Gigabyte today announced the international release of the D1080 multimedia docking station for both the S1080 and S1081 Slate PCs. With an incredible audio system, a built-in ODD and full connectivity ports, the D1080 combined with the S1080/S1081 provide a thrilling multimedia experience that can be enjoyed with the latest music, movies and online streaming content.

The D1080 multimedia docking station is designed for the S1080 and S1081, which are high-performing Windows 7 based slates. Continuing the spirit of the GIGABYTE Booktop series, the docking station merges the convenience of a portable slate with the benefit of a desktop PC. The combination provides exceptional versatility and turns the business oriented S1080/S1081 into a fantastic entertainment center.

Having trouble finding a mouse that goes with your notebook and can be neatly put into your suitcase after a meeting? GIGABYTE, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to present AIRE M1 Retractable Optical Mouse to you. As convenient as a wireless mouse, this smart retractable mouse is ready to go by only a simple pull away. Just lightly pull the cord, it can then be collected instantly and hidden in the mouse. You can travel with this compact mouse and free from tangled-cord problem from now on!

GIGABYTE kicked off its Radeon HD 7700 series with a trio of graphics cards, the Radeon HD 7770 GV-R777D5-1GD (AMD reference speeds), the Radeon HD 7770 GV-R777OC-1GD (factory overclocked speeds of 1100 MHz core, 4.50 GHz memory), and the Radeon HD 7750 GV-R775OC-1GI (factory overclocked speeds of 880 MHz core, 4.50 GHz memory). The company didn't release a reference-speed Radeon HD 7750. All three cards are based on non-reference board designs by Gigabyte, consisting of Ulra Durable VGA+ PCBs and optimized large-fan (translates to lower RPM, lower noise) fan-heatsinks.

Showcased at CES last month, the S1081 tablet PC/slate based around the Intel Cedar Trail platform has now found its way onto its maker's (Gigabyte) website for a full reveal of its specs. Seen below, the mobile device measures 270 (W) x 173 (D) x 14.94 (H) mm, it weights between 790 grams (when equipped with an SSD) and 850 grams (with a HDD), and features a 10.1-inch (1024 x 600) LED-backlit capacitive touchscreen, and a 1.86 GHz Atom N2800 processor.

The S1081 also packs 2/4 GB of RAM, up to a 500 GB HDD or up to a 256 GB SSD, an SD card reader, a 1.3-megapixel webcam, dual 1.5 W speakers, Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n WiFI, Bluetooth 3.0, optional 3.5G, one USB 3.0 ports, D-Sub and HDMI outputs, and a 4000 mAh battery. The slate's pricing and release date have yet to be announced.

Gigabyte introduced a new value socket AM3+ motherboard designed for AMD FX processors, the 970A-DS3. Based on the AMD 970 + SB950 chipset, this board is a product of some clever cost-balancing by its designers, which will spice-up both its specs-sheet, and price-tag, compared to the 970A-UD3. To begin with, the 970A-DS3 uses a much lighter component loadout compared to the UD3. The 970A-UD3's Ultra Durable 3 Classic component loadout makes way for Ultra Durable 4 Classic on the 970A-DS3, which includes a better weaved fiberglass PCB that's better resistant to humidity; features high ESD-resistance ICs located in key circuits; anti-surge ICs that prevent installed processors and memory from getting fried if something goes terribly wrong with the VRM; and of course low-RDS (on) MOSFETs and 100% solid-state capacitor design.

The CPU is powered by a simple 5-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866+ MHz memory. Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (wired to the 970), one PCIe 2.0 x16 (electrical 2.0 x4, wired to the SB950), three PCIe x1, and two legacy PCI. Gigabyte didn't cheap-out on the southbridge (by opting for SB710), and so we have a full-fledged SB950, complete with six SATA 6 Gb/s ports supporting RAID5. There are two USB 3.0 ports on the rear-panel, driven by an Etron EJ168 controller. The audio is driven by Realtek ALC887, wired to just a 5.1-channel analog output cluster, apart from the front-panel header. Gigabit Ethernet driven by Realtek 8111E tops it up. Gigabyte included its DualBIOS (AwardBIOS) with the board. Expect this one to be priced around US $100 (or below), making it a nice buy for single-GPU budget gaming-PC builds.

