Japanese cooling expert Scythe is announcing today the successor of popular Mugen 2 CPU Cooler. Mugen 2 CPU Cooler was awarded many times and is well known world-wide to mainstream users, Overclocker and Enthusiasts. During the development process main focus was set on improvement of performance and mounting mechanism as well as shrinking the heatsink dimensions. New Mugen 3 CPU Cooler is ready to take on the legacy.

While optimizing the performance the whole heatsink design of Mugen 3 CPU Cooler was re-worked which resulted in creation the improved fin-structure M.A.P.S. (Multiple Airflow Pass-Through Structure). Enhancements were achieved by reducing the aerodynamic resistance as well as improving of the overall heatsink stability. Furthermore Mugen 3 is equipped with total of six high-quality copper-heatpipes where the predecessor had only five. Typical for Scythe is the excellently processed and flat surface of the copper base which was refined by a thin nickel layer to prevent corrosion.

Remember the very first strains of Ibex Peak LGA1156 platform motherboards such as this one? Remember that small memory slot next to the bigger DIMM slots? That was Intel's ambitious "Braidwood" technology, a NAND-flash based hard drive assist feature. Fast NAND flash memory would be installed onto the motherboard in the form of removable modules, and those modules would quicken system booting, and act as a fast cache for the system drive. Alas, Braidwood was axed for reasons unknown till date. Maybe it made Ibex Peak platform a lot faster than it should be, or maybe its design wasn't perfected or flawed. Regardles, it disappeared.

Two platforms (Ibex Peak and Cougar Point) later, a similar technology is making its way through Intel's pipes, this time it has a proper market name: Intel Smart Response Technology, and comes with another new development, Larsen Creek. Larsen Creek is the codename of Intel's upcoming line of solid state drives. However, it is targeting entry-level, low-capacity markets, and what better way to sell it than club it with Intel's new platform technology, Smart Response. Instead of NAND flash modules (Braidwood), Intel's Smart Response technology uses SATA SSDs to accelerate hard drives. The SSD can be of any size and speed, it's just that Larsen Creek is the most appropriate given that it will come in capacities as low as 20 GB, and be quite inexpensive.

At the CeBIT event, Gelid showed off its latest CPU cooler, the GX-7. This medium-sized aluminum fin tower-type CPU heatsink makes use of over 40 aluminum fins to which heat is conveyed by as many as seven copper heat pipes (probably in multi-layer stacks at the base). Ventilation is care of two Gelid Wing 12 fans in push-pull configuration, with 1500 RPM speeds. The cooler supports all modern socket types, including LGA1366, LGA1155/LGA1156, LGA775, and AM3/AM2+/AM2.

Japanese cooling specialist Scythe hereby officially announces the launch the new high-end CPU Cooler Mine 2. The Mine 2 CPU Cooler is based on a twin cooler Layout. Eight copper heatpipes transport heat to two generously dimensioned cooling blocks. By placing the fan in between the 2 heatsink towers, intake as well as exhale airflows are optimized to provide high performance. Furthermore, the lower part of the installed fan is designed to cool the devices around the CPU socket, such as voltage regulators and RAM. The structure of the heat sink makes it possible to use a total of up to three fans by purchasing separately sold fan clips. In this manner, the air flow and thus the cooling capacity of the Mine 2 will be significantly increased by using the push / pull principle.

By default, the Mine 2 will be delivered with a centrally placed, adjustable 140 mm Slip Stream PWM & VR fan. Although the fan supports the PWM feature, the user can manually adjust the PWM bandwidth between 470 to 1,370 rpm and 740 to 1,900 rpm. Despite the changed bandwidth, the fan is still controlled by the PWM signal from the motherboard, allowing an individual but also dynamic fan control. Alternatively it is possible to disable the PWM function. Instead the fan can be controlled manually in a range of 500 to 1,700 rpm. This gives every user the option to optimize the Mine 2 CPU cooler for performance or low noise according to own preferences.

Scythe Corporation, a renowned cooling manufacturer, today announced the release of its third version of the Universal Retention Kit. This enhanced version comes with several improvements and wide multi-socket compatibility for both AMD and Intel sockets. The list of compatible sockets contains Intel Socket T / LGA775, LGA1156 LGA1366 and the brand-new socket LGA1155. It furthermore supports the AMD Sockets 754, 939, AM2, AM2+, AM3 and 940. Universal Retention Kit 3 is once again based on a backplate mounting system and allows firm contact pressure as well as secure mounting of even big and heavy CPU Coolers.

