Just over a month ago, Gigabyte launched a pair of white motherboards for Intel CPUs and now the company has quietly released a pair of white models for AMD CPUs. The two models are the B650 AORUS Elite AX Ice and the B650M AORUS Elite AX Ice, the main difference being the form factor, as the latter is a microATX board. Besides the white PCB, all of the heatsinks are silver/white in colour, although all the connectors on the boards are black, just as with the Intel boards. The rear I/O shield has also been given the white treatment to better fit into a white case.

However, the Ice boards are not identical in terms of specs to their older siblings, as Gigabyte has done a few minor changes that aren't noticeable at first look. Gigabyte has shifted away from using MTK/AMD and Intel WiFi cards and is now using the Realtek RTL8852CE on these new boards. We should mention that Gigabyte are using the RTL8852CE on later revisions of the black versions as well. It's currently unknown when these new boards will be available and how much they'll retail for.

The advent of PCIe 5.0 SSDs with Phison's E26 controllers has been a double-edged sword. While these SSDs offer impressively high data throughputs, they come with a significant drawback: severe overheating issues that can cause the SSDs not only to throttle down but to shut off entirely. TechPowerUp first noted this issue back in May, in our Corsair MP700 review, where the uncooled drive shut down after 86 seconds of reads and after 55 seconds of writes. Regarding criticism from tech reviewers, Corsair has released a firmware update (version 22.1) for its MP700 SSD to ensure that it throttles down rather than shutting off when overheated. Yet, many other SSDs like the Crucial T700, Seagate FireCuda 540, Gigabyte Aorus Gen 5 10000, and ADATA Legend 970 still suffer from temperature issues.

However, it's crucial to note that these extreme overheating problems occur only when the SSDs run without any cooling. While some manufacturers have planned firmware updates to address the issue, Corsair is the only company that has taken tangible action so far. Crucial has released a new firmware (PACR5102), but the ComputerBase report indicates that the SSD continues to shut off at high temperatures. The problem, though, can generally be mitigated with proper cooling. Whether using the included cooler or placing the SSD under a motherboard cover, temperatures usually stay below the critical limit, thus avoiding a complete shutdown. When we tested the SSTC Tiger Shark Elite 2 TB with Phison E26 (with updated firmware) without adequate cooling, the SSD continued to operate and throttled down, indicating that the remaining SSDs using this controller need a proper firmware update that throttles the SSD instead of shutting it down.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd, a leading manufacturer of premium gaming hardware, today launched the GeForce RTX 4060 series graphics cards powered by NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture, including DLSS 3 neural rendering and third-generation ray tracing technologies at high frame rates. The cards will be available on June 29. GIGABYTE's GeForce RTX 4060 Series includes five models with the WINDFORCE thermal solution, the AORUS GeForce RTX 4060 ELITE 8G, the GeForce RTX 4060 AERO OC 8G, the GeForce RTX 4060 GAMING OC 8G, the GeForce RTX 4060 EAGLE OC 8G and the GeForce RTX 4060 WINDFORCE OC 8G graphics cards. All the models provide gamers with diverse choices to enjoy the AAA gaming experience. All graphics cards from GIGABYTE are perfectly tuned with powerful performance, low temperature, and quietness at once, bringing gamers an ultimate gaming experience.

AORUS GeForce RTX 4060 ELITE 8G
AORUS GeForce RTX 4060 ELITE 8G graphics card stands out for the powerful cooling capabilities and outstanding performance, it's the top-tier gaming graphics card pursued by gamers and fans. The AORUS graphics card features the famous RGB Halo which takes advantage of the persistence of human vision to create exclusive lighting effects via rotating fans. The exquisite and colorful illumination RGB, favored by AORUS fans and DIY enthusiasts, allows gamers to customize its colors through the GIGABYTE CONTROL CENTER software with ease.

