Cooler Master has unleashed its

Cooler Master presents the CM Storm QuickFire Rapid, a new keyboard with mechanical Cherry MX switches.
CM Storm, of the Cooler Master Group, comes full circle by introducing its new line of sleek fully mechanical keyboards. A full complement of very durable and high quality CM Storm peripherals can now be had with the introduction of the QuickFire Rapid Mechanical Gaming Keyboard.

Precision, Comfort, & Durability
Effortlessly melt into the smooth and clean aesthetic of the QuickFire Rapid via its laser-marked keycaps and its smooth, yet damage-resistant, rubber coating. This is complemented by a set of extra keycaps (includes a key puller) that give the keyboard an extra appeal that draws other gamers in. A response time of 1ms, in USB mode, offers gamers a necessary consistency to navigate the ever changing landscapes of their video game libraries. With the Windows Key being disabled in GAME mode, users will no longer worry about possibly losing a match from accidentally minimizing the game. Multimedia shortcuts are available to ensure that media can be controlled with ease. With N Key Rollover, users deploying the QuickFire Rapid in PS/2 mode can activate many keys on the keyboard at once with all of them registering.

High-grade Cherry MX Switches
CM Storm aims to offer the best available mechanical hardware by integrating Cherry MX switches. These provide the QuickFire Rapid with the ability to respond to, and recover from, furious button presses with almost zero lag. Vastly improve your possible gaming actions per minute by utilizing a QuickFire Rapid Mechanical Gaming Keyboard in FPS, MMO, RTS, and other games. Cherry MX Black, Brown, or Blue switches will be available based on region.

Hassle-free Travel and Cable Management
Travel without a care in the world by simply removing the included braided USB cable and storing it. While attached, the braided USB cable can be routed through cable management grooves in the back of the QuickFire Rapid. This prevents unsightly cable clutter and helps minimize risk due to a hanging cable catching a foot or leg from a loved one.

Price and Availability
The QuickFire Rapid carries a MSRP of $79.99. It will be available November 2011 at retailers and online locations that sell your favorite Cooler Master, CM Storm, and Choiix gear.

ADATA introduced three USB 3.0 flash drive series. The entry-choice C103 series is available in 8GB and 16GB capacities, it offers a read speed of 90MB/s but the write speed is quite poor (10MB/s). The S102 Pro offers 8GB to 32GB capacities, 100MB/s read speed and 50MB/s write speed, while the high-end N005 Pro series offers 8GB to 64GB capacities, a read speed of 180MB/s and write speed of 90MB/s. Pricing and availability is unknown.
ADATA

German tech site ComputerBase picked up a rumor that AMD is considering to let TSMC make future Bulldozer processors.

The current Bulldozer chips are made on GlobalFoundries' 32nm process, but AMD is not happy with the quality of its former manufacturing arm as yields do not reach the desired level.

Perhaps switching some Bulldozer production to TSMC could solve some of AMD's problems, although such a move will take months, if not years to complete.

Team Group revealed new DDR3 kits. Press release is printed below, full specifications of each module can be found over here.

Team Group Inc.?fs memory modules have always been known for its stability and high performance among enthusiasts. In 2011, the company invests heavily to build the new Xtreem series radiating modules, and changes the packaging to a smaller volume of paper card design that is more environmental friendly. Enthusiasts would be guaranteed to enjoy the ultimate feeling of freshness and classic at the same time.

• Mainstream Team Xtreem Dark?|Steady and eye-catching
  The Team Xtreem Dark series target the consumer market, and uses memory particles rigorously selected and tested by Team Group Inc. The new heat-sink has better cooling efficacy, which can speed up the dispersion of the heat generated by the particles more evenly and effectively. It can also speed up the circulation of cool and hot air within the case to reach a heat balance in the shortest amount of time to guarantee the most stable operating environment.
• Performance Team Xtreem LV?|Extreme speed
  The new version of Team Xtreem LV packaging exerts Team Group?fs proud X cooling technology to the most, bringing enthusiasts an extreme performance. The X totem maximizes the cooling fin area, and when compared to ordinary over-clocking memory modules, the new Xtreem has a lower operating temperature that would satisfy enthusiasts?f pursuit of extreme over-clocking performance.
  

