The TechPowerUp HWBOT team, in partnership with Intel, is announcing the TechPowerUp HWBOT Competition 2013. Spread across three tests which anyone can participate in - 3DMark 2001, 3DMark 03, and SuperPi 32M, the competition gives you the chance to win some cool new gear, including a Core i7-4770K quad-core processor, an AMD CPU and motherboard combo, and a PayPal cash prize. The contest is open from November 1, 2013 to December 15, 2013.

For more information, visit this page.

If these performance numbers posted by credible reviewers at OCUK hold up, then AMD could have a second, more affordable graphics card for you, which outperforms NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 780, at least in synthetic benchmarks. In a brief performance run that spans synthetic tests, which included Unigine Heaven 3.0 at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, with normal level of tessellation; 3DMark 11 (performance preset) and 3DMark Fire Strike (both Normal and Extreme); the card we believe to be R9 290 (name blurred out in the graphs) is consistently faster than the GeForce GTX 780 reference, in the same bench.

Based on the same 28 nm "Hawaii" silicon as the Radeon R9 290X, the R9 290 is its more affordable sibling, featuring 2,560 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, and a 512-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, holding 4 GB of memory. It features clock speeds of 947 MHz (core), and 5.00 GHz (memory, GDDR5-effective). There's no word on pricing, but it could be available from the 31st of October, 2013.

The world's leading motherboard brand ASRock announced the winner list of FM2 A10 OC COMPETITION with HWBOT, sponsored by AMD, PowerColor, ADATA, and Thermaltake today. CherV, the overclocker from Hong Kong, broke the world record of CPU-Z once again and achieved the highest 3DMark11 Performance with ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+ and AMD A10-6800K CPU.

The final champion of CPU-Z and 3DMark11 Performance, CherV, achieved an all-time high CPU-Z score of 8520.22 MHz and highest 3DMark11 Performance score of P 3177 with ASRock FM2A88X Extreme6+. With the amazing result, the final champion won the prizes worth over $5,000 USD, bonus prize of $2,000 USD, and extra $2,000 USD for breaking world records in 2 overclocking benchmarks.

Futuremark announced 3DMark for Windows RT, the ARM-friendly variant of Windows popularized by the Surface RT, and Surface 2. The 3D graphics benchmark suite includes three tests based on the "Ice Storm" test scene, namely "Ice Storm," "Ice Storm Extreme," and "Ice Storm Unlimited." The "Ice Storm" test stresses DirectX 11 feature level 9 test. "Ice Storm Extreme" runs the same scene at 1080p resolution, and with added detail, such as higher resolution textures and post-processing. "Ice Storm Unlimited" is designed to stress all key components, including the CPU and GPU, display resolution scaling, and other OS-related factors.DOWNLOAD: 3DMark for Windows RT

ASUS has disclosed the details of the ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013 final which will be organized with support from Corsair. The AOOC 2013 final will be held in Moscow on October 5, 2013, as part of the Igromir 2013 expo to be hosted by the Crocus Expo Center from October 3 to 6, 2013. The ASUS booth will be located in Pavilion 1, Hall 1 of the Crocus Expo Center.

The ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013 final will be attended by the 13 overclocking teams from Europe and the CIS selected in the qualification round and by the winners of AOOC 2012. These are the best of the European overclocking scene, repeatedly placing in the top of HWBot.org with record-breaking results, so we can be sure that they can deliver their best in ASUS Open Overclocking Cup 2013 using components from ASUS Republic of Gamers and Corsair.

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.

During the week of Computex 2013, 6 overclocking records were shattered by professional overclockers with G.SKILL extreme performance DDR3 memory. Established in 1989 by computer hardware enthusiasts, G.SKILL is a leading memory & Solid State Drive manufacturer based in Taipei, Taiwan. The company's top priority is quality. All of the products undergo a series of the most rigorous tests and strict quality control processes. In addition to a committed, qualified IC testing house to examine the products, all G.SKILL products are 100% tested to ensure the highest yield, reliability and quality.

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.

Ahead of its April 24 launch, AMD board vendors has been distributing marketing materials to their retail partners. One such retailer in Japan revealed the flagship graphics card's specifications sheet, revealing details such as clock speeds and GPU core configuration.

To begin with, AMD isn't compromising much on clock speeds on the HD 7990 "Malta," in an effort to lower power draw. The card features GPU core clock speed of 1000 MHz, which puts it above the single-GPU Radeon HD 7970, but not much lower than the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, with its 1050 MHz. The memory is clocked at 6.00 GHz, on par with the HD 7970 GHz Edition, which yields a cumulative memory bandwidth of 576 GB/s.

EVGA and Vince "k|ngp|n" Lucido have once again dominated the 3DMark Fire Strike World Records with a brand new record for every 3DMark Fire Strike category; the newest and by far most demanding benchmark from Futuremark:

• #1 3DMark Fire Strike (SLI) = 22,054
• #1 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme (SLI) = 11,559
• #1 3DMark Fire Strike (Single Card) = 14,600
• #1 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme (Single Card) = 7,308

These records were obtained using the upcoming EVGA X79 Dark motherboard and two EVGA GeForce GTX TITAN cards in SLI. EVGA Precision X 4.0 was also used to overclock the graphics cards. See the full details at the Futuremark 3DMark Hall of Fame.