GIGABYTE quietly rolled out the GeForce RTX 3060 Ti AORUS Elite graphics card. The company had debuted the AORUS Elite value-oriented graphics card custom-design with the RTX 3060 AORUS Elite, followed closely with the Radeon RX 6700 XT AORUS Elite. This is the third AORUS Elite card, and the second AORUS Gaming card based on the RTX 3060 Ti, the other being the over-the-top RTX 3060 Ti AORUS Master.

The GIGABYTE RTX 3060 Ti AORUS Elite measures 29.6 cm in length and the cooling solution design is similar to that of the other cards in the brand. A plastic cooler shroud holds a trio of 90 mm fans with ARGB LED diffusers along the bore of the intakes. The PCB only makes up two-thirds the length of the card, which means much of the airflow from the second and third fans flow through large cutouts on the card's backplate. The card draws power from a combination of 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors. It comes with factory overclocked speeds of 1785 MHz (compared to 1665 MHz reference, 1800 MHz of the RTX 3060 Ti AORUS Master, and 1770 MHz of the Gaming OC). The card comes with dual-BIOS, with a "silent" BIOS running it at closer-to-reference clocks, and a more aggressive fan-curve. The company didn't reveal pricing, but we expect the card to be positioned between the Gaming OC and AORUS Master.

The PC has never been more essential, so this year at CES 2021, HP Inc. is launching computing innovations essential to how and where people experience work and life. HP today unveiled new devices and solutions designed to power hybrid work environments and growing personal creative studios.

With half of the global workforce still working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new use cases for the PC are emerging for both consumers and employees remaining at home. Since COVID, there has been a seven hour increase in time spent on personal PCs. In some cases, this has resulted in an increase in everyday creativity - with photography, writing stories or articles, and live streaming being the top three activities among consumers. But working and staying at home isn't always simple, with only 30% of people having a space where they can shut the door. Yet 72% of knowledge workers want a hybrid remote-office model moving forward and 48% of Gen Z are considering an expansion of their freelance business in the future, requiring solutions with enhanced collaboration and micro-mobility features.

OWC a leading zero emissions Mac and PC technology company and one of the world's most respected providers of hard drives, SSDs, Mac & PC docking solutions and performance upgrade kits, today announced the latest edition of its legendary Mercury Elite Pro external storage system for Mac, PC, Linux machines, Smart TVs, and PS4 and Xbox consoles. The 3.5-inch USB 3.2 5 Gb/s hard drive system is a modern day workhorse, delivering real-world performance up to 283 MB/s and capacities up to 16 TB to keep pace with the demands of everything from video editing projects, critical business data, and irreplaceable personal content to expanding PS4/Xbox One game storage and enjoying music/video content via a Smart TV.

The Essential External Storage Solution for Everyone
The Mercury Elite Pro kicked off OWC's rich, storied history of storage solution innovations nearly 20 years ago, and it has successfully stood the test of time by continuing to offer an incomparable blend of performance, quality, and value in a single HDD storage solution.

Sharkoon appeared quite ready to take a bite out of the competition at Computex 2019. They came to the show with a full assortment of cases, keyboards, mice, gaming chairs and even a mini USB DAC for gamers which was quite nice to see as it was unexpected and unique coming from Sharkoon. Dubbed the Gaming DAC Pro S, it packs a powerful high-resolution gaming DAC with TRRS microphone input. It can also act as a USB soundcard with headphone Amp for an immersive crystal clear audio experience. It is worth noting that it is compatible with Android on top of the Windows and macOS.

The EVGA Associates Program offers a simple way for EVGA ELITE Members to allow others to purchase an EVGA product with a discount on www.EVGA.com - and lets you earn a percentage of the purchase back in EVGA Bucks!

First, share your Associate Code with someone interested in purchasing an EVGA product. Next, once they get to EVGA.com, they will need to make a purchase from one of the Product Types listed on the Dashboard. Finally, the buyer must use your Associate Code during checkout to receive the discount.

After purchase, you will receive a percentage of the net purchase back as EVGA Bucks that can be used to buy any products at the EVGA store! The EVGA Associates Program is the best way to Get Discounts and Earn Rewards at the EVGA store!

