OCZ Preparing USB 3.0 External SSD

OCZ Technology has perhaps the most diverse solid-state drive portfolio, which includes 1.8" and 2.5" internal SATA 3 Gb/s SSDs - with SLC, and MLC NAND flash technologies; 3.5" SSDs, bootable PCI-Express SSDs, and even eSATA based ones. While SSDs utilizing SATA 6 Gb/s are very predictable in the near future, the company already has plans to unveil an external, portable SSD that utilizes the USB 3.0 SuperSpeed interface, at the upcoming CES 2010 event. With over 4 Gb/s of interface bandwidth at its disposal, it can also be expected of the drive to be powered entirely by the USB port. A concept design is already in place.

PowerColor Launches a Radeon PLAY! HD 5770

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphics cards, today announces a new flavor to HD5700 series: PLAY! HD5770. PLAY! HD5770 features full digital output solution with Display Port / HDMI/ DVI onboard design; delivers an incredible visual performance at all resolutions. And with the support of ATI Eyefinity technology, PLAY! HD5770 can run up to three displays from one single card and give all gamers a surreal gaming experience.

PowerColor PLAY! HD5770 clocks at 850MHz core speed and 1200MHz of memory speed; with an ultra 92mm cooling fan, PLAY! HD5770 is able to increase air flow in low fan speed, yet still dissipates heat easily from the cooper base, which covers the GPU entirely. This cooler also reduces fan noise and enhances cooling ability to deliver the ultimate gaming performance in a low-noisy, and cool operating environment.

"PLAY! HD5770 supports all the latest technology including ATI Eyefinity, ATI stream and DirectX® 11 technology; enables all gamers to experience the step-ahead performance compared with Green party," says Ted Chen, CEO of TUL Corporation. "Also, with customized cooling fan, PLAY! HD5770 offers maximal OC ability in a cool working environment; we believe it is the best choice for gamers!"

PowerColor PLAY! HD5770 is available on Nov. 30th and retails at US$159.

NVIDIA GF100 GPU Seen in Action

With the overwhelming approach of AMD Radeon HD 5970, NVIDIA has finally decided to do something. The BSN site has just discovered a picture showing the desktop version of NV100 GPU - GF100 in action on the company’s Facebook page.

The card looks quite close to retail edition, and was running Unigine’s DirectX 11 benchmark. The corner also shows framerates if you have a closer look. Hopefully in a few weeks we’ll start to see the card live.

Equipped with an 8-pin and a 6-pin power, the clock and performance are said to be quite high, which means you may also expect a healthy overclocking headroom.

DFI Hybrid Motherboard Combines Intel P45 and NVIDIA ION

DFI has recently announced its latest creation - the Hybrid P45-ION-T2A2 motherboard which combines the P45 and ION chipset.

The two platforms can operate completely independently, and you may use the KVM and LAN switch on board. When your PC is running some energy-hungry applications, take the advantage of the powerful P45 platform; when running some low-load tasks, switch to ION platform. According to the company’s test, more than 65% of energy can be saved by using Hybrid platform.

The board features four dual-channel DDR2 memory slots, one PCIe x16 slot, Intel Atom N230 (1.6GHz), ION graphics chip, and two DDR2 SO-DIMM slots. Other specs include one HDMI, dual DVI, eight USB 2.0 ports.

DFI Hybrid P45-ION-T2A2 motherboard will start shipping from November 27th, with a price tag of $399.

OCZ Makes 3.5″ Colossus SSDs Official

Showcased at ComputeX Taipei 2009 back in June, the 3.5-inch OCZ Colossus series solid state drive series has just been officially announced.

Available in 120GB, 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities, the new drives features internal RAID 0, Indilinx controller, JMicron Raid controller, and 128MB onboard cache, delivering maximum read speeds of up to 260MB/s and write speeds of up to 220MB/s.

OCZ has yet to unveil the pricing information, but the previous reports suggest the 1TB model would sell for no less than $2500, which might give you an rough idea how pricey it would be.

NZXT Tempest EVO Chassis Draws Near

NZXT has been enjoying a good reputation with high-quality chassis products at a very affordable price, and the company has just unveiled its latest offering - Tempest EVO, as an upgrade version of the previous Tempest.

The case measures 211.5mmx521.5mmx562mm, six fans for enhanced cooling, eight 3.5-inch hard drive bays, as well as three 5.25-inch optical drive bays, supporting Micro-ATX, ATX and E-ATX form factors. It also has a predrilled hole for installation of water-cooling system.

