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The Blu-ray disc association on Wednesday announced that it plans to begin licensing its Ultra HD Blu-ray format on the 24th of August. The set of technologies will allow makers of players, receivers and other electronics as well as designers of various audio/video (AV) processors to create hardware compatible with Ultra …

MicroStar International on Wednesday said that an overclocker had managed to set a new clock-speed record for DDR4 memory using the company’s flagship MSI Z170A XPower Gaming Titanium mainboard. The achievement underlines that both the new motherboard and Intel Corp.’s new “Skylake” microprocessors are excellent overclockers when it comes to …

MicroStar International will provide a free closed-loop liquid cooler from Cooler Master to the first buyers of their MSI Z170A Gaming M7 mainboards. The offer is limited, hence early adopters will need to be extremely quick. The first buyers of MSI’s new Z170A Gaming M7 platform will get Cooler Master …

While Intel's High-End Desktop (HEDT) CPUs are fast and fun, it's on the mainstream platform where the chip manufacturing company really shifts volumes to gamers and DIY enthusiasts. Multiplier-unlocked Core i5 and i7 variants of the latest mainstream micro-architecture are the popularity champions on an annual basis; an affordable platform …

The launch of Intel's Skylake CPUs sees the introduction of a whole new platform based around the LGA 1151 socket. Making use of Intel's feature-healthy Z170 chipset, Asus is targeting gamers who value premium aesthetics and enhanced gaming-grade features with the Maximus VIII Hero. Will the Republic of Gamers (ROG) …

Modern graphics processing units are extremely complex devices, which are exceptionally hard to manufacture. Because some of their execution units are defective, they are usually disabled during testing and packaging process. However, in many cases GPU developers also disable fully-functional units just to get a GPU configured for a particular …

Nowadays virtually all makers of mainboards offer motherboards with various exotic colours, including white or even silver. Makers of memory modules have traditionally been more conservative and typically such products come with black heat spreaders and PCBs. However, Crucial, a division of Micron, decided to release something for modders, who …

Micron Technology and Seagate Technology on Tuesday introduced their first jointly-developed solid-state drives for datacentres. The new SSDs are designed for enterprise applications, such as data analytics, financial transactions and media streaming. The Micron S600DC-series and the Seagate S1200.2-series drives use Micron’s advanced NAND flash along with Seagate’s SAS-related technologies. …

Silverstone has produced some of the most gorgeous brushed metal chassis in the history of PC building. Today, KitGuru has an exclusive competition to win a Milo ML06-E mini ITX chassis, 450w SFX 80Plus Gold rated Power Supply and Argon AR06 Low Profile Cooler – a great prize for anyone …

Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk Corp. have formally introduced their first vertically stacked triple-level-cell (TLC) NAND flash memory IC [integrated circuit] with 256Gb capacity. The new 3D BiCS [bit cost scalable] NAND flash memory will be mass produced next year. Toshiba’s new 256Gb (32GB) 48-layer BiCS flash device features 3-bit-per-cell TLC (triple-level cell) …

Samsung Electronics has reportedly decided to reduce production of standard dynamic random access memory (DRAM), which could cause increase of DRAM prices in the coming months. The world’s No. 1 maker of computer memory will increase production of LPDDR in a bid to supply enough memory to Apple, which is …

A web-site has published the finalized prices of Intel Corp.’s “Skylake-S” processors for desktops. The new central processing units will cost about the same amount of money as existing chips, the world’s largest maker of microprocessors will not increase prices of its products. The flagship Intel Core i7-6700K (four cores …

Advanced Micro Devices has confirmed that it is researching a multi-core accelerated processing unit based on “Zen” micro-architecture, which will eventually power supercomputers with extreme performance. At present the company is only considering a concept design and it is unclear when AMD decides to actually develop such processor. AMD, just …

In a bid not to create oversupply of NAND flash memory in the market, SanDisk Corp. will continue to cautiously expand its manufacturing capacities to sustain its profit margins. While even a minimal expansion of wafer capacities will be enough for SanDisk to fulfill demand for its products, it remains …

SanDisk Corp. and Toshiba Corp. are on-track to start volume shipments of products based on their BiCS [bit cost scalable] 3D NAND flash memory in 2016. Recently the two companies began to purchase equipment needed to manufacture vertically stacked NAND chips and will initiate pilot production later in 2015. Moreover, …

