Japanese retailer Kuroutoshikou.com listed two new unique USB 3.0 products, the USB3.0F-P7-PCIe and KRHK-SATA3U3. The USB3.0F-P7-PCIe is a 7-port (yes, 7-port) USB 3.0 add-on card. Essentially, it is a low profile PCI-Express 2.0 x1 add-on card that has one FrescoLogic 4-port USB 3.0 host controller, one of its ports is is wired to a VLI VL810 USB 3.0 hub controller, which increases the number of ports to six, while its others vacant port is wired out.

The card has a total of 7 downstream USB 3.0 ports, 5 on the rear panel, and 2 via a standard front-panel header (angled). The card draws auxiliary power from a SATA power connector. It includes a low-profile bracket. While the card many not be able to push 5 GT/s from all the ports simultaneously, it provides a novel solution to connect several USB 3.0 devices at the same time, without needing a messy external desktop hub.

MSI is working on a Wind U270 11.6-inch netbook variant that's driven by AMD E2-1800 "Brazos 2.0" dual-core APU. The E2-1800 packs two x86-64 cores clocked at 1.70 GHz, 1 MB of total cache, Radeon HD 7340 integrated graphics, and TDP of 17W. The APU is backed by AMD A68M FCH, which provides up to four SATA 6 Gb/s ports. 2 GB of single-channel DDR3 memory is included, so is a 320 GB 5400 RPM HDD. Connectivity options include 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and gigabit Ethernet. Other features include a 1.3 MP webcam, and a 6-in-1 flash card reader supporting SD/SDHC/SDXC/XD/MMC/Memory Stick. Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit comes pre-installed. The 11.6-inch screen packs a resolution of 1366x768 pixels. Slated for May 18, the Wind U270-412 is priced at 46,800 JPY (US $587), in Japan.

Intel unveiled its third socket LGA2011 Desktop Board driven by its X79 Express chipset, the DX79SR. This model is positioned a notch above the DX79SI, and a couple of notches above the DX79TO. It was first unsuspectingly revealed to the world not by Intel, but NVIDIA, in its GeForce GTX 690 press-shots. The DX79SR covers up a few design shortfalls of the DX79SI. It adds two additional SATA 6 Gb/s ports, driven by a Marvell SE9128 2-port controller, and two additional USB 3.0 ports on the rear panel. The total of four USB 3.0 ports on the rear panel are driven by an unknown 4-port USB 3.0 controller.

Apart from the two onboard connectivity additions, Intel will also include a USB add-on module which packs 802.11 b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth 3.0 interfaces. The package of the board itself will be beefed up a little, with the inclusion of a stylish mouse pad and a thermal probe. To accommodate these features, Intel made a few subtle changes to the board layout, the first and second PCI-Express x16 slots no longer have switches between them, and some capacitors appear changed. With all these, Intel believes it has a shot at capturing the US $299 price-point, which gives it a nice spread from the $249 DX79SI and the $199 DX79TO.

ECS revealed its newest value-segment LGA1155 motherboard based on the Z77 Express chipset, the X77H2-A3. Pictured below, the X77H2-A3 is a variation of the Z77H2-A3, with ECS' Super Alloy Chokes powering the CPU VRM, an all solid-state capacitor design, golden-colored VRM and PCH heatsinks, and slightly darker piano-black PCB. Besides these four, the X77H2-A3 is identical to the Z77H2-A3. It features a 4+1 phase CPU VRM, single PCI-Express 3.0 x16 expansion slot, two SATA 6 Gb/s, four SATA 3 Gb/s, four USB 3.0 ports (two front-panel, two rear), and display outputs that include DVI and D-Sub. Expect this model to be slightly pricier than its cousin.

OCZ introduced a new high capacity variant of its Octane consumer SSD series, the OCT1-25SAT3-1T. Built in the 2.5-inch form-factor with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, the new Octane variant provides 1 TB of unformatted capacity. Based on the Indilinx Everest processor, the drive packs 25 nm MLC NAND flash, and utilizes 512 MB of DRAM cache. It is rated to provide sequential transfer speeds of up to 460 MB/s (reads), 330 MB/s (writes), with 4K read/write random access performance of up to 24,000 IOPS and 32,000 IOPS, respectively. All modern consumer SSD features are present, including TRIM, NCQ, ECC, and 256-bit AES data-encryption. Slated for mid-May, the Octane 1 TB by OCZ won't exactly be cheap.

