Hitachi listed two of its new mammoth-capacity hard drives on its website, the Deskstar 7K3000 and Deskstar 5K3000. These drives are available in capacities of up to 3 TB; 2 TB and 1 TB variants are also available. The drives have spindle speeds of 7200 rpm (for the 7K3000) and 5400 rpm (for the 5K3000). Available in the 3.5-inch form factor, these drives use the SATA 6 Gb/s interface, but are backwards compatible with SATA 3 Gb/s and 1.5 Gb/s. The 7K3000 uses a 64 MB cache, while the 5K3000 makes do with 32 MB. Both drives have default sector sizes of 512 bytes. The company is yet to reveal pricing.

MSI seems to be ready with its first wave of motherboards for socket LGA1155 processors, based on the Sandy Bridge architecture. At this point the lineup is quite simply three models - P67A-GD65, the performance segment offering, the P67A-GD55, upper mid-range, and H67MA-ED55, a micro-ATX board ready for integrated graphics. All three motherboards seem to carry high-grade components such as solid chokes (that don't whine), high-C capacitors, and offer a level of overclocking headroom enhanced by OC Genie II.

The P67A-GD65 features two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8/x8 when both are populated), three PCI-E x1, and two PCI slots. Connectivity includes six SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the P67 PCH (of which four are internal, two eSATA), two SATA 6 Gb/s ports provided by a Marvell-made controller, and two additional SATA 3 Gb/s ports by a third-party controller; two USB 3.0 ports, 8-channel HD audio, FireWire, and gigabit Ethernet. There are several overclocker-friendly features such as consolidated voltage measure points with proper sockets to hold multimeter leads, OC Genie controls, and a heat pipe distributing heat evenly between the VRM heatsinks.

ASUS showed off its high-end socket LGA1155 motherboard lineup in London, including from its two top brands, ROG and Sabertooth TUF. The ROG Maximus IV Extreme, TUF Sabertooth P67, P8P67 Deluxe and P8P67 were on display. All four models are based on the Intel P67 Express chipset, designed to support upcoming Sandy Bridge architecture derived LGA1155 processors, or the 2011 Core processor family. Leading the pack is the Maximum IV Extreme. This board is literally bursting with features and is geared for extreme overclocking. There are no less than four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, possibly driven by a PCI-E bridge chip, which allows 3-way and 4-way SLI/CrossFireX; four each of USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and ROG-exclusive features such as ROG Connect, and redundant BIOS.

Next in line is the TUF Sabertooth P67. Keeping in tune with the TUF series' main feature of providing very high durability, the Sabertooth P67 uses ceramic heatsinks and high-grade components. For the first time, we're getting to see a protective scaffolding covering most of the board's area on its obverse side (we've seen it on the reverse side on older models). ASUS is calling it "tactical vest". This board only supports two PCI-E x16 devices, 2-way SLI/CrossFireX.

Earlier this year, Gigabyte surprised us by displaying its first motherboards that use a black-colored PCB, the higher end of its socket LGA1155 motherboard lineup based on the P67 Express chipset, the GA-P67A-UD5 and GA-P67A-UD7; the company's mid-thru-entry range of P67 and H67 based motherboards got their photo-shoot. Pictured below (in order) are the P67A-UD3R, P67A-UD3, and H67MA-UD2H. The P67A-UD3R is the third Gigabyte motherboard to be pictured with a black PCB, it is decked in black overall (slots and connectors), with a dash of white. The LGA1155 socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory. Expansion slots include three PCI-E x1, one PCI-E 2.0 x16, one PCI-E x16 (electrical x4), and two PCI.

The P67A-UD3 marks a return to blue PCB (indicating that lower-mainstream Gigabyte motherboards will retain the blue color-scheme. It's is a slightly skimpier version of the UD3R, and probably has the SATA RAID function disabled. Connectivity of this, and the UD3R are nearly identical: 8+2 channel HD audio, two USB 3.0 ports, a number of USB 2.0 ports, two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s ports. The H67MA-UD2H is a micro-ATX motherboard optimized for processors with on-die graphics, it features the flexible display interface (FDI), with display connectivity including one each of DVI, D-Sub, DisplayPort, and HDMI. Expansion slots include two PCI-E x16 (electrical x16, x4); and two PCI-E x1. Connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s, three SATA 3 Gb/s, one eSATA, 8 channel HD audio with optical SPDIF, two USB 3.0 and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Gigabyte's P67 and H67 series motherboard will launch in early 2011, in time for Intel's latest processor lineup.

