GeIL launched its flagship EVO-X line of high-performance DDR4 memory modules featuring RGB LED lighting, which it unveiled at the 2017 International CES, earlier this year. The modules feature a diffused RGB LED lighting element that takes input from most RGB LED standards over 4-pin headers, such as ASUS Aura Sync, ASRock Aura RGB, MSI Mystic Light Sync, and GIGABYTE RGB Fusion. The modules feature two inputs, one on either side. One plugs into a 4-pin RGB LED header, and the other draws additional power from a 9V/12V power source, such as a fan header.

Internally, the LED lighting element is placed on a separate PCB from the actual DRAM module, so there's no scope for electrical interference that can destabilize the memory. The modules come in 4 GB, 8 GB, and 16 GB densities, and in a wide range of speeds and timing combinations, including DDR4-2133, DDR4-2400, DDR4-3000, DDR4-3466, DDR4-4000, and DDR4-4133. The modules further come in single-module and dual-channel kits; and with two heatspreader color options - glossy white and matte black. The company didn't reveal pricing.

BIOSTAR is proud to announce the newest entry in its RACING Series family of high-performance motherboard with its debut entry for AMD with the BIOSTAR RACING X370 and B350 motherboard line up. Featuring the latest 2nd-generation RACING Series technology, the race to the future has just become more intense with support for the new AMD RYZEN processors.

True to the legacy of the BIOSTAR RACING series, the new motherboards for the Super 5 concept as well as the BIOSTAR's revolutionary VIVID LED Armor and 5050 LED Fun Zone. In conjunction with this are BIOSTAR's new improvement to component stability and performance with its new feature of Digital Power+ for overclocking and M.2 Cooling Protection. Also debuting with this model is the FLY.NET network performance software that works in tandem with the new DRAGON gaming LAN solution designed for gamers that want absolute network performance without lag when every second counts.

Team Group, the world's leading memory brand, today officially announces the launch of the popular ASUS ROG certified memory product, the T-FORCE DARK memory. ROG (Republic Of Gamers) is a gaming brand established in 2006. It represents the ultimate performance and top quality that gamers around the world keep pursuing. Team Group's T-FORCE DARK memory is rigorously tested and certified by ASUS officials to obtain the ROG certification. Together with ASUS motherboards, the consumers can have all the top gaming hardware at once to fully enjoy an extreme gaming and entertainment experience.

T-FORCE DARK is both unique and eye catching thanks to its unique feature of being the first and only to utilize a four-piece heat-spreader in the industry. In addition to advancing from previous two-piece heat spreaders, it also adds a combination of two more arched fins to increase radiating area and provide up to 8% better dissipation performance than traditional heat spreaders. Besides ROG certification and performance improvements, its killer look of a dark knight's armor is combined with ROG's unique elements such as the ROG abstract patterns together with the mighty ROG log. Consumers can freely choose from the eye catching colors of black and red, or the calming colors of black and grey to build up the perfect gaming memory.

Benchmarks have leaked on AMD's upcoming Ryzen CPUs, and if accurate, these are the ones that will change the name of the game from "Hype Train" to "Reality Check". Part of a verified Passmark entry, the test system consisted of an AMD Ryzen 8-core, 16-thread ES clocked at 3.4 GHz (which puts it closely on the Ryzen 7 1700X territory, though it isn't known whether Turbo to its rated 3.8 GHz was active or not), seated on an entry-level MSI A320 AM4 motherboard (absent of overclocking functionality) and 16GB of 2400MHz DDR4 memory.

The tests include integer math, floating point performance, prime numbers, encryption, compression, sorting, SSE performance and physics. The AMD Ryzen 7 1700X outperformed every other CPU in 5 out of the 8 tests, including Intel's fastest 8-core chip, the $1099 Broadwell-E i7 6900K. When put side by side against Intel's slightly less expensive $999 8 core extreme edition Haswell-E i7 5960X, Ryzen was faster in 6 out of the 8 tests. The 1700X showed particularly good performance in integer math and encryption, workloads typically associated with server workloads (and where the bulk of the profit is).

Apparently some Bitcoin miners haven't moved on to ASIC-based mining rigs. For these, BIOSTAR unveiled the TB250-BTC, a motherboard with a number of PCI-Express slots, so you can cram in as many GPUs/ASIC cards as possible. Since mining isn't a bandwidth-heavy application, a number of PCI-Express 3.0 x1 slots besides an x16 slot wired to the CPU, should live up to the task. The TB250-BTC is built in the ATX form-factor, and is based on the Intel B250 Express chipset, with support for Core "Kaby Lake" processors out of the box.