Xigmatek is celebrating a first with the Gigas Micro-ATX Cube, as it is their first Aluminum chassis. Even with its compact dimensions, the Gigas Cube manages to fit high-end Hardware, allowing one to easily build a potent HTPC or Gaming system. USB 3.0, space for up to 4 fans, along with a fan controller round up the list of features.

The word "Gigas" is part of the Greek language and means "giant". In the modern language, the prefix "giga" can be found in many different areas to quantify the sheer size. Gigabyte or Gigawatt are such examples and the new chassis from Xigmatek carries the name "Gigas" for good reason.

While it may be working away on 7 Series motherboards, Gigabyte still has some love for the 'old' 6 Series chipsets and is preparing more products based on them. One such product is the MSH61QI, a Mini-ITX board powered by the H61 Express Chipset.

Targeting embedded markets, the MSH61QI offers support for LGA 1155 processors, and features two DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM slots, two SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, one PCI-Express x16 and two (one full size, one half size) Mini-PCIe slots, Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, Line-In and SPDIF connectors, and a HDMI output. The board's availability and price tag have not been announced, yet.

Responding to increasing prices of key raw materials such as copper, and spiraling labor costs, motherboard manufacturers are planning price-hikes of their products by as much as 10%, which will take effect by the end of Q1, 2012. Vendors adopting these increased prices include major players such as ASUS and Gigabyte. Motherboard prices were earlier raised by 5-10% in early-2011 to tune in with increased material costs and the impact of labor shortages, and by 3-8% in April 2011 due to shortages and increased prices of components sourced from Japan, in the wake of the earthquake/tsunami disaster of 2011.

Gigabyte flagged off its Radeon HD 7950 lineup with a custom-design graphics card. Carrying the model number GV-R795WF3-3GD, the card makes use of Gigabyte's custom-design WindForce 3 cooling solution strapped on to a more familiar-looking AMD reference design PCB that's colored blue. The WindForce 3 cooler consists of a complex aluminum fin array that draws heat from the GPU, memory, and VRM. Heat is supplied by several copper heat pipes, the heatsink is then ventilated by three 80 mm fans that are tilted in way that maximizes hot air to be pushed out of the rear panel and the top. Overclocked out of the box, the GV-R795WF3-3GD comes with clock speeds of 900 MHz core and 1250 MHz (5.00 GHz effective) memory. It is priced at US $489.99

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.

Besides the MSH61DK mentioned earlier today, Gigabyte Technology has recently unveiled another Mini-ITX motherboard, one M7V90PI which is based around VIA's VX900 chipset and is equipped with one Nano U3300 (1.2 GHz) single-core processor.

Aimed for the embedded market, the M7V90PI also packs (just) one DDR3 SO-DIMM slot, Chrome9 HD (DirectX 9) integrated graphics, a VIA Vinyl VT1708S audio codec, two SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, one PCIe x1 slot, Gigabit Ethernet, six USB 2.0 connectors, and D-Sub, plus DVI outputs.

Catering to needs of all shapes and sizes, Taiwanese company Gigabyte has developed a little, mini-ITX motherboard which offers support for Intel's Sandy Bridge processors.

Called MSH61DK, the board in question is 17 by 17 cm, it makes use of the Intel H61 Express chipset and features two DDR3-1333 SO-DIMM slots (for up to 8 GB of RAM), two SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, two Mini PCIe slots, two USB 3.0 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, a Realtek ALC 887 audio chip, and a HDMI output. The MSH61DK complies with the Thin Mini-ITX standard so it can be used within Gigabyte's All-in-One barebone PCs.