As always, the greatest highlight is the price - $99, and you may learn more here.

Radeon HD 5970 Listed at $599.99

Two weeks after the first sneek peek of Radeon HD 5970, more info about pricing has recently surfaced. Though the page doesn’t reveal further specs on the card, it might give you a rough idea about its price bracket.

HIS Radeon HD 5970 has been found listing at ZipZoomFly website for $599.99. Such a price sounds understandable - after all, AMD claims it will be the fastest card ever on the market, with no competition before NVIDIA launches Fermi in Q1 2010.

Anyway, let’s take it with a grain of salt for now - stay tuned until the card actually arrives. Some rumors suggest the NDA will be lifted on November 17th.

Arctic Cooling Intros Universal Chargers for USB-powered Devices

Arctic Cooling has just announced two charges for USB-equipped devices, Arctic C1 and C2, which has one and four USB ports respectively.

Both chargers support inputs of 100 to 240V, and come bundled with four interchangeable plugs which enable them to work in about 150 countries. They also have Short Circuit/Over Current/Over Power protection to ensure the stability.

Backed by a two-year warranty, Arctic C1 and C2 will start retailing next month, with price tag of $21.95 and $26.55, respectively.

G.Skill Releases the World’s Fastest DDR3 2200 CL7 Memory Modules

G.Skill International Co. Ltd., manufacturer of extreme performance memory and solid-state storage with solid quality, has today released the world's fastest DRAM modules rated at a groundbreaking DDR3 2200 CL7-10-10-28 1.65V 4GB (2GBx2), and specially tuned for Intel Lynnfield Core i7 870, 860 processors.

Furnished with the brand new design PI series heatspreader, these modules once again represent G.Skill's commitment to pushing the boundaries and providing overclocking enthusiasts and extreme gamers with the best DRAM modules for breaking overclocking world records. The kits will be sold with G.Skill's Turbulence memory fan to decrease the system temperatures and provide further overclocking headroom during tweaking.

Radeon HD 5950 Caught on Camera

Several days after the sneak peek of ATI Radeon HD 5970, another dual-GPU card has been leaked to our fellow site Alienbabeltech, again. According to someone who wishes to be known as DJ, the card is powered by 1440*2 stream processors.

Radeon HD 5950 features one 8-pin power connector and one 6-pin connector, measuring 12 inch in length, longer than HD 5870 which measures 11.1 inch.

As you can see, the HD 5950 on the right boasts three video outputs - two DVI and one mini DisplayPort.

Judging by the look, this should be an engineering sample. The NDA on HD 5970 is said to be lifted on November 19th, which means we’ll need to wait for another week before that beast arrives.

Noctua Announces NH-U9B Special Edition CPU Cooler

Noctua today announced a new special edition of its popular NH-U9B premium cooler, which is renowned for providing excellent quiet cooling performance in a compact package that lends itself to use in HTPCs or smaller cases. The new NH-U9B SE2 now comes with two of Noctua's award-winning NF-B9 92mm fans and adds support for LGA1156 as well as LGA1366 via the latest SecuFirm2 multi-socket mounting system.

"Many customers who are looking for a premium quality quiet cooler but can't accommodate our larger models are choosing our NH-U9B, which offers performance levels close to its bigger brothers while being much more compact", explains Mag. Roland Mossig, Noctua CEO "Given the ongoing popularity of the NH-U9B, we've decided to create a special edition that comes with a second NF-B9 fan and provides support for the latest CPUs."

The NH-U9B SE2 will be available shortly at a recommended retail price of EUR 46.90 / USD 54.90.

Scythe Announces Kamazo 2 Series External HDD Enclosures

The Japanese cooling expert Scythe Co., Ltd. expands its product portfolio to external enclosures for 2.5" Hard Disks. Kamazo 2 series are available in three different versions.

Kamazo 2 IDE (KMZ2-25IDE) and the Kamazo 2 SATA (KMZ2-25SATA) can be connected via USB to your PC, and can connect an IDE or SATA HDDs. Both devices are compatible to the USB 2.0/1.1 standard and don´t require any additional power source. For more versatility, the e-SATA Version (ESATA-KMZ2-25) is compatible with "the" e-SATA Standard as well as "the" USB 2.0/1.1 standard. Operating Kamazo 2 over the e-SATA Interface use of supplied Power-over-USB connector is required in order to properly supply the power to HDD. All three versions are made of solid aluminum which is covered by black paint and require little space which makes this product to be a compact and space saving design.