Logitech just presented Modern Warfare 3 branded gear; the G9X Laser Mouse and the G105 Gaming Keyboard. Both products cost $79.99.

The keyboard features six programmable G-keys, each with three mode states, so you can configure up to 18 possible macro combinations in any game you play. You can even record new macros on the fly. It features an optimized key matrix designed to let you use more keys simultaneously in FPS games, while convenient, one-touch controls give you instant access to volume, start, stop, pause, forward and back functions.

For the mouse, a gaming-grade laser offers precision at any hand speed up to 165 inches per second. On-the-fly, adjustable dpi lets you go from pixel-precise targeting (200 dpi) to lightning-fast maneuvers (up to 5700 dpi) without pausing the action, while full-speed USB delivers the performance you need with up to 1000 reports per second. The dual-mode scroll wheel features precise click-to-click, perfect for weapon selection in games. Or switch to frictionless hyper-fast scrolling to fly through long Web pages, when you

Cooler Master has unleashed its CM Storm Trooper Case. The chassis, as you noted is branded under the CM Storm series. The case features an all black and bulky design with a cool front panel. The Trooper comes with a nice nine expansion slots providing support for multi-GPUs in SLI or Crossfire. in total there's space for 14 hard drives and the motherboard tray even supports XL-ATX form factors. Its one of CMs best chassis to date we dare to state.

We have a new AMD Catalyst 11.10 Preview 3 driver available.

Preview drivers are essentially BETA hotfix drivers. The new Catalyst software suite makes your ATI/AMD Radeon graphics card (that meets minimum/recommended requirements) optimized for Battlefield3. 

We have a discussion thread open on these drivers right here.

Download - click right here.

AMD Catalyst

In Q2 of 2012, Intel will also update its Xeon processor lineup with a series of new chips based on the high-performance Sandy Bridge-E architecture, it will target dual-socket servers and workstations.

Intel's initial batch of Xeon E5-2400 processors will include no less than 9 new models with four, six or eight computing cores and TDPs ranging from 70 to 95 Watts.

The most basic of the CPUs are the Xeon E5-2403 and E5-2407 and both of these feature a quad-core design, 10MB of Level 3 cache, an 80W thermal envelope and lack support for the Hyper-Threading and Turbo Boost technologies.

Both of these technologies are enabled in the upcoming six-core parts, the E5-2420, E5-2430L, E5-2430 and E5-2440, which also get a faster DDR3-1333 memory controller, and 15MB of L3 cache.

The last three of the processors uncovered are the eight-core Xeon E5-2450L, E5-2450 and E5-2470 and all of these come with 20MB of L3 cache and support for DDR3-1600 memory.

Intel's Xeon E5-2400 processors are known under the code name of Sandy Bridge-EN and use a simpler memory controller than the rest of the Sandy Bridge-E processors.

This drops support for one of the four memory channels available to socket LGA-2011 processors and that can only drive up to 2 DIMMs per channel ,meaning that is supports a maximum of 48GB DDR3 per CPU.

The PCI Express controller has also been simplified to integrate and it now packs only 24 PCI-E lanes, compared to the 40 lanes supported by the Xeon E5-2600 CPU family.

As noted earlier, Intel is expected to launch these LGA 1356 chips in the second quarter of 2012, at an yet undisclosed price point.

Starting with the Core processor lineup, this will be split into the same i3, i5 and i7 series, but Ivy Bridge parts will carry the 3000 designation, just as is the case with the upcoming Sandy Bridge-E processors.

