It turns out that NVIDIA's upcoming high-end graphics card, the GeForce GTX 780, is indeed based on the GK110 chip, and to the extant of featuring the same reference-design PCB and cooling solution as the GeForce GTX TITAN. Chinese portal IT168 posted press-shots of the card. If you overlook the "GTX 780" embossing on the cooler, half the number of memory chips, and another very subtle difference, you will easily mistake the GTX 780 for a GTX TITAN.

Pictures reveal the card to feature an ASIC bearing the number "GK110-300-A1," which is rumored to feature 2,304 CUDA cores, 192 TMUs, 48 ROPs, and a 384-bit wide memory interface. Given that the card features just twelve 2 Gbit memory chips, the total memory amount should be 3 GB. The card is said to feature clock speeds of 863 MHz core, 902 MHz GPU Boost, and 6.00 GHz memory, which belts out 288 GB/s memory bandwidth. It draws power from a combination of 6-pin and 8-pin PCIe power connectors. The 4-way SLI-capable card gives out display from a pair of dual-link DVI, HDMI, and DisplayPort connectors.Sources: IT168, Videocardz

Futuremark announced PCMark 8, the latest entry to its line of benchmark suites that target all PC subsystems. Designed for the new generation of Windows 8 PCs (although it should run fine on Windows 7), PCMark 8 introduces a few new tests transferred from the company's BatteryMark suite, which lets you test battery life on notebooks and tablets. It introduces a few new tests that simulate load from popular Adobe and Microsoft creativity and productivity applications. PCMark 8 is developed in collaboration with a number of industry giants, including Acer, AMD, Condusiv Technologies, Dell, HGST, HP, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Samsung, SanDisk, Seagate and Western Digital. The software can be purchased towards the end of June.

Thermal Solutions specialist GELID Solutions reveals the Rev. 2 GX-7 CPU cooler of its GAMER product line. Engineers at GELID Solutions have upgraded the award-winning GX-7 to the Rev. 2 GX-7 by adding the Slim 12 PL Blue fan and the multi award-winning GC-Extreme thermal compound. Contrary to traditional heat pipe arrangement the Rev. 2 GX-7 offers a special array of heat pipes to take full advantage of all 7 heat pipes heat transfer capacity. Further V-shaped aluminum fins were used in the center of the heat sink to allow airflow to reach the heat sink more evenly. Openings inside of the heat sink and near the heat pipes let fresh-air flow in from the top and the bottom to the zones where normally poorly ventilated and eliminate the creation of hotspots. The unique heat sink shape supports dual fans.

NVIDIA's reference-design cooling solutions for its GeForce GTX 690 and GTX TITAN raised the bar with graphics card product-design, especially with the exotic materials, such as magnesium alloys, and vapor-chamber plates used in them, which keep production costs up. With reports of NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 780 and GTX 770 featuring similar reference-design coolers, graphics card manufacturers wanting to try out lower-cost yet higher-performing custom-design cooling solutions, have their tasks cut out: to design coolers that also look good, and make buyers want to pick them over NVIDIA's reference cooler.

EVGA unveiled a CGI teaser of its upcoming high-end graphics card cooling solution, called ACX, which abbreviates Active Cooling Xtreme. From what little the teaser video reveals, the cooler appears to be a sleek, dual-fan, and air-based. Its shroud features a sporty design with pale-gold highlights, and matte black accenting piano black. The cooler uses a pair of fans to ventilate an aluminum fin-stack, but no other physical features were revealed. The name might indicate some kinds of "smart" features that let users monitor, and tinker with the card's cooling better, perhaps even over proprietary software. Interestingly, it won't be long before we find out more. The cooler is said to be unveiled on the 23rd of this month, and unless EVGA plans to launch it with older GTX 600 series GPUs, 23rd could very well be the day the first GTX 700 series product could be unveiled. Find the video after the break.

