Scythe released the Apsalus entry-level liquid CPU Cooler (model: APSALUS3-120). Based on an Asetek platform, the pre-assembled (maintenance-free), closed-loop cooler uses an exposed copper base with pump assembly, joined the the 1U 120 mm radiator that packs the reservoir, which is ventilated by a 120 mm Scythe-made fan. The base measures 72.3 x 72.3 × 27.3 mm, the radiator 120 x 150 x 27 mm (excluding the fan), and the coolant pipes are about 326 mm long. The cooler supports all modern CPU socket types, including LGA2011, LGA115x, LGA1366, FM2/FM1, and AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2. It is priced around 6,980¥ ($84).

Antec introduced V4 series design updates for its Kuhler H2O 620 and H2O 920 closed-loop CPU coolers. The new coolers are outfitted with a higher-pressure pump, and split-flow copper fin design in the radiators. The company claims the two innovations work to drop temperatures down a further 2-4°C, over temperatures previous versions achieve. Lastly, the coolers are labeled with guaranteed support for current and upcoming CPU socket types, including LGA2011, LGA115x, LGA775, FM2/FM1, and AM3+/AM3/AM2+. Prices remain unchanged.

Jetway is now prepping its second motherboard powered by the AMD A85X chipset, the HA21-85X. This ATX board supports AMD's Socket FM2 APUs and features a 4+2 phase power design, four DDR3-1866 memory slots, an mSATA connector, five SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, one PCIe 2.0 x16 slot, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 channel audio, two USB 3.0 ports, and D-Sub, DVI and HDMI outputs.

The HA21-85X's price tag has not been revealed.

Sapphire officially launched the Vapor-X CPU cooler it talked about at trade shows earlier this year. It uses a vapor-chamber plate to draw heat from the CPU, and convey it to four 7 mm-thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes, which then pass through a dense aluminum fin stack, that's ventilated by two 120 mm PWM controlled fans (replaceable) in push-pull configuration. Spinning at speeds ranging between 495 and 2,200 RPM, the fans push 77 CFM of air, each. Measuring 135 x 110.4 x 163.5 mm, the heatsink weighs about 925 g. Nearly every modern client CPU socket type is supported, including Intel sockets LGA2011, LGA115x, LGA775, and AMD sockets AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2, and FM2/FM1. Expect a sub-$80 price.

Taiwan-based Biostar Microtech has now announced a new motherboard supporting AMD's FM2 APUs, the Hi-Fi A85W. Powered by the A85X chipset, this board comes with a bunch of audiophile-friendly features like a noise-blocking multi-layer PCB design (isolates analog audio signals from digital sources), a built-in amplifier, Non-Polarized Electrolysis Electric audio capacitors for each audio channel circuit, 'Hi-Fi' resistors, and the Hi-Fi Power technology (audio components have an independent power design).

Biostar's motherboard also has four DDR3-2400 memory slots, eight SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, two PCIe x16, two PCIe x1 and two PCI slots, Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio (Realtek ALC892 codec), a debug LED, two USB 3.0 ports, and D-Sub, DVI and HDMI outputs. The Hi-Fi A85W has a recommended price tag of €124.90.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced the record highest clock speed 7.86GHz on AMD's A10 5800K APU using the GIGABYTE F2A85X-UP4 motherboard.

Attending an AMD Extreme OC show on 20th Nov. in Taipei Taiwan, GIGABYTE's overclocking team, The Killers (featuring HiCookie, S.Dougal and John Lam), took part in an overclocking demonstration achieving two new records on AMD's new Vishera and Trinity platforms. The GIGABYTE F2A85X-UP4 motherboard was able to push the AMD 5800K to an incredible 7.86GHz, more than twice the 3.8GHz stock clock. The AMD FX8350 processor was pushed to 8.47GHz using a GIGABYTE 990FXA-UD3 board.

Gigabyte is currently planning the release of a new Socket FM2 motherboard, a micro ATX model called GA-F2A85XM-HD3 that is powered by the AMD A85X chipset and offers triple monitor support (it includes Dual-link DVI, HDMI and D-Sub ports). This board also has an Ultra Durable 4 Classic design, two DDR3-1866 memory slots, eight SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, one PCIe x1 and two PCIe x16 slots, Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1-channel audio, plus two USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports.

The GA-F2A85XM-HD3 is available for pre-order at £57.14 (~ $90.55).

