AMD offers greater flexibility with its multi-GPU solutions, letting you mix and match any two GPUs based on the same silicon. It was quite natural to expect a Radeon R9 280X to work in tandem with a Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition from the previous generation, since the two are based on the same "Tahiti" GPU, which is now proven. HardwareCanucks managed to run that combo without a hitch, and log performance results across a bouquet of game tests. The publication also notes that one should be able to similarly pair a Radeon R9 270X with a Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition (the one based on "Pitcairn," not "Tahiti LE"). Have a Radeon HD 7950? Feel free to add an R9 280X to the mix.

ASRock Z87-Extreme11/ac motherboard can connect to no less than 22 drives over its six SATA 6 Gb/s, and sixteen SAS3 ports, so why not show it off? It's just that ASRock chose 22 Plextor M5 Pro SSDs, which make for a creepy cemetery-like sight. Sadly, they couldn't give us performance numbers because the 22 drives aren't exactly striped across in any RAID configuration, but at least you know you can take something like this to your next Left4Dead LAN, and pull crowds. It's not just the drives, ASRock also fitted the board with four Radeon HD 7970 cards in CrossFireX, maxed out the memory, and wired the board to its Wi-SD box accessory, a 3.5-inch front-panel that features the board's WiFi+Bluetooth antenna, a couple of USB 3.0 ports, and a multi-format card reader.

Taiwan based manufacturer Aerocool expands its quality PC-Chassis portfolio. New addition to the portfolio is the Strike-X Xtreme Midi Tower, which is targeting ambitious Gamers and combines stylish exterior with spacious and clean interior.

The interior design is offering much space for drives and latest high-end gaming components. Users can conveniently access the four 5,25 inch (13,34 cm) bays, which are equipped with a tool-free mounting mechanism. Additionally up to six 3,5inch (8,89 cm) respectively 2,5 inch (6,35 cm) hard drives can be mounted into the allocated slots conveniently using the supplied HDD trays.

Ahead of its April 24 launch, AMD board vendors has been distributing marketing materials to their retail partners. One such retailer in Japan revealed the flagship graphics card's specifications sheet, revealing details such as clock speeds and GPU core configuration.

To begin with, AMD isn't compromising much on clock speeds on the HD 7990 "Malta," in an effort to lower power draw. The card features GPU core clock speed of 1000 MHz, which puts it above the single-GPU Radeon HD 7970, but not much lower than the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, with its 1050 MHz. The memory is clocked at 6.00 GHz, on par with the HD 7970 GHz Edition, which yields a cumulative memory bandwidth of 576 GB/s.

MSI announced a pair of Radeon HD 7970 graphics cards which feature PowerTune with Boost, yet aren't based on the HD 7970 GHz Edition chip. The company labeled these cards simply "HD 7970 Boost Edition." Among the cards MSI unveiled are a base-model (R7970 TF 3GD5 BE), and a factory-overclocked one (R7970 TF 3GD5 BE/OC). The base model features a GPU clock speed of 925 MHz, PowerTune Boost clock speed of 975 MHz, and memory speed of 5.50 GHz. The OC variant, on the other hand, features a GPU clock speed of 1000 MHz, Boost clock of 1050 MHz, and memory clock of the same 5.50 GHz. Hence neither conform to AMD's HD 7970 GHz Edition specs.

Both cards are based on custom designed PCBs and cooling solutions, by MSI. Its trusty Twin Frozr III cooling solution, which uses a pair of 80 mm "Propeller Blade" (high sweep) fans to ventilate a dense heatpipe-fed aluminum fin stack; is in charge of cooling the GPU, while a heatspreader looks after the memory and VRM. TDP of both cards is rated at 253W, both cards draw power from a combination of 8-pin and 6-pin PCIe power connectors. Display outputs on both cards include a dual-link DVI, an HDMI 1.4a, and two mini-DisplayPort 1.2 connectors. MSI did not reveal pricing.