Commonly supplied retention bracket of AMD Mainboards are made of plastic which has a downside of giving risk of breaking when using with an on-market High-End CPU Cooler. This problem doesn't accrue with the supplied retention bracket of the Universal Retention Kit 3 which is made of solid steel and thereby provides the necessary sturdiness even for big High-End CPU Coolers. For Intel architecture this kit allows pushpin mounting to be converted to backplate mounting, thereby providing high mechanical stability hence also providing the necessary sturdiness even for big High-End CPU Coolers with a pushpin solution. In order to ease the detachment process of Push-Pins, a convenient Push-Pin Removal Tool is supplied along in the accessory.

EverCool announced its latest CPU cooler, part of its Transformer series, the Transformer 3. It features similar design and styling as the Transformer 4. As the number next to "Transformer" indicates, this cooler uses three heat-pipes compared to 4 on its bigger sibling. Measuring 130 x 161 x 78.5 mm, the heatsink weighs 630 g. The three 6 mm thick nickel-plated copper heat pipes are evenly spread along the plane of the aluminum fins, and make direct contact with the CPU at the base. A 120 mm chrome-plated fan is in charge of ventilation, it spins at speeds between 800 and 2200 RPM, is PWM-controlled, and has a rated noise output of 15~34 dBA. It is compatible with all current sockets including LGA1366, LGA1155/LGA1156, LGA775, AM3/AM2+/AM2. The company did not give out pricing.

Last year, credible reports of a design defect with LGA1156 sockets made by a certain component manufacturer in particular, made headlines. Reviewers found that extreme overclocking using increase voltages, in test cases, caused certain pins of the socket to burn out, damaging both the board and processor. The defect was found to be caused by shorting between the pins and the socket causing tiny electrical arcs. Motherboard reviewer from TechReaction.net discovered that his Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 and GA-P67A-UD7 samples showed signs of socket burn. The publication is yet to receive a reply from the board manufacturer.

LGA1155 and LGA1156 are very similar in physical pin layout, chip package, and retention clips, although the pin-maps are significantly different. TechReaction comments that while only "extreme conditions" cause such pin burnouts, 24/7-stable overclocked settings could, over a period of time, create similar conditions. Only time, and extensive testing will reveal if burnouts are a cause for concern to enthusiasts.

Here are the first pictures of Intel's new high-end CPU socket, the 2011-pin land grid array (LGA2011). A selection of pictures of an unannounced motherboard by MSI made it to the internet. LGA2011, coupled with a new chipset, the Intel X68 Express, will drive the company's new high-end and enthusiast-grade processors that feature 6, 8, or 12 cores, and quad-channel DDR3 memory controllers. At first sight, the LGA2011 is huge! Its retention clip looks to be completely detachable by unhooking the retention bars on either sides. With all LGA sockets till date, you needed to unhook one retention bar, letting you open the retention clip along a hinge.

Since the processor has four DDR3 memory channels, there's room for only one DIMM per channel on a typically-sized ATX motherboard. On this particular motherboard, we can make out that there are two DIMM slots on either sides of the socket, accommodating two channels each. With this platform, Intel transferred the northbridge component completely to the CPU package, much like LGA1156/LGA1155. Therefore, the 32-lane PCI-Express controller is housed inside the CPU package. What remains of the chipset is a PCH (platform controller hub). Like P55/H55/P67/H67, the X68 is a PCH, a glorified southbridge. It will house a smaller PCI-E hub that handles various connectivity devices, a storage controller, a LPCIO controller, USB and HDA controllers, and the DMI link to the processor. We will get to know more about this platform as the year progresses.

Cooler Master displayed its next performance CPU cooler, the H-B6. It features an aluminum fin tower design, but with its heat-pipes passing along the length of the fins rather than breadth (like on most tower-type heatsinks). This approach spreads heat more evenly, and adds to the turbulence. The heatsink measures 136 x 127 x 163 mm; the fan is a typically-sized 120 mm spinner with S-shaped blades. All modern CPU sockets are supported, including LGA1366, LGA1155/LGA1156, LGA775, AM3/AM2+/AM3.

