ASUS Z87 series feature new technologies such as 802.11ac technologies

Intel will be launching a new chipset next month. In conjunction with the upcoming launch, ASUS held an event in Singapore late last month to introduce their line up of boards at CHIJMES, Singapore.

The ASUS Z87 Series now comes in a Golden colour scheme that makes it stands out from the rest. The Z87 boards comes in different feature set. The Z87 Deluxe / Dual being the top of the range comes with DIP4 with 4 way optimization, WiFI 802.11ac 5Ghz. The Z87-Pro,Plus,-A and -C are lower range models of the series.   As it is a new chipset, the socket type is changed to LGA1150 which is incompatible with existing socketed processors. The new chipset supports native PCIe 3.0×16, 6 USB 3.0 and 6 SATA 6Gbps. It can also support up  to 3 indepdendent displays from DP/HDMI/DVi/VGA. Displayrtport 1.2 monitor can daisy chain up to 3 displays. ASUS new Z87 board features 4 Way Optimization and they are Digi+Power, TPU, fan Xpert2 and EPU. It can all be done in real time or by a single click. TPU:Overlclocking CPU, EPU:CPU voltage, Digi+:Power, Fan:Speed and noise.

ASUS also is the first to incorporate 802.11ac which delivers higher data throughput of up to 867Mbps compared to 802.11n’s 300Mbps. Lastly, the Z87 series has a revamped UEFI BIOS to make tuning much simpler than before.

On the next page, we take a look at the TuF Series boards – SABERTOOTH Z87 and GRYPHON Z87.

ASUS Presents New Gold Color Theme for Upcoming Z87 Motherboards

Fresh look reflects ASUS dedication to the highest standards in quality, performance, reliability, and innovation

Singapore (16 May, 2013) — ASUS today announced a new look for its range of motherboards based on the Intel® Z87 chipset. Replacing the previous blue-accented color scheme, a unique gold application on custom-designed heatsinks serves to emphasize the ASUS philosophy of always providing the most innovative motherboards in every generation.

“ASUS-branded motherboards keep evolving and always offer the gold standard in quality, performance, and durability. The new gold color scheme symbolizes this and our insistence on delivering the highest degree of innovation and reliability. ASUS motherboards are fully-featured and offer an attractive visual style for great system building experiences”, said Jackie Hsu, Corporate Vice President and General Manager of Worldwide Sales, ASUS Open Platform Business Group.

Elegant color choice makes component matching easier

For nearly a quarter of a century, ASUS has been leading in motherboard design and development while maintaining close ties to the global PC DIY community. Accommodating system builder needs, the gold treatment on new motherboards promotes great-looking PC interiors with a two-tone color palette that works well with the primarily black designs of PC cases.

Form and function with more efficient gear-shaped heatsinks

The gold-imbued heatsinks on new ASUS Z87 motherboards use forms inspired by the gears of handcrafted luxury timepieces. Multi-faceted and multi-tiered, the new heatsinks have bigger surface areas for better heat dissipation and improved cooling, and use fine-threaded polished metal that gives the gold theme a deep luster. As such, ASUS Z87 motherboards are as visually pleasing as they are industry-leading in stability, reliability, and exclusive features.

Availability & Pricing

ASUS Z87 motherboards will be available on 2-June-2013. Pricing for all motherboards will be disclosed after the official Intel NDA date

ECS Intel^® 8-Series Chipset Motherboards Officially Debuts, Desktop Motherboard Products Launched

May 15, 2013, Taipei, Taiwan -

ECS introduces the first Intel^® 8-Series Motherboards featuring the new 4^th Generation Intel^® Core processor family for their new family of desktop motherboards Pro, Deluxe and Essentials.

The new ECS (Elitegroup Computer Systems) family of motherboards featuring the new Intel^® 8-series Chipset family with new designed specifically for the new 4^th Generation Intel^® Core processor family of CPUs, which will be available and shipping worldwide in Q2 2013. The new chipset features support for full SATA III 6 Gb/s internal ports and PCI-Express Gen.3 x16 bus design. They also integrate USB 3.0, Thunderbolt, and enable responsiveness technologies like Intel^® Smart Response, Intel^® Smart Connect, and Intel^® Rapid Start.

