SilverStone unveiled Raven Mini-ITX, a new compact SFF case fit for mini-ITX gaming PC builds. The case feature signature Raven series styling, and bears design elements from its recently launched sibling, the Raven RV-04. The case is designed to look great in both tower-type (vertical) and rack (horizontal) orientations, with its slot-in slimline optical drive bay, discrete-looking air vents, USB and audio jacks.

Internally, the case is nothing short of an engineering marvel, you can install a high-end, dual-slot, full-height graphics card, and a 240 x 120 mm radiator for your liquid cooling loop. It works using a PCI-Express x16 riser that lets you install the graphics card along the plane of the motherboard, with enough room to spare underneath for the radiator. On the storage front, you get a slimline slot-in optical drive bay, and a number of 3.5/2.5-inch drive bays. An SFF PSU bay appears to be located towards the front. The Raven mini-ITX is still under development, SilverStone will formally announce the case later.

ASUS announced its first Republic of Gamers (ROG) motherboard in the mini-ITX form-factor, the Maximus VI Impact, which could go on to become choice number one for SFF gaming PC builders. Arguably the most feature-rich mini-ITX motherboard ever made, the Maximus VI Impact is a socket LGA1150 motherboard based on Intel Z87 Express chipset, which supports 4th generation Core "Haswell" processors.

The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS connectors, and conditions it using a 10-phase VRM that off-shoots into its own little PCB, with heatsink. The other three daughterboards on the Maximus VI Impact include the SupremeFX Impact, a sound-card with an audiophile-grade 115 dBA DAC, OPAMPs, and audio-grade capacitors; and an mPCIe combo card that lends it 802.11 ac WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0; and an ImpactControl card that gives overclockers POST diagnostic readouts and CMOS reset/restore at the push of a button, right from the rear panel.

Dell today announced an expanded and stronger Dell Precision workstation portfolio that includes the smallest tower workstation chassis in its class, the Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor, and the world's most powerful rack workstation, the Dell Precision R7610. In addition, the Dell Precision family features a more powerful and reliable Dell Precision T1700 Mini-Tower rounding out a workstation portfolio that offers increased performance, dependability and smart design for entry-level and high-end workstation users.

Industry's Smallest Entry-Level Tower Workstations
Offering powerful workstation performance at near desktop PC prices, the new Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor (SFF) is the smallest, approximately 30 percent smaller than competitive systems, and lightest workstation in its class allowing IT to easily deploy an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) certified workstation almost anywhere, regardless of space constraints.

CyberPower Inc., a global manufacturer of custom gaming PCs, has retooled its small form factor LAN-event PC series into a new family of systems named the LAN III, which is packed with the power and the headroom to accommodate the latest gaming hardware and titles.

The CyberPowerPC LAN III series debuts with four distinct models priced from $439-$1395 and loaded with the latest performance hardware from Intel, AMD and NVIDIA. Gamers can tap CyberPowerPC's "armory" to build a custom LAN-party worthy system with a wide choice of components from Intel's flagship X79 platform with 3rd Gen Core processors to AMD's 990FX Chipset with Vishera 8-core processors. Users can drop the latest arsenal of GPUs into their LAN III, which includes NVIDIA GeForce series powered by the new "Kepler" architecture and AMD Radeon's "Southern Islands" Graphics. Both series deliver the latest PCI express 3.0 for flawless gaming and multimedia performance.

Apart from motherboards, the only big product segment ASRock made a name for itself is with pre-built mini-PCs. The company wants to put its experience to good use by cashing in for the market's newfound love for compact (mini-ITX) gaming PCs, the ones that save precious real-estate on congested living room TV racks and dorm rooms. Pictured below is the company's first such effort, timed with the launch of Intel's next-generation Core "Haswell" processor, and supporting socket LGA1150 platform based on Z87 Express chipset.

