Chinese motherboard manufacturer that specializes in high cost-performance motherboard, ONDA, is working on a micro-ATX motherboard based on the Z77 chipset. Its pictures made it to the press. The board mostly sticks to the chipset's feature set, except using an additional PCIe-PCI bridge that gives out two legacy PCI slots. As a Z77-based motherboard, it should support both overclocking and Smart Response SSD caching. The LGA1155 socket, which supports today's Sandy Bridge and tomorrow's Ivy Bridge processors, is powered by a simple 4+1 phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory.

All of the chipset's SATA ports are wired internally, including two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s. The board provides four USB 3.0 ports, two on the rear panel, two via header, all four are wired to the PCH. Apart from the two legacy PCI slots, we have one PCI-Express 3.0 x16 and one PCIe 2.0 x1. Display outputs include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. 6-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the connectivity.

Two models from Intel's Desktop Board Executive series of motherboards for office PCs got pictured and detailed by VR-Zone. These socket LGA1155 motherboards are mostly based on Intel 7-series Q77 and B75 chipsets, that provide some manageability, and data security features over the feature-set of H77. Intel has three Executive series models planned, the DQ77MK, the DQ77KB, and DB75EN. Of these, the DQ77MK and DB75EN are built in the micro-ATX form-factor, while the DQ77KB is mini-ITX.

The two micro-ATX parts use a similar PCB layout, with some features differing between the two. The DQ77MK is pictured below, it has all the features a small-business PC will ever need. Expansion slots include one each of PCI-Express x16, PCI-Express x4 (open-ended), PCI-Express x1, and legacy PCI. Storage connectivity includes six SATA (one of which is mSATA, for SSD caching). The PCH gives out four USB 3.0 ports, which are wired two each on the rear-panel and via a header to the front-panel. It uses a simple 5-phase VRM that should be enough to run LGA1155 processors. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel memory. It has a variety of external connectivity.

Intel "Lynx Point" 8-series chipset, which will form the foundation of 4th Generation Core processors in the LGA1150 package, codenamed "Haswell", was detailed in a leaked company slide. A slightly older report this week focused on Haswell chips having DirectX 11.1 graphics, and a reorganized display output logic that sees digital display outputs being wired to the processor package, while analog display outputs being routed to the chipset. This chipset talks to the processor's embedded graphics controller over a slightly less functional Flexible Display Interface (FDI).

Lynx Point chipset is a platform controller hub (PCH), much like all the Intel client-platform chipsets released since P55. A crude way to define its function would be to call it a "glorified southbridge", which handles all the connectivity of the system, while lacking the main PCI-Express root complex of the system to which graphics cards are ideally connected, as that's relocated to the CPU package. The PCH does have a narrower 8-lane PCIe hub, but to wire out x1 and x4 expansion slots, and onboard controllers. The Lynx Point chipset connects to the processor primarily over DMI, although the slide doesn't detail the DMI bandwidth. Most likely, it's similar to Cougar Point's 4 GB/s. Lynx Point also lacks a supplementary 4 GB/s PCIe link from the processor that's found on X79 chipset.

Japanese company Logitec (not to be confused with Logitech), released an ingenious new 3.5-inch external HDD enclosure, the LHD-EG, which features temperature-sensing, and a thermal-controlled fan that keeps the drive and electronics cool, making it fit for on-field (under shade) usage. The fan stays off till the ambient temperature is less than or equal to 45 °C.

Logitec is pairing this enclosure with Seagate's Barracuda 7200.14 SATA 6 Gb/s HDDs, to come up with three capacity options: 1 TB, 2 TB, and 3 TB. The enclosure provides eSATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 (backwards compatible with USB 2.0) to connect to the host. When connected via eSATA, the USB cable should be plugged in to draw power, or a 12V external power brick has to be used. Measuring 120 x 199 x 35mm (WxDxH), the drives typically weigh 1.1 kg. Disc-cloning and backup software comes bundled. The 1 TB, 2 TB, and 3 TB variants are priced at 13,480 JPY (US $171); 17,980 JPY (US $228); and 29,800 (US $378).

