Zalman Displays CNPS9900 MAX CPU Cooler

One of Zalman's latest creations is a refresh on its CNPS9900 CPU cooler, the CNPS9900 MAX. While identical to the CNPS9900 base model (copper) in many ways, the MAX sports a black+graphite look, making use of nickel-plated copper. The design involved two loops of copper fins to which heat is conducted by heat pipes, while air is circulated by a 120 mm FDB bearing fan that spins between 800~1200 rpm, with a noise output of 18~43 dBA. The cooler measures 94 (L) x 131 (W) x 152 (H) mm, weighing 730 g. It supports all current CPU sockets out of the box, including LGA-1366, LGA-1156, AM3, and LGA-775. A tube of ZM-STG2 thermal compound is bundled with it. There's no word on the pricing yet.

G.Skill Displays Phoenix Pro Series SSDs

G.Skill displayed its Phoenix Pro series solid state drives (SSDs), while up the transfer rates slightly from its TRIM-supportive predecessor, the Phoenix. Making use of the SandForce SF-1200 processor, the Phoenix Pro features a custom firmware that makes the drive even speedier than most of the SandForce-driven SSDs in the market. Available in 60 GB, 120 GB, and 240 GB variants, the drives feature transfer rates of 285 MB/s (read) and 275 MB/s (write), and 4K writing performance of over 50,000 IOPS. It has the SATA 3 Gb/s interface, and supports the TRIM feature.

ASUS Expands TUF Series with Sabertooth X58 Motherboard

ASUS is also planning to expand its TUF series motherboard lineup with the Sabertooth X58. This socket LGA-1366 uses the design model of the TUF series, which includes 2 oz copper layered PCB, a choice of high-grade components, and CeraMX ceramic surface heatsinks that have greater heat dissipation area. These give the board higher thermal limits, making it suitable for operation in really hot places (or simply turning that into overclocking headroom in cooler places).

The CPU is powered by an 8+2 phase VRM, wired to six DIMM slots for triple channel memory. Expansion slots include three PCI-Express x16, two PCI-E x1, and one PCI. Apart from the six SATA 3 Gb/s ports, there are two 6 Gb/s ones. Other connectivity features include USB 3.0, gigabit Ethernet, 8-channel audio and FireWire. Expect this model to be priced in the league of premium ones.

Affiliate reviews today [02-06-2010]

Accessories
HIS Rechargeable Solar LED Flashlight @ High Tech Reviews | Elgato Video Capture Device @ TestFreaks | CiragoTV Platinum CMC2000 1.5TB Network Multimedia Player @ iGadget Life | Joby Gorillapod Magnetic @ iGadget Life | Wicked Audio Earbuds - Wicked Empire - Knight Review @ DragonSteelMods

PSUs
Amacrox Free Style AX550-85EP 550W PSU Review @ Technic3D

Periphery
HP Officejet Pro 8000 Printer Review @ Hardware Secrets | KeySonic KSK-8020 HM @ Technic3D | Canon VIXIA HF S21 HD Camcorder @ TestFreaks | FaceVsion TouchCam-N1 HD 720p WebCam @ Benchmark Reviews

Cooling
Watercooling system reservoirs @ Overclockingstation | Test coolera Prolimatech Armageddon @ PCFoster.pl | Case-radiator compatibility list available @ Aquatuning | Zaward 140mm ZG2-140A Golf Fan GII Review @ DragonSteelMods

Motherboards
Biostar TA890GXB-HD mATX AMD Motherboard @ Benchmark Reviews | Asrock X58 Extreme 3 Motherboard @ Rbmods | Asus Crosshair 4 Extreme,Rampage Gene III Preview at Asus NL HQ @ Madshrimps

Storage
OWC Mercury Extreme Pro-RE SSD @ Benchmark Reviews | Hitachi 500Gb Portable Drive External USB 2.0 HDD Review @ Madshrimps | Super Talent 32GB USB 3.0 Express Drive @ BCCHardware | ioSafe Solo Disaster Proof External Hard Drive Review @ Hardware Secrets

Video Cards
HIS iCooler V Radeon HD 5850 Turbo @ Hi-Techreviews.com | XFX RADEON HD 5830 1GB GDDR5 Video Card Review @ Madshrimps

Memory
Kingston HyperX 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Memory Kit Review @ Bigbruin.com

Games
Alpha Protocol (PC) - Agent-RPG Review @ TweakPC

Cases
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition @ Rbmods | Cooler Master 430 Elite @ LanOC Reviews | Corsair Obsidian 700D High End Case Review @ TweakPC | The Nexus Edge reviewed - a BIG-tower from the book? @ Xper-OC-Team | Thermaltake Element V @ Technic3D | Thermaltake V3 Black Edition PC Case Review @ DragonSteelMods

Competitions
MSI Master Overclocking Arena 2010 Benelux Final @ Madshrimps

Antec Launches New Dark Fleet Series

Antec, Inc., the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets, today announced the Dark Fleet series, its newest line of enclosures designed to meet the cooling and convenience demands of PC gamers and professional users.