EVGA has upgraded its micro-ATX mainboard for Intel Corp.’s high-end desktop processors. The new platform features all the advanced capabilities that the EVGA X99 Micro had to offer a year ago, but adds more Serial ATA-6Gb/s ports as well as one USB 3.1 type-C connector. The new motherboard is one of …

The attitude of hard disk drives makers to solid-state drives is well known: they claim that such devices can only serve certain niche markets and cannot really compete against HDDs. On Friday chief executive of Seagate went on to say that nobody uses SSDs as storage devices. Nowadays solid-state drives …

High-end graphics cards for desktop PCs represent only a tiny fraction of the whole market of discrete graphics adapters, but as integrated graphics processors become more powerful and end-users cease to buy entry-level solutions, producers of standalone adapters need to refocus their businesses. Demand for entry-level and mainstream personal computers …

As small form-factor PCs rise in popularity, so do small form-factor graphics cards.  Today, Sapphire has announced the AMD R9 380 ITX Compact Edition, a shrunk down version of the R9 380 graphics card. The compact edition has been developed with small ITX builds in mind, with a short 171mm …

Intel Corp.’s “Devil’s Canyon” processors have demonstrated that it is possible to significantly improve overclocking potential of a central processing unit without re-spinning it by revamping its power supply circuitry. As it appears, Intel’s new “Skylake-S” microprocessors with unlocked multiplier will also feature a very advanced power supply circuitry, which …

2015 is the year of the Solid State Drive. The technology has advanced to the limit of the SATA 3 interface, and prices have never been more competitive. SK hynix are keen to cement their position in this market and regular readers will be aware of our reviews of their …

In a bid to offer the right solutions for different classes of desktop personal computers, Intel Corp. recently presented its vision of desktop platforms to makers of PC components. Apparently, the world’s largest maker of microprocessors sees as many as six distinctive segments of today’s desktop market. Sales of personal …

Although this year far not all mobile devices will get USB 3.1 type-C ports, next year a lot will change, according to Taiwan-based designers of controllers. Thanks to reversible form-factor, improved performance, higher durability and other benefits of USB 3.1 interface and type-C ports, many laptops and smartphones will adopt …

Vince “K|NGP|N” Lucido, one of the world’s top overclockers who collaborates with EVGA, has managed to overclock Nvidia Corp.’s GM200-310 graphics processing unit to a record-high frequency. Using EVGA’s top-of-the-range GeForce GTX 980 Ti K|NGP|N graphics adapter specifically designed for extreme overclocking, Mr. Lucido managed to set multiple records. The …

Shipments of solid-state drives by Western Digital Corp. set an all-time record for the company in the Q2 of 2015. The manufacturer only sells solid-state drives for enterprise and such products represent a small portion of the company’s revenue. Moreover, for WD, hard disk drives bring more profits than NAND …

Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia Corp. have updated their drivers for graphics processing units in time for retail release of Microsoft Windows 10. The new drivers resolve various issues found in beta versions and are designed to provide flawless user experience. The new AMD Catalyst and Nvidia GeForce drivers for …

Sales of hard disk drives by Western Digital Corp. dropped to a multi-year low in the second quarter of 2015 as sales of personal computers and consumer electronics dropped. Despite of sharp decline in shipments and revenue, the company remained profitable and even maintained its average selling price. In the …

MicroStar International on Wednesday released the first details about its upcoming Z170A Xpower Gaming Titanium Edition mainboard for the upcoming Intel “Skylake” microprocessors. The new motherboard sports ultimate overclocking capabilities, unique silver coating and even all-new solid-state chokes that should improve durability and overclockability. One of the key features of the …

G.Skill International Enterprise Co., one of the globe’s leading makers of high-end memory modules, on Wednesday introduced its all-new Trident Z and Ripjaws V families of DDR4 memory modules designed for enthusiast-class systems running the latest microprocessors from Intel Corp. The most advanced Trident Z and Ripjaws V modules are …

With DDR4 prices being driven down in preparation for the launch of a mainstream chipset supporting the memory type, now can be considered a good time to bag a high density quad-channel kit. Combining a quartet of 8GB DIMMs in a quad-channel configuration with an operating frequency of 2400MHz and …