There are three components to ASRock's creation: a unique SFF case, co-designed by BMW Design; the ASRock Z87E-ITX motherboard, and a GeForce GTX 680 graphics card. The case looks pretty slick, coming from BMW. It stays slim by using a PCI-Express riser, allowing you to install graphics cards along the plane of the motherboard. The Z87-E ITX, like most efforts by ASRock in the past, is extremely feature-rich for its size. It uses a 6-phase VRM to power the LGA1150 CPU, features two DDR3 DIMM slots, PCI-Express 3.0 x16 and mini-PCIe 2.0, for the WLAN+Bluetooth card.

Gigabyte rolled out a new mini-ITX motherboard based on the AMD E350 "Zacate" APU, for entry-level PC and home-server builds, the E350N-WIN8. As the name might suggest, the board is designed to run Windows 8 with its entire feature set, including Fast Boot. It does that by replacing legacy AwardBIOS on older variants, with modern AMI UEFI, backed by Gigabyte's Dual-UEFI redundant BIOS technology that protects against failed BIOS updates. The E350N WIN8 uses a fairly big (SFF-safe) fan-heatsink to cool the APU, while a tiny heatsink cools its companion A45 FCH chipset.

The AMD E350 packs two x86-64 cores clocked at 1.60 GHz, with a maximum memory support of 16 GB, and AMD Radeon HD 6310D DirectX 11 graphics that rides on 80 stream processors. The APU is wired to two standard-size 240-pin DIMM slots. The lone expansion slot, sadly, is a legacy PCI. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin and 4-pin ATX connectors. Connectivity includes four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports (four on the rear panel, four by headers), serial RS232 (COM) and parallel (LPT) ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, and display outputs that include D-Sub (VGA) and HDMI (with 7.1-channel digital HD audio). Expect a sub-$100 price point.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) today reveals a full product line of Thin Mini-ITX motherboards, in three segments where low power consumption and a small footprint are desirable: enterprise, multimedia and consumer - to fulfill the different demands for AIO (All-in-one) and SFF (small form factor) applications.


Enterprise/Corporate Solutions: Q77H2-TI & B75H2-TI
For corporate and industrial use, the all solid capacitor ECS Q77H2-TI & B75H2-TI motherboards are based on the Intel 7-Series Chipset, which support 3rd generation Intel Core i7, Intel Core i5 and other Intel processors. Both of these platforms feature 2 x Mini PCIe x1 expansion slot, SATA 3.0/2.0/mSATA, 4x USB 3.0, 5x USB 2.0 along with support for digital signage.

MSI has announced the launch of its new-generation barebone PC system: the Hetis H61 series. This series uses the latest Intel H61 chipset, and support the 3rd Generation Intel Core Processor and 2nd Generation Intel Core Processor as well, the first processor of its kind to have the graphics processing unit (GPU) and CPU integrated onto the same chip, while also building a set of visual functions into the chip that ensure higher image quality when viewing video content or photos.

Extreme Engineering Solutions (X-ES) introduces the XPand6104 Small Form Factor (SFF) system supporting a 3rd generation Intel Core i7 COM Express module. With commercial connectors, this SFF system can be utilized as an XPedite7450 COM Express development platform, a deployable SFF system, or a demo platform for applications requiring a high-performance Intel Core i7 processor solution.

In a natural convection-cooled SFF enclosure, the XPand6104 is ideal for Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP)-constrained applications at 2.10 in. (H) x 4.88 in. (W) x 7.70 in. (L) and weighing less than 4 lbs. It includes an XPedite7450 Intel Core i7 ruggedized COM Express module and an optional 1.8 in. SSD. The front panel features an RJ-45 Ethernet connector to a10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet port, a USB 2.0 connector to a USB 2.0 port, an eSATA connector to a SATA 3.0 Gb/s port, two micro-DB-9 connectors to RS-232 serial ports, a DisplayPort connector for graphics, reset and power switches, and status LEDs. It includes an integrated MIL-STD-704 28 V DC input voltage power supply with MIL-STD-461 EMI filtering and an external AC/DC 110 V AC input voltage power supply for development.