In addition to prepping its overclocked Radeon HD 7970, Gigabyte is currently finishing up yet another all-in-one barebone, the GB-AEDTK featuring an Intel H61 motherboard (it supports LGA 1155 processors), a 21.5-inch 10-point multi-touch display, and a built-in backup battery that will come in handy during a power outage.

Gigabyte's AiO can be equipped with up to 8 GB of RAM (via two SO-DIMMs), and has a 3.5-inch drive bay, a slim optical drive bay, Gigabit Ethernet, two 3W speakers, a 4-in-1 card reader, a Mini PCIe slot, two USB 3.0 ports, and a HDMI output. No word yet on its price tag.

Gigabyte Technology has now added to its website a second Radeon HD 7970 graphics card, the (previously-leaked) model codenamed GV-R797OC-3GD which features a dual-slot, triple-fan cooler, a custom PCB, and a GPU clocked at 1000 MHz (the standard frequency is 925 MHz).

Gigabyte's customized HD 7970 also has an Ultra Durable VGA construction (2oz copper PCB, Tier 1 memory, Japanese Solid Capacitor, Ferrite Core Chokes, Low RDS (on) MOSFET), a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 VRAM set to 5500 MHz (no overclock here, unfortunately), DVI, HDMI and dual Mini DisplayPort outputs, and CrossFireX support. The GV-R797OC-3GD's price tag has yet to be revealed.

After trying to avoid UEFI BIOS by sticking to "HybridEFI" workarounds to its existing AwardBIOS code on most of its socket LGA1155 and AM3+ motherboards, GIGABYTE reluctantly transitioned to UEFI with its socket LGA2011 motherboards, on which it fused its innovative Dual-BIOS technology with UEFI to come up with Dual-UEFI technology. One can imagine this to be particularly tough to implement on lower-end models, since UEFI with graphical setup program requires higher-capacity EEPROM chips, and since Dual-UEFI would need two, it would stress component costs, but GIGABYTE did it anyway.

In Japan, the company released the latest revision of the GA-H61MA-D3V (rev. 2.0), an entry-level socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel H61 chipset, which features Dual-UEFI. Apart from this, the board also features GIGABYTE's Ultra-Durable 4 Classic component loadout, which consists of a new fiberglass fabric weave PCB that's more resistant to humidity that causes short-circuits, high ESD-resistance ICs, anti-surge ICs located on critical circuits, low RDS (on) MOSFETs, and a 100% high-grade solid-state capacitor design.

Gigabyte today announced that three extraordinary new Blu-ray gaming and multimedia notebooks in the P2532 series are now on sale in international markets. The P2532 series features three new configurations that are designed to meet the needs of a variety of users interested in mobile gaming and multimedia.

"Gigabyte has long been a leader in the gaming motherboard market and we have taken our expertise to design high-end notebooks," said Richard Ma, Senior Executive Vice President of Gigabyte. "With the P2532 series, we have developed a line of premium products that feature exceptional performance, but at an affordable price to achieve the best value for users."

Gigabyte today announced that the innovative new 3-in-1 Booktop T1132N is now on sale in international markets. The 11.6" T1132N has a revolutionary design that allows it to be transformed into a notebook, a tablet and even a desktop.

The T1132N comes packed with many exciting features including a 2nd generation Intel Core i5 processor, a NVIDIA GeForce GT 520M GPU with 1 GB VRAM, THX TruStudio Pro sound technology, a capacitive multi-touch display, and an innovative docking station that turns the computer into a desktop.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced its participation at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas where it is debuting a number of new and exciting motherboard technologies that will be central to it's motherboard design in 2012 and beyond. International media and customers will get a sneak peak of GIGABYTE's new technologies at their suite in The Venetian Hotel, Las Vegas, from January 10-13.

