Futuremark today announced that it is pulling the plug on its decade-old benchmark suites, 3DMark Vantage and PCMark Vantage. Official support for the two products will end on the 11th of April, 2017. This would entail the two being removed from the Downloads section of Futuremark, a stoppage in software updates, and the all-important benchmark result validation service. The two will be relegated to the "legacy benchmarks" section, and will be available as free downloads. Incidentally, April 11 also happens to be the day Microsoft stops support for Windows Vista.

G.SKILL International Co. Ltd., the leading high performance memory designer and manufacturer, is excited to announce this year's overclocking world record results at Computex 2014! During the week of Computex 2014, six world records were broken with G.SKILL memory! Established in 1989 by PC hardware enthusiasts, G.SKILL specializes in high performance memory and SSD products, designed for PC gamers and enthusiasts around the world. Combining technical innovation and rock solid quality through our in-house testing lab and talented R&D team, G.SKILL continues to create record-breaking memory for each generation of hardware and hold the no. 1 brand title in overclocking memory.

Eurocom has benchmarked the M4, the world's most powerful 13.3" QHD+ notebook. It is equipped with a breathtaking 3200x1800 QHD+ display, an Intel Core i7 Extreme Processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M graphics. Eurocom has benchmarked and stress tested the M4 to exemplify the performance that is squeezed into its ultra portable chassis. The 5,760,000 pixels of the 13.3" 3200x1800 QHD+ display are powered by the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M graphics with 2GB DDR5 VRAM, 640 CUDA Cores, with a GPU core able to run at up to 1029MHz +boost.

Powered by a full line of 4th Generation Intel Core i7 processors utilizing the Intel HM87 Express Chipset including the Intel Core i7-4940MX Processor Extreme with 4 cores and 8 threads running at 3.1 GHz (up to 4 GHz max turbo frequency) with 8 MB L3 cache. The integrated Trusted Platform Module 1.2 from Infineon Technologies ensures that digital certificates, passwords and keys are made more secure from software attacks and physical theft. TPM provides the ability for a computing system to run applications more secure and allows secured remote access to perform electronic transactions and communication more safely. The increased security, brought on by the TPM 1.2 can save organizations in IT management costs.

The EUROCOM X5 has been stress tested and benchmarked with an Intel Core i7-4930MX processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M graphics with extreme results. "Eurocom created the X5 gaming laptop so our gaming warrior clients could discover their dark side, the performance and design are unmatched" Mark Bialic, Eurocom President. The EUROCOM X5 will be equipped with high resolution 17.3" 1920x1080 IPS and 3D displays, upgradeable extreme processors, next generation NVIDIA GTX 700M graphics, multiple storage options (up to 5 physical drives) and up to 32 GB of DDR3-1600 memory.

Personalize your own Eurocom laptop weapon with a custom backlit keyboard, with 7 colours, 3 zones and 8 modes to dominate and stand out. To store the latest games and software the X5 can support up to 5 storage drives, with 2 mSATA solid state drives for fast boot up times and blazing responsiveness. The following 4th gen CPUs will be available: Intel Core i7-4930MX with 4 cores and 8 threads running at 3 GHz with 8 MB L3 cache, Intel Core i7-4900MQ, Intel Core i7-4800MQ and Intel Core i7-4700MQ.

PC enthusiast "Toppc" with the Coolaler.com, with access to a Core i7 "Ivy Bridge-E" sample clocked to match specifications of the Core i7-4960X, wasted no time in comparing the chip to a Core i7-3970X "Sandy Bridge-E." The two chips share a common socket LGA2011 design, and run on motherboards with Intel X79 Express chipset. An MSI X79A-GD45 Plus, with V17.1 BIOS was used to run the two chips. Among the tests Toppc put the chip through, are overclocker favorites SuperPi mod 1.6, CPU Mark '99, WPrime 1.63, Cinebench 11.5, 3DMark Vantage (CPU score), and 3DMark 06 (CPU score).

