Backed by one of the biggest OEMs in the industry, PC Partner, Sapphire does have some engineering potential to speak of. The AMD Radeon graphics card manufacturer has, on and off, tried to make inroads into the the motherboard market. With the 990FX-N, Sapphire is continuing its high-end Pure Black series. While NVIDIA SLI support isn't denied anymore for the AMD chipset platform, for political reasons (such as NVIDIA restricting AMD platform SLI licences to only those motherboard vendors who already had them for the Intel platform, cutting out Sapphire), this board doesn't support SLI. It shouldn't bother you if you own AMD Radeon, this board has sufficient PCI-Express connectivity to even allow 4-way CrossFireX.

The Sapphire Pure Black 990FX-N starts with a 10-phase VRM to power the AM3+ socket supporting AMD's new FX series processors, it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slot supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory with speeds of over 1866 MHz. Expansion is an all PCI-Express affair, with five PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (of which one is x4), and two open-ended PCI-E x4. Storage connectivity includes eight SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports, and eSATA. Apart from that, the board features 8-channel HD audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF output, dual gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, and Bluetooth.

The F1A75 is perhaps the first socket FM1 motherboard in the ATX form-factor, made by ASUS, to come to light. It appears to be an entry-mid category model, with not too many bells and whistles. The FM1 socket supports AMD A-Series APUs, it is powered by a 6-phase VRM, backed by ASUS EPU. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory. Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, a PCI-E x16 with x4 bandwidth, two PCI-E x1, and three PCI. It comes as utter surprise to us that this board lacks display connectivity. What were they thinking? All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A75 chipset are internal. There are four USB 3.0 ports, including two via header. Other connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and a number of USB 2.0 ports.

The A75A-G35 caught our attention at the MSI booth, a slim ATX socket FM1 motherboard based on the AMD A75 chipset. Supporting the AMD A-series accelerated processing units, the A75A-G35 uses a simple 3+1 phase VRM to power the APU, the board features just two DDR3 DIMM slots, but supports dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory. Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, a PCI-Express x16 running at x4 speed, three PCI-E x1, and two legacy PCI.

Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A75 FCH are assigned as internal ports. Other connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and USB 3.0. The A75A-G35 uses UEFI and ClickBIOS GUI-driven setup program, and Winki 3 desktop manager.

Recently, ASUS released the Maximus IV Extreme-Z, a variant of the Maximus IV Extreme motherboard, based on Intel Z68 chipset. The original is based on Intel P67. ASUS' premium micro-ATX motherboard, the Maximus IV Gene got the same treatment, with Gene-Z. Back when ASUS was designing its Republic of Gamers lineup for socket LGA1155, P67 was the premium discrete-graphics chipset, which was later dethroned by Z68, which gives you everything P67 does, plus access to the processor's integrated graphics (letting you use Intel QuickSync), and Intel Smart Response SSD caching technology.

The Maximus IV Gene-Z uses a design very similar to its predecessor. The LGA1155 socket is powered by an impressive 12-phase Digi+ Extreme Engine VRM, 2-phase VRM for the dual-channel DDR3 memory, supporting speeds as high as DDR3-2000 MHz. Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (x16/NC or x8/x8), supporting NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFire; and an open-ended PCI-E x4. ASUS managed to pack in two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and connectivity that includes SupremeFX X-Fi 8-channel audio, eSATA, gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, and HDMI 1.4a (the lone display connector). ASUS nearly all ROG-exclusive features such as consolidated voltage measurement points, iROG, ROG UEFI, etc.

With the "entry level" of its socket LGA2011 lineup, ASUS is making a return to its signature gold-colored PCB with the C1X79 EVO. Based on the Intel X79 Express chipset, the board provides a basic feature-set sticking to whatever the chipset provides. The LGA2011 socket is powered by a simple 6+1 phase VRM, the two DDR3 DIMM slots are located on either sides of the socket in groups of two, and are powered by a 4-phase VRM.

Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (electrical x16/x16/NC or x16/x8/x8, depending on whether the third slot is populated), two PCI-E x1, and an open-ended PCI-E x4. All 10 of the SATA 6 Gb/s ports provided by the X79 chipset are assigned as internal ports, apart from four additional 3 Gb/s ports. That aside, there's little in terms of connectivity, with just the 8+2 channel HD audio, dual gigabit Ethernet, and a couple of USB 3.0 ports. The board uses ASUS' UEFI setup program with EZMode. We're not entirely sure if the production version of this board sticks to the golden PCB color, let's hope it does.