EVGA introduced the third motherboard in its socket LGA1366 lineup refresh, the X58 Classified3 (model number 141-GT-E770-A1). EVGA's motherboard lineup refresh, usually denoted by a "3" suffix to the model name, is centered on feature additions that include USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, and out of the box support for the latest processors. The X58 Classified3 sports a high-end 10-phase digital PWM voltage regulation for the CPU that makes use of a Prodalizer for better power conditioning. Unlike the original X58 Classified design and like the X58 Classified E760, this board does not make use of any additional nForce 200 bridge chips, the four PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots are wired directly to the X58 northbridge (configured as x16, NC, x16, NC; or x16, NC, x8, x8; or x8, x8, x8, x8; depending on how they're populated). The PWM area is cooled by its own heatsink, while that over the X58 northbridge is elaborate, complete with a fan. The ICH10R southbridge has a large heatsink to chill with. Other expansion slots include one each of PCI-E x1 and PCI.

Connectivity features include two SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports (color coded red), six internal SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and one legacy IDE connector, two USB 3.0 ports (rear), a number of USB 2.0 ports, 8-channel HD audio, dual gigabit Ethernet, and FireWire. Known more for its "record-shattering" overclocking prowess, the X58 Classified series of motherboards make use of a strong VRM overall (to support high voltage settings), a CPU socket with 300% more gold on the pins, vDroop control, consolidated voltage measure points, support for the EVGA EVBot accessory, Dummy OC (one touch overclocking), and a diagnostic LED display. The Classified3 from EVGA sells for US $369.99.

Foremay, Inc., a leader of technology innovation in solid state drive and one of the world's Top 10 SSD OEMs, today announced the EC188 M-series SATA 6 Gb/s solid state hard drive which has standard host interfaces of third generation SATA, also known as SATA 6 Gb/s. The SATA 6 Gb/s SSD is designed for enterprise servers, studio workstations and high end DIY personal computers, with speeds up to 450 MB/s for reading and 350 MB/s for writing, with a capacity up to 500 GB.

"The mainstream motherboards delivered to the market today have significantly increased their support of the SATA 3 hard drive," said Jason Hoover, Foremay's VP Marketing. "Our SATA 3.0 SSD is designed to meet the demand for fully utilizing the advantages of SATA 3.0 speed in SATA 3-ready motherboards. Users will now be able to enjoy the ultra-high speed provided by our SATA 6 Gb/s SSDs."

ECS is designing an upper-mid range socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel P67 Express chipset, ready with upcoming Sandy Bridge processors, called the P67H2-A. A pre-release version was shown to the press. The highlight here is ECS' use of the LucidLogix Hydra Engine chip that lets the motherboard mix and match graphics cards of different makes and types. The CPU is powered by a 14-phase VRM, it is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory, speeds of up to 2600 MHz are supported by overclocking. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (likely x16, x16, NC / x16, x8, x8, thanks to the Hydra chip), and two each of PCI-E x1 and PCI. Four out of six of the SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the P67 PCH are assigned as internal ports (color-coded orange), two SATA 6 Gb/s controllers give out two ports internal (color-coded red). Connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, dual gigabit Ethernet, two NEC USB 3.0 controllers that give out two ports on the rear panel and two for the front-panel via header, eSATA 6 Gb/s, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The final version may look slightly different, of course those jumper wires won't be there.

When we first saw the ASUS ROG Crosshair IV Extreme back in March, it seemed like just a beefier version of the Crosshair IV Formula with four well spaced out PCI-E x16 expansion slots, a stronger VRM, and a few more ASUS-exclusive goodies thrown in. Later in May, we learned that the Crosshair IV Extreme is different from its smaller, more popular sibling, in featuring the LucidLogix Hydra Engine chip that lets the users pair graphics cards across the lineups and GPU vendors, whichever way they want to upscale performance or add features. After quite some wait which led some of us to fear that ASUS shelved the product as Crosshair IV Formula seems to have been well received, the company surprised us by finally releasing the beast to the market.