Here are the first pictures of Sapphire Radeon HD 7790 Dual-X, the company's premium offering based on AMD's new GPU. The card features Sapphire's in-house PCB and cooler designs, including an aluminium fin-stack heatsink ventilated by a pair of 80 mm fans, and a 21.5 cm long PCB. The card draws power from a single 6-pin PCIe power connector, its display outputs are similar to the HD 7850, with a pair of DVI connectors, HDMI, and DisplayPort. It can pair with another of its kind, only.

EVGA is giving away Advanced Edition licenses of the new 3DMark benchmark suite with all its performance thru high-end graphics cards; which includes GeForce GTX 660 series and above. With eligible EVGA graphics cards purchased on or after 4th March 2013, EVGA will include an unlock the Advanced Edition, which is tailored for most gamers and enthusiasts, letting you run all three test suites with custom settings, and view scores locally. Buyers who meet the criteria can log in with their EVGA account, register their EVGA graphics card, and redeem the offer from this page.

MSI, the world-leading manufacturer of Gaming motherboards, graphics-cards and All-in-Ones PCs storms CeBIT with a new line-up of Gaming products. Hardware enthusiasts and gamers will flock to MSI's new Z77 GAMING motherboards with their new distinctive looks. To complement MSI's new Gaming motherboards MSI will also display a new concept of graphics cards that match the striking looks of the new gaming motherboards. CeBIT 2013 will also be the first opportunity to touch MSI's new AG2712, world's first Gaming All-in-One. 2013 is an exciting year in the computer industry and MSI has reserved a spot in the driver's seat, as can be seen on CeBIT 2013.

Here it is, folks; the first pictures of NVIDIA's newest pixel crunching dreadnought, the GeForce GTX Titan. Pictures leaked by various sources east of the Greenwich Median reveal a reference board design that's similar in many ways to that of the GeForce GTX 690, thanks to the magnesium alloy cooler shroud, a clear acrylic window letting you peep into the aluminum fin stack, and a large lateral blower. The card features a glowy "GeForce GTX" logo much like the GTX 690, draws power from a combination of 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors, and features two SLI bridge fingers letting you pair four of them to run 3DMark Fire Strike as if it were a console port from last decade.

AMD rushed out a new beta version of its Catalyst driver suite, which addresses the issue of improper performance scaling on the new 3DMark, on CrossFire multi-GPU setups. The new Catalyst 13.2 Beta 5 adds a CrossFire profile for 3DMark v1.00 launched on Monday (04/02). Along the way, it also introduced a couple of performance improvements in some highly specific scenarios. For systems running Far Cry 3 at 2560 x 1600 pixels, with 8x AA, performance could go up by 10 percent. With a refined profile, the driver could dole out up to 40 percent higher performance in Crysis 3, on CrossFire setups.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 13.2 Beta 5

The world's leading brand in motherboard and graphics cards, MSI and the renowned system performance testing software company Futuremark, together release a new generation of 3D performance testing software 3DMark; the overclocking heat wave will again sweep the globe. MSI is the exclusive sponsor of the Fire Strike demo, the showpiece of the new 3DMark and a stunning demonstration of what high performance DirectX 11 gaming PCs can do.

MSI will bundle selected MSI graphics cards and motherboards with the 3DMark Advanced Edition during the coming winter season. To celebrate the launch of 3DMark and the bundle, MSI starts the 'MSI 3DMark Challenge', an overclocking competition based on MSI's top-overclocking motherboard MSI Z77 series.

Futuremark released the newest installment to its 3DMark franchise. It's the first 3DMark to lack a version name, making it a "reboot" of sorts. For starters, the new 3DMark is a collection of three independent benchmark suites, each with its own demos, game tests, physics tests, and combined tests, and scoring.

Among the three suits are "Ice Storm," designed for tablets, mobile devices, and entry-level desktops, which needs nothing more than a DirectX 9.0c GPU to get going; "Cloud Gate," for notebook and home desktops, which needs a DirectX 10 feature-level GPU; and "Fire Strike," an over-the-top suite designed for today's gaming desktops, which can make even the fastest graphics cards sweat (for example, our GTX 680 in the screenshots below). The physics tests of each of these can benefit from having multiple cores and advanced instruction sets. TechPowerUp is a premier launch partner, hosting downloads on behalf of Futuremark. Grab yours below.DOWNLOAD: 3DMark (2013)

Futuremark's next big installment of the 3DMark franchise is set for a February 4th release, according to the developer. The Windows PC version of the suite, which includes the Fire Strike DirectX 11 and Cloud Gate DirectX 10 game tests, in addition to various feature-tests, will be released on the 4th. The company did not give out release dates for its Android, iOS, and Windows RT versions. In the run up to its release, Futuremark kept enthusiasts interested by timely release of teaser images and videos of its two game tests, starting with Fire Strike in early December, and Cloud Gate, a couple of weeks later. The new 3DMark faced several delays, given that the first reveal of Fire Strike dates back to June 2012. Yet Futuremark is hopeful the new 3DMark will reach out to many more users thanks to its relaxed system requirements.

