Here are some of the industry's first low-profile graphics cards based on the ATI Radeon HD 5700 series GPUs. PowerColor's approach is straightforward, with a somewhat long PCB that houses the HD 5700 series GPU, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory with chips on either sides of the PCB. With over a billion transistors, the Juniper GPU still needs a reasonable amount of cooling, so the card is given a double-slot cooler with an aluminum heatsink that is cooled by two 50~60 mm fans. The card draws power from a single 6-pin power connector. Output connectivity includes one DVI-D, and an HDMI. PowerColor will release both Radeon HD 5770 and Radeon HD 5750 in using this low-profile design.

Palit's latest offering is a GeForce GTX 465 graphics card that reuses the dual-fan design used on the GeForce GTX 470 the company recently released. Apart from a cost-effective PCB and overclocker-friendly cooler than uses a dense aluminum fin array cooled by two 90 mm fans, the card has four display connectors, including two DVI-D, and one each of HDMI and DisplayPort. With design constraints, however, only two of the four connectors can be used at a time. Palit's GTX 465 will be available at a fairly standard price of around US $ 280.

Dell today announced the availability of the UltraSharp U2211H and U2311H flat panel monitors with in-plane switching technology (IPS) to deliver consistent colours across wide viewing angles for growing businesses, knowledge workers and photography buffs who need superior colour reproduction in their work or leisure activities.

These new displays are part of Dell's premium UltraSharp Display Series and are available in Australia and New Zealand from today at value-driven prices starting from US $279 for the U2211H, and $299 for the U2311H.

NEC released a new professional display, the MultiSync PA271W. Its 27-inch panel has an aspect ratio of 16:9, with a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The 10-bit IPS panel is capable of covering 97.1 percent of AdobeRGB colour space. Other important specifications include panel response time of 7 ms (GTG), static contrast ratio of 1000:1, maximum brightness of 300 cd/m², and inputs which include DVI and DisplayPort.

The display has 15 cm height-adjustable stand, which allows the panel to pivot, swivel, and tilt. With its dual inputs, the display offers picture-in-picture and picture-by-picture features. The AmbiBright feature senses ambient lighting conditions and adjusts the display's brightness automatically. Backed by a 4-year warranty, the NEC MultiSync PA271W sells for US $1,649.

A "GOOD" news announced by Gainward, a leading brand in enthusiastic graphics cards, keeps its glorious traditions, redefines performance by release of Gainward Optimized Own Design (GOOD). Gainward races against competitions and develops the market first own designed GeForce GTX 470 "GOOD" Edition with "Gamer's Spirit" in mind. The card received optimized circuit layout on a longer PCB (10.5 inches to NVIDIA reference 9.5 inches), which enables better overclockability owing to plentiful PWM power modules with rugged solid-state components on better ground, also allows to accommodate larger heat-pipes cooler with dual 8 cm double bearing fans, which improved thermal characteristics and significantly reduced noise at full load. Even better, the card is geared with "QuattroPorts" integrated 4 ports in 1 including DisplayPort, HDMI 1.3a (upgradeable to HDMI 1.4 support for 3D format with upcoming NVIDIA 3DTV Play) & Dual DVIs, fulfill universal connectivity for diverse displays.

Gainward GeForce GTX 470 GOOD Edition features 1280MB GDDR5 memory clocked at 1674MHz (Bandwidth 133.92 GB/sec), core clock is set at standard 607MHz. Although clockrate is rather modest by default, better cooling and optimized circuit have left lots of headroom for overclocking by Gainward award winning graphics tuning utility - Expertool, which activates clockrate settings and fan control with user-friendly interface and fail-safe clock-down override. Even the first-timers can exercise overclocking with peace of mind.

