Intel's next high-end desktop (HEDT) platform, codenamed "Ivy Bridge-E," is slated for Q3-2013, according to the latest platform road-map slide sourced by VR-Zone. According to the leaked slide, launch of Ivy Bridge-E Core i7 processors follows that of Core "Haswell" socket LGA1150 processors (Q2-2013). What's more, the upcoming Ivy Bridge-E chips will be compatible with existing socket LGA2011 motherboards, based on Intel X79 Express chipset.

Intel's next-generation Ivy Bridge-E chips are up-scaled versions of today's Core "Ivy Bridge" chips, built on the same 22 nm process, with more processing cores, memory channels, cache, and PCI-Express 3.0 certified system interfaces. It remains to be seen if Intel launches a new chipset to go with the new processor, or retains the X79 chipset with a few minor updates in the form of steppings. The company retained its X58 Express chipset over the first two HEDT processor generations (45 nm Core i7 "Bloomfield" and 32 nm Core i7 "Westmere").

MSI is working on a new socket LGA1155 motherboard based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset, and some of its first pictures were leaked to the web. The Z77IA-E53 from MSI is designed not only to provide a feature-rich board in its tiny footprint, but also one that's fit for CPU overclocking. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 7-phase VRM that uses DrMOS and tantalum capacitors. The board draws power from 24-pin ATX and 8-pin EPS power connectors. The processor is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory, and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot.

To make the most out of the limited board area, MSI stuck to the feature-set of the Z77 PCH. Storage connectivity includes two SATA 6 Gb/s, two SATA 3 Gb/s, an eSATA 3 Gb/s, and an mSATA 3 Gb/s. The mSATA slot shares its board space with an mPCIe 5 GT/s slot, which is stacked on top of it. The board provides four USB 3.0 ports, two on the rear panel, two via headers, all of which are driven by the Z77 PCH. Display outputs include D-Sub and HDMI. Other connectivity includes 6-channel HD audio (Realtek ALC892), gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth. The board is driven by UEFI BIOS with ClickBIOS II setup program. More details are awaited.

PLX Technology, Inc., a leading global supplier of high-speed connectivity solutions enabling emerging data center architectures, today announced a new trio of ultra-high lane count PCI Express (PCIe) Gen3 switches developed for cutting-edge markets like storage systems, high-end graphics, and communications platforms. The high-performance ExpressLane PCIe Gen3 switches include the PEX8796 (96 lanes, 24 ports), PEX8780 (80 lanes, 20 ports) and PEX8764 (64 lanes, 16 ports), which expand the PLX portfolio to 14 PCIe Gen3 devices. Designers choosing the PEX8796 switch -- touting bandwidth of 8 Gigatransfers per second, per lane, in full duplex mode -- are rewarded with amazing throughput of 1,536 gigabits per second (192 gigabytes/s), delivering performance that challenges all other interconnect technologies.

Although pre-launch drivers of the GeForce GTX 680 let the GPU run in PCI-Express Gen 3.0 mode on Intel's Sandy Bridge-E HEDT (X79) platforms, the release drivers limited the GPU to PCI-Express Gen 2.0 on the platform. The issue carried on with GeForce GTX 670, and other graphics cards with "Kepler" family of GPUs. NVIDIA cited reasons such as the platform not being PCI-Expres Gen 3.0 "certified" although it supports the 8 GT/s mode. The company assured users that it was working on getting its hardware to work on the Sandy Bridge-E HEDT platform in Gen 3.0 mode, and until it's absolutely certain about reliability, it is forcing PCI-Express Gen 2.0 mode.

