Amidst speculations that Gigabyte has put a stop to its P67 chipset-based lineup of LGA1155 motherboards and is planning a transition to Z68 top-to-bottom targeting several price points, pictures of the Z68X-UD3P-B3 surfaced. The new UD3P board is based on Z68, features a hybrid-EFI BIOS (dual-BIOS with >3 TB bootable volume support), and is designed exclusively for discrete graphics setup, it lacks FDI display connectivity. The CPU is powered by a 14-phase VRM that uses driver-MOSFETs, and cooled by simple heatsinks.

Expansion slots include two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8, x8 when both are populated), with 2-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX support. Storage connectivity includes four SATA 6 Gb/s (two from the Z68 PCH, two from a Marvell-made controller), and four internal SATA 3 Gb/s from the PCH. Other connectivity includes four USB 3.0 ports (two internal/by header), a number of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio. The Z68X-UD3P should join the rest of Gigabyte's Z68X series, for an early May launch.

Now-shipping to retailers worldwide: HighPoint RocketHybrid HBA's - delivering cost-effective, high-speed hybrid storage for gamers, media professionals and PC-enthusiasts. RocketHybrid HBA's are cutting-edge PCI-Express 2.0, SATA 6Gb's Host Adapters, powered by Marvell's revolutionary HyperDuo technology.

The performance benefits of SSD's over conventional HDD's are enticing to all, but their high cost of entry and low storage capacity keep many potential customers away. Hybrid storage resolves this dilemma - with RocketHybrid HBA's, you can combine inexpensive SATA hard disks with fast SSD's, into a high-performance and high-capacity storage solution. RocketHybrid HBA's remove the dollar-per-gigabyte barriers imposed by today's high-capacity SSD's.

Eurocom Corporation announces support for Intel's new high performance 510 Series of Solid-State Drives inside their Mobile Workstations. The addition of the Intel 510 series of SSD's to Eurocoms extensive list of storage drives gives customers an even greater choice when customizing their purpose built systems. Customers have a myriad of choices between Hard Disk Drives, Solid State Drives and Hybrid Drives. Within the SSD segment MLC and SLC drives are offered.

Intel Solid-State Drive 510 series accelerates SATA throughput by utilizing SATA 6 gigabits per second performance and NAND based SSD technology. The Intel 510 series supports data transfers up to 500 megabytes per second (MB/s), with sequential write times up to 315 MB/s.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Media Players today announced Hitachi (Deskstar7K3000 HDS723030ALA640) and Seagate (Barracuda XT ST33000651AS) 3TB hard drives are fully supported by the entire lineup of Intel-based and ARM-based Turbo NAS series.

QNAP users can now update the system firmware of Turbo NAS to V3.4.0 or later version and use these high capacity hard drives to enjoy a whopping of 24TB storage (8-bay desktop or rack-mounted models) for high-speed and efficient backup and storage of documents, multimedia files, and more.

Active Media Products, a world leading manufacturer of DOMs and small form factor SSDs, today launched a server class 2.5" SATA-III SSD that delivers transfer speeds up to 410MB/sec. This SSD is fully downward compatible with SATA-II and SATA-I standards, and is a drop-in replacement for virtually any SATA HDD or SSD.

The Predator V3 is a SATA-III (SATA-3) SSD supporting the lightning fast new 6Gbps host interface. Based on the new Marvell "Van Gogh" 88SS9174 SATA-III controller, the Predator V3 also supports very impressive random read and write speeds, reaching up to 20,000 IOPS. This combination of both sequential and random read and write performance means that boot up, application load, database, video rendering, shutdown, and other disk intensive events will occur substantially faster than with a SATA-II drive.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of Flash storage solutions and DRAM memory modules, today announced their CoreStore line of SSD solutions designed to bring a new level of performance to the SSD market.

By combining the very latest Marvell controller (88NV9143), new DDR ONFi 2 flash and plugging directly to the PCIe bus, Super Talent is now able to create two solutions that deliver unforeseen performance.