While major AMD AIBs have given their creativity wings with the Radeon HD 5970, coming up with uber-high end graphics cards, PowerColor joined the party with its latest creation in the making: a graphics card with 12 display outputs! The design wires all six TMDs from each of the two GPUs into DisplayPort connectors, letting users make large Eyefinity display-heads. Each of the two GPUs is connected to 2 GB of GDDR5 memory making the total memory on board to 4 GB. The card is expected to be the thickest among others' HD 5970 designs, spanning over three expansion slots (two slot-spaces occupied by 12 mini-DP ports and one with the exhaust). PowerColor may choose Computex as the ideal launch-vehicle for this monstrosity. More details are awaited, but there's a Frankenstein picture of the card to go on.

Lenovo today is introducing a new Series of ThinkPad - the L Series. Designed for business, government and education customers, the ThinkPad L412 and L512 laptops feature high performance with the latest Intel processing technologies, military tough durability and strong web conferencing features in an affordable laptop starting under $700. Additionally, the laptops are the greenest on the market by integrating the highest amounts of post consumer recycled content.

The laptops come with technologies students and employees need to be productive in their daily work, like:

• Choices of the latest Intel Core i3 and i5 processors with Turbo Boost and Hyperthreading technologies
• 16:9 HD antiglare displays on the 14-inch L412 and 15-inch L512
• Choices of Intel integrated or ATI Mobility Radeon graphics
• 3G/4G wireless connectivity options with Gobi 2000 module support for AT&T, Sprint and Verizon
• Multitouch touchpads
• Up to 8 hours of battery life
• Expansion with 4 USB ports/1 powered, combo eSATA/USB port, support for DisplayPort and VGA
• Windows 7 with Lenovo Enhanced Experience featuring up to 57% faster bootup and shutdown

Extreme performance requirements have always been the primary consideration for gamers when choosing components, with multiple display applications being a major future trend. In response, globally renowned graphics card and mainboard manufacturer MSI has officially released the R5870 Eyefinity 6 graphics card, which uses the same 40 nm Radeon HD 5870 GPU as the original R5870 series cards. It also has an ultra-high capacity 2GB GDDR5 high speed memory and 6 Mini DisplayPort video outputs that support 6 x 2560x1600 resolutions in total and give users an unprecedented field of vision.

With gamers playing close attention to multiple display outputs, MSI R5870 Eyefinity 6 graphics card with ATI Eyefinity technology, offers 6 built-in Mini DisplayPorts. This surpasses what was previously available in consumer graphics cards, where a single card was limited to triple outputs at the most. With six displays running simultaneously, the R5870 Eyefinity 6 provides a maximum 6 x 2560x1600 field of vision that gives users a remarkable upgrade in gaming enjoyment or working efficiency.

XFX today releases their first salvo from their Eyefinity 6 series - The new Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition - which facilitates massive visual real estate with the first-ever "wrap-around" 6 screen in-picture experience.

• 2 GB DDR5 memory
• 6 mini DisplayPort outputs
• Connect up to 6 displays, Up to 2560 x 1600 per output
• Supports up to 7680 x 3200 with 6 displays in Eyefinity

Harnessing the world's most powerful graphics processor, AMD today introduced the ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition graphics card. Equipped with 2GB of GDDR5 memory, the ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 is the first graphics card capable of rendering in excess of 1 billion pixels per second in today's titles, unleashing PC game environments of unprecedented size and resolution. Enthusiast gamers now have access to a seamless, stunning perspective across six displays, enabling up to 12 times more resolution than 1080p HD.

"The ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition graphics card opens the door to a new era in personal computing," said Matt Skynner, vice president and general manager, AMD Graphics Division. "With the ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition, PC users get the ultimate panoramic computing experience in one powerful card. By bridging the innovation in ATI Eyefinity technology with broad ecosystem support, AMD is revolutionizing the PC visual experience."

Club 3D released a new custom-design graphics card based on the ATI Radeon HD 5830 GPU, which comes overclocked out of the box. The card has clock speeds of 825 MHz (core) and 1050 MHz (memory, 4200 MHz effective), against reference speeds of 800/1000 MHz. The HD 5830 GPU packs 1120 stream processors, and a 256-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface to connect to 1 GB of memory. Connectivity includes one each of DVI-D, HDMI, and DisplayPort. Club 3D did not disclose price, though we expect it to be a little over the base-model cards, around the US $240 mark.