The Ivy Bridge-E chip outperformed its predecessor by roughly 5-10 percent across the board. In Cinebench, the i7-4960X scored 10.94 points in comparison to the i7-3970X' 10.16; SuperPi 32M was crunched by the i7-4960X in 9m 22.6s compared to the 9m 55.4s of the i7-3970X; CPU Mark scores between the two are 561 vs. 533, respectively; 3DMark Vantage CPU score being 38,644 points vs. 35,804, respectively; and 3DMark 06 scores 8,586 points vs. 8,099 points, respectively. In WPrime, the i7-4960X crunched 32M in 4.601s, compared to its predecessor's 5.01s. Below are the test screenshots, please note that they're high-resolution images, so please open each in a new tab.

GIGABYTE announced the U2442 Extreme Ultrabook GeForce GT 650M and GT 730M graphics options. The U2442 is exceptionally designed with an elegant shuttle streamline design in a sleek form factor between 18.5 - 21mm and weighs in at just 1.59kg/1.69kg. Designed to bring you ultra-performance, it is powered by 3rd generation Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce GT 730M / GT 650M discrete graphics. The U2442 Ultrabook is able to pack a 256GB mSATA SSD and a large 750GB/1TB HDD into its super slim body. The dual-storage system provides the user with speed and massive storage options. Do away with external storage with the Extreme Ultrabook.

AMD posted its first major release of the Catalyst software suite for this year, Catalyst 13.1 WHQL. Much along the lines of its 12.11 "Never Settle" driver, the new 13.1 WHQL brings performance enhancements for a boatload of games, targeting Radeon HD 7000 series GPUs based on the Graphics CoreNext (GCN) architecture. We know that AMD is yet to unlock the full potential of GCN, and 13.1 WHQL appears to be a step in that direction. In addition to performance enhancements and fixes, AMD introduced a new 3D settings and profile management user interface within Catalyst Control Center (CCC).

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 13.1 WHQL for Windows 8/7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 8/7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

A slice of the change-log follows.

Global leading motherboard brand ASRock announced today to organize ASRock FM2 OC Competition with HWBOT, the top organization hosting the world's only 24/7 overclocking competition to bring together 35,000 participants and feature competitions in thousands of categories. The participants will be competing for the highest CPU-Z or 3DMark Vantage score which is submitted to HWBOT.org.

The contest, sponsored by several prestigious brands including AMD, Kingston and Cooler Master, starts from January 7 and runs until February 4. It is opened to all overclockers with ASRock brand motherboards and AMD Socket FM2 CPUs. The total prize is worth up to 6,740 dollars and the final champions of the CPU-Z and 3DMark Vantage event will be awarded with a top prize worth of 2,170 dollars respectively. The grand prize makes it one of the most eye-catching online OC competitions on FM2 platforms, which is estimated to attract enthusiastic overclockers worldwide.

MSI's FM2-A85XA-G65 breaks world records again! Featuring MSI's new DigitALL power design with Military Class III components, the FM2-A85XA-G65 reached an astounding 2844MHz memory frequency and 170.5MHz BCLK with an AMD A10-5800K processor. The combination of MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 and AMD A10-5800K scores over 10000 Marks in 3DMark Vantage P mode. It shows that MSI FM2 series has great overclocking potential and brings better gaming experience to users.

AMD's new A10-5800K Trinity APU is a powerful solution that combines excellent CPU performance with unprecedented integrated GPU performance. MSI's FM2-A85XA-G65 is the excellent companion for AMD's latest series of APUs as it combines great performance features with a keen eye on power consumption. With the push of a button, OC Genie II will boost your APU and GPU performance. Graphics performance is boosted with both AMD CrossFire and Dual Graphics.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announces its latest overclocking competition, the 'GIGABYTE Winter OC Whiteout', an open overclocking competition hosted at HWBOT. The 'GIGABYTE Winter OC Whiteout' also features a special bonus prize for the snowiest and most festive submission photo.

The 'GIGABYTE Winter OC Whiteout' starts today, running until January 20th 2013 and is open to all overclockers using any Intel processor on any compatible GIGABYTE motherboard. The competition centers around three key stages, each containing a 3D benchmark with specific limitations imposed to level the playing field. A GIGABYTE Z77X-UD4H motherboard plus, a Cooler Master Seidon 120M liquid cooler will be awarded for the winner of each stage.