The Dark Fleet series is available in four models: one full-tower chassis, the DF-85, and three mid-tower enclosures, the DF-35, DF-30 and DF-10, and all are designed to support the most current high-end graphics cards, extensive drive arrays and multi-CPU motherboards. The Dark Fleet series also introduces two new Antec-exclusive innovations giving convenient access to high-speed data interchange: Fleet Release(tm) and Fleet-Swap(tm).

ModReactor review: GMC Bulldozer R4 Computer Case Review

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ModReactor review: GMC Bulldozer R4 Computer Case Review

ASRock Intros 870 Extreme3 Motherboard with CrossFire Support

ASRock is ready with its premium motherboard based on the AMD 870 + SB850 chipset, the ASRock 870 Extreme3. Either the company seems to have jumped the specifications of the 870 by adding external PCI-Express lane switching that gives it proper CrossFire capability, or that the 870 will indeed support 2-way CrossFire with its lone PCI-Express 2.0 x16 link split into two x8 links between the two cards, leaving no room for a "890X" chipset. The 870 Extreme3 supports socket AM3 processors with a 4+1 phase VRM that can take 140W TDP processors. It will support upcoming Phenom II X6 and Phenom II X4 T series processors. It integrates ASRock's proprietary UCC chip that unlocks disabled cores on certain processors.

The board is advertised to support DDR3-1800 MHz memory by overclocking. Expansion slots include two each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8, when both are populated), PCI-E x1, and PCI. The SB850 southbridge gives out five internal SATA 6 Gb/s ports, with one eSATA. Other connectivity features include 8 channel HD audio, a 2-port USB 3.0 controller, a number of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, and gigabit Ethernet. Diagnostic LED display and onboard power and reset switches make for the rest of it. The ASRock 870 Extreme3 will retail a little later this month.

Koolance Intros Water Blocks for GeForce GTX 400 Series

Koolance is ready with water blocks designed for NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 480 and GTX 470 graphics cards. The Koolance VID-NX480 and VID-NX470 are full-coverage water blocks that cool all vital heat-producing components on the obverse side of the PCB, including the GPU, memory and VRM areas. Both measure 6.25" x 5.75" x 0.62" (15.9cm x 14.6cm x 1.6cm), weighing 1.5 lbs (680 g), slim and light enough to make the card occupy a single expansion slot. The block makes use of nickel-plated copper, with an acrylic top. The area over the GPU has an array of 0.5 mm micro-fins that increases surface area for heat dissipation. While the VID-NX480 is priced at US $119, the VID-NX470 goes for $109, as listed on the company store.

Xilence Readies XQ 1200W 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU

In the era of the power-guzzling GeForce GTX 480, >1000W PSUs don't seem overkill anymore, especially if 2-way or 3-way SLI setups are planned with them. Xilence is readying a new high-end PSU in its XQ line. The XQ 1200W packs four +12V rails, it offers a very high efficiency of 92%, qualifying for the 80 Plus Gold rating. It is cooled by a 135 mm PWM fan, and packs several safe power features such as over-current, over-voltage, under-voltage and short circuit protection. Available a little later this month, the XQ 1200W will sell for 249 EUR.

Intel Core i7 930 Reaches Stores

The much talked about 'value' addition to Intel's Core i7 series in the LGA-1366 package, the Core i7 930, has begun being listed on online stores. The quad-core upper-performance segment chip is listed on popular European retailer, Home of Hardware (HOH.de), for 254.82 ?, around 25 ? higher than the price of Core i7 920 (D0 stepping) on the same store. Company roadmaps suggest two things about the positioning of this SKU: 1. that it will displace the Core i7 920 from its price-point, and eventually replace it; and 2. that February 28 could be the date when this SKU becomes official to markets worldwide.