The Crosshair IV Extreme that we see today is slightly different from the older iterations in featuring a different heatsink assembly design. It features bulkier, more groovy-looking heatsinks over the north-west cluster that houses the CPU VRM and AMD 890FX IOMMU, while the south-east cluster has a sleeker heatsink that cools the Lucid Hydra chip and the AMD SB850 southbridge. Most other features remain the same: expansion slots that include five PCI-E x16, one PCI; support for dual-channel DDR3-2000 MHz memory; a six-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller, 2 SATA 3 Gb/s ports, two eSATA 3 Gb/s; connectivity that includes gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth, 8-channel SupremeFX X-Fi audio, USB 3.0; and a boat-load of OC-friendly features including ROG Connect, redundant BIOS, on-board voltage-measure, PCI-E gating and OC controls, etc. It is priced around 300 EUR.

Flash-memory expert PhotoFast is releasing its fastest SATA solid state drive (SSD) series, the GMonster 3X V1. Based on a new controller, the drive supports SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and significantly relies on the higher interface bandwidth. These drives carry read speeds of up to 430 MB/s, writing at up to 300 MB/s. Available in 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB variants, these drives have different read/write speeds: the 64 GB model reads/writes at up to 370/120 MB/s, the 128 GB model at 410/190 MB/s, with the 256 GB model running full throttle at 430/300 MB/s. The controller makes full use of the NAND flash memory installed as data-area, while it has its own 128 MB DDR3 memory to carry out its tasks and use as cache. Aimed at consumers, these drives carry MTBF of 1.5 million hours. October is when these will hit the shelves, though prices have not been announced yet.

Here's something you'll need to see to believe: Gigabyte made its first motherboards with black-colored PCBs, breaking away from its blue PCB mold! The company's high-end LGA1155 motherboard lineup includes two models: the GA-P67A-UD5 and the GA-P67A-UD7. Apart from the black-colored PCB, the color scheme also includes graphite-colored heatsinks with a dash of blue (UD5) or with a dash of gold (UD7), black-colored memory and expansion slots, mostly black internal ports and headers. The GA-P67-UD7 uses a 24-phase VRM to power the LGA1155 processor. Its expansion slots include four PCI-E 2.0 x16, there seems to be a PCI-E bridge chip (likely nForce 200 or something from PLX), which lets it run in 2-slot x16, or 4-slot x8 modes. There are two PCI and a PCI-E x1. Connectivity on this includes six SATA 3 Gb/s, two SATA 6 Gb/s internal ports, two gigabit Ethernet, 8-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports, FireWire, and eSATA.

The GA-P67A-UD5 has a 20-phase VRM, a slightly lighter expansion area with three PCI-Express x16 slots (likely x16, NC/x8, x8), the third slot could be electrical x4. Connectivity on this one includes two SATA 6 Gb/s, four SATA 3 Gb/s, two eSATA, 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 ports, and FireWire. Both motherboards feature Ultra Durable 3 construction. The two could be part of the company's first wave of LGA1155 motherboards.

EVGA released its newest socket LGA1366 motherboard, the EVGA X58 SLI3 (model: 131-GT-E767-TR). This model completes EVGA's lineup of new LGA1366 motherboards that pack USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s support, other models include the EVGA X58 FTW3 and EVGA X58 Classified3. Among the three, the X58 SLI3 is the most affordable, and targets a sub-$200 price point. The model and its overall design are derived from the X58 SLI, but with 2-port USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers.

The LGA1366 socket is powered by a 6-phase VRM, it's wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory support. The motherboard supports all released Intel Core i7 LGA1366 processors, including the six-core models, out of the box. Expansion slots include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8), two PCI-E x1, and one PCI. 2-way and 3-way SLI are supported. Apart from the six SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the ICH10R southbridge, there are two SATA 6 Gb/s ports (color coded red). Connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, two USB 3.0 and a number of USB 2.0 ports. The EVGA X58 SLI3 is listed on the company's store, at US $199.99.

Samsung's newest line of consumer solid state drives (SSDs) in the 2.5" SATA form-factor have made a quiet entry into European markets. Samsung, which is known more in the SSD industry for its NAND flash chips than an SSD line under its own banner, designed the new Samsung 470 series SSDs to pack the latest technologies, offer high IOPS and throughput for PCs and notebooks. In these, Samsung is using its a homegrown "multi-core" SSD controller that works to give high data rates without provisioning a portion of the NAND flash memory for controller operations. The drives use Samsung's 30 nanometer-class MLC NAND flash memory chips.

