Tuniq today announced its newest CPU cooler, the Tower 120 Extreme. With this release Tuniq introduced what it calls a radical design change, that increases heat dissipation surface area, and brings about turbulence that helps cooling. To do so, each aluminum fin has "wave-design" edges on two sides. Every neighbouring fin has an alternating wave-pattern, that helps provide turbulence. A 120 mm, PWM-controlled, LED-lit fan is nested inside the fin block, that circulates air. Five nickel-plated copper heatpipes convey heat to the fins, which make direct contact to the CPU at the block.

The cooler measures 131(L) x 112.31(W) x 150.7(H), and weighs in at 775 g without the fan (around 850 g with it). The fan spins at speeds between 1000~2000 rpm, pushing up to 90.65 CFM of air, with a maximum noise output of 20 dBA. Out of the five heatpipes, three are 8 mm in thickness, and two 6 mm ones. The package includes a 1g tube of Tuniq's recently announced TX-3 thermal compound. In Tuniq's own tests, the Tower 120 Extreme emerged at least 10% more efficient at cooling than its predecessor, the Tower 120. It is compatible with most current CPU sockets, including LGA-1366, LGA-775, and AM3/AM2+/AM2. Expect it to be priced close to that of the Tower 120 when it hits stores soon.

Some of Arctic Cooling's biggest claims to fame are the Freezer series CPU coolers that offered good levels of cooling performance for mainstream prices. The company then had Intel and AMD specific versions of the cooler in the form of Freezer 7 Pro (Intel) and Freezer64 Pro (AMD). In a move to unify the two designs as far as CPU socket compatibility goes, Arctic Cooling released the Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2, which sports support for both Intel and AMD sockets.

Measuring 104 L x 58 W x 126.5 H mm and weighing 520 g, the Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 has essentially the same design of the predecessors, except for its retention mechanism that holds various different kinds of sockets, including Intel LGA-1366, LGA-1156, LGA-775, AMD AM3/AM2+/AM2. The cooler has a 92 mm 45 CFM PWM-controlled fan that cools a 42-fin aluminum fin array to which three copper heat-pipes convey heat from a copper CPU block. The cooler has a cake of the MX-2 thermal compound pre-applied. The Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 is priced at US $28.90 or 20.90 Euro.

AMD's timely update to its high-end desktop processor lineup is on course for August 13. The Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (PIB model: HDZ965FBGIBOX or HDZ965FBK4DGI) is a quad-core socket AM3 processor that comes with a clock speed of 3.40 GHz, and an unlocked bus multiplier like other Black Edition series models. It is reported by Brightside of News that the NDA over the chip will be lifted on August 13, letting reviewers publish reviews. Retail availability can be expected shortly afterwards.

According to Expreview.com, the chip was listed on Technologic, an online store, for 178.97 GBP. It gives us a glimpse of what the pricing could look like. Like its predecessors 955 BE and 940 BE, the 965 BE could start off at around US $270 or $250. At 3.40 GHz, the 965 BE will be AMD's fastest processor in terms of default clock speed. Phenom II X4 955 BE and Athlon64 X2 6400+ BE hold the 3.20 GHz spot currently.

MSI is ready with perhaps the industry's first SLI-supportive socket AM3 motherboard, certainly its first. The MSI NF750-G55 is based on NVIDIA nForce 750a SLI chipset, and has its AM3 socket powered by a 4+1 phase circuit, that supports Active Phase Switching that powers down redundant power phases when the load is low. The socket is wired to four DDR3 memory slots supporting up to DDR3-1800 by overclocking.

The nForce chipset connects to two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots that arrange as electrical dual x8 when both are populated for 2-way SLI. Apart from this, the chipset also embeds a GeForce 8300 class IGP as a fallback, or for GeForce Boost features. The IGP connects using D-Sub, HDMI, and DVI-D. Other expansion slots include two PCI-E x1, and one PCI. The chipset provides six SATA II ports in all, one of which is designated as eSATA on the rear-panel, next to one gigabit Ethernet, a number of USB 2.0 and FireWire ports, and 8-channel audio. The NF750-G50 has started selling in Europe for under 100 Euros.

