ASUS Flagship Rampage V Extreme X99 Motherboard Has Five PCIe x16 Slots

With Intel's Haswell-E central processing units about to come out, motherboard makers are finally releasing their latest platforms. The ASUS ROG Rampage V Extreme may not have officially been released yet, but the board has already surfaced on the net.

No doubt ASUS will soon make a press release in which it will formally introduce the newcomer, along with whatever other X99 chipset-based mainboards it has prepared. MSI did just that, so ASUS can't do any less. The X99 chipset is the motherboard logic that Intel created to act as the other half of the Haswell-E line of Core i7-5000 central processing units. It provides the LGA 2011-3 socket, which is incompatible with all other CPUs revealed to date. The ASUS ROG Rampage V Extreme has been leaked by SweClockers and is a really fine piece of work, although not quite as overkill as MSI's best, or the ludicrous ASUS X99-E WS (which has seven PCI Express slots). The ROG Rampage V Extreme has five PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots, allowing it to establish quad-SLI (NVIDIA) or quad-CrossFire (AMD) multi-GPU video card setups, and still have some I/O support left over.

Sure, the black PCI Express slot in the middle will probably be covered up because of how thick most video adapters are, but there's nothing that can be done about that, unless you equip the video cards with thin water blocks. For example, among others in the water-cooling field, EK already has some selling for every adapter likely to ever be installed in systems based on the newcomer. But we digress. Besides the PCI Express x16 slots, the new mainboard from ASUS possesses eight DDR4 memory slots (for 64 GB total, 128 GB in 2015 when 16 GB DIMM modules are created), one SATA Express port (12 Gbps HDDs/SSDs), an M.2 with PCI Express 2.0 x4 physical layer (1.8 GB/s SSD speed), 802.11 ac WLAN with Bluetooth 4.0, Gigabit Ethernet support, and fourteen USB 3.0 ports.

There's even a high-current USB 2.0 connector, allowing you to recharge gaming peripherals and mobile devices. Everything is powered by 24-pin ATX, 8-pin EPS, and 4-pin ATX connectors. Finally, you will find 12 SATA 6.0 Gbps connectors on the motherboard, as well as UEFI BIOS filled with overclocking features. Sadly, the price of the ASUS ROG Rampage V Extreme has not been confirmed, but it is supposed to be of around $460 / €460.

ASUS Rampage V Extreme Motherboard
Images credits to ASUS

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HTC Nexus 9 Tablet Scores Shows Up in AnTuTu, 46K Points

We have been waiting on the successor of the Nexus 7 (2013) tablet for quite some time now. But at this point, we’re not even exactly sure if Google plans to call the tablet Nexus 8 or Nexus 9.

The most recent info seems to point towards the latter scenario. A purported Nexus 9 tablet has been spotted in the popular AnTuTu benchmark database, highlighting the prowess of the processor running at its core (as seen at Tk Tech News). The Android L tablet appears to have scored an impressive 45,923 points in the AnTuTu tests, which is to be expected since the slate is supposedly taking advantage of the all-new NVIDIA Tegra K1 Denver platform. The Nexus 7 (2013) tablet is one year old and in some locations the slate has been reportedly listed as being Out of Stock. This has fueled speculations that the Nexus 9 shouldn't be far from us. A recent leak places the launch of the device before October 9. We don’t know why this particular date was chosen, and all we can do is hope that we’re going to see the slate within a month. After all, not seeing the Nexus 9 make a debut at the Google I/O was enough of a disappointment.

The AnTuTu listing confirms the spec-list we already shared with you countless times. However, if you are new to the story, we will take the opportunity to remind you that Nexus 9 is expected to tout an 8.9-inch screen with QHD resolution (2560 x 1440 pixels) and take advantage of the NVIDIA 64-bit Tegra K1 Denver platform fitted with 2GB of RAM and backed up by 32GB of internal storage. As we already knew, the Android version in the listing is 5.0, which the rumor mill is now calling Android Lemon Meringue Pie (LMP). The tablet is shaping up to be quite a beast and a worthy successor of the largely popular Nexus 7 (2013) which is still considered one of the best 7-inchers on the market. We also get a glimpse of the IMEI number (International Mobile Station Equipment Identity) which means that the tablet will come boasting cellular network connectivity.

