Here is the first x-ray drawing of NVIDIA's GeForce Kepler 104 (GK104) reference board, outlining the VRM area. The GPU and memory areas are blanked out for some very obvious reasons. Nevertheless, there's plenty of fascinating stuff going on in these pictures. To begin with, the picture confirms that the board will have 5 NVVDD phases, and up to three miscellaneous power domains. The PCB has provisions for two 6-pin and one 8-pin connector.

The funny part here is a strange new plug that has two 6-pin (or 8-pin+6-pin) stacked, while one of the two 6-pin connector leads are blanked. Some of our sources also report having seen a similar connector with 8-pin and 6-pin on samples of this card (refer to the last picture below). It's not just this, that makes the card incapable of single-slot operation, the DVI connectors over at the display IO also are stacked like on previous-generation AMD Radeon cards. Other connectors on the card are HDMI and DisplayPort. There are two SLI bridge connectors, giving it 3-way and 4-way SLI support.

ORIGIN PC starts off 2012 with three major announcements. The award-winning GENESIS desktop has been overclocked to a record 5.7GHz with the exclusive new ORIGIN PC Phase Change cooling system. The Phase Change cooling system will be available in late Q1. ORIGIN PC launches free U.S. based lifetime 24/7 technical support on all desktops and laptops starting today. The award winning EON17-S and EON15-S laptops both receive an upgrade with the new exclusive ORIGIN PC design.

In its 20th year of service, Cooler Master, an industry leading chassis, thermal solution, power supply, peripheral, and accessory manufacturer, today announced the successor to a world renowned chassis line, the Cosmos II. Incomparable in design and specifications, the Cosmos II comes in as among the first of its type. It is an Ultra Tower; a benchmark for all enclosures that exist and all that follow.

Inspired by luxurious supercars, the exterior of the Cosmos II melds aluminum, steel, and mesh into an elegant artistic piece. It utilizes a high-grade aluminum for its primary construction and form. This is supplemented by steel and mesh to add to strength, stability, and overall appeal. It maintains its trademark Cosmos profile and outlook with its reinforced aluminum rails while being further refined for today's advancements in air/water cooling, peripheral support, and styling. Following the supercar feel, the large aluminum side panels swing wide open with a small press of a button. Aluminum sliding doors adorn the well equipped fan and LED control and I/O ports function panel on the top of the case along with the front drive bays. These serve to obscure unsightly cabling and protect drive bays and devices.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced the launch of their latest X79 series enthusiast motherboard range. Supporting the latest 2nd Generation Intel Core i7 processor family for high-end desktops, these new X79 Express Chipset motherboards unite unrivalled desktop PC performance with a new level of hardware flexibility and control. GIGABYTE 3D Power and its all new 3-way Digital Power Engine offers ultimate control of your PC's power delivery, while GIGABYTE 3D BIOS provides a wholly more intuitive and graphical UEFI BIOS environment.

"This new GIGABYTE X79 series range of boards are all about giving enthusiasts and professionals unprecedented control over their PC's hardware," commented Tim Handley, Deputy Director of Motherboard Marketing at GIGABYTE. "GIGABYTE 3D Power and 3D BIOS give hardcore gamers, extreme overclockers and cutting-edge content creators absolute mastery over every aspect of their PC."

EVGA released a teaser picture of its X79 FTW motherboard. This is EVGA's third LGA2011 motherboard, after the E-ATX Super Record 3 and XL-ATX X79 Classified. This board confines itself to the dimensions of a standard ATX form-factor motherboard (240 x 300 mm). It targets the gamer-overclocker market. The LGA2011 socket is powered by a 14-phase VRM, while the memory, 4-phase. EVGA completely did away with cylindrical conductive polymer capacitors, and used a 100% POSCAP capacitor design. Power is drawn in from a 24-pin ATX (angled) connector, 8-pin EPS, and a 4-pin Molex (for PCIe slot electrical stability). There are just four DDR3 DIMM slots, one per memory channel.