AMD's 790X chipset was featured as one of the first in 7-series chipset family. Based on the RX780 chip, this chipset is essentially identical to the AMD 770, except for that it supports the ATI CrossFireX technology. With the introduction of the 790GX, the 790X was less opted for. The chipset made its comeback with motherboards from Gigabyte and MSI that support AM3 processors and DDR3 memory. ASUS is ready with its competitive motherboard based on the AMD 790X + SB750 chipset. The ASUS M4A79XTD-EVO offers some of ASUS' latest innovations.

To begin with, this socket AM3 motherboard supports DDR3 memory. The CPU is powered by an 8+2 phase power circuit, that is controlled by the ASUS EPU active phase switching controller. The brown PCB uses a 2 oz copper to reduce EMI and enhance electrical stability, a technology found in Gigabyte's UltraDurable 3 motherboards. The 790X northbridge connects to two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrical dual x8, when both are populated). Two each of PCI-E x1 and PCI make for the rest of the expansion. The SB750 southbridge supports AMD Overdrive and Advanced Clock Calibration (ACC). Apart from the six SATA II ports it provides, an additional controller gives out one internal port, and an eSATA port. Overclocking is aided by the TurboV feature. VIA VT1708S onboard 8 channel audio, Realtek Gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the package. ASUS will have this board up in the next few weeks.

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today announced the new Dominator GT line of ultra-high performance DDR3 memory modules, designed specifically for AMD Phenom II processor-based platforms using Socket AM3 motherboards.

The new 4GB (2 x 2GB) Dominator GT memory kit has been precision engineered to operate at a frequency of 1600MHz with ultra low-latency timings of 6-6-6-18 and a Command Rate of 1T. These settings are a perfect match for the latest, high-performance Socket AM3 AMD Phenom II processors, which feature an advanced, low-latency, integrated DDR3 memory controller.

Zalman rolled out its newest CPU cooler, the CNPS9900A LED. This cooler is near-identical to the CNPS9900 LED, with the same dimensions of 94(L) x 131(W) x 152(H) mm, weight of 730 g (1.61 lbs), and an all-copper heat dissipation components design. The differences between the two are that CNPS9900A LED packs a Zalman RC33P resistor cable, and a tube of Zalman's ZM-STG2 thermal compound.

The construction involves a copper CPU contact base from which three heatpipes dissipate heat two two circular copper fin rings on either sides of a blue LED-lit 120 mm fan. Without the RC33P cable, the fan spins at 1000 rpm ~ 2000 rpm, with noise levels of 19.5 dBA ~ 38.0 dBA. But when the RC33P is installed, the speeds and noise outputs are reduced, at 800 rpm ~ 1300 rpm, with noise levels between 18 dBA ~ 28.5 dBA. The ZM-STG2 thermal compound has a thermal conductivity of 4.1 W/mK. 3.5 g of this compound is supplied in a tube. The CNPS9900A LED is compatible with all major sockets including Intel LGA-775, LGA-1156, LGA-1366, and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3, 939/940, 754. It is expected to be priced at US $64.

AMD quietly decked up shelves with a new processor, this time, a low TDP variant of the Phenom II X4 945 quad-core processor. Carrying the model identifier "HDX945WFK4DGI", the Phenom II X4 945 95W comes with a significantly lower TDP rating compared to its 125W predecessor. It first surfaced on a CPU-support list by MSI, that leaked details of some unreleased processors. Based on the 45 nm Deneb core, in the AM3 package, the Phenom II X4 945 has an operating frequency of 3.00 GHz, 3.6 GT/s HyperTransport 3.0 system interface, 512 KB L2 cache per core, and a 6 MB shared L3 cache. It supports DDR2 and DDR3 memory standards. It has a bus multiplier of 15.0x which is upwards-locked since this is not a Black Edition SKU. It will have the same suggested retail price as its 125W version, at US $225.