Consistently devoted to the compactness and lightweight of the terminal devices, Apacer, one of top ten PC SSD manufacturers in the world, rolls out mSATA Mini M4 SSD of Small Form Factor (SFF for short) today to meet the market demands. The product is only 26.8 × 29.85 mm in size. Compared with mSATA SSD adopting JEDEC MO-300 standard specification, this latest model has its size reduced by over 1/2. Featuring ultra-compactness and slimness, it can break through the physical limit of the spatial design, and significantly reduce the size and weight of the terminal device. In addition, it also boasts anti-shock, anti-vibration and low power consumption, thus enabling itself to become the most reliable storage choice for the portable devices applied in the military, medical equipment, on-board navigation system, tablet computer, etc.

Acer is now preparing its next generation of mini PCs, the new Veriton N Series. Set to be available in two versions - with or without an optical drive, these incoming SFF PCs feature an Intel Celeron or Core i3 processor, up to 8 GB of RAM, integrated graphics, and up to a 1 TB hard drive (or an SSD topping 128 GB).

Acer's compact creations also have Gigabit Ethernet (WiFi is optional), a multi-in-one card reader, two USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports, plus DVI and HDMI outputs. The updated Veriton N Series PCs start at 356 Euro and will become available in November.

Tacens announced the sixth-generation of its Radix series power supplies. The series includes 550W, 650W, 750W, and 850W models; all of which feature single +12V rail designs, and over 85% efficiency (according to the company), making them 80 Plus Bronze eligible. The 550W variant features a single 6+2 pin PCIe power connector, the 650W and 750W models feature two, and the 850W model features four. All four are cooled by 140 mm Aura Pro fans. In addition to the four standard Radix ATX v2.3 PSUs, Tacens also introduced two Radix Eco series PSU models, 500W and 400W. The Radix Eco 500W sticks to the standard ATX form-factor, while the 400W model is built in the SFF ATX form-factor. Both Eco models lack PCIe power connectors.

Liantec announce ITX-QM77 industrial Mini-ITX Intel QM77 Ivy Bridge Mobile motherboard solution. The ITX-QM77 is based on Mini-ITX form factor and Intel Ivy Bridge (IVB) computing platform, supports Intel 3rd generation Ivy Bridge and 2nd generation Sandy Bridge Core i3 / i5 / i7 mobile processors, 16 GB of memory capacity, onboard dual Intel Gigabit Ethernet, HDMI, DVI, HD audio, SATA-III 6Gbit/s, and SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ports. The ITX-QM77 also offers x16 PCI Express slot and onboard MiniCard socket with x1 PCI Express and HiSpeed USB 2.0 interface for additional expansion.

With Intel latest Ivy Bridge platform, the ITX-QM77 provides advanced graphics computing capacity with Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU, supports Microsoft DirectX 11, OpenGL 3.1, and OpenCL 1.1. Besides, the ITX-QM77 also supports x16 PCI Express 3.0 bus interface with 8 GT/s of data transfer rate on the expansion slot, suitable for add-on graphics or I/O card that need more data transfer bandwidth.

SilverStone is now preparing the release of a new PC case, a SFF (small form factor) model called Sugo SG09 that supports micro ATX, mini ITX and DTX motherboards. Set to become available in about two weeks, the chassis measures 220 (W) x 295 (H) x 354 (D) mm, it weights 5.3 kg, and features two front-placed USB 3.0 ports, one (slim) 5.25-inch bay, two 3.5-inch and four 2.5-inch bays, and three pre-installed fans (one 120 mm spinner at the rear, one on the side and a 180 mm Air Penetrator on top).

The Sugo SG09 supports CPU coolers up to 165 mm tall and graphics cards up to 13.3-inch long, and is set to cost 90 Euro.

Acer America today unveiled new commercial desktop PCs specified for corporate customers, government agencies and educational institutions. Multi-monitor support, significant power and expandability make the new Veriton 6620G Series desktops well-suited for enterprise environments.

The Acer Veriton X6620G, a small form factor (SFF) desktop and the Acer Veriton M6620G, a mini tower, offer a three-year warranty(1) and support up to a third-generation Intel Core i7 processor with significant application and graphics performance benefits when compared to prior generations.

