Today we’ll have a glance at one of the ASUS Prime series motherboards. The model having A- index has all the necessary basic features, when nothing has yet been simplified, the power subsystem seems to be good enough and there are no additional controllers of any sort.


Technical characteristics

We can see that the PCI, and SATA-E interfaces are already renounced, and the M.2 is increasing its presence. All the other main characteristics are listed below:


• Chipset – Intel Z270 • Processor socket – Socket 1151 • Processors – Core i7, Core i5, Core i3, Pentium, Celeron (Skylake-S, Kaby Lake-S) • Memory – 4 DIMM DDR4 SDRAM 2133/2400*/2666*/2800*/3000*/3200*/3300*/3333*/ 3400*/3466*/3600*/3733*/3866* (OC), a maximum of 64 GB • PCI-E Slots – 2 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 (x16 + x0, x8 + x8) 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x16 (x4)4 x PCI Express 3.0 x1 • M.2 – 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x4 (Key M, 2242/2260/2280/22110) 1 x PCI Express 3.0 x4 (Key M, 2242/2260/2280) • …

SilverStone has found a way to reduce the noise level, produced by the multi-fan PC cases. Its new Kublai KL07 chassis is a true acknowledgement of the fact that cooling can be silent. The model’s side panels are made of steel, coated in special foam with wave-shape ornaments; this foam promotes for sound-dampening characteristics.



SilverStone Kublai KL07 supports the installation of micro-ATX/ATX motherboards with the maximum of 7 expansion slots. The chassis features 6 seats for the mounting of drives; three of them might be taken by 3.5-inch items. Unfortunately, there is no space for the integration of 5.25-inch drives.


Internal layout provides for the mounting of quite long video cards (up to 389 mm), standard ATX PS/2 power supply units (140-200 mm in length) and quite high CPU coolers (up to 163 mm); if there is need, it’s possible to include a 172 mm high cooler. Cooling system embraces three pre-installed 140-mm fans; still, there are three more seats for the …

Thermaltake Technology, a renowned Taiwanese designer of varied PC hardware pieces, is going to release its new original water-cooling system, codenamed Bigwater 760 Pro. This cooler is targeting powerful processors that require no less powerful cooling. The product demonstrates a wide compatibility with all novel processors that support Socket LGA775, LGA1366, LGA115x, LGA2011, FM1, FM2, AM2(+), and AM3(+).



Bigwater 760 Pro consists of three major parts: waterblock, head block and a couple of hoses. The implemented waterblock features nickeled-copper base of 45x35 mm dimensions. The head block features 252.8x145.8x84 mm dimensions and takes two 5.25-inch bays within the chassis. Its framework involves a pump, a heatsink and a tank for coolant.


The pump is based on a ceramic bearing and produces not more than 16 dB noise. Its performance level achieves 500 liters/hour, while Mean Time Between Failures index is estimated at eighty thousand hours. The integrated heatsink is …