Here is the first picture of GA-X79A-UD3, the first Gigabyte-branded socket LGA2011 motherboard. Based on the Intel X79 Express chipset, the board supports upcoming Sandy Bridge-E enthusiast processors in the LGA2011 package. Mind you, this is just the cheapest LGA2011 board from Gigabyte, there is a higher-end line of X79 motherboards, so don't let the unspectacular looks of the UD3 get you.

The GA-X79A-UD3 is a standard ATX sized motherboard. Its main VRM is spread all around the large CPU socket, in what appears to be a 6-phase design, with an unknown number of memory and uncore phases. LGA2011 processors feature a large quad-channel DDR3 memory controller, along with a northbridge uncore component with a 40-lane PCI-Express 3.0 controller. Those amount to the socket's insane pin-count of 2,011 pins. Memory slots are located in pairs of two on either sides of the socket. Each slot is its own 64-bit wide memory channel.

Bigfoot Networks, the technology company behind the Killer line of high-performance networking products, today at Computex announced that ASUS has expanded its line of Killer E2100-based motherboards with their new ROG Crosshair V Formula/ThunderBolt Motherboard.

The new ASUS ROG Crosshair V Formula/ThunderBolt Motherboard supports AMD FX Series CPUs with up to 8-cores, DDR3 Memory with overclocking speeds up to 2133 MHz, multi-GPU technology for CrossFireX and NVIDIA SLI, 8-ch HD, SupremeFX X-Fi 2 audio from Creative Labs and more. Powered by Bigfoot Networks' Killer E2100 networking platform and a host of other gaming-centric features, this AMD FX-based motherboard combines innovative design and technical intelligence to make the PC gaming experience more rewarding and accessible. This is the second motherboard offering from ASUS to incorporate Killer E2100 gaming network capabilities, preceded by the ROG Rampage III Black Edition.

Gigabyte has been working on the idea of shipping socket LGA1155 motherboards based on Intel Z68 chipset with mSATA slots, to accommodate Intel 311 Series "Larson Creek" cache SSDs that come in mSATA form-factor. The company did release a number of its latest boards with the slot, including GA-Z68XP-UD3, GA-Z68XP-D3, GA-Z68AP-D3 and GA-Z68P-DS3. Now Gigabyte took the idea to its next logical step, bundling an Intel 311 Series 20 GB SSD with the motherboard (since consumers might find mSATA SSDs at little hard to find in the market). The small SSD serves as a high-speed cache which comes into use when Intel Smart Response acceleration is enabled.

The GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD is a variant of the GA-Z68XP-UD3, with the "-iSSD" suffix denoting the bundled SSD. The board comes with the 20 GB mSATA SSD pre-installed into its slot. That aside, the GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD is a fairly straightforward Z68 implementation, with 7-phase CPU VRM, dual-channel DDR3-2133 MHz memory support by overclocking, two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (x8/x8 with both populated) supporting SLI and CrossFireX; four SATA 6 Gb/s, four 3 Gb/s ports; HDMI 1.4a display output, Lucid Virtu support, 8-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports, and FireWire.

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced the production of a Dominator GTX 8GB dual-channel DDR3 kit guaranteed to operate at 2400MHz, with latency settings of 9-11-10-30, at a memory voltage of 1.65V.

The 2400MHz kits are the result of a painstaking four-stage component screening process which is passed by fewer than one in 20 memory ICs. Qualification is performed on an Intel P55 motherboard, using the same rigorous test cycle applied to the rest of Corsair's Memory product line.

AMD was a little too early in May with its monthly Catalyst driver release, with the Catalyst 11.5 WHQL reaching the web as early as 9th May (typically monthly Catalyst updates are released after the 24th). On the same date, AMD also released its first hotfix update for the Catalyst 11.5, the 11.5a Hotfix Update, which packed a number of game-specific performance improvements. Today, the company released its second such update for the month, with Catalyst 11.5b Hotfix.