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (two are x16 capable, all four are x8 capable), a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8), and one PCIe x1. NVIDIA 4-way SLI and AMD CrossFireX are supported. The only internal SATA ports on this board are the ones the X79 PCH gives out, two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s. There are two eSATA ports, driven by a third-party controller. There are as many as eight USB 3.0 ports on the rear-panel, and two via internal header. 8+2 channel HD audio, two GbE connections, a Bluetooth connection, and PCH-wired USB 2.0 ports (for keyboard/mouse) make for the rest of the standard connectors. There is an EVBot header on the rear-panel, that lets you connect to the EVBot monitoring/control module. The UEFI BIOS is stored in two separate EEPROMs, and a 2-way switch lets you manually switch between the two. Expect the X79 FTW to be a part of the company's first wave of LGA2011 motherboards.

Just as its detractors thought they were done with it, and just as people started to think that attrition among some of its "popular" designers cost EVGA dearly, the company hit back with teaser pictures of the Super Record 3 or SR3, it promised back in June, it would deliver to the enthusiast community. And yes, it matches its description! The SR3 is a dual socket LGA2011 2P enthusiast desktop/workstation motherboard in the E-ATX form factor. Socket 0 is wired to eight DDR3 DIMM slots (two DIMMs/channel), while socket 1 to four slots (1 DIMM/channel).

In LGA2011 2P systems, the processor sitting on socket 0 is wired to the PCH (SR3 looks to have Patsburg-T), while the processor on socket 1 is wired to the one on socket 0 using two QPI links, closing the daisy-chain. Socket 0, apart from its 4 GB/s DMI link, has a PCI-Express 2.0 x4 (another 4 GB/s) link to supplement the DMI link, so the storage controllers don't get bottlenecked with just DMI. Both processors contribute to the PCI-Express lane budget of the motherboard. There are seven PCI-Express x16 slots, among which four are PCI-Express 3.0 x16 capable, every slot is PCI-Express 3.0 x8 capable. NVIDIA 4-way SLI is supported. This board will support Sandy Bridge-EP Xeon processors, though we don't know at this juncture if Core i7 Sandy Bridge-E is 2P capable.

MSI is readying a new LGA2011 HEDT (high-end desktop) motherboard based on the Intel X79 chipset, which features eight DDR3 DIMM slots, two per memory channel, letting you take advantage of the fast quad-channel DDR3 IMC of Sandy Bridge-E Core i7 processors, as well as not letting you fall short of memory expansion. The X79A-GD65 8D, as it's called, makes room for eight DIMM slots, four on either sides of the socket. The CPU is powered by a 5+2 phase VRM, and the memory by a 4-phase VRM.

Expansion slots include four PCI-Express x16, from which four are wired to the CPU socket, two are PCI-Express 3.0 x16 capable, four are PCI-E 3.0 x8 capable (depending on the way the slots are populated with add-on cards), one is PCI-E 2.0 x4 capable and is wired to the chipset. Then there's the lone PCI-E x1. NVIDIA 4-way SLI and AMD 4-way CrossFireX are supported.

EVGA was missing on the LGA2011 motherboard wall at this year's Computex event in June. EVGA is one of the top brands overclockers and enthusiasts look forward to, for motherboards. As a late consolation, EVGA gave out a teaser picture of one of its upcoming X79 motherboards a little later in June. At GeForce LAN 6, however, EVGA made full use of the spotlight to unveil its X79 Classified (E799), a top-tier socket LGA2011 motherboard clearly designed for overclockers.

The X79 Classified uses a traditional LGA2011 motherboard layout, but with wide open spaces to make insulating it (against condensation) easier. The CPU power delivery seems to be in the hands of some very high-grade VRM design, it draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors apart from the 24-pin ATX (that's right-angled). There are just four DDR3 DIMM slots, one per memory channel. A 4-phase memory VRM is deployed. Over the chipset area, a large contiguous heatsink covers most hot components in the central-right region. We don't expect there to be a bridge chip.

Thermaltake, an award winning state of art PC power supplies, the leader and pioneer in PC thermal solutions, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, with "delivering the perfect user experiences" as our mission, this September Thermaltake is presenting a visionary outlook of the world first efficient high-output power supply unit "The Toughpower XT Platinum & Gold series", - a rigorous power plant series aiming towards hardcore gamers, DIY enthusiasts, professionals and massive power consumption machines to fulfill every possible condition.