Flash memory expert PhotoFast expanded its line of ultra-high performance SSDs with the GMonster3 XV2 series, which are based on the 2.5-inch SATA form-factor, making use of SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The drives use a Marvell-made controller, which combined with MLC NAND flash chips, churns out transfer rates of up to 500 MB/s read and 450 MB/s write. The drive supports the TRIM garbage-collection feature that keeps write performance up to the mark at all times. Available in capacities of 64 GB, 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB; the GMonster3 XV2 drives will be priced at $110, $200, $400 and $800, respectively, when initially released in Japan, later this year in April.

Plextor is excited to reveal they will be launching their first solid state drive (SSD) in the UK next month - the world-class 2nd generation M2S Series. Plextor has a deserved, solid reputation for high performance, high quality products, especially in the storage sector. This leap into the SSD sector in the UK and Europe is a new move for the ever-expanding manufacturer, and a demonstration of their continued position as pioneers in a market likely to grow rapidly in future years. SSDs are increasing in popularity as a complement alongside traditional HDDs and the technology may eventually replace the HDD entirely for the OS and working environment.

Available in 3 capacities (64GB, 128GB and 256GB), the perfectly engineered 2.5" internal M2S Series SSD is one of the first of its kind to support the new SATA III 6B/s interface and boasts exclusive technologies to increase speed, stability and lifespan - offering up to 10 years of performance which doesn't degrade over time as other SSDs might. With read speeds of up to 480 MB/s, write speeds of up to 330 MB/s and performing significantly highly in benchmark tests, the M2S is currently the fastest SSD available on the market.

HighPoint Technologies, Inc. launches its Smart Hybrid HBA's product line. These ground-breaking PCI-E 2.0, SATA 6Gb/s HBA's combine solid state disks (SSD) with hard disk drives (HDD), into single, high-speed storage solutions, optimized for performance hungry workstations and applications. Smart Hybrid HBA's allow users to take advantage of the gigabyte-unit cost savings of a HDD's combined with the performance of SSD, without sacrificing capacity.

HighPoint's RocketHybrid HBA's are powered by Marvell's cutting-edge SATA 6Gb/s 88SE9130 IC and revolutionary HyperDuo technology. This technology was designed to aid SSD's acceptance into the mass-market by addressing the cost and capacity issues associated current SSD storage. Current hybrid approaches of combining SSD's and HDD's for use as boot drives, do not provide the consistent, high-speed file access required by high-performance applications, such as gaming or media editing.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Media Players today announced the TS-x12 lineup of affordable high performance Turbo NAS servers intended for the fast-growing home and SOHO market segment. The new models utilize the latest Marvell 1.2GHz processor and include 256MB of DDRII memory and Gigabit LAN ports, offering up to 8TB of networked storage with a unique blend of solid performance, high reliability, and advanced features at very affordable price points. The TS-x12 series includes the 1-drive TS-112, 2-drive TS-212, and 4-drive TS-412.

NAS is becoming a popular addition to home networks as they solve the problem of how to centrally store and share digital content among computers in the home - especially in mixed Windows/Mac networks. QNAP's new TS-x12 models are easy to attach to existing networks and provides easy file sharing within the network, centralized backup of all networked computers, website hosting, printer sharing, even recording of surveillance video from IP cameras.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Media Players today announced expansion of their Turbo NAS lineup with the addition of the TS-419U+ rack-mounted NAS server targeted specifically at the fast-growing SMB and workgroup market segments. The TS-419U+ features 4 hot-swappable SATA hard drives with up to 8TB of total capacity (using 2TB drives) packaged in a compact 1U rack-mounted chassis. The TS-419U+ supports 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch hard drives in hot-swappable drive carriers, giving users more flexibility on selecting hard drives for installation. The TS-419U+ features a Marvell 1.6GHz CPU and 512MB of DDRIII memory, providing sustained high performance with low power consumption.

Patriot Memory displayed its latest line of consumer SSDs in the 2.5-inch form factor, the Patriot Wildfire. The SSD uses the latest SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and is available in capacities of 60 GB, 120 GB, and 240 GB. Wildfire could use any of the many SATA 6 Gb/s compliant SSD controllers out there, the most notable being SandForce SF-2582 and Marvell 9174, to provide transfer speeds in excess of 500 MB/s.

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced that it has developed a range of performance components that fully exploit the potential of the new Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor family, including the new LGA1155 Core i5 and Core i7 processors.