It looks like Sapphire and ASUS will not be the only AMD board partners out with a custom design Radeon HD 5970 graphics accelerator that has higher clock speeds and twice the amount of memory. XFX seems just about ready with what it calls the XFX Radeon HD 5970 Black Edition 4GB. This limited edition graphics card borrows heavily from AMD's reference design, but adds some changes:

• The leaf-blower is centrally located, with a GPU system on its either sides.
• GPUs use higher clock speeds of 850 MHz (core), 1200 MHz (memory).
• Twice the amount of memory, 2 GB per GPU, 4 GB total.
• ATI Eyefinity6 display output configuration: 6 mini-DisplayPort connectors to support six physical displays (dongles may be included for DVI users).
• Power is drawn from two 8-pin PCI-E power connectors.

XFX may manufacture upto 1500 pieces in all, and could price each piece around US $1000, with sales starting later this month.

At this year's CeBIT PowerColor is the first manufacturer to show a custom designed Eyefinity card. Their HD 5770 Eyefinity 5, yes Eyefinity 5, not six, lets you connect up to five displays in Eyefinity mode. In order to accomodate that many outputs, the card will use DisplayPort connectivity, just like AMD's HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 card. The number five, is due to only five available TMDS links on the HD 5770 (Juniper) whereas the Cypress ASIC has six links.

Sapphire is readying a bundle of interesting new graphics products to be unveiled at this year's CeBIT event. Two such products that stand out include a non-reference design Radeon HD 5970 accelerator with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory (2 GB per GPU), and the HD 5870 Eyefinity6 2 GB. The HD 5970 model is particularly interesting, as its rival in the field, ASUS, will be showing off a similar accelerator called the ROG Ares "dual HD 5870" accelerator. Sapphire however, prefers to call its creation a custom Radeon HD 5970. It is expected to feature custom cooling, increased clock speeds (and probably overclocking headroom), and twice the amount of memory. There is a likelihood that Sapphire designs this along the lines of its high-end "Atomic" series that includes watercooling, and other exclusive features.

The other offering by Sapphire of course is the HD 5870 Eyefinity6. Probably sticking to AMD's reference design, the Eyefinity6 card is optimised for ATI Eyefinity setups with up to six physical displays. The card has six mini DisplayPort connectors, with which it can connect to each of its display heads. It features 2 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide interface. Using AMD Cypress GPU, it packs 1600 stream processors, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. At the same event, Sapphire will show off several other of its new creations, such as the N450 netbook, Mini Projector 101, and mini-ITX form-factor motherboards supporting socket AM3.

TUL concern VTX3D has come up with a new custom-designed graphics card based on the ATI Radeon HD 5830 GPU, aimed at a value-performance price-point. The VTX3D HD 5830 1GB GDDR5 (model no: VX5830 1GBD5-DH), sports a hot-red custom-designed PCB and cooler not seen till date on PowerColor's graphics card (another of TUL's brands). It features 1120 stream processors, 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 256-bit wide memory interface, reference AMD clock speeds of 800 MHz (core) and 1000 MHz (memory), and connectivity that includes one each of DVI-D, HDMI, and DisplayPort - sticks to basics. The VTX3D HD 5830 should be priced on par with most base-model graphics cards: around the $220-$230 mark.

A PCB shot of the upcoming ASUS ROG Ares dual GPU graphics accelerator made it to the media this day. The picture reveals what could be a very complex single-PCB dual-GPU board, with perhaps the strongest VRM to drive the CrossFire-on-board setup. The ROG Ares uses two AMD Cypress GPUs that run at high clock speeds, with even more overclocking potential on offer. The picture reveals that ASUS has made extensive use of digital PWM circuitry, giving each GPU a 4-phase vGPU, 2-phase vMem, and uncore phases. Each zone has its own voltage controller. Power is drawn in from three inputs: two 8-pin and a 6-pin, though the tracks show that the PCB is capable of using three 8-pin inputs. At source, the inputs are fused as a surge-protective measure.

