Most motherboard vendors chose Computex as the ideal platform to showcase their upcoming products for the upcoming Intel LGA-1156 processors. The Intel booth was decked up wall-to-wall with Intel 5-series motherboards, some of which, made it to cameras for their unusual designs. Take for instance, the Shuttle SP55H7. This board uses a custom form-factor to fit into the company's bare-bones systems. The socket is slanted, and surrounded with an unusual mount-hole arrangement for the cooler, which again, could be of Shuttle's own design. This is, perhaps to make the most out of the available PCB area.

A more popular motherboard vendor, MSI showcased the first M-ATX motherboard for the platform we have seen so far, the H57-ED65. Based on the Intel H57 chipset. The socket is powered by an 8-phase DrMOS power circuit. MSI takes care of the basics for this platform, providing a PCI-E 2.0 x16, one PCI, and two PCI-E x1 slots. The dual-channel DDR3 memory slots neighbour one NVRAM slot. Apart from the six SATA II ports the H57 provides, a second controller drives the IDE connector, and perhaps, one or more eSATA ports. The rest of the 'wall' can be viewed here. By the looks of it, Intel made sure a full-fledged lineup of motherboards are available to the consumers when it kicks off the series of LGA-1156 processors, and there is every indication that the new platform won't have much trouble replacing the current LGA-775 series.

Yesterday, AMD unveiled its surprise for this year's Computex, with a demonstration of a DirectX 11 3D scene. Behind the scenes though, was what AMD claimed to be the "world's first true DirectX 11 graphics processor". The hardware itself however, wasn't publicly displayed, although a memento of AMD's partnership with TSMC, a wafer of 40 nm DirectX 11 GPUs, was made public. VR-Zone however, sneaked into the backdrops and pictured the machine that ran the demo (which ironically, was built into a case with a side-window).

The graphics card, a portion of which, is hidden behind the "wing" of the AMD Dragon logo graphic, is seen to be about 8.5 inches long, spans across two slots, and has a seemingly sporty cooler with the ATI-red shroud. It draws power from a single 6-pin PCI-E connector. The photographers note that this could be the RV840-based desktop accelerator, which forms the performance-mainstream product for the company's upcoming DirectX 11-compliant GPU lineup codenamed "Evergreen". The first product from this series is expected to be released in September, weeks ahead of the launch of Microsoft Windows 7.

We stopped by the In Win booth today and got a nice tour in their very detailed booth at Computex this year. First off, there are several enclosures being presented. They have the Maelstrom case, which is also the base for serveral concept cases. Then there are two mid tower cases, which are called Fanqua & Eco Chassis respectively. Both look very nice and have a sturdy finish to them.

SanDisk Corporation today announced that it has begun shipping its next-generation flash memory-based solid state drives (SSD) for netbooks, offering high-performance components at a competitive price. SanDisk pSSD P2 and S2 employ a new technology called nCache, which improves netbook performance. The drives will be demonstrated at the SanDisk booth at Computex, Taipei, June 2-6, 2009: Booth # N709 Nangang Hall, 4th floor.
Netbooks are small, low-cost computers that offer consumers a highly portable means of surfing the Internet, accessing email as well as enjoying their favorite music and videos on the go. Market researchers, IDC, project consumer purchases of netbooks to rise from 11.5 million sold in 2008 to 50 million in 2013.

Thermaltake showed off some of its upcoming CPU coolers at the ongoing Computex event. A star attraction was the Thermaltake Frio (pictured below, first to the left). The design is of the popular perpendicular aluminum fin array type. The cooler ships with one 120 mm fan, although it can hold one fan on either side. It measures 130mm x 92mm x 160 mm. The cooler packs retention modules to support almost every current CPU socket type: LGA-1366, LGA-1156, LGA-775, AM3/AM2+/AM2, s939, etc. Another cooler spotted was the SpinQ VT. This cooler is near-identical to the SpinQ in terms of its features, except for that the aluminum fins propagate perpendicular to the plane of the motherboard, while the fan blows air on to the motherboard.

