AMD today introduced the latest entry to the AMD Embedded G-Series processor family with the AMD Embedded G-T16R Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). The AMD G-T16R is targeted at very low power, small form factor and cost-sensitive embedded designs that require a combination of x86 compatibility and graphics. The optimized design of the AMD Embedded G-T16R sips power, with power consumption of just 2.3 wattsiv on average or 4.5 watts thermal design power (TDP).

Embedded product designers are taking to the industry's green challenge to design a broad range of next-generation applications for the industrial control, point-of-sale, medical appliance and transportation markets. For example, industrial customers can use the APU to help create greener factories based on more power-efficient factory hardware. Additionally, embedded designers can develop applications like point-of-sale order entry stations and tablets, medical bedside terminals and even solar-powered traffic control devices using the AMD G-T16R.

A little earlier, Samsung refreshed its Series 5 line of performance notebooks with Intel Core "Ivy Bridge" processors. It created a new branch, powered by AMD "Trinity" accelerated processing units (APUs), which pack up to four x86-64 cores, Radeon HD 7600M series graphics, and dual-channel DDR3 IMCs. Samsung currently has two models that are Trinity-powered, the Series 5 13.3-inch (NP535U3C-A01US), which is driven by AMD A6-4455M quad-core APU (2.10 GHz); and the Series 5 14-inch (NP535U4C-A01US), driven by AMD A10-4655M quad-core APU (2.80 GHz). Both models come with 4 or 8 GB dual-channel DDR3 memory and 500 or 750 GB HDD standard, with other features being identical to those of its Ivy Bridge cousins. The 13.3-inch A6 model starts at $699, while the 14-inch A10 model starts at $849.

As cloud computing becomes a more mature sector of the IT industry, most enterprises have already regarded this technology as a key point in the building of future information architectures to meet the needs of massive data processing. To better address the high demands for cloud computing, Apacer, a leading memory module manufacturer, has announced an industry-leading and enterprise-level 16GB bulk storage DDR3-1600 high-speed server memory module.

It uses both internal and external voltage reference (Vref.) circuits, allowing the storage system to directly use external Vref. with high efficiency while eliminating signal noise. It helps to facilitate continuous massive data processing and helps to optimize the cloud computing and storage performance in those environments, giving a more stable server storage experience.

HP unveiled a new variant of its Pavilion dv6 15.6-inch notebook driven by AMD A8-4500M quad-core APU (model: dv6-7010us). The A8-4500M packs four x86-64 cores clocked at 1.90~2.80 GHz, 4 MB total cache, and Radeon HD 7640G integrated graphics. The APU is backed by 6 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory. A 750 GB hard drive and DVD SuperMulti drive handle storage. The 15.6-inch screen packs 1366 x 768 pixels resolution. Connectivity includes gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, and Bluetooth. Most other features are identical to the Intel-driven dv6t-7000. Sweetening the deal is the price. While the Core i7-3610QM driven dv6t-7000 starts at US $899, the AMD A8-4500M driven dv6-7010us starts at $699.

During the week of Computex 2012, five overclocking records have been achieved with G.SKILL high performance DDR3 memory by several renowned extreme overclockers.Read on for details of the five records.

Corsair launched a new affordable high-density DDR3-1600 MHz dual-channel memory kit, model: CMZ16GX3M2A1600C9. The kit consists of two 8 GB modules, which operate at 1600 MHz (PC3-12800), with timings of 9-9-9-24, and DRAM voltage of 1.5V. The modules pack an Intel XMP v1.3 profile that enables the advertised speeds. Apart from these, the kit is built in the conventional Corsair Vengeance module design. It is expected to be priced at US $135.

Micron Technology, Inc., one of the world's leading providers of advanced semiconductor solutions, today introduced a new class of 1 GHz, 2-gigabit (Gb) and 4 Gb, 30-nanometer (nm) DDR3 devices, strengthening the company's comprehensive DDR3 portfolio. Designed for the high- performance networking and discrete graphics markets, the new devices feature industry-leading low power use while delivering speeds up to 2133 megatransfers per second (MT/s).

Micron supports its customers in highly competitive market segments with a broad portfolio of DRAM and nonvolatile memory devices that meet the demand for high-performance, cost-efficient memory solutions. "Micron has been successful in creating a complete DRAM portfolio, and this product offering rounds out the broadest DRAM offering in the industry," said Mike Howard, senior principal analyst, DRAM and Memory at iSuppli.