The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, a SATA-power, and two optional 4-pin Molex power connectors, to stabilize power delivery to the add-on cards. It uses a simple 7-phase VRM to condition power for the CPU, which is wired to two DDR4 DIMM slots, and one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports and one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. 6-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet driven by a Realtek RTL8111H controller, make for the rest of it.

MSI, world leading in gaming motherboard innovation, is thrilled to announce four new ARCTIC white GAMING motherboards, the Z270/H270 TOMAHAWK & H270M/B250M MORTAR ARCTIC, are added to the Arsenal GAMING Series. The second generation of ARCTIC models not only inherited the spirit of the unique ARCTIC design, it also adopted a plethora of features from other 200 series GAMING motherboards for an improved gaming experience. Enjoy never seen before low latency online gaming with MSI GAMING LAN, while benefiting from enhanced, studio grade sound with Audio Boost. Featuring heavy plated heat sinks, fully styled to perfectly match the ARCTIC look and feel, the new ARCTIC motherboards are ready to conquer the battlefield.

MSI is giving finishing touches to its Z270 Gaming Plus motherboard. Positioned around the $120-140 mark, the Z270 Gaming Plus covers the essentials, but lacks support for NVIDIA SLI, with its second PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot being electrical x4, and wired to the Z270 PCH. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors; and conditions it for the CPU using a simple 7-phase VRM. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, and a single PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot.

The MSI Z270 Gaming Plus features a red LED lighting element. Storage connectivity includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and a 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. There are no 10 Gb/s USB 3.1 ports, you get eight 5 Gb/s USB 3.0 ports (four on the rear panel, four by headers). Display outputs include one each of DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Networking is care of a single gigabit Ethernet interface, driven by an Intel-made controller. The 8-channel HD audio solution features a 90 dBA SNR CODEC, ground-layer isolation, and electrolytic capacitors over the front output. The board will be available later this week.

GIGABYTE today introduced the B250M-Gaming 5 motherboard. This micro-ATX socket LGA1151 board is targeted at performance-segment gaming PC builds, and features full RGB lighting over two multi-color LED elements near the CPU socket, and a multi-color LED lighting strip near the ATX power connector. There are also LEDs under the PCH heatsink and the audio ground layer isolation strip. The board is based on the Intel B250 Express chipset, and lacks support for CPU overclocking, or NVIDIA SLI. The CPU socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots (reinforced), and one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. The second x16 slot is gen 3.0 x4 and wired to the PCH. Two other gen 3.0 x1 slots make for the rest of the expansion area.

Storage connectivity on the B250M-Gaming 5 includes six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and a 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. Display outputs include DVI and HDMI. Networking is care of a single gigabit Ethernet interface, driven by an Intel-made controller. GIGABYTE deployed its AMP-UP onboard audio solution, with an 8-channel HD audio CODEC that boasts of 120 dBA SNR, a headphones amp, audio-grade electrolytic capacitors, and ground-layer isolation. USB ports include four USB 3.1 ports (two on the rear panel, including a type-C port, and two ports through headers); and six USB 3.0 ports. Other features include GIGABYTE's dual-UEFI BIOS. The company didn't reveal pricing, although one could expect this one to be priced around the $100 mark.

Hot on the heels of AMD Ryzen, Intel is planning to launch the pro-consumer targeted Xeon Gold line of processors. The company is reportedly "freaked out" at the cost/performance of AMD Ryzen R7-1800X in creative productivity applications, and is preparing a new line of processors targeting that niche of the market, which uses MacPro desktops and media production workstations using HEDT processors, but needs a bit of "reliability." The Xeon Gold series will be based on the 14 nm "Skylake-EP" silicon, and will feature up to 18 CPU cores. The first model in the series is the Xeon Gold 6150.

The Xeon Gold 6150 features 18 CPU cores, with HyperThreading enabling 36 logical CPUs. Intel increased the L2 cache amount per core to 1 MB, from 256 KB found on other implementations of the "Skylake" architecture. The chip features 25,344 KB (24.75 MB) of shared L3 cache. The core clock speed is 2.70 GHz, with a maximum Turbo Boost frequency of 3.70 GHz. The chip features a quad-channel DDR4 memory interface. Going by its specs, the Xeon Gold 6150 will clearly occupy a higher market segment than the Ryzen R7-1800X, but could lure orders from the likes of Apple, for its next-generation MacPro workstations.

