LG AND INTEL SIGN STRATEGIC ALLIANCE FOR
INTEL WIRELESS DISPLAY (WiDi) TECHNOLOGY
LG and Intel Collaborate on Intel WiDi to Enhance Content
Accessibility of CINEMA 3D Smart TVs

SEOUL, Dec. 15, 2011 – LG Electronics (LG) and Intel entered into a strategic alliance to adopt and jointly promote Intel? Wireless Display (WiDi) technology. Intel WiDi will be embedded into next year’s LG CINEMA 3D Smart TVs, making them the first in the TV industry to feature Intel WiDi technology. Intel WiDi is a wireless connectivity inter-face which allows for instant, high-definition viewing of content stored in notebooks and other external mobile devices on large screen TVs, projectors or monitors.

“Through this strategic alliance, CINEMA 3D Smart TV users will be able to access a wider variety of content in a more convenient manner,” said Seog-ho Ro, Senior Vice President of LG Home Entertainment Company’s TV Business Unit. “Intel WiDi will be one of several features that will enhance the user convenience of our CINEMA 3D Smart TVs, further differentiating our products from the competition.”

“Intel is planning to expand Intel WiDi technology to various devices to provide con-sumers the seamless, smarter usage experience,” said Hee-Sung Lee, Country Manager of Intel Korea. “Through this collaboration with LG Electronics, LG CINEMA 3D Smart TV users could also benefit from Intel? WiDi without the need to purchase an ex-ternal adapter.”

Intel WiDi not only enables sharing of stored content, it also transfers onto CINEMA 3D Smart TVs, projectors and monitors a spectrum of online contents – such as YouTube videos and streaming TV shows from broadcast websites – that are accessible through notebooks and other mobile devices. Users can view such contents through the expan-sive and immersive high-definition CINEMA 3D display.

Like wired connectivity standards, such as HDMI and USB cables, Intel WiDi does not require an active wireless internet or WiFi connection to transfer content between exter-nal mobile devices and CINEMA 3D Smart TVs. Intel WiDi establishes a direct connec-tion between the WiFi chips embedded in the external mobile devices and the CINEMA 3D Smart TVs.

Furthermore, Intel WiDi does not tie down the mobile device during real-time content sharing. Users may perform other tasks on their notebooks and tablet PCs while simul-taneously streaming content to a CINEMA 3D Smart TV, projector or monitor.

LG and Intel would undertake co-marketing activities and Intel WiDi-enabled LG CINEMA 3D products will be on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) next month in Las Vegas.

When it comes to AMD CPU vs Intel CPU, fan boys will sure be siding their favourite. In our review of the Gigabyte X79-UD7, we compared the Intel Core i7 3960X against the Core i5 2500K.

In addition, we would like to know how the new 6 core processor Core i7 3960X will fare against the Phenom II X6 1100 which sells for only 1/4 of the price of the 3960X.

Would it be worth paying 4X the price for the processor for just that performance ? Read our review with benchmarks and judge for yourself.

Read review here.

Introduction to Gigabyte X79-UD7
Bluetooth 22 Nov 2011

Last week, Intel launches it’s new series of processors based on the LGA 2011 Socket type. WE have already previewed the performance on launch date last week. Today, we will take at the the Gigabyte X79-UD7 motherboard. This new board features some interesting features that were never seen before on previous generation boards.

The X79-UD7 is based on Intel X79 Express chipset. It supports the Intel® Core™ i7 processors in the LGA2011 package. It has 4 x 1.5V DDR3 DIMM sockets supporting up to 32 GB of system memory. It employs a 4 channel memory architecture that supports DDR3 2133/1866/1600/1333/1066 MHz memory modules (DDR3-2400 is possible with OC). It supports non-ECC and XMP memory modules.

The board consists of 2 x PCI Express x16 slots, running at x16 (PCIEX16_1, PCIEX16_2); 2 x PCI Express x16 slot, running at x8 (PCIEX8_1, PCIEX8_2)
* The PCIEX8_2 slot shares bandwidth with the PCIEX16_2 slot. When the PCIEX8_2 slot is populated, the PCIEX16_2 slot will operate at up to x8 mode.
(All PCI Express x16 slots conform to PCI Express 3.0 standard.). There are 3 x PCI Express x1 slots (All PCI Express x1 slots conform to PCI Express 2.0 standard.)