ECS, the world's top motherboard maker, now announce its "ECS Trinity Challenge" Online OC Competition with FM1/FM2 platform motherboards on HWBOT. Meanwhile, ECS is proud to announce its second cooperation with HWBOT for online OC competition globally. ECS would like to take this chance to introduce a series of new FM2-based motherboard to enthusiast community through this competition.

The competition starts from November 1st, runs until November 30th. There are two competition stages for overclockers. First stage- AMD FM1 platform: It is open to all overclockers with ECS brand motherboards only and the benchmark is: 3DMark06. Second competition stages- AMD FM2 platform: It is open to all overclockers with all brands of motherboards in the market, and the benchmark is: 3DMark Vantage. HWBOT general benchmark validation rules apply to both stages.

Using ASUS' very own F2A85-V PRO and AMD's latest A-series APU, ASUS set a new record of 10297 marks in 3DMark Vantage Performance for APUs. ASUS is committed in providing only the best quality and performance motherboard for AMD new A-series APUs.

The ASUS F2A85-V PRO coupled with the AMD A10-5800K APU set a new record of 10297 marks in 3DMark Vantage Performance[1], cooled by liquid nitrogen and aided by 2 DIMMS of memory running stably at a speed of 2720MHz. Even under air cooling, it still achieved a commendable 8070 marks[2], further cementing ASUS FM2 motherboards capabilities in performing well under a wide variety of environments. The new overclocking record in benchmarks such as 3DMark Vantage indicate that ASUS FM2 Series motherboards deliver customers long-lasting stability, reliability and performance as part of the ASUS commitment to the highest quality possible.

HWBot.org Test lab put the A10-5800K APU through its paces by overclocking its CPU component to 5.242 GHz (124.8 MHz x42 @1.644V), and its Radeon HD 7660D GPU component to 1.58 GHz (up from 1.275 GHz), to yield a 3DMark Vantage score of P10002 (performance preset), a level of performance unheard of for integrated graphics. The feat was made possible by picking the best of three A10-5800K chips cooled by Der8auer Fusion rev3 CPU pot, a Gigabyte FM2A85X-UP4 motherboard, G.SKILL RipjawsZ F3-19200CL9Q-16GBZMD 2x 4 GB memory, Corsair AX1200i PSU, and Windows 7 OS. Find more details in the source link below.

Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Counter-Strike, Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team Fortress) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced the first Software titles have launched via Steam, marking a major expansion to the platform known as a leading destination for PC and Mac games.

The Software titles now available via Steam are:

• ArtRage Studio Pro
• CameraBag 2
• GameMaker: Studio
• 3D-Coat
• 3DMark Vantage
• 3DMark 11

Eurocom Corporation, a developer of long lifespan, fully upgradable Notebooks and Mobile Workstations has been testing the AMD Radeon HD 7970M in its new line of 3rd Generation Intel Core i7 (Ivy Bridge) powered notebooks. Eurocom technicians achieved a score of P22111 in 3DMark Vantage in the EUROCOM Racer and a score of P5848 in 3DMark 11.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970M is currently the highest performing mobile GPU by AMD, giving Eurocom customers a superior choice of video processor options to configure into their new Eurocom system or upgrade into their existing system. The addition of the AMD Radeon 7970M GPU offers customers a greater selection of video processor options to fit any preference or performance level

Even as NVIDIA is inching towards the launch of its next-generation GeForce GTX 670 Ti, it is rushing out the GeForce GTX 560 SE to stem loss in competitiveness to the Radeon HD 7770. Galaxy is readying a compact, cost-effective graphics card based on the new GPU, which is pictured below. Based on the 40 nm GF114 GPU (variant: GF114-200-KB-A1), the GTX 560 SE features 288 CUDA cores, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and a 192-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 1 GB [(4x 1 Gbit)+(2x 2 Gbit)] of GDDR5 memory.

Galaxy's card uses a short PCB, its VRM area has been pushed to the front of the card, consisting of a 4+1 phase design. It draws power from two 6-pin power connectors. The card is cooled by a compact aluminum-fin heatsink to which heat is conveyed by copper heat pipes, and ventilated by a big (80 mm) fan. Chinese site QK123 put the card through a few synthetic benchmarks, measured power-draw, and OC performance. The GPU-Z screenshot reveals its reference speed.Benchmarks follow.

