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AnandTech has just published the specs for the forthcoming Intel Z77, Z75 and H77 Express chipsets which will accompany the 22nm Ivy Bridge processors as of the beginning of 2012.
 While we were already aware of what’s new on the Intel Series 7 range, namely the arrival of USB 3, we didn’t yet know what would set these three desktop versions apart. First of all, the good news is that overclocking of K range processors will be enabled on these three chipsets, which isn’t so for the H67. Secondly, the IGP will be supported (not so on the P67). Abandoning this segmentation is obviously a good thing. Intel hasn’t unfortunately completely left its old habits behind and the Z75 Express would only seem to have been introduced to add value to the Z77 Express, which will be on sale for a few $ less. Handling of the PCI-E lanes isn’t as supple on the Z75 Express, while SSD Caching (Smart Response Technology) won’t be available. Note that on the Z77 Express, it will be possible to route the 16 PCI-Express 3.0 lanes on Ivy Bridge to the 3 different physical PCI-Express x16 ports: 8 for the first and 4 for the two others. In terms of bandwidth, this corresponds to a 16/8/8 bandwidth on PCI-Express 2.0! Of course you’ll need a PCI-Express 3.0 compatible graphics card to obtain this bandwidth on the equivalent number of lanes. |
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Sweclockers have published a table unveiling the specifications of forthcoming socket AM3+ motherboards currently under preparation by Asus for the launch of the forthcoming AMD FXs (Bulldozer/Zambezi). While it’s no surprise to see a high end Crosshair model as well as the roll-out of a whole range of sub-models, a Sabertooth has also come on stream for the first time in Asus’ AMD range. In all there are six motherboards on the list but we don’t yet know if it’s exhaustive.
 Three chipsets are represented with, first of all, three 970 cards: the M5A97, M5A97 Pro and M5A97 Evo. The common point is support for just 16 PCI Express lanes on the chipset. The motherboard will however have two physical 16x slots, with the second piloted by the southbridge. Multi-GPU systems are to be avoided on these motherboards. Note, in addition, that they don’t support SLI. The M5A99X Evo uses the AMD 990X chipset which adds the option of splitting the 16x lanes into two 8x ports (making a total of 16x/0x/4x ou 8x/8x/4x). The highest end chipset, the 990FX, adds an extra port, the motherboards which use it (Sabertooth and Crosshair only) will have four 16x physical slots, configurable as 16x/8x/8x/4x. Only the 990 models have SLI support. For the rest of the specs, DDR3 will, as previously announced, be supported by the Zambezis without overclocking. The chipset supports Serial ATA 6 GB/s ports, still with USB 2.0. Asus has added two USB 3.0 ports on the M5A97 and M5A97 Pro with an external chip, four ports (via an adaptor on the front for the extra two) on the M5A97 Evo, M5A 99X Evo and Sabertooth 990 FX and six on the Crosshair V Formula. |
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Corsair has just updated its range of entry level power supplies, the CX series. Although the general specifications remain unchanged, there are two important differences. Firstly, the CX V2s are 80 PLUS certified and, secondly, their guarantee is now three years instead of two.
 The celebrated CX400, one of the first affordable 80 PLUS certified power supplies, was originally replaced with the CX430, which was not 80 PLUS certified and therfore less successful. The CX V2 should therefore rectify this. The CX430 V2, CX500 V2 and CX600 V2 have been announced at $49, $64 and $74 respectively. |
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PowerColor is set to take the opportunity offered by Computex, which takes place in June, to unveil a bi-GPU graphics card equipped with two Barts type GPUs, the same as those that equip the Radeon HD 6870 and 6850.
 The details haven’t yet been given but, as you can see on the photo, there are two 8-pin PCI-Express connectors, a sign that PowerColor is envisaging plus 300W energy consumption: the specs may well therefore be closer to a bi-6870 than a bi-6850. Though not the most anticipated card over the last few months, this solution could be nicely positioned between the Radeon HD 6970 and Radeon HD 6990, with the main fault being that it will be subject to the imponderables common to multi-GPU solutions |
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Following the Vertex 3 and the Vertex 3 Max IOPS SSDs, OCZ is set to continue to roll out its SandForce SF-2000 SSD range with three new models that are starting to be listed in European shops:
- The OCZ Agility 3 60, 120 and 240 GB
- The OCZ Solid 3 60 and 120 GB
 These SSDs are based on the SandForce SF-2281, while the Vertex 3s use an SF-2282. This more affordable version simply supports half as many flash chips. These new models are available at Alternate.de which is offering no fewer than four 120 GB models at the following prices: - €199.90 for the Solid 3 - €214.9 for the Agility 3 - €239.9 for the Vertex 3 - €259 for the Vertex 3 Max IOPS These new models are therefore much better positioned pricewise, notably compared to the Crucial M4 (€219.90 on Alternate.de), even though the number of different available models may well confuse the consumer somewhat. The arrival of the 60 GB versions is also a good thing at €119.90 and €109.90 for the Agility 3 and Solid 3 respectively. It remains to be seen what the real performance levels of these models will be, particularly with incompressible data, an area which would suffer from the choice of inappropriate flash memory, as happened recently with the Vertex 2s. |
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