Myka Jumps on the ION Bandwagon

Ion has received lots of design wins since it’s brought into the public eye, and Myka has also jumped the bandwagon by unveiling its ION-based media PC which is simply named as ION.

Available in three colors of black, white and silver, the mini PC features Intel dual-core Atom 330 processor, up to 4GB of RAM, ten USB 2.0 ports, VGA/DVI/HDMI outputs, and an eSATA connector. Its customized interface can bring Hulu, Boxee and other web content you can stumble upon your TV.

Myka ION is now listed for pre-order starting at $379, and you’ll need to wait four to six weeks before actually getting it on hand.

Fraps 3.0.0 Available for Download

Fraps 3.0.0 has just been released with new features and a new look. It’s good to see it’s compatible with Windows 7 and the latest DirectX 11 games.

What’s new:

* DirectX 11 support * Compatible with Windows 7 final (RTM) and RC1 versions * Stereoscopic 3D Vision video capture up to 1920×1200 for D3D9 games * Force lossless RGB option to always capture video in pure form * Ability to mix both game sound and external input such as microphone (Vista/Win7 only)

Download: Fraps 3.0.0 (2MB)

Affiliate reviews today [07-11-2009]

CPUs
AMD Phenom II X4 965 BE 125W CPU Test @ Benchmark Reviews

Accessories
Patriot Box Office Media Player Review @ Hardware Secrets | Otterbox BlackBerry Storm Commuter Case @ LanOC Reviews | PowerMat Wireless Charging Unit @ TestFreaks

PSUs
Sapphire PurePSU 950W @ Technic3D | The Great Ultra Products 750 Watt Power Supply Tweetaway! @ Futurelooks

Mobile
Pantech C790 Reveal @ TestFreaks

Periphery
EFO Wireless Handheld Keyboard and Touch Pad @ DragonSteelMods | Zowie Hammer Gaming Headset @ TestFreaks | Energy Sistem Xplosionn Review @ XSReviews | Icon7 S450 Bluetooth @ PCFoster | Eagle Arion ET-AR504LR-BK 2.1 Soundstage Speakers Review @ BmR | Roccat Kova Review @ XSReviews | Verbatim Easy Riser Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse with Nano Receiver @ iGadget Life

Cooling
Arctic Cooling F Pro PWM & TC Case Fans @ DragonSteelMods | Thermaltake EVO 650W PSU Review @ BCCHardware | Zalman CNPS10X Extreme Cpu Cooler @ Rbmods | Thermaltake WingRS 301 @ Hardware Bistro

Articles
Apple Tips #5 -Recovering 5GB of Hard Drive Space in Intel Macs Running Leopard @ iGadget Life | Podcast #15 - Microsoft's Not So Family Guy @ bcchardware | Windows 7 Tuning and Tips - Update @ TweakPC | MmM Tutorial 5870 @ Technic3D | Fitness Gadgets: The Good, The Bad and The Wacky @ TestFreaks | Can We Trust the 80 Plus Certification? @ Hardware Secrets | Zestawy komputerowe - jesien 2009 @ PCFoster | Speed up my PC #1 – Clearing Startup Items @ revHardware

Motherboards
GIGABYTE P55-UD3P Motherboard Overclocking Test @ Madshrimps

Storage
SSD + Full Disk Encryption = Slow/Slower as HDD @ Madshrimps | Corsair Flash Survivor 32GB USB Drive Review @ VelocityReviews | Qnap TS-219P Turbo NAS Reviewed @ TestFreaks | Verbatim TUFF-CLIP 8GB USB Drive @ Bona Fide Reviews | SanDisk Extreme Pro 32gb Compact Flash Card @ TestFreaks | Corsair Voyager GT 128GB @ Technic3D

Video Cards
ATI Radeon HD 5970 Performance Preview with Benchmarks @ TweakPC | Sapphire Radeon HD5870 Vapor-X Video Card Review @ Benchmark Reviews | Sapphire Radeon HD5750 and HD5850 CrossFire Testing @ Bigbruin | Asus EAH 4890 Review @ XSReviews | Sapphire Radeon HD5770 CrossfireX Review @ High Tech Reviews | Leadtek Winfast Geforce GT 220 1Gb - A 9500 GT with DX10.1 @ Madshrimps | PhysX Performance Tests @ Ninjalane | DIAMOND 4890PE51GXOC Radeon HD 4890 1GB Video Card Review @ Futurelooks

Memory
Corsair Dominator 4GB 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory @ Futurelooks | Crucial 4GB Kit DDR3-1333/PC3-10600 CT2KIT25664BA1339 Memory Review @ OCinside

