE: It turns out that TouchBIOS isn't a firmware application, but rather a Windows-based utility that makes BIOS management easily for the people less acquainted with it. Let's hope the "less acquainted" don't touch the wrong colorful button in their "ooh what does this button do? " moments.

MAINGEAR, an award-winning custom PC builder offering custom desktops, custom notebooks, pc workstations and media centers, is announcing the release of their exclusive MAINGEAR EPIC (Enhanced Performance InterCooler) liquid cooling solutions by CoolIT for their entire desktop lineup.

In tradition with their legacy of innovation and design, MAINGEAR has collaborated with CoolIT to design the EPIC line of CPU cooling systems, which are the first of their kind in existence. The MAINGEAR EPIC cooling solution provides a distinct advantage in all the problem areas of existing CPU cooling units: performance, loudness, and durability.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today unveiled a new addition to the highly-awarded Vertex 3 SATA III Series. The Vertex 3 Max IOPS edition drives extend the company's industry-leading Vertex 3 SSD product line to support users that require greater transactional throughput.

"Following the successful launch of our Vertex 3 SATA III 6Gbps solid state drives we are pleased to introduce the new Max IOPS edition," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "Vertex 3 Max IOPS drives increase random write performance, and are the ideal storage solution for applications that require high aggregate workloads and increased IO throughput."

AMD today announced a distinguished line-up of keynote speakers as well as technical session topics for the inaugural AMD Fusion Developer Summit (AFDS), which will be held June 13-16, 2011 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, Washington.

Industry keynote presentations will be delivered by esteemed industry experts from AMD, ARM and Microsoft. In his keynote "Heterogeneous Parallelism at Microsoft" Herb Sutter, Microsoft principal architect of Native Languages, will showcase upcoming innovations to bring access to increasingly heterogeneous compute resources directly into the world's most popular native languages.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today announced the immediate availability of Crucial m4 solid-state drives in capacities ranging from 64GB to 512GB. Designed for both business customers and general consumers, the Crucial m4 SSD product line incorporates Micron's industry-leading 25-nanometer (nm) NAND flash technology in a 2.5" form factor. Like its Crucial RealSSD C300 predecessor, the Crucial m4 also supports the SATA 6Gb/s interface, opening up the data path between the host processor and the SSD, and resulting in improved overall system responsiveness, including faster boot times and application loads.

The new Crucial m4 SSD reaches read speeds of up to 415 MB/second, a 17 percent increase over its predecessor. Likewise, write speeds on the new 512GB capacity have demonstrated increases up to 260MB/s, a 20 percent boost over the fastest C300 drive1. Ideal for client computing, Crucial m4 SSD products provide benefits for notebooks, desktops, workstations, and industrial applications, including low power consumption, lightweight construction, and resistance to shock and vibration.

ASRock launched a new marketing campaign for its AMD platform motherboards, claiming to be the first manufacturer to be out with motherboards that use real AM3+ sockets. AM3+ is the FCPGA socket that has been designed for upcoming AMD FX series "Zambezi" processors based on the "Bulldozer" architecture. As a part of its campaign, ASRock highlighted the benefits of opting for its AM3+ motherboards. In the process, it ended up disclosing quite some technical information about AM3+, and why AMD designed it in the first place, when apparently AM3 can run Zambezi with a BIOS update.

To begin with, ASRock started with the socket itself, showing that AM3+ sockets can be identified by "AM3b" written on the socket, and have wider pin-holes (0.51 mm vs. 0.45 mm of AM3). It is possible that future (retail?) versions of the CPU, if not the engineering samples doing rounds, could use packages with thicker pins that are incompatible with AM3. The thicker pins add durability, and are designed for a different set of electrical specifications.

Logitech has introduced their Wireless Keyboard K270, a sleek keyboard that delivers Logitech Advanced 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity and up to two years of battery life. With the Logitech Advanced 2.4 GHz wireless connectivity, you will enjoy virtually no signal loss from up to 10 meters away. The Logitech Wireless Keyboard K270 also delivers up to 24 months of battery life as well as auto-standby, which helps you save energy when you are not using the keyboard.

The Logitech Wireless Keyboard K270 also features the tiny USB receiver, which is small enough to stay in your laptop. Plus, you can easily add another compatible mouse or keyboard - without the hassle of multiple USB receivers.

As technology has quickly progressed, people have come to rely on consumer electronic products more so than ever. Photos, music, movies and electronic games continue to require higher digital data transmission rates and larger storage capacity. Additionally, consumers were disappointed with memory cards' transfer speeds traditionally being unable to perform fast enough to capture continuous spectacular shots. In light of this, KINGMAX, world-renowned as a first-rate memory card manufacturer, has taken the lead in launching a new high-speed, high-capacity Waterproof SDXC Class 10 64GB memory card, which not only provides waterproof and dustproof functions but also boasts impressive read and write speeds and a vast storage capacity that certainly satisfy consumer needs.

Compatible with the Secure Digital Association's (SDA) widely used Secure Digital (SD) format, the KINGMAX Waterproof SDXC Class 10 memory card exhibits a massive 64GB storage capacity, with specs of 65 MB/sec read speed and 40 MB/sec write speed. The KINGMAX memory card lineup include SD 3.01 specifications, which add a new UHS-I (Ultra High Speed Bus I) interface structure that will enable transfer speeds of up to 104 MB/s. The UHS symbol applies onto SDHC and SDXC products only. When paired with a UHS-I device, KINGMAX's Waterproof SDXC UHS-I and SDHC UHS-I memory cards are designed for recording HD-resolution videos while simultaneously performing other recording functions at speeds never seen before.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) and power supplies for computing devices and systems, today announced the appointment of Steve Lee as Senior Vice President of Product Management and BU General Manager for power supplies.

"We are pleased to announce Steve Lee's new position as he is an expert in the power management field and an excellent addition to our executive team," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "Steve's extensive experience in power supply design and product management will help OCZ to enhance our position and expand the company's PSU product offerings in both the consumer and commercial markets."

Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the new HyperX Plug and Play (PnP) series of high-performance enthusiast memory. HyperX PnP are the first modules to scale the higher memory heights that are a part of the second generation Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs. The memory is programmed with faster frequencies and when 'plugged' into a system using the Sandy Bridge chipset, will automatically 'play' at either 1600MHz or 1866MHz in both desktop and notebook PCs.

The modules are programmed using JEDEC-compliant settings, allowing 1600MHz and 1866MHz frequency support. It is as simple as plugging in the memory and turning on the machine, as the system automatically recognizes faster memory speed with no further BIOS settings required. Users will notice performance gains as overclocking is automatic with the HyperX Plug and Play modules. In addition, the modules are backwards compatible with previously released DDR3 systems on the market.

NVIDIA is set to launch its next upper-mainstream GPU, the GeForce GTX 560 (not to be confused with GeForce GTX 560 Ti) on May 17. Designed to compete with AMD's Radeon HD 6790, the new GTX 560 is based on the same GPU as the GTX 560 Ti, the 40 nm GF114. It has 336 out of 384 CUDA cores enabled, while most other specifications of the GPU are untouched. The core clock speed is said to be not less than 800 MHz, making it faster than GeForce GTX 460, which otherwise has the same specifications while being based on the older GF104 silicon.

Gigabyte is readying a series of more inexpensive variants of PowerRock mainstream PSUs, the PowerRock EX. Available in similar models of 300W, 350W, 400W, 450W and 500W, the PowerRock EX lacks 80 Plus compliance and sleeved cabling found with the original PowerRock series. The new PSUs are ATX v2.0 compliant, use Taiwan-made capacitors, feature dual 12V rail design for the 450W and 500W models, and single 12V rail design for the 300W, 350W, and 400W ones. OVP, OCP, UVP, and short-circuit protections come standard. The PSUs are cooled by a 120 mm fan, and have a rated MTBF of 100,000 hours. Gigabyte did not give out pricing or availability details.

Water-cooling solution brand Asetek, which is popular with the OEMs, demonstrated a prototype GPU water-cooling solution for the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580. The prototype uses an off-the-shelf GTX 580 card branded by PNY (doesn't necessarily mean that Asetek is designing this for PNY). The cooler could be to be a pre-assembled GPU water block loop that replaces the aluminum channel heatsink in the reference NVIDIA cooler. The NVIDIA reference blower is retained to cool other components such as memory and VRM, probably at low speeds.

Asetek put its GTX 580 prototype to test, by overclocking the PNY GTX 580 Enthusiast Edition to 995 MHz core, 1846 MHz CUDA cores, and 1100 MHz (4.40 GHz effective) memory. At these speeds, the GPU was able to score 1285 points at average framerate of 51 FPS in Unigine Heaven 2.0 benchmark. Watch the video embedded after the break for details.

ASRock is ready with its latest performance motherboard based on the upcoming Intel Z68 chipset, the ASRock Z68 Extreme4. The Z68 chipset combines the overclocking features of P67 with integrated graphics support of H67, and adds a few more features such as SSD boost. The Z68 Extreme4 uses a V8 power phase design for the CPU socket, the board supports dual-DDR3 memory with memory multipliers supporting DDR3-2133 MHz. The onboard display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, HDMI 1.4a, and DisplayPort. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express x16 (x16/NC/x4 or x8/x8/x4), two each of PCI-E x1 and PCI.

The "4" in Extreme4 denotes four each of USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s ports. There are two SATA 6 Gb/s from the PCH, and two from an additional controller; and two EtronTech USB 3.0 controllers that drive two ports on the rear panel, and two by internal headers (for front-panel or bracket). The Z68 Extreme4 features a new GUI-driven UEFI BIOS that allows booting from volumes over 3 TB in capacity. Other connectivity features include 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output and THX TruStudio Pro, eSATA 3 Gb/s, Firewire, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. There are a few nice overclocker-friendly touches such as high DRAM multipliers, rear clear CMOS, and power/reset buttons on board. ASRock's new board will reach stores in mid-May.

While NVIDIA and AMD are just about done with their consumer GPU launches for the current generation, NVIDIA has something in store for Computex, 2011, one of the year's biggest technology tradeshows. The GPU giant will announce NVIDIA Optimus technology's desktop avatar, for now known as "Synergy". The technology allows on-the-fly switching between a computer's integrated graphics and discrete NVIDIA GeForce graphics processor, giving you access to the feature-set of both, and allowing a fair amount of power-saving in the process.

NVIDIA's new technology is designed specifically for Intel's Sandy Bridge desktop platform, particularly motherboards with Intel H61, H67, and Z68 chipsets (you can't access IGP with P6x). Unlike SLI, motherboard vendors needn't shell out a license fee or sign an agreement to implement the technology. A supportive motherboard will have authorization code implanted into SBIOS, much like SLI. In practice, the technology will allow users to switch to a GeForce GPU (or a pair of GPUs on Z68) when gaming or in 3D-heavy applications; while falling back to the power-efficient IGP or even making use of Intel's QuickSync technology, when not gaming.

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced that a PC equipped with its Dominator GT ultra-high performance DDR3 memory was used to set new world records with the 3DMark 11 and 3DMark Vantage benchmarks. Well-known overclockers Vince "K|ngp|n" Lucido and Illya "TiN" Tsemenko posted list-topping scores of P24347 in 3DMark 11 and P79364 in 3DMark Vantage.

The hardware used included an EVGA Classified SR-2 motherboard, dual Intel Xeon X5690 CPUs, four custom-modified EVGA GeForce GTX 580 GPUs, and three 2GB Corsair Dominator GT GTX2 DDR3 memory modules. A total of seven Kingpin Cooling liquid nitrogen pots were used to cool the CPUs, GPUs, and the Intel 5520 chipset.

Guess what it is. A crab? The tool for clip game? Or a small UFO? It is the new cooler launched by EVERCOOL, who is always driven by the coexistence of both cooling and aesthetics, but also emphasizing the usability. Dr. Cool is the World's first specialized cooler for Routers and IP sharing devices with a unique design. It was conceived with three features in mind: branding, creative aesthetics and effective cooling. This last being where EVERCOOL pays special attention to, as well as taking into consideration user's feedback. It has a white, delicate and compact appearance that makes it attractive to people's eyes.

Dr. Cool provides a cooling solution to address overheating problems. Using one 8cm long-life fan it provides sufficient airflow to achieve silent cooling, effectively dissipating the heat. It also helps prevent damage caused by heat by long periods of operation and extend the router's or IP sharing device's life expectancy.

Known for coming up with innovative new high-end non-reference graphics cards for overclocking, ZOTAC is treating the GeForce GTX 580 GPU to a strong VRM and cooling to aim to be every overclocker's desire. To begin with, the card uses a strong 18-phase VRM to power the GTX 580. Power is drawn from two 8-pin power connectors, and is conditioned by the VRM that occupies a large part of the PCB including the rear portion and a top portion that's protruding above the full-height limit. The VRM uses high-grade MOSFETs, server-class capacitors, and proadlizers to condition power. The source notes that the VRM can handle up to 500W load.

To cool the beast, there are two heatsinks, first is the component heatsink that is spread across the length of the card, cooling VRM and memory; and the primary heatsink, which is a massive aluminum fin array to which heat is fed by six 6 mm thick heat pipes. The heatsink is ventilated by two 120 mm fans. The card is overclocked out of the box, with the core running at 850 MHz, 1700 MHz CUDA cores, and 1100 MHz (4.40 GHz effective) memory. Display connectivity includes two DVI and one each of HDMI and DisplayPort. You can use two connectors at a time. There's no info on pricing and availability, though ZOTAC is known for releasing such specialty products in Asian markets only.

AMD today announced revenue for the first quarter of 2011 of $1.61 billion, net income of $510 million, or $0.68 per share, and operating income of $54 million. The company reported non-GAAP net income of $56 million, or $0.08 per share, and non-GAAP operating income of $92 million.

"First quarter operating results were highlighted by strong demand for our first generation of AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs)," said Thomas Seifert, CFO and interim CEO. "APU unit shipments greatly exceeded our expectations, and we are excited to build on that momentum now that we are shipping our 'Llano' APU."

Razer, the world's leading high-end precision gaming brand announces the Razer Hydra, the world's first gaming-grade motion sensing controllers powered by Sixense, built to draw you deeper into your PC games. Razer worked closely with Valve and Sixense to create exclusive Portal 2 content to showcase the power of the Razer Hydra in enhancing game immersion. Portal 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to 2007's game of the year. The full version of the game plus the exclusive Portal 2 content will be available in a special edition bundle with the Razer Hydra.

"The Razer Hydra is a significant step forward for the PC gaming industry because it not only affords an almost-physical experience for gamers, but also presents developers an opportunity to innovate and significantly push the boundaries on new forms of gameplay and entertainment," said Gabe Newell, co-founder and president of Valve.

Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH, the European subsidiary of Shuttle Inc., one of the leading developers and manufacturers of compact PC solutions such as the world-renowned XPC Mini-PC Barebones, has announced delivery of the new SG41J4. "The front panel of this model can easily be modified by the owner, allowing customisation using photos, logos or information," according to Tom Seiffert, Head of Marketing & PR at Shuttle Computer Handels GmbH. "The creative opportunities are boundless."

