Ahead of their anticipated May 9th launch, various motherboards based on Intel's upcoming Z97 Express chipset began appearing on US retailer Newegg.com. The boards are up for order, and ready to ship. Notable mentions include MSI Z97 MPower MAX AC, the company's flagship motherboard based on this chipset, which is going for US $259.99; its slightly toned down variant, the Z97 MPower, priced at $199.99; ASUS TUF Sabertooth Z97, the company's tough-nut motherboard based on this chipset, priced at US $249.99; MSI Z97-Gaming 7, priced at $189.99; GIGABYTE Z97X-UD3H, the company's mid-range Z97 model, priced at $149.99; and the similarly priced ASUS Z97-A. Featuring out of the box support for Intel's upcoming Core "Haswell" refresh processors, including the new high-end Core i7-4790K, Z97 Express brings SATA-Express and M.2 support to the table.

Newegg is building on its e-commerce leadership in the United States with a pilot program that makes a limited selection of its products available to customers in the United Kingdom and Australia. The move is an important first step in the company's international expansion plans. "We're extending the Newegg customer experience beyond North America, selectively addressing English-speaking countries overseas to begin that process," said Soren Mills, Chief Marketing Officer for Newegg North America. "This is an important step forward for our company and we're taking a very deliberate approach to our international growth."

Customers in the United Kingdom and Australia are now able to visit Newegg.com and purchase select products for shipment to their respective countries. Several thousand products are currently available in these new markets with the product line expanding dramatically throughout the year.
Scaling an e-commerce business to new international markets poses significant logistical challenges in the areas of order fulfillment, customer support, returns, regional product compatibility and country-specific regulations. To ensure a smooth expansion, Newegg plans to closely monitor all operational functions as it scales international product availability.

Club 3D B.V., the European graphics card market leader and total solution pioneer today announced its launch into North America in cooperation with Newegg Inc.

"We are very excited to launch our products into the North American market" said Judith Ma, CEO of Club 3D. "Demand has been steadily increasing there and we believe the timing is perfect. Therefore Club 3D is proud to announce our exclusive partnership with Newegg Inc. Newegg Inc. is a leader in delivering high quality products and high quality service in North America. We feel their dedication to the market aligns well with Club 3D's Mission to provide high quality, best in class products with flexible and fast service to our customers. Our products will be available for sale beginning Nov, 15 on www.newegg.com and we look forward to build on a strong and profitable relationship."

Disappointed at the $729.99 Newegg.com pricing of the Radeon R9 290X? No worries. AMD's second SKU based on the "Hawaii" silicon could be lighter on the wallet. Japanese retailers leaked the specifications sheets of both the upcoming R9 290X, and its lighter sibling, the R9 290 (non-X). Specifications of the R9 290X match rumors. The chip features 2,816 stream processors, up to 1000 MHz of GPU clock, single-precision floating point performance of 5.16 TFLOP/s, and 4 GB of GDDR5 memory across a 512-bit wide memory interface, clocked at 5.00 GHz, yielding 320 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The R9 290, on the other hand, features 2,560 stream processors, up to 948 MHz GPU clocks, 4.9 TFLOP/s single-precision floating point performance, and the same memory subsystem as the R9 290X. Both cards feature an identical combination of power connectors, 8-pin PCIe and 6-pin PCIe. Both feature hardware support for DirectX 11.2, OpenGL 4.3, and Mantle.

Intel's Core i7 "Ivy Bridge-E" processors are now generally available for purchase, keeping in tune with its September 3rd to 11th launch window. The Core i7-4960X six-core high-end part, which on paper featured a $990 price-tag, is being sold by US retailer Newegg.com for $1,050. The same store is selling the on-paper $555 Core i7-4930K six-core chip for $580, and the catchy on-paper $310 Core i7-4820K quad-core part for $330. If you don't already own an LGA2011 platform, the store is offering decent combo deals, which shave that markup off, when the chips are purchased with compatible socket LGA2011 motherboards. Oh, and the i7-4960X indeed ships in a boring blue box, which totally makes the chip run slower.

