An FTP server in Taiwan that could be publicly accessed, leaked the source code of AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, including AMI's unique UEFI signing test key. The utterly irresponsible act of holding such sensitive data on public FTPs is suspected to be committed by motherboard vendor Jetway. In doing so, the company may have compromised security of every motherboard (across vendors) running AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS. Most socket LGA1155 and FM2 motherboards, and some socket AM3+ motherboards run AMI Aptio.

Among the leaked bits of software include the source code of AMI BIOS, Aptio, and AMI's UEFI test signing key, which is used by all its clients to sign their BIOS updates. Signing ensures that BIOS updating software verifies the update is genuine, and coming from the motherboard manufacturer. With this key out, malware developers can develop malicious BIOS updates, hack motherboard vendors' customer support websites, and replace legitimate BIOS updates with their malicious ones. Control over the system BIOS could then give hackers access to most ring-0 OS functions.

ASUS rolled out an optional video BIOS update for its GeForce GTX 680 graphics cards, which lends them GOP UEFI support, letting users take advantage of "Ultra Fast Boot" and "CSM disable" features. To use Windows 8 Secure Boot feature as intended, it's not enough that your PC motherboard supports UEFI, discrete graphics cards should support GOP (graphics output protocol) UEFI, as well. Very few graphics cards at the moment support it, and graphics card board vendors are making efforts on their side to add it.

ASUS' GOP UEFI VBIOS update ships as an executable that updates VBIOS from within Windows (provided it's being run with Administrator rights). ASUS tested the update only on its motherboards. Also, once updated to the UEFI-hybrid VBIOS, the graphics card can't be flashed back to the older legacy one. Risk takers can find the update here. Find more technical information at the source.Source: ASUS ROG Forums

It turns out that MSI's Gaming Series begins with not just the Z77A-GD65 Gaming, but two other models; the Z77A-G43 Gaming, and Z77A-G45 Gaming. Like the Z77A-GD65 Gaming, the other two are nearly identical to their originals, except for a few differences: Killer E2200 low-latency network interfaces, Creative Sound Blaster Cinema audio, fancy VRM heatsinks with dragon head-shaped fins, themed PCH heatsinks, Gaming Series branding on the POST screen and a themed UEFI BIOS interface. With Z87-based LGA1150 motherboards being just three months away, MSI could rush these motherboards into the market.Source: Hardware.info

MSI launched the X79A-GD45 PLUS socket LGA2011 motherboard, targeting the US $200~250 price-range. The board uses a 9-phase DrMOS VRM to power the CPU socket, which is wired to eight DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 128 GB of quad-channel DDR3-2400 MHz memory; and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (gray). The other two PCI-Express x16 slots (black) are electrical gen 2.0 x4, and wired to the X79 PCH. A lone PCI-Express 2.0 x1 finds some room in there.

The X79A-GD45 PLUS sticks to the chipset's feature-set, with very little third-party controller functionality. Storage connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s and three SATA 3 Gb/s, all of which are internal ports. The board features four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by headers), 8-channel HD audio with optical and coaxial SPDIF outputs, gigabit Ethernet, PS/2 mouse/keyboard, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 ports making up the rest of the connectivity. It is driven by an AMI UEFI BIOS, with a few overclocker-friendly features such as diagnostic LEDs, POST state display, accessible CMOS reset button, etc.

Gigabyte rolled out a new mini-ITX motherboard based on the AMD E350 "Zacate" APU, for entry-level PC and home-server builds, the E350N-WIN8. As the name might suggest, the board is designed to run Windows 8 with its entire feature set, including Fast Boot. It does that by replacing legacy AwardBIOS on older variants, with modern AMI UEFI, backed by Gigabyte's Dual-UEFI redundant BIOS technology that protects against failed BIOS updates. The E350N WIN8 uses a fairly big (SFF-safe) fan-heatsink to cool the APU, while a tiny heatsink cools its companion A45 FCH chipset.

The AMD E350 packs two x86-64 cores clocked at 1.60 GHz, with a maximum memory support of 16 GB, and AMD Radeon HD 6310D DirectX 11 graphics that rides on 80 stream processors. The APU is wired to two standard-size 240-pin DIMM slots. The lone expansion slot, sadly, is a legacy PCI. The board draws power from a combination of 24-pin and 4-pin ATX connectors. Connectivity includes four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports (four on the rear panel, four by headers), serial RS232 (COM) and parallel (LPT) ports, PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors, and display outputs that include D-Sub (VGA) and HDMI (with 7.1-channel digital HD audio). Expect a sub-$100 price point.