The board support 4-Way/3-Way/2-Way AMD CrossFireX™/NVIDIA SLI technology and the PCIEX16 slots operate at up to x8 mode when 4-Way/3-Way AMD CrossFireX™/NVIDIA SLI is enabled.

In terms of expandability, the board has 2 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (SATA3 0/1) supporting up to 2 SATA 6Gb/s devices; 4 x SATA 3Gb/s connectors (SATA2 2/3/4/5) supporting up to 4 SATA 3Gb/s devices which support for RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and RAID 10. In addition, there are 2 x Marvell 88SE9172 chips that supports 4 x SATA 6Gb/s connectors (GSATA3 6/7/8/9) supporting up to 4 SATA 6Gb/s devices.

The Intel X79 Express chipset also support Up to 14 USB 2.0/1.1 ports (8 ports on the back panel, 6 ports available through the internal USB headers). There are 2 x Fresco FL1009 chips which supports Up to 4 USB 3.0/2.0 ports (2 ports on the back panel, 2 ports available through the internal USB header).

The audio on board is based on the Realtek ALC898 codec HDA and supports 2/4/5.1/7.1-channel, Dolby® Home Theater, S/PDIF Out. There is also a Intel GbE LAN (10/100/1000 Mbit) network port on board.

In addition, this new board features GIGABYTE 3D Power (patent pending)

GIGABYTE X79 series motherboards are the first to take advantage of the exclusive GIGABYTE 3D Power, an all new hardware and software-based Digital Power Engine for both the PWM and Memory that delivers unprecedented power delivery control.

All New Digital Power Control for the CPU and Memory
Utilizing a brand new Digital PWM controller, GIGABYTE’s 3D Power features precise Auto Voltage Compensation to deliver a steady flow of power to the CPU and memory no matter the loading. This all new, all digital power system provides enthusiast users with exceptional control over the overclocking potential of their GIGABYTE X79 motherboard.
GIGABYTE is the first in the industry to utilize digital memory controllers for not only the Memory, but VTT and VSA, for real-time monitoring and adjusting. Digital memory control allows users to monitor and record DDR power and current in real-time while gaming, overclocking or at idle. Users can also set OVP (Over Voltage Protection) to safeguard your memory, adjust memory Load-line Calibration to fix memory vdrooping for a quicker response time and adjust memory PWM frequency on-the-fly.

GIGABYTE 3D Power(patent pending) Utility

	Users can now enjoy a fully interactive 3D utility that facilitates adjustment of the 3 dimensions that control the power delivery to your CPU and Memory: Voltage, Phase and Frequency. These parameters are crucial to how the digital PWM supplies power to critical areas of the motherboard and can help users quickly obtain the highest, most stable overclock.
	3D Power: Voltage Control Voltage parameters can be modified within 3D Power, including load line calibration the of CPU. By adjusting load line calibration, Vdrooping can be avoided, maintaining optimal voltages levels despite increasing current levels. OVP (over voltage protection) can also be adjusted to change default protection range of the CPU, memory controller, VTT and system memory.
	3D Power: Phase Control Users can calibrate OCP (Over Current Protection) for the CPU, integrated memory controller and system memory power levels. This allows the Phase control to deliver even more power to the system when needed.
	3D Power: Frequency Control GIGABYTE’s digital PWM allows for adjustable frequency control via the International Rectifier (IR3567) PWM controller. 3D Power frequency control allows users to change the PWM controller frequency so that the CPU VRM can adjust power delivery speeds more quickly. Users can also adjust the PWM spectrum or maximum and minimum overall frequencies.

It also comes bundled with GIGABYTE Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi Card

With 2 kinds data transfer mode, GIGABYTE Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi Card providing spec 300 Mbps transfer rates, 802.11n supports the latest WiFi specifications for better signal coverage, and featuring the newest Bluetooth 4.0, you will not suffer from signal loss like before.

Dow Jones reports that AMD is cutting its revenue and gross margin guidance citing manufacturing problems at its foundry, Globalfoundries. The recent APUs “LIano” are also in shortage due to Globalfoundries not able to meet the high demand of such APUs.

The news sent AMD shares down 8.6% to $5.62 in after-hours trading. The Sunnyvale, Calif., company designs semiconductors that serve as calculating engines in computers, servers and game consoles.

On the other hand, there is also no confirmation of it’s highly anticipated 8 Core Bulldozer processor.