ECS is also introducing a new family of motherboard tiers including: Pro series optimized for power computing, Deluxe series optimized for small office and home, and Essentials series optimized for home and multi-media. The new ECS family of motherboards will feature ECS’s new Durathon durability technology which includes a triple density PCB, extreme temperature resistance, 1.5K point marathon testing, and superior solid capacitors designed to greatly improve motherboard quality, stability and longevity. 

Additional features includes ECS’s exclusive Hyper Alloy Choke technology, Sound Blaster Cinema Technology, 4-way video output (DVI, HDMI, Display Port and D-Sub VGA), EZ quick charger, Motherboard Intelligent Bios III, 4K video output, ECS EZ Bios, and ECS ADS (Anti-Dust Shield).

As part of ECS’s growing commitment to the gamer community, ECS will also be introducing a new brand and family of motherboards specially designed for gaming and high performance processing to be announced in Q2 of 2013. These motherboards will be designed for extreme gaming performance with the highest quality components, numerous exclusive technologies designed to enhance the gaming experience.

To learn more about ECS products and upcoming releases, visit http://www.ecs.com.tw/extra/8series/

BIOSTAR Hi-Fi Z87X 3D

The new Biostar HiFi Z87X 3D extends the Puro HiFi audio to the Z87 series of motherboards. As you are probably aware, Biostar is the first manufacturer to incorporate high quality audio components on board using a seperate circuitry, generating clear audio with lesser  noise compared to older technologies. The board supports Sound Blaster Cinema.

The Z87 chipset which supports the Intel Haswell processor uses a Socket LGA1150 design and it incompatible to existing 1155 processors.

This motherboard comes with 3 full length PCIe 3.0 slots and supports the Ati CrossFire and SLI. There is GbE LAN, native USB 3.0 and HDMI 4K support. The backplane comes with 2 USB 3.0, 4 USB 2.0 D-SUB, DVI-D PS/2 keyboard, GbE and audio ports.

On board you can also find the SATA 6Gbps ports, 4 DIMM slots supporting up to DDR3-2800+ (OC).

The board should go on sale in early June to coincide with Intel’s launch at Computex Taipei 2013.

Are you on 802.11ac ? The ASUS USB-AC53 Dual band 802.11ac might just be the right companion for your brand new wireless 802.11ac router.

USB-AC53 Dual-band Wireless-AC1200 USB Adapter Extra-fast 5th Generation Wi-Fi at up to 867Mbps/300Mbps

Selectable 5GHz/2.4GHz dual bands increase signal clarity for better HD multimedia

Powerful 2×2 embedded patch antennas (PIFA type) improve signal range while integrating into the attractive design

Exclusive NetClip and cradle accessories for convenient placement and better performance

Extreme 5th generation Wi-Fi speed The fastest Wi-Fi ever becomes more accessible via USB, going up to 867Mbps on the clear 5GHz band. Using 802.11ac wireless, faster connectivity and enjoyment come to all your devices.

* Quoted network speeds and bandwidth based on current IEEE 802.11ac specifications. Actual performance may be affected by network and service provider factors, interface type, and other conditions. Connected devices must be 802.11ac-compatible for best results.

Selectable dual-band 867Mbps/300Mbps bandwidth

Dual-band operation suits mainstream and power users. The 2.4GHz band is perfect for web browsing, email, and social networking, while the 5GHz frequency enables smooth HD streaming and online multiplayer for blazingly fast and lag-free home entertainment

Overclocking enthusiasts always look for the fastest processors on earth to overclock. This is especially the case for LN2 players. This is because they usually apply insane voltages to the processor and peripheral. Current designs have voltage regulators on board. With the new Intel Haswell, the design has a lot of things integrated into the processor. From memory controller to graphics and now the voltage regulator. So, what do you think will happen in the future. Will there be more RMAs of the processors as compared to current generations (mostly RMA of motherboards) ?

