CleanSpark recently announced that it plans to use immersion cooling on nearly 6,000 cryptocurrency mining rigs in a bid to reduce its operating costs and boost performance. That means submerging the systems in liquid to more efficiently manage its operating temperatures. Immersion cooling is becoming increasingly popular among mining companies as they look to squeeze out every bit of performance and reduce costs to maximize profits.

The company said that switching to immersion cooling has "proven to significantly increase the hashrate of bitcoin mining machines, reduce power consumption, and extend the life of the machines—thereby maximizing financial gains."

That's why it plans to immerse 5,940 of the Antminer S19j Pro mining rigs at its Bitcoin mining facility in Norcross, Georgia. CleanSpark said it will start with 8 MW worth of the rigs in February; eventually, that figure is expected to rise to 20 MW.

"Upon completion, the 20 MW project will consist of 180 liquid-filled tanks, with each tank holding 33 units of the Antminer S19j Pro machines—the newest generation series of bitcoin miners on the market—fully immersed in a proprietary cooling liquid," the company said. "The liquid is a synthetic hydrocarbon compound that has no electrical conductivity, is fully biodegradable and safe."

Besides lowering its operating costs, CleanSpark said that switching to immersion cooling should also reduce the impact its mining has on the environment, which has become increasingly concerning to the cryptocurrency industry's critics.

Presumably switching from air-based cooling technologies to liquid immersion cooling will also provide other benefits. It would be a surprise if these mining rigs were to, say, burst into flames while fully immersed in this "synthetic hydrocarbon." 

Next week, Zotac will showcase two new Zbox mini-PCs with Intel’s 7th generation Kaby Lake processors and mobile versions of Nvidia’s 10-Series Pascal cards, as well as a few Zboxes that were previously announced during CES.

Magnus Series

When Zotac revealed the Zbox Magnus EN1070K with a GeForce GTX 1070 during CES, we expected GTX 1060 and GTX 1080 models to drop soon after. Sure enough, Zotac has revealed the Magnus EN1060K and the Magnus EN1080K; as their names suggest, the EN1060K will feature a GTX 1060 whereas the EN1080K will contain a GTX 1080.

Besides that, the Magnus Zboxes will have enough RAM capacity and I/O ports to handle your favorite VR headsets. It looks like the EN1060K and EN1070K will utilize the same 2.45-inch thick chassis, which could make them a viable choice as a living room VR hub. The heftier EN1080K is twice the height of the EN1060K/1070K, but the doubled thickness makes room for a water cooling solution.

C And M Series

Along with the two new Magnus systems, Zotac will also be showcasing a couple other Zboxes that were revealed during CES earlier this year. The major improvement over previous generation Zboxes is the inclusion of Thunderbolt 3. Unlike the Magnus Zboxes, the CI/MI549 Nanos also feature VESA mounts, which is ideal for creating your own all-in-one solution with existing monitors. The Zbox CI549 Nano will be cooled passively, which might make it a viable option if you're searching for a silently-operated mini-PC.

This is just a sneak peak of what Zotac plans to showcase next week. To see more, you can visit Zotac's booth, which will be located at Stand C66 in Hall 17. 

MSI first announced its new Z77 Gaming or G-Series motherboards in February during CEBIT 2013 and has now confirmed that the series will be released this year and be available "far into 2014."

This range of motherboards is advertised by the company as offering a "one size fits all" approach whereby gamers can "enjoy [their] Gaming motherboard without paying for features you'll never use. This evidently allows the company to "provide true Gaming motherboards in segments the market has never seen before."

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The server barebones comes with ASRock's own EP2C602-2T2OS6/D16 motherboard. What's interesting is not so much the motherboard itself, but rather the chassis in which it comes. While the chassis is what fits in a server rack, it has a massive amount of space for storage solutions. It has room for a dozen 3.5" drives on the front of the chassis, and from the rear, six 2.5" drive bays are accessible. This is the double-sided hybrid storage design.

The idea is that the OS, cache, and virtual machines run off the 2.5" drives from the rear, and that all the data storage is accomplished through the twelve 3.5" drives. This is only possible with ASRock's chassis, which was designed in-house.

Mounted on the motherboard come two Intel E5-2690 CPUs, which are stationed right behind the front fans with copper heatsinks coming from them for effective cooling. It also has sixteen DDR3 memory slots, allowing plenty of memory for virtualization and performance. The motherboard also packs Intel's 82599ES and X540 LAN controllers, which can send out 10 Gbit of data each.

"Expecting merely high storage capacity on a server system is just so out of date. We want our users to own more than enough capacity, stability and responsiveness all at the same time," said LL Shiu, CEO of ASRock.

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Earlier we showed you the AG2712, MSI's new gaming All-In-One PC. We've now been provided with more information on the computer, including its pricing and available configurations.

We already knew that all versions of the AG212 will feature the Nvidia GeForce GTX 670 MX Graphics card, a media card reader, HDMI and VGA outputs, Gigabit LAN, USB 3.0 ports and a variety of Ivy Bridge i5 and i7 CPUs for users to choose from. The system will also feature a HDMI input which will allow it to serve as a dedicated monitor and so should allow it to remain useful even when the hardware inside becomes obsolete.

The 27" LCD display will have a native resolution of just 1920 by 1080, rather than the 2560x1440 found on other popular displays of this size and can be equipped with a touch screen for a currently unknown price. The units will also sport an optical drive, although it is not known as to whether it is Blu-ray capable.

As is common practice with All-in-One computers, the hardware inside is based on a mobile platform and can be expected to be refreshed once Haswell is released and the USB 3.0 problems are resolved.

MSI's All-in-One Gaming AG2712 system will come out end of March in Europe, with a hefty starting price tag of €1,799. By today's exchange rates that is about $2350, although US pricing will probably be lower since the EU price includes VAT.

For those wanting a more affordable computer, MSI will also be releasing a cheaper 22" version, the AG2212, which starts of with a Core i3 CPU and features discrete graphics as an optional extra.

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Cooler Master's new V-Series range of power supplies are aimed at the enthusiast user and will be initially consist of three models, the V700, V850, and V1000 which provide 700 W, 850 W and 1000 W respectively. All variants are 80+ gold certified which means they they will deliver a 90 percent efficiency at a 50 percent load and approximately a 87 percent efficiency whilst idle.

The unit also features a respectable MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) of 100,000+ hours and has all the expected safety and quality certificates that we can expect from performance power supplies. Interestingly, the folks over at Guru3D have noted that under the hood the unit might actually just be a Seasonic unit, one of the industry's most renowned manufacturers.

The V-Series power supplies will also all be fully modular and allow users to even remove the 24-pin motherboard and 8-pin connector if they somehow find the need to do so.

Unfortunately there is no word on pricing, availability or a release timetable at this time.

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Cooler Master is showing off a new lineup of enclosures at CeBIT, the N-Series. The new N200 chassis will have space for just mini-ITX or micro-ATX motherboards, while the N300 through N600 will have space for ATX motherboards. The even numbered chassis look distinctly different from the odd numbered models, which may lead to some confusion in the naming scheme.

Regarding cooling the N200 will feature space for a single 240 mm radiator, and the N400 and N600 will feature space for two 240 mm radiators. They won't ship with any fans, as they are intended to be water cooled. The uneven numbered chassis, the N300 and N500, will feature space for up to two 240 mm radiators. The N300 will only ship with an intake fan, and the N500 will ship with an intake fan and an exhaust fan.

Going up the scale, the N200 will feature one optical drive bay and three 3.5" drive bays, the N400 will feature two optical drive bays and seven 3.5" drive bays, and the N600 will feature three optical drive bays and seven 3.5" drive bays. The N300 will have room for two optical drives and two hard drives and the N500 will accommodate three optical drives along with three hard drives.

N-Series chassis aside, Cooler Master was also showing off its new Silencio 352 enclosure. It has space for mini-ITX and micro-ATX motherboards, has just one optical bay and space for three hard drives. The side panels have dampening material on them, and the unit ships with two 120 mm fans, an exhaust and intake fan.

USB 2.0 ports and audio jacks are standard kit, while USB 3.0 ports come with either one on the N200 and N300, and two on all the remaining models.

Pricing for the N200 and N300 will be €40, the N400 will cost €50, the N500 will cost €60, the N600 €70, and the Silencio 352 €55. No word on availability.

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On top of the three Z77 motherboards MSI showed us at CeBIT, it's also showing off A GTX 660 Ti, themed to the G-Series products that MSI is releasing. The card looks almost identical to the other cards with the Twin Frozr cooler, with the only changes being cosmetic. The color scheme has been adjusted to match that off the Z77 motherboards we saw earlier.

Specifications of the GTX 660 Ti G-Series card from MSI are the same as that from MSI's OC version, 1019 MHz base, 1097 Boost, and 2 GB of 6.00 GHz memory over a 192-bit GDDR5 memory bus.

No word on pricing or availability yet.

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Back when MSI was teasing us with new G-Series products, it seems that it actually meant motherboards in plural. There are three motherboards coming out in MSI's new gaming range, all of which are Z77 boards (pictures from Hardware.Info).

All boards carry roughly the same specifications. The Z77A-G43 Gaming supports CrossFireX, has Creative SoundBlaster Cinema Audio, Killer E2200 NIC, Genie II One Touch overclocking, along with two PCIe x16 ports, two PCIe x1 slots, and three legacy PCI slots.