AMD topped off its "Southern Islands" graphics card family with Radeon HD 7990 "New Zealand," although it didn't have a reference design board of the said SKU. Around October 2012, AIB partners PowerColor, VTX3D, and Club 3D each released their custom design Radeon HD 7990-branded graphics cards, which packed a duo of Radeon HD 7970 GPUs, a total of 6 GB of memory, making up for a dual-GPU solution. Among most of these, the GPUs were clocked in the neighborhood of 950 MHz, and memory at 5.50 GHz. ASUS joined the party much later with the ROG ARES II, with 1100 MHz core, 6.00 GHz memory, and liquid cooling, but commands a hefty $1,600. Post GTX Titan, ARES II remains, at least according to AMD, the single fastest graphics card. The company seems interested in standardizing a new set of specifications for HD 7990, which could be priced competitively against NVIDIA's GTX Titan and GTX 690.

Enter the new Radeon HD 7990 "Malta," a new codename, redone specifications (clock speeds), same dual-GPU graphics card, with [hopefully] a competitive price. Its development checks out with AMD's recent statement in its teleconference last month, where it stated that we could see "more HD 7990 action" this year. According to a Technic3D report, AMD is looking to replace the generally accepted 925/950/1350 MHz (core/PowerTune Boost/memory) clock speed standard of the HD 7990 with something over 1000 MHz, probably even 1050 MHz for the core. There is no word on memory clock speed changes, although with its 384-bit wide memory interfaces, we don't imagine the "Tahiti" GPU to be facing a dearth of memory bandwidth. The HD 7990 "Malta" like the HD 7990 "New Zealand," will lack an AMD reference design, so one could expect more custom-design cards by partners. The new SKU could launch some time before July.

EK Water Blocks, Ljubljana based premium water cooling gear manufacturer, is proud to introduce EK-FC7970 Matrix, a Full cover water block engineered specifically for award winning ASUS Radeon HD 7970 Matrix series graphics cards.

This water block directly cools the GPU, RAM as well as VRM (voltage regulation module) as water flows directly over these critical areas thus allowing the graphics card and it's VRM to remain stable under high overclocks. EK-FC7970 Matrix water block also features a very high flow design therefore it can be easily used in liquid cooling systems using weaker water pumps.

You may have read our report from earlier today, covering the main points that AMD was trying to make in its recent teleconference with the European press (which includes us). While in the call, we were a little jolted by the choices of words some of AMD's executives used to describe their company's consumer graphics outlook for 2013, how they believe they can hold out for almost the entire year with little or no major updates to their product stack, and more interestingly, a few above-the-belt jabs at NVIDIA and its upcoming GeForce GTX Titan product.

The crux of AMD's emergency meeting with the press was to bust some misconceptions spread in the press over the last couple of weeks, to tell them a Graham's Number of times that they still hold the fastest single GPU on the planet, which powers the fastest graphics card there is (ASUS ARES II). The most ironic part of AMD's emergency meeting with the press was the one in which they called GeForce Titan NVIDIA's emergency/knee-jerk reaction to AMD's getting cozy with game developers, and netting some of the biggest PC game launches of the season for its Never Settle Reloaded bundle.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the arrival of its "Never Settle: Reloaded" game bundle, the sequel to last year's monumental "Never Settle" bundle. "Never Settle: Reloaded" delivers by bundling up to four of this year's most anticipated PC games -- "BioShock Infinite" by 2K Games and Irrational Games, "Crysis 3" by Electronic Arts, "DmC Devil May Cry" by Capcom and "Tomb Raider" by Square Enix -- with select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards. The bundle highlights the continued commitment by AMD to ensure an incredible gaming experience on the world's top PC titles optimized for AMD Radeon graphics cards

"AMD knows gaming and in 2013 we plan to make a huge mark on the industry. Today we begin that journey by showing the world that the best PC game developers are AMD Gaming Evolved partners," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Graphics. "The 'Never Settle: Reloaded' bundle clearly stands apart from anything else in the market. Gaming has always been, and will remain, the core of the AMD Graphics strategy and success. In 2013, we plan to forge greater inroads into the gaming industry and it begins with packaging this year's biggest games with the best graphics hardware from AMD." The "Never Settle: Reloaded" bundle offers the following games when purchased with select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards:

ASUS ROG presents the fastest and most powerful graphics card currently available with the limited edition ARES II. Its dual Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition GPUs and 6 GB GDDR5 memory support provide the ultimate PC gaming experience in a space-saving 2-slot design. The ARES II features exclusive ASUS DIGI+ VRM and Super Alloy Power technologies for greater stability and product longevity. The bundled ROG Edition GPU Tweak utility allows customers direct access to graphics card overclocking and tuning options via a user-friendly interface.