Every year, technology is able to become more and more advanced and is constantly improving. Also, with being physically the smallest, and performing the best is the end goal of any storage system. This is why SFF (Small Form Factor) storage systems are becoming more popular due to its low power consumption and space-saving benefits. With the advent of recent solid state technology, this allows 2.5" SSD's to easily achieve 500MB/sec in transfer rate, which overcomes the 3.5" SATA hard drives in every category except capacity. Therefore, maximize the capacity in a limited space becomes the most important task that many storage consulting firms are faced with often. For SFF systems, we introduce the Icy Dock MB992SK-B 2.5" SATA Mobile Rack solution for use in 3.5" device bays (Floppy bay).

Extreme Engineering Solutions, Inc. (X-ES) introduces XPedite7450, a rugged COM Express module that complies with the PICMG COM Express Basic form factor (95 mm x 125 mm) and supports an enhanced Type 6 pinout. The XPedite7450 can be hosted on a standard COM Express carrier card or a custom carrier card built to include additional end-user requirements, or it can be integrated into an XPand6000 Small Form Factor (SFF) rugged system. Based on the 3rd generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, the XPedite7450 operates at up to 2.2 GHz to deliver enhanced performance and efficiency, making it an excellent processor mezzanine for commercial, industrial, and military applications.

Following up on the successful launch in May this year of the S511 SATA III solid state drive, which received an enthusiastic industry response and multiple awards, ADATA Technology has introduced the industry's fastest high-performance XM13 mSATA solid state drive. This display of the company's increasingly strong R & D capabilities establishes a firm foundation for ADATA in the Small Form Factor (SFF) applications market.

The "rapid start" usage of Tablet PCs has had an impact on the consumer desktop market, causing rising hopes and expectations for performance. The future market is expected to demand that boot devices combine the power of rapid, efficient operation with a thin profile and price competitiveness. To this end, ADATA has set its sights squarely on the market trends of the near future, applying the full force of the company's development capability and years of experience in memory storage. The result is the introduction of the XM13 mSATA SSD, incorporating mSATA memory cache, low power consumption, and implementing the latest Sandforce controller.

Eurocom Corporation, a leading mobile technology developer is launching new GPU's for the Modular Embedded and CUDA Developer Markets based on the industry standard MXM 3.0b specification. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M and NVIDIA Quadro 5010M are new cards offered by Eurocom to those looking for high performance graphics processors. The solutions are aimed at embedded systems, SFF (Small Form Factor) PC and CUDA developers that require high performance GPUs.

The industry standard modular MXM 3.0b specification for graphics subsystems allows for improved cooling capability, reduced power and height, enabling engineers to create smaller, more efficient embedded systems, reduce development time and costs and to introduce new designs faster to market. Modular graphics solutions offer additional functionality as well as increased levels of performance compared to integrated graphics for developers of all kinds.

HighPoint Technologies, Inc., the industry's price-leading manufacturer of host-to-target storage controllers, is now shipping the RocketRAID 2782 32-port PCI-Express Gen 2 RAID HBA. With an MSRP of $849 US, the RocketRAID 2782 reduces costs by as much as 50% over comparable RAID HBA's.

No other manufacturer delivers high-density Host RAID storage solutions with 32-dedicated SAS 6Gb/s ports. Comparable HBA's only offer up to 24 ports, and require sacrificing one or more internal Mini-SAS ports in order to utilize the external connectors. The RR2782's defines no-compromise, high-connectivity - all 32 ports are available at all times, in any combination.

Intel Corporation announced today the Intel Solid-State Drive (Intel SSD) 310 Series, an ultra-small solid-state drive (SSD) that delivers Intel X25-class award-winning SSD performance, but in one-eighth the size. Measuring 51mm-by-30mm and only 5mm thick, the Intel SSD 310 is a fast, ultra-compact SSD that brings flexibility, ruggedness and scalability to innovative form factors and devices. It can enable highly responsive dual-drive notebooks, innovative single-drive tablets and low-power, rugged embedded industrial or military applications. When paired with a high-capacity hard disk drive (HDD) in a dual-drive system, the Intel SSD 310 can improve overall PC system performance by up to 60 percent.