Apple today updated MacBook Air with the latest Intel Core processors, faster graphics and flash storage that is up to twice as fast as the previous generation.* MacBook Air is the ultimate everyday notebook, and with new lower prices it is more affordable than ever. The current generation 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro have also been updated with the latest Intel Core processors and powerful discrete graphics from NVIDIA. Apple's popular AirPort Express has been redesigned to include features previously available only in AirPort Extreme.

"Today we've updated the entire MacBook line with faster processors, graphics, memory, flash storage and USB 3 connectivity," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "We've made the world's best portable family even better and we think users are going to love the performance advances in both the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro."

Intel's Next Unit of Computing (NUC) 4-inch mini-PC concept is taking shape as more of a premium mini-PC, than an affordable mainstream PC. According to sources, the NUC will arrive some time in Q3 2012, priced at US $400. The base system will be powered by a Core i3 dual-core processor paired with HM65 chipset, about 4 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, 40 GB mSATA SSD, HDMI, mini-DisplayPort, WiFi, and Bluetooth. The first-generation NUC hence sticks to mature previous-generation components, while 7-series chipset, and 22 nm processors could be part of its specifications a little later. The demo system at Computex was driven by a Core i5 "Ivy Bridge" processor, with a Turbo Boost speed of 2.70 GHz. A cheaper Celeron-powered version of the NUC is also on the cards.

Century Japan started selling a [relatively] affordable 16 GB DDR3-1600 MHz (PC3-12800) ECC Registered DIMM. The module runs at 1600 MHz with timings of 11-11-11, and has been tested on EVGA SR-X platform to achieve 192 GB (12 x 16 GB), scraping the address-space limits of Windows 7 64-bit client operating systems. The 240-pin RDIMM uses 36 Hynix-made DRAM chips. In Japan, Century's new 16 GB RDIMM is priced at 25,000 JPY (US $314) a pop. For reference, DDR3-1066 MHz 16 GB RDIMMs are priced around $300.

Biostar is ready with a trio of socket FM2 motherboards, based on AMD's new A85 FCH chipset, the higher-end Hi-Fi A85X, mid-range Hi-Fi A85W, and value Hi-Fi A85S. Biostar implemented some of its latest innovations on the two. To begin with, the thee feature Hi-Fi amplifiers for the analog channels of the onboard audio. Another innovative feature with the two is a bank of capacitors that make the board electrostatic discharge proof up to 15,000V. Find the furriest carpet to assemble your rig on.

The audio solution combines a high SNR CODEC (probably ALC898) with an OPAMP circuitry that uses sound card grade electrolytic capacitors. The entire audio portion of the motherboard, including the rear panel jack cluster and front-panel headers, have a ground PCB layer of their own, that is isolated from the ground layer of the rest of the board. This ensures there's no ground layer interference from other high-current components on the board, a problem common with onboard audio solutions.

The Pure Platinum Z77i isn't the only new mini-ITX motherboard from Sapphire, the company also has one based on the AMD A75 chipset, supporting upcoming "Trinity APUs from AMD, in the socket FM2 package, called the Pure Platinum A75T. There are quite a few design differences between Sapphire's new mini-ITX motherboards besides the platforms they support. The most significant being, that the Pure Platinum A75T features two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots, instead of standard 240-pin UDIMM ones.

The Pure Platinum A75T draws power from 24-pin ATX + 4-pin ATX connectors. The APU is powered by a 5-phase VRM, with a heatsink cooling the driver-MOSFETs. The APU is wired to two DDR3 SO-DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot; and a mini-PCIe 2.0 x1 slot (for WLAN cards). The A75 FCH gives out four SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports. There are four USB 3.0 ports, two each on the rear-panel, and by headers. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. 6-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the connectivity. The Pure Platinum A75T could feature in the first wave of socket FM2 motherboards.

Sapphire's growing motherboard lineup as a new entry in the form of the Pure Platinum Z77i. This socket LGA1155 motherboard is based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset, and is built in the super-compact mini-ITX form-factor, making it ideal for gaming PCs that are LAN party-animals. The motherboard is designed to draw power from a 24-pin ATX, and a 4-pin CPU power connector. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a simple 4-phase VRM, which uses ferrite-core chokes and compact driver-MOSFETs. The VRM should be strong enough to handle CPUs that aren't heavily overclocked.

The LGA1155 socket on the Pure Platinum Z77i is wired to a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, and two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory. The Z77 PCH gives out two internal SATA 6 Gb/s, and two SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. There are a total of four USB 3.0 ports, two on the rear panel, two by headers. Rounding off the connectivity are 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth.

