Category: Hardware

Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM and AX1200i Digital PSU

Corsair Link is a system that allows monitoring and control of hardware by a proprietary software interface called “Corsair Link Dashboard”.

Corsair keeps adding to their “Corsair Link” system, and has now brought out two new options with Corsair Link support: Dominator Platinum high-end RAM sticks, and the AX1200i Digital Power Supply Unit.

Corsair Dominator Platinum

The Dominator Platinum memory does not allow for direct monitoring by connecting directly to the RAM, however it supports an optional fan accessory called Airflow Pro, which can be connected to the Corsair Link system.

As the latest member of the Dominator family, the Platinum RAM series has interchangable light bars on top, which promise to give the motherboard a subtle wash of lighting. White is the default color, but optional light bars in different colors will be made available.

Easthetics aside, Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM kits of up to 64GB (8x8GB) at 2133MHz, and even a 16 GB kit clocked at 2800 MHz, are planned for eventual release. Smaller, slower kits of 8GB and 16GB proportions are the first to make an appearance on the official Corsair online shop, spanning between 1600MHz and 2666MHz (16GB only).

Corsair AX1200i Digital PSU

The AX1200i Digital PSU is, according to Corsair, “the first desktop PC power supply to use digital (DSP) control and Corsair Link”. Connecting it directly to a USB header on the motherboard with the included cable is enough, but it also supports connecting to a Corsair Link Commander unit. Using the Corsair Link Dashboard software interface, you can now monitor, tweak and control the PSU thanks to the digital DSP control, which allows on-the-fly tuning of voltages.

The Next Gen Dual GPU Cards: Specs & Rumors

Rumors have been circulating that AMD would be launching the Radeon HD 7990 soon after NVIDIA launched their Kepler debut card, the GTX 680.
It has yet to happen, but let’s take a look at the rumored specs for the AMD HD 7990 “New Zealand”:
  • Two “Tahiti” GPU chips clocked at a lower than HD 7970 speed of 850 MHz, connected via an onboard CrossFire bridge chip.
  • 6 GBs of GDDR5 memory clocked at 1250 MHz (5 GHz effective), divided in two for 3 GB per GPU, on 2 x 384-bit buses.
  • 62 compute units with a total of 4096 (2 x 2048) Stream Processors and 256 (2 x 128) texture units.
  • TDP of  ~330 watts (max power use in watts).
  • DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL 4.2 hardware support.
  • PCI-Express 3.0 compliant.
NVIDIA plans to tackle the HD 7990 with the GeForce GTX 690, a similar dual GPU solution. Continue reading

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 Released!

ASUS Sabertooth X79 Qualified Vendors List

In case you’re looking for some compatible memory modules that are confirmed to work on the ASUS Sabertooth X79 motherboard, the Qualified Vendors List (QVL) can be found below, as well as a quick overview of possible memory configurations.

Download the PDF version:
ASUS Sabertooth X79 Qualified Vendors List

 

So, what’s this new Intel X79 you speak of?

Last week was the official launch of the Intel X79 platform from Intel, featuring the new LGA-2011 CPU socket. This is the new “enthusiast” platform taking over for LGA-1366.

If you want to learn more about the new Intel X79 platform, Sandy Bridge-E and LGA-2011 socket from Intel, and maybe learn a bit about overclocking with this new hardware, check out this webinar posted by Corsair (of course biased towards Corsair’s own products, but I’m not at all ashamed to say I’m a fan of their products):

Intel X79 Motherboards will support Ivy Bridge-E CPUs

ASUS Sabertooth X79A leaked slide from an Intel presentation suggests that longevity will be good if you purchase an Intel X79 motherboard today.

Intel’s upcoming Ivy Bridge-E* CPUs are based on their advanced 22nm process node. The leaked slide suggests that these CPUs will be supporting the existing LGA-2011 platform.

As Ivy Bridge-E based CPUs are rumored for a Q4 2012 release, this means that a mere BIOS update could be all that’s needed to upgrade your rig in late 2012 to the latest and greatest technology.

Intel X79-based motherboards with the LGA-2011 socket from Intel was just released worldwide to the consumer market this week, and features built-in support for two 6Gbps SATA ports, four 3Gbps SATA ports and 40 PCI Express 3.0 lanes.

Next generation graphics cards utilizing the new PCI Express 3.0-bandwidth are expected (rumored) to be released from early January 2012.

* The “E” stands for Enthusiast, which are the most powerful consumer CPU series from Intel. These are not to be confused with their non-E counterparts, which cater more to people with a smaller budget or lower power demands.

Intel X79 compatible with Ivy Bridge-E CPUs (slide)

Click to enlarge