TechPowerUp announced GPU-Z 0.7.1, the latest version of the popular graphics subsystem information, monitoring, and diagnostic tool. Version 0.7.1 adds support for new GPUs, and an experimental feature that lets you investigate power-capping on some of the newer generations of NVIDIA GPUs (needs GeForce 319.xx or later drivers). To begin with, GPU-Z 0.7.1 introduces support for NVIDIA's upcoming GeForce GTX 780 and GeForce GTX 770 graphics cards, along with support for AMD's new Radeon HD 8000M, HD 8000G, and HD 8000D series GPUs/IGPs, including the HD 8310G, HD 8410G, HD 8450G, HD 8510G, HD 8550G, HD 8610G, and HD 8650G; and a few exotic GPUs, such as GT 730M, GT 750M, GTX 780M, GRID K1, GRID K2, and HD 7730.DOWNLOAD: TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.1 | TechPowerUp GPU-Z 0.7.1 ASUS ROG Themed

The change-log follows.

Transcend Information, Inc. (Transcend), a leading manufacturer of industrial-grade products, today announced the release of its SATA II 3Gb/s MSM610 mSATA mini solid state drive (SSD). With its diminutive yet robust form factor, impressive sequential read/write transfer speeds, and a host of reliability features, the MSM610 mSATA mini SSD delivers solid state performance and durability to today's advanced mobile devices such as tablet PCs, Ultrabooks, and other embedded storage applications.

Fully compliant with the SATA II 3Gb/s specification and built with industry-leading toggle-mode MLC NAND flash chips, the MSM610 mSATA mini SSD boasts blazing fast sequential read and write speeds up to 245 and 48 MB/s respectively. This outstanding performance translates into reduced boot up and data transfer times, superior application launch speed, and enhanced overall system responsiveness; especially useful for dual-drive notebooks and Ultrabooks taking advantage of both the high-speed MSM610 mSATA mini SSD and a high capacity hard disk drive.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a world leader in advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced the industry's first 45 nanometer (nm) embedded flash ("eFlash") logic process development. Samsung successfully implemented the new process into the smart card test chip, which means that this process technology fulfills the stringent quality requirements of the security solution market and can be successfully deployed on a commercial scale.

"Samsung's 45nm eFlash logic process has the potential to be broadly adopted into various components for security solutions and mobile devices, including smart card IC, NFC IC, eSE (embedded secure element) and TPM (Trusted platform module)," said Taehoon Kim, vice president of marketing, System LSI Business, Samsung Electronics. "The excellent performance from this smart card test chip will help solidify our leadership in the security IC market."

NEC Display Solutions of America, a leading provider of commercial LCD display and projector solutions, announced today an addition to its high-end IT desktop line, the MultiSync EA Series, with the 23-inch EA234WMi. This performance-driven monitor is LED-backlit and ideal for corporate environments. The LED backlighting of the EA234WMi allows for a slimmer profile, lighter weight and increased power savings compared to previous generation models. ControlSync technology allows users to control up to six EA234WMi displays in a multi-monitor configuration. Upon establishing one unit as the master, users are able to control many performance attributes of the multi-monitor setup in unison through the single monitor.

"We are excited to add the MultiSync EA234WMi to our portfolio. This model offers a robust feature set to meet the needs of the most demanding users," said Kevin Christopherson, Director of Product Marketing for Desktop Displays at NEC Display Solutions. "Not only will customers get exceptional performance, but this display also has received the highest levels of environmental certifications."

Razer, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware, software and systems, today announced the Razer Atrox Arcade Stick for Xbox 360, the final product following an extensive beta testing program. Tested by some of the world's best pro-gamers and Fighting Game Community members all over the world, the Razer Atrox Arcade Stick is constructed with modders and tournament gamers in mind. Featuring premium quality Sanwa components, the 10 highly responsive buttons and a precision eight-way joystick allow gamers to strike instantly and surely, game after game, while maintaining peak performance and reliability.