Join the poll at http://forums.ocworkbench.com/showthread.php?t=147464

Intel Fourth Generation Core processor focuses on overclocking with smartphone – IDF Beijing 2013

At the IDF 2013 held in Beijing, China, Intel gave more details about the upcoming Haswell processor focusing on it’s overclockability.

In the current platform, voltage regulators are external on the mainboard. With Haswell, this are all integrated into the processor. That greatly improves the overclockability even on the lesser known brands since there aren’t corners to cut.

Another improvement is that the current LGA1155 Core i5/i7, you can’t really overclock that far as BCLK is always stucked at 100MHz. With the new design, you can start from 100MHz, 125MHz or 167MHz with a +/- of 5-7 %.

In the presentation, Intel’s Michael Moen mentioned that the new K series unlocked version of the Haswell has the power supply circuit may be integrated into the CPU. Users can adjust the voltages directly. Base clock can also be set from 100MHz, 125Mhz or 167MHz. The frequency range improvements ranges from 5% to 7%.

With these enhancements, a multiplier of 80x (ring ratio) can be applied with BCLK at 100MHz hinting that the new processor can run up to 8GHz. Memory speeds can be in the form of 200MHz (steps up to 2600MHz) or 266MHz (2667MHz).

The latest release edition utility “Intel Extreme Tuning Utility” (XTU) also added enhancements to support Haswell. In a demonstration, a Turbo Boot system is overclocked to run at 4.4GHz and 1.6GHz for the graphics core.

The new utility allows one to share results directly via Facebook and Twitter too.

In addition, Intel also demonstrated overclocking a Haswell mobile edition using smartphone/tablet using XTU.

Pictures courtesy of itmedia.jp

Although Haswell processors will be released in June, there’s pretty much nothing left that has not been leaked, including photo’s, benchmarks, specifications, new technology .. and now the prices as well. The flagship Haswell model, Core i7-4770K with unlocked multiplier, was already spotted this week in some stores in Europe. The Haswell processor can be also pre-ordered from several online stores in US. What’s more, the stores list a handful of other Haswell SKUs, including i5-4670K.

PCSuperStore currently has Core i5-4430, i5-4570, i5-4570S, i5-4670, i5-4670K, i7-4770, i7-4770K and i7-4770S on pre-order, with prices ranging from $197 to $368.

The table below shows how these prices stack up against prices of Ivy Bridge products from the same store:

With one exception, all Haswell microprocessors are currently 4% – 13% more expensive than Ivy Bridge counterparts. Pre-order prices tend to drop a bit when it gets closer to launch, but at this point it is impossible to tell whether they will drop to Ivy Bridge level, or will be a few percent higher reports cpuworld.

Source

Intel will continue to use LGA packaging till 1H 2015 for it’s processors

According to a digitimes reports, LGA packaging will continue for Intel’s processors until 1H 2015 based on Intel’s latest roadmap for desktop platform.

This is assurance to motherboard manufacturers as it will have more time till 2015 as Intel transits from LGA to BGA packaging. With BGA packaging desktop users will not be able to upgrade BGA-packaged processors. So, you will probably end up with soldered on processors on motherboards.

On the other hand, 22nm Haswell processors to be launched in June 2013 and 14nm Skylake processors to be launched in 2015 will be LGA packaged, while entry-level 14nm Broadwell processors to be launched in 2014 will be BGA packaged, the sources noted.

Source : Digitimes

Google Chromebook pixel goes on sale for USD 1299 onward, will you buy one? Belo are the specs

The Google Chromebok PIxel comes with a 12.85″ high res screen with resolution of 2560×1700. It has a Gorilla Glass multi touch screen and it weighs 3.3lbs and 0.64″ thin.

The device comes with 1TB Google drive online storage for 3 years. There is a LTE version of the device priced at USD 1449. The WIFI edition is at USD 1299.