And, of course, like all Nexus devices, the new tablet is expected to be released in its LTE-variant, as well. An earlier leak suggested that the slate would come with an MDM9x25 modem (3G model). Anyway, hopefully in a month’s time, we’ll be able to check out the Nexus 9 in its entire splendor. Keep your fingers crossed!

Nexus 9 shows up in AnTuTu
Images credits to TKtechNewsBlog

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BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 Press Photos and Full Specs Sheet Leak

It’s no surprise that BlackBerry has teamed up with Porsche Design once again to offer fans a premium alternative to BlackBerry 10 smartphones that the Canadian company usually launches.

Even though the collaboration between the two companies has only spawned three premium smartphones until now, BlackBerry fans have more luxury products to choose from than consumers who use other brands and operating systems do. The fourth product to result from the two companies’ partnership is called Blackberry Porsche Design P’9983 and is expected to go on sale sometime this fall. The first BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 pictures leaked last week, along with some of its features, but the folks over at BBin have gotten their hands on the full specs sheet of the smartphone. Two press photos have been published as well, so fans of BlackBerry’s premium lineup can have an idea of what to expect from the next product in the Porsche Design series.

First of all, BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 is the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone with QWERTY keyboard launched by Porsche Design. Word is that it might be available for around $2,000 (€1,500) upfront, but this is to be expected considering that it’s a premium handset. The Porsche Design P’9983 will be manufactured from premium material, including the chassis, lock and external keys, which are made from CNC-milled stainless steel. The rear-facing camera’s lens is made of sapphire glass, while for the back cover Porsche Design will use glass weave technology. Owning one of these premium smartphones will add you to an exclusive Porsche Design PIN ID group, which will be recognizable among those who use any Porsche Design products.

Specs-wise, BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 sports a 3.1-inch OLED capacitive touchscreen display that supports 720 x 720 pixels resolution. On the inside, the smartphone will be equipped with a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor clocked at 1.5GHz, which will be complemented by 2GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory. There’s no word on a microSD card slot, so we must assume that it will lack one, but given the high amount of storage you get by default, you might not need it. As shown in the pictures, the Porsche Design P’9983 comes with a full QWERTY keyboard. It also packs an 8-megapixel photo snapper on the back, which features autofocus, LED flash, image stabilization, 5x digital zoom, and full HD (1080p) video recording. The 2-megapixel front-facing camera features fixed-focus, image stabilization, and 3x digital zoom. It can also capture HD (720p) videos at 30fps.

When it comes to connectivity, BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 offers a wide range of options, including LTE, HSPA+, Wi-Fi., Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP, GPS with A-GPS support and microUSB 2.0. The Porsche Design P’9983 will ship with BlackBerry 10.3 operating system out of the box. According to sources familiar with BlackBerry’s roadmap, the Porsche Design P’9983 is likely to go official in September, along with the BlackBerry Passport.

BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9983 (front)

BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9983 (back)
Images credits to BBin.in

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Nexus X Leaked Specs Confirm Snapdragon 805 CPU, 13MP Camera, and Android 5.0

News about Google’s next flagship smartphone has recently emerged online, thus confirming that the search giant did not can the Nexus project and plans to continue to add new products to the series.

The next Nexus smartphone to be released by Google is likely to be called X due to some issues with the Nexus 6 name that might infringe on Philip K. Dick’s intellectual property rights. For those unaware, Philip K. Dick’s novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” which was turned into a movie called “Blade Runner,” starring Harrison Ford, has some androids in it that are called Nexus 6 models. Nexus One, the first Android smartphone launched by Google in the Nexus series, was the device that started the debacle, as Isa Dick Hackett, daughter to Philip K. Dick, threatened to sue Google over the trademark. Fortunately, that did not happen but not because Google asked for permission, but because the owner of Philip K. Dick’s intellectual property did not think that she had a solid case. This is probably one of the main reasons Google decided to change the name of its Nexus smartphone just this time.