The Samsung 470 series SSDs come in capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB; offering data rates of 250 MB/s (read) and 220 MB/s (write), with up to 31,000 IOPS for reads, 21,000 IOPS for random writes. The 64 GB variant, however, writes at up to 170 MB/s. The drives use the newer SATA 6 Gb/s interface, though are backwards compatible with older versions of SATA. The TRIM feature is also present, it keeps the drives' write performance from deteriorating over time. Samsung advertises a mean time before failure (MTBF) or 1.5 million hours, and backs these drives with a three-year warranty. The drives are designed to withstand mechanical shocks of up to 1,500 G. The 64, 128 and 256 GB variants are each priced at €152.39, €294.46 and €558.57, respectively.

Innovative motherboard maker ASRock seems to be liking designing high-end motherboards - a lot. The latest model in the works is a socket LGA1366 motherboard based on the Intel X58+ICH10R chipset, called the ASRock X58 Extreme6. This motherboard provides no less than six SATA 6 Gb/s and six USB 3.0 ports, a large step beyond the chipset's original specifications. ASRock is achieving this using three NEC µPD720200 2-port USB 3.0 and three Marvell 88SE9123-NAA2 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s controllers, some of which are connected to the system over a PLX PEX8613 PCI-Express 2.0 switch chip. All six SATA 6 Gb/s ports are internal, and color-coded white, next to the six SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the southbridge, while four out of six USB 3.0 ports are on the rear-panel (color-coded blue), and two ports are via an internal header, that connects to USB 3.0 case front-panels or expansion brackets.

Apart from this 'unique' feature set, the ASRock X58 Extreme6 is fairly standard, with six-core processor support out of the box, an 8-phase VRM that powers the CPU, six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory, expansion slots that include three PCI-Express 2.0 x16 with 3-way SLI and CrossFire support, two each of PCI-E x1 and PCI, 8-channel HD audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF connectors, a gigabit Ethernet, FireWire, eSATA, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. Exclusive features include THX TruStudio Pro support, debug LEDs, OC DNA, ASRock Instant Boot, Instant Flash, and OC Tuner. One can expect the board to be out soon.

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.

Although USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s served as features central to new motherboard models by manufacturers for an entire year, their adoption by chipset vendors has been rather slow. While AMD has integrated SATA 6 Gb/s into its SB850 southbridge, which features a 6-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller, neither Intel nor AMD have USB 3.0 integrated, with no real indication Intel doing so in the foreseeable future. Sources in the motherboard industry, however, reveal that AMD is designing a new southbridge that integrates a USB 3.0 controller, just like present chipsets have USB 2.0.

AMD's move follows a recent announcement of collaboration with Renesas, the company behind the popular NEC uPD720200 controller, to promote USB 3.0 as an industry standard, and a new universal UASP driver model for USB 3.0 controllers. The new southbridge is codenamed "Hudson D1", which will release along with AMD's 40 nm Ontario Fusion APUs in Q4-2010. The company also plans to release the Llano Fusion APU in 2011.

Closely trailing last week's news of ASRock designing the P55 Extreme4 motherboard that has two sets of 2-port USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s controllers, comes that of the 890FX-Deluxe4 and 890GX-Extreme4. As the names suggest, these motherboards will be based on the AMD 890FX and AMD 890GX chipsets, respectively, supporting socket AM3 processors. Unlike its P55-based counterpart, these boards feature two 2-port USB 3.0 controllers of which one gives out USB 3.0 front-panel header instead of two additional rear panel ports, and since the AMD SB850 southbridge already has a 6-port SATA 6 Gb/s RAID controller, there is only one additional 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s controller, upping the total number of 6 Gb/s ports to eight.

This apart, the 890FX-Deluxe4 and 890GX-Deluxe4 bear some resemblance to the 890FX-Deluxe3 and 890GX-Extreme3, respectively, in terms of board layout. The boards feature a 10-phase CPU VRM design, support ASRock Turbo UCC (gives Turbo boost to more than 3 cores on Phenom II X6), ASRock UCC (unlocks disabled cores on some X3, X2 processors), and memory ratio supported up to DDR3-1866 MHz by overclocking. The boards also support 3-way and 2-way ATI CrossFireX, and connectivity which includes 8+2 channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and Firewire. Expect the new Extreme4 motherboards to reach stores in the coming few weeks.