Crosshair is the brand that kicked off ASUS' coveted Republic of Gamers (ROG) series. The NVIDIA nForce chipset based ROG Crosshair socket AM2 motherboard was the board to have, in AMD's hayday as the leader in CPU performance. Over the years, the Crosshair brand received lesser love from ASUS, as AMD's chipset releases became infrequent, due to the company's slower CPU product development cycle than Intel. With the new socket AM4 platform and its companion AMD X370 chipset for the high-end segment, ASUS is back with a Crosshair branded motherboard, the ROG Crosshair VI Hero. It's interesting that ASUS chose not to give it the "Formula," "Extreme" or "Apex" extensions, and instead with the "Hero" extension it reserves for the $200-230 ROG branded boards.

Nevertheless, the ROG Crosshair VI Hero looks to be one of the most elaborately designed socket AM4 motherboards, and will compete with the likes of the Aorus AX370 Gaming 5 and the MSI X370 XPower Gaming Titanium. Built in the ATX form-factor, the Crosshair VI Hero draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and 4-pin ATX power connectors, and conditions it for the CPU with a 12-phase VRM. The board features a "monochromatic design," so you can deck it up with your own LED lighting. It does feature RGB LED headers, with support for ASUS Aura Sync platform. The board has its own diagnostic LEDs that guide you through the POST sequence. Besides the ROG stylized chipset and CPU VRM heatsinks, the board features plastic I/O shield covers that run the length of the board.

There will be no respite from the rising prices of DRAM chips over 2017, according to a report by Taiwan-based industry observer DigiTimes. Prices of DRAM chips directly affect DDR4 memory modules. Pei-Ing Lee, president of Nanya Technology, a DRAM maker, said that DRAM prices will continue to rally (rise) over the second quarter of 2017, but could stabilize (not necessarily fall) over the second half of the year.

The stability of DRAM prices could still depend on the capex plans of major DRAM manufacturers. The rise in DRAM prices is being attributed to tight supply. Nanya is upgrading its production lines to the new 20 nm node, with early production by the end of Q1-2017. Prices of consumer DDR4 memory modules have nearly doubled over the past six months. A typical 32 GB dual-channel DDR4 memory kit, which could be had for a little over USD $90 in Summer 2016, is now priced around $170.

BIOSTAR is proud to announce its line-up of new motherboards based on the Intel B250 chipset as part of the 2nd-generation RACING series family of products with the announcement of the BIOSTAR RACING B250GT5 and B250GT3. Both motherboards support Intel's 7th-generation Core processors as well as native support for Intel Optane Memory technology for next-generation high-speed storage.

BIOSTAR is proud to announce the full line-up for the new 2nd-generation RACING series motherboards featuring support for Intel's 7th-generation Core processors. Following the announcement last week of the flagship RACING Z270GT9, today BIOSTAR proudly announces the different level products of the new RACING series family with the introduction of the RACING Z270GT8, RACING Z270GT6 and RACING Z270GT4 motherboards featuring the latest technology from BIOSTAR inspired by the quest for the best in gaming features. The 2nd-gen RACING series Z270 motherboard lineup brings a new level of gaming experience and performance-oriented motherboards to gamers and enthusiasts.

At CES 2017, ASRock showcased one of the most interesting PCs in attendance - particularly if you think interest is inversely affected by size. The name they gave it was DeskMini, and it ushers in a Micro-STX form factor, measuring only 210 mm x 157.5 mm x 81.9 mm. But mini-PCs are many these days. What makes this one so interesting?

Well, it's the fact that this seems to embody the perfect proportions - and compromise - between a high-powered PC and a puny NUC or Mini-PC. For one, it carries any choice of a Celeron/Pentium/i3/i5/i7 Intel processor on the socket 1151 (up to a i7 7700K); supports up to a max of 32 GB DDR4 at 2400 MHz on 2x SO-DIMM slots; features 2x SATA III ports (with power connectors) and 3x M.2 ports (two of which support Type 2280/2260 M.2 PCIe Gen 3x4 or a SATA SSD, while the other supports only a PCIe Gen3x4-based SSD); and your choice of either an NVIDIA GTX 1060 (on the GTX series) or an AMD RX 460/470/480 on the (aptly named) RX series.

At CES 2017, ECS showcased a number of ultra-compact form-factor PCs. basically building upon their previous LIVA family releases, the new LIVA feature either Intel's Apollo Lake SoCs (with Celeron Processors N3350 / N3450 / N4200 and 6 W TDP) on the Z and ZE, or Intel's Kaby Lake-U processors (Intel Core i3-7100U / i5-7200U / i7-7500U and 15W TDP) on the Z Plus.