With that being said, the so-called Nexus X has already appeared at an online retailer, and it looks like it will be manufactured by Motorola indeed. The smartphone is listed under a different name, Motorola XT1100, but also has the Nexus X tag line as well. Two Nexus X variants have been spotted by Twitter user @Alex_Vainshtein on fnac’s website, which is not surprising for a device in the series. According to the listing, Nexus X 32GB should be available for purchase for only €420 ($555) outright, while the 64GB model has been priced at €450 ($595). Even if the pricing options is different in Google Play Store, the important thing is that fnac has also revealed some of the phone’s specs.

In this regard, Nexus X is expected to sport a 5.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display of unknown resolution, as well as an impressive 13-megapixel rear-facing camera. On the inside, the smartphone will be equipped with a powerful quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor, which will be clocked at 2.7GHz. No other details on the Nexus X’s hardware have been revealed, but it looks like the handset will ship with Android Lemon Meringue 5.0 operating system out of the box. This seems to be the name Google chose for the final version of Android L, which is now only available as a preview for developers. Nexus X is expected to be announced along with the new version of Android sometime this fall. Are you excited about Google’s new flagship Android smartphone?

Nexus X listing at fnac
Image credits @Alex_Vainshtein

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ASRock Fatal1ty X99 Professional Motherboard Pictured

You can expect a whole bunch of new X99 chipset-based motherboards to show up in the next two weeks, although many of them have already been spotted or detailed. ASRock seems quite active in that regard.

The Fatal1ty X99 Professional is one of its mainboards that hasn't surfaced until now though, so the novelty is appreciated if nothing else. The mainboard has a strong VRM, but don't expect it to be able to push 1300W into the CPU or anything, or the Fatal1ty in the name will take a more unfortunate meaning than the intended one. The newcomer also has Gigabit Ethernet, Killer E2200 gaming network controller, and audio tuned for high-impedance headphones. You're also looking at USB ports with power delivery, so that you can use USB audio headsets without problems. Interestingly enough, among the powered ports are USB 2.0 ones.

Other than that, the new ASRock Fatal1ty X99 Professional motherboard is pretty much identical to the ASRock X99 OC Formula revealed not long ago. Unfortunately, pricing details remain a mystery. In fact, that particular motherboard has been pictured as well, but we'll check it out separately, so stay tuned until we do. Suffice to say, it's one big and yellow piece of work.

ASRock X99 Fatal1ty
Image credits to ThinkComputer

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Gigabyte Flagship X99 LGA 2011-3 Motherboard for Haswell-E CPUs

Since we only have a few days left until Intel's Haswell-E CPUs go up for sale, motherboard makers are finally launching their flagship products, or at least allowing the world to catch a glimpse of them. Gigabyte is one of those companies.

We've already seen it once with the ASUS X99 Deluxe Motherboard, a high-end mainboard itching to get a Core i7-5000 series CPU and start crunching numbers. Gigabyte has now revealed the X99-UD7, which is supposed to play in the same league as that, even though it doesn't look quite as great. We're talking about the distinct lack of “armor” on the edge holding the I/O interfaces. The heatsinks are shaped and colored well enough, but that last touch of style isn't there. The company probably thought (and rightly so) that no one will actually place their desktop case with its rear at the front, and cases usually have cover plating there anyway. But pardon our egress. The X99-UD7 is everything we've come to expect from top-tier X99 chipset-based products, from the eight DDR4 DIMM slots to the four PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots. In fact, the PCB is almost exactly the same as the one sported by the Gigabyte X99 Gaming G1.

The main difference is the audio technology, from the ground-layer isolation to the audio-grade electrolytic capacitors, and audio chipset lacking a user-replaceable OPAMP (operational amplifier). It might sound odd to see motherboard makers put so much emphasis on audio technologies, until you realize that there isn't much else that can set mainboards apart at this point. I/O technologies like USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are all standard, and unless you're going to get an add-in daughterboard for better networking, there isn't much uniqueness to be found in this area. The same goes for memory. All high-end X99-based motherboards have eight DDR4 slots, no exceptions, and they come with tougher components than normal to cope with overclocks (Ultra Durable in this case). Needless to say, having four PCI Express 3.0 x16 slots is pretty much warranted as well.