In its latest round of pre-launch testing of the Radeon HD 7950, DonanimHaber overclocked the GPU to match the clock speeds of the HD 7970, that's 925 MHz core, 1375 MHz (5.50 GHz effective) memory, from its reference clock speed of 800 MHz core, 1250 MHz (5.00 GHz effective), and pitted it against a Radeon HD 7970 reference and GeForce GTX 580 reference. Tests included 3DMark 11 Extreme Preset, and 3DMark Vantage Performance. At the outset these figures establish the HD 7950 to be faster than GTX 580 in the two tests. When overclocked to match the clock speeds of the HD 7970, the HD 7950 on average is 4% slower than it. In related news, DonanimHaber reports that AMD could also be working on affordable variants of the HD 7950 that come with 1536 MB of memory, on the same 384-bit GDDR5 memory interface. That would probably depend on how NVIDIA's lineup stacks up against it.

While its processor-integrated graphics solutions may not be a match for those from NVIDIA and AMD in terms of client applications such as gaming, Intel thinks it has a shot at the entry-level workstation graphics segment, dominated by the likes of NVIDIA Quadro FX 580 and AMD FirePro V3800 series. Workstation GPUs differ from consumer ones as they are accompanied by more API features, are certified by professional 3D modelling software, and are designed to minimize rendering errors since these renders go on to take shape as millions of dollars worth skyscrapers, for example.

Intel thinks that after the performance success of SNA, it has achieved an acceptable level of performance with its integrated graphics design to take it professional. It is doing so by creating workstation-variants of the "Sandy Bridge" and future "Ivy Bridge" silicons in the Xeon E3-1200 series, and giving their integrated graphics increased functionality. The result is a variant of Intel's HD graphics 3000 series, called Intel HD Graphics P3000 series (P denoting professional). Intel is applying for certification by 3D modeling software developers (it's important, because engineers look for these certifications before picking their hardware). The status of its certification with various vendors is detailed in the first slide below.

So you thought the 1.26 GHz core - 6.30 GHz memory feat was quite something, considering that Sapphire already has a card in the works that does 1.33 GHz core 5.73 GHz memory out of the box? Wait till you see the numbers an overclocker for the MyDrivers community achieved. With the right voltage assistance, coupled with the right kind of cooling (liquid nitrogen), the overclocker achieved a Radeon HD 7970 overclocked speed as high as 1700 MHz core, and 2000 MHz (actual) or 8.00 GHz effective GDDR5 memory speed, churning out memory bandwidth of exactly 384 GB/s. The best part is that this wasn't a hit-and-run feat, the setup was able to run 3DMark 11 and 3DMark Vantage. The scores are pictured below. Details of the volt-mod can be found at the source.

Previous preliminary reports have suggested that the forthcoming Ivy Bridge CPUs will have single threaded performance on par with the existing Sandy Bridge CPUs and will mainly deliver improvements to power consumption and integrated graphics - nothing for PC enthusiasts to get excited about. However, in leaked documents sent to partners, Intel have now revealed official performance figures for IB and they look rather good. They've produced a raft of benchmarks, which reveal improvements such as 56% in ArcSoft Media Expresso, 25% in Excel 2010 and a 199% gain in the 3D Mark Vantage GPU benchmark. Unfortunately, they haven't released any benchmarks based on high performance 3D games, but it's probably safe to say that they will be similarly improved. Now, on to the benchmarks, which compare their new 3.4 GHz i7-3770 (4 cores + HT) with the current 3.4 GHz i7-2600, also with 4 cores + HT:

"Trinity" is the codename of AMD's next-generation performance accelerated processing unit (APU) family. Based on the new socket FM2 package, these chips will take advantage of AMD's next-generation Piledriver processor core architecture and VLIW4 GPU stream processor architecture. Together, Trinity promises increased general, visual, and parallel compute performance. Some of the slides detailing AMD's own performance estimates were put up by DonanimHaber in their recent video bulletin. We screen-grabbed the performance graphs from the low-resolution video, hence the grainy images.