NVIDIA released a patch that enables PCI-Express Gen 3.0 mode on Intel Sandy Bridge-E HEDT (X79) platforms, which lets graphics cards based on GeForce Kepler GPUs, such as GeForce GTX 680, GTX 670, etc., take advantage of 8 GT/s per lane system interface bandwidth. The mode could come particularly handy for graphics cards that are installed on electrical PCI-Express 3.0 x8 slots, as they could end up with bandwidth comparable to that of PCI-Express 2.0 x16. The patch should be installed along with the latest stable drivers. To enable the patch, run the executable and reboot the system. To undo the patch later, run the same executable with "-revert" argument in Command Prompt. Use only if stability is not absolutely paramount, or if the hardware is not operating in a mission-critical environment.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce Kepler PCIe 3.0 mode-enabling patch for Sandy Bridge-E systems

An increasing number of high-end graphics cards and motherboards are relying on PCI-Express bridge chips to expand the PCI-Express lane budgets, no thanks to the puny number of PCI-Express lanes today's mainstream computing platforms come with. Following the transition to PCI-Express Gen 3.0, with Intel's new platforms (Ivy Bridge and Sandy Bridge-E HEDT), there is a demand for Gen 3.0-compliant PCIe switching hardware, especially x48 bridge chips (which take in a PCI-Express x16 link, giving out two x16 links or four x8 links). Such chips are used on high-end motherboards to expand the number of PCIe slots, and on dual-GPU graphics cards.

It appears like NVIDIA does not have a PCIe Gen 3.0-compliant bridge chip of its own, and so the only company with one, is PLX Technology, with its PEX8747. The chip has been used on a variety of high-end motherboards, and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 690 dual-GPU graphics card. PLX reportedly saw high demand, which resulted in several companies bagging initial allocations of the chip, leaving others out to dry, with the part being listed as out-of-stock by its maker. Newer clients of the chip will have to wait until PLX undertakes the next big production cycle, to get their allocations of the chip.

Sapphire's growing motherboard lineup as a new entry in the form of the Pure Platinum Z77i. This socket LGA1155 motherboard is based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset, and is built in the super-compact mini-ITX form-factor, making it ideal for gaming PCs that are LAN party-animals. The motherboard is designed to draw power from a 24-pin ATX, and a 4-pin CPU power connector. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a simple 4-phase VRM, which uses ferrite-core chokes and compact driver-MOSFETs. The VRM should be strong enough to handle CPUs that aren't heavily overclocked.

The LGA1155 socket on the Pure Platinum Z77i is wired to a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot, and two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory. The Z77 PCH gives out two internal SATA 6 Gb/s, and two SATA 3 Gb/s ports. Display connectivity includes one each of DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort. There are a total of four USB 3.0 ports, two on the rear panel, two by headers. Rounding off the connectivity are 8-channel HD audio, gigabit Ethernet, and Bluetooth.

Point of View, a premier NVIDIA graphics partner and manufacturer of Android tablets, notebooks and other hardware, launches today the GeForce 600-series all-rounder card; the POV GeForce GT 640.

GeForce GT 640 is specifically designed as an energy efficient and cool graphics processor. Developed on a 28nm die-size, the renowned Kepler architecture uses the new SMX steaming multiprocessor technology to not only offer the best performance but also the optimal performance per watt.

ASRock showed off its new high-end socket LGA1155 motherboard for overclocking, the Z77 OC Formula. The new product sits several notches above its Extreme and Fatal1ty series. Its design focus is on CPU overclocking potential, with ASRock cramming in strong VRM circuitry, active-cooling for the CPU VRM area, and a load of overclocker-friendly features, at the expense of connectivity.

The CPU is powered by a 12+4 phase DigiPower VRM that uses high-current chokes, tantalum capacitors, and active cooling to the MOSFETs. The VRM active-cooler packs a coolant channel, as well as a 40 mm fan. The CPU is wired to four DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting dual-channel DDR3-3000+ MHz memory, by overclocking. A staggering 8-phase VRM powers the memory, preventing even the slightest voltage droop.

EVGA kicked off its GeForce GT 640 lineup with two models, a double-slot one (model: 02G-P4-2643-KR), and a single-slot (model: 02G-P4-2645-KR), both of which are priced at US $109.99. The GeForce GT 640 is based on the new 28 nm GK107 silicon, with 384 CUDA cores, and a 128-bit wide GDDR5 memory interface. The cards rely entirely on the PCI-Express slot for power, and support PCI-Express 3.0 x16 interface. Both models provide the same display output load-out, including two dual-link DVI and a mini-HDMI. The cards should be available right away.