Intel Corporation announced that its Board of Directors have approved a 16% increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.21 per share ($0.84 per share on an annual basis), beginning with the dividend that will be declared in the third quarter of 2011.

Intel Corporation announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Fulcrum Microsystems Inc., a privately held fabless semiconductor company that designs Ethernet switch silicon for data center network providers. Fulcrum Microsystems designs integrated, standards-based 10GbE and 40 Gigabit Ethernet (40GbE) switch silicon that have low latency and workload balancing capabilities while helping provide superior network speeds. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In a surprise announcement at Computex in Taiwan, AMD unveiled its plans to produce a Bulldozer-based APU, codenamed Trinity. The company also launched its Z series chips, aimed at Windows tablets, and announced the official branding for its Llano APUs. (“APU” is AMD-speak for a processor that combines CPU and GPU cores on a single die.)

Not much was revealed about the 32nm Trinity chip apart from the codename, the fact that it combines Bulldozer cores with a GPU, and the fact that the GPU supports DX11. This would definitely pose a big challenge to the Intel Sandy bridge which has a weaker GPU.

AMD also launched it’s Z series APUs targeting tablets. The Bobcat-based Z series parts will have a 6W TDP, which is much higher than Intel’s Moorestown (which is in the 1W range, depending on what you’re doing), and certainly not even close to being in the same league as the sub-1W ARM competition. With the higher power draw, the Z series would most likely see itself on netbooks rather than on a tablet.

AMD announced the official VISION branding for Llano today, dubbing it the A series of APUs. The three tiers in the Llano family are A4, A6, and A8, which means that the recently leaked slides showing these codenames were legit. As was shown in the leaked presentation, AMD will be aiming Llano squarely at Intel’s current Sandy Bridge lineup.

For a preview of the benchmark performance of the A series LIano against the Intel Sandy bridge, please click here.

Source

Last week, early pictures of this board was leaked on the net. Today, the actual specifications of the board is out from Gigabyte themselves.

The GA-Z68XP-UD3-iSSD and GA-Z68XP-UD3 are boards based on the INTEL Z68 chipset. They both support the LGA1155 socket 2nd generation Core processors.

Something unique about it’s design is the connector at the centre of the board. That is where the Intel mSATA 20GB SLC SSD 311 will fit in. With that SSD in there, the system can be configure to run in Intel smart response technology to boost up the system speed. The other model with iSSD does not come with the Intel SSD 331.

Both boards supports Lucid Virtu, 3X USB, SATA3, USB3.0, Dolby, Easytune etc.

Check out these videos

INTEL Shows X79 mainboards ASUS CIX79 Deluxe, ASROCK X79 Extreme4, Gigabyte GD X79A-UD3 and the MSI X79A-GD65

Intel has a LOT of motherboards on display, the more prominent onces however are based on the X79 chipset, Intels next gen enthusiast platform with 2011-pin LGA socket, the Sandy Bridge-E (enthusiast) processor that features a massive quad-channel DDR3 memory controller and 32+ lane PCI-Express 2.0 hub, and the X79 chipset. Intel might actually skip the 6-series chipset family with its next high-end platform chipset as the platform is slated for Q4 2011 already, though Z68 will still be launched, but as a Premium chipset.

Source

Performance preview of AMD LIano vs Intel Sandy Bridge

In a few more weeks, the Intel Sandy bridge will face a new challenger, the AMD LIano. AMD LIano is the new processor series that is based on AMD Fusion, integrating the graphics processor into the same package of the processor. Also known as APU, it will compete head to head to Intel Sandy bridge which also power an embedded graphcis processor within.

While Intel H55 or Z68 can be paired up with the Core i3/i5 processors for it’s graphics capabilities, the AMD LIano processors have to be paired up with the A75 series motherboards with Socket FM-1.

So, how does the AMD LIano performs against the Intel Sandybridge? We take a look at two comparison running different processors on INTEL and AMD platform for 3DMark Vantage and PC Mark Vantage.

The scores are preliminary based on early beta drivers.

ECS Black Extreme A990FXM-A Motherboard Unveils Next Extreme Gaming Generation

Taipei, Taiwan, 31st May, 2011 – Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world’s leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, and notebook manufacturer is pleased to announce the latest AMD AM3+ support motherboard – ECS Black Extreme A990FXM-A. Coming with unbelievable gaming power, ECS Black Extreme A990FXM-A is going to bring about the storm of next gaming generation.