An extremely moddable controller, the inside of the arcade stick platform opens up at the touch of a button, making the Razer Atrox a breeze to customize for all tastes and play styles. Users can swap in their own personal designs for a unique look, while also getting access to the internal compartments and honeycomb structure for easy screw mounting.

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. announced today that the Company has begun shipping the R.A.T.M Gaming Mouse, the first in a new range of GameSmart mobile gaming accessories.

The R.A.T.M is the first mouse to combine Bluetooth Smart (4.0) technology and a gaming grade laser sensor, providing market leading battery life, universal compatibility and the performance expected from a R.A.T. gaming mouse. Delivering up to a one year battery life, the R.A.T.M is compatible with a multitude of devices from PC and Mac through to next generation TV's, smart phones and tablets. For devices that do not feature Bluetooth Smart mouse support, the R.A.T.M comes equipped with a nano dongle. For platforms running Windows 8 with native Bluetooth Smart mouse support, the R.A.T.M can be connected directly. The R.A.T.M features a patented adjustable palm rest, 12 action buttons (10 of which are programmable), and a power efficient 6400DPI twin-eye laser sensor. The R.A.T.M uses an all new Windows and Mac compatible drag-and-drop programming interface, allowing gamers to intuitively program commands with speed.

SilverStone gave its Tundra line of liquid-cooling products a new lease of life with two new closed-loop CPU coolers, the TD02 and TD03 (pictured in that order). The two feature design and fans by SilverStone. The TD02 features a radiator assembly that measures 278 x 124 x 33.5 mm (LxWxH, excluding fans), and can latch on to four 120 mm fans, a pair of FM121 fans come included. The TD03, on the other hand, uses a radiator assembly close to half the size of its sibling, measuring 124 x 159 x 45 mm. The base+pump assembly is the same for both, measuring 55 x 60 x 33.5 mm, which features a polished copper base. The two will reach stores later this week.

Lenovo announced that customers can place orders for the IdeaPad Yoga 11S beginning today on www.lenovo.com or pre-order on www.bestbuy.com. The acclaimed 360° flip and fold Yoga 11S premiered in January at the International Consumer Electronics Show, following its popular predecessor, the IdeaPad Yoga 13.

Sized well for mobility in a thin, 11.6-inch design, the Yoga 11S Ultrabook convertible comes with choices of a powerful third generation Core i3, i5 or i7 Intel processor giving consumers the ability to create high-performance content and presentations and seamless graphics that make it a great entertainment device.

Xigmatek rolled out the Janus low-profile CPU Cooler. It uses a C-type aluminum fin-array design. From a mirror-polished nickel-plated copper base, six 6 mm-thick heat pipes convey heat to an aluminum fin-stack arranged along the plane of the motherboard. It is ventilated by two fans arranged in a top-flow push-pull configuration. The top fan is a 10 mm-thick 120 mm spinner, while the bottom one is a 15 mm-thick 80 mm one. The bigger fan spins at 800-1200 RPM, pushing up to 38.42 CFM of air; while the smaller one does around 2000 RPM, pushing 13.53 CFM. Measuring 120 x 110 x 45 mm (WxDxH), the Janus weighs about 430 g. It supports most modern CPU socket types, including Intel LGA1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA2011, LGA1366, and LGA775; and AMD AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2, FM2/FM1.

Innodisk is proud to be among the first to supply (DDR4) registered DIMM product samples to key server companies for their next-generation systems. With this announcement, Innodisk, an industry leader in DRAM modules for industrial applications and embedded systems, will continue to offer the most advanced technology to its customers. The result of almost eight years of development, DDR4 (Double Data Rate 4) technology improves on the previous generation, DDR3, in every way. These new memory products provide users with greater performance, but can still cut costs by saving power and space, and reducing waste heat.

DDR4 offers a giant leap in peak performance over DDR3 technology, with a 3.2 Gbps data transfer rate. In fact, DDR4 could eventually even surpass this already high rate, according to standards organization JEDEC, in the same way that DDR3 surpassed its initial ceiling of 1.6 Gbps. DDR4 memory bus speeds start at 2133MHz, which already offers a huge jump in potential performance from the average bus speed of 1333MHz and 1666MHz offered by DDR3.