The SG41J4 is suitable for Intel Core 2 processors with 1333 MHz FSB and uses the proven Intel G41 Express chipset. Its two memory banks can take DDR3 modules with a total capacity of 8 GB (2x 4 GB). The compact case is able to accommodate an optical 5.25" drive and up to two 3.5" drives. A PCIe-x16 slot can be fitted with dual-slot graphics cards. Alternatively, a PCI slot (32 bit) is available for other expansion cards. If the PCIe-x16 slot is not used, the SG41J4 can operate with the GMA X4500 graphics integrated in the chipset. A digital DVI-D output and an analog VGA output are able to manage up to two monitors.

There is no one-size fits all for computer gaming peripherals. All gamers are different and we recognize that each and every one of you has different needs and preferences. Therefore it was only a matter of time until we would put our efforts into developing a mouse for competitive RTS gaming. The ZOWIE MiCO is developed for those of you who won't settle for second best - you want the best from your equipment and seek stability in a high quality mouse that you can trust to always perform flawlessly.

Developed together with the Korean powerhouse StarTale, ZOWIE MiCO is a reflection of the experience and expertise of some of the best and most recognized StarCraft 2 players in the world. During the development of the ZOWIE MiCO, we faced three major challenges we had to overcome.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today announces the first-to-market video card: the PowerColor HD 6850 single slot edition. The first available HD6850 single slot edition aims to fulfill the desire of performance and multi-function seekers when space is a premium.

The PowerColor HD 6850 single slot edition clocks in at 775MHz core speed and 1000MHz memory speed; accelerating gaming speed with 1.48 teraFLOPs of computing Power. The slim HD6850 can maximize the rig's performance in a single slot design, allowing a 4 way CrossFireX layout that delivers an out-of-box HD gaming experience like no other.

Intel Corporation (Nasdaq:INTC) and Micron Technology, Inc. today expanded their NAND Flash memory joint venture operations with the official opening of IM Flash Singapore. The US$3 billion facility is expected to employ about 1,200 and is currently ramping production of the companies' industry-leading 25 nanometer (nm) NAND Flash memory. The companies announced the opening of the state-of-the-art 300 millimeter facility at a ceremony with Singapore government representatives, including Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

"In just five short years, Intel and Micron have successfully collaborated to become the industry's NAND Flash leader," said Steve Appleton, Micron Chairman and CEO. "The opening of IM Flash Singapore marks another significant milestone in our partnership and complements Micron's Singapore operations that serve as our company's Asian hub."

Netlist, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of high-performance memory subsystems, today announced the expansion of its Embedded Flash product portfolio with two new mSATA module additions to the SSD Flash product line. The mSATA mini SSD module offers storage capacity of up to 32GB with onboard 64MB DRAM cache. The mSATA slim SSD module offers storage capacities up to 128GB with onboard 64MB DRAM cache. Both products' smaller form-factor and SSD support for ultra-dense applications makes the mSATA mini and slim modules ideal for datacenter equipment and embedded systems.

"As datacenter equipment becomes increasingly compact, Netlist is tackling space limitations with an innovative Flash product portfolio," said Steve McClure, vice president of worldwide sales and marketing for Netlist. "With our new mSATA mini and mSATA slim SSDs, Netlist addresses the constrained space requirements by providing 2x to 5x the storage density of legacy form-factor solutions."

Toshiba Corporation, reinforcing its leadership in the development and fabrication of cutting-edge, high density NAND flash memories, today announced that it has fabricated NAND flash memories with 19 nm process technology, the finest level yet achieved. This latest technology advance has already been applied to 2-bit-per-cell 64-gigabit (Gb) chips that are the world's smallest and offer the highest density on a single chip (8 gigabytes (GB)). Toshiba will also add 3-bit-per-cell products fabricated with the 19nm process technology to its product line-up.

Samples of 2-bit-per-cell 64-gigabit will be available from the end of this month with mass production scheduled for the third quarter of the year (July to September 2011). Toshiba leads the industry in fabricating high density, small die size NAND flash memory chips. Application of the 19nm generation process technology will further shrink chip size, allowing Toshiba to assemble sixteen 64Gbit NAND flash memory chips in one package and to deliver 128GB devices for application in smartphones and tablet PCs. The 19nm process products are also equipped with Toggle DDR2.0, which enhances data transfer speed.

Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today reported revenue of $2.25 billion, hard-drive unit shipments of 50 million and net income of $146 million, or $0.62 per share, for its third fiscal quarter ended Apr. 1, 2011. The company's results include expenses of $10 million associated with the planned acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies announced Mar. 7, 2011. Excluding the acquisition-related expenses, non-GAAP net income was $156 million or $0.66 per share.

In the year-ago quarter, the company reported revenue of $2.64 billion, shipped 51 million hard drives, and reported net income and earnings per share of $400 million and $1.71, respectively. The company generated $313 million in cash from operations during the March quarter, ending with total cash and cash equivalents of $3.2 billion.

PowerColor is readying a new single-slot AMD Radeon HD 6850 graphics card. The advantages of single-slot aside, the new card will also support 4-way CrossFireX. So now you can pack four of these cards into pooly-designed motherboards with adjacent PCI-E x16 slots, or you can sneak one into the slot that happens to be the bottom-most one. PowerColor's HD 6850 Single-Slot Edition uses a custom PCB design which is not much longer than the reference design, it uses a typical single-slot cooler design with tightly-packed aluminum fin air channels to which heat is fed by a copper plate. Air is flown through these channels by a blower.

Apart from 4-way CrossFireX capability, the PowerColor HD 6850 Single-Slot Edition uses nearly complete display connectivity, with one DVI, a full-size HDMI 1.4a, and two DisplayPort 1.2. Power is drawn in from a single 6-pin power connector. The card uses AMD reference clock speeds of 775 MHz core and 1000 MHz (4.00 GHz effective) memory. There's 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface onboard. Based on the 40 nm Barts GPU, HD 6850 features 960 stream processors, and full DirectX 11 compliance. More details and pictures are awaited of this intriguing new card.

Now you can experience a rich, 3-dimensional world of crystal-clear sound with your headphones - with no interference and no wires. The new MDR-DS6500 digital surround headphone system from Sony gives TV programmes, movies on Blu-ray Disc/DVD and PLAYSTATION 3 games the soundtrack they deserve.

Exclusive to Sony, Virtualphones Technology (VPT) reproduces the soundstage of multi-channel speakers to create an immersive acoustic space. Even if you're listening to a stereo 2ch or 5.1 channel programme, VPT builds a virtual 7.1 channel soundstage that stretches 'behind and beyond' the screen. There's also a choice of selectable surround sound modes to optimise listening for movies, gaming or speech.

Top leading flash memory manufacturer and brand Silicon Power realizes how individuals can't help to speak for themselves; thus, for those who dare to show their capricious personality, Blaze B10, the market's first USB 3.0 flash drive with color-changing pattern according to temperature, is born.

With USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, Blaze B10 boasts a remarkable read speed up to 70 MB/s. Compared to conventional USB 2.0 with 480MBps, USB 3.0 carries the bandwidth of up to 5Gbps. Based on real-world test results, transfer time of high definition data files such as videos, photos, music, etc is significantly reduced, making instant carrying and sharing rich digital contents quicker and easier.

Toshiba Corporation today unveiled "dynabook Qosmio T851/D8CR", the world's first glasses-free 3D notebook PC able to display 3D and 2D content at the same time on one screen. The new PC will be available in the Japanese market from late July.

Dynabook Qosmio T851/D8CR employs Toshiba's distinctive 3D Window technology to realize the world's first glasses-free 3D portable PC able to simultaneously display 3D and 2D content in separate windows in a single screen. Users can watch high-quality 3D images or enjoy 3D games in one window without any need for wearing dedicated glasses or installing a dedicated panel over the display, while at the same time working, browsing the internet or sending e-mail in another window.

Multi-display has huge benefits for productivity, gamers are only beginning to see them, but are restricted to higher-end graphics cards to get playable frame-rates. Prior to consumer multi-display ready graphics cards after ATI/AMD Eyefinity and NVIDIA 3DVision Surround, multi-display (>2 displays per graphics card) was restricted to the professional graphics market, where GPU vendors made a killing selling expensive graphics cards that handled over 2 display heads with just about enough graphics processing power to handle Windows Aero UI. One of NVIDIA's biggest AIC partners, Galaxy, took it upon itself to make GeForce-based multi-display graphics cards that make multi-display a lot more affordable. Currently, affordable multi-display graphics card market is dominated by AMD Radeon, where even the entry-level $50-something HD 6450 can handle 3 displays, while the $90-something HD 6670 handles 4.

Galaxy designed two new such GeForce-based graphics cards, the first is an entry-level card based on GeForce 210, which is single-slot, full-height, and silent. It uses two IDT VMM1402 chips to handle up to four full-HD (1920 x 1080) displays using four DVI connectors. The card has two DMS-59 connectors, there are two cables provided, which convert each DMS-59 to two DVI connectors.

In Q4 2011, Intel will unveil its new Sandy Bridge-E (enthusiast) platform, consisting of new multi-core processors in the 2011-pin LGA package, and Intel X79 Express chipset. A roadmap slide leaked to the Chinese media reveals an interesting way in which Intel will approach the platform to monetize it best. To begin with, it appears like Sandy Bridge-E will keep up with the trend set by LGA1155 processors where only certain models can be overclocked, while others are greatly limited. Among those that can be overclocked (or "unlocked", as Intel puts it,) there will be two classes.

The first class are the 6-core chips at the very top of the pile, probably branded "Extreme Edition", which feature both unlocked BClk multipliers, and have 15 MB of L3 cache, among several other features enabled. Traditionally these processors cost around US $1000. The first of such chips will be clocked at 3.30 GHz. The second class of "unlocked" chips are those which make overclocking more accessible at lower price points (we're thinking under $600), probably branded with the "K" brand identifier extension (eg: 2600K). These 6-core chips will feature unlocked multipliers, while having 12 MB of cache enabled. The first of these chips will be clocked at 3.20 GHz.

Pictures of ASUS' upcoming upper-mid range LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel Z68 chipset, the P8Z68-V Pro surfaced on Chinese websites, revealing what comes across as a blend of P8P67's feature-set, and P8H67's display connectivity (which is what Z68 is all about). The new board makes use of a 14-phase Digi+ VRM to power the CPU. Highlights include CPU overclocking features driven by the UEFI BIOS, coupled with Intel Flexible Display Interface, letting you make use of the processor's embedded Intel HD 3000 graphics with Intel QuickSync accelerated video encoding. Further, the board is Lucid Virtu certified, letting you use (and switch between, depending on graphics load) both the integrated and discrete graphics simultaneously, and saving power in the process.

Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8 with both populated), one PCI-Express x16 (electrical x4), two PCI-Express x1, and two PCI. This wholesome expansion area is backed by a wealth of connectivity options, including four SATA 6 Gb/s ports (two from PCH, two from Marvell controller), four SATA 3 Gb/s internal, and one eSATA 3 Gb/s; display connectivity that includes one each of dual-link DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI 1.4a; 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output; four USB 3.0 (two internal/by header), a number of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire (by header), Bluetooth, and gigabit Ethernet. A number of overclocking features found on P8P67 series motherboards are present.

Tapping into the high performance potential of the USB 3.0 interface with the convenient form factor of a standard flash drive, the Verbatim Store 'n' Go USB 3.0 Flash Drive offers extreme speed, large capacity and plug-and-play operation. The unit supports transfer rates of up to 70MB/sec Write and 120MB/sec Read on USB 3.0 host systems. Verbatim Store 'n' Go USB 3.0 Flash Drive is available in capacities of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. It is available in stores in April 2011.

Club 3D B.V. announces the introduction of the AMD Radeon HD 6670 video card based on the Turks XT chipset, AMD' second generation DirectX 11. The new Club 3D Radeon HD 6670 1 GB GDDR5 video card features now the AMD HD3D technology which allows you to have faster access to multimedia applications and gives you all tools to enhanced productivity.

Furthermore you can enjoy the latest 3D Blu-ray movies with EyeSpeed technology. The new card comes equipped with a nice single slot cooler which makes you enjoy your new video card without compromising on your perfect computing environment.

Intel Corporation reported record EPS and revenue on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis. On a non-GAAP basis, revenue was $12.9 billion, operating income was $4.3 billion, net income was $3.3 billion, and EPS was 59 cents. On a GAAP basis, the company reported first-quarter revenue of $12.8 billion, operating income of $4.2 billion, net income of $3.2 billion, and EPS of 56 cents.

The company generated approximately $4.0 billion in cash from operations, paid cash dividends of $994 million, and used $4.0 billion to repurchase 189 million shares of common stock. "The first-quarter revenue was an all-time record for Intel fueled by double digit annual revenue growth in every major product segment and across all geographies," said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. "These outstanding results, combined with our guidance for the second quarter, position us to achieve greater than 20 percent annual revenue growth."

Alienware is redefining mobile gaming - again - with three new, all-powerful laptops, including the soon to be released M18x, which lays claim to the title of "most powerful 18-inch gaming laptop in the universe;" the M14x, which delivers unprecedented performance and portability; and an enhanced M11x, already a favorite among gaming enthusiasts, and the most-powerful sub-14-inch notebook in the universe.

The two new faces in the Alienware laptop family, the upcoming M18x and the M14x, along with the new M11x, deliver unprecedented power to the gamer on the go. All three platforms offer the latest in gaming technology, and feature second-generation Intel Core i processors to deliver the most immersive high-performance gaming experience imaginable.

Micro-Star International Co., the world's leading All-in-One PC brands release the latest AIO PC featuring the Intel Sandy Bridge platform: Wind Top AE2410. A 1080p Full HD 24" LCD monitor coupled with the newest 2nd generation Intel Core i processor brings obvious improvements in both CPU and integrated graphics performance. The fantastic 1080p display brings real colors in every image. The AE2410 is also equipped with two USB 3.0 ports, allowing users to transfer data ten times faster than before. One of the USB 3.0 ports combines MSI's exclusive Super Charger technology to speed up USB charging time by 40% and recharge iPhone, iPad or MP3 players while the computer is turned off. These useful features provide more convenience and freedom to enjoy life.

Transcend Information, Inc., a worldwide leader in storage and multimedia products, today introduced two new high-capacity portable hard drives: the SuperSpeed USB 3.0-powered StoreJet 25H3P and the standard USB 2.0-powered StoreJet 25H2P. Both models boast 1TB of storage capacity, and come bundled with Transcend's advanced new Transcend Elite data management software, which allows modern users to keep their rich digital content organized, protected and up-to-date.

Housed in a robust shockproof case, the newly released StoreJet 25H3P and StoreJet 25H2P drives offer extra capacity for more downloads and files and provide the highest level of protection against accidental drops. Besides incorporating a brilliant purple anti-slip rubber enclosure, the new models include a reinforced hard casing that evenly distributes the force of an impact, and an internal hard drive suspension damper as a last line of defense. Both two drives have passed the rigorous U.S. military drop-test tests, making them one of the most robust portable hard drives in the market today.

Delivering solutions that better fit your increasing mobile and connected lifestyles, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) is expanding its family of external storage and backup solutions with its new line of Hitachi Touro Pro desktop and mobile external hard drives. Delivering two levels of protection--local backup and cloud storage, the Touro Pro line is an all-in-one solution to help protect, transport and store your photos, music, videos and documents for easy access from anywhere.

