Apart from novelty mini-ITX motherboards, ZOTAC wants to put the expertise in motherboard design it gathered to use by getting into value motherboards segment, probably targeting only emerging markets. A example of this would be the ZT-H67D3 Expreview got its hands on. This micro-ATX form-factor motherboard is based on the Intel H67 chipset, and takes in Core i3/i5/i7 processors in the LGA1155 package. It uses a generous 6-phase VRM to power the CPU, which is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory. The VRM uses basic DPAK MOSFETs, but doesn't skimp out on the capacitors.

Expansion slots include one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16, legacy PCI, and two PCIe x1 slots. SATA ports include two SATA 6 Gb/s (blue), three SATA 3 Gb/s (yellow), and one eSATA 3 Gb/s. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI, DisplayPort, and HDMI (surprisingly, no D-Sub). Other connectivity features include 8-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet. There are no USB 3.0 ports. This board is targeting a price point of 399 RMB (US $63).

Teased by its maker earlier this month, the PowerColor Radeon HD 7970 LCS (Liquid Cooling System) Edition graphics card has found its way onto Overclockers UK's website where it can be found on pre-order priced at £599.99 (~ $951 / ~ 718 Euro).

PowerColor's new, Tahiti-powered card comes equipped with a single-slot EK Nickel Acetal waterblock and features a core clock of 1050 MHz (up from the stock 925 MHz), 2048 Stream Processors, a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM set to 5700 MHz (5500 MHz stock), PCI-Express 3.0, DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL 4.2 support, CrossFireX and Eyefinity capabilities, and four display outputs - one dual-link DVI, one HDMI and two mini DisplayPorts.

The Radeon HD 7970 LCS is backed by a two-year warranty and should start shipping before the end of this month.

Two models from Intel's Desktop Board Executive series of motherboards for office PCs got pictured and detailed by VR-Zone. These socket LGA1155 motherboards are mostly based on Intel 7-series Q77 and B75 chipsets, that provide some manageability, and data security features over the feature-set of H77. Intel has three Executive series models planned, the DQ77MK, the DQ77KB, and DB75EN. Of these, the DQ77MK and DB75EN are built in the micro-ATX form-factor, while the DQ77KB is mini-ITX.

The two micro-ATX parts use a similar PCB layout, with some features differing between the two. The DQ77MK is pictured below, it has all the features a small-business PC will ever need. Expansion slots include one each of PCI-Express x16, PCI-Express x4 (open-ended), PCI-Express x1, and legacy PCI. Storage connectivity includes six SATA (one of which is mSATA, for SSD caching). The PCH gives out four USB 3.0 ports, which are wired two each on the rear-panel and via a header to the front-panel. It uses a simple 5-phase VRM that should be enough to run LGA1155 processors. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel memory. It has a variety of external connectivity.

Today the internationally renowned graphics card and mainboard maker MSI released two new graphics cards. The R7770-2PMD1GD5/OC and R7750-PMD1GD5/OC feature the new Radeon HD 7700 GPU based on AMD's latest 28nm process with support for PCI Express Gen3. Core voltage adjustment is supported by the MSI R7700 graphics card. The R7770-2PMD1GD5/OC GPU core frequency can be overclocked by up to 32.4% using MSI's exclusive Afterburner graphics card overclocking utility to reach an amazing 1.35GHz*! MSI's R7700 series graphics cards also feature a customized dual-fan thermal design that effectively reduces the GPU operating temperature and ensures stable performance. Integrated support for 3D video, high-quality DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 1.4a outputs, along with AMD's exclusive Eyefinity multiple display output technologies make these the perfect choice for enthusiasts.

Some time in 2013, Intel will launch its new processor architecture, codenamed "Haswell", which will go on to succeed "Ivy Bridge". More than an year away from its market entry, Haswell has already been exhaustively documented, but not many got into the details about its embedded graphics processor. That is, until now. A new internal slide sourced by DonanimHaber details the integrated GPU (iGPU), it appears like Intel has solid plans for home users.