According to a report on PC World, Intel decided to quit the PC motherboard business by shutting down its Desktop Board brand. To company will begin shrinking its motherboard product line with the arrival of socket LGA1150 Core “Haswell” processors, and eventually leave the market within 3 years. One can draw three distinct inferences from this move. First, Intel’s Desktop Board lineup is too bloated, and the desktop form-factor is on a rapid decline in relation to the rest of the PC industry. Second, with the emergence of new high-volume brands in the motherboard industry, Intel is finding its lineup out of place.

Third, and more interestingly, this could be a move by Intel to pacify other motherboard vendors about the impending transition of a bulk of the motherboard volume from changeable CPU socket to hardwired BGA, which is bound to happen in a couple of years from now. Other vendors expressed apprehensions over the transition to BGA believing such a more could make Desktop Board put them out of business. Intel’s Desktop Board team will instead spend resources in developing new form-factors such as the NUC.

Source: http://communities.intel.com/thread/34217

Intel prepares 8 series chipsets ready for Q2 2013 and might be displayed at CeBIT 2013 Germany

For those who are preparing to fly to CeBIT exhibition, you might be able to see the 8 series chipset motherboards on display at various booths there.

Motherboard manufacturers are all ready, for the next generation of Intel chipsets, the 8 series.

The 8 series will consists of Z87, H87, B85, H81. All will spot a different socket 1150.

According to the tweet, the Z87 and the rest will be available as early as Q2 2013 but the H81 will be delayed.

So get ready for another change of socket type soon. After this generation, the future processors will be soldered on board and most likely you won’t have much of a chance but to get a board with CPU together as a ‘bundle’.

On the other hand, the actual Haswell processors will not be available till June. So, you might end up having boards on sale without processors just like before.

Unboxing video of the ECS A85F2-A Golden

What is new for the upcoming year 2013? Well it would be the ASUS USB-AC53.

Based on the 802.11ac spec, it will enable multi-station WLAN throughput of at least 1 gigabit per second and a maximum single link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second (500 Mbit/s).

This is accomplished by extending the air interface concepts embraced by 802.11n: wider RF bandwidth (up to 160 MHz), more MIMO spatial streams (up to 8), multi-user MIMO, and high-density modulation (up to 256 QAM).

The USB-AC53 (AC1200 USB wireless adapter) is ASUS’s first 802.1ac dual band USB adapter. It comes bundled with a long USB cable and attachement NetClip in the box.

Here are some early pictures of it.

We should be seeing more 802.11ac wireless devices in 2013.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc plans to sell and lease back its campus in Austin, Texas, to raise cash and fund its chipmaking business as it diversifies beyond the struggling PC industry into new markets.

AMD expects to sell the 58-acre site for between $150 million and $200 million and close a deal in the second quarter, company spokesman Drew Prairie told Reuters on Tuesday.

The chipmaker’s move to sell its campus, reported earlier by the Austin American-Statesman, comes as the company and its larger rival Intel Corp struggle with slowing personal computer sales.

AMD’s cash declined $279 million in the third quarter to $1.48 billion. AMD said it was reducing its “optimal” cash target to $1.1 billion from $1.5 billion due to the business’ now smaller size.

Shares of AMD rose 0.5 percent on Tuesday to close at $1.88.

Source Reuters

According to a report on SemiAccurate, it is said that the upcoming Broadwell will not come in an LGA package, so no removable CPU. The news was leaked from Japan PC Watch.

So what is the impact ? Most end users might not feel much of a difference as most users still buy a processor + motherboard bundle anyway. The difference is that you can’t really choose which processor to pair with your board as they come soldered on.

Enthusiast who are always changing processors as fast as changing underwear will find themselves shut off in a way. Web sites that leaks information will find themselves shut off too as it would be difficult for some sources to ‘smuggle’ Engineering board with solder processors out.

One of the nightmares will be inventory control. Distributors will have to stock up massive amount of stocks (board with CPU integrated).

The worst nightmware for mainboard manufacturers is that they might be forced out of the competition in a way. The reason is simple, Intel might be having their own brand boards with CPU integrated and will compete head to head with their products. This might also force such manufactuers to divert their attention to the other processor maker, AMD which still remains attractive in terms of price/performance.