I-O Data and Toshiba added a three new variants to their SSDN-3TB line of solid-state drives (SSDs) in the 2.5-inch SATA form-factor. These include an entry-level 60 GB variant, a 240 GB performance variant, and a 480 GB high-capacity variant. The 480 GB variant takes advantage of SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and provides sequential speeds of up to 480 MB/s (read) with 190 MB/s (writes), and 4K random access throughput of 58,000/27,700 IOPS (read/write); the 240 GB model has the best performance equation among the three, with 470 MB/s sequential reads, but 380 MB/s sequential writes, and 4K random access throughout of 73,600/71,900 IOPS (read/write); the 60 GB variant is capable of 480 MB/s sequential reads, 200 MB/s sequential writes, and 31,900/48,500 IOPS (read/writes) 4K random access throughput. Slated for shipping on May 05, the three models will occupy competitive price points in their respective classes.

Ricoh Japan introduced a FB19M, an Intel HM76 Express chipset based mobile-on-desktop motherboard in the micro-ATX form-factor. The motherboard can seat mobile Core "Ivy Bridge" and "Sandy Bridge" processors in the PGA988 package, and includes a fan-heatsink that can handle these chips (up to 55W). The platform is then wired out to desktop interfaces. 24-pin ATX and 4-pin ATX connectors are used to draw power, the CPU is wired out to full-sized DIMM slots, expansion slots include one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, two PCI-Express 2.0 x8 (electrical configuration not known), and a PCI-Express 2.0 x1.

All six SATA ports from the HM76 PCH are wired out as internal ports, including six SATA 6 Gb/s, and four SATA 3 Gb/s. Display outputs include DVI, D-Sub, and LVDS. Other modern connectivity includes 2-channel HD audio, dual gigabit Ethernet interfaces, four USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. There is quite some legacy connectivity, including two serial RS-232 ports, and headers for other serial and parallel interfaces. The board is fit for industrial PCs and other embedded systems.

ASUS is working on two new value P8Z77-V series socket LGA1155 motherboards based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset. These are the P8Z77-V LK and P8Z77-V LX. The two are designed to occupy price-points well under US $150. The P8Z77-V LK is the costlier of the two, featuring three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), 6-phase CPU VRM, six USB 3.0 ports, two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s internal ports; and display outputs that include DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort.

The P8Z77-V LX is probably ASUS' cheapest Z77 motherboard, with the same 6-phase CPU VRM, but a single PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot wired to the CPU, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4) wired to the Z77 PCH, three PCI, two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, all internal ports wired to the PCH (2x SATA 6 Gb/s, 4x SATA 3 Gb/s), and a slightly slimmer connectivity loadout that includes 6-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports (2x rear, 2x front-panel, all from PCH), and display outputs that include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI.

Giada also introduced a tiny nano-ITX system board based on Intel HM65 mobile-on-desktop platform, featuring a low-power "Sandy Bridge" Celeron/Core processor. The board is designed to run off external DC power input. The board can be used as a micro-server. Apart from a standard SATA 6 Gb/s port, it has two slots, a mini PCI-Express (for WLAN+Bluetooth cards), and an mSATA (to hold its OS SSD). SO-DIMM memory slots, we imagine, are on the reverse side of the PCB. The system can be programmed to run headless, or there is a host of connectivity options along the top of the board, including USB, HDMI, D-Sub, Ethernet, and stereo line-out. The PCI-Express interface below is for an additional PCB that expands connectivity.

With its 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" CPU and 7-series "Panther Point" platform turning into a reality, Intel is moving on to development of the new 22 nm "Haswell" architecture. Entry-thru-performance segment Core "Haswell" processors will be built on the new LGA1150 package, and will be driven by a new series of platform controller hubs, codenamed "Lynx Point". We already know a tiny bit about the way Haswell+Lynx Point platform is structured, and the features that could come standard with it. A new VR-Zone report lists out all the chipset models Intel will carve out using the silicon.