ASRock is readying a new high-end socket LGA1156 motherboard based on the Intel P55 chipset, the P55 Extreme4. Designed to be a notch above the P55 Deluxe3, which packs two SATA 6 Gb/s and two USB 3.0 ports, the Extreme4 uses two 2-port controllers to drive four SATA 6 Gb/s ports, and two USB 3.0 controllers to drive two USB 3.0 ports on the rear panel, and two ports by internal headers (for the latest cases that come with USB 3.0 front-panel ports, or simply by USB 3.0 expansion brackets). Connections to these four controllers is conveniently handled by configuring the PCI-Express x4 port from the P55 PCH to work as four x1 ports, apart from the four x1 ports it gives apart from the x4 port. This way, the board is also able to provide three x1 expansion slots and drive the PCI-E GbE controller.

The other expansion slots are two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8/x8, when both are populated), supporting SLI and CrossFire, and two PCI. Apart from the four SATA 6 Gb/s ports (color-coded white), the six SATA 3 Gb/s ports (color-coded blue) are present internally. The CPU socket seems to be powered by an 8+2 phase VRM. The four DDR3 memory slots can take DDR3 modules with frequencies of over 2600 MHz with overclocking. Other connectivity features include 8-channel HD audio and gigabit Ethernet. ASRock will introduce the P55 Extreme4 in a few weeks' time.

MSI is ready with a new feature-rich "value" LGA1366 motherboard, the X58A-GD65. Among LGA1366 motherboards, this model is priced at a relatively-affordable 210€, building on X58's feature-set, coupled with USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s using additional controllers on board. The X58A-GD65 uses an 8-phase VRM with high-C capacitors. It uses simple heatsinks over the VRM, X58 IOMMU, and ICH10R southbridge. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express x16 slots, of which the first two are wired to the X58 with full-bandwidth, while the third one is wired to the ICH10R, and is electrical x4; other slots include two each of PCI-E x1, and PCI. ATI CrossFireX is the only multi-GPU standard supported.

Connectivity includes six SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the southbridge, two SATA 6 Gb/s from an additional controller, two eSATA ports, two USB 3.0 ports, 4+6 USB 2.0 ports, 8-channel audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF connectors, FireWire, and one gigabit Ethernet connection. To lure enthusiasts, MSI advertises military-grade components used in critical power-delivery circuits, active-phase switching, support for six-core processors out of the box, and DDR3-2133 MHz memory support.

MSI rolled out two of its performance Lucid Hydra based motherboards it's been working on, the socket LGA1156 P55A Fuzion and socket AM3 870A Fuzion. The P55A Fuzion uses a 10-phase CPU VRM that makes use of high-C capacitors, Lotes-made socket, two-phase VRM for the memory, and expansion slots which include two PCI-E 2.0 x16 (full-bandwidth), two PCI-E x1, and two PCI. The PCI-E x16 slots are wired to the Lucid Hydra 200 chip that gives each graphics card full interface bandwidth, and offers vendor-neutral multi-GPU pairing. Users can pair NVIDIA graphics cards with ATI, and can also mix and match different GPUs. Connectivity features include two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, six SATA 3 Gb/s, USB 3.0, 8-channel audio, and gigabit Ethernet.

The 870A Fuzion is based on the AMD 870 chipset with SB850 southbridge. It supports socket AM3 CPUs, including six-core Phenom II X6. The CPU is powered by a 4+1 phase VRM. Expansion slots include two PCI-E 2.0 x16, two PCI-E x1, and one PCI. Apart from the CPU architecture, this board has all the features of P55A Fuzion, except that it has eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Connectivity here, too, includes USB 3.0, 8-channel audio, Lucid Hydra multi-GPU technology, and gigabit Ethernet. The 870A Fuzion is expected to be priced around US $160, while the P55A Fuzion is expected to go for $190.

Lexar Media, a leading global provider of memory products for digital media, today introduced a 64GB addition to the award-winning Crucial RealSSD C300 product line. The new 64GB RealSSD C300 drive, like its predecessors, natively supports SATA 6Gb/s, is backwards compatible with the SATA 3Gb/s interface, and provides scorching-fast read speeds of up to 355 MB/s and write speeds up to 75 MB/s. Competitively priced at US$149.99, the new 64GB C300 drive is available in a standard 2.5-inch form factor, and comes with a limited three-year warranty.

"The 64GB C300 drive is a natural extension of our award-winning Crucial RealSSD C300 product line. This aggressively priced 64GB C300 drive makes SSD technology more affordable than ever, delivers durability for mobile computing, and makes it a compelling boot drive for desktop PCs," said Robert Wheadon, Lexar Media senior worldwide SSD product manager.