The Z77A-G45 Gaming has two differences over the Z77A-G43 Gaming, namely the support for Nvidia SLI and two more PCIe x1 slot in favour of PCI slots. The VRM's heatsinks also have a different paint scheme.

Lastly, the Z77A-GD65 Gaming is the top of the line model, which features connected VRM heatsinks, three PCIe x16 slots to enable three-way SLI or CrossFire, and four PCIe x1 slots, but no legacy PCI slots.

As for the Killer E2200 NIC, some sources indicate that only the top spec Z77A-GD65 Gaming has this Killer chip, but a close look shows that all three motherboards carry it. 

So far there is no word on pricing or availability, but we can expect these motherboards to hit the market soon considering Z87 motherboards are around the corner.

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Enermax is releasing a new case, the Coenus GT.  The Coenus GT is a big case, and thus supports motherboards that are up to XL-ATX. Targeted at gamers, it is also possible to mount up to four discrete graphics card in the housing. The case also has four rubberized cutouts for water cooling tubing.

Connectivity is done with four USB 3.0 ports and HD audio. Above the front I/O buyers will find the reset and power switch.

The Coenus GT is still in the prototyping phase, so this might not even be its final form. No word on availability either, but pricing is expected to be around €120.

Beyond the Coenus GT, Enermax will also come with a renewed Fulmo, the Fulmo ST. The tower will be a little wider, support up to three graphics cards, a 240 mm rad, and users will be able to mount up to a total of ten 2.5" or 3.5" drives. No word on its pricing.

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ASRock has revealed that its upcoming 8-series line-up of motherboards will feature at least 3 models for Intel Core CPUs: the H87 Pro4, Z87 Extreme6 and the Z87 Pro4-M. All three motherboards come with an impressive range of features including support for fourth generation Intel Core processors, 4 DDR3 1600 MHz DIMMs with support for a maximum of 32 GB of RAM and 7.1 Audio provided by the on-board Realtek ALC892. Also included with the motherboards is a front and rear USB 3.0 bracket, presumably for use in cases that do not have built-in USB 3.0 support.

The H87 Pro4 is an ATX sized motherboard that features a 100 percent "All Solid Capacitor Design", a single PCIe 3.0 x16 slot, 3 PCIe 2.0 x1 slots and 2 legacy 2 PCI slots. With regards to connectivity, the motherboard has 6 USB 3.0 ports (2 front, 4 back), 6 USB 2.0 ports, 6 SATA 3 connectors, Dual-VGA output (D-Sub and HDMI) and support for Realtek PCI-E Gigabit LAN.

The Z87 Extreme6 is also an ATX motherboard, but features "Premium Gold Capacitors" and support for Quad-SLI and 3 Way CrossfireX courtesy of the 2 PCIe 3.0 x16 and 1 PCIe 2.0x16 ports. The board also includes 1 PCIe 2.0 x1 slots, 2 PCI connectors, 6 USB 3.0 ports (2 front, 4 back), 8 USB 2.0 ports and 6 SATA 3 connectors. Finally, the Z87 Extreme6 has support for Broadcom PCI-E Gigabit LAN and comes with a Digi Power 12 Power Phase Design.

Last but not least, the Z87 Pro4-M is a Micro ATX-sized motherboard that has 1 PCIe 3.0 x 16 and 1 PCIe 2.0 x4 slot, 2 PCIe 2.0 x1 slots and multi-VGA outputs over D-Sub, DVI-D and HDMI. The board also includes 100% "All Solid Capacitors", 6 USB 3.0 ports (2 front, 4 back), 6 USB 2.0 ports and 6 SATA 3 connectors.

Though no information on pricing or availability has been released, it's a safe assumption that all 3 boards are targeted at the mid to high end of the market.

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The Beginning Of Roccat

“Building the perfect gaming mouse is joy and pain.”

Roccat founder and CEO René Korte speaks with Tom’s Hardware about the process of building one of the world’s most successful lines of gaming mice. Before founding Roccat, he was a vice president of Razer in Europe. Prior to that, René worked for media companies like AOL and Computec. He also co-founded and managed one of the most successful professional gaming teams ever: mTw. René decided to start his own company in 2007, and six years later, Roccat is now one of the top manufacturers of gaming peripherals with products retailing in more than 70 countries worldwide.

Tom's Hardware: René, Roccat is celebrating the Kone's fifth-year anniversary this year. What does this product mean for Roccat, and to you personally?

René Korte: The Roccat Kone is the one product it all started with, and it remains our core product today. The Kone Series embodies the Roccat philosophy, that we are always trying to improve the gamer’s experience or to make people better players.

Overall, the Kone is a huge success story for Roccat. Although we had some bumps along the way, we learned from them, and ultimately improved gamers’ experience as a result. For me personally, five years of Kone means almost seven years of Kone. We started developing the first Kone right after I founded Roccat. At the time, we simply weren’t satisfied with most of the gaming peripherals on the market. So, we decided to do it better. We had been working on the very first version of the Kone for more than a year when we realized we were traveling on a dead-end street. We decided to start all over again, so my time with the Kone is one of a lot of joy with a few growing pains along the way.

Tom's Hardware: What was it that made you build your own gaming mouse? Which features couldn’t you find with other mice back then?

René Korte: Back then, I was still active in professional gaming. So, I had first-hand information of the problems players had with the existing peripherals. For example, the shape of the mice that were available sucked nine out of 10 times. The ergonomics were weak. Roccat was also the first company to solve some of the problems with laser sensors on different surfaces with the TDCU. Customization through lighting effects was something Roccat invented too, so there was a lot to improve on. All of those things were, and still are, meant to make people better gamers. It’s not about what’s possible technically. Our features improve your gaming or your gaming experience.

Korte: Peripherals Designed By Gamers, For Gamers

Tom's Hardware: From day one, Roccat did all the product design on its own. Why is that?

René Korte: Like I mentioned, Roccat products offer features that really help people to get better in their games or that improve your gaming experience. This is what separates Roccat peripherals from the stuff our competitors build. But the only way to make sure our products have those features, and even more important, have them working flawlessly, is to build the products on our own. Scratch to shelf. You cannot rely on external guys that don’t care about your company and don’t care about gaming. Here at Roccat everyone has a passion for gaming, and it’s this passion that makes the company and our products really unique. We also wanted to keep this knowledge in the company, because Roccat never was meant to be a nine days’ wonder. Evolution is only possible if we build something inside the company that can be developed independently, without starting from scratch all the time with external agencies, or manufacturers that are only copying instead of innovating.

Tom's Hardware: Let’s get back to the Kone. How long did it take to have it on store shelves, and what problems did you face during the development process? 

René Korte: We started with a team of six people. Most of them are still working here at Roccat. We did countless sketches, 3D renderings, and shape models to find the perfect design. What we did not do on our own was the software and electronics, and that was a big mistake. What we saw here did not fit our needs, so we decided to start working on that ourselves, too. That was after more than 12 months of work. Imagine that; we hadn’t earned one dollar up until then. That could have been the end of Roccat, but we decided to start all over again, and it was the absolute right decision. Times back then were crazy. We still have one guy working here who tested the first 60,000 Kone mice with his hands, to make sure the sensor was working correctly. We also always had huge support from the gaming community, and that’s also something that helped us getting through rough times.

Tom's Hardware: Today, Roccat is an established company. How do you stay in touch with the gaming community, and are there still connections to eSports?

René Korte: Roccat has its roots in eSports, and we will always stick to that. The feedback from more than 100 professional gamers influenced the shape of the Kone, for example. Danny Soerensen, one of the best professional FPS players ever, is a Roccat brand ambassador. We support many tournaments, events, and teams in eSports. We get feedback from professional gamers frequently, and knowing their needs is essential for our product development. But we also listen to the average user, of course. The Kone is the only mouse that has been improved over so many years, based on the feedback of our customers. We received so many requests for colors or certain features during the last five years, that we decided that now the time has come to let some of them become reality.

So, the first special edition to celebrate this anniversary will be the Roccat Kone Pure Color. We created five awesome designs, including the original Kone Pure, and they will be available within the next weeks.

The Future Of Roccat

Tom's Hardware: So what are your plans with Roccat for 2013 and beyond?

René Korte: This year will be a very exiting one for Roccat. We will release our first mechanical keyboard series with some pretty unique features, like the individual per-key lighting. This is a good example for the Roccat philosophy of developing products. If you build a mechanical keyboard that has a LED under every key, why not make every LED light its own? Why not try to make more out of things you do anyway? It took us a while to develop the Ryos series, but we wanted to make it perfect, and when we release it, I think we'll have the best mechanical keyboard on the market.

We have the Five Years of Kone anniversary with more special limited editions upcoming, and we will also have the biggest launch in our history to show around gamescom this year. Last but not least, we will launch Power-Grid and step into the arena of software and apps. The PC is moving away from the desk and gets more and more connected to the living room. That’s something that we have an eye on when we think about new products. Using your PC while you’re sitting on your sofa; that’s something where you might see Roccat in the future. I expect 2013 to be the most successful year for Roccat so far.

For the future, our goal is to keep producing the best gaming peripherals money can buy. We will further improve our quality control management.

Roccat does not exist because there is a market for high-quality gaming hardware. The company exists because we are passionate about gaming. And, as gamers, we want to be able to use the best stuff out there. And if nobody is able to build it the way we need it, then we will build it for ourselves and for everyone out there who requires the same standards.