The lineup is quite predictable. At the top of the pile is the feature-rich Z87, which has all the features of the platform, plus overclocking features. This is followed by Z85, which apart from features such as Rapid Storage Technology, could lack RAID for its SATA ports (could only feature AHCI and IDE modes). Then there's H87, which has all the features of Z87, except platform overclocking features. Q87 and Q85 are for large business desktops, and feature various client management features. Then there's B85, for small businesses. Lynx Point could feature as many as six SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Rapid Storage Technology will be updated to present users with a level of customization. Then there's Fast Boot, which speeds up system startup, provided an Intel SSD is used for caching.

Barebones mini PCs expert Shuttle Computer launched its first barebones featuring Intel Z77 Express chipset, ready for 3rd generation "Ivy Bridge" Core processors in the LGA1155 package, while retaining support for every LGA1155 "Sandy Bridge" processor launched till date. Shuttle also launched an Intel X79-based mini PC barebone, which supports Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" processors.

Called the SZ77R5, the Z77 barebone features four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory, expansion slots that include one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, one PCI-Express 2.0 x4 and one mPCIe; two SATA 6 Gb/s, two SATA 3 Gb/s ports, one eSATA 3 Gb/s, and one mSATA; four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio. Its chassis features two 5.25" and one 3.5" drive bays, front-panel that includes two of the four USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port with "fast charging" (high current), and front-panel HD audio. To power the machine, a 500W 80 Plus-compliant PSU is included. The SZ77R5 measures 332 x 216 x 198 mm (WxDxH). It will be priced around 32,800 JPY (US $404).

Apacer is working on a hard drive cache-SSD of its own, which is similar in principle to OCZ's Revodrive Hybrid. Called PHFD, the cache-SSD is a full-height PCI-Express 2.0 x1 add-on card, which seats a Marvell 88SE9130 (or similar) 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s controller, with one port wired to an onboard 32 GB SSD subunit, and the other port given out as a standard SATA port (to which you plug your system HDD). Marvell 88SE9130 includes a feature called HyperDuo, which is similar to Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST), it handles the SSD-caching on PFHD. Apacer's solution could end up being a cost-effective solution to systems without Intel RST.

ASRock is readying its second Fatal1ty-branded socket LGA2011 motherboard, the X79 Fatal1ty Champion. The company's first LGA2011 Fatal1ty motherboard is the X79 Fatal1ty Professional, which was launched in February. The new X79 Fatal1ty Champion will be launched on April 27. Those familiar with Creative Sound Blaster Fatal1ty line of sound cards will note Fatal1ty Champion as being a more feature-rich version of Fatal1ty Professional. In this case, the X79 Fatal1ty Champion is based on a completely new PCB, with the design idea of more expansion, and the latest Creative Sound Core3D audio solution.

The X79 Fatal1ty Champion features eight DDR3 DIMM slots (X79 Fatal1ty Professional has four), and a PCIe-only expansion slot layout. The LGA2011 socket is powered by a 12-phase DigiPower VRM, similar to the one on the Professional. The VRM heatsink is assisted by two other secondary heatsinks, to which heat is conveyed by a heat-pipe. One of these is connected to the PCH heatsink. Power is drawn by 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and one 4-pin Molex (angled, optional). The board features consolidated voltage measurement points, which are socketed to hold your multimeter's leads in place. The board will be augmented by a feature-rich UEFI BIOS setup program, and ASRock-exclusive features such as XFastLAN, XFastUSB, and XFastRAM will be included.

A 64 GB variant of Plextor's M3 SSD series surfaced in Japan, carrying the model number "PX-64M3". The series was originally designed to capture higher market price points. Built in the 2.5-inch form-factor with SATA 6 Gb/s interface, the PX-64M3 is driven by Marvell 88SS9174, packs 25 nm MLC NAND flash, and offers sequential speeds of up to 520 MB/s reads, and 175 MB/s writes, with up to 55,000 IOPS 4K random access and 40,000 IOPS 4K random writes. Slated for market release on April 21, the Plextor M3 64 GB is priced at 10,980 JPY (US $135).

Century unveiled the mini2 KD25/35MS2 triple-SATA mini-dock. It is a box measuring 136 x 84 x 26 mm, weighing 430 g, which has three SATA 6 Gb/s (power and data) interfaces on three of its sides, which attach three HDDs/SSDs. The device can perform disk cloning, copying of specific partitions (logical drives), specific files, and secure DoD-grade erase functions, without the need of a host PC. Slated for early May, the KD25/35MS2 is priced at 29,800 JPY (US $371).

