PCs - PC Components

MSI Offers B550 Motherboards

2020-05-27T15:52:47Z

MSI announces a selection of motherboards based on the recently announced B550 chipset, with products available under the MPG Gaming, MAG Tomahawk, MAG Mortar, MAG Bazooka and Pro ranges.

All the motherboards support 3rd gen AMD Ryzen processors and include PCIe 4.0 technology, allowing for faster data transfer between graphics cards, storage devices and network devices. MSI says the motherboards also improve heat dissipation, with an additional choke thermal pad rated for 7W/mk and thickened copper in the PCB ensuring better heat transfer effects. The USB-C connector on the front is compatible with PC cases featuring such a design, while a Flash BIOS button allows users to easily flash the BIOS without need to connect a CPU, memory and graphics card. The ClearCMOS function is also enhanced to restore the BIOS to default settings quickly and without need for additional actions.

Asetek Intros Rad Tek

2020-05-20T15:44:59Z

Asetek claims to bring liquid-cooled GPUs to space-constrained PC cases with the Rad Card, a radiator card customers can simply fit into the motherboard PCie slot, just like any other add-in card.

Described as an industry first by the company, the Rad Card enables a liquid-cooled GPU in a smaller chassis while allowing enough space for a liquid-cooled CPU in the same case. The result, Asetek says, is superior cooling over an air-cooled system, ensuring GPU stability and limiting thermal throttling. In addition, the design eliminates the clutter of tube routing, making for a clean and sparse system environment.

Context: Coronavirus Continues to Boost PC Demand

2020-05-13T16:07:32Z

W. European PC sales are up by 17.5% Y-o-Y in Q1 2020, Context reports, as a March 2020 surge in demand for remote-working hardware further pushed PC growth. Said surge comes through, of course, the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the analyst, PC sales are up by 7.6% Y-o-Y in January, 13.2% Y-o-Y in February and 31.8% Y-o-Y in March. Such numbers show when stricter measures to contain the spread of the virus across Europe lead to a "dramatic" increase in remote working. The full quarter sees a greater increase in business-targeted products, as sales for the segment are up by 22.8% Y-o-Y, compared to the 9.5% Y-o-Y growth of consumer-targeted PCs.

MSI Presents MEG Z490 Unify Motherboards

2020-05-13T16:03:34Z

MSI launches a pair of motherboards based on the Z490 platform-- the MEG 490 Unify and the MEG Z490I Unify, both featuring a stripped-down all-black aesthetic without "redundant" LEDs in a choice of ATX and mini-ITX form factors.

The MEG Z490 Unify is the ATX motherboard. It includes a 16-phase power delivery with Intersil 90A power stages controlled by an ISL69269 PWM operating in an 8+0 configuration. It is PCIe Gen 4 ready, and includes three PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 slots, three full-legnth PCIe 3.0 slots working at x16, x8/x8 and x8/x8/+4, and two PCIe 3.0 x1 slots. The six SATA ports support RAID 0, 1, 5 and 10 arrays, and the board supports up to 128GB of DDR4-4800 RAM across four slots.

ASRock Water Cools Z490 Aqua Motherboard

2020-05-06T15:33:42Z

Taiwanese PC component maker ASRock launches the Z490 Aqua, a limited edition flagship motherboard featuring a built-in water cooling monoblock within a 16-power phase design promising up to 95% VRM efficiency.

Built out of aluminium-plated copper, the monoblock should keep VRMs and CPUs cool even during heavy loads or overclocking. The package even includes a set of appropriate accessories in the shape of a pack of hardline water cooling fittings, all set nicely in a presentation box. An OLED display allows customers to easily check system stats, such as CPU voltages, temperatures system and POST statuses.

HP Refreshes Omen Desktop PC Range

2020-05-05T16:11:17Z

HP launches the 2020 Omen desktop PC lineup-- a successor to the Obelisk tower PC range featuring the latest Intel and AMD processors, together with Nvidia and Radeon graphics cards, in a choice of 25L and 30L chassis sizes.