Each GPU is wired to 16 GDDR5 memory chips, 8 on each side of the PCB. The PCB itself is roughly an inch taller than full-height addon-cards. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI-D, DisplayPort, and HDMI connectors. The lone CrossFire finger provides CrossFireX support with another Ares card - or probably other Radeon HD 5800 series products. ASUS in a statement says that all heat-producing components other than the GPU - VRM chips and memory - will be cooled by a copper heatspreader that covers almost all such components. Each VRM chip gets its own copper heatsink. These parts will be anodized in red for the black+red livery characteristic to the ROG series. Earlier, a CAD drawing of the cooling assembly made news.

Combining the highly successful HD 5000 series graphics architecture with its award winning Vapor-X cooling technology, SAPPHIRE Technology is now shipping two new graphics cards - the SAPPHIRE HD 5850 TOXIC Edition and the SAPPHIRE HD 5850 Vapor-X model.

The SAPPHIRE HD 5850 TOXIC Edition and the SAPPHIRE HD 5850 Vapor-X models are both SAPPHIRE original designs based on the latest 40nm graphics architecture from the ATI division of AMD. Both models feature 1440 stream processors and 72 texture units delivering the fastest performance in class as well as supporting ATI Stream technology. They support the advanced graphical features of DirectX 11, and deliver spectacular video clarity, speed and visual effects, including over multiple monitors whilst working at lower operating temperatures and significantly more quietly because of the SAPPHIRE award winning Vapor-X cooling technology.

AMD's Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity6 Edition, a special variant of the Radeon HD 5870, is slated for release on the 11th of March, according to a recent report. The Eyefinity6 Edition makes use of the six TMDS signal lines of Radeon HD 5870 to drive six display-heads. On the connectivity front, there are six mini-DisplayPort connectors. Using the included dongles, the card can connect to six displays with full-HD resolution, which can then be merged using the ATI Eyefinity technology to form one or more Eyefinity display-heads. The GPU and memory use reference clock speeds of 850/1200 MHz (core/memory), while there is 2 GB of GDDR5 memory on board.

The other AMD product that AMD will be releasing a little sooner is the Radeon HD 5830, a performance-segment graphics card that aims at a sweet-spot price of somewhere between $150~$250, delivering performance in existing applications on par or better than the Radeon HD 4890, but with a lot more future-proofing, DirectX 11 compliance, Eyefinity support, and lower target energy draws. We expect the Radeon HD 5830 to have 1120 stream processors, and 1 GB of GDDR5 memory, and clock speeds of 800/1000 MHz (core/memory). The market release of Radeon HD 5830 and Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity6 are strategically timed to coincide with those of NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 400 series graphics cards.

AMD released the ATI Catalyst version 10.2 driver suite, as promised in a press release earlier today. Catalyst 10.2 is one of two important releases by AMD that add to its products' overall feature-set, among the usual baggage of application-specific and generic fixes. Feature additions are as follows:

• ATI Catalyst application profiles for ATI CrossFireX supported configurations
• ATI Catalyst support for PowerPlay on ATI CrossFireX technology supported configurations
• Support for DisplayPort audio
• Support for ATI CrossFireX on Eyefinity configurations

In addition, there are application-specific performance improvements:

SAPPHIRE Technology is now shipping a new family of graphics cards in the highly successful HD 5000 series. The SAPPHIRE HD 5570 is a new low profile model aimed at the mainstream market, whist sharing many of the exciting features of the latest high end series.

The SAPPHIRE HD 5500 series is based on the latest graphics architecture from the ATI division of AMD, the second generation of GPU to be built in its 40nm process. It supports the advanced graphical features of Microsoft DirectX 11, and delivers superb video clarity and visual effects, whilst consuming very low power levels.