Nearly six weeks into the introduction of the Athlon II X2 250, AMD added two new models in the series to choose from the Athlon II X2 240 and 245 are clocked at 2.80 GHz and 2.90 GHz respectively, and occupy two lower places in the series. The 240 has a bus multiplier of 14.0x 200 MHz, while 245 is a notch higher, at 14.5x 200 MHz. The chips are based on AMD's 45 nm Regor core, which is a monolithic dual-core, with two physical cores on a die, and no L3 cache. The L2 cache per core instead, has been increased to 1 MB, which makes it 2 MB of total external cache for the chip. It uses a lavish 4.0 GT/s HyperTransport 3.0 system interface, and comes in the AM3 socket package that supports DDR2 and DDR3 memory standards. The two will be out soon and will be priced around the US $65 mark.

AMD is preparing its first set of Sempron processors based on the DDR3 supportive AM3 package. The first one, codenamed "Sargas" is a single-core chip that comes across as a single-core variant of the Athlon II X2 "Regor". It features a broad 3.6 GT/s HyperTransport 3.0 system interface, 128 KB of L1 and 1 MB of L2 cache, a dual-channel DDR2/DDR3 memory interface, an up-to-date AMD feature and instruction-set including AMD64, SSE4A, and AMD-V.

Sargas is built on Global Foundries' 45 nm SOI process, and has an operating voltage range of 0.85 ~ 1.35 V. The first SKU based on this core is the Sempron X1 140 (model: SDX140HBGQBOX). It has a clock speed of 2.70 GHz, and a bus multiplier of 13.5x. At that speed, its TDP is rated at 45W. It will be available towards the end of this week, priced around 35 Euro.

Zalman is readying another CPU cooler in its 10 series, a successor to CNPS-9900. The company broke away from the trademark copper-fin ring design it used for CNPS-9300, 9500, 9700, and until lately, 9900. After the introduction of the CNPS-10X Extreme, the company disclosed the CNPS-10X Quiet. The differences between the two lie in the construction. The CNPS-10X Quiet uses lesser number of aluminum fins, a good 33% of which are anodized with the Zalman blue theme colour, and holds a simpler PWM controlled fan. The cooler measures 135 x 100 x 160 mm, and weighs 750 g. The 120 mm fan attached to it uses a simpler clip-based retention mechanism, it spins at speeds between 700 and 1400 rpm, with a maximum noise level of 26 dBA. The cooler constuction involves a pre-lapped copper CPU contact block, from which five copper heatpipes convey heat to a vertical aluminum fin array - the design standard of today. Its retention module consists of a bolt-through kit. The package includes a tube of Zalman's ZM-STG2 thermal compound. The cooler is compatible with all standard desktop sockets of today, including Intel LGA-1366, LGA-1156, LGA-775, AMD AM3/AM2+/AM2, and 939. The cooler will hit stores at an estimated price of under 50 Euro.

MSI is working on yet another addition to its AM2+ socket motherboard lineup, this time the 770T-C45. This mainstream ATX motherboards draws more than just its layout from the recently announced 770-C35, and the AM3-based 770-C45, in fact an identical board layout with the addition of a few features. This board is uses an AM2+ socket with support for DDR2 memory, with the AMD 770 + SB710 chipset, which provides support for AMD OverDrive Advanced Clock Calibration feature. The CPU is powered by the same 4+2 phase design featured on the older model. An important difference is that this model features Active Phase Switching, which turns off redundant power phases when the load is low. Another change is the colour scheme for the expansion slots connectors, and heatsinks. It will be priced in the sub-$100 range.