Reeven unveiled the Arcziel 12 CPU cooler. Classified in the large category, the Arcziel 12 is a top-flow air-cooler that uses an aluminum fin stack arranged along the plane of the motherboard, to which heat is conveyed by six 6 mm-thick copper heat pipes that make indirect contact with the CPU over a nickel-plated copper base that's polished to a mirror-finish. The six heat pipes pass through the aluminum fin stack at two points, to even heat distribution. The heatsink is then ventilated by a 120 mm PWM fan that spins at 500 to 1900 RPM, with noise-output of up to 35 dBA. Measuring 140.5 x 131 x 126 mm, the cooler weighs about 557 g. It supports all modern CPU socket types, including LGA2011, LGA115x, AM3+, and FM2. It is slated for November 21.

Biostar has now announced the European arrival of the TA75MH2 motherboard supporting AMD's Socket FM2 processors. Based on the A75 chipset, this micro ATX board features 100% solid capacitors, two DDR3-1866 memory slots supporting up to 32 GB of RAM, six SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, one PCI-Express x16, one PCI and two PCIe x1 slots, Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1 channel audio, two USB 3.0 ports, plus D-Sub, DVI and HDMI outputs.

The TA75MH2 has a recommended price tag of €62.90.

AMD's FX "Vishera" socket AM3+ processors are in for a long haul. According to a DonanimHaber report based on a leaked company roadmap slide, the company plans no new processor architecture to succeed it in 2013. The company recently launched its FX "Vishera" line of eight-, six-, and four-core chips just an year following FX "Zambezi," leading analysts to believe the company would launch a new micro-architecture each year to keep up with Intel's "tick-tock" product development strategy.

The roadmap slide, pictured below, shows AMD FX "Vishera" continuing through 2013 as the flagship desktop platform, followed by "Richland" third-generation desktop APU, which combines "Piledriver" CPU components with "Radeon 2.0 cores" (we're guessing those are Graphics CoreNext stream processors), which maintains socket FM2 platform; and low-power "Kabini" APU, which carries the mantle from "Brazos."

In late-2011, ASUS set itself a target of shipping 25 million PC motherboards in the following year. Contributing to its optimism were three new platform launches - Intel Core "Ivy Bridge" (7-series chipset), AMD "Trinity" (socket FM2), and AMD Vishera; and Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system, prompting PC upgrades. Falling demand in US and Europe, and weaker-than-expected shipment growth in China forced ASUS to trim its 2012 target down from 25 million to 22.2 million. In 2011, the company shipped 23.2 million motherboards.

In the first three quarters, ASUS shipped 16.7 million motherboards, and expects to ship no more than 5.5 million; down 5% sequentially, and flat year-over-year. The company faced severe competition from Gigabyte, which shipped 14 million motherboards in the three quarters thus far, and expects to ship 4.5 million in Q4, totaling 18.5 million for the year. The third biggest motherboard vendor, ASRock, is astray from its 2012 goal of 9 million shipments, and is hoping for a more conservative 7 million units target for 2012.

Korean enthusiast PC components major Zalman announced a trio of closed-loop liquid CPU coolers, the LQ310, LQ315, and LQ320; which are designed to handle maximum thermal loads (Qmax) of 300W, 330W, and 340W, respectively. The USP for all three is an extremely dense copper micro-fin structures inside the main block, where heat is dissipated to the coolant. The three feature what is essentially the same block and pump, and differ with the size of the radiator.

The Radiator component of the LQ310 measures 153 x 120 x 25 mm, that of the LQ315 is slightly thicker, at 35 mm, and LQ320 at 51 mm. A Zalman-made 120 mm fan, with 900 to 2,000 RPM speed range, long life bearing, and 4-pin PWM control, is standard issue for all three models. All modern CPU socket types are supported by the three, including LGA2011, LGA115x, AM3+/AM3, and FM2/FM1. The LQ310, LQ315, and LQ320, are priced at US $85, $100, and $120, respectively.

AMD's FirePro APUs built on the "Trinity" silicon, with the GPU feature-set of AMD's FirePro professional GPUs and durability of Opteron enterprise CPUs; and compatible motherboards made by PC Partner (Sapphire) have started selling in Japan. Among the new products on sale are the FirePro A300 (3.40 GHz CPU core, 4.00 GHz CPU TurboCore, 760 MHz GPU, quad-core, 65W), and FirePro A320 (3.80 GHz CPU core, 4.20 GHz CPU TurboCore, 800 MHz GPU, quad-core, 100W), and the AMD reference design micro-ATX motherboard, manufactured by PC Partner.

