Even as PC shipments go through further decline-related woes, one segment remains fairly strong-- according to Jon Peddie Research PC gaming hardware sales are to grow with a CAGR of 3% over the 2012-2016 period on a global basis.

According to the analyst global PC gaming hardware sales will grow from $18.4 billion in 2012 to $20.8bn by 2016.

How so? Gamers, just like motorcycle, 4X4 and sports car enthusiasts, are willing to buy the best (and most expensive) hardware to get their speed and power fix. After all, tablets and cloud computing devices do not slice it when it comes to the latest and most demanding titles!

"Not only is gaming becoming an even more important purchasing influence of PC sales due to the offloading of more basic functionality to smart devices, but we are forecasting growth in the most expensive discrete graphics products," JPR remarks. "We are also impressed with the embedded graphics offerings this generation and going forward."

In a twist surprising to absolutely no one the PC market continues to decline in W. Europe-- according to Gartner Q2 2013 PC shipments total 10.9 million units with -19.8% Y-o-Y decline.

"The market exit of the netbook PC, and vendors reducing their inventory to get the new Intel chips and Windows 8.1 have fueled the decline in W. Europe," the analyst remarks.

One has to keep in mind Gartner does not count tablets (arguably the IT industry's one growth market) in its PC numbers.

Thus all PC segments see Y-o-Y declines in W. Europe-- mobile PCs by -23.9% and desktops by -12.2%. Consumer segment shipments are down by -25.8%, while the professional market sees a -13.5% decline.

Dell starts shipping its take on micro-PCs to beta testers with Project Ophelia, an HDMI dongle the size of a large USB stick promising to turn any HDTV into a cloud-powered PC.

First seen at CES 2013, at first glance Ophelia is not too different to the recent crop of micro-PCs, even if unlike the popular Raspberry Pi it ships inside a proper case. However it features an interesting trick up its dongle-style sleeve-- as well as running as a stand-alone Android 4.1 device, it can connect to the cloud to act as a multipurpose Citrix or VMware thin client.

It packs a Rockchip RK3066 SoC ( X2 ARM Cortex-A9 cores clocked at 1.6GHz, Mali 400 graphics engine, memory controller), 1GB RAM, NAND storage, microSD card slot, Bluetooth and wifi connectivity. Since it lacks batteries, the Ophelia sips power through either MHL port or separately via USB interface.

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group announces the availability the USB 3.1 specification-- meaning vendors can now make devices with SuperSpeed USB with data transfer rates of up to 10Gbps.

According to the Group SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps uses more efficient data encoding and delivers twice the effective data throughput of existing SuperSpeed USB.

It remains fully backwards compatible with existing USB connectors and cables, including 5Gbps and USB 2.0 products.

Intel follows the example set by the Raspberry Pi and launches a similar stripped-down open source PC-- the Minnowboard, essentially an x86-based PC motherboard with a caseless design.

Reportedly the first open source PC with an Intel x86 processor, the Minnowboard development kit is based on Via Technologies processors. The board includes a 1GHz Intel Atom E640 processor, 1GB DDR2 RAM, HDMI port, ethernet, USB ports and microSD slot.

The Minnowboard design measures 10.16cm-square, and its board schematics and design files are freely available under a Creative Commons license.

Just a month after the Computex 2013 launch Intel teases more details on the 4th generation of Core processors, aka "Haswell"-- and promises a version operating at a scenario design point (SDP) of all of 4.5W.

It joins a version offering 6W SDP operation, both designed for use in thinner, fanless hybrid and 2-in-1 devices. The company does not provide further specifications on the latest Haswell addition.

But what does "scenario design point" actually mean? In a somewhat misleading turn in PR speak, SDP means Intel limits processor performance to allow it to run comfortably (at most times) in a chassis able to cool 4.5W heat.

Acer stops making PCs carrying Thunderbolt interconnectors, since the company believes USB 3.0 offers similar performance with greater peripheral compatibility and lower costs, an Acer spokesperson tells CNET.

"We're really focusing on USB 3.0-- it's an excellent alternative to Thunderbolt," the company says. "It's less expensive, offers comparable bandwidth, charging for devices such as mobile phones, and has a large installed base of accessories and peripherals."

In 2012 Acer was the first company, together with Apple, to lead the initial push towards making the Intel-created Thunderbolt mainstream with the Aspire S5 ultrabook.

The connector transfers data at up to 10Gb/s in both directions and simultaneously connects displays. Future versions promise data transfer speeds of up to 20Gb/s.

Gartner and IDC agree on two things regarding the Q2 2013 PC market-- Lenovo is the top WW PC vendor (beating HP) and, as we all know by now, shipments remain on the decline both globally and within EMEA.

According to Gartner EMEA PC shipments drop by -16.8% Y-o-Y during Q2, the 5th consecutive quarter of decline. The analyst attributes the decline to a combination of usage trends shifting from notebooks to tablets and channel inventory reductions in anticipation to future Haswell-based products.

W. European shipment levels are described as "weak," with low PC replacement rates, E. European customers go for Android-based tablets and MEA finds tablets and smartphones the more attractive options.

HP is the top Q2 2013 EMEA vendor according to Gartner, thanks to better results within professional PC space. Following are Lenovo (the only vendor seeing shipment growth), Acer, Dell and Asus.