As promised, Walton-Chaintech made a comeback to the PC motherboard and graphics card markets, by partnering with Colorful. The duo launched a full-fledged lineup of motherboards across various sockets (including LGA1155, AM3+, FM2), and graphics cards. Leading the lineup on the motherboard front are the Z77 X5 and X990FX X7.

Based on the Intel Z77 chipset, supporting the Core "Ivy Bridge" and "Sandy Bridge" processors, the Z77 X5 makes use of the entire feature-set of the platform. The LGA1155 socket is powered by a 8-phase VRM with special branding "Smart Power Engine 3," which gives user. fine control over the VRM via BIOS. Expansion slots include two each of PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (red, x8/x8, when both are populated), PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and legacy PCI. AMD CrossFireX is the only multi-GPU technology supported. 8-channel HD audio, 802.11 b/g/n, gigabit Ethernet, 2x SATA 6 Gb/s + 4x SATA 3 Gb/s, are among its features.

ASUS displayed a nerdtastic motherboard design concept, at Computex. Called the Republic of Gamers ZEUS, ASUS' creation is a socket LGA2011 motherboard with a dual-GPU graphics hardware soldered onto the board, in the place otherwise assigned for expansion slots. The top half of the ZEUS resembles that of a conventional LGA2011 motherboard, with the processor being powered by a 10-phase Digi+ VRM, and eight DDR3 DIMM slots. ASUS somehow made the platform support up to 128 GB of unregistered DIMM DDR3 memory (double the 64 GB limit of the Sandy Bridge-E HEDT platform).

The second half of the motherboard has the X79 PCH, and two PCI-Express 3.0 GPUs in dual-GPU configuration. ASUS hasn't revealed which GPUs these are, but sources predict it's a pair of AMD Radeon HD 7970 (Tahiti XT) or HD 7870 (Pitcairn XT). Each GPU system has its own set of memory, and a set of 8-pin + 6-pin PCIe power connectors. The display outputs of this dual-GPU setup are given out on the rear panel, as two mini-DP + Thunderbolt ports, and one each of HDMI and standard DP. The ZEUS even has as many as 8 SATA 6 Gb/s ports, four SATA 3 Gb/s ports, and 12 USB 3.0 ports, besides two Thunderbolt 10 Gb/s ports. For now, ASUS' monstrosity is a design concept, and the company is undecided about launching it to the market. If nothing, the ZEUS serves as a testament of ASUS' mammoth engineering potential.

Late last week, we came across teaser pictures of a certain new Big Bang series motherboard. Our source didn't reveal its name, but mentioned that we were close in guessing its name to be "ZPower", which we admitted we could go wrong with. It turns out that the new line is named "MPower", and includes not just a new socket LGA1155 motherboard, the Z77 MPower, but also a new LGA2011 one, the X79 MPower. The two are beefed-up versions of the Z77A-GD65 and X79A-GD65 (8D), respectively, with stronger CPU VRM, relaxed warranties that are overclocker-friendly, and a new black+yellow color-scheme, which is consistent with that of its Lightning series graphics cards (such as the R7970 Lightning).

GIGABYTE did not leave out the Sandy Bridge-E HEDT platform when designing its new Ultra Durable 5 line of motherboards, the company showed of two new socket LGA2011 parts, the X79S-UP5 WIFI, and the X79-UP4.

The X79-UP4 is designed to be a sub-$300 offering, being a notch above the X79-UD3 (and perhaps even the X79-UD5). It uses a 6+1 phase CPU VRM, which consists of high-current ferrite core chokes, and PowIRstage IR3550 driver-MOSFETs. GIGABYTE added eight DDR3 DIMM slots, four on either side of the socket, supporting up to 64 GB of quad-channel DDR3 memory. Expansion slots include four PCI-Express 3.0 x16 (x16/x8/x16/x8), two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, and one legacy PCI. The X79-UP4 otherwise has a similar connectivity load-out as the X79-UD3.