Actually, we already expected this day to come. First, the industry consolidated and killed almost all the chipset makers. The chipset makers ended up making South bridges and on board DVB tuners. Now they probably have to give up making south bridges as SATA 6Gbps or USB3 controllers are all integrated into the single chipset.

Next was the integration of higher quality graphics into the chipset, with that you don’t even need an external graphics card unless you are crazy over 3D games.

Everyone out there is having their own game plan. Look at Apple, and Microsoft now making their own hardware and software. If they can increase their market share and profit margin, do you think they will care about whether mainboard manufacturers in Taiwan will survive ?

In fact we spoke to a number of people about this matter. We somewhat agree that Intel might do that low to mid range notebooks and motherboards. They willleave the higher end boards with socketed designs. By doing so, they might not be pushing customers away to AMD. In fact, AMD Hudson E350 are all socketed designs but their Trinity series (FM2) and 990FX boards which are considered the higher end are still socket design.

If Intel goes for soldered design and flood the market with thier own brand boards, the OEM manufacturers will stand to gain for more orders. 3rd party manufacturers like ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, ECS, Biostar, ASRock might have serious problems if they can’t get hold of processors (for soldering onto their boards). If our prediction is right, the higher end boards might still adopt socketed design but how many percent of their revenue of the motherboard manufacturers comes from the expensive boards?

Secondly, the other mid range board makers will still continue to compete with socketed designs. They will also deliver some high end boards but that might not sell that well either. They might end up selling more AMD. Perhaps a third group might evolve making ARM based boards one day.

So at the end of the day, motherboard manufacturers will be here to stay. It is just that how will they will channel their resources into socket or non socketed boards.

Comments

Kingston Ships Next-Gen SSDNow V Series
 New SSDNow V300 Solid-state Drive Provides Consumers with High-performance, Cost-efficient Upgrade Solution
 Customized LSI SandForce Flash Storage Processor Solution

Hsinchu, Taiwan – November 15, 2012– Kingston, the independent world leader in memory products, today announced it is shipping the next generation of its most cost-effective SSDNow V Series solid-state drive. The Kingston SSDNow V300 is a powerful upgrade solution for cost-conscious consumers looking to upgrade their existing desktop or notebook PC.

The new SSDNow V300 is 10x faster than a 7200RPM hard-disk drive†. It is powered by an LSI SandForce Flash Storage Processor (FSP) solution customized for Kingston, and optimized for industry-leading 19nm NAND Flash memory to deliver sequential read and write speeds of up to 450MB/s. Using best-in-class components, SSDNow V300 combines quality, performance and affordability from two leading SSD brands that are affordable for first-time SSD users or anyone looking to upgrade an existing system.

“LSI worked together with Kingston to deliver a customized high-performing solid-state drive solution for their cost-effective SSDNow V Series,” said Kent Smith, senior director of product marketing, Flash Components Division, LSI., LSI SandForce. “Our award-winning SF-2281 Client FSPs provide Kingston’s customers with enterprise-class features and an enhanced everyday computing user experience, especially for first time SSD users.”

“Kingston is committed to delivering SSDs at the best price to performance ratio as possible. We achieve this again with our next-generation SSDNow V300,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston. “The SSDNow V300 is the best cost-efficient upgrade for users who want their existing systems to perform faster. They will experience faster boot up and shutdown times, and will also see much better system performance when multiple applications are open.”

The SSDNow V300 is available as a stand-alone drive or as an upgrade kit containing cloning software and other accessories for a desktop and/or notebook system. SSDNow V300 is backed by a three-year warranty, free technical support and legendary Kingston reliability.

Kingston is celebrating 25 years in the memory industry. The company was founded on October 17, 1987, and has grown to become the largest third-party memory manufacturer in the world. The 25th anniversary video can be found at here as well as more information including a timeline of Kingston’s history. In addition, HyperX memory is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The first HyperX high-performance memory module was released in November 2002.