Expect a lot from us; we have many ideas and a lot of awesome stuff to come.

Tom's Hardware: Thanks, René, we're also looking forward to these products.

High-end PC case maker Lian Li Industrial said on Wednesday that it plans to introduce a new line brushed aluminum chassis next month at CeBIT 2013 in Hannover, Germany. The company didn't hint as to what will be new, but assured visitors that they'll have some hands-on time with the cool train-themed PC-CK101 chassis.

"Get a hands-on experience with Lian Li's new line for 2013 as it is unveiled," the company said. "With cases ranging from traditional to unconventional, visitors to Lian Li's booth are sure to be impressed.In addition to the 2013 line, Lian Li will also display a full line of brushed aluminum chassis ranging from Mini-ITX cases to massive full towers. Visitors will also to get a chance to see the PC-CK101 train themed chassis in action."

We visited Lian Li last month at CES 2013, and saw a variety of cases that should meet any builder's need. The PC-V850 was huge, sporting three 5.25-inch bays and nine 3.5-inch HDD bays. It also had four huge fans mounted on swinging doors on one side, two 120-mm fans on the top and one 120-mm fan on the rear. It even had enough room for eight PCI cards.

The company also showcased a rather unique chassis that resembled a very large standup spotlight, the PC-Q30. Built for an ITX motherboard, it had enough space for three 2.5-inch HDDs, two USB 3.0 ports and a 120-mm fan on the rear. Its overall dimensions were 200-mm x 327-mm x 248-mm.

There was also the blocky PC-TU200B which provided a handle on the top, allowing the user to cart it around like a heavy suitcase. It had a 140-mm fan mounted on the front, one 5.25-inch bay, three 3.5-inch HDD bays, a 2.5-inch HDD bay, and a bay that can house wither HDD size. It also had room for two PCI cards, and measured 220-mm x 320-mm x 360-mm.

"With a history of eye-catching unveilings at CeBIT, Lian Li will once again prove itself an industry leader and innovator without sacrificing product quality," the company said on Wednesday. "Attendees will be able to see the expertise of Lian Li in meeting the latest trends and market demands."

Guess we'll see what Lian Li has new to offer next week at CeBIT 2013 on March 5 to March 9.

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Enermax looks set to impress at this year's CeBIT with a range of product offerings. First we have the company's new lineup of silent PSUs that feature heatsinks instead of cooling fans, fully modular cabling and 80 Plus Platinum Compliance. Although further details on pricing and availability are still pending, we do know that the new PSUs will be available with a variety of outputs ranging from 500 to 700 W. 

Following on from the PSUs are Enermax's new range of gaming orientated chassis including the Fulmo ST ATX mid-tower which has room for 240 mm radiators, internal liquid cooling loops, space for 3 graphics cards and ten 3.5 / 2.5" drive bays. The Fulmo ST is expected to arrive on store shelves in April 2013.

Finally we have the DreamBass Cooler which is an interesting combination of laptop cooler, USB soundcard and stereo speaker that can handle a maximum of 15.6" notebooks. This device is intended to offer audio quality that will "do justice to bass" and accordingly holds sets of drivers that handle lows and mids, and tweeters for the highs.

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With the release of its G-series motherboards, MSI will be joining manufacturers like Asus, ASRock and Gigabyte and enter the market of high-end motherboards. Though details are still scarce, we are fairly certain that they will feature Creative's Sound Blast Cinema audio and Killer's E2200 networking chips. In addition to the G-Series, MSI is also expected to showcase a variety of other motherboards at CeBIT including mini-ITX, FM2, B75 Business and Thunderbolt powered motherboards.

Despite the majority of its graphics cards already being gaming orientated, MSI has created a G-Series lineup of graphics cards which will match the colour scheme of the aforementioned G-series motherboards. We can also expect this range of graphics cards to have higher clock speeds than the reference models since we already see this in the company's popular Lightning cards.

By far the most interesting G-series product is the upcoming release of gaming All-in-one PCs which continues the company's recent push towards new form factors . The new AIO PCs are expected to come with a range of CPU options (upto an Ivy Bridge i7), a GTX670MX graphics card and a 27" anti-glare Full HD touch screen panel.

As this is simply a teaser, we fully expect more information to be revealed during CeBIT from the 5th to the 9th of March in Germany.

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At this year's CeBIT conference taking place in Hannover, Germany, OCZ plans to unveil a "complete suite of software solutions that address VMware, Linux, and SQL Server platforms". Most notable amongst its upcoming products are a range of next-generation workstation PCIe SSDs, the ZD-XL SQL Accelerator and the VXL 1.3 Virtualization Software.

The PCIe SSDs will arrive as part of the company's well received Vertex lineup and support four PCIe Gen2 lanes to provide a more responsive experience and expanded storage capabilities. Also included is an "advanced suite of flash management tools" to improve drive endurance and making it well suited for power computing and other workstation applications.

Considered to be a culmination of enterprise hardware and software convergence, the ZD-XL SQL Accelerator ensures that data is acessed with the highest possible I/O performance and is readily available on SSD flash when a SQL server requires it. Interestingly, OCZ is actively seeking enterprise customers to serve as beta testers for the product and "install, test and provide feedback to OCZ based on product functionality and performance".

Also included in OCZ’s exhibition at CeBIT are preview demonstrations of the VXL 1.3 Virtualization Software and LXL Acceleration Software with OCZ’s Direct Pass Caching Technology which is optimised for Linux Applications and VMware. The software aims to enable multiple server loads to run concurrently on a single physical host which increases CPU and memory utilisation and efficiency.

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As well as announcing an Android-powered portable gaming system Project Shield, Nvidia further detailed a cloud gaming system at CES 2013 that it originally talked about at GTC in 2012.

Called Grid, it sports a server stack designed to optimize computer graphics. In development for five years, the stacks boasts a batch of graphics processing units, subsequently enabling 3D gaming that is capable of rendering graphics directly to the cloud.

Users can start playing a game on one device such as a tablet and then continue where they left off on another device such as a desktop. Currently in its trial phase, Nvidia Grid will be sold to MSOs and partners.

The company had initially discussed the Grid during its developer conference in May, where it said it would offer technology that would allow its chips to be shared through a number of devices via the internet.

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The Dell XPS 15 Multi-touch laptop combines the fun parts of a tablet with the functionality of a laptop. This touchscreen PC is more than just cool, though. A Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, 9-cell battery and dedicated Nvidia graphics chip means it can stand up to extreme usage. It also looks slick with its backlit keyboard, aluminum back and diamond cut trim. Extras perks like the mini DisplayPort, HDMI, and built-in JBL makes this fun laptop hard to resist for $519 off.

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Whenever we're at CeBIT in Hanover, or IFA in Berlin, we visit AMD and ask nicely if they have anything new and exciting to show us. At IFA 2010 it was Brazos, at CeBIT 2011 it was Llano, and last year’s IFA brought us an early look at Bulldozer. So, what did AMD give us this year? Two things, actually. For one, we got a look at AMD’s upcoming Trinity APU in action – and for another, a video of said demo that we’re actually allowed to show you guys.

AMD’s Saša Marinkovic kicked off by giving us an rundown on what to expect during the next couple of months. As we already know, the second-generation APU code-named Trinity will be arriving in summer, with exact dates to be announced. The same goes for the tablet-bound Hondo and Brazos 2.0, which will be updated with TurboCore and USB 3.0. Those last two will still be built on a 40 nm process, but by next year, AMD says all of its parts will be 28 nm.

Trinity, of course, will be the first APU to incorporate CPU cores based on the Bulldozer architecture in its second incarnation dubbed Piledriver, and it will be manufactured on a 32 nm process node. On the other hand, the graphics section will also be updated to include a newer core, bringing with it a few new features. Among them are various video enhancements as well as VCE, the video codec engine we’ve told you about in the desktop parts of the Radeon HD 7000-series. Color correction algorithms, image stabilization and similar features will also be improved on the new APU. Despite this, the graphics core will still employ AMD’s VLIW4 instruction found in the Radeon HD 6900-series.

In the notebook space, Trinity will be available in two flavors, namely the ULV version with a TDP of only 17 W and a mainstream variant rated at 35 W. AMD promises that the ULV edition will offer all of the performance of last year's mainstream Llano while retaining all of the features of the mainstream part. Or, as AMD puts it, it will be the only premium quad-core APU in the ULV segment, allowing notebook makers to put AMD chips in their thin and light designs, bringing us Trinity-powered Ultrabooks.

The chipmaker also presented a few interesting if vague metrics for the mainstream and desktop versions. According to the slide we were shown, "productivity performance," i.e. anything to do with the CPU, is 29 percent higher on Trinity than on its predecessor, while "visual performance" is up by 56 percent. These results are based on Futuremark’s PCMark Vantage and 3DMark Vantage, respectively. For the notebook platform, AMD claims a "resting battery life" of more than 12 hours.

That brings us to the live demo. This year, AMD only showed us one demo, namely two systems running DiRT 3. Unfortunately, we aren’t allowed to talk about what was in the two demo systems beyond the fact that both were equipped with quad-core Trinity parts, and we can’t give you hard performance numbers for the demo runs, as AMD made sure not to show us any frame rate counters.