The new Toughpower XT Platinum & Gold series is a set of meticulous PC power plants include 1275W Platinum, 1375W Gold and 1475W Gold, are the world first high-output power supply units with 80Plus Platinum and Gold (the highest efficiency levels) certified which can perform up to 94% power efficiency.

After much delay, EVGA released its first wave of LGA1155 motherboards based on the Intel Z68 chipset featuring Intel Smart Response technology. Quite surprisingly, none of EVGA's Z68 motherboards feature display outputs. The series is topped by Z68 FTW, designed for enthusiasts and overclockers; followed by Z68 SLI, geared for gamers with NVIDIA SLI graphics setups; and Z68 SLI Micro, an SLI-ready board in the micro-ATX form-factor.

The Z68 FTW uses a similar layout to the P67 FTW. It uses a strong VRM to power the CPU and memory, it provides as many as six PCI-Express x16 slots, making use of a nForce 200 bridge chip that makes it 3-way and 4-way SLI ready. It is loaded with overclocker-friendly features such as EVbot support, a front-panel OC controller, and an overclocking gauge. The Z68 FTW is also available as a package without those two accessories.

ZOTAC showed off its new, upcoming socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel Z68 chipset, the Z68ATX-A-E. This is a full-blown ATX form-factor motherboard, that throws in plenty of connectivity. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 20-phase VRM, that makes use of super-ML capacitors to condition power. The board uses an nForce 200 bridge chip that occupies the PCI-E x16 link of the processor, giving out PCI-Express 2.0 x16 links, further split between four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots. A PLX-made PCI-E 1.1 x4 to 3 PCI-E 2.0 x1 bridge chip is also present, driving additional controllers such as three of the four USB 3.0 controllers giving out 8 ports (four by headers). The board is designed to support 3-way and 4-way SLI.

Display connectivity includes two DVI, with the possibility of a DVI-HDMI dongle being bundled, other connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, WiFi b/g/n, and dual gigabit Ethernet. In the storage department there appear to be four SATA 6 Gb/s, four SATA 3 Gb/s. There is a suite of overclocker-friendly features, including triple-redundant BIOS, voltage measurement points, and diagnostic LED display. The ZOTAC logo in the heatsink over the NF200 lights up. While the placard speaks of Intel 311 SSD, we're not sure if they're talking about an mSATA fixed SSD, we can't see one. Perhaps a 2.5-inch SATA 311 Series SSD comes bundled.

An 80 Plus Platinum-compliant 1450W PSU? No, we're sober. Xigmatek is flexing its engineering muscle in the PSU department with a semi-modular PSU that has both high-power and high-efficiency. The Goliath GP-1451 from Xigmatek gives you all the connectors you'll ever need, and with 1450W, enough power for 4-way SLI, 4-way CrossFireX, dual-socket systems. What's to not to like? The Goliath uses an asymmetric double 12V rail design, the first rail can deliver 55A, and the second 75A. Apart from 24-pin ATX and EPS connectors, most connectors are detachable to improve cable management. The beast is cooled by a 130 mm fan.

After displays of socket AM3+ motherboards based on AMD 990FX chipset, by ASUS, and MSI were pictured by various tech sites, it's quite expected of Gigabyte's offering to somehow make it to the web. Gigabyte is going full guns with its top AM3+ motherboard, with the GA-990FXA-UD7. Based on the same Black+Graphite+Gold color scheme as the socket LGA1155 "UD7" models based on Intel P67 and Z68, the GA-990FXA-UD7 comes with zesty dimensions that almost make it an EATX form-factor board, although it's not. The AM3+ socket is powered by a 10-phase VRM that is cooled by a long heatsink that appears to be contiguous with the northbridge heatsink, which in turn shares heat with the southbridge over a heat pipe. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting DDR3 frequencies in excess of 1866 MHz.

Gigabyte utilized each of the seven expansion slots, packing in six PCI-Express 2.0 x16 neatly spaced out to support NVIDIA 4-way SLI and AMD 4-way CrossFireX; two out of six slots two are electrical x4, wired to the southbridge. A legacy PCI slot is thrown in, just in case you hate to throw away that expensive PCI sound card that still sounds great. Storage connectivity includes eight internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, six from the SB850 southbridge, and two from a third-party controller. There are two eSATA ports, of which one appears to be power-eSATA.