The Z Plus is obviously the most powerful of the lot, supporting DDR4 memory (the Z and ZE support only DDR3), having better integrated graphics (Intel's HD 620 versus the Intel HD 500/500 on the Z and ZE models), and having an expected extra energy consumption (an external 65 W adapter on the Z Plus versus a 40 W external adapter on the other two models).

Kingston showed off its HyperX Predator LED DDR4 memory, featuring RGB multi-color LED lighting elements lining the top of the modules. At this point it's not clear how the colors and lighting schemes are set, but from the looks of it, these seem to support ASUS Aura Sync software. The modules feature soft-glow prismatic bars. The company is initially launching these modules in DDR4-3000 MHz speeds, in densities of 8 GB and 16 GB, and in dual-channel kits. It didn't mention pricing or availability.

GeIL showed off its EVO-X series of high-end DDR4 memory, featuring RGB multi-colored LED lighting elements, lining the top of the modules. These DIMMs plug into a control module (included), which takes inputs from an RF remote control, that lets you set color and lighting pattern for each of the DIMMs. The EVO-X series will come in densities of 8 GB and 16 GB, in white and black heatspreader colors, in various DDR4 frequencies, and in dual- and quad-channel kits, making up for dozens of SKUs.

Here are some of the first pictures of Corsair Vengeance RGB series DDR4 memory. Built on the same product design as the Vengeance RGB series the company launched at Computex 2016 (June), these DIMMs feature RGB LED lighting elements, with software control directly through the DIMM interface, without needing any additional wires or physical button pushes. Each DIMM can display a single color from the 16.7 million-color RGB palette at a given time. These DIMMs could come in densities of 8 GB and 16 GB, and in various DDR4 speeds, and in single-module, dual-channel, and quad-channel kits.

GIGABYTE showed off four socket AM4 motherboards, designed for the upcoming AMD Ryzen processors and 7th gen. A-series APUs, at its 2017 CES booth. The lineup begins with the AB350M-D3H, an entry-level micro-ATX board based on the mid-tier B350 chipset; the mid-range AB350-Gaming 3, the mid-high segment AX370-Gaming K5, and the AX370-Gaming 5. The AB350-D3H covers the basics, with a 7-phase VRM, one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot wired to the AM4 socket, a second x16 slot that's electrical x4 and wired to the B350 chipset, one legacy PCI slot; one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot and six SATA 6 Gb/s ports (from which two are directly wired to the AM4 socket); and connectivity that includes 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.1 (10 Gb/s) ports, DVI, HDMI 2.0, and DisplayPort.

Moving up the ladder, the AB350-Gaming 3 is a gaming-grade board in the ATX form-factor, featuring a red+black color scheme. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors; conditioning it for the CPU with a 7-phase VRM. The APU is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, and one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. Other expansion slots include two x16 slots that are electrical x4, and two x1 slots. Storage connectivity includes one 32 Gb/s M.2 and six SATA 6 Gb/s ports (from which two are low-latency ports). Display outputs include DVI, DisplayPort, and HDMI. USB connectivity includes two USB 3.1 (10 Gb/s) ports, and six USB 3.0 ports. GIGABYTE deployed its gaming-grade AMPUp! onboard audio solution with a 115 dBA SNR CODEC, ground-layer isolation, audio-grade capacitors, a headphones amp, and gold-plated audio jacks. Network is care of an Intel-made gigabit Ethernet controller.

A sight for sore eyes at the MSI CES booth was its top-grade socket AM4 motherboard, the X370 XPower Gaming Titanium. This board is positioned in the company's Gaming Enthusiast series, and comes with all the bells and whistles you'd expect from a high-end desktop platform. It is based on AMD's top-dog X370 chipset, and supports AMD Ryzen processors out of the box. Designed for both high-end gaming builds and CPU overclockers, the board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and 4-pin ATX connectors, and uses a 10-phase VRM to condition it for the AM4 socket. The board also takes in power from an optional 6-pin PCIe power connector, which can be plugged in to stabilize multi-GPU VGA overclocks.

The star-attraction, however, is the silvery-white PCB, with matching connectors. The AM4 socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots, and two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x8/x8 when both are populated). The board supports NVIDIA SLI-HB and CrossFireX. The third x16 slot is electrical x4, and wired to the X370 chipset. Storage connectivity includes two 32 Gb/s M.2 slots, one 32 Gb/s U.2 port, and six SATA 6 Gb/s ports (from which two are directly wired to the processor). The board also serves up four USB 3.1 ports (including a type-C port), eight USB 3.0 ports, MSI's highest-tier onboard audio solution, and gigabit Ethernet that's sourced from either Intel or Qualcomm Killer.