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced the SanDisk X100 solid state drive (SSD) for client computing markets. The SanDisk X100 SSD is available in capacities up to 512 GB and utilizes multi-level cell (MLC) technology, a SATA 6 Gb/s high-performance interface, advanced multi-streaming features and tiered caching technology.

The drive offers up to 500/420 megabyte per second (MB/sec) sequential read/write speeds, and enables a user to copy a 4 GB high-definition movie in less than 10 seconds. In addition to the standard 2.5 inch form factor, the X100 SSD also comes in mSATA and customized thin form factors to address the emerging ultra-thin laptop market. SanDisk offers a wide variety of configuration options, including standalone and dual drive caching solutions.

AREA PC also introduced the RAIDJet SD-PESA3-2RL, a cheap 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID card. The card uses a Marvell-made SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller that gives out two ports, and connects to the host of PCI-Express 2.0 x1. RAID 0 and 1 are the only modes possible. The controller supports standard AHCI/RAID drivers. The card has a half-height PCB, making it compatible with low-profile PCs. It will be available as low as 2,980 JPY (US $38).

Japanese built-to-order gaming PC maker Ark PC unveiled an AMD-powered variant of its Tathlum Gaming PC desktop (model: CY-AF8A99A-C2). The machine is built into a Cooler Master HAF 912 Advanced chassis, and is accompanied by a 23-inch full-HD monitor. In the driver's seat is AMD FX-8150 processor, seated on an ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX motherboard, with 8 GB dual-channel DDR3-1333 MHz memory, and AMD Radeon HD 7970 3 GB graphics. The processor is cooled by a Zalman CNPS9900MAX Red. Other components of interest include a Hitachi DeskStar 1 TB 7200 RPM SATA 6 Gb/s hard drive, onboard HD audio, and gigabit Ethernet. A SilverStone ST75F-SST-P 750W 80 Plus Silver PSU powers it all. Windows 7 Home Premium x64 is the OS of choice. The Tanthum CY-AF8A99A-C2 is priced at 167,800 JPY (US $2,175).

In its CeBIT invitation circular, Patriot Memory unveiled names of three new client SSD product lines, which it will launch in Hanover. These include new high-performance client SSD lines, the Wildfire Pro, and Wildfire SE; and a new mainstream client SSD line called Magma. With no other details, we're left to only speculate. Patriot's flagship SandForce SF-2281 driven Wildfire series features among some of the highest performing SATA 6 Gb/s client SSDs. The Wildfire Pro and SE, in all probability, could be higher-performing parts, with higher sequential speeds, and random access performance. With Magma, Patriot could design a client SSD using a controller of another make than SandForce; probably Marvell, or even OCZ-Indilinx.

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.

Here are the first pictures of MSI's Z77A-GD55 motherboard. The GD55 is a notch below the GD65 in terms of its feature-set, and will likely hold a cost-benefit sweetspot. The motherboard is designed to support today's "Sandy Bridge", and tomorrow's "Ivy Bridge" Core processors in the LGA1155 package, and is based on Intel's Z77 "Panther Point" chipset. The CPU is powered by a lighter 9-phase VRM compared to the 12-phase VRM on the GD65. It retains the expansion slot layout of its elder brother, consisting of two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC or x8/x8), four PCIe x1, and one PCIe 2.0 x4 (physical x16).

The Z77A-GD55 has two fewer SATA 6 Gb/s ports compared to the GD65, all its internal ports are wired to the PCH. That's two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s. There are no eSATA ports. Further, there are no third-party USB 3.0 controllers, either. All four of the USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two via front-panel header) are wired to the PCH. Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. 8-channel HD audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of its connectivity.

RunCore, a leading manufacturer of high-performance and rugged solid state drives (SSDs) today announced the availability of its latest SATA 3 SSD.