ASUS augmented its socket FM2 motherboard lineup with the F2A85-V, a lite variant of the F2A85-V Pro the company kicked off its Trinity APU-compatible motherboard lineup with. The new F2A85-V trims down on a few things over the -Pro variant, such as simpler independent VRM and FCH heatsinks with no heat-pipe connecting them, fewer APU power phases, and a lighter expansion slot layout that isn't ideal for multi-GPU setups.

To begin with, the F2A85-V features a 6-phase APU VRM that draws power from a 4-pin ATX connector, compared to the 8-phase one drawing from an 8-pin EPS, on the F2A85-V Pro. The FM2 socket is connected to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting a maximum of 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; and a single PCI-Express 2.0 x16. Other expansion slots include a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4, wired to the A85X FCH), two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and three legacy PCI slots.

In addition to the AP2021 all-in-one desktop, earlier today, MSI rolled out the A85XMA-P33 socket FM2 motherboard. Nearly identical to the recently-launched A75MA-P33, the A85XMA-P33 is proof that AMD overproduced the chipset, and it's up to board makers like MSI to somehow get rid of it. Even as the AMD A85X chipset features eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, the board only features six, there aren't even eSATA ports to make up. Supporting AMD A-Series APUs in the socket FM2 package, the board features a 5-phase VRM, one each of PCI-Express 2.0 x16, PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and legacy PCI; four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by header), DVI and D-Sub display outputs, 6-channel HD audio, and gigabit Ethernet. It is driven by UEFI BIOS. We see no reason why the board should be priced any differently from the A75MA-P33.

When Gigabyte ported a bulk of its socket AM3+ motherboard lineup to the modern UEFI BIOS, back in October 2012, top models that support NVIDIA SLI, such as the 990FXA-UD5 missed out, with the 990FXA-UD3 leading the pack. The company made amends launching the 990FXA-UD5 Rev 3.0, which tosses out decades-old legacy BIOS for modern AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, backed by the company's Dual-UEFI innovation, which protects against failed BIOS updates. The 990FXA-UD5 features a 12-phase VRM to power the CPU, five PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots, supporting 3-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX, eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports, two eSATA 6 Gb/s ports, four USB 3.0, 8-channel HD audio, and a single gigabit Ethernet interface. It is expected to be priced around US $160.

MSC Embedded Inc., manufacturer of highly integrated standard board level products and customer-specific boards and systems, today introduced a powerful, new COM Express Type 6 module family. This family, called MSC C6C-A7, is based on the AMD embedded R-Series processors also known as accelerated processing units (APUs). MSC C6C-A7 members are compact form factor computer-on-modules characterized by very powerful graphics and high parallel computing performance with low power dissipation.

The MSC C6C-A7 module family integrates AMD R-460L 2.0 GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo) or AMD R-452L 1.6 GHz (2.4 GHz Turbo) quad-core processors. The thermal design power (TDP) levels are 25 W and 19 W, respectively. The two dual-core versions are populated with the AMD R-260H 2.1 GHz (2.6 GHz Turbo) processor or the AMD R-252F 1.7 GHz (2.3 GHz Turbo) processor -- each featuring 17 W TDP. The processors support the AMD64 technology and the AMD-V virtualization technology. The AMD Fusion Controller Hub (FCH) A75 chipset was also selected. The main memory can be expanded to 16 GB DDR3-1600 dual-channel SDRAM via two SO DIMM sockets.

TUL Corporation, a leading manufacturer of AMD graphic cards, pioneers to offer UEFI ready graphics solutions to all gamers. As the industry-leading graphics brand, PowerColor dedicated itself to deliver innovative technology to all gamers. With newly announcement of Microsoft Windows 8, the whole new operating system amazes gamers with fantastic features such as fast boot technology.

To provide complete experience of the latest Windows 8 operating system, PowerColor develops new firmware with UEFI ready which enables fast boot implementation. By utilizing UEFI firmware, the latest Windows 8 systems can boot and resume activity faster than ever. Gamers can experience the speedy boot and resume times with PowerColor UEFI-capable graphics solutions, allows the unsurpassed user experience like never before.