First up was a laptop based on the mainstream mobile platform, i.e. the 35 W part, running the racing simulator at 1366x768, 4xAA with High Details. While the system didn’t show a frame rate counter, we can tell you that gameplay was quite smooth.

The second system used the desktop version and was also running DiRT 3, driving an Eyefinity setup with three monitors using only its integrated GPU. As Saša says in the video, the resolution is set to "16 by 10," which would make it 5040 x 1050 across three monitors. The detail level was lower, and AA was off this time. Granted, this is nothing for enthusiasts to get excited about, but seeing an integrated graphics solution run a modern DX11 game on a three-screen setup was pretty impressive.

Here's the demo video:

At CeBIT 2012, Super Talent introduced its new RAIDDrive UpStream PCIe SSD aimed for the consumer market. The drive will be up against recently announced Mushkin and Other World Computing (OWC) PCIe SSDs, along with OCZ's RevoDrive X3 and RevoDrive X2 PCIe SSDs. 

The drive is based on four LSI SandForce SF-1200 processors in a RAID 0 configuration. The card features PCIe 1.1 x8 interface and will be available in capacities of 220 GB, 460 GB, and 960 GB. The UpStream drive utilizes the four LSI SandForce controllers for sequential speeds of around 1 GB/s (read) & 900 MB/s (write), which is roughly twice the speed of a SATA 6.0 GB/s based SSD. 

Super Talent has not announced the official date when the RAIDDrive UpStream will hit the market or its final pricing, but it is expected to be available in April with pricing competitive against current PCIe based SSDs.

Source: The SSD Review

The benefit is a much longer lasting light source of up to 20,000 hours, instead of the usual 3,000 hours of a projector lamp.

According to the manufacturer, the 520 Hybrid LED laser projector delivers a dynamic contrast ratio of up to 100,000:1, 2000 lumens of brightness, 3D image output support, as well as VGA, composite video/audio and HDMI ports. the projector has a maximum output resolution of 1024 x 768 (XGA), but supports 720p and 1080p input signals.

Acver said that the K520 comes with the company's EcoProtection power management feature that reduces power consumption by up to 90 percent.

As discussed in early January, OCZ Technology revealed its second generation Indilinx Everest 2 controller at CES 2012. At CeBIT 2012, we get to see the Indilinx Everest 2 controller in action with the new Vertex 4. The Vertex series has been OCZ Technology's performance-based SSD and, based on list specifications, the trend continues with the Vertex 4. The Vertex 4 utilizes a 2.5-inch form factor SATA 6.0 Gb/s interface with Synchronous MLC NAND Flash memory. According to OCZ, the Vertex 4 is expected to have transfer speeds of up to 550 MB/s and up to 90,000 IOPS 4k random reads.

During CeBIT, OCZ demonstrated the performance Vertex 4 which showed sequential read/write speeds of 366.94 MB/s and 305.26 MB/s and up to 80,000 IOPS for 4k random reads. This is lower than the listed specifications for the drive but a quick look at AS SSD Benchmark's screen shot shows it is running in IDE mode and it is unclear on what SATA controller, as well (Intel, Marvell... etc.). I would expect the final consumer released version to match or be closer to the specified specifications.

With Vertex 4 switching to the Indilinx Everest 2 controller, it shows OCZ Technology is making the final switch from a SandForce controller to its own controller for its consumer based SSDs. There is no information on the expected release date but we are looking forward to getting our hands on the new Vertex 4 and putting it through our benchmarks.

The new models are the Eee PC X101CH, Eee PC 1011CX, two versions of the Eee PC 1015BX Modelle as well as the Eee PC 1025C.

All models will get 1 GB main memory as well as a 320 GB HDD. The X101CH and 1011CX will integrate Intel's new Atom N2600 processor. The 1025C gets Intel's Atom N2800 CPU, while the 1015BX will use AMD's C50 or C60 processor. The netbooks will come standard with two operating systems to enable hybrid operation. Windows 7 Starter will be the main OS and the lean Express Gate OS will be used to enable basic software such as Firefox, Skype, Media-Player, and Messenger.

Also new are the 11.6-inch Eee PC 1225B/C. The netbooks are based on Intel's Atom N2600 or AMD's E450 CPU, offer a screen resolution of 1366x768 pixel and 2 GB memory.

Asus did not release pricing for its new netbooks.

The technology will leverage PMC Sierra's 24-port SRCv RAID-on-Chip with a PCI Express 3.0 interface. According to Adaptec, the new PMC RoC can support twice the bandwidth of a previous generation RoC, with twice the bandwidth on the PCIe interface and three times the bandwidth on the SAS interfaces.

There was no information which server platform the demonstration will be based on, or whether demonstration will include hard drives or solid state disk drives. However, it appears that Adaptec will become the first company to offer a 6Gb/s SAS RAID controller based on PCIe 3.0.

Adaptec will be showcasing the technology at CeBit at the Storage Pavillion. CeBit will be held from March 6 to 10 in Hannover, Germany.

The device offers true 4000 dpi resolution and covers a lighting spectrum of 16.8 million colors, as well as few design gimmicks such as a braided cable.

Roccat is also the first mouse manufacturer to embrace gamification techniques. In fact, we are not aware of any hardware that would employ game mechanics to promote the engagement with the hardware itself: According to the manufacturer, the user will be rewarded with badges and awards for certain achievements. Gamification is an emerging industry in the marketing segment that leverages common game mechanics such as competitive gameplay, strategy development, application feedback, scores, prizes and social networking to change the behavior of users in certain applications and convince them to spend more time with a certain product or brand.

Roccat said that it will provide details about the rewards system as well as full product specs and pricing at CeBit, which opens on March 6.

I just got back from CES 2012. And although I’ve attended a great many Consumer Electronics Shows, Computexes, and Comdexes (never a CeBIT), this year’s show was by far the most intense. It wasn’t that there were tons of really awesome products. In fact, on the PC side, I came away flatly underwhelmed. Nvidia wasn't ready to show off Kepler. AMD's Trinity was up and running, but no comment on availability. Intel 7-series chipsets were on boards, but with little new to discuss aside from integrated USB 3.0. Rather, the hustle was a direct result of nearly 50 scheduled meetings, meals, and parties. Additional editorial staff drove out at the last minute to cover an additional 20 or so get-togethers that I just couldn’t fit in.

In years past, we probably wouldn’t have been so busy. But our scope is expanding. You already know Tom’s Hardware as a place where enthusiasts and the tech-curious go to learn about the latest PC-oriented hardware, how it works, and whether it’s worth spending your hard-earned money on. That won’t change. We’re still enthusiasts passionate about getting maximum value out of our machines. As you probably noticed over the past six months, though, we’ve also added tablet coverage. In classic Tom’s Hardware style, we’re coming up with new ways of testing, including a unique display suite that allows us to quantify the performance of an LCD panel.

You’ll continue seeing tablets in 2012, along with smartphone coverage (our first review went live during CES: Nokia Lumia 710 Review: Windows Phone 7 On A Budget). We plan to cover Ultrabooks, of course, particularly once Intel’s Ivy Bridge architecture makes them a little more interesting than Windows-based MacBook Air clones. And we made some interesting contacts at CES that should help pave our way into the world of automotive infotainment, too.

Again, though, don’t fret over a departure from our bread and butter. Graphics, processing, motherboards, memory, cases, cooling, and build guides all remain core components of our editorial calendar. I’d even like to see us go into more depth in those segments. To that end, I’ll be expanding our editorial team with experts in several different fields over the next couple of months so that we’re able to satisfy your tech cravings with even more meaty content in the year to come.

Charts

One area of the site that continues seeing updates is our charts section. Truth be told, I think that the charts interface could use some help to simplify navigation and product-to-product comparisons. Even still, there’s a ton of data added on a regular basis, and we now cover graphics cards, hard drives, SSDs, CPUs, power supplies, external storage (memory cards, thumb drives, and hard drives), processor cooling, and NAS appliances. Our 2012 graphics benchmark suite and platform was recently finalized, so you’ll start seeing updates with the latest games, GPU compute applications, temps, and acoustic measurements shortly.

Contests

I also want to take a moment to address the contests we regularly run on Tom’s Hardware. More so last year than any before, we gave away an incredible amount of gear. Predominantly, though, only residents of the United States, excluding Rhode Island, were eligible to win.

Our international audience is massive, and we appreciate the patronage of everyone who reads Tom’s Hardware outside of the U.S. But the unfortunate reality for us is that contests are categorized as sweepstakes/lotteries, putting them under the scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission.  Certain countries require entrants to solve a puzzle, creating a contest of skill. Other times, big customs duties make shipping prizes prohibitively expensive.

As such, contests on tomshardware.com necessarily remain limited to our American audience. That’s the bad news. The good news is that we have Tom’s Hardware sites in France, England, Germany, Italy, Finland, Russia, and Turkey. So, I see no reason why 2012 shouldn’t see our international sites extend more giveaway opportunities to their local audiences as well, which we’d be happy to link to here.

I should also note that Tom’s Hardware recently won Samsung’s 830 SSD contest, which involved explaining solid-state technology as simply as possible. Because that one was hosted by Samsung itself, 15 of our readers, locally and internationally, are going to be given 128 GB drives.

BestConfigs

The BestConfigs section, designed to give our readers an easy place to send friends and family for community-approved upgrade advice, is in dire need of an update. I’ll be working with Joe Pishgar, our community manager, over the next couple of weeks to get new threads in the forums so that you can pick your favorite components for each of our 10 different build categories. Stay tuned.