Having released the 120 mm copper monstrosity, the CNPS9900, Zalman is looking to give the NVIDIA-branded CNPS9700-NT an update, only this time, there's no NVIDIA branding to be seen. The CNPS9900-NT is decked with nickel-plated copper, which gives it the chrome appearance. Between the two copper-fin blocks, is nested a 120 mm green LED lit fan, which gives the same illumination as the older NT versions of Zalman's coolers. It measures 94 x 131 x 152 mm (LxWxH), and weighs in at 730 g. The fan spins at speeds between 1000 and 2000 rpm. The cooler supports all current CPU socket types, including LGA-1366, LGA-1156, LGA-775, and AM3/AM2(+). It packs a tube of the company's ZM-STG2 thermal compound. When released in Europe, it is expected to sell for 70 EUR.

Over a month into the release of its flagship enterprise processor, the six-core Opteron codenamed "Istanbul", the company expressed plans to roll out another line of Opteron chips, this time targeting the cost-effective SME market, and not exactly power scaling and parallelism offered by its two-socket and multi-socket capable Opteron 2000 and Opteron 8000 series. The new quad-core processor will be codenamed "Suzuka", and will be made for single-socket systems. For this reason, it will not use the 1207-pin Socket F, but rather the AM3 socket, and will be compatible with existing AM2(+) motherboards that support the Budapest quad-core chip (single socket version of Barcelona).

Suzuka shares the same die design as Shanghai (Opteron) and Deneb (Phenom II). It features four x86-64 processing cores on a monolithic die, with 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and a shared 6 MB L3 cache. Dual DDR2/DDR3 memory controllers work in ganged or unganged dual-channel modes. Currently three models are ready, the 2.50 GHz Opteron 1381, 2.70 GHz Opteron 1385, and 2.90 GHz 1389. These chips are specified to come with system bus speeds of 2200 MT/s (HyperTransport bus actual speed of 1100 MHz). All three models come with a rated TDP of around 115 W, and is built on the 45 nm SOI process. Opteron 1381 is priced at US $189, Opteron 1385 at $229, and Opteron 1389 at $269.

Thermaltake, leading provider of computer cooling solutions, is introducing their latest addition in their wide range of liquid cooling products, the PW880i gets your PC in gear for the coming summer heat. In addition to this big size water cooling system, Thermaltake also offers water cooling solutions for VGA cards (WB400) and for the motherboard North Bridge (WB200), tailored for your individual cooling needs.

The PW880i is a powerful liquid cooling solution for the core of your PC the CPU. With a 24cm radiator equipped with two 14cm fans this is the ideal device for efficient heat dissipation. The solid CPU water block is made of pure copper with delicate brazing technology. Supporting most mainstream CPU sockets such as Intel LGA1366 and AMD AM3, the PW880i sports excellent cooling performance for demanding users and overclockers alike. As the tank and pump can be placed outside the chassis it offers two practical advantages: you gain more space within the case itself and maintenance is made easier and more convenient.

Scythe Europe hereby announces the availability of the new compact-size BIG Shuriken CPU Cooler. This new product enriches the series of compact and silent CPU Coolers for computes with very limited height and weight restrictions. Due to its height of only 58 mm and the weight of 405 g, the BIG Shuriken CPU Cooler is perfectly qualified for such PC Systems.

Compared to normal Shuriken CPU Cooler which comes with a Kaze Jyu 100 mm Slim fan, the BIG Shuriken CPU Cooler is equipped with the brand new Slip Stream 120 mm Slim case fan with 12 mm thickness. Despite the name "BIG" Shuriken, the total height shrank by 6 mm (0.236 in) to 58 mm (2.28 in). Whereas the Shuriken CPU Cooler was equipped with 3 copper heatpipes the BIG Shuriken CPU Cooler received an additional copper heatpipe to further increase the performance. Yet, both of the models support the PWM feature (pulse-width modulation) for flexible fan by the motherboard. The specified fan speed varies from 650 (+300) to 1600rpm (±10%) whereas the generated airflow varies from 15.77 to 38.05 CFM (27 to 65 m³/h) at a noise level of 12.91 to 28.89 dBA.

