Gigabyte is obviously feeling bullish about the future of desktop PCs if the energy and resources that the company is putting into its upcoming line of motherboards is any indication. Earlier this week, Gigabyte previewed its boards for a few journalists and discussed a new million-dollar-plus lab that it built for...Read more...
It has been a while since I have personally setup a test bench, rolled up my sleeves and built a test system with top-shelf components, a fresh OS install and some overclocking mojo. However, Intel's recent release of Ivy Bridge-E gave us a hankering to do just that. We've been testing a lot of tablets, smartphones and ultrabooks,...Read more...
This most recent metamorphosis of the PC hasn’t been kind to the high-end desktop processor segment. While the industry as a whole continues to focus on the steadily growing ultra-mobile market, and releases new products in rapid succession, there have only been two major flagship desktop processors released since the Intel Core i7-3960X...Read more...
This most recent metamorphosis of the PC hasn’t been kind to the high-end desktop processor segment. While the industry as a whole continues to focus on the steadily growing ultra-mobile market, and releases new products in rapid succession, there have only been two major flagship desktop processors released since the Intel Core i7-3960X...Read more...
The answer to the question of which CPU/motherboard combo from Intel delivers the most extreme desktop performance is the Intel Extreme Edition Core i7-3970X (3.5GHz, 4GHz Turbo) CPU and the Extreme Series Intel Desktop Board DX79SR (Stormville), which are now available. The 6-core Ivy Bridge beast of a processor...Read more...
One of the things we like about AVADirect is the extensive catalog of off-the-shelf parts to choose from. In fact, a major advantage of shopping from a boutique system builder as opposed to a bulk OEM is the availability of name brand hardware you'd otherwise buy from Newegg, or wherever it is you purchase your components, when rolling your...Read more...
One of the things we like about AVADirect is the extensive catalog of off-the-shelf parts to choose from. In fact, a major advantage of shopping from a boutique system builder as opposed to a bulk OEM is the availability of name brand hardware you'd otherwise buy from Newegg, or wherever it is you purchase your components, when rolling your...Read more...
To coincide with the release of Intel's current flagship Sandy Bridge-E processor and companion X79 chipset, a number of Intel’s memory partners released new quad-channel memory kits optimized for the platform. Previous Intel platforms were designed to offer optimal performance with two or three-channel memory...Read more...
To coincide with the release of Intel's current flagship Sandy Bridge-E processor and companion X79 chipset, a number of Intel’s memory partners released new quad-channel memory kits optimized for the platform. Previous Intel platforms were designed to offer optimal performance with two or three-channel memory configurations;...Read more...
One of Merriam-Webster's definitions for the word obscene is "so excessive as to be offensive." By that definition, Maingear sent us an obscenely spec'd SHIFT Super Stock X79 system packed to the hilt with so much decadent hardware that even the one percenters would feel guilty owning it, right up until the moment they pushed the power button...Read more...
One of Merriam-Webster's definitions for the word obscene is "so excessive as to be offensive." By that definition, Maingear sent us an obscenely spec'd SHIFT Super Stock X79 system packed to the hilt with so much decadent hardware that even the one percenters would feel guilty owning it, right up until the moment they pushed the power button...Read more...
Intel’s X58 chipset made for great platform performance, and even though the chip maker has unleashed many more chipsets since the X58 came out, there hasn’t been a true successor in the high-end of their product line-up (not even the Z68 chipset) until now. The X79 chipset looks to pick up the X58’s poll position, so we...Read more...
Intel’s X58 chipset made for great platform performance, and even though the chip maker has unleashed many more chipsets since the X58 came out, there hasn’t been a true successor in the high-end of their product line-up (not even the Z68 chipset) until now. The X79 chipset looks to pick up the X58’s poll position, so we...Read more...
Sandy Bridge-E chip? Check. X79 chipset? Check. Customizable gaming notebook? Check. AVADirect is clearly pleased to be offering systems based on the Clevo P270WM gaming notebook. The notebook replaces the Clevo X7200 and features the above CPU and chipset along with a trio of hard drives (with RAID options), the NVIDIA GTX 580M (2GB) or Quadro...Read more...
On the one hand, it’s tempting to say, “We get it already, MSI, your military-class components help facilitate fantastic overclocking”, but on the other hand, it’s really fun to see just how far pro overclockers can push the envelope with MSI motherboards and Intel Sandy Bridge-E chips. According to a release from MSI,...Read more...
Although MSI isn’t revealing too many details on its new X79 and Z77 motherboards, the engineering samples were out and ready to ogle. As you can see from the photos, we got to look at a trio of the new boards. The Z77A-GD80 and Z77A-GD65 are kind of a pair, with the GD80s typically delivering some more features...Read more...
In a lavish suite at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Asus set up a number of existing and upcoming products for eager members of the technology press to ogle and get some hands-on time. In the suite, we had a chance to checkout a handful of upcoming X79 motherboards, nettops, netbooks, notebooks, and even a few tablets...Read more...
In a lavish suite at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas, Asus set up a number of existing an upcoming products for eager members of the technology press to ogle and get some hands-on time. In the suite, we had a chance to checkout a handful of upcoming X79 motherboards, nettops, netbooks, notebooks, and even a few tablets and a smartphone. One of...Read more...
When you think of “compact” or “small form factor”, it’s all too easy to make the leap to “weak” or “underpowered”, but AVADirect’s two new small systems are anything but. The company announced a compact gaming system and a workstation, and both systems pack a wallop. The Compact...Read more...
Speaking of MSI, the company announced its X79 chipset-based MSI Big Bang-XPower II. Billed as a flagship motherboard, the Big Bang-XPower II features 8 DIMM slots that support a total of 128GB of system memory, 4-way SLI/CrossFire X (with PCI-E Gen 3 support), and a 22-phase PWM design. There are plenty of features for overclockers, including...Read more...
The one-two combo of Intel’s X79 chipset and six-core Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition CPU is a potent one--especially, it seems, for overclockers. MSI reports that overclockers all over the world are juicing their Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition chips to 5GHz on X79-based MSI motherboards using air cooling alone...Read more...
Back in the days of old, overclocking used to require setting DIP switches and chanting prayers to the gods of clockspeed and stability. There was a good chance you could burn something up, and if you did, the motherboard vendor would simply shrug. And today? Some of them will still shrug with indifference if you kill...Read more...