Pentium CPUs on the other hand, won't get the same 3000-series designation as their more powerful brothers, but will also move to a new naming scheme that used four digits instead of the usual three.

In addition to the new names, Intel has also operated a series of changes to the maximum TDP's of the processors as these now top at 77W compared to 95W in Sandy Bridge.

This TDP is common for both the high-end Core i7 and Core i5 parts, including the K-series unlocked CPUs.

The rest of the features were pretty much left unaltered so the same characteristics that made the difference between Core i7, i5, i3 and Pentium processors in Sandy Bridge SKUs are also used for Ivy Bridge parts.

Ivy Bridge is the code name used for the 22nm die shrink of the current Sandy Bridge chips and features basically the same architecture, but with a few minor tweaks and improvements.

This includes a new on-die GPU that will come with full DirectX 11 support as well as with 30% more EUs than Sandy Bridge, in order to offer up to 60% faster performance that current Core CPUs according to Intel.

Click on the thumbnails.

We actually reviewed a unit a feek or two ago, check that here.

The introduction of the international energy saving certification 80 PLUS for desktop power supplies in 2004 has significantly changed the PSU market. Efficiency has turned into the guiding theme of the following years. PSU manufacturers quickly stepped forward and developed new technologies to achieve higher and higher efficiency rates. Accordingly, the 80 PLUS organisation extended the certification system with Bronze, Silver, Gold in 2008 and finally Platinum at the end of last year.

With its own R&D team and its own PSU production, Enermax plays a leading role in the development and market introduction of energy saving PSU technologies. Series like Modu82+, Revolution85+ or Modu87+ have won the most influential international awards and set new standards in terms of performance, quality and design. Also the latest Enermax creation, the high-performance MaxRevo series, continues the success story of its predecessors.

Platimax: The King of Enermax Power Supplies
With the Platimax series, Enermax now enters a new PSU generation. Platimax already possesses the highest 80 PLUS Platinum certification. The manufacturer successfully refined the technologies of the previous PSU series and increased the efficiency to a level of over 90% between 20 and 100% load. While the Platimax models below 1kW are based on an improved version of the "Dynamic Hybrid Transformer Topology" (DHT) that has been applied in the Modu87+ series for the first time, Platimax 1200W and 1500W make use of the powerful "Full-Zone Magnetic Quadrant Transformer Design" (FMQ) of the MaxRevo series. Enermax optimized especially the cooling system, applying high-quality and performance-capable heat sinks and installing a well-arranged and well-thought layout to avoid unnecessary energy losses. Like Modu87+ series, Platimax comes with a patented RPM control that limits the fan speed at low load to 300, 600 or 900 RPM depending on the model. Combined with the smooth running Twister bearing, the power supply offers a virtually silent operation.

Powerful but Energy-Saving
All Platimax models support the latest EU regulation for PC systems, ErP Lot 6. According to that, they consume less than 0.5W in standby mode. Furthermore, the so-called "Zero Load Design" insures a stable system operation at loads below 1W. Thanks to that, users can take full advantage of the energy-saving modes of latest CPU and graphics cards (C6 State / Hybrid Mode). As usual, Enermax uses a Multi-Rail Design with three to six 12V rails depending on the model. Each rail is equipped with a separated over current protection (OCP). For systems with overclocked graphics cards or processors, Enermax will introduce the Platimax 1000W OC Edition with One-Rail Design. It provides up to 83A (996W) on one 12V rail to reach best possible clock rates and get the most power out of the hardware.