Zalman's pack of new CPU coolers is led by the CNPS11X Extreme. The 11K is positioned to be a premium air-cooler that's a notch above even the CNPS10X. Overall retaining the trapezoid shape of the CNPS7X, the CNPS11X Extreme actually uses what appears to be L-shaped (right-angled) aluminum fins packed into a very dense fin array. It is cooled by a high-flow 130 mm LED-lit fan. It is capable of handling thermal loads of up to 350W, supporting all modern socket types, including AM3(+)/AM2(+), LGA1366, LGA1155/LGA1156.

Zalman showed off its latest mid-range CPU cooler, the CNPS7X LED. The CNPS7X sits between the value CNPS5X and the high-performance CNPS10X. It uses an aluminum fin tower design, making use of trapezoid aluminum fins to which heat is conveyed by three 8 mm thick copper heat pipes. It makes use of an LED-lit 130 mm high-flow fan. The CNPS7X is suited for all modern socket types, including AM3+/AM3/AM2+, LGA1366, LGA1155/LGA1156, and LGA775.

Mushkin Enhanced (Mushkin) released two new DDR3-1600 MHz (PC3-12800) memory kits bearing the company's Radioactive-themed FrostByte heatspreaders. The release includes a 4 GB (2x 2 GB) dual-channel kit best suited for socket LGA1156 systems, and a 6 GB (3x 2 GB) triple-channel kit, best suited for LGA1366 systems. The modules operate at 1600 MHz with timings of 7-9-7-24, with module voltage of 1.65V. Backed by a lifetime warranty, the 4 GB kit is priced at US $67.49, and the 6 GB one at $101.49.

ASRock is known to mix and match sockets and chipsets to come up with some interesting hybrids that give users access to latest features offered by the chipset. A recent example of this is a socket 939 motherboard based on the AMD 785G chipset (read here), which gives users of socket-939 Athlons access to a fast IGP and PCI-Express 2.0. The company's latest such innovation is the P67 Transformer. This is a socket LGA1156 motherboard, it supports existing Core i5/Core i7 "Lynnfield", and Core i3/Core i5 "Clarkdale" processors, but is based on the Intel P67 Express chipset. The board gives users access to some advanced features of the P67 chipset, but won't support LGA1155 processors.

So what's in it for you? Well, the P67 PCH embeds a PCI-Express 2.0 hub compared to P55/H55, which pack an older PCI-Express 1.1 hub. The older hub is known to heavily bottleneck devices such as USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers that use only a single PCI-E lane (since PCI-E 1.1 has 250 MB/s per direction bandwidth, compared to 500 MB/s on the PCI-E 2.0). So significant is this bottleneck, that some motherboard designers even used bridge chips that convert the P55's PCI-E 1.1 x4 port to two PCI-E 2.0 x1, for USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers. The PCI-E x16 slots however, are wired to the processor and are Gen 2. ASRock's board hence gives you two USB 3.0 and two SATA 6 Gb/s with an alleviated bus bottleneck.

Noctua today officially introduced its new NH-C14 CPU cooler. Sporting an exquisite, uniquely flexible 140mm dual fan setup of two Noctua NF-P14, the NH-C14 is a highly customisable, premium-class top-flow solution that further boosts the renowned quiet cooling performance of the company's much acclaimed NH-C12 series.

"Our NH-C12 coolers are renowned to rank among the most capable top-flow cooling solutions on the market, so we're truly proud to offer a further substantial improvement in quiet cooling performance with the new NH-C14", says Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO. "This model really closes the gap to good tower coolers while being much lower in height and ensuring better component cooling."

Zalman announced its latest CPU cooler, the CNPS5X. Its design is a fusion between traditional tower-type and Zalman's own nested fan design heatsink. The CNPS5X is designed for medium-thru-heavy thermal loads, more like highly overclocked dual-core or mildly overclocked quad-core chips. The company excluded support for LGA1366 for this reason, but added support for Intel's upcoming LGA1155 socket. Other sockets supported include LGA1156, LGA775, and AM3/AM2+/AM2.

Its design consists of Y-shaped aluminum fins, to which heat is conveyed evenly by three 8 mm thick copper heat pipes. The heat pipes converge at a copper CPU base. The 92 mm fan is nested inside the aluminum fins. It spins at 1400~2800 rpm, with a rated noise level of 20~32 dBA. Together, the CNPS5X measures 127(L) x 62(W) x 134(H) mm, weighing 320 g. Installation is made easy by push-pins for Intel sockets, and a fixed clip for AMD sockets, requiring no access to the back of the motherboard. Slated for market release in December, the CNPS5X from Zalman is priced at €26.90.