It's good to see GIGABYTE back to doing high-end motherboards with overkill CPU power designs. Its latest creation, the Z77X-UP7, was shown to sections of the media, at a private exhibition, ahead of Computex. The Z77X-UP7 is the company's first motherboard to feature its Ultra Durable 5 motherboard construction technology, which is basically Ultra Durable 4 augmented with higher current 60A chokes, and International Rectifier PowIRStage IR3550 ICs (a highly potent driver-MOSFET implementation). The Z77X-UP7 is based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset, and supports Core "Ivy Bridge" and "Sandy Bridge" processors in the LGA1155 package.

GIGABYTE recently rolled out the 6PXSV3, a workstation motherboard designed for Xeon E5-1600/2600 processors in the LGA2011 package. Based on the Intel C604 chipset, the motherboard is designed to provide essential modern and legacy connectivity to workstations in mission-critical environments. The LGA2011 socket is powered by a 6-phase VRM with CPL-made chokes, and IR-made FETs and VRM controller. It is wired to eight DIMM slots, which support up to 256 GB (RDIMM) and 64 GB (UDIMM) of quad-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory.

There are just the three expansion slots, two PCI-Express 3.0 x16, and one open-ended PCI-Express 2.0 x4. The remainder of the processor and chipset's PCI-Express lane budgets are allocated PCI-Express DMI-assist, which helps drive the mini SAS with 4 x SAS ports (3Gb/s), apart from four SATA 3 Gb/s, and two SATA 6 Gb/s ports. An ASPEED 2300 provides display output (resolutions up to 1920x1200 supported), and remote management (iKVM, IPMI 2.0). There are two gigbit Ethernet interfaces, driven by Intel 82574L chips, a third management port is also available. The GA-6PXSV3 will be available shortly.

It looks like Sapphire wants slices of not just the performance and enthusiast pies, but also the high-volume mainstream one. Its latest creation is a motherboard based on Intel's small business-oriented B75 chipset, the Pure White B75M-MA. Built in the micro-ATX form-factor, this board doesn't add too much over the B75's feature set. To begin with, its LGA1155 socket, which supports current generation Core "Ivy Bridge" and previous generation Core "Sandy Bridge" processors, is powered by a 4+1 phase VRM, which draws power from an 8-pin EPS connector. That's a giveaway that a performance/enthusiast design team was behind this mainstream motherboard.

The LGA1155 socket is wired to two DDR3 DIMM slots, supporting up to 16 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory; and a PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot. Three PCI-Express 2.0 x1 slots that are wired to the B75 PCH, make up the rest of the all-PCIe layout. Storage connectivity includes one SATA 6 Gb/s, and three SATA 3 Gb/s ports. The board provides a total of four USB 3.0 ports (two on the rear-panel, two via headers). 6+2 channel HD audio, a number of USB 2.0 ports, a keyboard/mouse combo PS/2, and gigabit Ethernet make for the rest of the connectivity. Display outputs include DVI and D-Sub. Expect competitive pricing.

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of server hardware, today announced the launch of its series of server motherboard based on Intel latest generation of server CPUs, the Xeon processor E5-2400 family.

GIGABYTE is mostly known for its various innovations on motherboards and graphics cards for desktop computers, but it has also relied on this long time experience for many years to deliver outstanding server hardware, constantly at the edge of technology.

The latest Intel Xeon processor E5-2400 family based units are no exception and provide extremely high-value building blocks for demanding server applications, notably through their ability to outperform their competitors in memory frequency. Indeed, this series supports 1.35V RDIMMs up to 32 GB running at 1600 MHz in a two DIMMs per channel configuration, when the rest of the market only supports similar configuration running at 1333 MHz. Achieved through GIGABYTE's capabilities in design, PCB layout and BIOS fine-tuning, this feature will be most appreciated in industries where each incremental improvement in performance results in significant benefits, such as in finance or HPC applications.

With its competition checked thanks to good performance by its GK104 silicon, NVIDIA was bold enough to release die-shots of its GK110 silicon, which made its market entry as the Tesla K20 GPU-compute accelerator. This opened flood-gates of speculation surrounding minute details of the new chip, from various sources. We found one of these most plausible, by Beyond3D community member "fellix". The source of the image appears to have charted out component layout of the chip by some pattern recognition and educated guesswork.