The update is rushed in to fix a number of issues found with the recently-released game, Brink. It also fixes a number of non-gaming application issues, particularly related to media decoding. In the process, the driver also brings with it a number of game-specific performance improvements, games including Civilization 5, Dead Rising 2, Fallout 3, Mafia 2, NBA 2010, ShenGuiChuanQi, Starcraft 2, Warcraft III, World of Warcraft, and Dirt 3.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 11.5b Hotfix Update.

A complete list of changes follows:

When Intel's Sandy Bridge platform was launched, P67 Express was perceived as the top of the line discrete graphics chipset that gives performance segment users everything they'll ever need. ASUS hence based its prestigious ROG Maximus branded motherboard based on it, and came up with the Maximus IV series. With Intel releasing a higher-end chipset with the Z68 Express, ASUS decided to redo its socket LGA1155 ROG motherboard lineup, with the Maximus IV Extreme-Z. The new motherboard gives users access to the processors' embedded graphics via a HDMI port, and gives them the benefit of Intel Smart Response technology that P67 lacks.

The Maximus IV Extreme-Z looks similar to its P67-based cousin. Based on the Intel Z68 chipset, the motherboard uses an NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chip to ensure PCI-Express connectivity to up to four graphics cards, supporting NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX. The CPU is powered by ASUS Digi+ Extreme VRM, backed by high-grade components and proadlizers to condition power. There are four DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3-2000 MHz memory by overclocking. Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (x16/NC/x16/NC or x8/x8/x8/x8), there's also a PCI-E x1 and open-ended PCI-E x4.

AMD's new Fusion A-Series "Llano" accelerated processing unit (APU) is shaping up to be a credible home and entertainment platform, but it is also carrying the responsibility of making it to office spaces. Part of that initiative would rest with the motherboard manufacturers to come up with inexpensive and durable sub-$100 motherboards that can be bought and deployed in bulk. Enter the Gigabyte A75M-UD2H. This micro-ATX form-factor motherboard relies entirely on the platform's feature-set.

The FM1 APU socket is powered by a simple 4+1 phase VRM, it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory. Of the four expansion slots, there's one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, a PCI-E x16 that's electrical x4, and one each of PCI-E x1 and legacy PCI. To further make for its business PC outlook, there are headers for legacy ports such as LPT and COM (for dot-matrix printers in banks, etc.).

Club 3D today announced a new GeForce GTS 450 graphics card that comes with 2 GB of DDR3 memory instead of its standard 1 GB GDDR5. The memory is installed across a 128-bit wide memory interface. Club 3D's card bears a standard-looking design with a green, full-height PCB, and simple fan-heatsink with radially-projecting aluminum fins and a fan to ventilate it. There's an SLI finger to provide 2-way SLI support.

The Club 3D GTS 450 2 GB varries clock speeds of 700 MHz core, 1400 MHz CUDA cores, and 1200 MHz memory. The DirectX 11 compliant GPU packs 192 CUDA cores. Display output connectivity includes one each of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI 1.4a. NVIDIA 3DVision Surround is supported with two of these cards installed in SLI. Club 3D did not give out pricing information.

Here are some of the first proper pictures of ASUS ROG Crosshair V Formula motherboard, a set of press-shots leaked to the Czech press, which has since been retracted. The ROG Crosshair V Formula comes in two packages, with and without ASUS Thunderbolt card (an addon card by ASUS that provides Bigfoot Killer NIC and Sound Blaster X-Fi hardware-accelerated audio). The Crosshair V made its first appearance with a box-shot disclosure by NVIDIA announcing SLI on AMD chipset motherboards; later a table listing out specifications of some of ASUS' fist socket AM3+ motherboard was published.

The Crosshair V Formula is a socket AM3+ motherboard based on AMD 990FX + SB950 chipset, supporting AMD's upcoming FX-series processors based on the Bulldozer architecture. It combines the best features ASUS has to offer, targeting both gamers and overclockers. The AM3+ socket is powered by a strong 10-phase Digi+ Extreme Engine VRM, it supports dual-channel DDR3 memory with speeds of over DDR3-2133 MHz. Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 2.0 x16, which configure as x16/x16/NC or x16/x8/x8, with the fourth slot being electrical x4, wired to the southbridge. NVIDIA 3-way SLI and AMD CrossFireX are supported.

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.

