Asus boasts the inventory of up to twenty motherboards developed on Intel Z77 chipset. Full-, medium- and small-sized boards gladden the customers by an outstanding functional and optimal layout. Still, the company decided not to stop at what has been already accomplished and introduced a high-end motherboard codenamed Asus P8Z77-V Premium. The major peculiarities of this board are the integrated Thunderbolt bridge, reliable digital CPU power supply subsystem, and a lot more alluring facilities. The product is targeted at the high-end customer sector and Asus hopes to get considerable revenues from its sales.



General Peculiarities


First of all, it should be stated that P8Z77-V Premium design and color gamut continue all traditional standards of Asus motherboards. This model is developed in ATX form-factor and employs dull black textolite in combination with blue, white and black painted sockets. CPU socket is located in a common place; it supports all up-dated Intel CPUs …

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Samsung has recently announced the release of two new SSD series, intended basically for the employment in corporate segment (for servers and large data storages). The first series, codenamed SM843, will be represented by models of 120GB, 240GB and 480GB capacity; the second series, codenamed SM1625, will contain models of 100GB, 200GB, 400GB, and 800GB capacity.



All the models within the series are based on MLC NAND flash-memory, developed under 20 nm technological process. This allowed the company to increase the writing speed index and SSDs durability three times as much, if compared with rival drives and items of the previous generation.


SM843 solid-state drives are designed in 2.5-inch form-factor. They are notable by 28% lower power consumption in active mode and 80% lower retention time. The models employ SATA 3.0 interface and demonstrate the following speed showings: consecutive Read speed achieves the point of 520 Mb/sec, consecutive Write speed equals to 420 …

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Xigmatek is on the verge of launching its new series of chassis, codenamed Alfar. The series consists of three models which differentiate from each other by the color of insertions on the frontal grid (black, white and orange). The casing itself is made of steel and painted totally black. All three enclosures are designed in mid-tower form factor and are ready to accept motherboards of mini-ITX, micro-ATX and ATX dimensions.



Xigmatek Alfar houses seven PCI expansion slots, can accept CPU coolers of up to 160 mm in height, graphics cards of up to 320 mm in length, and a standard power supply unit. The chassis are furnished with three external 5.25-inch drive bays, four internal 2.5-inch bays, and analogous number of bays for 3.5-inch drives. Interface panel is located on the top board and accommodates a couple of USB 3.0 ports and standard 3.5 mm audio sockets.


The nominal delivery set of Xigmatek Alfar contains two 120 mm fans, located on the frontal and rear boards; …

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With the penetration of Internet into every sector of business and industry, it's barely possible to avoid hours-long work at computer. Such 'diligence' not infrequently leads to minor or major health issues, primarily connected with the eyesight and backbone. This is why, Philips decided to save its potential customers from any health problems by releasing a new monitor Brilliance 231P4QRYES. This monitor is equipped with ErgoSensor technology, like its predecessor, that helps the users in keeping to basic rules on work at PC.



ErgoSensor technology fulfills a few vital functions. Firstly, the integration of a built-in camera allows the system to estimate the distance between the eyes and the display; further on, it offers the user the most optimal distance index to provide for appropriate browsing. Secondly, when there is no one at computer, the monitor reduces the display brightness; moreover, after a certain period of time the system will turn the monitor off, saving up to …

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Sapphire Technology, a renowned supplier of graphics solutions, has added an alternative model of AMD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition to its graphics cards model line. The new model is primarily notable by the integration of a two-slot Dual-X cooler that facilitated the process of entitling: Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Dual-X Edition. This cooler consists of a voluminous aluminum heatsink, a couple of large fans, and a few copper heat pipes which are covered by a plastic lid.



Graphics card Sapphire Radeon HD 7870 GHz Dual-X Edition is based on Pitcairn chip with 1280 current processors; it is developed under 28 nm technological process and Graphics Core Next architecture. The core is able to operate at the nominal 1000 MHz frequency. Blue printed circuit board is the heart of the adapter. PCB is designed particularly for PCI-e 3.0 x16 bus and houses 2GB of GDDR5 memory with 256-bit interface. The memory is capable to achieve the clock frequency of 4800 MHz.