These components include the previously announced Corsair Vengeance DDR3 memory modules, which operate with a low VDIMM voltage of 1.5V, and include XMP-certified performance profiles for Core i5 and Core i7 processors. In addition, Corsair is also announcing the next-generation Performance 3 Series, a new range of solid-state drives, based on the Marvell 9174 controller and designed to take full advantage of the SATA 6Gbps (SATA Revision 3.0) support native to the new Intel chipsets.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading manufacturer of world class NAS servers, NVR Video Surveillance Systems, and Network-based Media Players today announced the TS-x19P+ lineup of affordable Turbo NAS servers targeted primarily for home and SOHO users. The new models utilize Marvell's new 1.6GHz embedded processor and include 512MB of DDRIII memory and Gigabit LAN ports, mustering up transfer rates exceeding 100MB/sec and offering a unique blend of performance and features at very affordable price points. The new models include the 1-drive TS-119P+, 2-drive TS-219P+ and 4-drive TS-419P+. With up to 8TB of networked storage, the TS-x19P+ series NAS servers combine an attractive industrial design, outstanding performance, consumer-friendly features, and above all, legendary QNAP quality and reliability.

NAS servers are becoming a popular addition to home and SOHO networks as they solve the problem of how to share digital pictures, music, and videos among computers in the home without resorting to a USB keychain drive. QNAP's new TS-x19P+ models are easy to attach to an existing home network and provide easy file sharing between PCs, Macs, Linux, and UNIX-based computers. QNAP's TS-x19P+ NAS servers can also provide automatic backup of all computers on the network, host websites, record home security surveillance video from IP cameras on the network, be a UPnP-compliant media server, and act as a stand-alone file server for BT/FTP/HTTP and eMule downloads.

MSI seems to be ready with its first wave of motherboards for socket LGA1155 processors, based on the Sandy Bridge architecture. At this point the lineup is quite simply three models - P67A-GD65, the performance segment offering, the P67A-GD55, upper mid-range, and H67MA-ED55, a micro-ATX board ready for integrated graphics. All three motherboards seem to carry high-grade components such as solid chokes (that don't whine), high-C capacitors, and offer a level of overclocking headroom enhanced by OC Genie II.

The P67A-GD65 features two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x8/x8 when both are populated), three PCI-E x1, and two PCI slots. Connectivity includes six SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the P67 PCH (of which four are internal, two eSATA), two SATA 6 Gb/s ports provided by a Marvell-made controller, and two additional SATA 3 Gb/s ports by a third-party controller; two USB 3.0 ports, 8-channel HD audio, FireWire, and gigabit Ethernet. There are several overclocker-friendly features such as consolidated voltage measure points with proper sockets to hold multimeter leads, OC Genie controls, and a heat pipe distributing heat evenly between the VRM heatsinks.

If you recall, at this year's Computex event held in Taipei, almost every motherboard vendor scuffled to show of their first motherboards based on the Intel P67 and H67 chipsets, that support new socket LGA1155 socket processors based on the next-generation Sandy Bridge architecture. The Intel Developer Forum (IDF) 2010 event is presenting many of them a second chance, and we're beginning to see some new designs that didn't make it to Computex. Intel's own Desktop Board division came up with a new Extreme Series motherboard, the DP67BG "Burrage". As with every other Intel Desktop Board, this one looks clean, and well spaced-out. While there's nothing fancy about the heatsinks, the glowing skull is there, and this time it's positioned properly.

The processor is powered by a 4+2 phase PWM circuit, it's wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots for dual-channel memory support. Among few of its kind, the Burrage makes room of all seven expansion slots in the ATX specification. There are two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (x8, x8 when both are populated), three PCI-E x1, and two PCI. Apart from six SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the P67 PCH, there's an additional Marvell-made SATA controller that drives an eSATA port. Connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, a number of USB 2.0 ports, FireWire, and eSATA. After being neophobic toward USB 3.0, Intel has finally embraced it on its Desktop Board brand, an NEC/Renesas controller gives out two ports on the rear-panel. This feature-set should put rest to rumors of Intel embedding USB 3.0 and SATA 6 Gb/s into its chipset. The DP67BG from Intel should be out when the first-wave of LGA1155 processors make it to the market.

