A few months after the last release of water-cooling systems, Zalman introduces a new series of products with a title attribute LQ3xx. The series consists of three models, LQ320, LQ315 and LQ310, which differentiate themselves primarily by dimensions. The senior cooler (LQ320) features 32 mm water block and 52 mm heatsink, the medium LQ315 cooler features 38 mm heatsink and analogous in dimensions water block; the junior cooler (LQ310) is the tiniest one and features 28 mm heatsink and water block. Zalman LQ315 greatly resembles its predecessor, CNPS20LQ, in design, however, is ready to offer some improved options, if compared with the previous cooler generations.



Design and Framework


Like any other water-cooling system, Zalman LQ315 consists of a water block combined with a pump and joined with a heatsink by means of flexible tubes. The water block is notable by the availability of 'Z' logo on its surface that is lighted blue during operation. Its round base, made of …

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Plextor, a well-known manufacturer of multifarious consumer electronics, is preparing for the release of its updated high-performance M5 Pro SSD series. Similar to the older version, new drives are targeted basically at business and gaming spheres. The manufacturer does not voice the precise information concerning the release date or pricing guidelines. Nevertheless, the preview of new M5 Pro specifications has already aroused interest of many analysts and average consumers.



According to the preliminary data, M5 Pro SSDs are developed in 2.5-inch form-factor and employ Marvell 88SS9187 Monet controller as the basis of their operation. The updated drives use high-speed SATA III interface to provide for the maximal speed and reliability of all operations. Testing results show that these products are estimated for about 2.4 million hours of trouble-free operation. In addition, Plextor will ensure that all drives are delivered with a 5-year limited warranty.


Plextor M5 Pro …

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The rising competition between the two giants in the manufacture of processing units, Intel and AMD, makes each of the two invent ever newer technologies and implement them in their products. The attempts to dominate in the market and win as many consumers usually develop into brand new approaches and brand new advanced facilities.



In this light, Intel is going to upgrade its Ivy Bridge processors to make them more power-efficient. But power-efficiency does not imply that processing units will show less performance; quite the contrary, the manufacturer is willing to combine an utmost performance with the maximal power efficiency level.


Currently, the most power-saving processors of Ivy Bridge generation can be found in mobile devices on Windows platform and in Apple MacBook Air devices. Their TDP level is recorded at 17W. As appears from the above mentioned, the TDP level in upgraded Ivy Bridge processors will be lower than 17W, though the developers do not voice the margin …

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27-inch monitors were supposed to be quite an expensive solution several months ago, but today they are becoming more affordable due to the switch to LED technology. To say more, the army of displays with WQHD resolution (2560x1440) has grown from a few rare models to a line of products designed by a series of vendors. Asus joined this army with the introduction of monitor PB278Q. Its launch aroused great interest from the part of Asus devotees, as well as of all 'WQHD-targeted' customers.



Background Information


Monitor PB278Q is the first 27-inch model with WQHD resolution designed by Asus. It employs PLS+W-LED panel type manufactured by Samsung (LTM270DL02) and is a true 8-bit solution for home-based and corporate spheres. The array response time, measured at GtG methodology, is recorded at 5 ms mark. Viewing angles in both flats (vertical and horizontal) equal to 178 degrees; this is a typical figure for such type of displays. The maximal display brightness achieves 300 …

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Akasa, a global manufacturer of chassis, PSUs, and PC peripheral components, introduces its new low-profile cooling system, codenamed Nero LX. The new product is intended specifically to provide the maximal cooling effect to CPU and its surrounding elements. Nero LX might be employed in HTPC and slimmer PC systems. Detailed specifications about this cooler have just appeared at the manufacturer's official website, however pricing info has not been revealed yet.



Akasa Nero LX features 120x120x59 mm dimensions and weighs 298 g. The overall cooler's framework consists of a 120 mm fan, a large base, and four copper heat pipes that pierce an aluminum heatsink. The cooler employs an advanced scheme of direct contact of heatpipes with CPU surface which promotes for the utmost cooling environment.