Intel Corporation announced today the Intel Solid-State Drive 330 Series (Intel SSD 330 Series), a SATA 6 gigabit-per-second (Gb/s) solid-state drive (SSD) that gives consumers a more affordable entry into the accelerated storage performance of SSDs.

Ideal for upgrading desktop or notebook PCs, the Intel SSD 330 Series offers the price-conscious PC enthusiast a brand-name SSD that blends performance, Intel quality and value. Offered in the most popular capacity points, 60 gigabytes (GB), 120 GB and 180 GB, the Intel SSD 330 Series boosts overall system performance and responsiveness for a broad range of applications.

Western Digital today announced it is now shipping the new WD VelociRaptor 1 TB hard drive, the latest addition to its award-winning drive family, the largest capacity 10,000 RPM hard drive on the market today. Designed for high-performance PCs, Mac computers and professional workstations that require a balance of high performance and capacity, the WD VelociRaptor drive is a favorite among enthusiasts and creative professionals. The WD VelociRaptor will also come in capacities of 500 GB and 250 GB.

Leveraging enterprise-class mechanics to provide 24x7 durability under high-performance workloads, the new WD VelociRaptor 1 TB hard drive is geared for creative professionals who demand the ultimate SATA drive. Creative pros use write-intensive applications that manage large, dynamic files; for example, video editing and digital content creation and management, which ultimately put a strain on storage devices that utilize write-challenged NAND memory for performance enhancement. WD VelociRaptor's outstanding read and write performance across the entire disk capacity makes it a perfect match for the creative professional and enthusiast who want to optimize their tools, enhance productivity, and increase storage space at the same time.

MSI released pictures and performance numbers of its in-house SuperRAID storage design that's implemented in its GT70 gaming notebook. The GT70 has two drive bays, one of which holds a 500 GB WD Scorpio Black hard drive, and the other, the SuperRAID module. The hard drive is tasked with just storage and a system recovery partition, while the SuperRAID module is where the action is.

Simply put, the SuperRAID module is a PCB with a RAID controller, and two mSATA 6 Gb/s slots. Each of these slots holds a SanDisk U100 64 GB mSATA SSD. Each of these SSDs come with rated sequential transfer rates as high as 440 MB/s (reads) with 220 MB/s (writes), but striped in RAID 0, the volume churns out tested transfer rates as high as 964 MB/s (max. read), 928 MB/s (avg. read), and 843 MB/s (min. read), when tested by HDTune Pro 5.00. The SuperRAID module is bootable, and holds the operating system and programs. MSI claims with transfer speeds well over 900 MB/s, it has the fastest storage solution among gaming notebooks.

I-O Data began shipping the SSDN-3T120B solid-state drive. Originally manufactured by Toshiba, the SSDN-3T120B is a 120 GB drive in the 2.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s form-factor, with sequential speeds of 480 MB/s (reads), 350 MB/s (writes); and random-access speeds of 440 MB/s (reads), 340 MB/s (writes), with 4K random seek performance of 73,000/58,000 IOPS (read/write). Its pricing is open to the retailers.

Intel activated product pages of nearly all its upcoming Desktop Board products based on 7-series chipsets. Last week, we were treated to detailed pictures of Intel's Z77 chipset-based Desktop Board products. Now we move on to other Desktop Board Media Series motherboards, those based on Intel's other 7-series client chipset the H77. Pin-compatible with Z77, Intel's H77 chipset provides nearly all features of its sibling, with the exception of overclocking. So motherboard designers needn't dedicate resources to implementing strong VRM designs on their H77 products, and can instead focus on other features such as connectivity and expansion.

Sapphire is ready with a high-end socket LGA1155 motherboard based on Intel Z77 chipset, the Pure Platinum Z77. This is Sapphire's second Z77 motherboard disclosed so far, after the Pure Black Z77 it showed us, at CES. Sapphire is offering 3-way multi-GPU support in a very unique way. Three of its four PCI-Express x16 (long) slots are wired to the CPU, all three of them PCI-Express Gen 3.0. The topmost slot is x16 and x8 capable (x8, if any of the other two slots are populated); the middle slot is x8 and x4 capable (x4, if the bottommost blue slot is populated); while the bottommost slot is x4 capable. PCI-Express 3.0 x4 offers bandwidth comparable to PCI-Express 2.0 x8 (or PCI-Express 1.1 x16), which doesn't heavily bottleneck today's graphics cards. An ingenious slot layout, made possible by inexpensive PCIe lane switches, instead of expensive bridges.