Coupling online storage and local personal storage is vital in today's mobile world. Your personal content and the public cloud are converging. Right in the middle of this is you. Your content. Your personal cloud - the stuff you want access to, from anywhere - online and from your tablet, smartphone, laptop or external drive.

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage with solid quality, today announces the world's fastest 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3 memory, rated at 2300MHz CL9 with only 1.65V voltage. This ultimate memory kit will join G.Skill award winning Ripjaws-X family and will be available soon via G.Skill global authorized distribution partners.

Since the demand of big capacity memory has grown dramatically, G.Skill R&D team has been dedicated to develop the fastest and best performing products based on 4GB memory sticks continuously. Following the marvelous achievement of DDR3 1900MHz 48GB and DDR3 2200MHz 16GB kits, G.Skill once again pushed the memory speed further and developed the industry leading memory kit. The DDR3 2300MHz CL9 kit has passed a series of rigorous tests and guarantees the best stability and performance.

Seagate Technology, the world leader in hard disk drives and storage solutions, and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in digital consumer electronics and information technology, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Seagate and Samsung will significantly expand and strengthen their strategic relationship by further aligning their respective ownership, investments and key technologies. Major elements of the agreement include:

• Samsung combining its hard disk drive (HDD) operations into Seagate
• Extending and enhancing the existing patent cross-license agreement between the companies
• A NAND flash memory supply agreement under which Samsung will provide Seagate with its market-leading semiconductor products for use in Seagate's enterprise solid state drives (SSDs), solid state hybrid drives and other products
• A disk drive supply agreement under which Seagate will supply disk drives to Samsung for PCs, notebooks and consumer electronics
• Expanded cooperation between the companies to co-develop enterprise storage solutions
• Samsung receiving significant equity ownership in Seagate

PC giant Acer is ready with a new uppish netbook, the Aspire One 722. This 11.6-inch nebook runs on AMD's Fusion C-50 accelerated processing unit (APU) clocked at 1.00 GHz, and embedding an AMD Radeon HD 6250 DirectX 11 compliant graphics processor. The 11.6-inch screen packs a decent resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Most other features are identical to those of the Aspire One 522. The 722 feature an aquamarine color tone, with "drop ripple" design on its lid. Battery life is improved by an hour, now up to 7 hours on a full charge. Windows 7 Home Basic is the OS of choice. Price and availability details are not known.

MSI, the leading Mainboard and Graphics Card manufacturer announces an extension of its lasting partnership with Lucid through the inclusion of the Virtu GPU virtualization technology with the upcoming MSI Z68 Mainboards. Lucid and MSI have enjoyed a fruitful collaboration ever since work started on MSI's Big Bang Fuzion mainboard, world's first mainboard featuring Lucid's HydraLogix chip for true vendor independent multi-GPU technology. Today's announcement is a firm indication of MSI's continuation as a leader in computer graphics products and technologies.

Through the integration of Lucid's Virtu technology. MSI's Z68 based mainboards are able to combine the best features of Intel's HD 2000 and HD 3000 integrated graphics such as Lightning quick video decoding and the power of discrete graphics cards such as MSI's Lightning or Hawk series Graphics cards. Utilizing Lucid's Virtu technology allows MSI's Z68 mainboards to have low power consumption during light graphical workloads, like playing web games or viewing videos and give the graphical horsepower you need when playing 3D games.

Club 3D B.V. releases the new Radeon HD 6450 1GB DD3 Noiseless Edtition, the industry second generation of DirectX 11 capable graphics card.This new card features a heatsink cooler design aimed at the HTPCs users and with UVD3 (Universal Video Decoder), improved tessellation engine and higher clock speeds makes the perfect fit for users who are looking an entry level card that is affordable and packs a punch. Offering a low profile card customers can expect this card to be bundled with 2 Low Profile brackets like usually offered by Club 3D on Low Profile items.

MSI, the leading graphics card and motherboard manufacturer in the world, today announced the release of three new graphics cards based on the AMD Radeon HD6000 architecture: the R6670-MD1GD5, R6570-MD1GD3/LP, and R6450-MD1GD3/LP. All of the new MSI graphics cards in the AMD HD 6000 family support the latest version of MSI's proprietary Afterburner software with the Predator video capture function. Gamers can enhance their gaming experiences by capturing in-game videos and sharing them with friends over the web!

All of MSI's new AMD HD 6000 graphics cards are equipped with HDMI 1.4a connectivity for the latest in 3D video support, and 7.1 channel lossless high-quality TrueHD and DTS-HD sound. The latest visual effects standards such as DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4.1 are also fully supported. The cards utilize Military Grade II components for extreme stability and durability. All in all, the new AMD HD6000 graphics cards offered by MSI provide the most fun and highest quality, qualifying it as the best choice on the market.

ASUS has released the ASUS HD 6670, HD 6570 and HD 6450 graphics cards that offer users superb performance for vivid graphics. All three contain the latest DirectX 11 technology to support ultra- realistic game characters, enhanced speed, and true-to-life special effects. AMD supported App Acceleration accelerates everyday work applications while the HD 6670 and HD 6570 deliver a smooth, high quality 3D video playback experience.

The HD 6670 and HD 6570 are clocked at 810MHz and 650MHz respectively, and both are built with the latest in ASUS advancements for a refined visual experience. ASUS exclusive Super Alloy Power applies special-formulated components to provide an efficient power supply for a 15% performance boost, 35°C cooler operation and 2.5 times longer lifespan. A unique dust-proof fan design dissipates heat efficiently and extends the graphic card's lifespan by 25% (10,000 hours) through increased dust and particle resistance. Native HDMI, Dual-link DVI and Display Port connections on the EAH6670/DIS/1GD5 allow users to experience AMD Eyefinity, which can extend the visual horizon across three displays for engaging HD entertainment.

Today, Hightech Information System (HIS) introduces its HIS 6670 Fan, 6570 Silence & 6450 Silence 1GB graphics cards, delivering a premium and reliable computing experience to our digital lifestyle and business PC users. The new models also make multimedia tasks easier with features like AMD App Acceleration, AMD HD3D and DirectX 11 technologies. What's more? HIS 6670 Fan 1GB GDDR5 comes with Display Port output that supports AMD Eyefinity technology and thus creates the ultimate desktop workspace with 4 monitor displays.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today introduces the graphics for causal gaming and advanced home entertainment: the PowerColor HD6670, HD6570 and HD6450. The latest announced series enhance the home entertainment experience within 75 watts consumed, enabling gamers to be environmentally friendly enjoy the HD gaming experience.

The HD6670 clocks in at 800MHz core speed and 1000MHz memory speed, it's a great mix of performance, price and power. The HD6570 delivers a playable gaming performance which has core speed at 650MHz and memory speed at 1000MHz. And the HD6450 provides the stellar entertaining experience, clocks in at 625MHz and 667MHz of GPU and memory speeds respectively.

SAPPHIRE Technology has just strengthened its range of graphics cards based on the latest graphics technology from AMD with the introduction of several new models in the HD 6000 series aimed at entry level and mainstream users wanting to benefit from the latest features including multi-screen displays and stereoscopic 3D output.

Several models will be introduced with the latest core graphics technology and offering a choice of memory configurations and outputs. All of them feature second generation DX 11 engines from AMD and on-board hardware video decoding with the AMD UVD (universal Video Decoder) - now in its third generation supporting Blu-Ray 3D for stereoscopic 3D over HDMI 1.4a. In addition, models with DisplayPort output also support Eyefinity multi-screen technology. Eyefinity gives users the ability not only to play games on multiple monitors, but also to work across three or more monitors as though it were one large monitor, bringing huge productivity benefits to applications such as photo editing, music creation and document creation.

Amidst speculations that Gigabyte has put a stop to its P67 chipset-based lineup of LGA1155 motherboards and is planning a transition to Z68 top-to-bottom targeting several price points, pictures of the Z68X-UD3P-B3 surfaced. The new UD3P board is based on Z68, features a hybrid-EFI BIOS (dual-BIOS with >3 TB bootable volume support), and is designed exclusively for discrete graphics setup, it lacks FDI display connectivity. The CPU is powered by a 14-phase VRM that uses driver-MOSFETs, and cooled by simple heatsinks.

Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8, x8 when both are populated), with 2-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX support. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s (two from the Z68 PCH, two from a Marvell-made controller), and four internal SATA 3 Gb/s from the PCH. Other connectivity includes four USB 3.0 ports (two internal/by header), a number of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio. The Z68X-UD3P should join the rest of Gigabyte's Z68X series, for an early May launch.

The RAVEN team's continued push to redefine and perfect the enthusiast tower chassis has resulted in yet another benchmark in the RAVEN RV03. With world-class cooling performance from the previous RAVEN chassis models retained by the included 180mm Air Penetrator fans, a rethinking of the interior layout enabled dramatic reduction in overall depth of the chassis compared to RAVEN RV02 while still matching RAVEN RV01's ability to accommodate Extended ATX motherboard and graphics cards longer than 13 inches.

Cable management was also improved with a new 5cm thick hard drive compartment to allow nearly all cables to be connected behind the motherboard tray with ease. An unconventional power supply compartment located in the lower front part of the chassis further add to facilitate cable routing so anyone can assemble a pristine looking system with maximum airflow efficiency.

NVIDIA today released its first WHQL-signed 270 Series GeForce software suite. The package provides the latest driver software for GeForce discrete, integrated, and notebook GPUs, ION GPUs, GeForce HDMI audio, and the latest stable releases of NVIDIA PhysX, and NVIDIA 3DVision. Version 270.61 WHQL packs official support for the recently released GeForce GTX 590, GTX 550 Ti, GTX 560 Ti, supermassive performance increases (such as 516% in Dragon Age 2 (GTX 580 SLI 2560x1600 8xAA/16xAF Very High, SSAO on)) specific to GeForce 400 and 500 series; and of course, a stable version of NVIDIA's driver auto-update software.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 270.61 WHQL.

A list of changes follows.

Alpenföhn is giving final touches to its K2 high-end CPU cooler. The K2 is large-size CPU cooler that resembles the Noctua NH-D14 in design. It uses eight 6 mm thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes that convey heat to two independent aluminum fin arrays. There are two fans that ventilate a fin array each, one pushes air onto the first array, while a second nested between the two arrays, conveys air to the second. Alpenföhn's innovation here is the unique wavy pattern that differently-sized aluminum fins form, probably improving heat dissipation by creating high-pressure areas. The K2 comes with two, WingBoost fans the first one is 120 mm, and the one in the middle is 140 mm. Expect the Alpenföhn K2 to be priced around the €75 mark.

Stores in Taiwan have started stocking up on Gigabyte's latest high-end LGA1155 motherboard, the GA-Z68X-UD7 B3. Based on the new Z68 chipset that combines the overclocking capabilities of P67 with the Flexible Display Interface (FDI) feature of H67, Z68 will be Intel's most functional desktop chipset for the LGA1155. Gigabyte's board carries forward the feature-set of the P67A-UD7, and adds a GUI-based Hybrid EFI setup program. Quite surprisingly, there are no display outputs, so we're not quite sure why the designers opted for Z68 in the first place.

The GA-Z68X-UD7 uses a 24-phase VRM that uses driver-MOSFETs to power the CPU, four DDR3 DIMM slots to support dual-channel memory, four PCI-Express x16 slots supporting 3-way SLI and CrossFireX. Gigabyte is probably using an NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chip for the additional PCI-E lanes. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s, six SATA 3 Gb/s, and two eSATA/USB combo ports. There are at least four USB 3.0 ports. Gigabyte's new board will reach western markets later this month, after Z68's formal launch.

Korean multinational conglomerate Samsung is planning to sell its hard disk drive (HDD) business held by Samsung Electronics. The company wants to focus on other kinds of storage products that are flash-based. Samsung is planning to sell the unit for an estimated US $1.5 billion. HDD major Seagate Technology is the front-runner to buy it. The HDD industry is under pressure after the market success of tablet and netbook industries, which use more compact and inexpensive SSDs instead of 1.8-inch HDDs. With Samsung's exit, the consumer HDD industry will be reduced to just three players: Western Digital, Seagate, and Toshiba.

AMD is giving its C-series Fusion APUs for netbooks and embedded systems a feature update with its upcoming model, the C-60. The AMD C-60 will have the same default clock speed as the C-50, at 1.00 GHz, but features the AMD TurboCore technology, which can up clock speed to 1.3 GHz when the two cores are loaded. The embedded Radeon GPU also features GPU TurboCore, which boosts engine speed from 276 MHz to 400 MHz. The new dual-core C-60 does all this, while limiting itself to the 9W TDP. AMD will release the new C-60 APU in Q3, 2011.

Originally known for their CPU coolers, the manufacturer Xigmatek has successfully established itself as a well known case brand with a successful line-up of enclosures, which feature an unbeatable price/performance ratio. After launching different Mid-Towers, Xigmatek is now announcing the first Big-Tower by the name Elysium.

The term "big" to categorize the Xigmatek Elysium can literally be interpreted as the flagship model of the manufacturer, as it is one of the largest cases on the market. 23 cm width, almost 62 cm height and a depth of 66 cm result in an enormous volume, easily able to hold nearly every hardware configuration possible. Especially extravagant systems profit from the space, as there is plenty of room for water cooling, SLI/Crossfire systems and even large mainboards like the EVGA SR-2.

Try not to mistake this for a low-profile CPU cooler, Alpenföhn's latest offering is the Heidi 2 universal graphics card cooler. First pictured at this year's CeBIT event, the Heidi 2 looks more polished and ready to market. Its main heatsink consists of an aluminum fin array to which heat is conveyed by four 6 mm thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes. The 50-odd aluminum fins make for distinct shapes at the edge of the fin array, which improve heat dissipation. The heat pipes converge at a nickel-plated copper base.

The main heatsink measures 144 x 133 x 62 mm, weighing 450 g. Ventilation is care of a 120 mm Alpenföhn WingBoost fan. A large number of GPUs are supported, including AMD/ATI Radeon HD 6850, HD 6870, HD 5870, HD 5850, HD 5770, HD 5750, HD 5670, HD 4870, HD 4860, HD 4850, HD 4830, HD 4750, HD 4670, HD 4650, HD 3870, HD 3850, HD 3690, HD 3650, HD 3450, HD 2600, X1900; and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460, GTX 200 series, GTX 250, GT 240, GT 220, GT 210, 9800 GTX+/GTX/GT, 9600 GT, 8800 GT/ GTS(G92), 8600, 8500, 8400, 7900 GTX/GT/GS, 7800 GTX/GT, 7600, 7400, 7300, 6600. The company did not give out pricing information.

Slated for Tuesday, 19th April, AMD new mainstream DirectX 11 compliant graphics cards, the Radeon HD 6670, and HD 6570, have been drawing some attention as two of the last products to launch in the HD 6000 series. It will probably only be with the HD 7000 series slated for who knows when, that AMD will release new GPUs. DonanimHaber put a HD 6670 and two HD 6570 graphics cards, along with a GeForce GT 440 (NVIDIA's fastest card in the segment), through 3DMark Vantage and 3DMark 11, in performance and extreme presets. The Radeons emerged faster overall. The HD 6670 and HD 6570 are designed for price points below $100.

ASUS has launched WAVI, the world's first wireless HDMI kit to feature innovative two-way wireless USB control designed to stream PC content to the big screen TV. WAVI (Wireless Audio Video Interaction) is offered as a pair of devices that bridges the gap between the home office and living room. Watch movies, play the latest PC games, enjoy social networking or even do online shopping, all on the big screen TV from the comfort of a couch.