AM3+ Platform, Gaming Power Overclock

ECS Black Extreme A990FXM-A motherboard support 8-Core AMD CPU with AM3+ socket enables users to experience the most-core CPU of next generation. ECS Black Extreme A990FXM-A also supports 3-way AMD ATI CrossFireXTM and even 3-way NVIDIA® SLI® technology to support NVIDIA® graphic cards to empower graphics ability firing up your gaming accelerating speed. Moreover, ECS A990FXM-A supports DDR3 2133(OC) with two sets of dual channel architecture up to 32GB.

QoolTechTM IV, Chameleon in Your PC

ECS Black Extreme A990FXM-A motherboard adopts the cutting-edge and exclusive technology—QoolTechTM IV, using unique thermochromic dyes on heat sink which changes colors to identify the temperature and including three heat pipes and innovative welding technology, which help to achieve more heat dissipation up to 20% efficiency.

The thermochromic heat sink with unique dyes responds to heat and transfers between solid and liquid forms to display different color, which is the first time the technology is adopted in the industry. Three heat pipes with welding technology help to connect the bottom of cooler with heat pipe; in this way, the heat will directly transfer to heat pipe without the intermediary of a piece of copper to achieve higher heat dissipation.

Black Extreme Equipment, Power up Every Possibility

Beside AM3+ support strength and QoolTechTM IV technology, as one of Black Extreme series, A990FXM-A motherboard of course would be equipped with the best equipments to maximize its power. 3333 technology includes 15μgold contact, USB 3.0, SATA 3.0, eSATA 3.0, which not only enhances better system and plug-in stability but also provides the fastest transportation technology. ECS Black Extreme A990FXM-A also supplies Bluetooth on board to lift up the transportation ability of your PC in wireless strength.

In our News Coverage @ OCWorkbench, we will cover the new products launch or seen at Computex Taipei 2011. If you are a manufacturer or vendor who likes to have your product exposed here, do feel free to drop us an email.

Here is a list of news articles on Computex Taipei 2011 [It will be updated daily]

Computex Taipei 2011 News Coverage AMD Client Platform Roadmap

Computex Taipei 2011 News Coverage AMD announces Trinity, talks Llano, launches Z series at Computex

Computex Taipei 2011 Kingston launches Wireless storage device Wi-Drive for Apple iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch® users

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage Sharkoon Flexi-Drive Ultimate with Eight-channel MLC Architecture | Write Speed up to 120 MB/s, Read Rate up to 200 MB/s

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage ADATA demonstrates fastest RAM Disk scoring 6GB/s READ and 9GBs WRITE

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage MSI displays Afterburner App for Android, the World’sFirst Android-based Overclocking Utility for Graphics Cards:

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage MSI launches Military Class II standard boards – Z68A-GD80, 990FXA-GD80, Big Bang-Marshal (B3)

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3-iSSD integrates mSATA for speed enhancement using ISRT

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage Gigabyte X79A-UD3 Intel X79 futuristic board on display

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage Gigabyte A75-UD4H sighted

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage G.Skill showcases its latest SATA 3 SSD, Phoenix II Pro, and ultra high performance desktop memory series

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage Gigabyte makes Z68 Gaming Board – GA-Z68-Gaming

Computex Taipei 2011 ASUS UX21 subnotebook challenges Mac Air with it’s super thin design

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage ASUS showcase dual socket LGA1366 and LGA2011 ROG motherboard “DANSHUI BAY”

Computex Taipei 2011 MSI shows sub 300 dollars 7″ and 10″ WindPad

Computex Taipei 2011 GIGABYTE Launches New AMD 900 Series Motherboards Delivers 4-way SLI™ andCrossFireX™ Support for the First Time on the AMD Platform

Computex Taipei 2011 Qualcomm’s new chipset to be featured on Taiwan tablet PCs

Computex Taipei 2011 ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX available in market

Computex Taipei 2011 Shuttle launches Tablets based on Nvidia Tegra2

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage ASUS CrossHair V Formula AMD 990FX board Video

Computex Taipei 2011 INTEL Shows X79 mainboards ASUS CIX79 Deluxe, ASROCK X79 Extreme4, Gigabyte GD X79A-UD3 and the MSI X79A-GD65

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage ASUS unveils PadFone, a tablet that comes equipped with an integrated smartphone docking station

Computex Taipei 2011 ASUS CrossHair V Formula AMD 990FX board sighted

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage Gigabyte announces S1080 Windows 7 tablet with USB 3.0 and optical drive dock