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.

If you're waiting for Futuremark's next big graphics benchmark app as eagerly as we are, we'll both have to put up with more teasers before its January 2013 launch. Here's one for the week. After posting pictures and a video of the hardware-intensive "Fire Strike" DirectX 11 game test two weeks ago, and following up last week with pictures of its more forgiving DirectX 10 game test titled "Cloud Gate," Futuremark posted its trailer this week. Unlike with Fire Strike, for which Futuremark urged viewers to watch the video at 1440p (2560 x 1440, original) resolution, Cloud Gate is recorded at 1080p (1920 x 1080), probably because variations of this test will be used in several other form-factors, such as notebooks and all-in-one desktops. Watch the teaser video after the break.

Leading mainboard and graphics card maker MSI and the world's best system benchmarking software developer Futuremark have partnered up to jointly announce the newest version of the 3D benchmarking program 3DMark. The new version of this 3D benchmarking utility supports Windows, Windows RT, Android and iOS platforms, and has an all new user interface that will provide enthusiasts with a rich and novel user experience.

The 3DMark series has long been acclaimed among gamers for its original visual design and wide range of special effects. 3DMark 11 in particular has been the No.1 choice for testing graphics card performance since it was released in 2010, and remains the benchmarking utility of choice for enthusiasts today. Due to the previous successful cooperation on 3DMark 11, MSI has partnered with Futuremark again to release the next generation of the world renowned 3DMark benchmarking utility.

Following last week's reveal of next-generation 3DMark game test "Fire Strike," which is designed to make even the fastest consumer graphics setups sweat, Futuremark revealed screenshots of its second game test, titled "Cloud Gate." Going with Futuremark's "one benchmark for all platforms" strategy, Cloud Gate is designed to test DirectX 10 hardware capabilities. It uses DirectX 11 engine that's limited to feature level10_0. The lighter game test will be able to put notebook GPUs and entry-level DirectX 11 desktop GPUs to test.

Cloud Gate will see Futuremark's artists going back to space-opera mode, something we missed in 3DMark 11. Screenshots reveal what appears to be a giant machine hovering over a moon, with its parent gas-giant in the background. Perhaps it's a terraforming machine? An ion-drive spacecraft scooping up fuel? The test appears to make use of several of D3D10's illumination and bloom effects. In related news, Futuremark told us that the new 3DMark won't make it to the markets this year, and instead it will be launched for Windows PC (x86) platform in January, 2013. The Android, iOS and Windows RT versions will launch after a little more beta testing and approvals from their respective app stores.More screenshots follow.

Kontron launched today the feature-packed, yet highly cost-efficient, embedded Flex-ATX motherboard KTA75/Flex based on the new AMD Embedded R-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) and the AMD A75 controller hub. It is designed for graphics intensive and highly parallel embedded computing applications and provides outstanding, long-term stability and reliability due to its sophisticated board layout with long-term stable solid capacitors and a high-quality selection of components.

With its integrated discrete-class AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series Graphics it delivers leading edge 3D/HD graphics and accelerated processing capabilities together with the ability to drive up to four displays simultaneously, either as independent displays, or as a single large surface. This makes the long-term available Kontron KTA75M/Flex an ideal solution for applications requiring high graphics and/or parallel computing performance in markets such as industrial automation, medical, and POS/POI, digital signage as well as gaming.

Futuremark announced that its upcoming version of 3DMark is undergoing its final stage of testing, and is polished enough to give the rest of us a glimpse of. The company released a trailer video, which was recorded at 2560 x 1440 pixels, and can be watched at that resolution. A couple of screenshots were also released. The screenshots and trailer revealing one of the upcoming 3DMark's game tests entitled "Fire Strike," which makes your GPU(s) crunch through tessellation, dynamic particle illumination and shadowing, smoke simulation using grid-based fluid dynamics, volume ray casting with shadows and a wide variety of post processing effects including depth of field, blooms, distortions and various lens effects.The trailer video follows.

Futuremark has announced that the next version of 3DMark, its popular benchmarking software, will offer cross platform testing capabilities on Windows, Windows RT, Android and iOS devices. With three all new tests Futuremark says 3DMark can be used with the full range of hardware from smartphones and tablets, to notebooks and home PCs, to the latest high-end, multi-GPU gaming desktops. Futuremark expects to launch the new 3DMark before the end of the year.

3DMark is well known in PC circles as the go-to benchmark for testing the latest Windows gaming PCs and video cards. Today Futuremark announced that the next version of 3DMark will also be available on Android, iOS and Windows RT devices. Futuremark says 3DMark scores will be directly comparable across platforms providing valuable insight into the performance differences between competing devices and operating systems.