The WAVI HDMI streaming kit consists of a transmitter and receiver for two-way input and streaming. Unlike other wireless HDMI kits, the WAVI allows users to control the PC content in the living room with a wireless keyboard and mouse, thanks to wireless USB support. The WAVI operates at the wireless 5GHz band and provides up to 25 meters of coverage. Additionally, under the Extend Mode, users can continue working on the PC screen while streaming multimedia content to the living room TV - maximizing the use of a single home PC while also providing home entertainment experiences.

The world's most expandable 2U server with quad NVIDIA Tesla GPUs and integrated InfiniBand, the ESC4000 helps professional users conserve space and energy while offering a high density architecture that supports dual CPUs. Flexible 8+1 expansion options and intelligent fan-control technology with 20% energy savings make it the server of choice for users who wish to combine performance, high efficiency, and environmental responsibility.

The ESC4000 joins previous entries in the ESC server series from ASUS, including the ESC1000 and ESC2000, making it the first ever 2U rack model in its category. The ESC4000 offers almost double performance with the same space requirements when compared to similar products thanks to an innovative high density design. Through its advanced parallel computing performance, flexible design and versatile hardware, the ESC4000 serves the needs of high-end professional applications, including scientific, weather and financial modeling, as well as advanced medical and life sciences uses.

Point of View and its trusty enthusiast brand partner TGT group, are ready with their fastest graphics card to date, the PoV-TGT GeForce GTX 590 BEAST. The BEAST Edition features factory overclocked speeds, and is ready for (requires) water-cooling. The dual-GPU graphics card features out of the box clock speeds of 691 MHz core, and 1382 MHz CUDA cores; against reference speeds of 607/1215 MHz, respectively. The memory is clocked at 927.5 MHz (3710 MHz effective) against 853.5/3414 MHz reference.

The next big part of the card is its full-coverage water block made by Aqua Computer. The block cools all heat-producing components on the obverse side of the PCB, including the two GPUs, memory, bridge chip, and the notoriously feisty VRM. The block uses exposed copper as its primary material, with brushed metal top. Already seeing listings in Europe, the card is priced between €777.97, and €849.08.

After quite some lull, a new motherboard by EVGA is taking shape, the EVGA P67 FTW B3. As the name suggests, it is a top-tier motherboard by the company, based on the Intel P67 B3 chipset. The P67 FTW ("for the win", in gamer jargon) supports LGA1155 Intel Core i3/i5/i7 processors, and is geared for extreme overclocking of CPU and GPUs, and is particularly laid out for supporting 3-way and 4-way NVIDIA SLI. The board uses an NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chip over the processor's PCI-Express 2.0 x16 link to give out two x16 links, which are further configured as four x8 links, if four x16 slots are populated with graphics cards. The board uses a 12-phase CPU VRM with split heatsinks, the CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3.

Storage connectivity includes two internal SATA 6 Gb/s, four SATA 3 Gb/s; other connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, two gigabit Ethernet interfaces, USB 3.0, and a number of USB 2.0. There are several overclocker-friendly features, such as support for EVGA EVBot, an external overclock control and monitoring module, jumpers to toggle specific PCI-Express slots, consolidated voltage measurement points, onboard power/reset buttons, and LED POST diagnostic readout. A strong VRM and feature-rich BIOS should top it up. The new board is priced at a juicy US $200, and should be available soon.

GIGABYTE Technology Co. LTD., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to launch the latest GeForce GT 520 series, GV-N520OC-1GI and GV-N520TC-1GI. Built on NVIDIA latest GT 520 GPU, supports DirectX 11 tessellation. GT 520 series graphics cards are bundled with the latest graphic card tuning tool "Easy Boost". GIGABYTE GT 520 series graphics cards also have higher default GPU working frequency, providing users amazing gaming experience.

GV-N520OC-1GI is integrated with industry's best 1 GB DDR3 graphics memory. GV-N520TC-1GI is integrated with high speed 512 MB DDR3 graphics memory, turbo cached to 1 GB. GT 520 series graphics cards supports NVIDIA CUDA, PhysX and Blu-Ray 3D technology. They are designed for both high quality gaming and great home theater solution.

Mionix, the Swedish manufacturer of professional high-end gaming accessories today unveiled the Mionix Zibal 60, a mechanical keyboard developed for the gamer that deserves the best. "I believe it is an artform to building keyboards, that are not just for gaming but also compromise free and simple in design. The high attention to detail and subtle features are going to be loved by our loyal users", says Carl Conradsson, Mionix.

The Mionix Zibal 60 is a fusion of the best keyboard components together with great gaming features that gives your game the edge you have been searching for. Engineered with non-tactile, mechanical, black cherry MX switches that deliver the best feel to every keystroke. Multi-level backlight illumination paired with six key rollover that allows you to perform up to six simultaneous keystrokes with all keys, make the Zibal 60 standout from the crowd. in addition to the performance features, the Zibal 60 offers smart functions that include a two port usb 2.0 hub, audio/mic extensions and media control keys for full integration with your desktop setup.

Intel Corporation and Micron Technology Inc. today introduced a new, finer 20-nanometer (nm) process technology for manufacturing NAND flash memory. The new 20nm process produces an 8-gigabyte (GB) multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash device, providing a high-capacity, small form factor storage option for saving music, video, books and other data on smartphones, tablets and computing solutions such as solid-state drives (SSDs).

The growth in data storage combined with feature enhancements for tablets and smartphones is creating new demands for NAND flash technology, especially greater capacity in smaller designs. The new 20nm 8GB device measures just 118mm² and enables a 30 to 40 percent reduction in board space (depending on package type) compared to the companies' existing 25nm 8GB NAND device. A reduction in the flash storage layout provides greater system level efficiency as it enables tablet and smartphone manufacturers to use the extra space for end-product improvements such as a bigger battery, larger screen or adding another chip to handle new features.

Futuremark today confirmed that PCMark 7, a new benchmark offering complete PC performance testing for Windows 7, will be released on May 3, 2011. PCMark 7 will be available in 3 editions: the Basic Edition, a free download offering unlimited runs of the main PCMark test, the Advanced Edition which includes all 7 PC tests and the Professional Edition which unlocks all features and is the only edition licensed for commercial use. The Advanced and Professional Editions can be pre-ordered now from this page.

PCMARK 7 BASIC EDITION - Free, available from May 3, 2011

• Free PC test offering unlimited runs of the main PCMark test suite
• Browse, search and compare results online
• Store one result online

Leading international graphics card and motherboard maker MSI has now released the N570GTX Twin Frozr III Power Edition graphics card. The new graphics card not only features the latest Twin Frozr III dual fan cooling module but also exclusive Propeller Blade technology for 20% more airflow. Under full load, these reduce the GPU temperature by 18˚C and fan noise by 7.7dB compared to the reference board. The popular Power Edition architecture from R6950 Twin Frozr III Power Edition has also been retained. The use of 6+1 phase power supply and Triple Overvoltage support enhances overclockability and stability, increasing the overclocking potential by 22%1! For consumers looking for great cooling, overclocking potential and stability, the N570GTX Twin Frozr III Power Edition offers the perfect balance between performance and cooling.

Perhaps the fastest silent graphics card in the making, PowerColor's new HD 6850 SCS3 finally taken shape, and will launch soon. The card was spotted first in November 2010, but has since undergone many little changes, particularly with its PCB and components. The card is designed to draw power from one 6-pin power connector, and run the GPU at reference speeds, while relying entirely on a massive heatsink to cool it. The heatsink uses five copper heat pipes to draw heat directly from the GPU, and through the large aluminum fin array. The HD 6850 features 960 stream processors, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphic cards, today introduced an innovative cooling technology into the HD6950 series: the PCS+ HD6950 Vortex II Edition. Featuring the PCS+ series characteristic, the latest edition has superior overclocking ability which clocks in at 850MHz core speed and 1300MHz memory speed, easily accelerating gaming machines with nearly 2.39 teraFLOPs of computing power and offering the surprising gaming experience

The PCS+ HD6950 Vortex II Edition enables users to manually adjust the fan and its physical attributes. By lifting the fan, it optimizes the air flow and taking advantage of the cooler air from the bottom of the case, balancing the ambient temperature. Furthermore, with the exclusive perforated fan design and anti-turbulence ability, enhancing the cooling efficiency and resulting in cooling down the temperature up to 20% compare to reference design.

Zalman is making changes to its VF3000F GPU fan-heatsink, to give it compatibility with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 and GTX 580. The heatsink is largely unchanged from the Fermi-ready one introduced back in September 2010, with only a few minor compatibility tweaks. The new variant still measures 239 (L) x 98 (W) x 51 (H) mm, weighing 430 g. It uses two green LED-illuminated 92 mm fans that spin at 1400-3000 RPM, featuring EBR bearing.

The VF300F is essentially a large aluminum fin array to which heat is conveyed by five 6 mm thick copper heat pipes. The heat pipes converge at a large copper base. The heatsink is ventilated by the two 92 mm fans, and is topped off with a green chrome cooler shroud. A syringe of ZM-STG2 TIM is bundled. The new VF3000F is expected to be priced on par with the older model, €40 - €45.

Acer America Corp., the number one provider of 3D displays worldwide, today debuts its new Acer 3D Series Displays for customers in North America. The new 27-inch (HN274H) and 23.6-inch (HS244HQ) widescreen 3D LCD displays are the ultimate visual medium for enjoying the vivid realism and depth of three dimensional entertainment and learning.

The new 3D LCDs provide thrilling full HD 3D visuals via HDMI or DVI-DL to PCs, Blu-ray Disc Players, game consoles, cameras and 3D TV programming via a set-top box. Supporting the HDMI 3D solution, the displays deliver immersive 3D broadcasting, Blu-ray movies, gaming and photography. The solution is also ideal for schools, as education content providers create new 3D curriculum that makes learning more engaging.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, announced today its new family of hard disk drives, including two portable drives and a desktop storage station. Supporting the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, the new external hard drives can provide data transfer speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second, delivering a maximum 10-fold higher data transfer rate over the USB 2.0, allowing users to transfer a 25-gigabyte full HD movie in just four minutes.

Samsung's portable drives come in two designs, the entry-level M2 Portable and the premium C2 Portable 3.0. The M2 Portable comes with a wave-like matte finish that covers scratches and fingerprints, with curved sides for a comfortable grip. The drives are available in densities of up to 1 terabyte, USB 2.0/3.0 interface, and four colors: Brown Black, Noble Beige, Mist Gray and Clay Orange.

Today HIS launches HIS 6790 IceQ X Turbo 1GB GDDR5. Offering the HIS awarding winning cooling and overclocking technology, the new model is designed for our most demanding gamers to experience a truly outstanding performance and ultra-high bandwidth in gaming. The HIS 6790 IceQ X Turbo has over-clocked its core clock to 900MHz and memory clock to 4400MHz, delivering serious high-definition gaming frame rates.

What's more, the new model equips with stunning array of advanced technologies, such as AMD Eyefinity technology, AMD's second-generation of DirectX 11-ready graphics,
and AMD EyeSpeed technology. The combined configuration delivers dramatic visual and gaming experience, making it the ultimate solution for performance gamers.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today announced that it is the first semiconductor company to receive certification from the USB Implementer's Forum (USB-IF) for its SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) four-port extensible host controller (xHCI). In addition to the four-port host controller, the TUSB7340, TI also achieved certification for its two-port host controller, the TUSB7320. These four- and two-port host controllers support such applications as notebooks, desktop computers, workstations, servers, add-in cards and ExpressCard implementations, as well as PCIe-based embedded host controllers for HDTVs, set top boxes and gaming console applications. Download datasheets, order free samples, and request evaluation modules (EVMs) here.

"The continuing certification of USB products is key to delivering a smooth and effortless experience to consumers worldwide as they purchase and interconnect their new electronic devices using SuperSpeed USB," said Jeff Ravencraft, President & COO, USB-IF. "We are pleased with the commitment Texas Instruments has made to this standard by delivering such a broad portfolio of SuperSpeed USB products, including their most recent four- and two-port host controllers."

CM Storm's Enforcer is a bold new LAN deployable addition to the Storm lineup. It is a compact, featured packed, mid-tower solution for enthusiasts and budget conscious gamers. It comes as the first mid-tower to include native support for GPU cards like the AMD Radeon HD 6990 and the NVIDIA GTX 590, large CPU coolers, two 200mm fans, one 120mm fans, and USB 3.0. The CM Storm Enforcer changes everything with its speed, stealth and guile. With all of its offerings, CM Storm Enforcer provides limitless possibilities.

The CM Storm Enforcer draws from a design that is reminiscent of a futuristic or even a biological armor. It focuses on cleaner lines that still preserve an aggressive styling worthy of the CM Storm name. A nearly full-length side panel window allows users to show off their liquid cooling, custom wiring, and cable management with pride. This is accompanied by an interior coated entirely with a high quality black finish.

When the entry-level Radeon HD 6450 launches this 19th April, it will not be alone. AMD will back it with product launches of both the Radeon HD 6570 and Radeon HD 6670, according to fresh reports. With it, AMD will have completed its Radeon HD 6000 series product launches, in almost all price-points, top to bottom. Incidentally, the three were also launched together as OEM-only products back in February.

Based on the 40 nm Caicos silicon, HD 6450 packs 160 stream processors, and a 64-bit wide GDDR5/GDDR3 memory interface, designed for low-profile, single-slot graphics cards. The HD 6570 and HD 6670, on the other hand, are both based on the 40 nm Turks GPU, both feature 480 stream processors and 128-bit wide GDDR5 interface. The two are differentiated with the HD 6570 having lower clock speeds.

HP today announced a new lineup of powerful mobile workstations, ideal for engineering, power-computing and content-creation customers who need the performance of a workstation with the portability and convenience of a notebook. HP also unveiled the HP Z210 Workstation, demonstrating its continued investment in the desktop and mobile workstations market, where it holds leading market share.

Building on HP's "FORGE"#8221; design framework, the HP EliteBook w-series embodies a timeless construction, with precision-engineered durability features that are designed for maximum reliability and with the environment in mind. The new products showcase HP's first-ever industrial design specific to mobile workstations, with distinctive features including a radial-brushed gunmetal finish, backlit jewel logo and orange-colored accents.

PowerColor is readying a new high-end Radeon HD 6990 based graphics card that's prepped for water-cooling, the PowerColor LCS HD 6990. Sticking to its LCS tradition, the new HD 6990 from PowerColor comes with a full-coverage water block made by EKWB, the EK-FC6990 pre-installed. The card sticks to AMD reference design PCB, and even uses the reference back-plate to cool memory chips on the reverse side of the PCB. The EK-FC6990 cools all heat-producing components on the obverse side, including the two Cayman GPUs, memory chips, VRM, and bridge chip. PowerColor's LCS HD 6990 is expected to come with out of the box overclocked speeds, and one can expect a hefty price-premium, taking the price closer or beyond the US $800~850 mark, or beyond.