Club 3D unveiled a 'custom-designed' graphics card based on the ATI Radeon HD 5850 GPU, being sold as the Overclocked Edition. The design of this accelerator resembles that of PowerColor's PCS+ series HD 5800 series accelerators, pointing back at its source. The card features a custom PCB and cooling solution which makes some smart cost-cutting in return for out of the box higher clock speeds. The GPU and memory are clocked at 760 MHz and 1050 MHz (4200 MHz effective), respectively, against reference speeds of 725/1000 MHz.

The cooling system involves a large heatsink with aluminum fins, to which heat is conveyed by four heat pipes. A centrally-located fan blows air on to it. The Radeon HD 5850 GPU is DirectX 11 compliant, features 1440 stream processors, and connects to 1 GB of memory on this card, across a 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface. The display connectivity, we presume, resembles that of the reference design, with two DVI-D, and one each of HDMI and DisplayPort connectors. Club 3D is yet to announce its price.

Today HIS unveils the HIS Radeon HD 5450 1GB/512MB DDR3 Series, offering the most features and functionality in their class. Loaded with complete DirectX 11 support, ATI Stream technology and ATI Eyefinity Multi-display technology (H545H1GDL - DisplayPort version only), the Radeon HD 5450 graphics card delivers a state-of-the-art HD multimedia and medium gaming experience at a value price. With the silent passive cooling heatsink implemented, HIS Radeon HD 5450 Series are your ultimate media center companion at a value price.

The HIS Radeon HD 5450 Series is designed to give you stunning high definition entertainment from your PC, whether Blu-ray/HD DVD discs or other HD sources. Gamers will get an uncompromising Microsoft Windows 7 experience, play the most popular games online and watch HD video with incredible realism. Besides, it consumes less than 20 watts under full load, eliminating the need for an external power connection and making installation snap.

NEC Display Solutions of America, a leading provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, announces the new MultiSync PA Series, successor to the critically acclaimed MultiSync 90 Series, by introducing the MultiSync PA241W. Designed for professional graphics applications, this 24-inch desktop display is ideal for digital photography, video editing, print production and any environment in which color accuracy is crucial.

The PA241W continues the MultiSync 90 Series' tradition of delivering crisp, accurate images while adding improved color coverage, sleeker industrial design and enhanced connectivity. The display features 102% coverage of NTSC and 99.3% of Adobe RGB, an increase from 72% in the MultiSync LCD2490WUXi². With a 38% smaller footprint size, the display provides users with more desktop space and decrease costs in shipping and storage. Improved cable management enables simpler setup of the monitor, while its new 10-bit DisplayPort and USB hub add to an already diverse set of input connectors.

World renowned manufacturer of graphic card and mainboard, MSI releases R5670-PMD1G graphics card today to fulfill mainstream players' thirst for performance. With ATi RadeonTM HD 5670 standard technical specifications, including DirectX 11 and ATi Eyefinity technology, MSI R5670-PMD1G adopts unique designs, like GPU voltage adjustment, next-generation DisplayPort output and military class components. Hence, MSI R5670-PMD1G can fine-tune its performance and have better extensibility so that it is mainstream players' best choice for high C/P value.

Adopting brand-new 40nm processed ATI Radeon HD5670 GPU, MSI R5670-PMD1G graphics card is equipped with 1GB GDDR5 high speed memories and reach excellent balance between performance and power consumption. Furthermore, through MSI exclusive Afterburner overclocking utility, it can not only adjust the clock of GPU and memory, but also tune the GPU voltage to release the potential performance of graphic card as easy as anything.

HIS released a custom-design graphics card based on the ATI Radeon HD 5770 GPU, part of its generally cost-effective "Fan" series. The HIS HD 5770 Fan 1GB (H577FL1GDG) uses a GPU cooler which uses heat pipes to transfer heat to a circular aluminum fin array surrounding a fan. Unlike with older Fan series models (such as the HD 4850 Fan) which had seemingly skimpy cooling, HIS placed a plastic shroud on top of the cooler. It uses reference AMD clock speeds: 850 MHz (core), 1200 MHz (memory), and sports 1 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 128-bit interface. Connectivity includes one each DVI-D, HDMI, and DisplayPort. It is expected to be priced around $140~$150.