Learn more and sign up now at www.evga.com/associates/
Update: Currently only available to consumers in the Continental U.S., Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Canada

ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual display products, announces a new sub-brand of professional gaming monitors. ViewSonic Elite gaming products are specifically engineered with a sleek and minimalist aesthetic, while boasting practical gamer-centric designs. With decades of display technology experience and heritage, ViewSonic Elite will deliver next-level gaming products that fit the needs of today's multifaceted gaming community.

"Gamers are defined by many factors, one being their gaming setup. With ViewSonic Elite, we want to represent maturity in style and high-performance gaming, as the industry continues to evolve," said Kevin Chu, Global Gaming Marketing Manager. "The ViewSonic Elite line of gaming monitors provides users with the latest spec requirements, and are designed to fulfill the diverse needs of gamers."The XGR240 is on the left, XG350R-C on the right.

Corsair at CES 2019 unveiled two new innovations, the Slipstream wireless interface, and Capellix high-density aRGB LEDs. The company implemented the two across its upcoming gaming peripherals. These include three new mice, and a new keyboard. Among the mice is the new 2019 Harpoon Wireless RGB, detailed in our older article, M65 RGB Elite mouse, Ironclaw RGB, and a new variant of its K68 keyboard that implements both Slipstream and Capellix.

The M65 RGB Elite is a claw-friendly packs a PMW-3391 sensor with 18,000 dpi resolution, 97-115 dpi adjustable weights, and an improved side button cluster. This mouse is expected to be priced at $59.99. The Ironclaw, despite its name, is optimized for palm grips, with the same PMW-3391 sensor as the M65 RGB Elite, 105 g fixed weight, and the same $59.99 price-tag. The K68 RGB Elite Slipstream is a variant of the K68 that's been refined with two of Corsair's latest innovations, although Corsair didn't mention price.

HP Inc. today unveiled a bold new lineup of premium notebooks, desktops and displays designed to empower wherever work and life takes you. The latest HP Elite 1000 and HP ENVY portfolios feature visually stunning design, powerful performance and maximum versatility to securely connect, create and collaborate from anywhere, anytime.

With 81 percent of people working during their personal time and more than half multi-tasking personal activities at work, C Space Primary Proprietary Research with online communities, 2015 , using a device that can straddle the realities of each environment is more important than ever. HP's new premium lineup includes various form factors that meet an individual's personal style and specific computing needs.

Jabra, an acoustic-focused brand, took to CES 2018 to showcase their latest developments in the world of sound-delivering straight to your eardrums. The company makes a model for every type of user, and every ergonomic taste, really. The company took the opportunity to showcase some particular sound drivers though. On one hand, there were the wireless, fitness-oriented Elite Sport earbuds, which even carry a heart rate monitor function, and have a specially-designed ergonomic outline that serves both form and function.

Their Jabra Elite 65T true wireless earbuds, on the other hand, leave ergonomics a little to the side (while still being comfortable to use, naturally) to focus more on signal quality, bringing premium sound and call quality with its unique 4-microphone technology. The 15-hour battery on these will certainly appeal to power users; those that really like to shut off from the world around them.

In its ongoing commitment to elite players on every platform, leading gaming headset and audio accessory maker Turtle Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR) today announced the global availability of the all-new Elite Pro-PC Edition. This new headset is a key expansion that brings PC gamers into the groundbreaking line-up of Elite Pro Tournament Gaming Headsets.

"PC gaming continues to be one of the most competitive and demanding segments in all of Esports," said Juergen Stark, CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. "The Elite Pro represents the pinnacle of our design and engineering efforts and we could not be happier to have PC players now able to compete and win in all their gaming endeavors using our new Elite Pro - PC Edition."

At Computex 2017, Teamgroup put on a show with their products, hoping to place itself in consumers' eyes as having all the latest technologies they could possibly want. Starting with their SSD, there's the heatspreader-equipped M.2 NVMe SSD T-Force Cardea, an MLC SSD (so, a dying breed) with either 240 or 480 GB capacity, which includes a beefy red heatsink to reduce throttling possibilities.