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage Exclusive Performance preview of AMD LIano vs Intel Sandy Bridge

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage NVIDIA to showcase Tegra 3 mobile quad core processor

Computex Taipei 2011 Coverage Gigabyte showcase AMD Fusion board A75-UD4H

Computex Taipei 2011 ECS A75F-A(v10) AMD Fusion motherboard on show at Computex

Computex Taipei 2011 ECS unveils it’s ECS Black Extreme A990FXM-A Motherboard

Computex Taipei 2011 Gigabyte announces GA-990FXA-UD3 AMD 990FX SB950 AM3+ motherboard

Computex Taipei 2011 ASUS Padfone, Android 3.1 for Transformer update

Computex Taipei 2011 ECS to showcase AMD 990FX board A990FXM-A (V1.0)

Computex Taipei 2011 GIGABYTE Offers Bundle on Z68XP-UD3-iSSD Motherboard featuring 20GB Intel® SSD 311 Series to support Intel Smart Response Technology

Computex Taipei 2011 Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 will have PCIe based SSD slot to support Intel Smart Response Technology

Computex Taipei 2011 AMD’s LIano and Bulldozer delayed to August ? [updated]

Computex Taipei 2011 – AMD A75 boards to be displayed by major brands

Computex Taipei 2011 – ASRock to showcase AMD 990FX board 990FX Extreme4, AMD A75 board A75 Extreme6 and Intel Z68 board Fatal1ty Z68 Professional at Computex Taipei 2011

ECS Presents A75 Series with the latest AMD A series APU with AMD Hudson D3 chipset and AMD FM-1 socket

It will also be available at http://computextaipei.wordpress.com

Intel’s Sandy Bridge Will Not Skyrocket Sales of Microprocessors – Analyst.
No Deferred Demand for Sandy Bridge-Based Systems Expected

Intel Corp. is extremely optimistic about its code-named Sandy Bridge central processing unit (CPU) and the company is eager to show that system builders are also very excited about the new chip, which brings a lot of tangible improvements compared to predecessors. However, an analyst believes that Intel is overestimating its Sandy Bridge product and there would be no uptick in sales of PCs because of the new chip launch.

“Although Intel seems to believe that its upcoming Sandy Bridge processor will drive demand, we cannot find evidence of delayed PC purchases for it. Sandy Bridge offers improved graphics [performance], but it appears to be evolutionary, not revolutionary. As a result, we expect normal seasonality for Intel in Q1 with revenue declining 9% [sequentially] from $11.1 billion in Q4 to $10.1 billion in Q1, below consensus of $10.7 billion,” wrote Christopher Danely, an analyst with J.P. Morgan analyst, in a note for customers.

Recently a number of analysts said, and Intel implied, that Sandy Bridge microprocessors will revitalize the market of personal computers in Q1 2011 because of improved performance of microprocessor and graphics engines. Some even believe that certain consumer are not buying new computers and wait for Sandy Bridge to show up, thus, creating deferred demand for PCs.

It should be noted that the first quarter of every year is traditionally weaker compared to the fourth quarter of the previous year. As a result, Sandy Bridge has to be very good in order to catalyze consumers to replace their PCs in Q1 2011 after exhausting purchases in late 2010. Meanwhile, even though Sandy Bridge will considerably improve performance of x86 processing cores and integrated graphics core, the chip will lack DirectX 11 functionality, something that even low-end code-named Zacate chip from AMD will support.

On the other hand, thanks to much improved performance of built-in graphics core of Sandy Bridge, system makers will be able to drop low-end integrated graphics from ATI or Nvidia, which will reduce their costs and will boost profitability, or will allow them to make PCs more affordable.

The first Intel Sandy Bridge chips will feature two or four cores with Turbo Boost and Hyper-Threading technology as well as new graphics processor. There will be a lot of different desktop models with 35W, 65W (dual-core, quad-core) or 95W (quad-core) thermal design power. The new processors will use LGA1155 form-factor and will only be compatible with platforms based on the Intel 6-series chipsets.

The two key improvements of Sandy Bridge are a new integrated graphics core with much increased performance as well as Intel AVX (Advanced Vector Extensions) technology which, when used by software programmers, will increase performance in floating point, media, and processor intensive software, according to the Intel.