"The new 2.5" SATA3, 6Gbs, drive is the nice addition to our existing portfolio of SSD products. The Pro-V MAX is based on the SF-2281 controller with the optimized firmware (the Golden FW). With Read and Write transfer rate at 560 MB/s and 520 MB/s, respectively, and the burst IOPS at 87K while sustained IOPS over 60K, has a super score of over 770 in AS SSD Benchmark, the drive is designed to deliver exceptional performance over the life of it with no performance degradation over time. The Pro-V MAX is ideal for use in gaming machines, HPC & datacenter servers," said Amy Wang, VP of Strategies and Business Product Development of RunCore.

Seagate started shipping its GoFlex Thunderbolt Adapter accessory. The gadget lets you connect a SATA drive (HDD or SSD) to a host machine over 10 Gbps Thunderbolt interface, completely eliminating any bottleneck (USB 3.0 bottlenecks SATA 6 Gb/s). It works by simply sliding and locking in a SATA device to its industry-standard SATA power+data interface, and plugging the adapter to the host using a Thunderbolt cable. The Seagate GoFlex Thunderbolt Adapter is priced at US $99.99.

At CES, we got to check out MSI's Z77A-GD65 motherboard in its baby-suit, with just basic heatsinks, as the production ones were getting finalized. At the IT Partners show, we got to see the production model of this board, complete with its final VRM and PCH heatsink design.

The Z77A-GD65 uses a 9-phase VRM to power the CPU. Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC or x8/x8, depending on the second slot being populated), one PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4, wired to the PCH), and four PCIe x1. Storage connectivity include four SATA 6 Gb/s (two from the PCH, two from a third-party controller), and four SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Display connectivity includes D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI. Other features include a number of USB 3.0, USB 2.0 ports, 8-channel HD audio, and features for overclockers such as consolidated voltage measurement points, redundant UEFI BIOS, and OC Genie. It is slated for April.

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.

Intel's X79 chipset for Sandy Bridge-E platform was originally designed to have four SAS (serial-attached SCSI) channels apart from its usual loadout of SATA ports. Early prototypes of socket LGA2011 motherboards displayed at last year's Computex event (June), carried a large number of chipset-driven ports. However, Intel found the chipset-integrated SAS RAID controller (independent device from the SATA RAID controller) to have "unreliable performance", and hence changed its specification at the last moment. So the production specification of X79 ended up having the same SATA port loadout as P67 (two SATA 6 Gb/s + four SATA 3 Gb/s).

This specifications change did not result in a design change of the X79 PCH package, its die remained the same, so did its package and pin-map, which motherboard vendors had for nearly an year. So ECS decided to implement the SAS ports despite being out of specifications. LegitReviews discovered that its X79R-AX sample very much did have SAS ports wired to the PCH. With firmware of the SAS RAID controller and drivers, it could enable and use those ports. Although the SAS ports are physically present on the board, users have to enable them via the UEFI firmware setup program (BIOS).

PowerColor's parent company, TUL, showed off its barebones Mini-PC at CES. Its main unit measures just 165 x 165 x 55 mm (LxWxH), and is available in black and white color options. Under the hood is an AMD G-Series embedded APU, backed by Hudson M1 FCH chipset. It takes in 1 DDR3-SODIMM module, up to 4 GB in size, and runs it at speeds of up to PC3-8500 (DDR3-1066 MHz). The G-Series APU provides AMD Radeon HD 6310 graphics, with DVI and HDMI display outputs. The mini PC barebone has room for one 2.5-inch SATA 6 Gb/s drive. Its front-panel offers one USB 2.0 port (USB 3.0 can be opted for), a multi-format card reader, and eSATA 6 Gb/s. Its rear panel connectivity includes 2-channel audio outputs, gigabit Ethernet, four USB ports, and display connectivity. The unit has an internal 40W PSU.

ZOTAC also displayed an upcoming socket LGA1155 motherboard based on Intel Z77 chipset, in the mini-ITX form-factor, which is geared for overclocking, that's right, overclocking. ZOTAC has, in the past, designed a similar motherboard based on the Z68 chipset. This mini-ITX board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, it supports upcoming "Ivy Bridge" Unlocked LGA1155 Core processors out of the box.