NZXT today announces the S340 Elite Hyper Beast Limited Edition, a monstrous psychedelic evolution of the popular S340 Elite mid-tower. Following up on last year's highly sought after H440 Hyper Beast, NZXT and graphic artist Brock Hofer have again joined forces to deliver a case crafted for the dedicated CS:GO player. This new chassis features the breathtaking Hyper Beast weapon skin found on CS:GO's infamous AWP sniper rifle.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced its new AMD PRO A-Series APUs, delivering rich computing experiences to commercial PCs. The innovative processor technology from AMD will enable a new class of powerful, sleek and sophisticated commercial Windows PCs that integrate seamlessly into an existing IT environment. With impressive performance, the latest AMD PRO A-Series APUs with HSA features unlock true business computing performance and deliver outstanding reliability and manageability. The AMD PRO A-Series APU is one of the processors being offered in new HP Elite 700-Series notebooks.

"With the new AMD PRO A-Series APUs, AMD is looking to revolutionize commercial computing. Built around a solid offering of increased performance over our consumer products, increased product longevity and software image stability, AMD PRO processors give customers choice and affordability to meet their specific business needs," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Products. "And since every AMD PRO processor packs the latest Radeon Graphics, we are raising the bar for visual performance in business PCs."

ADATA Technology has launched the company's second foray into wireless storage, announcing the release of the DashDrive Air AE800. Incorporating a wireless HDD that can serve data to multiple mobile devices, the AE800 delivers the added functions of power bank and wireless hotspot, simultaneously meeting the most common needs of smartphone and tablet computer users.

Mobile devices continue to surge in popularity, bringing forth a new set of data storage and transmission requirements. The AE800 packs a robust 500 gigabytes of storage, and can stream data to iOS & Android mobile devices through the freely downloaded DashDrive Air Elite App (Apple App Store and Google Play). Wireless enabled desktop computers as well as notebooks can also read and write data easily, providing fast and secure storage either with or without the use of a transmission cable. In wireless mode, up to 3 users can simultaneously stream 1080P video, and up to 5 users can simultaneously stream 720p video.

AMD today launched three new additions to its 2013 A-Series and E-Series Mobile Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) lineup -- delivering solutions ideally positioned to address today's evolving PC market with dramatically increased performance and power efficiency, as well as a portfolio of unique user experiences, and superior gaming and graphics:

• The 2013 AMD Elite Mobility APU (formerly codenamed "Temash") -- the world's first 28nm, quad-core x86 system-on-a-chip (SoC) APU designed for touch small form-factor notebooks, tablets, and hybrids 13-inches and below;
• The 2013 AMD Mainstream APU (formerly codenamed "Kabini") -- the first and only quad-core x86 SoC solution for entry-level and small-form factor touch notebooks;
• New, low power versions of the 2013 AMD Elite Performance APU (formerly codenamed "Richland") -- offer the best graphics and compute in a performance APU for premium ultrathin notebooks.

EK-Supremacy Elite, the premium bundle containing the best CPU water block on the market and the best thermal interface on the market - the EK-TIM Indigo Xtreme - is now finally shipping. Please note that due to high demand this product may be shown as out of stock at the time of purchase. These water blocks are therefore manufactured on daily basis to ensure adequate supply and daily re-stock.

EK-Supremacy Elite is the premium bundle containing the best CPU water block on the market - the EK-Supremacy - Full Nickel - and the best thermal interface on the market - the EK-TIM Indigo Xtreme. EK-Supremacy is a universal CPU water block that fits all modern CPU sockets with a universal mounting mechanism that offers error-preventing, tool-less installation. The result is a perfect installation which results in perfect performance every time. EK-Supremacy is truly the best product for performance seeking enthusiasts.