Availability and Prices
Platimax 750W, 850W and 1200W are now available. All other models will be introduced onto the market until the end of November:

• Platimax 500W (EPM500AWT): 184.90 Euro
• Platimax 600W (EPM600AWT): 199.90 Euro
• Platimax 750W (EPM750AWT): 214.90 Euro
• Platimax 850W (EPM850EWT): 259.90 Euro
• Platimax 1000W (EPM1000EWT): 299.90 Euro
• Platimax 1200W (EPM1200EWT): 344.90 Euro
• Platimax 1500W (EPM1500EGT): 389.90 Euro

NZXT presents the Phantom Big-Tower in orange, another special edition of the successful chassis. All new Phantoms, including this variant also come equipped with USB 3.0 connectivity. Additional features of these enclosures are a five channel fan controller with 20W load capacity on each circuit, spacious interior, lighting which may be turned off, elaborate cable management, numerous anti-vibration measures and a water cooling ready design.

The futuristic design of the NZXT Phantom makes it the perfect basis for an extravagant gaming PC as the case specialist has included unique shapes and lines which resembles that of modern high performance sports cars. A front door covers the drive bays, so that the chassis looks perfect, regardless of what type of drives you have installed. Besides the white, black, red and red/white color options, NZXT also offers a special pink variant and now the sleek black and orange version.

In terms of cooling, the NZXT Phantom manages to blend form and function perfectly, as the black mesh elements do not simply look good, but also allows access to fresh to any installed fan. To keep temperatures down, two 120 mm fans have been installed in the side panel, pushing cool air across the hard drive bays, with another one in the rear along with a large and quiet 200 mm unit in the ceiling pulling air out of the case.

Those wanting even more cooling performance can turn the interior of the Phantom into a wind tunnel by installing another 200 mm unit in the ceiling of the chassis and a 140 mm unit in the ceiling as well. In addition, one may exchange the two 120 mm units with a 200 or 230 variant. To keep things quiet, NZXT has included a high-performance fan controller with 5 channels and 20W capacity on each circuit.

Dust filters on all intake areas ensure that the interior of the Phantom stays clean and presentable and that the bottom mounted power supply life span is kept at a maximum. For drive bays, the case allows for a slew of drives to be installed as it comes with five 5.25

ASUS announced it's now bundling Batman: Arkham City with some of its DirectCU cards:
The ASUS DirectCU series of graphics cards is now more extensive than ever, bringing gamers worldwide cooler and better performing hardware with DirectCU thermal designs and Super Alloy Power construction. To demonstrate the smooth and solid gaming these DirectX

ASUS announced USB 3.0 Boost, it adds UAS Protocol support to enable up to 170 percent faster data transfers.
ASUS USB 3.0 Boost adds new UAS Protocol support for improved data transfer speeds and lower CPU utilization, offering compliance with a protocol recently introduced by the USB-IF to augment data connectivity. USB 3.0 Boost enables native UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) support, as well as full backward compatibility with the traditional Bulk-Only Transport (BOT) protocol. Auto detection of connected devices ensures the most suitable protocol available is used, resulting in 170% faster data speeds compared to original USB 3.0 speeds. A dedicated USB 3.0 Turbo Mode accelerates the performance of all USB devices for an overall increase in data transfer speeds.

The benefits of UASP implementation
Initial USB 3.0 integration retained the BOT protocol of USB 2.0, in effect limiting potential transfer speeds and bandwidth even though USB 3.0 has been designed to work up to ten times faster than USB 2.0. As soon as UASP became available, ASUS made sure to begin its deployment. Compared to traditional protocols, UASP offers maximized bandwidth utilization, and can handle multiple data transfer requests at once, unlike the slower queue system of B OT, which only provides single-task command. Because of this, USB 3.0 connections working in UASP mode result in higher data speeds and lower CPU utilization. UASP clears data queues faster, translating into a smoother-operating PC.

USB 3.0 Boost goes beyond the specs
In addition to UASP compatibility, USB 3.0 Boost from ASUS includes three modes that cater to different user needs and profiles for increased flexibility. UASP Mode maximizes usage of the new protocol, Turbo Mode accelerates all USB devices, and Normal Mode operates at original USB 3.0 speeds to guarantee the best compatibility with all devices. Instant auto detection determines the best mode for any connected USB device on USB 3.0 ports, switching between UASP Mode and Turbo Mode as needed. All told, USB 3.0 Boost can accelerate data speeds by 170% with UASP mode compared to original USB 3.0 speeds. To make usage more accessible, USB 3.0 Boost comes with a friendly and intuitive interface exclusive to ASUS motherboards, helping users make the most of its full potential.