MSI, the leading global graphics card and mainboard manufacturer, today launches the N520GT-MD1GD3/LP graphics card utilizing the latest NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 GPU. Featuring MSI's exclusive Predator in-game video capture function with Afterburner 2.1.0, N520GT-MD1GD3/LP allows gamers access to a free utility that captures all of their classic in-game moments and share them amongst friends. With a single slot and low profile design, the N520GT-MD1GD3/LP works perfectly on smaller mainboards and in slim cases. Supporting next-generation DirectX 11 and NVIDIA 3DVision technology, the N520GT-MD1GD3/LP is the perfect choice for HTPC entertainment.

Toshiba announces the first family of self-encrypting hard disk drives (HDDs) engineered to automatically invalidate protected data when connected to an unknown host. The new Toshiba Self-Encrypting Drive (SED) models enable OEMs to configure different data invalidation options that align with various end-user scenarios. Designed to address the increasing need for IT departments to comply with privacy laws and regulations governing data security, the drives are ideally suited for PC, copier and multi-function printer, and point-of-sale systems used in government, financial, medical, or similar environments with an acute need to protect sensitive information.

Building on the industry-standard Trusted Computing Group "Opal" Specification, the new Toshiba MKxx61GSYG models leverage advanced access security and on-board encryption alongside second generation data wipe technology. Whether to protect against data loss resulting from lost or stolen notebooks or to maintain the security of document image data stored within copier and printer systems, Toshiba SEDs can securely invalidate protected data. Data invalidation attributes can be set for multiple data ranges, enabling targeted data in the drive to be rendered indecipherable by command, on power cycle, or on host authentication error-an industry first. This flexibility provides systems designers with a powerful set of data security options that can be easily incorporated into existing system architecture.

ASUS has released the ASUS GT 520, a graphics card that combines great performance with a low profile that is perfectly suited to be used in an HTPC. With an innovative fanless design, the GT 520 efficiently and silently dissipates heat while still offering outstanding graphics performance. 1GB of DDR3 memory and Microsoft DirectX 11 support means the GT 520 displays the latest in multimedia entertainment with ease.

Based on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520 GPU, the ASUS GT 520 is equipped with an efficiently designed heatsink that passively cools the GT 520 so absolutely no sound is produced while running. This ensures a quiet environment, and combined with the low profile of the graphics card makes it perfect for hushed gaming and multimedia enjoyment via home theater PCs and multimedia centers.

The world-renowned premium gaming gear company QPAD sets a new standard in keyboard performance with the MK-80 Mechanical keyboard. Targeted at pro gamers and demanding enthusiasts, this full size board boasts to bring a new dimension to the gaming experience. This keyboard is packed with state of the art technology such as individual LED:s for each key and switches plated with gold/silver alloym but it's the core functionality of the board that really makes it unique: The QPAD MK-80 Mechanical key technology.

Unlike your average keyboard, that functions through rubber domes, forcing you to press each key all the way down in order for the stroke register, the MK-80 sports true mechanical switches with unmatched accuracy and feel. No more pressing cheap plastic bits with full-force in order to activate the keys. The QPAD keyboard will respond to your every move in an instant.

Hailed as the most exciting development in graphics for several generations, the original SAPPHIRE HD 5800 series not only included the fastest single GPU available, but was also the first family of video cards in the world to support the advanced graphical features of Microsoft DirectX 11 and multi-monitor displays in Eyefinity mode. Now it's back - with the exciting new SAPPHIRE HD 5800 series Xtreme Editions!

Two models will be available from April 2011 - the SAPPHIRE HD 5850 Xtreme and the SAPPHIRE HD 5830 Xtreme. Both will represent spectacular value for money - and support all the latest games and applications.

One of PowerColor's various non-reference design graphics card lines, the Vortex Edition, made its debut in June 2010, with the PowerColor HD 5770 Vortex Edition. The selling point of Vortex is the cooler fan, which is user-adjustable to an extent. PowerColor decided to roll out another Vortex Edition graphics card any time soon, this time it's the more popular high-end GPU, the Radeon HD 6950. In all likelihood, the PowerColor HD 6950 Vortex doesn't have anything new in terms of PCB design, it probably reuses the PCS+ PCB, but the innovations are held with the cooler.

The Vortex edition cooler uses two 80 mm fans, which are suspended on circular frames that are threaded and locked into the cooler shroud like screws. By twisting the fan frame, the user can adjust the distance between each fan and the heatsink below, thereby adjusting the fan's air-flow. If PowerColor's internal research (backed by thermal images) is to go by, the design helped increase cooling performance in case of the HD 5770 Vortex. Pulling the fan frames out comes at the expense of eating into clearance for the adjacent addon card, and that gives the user a level of control over the cooling performance. At this point, the clock speeds are not known. It's likely that PowerColor releases both 1GB and 2GB variants.

Even as AMD's Radeon HD HD 6450 ebbs and flows between paper-launch and market-launch, NVIDIA is ready with its competitor, launched by its AIC partners: the GeForce GT 520. The new GPU marks NVIDIA's current-generation entry to the very basic low-end discrete graphics card segment, which are intended to be integrated graphics replacement products. NVIDIA's GeForce GT 520 is based on the new 40 nm GF118 silicon, it packs 48 CUDA cores, and a 64-bit wide GDDR3 memory interface, while being compact enough to fit on low-profile single slot board designs, if it's backed by an active (fan) heatsink. It is possible that passive heatsinks take up two slots.

The core is clocked at 810 MHz, and CUDA cores at 1620 MHz. The memory is clocked at 900 MHz (actual, 1.8 GHz effective), churning out memory bandwidth of 14.4 GB/s. The card is designed to have three kinds of outputs which will be available on most partner designs: DVI, D-Sub (usually detachable), and full-size HDMI 1.4a, with HDMI audio. The card relies entirely on slot power. Its maximum power draw is rated at 29W. The GT 520 should take up entry-level price points around the US $50 mark.

SPARKLE Computer Co., Ltd., the professional VGA card manufacturer and supplier, today announced the SPARKLE GeForce GT 520 1GB/2GB DDR3 Low Profile Graphics Card, bringing DX11 support and HD video experience to entry level users. Modern DX11 games and 3D applications demand more graphics performance than ever before and integrated graphics simply aren't good enough. With full DirectX 11 and full Shader Model 5 support, the SPARKLE GeForce GT 520 1GB/2GB DDR3 Low Profile Graphics Card packs 48 CUDA cores ! If you want to play popular DX11 games like Dirt2, Metro 2033, Lost Planet2, Battlefield: Bad Company2, etc, the SPARKLE GeForce GT 520 1GB/2GB DDR3 Low Profile Graphics Card is an essential addition to your entry level PC.

PNY Technologies, Inc. ("PNY") today announced the NVIDIA Verto GeForce GT 520 1024MB graphics card. The new PNY GT 520 graphics card is the perfect mainstream upgrade to bring the latest technology to computers at a reasonable cost. Whether you're watching or editing HD video, enhancing photos, or gaming with support for DirectX 11, this latest PNY graphics card provides a solution for every graphics need. The on-board HDMI port allows for easy connectivity to any HDMI enabled computer monitor or television.

"This mainstream graphics card caters to a wide variety of consumers looking to upgrade their PCs to handle the now everyday tasks of living in a digital world," said Nicholas Mauro, senior marketing manager, PC components for PNY. "It's an ideal solution to enhance your overall computer visualization experience at an affordable cost."

NVIDIA today announced that it is making its industry-leading NVIDIA 3D Vision video player technology available for free to Web developers, enabling them to easily build websites for streaming high-quality 3D video to 3D Vision-equipped PCs.

NVIDIA is the first company to deliver a 3D video plug-in for the Microsoft Media Platform (MMP) Player Framework v2.5 (F.K.A. Silverlight Media Framework) with support for active-shutter 3D glasses. The plug-in is based on the same technology that powers NVIDIA's popular 3D Web community, 3DVision Live. The MPP Player Framework is open-source code that enables developers to quickly deploy robust, scalable, customizable media-player applications for the Web, based on Microsoft Silverlight and with full support for IIS Smooth Streaming and Microsoft PlayReady DRM.

Toshiba's Digital Products Division (DPD), a division of Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., today announced its new range of high-performance business laptops. Reengineered from the ground up with thin, light and highly-durable designs, the new Tecra and Portégé laptops redefine mobility for business professional offering full performance and long battery life ratings in three form factors as well as a standard three-year limited warranty.

"Our new business laptops build on the success of our award-winning Portégé R700 ultraportable laptop, providing professionals what they need and want - the performance needed to handle demanding business tasks in lightweight and durable designs," said Carl Pinto, vice president of product development, Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc., Digital Products Division. "We focused on delivering what our customers asked for by reducing weight, increasing battery life and without sacrificing performance."

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) today announced the first certified SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) chipsets. The A75 and A70M FCH chipsets from AMD represent a major milestone for broad SuperSpeed USB adoption among manufacturers, as built-in USB 3.0 support enables designers to seamlessly incorporate SuperSpeed USB into their systems. Certification of AMD A75 and A70M FCH chipsets provides assurance to manufacturers and consumers that the SuperSpeed USB chipsets are interoperable and comply with the USB 3.0 specification.

"The ramp of the SuperSpeed USB ecosystem has been unprecedented, and the first certified SuperSpeed USB chipsets from AMD are a momentous step in the industry," said Jeff Ravencraft, USB-IF President & COO. "SuperSpeed USB integration into the chipsets is a strong incentive for manufacturers to bring an even broader range of SuperSpeed USB solutions to the market."

Sharkoon expands their portfolio of internal removable frames for SATA drives. The two new models of the "Sharkoon SATA QuickPort Intern" series fit in a 5.25 inch PC bay, and offers a respective four or six installation bays for SATA hard drives and SSDs in a 2.5 inch format.

The storage medium can simply be removed and re-attached by use of the screwable mounting frame, the lockable front covers guard against unwanted access. Cooling is provided by the fan on the backside of the case. To connect the hard drive slots with the main board SATA ports each has an appropriate number of SATA cables. Power is supplied via a 4-pin power connector.

In its 25th anniversary year, Antec, Inc., the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, today announced the KÜHLER H2O 920 - Antec's new maximum-performance liquid CPU cooler.

Antec's KÜHLER H2O 920 offers a sealed liquid CPU cooling solution for PC hardware, overclockers and gaming enthusiasts world-wide, and was developed in conjunction with Asetek (www.asetek.com,) the industry-leading supplier of OEM liquid cooling systems for computers. An advancement of the popular KÜHLER H2O 620, several key upgrades of the KÜHLER H2O 920 enable it to deliver even greater CPU cooling performance in a quick, easy-to-install package that requires zero maintenance and is built to OEM standards for reliability.

Some time in the first half of 2012, Intel will release its next generation of desktop processors for the LGA1155 socket, based on the new Ivy Bridge silicon. Ivy Bridge is a 22 nanometer die-shrink of Sandy Bridge, with a few features added/improved. Ivy Bridge's smaller die size will allow for increased clock speeds and reduced production costs. A presentation was leaked to the press, which reveals quite a bit about the new chips. To begin with, Ivy Bridge processors are seamlessly compatible with existing LGA1155 platforms, and "Cougar Point" P67, H67, H61, Z68, chipsets, although it will come with its own 7-series chipset.

For the most part, Ivy Bridge is identical to Sandy Bridge, being an optical shrink from existing 32 nm to 22 nm. It will feature a new dual-channel DDR3 memory controller with official support for DRAM speeds of up to DDR3-1600 MHz. There's the usual PCI-Express 2.0 x16 hub that can drive up to two discrete graphics cards with electrical x8 connections. The integrated graphics controller will face an overhaul, it will be DirectX 11 compliant. It will also support the next version of Intel QuickSync GPU-accelerated video encoding technology. Turbo Boost 2.0 will be carried forward. TDP ranges in the usual 95/65/45/35W options.

Active Media Products, a world leading manufacturer of DOMs and small form factor SSDs, today announced eight new low-profile IDE DOMs for server, industrial and embedded computing applications in capacities from 8GB to 64GB.

AMP's new Type-3 and Type-4 IDE / PATA DOMs are both designed in a low-profile orientation to fit into very tight enclosures. Both types are available in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities. Type-3 models have an industry standard 40-pin female IDE connector, and Type-4 models have an industry standard 44-pin female IDE connector. These two new types give AMP a complete line of IDE DOMs.

Thermal Solutions specialist GELID Solutions adds a 28mm high 1U ultra slim CPU Cooler with high quality heatpipe and premium copper plate to its Silent product line. The "Slim Silence i-Plus" is especially designed to fit Intel most popular sockets such as 775/1156 and 1155. This petite cooler supports an incredibly CPU thermal design power (TDP) up to 82W with a good case ventilation.

With a compact heatsink design for Mini ITX, Micro ATX, ATX, HTPC, Panel PC, Car PC and 1U server the "Slim Silence i-Plus" is equipped with a high performance heatpipe, premium copper plate and a silent fan.

Matrox Graphics Inc. will be showcasing the Matrox Mura MPX Series display wall controllers for AV distributors, integrators, and professionals at InfoComm China, from April 13th-15th, 2011, in Amara International Limited booth H5-02. The ideal building block for collaborative video walls and wall matrix management, Mura MPX boards will be driving a twelve-monitor (3x4) display wall, while Matrox personnel will be leading in-booth tutorials on the benefits of integrating Extio KVM extenders and Matrox M-Series graphics cards into control room, digital signage, and other challenging multi-display deployments.

Matrox Mura MPX Series display wall controller boards combine traditionally separate input and output cards onto a single-slot, PCI Express x16 Gen 2 board, leveraging 64 Gb/sec full duplex data transfer to display full frame rate, HD video input captures. System integrators can easily add multiple MPX output/input boards within a single system and incorporate MPX video capture cards for high-volume, analog video input projects.

Club 3D B.V. is pleased to be the first to introduce the 2GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550Ti CoolStream OC Edition. This card supports DirectX 11, CUDA and Nvidia PhysX technologies to provide the best experience on your favorite games with up to 3x the performance of previous generations. With NVIDIA 3D Vision technology you can now use two Gefore GTX 550Ti CoolStream OC Edition cards in NVIDIA SLI configuration to project across three displays with NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround technology.

Intel Corporation today announced that the Intel Atom platform, formerly codenamed "Oak Trail," is now available and will be in devices starting in May and throughout 2011. Over 35 innovative tablet and hybrid designs from companies including Evolve III, Fujitsu Limited, Lenovo, Motion Computing, Razer, and Viliv are based on "Oak Trail" and running a variety of operating systems.

In addition, at the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing, the company will give a sneak peak of its next-generation, 32nm Intel Atom platform, currently codenamed "Cedar Trail." This solution will help to enable a new wave of fanless, cool and quiet, sleek and innovative netbooks, entry-level desktops and all-in-one designs.

Eurocom Corporation, a leading mobile technology developer has been testing performance levels of the optional VGA cards in the EUROCOM Racer notebook. The custom built EUROOM Racer supports eight high performance video cards.

The EUROCOM Racer supports high performance, high power VGA technologies up to a 100 Watts GPUs including NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M, AMD Radeon HD 6970M or NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800M equipped with 2GB of superfast DDR5 Video Memory.