Following its roadmap, AMD is continuing with new processor releases based on the Deneb core with increases in the multiplier. The Phenom II X4 965 comes with a clock speed of 3.40 GHz, and an FSB multiplier of 17.0x, giving it a 200 MHz increase over the 955 Black Edition. It is not known if 965 comes in a Black Edition branding, one which could determine its pricing. If launched as a Black Edition (version with unlocked bus multiplier), It could either be priced above the 955, or could displace it and position itself at US $249.99. Without the BE branding it could be priced slightly lower. The new chip will be based on the AM3 package, supporting DDR3 1333 MHz and DDR2 1066 MHz. It comes at a time when AMD is releasing the RS880-based AMD 785G chipset. AMD will dispatch samples of the Phenom II X4 965 starting next week.

Shuttle Inc., the market leader in the area of mini-PCs and the manufacturer of multi-form-factor solutions, is now offering another barebone for modern AMD processors. The SA76G2 hits the market with a style not unlike its predecessor, the SN68SG2: classic black G2 design in polished aluminium.

Even at only 30 x 20 x 18.5 cm (DxWxH), the compact device is the first mini-PC barebone from Shuttle to support AMD processors for socket AM3. Processors with AM2 and AM2+ sockets can also be used, ensuring maximum compatibility and long-term upgrade options. This versatility comes thanks to the AMD RS760/SB710 chipset inside.

AMD tasted a bit of success with its Phenom II series of processors, which reflected in recent market share figures, where the company's share grew by around 5 percent, despite a fall in sales throughout the PC processor industry. Leading its pack currently, is the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition, which holds a full-featured 45 nm Deneb core with unlocked bus multiplier, and AM3 platform support. It seems like AMD isn't stopping at this. The company is preparing a new model targeted at the enthusiast segment, called Phenom II TWKR ("tweaker").

High-end PC manufacturer Maingear PC has reportedly received this chip in a display model form, and looks forward to incorporating it in its lineup of PCs. Very little is known at this point in time, about this chip, beyond the point that it will provide better clock-speeds compared to the Phenom II X4 955. We can tell that it retains the AM3 socket package from the looks of it, and comes in a pretty jewel-case. AMD is yet to announce the chip, or disclose more about how it plans to sell it, and at what price.

Thermaltake showed off some of its upcoming CPU coolers at the ongoing Computex event. A star attraction was the Thermaltake Frio (pictured below, first to the left). The design is of the popular perpendicular aluminum fin array type. The cooler ships with one 120 mm fan, although it can hold one fan on either side. It measures 130mm x 92mm x 160 mm. The cooler packs retention modules to support almost every current CPU socket type: LGA-1366, LGA-1156, LGA-775, AM3/AM2+/AM2, s939, etc. Another cooler spotted was the SpinQ VT. This cooler is near-identical to the SpinQ in terms of its features, except for that the aluminum fins propagate perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard, while the fan blows air on to the motherboard.

Earlier today, we covered ECS coming up with two motherboards, based on Intel P55 (LGA-1156), and AMD 785G (AM3). Coincidentally, ASRock has a similar pair which is gearing up for launch at the upcoming Computex event. The P55 Deluxe could be the company's premium LGA-1156 motherboard, while the M3A785GXH/128M a rather high-end board, especially looking at its feature-set, that expands that of the the chipset typically offers.

The P55 Deluxe supports LGA-1156 processors sans the Flexible Display Interface feature (FDI), since it looks devoid of common display connectors. It supports four DDR3 DIMMs, with the Dual-Channel DDR3 memory interface, advertising support for DDR3-2000 (probably by overclocking). The board provides three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, (x16, NC, x4) or (x8, x8, x4, when the slots are populated). Apart from ATI CrossFireX, NVIDIA 3-way SLI support is advertised.

Over to the M3A785GXH/128M, and there is an interesting feature here. Although AMD 785G isn't specified to support CrossFire, ASRock used an external lane switch card to support it. The first two PCI-Express x16 are eletrically (x16, NC) or (x8, x8, when both are populated). The third slot seems wired to the southbridge and is electrically x4. The board supports AM3 socket processors, with four DDR3 DIMM slots offering support for dual-channel DDR3-1600 memory. The Radeon HD 4200 IGP makes use of 128 MB of DDR3 SidePort memory. Standard display connectors such as DVI, D-Sub and HDMI apply. An external storage controller ups the number SATA channels, by providing an internal, and an eSATA port. ASRock wasn't very generous with its photography.