Get Involved

Over the last year, we took more cues than ever from our audience. We polled you on Facebook, collected your feedback in the comments section of news stories asking for your preferred benchmarks, and communicated with you over Twitter.

I realize that there are plenty of Tom’s Hardware regulars who have no interest in social media, and that’s fine. However, I want to make sure that the door remains open to anyone with constructive feedback on ways we can better satisfy you with our writing, testing, and content direction. You’re more than welcome to jump onto my Twitter page and join the handful of regulars with whom I discuss upcoming stories, collect feedback on certain tests, and share information from private meetings at the shows I attend.

Have A Great 2012!

We have a lot of exciting content planned for the next 12 months. Multiple Radeon HD 7970s are currently sitting on test beds behind me. Radeon HD 7950s are expected soon. Intel’s Ivy Bridge architecture is nearly upon us. And Xeon E5s should be arriving in the next couple of months, too.

Really, though, some of the best stories and series are the ones we didn’t explicitly plan, but were presented by Tom’s Hardware readers with great ideas. Adam Overa’s line-up of Web Browser Grand Prixs, Paul Henningsen’s Balanced PC stories, and Dr. Alan Dang’s security coverage were all high points of the last year. As mentioned, I’m looking to introduce several more writers’ ideas to the site. If you think you have what it takes, check out the news post I just published.

Chris Angelini

Asus has finally introduced the ET2700 all-in-one (AIO) desktop that made its first appearance during CeBIT back in March. What made this AIO desktop so special was its 10-finger multi-touch support which still seems to be present in the final retail version. But Asus has also now thrown in a 580cc resonance chamber dedicated for low-range frequency audio signals.

At the heart of this AIO is a 27-inch multi-touch screen powered by Intel Core i7, i5 and i3 CPUs, depending on your wallet. For those with an unlimited budget, the high-end model will sport the Core i7-2600S CPU packing 8 MB of Intel Smart Cache, a base clock of 2.80 GHz and a Turbo boost clock of up to 3.8 GHz. Graphic acceleration will be powered by Intel HD Graphics only -- so far Nvidia and AMD options do not seem to be available, unfortunately.

"The ET2700 Series provides a technological leap in multi-touch interactivity, surpassing traditional two-finger multi-touch by providing full, 10-finger multi-touch capability. Pinch-to-zoom, rotate images, and scroll through webpages, all with ease," the company says.

As for other features, the Asus AIO provides two memory slots packed with 4 GB to 8 GB of DDR3 memory @ 1333 MHz. Storage consists of up to 2 TB on an HDD, and there's even a 2MP webcam for video conferencing and late-nite belly dancing on Ustream (ok maybe not). Network connectivity includes 802.11 b/g/n and 10/100/1000 Mbps, and there are numerous ports for connecting USB 2.0 and 3.0 gadgets, HDMI input for piping in your gaming consoles, an SD card reader, an optional TV jack and more. There's also a tray-in SuperMulti DVD/Blu-ray Combo or a Blu-ray writer, depending on the model.

"The 27-inch 16:9 Full HD LED screen of the ET2700 delivers more details of the high definition content; brings you more pleasure while playing games or watching movies," the company says. "Its super-sharp colors enhance your high-definition entertainment, graphics-intensive creative tasks, productivity applications, gaming adventures and Internet surfing. ET2700 Series features HDMI input, making it easy and convenient to convert for a separate display."

Actual pricing and availability is currently unknown, so stay tuned. For more information about the Asus ET2700 AIO desktop, including a full list of specs, head here.

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15.6" Lenovo IdeaPad Z570 Laptop [Core i3 $529 | Core i5 $619 | Core i7 $749].

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AMD Demos Mobile Llano

At its booth at CeBIT 2011, AMD showed off the mobile version of its upcoming Llano APU. But whereas last year’s demo system still looked very improvised (it definitely screamed "engineering sample"), this Llano-based system actually looked like a notebook you might find in a store. It wasn't an attractive notebook, mind you, but it certainly seemed ready to ship, aside from some final design touches.

The company had an explanation for demonstrating its mobile part, rather than the desktop version we'd all probably rather see in action. Similar to the Brazos platform, it intends to launch the new APUs in the mobile space first. As a quick reminder, Llano will be AMD's mainstream APU, combining two to four Phenom-style x86-64 cores and a GPU on one die.

The demo system was running an as yet-unnamed quad-core Llano part with a 1.8 GHz clock, 4 GB of DDR3-1333 memory, Crucial’s C300 SSD, and Windows 7. For comparison, AMD picked an off-the-shelf notebook with identical specs, but built around Intel’s Core i7-2630QM at 2.0 GHz (plus Turbo Boost, obviously). Both systems relied on their respective integrated graphics solutions. AMD's argument there was that Intel is selling its HD Graphics 3000 solution as a mid-range part that can also handle gaming. We would love to show you photos, but we were only allowed to take pictures of the machines’ screens.

There were three parts to the demo. First, AMD wanted to make an image quality comparison, leaving speed out of the equation for a moment. So, AMD’s John Taylor, director of global client product and software marketing, who was running the demo, started up 3DCenter’s Filtering Tester, a tool that shows how anisotropic filtering is handled. While AMD's implementation looked very close to ideal, Intel was obviously taking a performance shortcut by using angle-based optimizations.

Next up was a simple FurMark test to show the two integrated GPUs' rendering performance. Here are the results in table form:

The first thing you’ll note is that Intel’s HD Graphics 3000 struggles from the get-go, even at the least-taxing settings. Meanwhile, AMD certainly isn’t generating smooth frame rates. However, its on-die Radeon implementation takes less of a hit than Intel. What you can’t see is that, in the last run, with displacement mapping turned on, the “furry donut” in the middle of the scene failed to render completely on the HD Graphics 3000 engine, meaning that the Intel solution failed this iteration. At this point, John pointed out that not only was Intel taking shortcuts with image quality, but they weren't even helping the performance. Put another way, graphics hardware is only one part of the equation; you also need a fully-functional driver to actually play games.

AMD Shows Off APU Power And Performance

The final test was meant to put performance and power consumption in perspective. Step one was to establish a baseline by looking at idle power. The Intel system was sitting at about 12.5 W, while the AMD machine was more power-hungry at 26 W. John was quick to remind us that this was not a final product, and that power should come down significantly with BIOS tweaks and other improvements (though we're honestly not sure how much more AMD can cut power so close to launch).

For this part of the presentation, AMD used a script that added a workload each time the return key was pressed. Workload number one was the Final Fantasy XIV benchmark, workload two an Excel spreadsheet with automated calculations, number three consisted of a 1080p video (Big Buck Bunny), and workload four had SPECviewperf rendering the wireframe model of a car. The final step was to use Windows 7’s Flip 3D to cycle through these programs.

Starting out, the Llano system was running pretty smoothly and drawing about 52 W in Final Fantasy XIV, while the Core i7 was closer to 61 W with frequent dips to 44 W. Why the dips? This happened whenever the integrated graphics engine was no longer keeping up with rendering, basically going idle, then getting back to work. Adding the Excel spreadsheet caused power consumption to climb to about 54 W on the Llano-based machine, pushing Sandy Bridge to between 52 and 68 W (with the pronounced dips, again). However, as soon as Excel was the top window, the frame rate in Final Fantasy tanked even more (because the system was having a hard time prioritizing the tasks, as John explained). Conversely, bringing the game benchmark to the front caused Excel to slow down. The same didn’t apply to Llano.

Playback of the 1080p video using CyberLink’s PowerDVD 10 did nothing to AMD's power consumption, which hung steady at around 54 W. Sandy Bridge, on the other hand, was now up to 70 W and stuttering in the two other workloads. The video remained smooth throughout, though.

Finally, SPECviewperf caused the Llano system to top out at 55.5 W, while Sandy Bridge plateaued at 70 W. However, both the game benchmark and SPECviewperf were basically reduced to slide shows on the Intel platform. AMD’s system wasn’t as fast as it had started out, but was still definitely smoother on all workloads.

Less of an objective yardstick, but definitely interesting as well, was the final twist AMD put on this part of the demo. With all four workloads chugging along, the script then told Windows 7 to use Flip 3D to cycle through application windows after a certain amount of work had been completed. The result here follows the pattern established above: during the time Intel's system managed to “flip” once, Llano did so three times, looking much smoother while doing it, too.

The point to take away here, according to AMD, is that benchmarks focusing on a specific component like the CPU or GPU, will be less relevant with parallel workloads and highly integrated processors like Llano. It won’t matter as much if one system is 20 percent faster in one specific benchmark running on its own because the user will be doing many things in parallel. And when it comes to juggling GPU and CPU workloads, an APU does better. Stepping back, we'd agree, with caveats. But the extent to which AMD's demo might map to the real-world is also fairly unrealistic, too. This is of course something we'll keep in mind for benchmarking moving forward, and if you want to share some of your own multi-tasked workloads with us in the comments section, we'd be glad to put together real-world examples of testing these parts running concurrent metrics.

Asked about the time frame for the introduction of the A-series parts currently known as Llano, John said they would be shipping between May and July, hinting very strongly that we should expect to see a launch sometime around June. Or maybe that was just our interpretation. At any rate, we were shown one more interesting demo from AMD to showcase the strengths of the Fusion architecture and specifically its Llano APUs.