To begin with, Haswell's iGPU will be DirectX 11.1 compliant, which means it will take advantage of API optimizations that improve performance, for typical desktop usage scenarios. Apart from support for a new DirectCompute architecture, it will also support OpenCL 1.2, which speeds up certain GPGPU-optimized applications. More importantly, the iGPU will be designed around a new stereoscopic 3D standard called Auto-Stereoscopic 3D (AS3D), which will take the likes of Blu-ray 3D acceleration, stereo 3D photos, etc., to the masses. Currently, it takes at least an entry-level GeForce or Radeon GPU to for acceptable performance with stereo 3D.

As if two custom Radeon HD 7970s (the Vortex and LCS models) aren't enough, PowerColor has today revealed another HD 7970 card that goes beyond AMD's reference design. Seen below, this third custom Radeon HD 7970, likely part of the PCS Series, comes equipped with a dual-slot cooler boasting two fans and (at least) three copper heatpipes, and features 2048 Stream Processors, a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, CrossFireX support, and five display outputs (dual DVI, dual mini DisplayPort, one HDMI).

PowerColor hasn't said anything about the card's clocks or price tag but hopefully those will be revealed later this month.

At the AMD Financial Analyst Day event, Engadget got to take a look at a reference design notebook made by Compal, a high-volume notebook ODM, that's based on AMD's next-generation "Trinity" accelerated processing unit. This reference design is what Compal will send to its downstream OEMs to sample its architecture, features, and performance. The pictures reveal the notebook to be typically-sized, with a thickness of 18 mm, packing a low-voltage variant of the Trinity silicon. It is targeting the $500-600 market, and will be feature-rich, including four "Piledriver" architecture x86-64 cores, Radeon HD 7000M graphics, and the latest-generation connectivity, including USB 3.0, HDMI, and mini-DisplayPort (could this be LightningBolt?).

More Tahiti goodness is coming up as PowerColor has confirmed with a nice clear photo that it's working on a watercooled Radeon HD 7970 card. Dubbed LCS (Liquid Cooling System) HD7970, the card comes equipped with a (single-slot) waterblock from Slovenia's own EK team.

PowerColor's watercooled card also features 2048 Stream Processors, a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM, DVI, HDMI and dual mini DisplayPort outputs, plus DirectX 11.1 capabilities, CrossFireX support, and a PCI-Express 3.0 interface. No word on the card's clocks (yet) but they should be higher than on stock models. Expect more info later this month.

Matrox Graphics Inc. today announced its partnership with Wyse Technology, the global leader in cloud client computing, and the Wyse validation of its Matrox Epica Series graphics cards for the new Wyse Z90DE7 thin client. The Matrox Epica TC20+ dual-monitor and Matrox Epica TC48 quad-monitor add-in boards bring enhanced functionality across a wider range of multi-display configurations to the high-performance Wyse Z90DE7 thin client while maintaining energy efficiency and key thermal requirements. The new co-validated solution provides users with an optimal on-screen workspace experience for unprecedented productivity and workspace real-estate gains in demanding virtual desktop environments.

Tens of thousands people across the world are currently celebrating the Chinese new year as they welcome in the "Year of the Dragon" and Club 3D adds another bang with the introduction of the all brand new Club 3D Radeon HD 7950, followed by the earlier introduction of the Award Winning Radeon HD 7970, the world first 28nm GPU.

With 1792 stream processors, a 384 bit GDDR5 memory bus that provides 3.15 TFLOPs of computing performance, the Club 3D Radeon HD 7950 graphics cards are intended for gamers who never settle. Equipped with AMD Graphics Core Next Architecture and the latest power management technology, this card takes a no-compromise approach to gaming.

Silicon Line GmbH, a leading provider of ultra-low power analog ICs, today announced that it has brought to market the SL82728 and SL82718 ICs targeted at notebooks, ultrabooks and tablets using the latest VESA based Embedded DisplayPort standard. The ICs are used to optically connect the graphics processor to the display and enable the replacement of traditional electrical connectors with optical connectors.

Strong consumer demand for high resolution retina type displays and 3D technology is driving the data rates inside mobile devices ever higher. These extremely high data rates not only generate significant EMI when traditional electrical cables are used to transport the data but also are reaching the limits of the practical capabilities of electrical cables.