It looks like the Pure Platinum A75 FM2 isn't Sapphire's top socket FM2 offering. Sapphire showed off its Pure Platnum A85XT among its other top-tier motherboards. The A85XT is based on AMD A85 FCH chipset, and supports next-generation "Trinity" APUs in the FM2 package. The APU socket is powered by an 8-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (x8/x8, when both are populated).

Other expansion slots on the A85XT are a strangely positioned mPCIe, a PCI-Express 2.0 x4, two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and two legacy PCI. Seven of the A85 PCH SATA controller's eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports are assigned as internal ports, with the eighth one as mSATA. There are four USB 3.0 ports, two on the rear panel, and two via headers. Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, and 8-channel HD audio complete the package.

Apacer is presenting their entire product line of state-of-the-art storage solutions for consumer and industrial usages at Computex Taipei 2012, June 5 to 9, at booth T202A on the 2nd floor of Taipei International Convention Center. Apart from their very comprehensive USB 3.0 line-up including SuperSpeed flash drives, external hard drives as well as card readers, this year Apacer will also be showing their leading overclocking memory modules in live demonstrations.

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced the Dominator Platinum range of DDR3 memory kits, the world's most technologically-advanced performance memory. The new design adds a customizable light bar to the list of exclusive features, which includes patented DHX cooling, Corsair Link support, and hand-screened, super-overclockable DRAM ICs.

The new Dominator Platinum will be available in dual and quad-channel kits with 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities, and frequencies up to 2800MHz. Dominator Platinum DDR3 memory is designed to fully exploit the performance potential of the latest Intel and AMD platforms, including the "Ivy Bridge" 3rd generation Intel Core processor family. All Dominator Platinum kits support Intel's latest XMP 1.3 profiles for easy performance tuning.

Silicon Power showed off its newest line of DDR3 modules for overclocking, named XPower. The modules will ship with high clock-speed XMP profiles (≥1866 MHz). The one pictured below does DDR3-2400 MHz. Available in module densities of 4 GB and 8 GB, the XPower modules with make up single-module, dual-channel, triple-channel, and quad-channel kits. Seeing as how these modules are also available in triple-channel kits, it's likely that some, if not all, support older versions of Intel XMP, for compatibility with older platforms (eg: triple-channel Nehalem and Westmere supporting XMP 1.2). Key selling features here are thoroughly tested modules, and chunky aluminum heatsinks.

Corsair is finally giving its high-end DRAM family some love, with the new Dominator Platinum family of high-speed DDR3 memory modules. With it, the company also came up with its newest DRAM module heatsink design. The new DHX heatsink uses a revamped design that extracts heat from the DRAM chips more efficiently. At its top portion, the module features a user-swappable "light bar", which is purely an aesthetic touch. Further, the modules support Corsair Link, which lets the user monitor temperatures and voltages of each module via software, in real-time. Pictured below is a DDR3-3000 MHz variant of the Dominator Platinum. The module packs an XMP 1.4 profile for 3000 MHz (1500 MHz actual), with CAS latency of 12T.

Sapphire's newest motherboard is the Pure Platinum A75 (model: PT-ABA75). Although based on the previous-generation AMD A75 FCH, the board supports AMD A-Series "Trinity" APUs in the FM2 package. The board is a bundle of simplicities. The APU is powered by a 5-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; and a single PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot, without any lane switches en route. Two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1, legacy PCI, and a PCI-Express 2.0 x4 make up the rest of the expansion slot area.

The AMD A75 FCH gives out six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, five of which are assigned as internal ports, and one mSATA. Display outputs include DVI and HDMI. 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, and two USB 3.0 ports make up the rest of the connectivity. The Pure Platinum A75 will be part of the first wave of FM2 motherboards.

ASUS displayed a nerdtastic motherboard design concept, at Computex. Called the Republic of Gamers ZEUS, ASUS' creation is a socket LGA2011 motherboard with a dual-GPU graphics hardware soldered onto the board, in the place otherwise assigned for expansion slots. The top half of the ZEUS resembles that of a conventional LGA2011 motherboard, with the processor being powered by a 10-phase Digi+ VRM, and eight DDR3 DIMM slots. ASUS somehow made the platform support up to 128 GB of unregistered DIMM DDR3 memory (double the 64 GB limit of the Sandy Bridge-E HEDT platform).