Because of that, at the end of the day, the audio technology is the only thing that can provide some variety. It's not clear if the Gigabyte X99-UD7 has a 5.1-channel or 7.1 channel implementation, so we'll have to wait and see. Sales should start in a matter of days, but the price is unknown. Definitely lower than the $1,000 / €1,000 needed by the Core i7-5960X CPU though.

Gigabyte X99-UD7
Image credits to Gigabyte

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BlackBerry Passport Test Unit Gets Reviewed Ahead of Official Release [Video]

Even though BlackBerry Passport hasn’t been released yet, the smartphone is one of the hottest devices soon to be available on the market.

As we’re getting closer to Passport’s launch, more and more details on the phone’s features continue to leak online. We have already reported on BlackBerry Passport full specs sheet, and now it looks like Czech blog MobileNet has just released a review of the smartphone, along with lots of photos of the device. Keep in mind though that this is not the final version of the Passport, so even if you think the photos and video samples published look amazing, they might look even better with final version of the product. It’s also worth mentioning that the video review is made in Czech language, so if you’re not familiar with the language, you will only be able to enjoy looking at the phone from all angles. We did however notice from the review that the Passport would ship with BlackBerry OS 10.3 out of the box, which isn't surprising considering that the Canadian company is ready to release it for compatible devices.

Regarding the phone’s photo and video samples, BlackBerry Passport will boast a 13-megapixel rear-facing photo snapper that features LED flash, autofocus and full HD (1080p) video recording at 60fps. The main camera packs a 5-element f2.0 lens, back side illumination, 5x digital zoom and OIS (optical image stabilization). On the front, the Passport sports a 2-megapixel camera with fixed focus and HD (720p) video recording. Enjoy the videos and pictures of the BlackBerry Passport and let us know what you think about the upcoming smartphone.

BlackBerry Passport 

BlackBerry Passport photo sample
Images credits to MobileNet.cz

Videos credits to mobilenet.cz

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Motorola Moto G2 Specs Leak Ahead of IFA 2014 Reveal: 5-Inch Display, MicroSD, 8MP Camera

Motorola made a lot of money with its budget-friendly smartphones like Moto G and Moto E. One would think that you would have to sell millions of cheap phones in order to be profitable, and it looks like Motorola managed to make a lot of profit with both handsets.

Betting on digital sales in India and other emerging markets was an important decision for Motorola and one that proved amazingly efficient. The Moto G and Moto E have been selling like hot cakes in India in the last couple of months, which is one of the reasons the company’s financial status is so strong now. With less than two weeks until IFA 2014 is set to kick off in Berlin, Germany, Motorola’s next budget-friendly smartphone has just leaked online. The Moto G2 is the sequel to one of the most popular Android smartphones launched by Motorola in the last few years. The smartphone is expected to be officially unveiled on September 4, when Motorola scheduled a press event as part of its presence at IFA 2014 trade fair. In fact, the US-based company is expected to unveil more than one Android smartphones early next month, such as the Moto X+1 and Moto G2.

Anyway, it appears that Motorola famous leaker hellomotoHK has struck again and published the first live pictures showing the outs and ins of the Moto G2. Along with the pictures of the smartphone, the cited source has also leaked some of the Moto G2’s specs, which confirm that Motorola did some upgrades over the previous model. For example, while the Moto G sports a 4.5-inch display, the Moto G2 will be released with a slightly larger 5-inch IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen display that supports HD (720p) resolution. Also, on the back, the Moto G2 will pack an enhanced 8-megapixel photo snapper with autofocus, LED flash and video recording. On the front, the smartphone will pack stereo speakers and the bezels will be narrower to keep the Moto G2 smaller even with the 5-inch display.