† Based on PCMark Vantage, Advanced Edition HDD Test Suite. Test system: Dell XPS 8500, Intel H77 Chipset, Intel® Core™ i7-3770 CPU, 8GB System Memory. SSD tested as primary drive with results based on “out-of-box” performance. This SSD is designed for use in desktop and notebook computer workloads, and is not intended for Server environments.

Kingston SSDNow V300 Features and Specifications:
 Form factor: 2.5″
 Interface: SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s) – with backwards compatibility to SATA Rev. 2.0
 Capacities1: 60GB, 120GB, 240GB
 Sequential Reads2: SATA Rev. 3.0 — up to 450MB/s
 Sequential Writes2:
SATA Rev. 3.0 — up to 450MB/s
 Maximum Random 4k Read/Write3
60GB — up to 85,000/up to 60,000 IOPS120GB — up to 85,000/up to 55,000 IOPS240GB — up to 85,000/up to 43,000 IOPS
 PCMark® Vantage HDD Suite Score
60GB — 39,000
120GB — 49,000
240GB — 57,000
 Power Consumption:
0.640W (MAX) Idle / 1.423W (MAX) Read / 2.052W (MAX) Write
 Storage temperatures: -40°C ~ 85°C
 Operating temperatures: 0°C ~ 70°C
 Dimensions: 69.8mm x 100.1mm x 7mm
 Weight: 86g
 Vibration operating: 2.17G Peak (7–800Hz)
 Vibration non-operating: 20G Peak (10–2000Hz)
 Life expectancy: 1 million hours MTBF
 Warranty/support: three-year warranty with free technical support
 Total Bytes Written (TBW)4
60GB — 32TB120GB — 64TB 240GB — 128TB

1 Please note: Some of the listed capacity on a Flash storage device is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage. As such, the actual available capacity for data storage is less than what is listed on the products. For more information, go to Kingston’s Flash memory Guide at kingston.com/flash_memory_guide.
2 Based on “out-of-box performance” with ATTO Disk Benchmark 2.41. Speed may vary due to host hardware, software, and usage.
3 Based on “out-of-box performance” with IOMeter.
4 Total Bytes Written (TBW) refers to how much total data can be written to an SSD for a given workload before the drive reaches its endurance limits.

Kingston SSDNow V300 Solid-State Drives††

Part Number Capacity and Features
SV300S37A/60G 60GB Stand-alone V300 SSD
SV300S37A/120G 120GB Stand-alone V300 SSD
SV300S37A/240G 240GB Stand-alone V300 SSD
SV300S3D7/60G 60GB Desktop Upgrade Kit
SV300S3D7/120G 120GB Desktop Upgrade Kit
SV300S3D7/240G 240GB Desktop Upgrade Kit
SV300S3N7A/60G 60GB Notebook Upgrade Kit
SV300S3N7A/120G 120GB Notebook Upgrade Kit
SV300S3N7A/240G 240GB Notebook Upgrade Kit

Brand New A970M-A DELUXE: Latest Reliable, High-Performance Motherboard from ECS

Featuring a more user-friendly BIOS and the ultimate dust defending technology

2012 September 30, Taipei, Taiwan –

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) has announced the newest member of its high-performance Black Series of PC motherboards. The ECS A970M-A DELUXE supports AMD AM3 and AM3+ APUs, and gets the most from them with the latest ECS innovations for power, ease-of-use, and reliability. With features like full Windows 8 support, an upgraded user friendly BIOS – EZ BIOS, dust defending technology – Anti Dust Technology (ADS) and 8 channel HD audio, the A970M-A DELUXE is the heart of the ultimate gaming center and perfect all-round PC.

The A970M-A DELUXE is built around the AMD 970 chipset, to squeeze the maximum performance out of the most powerful cutting edge CPUs, while still maintaining compatibility with older technology.

Exclusive features design

The motherboard features the new user-friendly graphical uEFI BIOS – EZ BIOS, with ECS MIB X for easy overclocking, tweaking, a multi-language interface and full Windows 8 support. Users can easily select and change settings in the BIOS with mouse and keyboard.

