EVGA Launches Classified SR-X Dual-Socket LGA 2011 Motherboard

After being showcased at various trade shows and events, EVGA’s Classified SR-X dual-socket LGA 2011 motherboard for Intel’s Xeon E5 series processors based on the Sandy Bridge-EP architecture is now finally official.

The board was announced earlier this morning, soon after Intel made its Xeon E5 processor family official.

Those of you familiar with EVGA’s creation would notice that the motherboard’s layout is almost identical with that of the SR-X presented earlier this year during CES 2012, but it has now received the addition of some new VRM and PCH heatsinks.

Four of these were installed by EVGA in some key points of the board, thus managing to cool this monstrous HPTX solution using only passive cooling. 

On the outside, the SR-X resembles its LGA 1366 predecessor a great deal, as it uses the same black/red color scheme, but the board is now based on an Intel Patsburg chipset, which adds support for Sandy Bridge-EP CPUs. 

The two processor sockets are placed right next to each other and the board includes a total of 12 DDR3 memory slots, eight for what seems to be the primary CPU and four surrounding the secondary processor.

These are all powered via two 6-pin and two 8-pin connectors, while an additional 6-pin PCI Express plug is installed for delivering some extra juice to the PCIe slots when running SLI or CrossFireX setups.

Speaking of the PCI Express slots, EVGA has included no less than seven of these (all Gen 3.0 compliant) and each one can be enabled or disabled via a series of DIP switches (CPUs and SAS connectors can also be disabled via these switches). 

These are placed right next to the two SATA 6.0Gbps and four SATA 3.0Gbps ports included by EVGA in its dual-socket LGA 2011 creation, which are seconded by two additional SAS connectors.

Other features include on-board Power, Reset and Clear CMOS buttons, a debug LED, as well as dual Gigabit Ethernet, USB 3.0 support and Bluetooth connectivity.

According to TechPowerUp, EVGA has set the price of the Classified SR-X to $648.99 (about 493 EUR), but so far we don’t know when the motherboard will make it into retail.

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CeBIT 2012: PowerColor Radeon HD 7970 Vertex II Makes Its Appearance

Well known to overclockers and enthusiasts, PowerColor’s Vertex II product line will soon get a new member as the company is currently working on releasing a new Radeon HD 7970 graphics card that will use this advanced cooling solution.

The so called Radeon HD 7970 Vortex II was presented by PowerColor at this year’s CeBIT fair and, at a first look, it resembles last year’s Devil 13 HD 6970 quite a lot.

Both cards use two 92mm fans accompanied by four large copper heatpipes with an 8mm diameter to draw the heat away from the GPU and into a large aluminum heatsink.

In the case of the Vortex II this covers most of the graphics card’s PCB and is topped by a black, with some reddish accents, plastic shroud meant to direct the fan airflow downwards.

If we were to remove the whole cooling assembly, we would see that the card PCB was also redesigned by PowerColor to feature dual 8-pin PCIe power plugs and an 8-phase VRM.

According to TechPowerUp, this allows PowerColor to ship its card factory overclocked to 1100MHz, which is almost 20% more than AMD’s recommended clock speed.

No information regarding the release date or the pricing of PowerColor’s Radeon HD 7970 Vortex II was provided.

The AMD Radeon HD 7970 is based on the Tahiti XT core that includes 32 Compute Units for a total of 2048 stream processors, which are joined by 128 texture units, 32 ROP units and a 384-bit wide memory bus.

This is linked to 3GB of GDDR5 video buffer memory that runs at 1.375GHz (5.5GHz effective), while the stock GPU frequency is set at 925MHz. 

AMD’s MSRP for the Radeon HD 7970 was established at $549.99 (433 EUR), but considering the custom cooler and PowerColor’s factory overclocking, we expect the Radeon HD 7970 Vortex II to carry a higher price tag.

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17.3-Inch Toshiba Qosmio X870 Notebook Uses 3GB NVIDIA GPU

If anyone was wondering what new laptop to buy to play those latest games on, Toshiba may have just the thing, according to a report by TechDigest.tv.

There should soon be a new Qosmio machine up for sale, one that combines the latest Intel CPUs with powerful NVIDIA graphics.

