Asus has replenished its graphics card series based on Kepler architecture with a brand variation of one-chip GeForce GTX 680 adapter. Brand Asus GeForce GTX 680 card has been developed on an original in design circuit board and is notable by the doubled to 4GB GDDR5 memory capacity. Nevertheless, the most outstanding characteristic of a new product is the implementation of a two-slot cooling system, codenamed DirectCU II. Earlier Asus equipped its GeForce GTX 680 adapters with three-slot coolers.



The company decided to concentrate mainly on the introduction of an uncommon cooling system, leaving all frequency showings identical to the recommended by Nvidia index. Thus, graphics core operates at 1006 MHz frequency, while memory module works at 6008 MHz. Memory chips are soldered on both sides of the circuit board. The reverse side of PCB is covered by an aluminum plate that is in direct contact with GDDR5 chips.


Some IT professionals dare assuming that the rejection of …

Ever-increasing popularity of mini-ITX mainboards is accounted for the augmentation of small-sized PC systems, work- and multimedia stations, as well as gaming platforms. The latter lay down specific demands towards hardware base, requiring the combination of high performance, durability and price-efficiency. MSI is ready to satisfy those demands, by offering ‘mini, but mighty’ Z97I Gaming AC system board. Being a part of Intel Z97 chipset family, this tiny tot owns all ‘Gaming’ series facilities, despite compact dimensions. Let’s check them out.



Specs Overview


MSI Z97I Gaming AC is based on Intel Z97 chipset targeting Haswell-based CPUs for Socket LGA1150 platform (Celeron, Pentium, Core i3/i5/i7 series). The implemented PCB accommodates a pair of DIMM slots for DDR3 SDRAM modules (16 GB volume) with the clock frequencies from 1333 MHz to 3300 MHz. Expansion facilities are introduced by a single PCI-e 3.0 x16 slot with no backup from PCI slots. The board comes …

Introduction

Gigabyte has been producing cooling systems for PC for many years, and unfortunately not all of them were successful, sometimes leaving an ambiguous impression, but they still attracted attention to themselves.



The item of this review is its latest creation in this segment — the monstrous model ATC700, included in the Aorus lineup and presented at Computex 2017. According to the developers, the novelty is capable of removing more than 200W of heat from the processor.


Packaging

The cooler is supplied in the appropriate to its size large box (200x120x250 mm), made of high-quality cardboard with a full-color print.

The packaging depicts the cooling system and its parts in various angles, as well as all main specifications. There is also a brief description of the novelty in several languages. The cooling system itself is secured in a compound polyethylene package, which provides reliable protection of the product during transportation.

In addition, …