Power supply units (PSUs) are perhaps the least understood components when buying or building a PC. Very often, buyers don't look beyond the output power rating, and connectors provided. Slightly more discerning buyers look for efficiency rating, but that's about it. TechPowerUp's new PSU reviewer crmaris wrote an expansive article about the workings of a PSU, its various components, to give you a much more informed idea about what to look for when buying a PSU.READ: A Detailed Look Into PSUs

Leading international graphics card and motherboard maker MSI adds to the global legend of its Hawk series with the new N560GTX-Ti Hawk graphics card. The all new N560GTX-Ti Hawk is equipped with the latest Twin Frozr III dual fan cooling design, featuring MSI's exclusive Propeller Blade technology that delivers 20% more airflow than conventional fans and reduces GPU temperature by up to a staggering 17 degrees. The 8+1 phase PWM design also doubles the power for GPU, which, combined with Triple Overvoltage technology, further improves the overclocking potential of the N560GTX-Ti Hawk. With its graphics card cooling, power, high overclocking potential and stability, the N560GTX-Ti Hawk stands out on top among the industry's GeForce GTX 560 Ti based graphics cards.

The GIGABYTE GA-6UASL Series of single socket motherboards for server offers the best platform to deliver the new world class performances available through Intel's brand new processor microarchitecture and chipset series.

Designed for small and medium business applications, the GIGABYTE GA-6UASL Series offers a multipurpose product perfect for applications such as web server, file & print server, e-mail server, storage server, and any type of vertical-specific business applications, but it is also absolutely suitable for high performance computing and embedded applications.

Here are some of the first pictures of AMD's new socket FM1. FM1 will be the platform for AMD's upcoming "Llano" A-Series accelerated processing units (APUs), in the desktop and notebook platforms. With it, AMD will compete with Intel's LGA1155/LGA1156 processors in consumer and business desktop markets that simply rely on the processor's embedded graphics. The Llano APU integrates a quad-core x86-64 processor with a DirectX 11 compliant AMD Radeon HD 6000 series graphics core (with 400+ stream processors, last we heard); a dual-channel DDR3 memory controller, and a PCI-Express 2.0 hub. FM1 is a pin-grid array, but its exact pin count isn't known. Purely by the looks of it, FM1 package looks smaller than AM3+. Clearly the version of CPU-Z used in the screenshot doesn't fully support the APU, but it does reveal some information. It's reading the quad-core chip as four single core processors with 1 MB L2 cache each. The processor is clocked at 2.4 GHz. Llano APUs are expected to make landfall in May/June.

MOSAID Technologies Inc. (TSX:MSD) today announced that it has initiated patent infringement litigation against NVIDIA Corporation, Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. and Interphase Corporation. The suit was filed on April 7, 2011 in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division.

In its complaint, MOSAID asserts that NVIDIA, Freescale and Interphase have infringed, and continue to infringe certain patents related primarily to power management techniques, and microprocessor architecture. The accused devices include graphics processors, application processors, microcontrollers, and system-on-chip devices. These microcomponents products are used in mobile, automotive, consumer and communications applications.

Delkin announces the fastest SD memory card built to Secure Digital format specifications, with transfer speeds up to 95MB/s read, 80MB/s write and an impressive 633X speed rating that more than triples previous Class 10 capabilities. The new card, dubbed Elite 633X for its superb performance, utilizes an Ultra High Speed Bus Interface to achieve unprecedented transfer speeds.

"With DSLRs shooting RAW in continuous bursts that exceed 10 frames per second and pro video cameras regularly shooting streaming HD and 3D video, imaging professionals need a card that won't slow them down," explains CEO Martin Wood. "The Elite 633 card is the first Secure Digital card that promises to keep up with the most advanced imaging equipment in the market."

Gaming peripherals expert Mionix is giving final touches to its latest offering to professional gamers, the Mionix Zibal 60 mechanical keyboard. The Zibal 60, we're hearing, is going to be a high-end mechanical keyboard designed for gamers. Unlike many mechanical keyboards that offer little more than the standard keyset, Zibal will offer backlit illumination for each key. Each key will be backed by a Black Cherry MX illuminated mechanical switches, which are known to provide good tactile feedback at low noise. Further, the keyboard will be plug and play, not needing additional driver software. Mechanical keyboards are favored to provide high durability and tactile feedback compared to common membrane type keyboards. For now there's just a sneak peak image of the business-end of the keyboard. The Mionix Zibal 60 mechanical keyboard will launch in six days from now.

TechPowerUp today releases the latest version of GPU-Z, our popular graphics subsystem information, diagnostic, and monitoring utility. Version 0.5.3 comes with a timely dose of support for new GPUs, and stability fixes. To begin with, GPU-Z now supports recently released GPUs such as AMD Radeon HD 6790, AMD FirePro V5800, NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M, GTX 540M, G315M, Quadro FX 600, FX 2800M, Quadro 4000; a trio of new voltage controllers are supported, including VT1556, uP6266, uP6218; and added capability to show sensors in TechPowerUp OSD Server (upcoming software). Several stability and reliability updates were also made.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.5.3

A list of changes follows.

The ASUS Xonar U3 is a portable, pocket-sized audio solution that delivers an upgraded audio experience for notebook users. Slightly larger than a standard USB flash drive, the U3 is designed for users looking to turn their notebooks into a personal high fidelity audio center complete with Dolby and GX2.5 support.

The onboard audio solution for most notebooks in the market offers just the bare minimum in sound quality and controls. The Xonar U3 with built-in headphone amplifier is the best solution for those users who use their notebooks as personal entertainment centers. Weighing only 25g and easily fitting in a pocket, the U3 enhances treble and bass while driving high fidelity headphones with impedance up to 150 ohms. Also built-in is Xonar exclusive hyper-grounding technology, which works like a watershed to separate audio signals from noise to provide clean and clear sound. Installation is easy and with multiple pre-set equalizer settings and modes for gaming, music, movies and headphone use, upgrading notebook sound is quick and simple.

ASUS has just launched the new BW-12D1S-U, the world's fastest external 3D Blu-ray writer. It enables an easy transition from DVD, the fastest and most reliable Blu-ray burning performance, and a unique artistic approach to optical media.

With burning speeds up to 12X via USB 3.0, Optical Tuning Strategy (OTS) technology for the best writing quality available and high definition 3D playback, the BW-12D1S-U further highlights the attention ASUS pays to design, arriving in a form inspired by diamond shapes. It also includes a unique blue power indicator for an artistic touch, and features a matching stand that allows for practical two-way horizontal and vertical placement to help users save space with increased versatility.

A possible miscommunication between AMD and its foundry or board partners saw some, if not all partners ship AMD Radeon HD 6790 graphics cards with more ROPs enabled than specified. The HD 6790 SKU is originally specified to have 16 of the 32 ROPs on the 40 nm Barts GPU enabled, however, batches of GPUs shipped have 24 out of 32 ROPs enabled. While not a bad thing for the user at all (since the GPU ends up with more geometry crunching power at its disposal), it has AMD red faced, as it disturbs the product lineup.

The issue surfaced when GPU-Z started reading ROP count of our samples as 24, even as AMD press deck and subsequently the product page on AMD website mentioned HD 6790 ROP count as 16. We initially dismissed it as a GPU-Z bug, but as it turns out, HD 6790 indeed has 24 ROPs enabled, if GPU-Z reads so. An ROP (raster operations processor) handles a key part of the GPU's geometry rendering. ROPs process final shader output pixels and put them into memory. 24 ROPs theoretically gives these few HD 6790 cards 50% higher geometry processing power. This isn't the first time AMD fumbled with specifications. Some of the first AMD Radeon HD 4830 graphics cards shipped with 80 stream processors less than specification; more recently, some initial Radeon HD 6850 samples had all 1120 stream processors of Barts enabled. They're supposed to have 960. AMD said that it is investigating into the matter, and could make an official statement soon.We have asked severals AIBs to test their production boards and they all have 24 ROPs so far.

Update: We have discussed this with AMD and it looks like this was our mistake and the cards really have 16 ROPs.

The register GPU-Z looks at to calculate the number of active ROPs indicates the number of disabled ROP units using set bits. For the case of HD 6790 two bits are set, which means two disabled units. The Barts GPU has a total of 32 ROPs in 8 units, which would leave us with 24 ROPs based on the register data: (8 [total ROPs] - 2 [disabled ROPs]) * 4 [pixels per clock per ROP] = 24.If you look at the architecture diagram above (look for the thick black box or the red box), you can see that the shader units of the GPU are split into two shader arrays and the ROPs (yellow squares next to "L2 cache") are independent from these. In reality the ROPs are located inside these shader arrays, too. As a result "two deactivated ROPs" really means "two deactivated ROPs per shader array". So the correct shader count is (4 [ROPs per shader array] - 2 [disabled ROPs per shader array]) * 2 [shader arrays] * 4 [pixels per clock per ROP] = 16 !

Thank you AMD for clearing this up.

Internationally renowned mainboard and graphics card manufacturer MSI officially announced its AMD AM3 mainboards and the corresponding BIOS versions with full compatibility with all AMD AM3+ multi-core processors. By upgrading the BIOS with a few simple steps, users can enjoy the powerful performance of AMD AM3+ multi-core processors without extra expenses. The brand new AMD AM3+ multi-core processors have more cores and larger L3 cache memory capacity. Also, the built-in 2nd generation Turbo Core technology also boosts the performance of the new AMD AM3+ multi-core processors. Along with the latest 32nm process which significantly enhances the electrical specifications, AMD AM3+ multi-core processors will absolutely be the next-generation indicator of performance.

In addition to upgrading all BIOS on the existing AM3 mainboards supporting AMD AM3+ multi-core processors before shipping to correspond to the upcoming AMD AM3+ processors, MSI will post the BIOS of corresponding mainboards with support for the new AMD AM3+ processors for consumers to upgrade their MSI AM3 mainboards in order to meet their demands for system upgrade and experiencing the powerful performance of the next-generation AMD processors.

Gigabyte unveiled its latest peripheral, the ECO600 wireless laser mouse. The ECO600 runs on two AA batteries, and can run for up to 12 months before needing a battery change. It connects to the USB nano receiver, over a 2.4 GHz wireless connection. It uses laser for tracking, with a adjustable resolutions of 800, 1200, and 1600 dpi, using a resolution switch. Optimized for right-handers, the mouse has two programmable (4th/5th) buttons at the thumb groove. The sides are rubberized to enhance grip. The mouse measures (L)124.5x(W)77.6x(H)41.8 mm, weighing 106 g without batteries. The feather-light receiver can slot into the mouse when not connected to a PC, to prevent misplacing it. Gigabyte didn't give out pricing details.

Eurocom Corporation, the leading mobile technology developer launches the AMD HD 6970M MXM 3.0b graphics module for embedded systems. The AMD HD 6970M graphics module is ideal for Eurocom embedded customers that require the absolute best in terms of graphical performance and processing. The module is also ideal for hardware designers developing small form factor PCs, embedded workstations and notebooks.

The industry standard MXM 3.0 specification for graphics subsystems allows for improved cooling capability, reduced power and height, enabling engineers to create smaller, more efficient embedded systems, reduce development time and costs and introduce new designs faster to market.

Stealth.com Inc. (Stealth Computer) a leading ISO 9001 manufacturer of industrial rugged computers and peripherals has released their most powerful and advanced mini pc yet, the LPC-670 LittlePC. The new Stealth LPC-670 small form factor PC offers tremendous power in a tiny package that measures 6.5" x 6" and less than 2" in height. The diminutive machine is about the size of a hard cover novel yet surpasses performance of computers many times its physical size.

"The Stealth Model: LPC-670 is the most powerful and advanced small form Little PC we have ever offered. This full featured machine utilizes the new Intel Core i7/i5/i3 mobile processor family and we believe it competes for the most processing power per square inch of any personal computer available today." stated Ed Boutilier President & CEO of Stealth.com Inc.

Enabling IT departments to better manage data-intensive environments through new security and reliability features and record-breaking performance, a new family of server processors that accelerate mission-critical computing have been announced by Intel Corporation.

The record-setting Intel Xeon processor E7-8800/4800/2800 product families build on Intel's previous generation of server processors to set a new standard for high-end computing applications, including business intelligence, real-time data analytics and virtualization. Strengthening the line of defense for data centers, the new processors also provide advanced security features that ensure greater data integrity.

If you think HIS is going to slow down after the launch of the World's Fastest HIS 6870 IceQ X Turbo X, you would be wrong. Today, Hightech Information System is delighted to announce the World's Fastest HD6950: HIS 6950 IceQ X Turbo X and his brothers, HIS 6950 IceQ X Turbo and HIS 6950 IceQ X standard version, to its IceQ X Family.

HD3D Stereoscopic Technology
HD3D technology transmits two separate images to each of your eyes at the same time at a resolution beyond 1080p. Supported with HD3D glasses, this technological innovation comes with Stereo 3D gaming, Blu-ray 3D, 3rd Party Stereo 3D middleware software and 6900 Series GPU support.

Asetek Inc., the world's leading supplier of liquid cooling technology for computers, today announced two new pump technologies that deliver optimized cooling and quieter computing. The new pumps use Liquid Temperature Fan Control technology to automatically adjust fan speeds at the radiator. This technology boosts cooling for significant CPU and GPU overclocking and keeps the computer quiet during less demanding tasks. The Antec KÜHLER H2O 620 liquid CPU cooler is the first product to feature Liquid Temperature Fan Control technology.

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced that it has developed a 4-gigabit DDR2 Mobile RAMTM that employs state-of-the-art 30nm process. This new Mobile RAM features a low operating voltage of 1.2V, achieves a 1066Mbps high-speed data transfer rate, and uses roughly 30% less operating current compared with stacking two of Elpida's 40nm 2-gigabit products. Through sophisticated circuit design and advanced process technology, this product achieves the world's smallest class in chip size for a 4-gigabit LPDDR2. In addition, it is an eco-friendly DRAM equipped with a low power feature that targets mobile devices such as smart phones and tablet PCs by contributing to extended operating times of battery-powered devices.

Currently, the rapidly expanding market for smart phones and tablet PCs is striving to expand the features of its operating systems. As a result, the ideal density of DRAMs is also rapidly on the rise, and there is an increasing need for high density DRAMs - 8-gigabit for high-end smart phones and 16-gigabit for high-end tablet PCs. At the same time, there is a strong demand for smaller, thinner, and lighter DRAM packages, and attention is being focused on advanced package technologies such as Package on Package (PoP) and Multi Chip Package (MCP).

AMD apparently unveiled its new entry-level GPU, the Radeon HD 6450 today, with some leading sites publishing mini performance reviews (check out Today's Reviews on the front page). The new GPU is intended to be an integrated graphics substitute, which gives desktops all the essential features that today's desktop environments demand, such as DirectX 11 support, Aero acceleration, various kinds of HD video hardware acceleration features, apart from the obvious benefit of discrete GPUs: not taxing the system memory as frame buffer.

The HD 6450 is based on the 40 nm Caicos GPU, it packs twice the amount of shader compute power as the previous generation, packing 160 VLIW5 stream processors, 8 TMUs, 4 ROPs, and a transistor count of 370 million. The 160 stream processors, with a core speed of 625~750 MHz (differs between AIBs), churn out compute power of up to 240 GFLOPs. It packs a 64-bit wide memory interface, that supports GDDR5 (clocks: 3.20 GHz to 3.60 GHz) and GDDR3 (1066 MHz to 1600 MHz). It has an idle board power of 9W, and max board power of 27W. Most implementations are low-profile single-slot, some even passive. The reference board features display outputs that include DVI, HDMI 1.4a, and D-Sub. Expect a $50~$60 price point. The official announcement however, is slated for April 19, or at least that's what we were told.Image Courtesy: TechReport

MVKTech released the latest stable version of NVIDIA BIOS Editor, also known as NiBiTor. The popular NVIDIA GeForce/Quadro BIOS file manipulation utility has been updated to version 6.02, and comes with added support for a large number of GPUs, particularly high-end mobile GPUs and mainstream desktop. This includes the recently released GTX 550 Ti, apart from GT 440, GT 330, GT 130, G 100, and Quadro Fermi 600. Mobile GPUs supported with this version include GTX 470M, GTS 425M, GTS 350M, and updated support for GTX 460M.