To continue, the …

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Recent launch of Windows 8 has triggered the appearance of devices based on this platform. All-in-one PCs, smartphones, pads, and monitors supporting the newly arrived platform are growing by leaps and bounds. LG marches in step with the advanced development and announces the release of a new PC monitor, Touch 10 (ET83 model). According to the company's intentions, Touch 10 is going to become a pioneer in its class thanks to unmatched physical and functional characteristics.



Touch 10 will be based on IPS touchscreen, featuring 32 inch dimensions. The implementation of IPS panel type is called to ensure a wide range of visual benefits, starting from good viewing angles, and finishing with a perfect color rendering. It should be stated that this monitor will be fully controlled by Windows 8 OS, and thus will support its all basic options. One of the chief peculiarities unveiled by the manufacturer is the possibility to identify up to ten simultaneous touches. This allows the user …

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Two new PC chassis, codenamed Matr-X A and Matr-X M, have replenished the line of products supplied by PNL-tech GmbH. The company delivered its chassis under Rasurbo brand and directed the models to the average price segment. Both models are developed in midi-tower form factor and are housed in steel casings painted black; they feature identical 485x197x493 mm dimensions but differ from each other by the side panel framework. Matr-X A contains a large transparent window on the side panel, while Matr-X M has got a blind panel.



Chassis Matr-X A and Matr-X M are fully compatible with micro-ATX and ATX motherboards. Their dimensions and facilities allow for the installation of seven expansion slots, six internal 3.5-/2.5-inch drives, and four external 5.25-inch drives. Functional section consists of a special dock-station for the connection of an additional drive; this dock-station is located on the top panel. Next to it, one can find a set of USB interfaces, counting a couple of …

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ECS is going to release a new high-performance motherboard of Black Series line that supports AMD CPUs. Codenamed A970M-A Deluxe, it is compatible with AM3/AM3+ APU and is characterized by the integration of the latest technological facilities which provide for efficiency, reliability, and ease of use. The model is developed on the basis of AMD 970 chipset; this is supposed to ensure the maximal performance generated by the newest processors, and at the same time, the compatibility with the previous developments. Moreover, A970M-A Deluxe completely supports Windows 8 platform and a range of refined technologies, including EZ BIOS, UEFI BIOS, ECS MIB X, 8-channel audio HD and Anti-Dust Shield Technology.



Motherboard ECS A970M-A Deluxe is developed in ATX form-factor. It accommodates 32GB of two-channel DDR3 memory housed on four DIMM slots. The nominal memory frequency equals to 1866 MHz, but this index might achieve the margin of 2133 MHz on overclocking. The board is equipped …

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Asetek, a well-known manufacturer and supplier of water/liquid cooling solutions, announces the final stage in the development of the 4th generation of its patented liquid-cooling system. Currently, the products developed by Asetek are widely used by OEM-companies in their own systems. However, in accordance with the voiced information, the LCS of the fourth generation will be delivered as OEM-product line, so as a brand Asetek product. The prospective release date is scheduled for the end of 2012.



The 4th generation of patented liquid cooling systems features an elaborated waterblock base and totally refined pump. Such improvement might provide for a dramatic increase in performance. The implemented pump creates a higher pressure and more efficiently distributes the liquid current at the entrance to the micro-channel base structure.


At the same time, thermal resistance has been reduced at 20% which resulted in 1.2 times better waterblock heat irradiation properties. …

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PC hardware of average price category is traditionally in demand with a wide range of customers. Graphics cards are not exception, especially if the manufacturers offer truly outstanding facilities for comparatively medium price. The launch of GeForce GTX 650 Ti adapter raised an army of graphics solutions based on it; still, each company tries to deviate in some terms from the reference model. Thus, MSI introduced N650 Ti Power Edition 1GD5/OC model which takes GTX 650 Ti adapter as the basis, but employs fundamentally original printed circuit board and cooling system.



Integration


Graphics card MSI N650 Ti PE 1GD5/OC features all attributes ascribed to Power Edition series. Printed circuit board has been elongated to 230 mm, as compared to the 154 mm in reference GeForce GTX 650 models. Along with the PCB elongation, MSI implemented a reinforced 5-phase VRM scheme (4+1) that is intended at operational intensification on heightened frequencies. The connection of additional …

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