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 it has set two new world records on 3DMark06 and 3DMark03, using Antec's renowned High Current Pro series HCP-1200 power supply to simultaneously power four high-end intensive graphics cards with a power consumption up to 1700 watts.

The world record scores of 48,096 marks on 3DMark06 with four Radeon HD 5870 graphic cards in 4-way Crossfire, and a 3DMark03 score of 233,433 marks in 4-way SLI-configuration with GeForce GTX 580 cards were achieved by Nick Shih, current world-wide leading overclocker. Both scores represent the unrivaled overclocking capabilities of Antec's HCP-1200 PSU and how the unparalleled performance of Antec's HCP-1200 is engineered to satisfy the needs of PC enthusiasts and overclockers for high-performance, compatibility and stability.

Overclockers Elmor and kinc last gathered to set a singl-card 3DMark Vantage world record, the duo and SF3D got together in Sweden to set another record, of the highest multi-GPU 3DMark Vantage score with a single processor. Vantage multi-GPU records are lead by multi-processor (dual LGA1366) setups. The team achieved a Vantage score of P75892 points. For this feat, the team used a single Intel Core i7-990X Extreme Edition processor 6213 MHz (177.5 MHz x 35.0) with all cores and threads enabled, backed by 4 GB of dual-channel memory by ADATA clocked at 887.5 MHz (actual), running on ASUS Rampage III Extreme motherboard with ROG Xpander to enable 4-way SLI capability.

Leading the graphics department were four ASUS GTX 580 DirectCu graphics cards clocked at 1105/1301/2210 MHz (core/shader/memory). The setup was powered by two Antec HCP 1200W PSUs. Liquid nitrogen cooling was the weapon of choice, the CPU was cooled by SF3D OC Inflection Point LN2 evaporator, and four Kingpin Tek-9 6 Slim evaporators for the graphics cards.

Renowned overclocker Duck set a new record 3DMark Vantage. The record was set at an event apparently conducted by Galaxy Tech. The record now stands at P75324 points. Duck used four Galaxy GeForce GTX 580 graphics cards in 4-way SLI to achieve the feat. It appears as if at least one, if not all, use an ASUS BIOS, perhaps to avail the VoltageTweak feature. Apart from the graphics cards, Duck's bench consisted of two Intel Xeon E5680 Westmere-EP 6-core/12-thread processors clocked at 5368 MHz, EVGA Classified SR-2 dual-LGA1366 motherboard, 6x 2 GB Corsair DDR3-2000 MHz CL7 memory, multiple 1200W PSUs (Corsair AX1200W + SilverStone Strider Gold SST-ST1200G), and Intel X25-M 80 GB SSD. In the cooling department, there are Duck's own JCA Water Bear Pot WB02A and K|ngp|n F1 cooling the two processors, K|ngp|n Tek9 4 and 5.0 cooling the GPUs, a custom heatsink cluster cooling the GPU VRM, and gobs of insulation.

Gigabyte is readying a new line of motherboards geared for extreme overclocking - well, there already are such motherboards in its ranks, but apparently not very "boutique" so to speak, or optimized for heavy LN2 coolers. In comes the new unnamed motherboard series that sports the "OC Orange" color scheme. Gigabyte is designing these motherboards in collaboration with renowned overclocker "hicookie".

The socket LGA1366 motherboard shown in its CGI form is said to be devoid of all features that overclockers won't need. It sticks to just the essentials as far as connectivity goes, but makes up for it with every feature that will help overclockers make, break, and chase world records. The board is loaded with heatsinks to cool all critical components. It probably uses digital PWM and/or high-C capacitors to keep the CPU socket area as less-crowded as possible (for heavy LN2 pots). Expansion includes four PCI-E 2.0 x16 for 4-way SLI and CrossFireX.

The second motherboard part of Gigabyte's G1-Killer series apart from the recently detailed G1.Guerrilla is the G1.Assassin. Also an LGA1366 motherboard based on the Intel X58 + ICH10R chipset, the G1.Assassin ropes overclockers into the equation. While the Guerrilla has more in for gamers (and support for up to 3 graphics cards in multi-GPU), the Assassin boasts of a strong CPU VRM, an arsenal of overclocker-friendly features, support for up to four graphics cards in 4-way SLI/CrossFireX, while retaining the gamer-appeal. Unlike Guerrilla, Assassin is an XL-ATX motherboard, retaining the same green+black color scheme.