Continuing the ARES legacy with collectible hardware for enthusiasts
Launched in the summer of 2010, the original ROG ARES provided a new milestone in graphics power that soon became an in-demand commodity among hardware enthusiasts and collectors. ARES II likewise debuts as a limited edition product, with only 1000 units produced. It ships in a special ROG-themed case, with each card featuring a laser-etched serial number on the aluminum backplate to denote its collectible status.

HIS gave its March-launched Radeon HD 7970 IceQ X² graphics card a design update, augmenting it with the newer Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition chip, featuring PowerTune with Boost. While the older IceQ X² shipped with 925/5500 MHz (core/memory), the new card ships with 1000 MHz core, 1050 MHz boost, and 6000 MHz memory. It packs 3 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 384-bit wide interface. The card retains its board and cooler designs, including the swanky IceQ X² heat-pipe fed dual-fan heatsink that doesn't need more than two expansion slots in your machine, and a back-plate. In all likelihood, the new card will be priced similar to the launch-price of the original, back in March (around US $450).

ASUS finally announced its flagship AMD Radeon graphics card, the Matrix HD 7970 Platinum. The card basked in camera flashlight at this years biggest tech tradeshows, and is released to the market with the new Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition ASIC, that includes PowerTune with Boost technology. Available in two variants, the base model (1000/1050/6600 MHz core/boost/memory), and Platinum (1050/1100/6600 MHz), the card uses a strong 20-phase VRM that draws power from two 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The VRM features sophisticated load-line calibration features with manual LLC factor control (fine-tune protection against V-droop during voltage-sensitive overclocking sessions).

Apart from manual LLC factor tuning, the card features VGA Hotwire, clearly labeled points on its PCB that let you outfit it with manual voltage tuning circuitry. The card provides software voltage control via GPU Tweak, too, but is restricted to ~1.3V. The PCB features an LN2 mode switch, which loads an extreme cooling-optimized BIOS. A fan-override button shoots fan speed to 100% without software interference. Lastly, the card is cooled by a triple-slot ROG-styled DirectCU II cooler that covers most hot components, including the GPU, memory, and VRM. An additional LN2-optimized VRM heatsink is included in the package. Prices start at US $490.

The incredible tropical-paradise visuals we were treated to in trailers of FarCry 3 called for some serious hardware muscle. The studio released minimum, recommended, and high-performance system requirements lists for the upcoming AAA title. The lists are quite accommodating of today's mid-range hardware, but can be quite demanding of PCs more than 2 years old. It was also announced that the game will implement a revised Uplay DRM scheme that needs a one-time activation, and doesn't require you to stay logged-in when playing the single-player campaign.The system requirements lists follow.

It's traditional for AMD to camp outside an ongoing IDF event (at a nearby hotel suite), siphoning off a small portion of its visitors. In the backdrop of this year's IDF event in San Francisco, AMD showed off two of its upcoming flagship client processors, the socket FM2 A10-5800K "Trinity" APU, and socket AM3+ FX-8350 "Vishera" CPU. The two chips were shown running fully-loaded gaming PCs.

The FX-8350 was shown installed on a machine with ASUS Crosshair V Formula (-Z?) motherboard, liquid cooling, and Radeon HD 7970 graphics card. The chip was clocked at 5.00 GHz (4.80 GHz when the picture was taken), and running popular CPU-intensive benchmarks such as WPrime and Cinebench. The A10-5800K was shown running application demos, including a widget that displays real-time boost states of the processor and GPU cores.

With NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 660 and GTX 650 threatening to make things messy in the sub-$250 market, and competitive pricing between NVIDIA partners with high-end SKUs, AMD is preparing yet another round of price cuts to its Radeon HD 7000 GPU series. Its last round followed the launch of GeForce GTX 660 Ti. According to the source, this is what AMD's lineup could look like, when it's done resetting prices:

• Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition - starts at $430
• Radeon HD 7970 standard - starts at $410
• Radeon HD 7950 Boost - starts at $300
• Radeon HD 7950 standard - starts at $290
• Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition - starts at $240
• Radeon HD 7850 2 GB - starts at $200

High performance cooling solution manufacture Prolimatech presents the successor to the MK-13, aptly called the MK-26. With a more elaborate design, larger surface area, an increase in cooling performance and expanding the compatibility to the newest generation of graphic cards, the Prolimatech MK-26 is the perfect choice for utmost cooling of modern NVIDIA or AMD GPUs.

Meticulously crafted out of nickel-copper and nickel-plated aluminum housing 6 x 6mm heat pipes and at the weight of only 590 grams, the Prolimatech MK-26 Multi-VGA-Cooler is lightweight and has the correct materials to disperse heat properly to ensure extra cooling efficiency. Compatible with most popular graphics cards, the MK-26 provides a quieter and more potent solution to reference design VGA coolers.

Hightech Information System (HIS) today introduces HIS 7970 X. The card is not only of HIS top class but is also the best of the best among 7970 cards. The 4-way crossfire HIS 7970 X achieved the number 1 world records on both 3dMark Vantage and 3Dmark 11 with 84669 and 29937 marks respectively. The card also won the ASRock Z77 Overclocking Competition on 3Dmark.com

HIS 7970 X is overflown with special features such as X elements, IceQ X², iTurbo, PowerTune with Boost, OC equipment and more. The card carries the special X elements, including the extra 18+1+1 PWM phrases, LED indicators, outputs that support both Eyefinity 5 & Eyefinity 6, making HIS 7970 X one of the most luxurious cards in the market.

EK Water Blocks, premium water cooling gear provider, has released two new water blocks - the EK-FB KIT SR-X for EVGA Classified SR-X motherboard and the EK-FC7970 Lightning for MSI's premium R7970 Lightning graphics card.

EK-FB KIT SR-X full-board water block kit is a complete liquid cooling solution for EVGA Classified SR-X (270-SE-W888) motherboard. The water blocks directly cools Intel C606 southbridge (PCH), PLX PEX8784 PCIe lane splitter controller and power regulation (VRM / MOSFETs) module of both CPUs. Please note this water block cools exactly as much heat generating components as EVGA factory cooling solution. It is medium-high to high flow water block that can be easily used with systems using weaker water pumps. It is available in two variants - Nickel and Acetal+Nickel.

Club 3D takes a giant leap and destroys the competition with the release of the most quiet, cool and brutally fast Club 3D Radeon HD 7970 royalAce graphic card, the latest addition to the PokerSeries family.

Get the best of the best with Club 3D's PokerSeries, the Radeon HD 7970 royalAce offers great performance by breaking the GHz barrier on the GPU, clocking at 1050MHz, making it amazingly fast, up to 7% faster in games when compared to the reference HD 7970 GHz Edition. The Radeon HD 7970 royalAce is a quiet card, achieving 31.5 dB on idle, 38 dB at load, making it the ideal choice for gaming and multimedia. By utilizing a custom cooler design with a dual fan and four high performance heatpipes it ensures the card to remain cool at 71 °C on average when gaming. A Dual BIOS toggle switch offers overclocking potential for the most demanding gamer and overclocking enthusiast.

The performance lead that MSI's Radeon HD 7970 Lightning maintained over reference HD 7970 was cut down, first by NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680, and then by AMD's own Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, leaving its engineers to go back to the drawing boards, and design an even faster graphics card. The result: a liquid-cooled HD 7970 GHz Edition Lightning graphics card, which could push clock-speeds up even further. The card ships with a pre-installed full-coverage water-block, made by EK WaterBlocks (EKWB). It comes ready for 6-display Eyefinity, with four mini-DisplayPort and two DVI. Here's hoping one of those is a dual-link DVI. More details are awaited.