Meet Lenovo’s eye-controlled notebook. Developed in conjunction with Swedish-based Tobii, this computer is the first fully functional prototype of Tobi’si eye-tracking technology that allows users to zoom, automatically center on what they’re focusing on, auto-dim and brighten the display, scroll through documents with their eyes.

Currently there exists only 20 of these machines and they’re split between Lenovo and Tobii so the two companies can demo and develop the technology even further. However, this implementation of the technology is also on display at CeBIT 2011, in Hanover, Germany, and attendees are being given the chance to try out the eye-tracking control software for themselves.

Engadget’s Chris Ziegler says the technology works “extraordinarily well” and offered tracking with pinpoint precision, despite a sloppy calibration job at the beginning. According to Ziegler, the level of precision was further demonstrated with a simple game that sees the user blow up Earth-bound asteroids just by looking at them. “The smallest rocks were only a few pixels wide, and we could consistently blast 'em.”

Nothing on how soon we’ll see this technology in laptops that we can actually buy in stores but it’ll likely be a few years. Tobii says it continues to work with partners on implementing the technology but offered no time frame in its press kit.

Last week Corsair said that it's previewing the new Force Series GT line of SSDs at CeBIT 2011. The new series uses the SandForce SF-2200 processor to achieve sequential read and write speeds up to 500 MB/s, and will join competing SSD offerings by Patriot Memory (WildFire) and OCZ (Vertex 3).

Offering native support for the SATA (3) 6 Gb/s interface, the new line will supposedly provide up to 60K Random Write IOPS, read speeds up to 520 MB/s and write speeds up to 500 MB/s. Corsair said that the new line is designed for enthusiasts who demand the fastest performance available.

"With the rapid adoption of systems with SATA 3 support, enthusiasts are demanding SSDs that can take advantage of the dramatic increase in throughput over SATA 2," said Thi La, Vice President of Memory Products at Corsair. "The new Force GT SSDs can deliver up to twice the speed of the fastest SATA 2 drives, making them ideal for high-performance systems."

Along with OCZ and Patriot, SandForce announced the SF-2200 (SATA 6 Gb/s) and SF-2100 (SATA 3 Gb/s) processors last week. Both processors arrive in a single-chip "DRAM-less" form factor and feature DuraClass Technology (RAISE, DuraWrite), support for advanced 30nm- and 20nm-class NAND flash from all leading flash vendors, advanced ECC engine correcting, power and performance optimization and tuning features, OPAL security with 256-bit AES encryption and automatic, line-rate double encryption with a drive-level password.

"Corsair and SandForce have been working together closely, and I am thrilled that Corsair has selected the SF-2000 SSD Processor family for their new set of enthusiast-class solid-state drives," stated Thad Omura, VP of Marketing at SandForce. "The new Force GT SSDs will enable Corsair's performance-obsessed customers to break new ground in storage subsystem performance."

MSI yesterday revealed the full list of specs for the GT660 and while we'll reserve judgment until we find out what kind of money they're asking for the machine, we think it looks pretty damn sweet.

Aside from the aforementioned 16-inch HD display, 2xUSB 3.0 and Intel Core i7, the GT660 packs Nvidia's GeForce GTX 285M Graphics with 1GB VRAM; up to 12GB of RAM; a 500GB harddrive (with an option for a second 500GB HDD); HDMI out; and a 9-cell battery.

Electronista reports that the desktop replacement will also come with MSI’s Turbo Drive Engine+ (TDE+) technology, which doubles the CPU, RAM, and graphics performance with the push of a button. However, MSI didn't provide any more details on the technology.

We'll keep you posted on pricing and availability.

Lian Li’s T1 mini-ITX Spider Test Bench supports mini-ITX motherboards, one 5.25-inch slim CD-ROM, one bog standard 3.5-inch HDD or SSD using an adapter and a standard ATX PS/2 PSU.

The gaudy red you see isn't your only option, also available are silver or – if you're really going for the whole spider theme – black versions. The angles of the four legs are adjustable and it stands at 272mm tall.

Hitting stores at the end of May, the case in black or silver will set you back $108 plus taxes. If you're going for racy red be prepared to pay $123 plus tax.

Extremely cheesy and slightly annoying ad for the case is embedded below:

Reporting from CeBIT 2010, TechPowerUp has set its eyes on the fastest PC in the world, at least in the storage department.

The PC's configuration is also pretty beefy:

- (5) LSI Mega RAID SAS/SATA 9260-8i raid cards 
- (2) 1000W Thermaltake TRX-1000M power supplies 
- (1) Thermaltake case 
- (1) Super Micro X8DTH-I X58 Server motherboard 
- (2) Intel Xeon 5550 CPUs 
- 48GB 1333MHz of Patriot DDR3 ECC-Registered memory (12) PS34G13ER-E 

The storage system of the computer though,--where the true performance lies--speaks for itself.

A sustained rate of 155,000 IOPS/s is generated by using forty 256GB TorqX SSDs connected to five LSI SAS PCI-E controllers. According to the TechPowerUP article, the system supposedly is able to "rip an entire Blu-ray in 0.9 seconds." Clearly, this is impossible as no optical drive can manage that. What more likely happened was that a reporter misquoted Patriot.

The system is capable of making a duplicate copy of a "Blu-ray rip" on the 40-drive SSD array in a blistering fast 0.9 seconds. That's at least an 8GB file copy in under a second. We don't know about you but, load times be-gone!

Currently there's no indication on when this insane beast will be unleashed.

UsHour.com is reporting from CeBIT 2010 that MSI is showcasing a nettop PC that looks like a toaster. Although no real specs were provided, the company is actually calling this mini-rig the MSI Toast PC, taking full advantage of its bread-burning appearance.

Outside its unique design, the nettop provides a DVD insert slot at the top much like the way a toaster loads bead. The company has also integrated a remote control into the design, allowing the user to snap it into the side without disrupting the overall Toaster appearance.

MSI's CeBIT 2010 display stated that the Toast PC can serve as an "elegant decoration" as well as a functional PC. It can also integrate into your kitchen layout thanks to its ultra-thin body (think one slice). However, the company also clearly stated that consumers should refrain from inserting bread.

nDevil has additional pictures which can be found here.

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Jkkmobile, currently attending CeBIT 2010, is reporting that Archos is showcasing an upgraded version of its PC tablet, the Archos 9. The hardware revision could be a sign that Archos plans to duke it out with Apple and its upcoming tablet, the iPad.

Packed with Windows 7 Starter Edition, an 8.9-inch LED backlit, resistive touchscreen, 1GB or RAM and 60GB of HDD storage, the current version poses as a handy tool around the house for a meaty $550 USD. Consumers can play 1080p videos on its 16:9 screen, have video chats with its built-in webcam, and even access websites utilizing Adobe's Flash platform. It's definitely a sexy little machine.

However the version on display at CeBIT 2010 offers a faster CPU. The current model sports the Intel Atom Z510 clocking at 1.1 GHz, whereas the upgrade model's CPU is clocked at 1.2 GHz. There was also mention of a faster GPU (the current model uses the Intel Poulsbo US15W), a faster bus, and hyper-threading. The site also said that the hard drive size still remains the same at 1.8-inches... no surprise there.

The rest of the specs apparently are unchanged: a 1024 x 600 native resolution, USB 2.0 ports, Realtek ALC269 audio and more. Future upgrades may bring a capacitive multitouch display and an optional 3G module.

The revamped Archos 9 should pose as an excellent rival to Apple's iPad when it eventually hits the market. Hopefully the price will be reasonable.

French tech site Blogee has come across supposed leaked details on three Asus Eee PCs that will be on display at CeBit 2010. While the info doesn't get into hardware specifics, the three models on display will be the Eee PC 1018P, the Eee PC 1016P, and the Eee PC 1015P. All three models will sports a 10-inch display and possibly the latest Pine Trail Atom processors.

SlashGear reports that the Asus Eee PC 1015P is merely a refresh on the existing 1005P using the same matte display and chiclet keys. The only apparent difference with this "refreshed" version is a larger touchpad, an aluminum body, and a battery life of up to 14 hours (with wireless turned off).

The Asus Eee PC 1018P is touted to be the company's thinnest netbook thus far, measuring just 18-mm thick. This device will sport a fingerprint scanner, USB 3.0, and a battery life of up to 10 hours.

As for the Asus Eee PC 1016P, the company has focused on the business class, sporting chiclet keys, an aluminum chassis, a squared-off design, and a battery life of up to 14 hours.

Expect to know more about these three netbooks next week during the CeBIT 2010 show.

MSI said Tuesday that it's showcasing a "dazzling array" of new and industry-first all-in-one PCs at CeBIT 2010 next month. However, what really stood out was MSI's Wind Top All-In-One 3D PC, touted as the world's first large screen, Full HD 3D all-in-one rig. Despite its all-in-oneness, the Wind Top sounds rather tasty, sporting a 24-inch 120 Hz LED screen cranking out 1080p.

"MSI's Wind Top All-in-One 3D PC integrates advanced 3D display technology with powerful CPU processing to deliver smooth, clear and vibrant 3D images with a high level of image detail and clarity," the company said. "Combining a large, 24-inch 120Hz LED display and full HD (1080p) resolution with 3D shutter glasses allows home users to experience the 3D movie theater experience in the comfort and convenience of their living rooms."