It identifies the the 7.1 billion transistor GK110 silicon to have 15 streaming multiprocessors (SMX). A little earlier this week, sources close to NVIDIA confirmed the SMX count to TechPowerUp. NVIDIA revealed that the chip will retain the SMX design of GK104, in which each of these holds 192 CUDA cores. Going by that, GK110 has a total of 2880 cores. Blocks of SMX units surround a centrally-located command processor, along with six setup pipelines, and a portion holding the ROPs and memory controllers. There are a total of six GDDR5 PHYs, which could amount to a 384-bit wide memory interface. The chip talks to the rest of the system over PCI-Express 3.0.

Seeing as how some of the newest socket LGA1155 processors, such as the Core i7-3770K, competes with Sandy Bridge-E HEDT platform, and how today's GPUs are beginning to benefit from PCI-Express 3.0 in x8 and x4 configurations, ASRock decided to go beyond its Z77 Fatal1ty Professional, and launched a new Extreme series model, with a focus on features and connectivity. The Z77 Extreme9 from ASRock crams has every square inch of its standard ATX size PCB with features.

To begin with, the Z77 Extreme9 uses a fairly strong 8+4 phase VRM, which is similar to that of the Z77 Extreme6. The CPU VRM MOSFETs are cooled by a fairly big heatsink, which shares its head with a neighbouring heatsink, which cools a PLX PEX8747 PCI-Express 3.0 bridge chip, which takes in the lone PCI-Express 3.0 x16 link from the processor, and drives four of the board's six PCI-Express 3.0 x16 long slots, enabling 3-way and 4-way SLI/CrossFireX capability. The other slots are electrical PCI-Express 2.0, and wired to the Z77 PCH.

GIGABYTE Technology Co. LTD, a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards, is pleased to introduce the world's fastest graphics cards - GV-N690D5-4GD-B. It combines the innovative new GeForce architecture with raw dual-GPU power to provide truly game-changing performance. GV-N690D5-4GD-B utilizes the latest 28nm fabrication process, GDDR5 memory and 3072 CUDA cores, and supports Microsoft DirectX 11, and PCI-Express 3.0.

It not only improves the processing ability but provides gamers a faster, smoother and richer gaming experience. Supporting NVIDIA 3D Vision Surround, 3D Vision, PhysX, and 3-way SLI, GV-N690D5-4GD-B guarantees an ultimate extreme experience. Equipped with the innovative Kepler GPU Dynamic Clocking technology, GV-N690D5-4GD-B has different clock rate - Base clock and Boost Clock. Boost clock dynamically adjusts clock speeds to bring out the best performance.

ECS revealed its newest value-segment LGA1155 motherboard based on the Z77 Express chipset, the X77H2-A3. Pictured below, the X77H2-A3 is a variation of the Z77H2-A3, with ECS' Super Alloy Chokes powering the CPU VRM, an all solid-state capacitor design, golden-colored VRM and PCH heatsinks, and slightly darker piano-black PCB. Besides these four, the X77H2-A3 is identical to the Z77H2-A3. It features a 4+1 phase CPU VRM, single PCI-Express 3.0 x16 expansion slot, two SATA 6 Gb/s, four SATA 3 Gb/s, four USB 3.0 ports (two front-panel, two rear), and display outputs that include DVI and D-Sub. Expect this model to be slightly pricier than its cousin.

Ricoh Japan introduced a FB19M, an Intel HM76 Express chipset based mobile-on-desktop motherboard in the micro-ATX form-factor. The motherboard can seat mobile Core "Ivy Bridge" and "Sandy Bridge" processors in the PGA988 package, and includes a fan-heatsink that can handle these chips (up to 55W). The platform is then wired out to desktop interfaces. 24-pin ATX and 4-pin ATX connectors are used to draw power, the CPU is wired out to full-sized DIMM slots, expansion slots include one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, two PCI-Express 2.0 x8 (electrical configuration not known), and a PCI-Express 2.0 x1.