It features the same 16-phase CPU VRM configuration found on the X58A-UD7 (rev 2.0). The four PCI-Express x16 slots are connected directly to the X58 northbridge, apart from one PCI-E x1 and a PCI. USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s are standard features here, too. Like the Guerrilla, it features Bigfoot Killer 2100 hardware NIC. The audio, however, is different. While Guerrilla merely uses an HD audio CODEC backed by X-Fi MB software, Assassin uses an actual CA20K2 processor that can perform hardware mixing over OpenAL in Windows 7 and Vista. The audio processor has its own 64 MB of memory, and the Killer NIC reportedly having 1 GB of DDR2 dedicated memory. A rich array of electrolytic capacitors gives the audio a more natural tone. The Assassin is also expected to have overclocking capabilities on par with the X58A-UD7/UD9 leviathans.

EVGA unveiled its next enthusiast-grade motherboard, the P67 Classified. The board is designed for upcoming "Sandy Bridge" processors from Intel in the LGA1155 package, and uses the Intel P67 Express chipset. EVGA's main design goes seem to be: 1. giving the processor a strong VRM that helps with overclocking; and 2. to expand the board's PCI-Express resources using an nForce 200 bridge chip. The CPU is powered by a 12-phase VRM that draws power from two 8-pin EPS connectors. Knowing EVGA, the CPU socket is of premium-grade, with higher gold content on the pins. The four DDR3 DIMM slots are powered by a 3-phase VRM. The main ATX power connector is angled for better aesthetics.

Expansion slots include six PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x16/x8;x1;x16/x8;x8;x16/x8;x8), making the board capable for 4-way SLI. A single PCI-E x1 is tucked away on top. Connectivity includes two internal SATA 6 Gb/s, four internal SATA 3 Gb/s, two front-panel and two rear-panel USB 3.0, 8-channel HD audio, two gigabit Ethernet controllers, FireWire, and eSATA. The board supports a plethora of overclocker-friendly technologies, including EVGA's EV-Bot module. One can expect more information once Intel's upcoming processors are out.

ASUS showed off its high-end socket LGA1155 motherboard lineup in London, including from its two top brands, ROG and Sabertooth TUF. The ROG Maximus IV Extreme, TUF Sabertooth P67, P8P67 Deluxe and P8P67 were on display. All four models are based on the Intel P67 Express chipset, designed to support upcoming Sandy Bridge architecture derived LGA1155 processors, or the 2011 Core processor family. Leading the pack is the Maximum IV Extreme. This board is literally bursting with features and is geared for extreme overclocking. There are no less than four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, possibly driven by a PCI-E bridge chip, which allows 3-way and 4-way SLI/CrossFireX; four each of USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and ROG-exclusive features such as ROG Connect, and redundant BIOS.

Next in line is the TUF Sabertooth P67. Keeping in tune with the TUF series' main feature of providing very high durability, the Sabertooth P67 uses ceramic heatsinks and high-grade components. For the first time, we're getting to see a protective scaffolding covering most of the board's area on its obverse side (we've seen it on the reverse side on older models). ASUS is calling it "tactical vest". This board only supports two PCI-E x16 devices, 2-way SLI/CrossFireX.

Here is MSI's latest creation, the N480GTX Lightning. This GeForce GTX 480 based monstrosity is geared for extreme overclocking, and caters to the highest-end consumer segments, but at a surprisingly modest price (relatively) of $550. It features a factory-overclocked GTX 480 GPU clocked at 750/1500/1000(4000) MHz, with standard memory amount of 1.5 GB across a 384-bit wide memory interface, 480 CUDA cores, and 4-way SLI support. Where the fun kicks in is its design. The card uses a beastly-looking dual-fan double-slot air cooler that makes use of dense aluminum fin arrays, and distributed heat zones.

Under the hood, is a powerful power circuit that makes use of a 17-phase VRM, with four super ML Proadlizer capacitors for power conditioning, and high-C flatbed capacitors overall. There are noiseless solid-state chokes and high-grade direct FETs Power is drawn in from two 8-pin and one 6-pin power connectors. Apart from consolidated voltage measure points, DIP switches provide a certain amount of control over some settings. Overclocker-friendly feature include dual BIOS. Display outputs include dual DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort. MSI did not reveal exactly when this card will make it to the market, or whether it's a Limited Edition product.More pictures follow.