The LGA1155 socket (LOTES Black, powder-coated to prevent shrinking when subjected to subzero cooling), is powered by an 8-phase VRM circuitry, complete with a feature-rich controller, Pulse-made inductors, and driverMOSFETs (DrMOS), and High-C capacitors. The DrMOS chips are cooled by a high-density heatsink that shares some of its heat with the heatsink over the Z77 PCH, over a heat pipe.

ZOTAC showed off a pair of socket LGA1155 motherboards based on Intel's upcoming H77 "Panther Point" chipset, geared for compact desktops and HTPCs. These boards have not yet been named. The first one (pictured below), appears to be the more affordable of the two. It uses a simple 4-phase VRM to power the LGA1155 CPU, which is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory. Its lone expansion slot is a PCI-Express 3.0 x16. Storage connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s, two SATA 3 Gb/s, and an mSATA (probably 3 Gb/s). Its VRM uses cost-effective chokes, and LFPAK MOSFETs.

The more expensive-looking board of the two provides all the features of the other, while making room for an extra SATA 3 Gb/s port, higher-quality VRM that makes use of durable coils, and DriverMOSFETs (DrMOS), and DisplayPort connectivity. Other than the DisplayPort difference, both boards feature 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, wireless b/g/n (N 300) connection, USB 3.0, and display connectivity that includes DVI and HDMI.

Mushkin unveiled three new lines of consumer solid state drives (SSDs) at CES, the Chronos GO, Atlas, and Scorpion. Chronos Go is a series of simple SSDs in the 1.8-inch SATA 6 Gb/s form-factor, Atlas is a series of mSATA SSDs based on a fast controller that takes advantage of SATA 6 Gb/s interface, while Scorpion is a line of ultra-high performance PCI-Express SSDs. At the heart of all three is SandForce SF-2281 SSD controller. Chronos GO is available in Standard and Deluxe variants, both offering sequential read speeds up to 565 MB/s, and write speeds up to 525 MB/s, with 4K random write performance of 90,000 IOPS. These drives are available in capacities of up to 480 GB.

Next up are the Atlas mSATA drives. These include standard and deluxe variants, too, with the same sequential read speeds of up to 565 MB/s. It's just that the deluxe variant offers slightly higher write speeds of up to 535 MB/s, while the standard one stays at up to 525 MB/s. These drives will be available in capacities up to 240 GB. Both Chronos GO and Atlas lines will be available sometime in Q1, 2012.

Apart from the Z77H2-AX, ECS showed off a mainstream socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the H77 "Panther Point" chipset, in the micro-ATX form-factor. The H77 chipset has the same feature-set as the Z77, except it lacks Rapid Storage Technology, and overclocking features. Out of the box, this board supports next-generation "Ivy Bridge" Core processors.

The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 6-phase VRM. It is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory; and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. Other slots include a PCIe 2.0 x1, and two legacy PCI slots driven by an ITE-made bridge chip. Storage connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s, and four SATA 3 Gb/s, all wired to the PCH. Display connectivity includes DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI. Other connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and four USB 3.0 ports (all driven by the PCH). The board uses cost-effective electrolytic capacitors on all circuits that don't deal with large currents, only the power conditioning circuits have solid-state capacitors.

Thermaltake unveiled Max 5 Duo, a nifty little gadget to put your empty 5.25" drive bays to use for. It is a combination of a 2.5-inch SATA hot-swap drive bay, a 3.5-inch hot-swap drive bay, and two USB 3.0 ports. The drive-dock part of this device is "dumb", meaning it lacks any local controller, and depends on SATA connections to the motherboard or third-party SATA add-on card. Naturally then, it "supports" SATA 6 Gb/s speeds. The USB 3.0 ports connect to the motherboard or USB 3.0 add-on card over standard USB 3.0 front-panel header.

Here is the first picture of Sapphire's socket LGA1155 motherboard in the works, based on Intel Z77 "Panther Point" chipset. Carrying the model number PT-CI7Z77, the board will probably carry the company's "Pure Black" branding. Its chipset and VRM heatsink designs have not been finalized, yet. To begin with, the LGA1155 socket, which supports upcoming "Ivy Bridge" processors out of the box, is powered by a 10-phase VRM. This VRM uses ferrite-core chokes, Driver-MOSFETs, and a secondary NEC-TOKIN multi-phase capacitor to condition power. Three other phases handle memory and miscellaneous power domains on the board.