Games
Tekken 6 Limited Edition Bundle for Xbox 360 Reviewed @ Futurelooks | Borderlands (PC) @ Technic3D

Cases
NZXT M59 Classic Series PC Case @ Bona Fide Reviews | NZXT Lexa S Mid-Tower Case @ BCCHardware | Antec Two Hundred @ LanOC | NZXT Gamma Case Review @ Hardware Secrets | Cooler Master Lab Test Bench V1.0 Review @ Madshrimps | SilverStone Grandia GD04 Case Review @ Hardware Secrets | Nexus Edge Case @ Rbmods

Competitions
Ultra X4 850W PSU Giveaway! @ BCCHardware | Win an Ultra Products 850W X4 PSU in the NFL Pool @ Bigbruin

Antec Lanboy AIR Chassis Poses for the Camera

After Thermaltake’s Level 10, let’s have a look at another special PC chassis creation designed by Antec, Lanboy AIR.

Equipped with two USB 2.0 and one eSATA port, the cool looking Lanboy AIR case features two 120mm blue LED fans on the front panel, one 120mm TriCool fan on the rear panel, and two 120mm fans working for the graphics card. Additionally, you may install up to seven more fans for the CPU, hard drive and top of the case to get enhanced cooling performance. It also packs as many as nine drive bays, and eight expansion slots for 3-way SLI configurations, supporting Mini-ITX, microATX as well as standard ATX motherboards.

Antec Lanboy AIR case is said to be showcased at CES in January and become available later for ?200 ($299).

NVIDIA Plans to Block Lucid’s Hydra Chip

If you’re wondering why the highly-anticipated MSI Big Bang Trinergy motherboard turned out to be using NVIDIA’s nForce 200 SLI chip, with no sign of the Lucid Hydra 200 chip as it promised, the answer is simple - NVIDIA does not like it.

Considering the product would impact NVIDIA’s profit coming from SLI fee, the green giant decides that it’s time to do something. Firstly, they will break support for Lucid’s chip at the driver part, and by unknown means force MSI to postpone their “Big Bang” motherboard. Though MSI claims the Big Bang Fusion powered by Hydra engine will be released by the end of 2009, we don’t think so, exactly. The site Overclock3D believes the board will be delayed to early next year, or even be killed finally.

The multi-GPU solution has opened up a totally different battlefield, but NVIDIA is apparently unprepared yet or unwilling to fight.

First P55 Mini-ITX Motherboard on the Way

DFI has prepared a LanParty Mini-ITX motherboard based on P55 chipset, which will be known as MI P55-T36.

The LGA1156 board features 6-phase PWM design, two DDR3 dual-channel memory slots, one PCIe x16 slot, three SATA II ports, Debug LED and Clear CMOS button. Other specs includes two connectors for four USB 2.0, Realtek ALC 885 7.1 Audio, Intel GBe LAN, and ABS II technology.

DFI MI P55-T36 motherboard should hit stores soon, though we have no idea on pricing yet.

Thermaltake Level 10 Case Hits China in a Limited Quantity

The Level 10 chassis made a very impressive debut at CeBIT and ComputeX 2009, not only because it’s designed by Thermaltake in collaboration with the BMW Group, but also because of its revolutionary design. Although hitting China a bit later than we expected, it’s finally here.

To make it even more special, Level 10 is put on sale in limited quantities in China - only two units for the city, and fifty ones for the whole country.

The aluminum chassis measures 666.3×318x614mm, weighs 21.37kg, and packs three 5.25″ optical drive bays, six 3.5-inch hard drive bays, and eight PCI slots.

You can install or remove the hard drives very conveniently. Please note that the bays also support 2.5-inch SSDs.

Level 10 is now available in China for RMB4880 (around $715), for those with deep pocket.

Official: Futuremark Working Hard on DirectX 11 Benchmark

As the leading PC benchmark provider, Futuremark’s offerings like 3DMark Vantage has been vastly used by PC enthusiasts all over the world. With the release of Windows 7 operating system and AMD DirectX 11-ready graphics cards, we’re curious that when the company is planning to debut their own DX11 benchmark. Thus, Expreview wrote an email to Oliver Baltuch, the president of Futuremark Inc. to ask about this, and was lucky enough to get a reply after several hours.

Oliver said he was unable to discuss the unannounced products, but he told us to be assured that they are “hard at work creating beautiful looking art and fantastic code which will be at the leading edge of technology.”

The new benchmark tool sounds to be something great to look forward to, and we’ll be always ready to share more details with all of you.