The motherboard features socket FM2, powered by an 8-phase digital PWM power supply to the APU socket, four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory, expansion slots that include PCI-Express 2.0 x16, PCI-Express 2.0 x4, x1, and legacy PCI; eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, display outputs that include dual-link DVI, dual-link DisplayPort, and D-Sub. HD audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of it.

ECS, the world's top motherboard maker, now announce its "ECS Trinity Challenge" Online OC Competition with FM1/FM2 platform motherboards on HWBOT. Meanwhile, ECS is proud to announce its second cooperation with HWBOT for online OC competition globally. ECS would like to take this chance to introduce a series of new FM2-based motherboard to enthusiast community through this competition.

The competition starts from November 1st, runs until November 30th. There are two competition stages for overclockers. First stage- AMD FM1 platform: It is open to all overclockers with ECS brand motherboards only and the benchmark is: 3DMark06. Second competition stages- AMD FM2 platform: It is open to all overclockers with all brands of motherboards in the market, and the benchmark is: 3DMark Vantage. HWBOT general benchmark validation rules apply to both stages.

Noctua today presented its new NH-L9i and NH-L9a low profile CPU coolers for Intel and AMD. At a super-low profile of only 37mm, the NH-L9 coolers are ideal for extremely slim cases and with footprints tailored to the respective socket keep-out zones, they provide full compatibility with tall RAM modules and VGA cards on mini-ITX mainboards. Topped off with the new NF-A9x14 PWM premium fan, the NH-L9 coolers fuse everything users have come to expect from Noctua's larger coolers into a super-compact package for slim HTPC systems.

"The response on our first low profile cooler, the NH-L12, has been overwhelming", says Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "However, users asked for even smaller, lower height models that also provide better compatibility for extra slim, ITX based HTPCs. We're thrilled that we can now meet this demand with the new NH-L9 coolers."

Gigabyte unveiled the F2A75M-HD2 entry-level socket FM2 motherboard. Built in the compact micro-ATX form-factor, measuring 225 x 174 mm, the F2A75M-HD2 is driven by AMD A75 chipset, and is designed for HTPCs. The APU socket is powered by a simple 5-phase VRM. It is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. One each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI make for the rest of the expansion area.

The F2A75M-HD2 features four SATA 6 Gb/s ports supporting RAID 0/1/10, and four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by header). Display outputs include one each of DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub. The rest of the connectivity includes eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports (four on the rear panel, four by headers), 6-channel HD audio, serial (COM), and gigabit Ethernet. The board is driven by AMI Aptio UEFI, with Gigabyte dual-BIOS and 3D BIOS technologies. It is expected to be priced around $70.

Biostar is currently preparing the release of two more motherboards supporting AMD's FM2 (codename Trinity) APUs, the Hi-Fi A85S2 powered by the A85X chipset and the Hi-Fi A55S2 equipped with an A55 chip. Since they are part of the Hi-Fi Series, both models feature an integrated independent audio power design and built-in amplifier, as well as a noise-blocking multi-layer PCB layout, the goal being to deliver a higher quality sound.

Both boards have an ATX form factor and pack 100% X.D.C solid capacitors, two DDR3-1866 memory slots, one PCIe x16 and two PCIe x1 slots, three PCI slots, Gigabit Ethernet, 5.1-channel audio, plus D-Sub and DVI outputs. The A55S2 also includes six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports and four USB 2.0 connectors, while the A85S2 comes with eight SATA 6.0 Gbps ports, two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 plugs, and an HDMI output. No word yet on pricing.

HWBot.org Test lab put the A10-5800K APU through its paces by overclocking its CPU component to 5.242 GHz (124.8 MHz x42 @1.644V), and its Radeon HD 7660D GPU component to 1.58 GHz (up from 1.275 GHz), to yield a 3DMark Vantage score of P10002 (performance preset), a level of performance unheard of for integrated graphics. The feat was made possible by picking the best of three A10-5800K chips cooled by Der8auer Fusion rev3 CPU pot, a Gigabyte FM2A85X-UP4 motherboard, G.SKILL RipjawsZ F3-19200CL9Q-16GBZMD 2x 4 GB memory, Corsair AX1200i PSU, and Windows 7 OS. Find more details in the source link below.

Following the announcement of its second-generation A-series desktop APUs earlier this month, AMD is set to reduce prices of its older A-Series desktop APUs in the socket FM1 package, according to a DigiTimes report. Prices of the entry-level A4-3300 dual-core APU, for example, are expected to go down from US $46 to $30; and A4-3400 from $48 to $35. AMD also decided to cut price of its "Trinity" A4-5300 dual-core socket FM2 APU from $53 to $30, making it an attractive lure to the new platform, stepping up competitiveness against Intel Celeron. This information comes from sources among Taiwan-based motherboard makers, there's no word on when the new pricing could take effect.