In a bid to step up competitiveness of its Radeon HD 7990 "Malta" dual-GPU graphics card against NVIDIA's GeForce GTX TITAN and GTX 690, AMD add-in-board (AIB) partners slashed prices of the card by almost a third. What was once retailing for $1,100-1,200, is now down to $699.99. Prices of the card on American retailer Newegg.com, are ranging between $699.99 to $789.99, with two AIBs capturing the $729.99 and $749.99 price points, along the way. With the right kind of CrossFire profiles, a Radeon HD 7990 can offer frame-rates rivaled only by GTX Titan and GTX 690. Then there are also AMD's recent CrossFire micro-stuttering fix, and eight Never Settle games with realistic resale value of $100 to account for. These prices should also give GeForce GTX 780 buyers second thoughts.

SanDisk Corporation, a global leader in flash memory storage solutions, today announced SanDisk Connect, a line of wireless flash memory storage devices including the SanDisk Connect Wireless Flash Drive and SanDisk Connect Wireless Media Drive. These new wireless devices represent the next generation of portable storage, delivering an easier way to access and share content across multiple mobile devices. "Today's consumers own an increasing number of mobile devices and accessing content across them can be a challenge," said Dinesh Bahal, vice president, product marketing, SanDisk. "With the new SanDisk Connect product line, we're raising the bar on what consumers can expect from personal storage. We combined the portability of small flash memory storage devices with the convenience of wireless streaming and sharing functionality."

The SanDisk Connect Wireless Flash Drive provides a convenient and affordable way for consumers with a variety of devices to wirelessly store, share and stream content, across mobile devices and computers. As the smallest wireless USB storage device available to date, the drive allows users to enjoy up to 32GB1 of extra storage for their devices without the need for an Internet connection or cables. Users can simultaneously access photos, movies, music and documents on their drive from multiple devices around the house or on the go, with up to four hours of continuous streaming on a single charge.

You may have read our report from earlier today, covering the main points that AMD was trying to make in its recent teleconference with the European press (which includes us). While in the call, we were a little jolted by the choices of words some of AMD's executives used to describe their company's consumer graphics outlook for 2013, how they believe they can hold out for almost the entire year with little or no major updates to their product stack, and more interestingly, a few above-the-belt jabs at NVIDIA and its upcoming GeForce GTX Titan product.

The crux of AMD's emergency meeting with the press was to bust some misconceptions spread in the press over the last couple of weeks, to tell them a Graham's Number of times that they still hold the fastest single GPU on the planet, which powers the fastest graphics card there is (ASUS ARES II). The most ironic part of AMD's emergency meeting with the press was the one in which they called GeForce Titan NVIDIA's emergency/knee-jerk reaction to AMD's getting cozy with game developers, and netting some of the biggest PC game launches of the season for its Never Settle Reloaded bundle.

AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced the arrival of its "Never Settle: Reloaded" game bundle, the sequel to last year's monumental "Never Settle" bundle. "Never Settle: Reloaded" delivers by bundling up to four of this year's most anticipated PC games -- "BioShock Infinite" by 2K Games and Irrational Games, "Crysis 3" by Electronic Arts, "DmC Devil May Cry" by Capcom and "Tomb Raider" by Square Enix -- with select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards. The bundle highlights the continued commitment by AMD to ensure an incredible gaming experience on the world's top PC titles optimized for AMD Radeon graphics cards

"AMD knows gaming and in 2013 we plan to make a huge mark on the industry. Today we begin that journey by showing the world that the best PC game developers are AMD Gaming Evolved partners," said Matt Skynner, corporate vice president and general manager of AMD Graphics. "The 'Never Settle: Reloaded' bundle clearly stands apart from anything else in the market. Gaming has always been, and will remain, the core of the AMD Graphics strategy and success. In 2013, we plan to forge greater inroads into the gaming industry and it begins with packaging this year's biggest games with the best graphics hardware from AMD." The "Never Settle: Reloaded" bundle offers the following games when purchased with select AMD Radeon HD 7900 and HD 7800 Series graphics cards:

Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. AMD won Best Merchandising Campaign for its unique "Never Settle" graphics marketing program, and John Torres, Sales Account Manager at AMD, was awarded an EggXellence Award for outstanding individual contribution to the business.