The processor is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3 memory. It is also wired to two PCI Express 3.0 long slots, which are auto-configured as x16/NC or x8/x8, depending on the second slot being populated. Other slots include a PCI Express 2.0 x1, and a PCI Express 2.0 long slot (gray), which is electrically PCIe 2.0 x4, and wired to the Z77 PCH. There are two legacy PCI slots, driven by an ASMedia-made bridge chip.

Marvell introduced its latest line of SATA 6 Gbps controllers, under the 88SE92 Series. The series includes the 2-port 88SE9220, 4-port 88SE9230, and 4-port 88SE9235. All three take advantage of the new PCI-Express 2.0 x2 interface. PCI-Express x2 (2 lanes) has till now only been hypothetically possible, since PCI-SIG has no slot specification for it. With increasing need for system bandwidth while keeping pin-counts and package sizes low by onboard controllers (such as SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0), PCIe 2.0 x2 has emerged as a viable solution based on the proven PCIe 2.0 specification, as PCIe 3.0 is yet to attain maturity in the industry. PCIe 2.0 x2 gives the controller system bandwidth of 1000 MB/s per direction, 2000 MB/s total. This ensures that a connected SATA 6 Gb/s device doesn't face a bottleneck at a given time, something which was impossible on older PCIe 2.0 x1 chips.

This system bandwidth bottleneck alleviation also allowed Marvell to add support for up to 4 SATA 6 Gb/s ports on the 88SE9230 and 88SE9235. All three controllers further support port multipliers. Among the three, the 88SE9230 is the top-of-the-line chip, supporting Marvell RAID software, HyperDuo (Marvell's in-house SSD caching technology), RAID 0, 1, 10 modes, AHCI, and 128/256-bit AES native encryption. The 88SE9235 is a cost-effective variant of the 88SE9230, it lacks RAID, and only features AHCI/IDE modes. It also lacks native encryption. The 88SE9220, the 2-port controller, otherwise supports all the features of the 88SE9230, except of course support for RAID 10 (since it's not possible with just 2 member disks).

With the Ultrabook form-factor gaining prominence, there's an urgent need for notebook components to shape up, so is the case with storage devices. A little earlier this month, Crucial announced its latest M4 series SSD in the 2.5" SATA form-factor, which is just 7 mm-slim, as opposed to the ~9.3 mm thickness that's standard. It looks like more SSD makers are hopping into this trend, including Memoright, which launched its FTM Plus Slim series. For SSDs, slimmer 7 mm enclosures don't affect components inside, as SSDs are essentially a printed-circuit board with controllers, DRAM and NAND flash chips.

The FTM Plus Slim series have otherwise the same specifications as the regular (9.3 mm-thick) FTM Plus series. These drives are driven by SandForce SF-2281 controllers, with sequential transfer rates of up to 550 MB/s reads, 500 MB/s writes, and 55,000/50,000 read/write 4K IOPS. They take advantage of SATA 6 Gb/s interface to achieve those speeds. Like its thicker siblings, the FTM Plus Slim will be available in 60 GB, 120 GB, 240 GB, and 480 GB capacities.

No, it's not a fancy graphics card by OCZ that's pictured below, don't let the PCI-Express x16 interface and cooling assembly with vents and heat pipes sticking out fool you. This monstrosity is OCZ's R4, a complex PCI-Express solid-state drive (SSD) which packs 16 (!) SSD subunits, each driven by a SandForce SF-2200 controller. Each of the subunits is part of a very large RAID array, which is abstract to the host machine. The host only sees the cumulative capacity into a single volume.

At the heart of the beast is a spanking new VCA 2.0 processor, which provides each of those subunits a SATA 6 Gb/s link, and connects to the host over PCI-Express 2.0 x16. The sequential transfer speed of the R4 is up to 6,656 MB/s (megabytes per second). It will be offered in various capacities, 3.2 TB looks like a possible capacity option.