"With NiBiTor we provide graphics card enthusiasts or hardcore overclockers full control over some advanced features and functionality found on firmware of supported cards. And by doing so users can gain some extra performance, enable certain hidden features, tweak memory timings, access device related information, adapt bootup settings, change fan speed options and even get extra stability using their NVIDIA based graphics accelerators which will just give them that little extra value," commented the developer.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA BIOS Editor (NiBiTor) v6.02

Gaming peripherals expert Zowie Gear released a 'quicker' version of its G-TF gaming mousepad, the G-TF Speed, which is modified to give greater speed (gliding movements) at the expense of control, which suits certain kinds of gaming scenarios better. The G-TF Speed has a surface area of 440 x 320 mm, and is 2 mm thick. It is spill-resistant, has a rubber underside that provides a tractive-grip on the surface below, and features rolled edges. The Zowie Gear G-TF Speed should be available towards mid-2011.

Sharkoon presents two external SATA RAID cases in a stylish, black metal design, which allows multifunctional configuration possibilities for a fail-safe hard drive system. The Sharkoon 2-Bay RAID Box offers two lockable Hot Swap bays for 3.5 inch SATA hard drives, each with up to 3 Terabyte storage capacity. The inserted data medium can be operated in RAID level 0, 1 or JBOD. The desired mode can be selected through a switch on the case's front. Blue LEDs display operation, data transfer and the selected RAID mode. Cooling is ensured by the 70mm fan on the backside. For external connection, the 2-Bay RAID Box provides a USB3.0 interface. The case measures 215 x 130 x 120 mm (L x W x H) and weighs 1926 grams. An instruction manual, power cable, USB3.0 cable and two keys are provided within shipping.

ZOTAC International, a leading innovator and the world's largest channel manufacturer, today introduces the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 AMP2! Edition - its fastest single-GPU graphics card. The ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 AMP2! Edition is designed to amplify cooling performance and gaming at extreme high-definition resolutions.

A custom high-performance heat-pipe heatsink enables the ZOTAC GeForce GTX 580 AMP2! Edition to stay cool and whisper-quiet while dual orange 92mm fans add a stylish ZOTAC touch to create an enthusiast-grade graphics card that combines performance and style in a single 2.5-slot graphics card.

With the launch of Intel's new generation high performance Sandy Bridge platform, Team Group Inc. announces its two exquisitely designed over-clocking masterpieces, Xtreem LV DDR3 2133 9-11-9-27 and Xtreem LV DDR3 1600 6-8-8-24, targeting at overclockers who look for high performance. Designed with focus on their compatibilities with the Sandy Bridge platform, both Xtreem LV DDR3 2133 9-11-9-27 and Xtreem LV DDR3 1600 6-8-8-24 use specially selected original particles manufactured under new production process, and pass 24 hours of strict burn-in testing to bring to consumers an exceptional usage experience. In addition, Team Group's Xtreem series memory modules are all completely compatible with the Intel XMP technology, and superior in high-performance and low-timing to fully release the potential of every computer.

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, today announced the launch of its latest series of power supply for personal computers. The BN Series is targeted towards consumer and professional users who are looking for economical solutions in energy efficient power.

With 80 Plus Bronze certification, the BN series offer up to 85% efficiency, while the 95% Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) minimizes power loss. The series comes in four wattage models to meet a wide range of individual user needs, and all models meet both the European Energy Using Products Directive (EuP) and The American Energy Star 5.0 standard. The units run quietly and emit extremely low levels of interference.

If you're looking for superior performance and the ultimate multimedia experience-and who isn't?-look no further. The new MSI FX420 and FX620DX not only pack Intel second generation Core CPUs, both of these mean machines sport high-end discrete graphics cards to meet the needs of extreme gamers. The FX620DX, in particular, comes with the nVidia GeForce GT540M discrete graphics card and Intel Core i7 quad core processor for adrenaline-pumping speeds.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, notes that the 14-inch FX420 and the 15.6-inch FX620DX not only pack power, they come with cinema-grade THX TruStudio Pro wrap around sound and Cinema Pro image enhancing technology to give you the definitive audiovisual experience. What's more, MSI's design team cast aside standardized, non-user-friendly designs that characterize the exteriors of traditional high tech products and sheathed these high-performance laptops in its own raised totem seal coating and color film print, giving them class, while protecting them against scratching and wear.

MSI, the world-renowned graphics card and motherboard manufacturer, officially releases the latest R6790-2PM2D1GD5 graphics card based on AMD's next-generation Barts GPU core utilizing the 40 nm manufacturing process and 1GB GDDR5 memory. The R6790-2PM2D1GD5 is equipped with MSI's exclusive Afterburner overclocking software that supports GPU over-voltage, offering up to 25% more overclocking potential!

The MSI R6790-2PM2D1GD5 is equipped with stereoscopic 3D capability and has the ability to output video to four displays from a single card via AMD's Eyefinity technology. The heatpipes directly contact the GPU head spreader, and coupled with 9cm PWM fans this exclusive thermal design provides 50% more cooling efficiency when compare to reference design. An All-Solid Capacitor design ensures a long lifespan and stability under extreme operating conditions.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) today announced that it has enhanced its NAND flash portfolio with the introduction of SmartNAND, its next-generation 24-nanometer (nm) NAND flash product family. The SmartNAND series integrates leading-edge 24nm process NAND flash technology with a control chip that supports error correction code (ECC) and is available in densities ranging from 4 to 64 gigabyte (GB).

The new series is expressly designed to remove the burden of ECC from the host processor, while minimizing protocol changes. SmartNAND simplifies the host-side design and application of advanced NAND technology in a range of applications including portable media players, tablet PCs, digital TVs, set-top-boxes, and other devices that require high-density, non-volatile memory.

NVIDIA announced today the NVIDIA Quadro 400 graphics processing unit (GPU), a new professional graphics solution that puts the power of the GPU in the hands of designers and engineers. Built for use with professional applications, such as Autodesk AutoCAD, the NVIDIA Quadro 400 GPU provides up to 5X faster performance over high-end consumer gaming cards. It also gives up to 10X improvement when running industry leading CAD/CAM applications.

Priced at just $169, the Quadro 400 GPU also offers excellent power efficiency, consuming less than 35 watts, and its low-profile footprint means it offers the flexibility to fit into any workstation, including small form-factor systems.

Now-shipping to retailers worldwide: HighPoint RocketHybrid HBA's - delivering cost-effective, high-speed hybrid storage for gamers, media professionals and PC-enthusiasts. RocketHybrid HBA's are cutting-edge PCI-Express 2.0, SATA 6Gb's Host Adapters, powered by Marvell's revolutionary HyperDuo technology.

The performance benefits of SSD's over conventional HDD's are enticing to all, but their high cost of entry and low storage capacity keep many potential customers away. Hybrid storage resolves this dilemma - with RocketHybrid HBA's, you can combine inexpensive SATA hard disks with fast SSD's, into a high-performance and high-capacity storage solution. RocketHybrid HBA's remove the dollar-per-gigabyte barriers imposed by today's high-capacity SSD's.

Club 3D B.V. announces the introduction of the Radeon HD 6790 CoolStream Edition video card based on the Barts SE chipset, AMD' second generation DirectX 11. The new Club 3D Radeon HD 6790 1 GB GDDR5 video card features now the AMD HD3D technology which allows you to play your favorite games in full stereo 3D with a single video card (up to 6 monitors) and enjoy with EyeSpeed technology the latest 3D Blu-ray movies.

The new card comes equipped with CoolStream Cooling Technology to run your hottest titles without compromising performance. CoolStream features high performance heatpipes and a unique fan blade design to increase performance for your gaming and multimedia experience.

Viking Modular Solutions, a leading global provider and manufacturer of innovative DRAM technology and Solid State Drive solutions, today announced the release of its next generation SATADIMM. Viking Modular's SATADIMM provides the highest-capacity, highest-performance Solid State Drive (SSD) in the smallest form factor on the market today. Leveraging the form factor of DDR3 DIMMs and the non-volatile capabilities of SSDs, SATADIMM enables enterprise servers to take advantage of its innovative small footprint to drive significantly increased performance per server or "per U". Viking Modular will demonstrate the product's unique capabilities at Storage Networking World in Santa Clara, California, April 4-7, 2011, at Booth # 517.

Available in both 25mm and 18.75mm (VLP) heights in the industry standard 240-PIN DDR3 form factor, Viking Modular's SATADIMM has the same Bill of Materials (BOM) as a 2.5 inch SSD but with 75% less footprint, greatly enhancing the quantity of SSDs that can be supported within a 1U server. Utilizing the enterprise-class SATADIMM, 1U servers can produce 1.4M Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and up to 3x the capacity and overall performance levels compared to current industry standard servers deployed with traditional SSDs.

Seagate today announced the availability of its new GoFlex Slim portable hard drive -- a svelte, 9mm, 2.5-inch external drive designed for the latest trend of portable, thin, stylish laptops and netbooks. Initially showcased at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics show in January of this year, the new GoFlex Slim performance drive is now available on Seagate website, in-store and at select online retailers. A 320GB version of the GoFlex Slim drive can be purchased for a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $99.99 USD.

At an ultra-sleek 9mm-38 percent leaner than the current GoFlex ultra-portable drives-the new GoFlex Slim drive is roughly the width of a pencil. Sliding effortlessly into a pocket, purse or messenger bag, the GoFlex Slim portable drive enables transport, access and enjoyment of personal digital content from anywhere, making it the perfect complement to today's mobile lifestyle. Equipped with a 7200RPM drive and a USB3.0 interface to accelerate transfer speeds up to 10x faster than USB2.0, this attractive super-slim drive delivers quick access to large, multi-media files such as HD movies and video games. The faster drive speed takes full advantage of the included plug-and-play USB 3.0 interface, while still maintaining compatibility with USB 2.0 ports. The GoFlex Slim portable drive also allows for use between Windows and Mac computers, interchangeably, without formatting or performance loss. Additionally, the drive's included p remium backup software provides automatic and continuous backups and encrypts files and folders.

Nexus Technology introduces the SM-8000 Silent mouse. No more clicking noise. After several requests to introduce a bigger brother for the SM-7000 we now introduce you the SM-8000, a big 5 button silent mouse. The Nexus Silent Mouse SM-8000 is an advanced 2.4G wireless optical mouse, which connects to your PC, Mac or laptop with a super small nano receiver and has a total of 5 silent buttons. Beside the regular 3 buttons this mouse have two extra buttons on the side which makes it easy browsing forward and backward.

TODAY HIS veils HIS 6790 IceQ X 1GB GDDR5, loading with HIS performance-leading cooling technology and silent configuration, the new model designs for our most demanding gamers to experience a truly outstanding performance and spectacular image quality.

HIS 6790 IceQ X accelerates advanced PC gaming by running at 840MHz core clock and 4,200MHz memory clock. What's more? The new model equips with stunning array of advanced technologies, such as AMD Eyefinity technology, AMD's second-generation of DirectX 11-ready graphics, and AMD EyeSpeed technology. The combined configuration delivers dramatic visual and gaming experience, making it the ultimate solution for performance gamers.

Japanese peripherals company Green House announced its new PicoDrive F3 flash drive. It uses the USB 3.0 interface, and comes in capacities of 64 GB, 32 GB and 16 GB. The 64 and 32 GB variants offer transfer rates of 120 MB/s read and 80 MB/s write; while the 16 GB variant reads at 120 MB/s and writes at 45 MB/s. The drive measures 73.2 (W) x 19.75 (D) 9 (H) mm, weighing 13.5 g. Green House will start selling in Japan, where the 16, 32, and 64 GB variants will bear prices of roughly $71, $140 and $235, respectively.

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) and National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM) today announced they have signed a definitive agreement under which TI will acquire National for $25 per share in an all-cash transaction of about $6.5 billion. The acquisition combines two industry leaders in analog semiconductors, each with unique strengths in delivering products to improve performance and efficiency and convert real-world signals in electronic systems. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction.

"This acquisition is about strength and growth," said Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "National has an excellent development team, and its products combined with our own can offer customers an analog portfolio of unmatched depth and breadth. In recent years, National's management team has done an outstanding job of improving margins and streamlining expenses, which upon close will increase TI's profitability and earnings per share, excluding transaction costs. Our ability to accelerate National's growth with our much larger sales force is the foundation of our belief that we can produce strong returns on our investment. The combined sales team will be 10 times larger than National's is today, and the portfolio will be exposed to more customers in more markets."

Apacer is proud to announce the launch of the new AC230 USB 3.0 external HDD (hard disk drive). With read and write speed up to 92 MB and 85 MB per second, the newly unveiled AC230 is three times faster than USB 2.0 equivalent models, giving you a boost in performance while backing up all quantities of data and media files, without the hassle of waiting.

With the increasing popularity of high-resolution videos and digital photography, storage requirements for backing up, storing and sharing data can amount to hundreds of GBs. The same can be said about the outrageous expected wait times for handling such important tasks. The Apacer AC230 External HDD, however, exhibits a top data transfer rate of up to 92 MB/s for reading and 85 MB/s for writing, taking only 4 minutes to transfer a 20 GB high-resolution video.

SAPPHIRE Technology, the largest manufacturer and supplier worldwide of graphics solutions based on AMD technology has just announced a new graphics card delivering all the key features demanded by the latest games and applications - but at an exciting new price point.

The new SAPPHIRE HD 6790 shares many all the capabilities of the successful SAPPHIRE HD 6800 series, including multi-screen gaming with AMD Eyefinity, support for all the advanced graphical features of Microsoft DirectX 11 and delivering spectacular video clarity, speed and visual effects, including 3D stereoscopic displays.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphic cards, today announced an affordable full HD gaming video card: the PowerColor HD6790. Announced at a great price, the PowerColor HD6790 clocks in at 840MHz core speed and 1050MHz of memory speed, easily accelerating your PC with 1.34 TeraFLOPs of computing power, delivering an exciting gaming experience that won't break the bank.

The PowerColor HD6790 takes advantage of its unique cooling design, with 3 ultra large heat pipes and intensive heat sinks design, easily dissipating the heat through its upper 92mm cooling fan, cooling down the temperature efficiently in a low-noise environment.

AMD today launched its latest graphics card targeting the US $150 sweet-spot, the Radeon HD 6790. The new GPU is intended to make 1080p gaming accessible to even more gamers. It is based on the 40 nm "Barts" silicon (on which HD 6800 series is also based), and features 800 VLIW5 stream processors, 40 TMUs, 16 ROPs, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface holding 1 GB of memory. The core is clocked at 840 MHz, and memory at 1050 MHz (4.20 GHz effective).