"This award underscores our commitment to delivering the best experience for our customers through highly acclaimed merchandising programs," said Roy Taylor, corporate vice president, AMD Channel Sales. "The 'Never Settle' campaign is the natural outcome of a company committed to technical excellence."

Mushkin, Inc., an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of high-performance and mission-critical computer products, today announces the U.S. availability of the 480 GB Atlas mSATA solid-state drive. Mushkin's 480GB Atlas mSATA solid-state drive (Model No.: MKNSSDAT480GB) is initially available in the U.S. at Newegg.com, with worldwide availability scheduled for end of January. MSRP on Mushkin's 480GB Atlas mSATA SSD is $499.99 USD. The Atlas mSATA SSD is covered by a three-year limited warranty.

GUNNAR Optiks, the world's leading manufacturer of computer eyewear, today announced that it has been awarded broad patent coverage on the company's lens technology and design. GUNNAR's 20/20 and prescription computer eyewear, optimized for use while viewing digital screens, combines a proprietary lens material in an advanced geometry, finished with custom tuned lens tints and coatings.

"Aggressively protecting our technological innovations is an integral part of our business," said Joe Croft, co-founder of GUNNAR. "GUNNAR Optiks computer eyewear addresses a problem affecting more than 120M Americans today. Securing broad-based patents reinforces GUNNAR's leadership position in the category that we created, and ensures that affected consumers can receive a high-quality eyewear solution that protects their vision."

ADATA Technology a leading manufacturer of high-performance DRAM modules and NAND Flash storage application products, today announces the release of the DashDrive Durable UD310 USB Flash Drive, a tiny, water resistant USB flash drive with an attractive gem-like appearance.

The UD310 is manufactured through a special chip-on-board (COB) process, resulting in high water and impact resistance for the drive. A sparkling jewel-like faceted end-cap highlights the ultra-small and extremely portable design that takes up no space when used in a laptop or desktop. It allows for unrestricted sharing of pictures, music and videos, making the UD310 an ideal accessory for Ultrabooks and various slim and sophisticated electronic devices.

Microsoft's biggest launch of the year, Windows 8, may be under two weeks away, but there are still a couple of things Redmond managed to keep secret despite consumers getting a fair look-and-feel of the new operating system with pre-launch Consumer Previews. A large volume of Windows licenses are sold through hardware vendors, where the operating system is sold pre-installed on PCs and notebooks. The rest is sold as packaged software, through conventional retail channels.

As packaged software, the two variants of Windows 8 (Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro) will be available as upgrade and full-version. The upgrade package lets you move from an existing installation of Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7, to the new OS. The Windows 8 Pro Upgrade is listed at an introductory price of US $69.99. For the same price, you get Windows 8 Pro Pack, which is a card with a software key to Windows 8 Pro (any architecture), no installation media. The OEM (builder) packages of Windows 8 (standard), which includes a key and installation media is sold in 64-bit and 32-bit variants, each priced at $99.99. Lastly, there are similar 64-bit and 32-bit packages for Windows 8 Pro, each priced at $139.99. Newegg.com is accepting pre-orders.

Galaxy's upcoming GeForce GTX 650 Ti GC (model: 65IGH8DL7AXX) factory-overclocked graphics card was listed (later deactivated) by American retailer Newegg.com for US $149.99. The sale page revealed quite a few details about the card. The specifications listed beat those which have been doing rounds for the past couple of weeks. According to the specs, the GTX 650 Ti in fact has 768 CUDA cores, and not 576, as previously believed. The GPU core is clocked at 966 MHz, with 5.40 GHz (GDDR5-effective) memory. The card packs 1 GB of memory across a 128-bit wide memory interface. Pictured below is Galaxy's GeForce GTX 650 GC (non-Ti, GK107-based), according to the source, the Galaxy GTX 650 Ti GC (GK106-based) looks very similar.