Not to be outdone by their US-based brethren, several European stores have jumped the gun and put up for pre-order the (still not officially announced) Radeon HD 7950 aka AMD's second 28 nm-powered graphics card. The listings in Europe reveal three HD 7950s, two that seem to be based on AMD's reference design (one from XFX, one only carrying the AMD brand) and a custom model coming from Gigabyte.

All three cards feature DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL 4.2 support, 1792 Stream Processors, a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM clocked at 5000 MHz, CrossFireX support, and include four display outputs - DVI x 1, HDMI x 1, mini DisplayPort x 2. The 'stock' models have a GPU clock of 800 MHz while Gigabyte's card (GV-R795W3-3GD) is listed with a core clock of 900 MHz (although it may be a typo). The GV-R795W3-3GD also has a blue PCB and a dual-slot, triple-fan (WindForce style) cooler.

Earlier this week at CES 2012 in Las Vegas, ASUS showcased a brand new monitor designed for professional artists and photographers, a 27-inch model called VA278Q that features an LED backlight, an IPS panel, a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, and 178/178 degree viewing angles.

ASUS' widescreen also has a 'Smart Contrast Ratio' of 80,000,000:1, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort connectivity, a stand enabling tilt, pivot, swivel, and height adjustments, and the Splendid Video Intelligence Technology providing six pre-set modes (Theater, Scenery, Gaming, Night View, sRGB, and Standard) that 'optimize colors and image fidelity for the onscreen content'. No word yet about the price tag or availability of the VA278Q.

PowerColor is designing a non-reference Radeon HD 7970 graphics card, complete with its own PCB and cooler designs. For the cooler, PowerColor is designing an updated version of its Vortex II cooler featured on some of its older high-end graphics cards based on Radeon HD 6900 series GPUs. The cooler design is your typical aluminum fin-stack heatsink to which heat is fed by four 8 mm thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes. Ventilation is handled by two 80 mm fans, the frames of these fans are threaded and can be twisted to adjust the distance between the fan and the heatsink, adjusting its air-flow.

PowerColor also has a custom-design PCB to go with it, only the prototype pictured has no Tahiti GPU sitting on it, but PowerColor at least has a board design of its own at hand. The PCB draws power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors, a CHIL-made controller handles voltage regulation. The VRM consists of a 9+1 phase design with a few other miscellaneous power domains. Those chokes appear to be slightly more cost-effective compared to the CPL-made ones featured on AMD's reference PCB. IR directFETs are replaced by cost-effective yet durable DrMOS chips.

Here is the first picture of Sapphire's socket LGA1155 motherboard in the works, based on Intel Z77 "Panther Point" chipset. Carrying the model number PT-CI7Z77, the board will probably carry the company's "Pure Black" branding. Its chipset and VRM heatsink designs have not been finalized, yet. To begin with, the LGA1155 socket, which supports upcoming "Ivy Bridge" processors out of the box, is powered by a 10-phase VRM. This VRM uses ferrite-core chokes, Driver-MOSFETs, and a secondary NEC-TOKIN multi-phase capacitor to condition power. Three other phases handle memory and miscellaneous power domains on the board.

The processor is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory. It is also wired to two PCI Express 3.0 long slots, which are auto-configured as x16/NC or x8/x8, depending on the second slot being populated. Other slots include a PCI Express 2.0 x1, and a PCI Express 2.0 long slot (gray), which is electrically PCIe 2.0 x4, and wired to the Z77 PCH. There are two legacy PCI slots, driven by an ASMedia-made bridge chip.

HP today revealed the HP ENVY 14 Spectre, a premium consumer Ultrabook PC that commands attention with its unparalleled use of glass and stunning performance.

"Sleek, midnight black glass on the outside and stark contrast silver glass on the inside make Spectre extraordinary, defying conventional notebook design," said Eric Keshin, senior vice president, Strategy and Marketing, Personal Systems Group, HP. "We chose the name for our first ENVY Ultrabook to evoke mystery, and we packed it with the best in entertainment technology to satisfy those who expect the unexpected."