ASUS Technical Seminar

Last Thursday, ASUS held a technical seminar at Peninsula Hotel in Singapore. Media from over Asia were flown in for a technical briefing about the upcoming ASUS products.

The focus of the event was on the new designs incorporated into the upcoming H67 and P67 boards. These new features include Dual Intelligent processors 2 – DIGI+ VRM / EPU, TPU and exclusive features like BT ! GO, EFI BIOS, USB 3.o front panel and AI Suite III.

The Dual Intelligent Processors2 basically uses a DIGI+ VRM for higher system stability and more precise adjustment. EPU is for power savings. TPU on the other hand makes OC easy with instant performance boost and self optimised system settings.

BT! Go is blueooth on the go. New boards with BT! Go comes built in with bluetooth controller chip on board, allowing connection to mobile devices for file sharing, remote control and entertainment (control audio video playback using your mobile phone).

In fact, the most exciting new feature would be the EFI BIOS. Say Goodbye to boring blue / black BIOS interface screen.With EFI BIOS, you are now greeted with a Graphics Interface to control the various component of your system using your mouse. It is like running Windows on boot up. ASUS EFI BIOS also has a BIOS-EZ mode which gives you the system information, performance settings all in one page. ASUS disk unlocker also helps to break the OS limitation so that you can maximise your HDD space of a 3TB HDD. ASUS also start to have front USB 3.0 box support for a easy and faster transfer of files using the USB 3.0 standard.

In the next few pages, we take a look at some of the upcoming boards.

In the coming month, Intel will announce it’s new generation chipset. Today we take a look at a few new upcoming boards from Gigabyte that will support this new chipset and new series of processors.

The first is

P67A-UD3R      

Features:
1.      Onboard SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps to deliver impeccable data transfer speeds.
2.      New Matte Black color PCB offering a stylish new outlook that lends itself to decoration and case mods.
3.      GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ 3 design with 2x Copper PCB to provide the stability, reliability and longevity essential to meet the power needs of high-end processors and other components running today’s most demanding applications and games.
4.      Unique GIGABYTE 3x USB Power design with On/Off Charge USB ports to offer faster battery charging for iPhone, iPad and iPod devices.
5.      CrossFireX™ support for ultimate graphics performance.
6.      GIGABYTE patented DualBIOS™ technology delivering the highest level of failure protection.
 
Brief Specifications:
CPU Support: LGA 1155 Intel® 2nd Generation Core Processors
Chipset: Intel® 6-series Chipset
Memory:  4 DIMMs
Dual Channel DDR3 2200 / 1600 / 1333 / 1066 / 800
Expansion slots: 2* PCI-e x16 ( 1×16 + 1×4)
    3* PCI-e x1
    2* PCI
Storage:  4* SATA 3Gbps , 2* SATA 6Gbps
         2* USB 3.0, 14* USB 2.0 Audio: 8-Channel Audio
LAN: 1GbE PCI-e
Form Factor: ATX
Others: DualBIOS™, Dual CPU Power, Ultra Durable™ 3, On/Off Charge, 3x USB Power,

MSI and Corbell showcase new Fuzion boards at annual event at Vivocity
Bluetooth 26 Sep 2010

Corbell, the Singapore’s distributor held it’s annual end user gathering event at the usual Vivocity Cineplex last week. Media and end users were invited for a buffet, movie treat and most importantly a technical update on the latest MSI products.

The main focus on the event would be the Fuzion series of boards.  

Fuzion solution based on Lucid Hydra 200 allows users to use upgrade their graphics performance by adding more graphics cards to their system. As most traditional Intel or AMD designs, they don’t allow competitor cards to be used to improve overall system performance. For example, in SLI, you need to get two cards of the same GPU, the same applies for ATi’s CrossFireX.

Some of these problems also exists on chipset support for SLI or CrossFireX. For example, you can’t run SLI on AMD based motherboards. While high end Intel X58 solutions support both CrossFireX and SLI but they don’t allow an ATi card and NVIDIA card to work in tandem. So, if you require multi GPU system, you are quite restricted in the number of choices.

Fuzion resolves these issues as it is found that most poeple   still want to reuse their old VGA cards.  Fuzion thus enables true upgrade path for your old graphics cards and you can enjoy different GPU vendor features such as PhysX Cuda and Eyefinity all on the same board using two different cards.