Intel's upcoming mainstream consumer SSD line, the SSD 330 series, could have attractive pricing, which could catalyze further proliferation of SSD technology, according to a LaptopReviews report, citing tease-listings by online retailers and other sources. The new lineup will embrace SATA rev. 3.0 (6 Gb/s) standard, and offer performance that takes advantage of it. The 120 GB variant of the SSD 330, for example, was listed for US $149, on MacMall.com, the listing is removed. This gives it a price/GB on par with other 120 GB SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs in the market, which underwent several rounds of price-adjustments to get there.

The SSD 330 series from Intel, will be available in three capacities, 60 GB, 120 GB, and 180 GB. The 120 GB and 180 GB variants offer sequential transfer-rates of up to 500 MB/s (read) and 450 MB/s (write); the 60 GB variant offers 500 MB/s (read), and 400 MB/s (write). These drives use IMFlash Technologies-made 25 nm MLC NAND flash, and offer standard feature-set that includes support for TRIM, NCQ, 256-bit AES data-encryption, and limited SMART attributes.

ASUS-subsidiary ASMedia made its mark as a vendor of high cost/performance 2-port USB 3.0 SuperSpeed host controllers, 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s controllers, and PCIe-PCI bridge chips, with good adoption by PC motherboard vendors. The company now eyes the emerging Thunderbolt-IO market. Thunderbolt will begin seeing adoption by the PC market starting this year, and the adoption of the interconnect by data storage device manufacturers, particularly of fast external storage, for use in the content-creation industry.

Thunderbolt host controllers are yet to receive widespread adoption due to three factors:

• Cost of the controller. Intel is yet to bring its Thunderbolt host controllers down to an a reasonable price.
• Deficiency of alternative controller providers, high scope for price-reductions the moment there are alternative providers
• A looming transition from Thunderbolt copper-electric to fiber-optic medium, which could make current 10 Gb/s-over-copper standard obsolete

ASMedia could address at least two factors here, it could provide an alternative to Intel-made controllers, and could offer a competitive price (or at least price-performance ratio). ASMedia president Lin Che-Wei told DigiTimes that his company will be ready with Thunderbolt-compatible SATA 6 Gb/s controllers, by the second half of 2012.

Lite-On, renowned as an Optical Storage innovator, has today announced its first solid state drive (SSD) for the UK. The E200 SSD is aimed at small/medium business users, with a design which is easily integrated into existing systems for minimal disruption and with a fast, consistent and reliable performance over time - at an affordable cost.

"With the E200 we aim to challenge the concept that SSDs are an unaffordable luxury for SMB; our aim is that smaller companies will be able to experience the increased speed and performance that a fast SSD provides," says Maarten Souren, Marketing Manager at Lite-On.

MSI released details about its upcoming value socket LGA1155 motherboard, the B75MA-P45. MSI finds the B75 PCH a worthy option over the current-generation H61 PCH, and could hence price its B75-based motherboards competitively, to capture the entry-level LGA1155 market. The B75MA-P45 comes with out of the box support for 22 nm "Ivy Bridge" Core processors, apart from current-generation "Sandy Bridge" ones. The B75MA-P45 packs a simple 5-phase VRM to power the LGA1155 CPU. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory.

Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, one PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI. The legacy PCI logic is reintegrated with the PCH, and so the board doesn't use any bridge chips, further, since USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s are integrated with the PCH, MSI didn't add third-party controllers handling the two. SATA connectivity includes one SATA 6 Gb/s, and five SATA 3 Gb/s. The PCH gives out four USB 3.0 ports, two of which are found on the rear panel, two via internal header. Display connectivity includes DVI and D-Sub. 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and legacy PS/2 connectors complete the package. The board is driven by UEFI firmware (5 MB ME 8.0), with a graphical setup program. The B75MA-P45 is said to capture a price-point under US $100.