Described by the company as its "most customisable gaming PC" yet, the gaming-focused Omen desktops replace the "tribal mask" branding with a minimalist rhombus-shaped logo. The rest of the chassis is similarly stripped down, as it consists of streamlined brushed metal paneling (with an optional tempered glass front bezel and EMI-coated glass side panel for the 30L model) and minimal RGB lighting. The cases stand on 15mm high rubber feet, and HP promises improved thermals through front compartment housing an optional 120mm Cooler Master fan.

IDC: Channel Cannot Handle EMEA Mobile PC Demand

2020-04-29T15:57:03Z

EMEA traditional PC (desktops, notebooks and workstations) shipments are down by -3.1% Y-o-Y to 16.4 million units in Q1 2020, IDC reports, as near-flat commercial growth (0.7% Y-o-Y) fails to offset heavy consumer decline (-8.5% Y-o-Y).

The W. European PC market is down by -1.2% Y-o-Y, with the commercial segment seeing "modest" 3% Y-o-Y while the consumer segment drops by -8.9% Y-o-Y. CEMA sees a "very challenging" Q1 2020 across all sectors, with consumers prioritising devices such as notebooks and tablets, while CEE records a "relatively small" -3.1% Y-o-Y decline as the commercial segment sees strong 4.2% Y-o-Y growth thanks to the fulfillment of some public and corporate tenders in the region.

On the other hand, MEA fails to sustain any growth in Q1 2020, leading to shipments falling by -10.8% Y-o-Y. Markets across the region have been badly affected by both supply chain constraints and prices. The commercial segment is worst hit as it contracts by -13.7% Y-o-Y, while the consumer segment sees a -7.9% Y-o-Y decline.

EVGA Intros GeForce RTX 2080 Ti XC Hydro Copper

2020-04-29T15:52:32Z

EVGA presents a combo of high-end graphics card and sophisticated water cooling-- the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti XC Hydro Copper (model no. 11G-P4-2389-KR), a GPU encased in a full-cover end-to-end cooling block.

The graphics card consists of an EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti XC GPU and a Hydro Copper full-coverage water block. The cooling block features a nickel-plated solid copper base plate with a metal shell and clear acrylic top. According to the company, the thin-pin matrix construction ensures the lowest possible temperatures for the card, as it directly cools the GPU, memory and VRMs with appropriately fitted thermal pads. Flexible inlet/outlet configurations allow customers to set up the loop as they require.

ASRock Presents Small Form Factor ITX Graphics Card

2020-04-22T15:36:57Z

ASRock takes on small form factor ITX graphics cards with with Radeon RX 5500 XT Challenger ITX, a card based on the AMD Navi 14 GPU offering 8GB of GDDR6 memory and the same core and memory clock speeds as the reference model.

Designed to power 1080p gaming at up to 60fps within PCs with a small footprint, the RX 5500 XT Challenger ITX 8G measures just 190 x 139 x 42mm (with backet). It features a 10cm cooling fan on the front, embedded in a white and silver dual-slot cooler, designed to direct hot air out of the rear of the chassis. It offers near-identical specifications to the bigger versions, with a 1607MHz base core clock and boost reaching up to 1845MHz. Memory clock speeds reach 14Gbps.

EVGA Adds to Super KO Graphics Cards

2020-04-15T15:43:40Z

EVGA returns to the Super KO range of graphics cards with the GeForce RTX 2080 Super KO Gaming and the GeForce RTX 2070 Super KO Gaming, both promising reference-beating performance at entry-level price points.

The two Super KO models include a dual-slot, dual-fan cooler within a black-themed design lacking in any RGB LED lighting. Also lacking is the backplate, while I/O comes through triple DisplayPort 1.4 and one HDMI 2.0 outputs. The RTX 2080 models has the same specifications as the Super Founders edition, with base clock speed reaching 1650MHz, boost clock of 1815MHz and 8GB of GDDR6 memory clocked at 15.5Gbps over 256-bit memory bus.