ASUS USB 3.0 Boost exceeds USB 3.0 performance
Compared to traditional protocols, UASP offers a significant speed boost, increasing data transfer expediency. UASP is also a much more efficient protocol in terms of data spread. ASUS USB 3.0 Boost makes the most of the advantages of UASP and traditional architectures, decreasing latency between the motherboard and connected devices considerably. It is the result of extensive research and prompt implementation in a wide range of new motherboard products.
Compatible motherboards:

Intel Z68

• Maximus IV GENE-Z/GEN3
• P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
• P8Z68-V/GEN3
• P8Z68-V PRO
• P8Z68-V
• P8Z68-V LE
• P8Z68-V LX
• P8Z68-M PRO

AMD 990FX/990X/970

• SABERTOOTH 990FX
• M5A99X EVO
• M5A97 EVO
• M5A97 PRO
• M5A97 ?@

AMD A75

• F1A75-V EVO
• F1A75-V PRO
• F1A75-M PRO
• F1A75-M PRO/CSM 
   

AMD might still be planning to introduce some 28nm GPUs in the second week of December. It's expected that these chips will be low-end to mid-range chips, and not high-end parts.

One of these sources specifically named December 06. Details on whether the launched GPU will be for the mobile (notebook) or desktop (graphics card) platforms; or even whether it will use the VLIW4 or so-called 'NextGen' compute architecture, are not known at this point.

Another source reinforced the theory that the launch will be more about symbolism than volume manufacturing for sales. It's likely that a small number of these GPUs will be manufactured, just about enough to send to OEMs for their qualification, and perhaps even the media for published performance testing.

Intel's initial Sandy Bridge-E processors don't offer eight cores because this would push the TDP over 130W as vrzone reports today:

There's another reason, that may top them all though - TDP. Yes, these are really big dies, with many cores and lots of cache - not as many as the Xeon E7 - Westmere-EX - series in the same 32 nm process, but E7's 10 cores and 30 MB cache top out at 2.4 GHz only. Here, we have an expectation that the full 8 core chip should still work at just above 3 GHz right at the announcement - at least in the '3-D workstations only' 150 W version. See the number? Now, well, desktops don't really go with more than 130 W TDP per socket these days, yet the per core clock has to be higher, to justify the migration from older Core i7, and to keep the difference with the LGA1155 4-core SB chips, as well as AMD Bulldozer.

So, to get 3.3 GHz or higher core speed, and fit it all into 130W TDP, a 6 core limit sounds about right for the current C series steppings at least. A future D stepping could enable higher clocks at the same TDP, or maybe enabling all the cores too at a similar speed.

ThermalRight introduced a revision of its Archon processor cooler. The new edition features a 150mm fan instead of the original 140mm model. The cooler can be found in Europe for 52.90EUR.

The Archon heatsink measures 170 (H) x 155 (L) x 53 (W) mm and features a mirrored copper base, and six 6mm nickel plated heatpipes, while the fan is 160 by 140 by 26.5 mm, operates at 500 to 1100 RPM and has a sound output of 19 to 23 dBA.

It's one thing to play Battlefield 3 in 3D, but this Battlefield 3 simulator lets you play in 360 degrees and control the character with your own body!

This is a world first. A unique FPS simulator that turns gaming into reality as you move, aim, fire and get shot within a 360-degree immersive environment. Using a pre-release copy of Battlefield 3 and a team of top technology experts from across Europe we've built a truly one of a kind simulator. Centred on the world's first, portable omni-directional treadmill (designed by Swedish company MSE Weibull) the simulator lets you control the movements of a Battlefield 3 character with your own body. Other key technology employed includes: 12 paintball markers that allow the player, in real time, to feel the enemy gunfire experienced in the game; a wireless gun system; ambient LED lighting; and an Xbox Kinect camera hack.