As motherboard manufacturers frantically came up with socket LGA-1155 motherboards to display, most ended up showing their upper-range (performance and enthusiast segments) products, barring ASUS which seems to be ready with a cost-effective ATX board based on the Intel P67 chipset called P8P67D, and micro-ATX based board based on the Intel H67 chipset, called P8H67D-M. The P8P67D uses a simple 4+2 phase CPU VRM that's controlled by the ASUS EPU chip, has expansion slots that include one PCI-Express 2.0 x16, four PCI-E x1, and two PCI. The TPU unit makes overclocking easier. Connectivity includes 8-channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, IDE, and eSATA.

The P8H67D-M is based on the H67 chipset that features the Intel Flexible Display Interface (FDI), and connects the processor's on-die graphics controller to display connectivity which includes DVI and D-Sub. Expansion slots given are one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16, PCI-E x1, and two PCI. The board makes do with six SATA 3 Gb/s ports, IDE, its connectivity features include 8-channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0 and eSATA. One can expect these boards to be out in 2011.

ASUS showed off a unique motherboard concept part of its Republic of Gamers series, the ROG Immensity. This socket LGA-1366 motherboard comes with onboard graphics, using a discrete ATI Radeon HD 5000 series GPU with dedicated GDDR3 memory. While the Intel X58 Express + ICH10R chipset are very much there, the X58 is wired to a Lucid Hydra Engine chip, which drives both the PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots. It is probably also connected to the ATI Radeon GPU, giving users the ability to stay connected to the on board GPU, while 3D graphics is accelerated from any graphics card plugged in to the PCI-E slots, of any make, and in any combination (including NVIDIA + ATI). The Hydra chip handles the load-balancing between the GPUs depending on their computation power and features available.

Apart from this unique feature, the ROG Immensity is designed for extreme overclocking, making use of an 8-phase PWM circuit with additional stabilizers and power conditioning using super-ML capacitors. Memory is powered by a 6-phase PWM circuit with its own power-conditioning super-ML capacitor. All ROG-exclusive features such as iROG and ROG-Connect are present. Connectivity features include SATA 3 Gb/s RAID, two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, USB 3.0, Bluetooth, gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel audio. Four PCI-E x1 slots make for the rest of the expansion. For now ASUS chooses to call this a concept design, so it's uncertain whether it will release it to market any time soon.

A-Data showed off two lines of 2.5" internal SSDs, the S501 and S596 Turbo. The S501 uses the SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and has transfer rates that could use the additional bandwidth at its disposal. The S501 reads at 350 MB/s, and writes at 200 MB/s. It makes use of 34 nm MLC NAND flash chips, and 128 MB of cache. It will be available in capacities of up to 512 GB.

The S596 Turbo is a upgraded version of the original S596, it uses SATA 3 Gb/s and mini USB 2.0 interface. The 128 MB of cache in place is of DDR2 type. The SSD can read at speeds of up to 280 MB/s, and write at 180 MB/s. It is available in capacities of up to 256 GB.

Following Biostar's display of its socket LGA-1155 motherboard, market-heavyweights ASUS and MSI were also seen exhibiting their LGA-1156 motherboards based on the Intel P67 chipset. The ASUS P8P67D EVO uses 12+2 phase CPU VRM, has four DIMM slots for dual-channel DDR3 memory, and expansion slots which include two PCI-Express x16 (electrical x8 when both are populated), two PCI, and three PCI-E x1. MSI's P67A-GD65 uses an 8+1 phase VRM with High-C capacitors. Both models feature SATA 6 Gb/s, USB 3.0, and other features commonly found in today's P55-based motherboards, with the difference of the LGA-1155 socket that will fit next-generation Sandy Bridge processors. LGA-1155 is not compatible with LGA-1156, probably except for the cooler mount hole spacing. LGA-1155 platform will likely be introduced in early 2011, looking at how major motherboard vendors are ready with their products in time for this year's Computex event, which is the large major IT exposium before next year's CES.

Following last week's release of EVGA X58 FTW3, the company is ready with two new boards, the EVGA X58 SLI3 and X58 Classified3. While being based on essentially the same board design as the X58 SLI LE and X58 Classified, these boards have feature updates which include USB 3.0, and SATA 6 Gb/s. Both these features use 3rd party controllers from NEC and Marvell, and are available in 2-port forms. For existing users of X58 SLI LE and X58 Classified, EVGA developed its own 2-port USB 3.0 addon card.