Update: We've received word that it's not that MSI has a new product in the works, but that EKWB has a water-block tailored for MSI's existing R7970 Lightning.

German PC maker SilentMaxx achieved the unthinkable: a completely silent desktop PC driven by Intel's Watt-guzzling Core Sandy Bridge-E processors, including the six-core i7-3960X. The Fanless I-850 from SilentMaxx starts at 1,280€, and the base-model is powered by Core i7-3820. With the most critical component "silenced" thanks to its in-house TwinMax CPU cooler, the company loaded the rest of the rig with other silent components, such as silent PSUs, graphics cards, and of course, SSDs.

Although the Fanless I-850 ships with a passive-cooled Radeon HD 7770 graphics card, it can be configured to ship with a passive-cooled Radeon HD 7970, too. Other high-end options include multiple SSDs in RAID configurations, and up to 64 GB of quad-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory.

SAPPHIRE Technology has just announced its HD 7970 6 GB TOXIC Edition graphics card boasting the highest clock speeds in its class and believed to be the fastest single GPU graphics card in the world.

The SAPPHIRE HD 7970 6 GB TOXIC Edition is based on the latest HD 7970 GHz Edition GPU from AMD, together with a host of industry first and exclusive features to deliver maximum performance. Its unique 6 GB frame buffer is a World first for a consumer graphics card and makes the TOXIC Edition ideally suited to multi-screen gaming as well as providing the extra memory required for demanding professional applications such as content creation, video editing or rendering.

AMD is preparing a wave of price-cuts for Radeon HD 7800 series and HD 7900 series products, to make them competitive against NVIDIA's offerings, and to prepare for a new bunch of performance-segment GPUs from its competitor (such as the GTX 660). The new pricing looks like this:

• Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition: US $499
• Radeon HD 7970: US $429
• Radeon HD 7950: US $349
• Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition: US $299
• Radeon HD 7850: US $249

The most significant set of price cuts concern HD 7950 and below, which are now more affordable in the price-performance "sweetspot" segment, which targets a bulk of PC gamers. The new prices will take effect later today.

NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 670 presents a big problem to AMD's Radeon HD 7900 series lineup. It clearly outperforms Radeon HD 7950, outperforms Radeon HD 7970 in most cases, and maintains a healthy cost-performance lead over Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, even if it lags behind in performance. To combat this, AMD is reportedly working on a new SKU, called Radeon HD 7950 GHz Edition.

The "new" Radeon HD 7950 GHz Edition will be priced competitively to the GeForce GTX 670 (around $350-400), will retain the core configuration of the original HD 7950, with 1,792 Graphics CoreNext stream processors, 112 TMUs, 32 ROPs, and 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface holding 3 GB of memory; but will feature higher clock speeds, with a core clock speed ≥1.00 GHz, and could feature AMD PowerTune with Boost feature. It is also reported that a majority of HD 7950 GHz Edition graphics cards launched to the market (later this quarter), will be cost-effective non-reference designs by AMD's add-in board (AIB) partners.

We've known since May, the existence of a new high-end single-GPU graphics card SKU in the works, at AMD. Called the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, the SKU is being designed to regain AMD's competitiveness against NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680. We're hearing a few additional details about the SKU. To begin with, AMD has worked with TSMC to refine the chip design. The Tahiti XT2 will be able to facilitate significantly higher clock speeds, at significantly lower voltages, than the current breed of Tahiti XT chips.

Tahiti XT2, or Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition, will ship with a core clock speed of 1100 MHz, 175 MHz faster than the HD 7970. The GPU core voltage of Tahiti XT2 will be lower, at 1.020V, compared to 1.175V of the Tahiti XT. It's unlikely that AMD will tinker with memory clock speed, since Tahiti already has a 384-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface, which gives it 264 GB/s memory bandwidth at 1375 MHz (5.50 GHz effective). According to the source, the new SKU enters mass-production next week. So best case, it should reach markets by late-June or early-July.