GIGABYTE is showing forthcoming 7 series motherboards featuring the very latest in CPU power delivery with GIGABYTE's unique Digital Power Engine called 3D Power. Offering digital control over all the main onboard power zones, this new digital PWM design allows users to manipulate and monitor the power provided to 2nd Gen Intel Core and Next Gen processors for the LGA 1155 socket.

Gigabyte hopped into the Radeon HD 7970 launch bandwagon with a base-model graphics card, the GV-R797D5-3GD-B. The custom-design GV-R797OC-3GD isn't launched so far, doesn't feature on the company website, and will probably join its ranks a little later, since it appeared to be using a custom-design PCB, something no card launched so far has. The GV-R797D5-3GD-B sticks to AMD-reference PCB and cooler designs, with red-colored PCB.

We have seen cases where cards with red PCB in their press-shots ended up having black PCBs in the store inventories (and vice-versa), so it looks like the only way you can be sure about the PCB color by looking at what color PCB the online store of your choice is using in its item page when you're placing your order (and return the card if it doesn't match). PCB color has gained importance with enthusiasts that like to peak into the belly of their beasts through case windows. Gigabyte's GV-R797D5-3GD-B also sticks to AMD reference clock speeds of 925 MHz core, and 1375 MHz (5.50 GHz effective) memory. The HD 7970 is DirectX 11.1 compliant, packs 2,048 stream processors, and is wired to 3 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide memory interface. Expect standard pricing of around $550.

GIGABYTE today announced an outstanding lineup of ground breaking mobile computers at CES 2012. All products feature GIGABYTE's longstanding commitment to technological prowess in terms of quality, performance and design. Exciting products to be introduced at CES include the S1081, a 10.1" powerful slate for productivity; and the T1006M, an extraordinary 10.1" convertible tablet notebook. Other products to be presented are the Booktop T1132N, an 11.6" revolutionary 3-in-1 notebook, tablet and desktop; the P2532F, a 15.6" blazing fast Blu-ray gaming and multimedia notebook; and the Booktop M2432, a 14" notebook that delivers the perfect combination of style and performance.

Here is the first picture of a non-reference design Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. Made by Gigabyte, the GV-R797OC-3GD is a factory-overclocked graphics card, which makes use of a custom Ultra Durable VGA+ PCB by the company, and a custom-design triple-fan WindForce cooler. Its Ultra Durable VGA+ PCB makes use of 2 oz copper layer for better electrical stability and heat distribution, ferrite-core chokes, low RDS (on) MOSFETs, hand-picked high-performance GDDR5 memory chips, etc.

The cooler makes use of a combination of heatsinks and aluminum fin arrays to which heat from the GPU, memory, and VRM is fed by copper heat-pipes, and ventilated by three fans. Gigabyte also has a reference-design graphics card, which uses a reference-design cooling assembly, and most likely also a reference design PCB, except that it's colored red. It's not likely that red color PCB will be standard among AIB-branded retail cards, because the HIS and MSI cards pictured by OCUK recently, were found to have black-colored ones. There's no word of the pricing or clock speeds.

It's been a tough week or so for Gigabyte marketing. It had to admit that quite a few people had burned their motherboards, to which it offered free replacements, and isolated the problem to faulty firmware. There has been talk that this firmware cripples overclocking by throttling CPU clock speed under extreme stress. Gigabyte set out to do some myth-busting. Renowned overclocker and Gigabyte PR guy HiCookie set up a test-bench using Core i7-3930K, an "infamous" X79-UD3 motherboard running the latest version F7 BIOS, and a typical extreme-cooling bench.

HiCookie achieved 5643.2 MHz clock speed, using a base clock of 99 MHz, 57.0x multiplier, and CPU voltage of 1.584V. The rest of the test-bench consisted of Kingston HyperX Genesis memory, and Corsair AX1200W PSU. To demonstrate that this isn't a hit-and-run feat, HiCookie put the overclocked bench through Super Pi 1M and 32M and PiFast benchmarks, with record-setting scores. The CPU-Z validation can be found here. Details of the HWBot record scores can be accessed here.A video of the benchmarks follows.