The second half of the motherboard has the X79 PCH, and two PCI-Express 3.0 GPUs in dual-GPU configuration. ASUS hasn't revealed which GPUs these are, but sources predict it's a pair of AMD Radeon HD 7970 (Tahiti XT) or HD 7870 (Pitcairn XT). Each GPU system has its own set of memory, and a set of 8-pin + 6-pin PCIe power connectors. The display outputs of this dual-GPU setup are given out on the rear panel, as two mini-DP + Thunderbolt ports, and one each of HDMI and standard DP. The ZEUS even has as many as 8 SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and 12 USB 3.0 ports, besides two Thunderbolt 10 Gb/s ports. For now, ASUS' monstrosity is a design concept, and the company is undecided about launching it to the market. If nothing, the ZEUS serves as a testament of ASUS' mammoth engineering potential.

Apart from the premium A85XA-G65, and mini-ITX A85IA-E53, MSI has two other mainstream socket FM2 motherboards, the A85MA-E35, and A55M-P33 (F2).

The A85MA-E35, like its mini-ITX cousin, has a misleading name. It is actually based on the AMD A75 FCH chipset. The socket FM2 APU is powered by a simple 5-phase VRM, it is wired to just the two DDR3 DIMM slots, and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. Other slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and a legacy PCI. Display outputs include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the FCH are wired out as internal ones, the board features a total of four USB 3.0 ports.

MSI's second most interesting socket FM2 motherboard is the A85IA-E53, perhaps the first socket FM2 motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor. Although its name says otherwise, it is based on the previous-generation A75 chipset, which is no big deal, there's no room for eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A85 FCH, anyway, and you still end up with four 6 Gb/s ports. In the limited board space, MSI was able to cram in a 5-phase VRM to power the APU, a power design consisting of 24-pin + 4-pin power inputs, two full-size DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory, a lone PCI-Express 2.0 x16 expansion card slot, display outs that include HDMI and D-Sub, 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth.

MSI showed off its top socket FM2 motherboard, the A85XA-G65. Based on the AMD A85 FCH chipset, the board supports upcoming AMD "Trinity" APUs in the FM2 package. MSI designed the A85XA-G65 with its Military Class III construction. The FM2 APU is powered by an 8-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; and two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (x8/x8, when both are populated). Given that it supports both NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire, it's a little strange that MSI didn't name this model "A85XA-GD65." Other expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and two legacy PCI.

All eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A85 FCH are wired out as internal ports, with no eSATA. Display outputs include one each of DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Other connectivity options include four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and 8+2 channel HD audio. The A85XA-G65 features quite a few OC-friendly features, including voltage-measurement points with lead-holders, OC Genie, ClickBIOS II UEFI BIOS, etc. It will be among MSI's first socket FM2 motherboards to be launched, a little later this quarter.

PNY Technologies, Inc. ("PNY") today announced the release of the Verto GeForce GT 640 1024MB DDR3 graphics card. This new entry-level NVIDIA 28nm Kepler card features dedicated graphics performance from this powerful next-generation GeForce architecture.

The GT 640 delivers premium multimedia performance and reliable entry-level gaming, for a faster, more immersive experience. Harnessing PhysX technology, bring your HD videos, photos, web, and games to life; edit your photos and videos; or play the latest DirectX 11 games with GPU-accelerated tessellation. Accelerate your desktop's performance with cutting-edge features, such as CUDA technology to handle the most demanding system tasks -- such as photo editing -- and delivering incredible performance improvements over traditional CPUs. Adding to the incredible performance and power efficiency of the GT 640 is the new -- built from the ground up -- SMX unit, available only on Kepler. The revolutionary Kepler GPU has taken graphics to the next level and allows the GT 640 to simultaneously run up to three monitors with NVIDIA Surround technology -- expanding your viewing perspective and increasing productivity.

GIGABYTE did not leave out the Sandy Bridge-E HEDT platform when designing its new Ultra Durable 5 line of motherboards, the company showed of two new socket LGA2011 parts, the X79S-UP5 WIFI, and the X79-UP4.

The X79-UP4 is designed to be a sub-$300 offering, being a notch above the X79-UD3 (and perhaps even the X79-UD5). It uses a 6+1 phase CPU VRM, which consists of high-current ferrite core chokes, and PowIRstage IR3550 driver-MOSFETs. GIGABYTE added eight DDR3 DIMM slots, four on either side of the socket, supporting up to 64 GB of quad-channel DDR3 memory. Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/x8/x16/x8), two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and one legacy PCI. The X79-UP4 otherwise has a similar connectivity load-out as the X79-UD3.