With innovative products that span multiple target markets under its belt, Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), the world's leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system, and notebook manufacturer, announces the latest product, the ECS Black Series P55H-AK motherboard, which has powerful specifications and takes on a classic black and white color scheme.

There were lots of insane overclocking events at COMPUTEX 2010; ECS successfully created a new overclocking standard - 5 GHz for Intel latest Core Unlocked processor (Unlocked processors refer to the Core i5-655K and Core i7-875K) using just a normal air cooler. Simply put, every user can boost their gaming system easily by using the ECS M.I.B. X tweaker - the special edition overclocking interface consolidates all information about overclocking for users; getting increased system performance using typical cooling isn't that hard anymore.

ASUS showed off its latest high-end motherboard, and latest entry into its premium Republic of Gamers line, the Rampage III Gene. The "Gene" identifier tells that the board is of the micro-ATX form-factor, while Rampage III is the latest series of socket LGA1366 motherboards based on the Intel X58 Express chipset. Compared to the Rampage II, Rampage III embraces latest technologies as well as ASUS innovations, this includes support for USB 3.0, SATA 6 Gb/s, and ASUS ROG Connect, to name a few. The CPU is powered by an 8-phase PWM circuit, 2-phase for the six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory support.

Expansion slots include two full-bandwidth PCI-Express 2.0 x16, an open-ended PCI-Express x4, and a legacy PCI. NVIDIA SLI and ATI CrossfireX are supported. The ICH10R southbridge drives six SATA 3 Gb/s ports, while an additional Marvell-made controller drives two SATA 6 Gb/s ports. Connectivity includes 8-channel audio (probably SupremeFX X-Fi), two USB 3.0 ports, a number of USB 2.0 ports including one which holds a Bluetooth module, gigabit Ethernet, and FireWire. ROG-exclusive features include ROG Connect, which allows you to control overclocking with any Bluetooth-enabled cell phone that has the ROG device installed and is Bluetooth-paired with the board, a more flexible BIOS, iROG motherboard management system, and power, reset, and clear-CMOS buttons at convenient locations. Pricing and availability are yet to be known.

EVGA just released two of its most indigenous designs that marks a complete evolution from being a reference-design products vendor to an enthusiast-grade hardware giant: the much talked about EVGA Classified SR-2 dual-LGA1366 enthusiast-workstation motherboard, and power supply unit (PSU) tailor-made to suit systems based on the SR-2 motherboard. To begin with, the Classified SR-2 motherboard is a dual-LGA1366 motherboard supporting two dual-socket capable Intel Xeon E5500 series, and X5600 series quad-core and six-core processors. It is based on Intel's enterprise-grade 5520 chipset with ICH10R southbridge.

The Intel 5520 supports two QuickPath Interconnect paths to each of the sockets, which in turn can communicate with each other. Since each socket (processor) has its own triple-channel DDR3 memory controller, it has its own six DDR3 memory slots. The 5520 gives out two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 lanes which connect to two NVIDIA nForce 200 chips that give out two PCI-Express 2.0 x16 links each. With external x8 switching thrown into the mix, the motherboard manages a staggering seven PCI-Express x16 slots.

One of the industry's first solid state drives that use the new SATA 6 Gb/s interface - probably the only devices that can truly benefit from its bandwidth, the Crucial RealSSD C300 series has gone on sale, on the company's online store. The 128 GB variant (CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1) is priced at US $499.99, while the 256 GB one (CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1) goes for $799.99. Backed by expertise from IM Flash Technologies, the RealSSD C300 high-speed Synchronous NAND chips to achieve read speeds of 355 MB/s, something the device cannot achieve over SATA 3 Gb/s taking its natural bandwidth and protocol overhead into account.

Providing SATA 6 Gb/s controllers is a growing trend among motherboard manufacturers with upper mid-range and high-end motherboards. Many of these use Marvell 88SE9123-NAA2, a two-port controller that uses a single PCI-Express 2.0 lane for system interface. AMD's new SB800 series southbridge chips that will feature in motherboards with AMD 8-series chipset, which release next month, have native SATA 6 Gb/s support. This is where RealSSD finds its support base.

Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), a leading motherboard, graphics card, barebone system and notebook manufacturer, today announced the launch of the ECS U3N2 and S6M2 expansion cards as the most flexible solution for many upcoming USB 3.0 and SATA 6Gbps external devices.