Dell today announced an expanded and stronger Dell Precision workstation portfolio that includes the smallest tower workstation chassis in its class, the Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor, and the world's most powerful rack workstation, the Dell Precision R7610. In addition, the Dell Precision family features a more powerful and reliable Dell Precision T1700 Mini-Tower rounding out a workstation portfolio that offers increased performance, dependability and smart design for entry-level and high-end workstation users.

Industry's Smallest Entry-Level Tower Workstations
Offering powerful workstation performance at near desktop PC prices, the new Dell Precision T1700 small form-factor (SFF) is the smallest, approximately 30 percent smaller than competitive systems, and lightest workstation in its class allowing IT to easily deploy an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) certified workstation almost anywhere, regardless of space constraints.

ASUS announced a fleet of socket LGA1150 motherboards, covering its mainline (classic), Republic of Gamers (ROG), and The Ultimate Force (TUF) lines. With this series, ASUS is adopting a new color scheme for its mainline motherboards, breaking away from the black PCB with blue heatsinks scheme it maintained since the first LGA1156 motherboards, almost four years ago. The new mainline motherboards from ASUS feature black PCBs with golden-colored heatsinks covering the VRM and PCH, and simpler naming. ASUS' first wave of Z87-based mainline (classic) motherboards include the entry-level Z87-C and Z87-A, mid-range Z87-PLUS and Z87-PRO, and premium Z87-DELUXE.

ASUS' TUF (The Ultimate Force) line of extra-durable motherboards will include two socket LGA1150 models, the Z87-Sabertooth, and the Z87-Gryphon. The more familiar-sounding Z87-Sabertooth, is built in the conventional ATX form-factor, featuring an 8-phase CPU power supply, thermal armor covering most parts of the board, dust-covers or dummy-spacers for most ports, slots, and headers, yet an active fan-based air-circulation within the thermal armor. Connectivity includes eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots wired to the CPU, 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, eight USB 3.0 ports, HDMI and DisplayPort outputs, and a number of conventional USB 2.0/1.1 ports.

The Z87-Gryphon is the first micro-ATX motherboard in the TUF series, featuring an optional thermal armor kit, 8-phase CPU power, expansion slots that include two PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC or x8/x8), a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4, wired to the PCH), six SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four USB 3.0 ports, 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output, gigabit Ethernet, and display outputs that include DVI and HDMI.

Along with the Z87 mainline (classic) series, ASUS unveiled its premium gamer-overclocker targeted Republic of Gamers (ROG) Maximus VI series, consisting of three models, the Maximus VI Hero, the Maximus VI Gene, and the Maximus VI Extreme. The Maximus VI Hero is the more affordable ATX model among the three; the Maximus VI Gene is the only micro-ATX offering, while the Maximus VI Extreme is the flagship motherboard from ASUS for socket LGA1150.

The Maximus VI Hero offers a 12-phase CPU power supply, most ROG-exclusive features, expansion slots that include three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, SupremeFX onboard audio with ground-layer isolation, and essential connectivity options that include four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and HDMI display output. We won't be surprised if Maximus VI Hero ends up being a sub-$200 option, to compete against similarly priced alternatives from ASRock and MSI.

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

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

ADATA Technology, a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash application products, today announced a small but stylish addition to its DashDrive family of USB Flash drives. The new DashDrive Choice UC510 packs durability and charm into a super small and handy profile.

With this new drive, ADATA has once again made the most of Chip on Board (COB) technology, and the result is a highly water-resistant, durable device that is ultra-small and easy to carry. The drive body shines with a metallic gleam, and the capless design eliminates the need for a drive cap and the related chance of cap loss. The UC510 has a USB 2.0 interface, providing the required performance for most common data storage and transfer needs.