The Ultimate Armor for Protecting Your

8 Series Motherboards

A-Style: Conformal Coating

ASRock has some new tricks for their upcoming Intel Z87 boards. In fact, they should have gotten the concept of water and dust proofing from Sony Xperia Z and Acro S  smartphones. That isn’t really a new concept anyway.

“ASRock introduces a special layer of Conformal Coating makes ASRock’s motherboards invulnerable to conductive liquids, so overclockers won’t have to worry about accidently spilling liquid nitrogen, liquid helium or even clam chowder over their motherboards while they are overclocking. Along with conductive liquids, Conformal Coating also protects the motherboard against dust, corrosion and extreme temperatures. It is the ultimate armor for the upcoming 8 Series motherboards”.

There is also no mentioning if it meets the IP55 and IP57 water/dust resistance level in the press release.

At the end of the press release, they inserted this remark :

PS: The pins need to stay conductive therefore they are not covered by Conformal Coating. The water in this video is designed to avoid the pins which still risks of short circuit.

So, basically is it really over hyped, I shall leave it to your imagination. Nevertheless, it is still a good marketing concept.

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In addition to the 5 new Intel Z87 boards with the new golden colour scheme, ASUS will have the RoG and TUF boards upgraded with new functionalities in their new Z87 series. Below are the pictures of the mainboards.

They include the Maximus  VI Extreme, Maximus VI GENE and MAXIMUS VI HERO

For TUF Series, there is the small size board Gryphon Z87 and the original Sabertooth 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.

Dell Latitude 6430u Ultrabook review
Bluetooth 11 May 2013

Tablets are flooding the market in different sizes and shapes. Although they cater to a new generation of users who loves apps for functionality, such Windows 8 tablets do not come with a nicely built functional keyboard and expansion capabilities.

Tablets are handy but it has a 10 inches or smaller screen. When it comes to the business world, it may not be practical as most of the users require a bigger screen and a nice keyboard to type and view comfortably.  A large 14″ 1366×768 anti glare LED screen and a tactile keyboard is definitely the preferred platform for the working professionals.

Today, we take a closer look at the Dell Latitude 6430u Ultrabook, a no frills durable ultrabook.

The Dell Latitude 6430u is thin slim 1.69kg ultrabook. Flip open the screen and you will notice the sturdiness of the ultrabook. In fact, the Dell Latitude 6340u is the only Ultrabook tested to 14 MIL-STD-810G standards. The keyboard is somewhat water proof. The silver black colour scheme makes it stand out when illuminated by the white keyboard light.

Specfications wise, the unit is powered by the 3rd generation Intel Core i5-3427U at 1.8GHz. To speed things up, the unit comes with a 128GB Samsung SSD PM830 mSATA. Loading Windows 8 to login screen takes less than 6 seconds from power up. The unit we review comes with a 6-cell (60Whr) Li-polymer battery with ExpressCharge.

The graphics inbuilt within the processor is a Intel HD Graphics 4000 graphics and supports the 14″ HD display at 1366×768.

The Latitude 6430u is also vPro-enabled for easy management and comes with TPM and Dell Data Protection│Encryption.

ON the next page, we will take a detail look at the unit followed by benchmarks.

Here are the specs

Processor

BIOSTAR FM2 motherboards support AMD new Fusion S-Series “Richland” CPU

April 16, 2013, Taipei, Taiwan – AMD is ready to launch the next generation of company’s APUs in June, 2013, codenamed “Richland”. The new Fusion S-Series “Richland” CPU Series will have an updated graphics code which turns out to be HD-8000 series graphics and support native DDR3-2133.

Today, BIOSTAR full range FM2 motherboards are ready to support the new “Richland” series; users just need to update BIOS and Drivers which are available at BIOSTAR homepage.

*** Please see the table below for more details about AMD Fusion S-Series “Richland” CPU line up:

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

Kingston Ships HyperX Memory Kits with Black PCB

•  HyperX Beast and black Product Lines to Feature Black PCB

•   All-black Look Complements System Builds Where Color and Design is Key

Hsinchu, Taiwan – March 26, 2013－Kingston, the independent world leader in memory products, continues to celebrate its 10th HyperX anniversary by announcing all-new black printed circuit boards (PCB) on two of its product lines. Kingston’s high-performance HyperX Beast and entry-level enthusiast ‘black’ lines will incorporate black PCB under the signature heatspreader designs.