SandForce has finally duplicated, verified and provided a fix for the infamous BSOD/disconnect issue that affected SF-2200 based SSDs. The root cause is a bug in the firmware, although specifics are pretty slim.

The first out with a new Firmware is OCZ.

OCZ is pleased to announce that the cause of a BSOD issue experienced by some SF-2000-based drive owners has been identified by OCZ and SandForce. A new firmware update which directly addresses this BSOD occurrence related to SF-2000 based SSDs is available here. All newly manufactured OCZ SF-2000 based SSDs will feature the new 2.15 firmware revision (which is based on SandForce firmware version 3.3.2.) We highly recommend that any customers that have experienced the BSOD issue update their firmware to 2.15.

We sincerely appreciate the support from our customers, and if any customers have any questions or require additional support please do not hesitate to contact a customer service representative and we will be happy to address any questions or concerns.

It's time to review another USB 3.0 storage unit. It's originates from ADATA and is called the Superior (not a pun) SH14. We test the 750GB version of this model which should bring us read performance of 90 MB/sec.

ADATA's latest looks quite fashionable. Buried under red is a 2.5-inch, 5400RPM drive that's IPX4 water-resistant and "military grade shockproof."

Read the article here.

EVGAshows a photo of its  X79 Classified E779 motherboard. There will be three Intel X79 boards when the LGA2011 socket launches. EVGA is looking at this launch as a fresh start for the motherboard team. The three boards that are going to be available at launch are:

EVGA x79 SLI - E775
EVGA X79 FTW - E777
EVGA X79 Classified - E779

The motherboard shown is was the flagship board, the EVGA X79 Classified (part number E779).

X-bit Labs reports an ex-AMD engineer spoke out about some of the reasons why Bulldozer disappoints:

The reason why performance of the long-awaited Bulldozer was below expectations is not only because it was late, but because AMD had adopted design techniques that did not allow it tweak performance, according to an ex-AMD engineer.

Cliff A. Maier, an AMD engineer who left the company several years ago, the chip designer decided to abandon practice of hand-crafting various performance-critical parts of its chips and rely completely on automatic tools. While usage of tools that automatically implement certain technologies into silicon speeds up the design process, they cannot ensure maximum performance and efficiency.

Automated Design = 20% Bigger, 20% Slower
"The management decided there should be such cross-engineering [between AMD and ATI teams within the company] ,which meant we had to stop hand-crafting our CPU designs and switch to an SoC design style. This results in giving up a lot of performance, chip area, and efficiency. The reason DEC Alphas were always much faster than anything else is they designed each transistor by hand. Intel and AMD had always done so at least for the critical parts of the chip. That changed before I left - they started to rely on synthesis tools, automatic place and route tools, etc.," said Mr. Maier in a forum post noticed by Insideris.com web-site.

Apparently, automatically-generated designs are 20% bigger and 20% slower than hand-crafted designs, which results in increased transistor count, die space, cost and power efficiency.

"I had been in charge of our design flow in the years before I left, and I had tested these tools by asking the companies who sold them to design blocks (adders, multipliers, etc.) using their tools. I let them take as long as they wanted. They always came back to me with designs that were 20% bigger, and 20% slower than our hand-crafted designs, and which suffered from electro-migration and other problems," the former AMD engineer said.

Inefficiencies in Design?
While it is unknown whether AMD used automatic design flow tools for everything, there are certain facts that point to some inefficient pieces of design within Bulldozer. Officially, AMD claims that the Zambezi/Orochi processor consists of around 2 billion transistors, which is a very large number.