MSI also introduced two top-of-the-line AIO PCs: the 22-inch AE2280 and the 24-inch AE2420. Both models offer a multi-touch display, Intel Core (i3/i5/i7) processors, and Intel's Turbo Boost technology. For the business and eco-friendly consumer, MSI will also send its Wind Top AP 1920/AE1920 AIOs and its Wind Box Mini-PCs out onto the CeBIT catwalk. These models claim to provide 90-percent lower average hourly energy consumption than the traditional 300W desktop PC.

Also showcased at CeBIT next month will be several AIOs that incorporate high-quality speakers into five AIO models. "The MSI Wind Top AE2280, AE2260 and AE2220 are equipped with two 5-watt Hi-Fi speakers, while the 24-inch AE2400 and AE2420 feature 10-watt speakers for added bass response," the company said.

Hopefully we'll see more of these AIOs next month in Germany.

Patriot Memory's latest solid-state drive has borrowed a page from Western Digital's Velociraptor line of magnetic hard drives.

The company used this year's CeBIT show to show off its newest Warp SSD, a third-generation product featuring a capacity point of 256 GB.  But how does that relate to a Velociraptor drive?  Not because of the sizing similarity (256 GB to 300 GB) nor the technology of the drive itself (magnetic versus SSD).  As a head-nod to system builders, Patriot's is including a bracket with the drive that converts its 2.5-inch drive into a mountable 3.5-inch form factor. 

Unlike the Velociraptor's IcePAK, which actually serves as a giant heat-transfer mechanism and drive bay adapter for the 10,000 RPM drive, Patriot's bracket is little more than an adapter.  Internet news site Fudzilla claims that the bracket will help cool the SSD, but that's quite a stretch given just how little heat solid-state drives produce. 

If there's anything to take away from this generous inclusion, Patriot hasn't learned Western Digital's lesson from the first iteration of the Velociraptor drives.  The SSD's bracket, while helpful, does nothing to adjust the placement of the SATA and power ports on the drive--they're stuck right in the center of the 3.5-inch contraption.  This cements the fact that you'll be unable to use the Patriot Warp drive/bracket mash-up in the next-generation hot-swap bays of your favorite new chassis. As to why the company couldn't have offered a bracket akin to the latest Velociraptor line, which places the proper ports in the perfect place for hot-swap happiness, we'll never know.

No word on the drive's pricing or availability as of yet. 

Everyone knew this year’s CeBit would be smaller than previous years. However, recent numbers suggest that rather than cut numbers in general, the recession has merely trimmed the fat off CeBit attendance.

Citing organizers, PCWorld reports that the fair saw a near 20 percent drop in visitors for 2009, but also says that those who did turn up to the six-day event in Hanover were, on average, a higher quality of attendee than in the past.

Organizers of the show said that nearly 1,000 exhibitors pulled out of CeBit 2009 in the last quarter of 2008. It also announced that next year’s show will be one day shorter and end on a Saturday, a change made at the request of many exhibiting companies at the show who say it is easier to travel on the weekend before a new work week starts.

In all, Hanover played host to CeBit’s 4,300 companies from 69 countries and 400,000 attendees. Kicking off the show was California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger who gave a pre-show/recession pep talk to those in attendance.

Hit PCWorld for the full report on CeBit 2009 stats.

12 GB of memory in a gaming notebook. Excessive? Asus says no.

It seems like every day there's another company pushing the envelope (and our wallets) with a new high end gaming system. This time, Asus is pulling out all the stops with its newest gaming laptop, the G71gx.

Based on Intel's Centrino 2 platform, the G71gx is a force to be reckoned with in the mobile gaming market. While the specific processor is TBA, older G70 derivatives are outfitted with both Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Quad processors, and it would be no surprise if Asus included a Core 2 Extreme option as well.

What we do know for certain is the G71gx will come with Nvidia's newest mobile GPU, the GTX 260M. Supposedly, the 1 GB GTX 260M will offer 50 percent more performance over the 9800M series without using any additional power. Plus, it can be configured for SLI and Hybrid SLI, although the G71gx will initially offer just one of the GPUs. As for RAM and storage, the G71gx can handle up to 12 GB of DDR2 memory over three memory slots and can be configured with up to 1 TB of storage (two 500 GB drives).

G71gx also comes with a 17-inch 1920x1200 WUXGA display as well as HDMI, eSATA, and if the older G71G is any indication, a BD-ROM/DVD-RW drive. No word on price or availability yet, but if you opt for the 12 GB of RAM and dual 500 GB hard drives, be prepared to kiss your tax return goodbye.

If you're looking for something a little more timid (and definitely less expensive), Gateway is also releasing a new gaming notebook. The P-7808u FX will go for a more reasonable $1,699.99, and should still offer some impressive gaming performance. Equipped with Core 2 Quad Q9000 (2.0 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB, 6 MB cache), as well as a 1 GB Nvidia 9800M GTS, the P-7808u FX should offer up some decent frame rates in Empire: Total War. Like the older P-7811 FX, this newest offering in the FX series of gaming laptops will come with 4 GB of DDR3 memory, but the hard drive has been bumped up to 500GB. Unfortunately, the 17-inch display comes in at 1440x900, an odd downgrade over the 7811's 1920x1200 option. As for the rest of the P-7808u FX, HDMI, eSATA, and a 1.3-megapixel webcam are all included.

When we first saw the Asus ‘folding’ notebook concept at CES, we figured it was just a design exercise and that it wouldn’t be something heading into production anytime soon. But straight from CeBit is word that it’ll be something hitting the market this year.

The futuristic-looking Asus folding concept should soon be in production and is set to be commercially available in Q3 this year, according to TechRadar. News of this supposedly came straight from the mouth of Asus CEO Jerry Shen, who also revealed that the concept notebook is collaboratively developed by groups of designers from France, Italy and Korea.

What we saw at CES wasn’t a machine in operation, but rather just a demonstration in form factor. While it may be called a “folding” notebook, technically, all notebooks fold, but the Asus concept folds in a manner that adjusts the keyboard as the screen is lifted up. The keyboard goes from a resting flat position to a raised, angled setting that’s more friendly for the user. Moreover, the keyboard also lifts to reveal venting that in theory should allow for more efficient cooling.

Check out the images below for a sneak peak at the concept!

MSI is reaching out to touch the memory lover in every gamer with two very unique motherboards: the 790GX-8D and the P45-8D. What's so special about these boards? Dual support for DDR2 and DDR3, on the same board.

MSI showcased two amazing motherboards at CeBIT: its AM3 board 790GX-8D featuring the 790GX chipset, and its socket 775 board P45-8D using Intel's P45 +ICH10/ICH10R chipset. What makes these two boards so extremely hot is their huge memory capacity, both offering four DDR2 slots and four DDR3 memory slots. Nicknamed as the "Memory Lover," both utilize MSI's power saving technology APS as well as its "DrMOS" high quality voltage converters.

Out of the two, the 790GX-8D seems a bit more versatile, compatible with AMD's AM3 processors with DDR2-1066 or DDR3-1333 RAM (using bypass) while also capable of supporting the AM2+ CPU with DDR2 RAM. Up until now, you had to choose between DDR2 or DDR3, but not both.

The 790GX-8D also allows overclockers to increase the frequencies at any time using an onboard control dial. Users can even erase the CMOS RAM with the touch of a Reset button or switch into power saving mode by pressing the "Green Power" button.

Additionally, the board offers two PCIe x16 slots, two PCIe x1 slots, and a vanilla PCI slot. Users can easily throw in a CrossFireX configuration using two cards worry-free, and it's even possible to set up a Hybrid CrossFireX configuration using the on-board graphics chipset.

As for the P45-8D, this motherboard is currently on the market, and supports Intel's 45nm and 65nm Core 2 (Extreme) processors. The board offers a 6+2 SATA/Raid for better storage. Although the board features eight memory slots, the maximum amount of memory is only 16 GB. The board has 1 PCIe x16 slot, one PCIe Gen2 (1x16) slot, one PCIe x1 slot, and three vanilla PCI slots. Unfortunately, the P45-8D doesn't support SLI nor does it offer the power saving Green Power Genie as featured on the 790GX-8D.

Although the P45-8D does offer loads of memory, it seems less appealing than MSI's AM3 Memory Lover offering. Still, consumers can pick up the Intel-based board online, retailing between $170 - $350.

Secret British Nuclear Base Appears on Google Earth

Google Earth recently picked up on something solid and unquestionable (as opposed to Atlantis), however the structure it uncovered could lead to hard times for the British government. A close-up aerial view of Faslane, Scotland reveals the UK's secret Trident-armed nuclear submarine base, and even provides the longitude and latitude coordinates for all terrorists to enjoy and plummet with mortar attacks.

The images generated by the free Google Earth software (also available on iPhone and iPod Touch) even shows two Vanguard Class submarines, each capable of carrying 16 nuclear missiles. That aside the program illustrates the Trident Special Area located just ten miles away, the facility where the naval base's nuclear warheads are stored. As if that weren’t enough, the satellite images can also be used to locate the nuclear crisis HQ in Northwood, North London, the SAS training facility in Hereford, and MI6's London offices.