HyperX Beast, a part of the Predator family, matches large capacity with ultra-fast frequencies. Now featuring black PCB, HyperX Beast is available in various dual- and quad-channel kits in capacities from 8GB to 64GB and speeds up to an ultra-fast 2400MHz. It is perfect for hardcore gamers, PC modders, content creators and overclockers. The 2133MHz, 64GB and 2400MHz, 32GB Beast memory are the fastest and highest capacity certified IntelXMP-ready kits on the market.

HyperX black is available as single 4GB and 8GB module or as an 8GB or 16GB dual-channel kit in 1333- or 1600MHz frequencies. HyperX black is ideal as a cost-efficient performance upgrade for an overall faster system or for increased in-game frames-per-second rate.

“Our customers and fans have asked us to come out with HyperX memory featuring black PCBs to better match their system designs,” said Ann Bai, DRAM Sales Director, APAC region, Kingston. “We are able to match good looks with high performance. The black on black combination allows for easy pairing with any color component on the market.”

Kingston HyperX Beast and black Memory Features and Specifications:

• Unique: features a dynamic new heatspreader to maximize thermal dissipation, features a Black PCB
• XMP profiles: easy to enable, factory configured for best maximum performance
• Reliable: 100-percent factory tested
• Guaranteed: lifetime warranty, free technical support
• Easy to install
• Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB in various kits of  2, 4 and 8
• Frequency speed: 1333MHz−2400MHz
• Operating temperature: 0°C to 85°C
• Storage temperature: -55°C to 100°C
• Dimensions: 132mm X 41.4mm (Beast),133.35mm X 30mm (black)
• Available in a variety of CAS latencies
• Voltage: 1.5V-1.65V
• Compatible: tested with all popular brands of motherboards
• DDR3 only

¹ Please check your favorite Kingston e-tailer or reseller for pricing.

¹ Please check your favorite Kingston e-tailer or reseller for pricing.

Taipei, Taiwan, February 20th, 2013 – GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, today announced the debut of its latest motherboards series based on the Thin Mini-ITX form factor. The new GIGABYTE H77TN and B75TN motherboards enable the creation of slim and compact All-In-One (AIO) PC designs that adhere to Intel’s AIO PC specification.

Featuring a low profile design that is 43% thinner than traditional Mini-ITX motherboards, GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX motherboards offer a full featured PC experience with performance and specification options that you’d expect from a traditional desktop PC setup. In addition, GIGABYTE’s Thin Mini-ITX motherboards also offer flexible power input and IO expansion specifications that make them suitable for a broad range of commercial and industrial PC designs that also conform to Intel’s Thin Mini-ITX specification.

“GIGABYTE’s Thin Mini-ITX motherboards underline our commitment to the desktop PC market and cement our leadership position in the high growth AIO segment,” commented Henry Kao, Vice President of GIGABYTE Motherboard Business Unit. “By embracing new form factors like Thin Mini-ITX, GIGABYTE is enabling continued innovation in desktop PC design while also opening doors to market segments, such as industrial PCs, that we have not traditionally serviced.”

“IDC is expecting the AIO growth rate to be about 26% over the next three years. It is no surprise that AIO is the hot growth market for desktop systems in 2013 and beyond. We are thrilled to see GIGABYTE participating in the development of this important AIO ecosystem”, said Steve Dallman, Intel Vice President for the Reseller Channel. “In particular, we are excited to see GIGABYTE enabling new products, based on the Intel® B75 and H77 Express chipsets, for both small business and home platforms. I look forward to the new AIO systems, built upon these new GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX motherboards that will soon be in the market”.

GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX Motherboards

The GIGABYTE H77TN and GIGABYTE B75TN motherboards are based on the Intel® H77 and B75 chipsets supporting 2nd and 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processors. At just 17cm x 17cm, and a mere 2.5cm high, GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX motherboards also integrate flexible power specifications that include a selectable panel power driver, selectable back light power including 12v and 19v options, and a wide 12v to 19v voltage input range for a variety of power source options.

GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX motherboards also offer excellent IO flexibility with a x4 PCI Express expansion slot accompanied by both mSATA and Mini PCIe slots offering a wide range of modern and legacy IO options.