All six SATA ports from the HM76 PCH are wired out as internal ports, including six SATA 6 Gb/s, and four SATA 3 Gb/s. Display outputs include DVI, D-Sub, and LVDS. Other modern connectivity includes 2-channel HD audio, dual gigabit Ethernet interfaces, four USB 3.0 ports, and a number of USB 2.0 ports. There is quite some legacy connectivity, including two serial RS-232 ports, and headers for other serial and parallel interfaces. The board is fit for industrial PCs and other embedded systems.

ASUS is working on two new value P8Z77-V series socket LGA1155 motherboards based on the Intel Z77 Express chipset. These are the P8Z77-V LK and P8Z77-V LX. The two are designed to occupy price-points well under US $150. The P8Z77-V LK is the costlier of the two, featuring three PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slots (x16/NC/NC or x8/x8/NC or x8/x4/x4), 6-phase CPU VRM, six USB 3.0 ports, two SATA 6 Gb/s and four SATA 3 Gb/s internal ports; and display outputs that include DVI, D-Sub, HDMI, and DisplayPort.

The P8Z77-V LX is probably ASUS' cheapest Z77 motherboard, with the same 6-phase CPU VRM, but a single PCI-Express 3.0 x16 slot wired to the CPU, a PCI-Express 2.0 x16 (electrical x4) wired to the Z77 PCH, three PCI, two PCI-Express 2.0 x1, all internal ports wired to the PCH (2x SATA 6 Gb/s, 4x SATA 3 Gb/s), and a slightly slimmer connectivity loadout that includes 6-channel HD audio, four USB 3.0 ports (2x rear, 2x front-panel, all from PCH), and display outputs that include DVI, D-Sub, and HDMI.

Barebones mini PCs expert Shuttle Computer launched its first barebones featuring Intel Z77 Express chipset, ready for 3rd generation "Ivy Bridge" Core processors in the LGA1155 package, while retaining support for every LGA1155 "Sandy Bridge" processor launched till date. Shuttle also launched an Intel X79-based mini PC barebone, which supports Core i7 "Sandy Bridge-E" processors.

Called the SZ77R5, the Z77 barebone features four DDR3 DIMM slots supporting 32 GB of dual-channel DDR3-1600 MHz memory, expansion slots that include one PCI-Express 3.0 x16, one PCI-Express 2.0 x4 and one mPCIe; two SATA 6 Gb/s, two SATA 3 Gb/s ports, one eSATA 3 Gb/s, and one mSATA; four USB 3.0 ports, gigabit Ethernet, and 8-channel HD audio. Its chassis features two 5.25" and one 3.5" drive bays, front-panel that includes two of the four USB 3.0 ports, a USB 2.0 port with "fast charging" (high current), and front-panel HD audio. To power the machine, a 500W 80 Plus-compliant PSU is included. The SZ77R5 measures 332 x 216 x 198 mm (WxDxH). It will be priced around 32,800 JPY (US $404).

ASRock is readying its second Fatal1ty-branded socket LGA2011 motherboard, the X79 Fatal1ty Champion. The company's first LGA2011 Fatal1ty motherboard is the X79 Fatal1ty Professional, which was launched in February. The new X79 Fatal1ty Champion will be launched on April 27. Those familiar with Creative Sound Blaster Fatal1ty line of sound cards will note Fatal1ty Champion as being a more feature-rich version of Fatal1ty Professional. In this case, the X79 Fatal1ty Champion is based on a completely new PCB, with the design idea of more expansion, and the latest Creative Sound Core3D audio solution.

The X79 Fatal1ty Champion features eight DDR3 DIMM slots (X79 Fatal1ty Professional has four), and a PCIe-only expansion slot layout. The LGA2011 socket is powered by a 12-phase DigiPower VRM, similar to the one on the Professional. The VRM heatsink is assisted by two other secondary heatsinks, to which heat is conveyed by a heat-pipe. One of these is connected to the PCH heatsink. Power is drawn by 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and one 4-pin Molex (angled, optional). The board features consolidated voltage measurement points, which are socketed to hold your multimeter's leads in place. The board will be augmented by a feature-rich UEFI BIOS setup program, and ASRock-exclusive features such as XFastLAN, XFastUSB, and XFastRAM will be included.