Days after releasing its high-end Crosshair III Formula, ASUS is readying another motherboard, this time based on AMD's new 785G + SB710 chipset. This AM2+ micro-ATX board offers a fairly standard feature-set. The AM2+ socket supports nearly every AM2, AM2+, AM3 socket CPU ever made, while the four DDR2 DIMMs support up to 1200 MHz DDR2 by overclocking, while DDR2-1066 is a standard for AM2+/AM3 CPUs. The southbridge provides five SATA II ports, with a sixth one positioned as eSATA on the rear-panel. Display connectivity options include DVI, D-Sub and HDMI. The motherboard may be released during the upcoming Computed 2009 event.

The source also revealed a bit about the AMD 785G chipset, confirming our earlier assumption that it was based on the RS880 core. The chip embeds an RV620 graphics processor, which will be named as the Radeon HD 4200 IGP. It features UVD 2.0 video hardware decoder, and supports DirectX 10.1. It also supports SidePort auxiliary memory, apart from the usual UMA. AMD notes that the IGP will be slightly faster than the RS780, while being significantly faster than Intel G45 and NVIDIA's GeForce 8200 (although NVIDIA's fasted IGP for the AMD platform is GeForce 8300).

ECS is dressing up two new motherboards for a gala launch at Computex 2009. The A785GM-M and P55H-A were recently announced by the company to be heading for display and launch at the event, in its Computex booth invitation press-release. AlienBabelTech published exclusive pictures of the two.

To begin with, the A785GM-M is a micro-ATX motherboard based on the new AMD 785G chipset. The chipset features a Radeon HD 4200-class IGP. It is possibly based on the new RS880 core. The board supports AMD AM3 socket CPUs, and provides four DDR3 DIMM slots. Its display connectivity options include D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI. The rest of its connectivity includes FireWire, eSATA and one gigabit Ethernet interface.

The P55H-A on the other hand, is one of the company's first offerings that support the upcoming LGA-1156 socket processors. This is another of the motherboards we have seen so far, that lack display connectors, and hence, lack Intel Flexible Display Interface support, that connects integrated graphics processors on some CPUs to their output. It provides two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrically dual x8 when both populated). Four DDR3 DIMM slots support dual-channel DDR3 memory, 8 channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, and 6 SATA II ports make for the rest of it.

In the run up for the launch of Intel's newest line of desktop CPUs - the Core i5 series, companies with related products such as motherboards and coolers are in full swing gearing up Core i5. Spire is ready with two new coolers CoolWave 5 and CoolWave 5 Pro, that support LGA-1156, the socket Core i5 uses. The two are identical except for that the former features pre-applied S350 thermal grease, while the latter comes with a tube of superior-grade S420 thermal grease. The cooler doesn't leave out support for LGA-775, or interestingly, AMD AM3/2+/2 either. Measuring 90x90x80 mm (LxWxH), the CoolWave 5 makes use of a silent 90 mm, UV-reactive fan. The coolers will be available in late-June at prices of $9.95 for the CoolWave 5, and $14.95 for the CoolWave 5 Pro.

MSI, in the spirit of quickly creating and releasing new innovations, has incorporated the Winki online environment - just announced at CeBIT 2009 - as a key feature in its new AM3 790FX and 790GX mainboards. Transforming the mainboard into a tool anyone can use, MSI's independently developed Winki online environment is perfect for a fast online nettop or netbook.

Winki is MSI's unique online environment An extraordinary combination of technology and research, Winki users can navigate the BIOS settings to instantly go online after turning on their PC, with absolutely no need to wait for an OS to start up. Winki includes four major Internet services: Web page browsing, online chat/instant messaging, online phone calls (VoIP), and fast photo viewing.