The Thin Mini-ITX: A Quickly Evolving Eco-system

Thin Mini-ITX builds on the popular and mature 17cm x 17cm Mini-ITX form factor, adding an additional 2.5cm IO shield height limitation that ensures compatibility with thinner chassis and builds. Other optimizations such as CPU socket placement and SODIMM memory come together to make a form factor that is built to power sleek system designs that don’t compromise on performance and features.

Several All-in-One chassis designs that follow Thin Mini-ITX guidelines are currently available and dozens more expected later in 2013, Most of the chassis combine touch-capable HD displays, internal cooling component and are geared to work seamlessly with GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX motherboards.

GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX motherboards make an excellent choice in a range of slim-line industrial and commercial spaces including POS systems, casino gaming PCs, industrial PCs and digital signage units. However a GIGABYTE Thin Mini-ITX motherboard is the starting point for any DIY user or enthusiast builder looking to create their own All-in-One PC.

To learn more about GIGABYTE Thin-Mini-ITX motherboards, and how to build your own All-in-One system, please visit this page of the GIGABYTE website: http://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/324/aio-system.html

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

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.

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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.

ASUS Embraces an Exciting New World of Intuitive and Adaptable Mobility with
Revolutionary Touch-Enabled Devices using Windows 8 [2 pages]

With innovative designs, high-definition multi-touch displays and outstanding ease of use,
ASUS delivers unprecedented customer satisfaction with a range of new products

ASUS, a global leader in the new digital era, reached another significant milestone on its ongoing journey – “In Search of Incredible”, with the launch of new mobile and desktop computers powered by Microsoft Windows 8. Innovation is key to the success of ASUS, and with the upcoming launch of Windows 8 and arrival of the ubiquitous cloud computing era, ASUS strives to continue its lead in being the forerunner of this transition.

Unveiled by ASUS’ Regional Directors of Southeast Asia, Rex Lee and Darwin Wu, the exciting range array of tablets, notebooks, ultra-portables and all-in-one PCs offer unprecedented ease of use through a combination of innovative design and intuitive multi-touch control. With its unique insight into user needs and constant quest for perfection, ASUS continues to exceed expectations and deliver extraordinary customer satisfaction.

ASUS TAICHI

An incredible fusion of notebook and tablet, ASUS TAICHI is the world’s first ultra-portable to feature a back-to-back dual-screen design. Weighing at just 1.25kg, TAICHI features a powerful Intel® Core™ processor and two back-to-back full HD IPS display screens for sharing information all in a slender profile that tapers to a slim 0.3cm. With the lid open, TAICHI is a powerful Ultrabook™ with a backlit keyboard for dealing with even the most demanding productivity tasks. With the lid closed, TAICHI is a lightweight multi-touch tablet for easy and intuitive use with Windows 8 when on the move. Both screens can also be used simultaneously and independently for unparalleled movie flexibility and for sharing information in exciting new ways.

You can watch a demo of ASUS TAICHI dual screen notebook demoed at press event http://en.ocworkbench.com/mobile-news/asus-taichi-demoed-at-asus-windows-8-press-event/

ASUS Transformer Book

ASUS Transformer Book is the world’s first detachable notebook that combines the best features of a notebook and tablet. When it is time to work, Transformer Book is a powerful and fully featured notebook with a high-capacity hard drive. When it is time to relax, the full high-definition IPS panel display detaches from the keyboard dock and Transformer Book instantly becomes a multi-touch Windows 8 tablet with its own blazingly fast SSD storage. With Smart Battery technology that ensures maximum mobile performance in both modes, Transformer Book the perfect solution for anyone who needs all the power of a notebook with the versatility of a tablet.

ASUS ZENBOOK Series

The newly expanded ASUS ZENBOOK Series of sleek and stylish ultra-portables now features a range of specifications and screen sizes to suit every mobile need. ZENBOOK features an award-winning, precision-engineered, design with a beautiful spun-metal finish and a stunning razor-thin profile. Brilliant, full high definition IPS panel displays, powerful dual-core processors and lightning-quick solid-state storage feature throughout, while capacitive multi-touch display on the new ZENBOOK Touch UX31A gives full gesture control with Windows 8.