Gigabyte announced six new Z270 motherboards as part of its Aorus product line - and all of them feature RGB LED lighting and swappable LED overlays. Apparently, Gigabyte opted for the standardization of their RGB Fusion LED lighting up and down their Aorus product line - all of the boards have at least two areas that are RGB LED backlit, including a space on the right edge beside the RAM slots. This RAM RGB lighting can be removed and replaced with different overlays according to the users' taste, and each motherboard is also equipped with a LED strip header. Dubbed the Z270X-Gaming 9, Z270X-Gaming 8, Z270X-Gaming 7 , Z270X-Gaming K7, Z270X-Gaming 5, and the Z270X-Gaming K5, these Gigabyte Aorus motherboards are quite well-rounded, as you can see after the break.

G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of extreme performance memory and gaming peripherals, announces new high-speed DDR4 memory specifications designed for the latest 7th Gen Intel Core processors and Z270 motherboards under the extreme performance Trident Z series.

With 16GB (8GBx2) and 32GB (8GBx4) kits becoming the mainstream memory capacities in PC systems, 8GB-based kits are in greater demand for higher performance than ever. Upon the launch of Intel's latest Kaby Lake platform, G.SKILL bumps up the maximum frequency speeds to a blistering DDR4-4266MHz at CL19-19-19-39 for 16GB (8GBx2) kits and DDR4-4133MHz CL19-21-21-41 for 32GB (8GBx4) kits.

BIOSTAR is proud to announce its latest motherboard supporting the 7th-generation of Intel Core series processors with the announcement of the BIOSTAR RACING Z270GT9. Featuring the latest Intel Z270 chipset, this motherboard supports LGA1151 processors for the latest in performance and power as well as the best features including support for DDR4-3600+ high-speed memory, six PCI-E x16 3.0 slots, and two USB 3.1 (TYPE A+C) ports amongst others.

Built upon reliability, the new BIOSTAR RACING Z270GT9 features enhanced endurance and stability under intense conditions which is a great advantage for gamers thanks to its improved power design named Digital Power+ which features IR digital PWM controller and PowIRstage IC which offer excellent stability and voltage delivery whilst operating cooler and more reliable under load than competing designs. The BIOSTAR RACING Z270GT9 features 14-phase power design complimented with all solid capacitors for a stable overclocking experience.

German PC enthusiast "Crashtest" clinched a sweet combo of an AMD A12-9800 "Bristol Ridge" socket AM4 APU with an ASUS A320M-C entry-level micro-ATX motherboard, for 200€. Pairing it with 8 GB of dual-channel DDR4-2133 memory, the platform was put through the AIDA64 test-suite. In the memory front, the platform performs on-par with older platforms at comparable DDR3 bandwidth. The K15.6 integrated memory controller isn't producing the kind of memory bandwidth as the Core i7-6700K with dual-channel DDR4-2133 memory from AIDA64's internal reference bench table.

In the CPU-related tests, the APU has about the same performance as its predecessors, such as the A10-7850K. The chip features two "Excavator" x86-64 CPU modules, making up four cores, and is clocked at 4.20 GHz. There are performance upticks seen in tests such as Hash and VP8, where the chip likely benefits from new instruction sets.More results follow.

The picture of a bare PCB of an upcoming GIGABYTE AX370-Gaming series socket AM4 motherboard is doing rounds on the web. The picture reveals the bare PCB of the motherboard with all its traces and printed markings, but at a stage before surface-mount components can be soldered onto it. One can still make out quite a bit about the board. AMD X370 is the company's upcoming high-end desktop chipset, which will be launched alongside the company's Ryzen 8-core processor, some time in February, 2017.

To begin with, the AX370-Gaming K3 is built in the ATX form-factor. Its AM4 socket supports both Ryzen "Summit Ridge" CPUs and 7th generation A-series "Bristol Ridge" APUs. The board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors, and conditions it for the CPU with a 7-phase VRM. The AM4 socket is wired to four DDR4 DIMM slots. Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, a second gen 3.0 x16 slot that's electrical x4, and three other gen 3.0 x1 slots. Storage connectivity appears to include at least eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and one 32 Gb/s M.2 slot. 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.1 (including type-C) ports, appear to make for the rest of the connectivity. GIGABYTE's signature Dual-UEFI is featured.Many Thanks to TheLostSwede and Tomas H. for the tips!