Phoenix Technologies Ltd., the global leader in UEFI firmware technology, products and tools, announced today the release of its flagship UEFI BIOS product, Phoenix SecureCore Technology 3.0. The third generation of Phoenix SecureCore Technology UEFI BIOS features cross-device, cross-codebase compatibility with native EDK II and EDK 1117 support for both x86 and ARM based systems, saving customization and maintenance efforts while reducing time to market for PC and mobile device builders.

"We have redefined Phoenix SecureCore Technology to maximize BIOS reusability and portability," said Steve Chan, Phoenix's Chief Technical Officer. "Phoenix SecureCore Technology 3.0 inherits its popular clean code tree with fully modularized design from previous generations; in addition, we re-architected the core for a universal build system which will help firmware developers in transitioning to EDK II, the next generation foundation for the latest UEFI and PI specifications."

A renowned brand of graphics card maker - VTX3D, unfolds a might weapon to HD7870 series with VTX3D HD7870 Black Edition. The VTX3D HD7870 Black extends the benefits of VTX3D HD7870 series, but taking advantage of progressive GPU design, showing extraordinary performance than before.

The new model consists of ground-breaking feature which runs at a clock of 925MHz, and 6.0 Gbps for memory, even allowing higher frame rates in games by using AMD PowerTune with boost which overdrives core frequency to dynamically overclock up to 975MHz. Also, VTX3D HD7870 Black features 92mm ultra large fan and 3 heat pipes design, which can significantly reduce heats and keep the temperature low.

Club 3D unveils today its brand new Radeon HD 7870 jokerCard graphic card, the new premium graphic card of the acclaimed Club 3D Radeon HD 7870 Poker Series. The Club 3D Radeon HD 7870 jokerCard graphic card features the highly awarded CoolStream high performance cooling design, a Limited Edition of the Radeon HD 7870 GPU powered by 1536 Stream Processors and the memory running at an amazing clock speed of 6000 MHz. Prepare to be blown away by the incredible speed of the Radeon HD 7870 jokerCard in the hottest DirectX 11 and DirectX 11.1 games and Microsoft Windows 8 WDDM 1.2. Experience amazing graphics with Morphological Anti-Aliasing (MLAA 2.0) and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing technologies that help smooth out jagged edges without compromising performance.

ECS unveiled the NM70-TI, a slim Mini-ITX variant of the NM70-I, which was launched in October. The board is designed for extremely compact chassis, perhaps even those meant for nettops that latch onto monitors using VESA wall mounts. The board stays low profile thanks to a dense aluminum fin fan-heatsink, half-height connectors, and SO-DIMM memory slots that are arranged almost along the plane of the motherboard.

The NM70-TI integrates an Intel Celeron 807 single-core 1.50 GHz processor (Celeron 847 dual-core option available), wired to its low board-footprint NM70 PCH. In addition to two SATA 6 Gb/s ports, the board features a SATA 3 Gb/s, and an mSATA 3 Gb/s slot. The lone bus expansion slot is an mPCIe. D-Sub and HDMI make up display outputs. Gigabit Ethernet, and a few USB 2.0/1.1 ports on the rear panel, and by headers, make for the rest of it. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS. More details are awaited.

ASRock will soon be adding a new budget board to its portfolio, the A55 Pro model which is powered by AMD's A55 chipset and supports AMD FM1 processors. Seen below, this ATX board has a 4+1 power design, two DDR3-1866 memory slots, six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports, and two PCIe x16 and three PCIe x1 slots.

The A55 Pro includes 5.1-channel onboard audio, Gigabit Ethernet, UEFI BIOS, six USB 2.0 ports, plus D-Sub and DVI outputs and comes with support for multiple ASRock features like Instant Boot, Instant Flash, APP Charger, XFast USB, XFast LAN and XFast RAM. The board's price tag has not been announced.

Gigabyte launched the Z77X-UD4H, a new socket LGA1155 motherboard model designed to fill the gap between the $155 Z77X-UD3H and $190 Z77X-UD5H. It is built with Gigabyte's Ultra Durable 4 construction, featuring 2 oz copper layer, temperature, humidity, and electrostatic protection features. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 11-phase VRM that draws power from an 8-pin EPS connector. The socket is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, and three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (electrical x16/NC/NC, x8/x8/NC, x8/x4/x4, depending on how they're populated). 3-way NVIDIA SLI and AMD CrossFireX are supported. Other expansion slots include three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and a legacy PCI.