MSI intoduce two mid range boards, the P55A FUZION and the 870A FUZION. The first is based on Intel P55 while the later is based on AMD 870 chipset. Both boards highlights the Military Class Components that is Hi-C Cap, Icy Choke and Solid Cap for longevity.

The Hi-C Cap provides 8X longer life than traditional capacitors. Icy Choke has 20 deg celsius lower temperature than traditional Ferrite Choke. The Solid cap gives you 10 year ultra long lifetime than traditional capacitors.

To ensuer top quality and stability. Quality parts are used. All military class components meet temperature requirement of US department of defense MIL-PRF-39003L standard. Some class of components are used on NASA satellites or space shuttles because of the highest quality.

The P55A Fuzion based on Intel P55 solution comes with 2 full length PCIe X16 slots. It supports the Fuzion Technology in N mode/A mode/X mode. it has Front USB 3.0 port. It uses a 8+2 phase DrMOS PWM and extra 6 pin VGA power for maximum stability. Other features include OC Genie, Super Unlock, True PCIe gen 2 x16, USB 3 and SATA 6Gbps ports.

The 870A Fuzion board based on AMD 870 chipset also supports N mode/A mode/X mode and Front USB 3.0. It also has OC Genie, Unlock GPU Core, True PCIe Gen 2 x16, USB 3 and SATA 6Gbps support.

Both boards are already on sale. Mix and Match your same brand of different brand graphics cards and get the best performance out of them,

See detail exhibits below :

Intel will launch new series of P67 and H67 chipsets in Jan 2011 with 25% graphics improvement

It is annual update with chipsets. Intel is slated to launch the P67 and H67 chipsets in Jan 2011. Board manufacturers are eagerly awaiting for the new processors and chipsets as they already have the boards ready for the new yr.

For those who have seen our report of Computex 2010, you would have seen some early static boards of P67 or H67.

Basically, the P67 and H67 do not differ much from it’s predecessors the P55 and H55. Basically the P67 is discrete while the H67 has graphics output ports on the mainboard.

One thing to note is that the P67 and H67 will support new series of processors with LGA1155 socket. Thus, your current processors won’t run on the new boards with new chipsets.

The new processors with 1155 is slated to be lanuched in January 2011 or so. The new embedded graphics on these processors is said to have a 25% improvement in performance over the current LGA1156 processors.

Currently, Intel P55 and H55 boards support overclocking. Unfortunately, the next generation H67 will not support overclocking. So, if you need to overclock, you would have to go for discrete solution, the P67.

Local distributor CDL Trading and Gigabyte Technology of Taiwan held a gathering of power users at a Thai restaurant in town. Rockson Chiang was here in town to give us a view of the technologies available on the Gigabyte mainboards.

The event started at 7.20pm with crowds streaming in from all parts of Singapore. To my surprise, some of the attendees are probably Secondary school kids. Of course, the older ones would be close to 50 yrs old. It simply shows that Gigabyte boards are well accepted by all age groups.

Much of the presentation was on the current technologies like USB 3.0 super charge of iPhone, iPad and stability design using ferrite chokes etc. The most interesting demonstration was the demonstration of Cloud OC where he uses a iPad (or any phone with wifi). The wifi device is connected to the AP. With the device (ipad or phone), you can access the IP address of your machine and overclock the system remotely over the WiFi network.

The video presentations are on the 2nd page.

INTEL Corp is to expand into TV and mobile handheld devices through a new unified software platform launched in the second half of the year and an online application store in China, the world’s biggest chip maker said in Beijing yesterday.

It is to launch a cross-device platform called MeeGo, which is designed for phones, cars and home appliances such as TVs with various services. The first device with MeeGo will be available in the domestic market in the second half of this year. Intel will also open an online store called AppUp Center for MeeGo device users in China in future, Renee James, senior vice president and general manager of the software and services group at Intel, said during the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing.

“MeeGo is a unified operating environment running across a common computer architecture therefore it can give developers broader reach and easier access to end users, on any device,” James said.

Intel dominates the global chip market in the personal computer sector with more than 80 percent market share but still faces strong competition in mobile and home appliance chip markets from rivals such as Texas Instruments, Qualcomm, Samsung, MediaTek and Trident.

The MeeGo platform was developed by Intel and Nokia. It is available to original equipment manufacturers, operating system vendors, network operators and others, targeting a wide range of devices, including smartphones, netbooks, tablet PCs, TVs and in-vehicle systems.

Source

http://mobile.shanghaidaily.com/article/?id=434099