EverCool updated the design of its Transformer 4 CPU cooler. The updated version supports LGA1156 socket, apart from its present LGA1366/LGA775/AM3. The Transformer 4 has a typical tower-type heatsink design, with a CPU base in which four 8 mm thick copper heat pipes make direct contact with the CPU, conveying heat to the aluminum fin array. Two 120 mm fans spinning at 800~2200 ±15% rpm circulate air through the heatsink. The price tag isn't announced, though we don't expect it to be much different from the existing price of around US $40.

Mushkin, a global leader in high-performance computer products, announces the availability of new Radioactive memory kits tailored for the gaming and enthusiast markets. This new Radioactive Series launches with DDR3-1600 CL6 memory kits for Intel's LGA1366 and LGA1156 platforms, as well as a 2000 MHz 6GB CL8 triple kit. In the near future, more kits with different specifications will be available.

"We're elated to offer viscerally engaging products for our friends in the gaming and high performance sectors. We have many plans to cater to enthusiasts, and this kit release is just the tip of the iceberg." - Wade Shiflett, Mushkin, Inc. marketing director. These new high performance memory kits are available now at mushkin.com and our partners around the globe. Shortly, these kits will be bundled at newegg.com with Bethesda Softworks's "Fallout: New Vegas" PC video game titled for great savings.

Xigmatek unveiled its newest CPU cooler targeted at value-conscious gamers, the LOKI SD963. Its conventionally-shaped tower heatsink measures 92 x 50 x 134 mm (W x H x D), weighing 330 g. It uses a dense aluminum fin array that channels air (it's blocked on its narrow sides). Three 6 mm thick copper heat pipes make direct contact with the CPU at the base. A 92 mm fan that spins at 1200~2800 rpm with a noise output of 20~28 dBA is bundled, though the heatsink is designed with provision for a second (pull) fan. Vibration-dampening rubber bolts hold the fan and the heatsink together. All current CPU socket types are supported, including LGA1366, LGA1156, AM3/AM2(+), and LGA775. The company did not reveal pricing, though one can expect it to be on the lower side.

The Pentium G6951 dual-core LGA1156 processor may not have made any headlines when it was known to be almost identical to the Pentium G6950, until now. Intel designed the G6951 to support "hardware feature upgrades" by purchasing them and enabling them using a software, so users with this processor installed can upgrade their systems by enabling that are otherwise locked for the SKU. The $50 upgrade fetches support for HyperThreading Technology, enabling four threads on the processor; and unlocks the disabled 1 MB of the L3 cache (Clarkdale has 4 MB of L3 cache, of which 1 MB is disabled on the Pentium SKUs).

There isn't much value in buying a $99 Pentium G6951 and the $50 Upgrade Card upfront, but later down the line, companies can opt to mass-upgrade system performance without touching any of the hardware inside. The service works by the purchase of an upgrade key that the user has to feed into the software, which is then verified by Intel's activation server, following successful verification, the software unlocks the processor's features. This is a one-time process, portable between software reinstallations.

Japanese manufacturer Scythe officially announces the new CPU Cooler Rasetsu. This cooler, already shown at the CeBit 2010, combines the outstanding design of the Yasya CPU Cooler with a top-flow layout. The heatsink is divided into two blocks, and each is equipped with the T.M.L.F. (Trident Multi Layer Fin) structure. Because of this irregular lamellar structure and the unparallel arrangement of six copper heatpipes, surface directly cooled by the fan is highly increased and thus maximum heat dissipation is achieved.

New 120 mm "Slip Stream 120 PWM Adjustable" fan is supplied for optimized airflow. Although the fan supports the PWM feature, user can manually adjust the bandwidth between 470 to 1,370 rpm and 740 to 1,900 rpm. Easy mounting is available by the famous V.T.M.S. (Versatile Tool-Free Multiplatform System) which requires no motherboard removal for the heatsink mounting. Rasetsu CPU Cooler is compatible to all current sockets, including the new socket LGA 1156, LGA 1366 and AM3.

Having turned its most profitable quarter, Intel is banking on its vast lineup of the 2010 Core processors, which will be updated towards the end of the year. By 2011, Intel will have a new series of second generation Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3 processors, based on a brand new architecture, and built for new sockets and chipsets. A roadmap of the same reached sections of the European media, which shows the company to be almost ready with a full-fledged lineup of desktop processors covering most price-points, by 2011.