Straightaway, you'll notice that Gigabyte did away with the mSATA slot featured on the Z77X-UD3H and Z77X-UD5H. In addition to the two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s ports that the Z77 PCH provides (all of which are wired as internal ports), Gigabyte added two additional 2-port SATA 6 Gb/s controllers, which provide two each of internal SATA 6 Gb/s, and eSATA 6 Gb/s. The board features a total of eight USB 3.0 ports, six on the rear panel, and two by headers. In addition to the four ports the Z77 PCH provides, a 4-port VLI-made host controller is used.

Gigabyte is currently preparing the release of a new mini-ITX motherboard, a model called GA-B75N which is powered by Intel's B75 Express chipset and supports LGA1155 socket processors. Seen below, the board has a black PCB, two DDR3-1600 memory slots, one SATA 6.0 Gbps and three 3.0 Gbps ports, one PCI-Express x16 slot, dual Gigabit Ethernet, 7.1-channel audio, UEFI DualBIOS, two USB 3.0 ports, and one DVI and two HDMI outputs.

The GA-B75N can be found on pre-order priced as low as € 79.58.

MSI unveiled a new all-integrated mini-ITX motherboard that steps above the Intel Atom and AMD E-Series crowd, being based on Intel Celeron 847 dual-core processor (1.10 GHz, 32 nm "Westmere" micro-architecture, 2 MB L3 cache, SSE4.2, EM64T). MSI used a small fan-heatsink to cool the chip, which has 17W TDP. The processor is backed by Intel NM70 chipset. It is based on the compact 1023-pin BGA package, and is hardwired to the motherboard. One of the features that give the processor its edge over Atom and E-Series is its dual-channel DDR3 integrated memory controller with maximum memory support of up to 16 GB. The chip is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots.

The only expansion slot is a PCI-Express 2.0 x1. Storage connectivity includes one each of SATA 6 Gb/s and SATA 3 Gb/s. Display outputs include DVI and D-Sub. A missed opportunity here is the lack of HDMI. 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, legacy PS/2, and a number of USB 2.0/1.1 connectors make for the rest of it. Surprisingly, MSI designed the board with modern UEFI BIOS, which lets you take advantage of Windows 8 Secure Boot feature. There is no word on availability and pricing of the C847IS-P33.Source: Expreview

Much like its socket AM3+ motherboard lineup, Gigabyte's socket FM1 lineup included products driven by legacy Phoenix AwardBIOS. And although socket FM1 isn't relevant anymore, Gigabyte still made it a point to introduce revisions of its motherboards with AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, and dual-UEFI redundant BIOS technology. In addition to being able to boot large volumes, the new firmware allows users to take advantage of Windows 8 Secure Boot feature, and gives them a GUI mouse-driven setup program. Gigabyte's UEFI-driven socket FM1 motherboards are marked with board revision number 3.0 (Rev. 3.0). In October, Gigabyte overhauled its entire socket AM3+ motherboard lineup with UEFI.

Several high-end mini-ITX cases these days ship with two expansion slot bays. To take advantage of that, ECS introduced the H61H2-MV. The company was careful enough to label it a micro-ATX motherboard, although its PCB length and mounting screw layout is suggestive that you could install in on one of those high-end mini-ITX cases, and end up with two expansion slots to play with. Sadly for ECS, this socket LGA1155 motherboard is based on entry-level Intel H61 Express chipset, with extremely basic connectivity.

The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 3+1+1 phase VRM, it is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. The second expansion slot on the board is a PCI-Express 2.0 x1, wired to the PCH. There's enough room on the board to wire out all four SATA 3 Gb/s ports from the PCH as internal ports. Connectivity includes 6-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and D-Sub display output. Some variants are said to come with DVI and HDMI display outputs. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS. Expect its price to be well under $100.

Phoenix Technologies Ltd., the global leader in UEFI firmware technology, products and tools, is announcing UEFI BIOS support for server systems based upon the ARMv8 64-bit architecture. ARM Techcon is being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, California, from October 29-November 1, 2012.

The Phoenix SecureCore UEFI provides a superior, proven solution for server systems, delivering an enhanced build environment that is independent from operating systems, flexible in compiler and assembler tools and capable of supporting modules and module packages. The benefits of SecureCore firmware include critical boot-level security, protecting the OS and entire system; rich networking and manageability; source code modularization and reusability; and significant build performance improvement. Phoenix began developing BIOS for server appliances and computing platforms in 1980, focusing on the need for reliability, performance, power management and security.