The specs have almost entirely been exposed, but the price is still under wraps, which isn't that strange knowing when this Qosmio X870, as it is called, will debut.

The company has it set for the second quarter, maybe when Diablo III launches.

That said, the latest Intel CPUs are paired with 3GB NVIDIA discrete graphics (the exact GPU is not specified).

Either way, the display of 17.3 inches will definitely have its work cut out for it, even if the resolution is 1,920 x 1,080 pixels (Full HD).

Needless to say, an HDMI output is present as well, for when even this large LCD is not enough.

Moving on, the company gave the notebook 2 TB of storage space, with hard drives or hybrid drive / SSD options available.

On that note, the storage features continue with an optional Blue-ray drive or DVD SuperMulti optical disk unit.

Other specification include a large clickpad with multi-touch support, a red-backlit keyboard and Harman Kardon stereo speakers with Slip Stream technology, SRS Premium Sound 3D.

Finally, for connectivity and I/O, Toshiba tossed in Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet LAN, Wi-Fi and, of course, a host of USB and audio ports (dedicated headphone port & microphone port with Sleep-and-Music).

When sales finally start, buyers will be able to even test out the Resolution+ upscaling technology.

As we said, we have no pricing details to give you, but we'll definitely keep an eye out for anything else on the Toshiba Qosmio X870. Its launch could happen as early as April, so keep your fingers crossed.

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CeBIT 2012: Asus Presents High-End P8Z77-I Deluxe Mini-ITX Motherboard

Over the years, we have become accustomed to Asus’ high-performance motherboard designs, but few of them were more outrageous than the P8Z77-I Deluxe mini-ITX LGA 1155 board that the company recently showcased during the CeBIT 2012 fair.

Built around Intel’s Z77 chipset, the most prominent feature of the P8Z77-I Deluxe is its VRM power module.

In order to save precious PCB space, Asus decided that the entire VRM of its creation should be placed on a vertical printed circuit board.

This is the first mini-ITX motherboard that we have seen to date to use such a setup and, according to Asus, the eight power phases included in its design should allow the P8Z77-I Deluxe to overclock just as well as your average full-size Z77 board.

Users who require more graphics power than the on-board GPU included in Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors can deliver should also be glad to know that Asus’ creation comes with a full-size PCI Express 3.0 x16 slot.

The rest of the expansion options available in the P8Z77-I Deluxe include a half-size mini PCI Express slot, populated with a Wi-Fi/Bluetooth add-on card, a pair of full size DIMM sockets and four SATA ports.

Two of these run at SATA 6Gbps speeds, while the remaining two SATA interfaces found in the Intel Z77 PCH are routed to the rear of the motherboard as eSATA connectors.

Also in the back users will find four USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0 ports, DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI connectors, Gigabit Ethernet, and 5.1-channel audio with optical S/PDIF out.

The rear I/O bracket also houses a pair of buttons, but we aren’t sure what these are used for (we suspect one of these is a Clear CMOS switch).

No details regarding the P8Z77-I Deluxe price or availability have been provided by its maker, but VR-Zone expects this to cost as much as some full-size Intel Z77 motherboards.

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Sony LT29i Hayabusa Arriving in Korea and Japan in June

Rumor has it that Sony wants to release some of its LTE-enabled smartphones earlier than expected. The latest semi-official document leaked online pointed to a July release for the so-called Sony LT29i Hayabusa.

However, a Sony official hinted at a possible June launch for the Sony LT29i Hayabusa, which is one of the company’s upcoming smartphone that features LTE support.

According to the folks over at Ameblo.jp, citing a Korean blog site, Sony will either officially announce the LT29i Hayabusa in June or will actually release the smartphone on the market.

Although the smartphone will be initially released in Korea and Japan, there’s no telling if it is available outside these two countries as well.

The first Sony LT29i Hayabusa benchmark results leaked several weeks ago, but they point to a mid-range Android smartphone rather than a top-tier device.

Following Sony’s new branding pattern, the Hayabusa will probably be released on the market under a different name containing the Xperia series name followed by a single letter, such as Xperia H or Xperia L. 