Today during a keynote address at Computex 2009 in Taipei, Microsoft's OEM Division Corporate Vice President Steve Guggenheimer revealed that the company is confident with the progress made with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, and that as a result, Microsoft will deliver Release to Manufacturing (RTM) code to partners in the second half of July. Windows 7 will become generally available on Oct. 22, 2009, and Windows Server 2008 R2 will be broadly available at the same time.

"As we've said many times, quality is our primary goal," Guggenheimer said. "We announce each milestone once we're confident of where we are in the development cycle and that it is ready to be shared with customers and partners. We've received great feedback from our partners who are looking forward to offering Windows 7 to their customers in time for the holidays."

At a press conference in Taipei, Taiwan today, AMD publicly demonstrated the world's first Microsoft DirectX 11 graphics processor. The series of demonstrations shed new light on the significantly improved computing experience set to debut at the end of 2009. The fusion of AMD's new ground-breaking graphics processors with the forthcoming DirectX 11 programming interface is set to forever change both applications and PC gaming for the better. To illustrate, AMD showed numerous examples of faster application performance and new game features using the world's first true DirectX 11 graphics processor.

There are a few new CPU coolers on display at the Glacialtech booth here at Computex. The first is the F101, which comes with a 120 mm fan. It has a unique shape, as part of the cooler hovers over the chipset. Then you have the mainstream coolers, with prices starting at around 25 US Dollars. These should be great alternatives to the boxed CPU coolers. They are also presenting a new fans, with the aim to deliver silent performance - simply called "the silent blade" series with the companies own fan blade design.

Corsair, a worldwide leader in high-performance computer and flash memory products, today at Computex 2009 announced its entry into the PC chassis category with the launch of the Corsair Obsidian Series 800D.
Flexible, roomy and sturdy, the Obsidian Series 800D full tower chassis was designed exclusively by Corsair and incorporates features demanded by the enthusiast market.
"The Obsidian Series 800D is a true builder's case," said Jim Carlton, VP of Marketing at Corsair. "It will reliably last you through years of motherboard, power, memory, cooling and component upgrades, while its advanced features and superior cooling performance allows you to build your ultimate dream system."

OCZ Technology Group, a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory, computer components, and systems, today unveiled its next generation of pioneering products at Computex (Hyatt Suites 1003-1004). Showcasing the final production version of the highly-anticipated "Z-Series" Gold and Silver 80 Plus certified power supplies along with a breadth of new initiatives, OCZ continues to prove its cutting-edge solutions are always ahead of the curve for enthusiast communities worldwide.

Silverstone is getting ready to present the Raven 2 at the show, starting tomorrow. We were able to take a few pictures of the chassis already. It is much more compact than the original Raven, but features the same unique layout in which the mainboard is mounted with the rear slots facing upward.

NVIDIA Corporation and Supermicro today announced the immediate availability of a new class of server that combines massively parallel NVIDIA Tesla GPUs with multi-core CPUs in a single 1U rack-mount server. This unique configuration delivers 12 times the performance of a traditional quad-core CPU-based 1U server.
Supermicro is first to market and is demonstrating the NVIDIA Tesla-based SuperServer 6016T-GF-TM2 at Computex 2009 in Taiwan this week (booth # N806, Nangang Upper Exhibition Hall).

Taiwan motherboard manufacturers have surpassed an important technology milestone, shipping more than 1 billion Intel processor-based desktop PC motherboards.
"Intel congratulates the Taiwan tech industry on reaching this historic milestone," said Sean Maloney, Intel Corporation executive vice president and chief sales and marketing officer. "This milestone is another signal that the desktop PC is not dead and that computer users continue to crave the processing power, graphics and storage capabilities that desktop PCs provide."

TechPowerUp can be now followed on Twitter, the popular micro-blogging and social-networking portal. It is where TechPowerUp staff will post snappy 'tweets' (updates) on site content, including news, reviews, and other popular developments in the forums, and, it's where our team attending major events give live updates on what's happening. As we speak, our Editor-in-Chief W1zzard, along with Senior Editor Darksaber, are attending Computex 2009. The duo is attending a press-conference by NVIDIA on its upcoming technologies. Followers get to read informal scoops live from Computex, and also reply to them.