While many scoffed at Battlefield 3's late-arriving competitor to Call of Duty Elite, it seems to have worked quite splendidly for the publisher. More than 800,000 players have signed up for Premium in its first two weeks of availability, EA Games' Patrick Soderlund revealed. Although Premium less a "service" like Elite and more of a DLC Season Pass, the $50 asking price does include a lot of content. Namely, Premium includes access to over $75 worth of content, making it a "value" for hardcore fans of the series. Speaking to USA Today, Soderlund said that "we are very pleased with the performance so far." When asked if this strategy is something EA will pursue with future games, he said: "We're actually only two weeks into it, so it's a little early to tell how this is going to pay off. It certainly it looks very promising right now."

Call of Duty Elite currently has over two million paying subscribers, a number which took about six months to reach.

The games market went to Hell in May. Diablo III topping retail software sales for the month, according to the latest sales figures from NPD, and helped fuel a resurgence in the PC games space. Other top performers included Max Payne 3, which launched the same day as Diablo III, as well as Sniper Elite V2 and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.
While action titles continued their dominance of the top 10, 2K Sports' NBA 2K12 held the fifth spot for the second straight week. Blizzard continued to show its impact in the PC market with Diablo III at number 1, the first time since July 2010 that a PC-only title has accomplished that feat. The game that did it in 2010? StarCraft 2, another Blizzard mainstay.

Total video game sales continued to shrink, down 28 percent from last year. However, the PC market jumped 230 percent from the same time last year to $80 million, fueled by Diablo III sales. The overall spend in May, including digital sales and microtransactions was estimated to be $1.17 billion.

HP today announced the new HP Z220 Workstations and HP EliteBook Mobile Workstations, packed with reliable and professional-class features.

HP's most affordable, no-compromise workstations, the Z220, features next-generation Intel Core and Intel Xeon processors, the latest integrated and discrete professional graphics from Intel, NVIDIA and AMD and four integrated USB 3.0 high-speed ports. The Z220 entry-level workstation is available in a choice of an exceptionally expandable, Convertible Mini-Tower (CMT) or a highly compact Small Form Factor (SFF) that's 65 percent smaller and perfect for tight spaces.

MechWarrior Online is beginning its closed beta this week, and developer Piranha Games and Infinite Game Publishing have announced a "founder's program" to give eager players early access to the game. The founder's program is being called "Operation Inception," and it will go on sale June 19. Players can buy one of two tiers of early access, which will grant separate rewards. The $30 Veteran Founder's Package gives you $40 of in-game currency, a one-month premium membership for bonus XP and C-Bills, a Founder's Tag to set you apart, and early access to the game and Founder's assets on July 17. If you want to shell out more for the $60 Elite Founder's Package, you'll get a special "Founder's BattleMech" which boosts earned C-Bills for life, $80 of in-game currency, a two-month premium membership, and the founder's tag and early access.

The prices are about on-par for a retail game. However, for those who don't mind waiting, the game will be free-to-play when it fully launches. A release date is unannounced so far, but it probably won't be too far behind the early access July 17 date. You can still register for beta access and reserve your pilot name at the official site.

The vast majority of laptop and desktop computers sold today are equipped with rotating hard disk drives (HDDs), making the storage system the biggest bottleneck in most client computing applications. Biwin, an industry leader in flash storage products, today announced Elite Series SATA III SSDs, based on the LSI SandForce SF-2281 Flash Storage Processor, that are designed to substantially improve storage performance in laptops and desktops.

With a standard 2.5" form factor (dimensions: 100 x 69.8 x 9.5 mm), Elite Series SSDs are compatible with virtually any desktop computer and millions of laptops. They support 6 Gbps SATA III, and are downward compatible with 3 Gbps SATA II systems.

Cooler Master has today announced the European release of a new Elite Series PC case, the Elite 372 mid-tower. This model measures 192.5 x 427 x 498.3 mm, it weights 4.6 kg, and features a steel body, ATX and micro ATX motherboard support, three 5.25-inch and six 3.5-inch bays (with tool-free mounting), and a front I/O panel with USB 2.0 (x 2), Mic (x 1) and Audio (x 1) ports.

The Elite 372 also has seven PCI expansion slots, top and bottom dust filters, and can be equipped with up to seven fans. Its recommended price tag is 39.90 Euro.