ASRock just couldn't hold its rocks. The third-largest motherboard company released the first picture of its upcoming socket FM1 motherboard that supports AMD's upcoming performance A-series accelerated processing units. The ASRock A75 Extreme6 as it's called, is based on AMD's Hudson-D3 A75 single-chip chipset. With the northbridge component completely relocated to the APU die, what's left of the chipset is a little more than a southbridge. The 905-pin socket is significantly different from the 940-odd pin sockets from AMD in recent times, though its cooler retention brackets haven't essentially changed. So most AM3-supportive coolers should fit on FM1.

The FM1 socket is powered by a 10-phase VRM, it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory support; and to two of the three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots. The first two PCI-E x16 slots switch to electrical x8 when both are populated. The third slot is electrical x4, and wired to the chipset. Expect a big chop in CPU to discrete GPU latencies. Other slots include one PCI-E x1, and three PCI.

Acer unveiled its latest Aspire One netbook, the AAO Happy 2. Priced at the lower-end of the spectrum at 299 Euro, the AAO Happy 2 is an entry-level 10.1-inch netbook with conventional AAO styling, including the water-drop graphic. It is available in a variety of lid colors, including Banana Cream, Blueberry Shake, Papaya Milk, Strawberry Yogurt, as Acer puts them. It is driven by Intel Atom N570 (1 MB L2 cache, 1.66 GHz, DDR3 667 MHz, 8.5 W), or N455/N475 (512 KB L2 cache, 1.66/1.83 GHz, DDR3 667 MHz, 6.5 W) processor, with 1 GB or 2 GB of single-channel DDR3 memory.

The 10.1-inch screen provides resolution of 1024x600 pixels, and is LED-backlit illuminated. Storage is care of a 250 or 320 GB HDD, and a multi-format card reader. Connectivity is care of WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0+, and optional 3.5G HSDPA. A VGA webcam, and 6-cell 48 Wh 4400 mAh battery top up the list. The Acer Aspire One Happy 2 netbook starts at 299 Euro.

Lenovo announced today the ThinkCentre Edge 91z all-in-one (AIO) desktop - the first PC in the ThinkCentre Edge family - that blends sophisticated image, purposeful function and productivity into a small, subcompact model. Equipped with up to Intel i7 Quad Core processors, the ThinkCentre Edge 91z AIO makes its debut as the industry's most powerful AIO, as well as the thinnest, measuring just 2.5 inches. It makes an ideal office or home tool for small-to- medium businesses, education customers and power professionals looking for style and high performance with the convenience of a small footprint.

"Until recently, all-in-one desktops lacked the powerful performance many desktop users need, but the ThinkCentre Edge 91z all-in-one turns the paradigm on its head with supercharged processing power and robust graphics all in a sporty and stylish design," said Tom Shell, vice president, ThinkCentre Marketing, Lenovo. "It forms a unique combination of style and substance, outpacing the competition in performance, fast boot up, serviceability and price."

One of AMD's design goals for its Fusion architecture must have been its application in mobile processors, where AMD isn't the brightest in terms of energy efficiency. The company's fastest product for the notebook platform is based on the Llano silicon, will release in 2011, and is a quad-core APU. Enter the AMD A8-3530MX.

Built on the 32 nm process with FS1 package, the A8-3530MX is an accelerated processing unit (APU), it combines a quad-core processor with a powerful GPU and northbridge component. With a default clock speed of 1.90 GHz and TurboCore speed of 2.60 GHz, the A8-3530MX packs 4 MB of L2 cache, and a dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory controller, that also supports DDR3L-1333 MHz.

The GPU component is the DirectX 11 compliant AMD Radeon HD 6620G, with 400 stream processors, and engine clock speed of 444 MHz. To drive it, the northbridge component is entirely integrated into the APU, which packs a PCI-Express 2.0 hub to support discrete graphics. Despite so much machinery, the top-of-the-line chip maintains a TDP of 45W (common for notebook quad-core chips).

BIOSTAR MICROTECH INT'L CORP., A professional manufacturer of motherboards, introduces Intel Z68 chipset based motherboard that supports Intel 2nd generation Sandy Bridge processor family, it is special designed for advanced gamers and overclocking fans. BIOSTAR "TZ68A+", the only solution supports both built-in graphics and external overclocking among Intel Sandy Bridge processors; it is also equipped with Lucid Virtu GPU Virtualization - a dynamic switching between built-in processor graphics and high-end 3D performance discrete graphics cards. Moreover, it also fully supports Intel Smart Response Technology - enabling SSD like performance with HDD capacity.