The ECS A85F2-A GOLDEN builds on their already strong performance of FM2 motherboards by adding a host of powerful new features in the Trinity technology platform and also adapting the exclusive gold plating technology for the strictest quality and a higher outstanding performance.

The individually-numbered, handcrafted motherboards are stunningly outfitted in cool black with gold plated key components, giving A85F2-A GOLDEN a sophisticated and classy appearance that is unprecedented in the PC motherboard industry. Key features include: World 1st AMP Technology support to take the full advantage of their unique operating design, newest graphical uEFI BIOS: EZ BIOS, with stunning user-friendly interface and easy-to-use function radically takes full advantage of the performance, high-end gaming, multi-tasking and Windows 8 support, ATI CrossFireXTM graphics support with next generation PCI Express 2.0 to achieve the ultimate in 3D gaming performance, separate 4 display output design allowing users to fully satisfy their visual quality and growing demand.

Huge high speed storage capacity

ECS A85F2-A GOLDEN is one of the most powerful and reliable motherboards for gaming solution. In the ATX format, this ECS motherboard features 2 PCIe x16 slots for graphics card upgrades and CrossFireX support, as well as 3 PCIe x1 and 2 PCI slots for different demands. Up to 64 GB of dual channel DDR3 memory can be installed in 4 DIMMs, with full maximum speed from 1866 to 2133, or up to 2600 for high-end overclocking.

Expansion and connectivity options in the A85F2-A GOLDEN include 7 SATA 6 Gb/s connectors, 6 USB 3.0 ports, 8 USB 2.0 ports, Gigabit LAN, and a eSATA 6Gb/s connectors for fast external storage. Separate HDMI, DVI, D-Sub and Display Port provide graphics output, and 8-Ch HD Audio support.

Unprecedented reliability

ECS A85F2-A GOLDEN is certified by ECS Nonstop Technology for the ultimate stability and reliability. ECS Nonstop Technology deliver a hassle-free computing experience by solving common PC hardware problems before they can even occur. Hardware enhancements and a strict series of specially-designed tests combine 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 failed. Nonstop features include enhanced gold plating on critical contacts, and all solid capacitors and Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) protection for VGA, USB, LAN and HDMI ports.

Exclusive features design

New features in this generation include support for up to 4 displays and AMD Eyefinity Multi-display Technology, and HDMI Deep Color to accurately display billions of colors, bringing a new level of realism and color accuracy. AMD Turbo Core 3 extends the Turbo Core performance boost to the GPU, and CrossFireX gives access to ultra-high performance graphics with add-on cards. Support for industry standards is also upgraded, with Open GL 4.2, DisplayPort Version 1.2, and Open CL 1.1 or later. Enhanced features are standard: like AMD Universal Video Decoder (UVD) and Video Codec Engine (VCE) for ultra-fast video encoding and decoding.

The A85F2-A GOLDEN is bundled with THX TruStudio PRO which delivers the fullest audio experience for music, movies and games found in live performance and surround. Moreover, it also bundled with Norton AntiVirus software, Muzee, Cyberlink Media Suite, and the ECS iEZ utility, which includes the eBLU BIOS Live Update Utility, the eDLU Drivers Live Update Utility and the eSF Smart Fan Utility.

The brand new A85F2-A GOLDEN offers the latest technology for faster, more stable performance and extreme graphics realism.

More photos in the gallery, click on the icons to view it and stay tuned to OCWORKBENCH for our full review of this product.

MSI FM2-A85XA-G65 is MSI’s FM2 board with some great overclocking potential. From the usual vast range of options in BIOS. It also has voltage probes for you to measure the voltages in real time using probes.

In addition, it comes with OC Genie II which allows you one press overclocking. Just press it before powering up and it will auto overclock it to a safe overclocking level to boost your system performance within stable limits for daily usage.

In our test, MSI is a bit conversative as it clocks up the A10-5800K to 39 x 105MHz giving it a boost to the system to 4GHz. This is surprising because the turbo speed is 4.2GHz. No matter what, the overclocked speed is within the Turbo speed which should give it a boost without compromising stability.

Liquid Nitrogen is something that should be familiar with some extreme overclockers. While it is fun to see benchmark scores breaking 7GHz, it can also be deadly if used wrongly.