Beating their own OC record of 7.384 GHz set earlier this week, overclocker alvinkenzo took the $122 AMD A10-5800K APU all the way up to 7446.41 MHz, achieved with a base clock frequency of 120.1 MHz and 62.0x multiplier. The core voltage was set at 1.992V, and one of the two modules were disabled, a discrete graphics card was used. Memory speed wasn't tinkered with, at DDR3-1600 MHz, a pair of G.Skill-made modules were used in dual-channel configuration. Seating it all was MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 motherboard. The CPU-Z validation for the feat can be found here.

Gigabyte made a late addition to its socket FM2 launch lineup, the F2A85XM-D3H. Based on the AMD A85X chipset, the micro-ATX motherboard builds on its feature-set with a few legacy connectivity options. The APU socket is powered by a 5-phase VRM that draws power from an 8-pin EPS connector. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory, and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. The memory is powered by a 2-phase VRM. Other expansion slots include one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1, PCI-Express 2.0 x4 (long slot, wired to the A85X FCH), amd legacy PCI.

All eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A85X FCH are wired out as internal ports. Display outputs include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. The four USB 3.0 ports from the chipset are split in groups of two between the rear panel and on board as headers. Other connectivity includes 6-channel HD audio with 8-channel digital TOSLINK output, gigabit Ethernet, eight USB 2.0 ports, and headers for COM (serial), LPT (parallel), and trusted platform module. The board is driven by dual-UEFI firmware. It is built using Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 4 Classic construction. It is expected to be priced around US $129.99.

AMD Japan teamed up with ASUS to display a concept 100% fanless (silent) HTPC build to buyers at Tokyo's Akihabara electronics shopping district. The build uses Streacom FC5 chassis with a CPU base modified for socket FM2. The base conducts heat from the processor using four copper heat pipes to the aluminum chassis, which doubles up as a heatsink. The build utilizes AMD A10-5700 APU, ASUS F2A85-M Pro micro-ATX motherboard based on AMD A85X chipset, 8 GB of AMD-certified DDR3-1866 MHz memory, and Corsair Force GT SSD. The concept build shows buyers that AMD's "Trinity" APUs are ready, willing, and able to power silent HTPC builds.

With the availability of AMD's new lineup of APUs MSI, the world leader in extreme performance mainboards and graphics cards, is pleased to announce the availability of a new lineup of Socket FM2 mainboards. Amongst the models available are the full-fledged FM2-A85X-G65 Gaming mainboard, compact MicroATX models and a brilliant miniITX model with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

Aiming to deliver the best gaming performance you will find the FM2-A85XA-G65 equipped with an amazing feature set to deliver an unprecedented gaming experience for the AMD platform. OC Genie II boosts the APUs CPU & GPU performance, Memory performance is enhanced with support for both AMP and XMP memory overclocking profiles. And MSI clock generator allows for much faster bus speeds which increases the performance of Dual Graphics and CrossFire even further! This is topped off with the first DigitALL PWM with Military Class III on a MSI mainboard.

SAPPHIRE Technology, a leading manufacturer and global supplier of graphics, mainboard and multimedia solutions has just announced a new mainboard developed to support the latest Trinity family of APUs from AMD.

The SAPPHIRE Pure Platinum A85XT is a full ATX sized board that supports the latest generation AMD APU A10/A8/A6/A4 series Trinity processors using socket FM2. It includes full implementation of the A85X chipset features, including USB 3.0, SATA 6G, PCI-Express expansion and extensive I/O support.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today launched its latest FM2 series motherboards supporting next generation AMD A-Series APUs. The GIGABYTE F2A85X-UP4, the flagship of the GIGABYTE FM2 series, incorporates GIGABYTE Ultra Durable 5 technology, digital power delivery and other exclusive features that guarantee you're getting the most from AMD's new 'Trinity' technology.

"A number of new features and technologies make their debut on the AMD platform, including Ultra Durable 5 technology, Dual UEFI 3D BIOS, Digital Power delivery, triple display support and Lucid Virtu MVP," commented Tim Handley, Deputy Director of Motherboard Marketing at GIGABYTE. "These new FM2 series motherboards offer outstanding value for any DIY builder looking to harness the improved performance of AMD's Trinity APUs."