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Lancool launches the DragonLord "K" series of mid tower chassis at Computex. These SECC steel cases are the perfect complement to a PC gamer's needs. The completely tool-less design which filtered down from Lian Li's high end aluminum cases makes this chassis both feature rich as well as friendly on price.

The cases come in four different models, ranging from the budget PC-K56, PC-K58, PC-K60 with the high-end PC-K62 dominating. They are all constructed with ease of use, and ease of installation in mind. The patented too-less HDD cage combines with patented anti-vibration rubber grommets to suspend the HDD's in a noise free environment. The ODD bays are mounted using a tool-less device to secure the drives fast, while dampening the noise from the mechanical moving parts. The power supply unit is clipped via a clasp with rubber anti-vibration support and also requires no tools. The all-new tool-less aluminum clasps for holding the PCI cards and tool-less cable clamps combined with innovative design features such as the unique vent holes below the PSU and special anti vibration fan mountings. The removable top cover and front panel, as well as special covered holes for water pipe installations make this series stand alone in terms of the price performance ratio. The case supports 8 PCI slots as well as VGA cards up to 285mm long, so for those who need to install 3-way SLI or CrossFireX, they will have the necessary space to do so.

With advances in DRAM technology, memory vendors are able to up module densities, while also providing high DRAM speeds and latencies as low as possible. For enthusiasts and overclockers, even a slightly cooler memory module could make the difference between high speed and record setting speed. Memory manufacturers went beyond heatspreaders, and started off with heatsinks mounted on top of each module. The trend was started by manufacturers such as Corsair and Patriot. The former was even the first to start the trend of active air-cooling for modules with heatsinks.

Following the likes of Corsair, G.Skill, OCZ, and A-Data, Kingston seems to be ready with its own active memory cooler that is designed to cool the recent designs of the company's modules that feature integrated heatsinks. The HyperX fan cooler consists of a blue shroud with the "X" motif cut on its sides. The top holds two blue LED-lit 60 mm fans, with a maximum acoustic output of 28 dBA. The cooler latches on to the motherboard's memory module retention knobs. Kingston is expected to launch this at the upcoming Computex event. It will be available either separately, or part of its high end T1 series HyperX kits. A teaser video can be watched here.

Thermaltake, leading PC chassis, cooler, and PSU brand manufacturer, is celebrating their 10th anniversary in the PC DIY industry and will therefore present a very special highlight at this year's Computex 2009 show in Taipei, Taiwan, June 2 ~ 6.

Herewith we would like to cordially invite you to this exclusive ceremony with the Director of the European Studio of BMW Group DesignworksUSA, Laurenz Schaffer the AMD Vice President of Platform Business Development Levi Murray and the CEO of Thermaltake Kenny Lin. Don't miss your chance to meet three of the most innovative technology leaders in their fields and directly ask them and tell what you think matters.

PhotoFast unveiled yet another 1.8-inch SSD, this time, compliant with more recent standards. The new G-Monster V3 uses a micro-SATA interface, that is available on some netbooks. Apart from its main NAND-flash storage, that comes in capacities of 32, 64, and 128 GB, it also features 64 MB of DDR2 memory to serve as a high speed buffer. The buffer ensures latency reduction on the host controller's side, especially since the drive offers high data transfer rates of 230/180 MBps (read/write). This may yet another product lined up for launch at Computex.

ECS is dressing up two new motherboards for a gala launch at Computex 2009. The A785GM-M and P55H-A were recently announced by the company to be heading for display and launch at the event, in its Computex booth invitation press-release. AlienBabelTech published exclusive pictures of the two.

To begin with, the A785GM-M is a micro-ATX motherboard based on the new AMD 785G chipset. The chipset features a Radeon HD 4200-class IGP. It is possibly based on the new RS880 core. The board supports AMD AM3 socket CPUs, and provides four DDR3 DIMM slots. Its display connectivity options include D-Sub, DVI, and HDMI. The rest of its connectivity includes FireWire, eSATA and one gigabit Ethernet interface.