At some events, you will usually see some heroes (i call them idiots) performing “swallowing the LN2″ trick by pouring a bit into the mouth and blowing it out from nose or mouth. This is actually a stupid and dangerous stunt. I am not sure what the manufactureres have to say about this kind of dangerous marketing gimmick. Are these people covered by insurance. Do insurance companies pay out for such acts of negligence ?

In most videos, they are giving the false impresion that drinking LN2 is cool and safe. See the video below

Below is the news report from HeraldSun Australia reporting that a teen girl has her stomach removed after drinking a cocktail with LN2. So beware of LN2. It is not really as safe as most claim.

A TEENAGER nearly died and had her stomach removed in hospital after drinking a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen.

Gaby Scanlon, from Heysham in the UK, drank the cocktail during a night out celebrating her 18th birthday in Lancaster last Thursday, the Lancaster Guardian reported.

She first felt breathless, then developed severe stomach pain and was taken to Lancaster Royal Infirmary, where doctors diagnosed a perforated stomach.

Ms Scanlon was rushed to surgery where her stomach was removed in order to save her life.

On Monday she was reported to be in a serious but stable condition.

A Lancashire police spokesman told the Guardian their investigation was still in its early stages and they were interviewing witnesses.

.

“The premises involved have fully cooperated with all agencies and have suspended drinks involving liquid nitrogen,” they said.

The local BBC reported that the venue, Oscar’s wine bar, sent their “heartfelt best wishes” to Ms Scanlon and her family “at this distressing time”.

The Daily Mail reported that Oscar’s had recently promoted a cocktail called the “Pornstar Martini”, containing liquid nitrogen and champagne, for nine pounds ($14).

Ms Scanlon’s stepfather, Ian Henshall, told the Daily Mail the family were hoping for a quick recovery. “We are just concentrating on her getting better,” he said.

Gaby Scanlon, whose 18th birthday drinks took a disastrous turn when she drank a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen.

Ms Scanlon was apparently well enough to post on Twitter on Sunday, complaining that people were joking about her nearly dying, the Mail reported.

A local councillor, Paul Aitchison, told the Press Association he had also tried a liquid nitrogen drink at the bar called a “Nitro Jagermeister” – but without any ill effects.

Local director of public health Dr John Aston said Ms Scanlon was the victim of an “irresponsible alcohol industry that’s now competing on gimmicks.”

“(Bartenders) should not be playing chemistry,” he said, calling for closer regulation of the drinks industry.

Nitrogen takes liquid form at 196 degrees below zero Centigrade. Thanks to the ‘Liedenfrost Effect’, people will survive brief contact with liquid nitrogen unscathed. But longer exposures will cause ‘cryogenic burns’ and kill unprotected flesh in the same way as frostbite.

Drinking liquid nitrogen is a party trick with occasionally devastating consequences, as the gas rapidly warms and expands in the stomach, causing it to burst. Drops of liquid nitrogen can also burn away the lining of the stomach.

People who have had their stomach removed can continue to live a normal life and eat and drink regular food, but they can only eat smaller portions and need to take vitamin supplements for nourishment.

Source

The new FM2 boards have started to surface together with processors in retail stores. We managed to get hold of a the processor A10-5800K and paired it up with the Gigabyte F2A85X-UP4 to do a quick overclocking test.

The processor is rated 3.8GHz turbo at 4.2GHz. As the multiplier is unlocked, we push it up to 44x. CPU CLK is marginally increased to 103MHz. The internal Radeon 6770D GPU Clk is also increased from 800MHz to 1000MHz. Memory is set to used XMP Profile #2 which later is somewhat lowered to CAS 12-13-12-31.

The system seems to have max. out at 4.5GHz with air cooling. It might be able to go higher if water cooling is used.

Vcore is set to 1.5v and VDimm at 1.65v. The rest of the voltages can be seen on the screen shot below :

Gigabyte release new GA-H77N-WiFI motherboard has been spotted in Singapore, features a Mini-ITX form factor design and comes with Intel Wi-Di and Dual LAN for HTPC/ Lan Gaming/ Nas Storage and File Server.

A single expansion slots PCIe 3.0 x16 slot and dual memory 1.5v DIMM slots support up to 16GB DDR3-1600MHz. The Integrated graphics chip is provided display outputs through 2 HDMI and a DVI-I port.

More pictures and discussion here.