To begin with, AMD is promising noticeable performance improvements over the current "Llano" APU. It spread its benchmarks across three categories: visual performance (using 3DMark Vantage), general performance (using PCMark Vantage), and parallel compute (GPGPU) performance (calculated CTP SP GFLOPs). With 3DMark Vantage, Trinity A8 (quad-core), A6 (triple-core), and A4 (dual-core) APUs are seeing a roughly 32% improvement over their respective Llano-based counterparts; with general performance, the improvement is a candid 13.8% on average; but with GPGPU performance, the improvement is a massive 56.3% on average. This could be attributed to the VLIW4 architecture. Lastly, there are notable CrossFire dual-graphics performance improvements.

Leading global graphics card and motherboard brand and manufacturer MSI officially announced the Z68MA-G43 (G3) motherboard today. The new motherboard will be the first in the industry to adopt the next-generation PCI Express Gen 3 high-speed data transfer standard to deliver unprecedented levels of performance with a staggering 32GB/s of bandwidth. The motherboard will also feature MSI's proprietary ClickBIOS II that will allow enthusiasts to use the mouse or even touch control panel to adjust the system and overclocking settings through UEFI BIOS or Windows applications.

In addition, OC Genie II is included and can be used to optimize the CPU, memory, integrated graphics card, and storage devices for maximum stability and performance in just one second. When combined with Intel Smart Response Technology the performance of conventional HDDs can be increased by as much as 457%. With support for all solid capacitors, USB 3.0, SATA 6G, HDMI / DVI / D-Sub video-out, and multiple CrossFireX graphics cards, the new motherboard meets enthusiasts' demands for system stability, expandability, and extreme game graphics.

The world-renowned motherboard and video card manufacturer MSI has officially announced the all-new AMD Llano series motherboard - A75A-G55 today. In addition to continuing the motherboard advantages of the first model A75MA-G55 and scoring P1646 points for 3DMark 11's built-in display performance record, it also displayed MSI's superb R&D strength, crossing the OC Genie II technology onto the AMD Llano platform. There are no complicated settings, and it only requires one button (step) and one second to easily boost the system's overall performance by 110%.

It is the simplest and easiest overclocking tool whether it's for beginners or advanced computer enthusiasts. In addition, different from the AMD Dual Graphics technology used by other manufacturers, the MSI A75A-G55 motherboard can even work with MSI's video card overclocking software, Afterburner, to increase performance. The overall 3D operation performance can be increased to a maximum of 390%, again showing the outstanding features and multiplied effects of MSI's motherboard and video cards.

MSI is unveiling its new generation top-of-the-line GT683DX gaming computer, featuring the ultimate in performance and hardware. It packs Intel's second generation Core i7-2630QM quad core processor, nVidia's latest and greatest GeForce GTX 570M discrete graphics card, four DDR3 memory slots, accelerated dual hard disk architecture, as well as Dynaudio and THX TruStudio Pro smart wrap around sound. Taipei-MSI just introduced the GT683DX gaming laptop with powerful hardware, including Intel's 2nd generation Core i7-2630QM quad core processor and nVidia's newest GeForce GTX 570M discrete graphics card (1.5GB GDDR5 display memory), representing a 20% improvement in performance over other discrete graphics cards currently on the market to deliver hiccup-free graphics even when you play the latest high-resolution games. It received a record 12,475 points when it was tested in the performance mode on 3DMark Vantage.

MSI, the world-renowned mainboard and graphics card manufacturer, officially launches the Z68A-GD80 (G3), featuring world's first large bandwidth PCI Express Gen 3 mainboard, and the latest UEFI technology: Click BIOS II which features a homogenous interface both under Windows and the UEFI interface. Conforming to Intel's latest design standard, the MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) with PCI Express Gen 3 provides a data transfer rate that is 200% faster than PCI Express Gen 2, enhancing the performance of graphics cards without bandwidth limitations.

Click BIOS II, allows simple and intuitive system adjustments in both Windows and the UEFI interface! In addition, Z68A-GD80 (G3) utilizes MIL-810STD Certified Military Class II components and are equipped with OC Genie II technology which increases the performance of hard drive up to 457%. The MSI Z68A-GD80 (G3) enables next generation superior performance with PCI Express Gen 3 and OC Genie II, ultimate stability with certified Military Class II components and an extreme user-friendly Click BIOS II interface both in Windows and in the UEFI BIOS.