This model is compatible with a majority of processor sockets developed by AMD and Intel. Hence, it supports Socket FM1, AM2, AM2+, AM3 from AMD, and LGA 1366, 1156, 1155, and 775 from …

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Power supply unit AX1200i designed by Corsair is a high-end product applied primarily in powerful desktop platforms. Its superior characteristics are currently widely spoken about, due to the promotion of the so-called 'digital' technology in PSU layout. 'Digital' PSUs employ digital signal processors instead of traditional analog controllers to provide for the utmost performance, efficiency, and facilities. Under Corsair's words, the implementation of digital options in the development of PC units, and particularly AX1200i model, is a justified measure viewed as from technological, so from economical prospect.



Basic Peculiarities


Corsair AX1200i is delivered in a large dual-base box, consisting of a paper cover and a corrugated cardboard. The box contains all basic information about the unit: +12VDC bus efficiency is estimated at 1204.8W/100A; the correlation between +12VDC bus and the overall power efficiency equals to 1.0 index that is supposed to be an excellent …

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Model SG09 is the ninth chassis of Sugo series designed by SilverStone. Upon the whole, the series consists basically of compact parallelepiped casings that presuppose the integration of small-sized mini-ITX motherboards only. Still, Sugo SG09 features more voluminous dimensions (354x220x295 mm) and cubic-like casing that widens its compatibility area a bit. All previous Sugo models were perceived primarily as compact solutions with a quite aesthetic design. But Sugo SG09 positions itself as a reliable platform for a powerful PC system.



Layout


Chassis SilverStone Sugo SG09 has got rather unusual layout due to the need to accommodate a full-sized PSU, a lengthy graphics adapter, a voluminous CPU cooler, and some kind of data storage system in a casing of 23 liters in capacity. As a result, the developers created a one-volume casing with vertical PSU in the frontal part, vertical motherboard tray, and vertical bays for hard drives located on the reverse side of the tray. The …

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The Internet community is energetically discussing unofficial info concerning the future Intel's Broadwell processors. According to the yet unacknowledged data, Intel will branch off from currently traditional LGA casings in favor to a more advanced BGA solution. At present all CPUs designed by Intel specifically for desktop platforms feature LGA (Land Grid Array) casings which allow the users to upgrade their systems without any hassle. On LGA implementation, the chip is housed within a socket and contacts with the motherboard. As a result, the user might change one chip to the other only with similar set of contacts.



The launch of Intel Broadwell processors, which is planned for 2014, might dramatically change the situation for customers. Most probably Intel will refuse from LGA casings and accommodate all new CPUs in BGA ones, marking the change of Haswell generation to the future Broadwell generation developed under 14 nm technological process. BGA (Ball Grid Array) …

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Hightech Information System presents its own version of AMD's Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition graphics card to the US hardware market. Codenamed Radeon HD 7970 IceQ X2 GHz Edition, this card is characterized by the integration of the most up-dated technologies and high-end components. The model is based on Tahiti XT chip developed under Graphics Core Next architecture template (28 nm technological process).



HIS Radeon HD 7970 IceQ X2 GHz Edition takes blue printed circuit board designed for PCI Express 3.0 x16 bus as the basis. It is distinguished by the implementation of the reinforced power subsystem and by the compatibility with DirectX 11.1 technology. The employed GPU houses 2048 current processors. It operates at 1000 MHz frequency in nominal mode but can be accelerated to 1050 MHz during overclocking activity.


This graphics card accommodates 3GB of GDDR5 video memory which features 384-bit interface. Its frequency formula demonstrates up to 6000 MHz on standard …

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The second generation of AMD A-Series hybrid processors, announced earlier in October, are already integrated in a number of graphics solutions. The newly appeared products are compatible with Socket FM2 only and cannot be applied for Socket FM1 infrastructure. This implies that a number of motherboards lose their upgrade facilities and can't be updated with a new advanced solution. Still, the market is currently ready to present a few boards destined to operate with the updated AMD A-Series. Gigabyte is one of the pioneers in this respect, introducing its motherboard GA-F2A85X-UP4, developed specifically for Socket FM2.



Integration


Gigabyte GA-F2A85X-UP4 is designed in ATX form-factor with 305x244 mm PCB dimensions. AMD A85X chipset is a heart of the motherboard; it secures the compatibility with A-Series (second gen.) APU and Athlon CPUs in the implementation of Socket FM2. The overall TDP level claimed for the model is not more than 100W. The PCB allots four DIMM slots …

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