NVIDIA will expand its new generation of graphics processors into cost-effective price points with the launches of GeForce GTX 660 Ti, GTX 660, and GTX 650, in the August-September time-frame. According to a DonanimHaber report, the products the three are replacing, the GeForce 560 Ti, GTX 560, and GTX 550 Ti; will closely follow launches of the new GPUs. When a product discontinuation notice for a particular product is issued, distributors are set a last day for placing orders for it.

After fulfilling the last orders, the product's status is changed to End of Life (EOL). To consumers, this news comes as a heads up, if they plan to buy any of the three SKUs on the chopping block, at their currently-attractive prices. The GeForce GTX 560 Ti is available on US retail website Newegg.com for as low as $179.99 (after rebate), the GTX 560 goes for as low as US $149.99 (after rebate), and the GTX 550 Ti for as low as $114.99. One can also deduce that NVIDIA will have healthy inventories of the new GPUs on launch.

After last Monday's launch, Intel's new Core "Ivy Bridge" processors started selling in the retail channel, today. At least six quad-core models under Core i5 and Core i7 brand extensions were listed on US retailer Newegg.com, which included the Core i7-3770K (3.50 GHz, Unlocked) at US $349.99, Core i7-3770S (3.10 GHz) at $319.99, Core i7-3770 (3.40 GHz, locked) also at $319.99, Core i5-3570K (3.40 GHz, Unlocked) at $249.99, Core i5-3550 (3.40 GHz) at $219.99, Core i5-3450 (3.10 GHz) at $199.99, and Core i5-3450S (2.80 GHz) also at $199.99.

Here is the first picture of EVGA GeForce GTX 680. The best-selling GeForce AIC partner in the US, EVGA, opted for a minimalist sticker design, while sticking to NVIDIA reference board and cooler designs. In fact, all GeForce GTX 680 launched in the first-wave, do. Speaking of first-wave, TechnoReviews managed to screengrab American Retailer Newegg.com listing out nearly all the GeForce GTX 680 models that will be available on launch of the SKU.

The listing confirms the US $499 (before taxes) pricing of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680, because that's how low these cards are available for; they will never price it below NVIDIA-recommended MSRP. Newegg.com applying a $10 margin is quite natural, they've done it with pretty much every major graphics card market-launch this year, including that of the Radeon HD 7900 series. Assuming the GeForce GTX 680 beats Radeon HD 7970, as NVIDIA claims, our educated guess is it still won't start a "price-war" as such. AMD might recalibrate prices of HD 7900 series down 5~10%, but AMD and NVIDIA won't be able to drive prices below a threshold, and that threshold is governed by TSMC, its ability to ship 28 nm chips in volumes big enough, and at prices low enough, to support a price-war between the two GPU giants.

While we're fairly certain about the launch-schedule of Intel's "Ivy Bridge" Core processor family and 7-series chipset from an older article, which pin-points at April 29 to be the day full-fledged reviews (including overclocking performance, and benchmarks that cover new features) can be published, there's still a looming doubt over that day being the one on which you could buy say, a Core i7-3770K off Newegg.com. A latest slide, probably sourced from Intel's Retailedge, lays that doubt to rest. April 29 is indeed the day you will be able to buy most significant "Ivy Bridge" Core i7 and Core i5 models. Certain other models are slated for June 3. Dual-core Core i3 and Pentium processors based on Ivy Bridge silicon are slated for "Holiday". As on April 29, you also be able to buy motherboards based on 7-series chipset, which support Ivy Bridge processors out of the box.

Outed last week, the highly-customized GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra from EVGA has become available for purchase, 'coincidentally' just before AMD launches the Radeon HD 7970.

This new, GF110-powered model features 512 CUDA Cores, GPU/shader clocks of 900/1800 MHz (772/1544 MHz stock), a 384-bit memory interface, 3 GB of GDDR5 memory set to 4212 MHz (4008 MHz), a 14+3 phase power design, a dual-slot cooler, 4-way SLI and EVBot support, one NEC Proadlizer, Super Low ESR SP-Cap capacitors, and high frequency 3 MHz shielded inductors.

The GeForce GTX 580 Classified Ultra costs $619.99 and can be found @ Newegg.