The new architecture on which these processors are based is referred to by Intel as "Sandy Bridge", key features of which include the inclusion of the new Advanced Vector Extensions (AVX), a more advanced instruction set than SSE, to accelerate complex applications. AVX aside, there's Turbo Boost technology 2.0 that comes with even smarter algorithms to automatically manage clock speeds of individual processor cores to maximize performance within the processor's TDP envelope, AES-NI, which is a more manageable hardware data encryption instruction set, and processors with integrated graphics (IGP) controllers will have even faster ones, because Intel will be relocating the IGP and memory controller to the same die as the processor cores, this IGP is referred to as Intel "GT2" graphics.

Xigmatek today introduced its Aegir SD128264 CPU cooler. While it looks like yet another tower-design CPU cooler with push-pull ventilation, Xigmatek implemented a new technology in this cooler, which it calls "Double Layer with Heat-pipe Direct Touch" or DLHDT. The design involves four heatpipes, of which two are 8 mm thick and two are 6 mm thick (alternating), making direct contact with the processor, with another set of two heatpipes making direct contact with these four HDT heat pipes, so that some of the processor's heat is indirectly offloaded to those heatpipes between the two sets of heat pipes. In all, the six heat pipes disperse heat to various parts of the aluminum fins.

The unit measures 120(W) x 120(H) x 25(D) mm, weighing 630 g. Air circulation is care of two 120 mm fans that guide air through the aluminum fin array at speeds between 1,000 and 2,200 rpm, with a noise level of 20 dBA. The fans are fitted with white LEDs. The cooler supports all current CPU socket types, including LGA1366, LGA1156, AM3/AM2(+), and LGA775. Xigmatek unfortunately, did not give out pricing or availability information.

ECS' new high-end socket LGA1156 motherboard, the P55H-AK, is closer to release with the company listing it on its website. The P55H-AK was first pictured at this year's Computex event held in Taipei, but the company seems to have made some changes to its design, notably a different set of heatsinks and component colors. The key feature of this motherboard is its PCI-Express bandwidth management, which is care of an NVIDIA nForce 200 bridge chip that facilitates two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 links that are split between three slots, first slot being x16, and the other two being x8 constant; and a PLX 12-lane 3-port bridge chip that connects to the P55 PCH over PCI-Express 1.1 x4, and gives out PCI-Express 2.0 x1 connections to the SATA 3 Gb/s and USB 3.0 controllers.

The CPU socket makes use of 15μ gold contacts (the pins have a 15 μm thick layer of gold on the surface), it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. Expansion slots include three PCI-E x16, two PCI-E x1, and a PCI, ATI CrossFireX and 3-way NVIDIA SLI are supported. Connectivity include two 2-port USB 3.0 controllers, of which one gives out a 2-port internal header, six SATA 3 Gb/s and two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, 8-channel HD audio, dual gigabit Ethernet, eSATA, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The board's listing is indicative of a launch sometime soon.

Over half an year after its introduction, Zotac's feature-rich H55-ITX WiFi motherboard got a minor (or major, depending on your application) specification update, with the company dropping in USB 3.0 support. Making use of the common NEC controller, the board features two USB 3.0 ports on its rear-panel. The new model is thus named H55U3 WiFi. Sticking strictly to the mini-ITX specs, the H55U3 is a socket LGA1156 motherboard supporting processors with TDP of up to 95W, which translates to all dual-core Core i3, i5 processors with room for light overclocking, and quad-core Core i5, i7 with no overclocking.

Being based on the Intel H55 chipset, it supports Intel FDI, connecting processors with Intel HD graphics to display connectors that include DVI and HDMI. The socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory, and one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. Connectivity includes six SATA 3 Gb/s from the H55 PCH, 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF, WiFi b/g/n, gigabit Ethernet, eSATA, USB 2.0, and USB 3.0. The board uses ATX 24+4 pin power input. Zotac's H55U3 WiFi has started selling in China for US $118.

Thermalright released a black variant of the MUX-120 tower CPU cooler it released back in September 2009. The Thermalright MUX-120 Black uses nickel-plated black aluminum fins, along with a black-teal X-Silent 120 mm fan. Built on the same design as most tower coolers, the MUX-120 133 x 38 x 160 mm (L x W x H), weighing 670 g. It makes use of four heat pipes to convey heat from the copper convex base to the aluminum fin array. The fan spins at speeds of 600~1300 rpm, with noise levels of 17~25 dBA. The cooler supports sockets LGA1366, LGA1156, and LGA775. It is expected to be moderately priced.