Next week at CES 2012, Samsung Electronics will show off for the first time its new Series 9 premium monitor, a slim and sexy widescreen called S27A970 which features a 27-inch PLS (Plane Line Switching) panel capable of a maximum resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels.

Samsung's creation also has an anti-glare edge-to-edge glass display, an aluminum stand and base, a response time of 5 ms, 178/178 degree viewing angles, a static contrast ratio of 1,000:1, a maximum brightness of 300 cd/m2, two 7 W built-in speakers, a 2-port USB 2.0 hub, DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort inputs, plus a Mobile High Definition Link (MHL) enabling connectivity with MHL-supporting smartphones and tablets.

The Series 9 S27A970 is expected to become available in March priced at $1,200.

A little earlier today, we showed you pictures of AMD's first Radeon HD 7900 series single-GPU PCB that makes use of digital-PWM power delivery. Some of the first batches of Radeon HD 7900 graphics cards will stick to that PCB and board design, as it's backed by AMD's engineering. Even as the SKU's launch is less than 24 hours away, there are pictures of AMD's cost-effective Radeon HD 7900 PCB surfacing on Asian media sites. Once ready, AMD add-in board partners can opt for this cost-effective PCB if they want to fine-tune their prices. It looks like AMD is ready well ahead to face competition from NVIDIA, with its GeForce Kepler 104 (GK104) GPU.

The cost-effective PCB, without any components laid, is pictured below. The first picture shows its obverse side, the second, its reverse side. The PCB is completely up to speed with everything Tahiti GPU will need. It has provision for two 8-pin PCIe power inputs, an 8+2 phase cost-effective analog VRM, probably driven by a cost-effective CHIL controller, and a different display output connector loadout. It has provision for two DVI, and one each of HDMI and full-size DisplayPort. Partners can still use a single DVI connector, and keep their cards single-slot capable. Provisions for 12 GDDR5 chips are right where they should be. There is nothing eventful in the reverse side, just traces for all the supportive components.

We've already been through the specifications of HD 7970 "Tahiti" in some detail that matters to those who can draw a performance hunch looking at them. This latest slide shows you the feature-set this GPU comes with. To begin with, there are three main categories of feature updates: Graphics CoreNext, AMD Eyefinity 2.0, and AMD APP Acceleration. AMD claims CoreNext to be a "revolutionary" new architecture that changes the way the GPU crunches numbers.

For the past five generations (since Radeon HD 2000), AMD GPUs have used the VLIW (very-long instruction word) core arrangement. Even the latest VLIW4 introduced by Radeon HD 6900 series, was an evolution, than a revolution of that. CoreNext replaces VLIW stream processors with super-scalar Graphics Compute cores. This should translate to higher performance per mm² die-area, resulting in smaller GPUs, giving AMD room for greater cost-cutting if the competition from NVIDIA for this generation takes effect. The GPU itself is built on TSMC's new 28 nm silicon fabrication process. Next up, AMD confirmed support for PCI-Express 3.0 interface, that nearly doubles system bus bandwidth over the previous generation.

First pictures of AMD's mainstream card, HD 7770, have now been leaked online. This card is the first major upgrade to the HD 5770 in two years, since the HD 6770 was just a rebrand. It features the Cape Verde GPU, which replaces the Juniper GPU used in the HD 5770/HD 6770. The card looks somewhat different, with a large fan sitting on top of the GPU, blowing directly onto it and the card's length is the same as the HD 5770, at around 8.25 inches.

AMD Radeon HD 7970 launch is just around the corner. Ahead of its launch, AMD conducted its usual press briefing. DonanimHaber has access to some of the slides shown in that meeting. Earlier this day, we brought you perhaps the most important of them all, specifications. Let's take a look at the reference board design itself. AMD is sticking to the black+red colour scheme, and has come up with a swanky new cooling assembly design. The design, unlike those of higher-end Radeon HD 6000 series graphics cards, is surprisingly curvy and features dashes of red plastic making up its contours, surrounded by tougher black ABS.