The AMD Radeon HD 6790 might be rarely available in a reference design, rather, AMD's AIB partners are allowed to come up with their own board designs. The new GPU will be launched by various AIB partners, including Sapphire, HIS, XFX, PowerColor, VisionTek, Club3D, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ColorFire, etc. Target price is US $149.99.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced that it amended its Wafer Supply Agreement (WSA) with GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc. The primary purpose of the amendment was to revise the pricing methodology applicable to wafers delivered in 2011 for AMD's microprocessor and accelerated processing unit (APU) products. The amendment also modified AMD's existing commitments regarding future increases in production of certain graphics processing unit (GPU) and chipset products at GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

Under the amended agreement, GLOBALFOUNDRIES has committed to provide AMD with, and AMD has committed to purchase, a fixed number of 45nm and 32nm wafers per quarter in 2011. AMD will pay GLOBALFOUNDRIES fixed prices for 45nm wafers delivered in 2011. AMD's price for 32nm products will be based on good die.

TYAN, an industry-leading server platform manufacturer, and a subsidiary of MiTAC International Corp., announces new single-socket servers that support the Intel Xeon Processor E3-1200 series (codename: Sandy Bridge). The S5510 and S5512 motherboards are ideal as entry-level servers for both small business and enterprise server customers. For high-density datacenter applications such as web hosting, TYAN has launched the industry-leading FM65-B5511 Micro Server.

The FM65-B5511 supports up to 18 Intel Xeon processors in a 4U enclosure. The FM65-B5511 is based on the Micro Module Server Specification, which addresses the emerging server segment that features scale-out, single-processor nodes with higher density and lower power consumption for web services applications.

Buffalo Technology, a global leader in the design, development and manufacturing of wired and wireless networking and network and direct attached storage solutions, today announced the highly anticipated, revolutionary Buffalo CloudStor personal storage solution is now shipping. First revealed at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, CloudStor goes beyond simple storage, creating a portal to freely access and share photos, videos, music and much more with anyone, anywhere through the cloud. Unlike online storage services, CloudStor has no capacity or service fees. Just plug it in, turn it on and create your free account at mycloudstor.com. CloudStor comes with everything you need to get started. You just have to be free to share.

"Digital content consumption has moved beyond traditional channels along with how it is stored and accessed," said Ralph Spagnola, vice president of sales at Buffalo Technology. "Bringing CloudStor to market delivers on Buffalo's promise of simplifying data mobility, allowing you to access and share your content freely, with anyone, anywhere."

Hynix Semiconductor Inc. ('Hynix') today announced that it has developed 2Gb(Gigabit) DDR4 DRAM and DDR4 DRAM based 2GB(Gigabyte) ECC-SODIMM(Error Check & Correction Small Outline Dual In-line Memory Module) applying its leading 30nm class process technology. The DDR4 DRAM product meets the JEDEC standard and the module product is designed for the micro server.

DDR4 DRAM is a next generation memory product which consumes less electronic power while it transfers data as twice as faster than the existing DDR3 DRAM. The device works at the industry's fastest speed of 2400Mbps(Megabits per second), which is also 80% faster than DDR3 1333Mbps product. The Module product operates at such a low voltage of 1.2V and processes up to 19.2 GB (Gigabytes) of data per second with a 64-bit I/O.

Intel is preparing its next high-end/enthusiast desktop platform for release in Q4 2011. That platform will be driven by a new socket, the LGA2011, and the new Intel X79 Express chipset. Before that, Intel will give its 2-year old current enthusiast platform, the LGA1366 and X58 Express, a fitting farewell with a new high-end processor model, the Core i7-995X Extreme Edition. The i7-995X is a six-core processor based on the 32 nm "Gulftown" silicon. It features a default clock speed of 3.60 GHz (27 x 133 MHz), 3.86 GHz max Turbo, though the BClk multiplier is unlocked to help with overclocking.

The six x86-64 cores are aided by Intel HyperThreading technology to give the OS a total of 12 logical CPUs (threads) to deal with. The processor features a triple-channel (192-bit wide) DDR3 memory controller, and connects to the X58 chipset over a 6.4 GT/s QuickPath Interconnect link. Intel will launch its new chip some time in Q3 2011, i7-995X is expected to be priced at $999 (in 1000-unit tray quantities), displacing the current SKU at this price, the Core i7-990X Extreme Edition. For now, a lucky few (read: "industry partners") have access to engineering samples.

Dell introduced its very first Inspiron notebook based on the AMD Fusion platform, the Inspiron M102z. The 11.6-inch notebook is available in two variants based on the processor model, one with dual-core AMD C-50 1.00 GHz at US $699, and the other with dual-core AMD E-350 1.60 GHz at $799. The $699 variant features Radeon HD 6250 graphics, 2 GB of memory, 320 GB 7.2k RPM HDD, 56 Whr 6-cell battery, and connectivity that includes WiFi b/g/n, and Bluetooth 3.0.

The $799 variant packs Radeon HD 6310 graphics, 4 GB memory, and 500 GB 7.2k RPM HDD apart from other features of the $699 variant. Both models feature 1366x768 pixel WLED-backlit display, 1.3 MP webcam, 7-in-1 card reader, and 3W stereo speakers with SRS surround technology.

The new Logitech Wireless Mouse M325 is here, combining our world's best selling shape with new micro-precise technology that is specifically designed to improve your online navigation experience with a better mix of precision, comfort and control.

No matter how much time you spend at your computer, the Logitech Wireless Mouse M325 keeps your hand happy thanks to its feel-good shape and textured rubber grips. Optimized for web browsing, the micro-precise scroll wheel - with four times the number of ratchets as the average mouse - fits your style, and makes reading Facebook or reviewing Google searches even easier. Plus the tilted wheel gives you trouble-free backward or forward Web movement.

XFX is ready with its Radeon HD 6790, too. The XFX HD679XZDFC is a completely in-house designed HD 6790 implementation by XFX, including a custom PCB and cooler, which can also be found on its HD 6800 series models. Essentially, HD 6790's electricals on this particular board match those of the HD 6870. The PCB uses a 4+2 phase VRM for the Barts LE GPU, which packs 800 stream processors and 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface holding 1 GB of memory; power is drawn from two 6-pin power connectors.

Moving on to the cooler, it uses a large aluminum fin array to which heat is fed by three copper heat pipes that make direct contact with the GPU. It is ventilated by two 80 mm fans. Display outputs resemble those of the HD 6870, more than those of the HD 6850; there are two each of DVI and mini-DisplayPort 1.2, and one full-size HDMI 1.4a. The card can pair with another (probably any Barts-based card) for 2-way CrossFire. Expect it to be out on Thursday.

PowerColor seems to be in a hurry to release its Radeon HD 6790 graphics card (model: AX6790 1GBD5-DH), so much so that it's already listed on popular retailer Newegg.com for US $149.99. Powercolor's card sticks to stock frequencies of 840 MHz core, 4.20 GHz memory, and features 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. The HD 6790 is said to have 800 out of 1120 of stream processors on the 40 nm Barts GPU enabled.

PowerColor's card uses a more cost-effective cooler design than the one found on some of its Radeon HD 6800 series graphics cards. Display outputs include one each of DVI, full-size HDMI 1.4a, and mini DisplayPort 1.2. The card draws power from just one 6-pin PCI-E power connector. The HD 6790 will be officially released later this week on Thursday.Pictures Courtesy: Newegg.com

New and notable graphics card manufacturer from the east, ColorFire, is ready with its Radeon HD 6790 graphics card, the Colorful associate brand is starting with a non-reference design card like every other AIB. Despite making some necessary cost-cutting in terms of components, ColorFire didn't compromise on features such as dual-BIOS, hardware-based voltage control, and a powerful-looking cooler. Further, ColorFire's card needs just one 6-pin power connector, contradicting reports that HD 6790 needs two.

ColorFire implemented a 4+1 phase VRM using standard chokes and MOSFETs, but saw to it that at least high-grade Japan-made solid-state capacitors are put in place of POSCAP capacitors. The cooler uses an aluminum fin heatsink to which heat is fed by three heat pipes. In all likelihood, ColorFire will stick to its existing markets of Asia and Europe.

Chinese flash drive maker ORICO unveiled its UD3 series of USB 3.0 flash drives. These typically-sized flash drives is available in 16 GB and 32 GB capacities, and offer performance on par with portable SSDs. The 32 GB model is tested to offer close to 164 MB/s sequential read, 150 MB/s sequential writes in CrystalDiskMark, and 164/142 MB/s (read/write) in ATTO Disk Benchmark. It's likely that ORICO will stick to the Asian market for now.

GIGABYTE INC., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards today announced a new line of 16 "Black Socket" motherboards previously unveiled at CeBIT 2011 that offer support for AMD's next generation , 32nm AM3+ CPUs and are based on current generation AMD 800/700 series chipset-based motherboards.

Wanting to ensure users their motherboard is able to take advantage of all the performance enhancements that AMD's upcoming AM3+ CPUs have to offer, GIGABYTE has equipped their entire line of AM3+ CPU ready motherboards with a new black colored socket, making it easy to spot for AM3+ support. In addition, GIGABYTE "Black Socket" series offer full backwards compatibility with AMD's current generation AM3 socket CPUs, allowing for painless migration to the AM3+ CPUs when they become available. To learn more about the GIGBYTE AM3+ ready "Black Socket" motherboards, please visit this page.

A little later next week, AMD will unveil its new upper-mainstream SKU, the Radeon HD 6790. After pictures Sapphire's card, it's MSI's turn. The MSI R6790 looks to be making use of the same non-reference PCB MSI used on other Radeon HD 6800 series graphics card, with a similar single-fan VGA heatsink. MSI's cooler uses a long aluminum fin array to which heat is fed by three direct-touch copper heat pipes. The Radeon HD 6790 is based on the 40 nm Barts GPU, with 800 stream processor enabled, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. Display outputs include two each of DVI and mini-DisplayPort 1.2, and one full-size HDMI 1.4a.

Eurocom Corporation, the world's leading developer of highly personalized, high-performance notebook PCs and energy efficient All-in-Ones has been developing a dual CPU notebook solution for years. Eurocom technicians have been testing and verifying the systems performance and quality since the beginning of 2011 and now the system is ready for shipping.

The system is called the EUROCOM Phantom 4.0 and starts at $7999. The EUROCOM Phantom 4.0 can support up to two server class processors, 6 memory slots for 48 GB of RAM via 8 GB sticks, 6 storage drives with RAID 0/1/5/10/30. The Phantom 4.0 supports multiple operating systems (Microsoft Server 2003R2 x32 or x64, Server 2008R2 x64; VMware; Red Hat; LINUX; Solaris; Windows 7)and virtualization.

The award winning HAF Series of cases brought about the aesthetics of battle-hardened military vehicles. Its cases each offered the user an unprecedented amount of access to customizing their airflow and rearranging their internal system layout. Together, these features were realized for the first time within the HAF 932 and now they will begin again in the new HAF 932 Advanced.

The HAF 932 Advanced comes equipped with the very features that made the original HAF 932 world renowned. It notably included native liquid cooling support such as the ability to install a double or triple 120 millimeter radiator, a convenient coolant refill port, and liquid cooling grommets to easily route tubing to an externally mounted radiator.

Marking a major customer engagement with Intel, LucidLogix today announced that its Virtu GPU virtualization software will be integrated into various SKUs of Genuine Intel Desktop Boards based on the Intel H67 and Z68 chipsets. Virtu allows the systems to simultaneously take full advantage of both the low-power best-in-class media processing features of the 2nd generation Intel Core processor graphics and the 3D gaming performance of add-in cards with graphics processing units (GPU).

"Intel is the world leader in CPU technology and a globally trusted brand, therefore their choice of the Virtu solution is a testament to the quality performance and integration of the technology," said Offir Remez, president and founder of LucidLogix. "The best thing about this collaboration is that the end user is the real winner. Intel H67 and Z68 desktop board owners will enjoy both a media and a high end graphics platform that is more powerful than ever seen before."

Cubitek Co. Ltd., a Taiwan-based manufacturer of uniquely designed computer cases, today released their new mid-tower M4 and M4 Silencer computer chassis. Designed to look fantastic while silencing PC components, these cases can house the latest in hardware and come at a price-point that gamers, power-users, and enthusiasts can all afford. Both the M4 and M4 Silencer come with innovative features like a CD/DVD storage compartment, on the front-panel, and a Mini USB cable (plus a Micro USB adapter), on the top-panel, to connect devices like mobile phones and cameras for easy uploading, syncing, and internet tethering. The all-black powder-coating finish coupled with the unique front-panel design give Cubitek's M4 and M4 Silencer the look and feel of quality.

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage with solid quality, today announces its new Phoenix EVO SSD, utilizing the performance leading controller SandForce SF-1222 and high quality 2xnm NAND flash chips. The Phoenix EVO drive contains 115GB with rated speed of read/write 280/270 MB/sec, and will be available via G.Skill authorized distribution partners in early April.
Keeping pace with the flash manufacturers' transition from 3xnm to 2xnm, G.Skill has utilized 2xnm flash chips for its award winning SSD, Phoenix family. To ensure the best performance and reliability during the transition, G.Skill has teamed up closely with SandForce and has run G.Skill Phoenix EVO through a wide range of rigorous tests with the latest firmware. All Phoenix EVO drives only use strictly selected original flash chips from key suppliers to guarantee the top reliability and stability.

StarTech.com, the world's leading provider of hard-to-find connectivity parts has announced the introduction of the SATDOCKTOAST4, a dual use four port 3.5inch SATA dock and breakfast pastry toaster. Driven by the need for high speed transfer of large volumes of data, being able to have 4 SATA drives engaged in the dock at one time means users can now back up and move data like never before!

Additionally, with the drive connected to a USBp port, users can warm a wide variety of breakfast pastries such as pop tarts, toast, bagels and crumpets though the device is compatible with other types of legacy pastries as well.

Introducing MSI's ten new generation, big screen laptop computers. They include the 15.6-inch CX640 & CR640, GE620 & GR620, GT680 & GX680, and FX620DX & FR620 as well as the 17.3-inch FX720 & FR720. These high performance machines all pack Intel second generation Core i processors and are ideal for work or school. They also feature incredibly crisp, clear wrap around sound courtesy of THX TruStudio Pro, SRS, and Dynaudio Sound. These laptops are the answer for those who work hard and play hard.

Eric Kuo, associate vice president for global sales, MSI Notebook, notes that MSI is rolling out 10 new generation laptops, including the latest additions to the G gaming series, the powerful and sexy F Series, and the classic C multimedia series. They come with Intel's robust new second generation Core i processors and an internal display chip for superior resolution. Their incredible performance capabilities and mobility make them perfect work stations and, when you need a break, the expertly wrought wrap around sound offers outstanding multimedia entertainment.

Chieftec unveiled its latest creation, a line of high-wattage PSUs with 80 Plus Silver compliance, the Nitro 88+. Available in 650W, 750W, 850W, and 1000W models, these PSUs feature totally modular cabling, and single +12V rail design. The PSUs are compliant with ATX 12V 2.3 specification, and feature active power-factor correction (PFC). The unit is kept cool by a 140 mm PWM fan, and offers mean time before failure (MTBF) of 100,000 hours. The 650W, 750W, 850W and 1000W models are priced at €112.05, €120.61, €158.87 and €198.97, respectively, and available for pre-order.