Another major upgrade over the previous model would be support for microSD card slot. The lack of a microSD card slot is one of Moto G’s downsides, considering that the smartphone comes with only 8GB of internal memory. It’s also worth mentioning that Moto G2 is likely to be equipped with a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 1GB of RAM, and either 8GB or 16GB of internal memory. While there are no details on the phone’s battery, we do know that the Moto G2 will come with a removable back cover, so owners can change them with Motorola Shells. Just like its predecessor, the Moto G2 will offer dual-SIM capability.

Moto G vs. Moto G2

Motorola G2
Images credits to hellomotoHK

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BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 Leaks in Press Photo, Costs $2,000 / €1,500

Good news, BlackBerry fans rich enough to spend the required money for the Porsche Design handsets launched in collaboration with the Canadian company, as a new expensive phone is about to make its debut on the market.

The first picture of the BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 has just been published by the folks over at N4BB, and while the phone looks gorgeous, its specs sheet doesn’t look so good for the price you pay. This is not the first time we hear about the Porsche Design P’9983, as the device popped up online as BlackBerry ‘Khan’ in late July. Some of the phone’s specs were known since that time, but for those who missed it here is a quick reminder. BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 is supposed to sport a small 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen display with an unknown resolution. However, from the picture leaked it does seem to feature a square touchscreen, but this has yet to be confirmed. The reason the phone has such a small display is that it also comes with a full QWERTY keyboard. In fact, the P’9983 will be the first BlackBerry 10 OS smartphone launched by Porsche Design that also packs a physical keyboard.

On the inside, the smartphone will be equipped with a 1.7GHz processor, probably provided by Qualcomm, which will be complemented by no less than 3GB of RAM.We also know that the Porsche Design P’9983 will be packed with 64GB or internal memory, but we don’t have any info on whether or not it will offer microSD card slot as well. All in all, BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983 will not come cheap, so those anxious to get it will have to come up with around $2,000 (€1,500) upfront.

BlackBerry Porsche P'9983 (front)

BlackBerry Porsche P'9983 (back)
Images credits to N4BB

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BlackBerry 2014 Roadmap: No High-End Full-Touch Devices This Year

Most BlackBerry fans are anxious to get their hands on the Passport, which is expected to arrive sometime in September. However, there’s a small portion of fans who prefer huge, all-touch devices and they will not see the Passport as a good replacement for their Z10 or Z30 phone.

Their hopes have been fueled by John Chen’s previous statements that the company is really looking into getting a phablet out, if their finances permit it, of course. Unfortunately, BlackBerry will not be releasing any all-touch high-end smartphones this year, according to the company’s roadmap for the rest of 2014. The folks over at N4BB report that they got their hands on a Blackberry 2014 Global Roadmap, but only the devices that we already know of are confirmed. It appears that BlackBerry will focus on only four aspects for the remaining of the year: Affordable, Classic, Innovative and Prestige. This means that only four BlackBerry 10 smartphones will make it on the market this year. The affordability aspect will be highlighted by the so-called BlackBerry Z3 LTE Manitoba, which was leaked about a month ago along with the BlackBerry Porsche Design P’9983.

The main target for the BlackBerry Z3 LTE will be those who wish to upgrade from feature phones and BBOS, as well as for “enterprise fleet renewal.” The second aspect on which the company confirmed that it would focus its marketing efforts is the Classic. Well, this will be covered by the Blackberry Classic, also known as the Blackberry Q20. The device is seen as an “upgrade for BlackBerry QWERTY base and enterprise fleet renewal.” The BlackBerry Passport is the Innovative handset that will be released this year and is meant to “bring X-Pros back to BlackBerry.” The smartphone is also aimed at business executives. Last but not least, in the Prestige class, BlackBerry plans to release the Porsche Design P’9983, which will be the first BlackBerry 10 QWERTY smartphone created by the latter.

These are all the devices mentioned in BlackBerry’s roadmap, which means the Canadian company has no intention of bringing a high-end phablet on the market by the end of the year. The situation might change next year, but that will probably depend on how good the sales for the smartphones launched this year will be. For the time being, BlackBerry doesn’t think that a powerful all-touch BlackBerry smartphone would make sense, so those waiting for one will have to wait until next year, at least.

BlackBerry Z30
Image credits to BlackBerry

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