The Core i7 930 is based on Intel's 45 nm Bloomfield D0 core. The quad-core chip comes in LGA-1366 package, and operates at 2.80 GHz (133 MHz x 21), with a Turbo Boost speed of 3.06 GHz (133 MHz x 23). It has HyperThreading technology enabled, to provide the operating system with 8 logical CPUs to deal with. It has 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 8 MB of shared L3 cache. The QuickPath Interconnect between the chip and the X58 chipset operates at 4.80 GT/s. It features a triple-channel on-die memory controller. Most existing LGA-1366 motherboards should support it, some requiring BIOS updates.

Sapphire Launches TOXIC and Vapor-X Radeon HD 5850

Combining the highly successful HD 5000 series graphics architecture with its award winning Vapor-X cooling technology, SAPPHIRE Technology is now shipping two new graphics cards - the SAPPHIRE HD 5850 TOXIC Edition and the SAPPHIRE HD 5850 Vapor-X model.

The SAPPHIRE HD 5850 TOXIC Edition and the SAPPHIRE HD 5850 Vapor-X models are both SAPPHIRE original designs based on the latest 40nm graphics architecture from the ATI division of AMD. Both models feature 1440 stream processors and 72 texture units delivering the fastest performance in class as well as supporting ATI Stream technology. They support the advanced graphical features of DirectX 11, and deliver spectacular video clarity, speed and visual effects, including over multiple monitors whilst working at lower operating temperatures and significantly more quietly because of the SAPPHIRE award winning Vapor-X cooling technology.

Corsair Obsidian 700D Case Detailed

Quality-enthusiast Corsair is ready with its second PC case, the Obsidian 700D. The new 700D is positioned slightly lower than the 800D which the company debuted last year. Information on the 700D surfaced from a leaked company brochure. It shows the case to be an ATX full-tower, with black overall. There is no side-panel window like on the 800D, but is said to inherit most of the interior features of the 800D. There are six internal drive bays for HDDs or SSDs, five exposed 5.25″ and one exposed 3.5″ bay. Interiors are said to retain cable-management holes, three-zone cooling, and pre-drilled vents for a triple-120mm fan radiator.

The case measures 24″ (H) x 24″ (L) x 9″ (W) / 609 mm x 609 mm x 229 mm, weighs 34.8 lbs / 15.8 kg, and makes use of steel for the internal frame, and aluminum for its panels. There's room for three 140 mm and up to four 120 mm fans. There are eight expansion slots, so it makes room for a double-slot video card seated on the bottom-most slot of the motherboard. There's room for ITX, m-ATX, ATX, and EATX motherboard types, the motherboard tray has a cutout at the CPU socket area for easy handling of certain types of coolers. The front-panel has four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, and the FP audio connectors. Corsair ships this case with a two-year warranty. Its price and availability remain yet to be known.

Kingston Digital Ships First 256GB USB Flash Drive in the U.S.

Kingston Digital, Inc., the Flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the independent world leader in memory products, today announced the release of DataTraveler 310, the first 256GB USB Flash drive in the United States. The DataTraveler 310 replaces the 256GB DataTraveler 300, released in July 2009 to the Asia/Pacific and Europe, Middle East and Africa regions.

"We saw an opportunity to push the capacity envelope for USB Flash drives in the marketplace. Customer feedback and our research determined that this is a great solution for designers, engineers and architects who have a need to easily store and transport large data files," said Andrew Ewing, USB business manager, Kingston. "For the enthusiast who wants easy access to their full media library, the DataTraveler 310 can store up to 365 CDs, 54 DVDs or 51,000 images*. This device makes an entire collection of data easily portable."

ASUS Radeon HD 5870 MATRIX 2GB Graphics Card Pictured

ASUS' Republic of Gamers MATRIX series of graphics cards is getting a new member, the EAH5870 MATRIX. This model, based on the ATI Radeon HD 5870 GPU has high-end construction, cooling, and voltage regulators, out of the box higher clock speeds, overclocking headroom, and twice the amount of memory: 2 GB. The cooler and backplate design resembles that of ASUS' GeForce GTX 285 MATRIX.

The clock speeds on this card stand at 900 MHz (core) and 1225 MHz (memory, 4900 MHz effective). The card seems to have a stronger VRM circuit that supports higher clock speeds. It draws power from two 8-pin PCI-Express connectors. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI-D, HDMI, and DisplayPort.

Overclocker-friendly features may include ASUS' VoltageTweak software voltage control, a "safe mode" button that falls back to failsafe clock speed and voltage settings, among other things. There is no word on its availability, though we expect to learn more about this card at the upcoming CeBIT event.

Synology Announces DS710+ NAS Server

Synology UK, leaders in open source network attached storage solutions announced today the DiskStation DS710+ aimed primarily at SMB and home enthusiast users. Shipping with Synology's award winning DiskStation Manager 2.2 web-interface, the DS710+ can be set up and configured within minutes without the requirement of extensive technical knowledge.