AMD publicly said that each Bulldozer dual-core CPU module with 2MB unified L2 cache contains 213 million transistors and is 30.9mm2 large. By contrast, die size of one processing engine of Llano processor (11-layer 32nm SOI, K10.5+ micro-architecture) is 9.69mm2 (without L2 cache), which indicates that AMD has succeeded in minimizing elements of its new micro-architecture so to maintain small size and production cost of the novelty.

As a result, all four CPU modules with L2 cache within Zambezi/Orochi processor consist of 852 million of transistors and take 123.6mm2 of die space. Assuming that 8MB of L3 cache (6 bits per cell) consist of 405 million of transistors, it leaves around whopping 800 million of transistors to various input/output interfaces, dual-channel DDR3 memory controller as well as various logic and routing inside the chip.

800 million of transistors - which take up a lot of die space - in an incredibly high number for various I/O, memory, logic, etc. For example, Intel's Core i-series "Sandy Bridge" quad-core chip with integrated graphics consists of 995 million.

While it cannot be confirmed, but it looks like AMD Orochi/Zambezi has several hundreds of millions of transistors that are a result of heavy reliance onto automated design tools.

The Result? Profit Drop!
As a consequence of inefficient design and relatively low performance, AMD has to sell its eight-core FX series processors (315mm2 die size) for up to $245 in 1000-unit quantities. By contrast, Intel sells hand-crafted Core i-series "Sandy Bridge" quad-core chips (216mm2 die size)  for up to $317 in 1000-unit quantities. Given the fact that both microprocessors are made using 32nm process technology [and thus have comparable per-transistor/per square mm die cost], the Intel one carries much better profit margin than AMD's microprocessor.

AMD did not comment on the news-story.

MSI has published a list of its motherboards that support AMD's new Bulldozer chip, you can check it out over here.

MSI released the mainboard BIOSes with full AMD AM3+ 8-core CPU support for download today. Enthusiasts that own one of the listed mainboards1 can now download the update to support the latest AMD AM3+ 8-core CPUs (B2 Stepping). For those planning to purchase a new mainboard, if the box is labeled with "Supports AM3+ CPU with New BIOS," the mainboard will support the powerful AMD AM3+ 8-core CPUs out of the box. Enthusiasts that have purchased a mainboard that is on the list of compatible mainboards can update the BIOS themselves to support the latest AM3+ 8-core CPUs. Also, new in this BIOS update is official support for MSI's proprietary ClickBIOS II system optimization tool for all AMD 900 mainboards. The graphical UEFI BIOS provides mainboard-level support, and exporting OC Profiles to USB drives offers unparalleled convenience.

Support for Latest AMD AM3+ 8-core CPUs Out of the Box with Designated Mainboards
Starting today, enthusiasts can purchase MSI mainboards with a "Supports AM3+ CPU with New BIOS" label on the box. The labeling indicates that the mainboard has been updated with the latest BIOS and already supports the AMD AM3+ 8-core CPUs (B2 Stepping), so users can enjoy the extreme performance of the next-generation processors straight out of the box. Buyers of MSI mainboards on the list of compatible models will not need to buy a new mainboard. Once they update to the new BIOS, their mainboard will be ready for AMD AM3+ 8-core CPUs.

ClickBIOS II on all MSI AMD 900 Mainboards
All MSI AMD 900 mainboards now also come with MSI's proprietary ClickBIOS II UEFI. System settings can be adjusted using the mouse, and the ClickBIOS II utility also supports online driver updates, BIOS updates and full-system backups. Also, for the first time ever, OC profiles can also be exported to USB drives under UEFI, a very convenient feature for overclocking enthusiasts.

Last weeks released AMD FX processors have gotten quite a bit of attention from the tech press and and end-users in the forums. I was just browsing some price watch engines and it seems that prices are already dropping, quite a bit.

The new 8-core AMD FX-8150 Black Edition can already be spotted for a price as low as 213 EUR. Considering this product launched at 245 EUR 5 days ago, that's quiite a difference.