Here is the first picture of the M5A99X EVO, an upcoming socket AM3+ motherboard by ASUS based on the AMD 990X + SB950 chipset designed AMD's FX-Series "Zambezi" 8-core, 6-core, and 4-core procesors. The AMD 990X is designed for discrete graphics with up to two graphics cards in CrossFireX. It is likely that the final iteration has NVIDIA SLI support out of the box. The AM3+ Black socket is powered by 8-phase Digi+ VRM, cooled by a large heatsink that sits next to the northbridge heatsink. ASUS came up with a new heatsink design theme. While the P8P67 series uses heatsinks with curvy/wavy fins, the M5A series uses sharp edges.

The AMD 990X northbridge gives out 16 PCI-Express 2.1 lanes split between two x16 slots. When both slots are populated, the graphics cards run on x8 bandwidth. The third black x16 slot is wired to the SB950 southbridge, and is likely x4. Other slots include two PCI-Express x1 and a PCI. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the SB950 southbridge that support RAID 0, 1, 0+1, 5, 10 modes; a third-party controller drives two additional SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports. We don't know if there's another such controller handling eSATA.

Today AMD released to market its latest quad-core processor, the Pheonom II X4 980 Black Edition. The new, faster SKU was first reported to be taking shape back in March. Based on the 45 nm "Deneb" silicon and K10.5 architecture, the X4 980 BE is yet another speed-bump, clocked at 3.70 GHz (18.5 x 200 MHz), with room for some overclocking thanks to its unlocked BClk multiplier.

The Deneb die packs four x86-64 cores with 512 KB caches each, and a shared 6 MB L3 cache. Despite its high clock speed, the processor maintains TDP of 125W. Its IMC supports dual-channel DDR3/DDR2 memory, and is backwards compatible with AM2+ socket apart from its native AM3 socket. HyperTransport 4 GT/s is its chipset interconnect. The new processor is priced at US $195.

Elpida Memory, Inc., Japan's leading global supplier of Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), today announced it had developed a 2-gigabit DDR3 SDRAM using an industry-leading 25nm process for memory manufacturing. Using the most advanced process technology available Elpida has achieved the industry's smallest chip size for a 2-gigabit SDRAM.

The newly developed 25nm DRAM process technology requires 30% less cell area per bit compared with Elpida's 30nm process. The chip output for a 2-gigabit DDR3 SDRAM wafer using the new process is about 30% higher versus 30nm.

The GS-AH6G3N embeds the new LGA1155 Intel platform for mobile products, with the most powerful and efficient processor and chipset for a reliable and durable business notebook. Designed for professional end users, our product includes all the most important features required by a utilization in a business environment. The GS-AH6G3N is therefore a very versatile business notebook, with the highest standard of performance and quality from GIGABYTE. It is nevertheless a stylish product, with an excellent design and ultra-thin profile, as well as a very light weight and a large power autonomy for the smoothest mobility. With its high value features, the GS-AH6G3N has everything to be the best work tool for your daily business life.

The GS-AH6G3N offers all the important features that e good business notebook should have. Probably the most critical feature, the GS-AH6G3N has a power autonomy of about 7 hours, which can be extended to 10 hours with a second battery docked in the swappable ODD bay (this bay can also dock a second HDD).

Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the new HyperX Plug and Play (PnP) series of high-performance enthusiast memory. HyperX PnP are the first modules to scale the higher memory heights that are a part of the second generation Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs. The memory is programmed with faster frequencies and when 'plugged' into a system using the Sandy Bridge chipset, will automatically 'play' at either 1600MHz or 1866MHz in both desktop and notebook PCs.

The modules are programmed using JEDEC-compliant settings, allowing 1600MHz and 1866MHz frequency support. It is as simple as plugging in the memory and turning on the machine, as the system automatically recognizes faster memory speed with no further BIOS settings required. Users will notice performance gains as overclocking is automatic with the HyperX Plug and Play modules. In addition, the modules are backwards compatible with previously released DDR3 systems on the market.