Anyway, it appears that Sony LT29i Hayabusa is equipped with 1GHz dual-core processor and it will be powered by Google’s Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system. It’s likely that the smartphone will also run Sony’s Timescape UI on top of the mobile platform as well.

More details on the 1.5 Ghz dual-core processor (no word on model) confirm that it will be complemented by an Adreno 225 graphics processing unit (GPU). 

The only other known spec for the Sony LT29i Hayabusa is the large screen, probably 4.3-inch, which is said to support HD 1196 x 720 pixels resolution. 

Even though Sony LT29i Hayabusa was previously slated for a July release, it won’t come as a surprise if the Japanese company will announce the smartphone one month earlier. Stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

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New Sony Xperia Phone (Model MT25iA) Emerges

Following the launch of no less than four new Xperia devices at the beginning of the year, Sony is gearing up for the release of more smartphones, one of which should feature model number MT25iA. 

Nothing has been officially confirmed on this mobile phone, but it has already been spotted on the AnTuTu benchmark, which appears to confirm its existence. 

The handset is expected to arrive on shelves with a 1GHz application processor inside, complemented by 341MB of RAM. 

At the moment, the mobile phone is running under Android 2.3.4, but there is the possibility that Sony would load the newer Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on it as well.

However, the one thing that seems to be certain right now is that this will be an entry-level most probably cheaper than the MT27i ‘Pepper,’ the guys over at Xperia.net note.

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CeBIT 2012: MSI Presents R7970 Lightning Graphics Card

MSI’s high-performance Lightning series of graphics cards will soon get a new addition in the form of the R7970 Lightning, a highly-customized Radeon HD 7970 solution targeting enthusiasts and overclockers alike.

The graphics card was showcased by MSI at the company’s CeBIT 2012 booth where it was spotted by the guys from Lab501.

Pictured above, the card uses the latest iteration of MSI’s TwinFrozr cooling system, which has five copper heatpipes to draw the heat away from the GPU into a massive aluminum heatsink topped by two 90mm fans.

The PCB was also heavily modified from AMD’s reference design and it now features a 16-phase PWM, independent memory power, and Military Class III components (Hi-c CAP, SFC, Solid CAPs).

Since we are dealing with a Lightning-series graphics card, MSI has added a wide variety of overclocking features to the card, including a series DIP switches for disabling the card’s over current protection or to unlock the GPU and MEM voltages.

Furthermore, the top edge of the PCB also houses a series of headers that were specially designed to allow enthusiasts to connect a multimeter, which can be used for monitoring the GPU, VMEM and other card voltages while running.

Sadly, MSI hasn’t mentioned anything about the operating frequencies of the R7970 Lightning, but the graphics card will definitely come overclocked from the factory.

AMD’s Radeon HD 7970 is based on the Tahiti XT core, which includes 32 Compute Units for a total of 2048 stream processors that are joined by 128 texture units, 32 ROP units and a 384-bit wide memory bus.

This is linked to 3GB of DDR5 video memory and the GPU is manufactured using TSMC’s advanced 28nm node, which enables it to be one of the coolest and most energy efficient high-end graphics card around.

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Asus ROG Maximus V Formula Intel Z77 Motherboard Detailed

Besides the Maximus V Gene that we presented a little bit earlier today, Asus’ Intel Z77 ROG motherboard series also includes the ATX-sized Maximus V Formula that was recently detailed during a preview event held by the company.

The introduction of the Maximus V Formula marks the return of water cooling to the ROG platform, a feature which has been absent from this series for quite some time now.

With its new Formula motherboard however, the VRMs are now fitted with a special heatsink that can be added to the liquid cooling loop used for the CPU and video card(s).

Moving to the board’s expansion options, these consist of three PCI Express x16 slots (two of these are PCIe Gen 3.0 and SLI/CrossFire compliant), an open-ended x4 PCI Express slot and no less than three x1 PCI Express slots.

Storage wise, the four SATA 3Gbps and two SATA 6Gbps ports provided by Intel’s Z77 chipset are seconded by another two 6Gbps ports and an eSATA 3Gbps connector.

The latter is placed on the rear I/O header together with four USB 2.0 and four USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, as well as with DisplayPort and HDMI video outputs.

