One can stop making wild guesses as far as AMD has voiced the official time frame of the beginning of low-end Ryzen models bulk sale. 6-core CPUs will come out in the 2nd quarter this year, and 4-core Ryzen 3 will be available in the second part of 2017.



Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 will possess the similar architecture as their higher-order counterparts. According to some resources, the only nuance is that in Ryzen 3 the SMT technology will be disabled, however, this device will cost less than $149. Ryzen 5 chips will come in at $175–259 (not much for 6 cores with SMT support).


The top-rank sample among 6-core AMD processors is AMD Ryzen 5 1600X offering the 3.6/4.0 GHz frequency rate. It will cost $259, which is only $15–20 more, than Intel Core i5-7600K. Simultaneously, according to pretests results, Ryzen 5 1600X will be 69% more effective in a multi-threaded context.

Plextor, an award-winning Japanese SSD designer, launches its another M.2 solution, codenamed 6G. This drive features 42 mm length only, fulfilling space requirements of small-sized but high-performance cases. The new-comer is available in two capacity variations: 64 GB (PX-64M6G-2242) and 128 GB (PX-128M6G-2242). Their retail price makes up $50 and $90 respectively.



Both Plextor M.2 6G solid-state drives come with PCI Express 2.0 interface. They are based on Marvell 88SS9188 controller and 19 nm MLC NAND flash-memory with Toggle interface (by Toshiba). The models support TRIM and NCQ technologies as well as DEVSLP power-efficient mode that reduces power consumption to 0.2 mW.


As far as speed characteristics are concerned, M.2 6G accelerate up to 520 Mb/sec on sequential Read operations; sequential Write index depends on the model: 160 Mb/sec for 64 GB model and 210 Mb/sec for 128 GB one. At the same time, random Read/Write operational index (4K blocks) makes up …

The world-known manufacturer of computer hardware, MSI company, has recently introduced a new graphics card MSI R7970 Lightning with striking design and huge potential. This news couldn’t but rejoice those customers who set rather tough demands towards the performance of their computer hardware. MSI R7970 Lightning can be truly ascribed to the top models line since its deployment and performance records are beyond any doubts.


Delivery Set


It should be mentioned that R7970 Lightning delivery set is void of multiple components which could puzzle the customers. Instead, the initial package contains only standard components necessary for installation and utilization. One can find there a detailed user manual, a disk with drivers, adaptor with mini-DisplayPort to be used with full-format socket, DVI to HDMI adaptor, power adaptors, and bridge for adaptors connection into CrossFireX configuration.



Design and Deployment


Dimensions of this graphics card speak for …