Exceleram announced a new value-segment 8 GB DDR3 memory module, the E30200A. This no-frills module lacks any heatspreader, because it probably doesn't need it. It can operate at DDR3-1333 MHz (PC3-10700) speed with CAS latency of 9T, and DRAM voltage of 1.5V. More importantly, it is priced at US $49.99 a piece, making 16 GB (2x 8 GB) dual-channel possible at just $99.98. Compare that to the prices of 2x 8 GB kits available on Newegg.

"[The] target for us was to find a solution for our customers to obtain a new 8GB 1333MHz CL9 Memory Module with the price at only US$ 49.99. This price combined with the strong quality level as well as Exceleram always does, it's a really tough target for us to reach. But now we have got the solution, the E30200A Memory Module," said by Steffen Eisenstein, the Product Manager of Exceleram.

Crucial, a leading global brand of memory and storage upgrades, today introduced Crucial 8GB DDR3-1333 MHz UDIMM (desktop) and SODIMM (laptop) memory modules to fully support the latest 2nd generation Intel Core i7 and i5 processors. Users demand more from their computers than ever before, simultaneously running and switching between multiple, complex applications such as photo editing, high-definition video editing, and gaming software. With that in mind, Crucial high-capacity 8GB desktop and laptop memory modules enable users to meet these computing challenges head on, enhancing the user experience by providing a more responsive system.

The new modules also allow for high-capacity memory in smaller form factors such as laptops, All-in-One PCs, and home theater PCs. Traditionally, most laptops have been limited to one or two DIMM slots for system memory needs. As form factors continue to shrink, providing even less space on the motherboard to populate memory, an 8GB Crucial laptop module is ideal for newer, more portable form factors that only have one DIMM slot available. Additionally, these new 8GB DDR3-1333MHz SODIMM modules are 1.35V, compared to their standard 1.5V counterparts. For laptops that support the lower voltage, the modules help reduce power consumption and operating temperature while increasing battery life.

MSI Computer Corp., a leading manufacturer of computer hardware products and solutions, announces the availability of the stylish X460 and X460DX notebooks, the 14-inch mobile powerhouse for professionals on the go. Part of the X Series ultra-slim notebooks, both units are powered by Intel Core processors, Integrated Intel GMA HD or NVIDIA GeForce GT540M video cards, Microsoft Windows 7, and THX TruStudio PRO.

"The X460 and X460DX takes our current X Series to another level, shrinking the power and performance of a larger notebook into a mobile unit with exceptional battery life," said Andy Tung, Vice President of Sales for MSI US. "Crafted with the mobile professional in mind, these units feature a sleek design that reflects MSI's pursuit for innovation and style."

PowerColor seems to be in a hurry to release its Radeon HD 6790 graphics card (model: AX6790 1GBD5-DH), so much so that it's already listed on popular retailer Newegg.com for US $149.99. Powercolor's card sticks to stock frequencies of 840 MHz core, 4.20 GHz memory, and features 1 GB of GDDR5 memory over a 256-bit wide memory interface. The HD 6790 is said to have 800 out of 1120 of stream processors on the 40 nm Barts GPU enabled.

PowerColor's card uses a more cost-effective cooler design than the one found on some of its Radeon HD 6800 series graphics cards. Display outputs include one each of DVI, full-size HDMI 1.4a, and mini DisplayPort 1.2. The card draws power from just one 6-pin PCI-E power connector. The HD 6790 will be officially released later this week on Thursday.Pictures Courtesy: Newegg.com

Corsair, a worldwide designer and supplier of high-performance components to the PC gaming hardware market, today announced the general retail availability of the Graphite Series 600T mid-tower computer case. Debuted at Computex in June, 2010, the 600T features dual 200mm fans, eight PCI-E expansion slots to accommodate multiple graphics cards, and plenty of room for large, power-hungry components.

The Graphite Series 600T has garnered enthusiastic praise from industry experts and end-users alike. Legit Reviews calls the 600T "a classy mid-tower with the room and features of a full tower." The Tech Report states that "The truth is, the 600T is pretty much a home run for Corsair." A customer review on Newegg.com says that "The form, fit, function, and design of the 600T are incredible." Hardware Canucks states that "Corsair has once again produced a chassis that makes itself a leader amongst its competition."