Gigabyte's entire fleet of AMD 9-series chipset socket AM3+ motherboards, launched in 2011 with AMD FX "Bulldozer" processors shipped with Phoenix AwardBIOS, even as other motherboard makers such as ASUS, MSI, Biostar, and Sapphire moved on to AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS. Gigabyte's AwardBIOS implementation did feature the company's biggest excuse for delayed implementation of UEFI across its entire product line, HybridEFI: a BIOS tweak that lets you boot from volumes bigger than 2 TB.

In the wake of second generation FX "Vishera" processors and Windows 8 with its UEFI-enhancements, Gigabyte finally decided to make amends to its socket AM3+ motherboard lineup, by introducing revisions of existing motherboard models, featuring AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS, and its dual-UEFI redundant BIOS technology that protects against failed BIOS updates. Gigabyte's UEFI-equipped AM3+ motherboards will follow revision number scheme from 3.xx, jumping from its canonical revision number scheme of 1.xx. For example, pictured below is the newly launched 970A-D3 Rev 3.0, which jumped from Rev 1.4. The revisions are largely identical to their predecessors, except of course implementation of the AMI Aptio UEFI BIOS and dual-UEFI feature. When buying, look for the revision number in the main barcode sticker on the box, and on the bottom-left corner of the motherboard itself.

Gigabyte unveiled the F2A75M-HD2 entry-level socket FM2 motherboard. Built in the compact micro-ATX form-factor, measuring 225 x 174 mm, the F2A75M-HD2 is driven by AMD A75 chipset, and is designed for HTPCs. The APU socket is powered by a simple 5-phase VRM. It is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots supporting up to 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. One each of PCI-Express 2.0 x1 and legacy PCI make for the rest of the expansion area.

The F2A75M-HD2 features four SATA 6 Gb/s ports supporting RAID 0/1/10, and four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear panel, two by header). Display outputs include one each of DVI, HDMI, and D-Sub. The rest of the connectivity includes eight USB 2.0/1.1 ports (four on the rear panel, four by headers), 6-channel HD audio, serial (COM), and gigabit Ethernet. The board is driven by AMI Aptio UEFI, with Gigabyte dual-BIOS and 3D BIOS technologies. It is expected to be priced around $70.

For those who haven't taken a leap to Intel's Z77 and Ivy Bridge combo yet, either you're cultivating self discipline or you're planning to prey upon something big. Well, now is the big moment, because ASRock is releasing its beastlike Z77 Extreme11!

This tiptop motherboard has 8 SAS2/SATA3 connectors supported by an LSI SAS2308 PCIe 3.0 x8 controller. For extreme graphics, 3-Way SLI/4-Way CrossFireX is supported via a PLX PEX 8747 bridge. The LAN solution is also tempting. Two Intel LAN chips to support dual LAN and teaming, while there's also a 2T2R Dual Band WiFi & Bluetooth 4.0 module and a bundled Wi-SB Box. Specially designed for computer enthusiasts, Z77 Extreme11 possesses unbeatable hardware and extreme powers waiting to be unleashed.

Gigabyte announced its newest socket FM2 motherboard, the F2A85X-D3H. Built in the ATX form-factor, and as a pleasant surprise, with a black PCB, the F2A85X-D3H is based on AMD A85X chipset. The APU socket is powered by a simple 4+2 phase VRM, which has been featured on several of the company's micro-ATX models. The APU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 64 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1866 MHz memory; and a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slot. Other expansion slots include a PCI-Express 2.0 x4 (physical x16, wired to the A85X FCH), three PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and two legacy PCI.

All eight SATA 6 Gb/s ports from the A85X FCH are wired as internal ports, two of which are angled. The board features four USB 3.0 ports, two at the rear panel, two via headers. Display connectivity includes dual-link DVI (capable of 2560 x 1600 @ 60 Hz or 1080p @ 120 Hz), D-Sub, and HDMI. Other connectivity includes 8-channel HD audio with optical SPDIF output (Realtek ALC892 CODEC), gigabit Ethernet (Realtek 8111F), eight USB 2.0 ports, mouse/keyboard PS/2 combo port, legacy COM header, and trusted platform module header.