Asus’ Maximus V Formula motherboard also features 7.1-channel audio with an optical S/PDIF output which is driven by a C-Media chipset.

If you look closely at the motherboard images provided by VR-Zone, you'll notice a ROG logo on a matte square in the lower left hand side corner of the PCB, which is apparently a secret feature that Asus hasn’t detailed yet.

Another new feature is the inclusion of a ThunderFX USB sound card and amplifier, which can be used with a PC headset or a 

PS3/Xbox 360 console thanks to a pair of RCA audio jacks at the rear. 

When used with a PC, the external sound card also offers active noise cancelling as it sports a built-in microphone that records and tries to cancel out background noise.

According to Asus, the Maximus V Formula should be released sometime in May, but no details regarding its pricing have been disclosed.

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Gigabyte U2442N and U2442V Ultrabooks Inbound

Gigabyte finally has two ultrabooks to its name, the U2442N and U2442V, whose time of arrival and prices are completely unknown even now. 

The company introduced them just a short time ago in Hannover, Germany, having secured a spot at this year's CeBIT show (2012). 

Like all ultrabooks, they are very thin mobile personal computers whose performance is higher than that of netbooks but lower than or equal to that of actual notebooks. 

The U2442N is what one might call the stronger of the two, putting more emphasis on performance that energy conservation. 

As such, it uses standard voltage central processing units from the Intel Core i5 and Core i7 lines. 

Storage space is provided by either a solid state drive (SSD) or an HDD (hard disk drive), depending on what customers value more between speed and capacity. Either way, the maximum number of gigabytes is 750. 

Furthermore, Gigabyte tossed in USB 3.0 support, Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and an optional Thunderbolt port, plus a backlit keyboard. 

The U2442V, as the less performance-focused, makes do with ULV (ultra-low voltage) CPUs from the Core i5 and Core i7 lines. The rest of the specs are practically the same. 

Gigabyte chose to make its ultrabooks slightly larger than competing devices: the screens have a diagonal of 14 inches instead of 13.3. 

The native resolution is of 1,600 x 900 pixels, not exactly Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) but better than HD (1,366 x 768 pixels). 

Unfortunately, Gigabyte did not say how long the U2442N and U2442V are supposed to last on a single battery charge. 

As such, we can't tell if the battery lifespan advantage of the U2442V is worth the performance sacrifices. Pricing hasn't been finalized either, so we'll have to wait for sales to start, something that will happen in Q2, 2012 (April-June).

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CyanogenMod 9 Brings ICS with LTE to Motorola DROID 4

Owners of a Motorola DROID 4 device can now download and install Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich on their mobile phones, courtesy of a CyanogenMod 9 ROM. 

The ROM was announced on the XDA-Developers forum by member Hashcode, and packs not only the latest flavor of Google’s mobile operating system but also support for Verizon’s LTE network, it seems. 

According to its maker, the ROM is quite stable and has a lot to offer to those who will choose to download and install it on their devices. 

However, there are some issues that need attention, including problems with the phone’s camera, which will work with errors. 

Additionally, the ROM’s developer notes that HW Video Codecs are still work in progress, and that Bluetooth cannot connect, even if it is on. 

At the same time, users should note that an issue related to the phone’s data connection might also appear, though it can be resolved easily, straight from the device. 

After reboots, the phone might not show available data connections. To change that, users will need to head over to Settings -> Wireless & networks -> More -> Mobile networks, and switch to GSM-only, wait a few seconds, than change back to LTE / CDMA. 

Additionally, some of those who installed this CyanogenMod 9 ROM on their Motorola DROID 4 devices reported issues with the WiFi connectivity. 

Apparently, the CM9 built-in Wifi Tether app does not work. Instead, users will have to open the WiFi Tether app that was bundled into the ROM. There they will have to go to Settings and change Device-Profile to "Motorola Droid RAZR (CDMA/LTE)."

As you can see, there still are various caveats with the software, which means that it would be a great idea to wait a bit before downloading and installing it on your devices. 

You should also keep in mind that this is an unofficial ROM for your device, and that installing it will void the phone’s warranty. You will be the only one held responsible in case anything goes wrong during the installation process.

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