On Tuesday, a major problem associated with Gigabyte's X79-UD3, X79-UD5, and G1.Assassin 2 motherboards came to light after a Gigabyte press-release, where enthusiasts subjecting their boards to voltage-assisted overclocking with stress-testing, ended up with burnt CPU VRM. Till that press-release, the scale of the problem was not known. Gigabyte announced remedies to existing owners, which included either updating their motherboards' BIOS to the latest "F7" version posted on the company website, or sending their boards dead or alive for free replacements.

We're getting to know now that to all those who opt to keep their boards and update their BIOS, Gigabyte is offering a lifetime product warranty, an extension of the limited warranties their products come with. Gigabyte's own version of what went wrong with these motherboards is that it shipped several of its motherboards with bad BIOS firmware that did not have "overclocking limits", which motherboards by other manufacturers did. This claim means that "japan0827", the overclocker from XFastest community who ended up with a burned X79-UD3 that he posted on YouTube, would have been running his setup way off spec, electrically.

The market for socket LGA775 is still far from dead as there are large inventories of cheap Core 2, Pentium, and Celeron chips left in the market, as well as buyers upgrading their DDR2 systems to those with DDR3, to benefit from the DDR3 fire sale. Gigabyte introduced a new revision of its GA-EG41MFT-US2H, revision 1.4, with an updated gigabit Ethernet chip. The micro-ATX motherboard uses 3+1 phase VRM to power the processor, a wide range of Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors are supported. The processor is wired to Intel's G41 northbridge. Surprisingly, its graphics controller gives out an HDMI connection apart from DVI and D-Sub. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 8 GB of memory.

Expansion slots include two PCI, one each of PCI-Express 1.1 x16 and PCIe x1. The ICH7 southbridge drives four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and an IDE connector. The gigabit ethernet controller has been updated to RTL8111E, from the 8111D found on the older revision. Other features include 8-channel HD audio, Firewire, FDC, COM, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Expect a sub-$100 pricing for this board.

Last week, a Taiwanese overclocker putting his OC workbench through an relatively laxed OC stress test saw its Gigabyte X79 UD3 motherboard go bust. Its CPU VRM couldn't cope with the stress, and blew a MOSFET. At the time, people responding to his video condoled him for his bad luck. It appears now that his wasn't a one-off case of "bad-egg". Gigabyte, in its latest press release on its Chinese website, noted the issue. Apparently it received several such complaints from overclockers where even moderate voltage-assisted CPU OC fried its VRM. The issue was found to be widespread, among three of its main socket LGA2011 products, the GA-X79-UD3, GA-X79-UD5, and G1.Assassin 2.

Apparently, the issue is caused by a cocktail of bad firmware to complement the board's PWM circuitry, and bad quality PWM components. As an immediate remedy, Gigabyte issued a BIOS update for the affected products. This BIOS, however, will cripple the board's overclocking abilities. The new BIOS will throttle CPU when subjected to extreme stress, to save the VRM. The BIOS remedy is only for those who opt to keep their boards, or don't subject the board to extreme tuning. The other remedy, is to return the board to Gigabyte, for a free replacement when the "right" boards are available. Gigabyte also announced a general recall of the GA-X79-UD3, GA-X79-UD5, and G1.Assassin 2, from the market. A video of the "unlucky" (not anymore) overclocker's day going bad, can be watched here.Update (29/12): Gigabyte's German office wrote to us and explained that on their end they find the problem to be because of bad firmware, and not bad component quality; and that unlike Gigabyte Taiwan, they are not recalling products or soliciting replacements, but asking users to update their BIOS to the latest available. Gigabyte Germany set up a hotline for German customers, that's 040-253304-55.