A solid-state drive uses no moving parts, and thus is more durable and reliable than a mechanical HDD, while using less power and providing better system responsiveness. The Intel SSD 310 Series contains 34 nanometer (nm) Intel NAND flash memory and is available in an m-SATA form factor in 40 gigabyte (GB) and 80GB capacities.

Palit's subsidiary Gainward has a low-profile GeForce GTS 450 graphics card in the making, much like Palit's card. Both these are yet to ship to major markets. In the mean time, Korean website Brainbox.com did a picture preview of Gainward's card, called GTS 450 GOOD Low-Profile. The pictures reveal a neatly-designed PCB and cooler assembly modeled along the lines of high-end graphics cards in which hot air is directed right out of the case. The assembly includes a blower, a shroud that directs air-flow, a large heatsink with densely packed aluminum fins that channel air through, and a heatsink over the MOSFETs.

The PCB seats the GF106 GPU right in the middle. While it looks long, it's only because the PCB is half-height to give that illusion. In reality the PCB is 7.4" long, not longer than the full-height NVIDIA reference PCB, and should fit in most SFF cases that have two expansion slots. The PCB uses a simple 4-phase VRM driven by an ON-Semi controller, there are four GDDR5 memory chips on either sides of the PCB, totaling 1 GB. The clock speeds stick to NVIDIA reference: 783/1566/900(3600) MHz, display outputs include and are limited to one DVI and an HDMI. Power is drawn in from one 6-pin PCI-E power connector facing downwards à la Radeon HD 4870 X2. Gainward's card may charge a slight premium over the full-height cards, for the convenience it offers. More pictures at the source.

MSI, the global leading brand in All-in-One PC, announced the launch of two new space-saving, entertainment-oriented models in MSI's Wind Box PC series: the Wind Box DE520 and DC520. They are the latest small form factor entertainment mainframe complete with Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition and the Intel Pentium Dual-Core processor. The design is stylish, and works beautifully in almost any room. It is also light weight and promises exceptional operation at an attractive price point.

Wind Box DE520 and DC520 inherit the slim good looks of the earlier generation of Wind PC, with the addition of stylish front panel. They use Intel Pentium Dual core processor, which greatly improves the performance over the previous generation of Atom CPU. The Wind Box DE520 also features an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5430 graphics processor, ensuring outstanding performance for both high-definition video content viewing and 3D gaming.

ASRock introduced two of its latest entertainment nettops, the Core 100HT and Core 100HT/BD. Unlike older models from ASRock in this category which were based on the NVIDIA ION platform, these use the much faster Intel Calpella mobile platform, making these SFF PCs. Making use of Intel Core i3/i5 dual-core processors, the Core 100HT make use of the embedded Intel HD graphics, 4~8 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, 2.5" HDD with SSD options, and optical drive options which include Blu-ray Combo for the Core 100HT-BD, and DVD-writer for Core 100HT. Connectivity features are also updated, with the inclusion of USB 3.0, 7.1 channel HD audio with THX TruStudio Pro, 802.11 b/g/n WLAN, and gigabit Ethernet. The unit measures no more than 195 (W) x 70 (H) x 186 (L) mm. ASRock did not reveal pricing.

SilverStone rolled out its newest power supply for small form factor (SFF) cases, the ST45SF SFX Form Factor PSU. This PSU in its limited form measuring 125 mm (W) × 63.5 mm(H) × 100 mm(D), can give out 450W of continuous power. It has a single +12V rail design, with a single 36A rail. It boasts of 80 Plus Bronze certification, it has an efficiency of 82% to 85%. It offers most standard power connectors, including 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS (CPU power), one 6+2 pin PCI-Express, one 6-pin PCI-Express, three SATA power, two Molex and one Floppy power. It packs active PFC, over/under-voltage/current protection. The unit is cooled by an 80 mm fan, that has a minimum noise output rated at 18 dBA. The PSU supports SFX form-factor cases out of the box, but also includes an SFX to ATX bracket that lets you use it in ATX/M-ATX cases. It is priced around 60 EUR.