Zalman is well-known for designing affordable PC components. Their budget-oriented nature implies stable but medium efficiency. Things are different with the company’s latest PSU, entitled ZM1200-EBT: it is in stark contrast to the other solutions, due to high wattage and decent performance. The model yields 1200 W power, whereas its efficiency level achieves 92%. Due to this, the unit was conferred 80Plus Gold certificate.



Gaming- & overclocking-targeting Zalman ZM1200-EBT employs a single +12V design. Its output capability is able to reach 100 A. This PSU supports Intel ATX 12V 2.3 and EPS 12V 2.92 standards. The hardware base incorporates Japanese capacitors with 105C temperature grade as well as high-quality DC-DC converters.


To continue, the greenhorn features modular cabling system. Upon the whole, the case accommodates 15 sockets for the connection of targeted wires: 8x 8-pin sockets for CPU & GPU, 2x 18-pin and 10-pin items for the motherboard, 5x 6-pin items …

ASRock came into the market with a new small-sized overclocking-oriented mainboard. Entitled Z170M OC Formula, the model is designed in micro-ATX form-factor on the basis of Intel Z170 chipset. The latter is ready to cooperate with Intel Skylake CPUs for Socket LGA1151. The PCB offers a pair of DIMM slots for DDR4-4500 MHz RAM (up to 32 GB capacity).



ASRock Z170M OC Formula accommodates three PCIe 3.0 x16 expansion slots, enabling the creation of various graphics configurations (including Nvidia SLI & AMD CrossFireX). Storage subsystem is introduced by a pair of SATA Express ports (10 Gb/sec) as well as four SATA ports (6 Gb/sec) and one Ultra M.2 slot (32 Gb/sec).


This motherboard boasts a high-quality audio subsystem; it is based on Realtek ALC1150 controller, generating 7.1-channel sounding (Purity Sound 3). The 10-layer PCB comes with an integrated 14-phase power subsystem with dual-stack MOSFETs, premium choke coils, and solid-state capacitors Nichicon 12K Platinum. …

After several weeks of rumors and speculations, MSI has finally released its Z87 XPower motherboard. MSI Z87 XPower, a flagship XL-ATX model in a series of Intel Haswell-compatible boards, is differentiated by a high-quality hardware base, enhanced overclocking facilities, and total support of numerous advanced technologies. According to MSI, CPU overclocking options are considered to be among the strongest aspects ascribed to the new-comer. With this aspect in mind, the company equipped its flagship board with the most powerful 32-phase power supply system.



This motherboard is compatible with the 4th generation processors from Intel, which support Socket LGA1150 platform. Being an advanced product, XPower accommodates an increased amount of expansion slots: five PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots and a pair of PCI Express 2.0 x1 slots. Such assembly allows for operating with up to four graphics cards simultaneously in AMD CrossFireX or Nvidia SLI configurations. The board also saves …