The P55H-A on the other hand, is one of the company's first offerings that support the upcoming LGA-1156 socket processors. This is another of the motherboards we have seen so far, that lack display connectors, and hence, lack Intel Flexible Display Interface support, that connects integrated graphics processors on some CPUs to their output. It provides two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots (electrically dual x8 when both populated). Four DDR3 DIMM slots support dual-channel DDR3 memory, 8 channel audio, gigabit Ethernet, and 6 SATA II ports make for the rest of it.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced that the VIA Nano processor and VIA VX855 digital media IGP chipset received the 'Best of Computex' award from the Taiwan Computer Association (TCA) and the Taiwan Trade Council (TAITRA) during a ceremony today.

Nominated in the LSI/VLSI Category for Mobile Platforms, the VIA entry was honored for its power efficiency, miniaturization and optimized performance, enabling system builders to design ever smaller, lighter, and more portable systems. And with increasing consumer focus on multimedia capabilities, also praised was the platform's ability to offer true 1080p HD video playback through support for full hardware acceleration of the widest variety of leading video standards including H.264, MPEG-2/4, VC-1 and WMV9.

Cooler Master has a full line-up of impressive live demos and products on display at COMPUTEX 2009 Nangang exhibition hall on 1F, I1224, I1323. There is also the private meeting area for customers and the press on 4F, 402a.

The recently released mid-tower beast HAF 922 finally lets loose to show off its unbeatable look and High Air Flow structure. Also from the HAF family is the full tower HAF 932, with live demo to show-off a spacious and thermal superiority by housing a quad graphic card system.

A-DATA Technology Co., Ltd., a worldwide leading manufacturer in high-performance DRAM modules and Flash application products, presenting its entire XPG - Xtreme Performance Gear product line and latest XPG Series DRAM modules with superior conductive technology in Nangang Exhibition Hall during Computex Taipei 2009.

As the success of presenting the leading XPG Xtreme series DDR3-2133X v2.0 DRAM module in the industry at CeBIT 2009, A-DATA presenting its XPG Plus Series v2.0 and Gaming Series v2.0 DRAM module with superior thermal conductive technology and characteristics heat sink design at Computex 2009.

Manufacturers branching out in to different segments seems to be the in thing to do at the moment and XFX is no exception as leaked slides on the forums of Legit Reviews, reveal that XFX are getting ready to announce their first power supply line at Computex Taipei 2009 next month. The first of which has been dubbed the 850 W Black Edition (XPS-850W-BES), which follows suit of many of their Black Edition graphics cards. It is a modular PSU featuring 88% effeciency and sports a 70A single 12v rail capped at 840 W. It would seem XFX are taking this seriously as the combined output across all of the wattage caps is in excess of 1,000 W. According to the slides the PSU features 105°C Japanese brand capacitors, +/-3% voltage regulation, solid polymer caps, and a 135mm ball bearing fan. Using a combination of fixed and removable cables the XFX 850 W Black Edition has 4 PCI-E 6+2 Pin connectors, 11 SATA connectors and 8 Molex connectors.

VIA Technologies, Inc, a leading innovator of power efficient x86 processor platforms, today announced that it will be showing examples of its customized security solution service at Computex 2009, helping customers to employ a comprehensive and effective security infrastructure in all segments.

VIA Nano, VIA C7 and VIA Eden processor platforms are the only processors that currently offer a built-in Advanced Cryptographic Engine. In order to better help customers access this unique feature, VIA is now offering a comprehensive security solution service that can accurately meet the security needs of individual customers across a range of embedded segments.

With the notebook and sub-notebook segments, AMD faces an even taller cliff to climb as far as earning market-share goes. Having tasted much-needed success with the Dragon platform, AMD plans to deliver the same technologies to the mobile segment, with the Tigris platform. The platform consists of a 45 nm AMD dual-core "Caspian" processor, coupled with AMD RS880M chipset, and optionally, an ATI Mobility Radeon 55 nm or 40 nm M9X mGPU setup. The company plans to showcase this at the upcoming Computex 2009 event held in Taiwan. The platform is targeted at the 14-inch (and above) mainstream notebook segment, while the company continues to push Yukon and Congo platforms for 13-inch (and below) sub-notebooks. The source also revealed that AMD could detail its next-generation mobile platform for 2010, that uses 45 nm quad-core processors, RS800M series chipset, with support for DDR3 memory and USB 3.0.