Inno3D released its non-reference design GeForce GTX 465 OC Vapor-Freeze graphics card. This factory-overclocked card uses NVIDIA reference PCB (albeit in green), with its own-design cooling assembly. The cooler makes use of a GPU direct-contact base, from which five heat-pipes convey heat directly from the GPU to aluminum fin blocks on either sides of a 92 mm PWM-controlled fan that spins at speeds of 1000~4200 rpm, with a rated noise output of 18 dBA. Inno3D claims the cooling solution to up cooling efficiency by 15% over reference NVIDIA cooler.

As far as clock speeds go, the GPU is clocked at 750 MHz, 1350 MHz CUDA cores, and 850 MHz (3400 MHz effective) memory, against reference speeds of 607/1215/3206 MHz. The card has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide interface. As with every other GTX 465, the card is based on the 40 nm GF100 GPU, it has 352 CUDA cores, and supports the latest PC graphics technologies including DirectX 11 and OpenGL 4. The higher clock speeds, Inno3D claims, up the card's performance by 10%. Display connectivity includes two DVI and a mini-HDMI. The card is 4-way SLI capable, it takes power from two 6-pin PCI-E power inputs. Inno3D did not give out and details about the card's pricing. A cheaper variant that sticks to NVIDIA reference clock speeds is also available, it lacks the "OC" marker on the box.

EVGA is ready with a large full-tower case and power supply that's tailor-fit for the Classified SR-2 dual-socket LGA1366 motherboard, both carrying the Classified SR-2 brand markers for easy identification. The SR-2 case is larger than XL-ATX and EATX. Its motherboard tray is as wide as EATX, while being as long as XL-ATX. It has 10 expansion slots, 7 internal 3.5"/2.5" drive bay trays, 5 larger 5.25" trays, and holes punched out in the motherboard tray at the right spots to help manage CPU coolers for both the sockets better, and help with cable-management.

On its front-panel (located on the top), apart from the usual power, reset, and basic LEDs, there is also a system diagnostic LED display which takes input directly from the motherboard's system management module. A pop-up panel holds four USB, audio, FireWire, and eSATA ports.

NVIDIA today announced its latest performance-segment addition to the DirectX 11 compliant GeForce 400 series, the GeForce GTX 465. Based on the 40 nm GF100 GPU, the GTX 465 cuts some components to position the new SKU below the GTX 470. It has five streaming multiprocessors (SMs) disabled, leaving a CUDA core count of 352, and a memory bus width of 256-bit. The reference design card has 1 GB of GDDR5 memory.

The reference design board is largely based on the GeForce GTX 470, with two memory chip pads unused. The card can pair with three more of its kind for 4-way SLI. Apart from DirectX 11 compliance it features support for NVIDIA exclusive technologies like CUDA, PhysX, and 3D Vision Surround. The GeForce GTX 465 starts at US $279.

ASUS has come up with a Frankenstein solution which enables 4-way SLI on the Rampage III Extreme motherboard with full PCI-Express 2.0 x16 bandwidth, called the ROG Xpander. The device is a daughterboard that sits on the motherboard with connections to its PCI-E 2.0 x16 slots. While it might not fit into cases, it is intended to work on test-benches. The two PCI-E x16 connections from the motherboard are wired to two NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chips, which give out two x16 links each, driving the four x16 slots on the daughterboard. It takes input from one 6-pin PCI-E power input, and three 4-pin Molex inputs, though not all may be required.

The ROG Xpander ideally would draw 12W of power per nForce chip, and with its own power inputs, will not draw any power from the motherboard for the four PCI-E cards. The point of using this device is that ASUS did not give 4-way SLI capability to the Rampage III Extreme from the factory, even though it already has four PCI-E x16 slots (x8 each when all are populated). A fan seated on the Xpander ensures components on the motherboard under it aren't suffocated of cool air. ASUS ran a 4-way SLI test of four GeForce GTX 480 graphics cards on 3DMark Vantage, where the Core i7 980X @ 6 GHz powered setup scored P52422 points.