A welcome change here from the previous generations, is that the card is truly single-slot capable, when say, a single-slot full-coverage water block is used. High-end cards from previous generation HD 5000 and HD 6000 have a dual DVI connector cluster that extends into two expansion slots, which many enthusiasts found to be annoying, especially when setting up benches with four single-GPU graphics cards in scenarios where PCI-Express slot spacing isn't kind. Moving on to display connectivity, the card has one DVI, one HDMI, and two mini-DisplayPort connectors, all arranged in the confines of a single expansion slot. The space of the second slot is dedicated to a hot-air exhaust of the cooling assembly. All board partners are required to ship HDMI-to-DVI dongles, and active mini-DP dongles.

EVGA kicked off its limited edition GeForce GTX 560 448 cores graphics card lineup with a bang, with models boasting of two of its top-end brand markers, Classified and FTW. The EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Classified (model: 012-P3-2068-KR) features a premium design that makes use of a dual-fan cooler by EVGA, and high clock speeds of 792 MHz core, 1584 MHz CUDA cores, and 975 MHz (3.90 GHz effective) memory. Its display outputs include two DVI and a mini-HDMI.

The next card is the EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW (model: 012-P3-2066-KR). It makes use of a more cost-effective non-reference card design that has been used on the EVGA GTX 570 HD, but features the same exact clock speeds out of the box as the Classified (792/1584/975 MHz). Its display outputs include two DVI, and one each of HDMI and DisplayPort, both standard sized. Both cards are 3-way SLI capable. The EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Classified is priced at US $299.99, while the EVGA GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores FTW goes for $289.99.

The latest beta drivers and the first in the 290 series have been released by NVIDIA today, supporting all graphics cards since the venerable 6-series. Their main new feature are official support for enabling ambient occlusion settings in the control panel separately for specific games and enabling NVIDIA Surround on the new X79 SLI-certified motherboards. Ambient occlusion (AO) is settable for uber-popular games The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. So, what does AO do? We'll let Andrew Burns of NVIDIA explain:

If you're unfamiliar with Ambient Occlusion, it is most easily described as a way to make in-game shadowing more realistic, and therefore better.

What he doesn't say of course, is how it kills your frame rate, especially on lower end hardware. Anyway, there's all the usual goodies in this release: 3D Vision game profiles for games such as MW3, Diablo 3 & LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 (yes really). There's a HD audio update and nine fixes too, including one for random flickering of the Windows boot logo as it's loading or fading away and a fix for the mouse cursor flickering and shaking in games such as Crysis 2 & Deus Ex when SLI is enabled when using 3DTV Play. The NVIDIA product release page is here and they have a snazzy-looking driver selector here. The release notes follow.

Here are some of the first pictures of an unreleased custom design GeForce GTX 580 graphics card by Galaxy, given out by the good folks at HardOCP. It may look like yet another GTX 580 graphics card with a beefy cooling solution, but it's a little more than that. To begin with, it has a redone display logic that gives it a total resolution of 5760 x 1080. This means that three 1920 x 1080 displays can be connected to it without needing another card. Its display outputs include three mini-HDMI and a full-size DisplayPort. Display management is backed by Galaxy's in-house EZY display setting software.

Chinese company Yeston released a new Radeon HD 6790 graphics card for gamers on a tight budget. It makes use of cost-effective cooler and PCB designs to make itself available at a price-point of 799 RMB (about $125). The familiar-looking cooler borrows its design from the likes of MSI Cyclone. It consists of a copper-plate base which makes contact with a heatsink with spirally-projecting fins and two 8 mm thick nickel-plated copper heat-pipes; these heat-pipes pass through two aluminum fin arc structures on either sides of the main heatsink. Ventilation is care of a central 80 mm fan.

The PCB uses a cost-effective 3+1 phase VRM to power the 40 nm Barts LE GPU, making use of common coil-type chokes and DPAK MOSFETs. The card is one of few HD 6790 offerings out there, that draw power form just one 6-pin PCIe power connector (most designs use two). The GPU features clock speeds of 840 MHz core and 1050 (4.20 GHz effective) memory; and is aided by 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface. It packs 800 stream processors. Display outputs include two DVI, and one each of HDMI 1.4a and DisplayPort 1.2.