For the ultimate in stability and reliability, the A970M-A DELUXE introduces new features like ECS Anti-Dust Shield Technology (ADS). The ultimate in dust defending technology, ADS prevents dust build up on the motherboard, a common, but little-understood cause of instability, intermittent faults, and poor performance. Long-term dust build up can cripple even the most powerful PCs by causing tough-to-diagnose issues like overheating, short-circuits, and unreliable memory or graphics card connection.

The motherboard is also certified by ECS Nonstop Technology. ECS Nonstop Certification brings the user a hassle-free computing experience by solving many common PC hardware problems before they can even occur. ECS Nonstop features include: enhanced gold plating on critical contacts, all solid capacitors with 6 times longevity, and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection for USB3.0, USB2.0, eSATA and LAN. These hardware enhancements and a strict series of specially-designed tests work together to protect PCs and ensure that all ECS Nonstop Certified motherboards can be relied on for stability and reliability far into the future, long after competing products have let you down.

High speed storage capacity

The ATX format A970M-A DELUXE features 2 PCIe Gen2 x16 slots for high-speed graphics card upgrades and CrossFireX support, as well as 2 PCIe Gen2 x1 slots and 2 PCI slots for other cards. Up to 32 GB of dual channel DDR3 memory can be installed in 4 DIMMs, with a maximum standard speed of 1866 MHz, or up to 2133 MHz for overclockers. There are 5 SATA 6 Gb/s connectors for high speed disk drives and other storage devices.

Expansion and connectivity options in the A970M-A DELUXE include 2 USB 3.0 ports, 8 USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit LAN, and a eSATA 6Gb/s connector for high-capacity portable storage. There are also 3 internal USB 2.0 headers which can support an additional 6 USB 2.0 ports if required.

Smart Functional Software and Utility

If you use your PC as a charging station for your phone and other devices, then the new EZ Charger technology recharges modern mobile devices three times as fast as standard USB ports, even after the system is shut down, as long as the PC is still connected to a wall socket. EZ charger can safely provide up to 3 times the current of standard USB ports.

The A970M-A DELUXE is bundled with THX TruStudio PRO software, which delivers professional live performance-quality surround audio for music, movies and games. Additional software includes Norton anti-virus software, Muzee, Cyberlink Media Suite, and the ECS iEZ utility, which combines the eBLU BIOS Live Update Utility, the eDLU Drivers Live Update Utility and the eSF Smart Fan Utility

The new A970M-A DELUXE offers the latest technology for faster, more stable performance and ultimate reliability.

ECS Reveals its First Motherboard with the Intel NM70 Express Chipset – NM70-I

Energy Efficient Mini-ITX Motherboard with an Integrated Celeron Processor

23 October 2012, Taipei, Taiwan -Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS) reveals its latest mini-ITX motherboard ―NM70-I―featuring the new Intel® NM70 Express Chipset. The NM70-I is equipped with an integrated Intel Celeron® 847 or 807 processor to deliver great value and price performance options. With features like full Electrostatic Discharge Protection, Best Power Efficiency platform and full Windows® 8 support, the NM70-I is the best choice for affordable but capable small-form- factor systems. The NM70-I is ideal for desktop PCs, home theater PCs and industrial applications.

Energy Efficiency

Designed to save space and energy, the ECS NM70-I is the ideal solution for small-form-factor systems. With the Intel Celeron processor only consuming a maximum of 17W the ECS NM70-I is a low power solution. It features intelligent power management by turning computing functions on only when needed, reducing energy usage by operating at lower frequencies when performance is not necessary. The ECS NM70-I also has electrostatic discharge protection and 100% solid capacitor for the CPU voltage regulator module to maximize the reliability and longevity of your system.

