The company Zalman continues to utilize the design of the whole successful chassis Z9, releasing a new model Z9 Plus D4-U3. Perhaps, the only difference from the recent Z9 U3 is the lower part of the front panel, made in the form of letter D.



The list of applied characteristics has remained the same. The body is made of steel and plastic in the form factor Mid-Tower. Its dimensions are 504 (L) x 207 (W) x 464 (H) mm, weight — a little over 7 lbs. Inside can be placed the motherboard ATX or microATX, seven cards PCI-E expansion up to 290 mm, ATX-compatible power supply, three optical drives, and seven hard drives, including two SSD 2.5 format.


The set includes two 120-mm fan — in front with the LED-backlit display and on the back without it. On the input-output is a small information display, two USB 3.0 ports and USB 2.0, Mini-Jack connectors for headphones and microphone.


Zalman Z9 Plus D4-U3 will debut in Japan and perhaps in some other markets, August 19 at a …

Despite the fact that Intel Z97 chipset appeared in the market long ago, mainboards on this platform have not lost their vitality till nowadays. The MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC is an acknowledgement of this. Being a representative of top-tier segment, this product is supposed to be an ideal match for gamers and enthusiast overclockers who look for stability and unbelievable facilities. Let’s see what kind of benefits this model can offer to the army of sophisticated users.



Stepwise Overview


The full-format ATX MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC motherboard is based on Intel Z97 chipset that supports Intel Core Haswell/Haswell Refresh CPUs with LGA1150 socket. Wisely-elaborated printed circuit board (PCB) accommodates four DIMM slots for DDR3 modules of 32 GB overall capacity (with XMP profiles). The integration of expansion and graphics cards becomes possible due to three PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots & the same amount of PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots. If equipped with two videocards, the board …

Thrifty enthusiasts willing to build up an efficient gaming system are given a chance to enjoy the privileges of a new motherboard from Asus: the B85-Pro Gamer. The model employs an affordable set of components, although it is highly competitive with more powerful solutions. This ATX board is based on Intel B85 Express chipset for Socket LGA1150 platform and supports Core i3/i5/i7, Celeron and Pentium (Haswell gen.) CPUs.



Asus B85-Pro Gamer comes with 4x DIMM slots that are ready to welcome up to 32 GB of DDR3-1600 MHz memory modules (two-channel). Storage section is represented by six SATA ports, four of which support 6 Gb/sec standard. Expansion of functional facilities might be realized due to three PCI slots, two PCI-e 2.0 x1, and two PCI-e x16 slots. The delivery of power supply is organized by means of 1x 24-contact socket and 1x 8-contact socket.


The hardware base also embraces network gigabit Intel I217V controller with an integrated GameFirst II technology; the …