"As far as a small or medium business is concerned, the DS710+ ticks all the right boxes," exclaimed Victor Chiang, Sales and Marketing Director, Synology UK. "Smaller than the size of a shoe box, the DiskStation is powerful, secure and reliable enough to cope with the majority of a company's backup, IT and internet requirements at a low initial cost outlay and on-going running costs."

ASUS Presents the Fastest, Most Chic Optical Drives Around

ASUS continues to lead in high performance optical storage devices with a full range of top quality products, from mainstay DVD-RW drives to Blu-ray Disc combos that have become the standard for high-end professional storage environments. Powered by USB 2.0 connectivity, the new ASUS SBC-06D1S-U and the ASUS SDR-08D1-U slim-type external optical disc drives are designed to provide optimized reading and writing capabilities. Both are tailored to discerning users keen on award-winning design, meticulous craftsmanship, enhanced multimedia capabilities and environmentally-savvy operation.

ASUS external slim drives are recognized worldwide for outstanding functionality and fetching looks. The SBC-06D1S-U sports the same progressive design philosophy that has garnered the company's range of optical drives prestigious accolades, including the iF Design Award 2010, the Taiwan Good Design Product Award and the Taiwan Excellence Award.

MSI Trots out Radeon HD 5770 HAWK Graphics Card

MSI has just unveiled its custom-cooled Radeon HD 5770 HAWK graphics card, which looks exactly the same as the HAWX card that we reported earlier.

The HD 5770 HAWK employs a 7+1 phase design, which provides 20% better overclocking ability than the reference cards, and ships with built-in voltage measurement points and a dual-slot Twin Frozr II cooler with three heatpipes. The fresh card has 800 stream processors, 1GB of GDDR5 memory, a 128-bit memory interface, and core/memory clock of 875/4800MHz, supporting CrossFireX and Eyefinity, equipped with DVI, HDMI and Displayport connectivities.

The MSI HD 5770 HAWK should be arriving in the coming a few weeks with a price tag of around $200.

EVGA Updates BIOS for Several X58 Motherboards

EVGA has recently released the latest BIOS for several models of its X58 motherboards which supports Intel’s 32nm Gulftown processors which are set to launch next month.

The BIOS 44 adds “Turbo Performance” option and fixes 1866MHz memory ratio.

EVGA X58 SLI Micro (E756)

EVGA X58 SLI LE (E757)

EVGA X58 SLI (E758)

EVGA X58 Classified (E759)

EVGA X58 Classified (E760/E761/E769)

EVGA X58 Classified 4-Way (E762)

дса

SilverStone Introduces Strider Essential Series PSUs

SilverStone introduced two entry-level PSUs under its Strider Essential series, the 400W ST40F-ES and 500W ST50F-ES. The two are feature fixed (non-modular) cabling, ATX 2.3 compliance, and 80 Plus certification. Under the hood is a single +12V rail design with active PFC. The unit is cooled by a 120 mm fan with a noise output of 18 dBA. Connectors apart from the 24-pin ATX and 4+4 pin CPU power connectors include two 6-pin PCI-E (for the 400W model), one 6-pin and 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors (for the 500W model), four SATA, three Molex, and one Floppy. The ST40F-ES and ST50F-ES are priced at US $49.99 and $59.99, respectively

ASUS Rampage III Extreme Smiles for the Camera

One of ASUS' premier offers for this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event is a new high-end socket LGA-1366 motherboard, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage III Extreme. The board succeeds the Rampage II Extreme which launched over an year ago along with Intel's then new Core i7 series processors. The new model based on the Intel X58 Express + ICH10R chipset, comes with four well spaced out PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, a new set of overclocking enhancements such as the ROG connect which lets you control the motherboard's overclocking from any Bluetooth and Java enabled mobile phone, SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 connectivity using ASUS' innovative PCI-Express 2.0 bridge implementation, and a more powerful CPU VRM to keep the board stable with bleeding-edge settings.

The board features an enhanced CPU VRM which is now powered by two 8-pin ATX connectors apart from two 4-pin Molex connectors. Some of these could be redundant and needed only for electrical stability. The CPU and memory power circuitry makes use of super-ML capacitors for cleaner power delivery. Voltage readouts are located next to the DIMM slots for accessibility. The motherboard makes use of slimmer component heatsinks that look to be made of the ceramic composite which the TUF Sabertooth P55 motherboard uses.