Excellent Extension Support

Even with the mini-ITX size of the NM70-I, ECS has kept in mind the expansion needs of future-proof minded customers. The ECS NM70-I supports video and storage upgrades with 1x PCI-E x16 (running at x8) 2.0, 1x 6Gb/s SATA and 3x 3GB/s SATA connections. For industrial applications, the NM70-I is equipped with 2 Serial ports(COM). Moreover, users can enjoy high definition media as the NM70-I supports HD 1080p and Blue-Ray playback. The NM70-I is bundled with additional software including Norton anti-virus, Muzee, Cyberlink Media Suite, and the ECS iEZ utility, which combines eBLU BIOS Live Update Utility, eDLU Drivers Live Update Utility and eSF Smart Fan Utility.

Windows 8 Support

The ECS NM70-I with official Windows 8 WHCK (Windows Hardware Certification Kit) certification allows users to take full advantage of the touch browser and function-oriented design of Windows 8. As ECS BIOS and drivers are specially designed for Windows 8, with the NM70-I it is guaranteed that you are ready for Windows 8.

http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSWebSite/Product/Product_Detail.aspx?CategoryID=1&DetailID=1424&DetailName=Feature&MenuID=1&LanID=0

BIOSTAR Introduces All-In-One Mini ITX Motherboard

“A68I-350 DELUXE” with AMD Fusion 350D APU

BIOSTAR, a manufacturer of motherboards, graphics cards, industrial computing systems and peripherals, has announced the start of sales for their unique ultra-compact motherboard, the A68I-350 DELUXE with an integrated APU-chip, the AMD Fusion 350D (Socket BGA FT1). With the ultra­-small dimensions of this Mini ITX board (only 170×170 mm) and the high degree of integration of its powerful components, the design of a modern multimedia and entertainment setup with the minimum of components has become possible, all at a very affordable price.

Integrated into the A68I-350 DELUXE, the APU (Accelerated Processing Unit) processor AMD Fusion 350D is built on an integrated high performance graphical core of the AMD Radeon HD 6310 with support for the newest Microsoft DirectX11 technology. It boasts a highly efficient integrated graphical subsystem with up to 512 MB of distributed memory providing significant speed of data processing which is enough for the majority of modern office and entertainment applications including playing full HD video and driving today’s DX11 games. Integrated video outputs – analog VGA and digital HDMI 3D Visual – allow connecting any modern display including digital HDTVs and monitors.

The HDMI 3D Visual provides a level of interoperability for devices designed to deliver 3D content over an HDMI connection. The latest HDMI Specification adds key enhancements to support the market requirements for bringing broadcast 3D content into the home featuring key enhancements for 3D applications including the addition of mandatory 3D formats for broadcast content.

The A68I-350 DELUXE motherboards are based on the AMD A68 chip. The boards are equipped with two DDR3 DIMM slots and support of up to 16 GB of DDR3 800/1066 MHz RAM. It also offers three SATA2 3Gb/s connectors, two high speed USB 3.0 ports and four USB 2.0 ports. The network interfaces of the board are represented with a gigabit LAN controller, the Realtek RTL8111F chip. A modern 6-channel HD Audio processor powered by the Realtek ALC662 chip offers excellent sound and support for digital S/PDIF audio output.

A68I-350 DELUXE motherboards are equipped with modern high quality solid capacitors, the X.D.C (eXtreme Durable Capacitors). These are low ESR and high ripple conductive solid state capacitors that provide a stable power supply to the CPU. The life span can also be more than 6.25 times that of ordinary liquid caps.

The board features the latest BIOSTAR technologies such as BIOS Flasher and BIOS Online Update for easy updating and restoration of the BIOS, as well as BIO-Remote2 for remote control of the system via Android and Apple devices.

BIO-Remote2 Technology gives users a better Home Theatre environment. Users who own either Android or Apple mobile devices are able to access and control the PC remotely. You’re smart device can become an intelligent and functional remote control. Moreover, BIO-Remote2 also includes both the function of mouse pad and power point presentation modes.

The A68I-350 DELUXE also features the Charger Booster function. It is a high powered charging solution for Apple or Android devices such as iPad, iPhone and Android phones and tablets. Charger Booster Technology is able to boost the charging time to be more efficiency and faster once any mobile device is connected to the motherboard. With Charger Booster technology, you are able to charge your devices up to 42 % faster.