The ECS U3N2 USB 3.0 expansion card which is powered by NEC USB 3.0 controller chip delivers a brand new standard SuperSpeed USB 3.0 performance up to 5Gbps data-transfer rate which is 10 times faster than USB 2.0 and at least 900mA current output for each port to easily access SuperSpeed external devices, also, the ECS U3N2 USB 3.0 expansion card provides a great flexibility with its backward compatibility to USB 2.0 and earlier devices.

QNAP has made a name for themselves with their previous NAS devices, which made use of the Intel Atom processor, but the newest revision of their units with 2, 4, 6 or 8 storage bays now runs on the Pinetrail Atom D510 and also features VMware and iSCSI support. All of them are able to run in IPv6 based networks as well. On top of that, we got to take a quick look at their consumer products - the TS-111 (one bay) and TS-210 (two bay). Both feature a 1000 Mb/s network port, along with an 800 MHz Marvell processor and 256 MB memory.

One of ASUS' premier offers for this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event is a new high-end socket LGA-1366 motherboard, the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Rampage III Extreme. The board succeeds the Rampage II Extreme which launched over an year ago along with Intel's then new Core i7 series processors. The new model based on the Intel X58 Express + ICH10R chipset, comes with four well spaced out PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, a new set of overclocking enhancements such as the ROG connect which lets you control the motherboard's overclocking from any Bluetooth and Java enabled mobile phone, SATA 6 Gb/s and USB 3.0 connectivity using ASUS' innovative PCI-Express 2.0 bridge implementation, and a more powerful CPU VRM to keep the board stable with bleeding-edge settings.

The board features an enhanced CPU VRM which is now powered by two 8-pin ATX connectors apart from two 4-pin Molex connectors. Some of these could be redundant and needed only for electrical stability. The CPU and memory power circuitry makes use of super-ML capacitors for cleaner power delivery. Voltage readouts are located next to the DIMM slots for accessibility. The motherboard makes use of slimmer component heatsinks that look to be made of the ceramic composite which the TUF Sabertooth P55 motherboard uses.

Marvell, a worldwide leader in integrated silicon solutions, today announced another breakthrough in advanced chip design: the world's first "quadruple" core processor for applications utilizing the ARM instruction set. Building on a long and successful history of CPU core development and previous multicore implementations, Marvell's achievement represents a milestone breakthrough for the ARM ecosystem with many positive implications for consumers. Based on the same CPU architecture as the Marvell ARMADA 500 and 600 processor series, Marvell's quadcore implementation can deliver gigahertz-plus processing per core and is designed for customer-specific products such as mass consumer market and high volume gaming applications.

"Introducing our quadcore technology to the world represents a pivotal moment in CPU development for the consumer electronics industry," said Ms. Weili Dai, Marvell's Co-founder and Vice President and General Manager of Marvell Semiconductor, Inc.'s Consumer and Computing Business Unit. "Today's media-rich consumer applications are already pushing the limits. By making quadcore capabilities available to our customers we will enable the newest generation of cutting edge devices that consumers will always demand -- more horsepower, higher performance, better battery life, and more attractive price points than ever before for mass consumer market adoption."

The recently surfaced high-end dual socket LGA-1366 motherboard is pictured in full, without its cooling assembly. The picture reveals quite a bit about EVGA's new monstrosity. To begin with, the motherboard is neither ATX, nor EATX in the truest sense. Like the recently announced X58 Classified 4-way SLI which was based on the "XL-ATX" form-factor, this motherboard seems to be 13.58 inches (344.93 mm) long, and about as wide as EATX (330 mm, 13 inches), or maybe a little more.

Each LGA-1366 socket is wired to six DDR3 DIMM slots for triple-channel memory, and is powered by an 8-phase digital-PWM circuit. Each socket further has a 3-phase power circuit for its DIMM slots. The CPU VRM for each socket takes input from an 8-pin ATX, and what appears to be a 6-pin +12V (PCI-E?) connector. The motherboard further takes power from a 6-pin PCI-E power connector apart from the usual 24-pin ATX power connector. Some of these inputs may be redundant and needed only for additional electrical stability to support competitive overclocking.