Asus Lamborghini Notebook With 1 TB SSD

Asus this week unveil its stylish new Lamborghini-inspired VX5 notebook, featuring a 1 TB solid state drive (SSD). The new Asus Lamborghini VX5 made an appearance at CeBIT 2009 this week, which housed what Asus claimed as the world's largest density SSD currently available.  Although not specified, the included SSD might be the new 1 TB SSD from Puresilicon, which was announced earlier this year and flaunted a blazingly fast sustained read and write speed of 240 MB/sec. and 215 MB/sec, respectively.

Under the hood, the VX5 notebook is powered by an Intel Core 2 Quad processor and comes with 4 GB of DDR3 memory and dedicated Nvidia Geforce GT 130M graphics with 1 GB of GDDR3 VRAM.  For added performance, the notebook also features a TwinTurbo mode that can increase CPU and GPU speed with the press of a button.  Also included in the VX5 notebook is a Blu-ray disc combo drive, a 2.0-megapixel webcam, a slew of useful ports and Windows Vista Ultimate.

China's First Lunar Probe Collides With Moon

China’s first lunar probe, The Chang'e 1, Sunday crashed into the moon in what Beijing is calling a “controlled crash.” China Daily reports that the satellite hit the moon's surface at 16:13 Beijing time and was under the remote control of two stations in Qingda, eastern China, and Kashgar in the northwest of the country.

Named after a Chinese moon goddess, the Chang'e 1 took off on October 24, 2007 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center and spent 494 days in space. Sunday’s collision marks the end of a 16-month moon-mapping mission. The landing is part of China’s plan to land a vehicle on the moon to collect mineral samples in 2012.

First Core i7 Laptop Has One Hour Battery Life

At the beginning of February Computer company, Eurocom proudly displayed the specs for the upcoming D900F PHANTOM i7: a laptop with Intel’s Core i7. While the spec sheet listed everything under the sun, it left out the one thing that people was asking about the most: how long will this thing even last before I have to plug it in? Not long, apparently.

The company issued a press release and oddly enough, it sort of sounds pleased about the fact that it can make the 12 cell battery last for an hour. The Core i7 and 8 MB of L2 aside, the D900F packs 8 GB of DDR3 and up to 1.5 TB of storage. It weighs 11.9 lbs of bulk which actually doesn’t matter because you’re not likely to be lugging this around for long. While it’s more than likely going to give you back problems and you’ll be charging it all the time, this will at least be the most compact Core i7 box on the market. Expected to ship sometime in April, no word on pricing yet.

Microsoft: Xbox 360 Red Rings Are Behind Us

Microsoft has said the latest hardware revision for the Xbox 360, code named Jasper, shipped late 2008, is expected to be the most reliable and cool-running Xbox 360 yet thanks to its 65 nm CPU and GPU. “We're seeing great performance of the current systems, so we're really happy with the way they've been performing,” said Xbox 360 product manager Aaron Greenberg to Edge. “From friends that have had [repairs] done as of late, I can tell you from our own internal staff that we're seeing very strong performance from a quality standpoint.”

Greenberg said that those who send in their consoles for repair could get an improved system shipped back. "We've improved that [repair] process. … What we do in general, the way that it works, is that they will fix it with the latest [hardware] improvements that we've applied [to current Xbox 360s]. Obviously we're continuously improving the technology inside the box, not to get too technical. So they'll apply that when they make the increments to your system.”

OCZ's New Blazing Fast 1TB Z SSD Drive

OCZ was demonstrating its new Z Drive with 1 TB of storage at CeBIT 2009 this week. The new drive is a storage device that connects to an x8 PCIe slot and offers 1 terabyte of storage capacity. The Z Drive is about the same size a dual-slot graphics card, so its not exactly small, but the device is stated to offer maximum read and write speeds of up to 600 MB/sec. and 500 MB/sec., respectively. According to the demo OCZ had on display at CeBIT though, the Z Drive was actually showing minimum and maximum read speeds of 654 MB/sec. and 712 MB/sec., respectively. Incredible.

iPod, iPhones Banned in Bill Gates' Family

In an interview with Vogue magazine, the wife of the former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates detailed a few of the things that were not allowed in the house and it seems Apple products are among them. Despite the fact that Melinda said that she sometimes gets a little iPhone envy when he sees his friends playing with one, the ex-Microsoft employee told Vogue that their children are not allowed iPhones nor iPods.

Check out the excerpt from Vogue: “Still, being a Microsoft child does carry unusual burdens. “There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household,” Gates tells me. “But iPods and iPhones are two things we don’t get for our kids.” (…) Still, Gates acknowledges the inevitable lure of forbidden fruit. “Every now and then I look at my friends and say, ‘Ooh, I wouldn’t mind having that iPhone.’”

Deal: Pickup Core i7's for Less than Core 2's

Browsing through online retailers for the latest prices on CPUs, we came across some good prices on the latest AMD and Intel offerings. For example, a quick run over to PriceGrabber looking for Core i7 CPUs, lands us with some attractive figures. You can pick up a quad core Intel Core i7 920 for around $$279 but buying a quad core Core 2 Q9650 will set you back $324.99 at the same retailer.

Likewise, you can also pick up an AMD Phenom II X4 940 quad core for less than $235. These days, there's a lot more accountable for processor performance than just GHz ratings.

Nero Adds CUDA to Accelerate Video Encoding

Nero will soon support GPU-accelerated video encoding in its Nero Move it software. During CeBIT 2009 this week, Nero announced that it will be providing a free update for users of Move it, which will add support for Nvidia's CUDA architecture. The addition of the CUDA technology will give systems that are equipped with a modern Nvidia GPU a massive boost in the speed of which the software performs video encoding.

According to Nero, a task such as transcoding a high-definition video to an iPod compatible format will go from taking hours, down to taking just minutes.  Better yet, Nero states that there should be an even greater time savings seen when high-definition content is created using the H.264 video compression format standard.  With a growing number of digicams now supporting HD video recording, often in crazy non-standard formats, being able to quickly convert such HD video clips to a useful standard format would be great.

Asus is shaking things up in the netbook world, but it hasn't forgotten about the enthusiast crowd.

During CeBIT Germany today, the Taiwanese computer giant showed off its newest motherboard. Dubbed the Z8NA-D6, this newest mainboard will allow for two LGA1366 processors to be used in the same system.

Asus also claims that at 12-inches by 9.6-inches, the Z8NA-D6 is the world's first dual socket ATX motherboard, which allows for it to be used in virtually any ATX computer case (note: Intel's Skulltrail is an Extended ATX mobo). The power connector is another point of interest. The 24+8 pin connection allows for both ATX and SSI power supplies to be used, the latter of which is traditionally used in servers.

The motherboard is based on Intel's 5500+ICH10R chipset, and can support all 1366 processors, including the upcoming Xeon 5500s. Supported memory includes up to 48 GB of RDIMM or 24 GB of UDIMM, with ECC support. The one shortcoming of this board is the lack of PCIe 2.0 x16 slots. With only one on the Z8NA-D6, you can forget about any sort of SLI or Crossfire setup. As for other expansion slots, the Z8NA-D6 comes with two PCIe x8 slots, one PIKE slot, and a PCIe x1 slot, which will likely be used for a soundcard. Like any other Asus mobo, expect this one to come with RAID software already included on the board.

The Z8NA-D6 may be the first dual socket 1366 motherboard spotted (no price or release date yet), but we doubt it's the last. 1366 Skulltrail, anybody?

Core i5 isn't necessarily a new term floating around the Internet, however lately there's been quite a bit of talk about the "Core i7 lite," and now there's a motherboard to support it.

Earlier this week, we reported that P55 motherboards compatible with Intel's Lynnfield CPUs (aka Core i5) may actually start shipping in July, and sure enough, Gigabyte's GA-IBP made a grand appearance at CeBIT this afternoon, months ahead of June's Computex "big reveal" as we originally predicted. In comparison to the meatier Core i7, the Core i5 serves as a cheaper, "lite" alternative for consumers wanting plenty of power but need to pinch pennies.

According to Engadget, on-hand gigabyte representative were tight-lipped about the specifics of the GA-IBP motherboard, saying that many of the details were still under an NDA. Additionally, Intel's booth proved just as uninformative, claiming that no Core i5 prototypes were available at the show. Still, after recent reports circulating about possible Core i5 boards shipping soon, it's good to actually see the physical product.

Gigabyte actually did post a few details next to the motherboard at the show, revealing that the GA-IBP offers dual channel DDR3, ATI CrossFireX and Nvidia SLI support, and Blu-ray playback supported by high quality 106dB SNR ALC8898 HD audio. Gigabyte's board also features an on-board 2-gigabyte Ethernet LAN connection with Teaming functionality as well as Power/Reset/Cir CMOS onboard buttons for easy workbench operations.

If all goes according to plan, look for both the processor and motherboard to hit the market in July.

Design houses from the automotive industry have penned the lines for more than just cars. In fact, some even dabble into computer parts.

The latest design house to try its hand in design is the BMW-owned BMW DesignworksUSA. But unlike Porsche Design’s minimalist approach, the BMW-designed computer case is something completely outlandish, yet intriguing.

While fancy computer cases with windows and LED lighting are now the norm, the Level 10 case that BMW penned for Thermaltake looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie.

Instead of just having one giant box for all the computer components to breathe the same air, the Level 10 separates everything inside a case into four parts -- the PSU, optical drives, hard disk drives and one for the CPU and expansion cards.

It remains to be seen how friendly this design will be for ease of access, noise levels and cooling, but it definitely sets itself apart with its looks. See autoevolution for practical shots from CeBit.